Uganda’s opposition leader Bobi Wine has told the BBC he will not contest the results of Thursday’s election in court, citing a lack of confidence in the judiciary and has instead urged his supporters to take to the streets to peacefully protest. Speaking to the BBC from hiding, he said he would continue to stand up to President Yoweri Museveni despite concerns for his safety. “The judiciary in Uganda is captured and we encourage Ugandans to use any legal means to fight back and protect their democracy,” the 43-year-old former pop star said. Museveni, 81, won the vote by a…
Author: Montage Africa
By Rédaction Africanews and Agencies Residents of Somalia’s capital Mogadishu voiced their anger on Wednesday at remarks made by US president Donald Trump during his speech to the World Economic Forum in Davos. Trump disparaged Somalis living in America as “low-IQ” and dismissed Somalia as having “no government” and being “barely a state.” He singled out Minnesota Congresswoman Ilhan Omar for criticism—remarks that Somali officials and diaspora communities are calling racist, and ignorant. “Trump seems to be an international gangster who doesn’t care about international norms, diplomatic norms,” said local resident Said Ahmed. “He does a lot of things that…
South Africa’s Police Minister Firoz Cachalia has said that the security forces are not yet able to defeat deadly criminal gangs, in a stark admission that underscores the scale of the country’s crime crisis. Gang violence, alongside robberies, accounts for many murders in South Africa, which has one of the world’s highest homicide rates. Cachalia said gang violence had become increasingly complex, especially in the Eastern Cape and Western Cape provinces, requiring new strategies beyond traditional policing. “I do not believe that we are currently in a position to defeat these gangs,” the minister told journalists on Wednesday. South Africa,…
By AP Greenland’s government on Wednesday told its citizens to be prepared as it published a handbook on what to do in case of a crisis. Greenlandic ministers held a press conference in Nuuk to discuss the publication of the handbook – which does not reference any threat from the United States. The guide – in Greenlandic and Danish – tells Greenlanders to ensure they have sufficient supplies at home to be able to survive for five days. The guide is similar to one published by Nordic nations Finland, Norway and Sweden and recommends people have three litters of water…
By Rédaction Africanews with AFP Even as Sudan’s civil war continues, reconstruction is underway in the capital Khartoum where the army-backed government says it plans to return gradually. Many roads in the city have been cleared, rubble is being removed, and cranes now punctuate the skyline. The army retook Khartoum last March from the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) which it has been battling for nearly three years. Prime Minister Kamil Idris’ government has been operating from the Red Sea city of Port Sudan some 700 kilometres away since the start of the war. Now, officials tour reconstruction sites daily,…
By Rédaction Africanews with AP At a garbage dump in Khan Younis, many Palestinians use their bare hands to dig in search of plastic and paper to help start a fire to cook and keep warm in the bitter cold of January. As the winter weather worsens, it is deepening the suffering of Gazans, most of whom are still living in tents or buildings damaged by Israel’s bombardment of the enclave. For many of them, buying firewood is not possible. “Today, firewood costs around 7, 8 shekels [$2-3] and we have no income,” said Aziz Akel, who lives in a…
Military authorities in coup-prone Guinea-Bissau have scheduled presidential and legislative elections for 6 December, despite calls for a swifter transition to civilian rule. Transitional President Horta N’Tam signed a decree on Wednesday after meeting members of the National Transitional Council, military, and government officials, as well as representatives of the electoral commission. He told reporters the conditions for free and fair elections had been met. Since seizing power from President Umaro Sissoco Embaló in November, Guinea-Bissau’s coup leaders have been under pressure from the West African regional body, Ecowas, to organise elections within a short transitional timeframe. The ‘narco-state’ trying…
By Dominic Wabwireh with AP As Sudan’s brutal internal conflict nears its third-year mark, humanitarian leaders at the World Economic Forum issued a stark warning: the world’s largest displacement crisis is being dangerously neglected, with millions facing famine and disease while international attention remains elsewhere. In a panel at Davos, David Miliband, President of the International Rescue Committee, framed the Sudan war as a symbol of global failing. He called it an “avatar for the new world disorder,” noting the conflict’s internationalization and a grim hallmark: more civilian deaths than combatant fatalities. With 33 million people in urgent humanitarian need,…
Mobile money agent Mirembe Tracy laments that her business in Uganda’s bustling capital Kampala was paralysed when the government shut the internet during last week’s fiercely contested general election. “All withdrawals were disconnected,” she tells the BBC, adding that she gets nearly all of her income from withdrawal commissions. Without it, her income dropped to zero. “In one week I can earn up to 450,000 [Ugandan] shillings (£96; $130). That money is what I use to pay rent. Losing it was a total loss,” she says. For two days either side of the election, there was nothing she could do…
By AP Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary on Wednesday dismissed Elon Musk’s idea of buying the budget airline and shrugged off insults from the billionaire, in a war of words that erupted over installing Starlink systems on aircraft. The spat between one of the world’s richest individuals and one of Europe’s most outspoken corporate bosses has been escalating for days. O’Leary said last week that the airline had ruled out putting Musk’s Starlink satellite Wi-Fi on Ryanair planes because the extra fuel drag from the system’s antennas would be too costly. Responding to Musk’s accusations that he was “misinformed,” O’Leary told…