By Guyson Nanagayi -The electoral commission in Niger has again postponed presidential polls from next January 3 to 31 of that same month. The election is aimed at restoring civilian rule after this year’s military coup ousted the sitting president Mamadou Tandja. He is under house arrest. The Junta spokesman Col. Goukoye Abdoulkarim had said in May the election would be held by December 26, but electoral officials said they needed more time to prepare. The military junta ousted the country’s dictatorial and unpopular president, Tandja, in February after he refused to step down when his mandate expired last year.
BY NANGAYI GUYSON IN KAMPALA UGANDA – Cairo – An opposition journalist Hamdi Qandeel is facing trial for allegedly libelling Egypt’s foreign minister in a newspaper, a judicial source said on Sunday. Hamdi Qandeel is mostly likely to face prison or a fine if found guilty of the charge of “insulting and libelling a public servant or citizen performing their work,” the source said. However, Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit filed a complaint against Qandeel alleging that he insulted him in a piece he wrote in the independent daily Shorouk which the official MENA news agency reported prosecutors as saying... Continue Reading
By Shout-Africa Correspondents – Egypt’s most prominent democracy advocate accused President Hosni Mubarak’s government Saturday of posting Facebook photos of his daughter in swimsuits and at events where alcohol was served in an attempt to discredit him. Mohammed ElBaradei, the Nobel Peace Prize winner and former U.N. nuclear chief, was quoted in the independent Al-Dustour newspaper as saying the government is “waging a campaign of sheer lies” by using the photos to portray him and his family as nonbelievers — a politically damaging accusation in an increasingly conservative Muslim country. The Facebook photos were an unusual personal attack on him... Continue Reading
The Ruling National Resistance Movement, NRM, starts an elective General Assembly today at the Nelson Mandela National stadium, amidst chaos. The assembly was postponed last week by the party Secretary General, Amama Mbabazi to pave way for the Uganda Cranes game against Palancas Negras of Angola on Saturday. Uganda Cranes had a comfortable 3-0 win. By midday on Monday delegates were still lined up to register with some claiming that their names are missing on the register. The situation was made worse by a morning downpour that messed everything. Delegates could be seen running from one gate to another to... Continue Reading
The Uganda Electoral Commission has gazetted 25th and 26th October 2010 as the dates for the nomination of presidential and parliamentary candidates. By George Katongole (Uganda) –Engineer Dr. Badru Kiggundu, the embattled commission head, while announcing the dates at the Electoral Commission head offices in Kampala urged stakeholders to cooperate. Kiggundu explains that aspiring candidates for various elective positions would acquire nomination forms starting Wednesday 8th September 2010. Nomination dates for the lower positions at the subcounties, are slated for 27th until 29th October while municipality and district nominations would be held on 4th and 5th November. At the same... Continue Reading
