Monthly Archives: September 2011

Barely three months in power and Kiir faces calls for his ouster

Posted on September 30, 2011 by

LETTER FROM JUBA: From Marvis Birungi Barely three months since coming to power and heading what is still Africa’s youngest country, South Sudan President Salva Kiir Mayardit is facing a rebellion after a rebel movement was formed this week and went on to call for his ouster. The news is a major talking point here in Juba this week and first appeared on South Sudan News Agency, a pro-government news website. The NDF is led by one Jack Deng whose details still remain a mystery. It joins more than three other insurgent groups in the just independent South Sudan. The country experienced a number of militia groups after the April 2010 general … Continue reading →

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ICC judges asked to throw out case against Kenyan politicians

Posted on September 29, 2011 by

By Henry Gombya The head of Africa World Media (AWM) is once again putting his head on the rack by calling for the International Criminal Court (ICC) to throw out a case against six prominent Kenyans including the country’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta and the current Head of the Kenyan Civil Service Francis Kirimi Muthaura. The other four are William Samoei Ruto, currently suspended from his cabinet post as Minister for Higher Education, Science and Technology; Henry Kiprono Kosgey, a Member of Parliament and Chairman of Orange Democratic Movement (ODM); Maj Gen Mohammed Hussein Ali formerly chief of the Kenyan Police but currently the … Continue reading →

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Thousands flee Sudan’s volatile Blue Nile state

Posted on September 28, 2011 by

From Marvis Birungi in Juba At least 25,000 people from Sudan’s volatile Blue Nile State have sought refuge to neighbouring Ethiopia in the course of fighting between the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and the rebels, the UN refugee agency said Tuesday. Violence erupted three weeks ago in Blue Nile after SAF attacked the residence of Blue Nile governor, Malik Agar, who is also the leader of the Sudan Peoples’ Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), a party affiliated to South Sudan’s ruling SPLM. The Sudanese government then deployed reinforcements consisting of an infantry brigade, more than 10 tanks and armed vehicles into the area. Peace and calm has not been restored since. This … Continue reading →

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Gaddafi seeks martyrdom as those who overthrew him begin showing their true colours

Posted on September 28, 2011 by

Defeated Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi has told his supporters he is still fighting on the ground and is ready to die a martyr, a loyalist website reported today.  “Heroes have resisted and fallen as martyrs and we too are awaiting martyrdom,” the website of the defunct Allibiya state TV channel quoted Gaddafi as saying in a speech broadcast on local radio in Bani Walid, one of his last remaining bastions. Gaddafi who until this year had ruled the country for 42 years, hailed the fierce resistance put up by his loyalists in Bani Walid, a desert city 170km southeast of Tripoli, which has resisted a bloody siege by forces … Continue reading →

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Zambia elects new leader and troops stay in barracks

Posted on September 26, 2011 by

Zambia has just elected a new leader following the defeat at the polls by Rupiah Banda.Unline in other African countries where elections have been held this year, there were no soldiers manning roadblocks and scaring voters to get to the polls.  President Rupiah Banda, faced with electoral defeat Friday, did something unusual. He ceded power. Banda’s concession speech, a rare and conciliatory move for a recent African leader, marked the fourth time power has changed hands in Zambia since independence in 1964, a significant step for democracy in the nation. Banda attended the swearing-in ceremony for his rival, Michael Sata, who was declared the winner by the electoral commission earlier … Continue reading →

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