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Mamadou Tandja, a former Niger president who twice won election after the country’s return to civilian rule in 1999 but was overthrown a decade later after altering the constitution to stay in power, has died aged 82. The government said Tandja died on November 24 in a statement read on national television and decreed three …
A top official in South Africa’s governing African National Congress was granted bail on November 13, in a graft case that has highlighted divisions within a party whose dominance has been unchallenged since the 1994 end of white-minority rule. Ace Magashule, secretary-general and one of the top six most powerful officials of the ANC, faces …
Cote d’Ivoire President Alassane Ouattara says he would seek re-election in October, formally accepting the ruling party’s nomination to be its candidate and defying opponents who say the constitution forbids a third term. Ouattara, who has governed since 2011, said in March he would not run again. But his preferred successor, then-prime minister Amadou Gon …
Former Ghana President John Mahama has chosen Jane Naana Opoku-Agyeman as his running mate for this year’s election, making her the first woman on a major Ghanaian party’s presidential ticket. The Dec. 7 poll will pit Mahama against his successor, President Nana Akufo-Addo, who defeated him in the 2016 election. Opoku-Agyeman, 69, is a former …
Yahya Jammeh, former Gambian president, used bribery proceeds and stolen government funds to buy a mansion in a suburb of Washington, D.C. American authorities allege in a lawsuit seeking to seize the property. The west African nation’s longtime dictator conspired to launder roughly US$3.5 million in “corruption proceeds” through the purchase of a lavish home …
Guinea’s ruling party has nominated President Alpha Conde to stand for a third term, taking advantage of a new constitution to circumvent a two-term limit for presidents. Conde, 82, stopped short of formally accepting the nomination in a speech in July. Talk of him running again has sparked widespread protests that have killed at least …
Malawi’s new president, Lazarus Chakwera, has pledged to clamp down on corruption, as he delivered his inauguration speech in a scaled-down ceremony dampened by a surge in COVID-19 cases. Chakwera unseated former leader Peter Mutharika in a June 23 re-run election after the 2019 polls were overturned by a court, citing irregularities. The ruling echoed …
An independent review has found that the African Development Bank (AfDB) rightly cleared its president, Akinwumi Adesina, of abuse of office, paving the way for him to seek a second term. Whistleblowers in January accused Adesina, who has held the AfDB’s top job since 2015, of abuses of office, including favoritism in hiring fellow Nigerians …
Ugandan activist Bobi Wine has launched a new political party ahead of a presidential election in which he hopes to be the face of a united opposition against the country’s long-time leader. The popular singer and lawmaker, whose real name is Kyagulanyi Ssentamu, has led a political pressure group known as People Power, which has …
Nigeria’s candidate to head the World Trade Organization (WTO) said she feels “strong support” from Africa and expects African leaders to unite behind one candidate as sources following the race said she is gaining broader backing. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, a former finance and foreign minister who has 25 years experience at the World Bank, is seeking …