Politics

28, October 2020

Tanzania to hold election marred by violence, concerns over fairness ⁰

Tanzanians will vote Wednesday amid rising concern for democracy under President John Magufuli, who is seeking a second term, and with tensions high in volatile Zanzibar, where violence erupted ahead of the vote.

Long deemed a haven of stability in East Africa, observers say Tanzania has seen a worrying crackdown on the opposition and freedom of speech under the 60-year-old Magufuli and his Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party, which has been in power since 1961.

Magufuli is counting on his ambitious programme of infrastructure development and fiery anti-corruption stance to secure him a second mandate and called for a peaceful vote.

“For those who qualify, vote and go home. Let the electoral body do its work. Peace is very important and I pray it dominates the polls,” he said Tuesday.

Magufuli’s main challenger among 15 presidential candidates is Tundu Lissu, 52, of the Chadema opposition party.

He returned to the country in July after three years abroad recovering from 16 bullet wounds sustained in what he believes was a politically-motivated assassination attempt.

Lissu’s return has reinvigorated an opposition demoralised by a ban on political rallies outside of election time, multiple arrests, attacks, and what rights groups have slammed as the squeezing of democracy.

“I have witnessed through the campaign that Tanzanians are ready for changes and I believe they will turn out to vote tomorrow,” he said at his final rally.

Early vote –

In a boost for the opposition’s chances, Zitto Kabwe, the head of the popular ACT-Wazalendo party, has endorsed Lissu for the presidency on the mainland.

In return, Chadema is backing veteran opposition candidate Seif Sharif Hamad in his sixth bid for the presidency in Zanzibar, this time against CCM candidate Hussein Ali Hassan Mwinyi.

Zanzibar has a history of tense elections plagued with violence and irregularities and the opposition has again accused the ruling party of seeking to steal the vote.

The archipelago held an early vote for security forces Tuesday which prompted violence that the opposition says left 10 dead and scores injured.

“How can you have an election were you have teargas everywhere and live ammunition? It is in no case a fair election, it is just a farce,” said Hamad.

Trucks loaded with soldiers, police and a militia linked to the ruling party known as “zombies” — clad in black with their faces covered by bandanas — whizzed throughout the city and on Tuesday were seen rounding up and beating several civilians.

“I’m alarmed by reports from Zanzibar and elsewhere of violence, deaths, and detentions,” United States ambassador Donald Wright wrote on Twitter.

Britain’s envoy, David Concar, urged “all involved in the elections to act with restraint and integrity to ensure the will of the people can be expressed peacefully at the ballot box”.

Increasing intolerance –

Magufuli, elected in 2015, at first made wildly popular moves such as curbing foreign travel for government officials or showing up in person to make sure civil servants were doing their work.

Then, he banned political rallies and became increasingly intolerant of dissent.

A series of tough media laws were passed, arrests of journalists, activists and opposition members soared and several opposition members were killed.

The opposition and analysts have expressed serious concerns about the fairness of the election, pointing in particular to a polls body comprising commissioners personally appointed by Magufuli.

Magufuli touts his expansion of free education, rural electrification and infrastructure projects such as railways, a hydropower dam set to double electricity output and the revival of the national airline.

However analysts say while the economy grew at an impressive pre-coronavirus average of six percent, there was little job creation and aggressive tax collection has hurt the private sector and made doing business harder.

The IMF expects growth to slow to 1.9 percent this year.

The election campaign has taken place with little regard to the coronavirus pandemic. Tanzania stopped giving out official data on infection numbers in April, and Magufuli has declared the country Covid-free, which he attributes to the power of prayer.

On the mainland, just over 29 million registered voters will cast their ballots, while some 566,000 will vote in Zanzibar from 7 am (0400 GMT) until 4 pm (1300 GMT).

Source: AFP

24, October 2020

French Cameroun: Police Chase, Beat Kamto Supporters ⁰

Witnesses say Cameroon police have chased and beaten at least 200 opposition supporters outside the home of opposition leader Maurice Kamto, who has been under de facto house arrest for over a month.  Anti-riot police were deployed to Kamto’s home this week to contain crowds of supporters demanding he be released.  Police blocked Kamto from leaving his house after he organized anti-government protests in September. 

An unknown female supporter of opposition leader Maurice Kamto stripped off her clothes in front of his house Thursday and shouted at the large police presence that his month-long detention was illegal.

The woman, in her early 50s, screamed that she would not leave until police allowed Kamto out of his house to speak with her.

She was one of over 200 opposition supporters gathered outside Kamto’s house to mark one month since police surrounded his home, placing him under de facto house arrest.

Kamto supporter Giselle Malongo says she came from the western town of Bafoussam to ask why Kamto has been stopped from leaving his house since September 22.

She told VOA the police violently brutalized and blocked supporters from meeting Kamto, a man she called “their president.” Malongo said armed police seized mobile phones from supporters who tried to take photographs (of the clashes). She said police also prevented them from delivering food donations to Kamto and his family.

A reporter also witnessed police beating and blocking Kamto’s supporters, some of whom were trying to donate food.

Christopher Ndong, secretary general and legal advisor of Kamto’s Cameroon Renaissance Movement party, said police beat 13 supporters so badly that they had to get treated at a hospital.

“Kamto was very furious at this gesture by the military refusing people to come and give him food aid after he had been locked up for a month,” Ndong told VOA. “There were a lot of hot exchanges. We decry the attitude of government and its military operatives. We are saying in fact, this is an infringement to democratic principles and democratic rights.”

Cameroon police gave no official statement on the clashes and would not answer a reporter’s questions. 

Authorities have not officially declared Kamto to be under house arrest, but police have not allowed him to leave his home since he organized nationwide anti-government protests in September.

Cameroon Territorial Administration Minister Paul Atanga Nji said police are watching Kamto because he is being investigated for hostilities against the state.

“I want to sound a stern warning to unscrupulous politicians that they will face the law. It must be clear that the discontinuance of legal proceedings does not imply that the charges have been dropped. Any further act of public disorder will take them back to square one,” Nji said.

The September opposition protests were against Cameroon holding December 6 regional elections.

The opposition says the electoral laws favor long-ruling President Paul Biya and his Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement party.

Biya has been in power for 38 years, making him one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders.

Kamto and about 200 supporters were jailed last year for protesting against the 2018 presidential election results, which named Biya the winner.

Kamto was released after nine months following international pressure.

Since then, Cameroon police have closely monitored his activities and all of his political rallies and protests have been declared illegal.

Source: VOA

23, October 2020

Race for the White House: Trump plans to vote early on Saturday in Florida ⁰

US President Donald Trump will cast an early vote in the presidential election while he is visiting Florida this weekend, White House spokesman Judd Deere said on Thursday.

The Republican president plans to vote in West Palm Beach, Florida, where his Mar-a-Lago estate is situated, on Saturday, according to Deere.

This comes as he is preparing for the third and final presidential debate against his Democratic rival Joe Biden and also as he is trying to close a big gap in opinion polls before the Nov. 3 election.

Trump trails Biden significantly in national polls and needs to score some hits in the debate to steady his campaign that is struggling, in part because of his mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic.

According to polls, there are relatively few voters who have yet to make up their minds as Americans have cast more than 47 million votes for the election.

That eclipses total early voting from the 2016 presidential election with 12 days to go, according to data compiled by the US Elections Project.

Nearly 47.095 million Americans have turned in ballots, almost eight times the number of early votes cast at around same point before the 2016 contest, and just over the 47.015 million early votes that were cast before Election Day in that year.

Source: Presstv

23, October 2020

CPDM baron says ruling party is controlled by homosexuals ⁰

Politician and professor Pascal Charlemagne Messanga Nyamding recently floated the claim that his own ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement (CPDM) party is controlled by homosexuals.

He made that charge in the World News Cameroon newspaper despite the fact that the CPDM is the party of the country’s revered longtime president, His Excellency Paul Biya.

Messanga Nyamding, a professor of political science at the Institute for International Relations (IRIC) at the University of Yaoundé II, is known for expressing homophobic views to his students, claiming that homosexuality is an unnatural and even diabolical practice.

This isn’t the first time he has used the issue of homosexuality for political ends.

During the 2018 presidential campaigns, Messanga Nyamding accused Cameroonian opposition leader Professor Maurice Kamto of being a supporter of homosexuality.

He presented no evidence to support that statement, nor has he presented evidence to back up his latest complaint about the CPDM. Yet many Cameroonians still believe him.

His latest homophobic denunciation came on Oct. 8, when he declared about the CPDM that “the queers who run our party” threatened to take him to the party’s disciplinary council if he did not go along with their plans.

Unlike those political opponents, he said, he and his allies are the true supporters of President Paul Biya — “the real biyaists”.

Source: 76crimes.com

23, October 2020

CPDM Crime Syndicate: Minister Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh weaponises presidential directives ⁰

Ferdinand Ngoh Ngoh, the all-powerful secretary-general at the presidency of the republic, has a key weapon in his running battle against certain rival ministers and advisors to Paul Biya. Africa intelligence reports that Ngoh Ngoh who now has the authority to sign directives on behalf of President Biya is weaponising presidential directives and targeting his rivals in government.

23, October 2020

US: Trump and Biden face off in more civil, but equally contentious, final debate ⁰

After the first presidential debate was panned so widely that organizers introduced a mute button, Thursday’s second and final debate between President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger Joe Biden was far more civil, yet showed the same sharp divides on the key issues facing the United States.

Trump, the Republican incumbent, took a more restrained approach than he did during the chaotic first presidential debate in September, when he repeatedly interrupted Biden. He even praised the moderator, whom he’d repeatedly denigrated before the debate.

“So far, I respect very much the way you’re handling this,” Trump said to NBC’s Kristen Welker when she gave him time to respond to Biden at one point.

Still, Thursday’s clash featured plenty of personal attacks between two men who evince little respect for each other, and Trump kept fact-checkers busy by leveling unfounded corruption accusations at Biden and his family. He also brought back campaign tropes about immigrant “rapists” and “murderers”, hearkening back to the speech that kicked off his 2016 campaign and suggesting that his pitch to voters remains much the same.

The televised encounter in Nashville, Tennessee, represented one of Trump’s last remaining opportunities to reshape a campaign dominated by a pandemic that has killed more than 221,000 people in the United States. Trump has trailed Biden in opinion polls for months, though the contest is tighter in some battleground states likely to decide the election.

Here are the issues that dominated the two candidates’ final televised clash before the November 3 election.

Covid-19: ‘People are learning to die with it’

Trump’s difficulty articulating a defense of his handling of the coronavirus remains a drag on his campaign. The opening topic of the debate was entirely predictable — Trump has received variations of the same question in interviews and has rarely delivered a clear answer.

Asked to outline his plan for the future, Trump instead asserted his prior handling was without fault and yet again predicted a rosy reversal to the pandemic.

“We’re rounding the turn, we’re rounding the corner,” Trump claimed, even as cases spike again across the country. “It’s going away.”

Biden, who has sought to prosecute Trump’s handling of the virus in his closing pitch to voters, came prepared. “Anyone who’s responsible for that many deaths should not remain as president of the United States of America,” he said.

Biden added: “He says we’re, you know, we’re learning to live with it. People are learning to die with it.”

Trump asserted that a vaccine would be ready by the end of the year and potentially within “weeks”, but stopped short of claiming it would be ready before the election, as he earlier had. Most experts, including administration officials, have said a vaccine is unlikely to be widely available until mid-2021.

The debate came as several US states, including the election swing state of Ohio, reported record single-day increases in Covid-19 infections on Thursday, evidence the pandemic is accelerating anew.

Trump promises to ‘terminate’ Obamacare

Trump and Biden each sought to position himself as the defender of American’s health care, keenly aware that it ranked among the top issues for voters even before the coronavirus pandemic struck the nation.

But Trump’s efforts to repeal and undermine the Obama-era Affordable Care Act proved to be a liability, as Biden hammered his efforts to strip coverage from tens of millions of Americans and his lack of a plan to cover those with preexisting conditions.

Biden, by contrast, fended off Trump’s attack that his plan to reinforce the Obama-era law with a “public option” amounted to a step toward socialized medicine by relying on his well-established public persona — and his vanquishing of Democratic primary rivals who campaigned on a Medicare-for-All program.

“He thinks he’s running against somebody else,” Biden said. “I beat all those other people.”

‘The least racist person in this room’

With centuries of institutional racism coming to a head in 2020 with the resurgent Black Lives Matter movement, it’s been a bit of disconnect to see a 74-year-old white Republican and a 77-year-old white Democrat battle for the presidency. Trump and Biden did little to dispel that disconnect.

Welker offered both multiple opportunities to talk directly to Black Americans. Both men said they understood the challenges Black citizens face, but the segment amounted mostly to them blasting each other.

Trump blamed Biden as an almost singular force behind mass incarceration, especially of “young Black men”. Trump declared himself “the least racist person in this room” and repeated his claim that “nobody has done what I’ve done” for Black Americans “with the exception of Abraham Lincoln, possible exception”.

Trump and Biden spar over racism

Biden, incredulous, called Trump a “racist” who “pours fuel on every single racist fire”.

Polls suggest many young voters of color do not support Trump but aren’t particularly enthusiastic about Biden either. It’s unlikely their final debate altered that view.

Climate change

Trump and Biden faced off on global climate change in the first extensive discussion of the issue in a presidential debate in 20 years.

Biden beseeched the world to address a warming climate, as Trump took credit for pulling the US out of a major international accord to do just that. Trump asserted he was trying to save American jobs, while taking credit for some of the cleanest air and water the nation has seen in generations — some of it a holdover of regulations passed by his predecessor.

Trump also sought to blame other countries for their role in climate change, referring to “filthy” pollution in China, India and Russia. (China overtook the US as the world’s largest overall CO2 emitter in 2005, but US emissions per capita are still vastly higher.)

Biden, tapping into an issue of particular importance to his base, called for massive investment to create new environmentally friendly industries. “Our health and our jobs are at stake,” he said.

Biden also spoke of a transition from the oil industry, which Trump seized upon, asking voters in Texas and Pennsylvania if they were listening.

Foreign policy meets personal attacks

Biden also finally got a chance to talk a little foreign policy. But most discussion of other countries came as the two candidates attacked each other with allegations of foreign entanglements.

Trump repeatedly leveled unsupported allegations against Biden and his son Hunter in an attempt to cast his rival and his family as corrupt.

“I don’t make money from China, you do. I don’t make money from Ukraine, you do,” Trump said.

Trump offered no hard proof for his assertions, as has often been the case during his presidency. Biden meanwhile highlighted a recent New York Times report that the president has a Chinese bank account as well as the Times’ earlier reporting showing that Trump paid only $750 in taxes in 2016 and 2017.

When given the opportunity, the former vice president also hammered Trump’s cozy relationship with North Korea’s authoritarian leader Kim Jong Un. “His buddy, who’s a thug,” Biden said, arguing that Trump’s summit with Kim “legitimized” a US adversary and potential nuclear threat.

Trump defended his “different kind of relationship … a very good relationship” with Kim, prompting Biden to retort that nations “had a good relationship with Hitler before he, in fact, invaded the rest of Europe”.

Snap polls show Biden as debate winner

Despite the swipes, the moderator appeared relieved at the end the debate and thanked both candidates for a “robust, fantastic” discussion. Many on social media touted Welker as the debate’s winner, cheering her ability to keep the discussion on track.

Source: France 24

22, October 2020

CPDM Southern Cameroons Politics: Ntemoyok Mewanu is Kumba’s new mayor ⁰

Gregory Ntemoyok Mewanu is now the new Mayor of Kumba. The pro Yaoundé Southern Cameroons business tycoon was elected today at the Kumba town council hall.

The CPDM Kumba spy master won 64 of the 75 cast votes to unseat incumbent Victor Nkelle Ngoh in a controversial process that recorded 11 spoiled ballots.

The outgoing mayor Nkelle Ngoh was declared mayor of Kumba on March 3, 2020, following the February 9 twin municipal and parliamentary elections. Nkelle reportedly secured 38 votes as against 31 for Mewanu and 6 for Stephen Ekoko Mwelle.

However, Meme politics took a dramatic u turn and Greg Mewanu petitioned the Francophone South West Administrative Court for the elections to be cancelled. The court in Buea upheld the outcome of the April 9 polling but Mewanu again appeared before the Administrative Bench of the Supreme Court and seek and gotten French Cameroun support.

On Thursday, September 24, 2020, the Supreme Court in Yaoundé annulled the March 3, 2020 and ordered a repeat. The Senior Divisional Officer for Meme, Chamberlain Ntou’ou Ndong was ordered to stage a repeat of the electoral process.

Today’s so-called elections justifies more than 58 years of annoying Southern Cameroonians by the French Cameroun regime in Yaoundé. Nkelle Ngoh was first appointed Government Delegate to the Kumba Urban Council in 2009 to replace Cavern Nnoko Mbelle who had held the office for a decade.

The electoral process was teleguided by a Central Committee delegation of the ruling Cameroon People’s Democratic Movement, CPDM led by Paul TASONG NJUKANG, Minister Delegate in charge of Planning.

Balike Esuka Victorine epse Ebanja and Sako Umana McMillan were respectively elected First Deputy and Second Deputy Mayor.

By Rita Akana

22, October 2020

British PM Johnson lambasted by EU lawmakers ⁰

Never before in the European Parliament has a British Prime Minister attracted so much criticism. In a debate on Wednesday, MEP after MEP lambasted Boris Johnson over his handling of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU.

Boris Johnson has been lying to the people in the UK. The Brexit transition period ends on the 31st of December. If the EU and UK fail to reach a trade deal before then, chaos will ensue, many argue.

Johnson says there will be no further face-to-face negotiations with the EU until such time as the bloc takes the UK’s position seriously. However, almost every lawmaker in the Brussels chamber is blaming him for the impasse. A no trade deal scenario could lead to mayhem at borders between the EU and UK. Experts warn disruption to major trading corridors will have wide-ranging economic consequences.

Although very much in the minority, some eurosceptics in the European Parliament blame Brussels’ bureaucracy for the breakdown in EU-UK relations. But there are warnings that millions of jobs are at risk, and the livelihoods of fishermen and farmers hang in the balance. Most MEPs say no agreement on a future EU-UK relationship would be disastrous.

During the debate one lawmakers suggested there are now a maximum of two weeks to reach a deal, so as to allow time for parliaments to scrutinise and endorse any accord that might be agreed.

Source: Presstv

20, October 2020

Guinea opposition candidate claims victory before official results ⁰

Guinea opposition candidate Cellou Dalein Diallo said on Monday he had won the first round of the Oct. 18 presidential election, but his claim was quickly disputed by the electoral commission and the government, setting the stage for a stand-off.

“Despite the serious anomalies that marred the smooth running of the … election and in view of the results that came out of the ballot boxes, I am victorious in this election in the first round,” Diallo told journalists and cheering supporters.

He did not give any figures but said the tally was based on his party’s count, not an official tally being conducted by the national election commission, which has yet to publish results.

The electoral commission said Diallo’s claim carried no weight.

“The Independent National Electoral Commission is the only body authorised to give provisional results. It is neither for a political party nor for any individual to do so,” Mamadi 3 Kaba, a spokesman for the commission, told Reuters.

“We regret the attitude of Mr. Diallo and we say that this declaration is null and void,” he added.

Guinea’s government said in a statement late on Monday that Diallo’s statement was irresponsible and could sow confusion and undermine peace in the West African state. It warned it could launch criminal charges against him.

The government said results from over 15,000 polling stations were still being tallied. “It is impossible, at this stage of the process, to have neither trends, let alone the results of the vote.”

Diallo is the main challenger to Guinea’s 82-year-old incumbent president, Alpha Conde, who is seeking a third mandate after a constitutional change in March which sparked deadly protests.

Following his announcement, Diallo’s supporters swept into the streets in his strongholds, declaring their alleged victory.

Diallo said on Twitter that three young men were killed in the capital, and several others were injured by security forces while they celebrated his victory.

The government was not immediately available to comment on the deaths.

Security Minister Damantang Albert Camara earlier accused Diallo’s party of publishing false results, and warned it risked triggering violence.

“This strategy of forced, premature and unjustified celebration was carefully planned well before the election,” Camara said in a statement.

Rights groups say at least 50 people having been killed over the past year during demonstrations against the constitutional change that allowed Conde to seek at least six more years in power.

(REUTERS)

20, October 2020

US: Final Trump-Biden debate will feature ‘mute’ button to avoid interruptions ⁰

The final debate between President Donald Trump and Democratic rival Joe Biden will feature a mute button to allow each candidate to speak uninterrupted, organisers said on Monday, looking to avoid the disruptions that marred the first matchup.

The Trump campaign voiced objections to the change – made after the president repeatedly talked over both Biden and the moderator at last month’s debate in violation of its agreed-upon rules – but said the Republican would still take part in the Thursday night event, one of his last chances to reach a large prime-time audience before voting ends on Nov. 3.

The Presidential Commission on Debates said each candidate’s microphone at the debate in Nashville, Tennessee, would be silenced to allow the other to make two minutes of opening remarks at the beginning of each 15-minute segment of the debate. Both microphones will be turned on to allow a back-and-forth after that time.

“President Trump is committed to debating Joe Biden regardless of last-minute rule changes from the biased commission in their latest attempt to provide advantage to their favored candidate,” campaign manager Bill Stepien said.

The Biden campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

More than 30 million Americans have already cast their ballots, limiting Trump’s chances of reframing a contest that national and state opinion polls show him trailing.

Trump repeatedly interrupted Biden during a chaotic and ill-tempered debate on Sept. 29, at one point provoking Biden to snap: “Will you shut up, man?”

‘They cut you off’

Trump backed out of a second scheduled debate set for last Thursday over a disagreement about the virtual format following his Covid-19 infection. At that time, he raised concerns about having his microphone muted.

“You sit behind a computer and do a debate – it’s ridiculous, and then they cut you off whenever they want,” Trump said in an Oct. 8 interview on Fox Business.

Earlier on Monday, Trump’s campaign said it was unhappy with the announced set of topics for Thursday’s debate, arguing that it should focus more on foreign policy and asserting that the nonpartisan group was tilted toward Biden.

Biden’s campaign said both sides previously agreed to let moderators choose the subjects. It said Trump wanted to avoid discussing his stewardship of the coronavirus pandemic, which surveys show is the top issue for voters.

“As usual, the president is more concerned with the rules of a debate than he is getting a nation in crisis the help it needs,” Biden spokesman TJ Ducklo said.

The number of Americans who voted early reached 30.2 million on Monday, according to the University of Florida’s United States Elections Project. That number represents more than one-fifth of all the votes cast in the 2016 election.

Early voting is likely to ramp up this week as more states open up voting centers for those who want to avoid possible coronavirus exposure at crowded Election Day polling sites.

(FRANCE 24 with REUTERS)