Gambia leader Yahya Jammeh rejects election result
Gambian leader Yahya Jammeh has rejected the result of the presidential election held earlier this month, a week after admitting defeat.
Speaking on state TV, Mr Jammeh cited "abnormalities" in the vote and called for fresh elections.
Mr Jammeh, who came to power in a coup in 1994, suffered a shock defeat to Adama Barrow, who won more than 45% of the vote.
The US "strongly condemned" Mr Jammeh's statement.
"This action is a reprehensible and unacceptable breach of faith with the people of The Gambia and an egregious attempt to undermine a credible election process and remain in power illegitimately," said state department spokesman Mark Toner.
Mr Barrow, a property developer, is due to take office in late January. Mai Ahmad Fatty, the head of his transition team, told Reuters they were "consulting on what to do", adding: "As far as we are concerned, the people have voted. We will maintain peace and stability and not let anyone provoke us into violence."
The Gambia is the smallest country on mainland Africa, with a population of fewer than two million.
From estate agent to president
The man in charge for 22 years
The crack in Gambia's smile
Mr Jammeh said that he now rejected the results of the election "in totality".
"After a thorough investigation, I have decided to reject the outcome of the recent election," Mr Jammeh said.
"I lament serious and unacceptable abnormalities which have reportedly transpired during the electoral process.
"I recommend fresh and transparent elections which will be officiated by a God-fearing and independent electoral commission."
Yahya Jammeh appeared on state TV brandishing a document supposedly proving irregularities when the votes were tallied last week.
Mr Jammeh said the results were unacceptable. He said figures had been transposed swelling the number of votes in favour of his opponent, Adama Barrow, whom he recognised as president-elect live on television after the election results were announced.
Yahya Jammeh called for a fresh vote.
Over the past week people have been celebrating the end of his 22-year-long rule but tonight The Gambia's future looks uncertain again.
The government in neighbouring Senegal condemned the move and called for an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council. Foreign Minister Mankeur Ndiaye, speaking on national television, urged President Jammeh to respect the election result.
A Human Rights Watch spokesman also said it was "deeply concerned".
"The international community, notably [regional bloc] Ecowas and the African Union, should loudly protest any unlawful attempt to subvert the will of the Gambian people," said Babatunde Olugboji, deputy programme director.
The streets of the capital, Banjul, were reported to be calm on Friday night although soldiers were seen placing sandbags in strategic locations across the city, AFP news agency reports.
Image copyright Reuters
Image caption There were scenes of celebration in the capital Banjul after Adama Barrow's election
Only last week, Mr Jammeh was shown on state TV calling Mr Barrow to wish him well.
"You are the elected president of The Gambia, and I wish you all the best. I have no ill will," he said at the time.
According to the electoral commission, the result of the vote on 1 December was:
Mr Barrow won 263,515 votes (45.5%)
President Jammeh took 212,099 (36.7%)
A third-party candidate, Mama Kandeh, won 102,969 (17.8%)
In his 22 years in power, Mr Jammeh acquired a reputation as a ruthless leader.
Ahead of the election, Human Rights Watch accused him of using violence to silence critics. The group said two activists had died in custody and dozens of people had been jailed and denied medical or legal help.
Ghana's opposition leader Akufo-Addo wins presidential election
Opposition leader Nana Akufo-Addo won Ghana's national election, becoming president elect at the third attempt and cementing the country's reputation as a standard bearer of democracy in a region that has been blighted by civil wars and coups.
Akufo-Addo defeated President John Mahama by 53.8 percent to 44.4 percent, electoral commissioner Charlotte Osei said late on Friday, sparking scenes of celebration in the capital Accra.
Supporters of his New Patriotic Party (NPP) cheered, danced and set off fireworks following an anxious day in which his victory had been broadly accepted but there were no official results.
"I make this solemn pledge to you tonight: I will not let you down. I will do all in my power to live up to your hopes and expectations," Akufo-Addo told a jubilant crowd in the garden of his residence.
Akufo-Addo, 72, served as foreign minister and attorney general in the NPP government that ruled between 2001 and 2009 and twice previously lost close battles for the presidency.
Mahama called him to offer congratulations just before Osei's statement and later he addressed his supporters.
Ghana's president-elect Nana Akufo-Addo of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) speaks during a news conference at his home in Accra, Ghana, December 9, 2016. REUTERS/Luc Gnago
"As president I have done my bit. I have made a contribution to the political, social and economic development of our country. I would have cherished an opportunity to do even more but I respect the will of the Ghanaian people," he said.
SCALE OF VICTORY
The outcome maintains Ghana's record of fiercely-contested but peaceful elections. It is the third time since 2000 that the government of the day has been voted out of office.
The opposition challenged the 2012 election results, which led to an eight-month battle in the Supreme Court. It lost, but many observers said the process strengthened the country's democracy and confirmed judicial independence.
The scale of the NPP's victory on Friday made another legal challenge unlikely. The party also picked up enough seats to win a parliamentary majority, independent estimates showed.
The NPP will inherit an economy from Mahama's National Democratic Congress that for years was rated one of Africa's most dynamic but has slowed sharply since 2014, in part because of prices have fallen for its gold, oil and cocoa exports.
That made the government vulnerable to opposition accusations it had mismanaged the nation's finances and squandered wealth from oil, which started to flow in 2010 from an offshore field operated by British company Tullow.
In a bid to kickstart growth, the NPP says it will create jobs, build a dam in every village and a factory in every district and give each constituency the equivalent of $1 million per year to pursue development projects.
At the same time, it also aims to maintain a tight fiscal stance in a country that is mid-way through an International Monetary Fund program aimed at restoring balance to an economy facing elevated inflation and other problems.
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was born and raised in Ga-Maami (Accra Central) and in the Nima area of Accra. His father’s residence, Betty House at Korle Wokon in Accra, was effectively the headquarters of the country’s first political party, the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC), after it was formed at Saltpond on 4 August 1947. Three of the ‘Big Six’ – the founding fathers of Ghana – were his relatives: J.B. Danquah (grand uncle), William Ofori-Atta (uncle) and Edward Akufo-Addo (the third Chief Justice of Ghana and later ceremonial President of the Republic from 1969 to 1972), (his father).https://www.ghanabusinessnews.com/2016/12/09/profile-of-nana-addo-dankwa-akufo-addo-president-elect-of-ghana/
Akufo-Addo received his primary education first at the Government Boys School, Adabraka, and later at the Rowe Road School (now Kimbu), both in Accra Central. He went to England to study for his O-Level and A-Level examinations at Lancing College, Sussex. He returned to Ghana in 1962 to teach at Accra Academy, before going to read Economics at the University of Ghana, Legon, in 1964, earning a BSc(Econ) degree in 1967. He subsequently studied law in the UK and was called to the English Bar (Middle Temple) in July 1971. Akufo-Addo was called to the Ghana bar in July 1975.
LEGAL AND BUSINESS CAREER
Akufo-Addo stayed in France for five years as a lawyer at the now-defunct New York-based international law firm, Coudert Brothers. Apart from the welcome exposure to the dynamics of international corporate transactions, his stay in France also made him fluent in French.
In 1975, he returned home to Accra to continue with his legal career. He joined the chambers of U.V. Campbell from 1975 to 1979, and in 1979 co-founded the law firm Akufo-Addo, Prempeh & Co., which has become one of the prominent law firms in Ghana. Some Ghanaian lawyers who passed through his law firm are among the most outstanding lawyers at the Ghanaian bar today. They include Sophia Akuffo, Justice of the Supreme Court; Joyce Darko; Daniel Afari Yeboah; Philip Addison; Joe Ghartey, a former Attorney General and Minister for Justice; Alex Quaynor; Frank Davies; Kweku Paintsil; Ursula Owusu; Atta Akyea, Akufo-Addo’s successor as MP for Abuakwa South constituency; Akoto Ampaw; Yoni Kulendi; Kwame Akuffo; Kwaku Asirifi; and Godfred Dame.
Like the “Doyen of Gold Coast politics”, J. B. Danquah, and others before him, Akufo-Addo used his law practice to champion the cause of human rights, rule of law, justice, freedom, and democracy. He was well known for giving free legal assistance to the poor and fought for the rights and liberties of the Ghanaian people. Indeed, many of the important constitutional cases of the modern era, which, inter alia, protected the independence of the judiciary, the right of the citizen to demonstrate without police permit, and the right of equal access of all political parties to the State-owned media, were undertaken by him.
Akufo-Addo has served on the boards and committees of a number of political, legal, commercial, and social organizations in the country. He was the first Chairperson of DHL (GH) Ltd; Chairperson, Kinesec Communications (Co) Ltd., publishers of The Statesman; and the first Chairperson of the Ghana Committee on Human and Peoples’ Rights. He was responsible, through his association with the US company, Millicom, for introducing mobile telephony into the country.
POLITICAL CAREER
In his early thirties, Akufo-Addo was the General Secretary of the broad-based People’s Movement for Freedom and Justice (PMFJ), which was composed of political stalwarts such as Akwasi Amankwa Afrifa, William Ofori-Atta, Komla Agbeli Gbedemah, Albert Adu Boahen, Sam Okudzeto, Obed Asamoah, Godfrey Agama, K. S. P. Jantuah, Jones Ofori-Atta, Johnny Hanson and Nii Amaah Amartefio (“Mr. No”). This group led the “NO” campaign in the UNIGOV referendum of 1978, designed to solicit popular support for a one-party military-led State. The “No” campaign ultimately brought about the downfall of the Acheampong military government on 5 July 1978, and the restoration of multiparty democratic rule to the country in 1979. Akufo-Addo had to go briefly into exile after the referendum, when his life was in danger. But, from Europe, he could be heard constantly on the BBC World Service, fighting against the military rulers back in Ghana and calling for a return to democracy. He is acknowledged as one of the leaders of the pro-democracy movement in Ghana.
In 1991, Akufo-Addo was the chairman of the Organising Committee of the Danquah-Busia Memorial Club, a club dedicated to the preservation of the memory and ideals of the two great advocates of Ghanaian democracy, J. B. Danquah and K.A. Busia, Prime Minister of the Progress Party government of the 2nd Republic of Ghana. Akufo-Addo travelled throughout Ghana to establish branches of the Club all over the country in the grassroots style for which he is known. These branches eventually transformed into local organs of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) prior to the elections of 1992, which heralded the reintroduction of democratic governance under the 4th Republic.
In 1992, he was the first national organiser of the NPP and, later that year, campaign manager of the party’s first presidential candidate, Prof. Albert Adu Boahen, the man of courage who broke the “culture of silence” in Ghana, and played such a crucial role in the reintroduction of democracy.
In 1992, Akufo-Addo set up and financed The Statesman newspaper, which has become the unofficial mouthpiece of the NPP.
In 1995, he led the famous “Kume Preko” demonstrations of the Alliance For Change (AFC), a broad-based political pressure group, which mobilised millions of people onto the streets of Ghana to protest the harsh economic conditions of the Rawlings era. Some pundits in Ghana believe that this was instrumental in re-establishing the NPP as a more formidable force after Prof Adu Boahen.
Akufo-Addo was elected three times between 1996 and 2008 as Member of Parliament for the Abuakwa South constituency in the Eastern region of Ghana. From 2001 to 2007, as Cabinet Minister, first as Attorney-General and Minister for Justice for two years, and later as Foreign Minister for five years, Akufo-Addo served in the government of President Kufuor with distinction.
As Attorney-General, he was responsible for the repeal of the Criminal Libel Law, which, hitherto, had been used to intimidate the media and criminalise free speech. The repeal has enabled the Ghanaian media become one of the most vibrant and freest in Africa. Under his chairmanship of the Legal Sector Reform Committee, the implementation of the court automation programme was initiated.
As Foreign Minister, he was fully involved in the successful Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) peace efforts in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, and Guinea Bissau, and was chairman of the ECOWAS Mediation and Security Council in 2003.
In 2004, Ghana was elected one of the 15 pioneer members of the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council, a mandate which was renewed at the AU Summit in Khartoum in January 2006. Akufo-Addo was chosen by his peers on the AU Executive Council to chair the Ministerial Committee of 15 that fashioned the Ezulwini Consensus, which defined the African Union’s common position on UN Reforms. He negotiated for the 2007 AU Summit to be held in Accra as part of Ghana’s Golden Jubilee celebrations, and chaired the AU Executive Council in 2007.
Ghana was elected by her peers to take the non-permanent West African seat on the UN Security Council for 2006-07. In August 2006, Akufo-Addo chaired the meeting of the Security Council which took the decision that halted Israel’s massive incursions into Lebanon. Again, Ghana was elected to the new UN body, the Human Rights Council, with the highest number of votes—183 out of 191—of any country, and as a pioneer member of another UN body, the Peacebuilding Commission.
PRESIDENTIAL BIDS
In October 1998, Nana Akufo-Addo competed for the presidential candidacy of the NPP and lost to John Agyekum Kufuor, the man who eventually won the presidential election in Ghana in December 2000 and assumed office as President of Ghana in 2001. Akufo-Addo was the chief campaigner for candidate Kufuor in the 2000 election and became the first Attorney General and Minister for Justice of the Kufuor era.
Akufo-Addo resigned from the Kufuor Government in July 2007 to contest for the position of presidential candidate of his party, the NPP, the then ruling party of Ghana, for the 2008 elections. Competing against 16 others, he won 48% of the votes in the first round of that election, but was given a unanimous endorsement in the second round, making him the party’s presidential candidate.
In the 7 December 2008 presidential race, he received, in the first round, more votes than John Atta Mills, the eventual winner. In the first round, Akufo-Addo received 4,159,439 votes representing 49.13% of the votes cast, placing him first, but not enough for the 50% needed for an outright victory. It was the best-ever performance for a first-time presidential candidate in the Fourth Republic. In the run-off, Mills received 4,521,032 votes, representing 50.23%, thus beating Akufo-Addo by the smallest margin in Ghana’s, and, indeed, in Africa’s political history. Akufo-Addo accepted the results without calling even for a recount, thereby helping to preserve the peace, freedom and stability of Ghana. Akufo-Addo again contested in the 2012 national elections against the NDC candidate, the late Mills’ successor as President, John Mahama, and lost. That election generated considerable controversy, and was finally decided by the Supreme Court in a narrow 5/4 decision in favour of John Mahama. Akufo-Addo is credited with helping to preserve the peace of the country by the statesmanlike manner in which he accepted the adverse verdict of the Court, at a time of high tension in the country.
In March 2014, Akufo-Addo announced his decision to seek his party’s nomination for the third time ahead of the 2016 election. He secured an unprecedented, landslide victory of 94.35% of the votes in the party’s presidential primary in October, 2014, in a contest of seven competitors. Akufo-Addo also took time off to serve as Chair of the Commonwealth Observer Mission for the South African elections in 2014, building on his reputation as Ghana’s Former Foreign Minister.
Credit: www.nanaakufoaddo.org
(https://qzprod.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/screen-shot-2016-12-09-at-8-22-04-pm.png?w=3200)
A 76-meter (250 ft) luxury yacht said to belong to Teodorin Obiang Nguema, the vice-president of oil-rich Equatorial Guinea has been seized by Dutch authorities after it tried to leave Makkum, the Netherlands to head to Malabo.
Obiang Nguema, who is the son of president Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, Africa’s longest serving president, has been under investigation in Switzerland. The yacht, Ebony Shine, was seized (http://www.hebdo.ch/hebdo/projecteurs/detail/teodorin-obiang-se-fait-saisir-son-yacht) (in French) after a request by Swiss authorities. Last month, 11 of the world’s rarest and most expensive cars owned by Obiang Nguema were seized in Geneva, adding to the Obiang family’s international legal battles over alleged misappropriation of public funds. The vice president is believed to have a net worth of around $600 million.
Ebony Shine is one of two luxury yachts owned by the Equatorial Guinea. The other 90-meter yacht, called Ice, is docked at Tangier, Morocco, according to YachtHarbour.com. Ebony Shine was bought for $120 million. Both yachts are estimated to be worth around $250
million.
As well as yachts and cars, which include the Swedish-made Koenigegg One valued at $2.8 million, and a $2 million Bugatti Veyron, Obiang Nguema is also believed to own at least one private jet, including a Dassault 900.
He has denied ownership of the luxury items, claiming that they belong to his country’s government, according to Swiss publication L’Hebdo.(https://qzprod.files.wordpress.com/2016/11/h_53102598-e1478270453943.jpg?quality=80&strip=all&w=940)
Equatorial Guinea is Africa’s third largest oil producer with a GDP of $15.53 billion in 2014, with a population of just over 1.2 million, according to last year’s census. That means it has one of Africa’s highest rates of GDP per capita. Yet, it’s ranked 138 out of 188 countrieson the United Nations Human Development Index.
The Swiss investigation comes five years after an investigation was launched in France into Teodorin Obiang. He is accused of having procured ill-gotten wealth and is scheduled to stand trial in Paris in January 2017. In 2011, French police sequestered luxury cars from Obiang’s $180 million residence in Paris, as well as furniture and art, including paintings by Edgar Degas and Auguste Renoir, worth $50 million.
Quote(https://qzprod.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/screen-shot-2016-12-09-at-8-22-04-pm.png?w=3200)
A 76-meter (250 ft) luxury yacht said to belong to Teodorin Obiang Nguema, the vice-president of oil-rich Equatorial Guinea has been seized by Dutch authorities after it tried to leave Makkum, the Netherlands to head to Malabo.
Obiang Nguema, who is the son of president Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, Africa’s longest serving president, has been under investigation in Switzerland. The yacht, Ebony Shine, was seized (http://www.hebdo.ch/hebdo/projecteurs/detail/teodorin-obiang-se-fait-saisir-son-yacht) (in French) after a request by Swiss authorities. Last month, 11 of the world’s rarest and most expensive cars owned by Obiang Nguema were seized in Geneva, adding to the Obiang family’s international legal battles over alleged misappropriation of public funds. The vice president is believed to have a net worth of around $600 million.
Ebony Shine is one of two luxury yachts owned by the Equatorial Guinea. The other 90-meter yacht, called Ice, is docked at Tangier, Morocco, according to YachtHarbour.com. Ebony Shine was bought for $120 million. Both yachts are estimated to be worth around $250
million.
As well as yachts and cars, which include the Swedish-made Koenigegg One valued at $2.8 million, and a $2 million Bugatti Veyron, Obiang Nguema is also believed to own at least one private jet, including a Dassault 900.
He has denied ownership of the luxury items, claiming that they belong to his country’s government, according to Swiss publication L’Hebdo.(https://qzprod.files.wordpress.com/2016/11/h_53102598-e1478270453943.jpg?quality=80&strip=all&w=940)
Equatorial Guinea is Africa’s third largest oil producer with a GDP of $15.53 billion in 2014, with a population of just over 1.2 million, according to last year’s census. That means it has one of Africa’s highest rates of GDP per capita. Yet, it’s ranked 138 out of 188 countrieson the United Nations Human Development Index.
The Swiss investigation comes five years after an investigation was launched in France into Teodorin Obiang. He is accused of having procured ill-gotten wealth and is scheduled to stand trial in Paris in January 2017. In 2011, French police sequestered luxury cars from Obiang’s $180 million residence in Paris, as well as furniture and art, including paintings by Edgar Degas and Auguste Renoir, worth $50 million.
We need such an expose on the Mois and other thieves.
We need such an expose on the Mois and other thieves.
And then?
A great deal of information is already available on "Moi and other thieves". In general, the knowledge of who has stolen what has never really been an issue in Kenya. "What next?" has always been the issue, precisely because the "next" has always been nothing. The Kenyan media carries stories of major corruption on a near-weekly basis. And what comes of them?
Example: Okemo and Gichuru have had all their dealings exposed, have been indicted elsewhere, have been up for extradition for years .... Is anyone sorting planning to send them overseas or even to sort them out locally?
Kenyans will whine about such things, but there is very little evidence to suggest that they want real change .... how many people showed up for the last anti-corruption demo in Nairobi? The fundamental problem is, of course, in the firmly held belief that it's "those other people" who are the bad ones. As long as it's "our person", then all is well, and any complaint must be part of a dastardly plot to "finish our people". Unless things get really bad for long enough (think Moi's 24 years) or there is some unexpected mayhem (think PEV 2007-2008), I don;t see even the slightest hint of an awakening for another 50+ years.
We need such an expose on the Mois and other thieves.
And then?
A great deal of information is already available on "Moi and other thieves". In general, the knowledge of who has stolen what has never really been an issue in Kenya. "What next?" has always been the issue, precisely because the "next" has always been nothing. The Kenyan media carries stories of major corruption on a near-weekly basis. And what comes of them?
Example: Okemo and Gichuru have had all their dealings exposed, have been indicted elsewhere, have been up for extradition for years .... Is anyone sorting planning to send them overseas or even to sort them out locally?
Kenyans will whine about such things, but there is very little evidence to suggest that they want real change .... how many people showed up for the last anti-corruption demo in Nairobi? The fundamental problem is, of course, in the firmly held belief that it's "those other people" who are the bad ones. As long as it's "our person", then all is well, and any complaint must be part of a dastardly plot to "finish our people". Unless things get really bad for long enough (think Moi's 24 years) or there is some unexpected mayhem (think PEV 2007-2008), I don;t see even the slightest hint of an awakening for another 50+ years.
http://saharareporters.com/2017/02/19/nigerians-suffer-fresh-xenophobic-attacks-south-africa (http://saharareporters.com/2017/02/19/nigerians-suffer-fresh-xenophobic-attacks-south-africa)
Another round of African popular sport is on
http://saharareporters.com/2017/02/19/nigerians-suffer-fresh-xenophobic-attacks-south-africa
Another round of African popular sport is on
http://saharareporters.com/2017/02/19/nigerians-suffer-fresh-xenophobic-attacks-south-africa
Another round of African popular sport is on
Sad. You'd think people learned something from having kaburu sock it to them for years and years.
Nigera has demanded action from the AU. I'm not sure why.
Ghana leader defends decision to appoint 110 ministers (http://www.nation.co.ke/news/africa/Ghana-leader-appoints-110-ministers/1066-3854220-12lqu3y/)
Ghana's President Nana Akufo-Addo on Friday defended his controversial decision to appoint a 110-minister government, calling it a "necessary investment" in the small west African country.
The new government nominated Wednesday — which includes dozens of lower-level and regional ministers — is a record for Ghana and has sparked a storm of commentary on social media and radio talk shows.
"I'm aware that people are concerned about what they see as maybe the cost of this large government," Akufo-Addo admitted in an interview on national television Friday.
"It is a necessary investment to make."
Akufo-Addo, who was elected in December on a promise to fix a host of economic problems and fight corruption, stressed that his ministers "are coming to work, it is not going to be a holiday".
And he insisted the costs of his new government would not be as high as people might think.
"The number, for instance, among the deputy ministers — 42 out of 50 are all parliamentarians, and in effect converting them from parliamentarians into ministers, the marginal cost of that transformation is minimal in terms of the public exchequer," he said.
The ministers are needed for the "rapid transformation of this country", Akufo-Addo said.
George Lawson, deputy general secretary of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC), told AFP that the increase in the number of ministers was "not proper" and charged that Akufo-Addo was giving out "jobs for the boys".
"It's a drain on the Ghanaian economy," he added.
Akufo-Addo came to power in January after beating the NDC's John Dramani Mahama in December's election.
The new president says he has inherited an economy reeling from huge fiscal deficits, rising inflation and high unemployment despite an IMF programme designed to stimulate growth.
Buhari in has been fighting corruption kamikaze style. This man is focused
http://mobile.nation.co.ke/news/africa/Nigeria-removes-50-000--ghost-workers--from-state-payrolls/3126394-3499890-o4xfrp/index.htm
Nigeria may have found a recipe in Buhari to tame corruption
Yes he is focused...
Meanwhile in Kenya Waiguru us about to become senator!!Buhari in has been fighting corruption kamikaze style. This man is focused
http://mobile.nation.co.ke/news/africa/Nigeria-removes-50-000--ghost-workers--from-state-payrolls/3126394-3499890-o4xfrp/index.htm (http://mobile.nation.co.ke/news/africa/Nigeria-removes-50-000--ghost-workers--from-state-payrolls/3126394-3499890-o4xfrp/index.htm)
Nigeria may have found a recipe in Buhari to tame corruption