Community News
DR Congo’s President will not stand for re-election in 2018
Africans are tired of wars, dictators and autocrats. So when an African President whose presidency is plagued with controversy decides to not run for re-election, everyone notices.
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) President Joseph Kabila will not stand for re-election in December, a government spokesman has announced.
Kabila became president when his father Laurent Kabila was assassinated in 2001. He was elected in 2006, and secured another term in controversial elections in 2011. The 47-year-old leader refused to leave office when his term expired in December 2016.
The country’s electoral commission said at the time that it could not organise elections until 2018 because violence in the eastern Kasai region had impeded registration of voters. Opposition groups however saw it as a ploy by Kabila to extend his time in office.
An anti-Kabila protest in September 2016 was violently repressed leaving dozens dead. The government then banned public demonstrations. Amnesty International lead researcher in DR Congo, Jean-Mobert Senga, welcomed Mr Kabila’s plan not to seek a third term but added that his government must now ensure that people can freely exercise their voting rights during the election period.
NOW WHAT?
Kabila’s ruling coalition nominated former interior minister Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary as its presidential candidate, Lambert Mende, the government spokesman, said on Wednesday. The move put an end to years of speculation on whether Kabila would defy terms limits.
The government waited until the last moment to announce Kabila’s decision not to run. The electoral commission’s deadline for candidates to register was Wednesday afternoon.
Al Jazeera’s Catherine Soi, reporting from the capital Kinshasa, said Ramazani’s nomination came as a surprise.
“Over the days, several names [of Kabila’s replacements] have been floating around, but his name never really featured,” she said.
“The nomination came after a long consultation between the president and his coalition.”
The uncertainty about Kabila’s intentions raised concern over the past few days, she said.
“But now that has been cleared and analysts are telling us that these tensions that have been in the country could de-escalate,” she said.
The Catholic Church immediately called the decision by Kabila “a big step,” while the US ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, welcomed the news but said Congo’s electoral commission must “take all steps necessary” to guarantee a free and fair vote.
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| Kabila talks with religious leaders after a meeting with coalition members [Kenny Katombe/Reuters] |
Community News
DRC’s First Post Independence President-Elect Gets Backing From African Leaders After Contested Poll
FILE PHOTO: Felix Tshisekedi, leader of the Congolese main opposition party, the Union for Democracy and Social Progress who was announced as the winner of the presidential elections gestures to his supporters at the party headquarters in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, January 10, 2019. REUTERS/Olivia Acland/File Photo
Democratic Republic of Congo’s president-elect Felix Tshisekedi received a chorus of congratulations from African leaders on Sunday and Monday in a growing sign that his disputed election win will not be questioned internationally.
Regional support is crucial for Tshisekedi after a disorganized election on Dec. 30 that runner-up candidate Martin Fayulu says was rigged and that Congo’s Catholic Church contested. Many worry that outgoing president Joseph Kabila will continue to hold sway, limiting Tshisekedi’s power.
The new president will be the first to take power through an election since Congo’s independence in 1960, when Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba was toppled in a coup after less than three months in office. Congolese and their neighbors are anxious that the process remain peaceful in a country that has drawn regional armies into its civil wars over the decades.
A teacher at South African school, Laerskool Schweizer Reneke, took this photo and shared it with parents on WhatsApp in an effort to reassure them that their children’s first day of school was going smoothly. However, the teacher did not have the intended outcome as the photo revealed a detail that was unexpected. The students were separated by race in the classroom.
Students at Laerskool Schweizer were sent back home after South Africa’s North West Education Department suspended the teacher,
Ellen Barkhuizen, who is suspected to have separated the children according to race at the school.
Barkhuizen is reported to have taken the photo of the separated children, which is circulating on social media and has gone viral.
According to TimesLive, when parents complained to the school, they were sent a different picture after the children’s break showing that they had been “moved to different seating spaces to ensure they were not separated according to race”.
BLACK PARENT REACTS
The school has been suspected of discrimination by parents for some time. One parent had this to say to SABC News.
“I have applied on time, but I was so surprised when they said they can’t accept my child, he is on the waiting list. So, I requested to see the list of
WHITE PARENTS REACT
Speaking to SowetanLIVE, some of the white parents said black parents who are not happy about how the school operates, must take their children to township schools.
If you are not happy here, take your child to another school, nobody is forcing you. Now they want to make this as if it is racism, everyone just wants to make white people racists. We are not racists, we just want what is best for our children,” said one parent.
“Blacks don’t put their children first, we put our children first, and their safety and education
GOVERNMENT REACTS
After meeting school staff and education department officials,
North West education MEC Sello Lehari confirmed that the teacher in question had been suspended.
“As
Liberian president, George Weah, has proven that he is not only a former soccer legend but one with another mission – to be a preacher.
The 51-year-old, whose footballing career played a huge role in his landslide election victory, recently opened his own church and gave an inaugural sermon.
On December 31, 2018, during a watch night service to usher in the new year, the Liberian leader held a service and dedication ceremony for the church – The Forky Jlaleh Family Fellowship Church.
The ceremony was attended by a host of government appointees, including the Speaker of the country’s Legislature, Bhofal Chambers and the Senate Pro-Tempore, Albert Chie, Liberian media, Front Page Africa reported.
In his first sermon on the theme: “Life is a business; what you do with your life will make you profitable or unprofitable”, President Weah encouraged his congregation to be committed and passionate about their objectives in 2019.
To his officials, the former football legend urged them to show commitment to their roles and abstain from sabotaging his administration.
“You work with government then you want to sabotage the government. You are a Minister in the government but you want to sabotage the government. You are an executive then you want to sabotage the government. You want to sit right here so that government work. You are also part of the government”.
“Let’s forget about all the setbacks in 2018 and focus on the prosperous New Year, what God gave you is enough,” he said.
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