confidentially speaking
The Africa Confidential Blog
KENYA: Opposition demands access to election computers as court case heats up ahead of 1 September deadline
Patrick Smith
We start this week with a couple of election disputes – in Angola and Kenya. In both cases, opposition candidates
allege fraud by the national electoral commission, but few expect
either result to be overturned. Congo-Kinshasa is
back on the radar, with the UN criticising the government over
elections, about which there are growing concerns. A new agricultural
commodities exchange is stirring interest among farmers and investors
from South Africa and China.
Finally, France's President Emmanuel Macron hosted a mini-summit on migration in Paris over the weekend during
which he got agreement, in principle, to process asylum seekers within
Africa, instead of running through the checks once the would-be
migrants have landed in Europe. Much detailed work remains according to
both the European and African officials at the summit.
KENYA: Opposition demands access to election computers
as court case heats up ahead of 1 September deadline
A trial of strength is intensifying between Raila
Odinga's National Super Alliance (Nasa) and the Independent
Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) as opposition lawyers demand
access to the commission's servers and other electronic data. Nasa says
IEBC's announcement that incumbent president Uhuru Kenyatta
won the 8 August elections by 1.4 million votes was 'fatally flawed'
due to meddling with the commission's information technology systems.
Although the Supreme Court, which is hearing the opposition's
challenge, has requested the IEBC to grant opposition lawyers limited
access to its computer servers on 28 August, both parties have been
locked in dispute over the modalities. Opposition lawyers claim that
the electronic results transmitted by the IEBC differ sharply from the
votes counted manually at polling stations across the country.
The Presidential inauguration has been postponed until after 1
September, the deadline for the Court to rule on the validity of the
elections.
ANGOLA: Opposition questions MPLA election win as
talks start on $2 billion Eurobond
Opposition parties are also questioning the credibility
of national polls on 23 August in Angola in which the incumbent MPLA is
said to have won 61.1% of the vote by the electoral commission. Final
results are not due until 6 September.
However, UNITA, the historic opposition party, says its
parallel vote count in the provinces of Bie, Cabina, Huambo and Luanda,
differs sharply with the results released by the commission.
Meanwhile, the authorities in Luanda have opened talks with
international banks about floating a US$2 billion Eurobond. Crashing
world oil prices brought Angola's economy to a grinding halt last year
after a decade of growth averaging 7% a year.
Although Russian state bank VTB, which along
with Credit Suisse is at the centre of the secret loans scandal in Mozambique,
had earlier tried to market a financing scheme in Luanda, Angolan
officials deny that it has been selected to handle the bond launch.
CONGO-KINSHASA: UN criticises President Kabila's
government over rights violations as Washington ends special envoy post
Raising serious doubts about the government's commitment
to holding national elections this year, a United Nations assessment
has criticised the Kinshasa government for cracking down on journalists
and civic activists.
A UN team led by Georgette Gagnon of its
Human Rights Office concluded that the 'space for a credible electoral
process is rapidly shrinking' although President Joseph Kabila
signed an agreement pledging to leave power and hold free elections
this year. Gagnon's assessment follows fresh reports of clashes in
Kasai and the east of the country.
South Africa's President Jacob Zuma, who has
met Kabila in private talks, has added to concerns by telling the
recent summit of the Southern African Development Community that
elections in December are 'unlikely'. SADC is to appoint a high-level
envoy to mediate between Kabila and the opposition. Kabila may
find his political plans will encounter less international opposition
following a decision by United States Secretary of
State Rex Tillerson to end the appointment of special
envoys to crises in Africa and Asia.
In a letter to the US Congress last week, Tillerson announced
that he was shutting down the offices of special envoys to
Congo-Kinshasa and South Sudan, and that those
functions would be taken up by other Washington-based officials.
NIGERIA: Investment of $135 million in commodities
exchange buoys hopes for speedier economic revival
The latest economic data – a slight drop in headline
inflation and economic growth edging upwards slowly – points to a slow
recovery from last year's recession but concerns persist about caps on
social spending and a lack of new jobs.
However, the plan to invest US$135 million in an agricultural
commodities exchange at Ugbokun, Edo State, has sparked huge interest
following the sharp growth in farm production over the last two years.
Farmers have boosted output in the wake of the crash in oil prices and
state revenues.
Due to more effective delivery of seeds and fertilisers,
farmers in northern Nigeria are stepping up rice, millet and sugar
production, selling substantial amounts of produce to neighbouring
states.
The commodities exchange at Ugbokun, known as Integrated
Produce City, should encourage farmers in six states in the south of
the country to boost their own production and bring it to the new
market for domestic customers or exports. Crops such as cocoa, rubber,
cashew nuts and palm oil will be traded on the exchange initially but
the range is likely to widen to include yam and cassava.
Chief Executive of the new venture, Pat Utomi
is an economist, a founder of the Lagos Business School and a former
presidential candidate. Having advocated restructuring the country's
economy away from its dependence on crude oil exports, Utomi is
committing his energies to a project that would promote the country's
self-sufficiency in staple foodstuffs. Currently Nigeria spends more
than $3.5 bn. a year on imported commodities.
AFRICA/EUROPEAN UNION: France's Macron wins wide
support for 'safe zones' to process asylum applications in Africa
After a summit meeting in Paris yesterday (28
August), German Chancellor Angela Merkel
and French President Emmanuel Macron pronounced themselves satisfied
with 'initial progress' on a plan to stem migration to Europe by
organising the processing of applications for political asylum in
Africa.
The plan, devised by Macron, also won some conditional support
from Libyan leader Faiez el Serraj,
Chad's President Idris Déby Itno and
Niger's President Mahamadou
Issoufou. As with most of the European Union's initiatives on
migration there is likely to be some inducement for regional
governments to join.
Under the scheme, the EU will pay some countries in the Sahel
region and West Africa to set up better facilities to accommodate
asylum seekers. Over the last couple of years, the EU has stepped up
development projects in African countries where people face harsh
conditions and are firmly on the migration roadmap.
IN VERY BRIEF
GHANA: IMF is to release a review of the
economy this week as the government forecasts faster growth over next
two years.
SOUTH AFRICA: Presidential son Duduzane
Zuma and KPMG are trying to limit damage of their links with Gupta
family businesses.
SOMALIA: US airstrike kills top Al
Shabaab commander but Mogadishu government faces protests after
civilians killed in ground operation.
