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Many are Happy About President Nana Afuko-Addo Re-election
In light of Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo’s re-election for a second term in office on Wednesday — a result his rival John Mahama's camp said it would appeal, supporters of the president’s New Patriotic Party (NPP) are celebrating the win. Prince Ofori, an NPP Supporter, is ecstatic to know his chosen president will stay in office, "NDC, the opposition party. We have retired them. They don't have anything to do anymore. We are the government in power, our president Nana Akufo Addo. The champion president. The number one."
According to the electoral commission, Akufo-Addo received 51.59% of the vote in the presidential race — beating opposition leader and former president Mahama's 47.36%.
The announcement on Wednesday was greeted with chanting and dancing by a crowd of supporters in the seaside capital Accra. On the other hand, the opposition has called the election "flawed."
Nyarko, another NPP Supporter, could not contain his pleasure in knowing that the opposition will not take power, "The NDC are liars. We no longer like John Mahama. We want peace in Ghana. We want Nana Akufo Addo."
Polling was observed as fair in the West African country known for its stable democracy.
However, the political climate soured late Tuesday resulting in 5 people dead and 19 injured in electoral-related violence.
\t On Friday, internet and international calls were cut off across the West African nation in anticipation of the election results, according to locals and international observers in the capital, Conakry.
\t This was the third time that Conde matched-up against Diallo. Before the election, observers raised concerns that an electoral dispute could reignite ethnic tensions between Guinea's largest ethnic groups.
MINSK, Belarus - The top women's basketball player in Belarus is serving a 15-day sentence for protesting against President Alexander Lukashenko's disputed re-election. Yelena Leuchankawas ...
Election commentary is a fraught game and now that Election Day is finally here, the internet is full of people talking recklessly. TV personality Keith Olbermann woke up Tuesday morning and decided to unload on President Donald Trump in a strange way. Trump appeared on Fox News early Tuesday morning to discuss the election and spent several minutes bashing Fox News for covering speeches by former President Barack Obama and presidential candidate Joe Biden . While some people joked about the awkward position Fox News hosts were in as the president assailed the network, few took it as far as Olbermann. \"Yes, Donald Trump has always been, will always be, and on the day of his bid for re-election, still is: a whiny little Kunta Kinte,\" he wrote in a now-deleted tweet. The tweet immediately drew confused responses from dozens of people online questioning what that was supposed to mean and why it sounded like he meant something racial by invoking the famous Roots character.
All planned Election Commission (EC) activities between March and May 2020, including elections for Special Interest Groups (SIG), have been suspended until further notice.
The EC secretary, Mr Sam Rwakoojo, on Tuesday said the Covid-19 lockdown affected many programmes on the elections roadmap and that discussions with different stakeholders are on-going to see how to readjust.
At the time government issued the directives, the EC was completing the public display of the national voters' register for the elections scheduled for April 2020.
The activities which have been affected according to the roadmap include display of tribunal recommendations for deletion or inclusion on the National Voters Register (NVR), gazetting and publishing of candidates' nomination dates and venues, Elections of Special Interest Groups (SIGs), including older persons, Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) and youth at village and parish levels and internal political party candidates identification processes.
Former coordinator of Citizen Coalition for Electoral Democracy in Uganda, Mr Crispy Kaheru, said the way out is to suspend the planned 2021 electoral programmes to fit between the months of July and October or have the elections of SIG after the General Election.
Every decade, following the decennial census, the state legislatures of the United States are told how many representatives their state will send to the United States House of Representatives. Representation in the House is based on state population and there are a total of 435 representatives, so some states may gain representatives while others lose them. It is the responsibility of each state legislature to redistrict their state into the appropriate numbers of congressional districts.
Since a single party usually controls each state legislature, it is in the best interest of the party in power to redistrict their state so that their party will have more seats in the House than the opposition party. This manipulation of electoral districts is known as gerrymandering. Although illegal, gerrymandering is the process of modifying congressional districts to benefit the party in power.
The term gerrymandering is derived from Elbridge Gerry (1744-1814), the governor of Massachusetts from 1810 to 1812. In 1812, Governor Gerry signed a bill into law that redistricted his state to overwhelmingly benefit his party, the Democratic-Republican Party. The opposition party, the Federalists, were quite upset.
One of the congressional districts was shaped very strangely and, as the story goes, one Federalist remarked that the district looked like a salamander. No, said another Federalist, its a gerrymander.
The Boston Weekly Messenger brought the term gerrymander into common usage when it subsequently printed an editorial cartoon that showed the district in question with a monsters head, arms, and tail and named the creature a gerrymander.
Governor Gerry went on to become vice president under James Madison from 1813 until his death a year later.
Gerry was the second vice president to die in office.
Gerrymandering, which had taken place prior to the coinage of the name and continued for many decades thereafter, has been challenged many times in federal courts and has been legislated against. In 1842, the Reapportionment
The ANC took 62.2% of the vote in May 2014 elections, handing Zuma a second term as president. The opposition Democratic Alliance placed second, 22.2%. Despite its landslide victory, the ANC has seen its popularity diminish in recent years due to allegations of corruption, growing income inequality, and disenchantment with Zuma.
South Africa was hit by a spate of attacks on immigrants in March and April 2015. Several people were killed in the violence. Most of the victims were Africans from nearby countries who run small businesses. As South Africas economy has suffered, anti-immigrant sentiment has increased. The surge in violence followed comments by the Zulu king, Goodwill Zwelithini, who demanded that the immigrants leave and referred to them as lice and ants. The South African troops were deployed to end the violence.
See also Encyclopedia: South Africa .
U.S. State Dept. Country Notes: South Africa
Statistics South Africa http://www.statssa.gov.za/default3.asp .
Djibouti City is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Djibouti. Its contemporary population is estimated at 624,000, which is about 70% of the population of the entire nation. Located on the Horn of Africa, Djibouti was an important trade center for both the Arabian Peninsula and Eastern Africa. It also had links to the East African city states. About 95% of the city’s population is Muslim.
Zelia, a port city east of present day Djibouti in what is now Somalia, was the first settlement in the region. Dating back to the first century C.E., it developed as a site of the silver and slave trade and was inhabited by both the indigenous Afar people and by immigrants from Arabia. By the thirteenth through sixteenth centuries there were frequent power struggles between the Christian Abyssinians (Ethiopians) and Muslim sultanates in the region. By the seventeenth century the Afar and Issa people were the majority of residents in the city. Throughout the nineteenth century, Arab traders paid tribute to Afar and Issa chiefs to use the interior for their caravans.
Trade in the Horn of Africa attracted Europeans. In 1881 France established a trading company in the port city of Obock; however, the surrounding mountains of Obock made it difficult for the French to construct a railroad to Ethiopia. In 1885, shortly after the Partition of Africa, the French signed a treaty with Issa chiefs that enabled Léonce Lagarde, the French representative, to establish a permanent presence in the region. They created the colony of French Somaliland in 1888 and established Djibouti City as the base of operations. Djibouti City became the capital of French Somaliland in 1892.
Djibouti City grew rapidly after Governor Léonce Lagarde signed a treaty with Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia to establish trade with his nation in 1897. The French constructed a railroad and a deep-water port, which also drew people to Djibouti City. By 1900 an estimated 15,000 people resided there. An increase in the volume of trade in Djibouti City
[Monitor] Ruhinda South MP Donozio Mugabe Kahonda, has withdrawn the lawsuit in which he was seeking to block the Electoral Commission (EC) from scrutinising his nomination.
The latest split of the opposition into two distinct factions, namely the MDC-T fronted by Thokozani Khupe and MDC-Alliance led by Nelson Chamisa, was catalysed by a recent Supreme Court ruling which declared Khupe the legitimate leader of the MDC-T.
On the eve of the disputed 2018 elections, Chamisa, in a move described by some as rare feat of political ingenuity, but which seems to be backfiring now, had amalgamated various opposition parties including the MDC-T into the MDC Alliance with him at the helm of a formidable challenge against Mnangagwa.
Apart from Chamisa's legitimacy coming under sharp scrutiny, the raging divisions in the MDC (in its various squabbling formations) robs the opposition some of its leading and gifted minds while it gives Mnangagwa's regime ample time to paper over its economic mismanagement and galvanise support ahead of the 2023 elections.
Amid the internal squabbles choking the MDC, Zanu PF has swiftly moved in to stoke the raging flames of division, while distracting the opposition from effectively challenging the ruling party over its failure to tackle widespread corruption, foster constitutional governance and institute sweeping reforms seen as key towards extricating Zimbabwe from a debilitating crisis.
Yet some analysts see a silver lining in the threats by Chamisa's legislators to pull out of Parliament as the magic wand that will compel Mnangagwa to broker a national dialogue, which will usher in a transitional mechanism that will coordinate fresh elections.
In its 142-page decision the seven judges in Malawi's Supreme Court of Appeal, among them the Chief Justice, Andrew Nyirenda, are unanimous in upholding the finding of the Constitutional Court: the May 2019 elections failed in their aim of 'duly electing' a new President.
That's because the country's electoral commission, commenting on the Appeal Court decision, has suggested that it might not be possible to have the new President sworn in by the court's deadline if the original re-run schedule prevails.
In fact, it would be hard to read the Appeal Court's decision as anything other than a sharp rebuke to the commission about the way it handled matters, particularly as the votes were being collected and tallied, and then again when the validity of the polls was tested in court.
The position of Malawi's courts had been that if the results were not affected by irregularities, the elections should stand.
Stating its revised position on the matter, the judges said that it would be hard for a court in Malawi to uphold an election where its conduct was 'largely compromised', especially since voting numbers in such a case could be the result of flouting electoral law.
Sen. David Perdue’s mispronunciation is being called racist.
Wedged between Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Rwanda in east-central Africa, Burundi occupies a high plateau divided by several deep valleys. It is equal in size to Maryland.
Republic.
The original inhabitants of Burundi were the Twa, a Pygmy people who now make up only 1% of the population. Today the population is divided between the Hutu (approximately 85%) and the Tutsi, approximately 14%. While the Hutu and Tutsi are considered to be two separate ethnic groups, scholars point out that they speak the same language, have a history of intermarriage, and share many cultural characteristics. Traditionally, the differences between the two groups were occupational rather than ethnic. Agricultural people were considered Hutu, while the cattle-owning elite were identified as Tutsi. In theory, Tutsi were tall and thin, while Hutu were short and square, but in fact it is often impossible to tell one from the other. The 1933 requirement by the Belgians that everyone carry an identity card indicating tribal ethnicity as Tutsi or Hutu increased the distinction. Since independence, the landowning Tutsi aristocracy has dominated Burundi.
Burundi was once part of German East Africa. Belgium won a League of Nations mandate in 1923, and subsequently Burundi, with Rwanda, was transferred to the status of a United Nations trust territory. In 1962, Burundi gained independence and became a kingdom under Mwami Mwambutsa IV, a Tutsi. A Hutu rebellion took place in 1965, leading to brutal Tutsi retaliations. Mwambutsa was deposed by his son, Ntaré V, in 1966. Ntaré in turn was overthrown the same year in a military coup by Premier Michel Micombero, also a Tutsi. In 1970–1971, a civil war erupted, leaving more than 100,000 Hutu dead.
On Nov. 1, 1976, Lt. Col. Jean-Baptiste Bagaza led a coup and assumed the presidency. He suspended the constitution and announced that a 30-member Supreme Revolutionary Council would be the governing body. In Sept. 1987, Bagaza was overthrown by Maj. Pierre Buyoya, who became
The president appeared before supporters at the White House vowing to ask the Supreme Court to weigh in on the inconclusive election PresidentDonald Trumpis vowing to ask theSupreme Courtto weigh in on the inconclusive election. The Associated Press has not declared a winner in the […]
The post Trump falsely calls election ‘major fraud’ as votes continue to be counted appeared first on The New York Beacon.
Dear Editor,
Kindly grant me a space in your newspaper to respond to an erroneous and highly misleading and irresponsible statement made by the former Coalition Administration.
The article Ministry currently rolling out road maintenance works in hinterland appeared first on Stabroek News.
Born in Richmond, Virginia on January 17, 1931, Lawrence Douglas Wilder was the first African American to be elected governor in the United States of America. For four years Wilder served as the governor of Virginia (1990-1994). Currently he is serving as the mayor of Richmond, Virginia.
Wilder began his education in a racially segregated elementary school, George Mason Elementary, and attended all-black Armstrong High School in Richmond. In 1951 he received a degree in chemistry from Virginia Union University in his hometown. After college, Wilder joined the United States Army and served in the Korean War, where he earned a Bronze Star for heroism. After the war, Wilder worked in the Virginia state medical examiner’s office as a chemist. Using the G.I. Bill, Wilder graduated from Howard University Law School in 1959 and soon afterwards established Wilder, Gregory and Associates.
In 1969 Wilder entered politics, winning a seat in the Virginia State Senate during a special election. Wilder became the first African American state senator in Virginia since Reconstruction. He spent the next sixteen years in the Virginia Senate before being elected Lieutenant Governor in 1985. Four years later Wilder won the Virginia Governorship and was inaugurated on January 13, four days before his 58th birthday.
During his tenure as governor Wilder granted a controversial pardon to basketball star Allen Iverson, a popular high school basketball player who was accused of assaulting a woman. Although Wilder was not persuaded by the evidence presented in the case, many people in Virginia felt his decision was racially motivated. Wilder, however, also presided over fourteen executions in the state. Barred from running for a second term, Wilder left the governor’s office in January 1994.
Although a Democrat for most of his career, Wilder developed a reputation as a law and order fiscal conservative, a position that appealed to many conservative voters in Virginia. He also publicly sparred with fellow Democrat Senator Chuck
Black voters in the state are standing in long lines.
Wednesday morning, Georgia's Republican Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger has allowed a hand recount of all votes in the Presidential race between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. Biden leads Trump by more than 14,000 votes. If Biden's lead holds, it will be the first time a Democrat Presidential candidate would win Georgia since 1992. Raffensperger pledged to complete the statewide […]
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of Ghana will have a second four-year term after the country's electoral commissioner declared on Wednesday that the 76-year-old had won the December 7 presidential polls. The president beat the challenge from 11 other presidential candidates among whom included John Dramani Mahama, the man Akufo-Addo succeeded in 2017. Mahama, 62,...
The post Ghana's President Akufo-Addo reelected to a second term appeared first on Face2Face Africa.
Geraldine W. Travis is the first African American elected to the Montana State Legislature House of Representatives. She worked actively to promote civil rights for African Americans, women, and children, and to break down racial barriers in Montana from 1967 to 1989.
Geraldine Washington Travis was born in Albany, Georgia on September 3, 1931, the daughter of Joseph and Dorothy Washington. She married Airman William Alexander Travis in Americus, Georgia in 1949 when he was stationed at nearby Turner AFB, Georgia. William and Geraldine became parents of five children, three sons and two daughters, as they moved to various Air Force bases around the world. Geraldine Travis attended Xavier University in New Orleans, Louisiana.
In 1967 Master Sergeant William Travis arrived with his family at Malmstrom AFB, Great Falls, Montana. While stationed there, Geraldine Travis became active in local civil rights and Democratic Party political activities. In 1968 she was one of the founding members of the Great Falls branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and served as its secretary-treasurer. She was also a founder of the Montana Chapter of National Council of Negro Women and the Montana Women’s Political Caucus. She served as president of the Cascade County Women’s Political Caucus in the late 1960s. In 1972 she became active in the Shirley Chisholm presidential campaign and served as president of the Great Falls Shirley Chisholm for President Club. Later that year she was one of twenty Montana delegates at the Democratic National Convention in Miami. Travis was also one of the fifteen-member Montana Advisory Committee to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission.
In 1974 Geraldine Travis was elected to the Montana House of Representatives from House District 43, which represented the Malmstrom community of some 5,500 people. With her election, Travis became the first African American to serve in the Montana Legislature. Since most Air Force personnel maintained voting residency
By NICK PERRY Associated Press AUCKLAND, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern won a second term in office Saturday in an election landslide of historic proportions. With most votes counted, Ardern's liberal Labour Party was winning 49% of the vote compared to 27% for its main challenger, the conservative National Party. Labour was on target to win an outright majority of the seats in Parliament, something that hasn't happened since New Zealand implemented a proportional voting system 24 years ago. Typically, parties must form alliances to govern, but this time Ardern and Labour can go it […]
The post New Zealand's Ardern wins 2nd term in election landslide appeared first on Black News Channel.
In an exclusive interview with the New York Times, House Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), aka AOC, said she might quit... View Article
The post AOC might quit politics after Democrats blame progressives for House loss appeared first on TheGrio.
[DW] Police in Ghana say there have been dozens of incidents of violence during the divisive election. President Nana Akufo-Addo and former President John Mahama both claim to be on track for victory.
by Janice L. Mathis, Esq. Executive Director, National Council of Negro Women, Inc. Congressman Lewis was famous for saying, “get into trouble get into good trouble.” Some of the best trouble you can get into over the next 48 hours is to VOTE. The highest percentage Black voter turnout on record was the 2012 election. … Continued
The post NCNW remembers John Lewis and the call for 'Good Trouble' appeared first on Atlanta Daily World.
Carol Moseley Braun was born in Chicago, Illinois on August 16, 1947. She attended the Chicago Public Schools and received a degree from the University of Illinois in 1969. She earned her degree from the University of Chicago Law School in 1972.
Moseley Braun served as assistant prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Chicago from 1972 to 1978. In the latter year she was elected to the Illinois House of Representatives and served in that body for ten years. During her tenure Moseley Braun made educational reform a priority. She also became the first African American assistant majority leader in the history of the Illinois legislature. Moseley Braun returned to Chicago in 1988 to serve as Cook County Recorder of Deeds.
Capitalizing on the public furor over the Clarence Thomas-Anita Hill controversy and in particular the way in which Hill was treated by U.S. Senators, Carol Moseley Braun upset incumbent Senator Alan Dixon in the Illinois Democratic Primary in 1992 and went on to become the first female Senator elected from Illinois and the first African American woman in the U.S. Senate. During her term in the U.S. Senate (1992-1998) Moseley Braun focused on education issues. She served on the Senate Finance, Banking and Judiciary Committee; the Small Business Committee; and the Housing and Urban Affairs Committee.
In 1998, Moseley Braun was defeated for re-election in a campaign marred by allegations of illegal campaign donations during her 1992 campaign, although she was never formally charged with misconduct. Moseley Braun was also hurt by her business ties to Nigerian dictator Sami Abacha. After her 1998 defeat President Bill Clinton nominated Moseley Braun to the post of U.S. Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa, a post she held until 2001.
Late in 2003 Moseley Braun announced her candidacy for the Democratic Nomination for President. However, she failed to attract financial support and withdrew from the race on January 14, 2004.
After teaching briefly at Morris Brown College in Atlanta, Georgia,
Ja'Ron Smith, the now-former Deputy Assistant to the President for Domestic Policy, said his conveniently timed departure from the Trump administration was "planned."
Listening to this speech is haunting as Martin Luther King, Jr. addresses the 1964 presidential election in similar terms as the 2020 election.
