Liberia election final result to be announced
All is set for the final announcement of the October 10, 2023, Liberia presidential election result.
It has been a toe-to-toe affair between incumbent president George Weah and former vice president Joseph Boakai in the election.
The incumbent president has a slim lead of 43.8% of the vote while Boakai trails him with 43.5%, provisional results show.
To emerge victorious, a candidate must garner over 50% of the votes.
The election will go down memory lane as the nation’s edge-to-edge presidential election since the aftermath of the tragic civil war.
The total poll outcome for presidential, senatorial and local representatives vote will be announced at the National Elections Commission (NEC) headquarters in the capital, Monrovia, the agency’s chief, Davidetta Browne-Lansanah, said on Tuesday.
Voting was repeated last week in two polling stations in north-eastern Nimba County. This is after ballots were tampered with by unknown people during the first round of the elections on October 10.
Bandits kidnap 40 in Cameroon – Mayor
The local Mayor in Cameroon’s northern town of Touboro, Celestin Yandal, has disclosed that around 40 Chadians and Cameroonian citizens have been kidnapped
Celestin Yandal told the BBC that suspected bandits targeted and ambushed Chadian traders on Sunday, as they were returning home from the Touboro market where they trade cattle.
He said other people “leaving from Chad to Cameroon, including students, and those returning towards the Chadian border” were also kidnapped.
The Chadian Ministry of Public Security said their forces have so far freed eight of those who were kidnapped.
Court sentences 38 to death in Algeria
An appeal court in Algeria has sentenced 38 persons to death for false accusation and lynching.
A 38-year-old Djamel Ben Ismail in 2021 had travelled to help fight wildfires in the Kabylie region, east of the capital Algiers.
Locals accused him of starting the fires before torturing and killing him.
And on Monday, the court found them guilty of multiple charges, including murder, torture and incitement leading to murder.
The 38 suspects were handed death sentences, but these will be commuted to life in prison as Algeria has a moratorium on executions.
The court acquitted 27 defendants and sentenced 29 others to terms ranging between three and 20 years.
In November last year, an Algerian court sentenced 49 people to death for Ismail’s murder.
However, the rights group Amnesty International in January criticised the mass sentences, saying that the trials “were marred by fair trial violations and torture claims, while at least six were prosecuted due to their political affiliations.”
The rights group called for the overturning of sentences and retrials for “those convicted in their absence or prosecuted over their political affiliations.”
Scores dead in another DR Congo boat accident
Less than two weeks after 47 people died in a boat mishap in the Democratic Republic of Congo, at least 40 people have again drowned after a passenger boat capsized.
At least 40 people have drowned after a passenger boat capsized in western Democratic Republic of Congo, a week after at least 47 others died in a similar incident.
The incident, which happened near Boyeka village in the Equateur province of the country, is after a wooden riverboat, known as a whaler, was carrying passengers and goods when it capsized on the Lulonga river on Saturday night.
Passengers, mostly traders, were returning from a local market crossing to Mbandaka, the province’s capital.
The death toll could rise as more passengers are reported missing. More than 200 others survived, local media reported as learned by BBC.
Boats are a common mode of transport in DR Congo because of a lack of roads.
However, boat accidents are frequent because of overloading, poor maintenance and overnight travel. Many passengers also do not wear life jackets.
Nigeria awaits $10 bln in forex soon – Finance Minister
Nigeria’s Minister of Finance, Wale Edun, has said the country is expecting $10 billion in foreign currency inflows in the next few weeks.
The minister said the $10 billion foreign currency is to help ease liquidity in the foreign exchange market that has cramped growth in Africa’s biggest economy.
The West African country has faced chronic dollar shortages after foreign investors exited local assets during a period of low oil prices. Since then, investors have yet to return, and the central bank has not yet settled outstanding demand for dollars from foreign investors seeking to repatriate funds or airlines seeking to send money from ticket sales abroad.
As a result of the shortages, some businesses and individuals have turned to the black market, where the Naira currency has hit successive record lows, widening the gap with the official rate.
Edun said President Bola Tinubu on Thursday signed two executive orders to allow domestic issuance of instruments in foreign currency and also allow all cash outside the banking system to be brought into the banks.
On Monday, the Naira hit a record low of 1,200 per dollar on the black market, two days after it fell to a new low of almost 1,000 Naira on the official market.
Tinubu told the conference, as monitored by Reuters, that all forward contracts entered into by the government would be honoured, while the country’s central bank governor said the currency would adjust once rules for market participants were made clear.
Liberia Election: The final results of the October 10, 2023, Liberia presidential election are set to be announced. Incumbent president George Weah holds a narrow lead over former vice president Joseph Boakai, with provisional results showing a close race (Weah: 43.8%, Boakai: 43.5%). For a candidate to win, over 50% of the vote is required. The National Elections Commission will announce the complete results in Monrovia. Voting had to be repeated in two polling stations due to tampering.
Cameroon Kidnapping: Bandits have kidnapped around 40 people, including Chadian traders and students, in Touboro, northern Cameroon. The Chadian Ministry of Public Security has managed to free eight hostages so far.
Algeria Death Sentences: An Algerian court has sentenced 38 people to death for the lynching of Djamel Ben Ismail, who was falsely accused of starting wildfires. Due to a moratorium on executions, the sentences will be commuted to life imprisonment. Amnesty International has criticized the fairness of the trials.
DR Congo Boat Accident: A boat capsized in the Lulonga river, western Democratic Republic of Congo, leading to at least 40 deaths, just a week after another similar incident. Overloading and poor maintenance are cited as common causes of such frequent accidents.
Nigeria Foreign Currency Inflow: Nigeria expects to receive $10 billion in foreign currency soon to alleviate liquidity issues in its foreign exchange market. Chronic dollar shortages have affected the economy and led to a significant disparity between official and black market rates of the naira. President Bola Tinubu has signed executive orders to improve the situation.
