Serious concerns have been voiced by the family of Gambia's sacked justice minister Lamin Jobarteh whose condition in detention was described as appalling. Speaking to journalists on Wednesday, family members of Mr. Jobarteh said on condition of anonymity that since his sacking and subsequent arrest by the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) in May, concerns have been raised over his welfare. They indicated ...

The clock is ticking for Mali as it scrambles to organise key elections in less than 40 days following a ceasefire deal between the government and separatist Tuareg rebels. The agreement, reached on Tuesday after 10 days of tense negotiations, will enable Malian troops to enter the Tuareg-held city of Kidal in the northeast to secure polls scheduled to take place on July 28. Malians have welcomed the truce ...

Hundreds of Botswana Bushmen who have won a temporary reprive against eviction from their land are now calling on the government to recognise their settlement, a rights group said on Wednesday. Speaking after a court barred President Ian Khama's government from removing around 600 bushmen from a compound in Ranyane, in the north east of the country, the group vowed to press for further recognition. Keikabile ...

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe has filed an urgent application with the country's top court to push back crucial elections by two weeks, following pressure by regional leaders. Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa told AFP he had filed papers on Tuesday that sought "a postponement of the date for the harmonised elections from July 31, 2013 to August 14, 2013." The announcement comes just days after ...

Mozambique's former rebels on Wednesday vowed to block the country's main highway and a crucial rail link to coal fields, dramatically ramping up its standoff with the government. "Starting Thursday, June 20, 2013, actions will be taken to weaken the logistics of those who make Mozambicans suffer," Renamo's information chief, Jeronimo Malagueta told reporters in Maputo. Until 1992, Renamo fought a bitter ...

Commenting on the agreement signed on Tuesday in Ouagadougou between the government of Mali and the Tuareg rebel movement (MNLA), the President of the ECOWAS Commission Desire Kadre Ouedraogo, on Wednesday in Abidjan felt that the “last obstacle to the organization of the presidential election in Mali has been removed.” “The last hurdle to the holding of the presidential election across the entire Malian ...

Nelson Mandela's foundation has vowed to press ahead with upcoming 95th birthday celebrations, as the global peace icon underwent a 12th day in hospital Wednesday for a recurring lung infection. On his July 18 birthday, various charity organisations and businesses will paint schools, hand out food parcels and books, and run a 67 kilometre (41 miles) relay marathon in the spirit of Mandela's 67 years of ...

Egypt's tourism minister resigned in protest on Wednesday after President Mohamed Morsi appointed a new governor for Luxor from an Islamist party linked to a massacre of holidaymakers in the temple city. Hesham Zazou said he "cannot continue in the role of tourism minister" a day after the appointment of Adel al-Khayat, a member of the political arm of ex-Islamic militant group Gamaa Islamiya, and other ...

South African minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Tina Joemat-Pettersson, has refuted media reports alleging that she received 'kickbacks' following the purchase of a game farm for disadvantaged women in the Northern Cape Province, her office said Wednesday.A press report from a weekly, The Sunday Times, alleged that Joemat-Pettersson was being investigated for allegedly taking kickbacks in ...

Mozambique's government on Tuesday blamed opposition party Renamo for a deadly attack a day earlier on a military arms depot but said it would maintain dialogue with the civil war foe. "There is no doubt. They were Renamo's men," said Interior Minister Alberto Mondlane. He added that there were "enough indications to prove" the former rebels turned opposition group had carried out the attack early Monday ...