Mohammed Omer Mulla

Provisional results put him ahead of another opposition candidate, Martin Fayulu, and the ruling coalition's Emmanuel Shadary. If confirmed, Mr Tshisekedi will be the first opposition challenger to win since the DR Congo gained independence. Current President Joseph Kabila is stepping down after 18 years in office. He had promised DR Congo's first orderly transfer of power since the country's independence from Belgium in 1960. The election outcome was initially expected to be announced on Sunday. The interim result can still be challenged. In the early hours of Thursday the head of DR Congo's National Electoral Commission (Ceni), Corneille Nangaa, said Mr Tshisekedi had received 38.5% of the vote and had been "provisionally declared the elected president". The full results were, with turnout reportedly 48%:- §     Felix Tshisekedi - 7 million votes §   Martin Fayulu - 6.4 million votes §   Emmanuel Shadary - 4.4 million votes Mr Tshisekedi,...

Mr. Said Abdullahi Deni and Mr. Ahmed Elmi Karash were elected as President and Vice-President of Puntland, respectively, on Tuesday in Garowe town. The deputy chief of UN mission UNSOM, who is also UN Deputy Special Representative in the country, Raisedon Zenenga, congratulated the electoral commission for organizing and conducting a transparent, peaceful, free and fair electoral process. "We look forward to working closely with the administration of President Deni in Puntland," said Mr. Zenenga in a  statement . "We also commend outgoing President Abdiweli Mohamed Ali 'Gaas' and his administration for overseeing a peaceful transfer of power and for establishing conditions that enabled the electoral commission to conduct a successful electoral process”, he added. Mr. Zenenga is the Officer-in-Charge of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia ( UNSOM ), following the decision by the Somali Federal Government last week to expel the Special Re...

(Hargeisa)-  It is evident that clan politics is undermining the stability of Somaliland and challenging good governance and citizenry. Clan-based politics harbour nepotism, favouritism and corruption. Instead of delivering services to the public, politicians invest time and energy in bribing middlemen and enriching themselves. Clan leaders are given money and privilege, and businesspersons are awarded luxurious government contracts. Senior government officials and employees are rewarded to supporters. Clans compete hard and bitterly to gain the power to rob.  The ill-fated collapse of Somalia created a vacuum in 1991. The rebel movements that ousted Dictator Mohamed Siad Barre lacked political legitimacy and organization to fill the space. It was clan leaders who stepped in to salvage the people of Somaliland from the wreckage. The celebrated traditional bottom-up approach achieved to end wars and established the government of Somaliland (Shinn, 2002). In all confer...

(Kismayo)-Somalia’sJubaland state leader Ahmed Mohamed Islam, known as Madobe met Kenya’s Defence Forces contingent in Afmadow district under the AMISOM mission in Somalia, local Sources said. Local sources suggest that both sides have discussed about how to launch a new offensive against al-shabab armed group in the area and regaining back the Bu’ale town. Bu'ale is a strategic town in the Middle Juba region of Somalia. It is the capital of the Jubaland State Bu'aale district and the capital of the Jubaland State region as well, situated in the southern Jubba River valley, the city is known for its farming land on the banks of the river Juba .

Lawmakers will elect a new president Tuesday in the semi-autonomous Somali region of Puntland, which is battling factions of al-Qaeda and Islamic State.  More than 20 candidates are taking part in the vote, including Abdiweli Mohamed Ali, 53, who has ruled the Horn of Africa region since 2014. Ali is seeking a second term and has pledged to develop infrastructure, improve security and the management of public finances.  Situated on the Gulf of Aden near the entrance to the Red Sea, Puntland became semi-autonomous in 1998 and had escaped the worst of Somalia’s civil war. It’s now tackling an insurgency by al-Shabaab, the al-Qaeda-linked group that’s inflicted mass casualties in southern Somalia, as well as a breakaway faction that swore allegiance to Islamic State and has been targeted by U.S. airstrikes. Ali’s main rivals in the contest include Said Abdullahi Deni, a former minister of planning in Somalia, General Said Mohamed Hersi, a former head of Puntland’s army w...

For the third year in a row, 251 or more journalists are jailed around the world, suggesting the authoritarian approach to critical news coverage is more than a temporary spike. China, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia imprisoned more journalists than last year, and Turkey remained the world’s worst jailer.  Fresh waves of repression in China, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia sustained the global crackdown on press freedom in 2018 for the third consecutive year. In its annual global survey, the Committee to Protect Journalists found at least 251 journalists in jail in relation to their work, as Turkey--still the world’s worst jailer of journalists--released a small number. The past three years have recorded the highest number of jailed journalists since CPJ began keeping track, with consecutive records set in  2016   and  2017 . Turkey, China, and Egypt were responsible for more than half of those jailed around the world for the third year in a row. The majority of those impr...

Libreville - Junior officers earlier claimed they had seized power "to restore democracy" in oil-rich Gabon, where the ailing leader's family has ruled for 50 years.  Tanks and armed vehicles could be seen on the streets of the capital Libreville. The soldiers took control of the national radio station at 04:30 local time to read a short statement announcing a "National Restoration Council". Current leader Ali Bongo succeeded his father Omar Bongo as president in 2009. He narrowly won re-election in 2016 in a poll marred by violence and accusations of fraud. But his presidency has been overshadowed by a long-running French investigation into allegations of embezzlement involving the Bongo family's assets.  Mr Bongo, who has been out of the country for two months, reportedly suffered a stroke in October and received treatment in Morocco. I n a video circulating on social media, three young soldiers can be seen in a radio studio wearing military f...