In Tunisia, Ayachi Zammel, a former lawmaker and leader of a liberal party faces a 12-year prison sentence ahead of the upcoming presidential elections on October 6. This ruling marks the third prison sentence Zammel has received in the past two weeks causing significant concern about the integrity of the electoral process.

Zammel’s recent legal troubles involve accusations related to voter endorsements. On September 18, he was sentenced to 20 months for allegedly falsifying signatures to support his candidacy. Following that, a Jendouba court handed him a six-month sentence for using a fraudulent certificate. Despite these legal challenges, Massoudi maintains that Zammel is still a candidate for the presidency.

His arrest on September 2 occurred just before Tunisia’s electoral authority confirmed Zammel’s place on the final list of candidates. The political landscape surrounding the election is fraught with tension as many anticipate that the process could be rigged to favor the incumbent president, Kais Saied, who is seeking a second term. Saied took office after the 2019 elections but has since consolidated power through significant political maneuvers including shutting down parliament and ruling by decree.

Concerns have been raised by opposition and civil society groups about the fairness of the electoral process especially since around 14 candidates were rejected leaving only Zammel and Zouhair Maghzaoui from the left-wing nationalist People’s Movement as challengers to Saied. The situation for Zammel is further complicated by the arrest of his party’s treasurer on similar charges indicating a troubling pattern of political repression in Tunisia in the lead-up to the elections.

Algerians are participating in a presidential election in which incumbent Abdelmadjid Tebboune is expected to secure a second term. Polling stations opened at 8:00 am local time on Saturday, with over 24 million registered voters. More than 800,000 expatriate Algerians, primarily in France, began voting on September 2.

Tebboune, 78, is facing two challengers: Abdelaali Hassani Cherif, 57, and Youcef Aouchiche, 41. Although 15 candidates sought to enter the race, only Hassani Cherif and Aouchiche gathered sufficient signatures to qualify. Neither poses a significant challenge to the military establishment, which has maintained considerable influence since the 1960s.

Campaign rallies for this election, rescheduled from December to an earlier date, have struggled to generate excitement, partly due to the summer heat. Political commentator Mohamed Hennad has suggested that the election’s outcome seems predetermined given the restrictive campaigning conditions.

A major challenge for Tebboune is boosting voter turnout, which was under 40% during his first election in 2019 and dropped to about 30% in the 2021 legislative elections. “The president is keen to have a significant turnout,” said Hasni Abidi, an analyst at the Geneva-based CERMAM study center.

These low turnout figures have coincided with the Hirak pro-democracy protests that led to the ousting of Tebboune’s predecessor, Abdelaziz Bouteflika, which were subsequently suppressed through intensified policing and mass arrests.

With over half of Algeria’s 45 million population being young, all candidates are trying to engage this demographic by promising to improve living standards and reduce reliance on hydrocarbons. Tebboune has highlighted his economic achievements during his first term, citing job creation and wage increases in Africa’s largest natural gas exporter.

If re-elected, Tebboune is expected to continue focusing on enhancing energy exports while implementing limited pro-business reforms and maintaining generous subsidies, all while exercising tight control over dissent.

His challengers have pledged to promote greater freedoms. Aouchiche has committed to releasing political prisoners through an amnesty and revising restrictive laws related to media and terrorism, while Hassani Cherif advocates for the restoration of civil liberties curtailed in recent years.

Preliminary results may be announced as early as Saturday night, with the electoral authority, expected to release official results by Sunday.

Officials in Rubavu district have confirmed death of one person and several dozens others injured in a crush at an election rally for Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame.

The official campaigns for July General elections started on Saturday Jun 22. The flag bearer for the Rwandan Patriotic Front who is also the incumbent president, Paul Kagame held two rallies in the northern part of the country during the weekend.

On Sunday June 23 in Rubavu district, 37 people were injured. Four of those were hospitalised with severe injuries. This was confirmed by the Ministry of Local Government.

Kagame who is running for a fourth term has been Rwanda’s de facto leader since 1994. After capturing power, his then rebel group, Rwanda Patriotic Front fronted Pasteur Bizimungu as their president and Kagame as his deputy until the year 2000. Bizimungu resigned his ‘ceremonial’ position and eventually ‘the power wielding’ Kagame was elected president by parliament. They took the reigns after seizing power at the end of a genocide which claimed lives of over 800000 people in one hundred days.

The 66-year-old president has been criticised by civil rights groups for cracking whips on the opposition but he has not minced his words while defending Rwanda’s record on human rights, saying his country respects political freedoms.

In the last presidential elections which were held in 2017, the incumbent won with nearly 99% of the votes cast defeating the same people he has in the race for the July 15 polls.

Sunday’s occurrences compelled the Ministry of Local Government to remind all those participating in the campaign activities to follow guidelines handed down to ensure safety of those taking part in the process.

Rwandan Patriotic Front expressed their grief and extended condolences to the family of the deceased and pledged to closely watch over those injured in the stampede.

Paul Kagame will face off with two other candidates in the race to become Rwanda’s president.The two are Frank Habineza of Democratic Green Party and the independent candidate Philippe Mpayimana.

Diane Rwigara, a beknown critic of the reigning president was denied chance to contest in the forthcoming presidential elections on what observers and analysts called “politically cooked up charges” but the electoral commission came out to say that Rwigara failed to avail correct documentation as proof that she did not have any criminal record. The electoral body further said that she had failed to show that she had enough support throughout the country to stand for the country’s biggest seat.

However, Rwigara who was also denied chance to participate in the 2017 polls, did not agree with the reasons that were being fronted against her intentions to serve the country alledging that she had been cheated out of her right to campaign.

On July 15,Rwandans will be going to polls to choose their next president and legislators. Observers say that Mr.Kagame is in a pole position to scoop victory in next month’s polls.

Democratic Republic of the Congo’s (DRC) army thwarted a coup d’etat against the government of President Felix Tshisekedi in the wee hours of Sunday May, 19.

Dozens of men clad in military uniform, armed with submachine guns and rifles, at around 4:10am on Sunday, attacked the residence of Vital Kamerhe. Kamerhe is a federal legislator and an ally of the president, pointed at to become the National Assembly’s Speaker.

At least three people including two Congolese security officials were killed in the shootout. The leader of the attackers, Christian Malanga was also killed during the crossfire. Over 50 people including three American nationals have been arrested according to the Congolese military.

Before its repulsion, the attack lasted for three hours.

Capt. Christian Malanga Musumari, a wealthy businessman, politician and formerly a member of the Congolese army is believed to have masterminded the attack .

He was a resident of the United States where his family secured political asylum when he was a child.

Malanga contested parliamentary elections in 2011, was arrested and detained for several weeks during the tenure of former President Joseph Kabila. Following his release, Malanga went to the US where his family had secured political asylum during his childhood and founded a political party, United Congolese Party (UCP). Through the years, Malanga has campaigned for religious freedom in Africa and has been at the forefront in the anticorruption training initiatives for young Africans in Europe.

In 2017,Makanga attempted a coup on government but it was not successful. In a livestream posted on Facebook, Malanga threatened the president and chanted “New Zaire!” Zaire is a name to which DRC was formerly known for.

“We, the militants, are tired,” Malanga said while speaking in Lingala as his army took occupation of the president’s offices. He went on to say, “We cannot drag on with Tshisekedi and Kamerhe, they have done too many stupid things in this country.”

President Tshisekedi is yet to come out publicly as questions keep on growing over how Malanga’s army were able to breach the security of the presidential palace. The African Union condemned the coup attempt and praised DRC’s army for handling the attackers.

Angola’s longest-serving leader, Jose Eduardo dos Santos has died at the age of 79 in a Barcelona clinic.

According to a statement on Facebook by the country’s presidency, Jose Eduardo Dos Santos, who ruled Angola for with an iron fist for 38 years, died Friday at the Barcelona Teknon clinic after suffering cardiac arrest.

With “great pain and consternation” the Luanda government posted on Facebook news of the confirmation of Dos Santos’ death.

José Eduardo dos Santos ruled the Portuguese-speaking, oil-rich state of Angola as the second president who served from 1979 to 2017.

He affectionately came to be known as Zé Dú, throughout his 38-year-old long presidential term.

In September 2017, he formally retired from political life, leaving power to his successor, the current president of Angola, João Lourenço and has since been in exile in Barcelona where he died this Friday after a prolonged illness.

Although his death comes at a particularly sensitive time for Angolan democracy, as the country prepares for its upcoming elections in August 2022, his stint in power has left a legacy that continues to generate divided opinions inside and outside Angola.