Guinea's leader Captain Camara has promised to return the nation to civilian rule in 2009. He seized power in Guinea following the death of the late president Lansana Conte. Captain Camara told Alain Joyandet a senior official of France during a meeting in the capital Conakry that the military leader was ‘’very clear in accepting the…

The Consortium for Refugees and Migrants in South Africa (CORMSA) has petitioned the South African Human Rights Commission to hold an inquiry into the May 2008 xenophobic violence which left 62 foreigners dead and thousands others displaced. CORMSA believes the carnage was politically aroused. Duncan Breen, a spokesperson for the refugees and migrants…

Mozambican president Armando Guebuza has said he would dedicate more of his efforts in fighting poverty in 2009. The president also said he will promote the country's development as well as continue with his public sector reforms. Mozambique is striving to develop itself and put back its important infrastructure having lost most of it during the…

The Libyan leader Muammar Ghadafi has been honoured with an honorary Membership of parliament. Civil Society Movement (CSM) of that country urged the visiting Libyan Leader to apologise to the people for his alleged involvement in the Sierra Leone brutal war. Prior to Ghadafi’s visit to Sierra Leone, the CSM in a statement said Ghadafi must now…

Scores of congratulatory messages are being sent to Ghanaians and the new president-elect Professor John Atta-Mills for a generally free and fair election. UN, Canada, Kenya and Nigeria are the latest to give thumbs up to the West African country. The United Nations through its Secretary General, Ban Ki-Moon, in a statement commended the process in…

South Africa has reduced the number of deaths claimed through road accidents during the 2008 Christmas and New Year period. According to the country's transport department, road accidents have claimed 885 lives in 2008 compared to 2007 where 1,535 people died. The department’s spokesperson Collen Msibi said the figure is 650 less adding…

A heavy storm on Tuesday destroyed houses in northern Malawi leaving over 50 families homeless. The storm rip off roofs of houses at Ekwendeni. Meanwhile the country's Department of Disaster Preparedness has come to the rescue of the victims by donating items like blankets and food. Media reports in the country said that the storm affected villagers…

Kidnappers released on Sunday two foreign journalists abducted in Bosaso in November 2008, local residents said. They are Colin Freeman, a writer for the Sunday Telegraph and a British as well as a Spanish and self-employed photographer Jose Cendon. They had been investigating piracy in the Puntland coasts, which has become a booming business of the…

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has begun his annual leave, a situation that would delay the formation of a formidable government. Mugabe is going on a month sabbatical in the far East - away from his political tensed and economically weak country. The southern African country's media reports said Saturday that Mugabe has started preparations…

The major opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has been declared winner of the close presidential run-off in Ghana. Its candidate Professor John Evans Atta-Mills polled 4,521,032 representing 50.23% as against Nana Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party's (NPP) 4,480,446 (49.77%). The Chairman of the Electoral Commission Dr Kwadwo Afari-Djan…

Ethiopian troops on Friday began withdrawing from Mogadishu, the capital of Somalia, eye witnesses say. Some residents said at least 28 vehicles carrying Ethiopian troops and some equipment arrived in Afgoye town, located about 30 kms South of Mogadishu, but they were not sure whether the troops were actually withdrawing, or relocating to another part…

President Mwai Kibaki on Friday assented to a draconian media law just as the country was recovering from the post-election violence. Kenya's parliament passed the Bill on December 10 in what is seen as a revenge for the media's role in exposing its ills. The contentious Kenya Communications (Amendment) Act 2008 gives the Internal Security…

A Zimbabwean court threw out an application seeking the release of jailed Zimbabwean human rights activist Jestina Mukoko on Friday. But the court ruled that she be admitted to the hospital for treatment for the torture she suffered at the hands of state security agents after days of kidnapping. “The judge has ruled against us on virtually every…

Possible food shortage is feared in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo raising serious concerns, Jim Farrell, spokesman for the World Food Programme (WFP) said. He said distribution operation is on course but in the next six months there would be a shortfall of about 17,000 tons of food per month. “Right now, total needs…are about 104,000,…

President J.A Kufuor of Ghana has asked the NDC and NPP to respect the final outcome of the presidential run-off characterized by tension. In his New Year message on Friday, he urged for calm as the last election at Tain in the Brong Ahafo region goes on. He said any party that finds the EC's declaration unsatisfactory could later resort to the…

Helen Suzman, one of South Africa's foremost anti-apartheid campaigners, has died at age 91, the SAPA news agency said Thursday. Suzman, MP first for the opposition United Party and later the Progressive Party, was an outspoken critic of apartheid. Suzman was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize twice and won praise from human rights organisations…

The New Patriotic Party of Ghana has in a last minute move gone to court to stop voting today in a district of the Brong Ahafo region that could "make a difference" in the knife-edge presidential run-off on Sunday. Voting nevertheless takes place. The Tain constituency could not vote due to problems in last Sunday's run-off polls. The…

The junta in Guinea has begun reaching out to neighbouring governments for support this week in one of Africa's most conflict-prone regions. The military take over has led to a temporal suspension from the African Union and condemned by Western donors. The National Council for Democracy and Development (CNDD) junta, which seized power in the West…

The International Criminal Court (ICC) confirmed Monday that the hearings to examine the strength of the charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity against the former Congolese Vice President Jean-Pierre Bemba would be held from 12-15 January 2009. The hearings had already been postponed twice, in November and early December. During the confirmation…

New reports have revealed that the LRA fighters killed more than 400 civilians in several Congolese villages in synchronized massacres conducted on Christmas Day and two days later. Caritas International said in a statement on Tuesday that the simultaneous attacks carried out in Orientale province were evidenced by bloody killings, looting, abductions…