Four killed, 10 wounded in Tripoli clashes

TRIPOLI, Libya

Clashes broke out early Saturday between rival militias in Libya’s capital, killing at least four civilians and wounding 10 others, medical sources said.

A state of emergency has been declared in Tripoli, while schools and universities have been shut down.

Malek Merset, an emergency services spokesman, told The Associated Press that Mustafa Baraka, a comedian known for his social media videos, died after he was shot in the chest.

Merset said his body was taken to a Tripoli hospital.

He said at least five other civilians were wounded in the clashes that centered in the capital city. Footage circulated online showed houses and vehicles apparently damaged from the fighting.

The violence pits the Tripoli Revolutionaries’ Brigade militia, led by Haitham Tajouri, against another militia allied with Abdel-Ghani al-Kikli, also known as “Gheniwa,” according to local media.

The violence was the latest escalation to threaten the relative peace after nearly a decade of civil war in Libya, where two rival sets of authorities are locked in a political stalemate. The divisions have sparked several incidents of violence in Tripoli in recent months.

Angola’s ruling party claims victory, opposition leader rejects results

LUANDA, Angola

The party that has ruled Angola continuously for nearly 50 years claimed victory on Friday in this week’s election, after the electoral commission put its share of the vote at 51%, but the leader of the main opposition coalition rejected the results.

Fewer than half of Angola’s registered voters turned out for Wednesday’s election, which now looks certain to give President Joao Lourenco a second five-year term and extend the rule of the MPLA, which has governed the southern African oil producer since independence from Portugal in 1975.

With more than 97% of the vote counted, the election commission said on Thursday the formerly Marxist People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola, or MPLA, was ahead with a 51% majority while its longtime opponent, the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola, or UNITA, had 44.5%.

"We have reached yet another outright majority. We have a calm majority to govern without any kind of problem and we will do it,” MPLA spokesman Rui Falcao told a news conference in the capital Luanda, a city that overwhelmingly voted for UNITA.

However, UNITA leader Costa Junior, addressing journalists and supporters for the first time since the vote, rejected what he called “brutal” discrepancies between the commission’s count and their own tally.

"There is not the slightest doubt that the MPLA did not win the elections,” he said. “UNITA does not recognise the provisional results.”

It was Angola’s most closely fought poll yet, with unprecedented gains for the opposition in parliamentary seats.

Analysts fear any dispute could ignite violence among a poor and frustrated youth who voted for Junior. The MPLA and UNITA, formerly both anti-colonial guerrilla groups, were on opposing sides of an on-off civil war after independence that lasted 27 years until 2002.

Junior urged Angolans to keep calm, which so far they mostly have, aside from the odd protest broken up by tear gas and baton-wielding police.

Civil society activists shared images on social media of dozens of young people marching, chanting and waving banners in protest against electoral fraud in the coastal town of Lobito on Friday. Reuters was unable to verify these images.

Junior must lodge a complaint to the commission, and if it is rejected, he can challenge the result in the Constitutional Court, which must rule on the matter within 72 hours.

If the results tally stays as it is then UNITA, for the first time, will have deprived the MPLA of the two-thirds majority needed to pass major reforms – the ruling party will instead need the backing of other lawmakers.

But perhaps even more telling was how few voters showed up to choose between two political entities which have dominated Angolan politics since independence. Election data released on Friday showed that turnout was 45.65% of eligible voters.

Lourenço, 68, has pledged to extend reforms in his second term, including privatising poorly-run state assets. But many Angolans still live in poverty despite promises of a fairer distribution of wealth in Africa’s second biggest oil producer – a fact which benefited UNITA, popular with poor, jobless youths.

UNITA posted an image of Junior on its official Instagram account with the caption: “The President”, while the MPLA posted a video of Lourenço on social media thanking Angolans for the outcome.

As she watched the news on her phone, 47-year-old Antonia Neto, who works at a coffee shop at Luanda airport, said she was not happy with the results, but she remained hopeful.

"There is a lot of discontent,” she said. “Maybe things will be better in the next election.” - Reuters

Coup d'état in Madagascar: conviction confirmed for 2 Frenchmen

ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar

The two Frenchmen were convicted of trying to assassinate Madagascar's president, Andry Rajoelina: their request to have their sentences of 10 and 20 years of hard labour overturned on Friday by Madagascar's Court of Cassation.

The court "rejects the appeals," the president said laconically during an expedited hearing. Paul Rafanoharana, a Franco-Malagasy former adviser to the head of state, and Philippe François, an ex-colonel of the French army converted to business, were arrested in July 2021.

They were found guilty, after an eight-day trial in December, of having set up an operation codenamed "Apollo 21" targeting Andry Rajoelina.

Paul Rafanoharana is considered the mastermind of the plot. He admitted during the trial to the existence of a letter in which he demanded a large sum of money to "guarantee the overthrow of the regime in place".

Philippe François is accused of having acted as an accomplice by concealing the illegal activities of the Apollo 21 project through a front company. 

They were respectively sentenced to 20 years and 10 years in prison with hard labour for attempted coup d'état and attempted assassination of the head of state.

After the rejection of their appeal, their lawyers told AFP they were studying the possibility of extraditing their clients to France. "But that would require recognising the Malagasy sentence and therefore recognising that there was indeed an attempted coup d'état," explained one of them.

In total, 20 people have been implicated in this case.

Million Covid-19 deaths in 2022 - WHO

GENEVA, Switzerland

The World Health Organization announced Thursday that a million people had died from Covid-19 in 2022, calling it a “tragic milestone” when all the tools existed to prevent deaths.

Nearly 6.45 million deaths have been reported to the WHO since the virus was first detected in China in late 2019.

But WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus questioned whether the world was really on top of the pandemic, this far in.

“This week, we crossed the tragic milestone of one million reported deaths so far this year,” he told a press conference.

“We cannot say we are learning to live with Covid-19 when one million people have died with Covid-19 this year alone, when we are two-and-a-half years into the pandemic and have all the tools necessary to prevent these deaths.

“We ask all governments to strengthen their efforts to vaccinate all health workers, older people and others at the highest risk, on the way to 70 percent vaccine coverage for the whole population.”

Tedros wanted all countries to have vaccinated 70 percent of their populations by the end of June.

But 136 countries failed to reach the target, of which 66 still had coverage below 40 percent.

“It is pleasing to see that some countries with the lowest vaccination rates are now making up ground, especially in Africa,” Tedros said Thursday.

He said only 10 countries had less than 10 percent coverage, most of which were facing humanitarian emergencies.

“However, much more needs to be done,” said Tedros.

“One-third of the world’s population remains unvaccinated, including two-thirds of health workers and three-quarters of older adults in low-income countries.

“All countries at all income levels must do more to vaccinate those most at risk, to ensure access to life-saving therapeutics, to continue testing and sequencing, and to set tailored, proportionate policies to limit transmission and save lives.”

Derrick Sim of the Gavi vaccine alliance said a million deaths in 2022 was a million too many.

“Behind each statistic is a very real human tragedy, and as… the world deals with competing priorities, we cannot become numb to the toll the pandemic is having on individuals, families, and communities,” he said.

More than 593 million cases have now been reported to the UN health agency. Despite testing rates having dropped sharply in many countries, around half of those cases were reported this year.

The Omicron variant accounted for 99 percent of virus samples collected in the last 30 days that have been sequenced and uploaded to the GISAID global science initiative.

Of these, the BA.5 group of Omicron sub-variants remain globally dominant at 74 percent.

“There is increasing diversity within BA.5 descendent lineages, with additional mutations in the spike and non-spike regions,” the WHO said. - AFP

Death toll from floods in Afghanistan rises above 180

KABUL, Afghanistan

Flooding in Afghanistan this month killed more than 180 people, the Taliban said on Thursday, appealing to the international community for help.

Flooding has wrought widespread devastation in central and eastern Afghan provinces in recent weeks, washing away thousands of houses and exacerbating the country's economic and humanitarian crisis.

"The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan can't manage the floods alone, we ask the world, international organizations and Islamic countries to help us," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said at a news conference.

Mujahid said 182 people had been killed by floods this month and 250 injured. More than 3,100 houses had been completely destroyed and thousands of livestock were killed.

Afghanistan has been reeling from natural disasters this year, including drought and an earthquake that killed more than 1,000 people in June. The nation has been largely cut off from the international financial system since the Taliban took over a year ago.

In Khoshi district in central Logar province, aid workers described widespread destruction from the powerful floods in recent days, with fields of crops reduced to mud and bodies of dead animals lying in piles.

Around 20,0000 people in the district were affected by flooding and 20 people, including at least six children, had been killed with two more missing, the U.N. children's agency said.

"People lost everything...they lost everything overnight," said Anne Kindrachuk, central region chief for UNICEF Afghanistan, said after a visit to the area.

"There are three tent communities or camps but (people) are unsure what comes next, how they are going to eat this winter, their livelihoods were wiped out," she said.

Kenya electoral commissioners to file individual responses to presidential petition

By Our Correspondent, NAIROBI Kenya

The four electoral commissioners, who have disowned the presidential election results, will each file their responses in the petition challenging the outcome of the vote.

From left; IEBC commissioners Justus Nyang'aya, Francis Wanderi Vice chairperson Juliana Cherera, and Irene Masit address the media on August 16, 2022, at the Serena Hotel.

Besides the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) and its chairman, Wafula Chebukati, each of the other six commissioners has been listed as a respondent, a first in a presidential election petition.

Vice-Chairperson Juliana Cherera and commissioners Justus Nyang’aya, Francis Wanderi and Irene Masit disowned Chebukati’s declaration of William Ruto as President-elect, alleging there was no clear winner.

It has emerged the four commissioners have each instructed a lawyer to file their responses, widely expected to mirror their public statements that the vote tallying and verification process had been bungled.

One of the four commissioners yesterday told our corresponent that each of them will have a separate lawyer to represent them at the Supreme Court but they will demand that the IEBC foots the bill since they have been mentioned in the case as IEBC commissioners and not as individuals.

“We have already identified our lawyers and given them directives. We need our own lawyers because the prayers Raila Odinga has given to the court in relation to the case are different from what we have been listed to answer,” said the commissioner on condition of anonymity.

The commissioner said that even if called upon to testify as individuals, they are ready to say the truth about what happened at the Bomas of Kenya prior to the declaration of the results on August 15.

“We will always stand with the truth and that’s why we need to have our own lawyers,” the commissioner said.

The official said that the lawyers hired by the IEBC will be defending the position of the commission that there was no rigging as alleged by the Azimio coalition.

However, their lawyers will argue their position that commission chairman Wafula Chebukati side-lined them in the verification of presidential results from 27 constituencies.

Britain to see 80% spike in energy bills as crisis deepens

By Sylvia Hui, LONDON UK

Jennifer Jones keeps feeding money into her energy meter, but it never seems to be enough. And when she can’t pay, she feels the impact immediately.

Jennifer Jones 

The power in her London home has gone off suddenly three times recently, once when her partner was cooking an egg.

Like millions of people, Jones, 54, is struggling to cope as energy and food prices skyrocket during Britain’s worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation. The former school supervisor has health problems and relies on government benefits to get by, but her welfare payments are nowhere near enough to cover her sharply rising bills.

“I’ve always struggled, but not as much,” she said. “Everything is going up. I can’t even pay my rent, my council tax, I can’t afford to do anything. … I keep asking myself, what am I supposed to do?”

And things are getting worse. U.K. residents will see an 80% increase in their annual household energy bills, the country’s energy regulator announced Friday, following a record 54% spike in April. That will bring costs for the average customer from 1,971 pounds ($2,332) a year to 3,549 pounds.

The latest price cap — the maximum amount that gas suppliers can charge customers per unit of energy — will take effect Oct. 1, just as the cold months set in. And bills are expected to rise again in January to 4,000 pounds.

To blame for the increase is the soaring price of wholesale natural gas triggered by Russia’s war in Ukraine, which is driving up consumer prices and roiling economies across Europe that rely on the fuel for heating homes and generating electricity.

That includes the United Kingdom, which has the highest inflation rate among the Group of Seven wealthiest democracies and seen disruptive strikes for months as workers push for pay to keep pace with the increasingly expensive cost of living.

The energy increases, together with rapidly rising food costs, are expected to push inflation above the 40-year high of 10.1% recorded in July and trigger a recession later this year, the Bank of England has predicted. Charities, public health leaders and even energy firms warn of catastrophic effects on poorer people already struggling to afford essentials as wages lag behind.

Jon Taylor, who helps Jones and others at debt counseling charity Christians Against Poverty, said growing numbers of people who have never had debt problems are turning to the group’s helpline.

“What I’m seeing a lot of at the moment is personal tragedies, losing loved ones, emotional health problems,” he said. “The pressure of not knowing how to pay the next bill or having enough food to survive just accentuates whatever they’re already going through.”

About 1 million low-income households have had to take on new or extra debt to cover an essential bill, according to a May study by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, a nonprofit focusing on U.K. poverty.

The drop in living standards is “of a scale we haven’t seen for many decades,” said Rebecca McDonald, the charity’s chief economist. “It really warrants big and creative national policy interventions in order to prevent what is a difficult year becoming essentially a catastrophe for many low-income families.”

Britain’s Conservative government is under heavy pressure to do more to help people and businesses — and fast. Authorities have said they’re sending around 1,200 pounds to low-income people. Every household, no matter their financial situation, will get 400 pounds off their energy bills this winter.

Many say that financial support needs to be doubled — at least —and some have called for an immediate freeze on the amount that suppliers can charge for energy. The opposition Labour Party has called for an extension of the government’s temporary tax on the windfall profits of oil and gas companies to help pay for relief.

But the government has said no further measures will be announced until the Conservative Party announces a new leader to replace Boris Johnson on Sept. 5. Neither Liz Truss nor Rishi Sunak, the two politicians vying to become the next prime minister, appear to support taxing energy giants.

Treasury chief Nadhim Zahawi acknowledged that the increase in the energy price cap would cause “stress and anxiety.” But he insisted the government was ready to develop more options to support households.

“While (Russian President Vladimir) Putin is driving up energy prices in revenge for our support of Ukraine’s brave struggle for freedom, I am working flat out to develop options for further support,″ he said. “This will mean the incoming prime minister can hit the ground running and deliver support to those who need it most, as soon as possible.”

Unions across multiple key sectors have reacted by going on strike to demand pay raises that keep pace with inflation. A series of national rail strikes brought the U.K. train network to a standstill during peak travel days this summer, and postal and port workers, garbage collectors and lawyers have all staged walkouts over pay disputes.

Meanwhile, a grassroots movement called “Don’t Pay” is campaigning to gather 1 million people who will commit to not paying their energy bills on Oct. 1 if the price hike goes ahead. The group is hoping that mass nonpayment will force energy firms to end the crisis.

“Everyone we speak to thinks that the price increases we’ve seen and are going to be seeing on Oct. 1 are beyond a joke and will push people to the edge,” said Jeffrey James, one of the campaign’s organizers.

“We are being forced into poverty, whilst others who are already in poverty will be forced into a life-or-death situation this winter,” he added. “That is the level of discontent and despair we are talking about.” - AP

UN chief urges Ethiopia and Tigray leaders to halt fighting

UNITED NATIONS

United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, on Thursday urged Ethiopia’s prime minister and the leader of its restive Tigray region to immediately halt the latest eruption of hostilities, which has set back efforts to restore peace and tackle a humanitarian crisis in Tigray.

Guterres also called for “the creation of conditions to restart an effective political dialogue” in separate phone calls with Ethiopian leader Abiy Ahmed and Debretsion Gebremichael, head of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

Tigray authorities alleged Wednesday that Ethiopia’s military had launched a “large-scale” offensive for the first time in a year in Tigray, while the government countered that Tigray forces attacked first.

The conflict began in November 2020, killing thousands of people in Africa’s second-most populous country. Now, as then, both sides have acted at a moment when the world was focused elsewhere — the U.S. presidential election in 2020 and the six-month mark of the Ukraine war Wednesday.

The conflict had calmed in recent months amid slow-moving mediation efforts. But last week, Ahmed’s spokeswoman asserted that Tigray authorities were “refusing to accept peace talks,” and this week, Ethiopia’s military warned the public against reporting troop movements.

On Wednesday, the United Nations said Tigray forces forcibly entered a World Food Program warehouse in the regional capital, Mekele, and took 12 fuel tankers meant for the delivery of badly needed humanitarian aid.

United Nations Secretary-General,
Antonio Guterres

U.N. humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths condemned the diversion of the tankers in a statement Thursday, saying they carrying over 570,000 liters of fuel that was “meant to help the U.N. and its partners bring humanitarian supplies to people who badly need assistance.”

“Without them, people will be left without food, nutrition supplements, medicines and other essential items,” he warned. “At a time when malnutrition and food insecurity are rising, the consequences can be dire.”

Griffiths demanded an end to the obstruction of humanitarian aid and protection of supplies throughout Ethiopia. He renewed calls to restore basic services in Tigray, including banking and electricity, “which would contribute substantially to an improvement in the humanitarian situation in that region.”

Guterres’ spokesman said an estimated 2 million liters of fuel are required every month for humanitarian operations.

“It is now the lean season, and we are highly concerned about the impact this might have on malnutrition rates and food insecurity in the region,” Dujarric said.

He said that since early April, when food supplies started getting to Tigray by the only road to Mekele, more than 81,000 metric tons of food had been distributed to about 4.8 million people by mid-August.

Earlier this month, the World Health Organization’s director-general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, described the crisis in Tigray as “the worst disaster on Earth.” Ghebreyesus, an ethnic Tigrayan, wondered aloud if the reason global leaders have not responded was due to “the color of the skin of the people in Tigray.”

Humanitarian aid began flowing to Tigray earlier this year, but the World Food Program said last week that with little fuel allowed, “this is yet to translate into increased humanitarian assistance.” The U.N. agency said malnutrition has skyrocketed, with 29% of children malnourished and 2.4 million people severely food insecure.

Months of political tensions between Ethiopia’s government and Tigray leaders who once dominated the government exploded into war in November 2020.

Following some of the fiercest fighting of the conflict, Ethiopian soldiers fled Mekele in June 2021 and the government declared a national state of emergency with sweeping powers. A drone-assisted government military offensive halted the Tigrayans’ approach to Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, and last December the Tigrayans retreated back to Tigray. - AP

UEFA Champions League group stage draw outcome unveiled

ISTANBUL, Turkey

Barcelona, Inter Milan and Bayern Munich were drawn together along with Viktoria Plzen to set up Group C at the UEFA Champions League group stage draw on Thursday.

(L/R): UEFA Managing Director of Communications Pedro Pinto, former Ivorian midfielder Yaya Toure, former Turkish player Hamit Altintop and British journalist Reshmin Chowdhury speak on stage ahead of the draw for the UEFA Champions League football tournament 2022-2023 in Istanbul on August 25, 2022.

This will be the second straight season when Barcelona and Bayern Munich will face each other in the group stage. Barcelona had failed to make it past the group stage last year and went down into the UEFA Europa League.

A clash between the Spanish and German clubs will also mark the return of Robert Lewandowski, who left the Munich outfit earlier in the year.

Group A will also offer an exciting set of matches with Liverpool, Napoli, Rangers and Ajax facing each other. In Group H, French champions Paris Saint Germain will face Juventus, along with Benfica and Maccabi Haifa.

Meanwhile, defending champion Real Madrid was drawn in Group F against Germany’s RB Leipzig, Celtic FC and Ukrainian champion Shakhtar Donetsk.

Premier League champion Manchester City will face challenge from Borussia Dortmund and Sevilla in Group G. The fourth team in the group is Denmark’s FC Copenhagen.

Here is how the groups line up for the season:

Group A

Ajax

Liverpool

Napoli

Rangers

Group B

Porto

Atletico de Madrid

Bayer Leverkusen

Club Brugge

Group C

Bayern Munich

FC Barcelona

Inter Milan

Viktoria Plzen

Group D

Eintracht Frankfurt

Tottenham Hotspur

Sporting CP

Olympique de Marseille

Group E

AC Milan

Chelsea

Salzburg

GNK Dinamo Zagreb

Group F

Real Madrid

RB Leipzig

Shakhtar Donetsk

Celtic FC

Group G

Manchester City

Sevilla

Borussia Dortmund

FC Copenhagen

Group H

Paris Saint Germain

Juventus

Benfica

Maccabi Haifa

Sample of Kenya's electoral agency forms 34A reveals errors in presidential tally

NAIROBI, Kenya

There could have been substantial numerical errors on several results transmission forms that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) used to determine votes candidates got in the August 9, 2022 Presidential election, our correspondent's analysis of sample polling stations results has established.

A sample of Forms 34A—the document that captures presidential elections at the polling station—in different parts of the country indicate that there are votes that cannot be accounted for, and which could mean that the polls body’s final tally may be erroneous.

Under Kenyan law, Form 34A is the primary document used to tally Presidential election votes and its contents are final. The subsequent forms 34B, C and D are simply a tally of the forms filled at the polling station.

IEBC started uploading forms 34A on its online portal hours after the election closed on August 9.

The correspondent's sampled 233 Forms 34A from across the country, and in the results forms downloaded from IEBC’s website, presidential candidates may have benefitted from inflation of votes, either through overstated registered voters, overstated valid votes cast, and addition errors.

Presiding officers who filled the forms listed the total number of votes that were cast in those polling station. 

But an addition of votes that each candidate scored in the sampled polling stations shows that the total is slightly higher than what is listed as the votes cast.

Whether the anomalies were from human error or a calculated move by IEBC staff, they have poked holes into the accuracy of the final figures announced by the polls body’s chairperson Wafula Chebukati and which saw him declare William Ruto the President-Elect.

Ruto ran on a United Democratic Alliance (UDA) ticket, with Mathira MP Rigathi Gachagua as his running mate. Mr Chebukati said the duo scored 7,176,141 votes or 50.49 per cent of the total valid votes cast.

Eight petitions have been filed seeking to invalidate the August 9, 2022 Presidential election, including one by former Prime Minister Raila Odinga and his running mate Martha Karua.

None of the petitions delve into the anomaly with totals in the forms 34A. They have, however, questioned cases in 41 polling stations in Bomet and Kiambu, where Mr Odinga and Ms Karua allege to have lost a total of 2,793 votes they said were illegally added to Ruto.

Mr Odinga and Ms Karua came second with 6,942,930 votes, or 48.85 per cent. 

Lopur Primary School in Turkana County, for instance, was a polling centre with two stations. 

In the first polling station, the presiding officer listed 319 valid votes cast, with no spoilt or rejected vote.

But adding the votes each candidate gives a total of 316 votes, meaning there are three votes that cannot be accounted for.

(See the form here Lopur Form 34A)

Deputy President William Ruto, who was declared winner of the presidential election last week, got 186 votes in Lopur Primary School polling station one. Former prime minister Raila Odinga scored 128 votes.

Mr Waihiga Mwaure and Prof George Wajackoyah got one vote each.

Approximately 530 kilometres to the south east at Barmish Centre in Wajir County, another presiding officer listed 279 valid votes cast on the results transmission form he had been furnished with.

In that polling station Ruto got 185 votes, while Odinga got 92. Mr Mwaure failed to get a single vote while Prof Wajackoyah managed one. This brings the total votes garnered by the candidates to 278, meaning one vote remained unaccounted for as there were no spoilt votes listed.(See the form here Barmish Centre Form 34A)

In Kilifi, along Kenya’s coastline, Bomani Primary School was gazetted as a polling centre with two stations.

In the second station, the presiding officer listed 285 valid votes cast. Mr Odinga alone scored 991 votes, as Dr Ruto managed 81 votes. Prof Wajackoyah got five votes as Mr Mwaure scored nil.

Aside from Mr Odinga’s votes being more than the valid ballots listed, they indicate that the polling station had 200 more voters than legally allowed in a single polling station.

Each polling station was allowed to host a maximum of 700 voters for the 2022 General Election so as to avoid having long queues.

(See the form here Bomani Form 34A)

In Nakuru’s Kahatia Public Open Land polling station, Nakuru County the presiding officer recorded 222 valid votes cast. There were no spoilt or rejected votes but adding up the candidates’ votes gives a total of 219.

Mr Odinga scored 54 votes as  Ruto got 163. Mr Mwaure and Prof Wajackoyah managed one vote each.

(See the form here Kahatia Form 34A)

The same anomaly appeared in Olengo Primary School, Siaya County. The school was a polling centre with two stations.

In the second polling station the presiding officer listed 424 valid votes cast. Odinga got 424 votes, as Prof Wajackoyah managed one.  Ruto and Mr Mwaure got no votes. This means there was an extra ballot that was not accounted for in the results transmission form. (See the form here Olengo Form 34A)

Should the anomaly replicate in several other polling stations, it could mean that several ballots were unaccounted for in the August 9, 2022.

In court, the petitions challenging Ruto’s election are hinged on three main points.

First is whether the IEBC followed due process in tallying, verifying and declaring results from over 14,000 polling stations.

Second is whether the numbers presented by Mr Chebukati on August 15, 2022 add up and give a clear victory to Ruto and his Kenya Kwanza coalition.

The Supreme Court has also been asked to determine whether there was interference with the election process by outsiders with the aid of Mr Chebukati and other IEBC officials and which allowed manipulation of results in favour of Ruto.

Mr Odinga, Ms Karua and Busia Senator-elect Okiya Omtatah hold that even with the figures presented by IEBC which they are disputing, Ruto could not have achieved the constitutionally required 50 per cent plus one vote.

The various claims in court on accuracy of numbers could see the Supreme Court rely on experts to come to a conclusion on whether to uphold or nullify the results announced by Mr Chebukati last week.

Mr Odinga and Ms Karua have claimed that they lost 2,793 votes through manipulation of forms 34A in Bomet and Kiambu Counties alone. 

They have asked the court to order for an audit of all forms that will include comparison with copies of originals that were issued to party agents at polling stations.

Much like in the 2017 Presidential poll that was nullified, the court has been asked to look into areas where thousands of people only voted for the president but ignored the other six vacant positions.

Mr Odinga and Ms Karua argue that a sample of eight counties they did show that 33,208 voters in those areas only voted for a presidential candidate. 

In such instances, the IEBC is required to have the other six ballot papers that were not filled. - Daily Nation

Macron arrives in Algeria for visit aimed at resetting relations

ALGIERS, Algeria

French President Emmanuel Macron will visit Algeria this week in a bid to improve strained ties between Paris and Algiers, 60 years after the country won its independence from France.

Macron will visit Algeria from Thursday, August 25, to Saturday, the Élysée Palace said in a statement.

"This trip will contribute to deepening the bilateral relationship looking to the future ... to reinforce Franco-Algerian cooperation in the face of regional challenges and to continue the work of addressing the past," the presidency said after a call between Macron and his opposite number Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune.

The visit to Algeria comes shortly after the country marked the 60th anniversary of its independence from France.

French-Algerian ties hit a low late last year after Macron reportedly questioned whether Algeria had existed as a nation before the French invasion and accused its "political-military system" of rewriting history and fomenting "hatred towards France".

Algeria withdrew its ambassador in response, but the two sides appear to have mended ties since. 

The North African country won its independence from France following a gruelling eight-year war, which ended with the signing in March 1962 of the Evian Accords.

On July 5 of the same year, days after 99.72 percent voted for independence in a referendum, Algeria finally broke free from colonial rule – but memories of the 132-year occupation continue to haunt its ties with France.

Macron's trip will be his second official visit to the North African country, which holds close business ties with Paris.

Thanks to its large natural gas reserves, Algeria recently has also become a centre of attention for the European Union in its efforts to cut back imports from Russia. - France24

Burkina Faso and Niger invite Mali to “return” to military cooperation against jihadism

BAMAKO, Mali

Burkina Faso and Niger, two countries affected by the jihadist violence that started in northern Mali in 2013, on Monday called on Bamako to "come back and assume its responsibilities" as part of sub-regional cooperation in the fight against jihadism.

In mid-May, Mali's transitional authorities, prevented from assuming the presidency, decided to withdraw from the G5 Sahel and its joint force, a military alliance fighting jihadist groups, citing a "loss of autonomy" and "instrumentalisation" within the regional organisation formed with Mauritania, Chad, Burkina and Niger.

"We reviewed (...) the sub-regional situation and we thought that Mali (...) is today the great absentee in defence cooperation," said Niger's defence minister, Alkassoum Indattou.

"We have to work so that Mali can come back and assume its responsibilities and play its role," he added.

Mr Indattou, accompanied by his counterpart, the Burkinabe Defence Minister, General Barthélemy Simporé, was speaking after a meeting with the President of the transition in Burkina Faso, Lieutenant-Colonel Paul-Henri Sandaogo.

"In addition to these operations, we plan to carry out more regular and permanent operations on the ground between the various armed forces to ensure that they occupy the ground, take control and cannot leave a single centimetre, either in Niger or in Burkina Faso, to the terrorists," said Mr Indattou.

From 2 to 25 April, soldiers of the two armies conducted a joint operation called Taanli 3 - "alliance" or "cohesion" in the Gulmacéma language spoken in eastern Burkina Faso - which resulted in the neutralisation of "a hundred terrorists", according to the two staffs.

Burkina Faso and its neighbour Niger have been facing regular and deadly jihadist attacks for several years, attributed to jihadist groups affiliated with the Islamic State organisation (EI) and al-Qaeda.

They have left thousands of dead in both countries and hundreds of thousands displaced from their homes. - Africa

Angolan president secures strong lead in early poll results

LUANDA, Angola

Angola on Thursday eagerly awaited the outcome of the most tightly contested vote in its democratic history, with early results showing a wide margin for incumbent Joao Lourenco but the opposition also claiming a lead.

Ballot counting began after polls closed on Wednesday in the oil-rich nation, where multi-party polls were only introduced in 1992.

Preliminary results published overnight by Angola’s electoral commission gave the ruling People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) 60.65 percent of the vote with 33 percent of ballots counted.

The main opposition the National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA) led by charismatic leader Adalberto Costa Junior was at 33.85 percent.

The MPLA has ruled Angola for nearly 50 years after the country gained independence from Portugal.

Lourenco, a Soviet-educated former general who had promised a new era for the southern African nation when he succeeded veteran leader Jose Eduardo dos Santos five years ago, has trumpeted a list of achievements.

He is credited with making far-reaching reforms, including boosting financial transparency and efficiency in parastatal organisations, fighting sweeping nepotism and corruption, and promoting business-friendly policies to lure foreign investors.

But UNITA’s deputy leader Abel Chivukuvuku said the party own tally showed it was ahead.

“Our poll counting centres … give us clear provisional indication of a winning trend for UNITA in all provinces of the country,” he told a live streamed night conference. “We are confident, calm and tranquil”.

The MPLA traditionally wields a grip over the electoral process and state media and opposition and civic groups have raised fears of voter tampering.

Results in past elections have been contested, in a process that can take several weeks.

The election has been overshadowed by Angola’s many woes — a struggling economy, inflation, poverty and drought, compounded by the death of a former strongman president.

More than 14 million people were registered to vote.

Angola is Africa’s second largest crude producer, but the oil bonanza also nurtured corruption and nepotism under dos Santos, who died in Spain last month.

The low-key, night-time repatriation of his remains in the final leg of campaigning has added a macabre touch to the election.

Dos Santos will be buried on Sunday, which would have been his 80th birthday. - AFP