- Bobi Wine to protest irregularities during Uganda election
Ugandan musician-turned-politician and activist, Robert Kyagulanyi, aka Bobi Wine, has promised to protest and speak against ‘any illegalities and any irregularities’ relating to the election on January 14th
The YAfrica person of the year, in a statement, said in part: “This is going to be more or less a protest vote in my view, you know. And protesting comes in voting and protesting comes also in demonstration for as long as it is within the acceptable legal confines. So, it would be harming the regime, telling them that we are going to walk to work or we are going to sit in or we are going to do this or that. But all I can assure you is that we shall protest any injustice, we shall protest any illegalities and any irregularities…”
2. France arrests former DRC rebel leader
On charges of “complicity in crimes against humanity”, the former head of a rebel group in the Democratic Republic of Congo has been arrested on Monday, 4 January 2021.
Roger Lumbala is a former opposition lawmaker who led the RCD-N party, an armed group suspected by UN investigators of carrying out extrajudicial killings, rapes and cannibalism during the country’s civil war from 1998-2002. He was arrested by the French anti-terror squad.
3. President Touadéra wins re-election
The central African Republic President Faustin Archange Touadéra has been reelected in the first round of the presidential vote on December 27. Touadéra led by securing more than 53% of votes in the first round, according to provisional results announced by the electoral commission on Monday, 4 January 2021.
He won an “absolute majority” with 53.92% of votes, Mathias Morouba, president of the National Election Authority (ANE) told newsmen in the capital, Bangui.
4. Boko Haram kills three vigilantes in northern Cameroon
Three members of a self-defence group were shot dead on Monday by suspected members of the Boko Haram in the north of Cameroon.
Local authorities reported that casualties were members of the Kaliari Vigilant committee. These self-defence groups are usually composed of civilians and are responsible for providing information or serve as scouts to soldiers.
5. Nigerian scientist examines country’s coronavirus strain
A Nigerian scientist, Sunday Omilabu, has spent the holiday season in his laboratory exploring and examining the genetic sequence of the COVID-19 variant in the country as cases increase in Nigeria.
The scientist claims that the information he gathers about the variant will help battle the spread of the disease in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country with 196 million people.
