Runner-up
Polls open in Congo as main opposition party boycotts election
Polls have opened in the Republic of Congo’s presidential election that is boycotted by the main opposition party and attacked by critics as tilted toward veteran leader Denis Sassou Nguesso. Voting centres opened at 07:00 (06:00 GMT) and will close at 17:00 (16:00 GMT). More than 2.5 million voters have registered to take part in the election which Nguesso, 77, is widely expected to win against six contenders. The list of contenders is led by economist and 2016 presidential runner-up Guy-Brice Parfait Kolelas, who was hospitalised on Saturday. Kolelas’ campaign did not say what illness had struck the 60-year-old but a family member told the Associated Press he had been diagnosed with coronavirus. Nguesso, a former paratrooper, first rose to power in 1979 and has since accumulated 36 years...
Ugandan government withdraws troops from Bobi Wine’s house
Ugandan soldiers stood down their positions around the residence of opposition leader Bobi Wine on Tuesday, a day after a court-ordered an end to the confinement of the presidential runner-up. Wine, a popstar-turned-MP whose real name is Robert Kyagulanyi, had been under de-facto house arrest at his home outside the capital Kampala since he returned from voting in January 14’s election. For 11 days heavily armed soldiers and police officers surrounding the property had prevented members of Wine’s household, including his wife Barbie, from leaving their compound, as well as denying access to visitors. But security forces withdrew from around Wine’s house on Tuesday, allowing the opposition leader to convene with newly-elected MPs from his National Unity Platform (NUP) for the first time sin...
Malian opposition leader dies of coronavirus
Malian opposition leader Soumaila Cisse has died of coronavirus aged 71, his family and party said Friday, after being held hostage for six months by jihadists earlier this year. Cisse “died in France, where he had been taken for Covid-19 care,” a member of his family told AFP. “I can confirm this terrible news. He’s dead,” a leader of Cisse’s URD party told AFP, saying the politician’s wife had let him know. Cisse was snatched by jihadists on March 25 while campaigning in the northeastern Timbuktu region ahead of legislative elections. He was freed six months later in October alongside Frenchwoman Sophie Petronin and two Italians. The hostages were exchanged for some 200 prisoners whose release was demanded by jihadist groups. “I was not subjected to any violence, either physical or verba...
