Uganda: UN Chief Concerned About Irregularities in Uganda Elections | Associated Press

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday backed concerns of international observers about shortcomings and irregularities in Uganda’s elections and urged all parties to settle any disputes peacefully. Neutral observers have criticized the government for using security forces against opposition candidates and supporters, and tensions rose Monday when police arrested President Yoweri Museveni’s main challenger, Kizza Besigye. The electoral commission announced Saturday that Museveni won the vote with more than 60 percent of counted ballots, while Besigye got 35 percent. Museveni needed 50 percent plus one vote to avoid a runoff election. The 71-year-old Museveni, a key U.S. ally on security matters, seized power in 1986 and has led Uganda for 30 years.

Uganda: Security Forces Use Strong-Arm Tactics Amid Presidential Vote | The New York Times

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni’s security forces used strong-arm tactics in the middle of an election Friday, arresting the main opposition candidate, beating protesters and firing tear gas and stun grenades at them in the capital. The United States, which gives financial support to Uganda and helps train its military, was among those condemning the brutal actions. It occurred as voting from Thursday’s election continued in two main districts Friday because ballots and other election materials had not arrived on election day. Early returns Friday put Museveni ahead of opposition leader Kizza Besigye, but votes remained to be cast and counted in Besigye strongholds in this East African nation. With results from about 47 percent of polling stations across the country counted, Museveni had about 63 percent of the vote and Besigye had about 33 percent, the election commission said late Friday. Final results are expected on Saturday.

Central African Republic: Crisis-hit Central African Republic awaits results of presidential runoff | France 24

At vote counting centres across the Central African Republic Monday, election workers are opening up ballot boxes and reading out the names on ballot slips a day after the politically volatile nation held a relatively peaceful presidential runoff. Sunday’s presidential election pitched two candidates, both former prime ministers, who campaigned to restore stability to a country that descended into a brutal civil war three years ago, which killed thousands, displaced nearly a million and split the country along sectarian lines. Reporting from the capital Bangui, FRANCE 24’s Catherine Norris Trent noted that, “the vote passed smoothly in security terms. No violent incidents were reported in Bangui, nor in other parts of the country. There had been fears about restive areas, particularly in the north and the east. But the UN security forces here ramped up security, redeploying troops to the country’s hotspots.”

Uganda: Opposition leader arrested ahead of Thursday’s election | Associated Press

Ugandan police fired tear gas and rubber bullets to break up a crowd of opposition supporters and briefly arrested a leading opposition candidate on Monday, raising tensions ahead of elections widely seen as close. Ambulances carried the injured after the police used force to break up supporters of presidential candidate Kizza Besigye near Uganda’s Makerere University in the capital. Mr Besigye defied orders to follow a less crowded route to the university, where he had planned to hold a rally so police fired tear gas and shotguns to quell a crowd of his supporters, said Fred Enanga, police spokesman.

Central African Republic: Voters head to the polls under a shadow from the past | Reuters

The smiling faces of two former prime ministers, Anicet-Georges Dologuele and Faustin-Archange Touadera, gaze out from thousands of campaign posters plastered across Central African Republic’s dusty riverside capital Bangui. The specter of a third man, exiled former ruler Francois Bozize, looms just as heavily over the presidential run-off vote on Sunday. With it comes the risk that the vote may change little if anything, no matter who wins it. Central African Republic, a majority Christian country rich in gold, uranium and diamonds but too unstable to mine them profitably, has been torn between Muslim Seleka rebels and Christian “anti-balaka” militias since the rebels ousted Bozize in early 2013. The violence has killed thousands, forced one in five residents to flee and led to de facto partition along ethnic and religious faultlines. Seleka withdrew from Bangui in 2014 and an interim president was named to lead a transition to democracy.

Uganda: Worries Over Violence Cloud Uganda Elections | VoA News

With only a week until national elections in Uganda, a number of human rights advocates are concerned about increasingly violent rhetoric coming from the nation’s leaders. Ugandans were shocked last month when Inspector General of Police Kale Kayihura was quoted by a local newspaper saying that if the opposition wanted war, they would give crime preventers — a youth force created to supplement the police — guns. Then, not long after, the secretary-general of the ruling NRM party, Kasule Lumumba, was heard on the radio telling citizens the state will “kill your children” should they protest election results. Although both Kayihura and Lumumba say they were misquoted, many feel the official response to these statements has been inadequate.

Haiti: Prime Minister calls for peace on Haiti’s first day with no president | Reuters

Protesting Haitians should end weeks of sometimes violent street marches and join a dialogue to create a transitional government, Prime Minister Evans Paul said on Monday, during his first day as the temporary head of the troubled Caribbean nation. Paul was prime minister under former President Michel Martelly, who left office on Sunday without an elected successor after a botched election saw a second round of voting cancelled due to the protests. Under an 11th-hour agreement at the weekend, Paul will stay in office until parliament chooses an interim president. “We should demand peace and dialogue. That is the only weapon that we should use, it is dialogue,” Paul told Reuters.

Uganda: Police buy anti-riot gear ahead of Museveni’s re-election bid | Reuters

Uganda has bought anti-riot gear ahead of a Feb. 18 election in a move which police say will bolster security during voting but which critics say aims to intimidate opponents of President Yoweri Museveni, who is seeking to extend his 30-year rule. Museveni’s two major rivals, Kizza Besigye and Amama Mbabazi, a former prime minister and secretary general of the ruling party, have both attracted large crowds and analysts say Museveni faces his toughest challenge yet. Critics have accused him of using violence by security personnel to intimidate opposition supporters, while police have drawn public ire for frequently blocking opposition gatherings or using teargas and sometimes live ammunition to disperse them.

Central African Republic: Tensions rise as elections draw near | News24

As presidential elections in the Central African Republic (CAR) draw closer, renewed fighting between communities has sparked tensions. With approximately 20% of the country’s population having been displaced due to the conflict, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has stepped up its operations in the central African nation in order to provide much-needed healthcare. Several health centres in the capital of Bangui have suspended their services due to insecurity in the area, leading to many more citizens seeking out MSF’s assistance.

Haiti: Martelly vows to leave power on Sunday as protests intensify | Reuters

Haiti’s president promised on Thursday to leave power in three days’ time despite having no replacement after a botched election, as opposition protests intensified and politicians squabbled over who should lead an interim government. President Michel Martelly had earlier warned he would not step aside without an established succession plan, enraging protesters who have marched almost daily in the capital Port-au-Prince over the past two weeks. Haiti’s constitution requires Martelly to leave office on Feb. 7, but runoff elections to choose the next president were canceled last month when opposition candidate Jude Celestin threatened to boycott the vote and protests turned violent.

Niger: Interior minister blames backers of jailed presidential hopeful for violence | AFP

Niger’s interior minister on Thursday accused supporters of jailed presidential candidate Hama Amadou of acts of violence against backers of the incumbent president seeking re-election. “Since the start of the campaign, there have been acts of aggression, violence committed by MODEN activists against supporters of (President) Mahamadou Issoufou and any vehicles with his poster,” Hassoumi Massaoudou told AFP. Issoufou is running for a second term in the February 21 vote in the arid west African country, while his rival Amadou, of the Democratic Movement of Niger (MODEN), remains in prison over allegations of taking part in a baby trafficking scandal.

Uganda: Fears of violence ahead of elections | Deutsche Welle

A local NGO, the Human Rights Network-Uganda (HRINET-U) has issued a report citing cases of members from opposition parties who have gone missing, while others who have been arrested have not been charged or been brought before the courts. The report also says security organizations are believed to be favoring incumbent president Museveni. It sites incidents when Uganda’s main opposition leader and flag bearer of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), Kizza Besigye, was twice stopped by police on his way to a campaign rally in Kabale district in south western Uganda. The reason the police gave, was that Besigye intended to disrupt business at a market on his way to his campaign venue. Such incidents have raised concerns whether the electoral process will be free and fair.

Haiti: Opposition Alliance Declining to Meet With OAS Mission | Associated Press

A Haitian opposition alliance is declining to meet with a regional mission that traveled to this troubled Caribbean nation to help ease a political crisis that has postponed elections indefinitely. Samuel Madistin, spokesman for the “Group of Eight” that includes second-place presidential candidate Jude Celestin, asserted Monday that the Organization of American States’ mission was “not welcome” and was “unable to play any role as a mediator. The OAS doesn’t help Haiti come out of crisis. They create more crisis,” Madistin said, pointing to its role in 2010 elections that saw Celestin get eliminated from a runoff after his reported second-place finish was challenged by foreign observers complaining of irregularities.

Haiti: Growing crisis as election chief resigns | AFP

The chairman of Haiti’s electoral council has submitted his resignation to President Michel Martelly, a week after presidential and legislative elections were indefinitely delayed. Pierre-Louis Opont said in a letter dated Thursday that events beyond his control had “prevented me from carrying out my mission, which was to conduct elections meant to permit Parliament to return on January 11, 2016 and an elected president to be installed on February 7, 2016.” Opont’s resignation, following that of four of nine other members of the Provisional Electoral Council (CEP), renders the panel impotent.

Haiti: After canceling its presidential election, Haiti heads toward chaos | The Washington Post

Before he went into politics, Haitian President Michel Martelly was a nationally renowned pop star whose stage antics included mooning his adoring fans. As president, Mr. Martelly, whose five years in office are drawing to a close, has treated his constituents, Haiti’s 10 million citizens, with no more dignity or respect. Mr. Martelly is largely to blame for having led the country into electoral and political chaos, with no prospect of electing a successor to replace him by Feb. 7, as the Haitian constitution requires. Having governed as a virtual autocrat for much of his term, as a consequence of failing to hold timely elections to replace term-limited local officials and members of parliament, Mr. Martelly was instrumental in creating the conditions for a shambolic first round of presidential elections, in October.

Haiti: Leadership is in limbo as political crisis looms | Los Angeles Times

With Haiti’s presidential elections postponed again and just over a week left until the current leader’s term expires, various political factions are negotiating to avert a constitutional crisis that could leave the Western hemisphere’s poorest nation with nobody clearly in charge. The vote was supposed to occur last Sunday, but election authorities last week postponed it indefinitely due to security concerns, including attacks that had occurred on election offices. It was the third time the vote — a runoff originally scheduled for Dec. 27 — has been delayed. President Michel Martelly must leave office by Feb. 7. The crisis threatens to throw the poor and troubled Caribbean country back into the instability and political morass that it has long struggled against.

Haiti: After election collapse, Haiti edges toward interim government | Reuters

President Michel Martelly is determined to leave office on the first day of Haiti’s carnival in two weeks even though he has no replacement, the prime minister said on Monday, making it likely an interim government will guide the country to elections. Haiti was due to choose Martelly’s replacement last Sunday, but the two-man race was postponed indefinitely after opposition candidate Jude Celestin refused to participate over alleged fraud that sparked protests and violence. “It is clear that we won’t have elections before the departure of President Michel Martelly scheduled for Feb. 7,” Prime Minister Evans Paul said.

Haiti: Presidential election cancelled as violence erupts | Associated Press

Haiti has called off its presidential election just two days before it was due to take place over concerns of escalating violence sparked by the opposition candidate’s refusal to take part in a vote he said was riddled with fraud. The Provisional Electoral Council decided to postpone the runoff because there is “too much violence throughout the country,” council president Pierre-Louis Opont said at a news conference. In recent days, a number of election offices across the impoverished nation have been burned and the capital has been rocked by violent opposition protests calling for a halt to the vote. The council did not set a new date for the vote. It also did not say whether an interim government would take power after 7 February, when president Michel Martelly is required to leave office under the Constitution, or if he would remain until a replacement is elected.

Haiti: U.S. Presses for Haiti Runoff Vote Amid Fears of Violence and Fraud | The New York Times

After spending more than $33 million on a widely discredited election in Haiti, the United States has been pressing the country’s leaders to go ahead with a presidential runoff election this Sunday, despite a growing chorus of warnings that the vote could lead to an explosion of violence. Haitian leaders, political parties and others have denounced the first round of voting in October as a fraud-riddled fiasco and protested in the streets to stop the runoff. One of the two remaining candidates says he is boycotting, effectively making it a one-person race. President Michel J. Martelly took to the airwaves on Thursday to warn that protests on Election Day would not be tolerated. Civic, business and religious leaders are engaged in tense back-room negotiations to broker a deal in an effort to avoid violence and put off the race. Eight election observer organizations have pulled out over the fraud accusations and chaos, including a Haitian group funded by the United States.

Haiti: Protesters vow to derail presidential vote; election offices burned | Reuters

Stone-throwing protesters took to the streets of Haiti’s capital on Monday to demand the suspension of a Jan. 24 presidential election over alleged irregularities, while in provincial areas unknown attackers burned several electoral offices. Haiti is due to hold a run-off vote backed by international donors on Sunday, but tensions have risen since opposition candidate Jude Celestin said last week he would withdraw, on grounds that electoral authorities favored the ruling party. Swiss-trained engineer Celestin, 53, came second in an October first round in the poor Caribbean nation, beaten by banana exporter Jovenel Moise, 47, the ruling party candidate.

Haiti: Several election offices attacked in Haiti as runoff nears | Associated Press

Stone-throwing demonstrators on Monday smashed car windows and set at least two vehicles ablaze in Haiti’s capital, hours after several electoral offices were attacked in northern towns as the country prepares for a Jan. 24 presidential and legislative runoff. Roughly 2,000 protesters took to the streets in downtown Port-au-Prince calling for new elections and the immediate removal of outgoing President Michel Martelly, among other grievances. Roads were blocked with flaming tire barricades and more than a dozen motorists had their cars pelted with rocks. A truck and an SUV were torched by young men near a police station. Police dispersed opposition protesters and cleared most roadblocks by late afternoon. Officers scattered some demonstrators with tear gas in the downtown slum of Bel Air, one of many impoverished areas where young people who’ve never held any kind of steady job are easy pickings for political actors looking for protesters for hire.

Niger: Council Poll Peaceful but Marred By Low Turn-Out of Voters | allAfrica.com

The Saturday local government council election for chairmen and councilors in all the 25 local government councils in Niger state was generally peaceful but not without pockets of violence basically due to insufficient electoral materials by the Niger State Independent Electoral Commission (NSIEC). While there were well pronounced turn-out of voters for the election which has so far claimed a life and scores of others injured in Bida, others such as farmers and artisans went about their day’s businesses claiming that, ‘the government cannot feed us’. Accreditation started well as early as 8am in most places but soon became rowdy in some areas when voters discovered particularly that ballot papers provided by NSIEC is not in commensuration with the number of registered voters in the affected polling units.

Central African Republic: Candidates call for halt to ‘tainted’ election | The Guardian

Twenty out of the 30 candidates vying to be president of Central African Republic have demanded the election be scrapped after what they said was a tainted first round of voting. In a joint statement on Monday, the dissenters cited what they described as irregularities and intimidation in balloting on 30 December, partial results of which have been published. They said they refused to be “complicit in this electoral masquerade” and called for the whole process to be “purely and simply stopped”. They invited all players to get around the negotiating table “to draw up ways of safeguarding the nation”. Signatories include heavyweight candidate Karim Meckassoua , a former foreign minister from the minority Muslim community, who had been a pre-election frontrunner.

Central African Republic: Long Delayed, Central African Republic Elections Are Peaceful | The New York Times

Citizens of the Central African Republic began casting ballots on Wednesday in long-delayed elections that represent the best hope of reuniting the country, one of the world’s poorest, after three years of sectarian violence that has displaced hundreds of thousands of people. Turnout was heavy among the 1.8 million registered voters, nearly 40 percent of the population. Stores were largely closed so that workers could cast their ballots, a process that took hours. Many lined up outside schools and other polling places well before they opened at 6 a.m., as United Nations peacekeepers from Burundi, Egypt, France, Mauritania, Pakistan and other countries, along with 40 election monitors from the African Union, kept watch. As polls prepared to close at 4 p.m., people were still waiting to vote, including older men with walking sticks and women carrying babies on their backs.

Central African Republic: Polls open in Central African Republic elections | The Guardian

Polling stations have opened in Central African Republic’s much-delayed national elections, which residents and the international community hope will bring stability after years of sectarian violence. A transitional government led by Catherine Samba-Panza has steered the country towards the presidential and parliamentary elections. The National Election Authority proposed the most recent delay, from 27 December to 30 December, to deal with technical and organisational difficulties. “This time, everything will be fine throughout Central African Republic,” said Julius Rufin Ngoadebaba, spokesman for the National Electoral Authority. He denied allegations that illegal voter cards had been distributed.

Central African Republic: Key elections in seek to halt bloodshed | Deutsche Welle

Central African Republic votes in a presidential election on Wednesday which many hope will signal the end of months of sectarian strife in which thousands have been killed and many more forced from their homes. Wednesday’s elections in Central African Republic have been postponed several times due to violence and logistical problems. Most recently, they were supposed to have taken place last Sunday but were called off partly because of clashes in regions of the country where armed gangs still hold sway. Roland Marchal, researcher with the Paris Institute of Political Sciences, told DW it was a matter for concern that the elections were going ahead before these groups, in the west and east and in parts of the capital Bangui, have been disarmed. “Potentially, it’s very possible for any armed group to keep its major weapons and be able to strike,” he said.

Central African Republic: As Central Africans prepare to vote, major challenges still loom | Reuters

As General Bala Keita, the military head of Central African Republic’s U.N. peacekeeping mission, fended off militia attacks on a polling station in a besieged Muslim enclave in the capital Bangui earlier this month, he was surprisingly optimistic. It certainly wasn’t an auspicious start to a constitutional referendum meant to pave the way for pivotal general elections. But amid the machinegun fire and incoming rocket-propelled grenades, the battle-tested Senegalese officer saw hope. “What’s extraordinary is that people are here. And we’re trying to provide security,” he shouted down a crackling phone line during the Dec. 13 referendum. “The population is saying ‘We need to vote.'”

Central African Republic: Election delayed over logistical concerns | The Guardian

A national election in Central African Republic, designed to replace its transitional government and bring stability to a nation wracked by years of sectarian violence has been postponed to 30 December. The election, delayed several times before, was originally scheduled for 27 December. The National Election Authority proposed a short delay to deal with technical and organizational difficulties, officials from the government and the election authority said on Thursday. Electoral agents need to complete training, said Bernard Kpongaba, vice president of the National Election Authority, adding that he did not have assurances that voting materials would have made it in time for the original date. “We will take the time for the collation and deployment throughout the country,” he said.

Haiti: UN urges Haiti to reschedule postponed poll | AFP

The United Nations Security Council urged Haiti on Wednesday to quickly reschedule its postponed presidential election ahead off further civil unrest. The second round of voting to choose a successor to President Michel Martelly had been due to go ahead on December 27 but was cancelled after fraud allegations. The first-round of voting and the subsequent lengthy and delayed vote count was marked by street protests alleging official corruption. An “election evaluation committee” has been set up to determine a way forward, but no new date has been set for the run-off, leaving the western hemisphere’s poorest country once more in political limbo.

Central African Republic: As transitional authority steps aside, Central African Republic goes to the polls | Deutsche Welle

Residents of the Central African Republic (CAR)have witnessed more coups than elections since their country gained independence from France in 1960. Sylvestre, a civil servant from the capital Bangui, hopes that change for the better is just around the corner. “It’s always the same here, the situation in the country has deteriorated badly. Right now we really do need progress, to elect somebody who can do some good for our country,” he said. But with 30 candidates running for the presidency in Sunday’s (27.12.2015) elections, it is difficult to see who that somebody could be. The contents of their manifestoes are virtually unknown and this dearth of information is similar to that which beset the referendum earlier in the month. The electorate had to vote on a new constitution about which they knew very little. They voted for it nonetheless. In spite of all the uncertainty surrounding the identity of the next president, there is one political figure who will not be taking the helm: ex-President Francois Bozize, who was ousted in a coup in 2013. The Constitutional Court has banned him from participating. Bozize, who grabbed power himself in a coup in 2003, believes the ruling was unfair. “It was a shabby thing to do to somebody of my caliber,” Bozize told DW. He was president of the country for ten years. “These days nobody wants to have anything to do with me. I was simply dropped,” he said.