Ravalomanana Willing to Call Referendum

Madagascar’s President Marc Ravalomanana, facing demands from the opposition that he step down from office, told crowds outside his presidential palace on Sunday that he was willing to test his support in a referendum, news organizations reported.
His statement was carried by Agence France-Presse and a BBC World News television bulletin.

On Saturday the opposition, led by the axed mayor of Antananarivo, Andry Rajoelina, claimed power, and Rajoelina gave the president a four-hour deadline to resign. Ravalomanana refused and supporters gathered around his palace to defend him.

AFP reported that he emerged from the palace on Sunday to tell a crowd of 5,000: “I remain in power. I have no fear of a referendum if necessary."

Tsvangirai Recovering, But Devastated By Loss Wife

Doctors attending to Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai are satisfied with his recovery process after the car crash on Friday which killed his wife, Susan. MDC officials said Tsvangirai might be released from hospital this weekend.

It has emerged that Susan was flung out of the car as it rolled over and it's suspected the vehicle landed on top of her. Rescuers found her 15 metres from the wrecked vehicle, mortally wounded with serious internal injuries and fractures to both legs.

ANC dissidents to hold convention

Dissident members of South Africa's governing African National Congress are gathering in Johannesburg to discuss the formation of a breakaway movement.

More than 4,000 people are expected to attend the two-day convention to draft policies for the new party, expected to challenge the ANC in polls next year.


The bitter ANC split followed last month's swift forced resignation of President Thabo Mbeki.

Police have tightened security around the venue to prevent any violence.

This weekend's meeting will bring together the ANC dissidents as well as some of the country's opposition parties, which now see a political realignment on the horizon.

Biggest crisis

The new party, which does not yet even have a name, is due to be officially launched in December, officials of the movement said.

Nigeria: Shell to Face Trial in U.S. Over Saro-Wiwa

Oil giant, Royal Dutch Shell Petroleum, will go on trial in the United States on February 9, 2009 for alleged complicity in human rights abuses in the Niger Delta, THISDAY has learnt.

The case entitled Wiwa v. Royal Dutch Shell and Wiwa v Anderson concerns the November 10, 1995 hangings of Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other members of the Movement of the Emancipation of the Ogoni People (MOSOP) known as "Ogoni Nine" and the shooting of a woman protesting the bulldozing of her farm by Shell in preparation for a pipeline project.

After several years of litigation, Judge Kimba Wood ruled that the trial would he held next year.

According to documents made available by EarthRights International, one of the counsel, Shell was engaged in "acts of oppression" against peaceful opposition to the company's environmental damage and human rights abuses in the Ogoni area.

THISDAY gathered that the plaintiff's action was brought under the Alien Tort Claims Act (ATCA) and alleges violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organisations Act (RICO).



The defendants dismissed the complaints on grounds of lack of personal jurisdiction over Royal Dutch/Shell and lack of subject matter jurisdiction.

According to the defendants, ACTA did not apply to a corporation and the claim was precluded by the political questions and act of state doctrines as well as Nigerian law on corporate liability. They also argued that the case should be heard in the Netherlands or England.

Zimbabwe: 'West Must Respect Power-Sharing Deal'

Britain, the United States and their Western allies should respect the decision made by Zimbabwe's main political parties to work together in an all-inclusive Government and remove the illegal economic sanctions imposed on the country, the Minister of Information and Publicity, Cde Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, has said.

Addressing a media briefing yesterday, CDE Ndlovu said the power-sharing deal agreed by Zanu-PF, represented by its President and First Secretary, President Mugabe, MDC-T, headed by Morgan Tsvangirai, MDC, led by Arthur Mutambara, was a landmark decision in the history of Zimbabwe and should be respected by all.

The three leaders will formally append their signatures to the agreement at a ceremony at the Harare International Conference Centre at 10am today.

"Britain and its allies should lift the illegal economic sanctions imposed on Zimbabwe so that we can attend to the economic turnaround for the good of the Zimbabwean people unimpeded."

Angola: Election Free And Fair, Sort Of

Angola's main opposition party, UNITA, has conceded defeat in last week's parliamentary elections, after initially demanding a fresh ballot over allegations of poll irregularities.

The former guerrilla movement said "it was not possible" to say the elections had been free and fair, as voting had been extended for an unscheduled second day after 320 centres across the country failed to open on time on 5 September, and in locations where there had been problems with the supply of ballot papers.

UNITA also alleged that people had been allowed to vote without proper identification.

But in a news conference on Monday, held shortly after the national electoral commission had dismissed its complaints, UNITA leader Isaías Samakuva said he accepted the outcome of the poll and praised the incumbent MPLA party, hoping it "governs in the interest of all Angolans".

Zambia: African Leaders Unite in Mourning Mwanawasa

AFRICAN leaders have described President Levy Mwanawasa as a courageous Pan-Africanist who never feared to speak his mind in whatever circumstances.

African Union (AU) chairperson, Jakaya Kikwete and Southern African Development Community (SADC) chairperson, Thabo Mbeki, described Dr Mwanawasa as a true African leader who spoke his mind.

The two African presidents were speaking at President Mwanawasa's funeral service held at Parliament grounds yesterday.

Uganda: Parliamentarian On the Loose

There has always been some sort of excitement whenever Ashraf Simwogerere releases a film. Feelings Struggle (2004) was exciting merely because it was the first 'Kinayuganda'.

When he released his second film, the controversial Murder in The City in 2006, the excitement was about the reported kidnap of the filmmaker.

But it is not likely to be the same story with Simwogerere's latest release, The Honorable, which premiered at the Bat Valley Theatre last weekend.

This is partly because we have now seen more 'Binayuganda' (locally made films) than when we first saw Feelings Struggle. Also, The Honorable may not be as exciting as Simwogerere's earlier films because it has no controversy surrounding it.

The plot is also a bit predictable, albeit well-told. It has a strong cast, which includes some of Uganda's most accomplished actors like Ruth Wanyana, Michael Wawuyo, Nickol Maimuna and Simwogerere himself......