Most of the leading opponents of President Félix Tshisekedi plan to run in December’s elections, For now, the national presidential and polling elections are still set for 20 December, but many political activists suspect the government could still change the schedule. The most likely adjustment would affect the country s troubled eastern provinces of North Kivu and Ituri, both officially under martial law. The popular suspicion is that the government will cite the security crisis in the two provinces as a reason to delay the polls there, probably until well after the national result has been declared, after which it will be too late for voters there to influence it.
Foreign-backed militias are pressuring President Tshisekedi just as he calls for the UN mission to leave, President Félix Tshisekedi may be readying himself for a re-election campaign but the conflicts in the country s eastern provinces are raging on and threatening national sovereignty. The M23 rebels, backed by Rwanda, have started to administer lands seized close to the tri-border region with Uganda.
More opposition candidates are joining the race and pressuring the electoral commission to make urgent reforms, Opposition leader Martin Fayulu has confirmed that he will contest presidential elections due in December, paving the way for a contest that would repeat the line-up of the elections in 2019, which many independent observers judged him to have won. Fayulu s Engagement for Citizenship and Development party has filed papers confirming his candidacy, officials have said.
The President put much store into a scheme intended to add value to diamond sales, but the dream seems to be turning sour, The Botswana government s ambitious plan to sell part of its huge rough diamond output have been dealt a hammer blow by the implosion of its selected sales partner, the privately-owned cutting and polishing firm HB Antwerp, after the Belgian-Israeli founder of the firm, Oded Mansori, was ousted as chief executive in September. The proposed sales deal between HB Antwerp and Botswana remains under review despite the Belgian company announcing Mansori s reinstatement on 2 October.
Brussels, London and Washington are jostling for Africa s green minerals with China but cutting funding, Wrongfooted by a spate of military putsches in Africa amid deepening financial woes in the region, western policymakers had promised a policy reset. Instead, new rows have blown up over trade rules, financial accountability and Europe s relentless focus on migration.