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/ 28 December 2007
Early forecasts showed Kenya’s President Mwai Kibaki in a close fight on Friday with his main challenger after an election diplomats praised as smooth, despite sporadic violence and rigging claims by both sides. An exit poll gave Kibaki the lead, but partial tallies compiled by three local broadcasters put his rival, Raila Odinga, ahead in the race.
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/ 26 December 2007
Two heavyweights of Kenya’s post-independence politics square off in a presidential vote on Thursday after a campaign that has overshadowed Christmas and seen the opposition holding a small lead in opinion polls. The closeness of the vote has raised fears that fraud and intimidation may be used to try to swing results.
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/ 24 December 2007
Two heavyweights of Kenya’s post-independence politics square off in a presidential vote on Thursday whose run-up has seen the opposition hold a small lead in opinion polls over President Mwai Kibaki. But the closeness of the vote has raised fears fraud and intimidation may be used to try to swing the result.
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/ 19 November 2007
It was after the second beating by Ethiopian soldiers that Abdi Bashi Jama says he decided to head for the border. But though separated from family, far from his home village in Ethiopia’s eastern Ogaden region, and a refugee rather than a shop-owner now, Jama considers himself lucky.
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/ 5 November 2007
Horn of Africa enemies Ethiopia and Eritrea may return to war over their disputed border in a matter of weeks if there is no major international push to halt them. A war on the boundary killed 70 000 people from 1998 to 2000 and brought untold hardship to two of the world’s poorest nations.
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/ 1 November 2007
Three days of fighting in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, displaced 88 000 people from their homes, adding to hundreds of thousands who fled violence earlier this year, the United Nations said on Thursday. In an unprecedented statement, 39 aid agencies also said they could not respond effectively to Somalia’s unfolding ”humanitarian catastrophe” due to insecurity.
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/ 30 October 2007
The crew of a foreign cargo ship seized by Somali pirates overpowered their hijackers on Tuesday and retook control of the latest vessel to run into trouble in some of the world’s most dangerous waters. The East African Seafarers’ Assistance Programme said the North Korean ship had been hijacked late on Monday or early on Tuesday.
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/ 18 October 2007
A convoy of shiny, 4×4 vehicles roars into the main street of a small town, kicking up dust and scattering people in their way. As traffic grinds to a halt, corpulent politicians emerge from their cars to wave at crowds of mainly young men, some still fingering the small amounts of money and food they have been given to come to the rally.
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/ 17 September 2007
President Mwai Kibaki hit the campaign trail on Monday in the tribal heartland of his main opposition challengers just hours after announcing he would seek re-election in Kenya’s December poll. After keeping Kenyans guessing all year, Kibaki on Sunday launched a new coalition, the Party of National Unity.
An international human rights group has accused President Yoweri Museveni’s government of promoting ”state homophobia” in Uganda and urged the repeal of a colonial-era law against sodomy. Human Rights Watch’s attack added to a fierce social debate in the East African nation, where the gay community has been increasingly vocal in demanding rights.