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Zimbabwean opposition official Tendai Biti denied asylum, being deported
A top Zimbabwean opposition official fled to Zambia on Wednesday but was denied asylum and is expected to face arrest at home as concerns rise over a government crackdown after last week's disputed presidential election.
Tendai Biti, a former finance minister and a leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change, said he is going to be deported, according to Dewa Mavinga, southern Africa director with Human Rights Watch.
Mavhinga said Biti told him: "It looks like they have made a decision to hand us back to the junta. We are truly in God's hands."
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Late MDC leader Tsvangirai 'tried to get Mugabe's backing': Mugabe ally
A spokesperson for a party linked to former president Robert Mugabe has alleged that the late Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai tried to get Mugabe's support ahead of the 2018 elections.
Jealousy Mawarire, of the National Patriotic Front, told online news site New Zimbabwe that Tsvangirai had sent his secretary general Douglas Mwonzora to Kenya in January to meet with Mugabe’s nephew Patrick Zhuwao to facilitate a meeting with the former president.
Swallowed his pride
Zhuwao, a former labour minister, has stayed out of Zimbabwe since November’s military takeover that deposed his uncle.
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Zambia hands over Tendai Biti to Zimbabwean police, defying court order: lawyer
Zambian authorities on Thursday defied a court order stopping them from deporting top Zimbabwe opposition figure Tendai Biti, handing him to police across the border, his lawyer said.
"They have defied the court order to allow him to seek asylum and as I am speaking to you right now he has been handed over to the Zimbabwean police," lawyer Gilbert Phiri told AFP.
Biti, a veteran figure in the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), fled to Zambia on Wednesday claiming asylum, reportedly facing charges at home of inciting post-election violence.
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Mali opposition loses election challenge at top court
Mali's Constitutional Court on Wednesday rejected a legal challenge to the first round of voting in presidential elections, confirming August 12 as the date for the runoff between President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and opposition leader Soumaila Cisse.
The president of the court, Manassa Danioko, also delivered the definitive results of the July 29 first round.
Keita, 73, was credited with 41.7% of the vote, a small increase compared with 41.42% in the provisional results announced on August 2. Cisse picked up 17.78%, very slightly down compared to the 17.8% in the initial tally.
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South Sudan's president grants amnesty to Machar, all rebels
South Sudan's president has granted amnesty to armed opposition leader Riek Machar and all rebel groups days after signing a power-sharing agreement in the latest effort to end a five-year civil war.
The South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation reported the announcement by President Salva Kiir.
As part of the power-sharing deal, Kiir will remain president and Machar will return to the country as the first vice president, one of five vice presidents.
A similar agreement fell apart in July 2016 as fighting erupted and Machar fled the country.
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