LAGOS – The Nigerian government has removed nearly 24,000 workers from its payroll after an audit revealed they did not exist, the Finance Ministry has said. The move has enabled a monthly saving of around $11,5m (£8m). The audit is part of an anti-corruption campaign by President Muhammadu Buhari, who took power last year. Corruption…
JOHANNESBURG – South African Tokyo Sexwale ended his campaign to become the next Fifa president during his speech ahead of the vote in Zurich on Friday. The 62-year-old told the Fifa congress: “I suspend my participation. I leave only four people.” Gianni Infantino, Sheikh Salman bin Ebrahim al-Khalifa, Prince Ali bin al-Hussein and Jerome Champagne…
JOHANNESBURG – A South African court has sentenced a Czech businessman to 35 years in jail for attempted murder and kidnapping. The charges against Radovan Krejcir, seen as the kingpin of Johannesburg’s criminal underworld, date back to a drug deal in 2013. He was accused of ordering the kidnapping a man whose brother had disappeared…
OUAGADOUGU – Burkina Faso’s ousted leader Blaise Compaore has been granted Ivorian citizenship, effectively ending the prospect of his extradition to face murder charges back home. The order was signed by Ivorian President Alassane Ouattara in November 2014, but has only just come to light. Mr Compaore is wanted over his alleged role in the…
JOHANNESBURG – Fifa presidential candidate Tokyo Sexwale says he is “open to negotiations and alliances” with his rivals before Friday’s vote. The South African faces Asian Football Confederation president Sheikh Salman, former Fifa deputy general secretary Jerome Champagne, Jordanian Prince Ali and Uefa general secretary Gianni Infantino in the race to succeed Sepp Blatter. Blatter,…
KAMPALA – Uganda’s main opposition leader Kizza Besigye has been taken into police custody after vowing to lead a protest march against President Yoweri Museveni’s election victory. Mr Besigye was bundled into a police van when he tried to leave his home, where he had been under house arrest. His wife Winnie Byanyima said it…
KAMPALA – The main opposition leader in Uganda, Kizza Besigye, has rejected the result of Thursday’s elections, in which President Yoweri Museveni won a fifth term of office. Mr Besigye, under house arrest since Friday, said Ugandans had seen “the most fraudulent electoral process”. He described the poll as a sham and a creeping military…
NIAMEY – Voters in Niger are to go the polls in the country’s presidential and parliamentary elections. President Mahamadou Issoufou is hoping to secure a second term in the impoverished West African nation. His main opposition rival, Hama Amadou, is currently behind bars accused of trafficking babies, a charge he strongly denies. The run-up to…
KAMPALA – Uganda’s incumbent President Yoweri Museveni has taken an early lead in the results that have been announced following yesterday’s presidential election. The electoral commission has compiled the results from 10,000 of the more than 28,000 polling stations. It says that Mr Museveni has 62% of the vote and his main rival Kizza Beisgye…
KAMPALA – Uganda’s opposition leader was briefly arrested as the country wrapped up voting in a presidential election his supporters claim was rigged in favour of long-time leader Yoweri Museveni. Al Jazeera witnessed police detaining Kizza Besigye, the main opposition candidate, as he and his supporters tried to show journalists what they said was a…
