Zimbabwe’s new president has called for public unity to revive the African country’s ailing economy as his new cabinet took the oath of office.

Emmerson Mnangagwa made the appeal after he swore in the 22-member cabinet at State House in the capital Harare on Monday.

“I have sworn in a new cabinet just to finish the term of the former president, which is a period of six to seven months,” Mnangagwa said.

“I believe with my team we will stand up to the challenge,” the president added, noting, “I want them (Zimbabweans) to be united, we must grow our economy.”

Mnangagwa has drawn criticism for appointing officers from the military which played a key role in the events leading to his ascent to power. The cabinet includes Air Marshal Perrance Shiri, who was appointed agriculture and lands minister, and Major General Sibusiso Moyo, who is now in charge of foreign affairs.

He also brought back many faces from era of former president Robert Mugabe, a move which could disappoint Zimbabweans who had been expecting a broad-based government and a break with the past.

In addition, Mnangagwa also reinstated prosecutor general, Ray Goba, who was named under Mugabe in September, but whose appointment was rescinded the following month.

On November 23, Mugabe finally succumbed to pressures and stepped down after 37 years in power.

The resignation came several days after army chiefs put military vehicles on the streets of Harare and placed the 93-year-old leader under house arrest. Many Zimbabweans celebrated the end of Mugabe’s rule.

A day after, his sacked deputy, Mnangagwa, was sworn in as the country’s interim president, vowing sweeping changes and seeking to attract foreign investment to revive the moribund economy in the south African country.

The new president has issued a three-month ultimatum for the return of funds siphoned out of the country by individuals and corporates.

Mnangagwa is Zimbabwe’s second president since the country gained independence from British colonial rule in 1981.

Source: Presstv

A Sudanese general and nine soldiers were killed in clashes in the war-damaged region of Darfur on Sunday after their vehicles were ambushed by militants, state news SUNA reported on Monday.

Conflict in Darfur erupted in 2003 when mainly non-Arab tribes took up arms against Sudan’s Arab-led government and has led to intermittent clashes ever since, though the government announced a unilateral ceasefire last year.

Fresh clashes erupted on Sunday following a military effort by government forces in the southern Darfur region to collect weapons from militants, SUNA reported.

Defense Minister Ali Mohamed Salem said that prominent Darfur militia leader Musa Hilal had been arrested and the situation in Darfur was now stable following the clashes, according to SUNA. The news service did not elaborate.

(Source: Reuters)

At least 31 refugees have died after their Europe-bound boat capsized off Libya’s western coast, Libyan coastguard officials say.

The flimsy boat overturned on Saturday and the Libyan coastguard brought some 200 survivors back to port in the Libyan capital Tripoli.

The volatile North African nation, effectively run by competing militia groups, has remained a key transit hub for asylum seekers from war-ravaged countries trying to reach Europe. Most refugees are packed into flimsy inflatable boats that often break down or sink.

Many are picked up by international vessels and taken to Italy, where more than 115,000 have landed since the end of August this year.

An increasing number of refugees and asylum seekers are intercepted by Libya’s European-backed coastguard and returned to the North African country.

The United Nations migration agency said on Friday that more than 33,000 refugees had died at sea while trying to reach European shores since 2000, making the Mediterranean “by far the world’s deadliest border.”

On Friday, the Libyan coast guard rescued some 378 refugees after their boats sustained damage in the Mediterranean Sea, officials said, adding that the rescue operation lasted over 72 hours.

Italy’s coast guard also said that some 1,600 refugees had been rescued from nearly 20 vessels in the central Mediterranean on Wednesday and Thursday.

Source: Presstv

French Cameroun football legend,Samuel Eto’o has  denied claims of having granted financial assistance to the tune of 1.5 million FCFA to every Cameroonian migrant repatriated to the country after the outbreak of the scandal of black slavery in Libya.

“Several sites circulated a rumor that I gave money to each returnee migrant, on a topic of news.This rumor is absolutely unfounded,” noted the French Cameroonian football star who took advantage of the opportunity to give advice to his “brothers and sisters”, reminding them that “love prevents more harm than money can solve”.

By Chi Prudence Asong

Survivors of slave auctions in Libya have described a “total hell” that they wouldn’t wish on their “worst enemy” as global outrage grows over footage showing refugees being sold off in the war-torn country.

“We were slaves,” said Moussa Sanogo, a refugee who flew back to Ivory Coast from Libya this week after surviving regular beatings and forced labor in the fields.

“For the Arabs (Libyan jailers), black-skinned men are nothing but animals — animals were treated better,” said Sanogo, who spent more than four months in Libya trying to get to Italy by boat.

The North African country has long been a major transit hub for refugees trying to reach Europe.

He was just one of those who returned home with stories similar to those aired last week by US TV network CNN, which showed an apparent slave auction where black men were presented to North African buyers as potential farmhands and sold off for as little as $400 (340 euros).

“It was total hell in Libya,” said Maxime Ndong, one of 250 refugees flown back to Cameroon on Tuesday night.

The Cameroonians flew back to Yaounde on Tuesday aboard a plane charted by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) as part of a project to return and reintegrate some 850 people.

The United Nations said the slavery auctions should be investigated as possible crimes against humanity, and the issue will be on agenda at an African Union-EU summit on November 29 to 30 in Abidjan.

(Source: AFP)

250 Cameroonian migrants arrived the Yaoundé Nsimalen international airport on Tuesday night from Algeria. Their repatriation was made possible by the International Organisation of Migration (IOM). IOM has also revealed that 1700 Cameroonians have been identified in Libya.

According to the testimonials provided by these many young Cameroonians who had chosen to reach Europe via Niger, Algeria and Libya, they were treated like cattle. Many were for the most part employed in the plantations including the building and construction industry.

The women were forced into prostitution and several cases of pregnancy have been reported among the repatriated girls. Each Cameroonian migrant received 65,000 FCFA (100 Euros).

By Rita Akana, CCN

Robert Mugabe resigned as president of Zimbabwe on Tuesday, parliament speaker Jacob Mudenda announced, bringing the curtain down on a 37-year reign.

Mugabe was swept from power as his  autocratic rule crumbled within days of a military takeover.

“I Robert Gabriel Mugabe in terms of section 96 of the constitution of Zimbabwe hereby formally tender my resignation… with immediate effect,” said speaker Mudenda, reading the letter.

The bombshell news was delivered to a special joint session of parliament.Lawmakers had convened to debate a motion to impeach Mugabe, who has dominated every aspect of Zimbabwean public life since independence in 1980.

It was greeted on the streets of the capital Harare with car horns and wild cheering. Zimbabwe’s Parliament has erupted in cheers as the speaker announces the resignation of President Robert Mugabe.

The speaker stopped impeachment proceedings to say they had received a letter from Mugabe with the resignation “with immediate effect”. It is an extraordinary end for the world’s oldest head of state after 37 years in power.

Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe has been fired as the leader of the ruling ZANU-PF party, less than a week after the military seized power in the African country, party sources say.

According to ZANU-PF sources on Sunday, former vice president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, who was sacked by Mugabe this month, has been appointed as new party leader.

The announcement came following an emergency meeting of the ruling party after which one of the delegates told Reuters, “He has been expelled,” adding, “Mnangagwa is our new leader.”

Leader of Zimbabwe war veterans, Mutsvangwa, has also confirmed that ZANU-PF has replaced Mugabe with Mnangagwa as leader.

Mutsvangwa added that ZANU-PF has starting the process to remove Mugabe as president of Zimbabwe.

Source: Presstv

Thousands of Zimbabweans have taken to the streets in the country’s capital of Harare, calling for the resignation of President Robert Mugabe after nearly four decades in power.

An estimated 5,000 elated demonstrators marched through the capital city on Saturday, waving national flags and chanting slogans against the  93-year-old veteran amid nationwide tensions over an effective coup against him.

Organizers of the mass rally said the move was “a show of people’s force” and public defiance against the long-time president and his close allies.

 

“These are tears of joy,” Frank Mutsindikwa, a participant in the anti-Mugabe rally said, holding aloft the Zimbabwean flag. “I’ve been waiting all my life for this day. Free at last. We are free at last.”

Another demonstration is also expected to take place in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second city, as eight of Mugabe’s ZANU-PF ruling party’s 10 regional branches have called for him to go.

Political tensions emerged in Zimbabwe earlier this month after Mugabe fired Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa and accused him of plotting to take power, including through witchcraft.

Mnangagwa, who enjoyed the backing of the military, had previously been considered the most likely to succeed the president if Mugabe resigned or died while in power. His sudden dismissal, however, raised speculations that Mugabe was clearing the way for his wife, Grace, to take the position.

 

The Saturday rally came three days after the army seized power in the country in what was described by the leader of the African Union as a “coup.”

Military forces blocked roads to the main government buildings in the center of Harare and sought to portray it as a “bloodless transition” away from Mugabe, who has been in power for almost four decades, since the former British colony gained independence from the UK in 1980.

Mugabe and his wife have been on the European Union (EU)’s sanctions list along with other key figures in Zimbabwe’s ruling elite, facing travel bans and asset freezes abroad.

The Zimbabwean president has called the sanctions, by the EU and separately by the United States over rights issues “wrong,” blaming them for his government’s failure to pay its workers on time, which led to a crippling strike last year.

Source: Presstv

A fire swept through the main building of French Cameroun’s parliament in Yaounde overnight, causing substantial damage.

State radio and television CRTV said witnesses reported that the blaze was raging on the third and fourth floors of the building.

Firefighters  worked hard to put out the blaze at about midnight yesterday.

Several French Cameroun parliamentarians including House Speaker and administrative authorities helped in the deployment of firefighters to stop the flames, which ravaged four floors of the administrative block of the building.

Pictures posted on social media appeared to show a large part of the building had been damaged. There has so far been no indication of any casualties and the cause of the blaze was not immediately clear.