Source : Africanews

Three people have been reported killed in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DR Congo) capital following a shootout between armed men in military uniform and guards of a top politician, an incident the army described as an attempted coup.

Two police officers and one of the attackers were among those killed in the shootout that started early on Sunday.

The armed men attacked the Kinshasa residence of Vital Kamerhe, a federal legislator and a candidate for speaker of the National Assembly of DR Congo, but were stopped by his guards, Kamerhe’s spokesman Michel Moto Muhima said on social media.

“The Honorable Vital Kamerhe and his family are safe and sound,” the spokesman wrote on X.

A DR Congo military spokesman said in a televised address that the perpetrators of the failed takeover had been arrested.

Brigadier General Sylvain Ekenge told reporters the attempted coup was “nipped in the bud by Congolese defence and security forces [and] the situation is under control”.

The army said the group of people behind the attempted coup were mostly foreigners or Congolese citizens based abroad, Al Jazeera’s Alain Uaykani reported. Uaykani added that the army also said some of the suspects held US and Canadian passports.

“There is no link between these people and the local army or members of security forces in Kinshasa,” Uaykani said.

Still, he added, the attack raised concerns among the local population on how the perpetrators succeeded in entering a highly protected place and attacked a high-profile member of the government.

Local media first identified the armed men as Congolese soldiers, but then reported they were linked to self-exiled opposition leader Christian Malanga, who appeared in a live-streamed video surrounded by several people in military uniform.

“Felix, you’re out. We are coming for you,” Malanga said, referring to President Felix Tshisekedi.

Footage, seemingly from the area, showed military trucks and heavily armed men parading deserted streets in the neighbourhood.

The incident came amid a crisis gripping Tshisekedi’s governing party over an election for the parliament’s leadership which was supposed to be held on Saturday but was postponed.

On Friday, Tshisekedi met with parliamentarians and leaders of the Sacred Union of the Nation ruling coalition in an attempt to resolve the crisis amid his party which dominates the national assembly.

He said he would not “hesitate to dissolve the National Assembly and send everyone to new elections if these bad practices persist”.

Tshisekedi was re-elected as president in December in a chaotic vote amid calls for a revote from the opposition over what they said was a lack of transparency, following past trends of disputed elections in the central African country.

The embassy of the United States in DR Congo issued a security alert, urging caution after “reports of gunfire”.

Source: Aljazeera

Source : Africanews

Source : Africanews

The United States Embassy in Tanzania has declared a temporary closure for two days due to ongoing network problems in the country.

In an official statement, the embassy announced it will not be operational on May 14th and 15th, citing degraded network services caused by a cut submarine cable affecting Tanzania, Kenya, and other nations in East and Southern Africa.

“Due to nationwide network degradation, the embassy will be closed to the public on May 14th and 15th. Consular appointments scheduled for these days will be cancelled and rescheduled. However, the consular section will remain open for visa pickups and emergency cases involving American citizens,” stated the embassy.

Several African countries, including Kenya, are grappling with internet connectivity issues following the submarine cable cut.

This has led to slower internet speeds, prompting telecommunications companies like Safaricom to issue warnings to their customers about the disruption.

Source : Africanews

Chad’s opposition leader says he has filed an appeal with the country’s constitutional council to challenge the preliminary results of the May 6 presidential election.

In social media posts Sunday, Succès Masra shared a copy of a receipt showing that documents had been filed with the council.

The election’s preliminary results showed President Mahamat Deby Itno won with just over 61% of the vote, and runner-up Masra had over 18.5%.

Masra, the prime minister of Chad’s transitional government, had claimed victory shortly before the announcement and alleged that election results were being manipulated. He hasn’t publicly shared evidence to support his claim.

A Chad-based human rights law expert, Rakimdon Jacques Houitouto, told The Associated Press that if the constitutional council finds Masra’s case convincing, it will consider cancelling the results. It was not clear when the council might decide on the claim.

Chad held its long-delayed election following three years of military rule. Analysts widely expected the incumbent to win. Deby Itno, also known as Mahamat Idriss Deby, had seized power after his father, who spent three decades in power, was killed fighting rebels in 2021.

The oil-exporting country of nearly 18 million people hasn’t had a democratic transfer of power since it became independent in 1960 after decades of French colonial rule.

Masra, president of The Transformers opposition party, fled Chad in October 2022. The military government at the time suspended his party and six others in a clampdown on protests against Deby Itno’s decision to extend his time in power by two more years. More than 60 people were killed in the protests, which the government condemned as “an attempted coup.”

An agreement between the country’s minister of reconciliation and Masra’s political party late last year allowed the exiled politician and other opposition figures to return to Chad. He was later appointed prime minister.

Source : Africanews

Source :Aficanews

Heavy rains and flooding in Kenya caused more destruction in several parts of the country on Thursday.

Local media reports have put the death toll from flooding in recent days at 11, with over two thousand people displaced.

“We have people who have been internally displaced, who don’t have a place to call home, no roof on top of their heads, their farmlands have been submerged,” sqid Willis Omulo, a resident of Homa Bay in the country’s west.

”We are also talking about high rates of wildlife animal conflict. Here we are talking about hippos that are marauding within the community, scavenging for pasture because their grazing lands have been submerged. This is really a threat to the community and [is] causing a lot of insecurity,” he added.

Kenya’s meteorological department had warned the country was set to experience very high rainfall and asked people to prepare for floods.

In Kirinyaga county, flood waters swept away community roads paralysing transport services.

On Tuesday, 51 passengers were rescued after their bus was swept away by floodwaters on a bridge in northern Kenya.

Source : Africanews