President Salva Kiir pours cold water on the peace agreement signed to end the conflict in South Sudan
Following intense pressure from the international community to end five months of deadly clashes in Africa’s newest state, President Salva Kiir and his former Vice President Riek Machar signed a peace deal in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Friday 9th May 2014.
However, President Kiir has since claimed that the peace deal was signed under duress. He stated that the Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn who is also the chairman of the AU had threatened him and his nemesis, Dr Machar with arrest if they did not sign the peace deal.
On his part, Dr. Machar has contradicted President Kiir and maintained that the agreement was signed by the two factions out of their own free will.
One of the critical components of the peace deal is the formation of an all-inclusive transitional government to facilitate the healing and reconciliation process in this fragile state. In the foregoing, President Kiir has hinted that the 2015 elections could be delayed for a further two or three years.
This latest twist casts doubts on the effectiveness of the deal and the commitment of the two leaders to implement it fully even as fighting continues in South Sudan.
ANC wins in South Africa
The African National Congress (ANC) was officially declared the winner of South Africa's 2014 general election, after securing 62.15% of the national vote in last Wednesday's poll. Announcing the results in Pretoria on Saturday, the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) said the ANC had received 11 436 921 votes, which translates to 249 seats in the country's National Assembly.
The party remains in control in eight of the country's provinces, with the exception of the Western Cape, which stays under the Democratic Alliance (DA), which secured 59.38% of the provincial vote. The DA increased its support nationally to 22.23% (4 091 584 votes), giving it 89 seats in the National Assembly.
Newcomers the Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) emerged third with 6.35% of the vote. The party, which was formed only eight months ago, received more than one-million votes in the national ballot, earning 25 seats in Parliament. It has also become the official opposition in North West and Limpopo provinces.
Of the 29 parties that contested the elections, only 13 received sufficient votes to gain representation in Parliament.
IEC chairperson Pansy Tlakula said she was satisfied with how the elections were conducted and received the backing of the African Union (AU) and Southern African Development Community (SADC) observer missions which declared the elections free, fair, transparent and credible.