Alpha Conde has won the presidential run-off in Guinea
The Electoral Commission declared the opposition leader Alpha Conde as the winner of the presidential run-off in Guinea that was held on 7 November 2010. Mr Conde beat his main former Prime Minister Cellou Dalein Diallo by garnering 52.5% of votes according to the provisional results. Mr Diallo, who has alleged fraud, has declared he will not accept the outcome of the polls. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon meanwhile released a statement calling for Guineans "in the national interest, to accept the results of the elections and to resolve any difference through legal means." The elections which were marred by violence and delays seek to put to an end 52 years of authoritarian rule.
Southern Sudanese voters have started registering.
The Southern Sudanese voters have started registering for the region's forthcoming January 9 independence referendum. Led by President Salva Kiir, also the Vice president of Sudan, the region started registering on Monday after referendum officials gave the go-ahead. The referendum is part of a 2005 deal that ended decades of conflict between the North and southern Sudan. After registering President Kiir said that, "Referendum happens only once. People must come out en masse otherwise it would mean people fought and died for nothing”. The African Union said earlier that, the two regions had agreed to resolve all outstanding issues seen as a threat to the referendum and the post-referendum governance of Sudan - whether South or North.
Tanzanian MPs elect first woman Speaker of the National Assembly
Ms Anne Makinda, 61, has been elected the first woman Speaker in independent Tanzania. Ms Makinda, from the ruling party Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), was declared Speaker by the Clerk to the National Assembly, Dr Thomas Kashililah, after polling 265 votes to defeat the opposition candidate and prominent advocate, Mr Mabere Marando, who managed 53 votes. Total of 327 MPs cast their ballots in the political capital of Dodoma, during the exercise presided over by special seats MP Anna Abdallah. Some nine ballots were spoilt. With a commanding number of 251 seats against the combined opposition’s 82 seats in the House, the CCM candidate was poised for a big win which was also apparently boosted by several votes from members of the rival parties.
Meanwhile, Tanzania's opposition party Chama Cha Demokrasia Na Maendeleo (Chadema) said that it did not recognise Mr Jakaya Kikwete as a president because of the several flaws that marked his re-election. Chadema presidential candidate Wilbrod Slaa added that President Kikwete was the product of election results fabrication. According to him,the National Electoral Commission did not allow the presidential results to be questioned anywhere after being released, denying his party a voice as provided for in the law.“I said this before NEC announced the results and we wrote to them trying to explain our complaints, but they did not even respond. Therefore, the only way was to reject the results and not to recognise the President,” Former Karatu MP added that it was difficult to accept election results which were recorded without adhering to the principles of democracy.