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Month: February 2024
Botswana Opposition Slams Electoral Body for Benchmarking in Zimbabwe
Gabarone, Botswana — Botswana’s coalition of opposition parties has slammed the country’s electoral body for traveling to Zimbabwe to benchmark its election procedures — the process by which the performance of a system is assessed for success and emulation.
Botswana will hold its general election later this year, and officials with the country’s Independent Electoral Commission have been criticized for choosing the example of Zimbabwe, a country that held disputed polls in August 2023.
The two-day benchmarking trip ended Wednesday, and Botswana’s Independent Electoral Commission’s focus was on “management of electoral activities and how to conduct elections.”
Utloile Silaigwana, Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) chief elections officer, told journalists in Harare that the Botswana delegation will also learn about election publicity activities using radio and social media.
While Zimbabwe’s 2023 election was disputed, Silaigwana said Botswana’s visit is an endorsement of ZEC’s conduct of the elections.
But the Botswana National Front opposition is displeased with the IEC’s trip to Harare, arguing Zimbabwe is not an ideal model for the conduct of free and fair elections.
Ketlhalefile Motshegwa, spokesperson for the opposition Botswana National Front, expressed disappointment at the commission’s trip.
“One would have expected the IEC to benchmark in more developed democracies and systems with effective electoral institutions as an indication that they really want to achieve excellence in their mandate,” Motshegwa said. “The mission of Botswana’s IEC benchmarking in Zimbabwe is simple: Just to learn how to rig an election.”
Lawrence Ookeditse of the Botswana Patriotic Front shared similar sentiments.
“We know that Zimbabwe for the past two decades has not been in a position where they have run credible elections,” Ookeditse said. “The election has been stolen time after time. We see a situation where in the middle of an electoral process, the IEC in Botswana says they are going to Zimbabwe to benchmark. If you want to benchmark to run elections, you are not going to go to Zimbabwe.”
The IEC, in a statement released Wednesday, said the visit to Zimbabwe was specifically to look at ZEC’s accreditation machine for election observers.
International observers criticized a presidential election in Zimbabwe last August, saying it fell short of international standards and was conducted in an atmosphere of intimidation and fear. The winner, President Emmerson Mnangagwa, insisted that the election was conducted “transparently, fairly in broad daylight.”
But Botswana Vice President Slumber Tsogwane, addressing Parliament on Tuesday, said there is no need to disparage Zimbabwe.
“It [Zimbabwe] is a sovereign state, and these people are our neighbors. Yes, some [election] observers might have said what they said, but this has been said about many [other] countries,” Tsogwane said. “But we can’t come here and castigate Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe is a sovereign state, [which] is doing as well as any other country. If you have nothing to say good about Zimbabwe, just keep quiet.”
Grant Masterson, director at the Electoral Institute for Sustainable Democracy in Africa, said despite criticism, there are positives in Zimbabwe’s electoral system.
“The decision has both positive and negative implications,” Masterson said. “From a technical perspective, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has performed very well in key areas [of] election management, most notably in civic voter campaigns, as well as stakeholder engagement. They really have a lot of good practices to teach other electoral commissions. On the other side of the coin, there is the consideration that the elections delivered in Zimbabwe have had huge question marks about their integrity.”
Zimbabwe said other electoral organizations from the region, including from Lesotho and Ethiopia, have visited to benchmark on conducting elections.
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France’s Sarkozy Found Guilty Again Over Campaign Funds
PARIS — A Paris appeals court ruled Wednesday that former President Nicolas Sarkozy was guilty of illegal campaign financing over his failed 2012 reelection bid, confirming a previous ruling by a lower court, but his lawyer said he would take his case to France’s highest court.
Sarkozy was handed a one-year prison sentence, half of which was suspended, that can be served through alternative means, such as wearing an electronic bracelet without going to jail.
Sarkozy, 69, had been handed a one-year prison sentence in 2021 when first found guilty, although that was suspended while he launched his appeal. The new appeal will again mean the sentence is placed on hold.
“Today’s ruling is highly questionable. That is why we will appeal to the Cour de Cassation,” his lawyer Vincent Desry told reporters, reiterating that Sarkozy was innocent.
The Cour de Cassation is the country’s highest court, and its rulings typically focus on whether the law has been applied correctly rather than on the facts of the case. Appeals to the court can take years.
Sarkozy was in court on Wednesday to hear the verdict but left without commenting to waiting reporters.
President from 2007 to 2012, Sarkozy has remained an influential figure among conservatives and is on friendly terms with President Emmanuel Macron — despite a string of trials and investigations linked to various legal issues surrounding his campaign finances.
He has always denied accusations that his party, Les Republicains, then known as the UMP, worked with a public relations firm named Bygmalion to hide the true cost of his campaign — marked by lavish show events previously unseen in French politics.
During a hearing, Sarkozy put the blame on some members of his campaign team: “I didn’t choose any supplier; I didn’t sign any quotation, any invoice,” he told the court.
France sets strict limits on campaign spending. Prosecutors allege that the firm invoiced UMP rather than the campaign. They say Sarkozy spent $45.9 million on his 2012 campaign, almost double the permitted amount.
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State Production Unit Making Cheaper Labs for Schools in Kenya
A Kenyan government agency is helping students from low-income families access laboratories for science classes. The producer is making solar-powered mobile laboratories that are cheaper than building permanent facilities. Victoria Amunga reports from Nairobi. Camera: Jimmy Makhulo
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Not Enough Chargers in Top EV Market California, Drivers Say
Over 1.7 million electric cars are currently on the road in California. But drivers in the nation’s largest EV market say they are struggling to find chargers. VOA’s Anna Rice narrates this report by Angelina Bagdasaryan. Video: Vazgen Varzhabetian
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US Senate Passes $95B Foreign Aid Package for Ukraine, Israel, Indo-Pacific
The U.S. Senate approved a $95 billion aid package to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan early Tuesday. But as VOA’s Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson reports, the bill faces a tough path to passage in the Republican-majority U.S. House of Representatives.
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Blinken Talks to American Detained in Russia, Vows Effort to Free Him
Washington — U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday that he spoke with Paul Whelan, a former Marine detained in Russia, as he vowed sustained efforts to free him as well as jailed journalist Evan Gershkovich.
Speaking alongside his Canadian counterpart at an event on hostage diplomacy, Blinken said he spoke by telephone with Whelan on Monday.
“Our intensive efforts to bring Paul home continue every single day, and they will until he and Evan Gershkovich and every other American wrongfully detained is back with their loved ones,” Blinken said at the Wilson Center, a think tank in Washington.
Whelan, who was working in security for a U.S. vehicle parts company in Russia, was detained in December 2018 and is serving a 16-year sentence for espionage, charges he and the U.S. government deny.
Gershkovich, a correspondent for the Wall Street Journal, was arrested in March 2023 on a reporting trip in the Urals city of Yekaterinburg.
He is the first Western journalist since Soviet times to be charged by Russia with spying, allegations vehemently denied by Gershkovich, his employer and the U.S. government.
The White House said in December that it was preparing a new proposal to free the two Americans after Russia rejected an earlier offer, which the State Department had described as “substantial.”
Washington has recently carried out two prisoner swaps with Moscow, including for the release of basketball star Brittney Griner, despite a breakdown in most diplomacy due to the Ukraine war.
Putin in an interview released last week with conservative U.S. talk show host Tucker Carlson said that “an agreement can be reached” to free Gershkovich.
Canada in 2021 launched a coalition to oppose the arbitrary detention of foreign nationals for political reasons after the detention of two of its citizens in China.
The pair, freed in late 2021 after three years of imprisonment, were held in apparent retaliation for Canada’s arrest of a Chinese tech executive on a U.S. warrant.
Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie Joly, speaking at the event, said 75 countries had joined the coalition.
“Together we’re sending a strong message that this practice will not be tolerated. Citizens cannot be used as pawns in a geopolitical game,” Joly said.
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Biden Slams Trump for NATO Comments, Urges Republicans to Fund Ukraine
WASHINGTON — U.S. President Joe Biden on Tuesday delivered a forceful refutation of challenger Donald Trump’s harsh criticism of NATO, seeking to portray support for the former president as a threat to American interests.
House Republicans deciding whether to support a congressional measure providing support for Ukraine’s defense must choose to “stand with America or Trump,” he said.
Speaking at the White House, Biden slammed weekend remarks in which Trump said that when he was president, he told NATO leaders he would not defend members who failed to meet their financial commitments to the security bloc — and that he would, in fact, support Russian aggression against them.
“I would encourage them [Russia] to do whatever the hell they want,” Trump said he told another head of state.
“No other president in our history has ever bowed down to a Russian dictator,” Biden said Tuesday. “Let me say this as clearly as I can: I never will. For God’s sake, it’s dumb, it’s shameful, it’s dangerous, it’s un-American.”
Biden spoke Tuesday to urge House lawmakers to pass a $95 billion security aid package for Ukraine and Israel. The Senate approved the spending package earlier Tuesday.
“This bipartisan bill sends a clear message to Ukrainians, and to our partners, and to our allies around the world: America can be trusted,” Biden said.
“America can be relied upon, and America stands up for freedom. We stand strong for our allies. We never bow down to anyone and certainly not to Vladimir Putin. So let’s get on with this. Remember, the United States pulled together a coalition of nearly 50 nations to support Ukraine.”
Biden also used the former president as a foil to sketch out fundamental principles of his foreign policy.
“When [Trump] looks at NATO, he doesn’t see the alliance that protects America and the world,” Biden said. “He sees a protection racket. He doesn’t understand that NATO is built on fundamental principles of freedom, security and national sovereignty.”
And, Biden claimed, Trump’s doctrine caters not to Americans, but their enemies.
“Our adversaries have long sought to create cracks in the alliance,” he said. “The greatest hope of all those who wish America harm is for NATO to fall apart. You can be sure that they all cheered when they heard Donald Trump.”
Biden’s political critics did not immediately respond to his comments. But experts in presidential rhetoric note that Biden employed a classic tactic that has worked in the past.
“Which is that presidents always look more presidential — and he needs to look more presidential — when they’re getting tough against foreign dictators,” said Jeremi Suri, a history professor at the University of Texas at Austin. “That’s a good issue for him to show that he’s capable. That’s an old trope — almost too easy a trope.”
And, he said, Biden’s words could resonate among Republican lawmakers.
“I think this is going to have very real world implications, because I think that the pressure is building for many Republicans who are running for reelection in the House to show that they are not crazy on foreign policy,” he said.
VOA asked two representatives of the Trump campaign what the former president made of Biden’s words. They did not immediately respond.
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Year of the Dragon Not So Fiery for South Africa’s Taiwanese and Chinese
With wars raging in Europe and the Middle East, the specter of a clash between China and Taiwan — which could draw the U.S. into a new conflict — is of global concern. But an ocean away in South Africa, which has seen waves of immigration by ethnic Chinese over centuries, there’s unity, not division. Kate Bartlett reports from Chinese New Year celebrations near Johannesburg. Video: Zaheer Cassim.
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2 Boats Collide on Congo River; Death Toll Unclear
KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo — Two boats have collided on the Congo River in western Democratic Republic of Congo, local officials said, giving conflicting accounts on deaths.
Alexis Mampa, chief of the Maluku municipality, said no one died in the collision Monday east of Congo’s capital of Kinshasa. Another local official, Eliezer Ntambwe, at first said dozens were dead but later said the toll wasn’t clear.
It was not known what caused the boats loaded with people and goods to collide.
Horrified residents watched from the riverbank. A video seen by The Associated Press shows people flailing in the water while small boats move toward them.
Deadly boating accidents occur frequently in Congo as crews often overload small wooden vessels. Rivers are key to transport in the vast central African country with some of the world’s least developed road infrastructure. Most river traffic is run by small, informal operators, and officials have warned that adherence to maritime regulations is poor.
In January, most of the 50 passengers aboard a wooden boat that capsized on a lake in eastern Congo were presumed dead.
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Silicon Valley Startup Discovers Huge Copper Deposits
A California-based company backed by tech billionaires says it has discovered major copper deposits in Zambia using artificial intelligence. The discovery comes as demand for the metal is especially high for the global transition to cleaner energy sources. Kathy Short reports from Lusaka, Zambia. (Camera and produced by: Richard Kille)
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Zimbabwe Will Attempt to Establish Gold-Backed Currency
Harare, Zimbabwe — Zimbabwe’s government said Monday it is introducing a gold-backed currency to replace the country’s nearly worthless dollar, which most businesses have shunned, preferring the U.S. dollar or South African rand.
Minister for Finance and Economic Development Mthuli Ncube told reporters in an online press conference that Zimbabwe was making the move to ensure sustained growth.
“Really this is a quest for currency stability,” Ncube said. “What has emerged over the years is the U.S. [dollar] being the most dominant.
“Going forward, we want to make sure that the growth we have achieved so far — which is very strong — is maintained and even increased,” he said. “We can only do that if we have further stability in the domestic currency. … And the way to do that is perhaps to link the exchange rate to some hard asset such as gold.”
He did not say when Zimbabwe will introduce the gold-backed currency.
Since Zimbabwe’s independence in 1980, the country has introduced new currencies several times after citizens and businesses shunned the previous money.
The present-day currency, known as the dollar, bondnotes or ZWL, was introduced in 2014. Within months it started losing value, something economists attributed to the government overprinting notes and businesses failing to have confidence in the currency.
It now trades at 20,000 for 1 U.S. dollar.
Prosper Chitambara, a senior economist with the Labor and Economic Development Research Institute of Zimbabwe, said the move will help control money supply.
“It also helps to stabilize the value of the currency because, ultimately, the value of the currency would be determined to a greater extent by the value of gold,” he said. “On paper, it sounds [like] a good idea to link your currency to an underlying asset such as gold.”
Ultimately, Chitambara said, Zimbabwe needs to exercise fiscal responsibility if it wants a stable domestic currency.
“We need to ensure fiscal sustainability through ensuring there is fiscal discipline, fiscal consolidation, restructuring public spending with a view of eliminating waste and nonproductive spending,” he said.
Also, he said, it is important to ensure monetary discipline through controlling supply and making institutional reforms to address waste and inefficiencies in public enterprises.
Zimbabwe “has been losing money through subsidizing loss-making parastatals and entities,” he said, referring to state-owned companies.
Steven Dhlamini, an economics professor at National University of Science and Technology, said the success of the change will also hinge on whether people have confidence in the gold-backed currency — “whether they believe the government will indeed be transparent and accountable as to the production of the gold viz-a-vis the printing of the currency.”
“So once the trust is established, then that is critical in ensuring the currency will be acceptable and will be stable,” he said.
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