Zimbabwe’s Electoral Commission has declared President Emmerson Mnangagwa the winner of Wednesday’s general election. The main opposition party, the Citizens Coalition for Change, is disputing the results.

Those are members of the ruling ZANU-PF party early Sunday saying President Emmerson Mnangagwa is as sweet as honey. The praise follows the announcement by Zimbabwe Electoral Commission chairwoman Priscilla Makanyara Chigumba that Mnangagwa won reelection, beating challenger Nelson Chamisa of the Citizens Coalition for Change party — by about 380, 000 votes.

“Now therefore, I, Priscilla Makanyara Chigumba, the chairperson of Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, hereby declare that, Mnangagwa Emmerson Dambudzo of ZANU PF party is declared duly elected president of the Republic of Zimbabwe with effect from 26 August 2023,” she said.

Those are ZANU-PF officials applauding Mnangagwa’s reelection.

On Sunday, at the State House, Mnangagwa appealed to Zimbabweans for peace as he starts his final term. He also addressed his 10 presidential competitors.

“I am happy that I have won the race,” he said. “I think those who feel the race was not run properly should know where to go to complain. I am so happy that the race was run peacefully, transparently and fairly [in] broad daylight. And I am happy that there was [a] huge turnout by our people. I am sure that very few people will say the elections were marred by any violence because there was no[ne] at all.”

Not everyone agrees with him. Chamisa of the Citizens Coalition for Change party Sunday told reporters that the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission had rigged the polls for Mnangagwa.

VOA asked him what he plans to do.

“The next step is that we are ready to form the next government on account of correcting all the errors that we have identified,” he said. “We have the results, and we are going to form the next government. We are on a peace offensive, we are on a diplomatic offensive. And we are going to take an offensive stance in a progressive and democratic manner to make sure that the voice of people is respected.”

Even election observers — such as the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition — are condemning the way the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission conducted the polls, accusing it of withholding ballots in urban areas — like Bulawayo and Harare — where the opposition has strong support.

Obert Masaraure is the spokesperson for the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition.

“Once again, the illegitimacy crisis of those in power remains with us,” he said. “The consequences are one, we are going to have [a] serious challenge of internal tensions where those in power are going to try [to] force citizens to work under them, obviously citizens don’t recognize them as the leadership, so a lot of force is going to be used.”

Secondly, this is a big dent on SADC and Africa in as such as holding credible elections is concerned— this is a bad precedence for Africa.”

He was referring to SADC, the Southern African Development Community.

Zimbabwe’s previous elections have been disputed but the results were never reversed.
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The U.S. military in Africa (AFRICOM) reported a “collective self-defense” airstrike against al-Shabab militants — killing 13 fighters in Somalia.

The airstrike took place in the vicinity of Seiera, approximately 45 kilometers northwest of Kismayo.

AFRICOM said Saturday’s airstrike was conducted in support of Somali forces who were engaged by al-Shabab fighters.

“Working with the Somali National Army, U.S. Africa Command’s initial assessment is that the airstrike killed 13 al Shabab fighters and that no civilians were injured or killed,” AFRICOM said in a statement.   “The command will continue to assess the results of this operation and will provide additional information as appropriate. Specific details about the units involved and assets used will not be released in order to ensure operations security.”

The U.S. considers al-Shabab the largest and most kinetically active al-Qaida network in the world. Al-Shabab merged with al-Qaida in February 2012.

“[Al-Shabab] has proved both its will and capability to attack partner and U.S. forces and threaten security interests in the region,” AFRICOM said. 

Meanwhile, al-Shabab militants raided the recently liberated village of Cowsweyne in the central Galmudug state, killing government soldiers early Saturday, security sources told VOA.

According to two security officials who asked not to be identified because they are not allowed to comment on sensitive military operations, the militants attacked the village using explosions from vehicle-borne explosive devices (VBIED) or car bombs, followed by armed militants who engaged in heavy gun battles with government forces.

The state-run Somali National News Agency (SONNA) said government forces repelled the attack and destroyed the VBIEDs.

However, extremist group al-Shabab issued a press release claiming to have “overrun” the base and killing 178 soldiers and capturing prisoners. That claim has not been independently verified.

The situation in Cowsweyne, 60 kilometers northwest of Ceel Dheer town, is still murky more than 24 hours after the attack. A local official described the attack in Cowsweyne as “painful.”

Somali government soldiers liberated Cowsweyne on August 22 as the government resumed military operations against al-Shabab to remove the group from central Somalia and push the militants to the south.

Military officials said they are targeting two main towns in the state, Elbur and Galhareri. Elbur was captured without a fight Friday by a large column of Somali forces. Al-Shabab militants have been withdrawing from towns and villages and retreating into the bush with the intention of a prolonged guerrilla war.  
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The longest nationwide power outage in Kenyans’ memory remained a mystery Sunday as the government-owned power company blamed a failure at Africa’s largest wind farm, which laid the responsibility on the power grid instead.

Some of Kenya’s more than 50 million people, including in the capital, Nairobi, saw power return almost 24 hours after the massive outage occurred late Friday. It was an embarrassment to the East African economic hub that has sought to promote itself as a tech center on the continent but remains challenged by alleged mismanagement and poor infrastructure.

Hundreds of people were stranded in darkness for hours at Kenya’s main international airport in Nairobi, leading to a rare public apology from a government minister in a country where tourism is a key part of the economy. “This situation WILL NOT happen again,” transport minister, Kipchumba Murkomen, said.

The head of the Kenya Airports Authority was fired after a generator serving the main international terminal had failed to start.

Shortly before midnight Saturday, Kenya Power offered the first detailed explanation of the outage, blaming it on a loss of power generation from the Lake Turkana Wind Power plant, Africa’s largest wind farm, causing an imbalance that “tripped all other main generation units and stations, leading to a total outage on the grid.”

But Lake Turkana Wind Power in a statement denied it was to blame. Instead, it said it had been forced to go offline by an “overvoltage situation in the national grid system which, to avoid extreme damage, causes the wind power plant to automatically switch off.” The plant had been producing nearly 15% of the national output at the time.

Such an interruption should be immediately compensated by other power generators in the system, the company said, but the continuing outages in the national grid were preventing the wind plant from being brought back online.

Kenya Power said it couldn’t even turn to importing power from neighboring Uganda, a relatively fast option that for some reason had been unavailable.

“We are jointly working on having the Uganda interconnector restored so as to enhance our grid recovery efforts,” it said.

President William Ruto, whose own office told The Associated Press on Saturday it was still running on generator power hours after Kenya Power announced it had restored electricity to “critical areas” of the capital, did not comment publicly on the crisis. Instead, he again criticized opposition calls for anti-government protests over the rising cost of living, calling them a threat to investors.

“Shame of a nation,” was the main headline of one of Kenya’s leading newspapers, the Sunday Nation. It said the outage was costing businesses millions of dollars and leaving some major hospitals to run on generators.

Kenya gets almost all its electricity from renewable sources, a fact that the government will promote as it hosts the first Africa Climate Summit early next month.
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Editor’s note: Here is a look at immigration-related news around the U.S. this week. Questions? Tips? Comments? Email the VOA immigration team: ImmigrationUnit@voanews.com.

Sanctuary Cities Welcome Asylum-Seekers, Deal with Budget Shortfalls

In the ongoing political battle between the Biden administration and the Republican governor of Texas over border enforcement, a few sanctuary cities are caught in the middle: They welcome recently arrived asylum-seekers but often lack the money to assist their resettlement. Immigration reporter Aline Barros has the story.

Trial to Begin Over Biden Policy Letting Migrants From 4 Countries Into the US

A key portion of President Joe Biden’s immigration policy that grants parole to thousands of people from Central America and the Caribbean was set to be debated in a Texas federal courtroom beginning Thursday. Under the humanitarian parole program, up to 30,000 people are being allowed each month to enter the United States from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua and Venezuela. Reported by The Associated Press. 

US Sues SpaceX, Claiming Discrimination Against Refugees, Asylum Recipients

The U.S. Justice Department is suing Elon Musk’s SpaceX, claiming it refused to hire refugees and asylum recipients at the rocket company. In a lawsuit filed Thursday, the Justice Department said SpaceX routinely discriminated against those job applicants between 2018 and 2022, in violation of U.S. immigration laws. Reported by VOA’s Justice Department correspondent Masood Farivar.

VOA Day in Photos

Migrants who crossed the Rio Grande from Mexico into the U.S. climb a fence with barbed wire and concertina wire, Aug. 21, 2023, in Eagle Pass, Texas.

Immigration around the world

Sudan Conflict Fueling Humanitarian Emergency of Epic Proportions

Hunger, disease and displacement threaten to destroy Sudan as war spreads throughout the country, fueling “a humanitarian emergency of epic proportions,” according to Martin Griffiths, U.N. emergency relief coordinator. “The longer this fighting continues, the more devastating its impact is going to be,” Griffiths warned in a statement issued Friday. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from Geneva.

Analysts: Situation Worsening in Niger as Food Prices Rise, Security Deteriorates

Conditions for people in Niger are getting worse, as security appears to be deteriorating, according to regional experts who spoke with VOA. Prices of staple foods such as rice and cooking oil have increased, while the country has endured more violence in the past three weeks than it had since the beginning of the year. Reported by Mariama Diallo covering national and world affairs for Voice of America.

Town in Chad Helps 200,000 Sudanese Refugees; ‘We Care About Them’

More than 200,000 refugees fleeing Sudan’s civil war have arrived in the town of Adre, Chad, since the middle of June. Before the crisis, the town had a recorded population of 40,000. In this report, Henry Wilkins asks Adre residents and newly arrived refugees what they are doing to help the influx of new residents.  

Thousands of Migrants Stranded in Niger Because of Border Closures

After three months of crossing the desert and then watching other migrants die at sea in his failed attempt to reach Europe, Sahr John Yambasu gave up on getting across the Mediterranean and decided to go back home. Reported by The Associated Press.

Malawi Moves to Forcibly Reopen Containers Confiscated from Refugees

The Malawi government says it will forcibly open 125 containers confiscated from refugees and asylum-seekers living outside a refugee camp. Police say the containers were confiscated on suspicion they contain, among other things, firearms and counterfeiting machines. Lameck Masina reports for VOA from Blantyre, Malawi. 

VOA60 Africa — More than 3 million people are internally displaced in Sudan, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said.

Rights Group: Saudi Guards Killed Ethiopians Seeking to Cross Border

Human Rights Watch alleges that Saudi border guards have killed at least hundreds of Ethiopian migrants and asylum-seekers trying to cross from Yemen into Saudi Arabia between March 2022 and June 2023, in a report released Monday. 

Rescue Ship Saves 438 Migrants in Mediterranean: NGO

The rescue ship Ocean Viking has saved 438 migrants in distress in the Mediterranean over the last two days, the organization that runs it, SOS Mediterranee, said Friday. The rescues took place in international waters off the coasts of Libya and Tunisia, the France-based NGO said. Reported by Agence France-Presse. 

Greece Cracks Down on Attacks on Migrants as Wildfires Rage

Greece’s Supreme Court has ordered an urgent investigation into racist attacks that followed the outbreak of ferocious wildfires in the country’s northeast. The court order came after search teams found the bodies of 18 migrants who had been burned beyond recognition in a wooded area that had gone up in flames in Alexandroupolis, bordering Turkey. Produced by Anthee Carassava.  

News brief

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced “more than $77 million in grants to support border and interior communities receiving migrants through the Shelter and Services Program (SSP). The funding will be available to 53 grant recipients for temporary shelter and other eligible costs associated with migrants awaiting the outcome of their immigration proceedings.”
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The U.S. Embassy in Harare joined other election observers Saturday in voicing deep concerns about Zimbabwe’s general election, saying it fell short of the requirements of the country’s constitution and regional guidelines.

Meanwhile, President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s government and his ruling ZANU-PF party have blasted criticism of the controversy-marred general election.

Zimbabwe’s general election Wednesday did not meet many international standards, Rebecca Archer-Knepper, acting spokesperson at the U. S. Embassy in Harare, told VOA Saturday, but she said Washington hopes Zimbabweans will stay peaceful as the country’s election commission counts votes.

“While the election days were predominantly peaceful, the electoral process thus far did not meet many regional and international standards,” Archer-Knepper said.

“We share the deep concerns expressed by SADC and other international electoral observation missions,” she said, referring to the Southern African Development Community.

The SADC’s preliminary statement on Aug. 25 said the elections “fell short of the requirements of the Constitution of Zimbabwe, the Electoral Act, and the SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections.”

Archer-Knepper said, “These missions cited problems with the transparency, independence, fairness and credibility of electoral processes; undue restrictions on the rights to freedom of assembly and association and freedom of expression that are guaranteed by Zimbabwe’s constitution and reflected in regional guidelines; reports of voter intimidation; and the disenfranchisement of candidates, particularly women.

“We are also gravely concerned by the arrest of civil society members that we believe were conducting lawful, nonpartisan election observation work,” she said.

On Wednesday, police took 35 election monitors from the Zimbabwe Election Support Network and Election Resource Centre into custody and charged them with plotting to announce unofficial results. They were released on $200 bail each on Friday.

Election observers, including those from the SADC, condemned the arrests and the confiscation of observers’ computers and cell phones by police, as well as the way the general election was held.

Nevers Mumba, the head of the SADC observer mission to Zimbabwe’s polls, stopped short of calling the general election not credible when he presented the regional bloc’s preliminary report on Friday, but he did raise concerns.

The Zambian national said a $20,000 registration fee for presidential candidates was restrictive. He also noted the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission’s reluctance to release voter rolls to the opposition on time and criticized the disruption of opposition rallies by police.

Late Friday, Christopher Mutsvangwa, spokesman for the ruling ZANU-PF party, responded to the SADC observers’ criticisms of the elections.

“SADC principles … are not administered by a particular individual who may become a head of a delegation,” Mutsvangwa said. “It is not the duty of a particular individual to arrogate to himself the role of a constitutional review committee of the laws of Zimbabwe.

“So, Mr. Nevers Mumba from Zambia, we call you to order. Don’t delve into the laws of Zimbabwe,” he said.

Zimbabwe Justice Minister Ziyambi Ziyambi expressed support for Mutsvangwa’s statements.

“We waged a war for over 15 years, so that you and I, Zimbabweans here, would be able to hold a pen in our hands and put an ‘X,’ ” he said. “And the majority of those that are making noise never helped us. It’s the blood and sweat of sons and daughters of Zimbabwe.

“So, the basic principle is … we fought for this democracy,” he continued. “We will have elections when they are due. And we have religiously followed that to this day. So, we believe that some of those who want to teach us on democracy, they can actually get lessons from us.”

On Friday, Alexander Rusero, a politics professor at Africa University in Zimbabwe, welcomed the SADC report on the elections.

“Unfortunately, I do not think ZANU-PF is being advised appropriately,” Rusero said.

“There was no way this election was going to be 100% perfect given the irregularities,” he said. “What is important is to celebrate, to say, in spite of all those irregularities, there are still certain positives. … Unfortunately, government strategic department is doing a disservice to the republic of Zimbabwe.”

In the election, President Mnangagwa is seeking a second term, running against 10 candidates, including the main contender, Nelson Chamisa of the Citizens Coalition for Change.

Voting was extended to a second day Thursday after election day was marred by polling station delays and shortages of ballots in opposition strongholds Bulawayo and Harare.

There has been a heavy police presence in Harare since Friday night, ahead of the release of official presidential election results, expected by Monday.
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Ours is a world of older adults, living longer and doing more in their advanced years. Many politicians are staying in office well past typical retirement ages. With the United States facing two of the country’s oldest front-runners for president, VOA’s Senior Washington Correspondent Carolyn Presutti explores the ages of current world leaders.
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Niger’s junta, which seized power in a coup on July 26, said on Friday it had ordered French Ambassador Sylvain Itte to leave the country within 48 hours, as relations between the West African country and its former colonial ruler deteriorated further. 

Like recent coups in neighboring Burkina Faso and Mali, the military takeover in Niger came amid a growing wave of anti-French sentiment, with some locals accusing the European country of interfering in their affairs. 

In a statement, the junta-appointed foreign ministry said the decision to expel the ambassador was a response to actions taken by the French government that were “contrary to the interests of Niger.” 

It said these included the envoy’s refusal to respond to an invitation to meet Niger’s new foreign minister. 

The French foreign ministry did not immediately reply to a request for comment. 

Official-seeming statements were shared widely online on Friday that appeared to show Niger ordering the U.S. ambassador and German ambassador to leave the country in similar terms to the statement about the French envoy. 

The U.S. State Department on Friday said Niger had informed it that this had not been issued by its foreign ministry. “No such request has been made to the U.S. government,” it said. 

A source in the junta and a Nigerien security source said only the French ambassador had been asked to leave.  

The coup has pushed Niger’s long-standing relationship with France to the breaking point, and this latest move raised further doubts about the future of joint military efforts to fight an Islamist insurgency in the conflict-torn Sahel region. 

France has called for President Mohamed Bazoum to be returned to office following his ouster and has said it would support efforts by West African regional bloc ECOWAS to overturn the coup. 

It has also not officially recognized a decision by the junta in early August to revoke a raft of military agreements with France, saying these had been signed with Niger’s “legitimate authorities.” 

The deterioration in Niger-France relations echoes post-coup developments in Mali and Burkina Faso, which have booted out French forces and severed long-standing ties. 

Niger has strategic significance as one of the world’s biggest producers of uranium and as a base for French, U.S. and other foreign troops that are helping to fight Islamist militant groups in the region.
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The West African regional bloc ECOWAS held a news conference Friday in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, hours after coup leaders in Niger announced an alliance with neighboring Burkina Faso and Mali. ECOWAS said it was worried about reports that made it sound as if the bloc is beating the drums of war toward Niger.

ECOWAS President Omar Touray told journalists that Friday’s press conference was convened to set the record straight.

Touray said ECOWAS was worried that its announcement earlier this month that it might use military action to restore constitutional order in Niger was being misinterpreted in media reports.

He said, “ECOWAS has neither declared war on the people of Niger nor is there a plan, as has been purported, to invade the country.”

Touray said the ECOWAS heads of state and government only activated a full-scale application of sanctions against Niger’s military rulers, including the possible use of force.

He said that authorities would resort to this measure only after deciding that dialogue alone is not deterring coups in the region.

“The current development in the Republic of Niger adds to the list of attempted coups d’etat in the region,” Touray said. “So, you can understand why the heads of state and government have decided that this is one coup too many and resolved that it was time to end the contagion. The situation in the Republic of Niger is particularly unfortunate, as it comes at a time the country is comparatively well in terms of security and economic growth.”

Military takeovers are increasing in West Africa, with seven coups since 2020.

The ECOWAS president said the bloc was concerned about the welfare of the people of Niger and that it had noted reports of increased insecurity and human rights violations since the military took over in late July.

Touray said military administrations in the region have not demonstrated capacity to deal with complex political, social and security challenges.

On July 26, soldiers of the presidential guard overthrew Niger’s democratically elected leader, President Mohamed Bazoum, and have since held him hostage, ignoring calls for his release.

ECOWAS on August 10 said it had activated a standby force to restore constitutional order in Niger.

Touray spoke to journalists Friday.

“In the interim, the region is employing other elements of its instruments and engaging with the military authorities, as can be attested to by the several missions that have been fielded to the country,” he said. “Nonetheless, preparations continue towards making the force ready for deployment.”

Last week, Niger’s junta announced a three-year transition plan and, on Thursday, authorized Mali and Burkina Faso’s forces to intervene in the country in the event of any military invasion by ECOWAS.

Both countries had warned that invasion of Niger by ECOWAS would mean a declaration of war.

Security analyst Chidi Omeje says there’s too much at stake to risk military action.

“I expect them not to put the issue of military intervention on the table at all,” Omeje said. “It shouldn’t be discussed because you have to look at the consequences of a military intervention in Niger Republic. In that region, how are you going to mitigate the influx of refugees in Nigeria?”

ECOWAS is hoping that diplomatic efforts will pay off and make it unnecessary to deploy forces. But so far, the junta has resisted pressure to relinquish power.
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Zimbabweans waited anxiously for election results Friday as security forces sealed off roads leading to the national election center, the scene of protests and deadly violence after the last vote in 2018.

The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission said the ruling Zanu-PF party had won 38 parliamentary seats, while the main opposition Citizens Coalition for Change had won 32, according to Reuters. 

The commission has yet to release results from the presidential election.

Voting wrapped up Thursday after delays in distributing ballots, mostly in urban areas, prompted officials to extend voting by one day.

The U.S. has accused Zimbabwe of intentionally undermining its election for the presidency, the legislature and municipal councils.

Police say they arrested 41 election monitors and seized their equipment in raids Wednesday.  They said the monitors were using their computers and cell phones “to unlawfully tabulate election voting statistics and results from polling stations,” an activity the police characterized as “subversive and criminal.” 

“The police raid on civil society conducting legitimate election observation demonstrates the government of Zimbabwe’s lack of respect for free and fair elections,” U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.  “Dismayed at the lengths they will go to undermine their own election’s credibility.”

In the presidential vote, 80-year-old incumbent Emmerson Mnangagwa is seeking a second term. Nelson Chamisa, 45, the leader of the CCC, is challenging the president for the country’s top spot.

Mnangagwa took power after staging a coup that ousted the late Robert Mugabe in 2017.
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Political analysts say a last-minute rule change in Gabon’s August 26 national elections, which now stipulates voters must select their presidential and parliamentary candidate from the same political party, poses a governance issue — if the ultimate winner is anyone other than a candidate of the ruling Gabonese Democratic Party, or the PDG.

The Gabonese Center for Elections announced the new rule last month, which critics immediately denounced, saying it is meant to favor the ruling PDG.

According to the rule, any vote for a local deputy would automatically be a vote for that deputy’s presidential candidate.

But critics say some opposition parties have not fielded candidates for the National Assembly elections.

Annaick Moubouyi-Boyer, a political analyst in the Gabonese capital Libreville, told VOA that the change, coupled with a constitutional change reducing two rounds of presidential voting to one, raises concerns as the stakes rise ahead of Saturday’s ballot.

“What’s at stake is thus to know if Gabon will find itself for the first time in its history with a president elected without a majority in parliament, which could pose a problem of governance,” she said.

Moubouyi-Boyer said that unlike previous elections, “everything will be played out in the first round,” adding that if the results are close — because of the support of a recently announced opposition coalition known as Alternance 2023 — “tensions will be high.”

Fourteen candidates are vying for the Gabonese presidency, including the ruling party’s incumbent, Ali Bongo Ondimba.

Five candidates joined the Alternance 2023 coalition to support the candidacy of Albert Ondo Ossa, 69, a former education minister and main challenger to President Bongo.

Although Ondo Ossa is the candidate for Alternance 2023, the coalition does not have corresponding candidates for the parliamentary vote.

Bongo, who is 64 and the son of former President Omar Bongo, is seeking a third term after serving two seven-year terms.

Gabon has no presidential term limits.

Moubouyi-Boyer said like voters in many other African countries, Gabonese are waiting for change.

“The population is waiting for a change with its concerns at the center — access to water, electricity, quality education, an efficient retirement system,” she said. “These are in particular the demands of an African youth, increasingly frustrated and who no longer have anything to lose.”

She said political leaders in the Central African nation must put in place policies to address the challenges or “risk exacerbating the already existing tensions.”

Ondo Mengue Jean-Cyrille, a Libreville-based political analyst, told VOA that the rule change puts at a disadvantage any candidates who are not running on a political party’s ticket — like Alexandre Barro, who is part of the opposition supporting the candidacy of Ondo Ossa.

“This is the case for all those movements, political parties which have decided to support Albert Ondo Ossa — they have decided not to have any MP at the National Assembly,” Jean-Cyrille said.

“But the big question is that if Albert Ondo Ossa is elected president, how is he going to rule because he’s not going to have any member of parliament at the National Assembly.”

In response, Ondo Ossa has said he would dissolve the National Assembly if elected and organize separate elections for members of parliament, because he will be unable to govern with a majority of seats being held by the PDG, which has been in power for over five decades.

Mays Mouissi, a Paris-based Gabonese political analyst, says that the coalition’s support for Ondo Ossa could undermine Bongo’s resolve for a third term, adding that the opposition’s formation is “significant.”

“I think that (the coalition) will change the game in the election, because this coalition is made up of very important opposition parties that could help give power to Mr. Ondo Ossa, and he could win the election,” Mouissi said.

“This is a strategy to give more push to the group of opposition parties to wrest power from Ali Bongo Ondimba and his ruling PDG party.”

Mouissi also regretted the non-participation of election observers in this year’s elections, saying this will be the first vote in the Central African nation where independent national and international election observers will be absent.

“International journalists have been denied accreditation to cover the elections, as have diplomats in Gabon who have been shunned from visiting voting centers,” he said.

“I am very concerned about the lack of election observers in this election. This is not good and not enough.” 
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The BRICS bloc of developing nations agreed on Thursday to admit Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt, Argentina and the United Arab Emirates in a move aimed at accelerating its push to reshuffle a world order it sees as outdated.

In deciding in favor of an expansion, the bloc’s first in 13 years, BRICS leaders left the door open to future enlargement as dozens more countries voiced interest in joining a grouping they hope can level the global playing field.

The expansion adds economic heft to BRICS, whose current members are China, the world’s second largest economy, as well as Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa. It could also amplify its declared ambition to become a champion of the Global South.

But long-standing tensions also could linger between members who want to forge the grouping into a counterweight to the West — notably China, Russia and now Iran — and those that continue to nurture close ties to the United States and Europe.

“This membership expansion is historic,” Chinese President Xi Jinping, the bloc’s most stalwart proponent of enlargement, said. “It shows the determination of BRICS countries for unity and cooperation with the broader developing countries.”

The six new candidates will formally become members on January 1, 2024, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa said when he named the countries during a three-day leaders’ summit he is hosting in Johannesburg.

“BRICS has embarked on a new chapter in its effort to build a world that is fair, a world that is just, a world that is also inclusive and prosperous,” Ramaphosa said.

“We have consensus on the first phase of this expansion process and other phases will follow.”

The countries invited to join reflect individual BRICS members’ desires to bring allies into the club.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva had vocally lobbied for neighbor Argentina’s inclusion, while Egypt has close commercial ties with Russia and India.

The entry of oil powers Saudi Arabia and UAE highlights their drift away from the United States’ orbit and ambition to become global heavyweights.

Russia and Iran have found common cause in their shared struggle against U.S.-led sanctions and diplomatic isolation, with their economic ties deepening in the wake of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

“BRICS is not competing with anyone,” Russia’s Vladimir Putin said on Thursday. He is attending the summit remotely because of an international warrant for alleged war crimes. “But it’s also obvious that this process of the emerging of a new world order still has fierce opponents.”

Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi celebrated his country’s BRICS invitation with a swipe at Washington, saying on Iranian television network Al Alam that the expansion “shows that the unilateral approach is on the way to decay.”

Beijing is close to Ethiopia and the country’s inclusion also speaks to South Africa’s desire to amplify Africa’s voice in global affairs.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres attended Thursday’s expansion announcement, reflecting the bloc’s growing influence. He echoed BRICS’ longstanding calls for reforms of the U.N. Security Council, International Monetary Fund and World Bank.

“Today’s global governance structures reflect yesterday’s world,” he said. “For multilateral institutions to remain truly universal, they must reform to reflect today’s power and economic realities.”

BRICS countries have economies that are vastly different in scale and governments with often divergent foreign policy goals, a complicating factor for the bloc’s consensus decision-making model.

Though home to about 40% of the world’s population and a quarter of global gross domestic product, internal divisions have long hobbled BRICS ambitions of becoming a major player on the world stage.

It has long been criticized for failing to live up to its grand ambitions.

The regularly repeated desire of its member states to wean themselves off the dollar, for example, has never materialized. And its most concrete achievement, the New Development Bank, is now struggling in the face of sanctions against founding shareholder Russia.

Even as BRICS leaders this week weighed expanding the group — a move every one of them publicly supported — divisions surfaced over how much and how quickly.

Last-minute deliberations over entry criteria and which countries to invite to join extended late into Wednesday evening.
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The BRICS group of emerging economies – Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa – is admitting six new members, its leaders announced Thursday on the final day of their annual summit. The group considers itself an alternative to the U.S.-led world order.

On the third and final day of the summit in Johannesburg, its host, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, announced that BRICS had decided to admit Argentina, Ethiopia, Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in January of 2024. 

While the bloc’s leaders all expressed their support for the decision, analysts say expansion has been spearheaded mainly by a Russia increasingly isolated by Western sanctions over the war in Ukraine — and China, which hailed the move as “historic.”

While critics are divided over the success of the bloc so far, with some saying it’s mainly symbolic, the group already collectively accounts for 40% of the world’s global population and about a quarter of global GDP — and the new members will certainly add to both.

But like the current disparate group, which includes three democracies and two autocracies, the new members are not all natural allies, noted Priyal Singh, a researcher at the Institute for Security Studies in Pretoria.  

“My first impression is that it’s quite a strange, odd grouping of countries to be admitted,” he said. “It’s, you know, very highly concentrated amongst Middle East and North African countries, which is going to give that region of the world a lot of sway over the BRICS grouping moving forward.”

Singh said that like two of the bloc’s current members, China and India, which are involved in a border dispute, several of the new additions also have tense relations.

“Tensions between Ethiopia and Egypt, for example, will also very likely escalate over the coming years and could undermine the coherence of the BRICS grouping, very similar to what we’ve already seen between India and China over the last couple of years.”

Ethiopia and Egypt have had differences over the construction of a massive hydroelectric dam on the Nile River.

Likewise, Iran and Saudi Arabia have a history of diplomatic and military hostility, and they have been involved for years in a proxy war in Yemen.

They also make strange diplomatic bedfellows, according to Steven Gruzd, from the South African Institute of International Affairs.

“There might be some surprises there, particularly Iran and Saudi Arabia in the same organization, given their rivalry over many years … although the Chinese did broker a rapprochement earlier in the year,” he said.

The six nations that will be admitted next year are only a fraction of some 40 countries that have expressed interest in joining the bloc, which positions itself as a champion of the developing world, or what’s dubbed the Global South.

In its final declaration at the end of the summit, the BRICS leaders also spoke about the need to reform global financial institutions and move away from the dollar-dominated system toward greater use of local currencies.

Throughout the summit, Ukraine was the elephant in the room, with Russian President Vladimir Putin attending remotely to avoid possible arrest under an International Criminal Court warrant. While all BRICS leaders expressed their desire for peace, there was no direct criticism of Russia’s invasion.

Ukraine also went unmentioned, at least directly, in the group’ s final declaration, which referred to numerous other conflicts by name and expressed support for other nations’ sovereignty.
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