Henry Balogun's blog with latest news, insights, articles and opinions across politics, media, entertainment and more
The latest top strories from around Africa brought to you by The HB Report team.
The wife of Gabon’s ousted president Ali Bongo Ondimba has been charged with “money laundering” and other offences, the public prosecutor said Friday, a month after a coup toppled her husband. Sylvia Bongo Ondimba Valentin was charged by an investigating judge on Thursday, Andre Patrick Roponat announced on state TV channels on Friday. She has […]
Burkina Faso said on Thursday that four officers had been detained, a day after the military government announced it had thwarted a coup attempt. The four are suspected of involvement in a “conspiracy against state security”, military prosecutor Ahmed Ferdinand Sountoura said in a statement seen by AFP on Thursday. Two others are “on the […]
With placards reading Ghana deserves better, we are tired of being voting machines or people equals power, protestors rallied in Accra. The 3-day #Occupy Julorbi House campaign ended on Saturday (Sep. 23). Despite downpour and sun, demonstrators rallied for political change and economic reform. “We are only being Ghanaians. All we need is food, water, […]
Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame has said he will run for a fourth term in next year’s presidential election. “Yes, I am indeed a candidate,” Mr Kagame said this on Tuesday. Asked about what the West would think about his decision to run again, Mr Kagame said, “I’m sorry for the West, but what the West […]
The Congolese government has debunked rumours of a coup attempt against President Denis Nguesso. Thierry Moungalla, the country’s minister of information, spoke via a message posted on the X platform tweet on Sunday. Earlier, some social media accounts and news reports claimed a coup attempt was underway in the country as the president was away attending the […]
More than 5,300 people are believed to have died after floods in the Libyan city of Derna, an official has said. “The sea is constantly dumping dozens of bodies,” Hisham Chkiouat, a minister in Libya’s eastern administration said. There have been desperate calls for more humanitarian support as victims lie wrapped in body bags and […]
At least 2,100 people have been killed after a magnitude 6.8 earthquake shook Morocco for several seconds. The earthquake struck at 11:11 p.m. local time (6:11 p.m. EDT) about 43 miles south of Marrakech, the capital of Morocco. At least 2,122 people died in the quake, mostly in Marrakech and five provinces near the epicenter, […]
A strong earthquake of magnitude 6.8 has struck central Morocco, killing at least 820 people, the country’s interior ministry says. The epicentre was in the High Atlas Mountains, 71km (44 miles) south-west of Marrakesh, at a depth of 18.5km, the US Geological Survey said. The quake struck at 23:11 local time (22:11 GMT) on Friday. […]
The African Union, AU, has become a permanent member of the G-20 also called Group of 20. India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi made the announcement Saturday as he inaugurated a leaders’ summit in New Delhi, the capital city of India for the world’s wealthiest nations. During his opening speech, India’s prime minister invited the chairman […]
Gabon’s former president Ali Bongo, who was ousted in a putsch, is free to leave the country and travel abroad, the leader of the coup that toppled him said on Wednesday. “He has freedom of movement… and can travel abroad if he wishes,” general Brice Oligui Nguema said in a statement read on state television. […]
Gabon’s new strongman, General Brice Oligui Nguema, on Tuesday met the Central African Republic’s president, Faustin Archange Touadera, who has been named regional mediator for the country following last week’s coup, state TV said. The Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) has appointed Touadera “facilitator of the political process” in Gabon following the August […]
Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa was on Monday sworn in for a second term after being declared the winner of last month’s disputed election, as he promised to lift millions out of poverty. Zimbabweans went to polls on Aug. 23 to elect a new president, parliamentarians and local council members, but the main opposition party described […]
Gabon’s new military ruler, Gen. Brice Nguema, was sworn in as the country’s caretaker president on Monday, five days after seizing power in a coup in the Central African country. The inauguration ceremony took place at Gabon’s presidential palace in the capital Libreville, which was surrounded by cheering crowds. On Saturday, Nguema pledged to introduce […]
Detained Senegalese opposition leader Ousmane Sonko, an aspiring presidential candidate and head of state Macky Sall’s fiercest critic, on Saturday, ended a hunger strike he began on July 30. Sonko has faced a string of legal woes since 2021 he claims are aimed at keeping him out of politics.Sonko was arrested in late July and […]
The Economic Community of West African States on Thursday debunked the transitional proposal for the Republic of Niger as fake. The viral report stated that Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, also head of the West Africa bloc ECOWAS, on Thursday suggested a nine-month transition back to democracy for Niger’s new regime as Nigeria had done in […]
The African Union (AU) has suspended Gabon’s membership in the wake of the coup in the Central African country. AU’s Peace and Security Council said on Thursday evening that it strongly condemned the take-over of power by the military in Gabon, which deposed President Ali Bongo. It suspended Gabon’s participation in all activities of the […]
A fire that engulfed a five-storey building killed more than 60 people including children in central Johannesburg on Thursday, the South African city’s emergency services said. Another 43 were injured, some suffering from smoke inhalation, and were taken for treatment at local hospitals, Emergency Management Services spokesman Robert Mulaudzi said. “The death toll is at […]
Minutes after Gabon’s electoral commission announced on Wednesday that President Ali Bongo Ondimba had won a third term in office, senior military officers announced a coup and annulled the election results. According to local media reports, Brice Clothaire Oligui Nguema, the commander-in-chief of the Gabonese Republican Guard the country’s most powerful security unit and a […]
Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba is being detained at home and one of his sons has been arrested for “treason,” military officers said Wednesday, August 30, hours after announcing they had overthrown the government. “President Ali Bongo is under house arrest, surrounded by his family and doctors,” they said in a statement read out on […]
