afrol News, 7 April - A High Court judge on Monday maintained that his court has the jurisdiction to preside over a petition filed by the main opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) demanding the immediate release of Zimbabwe's recent election results from an official source.
The judge dismissed the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission's resistance that his court lacked jurisdiction to preside over the case.
He is expected to rule on Tuesday as to whether the case should be "urgently heard."
"I think ZEC [Zimbabwe Electoral Commission] just wants to delay this whole thing," Alec Muchadehama, a lawyer of the MDC, told reporters.
Zimbabweans went to the polls on 29 March, yet no single results have been made public on the presidential election, raising fears of rigging in favour of President Robert Mugabe. The MDC claimed that its leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, had swept a little over 50% of the votes. But some observers believed a re-run must take place.
In a separate development, three Zimbabwean judges declined to hear an application seeking the release of two foreign correspondents arrested and detained for entering the country without accreditation.
"Three judges have declined to hear the matter," Beatrice Mtetwa confirmed. Her next job is to look for another judge to hear the case.
The duo, a correspondent of New York Times, Barry Bearak and a British were arrested last week after a raid on their hotel in Harare. They have been charged with covering Zimbabwean election without accreditation.
President Mugabe, who is seeking a sixth term in office, has called on blacks to make sure that white farmers did not regain lands seized under his government's land distribution program, believing that black Zimbabweans would not afford to "retreat in the battle for land."
"Land must remain in our hands. The land is ours, it must not be allowed to slip back into the hands of whites," 'The Herald' newspaper quoted Mr Mugabe as saying.
"We cannot afford to retreat in the battle for land."
The leader of the war veterans, Jabulani Sibanda, also accused white farmers of threatening to reoccupy farms allocated to blacks ahead of the installation of an "incoming MDC government."
afrol News - It is called "financial inclusion", and it is a key government policy in Rwanda. The goal is that, by 2020, 90 percent of the population is to have and actively use bank accounts. And in only four years, financial inclusion has doubled in Rwanda.
afrol News - The UN's humanitarian agencies now warn about a devastating famine in Sudan and especially in South Sudan, where the situation is said to be "imploding". Relief officials are appealing to donors to urgently fund life-saving activities in the two countries.
afrol News - Fear is spreading all over West Africa after the health ministry in Guinea confirmed the first Ebola outbreak in this part of Africa. According to official numbers, at least 86 are infected and 59 are dead as a result of this very contagious disease.
afrol News - It is already a crime being homosexual in Ethiopia, but parliament is now making sure the anti-gay laws will be applied in practical life. No pardoning of gays will be allowed in future, but activist fear this only is a signal of further repression being prepared.
afrol News / Africa Renewal - Ethiopia's ambitious plan to build a US$ 4.2 billion dam in the Benishangul-Gumuz region, 40 km from its border with Sudan, is expected to provide 6,000 megawatts of electricity, enough for its population plus some excess it can sell to neighbouring countries.
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