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African press review 28 April 2011

Will Kizza Besigye ever get to walk to work? Can Kenyans afford to eat? Will riots break out in South Africa? And was there fraud in Nigeria's state-level elections this week?

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Uganda first, and the main headline in this morning's Daily Monitor, once again, concerns Kizza Besigye.

As the world knows by now, the Ugandan opposition leader has been trying to walk to work for the past two weeks, but he hasn't managed to do much walking and probably even less work. That's because he's been arrested each time he's stepped outside his front door.

Yesterday, according to the Monitor, Dr Besigye and three coaccused were released on bail after chaotic scenes at Nakasongola Court.

The accused were charged with inciting violence and unlawful assembly arising out of their participation in the walk-to-work protest against high fuel prices and the rising cost of living.

Just hours after the news of the release, President Museveni's office announced that a meeting between the president and opposition leaders, including Kizza Besigye, has been called for next Tuesday.

Besigye and the president have not met since they fell out in 1999 when Dr Besigye, a former colleague and Museveni's personal physician during the bush war, criticised the government for abandoning its reform agenda.

The main story in The Standard in Kenya looks at efforts by President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga to reduce the cost of living by encouraging food and fuel price cuts.

Raila yesterday promised that the minimum wage will be increased on Sunday next, 1 May, when the world marks international workers' day. All taxes on kerosene, which is used by ordinary Kenyans for cooking and lighting, will be removed.

The prime minister also announced that import duties on maize and wheat will be lifted as part of measures to lower the cost of essential commodities.

Raila says the Government will also waive secondary school fees in drought-hit areas.

The headline in The Star in Johannesburg says "Bail for cops will lead to violence". The cops in question are the eight accused of either murder or intent to do grievous bodily harm in the wake of the death of Andries Tatane earlier this month.

Tatane was killed during a protest at the Meqheleng settlement in Ficksburg on 13 April.

The teacher and civic activist reportedly confronted a group of police who had used a water cannon against an elderly man. The officers allegedly turned on him, beating him and firing two rubber bullets at close range.

Tatane was unarmed. He died shortly afterwards.

The judge will decide tomorrow whether to grant bail to the accused police officers.

According to The Star, President Jacob Zuma on Wednesday spoke of how proud he was at the “substantial progress” South Africa has made since 1994 in comparison with other countries which deteriorated after liberation.

“We have done exceptionally well against all odds, in only 17 years,” Zuma said at Freedom Day celebrations at the Union Buildings.

The president spoke of the importance of institutions like the Office of the Public Protector and the Human Rights Commission in ensuring that apartheid never recurred.

He urged South Africans not allow anyone or any group to reverse the country's hard-won democracy.

Sadly, The Star also reports that the South African Human Rights Commission has expressed concern about growing levels of racism.

The commission says it is concerned at the growing levels of intolerant and racist discourse that seem to have crept into ordinary dialogue and conversation.

In Nigeria, according to The Guardian, a coalition of about 40 civil society organisations has raised concerns about varying shades of alleged electoral malpractices during the governorship and houses of assembly elections conducted last Tuesday.

The groups want the Independent National Electoral Commission to investigate the allegations.

The coalition noted that in certain locations such as Akwa Ibom, Benue, Imo and Katsina states, the distribution of ballot papers was half or less than half of the number required based on registration figures.

The coalition also observed the absence of result sheets at many polling stations, or, in some cases, duplicates of the real thing without the security markings.

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