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African press review 8 May 2014

Predictions of low voter turnout in SA prove false. Museveni defends Ugandan troops' presence in South Sudan. Uganda stops paying nearly 3,000 phantom police officers. MDC members over inter-party violence in Zimbabwe, while an intra-MDC row continues.

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The main headline in this morning's Johannesburg-based financial paper BusinessDay reads "Voter turnout win for South Africa".

The small print explains that South Africa’s 20-year-old democracy has reason to celebrate as early indications last night showed an impressive voter turnout in what is considered the country’s most competitive election yet.

While it remained premature to announce the exact extent of the "massive" turnout, Electoral Commission of South Africa chairperson Pansy Tlakula said it had been "extremely high" and had thrown the commission’s plans out of kilter, causing long queues and disruption in some areas.

Slideshow Mandela

A higher voter turnout at Wednesday’s poll would mark a turning point in voter behaviour, says BusinessDay, pointing out that from 1999 to 2004 voter apathy had increased from 12 per cent to 23 per cent.

It stayed at 23 per cent in 2009, meaning that five million people stayed away from the polls.

The tabloid Sowetan also celebrates yesterday's high turnout with a main headline reading "High five to voters".

The front page of The Star simply says "Great show, South Africa".

On the front page of the Ugandan Daily Monitor it is reported that President Yoweri Museveni in London yesterday defended Uganda’s continued military presence in South Sudan, where he said UPDF had helped restore “core stability”, saying it was not up to any country to tell him whether or not to deploy troops.

Museveni blamed the spiralling violence in South Sudan, which has resulted in the death of hundreds and the displacement of over a million people, on the country’s ‘sectarian’ leaders.

He also said the Nigerian government should not negotiate with Boko Haram because the group, which has recently kidnepped about 230 school girls in northern Nigeria, is "ideologically bankrupt".

Also in the Monitor, a report that at least 2,995 police officers who could not be accounted for have had their names deleted from the force's payroll in an ongoing clean-up exercise directed by the Inspector General of Police, General Kale Kayihura.

Kayihura, who appeared before the House Defence and Internal Affairs Committee yesterday to defend a 2014/15 budget request for 170 million euros, said the officers, who are suspected to have deserted, were identified from a recent head-count exercise.

The police are also in the news in Zimbabwe, where NewsDay reports that officers earlier this week arrested three opposition Movement for Democratic Change activists in connection with inter-party violence that rocked Epworth on the outskirts of Harare last Sunday.

The violence reportedly occurred after suspected ruling paprty Zanu-PF activists stormed an MDC rally shortly after party leader Morgan Tsvangirai had left the venue.

The arrests came as Zanu-PF and MDC officials traded accusations over which party had sparked the violence. It is commendable, says NewsDay, that the police moved swiftly to arrest the suspected perpetrators of the violence.

It is, however, unbelievable that the police would arrest only MDC activists for the violence, which also involved ruling Zanu-PF party members.

Also in Zimbabwe, a follow-up to our earlier reports on power struggles within the MDC.

The main story in The Herald says the National Assembly Speaker Jacob Mudenda will today rule on Morgan Tsvangirai’s application to boot out of parliament nine legislators aligned to his rival, the party secretary-general Tendai Biti, for refusing to recognise his leadership.

Biti had already written to Mudenda advising him not to entertain any moves from Tsvangirai’s camp to expel the legislators, saying only the secretary general can write to the speaker.

Biti is among the MPs Tsvangirai wants expelled frm the house for leading a faction calling for a change of guard in the opposition.

Biti’s faction says it has suspended Tsvangirai and his allies from the party.

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