African press review 26 June 2014

Celebration and tragedy hit Nigeria's front pages. Who was behind the Abuja bombing? A Kenyan opposition party vows to hold a banned rally. Niger politicians' wives are implicated in baby-trafficking. And Malema gets a seat on the SA judicial appointments commission.

There's a difficulty about this morning's Nigerian front pages . . .

The Guardian, for example, carries photographs of Super Eagles players celebrating one of the national team's goals against Argentina at the World Cup. And that shares front-page space with images from yesterday's bomb attack in Abuja, in which at least 21 people lost their lives.

So celebration as the Eagles qualify for the World Cup quarter-finals and tragedy as the dark shadow of terrorism falls, once again, on the capital.

An eyewitness said the Abuja explosion occurred as Muslim worshippers were about to say the afternoon prayer in the mosque on Emab Plaza. Some worshippers were said to be among the injured.

Punch newspaper has no hesitation in blaming members of the Islamist sect Boko Haram for the blast. There has been no official claim of responsibility.

In a separate story in the same paper, we read that the ruling Peoples Democratic Party yesterday alleged that those against President Goodluck Jonathan are behind the recent spate of bombings.

The national secretary said the ruling party was deeply worried by the attacks, which he said were aimed at intimidating the people, destablising Nigeria's political structures, and destroying the future of the nation.

He said the pattern and timing of the attacks betrayed a trend tailored against the Peoples Democratic Party and the federal government.

In Kenya the Standard gives pride of place to opposition determination to press ahead with a political rally scheduled for tomorrow, despite a police ban on the meeting.

The Coalition for Reforms and Democracy has vowed to hold the rally in Eldoret, despite cancellation by police, setting the stage for possible confrontation between officers and opposition supporters.

Opposition leader Raila Odinga has recently been piling on pressure and President Uhuru Kenyatta and his deputy William Ruto to yield to demands for national dialogue over the problems facing Kenya.

The Coalition for Reforms and Democracy ( Cord) has named insecurity, tribalism in public appointments, corruption and the economic downturn as key concerns.

Raila maintained that Cord will press on with remaining planned rallies ahead of the main meeting due in Nairobi on 7 July, if the government fails to accept its call for national talks.

The Daily Nation reports that the wives of two prominent politicians have been arrested in Niger following the dismantling of an alleged baby trafficking ring.

More than 20 suspects were arrested on Monday as part of an international investigation involving police from Nigeria, Benin and Niger, according to the Nairobi-based paper.

Those arrested were "mostly women", and included one of the wives of Niger's former prime minister and current Parliament Speaker Hama Amadou. Amadou is, incidentally, seen as the main challenger to President Mahamadou Issoufou in elections due in 2016.

The wife of Niger's Agriculture Minister Abdou Labo was also detained.

Eighteen of the suspects were later charged with offences including fraudulently assigning the babies' maternity.

Thirteen others were said to have been acquitted. The paper fails to say if the two politicians' wives were charged.

The babies are thought to have arrived in Niger from Nigeria via Benin.

Niger has the highest birth rate in the world, with an average of 7.6 children per woman. Newborns are sold for several thousand euros - with boys fetching more than girls. The mothers receive around 150 euros.

In South Africa, financial paper BusinessDay reports that Julius Malema’s appointment to the Judicial Service Commission has caused a stir.

The commission selects South Africa’s judicial officials.

One of the new-look JSC’s first jobs will be to appoint a judge to South Africa’s highest court of appeal, the Constitutional Court.

But says BusinessDay, with so few people responsible for deciding who will be on the bench, the Judicial Service Commission is one of those institutions where individuals are important. Critics have lambasted Malema's party, the Economic Freedom Fighters, for choosing him as their representative, because he faces criminal charges and is due back in court later this year.

BusinessDay points out that neither the constitution nor the Judicial Service Commission Act sets any legal requirements for appointment as commissioner.