African press review 15 October 2015

The danger of a strike by gold miners in South Africa recedes; Keya wants faster action on east African regional integration; we now know when Burkin Faso's postponed elections are going to be held, and that Nigeria's electoral commission has had its bank accounts frozen. And hunger is on the way out in Uganda.

In South Africa, financial paper BusinessDay reports that the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union has decided to postpone issuing strike notice in the gold sector.

The union is awaiting confirmation of the dates for further wage negotiations with one company, and will seek to put pressure on the Labour Court of Appeals regarding it’s legal right to strike at two other mining operations.

Last month, most South African gold producers struck a three-year wage deal agreeing an increase of between 10 and 13 per cent on a basic salary.

The Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union continues to demand a basic wage of the rand equivalent of 815 euros per month   an effective 100 per cent increase in the first year.

The East African reports that Kenyan leader Uhuru Kenyatta has asked the East African Legislative Assembly to speed up legislation establishing a regional common market.

The Kenyan president said the changes would accelerate regional integration and ensure the free movement of people, goods, capital and services within the region.

Kenyatta emphasized that the ultimate goal of political union will not be achieved if people are not allowed to move freely within the region.

Also in the East African, news that at least seven people were killed in shootings and a grenade attack in Burundi's capital, Bujumbura, in a further spate of violence following the disputed election of President Pierre Nkurunziza to a third term, dominates.

Residents of the Ngagara neighbourhood - a stronghold for opposition supporters - said two police officers and a television cameraman were among the dead.

The top story in the Kenyan Daily Nation is devoted to the news that Burkina Faso's interim government yesterday confirmed that presidential and parliamentary elections initially set for October, but delayed by a failed coup, will now go ahead on November 29.

The polls are seen as a key step on the west African country's road to democracy, a year after the ouster of long-time leader Blaise Compaore in a popular uprising.

In Nigeria, The Vanguard reports that the Central Bank of Nigeria has frozen all bank accounts operated by the Independent National Electoral Commission.

This follows the commission’s failure to comply with a federal government directive that all ministries, agencies and departments must operate the so-called Treasury Single Account, a centralised system of official spending intended to increase transparency.

The Monitor in Kampala says that hunger remains a serious issue in Uganda but is not as alarming as it was 15 years ago.

The 2015 Global Hunger Index says hunger in Uganda decreased from 40 per cent in 2000 to 28 per cent in 2015.

According to the report, the prevalence of stunted growth among children under–five in Uganda decreased from 48 per cent in the early '90s to 34 per cent last year.

Also, the percentage of under–five mortality decreased from 18 to 6.6 per cent. But over the same period, the proportion of the undernourished in the general population increased to 26 per cent.

The report attributes the reduction of hunger in Uganda to the ending of armed conflict.

The Sudan Tribune says the leadership of South Sudan’s armed Sudan People's Liberation Movement-in-Opposition said President Salva Kiir’s insistance on expanding the number of states from 10 to 28 threatens to unravel the recently-signed peace agreement.

Earlier this month, Salva Kii issued a decree increasing the number of states in South Sudan from 10 to 28.

The opposition led by Riek Machar immediately rejected the decree saying it was unconstitutional and in breach of peace accords.

Machar has warned the planned expansion will derail the peace deal brokered by the regional bloc, Inter-governmental Authority on Development and could see the country back at war.