African press review 22 October 2015

Where is South Africa's finance minister going to find the money needed to pay the increased public-service wage bill? What's happening in the Rainbow Nation's troubled universities. Could low voter turnout in Egypt be good news for the president? And how did Kizza Besigye get past the Ugandan police?

South African financial paper BusinessDay gives pride of place to the analysis of yesterday's medium-term budget.

According to the Johannesburg-based daily, Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene managed to keep the ship of state on a steady financial course despite facing strong headwinds of low economic growth, a gloomy global outlook and higher than expected expenditure on public servants’ salaries.

He even had a bit of rough weather during yesterday's speech!

In an unprecedented development, says BusinessDay, Nene’s speech was delayed because of a request by the opposition Economic Freedom Fighters that the whole budget process be stalled so that extra funding could be provided for higher education to address the demands of protesting university students. All other political parties voted to continue the presentation as scheduled. Nene took to the podium to make his budget policy statement but was prevented from speaking by EFF MPs chanting “fees must fall”.

Eventually the Freedom Fighter MPs were forcefully removed from the chamber by the parliamentary protection services.

So, what's in the mini-budget?

Future tax increases cannot be ruled out. No decision has been made on value-added tax but it remains an option.

The minister said his central concern is stabilising the ratio of debt to gross domestic product over the next three years. Government borrowings are expected to soar by the rand equivalent of nearly 40 billion euros over the same period.

BusinessDay also reports that universities in Witwatersrand, Cape Town, Pretoria, Free State and Limpopo as well as Rhodes University in the Eastern Cape are among the institutions that suspended classes and postponed exams on Wednesday as student protests against proposed fee increases continue.

The finance minister made it clear yesterday in his budget speech that no new funds would be available for the universities this year.

In Nigeria at least 20 people were shot dead by suspected Boko Haram gunmen yesterday on a road outside a village in Nigeria's northeast Borno state, according to local sources.

A large group of Boko Haram gunmen fleeing a military offensive on their camp in Nganzai district opened fire on four cars just outside Jingalta village, 70 kilometres north of the regional capital, Maiduguri, killing all 20 passengers.

The gunmen then looted and burnt the entire village whose residents had already fled.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, who made the struggle against Boko Haram a priority as soon as he took up office in May, has given the armed forces until the end of this year to crush the Islamist movement.

The main story in the Egypt Independent says turnout in last weekend's first round of parliamentary elections was 26.56 per cent, according to the election commission in a statement issued yesterday, confirming estimates of low participation among Egyptians disillusioned with the turbulent political transition.

Elections for Egypt's first parliament in three years were held on Sunday and Monday amid widespread expectations the new chamber would be filled with figures who were prominent under Hosni Mubarak, ousted by a popular uprising in 2011.

A separate story in the same paper suggests that the low turnout could boost President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi's authority by suggesting that, four years after they revolted against one-man-rule, Egyptians still look to the presidency as the main seat of power.

A second round of voting takes place on 22 and 23 November. Analysts say a low overall turnout could leave the legislature without a popular mandate to overturn Sisi's laws.

In Uganda The Monitor reports that Opposition Forum for Democratic Change presidential flag bearer Kizza Besigye yesterday once again beat police attempts to keep him at home.

Despite concerted efforts by the authorities and a series of road blocks, Besigye managed to preside at the opening of FDC party offices in Bugiri and Tororo districts.