African press review 24 August 2017

There are plenty of warnings for politicians in the African press this morning, as Kenyan opponents are reprimanded by the Supreme Court, and South African leaders are told to keep away from the site of the Marikana massacre... Meanwhile Nigerians still can't get over President Buhari's trouble with rats.

DR

We've been hearing a lot about Raila Odinga's petition to overturn the results of the last general election in Kenya, which he officially lost to Uhuru Kenyatta on the 8 August.

According to Digital Standard, the Supreme Court's seven judges are fed up with the anticipation and speculation as to its verdict.

They have even given out a warning to both Kenyatta and Odinga's parties to stop commenting on the petition in public.

“Mr Odinga and his co-petitioner Kalonzo Musyoka, Mr Kenyatta and the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission including their agents, advisers or supporters are advised to stop prosecuting the case in public,” they said.

They also warned the public against profiling individual judges in a manner likely to paint them as having taken sides in the dispute.

The Supreme Court will deliver its decision on the 1 September.

Marikana site off-limits

There are more warnings for politicians in the South African press, as the country commemorates the Marikana massacre, five years after police killed 34 striking mine workers.

Just recently, both an ANC and a Democratic Alliance politician were sent packing after visiting the site of the massacre.

On both occasions, they were confronted by angry members of the the Association of Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU).

According to the Mail and Guardian, the AMCU insists the massacre will not be used to “score political points”.

On Tuesday, ANC presidential hopeful Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma attempted to visit the site, before she and her entourage were chased away by AMCU mine workers.

Yesterday, they followed up on their action with a press conference, in which they said they viewed her visit “as an attempt to get political mileage”.

The union told political parties to follow “proper protocol” when attempting to access the Marikana area.

That means that they should contact their national office, which will then get permission from the widows, families and injured and arrested miners who are still grieving the massacre.

"Rats in Aso Rock"

News of President Muhammadu Buhari being evicted from his office by rats is causing quite a stir.

Buhari has only just got back after 3 months of medical leave in London.

But his government spokesman said that in his absence, rodents had infested the presidential office, damaging the furniture and air conditioning, forcing the President to now have to work from home.

Nigerians are having a blast on social media, sharing their thoughts on the ‘incident’.

You'll find a funny selection of memes and tweets on the website of Punch News.

"Rats in Aso Rock" reads the headline, in reference to presidential complex currently infested.

One tweet suggests Buhari should forget about Boko Haram, and concentrate on the rodents instead.

Another one asks where his Vice-President had been working from in his absence, and if he wasn't also a rat in disguise.

Bees vs poverty

In Tanzania, The Citizen brings us an interesting story on a program to help tackle poverty with bees.

The paper says that over 2,500 households in 10 villages in Iringa District will benefit from a bee-keeping program that will see more than 10,000 beehives installed.

The idea is to combat both income poverty and environmental degradation.

The program manager of Ruaha Farm said it would last two years and that it would look for local and international markets for the harvested honey.