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African press review 27 March 2018

Opposition figure Miguna Miguna is back in Kenya, but he seems to be stuck at Nairobi airport. There's more trouble brewing between the two Sudans, this time at the Northern Upper Nile border. And South Africa fully supports the continental free trade deal signed in Rwanda last week. Pretoria's refusal to sign is purely "technical".

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Miguna Miguna is back on Kenyan front pages.

According to the Daily Nation, the lawyer and self-declared National Resistance Movement general Miguna spent Monday night at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi.

This was after he flatly rejected government attempts to re-deport him to Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates, a country in which he was not born and where he has no relatives or business associates.

The government rejected Miguna’s return to Kenya and attempted to re-deport him to Canada after a nine-hour stand-off at the airport.

Without being too precise on the man's current location, the headline in the Kenyan Standard reads "Miguna foils deportation attempt". Where he is right now is anyone's guess.

South Africa fully supports continental trade zone deal

South Africa fully supports the African Continental Free Trade Area which was inaugurated in the Rwandan capital, Kigali, last week. Yesterday, according to a report in this morning's Johannesburg-based paper BusinessDay, South Africa's Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies said his country had refused to sign the agreement for technical reasons.

He said the South African government has actively participated in the preparation and negotiations of the deal, and has no reservations.

South Africa has already signed a declaration committing itself to the process to establish the free trade zone, the largest in the world, incorporating one billion people. The treaty will remove barriers to trade such as tariffs and import duties and allow the free flow of goods and services between member states.

Ten African Union member countries, including Nigeria, refused to sign the deal.

Zuma trial date confirmed for 6 April

As confidently predicted yesterday, former South African president Jacob Zuma has been notified of charges of corruption, money laundering, fraud and racketeering.

He is expected to appear in the High Court in Durban on 6 April.

Border tensions escalate between Sudan, South Sudan

South Sudan has warned neighgbouring Sudan against deploying troops at Kuek in Northern Upper Nile State.

According to regional paper the East African, a spokesman for the Sudan People’s Liberation Army said the authorities in Juba were aware of the heavy presence of units of the Sudan Armed Forces along the common border.

He said Sudanese soldiers were moving with heavy equipment along Kuek border, adding that no explanation had been offered by Khartoum for the deployment.

The movement of troops was unusual, the spokesman added, and could be viewed as a security threat by the government in Juba.

South Sudan and Sudan have signed multiple pacts to ease border tensions, but the agreements have had little real impact.

The two countries have also traded allegations of support for rebel groups since the split-up of former Sudan in 2011.

Activists arrested for celebrating release from custody

Ethiopian police have arrested a group of 11 high-profile activitists, according to the East African.

Among those detained on Sunday were journalist Eskinder Nega and opposition politician Andualem Arage, who were pardoned in a mass prisoner amnesty ordered by the prime minister last month.

Two prominent web activists were also arrested.

The group were attending an event celebrating the release of those freed in the prisoner amnesty when police arrived and surrounded the house where the celebration was taking place.

They were accused of holding a political gathering without authorisation.

The police also said the group displayed an outdated Ethiopian flag that is popular among people opposed to the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front.

Angolan former president's son to face fraud charges

Angolan authorities have barred the son of former President Jose Eduardo dos Santos from leaving the country over fraud charges.

José Filomeno dos Santos is at the centre of the suspect transfer of nearly 600 million euros from the Angolan sovereign fund, which he once headed.

The money was allegedly transferred from the Angolan Reserve Bank to the Credit Suisse Bank in the UK.

President João Lourenço in January sacked his predecessor’s son as the head of the strategic sovereign fund worth billions of euros.

Deputy Attorney-General Luís Benza Zanga told journalists at a press conference in Luanda on Monday that the ruling MPLA party was involved in the embezzlement of state funds.

The former governor of the Angolan Reserve Bank, Valter Filipe, is also a suspect in the case.

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