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African press review 13 August 2018

There's a crowd lining up to contest presidential elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Rwanda's Paul Kagame says he's sick of health service graft. South Africa needs billions of euros to get its economy moving again. There are very serious UN charges against the army in South Sudan.

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There will be 25 candidates in December's presidential election in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Emmanuel Ramazani Shadary, a former interior minister named by the government last Wednesday as the ruling coalition candidate, is described as an independent, according to a preliminary list issued by the electoral commission.

Shadary, who is on an EU sanctions blacklist, was anointed after President Joseph Kabila bowed to international and domestic pressure and decided not to run again in the election scheduled for 23 December.

The three main opposition contenders are Félix Tshisekedi, Jean-Pierre Bemba and Vital Kamerhe, who could eventually decide to line up behind a single candidate.

Tshisekedi is leader of Congo's oldest opposition party, the Union for Democracy and Social Progress, and the son of Etienne Tshisekedi who died last year.

Bemba is a former warlord and Kabila rival, who returned to Kinshasa this month after being acquitted of war crimes charges by the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

Kamerhe is the leader of the opposition Union for the Congolese Nation and has previously served as parliamentary speaker and information minister.

The oldest candidate is 92-year-old Antoine Gizenga, a former prime minister who was a brother-in-arms to national independence hero Patrice Lumumba and more recently a prime minister under Joseph Kabila after he first came to power in 2006.

The electoral body is expected to publish another provisional list of candidates at the end of August and a final list on 19 September, three months ahead of polling.

Rwandan health ministry sickener

Rwanda's President Paul Kagame has sacked the entire staff of a Ministry of Health unit accused of gross mismanagement of public resources.

Regional paper the East African says more ministry officials are likely to be prosecuted following the sacking of the human resources director and 23 employees of the Rwanda Biomedical Centre, supposed to oversee medical and healthcare services.

The cabinet, chaired by the president, last week sacked the director of human resources and administration at the ministry and the director of the Health Technology and Infrastructure Planning Unit, along with 22 staff members.

The sackings were related to inefficiencies affecting the performance of the health sector.

The unprecedented move comes after persistent adverse reports by the auditor-general showing serious financial flaws at some public institutions.

The sacked officials are likely to face prosecution for the mismanagement of public resources.

South African economy needs cash boost

The South African government needs the rand equivalent of two-and-a-half billion euros to boost an economy teetering on the brink of recession, the top story in this morning's Johannesburg-based financial paper BusinessDay tells us.

The money will be required to fund, among other things, the stimulus package announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa two weeks ago. The figures discussed by cabinet last week were not limited to the stimulus package but also included funds needed to assist ailing state-owned entities, according to a government statement issued yesterday.

The president has promised that the economic stimulus package will be based on existing budgetary resources and the pursuit of new investments.

Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene is due to make his medium-term budget policy statement in October.

Serious charges against South Sudan's army

The South Sudanese army and allied militia have been accused by the United Nations of killing over 200 civilians, committing rape and burning villages in a series of attacks carried out in the southern Unity state between 16 April and 24 May this year, according to this morning's Sudan Tribune.

The report by the UN's Human Rights Commission, based on investigations carried out by the organisation's peacekeepers, says the Sudan Peoples Liberation Army and allied forces attacked at least 40 villages or settlements in the reporting period, killing 232 civilians.

One-hundred-and-twenty girls and women were raped.

According to the report, the reason for these attacks, which took place after the signing of a cessation of hostilities agreement in December 2017, was to increase territories under government control by retaking areas in the hands of rebel forces loyal to Riek Machar.

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