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African press review 25 May 2017

South Africa's Reserve Bank is not expected to change interest rates. The African Union and the United Nations go looking for a solution to the South Sudan crisis. Twenty Kenyan politicians are named and shamed by a group calling for the exclusion of corrupt individuals from public office. Steady on!

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South Africa's Reserve Bank is to make an announcement on interest rates later today.

The Johannesburg-based financial paper BusinessDay says inflation has fallen to within the Reserve Bank’s target band of between three and six percent for the first time in eight months.

Food and fuel prices are both down, significantly lowering the Consumer Price Index.

But the paper goes on to say that, because of the volatility of the rand and further risks to South Africa’s credit rating outlook, the central bank is not expected to cut interest rates.

As leaders of the ANC prepare to discuss a potential ouster of President Jacob Zuma, investors are starting to favour the rand. According to BusinessDay, several big international banks are betting on a resurgence in the currency, which has lost four percent of its value since Zuma sparked a crisis with a cabinet reshuffle at the end of March.

Suggestions that Zuma may be removed by the ANC has increased the appeal of the nation’s assets, according to analysts. The currency surged to a monthly high yesterday.

Opposition to Zuma’s rule has mounted within the ANC’s ranks following his 31 March decision to fire Pravin Gordhan as finance minister, a move that prompted Standard & Poor's Global Ratings and Fitch to downgrade the nation's sovereign debt to non-investment or junk status.

The South African ruling party’s leadership will discuss Zuma’s future at a meeting tomorrow.

AU and UN search for South Sudan solution

Regional paper the East African reports that the African Union and the United Nations are seeking a political solution to the South Sudan crisis.

After the August 2015 peace agreement failed and the east African region appeared to lose interest in the peace process, African Union Commission chairman Moussa Faki and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres have now taken the lead in lobbying to help South Sudan, where the war that started in 2013 has degenerated into multiple interethnic conflicts.

The East African says that the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development   which brokered the 2015 peace agreement   has vested interests in South Sudan and is no longer capable of leading the peace process.

South Sudanese refugees in neighbouring countries now total two million people, while three million are internally displaced.

United Nations chief Guterres has been pushing for the deployment of a 4,000-strong regional protection force.

Kenyan group names and shames dodgy politicians

A group of civil society organisations has named 20 candidates that, they say, should be barred from contesting the Kenyan elections in August.

The activists say the politicians lack integrity and should therefore be stopped from seeking public office.

Those named include 12 vying for the post of regional governor, six MPs, one woman representative and one member of the County Assembly.

The politicians are accused of a host of misdeeds including abuse of office, embezzlement, hate speech and violence.

The National Integrity Alliance yesterday launched its "Red Card" campaign aimed at blocking individuals with questionable integrity issues from running in the 8 August elections.

The alliance alleges that the individuals named have failed to account for a total of 160 million euros in public funds and should be considered unsuitable to hold office.

The list was compiled with the aid of the non-governmental organisation Transparency International.

Yoweri Museveni's backside is back

As confidently predicted in a recent press review, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni's bum is back on the front page of the Daily Monitor.

The Kampala-based daily reports that controversial Makerere University Research Fellow Dr Stella Nyanzi has asked the Constitutional Court to block to the government’s move to have her subjected to a mental status test. The authorities think she's mad.

Dr Nyanzi, who is facing charges of cybercrime and offensive communication for allegedly calling President Museveni a “pair of buttocks” on her Facebook page, is seeking a temporary stay of the proceedings at the lower court pending the determination of the main petition on her sanity.

The state wants Dr Nyanzi to be subjected to a mental status examination "based on her history of facetious behaviour".

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