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African press review 12 February 2018

South Africa awaits a new dawn as ANC chiefs hold last meeting with President Jacob Zuma, while Raila Odinga urges foreign envoys to keep out of Kenyan politics.

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We start in South Africa where the papers are all about final talks involving the ANC's top six officials, to facilitate President Jacob Zuma's departure from office.

The Johannesburg Star says the newly-elected President of the ANC and country's de facto leader-in-waiting come the next elections Cyril Ramaphosa is to have one last meeting with Jacob Zuma to conclude talks that will see the embattled leader leave the Union Buildings by the weekend or early next week.

According to the publication, Zuma’s fate appeared all but sealed, after Ramaphosa told the party’s MPs that he had agreed to step down, but wanted some issues to be “cleared” before handing in his resignation.

The Sowetan publishes a statement by the main opposition Democratic Alliance denouncing a so-called host of conditions demanded by President Jacob Zuma as part of his exit package from the Union Building.

According to the paper, Zuma has reportedly demanded state-guaranteed safety for himself and his family‚ that his security detail remains in place‚ and that his legal fees for current and future legal matters be paid for by the people of South Africa, which to the DA were unacceptable.

The Sowetan relays claims by the opposition party's Federal Council chairperson James Selfe that if Zuma wants maximum security‚ he can take up residence at a state-funded prison.

Mail and Guardian says Cyril Ramaphosa admitted on Sunday to “disunity and discord” in the ruling ANC party as the deadlocked effort to oust scandal-tainted President Jacob Zuma grinds on.

The paper quotes Ramaphosa as saying that he wanted to replace “a period of difficulty, disunity and discord” with “a new beginning” for the party, adding that he vowed to tackle corruption that has tarnished Zuma’s governance.

The Times has all you need to know about how Zuma lost control - and the people who let him down. The paper looks back at JZ’s change in fortune, from a rape trial to election as ANC leader, which it says was the beginning of a struggle in which he usurped the machinery of state, corrupted its entities and defined South Africa for more than a decade.

"Now the end is in sight", concludes the Times.

In Kenya, the Standard leads with NASA leader Raila Odinga's response to 11 top foreign diplomats who on Saturday asked him to recognize the election of President Kenyatta before any dialogue could take place.

According to the newspaper Raila slammed the envoys of "having no moral authority to lecture Kenyans on democracy and rule of law", after aiding electoral theft in the August polls.

In Nigeria, the Sun's front page splash is the revelation by the EU's envoy in the country that 45 percent of Nigerians are still without electricity.

The paper reports that Kurt Cornellus made the revelation while inaugurating a solar hybrid project in Ogun State, one of five pilot rural electrification schemes launched by the Federal government with the support of the EU and USAID.

According to the Sun, Nigerians spend a whopping 24.4 million euros every year on power generators as they struggle with "epileptic" power supply.

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