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African press review 14 February 2018

South Africa awaits Jacob Zuma's resignation but is he really a "dead President walking"? Meanwhile, the Oxfam scandal spreads to South Sudan.

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We begin in South Africa where the papers are betting on President Jacob Zuma's impending resignation this Wednesday. Times Live reports that the 75-year-old Zuma is due to address the media in Pretoria on Wednesday morning and address the nation.

According to the paper there is speculation that Zuma called the press conference to say farewell, as he is expected to announce his resignation from the country’s top job after being recalled by the ruling ANC party’s national executive committee.

"Dead President walking", is the front page splash of today's Pretoria News. The paper says that South Africa remained on tenterhooks late last night as the ANC mulled over President Jacob Zuma’s future. This, while opposition parties reportedly scrambled to table a motion to vote him out in Parliament, in case he refuses to go.

The Johannesburg Star believes Zuma will be in deep trouble if he doesn't resign, sounding a warning by the ANC national chairperson Gwede Mantashe that if he refuses to resign they will let him be eaten by the vultures.

BusinessDay says it understands that the ruling party's National Executive Committee has given the ANC caucus in the National Assembly the task of devising a strategy for Zuma's removal should he refuse to heed the recall.

The economic newspaper holds that ousting of Jacob Zuma just like that of Thabo Mbeki recalled in September 2008 nine months before the end of his second term, point to weak executive in the governing party.*

In Nigeria Punch has been sampling the opinion of Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka about another President going through turbulent times. Nigeria's Muhammadu Buhari under fire at home for his record and alleged plans to seek a second term at the age of 75. 

Asked about the three things he would tell the President if he meets him, Soyinka said he would say Mr. President, you are in a trance”, adding that the sooner he got out, the better it would be for the nation.

Uganda's Daily Monitor leads with fresh claims of sexual assault and cover-up at the offices of the scandal-hit British charity Oxfam in South Sudan. The paper reports that four people witnessed or experienced rape or attempted rape involving Oxfam workers in the war-ravaged country.

The latest revelations follow reports that Oxfam aid workers' used prostitutes in Haiti and Chad. The scandal has caused outrage in Britain, where Oxfam received 35.7 million euros, from the government last year.

Finally ,the Kenyan Standard has a piece of advice for people planning to get married this Valentine’s Day. The paper urges its readers to think twice. The anniversary coicides with Ash Wednesday and the newspaper advices it readers that it would be better for their souls if they instead pick up their Bibles and go to church.

The Standard points to study has shown that people who get married on Valentine’s Day never live to enjoy their marriage

 

 

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