Suicide bombers kill 28 in Somaliland

At least 28 people have died after suicide bombers attacked northern Somalia, jeopardizing the peace agreement reached between the Somali interim government and Islamist groups on Sunday. The parties had agreed to a ceasefire to be effective from November 5, 2008 ahead of withdrawal of Ethiopian troops.The new wave of bombings is also likely to unsettle the meeting taking place in Nairobi, Kenya, between interim government leaders and regional leaders which was called to discuss, among other things, how to help to restore peace in Somalia.The Iraq style attacks bore al Qaeda trade marks comprising five simultaneous blasts which killed 25 people in Hargeisa and three others in Bosasso. No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but recently insurgents have stepped up attacks on the interim government and Ethiopian troops demanding the withdrawal of the latter from Somalia and discouraging plans to send AU and UN peacekeepers to Somalia.

Major hydro power station for Africa

African leaders are planning to establish a continental hydro power station to harness its huge energy potential. Country representatives attending the 20th Session of the African Hydro Symposium in Zambia said hydro energy is the cheapest and cleanest for the continent.According to sadc.net Lawrence Musaba, the Centre Co-ordination Manager for the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP), Africa has a combined feasible hydro-capacity of more than 1 750 000 gigawatts (GW) per year, enough to power the whole continent but unfortunately, only 4.3 percent of this has been exploited. The symposium heard from SAPP and the Regional Electricity Regulators’ Association of Southern Africa (RERA) that in order to deal with the regional power deficits and stop a further decline in the environment different alternative power sources have to be researched on and implemented.

Zambia: Last day of election campaign

Campaign in Zambia’s presidential by-election officially ended on 29th of October 2008. The four contenders intensified their quest for votes in Zambia’s capital city Lusaka.Acting president Rupiah Banda of the Movement for Multi-party Democracy (MMD), Michael Sata of Patriotic Front ( PF), and Hakainde Hichilema of the United Party for National Democracy ( UPND) and Brig. Gen. Godfrey Miyanda of Heritage Party (HP) are contesting.The MMD has predicted that its candidate Banda would win the polls with about 42 to 46 per cent of the total number of votes cast. The former Minister of Information and Broadcast Service, Vernon Mwaanga, predicted Sata would be the first-runner up with 31 to 36 percent followed by Hichilema with 16 to 20 percent of the votes.