The idea of police role, function, purpose, or mission in society requires us to think beyond the technical and operational aspects of police work, and consider, if you will, the philosophy of policing, and/or more generally, the place of legitimate authority in society. Policing is one of those few lines of work, like teaching and medicine, which have intimate connections with social life, social progress, and social change. Too narrow a view of the police role is bad, and care must also be taken to avoid too broad a view. One of the main issues plaguing our police forces is the perception by many people that the force presents a threat to social order instead of protector. This perception is not helped by constant images of police forces breaking down a civil expression of dissent at an opposition rally or a peaceful anti-government protest. So on our show this week,we looked at how we view our police. Below is an excerpt from the full show.

According to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi,Nigeria should be divided into two nations to avoid further bloodshed between Muslims and Christians. This post on my Facebook page led to an interesting discussion;some people making strong points in favor of Ghaddafi's suggestion to those who strongly oppose the idea. I will post it below:

Dweh Didier Fendor Lol, but NOT funny..... Wasn't this guy preaching a "United States of Africa" just a couple of months ago???
Yesterday at 8:33am ·

Francine Usanase Good point Fendor....good point...however...the bigger question is...how do you make a nation that is already exploited for it's oil riches see that they are fighting the wrong battle...I don't understand how poor people kill each other...so many problems to tackle...and they just keep fighting each other in the midst of all else that is going wrong.So rich, yet so poor in mind state...
Yesterday at 9:10am ·

Adekunle Oremosu: As a Nigerian, I actually find this to be the most useful comment from Gaddafi in a long time. It is a sentiment shared by most Nigerians but hardly spoken of in public. The British did a major disservice to this nation under their policy of "divide and conquer" and Nigeria has been a victim of that instability ever since.

We would certainly do better if the nation was split along religious lines
Yesterday at 1:21pm ·

Jean-Pierre Sabimana Why always dismantling? Few days ago the guy said he would like Switzerland to be dismantled, yeah and next stop might be Tripoli!
Yesterday at 2:07pm ·

Adekunle Oremosu I'm not endorsing any other comments by Gaddafi. Just the one on Nigeria. He is 100% spot on. if you have any Nigerian friends ask them privately what their opinion is on this topic and they will tell you the truth. Nigeria was an artificial creation of the British, structured so that its people were continually in strife while the British ...
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Yesterday at 2:22pm ·

Kunle Ifesanya: @Kunle, you are absolutely correct. I have come to the sad reality that, if Nigeria continues to remain as one country, IN THE NEXT 100 YEARS, OUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN WILL STILL BE ASKING FOR THE DISSOLUTION OF THIS GRAND FARCE CALLED NIGERIA!

I am also convinced that once the oil drys up, those who are preventing the peaceful separation will be the protagonists of the dismemberment of the white elephant. we are just completely different people, we don't belong together. I hope somebody will help us do the needful NOW and stop deceiving ourselves.

http://www.nairaland.com/nigeria/topic-73798.0.html...
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Yesterday at 2:22pm ·

Dweh Didier Fendor: Perhaps we do not want to re-visit the wrongs that came out of the ill-advised or orchestrated "divide-and-conquer" strategy that came out of the "Berlin Conference" a century and some change ago, that give us our current situation in Africa.

@ Adekunle, giving the ill news that have been pouring out of Nigeria the last 72 hours alone how can one argue against splitting up the country? But to suggest a division along "religious-line" I cautioned that this is dangerous and may make matters far worse than we've been witnessing...

I could be wrong in this assessment, but the leadership of that country really needs to start re-investing in its people--all its people--- and not a selected few (the ruling class of the South and North) that pocket all the country money, and blatantly use tribalism and stoke up religious fears amongst the populace to keep them blind as to what's really happening to them or who are the true "enemies" of the State....
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Yesterday at 2:45pm ·

Adekunle Oremosu: I agree with you in that it is not strictly along religious lines, and religion is not the only basis of our differences. It is a North-South divide really, and I used the religious line as a generalization knowing that the north is overwhelming Muslim, while the South is predominantly Christian.

However we choose to define it, the truth is that...
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Yesterday at 8:14pm ·

Ola Banwo: Illiteracy is the problem; free, qualitative and compulsory education is the answer.
12 hours ago ·

Joseph Obemeata: Splitting the country can NEVER be a solution to the problems facing us. I believe it will lead to even more conflict. Who gets to decide how many pieces are enough? who gets to decide which state, town,village,street belongs where? Where does the splitting stop? Are people going to be able to determine where they want to belong? because believe ...
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8 hours ago ·

Joseph Obemeata Countries are coming together to form unions to help develop their economies and iron out any trade conflicts,and generally ensure peace, why should we be different?. Separating he North from the South does not eliminate friction between the people, there will always be a point where these people meet (these divisions are imaginary lines drawn on the ground) they will still have to learn to live together it is always easier to destroy than to build.
8 hours ago ·

Adekunle Oremosu: Joe, you deserve your opinion however you can't create your own facts. How many times does one Southern group go on rampage against another? You made mention of the Ogonis but conveniently skirt the issue that the violence there was a result of the same system which I complained about where the wealth of that area is funneled to the center where it is looted by people that deny the owners of the resources any gains from what God endowed their land with.

Ola makes a more plausible argument that education might improve the situation. But the question is whether the people you advocate education for want to be educated. Northern Nigeria had just as much opportunity for educational development as the South (pre- and post-independence ) but their leaders chose to keep their own people blind in order to preserve the feudal system. The resultant effect is that northern nigeria even today is decades behind the south- educationally and developmentally.

Yet this section of the country has come to assume it's their birthright to rule the rest of the country perpetually (an arrogance that they reference on their state license tags- "born to rule"), as a result of the power structure the British put in place....
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6 hours ago ·

Kunle Ifesanya:
I can not agree more with you, Kunle. If anyone insinuates that Nigeria is truly one country, I have the following questions for him / her:

1. Why is it that, today, a southerner in Nigeria is safer in Ghana or Togo than in Northern Nigeria! Innocent citizens are regularly & routinely chased out of the North since the 1960s till date, with several killed & maimed. Youth Corp members are scared of being posted to the North because many have been killed. Even the southern muslims are regarded as inferior by the arrogant northern oligarchy. This compelled the southern muslims to form the Grand Council for Islamic Affairs as a parallel to the North's Supreme Council of Islamic Affairs. meanwhile, there exists no such animosity against the Northerners in Southern Nigeria.
...
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3 hours ago ·

Kunle Dehinsilu Kunle: (Ifesanya), your points on reasons why the country should be divided in two are sharp and sound but the truth is, the need for the division will never stop. It may suprise you that it will be endless.
The present Eastern Nigeria may end up getting subdivided into 5 or 10 other countries; I served in Calabar and such pple see themselves ...
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about an hour ago ·

Joseph Obemeata: have you guys herd of umuleri and aguleri in Anambra state? Ife and Modakeke? Andonis and Opobos in Rivers state? Ogbakiri in Rivers State? the list is endless all over the country. Nobody is contesting the fact that the Nigerian State as constituted is not ideal arrangement, but the issue is whether breaking up will solve those problems.Some of those conflicts i mentioned above happen from time to time and at a great cost to human life.They have nothing to do with North and South and are not likely to stop by seperating the north from the south
@ kunle ifesanya
Dredging the River Niger is not a regional exercise, its purpose is to increase the depth to enable larger vessels, the project is not restricted to the north, it starts at Lokoja, passes through onitsha,Delta and Rivers states all the way into the Atlantic Ocean. I am sure you can find out more about the project and how it will benefit the Country as a whole.
The Kaduna refinery folly is not justifiable and was done in the heady days of the oil boom,many years ago.We need to move on and forget about it since it is not economical to decommission it, i wouldn't refer to it as the foremost refinery in Nigeria THOUGH.
The Nigerian Army has five divisions,the headquarters of which are in Kaduna, Lagos, Ibadan, Enugu and Port Harcourt. Should the kaduna division be relocated? to where? ...
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about an hour ago ·

Hafiz Olalekan Lawal joe, those were fine points u raised in that piece, dividing the country is not the solution, more so that we have muslims in the south also, the main problem is the greed that are exhibited over political post, the jos debacle is all about land and occupation by certain settlers who believe they are plenty enough to have the deputy governor's slot , local govt chairmanship positions , commissioners and what have u. not because they want to serve sincerely but to have their own share of the national cake, and by chance they were muslims while the natives are predominantly christians the genesis of our problems can always be traced to things like this .the kind of democracy we practise is too expensive, we need to reduce the number of states for example to something like six, dont mind the crap about quick development of areas as reason for many states, they are avenues for wastages and looting , we probably dont need more than thirty senators also, it will be easier to monitor their performances that way, the truth is that we have become too docile to do anything, personally i am tired of complaints,it is time to do something to move forward , as students in the univetrsities ,those days our presence are usually felt both nationally and internationally, with our reactions to state issues , lecture boycotts etc, i imangine where are those vibrancy of our school years.collectively we can achieve much if our generation can organise ourselves, as i write the state of the president is yet to be made public, can u believe that?
dredging of river niger is okay, it will sure have lots of economic benefit to other parts of the country and also reduce transportation of goods from lagos to north or east, perhaps the roads will be safer and better for that. gentlemen enough of complaints, obama, fashola, ribadu are more of our contemporary, and u know what they are the bright ones out of d lots
Yesterday at 1:18pm ·

Ajibade Yusuf Hafiz, your description of what is on the ground is quite spot on and I cannot agree more with your assertion above. Though Nigerian should not be divided on religious ground. What we need is good leadership at the apex of the country, someone with desire to make a real change. You see, there are no visionaries anymore in Nigeria politics only bunch of greed moneymen. To add to your point above, what I think is needed in Nigeria is Decentralisation of power. Returning to regional power will allow people from each region to try and do something concrete for their own people, this will ensure that there is no breakup in the country, as separation can lead to further tension and possible ethnic cleanse, which has already began in Jos. This so called 'National Cake' is the problem in Nigeria. Nigeria began its backward progress the day we discovered Oil in the 70's. We stopped been productive. We changed from producing country to consuming one, the biggest reason for fall in Naira. Our leaders saw a quicker way of making money and think they can buy anything they want into the country. They see no reason to produce, what is Nigeria known, nothing except for oil and corruption. Remember it was the proceeds from the sale of Cocoa that built Cocoa house in Ibadan. That building used to be the pride of Western Region. It will take five years to grow Cocoa while it takes only a day to sell 2m barrels of Oil. Anyhow I support peaceful protest at all levels in the country. It is the only way these bastards running the country can listen. You see, I am not sure if Nigerian people are ready for change, as corruption is ingrained into every part of the nation. Our lifestyle doesn’t help, we are too extravagant, and the reason while corruption is accepted into our culture. No one really wants to work hard before they start to wear Rolex and drive BMW. University students, professional workers and civil servants are all corrupts. People’s mindset in that country need changing first, our values (now it is driven by Money) need to be corrected. But I strongly believe with a good leader, we can change.
Yesterday at 9:09pm ·

Joseph Obemeata @ Ajibade,i quite agree with you on the issue of oil dependence,Post Awolowo leaders in the West over the years have allowed their economies become dependent totally on the monthly Federal allocations(probably a throw back from the military era).They have missed a unique opportunity of developing their regional economies on such lines as agriculture . This centralization makes a division more difficult to handle because believe me in the case of a break up, the oil producing areas will NEVER share their oil with non producing areas AND they will be justified in their decisions.The rest of the country needs to be weaned off dependence on oil and this takes time. Some people advocating for the break up believe that a sudden cold turkey, non reliance on oil funds will be possible and desirable for all regions of the country. The effect will certainly increase hardship because successive governments have become increasingly lazy about regional funds Generation. They will not be able to do basic things like pay civil servants and deliver simple amenities to their citizens. They need to wake up and think about a future without oil money, but to plan such a future, you need to invest oil money NOW, that is what is happening in Dubai, they are succeeding in gradually divesting themselves from dependence on Petrodollars.All it takes is A bit of honesty and foresight of leadership which has over the years been very sadly lacking in Nigeria.For the division proponents, what makes them think the south will fare better economically and socially, do we really have enough good southern leaders to make a difference? i think not. they have had their opportunities and very few of them have been able to impress.Politically, Economically and in so many other ways ,the South of Nigeria is just a microcosm of the Country as a whole. Splitting it will just create several flawed pieces which will still be difficult to manage. the problems will not disappear. There is equally arrogance and lording over perceived inferiors in every part of the country , it is not restricted to being along the North South divide. In Oyo, Ondo, Enugu , Bayelsa, Delta,Kwara, Ogun states there are people who feel they are Born to rule and they and their ilk have been ruling all this time. It is almost impossible for another set of people to break into their ranks. To really appreciate these things, you have to experience them first hand. The problems can not be solved or appreciated theoretically or from a distance
Yesterday at 11:09pm ·

Oringo Babs The issue of domestic clashes among neighboring communities should not be confused the the deliberate, calculated and structurally organized crime of political oppression, rape, exploitation and dehumanization of a group of people as is being perpetrated by Northern Nigeria over the South. Even the US today is divided into the Blue and red States, but the more important fact is that they have more issues binding them together and their value system is basically the same. In Nigeria, the northern region has absolutely no regard or desire for education, which is the utmost pursuit of those in the south, especially the West. Indeed, it is a deliberate policy of the Northern rulers to keep their subjects illiterate and to antagonize Western education while the South struggles to establish free education. Where lies the similarities.
These northerners kill HUMAN BEINGS when there are threats to their cattle! How can these people continue to be together? These are things I have experienced LIVE having lived for several decades in the North, East and West of Nigeria. In Federal government offices, at the level of Directors, so-called Directors write official comments on documents in Arabic! What manner of gross contempt for other Nigerians from other parts of the country. The lingua franca in Nigeria is supposed to be English. A southerner in Nigeria finds it difficult to get a job in the North even when he is more qualified than all contenders. At the best he is given a ‘contract job’, like a foreigner, in his own country! Those who say there are intra-south divisions, do they not remember that there also occurs divorce in marriage. That is the manifestation of every individual’s right to liberty.
The present comedy of a man who is brain-dead but remains the president of Nigeria, is only possible because the man is from the North. And if anyone is in doubt of this, check those insisting on maintaining the unthinkable status quo, it’s the northern senators, the northern causes of the National assembly, etc. Some people say that the Speaker of the House is a southerner, do you know that the National Assembly has been surreptitiously crafted that the North will pertually continue to have majority/ That means as they say in democracy, the minority (south) will continue to have their say (as they have been doing thru protests) while the North will continue to have their way. Talk about slavery and servitude in your own country! What divides Nothern and southern Nigeria far outweighs whatever they have in common. Probably the only thing they have in common is that they are blacks and they are called Nigerians. The North even prefers to be associated with the arabs than with the blacks. They are more at home with people of Niger Republic and Chad than with ‘infidels’ of the South. That is why, like someone earlier stated, a southerner is safer in Ghana or Togo than in northern Nigeria. It’s a fact. Nigeria is a big joke, it is a fallacy and delaying its dismemberment is prolonging progroms and unnecessary deaths.
The only reason Nigeria is still in existence is because the North is still enjoying the oil (have you seen what they have done in Abuja with the oil money while the Niger Delta has been destroyed?). Now they are dredging the Niger which is an ecological disaster for the Niger Delta and other communities around the banks of the river, and when the Acting president moved to strengthened the land mass of the Delta area which is in terrible danger because of the unreasonable project, the North started blackmailing him that he hates the North. Why is it the north that is crying? If it is of such great benefit to the entire nation, why is it the North that is obsessed about the project. It is mis-placed priority with grave environmental damage that far surpasses whatever infinitesimal benefit which is majorly to prepare the North for the eventual separation from the south when the oil drys up!
The 1st Division of the Nigerian Army is in the North (make no mistakes about it, It is the REAL armory of the country, it houses the real military weapons of the country, in my opinion, even more than those in all other formation put together. Why did they not put the 82 Div in the north and the first in Enugu?), The Airforce prime base is in the North, the National capital is in the North, the Nigerian Defence academy is in the North, The two Nuclear power research centers are in the North, etc, etc, WHILE the oil is in the South.
South be wise!
9 hours ago ·

Kunle Ifesanya: Nice one there. I think that in addition to the Army, Airforce and nuclear facilities in the North, the Naval Headquarters should also be moved there immediately the dredging of the Niger River is completed!! The enormous funds being expended on the useless politically motivated project of dredging should have been spent on developing world class rail and road transportation across the country. this will benefit everybody, particularly the common man. How many people will travel on ships from Calabar to Abuja? Multiple millions travel our derelict roads daily, with several getting killed and maimed. Even the greatest countries in the world do not move goods WITHIN their country with ships! That is the main purview of rail transportation. It is the same mind set of setting up refinery in the North when the oil is in the South. It must always be for the benefit of the North at the detriment of the South! Nigeria as it is presently is designed to fail and it can not do otherwise.

As nigeria is presently structured, only a Northern candidate can win any presidential election. Some people talk about the election of Obasanjo from the south in 1999. The southerner was only able to attain to the post because the North decided to atone for the sin of one of their own who annulled the freest election in Nigeria's history, so the post was zone to the south. Even then, the Yoruba people had their own candidate but Obasanjo was the North's candidate. His campaign slogan was 'the leader WE can trust'. Make no mistake about it, th 'WE' does not refer to Nigeria, it refers to 'the North'. That is why an Obasanjo will organise a census that quotes Lagos population as 9 million behind Kano when ALL reputable and scientific population agencies worldwide (including the UNFP)
lists Lagos among the 10 most populated in the world while Kano does not even feature among the first 100! http://www.worldatlas.com/citypops.htm
This definitely gives Kano more access to the oil wealth than Lagos.

However, there is a possibility of situation been redressed. This will be a good solution indeed, IF it can be allowed, because there are many lovely northern people who are also disheartened by the misnomer. This can be achieved by allowing the entire nations with all her constituent groups to engage in a no-holds-barred Sovereign National Conference where the conditions for the continued existence of the entity is discussed and agreed on. This effectively means that the lop-sided concentration of facilities, amenities and military facilities will be revised. Anything short of this is just postponing the evil day.

For anyone to insinuate that some of us abroad do not understand the situation in Nigeria as others do is crass error. I know Nigeria more than most people within or outside the country. I have lived and worked in Nigeria virtually ALL my life. At least 95% of my entire life was spent in Nigeria. I was born and lived in Kano for several years, I have lived in Ibadan, Lagos, Enugu, Ado-Ekiti and Abuja for several years in each city. I am a licenced professional architect and a registered Town Planner in Nigeria. So why should anyone tell me I do not know Nigeria? It is an insult. According to Rufus Oteniya, the role of the Diasporans cannot be underestimated in any rebounding nation. From Ireland to Israel and from India to Ghana, the Diasporans have contributed greatly in re-positioning these nations. Even in the old times, according to the good book in Nehemiah and Ezra, the temple, city and wall of Jerusalem were rebuilt by the Diasporan and returnees. Now is the time to rebuild our own temples, cities and walls.
7 hours ago ·

Kunle Dehinsilu Kunlele: I very much appreciate your passion with the write up but I can assure you that the recent killings in Plateau State (Riyom Local Government specifically) had NOTHING to make it sound like the North against the South.
The people that were killed were locals from Riyom and not a Yoruba or Igbo from Southern Nigeria. They were just marked out to be killed by the muslim Hausa-Fulanis because they were Christians.
What I ask again is, if Nigeria splits in two, where will the Christian Northerners go??? Also mark you, there are Muslim sotherners too even though they get unfortunately referred to as infidels with the other christian southerners by the radical northern muslims.
A Sovereign National Conference is just the way out for me. As it is there that all lopsided issues can be rearranged and evened out.
3 hours ago ·

Joseph Obemeata: Thats right!!!!!
3 hours ago ·

Adekunle Oremosu A quick footnote- how many times has the notion of a Sovereign Natoinal Conference been put forward? Why has one never been constituted? Dream on, boys!
2 hours ago ·

Olaoluwa Fashuyi ghadafi crazy but damn right................
about an hour ago ·

Tolu 'teemaj' Majasan: He said that??!?! Hmm interesting coming from him, Ive thot about the same thing too
about an hour ago ·

Kunle Ifesanya http://www.nigerianewspapersonline.net/gaddafi-is-a-mad-man-%E2%80%94-mark

Paddy says:
March 18, 2010 at 9:15 am

Gadafi may be mad or reckless accorfing to you, but he has just given you the plain and real advice to stop the apartheid under the umbrella of religion in Nigeria. Maybe if they cut your own tongue off or that of the member of your family then you will agree with gadafi. We live together among the muslims in the south without any problems and this is the reason this is not a religious problem but apartheid. So bether we had done what Gadafi has just told us. how long and how many times shall we be this masacred before we react as we should?? We know that Nigeria is not one nation though under one flag. God come down!!!!!

Ayni- DK says:
March 18, 2010 at 2:09 pm

Everyone epects the idle, criminals (National assembly members) that enjoy the chaos to go on arms at such honest ideas.. All their lousy excuses not withstanding, they should tell teh world why the genocide has been ongoing in their Nigeria since the creation by British in 1914?
Hear them and any normal person will see that they are more MAD tha Gaddafi!! What are they saying about the reliable alligation of the unrepentant looting and unstopable bribery and corruption of demading whooping =N=16 Million for each Minister… http://www.saharareporters.com/real-news/sr-headlines/5551-pay-for-play-senators-want-n16-million-each-for-each-new-minister.html
Wonder why they never want the game to chance? Why they never want the Information Bill and electororal bills passed??
Not that those bills will do any thing, but it may reduce their looting capacity… the truth remains that BREAKING THE LIE CALLED NIGERIA IS THE ONLY SOLUTION AS PAINFUL AS IT MAY BE TO SOME BENEFICIARIES OF ONGOING CHAOS AND GENOCIDE!
I know one thing for sure that their own portion of the genocide will reach them soon, they can run but they can never hide,because they cannot be in power protection for ever!
It takes only a mad man like Gaddafi to say the truth without thinking of it.. others will beat about the bush under the cover of ‘diplomacy’ while millions of innocent perish!
about an hour ago ·

Hafiz Olalekan Lawal kunle:
there we go again, so far ,fine points have been made , clear analysis of the nigerian situation had been disected for all to know, not that we dont know all these anyway, the issue is what do we do?, how do we move forward?, calls for sovereign national conference have been falling on deaf ears overtime , do you see the present bunch of assembly members doing this, and if they wont do it , should'nt we nigerians be thinking of options to stop all this madness, for example if democracy is surely the way ,what kind of democracy?, should it still be this american type? can we organise ourselves into pressure groups to confront those in govt,with the hope of heating up the polity to attracts domestic and foreign attentions, (the south africans did it with mandela as their arrow head,) can the youth organise themselves to get a party registered or better still follow somebody like pat utomi, the youths will be more among the eligible voters,or do we just
seek for intervention of few sensible soldiers to come back and restructure the system, they created the problems anyway ,(even though that has its attending risk), gentlemen what do we do? to achieve the desired results, that should be our focus, i believe collectively we should be able to creat a solution, but we need a forum, we need to organise ourselve, we need people we need funds, we need ideas.
ma salaam

Law would punish media for ‘economic sabotage’

The committee to protect journalist today condemned a proposed law in Uganda that would punish media practitioners for what it calls ‘economic sabotage’. Andrew Mwenda an independent reporter and editor who is currently on a fellowship at Yale university says that the law is ‘draconian’ as it seeks to further repress the media from criticizing the government of president Museveni. He obtained a leaked copy of the Ugandan cabinet-approved principles for a bill amending the 1995 press and journalist act which proposes to give the ‘media council power to punish news outlets’. Mwenda says that the government of Uganda is in effect undermining the legitimacy of the press, because then people will get their information from the hundreds of blogs as alternative sources.
Listen to interview with Andrew Mwenda below!

This week on Upfront,our discussion focused on your understanding of the 'constitution'-- as a document that contains the rules and principles that define the nature and extent of government. Many agree that an effective constitution is supposed to regulate the relationship between institutions of a government i.e executive, legislature and the judiciary. Most importantly it sets limits on those in power. It is in essence an auxiliary precaution on the dangers of human excess that power bestows upon the few political leaders. So on the show we wanted to find out how much do people really know about their constitutions? One of the analysts i had on the show is Mugisha Muntu an opposition leader from Uganda. He said that few people in his country know what is written in the constitution. That is mainly because it is written in English--a language spoken by the educated class. For more on our conversation with him and many others,listen to the show.

VOA's Peta Thorncroft reports that Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe stripped down power from three MDC ministries in a move seen as deliberate attempt to provoke the opposition party into leaving power-sharing deal.

Zimbabwe's unity government has suffered its worst blow since its formation a year ago, according to the Movement for Democratic Change and several Zimbabwean political analysts and commentators. President Robert Mugabe has stripped effective power from three ministries, and assigned them to ZANU-PF ministers.

University of Zimbabwe political scientist Eldred Masungure says the move stripping power from three MDC ministries was a "unilateralist" action and deliberate effort to tempt the party to quit the unity government.

He said there was no rational basis for the new law announced by the government on Friday. He said the move was a violation of the political agreement which brought the unity government into power and is designed "to induce the MDC to walk out as they did in October last year."

The MDC disengaged from the unity government when its treasurer, Roy Bennett was arrested.

Tendai Biti, secretary-general of the MDC who also serves as finance minister, said the political agreement of September 2008 did not "give anyone the right to unilaterally alter a mandate." He said there had been a "serious breach of the political agreement and that the MDC would not take this lying down."

Biti said the MDC will meet on Wednesday to address the matter.

David Coltart, an executive of the smaller MDC party which split from the main branch and is also in the unity government said "at first glance this was a very serious breach of the political agreement because there was no consultation."

He said he hopes that this latest directive was not a decision of Mr. Mugabe's and that it can eventually be reversed.

ZANU-PF justice minister, Patrick Chinamasa, who has inherited some of the powers previously held by MDC ministries, was not available for comment Monday.

VOA's Scott Stearns reports that Togo's main opposition candidate and its ruling-party are both declared victory in Thursday's presidential election as vote counting continues.

Opposition candidate Jean-Pierre Fabre says Thursday's vote was full of irregularities, but he remains confident of victory.

Fabre told reporters in Lome late Friday that according to results complied by his Union of Forces for Change party, they are averaging between 75 and 80 percent of the vote, a total that he says would have been higher without anomalies that he says included stuffing ballot boxes.

Government spokesman Pascal Bodjona disputes that claim. He told French radio that the ruling Rally for the Togolese People party and President Faure Gnassingbe have won what he called a resounding victory. A ruling-party statement called on opposition leaders to regroup so as to preserve the general calm that prevailed during this vote.

The United Nations says more than 400 people were killed in post-election violence in 2005 that also sent thousands of Togolese refugees into Ghana and Benin.

President Gnassingbe is running for re-election after winning that 2005 vote following the death of his father, Gnassingbe Eyadema, who ruled Togo for more than 38 years.

Before Thursday's vote, Fabre said he had no confidence in the fairness of the ballot and suspected that President Gnassingbe would manipulate the electoral commission to steal the vote.

The president said an unprecedented deployment of Togolese and regional security forces would help guarantee a fair ballot. Casing his vote, he said it was up to voters to decide if he would be re-elected.

Final results are expected Saturday or Sunday.