African press review 2 May 2017

South African unions boo and heckle President Zuma, forcing him to abandon his May Day address, while Kenyan workers get an 18 percent pay rise and in Uganda.

We begin in South Africa where the papers lead with a very hot May Day for President Jacob Zuma.

Mail and Guardian says he was booed and heckled by members of the powerful workers' Union COSATU at a Workers Day rally in in Bloemfontein on Monday.

According to the publication the hostility shown towards the president by a member of the ruling Troika, follows a request by three Cosatu affiliates that Zuma not be allowed to address the rally.

Times Live says the fisticuffs forced Zuma to interrupt his speech and leave while the event ended prematurely without a single speech being heard.

Mail and Guardian points out that last month Cosatu’s central executive committee publicly called for Zuma to step down as head of state, saying the federation no longer believes he is the right person to unite and lead the alliance and the country.

Meanwhile City Press carries a statement from COSATU's general secretary Bheki Ntshalintshali asserting that the powerful labour Union which was a key backer of Jacob Zuma's rise to power now regrets being lulled into the what they describe as the "complacency that has allowed “neoliberal policies” to continue in the country.

In Kenya, millions of lowly paid workers were on May Day been handed an 18 per cent pay rise in a bid to cushion them from the high cost of living.

Daily Nation reports that President Uhuru Kenyatta announced the increase in the minimum wage in the latest Jubilee charm offensive to woo voters ahead of the August 8 poll.

According to the paper, the President used the Labour Day celebrations to entice the country's labour force with a higher income amid biting economic times and with poor Kenyans complaining about the high cost of basic commodities such as maize flour.

In Uganda, the fight against corruption was at the center of the May Day rally in Kampala where President Yuweri Museveni warned thieving ministers that they would end up being caught red-handed.

Daily Monitor says the President’s remarks appeared to be a veiled reference to the embattled junior labour minister Herbert Kabafunzaki suspended for corruption and two Ministry of Finance officials under arrest for graft.

The paper observes that at the rally speaker after speaker urged the President to tighten his grip on corruption. According to the Monitor, the President’s new-found method of dangling baits to net suspected corrupt officials has attracted praise and disdain from critics and admirers, depending on who you speak to

And in May Day in Nigeria was marked by a pledge from President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure the speedy passage of a new national minimum wage.

Vanguard reports that Buhari reassured the nation he was aware of the effects of the economic recession in the country such as mass retrenchments, and closure of workplaces due to high cost of doing business.

According to the newspaper, the Nigerian leader also expression his deep appreciation to workers for their so-called great sense of patriotism and promised to work for an amalgamated approach that would be used in creating a conducive work environment that would attract foreign investment for wealth creation.