Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed, president of Somalia, attends a regional meeting in Ethiopia in 2019.
Minasse Wondimu Hailu/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Although polarising, parliament’s move to extend Farmaajo’s term has presented a practical road-map to hold direct elections for the first time since 1969.
Chadian President Idriss Deby Itno and French President Emmanuel Macron in France. France has been a long-time supporter of the Deby regime.
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The resistance during this election cycle is even more passionate than in recent years.
President John Magufuli of Tanzania passed away at the age of 61. His government had played down the existence of COVID-19.
Anthony Siame/EPE-EFE
The president leaves behind a legacy of extremes, on the one hand, a leader who wanted to create a better country for his people, and on the other, a ruthless authoritarian.
Hundreds of Namibians protested against growing gender-based violence in October 2020. The Afrikaans wording on the placard says ‘We are tired’.
Hildegard Titus/AFPvia Getty Images)
The legitimacy of SWAPO, the former liberation movement that has governed since 1990, has been eroded amid growing corruption and a deepening economic crisis.
Protesters march towards a line of Kenyan riot police during post-election violence in Nairobi in 2007.
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It is often assumed that patrimonial beliefs fuel electoral malpractice whereas civic ones challenge it, but this is an oversimplification.
President Paul Biya during a visit to China in 2018.
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Biya’s long rule has robbed Cameroon of its credibility as a stable and peaceful country.
Former South African president Jacob Zuma addresses supporters after one of several court appearances on corruption charges.
EPA-EFE/Phil Makgoe/Pool
The former president is in a corner and largely isolated. His only option is to stir the pot so much that it gives him some kind of bargaining power.
Hate speech is not the root cause of Ethiopia’s recurring conflict problem.
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In a country where judicial review is not constitutionally guaranteed, hate speech legislation could shackle freedom of expression and limit citizens’ rights to express themselves.
National Election Board of Ethiopia personnel patrol a warehouse stacked high with boxes of polling kits in Addis Ababa in October 2020.
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Ethiopia’s party system is extremely volatile due to the prevalence of weakly institutionalised and fragmented political parties.
Joseph Kazibwe, with his wife Magere, listen to radio updates of the Uganda presidential election result in January 2021.
Photo by Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP via Getty Images
For those keen to advance democracy and freedom in Uganda, the starting point is to take in the lessons of history.
Zimbabwe’s President Emmerson Mnangagwa meets his Chinese counterpart President Xi Jinping in Beijing, in 2018.
EPA-EFE/Lintao Zhang / POOL
The more President Mnangagwa’s government fails to engage democratically with its own citizens, the more it will negate any prospect of re-engagement with the West.
Following an inconclusive election in December 2020, Niger’s Independent National Electoral Commission is set for a runoff in February.
Photo by Issouf Sanogo/AFP via Getty Images
Although Niger’s quest for entrenching democracy is a good development, poverty and insecurity are obstacles.
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The November 2020 local and regional elections have indeed put Namibia’s political culture at a crossroads.
President Uhuru Kenyatta (centre), former opposition leader Raila Odinga (right), and Deputy President William Ruto launching the first Building Bridges Initiative report in 2019.
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The changes proposed by the initiative are were well-addressed in the country’s 2010 Constitution.
Enthusiastic ANC supportets celebrate a recent election victory.
EFE-EPA/Yeshiel Panchia
The trouble is that the ANC’s branch structure, designed initially as a means of grassroots democracy at work, is in a mess.
ANC secretary-general Ace Magashule in court in Bloemfontein, on corruption charges.
EFE-EPA/Conrad Bornman
For every office holder who may lose a seat because they are prosecuted, another job opens up.
Former DRC President Joseph Kabila, left, congratulates his succesor, Felix Tshisekedi, on his inauguration in January 2019.
EFE-EPA/Kinsela Cunningham
After endless, futile negotiations with the Kabila camp, Tshisekedi appears to have finally recognised the limits of the coalition government and has lost patience.
John Magufuli (centre) waves as he arrives to give a speech at a campaign rally in August 2020.
President John Magufuli won a second term by a contested landslide and looks set to take even greater control of Tanzania’s democratic space.
A police van lies in flames after white farmers went on a rampage in Senekal, South Africa.
Tracy Lee Stark/The Citizen.
There are individual activists and political groupings who believe violent action is legitimate and use the circumstances to actively drive such behaviour.
An elderly voter casts her ballot at Wazo Hill polling station in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania, on October 28, 2020.
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Tanzania’s October poll shows that elections are purely performative for governments which do not adhere to the basic tenets of democracy.