Chadian President Idriss Déby Itno has died at the age of 68.
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When he grabbed power in 1990, Déby promised to create a democratic society, but he turned out to be a ruthless authoritarian whose main agenda was to remain in office.
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.
Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan inspects a military parade following her swearing-in as the country’s first female president on March 19, 2021 in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
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She has been described as compassionate, rational and calm – attributes that are a far departure from her former boss.
President John Magufuli of Tanzania passed away at the age of 61. His government had played down the existence of COVID-19.
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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.
Tanzanian President John Magufuli played the long political game.
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He came into office with a reputation for making broken systems work, but as he began his second presidential term John Magufuli became known as a ruthless and ambitious authoritarian.
Yusuf Haji was soft spoken, straight to the point, and open to ideas.
EPA/Daniel Irungu
Haji was an astute leader who rode the wave of leadership over a long and illustrious career in government and politics.
African leaders at the 38th African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
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Having four female Commissioners out of six is a good start, but that alone is will not erase the vulnerabilities that women face in leadership and everyday life.
Ugandan singer-turned-politician Robert Kyagulanyi aka Bobi Wine being arrested on charges of unlawful assembly.
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In surpassing opposition stalwart Kizza Besigye, Robert Kyagulanyi has done what many Ugandans thought impossible. But can he topple Museveni?
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.
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.
Ugandan police officers and members of a paramilitary force patrol the capital Kampala during the curfew.
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The ruling elites in parts of Africa are destabilising efforts to maintain order by living by their own rules
A Sudanese demonstrator at a protest in the capital Khartoum.
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The people are frustrated with a reform agenda that is unfolding at snail’s pace.
Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta (left), and former Prime Minister Raila Odinga
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The Building Bridges Initiative is best understood by recognising that Kenyan politics is fundamentally shaped by competition between political elites and their ethnic groups.
Former Burundian president, the late Pierre Nkurunziza
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The former president’s complex legacy has often been marred by violence.
Ugandan activist and writer Stella Nyanzi outside a Kampala court after a ruling in her favour against President Yoweri Museveni
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When protesters strip naked to amplify their political voice, it is often a last resort within very restrictive regimes.
President Pierre Nkurunziza campaigning for the presidency in 2015.
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Will President Pierre Nkurunziza peacefully relinquish office after the May poll?
Sudan’s new prime minister, Abdalla Hamdok. He recently survived an assassination attempt.
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Omar al-Bashir may be gone but Sudan still has a way to go before it enjoys a functioning democracy.
Kenya’s second president, Daniel arap Moi, now deceased.
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The former president’s stranglehold on the press made it very difficult for journalists to do their jobs.
A woman casts her ballot during Cameroon’s 2018 presidential elections.
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Many believe that it is only a return to the country’s two-state federation that will end the conflict and break the impasse.
The first female president of Mauritius, Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, at the Budapest Water Summit in 2016. She left office in 2018.
Szilard Koszticsak/EPA
In Mauritius there’s been little change in cultural norms and values to genuinely support gender egalitarianism.