SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS - The African Mirror

Feb

19

2026

Burkina Faso has dissolved all political parties: why African coup leaders often turn on the people who supported them

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

THE end of January 2026 effectively marked the end of party politics in Burkina Faso. On 29 January, Captain Ibrahim Traoré’s government formally dissolved all political parties, including those that had supported his September 2022 coup. Parties had already been suspended since Traoré took power, but the junta framed this latest step as part of a broader state “restructuring” meant to reduce social divisions. In practice, the move shuts down what little space remained for independent civic participation and further concentrates authority in Traoré’s hands. Party assets have also been taken over by the state. For a junta that initially…

Feb

17

2026

By PATRICIA HUON

Caught in the middle: Banyamulenge face violence and instrumentalisation in DR Congo’s Uvira

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

THE seizure and then abrupt withdrawal of the M23 armed group from the city of Uvira in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo’s South Kivu province has drawn renewed attention to the precarious position of the area’s minority Banyamulenge population. This story was originally published by The New Humanitarian.By A journalist in Uvira and Patricia Huon Banyamulenge, Congolese Tutsis of Rwandan descent who have lived in South Kivu for generations, are often unfairly viewed as associated with the Tutsi-led, Rwanda-backed M23, which has established a parallel administration across vast eastern areas. At the same time, the M23 and Rwanda have…

Feb

14

2026

By TEKLEHAYMANOT G. WELDEMICHEL

How to get away with mass murder: 4 tactics Ethiopia used to hide Tigray atrocities from the world

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

THE Tigray region in Ethiopia’s north has endured one of the world’s deadliest armed conflicts of the 21st century. Between 2020 and 2022, as many as 800,000 people were killed (out of a regional population of about 7 million). This rivals estimates from recent major conflicts, including those in Ukraine, Yemen, Sudan and Syria. The war was fought between Tigray’s security forces and the allied forces of Ethiopia and Eritrea, along with ethnic militias from different regions of Ethiopia. This period was marked by organised massacres. There was also systematic sexual violence and mass displacement. Ethnic cleansing and prolonged siege…

Feb

12

2026

By CYNTHIA KWAKYEWAH

Activists in Ghana are forcing extractive firms to account for the harm they cause – corporate abuse study

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

GHANA has a long history of resource extraction that has caused socioeconomic and ecological harm. The mining of gold, stones, sand and salt has displaced people, polluted the environment and destroyed livelihoods. It’s commonly believed that this continues to happen, with impunity. But recent developments reveal a more complex reality. As a global sociologist who specialises in human rights, corporate social responsibility and sustainable development, I mapped out the patterns of corporate abuse in Ghana’s mining, oil and gas sectors. I also looked at the strategies that local actors are using to push the state to act against firms violating…

Feb

11

2026

By SOPHIE DOUCE, PHILIP KLEINFELD, and a BURKINABÉ JOURNALIST

Arrests and red tape: How Burkina Faso’s junta is throttling humanitarian aid

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

BURKINA Faso’s ruling junta is tightening its grip on humanitarian relief organisations, obstructing their efforts amid a broader push to assert political sovereignty and limit scrutiny of its campaign against jihadist groups, aid workers say. Since taking power in 2022, the administration of Ibrahim Traoré has restricted relief groups from accessing areas of the country controlled by jihadists, while saddling them with a thicket of rules and regulations, and disciplining those who speak out. This story was originally published by The New Humanitarian.By Sophie Douce, Philip Kleinfeld and a Burkinabé journalist Half a dozen aid workers and internal documents reviewed…

Feb

09

2026

By RICARDO JORGE MOREIRA GOULÃO SANTOS and ELINA PENTTINEN

Mozambique floods: why the most vulnerable keep paying the highest price

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

WHEN floods submerged parts of Mozambique after heavy rains in 2000, a baby girl was born in a tree, where her mother clung as the Limpopo River waters rose. The baby was nicknamed Rosita in the press. Her survival became a symbol of the country’s grit. But her story, once a symbol of hope, now frames a harder truth. Sadly, Rosita’s life was cut short on 12 January 2026. She reportedly died of anaemia in a provincial health centre. This condition might have been treatable in a stronger, better-resourced health system. Her death coincided with a new wave of severe…

Feb

03

2026

By JAN POSPISIL

South Sudan’s White Army explained: what it is – and what it isn’t

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

THE UN issued warnings of potential mass violence between the South Sudanese government and the White Army in January 2026. A peace agreement ended a five-year civil war in the country in 2018. This was followed by a period of relative calm that ended in 2025 in the wake of clashes between the government and White Army. Attempts to bring peace have faltered. The government has charged and suspended first vice-president Riek Machar over claims he commanded the White Army during the violence in Nasir, Upper Nile State. Jan Pospisil, who has studied South Sudan’s conflict dynamics, explains the origins…

Jan

31

2026

By EPHIAS MUGARI

South Africa’s floods turned deadly because Limpopo wasn’t prepared – how to prevent a repeat

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

LIMPOPO, in northern South Africa, home to 6.6 million people, several large mines, and the Kruger National Park (one of Africa’s largest game reserves), experienced unusually severe floods in mid-January 2026. Rural villages remained cut off from the world following the week-long heavy rains. The Kruger National Park was evacuated after camps and roads were flooded. The flooding caused an estimated R1.7 billion (US$106 million) worth of damage to homes, schools, roads and bridges. Climate change adaptation researcher Ephias Mugari explains that the impact of the floods was worsened by the poor shape of key infrastructure and limited plans for…

Jan

29

2026

By HARUNA INUWA, ALYCIA LEONARD, and STEPHANIE HIRMER

Attacks on Nigeria’s energy systems weaken the country – research unpacks costs, risks and ways forward

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

ENERGY systems are coming under attack globally because disrupting power or fuel supplies offers strategic, economic or political leverage. This can be in local conflicts or large-scale geopolitical confrontations. Nigeria illustrates this clearly: militants in the Niger Delta sabotage pipelines to assert control and tap into oil revenues, while the extremist group Boko Haram and armed bandits in the north hit power lines to weaken state presence. These incidents reveal how conflict actors weaponise energy systems. We recently published a study assessing how militancy, insurgency and armed banditry undermine Nigeria’s energy systems by disrupting oil, gas and power infrastructure. We…

Jan

28

2026

By The African Mirror

Crime-fighting in Lagos: community watch groups are the preferred choice for residents, but they carry risks

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

CRIMINAL activities have developed into a security crisis in Nigeria. Alongside the responses of security agencies such as the police and military, there has been a huge local response, with community groups mobilising in the face of criminal attacks. For example, communities in Zamfara State, north-west region, repelled a bandit attack, causing the death of 37 bandits in August 2024. In Sokoto State, north-west region, residents rescued kidnapped individuals and recovered the body of the deceased village head in August 2024. In Kwara state, north-central region, community groups rescued people from their abductors in December 2025. But how effective are…