THOUGHT LEADERSHIP - The African Mirror

Oct

18

2025

By JUSTIN WILLIS; GABRIELLE LYNCH; KARUTI KANYINGA, and NIC CHEESEMAN

Raila Odinga: the man who changed Kenya without ever ruling it

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

RAILA Amollo Odinga, who has died at the age of 80, was something of a paradox in post-independence Kenyan politics. A leader who repeatedly ran for president, he never won – in part due to the 2007 election being manipulated in favour of Mwai Kibaki. Despite this, Odinga will be remembered as a figure who profoundly shaped the country’s politics as much as any president. The son of a famous anti-colonial leader, he was born into influence. Yet he became bitterly critical of Kenya’s enduring political and economic inequalities, speaking out on behalf of the country’s “have-nots”, which earned him…

Oct

18

2025

By JOHN JOSEPH CHIN

Madagascar’s military power grab shows Africa’s coup problem isn’t restricted to the Sahel region

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

THOSE who rise to power through a coup often fall by the same means. That is one of the takeaways from events in Madagascar, where on Oct. 14, 2025, the military seized power after weeks of protests largely driven by Gen Z. Ironically, it was the same elite military unit that helped bring Andry Rajoelina, former mayor of the capital Antananarivo, to power in a March 2009 coup that now supported anti-government protesters and ultimately forced the president to flee. I lead a research team that compiles the Colpus Dataset of coup types and characteristics, and have written on the…

Oct

17

2025

By MAUREEN FUBARA

Thug culture in Nigerian politics: the links between state governors, funding and violent armed groups

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

SINCE Nigeria’s return to democracy in 1999, elections have consistently been marred by violence. The elections between 1999 and 2019 and in 2023 saw party clashes, physical attacks, assassinations and intimidation. As Nigeria prepares for the 2027 elections, the threat of violence lurks again. Already, reports have emerged of clashes between supporters of the ruling All Progressives Congress and the opposition African Democratic Congress in northern states like Jigawa, Kogi and Kebbi. The violence is largely carried out by hired thugs, party supporters and members, gangs and militias. But the issue is not only that politicians are willing to use…

Oct

17

2025

By The African Mirror

Raila Odinga: Kenya’s relentless democrat and voice of opposition dies at 80

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

RAILA Amolo Odinga, Kenya's former Prime Minister and the most persistent opposition voice in East African politics, has died in India at age 80, marking the end of an era that spanned Kenya's entire post-independence democratic struggle. Over five decades, Odinga embodied the contradictions and aspirations of modern Kenya—a son of privilege who championed the poor, an accused tribalist who preached national unity, and a perennial loser who never stopped fighting for what he believed was a stolen destiny. Born January 7, 1945, into Kenya's political aristocracy as the son of independence hero and first Vice President Jaramogi Oginga Odinga,…

Oct

11

2025

By NAMHLA THANDO MATSHANDA

Ethiopia has struggled to build national unity: can its big new dam deliver it?

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

THE formal launch of Ethiopia’s Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam in September 2025 made news across the world. There was pomp and ceremony as Africa’s largest hydroelectric dam was officially inaugurated after 14 years and US$5 billion worth of project work. The project’s completion fulfils a national dream long in the making. It was formally initiated by the late Meles Zenawi, who served as president of Ethiopia from 1991 to 1995 and as prime minister from 1995 until his death in 2012. But the idea of a dam on the Ethiopian Nile dates back even further. As early as the 1950s,…

Oct

10

2025

By MUTHONI WANYEKI

Those responsible for Sudan’s war have no business being involved in the peace

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

THE UN General Assembly has ended. Coverage was devoted to the French president being stuck on New York sidewalks due to the passage of the US president’s convoy; to the US president lambasting the UN for a faulty escalator and a stalled teleprompter; to the same US president’s erroneous remarks about (among so many other things) solar and wind power. But many things happened at UNGA besides the weird and wonderful. Lip service was paid to the ongoing atrocities and outrages in Palestine, Sudan, and Ukraine. Beyond the lip service, however, there did seem (finally!) to be some energy on…

Oct

09

2025

By UGLJESA RADULOVIC and TINA UYS

South Africans who blow the whistle face retaliation and murder: their stories over five decades

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

SOUTH Africa’s long history of wrongdoing spans from Willem Adriaan van der Stel’s days of running a corrupt trading monopoly to present-day South Africa. Van der Stel was the second Governor of the Cape Dutch Colony, from 1699 to his removal in 1707. Whistleblowers have been at the core of exposing these instances of corruption. Public whistleblowing was rare under apartheid (1948-1994). But with the transition to democracy, the reporting of wrongdoing increased. This can largely be attributed to a new constitution that caters for all the country’s citizens, and new laws that reinforced their rights. One such law is…

Oct

07

2025

By BROOKS MARMON

Edson Sithole: new book uncovers the work of a thinker, lawyer and Zimbabwean freedom fighter who ‘disappeared’

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

EDSON Sithole was born in what was then Southern Rhodesia in 1935. He was the first black person in southern Africa to obtain a Doctor of Laws degree. He was the second black person in the country (which became Zimbabwe in 1980) to qualify as a lawyer, and co-founded Rhodesia’s African Bar Association in 1973. Sithole was an anti-colonial nationalist. He was “disappeared” alongside his secretary, Miriam Mhlanga, in downtown Salisbury (present-day Harare) 50 years ago. Brooks Marmon, a historian of Zimbabwe’s liberation struggle, has compiled and edited a forthcoming collection of Sithole’s writings, speeches and interviews. Who was Edson…

Oct

03

2025

By DR BOITUMELO SEMETE-MAKOKOTLELA

South Africa’s collaborative answer to fighting substandard and falsified medical products

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

ON 30 September 2025, South Africa took a decisive step in defending the health of its people. The country launched our National Action Plan (NAP) to combat substandard and falsified (SF) medical products which is a plan that has been almost a year in the making, built on consultation, collaboration, and a simple yet urgent truth which is that fake medicines are not just a nuisance, they are a deadly threat to public health, the economy, and our collective trust in healthcare systems. The milestone reached, therefore, should not be treated as another bureaucratic achievement. It must be understood for…

Oct

04

2025

By MUTHONI WANYEKI

Those responsible for Sudan’s war have no business being involved in the peace

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

THE UN General Assembly has ended. Coverage was devoted to the French president being stuck on New York sidewalks due to the passage of the US president’s convoy; to the US president lambasting the UN for a faulty escalator and a stalled teleprompter; to the same US president’s erroneous remarks about (among so many other things) solar and wind power. This story was originally published by The New Humanitarian.By Muthoni Wanyeki But many things happened at UNGA besides the weird and wonderful. Lip service was paid to the ongoing atrocities and outrages in Palestine, Sudan, and Ukraine. Beyond the lip…