THOUGHT LEADERSHIP - The African Mirror

May

29

2026

Ethiopia votes: dominant ruling party seeks a new mandate in a deeply fragmented nation

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

ETHIOPIA’S general election on 1 June 2026 will take place amid armed conflicts and political fragmentation. This has raised questions over voter participation and legitimacy and the future of the country’s multi-ethnic federal system. Ethiopia is Africa’s second most populous country and a key regional actor in the Horn of Africa. Redie Bereketeab, who researches state- and nation-building, identity and nationalism in the Horn of Africa, unpacks the 2026 election. Who is on the ballot, and what is at stake? Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s Prosperity Party remains by far the strongest political force nationally. The party controls most federal and…

May

27

2026

By NINA WILÉN

The Sahel region is less secure than ever: foreign forces just add to the cycle of violence

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

SEVERAL of Mali’s major cities experienced coordinated attacks in April by a new coalition of jihadists and separatist groups. As the coalition took over the town of Kidal in the north of Mali, images of Russian troops being escorted out of the town after negotiations were cabled out across global media. Russia, now in the shape of Africa Corps and previously the Wagner Group, has been the Malian military’s external security partner since the beginning of 2022. It replaced French and European troops from the counter-terrorism operation Barkhane and Taskforce Takuba. France had deployed a force of 5,000 troops from…

May

26

2026

By OWN CORRESPONDENT

The bromance is over: how Senegal’s kingmaker became its kingbreaker

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

SENEGAL has entered a constitutional crucible of its own making. In the space of days, the West African nation has lurched from promising democratic reformism to a full-blown political war between two men who once personified its hope - a young president and the revolutionary who made him, now facing each other across the barricades of the republic they vowed to transform. President Bassirou Diomaye Faye has sacked his Prime Minister, Ousmane Sonko. In any other political context, that sentence would be unremarkable - presidents sack prime ministers. In Senegal today, it is seismic. Sonko was not merely Faye's premier.…

May

26

2026

By SAMAH FAWZI

With hardship comes ease: Encountering kindness as a Sudanese in exile

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

IT is very hard to ask, “How are you doing?” after three years. That is how long it has been since the war erupted in Sudan and changed our lives forever. Finding and creating the space to check on each other and ask how someone is doing in relation to everything the war has unravelled and uprooted is becoming increasingly difficult. Everyone is surviving. Everyone is trying to overcome. Some are trying to forget. Some are trying to move on. In different ways, we try to stay grounded in the present. To hold on to the goodness in the people…

May

22

2026

By JOVIAL RANTAO

THE VALLEY REMEMBERED HER…

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

A Farewell to Florence “Florah” Tsedu, returned to the earth at Tshavhalovezhi The rain knew. It came softly, in quiet intervals, as though the sky itself had been briefed - as though heaven was preparing the earth to receive something precious. At Tshavhalovhezhi, in Venda, Limpopo, beneath those rolling skies and above that valley whose memory is long and whose soil does not forget, we laid to rest Florence “Florah” Tsedu: a beautiful soul, a magnificent woman, a presence that had coloured this world in ways that no single telling can fully contain. Heartbreak and celebration moved together on that…

May

21

2026

By OWN CORRESPONDENTS

Mansions, a Rolls-Royce and a paper trail: The unravelling of Uganda’s most powerful Speaker

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

ON the morning of Tuesday, May 19, 2026, forensic investigators and armed detectives sealed off the fifth floor of Uganda's Parliament building, turning the former Speaker's chambers into an active crime scene. Evidence collection vans were parked on the forecourt. Senior CID officers carried document cases inside. Outside, an institution that is constitutionally the guardian of public accountability had become, for a morning, the subject of it. The lockdown came less than 48 hours after Anita Annet Among made a stunning political retreat - officially withdrawing from the 12th Parliament speakership race following weeks of mounting executive and public pressure.…

May

20

2026

By TENDANI TSEDU

Nelson had Winnie, Steve had Ntsiki and Chris had Limpho, Mathatha had Flora.

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

THERE are people whose names never make headlines, whose faces are never splashed across newspapers or television screens, but whose lives hold together families, communities, and even history itself. My aunt, Flora Marubini Tsedu, was one of those people. I have struggled to write this tribute because she was not someone who demanded attention. She was quiet. Gentle. Reserved. In many ways, she and I were alike; we have our own subtle way of making our presence felt and not through loud words, but through kindness, consistency, and strength. You always knew she was there. At home and in our…

May

20

2026

By SALAH BEN HAMMOU and HIBA NACIRI

Mali’s military leader is consolidating power. Why this is dangerous

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

MALIAN officials announced on 4 May 2026 that junta leader General Assimi Goïta would take on the post of defence minister after the killing of General Sadio Camara a week earlier. Camara’s death occurred amid an offensive by the Azawad Liberation Front (FLA) and Jama'at Nusrat al-Islam wal-Muslimin, which launched attacks across Mali. Insecurity persists in Mali despite years of military rule, which was justified on promises of restoring order and defeating insurgent violence. On the surface, Goïta’s decision to absorb the defence portfolio appears to be a pragmatic wartime measure, aimed at ensuring continuity within the armed forces during…

May

19

2026

By ADRIAN HADLAND

Mandela and De Klerk’s tempestuous relationship

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

OCTOBER 8, 1995 If ever there was a symbol of the birth of the new South Africa, and of its subsequent trials and tribulations, it is the personal relationship between Nelson Mandela and FW de Klerk. It has been an epic affair: tumultuous, angry, respectful, bitter, and forgiving. It has run the gamut of emotions from triumph to despair, and by surviving, it has inspired the nation and intoxicated the world. Following the latest recent spat in downtown Johannesburg on a warm September night, it is easy to forget how frequently the two statesmen have clashed - and how, usually…

May

18

2026

By JOVIAL RANTAO

She was the wings beneath his wings

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

THERE is a particular kind of greatness that the world rarely stops to celebrate. It does not announce itself with fanfare. It does not seek the spotlight or linger near the podium waiting for applause. It works, instead, in the warm hush of a kitchen at dawn, in the steady reassurance of a goodnight kiss given to children whose father is somewhere far away, filing a story, chasing the truth. It speaks in the language of sacrifice — fluently, generously, without complaint. Florah Marubini Tsedu spoke that language better than anyone. Florah has departed this earth, and in doing so…