THOUGHT LEADERSHIP - The African Mirror

Jul

17

2024

Improved China-Africa relations expected to top agenda at FOCAC, says new envoy Wu Peng

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

NEW Chinese ambassador to SA, Wu Peng, has hit the ground running barely weeks after arriving to strengthen diplomatic ties between Beijing and Pretoria. Wu begins his term of office at a time when the flourishing bilateral relations between the two nations – well into the 26th year – are described as cruising in the “golden era”. China has been SA’s biggest trading partner for more than a decade – in fact, for 14 years in a row. However, the entire African continent has reaped the benefits of heightened economic cooperation with China over the last 15 years. This clearly…

Jul

16

2024

By AIKANDE CLEMENT KWAYU

Tanzania’s election laws make it hard to build political opposition – what needs to change

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

TANZANIANS go to the polls this year in local elections to vote for street and village chairpersons. This will be followed by a general election next year for councillors, members of parliament and the president. Both sets of elections are being watched closely. They’re the first to be held following a raft of changes over the past eight years to drag Tanzania away from its history of operating as a one-party state and towards a more multiparty arrangement. This history has included restrictions on opposition parties’ activities. For example, between 2016 and 2023, political rallies were banned in Tanzania. This…

Jul

16

2024

By PATRICK GATHARA

Don’t let the elders steal your revolution

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

This story was originally published by The New Humanitarian.By Patrick Gathara IN the space of just three weeks, the political scene in Kenya has been completely upended by a youth protest movement that threatens to render all the normal rules of political engagement obsolete. The upstart Generation Z has rejected much of the wisdom and tradition of their elders and created a “fearless, leaderless, partyless, and tribeless” movement that has left the political class – both within government and outside of it – scrambling to catch up. Kenya hasn’t seen anything like it. In the past, political action has been…

Jul

15

2024

By AGIZA HLONGWANE

For Bra Stan, a football titan like no other… the gift that kept on giving

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

Basibulele They killed us when they killed you From jump, you were right there in the maternity ward In green scrubs, masks and gloves When Kaizer XI drew its first breath We all know what happened when they became the Chiefs of this place Then you gave us Magesh the super-lyricist The proud “Mfana KaMshengu” who created a groove A groove that made us move, setting our souls free, singing songs of happiness Long before “Tiki Taka” was even a thang You bequeathed us the fabled Shoeshine & Piano at Mamelodi Sundowns When uThish’ Gumede first told us about Bafana…

Jul

13

2024

By JULIUS MAINA

Kagame’s iron grip for decades

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

THERE is little doubt that Paul Kagame will win the votes necessary to extend his 24-year rule in Rwanda’s general election on 15 July 2024. The ruling party, the Rwanda Patriotic Front, nominated Kagame as its presidential candidate during a congress in March. He got 99.1% of the vote. Kagame faces Frank Habineza, who leads the opposition Democratic Green Party, and Philippe Mpayimana, an independent candidate and former journalist. In the country’s last election in 2017, Kagame garnered nearly 99% of the vote. This year, about 9.5 million Rwandans are registered to vote. Since he was first elected president in…

Jul

11

2024

By OBI ANYADIKE

The changing face of peacekeeping: What’s gone wrong with the UN?

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

This story was originally published by The New Humanitarian. By Obi Anyadike AT the end of this year, the last UN peacekeepers are scheduled to leave the Democratic Republic of the Congo after two difficult decades, a withdrawal that reflects broader changes underway to the international security system. The peacekeeping mission – known by its French acronym, MONUSCO – has been the biggest and most expensive deployment in UN history. Yet eastern DRC remains a humanitarian disaster zone, and the government of President Félix Tshisekedi has insisted on the accelerated departure of the unpopular blue helmets. The mission’s 16,000 uniformed…

Jul

10

2024

By RÉGINAS NDAYIRAGIJE and MARIJKE VERPOORTEN

Rwanda’s Tutsi minority has been in power for 30 years – but study finds ethnicity doesn’t matter to people if their needs are met

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

THIRTY years ago, the Rwandan Patriotic Front, a predominantly Tutsi armed group, took over Kigali, Rwanda’s capital city – and soon after, the country’s governance. This victory occurred amid a horrific genocide masterminded by a Hutu-dominated regime. Rwanda’s main ethnic groups are the Hutu, who make up a majority of the population, and the Tutsi. Since 1994, the Rwandan Patriotic Front – led by Paul Kagame, who was first elected president in April 2000 – has been at the country’s helm. Kagame is expected to extend his rule in the July 2024 elections. The law allows him to serve two…

Jul

05

2024

By WANDILE SIHLOBO

South Africa’s new agricultural leadership should focus on getting things done, not designing new policies

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

SOUTH Africa’s primary agriculture sector accounts for nearly 3% of GDP and about 8% when considering the value of agro-processing. But it can contribute even more to economic growth that delivers benefits fairly across society and creates jobs. This can’t happen, however, if new policies and plans keep getting introduced. Fortunately, the views of the new agricultural minister, John Steenhuisen, may not be far from the existing policy path. Steenhuisen is the leader of the Democratic Alliance, the second biggest party in parliament, which has joined a unity government with the African National Congress after the latter failed to win…

Jul

04

2024

By ABBEY MAKOE

70 years on – China still builds a global community “with a shared future for mankind”

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

SEVENTY years ago, China launched the “Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence” aimed at ameliorating the dangers and threats posed by growing unilateralism in the international world order. With a greater emphasis on mutuality and equality, the principles provide a whole set of basic norms for peaceful coexistence among countries across political, security, economic and diplomatic domains. The five principles, which are consistent with the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, have become the cornerstone of China’s foreign policy. A “peaceful coexistence” is a formula for a “shared future” and “win-win” international relations architecture that the founding…

Jul

01

2024

By CYRIL RAMAPHOSA

The Cabinet of National Unity must work to build a South Africa for all

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP, EDITORS CHOICE

IN the coming days, the ministers and deputy ministers of the new Government of National Unity will be sworn in. This is a significant moment in our country’s democracy. We have made good on our promise to the South African people to work together as political parties for the good of the country, and to deliver a government that will be united in action and purpose. This provides a firm basis for greater stability, coherence and a focus on implementation. Even in some of the world’s most established democracies, the formation of multi-party governments is often protracted and fraught with…