THOUGHT LEADERSHIP - The African Mirror

Jun

2021

Death of Boko Haram leader doesn’t end northeast Nigeria’s humanitarian crisis

DULUE MBACHU ALTHOUGH a seismic event, the death of Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau last month after his base was overrun by a rival jihadist group is unlikely to end an 11-year insurgency in northeastern Nigeria that has upended millions of lives, analysts and aid workers say. Shekau, who led an uncompromising and brutal jihadist campaign, was cornered in his former Sambisa Forest stronghold in Borno State by rival fighters of the breakaway Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP). Although his body is yet to be recovered, both ISWAP and Boko Haram fighters have confirmed that he died after detonating…

May

2021

By The African Mirror

Chad’s ‘covert coup’ and the implications for democratic governance in Africa

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

THE recent spate of military coups in Africa, which were intended to be transitional, might instead be a risk for democracy in the long term. There might be a short term need to maintain security. But the military may not necessarily be a credible partner to build democratic governance. Military intervention could mean that people might continue to be in a state of stagnant democracy. LAURA-STELLA ENONCHONG, Senior Lecturer in Law, De Montfort University Chad is the most recent example of this. Soon after the death of President Idriss Deby, the military swiftly took over power. They immediately installed his…

Jun

2021

By The African Mirror

Farewell Jabu Mabuza, a great teacher, amazing and good quality human being

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

PROFESSOR BONANG MOHALE Dr. Jabulane Albert Mabuza is my boss! We had persuaded him and he ultimately agreed to be the single face of big business as the president of both Business Unity SA (Busa) and the CEO Initiative as well as chair of Business Leadership SA (BLSA). He, in turn, later personally strongly persuaded me to come out of my early 're-tyrement' at age 55, to come and help be BLSA CEO, an organisation that was founded in 1960, even before I was born! At its inception, BLSA had two primary purposes, to defend apartheid and sanctions-bursting. The two…

May

2021

By The African Mirror

Now there’s a chance of justice for Thomas Sankara, it’s useful to review what got him killed

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

EARLIER this month a court in Burkina Faso’s capital indicted former President Blaise Compaoré for his role in the murder of his comrade, Thomas Sankara, on 15 October 1987. LEO ZEILIG, Senior Visiting Fellow, University of London The military court detailed Compaoré’s “complicity in the assassination”, the first time a court in the country has made such an accusation. Compaoré ruled the country until 2014, when he was forced to flee for neighbouring Cote D’Ivoire during a mass uprising. The decision to try the former leader has been called a landmark moment. Sankara’s family has pursued justice for almost 34…

May

2021

By The African Mirror

Restricting digital media is a gamble for African leaders

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

MANY leaders seem threatened by the way digital media make it possible to share information and organise. Research shows that 2020 saw 156 full or partial shutdowns of the internet or social media like Facebook, Twitter and WhatsApp. South Asia accounts for almost three-quarters of these shutdowns, with India leading the way. JEFFREY CONROY-KRUTZ, Associate Professor of Political Science, Michigan State University Africa was the next most affected region, with 20 shutdowns affecting 12 countries. Disruptions lasted from as short as a day or less, in Burundi, Egypt, and Togo, to nearly 90 days in parts of Ethiopia’s Oromia Region.…

Jun

2021

By The African Mirror

Stereotypes about young jobless South Africans are wrong: what they’re really up to

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

SOUTH Africa has one of the highest youth unemployment rates in the world. A whopping 63% of its young people between the ages of 15 and 24 years are jobless. A large proportion of these young people have never worked in the formal economy. HANNAH J. DAWSON, Senior Researcher, Southern Centre for Inequality Studies, University of the Witwatersrand The media frequently portray young people excluded from wage work as inactive, aimless and alienated from mainstream society. This image feeds into fears of crime, violence and social unrest in which people who are jobless are cast as a “ticking time bomb”…

Jun

2021

By The African Mirror

Ghana’s national security ministry ignites old fears after fracas over photos

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

CALEB Kudah, a journalist with the Accra-based Citi TV, didn’t expect that an investigation into unused cars at the Ministry of National Security would kick a hornets’ nest in the country – the role of the country’s security apparatus. AVINASH PALIWAL, Senior Lecturer, International Relations, SOAS, University of London Kudah was investigating why cars purchased with public funds for distribution to transport unions had been abandoned at the premises of national security. Ghana’s security officials were unimpressed. They arrested Kudah, manhandled and cuffed him. They then took him to the premises of Citi TV offices intent on destroying evidence. They…

May

2021

By The African Mirror

OPINION: As India battles COVID-19, I fear Africa will be the next hotspot

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

ROWLANDS KAOTCHA One of the most challenging parts of managing this pandemic as part of a global organization has been watching as waves of cases crush country after country. Now I am eying India with trepidation. India—like Malawi and much of Africa—had much lower case counts than expected in the beginning but is now suddenly in the midst of a tremendous battle. India had access to vaccines. I fear that the next hotspot will be in Africa where vaccines are short in supply. The World Health Organization and others estimate that Africa will not have enough vaccine supply to reach…

Jun

2021

By The African Mirror

The G7 must place women at the heart of build back better agenda

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

BOGOLO KENEWENDO THERE is an African saying: empower a woman and empower a community. As the G7 leaders meet in Cornwall, the acknowledgement of this simple truth has never been more vital. The UN estimates that the COVID-19 pandemic has dumped 47 million more women and girls below the poverty line. Women are particularly vulnerable to the pandemic’s impact because they tend to work and run businesses in the informal economy where there is no state-provided safety net of any sort. This disproportional impact extends to access to capital. In sub-Saharan Africa, 40% of businesses are owned by women but…

Apr

2021

By The African Mirror

Chad’s new President Deby inherits crisis

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

AARON ROSS and DAVID LEWIS GENERAL Mahamat Idriss Deby had been tipped to take over Chad's leadership from his father some day. But the elder Deby's death on the battlefield has meant that day came sooner than expected. Although the army leadership put on a show of unity when the 37-year-old was presented on national television on Tuesday as the country's new president and army commander-in-chief, holding them together will be his prime challenge, analysts say. Most of the senior officers are of the same battle-hardened generation as his father. Mahamat Idriss Deby - also known as Mahamat Kaka -…