THOUGHT LEADERSHIP - The African Mirror

Apr

18

2026

Congo‑Brazzaville election: boycotts, blackouts and growing dissent but Denis Sassou Nguesso held on to power

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

THE 2026 presidential election in Congo-Brazzaville (the Republic of the Congo) returned Denis Sassou Nguesso for a fifth consecutive term, with a definitive 94.90% of the vote. We asked Ngodi Etanislas, a political scientist who focuses on the central African country, to sum up what happened and why it matters, now that the dust has settled. What political factors shaped the result? Denis Sassou Nguesso’s huge victory is not the result of an open electoral race. It is, rather, the culmination of a political system built on decades of power consolidation since the end of the 1997 civil war. It…

Apr

17

2026

By BRENDON J. CANNON

China’s military support for Somalia is on the rise – what Taiwan and Somaliland have to do with it

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

CHINA recently pledged to expand military support to Somalia in its fight against al-Shabaab militants. Beijing has promised equipment, training, and closer security cooperation with Mogadishu. This marks a shift from China’s traditionally cautious and small presence in the country. Brendon J. Cannon has researched how external powers – including China – engage with sub-Saharan Africa. He explains how these dynamics are converging in Somalia. What form does China’s support in Somalia take? China’s interests in Somalia take two paths. The first is broadly geopolitical. It relates to China’s long-standing interests in the Horn of Africa as a strategic crossroads.…

Apr

15

2026

By SADOU ABDOULAYE YATTARA

Tribute to Hamèye Cissé: a conscience, a friend

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

TODAY, my pen hesitates. Not from weakness, but in the face of the inconceivable: the eternal journey of my brother and friend. He, the unshakeable pillar of the Malian press, the companion of so many struggles, the man whose character could disarm resentment with a smile. He was not merely a respected colleague. He was living proof that friendship is not an empty word, but attentive listening without hidden motives, an outstretched hand, a door always open. MHC, AN EMINENT PROFESSIONAL Of him, one can truly say that certain lives become inseparable from the struggles of their time. Yes, the…

Apr

13

2026

By ADELAIDE SOSSEH

Farewell, My dear brother Haméye Cisse

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

YOU will not read this letter as you are no longer on this earth but I write it as my last communication to you as this Friday, April 10th, 2026, we did not exchange our usual Friday greetings. Your unexpected demise on Thursday, April 9th, 2026, permanently cut off all communications and ended a beautiful relationship that spanned seventeen years. Our paths met when my daughter Ndey Tapha Sosseh came to Mali on self imposed exile and to work for the West African Journalists Association (WAJA) in 2009. You took her under your wing and made her transition into her…

Apr

13

2026

By KRISTOF TITECA

Bobi Wine’s decision to flee Uganda points to a shrinking landscape for opposition politics

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

BOBI Wine’s escape from Uganda is not just a striking episode in itself; it also offers insight into the current state of the opposition – particularly his National Unity Platform party – and into the divergences within the Yoweri Museveni regime. The Ugandan opposition leader had been in hiding for almost two months after the January 2026 presidential election, which Museveni won by 72%. Wine came second with 25% of the vote. Museveni, 81, has been in power since 1986. Wine, born Robert Kyagulanyi, entered formal politics in 2017 when he won a parliamentary by-election. He soon emerged as one…

Apr

10

2026

By JOVIAL RANTAO

The Lion of Bamako: Tribute to Hameye Mahaman Cissé – Editor, activist, continental conscience

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

THERE are journalists who cover history. And then there are journalists who become it. Hameye Mahaman Cissé - Mahamane Hamèye Cissé in his native Mali - belongs, without contest, to that rarer and more precious second category. A founding force of the independent press in West Africa, a warrior for media freedom across the continent, a training mentor who shaped dozens of the region's finest reporters, and a selfless soul who gave more to African journalism than African journalism will ever be able to fully repay: Hameye was, in the fullest sense of that worn phrase, a hero. To those…

Apr

10

2026

By JOVIAL RANTAO

The weight she carries: Tolashe, the presidency and the price of loyalty

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

IN South African politics, survival is rarely about innocence. It is about weight. Political weight - the kind that bends institutional levers, softens presidential spines, and protects the powerful from the consequences ordinary citizens face every day. By that brutal measure, Social Development Minister Nokuzola Sisisi Tolashe has, until now, been very heavy indeed. She is President of the ANC Women's League, a formation that carries both historic prestige and contemporary factional muscle. She is a Cabinet minister in a Government of National Unity that Cyril Ramaphosa assembled with painstaking care. She is, in the language of movement politics, connected.…

Apr

08

2026

By VUSI MAVIMBELA

Solomon Mahlangu: Apartheid’s gallows could not silence the voice of June 1976

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

THE man who collected me from the offices of the Mozambican intelligence service asked me to get into a 4x4 Landrover, and he drove to a house where we collected three other men. From the way the four of us greeted one another, we were obviously all South Africans. It was also evident that we had all left the country in the past few weeks or months. We all carried small bags stuffed with limited clothing. At that point, nobody volunteered a name. Our driver made sure that he had enough fuel by filling two spare plastic containers, and we…

Apr

07

2026

By MATHATHA TSEDU

Tribute to Sammy Tloubatla (74), Azapo’s founding secretary general Sammy Tloubatla, who turned his wedding into an anti-apartheid protest

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

BLACK weddings in South Africa are an interesting phenomenon. You will normally have what is called a white wedding, suits for men, and the white dress for women. Then there will be what is called a traditional wedding, either before the white or after, the sequence doesn’t seem to matter. In the traditional wedding both the men and women wear what is regarded as traditional clothing in that area or that clan or community. But even in the white wedding, after the priest, vows and pictures are done, there is a change of clothing to more relaxed attire, mostly traditional…

Apr

07

2026

By DAVID B. MOORE

Zimbabwe’s push to extend the president’s rule could deepen elite divisions and weaken democracy

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

ZIMBABWE’S ruling party, Zanu-PF, wants to amend the constitution through a bill in parliament. It won’t be that simple, however. Under the constitution, voters must approve such changes through a referendum. The new bill’s most significant proposals include extending presidential and parliamentary terms by two years. This would allow Zimbabwe’s 83-year-old president, Emmerson Mnangagwa, to remain in power until 2030, ending the hopes of vice-president Constantino Chiwenga reaching the presidency in 2028. Chiwenga, as the head of the armed forces, was the main organiser of the 2017 coup that brought the exiled Mnangagwa to power. The proposals could also pave…