THOUGHT LEADERSHIP - The African Mirror

Nov

09

2022

OPINION: Understanding Ethiopia’s Tigray war and the new peace deal

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

RICHARD ALI FOR BIRD STORY AGENCY THE Ethiopian conflict centred on the Tigray region has concerned African security watchers since November 2020, when the fighting started. Last week, the former Nigerian president, Olusegun Obasanjo, announced a cessation of hostilities in his capacity as the African Union’s High Representative for the Horn of Africa. This unexpected but welcome development likely will not have been possible without the regional knowledge of Uhuru Kenyatta, former president of Kenya, who serves as Special Peace Envoy for Ethiopia, with Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, South Africa’s former Deputy President, completing the troika. The peace deal represents a fine…

Oct

21

2022

By The African Mirror

Lesotho elections: newcomers score impressive win, but politics will still be unstable

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

THE 2022 national elections in Lesotho will go down in the country’s history as among the most eventful. A party formed only six months ahead of the legislative election, Revolution for Prosperity, emphatically ended the reign of the All Basotho Convention and the Democratic Congress, which have dominated politics in the kingdom of 2.1 million people since 2012. The rookies won 56 out of 120 parliamentary seats – five seats short of an absolute majority. But the impressive win fell short of a majority that would have ended the era of unstable coalition politics in the country. Sam Matekane, the…

Nov

07

2022

By The African Mirror

“Ukraine fatigue” features in the US mid-term elections

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

ON the eve of the US Mid-Term elections, there is more at stake in America’s foreign policy in the same vein that polarising domestic issues and stark ideological differences are at play between the Democrats and Republican parties. ABBEY MAKOE The two main parties will be contesting the control of both the House and the Senate. In essence, the winner of both practically prevails over the legislative direction and foreign policy posture of the country. That, in a nutshell, sums up the importance of why the two main US political parties have in recent days unleashed their “big-hitters” on the…

Oct

20

2022

By The African Mirror

Tigray war: two years on, the AU has failed to broker peace and silence the guns

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

THE African Union pledged in 2016 to “silence the guns” by the end of 2020, an ambitious agenda of ending armed conflicts on the continent. Just two months before that deadline, the deadliest war in years erupted in Ethiopia. On 3 November 2020, the armies of the Federal Government of Ethiopia and the State of Eritrea attacked the region of Tigray. Since then, the guns have not been silent. Instead, it is the African Union that has been silent. That war is now two years old. Crimes against humanity and war crimes have been committed during this time. Some estimates…

Nov

06

2022

By The African Mirror

COP27 must work out how to cut carbon and still develop African economies

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

AVERTING a climate disaster without compromising economic growth and development is a key issue for African countries. Energy production and use is the single biggest contributor to global warming, accounting for roughly two-thirds of human-induced greenhouse gas emissions. Yet, electricity use and access are strongly correlated with economic development. Many African countries are lagging behind in electricity generation and access. According to the Energy Progress Report, in 2020 the 20 countries with the lowest rates of access to electricity were all in sub-Saharan Africa. For example, just 7% of the population in South Sudan and 11% of the population in…

Oct

19

2022

By The African Mirror

‘Restitution’ of looted African art just continues colonial policies – much more is at stake

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

THE violence of the past is far from over. But it is disguised in many ways, made invisible and normalised. What started with the Spanish, Portuguese or the Ottoman empires continued with the British, French and Russian empires, and now the United States. Imperial political violence continues today in Palestine, Ukraine, Sudan, Yemen, and Iran, to name but a few. One of the disguises is “restitution”. Author FAZIL MORADI, Associate Professor, Faculty of Humanities, Johannesburg Institute for Advanced Study, University of Johannesburg I’m a scholar of what I understand as catastrophic art – artworks which were made in worlds that…

Nov

04

2022

By The African Mirror

Analysis: Truce in Ethiopia’s Tigray war just first step on long road to peace

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

ESTELLE SHIRBON IMPLEMENTING the ceasefire agreed by the Ethiopian government and forces from the northern region of Tigray will be fraught with difficulties, while thorny political and territorial disputes will need to be tackled to achieve lasting peace. Two years of war between Ethiopia's federal army and Tigray forces have killed thousands of people, displaced millions from their homes, brought hunger to towns and villages across the region and caused catastrophic destruction. The truce signed on Wednesday after just a week of formal peace talks in the South African capital Pretoria reflected heavy pressures on both sides. When the talks…

Oct

17

2022

By The African Mirror

The shrinking feeling

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

LAST week Friday I flew to Cape Town for a meeting. I specifically requested that I be booked on SAA for two reasons: firstly because it has always been my preferred airline when I was still a working individual and wanted to see and feel how the new one is shaping up. Secondly, because it is an airline owned by all of us as South African citizens. MOSIBUDI MANGENA The thing to notice is that whereas SAA used to be the dominant space occupier at both OR Tambo in Johannesburg and Cape Town airports, it is now puny, totally dominated…

Oct

15

2022

By The African Mirror

Nigeria ticks some boxes as a democracy. Why this hasn’t translated into a better life for most

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

SINCE gaining independence on 1 October 1960, Nigeria has struggled to maintain a democratic government. The election of 1999 offered renewed hope after a series of military coups and periods of generals in uniform running the country. More elections followed over the years. Holding elections is a commonly accepted feature of democracy, along with having an informed electorate and protecting basic human rights. Author ABIODUN FATAI, PHD, Senior Lecturer, Lagos State University My doctoral study explored Nigeria’s (and Senegal’s) progress with consolidating democracy between 1999 and 2012. As a researcher on elections and democratisation, a key question that’s emerged for…

Nov

01

2022

By The African Mirror

Kenya: police killings point to systemic rot and a failed justice system

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

BARELY a month into office, President William Ruto of Kenya ordered the disbandment of a special police unit placed at the centre of a widening investigation into a wave of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances. At least nine officers of the Special Service Unit face charges relating to the disappearance in July 2022 of two Indians and their Kenyan driver. The Indians were in Kenya at the invitation of Ruto’s presidential digital campaign outfit. Police killings of citizens are shockingly commonplace in Kenya. Those who bear the brunt are mostly poor, young and male suspects of crime or terrorism. Author…