THOUGHT LEADERSHIP - The African Mirror

Dec

31

2020

From Belarus to Bangkok, women took to streets demanding change in 2020

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

BEH LIH YI FROM Belarus to Nigeria to Thailand, women played a prominent role in protest movements this year, driven by increasing frustration over the slow pace of political change and inequalities deepened by COVID-19. Whether seeking an end to authoritarian rule or speaking up about police brutality and abortion restrictions, women took to the streets during headline-grabbing demonstrations that sometimes turned violent. "Women always react when things appear to be going out of control, so they are taking to the streets," said Aysha Renna, 23, a student who organised protests in India against a citizenship law seen by many…

Dec

29

2020

By The African Mirror

Why terrorism continues in Nigeria and how to turn the tide

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

FOR ten years, the Nigerian authorities have engaged the terror group Boko Haram in the northeast without making much headway. After what appeared to be some success in 2015 and 2016, there was a resurgence of Boko Haram violence in 2017. SHERIFF FOLARIN, Professor of International Relations, Covenant University This worsened with the emergence of Islamic State in West Africa and, in more recent times, banditry and kidnap gangs all over the northern Nigeria region. Having studied this crisis over the years as a political scientist, my view is that it is rooted in ethnic, religious and partisan politics and…

Dec

27

2020

By The African Mirror

Bobi Wine has already changed the Ugandan opposition. Can he change the government?

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

JUST three weeks into his official campaign for the Ugandan presidency, Ugandan musician and parliamentarian Robert Kyagulanyi (better known by his stage name Bobi Wine) has already been arrested twice. The first came just minutes after his formal nomination in the capital Kampala. Footage streamed by his party showed police smashing the windows of the stationary vehicle Wine and his associates were occupying. SAM WILKINS, Lecturer, RMIT University RICHARD VOKES, Associate Professor of Anthropology, University of Western Australia Wine was arrested again while campaigning in Luuka district last week. Protests in a number of Ugandan cities have since broken out…

Dec

23

2020

By The African Mirror

How member states and partners impede the African Union’s quest for financial autonomy

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

THE African Union (AU) has developed ambitious plans for the continent, ranging from security to trade. But when it comes to financing these ambitions the organisation is caught between a rock and a hard place. Since the AU does not have an independent source of income, it either has to affront members for their irregular payments or remain dependent on external partners. FRANK MATTHEIS, Researcher, Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) UELI STAEGER, PhD researcher, International Relations/Political Science, Graduate Institute – Institut de hautes études internationales et du développement (IHEID) Financing the AU goes to the heart of its pan-African agenda,…

Dec

22

2020

By The African Mirror

The sun will rise

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

MOSIBUDI MANGENA AS the festive season approaches, the mood among most of us might be as gloomy and dark as a cloudy and moonless midnight. With good reason, our spirits might be down. But we also know that clouds do dissipate and the sun does inevitably come out, lifting our spirits as it shines in the sky. Although the now paused Zondo Commission is good in revealing the state of thievery and malfeasance in the country, the downside is a knock on our confidence in those that are in positions of authority. These processions of wrong-doers squirming in the hallowed…

Dec

19

2020

By The African Mirror

Spillover from Tigray conflict adds to pressure on Sudan

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

KHALID ABDELAZIZ, ALI MIRGHANI and NAFISA ELTAHIR CLASHES along Sudan's eastern border and the influx of tens of thousands of refugees from neighbouring Ethiopia have added to the challenges faced by a country already navigating a fraught political transition and protracted economic crisis. Internal conflict in Ethiopia has driven more than 50,000 refugees into Sudan in just over a month, triggering a complex aid operation in an impoverished region of Sudan. And fears of unrest in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region spilling into Sudan were fuelled when several Sudanese soldiers were killed on Tuesday, in what Khartoum called an "ambush" by…

Dec

16

2020

By The African Mirror

Ten years on, anger grows in Tunisian town where ‘Arab Spring’ began

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

ANGUS MCDOWALL AND TAREK AMARA TEN years ago, a fruit seller set himself ablaze in the central Tunisian town of Sidi Bouzid after an altercation with a policewoman about where he had put his cart. Word of Mohammed Bouazizi's fatal act of defiance quickly spread, sparking nationwide protests that eventually toppled Tunisia's long-serving leader and helped inspire similar uprisings across the region - the so-called "Arab Spring". Huge demonstrations broke out in Egypt and Bahrain, governments fell and civil war engulfed Libya, Syria and Yemen. Tunisians are now free to choose their leaders and can publicly criticise the state. Yet…

Dec

14

2020

By The African Mirror

How Magufuli has steered Tanzania down the road of an authoritarian one-party state

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

TANZANIA'S 2020 general elections resulted in a predictably easy victory for one of Africa’s oldest ruling parties, Chama Cha Mapinduzi. NICODEMUS MINDE, PhD Fellow, United States International University The National Electoral Commission declared the incumbent, John Magufuli, the winner with 84.4% of the vote. His closest challenger, Chadema’s Tundu Lissu, garnered a paltry 13%. The ruling party also won 261 of the 264 parliamentary seats. This represents 98.86% of the total. Similar results were reported in Zanzibar, a semi-autonomous island region of Tanzania. There the presidential candidate Hussein Mwinyi was declared the winner with 76.6% of the votes. The ruling…

Sep

30

2021

By The African Mirror

Kenya’s next election is in view: the struggle between elites and rule of law is intensifying

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

A failed attempt to overhaul Kenya’s progressive constitution less than a year before elections illustrates continuing struggles between the rule of law and the crude tribal instincts of Kenya’s political elite. DR WESTEN K SHILAHO, SARChI, African Diplomacy and Foreign Policy, University of Johannesburg The bid to amend 74 clauses of the 2010 constitution was backed by President Uhuru Kenyatta and his allies. It was invalidated by Kenya’s High Court in May 2021. The decision was later affirmed by a majority of the court of appeal, declaring the Constitutional Amendment Bill 2020 unconstitutional. The courts ruled that Kenyatta could not…

Dec

13

2020

By The African Mirror

Namibia’s democracy enters new era as ruling Swapo continues to lose its lustre

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

THE results of the latest regional and local government elections in Namibia show just how much the political landscape has changed in the country since independence from South Africa in 1990. HENNING MELBER, Extraordinary Professor, Department of Political Sciences, University of Pretoria The South West Africa People’s Organisation (Swapo) – the former liberation movement that has governed the country since independence – used to win by huge margins. But, increasingly, Namibians are losing trust in its ability to run the country. They are making different political choices. For the first time, Swapo suffered numerous defeats at regional and local levels…