president - The African Mirror

Mar

2024

By PORTIA CROWE, DIADIE BA, BATE FELIX and SOFIA CHRISTENSEN

Senegal’s Faye set to become president in opposition victory

SENEGAL opposition candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye, a political newcomer popular among the country's disaffected youth, was set to be declared the next president after his main rival called him to concede defeat. Provisional results showed Faye with about 53.7% and Amadou Ba - from the current ruling coalition - with 36.2% based on tallies from 90% of polling stations in the first-round vote, the electoral commission said. Ba and President Macky Sall both congratulated Faye, who turned 44 on Monday. They hailed the outcome as a win for Senegal, whose reputation as one of West Africa's most stable democracies took…

May

2023

By The African Mirror

Paul Kagame could be president of Rwanda until 2035 – what’s behind his staying power

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

RWANDA’S ruling party, the Rwanda Patriotic Front (RPF), recently concluded its 16th congress. This also marked 35 years of its existence. The centre piece, however, was the election as chairman, yet again, of the country’s president Paul Kagame. With 99.9% of the votes – 2,099 of the available 2,102 votes – Kagame was re-elected and put on course to potentially run for yet another electoral term in 2024. Author DAVID E KIWUWA, Associate Professor of International Studies, University of Nottingham The constitution allows Kagame to seek re-election until 2035. That’s a long way off and he has not indicated when…

Dec

2022

By The African Mirror

How to impeach a president: Ramaphosa case puts new rules to the test in South Africa

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

SOUTH Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa faces possible impeachment in the country’s parliament over the illegal stashing of thousands of US dollars at his farm in 2020. This is not the first time there’s been a threat of impeachment of a president in post-democratic South Africa. His scandal-prone predecessor, Jacob Zuma, survived an impeachment vote in 2017 over the illegal use of public money to renovate his private residence. There is, however, a difference in the process being followed this time. It is the first since parliament adopted rules to guide the process for the impeachment of a president in 2018,…