The organisation, Made In Africa Foundation, is dedicated to bringing innovative ideas and capital to Africa, whilst also focusing on the first stage of funding for infrastructure.

With little capital available in the past, the International Finance Corporation estimates that Africa’s infrastructural deficit amounts to US$93 billion annually right through 2020. The fact that a large amount of this money was available was irrelevant, as it could not be applied until business plans and feasibility studies were sufficiently developed; a void the Made In Africa Foundation will try to fill.

Atlantic Energy has committed to underwrite US$7 million for an independent power project feasibility studies across Africa, as well as the Ugandan urban renewal master plan for Kampala’s Naguru Nakawa redevelopment, and the Foundation’s running costs for the first three years.

Founder, Ozwald Boateng said, ‘It is a well known statistic that US$400 million of funding for feasibility studies and master plans across Sub-Saharan Africa would develop over US$100 billion of infrastructure projects, which in turn would create a value of a trillion dollars across Africa.’

With this in mind, the organisation believe infrastructure is the key to transforming the economy from a developing to emerging market status and propose to provide ‘first mile’ finance to people and businesses that are involved in contributing to the development of major infrastructural projects in the region.

Dayo Okusami, General Counsel and Executive Director of Atlantic Energy, a private upstream oil and gas group that operates in Nigeria, said, ‘Atlantic Energy is pleased to be a founding donor and supporter of this exceptional charity and we look forward to fostering a continent wide push for sustainable infrastructure development.’

With the first step of infrastructural projects often being the hardest, the foundation hopes that its work will now make that step easier for Africans.

The Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC) is comprised of six countries located in Central Africa; Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Congo. These countries offer investment opportunities in strategic sectors of their economies, ranging from telecommunications to urban planning and construction.

The conference focused on presenting the positive potentials these countries offer, whilst also discussing the progress and advancements individuals governments have been able to achieve. These include promoting both economic and political development in line with the specific needs of their communities, as well as looking to bridge the current gap that exists with countries in the northern hemisphere.

Many European investors have recently turned to Africa, mainly Central Africa, to explore the possibility of investment. They have looked to support local economies whilst also benefiting from various petroleum operations. At present, Cameroon offers significant agricultural potential whilst countries such as Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and Congo offer the possibility of natural gas explorations.

With the CEMAC region currently in the process of a political and economic renewal, better governance is being implemented, and the introduction of social developments are being explored, enabling continual progress and moving away from political instability and corruption.

With more countries across the African region becoming open to the prospect of tourism (CAN 2012), guest speaker Robert Tashima of the Oxford Business Group said, ‘the potential to stimulate revenue growth is enormous, particularly in light of the rich biodiversity of the region.’

However, the conference highlighted CMO London’s belief that the most important change is the need to listen to Africa’s diverse population and for Africans themselves to be proud of their ethnic background to enable continual growth within the region.

The strides currently undertaken by governments in the region, supported and publicised by CMO London, are bound to make business opportunities a reality and enable the CEMAC area to break free and become a destination for serious investors around the globe.

CMO London annual conference 2011 has been a success for the organisers and the special guests and in particular to the CEMAC region.

According to a widely reported idea, Jacob Zuma may have acted just in time to save himself from being challenged by Malema at the ANC’s upcoming meeting and hundredth birthday at Mangaung, due to take place in January. While this is a matter of debate, as in the ANC’s hierarchical arrangement Malema would not technically have had the authority to do so, given Malema’s outspoken reputation such a performance would not have come as a surprise. As things stand, the ANC, and Zuma by his actions, have been praised for removing a bugbear to many, including the party itself. Whites were put off by Malema’s purported exploitation of racial tensions, business and markets by his calls for nationalisation, and the international community and South Africa’s allies for his lambasting of their journalists (the BBC’s Jonah Fisher) and denigrating of their allies (Botswana). With political anger rising, and tangible economic problems such as a downgrading of the country’s credit rating over fears of instability in its key industries, the presidency has acted prudently if a little late in dealing categorically with Malema’s ill-discipline.

However, Zuma may still find himself chewing bitterly on his own earlier words. In 2009, the South African president praised Malema as a potential ‘future leader’ of the ANC and the country. While it remains to be seen whether Malema can stage a comeback, there is a lot of foresight in media reports that the rise of Malema is a symptom reflecting deeper realities in South African politics. South Africa is one of the most unequal societies in the world, a statement for which countless statistics can be found on the internet and elsewhere – to cite one example, its Gini coefficient of around 65 places the country is in the top five most unequal societies in the world – sadly, along with its close neighbours Botswana (63) and Namibia (70). For all its historically real and currently apparent sympathy with the poor, the ANC has not been able to narrow this gap since coming to power. Simply put, Malema managed to tap into the frustrations of the poor and give them something to believe in. That he was undone by his own confused mix of personal wealth, corruption, and miscalculated offence does not make the problem go away.

South Africa’s current leading politicians have a history of struggle behind them, and see themselves as the guardians of the liberation struggle in the country’s young democracy. Yet, these selfsame politicians have been decried for creating a corrupt system criticised for its cronyism, in a political alliance which, combining communists, black nationalists and free market thinkers, amongst others, has tried to be all things to all people – as long as they pledged their support to the ANC – and yet has not managed to liberate the approximately 50% of the population living in poverty. That this poverty affects black South Africans to a disproportional extent, and is to a large extent still affected by the system of Apartheid, is certainly true – but as a repeated statement of fact this holds little comfort for the starving.

What is striking about this system is that it seems to have become all-consuming – the same old politicians struggle for power at the top, with alliances shifting and backs scratched one day only to be stabbed the next. Young leaders such as Malema find themselves part of this monolithic ANC system, and all too often become tainted by the kind of corruption facilitated by power. Given the on-going power and leadership struggles, distorting the channels of communication for those citizens looking to the party for leadership, those who have a message for the disaffected which strikes a chord will find themselves listened to. In the most recent incarnation, this has meant embracing a populism which is dangerous not only for its content, but for its hollowness.

For Malema is not the first to reach out to the poor of the country by preaching populism. His own mentor President Zuma, now trying to clean his hands of the whole affair, came to power in 2009 to a large extent by reaching out to the poor, and claiming that he would fight poverty and inequality. Malema took up the poisoned chalice, and took the populism to the next step by calling for nationalisation and decrying imperialism. Zuma was either subsumed into the economic realities of the country and the markets, or cynically and not without guile accepted the fruits of the votes of the poor, but left behind the populism for pragmatism. Malema ostensibly stayed on message, at the same time exposing the dualities in the ANC not only to many South Africans to whom it was obvious that the country’s leadership was made up of strange bedfellows, but arguably even to many across the world who now see that the long-ruling party and indeed the country itself is riven by disagreement.

It has been said that one of the goals of politics is to ‘give voice to the voiceless’. Leaders and ex-leaders in the country’s leadership structure have capitalised on this fact, but the voiceless are still there, passed over in silence for now while ‘business as usual’ continues. Malema’s voice may have lacked the critical wisdom needed to guide the country, but until all South Africans are able to lift themselves up and experience equality, they will be listening for signs of hope. At a time when the country feels let down by its leaders, people may just feel that they need another hero.

Now, nearly three years later, the media has focussed largely on the activities of the International Criminal Court, on the machinations the men on trial at the Hague for Murder, incitement to murder and hate broadcasting. Last month Pre-Trial Chamber II found reasonable grounds to believe that William Ruto, together with Kiprono Kosgey, are criminally responsible indirect co-perpetrators for the crimes against humanity of murder, forcible transfer of population and persecution. The prosecution has argued that Uhuru Kenyatta, son of Jomo, and once darling of the West, met with leaders of the outlawed Kikuyu-based Mungiki sect in order to organise retaliatory attacks in the Rift Valley towns of Nakuru and Naivasha, in response to the initial attacks on the Kikuyu community in the region.

In Kenya, a few academic articles look at the role of hate crimes and hate broadcasting, drawing parallels with Rwanda. The media here asks whether or not the violence was orchestrated, masterminded and funded, and by whom, and for how long. Much of this coverage misses the central point that Kenyans are concerned with. How will Kenyans process this information? Where does the responsibility lie to make sure it never happens again? Can civil society groups, elders, the media, commentators and educators supply the necessary emotional and intellectual parameters and wisdom to guide this discussion to a positive outcome?

The despot’s defeat came swiftly, following his discovery in a sewage line in his home town of Sirte, one of the last strongholds of loyalist troops in the country. There he was captured and reported to have been fatally wounded in crossfire between his supporters and  interim government National Transition Council (NTC) fighters. His body was quickly revealed by the NTC to the world’s media, lest there be any doubt that the erstwhile dictator was dead- a measure necessary given false confirmation earlier in the year of the capture of his son Saif. For the Libyan people, Gaddafi’s body was put on public display in a supermarket refrigerator in the port city of Misrata, where scores lined up to view and photograph it.

Although celebrations across the country do not show any sign of waning just yet, Gaddafi’s end is not as neat a culmination as many would like. Libya’s chief pathologist, Dr Othman al-Zintani, reported that Gaddafi died from a gunshot wound to the head; however the turn of events marking his last moments is mired in confusion; he was reportedly captured alive, but injured in both legs. Transported to hospital he dies in crossfire; but camera phone footage reveals him covered in blood and jostled by handlers, dragged to the ground by his hair.

The uncertainty of how he met his end has lead to questions of culpability and whether Gaddafi in fact died at the hands of the mob. Following calls by US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton and the UK Defence Secretary Philip Hammond, the United Nations has already said it would conduct an investigation into his killing. New York-based organisation Human Rights Watch, viewed the body, and confirmed video footage, photos and other information ‘indicate that [he] might have been executed after being detained’.

By and large, these concerns are not shared by the Libyan people.

Khalid al-Jibouni of the Tripoli Youth Union – a volunteer organisation promoting civil society – told the Guardian: ‘Now Gaddafi is dead, the pillars of the regime have all fallen. Until now, some people still thought that Gaddafi could somehow come back. Now we can really breathe freely.’

But Gaddafi’s removal is also of great significance to the international community. The leader’s ‘Islamic Legion’ committed heinous crimes in West Africa, including supporting and backing rebel leaders Foday Sankoh and Charles Taylor in Sierra Leone and Liberia respectively.  Agents murdered political opponents abroad, and he was the proponent of terrorist activities including IRA violence and the Lockerbie bombing which killed over 250 people in 1988.

The involvement and backing of NATO forces certainly abetted the revolution- and will no doubt play an invaluable role in rebuilding the country- but it did lead to inevitable questions as to their future role in the country. As we foresaw back in August,  it will be a daunting task; but should the West decide to replicate a democratic etic in Libya it could give rise to further problems. Given all political opposition was outlawed under Gaddafi’s leadership, parties have a long road ahead of them before they come to plan for a new government and constitutional assembly; but they must be allowed to take these steps themselves.

The democratic tenet on which the revolution was based and Gaddafi ousted must not be forgotten and it is important that the country feels it can now act in an autonomous manner, without interference.

Prior to Gaddafi’s capture, former UK foreign secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind told BBC Radio 4 Today programme;

‘This isn’t about the British position or the NATO position – it’s about what the Libyans themselves want and can live with.

‘It is their country and it is their future’: a precept which rings as true following Gaddafi’s removal – however it happened.

As much as the international community – and, it must be said, many Libyans too- had held out hope that Gaddafi would finally be made to answer for his atrocious crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC), pursuing the manner of his death is not what should take precedence in Libya now. Investigations into his killing will no doubt distract from the task of implementing change in a country decidedly on the cusp of securing democratic, people-led governance.

It is a particularly key moment for the NTC to look to the future. Just two days after Gaddafi’s death interim Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril confirmed that Libya’s new leaders have a ‘very limited opportunity’ to put their differences to one side, as he announced he was stepping down. Pro-Gaddafi fighters are still heavily armed and have yet to yield to the interim powers, so a resurgence of conflict is not yet out of the question.

The legality of the NTC has also been weakened by alternative explanations of Gaddafi’s killing, which differ from their official account. This undermines somewhat their democratic imperative, and combined with a protracted delay in disposing of his body has led some analysts to suggest political disorder is imminent.

Ed Husain, Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations believes that ‘the chaotic manner in which Muammar al-Qaddafi was allegedly captured, injured, and then killed is emblematic of the mismanagement and blunders of the Libyan National Transition Council. Worse, the barbaric manner in which–at least according to several photographs–the killers surrounded his blood-soaked corpse does not bode well for the emergence of a democratic culture inside Libya soon.’

The danger is, if we dwell too much on Gaddafi’s death, we malign the thousands of Libyans’ who died or are missing in pursuit of democratic freedoms.

George Grant of the British-based think-tank The Henry Jackson Society believes that reconciliation with former Gaddafi security forces and civilian personnel who were not found guilty of serious crimes ‘must be an absolute priority’.

‘Their inclusion in any post-Gaddafi settlement will be vital not just because of their expertise, but also because of the importance of incorporating potentially antagonistic constituencies into the transitional framework, thus maximising its chances for success,’ he said.

Revolutions are not new to the Arab world – even Gaddafi styled himself as ‘Guide of the Revolution’ having led the coup d’état to overthrow King Idris I in 1969. But 2011’s Arab Spring has brought a new, stronger component; the voices of the people. Having shaken the shackles of an obdurate rule, Libyan’s are now in a position to decide for themselves what kind of political future they want and the country’s official liberation, announced on October 23, will no doubt draw a timeframe for elections to be held. Although it is not yet clear who or what will take the place of Gaddafi or the monarchy he overthrew, the forces of the revolution will surely propel Libya toward a healthier future. Rich oil reserves and the propensity for a lucrative tourist industry could provide a bounty of opportunity for a country of just 6 million people.

In the global rankings Morocco triumphed for most improved economy. According to Nadine Ghannam of the IFC, Morocco achieved top ranking by ‘simplifying the construction permitting process, easing the administrative burden of tax compliance, and providing greater protections to minority shareholders.’ She also confirmed that since 2005, Morocco had implemented 15 business regulatory reforms, suggesting that the policy changes and business regulation in the country are being well adhered to.

In Sub-Saharan Africa, a record 36 out of 46 economies improved business regulations this year. Despite not recording particularly high rankings, Sierra Leone and São Tomé and Príncipe emerged as much improved regions, an indication that many African regions are consolidating efforts towards improving their global business standing.

Mauritius is the top nation in Sub-Saharan Africa in terms of ‘ease of doing business’, scoring an overall worldwide ranking of 23. South Africa, given the global commodities boom, was an unsurprising second place. Rwanda scooped (perhaps unexpectedly) the third spot; it is a solid indication that the country’s domestic tourist industry is thriving, a particularly impressive feat when considered alongside a mediocre regional score of 31 for ‘trading across borders’. This is a particularly significant coup given the negative economic impact the 1994 genocide had on the country; and confirms that economic progress is not only a possibility in Africa, but is happening.

“As a poet, an artist, I share myself, I tell my truth, I reconcile my demons: as artists we are mirrors of society , we generate the questions that need to be asked, if I am ready to ask the question, society is asking it too.” Betty Muragori is a vibrant articulate performance poet, writer, consultant and coach, and part of the new middle classes, that contentious beast in Africa. She continues: “I think we have to acknowledge that here in Kenya the new leaders didn’t really overturn the colonial model. They stepped into the trappings of privilege, and carried on. We live in comfortable suburbs. Yet we have terrible slums on our doorstep. It’s about comfort and exclusion, did we really dismantle it? it’s like you’ve been smelling the cooking, you’ve been standing at the kitchen door, and now that door is open. You can come in, and you think, this is what I desire, so I straighten my hair, I change myself, I call myself ‘wrong’ so I can now step into this world I’ve spent my life looking at.”

Any discussion around class, aspirations, improvement and consumption here in East Africa generates a huge vibrant discussion. Disentangling whether or not increased incomes and appetites equals a treacherous slide towards adopting Western (or Colonial) attitudes is inevitable. As Dr Rosemary Okoth remarks “Defining the middle class is intensely problematic, arguably our upper class are our political leaders who have money, and power, to which the middle classes aspire. This is a fluid term, when they are out of power they’ll be back in the matatu (minibus, public transport) and borrowing money again. Is that who we aspire to be?” The lack of role models for the new middle class and the lack of parameters for the discussion is evident: is it about leadership, obligations, or tribe? Says Okoth “What is so interesting about Tanzania is that it is irrelevant where Nyerere came from. That is an amazing achievement, that the term ‘tribe’ is inconsequential in creating a true nation”.

Young Tanzanians however, are far removed from the socialism and ubuntu of ‘Baba Wa Taifa’ (Father of the Nation) President Julius Nyerere. They are immersed in Blackberry phones, Bling, Barbie Girl on the Radio, SMS connectivity. Twenty years ago, this sort of Tanzanian didn’t exist. Julius Nyerere actively discouraged middle class consumption, business or entrepreneurism: in the socialist model, we were all equal.

Is this rapid thrust towards acquisition healthy? What is being sidelined in the process? Certainly academics, teachers and artists, those who are responsible for creating the next generation of the middle class, do not have salaries commensurate with their achievements. In this new climate businessmen are rewarded, not poets. Geoffrey Macharia, a Kenyan IT specialist says “I grew up with Ngugi wa Thiong’o, with Chinua Achebe, this forms my identity, my roots. All this investment creates a class of people who have disposable income, but still, the arts must remain free, and not objective driven, or determined by the availability of resources. Cultural identity comes from the ‘software’ the arts of society.”

Out on the streets, surveying any major capital- Mombasa, Kampala, Arusha, Nairobi or Dar Es Salaam the profligacy of malls, luxury serviced apartments, office blocks and hotels springing up is striking and alarming- who is building this stuff? Who is it for? There appears to be a projected fantasy lifestyle that we will be living in an endless American-type consumption fetish loop. What lies beneath the exuberant boasts that “we’ve never had it so good here in East Africa” is a slow and stealthy obliteration of public space, of cultural and other discussion of what society is, and what we’re doing. In the furious rush to build and pillage, the importance, and funding of the arts seems to have got trampled.

Faisal Kiwewa, Director of the thriving Ugandan Arts organization Bayimba Cultural Foundation notes, “Whereas we receive considerable support from mainly foreign public sector funders, we are challenged in convincing the private sector to get on board. They perceive arts festivals do not directly serve rampant consumerism, nor do they offer direct private benefits. The private sector fails to see – or attach value to – the relevance and economic spin-off of investing in a large arts and /cultural festivals. Even though this very same private sector is to a large extend relying and /depending on goods produced by this very sector”. In effect African culture is largely validated – and funded- by non-Africans.

He goes on, “Our governments are pushed by the same consumerism and only seem to want to invest in the hardware, buildings, roads etc. and not in the software of society, in – arts / culture, in education. There is huge building activity on going in Kampala, often at the expense of the software, the non-commercial side of society, and with hardly any public space left”. Right now, there is a huge public debate in Uganda regarding the demolition of the only National Museum for a commercial 60, yes sixty, floor building called the East African Trade Centre.

There is certainly a huge need for more dialogue between those who work in the arts, and those who work in business. The sponsorship of the arts by large corporates that is so prevalent in South Africa is new here in East Africa. Kenya’s Safaricom (part of the global Vodacom group, which overall does have a progressive approach to the arts) does support regular excellent classical concerts and other cultural projects. But for larger arts events, like the Sauti Za Busara Festival in Zanzibar, funding questions are ongoing. The festival is a cultural counterpoint to the flashy hotels springing up. Director Yusuf Mahmoud says: “Sauti Za Busara festival brings a significant boost for the local economy. All the hotels around Stone Town are fully booked around festival time, it’s difficult to get local flights and ferry tickets; taxi drivers are busy, shops are full and local traders are all smiling. The number of visitors to Zanzibar in February has increased by more than 400% since the festival started. People of different races, religions, political parties and beliefs mingle with each other. Yet at the same time we really struggle to persuade corporate Tanzania their involvement in sponsoring is crucial to ensure the festival is even able to continue”.

Arthur Ashton, a Tanzanian who is in import and export (he brings in large volumes of white goods) says “We in East Africa are expanding at an incredible rate on all fronts. Land ownership, mining trading, transport with the pan-African highway, ships and containers coming into the large ports ( a new one is being built to service East Africa, in Tanga right now), mining, you name it, there isn’t a single sector that isn’t expanding, and with it the emerging middle class and their voracious appetite for consumer ‘stuff’ is growing, plasma TV screens, all this building.” Democracy appears to equal the ability to purchase, to own. Equality is now a new Mercedes Benz.

Koshi Sampi and his brother Ravi, from Nairobi and in their early thirties, still see great opportunities in Tanzania. “Arusha is only three hours away on the Pan East African Highway, but it’s behind Nairobi in some ways, in terms of manufacturing and investment, and the drop in commodities like tea, coffee and mineral resources on the world market has affected us. But all the same, compared to Kenya, there’s so much potential for developing manufacturing here. Textiles, tyres, pharmaceuticals. All the things we’ve got already in Nairobi”. They are sceptical about the new middle class: “They’re ostentatious, building big marble houses and showing off their wealth, the new middle class, but they’re hoarding, and they’re not generous; we need to get to a point where the wealth is spread out a bit- into restaurants, jazz clubs, theatre, culture, like London and Nairobi, we’re still a long way off that.”

For the larger businessmen, their concerns are economic, not artistic. Says Koshi, “Actually whilst the fact that international firms and banks are moving into East African like never before, we need to stem the flood of cheap imports, by imposing higher import duties, like India has, otherwise we’ll get swamped with cheap tat, and lose sight of quality.” But the cheap tat has a market: for the first time a whole range of ‘stuff’ (the market is brimming with cheap kitchen goods, radios, unbelievable numbers of hardware shops, and cheap imported clothes) is available to the poorer sections of the country.

Tanzania, like Uganda and Kenya supports over 70% of its working population in the informal sector. Unemployment figures are notoriously unreliable here, but it stands, conservatively at 50% in all these countries . The description informal economy means a number of things, people selling combs, cheap padlocks, Chinese radios, carrying everything on their backs… or the women in the market, all selling the vegetables they bought at the auction that morning.

Amena Hamani, 34, is one of these women: she works up to 60 hours a week selling second hand clothes. Like the ‘mamatilies’ (women who prepare and cook food by the side of the road and sell it for a tiny profit)- it is the only work that fits in round the demands of childcare and motherhood. She earns up to $80 (£55) a month, on a good month and arts are the last thing on her mind. Of her budget, 15,000 TZ shillings (about six pounds) a week is is spent on basics- maize, spinach and beans . Tea, sugar, rice and meat are luxuries that she buys once a week. And take the budget soaring up another 12,000 TZ shillings. (four pounds fifty). At eighty pence a kilo, sugar is now beyond her means. As is milk, at fifty pence a litre. She supports five people- three of her own kids, two of her brothers. Her rent is 20,000TZ a month (eight pounds) for two basic mud rooms (about 3 metres by 1.5metres each) and no electricity or running water. She has to buy water at fifty pence for ten litres, and the prices rise when there’s no electricity for the water pumps to fill the wells.

“Life is very very hard, it’s impossible if we need to buy medicine, clothes, shoes or pay school fees. Most of us in our neighbourhood run up bills and debts at the local shop; if we earn it goes to pay this off, and there’s nothing left. We live in debt.”

Arthur Ashton is philosophical: “ The problem is greed: this new middle class are greedy, and all this consumption puts a massive strain on resources, all of them- environments, land, electricity- we haven’t got a reliable electricity supply , yet our presidents- in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, own Lear jets that cost 50 million dollars apiece- if the leaders are corrupt and greedy, what kind of examples are they setting?”

Okoth is equally sanguine: “if a country is in crisis the government silences the artists, or disrespects them. They judge them for not having a big car, or much money, and then call them idiots, but actually they’re scared of them, artists are the soul of a country, the ones who make change.”

Publicly the president and his rival have rejected what President Atta Mills called the politics of insult. Mud-slinging has been a feature of Ghanaian politics and often seems to overshadow real debate about issues. One aspect of this style of politics is the very prominent antagonism between the two ex-presidents still influential nationally and in their own parties – Jerry Rawlings in the NDC and John Kufuor in the NPP. They have been fiercely critical of one another and Rawlings has been outspoken in his attacks on the NPP; though at times the former military ruler seems equally critical of Atta Mills and the NDC leadership – not least in the wake of the overwhelming defeat suffered by Rawlings’s wife, Nana Konadu Ageyman, in the party vote for the presidential candidacy. Atta Mills was the overwhelming victor with Nana Konadu getting barely three per cent of the votes. There were rumours he might even leave the NDC and join the NPP, of which he has been so critical. These rumours have so far come to nought. But is the NDC united as it heads towards the polls?

The city is Gadaffi’s home town and had been the last stronghold of pro-Gaddafi supporters in the country, following the ruler’s ousting in August this year.  His death signals an end to the conflict.

Gaddafi is reported to have sustained injuries to both legs.

News agencies were initially tentative in breaking the news of his death. This is unsurprising given the number of  false reports concerning the capture of Gaddafi’s son Saif in August. Despite a National Transitional Council (NTC) official confirming his arrest, he was subsequently seen walking around Tripoli unchecked.  More on this developing story later.

Amongst eleven acknowledged contenders, Sirleaf, leader of the Unity Party, takes on Winston Tubman. Tubman, a former diplomat, Harvard trained lawyer is her strongest challenger to power in the country’s elections, which took place on October 11.

Tubman, leader of Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) party, is a staunch detractor of the incumbent President for her overseas interests and self-promotion, as he sees it, above that of the country’s people; he has strongly condemned the decision to award Sirleaf Noel laureate status.

It now appears the outcome of the hotly contested electoral race will be decided in a runoff vote. With 96 per cent of ballots counted, Sirleaf has emerged with a majority of 44per cent; but still falls short of the advance needed to win outright. Tubman obtained 32.2% of all votes cast. The nine opposition parties called for a recount and for the National Electoral Commission to make public the details of the total number of votes in each county and district. Tubman is reported to have commented, following the preliminary results, that he would be prepared to participate in the expected runoff election between the two front runners.

Sirleaf campaigned on the advances made under her leadership, citing the Liberian English catchphrase ‘da my area’ to stress her expertise in rebuilding the country. Sirleaf championed her administration’s work in easing the country’s debt, stamping out corruption, rebuilding the Armed Forces, and securing infrastructure.

Tubman conceded that he would chase many of the same policies as Sirleaf, but argued that his credentials made him a better choice to lead the nation. He also criticised Sirleaf for her involvement in the country’s civil conflict.

The second-round election is scheduled for November 8.

Despite a positive initial outlook, violence has prevailed upon the elections with Sirleaf’s Unity Party headquarters in Monrovia, set ablaze at about 1am October 15. Despite Sirleaf calling for calm, the offices of Love TV/FM station were subsequently set alight in an imitation arson attack. According to the Unity Party, this most recent incident exceeds six cases of politically motivated assaults on the party, some of its officials and supporters.

Some 8,000 UN peacekeepers had been deployed across the country to prevent any hostility during voting.