Hopes are running high for Liberia’s second presidential elections since the end of its brutal civil war. The first round of polling appears to be credible. And with former warlord and current senator Prince Johnson’s endorsement, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Africa’s first female head of state, is likely to win the run-off in November in [...]
Presidential elections are due in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) on 28 November, but fears are mounting that polls will not take place as planned. Last month the central African country witnessed bloody political protests and arson attacks in capital city Kinshasa, signifying a risk that the elections could propel the country into a [...]
Incumbent President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Africa’s first female elected head of state, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize this month for helping end Liberian conflict. But will she bear out this achievement by winning a second term in office? Amongst eleven acknowledged contenders, Sirleaf, leader of the Unity Party, takes on Winston Tubman. Tubman, a former [...]
Findings from a recent research study conducted in Uganda suggest that voters are willing to elect a councillor with positive HIV status as long as they exhibit good leadership qualities. Uganda is one of eight countries where Idasa-GAP, with local partners, has been collating information on the regional impact of HIV and AIDS. Research has [...]
A report by the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) has suggested that the Democratic Republic of Congo might be on the verge of collapse, as widespread disaffection for President Joseph Kabila grows. Endemic corruption and the failure to bring broad and sustained economic growth have led to the grave possibility, the report predicts, of violence [...]
The post-election violence that erupted in some parts of northern Nigeria, even as the nation awaited the official announcement of the winner of the Presidential election, was as vicious as it was spontaneous. The supporters of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), having realised that President Goodluck Jonathan was cruising to victory, unleashed violence on [...]
Whilst people in North Africa struggle to achieve basic democratic rights, parts of civil society south of the Sahara aim to expand their democratic franchise. A relatively new policy think tank, the Sierra Leone Policy Watch (SLPW), has compiled a draft bill that gives voting rights to Sierra Leoneans in the Diaspora. The bill, entitled [...]
President Jacob Zuma may be a charmer, but he says some strange things. Most recently he said to a crowd in Mthatha that if they voted for the ANC they would go to heaven, but that a vote for the other parties was akin to voting for cannibals. Even though the comments have been claimed [...]
