Child of Mau Mau
Ethnicity did not simply disappear in Kenya’s 2022 elections. Instead, it was a crucible where both sides mobilized historical claims and ideas to win supporters, in ways that could, at times, elude the eye.
elections
Tricky coalitions
The challenge presented by Argentina: What is the best way to deal with global fiscal pressures in a local context of high expectations and public demands?
Lula can set the bar higher for a new presidency
Lula's challenge in Brazil: To be successful with proposed reforms, he’d need to take back the anti-systemic appeal stolen by the far-right.
Vivir Sabroso!
The left's win in Colombia signals that after more than six decades of war, people just want to live with dignity and in peace.
Sanctioning the regime in Senegal
After defying the state apparatus in March 2021, Senegalese voters sent a strong message of disobedience and sanction via their ballots in January 2022 and signaling their readiness for another regime change in 2024.
An election about nothing
The leading political formations in Kenya's 2022 elections are born of each other, the result of many profound compromises, and this in part explains the blankness.
The young ones
Voter apathy among young people in Kenya reveals fundamental flaws in Kenya’s democratic politics.
Not much to see here
Don’t get to excited by the local election results in South Africa. The party system is fragmenting, but old apartheid divides persist.
Organize or starve!
Instead of voting for the bankrupt ANC or DA, South Africans could do better with social movement candidates in upcoming local elections.
The EFF will not bring the change South Africans need
Approaching local elections, beyond its spectacles of defiance and never-ending episodes of controversy, what do the politics of the Economic Freedom Fighters have to offer?
The liberation stories of Guinea Bissau
Amilcar Cabral is a household name. But what happened to the young women like Joana Gomes who helped lead Guinea Bissau’s independence struggle?
Museveni and the Americans
The United States must make the choice to side with the majority of Ugandans who would like to see democracy take root in Uganda.
Stop selling out
Ugandan activist and politician Dr. Stella Nyanzi challenges a new generation of women to take up the struggle for political freedoms and revolution.
Removing a dictator
How did popular music become the battlefield of Uganda's future? And what are the consequences?
Hustler mentality
Kenya's Deputy President, William Ruto, wants to be president. He projects himself as a go-getter. But there is a more sinister story behind his hustler narrative.
Guinea’s authoritarian afterlives
The recent election has led to violence and general pandemonium. An explosion of independent journalism offers hope.
Our turn to eat
Reflections on Malawi’s recent election rerun, false starts and the hope that public representatives in Africa become accountable to their electorates’ aspirations.
How not to save the planet
In this, the first of a series of posts, we critically look at the implications of climate policy in the most powerful Western country for Africans.
Herman Mashaba wants you to forget
When considering Herman Mashaba’s new political plans, the South African public must reckon with the former mayor of Johannesburg's actual record.