African Arguments
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Zanzibar: election re-run raises likelihood of confrontation
With the political crisis still unresolved and tensions rising, Zanzibar is at risk of returning to the instability seen in the early 2000s. After ... -
In the shadow of genocides past: can Burundi be pulled back from the brink?
Rather than the Rwandan genocide, it is the 1972 genocide of Hutu in Burundi that suggests itself as the most meaningful frame of reference ... -
Tensions in the Seychelles after neck and neck elections
In presidential elections in December, the incumbent President James Michel won by just 193 votes. Although everyday life in the Seychelles remains as peaceful ... -
Nigeria’s contentious court rulings reveal need for electoral reform
The Court of Appeal’s recent string of rulings on disputed elections have raised accusations of political interference. Nigeria’s presidential election in March 2015 was ... -
China and Zimbabwe’s all-weather friendship
Despite its significant mineral wealth and economic opportunities, Zimbabwe may be more important to China as a symbolic friend. At the end of last ... -
Coming to terms with Sudan’s legacy of slavery
Among northern Sudanese families, slavery continues to be a taboo subject, even though this history has shaped the Sudans for centuries. In the 1940s, ... -
6 things we learned from Uganda’s presidential debate
Lesson 3: Underestimate the underdogs at your peril On the night of 15 January, Uganda held its first ever televised presidential debate. The incumbent ... -
Exposing Rwanda’s war on journalism
In Bad News: Last Journalists in a Dictatorship, Anjan Sundaram shows how the Rwandan government tightly controls the national narrative through intimidation, oppression and violence. Once ... -
Nigeria: Buhari’s 2016 budget continues use of secretive ‘security votes’
Nearly $50 million has been set aside in unaccountable items notorious for being misdirected. Under President Muhammadu Buhari, the fight against corruption in Nigeria ... -
Why South Africa should undo Mandela’s economic deals
ANC leaders were not constrained in the 1990s by a desire for economic stability but entered into a pact with Afrikaner nationalists and big ...
