Vol 47 No 8 | SIERRA LEONE The accused 14th April 2006 The main point of the United Nations-backed Special Court was to try 'those with the greatest responsibility' for the ten-year war that left 50,000 people dead and half...
Vol 47 No 8 | CÔTE D'IVOIRE Identity crisis 14th April 2006 Plans for new voters' cards and a new electoral register provoke yet another political deadlock A row between Prime Minister Charles Konan Banny and President Laurent Gbagbo about identity cards and the electoral roll goes to the heart of the political crisis (AC...
Vol 47 No 8 | NIGERIA Third term unlucky 14th April 2006 The mathematics - let alone the politics - are against another term for President Obasanjo It was a bizarre political week, even by Nigeria's historically high standards. President Olusegun Obasanjo's advisors openly demanded the immediate resignation of Vice-President Atiku Abubakar after he publicly...
Vol 47 No 7 | NIGERIABRITAIN The big guns salute 31st March 2006 Sharia enthusiast Governor Sani gets help from British arms firm Why would leading arms exporter BAE Systems want to introduce Zamfara State Governor Ahmed Sani, who is under investigation by Nigeria's Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for corrupt...
Vol 47 No 7 | GAMBIA The hostile host 31st March 2006 Before he hosts the AU summit, Jammeh wants to shut down the opposition and purge the army After announcing on 22 March that his doughty security agents had foiled yet another coup plot, the tenth in twelve years, President Yahya Jammeh returned to Banjul under...
Vol 47 No 7 | BENIN Twilight of the chameleon 31st March 2006 A clear and fairly clean win for Yayi Boni ends the Kérékou era Intense pressure from domestic opinion and from the European Union - which threatened cuts in aid and promised US$4 million towards the $6 mn. election budget - persuaded...
Vol 47 No 7 | SÃO TOMÉ & PRÍNCIPE Enter kingmakers 31st March 2006 The results of the 26 March elections will fuel concern among neighbouring countries. The coalition led by the Movimento Democrático das Forças da Mudança (MDFM), nominally loyal to...
Vol 47 No 6 | NIGERIA Showdown in the Delta 17th March 2006 Everyone is getting ready for more hostilities in the oil-producing regions as the 2007 elections approach The militants know that hostage-taking and cutting pipelines is the quickest way to draw international attention to the Niger Delta, as part of the cat and mouse game...
Vol 47 No 6 | NIGERIA Stealing, fighting, seeking power 17th March 2006 Some of the militant leaders linked to the attacks on oil facilities in the Niger Delta earn tens of thousands of dollars from contracts with the oil majors....
Vol 47 No 6 | GHANA Exporting the vote 17th March 2006 Overseas citizens help pay Ghana's bills and want to elect its next government Some three million Ghanaians living overseas are entitled to vote in presidential and parliamentary elections, since President John Agyekum Kufuor signed the Representation of the People Law Amendment...