Vol 43 No 10 | GUINEA Unstable 17th May 2002 Explosions in Conakry's main army camp on 5 May were not because of a coup but they show how the army's dominant role is becoming a liability.
Vol 43 No 10 | SIERRA LEONE Polling in peace 17th May 2002 The 14 May presidential and parliamentary elections were lauded as the most peaceful in four decades but political problems loom.
Vol 43 No 9 | NIGERIA The Generals' election 3rd May 2002 The military has helped tear the country apart but civilians still defer to the soldiers and politicians It is a measure of Nigeria's political class that in next year's presidential election, the two most likely candidates - Olusegun Obasanjo and Muhammadu Buhari - are retired...
Vol 43 No 9 | NIGERIA Khaki blues, business suits 3rd May 2002 Civilian rule, even by a retired general, does not suit the army The army is back at the centre of politics, three years after it handed over to an elected government whose head, President Olusegun Obasanjo, is himself a recycled...
Vol 43 No 9 | LIBERIA Rebels without a plan 3rd May 2002 Guinean-backed rebels threaten Taylor and the UN is set to renew sanctions against him A queue of enemies is closing in on President Charles Taylor, who is trying to see them off with fire-power and politics. As the veteran opposition leader Ellen...
Vol 43 No 9 | LIBERIA UN gumshoes in Taylorland 3rd May 2002 President Charles Taylor, expecting United Nations sanctions against Liberia to be extended, despatched his skillful Foreign Minister, Monie Captan, to New York in late April to lobby the...
Vol 43 No 9 | SENEGAL Wade's wide world 3rd May 2002 Strong at international conferences, the President faces criticism at home High on the world stage, President Abdoulaye Wade hosted on 14-15 April an ambitious investors' conference for the New Partnership for African Development (NePAD), while trying to help...
Vol 43 No 9 | MALI Recycled general 3rd May 2002 Former military leader Amadou Toumani Touré (ATT) was running narrowly ahead on 1 May with some 27 per cent of the vote in Mali's 28 April presidential elections....
Vol 43 No 8 | GHANA Murder in Yendi 19th April 2002 The beheading of a traditional ruler has a sour political background The Ya-Na, overlord of the northern people of Dagbon, is said to have been abducted from his palace by men in military fatigues on 26 March and murdered...
Vol 43 No 7 | SIERRA LEONE Heading for the door 5th April 2002 Problems with the election timetable and organisation undermine the huge peacekeeping mission President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah seems sure to win Sierra Leone's presidential election on 14 May. He has support from Sierra Leoneans relieved that peace has come at last...