Vol 55 No 25 | NIGERIA Political storm warning 19th December 2014 The opposition is looking stronger but officials are sounding alarms about serious flaws in the election organisation It has been a good month for the opposition All Progressives Congress. The APC's successful national convention in Lagos picked Muhammadu Buhari as its presidential candidate on 11... READ FOR FREE
Vol 55 No 25 | SIERRA LEONE Freetown under fire on Ebola 19th December 2014 The government’s handling of the epidemic comes in for criticism as cases rise in the Eastern Province On 12 December, President Ernest Bai Koroma issued an edict banning all Christmas celebrations, especially the street festivals and masquerades for which Freetown is famous. On 25 December,...
Vol 55 No 25 | CÔTE D'IVOIRELIBERIA Uneasy peace on the border 19th December 2014 The volatile frontier between the two countries is far from calm. A defecting guerrilla warns of possible trouble ahead United Nations' investigators have warned the UN Security Council that Ivorian and Liberian fighters opposed to Côte d'Ivoire's President Alassane Dramane Ouattara are likely to multiply in the...
Vol 55 No 25 | CÔTE D'IVOIRE Blé Goudé's bad day 19th December 2014 On 11 December, the International Criminal Court confirmed charges of murder, rape and other inhumane acts against Charles Blé Goudé, 42, a former Ivorian militia leader and Youth...
Vol 55 No 25 | GUINEA BISSAU Treading softly 19th December 2014 Prime Minister Domingos Simões Pereira's government is consolidating power and purging politicians and officials connected to the old regime. Efforts to restore the rule of law and prevent...
Vol 55 No 24 | SENEGAL Sall clears the decks 5th December 2014 Macky Sall is holding a referendum on returning the presidential term to five years. That will mean an election in 2017 President Macky Sall's re-election campaign is already commanding his agenda. He has confirmed that a referendum on reducing the presidential mandate from seven to five years will take...
Vol 55 No 24 | SENEGAL Martyr or master-crook 5th December 2014 The trial of former President Abdoulaye Wade's son Karim Meïssa Wade, which began in July, has been adjourned until 22 December after briefly resuming on 1 December. The...
Vol 55 No 24 | NIGERIA Danger looms as piracy booms 5th December 2014 Distracted by the Islamist insurgency in the north and the coming elections, the government has no effective response to the wave of oil theft and hijackings in the Gulf of Guinea Crashing world oil prices and next February's elections – in which President Goodluck Jonathan must retain his grip on his base in the oil-producing Niger Delta – could...
Vol 55 No 24 | BURKINA FASO Truth and reconciliation 5th December 2014 Early in his new job, Interim Prime Minister Yacouba Isaac Zida sprang two surprises. The first was the 26 November announcement that the enquiry would be reopened into...
Vol 55 No 23 | NIGERIA After the bombing, Jonathan declares 21st November 2014 Despite security and economic crises, Jonathan wins his party’s support for a second term while the opposition faces a leadership contest The candidate's declaration speech is, by tradition, a key moment in the theatre of Nigerian politics. President Goodluck Jonathan's rally in Abuja on 11 November to announce that... READ FOR FREE