Vol 51 No 17 | KENYA Turning a corner 27th August 2010 Kenya is euphoric again. After barely averting civil war following the 2007 elections, the approval of a new constitution by referendum marks a dramatic turn in the country’s...
Vol 51 No 16 | KENYA This time a peaceful vote 6th August 2010 After a decisive referendum, Kenyans have a constitution that will shake up both the political system and the party fiefdoms Kenyans voted overwhelmingly for the new constitution at the 4 August referendum. The process was orderly and voters turned out in impressive numbers to voice strong support for...
Vol 51 No 16 | KENYA Rumbles in the Rift 6th August 2010 Such was the tension in the Rift Valley as the referendum neared that a drunken brawl in a shebeen in Nandi District between a Nandi man and his...
Vol 51 No 16 | SOMALIA The Afghan effect 6th August 2010 African leaders ask why the West prefers to help the Kabul regime but not the even shakier one in Mogadishu Behind the general condemnation of the 11 July bombings in Kampala, for which Harakat al Shabaab al Mujahideen (Mujahideen Youth Movement) claimed responsibility, Western governments are wary of...
Vol 51 No 16 | SOMALIA Mogadishu's ministry of truth 6th August 2010 Somalia's new Information Minister, Abdirahman Omar Osman, wants African Union troops to defend more aggressively the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) and its 'moderate' Islamist vision. The AU should...
Vol 51 No 16 | ETHIOPIA Opposition nuptials 6th August 2010 Activists in the opposition coalition Medrek met on 31 July to form a single party after their disastrous performance in the May elections (AC Vol 51 No 11)....
Vol 51 No 16 | SUDAN Under no circumstances 6th August 2010 When Awad Ahmed el Jaz told a National Congress Party youth meeting on 1 August that the separation of the South 'cannot be allowed under any circumstances', it...
Vol 51 No 15 | KENYA More gluttony 23rd July 2010 An attempt by MPs to vote themselves a fat pay rise comes unstuck – the Treasury is running out of money Last month’s vote by Kenyan members of parliament to augment their already handsome salaries is hitting political and financial roadblocks. Treasury officials say it is not affordable and...
Vol 51 No 15 | SOMALIAUGANDA Fighting on a new front 23rd July 2010 The United States’ containment policy has failed and, with its regional ambitions strengthened, Al Shabaab is back on the front foot President Yoweri Museveni welcomes African Union leaders to Kampala on 25 July playing a role he has made his own: military leader and regional policeman. Ugandan opposition politicians...
Vol 51 No 15 | SOMALIAUGANDA Secretive Shabaab 23rd July 2010 Al Shabaab’s political tactics and internal dynamics are deliberately, systematically opaque, on the classic Islamist model. It is both nationalist and avowedly part of the global jihad. Shabaab’s...