Vol 38 No 24 | KENYA The voting business 5th December 1997 KANU is set to win this month's elections but at a high cost to the economy Opposition hopes for the 29 December election rest on their ability to force President Daniel arap Moi to a second round of voting for the Presidency. To do...
Vol 38 No 23 | UGANDA The border war 21st November 1997 The rebellion in the north damages President Museveni's reputation and his budget In Africa, President Yoweri Museveni's stock runs high, some argue it's second only to Nelson Mandela's. Triumphantly and genuinely elected last year, Museveni's reputation is based on his...
Vol 38 No 21 | KENYA A sudden conversion 24th October 1997 Almost overnight, KANU’s top brass have discovered the value of political reform Using whips and clubs and firing teargas canisters, police broke up another demonstration demanding constitutional reform, this time at Nyahururu on 19 October. It was the latest in...
Vol 38 No 21 | ETHIOPIA Oromo talks 24th October 1997 Talk of improved relations between the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front and the main Oromo opposition party, the Oromo Liberation Front, looks overblown. On 8 October, the...
Vol 38 No 21 | SUDAN Not at ease 24th October 1997 The government's reshuffle of top army posts is widely considered a bid to be seen to be doing something amid rising protest against the pressganging of teenagers for...
Vol 38 No 19 | RWANDA Legacy of war 26th September 1997 Kigali's intervention in Zaïre helped to oust Mobutu but produced no victories at home The transformation of old Zaïre in to the new Democratic Republic of Congo has also transformed the politics of the region around Lake Kivu. Yet insecurity remains endemic...
Vol 38 No 19 | SUDANUNITED KINGDOM Torture charge 26th September 1997 In what is believed to be the first such case ever, a Sudanese doctor has been charged in Scotland with committing torture in the Sudan. On 5 September,...
Vol 38 No 18 | KENYA A sweet tooth 12th September 1997 The government is now beginning to feel the pain of indulging its sweet tooth There is no likelihood in the near future that the International Monetary Fund will resume lending from its US$220 million balance of payments support. The Kenya government has...
Vol 38 No 18 | SOMALIA Looking for leaders 12th September 1997 As factions grow weaker, foreign intervention is in danger of making them stronger again On the face of it, the plan for 25 Somali factions to meet in the north-eastern port of Bossasso in November sounds like a step forward for the...
Vol 38 No 17 | COMOROS Microsplinters 29th August 1997 Two small islands declare independence while demanding recolonisation by France The Federal Islamic Republic of the Comoros has again sprung a surprise on the world, with two of its three islands calling (separately) both for independence and for...