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Published 23rd July 2020

Vol 61 No 15

Ethiopia

Oromia cracks open again

Hachalu Hundessa
Hachalu Hundessa

The murder of a musician-turned-activist and harsh repression has reignited tensions in the Prime Minister’s restive back yard

Oromo nationalists had hoped that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's administration would address their demands after thousands of activists lost their lives in protests that paved the way for his premiership in early 2018.

A favourite for an impossible job

Amina Mohamed
Amina Mohamed

After several near misses in her search for a top international job, Amina Mohamed is a WTO front-runner. But what does she stand for?

Of all the candidates gunning for the helm of the World Trade Organisation, Amina Mohamed probably ranks as the best prepared for the contest. Along with the rival...

A dangerous wave

Temperature check, Gauteng, June 2020. Pic: GCIS
Temperature check, Gauteng, June 2020. Pic: GCIS

There are over 750,000 coronavirus cases in Africa and numbers continue to rise amid concerns that South Africa could prove a harbinger

As the World Health Organization warns of rapidly rising Covid-19 caseloads in Africa, its top official for the continent says that poor and crowded urban areas in South...

BLUE LINES
THE INSIDE VIEW

The prospects of the mass protests against grand corruption and economic mismanagement planned for 31 July triggering a popular uprising against Emmerson Mnangagwa's government are slim but not beyond the bounds of possibility. That is why on 20 July police arrested activist Jacob Ngarivhume, an organiser of the planned protest, and Hopewell Chin'ono, whose relentless investigative journalism last month exposed the involvement of state officials in siphoning off funds from over-priced medical...

The prospects of the mass protests against grand corruption and economic mismanagement planned for 31 July triggering a popular uprising against Emmerson Mnangagwa's government are slim but not beyond the bounds of possibility. That is why on 20 July police arrested activist Jacob Ngarivhume, an organiser of the planned protest, and Hopewell Chin'ono, whose relentless investigative journalism last month exposed the involvement of state officials in siphoning off funds from over-priced medical equipment procurement. Both have been charged with promoting public violence. And then on 21 July, Mnangagwa announced a night curfew and fresh restrictions on movement, citing the coronavirus. Over 105,000 people have been arrested since March for violating regulations introduced ostensibly to stop the virus.

Social media has been buzzing with reports that some military officers, incensed by government graft and deepening hardship, are ready to turn against the regime.

A badly choreographed news conference last month dismissing any such threat raised opposition hopes further. Weeks later, Army Commander General Valerio Sibanda criticised politicians for betraying the liberation struggle. Yet, top military officers have benefited far more from Mnangagwa's regime than that of his predecessor Robert Mugabe. The key question is how far down the military hierarchy the largesse reaches. And for how much longer can the regime continue to buy the loyalty of the junior ranks.

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A state of disconnect

African treasuries are putting a positive spin on their own finances, but the message from the markets is grim. Something has to give

The message from African finance ministers is that while the overall picture facing the continent is bleak in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, many economies are resilient...

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The shake-up that didn’t happen

Plummeting prices prompted a radical plan to restructure the state oil company – then the vested interests fought back

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo and several of the country’s most senior ministers recommended hard-hitting reforms to rein in the sprawling and notoriously unaccountable state oil company earlier this year...

In it together

The Sahel's armies commit atrocities, but fail in battle against the jihadists. Europe is sending more troops and training resources and investing in development

Takuba, the deployment of a multinational European and Sahelian Special Forces contingent to the Sahel, part of a broadening European engagement in the region, formally began on 15...

Clash of the leaders

Ex-President Bozizé and current President Touadéra seem set on a collision course while elections are in the balance

Allegations of fraud, bribery and mobilising for a coup d’état are flying in all directions in Bangui as the political parties and their sponsors consider elections due to...

Ugly compromises

President Farmajo is pushing through a flawed electoral system and the fallout has led to demonstrators taking to the streets of the capital

The main response of the government to the crowds that have gathered to protest the new electoral law and the postponement of elections is to fire shots over...

Ballots and bishops

There is uproar over the choice of a new electoral commission head many fear will make the 2023 elections as dubious as the last

It was just like old times. Kinshasa, Lubumbashi and other Congolese cities have just witnessed noisy demonstrations by civil society organisations, churches and oppositionists denouncing parliament's decision by...

Fight in the last chance saloon

After hearing the arguments, a London court is about to rule on whether Abuja can challenge a record-breaking US$10 billion award against it

A substantial part of Nigeria's foreign financing strategy and the fortunes of a New York hedge fund, in partnership with an obscure entity registered in the British Virgin...

Unhealthy ambition

The sudden arrest of the health minister is more about the jockeying for high office than campaigns against corruption

Once one of President Edgar Lungu's closest allies and considered by many his most likely successor – or at least his running mate in next year's general election...

Quest for a new dauphin

The death of the prime minister faces the president with difficult choices. One of his riskiest options is to try to stay on

Politics is in deep turmoil following the sudden death on 8 July of the man widely expected to have become the new president by the end of the...

Pointers

Public relations premier

The promotion of Rose Christiane Ossouka Raponda as Gabon's first woman Prime Minister is an astute piece of PR that may be welcomed in Paris and other European...

Lissu heads for home

Two and a half years after being shot 40 times by suspected government gunmen outside the National Assembly in Dodoma, opposition leader Tundu Lissu says he will return...

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