ZIMBABWE The Spill Blood succession 12th May 2006 After Mugabe, the country may be run by a female president and a retired soldiers' club With the nom de guerre Teurai Ropa ('Spill Blood'), Vice-President Comrade Joyce Mujuru Chimurenga (née Runaida Mugari) has been consecrated as front-line successor to President Robert Gabriel Mugabe, blessed by himself, senior military officers and her husband, former army commander Solomon Mujuru. As Mugabe's girlfriend during the liberation war, Mujuru evidently still holds a place in his heart. A year after her appointment, she is more comfortable in the vice-presidential office and gives orders more stridently. She says things will change when she is in power, promising economic reforms, more private enterprise and competition. She and her husband own vast tracts of land and have big investments in mining.
ZIMBABWE Brass at the top 12th May 2006 Image courtesy of Panos Pictures View site Soldiers and ex-soldiers hold top jobs in agriculture, industry, government and the diplomatic corps. Now they are trying to run the economy, with orders to turn Zimbabwe's fortunes...
SUDAN It's the government, stupid 12th May 2006 Image courtesy of Panos Pictures View site If it doesn't trigger the dispatch of a protection force, the Darfur accord will have failed In the Abuja deal, the victims barely figure. The document is long and detailed but offers little substantial or enforceable political or economic change. The Khartoum regime is...
SOUTH AFRICACHINA Who makes the shirts? 12th May 2006 China's booming exports cause political problems for Mbeki's ruling alliance President Hu Jintao missed out South Africa on his tour of Africa and the Gulf last month, when he visited Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Nigeria and Kenya. That wasn't...
KENYA The new two 12th May 2006 Top ministers fall from grace and the new ones may lack the weight to stop the rot Two new ministers are the main beneficiaries of the government corruption saga (AC Vol 47 Nos 6 & 8). Amos Kimunya was promoted from Lands to Finance, Martha...
SOUTH AFRICA JZ is innocent, so far 12th May 2006 After his acquittal on rape charges, Zuma is back in the running Jacob Zuma began his political fight-back as soon as he left the Johannesburg High Court on 8 May, after his acquittal on charges of rape (AC Vol 47...
GUINEA Who's in charge here? 12th May 2006 A sick president, a one-day government, a broken economy. What next? Nobody seems to be in charge of Guinea. The authority of the state and the economy of the world's second largest bauxite producer (after Australia) have steadily dwindled...
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC There goes the party 12th May 2006 Having lost his country, the exiled ex-President Ange-Félix Patassé is losing his party. At its general assembly on 4-6 June in Bangui, senior members of the Mouvement pour...
SUDAN The heart of the matter 12th May 2006 More is emerging about the state of health of Intelligence Director General Salah Abdullah 'Gosh', who visited Britain in March for medical reasons and talks with the government....
MALAWI Bakili's bullets 12th May 2006 The arrest on treason charges of Vice-President Cassim Chilumpha and two of his close associates - Yusuf Matumula, ex-Trustee of the Bakili Bullets football team, and United Democratic...
ANGOLA Filling the lanterns 12th May 2006 The auction for new acreage in Angola's rich offshore oilfields, which began in Luanda on 9 May, will increase China's stake in Angola's oil and gas industry. China...