It was the best of times and the worst of times. In mainland Tanzania, peaceful, well run elections on 29 October gave a thumping majority to President Benjamin Mkapa's incumbent C...

Mainland Tanzania came out of the elections glowing. President Ben Mkapa won a convincing 71.7 per cent (compared to 61.8 per cent in 1995) and his Chama cha Mapinduzi won the Nati...

Zanzibar's parliamentary and presidential elections were a grim farce. By 7 November, the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) - which also holds power in mainland Tanzania - had been ...

Fresh peace initiatives for the Democratic Republic of Congo look pointless, as government, rebels and their respective sponsors gear up for more fighting. The last regional summit...

As we went to press, Sudanese were still celebrating Khartoum's failure to get elected to the United Nations Security Council on 10 October. This is the same Council which imposed ...

The National Islamic Front still gets foreign mileage from the much hyped dispute between President Omer el Beshir and chief ideologue Hassan el Turabi. At home, the quarrel has ta...

A verdict is expected in the notorious treason trial before the parliamentary elections due on 29 October. The case, having aroused an international scandal, is now forcing the cou...

His close friends wouldn't claim that Lieutenant General Daudi Tonje is a popular head of the armed forces but they insist he's a good one. Few in the elite ranks of the ruling Ken...

The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund wanted to keep secret their breakfast meeting with President Daniel arap Moi on 7 September in New York. It was meant to be a dis...

No African government has faced stricter conditions than those approved for Kenya by the International Monetary Fund board in late July, in its Memorandum of Economic and Financial...