Vol 39 No 25 | ANGOLA David and Goliath 18th December 1998 Even as it suffers military setbacks in Congo- Kinshasa and Congo-Brazzaville and back home in the central highlands, the Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola is pressing ahea...
Vol 39 No 24 | ZIMBABWE Fighting rebels at home and abroad 4th December 1998 After shopping for arms in Cairo and Christmas presents in London, President Mugabe faces a harsh homecoming Created in 1980 from two of Africa’s most effective guerrilla forces, Zimbabwe’s national army is struggling in Congo-Kinshasa. Zimbabwean troops have tried five times to retake th...
Vol 39 No 24 | ZIMBABWE First the provinces, then the presidency 4th December 1998 Factionalism is alive and well in ZANU-PF ahead of its national conference in Gweru on 9-12 December. The internecine disputes played out in the provincial party elections of 28 N...
Vol 39 No 24 | BOTSWANA Best friends 4th December 1998 The world's largest diamond producer by value stands ready to see off rivals as world recession slashes gemstone demand, especially from east Asia. The Debswana Mining Company, whi...
Vol 39 No 23 | ANGOLA Facing up to Savimbi 20th November 1998 Abel Chivukuvuku takes on UNITA's leader from within his own party and people Chivukuvuku’s first steps as an independent politician have faltered. He tried to recruit Savimbi’s former economics spokesperson, Fatima Roque, who is white and married to Portugu...
Vol 39 No 21 | ZIMBABWE War winnings 23rd October 1998 Officials at Congo-Kinshasa’s state mining company Gécamines confirm that control of the Central Group of copper and cobalt mines around Likasi, (with associated facilities, includ...
Vol 39 No 20 | ANGOLA Strings attached 9th October 1998 The MPLA is trying to carve a puppet UNITA but this doesn't tackle the issue of Savimbi's troops In one month, the government has transformed the Angolan political situation. Its intrigues became visible on 31 August, when it suspended ministers and parliamentarians belonging...
Vol 39 No 20 | ANGOLA Mining and undermining 9th October 1998 As UNITA responds to the MPLA's 'final push', diamonds will be crucial Jonas Savimbi’s União Nacional para a Independência Total de Angola is sometimes reported to have recently recaptured most of the diamond-mining areas from which it had been ousted...
Vol 39 No 20 | LESOTHOSOUTH AFRICA To a little kingdom 9th October 1998 As SADC allies go to war in Congo, Pretoria stumbles into an insurrection nearer home The military intervention in Lesotho was meant to be a show-case for the new South African National Defence Force (SANDF). It turned into a political-military fiasco. Lesotho’s opp...
Vol 39 No 19 | LESOTHOESWATINI Militants and monarchs 25th September 1998 Two troubled kingdoms have embroiled South Africa in some messy power-broking Pretoria’s African National Congress government finally lost its diplomatic virginity with the deployment of 600 South African soldiers in the early hours of 22 September to put do...