June 2019 has seen Members of Parliament (MPs) of Lesotho Prime Minister Tom Thabane’s All Basotho Convention (ABC) party warn him to step down as party leader or be recalled as they threatened to take steps to reopen parliament and table a motion of no confidence in Thabane if he doesn’t budge. Trouble has long …
On 27 May, Madagascar will hold long-awaited legislative elections to elect the National Assembly (NA). These elections come close on the heels of the 2018 presidential elections that pitted the winner and incumbent President Andry Rajoelina against the outgoing president, Hery Vaovao ho an’i Madagasikara (HVM) leader Hery Rajaonarimampianina; and old rival Tiako I Madagasikara …
On 11 May South Africa’s Independent Election Commission (IEC) declared the African National Congress (ANC) the victor in 8 May 2019 national general elections with a reduced majority of 57.51%. On the surface the election looks to have been a rough one for the ANC as it fell below 60% for the first time in …
Since independence from France in 1975, the Comoros has experienced multiple political disfigurations including nearly two dozen coups (or attempted coups), secession (of Mayote, the fourth island in the pre-independence cluster), international intervention, and now, for some years, growing authoritarianism as the current president Azali Assoumani seeks to centralise power in the island federation. In …
Incumbent president and leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Muhammadu Buhari, was declared the winner of Nigeria’s presidential election on 27 February 2019 winning an election marred by controversial delays and violence. Buhari’s nearest challenger Atiku Abubakar, leader of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has, thus far, refused to accept the result and threatened …
Terrorism and militant activity remain a major security concern in several countries in Africa. Since early 2019 multiple attacks have signalled the continued operational capacity of various militant and terror groups while possibly indicating an increase in their strength and reach. Of particular concern, has been the persistent terrorist threat in East Africa as al-Shabaab …
The newly appointed President of Madagascar, Andry Rajoelina, inaugurated on 19 January 2019, has acted quickly appointing his Prime Minister just three days after his inauguration, and a new, leaner Cabinet two days later. Prime Minister Christian Ntsay, reappointed on 22 January after resigning before the inauguration, announced Madagascar’s new Cabinet on 24 January. These …
Former rebel group and Mozambique’s largest opposition party, Renamo, is currently holding its leadership conference to elect its first new leader in almost 40 years. The elective conference ‒ from 15 to 17 January 2019 at the party’s headquarters in the Gorongosa district of Sofala province in central Mozambique ‒ is being attended by 700 …
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) will hold its long-awaited presidential election on 23 December 2018, over two years after the vote was initially scheduled to take place. Electoral campaigning is underway countrywide and is amid elevated fears of possible political violence. Given the DRC’s violent political history and the elevated tensions ahead of the …
On 17 November 2019, Madagascar’s National Independent Electoral Commission (CENI/Commission Électorale Nationale Indépendante) announced that no single candidate had secured over 50% of the votes in the 7 November 2018 election, thus requiring a runoff election on 19 December 2018. The two leading candidates who will proceed to the runoff ballot are former presidents Andry …