At approximately 11 pm local time on 26 May 2015 Madagascar’s parliament impeached President Hery Rajaonarimampianina for alleged violation of the country’s constitution and general incompetence. The official tally in the parliamentary vote showed that of the 125 parliamentarians present, 121 voted in favour of the impeachment of Rajaonarimampianina, with four voting against it- easily …
The All Progressives Congress (APC) won 20 of the 29 states that held elections for governorships and assemblies on 11 April. While most of the remaining seven states were won by the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in by-elections last year, the APC has broadly repeated its victory in the presidential polls. This swing to the …
International observers, including the International Crisis Group and Western governments, believe Nigeria’s 28 March elections could be marred by a combination of failures across the spectrum of polling activities. Core vulnerabilities include logistics, balloting and security at polling stations; the likelihood of both leading candidates claiming victory; and rejection of results in various parts of …
Three months after the October 2014 death of Zambian President Michael Sata, January 2015 saw Edgar Lungu, of the ruling Patriotic Front (PF), was sworn in as his successor after a tightly contested presidential by-election. Lungu will serve out the remainder of Sata’s term until 2016, when the next general elections are due, but will …
The African political landscape is likely to be dominated by election rhetoric during 2015, with several national, parliamentary and presidential elections due to take place across the continent. At the date of writing, there are no less than 15 elections scheduled for 2015, including; Burkina Faso, Burundi, Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Lesotho, …
On 8 November 2014 the Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu) Central Executive Committee (CEC) meeting eventually voted 33 to 24 to expel the National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) after a very public tiff that has lasted most of the year. Tensions bubbling under the surface for years have seen the …
Ailing Zambian President Michael Sata’s health, possible retirement or death, and the ruling Patriotic Front’s (PF) denialist intransigence on both this and a potential successor, have been clouding the political and economic landscape in Zambia for some months. Rumours that Sata’s condition is deteriorating have been intensifying since his June 2014 visit abroad, reportedly for …
The Frelimo-led Mozambican parliament has granted amnesty to Renamo fighters in an effort to broker peace and end the small-scale conflict that has plagued the East African country for over a year. Several similar bills have been passed before, specifically during the “war of destabilisation”, to attempt to coax Renamo into surrendering: amnesty was granted …
On 20 November 2013 Mozambique held municipal elections, which attracted little international attention, and as such the fact that they were largely successful is an important indicator of the health of political pluralism in a country touted as a post-conflict success story with impressive GDP growth. The municipal elections saw citizens in 53 Mozambican municipalities …
Following the seizure of Renamo’s Sathunjira base on Monday 21 October, and Renamo’s leader Afonso Dhlakama fleeing from the attack, the group has officially withdrawn from its 1992 peace agreement with Frelimo, thus ending 21 years of negotiated peace between the two parties. On 22 October, just one day after the withdrawal from the agreement, …