The government of eSwatini imposed a dusk-to-dawn curfew, blocked the internet, and deployed the army on 29 June in an effort to quell ongoing unrest calling for major democratic reforms and an end to the absolute monarchy. These drastic measures were imposed after protest leaders announced the formation of a new campaign dubbed Kungahlwa Kwenile …
The more transmissible Delta variant of the coronavirus that fuelled India’s untold human suffering and misery in early 2020, and is still causing close to 1 000 deaths a day there, has now firmly entrenched itself in Africa. With almost universally weak health infrastructure across the continent, and concerns that previous infection from another strain …
It’s been nearly three months since the 17 March death of Tanzanian president and Covid-19 denialist John Magufuli and his replacement by former vice president and Tanzania’s first female president Samia Suluhu Hassan. With Hassan constitutionally mandated to lead the country for the rest of Magufuli’s second term (until 2025), she has been under close …
Delegates from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) met with Mali’s interim Prime Minister Choguel Maiga on 9 June in an effort to address the country’s political crisis following a military-led coup last month. On 24 May, then vice president Assimi Goita seized power from President Bah N’Daw, arrested both N’Daw and Prime …
Angolan President João Lourenço fired Minister of State and Head of the Security House General Pedro Sebastião on 1 June amid an ongoing corruption scandal involving the country’s senior security leadership. Sebastião was promptly replaced by former Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces General Francisco Pereira Furtado. The ongoing controversy was sparked by …
On 8 May, South African Health Minister Zweli Mkhize announced that the presence of two additional Covid-19 variants had been discovered in the country. These are the B.1.1.7 variant which was first detected in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2020 and the B.1.617.2 variant which is currently driving the uncontrolled outbreak of Covid-19 in India. …
The ANC’s internecine factional battles moved into open conflict on 5 May after the party’s Secretary-General rejected his own suspension and claimed to have suspended President Cyril Ramaphosa instead. The matter follows the 29 March decision by the African National Congress (ANC) National Executive Committee (NEC) that any member charged with corruption or a serious …
On 20 April, Chadian military officials announced that President Idriss Déby had died of wounds sustained in conflict with militants in the Kanem region on 19 April. It was also announced that a transitional military council (CMT/Conseil Militaire de Transition) headed by Déby’s son, Mahamat Idriss Déby, had taken over governance of the country suspending …
On 10 April 2021, Djibouti’s electoral commission declared incumbent President Ismail Omar Guelleh the winner of the 9 April presidential election with 97.44% of the vote. Guelleh’s only challenger, the independent candidate and political novice Zakaria Ismail Farah, took 2.48% of votes. Guelleh’s path to victory was paved by the main opposition candidates boycotting the …
The assault began on the evening of 24 March when about a hundred ASWJ insurgents attacked Palma in a coordinated assault from three directions, quickly overrunning the token security force presence in the town’s western areas. It appears that the Mozambican military (FADM/Forças Armadas de Defesa de Moçambique) had redeployed a significant number of troops …