The whole idea behind independent candidates is the hope that their inclusion might improve the accountability of parliamentarians to the voters. The bill doesn’t do that.
The MPLA is using all instruments at its disposal to hobble a new united opposition front ahead of the Angola election.
Zimbabwe’s opposition Citizens Coalition for Change supporters attend an election campaign rally in Harare, in February. Zimbabwe, 20 February.
EPA-EFE/Aaron Ufumeli
Most citizens feel that it is pointless to vote because it won’t change anything.
Libyan Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah speaks after submitting his candidacy papers for the presidential election last November. The poll was postponed.
EPA-EFE/Stringer
The 2021 local government elections signals widespread disillusionment with representative democracy that only a sea change in service delivery can fix.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on the campaign trail.
Gianluigi Guercia/AFP via Getty Images
Zambia’s new president will have to balance austerity and the high expectations of the many unemployed young people and struggling people who voted for him.
Some political parties, including the Economic Freedom Fighters, want municipal elections postponed because they can’t host campaign rallies.
EFE-EPA/Kim Ludbrook
There is more support for democracy among African people than is often recognised. Yet this can be undermined by election rigging and is lower in countries like Lesotho, Mozambique and South Africa.
People’s Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) supporters at a campaign rally. The party has run the country since independence in 1975.
Photo by Osvaldo Silva / AFP) via Getty Images.
Concerns about socioeconomic well-being were the main reason why people voted for a certain political party.
Supporters of Ethiopian Citizens for Social Justice opposition party rally at Maskel Square in Addis Ababa, on June 16, 2021.
Photo by Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP via Getty Images
A new government with popular legitimacy will have power to address lingering political, economic and security challenges.
Mahamat Idriss Deby, right, greets his brother Zakaria during the state funeral for their father Chadian President Idriss Deby.
Christophe Petit/AFP via Getty Images
The recent spate of military takeovers, most recently in Chad, highlights a developing trend by armed forces in Africa which overtly subvert constitutional governance.
A Somali military officer supporting anti-government forces on the streets of the capital Mogadishu.
AFP via Getty Images
Claire Elder, London School of Economics and Political Science
The international community is opposed to Farmaajo’s term extension because of fears that it’s a power grab consistent with political trends elsewhere in the region.
Chadian President Idriss Déby Itno has died at the age of 68.
Steeve Jordan / AFP via Getty Images
When he grabbed power in 1990, Déby promised to create a democratic society, but he turned out to be a ruthless authoritarian whose main agenda was to remain in office.
Chief Research Specialist in Democracy and Citizenship at the Human Science Research Council and a Research Fellow Centre for African Studies, University of the Free State