Elections « Afronline – The Voice Of Africa

Zimbabwe: Political power shouldn’t be taken to the grave

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe should step down and allow other Zimbabweans to take over from him, the opposition Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) said on Monday. The EFF said this in statement, as it congratulated the people of Gambia for holding a peaceful and democratic election that saw President Yahya Jammeh conceding defeat to his opponent Adama Barrow.

Africa’s least loved leader marches on

Nov11

DR Congo’s Joseph Kabila has gained some international and domestic support for his plan to stay in power until at least 2018. But some inconvenient truths expose his lack of popular legitimacy. If elections were held this year, only 8% of people in the Democratic Republic of Congo would vote for President Joseph Kabila, according to a recent survey.

The paradoxes of a soft dictatorship

Oct17

For the second time in seven years, violent unrest has followed the presidential election in the small country of Gabon in West Equatorial Africa. The crisis started on August 28, when the candidate of the united opposition, Jean Ping (age 73), declared himself the winner of the presidential election. In the country’s capital, Libreville, people retreated into an anxious pause.

Somalia’s elections: A small, stumbling step on the road to democracy

Oct8

Somalia’s (s)election may have become a site for competing elites rather than competing visions. But the importance of the imperfect process should not be underestimated. If all goes according to (the latest) plan, Somalia will hold parliamentary elections on 23 October, with the appointment of the president set for 30 November.

EAC court of justice not to rule on Nkurunziza’s third term case

Oct3

Bujumbura (Burundi) – The East African Community (EAC) Court of Justice found the complaints about President Pierre Nkurunziza’s third term unfounded. The EAC’s civil society collective, EACSOF, made the complaints but the court said it cannot rule on a case already decided by the local courts.

DR Congo in crisis: Can Kabila trust his own army?

Sep21

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is in the midst of a protracted political crisis as President Joseph Kabila manoeuvres to stay in power past the end of his second term, which expires this December. Kabila’s undemocratic machinations – most notably le glissement (‘slippage’) or delaying of elections due to “logistical” issues – have drawn the ire of much of the population with frequent protests and strikes rocking the country since early 2015.