Helped by a mini-economic boom and political strong-arm tactics, President Henri Konan Bédié is looking more comfortable in power four years after the death of Félix Houphouët-Boigny. Yet...

Whatever caused the death of gaoled Northern military politician Shehu Musa Yar'Adua'on 9 December, it has sent a powerful message that Northerners can expect no special favours from...

Who killed the former Deputy Speaker of Liberia's Transitional Assembly, Samuel Dokie, and his three travelling companions? The investigation into their murder and apparent torture (their bodies were...

The personality cult around General Sani Abacha is growing rapidly, ahead of his expected candidacy in next August's presidential elections. A new biography entitled – Sani Abacha –...

Mali's democratic credentials are being questioned by Amnesty International in its report Mali: basic liberties at risk. It lists allegations of police torture of arrested opposition activists, after...

The much-trumpeted Conakry peace accord of 23 October is already falling apart at the seams. Under the accord, Major Johnny Paul Koroma's Armed Forces Revolutionary Council undertook to...

Africa's strongmen are finding that disapproval from Western donors does not hurt them much. Denis Sassou-Nguesso is once more the ruler of Congo-Brazzaville by force of arms. In...

No one who has visited the Presidential complex at Aso Rock in recent weeks doubts that General Sani Abacha, encouraged by his wife Maryam and his 'kitchen cabinet',...

Nobody knows whether General Sani Abacha will take off his uniform and try to win an election as his own civilian successor in August 1998. Moreover, he may...

Major Johnny Paul Koroma's junta is increasingly personalising what it calls its 'dispute' with General Sani Abacha. In this way, it hopes to divide West African opinion over...

Liberia's Police Director, Joe Tate, is on the warpath against those who threaten what he calls 'good order'. In an anti-crime drive, his policemen have shot dead several...

Mali's diplomats are congratulating themselves. Swiss banks will repay just over 1.5 billion CFA francs (US$ 2.7million) from accounts held by Boubacar Dembélé, ex-head of the cigarette parastatal...

Possession seems to be nine-tenths of the law for Gambia's external partners. They have grown resigned to dealing with President Yahyah Jammeh since he converted his military regime...

The World Bank and International Monetary Fund are looking closely at Gambian government finances and especially at June's mini-budget for the six months to December. The budget was...

President Jerry John Rawlings' government is increasingly coming under public attack after a spate of financial controversies. Ghana's longest-serving cabinet minister, Attorney General and Justice Minister Obed Asamoah,...

General Sani Abacha's regime may be a pariah for Western and Commonwealth governments but it's determined to win friends in his own region. Not content with being Chairman...

Under President Charles Taylor, Liberia has quickly showed symptoms of instability. On 19 July, the day after voting, 'armed robbers' killed Christine Davis, a leading election worker for...

Chairing the Economic Community of West African States has pushed the reclusive General Sani Abacha into the limelight with Nigeria's neighbours. None, perhaps, is more important to Nigeria...

Ten opposition leaders were charged with murder late last month after a policeman was lynched at a Bamako rally. President Alpha Oumar Konaré's reputation as guardian of Mali's...

'When I am President', intoned Fela Anikulapo Kuti at the height of his political campaigning, 'all Africa will dance to my music'. His political ambitions were unfulfilled but...

Nigeria's oil industry is beginning to seize up. The state-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation has received no budget allocations for seven months. Except for a small contribution this...

Opposition politicians seeking an explanation for the continuing grip on power of some of the more authoritarian Francophone leaders may find guidance from the Nu Health Clinic in...

The surprise was not Charles Taylor's victory in the 18 July elections but the scale of it: he won over three-quarters of the votes; his nearest rival, Ellen...

Almost two months after seizing power (AC Vol 38 No 12), Major Johnny Paul Koroma's regime is consolidating and digging in for a lengthy military confrontation with Nigerian-led...

All the ingredients are there: political uncertainty (about General Sani Abacha's candidacy in next year's elections), economic collapse (fuel shortages and worse poverty than 25 years ago), armed...

First, look at the figures which General Sani Abacha prefers. Inflation was at 70 per cent in late 1995 and is now at 20 per cent. Foreign exchange...

Could the United States stomach a Charles Taylor presidency? And how would it cope with his US prison record? As General Services Agency director under Samuel Doe, Taylor...

Two frontrunners dominate the election campaign which started on 16 June: ex-Finance Minister and former United Nations Development Programme Africa Director Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and ex-warlord Charles Taylor. Taylor...

Major Johnny Paul Koroma's 25 May coup d'état (the third change of regime by force in five years) was the most bloody and destructive in Sierra Leone's history....

Most members of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council are little known, being drawn from young, ill-educated and poorly trained junior officers and other ranks. All have benefited from...

Soldiers from Togo proved useless when sent to fight for Marshal Mobutu Sese Seko (who was a guest of the Presidency in Lomé after his fall). Perhaps mindful...

Two conflicts persist in Sierra Leone, weakening the authority of President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah (elected in March 1996) and undermining the United Nations' appeal for funds for national...

The fighting between Ijaws and Itsekiris in Warri, the oil city of Delta State in South-Western Nigeria, threatens to halt oil production in Nigeria's most lucrative fields. The...

After three months of indecision and wrangling, President Jerry Rawlings has still not produced a full cabinet list. Since his inauguration on 7 January for a second elected...

Instead of confirming Mali's status as a multiparty democracy, the first round of legislative elections on 13 April, produced chaos at polling stations, an opposition boycott of the...

It is always difficult to satisfy both international donors and home-grown politicians. President Ibrahim Baré Maïnassara (known as IBM), a military man with lukewarm support, is finding out...

Confusion abounds about General Sani Abacha's political intentions. Following an interview with the Washington Times in which Abacha said his possible candidacy in the 1998 presidential elections would...

The peace process known as Abuja II is moving unsteadily towards success. The goal is free and fair elections on 30 May. The main faction leaders now say...

The man who most wants to take control of Liberia, by whatever means, is Charles Taylor of the National Patriotic Front (NPFL). His most fervent rival warlord is...

Amid the fanfare around Ghana's 40th anniversary of Independence, little attention was paid to President Henri Konan Bédié of Côte d'Ivoire's first official visit since becoming President in...

Speculation about General Sani Abacha's political ambitions dominates the calculations of aspiring presidential candidates who had wanted to throw their hats in the ring before the 15 March...

Back in the thick of things is Corporal Foday Sankoh, leader of the Revolutionary United Front. Three months after signing a peace agreement in Abidjan with President Ahmad...

The soldiers have blocked Finance Minister Anthony Ani’s bold plans to open up the economy. So is the argument over? Not yet, according to well-placed sources. They say...

The 'Great Helmsman' celebrated his 30th year at the tiller on 13 January with a five-hour parade of troops and civilians costing, by local estimates, over US$2 million....

There is no grand design to the violence that is wracking the country. Government supporters and oppositionists are pursuing vendettas against each other and a shadowy third force...

General Sani Abacha's 31 December announcement that by stepping up French teaching, Nigeria will in 'a very short time' become bilingual is a shrewd diplomatic move, however unrealistic...