Vol 59 No 1 | SOUTH SUDAN Low expectations for peace talks 19th December 2017 As the two sides in the conflict meet in Addis they trade accusations of unwarranted attacks. The notion of talks being 'revitalised' is already coming under question The 'High Level Revitalisation Forum' in Addis Ababa looked doomed as soon as it began on 18 December. Several military offensives are already in progress and are unlikely...
Vol 58 No 25 | KENYA Allowance alliance 15th December 2017 Members of parliament of the opposition National Super Alliance (Nasa) have boycotted the National Assembly since August's controversial elections, bringing legislative business to a halt. But when the...
Vol 58 No 25 | RWANDAUGANDA Pepper spray 15th December 2017 Three editors from the Ugandan satirical tabloid Red Pepper have been charged with libel and 'offensive communication' over a story alleging that Uganda's security services were plotting to...
Vol 58 No 25 | UGANDA Probing the gold 15th December 2017 The African Gold Refinery, launched by President Yoweri Museveni in February, is being investigated by a United Nations panel of experts and two Ugandan anti-corruption agencies. The experts...
Vol 58 No 25 | UGANDA Farm-downs and cash-cows 5th December 2017 Despite a massive oil find over ten years ago, inter-company disputes, and wrangles over taxation and a refinery are still slowing progress Late last year, President Yoweri Museveni directed his technocrats and the oil companies to start production in two years. It's going to take more than State House decrees...
Vol 58 No 23 | KENYA Unpacking Raila's resistance 17th November 2017 As the country simmers after its election re-run, churchmen take to diplomacy – and politicians to the street and social media In an eloquent address to a full auditorium at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, DC on the morning of 9 November, Raila Odinga,...
Vol 58 No 23 | KENYA Counting on the counties 17th November 2017 Hopes are high that however dangerous national politics may be, regional government will reduce ethnic and economic tension Devolving power to Kenya's 47 counties was one of the main provisions of the 2010 constitution drafted in response to the post-election violence in 2007-08. Moderate government and...
Vol 58 No 23 | SOMALIA Buried in the wreckage 17th November 2017 The 14 October bomb is still causing aftershocks, exposing fault lines in the government's approach and a lack of political purpose Al Shabaab's atrocity in Mogadishu on 14 October – the number of dead was recently updated to over 450 – is shedding light on some of Somalia's many...
Vol 58 No 23 | KENYATANZANIA Making policy on the hoof 17th November 2017 President John Magufuli has picked an unexpected new fight on the Kenyan border. Over 1,100 cattle seized from Maasai herders in Tanzania's Kilimanjaro and Mara regions in late...
Vol 58 No 22 | TANZANIA Laying down the law 3rd November 2017 Arrests of dissidents and plans to restrict political freedom show Magufuli's authoritarian intent Tanzania's experiment with multi-party democracy may be drawing to a close after 25 years and five general elections. A draft Political Parties Act proposing significant new restrictions on...