confidentially speaking
The Africa Confidential Blog
Democrats step up the struggle
Blue Lines
Are democrats getting stronger or weaker in Africa? That depends on
where you're sitting. In Tanzania,
where President John Magufuli's
government arrested Zitto Kabwe,
the outspoken oppositionist, on 31
October, political freedoms are under siege. Kabwe's arrest, the second
in as many months, follows a failed assassination attempt against
fellow oppositionist Tundu Lissu in Dar es Salaam on 7 September.
Similarly, Zambia's
opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema,
in
London this week for talks with the Commonwealth, faces a mountain to
climb to launch serious negotiations over political reforms with
President Edgar Lungu.
Hichilema was detained on treason charges until
the Commonwealth intervened in August, after which he was freed and the
charges dropped.
Kenyan politics seemed to be
opening up after the Supreme Court
annulled the 8 August presidential election citing serious flaws in the
tallying and transmission of results. But the re-run, held on 26
October against a backdrop of violence and threats, hasn't earned
President Uhuru Kenyatta the
legitimacy he sought. Instead, it has
fired up opposition leader Raila
Odinga to launch a people's assembly
and a national resistance movement to campaign against Kenyatta. In
contrast, Liberians reacted
nervously to the news that their Supreme
Court has halted the second round of presidential elections to hear
claims that President Ellen Johnson
Sirleaf interfered in the first
round.
