KENYA Politicians overboard 24th August 2007 Two key players have jumped from the opposition coalition but that will not assure President Kibaki of victory It was a bad month for Kenya's opposition, after personal rivalries came to a head and leading politicians split off to run their own campaigns. They will probably end up in the embrace of President Mwai Kibaki's political machine. Unseating Kibaki in December's elections was never going to be easy but is still feasible. Complex electoral arithmetic and the need to forge national coalitions from a patchwork of provincial politicians, ethnic groups and local interest lobbies, mean the outcome is far from sure.
KENYA Tinga's tractor in top gear 24th August 2007 Image courtesy of Panos Pictures View site Above all, he is unpredictable and indefatigable: that is how an old associate sums up Raila Amolo Odinga. He has plenty of charisma for his rousing speeches in the slums and pover...
SIERRA LEONE Doing good, not doing well 24th August 2007 Image courtesy of Panos Pictures View site Reforms and the inflow of money have helped the ruling party more than the people A decade ago, President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah was driven from power and Sierra Leone was gripped by a military junta. The entire region faced destabilisation. Troops were sent by Nige...
Government troops man roadblocks and patrol the streets of Nigeria's oil capital Port Harcourt after the loss of more than 50 lives in militia fighting this month. The immediate cause is rivalry for criminal and political spoils between militia leaders such as Ateke Tom, Soboma George and Mujahid Dokobu Asari. But behind the militias are the political and business godfathers. The fighting goes back to the criminalisation of the oil business: the bunkering (theft) facilitated by military officer... Government troops man roadblocks and patrol the streets of Nigeria's oil capital Port Harcourt after the loss of more than 50 lives in militia fighting this month. The immediate cause is rivalry for criminal and political spoils between militia leaders such as Ateke Tom, Soboma George and Mujahid Dokobu Asari. But behind the militias are the political and business godfathers. The fighting goes back to the criminalisation of the oil business: the bunkering (theft) facilitated by military officers and foreign criminal partners; the cost inflation, kickbacks and fraud on most of Nigeria's oil and gas contracts; and the diversion of state oil earnings by state governors, ministers and their surrogates. It is no coincidence that the fighting exploded just as Nigeria's investigators started probing oil and gas contracts, which have been off-limits until now. President Umaru Yar'Adua says he wants to make the oil business work efficiently and honestly. On the most modest estimates, the Nigerian state loses $5 billion of revenue a year and imports its petrol because all four refineries are out of commission. Reforming the oil business in Nigeria is undoubtedly perilous, leaving it to fester would be worse. Read more
SIERRA LEONE Closer and more credible 24th August 2007 The presidential and parliamentary elections on 11 August have turned out to be closer and more credible than expected. Now they will be decided in a run-off vote between the two f...
SUDAN Half and half 24th August 2007 The United Nations-African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) is half of the process; the other half involves negotiations between rebels and regime. This requires a common platform ...
SIERRA LEONE Breaking the political mould 24th August 2007 Horse-trading aside, front running presidential candidate Ernest Bai Koroma and the People's Movement for Democratic Change's (PMDC) Charles Margai say their alliance will produce ...
CANADAAFRICA Non-Government Who's Who 24th August 2007 Stephen Lewis: United Nations' Special Envoy, HIV-AIDS in Africa, 2001-06; Deputy Director, UN Children's Fund, 1995-1999; Canada's Permanent Representative, UN, 1984-98; was Coord...
SUDAN Who's Who in the war and peace talks 24th August 2007 The Sudan Liberation Movement faction of Abdel Wahed Mohamed Ahmed el Nur boycotted this month's Arusha talks. This matters because it is the second largest military group and thou...
CANADAAFRICA Ottawa rewrites the diplomatic and commercial rules 24th August 2007 A fierce ideological battle is raging over Canada's foreign policy and the balance between its commitments to multilateralism and the United Nations, where it has been a stalwart provider of funds and peacekeepers, and its deepening alliance with its powerful neighbour, the United States. Canada's once vibrant enthusiasm for Africa is caught in the middle of this argument. In the left corner are the myriad critics of Prime Minister Stephen Harper's government which,...
SUDAN Mission improbable 24th August 2007 Khartoum's schemings, political rows and logistical shortages are undermining the Darfur peacekeeping force African Union Commission Chairman Alpha Oumar Konaré's statement in Khartoum on 12 August that the planned 26,000-strong peacekeeping force for Darfur would be entirely Afri...
SOUTH AFRICA The race to win 24th August 2007 Economy Last week Adriaan Vlok, a former Police Minister, was given a ten-year suspended sentence for conspiracy to kill; that was one piece of unfinished business from the apartheid era. ...
ZIMBABWE Neighbours undercover 24th August 2007 Zimbabwe's highly effective Central Intelligence Organisation worked to ensure the Lusaka discussions on Zimbabwe went its way. Four days before the 16-17 August Southern African D...
SUDAN Smokescreen 24th August 2007 Under growing international pressure, Khartoum's National Congress (aka National Islamic Front) is uncovering 'internal plots'. On 14 July, it arrested Umma Party renegade and form...
SOUTH AFRICA Unhealthy (I) 24th August 2007 The government is battling to contain the fallout from the 8 August sacking of popular Deputy Health Minister Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge.
SOUTH AFRICA Unhealthy (II) 24th August 2007 The row over the future of Health Minister Manto Tshabalala-Msimang's future is now a battle between African National Congress factions ahead of December's leadership elections.
