ZIMBABWE Deaths and deals 4th July 2008 Image courtesy of Panos Pictures View site The government sets tough terms for a power-sharing deal that might end the crisis The election on 27 June was Zimbabwe's worst. The opposition leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, had formally withdrawn but his name was still on the ballot paper (AC Vol 49 No 13). Few people bothered to vote. Even so, in some constituencies in Matebeleland, the combined number of spoiled ballots and votes for Tsvangirai outnumbered those for the unopposed President, Robert Mugabe.
ZIMBABWE Where the government gets its money 4th July 2008 Image courtesy of Panos Pictures View site Foreign mining investors still drop cash into Zimbabwe's empty bucket. Anglo American hit the spotlight in June with its US$400 million Unki platinum project, to be run by its Joha...
ZIMBABWE Can the party hold together? 4th July 2008 Image courtesy of Panos Pictures View site With an eye to the succession, the top brass of Mugabe's party are squabbling and squirming Emmerson Mnangagwa was roped in by President Robert Mugabe to mastermind his bid for re-election, together with his close ally, Legal Affairs Minister Patrick Chinamasa. Together, ...
The African Union’s endorsement of ‘deal democracy’ this week may help resolve the Zimbabwean tragedy, but it reinforces the precedent set by regional mediators after Kenya’s election crisis in January. The message to an unpopular incumbent is clear: you can steal an election, hammer the opposition, then sit tight and shrug off the opprobrium. Finally, you can offer a power-sharing deal and stay on the throne – complete with international recognition and legal immunity. Too big, messy and e... The African Union’s endorsement of ‘deal democracy’ this week may help resolve the Zimbabwean tragedy, but it reinforces the precedent set by regional mediators after Kenya’s election crisis in January. The message to an unpopular incumbent is clear: you can steal an election, hammer the opposition, then sit tight and shrug off the opprobrium. Finally, you can offer a power-sharing deal and stay on the throne – complete with international recognition and legal immunity. Too big, messy and expensive, power-sharing governments are tolerated by voters if they appear to be the last barrier against mass violence. The AU refused to sanction Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe as demanded by a younger generation of leaders in Botswana, Sierra Leone, Nigeria and Kenya. Instead, they called on Zimbabwe’s leaders to seize the momentum offered by the latest turn of events. Translated, that means accepting South African President Thabo Mbeki’s formula for a government of national unity. That, Mugabe says, is what he was calling for in his hurried inauguration speech two days after his farcical re-election. For Morgan Tsvangirai and the opposition, that is a deal too far. They would accept a transitional government to promote reconciliation, oversee reforms and hold credible elections – but no free pass for Mugabe’s securocrats. If Zimbabweans can halt ‘deal democracy’ in its tracks, Africa will owe them a big favour. Read more
ZIMBABWE Keep an eye on Mnangagwa 4th July 2008 The force behind Robert Mugabe's re-election campaign was former intelligence chief Emmerson Mnangagwa, the Secretary for Legal Affairs of the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patri...
ZAMBIARUSSIA The Russians are coming 4th July 2008 Looking for big projects and with plenty of cash, three Russian companies are ready to invest in Zambia's mines Three Russian companies plan to inject over US$2 billion into Zambia's mining sector. If this project is successful, it will be the country's single biggest foreign direct investme...
ANGOLA Friends old and new 4th July 2008 Angola's coming general elections are followed far beyond its borders. While the country was enmeshed in civil war, oil companies and their governments were the only outsiders who ...
CÔTE D'IVOIRE Democratic deficit 4th July 2008 Leaders send out mixed signals on whether elections will take place this year President Laurent Gbagbo assured representatives of the United Nations Security Council - on a flying visit to Abidjan on 9 June - that the November election deadline would hold. T...
SIERRA LEONE Slow turnaround 4th July 2008 Slow progress on the economy and against corruption is rubbing the sheen off last year's free elections On election, President Ernest Bai Koroma gave himself three years to turn Sierra Leone around, but the first year has been unimpressive, and the smart performance of President Elle...
ANGOLAANALYSIS One party rule 4th July 2008 The ruling party looks set to win again at the parliamentary elections which are due to be held in September. Strikingly, nearly one in five Angolans belongs to the governing party, the MPLA. Nevertheless, voters will expect it to explain why the general public has not benefited from the vast wealth that is arriving as Angola takes over from Nigeria as Africa's leading oil producer. In power since 1992, the Movimento Popular de Libertação de Angola is at least sure of its ability to deliver peaceful polls. Even the main opposition party (the MPLA...
KENYA A slightly cracked coalition 4th July 2008 The power-sharing government is shaken by scandals and tales of mass murder but nobody sees an alternative Three months after the painful formation of a grand coalition government (AC Vol 49 No 11), there is talk of a 'grand opposition'. Two developments encourage this. First comes the...
CÔTE D'IVOIRE Skimming a bad system 4th July 2008 Côte d'Ivoire's Public Prosecutor, Raymond Tchimou, is leading a crackdown on corruption in the cocoa industry, which accounts for 40% of world supply. On 13 June, Tchimou an...
SIERRA LEONE Time to reshuffle 4th July 2008 Finance Minister David Carew, Foreign Minister Zainab Bangura and Lands Minister Benjamin Davies are generally held in high esteem. Other ministers are less appreciated. Rumours of...
ANGOLA Daughters and generals 4th July 2008 Top of the list of Angola's fat cats is the family of President José Eduardo dos Santos. Its latest visible acquisition, in January, was Channel Two of the public television...
SUDANUGANDA Kony causes trouble again 4th July 2008 The rebel chief Kony's refusal to make peace causes trouble between Uganda and South Sudan On 30 June, Southern Sudan's Vice-President Riek Machar Teny Dhurgon ordered the Ugandan People's Defence Forces out of the country, accusing the UPDF of kidnapping and killing a S...
UGANDACONGO-KINSHASA The competition heats up 4th July 2008 As oil exploration continues apace on Lake Albert, Uganda and Congo threaten to make business difficult for foreign companies Companies drilling on the Ugandan side of Lake Albert, which straddles the border with Congo-Kinshasa, had a rude shock in mid-June when President Yoweri Museveni announced that Ug...
EQUATORIAL GUINEABRITAIN No case, no answer 4th July 2008 On 26 June, Malabo quietly dropped a three-year campaign to pursue some of the alleged architects of the 2004 mercenary coup plot for civil damages in England (AC Vol 49 No 13). Th...
GHANA Industrial revolution 4th July 2008 Ghana seeks partners following its 19 June purchase of Alcoa's 10% stake in the 200,000 tonne/year Volta Aluminum Company (Valco) smelter, mothballed since March 2007. The statal V...
CÔTE D'IVOIRE Ivorian auction 4th July 2008 The wealth of Côte d'Ivoire's defunct founding father, Félix Houphouët-Boigny, was on display at an auction in the historic French town of Fontainebleau on 29 Jun...
ZIMBABWEGERMANY Authoritarian notes 4th July 2008 Until Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel leant on them, Munich-based security printers Giesecke & Devrient GmbH had a lucrative contract to supply paper for Zimbabwe's consider...
