The United States military, targeting al Qaeda militants, has killed at least ten in a bombing mission in the town of Dusamareb. Among those apparently killed was Aden Hashi Ayro, military commander of al-Shabab, the military wing of an Islamist insurgent organization tied to al Qaeda.
Leaked results from Zimbabwe indicate that Morgan Tsvangirai and the Movement for Democratic Change outpolled President Robert Mugabe and ZANU-PF by 47% to 43% in last month's election. If these results hold the stage will be set for the expected runoff between Mugabe and Tsvangirai. And if they do hold, Tsvangirai will be unable reasonably to […]
Current crime and fears of crime, coupled with the contentiousness of the apartheid past (and the opposition to it) seem to be encouraging a debate over the role of guns in South African society. Fikile-Ntsikelelo Moya explores the questions involved in this column at the Mail & Guardian.
In this Sunday's travel section The Washington Post published an “African Safari Special” (follow the links for safaris in individual countries). It is easy to reduce Africa, as so many tourists do, simply to the chance to see animals at game reserves. nonetheless, safaris also represent a significant tourist lure to the continent.
Is there reason for optimism that Robert Mugabe is on his way out in Zimbabwe? J. Stephen Morrison and Mark Bellamy, writing at CSIS Africa Policy Forum, seem to think so. Their argument is apparently predicated on the recent escalations of military violence against civilians representing the last throes of a desperate regime rather than […]
Freedom House has released its annual survey (and accompanying “critical tools”) on press freedom around the globe. For the sixth straight year press freedom has deteriorated worldwide with Africa among the worst regions. In Sub-Saharan Africa the Freedom House tallies indicate that 23 countries rate as “not free, ” with Eritrea as the worst (and […]
Zimbabwe's state-run (Mugabe Tested, Mugabe Approved!) newspaper The Herald reports that the recount in 23 contested constituencies is nearly complete and that the four leading candidates (or their seconds) will be invited to witness the announcement and see the data. Let us assume that The Herald is playing it straight, which is not something we can […]
Zimbabwe is not the only African country in which journalists are under siege. Any place where the politics are constriced by authoritarianism or merely by the encroachments of paranoid leadership the members of the media run the risk of being jailed. Just the latest example comes from Uganda, where three journalists (including the editor) from the magazine […]
Mauritania is a poor country that produces only 30% of its own food. Meanwhile the global cost of food is skyrocketing. Naturally the result is food scarcity and the impoverished, as they always do, suffer disproportionately. And Mauritania is not alone. Much of Africa is feeling the squeeze of this global crisis of food underproduction coupled with […]
At The Mail & Guardian last week longtime observer of South African politics Mark Gevisser, author of Thabo Mbeki: The Dream Deferred, compares Thabo Mbeki to Barack Obama and wishes that the former would learn from the latter. My only caveat: Beware analogies drawn too closely, as context matters.
By the way, I have no more idea what yesterday's Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) announcement that ZANU-PF lost parliament, as most assumed, mean any more than anyone else does. Robert Mugabe has experienced setbacks before (think of the hair-breadth 2000 Parliamentary election or the 1999 defeat of Mugabe's proposed constitutional changes) but never have the vultures […]
At The Mail & Guardian Adriann Basson uses the racist response ( “Daai boy is so goed, hulle kan hom nou maar wit verklaar” [“That black boy is so good, they can certify him white now]”) of a fellow Afrikaner to a Bryan Habana try to explore race, and racism, in South Africa. I’m always […]
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