Southern Africa

Last Monday, August 9, 2010, Rwanda’s incumbent President Paul Kagame scored another landslide similar to his margin of victory in 2003. In Namibia, the ruling Swapo party smashed a fifth tsunami-like victory this past November. South Africa’s African National Congress (ANC), the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and the Liberation Front of […]

Paul Kagame’s landslide victory in Monday’s presidential elections highlights Africa’s multiparty democracy problems. Across the continent elections are predictable, and continue to produce landslides victories for ruling parties. According to media reports, Kagame received 93 per cent of the votes in an election criticized for being marred by political intimidation, repression and violence. But more […]

Those are not my words, but a quote attributed to Patrick Karegeya (the former Rwandan intelligence chief who was jailed twice, stripped of his colonel rank, and forced into exile by the Kagame government) calling for the defeat of President Paul Kagame of Rwanda. Kagame, the rebel-hero who defeated the genocidal government in July 1994, […]

I was going to let this pass, but after some thoughts I am left puzzled as to why a country teetering on the verge of economic collapse and political turmoil would – out of the blue – conduct this kind of publicity stunt. The only conclusion that I can come up is that this seems […]

You probably already heard this, but at the International Court in Hague where she testified in the trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor, Naomi Campbell confirmed receiving a gift of “dirty-looking stones” in 1997. These dirty-looking stones turned out to be precious diamonds, prosecutors believed to be Charles Taylor’s “blood diamonds, which fueled Sierra […]

President Barack Obama and the Department of State are hosting 115 young African leaders from 46 sub-Saharan African nations at the President’s Forum with Young African Leaders underway in Washington, DC. The forum, which started on Tuesday, August 3-5, aims to broaden and deepen the U.S. Government’s understanding of Africa as well as to reflect […]

Reflecting on the unresolved Caprivi secession case, an old Namibian acquaintance has this to say: “From a constitutional point of view, justice is being denied. The suspects shouldn’t be in custody for such a long time if they cannot be prosecuted. I think the government is afraid of lawsuits, so it is better to keep […]

Diamonds may be known for their cachet as the ultimate symbol of love and eternity throughout the world, but not for the San people of Botswana.  Recently, the Botswana high court reversed some of the gains made by the San people in their struggle for land rights when the Judge ruled last Wednesday that their […]

Before I bore you again with yet another conflict mineral detail in Africa, I need to tell you something very important regarding the financial legislation-the other side of the legislation that the mainstream media hasn’t been reporting a lot about-recently signed by President Obama. This legislation is not just a victory for the American people […]

Ok, I know I suppose to be posting about news-driven materials, but after revisiting my Africa travel notebook, I couldn’t resist the temptation. Despite the reality that America is in the middle of the recession as well as fighting two wars, what struck me most, during my three-month visit to Namibia (via South Africa) in […]

I don’t know what to make of the decision by the World Diamond Council, and the United Nations-backed Kimberley Process to allow Zimbabwe to export limited diamond sales from its Marange fields where the regime has been accused of gross human rights violations. On the one hand, continuation of the diamond market ban would further […]

Welcome to this Foreign Policy Association blog dedicated to Southern Africa. This blog is an inside perspective on latest news, discussion, analysis, and commentary in Namibia and Zimbabwe. Although Namibia and Zimbabwe are the main focus of my attention, I also expect to be posting on other countries in Southern Africa. I suspect that politics […]