insert_link Africa Tanzanians go to the polls in 2025: President Samia has changed the landscape, but Magufuli’s legacy persists By Nicodemus Minde, United States International University It’s been three years since the death of Tanzania’s president John Magufuli and the rise to power of current president Samia Suluhu Hassan. Magufuli was Tanzania’s fifth president. He came to power in 2015 and was re-elected in 2020 in a poll that was marred by controversy. Magufuli brought lasting changes to Tanzania’s political landscape during his six-year tenure. His […] todayApril 16, 2024 7
insert_link World India elections: ‘Our rule of law is under attack from our own government, but the world does not see this’ By Sandhya Fuchs, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam On a crisp winter morning in February 2023, I meet one of my South Delhi neighbours, a lawyer in India’s supreme court, in a local cafe. As an avid promoter of religious minority rights, known for his commitment to the principles of equality that were enshrined in the constitution after India gained independence in 1947, I am taken aback by the […] todayApril 15, 2024 12
insert_link Opinion Pieces After the euphoria of Nelson Mandela’s election, what happened next? Podcast By Gemma Ware, The Conversation and Thabo Leshilo, The Conversation It was a moment many South Africans never believed they’d live to see. On 10 May 1994, Nelson Mandela was inaugurated as president of a democratic South Africa, ending the deadly and brutal white minority apartheid regime. To mark 30 years since South Africa’s post-apartheid transition began, The Conversation Weekly podcast is running a special three-part podcast […] todayApril 11, 2024 13
insert_link Opinion Pieces What happened to Nelson Mandela’s South Africa? A new podcast series marks 30 years of post-apartheid democracy By Thabo Leshilo, The Conversation When Nelson Mandela stood in front of the Union Buildings in Pretoria in May 1994 as South Africa’s first democratically elected president, my country was brimming with optimism for its post-apartheid future. I was there and relieved at the prospect of an end to bloodshed. I had seen far too much violence and death in my five-year career as a journalist, covering the […] todayApril 11, 2024 15
insert_link World South Sudan opposition protests party registration fee hike South Sudanese opposition parties protested Monday at an "exorbitant" $50,000 fee to register ahead of the fragile country's first ever elections, branding it a slap in the face for democracy. The world's youngest nation is due to go to the polls by the end of the year under a 2018 peace deal, although the United Nations and others say key obstacles still need to be overcome if they […] todayMarch 25, 2024 17
insert_link World What Article 23 means for the future of Hong Kong and its once vibrant pro-democracy movement By Michael C. Davis, O.P. Jindal Global University Lawmakers in Hong Kong passed new security legislation on March 19, 2024, handing authorities in the semi-autonomous city-state further power to clamp down on dissent. The law, under Article 23, has been decades in the making but was resisted for a long time by protesters who feared the legislation’s effect on civil liberties in Hong Kong, a special administrative […] todayMarch 22, 2024 14
insert_link Africa AU says African democracy a ‘ship in troubled waters’ Speaking on behalf of AU Commission chair Moussa Faki Mahamat, AU Commissioner for Political Affairs, Peace and Security, Bankole Adeoye, says Africa has reached a tipping point and should "return to being an axis of progressive democracy" by enforcing the continent's zero tolerance to unconstitutional changes in governance. “Our badly bruised historical experience of dictatorship cannot be replicated in the 21st century again because these emerging anti-constitutional norms negate our commitment […] todayMarch 22, 2024 3
insert_link Entertainment This is how President Ramaphosa got to the 25% figure of progress in land reform in South Africa By Johann Kirsten, Stellenbosch University and Wandile Sihlobo, Stellenbosch University Nearly three decades into democracy, land reform remains central to South Africa’s transformation policies and agricultural policy. We have over the years pointed out that the progress on land reform has been incorrectly reported. It’s been consistently understated. We have argued that, if the statistics are treated carefully, the progress has been much better than politicians […] todayMarch 22, 2024 19
insert_link Africa Chad presidential election: assassination of main opposition figure casts doubt on country’s return to democracy By Helga Dickow, University of Freiburg The assassination of Chad’s main opposition leader, Yaya Dillo, is hanging heavy over presidential elections due in early May. Dillo was killed on 28 February when the headquarters of the opposition Party Socialiste sans Frontières (Party of Socialists without Borders) in the Chadian capital N'Djamena was besieged by the newly formed Rapid Reaction Force. It’s not the first violence meted out […] todayMarch 22, 2024 1
Paying it forward: Kenyan coastal doctor Bashrahil Mohammed Mafudh has made it his life’s work to care for the most vulnerable in his community, at no cost.
