Uncategorized Archives | Africa Research Institute

Interactive Timeline: IPTL, Richmond and “Escrow”

Niki Wolfe — Fri, 03 Nov 2017 08:44:45 +0000

Readers of Brian Cooksey’s Briefing Note “IPTL, Richmond and ‘Escrow’: The price of private power procurement in Tanzania” can gain an overview of the key developments in the corruption scandal by scrolling through the interactive timeline below:

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2017: Elections in Africa

Niki Wolfe — Tue, 24 Jan 2017 16:10:41 +0000

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Election map – click on highlighted countries on the map for pop-up fact boxes and links to recommended reading
Timeline – scroll through for a chronological view of the year’s elections
Further reading – browse a variety of articles, from survey reports to ambassadorial blog posts, by country
Expert briefings – read insightful background and analysis

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Africa will have at least three new presidents in 2017. In Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf will stand down after two six-year terms. She has endorsed Vice-President Joseph Boakai as her successor, but the final decision will rest with voters. In Angola, José Eduardo dos Santos has pledged to hand over to defence minister João Lourenço after 38 years in power. However, dos Santos will remain leader of the MPLA, which assuming it remains the largest parliamentary party, will be responsible for selecting Angola’s president.

In Somaliland, President Silanyo has ruled out standing for another term; but with a severe drought affecting the self-declared state it may struggle to adhere to its electoral timetable. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, Joseph Kabila’s mandate has expired. A transitional deal has raised hope for elections in 2017 – assuming the necessary resources and political will can be mustered. In neighbouring Rwanda, Paul Kagame will stand for his third seven-year term as president. This was legalised by a constitutional referendum in December 2015.

Kenya will stage nearly 2,000 electoral contests for county assemblies and governors, the Senate and National Assembly, and the presidency. Uhuru Kenyatta hopes to remain in State House for another term. Opposition coalitions are still being finalised, but his most likely main opponent is Raila Odinga, a former prime minister. A snap election will also be held in Lesotho in June.

Use the resources below to explore analysis on upcoming votes and review the outcomes of concluded elections across the continent. We are updating this page on a rolling basis.

Election map

Click on the countries highlighted on the map to browse resources assembled by ARI.

2016 elections 2017 elections – forthcoming 2017 elections – completed

Timeline

The timeline display the polls according to their anticipated dates. Each entry includes a quote, which offers an interesting angle on potential outcomes and political dynamics. All resources have been chosen with a view to encouraging debate, and neither individually nor collectively reflect ARI’s own opinions. Some countries have not yet set firm dates for their polls. We will be updating the visualisation with new information and graphics over the coming months as details are finalised.

Expert briefings

Angola by Lucia Kula
Democratic Republic of Congo by Kris Berwouts
Kenya by Zilper Audi
Lesotho by John Aerni-Flessner & Deiv Rakaojoana
Liberia by Ibrahim Al-bakri Nyei
Rwanda by Phil Clark
Senegal by Mamadou Bodian
Somaliland by Michael Walls

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Lilongwe Launch of “Duty of Care: Constitutional and law reform, in Malawi”

Yovanka ARI — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 17:56:19 +0000

The Lilongwe launch of “Duty of Care: Constitutional and law reform, in Malawi” with a presentation by author Dr Janet Chikaya-Banda and responses from Malcolm M, chief executive at Scottish Law Commission. Discussion chaired by Edward Paice.

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Rwanda’s coming of age

Yovanka ARI — Tue, 15 May 2012 14:36:57 +0000

In his speech to mark the 18th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide, President Paul Kagame noted that the first generation of men and women born during the genocide will come of age this year. There is more to this than obvious symbolism. Rwanda’s median age is estimated at 18.7, which means that less than half of the country’s current population experienced the genocide first-hand. The figure is arresting – and suggests that Kagame’s government may soon have to adapt the way in which it controls the public discourse surrounding the genocide.

The changing nature of how Rwanda relates to its tragic history is particularly relevant this year. In 2012, two radically different legal processes designed to judge those guilty of genocide are due to conclude. The final hearings of Rwanda’s gacaca community courts – based on a traditional method of conflict resolution and reconciliation – will end in June. The UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in Arusha, Tanzania – created to prosecute the architects of the genocide under international law – will lose its power to indict in July.

Despite the ICTR’s reduced mandate, its difficult relationship with the Rwandan authorities is likely to continue. Kagame has criticised the Tribunal’s ineffectiveness at apprehending genocide suspects, and the length and cost of its judicial procedures. The issue of the Tribunal investigating crimes allegedly committed by the ruling Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) in 1994 is likely to be left unaddressed – just as Kagame wanted.

The most recent source of tensions between Kigali and Arusha is the final destination of the ICTR’s extensive archives. The argument isn’t new – it has been brewing since 2009, or earlier. While Rwanda demands that the archives be housed in Kigali, the ICTR has expressed a number of concerns about this solution – both officially and unofficially. These range from the pragmatic (the lack of proper facilities to store the archives in Kigali), to the legalistic (the archives, compiled by the UN, legally belong to the international community), to the accusatory (a concern that confidential information might be “lost” or used inappropriately in Rwanda). In his speech, Kagame made his position categorical: “we should be the primary custodians of all these things because they are the core part of our history and of great value to us. There is no sound reason why all records regarding the genocide should [not] be in our custody in our country, here in Rwanda.”

The conclusion of the gacaca process had a predictably warmer mention from Kagame. He praised Rwandans for administering justice and, at the same time, uniting as a nation. Gacaca has been criticised by some human rights organisations – and others – for falling short of international legal requirements for trying genocide crimes. In other quarters, it has been praised as a monumental achievement and commended for its grassroots, participatory nature; the speed with which it dealt with the backlog of cases; and the emphasis on incorporating reconciliation into the legal framework. Some genocide survivors have argued that, while the judicial process has been accelerated, true reconciliation is likely to take significantly longer. I wonder whether this is where Rwanda’s youth will really come to the fore – a generation living in the shadow of the memory of a genocide it did not experience.

Piotr Cieplak
Publications and Communications Officer, Africa Research Institute

ARI has collaborated with Dr Phil Clark (SOAS) to evaluate the impact of Gacaca in Rwanda in our most recent Counterpoint: ‘How Rwanda judged its genocide.’

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