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The new president-elect of Botswana is human rights lawyer Duma Boko.  (Photo by Johannes Simon/Getty Images For 2nd CGDC Annual Meeting 2012)

Six decades of liberation party rule in Botswana end in shock

The Botswana Democratic Party suffered a humiliating defeat in last week’s parliamentary elections

Outgoing President Filipe Nyusi’s Frelimo party has held power since independence from Portugal in 1975

Meet Mozambique’s four leading presidential candidates

Outgoing President Filipe Nyusi’s Frelimo party has held power since independence from Portugal in 1975

The DA’s part in the coalition stands to entrench the neoliberal programme advanced by the ANC, rather than inspire a very necessary redirection. (Alexander/Sowetan/Gallo Images/Getty Images)

Market on tenterhooks amid coalition talks

As the 14 days to announce a coalition government commences, investors are nervous and the rand is flat

Relative wealth: Business person Patrice Motsepe, who is also the brother-in-law of President Cyril Ramaphosa, is one of the country’s biggest donors to political parties. Photo: Sebastian Frej/Getty Images

Money seeks a bedfellow and we need to know who’s sleeping with who

Despite all the shiny new legislation, don’t think that party funding issues have disappeared

Mail & Guardian and University of Fort Hare to host National Election Debate

The Mail & Guardian in partnership with the University of Fort Hare will host a National Election Town Hall on the 17th April 2024.

Some countries such as Tanzania still retain the death penalty

Populist death penalty calls do not pass constitutional muster

These kinds of amendments are regressive and driven by political expediency for short-term gains

DA supporters.  The writer says parties must take voters through their ‘thinking’ processes, not just pontificate at rallies. (Ihsaan Haffejee/Getty Images)

The need for informed policy solutions beyond election rallies

All too frequently, the solutions provided in manifestos are simplistic, time-consuming and expensive to implement

New broom: Senegalese president elect Bassirou Diomaye Faye at a press conference in Dakar on 25 March. Photo: John Wessels/AFP

Senegal’s Bassirou Diomaye Faye steps into presidential spotlight

The incoming head of state has promised the country profound change and left-wing pan-Africanism

DAKAR, SENEGAL – FEBRUARY 09: Protesters barricade a street by burning wood, tires and using iron panels as they gather at the Nation Square to stage protest against postponement of presidential election in Dakar, Senagal on February 09, 2024. Following the intervention of security forces during the protest, demonstrators set fire to many vehicles in the region and set up barricades by burning tires in some streets. (Photo by Cem Ozdel/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Senegal: Macky Sall’s latest choice less murky when seen through oil and gas

The president’s official reason for postponing the upcoming election has been met with suspicion. Analysts say: follow the money

Not guaranteed: Prime Minister Amadou Ba is the ruling party’s presidential candidate for the February 2024 presidential election, after President Macky Sall said he would not seek a third term. Photo: Seyllou/AFP

Senegal election still anyone’s game

Although the West African country has not experienced a coup, unlike others in the region, the February vote could be marred by violence

No vote: The election posters may be up but many people in eastern DRC haven’t received their voters’ cards. Photo: Alexis Huguet/AFP

Ahead of DR Congo vote, people in volatile east feel abandoned

Much of the region is prey to armed groups, an aftermath of regional wars in the 1990s and 2000s

Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema.

Understanding Hichilema’s talk of a coup plot in Zambia

Is there any weight behind the Zambian president’s warning?

President Julius Maada Bio

Sierra Leone: A fractious poll defined by economic crisis

Both the country’s president and the man who would replace him agree the election would be determined by the cost-of-living struggle

Turkish President Recip Tayyip Erdogan. (Murat Kaynak/Andalou Agency)

Is the triumphant victory for Tayyip Erdogan a defeat for the West?

Despite the sultan of Istanbul being at the helm of power for 20 years and counting, he managed to come through in a heavily contested general election of 2023

Last Wednesday, the ruling All Progressives Congress candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, was declared winner of the Nigerian presidential election.  (Photo by Emmanuel Osodi/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Bola Tinubu is Nigeria’s new president. Now what?

Nigerian reporters and analysts give their view of Tinubu and what his presidency will bring

DA leader John Steenhuisen. Photo: (Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)

Burned by its 2019 ‘woke’ experiment, the DA is unlikely to follow the same path leading up to 2024

The party believes it has been able to ‘self-correct’ after alienating white voters in the previous national and provincial elections

Parliament in Cape Town. Photo: Supplied

State of the Nation: Pomp, pageantry and irrelevance

South Africa need not accept a political culture that offers up leaders who are out of touch with the nation’s realities

Abortion rights activists march during a pro-choice protest following the overturn of Roe v. Wade in Washington, DC on October 8, 2022. (Photo by Nathan Posner/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

In the US, 2022 was a year of right-wing attacks. What lies ahead?

It’s a rocky road to a functional democratic future for the United States, but fighting injustice is a long-term task

Former president Thabo Mbeki with his then-deputy Jacob Zuma in 2005.

Campaigns hold a mirror to the ANC

A credible campaign is one that involves the essence of the ANC and individual character

Repression: Zanu-PF supporters attack people at a rally, while Citizens Coalition for Change supporters make their message clear. Photos: Jekesai Njisana/AFP & Zinyange Auntony/AFP

Calls for Zimbabwe to deal with atrocities and intimidation before 2023 elections

Continuing murders, detention and intimidation will result in elections not being free and fair