Idasa's executive director Paul Graham has warned that reviving democracy in Africa requires Europe to do the same. At the Netherlands Institute for Multipary Democracy conference held in Brussels earlier this month, Graham spoke of the need to understand the revitalisation of democracy as a global concern, focusing on the challenges that emerge as Europe cooperates with Africa to help us with our democratisation agenda.

Tanzania’s ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi’s stranglehold on power received a major knock in the just-concluded elections. CCM candidate Jakaya Kikwete won the presidential race comfortably with some 61 per cent of the vote. But that in Tanzania amounts to a massive setback in a system where the party candidate is routinely guaranteed close to 90 per cent of the vote and the opposition can barely gather a handful of MPs.

In December of last year, the Institute for Justice and Reconciliation (IJR) hosted a public lecture by Zimbabwean Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai in Cape Town on 'The State of Zimbabwe’s Economy', as well as a dialogue with members of country’s diaspora. Emerging from that dialogue, diaspora members recently launched the Development Foundation for Zimbabwe – ‘a non-profit, non-partisan organisation created and driven by Zimbabweans’. The Foundation aims to ‘provide a platform for constructive engagement between Zimbabweans in the Diaspora and fellow compatriots in the Zimbabwean government, business, civil society and the general public’.

Event: Transitional Justice, Prophetic Role of the Church and the Challenge of Peace in Kenya
Location: Hekima College off James Kagethe Road,
Date: Tues 16 November 2010, 2.00pm – 4.30pm
Speakers: Tom Kagwe, Kenya Human Rights Commission; Dennis Oricho, Nairobi Peace Initiative; Anne Kiprotich, Regional Coordinator TJRC, Rift Valley Region; Fr. Elias O. Opongo, SJ: AFCAST Member & Conflict Analyst
This forum is organised by the African Forum for Catholic Social Teachings (AFCAST) & Jesuit Hakimani Center: Tel: 3597097

As the US rounds up its mid-term elections, Horace Campbell stresses that there must be renewed efforts to organise in response to the country’s right-wing oligarchy and educate people that ‘fighting wars overseas cannot be the basis for economic reconstruction’.

The Liberian president has dismissed her cabinet in a move officials say will provide a 'fresh slate' for the government. No other reason was given for Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf's announcement on Wednesday but it comes amid a crackdown on corruption in the West African state that has led to investigations of some public officials a year ahead of presidential elections.

Nigeria still aims to pass a bill this year that will overhaul its energy industry, but the timing of its next oil licensing round is uncertain, a senior government official said on Thursday. The Petroleum Industry Bill will re-write Nigeria's decades-old relationship with its foreign oil partners, altering everything from the fiscal framework for offshore oil projects to the involvement of indigenous firms in the sector.

A second Tanzanian opposition party criticised the country's presidential and parliamentary electoral process on Thursday as authorities continued releasing results at a snail's pace. Tanzania's National Electoral Commission (NEC) admitted on Wednesday that there could have been irregularities in the vote tallying but said any errors would not influence the final result and rejected calls for a fresh poll.

A deadly animal virus which broke out earlier this year in Tanzania could spread to Southern Africa, threatening the lives of more than 50 million sheep and goats in 15 countries, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has warned. Known as Peste des Petits Ruminants, or small ruminants’ plague (PPR), it is considered the most destructive viral disease affecting small flocks, on par with rinderpest, a deadly cattle plague that has wreaked havoc on agriculture for millennia, resulting in famine and economic destruction.

Ghana has lifted its ban on a business caught smuggling cocoa out of the country, after lobbying by Britain at the request of the company’s owner. As long as African countries are dependent on aid, they will find it hard to refuse the demands of potential donors, muses Cameron Duodu.

South Africa is set to create a US-style development aid agency as it seeks to play a more prominent role as a major donor country in Africa, says International Relations and Co-operation Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane. She made the announcement at a regional heads of mission conference in Nairobi, Kenya during a three-day foreign policy session, Business Day reported on Wednesday.

The excessive use of pretrial detention leads to overcrowded environments where unconvicted detainees are at risk of contracting disease, writes Kersty McCourt. But as disease outbreaks quickly spread to the general public, pretrial detention is not just a human rights problem but also a looming public health crisis.

The country's economy is ‘a poverty machine’ perpetuating and deepening inequalities that ‘threaten the basis of social stability and growth’, writes Andries du Toit. But in re-imagining South Africa’s future, we need to focus on 'the quality of social relations' and not just ‘material issues’.

Faced by high unemployment South Africans are ‘queuing up to be exploited’, writes Mashumi ‘Lindela’ Figlan. But there’s no reason why ‘each and every person cannot have their dignity.’

‘Without mass power, we must all forget about liberating ourselves from the shackles of capitalism and apartheid,’ writes Zwelinzima Vavi, in a memorial lecture for Chris Hani, the South African activist assassinated in 1993.

Nine days after the general elections in Tanzania a panel of experts will discuss the scene on the ground leading up to the elections, the election process itself and the what next for Tanzania.

As election fever sweeps across the continent, Dibussi Tande presents a selection of blog posts on the situation in Cote D’Ivoire, Tanzania and Cameroon, along with a view from Africa on Obama’s US presidency.

In the aftermath of elections in Ekiti State, Uche Igwe looks at what the rest of Nigeria can learn from the experience. Noting civil society and the judiciary's key role in enabling the restoration of John Olukayode Fayemi as executive governor, Igwe argues that a ‘transparent political space’ and a ‘vibrant and mobilised civil society' is all the people need to 'gird their loins’ and vote.

‘In order to go beyond age as a defining feature, there needs to be a framework which accommodates other associated elements that cannot be taken for granted and vary across different situations,’ writes Eyob Balcha. In this piece, Balcha explores how youth is conceptualised, with a focus on the African Youth Charter.

‘Being queer in Nairobi means you have to man-up - or be a woman and a half - to admit, embrace, and live your life with no regrets,’ writes J. Blessol Jr, in an exploration of both the positive and the many negative aspects of queer life in the city.