Boniface Dulani

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Ugandans wait to vote in the presidential election in Kampala, Uganda. (Jerome Delay/AP)

MundoÁfrica

At his first inauguration in 1986, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni famously blamed Africa’s problems on leaders who stay in power for too long. Thirty-five years later, he’s settling into his sixth term in office.

Museveni is just one of many African presidents who have maintained their hold on power by circumventing, modifying or eliminating constitutional clauses limiting presidents to a maximum of two terms. Just last year, Alpha Condé of Guinea and Alassane Ouattara of Côte d’Ivoire followed the well-trodden trail blazed by Azali Assoumani of the Comoros, Paul Kagame of Rwanda, Paul Biya of Cameroon, Denis Sassou Nguesso of the Republic of Congo and Ismail Guelleh of Djibouti, among others.…  Seguir leyendo »

Electoral officials and political party monitors close ballot boxes at the end of voting during Malawi’s presidential election on Tuesday. Malawians returned to the polls for the second time in just over a year after the Constitutional Court in February ruled the May 2019 vote was fraught with “grave and widespread irregularities.” (Amos Gumulira/AFP/Getty Images)

MundoÁfrica,

Millions of Malawians cast their vote to elect a new president in Tuesday’s historic election. This was a do-over election ordered by Malawi’s Constitutional Court, which ruled in February to overturn the May 2019 presidential elections and bring about fresh polling.

Incumbent president Peter Mutharika of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lost to Lazarus Chakwera of the Malawi Congress Party (MCP), the party that ruled during the dictatorship from 1964 to 1994.

Mutharika received only 39.4 percent of the vote while Chakwera received 58.6 percent — a majority of the vote, which rules out the need for a runoff election.…  Seguir leyendo »

A tribal chief in Malawi has become an idol for hundreds of girls for her courage to break up more than 800 child marriages to send girls back to school. (Reuters)

MundoÁfricaReflexionesSocial, ,

The #MeToo movement has helped create a global spotlight on campaigns to end sexual harassment and assault, human trafficking and child marriage. These movements add to a growing emphasis on girls’ rights, highlighted by the recent trip of first lady Melania Trump to Africa — including a stop in Malawi, where she brought attention to children’s welfare.

But we find in our research that human rights campaigns can actually make child marriage worse. These efforts can backfire, causing decreased support for banning child marriage.

How we did our research

We conducted a survey experiment in Malawi in 2016 with a team of researchers at the Program on Governance and Local Development (GLD).…  Seguir leyendo »

Figure 2: Political regime preferences | Zambia | 1999-2017 The Afrobarometer survey asked respondents whether they approved or disapproved of single-party rule, military rule, and dictatorship, then asked their opinion on democracy as a form of government. Data: Afrobarometer.

MundoÁfrica

For 25 years, Zambia helped set the pace toward democratic consolidation in Africa. The country was quick to transition to a multiparty system, held six competitive elections and saw peaceful shifts of ruling parties. Based on past surveys, Zambians express among the longest and strongest attachments to the principles of democracy of people anywhere in Africa.

The past year, however, has seen authoritarian backsliding, marked by a government crackdown on free speech and the press. Since August 2016 elections marred by violent demonstrations, the opposition leader has been jailed, opposition members of Parliament have been banished, and a state of emergency has suspended civil liberties and granted the police increased powers of arrest and detention.…  Seguir leyendo »