Africanist Scholars’ Forum

Preamble On the morning of December 7, 2025, there were reports of gunfire at the Beninese Presidential Palace in Cotonou, the state capital. This was subsequently described as an attempted military takeover that sent shockwaves across the ECOWAS region, which has been plagued by several coups in recent years. With the breakaway of the Alliance […]

Preamble On March 17, 2025, an airstrike was launched by the South Sudanese Airforce in the Nasir County killing about 19 persons as hostilities intensified between the South Sudan People’s Defense Forces (SSPDF) and the White Army militia comprising locals from the region. The strike, as proposed by some analysts, was a retaliatory one in

Preamble The launch of Operation Rising Lion by Israel on June 13, 2025, through an attack on Iran’s military and nuclear sites in Isfahan and Natanz, rattled the global peace and security architecture as the Middle East again witnessed several fatal bouts during a 12-Day War. This action followed a resolution of the International Atomic

Preamble The letter to erstwhile President Filipe Nyusi and the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique’s (FRELIMO) then Secretary-General, Mr Daniel Chapo, written by one of the five surviving foundation members of the party, former Minister of Health, Mr Helder Martins, detailed FRELIMO’s role in the current political crises bedevilling their country. He noted that

Preamble The 2024 Africa Barometer on Women’s political participation (WPP) as developed by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International Idea) indicated a one percent progress in the last three years regarding the participation of African women in politics within the continent. At this rate, it implies that it will take at least

Preamble The upcoming presidential elections in the United States (US), slated for November 2024, has dominated the global media space due to the important role of the country in world politics. This is especially so considering the fact that its democratic system is considered a template for building prosperous and stable polities. Nonetheless, the current

Preamble The recent regime change in South Africa, a country which practices constitutional democracy across the national, provincial and local tiers of government (each with its own executive and legislative arm; alongside and independent judiciary), generated a lot of interests based on the perceived need for a political change; which some commentators consider as necessary

Preamble The declaration by the Constitutional Council of Senegal, a country considered to be one of the stable democracies in Africa, that the postponement of the presidential election by President Macky Sall was illegal reflects how political processes have been impugned on the continent. According to reports, the president had issued a decree to postpone

Preamble The resurgence of hostilities in the Middle-East was triggered by the attack on Israel, which was perpetrated by members of the Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiya (Islamic Resistant Movement – Hamas) on October 7, 2023. The perpetrators had invaded some Israeli communities located in the southern border that was adjoining Gaza. During the attacks, there were

Preamble The recent spate of military coups in Africa has again brought the lingering question of governance into fresh perspectives with a total number of 9 coups recorded in the Sahel, West and Central Africa in just about 3 years. Perhaps, what is more worrisome is the perception that the masses seem to endorse the