Africanist Scholars’ Forum

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

Preamble The eruption of violence on April 15, 2023, in Sudan between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has resulted in dire humanitarian crises with reports of about 600 civilian fatalities and more than 5,000 injured persons within the first three weeks of the conflicts. A June 2023 report of

Preamble Nigeria’s current electoral cycle drew global attention on February 25 as citizens of the continent’s most populous nation went to the polls with much enthusiasm in order to determine the fate of the country for the next four years; by electing the 5th president and members of the 10th National Assembly since the return

Preamble On September 16, 2022, the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini while in police custody drew the attention of the world to Tehran, Iran’s capital. The incident sparked demonstrations across the nation as people marched in the streets to protest against police brutality and state suppression. Mahsa had been a victim of body-policing three days