August 29, 2022

A weekly review of news and analysis of elections in Africa, usually posted on Mondays and occasionally updated throughout the week.

The Fortaleza de São Miguel, built in 1576, and the skyline of Luanda, Angola. Photo credit: Wikimedia/David Stanley (CC BY 2.0)

Upcoming Africa Elections

Somaliland Presidential Election: November 13, 2022

Mohamed Dhaysane, Voice of America (August 25, 2022): Attacks Increase Against Somaliland Media

Nigeria General Elections: February 18, 2023

Uche Igwe, Observer Research Foundation (August 24, 2022): Nigeria’s worsening security situation may jeopardise the 2023 elections

Reuters (August 24, 2022): Insecurity: 2023 elections may not hold, political parties council warns

Zimbabwe General Elections: July 2023

Jeffrey Moyo, Mail and Guardian (August 30, 2022): Rise in attacks on journalists and opposition activists in Zimbabwe ahead of elections

Kitsepile Nyathi, The East African (August 26, 2022): Four Zimbabwean journalists attacked as political violence escalates

Privilege Musvanhiri and Annabelle Steffes-Halmer, DW (August 24, 2022): Author and activist Tsitsi Dangarembga’s trial reflects repression in Zimbabwe

Democratic Republic of the Congo Presidential and Legislative Elections: December 2023 (due)

Anna Sylvestre-Treiner, The Africa Report (August 26, 2022): DRC: Is Félix Tshisekedi standing all alone in 2023?

South Africa General Elections: May 2024

Antony Sguazzin, Bloomberg (August 29, 2022): South Africa’s Ruling ANC to Win 2024 Vote Even as City Support Plunges, Survey Shows

Ray Mwareya, The Africa Report (August 26, 2022): South Africa: Shock poll shows ANC heading towards 2024 coalition

Chad Elections: TBD, following coup

Africanews with AFP (August 29, 2022): Chad’s “National Dialogue”: election of presidium members stormy

AFP (August 27, 2022): Chad Rebels Say Killed 10 Soldiers, Government Denies Claim

Helga Dickow, The Conversation (August 25, 2022): Chad is making a huge effort to find peace: Chadians aren’t convinced it will work

Past Africa Elections

Angola General Elections: August 24, 2022

AP (August 30, 2022): Angolan opposition UNITA rejects ruling party’s election win: Angola’s opposition party has filed a complaint against the election victory of the ruling MPLA party in which President Joao Lourenco won a second term and the party got a reduced majority in the legislature

Stephanie Busari and Nimi Princewill, CNN, (August 29, 2022): Angola’s ruling party extends 47-year streak with election win

BBC (August 29, 2022): Angola election: The MPLA defeats Unita in closest-ever election

Gabriele Steinhauser, Wall Street Journal (August 25, 2022): Angola’s Debt to China Looms as Nation Holds Tight Elections: Vote in sub-Saharan Africa’s second-largest oil-producing country could challenge nearly five decades of one-party rule

Kenya General Elections: August 9, 2022

Duncan Miriri, Reuters (August 30, 2022): Kenya’s top court to rule on hacking allegations, votes disparity in election dispute

Juma Majanga, Voice of America (August 30, 2022): Experts: Challenges to Kenya Presidential Poll Results Have Improved Election Integrity

Faustine Ngila, Quartz Africa (August 26, 2022): Court petitions allege hackers manipulated Kenya’s presidential poll results

Agnes Aineah, Association for Catholic Information in Africa (August 25, 2022): Catholic Church in Kenya Urged to Address “entrenched” Tribalism Influencing Elections

The Diplomat (August 25, 2022): What Kenya’s Presidential Election Means for China’s Belt and Road Initiative: The country’s president-elect has promised to review and renegotiate the opaque BRI contracts brokered by the previous government.

Nic Cheeseman, The Elephant (August 24, 2022): Four Reasons Why Raila Odinga Struggled in the 2022 Kenyan Elections

Washington Post (August 24, 2022): Why did Kenyans elect Ruto as president? What looks superficially like a normal election was filled with contradictions, intrigue, double-crossing and surprise shifts in ethnic loyalties

The Guardian (August 24, 2022): Kenya elections bring new wave of female leaders to the fore: Record win for women is a cause for celebration as acrimony over the presidency continues

Regional Analysis

Antony Sguazzin, Bloomberg (August 26, 2022): Next Africa: Is the Shine Fading for the Liberation Parties?

Shola Lawal, Coda Story (August 25, 2022): Russian trolls and mercenaries win allies and good will in Africa: As French troops leave Mali to jeers, the West fears that it is leaving a vacuum that the Kremlin is eager and ready to fill

Phillip van Niekerk, Daily Maverick (August 25, 2022): Wagner Group: Putin’s grim reapers giving mercenaries a bad name, now embedded in Africa

Africa Elections Coming Up in 2022 and 2023

Sao Tome and Principe Legislative Elections: September 25, 2022

Lesotho Parliamentary Elections: October 7, 2022

Central African Republic Local Elections: September 2022 (delayed – no new date set)

Somaliland Presidential Election: November 13, 2022

Equatorial Guinea Legislative and Local Elections: November 2022 (due)

Guinea-Bissau Snap Parliamentary Elections: December 18, 2022

Nigeria General Elections: February 18, 2023

Djibouti Legislative Elections: February 2023

Nigeria Gubernatorial Elections in Most States: March 2023 (due)

South Sudan General Elections: By March 2023 (tentative)

Sierra Leone Presidential Election: June 24, 2023

Zimbabwe General Elections: July 2023

Eswatini Parliamentary Elections: August 2023 (due)

Gabon Presidential Election: August 2023 (due)

Mauritania Parliamentary Elections: September 2023 (due)

Gabon Legislative Elections: October 2023 (due)

Liberia Presidential and Legislative Elections: October 2023 (due)

Nigeria, Gubernatorial Elections in Kogi and Bayelsa States: November 2023 (due)

Madagascar Presidential Election: November 2023 (due)

Democratic Republic of the Congo Presidential and Legislative Elections: December 2023 (due)

Togo Legislative and Regional Elections: December 2023 (due)

Côte d’Ivoire Local Elections: 2023

Mali Presidential and Legislative Elections: TBD, following coup

Chad General Elections: TBD, following coup

Burkina Faso Elections: TBD, following coup

Guinea Elections: TBD, following coup

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