November 4, 2024
A weekly review of news and analysis of elections in Africa, usually posted on Mondays and occasionally updated throughout the week.
A street in Bissau, capital city of Guinea-Bissau. Photo credit: Wikimedia/Colleen Taugher (CC BY 2.0)
Upcoming Africa Elections
Mauritius Parliamentary Elections: November 10, 2024
Mauritius announced its general elections right after Britain announce that it would cede the Chagos Islands, a strategic archipelago in the Indian Ocean that houses the Diego Garcia air base, to Mauritius. Diego Garcia is a key base for both the United Kingdom and the United States. Mauritius has close ties with China, including a free trade agreement inked in 2021.
AP (November 1, 2024): Mauritius suspends access to social media ahead of parliamentary elections
Senegal Snap Legislative Elections: November 17, 2024
For a long time, Senegal was considered a stable democracy, but backsliding and protests riled the tenure of former president Macky Sall, who served until this year and was not eligible to run for a third term. Sall’s chosen successor, Amadou Ba, lost to leftist opposition candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye in this year’s presidential election, which took place in March. Faye is now holding legislative elections to consolidate his hold on power.
A series of oil and gas discoveries starting in 2014 have set Senegal up to become a player in energy production, upping the geopolitical and international economic stakes of Senegal’s politics.
Marwane Ben Yahmed, The Africa Report (November 1, 2024): Opinion: Senegal and the art of democracy
AFP (October 31, 2024): Senegal PM Sonko’s convoy attacked while campaigning for snap polls, party says
Guinea-Bissau Snap Legislative Elections: November 24, 2024 (postponed indefinitely)
AFP (November 4, 2024): Guinea Bissau President postpones elections indefinitely
Namibia Presidential and Legislative Elections: November 27, 2024
Henning Melber, The Conversation (November 4, 2024): Namibia’s game-changing 2024 elections: Swapo might face defeat for the first time since independence in 1990
Tanzania Local Elections: November 27, 2024
Tanzania’s socialist Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party and its predecessors have been in power since 1961. In the 2015 elections, deemed imperfect but credible by observers, CCM’s John Magufuli won the presidency, and subsequently launched a crackdown on the opposition, media, civil society, and the private sector.
Following Magufuli’s death in 2021, the new president, Samia Suluhu Hassan, made some moves to open up the political space. She lifted a ban on opposition rallies and secured the release of Freedman Mbowe, leader of the main opposition Chama Cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (Chadema). However, since then, the government has engaged in repression and arbitrary arrests and assaults of opposition leaders.
Business Insider Africa (November 2, 2024): Tanzania’s election insight: What’s next for Mama Samia?
Agenzia Fides (October 30, 2024): Tanzania: On the Eve of the Local Elections and Before the Parliamentary Elections, the Future of the Country Remains Uncertain
Past Africa Elections
Botswana Presidential, Legislative and Local Elections: October 30, 2024
Botswana is considered to be a strong democracy, rated Free by Freedom House, but the Botswana Democratic Party has been in power since independence from the United Kingdom in 1966. Mokgweetsi Masisi, the incumbent president, was widely considered to be the frontrunner, but in an upset, opposition leader Duma Boko from the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) won the presidency.
Botswana is currently facing economic challenges related to the global decrease in demand for diamonds, a major export.
Le Monde with AFP (November 1, 2024): Botswana’s president concedes defeat after party loss in election
Reuters (November 1, 2024): Botswana’s ruling party loses election, ending 58-year rule
Sello Motseta, AP (November 1, 2024): Seismic change in Botswana as party that ruled for 58 years loses power
Michelle Gavin, Council on Foreign Relations (October 29, 2024): Botswana’s Pivotal Elections
Mozambique Presidential and Legislative Elections: October 9, 2024
Mozambique’s politics have been dominated by FRELIMO, which has been in power since 1975, when Mozambique became independent, and the main opposition RENAMO. The parties evolved from armed groups that fought a civil war between 1976 and 1992 (and have engaged in clashes since then until an August 2019 peace accord). The Soviet Union backed FRELIMO, while Rhodesia and then apartheid South Africa backed RENAMO.
AFP (November 2, 2024): Clashes in Mozambique as police disperse election protests
Shola Lawal, Al Jazeera (October 31, 2024): ‘Ready to die’: Protesters face bullets for political change in Mozambique
Reuters (October 30, 2024): At least 10 shot dead in Mozambique post-election protests, medical associations say
Elections On Deck
Africa This Week: November 4, 2024
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Last Updated: November 13, 2024 by 21votes
November 4, 2024
A weekly review of news and analysis of elections in Africa, usually posted on Mondays and occasionally updated throughout the week.
Upcoming Africa Elections
Mauritius Parliamentary Elections: November 10, 2024
Mauritius announced its general elections right after Britain announce that it would cede the Chagos Islands, a strategic archipelago in the Indian Ocean that houses the Diego Garcia air base, to Mauritius. Diego Garcia is a key base for both the United Kingdom and the United States. Mauritius has close ties with China, including a free trade agreement inked in 2021.
AP (November 1, 2024): Mauritius suspends access to social media ahead of parliamentary elections
Senegal Snap Legislative Elections: November 17, 2024
For a long time, Senegal was considered a stable democracy, but backsliding and protests riled the tenure of former president Macky Sall, who served until this year and was not eligible to run for a third term. Sall’s chosen successor, Amadou Ba, lost to leftist opposition candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye in this year’s presidential election, which took place in March. Faye is now holding legislative elections to consolidate his hold on power.
A series of oil and gas discoveries starting in 2014 have set Senegal up to become a player in energy production, upping the geopolitical and international economic stakes of Senegal’s politics.
Marwane Ben Yahmed, The Africa Report (November 1, 2024): Opinion: Senegal and the art of democracy
AFP (October 31, 2024): Senegal PM Sonko’s convoy attacked while campaigning for snap polls, party says
Guinea-Bissau Snap Legislative Elections: November 24, 2024 (postponed indefinitely)
AFP (November 4, 2024): Guinea Bissau President postpones elections indefinitely
Namibia Presidential and Legislative Elections: November 27, 2024
Henning Melber, The Conversation (November 4, 2024): Namibia’s game-changing 2024 elections: Swapo might face defeat for the first time since independence in 1990
Tanzania Local Elections: November 27, 2024
Tanzania’s socialist Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) party and its predecessors have been in power since 1961. In the 2015 elections, deemed imperfect but credible by observers, CCM’s John Magufuli won the presidency, and subsequently launched a crackdown on the opposition, media, civil society, and the private sector.
Following Magufuli’s death in 2021, the new president, Samia Suluhu Hassan, made some moves to open up the political space. She lifted a ban on opposition rallies and secured the release of Freedman Mbowe, leader of the main opposition Chama Cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (Chadema). However, since then, the government has engaged in repression and arbitrary arrests and assaults of opposition leaders.
Business Insider Africa (November 2, 2024): Tanzania’s election insight: What’s next for Mama Samia?
Agenzia Fides (October 30, 2024): Tanzania: On the Eve of the Local Elections and Before the Parliamentary Elections, the Future of the Country Remains Uncertain
Past Africa Elections
Botswana Presidential, Legislative and Local Elections: October 30, 2024
Botswana is considered to be a strong democracy, rated Free by Freedom House, but the Botswana Democratic Party has been in power since independence from the United Kingdom in 1966. Mokgweetsi Masisi, the incumbent president, was widely considered to be the frontrunner, but in an upset, opposition leader Duma Boko from the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) won the presidency.
Botswana is currently facing economic challenges related to the global decrease in demand for diamonds, a major export.
Le Monde with AFP (November 1, 2024): Botswana’s president concedes defeat after party loss in election
Reuters (November 1, 2024): Botswana’s ruling party loses election, ending 58-year rule
Sello Motseta, AP (November 1, 2024): Seismic change in Botswana as party that ruled for 58 years loses power
Michelle Gavin, Council on Foreign Relations (October 29, 2024): Botswana’s Pivotal Elections
Mozambique Presidential and Legislative Elections: October 9, 2024
Mozambique’s politics have been dominated by FRELIMO, which has been in power since 1975, when Mozambique became independent, and the main opposition RENAMO. The parties evolved from armed groups that fought a civil war between 1976 and 1992 (and have engaged in clashes since then until an August 2019 peace accord). The Soviet Union backed FRELIMO, while Rhodesia and then apartheid South Africa backed RENAMO.
AFP (November 2, 2024): Clashes in Mozambique as police disperse election protests
Shola Lawal, Al Jazeera (October 31, 2024): ‘Ready to die’: Protesters face bullets for political change in Mozambique
Reuters (October 30, 2024): At least 10 shot dead in Mozambique post-election protests, medical associations say
Elections On Deck
Category: This Week Tags: Botswana, Guinea-Bissau, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Senegal, Tanzania