November 11, 2024
A weekly review of news and analysis of elections in Africa, usually posted on Mondays and occasionally updated throughout the week.
The Hargeisa War Memorial in Hargeisa, capital of Somaliland, commemorating the 1988 war of independence, as it was in 2012. Photo credit: Wikimedia/joepyrek (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Upcoming Africa Elections
Somaliland Presidential Election: November 13, 2024
Voice of America (November 11, 2024): Somaliland prepares for presidential polls amid regional tension
Simon Valmary, AFP (November 10, 2024): A Riot Of Colour: Somaliland’s Chameleon Election Campaign
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.
Alice Chancellor, Barrons (November 11, 2024): Senegal Grapples With Floods, Economy Ahead Of Parliamentary Elections
Wahany Johnson Sambou, Africanews (November 11, 2024): Campaigning heats up in Senegal ahead of snap legislative elections
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.
Khalifa Said, The Chanzo (November 9, 2024): Tanzania: Hopes for Free and Fair Elections Dwindle As President Samia’s Promised Reforms Hit a Snag
Ghana Presidential and Legislative Elections: December 7, 2024
Ghana is often cited as a success story for democratic transition. The two main political parties, the center-right New Patriotic Party (NPP) and center-left National Democratic Congress (NDC), have alternated stints in power since Ghana began holding multiparty elections. Moreover, although each party has bases of support in certain regions or ethnic groups, the parties define themselves by ideology and campaign on issues.
However, concerns have recently emerged about creeping authoritarianism and the risk of violent extremism and destabilization.
Maxwell Akalaare Adombila, Reuters (November 11, 2024): Main Ghana opposition leader tipped to win presidential vote, poll shows
Damian Zane, BBC (November 11, 2024): Gold, prices, and jobs: What’s at stake in Ghana’s elections?
Ken Mensah, The Africa Report (November 11, 2024): Ghana elections: What are the five key issues?
AFP (November 8, 2024): Ghana parliament adjourned indefinitely again, as government MPs boycott
Wycliffe Muia, BBC (November 7, 2024): Uproar in Ghana after president unveils his own statue
Cameroon General Elections: Due in 2025, delayed to 2026
Ngala Killian Chimtom, Crux (November 5, 2024): Cameroon archbishop urges ageing leaders to step aside for a new generation
South Sudan General Elections: December 22, 2026 (delayed yet again, this time from December 2024)
Binto Bali, International IDEA (November 11, 2024): South Sudan’s Electoral Dilemma: What Lies Ahead?
Steven C. Roach, The Conversation (November 8, 2024): Salva Kiir: South Sudan’s president fought for independence, but then fuelled division, violence and corruption
UN News (November 7, 2024): South Sudan: Postponing long-awaited elections ‘a regrettable development’
Equatorial Guinea General Elections: 2029 (due)
Ines Silva and Damian Zane, BBC (November 10, 2024): Massive sex tape leak could be a ploy for power in central Africa
Past 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.
Danai Nesta Kupemba and Yasine Mohabuth, BBC (November 11, 2024): Mauritius prime minister accepts ‘huge defeat’ in election
Shola Lawal, Al Jazeera (November 10, 2024): Mauritius election 2024: Amid wiretapping scandal, what’s at stake?
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.
Emilia Columbo, World Politics Review (November 8, 2024): Mozambique’s Post-Election Protests Signal a New Political Landscape
Reuters (November 8, 2024): Three killed, 66 injured in Mozambique opposition protest, hospital says
Martina Schwikowski, DW (November 7, 2024): Mozambique government faces protests over election result
Gerald Imray, AP (November 7, 2024): Why Mozambique’s election has sparked weeks of protests and a violent crackdown by police
Mogomotsi Magome, AP (November 7, 2024): South Africa closes its border again with Mozambique, where post-election violence worsens
Paula Cristina Roque, African Arguments (November 7, 2024): Mozambique: A revolution born in the search for electoral justice
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.
Al Jazeera (November 8, 2024): Botswana swears in Duma Boko as new president
Sello Motseta, AP (November 8, 2024): Thousands turn out for inauguration of Botswana’s new president, who calls for unity
David Sebudubudu, The Conversation (November 6, 2024): Botswana’s new president: who is Duma Boko and what does he stand for?
Nosmot Gbadamosi, Foreign Policy (November 6, 2024): Young Voters Oust Botswana’s Ruling Party
Jonathan Moakes, Daily Maverick (November 6, 2024): Botswana was a real change election and a textbook case for politicians across Africa
Regional Analysis
Nic Cheeseman, Mail&Guardian (November 11, 2024): The beginning of the end of the liberation party era
Elections On Deck
Africa
Leave a Comment
Posted: November 13, 2024 by 21votes
November 11, 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
Somaliland Presidential Election: November 13, 2024
Voice of America (November 11, 2024): Somaliland prepares for presidential polls amid regional tension
Simon Valmary, AFP (November 10, 2024): A Riot Of Colour: Somaliland’s Chameleon Election Campaign
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.
Alice Chancellor, Barrons (November 11, 2024): Senegal Grapples With Floods, Economy Ahead Of Parliamentary Elections
Wahany Johnson Sambou, Africanews (November 11, 2024): Campaigning heats up in Senegal ahead of snap legislative elections
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.
Khalifa Said, The Chanzo (November 9, 2024): Tanzania: Hopes for Free and Fair Elections Dwindle As President Samia’s Promised Reforms Hit a Snag
Ghana Presidential and Legislative Elections: December 7, 2024
Ghana is often cited as a success story for democratic transition. The two main political parties, the center-right New Patriotic Party (NPP) and center-left National Democratic Congress (NDC), have alternated stints in power since Ghana began holding multiparty elections. Moreover, although each party has bases of support in certain regions or ethnic groups, the parties define themselves by ideology and campaign on issues.
However, concerns have recently emerged about creeping authoritarianism and the risk of violent extremism and destabilization.
Maxwell Akalaare Adombila, Reuters (November 11, 2024): Main Ghana opposition leader tipped to win presidential vote, poll shows
Damian Zane, BBC (November 11, 2024): Gold, prices, and jobs: What’s at stake in Ghana’s elections?
Ken Mensah, The Africa Report (November 11, 2024): Ghana elections: What are the five key issues?
AFP (November 8, 2024): Ghana parliament adjourned indefinitely again, as government MPs boycott
Wycliffe Muia, BBC (November 7, 2024): Uproar in Ghana after president unveils his own statue
Cameroon General Elections: Due in 2025, delayed to 2026
Ngala Killian Chimtom, Crux (November 5, 2024): Cameroon archbishop urges ageing leaders to step aside for a new generation
South Sudan General Elections: December 22, 2026 (delayed yet again, this time from December 2024)
Binto Bali, International IDEA (November 11, 2024): South Sudan’s Electoral Dilemma: What Lies Ahead?
Steven C. Roach, The Conversation (November 8, 2024): Salva Kiir: South Sudan’s president fought for independence, but then fuelled division, violence and corruption
UN News (November 7, 2024): South Sudan: Postponing long-awaited elections ‘a regrettable development’
Equatorial Guinea General Elections: 2029 (due)
Ines Silva and Damian Zane, BBC (November 10, 2024): Massive sex tape leak could be a ploy for power in central Africa
Past 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.
Danai Nesta Kupemba and Yasine Mohabuth, BBC (November 11, 2024): Mauritius prime minister accepts ‘huge defeat’ in election
Shola Lawal, Al Jazeera (November 10, 2024): Mauritius election 2024: Amid wiretapping scandal, what’s at stake?
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.
Emilia Columbo, World Politics Review (November 8, 2024): Mozambique’s Post-Election Protests Signal a New Political Landscape
Reuters (November 8, 2024): Three killed, 66 injured in Mozambique opposition protest, hospital says
Martina Schwikowski, DW (November 7, 2024): Mozambique government faces protests over election result
Gerald Imray, AP (November 7, 2024): Why Mozambique’s election has sparked weeks of protests and a violent crackdown by police
Mogomotsi Magome, AP (November 7, 2024): South Africa closes its border again with Mozambique, where post-election violence worsens
Paula Cristina Roque, African Arguments (November 7, 2024): Mozambique: A revolution born in the search for electoral justice
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.
Al Jazeera (November 8, 2024): Botswana swears in Duma Boko as new president
Sello Motseta, AP (November 8, 2024): Thousands turn out for inauguration of Botswana’s new president, who calls for unity
David Sebudubudu, The Conversation (November 6, 2024): Botswana’s new president: who is Duma Boko and what does he stand for?
Nosmot Gbadamosi, Foreign Policy (November 6, 2024): Young Voters Oust Botswana’s Ruling Party
Jonathan Moakes, Daily Maverick (November 6, 2024): Botswana was a real change election and a textbook case for politicians across Africa
Regional Analysis
Nic Cheeseman, Mail&Guardian (November 11, 2024): The beginning of the end of the liberation party era
Elections On Deck
Category: This Week Tags: Botswana, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, Mauritius, Mozambique, South Sudan