Elections

East African CommunityPolitics & Policy

US reviews Tanzania ties after election violence

The United States has said it is conducting a comprehensive review of its relationship with Tanzania, citing concerns over religious freedom violations, speech restrictions, and violence surrounding October's disputed elections
A defaced campaign poster of Samia Suluhu Hassan, the president of Tanzania, during the protests that followed her controversial re-election with an overwhelming majority of 98% in early November 2025
East African CommunityPolitics & Policy

Tanzania’s Samia Suluhu Hassan is as repressive as John Magufuli, her predecessor

President Samia Hassan, who is seeking re-election this month, increasingly resembles her predecessor John Magufuli, who banned media, censored journalists, stifled the opposition and rigged elections before his death in 2021
President Samia Suluhu Hassan of the United Republic of Tanzania inspecting the the guard of honour in during a state visit to South Africa in March 2023
Politics & Policy

Bobi Wine’s 2021 bid highlights youth vote challenge—and Museveni’s mastery

Despite widespread “youth wave” optimism, the NRM employed diverse, embedded strategies and tactics to obstruct Bobi Wine’s efforts to build a national youth constituency
Bobi Wine, standing in a car, surrounded by hundreds of supporters in Lira town, 7 September 2023, while on a countrywide tour.
OpinionPolitics & Policy

Kenya’s election should ring alarm bells on digital influence campaigns

Online influencers played a significant role in shaping the outcome of Kenya’s 2022 election, partly by amplifying misleading narratives. African countries preparing for elections should be on guard
Social media networks in one group on an iPhone
Politics & Policy

Idriss Déby, the reformer that wasn’t, leaves a painful legacy

Idriss Déby died from battlefield injuries days before he was to start his sixth term. Chad’s military announced a transition government headed by Déby’s son
Idriss Déby at a conference
Politics & Policy

‘Scientific’ election looks likely to benefit incumbent

Attempts at Uganda’s scientific elections, unless judiciously regulated, will only propagate the usual refrain of electoral malpractices
OpinionPolitics & Policy

Why don’t young people vote? In Uganda, the law doesn’t want them to

The elections take place in January/February 2021. Scores of young voters will be ineligible to vote – despite meeting the age requirement at the time of the election. Considering that over 75% of Uganda’s population is below 30, the implications could be significant
Four young men walking down a road in Kampala
OpinionPolitics & Policy

Zimbabwe’s historic elections: Change, but no change

Both presidential candidates and political parties in Zimbabwe's election promised peace and a new beginning. But, when the chips were down and the votes began to show a familiar trend of Zanu-PF dominance, both parties resorted to old tactics.
Zimbabwean soldiers during 2017 coup against Robert Mugabe
Politics & Policy

Why elections don’t always equal democracy: the case of Kenya

The turn of events in favour of President Kenyatta is not surprising. It suggests that the process of free elections was never intended to help the country democratise. This mirrors events in other seemingly transitioning countries such as Zimbabwe or Senegal