West Africa Archive

Editor’s Note: Every Friday, Andrew Green curates the top news and analysis from and about the African continent. Somalia’s Parliament voted overwhelmingly to remove Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire in a no-confidence vote last Saturday, citing his failure to prepare the country for democratic elections by early next year. The surprise move, which was supported by 170 of Parliament’s 178 lawmakers, follows Khaire’s dispute with President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed over the timing of national elections. Though preparations have been delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing insecurity in Somalia, Khaire was pushing for the vote to take place by early […]

Editor’s Note: Every Friday, Andrew Green curates the top news and analysis from and about the African continent. Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa appears to be using COVID-19 restrictions as cover for a growing crackdown on regime critics, even as his administration mismanages efforts to provide relief to people suffering under lockdown measures in response to the pandemic. In the latest of a string of arrests of politicians and activists, security forces this week detained a prominent investigative journalist, Hopewell Chin’ono, and opposition politician Jacob Ngarivhume, who heads the small Transform Zimbabwe party. The two are accused of organizing nationwide, anti-government […]

Editor’s Note: Every Friday, Andrew Green curates the top news and analysis from and about the African continent. President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita’s hold on power in Mali appears to be slipping as he struggles to quell rising protests over perceived corruption, contested parliamentary elections and his administration’s failure to suppress a years-long jihadist insurgency. A new coalition of the political opposition and civil society groups, led by an influential Muslim cleric, Mahmoud Dicko, began organizing the demonstrations last month in the capital, Bamako. The protests have grown increasingly violent, culminating in three days of clashes between demonstrators and security forces […]

Editor’s Note: Every Friday, Andrew Green curates the top news and analysis from and about the African continent. The violent demonstrations that followed the killing of popular Ethiopian singer Hachalu Hundessa in Addis Ababa last week have left at least 239 people dead and led to thousands of political arrests. Hachalu’s Oromo community, Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group, is now bracing for a broader political crackdown as Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s administration attempts to forestall additional violence. Hachalu gained fame for his protest songs, which gave voice to the feelings of political and economic marginalization among the Oromo, and he helped […]