With a fourth presidential term secured in 2020, Togo’s authoritarian president, Faure Gnassingbe, now has increasingly free reign to clamp down on the country’s political opposition, media and civil society. He is also inspiring other would-be autocrats across the region, writes activist Farida Nabourema.

At Vanguard Africa, we have found that elevating the profile of an activist or a political leader adds an additional layer of personal security. For Bobi Wine, this strategy has worked so far. But it is clearly not enough, writes our founding director Jeffrey Smith. More needs to be done to hold the military regime of General Museveni accountable.

In this special edition of Africa Watch, Cameroonian journalist Mimi Mefo looks at issues of electoral fraud and post-election violence — issues that are often associated with countries in Africa and ‘third world’ nations. However, as Americans head to the polls, President Trump has indicated that these ills are indeed features of the current U.S. system. How does that affect America’s standing as a global champion of democracy?

The situation in Tanzania has moved from bad to worse under President John Magufuli. As an intelligence officer, I participated in the 1995, 2000 and 2005 elections. We were deeply involved in rigging those elections. Now, the same scenario is playing out ahead of Wednesday’s vote.

During the ongoing deadly conflict in Cameroon, women bear the brunt. Journalist Comfort Mussa writes on the exhaustion of covering the daily tragedies, the threats against journalists that have now become normalized, and the emotional toll that the war has taken on Cameroonians.

“The belief that politics is simply for politicians and elites alone has contributed to the dire state of Tanzania,” writes activist Mwanahamisi Singano. “The massive disconnect between the people and our politics is real. And it is a weakness that the ruling party has used effectively to its sole advantage.”

The Government of Cameroon may hold the ignominious distinction of holding the record for the most lobbying and PR contracts terminated in recent memory. However, those inclined to prioritize profit over principle are legion in Washington, DC, and that is unlikely to end anytime soon.

The lessons of history are readily available to all of us as Zimbabweans. These acts of supposed goodwill by an incompetent, repressive and corrupt government will not change the grim reality for the majority of Zimbabweans.

Regional leaders have a key role to play in ensuring a peaceful and workable solution to the crisis in Mali. However, they must listen to and include the concerns of ordinary Malians — their voices bring credibility to the process and will help ensure a sustainable peace.

The failure of Somalia to thus far achieve a 30% quota for women’s representation in parliament has its roots in the fact that it’s been a mere political commitment, not a constitutionally binding one. It is time for democrats across Somalia and for the country’s international backers to speak up and demand necessary reform.

The mistreatment and torture of dissident Fouad Youssouf Ali and the arrest of local journalist Kassim Nouh Abar have thrust Djibouti into the spotlight for all of the wrong reasons, once again. Global media attention is one key way in which to hold the country’s long-ruling dictator accountable.

Operating since 2006, the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights is the outcome of a long-fought battle by civil society activists to create a judicial body that will protect the rights of Africa’s most vulnerable citizens. Its standing and legitimacy, however, is coming under increasing attack by the continent’s selfish leaders.

Over the past week, the assaults, torture and arrests of women activists and critics in Africa — in Zimbabwe, Uganda and Egypt — shine a spotlight on an epidemic with roots much deeper than the novel coronavirus.

In Burundi, there are many unresolved concerns a day before a major election. Nevertheless, citizens head to the polls, with hope and a sense of fear, to end the often bloody and violent regime of Pierre Nkurunziza.

What is needed in Zimbabwe today, now more than ever, is a cohesive and peaceful resistance to counter the state repression that is being forcefully implemented by President Mnangagwa with the aid of Western lobby and PR firms.

The coronavirus pandemic has provided authoritarian leaders across Africa an ironclad excuse to tighten their grips on power, all while the world’s attention in diverted.

As leaders in the rest of the world, including our immediate neighbors, were advocating social distancing, our president was encouraging mass religious congregations as an antidote to the coronavirus. This represented only the beginning of the farce now unfolding in Tanzania.

What matters is that our dignity and our rights be respected during this time, no matter what. And that our sense of solidarity and of being in this all together lives in.

After narrowly winning the now cancelled election of 2019, incumbent President Peter Mutharika – who has been routinely called out for increasing repression in the country – is preparing to rig another vote in his favor.

One year from today, on 20 March 2021, citizens in the Republic of Congo will again head to the polls. We implore world powers, and global activists and citizens alike, to help elevate critical pro-democracy voices. Do not allow another fundamentally marred election take place.