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For the NGO Vanguard Africa, Tanzania is headed toward an election with a "foregone conclusion".
"Tanzanians regularly voice frustration with elections that do not meaningfully allow citizens to hold political elites accountable. No one seems to be listening," it wrote on social media.
Tundu Lissu had been scheduled to travel to Washington this week “to discuss the upcoming elections and need for international support for a free and fair process”, according to Jeffrey Smith, founder of pro-democracy advocacy firm Vanguard Africa and a registered lobbyist for Lissu since 2019.
“In today’s #Tanzania, calling for electoral reforms and demanding free and fair elections is tantamount to treason,” Smith said on X. “@TunduALissu survived an assassination attempt in 2017 and he’ll survive this too. Such criminal treatment of the opposition is deplorable.”
Bazoum’s supporters have launched a global campaign for the 65-year-old’s release as they worry he and his wife are being forgotten. “They’re being used as hostages, as human shields, for their captors, who actually rule from the same palace,” Jeffrey Smith, executive director of advocacy group Vanguard Africa, told Semafor, urging world leaders to call for their release.
Never before have people had access to such a wide range of news sources. There are, however, exceptions, particularly in parts of Africa where Voice of America covers smaller countries and contested elections that are often ignored. Its publicity can play a role in protecting opposition politicians and activists. “In shining a spotlight on individual leaders, VOA helps to add a layer of security for them,” says Jeffrey Smith, of Vanguard Africa, a pro-democracy outfit based in Washington. “It lets leaders of oppressive governments know that the world — and that Washington in particular — is paying attention.”
Jeffrey Smith, a long-time observer of the Congolese conflict, whose firm, Vanguard Africa, notably advocates for former presidential candidate Martin Fayulu, says efforts to resolve the conflict '“definitely need leadership.” “It seems as if leaders on the continent are either unwilling or unable to do so. For a long time, Kagame has been left to do as he pleases, even as he has destabilized eastern Congo for a generation now … The fulcrum, however, has shifted toward being outwardly critical of Kigali and their involvement in regional wars.”
Without adequate pressure and sanctions from Washington, there is little indication that Kigali will withdraw from Congo or cease its direct, long-running support for the M23, Jeffrey Smith, the founding director of pro-democracy group Vanguard Africa, tells The Africa Report. “Kagame grows in strength and becomes more emboldened when he is allowed to actwith impunity , as is the case today ,” says Smith.
Jeffrey Smith, a pro-democracy campaigner and founder of Vanguard Africa, argues that Washington’s policies toward Rwanda remain largely unchanged. They rely on an outdated narrative that ignores the country’s authoritarianism. Smith suggests that these decisions stem from a lack of creativity and a limited understanding of regional dynamics.
The leaderless Gen Z protest movements are both a product of necessity and a natural evolution, says Jeffrey Smith, director of the pro-democracy nonprofit, Vanguard Africa. ... Smith praises the wave of leaderless protests, citing Kenya, where the “typical state brutality directed at protesters has failed to thwart or otherwise deter the real momentum for change” . The organic yearning for reform goes well beyond a particular leader or group of individuals at the top, he adds.
