Protests and clashes likely just the start of political unrest in Kenya →

in

Kenya’s national elections are more than a year away, but political tensions are already rising. Starting in late April, the main political opposition group began organizing a near-weekly protest against the commission charged with organizing the vote. It has accused the commission’s members of being in the pocket of President Uhuru Kenyatta, who is set to stand for a second term. The recent demonstrations have consistently been met with widespread police brutality; at least three protesters were killed during the latest incident late last month.

Following those deaths, Kenyatta’s government and the opposition have started negotiations, and future demonstrations have been temporarily suspended. Even if they reach a compromise on this issue, though, there is every reason to suspect it is only the first in what promises to be a year of political clashes. Whether those battles tip over into further physical violence is up to the country’s leaders. Read more.

Kenya tries to stifle any criticism of its fight against al-Shabab →

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With a devastating attack last month on an army base in southwestern Somalia housing Kenyan soldiers, the militant group al-Shabab once again signaled its strength, despite the years-long regional effort to wipe it out. Dozens of Kenyan soldiers were slaughtered in the assault, which raised questions about Nairobi’s role in the ongoing campaign against the Islamic extremists. But Kenya President Uhuru Kenyatta insists his government is committed to vanquishing al-Shabab—even as it does everything it can to silence any domestic debate over Kenya’s continued involvement in that effort. Read more.

Uganda's election worries Museveni camp more than it will admit →

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Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni is treating his country’s election later this month as a coronation, not a contest, happy to cultivate the impression that the five-year extension to his already 30-year rule is all but a done deal. But the arrest this past weekend of a prominent general turned regime critic is the latest sign that Museveni’s camp is more worried about the vote—and its aftermath—than they are letting on. Read more.

South Sudan unexpectedly drives Uganda and Sudan's détente →

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When Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni took a surprise mid-September trip to Khartoum to meet his Sudanese counterpart, Omar al-Bashir, it solidified the unexpected rapprochement in what had been one of Africa’s thorniest relationships. Two of the continent’s longest-serving leaders, Museveni and Bashir have spent much of the past two decades sniping at one another publicly as each secretly worked to destabilize the other’s government. Read more.

Can South Sudan's leaders get peace right the second time? →

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When South Sudan’s president, Salva Kiir, inked a new agreement in late August to end his country’s 20-month conflict, he seemed to be following a pattern the two warring sides had set in reaching or recommitting to an earlier deal to cease hostilities: Temporarily stave off international and regional pressure by signing, then allow it to collapse under the weight of continued fighting. True to form, clashes have continued into September, with each side accusing the other of attacks. Read more.

Uganda's Museveni succeeds where others fail in eluding term limits →

in

Burundi’s Pierre Nkurunziza and other presidents trying to subvert term limits could all take a lesson from their neighbor, Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni. Having disposed of term limits a decade ago, Museveni is set to run for his fifth term next year, in a campaign that seems as much a coronation as a contest. Read more.