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Ghana becomes record fifth African nation to take over from ruling party this year

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Ghana’s vote brings to an end a remarkable 12 months in African politics, which have seen five transfers of power – more than ever before. This “annus horribilis” for governments has now also brought opposition victories in Botswana, Mauritius, Senegal and the self-declared republic of Somaliland.

Even beyond these results, almost every election held in the region this year under reasonably democratic conditions, has seen the governing party lose a significant number of seats.

This trend has been driven by a combination of factors:

*the economic downturn

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*growing public intolerance of corruption

*and the emergence of increasingly assertive and well-co-ordinated opposition parties.

The trend is likely to continue into 2025, and will cause trouble for leaders such as Malawian President Lazarus Chakwera, whose country goes to the polls in September.

One of the most striking aspect of the elections that have taken place in 2024 is that many have resulted in landslide defeats for governments that have previously appeared to have a strong grip on power – including in countries that have never before experienced a change at the top.

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The Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) that had ruled the country since independence in 1966 was crushed in October’s general elections.

As well as losing power, the BDP went from holding 38 seats in the 69-strong parliament to almost being wiped out.

After winning only four seats, the BDP is now one of the smallest parties in parliament, and faces an uphill battle to remain politically relevant.

There was also a landslide defeat for the governing party in Mauritius in November, where the Alliance Lepep coalition, headed by Pravind Jagnauth of the Militant Socialist Movement, won only 27% of the vote and was reduced to just two seats in parliament.

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With its rival Alliance du Changement sweeping 60 of the 66 seats available, Mauritius has experienced one of the most complete political transformations imaginable.

Senegal and the self-declared republic of Somaliland also saw opposition victories.

In the case of Senegal, the political turnaround was just as striking as in Botswana, albeit in a different way.

Just weeks ahead of the election, the main opposition leaders Bassirou Diomaye Faye and Ousmane Sonko were languishing in jail as the government of President Macky Sall abused its power in a desperate bid to avert defeat.

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After growing domestic and international pressure led to Faye and Sonko being released, Faye went on to win the presidency in the first round of voting, with the government’s candidate winning only 36% of the vote.

Even in cases where governments have not lost, their reputation and political control have been severely dented.

South Africa’s African National Congress (ANC) retained power but only after a bruising campaign that saw it fall below 50% of the vote in a national election for the first time since the end of white-minority rule in 1994.

This forced President Cyril Ramaphosa to enter into a coalition government, giving up 12 cabinet posts to other parties, including powerful positions such as home affairs.

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The recent elections in Namibia told a similar story. Although the ruling party retained power, the opposition has rejected the results and claims the poll was badly manipulated after it was marred by logistical problems and irregularities.

Even with the flaws, the government suffered in the parliamentary election, recording its worst-ever performance, losing 12 of its 63 seats and only just holding on to its parliamentary majority.

As a result, a region that is known more for governments that manage to hold on to power for decades has seen 12 months of vibrant, intensely contested, multiparty politics.

The only exceptions to this have been countries where elections were seen as neither free nor fair, such as Chad and Rwanda, or in which governments were accused by opposition and rights groups of resorting to a combination of rigging and repression to avert defeat, as in Mozambique.

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Three trends have combined to make it a particularly difficult year to be in power.

In Botswana, Mauritius and Senegal, growing citizen concern about corruption and the abuse of power eroded government credibility.

Opposition leaders were then able to play on popular anger at nepotism, economic mismanagement and the failure of leaders to uphold the rule of law to expand their support base.

Especially in Mauritius and Senegal, the party in power also undermined its claim to be a government committed to respecting political rights and civil liberties – a dangerous misstep in countries where the vast majority of citizens are committed to democracy, and which have previously seen opposition victories.

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The perception that governments were mishandling the economy was particularly important because many people experienced a tough year financially.

High food and fuel prices have increased the cost of living for millions of citizens, increasing their frustration with the status quo.

In addition to underpinning some of the government defeats this year, economic anThis is not an African phenomenon, of course, but a global one.

Popular discontent over inflation played a role in the defeat of Rishi Sunak and the Conservative Party in the UK and the victory of Donald Trump and the Republican Party in the United States.

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What was perhaps more distinctive about the transfers of power in Africa this year was the way that opposition parties learned from the past.

In some cases, such as Mauritius, this meant developing new ways to try and protect the vote by ensuring every stage of the electoral process was carefully watched.

In others, it meant forging new coalitions to present the electorate with a united front.

In Botswana, for example, three opposition parties and a number of independent candidates came together under the banner of the Umbrella for Democratic Change to comprehensively out-mobilise the BDP.

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A similar set of trends is likely to make life particularly difficult for leaders that have to go to the polls next year, such as Malawi’s President Chakwera, who is also struggling to overcome rising public anger at the state of the economy.

With the defeat of the NPP in Ghana, Africa has seen five transfers of power in 12 months. The previous record was four opposition victories, which occurred some time ago in 2000.

That so many governments are being given an electoral bloody nose against a backdrop of global democratic decline that has seen a rise in authoritarianism in some regions is particularly striking.

It suggests that Africa has much higher levels of democratic resilience than is often recognised, notwithstanding the number of entrenched authoritarian regimes that continue to exist.

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Civil society groups, opposition parties and citizens themselves have mobilised in large numbers to demand accountability, and punish governments that have failed both economically and democratically.

International governments, organisations, and activists looking for new ways to defend democracy around the world should pay more attention to a region that is often assumed to be an inhospitable environment for multiparty politics, yet has seen more examples of democratic bounce-back than other regions of the world.

BBC

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Why Akpabio Removed Me From Chairmanship Of Senate Committee – Sen Natasha

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The suspended lawmaker representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan has alleged that the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio is against her as a result of the five mini LNG refineries she lobbied for her constituency.

She lamented that while she was working hard to serve her constituency, some people felt she was trying to ridicule them, hence she made lot of enemies.

Akpoti-Uduaghan stated this on Tuesday in Ihima community, Okehi local government area while celebrating Sallah festival with her constituents.

The lawmaker alleged that Akpabio removed her from the chairmanship of the Senate Committee on Local Content because he believed that she was using the committee to promote the North.

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The federal lawmaker, who had been suspended for six months from the Senate for alleged gross misconduct, said no amount of intimidation and persecution would stop or discourage her from serving the people that gave her the mandate to represent them at the National Assembly.

According to her, “My constituents stood on the hot sun on the 28th of February, 2023 you voted for me across party lines to give me your mandate to represent you at the national assembly as a senator.

“The only reason why I had been persecuted so much in the last one month was because I dared the bad corrupt system. I refused to do things the way they usually do politics , I refused to be silent and I used my position as a senator to lobby projects for my constituency.

“But as I worked hard to serve my constituency i made a lot of enemies as some of them felt I am subjecting them to ridicule , my colleagues in the senate confronted me that my empowerment programmes are subjecting them to ridicule in the constituency and I pleaded to them that, that was not my intention.

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“I will never regret doing what I am doing for my constituency. I am being harassed by the senate president but he can never get whatever he wanted from me. On the 30th of February, 2025 when the ground breaking of five mini LNG refineries was carried out in Ajaokuta my constituency, the project angered the Senate President.

“The Senate President, who was furious, stated that how can such projects be established in the North instead of the South – South. The Senate President removed me from the chairmanship of the Senate Committee on Local Content because he believes that I have been using the committee to promote the North and that is exactly what he said. He refused me from the committee just five days after the ground breaking of the five projects.”

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How I Got Helicopter Idea To Visit Kogi State – Senator Natasha

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The embattled Kogi Central Senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, has disclosed that the idea of using a helicopter as a means of transport for her homecoming rally in Kogi came from her husband.

She also insisted that she broke no law by her actions as the road that led to the venue of the event was constructed by her and the land on which the helicopter landed is owned by her family.

Senator stated this on Thursday during an interview with Channels Television.

It would be recalled that hours before the event, the Kogi State government banned all forms of rallies in the state and declared that all convoys coming into the state must get approval.

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However, Natasha circumvented the directives by arriving via helicopter, where she was received by her constituents.

Speaking on Tuesday’s homecoming rally, which coincided with the celebration of the 2025 Eid which is the end of the Ramadan fast, Senator Natasha insisted that it was not a political event as she had always done it even before she became a Senator, adding that it is a way of relating and giving back to her people.

She said she already knew that the state government came up with the restrictions because of her, adding that she wasn’t aware of any security challenge that could have warranted issuing such bans.

Senator Natasha also described herself as a peace-loving and law-abiding individual, contrary to the description by the state government that she is a law breaker.

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We were kept with hyenas, snakes – General Tsiga recounts kidnap ordeal

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Former Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brigadier General Maharazu Tsiga (rtd), who spent over two months in captivity, has recounted his harrowing experience in the hands of terrorists and kidnappers.

Tsiga revealed that he and other abductees were held in a dense forest surrounded by hills, teeming with dangerous animals. He described his survival as nothing short of divine intervention.

The 72-year-old said: “We were kept with dangerous animals—hyenas, snakes, and scorpions. A day before I was released, just the day before yesterday, while on the mountain where I was staying, we suddenly noticed a hyena circling us, looking for food. And what kind of food? Us, human beings.”

“Throughout our time there, we constantly lived with snakes and scorpions. But the most terrifying experience was how they treated those of us whose ranks they knew. Whenever troops attacked them, they would bring us out and use us as human shields, hoping to get us killed by the military strikes. They wanted us to be hit by the aircraft. But God is merciful.”

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“The National Security Adviser (NSA) and the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) have said it—the good ones will survive, and ultimately, the bad ones will meet their end.”

Tsiga further narrated a particularly chilling experience involving an unexploded rocket: “During an airstrike, a rocket was fired at the terrorists, but it didn’t explode. Instead, they carried the unexploded rocket and placed it where I was sleeping, hiding it in a way that if I touched it, it would detonate. Yet, by God’s mercy, I survived.”

He also highlighted the kidnappers’ belief that military officers have access to government funds, which led them to attack his home.

“They believe that those of us in uniform are given money by the government. That’s why they tried to break into my house. They couldn’t, so they went to my home in Kaduna and used explosives to destroy it, including the gates.”

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Speaking on behalf of the 18 other rescued victims, Tsiga expressed gratitude to the National Security Adviser, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, and the Chief of Defence Staff. He emphasized that security is a collective responsibility.

“We must not assume that the government can do it all alone. Everyone must contribute by providing intelligence and information. The NSA and the CDS are not magicians; they need timely and accurate reports to act upon.”

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