Presidential elections are coming up in Nigeria next week on 14 February. The top contenders are the incumbent Goodluck Jonathan and former head of state Mohammadu Buhari. In the opinion of this writer, electing Buhari represents a quiet revolution for Nigerians who have been longing for good governance for a long time, even as reactionary and retrogressive forces become more deeply entrenched in the country.

The cartoon series on prophet Mohammed, insulting to Muslims, was clearly intended to provoke. While expression of opinion is part of democracy, the French government, on the one hand, ignored this conscious bigotry; on the other, it shut up a popular French comedian, Dieudonne, for what it construed as anti-Semitic jokes.

When white South Africans see themselves as having a special connection to global whiteness they often succumb to the narcissistic fantasy that their presence in this society, in Africa, constitutes a unique and precious gift.

Nigeria’s president Goodluck Jonathan is surrounded by discredited men who are doing his re-election campaign more harm than good.

Sierra Leone’s elections are still two years away, but with the country rocked by the recent Ebola crisis, campaigning is already underway. Sankara Kamara looks closer at one presidential candidate, and what lies behind his predominantly online campaign.

Although the numbers of women and men in Uganda are comparable, there exists a great gap in access to resources and to positions of power between the sexes. This inequity affects the structure of the country as a whole and must be corrected.

The two leading candidates in Zambia’s presidential by-election last week were in fact unfit to vie, given their record of activities that constitute elections offenses in the Zambian law. A complaints authority should be set up to investigate the claims.

The 88-year-old revolutionary former President of Cuba does not “trust the US, nor have I exchanged any words with them,” he says in a letter addressed to the student federation at the University of Havana. This is the first time Castro has spoken publicly since the 17 December US push for a historic reconciliation between the two nations.

Africa and the world have entered a century of global low intensity warfare, marked by the devolution of military power away from the modern state to the entrenched landscape of private armies, mercenaries and militia groups.

To achieve the seemingly elusive African renaissance, the leaders have to steer the societies and the peoples away from the current practice of reliance and expectation from the outside, to a firmly rooted belief in self and local solutions.

Development used to be a battle against deprivation and dependence. Nowadays it’s more about supporting the liberalisation of markets.

A new campaign will be carried out this year in Kenya to promote active citizenship, effective national governance and the realization of the fundamental freedoms and human rights contained in various key AU policy standards and legal instruments.

The Federal Government of Somalis as constituted today does not represent the populations under the authorities of Somaliland, Puntland, Jubbaland and Southwest regions. The Provisional Constitution designed to shackle the arbitrary and capricious behavior of rulers has become a worthless piece of paper for lack of compliance and respect.

On 26 November 2014 the celebrated Congolese medic received yet another international accolade. Following this prestigious recognition, Congolese intellectuals and political observers are wondering whether Dr. Mukwege should join politics. Instead, he should contribute to strengthening the Congolese civil society.

It matters pretty little who wins the elections next month. Years of political brinkmanship, reprehensible military dictatorship, corruption and irresponsible leadership have served to make nonsense of the true meaning of nationhood in Nigeria. The struggle for fundamental change must continue.

Given Nigeria’s past and recurring history, does one realistically expect this state to defend Baga from Boko Haram, comment or mourn the murder of the 2000 from Baga – almost 49 years to the day after it embarked on the murder of 3.1 million of its Igbo population in a studiously-organised genocide that is still ongoing?

The failure of Rwanda’s Faustian bargain— trading democracy for development and ending up with neither — should come as no surprise to students of history and human nature.

Simukai traces back some of the historical roots of the Ebola outbreak and other public health crises. Without understanding the political history of public health, he argues, we are not able to understand the current crises or successfully tackle health challenges in the future.

Big leader cults have a long history in South African politics. So to argue that South Africa needs new leaders is to misread the key political task on the leadership question. What the country really needs are new models of leadership that break fundamentally from the cult of the big leader, and organisational forms that create the basis for more sustainable leaderships to emerge.

In this interview, human rights organizer Jackson Doliscar details increasing violations of human rights by the Martelly dictatorship, with the active support of the United States.