A riot in Uganda's Rwenzururu kindom left a mother and child dead, pointing to a divisive trend in Ugandan politics which runs against the cosmopolitan experience of many young Ugandans.
For all the Government of South Sudan's rhetoric, real investment in the country's future has been slow to begin. Even before independence, there were sufficient resources to truly begin building the nation, resources that were squandered in Juba.
Many powerful states tend to view current global conflicts through the lens of Islamism, and to put military action at the heart of the response. But the deeper roots and character of these conflicts are to be found in poverty and marginalisation, not ideology.
Aggrey Tisa Sabuni, economic advisor to the President of the Republic of South Sudan, looks back on a tumultous year and reflects on the political challenges of statehood, and the choice before the international community.
Overall the conviction of Charles Taylor represents only a very partial achievement for the broader cause of transitional justice in Liberia and beyond, with the selective nature of the process its critical flaw
A policy of non-cooperation with the International Criminal Court (ICC) will leave the victims of 2007/8 post-election violence without a legal remedy, and may prompt new violence in upcoming elections. It will also present a devastating blow to international justice if left unopposed.
Why has the Arab Spring so far failed to spread south of the Sahara – and should some African leaders be looking over their shoulders?
The creation of a Ministry for Homeland Security further entrenches a militarized vision of security centred on the state. This is an internal version of 'peacekeeping', not the 'peacebuilding' the country needs.
The hostility between South Sudan and Sudan over Heglig is symptom of the larger unresolved issues between the two states. The CPA established a fragile peace which secession has not strengthened.
The most important of the secondary effects of the guilty verdict against Charles Taylor will be the notion that those who support the wars of others can be found culpable of the crimes committed by those they support. That should be a warning to many state officials who relate to irregular armed
The South Sudanese People's Liberation Army has moved into an oil town on the South Sudan/ Sudan border. While nationalist sentiment runs high, the newly separated states can ill afford renewed conflict: political dialogue is both difficult and urgent.
Twenty years of conflict has destroyed the social fabric of Casamance. The only way to re-instate security and eradicate famine in an area once known as the bread-basket of Senegal is to ask the women farmers, says Tabara Ndiaye
