During the four year tenure of President Magufuli, the country has move toward full-on authoritarianism. On November 7, a Magistrates Court in Tanzania postponed for the seventh time the case of journalist Erick Kabendera, who has voiced criticism of the country’s president, John Pombe Magufuli. After initially being violently abducted from his home and later investigated over his citizenship status, Mr. Kabendera is now facing a host of economic charges, including “assisting an organized crime racket” and money laundering. 

The International Criminal Court was created to bring justice to the world’s worst war criminals, but debate over the court still rages.

The Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program (DACA) is making the news again as the Trump administration continues its efforts to diminish the program. The media has readily portrayed DACA as a policy for Latinx; it is also relevant for Africans.

On December 13, Ambassador John Bolton, President Donald J. Trump’s national security advisor, delivered the administration’s long-awaited encyclical on Africa before an overflow audience at the Heritage Foundation. In a typically blunt manner, Ambassador Bolton characterized China’s policies toward Africa as rapacious and neo-colonial, expressing concern that China would use its leverage over states heavily indebted to it in return for a monopolistic hold on the continent’s natural resource bounty.

Last week, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced on national television the selection of South Africa’s new cabinet. Although there was no surprise to see the names of such competent officials as Pravan Gordhan, Ephraim Patel, Naledi Pandor, Lindiwe Sisulu, and Tito Mboweni, Ramaphosa’s selection of Patricia de Lille as minister of public works and enterprises really “put the cat among the pigeons.”