Agrégateur de flux

Credit: Zohra Bensemra/Reuters via Gallo Images

By Nwabueze Chibuzor and Mighulo Masaka
ABUJA, Nigeria / NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 22 2026 (IPS)

In many countries across Africa, people have recently lined up to vote. But in country after country, there has been no real choice on offer. As CIVICUS’s 2026 State of Civil Society Report documents, what has frequently been on display is a procedural ceremony of democracy, orderly enough to satisfy observers, but hollow enough to leave those who hold the reins of power untroubled. Laws and structures that were supposed to promote democratic decisions have been manipulated into compliance checks, ticking all procedural requirements while lacking democratic substance. In too many cases, the ballot box has become a public relations exercise.

Tanzania offered a stark illustration. Once seen as one of the continent’s rising democratic hopes, it held one of the most deeply flawed recent elections. Ahead of the October 2025 vote, President Samia Suluhu Hassan disqualified and detained most opposition figures and imposed a nationwide internet blackout. When people protested, they were severely repressed. Security forces fired live ammunition, killing over 700 protesters, and arrested thousands. Around 240 people, including children, have since been charged with criminal conspiracy and treason.

Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni, in power since 1986, followed the same script: the 2026 presidential election as marked by widespread rigging, suppression of the opposition, internet outages and a lethal crackdown on protests. These shows of force were also an admission of weakness: governments with genuine popular support do not need them to stay in office.

In Kenya, election outcomes have increasingly shifted from the ballot box to the courtroom and the streets. While legal challenges and judicial oversight can be signs of a healthy democracy, there’s been growing normalisation of post-election uncertainty about whether results will be respected, with the state framing any challenge to outcomes as a threat to national security and stability, and responding to post-election protests with violence.

Further north, Tunisia exemplifies the slow-motion dismantling of a once-promising democracy. Its 2024 presidential election saw the incumbent face only token opposition. President Kais Saied has systematically removed democratic checks and balances, jailed opponents and vilified critics as agents of foreign powers. The country that once kept the democratic promise alive in North Africa has become a cautionary example of how quickly gains can be reversed.

In West Africa, military rule is being normalised. Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger are now led by military juntas, while in Guinea a carefully stage-managed December 2025 election enabled the military leader to retain power with a varnish of legitimacy. Elections in Côte d’Ivoire in 2025 and Togo in 2024 fell far short of competitive standards.

Senegal offered a rare exception: when President Macky Sall attempted to postpone the 2024 presidential election just days before voting, widespread protests and sustained international pressure forced the polls to proceed. Opposition candidate Bassirou Diomaye Faye, released from jail only days before the vote, won a shock victory — proof that electoral integrity remains worth fighting for.

In Central Africa, military rulers have simply changed into civilian clothes. General Oligui Nguema, who ended the 56-year Bongo family dynasty in a 2023 coup, retained power in an April 2025 election marked by the absence of a credible opposition and the abuse of state resources, making the outcome a foregone conclusion. Chad’s Mahamat Déby followed the same path, transitioning from military council head to elected president through a vote held under severe civic space restrictions and minimal competition.

In October 2025, Cameroon’s Paul Biya, at 92 the world’s oldest head of state, extended his 42-year rule through a highly performative election. In both the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, recent elections have been undermined by the state’s inability to control its territory amid ongoing conflicts, disenfranchising vast majorities and producing winners whose legitimacy is in permanent doubt.

Southern Africa offers a more encouraging picture. South Africa’s 2024 election ended almost three decades of unchallenged African National Congress dominance, with new political parties reshaping the landscape and forcing the formation of a coalition government. Elections in Botswana, Malawi and Namibia were competitive, with power changing hands for the first time since independence in Botswana. These results are a reminder that elections can still serve their democratic purpose.

The pattern across most of the continent is unmistakable. As civic space comes under intensifying attack, Africa’s citizens, institutions and international partners must resist the temptation to confuse orderly processes with democratic substance. Elections must offer genuine opportunities for accountability and be allowed to produce results that disrupt established power, if that is what voters want. Anything less risks normalising the appearance of democracy while hollowing out its content.

Chibuzor Nwabueze is the Programme and Network Coordinator of the Digital Democracy Initiative at CIVICUS.

Mighulo Masaka is the Project Officer, Host Liaison of the Digital Democracy Initiative, working closely with civil society in the global south for election-related activities.

 

Follow @IPSNewsUNBureau
!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],p=/^http:/.test(d.location)?'http':'https';if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=p+'://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js';fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document, 'script', 'twitter-wjs');  

  

Ce serait « une grande perte pour la Roumanie de ne pas mener ce processus à son terme », a déclaré le ministre de la Défense

The post La Roumanie risque de perdre 16 milliards d’euros de fonds SAFE appeared first on Euractiv FR.

À l’aube du 250e anniversaire de la déclaration d’indépendance des États-Unis, de nombreux débats émergent sur l’évolution politique étasunienne et leur rôle sur la scène internationale. Dans un contexte marqué par de fortes divisions internes, des tensions géopolitiques croissantes et des rivalités entre puissances, une interrogation persiste : le pays est-il à un moment charnière de son histoire ? C’est dans cette perspective que s’inscrit l’ouvrage « America at 250 : At Home and Beyond », qui propose une analyse des dynamiques politiques, sociales et internationales, tout en offrant une réflexion sur les transformations et les défis des États-Unis à l’approche de cet anniversaire symbolique.

À cette occasion, Romuald Sciora, directeur de l’Observatoire politique et géostratégique des États-Unis de l’IRIS, et co-directeur de cet ouvrage avec Robert Shapiro, répond à nos questions :

• Pour quelle raison avez-vous décidé de vous pencher sur les États-Unis à l’approche de leur 250e anniversaire ? En quoi ce moment est-il un tournant dans l’histoire américaine ?

• Que peut-on penser de l’évolution des relations avec l’Europe depuis l’indépendance des États-Unis ? Les alliances traditionnelles sont-elles toujours solides ?

• À l’approche de 2028, quels scénarios pour l’avenir de la démocratie américaine ?

L’article 250 ans des États-Unis : la démocratie américaine en danger ? est apparu en premier sur IRIS.

In today's edition: EU age app push, US mid-terms v EU sovereignty, business wallet

Au total, 29 détenus sont décédés au premier trimestre 2026 dans les prisons urbaines de Beni et Butembo, a alerté le Réseau pour les droits de l’homme (REDHO), dans son rapport de monitoring publié lundi 20 avril.

Selon cette organisation locale, outre le surpeuplement et le manque de subvention de ces deux établissements pénitentiaires, la majorité des détenus n’ont jamais été jugés par les instances judiciaires.

Le vice-Premier ministre estime que les négociations agricoles avec l'UE prendront beaucoup plus de temps

The post Ukraine : les subventions agricoles européennes pourraient attendre 2034 appeared first on Euractiv FR.

Maroš Šefčovič will discuss the planned talks with US counterparts in Washington this week

In today's edition: Pentagon, Romania, NATO's 1.5% target

La justice kosovare a condamné à la prison à vie un homme reconnu coupable d'avoir organisé le meurtre de son épouse et son homme de main.

- Le fil de l'Info / Une - Diaporama, Défense, police et justice, Courrier des Balkans, Kosovo, Femmes violences

La justice kosovare a condamné à la prison à vie un homme reconnu coupable d'avoir organisé le meurtre de son épouse et son homme de main.

- Le fil de l'Info / Une - Diaporama, Défense, police et justice, Courrier des Balkans, Kosovo, Femmes violences

Les arrestations arbitraires de plusieurs militants de la Gen Z à Madagascar provoquent un "climat de peur" – selon l'expression d'Amnesty International – parmi les jeunes activistes, qui assurent néanmoins vouloir continuer à dénoncer la reprise en main autoritaire de la junte au pouvoir.

DRAFT OPINION on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the European Fund for economic, social and territorial cohesion, agriculture and rural, fisheries and maritime, prosperity and security for the period 2028-2034
Committee on Security and Defence
Ana Catarina Mendes

Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP

DRAFT OPINION on the proposal for a regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the European Fund for economic, social and territorial cohesion, agriculture and rural, fisheries and maritime, prosperity and security for the period 2028-2034
Committee on Security and Defence
Ana Catarina Mendes

Source : © European Union, 2026 - EP

Dans un décor à couper le souffle, le plateau de l’Ennedi, fait de montagnes et de canyons, le réalisateur suit la trajectoire d’une jeune fille méprisée par sa communauté.

In today's edition: Ukraine, NGTs, Private labels, Hungary

Également dans l'édition de mercredi : la gaffe de VDL sur la Turquie, Erdogan, Chypre, les talibans, Israël, Várhelyi

The post L’UE fléchit face à la crise énergétique appeared first on Euractiv FR.

Dans le beau film de Leyla Bouzid, le retour d’une jeune femme pour le décès de son oncle fait surgir la violence de la famille et de la société face à la question de l’homosexualité.

Taiwan has accused Beijing of putting pressure on African countries to close their airspace to Lai's plane.

In today's edition: Wastewater rules, AI, and tobacco

Also, in Wednesday’s edition: VDL’s Turkey flub, Erdogan, Cyprus, Taliban, Israel, Várhelyi