POLITICS-ZIMBABWE: "The Situation is Very Grim"

"We are the only country in the world not at war whose economy is shrinking at an alarming rate. Inflation is running at 620 percent. Eighty percent of our people live in poverty," says Tendai Biti of Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change.

POLITICS-ZIMBABWE: Independent Daily Adds Retrenchments to Its List of Woes

The chances of Zimbabwe's only privately-owned daily newspaper ever reappearing on newsstands appeared bleaker this week, when its management announced massive retrenchments.

POLITICS-MALAWI: Women Candidates Find the Odds Stacked Against Them

Vera Chirwa is a prominent human rights activist in Malawi, a prison rapporteur for the African Union - and someone who was imprisoned for speaking out against authoritarian rule under former head of state Hastings Kamuzu Banda. But this pedigree wasn't enough to earn her a shot at Malawi's presidency during the May elections.

POLITICS-CAMEROON: Full Steam Ahead For Electing a Woman President

With a bumper crop of elections due in Africa this year, the extent to which women have a voice in government will be coming under renewed scrutiny. This is especially true of Cameroon, where the campaign to elect a female president during polls in October is gaining momentum.

POLITICS-SOUTH AFRICA: Race a Defining Issue in the Upcoming Election

The announcement, Monday, that South Africa will go to the polls on Apr. 14 for its third democratic election has opened the way for political parties to start campaigning in earnest. But, analysts are already predicting that the ruling African National Congress will be returned to power with a sweeping majority.

POLITICS-EU: Zimbabwe Opposition Urges More Sanctions

Opposition leaders from Zimbabwe have appealed to the European Union to extend sanctions against the government of President Robert Mugabe.

POLITICS-LIBERIA: Government Has Mixed Record After 100 Days in Office

Liberia's hopes for peace were rekindled last October when a power-sharing transitional government took office with a mandate to run the country until elections in 2005.

POLITICS-MALAWI: Main Opposition Parties Pull Out of Coalition Deal

Malawi's three main opposition parties have pulled out of a coalition deal that seeks to wrestle power from the ruling United Democratic Front in the May 18 general elections.

POLITICS-MALAWI: Voter Registration Dogged by Poor Planning and Apathy

With just under four months remaining before Malawi’s general elections, local activists and international observers have expressed concern at the lack-lustre response to voter registration efforts. The registration exercise has also prompted opposition parties to cry foul.

POLITICS-GUINEA: What Future for the Opposition?

"The elections were fixed. We know that Lansana Conte was re-elected through fraudulent means and so his tenure cannot be legitimate," remarks Ba Mamadou, Chair of the Revival Front for Democratic Change: a coalition of opposition parties that boycotted last month's presidential poll.