POLITICS-KENYA: Kibaki Spoils Reconciliation Bid

When Kenya’s controversially re-elected president, Mwai Kibaki, appeared on national television to address the nation Tuesday evening, hopes were that he would address the humanitarian crisis his country faces in the wake of post- election tribal violence and hold out an olive branch to his rival Raila Odinga.

Q&A: In Kisii, Kenya, "Food Shortages, Because People Are Afraid To Buy Supplies"

A few days ago, IPS East Africa Correspondent Kwamboka Oyaro was obliged to travel to Kisii in western Kenya on urgent family business. Coming just after the Dec. 27 general elections, the timing of the trip was unfortunate; but, we said to ourselves, she'd be back in Nairobi shortly afterwards.

/UPDATE/POLITICS-KENYA: Mediation to Address Election Crisis Planned

Opposition officials have postponed a gathering that was supposed to take place Thursday in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, this after police clashed with demonstrators as they tried to make their way to Uhuru Park for the rally.

POLITICS-KENYA: Voters Reaffirm Democracy; Now It&#39s the Politicians&#39 Turn

Kenya's presidential, parliamentary and local council polls on Thursday were far from perfect. The main opposition candidate for the presidency and favourite to win the election could not locate his name in the voters' register in a constituency he has represented for the past 15 years.

Q&A: “We Don’t Believe Gbagbo Will Organise Transparent Elections”

Will it be third time lucky for Ivorian opposition leader Alassane Ouattara during presidential elections which many hope will take place in Cote d'Ivoire next year?

POLITICS-KENYA: “I Almost Have No Fare to Come Back to Nairobi”

Posters, campaign appearances, radio spots and television adverts: all are essential for winning office in Kenya's general elections, set for December, and all cost money that parliamentary candidates are responsible for raising in this East African country.

Q&A: “I Have Ideas for Things That Need To Be Done in All Social Sectors”

It's a long way from the north of France to West Africa - and from studying mathematics at the University of Lille to becoming a mayor in central Cameroon. But Marie-Hélène Ngoa has successfully undertaken both these journeys.

POLITICS-MALI: Worst Expectations Confounded

As former British Prime Minister Harold Wilson once remarked, "A week is a long time in politics." By this token, a political landscape can alter even more in a month, recent developments in Mali being a case in point.

POLITICS-SIERRA LEONE: Women As An Antidote to Corruption?

Sierra Leone will hold general elections Saturday with a number of significant achievements in hand, not least maintaining peace for five years.

KENYA: More Women in Parliament, Hopefully – By Way of the Constitution

Kenya's parliament will soon debate a constitutional amendment bill to improve female representation in the legislature by creating 50 special seats for women. At present, only some eight percent of parliamentary posts in the East African country are occupied by women.

SIERRA LEONE: A Women&#39s Issue That Women Are Wary of Campaigning About

Female genital mutilation (FGM) can make sex painful, complicate childbirth, lead to urinary tract infections, enable the transmission of HIV - and induce a host of other ills. So, promising to fight this practice should be a winning strategy for someone hoping to be elected to parliament this Saturday in Sierra Leone - where about 90 percent of girls and women undergo FGM, according to rights watchdog Amnesty International.

Q&A: "In Sierra Leone They Just Cut You, And There&#39s Not Much Problem With That"

Certain comments resonate long after they are made, and Shirley Yeama Gbujama's reported threat to "sew up the mouths of those preaching against Bondo" is certainly one of them.

SIERRA LEONE: Caught Between Leaving the Kitchen and Putting Food on the Table

When Iyesha Josiah told people last year that after the August 2007 general elections, she would stand before them as a new member of parliament for Sierra Leone, they thought she was joking.

POLITICS-ZIMBABWE: The Cycle of Violence Continues

Pius Ncube, the outspoken Catholic archbishop of Bulawayo in southern Zimbabwe, has urged President Robert Mugabe to step down - this as the country faces deepening political and economic woes.

BURKINA FASO: Giving Political Parties a Legal Nudge

Awareness raising alone hasn't managed to bring about sufficient change...Perhaps quotas are now required. That's the thinking behind a law that will be put before Burkina Faso's parliament later this year, in an effort to increase the number of women in decision-making posts in the West African country's government.

POLITICS-BENIN: A Drubbing in National Elections Turns Attention to Local Polls

Out of 250 candidates, just a handful triumphed: not an impressive track record by any measure. So, Benin's women are already looking ahead to the next election.

POLITICS-COTE D’IVOIRE: Battling Through the Details of a Peace Agreement

Signing a peace accord is one thing. Putting it into effect is quite another, as Ivorians are discovering.

POLITICS-MALI: A Presidential Election That Breaks With Tradition

When Malians queue to cast ballots in presidential elections Sunday, they will be participating in a poll with a difference: for the first time ever, a woman will be amongst the candidates voters have to choose between.

POLITICS-NIGERIA: Watershed Elections – For Men, That Is

Declarations of no confidence in the electoral commission, threats of an opposition boycott, a key candidate clawing his way back onto the ballot at the last minute...There has been no shortage of political theatre concerning Saturday's milestone elections in Nigeria, or debate on whether the country can successfully hand over power from one civilian government to another for the first time since independence in 1960.

NIGERIA: What Have Eight Years of Democracy Done for Women Politicians?

"Men are the decision makers; women should be cooking in the kitchen while men play politics." This is the type of comment that Dorothy Ukel Nyone's male counterparts repeatedly made when she announced her intention to contest a seat in Nigeria's state elections, which got underway Saturday.

POLITICS-LESOTHO: “No Sense If People Vote and Their Lives Remain the Same”

Results issued this week show that the ruling Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) has swept to back to power in parliamentary elections held Feb. 17. The party, at the helm since 1998, won 61 of the 80 contested seats - leaving the main opposition grouping, the All Basotho Convention (ABC), to take 17.