2002 was a particularly tough year for President Blaise Compaoré, as accusations mounted that he is one of West Africa’s most corrupt leaders and supports insurrection in neighboring Ivory Coast. Members of the media covering the corruption have been harassed, while the December 1998 murder of journalist Norbert Zongo remains unsolved.
President Pierre Buyoya’s government remained wary of political opposition and critical press reports during 2002. Meanwhile, government attempts to identify war criminals following Burundi’s eight-year civil war between the Tutsi-led regime and the Hutu-backed opposition stalled when peace talks collapsed again on November 7, and the conflict continued intermittently.
On October 10, the International Court of Justice recognized Cameroon’s rights to Bakassi, a Gulf of Guinea peninsula whose sizable offshore oil deposits Nigeria has long claimed. Nevertheless, Nigeria continued to assert its prerogative, reviving fears of an armed conflict along the 1,000 mile (1,600 kilometer) border between the two countries.
A year after a failed coup, the government of President Ange-Félix Patassé lifted a nationwide curfew in May. Five months later, in October, several hundred soldiers and civilians were killed in another coup attempt, led by disgruntled army general François Bozize, paralyzing the country for weeks. The Patassé regime prevailed with the help of more…
In late December, warring parties in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) sealed a power-sharing deal, while the last foreign troops backing government or rebel groups prepared to withdraw from the vast, mineral-rich Central African nation. The latest agreement calls for a unity government, ending a four-year civil war that has ruined the country and…
Since President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo took control in a 1979 military coup, he and his ruling Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea have governed one of Africa’s most repressive regimes. The country’s small press has been incessantly harassed and intimidated, while citizens have been fined for reading controversial publications. Obiang’s landslide re-election victory in December…
Eritrea was Africa’s foremost jailer of journalists in 2002. The crackdown began in the summer of 2001 after a dozen senior officials and other members of the ruling elite signed public letters criticizing President Isaias Afewerki’s dictatorial rule. The letters, which were leaked to the press, prompted a slew of editorials about human rights, democracy,…
In early December, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi surprised his detractors by inviting them to a series of debates on government policies and the future of the country. The organizer of the unprecedented forum, an independent association known as the Inter Africa Group, said the goal was to foster “the exchange of views between the government…
President Omar Bongo maintained his solid grip on power in this small West African nation. Opposition and pro-democracy movements remained weak, while independent journalists, fearful of losing their jobs, softened their criticism of Bongo, who cultivates a cult of personality and uses widespread official bribery to secure his rule.