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ONGOING PROJECTS
  • Contributor, V-Dem (Varieties of Democracy) – Democracy, Elections and Political Parties in Zanzibar(2000-2020).
  • Researcher, Providing for Peacekeeping Project – International Peace Institute (IPI) (2015-Ongoing).
  • Research in Popular Music and Culture (2019-Ongoing).
  • Research in Politics and Elections in Tanzania (Ongoing).
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Politics

Kujenga Amani: Opposition as ‘Incumbent’ and ‘Incumbent’ as Opposition: Analyzing the Key Issues in Kenya’s 2022 Presidential Campaigns

blog, General Blogs, Politics

By Nicodemus Minde Recent victories by opposition parties in Zambia, Malawi, Cape Verde, and Ghana are challenging the power of the incumbent thesis in African elections. In Kenya, no sitting president has ever lost an election but a sitting president has seen his preferred candidate lose an election. In 2002, longtime President Daniel Moi saw his chosen successor Uhuru Kenyatta defeated by Mwai Kibaki in what was seen as the freest elections in Kenya’s history. Fast forward, twenty years on, President Uhuru Kenyatta is backing his longtime political nemesis turned ally...

Covid-19 Vaccination: Experiences from Israel

General Blogs, Politics, Students' Analyses, Students' Tribune

By Dickens Ngunya The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-Cov-2), commonly known as the Coronavirus disease (Covid-19) is claimed to have originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan and has spread to all corners of the globe. This virus has claimed the lives of over three million people worldwide and has changed the optics through which we look at public health both locally and internationally. The novel coronavirus disease has demonstrated that individual states have the onus to mitigate, manage, plan, and implement strategies tailored for their specific situations in future...

A Personal Tribute to Maalim Seif Sharif Hamad: A Political Icon and Reconciliation Giant

blog, General Blogs, Inspirations, Politics

[vc_row row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" text_align="left" box_shadow_on_row="no"][vc_column][vc_column_text] I first met Seif Sharif Hamad on 20 September 2015. I was conducting my research on the political reconciliation (Maridhiano) in Zanzibar. His party, the Civic United Front (CUF) was launching its manifesto at Park Hyatt Hotel, Zanzibar. He was wearing a black suit, blue shirt and a red tie. He was well shaven and his grey beard was well trimmed. Mr. Ismail Jussa, a high ranking party official in CUF, who I had known for a while now introduced me to Mr. Seif Sharif Hamad after the...

Covid-19 and The Great Reset – Implications for Africa

blog, Politics, Students' Analyses, Students' Tribune

By Karen Sugahara Since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the Coronavirus (COVID-19) a global pandemic on the 11th of March 2020, the disease has caused socio-economic havoc across the globe. Pressing is the magnification of existing inequalities between the haves and have not’s – both at the micro and macro-economic level. Critically, sectors including health, education and employment have been hard hit by the pandemic. These inequalities have been evident in all these sectors. For example, hospitals have lacked the required facilities to equally handle the pandemic, millions have lost...

My Analysis on the Upcoming Elections in Tanzania [The Conversation]

blog, Politics

I have written an analysis on the upcoming elections in Tanzania for The Conversation, a network of not-for-profit media outlets that publish news stories written by academics and researchers. In this article, I analyze the forthcoming General Elections in October, 2020. I look at the background, actors, dynamics and what the elections mean for Tanzania's democracy. Here is the link. ...

The Cost of the Third Wave Democratization in Africa: Some Perspectives from Kenya

General Blogs, Politics, Students' Analyses, Students' Tribune

There is a need to be intentional in as far as shrugging off colonial legacy, particularly in as far as the view on ethnicity is concerned. Similarly, African leaders should harmonize institutional structures that would essentially bring about sustainability of development after their stay in power, rather than development occurring for the sake of a particular individual at the helm of power. ...

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The Brain-drain and its debilitating effects on Contemporary African Development

blog, Politics, Students' Analyses, Students' Tribune

By Mikhail Nyamweya Paul Collier, in his book The Bottom Billion asserts that Africa incorporates into the Global Capital Market in the form of capital flight, rather than through capital inflows. As such, Africa is currently experiencing a recalibration of the same in the form of ‘human capital flight’, which is mobile and untethered. This article explores the influence and effects of the brain-drain on African development with due consideration of the current dynamics within the continent. The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development Report (2017) establishes that there are about...