A regular blog from RAS Director, Nicholas Westcott.
Nicholas Westcott
Tuesday, 12 March 2019
It has been election season in Africa over the last few months. To be honest, it is always election season somewhere on the continent. But since late last year we have had three particularly important elections: in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), in Nigeria and in Senegal. Each has been important, but in very different ways.
First and foremost, all were overwhelmingly peaceful. Tragically, there were some deaths in both DRC and Nigeria. But none of the... more
Tuesday, 22 January 2019
Last week, the International Criminal Court (ICC) acquitted Laurent Gbagbo and his former youth minister. The court in The Hague ruled that Cote d’Ivoire’s former president had no case to answer and dropped charges of crimes against humanity, which related to the country’s post-election violence in 2011.
I was closely involved with the 2010 elections in Cote d’Ivoire and their aftermath, being at the time British Ambassador to the country, and from February 2011... more
Friday, 21 December 2018
The Democratic Republic of Congo was scheduled to go to the polls this weekend, but the election has been delayed a week to 30 December. What voters will find on that date is still uncertain.
The untried hyper-modern laptop-based electronic voting system at least comes with low expectations that it will work smoothly, if at all. But the odds are that most polling stations will be able to operate, even if far more slowly than expected. The ballot 'paper' will be... more
Monday, 3 December 2018
This week the House of Commons will debate the Prime Minister’s proposed Withdrawal Deal from the EU and the joint Political Declaration about the future. There will be much sound and fury, and with luck some common sense and political truths, but I will be amazed if Africa gets a mention. Nevertheless, the UK’s withdrawal and future relations with the EU will have profound implications for Africa and for Britain’s relations with Africa.
I have regularly over the past... more
Sunday, 11 November 2018
On 11 November this year, we celebrate the Centenary of the end of the First World War. It is essential in these commemorations that we remember the impact the war had on Africa and Africans, and the impact they had on the war. This story reveals much about the state of Africa and the nature of Imperialism at the time.
This was a war which Africans had no hand, act nor part in starting, but in which their continent became a playground - albeit a lethal one - for quarrels between distant... more