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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
World
Nesrine Malik

From Kenya to Madagascar, the African countries struggling to escape old politics

Composite image. Bottom left: A bloodied riot police officer is rescued by protesters as she runs away from an angry mob in Kenya. Top left: a member of the Malagasy Gendarmerie fires a rubber bullet gun. Top right: young Malagasy protester holds up protest sign. Bottom left: Tanzania’s president Samia Suluhu Hassan holds a spear and a shield during her swearing-in ceremony.
Informed dissent … a flurry of popular protests have rocked the continent in recent weeks. Composite: Getty/Pejman Faratin/The Guardian

It has been a month of political upheaval in some African countries. But it is a period of political action that feels less like a season, and more like the new normal. This week, I try to pull together the strands of what is unfolding.

“All generalisations are false” goes the old saying, “including this one”. African politics is never uniform, but there are patterns and commonalities among some countries with similar demographic and economic profiles. Over the past year, there have been a number of protests, including in Kenya, Morocco, Cameroon, Madagascar and, most recently, Tanzania.

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