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Editor's note
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Kenya’s electoral commission is in a crisis. Blamed for the failure of the national poll held in August, senior electoral officials are jumping ship just as the country is meant to be preparing for a new round next week. Sekou Toure Otondi explains why Kenya needs politicians to step up to the plate to find a political solution to the country’s impasse. Applying a broader lens to democracy in Africa, André Guichaoua argues that elections shouldn’t be seen as meaningless rituals. They still carry risks for those in power because the outcome of a race is seldom
entirely certain.
Advocates of old school hip-hop have been critical of recent trap music and mumble rap. But, argues Adam de Paor-Evans, mumble rappers are merely reflecting the broader social context.
Country music is hugely popular across Africa and gets played religiously on a number of local radio stations. Despite this, the preference is to play US artists rather than musicians from Africa, writes Stewart Maganga.
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Top stories
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André Guichaoua, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne
The outcome of the race between increasingly artful electoral manipulation and limitless possible manifestations of democratic expression is never entirely certain.
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Sekou Toure Otondi, University of Nairobi
Despite avenues for legal redress, the solution to Kenya’s constitutional crisis is political. The leadership on both sides of the political divide must reach an agreement for the sake of the nation.
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Adam de Paor-Evans, University of Central Lancashire
What if the current cultural context is informing the production of mumble rap? In the contemporary western world, daily life is fuelled by widespread consumption of both products and images.
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Stewart Maganga, Nelson Mandela University
Africa's broadcasters have a large role to play to ensure that country and western grows to its full potential on the continent.
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Politics + Society
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Laura Hammond, SOAS, University of London
The attack, in which more than 300 people were killed, comes as Somalia tries to put in place a new security pact.
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Eric Morier-Genoud, Queen's University Belfast
The first Islamist attack carried out by Mozambicans in the country is particularly surprising given the pride the country takes in its sound and relaxed inter-religious relations.
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Verkijika G. Fanso, University of Yaounde
Anglophones have long complained that their language and culture are marginalised. They say if this doesn't change, they must be granted independence.
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Dirk Kotze, University of South Africa
South Africa's President Jacob Zuma's loss in the Appeals Court forms part of three milestones in his recent history dominated by corruption, unethical conduct and a knack to avoid criminal charges.
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Pierre de Vos, University of Cape Town
The Supreme Court of Appeal judgment means that South Africa's president must be prosecuted - unless the national director of public prosecutions decides again to drop the charges against him.
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Theo Neethling, University of the Free State
The military is not tactically trained for community protection and crime fighting and South Africa should not deploy soldiers in urban communities.
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Franz Krüger, University of the Witwatersrand
As South Africa marks Media Freedom Day, it's clear that its battle isn't over. Attacks on journalists continue --through physical intimidation and there's also the threat of new laws.
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Herman Wasserman, University of Cape Town
Forty years after the apartheid regime clamped down on the free press, South Africa's media continues to face threats, albeit in more subtle forms than in the past.
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Keymanthri Moodley, Stellenbosch University
Emeritus Archbishop Desmond Tutu embraces everything noble in Aristotelian virtue ethics and African philosophical systems alike.
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Mia Swart, University of Johannesburg
Will the Timol case create the necessary political will to open dozens more inquests into apartheid deaths? Maybe, but government machinery has proven to be rusty and extremely slow.
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Cristiano D'Orsi, University of Johannesburg
For many years, statelessness in Madagascar was spurred by racial and gender discrimination.
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Science + Technology
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Lara Sciscio, University of Cape Town
The earth's own magnetic field offers a useful way to measure the age of rocks - information that can help unpack ancient events and aid our understanding of the present.
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Anne Austin, University of Missouri-St. Louis
Bones and texts showed how decades of strenuous hikes led to higher levels of osteoarthritis in workers' knees and ankles in an ancient Egyptian village.
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Business + Economy
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Steven Friedman, University of Johannesburg
Business Leadership South Africa has in the recent past assumed a stinging position against public sector corruption. Bonang Mohale explains the stance taken by the lobby group.
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Jannie Rossouw, University of the Witwatersrand
South Africa waits with bated breath for the 2017 medium term budget policy statement from new Finance Minister Malusi Gigaba, as it might reveal key signals of where economic policy is headed.
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Environment + Energy
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Mark Moritz, The Ohio State University; Alice B. Kelly Pennaz, University of California, Berkeley; Mouadjamou Ahmadou; Paul Scholte, The Ohio State University
The idea that terror groups like Boko Haram fund their activities through ivory poaching in Africa is a compelling narrative. But it’s undermining wildlife conservation and human rights.
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Piotr Wolski, University of Cape Town; Bruce Hewitson, University of Cape Town; Chris Jack, University of Cape Town
Cape Town promised alternative water sources with the ongoing drought being declared a disaster. Its main strategy is water rationing but climate models are also being used.
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Health + Medicine
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Bob Snow, University of Oxford
The history of malaria prevalence in Africa is a long term cycle of highs and lows. However, there's been little change in the high transmission belt that covers parts of West and Central Africa.
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Jo Halliday, University of Glasgow
By tackling local threats and controlling existing diseases, countries are able to build the capacity needed to deal with future emerging disease threats.
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Lukoye Atwoli, Moi University
The unexpected death of a loved one is a traumatic experience. It's important to identify high risk individuals to provide counselling and social support.
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