Africans of the Year: The people who pay the price of resistance
Across Africa, opposition figures are languishing behind bars.
Kiri Rupiah
Opposing power is a dangerous pursuit in Africa and in 2025, yet again, many have paid for their dissent.
In Cameroon, the circumstances of Anicet Ekane’s death are still emerging. The opposition veteran was arrested in October and died in jail five weeks later.
In Chad, Succès Masra, a former prime minister and opposition leader, was arrested in May. Masra was accused of inciting hatred and violence. In August, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
Rwandan Victoire Ingabire, of the unregistered Dalfa-Umurinzi party, was rearrested in June for “forming a criminal group” and “inciting public disorder”, marking yet another chapter in her years-long struggle for political freedom.
In Tanzania veteran opposition figure Tundu Lissu remains detained on treason-related charges and senior opposition leader Amani Golugwa was also arrested in the state security crackdown around the October election.
Four-time Ugandan presidential challenger Kizza Besigye has been repeatedly arrested, charged, or placed under house arrest for more than two decades. Last year he was abducted and renditioned to a maximum security prison where he remains without bail.
In Mali, Youssouf Daba Diawara is still incarcerated with 11 others held under broad security charges. Former prime minister Moussa Mara was arrested in August for allegedly “discrediting the state” and inciting disorder. He was sentenced to one year without parole.
In Eswatini, MP Mduduzi Bacede Mabuza continues to serve a 25-year sentence under terrorism and sedition laws.
In Tunisia, a sweeping clampdown has targeted nearly every major opposition force. Among those detained are Rached Ghannouchi, Abir Moussi, Ahmed Nejib Chebbi, Chaima Issa, Ayachi Hammami, and Sahbi Atig.
The people of old Ghana often observed, “The ruin of a nation begins in the homes of its people.” That wisdom resonates still. While Africa has endured countless external blows — conquest, extraction, partition — the greatest dangers now (just as in the days when the Portuguese tricked Mvemba a Nzinga and shipped off his own kin) grow from within. They grow in our casual acceptance of incompetence; in the nervous laughter we offer corrupt men to stay safe; in the small moral shortcuts we take to avoid inconvenience. They grow when citizens surrender vigilance and allow incumbents to convert temporary mandates into hereditary privilege.
#LamentAndSatire
Africa is backsliding into oppression