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Tyson's ECOWAS Occasional Journal - Politics in West Africa

This blog focuses on African Politics in the ECOWAS countries: Benin (where I served in the Peace Corps), Burkina Faso (where I attended FESPACO!), Cape Verde, Cote d'Ivoire (where I biked my first century), Gambia, Ghana (home of Milly's Backyard!), Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Liberia, Mali (home of Sekou Oumarou!), Niger (challenging for vegetarians!), Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo (the only place I ever attended a beauty pageant).

Boko Haram attacks again

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- July 24, 2015

More suicide bombings Wednesday, this time in Gombe in northern Nigeria.

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Burkina Faso army orders coup leaders back to barracks; dueling focal points in battle of the sexes

- September 21, 2015

Source: AFP In my first post on last week's military coup in Burkina Faso, I predicted that "It is unlikely that the military will remain in power for long." However, I'll be the first to admit I had no idea the coup would end the way it seems to be ending. Quick background: President Compaore's 27-year rule ended on Halloween last year in response to street protests when he and his ruling party, the CDP, tried to remove the term-limits so Compaore could run for another term as president. An interim government planned for elections in October 2015, but a new electoral code banned the CDP and its allies from running. The CDP appealed to the ECOWAS Court, and that Court said the ban violated the former ruling party's human rights, but the Burkina Faso Constitutional Court ignored that ruling and enforced the electoral code, banning the CDP. Meanwhile, a commission of the interim government recommended disbanding Compaore's elite presidential gua...

Talon wins Benin presidential run-off

- March 20, 2016

I didn't see that coming! Patrice Talon won the run-off election in Benin. I was pretty sure Lionel Zinsou would win, even though he was born in France, spent most of his life in France, and had never been elected to office before. He was appointed Prime Minister just 9 months ago, as the outgoing president, Yayi Boni, was grooming him to succeed him to the presidency. Although Zinsou, from that description, doesn't sound like he would be a strong presidential candidate, Patrice Talon doesn't either . He also had never run for office before. He had been a major supporter of Yayi Boni, helping finance his first two elections, before they had a falling out. Talon accused Yayi Boni of trying for a third term (Benin has a two-term limit) and Yayi Boni accused Talon of embezzling $20 million and of conspiring to assassinate the president with poison. Before entering the presidential race, Talon was in exile in France for three years. So although Zinsou didn't seem ...

Mali's Presidential Election, Round 2

- August 21, 2018

As expected, incumbent President Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta won re-election in the second round on August 12, with 67 percent of the vote, against Soumaïla Cissé. Keïta had several normal incumbent advantages, including universal name recognition ( "In Mali, even the little children know IBK," says Moussa Timbine, the general assembly's vice president and an IBK supporter. ) and solid economic growth , over 5% annually , over the past few years. Instability remains a problem in the country, however. As reported by the NY Times , " Islamist extremist groups and other armed militias operate in Mali; it is the world’s most dangerous assignment for United Nations peacekeepers. ... Mr. Keïta has been in office since his election in 2013, just after a period during which Mali faced an Islamist insurgency, a rebellion by the Tuareg ethnic group, and a military coup. During his tenure, violence and insecurity have spread closer to the capital, Bamako,...