Barack Obama recently vacated the White House and power was duly handed over to Donald Trump, peacefully, more or less. But my aim is to highlight the allegations Barack leveled against the Russians concerning their alleged manipulation of the election that contributed to Hillary Clinton's loss and the subsequent aprés moi le deluge reactions that followed. The duo are powerhouses with sophisticated military power and unmatched clout, yet the tensions subsided and the impasse was broken in no time despite the sensitivity of the issue. Political sanctions were employed as Russian diplomats, who have now been recalled, were expelled and their compounds shut down. Why didn't they nuke each other? Why didn't they carry out attacks against Russians in clandestine? I think it's safe to say the above story would have turned sour provided it transpired between two African nations. It saddens me that we are propinquitous to being used as a reference in regressive contexts. Why are African political parties ever ready to take up arms whenever they lose election? Why are transitions of power ever inauspicious? Why must the ambience always turn sinister around election-tide? Are we simply not justifying the animalistic theses of racist westerners? Is it not time we had plenary discourses and symposia on these pressing and underlying issues?
This post was inspired by an Al-Jazeera program "People and Power" that aired at 11:00 pm on 25th of January. The episode exposed excerpts of the political conflicts that took place during the scuffle for power between Laurent Gbagbo and Alasanne Ouattara. The former was headstrong on relinquishing power (let's ignore the fact that he actually ruled for 11 years) and the latter showed no sign of backing down from claiming a position that had been pronounced his, de facto and de jure. Ethnicism aside, I also deduced that religion was a major factor in the conflicts as the Christian south rooted for Gbagbo and the loyalists of Ouattara were the Muslim north. Ergo, two immature buffoons carried out heinous attacks on their own people on the grounds of pro and anti. I saw rotten mutilated, decapitated and burnt bodies fill up mass graves. Many were kidnapped and tortured. Settlements were pillaged with countless people displaced. Victims narrated their ordeals : From the videos, the UN soldiers watched while Dozo rebels attacked and did nothing. Absolutely nothing. A boy I estimate to be about 17 years old ran across with a bloody axe and yelled at the camera with agitation in his voice (his face pixelated)- "I'm here to kill". The local journalist asked "How many did you kill?", and he responded "Three". Put me in that situation and I'm a sitting duck, I've never wielded any weapon other than my pen. An anonymous man (with his voice distorted) showed his scars to the camera and claimed a soldier named Abdul killed his brother and tortured him. He took the journalists into the bush where he was tortured. He said he still sees Abdul and Abdul greets him like nothing happened. They made a trip to the station whilst secretly recording but were told Abdul had been redeployed. However, they obtained his number. One of the journalists called him under the pretense of being a business man who wanted his partner dead. And guess what, Abdul took the job and demanded $3,000. "There are different ways", he said. "We can cut him into pieces or kidnap and torture him, then erase him". During the time of the call, Abdul was on a task force with policemen. This is a soldier turned mercenary and assassin. This is a man who swore to protect the people. The journalists proceeded to put their accurate evidence across to due authorities for Abdul's indictment but their calls were never returned. Abdul is probably still on the loose murdering people.
Rivers gubernatorial rerun elections alone claimed many innocent lives. One Christian Chukwuemeka, 22, beheaded a DSP and his orderly and buried them in a shallow grave. And this is a guy who's just 2 years older than I am. The whole episode was a wake up call for me and made me think about my own country.

So dear reader, I put the question to you: How Do We Combat Electoral Violence In Africa?

8 Facts You Don't Know About Adama Barrow, Gambia's President Elect


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fTC tinx
Now back to d question, is by providing adequate security and monitoring election secretly for corrupt officials

The change should begin with our leaders.
They hold the power.

How do we combat evil when we've not combat nor purged our souls of evil. Electoral violence isl orchestrated by men so if we dont extirpate this evil in us first then we cant fight this evil.

We have to get rid of democracy or re write how it is done. For now its just a tribal contest and whoever wins secludes the rest. The stakes are too high.

The way to combat electoral violence in Africa

Africa , stupid motherfucking monkies residing in Africa should learn to love each other and heal , If we can look past the stories from the past , the wars in the past , histories of the past but just far enough to remember we are equal and we are one





We need to make politics less lucrative , i mean we need to raise a set of generation that won't worship money or riches especially from the ill gotten ones

Decentralize the process like the United States each LG holds election counts ballots and sends in results. Media needs to watch the government and people need to watch. Honestly it should be harder in Africa since your guys have that ink.