2021 Elections Monitoring
2021 Elections Monitoring
by Leysley Nasimiyu
The Republic of Cabo Verde held its Presidential Election on 17 October 2021. Former prime minister (2000-2016), Jose Maria Pereira Neves from the African Party for the Independence of Cabo Verde (PAICV), was elected President after winning the first round with 51.7% of the votes, thus averting the need for a runoff. Campaigns leading to the 17th October elections were largely peaceful and cordial despite the polarisation of the political landscape by a historic number of seven presidential candidates. However, the measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19, such as social distance and the extension of voting time by one hour, were not systematically followed.
By Leysley Nasimiyu
*Somaliland is an autonomous region of Somalia, which declared independence in 1991. Somaliland is not recognised as an independent sovereign State by the African Union or any foreign government. Nonetheless, Somaliland has held elections since 2003, and in 2017, the European Union sent a delegation to observe the presidential elections. Although not a recognised State, as part of the project to monitor elections and women’s political participation in Africa, the following PPM report analyses the most recent election in Somaliland and the participation and representation of women.
by Naomi Ndifon
The Republic of the Congo, also known as Congo-Brazzaville, concluded its presidential elections on 21 March 2021, with incumbent President Denis Sassou Nguesso reelected with 88.57% of the vote for a fifth five-year term. Sassou Nguesso, 77, has been in power for an accumulated 36 years, first taking the helm of the Central African State in 1979, 19 years after its independence.
Gabon: Senate Election 2021
Gabon’s Senatorial Election results were revealed on February 1, 2021. According to the first round of results, the currently ruling Gabonese Democratic Party (PDG) won with 45 out of 52 seats secured for its members. Five senators of either the opposition or independent party were voted for on February 1, and there are so far two seats remaining to be filled during the second round of elections. The second round of elections, though expected to take place on the 6th of February, is yet to be accounted for.
Chad: Presidential Election 2021
Chad’s Presidential Election took place on 11th April 2021. The incumbent President Idriss Déby was re-elected for a sixth term, taking almost 80 percent of all votes. The voter turnout was just under 65% in as much as the opposition called the registered 7.3 million voters to boycott the election. The 2021 Presidential Election included 10 Presidential candidates for the presidency. Of the selected 10, 3 candidates later withdrew from the race in the face of violence and intimidation by the state’s security forces. Among the remaining presidential candidates was one woman named Lydie Beassemda.
Benin: Presidential Election 2021
On the 11th of April, 2021, a Presidential Election was held in Benin. Two days later, the provisional first-round results released by the national electoral commission credit the incumbent president, Patrice Talon, with 86.37% of the votes, awarding him with his second Presidential term. His two opponents, Alassane Soumanou-Paul Hounkpè, from the FCBE party, and Corentin Kohoué, running as an independent, respectively won 11.29% and 2.35% of the votes. The voter-turn out rate is currently reported to be 50.17%. Benin’s constitutional court is due to verify the final results on the 20th of April after reviewing any candidate appeals.
Côte d’Ivoire National Assembly Election 2021
Background
The Côte d’Ivoire National Assembly elections took place peacefully on March 8th 2021, with a clear absolute majority going to the already ruling party, Houphouëtists for Democracy and Peace party (RHDP), the same party that the current Ivorian president Alassane Ouattara belongs to. The election followed a tumultuous presidential election five months prior, where roughly 80 were killed and an opposition boycott staged.
Central African Republic: Presidential Election 2020-2021
By Naomi Ndifon
The Central African Republic’s 2020-2021 elections were concluded on the 18th of January, 2021 with the reelection of President Faustin Archange Touadera of the United Heart Movement party. He won the election garnering 53.16% of the total votes thereby marking his second term in office. He was followed by former prime minister Anicet Georges Dologuélé, with 21.69% of the total votes. Although opposition candidates vehemently refuted Touadera’s win; attributing it to electoral fraud and low turnout of voters, the constitutional court has dismissed these claims as illegitimate. Of the 17 candidates accepted by the constitutional court of the Central African Republic for the Presidential Elections, only one was a woman: Catherine Samba-Panza, the first female head of state in CAR who had previously served from 2014-2016 as transitional President.
Djibouti: Presidential Election 2021
Djibouti’s Presidential Election were held on April 9, 2021 with the incumbent candidate Ismail Omar Guelleh securing over 97% of the votes. The other opposing candidate , Zakaria Ismail Farah, garnered 2.48% of the casted votes. The election was boycotted by the traditi onal opposition amongst other challengers who shunned the elections claiming that it would not be free and transparent. President Guellah , who has been in power since 1999, won a fifth and supposedly last five - year term since by 2026 he will be over the 75 - year age limit set by the Constitution.
Uganda: the 2021 General Election
Uganda’s general election to elect both the president and the parliament was held on the 14th of January, 2021. Two days later, the country’s Electoral Commission declared the incumbent President Yoweri Museveni the victor with 5.85 million votes (58.6%), second was Bobi Wine with 35.08%. The president’s party, the National Resistance Movement (NRM), won 336 out of 529 seats in the parliament, following this, independents won 74 seats and Bobi Wine’s National Unity Platform (NUP) won 57.