OnlinePeoplesNews.com | International Desk
Africa has entered another turbulent chapter of political crisis, as the recent elections in Tanzania, Cameroon, and Côte d’Ivoire expose deep fractures in the continent’s democratic architecture. While ruling elites celebrate “victories” and foreign powers applaud “stability,” the reality on the ground tells a far darker story: repression, manipulated ballots, and an ever-growing disconnect between the continent’s aging rulers and its restless, youthful population.
Across three nations — each with its own political trajectory — the pattern is unmistakable. Elections have become rituals that legitimize continuity rather than instruments that empower citizens. Neoliberal and neo-colonial structures remain firmly intact, defended by regimes that rely on coercion, censorship, and constitutional manipulation to survive.
Tanzania: When Elections Become Instruments of Fear
Tanzania’s October 29, 2025 election marked one of the most troubling democratic backslides in East Africa. President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s reported 97.66% “victory” raised immediate suspicion, not celebration.
For months, opposition leaders from CHADEMA, including Tundu Lissu and Amani Golugwa, faced relentless intimidation. Rallies were blocked, candidates disqualified, and dozens of activists jailed. As results were announced, Tanzanians poured into the streets of Dar es Salaam, Arusha, and Mwanza — only to face brutal crackdowns.
Internet shutdowns, curfews, disappearances, and allegations of mass killings have turned the post-election period into a national trauma. Even SADC observers reported harassment by the state. The African Union initially congratulated Suluhu but later retracted its endorsement under heavy public criticism.
Yet, despite the severity of the crisis, meaningful international intervention remains absent.
Cameroon: The Never-Ending Reign of Paul Biya
Over in Cameroon, the October 12, 2025 election once again extended the rule of Paul Biya — a man who has governed since 1982 and is now 92. His official win of 53.66% came after 70 of 83 opposition candidates were disqualified by the electoral commission (ELECAM). Maurice Kamto, the most prominent challenger, was among those barred.
With real opposition neutralized, the election became a predictable coronation. Streets in Douala, Garoua, and Maroua filled with protests demanding transparency. The response: live ammunition, mass arrests, and a new wave of killings.
Cameroon’s youth, suffocating under more than 30% unemployment, increasingly see the political system as closed, elitist, and violently resistant to change. Their protest movements grow louder — and more desperate — by the day.
Côte d’Ivoire: Technocratic Neoliberalism Masking Authoritarian Rule
In Côte d’Ivoire, President Alassane Ouattara, now 83, secured a controversial fourth term. Constitutional reinterpretation allowed him to bypass term limits, while his main rivals — Laurent Gbagbo and Guillaume Soro — were barred from running.
The election became a procedural formality.
Opposition protests were met with arrests and bans, reinforcing what human rights groups call a “permanent state of controlled democracy.” Ouattara’s regime represents a softer but equally dangerous model: technocratic neoliberalism. Backed by the IMF and World Bank, his government posts strong GDP numbers — while inequality, rural poverty, and youth unemployment continue to deepen.
As Pan-African political analyst Jonis Ghedi Alasow wrote:
“These are not elections — they are coronations. Ouattara’s popularity in Western capitals stems from his willingness to implement austerity, not from the consent of his people.”
A Crisis Beyond Elections: The Collapse of Neoliberal Democracy
The Socialist Movement of Ghana (SMG) argues that Africa’s crisis is not simply electoral — it is structural. Elections, they note, have become tools that ruling elites use to protect imperial interests, maintain resource extraction, and uphold neoliberal economic models.
The continent remains trapped between debt dependency, foreign-controlled trade systems, and domestic elites aligned with multinational corporations.
Ghedi Alasow puts it clearly:
“Africa’s history shows that meaningful change does not emerge from ballot boxes but from organized struggle.”
This sentiment resonates across Africa’s cities, slums, and campuses, where youth movements are rising with new intensity. From Tanzania to Cameroon to Côte d’Ivoire, marginalized communities now question not only fraudulent results — but the entire system that produces them.
A Generation Determined to Break the Chain
A new political energy is emerging on the continent, shaped by Pan-Africanism, socialism, anti-imperialist organizing, and grassroots mobilization. Young Africans increasingly reject neoliberal models and aging authoritarian leaders.
Leaders like Burkina Faso’s Ibrahim Traoré — though controversial — embody a political mood that prioritizes sovereignty over foreign approval.
As Alasow notes:
“People care less about how leaders come to power, and more about whose interests they defend once in office. The neocolonial order is in crisis — it no longer holds legitimacy.”
The Road Ahead
The crises in Tanzania, Cameroon, and Côte d’Ivoire represent the collapse of bourgeois democracy under inequality, corruption, and foreign dependency. Elections continue — but the democratic substance has evaporated.
Real political transformation will require:
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popular sovereignty,
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organized mass movements,
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economic independence, and
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a break from imperialist structures.
As the Socialist Movement of Ghana reminds us, democracy is meaningful only when power flows from the people — not from multinational boardrooms, foreign embassies, or entrenched elites.
Africa’s future will not be shaped by the aging autocrats clinging to their palaces nor the technocrats who serve global capital.
It will be shaped by a generation that refuses to be silenced — a generation ready to reclaim democracy, rebuild sovereignty, and forge a future rooted in justice, dignity, and people’s power.