Democracy Archives | This is Africa

The passport, the database and the State: Who controls digital Zimbabwe?

Dr Blessing Vava — Thu, 17 Sep 2026 14:24:51 +0000

Zimbabwe’s shift to biometric e-passports masks a critical vulnerability: digital sovereignty. With foreign firms building the state's digital identity infrastructure, convenience risks becoming a new form of dependency. This article analyses the hidden geopolitical costs of outsourced technology and ask a defining question: who truly controls the digital Zimbabwean?

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When the Algorithm decides what we see: Who governs Africa’s digital democracy?

Dr Blessing Vava — Mon, 14 Sep 2026 13:50:06 +0000

Algorithms are now the unseen architects of African elections. As foreign platforms engineer civic realities through opaque feeds, the true democratic threat isn't just misinformation—it is the surrender of digital sovereignty. Africa must demand urgent algorithmic governance before the next ballot is cast.

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Education is neither a commercial venture nor a credit facility but a basic need and a public good

Mzalendo Mutemi wa Kiama — Fri, 14 Aug 2026 16:55:19 +0000

Restoring Utu to Higher Education: A Sovereign Endowment Blueprint to Abolish Kenya’s Student Debt Trap.

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The third global wave of autocratization One playbook, two instruments: Legal façades and structural decay in the world, with Indonesia and Kenya as case studies

Mzalendo Mutemi wa Kiama — Fri, 14 Aug 2026 11:09:20 +0000

The modern autocrat doesn't need a military coup; they just rewrite the law. From Kenya to Indonesia, leaders are legally dismantling democracies by centralizing wealth, weaponizing security, and absorbing political opposition.

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A mirror across the Zambezi: Why Zambia’s August 13 vote matters to Zimbabwe and SADC

Dr Blessing Vava — Fri, 31 Jul 2026 09:36:17 +0000

Zambia’s August 2026 presidential election stands as a vital geopolitical watershed for Southern Africa. Strikingly contrasted against Zimbabwe’s executive overreach and eroded voting rights, Lusaka’s ballot presents a critical test: whether SADC’s future will be defined by constitutional accountability and fiscal reform or liberation-era nostalgia.

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