When they came to power in coups in 2020, 2022 and 2023, respectively, the Malian, Burkinabe, and Nigerien juntas made many promises that seemed to seduce the majority of their populations devastated by years of economic mismanagement and nepotism; suffering; and insecurity and instability due to jihadist insurgency and bad governance. Many citizens, particularly youth, initially celebrated the takeovers, responding to promises by junta leaders to do what civilian governments had failed to do, namely, create stability by containing jihadist insurgencies and violence. Juntas’ promises to regain sovereignty from their former colonial rulers, for example, by expelling French troops from…
Daniel Phiri
Daniel Phiri
Daniel Phiri is a freelance journalist, who has travelled extensively across Africa, including having lived a worked as a journalist in South Africa for 18 years until moving to Dakar, Senegal in 2012.
It has been nearly 10 years since Johnson came to Nairobi, Kenya’s capital city, from his rural birthplace in Makueni County to find work. Every day, residents of the countryside flock to cities such as Nairobi and Mombasa in search of a better life. UN-Habitat says Kenya’s urbanisation rate is high, estimated at approximately 3.7% to 4.4% annually, which creates a range of problems, including spatial constraints, poverty, insecurity, and poor access to basic services, factors that often lead to social discontent. After finding a job, Johnson’s hopes of becoming an integral component of Nairobi’s ecosystem were dashed after finding…
