A Conversation with Charles Mangongera, Visiting NED Democracy Fellow, on Governance and Activism in Zimbabwe

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Angola, Charles Mangongera, Equatorial Guinea, Mass Public Opinion Institute, MDC, military rule in Africa, Mutoko, National Endowment for Democracy, political science, Robert Mugabe, Tete, University of Zimbabwe, ZANU-PF, Zimbabwe, Zimbabwe elections

I recently had the pleasure to hear National Endowment for Democracy (NED) Reagan-Fascell Fellow Charles Mangongera, Director of Policy and Research for Zimbabwe’s main opposition party, speak masterfully at NED on the role of the military in the country’s political sphere.  Dedicated readers may know that I have a particular interest in Zimbabwe and recall an earlier Africa in DC interview of another Zimbabwean activist.

Ex-Girlfriend of Son of Equatorial Guinea President to Perform in DC

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EG Justice, Equatorial Guinea, Eve, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue

The US Justice Department is currently embroiled in a case against Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, the son of the President of Equatorial Guinea and the second VP of the country himself, over the seizure of $70 million in his assets (he’s had similar issues in France).

Nguema attended Pepperdine University and dated the rapper Eve, who was quite the star during my high school days and is now trying to stage a career comeback.  Eve will be performing at the Howard Theatre on September 13.  If any of you folks at the DC-based EG Justice get a chance to talk to her about that relationship, I’d be most interested.  I wonder if Eve ever went to Malabo?

Sullivan Foundation: Abrupt Suspension of Activities

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Equatorial Guinea, Hope Sullivan Masters, Sullivan Foundation

Browsing the net this Sunday night, I stumbled across something that I had completely overlooked.  The K Street-based Leon H. Sullivan Foundation, which supports efforts to bring together “businesses and individuals to create partnerships with Africa with our ultimate goal being a peaceful, prosperous, and powerful Africa”, has closed.

The last I had heard from the Sullivan Foundation concerned a disastrous interview by the Foundation’s CEO, Hope Sullivan Masters, with a DC radio station (the transcript makes for hilarious reading material and is well worth checking out).  The Foundation took a lot of heat for hosting its 9th summit in Equatorial Guinea, and the pressure had obviously gotten the best of Hope Sullivan Masters in the final days before it was to begin (in August 2012).

I promptly forgot about the Summit, however as Elizabeth Flock has brought to my attention, that was the last activity the Foundation has supported.

Very strange that there has not been any formal announcement concerning the closure.