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.

Finally! An Event on the CAR

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Central African Republic, Great Lakes Policy Forum, Laurence D Wohlers, National Endowment for Democracy

I generally try to avoid promoting events of a non-entertainment nature on these pages, but I am so excited to see that the Great Lakes Policy Forum (in association with the National Endowment for Democracy) will be focusingon the Central African Republic (‘Crisis in the Central African Republic’) next Friday (September 27), I’ve got to make an exception to that rule.

I have previously blogged on the lack of interest in DC regarding the situation in the CAR (although I’m quite ignorant of the region myself), which leads me to believe that Africa (or at least most of the countries south of the Sahara) remains peripheral to US interests and that that apathy makes a mockery of the US’ professed commitment to the sort of human rights norms that drove discussion of possible intervention in places like Syria and Libya.

There will be two representatives of the CAR’s National Transitional Council, a member of a local human rights organization, and a Bishop from CAR speaking.  Laurence D. Wohlers, who appears to have been the US Ambassador to the Central African Republic until very recently will be moderating.

A guest post is welcome!