Christian faithful reel from the news of Pope Francis’ death. President Ruto embarks on a trip to China and Gabon celebrates the election of it’s new President.
Table of Contents
Global Events: The Pope is no more
Happy Easter, Folks!
Easter is not only a holiday time meant to be spent with family and friends. For the Christian faithful, it is a time to reflect upon and commemorate the foundations of their faith. The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ inform the core Christian tenet of salvation.
Nonetheless, the Easter holidays are also a welcome break, as they allow us to take the time to reflect on the year so far.
As the Christian faithful gathered across the world to partake in the holiday, they were joined by one conspicuous figure, Pope Francis.
Pope Francis has been the head of the Catholic Church since 2013, when he was elected as the 266th pope. The position made him, arguably at least, the most powerful and influential man in the Christian faith. The pope is not only the head of the Catholic church, but is also the head of state for the Vatican, which operates as much as an independent state in the International Sphere.
The 88-year-old pope’s health had been deteriorating in recent days, and he had been hospitalised earlier this year with a severe bout of pneumonia. In his subsequent public appearances, he appeared more frail than his usual self. His last public appearance was on Easter Sunday, where he wished the crowd that had gathered at St Peter’s Square a happy Easter. He would later ride in rounds around St. Peter’s Square, where he would occasionally stop to bless the babies presented to him.
The pope had been admitted in February at the Gemelli Hospital in Rome with a serious case of pneumonia. He suffered four breathing crises when in hospital, including one in which he inhaled his own vomit, leading to a possible lung infection.
True to his work ethic and much against his doctor’s instruction, the Pope was still working up until his death, which the Vatican announced on Easter Monday.
Pope Francis will be remembered for his reformist policies in the Catholic Church. He called on the church to be accommodating to marginalised populations, such as immigrant populations and the LGBTQ communities. He was also an advocate for peace, continually calling for the resolution of conflicts in South Sudan, Myanmar, Palestine, Israel, Ukraine and the Democratic Republic of Congo. His reformist policies often put him at loggerheads with the more conservative elements in the church, including US Vice President JD Vance, who converted to Catholicism in 2019. Pope Francis was quite outspoken against Vance and his administration for the deportation policy on immigrants living in the United States.
Pope Francis and JD Vance would meet at the Vatican for a brief moment on the morning of Easter Sunday in what was described as ‘a meeting to exchange Easter greetings’.
Here in Kenya: President Ruto’s State Visit to China
President William Ruto embarked on an 8-day state visit to China on Monday evening.
Ruto’s visit follows an invitation by President Xi Jinping of China, as announced by the Chinese Embassy in Kenya.
The visit is meant to build on the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between the two countries signed in 2017, which is part of China’s Belt and Road initiative.
The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is a global development strategy initiated by China in 2013 that aims to invest in infrastructural projects in more than 150 countries and international organisations. BRI is made up of six urban land development corridors linked by rail, road, energy and digital infrastructure and maritime ports.
It is a foundational element of modern Chinese diplomacy as it seeks to assert China’s influence as an influential player in global geopolitics and economics.
For a country such as Kenya, the initiative presents a welcome reprieve from continued overdependence on traditional Western allies such as the United States and Europe. China also adopts a strict ‘no strings attached’ policy and does not intervene in a partner country’s internal affairs. This has been a long-standing criticism of Western financial institutions, such as the IMF, which have been long accused of heavy-handed meddling within the countries in which they offer financial assistance.
Read More: Debt Watch: The IMF’s Role in Aggravating Kenya’s Debt Situation.
However, China’s initiative is not without its fair share of criticisms. China has been accused of using BRI initiatives as a tool of debt-trap diplomacy, which burdens developing countries with unpayable loans and increases China’s political leverage. Consequently, this creates a system of modern economic imperialism which hampers the economic growth of developing countries.
According to Foreign Affairs Principal Secretary Dr. Korir Sing’oei, Kenya will be seeking to renegotiate the funding model through which it gets funding from China. Kenya has been struggling in the repayment of its existing loans to China as a result of a volatile shilling, rising interest rates and a mountain of existing repayment costs.
This has created a huge constraint for Kenya in acquiring new loans from China.
Kenya will seek to encourage China to adopt new funding models such as Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) in an attempt to unlock more Chinese financing for infrastructural projects in the country.
In other words, the government is broke and is hoping that it can work with China for a ‘Plan B’ to get some much-needed financing from it.
However, the visit also comes as part of a larger global geopolitical shift.
The United States, which has been the dominant global geopolitical player for well over eight decades, is entering a period of isolationism and mercantilism. Donald Trump’s administration has imposed global tariffs and withheld funding for global projects and initiatives. The move has been felt especially in the developing world, and countries globally are scrambling to reorganise themselves in the face of a new global order.
China continues to bank on its strong ties with developing countries, particularly in Africa. In addition to the Belt and Road Initiative, China plays a central role in BRICS, a global alliance led by the developing powers of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. And as the global systems shift and reorganise, many developing countries, especially from Africa, have also signed up for membership in BRICS.
China has also leveraged on its partnerships within the African continent through avenues such as FOCAC (Forum on China-Africa Cooperation) to establish a foothold of influence within the continent.
Therefore, President Ruto’s visit comes at an opportune time for China. It sends a message to the world that China is the new cooperative partner to seek out, feeling in the void that the United States has occupied for decades.
Kenya might as well be a pawn in the larger geopolitical game, forced to continually switch allegiances and play along with whoever the global powerhouse may be.
Elsewhere in the Region: Gabon’s new president?
Gabon held its first elections since the overthrow its dictatorial president Ali Bongo in 2023.
Bongo was overthrown in a military coup led by his cousin, Gen. Brice Olingui Nguema, on August 30, 2023. Bongo had taken over in 2009 following the death of his father and Gabon’s long serving president, Omar Bongo, who had ruled the country since 1967. The 2023 coup marked the end of the Bongo regime that had ruled the country for more than 60 years.
The coup leaders established a military junta; the Committee for the Transition and Restoration of Institutions. The committee annuled the results of the 2023 General Elections which were marred with irregularities and had led to the reelection of Ali Bongo. Fresh elections were slated to take place in 2025.
Gen. Nguema, who also served as the chairperson of the ruling of the junta, was a frontrunner in the lead up to the elections. His main challnger was Alain Claude Bilie By Nze. Bilie served as the country’s Prime Minister under Ali Bongo’s government in the lead-up to the August 2023 coup.
On April 12, 2025, the country headed to the polls to elect their new President. The voter turnout was at 70%, the highest since the first multi-party elections in 1993. Nguema won by a landslide, garnering 94.85% of the vote with Bilie By Nze capturing only 3.11% of the vote.
Gabon’s election may have breathed a sign of new life into Africa’s democratic processes, in a continent that has witnessed numerous military takeovers especially since 2021. The trend has been particularly worrying for the Francophone countries in West Africa such as Mali, Niger, Guinea and Burkina Faso succumbing to military takeovers.
Granted, for many of these countries, the so-called democratic, civilian leaders had done little in the way of providing for transparent leadership. In countries such as Burkina Faso, military leadership has already shown great promise. The country is led by Ibrahim Traore, who is the world’s youngest president, who has made significant steps in advancing the country’s industrial and agricultural sectors. Nonetheless, it may still be quite early to conclude how effective his leadership, especially as his regime continues to face several existential crises arising from terrorism and numerous coup attempts.
This would not be the first time that a popular military leader takes over in an African country and displays a level of respect for democratic processes. In 1979, a 32-year-old Jerry Rawlings took over the country of Ghana in a military coup and handed over the reigns of power to a civilian government. Unsatisfied by the civilian rule, he instigated yet another military coup in 1981. He held on to power as the head of a junta, before eventually initiating multiparty election in 1992. He was elected for two, four year terms before handing over power in 2000.
Rawlings’ leadership was not without its flaws but by 2000, he had transformed Ghana from a country fraught with leadership struggles to a stable country with robust electoral and democratic systems.
The election of Brice Nguema marks a unique departure from traditional military juntas. Despite leading a coup, Nguema resigned from his military role and vied in the elections as a civilian candidate. Furthermore, the transitional council also made good on its promise to deliver elections within two years of its takeover – as the April elections came six months earlier than the deadline. Most juntas in power across much of Africa are less welcoming of such democratic processes.
However, Nguema’s connection to the Bongo regime is still the Sword of Damocles that hangs over his head. Despite overthrowing the face of the dictatorship in Ali Bongo, the government still remains populated by political elements from the past regime. In fact, Gabon’s political power is held by a clique of individuals with close connections to power.
Nonetheless, perharps what Gabon (and many more African countries) need is stable leadership. It may not be neccesarily comprised of a strict democracy, but a stable leadership it must be, nonetheless.
Leave a Reply