Why Do Things Always Fall Apart in Africa?

Byalmariam

Originally appeared in the Huffington Post on  1/3/2011 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alemayehu-g-mariam/why-do-things-always-fall_1_b_803445.html Copycat Dictators and Cartoon Democracies in Africa Ivory Coast, December 2010. Laurent Gbagbo says he won the presidential election. The Independent Ivorian Election Commission (CEI) said former prime minister Alassane Ouattara is the winner by a nine-point margin. The African Union, the Economic Community of West…

Ethiopia: The A B C’s of Stealing an Election

Byalmariam

Alemayehu G. Mariam It is a staple of the criminal defense bar to represent thieves, robbers, burglars, muggers, pickpockets, shoplifters, embezzlers, con men, fraudsters and swindlers. It is also the ineluctable lot of the defense lawyer to learn about the M.O. (modus operandi, techniques) of the criminal classes with professional detachment. But few defense lawyers…