The El Hak Foundation for Freedom of Expression and Human Rights’ Africa Hak Bulletin documents a period of acute democratic and civic regression across the continent. The findings reveal a deepening pattern in which economic grievances, often triggered by fiscal reforms shaped by international financial institutions, are being met with security frameworks rather than social dialogue.
From Kenya’s violent anti-tax crackdowns to Uganda’s pre-election militarisation and Tanzania’s coordinated suppression of dissent, the securitisation of economic and social rights has become a defining feature of governance. Civil society organisations and independent media have been systematically targeted.
The West’s complicity cannot be ignored. Debt conditionalities, counterterrorism aid, and security partnerships have indirectly subsidised coercive governance, entrenching a political economy of repression.
