Elections Archives - Page 2 of 7 - Commonwealth Oral History Project

Interview with Professor Yash Ghai

by evanamusoke | Aug 10, 2016 | Australia, Constitutional Change, Decolonisation, Democracy, Diplomacy, Elections, Fiji, Good Governance, Human Rights, Judiciary, Kenya, Law, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Rwanda, Small States, Tanzania, Uganda, Uncategorized

Download Interview Transcript: Part One (14 July 2015); Part Two (15 July 2015). Biography: Ghai, Yash. 1938. Born in Kenya and graduate of the University of Oxford and Harvard University. Senior Fellow and Lecturer at Yale Law School, 1971-73. Professor of Public Law...

Observing Uganda’s 2016 Presidential Election

by evanamusoke | Feb 22, 2016 | Blog, Elections, Uganda

By Dr Eva Namusoke, Postdoctoral Research Officer, Institute of Commonwealth Studies A reflection on the 18th February election in Uganda and the history of the Commonwealth Observer Group. Read more on the Commonwealth Opinion blog

Interview with Amitav Banerji

by evanamusoke | Feb 3, 2016 | Apartheid, CHOGM, Commonwealth Secretariat, Democracy, Diplomacy, Elections, Good Governance, Human Rights, India, Maldives, Pakistan, Queen, Sexuality, Singapore, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Uganda, United Nations, Zimbabwe (see also Rhodesia)

Download Interview Transcript. Biography: Banerji, Amitav. 1953-. Born in India. Educated at Georgetown University (BA) and Delhi School of Economics (MA). Joined Indian Foreign Service in 1975. Private Secretary to the Indian Foreign Minister, 1979-1982. Joined...

Interview with Sitiveni Rabuka

by chrismoffat | Jul 22, 2015 | Australia, CHOGM, Constitutional Change, Democracy, Elections, Fiji, Good Governance, India, New Zealand, Small States, United Kingdom

Download Interview Transcript. Biography: Rabuka, Sitiveni Ligamamada. 1948- . Born in Cakaudrove, Fiji. Educated in New Zealand army school (1973), Indian Defence Services Staff College (1979), and Australian Joint Services Staff College (1982). Senior Operations...

Interview with Carl Dundas

by chrismoffat | Jul 21, 2015 | Apartheid, Barbados, Civil Society, Commonwealth Secretariat, Democracy, Development, Elections, Fiji, Grenada, Guyana, India, Jamaica, Kenya, Malaysia, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Technical Assistance, Zambia, Zimbabwe (see also Rhodesia)

Download Interview Transcript. Biography: Dundas, Carl. Educated in London and called to the bar at Gray’s Inn. Appointed Legal Counsel and Director of Legal Division of the Caribbean Community, 1973. Technical Legal Advisor to Joint Selection Committee on...

Interview with Moses Anafu

by chrismoffat | Jul 16, 2015 | Apartheid, Bangladesh, Botswana, Cameroon, Cold War, Commonwealth Secretariat, Democracy, Diplomacy, Elections, Gambia, Ghana, Lesotho, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rhodesia (see also Zimbabwe), Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, United Kingdom, Zambia, Zimbabwe (see also Rhodesia)

Download Interview Transcripts: Part One (17 June 2014); Part Two (13 July 2014); Part Three (19 November 2014). Appendices: One – Interview Inserts (6 May 2015); Two – Secretariat Analysis of 1979 Internal Settlement in Zimbabwe/Rhodesia; Three –...

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Definitioner

Abeid Karume

Abeid Amani Karume (1905-1972) was a Zanzibari political figure who served as the first President of Zanzibar from 1964 to 1972. During this period Karume was also Vice President of Tanzania, under President Julius Nyerere.

Salmin Amour

Salmin Amour (b.1948) is a Tanzanian political figure who served as President of Zanzibar from 1990 to 2000. He is associated with the dominant Tanzanian political party Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM).

David McDowell

David McDowell (b.1937) is a New Zealand diplomat who served as Special Assistant to the Commonwealth Secretary General Arnold Smith from 1969 to 1972. McDowell was later New Zealand’s High Commissioner to India, Nepal and Bangladesh (1983-85) and Permanent Representative to the United Nations (1985-88). From 1994 to 1999 he was Director-General of the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Ahmed Sékou Touré

Ahmed Sékou Touré (1922-1984) was a Guinean politician who served as the first President of Guinea from 1958 to 1984. A leading nationalist figure in the anti-colonial struggle against France, Sékou Touré would declare his Parti démocratique de Guinée (PDG) the only legal party in Guinea in 1960.

Dilma Rousseff

Dilma Vana Rousseff (b.1947) is a Brazilian politician who was elected President of her country in 2011. Rousseff had previously served as Chief of Staff to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (2005-10) and Minister of Mines and Energy (2003-05)

Miles Hudson

Miles Hudson is a British writer and political figure, who served as Political Secretary to Sir Alec Douglas Home in the Foreign Office. He was Director of the Conservative Group for Europe during the 1975 Referendum Campaign.

Jesse Helms

Jesse Alexander Helms Jr (1921-2008) was an American politician who chaired the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee from 1995 to 2001. A staunchly conservative member of the Republican party, Helms was Senator from North Carolina from 1973 to 2003. He joined the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 1979 during the government of Jimmy Carter.

Stephen Low

Stephen Low (1927-2010) was an American diplomat who served as US Ambassador to Zambia (1976-79) and Nigeria (1979-81). He was later Director of the Foreign Services Institute (1982-87).

ZIMCORD (Zimbabwe Conference on Reconstruction and Development)

The Zimbabwe Conference on Reconstruction and Development (ZIMCORD) was convened in Salisbury, 23-27 March 1981, in an attempt to encourage investment and assistance from the international community to the newly-established country. At the conference, thirty-one countries and twenty-six international organisations pledged $1.45 billion in economic aid to Zimbabwe.

ZANLA (Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army)

The Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA) was formed in Tanzania in 1965 and based throughout the 1970s in camps around Lusaka, Zambia. As the military wing of the Zimbabwe African National Union (ZANU), ZANLA was a principal participant in the Rhodesian Bush War. It was led by Herbert Chitepo (1965-72), Josiah Tongogara (1973-79) and then Robert Mugabe in 1979.

Michael Palliser

Sir Arthur Michael Palliser (1922-2012) was a senior British diplomat who served as Permanent Under-Secretary of State and Head of the Diplomatic Service from 1975 to 1982. Palliser joined the British Diplomatic Service in 1947 and held posts in Athens, Paris and Dakar. In London, he served as Head of the Policy Planning Staff, and, in 1966, was appointed Foreign Affairs Private Secretary to the Prime Minister. In 1973 he became the first British Permanent Representative to the European Communities.

Abdulsalami Abubakar

General Abdulsalami Alhaji Abubakar (b.1942) is a Nigerian military and political figure who succeeded General Sani Abacha as President of Nigeria, serving from 1998 to 1999. Under Abubakar, Nigeria adopted a new constitution and facilitated multi-party elections, transferring power to the democratically-elected Olusegun Obasanjo in May 1999.

Bill Clinton

William Jefferson ‘Bill’ Clinton (b.1946) is an American political figure who served as 42^nd President of the United States (1993-2001). Clinton remains active in politics as an adviser to the Democratic Party, and also oversees the William J Clinton Foundation and its work on the prevention of AIDS and global warming. In 2009, he was United Nations Special Envoy to Haiti.

Mwalimu

‘Mwalimu’ is a Swahili honorific which translates as ‘teacher’. It is often associated with Julius Nyerere (1922-99), the first President of Tanzania, who had worked as a teacher before joining politics. He is also known as ‘Baba wa Taifa’, or ‘Father of the Nation’.

Lomé Peace Accord

The Lomé Peace Accord was signed in Togo on 7 July 1999 and sought to bring an end to the decade-long civil war in Sierra Leone. The Accord was signed by Sierra Leonean President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah and Fodah Sankoh, leader of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF). While the negotiations called for a ceasefire and demobilization, groups within the RUF refused to disarm and rebel activity continued – Freetown was under siege again by May 2000.

Chris Child

Chris Child is a British political figure who served as Head of the Democracy Section in the Commonwealth Secretariat Political Affairs Division. He had previously worked in the office of the Leader of the British Labour Party and was Trade Union and Local Groups Officer of the Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM), UK, from 1976-82. He was also Deputy Secretary of the AAM.

Amara Essy

Amara Essy (b.1944) is an Ivorian diplomat who has acted as Permanent Representative of Cote d’Ivoire to the United Nations (1981-90) and as his country’s Minister of Foreign Affairs (1994-99). He was President of the 49^th Session of the UN General Assembly (1994-95) and was 7^th Secretary-General of the Organisation of African Unity, overseeing its transformation into the African Union (2001-03).

Henri Konan Bédié

Aimé Henri Konan Bédié (b.1934) is an Ivorian political figure who served as President of Cote d’Ivoire from 1993 to 1999 as leader of the Democratic Party of Cote d’Ivoire – African Democratic Rally (PDCI-RDA). He was overthrown in a military coup in 1999 and fled to Togo and then Paris in exile. He returned to the country on new President Laurent Gbagbo’s request in 2001.

Adwoa Coleman

Adwoa Coleman has acted as a senior official in the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) and was the OAU’s signatory to the 1999 Lomé Accord for Sierra Leone. She was the OAU’s representative on the ground in both Abidjan and Freetown, and also served in the organisation’s Political Office as Chief of Research and Early Warning.

Charles Taylor

Charles McArthur Ghankay Taylor (b.1948) was a Liberian political figure who acted as President of Liberia from 1997 until 2003. Trained as a guerrilla fighter in Libya in the 1980s, he led the National Patriotic Front of Liberia in the First Liberian Civil War (1989-96). As a result of his involvement in the Sierra Leone Civil War (1991-2002), Taylor was accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity. Losing control of Liberia during the Second Civil War, he went into exile in Nigeria in 2003 and was later detained by UN authorities before being sentenced to 50 years in prison by the Special Court for Sierra Leone.

Berhanu Dinka

Berhanu Dinka (1935-2013) was an Ethiopian diplomat who served as Ambassador for his country to Dijbouti, Canada and the United States. He was Ethiopia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in the 1980s, and in 1992 joined the UN as an official. He was Special Envoy of the Secretary-General of the United Nations to Sierra Leone from 1995 to 1997, working also in the Great Lakes Region of Central Africa (1997-2002) and Burundi (2002-04).

Chama Cha Mapinduzi

Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) is the leading political party in Tanzania, established in 1977 following the merger of Julius Nyerere’s Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) and the Afro-Shirazi Party. Since the restoration of a multi-party system in 1992, CCM has consistently won general elections in Tanzania, including a 2005 landslide of 80 per cent of the popular vote.

Liberal International

Liberal International (LI) is an international federation for liberal political parties, established in 1947 with the release of the ‘Oxford Manifesto’. Headquartered in London, it provides a common forum for parties and organisations around the world committed to human rights, free and fair elections, multi-party democracy, social justice, tolerance, free market economy, free trade, and environmental sustainability.

Tanganyika African National Union

The Tanganyika African National Union (TANU) was the leading nationalist political party in the East African state of Tanganyika. It was founded in 1954 by Julius Nyerere as the ‘Tanganyika African Association’. In 1977, the party merged with the Afro-Shirazi Party (ASP) to form Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM), a centre-left party which continues to dominate politics in an independent Tanzania.

TANU (Tanganyika African National Union)

Sword of Honour

The ‘Sword of Honour’ is an award recognising the best overall British Army Officer Cadet at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, as selected by the Commandant of the Academy.

Moshoeshoe II

Moshoeshoe II of Lesotho (1938-1996) was King of Lesotho from 1996 until 1990 when he was exiled to the United Kingdom by a military junta. He returned in 1995 as King but died in a car accident a year later.

Ntsu Mokhehle

Ntsu Mokhehle (1918-1999) was a Lesotho political figure who served as Prime Minister from 1993 to 1998. Mokhehle was founder of the Basutoland Congress Party (BCP; later ‘Basotho Congress Party’) in 1952. He led the BCP until 1997, resigning to form a new party – the Lesotho Congress for Democracy (LCD) – in that same year.

Bereng Seeiso

Prince Seeiso Bereng Seeiso (b.1966) is a diplomat and member of the Lesotho royal family, the House of Moshesh. He previously served as the Lesotho High Commissioner to the United Kingdom.

Phisoana Ramaema

Elias Phisoana Ramaema (b.1933) was Chairman of the Military Council in Lesotho – and thus Head of Government in the country – between May 1991 and April 1993. He handed power back to a democratically-elected Basutoland Congress Party government in 1993.

Umkhonto we Sizwe

Umkhonto we Sizwe (‘Spear of the Nation’; abbreviated as MK) was the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC), operating from 1961 to 1990. MK was founded following the 1960 Sharpeville Massacre and represents a turn away from non-violent struggle in South Africa. Branded as a ‘terrorist’ organisation by both the South African government and the United States, its members included Nelson Mandela, Oliver Tambo, Chris Hani, Joe Slovo and Thabo Mbeki, among others..

Albert Luthuli

Inkosi Albert John Luthuli (1898-1967) was a South African educator and political figure. As President of the African National Congress from 1952 to 1967, he led opposition to apartheid in South Africa and became the first African to win the Nobel Peace Prize.

International Alert

International Alert is a London-based non-governmental organisation that was established in 1986. Active in over 20 countries – from the Great Lakes region of Africa to the Caucasus to the Andean Region of South America – it focuses specifically on the prevention and ending of violent conflict, particularly as it occurs within states.

Chris Hani

Chris Hani (1942-1993) was a prominent figure in the South African anti-apartheid movement, acting as leader of the South African Communist Party (SACP) and Chief of Staff for the African National Congress’ armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe. Hani was assassinated outside his home in Boksburg on 10 April 1993.

Aggrey (James Aggrey)

James Emman Kwegyir Aggrey (1875-1927) was a Ghanaian intellectual, missionary and teacher who was travelled throughout Africa in the 1920s to produce a report on prospects for educational improvement on behalf of the US-based Phelps Stokes Fund. Aggrey was himself trained in the United States as a missionary and was Minister of the African Methodists Zion church in Salisbury, North Carolina.

CCFMSA

The Commonwealth Committee of Foreign Ministers on Southern Africa (CCFMSA) was established at the 1987 Vancouver CHOGM and tasked with facilitating international efforts to combat South Africa’s apartheid system. The Committee was comprised of the Foreign Ministers of Australia, Canada, Guyana, India, Nigeria, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Canadian Secretary of State for External Affairs Joe Clark was appointed Chairperson.

COMECON

The Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON) was an organisation composed of socialist states from around the world and led by the Soviet Union between 1949 and 1991. A response to the formation of the Organisation for European Economic Co-Operation in Western Europe, COMECON was intended by Moscow to strengthen international socialist alliances at an economic level.

Nkrumahist

‘Nkrumahism’ is a term used to describe the social, economic and political philosophy of Kwame Nkrumah (1909-72), the first President of Ghana. An advocate of Pan-Africanism and a non-Aligned Marxism-Leninism, Nkrumah’s approaches to statecraft and the possibility of an ‘African Socialism’ have been influential both in Ghana and across the African continent more generally.

ZIPRA (Zimbabwe People's Revolutionary Army)

The Zimbabwe People’s Revolutionary Army (ZIPRA) was established in 1964 by the nationalist leader Jason Moyo, functioning as the military arm of the Zimbabwe African People’s Union (ZAPU). It was a Marxist-Leninist organisation and, prior to the creation of the Republic of Zimbabwe in 1980, included 20,000 combatants.

Christopher Soames

Arthur Christopher Soames, Baron Soames, (1920-1987) was a British Conservative politician who served as the last Governor of Southern Rhodesia (1979-80). He served the Government of Harold Macmillan as Secretary of State for War and as Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, and also served as British Ambassador to France (1968-72) and European Commissioner for Trade and External Relations (1973-77).

Governor Soames (Christopher Soames)

Harry Oppenheimer

Harry Frederick Oppenheimer (1908-2000) was a South African businessman who chaired Anglo American Corporation (1957-82) and De Beers Consolidated Mines (1957-84).Oppenheimer, one of the world’s richest men, financed the anti-apartheid Progressive Federal Party in the 1970s and 80s. He also acted as Chancellor of the University of Cape Town (1967-99).

David Caffin

David Caffin was a New Zealand diplomat who worked as Special Assistant to Commonwealth Secretary General Arnold Smith in the 1970s. Caffin was later Permanent Delegate of New Zealand to UNESCO (1980-81) and High Commissioner to Samoa (1981-83).

Dawda Jawara

Sir Dawda Kairaba Jawara (b.1924) is a Gambian politician who served as his country’s first Prime Minister (1962-70) and, following the Gambia’s establishment as Republic, as President from 1970 to 1994. Jawara led the People’s Progressive Party until he was overthrown in a military coup in 1994.

Antony Duff

Sir Arthur Antony Duff (1920-2000) was a British civil servant and intelligence officer who served as Director General of MI5 from 1985-88. A submarine commander in the Second World War, Duff later joined the Foreign Office and served in Cairo, Paris, Bonn, and Kuala Lumpur. He was Ambassador to Nepal in 1964, and then High Commissioner in Kenya. From 1979-80, he was Deputy Governor to Lord Soames in Southern Rhodesia and played a crucial role in negotiations for Zimbabwe’s independence.

Canaan Banana

Canaan Sodindo Banana (1936-2003) was a Zimbabwean political figure and Methodist minister who served as President of Zimbabwe from 1980 to 1987. Banana was also a diplomat for the Organisation of African Unity and headed the Department of Religion at the University of Zimbabwe.

Sheikh Mujib (Sheikh Mujibur Rahman)

Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (1920-1975) was a Bengali politician and nationalist leader who served as the first President of an independent Bangladesh from 1971 to 1972. He was a key protagonist in the build up to the Bangladesh Liberation War, during which he was imprisoned in West Pakistan. Sheikh Mujib was later Prime Minister of Bangladesh (1972-75) and then President again before his assassination by junior army officers in the August 1975 coup d’état.

Hugh Craft

Dr Nickless Hugh Craft is an Australian diplomat who served as Director of the International Affairs Division, Commonwealth Secretariat, from 1979 to 1988. He was subsequently the Senior Executive of Environment Australia (1992-99) and member of the Department of the Australian Prime Minister and Cabinet (1999-2002).

Leonard Allinson

Sir Walter Leonard Allinson (b.1926) is a British civil servant and diplomat. He served as First Secretary in Lahore and Karachi, Pakistan (1960-62), First Secretary in Madras and New Delhi, India (1963-66), Deputy High Commissioner to Kenya (1970-73), Deputy High Commissioner to India (1975-77), High Commissioner to Zambia (1978-80) and High Commissioner to Kenya (1982-86).

Mary Mackie

Mary Mackie served the Commonwealth Secretariat as Personal Assistant to Secretary General Emeka Anyaoku (1990-2000).

Allister Sparks

Allister Sparks (b.1933) is a South African writer and journalist who edited the influential Rand Daily Mail during the 1970s, having previously worked for the paper as a columnist in the 1960s. He was also editor of the Sunday Express and acted as correspondent for the Washington Post, The Observer, and NRC Handelsblad. Sparks has written a number of books on South Africa’s transition from apartheid, including Tomorrow is Another Country (1996). He founded the Institute for the Advancement of Journalism in South Africa in 1992.

Commonwealth Business Council

The Commonwealth Business Council (CBC) was formed at the 1997 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Edinburgh, United Kingdom, with an aim to promote global trade and investment across the Commonwealth of Nations. Acting as a bridge between governments and the private sector, the CBC promoted the liberalisation of services and regional economic integration. Dissolving in 2014, its final Director General was Peter Callaghan.

Commonwealth Lawyers Association

The Commonwealth Lawyers Association (CLA) was established in 1986 in Jamaica, emerging from the Commonwealth Legal Bureau (established in 1968) and linked to the Commonwealth & Empire Law Conferences first organised in London in 1955. The CLA aims to facilitate exchange between legal professionals, academics and students across the Commonwealth on issues of legal education, professional ethics and approaches to the rule of law.

Josiah Tongogara

Josiah Magama Tongogara (1938-1979) was a Zimbabwean nationalist leader who commanded the Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army (ZANLA) guerrilla forces against the Rhodesian regime. Tongogara was a major figure at the 1979 Lancaster House negotiations which led to Zimbabwe’s independence but was killed in a car crash six days after the agreement was signed.

Kingman Brewster

Kingman Brewster, Jr., (1919-1988) was an American diplomat and educator who served as United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom from 1977 to 1981. He was previously President of Yale University (1963-77).

David Owen

David Anthony Owen, Lord Owen, (b. 1938) is a British political figure who served as Foreign Secretary from 1977 to 1979. In 1981, Owen left the Labour Party to found the Social Democratic Party (SDP), which he led from 1983 to 1987.

Organisation of American States

The Organisation of American States (OAS) was established in 1948 as an inter-continental body promoting regional cooperation and collaboration. Headquartered in Washington, DC, the OAS includes 35 member states. In 2015, the Uruguayan lawyer and politician Luis Almagro was appointed Secretary General.

Tiny Rowland

Roland ‘Tiny’ Rowland (1917-1998) was a British business leader who acted as Chief Executive for Lonhro plc from 1962 to 1994. He is responsible for expanding the company’s interests from mining to a variety of activities, such as newspapers, hotels, distribution and textiles.

Matthew Neuhaus

Matthew Neuhaus is a career officer with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), Australia, and was appointed Australian Ambassador to Zimbabwe in 2011. From 2002 to 2008 he served as Director of the Political Affairs Division, Commonwealth Secretariat, and was Assistant Secretary and Head of the CHOGM Policy Task Force in Australia.

Amitav Banerji

Amitav Banerji is a career diplomat from India who became Director of the Political Affairs Division (PAD), Commonwealth Secretariat, in 2009. Previous to this post he had served as Chief of Staff to the Secretary-General, 2000-09, as well as Special Adviser in PAD from 1990 to 2000.

La Francophonie

The Organisation international de la Francophonie (OIF), also known as La Francophonie, is an international organisation linking countries and regions that share French as first or customary language or where there is some affiliation with French culture. La Francophonie includes 57 member states, as well as three associate members and twenty observers.

Yahya Jammeh

Yahya Jammeh (b.1965) became President of Gambia in 1994 following a military coup. He was re-elected in 1996, 2001, 2006 and 2011. His political party is the Alliance for Patriotic Reorientation and Construction.

Jammeh (Yahya Jammeh)

Foday Sankoh

Foday Saybana Sankoh (1937-2003) was leader of the Revolutionary United Front in Sierra Leone from 1991-2000, coordinating armed rebellion against the Joseph Momoh-led All People’s Congress Government and a major protagonist in the decade-long Sierra Leonean Civil War. Sankoh died in 2013 awaiting trial for crimes against humanity in a UN-backed court.

Political Affairs Division

The Political Affairs Division (PAD) is the section of the Commonwealth Secretariat that coordinates activities between the Commonwealth, its member country governments and partner international organisations. It focuses its work on the prevention or resolution of political conflict at the invitation of a member country, and also supports the development of democratic processes and institutions.

Marlborough House

Marlborough House is a 17^th century mansion in the City of Westminster, central London, which has served as the headquarters of the Commonwealth Secretariat since 1953.

Neville Linton

Neville Linton, born in Guyana, is a Political Affairs consultant with an extensive background as an international civil servant, including a period of work with the Political Division of the Commonwealth Secretariat. At the Secretariat, he was involved in the Diplomatic Training Programme and initiatives around the Security Problems of Small States. Linton has also been associated with Transparency International as a Senior Adviser.

Jon Sheppard

Jon Sheppard was the Director of Political Affairs at the Commonwealth Secretariat from 1996 to 2002. He has served as Australian Ambassador to Ethiopia (1985-89), Jordan (1992-95) and Zimbabwe (2004-07).

Stuart Mole

Stuart Mole is a British political figure who joined the Commonwealth Secretariat in 1984 as Special Assistant to the Secretary-General. He was Director of the Secretary-General’s Office from 1990 to 2000, and Director-General of the Royal Commonwealth Society from 2000 to 2009.

Moses Anafu

Moses Anafu is a Ghanian diplomat who joined the Commonwealth Secretariat in 1979 as Research Officer in the International Affairs Division. He was appointed Chief Research Officer in 1987 and served as Assistant Director, Political Affairs Department from 1990 to 2000. He was the Secretary General's Special Envoy to South Africa from 1991 to 1994. Anafu has also advised the UNDP on questions of governance in Africa.

Gerald Hensley

Gerald Hensley, b.1935. Former New Zealand diplomat who served as Special Assistant to the Commonwealth Secretary General when the Secretariat was established in 1965. He later served various positions under the Robert Muldoon and David Lange governments in New Zealand, including Secretary of Defense. In 2000, Hensley chaired the Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group in its work in Papua New Guinea.

RUF

The Revolutionary United Front (RUF) was a rebel army that fought a war in Sierra Leone between 1991 and 2002. After peace was established, the RUF became a political party until merging with the All People’s Congress in 2007.

La Francophonie

La Francophonie is an international organisation created in 1970 that represents countries whose first language is French, or that have a significant proportion of French speakers, or where there is a notable affiliation to French culture.

Kofi Annan

Kofi Atta Annan (b. 1938). Ghanaian diplomat. He was Secretary-General of the United Nations 1997-2006.

Govan Mbeki

Govan Archibald Mvuyelwa Mbeki (1910-2001). South African politician and anti-apartheid activist. He is the father of the former South African President Thabo Mbeki.

Max Gaylard

Maxwell Gaylard (b. 1946). Australian diplomat. He was Director of Political/International Affairs at the Commonwealth Secretariat in London in the 1990s.

LTTE

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was a separatist militant organisation based in northern Sri Lanka. It operated from 1976 to 2009.

Tamil Tigers (LTTE)

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was a separatist militant organisation based in northern Sri Lanka. It operated from 1976 to 2009.

Humphrey Maud

Sir Humphrey Maud (1934-2013). British diplomat. He was Commonwealth Deputy Secretary General for Economic and Social Affairs, 1993-99.

Jim Bolger

James “Jim” Bolger (b. 1935). New Zealand politician and member of the National Party. He was Prime Minister 1990-97, and leader of the opposition, 1986-90.

Jeremy Pope

Jeremy Pope (1938-2012). New Zealand-born activist. In 1980 he was appointed director of the Commonwealth Secretariat’s Legal and Constitutional Affairs Division. In 1993 he co-founded the anti-corruption organisation Transparency International.

OAU

Organisation of African Unity. Founded in 1963 to act as a collective voice for African Nations, it was replaced by the African Union in 2002.

Idi Amin

Idi Amin (c. 1925-2003). Became President of Uganda, 1971-79, after seizing power through a military coup.

Bishop Muzorewa

Bishop Muzorewa (1925-2010). Briefly Prime Minister of Zimbabwe Rhodesia from June-December 1979, following the Internal Settlement, an agreement between Muzorewa and then Prime Minister of Rhodesia, Ian Smith. Muzorewa was defeated in elections following the Lancaster House agreement.

ZAPU

Zimbabwe African People’s Union. A militant political organisation founded in 1961 that fought against white minority rule in Rhodesia. Merged with ZANU in 1987 to form ZANU-PF.

ZANU

Zimbabwe African National Union. A militant political organisation founded in 1963 to campaign against white minority rule in Rhodesia. It won power in 1980, and in 1987 merged with ZAPU to form ZANU-PF.

World Bank

The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development. An international institution, founded in 1944, that funds development projects

Verwoerd (Hendrik Verwoerd)

Dr Hendrik Verwoerd (1901 –1966). Prime Minister of South Africa (1958-1966), closely associated with apartheid policies.

Cyrus Vance

Cyrus Vance (1917-2002). American politician and diplomat, served as Secretary of State (1977-1980) and as a United Nations envoy (1991-1993).

United Nations. Major international organisation, founded in 1945.

UDI

Unilateral Declaration of Independence. Rhodesia’s 1965 declaration of independence without British agreement, intended to preserve white minority rule.

Tamils

The Tamils are an ethnic group indigenous to parts of India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

Oliver Tambo

Oliver Tambo (1917-1993). South African politician and anti-apartheid campaigner.

Suez Crisis

The British-French-Israeli invasion of Egypt in 1956, abandoned because of international condemnation.

Ninian Stephen

Sir Ninian Stephen (b. 1923). Australian jurist and the 20th Governor-General of Australia (1982-1989).

Kris Srinivasan

Khrishnan Srinivasan (b.1937). Indian politician and diplomat, Foreign Secretary (1994-1995), Commonwealth Deputy Secretary-General (1995-2002).

soft power

A concept used to explain an emphasis on a attracting and co-opting power as opposed to coercive or forceful power.

Millbrook Declaration

The Millbrook Declaration (1995) is a Commonwealth policy programme, announced at the end of the New Zealand CHOGM. It was designed to uphold the Harare Declaration (1991). Click here to read the Declaration in full.

Arnold Smith

Arnold Smith (1915 –1994). Canadian diplomat, the first Commonwealth Secretary-General (1965–1975).

Shona

a Bantu language spoken by the Shona peoples of Zimbabwe and Zambia.

Senghor (Leopold Senghor)

Leopold Senghor (1906-2001). Senegalese poet and politicial, served as President from 1960 to 1980.

Ken Saro-Wiwa

Ken Saro-Wiwa (1941-1995). Nigerian writer and political and environmental activist. An outspoken critic of the regime of General Sani Abacha, and Royal Dutch Shell’s environmental pollution in Ogoniland in the Niger Delta, Saro Wiwa was executed on 10 November 1995. Eight other MOSOP activists were hanged.

SADC

Southern African Development Community (SADC). An international organisation founded in 1992, and a successor to the Southern African Development Coordination Conference, founded in 1980. Goal to encourage socio-economic cooperation and integration among southern African states.

SACP

South African Communist party, founded in 1921.

Robin Renwick

Lord Renwick of Clifton (b. 1937). British diplomat. Head of Chancery, British Embassy, Washington, 1981-84; Assistant Under-Secretary of State, FCO, 1984-87; British Ambassador to South Africa, 1987-91, and to the United States, 1991-95. Author of 'Unconventional Diplomacy in Southern Africa' (Palgrave, 1997).

Sonny Ramphal (Shridath Ramphal)

Shridath Surendranath 'Sonny' Ramphal (b. 1928). Guyanese politician, second Commonwealth Secretary-General (1975-1990).

Pearce Commission

Unofficial name for the British Commission on Rhodesian Opinion (1971-1972). The Commission found most Rhodesians rejected proposals for normalising British-Rhodesian relations.

PAC (Pan-Africanist Congress)

The Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC) is a left-wing Black Nationalist political movement in South Africa, founded by ex-African National Congress activist Robert Sobukwe in 1959. During the anti-apartheid struggle, the PAC represented a radical perspective focused on black power as against than the ANC’s multi-racial openness.

Aziz Pahad

Aziz Pahad (b. 1940). South African politician and anti-apartheid activist, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs (1994-).

Washington Okumu

Professor Washington Jalang’o Okumu (b.1936) is a Kenyan economist who played a role in the Henry Kissinger and Lord Carrington-led negotiating team during the 1994 South African elections. He is celebrated for his intervention in the South African constitutional crisis. From 1971 to 1987, Okumu worked for the UN Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and was ambassador-at-large for Kenya’s Forum for the Restoration of Democracy political party.

Julius Nyerere

Julius Nyerere (1922-1999). Tanzanian politician and President (1961-1985).

Non-aligned movement

An international organisation of countries that are not aligned with any manjor world power, founded in 1961.

Non-alignment

A national foreign policy position of avowed neutrality towards major powers.

Joshua Nkomo

Joshua Nkomo (1917-1999). Zimbabwean nationalist and leader of ZAPU.

Nkomo (Joshua Nkomo)

Joshua Nkomo (1917-1999). Zimbabwean nationalist and leader of ZAPU.

Nehru (Jawaharlal Nehru)

Jawaharlal Nehru (1889-1964) was an Indian politician and prominent leader in the Indian National Congress-led movement for independence from colonial rule. He served as India's first Prime Minister from 1947 to his death in 1964. Nehru was also a key figure in the Non-Aligned Movement, present at its founding in Belgrade in 1961.

Ndebele

A Bantu language spoken by the Matabele people of Zimbabwe.

Robert Mugabe

Robert Mugabe (b.1924). Zimbabwean resistance leader and politician. Served as Prime Minister (1980-1987) and President (1987-) of Zimbabwe.

MPLA

People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola – Labour Party is an Angolan political party founded in 1956. It has ruled since Angola gained independence from Portugal. It fought against UNITA during the Angolan Civil War (1975-2002).

Mozambique Fund

The Special Commonwealth Fund for Mozambique, established in 1987.

MDC

Movement for Democratic Change. The leading Zimbabwean opposition party, founded in 1999.

Robert Menzies (Bob Menzies)

Sir Robert Menzies (1894-1978). Australian politician, served as Prime Minister from 1939 to 1941, and from 1949 to 1966.

Don McKinnon

Sir Donald McKinnon (b. 1939) is a New Zealand politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister for the National Party (1990-96), Foreign Minister (1990-99) and Secretary General of the Commonwealth of Nations (2000-08).

Thabo Mbeki

Thabo Mbeki (b.1942). South African politician. He has served as an African National Congress negotiator in the 1980s and 1990s, and as South African Deputy President (1994-1999) and President (1999-2008).

Peter Marshall

Peter Marshall (b. 1946). British diplomat, Deputy Secretary General (Economic & Social) Commonwealth Secretariat from 1983 to 1989.

Nelson Mandela

Nelson Mandela (b. 1918). South African anti-apartheid campaigner and politician, served as South Africa’s first post-apartheid President (1994-1999).

Moni Malhoutra (Manmohan Malhoutra)

Manmohan Malhoutra (b. 1937). Indian diplomat, served in the Secretariat of Prime Minister Indira Gandhi from 1966 to 1973 then joined the Commonwealth Secretariat in London, in 1974, to run the International Affairs Division.

Dr Mahathir (Mahathir bin Mohamad)

Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad (b. 1925). Malaysian politician and Prime Minister (1981-2003).

John Major

John Major (b.1943). British politician, served, amongst other ministerial positions, as Foreign Secretary (1989) and Prime Minister (1990-1997).

Madiba

The Xhosa clan name of Nelson Mandela, often used to refer to him respectfully.

Samora Machel

Samora Machel (1933-1996). Mozambican soldier and politician, served as President (1975-1986).

Richard Luce

Richard Luce (b. 1936). British politician, served in various ministerial positions in the Foreign Office (1979-1982, 1983-1985).

Lancaster House

A London mansion house, frequently used as the venue for decolonisation negotiations between the 1940s and 1970s. It was the site of the Lancaster House Agreement in December 1979, for instance, which brought an end to white rule in Rhodesia.

Chris Laidlaw

Chris Laidlaw (b.1943). New Zealand politician and diplomat. Assistant to Sonny Ramphal.

Kenneth Kaunda

Kenneth Kaunda (b.1924). Zambian politician and President (1964-1991).

Joe Slovo

Joe Slovo (1926-1995). South African politician, who served as Minister of Housing from 1994 to 1995. He was married to Ruth First.

IMF

International Monetary Fund. Created in 1944 at the Bretton Woods Conference, the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The IMF's original aim was to stabilise exchange rates and aid national reconstruction after the end of the Second World War.

Inkatha Freedom Party

The Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) is a South African political party which was founded in 1975 by Mangosuthu Buthelezi. Though originally associated with the ANC in the anti-apartheid struggle, conflicts developed over Buthelezi’s loyalties to the Zulu tribe and his political and economic ties with the South African state. Relations between the IFP and the ANC were characterised by conflict and outbreaks of violence from the late 1980s to the 1994 elections. The feud continues in post-apartheid South Africa.

Ted Heath (Edward Heath)

Edward Heath (1916 –2005). British politician and Prime Minister (1970-1974).

Sheikh Hasina

Sheikh Hasina (b. 1947). Bangledeshi politician and Prime Minister (1996-2001, 2009-).

Harare Declaration

The Harare Commonwealth Declaration of 1991 set out the Commonwealth's principles and values, including membership criteria. Click here to read the Declaration in full.

Ian Gilmour

Ian Gilmour, Lord Gilmour of Craigmillar (1926-2007). British Conservative politician, served as Lord Privy Seal in the government of Margaret Thatcher and spokesman on foreign affairs (1979-1981). He previously served as Secretary of State for Defence in 1974, under Edward Heath.

Gibraltar referendum

A referendum over the future of Gibraltar held in 1967. Over 99% of votes favoured British sovereignty.

Gaddafi

Muammar Gaddafi (1942-2011). Libyan revolutionary and national leader from 1969 to 2011.

Front Line States

A group of southern African states formed in 1970, which campaigned for democratic majority rule in South Africa.

FRELIMO

FRELIMO (Mozambique Liberation Front) was formed in 1962 as a Mozambican liberation movement. Since independence in 1975 it has been the ruling political party in Mozambique.

Malcolm Fraser

Malcolm Fraser (b. 1930). Prime Minister of Australia (1975-1983). Fraser also served as Co-Chairman of the Commonwealth Eminent Persons Group on South Africa.

Foreign Office. The department of the British government with responsibility for relations with foreign countries, formed in 1782. Since 1968, it has been formally known as the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, although it is still often informally referred to as the Foreign Office.

Ruth First

Ruth First (1925-1982). South African anti-apartheid activist, she was assassinated by South African security forces.

Fifth Brigade

Unit of the Zimbabwean army formed in 1981 and trained by North Korean soldiers. It became notorious for atrocities committed in Matabeleland, and was abolished in 1988.

FCO

Foreign and Commonwealth Office. British government department with responsibility for relations with other countries. Created in 1968 from the merger of the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office. Often called 'the Foreign Office'.

Falklands War

The 1982 war between the United Kingdom and Argentina over the disputed sovereignty of the Falkland Islands, also known as the Malvinas, situated in the South Atlantic.

Gareth Evans

Gareth Evans (b. 1944). Australian politician, Foreign Minister from 1988 to 1966.

European Union. International organisation of European states. Known as the European Economic Community before 1993.

EPG

Eminent Persons Group. A group of well-known individuals chosen by the Commonwealth to research a specific issue. The 1985 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting appointed an EPG to report on apartheid in South Africa, published in 1986 as Mission to South Africa. A second EPG was appointed in 2009 and tasked to produce a report on Commonwealth reform for 2011.

ECOWAS

Economic Community of West African States. An international organisation founded in 1975.

CUF

Civic United Front. Liberal Tanzanian political party formed in 1992.

Commonwealth Secretariat

The Commonwealth Secretariat is the principal inter-governmental body of the Commonwealth, responsible for promoting cooperation between members. Founded in 1965.

Commonwealth Parliamentary Association

A Commonwealth organisation that promotes good governance. Founded in 1911 as the Empire Parliamentary Association, and renamed in 1948.

CMAG

Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group. Established by Commonwealth Heads of Government in 1995, the CMAG upholds the terms of the Harare Declaration.

CFTC (Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation)

The Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation (CFTC) is an organisation administered by the Commonwealth Secretariat that delivers technical assistance to Commonwealth member countries. A mutual and voluntary fund, it was established in 1971.

Cold War

A period of ideological tension from around 1945 to 1991 between capitalist nations led by the USA and communist nations led by the USSR.

CODESA

The Convention for a Democratic South Africa (CODESA) is the name for a series of multi-party negotiations on the ending of apartheid in South Africa, hosted in 1991 and 1992. CODESA I took place in December 1991, nearly two years after the unbanning of political parties and the release of Nelson Mandela. CODESA II began in May 1992, though negotiations collapsed following the Boipatong massacre in June.

CIA

Central Intelligence Agency. A major American intelligence gathering organisation, founded in 1947.

CHOGM

Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. Every two years Commonwealth heads of government meet to discuss global and Commonwealth issues, with the aim of promoting common initiatives.

Joaquim Chissano

Joaquim Chissano (b. 1939). Mozambican politician and member of the Frelimo party. He served as Foreign Minister under Samora Machel and was later President (1986-2005).

Fidel Castro

Fidel Castro (b. 1926). Cuban revolutionary leader and politician, leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008.

Jimmy Carter

James Earl 'Jimmy' Carter, Jr (b. 1924) is an American Democratic politician who served as 39th President of the United States (1977-1981).

Lord Carrington (Peter Carrington)

Peter Carrington, 6th Baron Carrington (b. 1919). British politician and member of the Conservative party. He was Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs (1979-82) and 6th Secretary General of NATO (1984-88). In 1979 he chaired the Lancaster House conference.

Chequers

A British country house used by the Prime Minister.

Buthelezi

Mangosuthu Buthelezi (b. 1928). South African politician, founded the Inkatha Freedom Party in 1975, and served as South African Minister of Home Affairs from 1994 to 2004.

Pik Botha

Roelof Botha (b. 1932).South African politician and Minister for Foreign Affairs (1977-1994).

Tony Blair

Tony Blair (b. 1953). British politician, served as Prime Minister from 1997 to 2007.

BBC World Service

The branch of the British Broadcasting Corporation dedicated to broadcasting overseas. Founded in 1932 as the Empire Service.

BBC

British Broadcasting Corporation. Broadcasting organisation semi-autonomous from the British government, originally founded in 1922.

Apartheid

A system of legally enforced racial segregation implemented and upheld by the National Party in South Africa from 1948 – 1994

Emeka Anyaoku

Emeka Anyaoku (b. 1933). Nigerian diplomat. Served as Head of the Commonwealth International Affairs Division (1973-1977), Assistant Secretary General (1977-1979); Deputy Secretary General (1979-1991); Secretary General (1991-2001).

ANC

African National Congress. A South African political party, founded in 1912, that opposed apartheid and has been South Africa’s governing party since 1994.

Sani Abacha

General Sani Abacha (1943-1998). Nigerian army general and politician. He was the de facto President of Nigeria from 1993 to 1998.

Abacha (Sani Abacha)

General Sani Abacha (1943-1998). Nigerian army general and politician. He was the de facto President of Nigeria from 1993 to 1998.

Margaret Thatcher

Margaret Thatcher (1926-2013). British politician and Prime Minister (1979-1990).

Mrs Thatcher (Margaret Thatcher)

Margaret Thatcher (1926-2013). British politician and Prime Minister (1979-1990).

Interview with Professor Yash Ghai

Observing Uganda’s 2016 Presidential Election

Interview with Amitav Banerji

Interview with Sitiveni Rabuka

Interview with Carl Dundas

Interview with Moses Anafu

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