Former Burkinabe President Blaise Compaore’s sentence of life imprisonment by an Ouagadougou military court for complicity in the murder of his predecessor, Thomas Sankara, marks an important victory for the rule of law in the country and the region as a whole. In exile in the Ivory Coast since his ouster from power following a popular uprising in 2014, Compaore was tried in absentia. Erstwhile Presidential Security Chief Hyacinthe Kafando, currently at large and also tried in absentia, similarly received a life sentence.

The latest military coup d’état would seem to be the least of Burkina Faso’s problems.

After President Roch Kabore of Burkina Faso was overthrown in a military coup, both the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the African Union (AU) condemned what they have insisted is an “attempted coup” and reminded the Burkinabe military of its constitutional role of defending and upholding the constitution.

Numerous countries will hold elections in 2020. Here are ten to watch. 

As white supremacist militancy has raced across the Western world, it has not spared South Africa from being swept up in the chaos. International white supremacist networks both strengthen and are strengthened by the Afrikaner movement in South Africa.