“Fayulu is the most recent candidate to re-enter the US arena. A lobby filing made public this week reveals that the leader of the opposition party Engagement for Citizenship and Development hired a brand-new Washington advocacy firm, Future Pact LLC. … The firm is led by Bruce Fryer, and joining him on the contract is Jeffrey Smith of the pro-democracy nonprofit Vanguard Africa, which is managing an ‘independent free and fair campaign’ on behalf of Fayulu and organising disparate groups advocating for transparent elections in the DRC.”

“It seemed like a genuine effort on the part of the Biden administration to really stand together with democratic allies, here in the U.S. but also worldwide, and to start addressing these issues that have been quite honestly overlooked or otherwise ignored,” Jeffrey Smith, head of the pro-democracy advocacy group Vanguard Africa, said in an interview. … “When the U.S. is exhibiting strong leadership on democratic values and principles, people who are fighting for democracy in Uganda, for example, feel stronger and more emboldened, because they know that they have allies in Washington,” Smith explained. “These sorts of initiatives are not just symbolic. They’re really substantive in that regard.”

As Jeffrey Smith of Vanguard Africa notes in Foreign Policy, the [Summit for Democracy] should have invited a broad range of civil society activists, including ones from democracies and those who are opposition leaders, fighting for democracy from within authoritarian states."

Jeffrey Smith, founding director of Vanguard Africa, who was involved with Gambian activists in the fight against the Jammeh dictatorship, also added his voice to the celebrations following the verdict.

He said: “This court Judgement is a huge victory for accountability, and above all, a testament to the persistence and hard work of Gambian activists. Corrupt dictators like Yahya Jammeh should not be allowed to stash their stolen loot abroad, nor able to purchase U.S. properties with blood money. It’s unacceptable. … The many Gambian activists involved in this process should be immensely proud.”

“Yoweri Museveni is an autocrat, through and through. He is also a clever one,” argues Jeffrey Smith, the director of Vanguard Africa, a non-profit working to advise pro-democracy actors in African states. “Welcoming and resettling Afghan refugees is not an altruistic act on the part of Museveni, but rather a shrewd political manoeuvre. It follows a well-worn script: help to clean up America’s mess with the expectation that such assistance will curry favour in Washington and thereby allow the regime to literally get away with murder at home.”

Human rights groups in the Gambia have decried the possible return of former president Yahya Jammeh, who ruled the Gambia from 1994 until he was forced into exile after refusing to accept defeat in 2016 elections. However, in a tweet, Jeffrey Smith, the founder of Vanguard Africa, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting democracy in sub-Saharan Africa, emphasized that the informal alliance is between political parties and not between President Adama Barrow and his former arch-rival Yahya Jammeh.

Mr. Hichilema, in a written statement provided to The New York Times by Vanguard Africa, a pro-democracy nonprofit that is working with him, said, “In the 2021 elections, the people voted to save democracy.”

“We know that a healthy and functioning democracy is one in which the voices of citizens can be heard freely,” he added. “We will listen to those voices rather than seeking to silence critics.”

Founding Director of Vanguard Africa, Jeffrey Smith, described the African tech leader as a glimmer of hope in Cameroon while calling for the authorities to release her.

“Rebecca Enonchong has been outspoken on the need for democratic governance and respect for human rights as a foundation for good business. No wonder corrupt Cameroonian authorities are again seeking to silence her,” he said.

Political analysts have warned of the danger of political violence if the election is perceived as fraudulent. “Undoubtedly, the prospects of violence are greatest if the government seeks to overturn a clear opposition win,” said Jeffrey Smith, head of Vanguard Africa, a democracy advocacy group.

Zambia’s election has broad significance for Africa and the world, he said in a published commentary. “Perhaps no other country – and no other upcoming election – better encapsulates the increasingly pitched global struggle of our day in which the forces of elite authoritarianism and popular demands for democracy are clashing.”