Jeffrey Smith, the founding director of pro-democracy group Vanguard Africa, says Rwanda’s claim of selflessness in its refugee programme is akin to a serial arsonist cosplaying as a firefighter. “The irony here is striking. Paul Kagame is a chief architect of massive human suffering in eastern Congo due to his regime’s militarism and the ongoing direct support to paramilitary proxy groups, which has led to the second-largest displacement crisis globally , with over seven million people forced to flee their homes,” Smith says.

The most popular reporter in his country, Stanis Bujakera Tshiamala has been unjustly imprisoned since September 2023, and a collective of journalists, human rights defenders, and intellectuals are calling for his immediate, unconditional release.

Ngarivhume’s arrest and release illustrates what Jeffrey Smith, founder of Vanguard Africa, a nongovernmental organization that supports democracy in Africa, calls “persecution by prosecution” – a well-honed tactic of Zimbabwean authorities. “They keep critics behind bars for months, sometimes years on end, and never successfully prosecute them because there is simply no evidence,” Smith says. “It serves a purpose, though. It’s a chilling effect for other would-be dissidents.”  

Beyond the direct economic impact, suspension from the AGOA deals a reputational blow to blacklisted countries, says human rights activist Jeffrey Smith. Smith’s Washington-based Vanguard Africa advocacy firm represents several clients including Uganda’s opposition figure Bobi Wine, who is under house arrest.

“The suspensions of CAR, Niger, Gabon and Uganda give them entry into a veritable Who’s Who of autocratic, highly repressive regimes to have had their AGOA eligibility stripped due to ongoing human rights concerns,” Smith tells The Africa Report. “Obviously, this is not a category that any country nor leader would wish to be in given the high reputational damage and public relations disaster that this designation necessarily entails.”

Jeffrey Smith, founder of Vanguard Africa, an NGO that supports democracy in Africa, told me that the United States should refrain from endorsing “a completely flawed, shambolic election and refuse new debt relief, new lending, or direct support to the ZANU-PF government until substantive political and electoral reforms” are adopted. Any engagement with the regime, he says, “will inevitably be spun, both domestically and internationally, as an ‘endorsement’ of an oppressive government.”  

“This is an abomination,” Jeffrey Smith, who heads the pro-democracy group Vanguard Africa in Washington, said on Twitter. “[The CCA] has a history of feting dictators and whitewashing human rights abusers for American businesses. Now, they’ll collect hefty conference fees by selling access to Swaziland’s murderous king and Zimbabwe’s despot who is under US sanctions.”

As part of their contract, Vanguard Africa intends to mobilize human rights and democracy communities to advocate for “free, fair and credible elections in Senegal.” "We will definitely be planning a trip to Washington DC for Idrissa Seck to meet with US government officials," said Jeffrey Smith, executive director of Vanguard Africa, noting that "this strategic move will be critical to the future of US-Government relations. Senegal”.

Former Prime Minister Idrissa Seck has hired two US human rights advocates, including Vanguard Africa, to help raise the alarm over several potentially ominous developments. These include the widespread expectation that President Macky Sall will run for a controversial third term in next year’s election.

“The February 2024 election in Senegal is an inflection point for the country, and arguably for the region writ large,” says Jeffrey Smith, executive director of Vanguard Africa, who advocates for several pro-democracy leaders, including Uganda’s Bobi Wine, Martin Fayulu in Democratic Republic of Congo, and Tanzania’s Tundu Lissu.

Jeffrey Smith, Executive Director of Vanguard Africa, talks to Voice of America about authoritarian solidarity, including Russia's growing ties with coupist regimes across Africa, from Guinea to Zimbabwe, and how the latter’s ruling party has long partnered with dictators, going back to North Korea in the early 1980’s.

The eSwatini monarchy remains shrouded in secrecy and lacks transparency with regard to its public affairs. It is plausible that such a pledging of public assets as collateral could have occurred behind the scenes or at least has been debated, Jeffrey Smith, founder of the pro-democracy pressure group Vanguard Africa, and one of the harshest critics of the eSwatini monarchy, tells The Africa Report.

“The Mswati regime is opaque and unaccountable to its core and is often legitimately accused of the irresponsible use of public funds. The Sikhuphe Airport project is a prime example, among many,” Smith says.