Last year many African countries used the COVID-19 pandemic as a pretext to suppress civil rights, sparking protests across the continent.

That’s the conclusion of the State of Civil Society Report 2021, published today by the global civil society alliance CIVICUS, describes how youth- and women-led mobilizations swept Africa in 2020 and 2021.

It says both groups demonstrated against authoritarian leaders who have long clung to power, while demanding democratic freedoms.

Adolphus Mawolo reports.