After 30 years at the top, Sudan’s Omar al-Bashir was finally ousted a week ago and arrested following months of protests. The case of Sudan’s revolutionary anti-Bashir women was made juicier by the fact that the key closed Facebook that drove, never started with any political ambitions. But the colonialists — and today’s African dictators — cannot stop women from selling vegetables on obscure roadsides or their backyards. The concentration of women in the Mama Mboga economy, however, makes ruling parties very vulnerable in unexpected ways, because of the way patronage works. When women stop selling mandazi and roasted peanuts in the market, and take to chanting anti-government slogans on the streets, so much trouble can follow.

Source: Daily Nation April 17, 2019 21:39 UTC