The main opposition party in the Democratic Republic of Congo has reversed its decision to boycott the first full elections in four decades. Etienne Tshisekedi said that his Union for Democracy and Social Progress (UDPS) would after all take part in the polls due by July 2006. They had called for a boycott of a referendum two weeks ago in which a big majority backed a new constitution. The UDPS said the West had unfairly supported those backing a "yes" vote.

Rival political leaders from Somalia are reported to have reached an agreement to reunify the country after 15 years of factional division. The talks, taking place in Yemen, have been led by Somalia's president and the parliamentary speaker, allied to armed militias controlling the capital. Officials say President Abdullahi Yusuf has agreed in principle to move the central government to Mogadishu.

To campaigners in Kenya, the New Year starts with a feeling of dissatisfaction at how the government of President Mwai Kibaki has ignored its own anti-corruption campaign. Human rights and anti-corruption groups have accused the government of paying only lip service to the war on corruption. They say Kibaki's government, elected on a platform of zero tolerance on corruption, has nothing to show for - three years after coming to power.

When the 1,700-strong U.N. peacekeeping force was withdrawn from Sierra Leone on Dec. 31, the United Nations hailed the mission as one of its major political success stories in a continent ravaged by war and ethnic conflicts. "The (UN) mission was able to overcome a number of serious political and military challenges to become an effective peacekeeping operation that leaves Sierra Leone much better off today than it was five years ago," UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan boasted last week.