Bryan Knight THE year 2020 was a significant year for Africa in many respects. It was not only the year when social norms were drastically altered, but it also marked the resurgence of African radicalism. The COVID-19 pandemic both amplified the extreme corruption that had long taken place on the continent and forced marginalised communities to mobilise against such injustices at a moment of great need. In order for Africa’s young radicals to maintain momentum in this new year, they must strategically organise themselves and move from localised rebellion towards a continental pan-African resistance. A year of protest The grievances expressed over the past year have been long held and the acts of injustice in question pre-dated the pandemic. However, COVID-19 created the perfect conditions for Africa’s downtrodden to reach breaking point, as people saw governments display even greater disregard for their citizens despite the dire health and social situation the world found itself in. From Nairobi to Lagos to Johannesburg, young people took to the streets to protest police brutality and the ubiquitous corruption plaguing their governments. While police brutality had predated the health crisis, such abuses had escalated during the pandemic, as social distancing measures and curfews emboldened violent police forces and gave them a convenient excuse for their cruelty. This was an issue quickly identified by the United Nations high commissioner Michelle Bachelet who spoke of the “human rights disaster” awaiting countries where emergency measures were being weaponised against citizens. In June, hundreds of demonstrators took to Mathare, an informal settlement in Nairobi, to protest police brutality in the country. Records by the Independent Policing Oversight Authority showed that in the first three months of the nationwide curfew imposed due to the pandemic, 15 deaths and 31 injuries were directly caused by police brutality. South Africans also took to the streets in June to protest against police brutality which had disproportionately victimised black people during the national lockdown. Standing outside the country’s Constitutional Court, protesters remembered the life of township resident Collins Khosa, who was killed by South African soldiers, enforcing a COVID-10 lockdown, while also extending sympathy for George Floyd, an African American killed by US police. In October, thousands marched in Lagos and other Nigerian cities to protest violence by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) against young people. The mobilising success of the movement lay primarily in its activists’ use of social media to organise street protests, both in Nigeria and internationally. The year ended with popular protests and brutal repressions in Uganda ahead of the hotly contested January elections. Following the arrest and alleged harassment of opposition presidential candidate Robert Kyagulanyi, better known as Bobi Wine, violent protests erupted in November and resulted in 54 deaths. The situation did not improve in the run-up to the elect