First Families

One country a week: which relatives of the ruling family hold the army and the palace

In many African states, a president's sons, daughters, in-laws and cousins hold command posts in the army and senior posts in government. Each week, The Field takes one country and documents it: who holds which post, who appointed them, when, and what the public record shows. Where the record is silent, we say so.

The countries

• Tanzania In research
• Uganda Coming
• Rwanda Coming
• Eritrea Coming
• Kenya Coming
• Somalia Coming
• South Sudan Coming
• Djibouti Coming

Countries outside East Africa follow.

How we do it

• Every appointment is sourced to a public record: a decree, an official announcement, a parliamentary record or a report by a reliable outlet. Every source is linked.
• A family relationship is not evidence of wrongdoing. We report who was appointed, how, and whether the rules were followed. We do not suggest corruption without a source that shows it.
• Claims by officials, families, opposition groups and critics are labelled as theirs, and we say what we could not confirm.
• We ask the people named, or their offices, to respond, and we publish what they say. If we cannot reach them, we say that too.
• The same template for every country, so readers can compare them.

Have a document, an appointment decree or first-hand knowledge about a country on this list? Tell us.