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Some not-too-popular African nations grab fame and attention through unrest. That’s not to say the rioting, looting, shooting and killing are often triggered as a means to be loud in the international media. But then lives are wasted while the media gets busy. Madagascar, an island nation in the Indian Ocean off the southeastern coast of Africa, is the next on the African nations unrest list.

An anti-government protest in the country has led to the deaths of 44 people amid chaos on the streets of Antananarivo. Protesters campaigning against the government led by President Marc Ravalomanana, encouraged businesses on the island not to open on Monday January 26. Most of the people killed are believed to be looters who were in a three-storey clothes shop, which caught fire on Tuesday amid violent scenes. The opposition, led by Andry Rajoelina, the mayor of Antananarivo, is demanding that Mr Ravalomanana steps down to make way for a transitional government. Mr Rajoelina accuses the president of turning Madagascar into a dictatorship.

The violence began when protesters stormed the government's radio and television station in Antananarivo, Monday morning in response to Ravalomanana shutting down Rajoelina's radio station hours earlier. Ravalomanana's move came just weeks after closing Rajoelina's television station last month after the airing of an interview with ousted ex-President Didier Ratsiraka. Viva Radio was back on air Tuesday as the protesters broadened their focus from restoring freedom of speech to targeting businesses owned by Ravalomanana, including food distribution centers, according to an American community worker in Antananarivo. By Tuesday afternoon, some of the protesters had broken from the group, looting private electronic shops and grocery stores that sat alongside the Ravalomanana-owned buildings.

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