Africa

$Nkrumah arrived in the Gold Coast on 14 November 1947. He immediately assumed his secretarial duties, offering to work without pay after he realised that the party had no funds to pay his monthly salary. Eventually, the leadership prevailed on him to accept a fraction of the salary. Nkrumah immediately drew up a detailed, radical plan which he presented to the leadership of the United Gold Coast Convention. He suggested that the party set up branches in every corner of the country and embarks on demonstrations, strikes and boycotts to press for independence.$ Op-ed

Kwame Nkrumah’s contested legacy

August 16, 2019 admin2 Africa, Legacy, Nkrumah

Kwame Nkrumah led Ghana to independence in 1957 – the first country in sub-Saharan Africa to achieve this feat. He’s still remembered for his unrepentant anti-colonial stance and strident Pan-Africanism. Above all, he is regarded as one of Africa’s ablest statesmen of the 20th century. Nkrumah has been ranked among leaders such as Vladimir Lenin, Mahatma Gandhi and Mao Tse-Tsung. All contributed significantly in shaping the course of history during the last five decades of the 20th century. Nkrumah’s rise in the anti-colonial movement in Ghana, then called the Gold Coast, began in the late…

The two were discussing the Tanzanian delegation’s reaction to the vote after delegates danced in the chamber. “To watch that thing on television, as I did, to see those, those monkeys from those African countries – damn them, they’re still uncomfortable wearing shoes!” Reagan tells Nixon, who erupts in laughter. The recording was first published in the Atlantic magazine in an article written by Tim Naftali, who directed the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum from 2007 to 2011.

Public Policy

Reagan called African leaders ‘monkeys’ in call to Richard Nixon

August 10, 2019 admin2 Africa, Reagan, samuel Doe

Ronald Reagan made racist remarks about African delegates to the United Nations, calling them “monkeys” and saying they were still “uncomfortable wearing shoes”, newly released audio recordings have revealed. Reagan, the actor turned politician who was a popular two-term president, made the comments in a phone call with the disgraced former president Richard Nixon as the two discussed a 1971 vote by the UN to recognize China, instead of the US ally Taiwan. At the time of the call, Nixon was still president and Reagan was governor of California, both the BBC…

Truth be told, this practice is brutish, backward, reactionary and of no significance today, and thus, should be jettisoned. It merely glorifies the masters’ way of intimidating their subjects, inciting imminent fear among the people by divisions and classifications. culled from, www.face2faceafrica

Public Policy

African courts are glorifying colonialism with wigs

August 9, 2019 admin2 Africa, Court, judges, Wigs

SIKA-AYIWA AFRIYIE SAFO | Contributor The tradition of wearing horsehair wigs, perukes, ‘a term derived from the French word perruque (weaving wig)’ and gowns by the judiciary predates the 15th Century. In the 14th Century, during the reign of King Edward III, the accepted costume for nobles who appeared before the Court of the king was the robe. Later in the 17th Century, the gown was adopted together with the peruke (horsehair wig) as the formal apparel of judges and lawyers, a bid to differentiate the elite from the commoners. Originally, judges were…

Where are we and why our contribution to African literature is not acknowledged or even celebrated by ourselves, much less by others outside of our borders? The simple answer is we don’t have a cultural policy that promotes literature and other works of arts as in other countries in our continent. In any other society, these early writings would be reprinted and taught to new generations, which may draw inspiration from them, as it is noted that ‘the past must inform the present.’

Society Arts & Leisure

Exploring Contemporary Liberian Literature

June 19, 2019 admin2 Africa, Contemporary, Liberian Literature

The first African novel is said to have been written by a Liberian writer, Joseph Walters, in 1891. The novel was Guanya Pau, a story of an African Princess. If you add the names of other Liberian writers such as the renown Pan-African nationalist, Wilmot Blyden, Edwin Barclay, Hilary Teage, who wrote the Liberian National Anthem, Doris Banks Henries, Roland T. Dempster, Robert H. Brown, Henry B. Cole, or Kona Khasu, it shows that Liberia has made great contribution to African literature from as far back as the…

Business News

Pan-African Free Trade Deal Is In Effect Now

June 3, 2019 admin2 Africa, Free Trade

After years of painstaking negotiations, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement finally came into effect on May 30. Yet huge obstacles remain as African leaders iron out legislation on inter-state agreements and build the infrastructure needed to enable regional trade. In a major boost to the regional integration agenda, the first phase of the Africa’s continent-wide free trade agreement, signed by 44 African countries in Rwanda in March 2018, was finally completed last week. The agreement, which plans to boost regional trade by 54% by cutting…

In our country Liberia, there has been severe leadership deficit from the founding of the Liberian state to today. Liberia has been a country where there has been growth without development from year in year out. All these anomalies culminated in the fratricidal civil conflict that destroyed the fabric of our society and undermined our collective ability to move forward as one nation. With the help of ECOWAS and the International community, peace was restored to our country 15 years ago. Our collective responsibility as a people now is to maintain the peace. Instead, strange things are happening that could weaken our collective resolve to maintain the peace!! Yes, indeed strange things are happening in our country today- where people who were just barely managing to make life yesterday are today among the wealthiest people in Africa, if not the world, just in one year of being in power, as though they are money magicians.

Op-ed

MOJA Press Statement: African Day And June 7th Protest

May 28, 2019 admin2 Africa, Liberia, Moja

MOJA Issues Africa Day Solidarity Statement, Calls on Government to Provide Protection for June 7 Protesters Press Statement As we celebrate the 56th African Liberation Day Anniversary, we neither do so with our heads high believing that the African peoples will no longer be subjugated nor return to the dark days of colonialism. As we look back into the annals of African history, we are reminded of the days when the African continent and its peoples became victims of foreign domination and exploitation. We are reminded of how for centuries…

Op-ed

Africa Union: An Old Boys Club Of Oppressive Leaders?

May 2, 2019 admin2 Africa, AU, Dictatorship

In his address to the OAU general assembly, Afewerki observed, “We do not find membership of this organisation, under present circumstances, spiritually gratifying or politically challenging.” In his inaugural speech to the Organisation of African Unity as its newest and 53rd member-state, President Isais Afewerki blasted the OAU on its failure to deliver on the founding principles such as its human rights agenda, and had been a chief contributor to the marginalisation of Africa. Two decades and a half later, nothing much has changed. Not even…

Nigeria, the most populous black nation on Earth, is on the brink of collapse. The machineries that make a nation exist, let alone succeed, have all eroded. One might argue that the nation’s creation by self-seeking white imperialists engendered its failure from the beginning, as I did in my recent novel. But this is only a part of the cause. A culture of incompetence, endemic corruption, dignified ineptitude, and, chief among all, destructive selfishness and greed has played a major role in its unravelling. The same, sadly, can be said for most other African nations. States like Zimbabwe, Cameroon, and Equatorial Guinea are farcical democracies ruled by men who exclusively cater to their interests and those of their clipped circles.

Op-ed

There Are No Successful Black Nations

April 27, 2019 admin2 Africa, Successful African Nations

“And the indignity and helplessness of blacks in America won’t end until we have a first-world African nation to lift up our people.” By Chigozie Obioma In the wake of fresh deaths at the hands of police officers in the world’s greatest nation, we, the people of the black race, are once again the object of renewed worldwide attention. Questions of injustice in the United States have been duly raised and protested. And, once again, the black cultural elites in America have seized various platforms to air their grievances…

The concept of Pan-Africanism is perhaps more popular now than it ever was. There are great Pan-African activists scattered on the continent of Africa but only a few like Professor Patrick Loch Otieno Lumumba and Kemi Seba can match the determination of the early pan-African heroes.

Op-ed

Why Every African Should Embrace the Pan-African Struggle for a United Africa!

April 23, 2019 admin2 Africa, Pan Africanism

By: Sebastiane Ebatamehi The Pan-African struggle is not an individual one, it is collective, and Africa needs you. The concept of Pan-Africanism is perhaps more popular now than it ever was. There are great Pan-African activists scattered on the continent of Africa but only a few like Professor Patrick Loch Otieno Lumumba and Kemi Seba can match the determination of the early pan-African heroes. One thing that has contributed to this, however, is the fact that modern education and innovation has taken the minds of African youths off Pan-Africanism….

Form guide: Egypt have lost their last two friendlies, against Portugal and Greece, as Cuper looked to experiment. The team, who reached the African Nations Cup final last year, have two wins, a draw and two defeats in their last five matches.

News Sports

Russia 2018 World Cup: Egyptian Pharods

May 24, 2018 admin2 2018, Africa, Egyptian Pharod, World cup

FIFA ranking: 46 (till June 7) Previous tournaments: Egypt have appeared in two World Cups — in 1934 and 1990 — and have never won a match in the tournament. The Pharaohs became the first African nation to qualify for a World Cup in 1934, but were beaten 4-2 by Hungary in their only game. They finished bottom of their group at the 1990 tournament with two draws and a defeat. Coach: Hector Cuper: The 62-year-old spent a decade managing clubs in Spain and Italy, including Inter Milan…