Africa

Although he noted that this was not a sufficient reason for pulling down the building, he expressed satisfaction that the Ghanaian government had taken responsibility for the demolition by promising to rebuild the structure to its pre-demolition state. The Minister further noted that the Nigerian High Commission also failed to obtain legal title to the land even though it had paid for it as far back as the year 2000 and also failed to obtain the necessary approvals before erecting the building. In other words, the Nigerian High Commission was equally culpable. A fair and frank admission I suppose.

Reliving the Spirit of Pan Africanism

September 5, 2020 admin2Africa, Pan Africa, Spirit0 comment

The saying “all for one and one for all” is a familiar slogan all over the world but it doesn’t resonate that well amongst Africans. It is viewed as more of an ideal than a principle and it is fair to say that Pan-Africanism was seen from that same perspective. Pan-Africanism is the principle or advocacy for the political union of all indigenous inhabitants of Africa. It has since become a worldwide movement that aims to encourage and strengthen bonds of solidarity between all indigenous and diaspora ethnic…

AFP---At least four people have been killed in clashes in Ivory Coast as hundreds took to the streets following President Alassane Ouattara's decision to run for a third term this October. Three people were killed in the central town of Daoukro in clashes between Ouattara supporters and backers of rival candidate Henri Konan Bedie, a security source and witnesses said.

Public Policy

`Third Termism` In Africa And Its Socio-Economic Impact on continental politics

August 25, 2020August 25, 2020 admin2Africa, Coups, Third Terms0 comment

Good governance often encourages development. To have the economy perform at its optimum level, there is a need for an enabling political environment which is compounded by a happy, healthy society. Democracy and governance often thrive if there is respect for the rule of law from the executive trickling down. Any constitutional republic has its soul in the supreme law of the land – the constitution. Respect and upholding the constitution is critical for the healthy functioning of any democratic nation. It is thus detrimental to development and governance of…

The African Union and regional bodies like ECOWAS seem to be Africa's problems on this continent, because not until African countries begin to go up in flames do they start to intervene. These are early warning signs of conflicts, and something genuine needs to be done. The Ecowas and the AU will sit and keep an arms-length against these deteriorating situations in Guinea, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Gambia and many of the regional countries. In Togo, the President there is also seeking to change the constitution to extend his term, yet African leaders are quiet. Where is the leadership and voice of our continental powers: Nigeria, South Africa, and Ethiopia?

Public Policy

It’s time for the African Union to put a stop to ‘third-termism’ now!

August 24, 2020August 24, 2020 admin2Africa, Coup, Third Terms0 comment

The AU needs to take action against the Guinean president’s attempt to change the constitution and extend his rule. Two issues have dominated the attention of the African Union (AU) in the last weeks: the upheaval in Sudan and the launch of the African Continental Free Trade Area. In the midst of these, a brewing crisis in Guinea seems to have skipped attention. Guinean President Alpha Conde, the West African country’s first democratically elected leader, who is currently serving his second five-year term, is supposed to leave office in 2020 under the…

“2. Interview: “Dr. Patricia Wesley & Comrade Cherbo Geeplay”. Liberian Listener. August 14, 2019 https://www.liberianlistener.com/2019/08/14/interview-dr-patricia-wesley-comrade-cherbo-geeplay/ “3 Wen Wryte, “Dismantling the cancel culture.” American Thinker. July 6, 2020. https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2020/07/dismantling_the_cancel_culture.html “4. Trudier Harris, “African American Protest Poetry.” National Humanistic Center, 1917 http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/tserve/freedom/1917beyond/essays/aaprotestpoetry.html

Artists & Reviews

Cherbo Geeplay: Understanding his poetry and politics

July 20, 2020July 24, 2020 admin2Africa, Cherbo Geeplay, poetry0 comment

By Dag Walker Thirteen years of civil conflict nearly destroyed the small West African nation of Liberia in the late 20th century. The period of reconstruction that followed in 2003 has surprisingly resulted in an explosion of local literature, some of it world-class in quality. A nation destroyed by war has suddenly produced writers of world-renown and hope for its literature lies on the horizon. “Usually wars or crises provide a new germination, if you will, like a forest that burns down and where new vegetation sprouts,” notes Liberian poet,…

Some years ago, I had a discussion with Donald Duke, former governor of Cross River State in Nigeria. I commended his vision for a plan to attract large numbers of tourists from around the world, impacting positively on the economy of the state and the nation. I observed that a large number of leaders in Nigeria can’t envision Nigeria as a developed nation, and talk more of mobilizing citizens to actualize the vision. He replied with an illustration: Nigeria, he said, is like an aircraft that is being flown by pilots that did not go to flying school. He added that when the plane crashes, everyone blames the pilot. The question therefore is: where are Africa’s leadership “flying schools?” How and where do Africans acquire sophistication in the leadership skills required to guide the continent into development?

Op-ed

Africa doesn’t need charity, it needs good leadership

June 27, 2020 admin2Africa, Aid, Leaders0 comment

By Sam Adeyem There is an ongoing discussion on the effectiveness of foreign aid in helping the economic development of Africa. One thing is obvious: the results are not exactly what Africa’s development partners have expected, and the reasons are not far-fetched. Dambisa Moyo, global economist and author, contends in her book Dead Aid that while foreign aid that addresses humanitarian needs caused by drought and conflict is helpful, most of the aid given to African countries is rather harmful. The OECD provides comprehensive statistics on the kinds and volume of aid…

Op-ed

Berlin 1884: Remembering the conference that divided Africa

June 27, 2020 admin2Africa, Berlin Conference0 comment

135 years ago, European leaders sat around a horseshoe-shaped table to set the rules for Africa’s colonization. On the afternoon of Saturday, November 15, 1884, an international conference was opened by the chancellor of the newly-created German Empire at his official residence on Wilhelmstrasse, in Berlin. Sat around a horseshoe-shaped table in a room overlooking the garden with representatives from every European country, apart from Switzerland, as well as those from the United States and the Ottoman Empire. The only clue as to the purpose of the November gathering of white…

These are the fruits of the heroic struggle of the Soweto Uprising and the people determination to achieve a resplendent South African through permanent struggle. The historical antecedents of this day is a tribute to the Soweto Uprising inspired by a younger generation on the African continent, reminds us to always not tremble at the indignation of injustice anywhere and to rise to the demands for better welfare and the advancement of our given rights. With our right arms up, we give in red, green, and black salutes to the memories of the heroic student and the general masses of South Africa for the role they played in crippling imperialism on the African soil. To the commemoration of the African youth day, this occasion should not just be a mere jamboree of fine speeches and flattering activities. We must struggle to lift Africa in a new era of new beginnings!

Op-ed

In remembrance of the Soweto Uprising on June and 16, 1976 and African youth day.

June 16, 2020 admin2Africa, Soweto Uprising, struggle0 comment

By: Jusu Kamara We appreciate the history of resistance and the role played by African men and women who took the risk of protesting to honor the race and restore their people’s dignity. It is with this understanding that we join conscious men and women in the world and Africa in remembrance of the heroic struggle and sacrifice of the Soweto Uprising, and the commemoration of The African Youth Day. History has taught us that on this day, African school going students from the bantustans and native reserves of South…

Incumbents and aspirants have tried to spin this to their advantage. They drive into slum communities tossing bread to residents in large numbers, in fact, according to a journalist in Kenya, “Chaos erupted among residents of Kibera, the largest slum area in Kenya as residents fought to share packets of maize flour(cornmeal) and a few masks donated by a local politician” Festus Chuma said. As the Coronavirus continues to wreak havoc across the globe, let us not forget very soon that starvation has been an age-old problem in Africa. A survey published by the Guardian in 2019 estimated that nearly 60 million children in Africa are deprived of food. The paper further elaborated that one in every three African children are stunted and hunger accounts for almost all child death across the continent. Overall, it is visible to the blind and audible to the deaf that starvation is a force to reckon with during these confinements across the continent, and the least attempt to downplay this problem has the potential to complicate the fight against this global pandemic.

Op-ed

Starvation, Military Brutality and Ignorance might kill more Africans than COVID-19.

April 15, 2020 admin2Africa, Covid19, Politicians0 comment

By: John Saylay Singbae, II At the onset of Coronavirus in Wuhan China, to its rapid spread to Asia, Europe and America, many Africans around the world opined that Africans were immune to COVID-19. Some attributed this assertion to the fact that black people have melanin in their bodies, unlike other races. Conversely, these statements are not mere speculations, but medically inaccurate. In the past weeks, more and more African countries have confirmed numerous cases, deaths, and recoveries like their counterparts in Europe, America, and Asia. Now, Africa accounts…

The ICC does not solicit cases despite what many may believe. It is actually the court of last resort. Cases are referred through State parties (that are member states who have signed on to the treaty) in accordance with Article 14 of the Rome Statute or through referral by the Security Council acting under Chapter VII of the Charter of the UN. The Office of the Prosecutor can also initiate an investigation upon complaints brought to it by individuals and organizations. The Office of the Prosecutor has conducted or is currently conducting an investigation in Honduras, Georgia, Republic of Korea, Palestine, and Afghanistan in addition to several African countries. To date, Uganda, Mali, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Central African Republic have referred situations occurring or have occurred in their countries to the ICC.

Public Policy

Africa and the International Criminal Court: Uneasy Lies the Head

March 10, 2020 admin2Africa, ICC, Rome Statue0 comment

The Editor, The International Criminal Court (ICC) is a “permanent tribunal created to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crimes of aggression.” Its jurisdiction covers “the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole (Preamble 2) and in cases where national trials would not occur or would be ineffective (Preamble 3).” The nations of the world found it necessary to create the ICC as they were “conscious that all peoples are united by common bonds, their cultures pieced together in a shared heritage, and concerned that this delicate…

This fact is often framed as a continent-wide struggle between the ancient and the modern, between Africa’s age-old tribal allegiances and its modern political institutions inherited from Europe. According to this narrative, African societies are yet to be fully reformed by modern life. When faced with elections therefore, voters continue to express old tribal solidarities rather than deciding based on ideology or policy. This argument presents European colonialism as a civilising mission against the customary order, albeit one which failed to fully de-tribalise its subjects. The 1884 Berlin Conference, far from dividing Africa among European powers, becomes seen as a unifying exercise that brought tribes together into modern political entities. As foreign affairs commentator Jonathan Power wrote in a 2006 article for The New York Times:

Op-ed

Colonialists didn’t fail to root out Africa’s tribal politics. They created it.

January 12, 2020January 12, 2020 admin2Africa, Ethnic, Politics0 comment

Standing in line at a Nairobi polling station to cast my ballot in Kenya’s 2017 presidential election, I struck up a conversation with fellow voters in the queue. The result was a foregone conclusion, said one of the gentlemen proudly. We had the numbers and our candidate was going to win. Everyone else agreed. No one needed to ask which candidate we would be voting for. That was another foregone conclusion. We were speaking in Kikuyu, and the Kikuyus were voting for President Uhuru Kenyatta. In the end, Kenyatta was…