In 1967, West Germany had its own #RhodesMustFall moment. In September of that year, socialist students tore down the monuments to colonial leaders Hans Dominik and Hermann von Wißmann that stood in front of their university. One statue was carried across the street, propped up in the cafeteria, painted red, and hung with a collection […]
Let me give you some snippets of what it is like to be black in Brazil: A few months ago Ana*, a well-to-do, Afro-Brazilian friend of mine, dressed in head-to-toe perfection, was asked to go into the service entrance of her (white) friend’s apartment building (yes, residential buildings in Brazil have separate service entrances for the […]
Last week in Lesotho, opposition leaders Tom Thabane and Thesele ‘Maseribane fled to Botswana and South Africa, again seeking protection from SADC against what they said were assassination attempts by the Lesotho Defense Force. As Lesotho under Prime Minister Mosisili continues its pattern of political crisis, it begs the question just where political violence is […]
On Mozambican TV, South Africa is divided between the people of good will with their pots of rice, and the people of Goodwill with their knobkieries and pangas.
International oil giants are bearing down on East Africa. Off the coast of Tanzania, the discovery of 46.5 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves has put the country on the world energy map. The number is expected to rise to 200 trillion cubic feet in the next two years, and eventually transform Tanzania into […]
The truth of our global age is that autochthony, nativism, or heritage no longer define us exclusively. So, solidarity based on phenotype or heritage is dangerous.
Often championed as a human rights defender, the Netherlands continuously fails miserably in politically protecting and socially including refugees.
When are African states establishing joint military bases to secure trade routes or fight off piracy instead of diversifying the source of foreign influence on their territories?
Next month former president Hissène Habré, who ruled my native Chad from June 7, 1982 to December 1, 1990, goes on trial in Senegal, in a special tribunal set up by the African Union. Habré’s reign was one of absolute terror. He created the Documentation and Security Directorate (DDS), which quickly developed into a machine […]
Tributes are pouring in from around the world for Raphael Tenthani, who has died in a traffic accident aged 43. Known to BBC World Service listeners for his excellent reporting from Malawi, and to all Malawians as “The Muckraker” for his fearless column in the Sunday Times, Tenthani was a scourge of corrupt political elites […]
It’s not really about Nigeria, and it’s not for Nigerians. Rather it’s a story, popular in America, about brave soldiers fighting terrorists.
These young ones who have just been born do not respect authority simply because the rules say they should.
Teju Cole wrote that a white saviour is someone who, “supports brutal policies in the morning, founds charities in the afternoon, and receives awards in the evening”. Global_Geneva recently released the third annual Top NGO ranking, and unfortunately, it’s more of the same. In 2013, I reviewed the Board profiles of the previous ranking, focusing […]
The South African question is far too important to accommodate an explanation that is simplistic and childish.
How did Burundi go from being the hallmark of power-sharing success to an increasingly polarized country?
Smugglers are in most cases merely the “poor man’s” travel agent; a deregulated, brazen, relatively cheap and lucrative travel agency for refugees and people with no passports.
April. The month of the long rains was upon us, and with its compulsive deluge flowed memories of an old hate. In Kenya, a cycle of violence enduring since the colonial period has been re-stoked, oblivious to the 21 years of “Never Agains” since the Rwandan genocide. As the horror of the massacre of 148 student from Garissa University […]
Rather than spending money to fix massive inequalities, the U.S. funds militarizing the police, incarcerating black youth, and state violence.
The Life and Times of Mr Peter Buckton, a worker at the University of Cape Town in South Africa.
The tragic but fleeting headlines about the plight of Ethiopian migrants in Libya, Yemen and South Africa have shadowed another more consequential event: Ethiopia’s parliamentary elections, slated to take place in less than a month on May 24. This will be Ethiopia’s first vote without Meles Zenawi, the country’s leader of two decades, who died […]