By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | 24 June 2024 (IDN) — A recently sworn-in member of the South African parliament has been suspended for using racist language against Black people. The suspension of Renaldo Gouws of the white-led Democratic Alliance (DA) highlights the uneasy alliance between the DA and its governing coalition with […]
LGBTQ+ Activists Win Landmark Judgment from Namibian High Court
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | 24 June 2024 (IDN) — Namibia’s high court has overturned a law that criminalized gay sex. The ruling is a victory for LGBTQ+ activists after a number of setbacks in the battle for rights in African countries in recent years. Namibia inherited a law banning sodomy […]
Agricultural Future of Africa Lies in Agroecology
By Million Belay* KAMPALA, Uganda | 19 June 2023 (IDN) — A premise which has its roots in traditional knowledge and ecological principles, some people may find the term agroecology mysterious or esoteric. However, far from being an abstract concept, agroecology can be a lifeline for long-lasting food systems, providing a route that links the […]
ANC and White-Led Party Join in South African National Unity Government
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | 17 June 2024 (IDN) — Once unthinkable, two sharply antagonistic parties have come together in South Africa’s new government of national unity. The African National Congress has agreed to unite with their largest rival – the white-led, pro-business Democratic Alliance (DA) – after the ANC failed […]
Kenyan Bishops Slate Proposed Tax Hikes
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | 16 June 2024 (IDN) — In a lengthy statement, members of the Kenya Conference of Catholic Bishops are warning against passage of the 2024 finance bill, which if passed, they say, would hurt the vast majority of the country’s poor. The bishops criticized the proposed slew […]
Nigerian Leaders Warned of Impending Revolt as Prices Soar
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | 16 June 2024 (IDN) — In the country’s worst economic crisis in decades, an imminent revolt could be inevitable in Nigeria should government officials continue to increase prices while holding down wages. The federal government insists on capping wages at $42 a month while organized labor […]
Mobile Library, First of Its Kind, Launched in Democratic Republic of Congo
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | 11 June 2024 (IDN) — If you don’t go to libraries, they will come to you. This is the concept behind Kitabus, a mobile library designed to promote reading to a wide audience. The name “Kitabus” is derived from “Kitabu,” which means book in Swahili, and […]
Disputes on Sexuality Shaking the African Church
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | 11 June 2024 (IDN) — Leaders of the United Methodist Church expressed regret over last week’s decision by the branch in Ivory Coast to leave the union following the decision of the church to repeal a long-standing ban on LGBTQ+ clergy. The developments were the latest […]
South Africa in Uncharted Waters After Pivotal Election
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | 9 June 2024 (IDN) —Thirty years after the first democratic elections in 1994, South Africa finds itself at a political inflection point. The 2024 election saw a collapse in the vote for the ruling African National Congress which received only 40% of the vote, 17 percentage […]
Why Minimum Wage Is a Bad Idea
By Azu Ishiekwene The writer is Editor-In-Chief of LEADERSHIP and author of the new book Writing for Media and Monetising It. ABUJA | 7 June 2024 (IDN) — I’m opposed to minimum wage. And I know I’m saying this at the risk of losing readers. The minimum wage hurts the poor and vulnerable in whose […]