By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | HARARE (IDN) – After 67 albums and a score of awards and honorary degrees, Zimbabwe’s musical legend Oliver Mtudkudzi – affectionately known as ‘Tuku’ – lost his long battle with diabetes at the Avenues Clinic in Harare. He was 66. He was buried January 27, with […]
Uganda Hosts Africa’s Largest Refugee Population
By Sulaiman Momodu The writer is a public information officer with the UN Refugee Agency UNHCR. This article first appeared on Africa Renewal, December 2018-March 2019 issue. KAMPALA (IDN-INPS) – As thousands of desperate men, women and children flee conflicts and natural disasters in search of a place of refuge, some countries are debating whether […]
Congo’s Constitutional Court Declares Tshisekedi Presidential Election Winner
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) – The Democratic Republic of Congo finally has a president. Opposition figure Felix Tshisekedi was declared winner of the presidential race by the DR Congo’s top court on January 20. The Constitutional Court said Tshisekedi had won by a simple majority, paving the way for him […]
South Africa Calls For Solidarity With DR Congo As Security Council Debates Early Election Results
By Santo D. Banerjee NEW YORK (IDN) – South Africa has called on the international community in general and the UN Security Council in particular to provide the necessary support to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in the aftermath of the December 30 provincial and presidential elections that will be the first democratic […]
African Leaders Confront A ‘Blue Wave’ Demanding Change
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) – When Democrats captured one House seat after another in the U.S. midterm elections, observers brushed it off as a “blue trickle”. Later they had to admit: it was a giant blue wave. Africans are also yearning for change and their frustration is erupting across the continent […]
Former President Jacob Zuma Reveals Plans For New Career
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) – After a brief spin as President of South Africa, the multi-talented Jacob Zuma is plunging into a new and exciting career path – he’ll be a recording artist of liberation songs from the anti-apartheid struggle. A full-length album will be recorded in April during the […]
3,500 Lose Jobs As New Currency Shortage Hits Zimbabwe
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK (IDN) – Over 3,500 youth officers have been laid off as part of the nation’s shortage of currency amid efforts to streamline the wage bill. It was explained that the layoffs would save the country a substantial amount while the nation’s economy is limping. Public Service Commission […]
Nigeria’s Ex-President Shehu Shagari Mourned
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | ABUJA (IDN) – Former President Alhaji Shehu Usman Shagari, a devout Muslim, a former school teacher, son of a farmer, trader and herder, was remembered in December as a nice man, a gentle man but not a particularly strong man. Nice, gentle and amiable – good […]
Press Freedoms Return To Gambia Under New Government
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network NEW YORK | BANJUL (IDN) – Following the end of the regime of former President Yahya Jammeh, journalists in The Gambia are beginning to enjoy press freedoms for the first time in 22 years. During the two decades of ex-President Jammeh’s rule, journalists were regularly abducted, tortured and killed. […]
UN Intervention In The Congo Appears To Be Successful
Viewpoint by Jonathan Power* LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – The general election in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) has been postponed yet again – to December 30. Will this country, the largest and potentially the richest in Africa, ever escape from its continuous dictatorship, and its propensity to civil war? It’s not so […]