Africa

Photo: (left) Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chair of the African Union Commission and (right) Fortune Charumbira, President of the Pan-African Parliament. Source: News Zimbabwe.

Mugabe Supporter to Head Pan-African Parliament

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — As members of the Pan-African Parliament hotly disputed the election of senator and chief Fortune Charumbira as their next president, a familiar figure could have turned the exercise upside down.

The familiar figure was ex-President Robert Mugabe. Charumbira, an unapologetic Mugabe supporter, once faced censure from Zimbabwe’s High Court which ruled that his comments publicly supporting Mugabe’s Zanu PF party were unconstitutional as chiefs are required to be neutral.

: Global Information Network; SUSTAINABILITY; Peace & Justice; 05 July 2022

Photo: Protesters on June 29, 2022 (twitter #AriseGhana ). Source: The African Report

Ghanaians Take to The Streets Over Intolerable Living Costs

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — “Mr President, where is our money? The high cost of living will kill us.”

Those were the cries that filled the streets of Accra as the usually peaceful people of Ghana could no longer stop their anger and frustration over intolerable living costs, record inflation, and misleading information about the economy shared by the government.

Over the past week, hundreds of Ghanaians clashed with police and denounced their government’s inaction on the crisis.

: Global Information Network; SUSTAINABILITY; Sustainable Cities & Communities; 04 July 2022

Photo source: Global Information Network

Ghana Cracks Down on LGBTQIA+ Community Despite Opposition

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — Legislators in Ghana with unapologetic support from President Nana Akufo-Addo have come up with a new law making life even harder for LGBTQIA+ persons in the West African country, a bill which essentially strips the community of all human rights.

Dubbed the “most homophobic document the world has ever seen”, the 36-page Promotion of Proper Human Sexual Rights and Ghanaian Family Values Bill 2021, which is yet to be considered by parliament, would criminalize LGBTQIA+ activities in the religious West African country.

: Global Information Network; SUSTAINABILITY; Health & Well Being; 04 July 2022

Image: Two bronzes are being returned today: Commemorative head of a king; King with four attendants © Ethnological Museum of the National Museums in Berlin; Claudia Obrocki, Martin Franken

Germany Will Return Two Historic Bronzes to Nigeria

By Jutta Wolf

BERLIN (IDN) — Germany has taken a historic step toward addressing colonial injustice. It has agreed to return valuable bronzes to Nigeria. More than 1100 fascinating bronzes pillaged from the former Kingdom of Benin (today's Nigeria) are stored for some 125 years in the stockrooms and collections of 20 German museums. These are not only magnificent artefacts. They are some of Africa’s greatest treasures.

: Jutta Wolf; SUSTAINABILITY; Quality Education; 04 July 2022

Photo: Presidential candidate Raila Odinga (R) and his running mate Martha Karua (L, Front). Credit: Fred Mutune/Xinhua

Kenyan Frontrunner in Upcoming Poll Taps Woman Justice as Running Mate

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK | NAIROBI (IDN) — The former prime minister and a frontrunner in the August 9 presidential election, Raila Odinga, has tapped Martha Wangari Karua, a former justice and constitutional affairs minister, as his running mate—making her the first woman in Kenya to run on a major political party’s presidential ticket.

It is believed she can pull in a decisive number of votes among her Kikuyu people, the country’s largest ethnic group.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 27 June 2022

Photo: President Cyril Ramaphosa. Source: Daily Sun

ANC Leader Portrays Nation’s Wealth and Inequality

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK | CAPETOWN (IDN) — Almost three decades since the end of apartheid, South Africa remains the most unequal country in the world—where the richest 10 per cent of the population owns more than 85% per cent of household wealth—a gap higher than any other country for which sufficient data is available.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Africa; 14 June 2022

Photo: Protest as legal case is heard over halting deportation of asylum seekers, at the Royal Courts of Justice, London. (File photo). Source: Vatican News.

Prince Charles Critical of Planned Deportation of Rwandans

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK | LONDON (IDN) — As the United Kingdom moves ahead with the planned deportation of asylum seekers to the faraway nation of Rwanda, Prince Charles has privately described the plans as “appalling”, according to two media reports. The first flight taking refugees to the East African country is due to leave on June 14.

The UK’s controversial deal to relocate certain asylum seekers thousands of miles away is not for offshore processing but as a permanent destination. It symbolizes the broader policy push that some high-income countries are taking to dump migration management far away from their shores.

: Global Information Network; SUSTAINABILITY; Reduced Inequalities; 13 June 2022

Photo: African Union head Macky Sall told Vladimir Putin that Africans were 'victims' economically of the conflict in Ukraine. Credit: Mikhail KLIMENTYEV SPUTNIK/AFP

Western Russia Sanctions Hurting African Economies, Says AU Head

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK | MOSCOW (IDN) — African Union chair Macky Sall, after a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, has urged western and European “partners” to remove their sanctions hurting African economies.

Senegalese president Sall underscored the pain resulting from the barrage of international sanctions on Russia which have disrupted supplies of fertilizer, wheat, and other commodities, pushing up prices for food and fuel.

: Global Information Network; THE WORLD; Russia; 12 June 2022

Russia Abandons Zimbabwe's Biggest Platinum Project

By Kester Kenn Klomegah*

MOSCOW | HARARE (IDN) — Several reports monitored this month confirmed that Russians have abandoned their lucrative platinum project contract that was signed for US$3 billion in September 2014, the platinum mine in the sun-scorched location about 50 km northwest of Harare, the Zimbabwean capital. Reasons for the abrupt termination of the bilateral contract have still not been made public, but Zimbabwe's Centre for Natural Resource Governance pointed to a lack of capital for the project. So, the site has been abandoned since early 2021.

: Kester Kenn Klomegah; THE WORLD; Russia; 10 June 2022

Image: Press coverage of DRC alleged corruption. Source: Global Information Network

Irregularities Uncovered at State-owned DRC Mining Company

By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network

NEW YORK (IDN) — The anti-corruption agency of the Democratic Republic of Congo has identified numerous irregularities in the management of the state-owned mining company, Gecamines, which it says has caused the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars.

The report covered the years 2010 to 2020 and was completed on May 31, according to the weekly Jeune Afrique which first published the findings.