Kenyan author accepts writing prize in his Gikuyu language
(GIN)—Ngaahika Ndeenda, a theatrical piece about a wealthy farmer, a peasant and his marriageable young daughter, was a commercial success when it appeared in 1977 in Kenya. But because it appeared in Gikuyu, the author’s mother tongue, it angered the government which slapped the authors—Ngũgĩ wa Thiong’o and Ngũgĩ wa Mirii— in jail. Set in post-independence Kenya, the play looks...
Strong earthquake hits East Africa
Kampala, Uganda (PANA) - A strong earthquake measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale shook Uganda's capital, Kampala, on Monday (1225 GMT). Hundreds of people evacuated office buildings and shopping malls in mainly medium rising buildings in the city center, and were largely seen assembled in open spaces waiting for further information. Meteorological reports said a magnitude of 6.8 also hit...
Is scholar linked to Sudanese rebel group?
(FinalCall.com) - Looking into the reasons for Dr. Hassan Al-Turabi's most recent arrest, his fifth since his falling out with President Omar Al-Bashir, analysis as always comes from different quarters: Political science professor at Al Neilein University Hassan Al-Sa'ori believes the detention is somehow connected to Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) leader Khalil Ibrahim's “failure to distort the...
Politics and the U.S. food aid program
President Dwight Eisenhower created the Food for Peace program in 1954 to send massive amounts of surplus food, produced in the U.S., to the developing world and to countries still recovering from World War II. The program has been politically popular among farmers in the Midwest, shipping companies, dock workers' unions and food processing plants, as well as...
Nigeria’s president battles chief judge over millions in unexplained funds
GINNEWS (GIN)–Efforts to clean up government–difficult in the best of times–were hamstrung by none other than Nigeria's top judge accused of failing to declare hundreds of thousands of dollars that “suspiciously” appear in his accounts but were never declared as required by law. President Muhammadu Buhari, who has often accused the judiciary of frustrating his anti-corruption fight, defended his announced suspension...
W. Africa’s legendary Dahomey female warriors
No story about Africa’s kingdom of Dahomey, now the Republic of Benin, would be complete without chronicling the history of their fearless female warriors. In fact, in the history of the world these fearless women warriors called “Agojie” or Dahomey Amazons by the French literally left European colonialists “shaking in theirs boots.” The Agojie warriors are called the only documented frontline...
Remembering, honoring Dr. Runoko Rashidi
While reviewing the legacy left by the chronicler of the Global African Presence and the heir apparent to mantle of scholars Dr. Cheikh Anta Diop and Dr. Yosef Ben-Jochannan, I discovered Dr. Runoko Rashidi in 2010 chaired a conference in Senegal facilitated by then Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade. According to Truth Africa, “In December 2010 he was president and...
Burkina Faso’s prime minister resigns amid security crisis
Burkina Faso’s Prime Minister Christophe Dabire has resigned amid a security crisis and protests calling for a government reshuffle. President Roch Marc Christian Kabore accepted Dabire’s resignation and that of his cabinet on Dec. 8. Members of the outgoing government will maintain their posts until the establishment of a new government, however. The president in November stressed the need for a “stronger” cabinet on...
Deported Black asylum seekers at risk in Cameroon
(GIN)—As the U.S. prepares to welcome tens of thousands of Ukrainians fleeing war, scores of African and Caribbean refugees are being sent back to unstable and violent homelands where they face rape, torture, arbitrary arrest and other abuses. Racial bias? An African refugee thinks so. “They do not care about a Black man,” said Wilfred Tebah, a leading member of the...
European powers snub Africa at climate control summit
Backed into a corner, African leaders have publicly come out swinging. Or should this opening salvo say: Seeing the fate of Africa being at stake African leaders issued “harsh words” to their former colonial masters. According to Senegalese President and African Union chief Macky Sall, the European powers “have not just put the fate of Africa … at stake...