On January 9, 2013, violent clashes between farm workers and police broke out in De Doorns town, South Africa, resulting in the use of rubber bullets and approximately 50 arrests. De Doorns is a major grape producing area nestled about two hours northeast of Cape Town. It …
Just as the temperature of the “security threat” slowly declines in Somalia, it rises in other parts of East Africa. Elements of mainly political, religious, and clan/ethnic nature continue to shift and create new volatile conditions. Though not entirely interdependent, these conditions could create a ripple …
“We must start from the simple premise that Africa’s future is up to Africans.” This simple sentence came from a speech given by U.S. President Barack Obama in Ghana in 2009. Never has this premise rung more true than right now.
As Africa faces imminent threats in several …
It was Zaire then. As I sat along the shore of Lake Tanganyika in Bujumbura, Burundi, I marveled at the moment. Baby hippos splashed playfully in the water as their adults looked carefully from across the way. The sun set with purples and yellows and pinks, in rays …
Given all that we know and hear about Africa, success is not the first thing that comes to mind when penning about the African Union’s intervention in the continent’s conflicts.
But this year, under the continental body’s watchful eye, Kismayo in Somalia has fallen in the hands of the …
[Image From: African Executive]
It seems as if everyone and their mother has an opinion on the state of South African politics after Mangaung. For better or for worse, the African National Congress has reaffirmed Jacob Zuma’s status as the leader of party and country. …
As peace talks commenced almost a week ago in Kampala, Uganda, the prospects of a lasting agreement between the rebel group M23 and the central government in Kinshasa seemed more of a ‘pipe dream’ then an actuality. The Democratic Republic of Congo has been down this road a multitude …
While the subject matter is fascinating, this film falls short in at least a couple of ways.
First, the music doesn’t seem to sync up with the action, being loud and dramatic during quiet scenes and being almost silent during the high drama that takes place.
It also presupposes that the viewer …
So, Jacob Zuma was rather easily elected to continue on as ANC President, and therefore to represent the ANC as the party’s presidential choice in the 2014 elections. We can debate whether this is a good or bad idea. But barring unforeseen circumstances (and let’s face …
South African politics have been on a collision course toward Mangaung all year. The African National Congress is holding its National Conference in Mangaung, (the metropolitan region that includes Bloemfontein) this week and all of the political intrigue of the last few years will come to a head. …
As in old caravans “Where the lead camel goes, so shall others.” Such goes the Somali proverb, notwithstanding its regional variations and dialectical flavors. The Lead Camel Effect (LCE) describes a syndrome or a common human tendency to blindly follow leaders, role-models, and all those whom authority is …
Going home. The resonance of that phrase is universal. The happy homecoming. The poignant or sad one. The unsure one. The second chance one.
For His Royal Highness Prince Mahdi Al-Senussi that ultimate appellation of his “going home” remains to be determined. Forty-two years to the month that Prince …
On November 20th, the M23 rebels entered Goma, the capital of the North Kivu Province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) — positioned on the border of Rwanda and the shores of Lake Kivu. By seizing the city with a population of one million people, the rebels struck their …
Last month, Oxfam International released a new policy paper (Our Land, Our Lives) that looked at large-scale farm land acquisitions in the developing world, along with the role of the World Bank in facilitating some of the transactions as an investor and/or …
Fighting resumed today between the M23 rebels — now calling themselves the Congolese Revolutionary Army — and government troops just outside of Goma in the North Kivu province of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), ending a two-month ceasefire for the conflict that began in April of this …
