Kenyans appear to have overwhelmingly approved the country’s proposed new constitution with about 65% support in preliminary tallies. More important, perhaps, is the fact that the referendum appears to have gone off peacefully and without a hitch.
Kenyans appear to have overwhelmingly approved the country’s proposed new constitution with about 65% support in preliminary tallies. More important, perhaps, is the fact that the referendum appears to have gone off peacefully and without a hitch.
You probably already heard this, but at the International Court in Hague where she testified in the trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor, Naomi Campbell confirmed receiving a gift of “dirty-looking stones” in 1997. These dirty-looking stones turned out to be precious diamonds, prosecutors believed to be Charles Taylor’s “blood diamonds, which fueled Sierra […]
Let’s play a game! How many pernicious African stereotypes can you find in this Leigh Montville article from Sports Illustrated a few weeks ago on the death of Sudanese basketball player Manute Bol? (Hint: The number is alarmingly high for a quite short piece.)
President Barack Obama and the Department of State are hosting 115 young African leaders from 46 sub-Saharan African nations at the President’s Forum with Young African Leaders underway in Washington, DC. The forum, which started on Tuesday, August 3-5, aims to broaden and deepen the U.S. Government’s understanding of Africa as well as to reflect […]
Tomorrow (Wednesday) Kenya will face a huge test of its fragile democratic systems as the country will go to the polls for a referendum on the country’s proposed new constitution. Political, religious, and civil society leaders have been calling for calm in the run-up to the voting. The violence that followed Kenya’s December 2007 elections […]
South Africa’s disgraced former police commissioner (and former president of Interpol) Jackie Selebi has been sentenced to fifteen years in prison after being found guilty of corruption last month. South Gauteng High Court Judge Joffe Meyer described Selebi as “an embarrassment” and a “stranger to the truth” in the witness box. “At no stage during […]
Reflecting on the unresolved Caprivi secession case, an old Namibian acquaintance has this to say: “From a constitutional point of view, justice is being denied. The suspects shouldn’t be in custody for such a long time if they cannot be prosecuted. I think the government is afraid of lawsuits, so it is better to keep […]
Since I’ve been a bit buried lately, here is a roundup of things that have caught my eye. Commentary as I see necessary: There are lots of debates over the merits of study abroad programs. Let’s face it: Most college students see a semester abroad as a chance to get shitfaced in a foreign country. […]
Football is only the second favorite sport for the majority of South Africans, ranking well behind political infighting. let’s take a quick but representative tour, shall we? The African National Congress (ANC) is firmly in control of all aspects of politics in South Africa except for within its own party. Corruption is a constant issue, […]
Diamonds may be known for their cachet as the ultimate symbol of love and eternity throughout the world, but not for the San people of Botswana. Recently, the Botswana high court reversed some of the gains made by the San people in their struggle for land rights when the Judge ruled last Wednesday that their […]
Ask ten people their first thoughts when they think about agriculture in Africa and my guess is that you’ll get a litany of grim perceptions. The word “famine” will probably appear fairly early on, as will “primitive” and a host of other stereotyped words. The one you likely won’t hear is “bullish” or “flourishing.” Yet […]
It’s not really Africa-related, but over at dcat I have a little piece called “Soccer and Socialism: The Real Connection” in which I try to address two issues: the rise of soccer in the United States and the misuse and misrepresentation of the sport in the increasingly idiotic US political culture.
Before I bore you again with yet another conflict mineral detail in Africa, I need to tell you something very important regarding the financial legislation-the other side of the legislation that the mainstream media hasn’t been reporting a lot about-recently signed by President Obama. This legislation is not just a victory for the American people […]
Anyone out there have between $16,000 and $19,000 lying around that they want to use to fund me to participate in “The Changing Face of South Africa: World Leaders Forum,” which would avail me of the chance to rub elbows and exchange ideas with Desmond Tutu, FW DeKlerk, and other prominent South Africans? Fund two […]
Ok, I know I suppose to be posting about news-driven materials, but after revisiting my Africa travel notebook, I couldn’t resist the temptation. Despite the reality that America is in the middle of the recession as well as fighting two wars, what struck me most, during my three-month visit to Namibia (via South Africa) in […]