Cases of gender based violence (GBV) have reached alarming levels in Zambia to an extent where school-going girls are now being taught not to allow their older brothers or fathers to touch them. GBV is so common that the media in the country has now made it one of the stories being given prominence in
READ MOREHungarian-born American publisher Joseph Pulitzer noticed that “there is not a crime, there is not a dodge, there is not a trick, there is not a swindle which does not live by secrecy.” He further observed: “get these things out in the open, describe them, attack them, ridicule them in the press, and sooner or
READ MORECorruption scandals have become a “fact of life” for many Kenyans, who have come to regard them as just another facet of Kenyan life, alongside high taxes, poor service delivery, our “cult of personality” approach to politics and religion, and the misfortunes occasioned to us by terrorism. These burdens seem to be ours for the
READ MOREYou’ve no doubt heard of Meryl Streep’s response when asked what her views were on the all-white judging panel at the Berlin Film Festival. She was reported to have said “we’re all Africans, really”. The quote was first reported by Associated Press on February 11, but then became the pretext of a number of think-pieces
READ MOREUganda’s most controversial election was held on December 10 and 11, 1980. While Dr. Apollo Milton Obote’s Uganda People’s Congress (UPC) was declared winner, Dr. Paul K. Ssemogerere’s Democratic Party (DP) disputed the result, claiming victory. A third political party, Yoweri Museveni’s Uganda Patriotic Movement (UPM), decided to take the contest to the bush and started a guerrilla war in
READ MORE“I’m not a mad man or a dictator” – President Magufuli By now, after 100 days in office as the President of Tanzania, we can safely say we have an idea of ‘what would Magufuli do (next)?‘ The question, then, is do we know what would Tanzanians do? Or more precisely, what would the populist
READ MOREThe Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) has announced an increment of nomination fee for presidential candidates for the country’s 2016 presidential election by 750%, triggering complaints from opposition parties, aspiring candidates and the civil society. ECZ Chairperson Justice Esau Chulu said the increase of the presidential nomination fee from K10,000 (US$1,000) to K75,000 (US$7,500) was
READ MORE