Since South African Airways dropped Dakar as their regular refueling stop, getting to Goree Island (a fifteen-minute ferry ride off Dakar’s coast) can be quite a journey. It took around 24 hours for me, flying from CPT to JNB-NBO-ABJ, then DKR. Eighteen bloggers from Uganda, Zimbabwe, DRC, South Africa and elsewhere have gathered for an
READ MOREI recently received a phone call from a journalist asking my views on authorities refusing to provide information to the media. The context of the story was that a local media institution got rumours that the sacked Zimbabwean Vice President, Emmerson Mnangagwa who has left Zimbabwe had sought asylum in Malawi. In the spirit of
READ MOREZimbabwe’s 93 year old despot Robert Mugabe’s 37 years hold on power has been checkmated and has reached its end after his resignation, which followed a house arrest by the military. In a Hollywood style of events that left the whole world amused and confused whether to call it a coup or not coup, something
READ MOREThere is one good thing that is now emerging from the current political crisis in Zimbabwe. This is that the lead role in seeking to resolve the impasse has now been taken over by the politicians. At least by way of pronouncements, rallies and internal ruling Zanu Pf party meetings. The broad popular support for
READ MORETwo elections in two months has not settled Kenya’s political crisis. But the impasse is not really about who will sit in State House. It’s a deeper question: it’s about who owns Kenya – its citizens or a historically entrenched political elite. President, Uhuru Kenyatta, won the second edition easily after his main opponent, Raila
READ MOREThe battle for the soul of ZANU PF and succession of President Mugabe had been a tumultuous game that has in the past four decades claimed the scalps of veteran nationalists. From 1976, after the toppling of Ndabaningi Sithole, the leader of ZANU, Mugabe has out manoeuvred any potential or aspiring successors to remain the
READ MORERecently Zimbabwean Members of Parliament (MPs) in the National Assembly staged quasi –protests over a reported outstanding US$15 million in unpaid ‘sitting allowances’. This is not their only grievance. They also want to be given iPads (apparently promised last year), the disbursement of the controversial US$50,000 Constituency Development Fund (CDF), diplomatic passports and security details.
READ MOREIt’s rare to see social norms change as quickly as they currently are, as we seem to be seeing with respect to exposing alleged sexual predators. It appears to me that there’s at present a fairly widespread acceptance of the idea that not only do powerful men abuse that power in order to abuse women
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