In conflict zones, one radio station is worth five army battalions, a former chief of UN peacekeeping operations once said. Listeners and numerous expert studies confirm that ‘peace radios’ ─ often established by UN peacekeeping missions ─ have been powerful weapons for peace. So far there have been seven UN stations in countries emerging from [...]
There is a Cameroonian saying ‘goats eat where they are tethered’; the proverbial goat is usually a government official. Transparency International’s (TI) global corruption perception index (released last month) confirms what many South Africans fear – that corruption is becoming endemic. In ‘98 the country ranked 32nd least corrupt in the world; in ‘04 it [...]
Elections in Ivory Coast and Guinea have been grabbing headlines over the past few months, and with Liberia going to the polls at the end of 2011, and Sierra Leone the following year it is unlikely that international focus on West Africa will relent any time soon. The elections have certainly provided a lot to [...]
At a demonstration outside the Cape High Court last October, protesters from an informal settlement who face eviction, unfurled a colourful, handwritten banner: ‘Madiba – Long walk to Freedom’. From the poorest to the richest, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, affectionately known by his clan name Madiba, remains an inspiration to the citizenry not only of South [...]
CNN’s African Voices is a series of weekly interviews focusing on the achievements of individuals of African and Caribbean descent. Week beginning 10th August Sierra Leone’s President Ernest Koroma talked about the turnaround his country is experiencing, and how he has achieved it. But alongside figures such as Mozambican pop star Feliciano Dos Santos and [...]
British journalist and filmmaker Louis Theroux has recently released a documentary of his trip to Nigerian megalopolis, Lagos, where he had been hoping to uncover high level and institutionalized corruption. The programme, which aired at 9 pm on the 10th October on BBC2, was titled Law and Disorder in Lagos, and followed two groups supposedly [...]
The title of William Boyd’s book could have been invented for Desmond Tutu and I make no apologies for this rather personal review of his contribution to South Africa, Africa and the world. The former Archbishop of Cape Town and one of the most important public figures in South Africa has announced that he is [...]
As heads of state gather in Kampala this week for the African Union summit my mind wandered back to 1975 when heads of state also gathered in Kampala for the OAU (Organisation of African Unity as it was then known) Summit. This was by any measure a remarkable meeting, not least for the presence of [...]
Since President Goodluck Jonathan assumed political office early this year, the ailing Northern Political class have gone into a frenzy, issuing threats, organizing showcase meetings and grand standing, all to frighten a minority from staking for federal power. Yet, none of them have bothered to consult the people of the north to get their feelings [...]
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has praised South Africa for its ‘wonderful’ hosting of the 2010 FIFA World Cup and suggested that Brazil had much to learn from their predecessors. ‘We (Brazil) now have a tremendous responsibility on our shoulders but we are confident that we will present a World Cup as beautiful [...]
