On Thursday 26 April in a landmark ruling, judges sitting in The Hague for the Sierra Leone Special Court convicted Charles Taylor, the former President of Liberia, of aiding and abetting in eleven counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role in the Sierra Leone conflict. He is the first head of [...]
It’s happened. The oil/gas/mineral rush is on. Bring out the banners and bunting. Industrialisation and wealth have arrived! Africa’s problems are over! After a stop-start journey in the last five years, the big players have arrived: BG group, KPMG, Royal Dutch Shell, Anadarko, Tullow, Petrobras, Ophir, Origin Oil, Total, BP and Aminex. Even the ‘security [...]
The former Chairman, Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission, (ICPC) Justice Emmanuel Ayoola (Rt) was reported to have expressed anger and frustration in Ibadan, South West Nigeria, in 2010, when he accused the government and the National Assembly (NA) of frustrating the ICPC ‘s effort of fighting corruption by starving it of funds. [...]
The divisions that led to the recent summit of the pan-African body failing to elect new commissioners to guide its affairs are signs that the union could well be sliding back to the days of the one-dimensional Organisation of African Unity, writes Desmond Davies When the African Union was launched with great fanfare in Durban [...]
The Commonwealth of Nations, the intergovernmental organisation which evolved from the erstwhile British Empire, enjoys an extensive history with Africa. The organisation itself operates to promote democracy, human rights, good governance and free trade – cornerstones which have an ever greater bearing on Africa’s ongoing development. The 2011 biennial Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) [...]
Parliamentary and presidential elections in Sierra Leone at the end of this year could prove to be a real test for the democratic process in the country. Desmond Davies sets the scene for an interesting year. The year did not start well in Sierra Leone. Yet again there were skirmishes between supporters of the ruling [...]
Terrorism had long existed, although arguably, the attacks of September 11 in the United States of America had brought terrorism to the front burner of international agenda and politics. According to Teri Kwal Gamble and Michael W Gamble in their publication, Making Sense of Senselessness, ‘…untangling the causes of terrorism is much like trying to [...]
In a recent General Audience (23-11-11), Pope Benedict reflected upon his November visit to Benin. The Pontiff stated that the purpose for his Apostolic journey was three-fold: to pay homage to that nation’s late Cardinal, Bernard Gantin; to consign a document synthesizing the deliberations of the 2009 Synod of Bishops on Africa, and to commemorate [...]
The ANC must have had a headache when they saw the bill in the morning. The near unanimous passing of the Protection of Information Bill by South Africa’s ANC was always going to cost them, but local protests over the censorship plans has been bolstered by worldwide denunciation of what media and commentators are calling [...]
African National Congress (ANC) Youth League president Julius Malema has been suspended from the party for five years. The youth leader, perennially in the headlines, is still a topic of discussion despite losing his official position. The commentariat is energised as they continue to discuss his downfall and what it means for the ANC and [...]
