News and views from Africa
Coming between a government oil quota of two million barrels per day, five multinationals and countless militiamen in a near-lawless Nigerian region was worth it, says exiled Donny Ohia. The grim, grey edifice of Rottenburg’s deportation centre was every bit as intimidating as I had expected. The German prison for asylum seekers was until recently […]
Continue ReadingA senior Malawian magistrate was among 20 people arrested in the lakeshore district of Salima for alleged marijuana trafficking in a week beset with events surrounding the drug. Malawi police service deputy spokesman, Kelvin Maigwa, confirmed Magistrate Silvester Chimoto of Nkhunga Second Magistrate Court in Nkhota Kota was arrested as he tried to transport four […]
Continue ReadingThe AIDS virus – which affects about 35 million people in Africa – will cause annual growth to fall across the continent this year, political leaders have warned. African Ministers for finance, planning and economic development projected the HIV/AIDS epidemic will cut approximately one per cent from gross domestic product (GDP) growth rates in Africa, […]
Continue ReadingA woman who was forced to watch a militia torture and execute her two brothers described her ordeal to journalists last week under a new initiative launched by the Truth and Reconciliation Committee (TRC). The TRC organisation – set up to assist victims of the country’s brutal civil war come to terms with their losses […]
Continue ReadingSierra Leone has called on neighbouring Liberia to arrest and extradite notorious ringleaders of war crimes committed during the country’s decade-long civil war. Sierra Leone’s Special Court Chief Investigator, Dr Alan White, called for the extradition of the country’s former rebel military commander, Sam Bockarie; and former junta ruler, Johnny Paul Koroma earlier this week. […]
Continue ReadingEgyptian novelist, Ahdaf Soueif is a study in multiculturalism. She looks at the world through Egyptian eyes, and writes English fiction in an Arab hand. Her books speak of a world which may not be tangible now, but which still exists for countless people. “If fiction has a social function," Soueif contemplates, "this is it. […]
Continue ReadingSierra Leone’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) has begun a long battle to secure justice for victims of the country’s bloody civil war. The Commission, which was set up almost one year ago, commenced its first project – a ‘public hearings phase’ – today after collecting about 7,100 statements from victims, witnesses and instigators of […]
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