NEWS - The African Mirror

Jan

27

2026

Smartphone upgrades are surging across Africa

NEWS

AFRICA is witnessing a mobile phone upgrade cycle moment. The obvious trend has been that of feature phones losing significant market share as millions of users migrate to entry-level smartphones in a rush to access mobile internet, e-commerce, social media and government services. While this mobile adoption trend concentrates solely on sub-US$100 entry-level prices, the latest growth cycle, however, shows a different kind of adoption. More Africans are now opting for premium and “premium-lite” models that offer stronger cameras, faster processors and larger storage at mid-range prices, up to US$500. The trend is fueled by rising device financing for both…

Jan

24

2026

By OWN CORRESPONDENT

Uganda’s nightmare succession: A dictator’s son promises worse to come

NEWS

IF Ugandans thought the present was unbearable, they should be terrified of the future. In a chilling display of impunity that should alarm every citizen contemplating their country's trajectory, the man positioned to inherit Uganda's presidency has openly confessed to crimes that would typically be concealed, denied, or justified through official propaganda. Lt. General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, son of 81-year-old President Yoweri Museveni and chief of Uganda's military, has done something unprecedented in the annals of authoritarian succession: he has publicly bragged about systematic state violence. In a series of social media posts following the disputed January 15 election that secured…

Jan

24

2026

By BONFACE ORUCHO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

Busting clichés: IShowSpeed and African content creators go beyond “safaris and suffering”

NEWS

UNDER the bronze gaze of the African Renaissance Monument in Dakar, the American content creator and travel influencer IShowSpeed laughed into his lapel mic as a tide of live viewers watched him trace the shoreline where the Gate of No Return on Senegal’s Goree Island stands, a place once marking an outward journey of violence and erasure. At first, his crew filmed the sites. Then, he asked his viewers to imagine the history beneath his feet. It was symbolic. Tens of millions of his livestream followers took a moment to reflect in real time. Darren Jason Watkins Jr., known online…

Jan

24

2026

By The African Mirror

AFCON AFTERMATH: King of Morocco in damage control mode

NEWS

WHEN the dust settled on one of the most tumultuous Africa Cup of Nations finals in recent memory, Morocco found itself at a crossroads. The dramatic scenes at Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium - Senegalese players walking off in protest, fans clashing with security, a continent watching in disbelief - had opened wounds that threatened to unravel years of carefully cultivated diplomatic capital. Then, as is customary in African tradition, the King spoke. And when the King speaks, silence follows. King Mohammed VI's intervention this Thursday was more than mere damage control. It was a calculated assertion of Morocco's vision for…

Jan

23

2026

By The African Mirror

Uganda’s post-election crackdown: Death toll rises, opposition faces repression

NEWS

UGANDA has descended into a violent post-election crackdown that has left at least nine people dead and the country's main opposition leader in hiding, as President Yoweri Museveni consolidates power following a disputed election marred by intimidation, violence and allegations of widespread fraud. The escalating repression following the January 15 presidential vote has exposed the brutal machinery of authoritarian control in a country where Museveni, Africa's third-longest serving head of state, is poised to rule for 45 years by the end of his current term in 2031. A Contested Victory Built on Fear Museveni claimed a landslide victory with 72…

Jan

23

2026

By OWN CORRESPONDENT

Nigerians arrested in India as Delhi police smash syndicate, seize $600,000 in drugs

NEWS

INDIAN authorities have dismantled an international drug trafficking operation run by Nigerian nationals, seizing cocaine and MDMA with an estimated street value of approximately $600,000 and arresting two suspects, police announced. The breakthrough came after officers in South Delhi received intelligence in early December about a Nigerian man with prior connections to drug cases who was allegedly distributing narcotics in the capital region. "We received credible information about the suspect's activities and immediately launched surveillance operations," a senior police official said. Digital forensics on the suspect's mobile phone led investigators to a second Nigerian national, resulting in the recovery of…

Jan

22

2026

By The African Mirror

UN warns of potential atrocities in Sudan as conflict threatens new regions

NEWS

GENEVA — The United Nations is urgently warning warring parties in Sudan that the mass atrocities witnessed during the fall of El Fasher must not be repeated as fighting intensifies around Kadugli and Dilling in South Kordofan, following a stark assessment by the UN's top human rights official. The warning comes after UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk completed a five-day visit to Sudan on Sunday, where he confronted the devastating human toll of the 21-month conflict at displacement camps sheltering survivors of recent violence. At Al Afad camp in Northern State, housing approximately 20,000 displaced people, Türk…

Jan

22

2026

By SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Justice delayed: After 65 years, Lumumba’s family stands at the threshold of reckoning

NEWS

IN the annals of colonial violence, few cases illustrate the glacial pace of accountability quite like the murder of Patrice Lumumba. Sixty-five years after the Congolese independence leader was executed and his body dissolved in acid - a grotesque attempt to erase him from history itself - his family gathered outside a Brussels courtroom this week with something they've been denied for generations: hope that justice might finally arrive. "We cannot turn back time," said Yema Lumumba, 33, the slain leader's granddaughter, her words carrying the weight of three generations who have pursued answers in a legal wilderness. "But we…

Jan

22

2026

By SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

Nigeria’s Abductions: A cycle of rescue, recapture that shows no sign of breaking

NEWS

NIGERIAN security forces rescued 62 hostages and killed two militants this week in operations across Kebbi and Zamfara states, the latest chapter in a grinding conflict that has claimed thousands of lives, displaced hundreds of thousands, and left communities across the northwest living under the constant threat of abduction. But even as troops stormed forest hideouts and freed captives, the question hanging over Nigeria's protracted security crisis remained unanswered: How many will be taken tomorrow? The rescues came days after disputed reports of a mass abduction in Kaduna state, where accounts from community leaders describing 160 to 177 worshippers seized…

Jan

21

2026

By OWN CORRESPONDENTS

Military impunity in Uganda: army chief threatens to ‘extinguish’ political opposition

NEWS

IN any functioning constitutional democracy, when a military officer publicly threatens to eliminate a political party and its leaders, the response would be immediate: investigation, suspension from duty, and criminal prosecution. When that officer is also the son of the sitting president and has previously confessed to torture and made death threats against opposition figures, the alarm bells should be deafening. Yet in Uganda, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba operates in a sphere of absolute impunity that exposes the hollow nature of the country's constitutional framework. A Pattern of Documented Criminal Behaviour Kainerugaba's latest declaration that the National Unity Platform (NUP) will…