SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS - The African Mirror

Apr

2024

Uganda’s fight against cattle raiders is dividing Karamoja communities

IN the Karamoja region of northeastern Uganda, a four-year outbreak of violent livestock raiding is finally subsiding – the result of a ruthless, informer-driven disarmament campaign by the army. But even as stability returns, divisions arising from class tensions, intergenerational friction, and animosities between raiders and government collaborators within communities may complicate future peace and reconciliation efforts. In 2022 and 2023, I spent over a year conducting oral history research in Kotido District, an area of northern Karamoja inhabited by the Jie, an ethnic group of 240,000 people. My research demonstrated that to properly address these deep intercommunal antagonisms, peace…

Apr

2024

By MARK SWILLING

South Africa’s electricity crisis: a series of failures over 30 years have left a dim legacy

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

IN 1994, apartheid ended and the African National Congress (ANC) won South Africa’s first-ever democratic elections, promising “Electricity for All” as part of its Reconstruction and Development Programme. Back then only 36% of all South Africans had electricity in their homes. The development programme promised to double that number by electrifying an additional 2.5 million homes by 2000. This seemed achievable – during the 1980s, the state-owned power utility Eskom’s build programme was so aggressive it had surplus electricity. Some power stations even had to be mothballed. By 1994, South Africa’s coal industry was generating high-quality coal which was exported…

Apr

2024

By HELEN ONYEAKA

How to end hunger in sub-Saharan Africa: fight inequality, gender imbalances and climate change

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

A greater part of Africa’s population can’t afford a healthy diet than any other regional population. Food insecurity in sub-Saharan Africa is caused by climate change, high levels of poverty, rapid population growth, low economic growth, inadequate infrastructure and conflicts. Women are the backbone of agricultural labour in the region. The problems of limited access to land, water and technology faced by these women also worsen food insecurity. People have a right to food – to produce food, to be free from hunger, and to participate in policy decisions that affect food systems. The right to food is also recognised…

Apr

2024

By CLAUDE MUHINDO SENGENYA

For Congolese displaced by the M23 war, host families offer a ‘heart of solidarity’

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

KANYABAYONGA, Democratic Republic of the Congo WHEN thousands of displaced Congolese arrived in the eastern town of Kanyabayonga fleeing M23 rebels last month, local resident Jeanine Bitasimwa acted as she always does in these circumstances: She welcomed destitute families into her humble home. “We agree to welcome the displaced because we do not know if we too will be displaced one day in this country, which only seems to experience war,” Bitasimwa told The New Humanitarian on a visit to Kanyabayonga late last month. Some 1.5 million people are currently uprooted following two years of ruinous conflict between the Rwanda-backed…

Apr

2024

By HUGH CORDER

South Africa’s Constitutional Court at 30: a solid foundation but cracks are showing

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

SOUTH Africa’s Constitutional Court stands out as one of the few government institutions that have protected and advanced the constitutional vision of a participatory democracy and social justice. Many other government institutions which ought to have allied themselves with the court have been weakened or have failed to deliver. The court has consistently championed one of the fundamental values to be found in section 1 of the Constitution, 1996. This requires that the exercise of public power be accountable, responsive and open. Despite this, but also because of it, the court faces challenges from outside and from within. The duty…

Apr

2024

By The African Mirror

Who is fighting in Sudan?

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

HERE are some facts about Sudan's army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group which have been fighting each other for a year, devastating their country, reigniting ethnically-targeted killings in Darfur and displacing millions. The factions, uneasy partners in the toppling of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir in 2019 and the overthrow of a civilian-led government in 2021, clashed as they competed to protect their interests in a planned political transition. THE ARMY Sudan's military leader General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan stands at the podium during a ceremony to sign the framework agreement between military rulers and civilian powers in Khartoum, Sudan December 5, 2022.…

Apr

2024

By The African Mirror

Sudan’s humanitarian crisis: The facts and figures

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

A year of war between rival military factions in Sudan has pushed parts of the country to the brink of famine, and left 25 million people - about half the population - in need of assistance, according to aid agencies. Sudan was already burdened with rising hunger, a collapsing health system and widespread poverty before the conflict between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) broke out. HUNGER *Some 17.7 million of Sudan's 49 million population were facing what experts term acute food insecurity, a sharp increase from last year, according to a projection covering the five months to…

Apr

2024

By The African Mirror

State capture in South Africa: time to think differently about redress and recovering the stolen loot

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS, EDITORS CHOICE

SOUTH Africans are plunged into darkness daily by rolling power cuts. These are a stark reminder of the destruction that years of state capture wreaked on Eskom, the state-owned power utility. Eskom’s inability to meet the energy needs of citizens and the economy is now the undeniable example of how state capture made parastatals and other state institutions ineffective. The country urgently needs action to recover the stolen funds and fix the economy. So far, President Cyril Ramaphosa has offered only a few general targets, and outcomes have been dissatisfying. For example, the “total of R2.9 billion” that he said…

Apr

2024

By AIDAN LEWIS

Sudan’s conflict: Who is backing the rival commanders?

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

AS a devastating conflict has unfolded across Sudan over the past year, the country's military rivals have sought support from foreign backers as they try to tip the contest in their favour. That backing risks widening and prolonging the war between the Sudanese armed forces, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) headed by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, commonly known as Hemedti. The influence of outside players has loomed over events in Sudan since the overthrow of former leader Omar al-Bashir during a popular uprising five years ago. WHO SUPPORTS BURHAN? Burhan's clearest ally has been Egypt, which shares a border with…

Apr

2024

By ROBERT PAARLBERG

West Africa’s falling fish stocks: illegal Chinese trawlers, climate change and artisanal fishing fleets to blame

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

AVERAGE fish catches by traditional fishing communities along the West African coast have declined significantly over the past three decades. Along the Gulf of Guinea, stretching from Côte d'Ivoire to Nigeria, fishers launch their wooden canoes from the beach to catch small pelagic fish, like sardines and anchovies, which they sell into local informal markets to make a living. They have done this for generations, but since the 1990s, a decline in the catch has put their livelihoods at risk. In Ghana, total landings of small pelagic fish fell by 59% between 1993 and 2019, despite increased fishing efforts. Landings…