SPECIAL FEATURES - The African Mirror

Sep

09

2025

Joseph Kabila is on trial for treason in the DRC. What the case against the former president is all about

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

THE Congolese military court has accused former president Joseph Kabila of treason, corruption, war crimes and supporting the March 23 Movement (M23) rebel group. During court proceedings that began in July 2025, arguments were made for utilising the death penalty against Kabila, who was in power from 2001 to 2019. The trial is going on in Kabila’s absence as the threat of arrest led him into exile. The former president had fought against the M23’s first iteration in 2012-2013, as well as its predecessor, the National Congress for the Defence of the People, which fought the DRC government between 2006…

Sep

08

2025

By MELCHISEDEK CHÉTIMA

They left Boko Haram, now the real struggle begins at home in Cameroon

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

ON a humid evening in early July in the village of Mémé, in Cameroon’s Far North Region, a small group of villagers sat in silence around a flickering fire. Their faces were tight with unease. Among them was a young woman whose brother had just returned after five years in the grip of Boko Haram. This story was originally published by The New Humanitarian. By Melchisedek Chétima Some villagers averted their eyes. Others whispered behind cupped hands. Can he be trusted? Will he bring the violence back? Their questions were not unkind. They were born of fear – memories of…

Sep

05

2025

By ADELINE MOREZ JACOBS

We decoded the oldest genetic data from an Egyptian, a man buried around 4,500 years ago – what it told us

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

A group of scientists has sequenced the genome of a man who was buried in Egypt around 4,500 years ago. The study offers rare insight into the genetic ancestry of early Egyptians and reveals links to both ancient North Africa and Mesopotamia, which includes modern-day Iraq and parts of Syria, Turkey and Iran. Egypt’s heat and terrain made it difficult for such studies to be conducted, but lead researcher Adeline Morez Jacobs and her team made a breakthrough. We spoke to her about the challenges of sequencing ancient remains, the scientific advances that made this discovery possible, and why this…

Sep

03

2025

By SELMA UUGWANGA; AMBER GAYLE THALMAYER, and LUZELLE NAUDÉ

What does it mean to become an adult? In Namibia, it’s caring for others

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

AROUND the world, people become adults in different ways. In some places, it’s when you get a job, get married, or move out of your parents’ house. In others, it might include an initiation ritual, or taking leadership in your family or community. These milestones may differ, but they all point to the same question: what does it mean to “become an adult”? Understanding this matters – not only for psychologists who study human development and behaviour, but also for society, because adulthood is more than just getting older. It shapes our motivations and identity, how we relate to others,…

Sep

02

2025

By SETH ASARE OKYERE; MATTHEW ABUNYEWAH; MICHAEL ODEI ERDIAW-KWASIE; MITCHELL KEITH BYRNE; SETH OPOKU MENSAH, and STEPHEN LEONARD MENSAH

Drought can make farmers feel worried and hopeless: Ghana study finds social networks help

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

DROUGHTS are a familiar hardship in Ghana’s semi-arid north, where rainfall is erratic and agriculture is the mainstay of rural economies. The economic and environmental effects of drought have been well documented. But less attention is paid to its psychological toll on farmers and their families. We conducted a study in the Talensi district of Ghana’s Upper East region to assess the impact of drought on the mental well-being of peri-urban farmers in semi-arid Ghana. We are a multidisciplinary team of scholars working in the area of resilience, sustainability and more recently, psychological well-being. We also investigated whether social capital…

Aug

29

2025

By CONRAD ONYANGO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

“Africans were taught this unreal map of Africa” — now what?

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

AS momentum builds on the campaign to adopt a “correct map” of Africa, older generations who were taught using the Mercator projection throughout their lives are voicing various views around the recent debate. For many, the map was simply part of the classroom furniture, a tool that defined their earliest understanding of the world. But later on in their professional lives, some began to question how the projection shaped the geography and identity of Africa. Keith Claybrook, an Associate Professor of Africana Studies at California State University, Long Beach, in an interview with bird, recalled growing up, seeing and studying…

Aug

28

2025

By TINUADE ADEKUNBI OJO

African women have less access to the internet than men – solutions the G20 can champion

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

ACROSS Africa, women have less access to the internet than men. In Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania, only 15%-28% of women own smartphones. Tinuade Adekunbi Ojo is a feminist political economist and director of the Centre for the Study of Race, Gender and Class at the University of Johannesburg. She researches gender inequality in digital resources, and sets out what the G20 group of the world’s most powerful nations should do to close the gendered digital divide. What is the gendered digital divide? It refers to the systemic inequalities between women and men in accessing, using and benefiting from digital…

Aug

27

2025

By KEVIN J.A. THOMAS

African migration: 5 trends and what’s driving them

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

THE Donald Trump administration issued an executive order in June 2025 banning nationals from 12 countries from travelling to the United States. It also imposed entry restrictions on nationals from seven other countries. About half of the countries affected by these measures are in Africa. This raises concerns about the future of African migration to the US. The restrictions are among several new threats and opportunities that affect the dynamics of African migration. I am a social demographer, and in a recent study, my co-author and I identified trends that will shape the future of African migration flows and are…

Aug

26

2025

By GIRMACHEW ADUGNA

250,000 Ethiopians migrate every year: what drives them and what needs to change

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

MIGRATION is increasingly replacing the traditional, education-focused life paths that shaped previous generations in Ethiopia. In the past, becoming a civil servant after completing secondary and tertiary education was seen as both socially respected and economically rewarding. Although access to education at all levels has expanded in recent decades, its value has diminished as many graduates struggle to find employment and decent livelihood opportunities. In Ethiopia, individuals under the age of 30 comprise approximately 70% of the total population, and the urban youth unemployment rate stood at around 25.3% as of 2022. The consequences are often tragic. Irregular migration involving…

Sep

01

2025

By The African Mirror

CELEBRATING FIVE DECADES BMW 3 Series: A legacy in motion

MOTORING

JOVIAL RANTAO In the autumn of 1975, amid the gleaming halls of Frankfurt's International Motor Show, automotive history was quietly rewritten. As visitors wandered between towering displays of chrome and steel, few could have predicted that a sleek, compact sedan bearing BMW's distinctive kidney grille would evolve into one of the most influential automobiles ever created. The Birth of an Icon The BMW 3 Series emerged not as a mere replacement for the beloved BMW 02, but as a bold declaration of intent. This was no ordinary car - it was the crystallization of Bavarian engineering philosophy, a machine that…