SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS - The African Mirror

Jul

10

2024

Kenya’s protests are different this time: 3 things that make it harder for government to crush them

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

ON 25 June 2024, a youth-led protest primarily composed of Gen Zs, as they are popularly referred to, stormed Kenya’s parliament. Legislators voted to pass the Finance Bill 2024 in its third and last reading ahead of presidential assent. This was the second countrywide protest over the proposed taxes in the draft law and excesses in government spending. The finance bill is a framework that determines how the government raises revenue. The Kenyan government had proposed raising US$2.7 billion by increasing taxes on essential goods and services, from cooking oil to bread. The bill also targeted digital revenue, where the…

Jul

09

2024

By JOHN NAKUTA

Namibia’s sodomy laws have been overturned – what that means for LGBTIQ+ rights in the country

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

THE Namibian high court recently invalidated the country’s colonial-era “sodomy law”, which had made consensual sexual acts between men a criminal offence. The court declared that the common law offences of “sodomy” and “unnatural sexual offences” were unconstitutional. This ruling follows a separate decision in 2023 where Namibia’s supreme court ruled to recognise certain same-sex unions contracted outside the country. These two cases are being celebrated as victories for LGBTIQ+ rights in the country and the continent – following similar rulings in South Africa (1998), Botswana (2019) and Mauritius (2023). We asked human rights law lecturer John Nakuta about the…

Jul

05

2024

By LITE NARTEY

Africa doesn’t have a choice between economic growth and protecting the environment: how they can go hand in hand

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

HEATHROW Airport in the UK currently uses more energy than the entire West African country of Sierra Leone. Despite Africa accounting for less than 4% of all global greenhouse gas emissions, many of its countries face significant threats from climate change, including increased droughts, floods, heat waves and potential crop failures. Climate change costs the continent US$5 billion to US$7 billion yearly, a figure projected to reach US$50 billion by 2030. Estimates suggest its impact could push 50 million Africans below the poverty line, while 100 million are at risk of being displaced. At the same time, around 600 million…

Jul

03

2024

By LUKE SINWELL

How democracy can work at community level: 3 lessons from a South African protest movement

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

POPULAR protests have surged around the world over the last decade. But do they work? And what lessons can be learnt from communities who have a history of militant protests? When the African National Congress (ANC) was elected to power in South Africa’s first democratic elections in 1994, many believed that popular protests, which were the norm in the fight against apartheid, would no longer be necessary. It was assumed that the party would deliver quality housing and education, safety and economic prosperity to the previously oppressed black majority. But by the late 1990s popular protests in communities affected by…

Jul

02

2024

By XN IRAKI

Kenya unrest: the deep economic roots that brought Gen-Z onto the streets

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

THE generation of Kenyans born between 1997 and 2012 – the Gen-Zs – have borne the brunt of the country’s slow economic growth. If a country has slow economic growth, it typically experiences higher unemployment rates, reduced income levels and decreased investments. It leads to an overall lower living standard. Over the last 10 years, between 2013 and 2023, Kenya’s average growth rate has been 4.52%. This is less than half of the 10% growth rate that President Mwai Kibaki had envisaged in Vision 2030. The national development plan’s goal was to transform Kenya into a middle-income country providing a…

Jun

29

2024

By NEIL ROOS

Ordinary white South Africans and apartheid – bound to a racist system they helped prop up

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

IN South Africa, apartheid was a divisive political system entrenched by a white minority who regarded other ethnic groups as inferior, creating townships on the outskirts of cities to house the black population and legislation to control their movements. Many academic studies have focused on black life under apartheid, but few on white life – and even fewer on the role of working-class whites in the system. A new book, Ordinary Whites in Apartheid South Africa: Social Histories of Accommodation, does exactly that. We asked historian Neil Roos about his study. What’s the book’s premise? Paul Weinberg/Wits University Press Apartheid…

Jun

28

2024

By KATHLEEN KLAUS

Kenya protests: Ruto pulling the finance bill is unlikely to satisfy angry young protesters – here’s why

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS, EDITORS CHOICE

IN a move that shocked observers, Kenya’s President William Ruto announced on 26 June he was withdrawing his government’s highly controversial finance bill. This followed two days in which tens of thousands of mostly young protesters took to the streets in nationwide rallies against the proposals contained in the country’s 2024 budget. Kathleen Klaus, who has studied political violence in Kenya, unpacks what drove the protesters. Did rising prices trigger the protests in Kenya? Sharp rises in livelihood goods, especially food and fuel, often serve as a trigger for protest and social unrest. This has been documented by several academic…

Jun

26

2024

By DUNCAN MIRIRI

Kenya’s finance bill: Why has it triggered protests?

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

YOUTH-LED protests against the Kenyan government's plans to raise revenue through additional taxes are expected to intensify when lawmakers vote on proposed amendments to the bill. At least one person has been killed and more than 200 injured since protests against the finance bill swept the country earlier this month. Here are some details about the tax proposals: WHY THE FINANCE BILL? A finance bill is usually presented to parliament before the start of a financial year that runs from July to June, laying out the government's fiscal plans. In the 2024/25 bill, the Kenyan government aims to raise $2.7 billion in…

Jun

25

2024

By JOB MWAURA

Kenya protests: Gen Z shows the power of digital activism – driving change from screens to the streets

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

NATIONWIDE demonstrations have erupted in Kenya over a controversial tax bill. The Finance Bill 2024, initially presented to parliament in May, has sparked discontent with an increase in an array of taxes and levies for Kenyans. The mass protests, initially organised in the capital city, Nairobi, have spread across the country. Demonstrations have taken place in almost every city and major town. Digital media and activism expert Job Mwaura shares his insights into how the protests were mobilised on online, and then onto the streets. How are Kenyans using the digital space in this movement? This is a powerful moment…

Jun

21

2024

By CHRIS CHANGWE NSHIMBI and INOCENT MOYO

EU migration policy is getting tougher: the 3 new tactics used to keep African migrants out

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

NEARLY a decade has passed since migration to Europe from Africa and the Middle East reached a peak in 2015, referred to as the year of the “migrant crisis”. Over a million people from Africa and the Middle East applied for asylum in the European Union (EU). Since then, numbers have continued to be high. In 2023 the number of migrants who reached Europe’s shores through the Mediterranean Sea was 275,000, up from about 180,000 in 2022. To control the influx of migrants, the EU and several of its member states have introduced closed-door policies – strict control measures at…