THOUGHT LEADERSHIP - The African Mirror

Jan

28

2025

Final dignity for a freedom fighter who gave up a cushy job, life to fight for the liberation of his people

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

MATSHABA Tsedu/Tseto Muleya alias Joe Mkhaba, alias Joe Mbatha, alias W Williams, alias Frank Martin Nkosi alias Frank Martin returned home in September last year in a box. His remains, buried under the name Frank Martin Nkosi, had been exhumed from grave no 1052 at Warren Hills Cemetery in Harare, Zimbabwe, where he laid from 1987 to 2024. The exhumation was part of the repatriation of freedom fighters who fell and were buried in foreign lands. The multiple identities testify to the various roles he had played in the ANC and in Umkhonto we Sizwe, the liberation army. And this…

Jan

30

2025

By GERRIT KURTZ

Peace in Sudan: a fresh mediation effort is needed – how it could work

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

INTENSE fighting has ravaged Sudan since 15 April 2023. The war between the Sudanese Armed Forces and its erstwhile comrades-in-arms, the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, has created one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world. Famine, displacement and mass atrocities are wreaking havoc in the country. International mediation efforts have been lacklustre and fruitless. The United Nations Security Council has been preoccupied with other crises and blocked by its own divisions. The African Union has created diplomatic groups, a high-level panel and a presidential committee, none of which has been particularly active. It has been very slow in tackling…

Jan

30

2025

By JULIUS A. AMIN

Cameroon could do with some foreign help to solve anglophone crisis – but the state doesn’t want it

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

WHAT began in late 2016 as a peaceful protest by lawyers and teachers in Cameroon’s North West and South West regions quickly turned violent and developed into what’s become known as Cameroon’s anglophone crisis. The protest was instigated by the perceived marginalisation of Cameroon’s anglophone region, which makes up 20% of the nation’s 29 million people. The conflict has resulted in immense destruction and casualties. Cameroon’s military responded to the protest with arrests and torture. Voices that called for the complete secession of the anglophone regions from the Republic of Cameroon gained momentum. They created a virtual Ambazonia Republic and…

Jan

29

2025

By KEN MATTHYSEN and PEER SCHOUTEN

Rwandan-backed M23 rebel group seeks local power in DRC, not just control over mining operations

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

THE violence wrought by the Rwandan-backed rebel group M23 Movement is often narrowly framed as intended to control the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s resource-rich mining sites. The rebel group launched its most recent offensive in 2021 and currently controls vast territories in the southeast of North Kivu province, surrounding and cutting off the main city of Goma. Eastern DR Congo mines produce crucial raw materials such as tin, tantalum and tungsten, as well as abundant quantities of gold. It, therefore, seems logical to reduce explanations of conflict to the ambition by M23, and Rwanda behind it, to control the…

Jan

25

2025

By ABBEY MAKOE

Palestine offers President Trump the opportunity to make good on his promise for peace

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

FOR once, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians—spared from the devastation caused by US-supplied Israeli tanks, drones, and automatic gunfire—are flocking back to their former neighbourhoods. Everything has been lost in almost 16 months of sheer annihilation, characterized by the death of more than 47,000 Palestinians, including approximately 19,000 children, along with scores of journalists, media workers, paramedics, doctors, and UN employees. Nothing and no one was spared. The remnants of Gaza alone are enough to trigger waves of personal and collective anxiety, endless fear of potential siege resumption, wanton destruction, and apparent international indifference. Traumatized children and their relatives, who…

Jan

24

2025

By PATRICK GATHARA

Kenya’s youth cannot stop state abductions on their own

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

This story was originally published by The New Humanitarian.By Patrick Gathara Abductions and enforced disappearances of dissidents by the Kenyan state are nothing new but have in recent months become a political lightning rod for the administration of William Ruto, focusing public attention on a highly emotive and consequential issue while keeping many blind to the history that produced it and the systems that perpetuate it. The Gen Z movement whose protests have rocked the country since June last year has threatened to upend the way a tiny wealthy elite has managed the country’s politics and dissent for 60 years.…

Jan

22

2025

By THEO NEETHLING

South Africa in 2025: 8 key factors that will shape the future and test the government

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

SOUTH Africa’s political and economic landscape shifted significantly after the 2024 national elections. The ruling ANC’s dramatic loss of support resulted in a government of national unity – a pivotal moment in the country’s political history. It is still too early to assess the unity government’s success. But it signifies an effort by political parties to agree on the values and principles that should guide behaviour and decision-making in the national government. The unity government presents new possibilities for South Africa. In the words of President Cyril Ramaphosa: to work together as political parties for the good of the country,…

Jan

22

2025

By MANUEL FRANCISCO SAMBO

Mozambique’s cycles of violence won’t end until Frelimo’s grip on power is broken

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

MOZAMBIQUE’S political history has been marred by violence, disputed elections and authoritarian control. The pattern continues. As the 2024 elections have shown, Mozambique remains trapped in a cycle of violence and instability. Mass protests due to widespread allegations of electoral fraud and police violence led to the deaths of dozens of people and widescale destruction. My research on peace and security in East and Southern Africa has focused on Mozambique’s post-independence political history. Based on my work, I argue that Mozambique is at an impasse. It is unable to fully embrace authoritarianism – or to build a functioning democracy. One…

Jan

21

2025

By CYRIL RAMAPHOSA

Partnership is key to South Africa’s growth and progress

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

AS this administration took office last year, we made a commitment to reach out across society to find solutions to the challenges our country faces. Since then, we have placed partnership at the centre of our work. While South Africa has a rich history of dialogue and cooperation, our experience of the COVID-19 pandemic underlined how important collaboration was in saving lives and livelihoods. It showed the value of effective coordination across the state and with other sectors of society. One of the areas where partnerships within the state have had the greatest impact is in Operation Vulindlela. This initiative…

Jan

18

2025

By ABBEY MAKOE

Lame duck president Biden’s deceitful parting shot to Gaza: “Here’s the deal.”

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

THIS week, outgoing US President Joe Biden took to the stage to tell the world about a breakthrough in the elusive truce between Israel and the Palestinian resistance movement, Hamas. Biden has been desperately searching for a deal – any deal, it seems, as he stands at the exit door of the White House – just so that history might look kindly on some of his contentious foreign policy decisions. The Biden administration has been effectively dormant since their Democratic Party was decisively defeated by Donald Trump's Republican Party in the November polls. As US President-elect Trump prepares for his…