THOUGHT LEADERSHIP - The African Mirror

Nov

01

2022

Kenya: police killings point to systemic rot and a failed justice system

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

BARELY a month into office, President William Ruto of Kenya ordered the disbandment of a special police unit placed at the centre of a widening investigation into a wave of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances. At least nine officers of the Special Service Unit face charges relating to the disappearance in July 2022 of two Indians and their Kenyan driver. The Indians were in Kenya at the invitation of Ruto’s presidential digital campaign outfit. Police killings of citizens are shockingly commonplace in Kenya. Those who bear the brunt are mostly poor, young and male suspects of crime or terrorism. Author…

Oct

25

2022

By The African Mirror

Hlako Rachidi – a leader of courage who defied the apartheid government

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

MATHATHA TSEDU THE picture has become as iconic as the one of the battered face of Steve in the coffin. But this is one of supreme defiance. The scene is Bantu Biko’s funeral on September 25, 1977, in Ginsberg outside King Williamstown. In it, Kenny Hlako(correct) Rachidi, clad in a long gold dashiki and a necklace, stands with a raised clenched right-hand fist, the left hand pulling up the long dashiki. The fist seems to touch the banner behind him, a banner of the Black People’s Convention (BPC), with its signature emblem of two chained hands with the chain however…

Jul

06

2022

By The African Mirror

Patrice Lumumba’s tooth represents plunder, resilience and reparation

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

PATRICE LUMUMBA is the hero of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s truncated bid for complete independence. He was assassinated by local counter-revolutionary forces with the help of the CIA and Belgian authorities in 1961. Since then, all over the developing world, Lumumba’s name has come to stand for defiance against colonialism and imperialism. Author SANYA OSHA, Senior Research Fellow, Institute for Humanities in Africa, University of Cape Town The manner of his death was particularly distressing. He was humiliated and tortured before he was murdered. His body was then doused with acid to facilitate decomposition. A Belgian official reportedly kept…

Jul

03

2022

By VICTOR EYIKE, BIRD STORY AGENCY

Nearly 800 years later, the fires of the Benin Bronze casters still blaze

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

STANDING in Igun street, the centre of African bronze casting for the past ten centuries, Alex Agbonmwenre could tell a story about the British forces that razed Edo and destroyed the Benin Empire, carrying off the famous bronze figures made for the court hundreds of years before, in this very street. But as a bronze caster, he is focused on the story of the craft itself. And his story starts way before the arrival of the first Europeans in this part of the world. It begins with a skilled artisan arriving at a walled, well-organised city in around 1280, during…

Jul

01

2022

By THABO MBEKI

Thabo Mbeki’s moving tribute to Kenneth “KK” Kaunda

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

I had the great privilege of spending almost two decades in this great African city and country, constantly exposed to President Kaunda’s leadership. I am therefore acutely aware of the reality that I will be speaking today of an outstanding African patriot who was to the end of his life my own leader. Author Thabo Mbeki A few days after President Kaunda passed away, on 26 June 2021, one Emmanuel Mensah-Abludo, caused the publication in the Nigerian newspaper, Premium Times, of an Obituary entitled “Kenneth Kaunda: The last African Liberation Giant goes home”. The Obituary said: “Barely a week ago,…

Jul

09

2022

By The African Mirror

Obituary: José Eduardo dos Santos won Angola’s war and took the spoils

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

STEPHEN EISENHAMMER JOSÉ Eduardo dos Santos, who ruled Angola for nearly four decades, winning a brutal civil war and overseeing an oil-fuelled boom that did little to alleviate poverty, died on Friday. He was 79 years old. The presidency said Dos Santos died at the Barcelona Teknon clinic, where he had been receiving medical treatment following a prolonged illness. Known within his MPLA party as "the architect of peace," the quietly spoken dos Santos saw his legacy increasingly tarnished by allegations of rampant corruption and nepotism, particularly after fighting ended in the south-west African country in 2002. Long regarded as…

Jul

08

2022

By The African Mirror

Justice Maya’s support for African languages in South Africa’s courts is a positive sign

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

THE only nominee for the position of South Africa’s Deputy Chief Justice, Justice Mandisa Maya, has once again put the spotlight on indigenous languages and the justice system. She is the Judge President of the Supreme Court of Appeal. Authors ZAKEERA DOCRAT, Postdoctoral research fellow (Forensic Linguistics/ Language and Law), University of the Western Cape RUSSELL H. KASCHULA, Professor of African Language Studies, University of the Western Cape South Africa’s post-apartheid legal profession, through legislation and policy, adopted an English-only approach. English was further elevated when the heads of the courts adopted it as the only official language of record…

Apr

05

2022

By The African Mirror

How Senegal decolonised diplomacy – starting with Kennedy and Senghor

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

IN their fight for freedom from France, what the people of Senegal keenly understood was that securing independence would simply not be enough. True victory would be achieved by sustainable independence. Sixty-two years later, one of the most significant markers of the victory is what I call Senegal’s “de-colonised diplomacy”. Author YOHANN C. RIPERT, Assistant Professor of French and Francophone Studies, Stetson University Indeed, one cannot but wonder whether the celebrated political stability of Senegal has been the result of its diplomacy or its cause. From its effortless presidential transitions to a network of embassies that rivals that of much…

Apr

02

2022

By The African Mirror

Algorithms, bots and elections in Africa: how social media influences political choices

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

THE rise in the use of smartphones and increased adoption of mobile internet in Africa are fundamentally altering the media ecology for election campaigns. As mobile phones become commonplace, even in Africa’s poorest countries, the uptake of social media has become ubiquitous. Applications like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, WhatsApp and blogs form an integral part of today’s political communication landscape in much of the continent. Author MARTIN N NDLELA, Professor of Communication, Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences These platforms are becoming a dominant factor in electoral processes, playing a tremendous role in the creation, dissemination and consumption of political content.…

Apr

01

2022

By The African Mirror

Russia’s war with Ukraine: Five reasons why many African countries choose to be ‘neutral’

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

IN early March the United Nation’s General Assembly voted on a resolution demanding Russia immediately stop its military operations in Ukraine. Out of 193 member states, 141 voted in support of the resolution, five voted against, 35 abstained and 12 didn’t vote at all. Of the 54 African member states, Eritrea voted against the resolution, 16 African countries including South Africa abstained, while nine other countries did not vote at all. Author OLAYINKA AJALA, Lecturer in Politics and International Relations, Leeds Beckett University In all about half (26) of the 54 member states in Africa chose the path of neutrality…