Migrant workers in Lebanon tell of horrors of slavery, inhuman living conditions as they wait to return to Africa
The kafala system has long been criticised by human rights groups, but the government rarely if ever addresses the criticism. But Bah knew little of that when she came to Lebanon in 2022. She was promised a job at a supermarket with a $200 monthly salary, she said. Instead, she was sent to care for an older woman once she arrived.
Depletion of flora and fauna in Congo Forest worries greens as Chinese gold mining threatens protected UN heritage site
Spanning more than 13,000 square kilometres (5,000 square miles), the Okapi Wildlife Reserve became a protected site in 1996, due to its unique biodiversity and large number of threatened species, including its namesake, the okapi, a forest giraffe, of which it holds some 15 per cent of the world’s remaining 30,000. It’s part of the Congo Basin rainforest – the world’s second-biggest – and a vital carbon sink that helps mitigate climate change. It also has vast mineral wealth such as gold and diamonds.
UN peacekeepers, governor and two Congolese army officers accused of possible crimes against humanity in Goma
Eastern Congo has struggled with armed violence for decades as more than 120 groups fight for power, land and valuable mineral resources, while others try to defend their communities. Some armed groups have been accused of mass killings. More than 7 million people have been displaced.
Mozambique’s deadly demos: Popular protests were condemned abroad, condoned in Africa
Since departing from Marxist-Leninist path, officially in 1989, the party has been following a hybrid governance model. It has in place ineffectual, formally democratic institutions, amid an authoritarian political culture. Simply put, the country’s political system falls somewhere between a genuine democracy and an authoritarian regime.
Africa makes step forward as continent seeks break from Big Parma on medical imports after Morocco produced first mpox tests
When mpox cases were found in some Western countries like the United States in 2022, some companies began developing rapid test kits that don’t require lab processing. But they shelved those efforts when the virus was largely contained.
Trend that began in US of ex-presidents returning to office continued in Ghana as John Mahama ousts ruling party
Previously president of Ghana between July 2012 and January 2017, John Mahama, 65, acknowledged the call from the ruling party candidate in a post on the X platform, describing his victory as “emphatic.”
No reason given as Burkina Faso’s PM sacked, government dissolved by military junta
The country is one of several West African nations where the military has recently taken over, capitalising on popular discontent with previous democratically elected governments over security issues. However, since its inception, the junta has struggled to end Burkina Faso’s security challenges – the very reason that it claimed had prompted it to take power.
State faces stinging criticism as South African court orders convicted murderer of anti-apartheid hero deported to Poland
Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said on Friday that Walus would be deported to Poland and that the Polish government would bear all costs of the deportation process.
Redesigned AU conflict intervention force suits African needs but requires funding
Inevitably money is the key issue. The last large AU missions, launched in Mali in 2013 and the Central African Republic in 2014, were quickly passed wholesale to the UN. The AU’s Peace Fund – moribund for years – only recently reached its $400 million target (actually surpassing it by $208 million following a pledge in July by the African Export-Import Bank). But to put that figure in perspective, AMISOM is estimated to have cost $1.2 billion a year.
Irony of UN missions: UN deploys where there’s peace to keep, while African-led PSOs deploy where there’s no peace at all
Eighteen years on, al-Shabab remains a potent presence in Somalia’s south-central countryside. AMISOM found itself hamstrung by inconsistent financing, shortages of equipment, poor coordination and the complexity of Somalia’s domestic politics.
