Undercover journalist exposes Swazi army commander plot to kill newspaper editor
Eswatini’s army commander, General Jeffrey Shabalala, abruptly resigned on Monday after a police sergeant friend of his released secret audio recordings of him allegedly plotting to kill a newspaper editor. In the recordings, Shabalala can also be heard revealing that King Mswati III had put pressure on security forces to...
Nigeria launches secret plan to lure top Boko Haram commanders out of the bush
Editor’s note: This story was based on six months of reporting and research. Government officials, former jihadists, analysts, journalists, displaced people, and civil society workers were interviewed, but nearly all asked to have their names withheld or altered due to security concerns. Malam Aliyu* lives in a neat, two-bedroom house...
Africa’s first youth games raise hopes the continent is getting ready to host Olympic Games
For decades, African athletes have travelled all over the world to take part in the Olympic Games. At the recent Tokyo Games, they took home gold, silver and bronze medals. And yet Africa has never hosted the Games, and some people are asking what it would take for the Olympics to be held on...
Terrorism: Taliban power grab in Afghanistan raises Islamist insurgency worries and fears in Africa
The return of the Taliban in Afghanistan has taken the world by surprise. In Africa, it compounds the worry and fear in countries struggling to crush Islamist insurgencies. For over a decade now, there’s been a surge in the activities of extremist groups in East and West Africa, the Sahel...
Fears al Shabab will attempt to replicate in Somalia what Taliban militia did in Afghanistan
The Taliban’s swift takeover of Afghanistan has raised concerns that it could encourage other Islamist militant groups around the world, such as al-Shabab in Somalia to attempt the same in countries where they have a foothold. Experts warn that when and if international forces there try to hand over security...
DRC and US counter-terror forces pursue Islamic militia that’s killed 6,000 in seven years
Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) President Felix Tshisekedi has authorised US special forces to help the Congolese army battle the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), an armed group linked to ISIL (ISIS). The ADF, which the United States has deemed a “terrorist” group, is considered the deadliest of dozens of armed...
Election win by Zambian opposition Hichilema sets stage for Lusaka to resume lending talks with IMF
Opposition leader Hakainde Hichilema has defeated incumbent Edgar Lungu in Zambia’s presidential election, the electoral commission declared when releasing the final results from 156 constituencies, barring one. The election was keenly followed by investors, who had temporarily suspended engagement with Africa’s second biggest copper producer, which made the continent’s first...
Darfur crimes: Sudan agrees to surrender ousted leader Omar al Bashir to ICC
The Sudanese government will hand Omar al-Bashir over to the International Criminal Court (ICC) along with other officials wanted over the Darfur conflict, according to a Cabinet of Ministers in a statement to CNN. Bashir, who ruled Sudan for three decades before being deposed in 2019, faces charges of genocide,...
Walking the talk: New Malawi president pounces on thieving minister, government officials
Malawi’s Anti-Corruption Bureau has arrested the energy minister and two other officials for alleged corruption involving a state oil contract. Political analysts said the arrests show Malawi President Lazarus Chakwera’s anti-corruption drive is targeting more than just the former ruling party. Malawi Energy Minister Newton Kambala has been arrested along...
Kenya, Nigeria in the eye of a gathering storm as violent nonstate actors resort to weaponised drones in wars
The risk of militarisation of drone technology in Africa represents a new asymmetric tool, which experts now fear nonstate groups may deploy to extend the reach of their coercion, reshaping the African battlefield. A study has listed Kenya in East Africa, Nigeria in West Africa, which have in recent years...
