World Bank: Primitive theft of public resources and institutionalised violence in Africa are crimes against humanity
According to Edwin Durgy that is an incredible amount of money and would have made Gaddafi not only richer than today’s richest – it also would have made him one of the wealthiest individuals in the history of the world, and significantly wealthier than every great American that has ever lived, save the legendary industrialists Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller.
Political violence: How Ethiopia’s Ras Tafari Makonnen renamed himself Emperor Haile Selassie and became a Rastafarian god
On April 2, 1930, Haile Selassie, originally, Ras Tafari Makonnen, became Emperor Haile Selassie of Ethiopia. Prior to being emperor, he served as Regent Plenipotentiary of Ethiopia (Enderase) for Empress Zewditu from 1916 to 1930. During his long reign, Selassie emerged as a powerful international god-like figure and symbol of a...
Why meek Kenyans are being taxed heavily to plug holes opened in national budget by untouchable thieves
Kenya’s polluted politics is accepted as a norm and a deviation from this ‘norm’ is received and greeted with derision. From a religious point of view, doing good in Kenya today is regarded as an unforgivable ‘sin’. High levels of corruption, criminality, immorality define a hard working Kenyan.
With covert police stations in foreign countries, China ramps up pressure to silence critics abroad despite Western backlash
The latest dispute has centred on Canada’s expulsion of a Chinese diplomat on Monday over allegations that he attempted to intimidate a Canadian lawmaker critical of China’s human rights record. Beijing responded to within hours by ordering a Canadian diplomat in Shanghai to leave over what it called Ottawa’s “unreasonable actions”.
War on terror sought to cast US as a beacon of democracy, but private army Blackwater inflicts suffering on societies they work in
Recently, I spoke with one Marine infantry veteran who had completed four combat tours abroad for America. He told me that, after leaving the service, he lacked a community that understood what he had been through. He sought to avoid social isolation by getting a government job. However, after applying...
Privatising war: Why the US and Russia hire private companies to fight for them on frontlines
The involvement of private companies has allowed Washington to continue to conduct its operations around the globe, even if many Americans think that our war on terror in Afghanistan, Iraq, and elsewhere has ended. I tried looking for any kind of a survey of how many of us realise that it continues in Iraq and elsewhere, but all I could find was pollster Nate Silver’s analysis of “lessons learned” from that global conflict, as if it were part of our history.
How Museveni aspired to be Uganda’s ‘eternal’ president, then created an African brotherhood to realise dream
The power struggle has its roots in the years before a 2019 uprising that ousted dictator Omar al Bashir who built up formidable security forces that he deliberately set against one another throughout his almost 30-year rule. It is not easy to predict when the chaos will end, but it has reportedly already claimed 500 human lives; as many as the Luwero Triangle bush war in Uganda claimed from 1981-1985.
How Ugandan President Museveni shot his way to power from a tiny house in Kabete in Nairobi, then refused to go away
A long insurgency under the military command of Yoweri (Tibuhaburwa) Museveni combined with the internal wrangles within the UNLA between the Lang’i and Acholi elements weakened Obote’s second regime so much that it could not concentrate effectively on rehabilitating and reconstructing the country beyond the destructive effects of Idi Amin’s rule.
Human rights: It’s expecting too much of Messi and Ronaldo to be moral arbiters when they sign business deals with Saudi Arabia
Messi and Ronaldo have become very wealthy from football and lending their faces to products. Why should advertising holidays or even a World Cup bid in Saudi Arabia differ? Pep Guardiola and Xavi were ambassadors for Qatar’s 2022 World Cup bid and they remain highly regarded. At a time when football asks for gentle moral consistency rather than outright moral guidance from its most prominent figures, what difference does it make to these superstars?
Should world’s greatest footballers – Messi and Ronaldo – shun Saudi Arabia’s porky offers?
The legacy of sporting figures is complicated. Those who believe in it often focus on highlights rather than entire storylines. Few Ronaldo fans bring up his miss in the penalty shootout at the 2008 Champions League final, instead preferring to talk about the header he scored in normal time.
