Technology: Double-edged knife that’s depriving workers of rights, pumping pork to others
Rarely has such a robust labour market been so thoroughly scoured for signs of impending doom. Many workers landed their dream situation in the exceptionally tight labour market, which gave them uncommon leverage to gain flexibility, seniority and higher wages. Unemployment remains just above the half-century low reached in early...
South Africa’s fractured ruling party ANC has created room for social media to stoke fear
Last July South Africa was hit by a wave of devastating violence that left over 350 people dead and caused massive economic damage. Different people have used different terms to describe what happened: civil unrest, looting, food riots, uprising, rebellion or counter-revolution. Even government ministers were initially divided about what...
Experts say ‘Kamikaze drones’ in use in Russis vs Ukraine war is a preamble of future battlefields
An attack on a Russian oil refinery this week highlighted the use of loitering munitions by both sides in the Ukraine war to inflict targeted losses using cheap technologies capable of waiting for targets to emerge. When a Russian oil refinery worker pointed his camera phone into the sky earlier...
Why eccentric presidential candidate’s quest for a ‘happy nation’ is rocking Kenya’s political and religious class
Once a street child in Kenya and a grave-digger in the UK, George Wajackoyah, has become a political sensation by running for Kenya’s presidency on a promise to turn the East African nation into a major exporter of marijuana, snake venom and hyenas’ testicles. However, both his voters and rivals...
Africa’s ‘forgotten’ Sahel conflicts have claimed over 11,270 lives in the past 1o years – report
The Sahel – a 5,000 kilometre long strip of the African continent stretching from the Atlantic coast to the Red Sea – has become the most neglected and conflict-ridden part of the planet. Millions of people have been displaced in the region. Mass murders and property destruction occur almost daily....
As South Africa remembers last year’s violence, it’d be risky if lawmakers and police ignored digital vigilantism
As South Africa last week marked the first anniversary of the July unrest that swept through KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng provinces, the use of social media to instigate and agitate high-stakes events is in the spotlight. Social media is often used for good – but can also be a tool to...
Kenya heads to elections with serious integrity concerns hanging over polls agency, technology reliability
Leading candidates in next month’s presidential election in Kenya, Raila Odinga and William Ruto have expressed reservations about the country’s polls agency’s capacity to deliver free, fair and credible election. They fear the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) is unprepared for the upcoming polls, raising alarm bells that the...
How long running and bitter standoff between Kenya president and deputy will impact August 9 polls results
Kenya’s Deputy President William Ruto had a falling out with President Uhuru Kenyatta in 2018, ending a decade-old partnership dubbed “Uhuruto.” Ruto presents himself as an “insurgent candidate,” deriding the Odinga ticket as a continuation of the dynastic politics of the Odinga and Kenyatta families that have loomed large over...
Kenya’s August 9 elections a test of its bumpy road to democracy in politically volatile continent
Kenya’s competitive presidential elections reflect hard-earned progress in establishing independent constitutional and judicial guardrails, although a history of electoral violence demands all sides show restraint. Kenyans will vote on August 9 in their fifth presidential election since the re-introduction of multiparty politics in 1991. The competitiveness of the elections, and...
Theatre of Dreams: Man United squads of recent seasons would be European champions if titles were won on excuses
Manchester United have made it very easy to be pessimistic about anything emerging from Old Trafford. Almost a decade of mis-management has made it the instinct of anyone with even a casual relationship with reality to be sceptical about the Red Devils’ prospects, despite the dawn of the latest of...
