04 May 2023
Morocco: The Amazigh (Berber) new year (Yennayer) has been recognized as an official paid national holiday. The Amazigh constitute about 40% of the 34 million Moroccans.
BBC Africa Live 04 May 2023. 7:41
Rwanda: The article tries to explain Kagame’s longevity at the helm. His party’s extremely sound financial basis is one, his strict disciplinarianism another, he’s a pragmatist and a strategist and he and his Rwanda Patriotic Front party are everywhere. Criticizing them comes at a risk.
https://theconversation.com/paul-kagame-could-be-president-of-rwanda-until-2035-whats-behind-his-staying-power-204051
Ga people/Ghana: For one month every year, for the Hↄmↄwↄ festival, at the turn from the lean season to the harvesting season, the season of bounty, all synthetic/mundane sounds are banned by the Ga (radios, public address systems, automobiles, churches, mosques, megaphones, factories…). “Hↄmↄwↄ makes life in the city whole in that for eleven months of living in a jarring milieu of city sounds, there is suddenly a symbolic quiet – the kind that allows for ritually appropriate sounds to thrive.”
https://theconversation.com/accra-the-ga-peoples-annual-ban-on-noise-restores-a-spiritual-connection-with-the-sea-203261
03 May 2023
Ethiopia: Peace talks between the government and the Oromo Liberation Army (ORA) ended without agreement or deal, as key political differences remained despite the (according to the government) “constructive” talks.
BBC Africa Live 03 May 2023. 11:41
Rwanda: Landslides and floods after and during continuing heavy rains have killed over 100, most of them in the country’s west, some in the north. The death toll is almost certain to go up as rescue operations are under way in remote parts of the country, some roads having become unusable because of landslides.
BBC Africa Live 03 May 2023. 7:38
Kenya: “The Kenyan supreme court ruled on 24 February 2023 that the government was wrong to ban the LGBTIQ+ community from registering the National Gay & Lesbian Human Rights Commission.“ But same-sex sexual acts are still criminalised (Kenya is one of 32 African countries to do so), being considered “against the order of nature”, and they can get you into prison for up to 14 years. Stigma, discrimination and violence against queer individuals has in fact increased over the last few years.
https://theconversation.com/queerphobia-in-kenya-a-supreme-court-ruling-on-gay-rights-triggers-a-new-wave-of-anger-against-the-lgbtiq-community-204575
Mammals: The article is hardly worth reading – it wants to advertise the author’s book about African mammals, gives hardly any coherent information, only bribes from here and there.
https://theconversation.com/from-enormous-elephants-to-tiny-shrews-how-mammals-shape-and-are-shaped-by-africas-landscapes-203689