31 March 2022
“The tongue stays in the shade but exposes its owner to the sun”
BBC Africa Live 31 March 2022. 4:33 Proverb of the day. An Oromo proverb from Ethiopia sent by Yadessa Abishu
Niger: 5,000 additional soldiers are to be recruited to better fight terrorism.
BBC Africa Live 31 March 2022. 11:06
Somalia: Two states – Hirshabelle state (6 seats) and Jubbaland (16 seats) – will miss the 31 March deadline for voting for delegates for the new parliament. Hopefully, in April all 275 MPs will be sworn in.
BBC Africa Live 31 March 2022. 7:59
Mali/Russia: While “(a)bout 75% of French troops are reported to have departed” from Mali, Russia has just sent “two combat helicopters and two sophisticated radar systems” to Mali to help fight terrorists.
BBC Africa Live 31 March 2022. 14:39
Mali/Mauritania/Niger/Nigeria/old manuscripts: Mali Magic, an online gallery hosted by Google, “displays 45 very photogenic manuscripts from one private library” in Timbuktu, but “the site doesn’t begin to tell the full story of the wealth of West Africa’s manuscripts that are found from the Atlantic to Lake Chad.” However, there is now “a bilingual, open-access, online union catalogue of nearly 80,000 manuscripts at the West African Arabic Manuscript Database.” Besides Timbuktu, Mauritania, Niger and Nigeria also need attention. The topic most dealt with in the old manuscripts are legal issues. Next come Prophet Muhammad, mysticism (Sufism), the Qur’an, Arabic language and theology. Rather few contain locally-written poetry and literature. Finally, there are texts in African languages (Fulfulde, Soninké, Wolof, Hausa, Bambara, Yoruba, Hasaniyya, etc.) written in Arabic script. Many more old manuscripts will be available online in future.
https://theconversation.com/timbuktu-manuscripts-placed-online-are-only-a-sliver-of-west-africas-ancient-archive-179772
Wars & Culture: Beyond loss of life, wars have “caused huge losses to cultural heritage”. The article provides examples from the Ethiopian-Eritrean 1998-2000 war, from Mali, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and the ongoing war in Tigray/Ethiopia. Cultural heritage is protected by international laws (the article lists them) – but they need to be domesticated to become effective.
https://theconversation.com/africas-wars-are-hurting-its-rich-heritage-how-the-law-can-help-180041
Tigray war & culture: Tigray is home to many old treasures. Religious, historical and cultural sites of immense value have been destroyed in the ongoing war. Heritage sites have been deliberately targeted. Hundreds of civilians were massacred around the yard of the Church of Aksum Tsion, the dwelling place of the Ark of the Covenant, then the church was vandalised. The “al-Nejashi Mosque, a symbol for the first introduction of Islam in Africa, was bombed”. “Precious medieval manuscripts have been burned and vandalised. Thousands of artefacts have been looted and smuggled for an international market.”
https://theconversation.com/ethiopias-war-in-tigray-risks-wiping-out-centuries-of-the-worlds-history-179829
Ethiopia: Two Associated Press journalists are to be released by police by order of the Supreme Court. They had been arrested under terrorism laws in November 2021 while working on violence in Oromia region, but have never been charged. The police might yet appeal, so it is not sure they will really be released.
BBC Africa Live 31 March 2022. 15:16
Kenya: The Supreme Court has decided that President Kenyatta “had acted unlawfully” with his Building Bridges Initiative trying to make fundamental changes to the constitution. Kenyatta had appealed court verdicts which had found the Building Bridges Initiative bill “to be irregular, illegal and unconstitutional”.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-60941860
Nigeria: After the gunmen attack on an Abuja-Kaduna train on Monday which killed at least 8 and saw several others abducted for ransom, the government has announced that military aircraft will accompany passenger trains on that “vital” rail connection in future.
BBC Africa Live 31 March 2022. 16:05
30 March 2022
Burundi: On 29th of March 2019, the BBC – who at the time had 1.3 million viewers and listeners in Burundi – had seen its licence withdrawn because it had allegedly damaged the reputation of Pierre Nkunrunziza’s government. The National Communications Council (CNC) has today Wednesday announced that BBC is allowed to resume its operations.
BBC Africa Live 30 March 2022. 16:47
Sudan: Khartoum state authorities are in the process of removing “negative features” and reorganising the city. The overnight looting and destruction of belongings of street vendors and kiosk-owner at Jackson station has infuriated the former owners – security forces met them with tear gas and stun grenades (devices that temporarily disorient an enemy's senses).
BBC Africa Live 30 March 2022. 15:41
Sudan: Having issued a decree dissolving public universities’ boards of trustees, al-Burhan now appointed 30 new heads of public universities. “Learning institutions have been instrumental in the protests against the military rulers.”
BBC Africa Live 30 March 2022. 8:01
Kenya: Amnesty International has accused Kenyan police of “unlawfully killing 167 people” in 2021. In only 28 cases, prosecutions were initiated against the perpetrators. Protests are met with great brutality and even violating Covid restrictions meant death for some of the guilty.
BBC Africa Live 30 March 2022. 14:51