07 December 2021
Zimbabwe: Charges “of inciting violent anti-government protests” have been dropped against government critic and journalist Hopewell Chin’ono. The court found that “prosecutors had failed to specify how a series of tweets constituted an offence”. He had already been cleared by the same court of publishing false information in April but “still faces trial for alleged obstruction of public justice for posting a tweet ahead of a judicial decision in November last year”. “He has been freed on bail and banned from using his Twitter account to post anything that might ‘incite the public to revolt against the government’.”
BBC Africa Live 07 December 2021. 5:35
Tanzania: With provision of education guaranteed in the constitution as a basic human right, there has been great progress in the 60 years since independence. But education is still not as inclusive as it should be and poverty still makes it less likely that children get education. Also, the Global Partnership for Education target of at least 20% of the national budget for education has not been reached – Tanzania is at 15% of budget expenditure, 3.9% of GDP.
https://theconversation.com/tanzania-put-education-high-on-the-agenda-at-independence-here-are-the-results-60-years-on-172516
Tanzania: The article’s author takes stock as the country turns 60, stating, amongst other things, that there are periodic elections and changes of leadership, but political space has been systematically shrunk – under one-party rule as much as afterwards.
https://theconversation.com/tanzania-at-60-a-model-of-co-existence-held-back-by-political-rigidity-172310
Frantz Fanon: On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of Frantz Fanon’s death, Nigel Gibson, who has just published a book, in this article provides us with some quotes from the “Wretched of the Earth” and interprets them.
https://theconversation.com/quotes-from-frantz-fanons-wretched-of-the-earth-that-resonate-60-years-later-173108
Nigeria: Of 68,000 prisoners country-wide, only 17,000 are convicts. The slowness of the judicial process means that “many (…) die before the conclusion of their trials – others stay in detention beyond the maximum jail term of the offence they’re accused of – even though they’ve not been convicted”. The authorities “are trying” to speed up trials.
BBC Africa Live 07 December 2021. 15:08
Mozambique: According to a Human Rights Watch report, more than 600 girls and women have been kidnapped over the past three years in Cabo Delgado province. Many will then be married to fighters i.e. enslaved and sexually abused. Some will be released after their families pay ransom.
Almost 1 million are at risk of hunger in that same Cabo Delgado province according to the government.
BBC Africa Live 07 December 2021. 14:05
BBC Africa Live 07 December 2021. 10:43
06 December 2021
Nigeria: The rights group Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) “has asked the court for ‘an order of perpetual injunction’ to restrain the government from unlawfully shutting down telecommunication networks in any part of the country”.
BBC Africa Live 06 December 2021. 8:32
Nigeria: On top of 10 countries from southern Africa, the UK’s travel red list now also includes Nigeria – people who wish to enter Britain “will have to pay for and self-isolate in a pre-booked government-approved hotel for 10 days”.
BBC Africa Live 06 December 2021. 4:37
Madagascar: The trial against 21 – one of them a former advisor of Andry Rajoelina – accused of plotting to assassinate the President and attempt a putsch opens today.
BBC Africa Live 06 December 2021. 5:57
Soil: Soil is not dirt but very precious. A The Conversation podcast of 19’13’’ interviewing two soil scientists.
https://theconversation.com/soil-isnt-dirt-its-the-foundation-of-life-and-needs-real-care-173162
Malaria: According to the WHO, there have been 14 million more malaria cases in 2020 due to disruption of health services caused by Covid and about 45,000 additional deaths because of malaria treatment and prevention being disrupted.
BBC Africa Live 06 December 2021. 15:22
Ethiopia: Without elaborating further, TPLF leader Debretsion Gebremichael says that the Tigrayan forces have withdrawn partly from Afar and Amhara regions.
BBC Africa Live 06 December 2021. 12:50