26 March 2023

USA/Africa: After the secretary of state, the treasury secretary and the first lady, it is now vice-president Kamala Harris’s turn to go on an Africa tour. But will, as the BBC article’s title asks, the “US charm offensive woo (the) continent from China?” Nine days in Ghana, Tanzania, Zambia lie before her. Is there a new scramble for Africa?
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-65062976




25 March 2023

Angola: In May 1977, disaffected MPLA members staged an uprising and were massacred. To this day, it is not clear what exactly happened – estimates of the number of victims go to as many as 90,000. In 2018, the association M27 was created by “orphans of the massacre” to demand the truth about their parents’ deaths. In 2019, authorities put in place a commission to investigate all political violence since independence, including the war against Unita and the 1977 massacre. “On 26 May 2021, Mr Lourenço issued a public apology for the massacre and asked for forgiveness for what he described as ‘the great evil’.” Hopes were then raised that the remains of some of the victims would be handed back to their children – but something has seriously gone wrong with that project. Apparently, some people still in power today have a lot to hide concerning the 1977 massacre.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-65063864