15 May 2021
Ethiopia: The army says it has ‘destroyed’ a group of about 320 Tigrayan rebels who were en route from Sudan to the leaders of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF). Weapons, satellite telephones, radios and medicine intended for the party leaders are said to have been captured. It was “also alleged the rebels carried a secret document detailing a military deal reached with some generals in Sudan, which has previously denied accusations that it is helping forces in Tigray.”
BBC Africa Latest Updates 15 May 2021. 10:44
Zimbabwe: The president had wanted him to stay on for another five years as chief justice and for this purpose had parliament pass a constitutional amendment that raised the retirement age of senior judges from 70 to 75. But Luke Malaba will not be able to stay in office: constitutional amendments need to be put to a referendum. “Justice Malaba faced some criticism in 2018 for dismissing an opposition petition which had sought to annul the election of President Emmerson Mnangagwa – alleging the vote had been marred by ‘mammoth theft and fraud’.”
BBC Africa Latest Updates 15 May 2021. 16:22
14 May 2021
Mozambique: According to Amnesty International, white people and even two dogs got preferential treatment during rescue operations from a hotel in Palma in Cabo Delgado in March, getting airlifted to safety.
BBC Africa Live 14 May 2021. 5:17
Kenya: Kenya’s High Court has declared President Kenyatta's attempt to amend the constitution (the Building Bridges Initiative) illegal and has “ruled that the president had failed the leadership and integrity test. The judges said that by initiating the constitutional changes, President Kenyatta had usurped the powers of ordinary citizens.” This could be used for impeaching President Kenyatta, but it is highly unlikely that Parliament will want to do that.
BBC Africa Live 14 May 2021. 4:40
West Africa: According to the article’s author, who has analysed the Yaoundé Conventions (1963-75), the EU’s trade partnership with West African countries have hindered diversification and industrial development and have at the same time meant that the West African signatories of such partnerships have remained in neo-colonial dependency.
https://theconversation.com/how-trade-deals-explain-the-behaviour-of-west-african-elites-160048
Zimbabwe: You have freedom of expression but not freedom after expression. Yet female comedians resist patriarchal power relations through stand-up. While women are silenced in daily life, they feel empowered to say things on stage that they normally wouldn’t: “the power relations during a set favour the comedian. They have more power to choose what will be talked about and what the interaction will look like. Do they ask the audience questions? Do they respond to hecklers; if so, how? Above all, through the use of the microphone, they are able to overpower any one single audience member’s voice without shouting.”
https://theconversation.com/women-stand-up-comedians-in-zimbabwe-talk-about-sex-and-the-patriarchy-156052