20 August 2022
Kenya: President elect Ruto is a staunch Christian. According to the article’s author, it can be expected that “religious leaders and associated lobbies will become key actors in policy making” and women’s rights could then be under threat under his rule, for example “the modest provision around the right to abortion under specific circumstances”. Ruto has not yet taken power and there is no concrete evidence of this – the article’s argument is inspired by the overturning of the Roe v Wade ruling in the US and other attempts to “roll back freedoms secured for women and girls over decades”. The article’s author warns that “it will be critical to create spaces to protect and secure the most vulnerable from what will be interpreted as state-sanctioned defence of ‘Kenya’s morality’”, because “when the ‘soul of a nation’ is contested, it’s women, girls and those considered deviants whose bodies will serve as the theatre for that battle.”
https://theconversation.com/would-kenyan-womens-rights-be-safe-under-william-ruto-why-they-might-not-be-188964
South Africa: After a year-long intra-family battle, the new Zulu King Misuzulu ka Zwelithini – who has no formal political power but wields great influence – has been crowned today Saturday in a traditional ceremony at the KwaKhangelamankengane Palace.
BBC Africa Live 20 August 2022. 20:28 & 17:30
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-62604497
19 August 2022
“He who refused advice made a boat of clay”
BBC Africa Live 19 August 2022. 6:30 Proverb of the day. A Rukiga/Runyankole proverb sent by Mathias Nowamaani in Kabale, Uganda.
Algeria: 16 wildfires are still ongoing, but the worst are under control, especially in the Al-Tarf region (east/close to the Tunisian border) where at least 37 died. Wildfires are getting more common every year (90 dead last year), but the government is still ill-prepared according to popular complaints.
BBC Africa Live 19 August 2022. 7:00
Mosquito-borne diseases: It is not only malaria, but also chikungunya, dengue, West Nile, yellow fever and Zika viruses that can be transmitted to humans “through the bite of a female mosquito when she takes a blood meal to assist with her egg development”. The article briefly discusses the five diseases, describing symptoms and cures respectively vaccines where they do exist.
https://theconversation.com/mosquitoes-theres-malaria-plus-5-other-diseases-they-pass-on-to-humans-188856
Malaria: Anopheles stephensi – one of the anopheles to transmit malaria – originally stems from South Asia. It has been spreading in Africa since 2012. With it, vector-control is complicated. It thrives in urban areas, bites in- and outdoors, likes being near humans, its eggs can survive being dry for a long time and it is resistant to a number of insecticides. With it spreading in Africa, malaria eradication is becoming much more difficult.
https://theconversation.com/mosquito-species-from-asia-poses-growing-risk-to-africas-anti-malaria-efforts-188837
Somaliland: At the urban margins, “(h)ousing (…) remains transitional and the danger of evictions looms large”. State resettlement, meant to improve tenure security, has so far not changed much, no formal title deeds having been issued in most cases. Furthermore, the distance from town of resettlement areas threatens to cut off the residents from social networks and the labour market. There is also the danger of “ghettoisation and territorial stigmatization”.
What is needed is “a pro-poor housing policy that does not relegate the urban poor further to the margins”, and if they are relegated to the margins, “access to urban infrastructures, including public transport, schooling and health care” must at least be provided.
https://theconversation.com/constant-fear-of-eviction-how-poor-people-experience-life-in-somalilands-growing-cities-188021
South Africa/Music: The article presents Isambulo (Revelation), the third album of saxophonist and composer Linda Sikhakhane and tells about his life.
https://theconversation.com/south-african-reedman-linda-sikhakhanes-new-album-is-a-revelation-188762