13 January 2022
Morocco: It is rare for sexual harassment cases to make it to trial, but an economics lecturer at Hassan I University (near Casablanca) had now been jailed for two years for “giving students good grades in return for sexual favours” – the first “in a string of high-profile sexual harassment cases at universities in Morocco”.
BBC Africa Live 13 January 2022. 5:23
Nigeria: After seven months, the ban on Twitter has been lifted. The ban had been imposed after Twitter had deleted a tweet by President Buhari threatening regional secessionists, accusing it of siding with the secessionists, thus undermining the country’s “corporate existence”. According to the government, Twitter has “agreed to conditions including opening a local office in Nigeria”.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-59958417
12 January 2022
Malawi: The attorney general has announced a two-month amnesty for people who admit fraud or corruption and return the money. He’s been accused of protecting politicians – the Anti-Corruption Bureau is in the process of trying to arrest Kezzie Msukwa, the land minister, for a multi-million-dollar fraud. The attorney general reacted by saying that “the amnesty would not apply to all cases”.
BBC Africa Live 11 January 2022. 5:23
Cameroon: Senator Henry Kemende of the opposition Social Democratic Front (SDF) has been shot in Bamenda, the main city in the anglophone part of the country. The motive is unclear. According to ICG (International Crisis Group), more than 6,000 have been killed and about a million displaced by the crisis in the anglophone part of Cameroon.
BBC Africa Live 12 January 2022. 10:11
Ngugi wa Thiongo: The article briefly explains what is great about Kenya’s renowned Anglo-Gikuyu writer.
https://theconversation.com/five-things-you-should-know-about-ngugi-wa-thiongo-one-of-africas-greatest-living-writers-67009
South Africa: The country’s communist party celebrated its 100th anniversary last year. The article reviews Tom Lodge’s book “Red Road to Freedom: A history of the South African Communist Party, 1921-2021”. In doing so, it unfortunately gives a rather incoherent picture of the party’s first one hundred years. Tom Lodge’s book seems well worth the read.
https://theconversation.com/historian-offers-comprehensive-and-up-to-date-take-on-south-africas-communist-party-174471
Mali: The article’s author thinks that hiring the Wagner group is a bad idea. The company thrives on political instability and has little interest in doing anything against it – on the contrary: “maintaining some degree of instability might ensure the longevity of contracts”. Like warlords, such mercenary groups have an interest in perpetuating instability and insecurity. In the Central African Republic, “the Wagner Group has exacerbated tensions via summary executions and ethnic targeting”. It will, however, need to make sure that its reputation is not harmed by poor performance.
https://theconversation.com/rising-instability-in-mali-raises-fears-about-role-of-private-russian-military-group-174634
South Africa: The people denied amnesty at the Truth and Reconciliation commission for apartheid-era atrocities and those who refused to appear before it were never held accountable. The Marikana Report of Judge Ian Farlam had no consequences for the perpetrators. And the “Life Esidimeni report in 2018, which highlighted the deaths of 144 mentally ill patients due to wilful neglect and cruelty by government officials, failed to generate prosecutions.” So is that the fate awaiting the Zondo report about Zuma’s state capture? Get the ball rolling immediately!
https://theconversation.com/its-imperative-that-south-africa-moves-fast-on-state-capture-prosecutions-heres-why-174614
Mozambique: SADC has extended its mandate of a troop deployment to Mozambique for fighting terrorists in Cabo Delgado. This comes shortly after the extension of the Mozambican agreement with Rwanda to the same effect.
BBC Africa Live 12 January 2022. 15:54