New African articles from January 2008

New African archives from January 2008

'Raila will blow Kibaki away'.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2008... I write to express my dismay at Wanjohi Kabukuru's article, "Kenya--the race is truly on" (NA, Nov). Like many of President Mwai Kibaki's Kikuyu tribesmen, Kabukuru's assertions are long on emotions and very short on substance. ...

My tongue was in my cheek.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2008... I am pleased that you published my letter, "When will you sack Baffour" (NA, June) unaltered. Commendable is the fact that you have no problem publishing unedited letters which are critical of your views. Thank you also for your personal e-mail...

Nigeria's man in London.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2008... Permit me to comment on the interview granted by Nigeria's acting high commissioner in London, Mr Dozie Nwanna (NA, Nov). He maintained that our forefathers should share equal responsibilities with the slave masters for the evils of the slave...

The truth.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2008... I have been reading your magazine for the first time recently and I have particularly enjoyed the stories about Zimbabwe. For a long time, I have been longing for an understanding of the Zimbabwe problem. Thankfully, since I started reading New...

Great stuff.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2008... I want to say how much I enjoy reading your magazine, particularly the article on Seretse Khama (NA, Nov). I am 50 years old and in my entire life, I have never seen a positive story about Africa on any American television station. Everything...

Bravo Mo Ibrahim.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2008... I grew up with deep respect for the likes of Mr Cameroun Doudou (sic) who influenced me to become a writer. But it seems he ran into a literary desert in his latest piece belittling Mo Ibrahim's Prize as "pampering ex-heads of states" (NA,...

Flawed ranking.(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2008... Referring to your article, "Malawi: Has corruption gone worse?" (NA, Dec), I must say I share the views of the Malawian government that Transparency International's ranking of Malawi is flawed. The information minister, Patricia Kaliati, is...

His masters' voice.(Baffour's Beefs)
January 1, 2008... "John Sentamu is a world-class showman who is divinely inspired... [He] is an accomplished media performer who never wastes a sound-bite or photo-opportunity. It would be wrong to say that he acts or speaks first and thinks later--he is too...

Lisbon summit Africa stands united: George Shire, a Zimbabwean academic and political analyst, was in Lisbon for the EU-Africa Summit, and sent us this report.(For the Record)
January 1, 2008... The second EU-Africa summit (8-9 December) ended with a declaration that African and European leaders were determined to give the new strategic partnership the necessary means and instruments to fulfil their Joint Strategy and Action Plan. To...

Niger Delta: the true story.
January 1, 2008... Nigeria's position as the eighth largest producer of crude oil and possessor of the world's fifth largest reserves of natural gas is almost entirely dependent on resources existing in the Niger Delta where the mere whisper of unrest sends world...

Oil concession for free? We reproduce here, two contract agreements signed between Shell-BP and indigenous landowners in the Niger Delta in 1957 that gave the Anglo-Dutch oil giants licence to begin operations in their land. For clarity and legibility, we have retyped the original documents.
January 1, 2008... First Contract Copy of the original agreement on the right. I, Edoghotu Omu, for myself and on behalf of the Ibe family in Igwe Compound at Emego--Kugbo in the Degema Division of Eastern Nigeria, the owner of the 1 and specified below,...

We have a history! The vigour, boldness, and frequency of racist assaults on global African humanity are increasing at an alarming rate. This month, Carina Ray takes a look back at the long history of African humanity under siege and examines how little the language of racism has changed over the last 300 years.(Lest We Forget)
January 1, 2008... By now, it is old news that Africa's supposed lack of civilisation, history and culture was conjured up to justify the enslavement, and later the colonisation of millions of Africans. The venerable historian of Africa, Basil Davidson, summed it...

CFA: the grip France won't let go.(Focus)(Communaute Financiere de l'Afrique)
January 1, 2008... The economic hold that France still has on its former African colonies is summed up in the currency it created for them in 1945 called the CFA franc. CFA stands for Communaute Financiere de l'Afrique. And the tale of this currency is...

How France lives off Francophone Africa via the CFA franc.(Focus)(Communaute Financiere d'Afrique--French Community of Africa)(Interview)
January 1, 2008... Professor Mamadou Koulibaly, Speaker of the Ivorian National Assembly and Professor of Economics, sheds light on the economic devastation caused to the African member states of the CFA (Communaute Financiere d'Afrique--[French Community of...

President Wade: 'we want our money'.(Feature)(Senegal President Abdoulaye Wade)
January 1, 2008... "The African people's money stacked [in France] must be returned to Africa in order to benefit the economies of the BCEAO member states. One cannot have billions and billions placed on foreign stock markets and at the same time say that one is...

Do Africans fear Western medicine? Thomas Land on the outbreak of polio in northern Nigeria and how past medical experiments in Africa have made some Africans distrustful of Western medicine.(Feature)
January 1, 2008... According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the northern Nigerian state of Kano is facing a major polio outbreak. It is blamed on a 2003 boycott of a vaccination campaign, which was inspired by Muslim clerics branding it as a scheme to...

Why America: wants military HQ in Africa.(Feature)(headquarters)
January 1, 2008... One main reason, reports Daniel Volman, director of the African Security Research Project in Washington DC, is that key members of the Bush administration and influential think-tanks have become more and more alarmed by the growing efforts of...

US Navy: 'we are already in the Gulf of Guinea'.(Feature)
January 1, 2008... Before Africom gets American boots on African soil, the US Navy is already establishing close relations with African navies via an initiative called the "Africa Partnership Station", aimed at promoting maritime safety and security in Africa,...

Namibia: a time to split.(Feature)
January 1, 2008... The end of one era usually marks the beginning of another. In Namibia, five decades of the Sam Nujoma era in SWAPO have come to an end--officially at least. And in comes a new era in which some heavyweight SWAPO stalwarts have resigned from the...

Slavery: the case for reparations.(Feature)
January 1, 2008... Many arguments have been made against reparations for slavery, but Kwesi Quartey, Ghana's deputy high commissioner to the UK and a historian in his own right, does not agree. In this two-part article, he makes the vital legal point that even...

'It is great to be an African'.(Interview)
January 1, 2008... Zambia's Ambassador to Washington, Dr Inonge Mbikusita Lewanika, is one of the six candidates for the chair of the African Union Commission. She is a distinguished politician, civic activist and diplomat who has led peace missions in Burundi,...

Ethiopia: life is hard for pastoralists.(Feature)
January 1, 2008... Pastoralists want the choice to continue their lifestyle, yet in a changing world, and with the impact of climate change, they also need development. "We're trying to adapt, but we cannot do this overnight," explains Idris Ali Igma, an Afar...

A native stranger in Freetown: Fred Kamara, a consulting social scientist, is a Sierra Leonean living in London. After a recent one-month visit to his motherland, he writes about his impressions of the country and what the new government can do to make it better.(Opinion)(Travel narrative)
January 1, 2008... It seems President Ernest Bai Koroma's All People's Congress (APC) did not expect to win against the government of the Sierra Leone People's Party (SLPP) under former President Ahmed Tejan Kabbah although they knew most Sierra Leoneans did not...

So James Watson is 16% black himself? Surprise surprise, Dr James Watson, the DNA "expert" who recently claimed that Africans were less intelligent than whites, has been found to be 16% black himself!--the embarrassment that awaits all racists.(Under the Neem Tree)(Viewpoint essay)
January 1, 2008... In October 2007, to the annoyance of its African readers, the British daily The Independent, published a front page story, under a huge headline saying that a DNA "expert", Dr James Watson, a Nobel Prize-winner, had claimed that "Africans are...

Malawi: the warm heart of Africa; Malawi is not just the lake that runs down the eastern side of the country. As Kate Elsheby found out on a recent safari, Malawi is more enchanting than many people expect. You could even sail to Mozambique as a bonus.(Travelogue)(Travel narrative)
January 1, 2008... Ripping up the water hyacinth, grabbing at tree branches like pick-a-sticks, a huge bull elephant stands feeding, metres from me, I sit entranced watching as it wades through the water, several hippos bellow out of the water and gallop,...

In my motherland: Kwaku, a Ghanaian domiciled in the UK, has just been home and back, after a two-year absence. Did he like what he saw? These are his reflections on his native country.(Travelogue)
January 1, 2008... Each time I return to Ghana, I am struck by things that many of my compatriots take in their stride. I have just returned from Ghana after an absence of two years. Just a few weeks back in England and some of the memories are fading. However,...

What rich black folks do, poor black folks copy: did you know that "fat" black people are paying between $20,000 and $30,000 to cut out parts of their bodies in order to stay "healthy"? That made my stomach churn and my blood boil.(Not in Black or White)
January 1, 2008... It's not often that I read a piece that is extraordinary enough to make me feel compelled to let you know about it, in case you haven't seen it yourself. There was an article in the November 2007 issue of Ebony magazine that made my stomach...

Ghana is ready for the Nations Cup.(African Nations Cup)(Report)
January 1, 2008... The biennial African Cup of Nations tournament kicks off in Ghana on 20 January, and for 21 days thereafter 16 countries will vie for honours in Africa's premier soccer fiesta. Dr Kofi Amoah, chairman of the Local Organising Committee (LOC),...

Ghana 2008: the best ever?(African Nations Cup)
January 1, 2008... For over half a century, the African Cup of Nations has been the continent's flagship football tournament. Today the tournament has assumed a growing global profile--it is no longer an African event but a global showcase. Peter Law previews the...

How the Nations Cup will impact on English premiership.(African Nations Cup)
January 1, 2008... The English Premiership, and national championships in much of Europe, may well be decided in Africa. It matters to them little or nothing which team wins the African Cup of Nations but which players will be there--because if they are playing...

African Nations Cup.(Calendar)
January 1, 2008... The MTN Africa Cup of Nations Ghana 2008 draw was held on 19 October 2007 in Accra, Ghana, with the 16 finalists divided into four groups of four teams. Four teams were seeded: Ghana, Nigeria, Egypt and Tunisia. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ...

The fiesta starts here.(African Nations Cup)(Brief article)(Photograph)
January 1, 2008... 1. Nigeria's Obafemi Martins (left) and Obi Mikel [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] 2. Zambia's Chris Katongo (left) vies with Guinea's Mohammed Sylla [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] 3....

Biya's 25 years in power: Cameroonians are divided as President Paul Biya marks 25 years in office. Tansa Musa reports from Yaounde.(Endtail)
January 1, 2008... Waving flags and chanting "Long Live Paul Biya", supporters of Cameroon's president marked the 25th anniversary of his rule in November but many citizens lamented generalised poverty, poor governance, widespread corruption and a lack of...