Welcome! This is an unapologetic, agenda-free zone. Just commentaries on current events that’ll move you to think, laugh, rage, and even cry.
Sudan’s lost promise: from potential powerhouse to civil war hellscape In 2011, Sudan seemed on the brink of becoming a regional powerhouse, poised to rival Egypt as a stable and relatively prosperous autocracy. Decades of civil war between the Arab-dominated north and the predominantly Black African south led to the creation of South Sudan. That… Read more.
Violence breaks out in Kenya The UN deploys international police forces to impose law and order in beleaguered countries. But nobody in their right mind thinks Kenyan police have a snowball’s chance in hell of doing that in Haiti. The Kenyan police landed yesterday. But nothing betrayed the folly of their mission quite like Kenya… Read more.
The overlooked refugees World Refugee Day, observed annually on June 20, is dedicated to raising awareness about the plight of refugees and displaced persons around the globe. This year, marking it is especially relevant given the escalating crisis in Sudan. Of course, the media focus on conflicts causing refugee crises in Ukraine and Gaza. So,… Read more.
Nightmare for Africans traveling in Africa Forbes ranks Aliko Dangote as the richest man in Africa. He does business in many African countries. Yet, traveling between them, Dangote must feel like a Mexican migrant trying to navigate the bureaucratic maze between the United States and Mexico. Nigerian-born Aliko Dangote complains he faces far more hurdles crossing Africa… Read more.
Thirty years of Black rule has seen South Africa degenerate from the beacon of Africa into just another basket case on the Dark Continent. And I have decried and chronicled each distressing milestone of its patented descent into the heart of darkness. Chronicling South’s squandered freedom I joined the anti-Apartheid movement in the early 1980s. In the grand scheme… Read more.
Darfurians starving in the shadows World attention remains focused on the genocidal war Russia is waging in Ukraine. The alleged war crimes Russians are committing there include kidnapping Ukrainian children en masse and raping Ukrainian women as a weapon of war. But world attention has become fixated on the genocidal war Israel is waging in Gaza. The alleged crimes Israelis are committing there include launching indiscriminate bombings and… Read more.
Alas, earthquakes, coups, floods, famine, tribal warfare, corruption, etc. all just seem part of the African game of dysfunction… Read more.
Another week, another coup Military coups in Africa are far more regular than presidential elections in America. Africa has had 486 attempted coups since 1950 (214 successful), whereas America has had only 59 elections (and 1 attempted coup). So, waking up this morning to breaking news of a coup in Gabon was hardly surprising. Military officers in Gabon said they… Read more.
Russia is using food as a weapon of war again. Earlier this month, it torpedoed the Black Sea grain deal millions of Africans depend on to survive. That was the elephant in the room at this week’s Russia-Africa Summit in St. Petersburg. African leaders as pawns and props Frankly, the solidarity African leaders showed at the Russia-Africa summit in Petersburg this week… Read more.
South Africa is sending arms to Russia because the world is at war. For now, Ukraine is the battlefield. And, for now, Russians and Ukrainians are the combatants. But countries are taking sides. They are siding with Ukraine and the forces of democracy, or with Russia and the forces of autocracy. Some countries are hedging… Read more.
