KENNETH KAUNDA REMEMBERED

Kenneth Kaunda, one of Africa's greatest liberation heroes, passed away on this day in 2021 at the age of 97.

Fondly known as KK and Super Ken, he was not only Zambia's founding president but also a pan-African icon who dedicated the best of his life to ensuring that every single inch of African land was free from colonialism. As President of Zambia, Kaunda led other African leaders in forming the Frontline States coalition, a group of countries in southern and East Africa that gained their independence in the early 1960s. The group played a key role in mobilising resources and support for the armed struggle against racist and colonial regimes in Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), Namibia, Mozambique, Angola and South Africa.

Continued……. Kaunda turned Zambia into a hub for the liberation struggle in Southern Africa. In addition to providing diplomatic and material support, Kaunda allowed liberation movements, such as South Africa's African National Congress (ANC), Namibia's South-West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO) and the Zimbabwe African People's Union (ZAPU) to use Zambia as a launch pad for cross-border attacks against the settler regimes in their homelands. These efforts helped ensure that, by the 1990s, when he left office, most colonial regimes in the region had either collapsed or were on the verge of collapse.

In this video, African Stream's Clinton Nzala provides a detailed account of Kaunda's contributions to the freedom of millions of Africans.

Continued……. Roof’s crime impacted not only the immediate community but the US at large. The South Carolina State Assembly voted to remove the Confederate flag, a symbol widely seen as representing racial oppression, from the state capitol grounds on 10 July 2015.

On 15 December 2016, Roof was found guilty in federal court of all 33 federal hate-crime charges, for which he received a death sentence. Three months later, a state court handed down nine consecutive life sentences after he pleaded guilty to state murder charges. He is now on death row at a high-security federal prison for men called USP Terre Haute, more than 1,200 kilometres away from the church, awaiting execution for his federal convictions. Roof’s attempt to appeal to avoid the death sentence failed.

Sources

https://edition.cnn.com/interactive/2015/06/us/south-carolina-shooting-victims

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ixaXZ9JT9Dzf9EfDcplSZP5cTGThoZxlBSsVG6ZxDzY/edit?usp=sharing

https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/charleston-church-massacre-2015

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/june-17/charleston-ame-church-shooting

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/death-sentence-upheld-man-who-killed-9-south-carolina-church-n1277667

https://www.southcarolinapublicradio.org/show/walter-edgars-journal/2021-03-16/the-charleston-church-massacre-and-the-journey-to-forgiveness

https://www.thestate.com/news/local/crime/article297486193.html

https://eji.org/news/confederate-flag-removed-from-south-carolina-state-house/

https://www.justice.gov/usao-sc/pr/federal-jury-sentences-dylann-storm-roof-death

https://motheremanuel.com/our-story

NIGERIAN AIRSTRIKE KILLS VIGILANTES

Local vigilante groups in Zamfara State, Nigeria are disputing the Nigerian Air Force’s account of a recent airstrike, which the military claims killed two vigilantes and injured two others during an anti-terrorist operation. The vigilantes argue the civilian death toll is significantly higher, alleging that while they were pursuing fleeing terrorists, an airstrike struck their own ranks. This incident is part of a broader pattern of military operations resulting in civilian casualties.

Continued……According to Nigerian journalist and author David Hundeyin, there are two possibilities: gross incompetence - or the presence of saboteurs within the military command. Moreover, Nigeria’s inability to resolve its terrorism crisis, he says, is due to external influence, particularly from the US and France. These foreign powers shape Nigeria’s policies in ways that hinder true sovereignty and sustained progress in matters of security.

Sources

https://punchng.com/zamfara-mourns-as-another-airstrike-kills-vigilantes/
https://dailytrust.com/zamfara-airstrikes-naf-locals-differ-over-casualty-figures/

https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/nigeria-military-civilian-airstrikes/

https://tribuneonlineng.com/full-list-nigerias-military-ranks-4th-most-powerful-in-africa/

https://www.npr.org/2025/03/09/nx-s1-5320152/why-africas-sahel-region-has-been-called-the-epicenter-of-global-terrorism

THE PRICE LIBYA PAID FOR DEFYING THE IMF

In this clip, Moussa Ibrahim, the last spokesperson for assassinated Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi (1942-2011), explained how Libya under Gaddafi resisted Western neo-colonial bullying in its quest to develop a sovereign African currency to end the continent's dependence on the dollar or euro. The revolutionary leader also explored the possibility of establishing a Libyan-led investment bank to finance African infrastructure, thereby avoiding the pitfalls of Western debt.

Libya had zero foreign debt when NATO invaded in 2011. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) had attempted to convince Gaddafi to take on a structural adjustment loan in exchange for privatising and deregulating the Libyan economy. Gaddafi refused because he saw the debt it placed on other African countries as a neocolonial tool of enslaving people to Western dependence.

Continued……When the ‘Arab Spring’ rebellions kicked off in 2011, the West seized the moment to impose regime change on Libya. NATO-supported rebels overthrew Gaddafi, and anarchy ensued. Slave markets emerged in Libya. Public infrastructure has collapsed. Once controlled by the Libyan state, oil revenues are now generating profits for foreign corporations and local militias.

Libya's example is a warning to Africans. Debt crises are spreading far too often under the guise of foreign-debt ‘assistance.' Pan-African pioneers understood this, but coups, sanctions and assassinations thwarted their efforts toward economic independence.

Video credit: @_moussa_ibrahim (X)

Sources

https://www.worldeconomics.com/Debt/Libya.aspx

https://www.cadtm.org/The-IMF-and-World-Bank-talk-good-governance-but-walk-with-state-capturers

https://www.imf.org/en/Countries/LBY

https://www.un.org/osaa/content/unpacking-debt-africa-towards-lasting-and-durable-solution

https://wikileaks.org/clinton-emails/emailid/12659

As the well-known African proverb goes, until the lion learns to write or speak for itself, every story will glorify the hunter. 

Or, as the revolutionary Pan-Africanist artist and activist Miriam Makeba (1932–2008) once said, it is in the conquerors’ interests to suppress knowledge of self among those they invade.

Africans can no longer wait for others to tell our stories or rely on outsiders to recount them truthfully. We must take up the pen ourselves.

Sources

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DBIFsCuIcrE/?locale=es_us&hl=en

https://www.thecommunityvoice.com/lifestyle/until-the-lion-learns-how-to-write-every-story-will-glorify-the-hunter/article_d126fda0-7ecf-11ec-b106-1b481904b569.html#google_vignette

https://www.nyamile.com/press-release/until-the-lion-learns-to-speak-read-and-write-the-tales-of-hunt-will-always-glorify-the-hunter/#google_vignette

TEBOGO MOKWELE: DON'T BLAME MIGRANTS FOR CAPITALISM

The Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party (@effsouthafrica) has long opposed the popular narrative that undocumented migrants have caused South Africa's economic and social woes.  

In this clip, EFF member in Parliament, Tebogo Josephine Mokwele (@ntlhapa on X), cited EFF statistics that show just 6.2 per cent of workers in industries as vital as hospitality and agriculture are undocumented foreign nationals. Yet, despite comprising this tiny percentage, they are habitually misrepresented in public discourse as ‘stealing’ jobs from South African citizens.

Mokwele’s comments reinforce our long-held belief that, as Africans, we will never win liberation as long as ‘native’ African workers in any country blame ‘foreign’ African workers for their problems. We are all Africans.

Video credit: @newzroom405 (X)

Continued……Sources

https://youtu.be/Q-TzLNk0PoM?si=_5AF-HM8eWpUDwk2
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/00219096241287369?int.sj-abstract.similar-articles.
https://icmc.net/future-of-work/report/04-south-africa

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/2/26/colonising-africa-what-happened-at-the-berlin-conference-of-1884-1885

NIGERIA: CHILDREN BURNT TO DEATH IN BLOODY HERDER RAMPAGE

Horrific video has emerged of the charred remains of children in Central Nigeria. Their homes were allegedly torched by Fulani herders. During the night from 13-14 June, they attacked the Yelewata community in Benue State, setting houses on fire and reportedly killing some 150 people - though some put the figure as a high as 200. Amnesty International Nigeria says many people are still missing.

Longstanding tensions between semi-nomadic herders and settled farming communities - rooten in land scarcity, colonial-era divisions and decades of state neglect - continue to erupt in violence.

Violent raids have become commonplace in Nigeria’s Central Belt and while mainstream narratives often blame “climate change” or “ethnic tensions,” the reality cuts deeper: the Nigerian state has failed to resolve land injustice, disarm militias, or protect its citizens.

Continued……. Imported weapons flow freely while security forces, trained and funded under Western counterterror programs remain absent, until it’s time to suppress protests.

Activist @verydarkblackman (IG) went to the site of the latest attack and showed the aftermath of the raid. It’s a heartbreaking scene of smoke and charred bodies, with children reduced to ashes.

*Warning* This post contains content that viewers may find distressing. Viewer discretion is advised.

Video credits to @verydarkblackman (IG)

Sources

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/6/14/at-least-100-people-killed-in-gunmen-attack-in-nigeria-rights-group

https://www.dw.com/en/nigeria-gunmen-kill-at-least-100-in-benue-state/a-72913909

https://apnews.com/article/nigeria-attack-village-guma-amnesty-44c89b8dec357711293edc52e2b016a0

https://apnews.com/article/nigeria-attack-village-gunmen-e7088debbc5410fad2c3c3454442bd91

https://acnuk.org/news/nigeria-up-to-200-dead-in-worst-killing-spree/?srsltid=AfmBOopilpoI_TqwM3UkRuv90QfSqLGkDGTHU0DGGoA1v6pGUXjRB3Xv

KENYA: ‘STATE-HIRED’ THUGS WITH WHIPS STORM PROTEST

A violent mob of thugs wielding whips and batons, with some riding motorbikes, disrupted a peaceful protest in the Kenyan capital on Tuesday (17 June). People were out demanding justice for slain Kenyan blogger and teacher Albert Ojwang, who was recently killed while in police custody. Allegations are flying that the hooligans who turned up were actually there doing the state’s bidding - something confirmed by video emerging from the day.

Ojwang’s death has renewed nationwide outrage over police brutality and lack of accountability. Extrajudicial killings have become increasingly common in Kenya, with the public understandably upset and angry. Yet rather than address the issue with urgent reforms, it appears the authorities are instead encouraging violence against peaceful protesters as a means of stifling dissent.

When Kenya gained independence from the British Empire in 1963, like many other African countries, it did not reform its institutions away from colonial models. The colonial model of policing has remained largely intact, preserving its structures and practices designed to control the masses to ensure continued profits. 

Initially established by the British colonial administration in 1907, the police force was tasked with protecting colonial interests and suppressing resistance. Senior roles were reserved for British and Indian officers, while Africans held lower ranks. Then, as now, the force was used by European settlers to control Africans in the interests of capitalist exploitation, even as the officers themselves were oppressed.

Continued……. Today, the difference is that the police protect the interests of a ruling class that looks like them but does not serve their interests. The police officer in Kenya has more in common with the marginalised masses he brutalises than the elites he serves, but he has chosen a side.

Before colonialism, policing in Kenya was community-based and informal, relying on elders and customary law to maintain social harmony. Justice was restorative rather than punitive. Today, Kenya’s security apparatus operates with the same impunity and brutality as the colonial forces, employing militarised policing, arbitrary arrests, excessive force, extrajudicial k*llings, and collusion with local elites to suppress dissent. Justice remains elusive, with accountability almost absent, even when abuse of power is evident. However, the security forces are merely a reflection of an exploitative system borrowed from the imperial playbook.

Image credit: Evans Habil/The Nation

Sources

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/kenya-police-service-colonial-roots-modern-challenges-makori

https://ir-library.ku.ac.ke/items/28491421-ae7f-4520-90bc-a220554c225b

https://www.humanrightsinitiative.org/programs/aj/police/ea/articles/draft_strategic_plan_2003-07.pdf

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POLICE SHOOT KENYAN CIVILIAN DURING PROTESTS

On 17 June, Kenyans flooded the streets of Nairobi, demanding justice for Albert Ojwang, a blogger and educator who died in police custody. 

Instead of getting answers on what happened to Ojwang, the demonstrators faced police violence. 

A bystander captured officers assaulting and shooting at close range a vendor selling face masks. The injured vendor, Boniface Kariuki, is in critical condition at Kenyatta National Hospital. Police spokesperson Muchiri Nyaga told news outlets that the officer responsible for the shooting has been arrested, but no additional details have been shared. 

Police brutality is widespread in Kenya, with 159 cases of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances just in 2024, according to Kenyan advocacy group Missing Voices.

Continued….. This issue is not new but reflects lingering colonial policing practices in a post-independence African state in a system designed to control to ensure profits. The badge may have changed, but the brutality remains about the same.

Kenyans are demanding an end to the culture of impunity for state-sponsored violence. Will this new wave of protests yield results? Let us know in the comments.

Video/image credits: @bonifacemwangi , @InsecurityKe , @CapitalFMKenya, @prelimgerarchives1968

TREVOR NOAH CELEBRATES NIGERIANS

When Nigeria is mentioned, many people tend to echo the tired negative stereotypes that mainstream media portrays about its 237 million people, such as corruption and credit card fraud, rarely pausing to acknowledge the structural forces behind these crises or the brilliance that persists despite them.

In a March 2025 podcast, South African comedian and commentator Trevor Noah (@Trevornoah on X) commended the resilience and self-confidence of Nigerians, stating that they have motivated him to believe in himself. 

Noah's comments highlight a deeper truth: In a country wracked by neo-colonial governance, foreign economic manipulation and elite misrule that causes economic instability, Nigerians are continually launching new businesses, showcasing remarkable adaptability and innovative solutions. Nollywood, as the country's booming film industry is known, ranks as the second-largest film industry by output, just behind India's Bollywood.

Continued………. Nigerians have also made significant contributions to education, sports and business. A recent highlight includes 30-year-old chess player Tunde Onakoya (@tunde_onakoya on IG), who set a Guinness World Record for a 60-hour chess marathon in 2024, breaking the previous record of 56 hours, 9 minutes and 37 seconds. He returned in 2025 to set another record: 64 hours.

We join Noah in honouring everyday Nigerians who persevere despite facing the most severe economic downturn in a generation and long-standing neo-colonial governance that feeds the imperialists.

Video credit: @WhatNowPodcast (YouTube)

Sources

https://www.cfr.org/blog/anxiety-grows-over-election-rigging-nigeria

https://voicesofafrica.co.za/african-stereotypes-were-tired-of-hearing/

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https://businessday.ng/news/article/resilient-nigerians-defy-tough-times-with-stunning-creativity/

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https://www.bu.edu/com/articles/nollywood-the-next-big-thing/