The government of Zambia and the family of the country’s ex-president, Edgar Chagwa Lungu, are tussling over his final resting place. Just hours before his funeral at a private ceremony in South Africa, a South African court ordered a halt to the burial.

Zambia’s Attorney General had filed an urgent court application in Pretoria - arguing that Lusaka must fulfil its constitutional role and provide Lungu with a state funeral. The government of Zambia under Hakainde Hichilema wants the body to be repatriated to Zambia and the former president to be buried there with full military honours, as mandated by Zambian law. It argues that the personal wishes of the family should not take precedence over the greater public interest.

Continued……..
The dispute follows a longstanding political rivalry between Lungu and the current president, Hichilema. Lungu’s family insist the late leader had specifically indicated that Hichilema should not attend his funeral. Lungu had imprisoned Hichilema for four months on charges of treason in 2017, and Hichilema defeated him in the 2021 election, triggering further disputes. Last year, Lungu accused Hichilema’s government of using the police to restrict his movements and effectively place him under house arrest.

Lungu, who was Zambia’s leader from 2015 to 2021, died of an undisclosed illness in a South African hospital on 5 June at the age of 68. The family wanted to be in charge of the funeral arrangements, but disagreements with the government over the details led to a deadlock. The Pretoria High Court says both parties have agreed to hold off on funeral arrangements until the question of where his funeral will be held is decided. There will be another hearing on 4 August.

Sources

https://apnews.com/article/zambia-lungu-funeral-hichilema-e1d958b11767f09ef37c994c3836e527

https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/south-african-court-halts-burial-zambias-ex-president-lungu-2025-06-25/

THE HIDDEN COST OF U.S. INTERVENTION

In this clip from the 1990s, political scientist Michael Parenti dispelled the official narrative surrounding the United States military intervention in Somalia, exposing the economic and geopolitical interests that drove the invasion. While the US claimed it was acting out of humanitarian concern, Parenti argued the true motivations were corporate oil interests and strategic calculations, largely ignored by the mainstream media.

Somalia is located at the entrance of the Red Sea, a resource-rich and crucial shipping lane. Even before the intervention, major US oil interests had secretly negotiated exploration rights in most of Somalia’s territory, recognising its potential as a strategic jewel.

Continued……Parenti placed Somalia in a broader context, where Western powers deploy troops into African countries not to end crises, but to safeguard resources and avert geopolitical rivalry. The result? African sovereignty is undermined, corporate interests are advanced, and the roots of the crisis remain intact.

Under Donald Trump, US policy toward Somalia took another turn, but remained rooted in militarism and strategic self-interest. Throughout his first term, Trump oversaw troop withdrawals but maintained clandestine drone strikes, with reported civilian casualties. His second term has been characterised by strikes in the Golis mountains while he withdrew developmental and military assistance. These mutually exclusive moves, bombing and militarising but not building, echo the same decades-long pattern.

In Libya, the US-backed NATO intervention in 2011 toppled Gaddafi and unleashed a brutal civil war, armed militias, and slave markets. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cold War-era US operations helped install Mobutu Sese Seko (1930-97), whose decades of kleptocracy devastated the country’s institutions while ensuring access for Western mining interests. 

To Africans, the question is: What will it take to end Western interventions in our homeland?

Video credit: @somalicents (IG)

Sources

https://home.uncg.edu/~jwjones/world/readings/Oil_Factor_in_Somalia.html#:~:text=Industry%20sources%20said%20the%20other,Cyprus%2C%20was%20recently%20in%20Somalia.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13523260.2025.2500262#abstract

https://www.redsearoundtable.com/post/trump-s-shifting-policy-on-africa-u-s-airstrikes-in-somalia-and-their-impact-on-the-horn-of-africa

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cyv4270gljpo.amp

https://horninstitute.org/trumps-second-term-and-the-u-s-airstrike-surge-in-somalia/

https://www.commondreams.org/views/2017/11/29/media-erase-nato-role-bringing-slave-markets-libya

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/Delivery.cfm/SSRN_ID4641662_code1847536.pdf?abstractid=4641662

https://history.state.gov/milestones/1961-1968/congo-decolonization

https://adst.org/2016/09/kleptocracy-and-anti-communism-when-mobutu-ruled-zaire/

ANGER STILL HIGH ONE YEAR AFTER GEN Z ROCKED KENYA

Reports are suggesting up to 16 people were killed in protests across Kenya on Wednesday - with some 400 injured. It’s a bitter irony, as people had come out to remember the 60 people killed in huge protests last year against IMF-backed tax hikes. 25 June was the one-year anniversary of the day protesters in Nairobi stormed the parliament - prompting the security forces to unleash lethal force.

At the latest protest in Nairobi, young Kenyans were also demanding justice for blogger and teacher Albert Ojwang, who was recently found dead in his police cell with signs of torture. Marchers demanded the arrest of killer cops, and called for profound changes to the way the country is governed - urging President William Ruto to resign.

African Stream was on the streets to hear Gen Z’s message.

Continued……. Sources

https://aln.africa/insight/finance-bill-2024-withdrawn/

https://www.msn.com/en-xl/politics/government/rex-masai-other-kenyans-who-died-during-anti-finance-bill-2024-protests-fallen-heroes/ar-AA1HkEgD

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cz09l4k4184o

ISRAEL, A HAVEN FOR FLEEING CHILD ABUSERS

By now, you might have seen the video of a Z*onist slamming an Iranian toddler headfirst to the floor. While shocking, the act offers a glimpse into the values of the state of Israel, built on Z*onism, an imperialist ideology.

The latest Western-backed settler-colonial project in West Asia is not only making life difficult for Palestinians but also for Israelis. Paedophiles worldwide have settled in Israel by abusing the Law of Return, which allows any Jew to obtain citizenship. 

The Jewish Community Watch says that 32 paedophiles in their database have moved to Israel over the past decade. However, that is just a drop in the ocean. According to an Israeli paedophile monitoring association, tens of thousands of paedophiles operate in Israel every year, leading to about 100,000 victims annually (you can find the report in The Jerusalem Post).

Continued……In Israel, nine out of 10 sexual-assault cases are closed without a conviction, according to an annual survey released by the Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel. 

This CBS News investigation from 2020 breaks down the loophole that allows accused and convicted US paedophiles to escape justice by moving to Israel.

Please watch and let us know your thoughts. 

Video credit: CBS News

Sources

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/israel-safe-haven-paedophiles-jerusalem-sex-abuse-jewish-community-watch-a7445246.html

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14845517/Monster-throwing-toddler-admits-wanted-KILL-boy.html

POWER TRIP: WEST FLAUNTS STOLEN AFRICAN CULTURE

As the last spokesperson for the late pan-African Libyan icon Muammar Gaddafi, Moussa Ibrahim (@moussa_ibrahim on X) knows a thing or two about Western meddling. In this video, he explains how Europeans have stripped Africa not only of land and resources, but also of culture. Colonisers violently removed and shipped our artefacts to Western capitals, where they now sit in museums that charge Africans to view what was stolen from them. This cultural displacement was strategic - an exercise of power. By severing us from our past, our future was easier to control. Today, an unconscionable amount of Africa’s cultural heritage remains held abroad, divorced from the communities that gave it meaning.

Continued…….. Ibrahim argues that returning our artefacts is not a bureaucratic puzzle but a moral imperative. By refusing to act, the West reveals that its mindset fundamentally hasn’t changed since colonial times. It’s denying Africans the opportunity to restore a broader cultural ecosystem, to build institutions that reflect African perspectives and to revive languages and stories. Africa is not simply seeking justice but a cultural and political renewal.

Sources
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/21/arts/design/france-museums-africa-savoy-sarr-report.html

https://www.hrw.org/news/2025/06/19/why-reparations-qa

WHY CODESA FAILED THE MAJORITY IN SOUTH AFRICA

Many hail the 1991-92 Convention for a Democratic South Africa (CODESA) as a bloodless transition from apartheid to democracy.

However, an audience member in this ‘The Big Debate’ clip argued CODESA entrenched capitalist control and maintained white economic dominance at the expense of authentic economic justice for the majority of Black people.

Continued…….. CODESA negotiated for Black people’s political inclusion in the forms of universal suffrage, a democratic constitution and the abolition of apartheid laws. However, the convention shelved the liberation forces’ economic demands, such as land reform, nationalisation of key industries, and economic indemnities. Under pressure from Western powers and capital markets, the African National Congress (ANC) shelved its socialist-inspired Freedom Charter in favour of neoliberal restructuring.

Therefore, instead of abolishing apartheid’s economic legacy, the 1994 compromise maintained the status quo. The white-owned enterprises continued to occupy land, mines, and banks. The 1996 Growth, Employment and Redistribution (GEAR) policy, crafted in the absence of mass public discussion, prioritised foreign investment and privatisation over redistribution.

Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) rewarded a small Black elite while poverty, inequality and unemployment continued. For example, European settlers make up less than 8 per cent of the population yet own over 72 per cent of private farmland.

Ex-ANC intelligence chief Ronnie Kasrils has referred to the economic accommodation as ‘the Faustian pact.’ Others, like analyst Patrick Bond, argue that the transition created a de-racialised ‘elite pact’ rather than a people’s economy. 

Video credit: @LANDNOLI (X) / ‘The Big Debate,’ @sabcnews

Sources

https://sahistory.org.za/article/convention-democratic-south-africa-codesa

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jun/24/anc-faustian-pact-mandela-fatal-error

https://www.anc1912.org.za/the-freedom-charter-2/#:~:text=All%20National%20Groups%20Shall%20have,practices%20shall%20be%20set%20aside.

https://www.ilo.org/media/447361/download

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/trump-makes-false-claims-white-genocide-south-africa-during-ramaphosa-meeting-2025-05-21

https://www.facebook.com/BreakTheSilenceAboutSouthAfrica/posts/pfbid0PJXAdjUbK5ihj6iVvc57Mk2FuvSYK29r9GY5SFwvkHThNzUYJnWGxnzJ9i7WzMycl

https://dokumen.pub/qdownload/the-great-pretenders-race-and-class-under-anc-rule-9781431430567.html

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2521486.The_Elite_Transition

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/377146465_Neoliberalism_and_the_Downfall_of_the_Growth_Employment_and_Redistribution_GEAR_Strategy_in_South_Africa_Key_Lessons_for_Future_Development_Policies#:~:text=In%20fact%2C%20GEAR%20contributed%20to,expense%20of%20the%20poor%20majority

In a stunning turn of events, a left-winger could win the Democratic Party’s ranked-choice primary for mayor of New York, the United States’ largest city, home to 8.48 million people.

Zohran Mamdani (@zohrankmamdani), gained momentum through grassroots organising, viral media, and a platform focused on affordable housing and taxing the wealthy. The 33-year-old outpaced former New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo, his closest contender, who conceded the race. However, Mamdani did not meet the 50 per cent threshold, which requires a recount of votes in the ranked-choice voting system.

Born in Uganda to decolonial academic Mahmood Mamdani and filmmaker Mira Nair, Mamdani moved to New York at the age of seven and became a US citizen in 2018. His father chose his middle name, Kwame, in honour of Kwame Nkrumah (1909-72), Ghana’s first prime minister and Pan-African icon.

Continued…….. Mamdani studied Africana Studies at Bowdoin College before working as a foreclosure prevention housing counsellor. Through that experience, he saw that the high cost of housing was the 'consequence of decades of pro-corporate policies,' leading him to win the state assembly seat in 2020.

What helped Mamdani go viral globally was his response during a recent mayoral debate in which he refused to say he'd visit Israel and only acknowledged Israel's right to exist as a country if it provided equal rights. Currently, many human rights groups refer to Israel as an apartheid state.

Mamdani has criticised Israel’s military onslaught in Gaza, condemned Israel's decision to cut electricity to Gaza and has been a longtime supporter of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement, drafting a 2023 bill seeking to prohibit New York nonprofits from supporting Israeli settler activity.

His opposition to Israel's policies comes in a city known as the largest home to Jews outside Israel. We will see how that phenomenon will play out in the general election on 4 November.

Sources
https://www.npr.org/2025/06/25/nx-s1-5444846/zohran-mamdani-nyc-mayor-race

https://lovinmalta.com/news/news-international/ugandan-born-muslim-zohran-mamdani-pulls-off-shock-win-in-nyc-mayoral-primary/

https://worldpopulationreview.com/states/new-york

https://nyassembly.gov/mem/Zohran-K-Mamdani

NATO NABS KENYA

While several African countries, especially those in the Sahel, are breaking away from Western influence and exploring new partnerships—such as Burkina Faso’s potential pivot toward BRICS and rejection of exploitative aid—Kenya, under President William Ruto, has doubled down on its Western alignment. Nowhere is this clearer than in Kenya’s controversial leadership of the US-backed police mission to Haiti. 

Despite vocal opposition from Kenyan citizens and widespread calls to decolonise the East African nation, Ruto’s government sent hundreds of Kenyan police officers to Haiti, leading a mission that remains dangerously under-resourced and unable to counter Haiti’s powerful gangs that are reportedly backed by the Haitian bourgeoisie. Critics argue that the government is risking Kenyan lives for a US imperial project, with little to show for it but mounting criticism at home and abroad.

Continued……Just looking at the anti-police protests in Kenya’s streets these past few weeks indicates the neo-colonial government’s troubles.

Yet, when Ruto realised the US was not a true partner, especially as promised support for the Haiti mission fell short, he attempted to pivot toward China, making a high-profile visit that signalled Nairobi’s search for alternatives and drew condemnation from Washington.

A year ago, we shared this skit asking what Kenya gains and what it loses by siding with the West. Today, that question remains pertinent. Kenya’s new foreign policy, approved in early 2025, claims to safeguard sovereignty and promote prosperity. Still, it remains shaped by the very pressures that have sparked unrest across the continent, namely geopolitical competition and Western economic demands.

As African nations redefine their place in the world, is Kenya being used as a pawn in global power plays? African Stream’s Wambura Mwai, Ahmed Kaballo and Erick Gavala star, respectively, as Kenya, the US-led NATO bloc and the China-Russia axis! 

Enjoy the show, and let us know if you think Kenya’s foreign policy is just old actors reading new noscripts.

Sources

https://mfa.go.ke/kenya-celebrates-historic-milestone-cabinet-approval-foreign-policy-2024

https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/investigations/2025/01/13/haiti-depth-why-kenya-led-security-mission-floundering

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/rest-of-world/new-contingent-of-kenyan-police-joins-un-backed-mission-to-fight-gangs-in-haiti/articleshow/117990826.cms

https://peoplesdispatch.org/2025/05/30/rutos-china-pact-sparks-us-ire-kenya-stands-firm-on-defending-sovereignty/

https://www.tuko.co.ke/business-economy/economy/586127-ruto-china-kenya-gain-presidents-second-state-tour-beijing/

https://globalinitiative.net/analysis/haiti-kenya-mission-paralyzed/

https://afriquexxi.info/In-Haiti-Kenyan-police-officers-between-anger-and-powerlessness

https://nimd.org/kenyas-2024-unrest-forging-a-new-political-landscape/

https://www.tuko.co.ke/editorial/explainer/589761-trumps-power-what-kenya-stands-lose-severs-ties-nairobi-china-deals/

https://www.citizen.digital/news/us-senate-questions-kenyas-loyalty-after-ruto-china-trip-n362793

https://www.africanews.com/2025/04/23/kenya-president-ruto-arrives-in-china-for-four-day-state-visit/

https://www.kenyans.co.ke/news/93478-civil-society-criticizes-police-conduct-threatens-sue-over-haiti-mission

NGO IMPERIALISM: TOOLS OF REGIME CHANGE

On 27 December 2023, African Stream published this video about NGOs and humanitarian organisations working to destabilise countries and overthrow governments that do not align with US foreign policy. 

Now, in 2025, this topic is as important as ever, given that more has come to light regarding the nefarious activities of organisations, such as the US Agency for International Development (USAID). USAID came under public scrutiny in February 2025 when US Congressman Scott Perry publicly accused the government agency of funneling money to t*rrorist organisations, such as B*ko Haram, Al-Q*eda and the so-called ‘Islamic State.’

Continued ……. Aid organisations are generally thought of as good endeavours. Humanity in action, as it were. However, dig a little deeper, and it soon becomes clear that the primary purpose of some NGOs and humanitarian groups operating worldwide today is not to help people. Instead, it’s political, as they are tools of regime change to protect Western interests.

Sources

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKefOY_3IQ0

https://www.aei.org/events/enterprise-driven-development-a-conversation-with-us-agency-for-international-development-administrator-mark-green