Continued….Recent ceasefire talks have failed, leaving millions without adequate food, water, sanitation and health provisions. Many parts of the country, including the capital of Khartoum, are cut off from relief agencies. Meanwhile, the vast western region of Darfur is in danger of sliding into the kind of violence it became known for in the early 2000s.

Aid workers have warned Sudan risks being further ignored with global attention on the recent escalation of the Palestine-Israel conflict.

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ECOWAS MAINTAINS NIGER SANCTIONS

Just days after a regional West African court dismissed a Nigerien case to lift sanctions imposed by ECOWAS, the regional body met and doubled down on the sanctions regime, with conditions spelt out as a prerequisite. These include the freeing of Bazoum as well as the formulation of a democracy transition roadmap.

Despite ‘democracy’ being the rallying call for ECOWAS hostility, Niger’s overthrow of Bazoum has been met with overwhelming support on the ground. For weeks, Nigeriens came out in force to support the CNSP, even besieging French military bases in the capital. Neighbouring Burkina Faso and Mali, who have also seen popular coups, threw their weight around Niger.

Continued…..ECOWAS is seen as being a proxy for the West, who joined in condemnation of the July 26 coup. Countries like the US, Germany and Netherlands withdrew aid to one of the poorest countries in the world. The sanctions, in addition to affecting Niger, also hit neighbouring economies that conduct trade with the country.

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AFRICA’S ROUGH CLIMATE DEAL

The Global South is hit hardest by climate change yet contributes massively lower emissions than the North. Africa - 54 countries - emits only 3% of global emissions. But the Horn of Africa, for example, is in the grip of the worst drought in 40 years.

Global leaders have met in Dubai for COP 28 to discuss climate. As with previous get-togethers, it’s accused of being a mere talking shop that yields only imaginary solutions.

For instance, take carbon credits. The real impact of this is displacing African communities such as the Ogiek from their ancestral lands - all in the name of virtue-signalling box-ticking by climate-devastating giants. A recent report by the non-profit ONE indicates pledges from developed countries to developing ones fell short by a whopping $340 billion.

Local communities are neither consulted nor represented at these climate summits, yet they bear the brunt of decisions taken at such forums. Let us know what you think of this year's edition of COP.

WORLD BANK LOANS WITH
STRINGS ATTACHED

Did you know that Kenya’s borrowing has amassed to over $69 billion USD during President William Ruto’s first year in office? New data from the Treasury and Central Bank of Kenya place the country’s debt at Ksh10.189 trillion ($69.3 billion) at the end of June 2023 compared to Ksh 8.579 trillion ($58.4 billion) in June last year.

Staggering numbers, right?

And Kenya doesn’t plan to stop there as explained by our brother in this video. The World Bank plans to lend Kenya $12 billion over the next three years, thus burdening the taxpayer with more repayment obligations. And now, with the potential privatization of public institutions, the economic-financial hole keeps getting deeper with no reprieve in sight.

Continued….While growth in external loans is partly attributed to a weaker exchange rate, with the shilling having shed nearly 20 per cent of its value against the US dollar, President Ruto and his deputy, Rigathi Gachagua, behave as total strangers to the term “fiscal responsibility.” They’ve incurred a whopping Ksh 1.3 billion, easily over $8 million dollars, in travel expenditures while visiting 34 countries and making a total of 51 trips between July 1, 2022 and June 30, 2023.

As our brother Bwakali explains, there should be a referendum regarding the country’s borrowing.

Do you agree?

“DOES U.S. MEDDLING IN CONGO KNOW ANY END?”

According to a top US intelligence official, the time had arrived—suddenly as it were—to draft a peace deal in war ravaged Congo. America has previously taken a passive role in the ongoing hostilities between Rwanda and Congo.

So why is the US suddenly interested in drafting and overseeing a ceasefire deal?

A continuation of the conflict between Congo and Rwanda could undermine US efforts to counter China on the continent. Beijing has been Kinshasa’s biggest trading partner since the early 2000s. Holding significant mining rights in the country, further prolonging hostilities in this mineral-rich region would affect the extraction of critical minerals desperately needed by the US big tech industry.

Continued….Congo is home to 70% of the world’s cobalt reserves, and with DRC rich in other natural minerals and resources, the Western world has exploited the country hand over fist from the days of Belgium’s King Leopold to the assassination of the country’s first prime minister, Patrice Lumumba, and decades of internal and regional conflict, as well as war.

Do you think US’s sudden interest in de-escalation efforts in Congo is genuine?

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THE WEEKND DONATES 4MN MEALS TO GAZANS!

Canadian-based Ethiopian global R&B icon and songwriter Abel ‘The Weeknd’ Tesfaye is doing his bit to help relieve the humanitarian crisis in Gaza - donating $2.5 million to provide 4-million meals to the besieged residents there, who have been relentlessly bombed for the last two months by the Israeli army.

The singer, who is also a United Nations World Food Programme Goodwill Ambassador, made the donation through his XO Humanitarian Fund.

The World Food Programme's director for the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe, Corinne Fleischer, gave thanks to him for his contribution and added: ‘We hope others will follow Abel's example and support our efforts.’

Do you share her hope? Who do you see making similar donations? What do you think of The Weeknd's example?

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UGANDAN SISTER CHIDES PRO-ISRAEL AFRICANS

This Ugandan sister has a message for Africans supporting Israel as it continues what has been called a genocide in Palestine. African Stream's position is Israel is not Africa’s friend. For decades, the Zionist state has supported regressive movements on the continent and is, overall, a destabilising force.

The affinity Africans have for Israel is rooted in a warped version of the beautiful religion of Christianity, as many wrongly conflate modern Israel with the Biblical one. Meanwhile, modern Israel is involved in looting Congo’s minerals, training repressive regimes and interfering in African disputes, such as recognising Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara in contravention of the African Union’s position.

In addition to exporting tear gas used on Kenyan protesters, Israeli companies are now in on green colonialism. That is a term used to describe how colonial powers use environmental concerns to keep a grip on poorer states.

Continued….The Israeli embassy in Kenya has partnered with the office of the First Lady to create a carbon credit mine. For many in Africa, this appears to justify displacing local communities, so multinational companies can keep polluting.

Plus, in Israel, widespread anti-African racism has been used to justify deportations of refugees and sterilisations of Ethiopian Jews.

Since 7 October, Israel has killed more than 18,400 people in Gaza, an enclave with half its population being children. So, we pose a question to some of our African Christian brethren who support Israel: What part of Israeli actions in Palestine are in line with Biblical teachings?

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TA-NEHISI COATES RECALLS ‘APARTHEID’
IN OCCUPIED TERRITORIES

Author and journalist Ta-Nehisi Coates says the oppression and segregation that is currently inflicted on Palestinians smacks of the subjugation that Africans in America went through.

During the recent Palestinian Festival of Literature in New York, he spoke of his experience of the occupied territories, which he visited to better understand the plight of the people there.

In this video, Coates recalls the oppression that struck him forcefully while on a walk with his Palestinian friend. He witnessed clear examples of segregation - including roads reserved for Israelis.

It was an uncomfortable reminder of the days of apartheid in South Africa and slavery in America.

Do you share his perspective on the situation?

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Continued….So why did Liberia — meaning the 'Land of the Free' — vote against the resolution? Why did it choose to join Israel and the US in supporting the uninterrupted bombardment of schools, hospitals, and defenceless civilians?

History may have something to do with it. Liberia was founded under the patronage of the US in the early 1800s. Those links are emphasised by the star and stripes on the West African country’s flag and the fact the capital is named after former US President James Monroe. Fast forward to today and Washington still exerts political influence over the country.
Maybe that explains Monrovia's support for the continuing bloodshed? Thoughts please.

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KAMALA HECKLED OVER ANTI-CEASEFIRE STANCE

No festive cheer over the bodies of dead Palestinians. That was the message Delaware state house representative Madinah Wilson-Anton had for US Vice President Kamala Harris during a Christmas holiday party at the vice president's official home in Washington, DC, USA.

As Harris remarked to guests that the holiday season is 'a joyful time,' a banner was unfurled that called for a ceasefire in Gaza. Then, Wilson-Anton asked Harris, 'Did you know, in Bethlehem, they are not celebrating Christmas? Did you know, in Bethlehem, baby Jesus is under rubble? Why won't you call for a ceasefire?'

Continued….Harris refused to respond and security escorted out Wilson-Anton, a practising Muslim. This sister is among about a dozen legislators and activists across the United States who began a 5-day hunger strike two weeks ago, in support of a ceasefire. The Biden-Harris administration has refused to support such calls while Israel's military has killed more than 18,000 Palestinians in Gaza, most of whom are women and children.

On 12 December, the United States was among 10 countries that voted against a UN resolution calling for an end to the Israeli onslaught. Meanwhile, food, medicine and fuel, are hard to come by because of the Israeli blockade. Thousands of Palestinians have fled northern Gaza, heading south toward the arid Sinai Peninsula in Egypt.

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BIDEN: 'I AM A ZIONIST'

If we told you US President Joe Biden recently reiterated he was a Zionist, you would probably accuse us of peddling fake news. Well, we don't have to say it because, in this video from Monday, he says it himself. As Mathew 12:34 in the Bible says, 'Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh.'

Biden's statement will not surprise anyone who has followed his political posture during the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza. Not only has his administration opposed calls for a ceasefire, it has provided the resources that Israel has used to kill more than 18,000 Palestinians since the 7 October escalation in the 75-year war. It has also used its power at the United Nations to block the international body from taking political or diplomatic action against Israel.

ZEPHANIAH CONVINCES JOURNO TO DROP BRITISH AWARD

The world reflects on Benjamin Zephaniah's legacy, one of Britain's finest anti-colonial poets, who passed away this week at the age of 65. We are reminded of when a journalist said he had made her re-think holding onto her Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) medal. Zephaniah had himself turned it down because it indicates loyalty to the empire.

Continued….For the global south, British imperialism involved the indignity of occupation, the theft of natural resources as well as slavery. It was nothing like the high living standards experienced in the imperial core. Accepting such an award would have been a betrayal of Zephaniah's principles.

Britain still presents a sanitised image of its empire, which spanned the globe as the largest of its kind until the mid-20th century, when the United States overtook it. To date, many are knocking on the UK's door, calling for reparations for the impact of its slave trade and colonisation. Barbados, for example, demands $4.9 trillion. Meanwhile, its debt to India was recently estimated at $45 trillion. Despite this, the British government has not apologised, which could be used in a court of law to kick off a reparations process. On King Charles III's recent visit to Kenya, he only offered a statement of regret.

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GENERAL TCHIANI: FRANCE SUPPORTS TERRORISM IN SAHEL

Niger has backed allegations first made by Mali and Burkina Faso: insecurity in the Sahel is sponsored by France.

During an interview with Radio-Television du Niger, Niger’s transitional leader General Abdourahamane Tchiani accused the European nation of fanning the flames of terrorism. This has claimed close to 8,000 lives in the region in 2022 alone.

France and its NATO partners started the fire of terrorism in the Sahel - by backing armed rebels to overthrow Libya’s Gaddafi. This turned the country into a failed state and the rebels, out of work, trickled south of the Sahara, wreaking death and destruction in their wake.

It’s alleged that France - while ostensibly conducting an anti-terror operation in support of the Sahel countries - was actually aiding and abetting insurgents.