Continued…Worse still, communities in the Global South are currently made to pay the highest price for climate change. Apart from indigenous livelihoods such as agriculture and pastoralism coming under threat from climate change, communities are now being displaced from their lands in the name of dubious ‘solutions’ such as carbon credits. This conveniently neglects the fact that indigenous communities have been historical guardians of the ecosystem. This is the case in Kenya, where a conservancy with links to the former British colonial government now controls close to 10% of Kenya’s land area. The Maasai are being evicted in northern Tanzania, while Liberia, a few months back, signed a deal with UAE-owned Blue Carbon to control close to 10% of Liberia’s land area.

There is also the issue of exploitation - and the ensuing infringement on sovereignty. For example, in Guyana, ExxonMobil is accused of using its influence and economic clout to twist deals in its favour. The country gets to keep just 52% of the revenues from an off-shore oil venture with the US multinational - losing out on an estimated $55 billion. (In other countries where Exxon operates, similar deals have seen the government take home 65%-85%). Further, the oil giant is not responsible for any cleanup or compensation costs in case of oil spills - that bill would be transferred to the Guyanese people.

This exchange between Guyana’s President Ali and Hardtalk’s Stephen Sackur is quite something. Let us know your reactions in the comments.

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WANGARI MAATHAI ON AFRICA’S MICRO NATIONS

On 1 April, the world commemorated Kenyan activist Wangari Maathai’s 84th birthday.

Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement, an organisation that championed tree planting, environmental conservation and women’s rights.

In 1989, the government of Daniel Moi, who exerted control over the judiciary and turned Kenya into a one-party state, proposed erecting a British-designed and -owned 60-storey glass skyscraper in Uhuru Park, a popular recreational spot in Kenya’s capital of Nairobi. Maathai’s protests were enough to force the government to relent. But that did not come before the government referred to her as a ‘crazy woman’ who, in Moi’s words, should be a proper African woman who respects men and stays quiet.

Maathai developed an environmental consciousness through her ethnic community, the Kikuyu, who revered nature and, therefore, believed in conserving the environment.

Continued…. To the Kikuyu, trees are holy and shouldn’t be cut down. Conserving trees reduces landslides and increases access to underground water.

Maathai also became the first woman to receive a doctoral degree in Kenya, where she served in the parliament and, later, as a minister. Maathai went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004.

In this clip from an unknown date, Maathai said that before European colonisers arrived in Africa to extract resources, African communities governed themselves, functioned like a well-oiled machine, and economic and social affairs were in the hands of the people. Before colonialism, people, such as the Kush in the Nile River Valley and the Songhai in West Africa, built civilisations on the continent that prioritised nature. Maathai articulated in this clip that colonial oppressors only had one way to subjugate and gain control: Through a ‘divide and conquer’ strategy that would ease colonial extraction. She also replaced the word ‘tribe’ with ‘micro-nation’ to describe our people’s ethnic groups.

Maathai became an ancestor on 25 September 2011. We honour and remember her great works as we celebrate her in a week when she would have turned 84. Rest in power, legend.

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RAMADAN IN WAR-TORN EAST DRC

Conflict impacts every aspect of life - including religious observances. Millions of Congolese have been internally displaced by the fighting in the east, including Muslims - who, amid a humanitarian catastrophe, are struggling through the holy month of Ramadan. This is supposed to be a time of fasting, but with food anyway scarce, ‘breaking’ the fast in the mornings and evenings, as is traditional, is barely an option. Muslims at an overcrowded camp in Goma shared their ordeal.

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DOCTOR: ISRAEL USES H*M*S AS EXCUSE TO TARGET HOSPITALS

A spit-fire response!

On Sky News, Dr. Tanya Haj-Hassan, a paediatric intensive-care physician with Doctors Without Borders, recently told Sky News presenter Kamali Melbourne that H*m*s militants have not been present at the al-Shifa Hospital complex, the Gaza Strip’s largest healthcare facility. She added that Israeli military forces have ‘systematically targeted’ hospital workers and their attacks have reduced the complex to rubble.

Israel has been striking hospitals across the enclave for almost six months since 7 October. Israel often claimed that H*m*s militants were hiding underneath the al-Shifa complex, which international experts and doctors have refuted and Israel has never proven. Moreover, witness accounts have accused Israeli military forces of killing children, r*ping women before killing them, and murdering doctors in al-Shifa Hospital.

Continued….International experts and doctors have called out an Israeli pattern of destroying Gaza’s healthcare system through airstrikes and by besieging facilities in the war-torn enclave, such as al-Aqsa Hospital. The UN reports only about 24 per cent of healthcare facilities function. Shortages in medical equipment have also stressed the healthcare system.

Israel has also attempted to dismantle the UN’s operations in the Gaza Strip. The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) has provided aid since 1950. Tel Aviv also killed a group of seven food-aid workers for the nonprofit World Central Kitchen in the city of Deir Al-Balah in the Gaza Strip. The UN has said famine is ‘imminent’ by the month of May for Palestinians who remain in the northern Gaza Strip.

Since 7 October, Israel’s military operation and blockade have killed close to 33,000 Palestinians. This comes despite an International Court of Justice ruling in January that Israel must prevent genocidal acts and a recent UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire, but only during Ramadan.

Will the international community ever hold Israel accountable for mounting evidence of crimes?

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MADRID POLICE ATTACK UNARMED BLACK MEN

A disturbing video has emerged in Spain showing two police officers in Madrid’s Lavapiés neighbourhood using brutal force on two unarmed Black men. One is pinned down in a chokehold and is hit with a baton while another man nearby is punched.

Police justified the violence by claiming the men had been arrested for ‘undermining’ authority and that one officer was injured. They also claim drugs were found on one of the men during the incident on Friday, 29th March. Spain’s interior ministry says it will investigate what happened after the footage went viral on social media and sparked outrage.

Anti-racism groups have condemned it as a typical example of police behaviour. Leftist politicians have called the violence unacceptable.

On Sunday, hundreds of activists took to the streets of Lavapiés calling for an end to police harassment against Blacks migrants in their neighbourhood.

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Sudan’s war is spreading into the north-east of the country. A drone attack killed 12 and injured 30 in Atbara, which had previously escaped the violence. It targeted an evening fast-breaking meal organised by the Baraa militia. They fight alongside the Sudanese Army which are based in the strategically located city.

No group has claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s attack (April 2), but it widens a conflict that’s raged for almost a year. According to the UN, the bloody power struggle between the country’s army and Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group has killed at least 13,000–15,000 people and displaced more than eight million.

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FAYE SWORN IN AS SENEGAL'S PRESIDENT

In a change of fortunes fit for a fairytale, Senegal’s Bassirou Diomaye Faye has transformed from prisoner to president of his country - in less than three weeks!

The 44-year-old Pan-African was sworn in as sixth Senegalese leader on April 2nd after a convincing win in last month’s presidential election.

Faye's path to the presidential palace was full of twists and turns. Initially, he was not even supposed to be on the ballot. He came in as a replacement candidate after his comrade and mentor, Ousmane Sonko, was disqualified - over charges many saw as a politically motivated ploy by then-president Macky Sall to clip the wings of Sonko, a youthful, firebrand politician who, since 2021, has led nationwide demonstrations against the Sall administration.

Continued….. The protests reached a crescendo when Sall tried to move elections from February to October - they not only pressured him into moving back the election date to March, they also led to the release of political prisoners, including Faye and Sonko.

A few days after leaving jail, Faye trounced Amadou Ba, the candidate of Sall's coalition.

Now that he has crossed the election hurdle, Faye has the task of uniting a nation that underwent months of social unrest, and also deliver economic growth to meet the needs of the millions of citizens on whose shoulders he was carried on from prison to palace.

Do you think Faye is up to task?

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FBI HARASS WOMAN FOR PRO-PALESTINIAN POSTS

If you’re in America right now, the FBI is busy watching your social media interactions. In this video a Muslim woman from Oklahoma City is visited by agents who said Facebook had flagged her pro-Palestinian posts. They claim it’s a routine check, to make sure she has no ‘real bad intent.’ Rolla Abdeljawad, whose parents are from Egypt, refused to speak with them without her lawyer who then put the video online.

It’s not clear which of her posts grabbed the FBI’s attention. In some it’s reported she describes Israel as ‘Israhell’ In others it's claimed she wrote: ‘May Allah destroy every single despicable zionist, their supporters and backers.’ She also explains her unwavering support for Palestinians and says she’ll continue to highlight their plight.

Rolla makes it clear freedom of speech is her constitutional right. The incident has sparked widespread debate. Tell us what you think about what happened.

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