POPULAR OUSMANE SONKO IS SENEGAL’S NEW PM

Newly sworn-in President Bassirou Diomaye Faye has tapped his mentor and popular opposition figure, Ousmane Sonko, as Sénégal’s prime minister. This comes just a few years after a mass movement engulfed the small West African country, protesting undemocratic practices and French economic control.

Sonko caught public attention in 2016 as a whistleblowing tax inspector, who alleged a Canadian company was operating in Sénégal to evade $8.9 million in taxes.

In 2019, Sonko placed third in an election, running against then-incumbent President Macky Sall. The 49-year-old distinguished himself by railing against the neo-colonial West African CFA franc currency and French domination of the economy.

Continued…. In 2021, Sonko was arrested and charged with rape, a move many saw as political repression. This sparked mass protests that led to youth and workers pouring into the streets. In 2023, a court dismissed the rape charge, instead convicting Sonko of corrupting Senegal’s youth.

Last year, Sall announced he would not run for office and the Senegalese Constitutional Council maintained Sonko was also disqualified from running. Sonko endorsed 44-year-old Faye, who won the 24 March election and was sworn in as president on 2 April.

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THE WEST & RWANDA’S GENOCIDE

Rwanda’s genocide was unleashed three decades ago.

Ever since, it has been used as justification for Western countries to intervene militarily elsewhere.

What’s ignored is the West’s hand in stoking the ethnic divisions that spiralled into those hundred days of genocidal horror.

Moreover, on 21st April, 1994, the UN reduced its peacekeeping force by 90 per cent - from 2,500 to just 270. This went against its own ‘responsibility to protect’ doctrine, used to justify humanitarian interventions.

Here’s a recap of those dark events - a warning, our report contains scenes you may find upsetting.

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MOZAMBIQUE’S MIGHTY MACHEL

Happy National Women’s day Mozambique! This public holiday celebrated every year on April 7th, is inspired by the life of the revolutionary Josina Machel. She was married to the country’s first president socialist and nationalist Samora Machel.
She battled against Portuguese occupation, fought for th Mozambique liberation front and championed women’s rights. She died from liver cancer, aged just 25, on April 7th, 1971. She achieved a lot during her short life.

We look back at her impact on the Southeast African nation and why her name is one to be remembered for generations to come.

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ABBY MARTIN: ISRAEL IS COMMITTING GENOCIDE

Can what Israel is doing in the Gaza Strip be described a genocide? British journalist Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) recently posed that question to US-based journalist and filmmaker Abby Martin (@abbymartin) on @piersmorganuncensored.

She thought so, and cited indicators that point to Israel committing genocidal acts against Palestinians. From the besiegement of the Gaza Strip, starvation of civilians, destruction of health facilities, indiscriminate bombing of among the world’s most densely populated areas, the killing of over 33,000 civilians and so on, Martin said Israel’s policy targeting Palestinians is clear.

Continued…After debates that took place about whether Israel had bombed the first hospital in October, Israel went on to attack more hospitals in the Gaza Strip, leaving only 24 per cent of healthcare facilities functioning.

Do you think the discussions around whether Israel is committing genocide might be wasting time as more than 2 million of Palestinians are held under siege?

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BLACK UKRAINIAN WARRIORS? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

After Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022, thousands of Africans and other people of colour in the country faced discrimination as they tried to flee.

In this clip, 34-year-old Pyra Diantouadi of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) expressed his disbelief at Ukrainians asking him to take up guns to fight for Kiev. He laughed at the idea of facing Russian troops, saying he’d stick out like a sore thumb and probably be killed, thanks to his skin colour.

He was lucky to get a train ride westward into Poland, where ABC News recorded this interview.

Continued…. However, reports say Ukrainian soldiers turned away many African men at train stations. In 2020, the government reported it had more than 80,000 international students from 158 countries.

This brother’s response is not surprising, as Africans have historically been used to fight in European wars, whether it was in the US war on Vietnam, the two World Wars some historians refer to as imperialist wars, the US Civil War or US settler-colonisers’ war of ‘independence’ against the British. Our people unfortunately have a history of fighting for people who would never fight for us. But, at least this brother followed in the steps of boxer and activist Muhammad Ali, who refused to be deployed to Vietnam in 1967, essentially saying, ‘Hell no!’

How would you have reacted if you were in this brother’s position?

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BASSEM YOUSSEF ARGUES FOR USING ‘GENOCIDE’ RE: GAZA

When a France 24 presenter recently asked Egyptian comedian Bassem Youssef (@byoussef) why he uses the word ‘genocide’ to describe Israel’s attacks for the last almost six months against Palestinian civilians, Youssef shot back rather sharply.

The Egyptian said Israel’s claim that it seeks to eradicate militant group H*m*s distracts from its bombardment and siege, which has killed more than 33,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children. Youssef added that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s policies created H*m*s.