FOOD IS A HUMAN RIGHT!

According to the 1948 United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the right to food is part of the right to an adequate standard of living. Culturally appropriate food is built into that right.

However, in 2021, the United States and Israel were the only countries that voted against a United Nations committee’s draft resolution that asserted food as a human right. This came after the number of people without adequate food rose from 320 million to more than 2 billion in the year 2020.

US and Western sanctions have long contributed to famine, disease and death, too.

What do you think is the solution to the global hunger crisis? Let us know in the comments.

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Mali-born singer Aya Nakamura has suffered a barrage of racist abuse for preparing to represent France at the Paris Olympics. President Macron is rumoured to have invited her to sing a song by famous French singer, Edith Piaf, at the opening ceremony. But that hasn’t gone down well with the French public, with a poll showing 63 per cent disapprove. Far-right politician Marine Le Pen even said the artist was unfit to represent the country. There’s also been a vitriolic response on social media.

Nakamura was raised in Paris and became a naturalised French citizen in 2021. Her songs include a mix of West African languages as well as French, Arabic and English. But for some, her talent doesn’t ‘enrich’ French culture but rather ‘dilutes’ and ‘corrupts’ it. Putting it simply, it’s being made clear she is not French enough. A shocking situation, but maybe it’s another reality check?

Continued…. While the French right attacks Nakamura for “not being French enough" to represent France, African revolutionaries have also pointed out the contradiction of Africans latching on to and seeking to represent colonial states. Malcolm X once stated, “when a cat has kittens in an oven you don't call them biscuits! We are still Africans!” In other words, regardless of where we were born, regardless of where we live, we are African people. In the words of Kwame Ture, “There are many people who live in Europe and America who support lands which do not belong to them.” The material interests of Europe and North America are diametrically opposed to those of the African continent.

Perhaps this is the reason why French-born Pan-African activist Kemi Séba recently torched his French passport when government officials threatened to strip him of his citizenship. We empathise with Aya Nakamura and hope she remembers if she’s rejected by France, she can always choose to represent Africa and her people.

What do you think of her treatment in France?

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Israeli President Isaac Herzog thanked Rwandan President Paul Kagame for being a ‘true’ friend of Israel during the 30th anniversary commemoration of the Rwanda genocide on 7 April. In his message posted on X (formerly Twitter), Herzog added that he presented a necklace to Kagame’ bearing the unequivocal demand to bring home the hostages brutally held captive by the terrorist organisation H*m*s in Gaza.’

Herzog, whose country South Africa has accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, was among foreign dignitaries at the commemoration in Kigali. Bill Clinton, who served as US president during the 1994 genocide, also attended.

The public unleashed in the comments of the X post, highlighting the ongoing Israeli bombardment and siege of the Gaza Strip and occupation of the West Bank, all of which the ICJ ruled on 26 January as ‘plausibly’ genocidal.

Continued…. Israel has killed more than 33,000 Palestinians—primarily women and children—since the 7 October escalation in the 75-year Israeli occupation. The UN announced in March that famine is ‘imminent’ in the northern Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk has said it’s ‘plausible’ Tel Aviv is using starvation as a weapon of war.

Some users also pointed out Israel’s arms sales to Rwanda during the 1994 genocide. In 2016, the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that documents relating to arms exports to Rwanda during the genocide should be kept from the public, citing risks to national security and foreign relations. A recent UN report also accused Kigali of supplying Israeli arms to the M23 militant group in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo.

To sum up, Israel has been accused of committing genocide against the Palestinians after allegedly arming Rwanda’s genocide against the Tutsi people and a militant group in the Congo. What do you make of this?

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Our African Proverb of the Week talks about a person’s true inner character.

No amount of eloquence, poise, finery or wealth can hide this.

You can only keep up a facade for so long - and if what’s underneath is ugly, this will seep through…

Harsh, or a fact? Can you think of any other African proverbs along these lines?

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THE POWER OF PROPAGANDA

This TikTok influencer, @marietagbo, makes a point: White supremacist propaganda has confused Africans about the racism that oppresses us.

Marie Tagbo raised the Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip, saying, 'Y'all are still confused over a genocide.' She accused those who defended Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip of being like people who defended slavery in the United States by saying enslavers had a right to protect themselves. Propaganda had portrayed enslaved people as inherently dangerous and subhuman. To this day, Western media and governments depict our people as criminals who cannot govern themselves.

How do we help our people gain clarity on the path to liberation? Let us know your thoughts.

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WAR CHILD: RWANDAN MOTHER AND DAUGHTER
SPEAK

It’s been 30 years since the Rwandan genocide. But even though the wounds have healed, the scars still itch and the memories still haunt the people of Rwanda.

Between 7th April-15th July, 1994, Rwanda experienced one of the worst genocides of the century. In 100 days, 800,000 were killed. The scale and brutality of the genocide - which included the use of rape as a weapon of war - caused a shock worldwide.

In this clip, Agatha and Agnes (not their real names) - mother and daughter - remember that traumatic period and the years that came after. Agatha was brutally r*ped and later gave birth to Agnes.

This year’s anniversary is not only a painful reminder of one of the bloodiest genocides, in which Agatha and other Rwandans witnessed the massacre of their loved ones, but also a testament to the resilience of a people who have learned to forgive, live in harmony and learn from the past.

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Big news from a country once dubbed the ‘Israel of Latin America.’

Colombia has applied to join South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice. In an application the court said it received on 5 April, Bogotá asked the ICJ to ensure the ‘safety and, indeed, the very existence of the Palestinian people.’

The moderately left-wing president, Gustavo Petro, came to power in 2022 in a historic victory because of his vice-presidential pick, Francia Márquez, the first Black woman to hold the position. Petro is now the first South American leader to refer to Israel’s bombardment and siege of the Gaza Strip as a ‘genocide.’ He compared the 7 October escalation in the 75-year Israeli occupation of Palestine to the mid-20th century European Holocaust and asked the international community to ‘block’ Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Continued…. In addition to recalling its ambassador from Tel Aviv, Petro announced earlier this year that Colombia would halt Israeli arms purchases from entering the country. Decades of paramilitary violence and US support for right-wing governments has riddled the country, causing a migration crisis.

The ICJ allows states to join cases to present their views. Ireland said it would intervene, but only Colombia and Nicaragua have filed public requests to join so far.

Israel has ignored the ICJ’s 26 January request to prevent actions that violate the 1948 UN Genocide Convention. Since the court’s provisional ruling, Israel has killed more than 7,000 people, bringing the total death toll to more than 33,000 Palestinians. Israel has claimed it’s trying to eliminate militant group H*m*s. However, about 75 per cent of casualties are women and children.

Pile in with your comments on Colombia’s move to support South Africa at the ICJ.

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SUDAN’S FORGOTTEN WAR

Sudan’s civil war is nearing the one-year mark - but not only does the conflict look nowhere near ending, it’s failed to evoke global concern.

And that is a disaster for the millions displaced and on the brink of a hunger emergency. Aid agencies have been trying to raise funds to meet the urgent need for food, shelter and medicines - but so far, only half of what they judge essential has been raised.

It’s one of the worst humanitarian crises in recent history. One year on, why has the Sudanese people’s suffering failed to move the world?

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Could a new gold-backed currency be the masterstroke to fix Zimbabwe’s runaway inflation? Well, the country’s government thinks so. On 5th April, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ)-the nation’s central bank- launched Zim Gold (ZiG). As the name suggests, it will be backed by the country’s gold, along with precious metals and foreign currency reserves. Together, they’re worth around $285m and will easily cover the new currency, according to RBZ governor, John Mushayavanhu.

Continued…. ZiG will replace the inflation-battered Zimbabwe dollar which has lost over three quarters of its value in the last 12 months, during which annual inflation has soared to 55 per cent. Other factors also make the new currency appealing. In recent years, gold has emerged as one of the country’s leading exports and accounted for nearly 25 percent of export earnings in January, according to government statistics. And then there’s sanctions. For more than two decades, Zimbabwe’s economy has struggled under the weight of unilaterally-imposed measures by the West following Harare’s land-reform programme. In early March, the US government replaced them with a new form of ‘targeted sanctions’ under the so-called Global Magnitsky Act of 2016, used to sanction foreign officials. Washington claims the new measures will have no negative impact on Zimbabwe’s economy. However, Harare says they’re a ‘gratuitous slander’ against its leaders and maintains sanctions are illegal.

Their destructive impact was laid bare by Alena Douhan, UN Special Rapporteur on unilateral coercive measures. After visiting Zimbabwe in 2021, the expert said: ‘Sanctions have had an insidious ripple effect on the economy of Zimbabwe and on the enjoyment of fundamental human rights, including access to health, food, safe drinking water and sanitation, education and employment.’

Given the background, you can now understand Zimbabwe’s incentive to give this new currency a try. It will be used alongside the US dollar as legal tender. The question is, how much of an impact will it have?

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RWANDA GENOCIDE BLAMED ON ‘COWARDLY’ GLOBAL POWERS

On the 30th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide against the Tutsi, the country’s president accused the international community of not doing enough to stop it. Paul Kagame took part in a wreath-laying ceremony in Kigali in memory of over 800,000 Tutsis and Hutu moderates slaughtered in the space of 100 days from April 7th, 1994. He said the world had effectively stood by and watched it unfold either through ‘contempt or cowardice.’

As early as January that year, the UN’s Rwanda mission (UNAMIR) had indications mass killings were on the way. However, its Commander-in-Chief, Roméo Dallaire, was told he didn’t have a mandate to intervene.

A few months later, in April, his request to double the mission’s troops to 5,000 was rejected, and the UN Security Council voted to withdraw 90 per cent of its forces. By late April, UNAMIR had just 450 poorly equipped soldiers.

The following month, France offered to send troops.

Continued…. However, their deployment took weeks after a disagreement with the US over the cost of using military equipment for peacekeeping forces. After their arrival, they were accused of letting those guilty of atrocities escape through the French-controlled buffer zone.

The UN only accepted responsibility for its inaction in 2000. Former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan lamented in 2004 that he’d not done enough to stop the mass killings. It was only recognised as genocide by the UN in 2014.

During commemorations, Kagame vowed he’d never allow politics in his country to be organised on the basis of ethnicity and religion. He’s been in power since 2000 but has been in de facto charge since 1994 when his rebel group, the Rwandan Patriotic Front, seized control to end the genocide.

Critics however, accuse Kagame’s government of participating in acts of mass killing in Eastern DRC under the pretext of hunting the 1994 génocidaires.

What do you make of his comments?

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REPORT: ILLEGAL WEAPONS SENT TO HAITI

On 5 April, Haitian police forces reportedly uncovered an illegal shipment of weapons from the United States. According to the website, Haiti Libre, the container included 12 assault rifles, 14 9-mm pistol guns, 999 cartridges for various calibre sizes, and 34 chargers (sniper rifles). Haitian officials seized the weapons at the port of Cap-Haïtien. Haiti Libre reported Alliance Int’l Shipping LLC Agency of 6916 NW, 72nd Avenue in Miami, shipped the container to someone named ‘Wilmane Jean,’ described as a ‘customs broker.’

‘A man named Barthol, thus known, was responsible for receiving these contraband arms and ammunition,’ the outlet added.

While all details are not yet known, evidence already demonstrates the United States’ role in destabilising Haiti.

Continued…. From 1915 to 1934, the United States occupied Haiti, taking control of the country’s politics and finances. Reports say the US Marines violated the human rights of Haitian civilians. From 1957 to 1971, the United States backed President François Duvalier, who ruled over Haiti with an iron fist.

More recently, the United States employed coups d’état twice to overthrow democratically-elected socialist leader, President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Since the last coup in 2004, instability has wracked the Haitian side of the Hispaniola island in the northern Caribbean Sea.

The United States has also participated in and sanctioned other military occupations on the island. After UN ‘peacekeeping’ troops poured sewerage into waterways, a cholera outbreak killed at least 10,000 Haitians in the 2010s. Plus, Haitian women and girls have reported sexual violence at the hands of UN troops. An unpopular Kenyan police deployment has yet to take place.

What do you think about this alleged weapon shipment? Let us know in the comments.

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AES FRIENDSHIP SHINES BRIGHTER THAN GOLD

In 1974, boxer and activist Muhammad Ali shared his beautiful poem about friendship in a televised interview.

Today, three countries in Africa are shining examples of what he meant. The Alliance of Sahel States (AES)—established in September by three countries that underwent popular coups: Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger—have forged a bond, both at the level of heads of state and at the grassroots among civilians.

Continued….. These landlocked countries in the Sahel, an arid zone south of the Sahara Desert, are closer than ever as they have agreed that an attack on any of the AES member-states is an attack on them all. The countries recently announced they would leave the France-backed regional organisation, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), flustering their Western-aligned neighbours. The AES lays the groundwork for Pan-African unity.

Burkina Faso and Mali are among Africa’s top gold producers, yet they understand their alliance—or their friendship—is more powerful.

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‘THEY TOOK OUR WEALTH’

On what would have been his 126th birthday, we remember ‘Afro-American’ artist Paul Robeson - with a clip from 1960, in which his wit, intelligence and insights shine through.

First broadcast on Australian TV, he explains to host and audience how their country, and the United States too, got its wealth - as well as why he is proud of his African roots, despite institutional attempts to make him ashamed of them.

His outspoken political beliefs got him blacklisted during the McCarthy era, effectively ending his mainstream success. But that didn’t stop him from saying what he thought.

Does he impress you as much as he does us?

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How best to test a soldier’s bravery? Well, some senior military officers at the British Army Training Unit Kenya (BATUK) think pressuring recruits to have unprotected sex with local prostitutes is the way to go.

According to the UK’s Defence Medical Services, the toss of a coin determines whether a recruit wears a condom as part of a hazing—or initiation—process.

A report says prostitution is rife at the Nyati Barracks in Nanyuki, Laikipia County, where up to 10,000 troops train annually. More Kenyan-based UK soldiers reportedly seek medical care for sexually transmitted infections compared to troops in Britain. Defence authorities are now alarmed because of Kenya’s higher prevalence of HIV, at 5 per cent of the population compared to the UK’s 0.2 per cent.