Kenya’s high-flying President, William Ruto, has defended the use of a private jet. He reckons it was the cheapest option for his state visit to the US, despite costing his taxpayers $1.5m. And he insists using national carrier, Kenya Airways, would’ve been more pricey!

Well, hasn’t taken long for people to call him out. One calculation said Ruto and four of his top officials could’ve booked a first-class return ticket on the national carrier for $4,500 each. He could’ve put the rest of his 30+ entourage in economy for $1.300 each, making a grand total of $60,000. Throw in a hotel bill of $600 per person for three nights and the total price of his state visit could’ve been around $80k.

Ruto insists his extravagant spending spree meets with his ‘determination for us to live within our means.’ All this while announcing tax hikes. Jeez, can he not see why people are angry?

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MALCOLM X ON U.S. COMPLICITY IN DRC

Here, Pan-Africanist Malcolm X responded to a CBS News reporter asking about the 24 November 1964 covert Belgian-US paratrooper operation called 'Operation Dragon Rouge,' which killed two dozen out of 1,000 European and US hostages in the short-lived People's Republic of the Congo capital, Stanleyville (later Kisangani). The effort involved DRC troops and apartheid-era South African mercenaries.

Congolese rebels loyal to former revolutionary Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba (1925-61) opposed then-Prime Minister Moïse Tshombe (1919-69), a one-time Katanga separatist leader complicit in Lumumba's 1961 assassination. The rebels used hostages to shield villages from US-supplied aerial bombings.

While Western media called the rebels 'cannibals,' and 'savages,' they identified themselves as 'simbas' (Swahili for 'lions'). Their attempt was part of a broader effort, the 'Simba Rebellion,' that took place between 1963 and 1965.

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DEMO BRANDS BLINKEN: ‘SECRETARY OF G*NOCIDE’

Here’s a scene that’s become a familiar sight. Furious demonstrators yell ‘war criminal’ and ‘Secretary of G*nocide’ at US Secretary Antony Blinken . He was confronted by pro-Palestinian supporters ahead of a Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing. It was then interrupted several times by protesters, while others stood silently and held up their hands covered in red paint.

U.S officials have faced regular protests during congressional appearances since Israel launched its war on Gaza. Blinken reiterated US support for Israel’s destruction of the besieged enclave, which has killed over 35,000 Palestinians in seven months.

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Many African Liberation Day (ALD) events were held throughout the US this weekend. And it’s a tradition that started on May 27th, 1972, when around 60,000 people turned out at meetings across the country. One of the biggest attracted 25,000 at Washington’s National Mall, just a couple of miles from the Capitol. It boasted a full roster influential speakers, including Ralph Abernathy, Max Stanford, Angela Davis, and Kwame Ture.

The idea to host such events stemmed from trip of a group of Black activists to Mozambique’s liberated areas the summer before.

Continued…. One of them was Owusu Sadaukai, who began planning on his return to the US. Also involved was Brad Lomax, a disability rights activist with multiple sclerosis. Lomax had established the Washington D.C. chapter of the Black Panther Party in 1969, and later became an instrumental figure in the disability rights movement.

Their vision was quickly embraced and a few months later The African Liberation Support Committee (ALSC) was formed in September, 1972, in Detroit, Michigan. It quickly built on the momentum and by 1973 ALD demonstrations expanded to more than 30 cities, attracting over 100,000 people. At the time, the organisation called for a boycott of Portuguese products and Gulf oil because of foreign interference in Angola. A powerful Pan-African movement was born, one that continues to fight for liberty and African unity against imperialism.

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SHELL SLAMMED FOR NIGERIA CRIMES

When British oil giant Shell held its annual general meeting on 21 May in London, no one expected to hear the controversial story of Nigeria’s Niger River Delta until Mikaela Loach intervened.

The Jamaica-born author, climate justice activist and medical student silenced the room with a passionate exposé of Shell’s crimes in the delta, where Life expectancy is around 41, 12 years lower than the national average. 

Since 1958, Shell’s extraction operations have ravaged the densely populated delta’s land and waters leading into the Atlantic Ocean. While the delta region only makes up 7.5 per cent of Nigeria’s territory, it is home to 45 million people or 20 per cent of Nigerians.

Shell is also blamed for Nigerian security forces cracking down on protesters in the delta’s Ogoniland area, leading to the 1995 hanging of Ken Saro-Wiwa, a writer and activist, and eight other environmental activists, all dubbed the ‘Ogoni Nine.’

Continued….. The National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency reported oil companies had spilt 19,058 barrels of oil, or the equivalent of around 95 oil tanker trucks, in 2023 alone. Two Swiss researchers calculated in 2019 that nearby oil spills that occur before conception double newborn mortality.

In 2021, a Dutch court ruled in a case that four Nigerian farmers and environmental group Friends of the Earth (@friends_earth) brought in 2008 suing Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC) for Niger River Delta oil spills and Royal Dutch Shell for neglect. Shell agreed to pay $16 million to the farmers and their communities to compensate for damage while the court ordered Royal Dutch Shell to install a leak-detection system.

According to reports, Shell also lost a Nigerian high court case in November that could lead to $44 million in damages.

Meanwhile, the UK Supreme Court unanimously ruled in 2021 that plaintiffs had a ‘good arguable case’ that Shell was legally responsible for the pollution caused by its Nigerian subsidiary, SPDC, and that the case would proceed.

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LONDON ISLAMOPHOBE: ‘DIRTY F***ING MUSLIM! I’M AN IDF SOLDIER!

An African man stepped up to defend what appears to be an African Muslim woman in a London subway station after an unidentified man allegedly tried to pull a hijab (Muslim head covering) off her off camera and verbally abused others on camera.

In this 25 May video taken inside Whitechapel station, the person alleged he was an Israeli soldier but cowered when an African man confronted him. Another recording showed police handcuffing him.

Continued…. Tell MAMA, a UK-based project that tracks anti-Muslim hate crimes, said in February that it has found a 335 per cent increase in Islamophobic incidents in the United Kingdom since Israel’s military onslaught on the Gaza Strip began on 7 October. Such incidents can include vandalism, verbal abuse and physical assault. Muslim women, in particular, bear the brunt, as they experience 65 per cent of attacks. Such incidents can include vandalism, verbal abuse and physical assault. 

It’s great to see a brother stepping up to defend women. But no woman should ever have to fear for her safety because of her religion.

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NAIROBI CELEBRATES AFRICAN LIBERATION DAY 2024

Some of the African Stream team took part in a special Pan-African event in Nairobi to mark 2024’s African Liberation Day (25th May).

There was music, as well as speeches and shows of solidarity through song. Legendary figures like Kwame Nkrumah, Amílcar Cabral and Patrice Lumumba loomed large in our thoughts as we discussed and planned for the final liberation of the motherland.

Here are some of the highlights from what was by all accounts a great day. How did you spend it?

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YOUNG SOUTH AFRICANS: WILL THEIR VOTE COUNT?

Wednesday will be a huge moment for South Africa - 28-million citizens are expected to head to the polls in what’s being billed as the most important election in the country’s history for three decades. That is, since apartheid fell.

Ever since then, it’s been the ANC that’s been at the helm. During its 30 years in power, the broken promises and corruption have only accumulated, while structural injustices inherited from the apartheid era still remain unresolved.

Amid soaring youth unemployment, young voters especially feel dissatisfied - not just with the ANC, but with traditional politics in general. While some will turn their backs on the ballot box, others are determined to make their voice heard by casting their vote.

Here are some reactions from young South African voters. We’d love to know your thoughts on the upcoming election.

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THE CONGO COULD BE AFRICA’S ENGINE

Echoing revolutionary Ghanaian leader Kwame Nkrumah’s dream of the Congo’s pivotal role in transforming Africa, our recent ‘Pan-African Attitude’ podcast guest Kambale Musavuli laid out statistics on his country’s vast economic potential.

Musavuli, one of the Democratic Republic of the Congo’s leading journalistic voices, argued that Africa’s stalled potential is partly caused by our failure to see that the Congo’s sorry state is by design. Using proxies Rwanda and Uganda, Western powers have been able to extract the country’s vast natural wealth, estimated to generate $16 trillion from four key minerals—copper, nickel, cobalt, and lithium—in the next 25 years, according to the IMF.

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JULIUS MALEMA : DEMAGOGUE OR REVOLUTIONARY

South Africans will be going to the polls on 29th May. Dozens of political parties will be taking part in the elections, which have been described as the most critical since the end of apartheid 30 years ago. According to many analysts, the election will be dominated by four parties: the current ruling party, the African Nation Congress (ANC); the White-dominated Democratic Alliance (DA); the Pan African-oriented Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF); and the uMkhonto weSizwe party (MK), led by former South African president and longtime ANC member Jacob Zuma.

Consequently, the spotlight has been on the leaders of these four political parties. Of the four, the leader of the EFF, Julius Malema, has been on the receiving end of some of the most scathing attacks, especially by Western media outlets.

Continued….. He has been portrayed as an unhinged, White-hating loose canon whose policies are going to ruin South Africa. Some have gone as far as referring to him as the 'Black Hitler.'

But those who support the man say he’s been badly misrepresented. They say his proposed policies in sectors such as mining, land and finance are exactly what the country needs to fully break away from its apartheid past.

In this video, African Stream's William Sakawa goes through the EFF manifesto and highlights the party's views and policies on issues that are of great importance to South Africans and Africans in general.

Whether you’re a South African or not, let us know in the comments if you think Malema is the right man for the top job. Do you have anyone like him in your country?

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BURKINA FASO’S TRAORÉ: PRESIDENT FOR 5 MORE YRS

The people cheered as a charter granted President Ibrahim Traoré a 5-year extension in office, starting on 2 July. His noscript has changed from ‘President of the Transition of Burkina Faso’ to ‘President of Burkina Faso.’

On May 25-26, the landlocked African country held ‘Les assises nationales’ or ‘The National Conferences,’ when representatives from Burkina Faso’s 13 regions convened meetings to determine the country’s direction. The process included government officials, as well as representatives from civil society organisations and trade unions. 

Continued….. This extension comes almost 20 months after a military coup that ousted a Western-aligned leader. Since then, the population has poured into the streets to express support for the new government, which has taken over areas once held by terrorist groups, kicked out widely unpopular French troops and media, nationalised local industries, and embarked on a pathway to industrialisation and job creation with new refineries and plans for new energy facilities.

While political parties boycotted this past weekend’s decision-making process, party members decided to attend anyway to express their opinions as individuals. Such was the case with Moussa Diallo of Ex-Chef De Fil de L’opposition (Ex-Leader of the Opposition political coalition in English), who said to local TV news station Faso 7, ‘I told myself that, as a patriot, it was my duty to come here.’ The same was the case with Ali Badra Ouédraogo, former president of Rassemblement des Patriotes pour le Renouveau (Rally of Patriots for Renewal), who voiced satisfaction with the process.

Many ordinary Burkinabè people we spoke to outside the conference hall are satisfied with the five-year extension. However, a visible segment of the population hoped for a 10-year transition period.

Here is what they had to say.

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DRC FLAG HELD UP DURING ‘GEN*CIDE JOE’ SPEECH

Hats - or academic caps - off to the faculty at Morehouse College who held high a DR Congo flag during a recent speech by Joe Biden, who was at the Black liberal US arts institution congratulating graduates, but also no doubt trying to secure a few extra African-American votes in the upcoming presidential race.

Continued….. Biden - who’s earned himself the nickname ‘Genocide Joe’ for his continued support for Israel in the face of mounting evidence of atrocities in Gaza - has also arguably been contributing to the genocide in DRC. Although US military aid to Rwanda - which is widely suspected of actively supporting rebels in DRC’s east - was frozen last year over the use of child soldiers, the fact remains that Washington has bolstered Kigali’s (and thereby the rebels’) military capacities. And US aid of other kinds still flows into Rwanda, while the White House remains mostly silent about the atrocities across the border.

African Stream’s Wambura Mwai breaks down why, and walks us through the protest at Morehouse. What’s your reaction?

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OUTRAGE AS ISRAEL DEFIES ICJ RULING

WARNING-DISTURBING IMAGES

The Israeli air strike on a tent camp for displaced people in Rafah killed at least 50 people, according to Gaza Health Ministry. Most of the victims were women and children, with many trapped in flaming debris.

Just two days before Sunday's massacre, Israel was ordered to stop its attacks on Rafah by the International Court of Justice. However, despite warnings it’s breaking international law, Israel continues to plough on with its assault.

It insists the latest atrocity targeted a Hamas compound, although The Palestinian Red Crescent Society says it hit a zone Israel had designated a ‘humanitarian area.’ Videos circulating the internet show beheaded children, burning of bodies and mass destruction of homes in Rafah, where one million Palestinians had taken refuge.

International pressure on Israel is mounting.

Continued….. The EU is threatening sanctions against the country if it doesn’t comply with the ICJ.
The court earlier stated plausible g*nocide is taking place in a case brought by South Africa in December.

Meanwhile, The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor is seeking an arrest warrant for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his defence minister, along with three H*mas leaders.

Despite the outrage, the slaughter continues. Maybe it’s time the world’s top courts also target the US for arming and bankrolling Tel Aviv? Tell us what you think in the comments.

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TRAORÉ: NGO LIED ABOUT LIBYA, NOW IT LIES ABOUT BURKINA FASO

On 25 April, Human Rights Watch (HRW) published a report claiming Burkina Faso's military massacred 223 civilians. The report circulated rapidly in mainstream Western media. The United States and the United Kingdom referenced the report in a joint declaration calling on the Burkinabé government to investigate the alleged killings. Burkinabé citizens responded by organising mass demonstrations in support of the new government, held sometimes in front of the US embassy.

However, the United States and the United Kingdom did not issue a denouncement after ally Nigeria admitted to accidentally bombing 85 civilians five months ago.