UGANDA SECURITY SEIZE LONE ANTI-CORRUPTION
PROTESTER

Uganda’s president warned that anyone taking part in Tuesday’s planned anti-corruption protest in Kampala would be “playing with fire” - and video’s already emerged of a protester getting ‘burnt.’

In this clip, a man armed with only his voice and a placard gets manhandled by police - a clear contravention of the right to demonstrate that Ugandans enjoy, at least on paper.

Corruption gobbles up 23% of Uganda’s budget, according to the country’s Inspectorate of Government. In a nation where 41% of the population lives on less than $2.15 a day, that money could have been used to build schools, hospitals and other key infrastructure. This looting has taken place under the more-than-30-year-rule of President Yoweri Museveni.

Continued….. Uganda is a country with a track record of repression. Main opposition figures such as Kizza Besigye and Bobi Wine have been hounded by state security agencies. This is the climate in which brave young Ugandans risk protesting.

But, as US author Ursula K. Le Guin once said, “We live in capitalism. Its power seems inescapable. So did the divine right of kings.”

Do you think Ugandans will escape their ‘king’?

SLAM DUNK RACISM? U.S. PUNDITS MOCK STUNNING AFRICANS

South Sudan stunned the basketball world when they almost beat the mighty USA at the weekend. The Bright Stars lost by only one point to the world’s number one side, going down 100 to 101 in a pre-Olympic friendly.

However, the close call didn’t earn South Sudan the universal respect you might expect. Former NBA stars made condescending remarks about the African country. Gilbert Arenas said they ‘don’t even have shoes...we gotta ship them shoes.’

Paul Pierce claimed South Sudan had no one above six feet three inches. American sports columnist Skip Bayless also ridiculed the Africans, claiming they were in for a hefty defeat.

Continued…. But why such arrogance and exceptionalism? South Sudan is ranked 33rd in the world (out of 160) and is making its Olympic debut in Paris. It is on the up. As their forward Wenyen Gabriel stressed, that’s despite the country’s lack of sporting opportunities.

At least USA coach Steve Kerr could concede South Sudan was ‘amazing’. It’s too bad about the lack of class shown by other ‘big names’ in the game.

Still, for those of you who believe in karma, watch this space. South Sudan is in the same group as the USA at the Olympics. How sweet would that victory be?

video credit @EuroHoopsTv (YouTube)

video credit @UNDISPUTED (YouTube)

EXPLOITED DRC CHILDREN POWERING YOUR ELECTRIC CAR

Children continue to be ruthlessly exploited to mine minerals in the DRC for global high-tech firms. That’s despite companies, like Apple, claiming they have zero tolerance to child labour and conduct rigorous audits on their supply chain.

Here, Billy Carson, an expert in ancient civilisations, lays bare the reality. Youngsters are used without safety equipment to mine tunnels too small for adults to crawl into.

It’s shocking abuse, with the UN recently estimating more than 40,000 children are working in hazardous conditions in cobalt mines in the Katanga province alone.

Not even American courts are prepared to take the tech companies to task. Earlier this year, the US Court of Appeals ruled firms don’t have a legal obligation to ensure their suppliers don’t use child labour. It was claimed they have nothing more than an ‘ordinary buyer-seller transaction’ with suppliers in the DRC.

Continued….. The extent of child exploitation is exposed in Siddharth Kara’s 2023 book ‘Cobalt Red - How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives.’ The practice is a product of multinational greed and a vicious resource war between rebel groups backed by foreign interests.

According to the IMF, four critical minerals in DRC—copper, nickel, cobalt, and lithium—will generate $16-trillion in the next 25 years. It is morally repugnant and unacceptable that this wealth should go to hoarding foreign firms at the expense of the Congolese people, and especially their children.

Video credit: Billy Carson, @4biddenknowleedge / Sacred Spectrum

“The United States is also a one-party state but, with typical American extravagance, they have two of them.” These are the words of Tanzania’s first president and Pan-African leader, Julius Nyerere.

Many people wonder why Africans on the African continent seem to be so fixated on the upcoming US elections and all these seemingly internal US affairs. We have received many comments on our pages reminding us that we are a Kenya-based platform, not a US-based one, so why have such strong opinions about US politics? Well, it turns out US politics have a dramatic impact on humans around the world due to Washington’s pro-war, pro-resource theft, interventionist foreign policy.

US drone strikes targeting Somalia started under president George W. Bush. The bombing only intensified under the Obama administration, increased further under Donald Trump, and then expanded even further under Joe Biden.

Continued….. Bombing Africa is bipartisan! As an independently-funded, anti-imperialist, Africa-based media page, our headquarters are located right next to an African country that has been perpetually bombed and ravaged by the world’s leading imperialist power for over a decade now. So yes, we have some strong opinions about what goes on within the US empire.

On the matter of foreign policy, whether in Africa or worldwide, US politicians on both sides overwhelmingly share the same positions. The US Africa Command (AFRICOM) started under president George W. Bush. No president expanded AFRICOM more than Barack Hussein Obama and the military command continued to operate in the majority of African countries under both Trump and Biden.

At the end of the day, the African masses struggling against a brutal and vicious empire that has built up its wealth on the plunder of our homeland don’t actually care if they are bombed by a Black woman or a White man. We would simply like not to be bombed!

INDIAN FIRM LANDS CONTROL OF KENYA’S
MAIN AIRPORT?

Kenya’s Prime Cabinet Secretary, Musalia Mudavadi, has denied claims the country’s main airport is being sold off to foreign investors - calling it a public asset. It comes days after a senator demanded more clarity on a deal that will reportedly see Kenya lease Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) to India’s Adani Airport Holdings for 30 years - with the foreign firm set to hold 18% of shares in JKIA after that period. Senator Richard Onyonka slammed the murkiness of the deal in a TV interview, in which he also claimed that it only came to light thanks to a whistleblower contacting him. He’s demanding the Kenyan Airport Authority come clean with all the details of the deal. The airport has been in a state of disrepair and needs an upgrade, and the government is short on cash. Suspicions are mounting that the terms of the deal were too favourable to Adani.

Continued….. What do you think - should Kenya be leasing out such a strategic piece of infrastructure (let alone selling it!) to a foreign player?

Video credit: @CitizenTVKenya

SENEGAL OFFICIAL BLASTS FOREIGN INTERFERENCE

Senegalese legislator and Pan-African organiser Guy Marius Sagna called out the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) parliament for allowing one US and two Swiss institutions to participate in their 18 July session and submit input.

While we could not identify the US-based organisation, ECOWAS’ documents show Swiss-based International Human Rights Commission and Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue attended the session in Abuja, Nigeria.

As Sagna, an ECOWAS Parliament member, points out in this clip, much debate occurs when African leaders and representatives have something to say during ECOWAS Parliament sessions. But, as soon as Western representatives open their mouths to present their reports, the floor is quiet.

Continued…. Sagna asks why ECOWAS should collaborate with Swiss- and US-based institutions. He questions the moral authority of Western countries that talk to African representatives about human rights and good governance.

Sagna has a long history of frontline organising work through his organisation, the Front for an Anti-Imperialist Popular and Pan-African Revolution (FRAPP), which led the campaign’ France Dégage’ (‘France, Get Out’ in English).

Video credit: @afriquemedia (X)

‘BRITS LOVE HORSES MORE THAN BLACK PEOPLE’

Speaking to documentarian Louis Theroux (@LouisTheroux on X and @officiallouistheroux on IG) in 1999, the late Pan-Africanist and former Nation of Islam leader Dr Khalid Muhammad (1948-2001) joked that Brits love horses more than Black people. He was reacting to Theroux’s shock at seeing a pair of horse-leather trousers in a Harlem clothing store. Khalid used the opportunity to point out Theroux’s compassion for a pony, but not for victims of Britain’s colonialism, particularly in Africa.

Continued…. Jokes aside, Brits have a love affair with horses, splashing millions of pounds on them. At the annual Royal Ascot, a horse pageant, competitors can win nearly £10 million ($12.92 million) in prize money. Horse racing is the UK’s second-most popular sport after football. And the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace, involving horses, is a must-see attraction.

Yet, horses are far more treasured compared to Africans, with Britain exploiting our labour and resources on the continent and using police brutality to keep us in line in the UK.

Video credit: ‘Louis Theroux’s Weird Weekends,’ @BBC

‘MILESTONE IN ACCOUNTABILITY’: COURT RULES AGAINST KENYAN PARAMILITARY

The Kenyan High Court recently ruled that the family of Omar Faraj, a 39-year-old man that a CIA-backed paramilitary force called the Rapid Response Team k*lled in 2012 in a case of mistaken identity, will receive 6.5 million Kenyan shillings ($50,000) in compensation.

This is the first time since the US-led ‘war on terror’ began in 2001 that Kenya’s courts have ruled in favour of a victim. CIA-backed paramilitary-police forces established in more than 60 countries after 2001 are known to use summary executions, violating citizens’ civil rights.

Kenya-based Muslims for Human Rights (@muhurikenya on IG and X) took the case to court after an investigation by British news outlet @declassifiedUK’s (IG, X, TikTok).

How can Kenya claim sovereignty when it doesn’t completely control this paramilitary group?

Please let us know what you think in the comments.

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