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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GOALDEN PRESIDENT TRAORE RALLIES BURKINABE

Burkina Faso President Ibrahim Traoré has been showing off his leadership skills on the football pitch. The military captain skippered a side that beat the country’s national team 3-2 in a friendly and even got on the scoresheet. However, his ultimate goal remains the transformation of his country.

Since coming to power, he’s overhauled geopolitical alignments within the West African region. He’s teamed up with Russia, Iran, Venezuela, and Nicaragua over neocolonial powers such as France and other EU states. He’s also formed an Alliance of Sahel States with neighbours Niger and Mali and wants to build a Pan-African federal state in the future.

Continued….. According to the Pew Research Centre, he’s the world’s youngest president at 36 years old. And he’s certainly on the ball when it comes to inspiring Burkina’s young population, whose average age is just 17. After the game, Traore said he loved sports for instilling national pride and would always encourage people to compete for the country.

It makes you wonder which other world leaders could do this. Most are over 60, with Cameroon’s Paul Biya the oldest at 91!

video credit: FasoSports/X

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SACHS MASTERCLASS ON US AGGRESSION

Economist Jeffrey Sachs pulls no punches schooling British journalist Piers Morgan on U.S. aggression over the last few decades. He points out the NATO-led destruction of Libya was just one of a long list of illegal wars waged by Washington. And he says it’s that persistent aggressive stance that’s led to instability around the globe. Sachs is known for his intellectually detailed discourses and, to be fair, host Piers Morgan gives him a good crack of the whip. Sachs was responding to allegations he panders to the worldview of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Moscow’s position on Ukraine. Have a listen.

Video credit: Piers Morgan Uncensored

NBA LEGEND APOLOGISES FOR ‘DISRESPECTING’ SOUTH SUDAN

Watching humble pie get eaten is satisfying. Former NBA star and pundit Paul Pierce has apologised after ridiculing South Sudan’s basketball side ahead of their narrow defeat to USA.

Laughing with studio guests, he said the African nation didn’t have a chance or anyone taller than six feet three inches, despite South Sudanese being amongst the tallest people in the world. The Bright Stars then almost produced one of the biggest sporting upsets, losing by one point in the dying seconds in the pre-Olympic friendly.

Pierce now says he’s sorry for not having ‘any knowledge of the country’ and excused himself by saying South Sudan ‘hasn’t been on the map for that long.’ Whether he could find it on a map is another matter, although at least he’s returned his scoffing remarks.

Continued….. However, the episode again reveals an all too common North American exceptionalist attitude. Okay, it’s only a game, but you get our point.

For South Sudan and Africa at large, the slimmest of defeats to the basketball superpower was a source of pride—a demonstration of what can be achieved. It certainly whets the appetite for the clash between the two sides at the Olympics on July 31st. I wonder how Pierce & Co. will preview that one?

Video credit: @UNDISPUTED (YouTube)

XENOPHOBIA CLOUD DAMPENS MISS SOUTH AFRICA COMPETION

A 23-year-old South African beauty queen has hit back at xenophobic abuse on social media. Chidimma Vanessa Onwe Adetshina will compete for the crown of Miss South Africa 2024 next month. But her route to the final has hardly been pretty. Even though she was born in the country, online trolls say she’s ineligible to compete because of her parents’ foreign heritage. What nonsense.

The young law student from Cape Town calls it ‘Black-on-Black hate’, and event organisers and a host of celebs have rallied behind her. We wish her luck for the final on August 10th.

U.S. MEDIA STRATEGY FOR AFRICA EXPLAINED

The US does what it accuses China and Russia of doing, but on an ‘industrial’ scale. That is The Grayzone (@thegrayzonenews on IG, X and TikTok) founder Max Blumenthal’s read on US media strategy in Africa. 

The independent media outlet’s founder and editor (@maxblumenthal on X) argued during a ‘Pan-African Attitude’ episode that US media campaigns advance US interests by shaping perceptions to reflect US views on geopolitical issues. Key among them has been pushing anti-China and anti-Russia messaging.

Continued….. For instance, organisations funded by US government agencies, such as the Pentagon’s Minerva Institute and various National Endowment for Democracy-funded NGOs, train and develop professional networks for young African journalists. While these opportunities may appear beneficial, they often come with strings attached, steering these journalists towards promoting narratives that support US foreign policy interests.

That’s just one aspect of US media strategy. Have a watch to find out more. And, please share your thoughts in the comments.

CHAOTIC SCENES: KENYA PROTESTS ENTER WEEK 6

There’s no let-up in Kenya’s Gen Z-led anti-government protests, as the latest round, dubbed ‘Occupy JKIA’ (Jomo Kenyatta International Airport) shut down traffic to the country’s biggest aviation hub.

Army personnel were deployed to block protesters from accessing the airport amid growing concerns over a murky deal to lease the hub for three decades to India’s Adani Airport Holdings, which will also get an 18% stake in JKIA shares thereafter. Many see it as ‘selling off’ a key public asset.

Continued….. Meanwhile, police officers spent Tuesday, July 23rd, battling protesters using water cannon, tear gas and live bullets in the capital. Eyewitnesses claim that hired pro-government protesters on motorcycles were unchallenged by police. As night fell, police swooped in on Nairobi’s peripheral districts of Zimmermann, Githurai, Fedha, Mirema and Pipeline. They allegedly brutalised people, blanketing them with tear gas inside their houses and firing live rounds in some cases.

President William Ruto has announced the make-up of his supposedly inclusive new ‘broad-based’ government in response to the unrest, but many of those out protesting are angry he’s re-appointed a number of the hated ministers he’d fired just a week earlier.

How do you see week six playing out?