On 27th August, 2024, Burkina Faso nationalised two gold mines, Boungou and Wahgnion. This follows a legal battle between London-listed Endeavour Mining and the African-based company, Lilium Mining. The former had initially attempted to sell the mines to the latter for $300 million. However, Lilium failed to pay the full sum - falling some $100 million short. The two companies then reached a settlement with Ouagadougou, which paid for $80 million.

In 2022, upon President Ibrahim Traoré’s coming to power, Burkina Faso nationalised the Perkoa gold mine from the Canadian Trevali Mining Corporation after eight Burkinabé miners died while trapped underground. That year, the government also withdrew mining licences for Guiro, Yéou and Kalsaka mines, liquidating Trevali’s subsidiary Nantou Mining company.

Continued……The West African country has been making major moves towards greater sovereignty over its natural resources, as well as working to develop basic industry to refine resources in the country. In November 2023, construction began of a gold refinery which, it’s hoped, will begin producing gold bars as early as October 2024. The project aims to create 100 direct jobs and 5,000 more indirectly. Malian company, Marena Gold is assisting Burkina in this development.

Ouagadougou has also made moves in recent years to nationalise its sugar sector as well as The Commercial Bank of Burkina Faso (BCB). Similar moves towards greater control over resources and key sectors of the economy can be seen across the Alliances of Sahel States (AES), of which Burkina Faso is a part. AES member Niger recently revoked French mining company Orano’s licence to operate in the country. This came after Niger nationalised its water sector from French company Veolia.

What do you think of this latest nationalisation in Burkina Faso?

KENYA’S TROOPS IN HAITI YET TO BE PAID

While many Haitians and Kenyans are against what’s viewed as another foreign military intervention in Haiti bankrolled by the United States, reports have surfaced that two months after their deployment, Kenyan police have yet to receive their full salary. The last thing Haiti needs is more meddling by outside actors (especially at Washington’s behest) but this rocky start to their mission to ‘restore order’ adds to the notion that the deployment is a poisoned chalice.

With the US having pledged as much as $300 million to the controversial Kenyan-led UN mission, Citizen TV Kenya’s Yvonne Okwara (@okwarayvonne on IG and @yvonneokwara on X) of ‘The Explainer’ asked US ambassador to Kenya Meg Whitman about the lack of payment. Her response? Whitman was just as unaware as the public, promising that, based on her correspondence with Washington, the hundreds of deployed officers would receive their salaries by the end of the week.

Continued….. Earlier in the interview, Okwara asked why the US had not sent its own troops. Whitman, former president and CEO of e-commerce giant eBay, said the US does not always deploy forces. ‘It was really the international community that asked Kenya to do this and, as I said, the international community was very grateful. We have provided financial support, not only of the equipment but $100 million.’

However, the Kenyan masses don’t seem to accept that the US isn’t the mastermind behind the Kenyan police deployment. Rather, Kenyans see this operation as an extension of the United States’ neo-colonial relations with the Global South. Kenya’s High Court ruled the deployment unconstitutional but around 400 Kenyan police are in the Caribbean country, shamefully lending a ‘Black face’ to what is really a Western intervention.

Video credit: @citizentvkenya (YouTube)

ONE YEAR SINCE ALI ‘MAKE SOME NOISE’ BONGO DEPOSED

It’s been a year since Gabon’s former President, Ali Bongo, was deposed in a popular coup. On 30th August, 2023, he was overthrown after a group of Gabonese soldiers staged a coup and annulled the results of the country’s disputed presidential election, in which he’d been declared the winner - with 64.27% of the vote.

Ali Bongo was set to govern the Central African nation for a third term before the coup, which ended a 55-year-long family rule, having succeeded his father, Omar Bongo, who had been in power from 1967 to 2009 (when he died).

During his house arrest in the capital, Libreville, Ali Bongo pleaded with friends around the world to “make some noise” in protest over his removal. But the video plea backfired - becoming instead this clip here: a mocking Internet meme that went viral across Africa and the world.

Continued….. In October 2023, Gabon’s new leadership also imprisoned the deposed First Lady, Sylvia Bongo, and her eldest son, Noureddin Bongo, on corruption and embezzlement charges. On 14th May 2024, the family’s lawyer claimed in a statement cited by AFP that both had been subjected to physical assault while in custody.

Not long after, Ali Bongo reportedly went on a hunger strike, in protest over his and his family’s alleged torture. According to the family’s lawyer, two of his youngest sons, Jalil and Bilal, decided to join him on the hunger strike. According to the family lawyer, the Bongo family are still under house arrest with no contact allowed with the outside world. The government dismisses these claims.

The oil-rich Central African nation is part of OPEC and was colonised by France until 1960, when it became independent. It is currently under the leadership of Brice Oligui Nguema, a military officer who is serving as interim-president.

Video credit: Mr Ndze @reflexsoundz

GAZA G*NOCIDE MAKES DOLLARS & SENSE FOR U.S.A.

Every conflict or humanitarian crisis for one group seems like a bag of money for another.

In this clip, TikTok creator and nurse Alexis Rose (@travelingnurse on TikTok), breaks down how the g*nocide in Gaza profits the West, particularly US defence contractors.

The United States has supplied Israel with 500 shipments since 7 October 2023, as the Israeli Defence Ministry recently announced. So far, Israel has k*lled more than 40,000 Palestinians. Ironically, the US says it cannot intervene, expresses concern over the unfolding humanitarian crisis and is reportedly working on a ceasefire deal.

Rose cites the Financial Times, which reports that, by 2026, the world’s biggest defence contractors will reap $52 billion in profits, with five US contractors expected to see $26 billion in profits.

Video credit: @travelingnurse (TikTok)

‘SORRY, HAITI, FOR U.S.-PUSHED KENYAN COP MISSION’

In this clip, Kiritu Chege from Kenya’s Communist Party shares the sentiments of many Kenyans regarding Nairobi’s controversial police deployment Haiti. Firstly, he apologises to the island nation and secondly, he says Washington twisted Kenya’s arm. It did this because it knows it can no longer credibly go in itself to restore order in Haiti. The US needed a ‘Black face.’ And Kenyan president William Ruto was happy to provide one, even going so far as to ignore his own High Court’s ruling that the deployment of Kenyan police to Haiti to tackle gang violence there would be unconstitutional. Washington pledged $300 million for the mission but deployed Kenyan officers have reportedly yet to receive their salaries.

Video credit: @communistske

PRO-PALESTINE PROTESTERS DISRUPT NANCY PELOSI

Nancy Pelosi may have been out of the limelight after completing her second stint as speaker of the US House of Representatives in 2023. That has not stopped the 84-year-old decades-long congress member from lending her clout to US Vice President Kamala Harris, who is seeking the top job in Washington.

Unfortunately for her, the people are having none of it, disrupting Democratic Party heavyweights at public and private events for months to demand US President Joe Biden’s administration stop supplying money and arms to Tel Aviv. So far, Israel has k*lled more than 40,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Continued….. The public lashed out at Pelosi during a live 20 August production of ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’ (@stephenathome) in Chicago while the Democratic National Convention was underway a few miles away.

How the Biden administration has funded Israel’s military onslaught reminds many of our people how little Democrats have done to uplift Black people in the United States. Will the party heed the people’s call to end supplying arms and money to Israel? Or will Democrats take the chance of hoping it won’t affect Harris on election day in November?

Video credit: ‘The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’ (@colbertlateshow) / @cbs 

Continued……Meanwhile, MONUSCO’S time in DRC is running out, with President Félix Tshisekedi demanding they leave by the end of 2024. As a replacement, he’s brought in troops from the regional body Southern African Development Community (SADC).

However, the violence is unending, with M23 rebels continuing to wreak havoc. Close to 10-million Congolese are displaced, and over 25-million starving in a country whose mineral wealth is estimated to be about $24-trillion.

Three men accused of murdering two Black women and dumping the bodies in a pigsty have appeared before a South African court: farm owner Zachariah Johannes Olivier and his employees, Andrian Rudolph De Wet and William Musora.

Mariah Makgato (47), her Zimbabwean friend Locadia Ndlovu (34) and the latter’s husband Mabutho (44) reportedly trespassed onto Onvervaght farm in Limpopo province to gather expired dairy products, which are regularly dumped there. The group was accosted by the three accused, who allegedly opened fire. Mabutho Ndlovu managed to escape, but with severe gunshot wounds - over which attempted murder charges are also being pressed.

By the time the police discovered the bodies, pigs had reportedly started feeding on the corpses.

COMEDY CLIP RIPS BIDEN’S STUDENT DEBT RELIEF

We have offered our fair share of criticisms of US President Joe Biden’s administration, with plenty of examples to support our points.

However, his student debt relief plan seems to be one of his better policies. Unfortunately, it’s not perfect, as he offers loan forgiveness for people who qualify under one of four conditions. It seems that for Takeiya in this video clip with @KevOnStage, may have qualified because of the excess interest accrued on her ex-boyfriend’s $60,000 loan, which she co-signed. With interest, the amount ballooned to $170,000, she said.

US university fees are amongst the highest in the world, leaving many of our people in the US put off by higher education. Biden’s initial student-loan forgiveness plan was only intended to provide about $20,000 of relief, regardless of the amount of debt.

Continued….. However, according to the US-based nonprofit Education Data Initiative, the average federal student loan debt is more than $40,000. Meanwhile, the total private loan burden in the US amounts to $ 128.8 billion.

Biden blamed the Supreme Court for preventing his initial proposal from proceeding. In 2023, the court granted relief to about 700,000 debtors who had been repaying loans for at least 20 years and a few other categories of debtors. However, about 42 million people remained in debt.

This year, Biden has provided more loan forgiveness, but again based on another set of conditions. Many have been left wondering why he couldn’t cancel all student loan debts with the swipe of his pen on an executive order.

But it was a cool ending for sister Takeiya and a very entertaining story to hear. “So, here’s the thing”- a nice policy on student loan relief can’t absolve Biden or his administration for collaboration in a g*nocide that has killed many students, teachers and children in Palestine.

Video credit: @KevOnStage (IG)

DRC TO PALESTINE: GLENCORE’S GLOBAL WEB OF DESTRUCTION

If you want an example of how a multinational can destroy local communities worldwide, Glencore is probably as good as any.

The Swiss-based commodity trader and miner helps fuel the g*nocide in Gaza by selling Israel coal from South Africa and Columbia. Elsewhere, it makes millions from the extraction of minerals in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. However, corrupt deals have seen it avoid DRC taxes, and its activities have left a trail of environmental destruction.

William Sakawa looks at the global web of suffering brought by one conglomerate and the need for a unified response.