KENYA POLICE IN HAITI TENDER THEIR RESIGNATIONS

Twenty odd Kenyan police officers who were sent on the controversial US- and UN-backed Multinational Security Support (MSS) mission to Haiti have reportedly resigned - with others threatening to do the same.

This comes after media claims that the mission is underfunded in terms of the resources required to carry out its stated task, namely, cracking down on Haiti’s rampant armed gangs. Additionally, officers have complained about delayed salaries.

Kenyan authorities along with the MSS leadership, however, have denied receiving any resignation letters, despite widely circulated news to the contrary, including accounts by unidentified officers in a Reuters report.

Continued……In September, Kenya's President William Ruto hinted that the MSS mission could be transformed into a UN peacekeeping one, though he also pledged to deploy more Kenyans. The current Kenyan force in Haiti is grappling with a task that has clearly stretched it beyond capacity. Moreover, the support promised by the US has yet to appear, with the Kenyan Treasury still waiting on $2 million.

Sources:

https://www.reuters.com/world/kenyan-police-haiti-tender-resignations-over-pay-delays-2024-12-06/

https://nairobileo.co.ke/news/article/18298/haiti-mission-responds-after-reports-of-resignation-of-20-kenyan-police-officers

https://www.reuters.com/world/kenyas-ruto-open-converting-haiti-mission-un-peacekeeping-operation-2024-09-21/

https://www.capitalfm.co.ke/news/2024/11/kenya-spent-sh2-1-billion-on-haiti-security-mission-despite-u-s-funding-pledge/

WE REACT TO REVOLUTIONARY MUSIC: LOWKEY'S 'TWO KITES'

To amplify revolutionary music that is nowhere to be found on mainstream media playlists, we embark on a new series where we react to music created to inform and uplift.

To kick off the series, we check out British-Iraqi rapper Lowkey's ‘Two Kites’ (@Lowkey0nline on X) from his new album, 'Soundtrack to The Struggle 3.’

What do you think of the song, and what other songs do you recommend we listen to as part of the series?

MICHEL SOUKAR ON HAITI'S DISASTER CAPITALISM

In this clip from a recent Haïti Inter interview, Haitian historian and journalist Michel Soukar argued that the political class and others who benefit from the socio-economic turmoil in Haiti deploy and maintain gangs, asserting the Haitian police have always had the competence and resources to combat them. Still, when close to capturing gang leaders, operations would be called off, forcing police to retreat.

@soukarmichel (X) further explained that disaster capitalism, where reconstruction serves the interests of foreign and capitalist entities, has further destabilised Haiti.

Continued……The West has long exploited the Caribbean country for cheap labour with the help of compliant Haitian politicians. About 100 years after Haitians ousted French enslavers, the United States began controlling Haiti and stealing its wealth through military force. Later, UN peacekeeping forces missions failed amidst foreign-backed coups d’état. Now, Kenyan police are deployed to the Caribbean state on a US-backed mission, continuing the cycle of instability. 

What do you think of Soukar's comments? Let us know in the comments.

Video credit: @haiti_inter (X)

'ANY OF YOU MIGHT BE NEXT'

Was Syria's Bashar al-Assad the latest target of a Western-engineered regime-change agenda against Global South governments? That's what many are thinking after the lightning seizure of power by al Qaeda-linked Hayat Tahrir al-Sham.

His fall is seen as confirmation of a prediction made by former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. Speaking at an Arab League summit in 2008, he warned his fellow Arab leaders that if they did not unite, they would suffer the same fate as former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, who was hanged in 2006 in the wake of the US-led Western invasion of his country.

Back then, Arab leaders chuckled at Gaddafi's warning. Sixteen years on, it's no longer a laughing matter: a number of those in that room, including Gaddafi himself, have since been deposed. Assad was also there. His laugh was most notable, although he probably doesn't see the funny side now.

Video Credit: Al Jazeera

MALCOLM X: MAU MAU SELF-DEFENCE

The word ‘terrorist’ has been bandied around since the US kicked off its ‘War on T*rror’ in 2001 and really even before that. But who gets the label depends on whose interests the ‘t*rrorists’ serve.

For example, although the mainstream media touts Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, leader of al-Qaeda offshoot Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), as Syria’s new tolerant leader, the US still designates HTS a t*rrorist organisation, with US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller claiming on 9 December that the US can still work with such entities. Miller said he could not verify that a $10-million bounty remained on Jolani, though a 2017 FBI press release indicates so.

Similarly, more than a century ago, European colonialists claimed they brought civilisation and progress to the 'Dark Continent', despite employing extreme violence and brutality to subjugate and exploit Africans.

Continued….. However, when our ancestors rose up to liberate our homelands, the West depicted them as t*rrorists and savage criminals. 

In this clip, Pan-Africanist Malcolm X (1925-65) courageously defended Kenya's Land and Freedom Army, popularly known as the Mau Mau. Like so many Pan-African freedom fighters, such as Frantz Fanon (1925-61), Kwame Ture (1941-98), Josina Machel (1945-71), Amilcar Cabral (1924-73), Titina Silá (circa 1943-73), Malcolm X understood that the violence oppressed deploy differs fundamentally from the oppressor’s violence, hence his famous line, 'by any means necessary.'

Subscribe to our handle @african_stream to benefit from journalism that gives proper context to African liberation struggles. You can find us on Bluesky, X, Telegram, Patreon and Rumble.

Sources:

https://news.sky.com/story/who-is-syrian-rebel-leader-abu-mohammed-al-jolani-and-what-are-his-links-to-al-qaeda-13270212

https://www.history.utoronto.ca/events/mau-mau-face-international-terrorism-1950s-contemporary-perspective

https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/lords/1952/oct/21/mau-mau-terrorism-in-kenya

https://www.state.gov/briefings/department-press-briefing-december-9-2024

https://www.odni.gov/nctc/terrorist_groups/hts.html

https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/washingtondc/news/press-releases/up-to-10-million-reward-offered-for-information-on-the-leader-of-the-al-nusrah-front

The US government had Nelson Mandela on terrorist watch list until 2008, 14 years after he became president of South Africa. Why, you might ask? Because Mandela fought against racist white-settler minority rule in his homeland. Yet, it seems like headchopping terrorists in Syria won't have to wait as long as South African freedom fighter.

The US State Department added Al-Qaeda's 2017 off-shoot Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) to its terror list in May 2018. Yet, today, the mainstream media is actively aiding in rebranding the group, presenting them as supposedly reformed terrorists. The US and the UK have even floated that they may remove HTS from terror lists. What has changed? It's certainly not the group's ideology or actions. Still, HTC appears to have seized power in a country that the US and Israel have strategic interests in and already occupy parts of.

It makes you think, is the terrorist designation really about terrorism or more about geopolitical interests at any said time?

Let us know in the below.

Sources:

https://thecradle.co/articles-id/28005

https://www.csis.org/programs/former-programs/warfare-irregular-threats-and-terrorism-program-archives/terrorism-backgrounders/hayat-tahrir

https://www.state.gov/foreign-terrorist-organizations

GRAMMYS IN KENYA: CULTURAL POSITIVE OR MISPLACED PRIORITY?

Kenya’s President recently revealed that the country spent $3.8 million to secure hosting rights for the Grammy Awards in 2027, sparking widespread public outrage given the country’s pressing issues.

For more news like this, follow us on Bluesky, Patreon, Rumble, Telegram and X.

Sources
https://x.com/i/status/1866195627295543378
https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/realtime/2024-12-10-kenya-has-paid-sh500m-bid-to-host-grammys-ruto

Medical intern frustrations
https://nation.africa/kenya/news/no-pay-insults-and-running-errands-the-rough-life-of-an-intern-in-kenya-4581298

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YGroEGWx4Ec

Govt slow walking on 2017 CBA
https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2024-04-10-why-we-settled-for-sh70k-stipend-for-medical-interns-src