RIGHTS GROUP ACCUSES SECRETIVE KENYAN SECURITY UNIT OF MASS KIDNAPPINGS

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has raised concerns about Kenya’s Operation Support Unit (OSU), accusing it of carrying out a wave of abductions similar to those perpetrated by the disbanded Special Service Unit (SSU), both under the Directorate of Criminal Investigations. President William Ruto had dissolved the SSU, citing its involvement in extrajudicial killings - including of around 30 people whose bodies were found in the River Yala. Now, HRW alleges the OSU - the SSU’s replacement - is perpetuating similar abuses. Since mid-2024, the group documented 86 abductions, including 26 individuals still missing, following mass protests against an IMF-backed finance bill.

Continued…….. Sources
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/report-exposes-dci-abduction-squad/ar-AA1xlAuo
https://citizen.digital/news/human-rights-watch-claims-dci-squad-osu-formed-by-ruto-behind-abductions-n356001
https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/national/article/2001509758/rights-lobby-links-secret-units-within-dci-nis-to-abductions

Ruto disbands SSU
https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3196303/kenya-disbands-killer-police-unit

Four Turks refouled
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cvgwg5n0y0lo

Besigye abducted
https://kenyainsights.com/how-besigye-was-abducted-in-nairobi-and-secretly-ferried-to-kampala-military-jail/

Maria abducted
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/tanzanian-journalist-maria-sarungi-abducted-in-kilimani-kenya/ar-BB1rjVRk

HAWAII IS NOT AMERICA!

More Native Hawaiians now live on the US mainland than on the islands themselves. In 2023, the US Census Bureau reported that 53% of them resided on the continent, compared with 47% in Hawaii. The devastating fires on Maui in August that year only aggravated the trend.

However, the displacement of indigenous people began centuries ago through European and American expansion. Before Captain James Cook landed in 1778, Hawaii was inhabited by descendants of Polynesians who’d settled there from as early as the 5th century AD.

The US-backed overthrow of Queen Lili‘uokalani - the only reigning queen and last monarch of the Hawaiian Kingdom - led to the annexation of Hawaii by the United States in 1898.

There’s still a lot of Western ignorance surrounding the history of these Pacific islands. In this 1990 clip from an episode of Island Issues, activist and educator Hunani-Kay Trask (1949-2021) quickly educates a caller on America’s dark past.

Continued……. Sources:

https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.1018804108

https://womenshistory.si.edu/herstory/activism/object/queen-liliuokalani

https://womenshistory.si.edu/herstory/activism/object/queen-liliuokalani

SUDAN ARMED FORCES ETHNICALLY TARGETING SOUTH SUDANESE

Reports are surfacing of the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) ethnically targeting South Sudanese with k*llings, torture and harassment following the SAF recapturing Wad Madani in Al Jazirah state from UAE-backed Rapid Support Forces paramilitary group (RSF).

South Sudanese are enraged and call for immediate accountability. The scenes depicted are not only horrific but are also a painful reminder of the systemic racism and discrimination South Sudanese communities faced in Sudan, leading to the country’s independence in 2011.

In other reports earlier this week, rights groups also accused the SAF of ethnically targeting indigenous Sudanese civilians, k*lling 13 people, including two children, in Wad Madani. SAF issued a statement on 14 January, calling these incidents ‘individual violations.’ And, in December 2024, an SAF airstrike on a Darfur market injured many civilians and k*lled over 100.

Continued………SAF violence is not a new phenomenon. For decades, indigenous communities from the Nuba Mountains to Darfur, as well as South Sudanese before the secession, have endured it.

Civil societies and rights groups have called for accountability for both warring parties throughout the duration of the proxy war that began on 15 April 2023. They continue to reiterate that SAF is Islamist-led and an extension of the former National Congress Party that oppressed Sudanese and has kept Sudan in vicious cycles of war.

Sources:

https://www.radiotamazuj.org/en/news/article/juba-summons-sudan-envoy-over-wad-madani-atrocities

https://sudantribune.com/article296100/#google_vignette

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/dec/10/airstrike-north-darfur-market-kills-people-sudan

https://www.barrons.com/news/sudan-army-denies-involvement-in-al-jazira-state-civilian-assaults-8c38dc92?refsec=topics_afp-news

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/sudanese-army-says-advancing-key-rsf-held-capital-al-jazira-state

https://x.com/african_stream/status/1869404365674467526?s=46

GRAYZONE JOURNO CONFRONTS BLINKEN

Grayzone editor Max Blumenthal delivered a sharp critique to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken during his final briefing at the State Department, asserting Blinken’s legacy will be one of gen*cide.

While security ejected @maxblumenthal (X) from the briefing room, he voiced the anger of many regarding the Biden administration’s support for Israel’s military actions in Gaza, which Amnesty International has labelled a gen*cide.

Reports indicate that Washington has been supplying Israel with a significant arsenal, including more than 10,000 ‘bunker-buster’ bombs that weigh 2,000 pounds and thousands of Hellfire missiles as of June 2024. Blumenthal pointed out to Blinken that 300 journalists have been on the ‘receiving end of [his] bombs.’

He also confronted Blinken about his relatives’ roles as Israeli lobbyists, implying Blinken is compromised.

Continued……. The Grayzone editor encapsulated his criticism of US policy, suggesting that Washington has yielded to the demands of Tel Aviv, thereby implicating itself in the ongoing onslaught that had k*lled as many as 186,000 Palestinians as of early July, per the Lancet medical journal.

Blumenthal’s ejection came after security hauled away independent journalist Sam Husseini (@samhusseini on X), the communications director at the US-based Institute for Public Accuracy (@accuracy on X), who challenged Blinken.

Video credits: @maxblumenthal, @naderabed, @theguardian (X)

Sources:

https://www.reuters.com/world/us-has-sent-israel-thousands-2000-pound-bombs-since-oct-7-2024-06-28

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/hecklers-interrupt-blinken-over-gaza-policy-his-final-news-conference-2025-01-16/

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2024/12/amnesty-international-concludes-israel-is-committing-genocide-against-palestinians-in-gaza/

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/16/world/middleeast/blinken-israel-hamas-gaza-ceasefire.html

MANDELA: CUBA SUPPORTED OUR FIGHT AGAINST IMPERIALISM

In this 1990 interview, Nelson Mandela (1918-2013) gave Cuba its flowers by refusing to declare Fidel Castro an enemy simply because of US government claims and media pressure.

The South African leader emphasised that the Caribbean island of Cuba, which has survived US economic sanctions since 1960, didn’t hesitate to provide moral and material solidarity in the fight against apartheid, unlike the US, which turned its back on Black South African freedom fighters when they asked for help. The Cuban people’s contribution to anti-imperialist struggles extended beyond his homeland and had a powerful impact across Africa.

Mandela told PBS anchor Robert MacNeil (1931-2024) that South Africans must stand by those who stood by them during times of need.

Video credit: @NewsHour (X)

Source:

https://www.cfr.org/timeline/us-cuba-relations

COMMUNIST PARTY LEADER SURVIVES ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT

On 11 January, armed assailants broke into the home of the general secretary of the ‘Communist Party Marxist - Kenya’ (CPM-K). Booker Omole says they intended to kill him. But it was he who ended up killing one of them, in self-defence - prompting the others to flee. African Stream paid him a visit to get a first-hand account of what happened.

The Kenyan police quickly decided the incident was an attempted burglary. But, given his activities as a socialist organiser, Omole suspects other, political motives were at play. He told us that the assailants did not attempt to steal anything, and the only thing they said in his presence was ‘ua,’ which is Kiswahili for ‘kill.’ He’s demanding a thorough investigation.

Continued……. His suspicions have a strong basis. Even after Kenya’s independence, progressive organising in the country has been met with hostility by the authorities. CPM-K members have previously been victims of state persecution and repression, including Omole himself - as he relates in our interview.

LUMUMBA DISCIPLE’S FIGHT FOR A FREE CONGO

Many people worldwide celebrate the life and legacy of Congolese Pan-Africanist Patrice Lumumba (1925-61). After his assassination at the hands of Western-backed Congolese forces, guerilla warfare broke out across the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to restore the power of revolutionary Pan-Africanists and socialists.

African Stream’s Inem Richardson delves into the story of Pierre Mulele (1929-68), a ‘Lumumbaist’ who led the historic Kwilu Rebellion in the country’s centre while revolutionaries waged the Simba rebellion in Eastern Congo. These socialist revolutionaries drew inspiration from Pan-Africanists, such as Lumumba and Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah (1909-72), as well as Karl Marx (1818-83), Vladimir Lenin (1870-2024), and Mao Zedong (1893-1976). The Simba rebellion led to the declaration of a Peoples’ Republic of the Congo, with Stanleyville as the capital (not to be confused with the Peoples’ Republic of the Congo with Brazzaville as the capital).

Continued…….. Countries such as China and Cuba provided material support and training to the rebels. Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara, the Argentine revolutionary who won a place in history for his role during the Cuban revolution, travelled with other Cuban militants in the Congo to fight alongside the Congolese guerillas.

Women also played a key role in the rebellion, with one scholar estimating women made up as much as 25 to 30 per cent of Kwilu rebels. Léonie Abo, now 80 years old, stands out as a combattant who fought alongside her husband, Pierre Mulele.

Ultimately, internal disorganisation, low morale, and competing factions within the rebel forces crushed both the Simba and Kwilu rebellions. Some say various imperialist forces also worked together to thwart a revolution and prop up reactionaries.

Nevertheless, Mulele, like Lumumba, remains a hero in the Democratic Republic of the Congo today.

TUPAC SPEAKS UP FOR PRE-TEEN MUM

Rapper Tupac Shakur (1971-1996) may have passed away at a young age, but his songs reveal a profound political and social awareness that surpassed his years.

At the age of just 20, Tupac released the impactful track Brenda’s Got a Baby, which tells the heartbreaking story of a 12-year-old girl who abandoned her baby boy in a garbage chute in New York City. While filming the crime movie ‘Juice’ in Harlem, he came across a newspaper article detailing the tragic circumstances of the girl’s life.

This young girl had lost her family nine years prior when they succumbed to toxic carbon monoxide poisoning after using their oven for heat. She ended up living with a great-aunt and later became pregnant by a second cousin, managing to keep it a secret until she gave birth alone.

Continued……With his roots in a community-oriented background, being the son of Black Panther member Afeni Shakur (1947-2016), Tupac recognised the significance of the girl’s story, deeming it more important than the film he was working on at the time. Frustrated by the mainstream media’s lack of urgency in covering the story, he decided to take action in the way he knew best. He wrote about ‘Brenda’ (a pseudonym) and eventually recorded the song with his friend Money B from Digital Underground. The music video for Brenda’s Got a Baby was released in 1992 and received widespread praise.

According to UNICEF, around 13% of adolescent girls and young women worldwide give birth before the age of 18. African adolescent girls face heightened risks of unplanned pregnancies due to early marriage, abuse and rape. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) reports that girls under 18 in Africa are twice as likely to die during childbirth compared to those over 20.

As Tupac powerfully stated, if we don’t advocate for our sisters, who will?

Sources:

https://rockthebells.com/articles/brendas-got-a-baby-tupac-true-story/

https://www.kqed.org/arts/13927810/brendas-got-a-baby-tupac-shakur-ethel-love

https://data.unicef.org/topic/child-health/adolescent-health/

https://esaro.unfpa.org/en/topics/adolescent-pregnancy

IS FRANCE ‘NEO-COLONISING’ NIGERIA?

Nigeria sits smack in the middle of Françafrique, a French sphere of political, economic and military influence over ex-colonies in West and Central Africa.

Content creator The Merc (@_the_merc on Instagram and X) is waving a big red flag, claiming that Paris is now looking for similar sway over Abuja. He points to a 300-million-euro multi-sector deal, branding it a smokescreen for France’s true intentions towards Nigeria.

It’s not hard to see why Macron & Co. are keen to plant the French flag in Nigeria. The Sahel trio of anti-imperialist nations - Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger - have kicked out the French military, slashed French media influence, started nationalising their natural resources and formed an alliance to collaborate on defence, the economy and foreign policy. They’ve also quit regional bloc ECOWAS, which France was using to try and exercise control over the defiant three.

Continued………For a bit of context, Tinubu is itching for French backing to rescue Nigeria from its worst economic slump in ages, while Macron is on the lookout for a buddy to help mend France’s bruised reputation in Africa.

So, do you think Nigerians will soon be brushing up on their French, or will Tinubu’s cozy relationship with Macron fizzle out faster than a soda left open?

Video credit: @The Merc

Sources:

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cpq9x94gj2no

https://wadr.org/nigeria-and-france-sign-a-300-million-euro-deal-to-finance-critical-sectors/

https://www.euractiv.com/section/africa/news/france-grants-full-support-to-ecowas-deployment-of-regional-military-force/

https://africacheck.org/fact-checks/meta-programme-fact-checks/us-france-deny-plans-military-bases-nigeria-nigerian

https://ecfr.eu/article/why-france-should-close-its-permanent-military-bases-in-africa/

HAITI’S CRISIS DEEPENS DESPITE KENYAN-LED MISSION

On 25 June 2024, the first group of Kenya’s police arrived in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince on a UN-authorised and US-backed Multinational Security Support Mission. More police reinforcements from Kenya and other countries were allegedly supposed to assist Haitian police in quelling surging gang violence in the predominantly Black Caribbean country.

Despite widespread objection back in Kenya, as well as from Haitians, the Kenyan police force has operated in Haiti for more than six months without progress.

Continued……Now, a 13 January joint investigation by The New Humanitarian (@newhumanitarian on X) and Kenya’s Nation newspaper (@nationafrica on X) reveals Haiti is worse off today than a year ago, and that the Kenyan police bit off way more than they could chew when Kenyan President William Ruto hastily agreed to dispatch his fellow citizens.

Sources:

https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/01/1158781

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/12/23/un-publishes-new-death-toll-of-two-hundred-seven-for-recent-massacre-in-haitis-capital

https://www.president.go.ke/kenya-and-haiti-sign-agreement-on-the-deployment-of-1000-police-officers/

https://www.kenyans.co.ke/news/103673-new-report-shows-kenya-police-underfunded

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/6/25/kenyan-police-contingent-arrives-in-haiti-as-protests-roil-nairobi

https://www.thenewhumanitarian.org/investigations/2025/01/13/haiti-depth-why-kenya-led-security-mission-floundering
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BE PROUD OF YOUR AFRICAN ANCESTRY

In this clip from the Honest Bunch Podcast on Glitch Africa Studios, child-abuse activist Praise Fowowe spoke about why it’s important to teach future generations about their African ancestry so they can be unfazed in the face of racism.  

@praisefowowe (X) recounted a time when he was introduced as ‘Black man’ in an all-white meeting. He responded with a history of his ancestors of the Benin Kingdom, a highly advanced civilisation with innovations in urban planning and architecture, including street lighting and well-organised road networks, long before many Western cities achieved similar advancements. 

Continued…….. Knowing about these historical accomplishments helps children stand with grace rather than bitterness in the face of discrimination and racism by reminding them of the greatness from which they descend.

Video credit: @glitchafricastu (X)

Sources:

1. http://revealinghistories.org.uk/colonialism-and-the-expansion-of-empires/articles/the-empire-of-benin-and-its-cultural-heritage.html#:~:text=The%20social%20structure%20was%20complex,well%20as%20its%20central%20city.

2. https://www.artshelp.com/the-walls-of-benin-the-forgotten-structural-wonder/

3. https://effiongp.msu.domains/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/Benin-Walls.pdf

4. https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/kingdom-benin/

5. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/jan/14/children-family-histories-tales