RUTO 2ND-MOST CORRUPT PERSON AFTER ASSAD?

Kenya’s President William Ruto has been pipped to the post by Syria’s deposed Bashar al-Assad as 2024’s Corrupt Person of the Year. The award is made annually by the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), which solicited nominations from the public.

Kenyans, though, have been left wondering whether the OCCRP itself has been handed a kickback, as their president got a record 40,000 online nominations - yet only came second, despite swimming deep in allegations of mis-governance and overseeing a deadly crackdown on protests. Ruto is also reportedly the world’s highest paid leader when adjusted for Kenya’s economic output - something that hardly sits right, given his county’s dire financial state.

Continued….. The jury said they ultimately picked Assad because of his “far-reaching and devastating” influence. Some aren’t buying that, speculating that the competition was rigged to bring greater legitimacy to Assad’s removal from power by (supposedly ex) extremists in late 2024.

What do you think?

Sources:

https://www.occrp.org/en/person-of-the-year/bashar-al-assad

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0q0w1g8zqvo

https://theconversation.com/hotbed-of-corruption-kenyas-elite-have-captured-the-state-unrest-is-inevitable-233562

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c39nyvvmne8o

https://www.citizen.digital/news/ruto-receives-record-breaking-nominations-for-occrp-corrupt-person-of-the-year-noscript-n355189

https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/08/22/what-the-west-got-wrong-in-syria/

‘GREATEST BRIT’ CHURCHILL’S IMPERIALIST RACISM

Britain still lionises its war-time prime minister Winston Churchill who died on this day 24th January 1965 .

He’s credited with being a driving force against Hitler and the Nazis.

Yet the dyed-in-the-wool imperialist oversaw some Hitleresque policies of his own. Here’s a real lion’s perspective on Churchill’s deep racism and imperialism

JOSHUA MAPONGA: AFRICA’S SOUTH NEEDS A TRAORÉ!

The Sahel region has become emblematic of what is possible when Africans decide to smash the chains of neo-colonialism and seize their sovereignty. Incredibly inspirational has been the revolutionary leadership of Burkina Faso’s Captain Ibrahim Traoré. Africans across the continent see him as a unifying role model. Among those who think so is the pan-African Zimbabwean author and thinker Joshua Maponga. He’s just set off on a fact-finding mission to the Sahel to see what lessons the south of our continent can learn from the tremendous changes happening up there. As he says in this video, our leaders have been licking non-African boots for too long and allowing the West to set Africa’s agenda. It’s time we set our own agenda.

Video credit: Make Africa Great (YouTube)

PANIC IN GOMA AFTER M23 CAPTURE SAKE

The Democratic Republic of Congo’s eastern city of Goma is in turmoil after Rwanda-backed M23 rebels seized control of Sake town on Thursday, January 23rd.

M23 is now set to push towards Goma, just 25 km (15 miles) away from Sake.

The resurgence of fighting comes after peace negotiations between the presidents of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, which were slated to take place in Luanda, Angola, on December 15th, 2024. Since the beginning of 2025, M23 has achieved a series of successful offensives, tightening its grip on Goma by capturing surrounding mineral-rich towns.

Goma, home to 2 million residents and thousands more streaming in after fleeing intense fighting between M23 and Congolese troops, is effectively sealed off, with M23 blocking the two primary supply routes from the west and north.

Continued……The only escape route is via Lake Kivu, notorious for its dangerous conditions and frequent boat accidents due to overcrowding and inadequate safety measures in the conflict-ridden area.

The capture of Sake follows M23’s earlier takeover of Masisi, a key location in the mineral-rich territory, just weeks prior. In a clear indication of the escalating situation, Congolese Communication Minister Patrick Muyaya stated on January 22nd to France24 that war with Rwanda is “an option to consider.”

A report from UN experts in June 2024 indicated that Rwanda had deployed approximately 3,000 to 4,000 troops to support M23, facilitating their territorial expansion in eastern Congo. The M23 group has faced accusations of committing atrocities against civilians, exacerbating the already dire humanitarian crisis in the Great Lakes region.

This ongoing resource-driven conflict, which has persisted for three decades, is recognised as one of the most devastating and prolonged wars in modern history. It involves over 120 militias and armed groups, many allegedly backed by foreign governments and interests. The conflict has resulted in approximately 6-million deaths, over 7-million internally displaced individuals and numerous reports of sexual violence.

Sources:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-68255614

https://www.trtworld.com/africa/m23-rebels-battling-drc-army-approach-goma-city-after-seizing-sake-town-18257339

https://www.voanews.com/a/fighting-reaches-outskirts-of-eastern-congo-s-largest-city-as-rebels-close-in-/7948493.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zR8p4lxujI8

On 14 January, then-outgoing US President Joe Biden announced he’d remove Cuba from the list of countries that Washington claims are 'state sponsors of t*rrorism.'

However, before the ink of Biden's signature could dry, US President Donald Trump reversed the decision as soon as he began his second stint at the White House.

To the uninitiated, this act could portray Biden as the good guy and Trump as the bad guy, but the truth is that there is no good guy or lesser evil here—only politricks at play.

Biden's last-minute removal of the 2021 designation of Havana as a state sponsor of t*rrorism was not an oversight; it seemed like a deliberate ploy to mock the people of Cuba because as soon as Trump walked into the White House, the removal went up in smoke.

Continued…….. If Biden wanted to help the Cuban people, he would have worked to ensure the US Congress ended more than six decades of a unilateral US embargo. Similarly, the US designated Cuba as a state sponsor of t*rrorism in 1982, rescinded it in 2015 and placed it back in 2021.

To US politicians like Biden, the Cuban masses are nothing more than pieces on a political chessboard that politicians in the empire can shuffle around to make political points. However, such 'games' have had a devastating effect on the lives of ordinary Cubans, whose access to essential commodities, such as drugs and food, is hampered by the embargo and the other related economic and political sanctions that Washington has imposed on the island nation. In 2018, the UN's Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean revealed the blockade had cost the island nation $130 billion since the early 1960s.

The unilateral measures are not only unethical but violate the United Nations charter. For the last 32 years, the UN General Assembly has overwhelmingly voted to end the US policy that economically strangles the Caribbean island nation.

However, the US has arrogantly ignored the resolutions, essentially giving the international community a one-finger salute.

The US has maintained the embargo on Cuba for, among other reasons, as a warning to other states that dare challenge the empire. However, in reality, what has shone is the Cuban people's resilience and steadfastness in the face of the world's biggest bully.

Trump can reverse the designation, but the world knows who between Washington and Havana has spread war and t*rror across the world, especially in the Global South.

As Uganda's representative stated at the 2023 UN General Assembly, 'All we know about Cuba is friendship and solidarity; we know nothing about t*rrorism.'

Sources:

https://www.politico.com/live-updates/2025/01/20/donald-trump-inauguration-day-news-updates-analysis/a-quick-reversal-on-cuba-00199531

https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/trump-revokes-biden-removal-cuba-us-state-sponsors-terrorism-list-2025-01-21

https://press.un.org/en/2023/ga12552.doc.htm

https://www.reuters.com/article/world/us-trade-embargo-has-cost-cuba-130-billion-un-says-idUSKBN1I93JM

https://press.un.org/en/2024/ga12650.doc.htm

https://cu.usembassy.gov/u-s-announces-designation-of-cuba-as-a-state-sponsor-of-terrorism

https://www.state.gov/reports/country-reports-on-terrorism-2019/cuba

CONGO NEEDS OUR PRAYERS - AND ACTION

Focus Congo activist Pappy Orion has made a heartfelt appeal for people to pray for DRC, and to help however possible. His message was posted on Thursday, as M23 rebels seized control of Sake town near the provincial capital Goma in mineral-rich North Kivu, sealing off the last viable escape route from the 2-million strong city.

As Pappy points out, Congo is suffering due to a new tech boom, driven by electric mobility and smart devices, which rely on Congolese minerals such as coltan and cobalt. The DRC is believed to hold an astonishing $24 trillion in untapped mineral resources, attracting the interest of powerful outside forces, eager to exploit these assets.

Continued………DRC’s 30-year resource war involves over 120 militias and armed groups, some of which are reportedly backed by foreign governments. For example, a UN report recently said there was convincing evidence that neighbouring Rwanda is arming and supporting the M23.

Approximately 6-million Congolese lives have been lost, with more than 7 million displaced internally, and countless women and girls suffering from sexual violence.

Judging by the latest developments on the battlefield, more dark days are ahead.

Video credit: @pappyorion (Instagram)

Sources:

https://trtafrika.com/news/dollar24-trillion-deposits

https://hcss.nl/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/HCSS_21_05_13_Coltan_Congo_Conflict_web.pdf

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-53017188

https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/belgian-king-establishes-congo-free-state/

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/03/05/tech/big-tech-child-labor-congo-lawsuit/index.html

Kenya’s newly appointed Cabinet Secretary for Agriculture and Livestock Development Mutahi Kagwe has sparked controversy by rejecting the entry of genetically modified (GM) foods and livestock vaccines into the East African country. Kagwe emphasised he intends to foster domestic innovation to strengthen the agricultural sector. The cabinet secretary stressed the importance of ensuring outsiders don’t use the Kenyan people to test their GM products.

Continued…….. His statements contradict the government’s support for such imports, raising questions about whether it will put him at odds with the government. 

Kagwe’s remarks come amid a long-standing debate over GMO foods. After a decade-long ban on biotechnology foods, first implemented by former President Mwai Kibaki in 2012 and upheld by his successor, President Uhuru Kenyatta, the government lifted the ban in October 2022. This decision led to court petitions citing health, environmental, and biodiversity concerns. However, the High Court dismissed these petitions, stating that Kenya has established adequate safety measures under a robust biosafety regulatory framework.

In late December 2024, President William Ruto called for the vaccination of 22 million cattle and 50 million sheep and goats to boost meat exports. The move raised questions about the involvement of US billionaire Bill Gates, known for promoting GMOs, in the planned nationwide vaccination program, a claim denied by the government. A Gazette Notice in October 2024 announced that the government would grant certain privileges and immunities to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s operations in the country. However, the High Court later issued orders to suspend the foundation’s special status pending further hearings.

Will Kagwe’s new action plan be effective?

Sources:

https://eastleighvoice.co.ke/national/104526/mutahi-kagwe-only-locally-developed-gmos-will-be-allowed-in-kenya

https://www.msn.com/en-xl/africa/kenya/blow-for-bill-gates-foundation-as-high-court-suspends-immunities-issued-by-kenyan-govt/ar-AA1uJ6oJ

https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/realtime/2024-12-30-ruto-to-critics-provide-alternatives-to-livestock-vaccination

https://www.voanews.com/a/kenyan-president-strongly-defends-animal-vaccination-program/7905837.html

https://new.kenyalaw.org/akn/ke/act/ln/2024/157/eng@2024-10-18

UN PEACEKEEPERS ABANDONING GOMA RESIDENTS?

With Goma in east DRC now surrounded by Rwanda-backed rebels after the fall of Sake on Thursday, videos emerged online of what‘s claimed to be UN troops leaving the region. It’s left people furious that supposed peacekeepers are leaving a city of 2 million (plus the influx of people fleeing the surrounding towns and villages) in the lurch.

The main objective of UN operations has been to protect Congolese civilians from armed groups and to support government efforts to stabilise eastern Congo. However, there have been growing protests against the mission over its abject failure to secure those goals. There are now fears that the M23 could capture Goma again, as they did in 2012.

For three decades, the people of Congo have endured unspeakable violence, including death, displacement, sexual violence, hunger and disease.

Continued……. The ongoing conflict in this mineral-rich country has led to one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, displacing over 7-million people. The persistent violence, involving more than 120 armed groups in the eastern region, has devastated the lives of many Congolese who bear the brunt of this turmoil.

Video credits: @freecongo_kollekti, @focuscongo

Sources:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-68255614

https://www.trtworld.com/africa/m23-rebels-battling-drc-army-approach-goma-city-after-seizing-sake-town-18257339

CHICAGO MAYOR: I WON'T ALLOW WHITE SUPREMACY TO DIVIDE US

In this powerful clip, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson responded to the latest media flurry regarding US President Donald Trump’s plans for ‘mass deportation.’ 

However, despite Trump’s rhetoric in his first term (2017-21), he deported 1.39 million migrants, fewer than his predecessors, Joe Biden (1.4 million deportations), Barack Obama (5 million deportations), George W Bush (more than 10 million deportations). 

Johnson pointed out that the US government allowed Ukrainians to seek asylum during the 2-1/2 years following the start of the war in Ukraine. While Biden banned asylum applications with a historic executive order in June 2024, Ukrainians benefited from an exception.

Continued….. Johnson also pushed back by raising Indigenous peoples’ fight to reclaim their lands. The US was built following the displacement of Indigenous peoples. In 1887, four centuries after the Pan-European colonial project kicked off in the Americas, Indigenous tribes—whose population is estimated between 3.1 and 8.7 million—inhabited 138 million acres. Today, they control just 56 million acres. Parts of what are now western US states were under the control of Mexico before the Mexican-American War (1846-48), further seizing Indigenous peoples’ lands. With European imposition of colonial borders, Indigenous peoples could no longer freely trade, seek out food and travel.

Similarly, what is now known as the US city of Chicago is land that numerous Indigenous tribes claim, including the Council of the Three Fires (representing three nations: Ojibwe, Odawa and Potawatomi), the Miami, Ho-Chunk, Menominee, Sac, Fox, Kickapoo and Illinois Nations. Racist policies like the 1830 Indian Removal Act changed this, pushing out tens of thousands of Indigenous peoples. By 1910, the Indigenous population in Chicago dwindled to 188. The US government forced Indigenous peoples in Chicago west of the Mississippi River, where they live on ‘reservations’ that some have referred to as ‘concentration camps.’

Sources:

https://iwgia.org/en/usa/5396-iw-2024-united-states.html

https://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/diversity/chicago-indigenous

https://revenuedata.doi.gov/how-revenue-works/native-american-ownership-governance/

https://www.history.com/topics/19th-century/mexican-american-war

https://www.salzburgglobal.org/news/topics/article/the-impact-of-colonial-borders-on-indigenous-communities

https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/immigration/mexican/becoming-part-of-the-united-states

https://english.elpais.com/usa/2024-11-19/trump-deported-fewer-people-than-obama-clinton-or-bush-but-more-indiscriminately.html

https://www.rescue.org/article/what-do-president-bidens-border-policies-mean-asylum-seekers

https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2025/01/14/deportations-increased-ice-arrests-in-detroit-decreased-under-biden/77675042007

The president of the revolutionary Alliance of Sahel States (AES), Assimi Goïta, has officially announced that the confederation will start issuing passports from 29 January. That’s the date the three member states - Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger - are scheduled to exit from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). AES citizens will still be able to use their national passports (with ECOWAS markings) until they expire.

The new integrated biometric passport will allow free movement between the three Sahelian nations of the confederation. The development signals another step towards the pan-African bloc’s ever closer integration - with goods also set to be allowed to pass borders without customs, in a bid to boost the economy.

Continued……This comes less than a week after closer collaboration in the security sphere was revealed. On 20 January, Niger’s defence minister announced that the AES will be forming a joint, 5,000-strong military force to counter terrorism in the region.

Despite ECOWAS - widely seen as a Western tool - trying hard to prevent the AES breakaway, the trio’s new passport affirms its resolve to maintain sovereignty from foreign-sponsored ‘African’ institutions.

Source:

https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/junta-led-sahel-states-ready-joint-force-5000-troops-says-minister-2025-01-22/

PAY-DEMANDING MINE WORKER GETS GUN TO HEAD!

A video of a Chinese mine manager threatening to shoot a Zimbabwean worker who was demanding his unpaid wages has reignited the debate over foreign investors’ treatment of African workers.

Liu Haifeng, a manager at Ming Chang Sino-Africa Mining Investments, is seen pointing a pistol at the worker, who has since been identified as 38-year-old Kholwani Dube, who allegedly threatened the manager over $600 of unpaid salary. In the video, Dube shouts at him to pay up.

Later in the video, Chinese nationals are seen pinning Dube to the ground while one of them is pointing a gun at his head.

Continued…….. Criminal charges have been filed against both Dube and Haifeng. According to police, Dube is accused of attacking his manager with a knife, while Haifeng has been charged with pointing a firearm.

The video has triggered angry reactions, with many saying that it is a testament to the abuse and poor working conditions that African workers are subjected to at the hands of Chinese investors.

While China has emerged as a reliable development and investment partner for many African countries, Chinese investors into the continent have faced numerous allegations of poor labour practices, ranging from very low wages and long working hours to physical abuse of workers.

In 2020, Zhang Xuelin, a manager at a Chinese-run gold mine, was arrested for shooting and wounding two Zimbabwean workers after they protested over delayed wages.

In 2021, a Malawian worker testified before a Johannesburg court that he had been physically assaulted by his Chinese boss at a factory in the South African commercial capital.

Sources:

https://x.com/advocatemahere/status/1882406413940805830

https://www.hrw.org/news/
2011/11/03/zambia-workers-detail-abuse-chinese-owned-mines

https://x.com/PoliceZimbabwe

https://chinaglobalsouth.com/
2022/05/26/a-chinese-appeal-for-compatriots-not-to-abuse-local-workers-in-africa/

https://www.scmp.com/news/world/africa/article/3091300/chinese-mine-companies-zimbabwe-accused-rampant-abuse-after-boss

https://www.labour.gov.za/workers-in-the-chinese-factory-we-assaulted-by-the-employers-a-witness-told-the-johannesburg-high-court

https://www.labour.gov.za/workers-in-the-chinese-factory-we-assaulted-by-the-employers-a-witness-told-the-johannesburg-high-court

LOOTED ARTEFACTS USED TO REINFORCE WHITE SUPREMACY

The British Museum houses around 73,000 African objects from the Benin, Dahomey and Ashanti Kingdoms (in present-day Nigeria, Benin and Ghana, respectively). In this video, Weyni Tesfai (@planbacktoafrica) reminds us that the continued display of colonial loot in Western museums is a form of violence. Furthermore, by juxtaposing ‘primitive’ African items with the ‘advances’ of Western culture, it reinforces false White-supremacist narratives. Over the years, European authorities have spuriously argued that they cannot in good conscience return artefacts because they cannot determine the legitimate owners or be sure the items will be looked after appropriately - as if it were for them to decide.

Video credit: @planbacktoafrica (Instagram)

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