Continued….. 6.https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c8xpqvz0e88o

7.https://reliefweb.int/report/libya/sudan-situation-sudanese-refugees-and-asylum-seekers-libya-19-jan-2025

8.https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2024/7/10/sudanese-refugees-dwell-in-ethiopian-forest-away-from-bandits-and-militias

9.https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/10/17/ethiopia-fighting-abuses-putting-sudanese-refugees-risk#:~:text=Ethiopia%20currently%20hosts%20over%2090%2C000,also%20fled%20Sudan%20into%20Ethiopia.

10.https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.darfurwomenaction.org/press_release/over-120-civilians-killed-and-over-130-women-committed-suicide-to-escape-rape-by-rsf&sa=D&source=docs&ust=1737631498285360&usg=AOvVaw1Q3WOTa1I5_vfADEa-Nhdi

On 14 January, Niger’s students took to the streets in a mass mobilisation with a clear message of support for their government, known as the National Council for the Safeguarding of the Homeland (CNSP), in the face of imperialist threats. 

‘We are committed to fighting relentlessly against imperialism, a historic fight to which we devote ourselves, body and soul,’ said Effred Mouloul Al Hassane, secretary-general of the Union of Nigerien Students.

Recently, Nigerien President Abdourahamane Tiani said France was threatening his country.

Continued……‘Unfortunately, the enemy we face is not terrorism, but above all, France.’ Pan-Africanists in Niger and worldwide have celebrated Niger’s new government for nationalising uranium mines, ending its French military occupation, and becoming the first country in Africa to break ties with US Africa Command (AFRICOM). However, the country is still under attack by what many believe to be Western-backed death squads. Nigerien officials have also caught French spies working to destabilise their territory.

‘It’s only after we emerge [as a powerful nation] that we can move towards development, and that’s only if we remain united,’ said Brigadier General Abdou Harouna, the governor of Niamey, who attended this rally. ‘It’s essential that we work together, that we stand shoulder to shoulder to achieve this goal.’

Sources:

https://www.actuniger.com/societe/20700-niamey-la-jeunesse-scolaire-se-mobilise-massivement-pour-soutenir-le-cnsp-et-appeler-a-lunite-dans-la-lutte-contre-limperialisme.html

https://news.1rj.ru/str/Aesinfosfr/4990

https://fr.sputniknews.africa/20241116/le-niger-annonce-la-detention-dun-espion-presume-de-la-france—1069263671.html

https://news.1rj.ru/str/Aesinfosfr/5544

https://www.africom.mil/pressrelease/35590/us-withdrawal-from-niger-completed

https://www.neimagazine.com/news/niger-seizes-control-of-somair-uranium-mine/

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/french-company-orano-loses-control-of-uranium-mine-to-niger-admin/3414093

https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/last-french-troops-leave-niger-military-cooperation-officially-ends-2023-12-22/

WHY S. AFRICA NEEDS LAND EXPROPRIATION

On 23 January, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa signed into law the Land Expropriation Bill, introduced in 2022. This will enable the government to expropriate privately owned (in particular, White-owned) land for public purposes or in the public interest.

The final piece of legislation is a watered-down version of what the country’s opposition Economic Freedom Fighters party (EFF) has for years been fighting for. While the EFF had advocated for zero compensation for the expropriated land, the new law states that this will only be applied as a last-resort measure. That prompted the EFF to reject the new law, describing it as an ‘absurdity’ and ‘an attempt to fool our people.’

Continued…. The party argues that the new law will not be able adequately to address the existing land inequalities caused by centuries of racial oppression of Black South Africans. The EFF is particularly opposed to the ‘willing buyer, willing seller’ clause in the act, which requires consensus between the expropriating authority and the owner of the property on the amount of compensation. (In the event that the two sides cannot agree on the amount, courts have to determine an amount of compensation that is considered just and equitable.)

The debate around land expropriation has raged on in South Africa for decades. In this video from 2018, African Stream Editor-in-Chief Ahmed Kaballo explains why land reform is a non-negotiable requirement for South Africa to address the ever-growing economic and social inequality between Black South Africans and the descendants of White colonial settlers. Kaballo made the remarks back in December 2018, shortly after South Africa’s parliament overwhelmingly passed a committee report recommending amending the constitution to allow for expropriation without compensation.

Video credit: Press TV UK

Sources:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNoWJxK9QoY

https://mg.co.za/politics/2025-01-24-newly-signed-expropriation-bill-heading-for-court-cabinet-clearing-house/

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-01-25-tensions-rise-in-gnu-john-steenhuisen-calls-for-urgent-dialogue-following-expropriation-act-signing/?dm_source=top_reads_block&dm_medium=card_link&dm_campaign=top_reads&dm_content=maverick_news

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNoWJxK9QoY

https://x.com/EFFSouthAfrica/status/1882484477949337711
________________________

Hear Us Roar: https://news.1rj.ru/str/AfricanStream

BOASTFUL RUTO DISPLAYS IGNORANCE OF FRANCE’S HISTORY

Ever eager to project his importance on the international stage, Kenya’s president William Ruto took to X on Monday to say that he’d had a call with Emmanuel Macron about the war in DR Congo - boasting that his French counterpart had given his blessing to regional efforts to end the fighting. But in his eagerness to be seen as a ‘big-league’ player, Ruto - who is also Chair of the East African Community - seems to have forgotten some basic facts.

France is accused of having had a hand in the ongoing instability of the DRC, due to its complicity in the 1994 Rwandan Genocide. It supported the genocidal regime, training and arming its soldiers under the guise of a United Nations Security Council humanitarian intervention, dubbed Operation Turquoise. With France’s support, the perpetrators of the genocide were able to escape into DRC.

Continued……. Former French Colonel Guillaume Ancel - in his book ‘Rwanda: End of Silence’ (2018) - admits that when the Rwandan perpetrators escaped to the DRC, they were provided with arms by France in the refugee camps. “I witnessed one of these deliveries in the second half of July 1994,” he writes, adding that “the commanders explained that we were delivering weapons to those who had carried out massacres to prevent them from turning against the French army. It became clear they were following directives from the highest levels of the State.”

Today, France continues to support Rwanda and - by extension - the Kigali-backed M23 rebels, who have committed atrocities against the people of the DRC. Hence, Ruto’s tone-deaf post on X has rightly drawn heavy criticism from Africans questioning why he is even reaching out to France for support, at a time when Francophone countries are cutting ties with Paris and freeing themselves of its neo-colonial influence.

Sources:

https://en.sputniknews.africa/20240225/what-is-frances-role-in-eastern-drc-conflict--tensions-with-rwanda-1065237633.html

https://thegreatlakeseye.com/post?s=France%27s--stance--on--DRC--crisis--a--big--concern--_1327

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2023/jul/28/why-is-the-drc-wasting-precious-resources-on-an-outdated-testament-to-french-colonial-power

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2023/02/dr-congo-rwandan-backed-m23-rebels-perpetrating-summary-killings-and-rapes/

https://www.theafricareport.com/373043/what-remains-of-the-fdlr-in-eastern-drc/

CIA MADE AFGHANISTAN A NARCO-STATE

The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) played a pivotal role in the creation of the first true narco-state in history, Afghanistan.

In a covert operation known as ‘Operation Mosquito’ during the 1980s, the US plunged into Afghanistan’s drug trade, seeking to destabilise the Soviet occupation by inundating Russian soldiers with narcotics. Alfred McCoy, in his groundbreaking book, ‘Politics of Heroin: CIA Complicity in the Global Drug Trade,’ exposes how the CIA funnelled an astonishing $3 billion to the mujahideen leaders battling the Soviets, a strategy that ultimately facilitated the rise of the Taliban.

In this clip, a former CIA officer, John Kiriakou, reveals how, under the eyes of intelligence agents, Afghanistan’s landscape turned into a vast expanse of poppy fields, producing illicit opium that funnelled millions of dollars into the CIA’s shadowy operations, all while evading legal scrutiny.

Continued……. By 1986, the US State Department reported that opium was an ‘ideal crop in a war-torn country since it requires little capital investment, is fast growing and is easily transported and traded.’

As Afghanistan transitioned from a producer of essential food crops to an opium powerhouse, it accounted for a staggering 93 per cent of the global opium supply by 2007 and around 85 per cent in 2020.

Many Afghan farmers, seduced by the low investment and drought resistance of poppy cultivation, abandoned traditional staples like wheat, corn, and rice, causing severe food shortages and a catastrophic rise in heroin addiction, not only within Afghanistan but across Europe, the US, and Asia.

Video credit: @julianddorey (X)

Sources:

https://kabulnow.com/2024/11/un-reports-30-increase-in-opium-production-in-afghanistan-in-2024/

https://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/Afghanistan/Executive_Summary_english.pdf

https://www.globaltimes.cn/page/202111/1237798.shtml

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2003/4/24/war-with-drugs

https://unis.unvienna.org/unis/pressrels/2024/unisnar1492.html

https://library.fes.de/libalt/journals/swetsfulltext/13640296.pdf

https://history.wisc.edu/publications/the-politics-of-heroin-cia-complicity-in-the-global-drug-trade/#:~:text=The%20first%20book%20to%20prove,the%20Cold%20War%20until%20today.

https://www.transcend.org/tms/2017/08/its-the-opium-stupid-afghan-surge-guarantees-cia-black-ops-budget-boost/

https://news.sky.com/story/afghanistan-money-and-power-drive-afghanistans-opium-production-but-how-will-the-taliban-wean-themselves-off-the-profitable-trade-12385423

https://www.unodc.org/documents/wdr/WDR_2010/1.2_The_global_heroin_market.pdf

https://www.unodc.org/documents/crop-monitoring/AFG07_ExSum_web.pdf

https://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/Afghanistan/Executive_Summary_english.pdf

https://www.crisisgroup.org/asia/south-asia/afghanistan/340-trouble-afghanistans-opium-fields-taliban-war-drugs

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/06/21/afghanistan-taliban-opium-climate-change

https://www.dw.com/en/taliban-poppy-ban-leaves-afghan-farmers-angry-jobless/a-70977767

S. AFRICAN TROOP DEATHS IN DRC SPARK ANGER, CONCERN

South Africans are demanding their defence minister’s head roll - after 13 of the country’s soldiers deployed to DRC were killed amid allegations they were ill-equipped for their mission. The men died defending the eastern Congolese city of Goma from the onslaught of Rwanda-backed M23 rebels. Reports have been swirling that South Africa’s troops are short on ammo, and that their combat vehicles are breaking down. Critics of the government, including the Economic Freedom Fighters party, say the deaths point to government incompetence. On Sunday, South Africa’s ambassador to the UN slammed Kigali for atrocities in the DRC, urging the UN Security Council to take ‘decisive action.’

Continued….. Sources:

https://www.timeslive.co.za/sunday-times-daily/politics/2025-01-26-call-for-angie-motshekgas-head-over-soldiers-deaths-in-drc/
https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-01-27-four-more-dead-sandf-force-in-very-tense-situation-as-m23-overruns-goma/?dm_source=dm_block_grid&dm_medium=card_link&dm_campaign=main
https://www.iol.co.za/news/politics/carl-niehaus-insists-defence-minister-angie-motshekga-must-resign-after-sandfs-drc-tragedy-45d5a540-7877-45a6-95d1-eedf7d8712f3

https://www.actionsa.org.za/defence-minister-splurges-r10-4-million-on-travel-while-woefully-underfunded-south-african-soldiers-are-left-to-die-in-drc/

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-01-27-four-more-dead-sandf-force-in-very-tense-situation-as-m23-overruns-goma/?dm_source=dm_block_grid&dm_medium=card_link&dm_campaign=main

KINSHASA: MULTIPLE EMBASSIES ATTACKED

Videos have emerged showing multiple embassies being torched and vandalised by protesters in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s capital, Kinshasa - including the Belgian, French and Rwandan missions. Tires were burned outside the US embassy, with the UN’s headquarters also attacked.

People hit the streets after news that parts of Goma - the capital of North Kivu Province in eastern DRC - fell to Rwanda-backed M23 rebels, who have k*lled, r*ped and terrorised civilians.

Despite overwhelming evidence detailing Rwanda’s support for the M23 militia - which is intent on seizing control of mineral-rich regions of the country - Belgium, France, the UK, and the US continue to support Kigali. Western condemnation has largely been performative, with no real punishments.

Continued….. Moreover, the UN peacekeeping mission in the country (MONUSCO) is widely seen as a failure, unable to adequately protect civilians. UN personnel in Congo have also been accused of abuse of power and s*xual exploitation.

The 30-year proxy war over minerals in Congo has resulted in approximately 6 million deaths and the displacement of over 7 million people.

Sources:

https://www.thetimes.com/world/africa/article/congo-the-fight-for-blood-minerals-found-in-every-mobile-ssm0phr80

https://apnews.com/article/congo-goma-m23-rebels-rwanda-3b4f2e66da0743dadc7bd5eae855d8f0

https://apnews.com/article/sexual-exploitation-congo-united-nations-peacekeepers-d8a767eb32da0da7be6ecc6af2cd11fb

https://apnews.com/article/congo-goma-m23-rebels-residents-abac3115088f0c7591c69d495a3769ae

https://www.cfr.org/global-conflict-tracker/conflict/violence-democratic-republic-congo

https://worldwithoutgenocide.org/genocides-and-conflicts/congo

https://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/n24/118/80/pdf/n2411880.pdf

In this week's ‘Wednesday Wisdom,’ Argentina-born Cuban revolutionary and ally to the African struggle for liberation, Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara (1928-67), reminds us that the Congo problem is a collective problem.

With the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) only worsening following ongoing escalations and the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels recently seizing parts of Goma city, Guevara's words couldn't be more timely.

Between 1998 and 2010, over 6 million Congolese died in the DRC, considered the world's most resource-rich country. While foreign companies, the West, African elites and other individuals benefit from its riches, the DRC’s people remain impoverished, with 73 per cent of its population living on less than $2.15 a day.

Seeing the Congo exploited for decades reminds us that the global systems of oppression and imperialism have made human life in the Global South dispensable.

Continued….. However, if we do not act collectively, our silence, which normalises imperialism in the Congo, will have far reaching consequences for all people of the Global South.

Sources:

https://syracuse.ecampus.com/african-dream-diaries-revolutionary-war/bk/9780802138347

https://www.caritas.org/2010/02/six-million-dead-in-congos-war

https://www.worldbank.org/en/country/drc/overview

https://www.aljazeera.com/gallery/2025/1/27/photo-residents-flee-goma-as-m23-rebels-enter-drcs-largest-eastern-city

AFRICA’S VISA RESTRICTION NIGHTMARE

Why is the free movement of Africans across the continent so challenging? For years, there have been appeals for African countries to relax their visa restrictions, enabling us to travel more easily within Africa. Currently, only Benin, The Gambia, Rwanda, the Seychelles and Kenya have taken the progressive step of allowing visa-free entry to Africans. You’d have thought there’d be more such countries, given the clear advantages associated with unrestricted movement - such as enhanced intra-African trade and the promotion of pan-African unity.

And speaking of pan-African unity, the Alliance of Sahel States has declared that it will begin issuing joint passports starting 29 January. This new biometric ID will grant free movement between the three member nations (Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger).

Continued……. Let’s hope other African states follow their example!

Sources:

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

https://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/november-2024/easing-travel-restrictions-boost-intra-african-trade#:~:text=Free%20movement%20is%20key&text=Yet%20only%20four%20African%20countries,for%20it%20to%20take%20effect

https://www.visaopenness.org/visa-openness-in-africa-2024-findings-2/

WEST USING PROXIES TO CARRY OUT WAR IN CONGO

The conflict in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has boiled over in recent days. 

The M23 rebels, backed by Uganda and Rwanda, encroached on Goma city on 27 January, forcing hundreds of thousands of residents to flee to safer areas. Then, in the capital, Kinshasa, anger over the escalation erupted on 28 January as protesters attacked several embassies. The collapse of the December 2024 peace talks between the leaders of Rwanda and the DRC has only intensified the crisis. 

Continued….. During a 2 April 2024 episode on African Stream’s flagship podcast, ‘Pan-African Attitude,’ Pan-Africanist scholar PLO Lumumba highlighted how international powers have never wanted to help resolve Congo’s conflict. Lumumba added that Western governments have always used Africans to sow division in the mineral-rich Congo to facilitate the exploitation of its resources. He gave an example of how US and Belgian intelligence services groomed the DRC’s longtime president, Mobutu Sese Seko (1930-97), to overthrow revolutionary leader Patrice Lumumba (1925-61) and take power from 1965 until 1997. Lumumba also said the West has used proxies throughout modern times.

Sources:

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cyv4606y4jzo

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c134kgdpd6do

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/7/9/uganda-backed-m23-in-drc-rwandas-de-facto-control-on-group-un-experts

https://documents.un.org/doc/undoc/gen/n24/118/80/pdf/n2411880.pdf

https://wikileaks.org/gifiles/docs/50/5040402_-africa-rwanda-drc-kagame-s-hidden-war-in-the-congo-.html