Continued……. One of the proxies involved is the Rwanda- and Uganda-backed M23 militia, which generates $800,000 from taxing mining in just one town, Rubaya. Meanwhile, DRC’s government reports losing $1 billion annually in resource theft to Rwanda alone. The beneficiaries of minerals like cobalt are the world’s biggest corporations, including Apple, Dell, Microsoft and Tesla.

As of 2024, the ongoing violence had internally displaced more than 7 million Congolese.

As Pan-Africanist Ghanaian leader Kwame Nkrumah (1909-72) said, ‘If we allow the independence of the Congo to be compromised in any way by the imperialist and capitalist forces, we shall expose the sovereignty and independence of all Africa to grave risk. The struggle of the Congo is therefore our struggle.’

Sources

Goma killed and displaced
https://www.cnn.com/2025/02/06/africa/dr-congo-goma-violence-deaths-intl-hnk/index.html
https://dutchrelief.org/goma-drc-acute-crisis-joint-response/

DRC loses $1 billion a year
https://issafrica.org/iss-today/rampant-cobalt-smuggling-and-corruption-deny-billions-to-drc

M23 makes $800,000 a month
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/as-the-drc-battles-rwanda-backed-m23-what-s-needed-to-stop-the-fighting/ar-AA1yYzHD

Western firms complicity
https://www.theafricareport.com/339705/drc-blow-for-activists-as-us-court-dismisses-child-labour-case-against-five-tech-giants/

Nkrumah on Congo
https://africanagenda.net/nkrumah-on-the-significance-of-the-congo-for-africans/

KENYA: THE LAND OF BROKEN PROMISES

Kenya’s leadership has mastered the art of empty promises, but when confronted with cold, hard facts, even the most powerful struggle to spin their way out. In a damning interview with Al Jazeera’s Mehdi Hasan, Kenya’s National Assembly Majority Leader, Kimani Ichungw’a, was put on the spot over the 281 pledges made by President William Ruto’s government. His response? Evasion, deflection, and an embarrassing inability to account for the administration’s failures.

When asked how many of the pledges made to Kenyans by the ruling party had been fulfilled, Kimani Ichungw’a had to admit that he couldn’t give a straight answer.

Continued….. It’s a cringeworthy watch. This was no case of integrity-driven honesty. It reflects the political bad will and the general political landscape in the country, in which politicians rise up the ranks and say things they do not mean simply to gain votes. Kenya’s ruling elite has turned the country into its personal cash cow, while the mass of citizens suffer.

The ruling elite’s greed did not stop it from attempting to tax Kenyans even more under the IMF-backed 2024 Finance Bill, resulting in mass protests across the country calling for Ruto to step down.

When it was pointed out to Ichungw’a that, over two years, only 14 of the promises have been honoured, he was unable to explain why, resorting to distraction.

Video Credit: @aljazeeraenglish (YouTube)

Sources

https://www.aljazeera.com/amp/news/2024/7/7/why-are-kenyans-angry-with-the-imf

https://tracker.mzalendo.com

https://www.ictd.ac/blog/kenya-protests-show-citizens-dont-trust-government-with-their-tax-money-can-ruto-make-a-meaningful-new-deal/

https://nation.africa/kenya/newsplex/fact-check-does-kenya-really-lose-sh2-billion-to-graft-daily--3282360

https://www.citizen.digital/news/revisiting-president-elect-william-rutos-manifesto-n305126

https://nation.africa/kenya/news/politics/the-promises-versus-reality-president-ruto-s-rough-road-ahead-4282818

Continued….. Nairobi Israel ties
https://eastleighvoice.co.ke/tear-gas/66861/israeli-gas-kenyan-tears-israel-supplied-riot-control-agents-used-against-demonstrators
https://missiledefenseadvocacy.org/air-defense-news/kenya-acquiring-spyder-air-defence-system-from-rafael/
https://www.ynetnews.com/article/sj5blgkn2

Palestine observer status
https://www.egyptindependent.com/au-grants-palestine-observer-status/

AU vs Israel
https://www.africanunion-un.org/post/international-day-of-solidarity-with-the-palestinian-people
https://apnews.com/article/african-union-israel-gaza-85c4b497463fe29c59fca5ffd987dd53
https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20230221-palestine-welcomes-african-unions-support-of-palestinian-rights/
https://www.africanunion-un.org/post/international-day-of-solidarity-with-the-palestinian-people

Gaza wartime deaths
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/2/3/gaza-death-toll-rises-close-to-62000-as-missing-added
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/7/8/gaza-toll-could-exceed-186000-lancet-study-says

Uganda raid
https://allafrica.com/stories/200907060577.html

Kenya politician support for Palestine
https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2023-11-05-we-stand-with-palestines-raila-condemns-israeli-attacks-on-gaza

https://kenyanforeignpolicy.com/kenya-criticised-for-abstaining-on-un-vote-to-end-israeli-occupation

BLACK UKRAINIAN WARRIORS? ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

With US President Donald Trump hitting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky with a $500 billion tab for the country’s resources, let’s have a look at one of the videos from the early days of the three-year war in Ukraine.

As Pyra Diantouadi from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) said in this viral 1 March 2022 video, Ukrainian authorities attempted to coax Africans to fight for it against Russia. He wondered why Africans would get involved, given the heightened risk Africans would be exposed to on the frontlines in a war that didn’t concern them. However, recruitment was not limited to inside Ukraine. After Zelensky made a global call for volunteers, some Africans reportedly flocked to Ukrainian embassies throughout Africa to sign up.

Continued……They were turned away because their respective governments rejected the Ukrainian call. In Senegal, the government ordered the Ukrainian ambassador to remove a Facebook post that had called for volunteers. As it was, Ukrainian authorities’ racist treatment of Africans trying to flee Ukraine did little to inspire support.

Africans have historically been used to fight in European wars, whether it was in the US war on Vietnam, the two World Wars some historians refer to as imperialist wars, the US Civil War or US settler-colonisers’ war of ‘independence’ against the British. Our people, unfortunately, have a history of fighting for people who would never fight for us. But, at least this brother followed in the steps of boxer and activist Muhammad Ali, who refused to be deployed to Vietnam in 1967, essentially saying, ‘Hell no!’

Video credit: @ABCnews

Sources

https://www.newsweek.com/putin-west-us-ukrainians-cannon-fodder-war-1765928

https://time.com/7260890/zelensky-minerals-deal-trump-us-ukraine-peace-negotiations

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-60712913

African Union (AU) Chairperson João Lourenço said the continental body firmly rejects any attempt to displace Palestinian people from Gaza or other Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories.

Lourenço, also president of Angola, spoke in Cairo on 4 March during an emergency Arab League summit to map the way forward for reconstructing Gaza, which the 17-month Israeli onslaught has reduced to rubble.

Lourenço reiterated the AU’s unconditional support of the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination based on the principles of international law and United Nations resolutions. Lourenço warned that expanding Israeli territories on illegally occupied and annexed Palestinian land is a threat to regional peace. The AU chairperson also urged Tel Aviv to reopen humanitarian corridors into Gaza and allow refugees to return to their homes.

Continued……. His comments come in the wake of US President Donald Trump announcing a plan to forcibly move more than 2 million Palestinians in Gaza to Egypt and Jordan to pave the way for a real-estate development that he described as the ‘Riviera of the Middle East.’ Many stakeholders have rejected the plan, including the Arab League, which offered an alternative plan drafted by Egypt. Cairo says its plan ensures that Palestinians will remain on their land. The Palestinian prime minister and H*mas agree on it.

Sources

https://www.plenglish.com/news/2025/03/04/african-union-rejects-displacement-of-palestinians-from-their-land

https://angop.ao/en/noticias/politica/presidente-joao-lourenco-repudia-deslocacao-do-povo-palestino

https://www.middleeastmonitor.com/20250305-arab-states-adopt-egyptian-alternative-to-trumps-gaza-riviera

https://www.americanprogress.org/article/trumps-riviera-of-the-middle-east-plan-fundamentally-misreads-the-arab-world

As the clock struck midnight on 6 March 1957, the British Union Jack flag was lowered at Accra’s polo grounds and replaced with a new flag consisting of red, green and yellow horizontal stripes and a black star in the centre. This ceremony, which was witnessed by multitudes of excited Africans, marked the end of British colonialism in what was then known as the Gold Coast - and the birth of a new nation known as Ghana. It was a momentous occasion, not just for the people of the new nation but for the entire continent, as it indicated that the winds of freedom that had first gathered in the northern part of Africa were sweeping southwards.

Ghana’s story can never be fully told without mention of the man who raised the new flag on that day 69 years ago. That man was Kwame Nkrumah - the country’s first post-independence leader. He lived an incredible life dedicated to the liberation of African people at home and abroad. Nkrumah had set his sights on liberating the entire continent, not just his homeland.

Continued……To mark the occasion of Ghana’s independence, we share this famous quote by Nkrumah - stating that his country’s freedom would only be complete when other African countries also smashed the shackles of European colonialism. His message of unity is one that Africans, both at home and in the diaspora, still need to heed: we are only as strong as our weakest link.

Happy Independence Day, Ghana!

Sources

https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/articles/ztnwjsg#zv4djsg

https://theconversation.com/ghanas-economic-diplomacy-how-three-presidents-with-different-ideologies-dealt-with-the-imf-and-world-bank-242528

https://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/kwame-nkrumah-and-the-quest-for-independence/

U.S.: WORLD’S TERRORIST-IN-CHIEF

In this July 2024 clip, comedian and political commentator Jimmy Dore joins Joe Rogan to unravel the truth behind Washington’s motives in Libya.

He says the US sought to dismantle Libya’s legacy and eliminate Muammar Gaddafi, a leader whose vision extended beyond his nation’s borders towards a self-sufficient Africa.

Gaddafi expelled foreign military forces and ensured that the wealth generated from Libya’s oil resources was used to build vital infrastructure for his people.

He also had ambitions to establish an African currency that would rival the dollar - a move that would have shifted the balance of power and threatened US imperial interests.

NATO’s invasion of Libya shed light on the lengths to which powerful nations go to maintain control and suppress revolutionary leaders who dare to propose alternatives to the status quo.

Video credit: Joe Rogan/PowerfulJRE

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

What money? That’s the question that the government of Lesotho and other stakeholders are asking following US President Donald Trump’s comments during his address to a joint session of Congress on 4 March stating that $8 million had been wasted to promote LGBTQI+ in the African country, ‘which nobody has ever heard of.’

Lesotho’s foreign ministry said it was unaware of the funds Trump mentioned. The ministry’s spokesperson Kutloano Pheko told the BBC that perhaps the money was channelled directly to organisations dealing with LGBTQI+ issues. However, People’s Matrix, the country’s leading LGBTQI+ rights organisation, denied receiving funds from Washington. Spokesperson Tampose Mothopeng said they have no idea where that money has been spent and who received it.

Continued……The US foreign assistance website indicates about $120 million spent on health and population programmes in Lesotho in 2024, with the US Agency for International Development (USAID) managing $44.23 million of the fund and the Millennium Challenge Corporation handling $74.92 million. No information exists on allocations to LGBTQI+ activities.

This comes on the heels of USAID drawing intense scrutiny for its supposedly noble Africa programmes, some of which allegedly funded extremist groups Boko Haram in Nigeria and Al-Shabaab in Somalia. So, who is telling the truth? Let us know in the comments.

Sources

https://www.thepinknews.com/2025/03/05/lesotho-lgbtq-trump/

https://ustr.gov/countries-regions/africa/southern-africa/lesotho

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/06/donald-trump-lesotho-us-aid-lgbtiq-comments-congress-speech-response

https://www.reuters.com/world/lesotho-insulted-after-trump-says-nobody-has-heard-country-2025-03-05/

https://foreignassistance.gov/cd/lesotho

https://ustr.gov/countries-regions/africa/southern-africa/lesotho

Illicit counterfeit medications are sold in Mali and across the African continent - and it’s costing thousands of lives each year. Recently, the Malian government stepped in with a big ‘drug bust,’ known as Operation Forajokokili.

Bamako says it’s now seized 35 tonnes of medications that were being marketed and sold to Malian citizens as legit when they were really dangerous knockoffs. The phoney medications were touted as treatments for malaria, bacterial infections, tuberculous, sexual issues and more. According to the World Health Organisation, up to 100,000 Africans die each year due to consumption of these harmful counterfeits.

Continued……While Mali’s revolutionary new leadership has mostly been making headlines for its anti-imperialist posture - kicking out French troops and asserting greater sovereignty over its resources - this crackdown on fake pharmaceuticals is further evidence that Bamako has the people’s interests at heart.

Sources

https://www.wallafricajournal.com/mali-seizes-medicines-in-operation/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHjVl6dZx8o

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/8/16/last-french-troops-leave-mali-ending-nine-year-deployment

TRAORÉ: 'AFRICA WILL BE SELF-SUFFICIENT, SOVEREIGN, INDEPENDENT'

Despite what imperialist mouthpieces may claim, Burkina Faso is proving that true independence isn't just possible—it's happening. Under President Ibrahim Traoré (@capitaineib226 on X), the country is making major strides in healthcare, education, farming and infrastructure, without bowing to Western control.

In this speech Traoré gave on 3 March during the Alliance of Sahel States (AES) flag-raising ceremony in Ouagadougou's Koulouba neighbourhood, Traoré reminded Burkinabé people that not everyone supports the revolution but that Burkinabé and Africans, in general, must nevertheless continue to push toward sovereignty and unity.

While Burkina Faso and its fellow AES member-states—Mali and Niger—have embarked on a decolonial path toward greater self-determination, Traoré called not just for the Sahel region to unite but for all of Africa to come together.

Continued….. Will other African countries follow in the AES' footsteps? If so, let us know which countries you anticipate will move in this direction soon.

Video credits: @sigburkina, @rtburkina, @faso7_bf

Sources

https://peoplesdispatch.org/2025/03/05/sahel-alliance-unveils-new-flag-as-regional-bloc-moves-toward-greater-integration