VOICE OF AMERICA’S CIA ROOTS

Donald Trump has turned off the money tap to the US State Department-funded Voice of America (VOA). VOA’s parent organisation, the United States Agency for Global Media (USAGM), was among the organisations targeted by his 14 March executive order, under which the work of targeted entities “shall be eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.”

The decision has seen 1,300 VOA employees placed on administrative leave, while 500 contractors have been axed permanently. A statement from the White House press office said the move is to ensure that “taxpayers are no longer on the hook for radical propaganda.”

We are neither fans of Trump nor agree with his politics. However, we agree with him that VOA is indeed a radical propaganda outlet that has been spreading falsehoods across the world for decades.

Continued…. In 2024, we joined the list of victims of VOA smear campaigns when, without any evidence, it accused us of the exact same thing Trump is accusing it of: spreading state-funded propaganda.

A few days later, again without providing any evidence, then-US Secretary of State Antony Blinken parroted VOA’s baseless accusations. This led to social-media giants such as Meta, Google, and TikTok banning us.

We wait to see if they will now take a similar step against the VOA, given that the current White House says that it is a state-funded propaganda outlet. (And while they’re at it, they can reverse our bans - as these were based on VOA’s false claims!)

In this September 2024 video, produced in reaction to VOA’s unfounded allegations against African Stream, we discuss why the outlet is nothing more than a propaganda machine.

Sources

https://www.whitehouse.gov/articles/2025/03/the-voice-of-radical-america/

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/trump-signs-order-to-cut-staff-at-voice-of-america-media/

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-administration/trump-signs-order-gut-voice-america-other-federal-agencies-rcna196564

https://www.usagm.gov/2025/03/15/u-s-agency-for-global-media-complies-with-presidential-executive-order-to-reduce-the-federal-bureaucracy/

U.S. FUNDS BOKO HARAM, PUNISHES NIGERIA FOR T*RRORISM

At the 12 March US House of Representatives hearing on religious persecutions in Nigeria, Africa Subcommittee Chairman Chris Smith called on Congress and the Trump administration to impose sanctions on Nigeria for extremist group Boko Haram persecuting Christians.

Oddly enough, the insurgents have long sought to overthrow the Nigerian government that is now under threat of US sanctions. Boko Haram aims to govern the country under their radical version of Sharia law and has been active since 2009, particularly in northern Nigeria. By 2021, the group’s t*rrorism had displaced 2.4 million people in the Lake Chad region. In January alone, a Boko Haram attack in the northeastern state of Borno, the epicentre of the t*rror attacks, reportedly k*lled 40 civilians, just a drop in the state’s 38,000-person death toll between 2011 and 2023.

Continued……Although Smith’s request may sound noble, the irony is that US Congressman Scott Perry claimed on 13 February that the US Agency for International Development (USAID) had been funding t*rrorist organisations, including Boko Haram, Al Qaeda and ISIS.

Nigerians have long sounded the alarm on foreign powers’ role in strengthening Boko Haram’s capacity. On 18 February, Nigeria’s former foreign minister, Bolaji Akinyemi, also lodged similar claims to Perry’s. He said that investigations revealed that locals report foreigners delivering weapons and supplies to the militants.  

Boko Haram does indeed pose a threat to Nigeria’s security. However, in light of these accusations and given the United States’ long history of manufacturing crises by arming t*rrorists to destabilise states before swooping in with their ‘Captain America’ cape, can US sanctions really be the answer? What do you think?

Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Video credit: House Foreign Affairs Committee Republicans on YouTube (@HouseForeignGOP on X)

Sources

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3a4L11Wj_6A

https://foreignaffairs.house.gov/press-release/africa-subcommittee-chairman-smith-delivers-opening-remarks-at-hearing-on-religious-persecutions-in-nigeria/

https://chrissmith.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=413555

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fo4y52el2_A

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2025/01/nigeria-boko-haram-must-end-vicious-killing-spree/

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8233023

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1197570/deaths-caused-by-boko-haram-in-nigeria

Continued……Somalia and Somaliland’s officials spoke off the record, saying the United States hadn’t approached them on the matter. 

However, Somaliland, a breakaway region of Somalia that seeks international recognition and maintains strong ties with the United Arab Emirates, an Israeli and US ally, is reportedly in quiet discussions with the US on potential cooperation but denies being involved in talks about hosting Palestinians.

This news follows a ceasefire that went into effect on 19 January in Gaza. Israel has violated it numerous times since then and re-imposed a blockade. In July 2024, the Lancet medical journal reported that Israel’s onslaught may have k*lled more than 186,000 Palestinians.

Sources
https://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/us-israel-africa-resettling-palestinians-uprooted-gaza-119785032

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/7/8/gaza-toll-could-exceed-186000-lancet-study-says

https://www.palestinechronicle.com/israel-continues-to-violate-gaza-ceasefire-as-humanitarian-crisis-deepens

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/israel-hamas-war-gaza-aid-cut-off-aid-groups-say-theyre-scrambling

Continued……A diplomat speaking anonymously to the Associated Press said the Doha talks ‘aimed at building trust.’ 

They came a few weeks after a lobbying group, Africa-USA Business Council, sent a letter to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to pull together a meeting between Tshisekedi and US President Donald Trump to discuss offering the US exclusive mineral access in exchange for security. 

Tshisekedi has consistently rejected calls to negotiate with M23, asserting that the group is Rwanda’s proxy for exploiting Congolese minerals. In response, Rwanda claims its military actions are defensive, aimed at countering threats from Congo’s army and allegedly hostile militias, an excuse Western powers continue to tolerate despite overwhelming evidence.

In January, M23 intensified its offensive in eastern Congo, capturing Goma and Bukavu, the DRC’s two largest eastern cities. However, a call for a ceasefire may not deter M23, which has expanded control over large swathes of mineral-rich territories in eastern Congo. As it is, reports say the group generates $800,000 per month in production taxes on coltan in the town of Rubaya.

With the M23 cancelling on Angola talks and the Doha meeting promising a yet undefined path to a ceasefire, long-suffering Congolese continue to bear the brunt of a 30-year Western-backed war over the country’s estimated $24 trillion in mineral wealth.

Sources

https://reporting.unhcr.org/operational/situations/democratic-republic-congo-situation

https://www.barrons.com/articles/east-dr-congo-mines-mint-rwanda-backed-m23-s-fortune-1a70d1ae

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

https://www.ecofinagency.com/mining/1203-46493-drc-us-minerals-pact-remains-under-wraps

https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/congolese-rwandan-presidents-meet-qatar-discuss-east-congo-conflict-2025-03-18/

https://apnews.com/article/congo-rwanda-m23-rebels-meet-qatar-95615a676447781bf104d053a3741658

https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/qatar-emir-brokers-ceasefire-between-rwanda-dr-congo-4970696

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/3/18/congolese-rwandan-leaders-meet-in-qatar-call-for-ceasefire-in-eastern-drc

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

https://www.rwandainzimbabwe.gov.rw/actualites/info-details/without-rwandas-air-defense-we-would-now-be-in-a-devastating-regional-war

CHARLES’ PLAYLIST SPARKS ROYAL ‘TRACK RECORD’ BACKLASH

So Charles III is into African music, it seems. The British monarch shared a playlist that features Afrobeats star Davido’s hit Kante and Miriam Makeba’s The Click Song, as well as Bob Marley & The Wailers’ Could You Be Loved. The gesture reminded a lot of people of another list of ‘greatest hits’ - the colonial crimes of the British Empire against Africans, including the plunder of our culture. While Nigerians might approve the inclusion of Davido in His Majesty’s compilation, they strongly disapprove of the UK’s holding on to their precious Benin Bronzes. Africans would rather the British royal family issued a reparations and apologies list rather than give us a token musical nod.

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

BBC’S PRO-ISRAEL BIAS PERSISTS AMIDST FRESH ONSLAUGHT

Words represent ideas, and in the long-running @BBC tradition, the news outlet is once again attributing death-toll figures in Gaza to a ‘H*mas-run health ministry.’ Framing it as such politicises the ministry’s work, potentially influencing public perception in Israel’s favour while dehumanising Palestinians. It also fails to mention that Israel controls what is allowed inside of Gaza, so health outcomes rely on Israel’s decisions.

In November 2024, more than 100 anonymous BBC staff members accused the 102-year-old media organisation of giving Israel favourable coverage lacking ‘accurate evidence-based journalism.’ 

Continued….. Many times already, Israel has broken the short-lived ceasefire in Gaza that went into effect on 19 January. A military onslaught on 18 March k*lled more than 400 Palestinians in Gaza. This attack adds to the possibly more than 186,000 killed since the 7 October 2023 escalation, according to medical journal Lancet. 

H*mas blames the US for the deaths, claiming it ‘exposes the falsity of its [US] claims about caring for de-escalation’ since Israel notified Washington in advance and the US has primarily funded Israel’s military onslaught since 2023.

Sources
https://www.bbc.com/news/live/czje23jd779t?post=asset%3A0309027b-7948-4149-a77d-30553498b0f9

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/11/2/over-100-staff-accuse-bbc-of-bias-in-its-coverage-of-israels-war-in-gaza

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(24)01169-3/fulltext

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/10/27/un-says-gaza-health-ministry-death-tolls-in-previous-wars

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Palestinian-Authority

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2025/03/17/israel-hamas-gaza-military-airstrikes/82505920007

https://www.globalr2p.org/countries/israel-and-the-occupied-palestinian-territory

ANTI-CHINA BOT FARM IN GHANA?

A recent report about Niger kicking out Chinese company managers that didn’t comply with the country’s rules led many on X to denounce China. However, their posts looked like word-for-word copies, leading West Africa history buff Tommy Miles (@tommymiles on X) to conclude these accounts were part of a coordinated US digital campaign to discredit China in Africa. 

Continued….. China’s rapid economic rise since it began allowing foreign investment in 1978 has challenged Western dominance, particularly in Africa, where Chinese loans and investments have made significant strides in building infrastructure over the past 25 years. 

In response, the US intensified efforts to counter China’s influence, with the US Congress allocating $1.6 billion to anti-China propaganda efforts through a law noscriptd ‘Countering the PRC Malign Influence Fund Authorization Act of 2023.’ The US has also pushed anti-China messaging through outlets like AFRICOM’s Africa Defense Forum and the recently dismantled Voice of America. Meanwhile, the US does not similarly scrutinise other Western powers’ exploitation of Africa.

Our reporter, William Sakawa (@_nehemiah_sakawa on IG), breaks it down.

Sources
Bot farm
https://x.com/tommymiles/status/1900589340314525916?t=7TZtvl7N9FqL2uo_SC80hA

Roads and rail
https://africa.cgtn.com/chinese-fm-no-global-modernization-without-african-modernization

IMF alternative
https://www.dandc.eu/en/article/why-it-may-be-good-thing-chinese-lending-reducing-clout-imf

Anti-China propaganda bill
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/us-bill-could-turn-heat-093000927.html

Zimbabwe accuses US of anti-China propaganda
https://www.herald.co.zw/us-plan-to-discredit-chinese-investments-unmasked/

AFRICOM magazine
https://adf-magazine.com/?s=China

How France sabotaged Africa’s development
https://libya360.wordpress.com/2024/11/17/the-crisis-of-french-imperialism-debating-military-coups-in-africa/

China as West alternative
https://www.jri.co.jp/english/periodical/rim/1999/RIMe199904threereforms

Pivot to Asia
https://www.brookings.edu/articles/the-american-pivot-to-asia

Psychological oppression can be more powerful than the physical kind. While wounds inflicted on the body may heal with time, those inflicted on minds can permanently change the way we think and hence act. Mental slavery remains a great barrier to genuine African emancipation. Many of us still need to rid ourselves of mental shackles designed to make us ‘good slaves.’

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

SOUTH AFRICA COALITION DOOMSDAY FOR WHOM?

After long-time ruling party African National Congress (ANC) lost its majority in South Africa’s 2024 elections, opposition parties Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) were put forth as likely candidates for a coalition government.

However, in a move that came as a surprise to many, the ANC opted to go into a coalition with the right-wing Democratic Alliance (DA), which for years has opposed ANC policies seeking to redress the legacy of apartheid, which still affects many Black South Africans, economically and socially.

The ANC’s decision to align with the DA is widely seen as having been pushed by powerful white business forces that did not want to see the EFF and MK in government.

Continued……In this clip, activist Darren Campher responds to Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis’ comments about the ANC/EFF/MK alliance being a doomsday scenario for white settlers. Despite having Africa’s biggest GDP, the country’s wealth is concentrated with the minority white-settler population, who own 72 per cent of private farmland despite comprising less than 8 per cent of the population. Meanwhile, Black South Africans suffer poverty, unemployment and landlessness, with only a tiny Black elite integrated into the economy.

Parties like the EFF that champion greater African custody of South Africa’s resources, such as appropriation of land without compensation, are a threat to white monopoly capital, the primary beneficiary of South Africa’s economic success.

Video credit: @darrencampher.com (IG) / @campherdarren (X)

Sources
https://www.news24.com/fin24/markets/currencies/rand-plunges-after-da-threatens-to-walk-away-from-gnu-20240627

https://www.ncesc.com/geographic-faq/who-owns-most-of-the-land-in-south-africa/

https://statisticstimes.com/economy/african-countries-by-gdp.php

https://theconversation.com/white-people-in-south-africa-still-hold-the-lions-share-of-all-forms-of-capital-75510

https://www.ecr.co.za/news/news/eff-urges-anc-exclude-da-and-ff-plus-gnu/

https://www.news24.com/News24/land-expropriation-without-compensation-what-does-it-mean-20180304-5