EU’S GREEN IMPERIALISM: KEEPING AFRICA BACK?

Has the EU just sent a Trojan Horse to South Africa? An extra few billion dollars to roll out clean energy sounds brilliant. But Brussels’ recent ‘gift’ to Pretoria may be concealing a more cunning agenda. Europe, which has already had its ‘dirty’ Industrial Revolution, doesn’t want Africa to catch up and become a power house. So it dresses up its fears as concerns for the environment, pushing less reliable solar and wind solutions on us. Bear in mind that the Europeans currently pollute way more than Africans do - and there are far fewer of them, so their sins are greater. Yet apparently it’s Africa that’s got to clean up its act while they carry on cutting coal deals with countries they lecture about using… too much coal! African Stream’s William Sakawa explores the sham that is Brussels’ green conscience in his latest video.

Continued……Sources

https://www.msn.com/en-us/politics/government/eu-unveils-4-7-bn-euro-investment-package-for-south-africa/ar-AA1AQR1k

https://www.africanews.com/2022/08/16/south-africa-eu-imports-of-coal-surge-eight-fold-replacing-russian-fossil-fuels/

https://archive.ph/2ET8B#selection-4761.0-4765.53

https://balkangreenenergynews.com/wind-farm-in-germany-is-being-dismantled-to-expand-coal-mine/

https://www.ncesc.com/geographic-faq/what-is-the-only-industrialized-country-in-africa/

https://www.scoontv.com/environmental-organizations-are-fueling-south-africas-energy-crisis/

https://voiceofeast.net/2022/12/11/germanys-double-standards-on-south-african-coal-expose-its-green-imperialism/comment-page-1/

https://ourworldindata.org/co2-emissions

https://www.macrotrends.net/global-metrics/countries/AFR/africa/population

https://www.statista.com/statistics/253372/total-population-of-the-european-union-eu/

https://ourworldindata.org/co2-emissions

https://academic.oup.com/ej/article/131/635/1135/5955447

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-26540-0

15 BODIES PULLED FROM WELL IN SUDAN’S FORMER RSF-SEIZED AREA

On 16 March, Red Crescent volunteers pulled 15 bodies from the bottom of a well in a recently recaptured area of East Nile district in Sudan’s capital, Khartoum. Speaking to Reuters about the incident, Hisham Zain al-Abdin, the director of forensic medicine for Khartoum state, said that most of the 15 victims had been shot in the head, while the injuries on some suggest ‘they were thrown in the well alive.’ The director said bodies continue to be found in areas that the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) recaptured from the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group.

Reuters reported that Hussein al-Faki, one of the residents who reported the bodies to authorities, said local people had tried to bury the bodies, but armed men controlling the area during the RSF occupation ‘warned us not to go near them.’

Continued……The UN notes that both sides in the war—the SAF and the RSF—have committed atrocities amounting to war crimes since 2018. In January, the US placed sanctions on leaders of both warring parties. 

However, in this foreign-backed proxy war that kicked off on 15 April 2023, the United Arab Emirates-bankrolled RSF is responsible for most of the atrocities and are accused of g*nocide. Meaningful accountability measures against the UAE remain amiss.

London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine’s Sudan Research Group estimates the proxy war had k*lled at least 60,000 people in its first 14 months in just Khartoum alone. Plus, in May 2024, US envoy Tom Perriello estimated 150,000 deaths. 

Today, the proxy war has displaced over 14 million people and left over half the country’s people—30.4 million—in dire need of aid. Not only is Sudan suffering the worst humanitarian catastrophe in the world, it is also the ‘largest as well as the fastest growing displacement crisis globally,’ according to the UN, with a total displaced population that is ‘greater than the entire population of Switzerland.’

Sources

https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/bodies-pulled-out-well-point-killings-areas-recaptured-sudan-fighters-2025-03-17

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/11/14/sudan-war-death-toll-much-higher-than-previously-recorded-new-study-finds

https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/02/1160161

https://x.com/geoffreyyork/status/1786073142475075756

https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy2789

https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy2772

SENATOR ALLEGES KENYA CAN’T TRACE $46 BILLION

Kenyan Senator Okiya Omtatah, often referred to as the ‘People’s Watchman,’ has questioned how a staggering $46 billion has vanished without a trace.

@OkiyaOmtatah (X) revealed that he meticulously combed through official Treasury records but could not determine what the money funded. His allegations have ignited outrage amongst Kenyans online, who call for the responsible officials to face legal action, including at the International Criminal Court (ICC), for what they see as reckless mismanagement of funds.

Over the past decade, Kenya has significantly increased its borrowing. The Tax Justice Network reports that from June 2012 to June 2021, the country’s debt-to-GDP ratio surged by 30 per cent, climbing from 38 per cent to 68 per cent, while total debt skyrocketed from $12.3 billion to $59.5 billion.

Continued……In 2024, the debt-to-GDP ratio stands at 69.9 per cent, with total debts reaching $75 billion, indicating that the economy is struggling to generate enough goods and services to meet debt obligations.

In 2024, Prime Cabinet Secretary Musalia Mudavadi (@MusaliaMudavadi on X) acknowledged that corruption costs the country approximately $4.7 billion annually. Extravagant spending doesn’t help, as in the case of President William Ruto reportedly chartering a $1.5 million private jet for his May 2024 state visit to the US, instead of opting for the much more economical national airline.

To plug budget holes, Nairobi frequently seeks loans from Western-established lenders like the International Monetary Fund. These lenders impose stringent measures, including tax increases and cuts to subsidies for essential items like fuel, further burdening citizens already grappling with a rising cost of living. Last year’s tax increase proposal infuriated Kenyans, who protested in the streets twice for several weeks at a time, leading to 145 fatalities.

Video credit: Parliament of Kenya (@NAssemblyKE on X)

Sources

https://taxjusticeafrica.net/sites/default/files/publications/TJNA%20Report%201_The%20Role%20of%20Private%20Creditors%20in%20Kenya%E2%80%99s%20Public%20Debt%20Problem_ENG_15.08.2023_1.pdf

https://www.worldeconomics.com/GrossDomesticProduct/Debt-to-GDP-Ratio/Kenya.aspx

https://www.the-star.co.ke/counties/coast/2024-08-16-kenya-loses-sh608bn-to-corruption-annually-mudavadi

https://www.theafricareport.com/349350/kenya-outrage-as-ruto-hires-1-5m-private-jet-for-us-trip/

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn33ykydj4jo

https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/10/12/how-imf-driven-policies-make-some-kenyans-poorer

https://nation.africa/kenya/blogs-opinion/opinion/omtatah-the-people-s-advocate-3593478

https://www.knchr.org/Articles/ArtMID/2432/ArticleID/1200/Update-on-the-Status-of-Human-Rights-in-Kenya-during-the-Anti-Finance-Bill-Protests-Monday-1st-July-2024

https://acleddata.com/2024/09/23/ruto-settles-with-odinga-to-quell-unrest-in-kenya-september-2024

https://youtube.com/watch?v=g82By2a51wE&lc=UgxmCOYWiJSFGFuJCep4AaABAg&feature=shared

Recently declassified US government files concerning the assassination of US President John F Kennedy (1917-63) show that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) established covert bases in Africa starting in the 1960s. One document lists the African cities of Harare (formerly Salisbury), Johannesburg, Lagos, Nairobi, Pretoria, Rabat, and dozens of other cities worldwide.

Noteworthy for Africa are the CIA's nefarious operations during the 1960s and ‘70s. British researcher Susan Williams highlighted these activities in her 2021 book, ‘White Malice: The CIA and the Recolonization of Africa.’ She details how the agency aimed to draw newly independent African nations into the imperialist and capitalist sphere while thwarting any alignment with socialist ideologies.

Continued……The CIA's primary focus was on the vast central African state of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), previously known as the Belgian Congo, due to its strategic significance. Just a year after gaining independence in 1960, DRC's visionary Pan-Africanist prime minister, Patrice Lumumba (1925-61), was assassinated in a CIA-orchestrated plot. At the time, CIA Director Allen Dulles (1893-1969) referred to Lumumba as ‘a Castro or worse.’

CIA schemes also ousted influential African leaders, such as Ghana’s Kwame Nkrumah (1909-72). The overarching impact of these operations was a covert recolonisation of Africa, characterised by removing capable people-oriented leaders and replacing them with compliant puppets like Mobutu Sese Seko (1930-97), who permitted foreign powers to exploit the Congo’s resources.

Decades later, the CIA remains involved in covert operations that ostensibly focus on counterterrorism. However, in conjunction with the US Africa Command (AFRICOM), it works to maintain a persistent US military presence in Africa under the pretext of combatting insecurity created by Western machinations. An example is the flooding of arms and t*rrorists in the Sahel region since the 2011 NATO invasion of Libya.

Sources

https://archive.ph/ZCxRf

https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk

https://www.archives.gov/research/jfk/available-online

https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP88-01314R000100660020-1.pdf

https://www.declassifieduk.org/revealed-the-cia-and-mi6s-secret-war-in-kenya/

https://www.kenyans.co.ke/news/110099-jfk-assassination-files-released-trump-show-cia-operated-base-nairobi

https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/cia-has-base-in-mogadishu-but-poor-intelligence-there--1304272

https://www.npr.org/2021/08/12/1027183677/cia-role-in-africa-expanded-as-u-s-cold-war-worries-grew-white-malice-details

https://www.crisisgroup.org/africa/sahel-burkina-faso-mali-niger/course-correction-sahel-stabilisation-strategy

https://www.crisisgroup.org/sites/default/files/299-sahel-stabilisation-strategy_0.pdf

https://www.cia.gov/resources/csi/static/CIAs-Covert-Ops-Congo.pdf 

https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1958-60v14/d140 

https://www.wionews.com/world/jfk-assassination-files-cia-secret-bases-revealed-is-your-city-in-the-list-new-delhi-kolkata-8870027

https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/01/declassification-of-records-concerning-the-assassinations-of-president-john-f-kennedy

CHINUA ACHEBE: WE MUST WRITE OUR OWN STORIES

On 21 March 2013, renowned Nigerian poet and novelist Chinua Achebe transitioned into an ancestor. His work continues to shape African literature today.

In 1988, Achebe (1930-2013) reflected on the literature he studied at university. Upon reading these works closely, he realised that the so-called ‘savages’ often resembled characters that looked like him, African, while the stories portrayed white people as heroes. He explained that without a conscious understanding of this narrative, what may seem like ‘innocent’ fictional tales can misinform Africans who have endured the oppression of slavery and colonialism.

Achebe’s solution? Africa must take control of its history by writing about it.

Video credit: ‘A World of Ideas,’ @PBS

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

OTA BENGA: THE BOY EXHIBITED
IN A HUMAN ZOO

109 years ago, Ota Benga - who’d been kidnapped from the Congo - committed suicide in Lynchburg, Virgina. In the US, he’d been exhibited in a cage and forced to live alongside monkeys, as crowds gawked at him in racist fascination. His appalling treatment and humiliation was justified in the name of science: he was billed as a living specimen of the ‘primitive savage’. It’s a reminder of the deadly dehumanisation inflicted on Africans. This video tells his tragic story.

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

The Rwanda- and Uganda-backed M23 militia defied calls for a ceasefire from Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) President Félix Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame, instead capturing Walikale, a key mining hub in North Kivu province, on 19 March, just a day after peace talks in Doha, Qatar.

Walikale, rich in tin and large gold mines, is home to about 15,000 residents and is approximately 125 kilometres northwest of Goma, the largest city in eastern DRC.

Continued……. Since re-emerging in 2021, M23’s capture of Walikale marks its western-most advance into DRC. Reports indicate that M23 now controls a road that links four provinces in the eastern part of the country, effectively isolating the army’s positions and bringing the group within 444 kilometres of Kisangani, DRC’s fourth-largest city.

On 27 January, M23 took control of Goma. Then, on 16 February, it captured Bukavu, the country’s second-largest city. On 11 March, the group seized Nyabiondo city, located 110 kilometres northwest of Goma, after several days of fierce fighting. According to the Congolese government, around 8,500 Congolese had been k*lled between January and the end of February. The United Nations reports that more than 450,000 civilians are without shelter, food, or water, while 700,000 have fled their homes.

Angola attempted to broker direct negotiations between DRC and M23 on Tuesday. However, M23 withdrew from the talks on Monday, citing the European Union for imposing sanctions against some of its leaders.

Sources

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/20/m23-rebels-capture-strategic-mining-hub-of-walikale-in-eastern-drc

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/3/20/m23-rebels-capture-walikale-another-key-town-in-eastern-dr-congo

https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/01/1159541

https://www.criticalthreats.org/briefs/congo-war-security-review/congo-war-security-review-march-11-2025

https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/02/1160486

https://worldpopulationreview.com/cities/dr-congo

5 MUST-READS BY CHINUA ACHEBE

On this day 12 years ago, the world bid farewell to Nigerian novelist and poet Chinua Achebe. But his literary legacy lives on. In this short video, African Stream’s Erick Gavala explores five novels that built Achebe’s reputation as one of Africa’s greatest writers.

Things Fall Apart is lauded for its groundbreaking portrayal of Igbo society and colonial disruption; Anthills of the Savannah and Arrow of God showcase his evolution into a more complex style - with broader political and philosophical themes; No Longer at Ease and A Man of the People offer sharp critiques of contemporary Nigerian life, tackling corruption and governance with Achebe’s signature wit and insight.

What do you think of our picks? What’s your favourite work by Achebe?

SOUTH AFRICA REMEMBERS SHARPEVILLE MASSACRE

On 21 March, South Africans are reminded of the price they had to pay in their fight to bring down the brutal apartheid regime. On this day in 1960, apartheid security forces opened fire on unarmed Black protesters in Sharpeville township on the outskirts of the industrial city of Vereeniging, killing 69 of them and injuring at least 180. The victims had taken to the streets to demonstrate against laws that required Black people to have a permit to travel around the country.

The Pan-African Congress party, which had organised the protest, was banned shortly after. So was the African National Congress (ANC), which was the country’s leading anti-apartheid movement.

Continued….. The atrocity sparked an international outcry, drawing global attention to the brutality of the apartheid system. It also prompted the UN to declare 21 March the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

The massacre would push the ANC to shift from non-violent resistance to armed struggle, as it became clear that peaceful means alone would not work against a brutal regime.

Sources

https://www.snl24.com/dailysun/news/human-rights-day-anc-remembers-sharpeville-heroes-20250321

https://www.iol.co.za/sport/opinion/human-rights-day-sharpeville-massacre-united-the-world-against-apartheid-but-sa-sporting-isolation-took-too-long-ask-the-all-blacks-44c37c6a-2d5e-4b40-a889-caa53077c5bc

https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2025-03-18-65-years-after-sharpeville-human-rights-struggles-in-todays-south-africa/?dm_source=dm_block_grid&dm_medium=card_link_sponsored&dm_campaign=main

https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/aujh/vol13/iss1/5/

Continued……In a 2021 case, Bolloré’s media company agreed to pay a $14.5 million fine for charging below-market advertising rates to presidents campaigning for election in Togo and Guinea in exchange for lucrative port management contracts.

This situation underscores the neocolonialist tactics employed by European companies, which leverage their power to extract profits from their African ventures, often at the cost of indigenous communities. Ordinary African people frequently work for low wages while excluding local businesses from the opportunity to compete for contracts.

Would the NGOs winning the Bolloré case establish a precedent that prevents foreign entities from exploiting Africa without restraint?

Sources

https://www.rfi.fr/en/international/20250319-french-billionaire-bollor%C3%A9-targeted-in-african-ports-corruption-case

https://www.ecofinagency.com/public-management/2003-46520-bollore-faces-new-lawsuit-in-france-over-corruption-in-africa

https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20250319-french-billionaire-bollore-targeted-in-fraud-case-over-africa-ports

https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20210226-bollor%C3%A9-group-fined-%E2%82%AC12-million-in-african-corruption-case

https://www.ft.com/content/7d7c20b1-3723-4d0f-9718-37964ff5aa83

https://www.worldcargonews.com/business/2025/03/bollore-faces-corruption-complaint-over-african-ports/?gdpr=accept

https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/business-tech/anti-graft-groups-target-bollore-group-over-old-africa-assets-4971474

https://maritime-executive.com/article/ngos-try-to-recover-funds-from-bollore-logistics-sale-alleging-corruption

SOUTH SUDAN CRISIS: A BREAKDOWN

South Sudan risks collapsing into civil war again, as rival factions clash and neighbouring Uganda sends troops to aid its ally in Juba. The last conflict, which ended in 2018, lasted five years. Its consequences are still being felt by the population, 57% of whom will suffer from acute hunger - the worst form - by July (says the UN). Another war could bring the country and its people to breaking point. So why is this happening? Our sister @sannario_ breaks it down.

Continued……Sources

https://understandingwar.org/backgrounder/africa-file-march-13-2025-looming-civil-wars-ethiopia-south-sudan-threaten-plunge-horn

https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/11/1156661

https://www.hrw.org/news/2014/01/16/south-sudan-ethnic-targeting-widespread-killings

https://apnews.com/article/south-sudan-fighting-ugandan-troops-3e36094b4eaea9247843ea3fad86f03d

https://www.radiotamazuj.org/en/news/article/nasir-airstrike-kills-21-civilians-local-sources-say

https://www.radiotamazuj.org/en/news/article/sspdf-commander-gen-majur-dak-laid-to-rest-in-juba

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/3/5/south-sudan-arrests-key-machar-allies-as-army-surrounds-his-house

https://theglobalobservatory.org/2024/10/what-could-end-the-long-postponement-of-south-sudans-first-elections/

https://www.accord.org.za/analysis/south-sudans-postponed-elections-a-symptom-of-a-deeper-crisis/

https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/07/09/south-sudan-crossroads

https://news.un.org/en/story/2025/02/1160161

https://www.theeastafrican.co.ke/tea/news/east-africa/21-killed-in-south-sudan-aerial-bombing-4969148

https://www.wfp.org/news/hunger-crisis-deepens-south-sudan-returnees-fleeing-war-and-children-hit-hardest

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/mar/08/south-sudan-general-among-dozens-killed-in-attack-on-un-helicopter

https://www.africaintelligence.com/eastern-africa-and-the-horn/2025/03/07/fearful-salva-kiir-purges-allies-to-reshape-his-inner-circle,110383885-ar2