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By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK | FREETOWN (IDN) — The crisis of inflation taking a toll on the poor and middle class has spread to Sierra Leone, where rare protests shook the capital of Freetown.
Workers have been clearing broken glass from downtown restaurants. “It was an explosion of violence,” said Mohamed Sillah of the damage inflicted on his and other buildings. “We don’t usually see this in Sierra Leone but we are in tough times.”
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) — African heads of state and a Japanese delegation are meeting to discuss “African-led” development at a meeting in Tunisia. Financial aid was discussed.
Tunisian President Kais Saied welcomed the participants to the 8th Tokyo International Conference on African Development—or TICAD— from August 27-28 in Tunis, where Japan promised $30 billion in investment in African aid to be delivered over three years, with smaller amounts also available for African food security.
Ugandan Activist’s New Book
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) — A young climate activist from Uganda about to address the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, faced one final indignity from western media when they staged a photo op of her with her white climate colleagues and then clipped her out of the final shot.
Viewpoint by Azu Ishiekwene
The writer is the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of LEADERSHIP newspaper based in Abuja, Nigeria.
ABUJA (IDN) — One of the ironies of politics is how easily fiction becomes reality, and reality, precedent. Before our eyes, the president-elect of Kenya, William Ruto, who has played all sides of Kenya’s politics for at least three decades, has just won an election by claiming to be an outsider.
Ruto’s electoral epic of “hustler vs. dynasty” appears to have wiped off all memory of his 30-year involvement in the good and bad of Kenya’s politics. This legend won him a razor-thin victory over Raila Odinga in the August 9 presidential election.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) — Is the two-party system a thing of the past? Low voter turnout in the US seems to reflect disenchantment with a single choice between Democrats and Republicans. Kenya is no different.
This month, Kenyans tossed the traditional toss-up between the Luo and Kikuyu ethnic groups to choose William Samoei Ruto, a Kalenjin. His party, the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) and its allies, took the political experts by surprise when he easily won all nine governorships of Mount Kenya—once considered a sure bet for a Luo.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK | MOGADISHU (IDN) — Government forces say they have put down a siege at the popular Hayat Hotel in Mogadishu that began on August 19 and has reportedly left over 20 casualties. It is the largest siege in the country since Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was elected president in May.
The Hayat is an upscale hotel frequented by government officials, elders and people from the diaspora community. The director of Mogadishu’s main trauma hospital, Mohamed Abdirahman Jama, said the facility was treating at least 40 people wounded in the hotel attack and a separate mortar strike on another area of the capital.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK | MOGADISHU (IDN) — Mohamed Ibrahim Warsame, better known by his pen name Hadrawi, has passed away in the Somaliland capital, Hargeisa, after a long illness, according to family members. He was 79.
“We have lost an icon in Somali literature," President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud said. "A man whom we will remember for his role in peace-building and conflict resolution, building the mindset of many Somalis through his wisdom and poems for the betterment and the unity of Somalis.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK (IDN) — In the traditional ceremonies of the Zulu people, Misuzulu Zulu, 47, was crowned the new king of the country’s richest and most influential traditional monarchy.
Thousands of people gathered at the Zulu royal palace in South Africa to witness the ceremony.
Misuzulu Zulu ascended to the throne once held by his late father, Goodwill Zwelithini. The ceremonies were partially overshadowed by a bitter succession dispute.
Viewpoint by Azu Ishiekwene
The writer is the Managing Director/Editor-in-Chief of LEADERSHIP newspaper based in Abuja, Nigeria.
ABUJA (IDN) — “I’m going to waste my vote,” a friend told me recently. “And don’t argue with me,” he added. “It’s my right to do so.”
I defied him. Regrettably, even though I also recruited help nearby to press home my point, my unsolicited advice fell on deaf ears.
By Lisa Vives, Global Information Network
NEW YORK | FREETOWN (IDN) — Americans aren’t alone in turning purple over the car's skyrocketing costs for housing, food, medical care and fuel.
Last month in Sierra Leone, women street vendors gathered peacefully to protest the soaring cost of living. A few days later, the number swelled to the hundreds as many more protestors turned out, clashing with police and demanding the president’s resignation over the government’s perceived failure to address the rising prices.
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