Peoples Dispatch Abahlali baseMjondolo president S’bu Zikode speaking to members of the movement. Photo: Abahlali baseMjondolo Presentation by S’bu Zikode to the United Nations Food Systems Summit: A Critical dialogue with the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food on 16 September 2021 On the occasion of World Food Day and the 25-year anniversary…
Category: AFRICA
Gaslighting 1.1 Billion Africans
Benjamin Attia and Morgan Bazilian The majority of the Congolese population doesn’t have access to electricity. (Eduardo Soteras, AFP via Getty Images) Today’s global energy inequities are staggering. Video gamers in California consume more electricity than entire nations. The average Tanzanian used only one-sixth the electricity consumed by a typical American refrigerator in 2014. Globally, the top 10 percent of countries consume 20…
The Agribusiness Alliance for a Green Revolution Failed Africa
Research by Tim Wise (GDAE-Tufts University) is conclusive and fully resonates with claims by Africa’s biggest grassroots movement, the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa: the corporate capture of food systems should be rejected. Donors and government funding must shift to agroecology. Produced by Lynn Fries / GPEnewsdocs
Despite Setbacks, Western Sahara Continues the Struggle for Self-Determination
Mahjoub Maliha of CODESA (Collective of Saharawi Human Rights Defenders) speaks to Peoples Dispatch about the situation in Western Sahara after the violation of the ceasefire agreement by Moroccan forces last November and the human rights violations against activists and civilians by the Moroccan state that followed. He also points that international actors have failed…
Mali Massacre: Police Marksmen Had British Backing via EU Scheme Despite Brexit
Phil Miller Mali’s anti-terrorist “Forsat” unit received UK-funded training (Photo: Habibou Kouyate / AFP via Getty) After the Brexit vote, the British government bypassed parliament to support EU aid for an African police squad that massacred protesters and staged a jailbreak. Malian police unit is accused of killing 14 protesters three months after receiving EU…
South Africa: The Repression of Abahlali in eKhenana Continues but the Commune Remains
Abahlali baseMjondolo press statement: The criminal justice system – including the police and the prosecuting authority – continues to be misused by the ANC to repress our movement. Just under two weeks ago three of our comrades from the eKhenana Commune – Lindokuhle Mnguni, Landu Tshazi and Ayanda Ngila – were released from prison after…
Russia ‘Gifts’ Mali With Helicopters and Weapons: What Could This Mean for Africa?
Takudzwa Hillary Chiwanza A week ago, Mali received four helicopters, weapons, and ammunition from Russia as part of an agreement sealed in December 2020. The military contract entails Russian support to Malian forces as they fight extremist fighters linked with ISIS and al-Qaeda. Malian forces are engaged in protracted counter-terrorism alongside French, European, and United…
Sudan’s Hijacked Revolution: It’s Not Over!
Hussam AbdelKareem The new wave of demonstrations in Sudan: On September 30, tens of thousands of Sudanese took to the streets in Khartoum calling for democracy and civilian state and chanting against the military leaders who control the government through the “Sovereignty Council”. Sudan’s revolution was remarkable. It was 111 days of persistent acts of…
Libya: 5+5 Joint Military Committee Sign on Action Plan to Remove All Foreign Forces and Mercenaries
The 5+5 Joint Military Commission (JMC) concluded today in Geneva a three-day meeting where they agreed on and signed a comprehensive Action Plan for the gradual, balanced and simultaneous removal of all foreign forces and mercenaries from Libya. A statement published today by UNSMIL said the Action Plan was in alignment with the Ceasefire Agreement…
AFRICOM: An Extension of U.S.-European Colonialism and Genocide
Gloria Verdieu and John Parker Protesters in Accra, Ghana, demonstrated against AFRICOM expansion in 2018. In 2007, the George W. Bush administration inaugurated the United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) to further the influence of the U.S. and extend its military reach directly into Africa. AFRICOM, however, wasn’t officially established in Africa, with its expanded troop…
Mercenaries in Mali: From Russia Without Love
Mark P Fancher During the 1930s and 1940s, movies that featured the character Tarzan told far-fetched tales about an extraordinary white man who moved more easily through the African bush than the wildlife indigenous to the Congo region. In fact, elephants, lions, apes, and all other living creatures were loyal subjects of this white man,…
Shell Shocked in Amhara, Ethiopia: “I Don’t Even Want to Hear the Word ‘America’ ”
Ann Garrison Internally displaced persons in Amhara Region, Ethiopia, 10/2021. Credit: Jemal Countess A displaced person in Ethiopia’s Amhara Region told photographer and human rights investigator Jemal Countess that he didn’t want to talk to him because he was American and “didn’t even want to hear the word America” because of all the damage America…
