Holiday Break

Apologies for the long delay in posts, but I'm taking a holiday break from the news. See you in 2013!

Random Kate Thoughts: Eat. Relax. Chill. Be merry.

Guest Post: A Fading Hero, Mandela Sick

Updated Sunday December 16

Guest Post by Syakaa, from Tanzania

South Africa's first black President Nelson Mandela is being treated for a lung infection, a term often used synonymously with pneumonia. Elderly people are at an increased risk of infections in general — more so if the person has many chronic medical problems, but as people age their immune systems are less capable of fighting off infections. South African officials say Mandela’s lung infection is “recurring.” edit: He is also recovering from surgery to remove gallstones. The former president is 94 years old.

The man is getting on in years...

It may seem surprising that it took so long for Mandela’s diagnosis to be made public.  However, it’s possible that it took this long to make a diagnosis. This is the first time officials have revealed why Mr Mandela was rushed to a military hospital in the capital, Pretoria, on Saturday. News of the hospital stay has prompted much concern in South Africa. 

Random William Thoughts: Mr Mandela led the struggle against white-minority rule before being elected the first black president of South Africa in democratic elections in 1994. Despite being imprisoned for 27 years by the apartheid government, after his release he forgave his former enemies and urged South Africans of all races to work together and seek reconciliation. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1993. He is now 94 years old and it is surely a matter of when rather than if his time will come. This is the day that threatens South Africa and its future most. Mr Mandela has for long been a symbol for the rainbow nation of acceptance and forgiveness, and some worry about what will happen when this symbol fades. His presence has been a constant  in the nation’s structure and if he dies there is a danger for that structure to disintegrate. If he dies some worry that it will be the end for the white population in South Africa and we could have a repeat of Zimbabwe in this nation. With the installation of the new bank notes with his face on it, some might argue that the government in already preparing for the inevitable. One thing we can be sure of is that Mandela’s Legacy will surely be tested after he leaves the nation.

Random Kate Thoughts: A teacher I work with is very convinced that Nelson Mandela is already dead. She believes that his body is simply being hidden until the "right" moment for the ruling party, the ANC, to reveal his death. The "right" moment being the right political moment, as Mandela not only symbolizes the struggle, but the struggle by the ANC specifically. His death will surely result in a vast outpouring of support for the ANC. Will that outpouring be timed for an important moment for the ruling, though flagging, party? Time will tell.

I like to remember him as the handsome young man he was. :)

Ghana's Election Controversy

This past week, Ghana, one of Africa's leading democracies, had its presidential election. The incumbent, John Mahama, became president when the country's previous president, John Atta Mills (there are a lot of Johns in Ghana), died in July. Mahama was Vice President and stepped into power then.

President John Mahama

The elections were ruled to be free and fair, but the opposition party of challenger Nana Akufo-Addo, the New Patriotic Party, released a statement on Sunday claiming that the ruling party had rigged the elections. Protests go on in Ghana, but most international groups are encouraging the NPP to accept the result. Akufo-Addo also ran in 2008 but lost by a single percentage point. This year's electoral commission has him at 47.74% of the vote with Mahama at 50.7%.

Random Kate Thoughts: It is eerie how often this happens on the continent. Just last month in Sierra Leone, and in scores of countries before, the incumbent wins and the opposition protests and claims rigging. Is the American voting process so trusted that we happily (or un-happily) go on our merry ways the second week of November without protest? Ok, aside from that unfortunate "hanging chad" incident a while back, our votes tend to be pretty clean. Part of living in a 200-year-old democracy? Perhaps. Ghana is the oldest democracy on the continent and it's just been a republic for a wee 52 years.

Guest Post: Nigerian Becomes Richest Black Woman in World

Nigeria’s Mrs Alakija Becomes Richest Black Woman in the World, displaces Oprah Winfrey
Guest Post: Alheri from Nigeria 
 

Mrs Folorunsho Alakija was born into a wealthy Nigerian polygamous family in 1951 (she is 61 years old at present). She began her professional career in the mid-1970s, and took up work as a secretary at the International Merchant Bank of Nigeria (now defunct). She later resigned in the early 80’s for Fashion School in England. 

Folorunsho Alakija, richest black woman in the world

Upon her return, she started her own Fashion Label, Supreme Stitches, which catered for exclusive clients only- really exclusive: socialites and wives of extremely wealthy Army Generals, Politicians and business men (wives because it is was very rare, back in the day, to see a Nigerian woman who could boast such wealth and stand on her own feet, i.e., without having a wealthy husband).

Her business grew tremendously and in 1993, she founded and became the CEO of a Nigerian Oil company, Famfa Oil. Famfa produces about 200,000 barrels of oil a day, and she owns 60% working interest.

Although the Forbes Ranking pegs her wealth at about 600 million USD, a more recent report has been published by Ventures Africa, an African News and Business Magazine that she is worth at least 3.3 Billion USD, and is about 500 Million USD richer that Oprah Winfrey. 

Random Alheri Thoughts: It is really impressive to see that African women are on the rise! I am very happy that we have a Nigerian woman who has defied all odds. This gives me hope that indeed, a woman can go whatever she sets her mind! Several people, even women themselves are intimidated by the mere thought of being wealthy and powerful, which causes a huge lack of ambition. Here, we have Mrs. Alakija who ventured into the oil business, without minding that the business was, and still is, a more male dominated area. I am really impressed that she has made such a fortune, and I can only hope that other Nigerian women take after her example in the true spirit of entrepreneurship. I read somewhere that she is also a Philanthropist, which means she is one more source of funding for me when I set out to begin my own project of transforming Africa!

Guest Post: Egypt Dividing

Guest Post: Alhassan from Egypt

Almost two years after its revolutions, everyone in the world would think that Egypt got what it wanted, but apparently that is not the reality. Earlier this year in June, Mohamed Morsi, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, got elected into presidency. Although many were not satisfied by the results, Egyptians chose to wait and see what Morsi got for them. Over the last six months, he has failed to achieve the goals he had set in his campaign: Egyptians experienced no improvement in their life conditions, and even worse, several accidents such as a train accident where 50 children died. All of these factors combined made Egyptians' hate for the new president grow very quickly. This hatred exploded when the president decided to sack the general prosecutor and assign himself power over the legislative and executive branches. Many perceived this as a huge decision that will create another dictator. His decree led the opposition to call for protests against the constitutional declaration, which were met by a demand from the Muslim Brotherhood Party for its members to have a counter protest. For two weeks, both sides protested for and against the decree. Morsi's only reaction was calling Egyptians to join an urgent referendum on the new decree, which still didn't satisfy the protestors. On Wednesday, the 5th of December, clashes took place between the two sides, with many claiming that members of the MB were the ones starting the attack with weapons and fire bombs. Now, sadly, the country is polarized between the two parties: Pro- Morsi/decree and anti- Morsi/decree.

President Morsi of Egypt

Random Alhassan Thoughts: Although I wasn't happy with Morsi getting elected, I was still satisfied by the fact that we had our first fair presidential elections. I could also understand that after a very long era of dictatorship, which created a very politically illiterate nation, why people elected the man who spoke in the name of religion. After hearing his decree, I wasn't very worried about the creation of a new dictator, knowing that we will act the second we sense the creation of one. I rather believed that we should trust him and see what he had for us. After all, the majority of Egyptians willingly elected this man. Nevertheless, I was saddened by the acts of the MB members, who are now speaking in the name of religion and anyone who opposes them is being called a hater of Islam. I was also disappointed by Morsi, who ever since he became a president, didn't try to have an inclusive government that would unify the nation. A very big division is being created between Egyptians and if Morsi doesn't act immediately, very bloody clashes might occur between his supporters
and people who would want him to step down as a president.

Guest Post: Cows Slaughtered for Re-Election

Guest Post: Bonga from South Africa

South Africa’s president, Jacob Zuma, in preparation for the upcoming elections, had 12 cattle slaughtered in a ceremony to request help and guidance from the ancestors in the upcoming ANC presidential elections. Zuma is running against deputy president, Kgalema Motlante, who he had appointed after the recalling of former president Thabo Mbeki.  Motlante, who was care-taking president in the lead up to the elections at Mangaung, is a strong favourite to win the election with Zuma’s opponents pushing for him to be expelled from the top job. Analysts, however, have said that Zuma will get re-elected, this is despite his being investigated for using taxpayer’s money to renovate his residential complex which reportedly cost  $27,000,000. 

SA President Jacob Zuma

Random Bonga Thoughts: I wonder  if Zuma really believes in traditionalism and its practises or if it is just an image that he wants to put out to black South Africans, in order to show them that he is one of them, despite his excessive mansion and private  jet, and thus gain and keep their support for himself and the ANC at large. I question what the purpose of  having local chiefs act as judge, prosecutor and mediator, as was warranted by the Zuma government’s Traditional Courts Bill which was unveiled earlier this year, is, given the fact that South Africa already has a functional, though it may have flaws, judicial system. I think that in addition to seeking support through his action, President Jacob Zuma is creating a platform upon which he and South Africans, who are traditionalists when it is convenient, can get away with actions that are seen as unacceptable and even law-breaking to some extent. There may be a legitimate reason for something like making a local chief a decision maker on matters of the law, but I think that this should be on the basis of our already existing constitution.

Guest Post: Morocco Calls for End to Israeli Attacks

Guest Post: Zineb from Morocco
Random from Kate: This article is the opinion of the student below. I do not want to get involved in an extensive argument around Israel-Palestine, I instead wish to give you one perspective from a North African, which you might not get to hear too often.

Zineb: Morocco has strongly condemned Israel’s ongoing military attacks against the Gaza Strip and called on the UN Security Council to put an end to it “in the shortest possible time and without conditions.”

A Palestinian woman shouts anti-Israel slogans on the rubble of her home after the latest Israeli airstrikes in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, November 16, 2012

The Permanent Ambassador Representative of Morocco in the United Nations, Mohamed Loulichki, gave a speech at the Security Council meeting held in November 2012. He stated that Israel's latest aggression “is all the more reprehensible as it could last longer and spread to other parts of the occupied Palestinian territory.” The Ambassador stressed also “the dangerous implications of this new aggression in terms of destruction and targeted assassinations, led by the Israeli occupation forces in a region already rocked by other crises.”

Mr. Loulichki further said he feared that this new strategy would distract the international community from the strategic objective of a speedy resumption of negotiations leading to a just and lasting peace in the Middle East.

Ambassador Representative of Morocco, Mohamed Loulichki, at the UN

Ambassador Loulichki reaffirmed the position of the Kingdom emphasizing the goals of the Al-Quds Committee whose chairman is the Moroccan King Mohammed VI. The committee aims to preserve the character of the holy city of Al-Quds (Arabic name for Jerusalem), and protect what they view as the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people to achieve the existence of a state with Al-Quds as its capital.

Morocco took the initiative to organize an urgent meeting in order to discuss the situation in Gaza and was the first member of the Security Council to "strongly condemn the Israeli aggression."

Random Zineb thoughts: Morocco is one of only two monarchies present in Africa nowadays but its political system is carefully evolving from a strong centralized monarchy to a parliamentary system. Its freedom level according to the freedom house is quite low and Morocco itself still has numerous human rights issues to resolve, in addition to the international border dispute with the Polisario Front over the territory of Western Sahara. However, it is a country that supports democracy and freedom of speech. This is the reason why Morocco is attempting to end the Israeli attacks, given that the apartheid regime of Israel denies about 1.7 million people in Gaza their basic rights, such as freedom of movement, jobs that pay proper wages, and adequate healthcare and education.