The Nigerian state has come under severe security stress in recent times. It has faced multiple national security threats: jihadist groups in the north-east; armed bandits in the north-west; militia secessionists in the south-east; and militancy in the south-south. Thousands of people have died or been displaced. Hardly a day goes by without reports of […]
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The new book The Unaccountables: The Powerful Politicians and Corporations who Profit from Impunity is welcome for the way it contextualises corruption. It shows how politicians and bureaucrats could not implement corruption without their corporate and professional enablers – the accountants, auditors and advocates who make it all possible. The book is the result of […]
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The murder of Chris Hani, a South African liberation struggle hero, by Janusz Walus on 10 April 1993 almost derailed the country’s transition from apartheid to democracy. Now, almost 30 years later, the constitutional court has ruled that Walus (69) must be released on parole. The move has been met with anger by many in […]
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South Africa’s President Cyril Ramaphosa faces possible impeachment in the country’s parliament over the illegal stashing of thousands of US dollars at his farm in 2020. This is not the first time there’s been a threat of impeachment of a president in post-democratic South Africa. His scandal-prone predecessor, Jacob Zuma, survived an impeachment vote in […]
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Community-based wildlife conservation is often promoted as a win-win solution. The idea behind this approach is that the people who live close to wildlife can be involved in protecting it and have an interest in doing so. This results in wildlife being protected (a win for global biodiversity) and local people benefiting from conservation through […]
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South Africa is in a state of crisis. Its current reality is necessarily shaped by historical events, not least the outcomes of the political settlement process that led to the end of apartheid in 1994. Unlike other countries in southern Africa, where political independence came after gruesome liberation wars, the leaders of the African National […]
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Ghana has about six million social media users out of a population of 31 million. WhatsApp, Facebook and YouTube are the three dominant social media platforms, while Instagram and Twitter are gradually gaining popularity. Most users are young, educated and in the middle class or above. Men outnumber women online. Ghanaian political parties have used […]
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In October 2022, Somalia’s capital Mogadishu suffered yet another massive suicidal attack. More than 100 people were killed. Hundreds more were wounded and thousands will have been traumatised by an attack claimed by the Somali insurgent group Al-Shabaab. The attack was carried out on the fifth anniversary of the most destructive suicide attack in Somalia’s […]
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