Let The Music Play: Tinariwen - Mali

Debating Witchcraft In Uganda

The issue of the existence of witchcraft in Africa has not only plagued the lives of many, it has also drawn significant scholarly attention. One of the issues which scholars do not raise in a sustained manner is the matter of whether or not witchcraft exists. In Uganda, however, the debate raises the issue of the existence of the phenomenon. In discussing the case of athletes who are allegedly bewitched, a Ugandan police officer states:

"There is no witchcraft. It is just psychological and it is so because the place is remote and they are lagging behind in development," said Biingi.

He says that for the last two years, they have received two incidents were people have been killed for allegedly being witches. "These are women in their 80's."

An unfortunate incident was when the mob found a man walking with his wife taking vegetables. They told him that the woman was a witch. They took her and dropped her off a cliff in the mountainous terrain to her death.
The other incident was when a man was called to treat a sick person. However the person he was treating died and the mob turned to him and beat him up.
"What these athletes need are good coaches who will train them both psychologically and physically. That thing (witchcraft) does not exist. It is just that the society is closed and people are not educated. Such things are bound to happen," Biingi added

Another person said: "I think people are over watching Nigerian movies. Those things are only seen by the husband and the woman and none of the public. There is also a 13-year old girl Aida, who is fire possessed. Whenever She stays in a home for three months, the house catches fire," says Mangusho.

Those scholars who simply assume that Africans generally believe in the existence of witchcraft will do well to listen to the debate on the ground!

Are Women Responsible For Corruption In Africa?

A former Nigerian Minister of Women's Affairs has charged that women are responsible for the rampant corruption and general moral decline in the country. Hear her state the matter:
"It is the woman who gives birth to and trains the man. We, as women, are the main reason why men are corrupt because we encourage our husbands to engage in corrupt practices just for our financial benefits," she said.
Is she making a justifiable statement?

Africa's 40 Richest People: Forbe's Inaugural List

See the names here and pictures here. How did they make their money?

Let The Music Play: Le Balafon

White Ban, Black Ban: Stifling the Public In South Africa

The apartheid regime in South Africa committed crimes against the public by claiming protection of state secrets and national security; the ruling African National Congress (ANC) is beginning to claim the same in the face of massive corruption in the country. Plus ca change!

Pope Speaks Out Against Corruption But Names No Name

During his recent visit to Benin, Pope Benedict XVI vigorously spoke out against corruption in Africa and the hopelessness such state of affairs may engender. However, the Pontiff named no names. He spoke about corruption as if it were an amorphous phenomenon that namelessly pervades society. Hear the Pope: "At this time, there are too many scandals and injustices, too much corruption and greed, too many errors and lies, too much violence which leads to misery and to death." However, these scandals and injustices, corruption and greed, errors and lies are perpetrated by some people, particular leaders. The Pope knows them and he must name names. These issues can be effectively addressed if names are named and the leaders responsible for such mishaps are called to account. Generalizations may be fine diplomacy but it is a weak prophetic voice. We need strong prophetic voices in Africa today. See videos of the Pope's visit here.

Tahrir Square 2.0: Unseating Dictatorship Is Hard Work

Unseating dictatorship is hard work, ver hard work. Egypt should be an example of what lies ahead for many African countries. I take off my hat to the courage of the Egyptians. See this BBC TV report and the video below.

Angola Aids Portugal

Angola is coming to the economic aid of its former colonial master, Portugal, which is now in dire straits.

A New Africa?

Two French authors see a new Africa in the offing and this is how they describe it in their book:
The 21st century will be the century of Africa. This continent was once seen as empty, rural, animist, poor, and forgotten by the world. Now, fifty years after independence, it is full to bursting, urban and monotheist. If poverty and violence are still rampant, economic growth has taken off again and a middle class is developing. Africa will hold a central place in the big issues facing the world today. If it once made a ‘false start’, here it is back again – in the fast lane.

The West has missed the turnaround of a continent that will no longer wait for us. How can we best understand it? Demography, economics, politics, diplomacy, cultures and religions – this book presents the different facets of this new Africa, which will soon have a billion people, at the mid point of the most rapid population boom that humanity has ever known. Without ignoring the risks of its metamorphosis, it brings to light the forces and hopes that Africa harbors.
Trust the Frech when they say this - they would know because they have always seen Africa as an extension of France! Others seem to concur.

Cameroon's Military Should Overthrow Paul Biya

A recent post indicating that the effort to remove Paul Biya from office can be helped by Cameroonians in the diaspora makes a valid point when it also indicated that Cameroonians in the diaspora are highly disorganized. This disorganization, also reflected by the disorganization of the opposition back in the country, is partly caused by Cameroonians who are still on the government payroll back home even though they now live and work in America or Europe. These Cameroonians also take bribes from Paul Biya in order to give the impression that Biya has massive support in the Cameroonian diaspora. Thus, the Cameroonian diaspora cannot do much to remove Biya from power. Many of them have vested interests in seeing that the Biya dictatorship endures.

However, one group that can easily remove Biya from power is the Cameroon military. It is well known that Biya has made common cause with the Cameroonian army and tries as much as possible to appease them. This appeasement, as the military knows well, is at the expense of the general public. If the role of the military is to protect the people, then they should recognize that Biya has himself become a menace to the well-being of the people and therefore needs to be removed. It will be better for the people to live under clear military dictatorship rather than under a regime that passes for a democracy but is in effect being ruled by the military. Thus, the military has a duty to overthrow Paul Biya and gain the helm of power. There will be international outcry when this happens but, as is always the case with these things, a procedure will be put in place to reorganize the country. There is no way the country can be reorganized under the stranglehold which Biya has on it right now. Thus, rather than defending Biya against their own people, the Cameroon military has a duty to remove him from power. Biya's stranglehold on the country has made all peaceful means of change of government and the improvement of the lives of the people impossible. We must not kid ourselves. We will have a better transition from a clear military dictatorship than from the current Biya dictatorship. The military should go ahead and remove him.

African Nobel Laureat Tells How She Worked For Peace

Watch here, beginning at 14 minutes.

Blair Underwood, Hollywood Actor, Traces Roots To My Village

Hollywood actor, Blair Underwood has traced his roots to my village in Cameroon. The people of Babungo (Vengo) are among the Tikar people in Cameroon and because his DNA links him to the Tikar people, Blair surmises that his roots should lie among the Babungo people. I always knew we were a great people; it is good to have one of our sons entertaining America. In the pictures above, Blair in Babungo.

Chinua Achebe Rejects Nigerian Honor, Twice

Renown African man of letters, Chinua Achebe of Nigeria, well known for his many novels, including Things Fall Apart, has rejected to be honored by the Nigerian government for a second time. In rejecting the prize, the famed author cited the deplorable condition in which many Nigerians still live. He would be more honored if living conditions were improved for the poor than if he is given a prize. This is a principled stance which is hardly seen in Africa today. At a time when many African intellectuals are selling their souls to the corruption of their countries, it is heartening to know that there is at least one person who is not interested in rapacious politics. Watch.

Foreign Powers Buying Land In Africa: Recolonization?

Read more here.

Cameroon Churches Bless Stolen Election

After stealing the recent presidential elections in Cameroon, bishops and other ministers in the country gather to bless the "victory" of Paul Biya, Cameroon's dictator for 29 years. They prayed God to bless his dictatorship, a service God has already been providing for the past 29 years! Thus it is that the church has formed a team with rapacious political elite to squeeze life out of their people. One would have hoped that church leaders would be pastors in the true sense of the word. In Cameroon, however, Roman Catholic bishops and protestant preachers have followed the lead of their Popes to bless the rapacity of dictatorship.

Cameroonian Priest Criticizes Cameroonian Bishops

Ludovic Lado, a rising intellectual of Cameroonian and African Christianity, has written an open letter criticizing Cameroonian Roman Catholic Bishops for cozying up with Paul Biya's dictatorship in the country. He points out how throughout Biya's machination to destroy democracy in the country, the position of the Bishops has been cacophonic and incoherent. He implored them to be the prophetic voice they are supposed to be in a country that is rife with all sorts of injustices. Lado is following in the footsteps of Cameroonian Roman Catholic priests such as the diseased Engelbert Mveng and Jean-Marc Ela, prophetic voices that were overrun by Biya's dictatorship and marginalized by the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church as it cozied up with dictatorship in the country. It is not only the Cameroonian Bishops who are giving their backing to dictatorship in Cameroon; Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI personally blessed the Biya dictorship. It may well be that the Bishops in Cameroon are only following in the footstep of Roman Catholic hierarchy which appears to have made peace with the appalling degradation of the lives of their Christians in Cameroon.

China's Disregard For Human Life

China's disregard for the life of its own citizens at home and abroad is surpassed only by its morbid treatment of Africans both in China and in the African continent. This is nowhere more blatant than in its mine safety record. China's abysmal mine safety record at home is surpassed only by the recklessness of its mines in African countries such as Zambia. When Chinese owners of mines in Zambia are not shooting their workers, the working conditions at the mines are left to be so deplorable that they could simply be seen as death traps. How can China care about the lives of Africans when it does not care about the lives of its own citizens? It is this reckless disregard for human life that has led China to go around the world conniving with dictators in an apparent display of political neutrality.