End The Slavery In Mauritania!!!

Rather than jailing and charging those who burn religious books that promote slavery in Mauritania, the authorities should end the obnoxious practice. Slavery threatens the security of the state more than the activists currently being charged with that offence. It is a crime to condone slavery anywhere in the world in the twenty-first century.

The Travesty of Training African Football Teams In Europe

It is a shameful and disheartening fact that many African countries still send their national football teams for training in Europe to prepare for major tournaments, such as the African Nations Cup or World Cup qualifiers. It is beyond me why African countries continue to incur the massive expense in doing this even though they go to Europe to prepare for matches that will take place in Africa. Is there any good reason why this travesty should be taking place? First, one of the reasons for taking players away from their familiar environment is to lessen the distractions that may affect their preparation. This is a good reason for taking the players to a different country. However, they could as well go to other African countries for training rather than to Europe. Another reason is that there may be better training facilities in Europe. While this appears to be a good reason at the face of it, it tells a humiliating tale in terms of the development of African football. It says that after fifty years of independence, African countries have not been able to develop good football facilities to train their players at home, even though football is the most popular sports in the continent. Another good argument may be that European countries provide their facilities for free. However, this is not the case. So what good reason is there for African countries to go and play friendly games with other African countries in France or Germany?! Is this a manifestation of the stupidity of our governments or what? Congratulations to those African countries that do not take part in this stupidity.

Kofi Annan's Dishonorable and Unhappy Job In Syria

Kofi Annan is now the shield of the ghost often called "international community." This so-called international community is made up only of a few powerful countries (America, countries in Europe, a few Asian countries) and should actually be called a community of interests. I know about a community in my village because we do not allow people kill their children at will. In the village there is community because we do not merely proctect our interests. We protect the interests of the whole community. The so-called international community is not a community that cares about atrocities that dictators around the world met on their peoples; rather, it is a community that sponsors dictators when it suits its interests. This so-called international community, waving the banner of the impotent United Nations, is standing by as Assad is murdering children in Syria. What kind of person kills children? And what kind of international community stands by as people murder children? The so-called international community has hired Mr. Annan, the lone African in this saga) so that he could shield their disgraceful ineptitude in addressing a murderer in Syria. And Mr. Annan has been doing the job really well as children are being slaughtered, bringing back the memory of Rwanda, where the so-called international community stood by as hundreds of thousands were slaughtered. Mr. Annan may think that he is leading a noble mission but that is not the case. The mission has now degenerated into a conspiracy with murderers of children. Mr. Annan must abandon that job if the so-called international community is not willing to do to Assad what they did to Gaddafi. After all, his mission is as good as irrelevant.

How IMF's Christine Lagarde Trash-talks Africa

In her efforts to address the increasingly desperate situation in Greece, Christine Lagarde, the French head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), has made a fateful comparison between Greece and Africa. This is not the first time that a single, tiny European country has been compared to the whole of Africa, nor would it be the last. What is different this time is that Christine Lagarde appears to see no similarity between the situation in Greece than her "Africa". Yes, many people have died in Greece because of austerity and many more have lost their jobs - just like it happened in some African countries when the IMF and the World Bank saddled these countries with the so-called structural adjustment plans of the 1980s and 1990s.
For Ms. Lagarde, however, the situation in Africa is different because Africans cannot pay their taxes while Greeks can and Africa's children are poor while those of the Greeks are not. That is why she implores the Greeks to pay their taxes in order to get a handle on their desperate situation, saying that she is more concerned about poor children in Africa than the Greeks. Really!? Leaving aside the obvious fact that Europe has never been more concerned about Africa than Europe itself, Ms. Lagarde fails to see that Africa does not need her sympathy, if that is what she  wanted to show. Much of the current condition in Africa, especially in Francophone Africa, has been brought about by Ms. Lagarde's France, which first colonized the continent and then saddled its peoples with autocrats who care more for French interests than the interests of the people they serve. In effect, France has been running Francophone Africa from colonial times to present. Paul Biya in Cameroon, the late and current Bongos in Gabon, Blaise Compaore in Burkina Faso, etc. These are all autocrats saddled on the necks of their people to serve the interests of France. With its mercenaries and military, France helps these autocrats kill their own people so that French interests in the continent may be protected. The poor children in Africa have actually been manufactured with the help of Ms. Lagarde's France. It would be disingenuous of her to claim ignorance of this and pretend that she is more concerned about Africa's children.

South Africa Takes Part In Probing The Heavens

The decision to include South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand in the project appears to be highly political and the benefits to the inhabitants of the region is not quite clear given that the regions where the telescopes are located are expected to be beyond the reception of television and cell phone signals - important sources of information in our time. This notwithstanding, let the heavens be probed!

Racism and Violence Against Africans In Israel

Queen Elizabeth of England, Friend of Autocrats

Now that Queen Elizabeth of England has taken to inviting dictators around the world to help her celebrate her Diamond Jubilee, it is notable that some dictators are missing on her list simply because they are not called kings or queens. This group of aristocrats who cares less about the aspirations of their people but spend more time entrenching themselves in power, like kings and queens do, also merit the kudos from the generous Queen. While she is at it, she could have invited Robert Mugabe, the King of Zimbabwe and her long time friend, Paul biya, the King of Cameroon, a commonwealth country, Yoweri Museveni, the King of Uganda, and many of her autocratic friends in Africa. God save the Queen  - and her autocratic friends!

Images of Africa: Is The Media Too Negative?

Austerity: Bad for the French, Good for Cameroonians

When in the late 1980s and 1990s the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank saddled African countries with what was called Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs), the Socialist president of
France, Francois Mitterrand, was one of its ardent defenders.  I remember that at the time the SAPs was forced on Cameroonians, the French thought that it would be better to devalue Cameroon's currency, the CFA Franc, which was pegged to the French Franc at the time. So the CFA was devalued by 50% and, coupled with other austerity measures, Cameroon's economy went south. Many lost their jobs and the rate of deaths in many communities increased. To this day, many Cameroonians and Africans have not recovered from the murderous effects of the SAPs.
At the time of this austerity, Cameroonians were calling for government accountability and the institution of multiparty politics in the country. It was the French, under the leadership of a socialist president, Francois Mitterrand, who dolled out money and arms to Paul Biya, Cameroon's dictator, to suppress demonstrations in the country. Paul Biya even boasted at the time that he was the best pupil of Francois Mitterrand. Today, he is still the president of Cameroon and still being supported by the French military.
However, when a similar austerity is visited on France in the last year or so, the French elected a socialist president, Francois Hollande, who rejects austerity. Thus, for the French, austerity is a dirty word; however, the very French people would love to see austerity saddled on the Cameroonian people. 

Innovation In Africa

"The Voice": South Africa's Vusi Mahlasela

See more here.

Was South African Apartheid Morally Repugnant?

Listen to Mr. De Klerk's convoluted response:

Paul Biya Has A New Master - Francois Hollande

With the French presidential elections now over, Paul Biya, Cameroon's dictator for thirty years, has a new boss, the president-elect, Francois Hollande. Nicholas Sarkozy has received the fate which Paul Biya dreads. If only Sarkozy know how to rig elections, he would have been president for as long as Paul Biya has and even more!

Francois Hollande, President-elect of France

Death Of A Soccer Star: Rashidi Yekini

The death of Nigeria's prolific striker, Rahidi Yekini, has been announced.

Kah Walla Puts Paul Biya's Cameroon On The Spotlight In The United States

Regional Force Is Wrong Way To Fight Boko Haram

Chad's dictator, Idriss Deby, is calling for a regional force to fight Boko Haram. He is making this call with, perhaps, a different aim in mind given that the conflict with Boko Haram is not circumscribed to a particular place. Regional forces are meant to police particular places not whole countries. Boko Haram has demonstrated remarkable ability to strike different places in Nigeria. They may have bases in neighboring countries like Chad and Cameroon due to the porous borders that these countries have. Thus, the issue is not so much one of organizing a regional force as it is one of setting up strong internal security. The problem with Nigeria and many other African countries is that internal security is so weak that one can literally carry a bomb into any place without being detected. The situation of the porous borders is made worse by the jarring corruption of border agents who would take bribes to let even the late Osama bin Laden pass into any country. Nigerian leaders should ask themselves why it is that a group like Boko Haram cannot freely operate in Britain or the United States as it does in Nigeria. It is not because the United States has soldiers in the streets as Idriss Deby would like to see; rather, it is because of a strong internal security system. Perhaps Idriss Deby wants to shore up his dictatorship by calling for additional international forces to line the streets of Chad - that is probably why he is calling for the creation of a regional force which will do nothing to stem the chaos being caused by this affiliate of Al Qaeda, Boko Haram. Let's start by creating a strong internal security system. A good internal security system, not soldiers with guns, would stem the tide of Boko Haram.