Lome, Togo | AFRICAN ARGUMENTS | On Saturday 19 August, shocking images of the bodies of protesters being carried on stretchers started flooding social media in Togo. That day, thousands of citizens had taken to the streets to demand democratic reforms and the restoration of the country’s 1992 constitution. Calling for change after half a …
Read More »Kenyatta, Odinga more keen than ever to win
Given its challenges, why did Kenya’s IEBC schedule the rerun election before the 60 day limit? Nairobi, Kenya | ISS TODAY | Kenya’s Supreme Court has been widely – and rightly – hailed for its bold, historic and unprecedented decision last week to annul the 8 August election victory of President Uhuru …
Read More »So how do mega-storms get named, anyhow?
Paris, France | AFP | First there was Harvey, which put much of Houston under water. Now Hurricane Irma is rampaging across the Caribbean and closing in on Miami. Meanwhile, Jose — still a tropical storm — is brewing in the Gulf of Mexico, while Katia in the Atlantic …
Read More »By any name, major tropical storms are bad news
HURRICANES: low-pressure systems that pack more power than the energy released by the atomic bomb that levelled Hiroshima. Paris, France | AFP | No matter what they are called — hurricanes, cyclones or typhoons — the giant tropical storms that form in oceans near the Americas and Asia can be …
Read More »What happens to ‘Dreamers’ after Trump revokes their residence rights?
Washington, United States | AFP | The Trump administration on Tuesday ordered the end of the “Dreamers” program that allowed illegal immigrants who came to the United States as children to remain in the country. That move threatens the futures of some 800,000 people, many now in schools, with jobs …
Read More »Why roads remain unattended in some areas despite govt pledges
Kampala, Uganda | CSBAG | Every financial year, the government commits to upgrade a number of roads across the country, but many of these roads have remained unattended to despite budgetary allocations. The government has on many occasions pledged to tarmac various roads across the country, but many of the …
Read More »More than two years of crisis in Burundi
Bujumbura, Burundi | AFP | Burundi has since April 2015 been rocked by a deadly political crisis born of President Pierre Nkurunziza’s divisive bid for a third term, which he secured in July of that year. Between 500 and 2,000 people have been killed in the violence, according to sources such …
Read More »How central banks in EAC can boost private sector credit
The economic rescue initiatives can only succeed without political interference Kampala, Uganda | ISAAC KHISA | How can central banks in the East African Community boost private sector credit that has since last year slowed down? That was one of the issues that the Central Bank Governors in the region …
Read More »ANALYSIS: From Kavuma to Owiny-Dollo
What next as Museveni’s cadre judges win? Kampala, Uganda | AGATHER ATUHAIRE | On Aug 18 President Yoweri Museveni appointed a new Deputy Chief Justice to replace DCJ Steven Kavuma who retires this month and elevated two other justices from Court Of Appeal to Supreme Court. The DCJ designate pending …
Read More »Kim Jong-Un: Absolute power — and an H-bomb to wield it
Seoul, South Korea | AFP | North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un ranks among the world’s youngest heads of state, but has some of its most powerful weapons at his disposal. Sunday’s test of what appeared to be a powerful, full-fledged thermonuclear bomb, marked yet another watershed in Kim’s relentless drive as …
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