Eye on Africa

Flotilla Bound for Gaza Intercepted at Sea; African Leaders Demand Release of Detainees Israeli forces intercepted a flotilla of roughly 40 vessels on Wednesday that had been sailing for weeks toward the besieged Gaza Strip, detaining scores of activists and prompting urgent diplomatic protests from African leaders whose citizens were aboard. Among those taken into custody was Nkosi Zwelivelile Mandela, the grandson of former South African president Nelson Mandela, an emblematic figure whose presence underscored the…

Somali Activist Omar Jamal Freed From ICE Custody in Minnesota, Says He’s Confident He Won’t Be Deported MINNEAPOLIS — Somali community advocate Omar Jamal walked out of a southern Minnesota jail this week after a month in federal custody and used his first public appearance to do something unusual in a high-stakes immigration case: praise the jail that held him. “What I have seen is people doing their job with professionalism in a humane way,” Jamal told reporters in Albert Lea, standing beside Freeborn County Sheriff…

Somali Politics Spill Into Nairobi Again — And Mogadishu Pushes Back It is a familiar scene in East African diplomacy: Somali politicians gathering in a Nairobi hotel to hash out the country’s future far from Mogadishu’s checkpoints and political heat. This week, that well-worn script met a forceful rebuttal from Somalia’s defense minister, who said enough is enough. In a sharply worded post, Defense Minister Ahmed Macallin Fiqi condemned a Nairobi meeting of opposition figures and regional leaders — among them Puntland…

The Unseen Struggle: Ghana's Witchcraft Accusation Survivors Make Their Voices Heard In the heart of Ghana, a silent crisis unfolds—one that reveals the ugly underbelly of superstition and stigma, where a simple accusation can dismantle lives. Survivors of witchcraft accusations have stepped into the spotlight, calling on Parliament to urgently pass the Anti-Witchcraft Accusation Bill. Their plea is not just for protection but for a restoration of dignity that has been stripped away through discrimination and violence. A…

Namibia’s children exposed: online life and the quiet rise of digital harm Snapshot of a hidden crisis A new study has lifted the lid on a worrying trend in Namibia: an estimated 20,000 children are exposed to online sexual exploitation and abuse every year, according to research published by the Disrupting Harm project. The study, which maps technology‑facilitated abuse of children, also finds that roughly 80 percent of Namibians aged 12 to 17 use the internet — primarily for schoolwork and social media — creating both…

Somalia’s Skies Welcome a New Captain — and a Revival of Possibility At dawn in Mogadishu, when the ocean breeze carries the call to prayer over the runway and the heat hasn’t yet settled on the tarmac, a young captain strides toward her aircraft with the calm of routine and the knowledge that nothing about this is ordinary. Headset in hand, checklist tucked under her arm, Captain Yasmin Abdi Farah powers up the cockpit of a Maandeeq Air jet bound for Nairobi. A familiar route, yes—but the story it tells is new. Yasmin,…

Building Dreams or Wasting Resources? The Debate Over the $10 Million Presidential Villa in Lofa County In a quiet corner of Liberia's Lofa County, where the green hills meet the sky, an unexpected controversy is simmering. The construction of a lavish presidential villa—touted to cost a staggering $10 million—has ignited a storm of public debate about transparency, priorities, and the essence of governance. This issue rose to prominence after civil society activist Eddie Jarwolo, known for his outspoken nature, took to…

Clashes in Zeila over UNESCO-listed Xeer Ciise ceremony prompt heavy police response Zeila, North Western State of Somalia — Police in the historic Red Sea outpost of Zeila deployed in force late Thursday after rival community groups clashed over plans to hold a ceremony celebrating Xeer Ciise, the Issa clan’s customary legal code recently inscribed on UNESCO’s list of intangible cultural heritage. By nightfall, authorities said the streets were calm, but elders warned the dispute is far from over. The confrontation…

Echoes of Dissent: The Rising Tide of Political Oppression in Mali The sun hung low over the bustling streets of Bamako, casting a warm glow on a city grappling with the shadows of repression. Former Prime Minister Moussa Mara stood before a somber court, his fate teetering on the edge of a judicial gavel. As the judges denied his bail application, the chilling message resonated beyond the courtroom walls: dissent in Mali will not be tolerated under the military junta that has ruled with an iron fist since 2021. A Voice…

Two killed as Morocco’s Gen Z protests expose a generational fault line When word spread on TikTok and Discord that young people across Morocco would converge on town squares and police stations to demand better schools, clinics and jobs, it felt like an experiment in 21st-century dissent — decentralized, fast and anonymous. What unfolded over a few days was far more combustible. In Lqliaa, near the port city of Safi, police opened fire on a crowd trying to “storm” a police station, killing two people, authorities say. The…