West Africa

France-Mali Relations in Crisis: A Diplomatic Breakdown In a move that echoes the increasingly fraught ties between France and Mali, Paris has announced the suspension of counterterrorism cooperation with the West African nation. This decision follows the August arrest of a French diplomat in Mali's capital, Bamako, and marks a significant escalation in a diplomatic rift that has been deepening since military coups shook the country in 2020 and 2021. The Unraveling of Cooperation The French government has ordered its…

Deportees' Legal Battle Shines a Light on Ghana's Immigration Policies In a poignant and complex clash of rights and national policy, eleven Ghanaians recently returned from the United States are taking unprecedented legal action against their own government. These individuals, who were deported under the controversial immigration stance of the Trump administration, claim their detention upon arrival violated their rights. The case encapsulates the delicate interplay between international agreements and domestic law,…

‘We Know Hunger’: Somali Donors Keep a Gaza Kitchen Alive, One Pot at a Time In the crowded lanes of Gaza, where fuel is scarce and days are measured by the arrival of bread, a line forms before noon. Children clutch metal bowls, women balance plastic containers, and an old man steadies himself on a cane as steam curls from vast metal pots. The kitchen—funded by Somalis thousands of miles away—has been serving up a rare constant amid the chaos: a hot meal. For 50 days and counting, a grassroots Somali initiative has pushed…

U.S. bill to lift Zimbabwe sanctions opens a fraught debate over land, justice and global finance In Washington, a seemingly technical change to U.S. law has the potential to reopen some of the oldest wounds in southern Africa. A new bill in the House of Representatives would repeal a cornerstone of American policy toward Zimbabwe — the Zimbabwe Democracy and Economic Recovery Act (ZDERA) of 2001 — removing a U.S. veto over loans, debt relief and funding from the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. But the repeal…

Somalia Says Voter Registration in Jubbaland to Start Soon, Pushing Toward One-Person, One-Vote Somalia’s prime minister says voter registration in Jubbaland will begin “soon,” a fresh signal that the federal government is pressing ahead with a long-promised shift to one-person, one-vote elections across the country. The announcement, delivered Wednesday, is meant to reassure Somalis that preparations are on track for landmark local government polls slated for October 2025. But the path ahead remains bumpy, with political…

Zimbabwe’s Human Rights Report: A Pattern of Violence, State Complicity and Vulnerable Lives When the Zimbabwe Peace Project released a terse but damning account this week documenting more than 3,000 victims of rights abuses in a single month, it read like a catalogue of a nation trapped between political control and social distress. The group documented at least 121 distinct incidents in August, finding that women and people with disabilities were disproportionately affected. Nearly half of the violations, the report says,…

House GOP moves to censure Rep. Ilhan Omar over posts about Charlie Kirk killing; Democrat calls effort “baseless” WASHINGTON — A fresh clash over speech, identity and the limits of political punishment is heading for the House floor, where Republicans are moving to censure Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) for her online activity following the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. Omar, a Somali-born lawmaker who has long attracted outsized attention from the right, is calling the push meritless and rooted in…

South Africa hold Nigeria to 1-1 draw in Bloemfontein as qualification drama deepens Bloemfontein — Nigeria's Super Eagles left South Africa on a knife edge after a 1-1 draw with Bafana Bafana in Bloemfontein on Saturday, a match that keeps both teams' World Cup qualification hopes very much alive but leaves the path forward markedly different for the two nations. The result means South Africa sit six points clear at the top of their group and can all but seal progression if they pick up a single point from the two…

Students Stand Up for Quality Education in Tamale Amid Protests In a scene that unfolded under the scorching sun of northern Ghana, students of Tamale Technical University took to the streets, their voices melding into a chorus of discontent. Their grievances were clear: an increase in tuition fees that they deemed excessive and a perceived lack of accountability from university authorities regarding infrastructure and welfare issues. The situation escalated quickly, as police were reported to have fired warning shots to…

Niger State’s Sermon Approval Policy: Balancing Law and Freedom In a striking move emblematic of the complex interplay between governance and religious expression, the governor of Niger State, Mohammed Umar Bago, recently announced a controversial policy requiring local clerics to submit their sermons for government approval. This initiative, presented as a strategy to counter “anti-people and anti-government” messages, has stirred the passions of locals, illuminating the ongoing struggle for religious freedom in emerging…