January 27, 2020
‘Luanda Leaks’ is the name that has been given to a series of investigations made by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) concerning the alleged appropriation of money made by Isabel dos Santos and her half-brother José Filomeno de Sousa. Isabel dos Santos is well-known for being the wealthiest women in Africa and the daughter of the former president of Angola, José Eduardo dos Santos. Her fortune l...
November 20, 2019
Britain is facing its biggest tea-related crisis since the 1773 Boston tea party fiasco. Kenya is Britain’s biggest supplier of tea yet the fertile soils in and around Kericho which allows for this supply of tea is under threat. The problem? A Kenyan governor, Paul Chepkwony, is demanding reparations for the land that was ‘stolen’ during the 1930’s, alongside the threat that he will seize up to two-thirds of the farmland which...
October 23, 2019
The Nobel Peace Prize has always been shrouded in irony. Alfred Nobel, the inventor of Dynamite, used the prize as an attempt to give his name nonviolent connotations after his invention had become such a booming success. It was the equivalent of an arsonist giving out a prize for architecture.
The recipients of awards have been no less paradoxical. Henry Kissinger won the prize for ‘Ending the War and restoring peace in Vietn...
July 13, 2019
It’s been 25 years since South Africa’s first democratic elections of the 27th of April 1994. These elections ushered in a wave of euphoria and sanguine that South Africa could finally step out of the shadows of Apartheid, and into a brighter future. Since 1994, there have been five national elections, in which the African National Congress (ANC) have dominated. Subsequently, in these 25 years, South Africa has delivered five...
June 20, 2019
On April 11 Sudanese protesters took to the streets in the capital city of Khartoum to celebrate the stepping down of long-standing former president Omar al-Bashir. Hopes of democracy and civilian rule flooded the crowd. However, the removal of one man from power proved not enough to dismantle the deeply entrenched military structure of the Sudanese government.
The country’s hopes of democracy were shattered on June 3 when peac...
March 8, 2019
Nigeria’s presidential election, initially planned for 16 February 2019, was dramatically delayed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) chairman Mahmood Yakubu five hours prior to polls opening. On February 23, 2019, after the most expensive Nigerian presidential campaigns ever, elections were actually held and incumbent Nigerian President and All Progressive Congress (APC) candidate Muhammadu Buhari won. Def...