Africa News Update
Africa News Update offers news, background and feature articles from African sources twice weekly. The newsletter is free of charge and is edited by the Norwegian Council for Africa. Some of the articles may be shortened.
Ghana: Misery of “prayer camps” for mentally ill
Accra (Ghana) - Doris Appiah, 57, has bipolar disorder. In her early twenties, she was sent to an overcrowded psychiatric hospital followed by a “prayer camp” to be treated. She stayed there for five years, at times tied to a wall or forced to fast. Her story is mirrored by thousands of mentally ill people across Ghana, according to a 2 October Human Rights Watch (HRW) report entitled Like a Death Sentence. Read >
Thursday, 04 October 2012
UN Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN)
Africa: Economies rising - but are they taking the people with them? (analysis)
After 26 years of the most horrific war, Liberia seems to have settled down despite noisy disenchantment with the rule of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, now in her second term. I recently attended a conference on Liberia for some 300 investors and potential investors. Read >
Tuesday, 02 October 2012
African Arguments, by Richard Dowden
Somalia: When guns go silent, which East African country will gain most?
Nairobi (Kenya)- To draw from John Steinbeck’s experience, the reasons for entry into Somalia by each of the leading actors that have helped to stabilise the Horn of Africa country vary, but the timing and style of their exit will be more important. Read >
Tuesday, 02 October 2012
The East African (Kenya), by Julius Barigaba
Guinea: 'Fear has switched sides'
Conakry (Guinea) — Three years after a stadium massacre in the Guinean capital Conakry in which hundreds of people were killed, injured and raped during a military crackdown on a rally to protest against the presidential candidacy of coup leader Moussa Dadis Camara, there are indications that impunity may be coming to an end. Read >
Tuesday, 02 October 2012
UN Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN)
Malawi: Facing the costs of food insecurity and rising prices
Mzuzu (Malawi) — The peaceful transition of presidential power in April from Bingu wa Mutharika to Joyce Banda highlighted the respect for democratic culture and constitutional order held by Malawian people and institutions. But now, Joyce Banda and her People's Party are testing this respect to the maximum as the full effects of their devaluation of the kwacha lead to rapidly increasing food prices. Read >
Tuesday, 02 October 2012
ThinkAfricaPress, by Edward Joy*
Kenya: How can we prevent a repeat of poll violence? (opinion)
Nairobi (Kenya) - We are now six months away from the first General Election under Kenya’s new Constitution. To dispel fears of a repeat of the events of the last election, we need clarity on two fronts: Read >
Tuesday, 02 October 2012
The East African (Kenya), by L. Muthoni Wanyeki
Sierra Leone: Five more years forward... (opinion)
Freetown (Sierra Leone) - Studies going back over half a century seem to suggest that, for better or for worse, a sitting president's record is at the heart of his reelection chances. No incumbent can run away from his record; he must run on it. The question then is what is this record of the incumbent President Ernest Bai Koroma? What are the specifics of this record? Read >
Tuesday, 02 October 2012
Concord Times (Sierra Leone), by Jarrah Kawusu-Konte
Zimbabwe: Police and military reform key to peaceful elections
Mutoko (Zimbabwe) - An attack on a political rally by uniformed soldiers is stoking fears of a reprise of state-sponsored violence against NGOs, human rights activists and parties opposed to President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF in the lead-up to a referendum on a draft constitution and scheduled parliamentary and presidential elections in 2013. Read >
Tuesday, 02 October 2012
UN Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN)
Mauritania: EU subsidies sour domestic milk industry
Ari Hara (Mauritania)/Johannesburg (South Africa) - Women are pioneering Mauritania’s fledgling dairy industry and trying to get Mauritanians to support local small producers, but they face steep competition from the heavily subsidized European milk sector. Read >
Tuesday, 02 October 2012
UN Integrated Regional Information Networks (IRIN)