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African journalism. JULY 3 2021 | ISSUE 52
The Continent
with
Styling a statesman
Illustration: Wynona Mutisi
The Continent | issue 52. july 3 2021 2
Inside:
■ Sleep in Madiba’s home: For
just $1,000 a night you too can
help reduce poverty in South
Africa, by staying in a boutique
hotel, which is far easier than
tackling the unfair structures of
our unequal world (p8).
■ Strip Abiy Ahmed of his Nobel
Prize? Tanzania’s Zitto Kabwe
writes that although Ethiopia’s
prime minister may once have
deserved to be celebrated, his
war on his own people demands
COVER STORY: What consequences (p15).
do emperors wear to ■ What’s up with Africa’s last
hide their delicates? Our king-slash-despot? We’d like
leaders like to project to tell you with some good old-
power, claim ethinic roots fashioned reporting. But, with the
and look good while doing help of large companies shutting
it. Most fail. But some are down the internet, Eswatini’s
masters at using what they unelected leader is once again
wear to tell a compelling crushing his people (p18).
story. The recently passed ■ The lucrative 'conversion
Kenneth Kaunda took therapy' trade: Does your child
his dress tips from Mao think they have a right to have
Zedong. But it was Julius sex with a person of their own
Nyerere who dubbed that choosing? Never fear, electric
ensemble the “Kaunda shock therapy and drugs will
suit”. Yoweri Museveni “cure” them – for a fee (p24).
adopted loose-fitting ■ Fighting for women in the
clothes and his iconic hat DRC: In a brutalised society,
to look like a man of the it is women who too often pay
people. While Bobi Wine the highest price. The DRC is no
has picked the red hat different. But there are people
of revolution. All of it is changing this by pushing back
carefully cultivated (p20). and reminding everyone of their
shared humanity (p33).
The Continent | issue 52. july 3 2021 3
The week in numbers
100+
The number
of new inter-
continental
ballistic missile
silos under
construction
in China ... the number of consecutive
BET Best International Act
awards won by Burna Boy
94,000 ... excess deaths in South
Africa this year, with the
majority attributed to Covid-19
12
... the percentage tax
levied on mobile data in
$2.5-billion
... the current market value
of Zipline, the Rwanda-
based drone delivery
Uganda, as of Thursday service for medical supplies
The Continent | issue 52. july 3 2021 4
OLYMPICS
Photo: AFP
No Afros in the
Olympic pool
Soul Cap makes swimming caps
designed for “big hair”. The UK-based
company was established to cater to
diverse hair types, and believes that
“being blessed with voluminous hair
shouldn’t come with the curse of harsh
chemicals or mediocre products”. But
the international body that regulates
competitive swimming does not appear
to agree: they have denied an application
for Soul Caps to be worn in competitive
swimming, which means they cannot
NIGERIA be worn at the upcoming Olympic
Separatist leader Games in Tokyo. “How do we achieve
participation and representation in
extradited the world of competition swimmers,
if the governing body stops suitable
Nigeria announced on Tuesday that it swimwear being available to those who
had secured the arrest and extradition are underrepresented?”
to Abuja of Nnamdi Kanu, the fugitive
leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra
Heads up:
(Ipob), a separatist group calling for the Swim caps
secession of the country’s southeast. It’s designed for
unclear how or where Kanu, a wanted people with
man since skipping bail in 2017, was ‘big hair’ have
arrested. This would not be the first been banned
time that Nigeria has tried to force an from the Tokyo
Olympics.
exile to face justice at home. In 1984, the
Photo: Luke
Nigerian government kidnapped and Hutson-Flynn/
attempted to ship out former transport Soul Cap
minister Umaru Dikko in a crate from
London only to be foiled by a quick
thinking secretary and customs officer.
The Nigerian leader at the time? One
Muhammadu Buhari.
The Continent | issue 52. july 3 2021 5
ZAMBIA
Daka trades in
his Euro star for
plenty of pounds
After playing for four years in the
Austrian championship league, 22-year-
old Zambian striker Patson Daka will
now play in the English Premier League
after signing a contract with Leicester
City worth £23-million. Daka scored
68 goals in 125 appearances for RB
Salzburg and finished last season as
Daka rallies: Zambian super striker
the top scoring player, scoring 27 times
Patson Daka has signed with Leicester in 28 games. Daka made his senior
City after a dazzling four-year stint in international debut in 2015 and won the
Austria. CAF Youth Player of the Year in 2017.
SOMALIA MOZAMBIQUE
Delayed elections Cops on lookout
set for October for ‘terror’ razors
The long-awaited presidential elections Authorities in Mozambique’s central
in Somalia finally have a date, after Manica province have ordered police to
extended deadlocks that turned violent confiscate “Al Shabaab”-branded razors,
at points. The prime minister confirmed which are being sold in local markets.
on Tuesday that indirect parliamentary Mozambique is currently struggling
elections and presidential elections to contain an Islamist insurency in
will be held on October 10, further the country’s northern Cabo Delgado
commending the stakeholders who had province. Locally, the insurgents are
held talks for two days in Mogadishu. known as Al Shabaab, although their
“I commend the leaders of the council connection to the Somalia-based
and hope the election will be a peaceful group is tenuous. In a letter seen by The
and transparent one, based on the Continent, a police commander said the
agreed-upon schedule and processes,” razors are associated with “propagandist
the prime minister said. actions of the terrorist group”.
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The Continent | issue 52. july 3 2021 7
GHANA
Unrest turns fatal
Clashes between protestors and
security forces in Ghana’s Ashanti
region resulted in two deaths and
four people being injured. Tuesday’s
Photo: Parliament protest action was in the name of a
of Malawi civil society activist and member of
the recent #FixTheCountry political
MALAWI and social protest movement Ibrahim
Back to school “Kaaka” Mohammed, who was beaten
to death by unidentified parties last
Malawi’s 43 women members of weekend. Mohamed was also a member
parliament dressed in school uniforms of the Economic Fighters League and a
on Tuesday, in a bid to inspire girls vocal critic of the government. Police
to stay in school. The message, said they arrested two suspects in
according to the speaker of parliament connection with his death.
Gotani Hara, is that “with hard work,
everything is possible”. Around 15% of
Malawian girls do not finish primary ZAMBIA
school.
Kenneth Kaunda’s
state send-off
LIBERIA
Warlord has a Zambia’s first president, the late Kenneth
Kaunda, received a state memorial
change of heart in Lusaka on Friday, in a ceremony
attended by foreign dignitaries. Kaunda,
Liberia’s Joshua Milton Blahyi was a popularly known as KK, was among the
rebel leader of the United Liberation last surviving African leaders of his
Movement for Democracy. In 2008 he generation. He died two weeks ago at
testified that he had personally killed the age of 97, and is due to be buried in
20,000 people. Now he is an evangelical a family ceremony next week. His final
pastor, working to get former child resting place has yet to be finalised,
soldiers out of crime and off drugs. however. His family want him to rest
“These kids are victims, not criminals. beside the grave of his wife, Betty, at
We made them take up arms and use their family farm. The government is
drugs. I have to make up for these insisting that he be buried at Embassy
mistakes,” he told AFP. Park, an official national memorial site.
The Continent
issue 52. july 3 2021 News 8
South Africa
The cost of
living under
Madiba’s roof
What’s the price of
freedom? At Nelson
Mandela’s home, now a
boutique hotel, it starts at
$300 a night.
T he late South African president’s
private residence, in the upmarket
Johannesburg suburb of Houghton, has
been converted into a hotel.
Opening this year, Sanctuary Mandela
is “set to attract world leaders and people
who aspire to the inspiration of this
global icon, offering them an opportunity
to be immersed in his most intimate
environment,” according to the breathless Boutique call: Paying guests can enjoy
press release. the drab aesthetic of the anti-apartheid
The “boutique accommodation” can icon’s meticulously hollowed out legacy.
sleep 18 guests in nine rooms, with per
night prices ranging from about $300 for a lives and livelihoods, President Nelson
double to $1,000 for the presidential suite. Mandela’s ideals of equality and the
Part-owners, the Nelson Mandela eradication of poverty are needed most.”
Foundation, said: “Now, more than ever, Because nothing says equality and
at a time when the world requires an equal poverty eradication better than a night at
distribution of vaccines in order to protect a luxury hotel. ■
The Continent | issue 52. july 3 2021 9
capture” refers to the wholesale looting
that purportedly occurred during Zuma’s
tenure as state president between 2009
and 2018 with the help of a family of
businessmen from India – the Gupta
brothers. But Zuma, who was forced out
Photo: Phill of office by the ruling party in 2017, has
Magakoe/ on multiple occasions refused to give
Gallo Images evidence before the commission.
Vexatious, pernicious, defiant
Jacob Zuma At 25, South Africa’s constitution, born
in jubilation and hope, is often cited as a
goes to jail model for what the founding document
of a constitutional democracy should
After refusing to give look like. According to acting deputy
evidence at a corruption chief justice Sisi Khampepe of the
inquiry, former South Constitutional Court, who delivered the
judgment against Zuma, no one is above
African president Jacob the constitution. Among the adjectives
Zuma will spend the next used by the panel of judges to describe
15 months behind bars Zuma’s behaviour: vexatious, pernicious,
defiant, egregious, scandalous.
Kiri Rupiah There was “no doubt” Zuma was in
contempt of court, Khampepe said. “The
H aving developed an almost Teflon
Don-like aptitude for not serving
prison time – first with an acquittal for
only appropriate sentence is a direct,
unsuspended order of imprisonment,
because the alternative would be to
rape, and then evading a stint in jail for effectively sentence the legitimacy of the
tax issues – it had seemed South Africa’s judiciary to inevitable decay.”
third democratically elected president was
indeed above the law. There was ‘no doubt’
But in his refusal to testify before South
Africa’s Commission of Inquiry into state Zuma was in contempt of
capture, however, Jacob Zuma went too court, Khampepe said.
far: He was found guilty on Tuesday of
contempt of court and sentenced to 15 The former president is also expected
months in prison. He has until Sunday to to face South Africa’s justice system in a
turn himself in. new corruption trial later this year – this
In South African parlance, “state time as an inmate. ■
The Continent | issue 52. july 3 2021 10
North America
Too hot to trot:
A misting station
cools Canadians
in Vancouver.
Photo: Bloomberg
via Getty Images
a famine is unfolding, driven by that
Canada burns heating.
But nobody is immune. This week,
T he village of Lytton in western Canada
sits at the confluence of two rivers,
surrounded by forests and mountains.
Lytton broke Canada’s temperature
record on three successive days, peaking
at 49.6°C. On Wednesday, its 250-odd
It’s picturesque. It snows. It’s named after inhabitants were evacuated as a wildfire
a settler, who was part of a movement that swept in and burned the village down.
tried to eradicate the people who had lived Much of that continent’s north-west has
in the area for some 10,000 years. been hit by unprecedented heat this week.
That same movement created the most Hundreds have died.
polluting societies in human history. Per Governments everywhere agreed in
person, Candians have a bigger carbon Paris in 2015 to make sure that global
footprint than their neighbours in the heating didn’t become too catastrophic.
United States – 16 times that of the Since then, though, few have taken
average person living in Africa. concrete steps to make this happen.
That carbon is trapping heat and Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau,
making the world change rapidly. It means warned this week that “we’ve been seeing
more extreme weather events. More more and more of this type of extreme
floods, heatwaves and more wildfires. weather event”.
The worst of it is felt in the tropics and That’s something Africans know all too
in Africa in particular. In Madagascar, well. ■The Continent
issue 52. july 3 2021 News Analysis 11
Europe’s ‘vaccine passports’
will lock out the global south
Some vaccines are more equal than others, apparently
Editorial: In an interview earlier this year with The Continent, Dr John
Nkengasong – the head of the Africa Centres for Disease Control – warned:
“Europe is trying to vaccinate 80%. The United States is trying to vaccinate
everybody. They will finish vaccinating, impose travel restrictions and then
Africa becomes ‘the continent of Covid’. ” It’s already happening.
Simon Allison administered in the developing world,
including Sinopharm, Sputnik V and one
A cross much of the European Union,
life is returning to something
like normal. Some 55,998 spectators
iteration of the AstraZeneca vaccine – the
one manufactured by the Serum Institute
of India, which goes by the brand name
crammed into Budapest’s Puskas Arena Covishield.
to watch a football match last month, These have not been approved by the
with barely a mask in sight. Bars, cafes European regulator, despite receiving
and restaurants across Europe are approval from the World Health
reopening, as are museums and theatres, Organisation.
and residents of the 27-country bloc are
starting to plan their summer holidays. The EU has excluded
Europe’s post-pandemic future is almost all the vaccines
taking shape. Unfortunately, most of that have been
the Global South is not included in that
future.
administered in the
This week, the EU unveiled its “vaccine developing world,
passport” scheme – what it is calling a including Sinopharm,
Green Pass – which will allow vaccinated Sputnik V and Covishield.
people to travel without quarantine to
and within the continent. But not all In practice, this means that if you have
vaccines are eligible. The EU has excluded been vaccinated anywhere in Africa,
almost all the vaccines that have been Asia, the Middle East or South America,The Continent | issue 52. july 3 2021 12
it will be a lot more difficult to travel to or better solution would be to waive
within the EU. At the very least, it will be intellectual property rights on the
prohibitively expensive for most. vaccines so that they could be made by
The exclusion of Covishield – despite anyone.
being identical to the AstraZeneca
vaccines manufactured in Europe – is The exclusion of Covishield
particularly controversial. This is the – despite being identical
vaccine that is being distributed by the
Covax mechanism, a scheme that is
to the AstraZeneca
supposed to ensure equitable access to vaccine – is particularly
vaccines for the developing world. controversial. According
“These developments are concerning to a statement released
given that the Covidshield vaccine has by the AU, inequalities in
been the backbone of the EU-supported
Covax contributions to the AU Member access to ‘Green Passes’
States’ vaccination programmes,” said may persist indefinitely.
the African Union in a statement this
week. “Furthermore, given that the Strive Masiyiwa, Zimbabwe’s richest
expressed goal for the Serum Institute man and head of the AU’s vaccine
of India production is to serve India and acquisition task force, said last week that
lower-income countries, [the Serum Covax has been a failure.
Institute] may not apply for EU-wide “This was a deliberate global
market authorisation, meaning that the architecture of unfairness,” he said.
inequalities in access to “Green Passes” “Imagine we live in a village, and there is a
created by this approach would persist drought. There is not going to be enough
indefinitely.” bread, and the richest guys grab the baker
The EU’s decision this week is another and they take control of the production of
blow for developing world countries who bread and we all have to go to those guys
have had to rely on the Covax mechanism and have to ask them for a loaf of bread:
to access vaccines. So far, the scheme That is the architecture that is in place.”
has delivered just 90-million doses of Meanwhile, life across much of the
the two-billion it had promised by the African continent is far from returning
end of 2021 (in comparison, the EU has to anything like normal. The World
secured 4.4-billion doses – that’s nearly Health Organisation warned that “the
10 for each citizen). third wave is picking up speed, spreading
The EU has been an enthusiastic faster, hitting harder”, and that by July
supporter of the Covax scheme, using the continent will be facing more new
its diplomatic clout to override the infections than ever before – and we
objections of countries like India and will be doing it without a stockpile of
South Africa, who argued that a much 4.4-billion vaccine doses. ■The Continent | issue 52. july 3 2021 13
Ethiopia
Abiy’s army Gebretensae, a veteran army commander
leading the TDF, saying in January they
suffers shock were “biting the dust”.
This week, however, Addis Ababa’s
plans all fell apart.
reversal in The occupying administration fled
Mekelle as members of the Tigrayan
Tigray forces advanced. The TDF said it had won
a series of battles and destroyed half of
After losing control of the the Ethiopian army’s eight divisions; the
Ethiopian army called it “fake news”.
regional capital, Mekelle, Whatever the truth of those claims, it
Ethiopia’s government is became clear on June 28 — seven months
suddenly on the back foot to the day after Prime Minister Abiy
Ahmed declared victory over the TPLF,
Aanu Adeoye as his men occupied Mekelle — that the
TDF had mounted a stunning comeback.
T hings seemed to be going well for
the Ethiopian government seven
months ago. Using the pretext of what
It declared victory. Then Abiy declared
a unilateral ceasefire, ostensibly to lessen
the suffering of the Tigrayan people who
it said was an attack on a base in Tigray, have been cut off from aid as the war
the central government launched a full- raged.
scale offensive on the region and took the In reality, the ceasefire seems to be
regional capital, Mekelle. an admission of defeat by the national
It put its own officials in charge. government after a brutal campaign,
This marked a decisive swing in the which was characterised by war crimes
decades-long tension between Addis allegedly committed by all parties.
Ababa and its northernmost state. At a speech in Addis Ababa on
The Tigray Defence Forces (TDF), the Tuesday, Abiy alleged that his troops
armed wing of the Tigrayan People’s had been ambushed and “attacked and
Liberation Front (TPLF), was pinned in massacred”, with clergymen joining the
the mountains by the combined strength fight and churches serving as armouries.
of the Ethiopian National Defence Force “So, we discussed for a week and decided
(ENDF) and Eritrean troops. not to bear this anymore,” he said.
The BBC reported General Tsadkan The ceasefire may have also beenThe Continent | issue 52. july 3 2021 14
as a result of international pressure,
especially from the United States, on
Abiy’s government, said William Davison,
Ethiopia analyst at the International
Crisis Group, a think tank. “There was
pressure to change course in Tigray and
enact a ceasefire focused on humanitarian
operations and that was partly because
of threats to international financing for
Ethiopia’s government,” Davison told The
Continent.
The US reportedly urged the World
Bank and IMF to withhold funding from
Ethiopia.
Whatever the trigger, the TDF appears
in no mood for a détente. Getachew Reda, Aftermath or interlude: Tigrayan
its spokesman, called the ceasefire a “sick fighters celebrate in Mekelle, after
retaking the city from the federal
joke”, and said Ethiopia was pretending troops. The central government has
to care about the plight of those suffering now declared a ceasefire, but the TPLF
in Tigray. “We want to stop the war as has said it will keep fighting. Photos:
quickly as we can,” Getachew said. Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP
With Mekelle under their control, the
TDF is bullish about what comes next. and the Amhara regional government
Getachew warned that “if there is still a giving up its administrative control
menace next door” – be that from Eritrea, of areas of western Tigray would be
“extremists” from the neighbouring necessary for the TPLF to embrace a
Amhara region who have occupied ceasefire.
western Tigray, or Ethiopian forces – the For now, the TDF’s victory offers
TDF would ensure “Tigrayan’s security”. renewed hope of a return home for the
It’s unclear what happens next. two million people displaced by the
The war could continue. There also war. Tigray does though face the more
seems to be a window of opportunity immediate threat of famine – and many in
for a bilateral ceasefire. Getachew, the the region are in dire need of emergency
tough-talking spokesman, said Tigrayan aid.
leaders were open to negotiations if vital Prime Minister Abiy, already leading
services were restored. “You cannot cut a nation divided along ethnic lines before
off electricity and services and expect to the war, now faces the mammoth task of
make peace.” uniting an even more fractured Ethiopia,
Davison, of the Crisis Group, also as calls for an independent Tigray grow
believes the withdrawal of Eritrean forces louder. ■The Continent
issue 52. july 3 2021 Comment 15
Ethiopia’s Abiy staggering that the head of government of
a sovereign state would invite the army of
Ahmed must another country to kill, rape and displace
his own citizens.
His credibility has been further
be stripped diminished by the blatant untruths he
has told about the cause and conduct of
of his Nobel the war, and the way his government has
repeatedly targeted civilians by cutting
Peace Prize off electricity and internet in the region,
and preventing access for humanitarian
Zitto Kabwe workers.
U ntil November 2020, when he No one imagined then
launched the civil war against that the Ethiopian
Ethiopia’s Tigray province, Abiy Ahmed prime minister and his
meant a lot to many upcoming politicians
in Africa. At that time, many of us thought
government would later
the Nobel Peace Prize that he received preside over the atrocities
for brokering peace with Eritrea was committed against the
fully deserved; we were proud of his people of Tigray.
achievements.
No one imagined then that the Abiy must be held accountable for these
Ethiopian prime minister and his actions. It is time now for the public to
government would later preside over demand the revocation his Nobel Peace
the atrocities that have been committed Prize. In addition, the African Union
against the people of Tigray, in northern must refer the atrocities – which together
Ethiopia. add up to a potential genocide – to the
Human rights organisations like United Nations Security Council for
Amnesty and Human Rights Watch an independent investigation; and,
have documented multiple instances of should the council refer the matter, Abiy
Ethiopian federal forces, in collaboration himself must eventually answer to the
with Eritrean soldiers and Amhara International Criminal Court for the
regional militias, massacring innocent crimes committed on his watch. ■
civilians; committing mass rapes; and
destroying property.
Eritrea’s involvement is particularly Zitto Kabwe is the leader of ACT
damning of Abiy’s leadership: it is Wazalendo, a Tanzanian opposition partyThe Continent | issue 52. july 3 2021 16
(Photos: Jaanus Ree/
Red Bull Content Pool)
PHOTO FEATURE
‘Safari Rally’
returns to Kenya
T he World Rally Championship returned
to Kenya last weekend, with race cars
skidding through the veld and sand spitting
over thousands of spectators.
This “Safari Rally” used to be an iconic
part of the championship calendar. Drivers
loved it because each stage was just so hard.
It also ticked all the postcard Africa boxes,
with cars passing wild animals and endless
grassland.
With a dozen races spread across the
world, Kenya was the one in Africa. It is
also one of very few international motoring
events held on the continent, after the Dakar
and Formula 1 races left.
It is now the only one.The Continent | issue 52. july 3 2021 17 Formula 1 keeps teasing a return to the continent with a race in South Africa. The Dakar, after a stint in South America, is now helping to launder the reputation of Saudi Arabia. Kenya dropped off the rally calendar almost two decades ago. President Uhuru Kenyatta used the trophy ceremony to announce that Kenya will continue hosting the event for at least the next five years. The overall winner across the three days was Sébastien Ogier, a French driver. Local driver Onkar Rai crossed the finish line in Naivasha seventh overall. ■ The first Safari Rally was held in 1953 and it took two decades before it became one of the races on the World Rally Championship calendar. That first race, in 1981, was won by Shekhar Mehta. An east African, born in Uganda, his family fled to Kenya when Idi Amin took over. His offroad skill meant he also won the inaugural African Rally Championship in 1981. That championship has been held across the continent and is in its fourth decade. His career ended in a massive crash in 1986. Photo: Martin James Brannan/Fairfax Media via Getty Images.
The Continent
issue 52. july 3 2021 Q&A 18
The Continent: There were reports
What’s this week that King Mswati III had fled
the country. Are these reports true?
driving the Dlamini: We received those reports.
But the government later released a
protests statement that the king had not fled the
country. But by now the king should
in Eswatini? have addressed the country to prove that
he is here. Instead, we saw his first-born
Protests against the king of daughter [Princess Sikhanyiso Dlamini]
Eswatini, Africa’s last absolute addressing the country, which raises
monarch, turned violent questions. We expected the government
this week. Some buildings to ask the king to address the nation if it
connected with King Mswati III was true that he is in the country.
were torched by protesters,
while police have reportedly Can you describe the protests that are
been assaulting and arresting happening now?
political opponents. Activists The protests are somewhat chaotic
say at least eight people have now. We are seeing the burning of
been killed and dozens more government properties, and properties
injured and detained. The of companies associated with the king.
government has shut down the The king holds shares in big companies
internet – with the compliance in Eswatini, so protesters seem to be
of mobile providers MTN and
targeting those properties. We are also
Eswatini mobile – which makes
seeing soldiers unleashed on unarmed
it difficult to access reliable
civilians; they are going round the rural
news from the country.
To understand what’s
areas beating citizens in their homes.
going on, The Continent spoke
to Zweli Martin Dlamini, the What’s driving the protest movement?
editor-in-chief of Swaziland The protest manifested after three
News, an online news site. pro-democracy members of parliament
Dlamini has himself been advocated in parliament that this
persecuted by the Eswatini country should be ruled by a democratic
government for his reporting, government. These MPs asked the
and has twice had to flee into government to at least elect their own
exile in neighbouring South prime minister [currently, the prime
Africa. minister is appointed by the king].
They were suggesting a constitutionalThe Continent | issue 52. july 3 2021 19
democracy where the king would be
outside of politics.
After those submissions in
parliament, citizens in other
constituencies started delivering
petitions around the country, urging
other MPs to discuss these issues
in parliament. After seeing that the
momentum was growing, parliament
banned the delivery of petitions. In so The truck stops here: Protesters are
doing they were seen to be banning targeting companies linked to the king.
freedom of expression, and that then
manifested into chaos. online. As Swaziland News, we are able
to give people as much information as
The monarchy in Eswatini has possible with regard to what’s happening
overcome protest movements before. with those in power. So people are
Is this time different? more informed. They discuss the news.
This time is different. What is happening And they are holding the powerful to
right now, we have about 80% of the account; that’s what we see is happening
population living below the poverty now. These people are now empowered
line. In the midst of that unfortunate in terms of information.
situation, the king is seen to be living an
extravagant lifestyle. People now believe What’s going to happen next?
that their problems are caused by the I think the decision by the government
king and his government. So people are to shut down the internet and ban the
demanding that the king step aside. And delivery of petitions will escalate the
this time the protesters seem to mean protests. These decisions confirm to the
business. people that they are being governed by
an oppressive government.
The king has always lived an But we appeal to the international
extravagant lifestyle. What’s changed? community to assist the people of
What actually happened is with the Eswatini at this time.
emergence of independent media. In As we speak now, we might soon see
2017, the government began shutting a situation where people will be starving
down newspapers who were critical of because as the chaos grow, trucks are
the king’s government. being blocked from delivering goods
But with the emergence of into Eswatini.
independent online media, it We are seeing a situation where
is becoming impossible for the people are in urgent need of
government to censor information humanitarian aid. ■The Continent
issue 52. july 3 2021 Feature 20
From fashion
to fascism
– and back?
What a president’s style
says about their politics
Eric Mwine-Mugaju
K enneth Kaunda, the Zambian
liberation leader who died last
month, inspired many Africans to fight
Well-suited: Presidents Milton Obote of
Uganda, Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, Jomo
colonialism. He was also an unlikely Kenyatta of Kenya, and Kenneth Kaunda
fashion icon. of Zambia, in 1967. Photo: Getty Images
His signature look was a short-sleeve
jacket with two breast pockets, worn Tailors across East Africa cashed in on
with trousers of the same hue. According the look, which was in high demand in
to Kaunda himself, it was Tanzania’s local markets.
president Julius Nyerere who gave the The wardrobes and accessories of
ensemble its name: the Kaunda suit. other leaders from that era were just as
Any resemblance to the sartorial symbolic. Kenya’s Jomo Kenyatta, for
leanings of Mao Zedong is probably not example, always carried a fly whisk with
accidental – the two leaders met in 1974, him: a marker of authority among the
and Kaunda is said to have been inspired Maasai, and a sign of royal standing. On
by the Chinese leader’s outfit, as well as the other side of the continent, among
his ideology. the Yoruba the fly whisk (Irukere) is also
Ever the diplomat, Kaunda balanced considered to be a symbol of power and
his communist-inspired suit with a jaunty respect.
ascot cravat, appealing to the sensibilities Zaire’s Mobutu Sese Seko, on the other
of both socialist intellectuals and western hand, created his own fashion in the
diplomats. form of his trademark leopard-print hat,
Perhaps because of its political shaped in the style of a western garrison
overtones, the Kaunda suit caught on: cap. He then banned anyone else from
Nyerere adopted a similar style, while any wearing the design, reinforcing his own
self-respecting African headmaster in the supremacy in the hierarchy of the state.
1970s had at least one in their wardrobe. As socialism lost ground, so theThe Continent | issue 52. july 3 2021 21
Bombastic: As the likes of Jean-Bédel Bokassa and Idi Amin ascended, the modest
fashions of socialist leaders gave way to the sartorial severity of military attire.
Kaunda suit fell out of favour. And when military outfit was draped in medals and
the army men and rebels toppled post- insignia, and Amin decided he needed to
independence regimes in coups and have the same.
rebellions, they brought their military When he took power in Uganda in
fatigues with them. 1986, Yoweri Museveni went in a different
direction. He framed himself as a man of
Ever the diplomat, the people, wearing loosely-fitted clothes
and a (now iconic) wide-brimmed
Kaunda balanced his
summer hat. In the 2011 election, rural
communist-inspired voters received text messages from the
suit with a jaunty ascot president, which were signed simply:
cravat, appealing to “Vote for the old man with the hat”.
the sensibilities of both
Cut from different cloths
socialist intellectuals Regardless of ideological persuasion,
and western diplomats. leaders on the continent have used the
iconography of fashion as part of their
Famously, the Central African public relations campaigns for centuries.
Republic’s self-styled Emperor Jean-Bédel African kings had extravagant fashion
Bokassa inspired Uganda’s Idi Amin when styles to separate them from ordinary
he visited Kampala in 1972. Bokassa’s man. Among the Tutsi of Rwanda,The Continent | issue 52. july 3 2021 22 Heavy is the head: Without his hat, would South Sudan’s Salva Kiir still be president? (Yes. Yes, he would. Technically.) Photo: Ashley Hamer/AFP/Getty Images the Amasunzu hairstyle – a pointy with the informal, loose-fitting patterned crested afro – signified that a man was shirts that he liked to wear that they powerful, noble and brave (the look was are now known as “Madiba shirts”. But later borrowed by Kaunda himself and Kenyatta Jr’s Madiba shirts do have a Uganda’s Milton Obote). Kenyan link: they are made by a state- Leaders today are similarly mindful of owned company called Rivatex, and he what message is being sent by their choice has been encouraging civil servants to of clothes. South Sudan’s President Salva wear “Made in Kenya” apparel every Kiir is never without his cowboy hat. The Friday. present was a gift from former United Even opposition figures are carefully States President George W Bush, and curating their public image. perhaps serves as a reminder that he also In South Africa and Uganda, Julius owns the country’s largest cattle herd. Malema and Bobi Wine have turned Kenya’s Uhuru Kenyatta, meanwhile, the red beret into a potent symbol of has ditched his father’s fly whisk and resistance to the government, drawing on instead taken fashion inspiration from the garment’s long history, dating back to another iconic African leader – Nelson the French Revolution, as a sign of unity Mandela, who became so synonymous among the proletariat. ■
The Continent | issue 52. july 3 2021 23
1_Ons Jabeur, with a 6_ Which French-Chadian
THE QUIZ career-high ranking of
24th in the world, plays
tennis for which North
African country?
2_King Mswati III is the
ruler of which country?
musical duo best known
for their song Makeda
from their Grammy
nominated album
Princesses Nubiennes?
7_ Name the leader
3_What is the country of “Lutte pour le
whose name is derived Changement” who died on
in turn from the phrase June 10th 2019 in Goma,
gher n-gheren, meaning DRC?
“river among rivers,” in 8_ What is the lowest
the Tamashek language? point on land in Africa?
4_What is the name of 9_Legendary
the active volcano which Cameroonian musician
erupted near the town of Wes recently passed
Goma in the Democratic away. What was his full
Republic of the Congo in name?
May 2021? 10_Ilhéu Bom Bom, or
5_ King Kigeli V Bom Bom Island, is one of
Ndahindurwa was the last the main islets of which
king of which country? island country?
0-4
“I think I need to
start reading more
newspapers.”
5-7
“I can’t wait to
explore more of this
continent.”
8-10
“I am the
absolute monarch
of this quiz.”
How did I do? WhatsApp ‘ANSWERS’ to +27 73 805
6068 and we’ll send the answers to youThe Continent
issue 52. july 3 2021 Investigation 24
(Illustration: Inge Snip, openDemocracy)
East Africa’s ‘lucrative’
conversion therapy industry
A six-month investigation in Kenya, Tanzania and
Uganda reveals widespread use of clinics that claim
‘therapy’ will change a person’s sexual choices
Lydia Namubiru, Khatondi Soita exhausted all the time. I felt abandoned.
Wepukhulu and Rael Ombuor I was afraid I was going to die.”
He said he was kept there, at what he
W hen Samuel (not his real name)
was a teenager, he was sent to live
in a windowless room in a deserted area
called a “conversion therapy institute”, for
a year and a half. “I hated my parents for
putting me through that.”
on the outskirts of Nairobi, the Kenyan Anti-LGBT+ “conversion therapy”
capital. Here, he said, he was given electric practices seek to change an individual’s
shocks and shown pictures of “ruptured sexual orientation or gender identity,
anuses and wounded penises” by people with methods that may range from
who told him that if he didn’t stop being conversational therapy to outright physical
gay, he would “meet the same fate”. abuse.
“I was not allowed to make or receive Samuel was just one of more than 50
any phone calls,” Samuel said. “They also survivors of such practices who shared
gave drugs that made me drowsy and their experiences with researchersThe Continent | issue 52. july 3 2021 25 working with openDemocracy on a bans ‘’sexual acts between persons of the special investigation into these activities same gender’’, but it is not yet law. across East Africa – in Kenya, Tanzania Survivors interviewed by researchers and Uganda. working with openDemocracy described “It got beyond overwhelming,” said lasting effects on their mental health, a lesbian woman from Uganda, who family relations and general wellbeing. described being subjected to electric Some said that in addition to enduring shocks as part of anti-LGBT+ conversion painful “treatment” they had dropped out therapy at a clinic in the capital, Kampala. of school and lost friends. Though this took place a long time Interviewees came from several ago, she said “the resentment I felt for my generations; some talked about recent family [who took her there] has never experiences, while others described the really gone away”. aftermath of these practices years after Many interviewees said they had been they had happened. handed over to providers of such “therapy” A transgender woman in Tanzania said by their own families. LGBT+ identities are her mother took her to a hospital in Dar not just widely stigmatised in East Africa, es Salaam, Tanzania’s largest city, where but criminalised: anal sex, for example, is a doctor attempted to convince her that punishable with prison sentences in each one cannot be transgender. As a result, she of the three countries. Uganda’s recently said, “My mistrust issues towards health passed sexual offences bill more broadly institutions [are] very high. I could get (Illustrations: Inge Snip, openDemocracy)
The Continent | issue 52. july 3 2021 26
very sick and not go and get a check-up.” reporters had been “misled” and that the
In the six month investigation, facility focuses on addiction and mental
openDemocracy undercover reporters health and does “not offer any sex/
identified 12 health centres across the sexuality treatments”.
three countries – including those that Sinza Hospital (which did not
specifically seek to reach gay men with respond to requests for comment) is one
health services – where staff offered help of several hospitals in Dar es Salaam in
to “quit” same-sex attraction. which undercover reporters found health
Efforts to “cure” homosexuality are workers offering to “treat” gay or trans
“inherently degrading and discriminatory” people out of their orientation or identity.
said Kaajal Ramjathan-Keogh, Africa In Kenya, an undercover reporter
director at the International Commission at LVCT Kenya was offered counselling
of Jurists human rights organisation, in sessions at a kshs1300 per session.
response to openDemocracy’s findings. Its spokesperson denied this, saying
But they are “a lucrative business the company “does not and has never
opportunity for individuals and supported any form of conversion therapy
organisations who are profiting for LGBTQI people.
out of humiliating, demeaning and In almost all cases, the “treatments”
discriminatory actions,” she said. In many identified by undercover reporters in
cases, openDemocracy found people Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda consisted of
asked for payment for such “therapy”. “talk therapy” counselling sessions.
In Kenya, for example, the Fountain of But in Uganda, one counsellor also
Hope rehabilitation centre outside Nairobi recommended “exposure therapy” with
said it “treats” same-sex attraction with a “a housemaid [you] can get attracted [to]’’,
90-day residential programme costing $23 and told an undercover reporter to give
a day – a huge amount in a country where her supposedly gay brother a sleeping pill
around a third of people live on less than to prevent him from masturbating.
$1.90 a day. Activities to “change” individuals’
Kalande Amulundu, its founder, told an sexual orientation have been condemned
undercover reporter (posing as the sister by more than 60 associations of doctors,
of a 19-year-old brother she suspected psychologists and counsellors around the
was gay): “Unusual sexual orientation world. Three countries – Brazil, Ecuador
behaviour, that kind of thing – yes, we deal and Malta – have banned these practices
with those.” He suggested the facility could altogether. ■
change her brother’s sexual orientation,
but “the best success rate is to get this Reported by openDemocracy. Additional
person to be bisexual.” reporting by Charles Kombe. Additional
However, when openDemocracy research by Joscar Amondi Oriaro, Cairo
Kisango, Warry Joanita Ssenfuka, Leah
contacted Amulundu separately for Wamala Mukoya, Leah Mukoya Wamala
comment after this visit, he said that the and Geoffrey Ogwaro.The Continent
issue 52. july 3 2021 Profile 27
SA’s feminist
fighters bring
law to the war
Activists are mobilising
on the street and in court
as a new lockdown traps
women in abusive homes
Yazeed Kamaldien Home turf: Caroline Peters of the Callas
Foundation, which works to protect and
T wo young women stand at the office
door of the Callas Foundation in
Athlone, Cape Town, waiting for help to
shelter women and their children from
abusers. Photos: Yazeed Kamaldien
register their children at a local primary had her husband arrested.”
school. Getting the law involved is crucial, says
Caroline Peters, its founder, is showing Callas. “Usually in that situation, when a
a municipal officer around the non-profit. husband comes back home angry, then
The official is checking that Peters meets it’s worse – so we wanted her to be out of
municipal regulations, as her organisation the area.”
is based at her home. Her staff are cooking Her foundation is one of many
two large pots of food to be dished out organisations in South Africa that defends
later for people who do not have meals women’s rights. Gender-based violence
at home. is all too common in the country, and
When Callas sits down to catch her every day the foundation finds itself
breath, she gets a phone call about yet dealing with these violent crimes: the
another woman who needs to get out of rape, mutilation and murder of women
an abusive relationship with a man she and young girls.
lives with. Femicide in South Africa is five times
She gets too many of these calls. higher than the global average, with a
“This organisation started because woman murdered every three hours,
sexually abused women came to my according to official statistics. Nearly 150
house for help,” says Callas of her work. sexual offences, most of them rape, are
“Yesterday, a woman came here early in reported every day – though activists say
the morning. We got her to a shelter and this number is significantly lower thanThe Continent | issue 52. july 3 2021 28
found themselves drawn into complex
battles in the legal system, another
challenging front in the battle for equality.
Here, fortunately, the foundation’s work is
bolstered by another key ally, the Women’s
Legal Centre.
The centre has helped in securing
inheritances for widows, assisting
frontline organisations like the Callas
Foundation obtain protection orders
for women against their abusers – and
even protecting women activists from
Grass roots: Henriette Abrahams chairs
politicians.
the Bonteheuwel Development Forum, “We all know the legal system is not
which also works with the Women’s conducive to women,” says Seehaam
Legal Centre to protect women’s rights. Samaai, director of the Women’s Legal
Centre. “The law discriminates against
reality: many cases go unreported because women: when you go through the
victims do not trust the police. criminal justice system there is a lot of
But in this never-ending war on secondary victimisation, where the victim
women, they are also fighting back. has to continually go through the trauma
Gail Smith, a journalist and activist of what she had to go through because
who has worked as spokeswoman the system is not helping women to move
for the South African Human Rights forward.”
Commission, says a “feminist revolution Callas says the Covid-19 lockdowns
is under way in South Africa, challenging made legal interventions especially
patriarchy and its oppression of women”. important, as women found themselves
Smith is the executive producer on effectively trapped in their homes with
South Africa’s first unapologetically abusive partners. “I would find women
feminist talk show, It’s a Feminist Thing, outside on the street and ask why are they
produced for the Soul City Institute, sitting in the street. They said it would be
which promotes women’s rights. safer to sit in the street than go home
“If you look at the shutdowns and all of where they are abused. ”
the women’s marches in the last two years, With this in mind, the centre applied
there’s a feminist revolution happening. for and received permits to move around
And women who are fighting the system in order to remove women from abusive
are being demonised.” situations.
As organisations such as the Callas In a society where men have – and take
Foundation work to dismantle abuse in – power, the law is often the only thing
homes and protect women, they have that can force a rebalance. ■The Continent
issue 52. july 3 2021 Analysis 29
Where does Abiy’s explanation. It is now clear that
Ethiopian troops fled Mekelle after
Ethiopia's a military defeat that represents a
significant turning point in the war. In
turn, this makes it clear that his previous
prime minister pronouncements that "the war is over”
were little more than a PR stunt: Abiy the
go from here? Propagandist.
Moreover, it seems implausible that
Yohannes Woldemariam Abiy prosecuted a costly conflict that has
ruined his international reputation only
A fter eight months of conflict in the
Tigray region, Ethiopian Prime
Minister Abiy Ahmed surprised even his
to allow his rivals to retake their positions.
Further reasons to doubt the prime
minister include the fact that the so-called
closest supporters by pulling troops out ceasefire is not actually bringing relief to
of the town of Mekelle and declaring a those who need it: Tigray has been cut
“unilateral ceasefire”. off from electricity, clean water, internet
The unexpected move raises many and telecommunications; and the Tekeze
important questions: Why now? What bridge, over which passes something like
does this imply about the struggle for 60% of all aid traffic, has been destroyed.
local control with the Tigray People’s While there is a war of words over
Liberation Front (TPLF) – now being led who was responsible for this latest crime,
by the Tigray Defiance Forces (TDF)? it is hard to square these realities with the
And what does it say about Abiy’s long- claim that the “ceasefire” is motivated by
term plans? humanitarian concerns.
The prime minister has attempted to Nonetheless, as leaders from both sides
spin the ceasefire positively. According strategise their next move, these concerns
to Abiy, there was no point in staying in should be uppermost in their minds. For
Tigray because the threat from the TPLF once, it should be the people of Tigray that
has been degraded and Mekelle was no come first. ■
longer the “centre of gravity” from a
military standpoint.
Viewed through this lens, the ceasefire
can be sold as a response to the growing Yohannes Woldemariam
humanitarian crisis and a concession to teaches International
the international community: Abiy the Relations at the University of
Colorado. This analysis was
Reasonable. produced in collaboration
But there are many reasons to doubt with Democracy in Africa.The Continent issue 52. july 3 2021 30
PROFILE
T he call normally comes at night. “Stop,
or leave the country. Otherwise, we
won’t guarantee anything,” the voice
whispers.
Rebecca But Rebecca Kabugho keeps going.
The 26-year-old psychologist is a
Kabugho
member of human rights group “Lutte
pour le Changement” (Lucha) in Goma,
a town of 1.5-million people in the east of
the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Lucha means “Fight for Change” and
change is urgently needed in the DRC,
says Kabugho. For as long as she can
remember, militias have killed, raped
and looted in her homeland; people live
in poverty and youth face an uncertain
future. Even the world’s largest United
Nations peacekeeping force makes little
difference, despite having been in the
country for more than 20 years.
“Congolese people have the right
to live in peace, dignity and wealth,”
Kabugho says. “It is, for example, not
normal that the president gives to every
member of parliament a vehicle for free
while the population lives below the
poverty line.”
“We have to fight Her sense of justice pushes Kabugho
to fight, although this means living in
on. We deserve a constant danger. She has had to leave
decent life.” her home on several occasions when the
threats became too dangerous.
Judith Raupp Kabugho’s activism landed her in
Illustration: Wynona Mutisi prison for six months in 2016. Along
with five of her male colleagues, she was
convicted of inciting civil disobedience
while planning protests urging then-
president Joseph Kabila to hold long-
delayed elections. Prison was tough for
Kabugho, but she found solace in readingThe Continent | issue 52. july 3 2021 31
the Bible as she slept among people Kabugho happy despite all problems she
convicted of violent crimes. faces: “We have to fight on. We deserve
Perhaps surprisingly, Kabugho sees a decent life.”
the guards, policemen and soldiers who Talking about a just world gives
beat her up as human beings first. “They Kabugho renewed energy. She feels
are also fathers of children,” says the safe in the bosom of the human rights
activist. Once in a while, she even goes movement, and says even previous
out for drinks with some of the guards generations – including her mother,
she knows from her time in prison. she points out – understand that young
“We want a fair chance,” she tells people are looking for positive change.
them, explaining the goal of Lucha, and When the Covid-19 pandemic
the men understand exactly what she is reached the DRC, Kabugho was ready
talking about. They even give her a hug to help. She and her friends distributed
and ask her to keep fighting for a better masks to drivers of motorbike taxis,
future for Congolese people. explained to market women how to
Kabugho has been fighting for justice protect themselves, and distributed food
since she was a girl. “I had to fetch water to the elderly.
every day at the lake and I was asking “I do this because I love my country,”
myself why the government was not able explains the activist who, at 22, was one
to deliver water to the houses when Goma of the youngest prisoners of conscience
is located at the shore of Lake Kivu.” during her incarceration. In 2017,
she won the US State Department’s
“I had to fetch water International Woman of Courage
Award, presented to her by then-first
every day at the lake and lady Melania Trump.
I was asking myself why Kabugho is convinced that DRC has
the government was not the wherewithal to ensure a good life for
able to deliver water to all Congolese, if only it could be managed
the houses while Goma in favour of the population. She mentions
the huge mineral resources, the mountain
is located at the shore of gorillas in the Virunga National Park
Lake Kivu.” and Lake Kivu. “We could have it all,
says the activist says. “Industry, tourism,
When she learned about Lucha in fishery, prosperity, peace. We just need
2013 and saw that the activists were doing responsible leaders.” ■
sit-ins in front of the governor’s office to
claim water and electricity she joined the
movement right away. Since then some
This story is part of a series of profiles
quarters of town have been connected on human rights defenders in the SADC
to water and electricity, which makes region, funded by Internews.The Continent | issue 52. july 3 2021 32
The Magical Missing Mswati III
Continental
Drift
Samira Sawlani
When we were children, magic wasn’t
just a trick. It was real. Whether it was
our uncles pulling a sweet or a coin from
behind our ear, or an illusionist conjuring
Presumed gone: King Mswati III,
a rabbit from his hat, we were in awe of current whereabouts unknown. If
their arcane wizardry. found, please return to Kingdom of
Later we would learn that it was just a eSwatini. Photo: Dmitry Feoktistov/TASS
matter of distraction and sleight-of-hand. via Getty Images.
And yet, even as adults who know it’s just
a trick, we can still be confounded. But perhaps the pandemic is not
Like we’re confounded now, by King to blame this time, considering III’s
Mswati III of eSwatini. Not just by the vanishing act occurred amid pro-
fact that there’s a whole country still ruled democracy protests, as his subjects took
by an absolute monarch, but also by his to the streets demanding reform.
mysterious disappearing act. It’s not only the king who has
Is he in Zimbabwe? Or perhaps disappeared, mind you.
South Africa, as some claim? Is he still Once the protests started gathering
in eSwatini as his government insists? Or steam, authorities waved their magic
has he climbed into a hat and disappeared wand and suddenly the country’s access
down whatever rabbit hole a magician’s to the entire internet vanished in a puff
bunnies come from? of smoke. Sorry Harry Potter, that’s ten
We do hope he’s okay. points to Slytherin.
The last time an African leader Updates from inside eSwatini suggest
mysteriously disappeared Tanzania had to that protesters are targeting businesses
find itself a new president. Fool me once, linked to Mswati, and that security
shame on me. Magufuli twice? Shame on forces have fired at unarmed civilians in
the world’s Covid-19 vaccination roll-out. response, although reports of casualties,You can also read
