July 20, 2023
South Africa: Corruption in South Africa - Whistleblower Protection Law Is Being Reformed - but It May Not Go Far Enough
South Africa is on the path to reforming its law on whistleblowing to provide improved protection for individuals who expose corruption and illegal activity. Read more »
Nigeria: Nigeria's New Police Chief Faces Structural Challenges - 5 Key Issues to Tackle
Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu named a new inspector general of police on 19 June 2023. He appointed the deputy inspector general, Kayode Egbetokun, to replace Usman Alkali Baba,… Read more »
July 22, 2023
Kenya: Kenya's Logging Ban Has Been Lifted - It's a Political Decision and a Likely Setback for Conservation
Kenyan president William Ruto has lifted a six-year ban on logging, despite public objections. Ruto said it would create jobs and boost economic growth. Lisa E. Fuchs has studied… Read more »
July 21, 2023
South Africa: Zimbabwean Migrants - South Africa's Anti-Immigrant Sentiments Are Hindering Policy Reform
The South African Minister of Home Affairs, Aaron Motsoaledi, recently lost a court case that anyone could have anticipated was unwinnable. He probably expected to lose it too. He… Read more »
July 17, 2023
Ghana: It's Time for Ghana to Enshrine Its Respect for the Right to Life - By Abolishing the Death Penalty
Thirty years have now gone by since Ghana used its gallows, a fact that indicates the country's respect for human life. It also means that Ghana is one of about 42 nations - many… Read more »
July 16, 2023
South Africa: Public Protector Has a Vital Watchdog Role. Researcher Offers Tips On How Selection Process Can Be Improved
The end of apartheid in South Africa in 1994 made it necessary to establish several institutions to underpin the country's new constitutional democracy. Read more »
July 13, 2023
South Africa: Street Gangs in South Africa and Canada Are Worlds Apart - but They Have a Great Deal in Common
At first glance, it would appear that there's little in common between the vast plains of the Canadian Prairies and the mountainous swells of South Africa's southernmost coastline.… Read more »
July 06, 2023
Ghana: Ghana's New Chief Justice - Gertrude Tokornoo Faces Challenges, but Could Help Transform the Country's Courts
Her Ladyship Gertrude Araba Esaaba Sackey Torkornoo took office as the 15th ,chief justice of Ghana on 12 June 2023. She is the third woman to occupy the position, which is the… Read more »
July 05, 2023
Mozambique: Mozambican Terror Group Is Strikingly Similar to Nigeria's Deadly Boko Haram
Terrorism is a global problem affecting many countries. Until 2017, however, southern Africa was largely spared from this phenomenon. The bloody conflict sparked by Ansar al-Sunna… Read more »
July 03, 2023
Senegal: Senegal - Behind the Protests Is a Fight for Democratic Freedoms
President Macky Sall's unwillingness to confirm he will not run for a third term in 2024, and the targeting of political opponents, have created a political powder keg in Senegal. Read more »
Congo-Kinshasa: Protecting Congo's Forests - New Timber Parks Will Help Fight Illegal Logging
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) joined the East African Community in 2022. This will offer the country, which has immense natural wealth, a huge market in neighbouring… Read more »
June 29, 2023
South Africa: Lions Are Still Being Farmed in South Africa for Hunters and Tourism - They Shouldn't Be
A man was arrested at the OR Tambo International Airport in Johannesburg, South Africa, on 23 June 2023 with five lion carcasses in his luggage. He was about to board a flight to… Read more »
South Africa: National Health Insurance Bill Has Noble Aims but Leaves Too Much Uncertain - It Needs More Work
South Africa's National Health Insurance (NHI) bill has passed the first hurdle towards becoming law, getting the country closer to its vision of achieving universal access to… Read more »
June 27, 2023
Nigeria: Illegal Organ Trade Is More Sophisticated Than One Might Think - Who's Behind It and How It Could Be Controlled
Every now and then the trade in human organs makes national, even international, news. Read more »
Africa: Women Lawyers - Numbers Are Up but Report Sheds Light On Obstacles to Leadership in the Profession
The African continent currently leads the world in the number of women chief justices and presidents of constitutional courts. Several countries across the continent have almost… Read more »
June 22, 2023
Uganda: U.S. Talks Sanctions Against Uganda After a Harsh Anti-Gay Law
Uganda recently signed an anti-gay bill into law. Called by some the "worst of its kind in the world," the law imposes life imprisonment for same-sex relations while using colonial… Read more »
June 24, 2023
Africa: Wagner Group Mercenaries in Africa - Why There Hasn't Been Any Effective Opposition to Drive Them Out
It is easy to understand what African rulers see in the mercenary group Wagner. Its fighters can be deployed quickly. It brings sophisticated arms with it and can apply force… Read more »
June 18, 2023
Kenya: Gold Fraud - the Goldenberg Scam That Cost Kenya Billions of Dollars in the 1990s - and No One Was Jailed
The Goldenberg scandal in the early 1990s is Kenya's largest documented gold fraud. The scheme involved Goldenberg International Limited, which pretended to export gold and… Read more »
May 31, 2023
Uganda: Anti-Homosexuality Law Is a Patriarchal Backlash Against Progress
Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni assented to the anti-homosexuality bill on 29 May 2023. The new law legislates, among other things, a five-year jail term for "promoting… Read more »
May 21, 2023
Africa: Get-Rich-Quick Schemes, Pyramids and Ponzis - Five Signs You're Being Scammed
Consumers are under a lot of financial strain. The World Economic Forum reports that the cost-of-living crisis is affecting people across the globe. With food and fuel prices… Read more »
May 15, 2023
South Africa: Justice Yvonne Mokgoro - Trailblazing Defender of Justice, Human Dignity and the Constitution
Many great legal minds have made important contributions to the development of the law, justice and constitutionalism in South Africa. One figure who stands out as a particularly… Read more »
May 08, 2023
Kenya: Kenya's Starvation Cult Left Hundreds Dead - a Psychologist's View On How to Support People As They Process Tragedy
In early April 2023, Kenyan police discovered a mass grave linked to a Pentecostal church in the coastal town of Malindi. By the end of the month, at least 110 bodies had been dug… Read more »
May 09, 2023
Nigeria: Kidnapping in Nigeria - Criminalising Ransom Payment Isn't Working - Families Need Support
Kidnapping for ransom has become a national security threat in Nigeria. How it's done varies from targeted individuals, to indiscriminate kidnappings and mass kidnapping in schools… Read more »
Kenya: Kenya Cult Deaths - a New Era in the Battle Against Religious Extremism
More than a hundred people in Kenya - among them children - have been found dead close to a small village in the south-east of the country. It's believed that most of the deceased… Read more »
May 08, 2023
Kenya: Kenya's Starvation Cult Left Over 100 Dead - a Psychologist's View On How to Support People As They Process Tragedy
In early April 2023, Kenyan police discovered a mass grave linked to a Pentecostal church in the coastal town of Malindi. By the end of the month, at least 110 bodies had been dug… Read more »