Afrika in Focus Special - Review of 2024 Part I

This week's episode of Afrika in Focus reviews the year 2024 and offers listeners an in-depth examination of the key events shaping the continent. We start with South Afrika -- With thirty years since the end of apartheid, South Africa faces a seismic political shift as the African National Congress (ANC) lost its parliamentary majority for the first time, leading to an unexpected coalition with the former apartheid party now re branded Democratic Alliance (DA). This fragile alliance reflects the deep-rooted socio-economic challenges that continue to plague the nation, with racial and economic divides persisting despite the promises of transformation.

We explore the implications of this political shift, questioning the effectiveness of opposition figures like Julius Malema. Malema's waning influence is scrutinized, as the podcast reflects on the unfulfilled promises of socio-economic change and the ANC's struggle to maintain its grip on power. This shift raises significant questions about the future of South Africa and its ability to address entrenched inequalities, particularly regarding land ownership and wealth re-distribution.

Venturing into East Africa, we scrutinizes the enduring leadership of President Kagame in Rwanda. Despite Rwanda's economic strides and infrastructure development, concerns about Kagame's long-standing rule and the lack of political opposition raise questions about the country's post Kagame future. We also highlight the international community's complicity in resource exploitation, especially in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where ongoing humanitarian crises are often overshadowed by global conflicts.

The episode also casts a spotlight on systemic inequality across Southern Africa, examining Namibia's struggle with apartheid-like conditions and land ownership disparities. The situation in Mauritius is discussed, highlighting the complex ethnic dynamics resulting from colonial history, leading to an Indian-majority government that often overlooks the African population's interests. The political changes in Botswana are also explored, with a new coalition government raising questions about its ability to address critical issues like land ownership.

Racial discrimination and human rights abuses in North Africa are another focal point of the episode. The podcast urges a hard look at the societal challenges plaguing the continent, emphasizing the need for a unified approach to tackle systemic racism and economic marginalization. This episode of Afrika in Focus offers a comprehensive analysis of the political and social challenges facing Africa, urging listeners to engage with these critical issues and consider their broader implications for the continent's future.

Chapters

• 0:04 Review of African Countries 2024
• 11:53 Political Landscape in East Africa
• 20:21 Political Shifts in Southern Africa

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:04

welcome to this week's edition of ghana advocating focus with myself kwame, ghanean writer, broadcaster, journalist, podcaster and entrepreneur. And in this week's edition of ghana african focus. This is special. We're doing a review of 2024. So just about three days to go before the end of the year, we've wanted it best to have a view of the year 2024. That's the theme for this week's podcast, looking back at the year 2024. And so, before we get into the podcast, just to make you aware that if you like what you hear, please share to your friends, family, social media networks.

Speaker 1: 0:52

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Speaker 1: 2:11

All right, and so let's get into this podcast a review of 2024. So it's been a very, very interesting, fascinating, challenging and, at times, revolutionary year. It has been on the content of Africa this year and you know we're going to start. We're going to look at some individual countries that have had, you know, been very, very important this year within the news going on in the african continent. So we start with south africa. You know this year was the country's 30th anniversary um coming out of apartheid, uh, but, like I said, apartheid is still there and if you, then, if you want to know more about that, like I said, I did a podcast looking at about 30 years in South Africa where I said that apartheid has not ended, but it's just changed its face and it's more dangerous than when it was legalised. So South Africa celebrated 30 years of freedom in April of this year and it had elections in May.

Speaker 1: 3:27

And the ANC, for the first time since it came to power, in the first multi-party democracy elections, for the first time since 1994, it lost its majority and is now in coalition with the former apartheid able government, now call itself the da yeah. So the so-called democratic alliance is the offshoot of the old apartheid party, the national party. And so for the first time, you know, aac lost its majority and it had to go into coalition with the former apartheid party, now called Democratic Alliance. And so you know this shows you that in South Africa, you know, so-called democracy has a definite. You know the difference that a lot of our people in South Africa were expecting, to the extent that the ANC, like I said in my podcast regarding the 30th anniversary, have not delivered the jobs, the houses and the real, terrible change in people's lives that they said that they would bring once apartheid came to a legal end in 1994. That they would bring once apartheid came to a legal end in 1994. And so you know, we've seen steadily over the last few elections the eroding vote of the African National Congress, anc, and that has now resulted in them losing their two-thirds majority in the South African Parliament.

Speaker 1: 5:03

And so now, you know, they now have to enter, or they're now entering, rather into a coalition with the former apartheid party called rebanding itself, called Democratic Alliance, and that party I don't care if they've got a black leader, I don't care about what they say that party is a bastion of white interest, in about what they say that party is a bastion of white interest in south africa. So that party is there to safeguard white interest in south africa. And, as I mentioned to you, you know the white population, which makes up about 10 to 15 percent of the population in south africa. They control or they own 80 to 80 percent of the best land in the country, yeah, and so the democratic alliance has to protect white interests. They cannot see seen, they cannot be seen to uh, not sort of, uh take the interest of his base, art, and his base is predominantly made up of white people, so Europeans from Britain, from the Netherlands, from Germany, other European nationals that have lived in South Africa, particularly since the end of apartheid, legal apartheid in 1994. And so this party has to safeguard white interests. And so, when we have a party of that nature that is now in coalition, that is now in effective government in South Africa, then it tells you that there's some serious, serious problems for african people in south africa. And you know, I didn't see that changing that much. And jesus malema, his support has dwindled in the last two elections. You know, for somebody who has got parliament, I think they've got about eight or nine mps in parliament and they normally get about 10-11% of the vote. I think this year they got less than 10%. So it's showing you that the support that Jairus Malema once had is now eroding and that many Africans in South Africa are looking to other parties, like the South African Communist Party and others. To, you know, safeguard their needs.

Speaker 1: 7:25

Because Julius Malema, like I mentioned before, he's a puppet. You know he's just talking his talk because he has to. He can do that, but essentially he's not got the power. To, you know, imprint his talk. And if he ever became President of South Africa, right, we know that the talk that he's talking, he can't imprint it. So, for example, you don't hear Jesus Malema talk about land redistribution. You don't hear Malema talking about nationalisation of the country's wealth. He used to about 5-6 years wealth. He used to about 5-6 years ago. He used to when it was a big time firebrand. But because minimum has been compromised, he no longer talks about land redistribution and also renationalisation of the country's mineral sector, particularly the gold and diamonds. And so you know, minimum has been found out to be a puppet countries mineral sector, particularly the gold and diamonds. And so you know, mnema has been found out to be a puppet and a stooge of.

Speaker 1: 8:31

Believe it or not, he's a puppet of white mercantile corporate interests in South Africa and the majority of African people have found him out that he's not the person that he thinks he is or says he is, and, as a result, the EFF economic freedom fighters have seen their support dwindled now. So it's now, you know, less than double figure. So you know this is a very, very interesting time in South Africa. But me personally, I think South Africa needs to do a Kenya and I'll come to Kenya in a minute or do what they did in Sri Lanka, where basically people power mass protest got rid of the government in Sri Lanka. I think it was either this year or last year, and so South Africa is going through a very, very, you know, interesting crossroads right now with this coalition government in play, which part of it is about securing white interest in that country. So we'll see how it plays and then we'll see if so-called democracy is going to use any benefits for our people in South Africa. So I mentioned Kenya a minute ago.

Speaker 1: 9:39

Kenya has also been another very fascinating story this year. Ruto has been in power for about 18 months, if that, and already there were mass protests in Kenya this year and, in actual fact, kenyans were just a whisker away from taking out Ruto. Had they had arms, like Donald Trump's boys did in the January 7th uprising, in 2021 William Ruto would not be president of Kenya. He would have ascended and probably sought asylum in the European country, because such is the anger in Kenya, particularly amongst the youth, of Ruto saying that Kenya to the likes of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, to the likes of these hawkish NGOs whereby he's selling the Kenyan birthright to foreigners. There was a massive uproar against Ruto's rule, and so we saw this year in Kenya massive uprisings in every main city, in, you know, nairobi, mombasa and others, whereby they had uprising and rose up against the tyranny of Ruto. To agree now that, I think, ruto this year abolished, you know his government and that should be constituted a new government. And also, you know he's actually you know some of the taxes that he imposed on Kenyans. I think about six months ago. He's actually had to rescind those because of the popular uprisings against those you know on popular taxes. So Kenya's been very, very interesting. You know creature this year and you know we look in 2025 to see if, you know, ruto could be toppled. You know, if he puts in place policies that are anti, you know, youth development, that are stifling the economy, that are stifling growth, 2025 could see another uprising in Kenya which could result possibly in Ruto's removal. So Kenya is going to be a very interesting country to watch in 2025.

Speaker 1: 11:53

We look at Rwanda. So we've concentrated about East Africa, so we're seeing East Africa. Rwanda again this year celebrated its 30th anniversary from the genocide that happened in 1994, whereby more than 1 million Africans were killed, and I did a presentation this year about the 30 year rule of Kagame, saying to Osuna and even though Rwanda is a well-functioning African country with good infrastructure, good transportation network, good roads, a good transportation system, and that there's employment there and running electricity and running water and you know running electricity and running water. This model of democracy and this model of leadership that has been identified by Kagame is beginning to be questioned by a lot of people. On the content, I myself, as I mentioned in the podcast looking about the 30th anniversary of the genocide, I must also say that I'm no big fan of Kagame and I question the style of leadership that he has governed over the last 30 or so years, in that there's effectively no opposition, even though those elections were won this year. We all know that they were rigged because there was no opposition and that those parties that were participants in the election basically didn't have the resources or the you could say um manpower, so to speak, to challenge Kagame. And so we know that Rwanda is a one-party state, has been for the last 30 years, and there are murmurs that you know people within Rwanda are beginning to feel uneasy about Rwanda after Kagame. You know, has Kagame groomed somebody that would take his place once he retires, because Kagame is now? Has Kagame groomed somebody that would take his place when he retires, because Kagame is now in his 60s? Kagame cannot rule forever, and I do hear that he wants to fight for the next election, I think in the next 5-6 years time. And so you know again, rwanda is a very, very interesting country to watch next year because there are memories that you know Kagame's time may be up and that Kagame may even be forced to step down or there could be, you know, an uprising similar to what we saw in Kenya, in Rwanda.

Speaker 1: 14:46

So Rwanda again, despite its so-called economic success, and like I said in my podcast, looking at about 30 years of Rwanda, I just say to you that this so-called African economic miracle we should not buy into that. That's like a western, a western propaganda, to actually big up for want of a better word, to big up Kag, for want of a better word to big up Kagame, not understanding that the wealth that Rwanda apparently has is predicated on the destruction and the ongoing civil war in DRC, democratic Republic of Congo, because the titanium, the lithium, the cobalt, the coatan, the iron ore that is used to make all these things that Rwanda is benefiting from come from DR Congo and we know that stolen DR Congo minerals is finding its way to Rwanda. I made that point in the podcast that I did earlier this year, looking back Rwanda and Kagame 30 years on, and so we need to be honest as Africans that Rwanda's wealth has been predicated on the ongoing slaughter and genocide in the Congo. And next year we need to do a special on the Congo because many of you do not appreciate that there's a big war. There's a war that's been going on in the Congo and next year we need to do a special on the Congo because many of you do not appreciate that there's a big war. There's a war that's been going on in the Congo for the best part of 25 years and that has seen more than 6 million Africans, particularly many women and children, die and 36.5 Congolese have been displaced all over Africa and abroad. And so you know, congo is a scar on the conscience of the global African community at home and abroad, because we're not paying too much attention to what's going on in democratic Congo. We seem to be preoccupied with Gaza and Ukraine and Wavi, because that's what is shown in the main by the Western media and a lot of media in Africa also follows that line but not really concentrating a lot of time, effort and resources into the ongoing genocide that is in DR Congo where, like I said said, millions have been killed and been displaced, and, for those of you who own an iPhone, just the last week or so, I think.

Speaker 1: 17:21

I think Apple have been accused of blood, of blood money. Yeah, because those Apple phones, apple Mac, that computer that you use, you know, the Apple iPad and also, obviously, the Apple iPhones, are made directly with the, the blood resources that come out from the war in DR Congress. So even Apple have been criticized for its part in the bloodshed in DRC. And so you know this is. This war has been a scar on the conscience of the global African community and something needs to be done about it because it is in the interest of the West, of China, of India, of others, so that war keeps on going because they needed resources to fuel their industrial complexes. So it's not as if it's their interest to allow that war to end. And so it's very, very important that we understand what's going on in the Democratic Republic of Congo and why it's gone on in Congo and why it's not being reported too much on the Western media and what is the real agenda. You know, behind the, the genocide in Del Congo. So we'll talk more about Del Congo next year, because you need to know what is going on in Del Congo and what you can do to make your voice known about the genocide going on in the Congo. So that's East Africa concentrated.

Speaker 1: 18:53

But before I go to other part of the content, let's just touch briefly on Uganda. You know Uganda had election also this year. Museveni won with a huge landslide. Again, museveni is another dictator that was propped up by the West. He's been in power for 30, next year is 39 years. He was propped up by the West and I remember a former International Development Secretary on the Tony Blair, clay Short, saying that Museveni is one of the good guys. So Britain has propped up Museveni for quite a while and Museveni has led that country, uganda, with an iron rod for nearly 40 years. And so we know that there's an iron fist of that country and that anyone who descends On or anyone who Displays dissent Could be imprisoned in that country. So we know that the people, our brothers and sisters in Uganda who displayed dissent could be imprisoned in that country. You know. So we know that the people of the provinces of Uganda are living through a tyranny right now and we just hope that you know what they've seen in Kenya this year, what they've seen across African continent in other countries like Senegal, ghana, etc. Which I'll come into later. That could serve as inspiration for them to uprise in Ugandaanda and, you know, get rid of this tyrant called, uh, yueri musaveni.

Speaker 1: 20:21

So we've done eastern africa. Uh, we've talked about south africa. I'll go on to, um, namibia, again namibia. Many of you, um, don't know that. Namibia, again Namibia. Many of you don't know that Namibia is a country apartheid. Yeah, because, let's not forget, there was a genocide in Namibia about 100 years ago where the German people tried to wipe out the Norma and Heron people of Namibia. And Namibia is a big country, but white people, particularly Germans, predominantly Germans, earn up to 70% of the land in Namibia, and so our people there are experiencing a form of apartheid similar to South Africa. They're also landless and also stately, because if you do not have your land, a land is very key because you live off the land, the resources of the land, the diamond, the gold, the timber, the oil, you grow food on the ground. If our people in Namibia do not have their land, they're basically stately, and so I implore you to read about Namibia and also look at the politics there and look at the dire condition that our people in Namibia are going through right now.

Speaker 1: 21:47

Again, staying in southern African point, mauritius. We went to politics here and Mauritius is went to Paul this year and Mauritius is a predominantly it's an African country. However, because of the colonisation of Africa, a lot of Indians live in that country and they were brought there by the Europeans as indentured labourers and so after slavery on the main continent ended, these Indians were put there as a buffer between the Africans and also the Europeans that settled in Mauritius. And so what we now have today, we now have an Indian majority people there, which obviously has transpired into an Indian majority people there, which obviously has transpired into an Indian majority government there, and we saw that in the election that was held this year in Mauritius, the ruling party lost its seat. You know they lost a lot of seats, and the president lost his election to the opposition, and so what we saw in Mauritius was also. So in five of our say four of African countries, namely Ghana, senegal, malawi, Mal, the government actually, you know, lost power. So other countries as well as Mauritius, that lost the presidency was Botswana I'll come to Botswana in a minute Ghana, senegal as well. So various African countries that went to pause this year, all of the incumbents lost their presidencies, and so you know, mauritius is a very, very interesting, you know, point in case whereby you have a really Indian elite even the opposition is Indian, you know which you know does not really look at the interest of the African population in Mauritius. So people may know Mauritius as a nice, beautiful tourist destination, but there's a dark side to Mauritius whereby the African population are marginalised and basically they have no say in the country that used to be theirs. And so, like I say, I would implore you to look deeper into Mauritius and what's going on in that country.

Speaker 1: 24:21

Now. Botswana Botswana again stayed in southern Africa. Botswana went to power this year and the country and the party that has ruled Botswana since independence in 1966, that party, lost the elections. So the ruling party a trend that was that we saw in our content this year, botswana's main party lost their you know, lost their majority as well, in actual fact, you know, lost their majority and lost the presidency as well, in actual fact, you know, three opposition parties and a number of independent candidates in Botswana. They came together under the banner of the umbrella for democratic change and they comprehensively, you know, routed the ruling government, the BDP. So you know, weed the ruling government, the BDP. So you know, we've got a new government in Botswana, and so we'll see how things pan out in Botswana.

Speaker 1: 25:20

Again, botswana, like the Rumpa, south Africa, african people land is not in their hands. So in Botswana, a lot of the land there is in white hands. So again, you know, the new coalition government that is that is now been in, that is now in power in Botswana are they going to address the land issue in Botswana? Do they even know that they have a land issue in Botswana? We all know that the economy is doing well, but who for? Because many, many africans in botswana. If they haven't got their land, if they don't have possession of their land, then how can you say that the economy is doing well for them when they have no uh economy, when they have no land to call their own? And so we need to take a very, very close look at what's going on in Botswana and also a lot of the countries I mentioned in Southern Africa as well.

Speaker 1: 26:17

All right, so let's move on now to North Africa. So North Africa. You know again, you know about. A couple of years ago I did a podcast about Tunisia anti-African racism in Tunisia. Yeah, and it's not just in Tunisia, all across North Africa. So Egypt, morocco, tunisia, the hell going on in Libya, with Africans being sold. Even today, africans are being sold in slave markets across Libya and also Morocco as well.

Speaker 1: 26:48

African people yeah and it's not migrants, these are indigenous African people, yeah, as well as those who have come from other African countries are treated like worse than an animal. So there's apartheid. If you think apartheid in South Africa, it's even worse in Northern Africa, and now people there are living a hellhole. You know opportunities, particularly you know economic opportunities to come to that social economic ladder are very, very limited for Africans in North Africa. And so you know we really, you know, pray for our sisters and brothers in North Africa that somehow, somewhere, somehow, you know, they can be able to rise up. You know, against the tyranny that's going on in North Africa, and you know demand better equality, demand, you know, a better quality of living, demand equal opportunity and demand, more importantly, that the anti-African bigotry that is across North Africa will be subsized or, if not, eliminated. And so you know Northern Africa is not really spoke about too much within a lot of African media, but I talk about it on occasion and so as part of our look back at the year. I think it's important that we take a minute and pause and look at the conditions of our brothers and sisters in those North African countries that have been occupied by Caucasian Arabs, and so we look to see what 2025 will bring for our people in Northern Africa. All right, so we move on.

Speaker 1: 28:40

You know Senegal. Senegal was one of those countries which saw a revolution of some sort whereby the ruling party of Macky Sall, and before him, abdoulaye Ouad, their party, had been in power for a long, long time in Senegal. You know, they lost their power because people in Senegal had enough, particularly youth. Senegal had been a big puppet of France, particularly under Macky Sall, and Macky Sall wanted to extend his term to a third year Sorry, to extend his stay for a third term, and obviously that created the uprising which saw, you know, sanko, who was part of the opposition, being put in prison and his counterpart being put in prison, and his counterpart, diame Fe, then had to be the one who would lead the opposition party in the elections that was held earlier this year in Senegal, and overwhelmingly, the people of Senegal voted for change within that country, and so Senegal voted for change within that country, and so Senegal voted for change and you know, from French tyranny.

Speaker 1: 29:55

And you know, in the beginning there was some very, very interesting noises coming out of Senegal in terms that they wanted to get rid of the French. They wanted to, you know, get rid of the French influence in the country. They wanted to reneg, know, get rid of the French influence in the country. They wanted to renegotiate the contrast, particularly within the oil and mineral sector. They wanted to even join the Trinity of Burkina, mali and Niger and they wanted to be a part of a single currency.

Speaker 1: 30:31

But lately, recently, we've had some disturbing um noises coming out of senegal. I believe, if I'm right, that's either either they went to paris to see macron or macron went to senegal is either one. And also they are not as forward in the support for Mali, niger and Burkina Faso as they were when they won that election earlier on in the year. And so I think that there's been a division between Sanko, who for me is a real pan-Africanist, and Faye, you know, who is like jittery about where Senegal needs to go. Do they stay within the Francophone Union or do they opt out of the Francophone Union and join the revolution that's going on in Mali, burkina and Niger. And so, you know, very, very interesting year that was had in Senegal. And I know that, like I said, they want to renegotiate some of their mineral contracts and some of the oil contracts that was on the Makisal. If that has been done, we don't know, but next year is going to be a very, very interesting year in Senegal. Do they go the way of Burkina, mali and Niger or do they, you know, stay as teachers in the francophone bloc, whereby France is milking those countries that used to be under their direct control? So, because of time, we'll stop here for now.

Speaker 1: 32:08

So this has been part one of our review of 2024. In part two review, we'll look at Ghana, what's happening in Ghana this year, and we'll also look at, you know, the Trinity, the revolution that's going on in Burkina, mali and Niger, and we've got some great news that you don't want to miss coming out of both Ghana and also what's going on in the Trinity of Mali, burkina Faso and Niger. And so I thank you for listening to this special edition of Ghana, african Focus, looking at the year 2024. And, if you like it, say you like what you hear, appreciate your friends, family, social media networks and also subscribe to Ghana Africa in Focus on YouTube and also on Spotify, and so until next week, where we have part two of the year review 2024. Thank you very much for listening and we'll see you in the next edition of Ghana Africa in Focus.