‘Young Ivorians, be aware’

Fast forward: social change with a flash bulb

Aug 13 | NAIROBI, Kenya - Photographer and social activist Boniface Mwangi may only be 28, but the photos he took during Kenya’s 2007 post-election violence have made a name for himself. That name is transcending his country’s borders and spilling into other forms of art and activity. In between yawns, smiles and breaks to play with his children, he recently...

A new generation takes over in Senegal

Mar 27 | DAKAR, Mar 27 - At 51, Macky Sall is Senegal’s fourth president. Will he usher in a new style of government? The Senegalese electorate has forced a double change in leadership: from an old generation to a younger one - and from politics for politics’ sake to a more business-like approach. The country has said goodbye to the man who knew all, did...

Students in Senegal disillusioned by university’s standstill

Mar 26 | DAKAR, Mar 26 - Students are the hardest hit by the current crisis at the Cheikh Anta Diop University (UCAD) in Dakar where lecturers are on strike, the classes are overcrowded and the living conditions are harsh. At the law faculty of the Cheikh Anta Diop University in the Senegalese capital, Dakar there has been no classes since 7 December 2011 due...

Forced castrations reportedly found in Roman Catholic care

Mar 20 | ROTTERDAM, Mar 20 - Underage sexual abuse victims were castrated in Dutch Roman Catholic psychiatric wards in the 1950s, according to the Rotterdam-based newspaper NRC Handelsblad. Castration was performed on young men who were thought to be homosexual, but also as a means of punishing those who blew the whistle on abusers, the paper quotes sources...

Nigerian trafficker convicted using ploy

Mar 13 | LEEUWARDEN, Mar 13 - "Never, never, never!" I can't forget her cry of fear before she left the Dutch courtroom. That was back in 2009. Josephine had just testified against Solomon, the fellow Nigerian she said took her to Italy where she was forced into street prostitution. On Monday, Ada Solomon Osaikhwuwuomwan was found guilty of smuggling Josephine...

The child brides of Butula

Mar 5 | BUSIA, Mar 5 - In Butula, a rural community in western Kenya, a local NGO deals with 12 child marriage cases a week. Some of these cases involve young girls who are inherited and forced to marry by a tribal practice called siebo. Millicent Atieno is six months pregnant with her seventh child. Ordinarily, these should be exciting times for the average...

Mugabe’s death foretold?

Feb 16 | HARARE, Feb 16 - Popular Nigerian psychic TB Joshua has predicted the death of an aging African leader. In Zimbabwe, some hope that the self-proclaimed prophet is referring to Robert Mugabe. Meanwhile the president’s supporters continue to hope in the 88-year-old's immortality. “I’m seeing a head of state and by that I mean a president. He is...

The Cardiopad: an African invention to save lives

Feb 8 | YAOUNDE, Feb 8 - A young Cameroonian engineer has built the first fully touch screen medical tablet that could soon save many African lives. He first has to find the necessary funding to mass-produce the device. In a country that has only 30 heart surgeons for more than 20 million people, the dream of Arthur Zang, a 24-year-old Cameroonian engineer,...

Ghana: oil revives prostitution

Feb 7 | TAKORADI, Feb 7 - Ghana’s seaport of Takoradi has regained its former vibrancy in the past year since President John Atta Mills turned the wheels to mark the production of first oil. As the numbers of expat oilman increases, so does the prostitution. As an old harbor city and the western regional capital, Takoradi is remembered by older residents...