World Cup football- more than just a beautiful game

There is very little good news coming out of the US these days and US leadership (in the form of the current president and his supporters) is exhibiting deep and vexing shades of racism, bigotry, misogyny and xenophobia. However, the swearing into office of the nation’s most diverse Congress in the history of the country […]

The 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence Campaign ran from 25 November to 10 December and it is designed to raise awareness and spur institutions, governments, ordinary citizens into action to bring an end to violence against women and girls. Campaigns of this nature remain vital especially when the perpetrators of sexual violence know […]

The treatment of women in society remains a necessary topic of discussion more so after last week’s disturbing report about the prevalence of bias against women, and sexual harassment at the African Union Commission,(AUC) the AU’s secretariat. The AU and its Commission, institutions that were designed to foster development and progress in Africa, are hardly […]

Only 4 months ago France celebrated its World Cup victory and the well intentioned, often jocular, yet deeply political comments about the “6th African team” winning became a hot topic. It conjured discussions about racism, origins and integration and the recent racial profiling scandal at top flight French football club Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) has reignited […]

A few weeks ago,American founder Katie Meyler temporarily stepped down as CEO of the organisation More than Me (MTM).MTM is a charity registered in the US with operations in Liberia. It was designed to empower young girls in Liberia and provide them with access to education and save them from a life of sexual exploitation. […]

The Nobel Prize has had its fair share of controversy despite being established with the best intentions. It is an award designed to recognise those in service of humanity in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, and peace. Particularly in the peace category there have been some dubious awards and some undeserving winners, but this […]

25 September 2018 marked 41 years since some 15 000 people attended 30-year-old, Steve Biko’s funeral in King Williams town. The thought leader, activist, and anti-apartheid stalwart’s influence remains deeply relevant to this day. Born in the Eastern Cape, Biko was a bright student who decided to study medicine at the black section of the […]

“I am what I am, so take me as I am”- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. In an eloquent, unanimous, landmark ruling that opens with the above quote, India’s highest court, the Supreme Court, decriminalised consensual gay sex between adults earlier this month. This judgement is the first important step in the recognition of rights of […]

On Friday 10 August 2018, Sudan’s ruling party, the National Congress Party (NCP) chose President Bashir to run as their candidate in the 2020 elections. Bashir has been in power since 1989 and in 2020 he will be 76 years old. The current Constitution provides for a two-term limit and the National Congress Party’s Charter […]

Sunday 29 July 2018 marked the 28th anniversary of the St Peters Lutheran Church Massacre where 600 women, men and children died, in Monrovia, Liberia in 1990. Despite new leadership in Liberia, domestic justice for this Massacre, and other heinous crimes committed during the civil wars remains elusive. The First Liberian Civil War, which started […]