World Cup football- more than just a beautiful game

The Marvel Blockbuster movie Black Panther opened in cinemas worldwide and has been enthusiastically received. It is more than just an action packed, visual masterpiece about a superhero. Its recognition of African American talent, portrayal of African excellence, and profound reference to important events and circumstances that have shaped the African continent easily make it […]

Last week Monday (5 February) marked the 36th anniversary of anti-apartheid activist, Neil Hudson Aggetts untimely death in detention after enduring severe and unrelenting torture at the hands of the security branch police. His torturers are yet to be brought to justice- an all too familiar state of affairs that threatens the very essence of […]

Liberia is on the cusp of its first post-civil war democratic transition as provisional results show that football legend, George Weah has defeated his opponent, current vice president Joseph Boakai, and President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is stepping down after two terms in office. Liberia has battled with a variety of challenges from civil wars to […]

The international criminal justice world is buzzing with activity, South Africa chose to make a spectacle of itself by reminding the world that it intends to leave the Rome Statute and ICC judges referred Jordan to the United Nations Security Council for failure to arrest President Bashir, a consequence that South Africa escaped despite being […]

Last week the “Butcher of Bosnia,” Ratko Mladić, was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for orchestrating genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the Bosnian War. The day his verdict and sentence were announced I happened to be in Rwanda, Kigali walking the halls of the Kigali Genocide Memorial Centre, where […]

Last week on 27 October 2017 Burundi’s withdrawal from the International Criminal Court became effective, making it the first country to leave the ICC. Given the ongoing perpetration of human rights violations, and lack of accountability, the future of the east African nation hangs in the balance. With the Burundi’s presidential office calling it a […]

On 12 October, a High Court judge found that anti-apartheid stalwart Ahmed Timol was in fact murdered and did not, as alleged by the Security Branch police, commit suicide by jumping from the 10th floor of the John Vorster Square Police Station. It has been an arduous journey for the Timol family in their quest […]

Parliamentary brawls are becoming more common across the world. The scenes in Uganda’s parliamentary session last week were not unlike the ones that unfolded in South Africa’s parliament a few months ago. Punches and chairs were thrown and security staff were called to remove 25 members of parliament. The cause of the brawls- the introduction […]

Mandated to “assert the supremacy of the Constitution and the sovereignty of the people of Kenya” the Kenyan Supreme Court did just that last week when they stunned the world with a ruling that has positively resonated throughout the African continent. Kenya’s highest court ruled that the 2017 Presidential election results were null and void […]

The events in Charlottesville, Virginia, USA earlier this month, stunned and shocked us all. The rising levels of intolerance and racism in America, coupled with the initially wanting and inadequate response from the Trump administration are grave causes for concern. American history has no shortage of struggle stories founded on the quest for equality and […]