Diaspora news

Former South African President Jacob Zuma will be allowed to appeal a court ruling that ordered him back to jail to serve the remainder of his sentence, a judge ruled Tuesday. Zuma, 80, had been released on medical parole earlier this year, but the Gauteng High Court in the capital, Pretoria, ruled last week that his parole had been illegal. ...

A South African court has ruled that the country’s former President Jacob Zuma should be returned to prison, saying his medical parole was “unlawful”. The time he has spent out of prison should not be counted in his 15-month sentence, the Pretoria court ruled. Mr Zuma was released on 5 September for an undisclosed medical condition. He had been jailed ...

UNFPA says nearly half the women and girls in developing countries do not have decision-making power over their own bodies, including in whether or not to have sex with their partners. Nearly half the women and adolescent girls in developing countries are denied the right to decide whether or not to have sex with their partners, use contraception, or seek ...

Tanzania’s President John Magufuli has rallied farmers in the country to increase food production, predicting global food scarcity later in the year caused by the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. He urged farmers to take advantage of the reduced production by the largest food-producing countries in the wake of health restrictions imposed across the world. “This year there is a ...

New Desert Locust swarms are forming in the Horn of Africa, threatening agricultural livelihoods and the food security of millions of people, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) warned on Wednesday.  According to the agency, locust infestations increased over the past month in Ethiopia and Somalia as a result of extensive breeding, favourable weather and rainfall, with populations predicted ...

The European Union has postponed almost 90 million euros in budget support payments to Ethiopia over the bloc’s concerns of the Tigray crisis, according to an EU document seen by various media organisations. The move highlights the EU’s wish for a cessation of hostilities and its concerns about restrictions on humanitarian and media access to the northern region, the document ...

A week after the killing of activists protesting police brutality in Nigeria’s largest city, a Lagos state government judicial panel began hearings into the violence on Tuesday. President Muhammadu Buhari tweeted on Sunday that the panel had his “full support”, but protesters say his administration has for years ignored their calls for reform. Demonstrators took part in daily protests across Nigeria for nearly two weeks ...

The opposition has taken power in the Seychelles for the first time since 1977, following its victory in the presidential election. Anglican priest Wavel Ramkalawan defeated President Danny Faure by 54.9% to 43.5%, official results show. Supporters of Mr Ramkalawan have been celebrating his victory in the capital, Victoria. In his victory speech, Mr Ramkalawan was conciliatory towards Mr Faure, ...

As Ghana hosts the greatest return initiative for Africa, there is a lot to appreciate of those who have taken the decision to return permanently; to abandon the comforts of a western society and move to settle with whatever is left of the cradle of civilization. Although some may have awoken from the “American dream” with a slap of reality ...

President Akufo-Addo says the commemoration of the 400th Anniversary of the commencement of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade is recognition that never again should Africans permit themselves to be subjected to such dehumanising experience. Describing the slave trade as “one of the most unfortunate and barbaric episodes of human history”, he noted that nearly 12.5 million Africans, from Central and West Africa, were ...