Africa

Authorities in western Uganda are battling an outbreak of jiggers that has hit several rural villages. Evangelista Kanohili sits on a mat on the earthen ground outside her tin-roof mud hut in Bwayegamba, a rural parish in western Uganda. Her dusty bare feet are stretched in front of her. Her toes, from the tips to the lower parts, right above the balls of her feet, have small swollen lesions with black spots, some as large as peas. For the last three months, Kanohili’s feet have been infested with jiggers, small parasitic fleas that burrow into skin, usually on feet. Multiple The post Uganda: The tiny flea making it painful for people to walk and work first appeared on African Arguments.

The most severe drought for 40 years, war in Ukraine, and poor governance have led Somalia to the brink. Aid raised is a fraction of what’s needed. The warnings have been coming for some time. Somalia is on the brink of catastrophe. A recent assessment suggests that 7.7 million Somalis need emergency aid right now. This is a similar number to those affected by the Ethiopian famine in 1984, one of the worst humanitarian disasters in history in which about one million people died. The immediate trigger for the likely famine is three successive years of failed rains leading to The post Somalia faces worst humanitarian crisis in recent history first appeared on African Arguments.

The key to achieving greater female political representation lies with those occupying most leadership positions worldwide: men. Women form more than half of Africa’s population, but you wouldn’t know this from looking at African parliaments, governments, and boardrooms. In sub-Saharan Africa, women remain significantly outnumbered in the upper echelons of public leadership. There are just five women serving as prime ministers and two as presidents, while just over one in four members of parliament is a woman. African women continue to suffer from lack of opportunity and outright prejudice. So, it is no surprise, then, that they are disadvantaged in The post Believing in gender equality isn't enough. Men must join the fight first appeared on African Arguments.

Activists have convinced 20 big banks not to finance the controversial oil project leaving its fate in the balance. This February, the heads of TotalEnergies and the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) held a long-awaited meeting in Kampala. Together with leaders from Uganda and Tanzania, the French and Chinese energy giants signed a momentous Final Investment Decision for the East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP). In doing so, what would be the world’s longest heated pipeline – a $5 billion behemoth set to transport oil 1,443km from Uganda’s Lake Albert to the port of Tanga in Tanzania – took The post The bold campaign to defund the East African Crude Oil Pipeline first appeared on African Arguments.

The veteran political operator François Beya Kasonga had been one of the president’s inner circle, until his sudden arrest. Few people manage to navigate the notoriously competitive and complicated world of high-level politics in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) successfully. Even fewer manage to do so consistently for several decades, making themselves indispensable to multiple presidents amid changing political winds and shifting factional battles. A rare exception to this has been François Beya Kasonga. Likened to a phantom by some, he has not just survived Congolese politics over several cycles but quietly risen through its ranks. Having first served The post The unseen trial of Congo's "phantom spymaster" and what it means first appeared on African Arguments.