EDITOR'S
Dear esteemed r eader ,
W e ar e glad to welcome you back to The African International Magazine r eadership club. In this September October edition, our Lead Editor Ollus Ndomu r eviews Zambian Pr esident Hakainde Hichilema's one year in office. This is an extensive r eport on the highs and lows of Zambia's New Dawn Government.
The African International Magazine r emains your number one PanAfrican watchdog, r eporting independently without fear or favour W e solicit your undying support as we endeavor to keep you informed. Please do enjoy the r ead!
About the author Ollus Ndomu is a Zambian with increasing experience in freelance writing, copy editing and secondary school teaching. Ollus holds a BA in English Language and Literature including certificates in Media and Arts and Human Rights. He is an acceleratedthinking individual who specializes in writing about African politics and conflicts throughout his work at Africaworld Newspaper where he's Editor in chief; overseeing all media activities and projects.
H I C H I L E M A
E M B O D I E S
Z A M B I A ’ S N E W F O U N D O P T I M I S M
ne year after Hakainde Hichilema's historic
O ascension to the pr esidency , ther e is a br eath of fr esh air in Zambia. The r eign of terr or that characterized public places including markets and bus stations, now exists only as memories. Elections have become a contest of ideas and not lecterns for tribal hate speech as in the days of the Edgar Lungu r egime. I n a l l h o n e s t y , e n d i n g c a d e r i s m o n e o f P r e s i d e n t Hichilema's milestones.
The 7year long autocratic Lungu r egime undermined Zambia's democracy using its militarized party cadr es and state for ces. Opposition political players, civil s o c i e t y g r o u p s a n d r i g h t s a c t i v i s t s e n d u r e d s t a t e s p o n s o r e d v i o l e n c e i n c l u d i n g s u p p r e s s i o n a n d a r b i t r a r y a r r e s t s A y e a r a f t e r t h e A u g u s t 2 0 2 1 elections, a whole new Zambia has emer ged. While it is t o o e a r l y t o c o n c l u d e , t h e n o w re l a t i v e l y o p e n d e m o c r a t i c e n v i r o n m e n t Z a m b i a n s a r e e n j o y i n g i s courtesy of Hichilema's political will. The climate of
lawlessness that characterised the p re v i o u s g o v e r n m e n t i s s l o w l y dissipating, of course, not without difficulty
According to University of Zambia h i s t o r i a n D r S i s h u w a S i s h u w a , Hichilema's first year in office has done nothing worthwhile in the area of democratic reform:
“ D e s p i t e h i s p r o m i s e s , r e p r e s s i v e l e g i s l a t i o n remains on the statute books. Not only that, more people have been arrested and sent t o p r i s o n f o r b r e a k i n g a d u b i o u s 1 9 6 5 l a w a g a i n s t defamation of the president – a l a w t h a t e ff e c t i v e l y
criminalises criticism of the p r e s i d e n t i n H i c h i l e m a ' s first year than were under six y e a r s o f L u n g u . M o r e o v e r , when recent videos emerged of soldiers beating youths for a l l e g e d l y d e f a m i n g t h e p r e s i d e n t , H i c h i l e m a criticised the victims, stating t h a t y o u n g p e o p l e s h o u l d r e s p e c t e l d e r s . T h i s s h o w s that the lure of authoritarian powers is very hard to resist, and that Lungu's legacy will take some time to be undone.”
R e g a r d l e s s , i n v e s t i g a t i v e w i n g s h a v e t h e i r c o u r a g e t o fi g h t c o r r u p t i o n a n d fi n a n c i a l c r i m e s
r enewed as the once untouchable L u n g u g o v e r n m e n t b i g w i g s a r e n o w a n s w e r i n g t o t h e i r c r i m e s . H i c h i l e m a h a s s h o w n r e s o l v e t o pr omote the rule of law thr ough his appointments in key institutions of j u s t i c e T h e s l o w b u t methodological ranchman has over the past year worked to r everse his pr edecessor's state captur e of the j u d i c i a r y a n d t h e i n v e s t i g a t i v e wings.
Hichilema appointed independentminded pr ofessionals to head the j u d i c i a r y , t h e p o l i c e , t h e A n t iC o r r u p t i o n C o m m i s s i o n ( A C C ) a n d t h e D r u g E n f o r c e m e n t C o m m i s s i o n ( D E C ) . I t i s t o t h e cr edit of these pr ofessionals that the rule of law is being r estor ed, o c c a s i o n i n g s o m e s e m b l a n c e o f
civility acr oss the all fr onts.
In the education sector , the Hichilema administration r eintr oduced the fr ee education policy after a hiatus of thr ee d e c a d e s . T h e c e n t r a l government now foots all bills r e l a t i n g t o t h e d a i l y functioning of public schools. Overall, this policy incr eased t h e e n r o l m e n t o f l e a r n e r s e s p e c i a l l y a t t h e p r i m a r y school level coupled with the r ecruitment of over 30, 000 t e a c h e r s . A l s o , t h e g o v e r n m e n t h a s i n c r e a s e d s c h o l a r s h i p s , b u r s a r i e s a n d b o a r d i n g s u p p o r t g r a n t s
t h r o u g h t h e e n h a n c e d
C o n s t i t u e n c y D e v e l o p m e n t Fund –CDF allocation.
W ithout doubt, the fr ee education policy is a r eflection of Pr esident H i c h i l e m a ' s c o m m i t m e n t t o investing heavily in education. His government's budget has allocated K18.1bn ($1bn) to the sector , which r epr esents a 32% incr ease fr om the 2021 budget. Fr om his early days o n Z a m b i a ' s p o l i t i c a l s c e n e , H i c h i l e m a h a s h a d c o n s i d e re d Education as a cornerstone of the now governing United Party for N a t i o n a l D e v e l o p m e n t ( U P N D ) m a n i f e s t o P r e s i d e n t H a k a i n d e Hichilema is living pr oof of the transformative potential of a good e d u c a t i o n , h a v i n g a t t e n d e d a village school bar efoot befor e he
was admitted to the University of Z a m b i a o n a f u l l g o v e r n m e n t bursary
.
After seven years of a chaotically a u t h o r i t a t i v e r e g i m e , t h e H i c h i l e m a g o v e r n m e n t p r e s e n t s r e m a r k a b l e i m p r o v e m e n t i n t h e quality of leadership. However , of c o n c e r n i s t h e l a c k o f a s t r o n g opposition and an alert civil society to keep the New Dawn government in check as Zambia develops and i m p l e m e n t s fi s c a l p o l i c i e s i n c l u d i n g t h e d e s i g n o f t a x framework in the mining sector . A str ong opposition is needed for the g o v e r n m e n t t o e m b a r k o n t h e constitutional r eview pr ocess and f a s t t r a c k t h e n e c e s s a r y l e g a l r eforms to impr ove the Zambia's governance envir onment.
Medical Drones
In 2016, Rwanda became the first country i n t h e w o r l d t o l a u n c h a n d o p e r a t e a national medical dr one deliveries. The government of Rwanda in 2016 signed a c o n t r a c t w i t h a U S b a s e d c o m p a n y , Z i p l i n e , t o s t r e a m l i n e b l o o d d e l i v e r i e s fr om hubs to health centr es. Curr ently , the c o u n t r y h a s t w o d i s t r i b u t i o n c e n t e r s delivering up to 500 blood pr oducts a day to its rural ar eas.
Similarly , in April of 2019, the government o f G h a n a i n p a r t n e r s h i p w i t h Z i p l i n e l a u n c h e d t h e G h a n a D ro n e D e l i v e r y Service to deliver medical supplies within designated ar eas acr oss the country using dr ones. This service became the lar gest medical dr one delivery acr oss in the world. These delivery services operate 24 hours a day acr oss many parts of the country , especially in rural ar eas.
The dr one flies over the or deringhospital or clinic and dr ops the package midair T h e p a c k a g e fl o a t s d o w n u s i n g a parachute to slow its momentum. After d e l i v e r i n g , i t fl i e s b a c k t o t h e Z i p l i n e distribution center for r eloading.
I n J u n e 2 0 2 2 , a n o t h e r W e s t A f r i c a n country , Nigeria, became the thir d country
on the African continent and fifth globally
t o l a u n c h a n d o p e r a t e m e d i c a l d r o n e deliveries. Zipline started its operations in Kaduna State.
Security Drones
Securitywise, dr ones have become a gr eat way of fighing crimes in many African countries such as Namibia, Ghana, South Africa and others. The Namibia Police deployed (in August 2022) dr ones to help fi g h t c r i m e i n t h e n a t i o n a l c a p i t a l o f W indhoek when the city grappled with a sur ge in criminal activities.
The deployment of the dr ones has been helping the country contr ol knife and gun attacks and combat night r obberies.
In 2019, the Ghana Police Service started u s i n g d r o n e s t o fi g h t d r u g t r a ffi c k i n g among other crimes in the country South Africa's Police department is also setting up to deploy dr ones in their fight against crimes
Ecommerce
Items delivery fr om hubs to customers' locations has been a major challenge in our world today , particularly in Africa with poor r oad infrastructur e and limited airlines. However , technology has made it
d e l i v e r y i n
G h a n a , becoming the fi r s t c o u n t r y to deliver items with dr ones in Africa. This company has made plans to extend similar services to other W est African countries including Nigeria and Côte d'Ivoir e in the near futur e. W ith such services, the dr ones will have a maximum payload of 1 1.8 liters or 6.6 lbs (3 kgs) of some selected pr oducts that will be flown fr om Zipline centr es to customers' locations.
Media
Dr ones have become integral in African m e d i a a s d e m a n d f o r m e d i a s e r v i c e s s u rg e s T h i s t e c h n o l o g y h a s a l l o w e d journalists fr om private and stateowned media institutions to take footage of news events such as war torn villages, natural disasters and pr otests.
Journalists ar e able to get quality aerial imaging without sitting in helicopters to t a k e p h o t o s . I t h a s a l s o p r o v i d e d s a f e s e c u r i t y f o r j o u r n a l i s t s e s p e c i a l l y i n p ro t e s t s a n d o n g o i n g w a r s . A b o u t a handful of media in Africa have access to these dr ones.
E v e n s o , d r o n e s h a v e d i s a d v a n t a g e s . S o m e t i m e s t h i s t e c h n o l o g y i n v a d e s people's privacy Mor e so, dr one systems get interrupted by hackers and br each security systems.
e a s i e r f o rA f r i c a n t o t r a d e . E c o m m e r c e c o m p a n i e s h a v e t a k e n advantage of t h e d r o n e deliveries.
E a r l y t h i s month, a PanA f r i c a n e
c o m m e r c e
c o m p a n y ,J u m i a p a r t n e r e d w i t h Z i p l i n e to launch an o n d e m a n d d r o n e
the immediate term; (ii) a demand slump associated with the lockdowns in the Eur opean
OECD countries; and (iii)
continental supply shock affecting domestic and intraAfrican trade. It is shaking
failed to cr eate mor e and better jobs or impr ove wellbeing. On the health fr
essential.
O n t h e s o c i o e c o n o m i c f r o n t , p o l i c y measur es should cushion income and jobs l o s s e s , w h i l e t a c k l i n g t h e s p e c i fi c challenges of high informality . Beyond the immediate r esponse, r ecovery s t r a t e g i e s s h o u l d i n c l u d e a s t r o n g s t r u c t u r a l c o m p o n e n t t o r e d u c e dependence on external financial flows and global markets, and develop mor e v a l u e a d d i n g , k n o w l e d g e i n t e n s i v e a n d industrialized economies, underpinned by a mor e competitive and efficient services s e c t o r . E ff e c t i v e i m p l e m e n t a t i o n o f t h e A f r i c a n C o n t i n e n t a l F r e e T r a d e A r e a ( A f C F TA ) a n d t h e A f r i c a n U n i o n ' s p r o d u c t i v e t r a n s f o r m a t i o n a g e n d a c a n str engthen r egional value chains, r educe vulnerability to external shocks, advance the digital transition, and build economic r e s i l i e n c e a g a i n s t f u t u r e crises.
P o l i c y
Options
I n t h e i m m e d i a t e term, with the support of the i n t e r n a t i o n a l c o m m u n i t y , A f r i c a n g o v e r n m e n t s s h o u l d c o n c e n t r a t e efforts on pr eventing the spr ead of the virus, invest in pr epar edness and earlyd e t e c t i o n m e c h a n i s m s , a n d d e p l o y e m e r g e n c y r e l i e f m e a s u r e s , n o t a b l y i n h i g h l y i n f o r m a l s e c t o r s I n o r d e r t o alleviate the immediate healthcar e crisis, O E C D a n d o t h e r m a j o r p r o d u c e r s o f m e d i c a l p r o d u c t s s h o u l d r e f r a i n f r o m export bans and other trade policies that f r a g m e n t p r o d u c t i o n a n d i n c r e a s e t h e c o s t s o f e s s e n t i a l s u p p l i e s f o r i m p o r t d e p e n d e n t c o u n t r i e s O E C D c o u n t r i e s should also maintain and incr ease ODA l e v e l s , a n d re i n f o rc e c o o p e r a t i o n t o mobilize private capital.
I n t h e s h o r t t e r m , fi s c a l a n d m o n e t a r y m e a s u r e s s h o u l d c h a n n e l l i q u i d i t y t o SMEs, households and informal workers, e s p e c i a l l y i n t h e m o s t v u l n e r a b l e economies, within a coor dinated global
r e s p o n s e t o t h e c r i s i s . A l t h o u g h t h e implementation of the African Continental
F re e T r a d e A re a ( A f C F T A ) h a s b e e n delayed due to the Covid19 disruptions, and will no longer come into effect on 1 July 2020 as planned, countries should continue pr ogr ess in their national plans to liberalize goods and services in or der to establish a new implementation date as cir cumstances allow
In the mediumtolong term, in partnership w i t h t h e i n t e r n a t i o n a l c o m m u n i t y , g o v e r n m e n t s s h o u l d c o n t i n u e t o s t r e n g t h e n h e a l t h s y s t e m s a n d e x t e n d h e a l t h a n d s o c i a l p r o t e c t i o n c o v e r a g e . They should continue pr ogr ess towar ds subsequent phases in the implementation of the AfCFT A, including on investment, competition policy , intellectual pr operty
is key to accelerate r obust, sustainable and inclusive development, as the continent begins to r ecover fr om the impact of the COVID19 pandemic on its economic and social pr ogr ess.
Japanese and African ministers pr esent at the meeting, and other highlevel officials, noted that for the first time in 25 years, A f r i c a i s e x p e r i e n c i n g a d e v a s t a t i n g r ecession after nearly thr ee decades of r elatively consistent development gains. The socioeconomic shocks sparked by the C O V I D 1 9 p a n d e m i c b r o u g h t A f r i c a ' s GDP to fall by over 3% in 2020 and plunged mor e than 40 million Africans into poverty .
“ The COVID19 pandemic starkly h i g h l i g h t e d t h a t t h e e c o n o m i e s focused on exporting raw materials are e x t r e m e l y
v u l n e r a b l e t o external shocks, a s w e l l a s
d a m a g e s t h e i r e c o s y s t e m s , ” s a i d M s .
A h u n n a
E z i a k o n w a , UNDP Assistant
A d m i n i s t r a t o r a n d R e g i o n a l
D i r e c t o r f o r
A f r i c a , d u r i n g t h e M i n i s t e r i a l Meeting.
rights and ecommer ce, as well as the p r o d u c t i v e t r a n s f o r m a t i o n a g e n d a particularly thr ough r egional integration and digitalization. These measur es will be key to r educing vulnerability to external shocks in trade and commodity prices, advancing the pr oductive transformation of the r egion, and building human, societal and economic r esilience for futur e global crises.
In conclusion, str engthening partnerships i s a k e y t o a c c e l e r a t i n g A f r i c a ' s p o s t C O V I D 1 9 r e c o v e r y e ff o r t s a n d addr essing emer ging challenges. Just at t h e c o n c l u s i o n o f a v i r t u a l M i n i s t e r i a l Meeting held on 26 and 27 Mar ch within the framework of the T okyo International C o n f e r e n c e o n A f r i c a n D e v e l o p m e n t (TICAD), senior government officials fr om
A f r i c a a n d J a p a n a g r e e d t h a t str engthening international partnerships
“
W e a r e concerned about the ongoing war in Ukraine, which could further increase f o o d i n s e c u r i t y , s l o w d o w n e c o n o m i c g r o w t h , c a u s e m a c r o e c o n o m i c i n s t a b i l i t y , a ff e c t d e m o c r a t i z a t i o n a n d u n d e r m i n e p e a c e a c r o s s A f r i c a , ” s h e remarked. “Partnerships are beneficial to all, and working closer together is the only way forward. No region, no country in the world can be resilient on its own.”
T h r e e k e y a r e a s t o s u p p o r t A f r i c a ' s development plans in the post COVID19 era came under the spotlight during the m i n i s t e r i a l d i s c u s s i o n s : a c h i e v i n g sustainable and inclusive gr owth to r educe e c o n o m i c i n e q u a l i t i e s ; a c h i e v i n g sustainable and r esilient societies based on human security; and building longlasting peace and stability
Social Media Political Activism
P o l i t i c a l A c t i v i s m i n v o l v e s t h e u s e o f active and coer cive online initiatives and c a m p a i g n s t o c r e a t e a w a r e n e s s a b o u t political issues and/or pr omote political re f o r m s P o l i t i c a l a c t i v i s t s n o w t a k e a d v a n t a g e o f s o c i a l m e d i a t o p r o m o t e denounce bad governance, pr omote good g o v e r n a n c e , p o l i t i c a l a g e n d a s a n d a ffi l i a t i o n s , a n d others.
A n i n s t a n c e o f p o l i t i c a l a c t i v i s m occurr ed in Zambia in 2 0 2 0 w h e n p o l i t i c a l activists took it social m e d i a t o e x e c u t e a p e a c e f u l p r o t e s t a g a i n s t b a d g o v e r n a n c e a s opposed to the str eets d u e t o t h r e a t s b y p o l i t i c a l a u t h o r i t i e s I n t h e w o r d s o f t h e f o r m e r P r e s i d e n t , Edgar Lungu (then in power): “Those of you i n L u s a k a w h o a r e plotting to bring chaos b y s a y i n g ' w e w i l l demonstrate, we have fr eedom of speech, fr eedom to insult people,' we will deal with you under the law ,”
“ Y ou want to provoke the police so that they react like the police in America. Y ou speak of change, but we will change you instead.”
D e s p i t e a l o a d o f t h r e a t s , t h i s o n l i n e pr otest enabled activists to addr ess a wider audience using hashtags, tags, comments, followers, friends, comments, blogs, r eblogs and other social media activities. T h e a c t i v i s t s c h o s e a l o c a t i o n i n t h e p e r i p h e r a l s o f L u s a k a t o l i v e s t r e a m a series of speeches denouncing corruption, high unemployment rates, impr ovement of education standar ds, r espect for human r i g h t s , t h e t a x s y s t e m , a c c o u n t a b l e l e a d e r s h i p , b r u t a l i t y , a n d p o o r g o v e r n a n c e F a c e b o o k l i v e s t r e a m r emains the most used social media feed in among Zambian politicians. Maiko Zulu, a
political activist who among others led the o n l i n e p ro t e s t e c h o e d , “ W e u s e d t h e pr otest to pr esent a charter for a fr ee society in which every Zambian can aspir e to attain a decent living,” while another activist, Chama Fumbe, a human rights activist and music popularly known as ' P i l a t o ' s a i d , “ U s i n g F a c e b o o k h e l p s pr otesters to evade efforts to shut them down. “Ther e ar e two str eets, the physical
Hichilema r elied on to social media especially Facebook to d r a w p o p u l a r i t y d u r i n g h i s c a m p a i g n s t h a t t o p p l e d t h e Patriotic Fr ont PF in 2021. He adopted the 'Bally' hashtag to mean 'father of nation' that
i s s t i l l t r e n d y
c u r re n t l y i n h i s pr esidency .
W i t h h i s e m p h a s i s o n f r e e d o m o f s p e e c h a s opposed to the situation o f t h e p r e v i o u s g o v e r n m e n t , P r e s i d e n t H i c h i l e m a g e t s u g l y c r i t i c i s m f r o m t h e o p p o s i t i o n t h r o u g h social media. However , he still takes advantage of the influential natur e of social media to make a p o s i t i v e i m a g e o f h i s p o s i t i v e g o v e r n a n c e thr ough a str ong online pr esence.
ones and the social media ones”, “W e have mor e influence via the social media str eet than if we had used the physical str eets.
This was a viral social media feed that was agr eed by majority of the public (on social m e d i a ) i n c l u d i n g o p p o s i t i o n l e a d e r , Chishimba Kambwili, who cr edited;
“ C o n g r a t u l a t i o n s t o Pilato and his group for a successful event. They have shown that innovation works, and that there are effective ways to deal with a dictator who relies on physical force.
W h e n y o u u s e t e c h n o l o g y a n d i n n o v a t i o n y o u c a n defeat them easily ."
A d d i t i o n a l l y , Z a m b i a ' s t h e c u r r e n t P r e s i d e n t H a k a i n d e
Social media has fueled a lot of political pr opaganda ever since political players r e a l i z e d i t ' s i n fl u e n c e . P o l i t i c a l p ro p a g a n d a i s d e s c r i b e d a s f a l s e o r misleading information that is deliberately shar ed to skew people's understanding of an issue and advance a cause, in this case a political cause (LibertiesEU). It can also be true but misinterpr eted information that can be used to influence and/or manipulate the decisions of the people unlikely of their best inter est.
P o l i t i c a l l e a d e r s a n d t h e p o l i t i c a l envir onment at lar ge use social media to fuel political pr opaganda. Accor ding to Liberties EU, "The rise of social media has been a boon to political pr opaganda."
P o l i t i c i a n s u s e t h e s e p l a t f o r m s a s a n a l t e r n a t i v e o u t l e t t o t r a d i t i o n a l n e w s media because they ar e fr ee, easy , and allow them to r each certain segments of the population that the pr opagandist believes will be pr edisposed to supporting their
Social Media Political Propagandat h a t
i n fl u e n c e d t h a t e n d e d
pr opaganda. Ther e ar e also techniques within social media that help, such as the use of fake accounts or tr oll farms to help spr ead their message or lend it cr edibility
Another r eason that political pr opaganda is so pr evalent on social media platforms has to do with the latter's business model. The mor e sensationalist a post is, the mor e likely it is to be r ead and shar ed by others. This drives r evenue to the platform at the same time spr eading pr opaganda. So it's fair to say that social media companies have been complicit in the gr owth and spr ead of political pr opaganda.
S O C I A L M E D I A P O L I T I C A L CA T ASTROPHE
I n a d d i t i o n t o p o l i t i c a l pr opaganda, social media has also been a major drive to the i n c r e a s e o f P o l i t i c a l c a t a s t r o p h e P o l i t i c a l c a t a s t r o p h e s a r e c a t a s t r o p h i c / d i s a s t r o u s e v e n t s t h a t o c c u r d u e t o
p o l i t i c a l a c t i v i t i e s P o l i t i c a l c a t a s t r o p h e c a n a l s o b e described as political crisis.
pr opaganda in South Sudan for example, despite the government's efforts to impr ove f re e d o m , t h e s e c u r i t y f o rc e s a n d t h e political leaders still hold a lot of power in the nation and have huge influence to manipulate and contr ol the media leading to catastr ophes.
In another instance, early to m i d t h i s y e a r , a c t i v i s t s a n d p o l i t i c i a n s i n S o u t h A f r i c a convened an antiimmigrant event on social media dubbed ' O p e r a t i o n D u d u l a ' l e d b y
N h l a n l a L u x D l a m i n i . O p e r a t i o n D u d u l a ' w a s f o c u s e d o n b l a m i n g "for eigners" for criminal acts.
The operation Dudula' Started As a social media campaign
T h e t a r g e t e d " f o re i g n e r s " w h o a r e v i c t i m s o f x e n o p h o b i a a r e f e l l o w A f r i c a n s f r o m a c r o s s b o a r d e r s living within the land of Africa demar cated a s a n o t h e r c o u n t r y ( S o u t h A f r i c a ) b y W estern countries during the colonialism era.
J o h n S t e e n h u i s e n M P , L e a d e r o f t h e D e m o c r a t i c A l l i a n c e o f S o u t h A f r i c a issued a statement in August, 2022 which e n l i g h t e n e d a n d c o n d e m n e d p o l i t i c a l leaders that cause political catastr ophe thr ough social media. He stated “The b e h a v i o u r o f A c t i o n S A ' s J o h a n n e s b u r g M M C f o r E c o n o m i c D e v e l o p m e n t , Nkululeko Mbundu, as well as ActionSA's leader , Herman Mashaba, for springing to his defense – must be condemned in the str ongest terms. Mbundu's social media comments dir ected at the SocioEconomic Rights Institute (Seri) in the wake of a court or der r eversing his eviction of 600 informal traders wer e nothing less than an incitement to violence, and the NGO had to subsequently shut its office down following death thr eats to their lawyers and thr eats to burn down their offices."
The power of social media has and is influencing political aspirations for both good and bad. It is ther efor e up to us, the users to be cautious enough.
i n t o a p h y s i c a l d e m o n s t r a t i o n w h i c h s p e w e d p h y s i c a l violence to a p o i n t o f s t o n i n g a n d burning some i m m i g r a n t s ( “ f o r e i g n e r s ”) to death.
interview
Enam said the genr e of
d ("Hadzivodushis") of the Y eweh Shrine in the V olta Region.
gr
due to her unique
and
music at ease.
In August 2022, Enam r eleased her first single "Alomo" featuring Akwaboah in her sixtrack Extended Play "W uieve".
In this “W uieve” Extended Play , she pr eaches the messages of her musical spirits and true feelings for beats. The Extended Play focuses on the damages and fixes that had been made so far in her life.
She said the title of the EP meant number twelve (12) in the local Ewe language because she believes her birthmark of twelve toes was a r eminder that she was destined for something gr eat in the music industry
Enam is a daughter to a Ghanaian father and a Nigeria mother
She r eceived her secondary education at St. Monica's Senior High School wher e she started her music by joining a drama gr oup on campus. She later r elocated to Ghana wher e she signed a contract with Azuy Media in 2018 with the single "Manna" featuring Lor d Papa of "A wurama".
famous rappers including Sarkodie.
Ollus Ndomu
M U S I C A F R I K A : P A P A P E P E N D O M B E O P E T U M
the band. In 1972, Afrisa was facing solvency pr oblems and T abu Ley admitted that he had not payed some musicians for six months. It was against this backdr op that Opetum left the gr oup along with saxophonist Empopo Loway as well as “Mor o” Maurice to form Afrizam Band. He enjoyed moderate success with Afrizam which at its height also had a female vocalist in the name of Abeti Masikini. In 1975, Afrizam was depleted by defections and Opetum r eceived an offer fr om Franco to join TP OK Jazz along with with Empopo Loway and Mavatiku V isi popularly known as Michelino who had r ecently left Afrisa. At the time, Franco needed another lead vocalist to r eplace Sam Mangwana who had just left. It was an offer he could not r esist as Franco and
TP OK Jazz had alr eady established itself as one of the pr eeminent bands not just in Zair e but in Africa. He soon established himself as one of the lead singers for TP OK Jazz. He made his pr esence felt, and composed hit songs such as Mabe yo Mabe and V oyage ya Bandundu.
I n 1 9 7 8 , O p e t u m f a c e d a c a r e e r setback when he was fir ed by Franco along with Michelino w h o w a s a c c u s e d o f c o n s p i r i n g t o f o r m a r i v a l b a n d . N d o m b e b r i e fl y c o n s i d e r e d r e j o i n i n g T a b u L e y ' s A f r i s a w i t h w h o m h e appear ed at a concert i n B r a z z a v i l l e T h e firing was a blessing in d i s g u i s e D u r i n g h i s exile fr om TP OK Jazz, F r a n c o a n d s e v e r a l b a n d m e m b e r s r eceived jail sentences for participating in the r elease of two songs, H e l e n e a n d J a c k i e w h i c h w e r e d e e m e d fi l t h y b y t h e Z a i r e a n g o v e r n m e n t F r a n c o himself was sentenced t o 6 m o n t h s O t h e r s re c e i v e d 1 2 m o n t h s j a i l t e r m s L a t e r i n 1978, Opetum r ejoined TP OK Jazz. It was during the period of the late 1970s and early 1980s that TP OK Jazz was at the very
of
Djo Mpoyi Kaninda and Lola Checain. H e m a d e a n a m e f o r h i m s e l f composing memorable songs such as Mawe, a song about beautiful women of the DR Congo's capital, Kinshasa. Ther e was also another hit “Nayebi ndenge bakolela ngai” in which he
what he would like
n d e Cooperation (3r d world cooperation). That band was however short lived as t h e r e s t l e s s M a n g w a n a s o o n l e f t , living up to his nickname “La Pigeon V oyageur”.
Loway , Mangwana and Opetum
I n 1 9 8 7 , O p e t u m m a d e a s u r p r i s e r e t
played second fiddle
star
Mbilia Bel who had become
right and Faya
ess.
Opetum r eturned to TP OK Jazz in 1989. It was then that he composed
h
w h i l e a
member of TP OK Jazz. The name of t h e s o n g w a s “ A n j e l a ” w h i c h w a s r ecor ded shortly befor e the death of F r a n c o . T h e s o n g w a s a h i t w i t h audiences in Zair e and all over Africa. In the song , Ndombe plays the part of a man asking a woman with whom he has lost touch to give their lost r elationship a second chance.
C H U K W U O K I K E I S G O D After the departur e of Franco, Ndombe continued to play with TP OK Jazz until the fallout between key band members and Franco's family which led to the formation of the offshoot Bana OK in 1994. Ndombe along with Josky and Simar o Massiya wer e the key members of Bana OK which also had former TP OK Jazz members such