Latest News
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Petition to Encourage Democracy: Eliminate US Support for Current and Aspiring Dictators
Some African strongmen who are also America’s allies and receive millions of US aid, have successfully removed the provisions on presidential term limits from their constitutions to enable them to run repeatedly. These are selections, not elections. The President himself noted that “Africa’s democratic progress is also at risk when leaders refuse to step aside…
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AFJN to US Government: Take African Presidential Term Limits Seriously
In his speach at the African Union on July 28, 2015, President Obama addressed a specific African democracy crisis: the issue of presidential term limits. “I have to also say that Africa’s democratic progress is also at risk when leaders refuse to step aside when their terms end … I don’t understand why people want…
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President Obama urges Africans to fight Corruption and lifetime Presidency
On July 28 in his remarks to the African people at the African Union (AU) headquarters in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia President Obama addressed many issues including corruption and presidential term limits. Below are some highlights. 1.On Corruption Nothing will unlock Africa’s economic potential more than ending the cancer of corruption. (Applause.) And you are…
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Crimes and Repression vs. Development in Rwanda: President Paul Kagame’s Many Shadows
On October 14-16, 2015, President Paul Kagame will be a keynote speaker at the 2015 Borlaug Dialogue: Fundamentals of Global Food Security Symposium in Des Moines, Iowa. However, like many other speaking invitations in the United States and Europe, this one has also been protested by many human rights and advocacy organizations. Paul Kagame is…
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Welcome to our 2015 Summer Intern
Mirabella Ngozi Nwaka was born in Washington, DC and lives in Maryland. She is Nigerian-American. She is currently pursing a bachelor’s degree in Political Science with a concentration in International Relations and a minor in Mathematics at Spelman College, in Atlanta, Georgia. She recently worked with low-income Floridian students, who are first generation immigrations of…
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Just for Laughs: Bragging Rights
After digging to a depth of 100 meters last year, Russian scientists found traces of copper wire dating back 1000 years, and came to the conclusion that their ancestors already had a telephone network one thousand years ago. Not to be outdone, in the weeks that followed American scientists dug down 200 meters and headlines…
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US Position on the Burundian Crisis
Although Burundi is a strong US partner in the fight against terrorism in Somalia, the Obama administration has made known its position in the ongoing Burundian presidential term limit crisis. Early on after the constitutional court ruled on May 4th that President Nkurunziza bid for a third term was constitutional the US dissented. On May…
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Herakles Abandons All Operations in Mundemba And Toko Concessions Area
Herakles Farms, a New York based agro-investment firm and its subsidiary SG Sustainable Oils Cameroon (SGSOC) is once again in the spotlight. On May 29, 2015 it announced that it has abandoned all operations in Mundemba and Toko Subdivisions in the Ndian Province.
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The Ecologist Features Letter to G7 Against New Alliance Signed by AFJN
As the G7 leaders prepare to meet in Bavaria this weekend, small-scale farmers from around the world call on them to abandon their disastrous plan for the corporate takeover of global agriculture and the extirpation of small-scale farmers everywhere – those who produce most of the world’s food.
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Communiqué N0 2 of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of Burundi on Elections 2015
We expected that the ruling of the Constitutional Court was going to help improve the situation by making a decision along the lines of the truth that had been expressed by many inside and outside our country. (#4) If our wishes find no response and things remain as they are, we, the Bishops of the…
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Uganda’s first women-only gym
Fitness is big business, but in countries like Uganda in East Africa being a woman and going to the gym can be a bit daunting. Women have to battle for space, find “socially acceptable” sports outfits and are sometimes prohibited from doing challenging sports programs. However, 25-year-old Mildred Apenyo is hoping to change the idea…
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President Pierre Nkurunziza, Burundi elections and an attempted military coup
On May 13 2015, some members of the Burundian army, led by the former Chief of Staff General Godefroid Niyombaré, attempted to overthrow President Pierre Nkurunziza amid unrest over his bid to be re-elected to a third term. After declaring that the government has been dissolved, crowds opposed to President Nkurunziza’s third term took to…
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U.S. Congress: Don’t Cut Funding for Voice of America’s Central Africa Service Kirundi/Kinyarwanda Program
In a letter to members of the Budget Committee in the House and Senate about the proposal to cut all funding for Voice of America’s Central Africa Service Kirundi/Kinyarwanda radio program in the Fiscal Year 2016 budget, the Catholic Task Force for Africa (CTFA) argues that when looking for places to cut funding, the U.S….
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NCR Covers AFJN’s Event on Ending Exterme Poverty
With extreme poverty having been cut in half over the last generation — and the Millennium Development Goals target of poverty halving having been achieved five years ahead of the 2015 deadline — veterans of the global war on poverty believe it is possible that extreme poverty can be wiped out in the next 15 years.
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Happy Independence Day, Tanzania, April 26.
Shortly after achieving independence from Britain in the early 1960s, Tanganyika and Zanzibar merged to form the nation of Tanzania in 1964. Today Tanzania is a country of 45 million people, a multi-party democracy, with a land area larger that Nigeria. Tourism is an important revenue earner. There are 16 national parks including the well…
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The Catholic Task Force for Africa Urges President Obama and Secretary of State Kerry to get involved in Burundi Political Crisis
The Catholic Task Force for Africa (CTFA) sent letters to President Barack Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry urging them to use all diplomatic tools including making personal calls to Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza to encourage him to refrain from running for a third term.
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The Second Pastoral Letter of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Burundi ahead of the 2015 Elections
We, the pastors of the Catholic Church of Burundi, aware of the peace agreements and the constitution that stems from the agreements charter (article 8, 96, 103 et 302), listening to our consciences and as citizens who love their country and are faithful to their duty as church leaders who should prevent their country from…
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Independence Day for Senegal, April 4th
Powerful European countries competed for the trade of Senegal, until France finally gained control over it in 1677. Traders dealt in wax, amber, gold, ivory, and also participated in the slave trade. In the 1850s slavery was abolished. Senegal became independent from France on June 20, 1960 after long negotiations. Although officially Senegal gained independence…
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Congratulations Nigeria!
With the just concluded 2015 presidential election, Nigeria has made history. Nigerians have shown the world their determination to engage in participatory governance and a resolve to look beyond ethnic and religious frontiers often played out and reinforced both within and outside the country. The election sends a strong message to self-perpetuating African leaders, too…
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Symposium of the Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar to set up a Continental Reconciliation Committee
After a four-day Continental Congress held in Windhoek, Namibia and organized by the Justice and Peace Commission of the Symposium of the Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM), they announced the creation of a Continental Reconciliation Committee which will deal with conflict and violence prevention and mediation. Below is a Press Release issues by…
