Stories from Quick Reads and Gabon
A Presidential Birth Certificate Controversy Provokes Social Unrest in Gabon
Protests against president Bongo broke out in Gabon last week provoking one death and several arrests.
Is Power Too Sweet for Ailing African Leaders to Step Down?
Gershom Ndhlovu looks at the reasons why ailing African leaders wont step down: There have been rumours, innuendoes and even insinuations regarding the health, or the lack of it, of Zambia’s President Michael Chilufya Sata, in office since September 2011. These have been spread by the largely unregulated online media...
3,000 Students Protest against Educational Reform in Gabon
Reforms to the educational system were suspended [fr] in Gabon after teachers and students marched together in protests. In the proposed reform, the final exam to obtain the high school diploma will be done in one round instead of two and the entry into high school will be subjected to...
African Presidents Active on Social Media
Dapa Arnaud gives a list of the 10 most active african presidents [fr] on social media. At the top of the list is president Paul Kagame in Rwanda: In place since 2003, the president of Rwanda is the most active on the internet. According to the Ecofin agency, Paul Kagame interacts...
When Bob Marley Went to Africa
The film opens on the Ghanaian coast at the remnants of a slave post, the camera then pans over the Atlantic, finally settling on the green hills of rural Jamaica (Marley’s birthplace Nine Mile) from where it picks up Bob Marley’s story, thus cementing a link between the continent and...
Journalist Killed During Ceasefire Talks in Central African Republic
The network of Human Rights Reporters in Central African Republic reports that journalist for the Radio Bé-oko Elisabeth Olofio was killed [fr] when Sékéla rebels entered the town of Bambari, CAR on January 7. A ceasefire agreement was signed [fr] between the rebels and the Bozizé government today (January 11)...
Offshore Oil Leak Threatens Protected Lagoon in South West Gabon
NGO H2O Gabon reported that an oil leak [fr] off the shore of Gabon have polluted the Fernan Vaz Lagoon. Oil Company Perenco later confirmed the leak but it claims that the leak did not reach the lagoon [fr].
Gabon: Civil Society Leaders Arrested Prior to New York Forum Africa
News website Koaci.com [fr] reports that Marc Ona Essangui, of the civil society organisation ‘Ca suffit comme ça’ (Enough is enough) and other Gabonese activists were arrested this morning in the capital Libreville. They were planning to hold a ‘Forum of the indignants‘ [fr] to counter the New York Forum Africa,...
African Bloggers Review the French Primary Elections
Mengue M'Eyaà review the proposals [fr] outlined by the French presidential candidates towards the African continent during the primary elections. She notes that all the proposals centered around how France can exit the Françafrique paradigm and that the candidates have a more nuanced understanding of several African issues such as...
Gabon: Documentary Wins Prize At Web TV Festival 2011
WebDocu.fr [fr] has announced that the documentary “Gabon : violence d'un coup d'état électoral“[fr] (“Gabon: violence of an electoral coup d'etat”) is the winner of the Jury Prize in the Web-Politique category. The documentary was produced in 2009 after the violence that followed the controversial election of Ali Bongo as...
Gabon: Citizen Web Documentary Wins Award
Website Web Docu [fr] has announced that the citizen web documentary Gabon : violences d'un coup d'état électoral [fr] (Gabon: The violence of an electoral coup) has won the award for best web-politics documentary at the Web TV-Festival 2011 [fr]. The documentary was produced in 2009 during the post-electoral turmoil that...
Gabon: The danger of ignoring Gabon's revolution
Ethan Zuckerman warns of the danger of ignoring Gabon's revolution: “The danger of ignoring Gabon’s revolution isn’t just that opposition forces will be arrested or worse. It’s that we fail to understand the profound shifts underway across the world that change the nature of popular revolution. The wave of protests...
Gabon-France: Wikileaks reveals The Financing of French Political Parties by Omar Bongo
On December 30, 2010 Antoine Ganne writes in an article on afrik.com citing Wikileaks : ” nearly 30 millions euros were diverted from the Bank of the Central African States (BEAC) by former Gabonese president Omar Bongo, some of which were sent to French political parties, specifically Jacques Chirac's but...
Africa: West Africa's First Commercial Data Center Launching in 2011
A company simply identifying itself as West Africa Data Centres is taken the bold step to launch the first commercial large-scale data centre, in West Africa, David Ajao reports.
Gabon, France: Gabon-raised Frenchman to Run for Elections
Will Mael Nyamat explains [Fr] what a black candidate who was raised in Gabon like himself can bring in terms of perspective to the political discourse during the French primary elections. Nyamat also argues in his book that the historically close tie between Gabon and France [Fr] makes him as sensible...
Gabon: Gabon's press blossoms
Elisabeth Moumba discusses the blossoming of Gabon's press: “Until 1990, Gabon had only two public television channels and two radio stations–RTG 1 and RTG 2, along with Radio Gabon and Radio II–with one private pro-government daily, L'Union, and one pan-African radio station, Africa N1.”
France : Poetry Slam World Cup
Bobigny, in the Paris suburbs, is hosting a different kind of world cup, namely the 4th Poetry Slam World Cup (the quarter finals), on June 12th and 13th. Bondy Blog interviews [Fr] two finalists: Le Wise, from Gabon, and Philipp Sharri, from Germany.
Gabon: African actor in Chinese martial art movies
Do you know Luc Bendza? He is probably the only African to take part in Chinese martial art movies.
Gabon: Gabon Election 2009 on Twitter
Gabon Election 2009 in English and French on Twitter. The page is maintained by a citizen journalist from Gabon: Young Gabonese, Citi. Journalist, DigitActivist,waiting 4 free elections, peace and prosperity in his homeland. Hoping that you'll help us to fight for this!!!
Lawsuit takes aim at Francafrique
Cellule Francafrique [Fr] reports on a new lawsuit filed against the presidents of Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, and the Republic of the Congo in a court in Paris last week. The suit, brought by Transparency International and a Gabonese taxpayer, accuses the three heads of state of “concealing misappropriated public funds”.
Brazil: Grandma Aggie, Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers and the Pope
Lou Gold, a North-American blogger and nature-person turned “brasileiro’, blogs about [En] Grandma Aggie and the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers, re-telling some of the adventures of these courageous indigenous ladies and their recent efforts to get the Pope to rescind the Papal Bulls that created the “right” to...
