Africa’s political elite's deforestation scam | Transnational Investigation Logging the trees, mining the forest and pocketing ‘green’ funds, all at the same time A ZAM transnational investigation conducted across six African countries has revealed the complicity of governing political elites in rapid deforestation. At the same time, many of these elites are receiving billions of dollars and euros in ‘green’ funds from international partners, including the UN, the EU, and the World Bank. Previous...
Africa’s political elite's deforestation scam | Transnational Investigation Logging the trees, mining the forest and pocketing ‘green’ funds, all at the...
Raided forests leave villages empty as the wood trucks roll Almost half of Cameroon is covered by tropical forests, but it is disappearing fast. According to Global Forest Watch, the country lost close to one million hectares of humid primary forest between 2002 and 2023, representing about half of its total tree cover loss in the same period. The devastation is a key focus of several international partnerships with Cameroon, including a European Commission support programme for “development...
Raided forests leave villages empty as the wood trucks roll Almost half of Cameroon is covered by tropical forests, but it is disappearing fast....
Despite much ‘green’ planning and funding, Ghana’s political elite still mines the forests ‘Green’ plans and international funding do little to counter the rapid shrinking of Ghana’s forest cover, while a set of powerful politicians continue to receive mining licenses in protected areas. Mining, legal and illegal, and mainly for gold, is one of the greatest driving forces of deforestation in the country. In 2016, Ghana developed a Forestry Development Master Plan aimed at eliminating mining in...
Despite much ‘green’ planning and funding, Ghana’s political elite still mines the forests ‘Green’ plans and international funding do little to counter...
How ‘thieves in government’ are ravaging Mulanje mountain Located in Malawi’s southern region, near the Mozambique border, Mulanje is the country’s highest mountain and the source of several rivers that support hydroelectric power generation and agriculture. Bananas, pineapples, cassava, and sweet potatoes, along with cross-border trade with Mozambique, sustain the livelihoods of nearly 700,000 people in surrounding communities. But it was always the cedar tree that symbolised the real wealth of...
How ‘thieves in government’ are ravaging Mulanje mountain Located in Malawi’s southern region, near the Mozambique border, Mulanje is the country’s...
G4S security guards working for the multinational cement manufacturer Bamburi Portland Cement Ltd, along with a special Kenyan police unit stationed at a site claimed by Bamburi, have been accused of torture and assault by dozens of locals in Denyenye, a small village in Kwale County, coastal Kenya. The villagers, who live near a 1,500-acre piece of contested land, rely on it for farming cattle, fetching firewood for cooking, and accessing the ocean for fishing. According to G4S, its "small team’s...
G4S security guards working for the multinational cement manufacturer Bamburi Portland Cement Ltd, along with a special Kenyan police unit stationed at a...
Many of Zimbabwe’s richest men and women are vessels for the ruling party’s looting of state coffers. Commonly called ‘mbingas’, for their penchant for the good life, these briefcase entrepreneurs drive luxury cars, own several mansions, broadcast lavish weddings and parties on online media and buy gifts for their fans. However, they rarely engage in meaningful production or create employment. Mukudzei Madenyika traces how they rose from once well-intended black empowerment schemes. Establishing a...
Many of Zimbabwe’s richest men and women are vessels for the ruling party’s looting of state coffers. Commonly called ‘mbingas’, for their penchant for...
NEWS UPDATE On Thursday 12 September, hours after the story was published, the Portuguese public broadcaster RTP dedicated a news slot to it. Portuguese speakers can listen here (from 8.55). The day after publication, Mozambique's National Criminal Investigation Service (Sernic) announced the arrest, in the country's port city of Beira, of a 43-year old "citizen of Chinese nationality" on accusations of money laundering, illegal exploitation of forest resources, and tax fraud. The destruction of...
NEWS UPDATE On Thursday 12 September, hours after the story was published, the Portuguese public broadcaster RTP dedicated a news slot to it. Portuguese...
While recent years have seen Israel exporting advanced surveillance technologies to countries across the continent, there’s a parallel trend of supplying traditional crowd control equipment such as tear gas canisters. In June and July 2024, East Africa experienced waves of protests, notably in Kenya, where large-scale youth-led demonstrations erupted in response to the contentious Finance Bill 2024. The demonstrations were part of a broader effort to pressure President William Ruto, with activist...
While recent years have seen Israel exporting advanced surveillance technologies to countries across the continent, there’s a parallel trend of supplying...
Read the French version here . From a one-eyed to a blind horse: How hopes for change in the Sahel turned into a nightmare For decades, villagers and city dwellers in the Sahel countries of Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso had hoped for change in their “dust and pollution” riddled lives, tyrannised as they were by corrupt governments, French uranium exploitation and gangster jihadis who stole their cattle and abducted their sons. When, in the 2020s, earnest-looking military colonels and captains stood...
Read the French version here . From a one-eyed to a blind horse: How hopes for change in the Sahel turned into a nightmare For decades, villagers and...
Read the French version here . “We must not replace a one-eyed horse with a blind horse” Sunday April 21, 2024 . Agadez, in central Niger, is a large urban area with houses mostly built of ochre earth. There are very few trees here in this poor town, located more than 900km northeast of the capital. In the evening, the city is full of young idlers, drug addicts, and sex workers. Many of them are migrants. “These young people come from other regions to look for gold in the desert! Unlucky and...
Read the French version here . “We must not replace a one-eyed horse with a blind horse” Sunday April 21, 2024 . Agadez, in central Niger, is a large...
Read the French version here . The disillusionment for all of us Sominé Dolo Hospital in Mopti, central Mali, Friday May 17, 2024. It is 7PM. Everything is black here. The lights are out due to the now almost continuous power cuts. The loudspeakers of the large mosque in downtown Sevaré let out the shrill cry of the muezzin calling for Maghreb evening prayers, but heads are not bent in prayer and devotion in this hospital establishment, the main health facility in the northern centre of the...
Read the French version here . The disillusionment for all of us Sominé Dolo Hospital in Mopti, central Mali, Friday May 17, 2024. It is 7PM. Everything...
Read the French version here . Brute force in the countryside and tyranny in the cities “We are not here for power. We have a twelve-month program in which we will resolve small logistical problems while respecting human values.” After Captain Ibrahim Traoré announced with these words his takeover of power in Ouagadougou on September 30, 2022, he was immediately congratulated by Yevgeny Prigozhin (then still alive), founder of the Russian paramilitary group Wagner, since re-baptised the Africa...
Read the French version here . Brute force in the countryside and tyranny in the cities “We are not here for power. We have a twelve-month program in...
Read the English version here . D'un cheval borgne à un cheval aveugle : Comment les espoirs de changement au Sahel se sont transformés en cauchemar Pendant des décennies, les villageois et citadins des pays sahéliens du Mali, du Niger et du Burkina Faso espéraient un changement dans leurs vies « pleines de poussière et de pollution », tourmentés qu'ils étaient entre gouvernements corrompus, exploitation française de l'uranium et djihadistes gangsters qui continuaient de voler leur bétail et...
Read the English version here . D'un cheval borgne à un cheval aveugle : Comment les espoirs de changement au Sahel se sont transformés en cauchemar...
« Il ne faut pas remplacer un cheval borgne par un cheval aveugle » Dimanche 21 avril 2024 . Agadez, au centre du Niger, est une grande zone urbaine dont les maisons sont pour la plupart construites en terre ocre. Il y a très peu d'arbres dans cette ville pauvre, située à plus de 900 km au nord-est de la capitale Niamey. Le soir, la ville regorge de jeunes oisifs, de toxicomanes, et de travailleuses du sexe. Beaucoup d’entre eux sont des migrants. « Ces jeunes viennent d’autres régions pour...
« Il ne faut pas remplacer un cheval borgne par un cheval aveugle » Dimanche 21 avril 2024 . Agadez, au centre du Niger, est une grande zone urbaine dont...
Read the English version here . La désillusion pour nous tous Hôpital Sominé Dolo de Mopti, centre du Mali, vendredi 17 mai 2024. Il est 19 heures. Ici, il fait sombre, les lumières sont éteintes à cause des coupures de courant désormais presque continuellement. Les haut-parleurs de la grande mosquée du centre-ville de Sevaré laissent échapper le cri perçant du muezzin appelant à la prière maghrébine du soir , mais les têtes ne semblent pas à la prière et à la dévotion dans cet établissement...
Read the English version here . La désillusion pour nous tous Hôpital Sominé Dolo de Mopti, centre du Mali, vendredi 17 mai 2024. Il est 19 heures. Ici,...
Read the English version here . Force brute à la campagne et tyrannie dans les villes «Nous ne sommes pas là pour le pouvoir. Nous avons un programme de douze mois dans lequel nous allons résoudre de petits problèmes logistiques dans le respect des valeurs humaines.» Après que le capitaine Ibrahim Traoré ait annoncé par ces mots sa prise de pouvoir à Ouagadougou le 30 septembre 2022, il a été immédiatement félicité pour son action par Eugène Prigojine (alors encore vivant), fondateur du groupe...
Read the English version here . Force brute à la campagne et tyrannie dans les villes «Nous ne sommes pas là pour le pouvoir. Nous avons un programme de...
How dismissals and promises didn’t end corruption at Nigeria’s main marriage registry After Taiwo Adebulu had investigated the extortion and systemic corruption at the Ikoyi marriage office in Nigeria, and his story for ZAM made waves in Nigeria, the government announced they would put a stop to the corruption. A few years later, it is back with a vengeance. My phone had been overloaded with responses after I first published my Ikoyi marriage registry story. A veritable online frenzy from Nigerian...
How dismissals and promises didn’t end corruption at Nigeria’s main marriage registry After Taiwo Adebulu had investigated the extortion and systemic...
How the Kagame PR machine turned on Forbidden Stories and ZAM “They are going to say that we deny the genocide,” the colleague at Forbidden Stories – the project of fifty journalists and seventeen media that investigated work, life, and death of our Rwandan colleague John Williams Ntwali – had already warned us. He was right: in the past two weeks, they did just that. We are Rwandan genocide deniers , all fifty of us – or at least funded, or deceived by, genocide deniers. Even though all we did was...
How the Kagame PR machine turned on Forbidden Stories and ZAM “They are going to say that we deny the genocide,” the colleague at Forbidden Stories – the...
In the oil-polluted Niger Delta, Ogoniland had to be the exception: here everything would be cleaned up properly. Yet things are going wrong even there, internal documents show. “It was the biggest shock I have ever experienced. ‘Et tu, Brute’, I could have said to the minister. We even had dinner together a few days earlier.” Many months after it happened, Ferdinand Giadom was still protesting the unceremonial termination of his position as head of the clean-up operation in Ogoniland, known under...
In the oil-polluted Niger Delta, Ogoniland had to be the exception: here everything would be cleaned up properly. Yet things are going wrong even there,...
Journalists threatened and forced into exile, opponents murdered by clandestine commandos, espionage. Coordinated by Forbidden Stories, the RWANDA Classified project began with the mysterious death in January 2023 of journalist John Williams Ntwali. Continuing his work, 50 journalists from 11 countries reveal a system of transnational repression deployed by Paul Kagame’s regime, far from the model country and safe haven for refugees portrayed in Western media. How a dictatorship hides its terror...
Journalists threatened and forced into exile, opponents murdered by clandestine commandos, espionage. Coordinated by Forbidden Stories, the RWANDA...
Rwanda has been widely likened to a police state, still the West continues to support it Based on current and previous revelations, one might think that the European Union, the United Kingdom, and the West in general would regard Rwanda under Paul Kagame’s regime as akin to North Korea: a place to be rather concerned about. Not so. The EU recently closed a mineral tracking deal with the central African police state, meant to stem the flow of conflict minerals, and ensure peaceful and well-governed...
Rwanda has been widely likened to a police state, still the West continues to support it Based on current and previous revelations, one might think that...
