In October 2023, international organizations and foreign diplomats stationed in Sierra Leone organized a meeting in Freetown to negotiate a political settlement to the electoral crisis without first investigating the disputed elections and the accompanying human rights violations. Held at the Bintumani Hotel in Freetown, the meeting developed an agreement that authorized politicians of the All Peoples Congress (APC) and Sierra Leone Peoples Party (SLPP) to take over the institutions of...

In July and August 2023, the United States government announced visa restrictions on officials who undermined democracy in Sierra Leone and called for an investigation into the conduct of the elections and accompanying human rights violations. The move followed the disputed June 2023 general elections, which international and domestic elections observer groups described as "undemocratic and non-transparent." However, in October 2023, the United States Embassy in Sierra Leone issued several...

Jamaican born Marcus Garvey was a prominent political leader, journalist, and public orator. A leading proponent in the African liberation movement, Garvey founded and led the largest mass movement of black people in the early twentieth century advocating for African liberation and unification. This episode looks at the life and legacy of Marcus Garvey and the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), the organization he founded. Content for this episode is also adapted from a...

Jamaican born Marcus Garvey was a prominent political leader, journalist, and public orator. A leading proponent in the African liberation movement, Garvey founded and led the largest mass movement of black people in the early twentieth century advocating for African liberation and unification. This episode looks at the life and legacy of Marcus Garvey and the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), the organization he founded. Content for this second episode is adapted from a...

In late August 2023, the United States announced a visa restriction policy against individuals who undermined the democratic process in the June 2023 Sierra Leone elections. This visa restrictions policy followed an earlier United States government statement issued on 14 July 2023 demanding "an independent, outside investigation of the elections process" and integration of "observer recommendations to improve the electoral modalities for future elections" in Sierra Leone. Thus, in the July...

Jamaican born Marcus Garvey was a prominent political leader, journalist, and public orator. A leading proponent in the African liberation movement, Garvey founded and led the largest mass movement of black people in the early twentieth century advocating for African liberation and unification. This episode looks at the life and legacy of Marcus Garvey and the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), the organization he founded. Content for this episode is adapted from a...

In the previous two episodes of this series, we highlighted how the Sierra Leone elections of June 2023 did not follow the stipulated legal and constitutional procedures for the conduct of presidential, parliamentary, and local council elections. We specifically pointed out that Sierra Leone's Chief Electoral Commissioner, Mohamed Konneh did not wait for districts and regions to complete their vote counting and tallying process before announcing alleged winners of the June 2023...

Jamaica poet and artist, Linton Kwesi Johnson is the second living poet, and the only black one, to have his poems published in the Penguin Modern Classics Series in 2002. Born in Chapelton, a rural parish of Clarendon in Jamaica, Linton Kwesi Johnson migrated to Britain in 1963 with his parents as part of the Windrush generation that left Jamaica on the eve of independence. Johnson attended Tulse Hill School in Lambeth, where he joined the British Black Panther Movement, helping to...

Sierra Leone’s 1991 Constitution, and the Public Elections Act 2022, forbids the inauguration of a President, Members of Parliament, and representatives of Local Government Councils without properly conducted elections. Under Sierra Leonean law, elections are only considered properly and democratically conducted when all votes in each polling station, in each polling center, and in each district, and in each region have been fully counted, properly tallied, completely verified, and...

The Sierra Leone elections of June 2023 ended without a properly published election result. International and local observers who monitored the process agreed that the elections were non-transparent, and were equally fraught with numerous irregularities. Since June 2023, local and international appeals for the publication of the election results at the polling station level by the Electoral Commission of Sierra Leone (ECSL) have been completely ignored by the election management body. But...

In this episode, Zimbabwean writer and artist, Lingiwe Patience Sifelani talks about her literary journey and the challenges of being a writer and cultural performer in today's Zimbabwe. This interview was conducted by Tipei Lorata Dube in Gweru, Zimbabwe. This episode is part of a new Africanist Press Series on Zimbabwe that examines the impact of economic sanctions on various sectors of the population, and how communities and individuals in the country have developed independent...

Zvidzai Chiponda is a Zimbabwean healer and practitioner of African traditional religion. In this episode, he talks about his journey from a devout Christian evangelist to becoming a leading advocate of African traditional religion. In the interview, Chiponda higghlights the impact of colonialism on African spirituality, the role of ancestors in the daily lives of Africans, and the need for religious tolerance among African communities. The interview was conducted by Tipei Lorata Dube in...

It has been twenty years since economic sanctions were imposed on Zimbabwe by the European Union, United States, and Britain. International organizations have argued that the sanctions are "intended to pressure and isolate those most responsible for political violence and the collapse of Zimbabwe's economy." Twenty years on, opinions are divided over the actual impacts of sanctions in Zimbabwe. In September 2022, for instance, Michelle Gavin, a Ralph Bunche Senior Fellow for Africa Policy...

In October 2023, Zimbabwe's Vice President, Constantino Chiwenga announced that Zimbabwe has lost more than US$150 billion in revenues due to sanctions imposed by the European Union, United States, and other countries since the early 2000s. "Since 2001, we estimate that Zimbabwe has lost or missed over US$150 billion through frozen assets, trade embargoes, and export and investment restrictions from potential bilateral support, development loans, IMF and World Bank balance of payments...

In this episode, Africanist Press Podcast Service looks at the work of the Pathfinders Volleyball Academy in Gweru, a city in Zimbabwe's Midlands Province, and how one Zimbabwean academic is using volleyball to address socioeconomic challenges facing impoverished and vulnerable youths. Dr. Hugh Mangeya is Chairperson of the Department of Media, Communication, Film and Theater Arts Studies at Midlands State University (MSU) in Zimbabwe. His research focuses on the use of humor in strategic...

In this episode, independent journalist Kelley Lane examines how Sierra Leone's government uses cyber mercenaries and foreign intelligence operatives on a larger surveillance operation and disinformation campaign targeting independent journalists and democracy activists in the country. The Africanist Press has been the principal target of these operations. The current episode is the third segment in a three part series that looks at the Africanist Press work to expose corruption in Sierra...

In this exclusive discussion, Africa Today's Walter Turner and Africanist Press editor, Dr. Chernoh Alpha Bah examine the crisis of electoral democracy in Sierra Leone, and the political challenges confronting African nations in a world increasingly divided by ongoing contests and competition for strategic resources. This discussion was first broadcast on KPFA in early July 2023.

In this introductory broadcast, Africanist Press editor Chernoh Alpha Bah gives an overview of the media agency's new broadcasting project for West African communities. The weekly broadcast aims to provide analysis of African news and every day events affecting African communities around the world. The launch of the broadcasting project forms part of this year's commemoration of the 21-year anniversary of the Africanist Press, and marks a significant milestone in the organization's ongoing...

Africanist Press Podcast Service is a weekly analysis of the ways global and continental events affect communities in the West African region, and how indigenous communities are developing strategies to overcome conflict, instability, and other challenges in the region. The Podcast Service aims to give voice to marginalized communities through the production of weekly audio broadcasts that analyzes ongoing events in Africa as part of an effort to contribute to better understanding of key...

This is the second part of a three part series of an exclusive interview reviewing the investigative work of the Africanist Press in Sierra Leone. In Part 2 of this series, we focused on the Maada Bio administration's efforts to criminalize the work of the Africanist Press and the administration's coordinated campaign against free speech and democratic dissent in Sierra Leone.  This interview is conducted and produced by independent journalist Kelley Lane, editor and co-producer of the...

In this exclusive interview with independent journalist, Kelley Lane, editor and co-producer of the Assange Countdown to Freedom Series, Chernoh Alpha Bah discusses the Africanist Press work to expose corruption in Sierra Leone.