Culture

Senegalese music icon, Baaba Maal named UN Ambassador

Published

2 years ago

April 18, 2023

Senegalese music icon and activist on climate change and refugees, Baaba Maal, was on Monday named a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.

Maal, a prolific singer-songwriter and producer in the West African country, has been a long-time climate change activist who has been committed to various development challenges in Africa, working with different family organizations, according to the U.N, and was named for his immense contributions to the cause.

Maal runs a foundation called the NANN-K Trust which recently opened a solar-powered irrigation project in Senegal to fight desertification, which is one of the main drivers of people leaving the country on dangerous migration routes, the U.N said in a statement.

“The project will train people to start similar projects in their own communities.”

Maal who recently spoke about project in a interview, said he was a believer in putting power in the hands of young people and women.

“We are tackling climate change impact, but also fighting desertification on the African continent, especially in my region where we are just not far away from the desert and we see it coming to us,” he had said.

“And it had an impact because people who don’t get more opportunities to do agriculture, fishing and many more, will have to run away from their places, go to the big cities where nothing is planned for them there.

“And then later on, some of the young ones will just take the boats to go to Spain or some of these places or just try to cross the desert and it’s really dangerous. We did lose a lot of lives,” he added.

Brought up in the small town of Podor in north Senegal, a fishing community, Maal was born into a fisherman caste and was expected to follow that career path.

But he said his path in life was changed when he befriended storyteller and musician Mansour Seck, and has spent his life performing, travelling and raising awareness about the issues his homeland faces.

“Our role is first to give news about what’s going on, because sometimes the local people, they don’t know what’s happening to them is the impact of climate change.

They don’t know how to stand up against that. But at the same time, when they know about it, they will say what to do,” he said in the interview.

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Culture

Moroccan court jails journalist 18 months over remarks about politician

Published

2 days ago

November 12, 2024

Isaac Dachen

A Moroccan court on Monday sentenced a journalist, Hamid Mahdaoui, to 18 months in prison after he was found guilty of accusing a prominent politician of fraud, a verdict that has sparked international condemnation from press freedom advocates.

Mahdaoui’s case has garnered international criticism because he is being prosecuted under Morocco’s penal code rather than the press code governing journalistic conduct.

His attorney Mohamed Hedach, told journalists after the judgement that Mahdaoui who is the editor in chief of Badil.info, will serve a 1.5-year sentence and be fined an equivalent of $150,000 after being found guilty of defamation.

Mahdaoui was prosecuted after a complaint from Justice Minister Abdellatif Ouahbi following a video posted on his website accusing Ouahbi of corruption and fraud, both of which the justice minister denied.

The accusations, according to media reports, came after the royalist Party of Authenticity and Modernity, which Ouahbi headed, became enmeshed in controversy last year when an imprisoned Malian drug dealer implicated party members in a sprawling drug trafficking case that shook the North African kingdom.

Reporters Without Borders’ North Africa representative Khaled Drareni had in October, called the prosection of the journalist a “misuse of the justice system to intimidate and silence the press.”

Mahdaoui was imprisoned in 2017 after publicly throwing his support behind activists who led protests over social and economic inequities. He was also sentenced to three years for not reporting to authorities that a Dutch Moroccan man had told him arms were being sent to the protesters. He later said he didn’t report it because he didn’t take the information seriously.

Morocco has in recent years been criticized for imprisoning journalists and activists known for criticizing the government. King Mohammed VI pardoned and released the country’s three most prominent imprisoned journalists — Omar Radi, Taoufik Bouachrine and Soulaimane Raissouni — in July.

Culture

South Africa finally unveils improved King Shaka statue at Durban airport

Published

3 days ago

November 11, 2024

Isaac Dachen

After years of complaints by the public, South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa, has finally unveiled an improved version of

a long-awaited statue honouring legendary Zulu warrior, King Shaka.

Ramaphosa, who unveiled the new statue of the warrior alongside Zulu King, Misuzulu kaZwelithini, at the King Shaka International Airport in Durban, said the statue “marks the beginning of a renewed focus on cultural tourism, empowering local communities and attracting visitors to experience the depth of South Africa’s traditions, values, and stories.”

The 12-metre-tall figure of King Shaka depicts the man credited with uniting the Zulu nation as a warrior with a spear and shield and replaces a previous artwork that was criticised for making the monarch look like a “herd boy”.

Speaking at the ceremony, KwaZulu-Natal Premier, Thami Ntuli, said:

“This statue of King Shaka stands as a testament to our shared commitment to cultural heritage tourism, which aligns with the government’s grand vision for preserving and celebrating our shared history.”

He went on to say the statue was a symbol of respect and gratitude to King Shaka, a leader who shaped history through innovation and strategic acumen, carving out a legacy that inspires not only the Zulu nation but the province of KZN.

“It is our shared heritage, and today, we stand together to celebrate it,” Ntuli added.

Ramaphosa described the statue as a symbol of unity, integrity, and leadership for all South Africans, expressing hopes that the figure would inspire tourists to learn more about the country’s heritage and history.

Shaka, who was in 1828, is credited with creating a formidable fighting force that dominated the Zulu region.