President Bingu wa Mutharika in Malawai is facing growing criticism for authoritarianism, from both internal and external critics. He has been accused of trampling on democratic freedoms, human rights abuses and presiding over the collapse of...
Suddenly, bad African leaders are under the torch of public scrutiny: George Clooney is arrested while trying to draw attention to Sudan’s president Bashir. Former Kenyan ministers Uhuru Kenyatta and Willam Ruto are on trial at the International...
Inspired by Tupac, Public Enemy and others in the USA around 2004, a new tsunami of music crashed over hit Tanzania. Bongo Flavah: raw, real, Swahili. It spoke to people, particularly the disenfranchised 3 million who live in slums and suburbs...
Over 70 per cent of East Africa's population lives in rural communities: despite the proliferation of radio stations, weekly and daily newspapers, and television stations, in Tanzania alone there are 17 radio stations, 61 national papers and 11...
In places like Zimbabwe the need for "outsider" critique is essential: solipsistic regimes create complex narratives about betrayal and patriotism; no more so than in Zimbabwe. Whether material originates from "inside" or "outside" the regime can...
“It all comes down to reading! If you read properly, you evaluate, you notice, you critique properly. It’s depressing, flying across Africa there’s all these Wazungu (white people) on the plane reading, but our people are reading self-help books or...
On 9 January, in a bizarre move, at least 10 radio stations, including BBC Radio, Radio France International (local relay channels), and the Italian Embassy’s security radio channel were taken off the air by the police in an on-going crackdown over...
There’s renewed attention internationally on Swaziland with King Mswati III excesses. He’s getting it from all angles: criticised for squandering the country’s sugar, turning a blind eye to the tax bill of Coca Cola, and the continued...
The 8th of January 1912 saw the founding of the ANC, by key South African intellectuals, including author Sol Plaatje, poet John Dube, and editors Pixley ka Isaka Seme and John Langalibalele, in a small Wesleyan Church in Bloemfontein. All four...
In East Africa, Homosexuality and lesbianism is totally taboo. At best the the attitude is to ignore homosexuality, at worst, there are deaths, "corrective rape" of lesbians in South Africa, and communities vilifying and occasionally killing gay...
Hello, welcome to Index on Censorship Uncut for Sub Saharan and East Africa. I am honoured and excited to be part of this global team, and hope you will read and contribute to the growth and formation of a network of people across this continent...
A satirical television commercial for the South African-owned Nando's restaurant group has been axed. The ad depicted Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe’s difficulty in coming up with enough dictators to fill a Christmas Party this festive season....