Gender equality is a fundamental and integral aspect of human rights. Yet, early this year in March specifically, five gender bills that would contribute to advancing basic rights in Nigeria for women was rejected by the National Assembly during the Constitution review process.

Nigeria is not a gender equal society and this inequality is most glaring in the area of political participation. In March this year, the male-dominated National Assembly rejected five Gender Bills meant to address inequality between men and women. This rejection buttresses lack of empathy and will by the Nigerian male political elites to address equality. They fail to understand that such action undermines government’s efforts at economic growth, human development, peace and security, which are the greatest need of the Nigerian society today.

Dr. Philbert Katalyeba was my moon, a star-crossed hero in my life. My comrade, my counselor, my father and the very cause of my being. You see this tall, beautiful me, credit to him, awesome genes there.

In October, The African Press Club (TAPC) held its Discover Africa Series focusing on Botswana. Some questions from the audience were unanswered due to time constraint. Find below replies to the remaining queries as put together by our Speaker Mmabatho Motsamai. Enjoy!

Last month, The African Press Club (TAPC) held its Meet & Greet event (poetry, African food, music, quiz and books) in Barcelona, Spain. Find below some pictures from the day. Enjoy!  

The past few weeks, I’ve been exploring the spiritual and religious realms and how different concepts have affected African people. Today, I would like to delve into Zimbabwean traditional spiritual practice – Chivanhu.  

Last month, the Urgent Action Fund-Africa (UAF-Africa) launched its Water Justice Report titled “Womn and Water in Africa: An Overview of Water Justice Struggles.” UAF-Africa deliberately uses ‘womn’ instead of ‘women,’ and this will be the case in this article.

As a native East African born in Uganda and raised in the U.S., I can decisively say that the arts laid a solid foundation for the strong sense of identity and self confidence I have developed as an adult. I remember being ashamed of my African heritage and wishing that my family was more like the Cosbys. That was, until a woman named Namu Lwanga came into my life and taught me everything she could about the song and dance of East Africa.

As noted in the first part of this article: our cultural assets are instrumental to our survival and overall wellbeing as a continent. There are several parts of our culture that define who we are, but have been jettisoned. Every aspect of our environment benefits from our culture, including for instance, the built environment…

In my previous articles, I danced around a couple of themes, and it’s time to deep dive into these. One of the most fascinating themes for me is the traditional spirituality of Zimbabwe. It is by far the most interesting realm that a lot of people dwell in, without a complete understanding of what they’re doing…

From time immemorial, women’s participation in governance with men is one of the greatest challenges in human history. Women are more likely to be welcome in active participation in the economic and social sectors, than in the political governance arena of power. Decision-making and leadership are considered as a natural prerogative…

This past July I turned the big 5-0 marking the beginning my Jubilee. So here I share the biggest lessons I’ve learned so far that I believe are also part of my secret “fountain of youth” (since many claim that I don’t look my age)…

In August, we usually celebrate our liberation struggle heroes in Zimbabwe. The festive nature of the celebrations lost their lustre over the years with people focusing their attention on other narratives that seem more attractive. This is so partly because of the hurts we have as I discussed in my previous piece, and partly because people are enamoured by shinier events in today’s world…

I feel privileged and honored to present my perspectives on an Igbo (an ethnic group in Nigeria that I belong to) and general African renaissance inspired by our rich cultural assets. They say hindsight is 2020. The year 2020 was profound and will be remembered in human annals for two pivotal events…

Although Nelson Mandela left this world in physical form on December 5, 2013, his larger than life spirit will live on forever in his beloved country of South Africa and throughout the world. When I heard of his passing, I immediately felt this overwhelming sense of grief—and just as quickly, smiled and said "Thank You” to a man whose life’s work, struggles and accomplishments gave him the right to finally rest in peace…

Climate change is a growing global concern. Governments, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and related institutions are scrambling to find ways to either mitigate or adapt to these new environmental conditions with every available resource at their disposal. Many constituted authorities around the world strongly believe urgent actions have to be taken to stem the tide…

How do we as Igbos and other Africans in general, in the contemporary world set about the project of exploiting the resources of a design philosophy available to us from our own and other cultures? This question has a special urgency because of our historical peculiar situation…

Zimbabwe is a peculiar country. Shaping Zimbabwe’s peculiarity is a lot of factors, for instance; what is our economic base? How is the country functional? What is the currency and what backs it? How are the mineral resources accounted for and who owns them? What are the cultures of Zimbabweans?

A couple of years ago, I was sitting on my front doorstep enjoying a beautiful day outside with my sister while our kids were running around my front yard. In mid-conversation, we were interrupted by my notoriously nosy neighbor—an older white man who stopped by to ask me to borrow something or the other…

I met Juan Nicolas Tineo at the launch of his book “Temporario” in Barcelona over a year ago. Originally from the Dominican Republic, Juan has lived in the USA for more than 10 years. We would start an interesting conversation about the construction of identities in the Caribbean that opened the door to highly informative but disconcerting information…