Africa Daily

“Lacking respect for Mohamed Salah and lacking respect for Egypt and for African football.”

That’s how three-time Afcon winner Wael Goma sums up Jamie Carragher’s comment that the Africa Cup of Nations is ‘not a major tournament’.

The former England and Liverpool defender was taking part in a TV discussion about Mohamed Salah’s chances of winning the Ballon d’or after Liverpool’s 2-0 win over Manchester City on Sunday.

He said because Salah hadn’t won a ‘major’ tournament like the World Cup, Euros or Copa America so he didn’t have much chance of winning the coveted award for the best player in the world.

But Africa’s top footballing guns have come out angrily to defend the importance of Afcon.

PRESENTER: Alan @Kasujja

Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa recently told journalists that he has no interest in extending his term of office.

Millions of people in Sudan are facing hunger and possible famine due to the war between the Sudan Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces militia, which has been going on for almost two years.

The country has the ability to feed itself if farmers could use the most fertile land, between the White and the Blue Nile rivers in El Gezira state.

Although a massive irrigation scheme has been in place there for a century, the past choice of cash crops, along with mismanagement by the government have meant Sudan has not been able to benefit from the potential of this agricultural heartland, even before the current war saw most of the farming community flee.

Guest: Professor Nisrin Elamin.

Warning: this pod contains description of violence from the beginning.

Being online has become a huge part of our lives. Everywhere you look, you see people on their phones in homes, schools, work and markets.

These devices are not just almost glued to our hands for fun, they are also crucial to people’s businesses and livelihoods.

So earlier this year when Nigerian telecommunication companies announced they would be raising their prices, with some services increased by 50 percent, it got many Nigerians talking.

These companies say they are doing this because they have to meet their costs as a result of economic factors such as inflation.

So what is the price of being online and how are Nigerians being affected?

Host: Alan Kasujja

Muhsin Hendricks, the world's first openly gay imam, was shot dead in South Africa on Saturday, leaving many in mourning.

The 57-year-old was a trailblazer, known for his advocacy and for creating safe spaces for queer Muslims.

From founding The Inner Circle, a support group for queer Muslims, to leading an inclusive mosque, his work gave many a sense of belonging.

Alan Kasujja speaks to those who knew and were inspired by him—including activists and religious leaders—to explore the impact of his life and tragic death.

Presenter: Alan Kasujja

Guests: Nicole McCain, Rev. Sharon Cox and SimSim.

“Our minerals, yes, are important for the advancement of the world, but they are also important for the progress of our people. We could share these minerals with the world, but our people must come first” - Shanty Tshiela Byart-Mutombo, DRC company owner

Midwife or mid-husband?

That’s a common question on social media posts highlighting the work of the very few men who help women to deliver babies.

Midwifery is a profession that has traditionally been dominated by women.

Less than 1% of people registered as midwives globally are men.

According to research conducted by the University of Northampton in the UK, 19 countries have no men registered as midwives and five countries legally prohibit men from being midwives.

In today’s Africa Daily podcast, Alan Kasujja speaks to 63-year-old Robert Aule, a man who has helped to deliver more than 500 babies over the last four decades in one of the most remote regions in Kenya. Could the recruitment of men help to deal with the shortage of midwives?

“The writers of our time who used to criticise the government are no longer there.”

Today on the podcast, Alan has the pleasure and privilege of speaking to one of Africa’s great writers: the South Sudanese author Taban Lo Liyong.

In the 1960s he rubbed shoulders with independence politicians like Jomo Kenyatta and Kwame Nkrumah and with giants of African literature like Wole Soyinka, Chinua Achebe and Ngugi wa Thiong’o.

He was taken to Uganda as a young child and spent his formative years there – but now lives in his native South Sudan.

On today’s podcast he discusses language, the impact of HIV Aids, and why he’s not ready to stop work at the age of 93 years. He says he still has two more books in him…

“This is the new reality that we are going to have to face and it is a fantastic opportunity for us to redefine our position away from the US trying to tell us who we can or cannot be, because they really don’t care about us” - Ugandan coffee farmer Robert Kabushenga