Africa Here and NOW

In this EXCLUSIVE interview with the last emperor of Ethiopia's favourite grandson, we learn the detail of HAILE SELASSIE's overthrow by the military in 1974.

When the soldiers came , PRINCE BE'EDE MARIAM, who lived in the imperial palace, volunteered to stay with his grandpa so he wouldn't be alone. Other members of the family left the country.The teenaged prince paid dearly for that act of loyalty: he was imprisoned for 15 years.

PRINCE BE'EDE tells us how the emperor did not resist the soldiers. He went with them ' for the good of the country'.

The coup leader, MENGISTU HAILE MARIAM, was not among the soldiers who came to the palace, we are told. But MENGISTU was very respectful of the emperor, right up until HAILE SELASSIE's murder.

PRINCE BE'EDE tells us about life with his grandfather - how the emperor was a stickler for discipline and punctuality. The Prince was tutored in the art of debate from an early age and every night Haile Selassie himself would serve the young Prince milk and honey before bed.

Is PRINCE BE'EDE bitter about the loss of so much of his young life? 'Hatred for me is like a virus,' he replies, ' it attacks yourself rather than anybody else.'

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Amidst the global disruption being wreaked by the Trump administration, a new man takes the helm of the African Union. Expectations are high as the continent faces a complex mix of challenges: an increase in the number of conflicts, the damaging impact of climate change, growing poverty and inequality and the shift in global power dynamics.

Djiboutian MAHMOUD ALI YOUSSOUF has an overflowing in-tray. We discuss the challenges with the AU's former envoy to Washington, Dr ARIKANA CHIHOMBORI. Anyone who's heard Ambassador Chihombori knows that she doesn't mince her words. And she certainly doesn't hold back as she give us her assessment of what the African Union chairman faces in 2025.

• She recommends an inventory of what lies BEHIND the problems faced by the continent, the root causes.
• Ambassador Chihombori blames many of the continent's conflicts on the activities of western multinationals
• She applauds President Trump's decision to withdraw overseas aid, saying that most of it goes to fund the lavish lifestyles of a few African elites
• Dr Chihombori showers with praise the juntas of the Sahel for ridding themselves of French neo-colonial influence
• DONU KOGBARA pushes back and suggests that Africans are perfectly capable of instigating senseless violence themselves without outside influence
• What would Ambassador Chihombori do if she were head of the AU? She would counter western-inspired narratives by creating a truly pan-African media to arms Africans with facts and the truth.

Thank goodness for Africa Here and Now - the conversation you've always wanted to have about the continent!

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We go back to 1993 when the plane carrying Zambia’s national football team crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Gabon. Zambia is the only country in the world to have lost its national football team in a plane crash.

Journalist and author JAY MWEMBA has detailed the events surrounding the tragedy in his book ‘The Crash of the Buffalo’. Former Nigerian Super Eagle, EFAN EKOKU joined us as we explored  with JAY the profound impact  the disaster had on the nation.

EFAN highlighted the team’s talent – it was considered the finest in Zambia’s history. The Buffalo military plane had a history of problems, Jay tells us how some of the players were concerned.

Economic hardships forced the team to use military transport instead of commercial flights.

The crash led to national depression and grief that lasted for years. Zambia’s football fortunes have struggled since the tragedy – but victory in the Africa Cup of Nations in 2012 was seen as a tribute to the lost team. The final was played in Libreville, the Gabonese capital, not far from the site where the ill-fated team perished. JAY’s book devotes a chapter to

'The Ghosts of Libreville’.

The tragedy united the country in grief and anger, highlighting the importance of football to the nation.

Order your copy of Jay Mwamba’s book ‘Crash of the Buffalo’ from [email protected]

#fazfootball#zambiafootball#africa#afl_africa#african_football#supereaglesnigeria#africa#amplifyafica

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Prominent Nigerian political activist and lawyer, an arch advocate of human rights and good governance, DELE FAROTIMI, speaks to Africa Here and Now about his experience of being imprisoned because he accused a powerful senior lawyer of corruption.

The allegation is that in his latest book, DELE FAROTIMI, defames a senior legal luminary AFE BABALOLA by accusing him of subverting justice in a case heard by the Supreme Court.

Out on bail after three weeks of imprisonment, DELE says Nigeria’s criminal justice system is rotten from top to toe. He bemoans the absence of the rule of law in the country and says he was imprisoned without legal due process.

DELE’s claims about the system of justice in today’s Nigeria are explosive and have led to the authorities trying to ban his book, sales of which have skyrocketed since his arrest.

DELE’s case gained unprecedented support from ordinary Nigerians who voiced their outrage at his detention. This, he says, is what sustains his activism and the hope that a new Nigeria is still possible.

#nigeria#delefarotimi

@DeleFarotimi

@afebaba_chamber

@DONUKOGBARA

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In this special year ender, as we round off season 3 of Africa Here and NOW, we look back at some of the moments that made us smile.

The former Nigerian Super Eagle, footballer EFAN EKOKU, made us laugh with his cheeky bet on the winning team in the Africa Cup of Nations.

Then Ghanaian football pundit, GARY AL SMITH, encouraged DONU into revealing what really lays behind the infamous rivalry between Nigeria and South Africa!

Former Nigerian President OLUSEGUN OBASANJO explained how close Niger and Nigeria are in an intriguing way. That was at a time when the West Africa bloc ECOWAS, led by Nigeria, was threatening military action against the military junta who'd carried out a coup.

Political analyst, MOELETSI MBEKI, younger brother to the former South African president, THABO MBEKI, gave us a rare glimpse into Mbeki family life.

Zeinab Badawi talked about her new book, An African History of Africa and also told us a little bit more about herself.

Renowned Zimbabwean journalist and activist, HOPEWELL CHIN'ONO turned to rap to get young Zimbabweans to register to vote.

We asked about AI and how it was going down with the people of Malawi, especially as they'd been so hesitant to embrace the double decker bus!

We found out about a new craze sweeping Somalia: naming children Istanbul, after the Turkish city. It's apparently in recognition of Turkey's support for Somalia through thick and thin.

The Zambian Anglican Bishop TREVOR MWAMBA, bemoaned the state of our humanity and compassion in 2024 and suggested that if Jesus were a refugee at the time of the former UK Conservative government, he'd have been put on a plane to Rwanda.

KEMI BADENOCH, who became the first black woman to lead a British political party - the Tories - created a lot of buzz particularly among her fellow Nigerians who were dismayed at her negative portrayal of Nigeria. DONU offered her some advice, from one Nigerian woman to another.

Botswana's election yielded a seismic result with the ruling party voted out in a landslide. It presented us with a golden opportunity to talk to former President IAN KHAMA about his country's political shift, his plans for the future and his dance moves.

PATRICK and DONU rounded off this bonus episode in characteristic form!

We hope you enjoy it. Please subscribe and share with your friends.

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We speak to Ghanaian academic and political analyst, DR MICHAEL AMOAH, about his country's impressive record of holding orderly elections that lead to peaceful transitions of power. It's a record that's all the more impressive when compared with many of Ghana's neighbours.

So JOHN MAHAMA returns to power - he served one term in 2012-2016 - and we discuss his to-do list. First up, we hear, he needs to try to cut a better deal with his country's creditors. Ghana is labouring under the worst economic conditions for a generation. Everyone commends the early concession speech by MAHAMADU BAWUMIA.

PATRICK's in Paris from where he gets a close up view of France's political woes and reminds us of its troubles abroad. More and more of its former colonies are turning away and rejecting a French military presence on their territories. The latest to send French troops packing are Chad and Senegal who follow in the footsteps of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.

TIFFANY WOGNAIH, Senior Associate at global consulting firm, J.S.Held, tells us about the demands for more revenue from the mining sectors in the Sahelian Three - Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. Following the well publicised arrest of western company executives and a warrant for the arrest of the CEO of a Canadian firm, Tiffany says the investment environment is dramatically altered. While western investors may be wary of future projects, Tiffany suggests that interest from the so-called Middle Powers like Russia, Turkey and Iran could fill the gap.

DONU's fascination with Namibia continues. She approves wholeheartedly of the election of the country's first woman president - NETUMBO NANDI-NDAITWAH - or Triple N as she's known. We hear how Triple N's celebration could be short lived - there's an awful lot to do, not least dealing with the outcome of the parliamentary election that is being contested by the main opposition party.

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As climate talks enter their second week in Azerbaijan's capital, Baku, MICHAEL USI, Malawi's Vice President, says it's time to get serious about past pledges.

And Kenyan pastoralist CHARLES EKALELE tells us why those pledges matter. Changing weather patterns in Turkana County are making people in his community poorer.

Africa's Last Colony. As the US, Spain and most recently France add their support to Morocco's claim over Western Sahara, we ask has the Polisario Front given up on its idea of self determination for the Saharawi people? We speak to the Polisario's man in Washington DC, MOULOUD SAID.

DONU has words of advice for KEMI BADENOCH, whose rise to the top of British politics is still absorbing many Nigerians who say she has turned her back on Nigeria.

PATRICK admits he does take time off work, sometimes. He raves about London's Jazz Festival.

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As Botswana's new government begins its work, former president IAN KHAMA, reflects on the big political changes in his country as the party of independence - his father's party - the BDP is swept away.

He discusses the current state of his country, with high unemployment, low growth and a widening gap between rich and poor. He outlines possible first steps for the new UDC administration of president DUMA BOKO.

The former president again acknowledges his poor judgement in appointing his successor, whom he alleges, allowed corruption to spread. MOKGWEETSI MASISI lost the election by a landslide, and should be held accountable says MR KHAMA - possibly by a judicial inquiry.

In our conversation IAN KHAMA talks about his future plans as he steps away from frontline politics after 30 years at the helm.

What would you like your legacy to be? I ask him. He says that's for other to decide.

I can't resist the chance to play a short video that emerged recently in which we see another side of the former president!..But I begin by asking IAN KHAMA what he made of DONALD TRUMP'S re-election in the US.

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We ask political analyst, ADAM MFUNDISI, about the challenges ahead for Botswana's new president DUMA BOKO. He tells us the country is in 'an undeclared recession' brought about by lacklustre diamond sales and corruption.

Sudan's war is having horrifying effects on the country's people. The UN has called it 'the world's greatest modern-day famine' with at least 1.5 million people on the brink of starvation. Food is being used as a weapon of war by both sides. More than 10 million people have fled their homes, many to camps where there are no schools. People are speaking of a lost generation of Sudanese children. Amidst all this despair, we ask political economist, JAWHARA KANU, are there any prospects for peace?

DONU opines on fellow Nigerian KEMI BADENOCH, who's been elected to lead the UK's Conservative Part. What do other Nigerians make of her achievement? And how might Prime Minister, KEIR STARMER, deal with her? 'She'll make mincemeat of him' reckons DONU.

And PATRICK reflects on the 50th anniversary of one of the 20th Century's most significant sporting events, the Rumble in the Jungle in Kinshasa. He reminds us that the 3 day extravaganza had an impact far beyond boxing.

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Africa here and Now's PATRICK SMITH has rocked up in Gaborone to gauge the mood in diamond-rich Botswana as people prepare to vote. He finds that this month's election could present the most serious challenge to the ruling party's almost 60 years in power.

Have the books been cooked in Mozambique's election? The stakes are high, a $150billion gas project is on the cards.

Somaliland- the breakaway republic which has no international recognition - is in the eye of a growing storm in the Horn of Africa. A new alliance between Eritrea, Egypt and Somalia threatens to isolate Ethiopia. But it's tiny Somaliland that's central to the current tensions. Its deal with Ethiopia to offer a stretch of its Gulf of Aden coastline in exchange for official recognition has upset everyone in the region. We find out more with PROFESSOR EID ALI AHMED, a senior advisor to the government in Hargeisa.

The well-being of Cameroon's 91 year old president has been on our minds; a recent rumour that he had died went viral. The Yaounde government rubbished the rumours and decreed that Cameroonians be banned from discussing the health of their leader or risk prosecution. Africa Here and Now's DONU KOGBARA shares her thoughts on nonagenerian leaders and Orwellian decrees.

And why did Tarzan, the legendary apeman, have no African friends despite being raised in an African jungle? That's the kind of question being considered by BARBARA ANGOPA on her new podcast HOLLYWOOD AFRICANS. Along with her co-host, AMAKA UGWUNKWO, Barbara dissects the way black people are portrayed in the movies. Check out HOLLYWOOD AFRICANS, available on all major audio platforms.

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