Dying from the plague in Madagascar is like dying twice: first in this life; and then
The Mail & Guardian prides itself on its coverage of the African continent. These are some of the best stories – all first-hand, on-the-ground reporting – to appear in the paper’s Africa section this year.
Like it or not, Rwanda is Africa’s future
You probably don’t know much about Rwanda. Gorillas. Genocide. Don Cheadle. But it’s time to start learning, because ‘the Rwanda Model’ will soon be coming to a country near you. So what exactly does this model look like? And why should we be worried?
Finally, people are free to farm and fish at ‘Gracelands’
When First Lady Grace Mugabe seized the farmland around Mazowe Dam, the people who lived and worked there were brutally kicked off the land. Just days after President Robert Mugabe’s resignation, the people came back.
Central African Republic: the state that doesn’t exist
There is no government in the CAR. There is no state. So what does 21st-century anarchy look like? The M&G travelled to Batangafo, a small town in the north-west, to find out. It wasn’t pretty.
Congo’s quiet collapse
As the politicians bicker in Kinshasa, the political crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo is silently suffocating its citizens. In rural Equateur Province, things are slowly falling apart, and it’s not clear that anyone can put them back together.
Kenya and the politics of provocation
On election day, the opposition stronghold of Kisumu is a ghost town. So why is there a body lying in the middle of the road, and how did it get there? And why is the phalanx of riot police ignoring it?
Investigation: How South Sudan looted its foreign reserves
This painstaking investigation into how South Sudan’s ruling elite have stolen and squandered the country’s reserves of foreign currency is an extraordinary insight into the mechanics of looting on a grand, almost unimaginable scale.
A broken museum, in a broken country: Meet the man trying to save CAR’s history
The Central African Republic’s National Museum is in tatters. The roof leaks, the walls are crumbling, and the exhibits are rotting in their wooden coffins. Can Director Abel Kotton save what’s left of the country’s heritage?
Madagascar’s grave dilemma
Dying from the plague in Madagascar is like dying twice: first in this life; and then, because bodies must be burned to prevent further infection, dying again in the afterlife. That’s why this outbreak of the pneumonic plague has been so difficult to contain.
The Zimbabwean journalist using fake news to fund real news
Ernest – not his real name – runs a small but respected political news site. He also runs several lucrative ‘fake news’ sites. Like a Robin Hood for the digital age, he uses the fake news to pay for the real news.
Kenyan voting comes of age
Kenya’s 2017 elections were far from perfect. But those with long enough memories can remember Kenya’s first-ever multi-party election in 1992, and appreciate just how far Kenya has come since then.