Tanzania's late president John Pombe Magufuli was a controversial politician, at once condemned as a dictator yet popular as an economic nationalist. To better understand his conflicting legacy in the context of Tanzania's broader history, VOA's Jason Patinkin reached out to Sabatho Nyamsenda at the Political Science department of the University of Dar es Salaam.

Prof Sabatho Nyamsenda on the "mixed legacy" of late Tanzanian President John Pombe Magafuli

*A version of this story originally aired March 15, 2021*

This week the United States government designated two armed groups, one in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and another in Mozambique, as terrorist organizations, resulting in travel bans and asset freezes. The US said the DRC-based Allied Democratic Forces, or ADF, and the Mozambique-based Ahlu Sunnah Wa-Jama, both had links to the so-called Islamic State extremist group. For more, VOA's Jason Patinkin reached out to Dr Akinola Olojo in Dakar, Senegal. Dr Olojo is a counter-terrorism expert and a senior researcher with the South Africa-based Institute for Security Studies.

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Dr Akinola Olojo analyzes US terror designations in Mozambique and DRC

Nearly 150 people have been killed in a series of attacks in southwestern Niger in the past week. Gunmen on motorbikes killed 137 people during coordinated raids on villages on Sunday. Reuters reports another ten people killed in raids Wednesday. What's behind this latest violence? And what's needed to bring it under control? To find out, VOA's Jason Patinkin reached out to Nadia Adam in Bamako, Mali. Adam is a Sahel expert and a researcher with the South Africa-based Institute for Security Studies.

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Sahel expert Nadia Adam explains what's behind the latest attacks on civilians in southwestern Niger

President Idris Deby Itno, who ruled Chad for more than 30 years and became an important ally to Western nations in the fight against Islamic extremism in Africa, has been killed while battling rebels in the north according to the military. He was 68. The Chadian army has blamed the Tuesday death of President Idris Deby on a rebel group called the Front for Change and Concord in Chad, or FACT. FACT has been based in Libya to Chad's north, and is linked to Libyan rebel General Khalifa Haftar. To find out more about the FACT group, and details of Deby's death, VOA's Jason Patinkin reached out to Chad researcher Jerome Tubiana in France.

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Jerome Tubiana on death of Chad's President Idris Deby

For analysis of what Deby's death may mean for regional security, VOA's Jason Patinkin reached out to Dan Eizenga. Eizenga is a research fellow at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies here in Washington DC. 

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This interview first aired on April 20, 2021

Dan Eizenga on regional and national security implications of death of Chad's President Idris Deby

In the day after the battlefield death of Chadian President Idris Deby, the FACT rebels have vowed to keep pushing south toward the capital N'djamena. Meanwhile, Chad's newly established military council faces questions about whether it is constitutional. To discuss the latest developments, VOA's Jason Patinkin reached out to Richard Moncrieff in Nairobi. Moncrieff leads the International Crisis Group's Central Africa research program.

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Crisis Group's Richard Moncrieff on the latest in Chad after President Deby's death

As the conflict in northern Ethiopia’s Tigray region enters its sixth month, the U.N. Security Council broke its silence Thursday to call for scaled-up humanitarian access and “a restoration of normalcy.”

The statement from the 15-nation council also expressed “deep concern” about reports of sexual and gender-based violence against women and girls in Tigray, calling for investigations and accountability, but did not directly condemn them.

Reports of mass rape in Tigray by soldiers have been common, blamed on Ethiopian and Eritrean forces, who are battling the Tigray People's Liberation Front rebels. Ethiopian officials have both denied and admitted atrocities committed by their forces. Eritrea's government has not admitted to any atrocities, but has said cases of sexual violence, if found, should be punished harshly.

For analysis of the UN Security Council statement, VOA's Jason Patinkin spoke to Richard Gowan, who leads the International Crisis Group's UN advocacy in New York.

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Crisis Group's Richard Gowan on why the UN Security Council broke its silence on Ethiopia's Tigray

Chad held a somber funeral today for late President Idriss Deby Itno, who died of combat wounds while visiting troops fighting rebel forces. Several African political leaders, French President Macron and other dignitaries were among those gathered in N’Djamena.

Meanwhile, rebels of the Front for Change and Concord in Chad, or FACT, said warplanes bombed one of their command centers Wednesday night. They accused France, which backs Chad's newly established military council led by Deby's son, of supporting the alleged raid with aerial surveillance. The French army said today it had not carried out any airstrikes this week in Chad, but did not respond to Reuters' requests for comment.

Reporter Moki Edwin Kindzeka traveled to N'djamena for Deby's funeral. VOA's Jason Patinkin spoke to him about what he saw.

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Journalist Moki Edwin Kindzeka reports on late Chad President Idris Deby's funeral

Kenyan musician and storyteller Makadem is stranded in Copenhagen, Denmark by the covid19 coronavirus while on a European tour. The accomplished nyatiti player was in northern Italy performing Milan, Genoa, and Torino when the outbreak hit. Makadem managed get out of northern Italy on February 23, the day the region locked down. Since then, Italy has had the world's deadliest outbreak with over 13,000 killed. He called off the rest of his European tour, which had scheduled stops in Germany, Sweden, Latvia, and Belgium, and is now stuck in Denmark after his flight home to Kenya was cancelled. But Makadem is still making music, including a virtual show last week part of an online Danish performance series called the "Corona Concerts." VOA's Jason Patinkin spoke to Makadem about being a "Coronavirus Refugee" and performing for an audience that he can't see.

Listen to Makadem's music:

https://petelarson.bandcamp.com/album/muhogo-wa-jangombe-obongo-bless-me-new-african-soundz-singles-no-2

https://www.facebook.com/coronakoncerter/videos/3069086836455423/

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"Coronavirus Refugee" - Kenyan musician Makadem stranded in Denmark

A year ago this week, tens of thousands Sudanese protesters began a two-month-long peaceful sit-in in Khartoum that helped oust dictator Omar al Bashir after three decades in power. Sudan's uprising inspired popular protests around the world, but the Sudanese protesters themselves found inspiration through music. The Khartoum sit-in featured near constant live music performances by Sudanese artists, who used song to motivate their comrades. VOA's Jason Patinkin recorded hours of live music at the sit-in last year, and for the anniversary of Bashir's ouster, shares some of those tunes, along with reflections from Sudanese bassist and radio host Islam el-Baeti about what it was like to perform during Sudan's revolution.

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"We believe in the power of music" - The Soundtrack to Sudan's Revolution Plays On

Uganda's lockdown to prevent the spread of covid19 includes a strict transportation ban. Anyone caught traveling without permission is subject to arrest, fines, and the impounding of their vehicle. But numerous citizens report that the ban has prevented people with health emergencies from reaching hospitals. Journalist Sally Hayden has been speaking with families struggling to access healthcare in the northern Uganda town of Gulu, and spoke to VOA's Jason Patinkin about what she's found.

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Uganda's Covid19 lockdown disrupts emergency healthcare - Q+A with journalist Sally Hayden in Gulu

There is no proven medical cure or prevention against the covid19 coronavirus. But Madagascar's President Andry Rajoelina claims a beverage brewed from a local herb can fight off the disease. The herb, called artemisia, is commonly used to brew tea. In the last week, Madagascar has shipped its artemisia product to other African countries, including Tanzania and Guinea Bissau. But medical experts doubt President Rajoelina's claims about artemisia, because Madagascar has not released any scientific studies proving its effectiveness against COVID-19. For more, VOA's Jason Patinkin spoke to virologist Dr Denis Chopera in South Africa.

No evidence for Madagascar President's herbal covid19 "cure" - Q+A with Dr Denis Chopera

For analysis of the US military's reaction to and role in the unrest in America today, and the risks of military deployment in American cities, VOA's Jason Patinkin spoke to Stephen Pomper, who is the Senior Director for Policy at the International Crisis Group.

"Hard to think of anything less wise" - Crisis Group's Stephen Pomper on military deployment in US

Full interview with Columbia University Professor Eric Foner on the legacy of 7th US President Andrew Jackson.

Full interview with Prof Eric Foner on Andrew Jackson's legacy

Police fired tear gas in the city of Rochester, New York over the weekend in an attempt to quell protests against the killing of a Black man in their custody earlier this year. The protests follow the release of a video last week showing 41-year-old Daniel Prude choking to death with a hood over his head while surrounded by police. The demonstrations in Rochester are the latest chapter in the nationwide protest movement that has seen millions of Americans take to the streets this year demanding US police officers stop killing Black people. VOA’s Jason Patinkin has the story, with reporting from the Associated Press.

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This story first aired September 6 2020

"He should not have been killed in the street" - Protests, accusations over Daniel Prude's death

The US state of South Dakota has had one of the highest rates of covid19 infection on Earth. Over the last week, South Dakota has averaged over 120 cases per day per 100,000 people, which is more than double the rate of the rest of the US. South Dakota also has one of the country's largest populations of indigenous Native American Indians, mainly from the Lakota tribe. To find out how the outbreak is affecting Native communities there, VOA's Jason Patinkin reached out to Tatewin Means. Means is a member of the Oglala Lakota tribe, and is the Executive Director of the Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. She told him that Lakota people suffer disproportionately from poverty and access to quality health care, but they are striving to protect themselves, and their way of life, from the virus. 

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"We're used to being reslient" Thunder Valley's Tatewin Means on Covid19's impact on Lakota people

Among the people pardoned by US President Donald Trump this week are four former guards of the military contractor Blackwater, who were convicted by a US court of killing 14 men, women, and children, and wounding 17 others, in the so-called Nisur Square Massacre in Iraq. In the September 16, 2007 incident, Blackwater guards Nicholas Slatten, Paul Slough, Evan Liberty and Dustin Heard opened fire at a traffic stop with machine guns and grenade launchers on unarmed Iraqi civilians while trying to clear a path for a convoy of U.S. diplomats. For reaction to the pardons, VOA's Jason Patinkin reached out to Paul Dickinson, a US lawyer who represented some of the survivors of the attack and the families of some of those killed, in a civil case against Blackwater, which is now known as Academi and is part of the Constellis corporation.

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“These are convicted criminals of war crimes” Nisur Square victims' lawyer Paul Dickinson on pardons

It has been more than eight months since the death of George Floyd in police custody sparked massive protests across the US. While the protests have lessened significantly nationwide, in Washington DC, activists are renewing their calls to end racism and police brutality. VOA's Jason Patinkin reports.

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"I don't want to see another hashtag" Anti-racism protests resume in Washington DC

Kenyan musician KMRU grew up playing the guitar. But now, he writes songs using kitchen utensils and car horns. VOA's Jason Patinkin has the story.

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Kenyan musician KMRU makes his name in the global electronic ambient music scene

For more on the Tigray conflict, VOA's Jason Patinkin reached out to Alemayehu Weldemariam. Weldemariam is a Professor of Constitutional Law at Mekelle University in Ethiopia's Tigray region, but he is currently in Boston due to the conflict.

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Jason Patinkin

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