“Mandela was not the only head of state taken in by Koagne. Le king kept snapshots of himself with many a man of power, among them Mobutu Sese Seko and Denis Sassou Nguesso […] He took Mobutu for 15 million dollars. Blaise Compaoré of Burkina Faso lost 40 million to him. Sassou, Etienne Eyadéma of Togo, several high officials of Gabon, Tanzania and Kenya, a member of the Spanish government and an ex-operative of the Israeli Mossad were bamboozled as well.” – Dominique Malaquais (Blood Money: A Douala Chronicle).
Bantu Serenade by Ntone Edjabe (featuring Nah-ee-lah) (read excerpt)
Santu Mofokeng: Trajectory of a street photographer (part1) (read excerpt)
Binyavanga Wainaina: Hell In Bed With Mrs Peprah (read excerpt)
Dominique Malaquais: Lindela (the winnie suite) (read excerpt)
Boubacar Boris Diop: Myriem (read excerpt)
Cover:
Neo Muyanga
The Story: African history turns on a tension between divisive forces, exploiting ethnic and class differences for quick profits, and unifiers, sacrificing narrow sectional advantages for the greater good. Over the centuries, the divisive forces have ruined Africa by helping foreign invaders pillage our resources - from people in the past, to industrial metals and energy today.
Less visible is the regenerative work of unifiers following an ancient vision of unity as source of social prosperity. In Kemet, such a group was the Shemsw Maât. In medieval Mali, a similar group framed the Union Charter. In the 19th century, when Europeans and collaborators devised the poverty machine now camouflaged as independent states, one such group led resistance by reminding the population of our past unity, and advocating a rebirth of that unity. These were The Healers. This is their story.