Latest Posts Page

Great reforms.

Wednesday, 1 September 2021 8:00

For Kazakhstan, the year 2019 may be remembered as a time of political change.

President Nursultan Nazarbayev, having led the country for almost three decades, resigned as President, though retaining ample powers in accordance with a law passed in 2018 granting him the status of ‘Father of the Nation’, a law which guaranteed him judiciary immunity and an influential role in the process of decision-making. In the view of some analysts, even his resignation formed part of a transition elaborated by Nazarbayev to avoid a traumatic succession. To this end, starting in 2017, he began a constitutional reform based on the partial transfer of power from the President to the Parliament and transformed the National Security Council from a merely consultative organism to a constitutional organism within which Nazarbayev was nominated Life-President.

The president of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

The day following his resignation, his place was taken by Kassym-Jomart Tokayev who, after a brief transition period, called presidential elections that were held on 9 June of the same year, winning with 71% of the votes.
Tokayev is a career diplomat with important experience especially in Eastern Asia as Ambassador of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union. When the country became independent, he returned home where he began to climb the career ladder of Kazak politics and was first appointed Vice Foreign Minister and, in 1999, Foreign Minister. Then, in 2002, he was given the post of Secretary of State which he exercised together with that of Foreign Minister. He thus had a free hand in foreign policy. Apart from elevating Kazakhstan to the level of a regional actor of primary and unquestioned importance, his work was distinguished for its achievements which were the transformation of Central Asia into a nuclear-free zone which gave the country security despite its geographical proximity. Once he had strengthened Kazak foreign policy, he left his post to assume that of president of the senate, a post that would lead to the presidency, with an interim period from 2011 to 2013, which saw him working in Geneva at the United Nations Administrative Offices. The new path taken by Tokayev is characterised by a spirit of reform, especially regarding questions connected to the political sphere, human rights, and youth policies.
As early as in the first two years of his presidency, important goals were reached in these fields among which were that of institutionalising the political opposition, that of having guaranteed a system of generational change of leadership and that of having empowered the legislature against torture and human trafficking. On 2 January 2021, the President also ratified the optional protocol of the international convention on civil and political rights, de facto abolishing the death penalty.

On 2 January 2021, President Kassym-Jomart ratified the optional protocol of the international convention on civil and political rights. Photo credit: Kazinform.

Furthermore, he has proposed that Parliament lower the threshold from 7% to 5%, to facilitate entry to the Lower House and the legalisation of the protest vote. The latter, especially, aims at having ballot papers carrying an option of ‘Against all’, something probably intended to test the mood of the population and measure the level of political discontent, as well as promoting dialogue between the people and the institutions.
In the field of foreign policy, as far as can be seen, he is adopting the line of continuity between the work carried out in previous years and the new phase of the development of the country. In this regard, a 2020 – 2030 plan has been elaborated within a broader plan extending to 2050 in which are set out the principal objectives from which one may see the importance of his multi-vector position that gave him a stabilising role both in the region and in relations with China and the Russian Federation. This allows him to maintain excellent relations with the two superpowers while, at the same time, guaranteeing him a considerable degree of freedom and broad room for manoeuvre. The Chinese, in particular, were offered the possibility of cooperating in an area that was historically Russian dominated while the Russians were offered advantageous tactical concessions.

Railway tracks lead into the dry port at Khorgos on the border between Kazakhstan and China.

The country joined the New Silk Road project offering the inter-port of Khorgos as a hub connecting the railway with Europe, while the Russians were guaranteed ample control of oil exports. Also regarding its regional profile, Kazakhstan is participating in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), an organisation with economic and security objectives which was initially joined by Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Kirghizstan and Uzbekistan. Regarding its military profile within the CSTO (Collective Security Treaty Organization), it is developing joint operations with Russia and has announced its willingness to cooperate with China. It is also a member of numerous regional organisations, the most significant of which is the Eurasian Customs Union whose members also include Russia, Byelorussia, Armenia and Kirghizstan. This involves a common integrated space that encourages the free circulation of goods and services, aims at introducing a common currency and has as its objective the strengthening of integration. While always operating with an attitude of cooperation, regional stabilisation and development, the country has also led the field in humanitarian projects intended to reinforce relations with its neighbours by means of aid to Kirghizstan, Tajikistan, Georgia and Afghanistan. The latter, in particular, has been provided with food aid and scholarships for students.The great progress made by Kazakhstan in recent years make it a model which, though not easily replicated due to its complex social structure and geographical position, ought to be taken into account internationally, if for no other reason than the tremendous objectives it has achieved in just thirty years.

Filippo Romeo

A Eurasian canal.

Wednesday, 1 September 2021 8:00

The modernisation of the state forms part of the ‘Kazakhstan 2030 Plan’ launched by Nazarbayev in 1997 with the aim of transforming and developing the country, and now continued by his successor.

The plan is based upon wise economic options, the strategy of which is not limited simply to the exploitation of the enormous energy resources available, but seeks to motivate ambitious processes of development. Such processes are based upon public-private partnership and attracting foreign investors enticed by the privileged geographical position which places it in proximity to the great markets of Russia, China, and India.

This geographical peculiarity, besides making Kazakhstan a transcontinental state, renders it a potential logistics platform for exchanges between Europe and Asia, especially at the present moment which is witnessing an epochal change in geopolitical and geo-economic scenarios. Major interested powers are responding to such scenarios also by the realisation or planning of great infrastructural works. Within this new framework, Kazakhstan, which already identifies itself as a ‘land-bridge’ joining the economies of Europe and Asia, finds itself at the heart of a new axis of east-west logistic efficiency represented by the ongoing wave of construction of motorways, railways, and pipelines for a total of eleven transcontinental trade routes joining the markets of Europe, Russia, and China. The spiderweb of trade and energy routes that criss-cross Kazak territory allows the country to belong simultaneously to the Eurasian Economic Union, the Belt and Road initiative, and the Turkish Council.
The wise economic choices implemented in the course of the past three decades have brought the country to the vertex of the classification of the economies of Central Asia obtaining, in 2009, the important achievement of having completely defeated poverty and to have virtually eliminated the number of those living on less than 3.20 dollars per day.
According to data provided by the World Bank, in 2020, the country possesses the twentieth most favourable investment climate in the world and this is also favoured by the creation of twelve special economic zones. Furthermore, during those years, the directorship has worked mostly for economic diversification which has produced a vast expansion both in light and heavy industry, with important development
in these sectors: agriculture, oil, tourism, car production, building, and pharmaceuticals.

Kazakhstan is one of the world’s leader in uranium mining.

Kazakhstan may also boast of being the world’s number one in uranium production, a primacy it has held since 2009, overtaking Australia and Canada in productive capacity with more than 14,020 tons of metal produced, amounting to 43% of world uranium production.Work is also being done to facilitate the development of small and medium-sized businesses with a considerable numerical increase expected and, as foreseen by the ‘Kazakhstan 2030 Plan’ which proceeds respecting an assigned timetable, the streamlining of state bureaucracy.
Important steps forward have also been made on the energy front. In this sector, despite the high number of deposits, the work on diversification forges ahead with the development of wind, solar and hydroelectric sources, thanks to the support given to foreign companies both German and Chinese, with the aim of supplying, in the next four years, at least 6% of the demand for electricity. This process is also facilitated by the vastness of the territory, together with the large amount of available water and the meteorological conditions.

Young women in ceremonial Kazakhstan dress.

The themes relative to clean energy and the relationship with the environment were central to the great Expo 2017 display held in Astana where Kazakhstan was able to show the world its potential, its degree of development, and the skills it has acquired in recent years. That, together with the energy transition of the country after having signed the Paris climate accord in 2015 and proceeding to go ahead with its own green transition of large reforestation plans, appear to have already achieved remarkable results.
This is with the aim of planting one billion, seven hundred million trees in an area of 842,000 hectares before the end of 2026, and to reforest 5% of the entire territory before the end of 2030.

One of the other great goals reached by the country has been the official presentation of the vaccine against Covid 19 QazCovid-In, which took place in April 2021. This vaccine is entirely manufactured in Kazakhstan with no outside help and took less than a year to produce, starting in March 2020 at the explicit request of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
Kazakhstan is also involved in maritime mega-structures with its proposal to construct a ‘Eurasian canal’ to allow its ships to sail from the Caspian Sea to the Black Sea and from there, through the Bosporus, to the Mediterranean. If this proposal were to be carried out, it could make the country, with its geographical position, a significant logistical platform of ‘Eurasia’, a prominent sorting house for goods and services, and an attractive centre for investment in the ‘heart of the world’. (F.R.)
Open photo: © Can Stock Photo / ppl58

Herbs & Plant. Talinum paniculatum. A vital medicinal plant.

Wednesday, 1 September 2021 8:00

It is one of the most popular herbal plants and has been used as a raw plant material for drugs that have become more widely available commercially. In particular, it is used for treating human herpes and inflammatory skin diseases

Talinum paniculatum is known by various common names including Ginseng Java, waterleaf (Limon), cariri, Philippine spinach, potherb fame flower, sweetheart, Jewels of Opar, and Som Java. It is a low-growing herb and, for that, it is usually grown for food, its health benefits, and as an ornament. It can grow under harsh conditions and favors a hot climate. Botanically, Talinum paniculatum is a fleshy, erect herb, growing to 50 cm in height. Its leaves are in whorls, obovate-lanceolate, flat, glossy and bright green. Its flowers are in terminal panicles, small and pink colored and are borne in lax, many-flowered branched inflorescences, bright pink, and up to about 1.2 cm in diameter. The individual flowers, on hairy stalks, are small, but are nicely massed together, especially with the red bead-like buds and fruits.
The fruit is a glossy dark red capsule, 3-5 mm in diameter. Jewels of Opar is native to Africa.

Talinum paniculatum is useful in treatment of a number of diseases and conditions including diarrhea, enuresis (bed-wetting), irregular menses and to boost energy and clear the lungs. In fact, its best known for its effectiveness in treating lung diseases. In addition, it can also be used as a medicinal herb in the treatment of skin infections, cancer, liver, reproductive disorders, as well as increasing resistance to stress and fatigue. This sweet, calming plant is used to tone the digestion, moisten the lungs, and to promote breast milk.The plant is useful for treating headaches, pneumonia, a surplus of urine, irregular menstruation, and vaginal discharge. The juice from the leaves is used to treat ulcers, and increase appetite.

For its health benefits, Talinum paniculatum can induce sweating and also finds use as an enema for hemorrhoids. This vital plant is also used to treat liver and kidney problems. Some studies have shown that supplement extracted from the roots of Talinum paniculatum, has been found to be useful as an antiviral for treating human herpes and inflammatory skin diseases. It is used to treat gastrointestinal disorders, and general debility. Its leaves can be used topically in the treatment of edemas, minor skin scratches, cuts, and scrapes. Decoction of roots is used to treat scurvy, arthritis, stomach inflammation, and pneumonia. Talinum paniculatum is popular in herbal recipes for enhancing vitality, treating diabetes, inflammatory skin problems, gastrointestinal disorders, general weakness, bloating, constipation and nausea. The plant is also used to induce lactation and restore uterine functions postpartum.
The roots of Talinum paniculatum can be administered to boost energy after sickness, treat coughs, regulate menses, and urine flow. The leaves can also be used to reduce body swellings such as boils where the leaves pounded into a poultice are applied to relieve it. The medicinal potential of Talinum paniculatum may be due to the high level of antioxidants and compounds such as the ginsenosides, phenol acids, flavonoids, saponins and tannins present in it. It is also rich in vitamins and minerals such as vitamin C, iron, manganese, and zinc which could act as exogenous antioxidants obtained from the plant diet and hence may play an important role in reducing oxidative stress and cell damage.

As food, nearly all parts of Talinum paniculatum are useable as vegetable but the roots and leaves are most preferred. The leaves are succulent and make an excellent addition to sandwiches. They are especially valuable since they are available in hot dry weather when other salad greens are difficult to come by. The seeds are tiny but nutritious, and a good source of Omega3 oils. Talinum paniculatum is packed with Vitamins A and C and is high in calcium. The leaves are cooked in a similar manner to spinach. Older leaves are tangier imparting a sour flavor to the dishes. It can be eaten raw as a salad or cooked as an ingredient of soups and stews. In the absence of spinach, Talinum paniculatum is a good alternative. In some countries, the plant is used to spice dishes. The leaves are blanched and used in green salads or cooked in soups and stews. The whole plant of ginseng java can also be used as an ornamental plant.

Richard Komakech

Between water scarcity and water insecurity.

Wednesday, 1 September 2021 8:00

Access to clean drinking water is a human right, but as the global population grows and the planet heats up, can we rely on this resource we take for granted

Given that more than 70% of our planet is covered in water — all told that’s more than one billion trillion litres of the stuff — a short time might sound a bit dramatic. After all, there’s always been enough to go around. But we’re talking about a finite resource. Just 3% of all that liquid mass is fresh water. And of that, most of is locked up in glaciers, leaving less than 1% accessible and usable for drinking and growing food. So as the world population increases, there is less water to go around — and to grow the extra crops needed to feed us.

On top of that, our available water is increasingly being polluted by fertilizers and factories, or is simply being overused — causing aquifer levels in overcrowded cities to plummet. Ultimately, more of us fighting for less good water. Throw climate change-induced extreme weather into the mix and things could get scary. While some places are flooding, others are in near permanent drought — 85% of California is currently in extreme or “exceptional drought and towns and agricultural areas are running out of water.

As rainfall becomes more uneven and unpredictable, it’s feast or famine. While freak flooding killed more than 200 people in Germany and Belgium this summer, in the coming decades, stress and malnutrition linked to water scarcity in arid regions are prediction to trigger mass displacement that fuels climate conflict — especially in Africa. So what’s to be done? Many will say that the solution is lapping at our shores.

Can’t we just desalt our abundance of ocean water?
We can. And in some cases, we already do, but desalination comes with its own set of issues. First up, extracting salt from water is energy intensive, which means the process adds to the CO2 emissions that helped fuel water scarcity in the first place.

Likerain, expensive desalination plants are unevenly distributed. Of the some 20,000 installations globally, around half are located in oil-rich Gulf nations. And overall, the vast majority serve high income countries.

So in Africa, where one in three people are already dealing with extreme water insecurity , access to desalinated water is very limited — especially in poor, under-resourced countries also hit with variable rainfall and crippling drought. The other problem is brine. Once the fresh water has been separated, the salty leftovers are returned to the ocean, where they deplete oxygen and suffocate organisms.

So where does that leave us ?
Facing an uncertain future. And sometimes present – as the South African city of Cape Town knowns too well. It was on the brink of running out of water in 2018, and had to resort to cutting down hundreds of thousands of tree to help its water supply,

The underground reservoir that feeds Mexico City is also down to a trickle during droughts, while tens of millions of people in the Western US have recently been told they will have to reduce their water use next year due to low levels in the country’s largest artificial reservoir.

Meanwhile in El Paso, Texas, the city’s water utility company is installing a water purification facility that by 2028 will treat and purify sewage water and pipe it back as natural water.

Drastic times call for drastic measures. Yet recycling waste water for drinking has been happening for decades in water scarce countries like Namibia. And it’s way cheaper and more energy-efficient than desalination.

A leaked report by UN climate scientists — not due for release until 2022 — predicts that 350 million more people living in cities will suffer water scarcity from severe droughts at 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming — which the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recently told us could happen next decade. Unless we start cutting our greenhouse gas emissions now, warming and related water stress will be much worse.

But we can adapt, right?
Sort of. But only if we make some major lifestyle changes. And it wont’t be as simple as cutting down on showers and washing our clothes and cars less. We will also have to take a long hard look at what we put into, and onto, our bodies. Like humans, some clothes and foods have a much higher water footprint than others.

A kilo of robust espresso coffee beans devours around 19,000 litres of water, while making a pair of jeans requires around 10,000 litres. And the grain-fed steak we like to order? One kilo of beef needs 15,000 litres of water. So do the math. Meanwhile, a kilo of vegetables like carrots and tomatoes only uses around 200 litres. Even juicy grapefruits require a relatively minor 500 litres of water per kilo. Sure, it sounds like a lot, but remember the beef.

This food water footprint will become more important as the resource gets scarcer. To reduce it, we might also need to deal with our chocolate obsession: a kilo of chocolate consumes over 17,000 litres of water, while the almonds that sometimes go into it aren’t far behind — indeed, in drought-stricken California, the thirsty nut trees are now being ripped out by farmers.

When relatively high income consumers in Europe or North America buy products that drain water from the Amazon or the central Asian Aral Sea to grow cotton for our jeans or t-shirts — they are consuming a lot of virtual water they can’t see. An abstract reality, but a reality nonetheless.

What’s the solution?
It’s one way to go. But it wont’s solve the problem alone. Though according to Arjen Y. Hoekstra, the Dutch professor who invented the idea of the water footprint, cutting our meat consumption can reduce our water use by over 35%, even that is not going to be enough.

Agriculture, which uses 70% of our available fresh water and loses a lot of it to leaky pipes and evaporation, also has a role to play by ensuring efficient irrigation infrastructure. Planting trees can also help. A study published earlier this year found that converting agricultural land to forest could boost rainfall, particularly in the summer.

But then there is the real elephant in the room; the ultimate water saving measure of climate change mitigation through rapid decarbonisation. Combined, these factors might be help save a lot of lives — and prevent those apocalyptic water wars. (D.W)

Brazil. Rio de Janeiro clutching at straws.

Wednesday, 1 September 2021 8:00

The pandemic is raging with fury in Rio de Janeiro, aggravating the ancestral problems of a city weighed down by the burden of its own contradictions. The economic crisis is worsening historical inequality, increasing violence, and limiting possibilities while there is a general feeling that the Marvellous City has no other choice but to grasp the last straws of hope.

The pandemic travels speedily among the narrow streets of Rio de Janeiro, penetrating both the residential areas of the rich and the most miserable slums, emptying the enchanting beaches of Ipanema and Copacabana. The city has recorded over 258,000 cases with almost 24,000 official deaths, a tragedy that overflows the city boundaries into the entire state of Rio de Janeiro where the death count rises to over 44,000. The slaughter in Rio is shared by the rest of the country, abandoned to the insufficiency of strategies of people who have done nothing to halt the new devastating wave of the pandemic, bringing the total number of victims to around 400,000.

Now that Rio is submerged in a deadly emergency, how distant seems the memory of the golden years of 2014 and 2016, the World Cup and the Olympics that placed the city at the centre of the world to the great pride of a nation that dreamt of finally becoming well off. Incidentally, sport has always been Brazil’s ideal calling card with such iconic personalities as Pelè, Ronaldo and Senna. That which formerly overwhelmed the leaders of the country and created new ones, ended in a series of angry enquiries. Now Rio, and other cities, has begun to have their doubts about them, seeing how well the pandemic has revealed their ineffectiveness. The crisis is so overwhelming that it is revolutionising even the deepest beliefs of the soul of Rio, such as its Carnival which has never been just a parade of floats or people in fancy dress but an expression of the very heart of a metropolis destined to incarnate happiness, ignoring the shadows of sorrow hidden within. The risks are so great, the situation so serious, that the local authorities have been obliged to cancel it this year.

It was once a marvellous city, Cidade Maravilhosa, with golden beaches and crystal-clear seas, the emblem of permissiveness and freedom, of dancing on the beaches late into the night. The city is a mosaic of even greater contradictions already present in all their gravity even before the pandemic. The economic crisis that struck Rio five years ago when there was a raw materials crisis reveals devastating statistics. The city has experienced a GDP reduction in 2020 of 4.4%, greater than the national figure of 4%, greatly below the data of its eternal rival Sao Paolo, the economic heart of the country which last year recorded an increase of 0.4%. The figures for Rio are a cause for concern for the whole of Brazil, however, since the city produces 10% of the income of the nation. The economic decline has its origins in the distant past when the capital was moved to Brasilia. At that time, the loss of government jobs started a cycle of recession destined to reappear periodically. Today the unemployment rate in Rio among people aged from 18 to 24 is 14.5% (5 points more than the national average) and the public citizen debt is completely out of control. With a debt of around 29 billion dollars which amounts to 280% of its income, Rio de Janeiro is a city that stands on the edge of the precipice of bankruptcy, with all the consequences this brings, in the form of growth of inequality and widespread poverty which have again emerged during the pandemic.

Urban warfare
The economic crisis, besides aggravating the inadequate response to the pandemic, is opening other areas of the social fabric of Rio. This is a sensitive problem in a city that for decades has known social marginalisation and endemic poverty which have led to the creation of dozens of favelas that have piled up around the more exclusive quarters, with no essential services. These are authentic temples of misery where life goes on among drugs, shootings and violence that are only occasionally considered newsworthy, perhaps due to a successful footballer succeeding in finding a way out of such conditions.

But the daily situation of favelas such as Rocinha, for example, tells a different story: one of a network of violence between drug dealers, the paramilitary militias who control entire quarters like mafia clans, and the response of the police that is often equally violent. The lines between the good and the bad are blurred due also to the endemic corruption that has resulted in the imprisonment of three of the last four governors of the state of Rio. The result is that about two million people live under the threat of violent armed groups capable of controlling 60% of the territory of the citizens. Initially formed to counteract the increasing violence of gangs dealing in narcotics, a mixture of former members of the police and the army, the paramilitary militias have, in effect, taken on the role of the state, imposing their own rules and laws, often abusively. It is calculated that from 5-10% of the real estate transactions in the quarters managed by these groups goes into the pockets of the members of the militias, while the security they ought to guarantee to the citizens of Rio seems dormant if we consider the 3,500 murders committed in cities in 2020 alone, for a total of 94,000 from 2003
up to the present day.

With a rate of 60 murders for every 100,000 inhabitants, the state of Rio de Janeiro is more dangerous than the whole of El Salvador. The excessive power of the militias is only possible because of the widespread corruption present at all levels of political and institutional power in the city, as already demonstrated by an impressive series of inquiries showing how such groups are supported, or at least enjoy protection and impunity, at the highest levels. It is the inhabitants of Rio, mostly the poor, who pay the price. They are caught in a crossfire between gangs among the most infamous streets of the most poverty-stricken quarters, while the police regularly show a lack of any scruples whatever in their use of indiscriminate force regardless of collateral damage.Based upon these data, it is not easy to imagine what future awaits Rio de Janeiro after the pandemic.

The feeble signs of hope of past years now seem to be drowned in a sea of corruption, violence, widespread poverty, and an unstoppable economic crisis. While the pandemic reaps its victims in a situation of general impotence, the city seeks to grasp at the slender straws of hope, and a beauty that fades with the passage of time. It is discovering that, underneath the display of ostentatious and forced carnivalesque happiness, there lies hidden the deep melancholy of an eternal favela against which it must fight in the hope that there may be something better in the future for Rio de Janeiro. The city has reached the last shore of redemption, perhaps one that has less in the way of golden dunes, but one that welcomes it with open arms like the statue of Christ the Redeemer that watches over the city.

Luca Cinciripini/CgP
Open Photo. Rio de Janeiro skyline panorama at sunsey. Marchello74/123RF

The secrets of the Lion King.

Wednesday, 1 September 2021 8:00

The animal symbolic of the African savannah is known all over the world for its strength and is feared and admired for its majesty. Less known are the laws governing its strict social life.
Threats to its future. Discovering the sophisticated society of the largest feline in Africa

Its roar breaks the silence of the African bush. It causes the very air to tremble, pierces the heart, and commands reverential fear. It is the call of the largest African feline, the lion. It is a powerful sound that grows in intensity and is audible up to five miles away; it is repeated several times and followed by a series of rumblings and guttural sounds.

The roar has well-defined functions: it affirms the presence of the male and his territorial status and allows each of his kind to communicate their position to other members of the pride; it strengthens family and social ties; and the latter is an anomaly in the world of the cats.

A social animal
The felines are a family of carnivores and almost all felines conduct a solitary life. After mating, they return to their solitary existence. In a few cases, such as that of the cheetah, they form small coalitions of males and live a gregarious life.
This is what happens with almost all the felines, with one exception: that of the lion. The lion is the only social feline, organised in prides that usually number from three to a dozen individuals though, in exceptional cases, they may number even more than thirty.

Extended family
After a long night punctuated by roars, lions may be found on the riverbanks or stretched out on the sand under a tree to rest after hours of hunting. What first strikes the eye is the prevalence of lionesses with a small number of males (often just a single individual), a characteristic that reveals something very important. Lion society is matriarchal, and the heart of the pride is nothing less than an extended family of lionesses all of which are bound by unbreakable blood ties.

The male lions, instead, are not permanent; they are temporary figures but no less important for that, whose contribution is almost exclusively genetic as fathers of new generations of cubs. The male does not stay long in the pride; his stay usually begins with victory in a bloody encounter with the previous resident male which is thereby ousted and dismissed. The new male must then fulfil his main duty, that of fecundating the females and so give rise to a new generation of lions that will hand down his genes.
And from where do the rival lions come that every male must always be prepared to confront?
At three years of age, the males abandon the pride, urged also by the increasing intolerance towards sexually mature individuals on the part of the adult males. The young males begin a life of solitary wandering or may join together in groups of two or three, forming coalitions (as cheetahs do). As they wander, they invade the territory of other males where they may stay for long periods as ‘squatters’, prudently avoiding the resident male by observing the numerous olfactory signs he leaves along the path of his prolonged patrols, the purpose of which is probably to show his whereabouts rather than to mark his territory.

When the vagabonds feel they are strong enough (and the coalition notably increases its strength), they challenge the resident male. If they win, they become the new resident males.
Their new status gives them access to the females but, while in the case of single male, this right is easily exercised.
What happens in a coalition where there are competing males? In this case, too, nature has solved the problem: among lions, access to females follows no hierarchical priority but all the males have indiscriminate access to the females, also due to the large number of lionesses.

Allied mothers
The males patrol and defend their territory, sometimes taking part in the hunt, but all their activities are geared towards a single end: handing down their genes. Therefore, to say that they defend the pride against rival males is not entirely correct since they simply defend their own status and offspring.

The complex strategies for reproduction are not, however, the exclusive prerogative of the males. The phenomenon of the synchronisation of the oestrous cycle is well known; the lionesses of the same pride come into heat more or less contemporaneously. This guarantees that they give birth at the same time which helps the mothers to conserve their energy during lactation and while rearing their cubs, an activity which, in the matriarchal society of lions, is carried out in total mutual collaboration.
All the females nurse and protect their own cubs, and those of other mothers without distinction, which allows the females to take their turn hunting without leaving their cubs by themselves.

Danger of extinction
While all cats that live a solitary life are happy with prey of small or modest dimensions, lions, whose strength lies in their numbers (apart from their size), may kill larger prey, usually more than twice as heavy as the predator and even reaching a ton weight in some cases. But despite its fame as an invincible animal, the king of the savannah is increasingly threatened by man.

The future of these big cats is of concern throughout the continent: 3/4 of the populations studied are in decline and, in just 21 years (3 generations for lions) the world has lost 42 percent of the lions that populated the African continent. Today, fewer than 20,000 lions still survive, and they have become extinct in 12 Sub-Saharan countries. Long extinct in North Africa, the lion (Panthera Leo) is becoming extinct in East Africa where only a few hundred individuals still survive.
The other main threats are the reduction and fragmentation of the habitat, a problem that also concerns the prey: the presence of buffaloes, gazelles and zebras is ever rarer, depriving the lions of food. Imported diseases also contribute to the dangers facing residual big cat populations. In the nineties, distemper killed almost one-third of the Serengeti lions (Tanzania), and many more died of tuberculosis brought by domestic cattle through contact with buffaloes..

Conflict with local communities also endangers the survival of the lions that are often killed by cattle raisers whose herds have been attacked by lions. Then there is always the flourishing business of trophy hunting, in which rich hunters pay thousands of dollars to shoot lions in game reserves. Lastly, there is the most worrying danger of poaching fed by the illegal traffic in lion bones (highly sought after in traditional medicine on the Asian market). Only humans are capable of destroying the powerful and admirable society of the lions.

Gianni Bauce/Africa

Uganda. A bride Mukiga girl.

Sunday, 1 August 2021 8:00

The Bakiga or Kiga people are known as people of the mountain. They are a Bantu ethnic group of South Western Uganda and Northern Rwanda. We look at different stages of traditional marriage.

Marriage among the Bakiga has generally been monogamous and it begins with courtship of the couple. The young man identifies the woman he likes and approaches her father. Unlike the usual courtship, among the Bakiga, they will do the Oshwera Abuza (investigation) regarding the family of the young lady. The lady’s family also does the same with the young man. Though in the past, courtship was out of question since the suitor kidnapped the girls.
The investigation also helped families find out if any of them had any serious sicknesses including mental illness, if any of the families were involved in witchcraft practices and rituals, and the virginity of the girl was also investigated. Virginity was rewarded with a goat which was given to her paternal aunt. After investigations, preparation of marriage begins with the paying of the bride price (Okuhingira).

Bride Price among the Bakiga included cows, goats, locally brewed beer. The girl’s father goes to the boy’s family where he is allowed in the kraal to choose the cows, he wanted for his daughter’s bride price.
In the past, many Bakiga owned cows so all bride prices revolved around animals. Today, many things have changed; few people own cows so the number of cows asked for the bride price has reduced.
Marriage was, and is not, a one-person affair among the Bakiga; it is an affair of the extended family which includes the father of the groom and his extended family. The marriage ceremony is a ritual among the Bakiga in which they have stages to follow before the marriage is completed. In the past the introduction ceremony was when the groom was introduced to the girl, because the girl would never know her groom until after he had paid her bride price.

Today, the bride is expected to introduce her fiancé to her parents, uncles, aunts, and grandparents since she is the one who knows him. After which the Kuhingira (Giveaway) follows.
At the Kuhingira, the bride’s father hands his daughter to the father of the groom and tells him to take good care of her. In case of misunderstanding in the couple, the groom’s father is supposed to help them find peace. The girl is also advised not to return home.
Then the Okwaruura (introduction of the bride to the family and to house chores) takes place at this ceremony where the new bride was given a hoe by her family and advised to go and start to work for her unborn children. Today Okwaruura is done but the brides are not given hoes anymore because many of them are corporate women or living in urban areas. Before Okwaruura, the bride was on honeymoon and she was not allowed to do any house chores; she would also receive gifts during this time. The last ceremony before she gets her first born is when her family, her sisters and brothers would pack sorghum, local brew, chicken, and any other gifts, then go to pay their sister a visit. They would carry with them a drum and sing along their way.
When they reach their sister’s home there would be merrymaking: dancing, drinking local brew and lots of food and when returning home their in-laws would also pack gifts in the same baskets which they would carry back to their parents.

Kidnapped by secret admirers
In the past, marriage had another twist amongst the Bakiga. According to old stories some girls were kidnapped by secret admirers and tied to ekyigagara (a stretcher-like mat) and then taken to the home of the suitor and the bride price would be paid later. The Bakiga believed that everyone had a right to marriage even the men considered ugly, and the disabled, whom many girls rejected.
Bakiga girls did not have a say in who they would get married to because marriage was a discussion between men, which included the secret admirer, secret admirer’s father, and the bride’s father.

The kidnapper was considered an ugly or disabled man and was sure no woman would marry him. His friends and brothers would organize to kidnap the girl. The old stories continue that the secret admirer would approach his father and tell him about his intentions for a particular girl and after all investigations, his father would approach the girl’s father and tell him about his son’s intention.
There, discussions would begin but the girl would never know what was happening except that she would be told to reduce on heavy chores, and preparations to beautify her would begin. That was the time the girl would know that something was not right.
The culture dictated that girls never knew the men they were getting married to until the day they came to pay her bride’s price. Since some men did not have the patience, once he admired a girl, many brothers were advised to be their sister’s keepers to protect them from kidnapper husbands. Sometimes the secret admirer would attack the girl’s brother and a fight would ensure that the winner takes the girl.

When going to pay the bride price, the groom and his entourage would walk long distances since it was rare to find a man marrying within the same village. They would get their walking sticks, cows, goats and local brew and walk until they reached a point agreed upon by both sides, there they would sit and rest.
There, they would find young girls from the bride’s home waiting for them with entacweka (small calabashes) filled with enturire and bushera, locally made soft drinks, which were offered to them to quench their thirst and then they would complete their journey.
When arriving at the home they are welcomed with ululations and drumming and singing. The visitors are then given seats and given food to eat before the marriage negotiations can begin. After the meal they begin negotiations, and after the negotiations, the following day the groom is expected to come back and take his bride.
Today the entacweka is taken from the girl’s home after the groom’s entourage arrives. A Mukiga girl had no right to reject a suitor because it could earn her punishments. The girl’s father and suitor’s family discuss the price which he would be given, without him consulting anyone. So, rejecting a suitor meant the bride’s father returns the items he received. She was also not expected to leave her marital home however hard the situation was. In the event she left and asked for divorce, her family was required to return every item given to them for her bride price.

Irene Lamunu

Ethiopia. The sacred waters of Lake Tana.

Sunday, 1 August 2021 8:00

This internal lake of Ethiopia is an Alpine circle of muddy waters, more than three thousand five hundred square km. This is where, forming a slow and calm stream, the Blue Nile rises. Lake Tana is a sacred boundary, a frontier of Christianity.

Almost all of the thirty seven islands conceal a monastery, a church and an Orthodox hermitage. Most of the churches of Lake Tana are round with a conical roof (like the traditional Ethiopian churches). The larger circle, the cloister, with either wood or cement columns, is usually open towards the outside while on the inside, in concentric circles, we find the presbytery and the drum, with walls often decorated with paintings. With its twenty-eight square pillars connected by round arches, one of the noblest examples of this type of architecture is the church of Kebran Gabriel, located on the suggestive island of Kebran at the southern point of the lake, facing the city of Bahir Dar.

Kebran Gabriel is one of the monasteries founded in the fourteenth century. The large elliptical church, dedicated to the Archangel Gabriel, was built on the level summit of the island. The Archangel Uriel – guardian of the gates of Paradise – managed to intercept a lightning bolt that was about to burn up the great church of the Ura Khidanemehret Sanctuary dedicated to Our Lady. Dek, at the centre of the lake, is the largest island. The church of Narga Selassie, the basilica of the Trinity of Narga, known as the sanctuary of honey, rises on a rocky isthmus on its western shores. On the island of Kebrar, there are now almost seventy monks whereas in the past it had as many as five hundred. The life of the monks is a simple one: in Kebran, where women are not allowed, the young men eat once a day in common while the older monks usually take their food in their little houses, fasting frequently.

These little islands are the strongholds of evangelisation in Ethiopia, unassailable refuges during the centuries of the Muslim incursions. Tana Kirkos, for example, is an island far distant from the reassuring port of Bahir Dar. It is a solitary island, forbidden to women. It is like a rocky claw along the north-east shore of the lake. Here, according to legend, it is said that the Virgin Mary took refuge during the flight into Egypt. Here, according to the accounts of the monks, the Arc of the Covenant was preserved after it was taken from Jerusalem.

At about thirty kilometres from Bahir Dar we can view the great spectacle of the Nile. The Blue Nile, after its quiet exit from Lake Tana, confines itself in a narrow gorge, digging its path through the rock, seeking an outlet towards its counterpart as it descends the immense savannahs of Sudan. The Ethiopian Nile, with no further delay, makes the great leap of Tis Issat, the Blue Nile Falls, where its waters seem to take flight, transforming themselves into ‘the smoke of a great fire’ (this is what its name means in Amharic).
At the end of the rainy season, during the first months of the Ethiopian autumn, the Blue Nile Falls are impressive: almost a kilometre and a half wide, a wall of water crashing down. In some places the waterfall is forty five metres high. (C.M)

The Canaries route among the most dangerous in the world. ‘Barça or Barsakh’.

Sunday, 1 August 2021 8:00

In the Wolof language ‘Barcelona or Death!’, as the route through the Canaries is often called in Senegal. The dramatic situation of the country is forcing thousands of young people to undertake a voyage of 1,500 km on overloaded fishing boats.

In Thiaroye sur Mer, an ancient fishing village now absorbed by the suburbs of Dakar, the silence of the morning is broken by the hooves of a galloping horse. Along the sandy alleyways, a cart is heading for the beach. Seckane watches the scene from his balcony: “In this area, everyone knows at least one person who has tried to make the voyage to Europe. We have no future. We live in constant discomfort and
we feel we are failures”.

Seckane tried to reach the old continent twice: first by crossing the desert only to find himself held up in the inferno of Libya; then, a year ago, by crossing the sea, undertaking the route towards the Canaries. The adventure almost cost him his life: “After some days, we came close to Spain; very close. Then, the engine broke down and the rough sea was about to leave us shipwrecked. Then, we came back as if by a miracle, after losing some of our companions. I have abandoned the idea of going to Europe … for now”.

The less expensive route
The tightening of the control screw operated by the European Union along the Moroccan Mediterranean and especially the further closure of land borders, together with the grave economic crisis related to the Covid-19 pandemic, have caused an exponential increase in the departures of migrants along the ‘Canaries route’, even though it is one of the most dangerous anywhere in the world. It costs less than the others (300- 900 Euro) and so attracts migrants who have fewer funds available. It is a voyage of 1,500 km from the main Senegalese ports of departure – from Saint-Louis to the north and M’bour on the coast south of Dakar – to the Spanish archipelago.

The migrants must face the Atlantic Ocean for from 8-10 days in overloaded fishing boats. In 2020, a series of shipwrecks causing more than 1,800 deaths sounded the alarm for this route. The number of people disembarking on the Spanish coast was the highest since 2006, with 23,000 arrivals, according to the Spanish authorities, while the number for the previous year was around 2,700. There are those who have described the Canaries as a new Lampedusa and the EU continues its work of externalisation and frontier controls by means of doubtful agreements with the countries of provenance. In November, the Spanish foreign minister Arancha González Laya visited Senegal. Since then the seas are patrolled by an extra aeroplane and a coastguard ship, to add to the existing Iberian patrols and a helicopter. In addition, the repatriation by air of illegal migrants going to Dakar recommenced last March, for the first time since 2018.

The lack of employment openings
It is clear, however, that this surge of migrants has its reasons. The feeling of uncertainty due to the difficult living conditions and the lack of employment openings has never been so marked among young people with qualifications. There are no statistics on the rate of unemployment in Senegal, but in 2019, the Senegalese authorities stated it was 19%, having increased for the previous two years. Doubtless, the present crisis will not have reversed the trend. “You must see these departures as a cry of desperation from the youth”, affirms Sheikh Ahmadou Bamba Fall, president of the Senegalese association Village du Migrant, which for some time has been working to stem the phenomenon of flight among young people. “More often than not, sensitisation is not sufficient. There are those who have already risked their lives or have lost family members and they would try again”.

Around the slogan ‘Barça ou Barsakh’, which in the Wolof language means ‘Barcelona or Death’, as the route is commonly known in Senegal, a sort of myth has been created which makes young people consider successful migrants as heroes. “Now it is pure fatalism. The alternative is to tempt fate and die in the sea or to die here. Professional training and new jobs on the spot are the only solution”, explains the Sheikh. A sense of frustration and disillusion is the cocktail that gave rise to an explosion of violent protests last February and March in the major urban centres of Senegal, resulting in victims and extensive damage. The involvement in a court case and the provisional arrest of Ousmane Sonko, the main political opponent of the government of President Macky Sall and greatly loved by younger voters was the spark that transformed dissatisfaction into rage. Of the same view is Aly Tandian, a professor of sociology at the Gaston Berger University of Saint-Louis and director of the Observatory of Senegalese Migrations, and adds: “Dissatisfaction and anger towards the apathy of the government regarding these problems are nothing new and will not simply go away. Without interventions aimed at restoring hope, people will take to the streets from time to time and the passeurs will always have customers to fill their boats”. The sociologist goes deeper when he states that “apart from the institutions, some responsibility must be attributed to the communities that continue to bring unbearable pressure on young people”.
In the social fabric, the idea that the conquest of the ‘European Eldorado’ benefits entire family networks, urges the young people to tempt fate to avoid being considered losers in the homes and city quarters. “Migration ceases to be a personal project and becomes a collective one born in families and couples”.

Fathers prosecuted
There has been much talk in Senegal during a court case where three fathers of families were accused of having assisted clandestine emigration. Among them was the father of fifteen-year-old Doudou Faye, who died of a disease in the arms of a friend on board a boat that sailed from M’bour. The boy’s body was thrown into the sea. The father had paid a fare of around 340 Euro for the boy to go to Spain. The debate raged in the Senegal media and social networks, fed by the continuing weekly news of the death of migrants.

“Some blamed the irresponsible father and the state which does nothing to prevent the passeurs from operating; and also those who were more understanding, venting their anger instead against the EU which makes it impossible to enter Europe to work or study” ‒ recounts the blogger Petit Ndiaye who took part in several debates on TV about the case at that time. “Without doubt, the media stimulated a collective reflection on the phenomenon and the state chose to make a statement by instituting the court proceedings. But it is not sufficient just to sensitise the population”. It is only the testimony of those who lost someone in those insane journeys that can have any real impact. In Malika Plage, in the outskirts of the capital, fifty-one-year-old Yayi Bayam Diouf emerges from a meeting of a local group of women who fight against illegal emigration. During the meeting, funds were collected for a young widow. Yayi lost his only son three years ago. His expression is one of fatal sadness: “He was my only helper. I urged him to find a job but I had no idea someone put the idea into his head to emigrate just to please me. One day he left to go fishing and he never came back”.

(M.S.)

Herbs & Plants. Albizia coriaria: anti-depressant medicinal plant.

Sunday, 1 August 2021 8:00

It is used for a treatment of a number of diseases. The plant can be prepared in a number of ways such as decoction, maceration and infusions.

It belongs to the plant family Fabaceae and is a deciduous tree that is widely distributed in tropical Africa. It is heavily branched forming a spreading dome-shaped crown. It usually grows up to 35m in height with a straight, cylindrical bole that can be branchless for up to 22m and a girth diameter of up to 100cm. It is usually unbuttressed, but can have small, thick buttresses up to 1.5 metres high. The leaves are bipinnate, pinnae 3-6 pairs, and leaflets 6-11 pairs, oblong to elliptical and 13-33 mm long, 5-17 mm wide, rounded at the apex, subglabrous except for a few hairs on the midrib beneath.

The flowers are subsessile or on pedicels 0.5-2 mm long; minute bracteoles, 1.5-2 mm long usually falling off before flowering. The calyx are 3.5-6.5 mm long and not slit unilaterally, puberulous outside, with few short stipitate glands. The corolla are 8-13.5 cm long, white and puberulous outside. The fruit is a pod of about 10-21 cm long, 2-5 cm wide, glabrous, brown or purplish-brown in colour when matured with a tapered or acute apex. The tree is harvested from the wild for use as timber and medicine. It is sometimes grown as an ornament in homesteads and as roadside trees, valued especially for its bright green splashes of new foliage growth and showy flowers.
The stem bark and leaves are the major medicinal parts of Albizia coriaria used for treatment of a number of disease conditions including cough, sore throats, syphilis, skin diseases, jaundice, and eye diseases and for use as a general tonic throughout the communities in which the plant is distributed. These plant parts can be prepared in a number of ways such as decoction, maceration, and infusions before administering based on a given disease condition.

The leaf decoction is used externally to treat headache, and as a wash or steam inhalation against fever, and gargled to relieve toothache. The leaf decoction can also be applied as a wash to kill head lice. A maceration of the leaves is administered as an enema to induce abortion. The bark is often used in traditional medicine and considered an astringent and vermifuge. The bark decoction of Albizia coriaria is often applied to stop bleeding from fresh wounds. It is also administered for the treatment of intestinal worms. Similarly, the bark decoction is also used for the treatment of dysentery, bronchial affections, and pain caused by fever. The stem bark is also boiled with water and the resultant decoction cooled and applied to the skin for the treatment of sores, pimples, and other skin ailments.
In addition, the steam from the concoction, once inhaled, can cure fever. The liquid can also be used to treat toothache. A bark maceration is drunk and/or applied as a wash to treat jaundice.

The bark has also been reported to be useful in the treatment of anaplasmosis and used as such is also used in the treatment of malaria. The bark decoction is taken orally to relieve one from anxiety, depression, sleep problems (insomnia), to improve mood, and to reduce swelling associated with trauma. It is also applied to the skin to treat insect bites, fractures, and sprains. In some communities, the bark of Albizia coriaria is used for the treatment of menorrhagia, threatened abortion and post-partum haemorrhage. The roots and bark in concoctions with other herbs is used in treating venereal diseases.
The medicinal activities of Albizia coriaria may be attributed to the various phytochemicals it contains including saponins and alkaloids.

Apart from the ethno-medicinal uses in treating human diseases and disorders, Albizia coriaria is also known to be important in ethno-veterinary in that the bark decoction is used in treating cattle diseases and a number of abdominal problems associated with protozoan parasites. The leaves are a source of saponins and are sometimes used for washing clothes. In some homesteads, the leaves are also used to cover bananas in order to hasten their ripening. The branchlets have been used as firesticks. It is used for construction, light and heavy flooring, staircases, furniture, cabinet making, joinery, turnery, implements, and carvings. It is also suitable for carpentry, musical instruments, railway sleepers, and the wood is a vital source of fuel.

Richard Komakech

Always On the Move.

Sunday, 1 August 2021 8:00

The Bororo culture is one of movement. There are different sorts of movement. First of all there is the perol, ‘the great movement’, mostly for political or environmental reasons.

It is a real migration and happens only in exceptional cases. For example, the great perol that brought part of the Wodaabe into the territory of Kawlaa, took place starting in 1910. Then there is the seasonal migration (baartol) which is a regular event and is caused by the ecological factors of the different areas. This movement determines the coming and going of the nomads; their centre, however, remains their affiliated territory.

The movement to the north, during the rainy season, is called njakake. When the rains are over, the Wodaabe return to the south where they spend the dry season. This migration is called djolol.
The goonsol, instead, connects two grasslands within an ecological unit. Shorter than the goonsol is the dimbdol, which takes place between two ‘points of water’. Moving during a girsusaki (short movement), the nomad can see his point of departure.

Livestock is their all
The family (wuro), whether nuclear or extended, is the fundamental unit of the social and economic life of the Wodaabe. It usually consists of a man, his wife (or wives) and the children. Each family has its own cattle. The ideal of an elderly Bodaado is to leave a legacy of more cattle than he himself received to his children.

Among the Zebu, the cattle are at the centre of Wodaabe interests. The animals are rarely killed although their milk and dairy products are used. A Bororo proverb says: ‘Without milk we are like the dead’. However, the animals can be bartered for other consumer goods with neighbouring peoples or people met during transhumance.
Unlike other tribes, among the Bororo the cattle also belong to the women. Each girl receives some heads of cattle as a dowry so that her survival may be assured, apart from Zebu espousal ties that are often very weak. The relationship with the animals is indissoluble. Each boy receives a calf while he is still very young. A Bororo lives off his herd. Each animal has its name and each boy is given the name of an animal. Only during feasts is it allowed to sacrifice an animal.

Animals mark the time
The day of the Bodaado is divided up by the life of the animals. Before sunrise, (tiima pinde na’i), the inspection of the animals takes place. At dawn, the small calves are released from the cord with which they were tied the night before (yoofa nyalbi) and allowed to suck milk from their mothers. Then the milking (bira na’t) begins. The animals are set free to graze (wammunde maajunde). At midday (iftol), instead, the herd rests; the small calves are kept separate from the adult cattle (nyalbi kodaama).

In the early afternoon (hiirtunde), the herd is allowed to graze. In the late afternoon the small calves are tied to the cord that divides the encampment (daangol): the hour is called habba nyalbi (‘then the calves are tied up’). In the evening (na’i njaa’oo or dudana na’o), the herd returns to the encampment and the fires are lit in the corral (du-dana na’). The milking follows (lira na’). Before retiring, the pastors tie the older calves to the cord (daangol). During the night (soggunde), the adult animals are sometimes allowed to graze.

Marriage, by law and for love
Being nomadic pastoralists, the Wodaabe are constantly moving in search of new grazing. They say: ‘We are like the birds: when we finish pecking we fly away’. They are well versed in knowledge of plants and spells and constantly use talismans and amulets. They live in temporary encampments composed of simple huts made from bushes and straw.

Marriages take place within the ethnic group and are of two types. The more prestigious form is that which takes place through engagement (kooggal). In this case, a male child and a female child are declared ‘engaged’ from a most tender age and they marry once they reach puberty. Since this sort of marriage is really ‘arranged’ by the parents and the families and demands various transactions involving animals, the tendency is to seek the future spouse of the son among paternal relatives; a cousin is often chosen. Most of first marriages are of the kooggal sort. The second type of marriage called teegal (free contract) is resorted to by people who are divorced, by those who have been left without a partner or by men who want a second or third wife. In this case, it is not necessary to choose the wife or husband from within the lineage of affinity; often a non Bodaado may be chosen. In principle, the teegal marriage certainly denotes mutual love, sentiments and passion but also an element of hostility since the wife is considered ‘stolen’.
In any case, the marriage is considered improper if it takes place between related lineages.

Reserved but jovial and with refined manners, the Bororo Wodaabe see themselves as courageous warriors. This is a necessary quality for survival in an area of continual tension and ethnic clashes. The areas of their transhumance border to the south with the sedentary farmers and, to the north, with the Tuareg whose warlike spirit is well known.
Unlike that of their neighbours, Wodaabe society is one of equals in solidarity but independent, one that has never had any form of slavery. The Bororo hate bonds, fences or being faced with limits. They are born nomads who do not recognise ties and do not wish to blend with other peoples. Besides their livestock, the Bororo take with them the most beautiful jewels and amulets; the women also take some empty gourds to use as containers and the men carry a long sword. They do not use tents. There is no hierarchy in their social organisation. The head of the clan, the ardo, simply gives counsel and his power is based on his moral authority. (F.M.)

The new narcotics routes in Africa.

Sunday, 1 August 2021 8:00

Heroin trafficking in Africa is growing in intensity due to the development of the ‘southern route’ that crosses the continent. This alternative route has become more popular because it is open almost all year round due to the lack of controls on the sea.

In recent years, the heroin trade in Africa has peaked due mostly to the tightening of controls along the Balkan route which, for decades, was the preferred road by which drugs from the East reached the western markets. Now it is the southern route that receives the greater volume of traffic. The route is composed of three different phases: sea transport from Afghanistan to the ports of eastern Africa, overland to South Africa, and again by sea to the main European ports.

During the first phase, the heroin is transported close to the coast of Makran in southern Pakistani Baluchistan towards east Africa using motorised dhows, small fast boats that are not picked up by satellites and capable of carrying a ton of cargo. The dhows wait a few kilometres from the more remote coasts of Somalia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Mozambique (Quissanga, for example), but it seems that a certain amount of drugs arrive concealed in containers in some of the port cities of the east coast (Nacala and Pemba are among these). As soon as the heroin begins the second phase of its journey by road, a less streamlined journey due to the poor condition of terrestrial communications. Light pickups loaded with from a hundred to two hundred kilos of heroin leave Tanzania, Kenya, and Mozambique and eventually arrive in South Africa.

Towards Johannesburg and beyond
On the southern route, Johannesburg constitutes a basic sorting house; at present, it is the main deposit and transhipment. There the loads are usually broken up into smaller packets (weighing from ten to twenty kilos) to avoid the inspections which are usually avoided by paying bribes or by inserting the packets into containers of non-perishable goods (wine, stones, or tiles) where they are not seen.
The use of containers in heroin trafficking has been an important resource introduced by influential Asian families that settled in Mozambique before independence.

A drug stash captured in the Indian Ocean. (Photo ACSS).

After the departure of the Portuguese, the remaining families shared out legal and illegal businesses, one of which was that of narcotics. Besides heroin, it seems that containers are also used to sell stolen cars, explosives for illegal mining, arms used for poaching and capturing protected species, alcohol, and tobacco. Widespread corruption allows almost all the containers to pass through the checks. According to some local workers, containers belonging to some protected businessmen cannot be searched. In this way, the containers are taken by train from South Africa to the principal ports and airports (Durban, Port Elisabeth, Cape Town), after which they reach their destination: Europe.

Social Impact
Despite the increase in trafficking, it seems that most of the heroin in Africa is only in transit. There is some local consumption, but it does not seem to be much at present. Nevertheless, in the past five years, the largest net increase in the use of narcotics in the world has been recorded in Africa (around 9.5 million African consumers) and a further peak is expected in the next thirty years (up to 23.2 million). Heroin trafficking has developed as an integrated regional criminal market that involves different east African economies in illegal activities and has prospered due to the fact that it is protected by the political élite.

In Mozambique, for example, this has prevented war between the trafficking families since it is continually being monitored by the FRELIMO authorities. Nevertheless, now that the use of hard drugs has infiltrated the community, it is becoming a source of serious concern since it is a vehicle for harmful social dynamics and threatens the already fragile government apparatus and African institutions. In the cities that are the largest consumers in the market, (Mombasa, Cape Town, Johannesburg, Pretoria) there has been an increase in criminal activity (theft, robberies, gang-wars), a general expansion of violence (with the use of arms), as well as the widespread diffusion of HIV, hepatitis C, and other infections.

Ylenia De Riccardis/CgP

Photo Gallery – Jubilee 2025. Pilgrims of Hope

Advocacy

Baobab

Youth & Mission