MITHIKA MWENDA

Mithika Mwenda is executive director of the Pan African Climate Justice Alliance.

Finger-licking meat dishes at the reopened Chophouse

Friday May 27 2022

The dining area of the Chophouse Restaurant. PHOTO | KARI MUTU

Summary

The Chophouse menu is a blend of steaks, seafood, Kenyan, continental and Mediterranean cuisines.
Fine dining seems to have gone out of fashion in recent years against the rise of alternative and innovative global cuisines.
But I would say that Chophouse has crafted a new vision for haute cuisine with their fabulous flavours, creativity and attention to detail.

By KARI MUTU

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The Chophouse Restaurant at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Nairobi reopened this week after a two-year hiatus, and I was excited to experience their famous fine dining steakhouse.

My first impression was of an elegant restaurant, styled in contemporary African and classic décor. At the back I could see the kitchen and the chefs at work behind a large glass wall. A semi-private room to one side was perfectly situated for hosting a group of diners.

The Chophouse menu is a blend of steaks, seafood, Kenyan, continental and Mediterranean cuisines. Under the new leadership of Chef Wayne Walkinshaw, the restaurant has maintained customer favourites such as sea scallops and the Mombasa crab.

For a starter, our group had the scallops, flavoured with brandy and black salt, on a butternut and mascarpone cheese puree, with Parma ham on the side. I can understand why they are so popular. This melt-in-your-mouth seafood dish was a perfect blend of savoury, slightly sweet and buttery.

Every dish on the Chophouse menu has a recommended wine. The white wine suggested for the scallops was a Hesketh BYT sauvignon blanc from Australia. It is a light refreshing and slightly citrus wine that does not overpower the delicate flavours of the dish.

Great presentation

The scallops were served on a wooden slab of a tree trunk decorated with dried moss and white stones, with a small flaming pot in the middle.

Chophouse sea scallops starter, flavoured with brandy and black salt. PHOTO | KARI MUTU

Next, we tried the aged, air-dried salted beef, cut into thin slices, rolled into cones and served on a plate shaped like a shoulder blade. Accompaniments were goat cheese, dried figs, parmesan cheese, soubise foam and rocket leaves. Scents of forest anise and olive powder completed the blend of flavours. A glass of full-bodied Parker Shiraz red wine with spicy notes paired well with the beef and, later on, with the lamb.

Our next course was Molo lamb smothered with a dark chocolate and blackberry red wine reduction. The lamb was tender, and came with a black olive emulsion and baba ghanoush, a Mediterranean eggplant dip.

Our meal was concluded with a deconstructed nougatine eclair. Sandwiched in the éclair pastry was hazelnut ice cream, chocolate creameux, a thin layer of nougatine and salted caramel. Candied macadamia nuts, whole berries and a sliver of brandy snaps added varied textures and balanced the sweetness of the dessert.

I am a fan of cheesecake so the Passion Fruit and White Chocolate Cheesecake would have been my second option.

Somewhere in between courses Chef Wayne and his team surprised us with some culinary showmanship when they made Nitrogen Popcorn. This is basically ordinary popcorn cooled in a bowl of smoking liquid nitrogen and prepared tableside while we watched. The popcorn was super cold when eaten and foggy vapours wafted out of the mouth, not unlike a smoking dragon.

Fine dining seems to have gone out of fashion in recent years against the rise of alternative and innovative global cuisines. But I would say that Chophouse has crafted a new vision for haute cuisine with their fabulous flavours, creativity and attention to detail.

In the headlines

Rwanda denies backing armed group in DRC

Primarily a Congolese Tutsi group, M23 is one of more than 120 armed groups that roam eastern DRC.

UN renews arms embargo on South Sudan

A resolution to extend the ban through May 2023, drafted by the United States, was passed with 10 out of 15 votes.

Kenya's President Kenyatta lifts Fifa World Cup trophy

Kenyan Olympic champions join global anti-malaria campaign

Samia: Tanzania playing its part to link African states

Tanzania issues alert over monkeypox

Fifa World Cup trophy arrives in Kenya

Illegal fishing on East Africa’s coastline poses threat to sea turtles

Friday May 27 2022

A sea turtle crawling back to the sea after nesting on Grand Anse Beach, Fregate Island, Republic of the Seychelles. PHOTO | AFP

Summary

According to researchers, human activities have tipped the scales against the survival of these ancient marine animals for over the past 200 years.
Slaughtered for their eggs, meat, skin, and shells, sea turtles suffer from poaching. They also face habitat destruction and accidental capture — known as bycatch — fishing gear.
The sea turtle is a fundamental link in marine ecosystems and helps maintain the health of coral reefs and seagrass beds.

By PAULINE KAIRU

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Poaching and consumption of marine animals remain major threats to the conservation of sea turtles along Africa's east coastline.

According to researchers, human activities have tipped the scales against the survival of these ancient marine animals for over the past 200 years. Slaughtered for their eggs, meat, skin, and shells, sea turtles suffer from poaching. They also face habitat destruction and accidental capture — known as bycatch — fishing gear.

The experts reviewed evidence between 1965 and 2022 focusing on sea turtles along the coast of Kenya, Tanzania, Somalia, Mozambique and South Africa. It was particularly a “sad story” for the hawksbill turtles of East Africa, according to the study.

However, there are success stories, among them growing numbers of loggerhead turtles in South Africa and Mozambique, and increasingly effective conservation networks in Tanzania's coast. The study is titled Marine turtles of the African east coast: Current knowledge and priorities for conservation and research.

The research team, led by the University of Exeter and experts from Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique, South Africa and the wider Western Indian Ocean region, said the sea reptiles had to dodge hordes of threats even before they hatch.

“The turtles face many threats along the African east coast, from egg to adult,” said lead author Casper van de Geer, from the Centre for Ecology and Conservation on Exeter's Penryn Campus in Cornwall. “Our aim was to bring together everything that is currently known about these turtles, and to identify opportunities to better protect them in this rapidly developing region.”

“We found that there's still a lot we don't know about these turtle populations, like how many they actually are or where they spend most of their time and migrate to,” he noted. “If we use clutches of eggs laid as a measure of population, then we see that some have recovered well in some places. For example, loggerhead turtles appear to be recovering in South Africa and Mozambique. However, leatherbacks in the same areas have not responded as positively to conservation efforts — suggesting there’s something going on in their lifecycle that’s stopping them from bouncing back as quickly.”

Within the East African subregion, illegal take of marine turtles was found to be widespread in Madagascar. Findings indicate that this is largely done by locals. Domestic trade appears to be a well-organised activity that involves the supply of specimens between areas that are hundreds of kilometres apart. Illegal distribution networks operate on land and sea.

In Mozambique, marine turtles were found to be taken both as targeted and non-targeted catch. Illegal take is largely perpetrated by local artisanal fishers, who capture them for consumption and related trade. Domestic trade appears to be more localised than in Madagascar, as reports of trade across large distances within the country were not evident. Some reports of cross-border trade with Tanzania indicate that Mozambique is involved in international trade in marine turtles.

“Hawksbill turtles probably nested very widely along this coast, but within the last 20 years this has stopped almost entirely,” noted Van de Geer.

Sea turtles generally nest where they hatched, but once a species stops nesting in a certain location it is difficult to re-establish nesting there. Apparently, these critically endangered hawksbills have shifted their nesting to other sites in Western Indian Ocean where it is hoped that they will be able to recover from.

The sea turtle is a fundamental link in marine ecosystems and helps maintain the health of coral reefs and seagrass beds. The researchers observe that even though there is good legislation in place to protect turtles, stakeholder groups actively participating in conservation and both scientific and local expertise in the region, better protection in accordance with the law and greater collaboration will be needed in response to increasing pressure on turtles due to human activity.

In the headlines

Rwanda denies backing armed group in DRC

Primarily a Congolese Tutsi group, M23 is one of more than 120 armed groups that roam eastern DRC.

UN renews arms embargo on South Sudan

A resolution to extend the ban through May 2023, drafted by the United States, was passed with 10 out of 15 votes.

Kenya's President Kenyatta lifts Fifa World Cup trophy

Kenyan Olympic champions join global anti-malaria campaign

Samia: Tanzania playing its part to link African states

Tanzania issues alert over monkeypox

Fifa World Cup trophy arrives in Kenya

Uganda stars in Venice

Friday May 27 2022

Some of the paintings by Collin Sekajugo at the Venice Biennale Arte 2022. PHOTO | FRANCESCO ALLEGRETTO

Summary

The Ugandan show includes online conversations, field trips to the centres of excellence, and developing artistic practices and resources through curatorial and organisational support.

By BAMUTURAKI MUSINGUZI

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Uganda’s pavilion at the Venice Biennale 2022, featuring paintings by Collin Sekajugo and weavings by Acaye Kerunen, has received a Special Mention award.

Kerunen was singled out for her use of materials such as raffia, illustrating "sustainability as a practice and not just a policy or concept".

The two Kampala-based artists are presenting their work at the Palazzo Palumbo Fossati, through Tanzanian-born British curator Shaheen Merali under the title Radiance - They Dream in Time.

One can take a 3D virtual tour of the Uganda Pavilion via: https://www.ugandapavilion.org.

The Ugandan show includes online conversations, field trips to the centres of excellence, and developing artistic practices and resources through curatorial and organisational support.

Merali said the dual approaches to art by Kerunen and Sekajugo find a common ground in their respective imaginations.

“Both artists have been working actively with formal and informal archives of Uganda’s dynamic visual culture,” she said.

Kerunen’s work employs hand stitching, appending, knotting and weaving with natural fibre.

Along with Ugandan craftswomen, she makes installations that question the divide between fine art and craft as predicated by Western traditions.

Her work is rooted in the belief that creative production is an authentic expression of lived experience.

By deconstructing utilitarian materials and artisan crafts, Kerunen repositions the work in order to tell new stories.

She has nine large works and 16 smaller ones including Iwang Sawa (Alur for In the Eye of Time).

New works added are Myel — an installation depicting a woman in a moment of dance motion in basketry, woven mat and raffia; Wangker (Alur for Eyes of Reign), which is a large wall-based work in banana fibre, palm leaves and raffia; Kot Ubinu (Alur for The Rain is Coming), which is an interactive multimedia installation in basketry, palm leaves, and raffia; and Passion Flower — a round wall-based work in raffia, palm and basket rings.

Sekajugo’s lively, semi-abstract works focus on the human figure, using silhouettes and collaged elements to critique ethnocentrism and visualise shared humanity.

His mixed-media collages include embroidery, photography, acrylic paint, and locally sourced materials such as polypropylene and bark cloth.

Sekajugo said he has 12 pieces on display in Venice.

“There’s an artwork titled I Own It All. This is my cover piece, and it portrays an ideal post-colonial well-to-do Ugandan man.

The work features a fashionable gentleman relaxing on a stylish couch.

The backdrop of his room is adorned with pattern work representing Uganda’s long horned cattle. The cows denote wealth in Ugandan culture” the artist said.

The eight-month exhibition taking place in the Central Pavilion and in the Arsenalein Venice features 213 artists from 58 countries.

In the headlines

Rwanda denies backing armed group in DRC

Primarily a Congolese Tutsi group, M23 is one of more than 120 armed groups that roam eastern DRC.

UN renews arms embargo on South Sudan

A resolution to extend the ban through May 2023, drafted by the United States, was passed with 10 out of 15 votes.

Kenya's President Kenyatta lifts Fifa World Cup trophy

Kenyan Olympic champions join global anti-malaria campaign

Samia: Tanzania playing its part to link African states

Tanzania issues alert over monkeypox

Fifa World Cup trophy arrives in Kenya

Rwanda-born Ncuti Gatwa to play first black Doctor Who in series

Friday May 27 2022

"Doctor Who's" Ncuti Gatwa casting could hide a big twist. PHOTO | COURTESY | RADIO TIMES

Summary

Gatwa will be the first black actor and the 14th person to play the lead in the British TV series, broadcast by the BBC since 1963. He is replacing Jodie Whittaker, who took over the role in 2017.
Gatwa will be the first black actor and the 14th person to play the lead in the British TV series, broadcast by the BBC since 1963. He is replacing Jodie Whittaker, who took over the role in 2017.
Gatwa was born in Nyarugenge, Kigali in 1992. His family migrated to Scotland in 1994, to escape the Genocide against the Tutsi.

By MOSES K. GAHIGI

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Rwandan-born Ncuti Gatwa is the new lead actor in Doctor Who, for the third and final of the 2022 specials to air in October.

On the announcement this week, Gatwa said, "There aren’t quite the words to describe how I am feeling. A mix of being deeply honoured, beyond excited and of course a little bit scared."

Gatwa will be the first black actor and the 14th person to play the lead in the British TV series, broadcast by the BBC since 1963. He is replacing Jodie Whittaker, who took over the role in 2017.

"This role and show mean so much to so many around the world including myself, and each one of my incredibly talented predecessors handled the unique responsibility and privilege with the utmost care. I will endeavour my utmost to do the same," he said.

Gatwa, an award winning actor, played Eric Effiong in the Netflix series Sex Education, winning a BAFTA Scotland Award for Best Actor in Television and three BAFTA award nominations for Best Male Comedy Performance this year.

He is also set to act in Greta Gerwig’s upcoming Barbie film, alongside Hollywood actors Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, planned to be released in July 2023.

Doctor Who is the story of a time lord called the Doctor, an extra-terrestrial being who looks like a human being. He explores the universe in a time-travelling spaceship called Tardis, which appears as a blue British police box. As the Doctor regenerates into different people, a new lead actor takes over the role.

Background

Gatwa was born in Nyarugenge, Kigali in 1992. His family migrated to Scotland in 1994, to escape the Genocide against the Tutsi.

Gatwa was raised mostly in Dunfermline and Edinburgh. He attended Boroughmuir High School and Dunfermline High School.

He studied at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland in Glasgow, where he graduated with a BA in acting in 2013.

He worked as an actor at the Dundee Repertory Theatre, performing in several productions.

In 2015, he appeared in a supporting role in the miniseries Stonemouth, an adaptation of the 2020 novel of the same name.

That same year, he performed in the Kneehigh theatre production of 946, which was adapted from Michael Morpurgo’s book The Amazing Story of Adolphus.

In the headlines

Rwanda denies backing armed group in DRC

Primarily a Congolese Tutsi group, M23 is one of more than 120 armed groups that roam eastern DRC.

UN renews arms embargo on South Sudan

A resolution to extend the ban through May 2023, drafted by the United States, was passed with 10 out of 15 votes.

Kenya's President Kenyatta lifts Fifa World Cup trophy

Kenyan Olympic champions join global anti-malaria campaign

Samia: Tanzania playing its part to link African states

Tanzania issues alert over monkeypox

Fifa World Cup trophy arrives in Kenya

'Covid-19 was fire and we have come out of it' - Kerunen

Friday May 27 2022

Multi-lingual Ugandan singer Suzan Kerunen, who has just released her fifth album. PHOTO | POOL

Summary

Kerunen, also known as the Alur Queen, said Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns pushed artists around the world into a dark place, and the lack of physical connection affected the creativity of some.
The album From Ashes We Rise tells stories of African triumphs, battles and future victories to inspire and give hope. It draws on decolonisation, women empowerment, the Black Skin movement, diversity, marriage, childbirth, rites of passage, food and race.

By BAMUTURAKI MUSINGUZI

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Suzan Kerunen, Uganda’s award-winning singer, has launched her fifth studio album titled From Ashes We Rise. The 12-track-album, released on April 29, has the songs From Ashes We Rise, Earthly Speaking, Ginya, Esclave featuring Bernice the Bell, Crimson featuring WD Alzain, and Remnants featuring Lawrence Matovu and Keith Mugenyi.

The album is a cocktail of Afro-fusion and reggae songs in her mother tongue Alur, English and French, with themes ranging from environmental protection, love and women’s rights.

Kerunen, also known as the Alur Queen, said Covid-19 pandemic lockdowns pushed artists around the world into a dark place, and the lack of physical connection affected the creativity of some.

Now that the worst is over, she said, it is refreshing to be able to sing, travel and release new work.

The title of the album draws from the legend of the Phoenix, a bird believed to have had a spirit of fire, and ability to be reborn after burning itself out. The Phoenix is a symbol of strong people surviving situations. The pandemic was the fire.

From Ashes We Rise tells stories of African triumphs, battles and future victories to inspire and give hope. It draws on decolonisation, women empowerment, the Black Skin movement, diversity, marriage, childbirth, rites of passage, food and race.

The musician has collaborated with Kinobe Herbert, a Uganda-American, Bernice the Bell of Burundi, Mseto Nation of Uganda, and WD Alzain of Sudan.

The song Earthly Speaking is a plea to humanity to rid the planet of all types of pollution.

Kerunen is confident that the music scene and musicians will bounce back now that Covid-19 restrictions have been lifted in Uganda and around the world. ''That as an art form, music has the power to self-feed and rejuvenate.''

In the headlines

Rwanda denies backing armed group in DRC

Primarily a Congolese Tutsi group, M23 is one of more than 120 armed groups that roam eastern DRC.

UN renews arms embargo on South Sudan

A resolution to extend the ban through May 2023, drafted by the United States, was passed with 10 out of 15 votes.

Kenya's President Kenyatta lifts Fifa World Cup trophy

Kenyan Olympic champions join global anti-malaria campaign

Samia: Tanzania playing its part to link African states

Tanzania issues alert over monkeypox

Fifa World Cup trophy arrives in Kenya

Lunch at sea with stunning ocean views

Friday May 27 2022

Lunch on the Floating Bar and Restaurant off Forodhani in Zanzibar. PHOTO | BEATRICE MATERU | NMG

Summary

The restaurant is a three-minute ride from the shore. It is built with marine wood and decorated with ant seashells, batik fabric throw pillows, swings and has an almost 360-degree ocean view.
The floating restaurant has two floors, that can seat 10 to 15 people. From the upper floor, it has great views of the ocean, Forodhani Garden and the Old Fort.

By BEATRICE MATERU

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In Zanzibar, the Indian Ocean attracts tourists with its clear waters and warm climate.

Walking around the grounds of Forodhani Garden, we saw a wooden structure just a few metres offshore marked "Floating Bar & Restaurant" on the sides.

Our curiosity got the better of us and, as the food vendors of Forodhani were yet to open their stalls, we went to have a look.

At the shore there are mobile phones that belong to the floating restaurant, to call ahead. I did, and the person on the other side of the phone said a boat would come to pick us up.

A few minutes later, a small boat came over. The waters were a clear blue and shoals of colourful fish were swimming around.

The restaurant is a three-minute ride from the shore. It is built with marine wood and decorated with ant seashells, batik fabric throw pillows, swings and has an almost 360-degree ocean view.

We placed our orders and explored the space. The floating restaurant has two floors, that can seat 10 to 15 people. From the upper floor, it has great views of the ocean, Forodhani Garden and the Old Fort.

We ordered rice with grilled calamari, prawn curry, chips and salad.

Food prices range from Tsh25,000 to Tsh60,000 ($10.72 -$25.75).

The restaurant is best known for its seafood. Also available are a wide range of drinks from fresh juices, water, and beer to spirits and wine.

The prawns were delicious, roasted and dipped in a curry coconut sauce. The grilled calamari were spicy and perfect with the plain basmati rice. It is one of the best lunches I have had on the Island.

The calm ambience of the restaurant, away from the busy streets of Stone Town, was certainly worth the boat ride.

In the headlines

Rwanda denies backing armed group in DRC

Primarily a Congolese Tutsi group, M23 is one of more than 120 armed groups that roam eastern DRC.

UN renews arms embargo on South Sudan

A resolution to extend the ban through May 2023, drafted by the United States, was passed with 10 out of 15 votes.

Kenya's President Kenyatta lifts Fifa World Cup trophy

Kenyan Olympic champions join global anti-malaria campaign

Samia: Tanzania playing its part to link African states

Tanzania issues alert over monkeypox

Fifa World Cup trophy arrives in Kenya

Rwanda denies backing armed group in DRC

Friday May 27 2022

M23 rebels withdraw through the hills from Karuba in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on November 30, 2012. Rwanda has denied backing the M23 rebel group. PHOTO | FILE

Summary

Fighting with the rebel group erupted on several fronts this week in North Kivu, a conflict-torn eastern province of DRC, which borders Rwanda.
Rwanda has denied involvement. Government spokeswoman Yolande Makolo said the country has "no intention of being drawn into an internal matter of the DRC".

By AFP

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Democratic Republic of Congo has accused Rwanda of backing the M23 rebel group, which the latter denied Thursday as the Congolese army clashed with the militia in the east of the vast country.

Fighting with the rebel group erupted on several fronts this week in North Kivu, a conflict-torn eastern province of DRC, which borders Rwanda.

"Suspicions are crystallising that the M23 has received support from Rwanda," Congolese government spokesman Patrick Muyaya stated on Wednesday evening, after a crisis meeting with the prime minister.

Primarily a Congolese Tutsi group, M23 is one of more than 120 armed groups that roam eastern DRC.

It briefly captured North Kivu's provincial capital Goma in late 2012, before the army quelled the rebellion the following year.

But M23 resumed fighting this year, accusing the Congolese government of failing to respect a 2009 agreement under which its fighters were to be incorporated into the army.

Foreign Affairs Minister Christophe Lutundula also accused Rwanda of backing the M23 and said the militia had attacked Rumangabo army camp, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) north of Goma.

"This is the height of brazenness, we cannot remain indifferent, we cannot say nothing," he told delegates at an African Union meeting in Equatorial Guinea on Wednesday.

But Rwanda has denied involvement. Government spokeswoman Yolande Makolo said the country has "no intention of being drawn into an internal matter of the DRC".

Clashes between the army and M23 continued near the Rumangabo camp on Thursday, local sources said.

In Goma, 50-year-old Kakule Kapitula told AFP he had come to the city because of insecurity elsewhere in the province.

"I am afraid because if they arrive, I will have nowhere to run," he said, referring to the rebels.

DRC and Rwanda have had a strained relationship since the mass arrival in the republic of Rwandan Hutus accused of slaughtering Tutsis during the 1994 Rwanda genocide.

Kinshasa has regularly accused Rwanda of carrying out incursions into its territory and of backing armed groups there.

Relations had begun to thaw after DRC President Felix Tshisekedi took office in 2019, but the recent resurgence of M23 violence has reignited tensions.

Tensions have also risen in Goma, an ethnic melting pot with a population of about one million, on fears of escalating violence.

General Francois-Xavier Aba van Ang, a high-ranking police officer in North Kivu, on Wednesday told city residents to prepare to defend themselves with machetes, according to a video posted on social media.

Muyaya criticised the remarks as "dangerous," however.

Resorting to "machetes, hate speech, stigmatisation is extremely dangerous and should be banned," he tweeted on Thursday.

M23 also stated that it was concerned by calls to violence.

"MONUSCO and the DRC government should stop this very dangerous slippage to avoid the genocide," it stated Thursday, using an acronym to refer to the UN peacekeeping mission in the DRC.

The army launched an offensive against M23 last week, after the militia apparently attacked soldiers as well as UN peacekeepers.

On Monday, Rwanda urged an investigation into an alleged rocket attack on its territory by Congolese armed forces.

Fighting between M23 and DRC's army erupted again on Tuesday north of Goma, and by Wednesday had spread to other areas of North Kivu, including the Rumangabo camp.

DRC on Wednesday announced it had also requested an investigation through a regional body that monitors security incidents in Africa's volatile Great Lakes region.

It did not mention Rwanda by name, but said in a statement that shells had been fired into its territory "from the east to the west.”

In the headlines

UN renews arms embargo on South Sudan

A resolution to extend the ban through May 2023, drafted by the United States, was passed with 10 out of 15 votes.

Kenya's President Kenyatta lifts Fifa World Cup trophy

Kenyan Olympic champions join global anti-malaria campaign

Samia: Tanzania playing its part to link African states

Tanzania issues alert over monkeypox

Fifa World Cup trophy arrives in Kenya

Leaders must ask if they are mere titleholders or real power brokers

Friday May 27 2022

In November 2016, though the two US candidates stood a chance to lead, more women were said to have voted Donald Trump rather than Hillary Clinton as his message resonated with majority of the masses. PHOTO | AFP

Summary

Emotional Power overthrows kingdoms and causes revolutions and stems from ideological positions. It is wielded by those able to connect with people at an emotional level.
Leadership without resonance will give you titles but never the power needed to drive things.
Academics or technical experts rarely rise to real power. The lower and middle ranks in many organisations are the resting places of technical experts who will be bypassed in promotions for those people that know how to wield true power and influence actions.

By WALE AKINYEMI

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Remember the unforgettable scene in Game of Thrones where Littlefinger told Cersei Lannister that knowledge is power? Hers was one of the most classic responses ever. She told her guards to grab him and cut off his head. As they moved to obey her order, she ordered them to cease because she had changed her mind and then she laughed as she walked up to him and told Littlefinger: “Power Is Power”.

Such a profound statement and universal truth. People gravitate towards power whose presence everyone acknowledges. A lack of understanding of power has left many naive people in the cold room of stagnation.

No one was made to be weak. In the battle between the lion and the shark, the terrain determines the outcome. Should the shark encounter a lion in the sea, the canine becomes a victim just because it is in the wrong place. Similarly, in a chance encounter on terra firma, the shark will appear weak because it is at the wrong place. People only appear weak when wrongly placed.

Realm of revolutionaries

Power is the ability to influence outcomes. History has shown that the most powerful people are those who are able to influence people emotionally.

Emotional Power overthrows kingdoms and causes revolutions and stems from ideological positions. It is wielded by those able to connect with people at an emotional level.

When Donald Trump campaigned, he displayed emotional power at its best. He would stand against the backdrop of his jet and still managed to convince the poor he was one of their kind and they believed him. Now that’s a gift. Emotional Power at its best.

Such power comes from resonance. It is a function of how demeanour, words and behaviour resonate with people. Why would women vote for Trump rather than one of their own gender — Hillary Clinton? She was awash with facts, data and sophistication but Trump owned their hearts and minds because his message resonated with the people.

Leadership without resonance will give you titles but never the power needed to drive things.

The power magnate is skilled in making things happen through other people — the ability to control people through their emotions. There is a ceiling through, which even the best of academic brains cannot pierce. A barrier over which no technocrat can rise.

Many brilliant people get to this point and stagnate while people the less brilliant progress. The role of technocrats can be outsourced but not that of the power broker. You may possess knowledge and titles, but it is those persons able to influence outcomes and best resonate with people who will keep rising.

Academics or technical experts rarely rise to real power. The lower and middle ranks in many organisations are the resting places of technical experts who will be bypassed in promotions for those people that know how to wield true power and influence actions.

Each organisation has title holders and power brokers. Those holding titles but fail to resonate with those they lead on an emotional level, remain just figureheads.

In some companies, the true power holders have no title such as the nondescript receptionist who has worked there for years or even the boss’s driver. Are you a title-holder or a power broker?

… To be continued

Wale Akinyemi is the convenor of the Street University and chief transformation officer, PowerTalks; [email protected]

In the headlines

Rwanda denies backing armed group in DRC

Primarily a Congolese Tutsi group, M23 is one of more than 120 armed groups that roam eastern DRC.

UN renews arms embargo on South Sudan

A resolution to extend the ban through May 2023, drafted by the United States, was passed with 10 out of 15 votes.

Kenya's President Kenyatta lifts Fifa World Cup trophy

Kenyan Olympic champions join global anti-malaria campaign

Samia: Tanzania playing its part to link African states

Tanzania issues alert over monkeypox

Fifa World Cup trophy arrives in Kenya

AU chair Macky Sall to push Russia, Ukraine to unblock grain exports

Friday May 27 2022

Senegal's President Macky Sall in Brussels on February 18, 2022. PHOTO | JOHANNA GERON | POOL | AFP

Summary

Parts of Africa are already facing record hunger levels, driven by insecurity, climate shocks, and the economic downturn caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
If food supply blockages were to continue and there was a famine, Sall said: "The world would not be able to contain the consequences because it would be massive on immigration. It would be dramatic for African countries."

By REUTERS

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Senegal's President and African Union chairman Macky Sall said on Wednesday that when he visits Russia and Ukraine in the coming weeks he will push them to unblock exports of grains and fertiliser to avoid widespread famine.

Africa is suffering from disruptions in food supply and soaring prices of basic goods and risks "disastrous consequences" if the situation endures, Sall said during a conversation with philanthropist Mo Ibrahim at the Ibrahim Governance Forum.

According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, nearly half of Africa's 54 countries rely on Russia and Ukraine for wheat imports. Russia is also a major supplier of fertiliser to at least 11 countries.

"We have pleaded for a ceasefire, for an end to the war and the release of all food products … so that the world doesn't know a famine after two years of Covid and almost three months of the war," said Sall.

"There are multiple initiatives to call on countries that have (grain) stocks to liberate them and ensure that Russia can authorise the export of cereals from Ukraine and export itself. This is the African position."

Russia invaded Ukraine in late February. The two countries are major grain exporters and the war has led to a shortage and price increase in many parts of the world.

Parts of Africa are already facing record hunger levels, driven by insecurity, climate shocks, and the economic downturn caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

If food supply blockages were to continue and there was a famine, Sall said: "The world would not be able to contain the consequences because it would be massive on immigration. It would be dramatic for African countries."

Sall said on Sunday he would visit Moscow and Kyiv in his capacity as chairman of the African Union, which wants peace in Ukraine through dialogue between the two sides.

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