Lova Rakotomalala · April, 2014

Latest posts by Lova Rakotomalala from April, 2014

Fighting “Breast Ironing” in Cameroon

  30 April 2014

Josiane Kouagheu wrote a passionated blog post [fr] against breast ironing [fr] practice in Cameroon: Je n’ai jamais voulu parler de ce sujet trop sensible. Il me touche. Dans tous les sens, j’ai trop de victimes autour de moi. J’ai voulu me taire. Mais, que faire quand autour de toi, la télé, Internet,...

When Will Impunity End for Slave Traders in Mauritania ?

  30 April 2014

A protest coordinated by several Mauritanian civil society organizations and political parties was held on April 29, 2014 in Nouakchott. The protest was initiatied by members of Haratin tribe who demand more rights and the enforcement of existing laws. This protest marks the first anniversary of the Haratin Manifesto [fr].  The...

Catching Up with the Togolese E-Waste 3D Printer Makers

  28 April 2014

In 2013, we were introduced to the E-Waste 3D Printer project by Woelab engineers in Togo. My Africa Is gives the genesis of the WoeLab project and what the makers hope to achieve going forward :  The Woelab team has organized conferences with individuals in the medical field in Africa, to...

French Newspaper Publishes Chart on What Nationalities Commit Crimes

  22 April 2014

The newspaper Le Progrès based in Lyon, France published an infographic [fr]entitled “”Délinquance : à chacun sa spécialité – principales nationalités impliquées” (Crimes: To each his own- the main nationalities implicated [for each type of crimes]) (see image in the twitter update below):      Dans son édition du jour, Le Progrès...

French Economist Piketty Links Inequality to Instability of Democracies

  21 April 2014

French economist and Associate Chair at the Paris School of Economics, Thomas Piketty recently published a book called “Capital in the Twenty-First Century” that has generated quite a buzz among fellow economists and political leaders. Piketty's central thesis is that inequality is not an accident, but one of the consequences of the excess of capitalism. Piketty...

An African Tale of The First Love Story Ever Told

The website Histoire Africaine/African History [fr] narrates the tale of the oldest love story ever told, the story of Osiris and Isis [fr] and explains what makes it stand out [fr] from the other love stories. Osiris was the king god of Egypt and Isis his queen. Set, his brother, murdered...

The Overlooked Crisis in Burundi

  11 April 2014

While neighboring Rwanda is making news with the commemoration of the 1994 genocide and the increased tension with France, Burundi is marred in an overlooked political crisis and surge of violence that opposes, again, Hutus and Tutsis.  Tshitenge Lubabu in Burundi opines that the roots of the crisis [fr] are the current political leaders:...

A 80 Year-long Wait: Niger Gets its First Train Station

  9 April 2014

On April 7, Niger inaugurated in the capital Niamey its first train station ever [fr]. The authorities already projected the construction of the train station 80 years ago but the project never took off. The event will kick start the construction of railroads between Niger, Benin, Burkina Faso and Côte d'Ivoire....

The Kidnapping Industry Takes Hold in Cameroon

  9 April 2014

The Matango Club blog reflects upon the kidnapping of two italian priests and a canadian nun [fr] on April 4, 2014 in Northern Cameroon:  Pour l’histoire, les kidnappings de ce genre ne datent pas d’aujourd’hui. Rappelons que  dernièrement, le rapt du prêtre français Georges Vandenbeusch, 42 ans, a fait beaucoup de bruit....

Why Rwanda Accuses France of Aiding 1994 Genocide

  7 April 2014

As Rwanda pays tribute to the victims of the genocide 20 years after the tragedy, President Kagame states again that France must “face up to the difficult truth” of its role in the 1994 genocide [fr]. As a result of this statement, France has pulled out of the commemorative events...

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Jeslyn Lemke, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Multimedia Journalism
Communication Department