Group items tagged

This article describes the positive and negative effects of the Zimbabwe land reform. It discusses that while some land is very lucrative, other land is poorly maintained and provide little profit. This relates to the activity because it shows the modern effects of the land reform policy

This article explains that there are new stories about people affected by land reform that are being brought forth to a meeting that will reflect on the positives and negatives of the land reform.

This article talks about Zimbabwe's land reform and the new evidence that research has provided. This is connected to the issues addressed in the activity because the activity looked at the causes and issues with land reform, and this article talks about the most recent news about the land reform.

This news article is another on Zimbabwe's massive debt, but this time the debt lies with China. They recently paid China $180 million of a loan taken years ago to keep China on their side. This article seems a little odd to me since they also owe the IMF around the same amount, but China was paid first. Its now obvious of Zimbabwe's financial problems.

This article described Zimbabwe's financial situation which is that they owe the International Monetary Fund (IMF) $142 million and they can not loan Zimbabwe anymore money until the current debt is paid of. This really opened my eyes to how serious the debt of African nations is.

This article states that the Prime Minister declared recently that the Ebola Outbreak is soon to be over with. The article goes on to explain that they have had experience in fighting Ebola in the past and their medical caretakers are performing extremely well. This article relates to the DRC's past run ins with Ebola and how they wil overcome it before other contries.

A rebel group currently in control of a key city in The Democratic Republic of the Congo. They plan on liberating the entire country with their new power. The group makes plans on capturing important cities including Kinshasa. If success is reached, they would hold elections for new leaders to make decisions for the new government.

Although South Africa is developing quickly and may be Africa's most advanced country, the youth unemployment rate has drastically soared to about 36%. Many people believe that the youth unemployment statistic is more accurately 50%. In addition, the brand new parliament in this nation is at "war with itself," in that there is a disagreement in socialist and capitalist views. Some believe that the new method will not work or pay off and the country should return to the previous socialist system.

This article basically highlighted that South Africa will be donating about 24 million dollars for Ebola-affected countries. South Africa has already committed 3 million dollars to the fund, and wishes to finish the donation as soon as possible.

This article describes how a German-American journalist was released from the Somali Pirates after negotiators agreed upon $1.6 million ransom. This explains the serious terrorist actions happening in Somalia right now.

This article explained how twelve civilians were killed in a suicide attack on the African Union troops fighting a continuous war against terrorism in Somalia. This article really explains how civilians are the ones paying the price for these brutal attacks.

This article explains the recent deal just made between Zimbabwe and Russia which states that Russia will supply the investment funds for the largest platinum mine in Zimbabwe. President Mugabe expects the mine to create 8,000 jobs and it will be a smart move for the nation. This article is important because it shows that the African nations are trying to get out of their debt.

This article was focused around the DRC president's quick speech given to the UN on terrorism and Ebola affecting global development and of course the development of his own nation. He stressed the DRC's policy of peace keeping and how the situation against terrorism is not in their favor right now. This article basically reinforced everything I just learned about the DRC including their terrorism and Ebola problems.

Former African President F. W. de Klerk argues that the ANC should not implement drastic changes to current property laws in South Africa, as the new laws could cause economic collapse. This land redistribution issue is one that sprang from the end of the era of apartheid. The fact that it is continuing to be an issue highlights the great effect that apartheid had in South Africa.

This article discusses how Jean-Bertrand Ewanga was sentenced to one year in jail after offending Joseph Kabila, the President of the DRC. Kabila, whose father was Laurent Kabila, was elected president, but many people who oppose him belief that the poll was rigged. Ewnaga insulted the president and the government during a rally against amending the constitution to allow Kabila to stay in office past his two-term limit. This relates to Laurent Kabila, who ruled through dictatorship, since Joseph too seems to be corrupt, attempting to extend his presidency and throwing a man in jail for speaking against him.

Dutch farmers are suing the government of Zimbabwe because they say that they were illegally evicted from their land. After Zimbabwe took control of this land they found a lot of diamonds and other minerals on the farm land. The Dutch farmers think that they should get the diamonds and money because the Zimbabwean government took away their land. This refers to the article from Part E because people were evicted from their homes unfairly.

A leader of Shabab was killed by an American airstrike. Since then, they have named a new leader and still have access to a lot of money and weapons, which means they are still a threat.

This article discusses how Al Shabaab has named a new leader, Ahmed Omar Abu Ubaidah, after Ahmed Godane was killed in a US airstrike. The article mentions the group's acts of terror in Somalia and beyond, but says that the group suffered a huge loss with the death of its leader. This relates to the packet since it discusses Al Shabaab and some of its acts of terror in and outside of Somalia.

After the death of the Al-Shabaab leader, Ahmed Godane, the terror group has announced its new leader. The group states that even without Godane, the actions of Al-Shabaab will continue as usual. This relates to our studies, because the Al-Shabaab is a terror group that is active in Kenya and other nations in Africa that we are studying.

This article discusses how Zimbabweans that have taken advantage of land reform have had some of their land taken away. This article uses this example to demonstrate that the land reform system is not as corrupt and rigged as many believe it to be. However, more still needs to be done. Only about 10% of households received new land, sometimes hundreds or thousands of hectares. Some land needs to be taken away from these households and distributed among the other 90%. This relates to the packet because it discusses how land reform is improving and what still needs to improve.

Russians have started a new 3 billion dollar platinum mine in Zimbabwe. This just happened right after 45 million dollars worth of diamonds were seized by a South African company and sent to Paris. This relates to the article discussing the many mining opportunities in Zimbabwe.

This article is about the trial of an army officer who lead attacks on many villages in the DRC. He is accused of leading mass murder, rape, kidnapping and sexual violence. This relates to the activity because it shows rape being used as a weapon of war.

This article describes how legislation that was meant to keep companies from buying minerals from armed groups actually harms honest miners. The legislation requires that companies track where their supply chains get their minerals to ensure that business is not going to armed groups. However, since small-business miners are hard to track, most companies now do not support these miners. What happens instead is that armed groups smuggle the minerals out of the Congo and sell it to those companies anyway, so this legislation actually helps them more than it hurts them. This relates to Part F since it discusses the armed groups' control over the minerals in the Congo.

This article discusses new legislation in the DRC saying that mining firms need to track their supply chain. It discusses the flaws in this law because not only does it hurt small mining firms, but also creates a source of funding for rebel groups. This relates to the activity because it discusses the presence of rebel groups around mining area since the start of the civil war.