CAJ International Magazine: Refugees, Corruption, Justice and Returned Slaves

LAGOS: CAJ International Magazine welcomed the New Year in a special edition that covers Africa and the world.

The cover story on Uganda, a host of over 1.5 million refugees, explains its plan to roll out some transition strategies for refugees. Among the trending refugee some transition strategies for refugees. Among the trending refugee themes is the localization. UNHCR, the government and partners are strategizing to make refugees their own community front-runners in local change making.

This truly is a path to refugee resilience. In the non-profit world, international organizations and donors pick refugee-led organizations to work with in designing and implementing tailored programs.

This transfers resources needed to refugees through refugee organizations to champion local response against their community challenges. One of the key concerns facing refugees and hosts is the effect of climate change. These include drought and energy shortage affecting livelihoods.

Alison Lemeri of CAJ International Magazine in this edition reports “It is this and more other causes that many refugee and host organizations are locally designing solutions to fight. But nothing bigger and scalable is possible without giving them resources.

After years of serving their communities, most of them have built expertise base in project development, implementation and reporting. Many international organizations helped make this possible when they engaged them in capacity strengthening trainings and partnerships. They now need the trust of donors to funds, equipment and materials…” This story is our cover for this edition.

For Ashraf Aboul-Yazid, 2023 was a significant year – He celebrated new books translated by him, and other books translated for him as well. The four poetry publications of the Eurasian Literary Festival, Cairo, were (4 Poets on the Silk Road), (My Horizons in Sequence) by the poet Alexandra Ochirova, the Silk Road Anthology series (Nano-Poems for Africa), and (A Street in Cairo) in the Russian language, translated by the Russian-Azerbaijani poet Eldar Akhadov.

This spring, the Iranian poet, Professor Nasrin Shakibi Mumtaz, sent him two new collections published in Tehran in Persian, in which she translated two of his Arabic volumes: (On the Path of Death) and (The Memory of Silence). In Kaohsiung World Poetry Festival in Taiwan, November 2023, he had two more books translated from English ; (4 Hakka Poets from Taiwan), namely Ching-Fa Wu, Tseng Kuei-Hai, Du Pan Fang-ge, and Fang-Tzu Chang, and the Taiwanese poet, storyteller, and painter Miao-yi Tu’s book (They Are the Daughters of Siraya). Indeed, 2023 was a year of poetry for Ashraf.

On Fafang Town’s Agricultural Subsidies: A Beacon of Inspiration for Sierra Leone Farmers, which Luke Kakpa Pessima visited as during his visit in Liangzhou, D District, Gansu Province, China, as a masters student in International Development Policies and Governance at China Agricultural University (CAU), he investigated amid the attractive landscapes of Shiyanghe Basin. Fafang Town has risen as a symbol of hope and transformation for the country’s farmers in the west desert.

In a region where agriculture serves as the lifeblood of the economy, Fafang Town’s visionary agricultural subsidy program has become a shining example of success. Initiated in 2005 through a collaboration between local leaders, progressive farmers and National Development Agricultural Experts (NDAE), the program aimed to address the long-standing challenges faced by farmers in the area. Access to agricultural inputs such as high-quality seeds and fertilizers, irrigation infrastructure, and machinery, coupled with extensive training and education on farming techniques, laid the foundation for a paradigm shift in agricultural productivity.

Oseni Yusuf Salam writes “Beyond Aid: Africa’s Rising Tide of Ingenuity Reshapes the World”, mentioning that beyond the tired narrative of African dependence, shine a light on the burgeoning wave of native ingenuity washing over the continent, shaping solutions not just for Africa, but for the entire world. “Dive into the heart of a bustling innovation hub in Nairobi, Lagos, or Kigali. Paint a vivid picture of young Africans collaborating, hacking away at challenges, and birthing game-changing ideas showcases a captivating array of homegrown revolutionary solutions”.

On “Islamic Justice and the Fight Against Corruption in Africa, we read the column of Robert Nestrooy Kayongo “HARD TALK” and the challenge across the continent of Africa, infiltrating various sectors and institutions with far-reaching consequences. It spans from the northern reaches to the southern tip, manifesting in various forms. Among its diverse effects are: eroding trust in governance structures, impeding socio-economic development, and hindering the equitable distribution of resources. Its prevalence poses a substantial threat to the realization of

Africa’s potential, undermining efforts towards stability, progress, and sustainable growth”

“The Africa Union estimates that $140 billion is lost through corruption annually. This is equivalent to the GDP of all but five countries in Africa. To put this in another perspective, this amount can ensure uninterrupted power 24 hours a day to every citizen in Africa for 3 years!”

Gambia Braces Up to Celebrate Bicentenary Commemoration of Returned Slaves in the country’s Island settlement of Janjanbureh in 1823. According to Hamat N.K Bah, Minister of Tourism and Culture, the purpose of the commemoration is to reflect and celebrate the return of slaves to the settlement of Janjanbureh in 1823 exactly two hundred years ago, noting that to this effect, a National Organizing Committee has been set-up to oversee the organization of the commemoration that is slated for 4-7th January, 2024 . Details in Kebba Ansu Manneh’s report.

Former Times of Eswatini newspaper Deputy editor and journalist, has turned against his former profession and called for government to control the media. The former journalist is now Mbabane East Member of Parliament, after winning elections in September 2023.

The pretentious Dlamini, is the President of the Swaziland National of Journalists (SNAJ). According to the Eswatini Observer Newspaper dated 29 November, 2023, Dlamini was speaking in November, 2023 during the parliamentarians’ five-day induction conference at the Happy Valley Hotel. Chairman of the Editor’s Forum and Eswatini Observer’s Managing Editor, Mbongeni Mbingo, presented on the relationship between the media and Parliament. Dube Eugene covers the story of “A journalist biting his Profession in the leg”.

Dela Ahiawor, writes on concerns flaring over press freedom in Ghana: “Thus the need arises to fight off the recurring problem of media muzzling in the bid to safeguard press freedom. In fact, muzzling the media is a national headache. For the fact that, Ghana’s rank in the 2023 World Press Freedom Index is 62 out of 180 countries -the worst press freedom ranking in 17 years.

Point by point, Ghana slipped two places from 60 in 2022 to 62 in 2023.However on the African continent Ghana inched up to 9th position in 2023 from 10th position in 2022 Giving voice to the attack on Onua TV/ Onua FM, the International President of the Congress of African Journalists (CAJ), Mr. Michael Adeboboye in an interview with CAJ International Magazine recently said: “the attempt by the National Media Commission in Ghana to take Onua TV/Onua FM off the air is condemnable and must be resisted.” With Africa showing low levels of press freedom since 2003, Mr. Adeboboye urged African leaders to ensure freedom of the press in 2024 to foster the needed development on the continent.”

In this edition, there are other interesting stories from other African countries and diaspora including an interview with Korean journalist, traveler and writer; Cherry (Lee Yeon-Sil) whose name seeming unsung but has contacts in over 200 different countries of the world