Africanist Press Podcast Service
Politikk og nyheterThe Africanist Press Podcast Service examines how global and continental events have affected communities in the African region, and how indigenous communities are developing strategies to overcome conflict, instability, and other challenges in the region. The overall goal of the Podcast Service is to give voice to marginalized communities through the production of weekly audio broadcasts that analyzes ongoing events in Africa as part of an effort to contribute to better understanding of key developments in the region.
Siste episoder av Africanist Press Podcast Service podcast
- The 2028 Agenda of the Maada Bio Regime (00:38:37)
In this episode, we discuss the increasing legitimacy crisis facing the Maada Bio regime in Sierra Leone. We examine the regime's agenda as it prepares for the upcoming 2028 elections. Additionally, we highlight why the 2028 elections pose a significant challenge to the political and elite alliances that have maintained power in Sierra Leone since 1961.This episode is part of the Voice from Exile series of the Africanist Press.
- USAID Cuts and the Need to Rethink Future US-Africa Relations (00:26:26)
In this exclusive interview, Africanist Press editor, Dr. Chernoh Alpha Bah talks to journalists Ryan Grim and Emily Jashinsky of the Counter Point Show about "USAID Cuts and the Need to Rethink Future US-Africa Relations.”You can order the book, The Ebola Outbreak in West Africa: Corporate Gangsters, Multinationals, and Rogue Politicians, here: https://www.amazon.com/Ebola-Outbreak-West-Africa-Multinationals/dp/0996973923
- From Elections to Coups: Journalism in an Era of Instability in Africa (01:07:11)
This episode presents RSF's Sadibou Marong's keynote address at the conference on “Media and Democracy in Africa” held from April 17-18, 2025 at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University. The conference, which brought together journalists, academics, and press freedom advocates from Africa, Europe, and USA, was organized by Dr. Chernoh Alpha M. Bah and sponsored by the Africa Initiative at Brown University.
- Challenges to Investigative Journalism in Africa: The Africanist Press Experience in Sierra Leone (00:51:29)
This episode is a presentation by Dr. Chernoh Alpha M. Bah during a two-day conference on "Media and Democracy in Africa" held from April 17-18, 2025 at the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs at Brown University. The conference, which brought together journalists from Africa, Europe, and United States, was organized by Dr. Chernoh Alpha M. Bah and sponsored by the Africa Initiative.
- Sierra Leone: Challenges to Free Speech and Academic Freedom in Sierra Leone (00:30:05)
In this episode, Africanist Press editor, Dr. Chernoh Alpha Bah gives a report on free speech and academic freedom violations in Sierra Leone. The presentation, which highlighted the harassment and attacks on the Africanist Press by Sierra Leone politicians, is part of 2025 annual meeting of the Committee of Concerned Scientists (CCS). To watch the full video of the proceedings, click here.
- Cameroon: Cyrille Roland Bechon Speaks on Threats to Human Rights Defenders (00:59:13)
In mid-January, unidentified individuals broke into the offices of a human rights organization, Nouveaux Droits de l’Homme (NDH) in Yaoundé, Cameroon taking away essential documents and office equipment. The looted materials included laptops and desktop computers, hard drives, projectors, video cameras, and other data storage devices.In this exclusive interview, NDH's executive director, Cyrille Roland Bechon, highlights the dangers faced by human rights defenders in Cameroon.The interview is conducted by Africanist Press editor, Dr. Chernoh Alpha Bah.
- Community Voices: Civil Society and Youth Empowerment in Zimbabwe (00:31:45)
In this episode, Evidence Chipadza discusses civil society and youth empowerment in Zimbabwe with Tafadzwa Makore and Leniel Gava. This episode is part of the Africanist Press community voices series.
- Sierra Leone's New Anti-Terrorism Law Against Free Speech and Academic Freedom (00:49:27)
Sierra Leonean politicians have created a new anti-terrorism law that contains unconstitutional provisions designed to curtail citizens’ fundamental civil rights. In this episode, we examine the law's implication for free speech and multiparty democracy in Sierra Leone. This episode is part of the Voice from Exile series.
- Community Voices: Young Women and Politics in Zimbabwe (00:32:39)
In this episode, Evidence Chipadza and Hazel Dendere discuss young women and politics in Zimbabwe. This episode is part of our community voices series.
- Community Voices: IPB calls for Unity and Peace in Liberia's House of Representative (00:31:30)
The International Peace Bureau (IPB) has called on members of Liberia’s House of Representatives to unite and end the ongoing parliamentary deadlock that has affected the country’s legislative activities since October 2024. In this episode, we talk to Tyson Smith Berry Jr. about the IPB’s petition and the need for unity and peace in the Liberian House of Representatives. To sign the IPB petition to the Liberian House of Representatives, click here.
- Community Voices: Climate Change and Adaptation in Zimbabwe (00:34:05)
In this episode, Yeukai Ottilia Munetsi talks to Didmus Dewa about climate change and adaptation in Zimbabwe. Didmus Dewa is a lecturer at the Open University of Zimbabwe. This episode is part of the Africanist Press Community Voices series.
- Community Voices: Party Politics and Service Delivery in Zimbabwe (00:38:17)
In this episode, Cornelia Seliphiwe talks about the impact of party politics on social service delivery and human rights in Gweru, Zimbabwe's midlands province. This interview was conducted by Yeukai Ottilia Munetsi. This episode is part of our new African community voices series.
- Exclusive Interview on West Africa's Ebola Outbreak (01:52:25)
In this exclusive interview Africanist Press editor Dr. Chernoh Alpha Bah discusses his investigation into West Africa's Ebola outbreak, and why there is still need for an independent investigation into the origin of the outbreak. Bah is the author of the book, The Ebola Outbreak in West Africa: Corporate Gangsters, Multinationals, and Rogue Politicians. The book is available here on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
- Investigating the Origin of West Africa’s Ebola Outbreak (00:20:28)
In recent months, more voices have emerged demanding a fresh investigation into the origin of West Africa’s Ebola outbreak, one of the deadliest human catastrophes in recent history. In this episode, journalist Ryan Grim interviews Dr. Chernoh Alpha M. Bah about his investigation that challenged the origin story of the outbreak. Dr. Bah’s book, The Ebola Outbreak in West Africa: Corporate Gangsters, Multinationals, and Rogues Politicians, published in 2015 was the first indigenous account to question the credibility of the zoonotic theory on the origin of West Africa’s Ebola epidemic. Almost ten years after the publication of his book, more voices are now demanding an investigation into the outbreak. In this episode, Dr. Chernoh Bah discusses his investigation and ongoing threats he has faced in retaliation to his anti-corruption work in Sierra Leone. The book is available here on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
- New Details on Maada Bio's Secret Effort to Legalize Abortion in Sierra Leone (00:43:32)
In this episode, we continue to examine the secret efforts of the Maada Bio regime to legalize abortion in Sierra Leone without public debate and public participation. We also highlight the role of individual politicians in the past and present regimes in these efforts to legalize abortion in the country without public debate and consultation.
- Why is Maada Bio’s Abortion Law a Secret? (00:48:31)
In this episode, we continue to examine Maada Bio’s effort to smuggle through Parliament an Abortion Law without the knowledge and participation of Sierra Leonean women. We also examine the differences between Ernest Bai Koroma’s 2015 Abortion Bill and Maada Bio’s 2024 Secret Abortion Bill.
- Who is Behind Sierra Leone's Secret Abortion Bill? (01:00:40)
Politicians in Sierra Leone have secretly tabled an Abortion Bill in Parliament and are working to speedily pass it into law without public consultation and debate. The proposed law gives married women and girls the sole right to abort any pregnancy; and to decide whether they want to have a baby or not; and the number and spacing of babies. The abortion law also proposes monetary fines and 12 months imprisonment for dissenting husbands and anyone “discriminating” against the pregnancy decisions and reproductive choices of women and girls. In this special episode, we discuss the secret efforts of Sierra Leonean politicians to enact an Abortion Bill through Parliament without public consultation and public debate.
- Africanist Press: A Dedicated Struggle Against Political Corruption and Multinational Exploitation in West Africa (01:24:07)
In this exclusive interview, Africanist Press editor, Dr. Chernoh Alpha Bah talks to Kelley Lane, editor of the Assange Countdown to Freedom Series, about his more than 20 years work to expose multinational exploitation in West Africa, and his ongoing campaign against political corruption and state orchestrated violence in Sierra Leone today. This special episode is part of the events marking the 22nd anniversary of the Africanist Press.
- Africanist Press: A Dedicated Struggle Against Political Corruption and Multinational Exploitation in West Africa (01:24:00)
In this exclusive interview, Africanist Press editor, Dr. Chernoh Alpha Bah talks to Kelley Lane, editor of the Assange Countdown to Freedom Series, about his more than 20 years work to expose multinational exploitation in West Africa, and his ongoing campaign against political corruption and state orchestrated violence in Sierra Leone today. This special episode is part of the events marking the 22nd anniversary of the Africanist Press.
- Sherbro Island: The Proposed Casino Republic in Sierra Leone (00:48:09)
Sherbro Island is one of Sierra Leone’s most beautiful touristic landscape. In 2019, the Maada Bio regime signed an undisclosed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Sherbro Alliance Partners, a company incorporated in early June 2019 as a private limited company (#12040217) under the UK Companies Act 2006 by Idris Akuna Elba and Siaka Stevens, the grandson of Sierra Leone's first president. The non-disclosed agreement proposed to incorporate and establish Sherbro Island into an autonomous economic zone to be governed by a 7-person board of directors who will have sovereign powers to manage Sherbro Island as a distinct legal entity independent of Sierra Leone's financial and economic laws and regulations. The agreement also grants exclusive powers to the proposed authority to establish its own private security, air and sea transport arrangement, its gambling infrastructure, agriculture and health, and the ability to issue its own debt securities and financial markets. However, the details of this agreement have not been made public to Sierra Leoneans. In this episode, we examine the proposed privatization of Sherbro Island and its planned transformation into a “Casino Republic” in Sierra Leone. We highlight the legal and political implications of the proposed takeover of Sherbro Island by multinational corporations. This episode is part of the Voice of Exile series of the Africanist Press.
- From Adani Group to Milele Energy: Why We Must Investigate DFC's Operation in Sierra Leone!! (00:45:13)
Few days ago, the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) issued an indictment against executives of the Adani Group for orchestrating a massive bribery scheme to secure solar energy contracts worth billions of dollars in India. The indictment specifically states that, between July 2021 and February 2022, the Adanis and their associates promised bribes to Indian government officials to secure agreements with state-run electricity distribution companies, which in turn entered into power supply agreements with the Solar Energy Corporation of India (SECI). The contracts were expected to generate profits of approximately US$2 billion over the next two decades, according to the petition. However, a year ago in November 2023, Adani (like Milele Energy in Sierra Leone) received US$553 million debt financing from the United States International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) to fund the Colombo Port Terminal in Sri Lanka, a project in which the Adani Group held 51% ownership. In Sierra Leone, Milele Energy similarly received over US$400 million in DFC debt financing for a corruptly awarded energy project in Freetown. The contract relating to the Western Area Power Generation Project was never advertised or put on a public tender, and was secretly awarded to Milele Energy executives by Julius Maada Bio following deal arrangements and negotiations brokered in Lebanon, Nairobi, Dubai, and Freetown between 2021 and 2023. In this episode, we ask what are the implications of the Adani Group indictment for Milele Energy's corrupt acquisition of Sierra Leone's Western Area Power Generation Project? Also, what is the relationship between the Adani Group corruption case and our ongoing efforts to scrutinize corrupt acquisition of critical infrastructure and service related contracts by US financed corporations in Sierra Leone, including Milele Energy and the Summa Group? Thus, we point out the need to investigate DFC's operation in Sierra Leone from 2021 to present. This episode is part of the Voice from Exile series of the Africanist Press.
- Crisis of US Diplomacy in Sierra Leone: Facade of Tripartite Democracy (00:40:02)
How is United Sates foreign policy affecting democracy in Sierra Leone? What is the difference between electoral democracy and tripartite democracy? Is the United States Embassy in Sierra Leone supporting democracy or helping to consolidate an illegal regime? In this episode, we discuss Sierra Leone's electoral coup of June 2023, and the ongoing international effort, led by the United States Embassy in Freetown, to validate an illegal regime in Sierra Leone despite a fraudulently organized election. This episode is part of the Voice from Exile series of the Africanist Press.
- Tripartite Agreements Are Not Democracy: Lessons from the US Elections (00:39:01)
Are there any parallels between the just concluded November 2024 United States elections and the June 2023 Sierra Leone elections? What lessons do the US elections offer to real democratic and genuine progressive forces in Sierra Leone? In this episode, we provide an analysis of the just concluded United States elections, pointing out the lessons and implications for Sierra Leone's democracy , and why the outcome of any democratic election is never decided by tripartite agreements. This episode is part of our ongoing Voice From Exile series of Africanist Press.
- The Life and Death of Steve Biko (00:51:05)
This episode spotlights the life and contributions of South African revolutionary leader, Stephen Bantu Biko to the Black Consciousness Movement and the struggle against Apartheid.
- 22 Years of the Africanist Press: Looking Ahead...!! (00:24:52)
December 2024 will mark 22 years since the launch of the Africanist Press. The Africanist Press was established by journalists and academics in December 2002 as an independent media organization to defend free speech, expose corruption, and promote democracy and development in Africa. In 22 years, Africanist Press has grown into a robust media organization known internationally for its groundbreaking investigative journalism exposing corruption, human rights violations, and multinational exploitation. In this episode, editor-in-chief Dr. Chernoh Alpha Bah discusses the enduring impact of the Africanist Press, and the planned expansion and official launch of a new Africanist Press multimedia initiative in December 2024 to commemorate the 22nd anniversary of the organization.