Performance artist Serge Attukwei Clottey is best known for his work with the yellow plastic jerrycans that are typically used to collect and carry water. He calls this technique “Afrogallonism”. His performance installations are intended to highlight Ghana’s soaring levels of pollution and to draw attention to social injustice.
Kylie Kiunguyu
Politics and Society Concern over rampant sexual exploitation of Senegal’s school girls
Dozens of Secondary school girls have admitted to the Human Rights Watch (HRW) that they were coerced into sexual relations by their teachers for better grades, food, mobile phones, and new clothes. School-related sexual, and gender-based violence is a serious problem in Senegal, HRW said in the report.
Politics and Society The United Nations is fighting to end virginity testing
A group of United Nations agencies has issued a joint statement calling for the ban of misleading and damaging tests meant to ‘assess the virginity’ of women and girls, a common practice in at least 20 countries.
Lifestyle Dambe: The revived West African martial art form
Dambe is a centuries-old West African form of kick boxing originating from the butcher caste of the Hausa people. A fight lasts three rounds, ending in the knocking out of one of the opponents. Dambe fighters do not use boxing gloves but instead wrap their hitting arm in rope.
Politics and Society Ethiopia’s gender progressive cabinet which comprises 50% women
Ethiopia’s prime minister, Abiy Ahmed, has created gender equity in Africa’s second most-populous nation by appointing a new Cabinet that is half female. The new Cabinet has less ministerial positions and more women in top security posts. Aisha Mohammed will be in charge of defence – the first woman to hold that position.
Arts and Culture Author Tsitsi Dangarembga’s hope for a local #MeToo movement
Prolific Zimbabwean author Tsitsi Dangarembga has expressed her hope of starting a #MeToo campaign in Zimbabwe to highlight the abuse and discrimination suffered by women, as the viral movement has yet to make waves in her country and many other African countries.
Politics and Society South African girls learn self-defence as boys learn empathy to tackle sexual violence
The South African charity Action Breaks Silence is working with schools to educate girls in self-defence and mental strength while encouraging boys to be empathetic and emotionally expressive. So far, more than 12,000 girls and 1,365 boys in 150 schools countrywide have been through the programme.
Lifestyle Uganda produces another Chess World Title holder in Gloria Nansubuga
Gloria Nansubuga, a 17-year-old Ugandan, has won a World Title at World Chess Olympiad in Batumi, Georgia, making her the third highest-ranked Woman Fédération Internationale des Échecs or World Chess Federation master.
Arts and Culture Karmzah, the Superheroine with Cerebral Palsy
World Cerebral Palsy Day is observed every year on 6 October. Cerebral palsy is a neurological condition that is the largest cause of childhood disability. To remedy the lack of disability representation, Farida Bedwei launched “Karmzah!”, a comic book that features a heroine with cerebral palsy.