EP 9 Zamzam Massacre, Rwanda–US Migrant Deal, Germany Halts Arms to Israel I African News Review 🌍

In this episode of African News Review, host Adesoji Iginla and guest Milton Allimadi discuss a range of pressing issues affecting Africa and the world. They delve into the complexities of US politics, particularly Trump's upcoming meeting with Putin, and the implications for international relations. 

The conversation shifts to the humanitarian crisis in Sudan, highlighting the devastating impact of conflict on civilians. They also explore the role of external forces in African conflicts, the effectiveness of the African Union, and the rise of youth activism through social media. 

The episode further examines Rwanda's controversial deal to accept migrants, the challenges of air travel in Africa, and Germany's recent suspension of arms exports to Israel. Throughout the discussion, the hosts critique media narratives and the influence of colonial legacies on contemporary issues in Africa.

Takeaways

*The role of international media in shaping narratives around conflicts. 
*The impact of colonial-era ethnic and racial hierarchies in African conflicts. 
*The responsibilities of African states in international refugee protection.
*The Complicity of Western Countries, Institutions, and Media in the Genocide in Gaza.

Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Welcome Back
01:43 Trump's Meeting with Putin and Domestic Political Dynamics
05:26 Atrocities in Sudan: The Zamzam Refugee Camp Incident
10:52 The Role of External Forces in Sudan's Conflict
16:26 Colonial Legacies and Ethnic Divisions in Africa
21:29 Rwanda's Controversial Migrant Deal with the US
26:51 International Law and Refugee Protection Responsibilities
29:03 Rwanda and Uganda's Tariff Dynamics
29:44 The West and International Law
31:46 Immigration Policies and Global Perceptions
32:34 The Wretched of the Earth
33:43 Challenges of Air Travel in Africa
35:12 Critique of African Airlines
38:27 Media's Role in Perception
43:19 Germany's Arms Export Policy Change
45:18 The Israeli Defence Forces and Media Bias
54:42 Genocide in Gaza and Media Hypocrisy

Transcript

Adesoji Iginla (00:07.487)
Yes, greetings, greetings, and welcome to another episode of African News Review. I am your host, as usual, Adesuji Iginla. And with me, back from a world needed rest, is comrade Milti Alimadi. He is the host, WBI, editor of Black Star News, the author of How the West Manufactured Hates.

which is currently undergoing a revamp. And you should see an updated copy shortly. And

Milton Allimadi (00:43.061)
Yes, perhaps even a different title actually.

Adesoji Iginla (00:47.047)
okay. So, yeah.

Milton Allimadi (00:51.509)
I got my contract back after three years of fighting with my publisher.

Adesoji Iginla (00:54.347)
Okay.

Milton Allimadi (00:59.265)
But the contract allows the publisher to continue selling whatever they already had printed, you see.

Adesoji Iginla (01:06.888)
OK, OK.

Milton Allimadi (01:08.864)
So I don't want to be marketing something with the exact same title.

Adesoji Iginla (01:13.566)
Orca.

Milton Allimadi (01:15.052)
and then they would benefit from that as well. You know, since they didn't want to promote my book, because clearly I suspect they were trying to suppress sales because the sales were high when it first was published. Why should I be helping them? You see what I'm saying? So that's why I'm actually thinking a new title also, and that everybody that is interested in the book would go exactly to what they're ordering and not mistakenly buy the version of that.

Adesoji Iginla (01:17.15)
Okay, okay, okay.

interesting.

Adesoji Iginla (01:27.341)
Mm-hmm.

I get, get, yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (01:41.407)
OK. By the old, yes, yes, yes. OK, OK.

Milton Allimadi (01:44.833)
Yes, exactly. So, yeah. So I'm thinking about that and I'll let you know what I decide. But thank you for mentioning that.

Adesoji Iginla (01:50.589)
Okay. No problem. More into your pen, as they would say. So yes, welcome back from your well-needed rest. you're... Yeah. So without further ado, we'll go into... I mean, I should do the protocol. In terms of the United States, what's the major news... major news burning?

Milton Allimadi (02:01.237)
Thank you, Cronberg.

Milton Allimadi (02:16.096)
Well, they made a news of interest to me. There are two actually, obviously. One is that Trump has now scheduled a meeting, I believe it's next Friday, with Putin. And what I think is going to come out of that, because he is now very motivated and believes that he can actually win the Nobel Peace Prize, right? So I think...

Adesoji Iginla (02:30.357)
okay okay

Milton Allimadi (02:46.153)
He is going to make a deal with Putin to end this war. So what he's going to do is he's going to say the US, and obviously he can't force the issue because all he has to do is just stop providing any intelligence and weapons to Ukraine and Europe collectively cannot fill up that void.

Adesoji Iginla (03:02.528)
weapon.

Adesoji Iginla (03:11.809)
Yes, yes.

Milton Allimadi (03:14.985)
So he's going to make a deal with Putin, I suspect, and Russia will be able to keep the territory that it has already conquered. Obviously, there's a little bit of a difficulty because I think Putin wants to conquer a little more territory before. So that might be the only issue. But I think he's made up his mind to accept that Russia will keep what it has conquered.

Adesoji Iginla (03:23.06)
Really?

Adesoji Iginla (03:30.231)
more.

Milton Allimadi (03:42.378)
I'll keep what it has the next week, which is of course, Crimea. And then he will announce a ceasefire, even though, of course, Ukraine is not a part of this meeting that's coming on Friday. And Europe, I was reading something in the New York Times that European leaders are opposed. They want something that does not remove the possibility of Ukraine joining NATO in the future. That's not going to happen with Trump, right?

Adesoji Iginla (04:11.319)
Definitely not.

Milton Allimadi (04:12.969)
So that to me is one major interesting news. And then the second one is domestic. Candidate Cuomo, Andrew Cuomo, who's also running the former government of New York, who was defeated in the Democratic primaries by Zohan Mabdani, is now in a total panic mode. Apparently had been having some conversations with Trump.

Adesoji Iginla (04:23.648)
Okay.

Adesoji Iginla (04:28.534)
I'm ready, yeah.

I'm done.

Milton Allimadi (04:40.856)
And he's saying, we didn't discuss the election, complete BS, of course. And the fact that they discussed the election is now clear because Trump is now saying that if a quote unquote communist, he doesn't know anything, the difference between a communist and socialist. So if a communist wins in New York, just think about it. We might take control of New York City. You can't do that. The Constitution doesn't allow that. He doesn't even know, you know, the powers of the presidency, right?

Adesoji Iginla (04:45.997)
Okay.

Adesoji Iginla (04:55.723)
Okay.

Adesoji Iginla (05:10.858)
Yeah, but who planted that idea in his head though?

Milton Allimadi (05:13.384)
I mean, the fact, it just shows what kind of devious person Cuomo is. He thinks, Cuomo knows of course that Trump cannot do that, but he's thinking, this is how perverted his thinking has become, I believe, that that will scare enough people into voting for him. That goes when you completely lost your marbles. In fact, it'll do the opposite. It'll increase the margin.

of Mabdani's victory in my view. So those to me are the interesting two items of the week.

Adesoji Iginla (05:48.717)
Okay, in the UK, the most interesting story of the week was a protest that happened yesterday and that ties in with the story we're going to read at the end. So I'll save because you would see how it rhymes up. speaking of stories, the first one from today comes from The Guardian and it reads

Milton Allimadi (06:03.099)
Okay.

Milton Allimadi (06:07.589)
Okay. Very good.

Adesoji Iginla (06:20.874)
Assault.

Adesoji Iginla (06:25.461)
It reads, assault on Sudan's Zamzam refugee camp may have killed more than 1,500 civilians. Guardian investigation finds number killed in April attack by rapid support forces, far greater than current estimates. There is a quote there, they slaughtered us like animals, the inside stories of how one of the biggest atrocities of the Sudan war unfolded in Zamzam.

Zamzam is a refugee camp. More than 1,500 civilians may have been massacred during an attack on the Sudanese largest displacement camp in April and what could be the second biggest war crime of the country's catastrophic conflict. A guardian investigation into the 72-hour attack by the paramilitary rapid support forces or not the four Zamzam camp

the country's largest for people displaced by the war found repeated testimony of mass executions, large scale abductions, hundreds of civilians remain unaccounted for. So the genesis of the war, the war begin between the Arab led RSF and the Sudanese military, which broke out in April, 2023 has been categorized by repeated atrocities, forcing millions from their homes.

and causing the world's largest humanitarian crisis. Your initial take with the angle posed by the headlong.

Milton Allimadi (08:01.215)
Okay. So if the, and that obviously to me is the purpose of that article is to try to, you know, reignite more global interest in this war. And to try to sort of like spark intervention, right? Now the intervention of what nature is not clear in a war like this.

Adesoji Iginla (08:23.245)
Yep.

Milton Allimadi (08:30.478)
where you have like a fully, two fully equipped armies fighting, right? But obviously, mean, the ammunition, they don't manufacture, right? Counter-mode, sorry. The weapons, they're still getting weapons and they have a lot of weapons already, right? But at some point you need ammunition. So the fact that they're still getting weapons and ammunition.

Adesoji Iginla (08:34.733)
True. Yep.

Adesoji Iginla (08:45.197)
Correct. Correct.

Adesoji Iginla (08:50.241)
somehow.

Mm-hmm.

Milton Allimadi (09:00.152)
that is the major problem. And that's where the outside world can intervene in this war. So is this newsworthy? I would say yes, because anything that reminds the world that yes, there a lot of wars going on at this time, Gaza is a total catastrophe. At the same time,

there's still another catastrophe continuing in Sudan. So for that purpose, I can see why they would play out revelations such as this. And I imagine this is not the only revelation that is awaiting in this very vicious fighting that is going on in Sudan. I imagine there have been many undercounts of massacres that have occurred since this fighting exploded.

in April 2023. So for that purpose, yes. And obviously it's very sad because when you have two people with equally equipped armies, right, they call the RSA for militia. That's not really a militia, that's an armed force. A militia does not have armored vehicles, you see. Artillery, right.

Adesoji Iginla (10:26.242)
Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (10:28.298)
radio communication, everything that a regular standing army has. So that is why the war has been so destructive and has taken such a long time. So now it's also another problem because they're not really any, you know, the RSF, based on reporting, have committed many more massacres. So it's a question of degrees.

Because the National Army itself has also been committing massacres and, you know, within discriminate bombing, you know, leading to many deaths of civilians. So, because it would be a bit easier if one side was so blatantly awful that you could bring the outside world against it and give whatever support.

Adesoji Iginla (11:19.745)
Thank you.

Adesoji Iginla (11:27.777)
to.

Milton Allimadi (11:28.169)
to decide that it does not appear to be bad, quote unquote, so that it can win militarily, absent any willingness to negotiate on both sides. But that is, as I said, matter of, you when you start talking about degrees of how awful each side is, that's not a good sign. But at the end of the day, it seems to me that

Adesoji Iginla (11:51.97)
Whoa. No.

Milton Allimadi (11:57.948)
there's still going to have to be a lot of outside force imposed on both sides because they're the ones that disrupted the civilian process, which was evolving in Sudan so that the civilians, the activists, the students, the workers, the professionals, they can form the civilian government, which they were already in the process of forming until these two generals hijacked the process.

The United States, of course, because a lot of the weapons comes from the world rich Gulf countries. And, you know, Trump is friends with them. And you know what, actually don't be shocked because as I said earlier, he's very vested now in winning the Nobel, campaigning for it openly. His supporters, the White House, every time, I mean, there was a

I didn't even know there was a war going on between Azerbaijan and I forget who, but the White House sent me a press release the other day that Trump broke another amazing peace deal and had the presidents of Azerbaijan, and I'm sorry, I forgot who they're fighting with, in the White House. So that's the kind of press release we're going to be getting on a regular basis. So I suspect, and he actually mentioned it.

in July, he said, I think he said like a nasty situation going on in Sudan, and we're going to become involved in that. So imagine that if he does put his weight on the Gulf, world rich countries to say, listen, stop providing the weapons, I think something would happen. And something, since he wants the Nobel Peace Prize so badly, that

Adesoji Iginla (13:39.191)
Mm.

Milton Allimadi (13:56.325)
could be enough motivation for the U.S. to take an active role, which would be very ironic because...

Adesoji Iginla (13:58.669)
for him to win.

Milton Allimadi (14:04.412)
And the same thing applies to Rwanda and Congo as well. Not only does the US want to continue getting the minerals, but as I said, they were getting minerals anyway, but they were getting it in a very vicious way by supporting Uganda and Rwanda to just steal it. But Trump is now saying, okay, we're going to get it above board in return for me brokering this peace deal. That's one aspect.

the motivation. The other aspect is also the Nobel Peace Prize. So now if I were, you know, people in Cameroon, the Cameroon activists, they should say, listen, there many other wars to help you win this peace prize. What about Cameroon? You see? And here's a, you we are laughing, but here's the irony.

If it results in the end of fighting, then it would have done much, much better than the Democrats. And that is the irony of the whole thing.

Adesoji Iginla (15:12.203)
Yeah, but I suppose the motivation for him is not altruistic. It's because of the eye on the prize.

Milton Allimadi (15:21.644)
Absolutely, but it doesn't matter. The outcome would be he ended a war that the Democrats, you know, made no serious effort to end. And that is an indictment that a person like this who defies laws domestically and international law could come and end these conflicts. Then you have to really question what it means to be a Democrat.

Adesoji Iginla (15:26.977)
Good. Okay.

Hmm

Adesoji Iginla (15:43.521)
the beggars belief.

Adesoji Iginla (15:47.661)
So a quick question for you before we move on. So how does the violence in this camp connect to the colonial era construction of racial and ethnic hierarchies in Sudan? And what lessons can African states draw from the failure to protect Darfur? Because Darfur was in the headline a couple of decades ago, displaced communities despite decades of warning.

Milton Allimadi (16:16.779)
Yeah, but this is not a unique problem. Pretty much every African country employs the same tactic, ethnic divide and rule. In this case, it happened to be ethnic plus, quote unquote, racial as well, using the different pigmentation to highlight the same thing that African countries, misrulers have done, dividing people from the north.

Adesoji Iginla (16:18.785)
Mm.

Milton Allimadi (16:45.683)
one country against the South. You know, we've had that in Uganda. You have that in Nigeria as well. They have that in Cameroon right now. just met in Cameroon. So that's a bigger problem than just, you know, than Sudan. It's ironic that sometimes we as Africans get, you know, all excited when the pigmentation is what is used as the focus to divide and rule. But there's

No difference between that, whether they have same pigmentation if you're using, or you come from this region, you come from that region, come from this ethnic group. You know, it's just a disaster. know, Krumah anticipated this. And that's why he said these meaningless borders have got to go so that Africans can really learn to live as Africans, something that, of course, colonialism did not want.

So we still have the same, you know, colonial practice in place, you know, using this divide and rule in order to maintain power. So that's a problem.

Adesoji Iginla (17:49.707)
Yep.

Adesoji Iginla (17:59.307)
Yes, speaking of Sudan and especially that region for those who want to understand that neck of the woods and so that when you see the headlines, you have a mental picture of what that place might be like. You could read Alex de Waal's book, The Real Horn of Africa, you know, the Real Politics of the Horn of Africa. Sudan is one of the countries mentioned there, Sudan.

Ethiopia, Eritrea, and the likes. And so you get this. Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (18:31.7)
He's good. He was always good whichever part of the continent he wrote about.

Adesoji Iginla (18:37.485)
Yes. So again, the book is Alex de Waal. It's the Real Politics of the Horn of Africa. And yes. So because what we want to do on here is not just debunk the wrong narratives, but also to give you a background into why those stories might be the way they are. And so, yes. Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (19:01.17)
Right, just one final point that I want to make before we move on. The saddest thing is this is a war.

Adesoji Iginla (19:07.821)
Mm.

Milton Allimadi (19:11.476)
for adults, right?

of adults being waged by children. You see? who should be in school, children who should be getting training, job training, children who should not be killing other children and killing adults as well. But, you know, it's like, becomes like a source of

Adesoji Iginla (19:22.999)
Did you say?

Adesoji Iginla (19:38.049)
Mm. Mm.

Milton Allimadi (19:44.635)
livelihood and living for these children as well. So they are the workers. They are basically the workers while these generals, know, General Hemeti, you know, General... Yeah, these are the, like, the capitalist exploitators.

Adesoji Iginla (20:00.014)
move on.

Milton Allimadi (20:10.193)
They are both multi-millionaires in control of resources, in control of factories, and they're just throwing the children like the fodder, know. Yeah, General Burhan and General Hemetty.

Adesoji Iginla (20:27.117)
Well, peace comes to... But one other, I mean, one curious question before. What does the AU do?

Milton Allimadi (20:41.97)
All right, so.

This is just one of the many symptoms of the complete failure of the AU. But the AU's failure is not surprising because the AU comprises the leadership of the individual African countries. So you can't be a misruler in your individual country and then you come to meet in Addis Ababa and suddenly you are converted into some sort of like...

Adesoji Iginla (20:53.709)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (21:16.609)
Thanks, Dietzman.

Milton Allimadi (21:16.656)
person who like a Tomasankara, you can become a Tomakansara, know, the Sababa during the conference and then you when you go back to your country you are Burhan, you are Moussavany, you know, you are, I don't even know if Paul Bia still goes to these meetings, know, a proud and a singha.

So when you talk about the AU, we should not even talk about the AU. We should talk about what are the African misrulers doing.

Adesoji Iginla (21:52.513)
Mmm.

Milton Allimadi (21:53.869)
then it would be synonymous with the AU. It's squandered, you know.

Adesoji Iginla (22:03.541)
opportunities.

Milton Allimadi (22:05.519)
Yeah, even beyond opportunities, mean, this is an organ that could really be powerful, you see? You know, we can't say everything is a squandered opportunity on the continent, So unity is squandered opportunity. Having policies that are proactive is squandered opportunity. Getting rid of those artificial borders is squandered opportunity.

You know?

Adesoji Iginla (22:37.389)
education.

Milton Allimadi (22:39.512)
Yeah, but the youth, the youth who want, they want examples, they want a vision, they want leadership, they want motivation. That's why I'm very pro-youth. Do what you need to do. The youth so far have been supporting the changes in the alliance of Sahelian states.

Adesoji Iginla (22:45.101)
change.

Milton Allimadi (23:08.372)
So that's what we need to see in more and more African countries. The youth are saying enough is enough. In Kenya, you know, they're doing it in a different way, but it's the same thing. They are tired of the status quo. And in fact, here's the other irony.

young people have launched a global campaign on social media which is very effective and that's a power of social media as well. There's a campaign, don't ignore Gaza, don't ignore Sudan, don't ignore Congo and they're tying all these conflicts together. They need to add

Adesoji Iginla (23:58.38)
Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (24:00.565)
Cameroon though to this because now it's getting a lot of attention you have celebrities or seeing Amanda Seals is involved in a podcast conversation and you know people like that she has like more than two million followers on IG and that cannot be ignored by media and then ultimately cannot be ignored by leadership in the Western countries and it's so sad

Adesoji Iginla (24:01.707)
Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (24:30.825)
that it takes the intervention of Western countries. Well, often it's because they have their hands also behind the conflict to end these conflicts. They come to put off the fire that they themselves set, right? So when you support a poor being in Cameroon, who's really responsible for the problem?

Adesoji Iginla (24:39.221)
and yeah.

Milton Allimadi (25:00.837)
The outside world says, look, English speaking part of Cameroon fighting against the French speaking part, not knowing that the French speaking so-called leader has been maintained for 43 years by the French. You see? But unfortunately, our children are the ones that suffer. So we can't just say, it's because

Adesoji Iginla (25:05.943)
Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (25:16.749)
1982.

Milton Allimadi (25:29.365)
so and so is supported by the West. We need to find creative ways to intervene. We need to force the hands of the leadership in these Western countries to stop doing the wrong thing. So be it. And it seems like social media is being helpful in that respect as well.

Adesoji Iginla (25:48.937)
Okay, okay. So thank you. We move on to the next story, which comes from The Guardian 2. And it's also that neck of the woods and it relates to

Adesoji Iginla (26:08.107)
Mr. Rwanda, so Rwanda agrees to take up to 250 migrants from the US. Do follows deportation to South Sudan and Ersutini despite concerns about international law breaches.

The Rwandan government said it would accept up to 250 from the US under a deal agreed with Washington, but gave no details on who would be included. It goes on, the deal announced on Tuesday followed a council arrangement with Britain under which Rwanda would have received asylum seekers arriving in the UK in small boats.

The deal was scrapped after the conservative government that negotiated it lost last year general election. That's not the case, but we take that for now. Those who arrive in Rwanda will be provided with training, health care, and accommodation, she added. That's the spokesperson for the government. So what is your take on this deal?

Milton Allimadi (27:20.391)
Well, it's human trafficking for cash, of course. Rwanda was going to be paid and were paid by the UK. And even though that deal ended, kept the money. So it's no way that Rwanda is going to absorb any cost for so-called training or accommodation and maintenance and feeding of 250 people from outside when it's struggling to feed its own people. And it needs to.

Adesoji Iginla (27:30.039)
Mm-hmm.

You

Adesoji Iginla (27:40.141)
Mm.

Milton Allimadi (27:49.338)
Plundered resources from Congo and killed people in Congo to feed its own people So why would it take this extra burden of crust? So even though no number is mentioned there, of course, eventually it will be revealed, right? It's hard for the US to make any payment without You know accounting for it So and that's number one. So that's what kind of Kagame is doing is obviously number one. It gets some money out of it also develops a

Adesoji Iginla (28:03.159)
Okay.

Milton Allimadi (28:18.957)
reliable relationship with the US.

Milton Allimadi (28:27.149)
So they signed the peace agreement in the White House. And at some point, I don't know when Kagame himself and President Shikha are supposed to come to the White House. So obviously, he's not going to forego an opportunity like that to be seen in the White House. He's gotten a lot of criticism for human rights abuse.

Adesoji Iginla (28:42.797)
put into paper.

Adesoji Iginla (28:50.654)
Okay, okay

Milton Allimadi (28:56.387)
within Rwanda and of course for his war of aggression against Congo. What better way than to be seen as a peacemaker being invited to the White House, posing for photographs with Trump, signing an agreement with Shakiri, you know, witnessed by Trump. All the media will be there, right? And now you have this deal with the U.S. further solidifying your relationship.

Adesoji Iginla (29:24.311)
the relationship.

Milton Allimadi (29:25.228)
I don't think there's going to be time to be criticizing Rwanda over any human rights abuse going forward for the foreseeable future, right? Of course, there's the other aspect. Now that you've actually signed the peace agreement with Congo at the White House, it ties your hands in terms of your ability

Adesoji Iginla (29:47.362)
Wait, Congo.

Milton Allimadi (29:55.236)
to have your military occupying Eastern Congo under the pretense that is quote unquote M23. You see? So I think he has factored all that into it and he's seen that, okay, even if I have to withdraw M23, I'm still going to be in a strong position if I build this relationship with the United States. Let's say,

Adesoji Iginla (30:10.827)
also stay relevant.

Milton Allimadi (30:26.691)
Trump is there for the next what, three and a half years. I'll find a way to work in a way that benefits Rwanda for the next three and a half years. And then after that, if I need to make new moves, I'll deal with it at that time. I think that's his thinking.

Adesoji Iginla (30:35.147)
with the government.

Adesoji Iginla (30:51.305)
That said, I suppose you've sort of answered the question, but then if you can buttress the point. What responsibilities do African states have to refuse such deals that may breach international refugees' protection? Because the refugee law wants a person six status. In this case, it's a mix of both anyway. You're getting

We don't know quite, but we sort of have an idea of what it is they're trying to do.

Milton Allimadi (31:24.262)
I mean, obviously, if you're sending somebody to a country not of their choice, you know, that's already a violation right there, or an actual law. You see? The very few of them can refuse because they're not in a strong position. Big countries like Nigeria, of course, can refuse. And not surprising, Nigeria was hit with a high tariff rate, correct? South Africa can refuse.

Adesoji Iginla (31:29.547)
Mm.

In violation.

Adesoji Iginla (31:50.155)
We'll take it.

Milton Allimadi (31:53.523)
I'm not saying that they're tie-in, but I don't think it's a coincidence that South Africa is also one of the countries hit with the high-tire break. I think Rwanda beat Uganda to the punch. know, Museven is a very devious dictator, and I won't be surprised if he is. People were like knocking on the door, willing to take. But, you know, Rwanda, of course, Kagame sees Museven as a mortal enemy as well.

Adesoji Iginla (31:55.926)
Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (32:22.385)
And Rwanda might have actually made that a condition that will take provided you don't have a similar deal with Uganda. I'm just speculating, but I wouldn't be so surprised if Rwanda made that one of the conditions. Right. And Uganda, of course, was also retaliated with a higher tariff rate. So every country that was not listed on the new tariff rate

Adesoji Iginla (32:39.563)
Mmm. Mmm.

Milton Allimadi (32:50.56)
The tariffs will remain at 10%. Uganda was listed, so Uganda went up to 15%. The only country of the original East African members, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, whose tariff went up to 15%, you know?

Adesoji Iginla (33:05.143)
So that said, would we say now that the West basically has just shredded every document of every document that they've sort of built the so-called Western democracies on. They've turned up the issue of.

Milton Allimadi (33:26.199)
But it's not that. It was all fiction anyway. How many resolutions of United Nations has Israel defied with no consequence at all? We would not even be having the genocide that we're witnessing in Gaza today. So international law does not mean anything to the West unless it suits their interests, right?

Adesoji Iginla (33:29.174)
Adesoji Iginla (33:35.885)
Mm. Mm. Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (33:45.718)
Okay.

Milton Allimadi (33:54.715)
So the UN passed the resolution for a no-fly zone over Libya, supposedly, to ensure that Qadhafi does not have access from outside weapons and also does not use his air force to bomb, quote unquote, and kill his own people. And what did they use that? So that, to them, was an important

Adesoji Iginla (33:54.785)
Yep.

Adesoji Iginla (34:08.813)
too.

Adesoji Iginla (34:15.775)
against. Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (34:24.142)
international law, A resolution, right? Just passed by the Security Council. And they used that to impose, carry out regime change in Libya, right? So at that particular point, law was important to them. But I just gave you the example of, you know, of Israel. So they defied

international, there's no question of defying. They never adhere to any international law unless it suits their interests. That's a better way of seeing it. So defying is not newsworthy. Obeying international law is when it would be newsworthy for the western countries.

Adesoji Iginla (34:58.881)
believed.

Adesoji Iginla (35:17.033)
Okay, okay, I get why you did that. Okay. we can only...

Milton Allimadi (35:19.74)
No, really. And in this case, that way, he's not deporting Norwegians to these countries, But you said he doesn't mind more immigrants so long as they come from Norway. He's not going to be deporting Norwegians to Rwanda or South Sudan.

Adesoji Iginla (35:32.543)
Mmm.

Adesoji Iginla (35:44.287)
Okay. Okay. Okay.

Milton Allimadi (35:47.216)
He's not going to be supporting any French nationals, you know, any Britons, you know, Scottish, Germans, you know. He will be deporting the people who in their mind, they are considered to be the wretched of the earth.

Adesoji Iginla (35:54.903)
Mm.

Adesoji Iginla (36:09.485)
Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (36:11.854)
and who's going to stand up for the wretched of the earth, the other wretched of the earth. And they ignore that just as they continue to ignore. So unless we, the wretched of the earth, change our condition, then we can't. We have the resources. I keep reminding people, Dr. John Henry Clark said, Africa has always had the resources.

that the entire world has always wanted and the entire world has never wanted to pay for. We have it. So that's how you know Trump talks about it. He Zelensky, you don't have a card. We have many cards, but we don't play the cards. That is why we remain the wretched and they continue to treat us like the wretched. You see?

Adesoji Iginla (37:02.829)
That's indeed powerful. yeah, from that story, we move on to the economist who have decided to remind us that we are basically behind a pen. And so it reads, why?

It is a pain to take a plane in Africa. Bad connections, high fees and strict visa rules hamper travel around the continent. And it goes on. says, Freetown, the capital of Syria alone is far from Lagos, Nigeria's commercial hub as Berlin is from Athens. But whereas a round trip ticket for the three hour flight from German capital to the Greek one can be for around 150

dollars, 150 euros, 173 dollars. Getting from Lagos to Freetown took your correspondent two flights, a ferry and almost 2000 dollars. The trip included a seven hour layover in Ghana and require changing from a Nigerian to a Togolese airline. The cheaper option, a bit longer by 20 hours would have been flying across the continent to Ethiopia before taking another plane west.

to us serially.

I mean, this is shocking. is after close to 66 decades of, let me use the proper framing, independence.

Milton Allimadi (38:40.534)
No.

Milton Allimadi (38:53.483)
Yeah, but the story also shows you the neo-colonial agenda behind it that they don't see what the real solution really is, right?

Adesoji Iginla (39:04.31)
Okay, go on.

Milton Allimadi (39:06.817)
So yes, what is being said there is correct, but the implied solution is totally unrealistic. How many African countries are there?

Adesoji Iginla (39:19.157)
You 54.

Milton Allimadi (39:21.15)
So the story is suggesting that there should be 54 efficient African airlines, right? How many airlines do you have in the United States? Ones that are national or international, that's not serving like local, regional, or doing, you know, for business commercial purposes. There's what? United, right? The American Airlines, the...

Adesoji Iginla (39:31.277)
Mm-hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (39:41.889)
That'll be...

Adesoji Iginla (39:46.089)
United, American Airlines, and Delta. Yeah. Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (39:50.472)
Delta, right? So if the US is three, why are you implying that Africa needs 54 efficient airlines? You see?

Adesoji Iginla (40:00.642)
Mm.

Milton Allimadi (40:02.675)
So, but an uninformed reader would say, yes, these damn Africans, right? Why can't you run 54 efficient airlines, right? You know, the US doesn't do that. Europe doesn't do that. why, know, obviously the solution is that we don't need to have all these airlines. And it goes back to the same thing we discussed. We don't need all those borders either.

We don't need all those countries either, right? You have Ethiopian airline and Ethiopia has shown to the world that is no issue of African incompetence or nonsense like that. Ethiopia runs one of the most efficient, profitable airlines in the world. Ethiopia is supposed to be advising Russia how to make some of their

Adesoji Iginla (40:32.631)
room.

Milton Allimadi (41:02.556)
airlines efficient. Think about that. So it's not because they're African or inadequate as African people. No. Otherwise Ethiopia would not be running one of the most admired airlines in the world. So if you have, if the US has three or four, why don't you have four or five?

Adesoji Iginla (41:06.029)
Hmm.

Milton Allimadi (41:27.503)
using the Ethiopia's business template. Have one that Ethiopia already has, let Ethiopia run South African airline, which I don't even know if it's still running. They're having a lot of financial difficulties. It's probably grounded, right? Let Ethiopia run one in West Africa, right? And that's it. The North African countries have huge airlines like Egypt Air and all those that have Maroc.

Adesoji Iginla (41:27.851)
region.

Milton Allimadi (41:56.839)
that have been doing quite well, actually. So that is what an interesting story by somebody who actually cares about Africa would look like instead of just saying, I'm the economist correspondent, and it was so convenient for me and my elite high standard of living to endure this inconvenience to get from point A to B.

Adesoji Iginla (42:26.093)
You

Milton Allimadi (42:26.845)
So that is my critique of the story. It's not a serious story.

Adesoji Iginla (42:32.853)
So, I mean, still on that silly note.

One question would be.

Adesoji Iginla (42:43.307)
With the, I mean, you've talked on the airline question. It reminds me of, there was a story a couple of years ago, and I believe it was, the Ethiopian Airlines, when those new model planes just came out and they were looking for investors. Some of those African countries, like you alluded to, could have looked into taking up the question because,

Ethiopia actually put it out there that they were looking for African investors, national investors.

Milton Allimadi (43:15.622)
Yeah. But they're not interested because it says Ethiopian Airlines. You know, they want to have Burundi Airlines. They want to have Uganda Airlines. They want to have Rwanda Airlines. They want to have Congo Airlines. Right? They want to have Kenya Airways. You know, a powerful country like South Africa with, you know, either the largest

Adesoji Iginla (43:22.443)
Hmm.

Adesoji Iginla (43:33.165)
which is not sustainable.

Milton Allimadi (43:44.954)
or second largest economy in African countries south of the Sahara. I think its airline was grounded. South Africa cannot afford it. Why is Uganda trying to run an airline? South Sudan, you can't even run an efficient bus service for your citizens and you're trying to run an airline. To me,

Focus on building good roads, having a good national bus transport system, and then focus on railroads for commuters as well as for economic goods and services. That's where you should be putting your money.

Adesoji Iginla (44:19.821)
infrastructure.

Adesoji Iginla (44:35.423)
not on White Elephant Pluto.

Milton Allimadi (44:36.21)
the elite are the ones that can afford to fly anyway. Who's going to be affording a ticket for $2,000 when per capita income? For Uganda, the per capita income is $1,000. $1,000 per year. There are only a handful of African countries that have per capita more than 2,000. Ghana is one, about 2,500. And Ghana is one of the better performing African economies.

Adesoji Iginla (44:40.845)
Mm.

Milton Allimadi (45:06.267)
So you have Ghana, you have South Africa.

That's about it. Do you have Gabon? Gabon because of the oil? Okay.

Adesoji Iginla (45:12.301)
Mm.

oil and the size of the population.

Milton Allimadi (45:17.713)
Turkey, three countries. Ethiopia, even with this expanding economy, know, its per capita is not beyond 2000. See, you have Kenya, Kenya also is, but a handful, that's what I'm saying. And you're crying over airlines? No.

The masses are not crying over airlines. The masses want roads that work. The masses want bus service so they can get to work. They can get from one part of the country to the next or even visit neighboring countries. Buses, railways.

And people want to eat actually and afford school fees. Those to me are bigger stories than the inconvenience of having to try flying from one part of Africa to another in order to get to a neighboring country. That to me is nothing to shed tears about. You see?

Adesoji Iginla (46:18.067)
Okay, I would say you've responded to the economies.

Milton Allimadi (46:20.367)
It's a priority story for that reporter who wrote it and inserted him or herself into the story saying your correspondent had to endure long wait, blah, blah, blah, you see. That does not sound like a priority story for an African on the ground to me, you see.

Adesoji Iginla (46:29.623)
the income, your correspondent.

Adesoji Iginla (46:37.814)
It is.

Adesoji Iginla (46:42.573)
Yeah, I mean, he gave you the fact that he or she has collected enough air miles, you know, holding you the distance between Berlin and Athens. So, yeah.

Milton Allimadi (46:52.119)
Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (46:56.662)
Yep, absolutely. It reminds me of what Rodney said. He said the issues that are priorities to the elite sometimes are just amazing and shocking to everybody else. Because they inhabit a different universe, you see?

Adesoji Iginla (47:13.514)
You

Festival program.

Adesoji Iginla (47:22.605)
Yes, if you're just joining us, this is the African News Review. Do like, share, and subscribe. also, just so you're informed, this is the 76th episode of African News Review. So we're here to stay. And yes, do support our Patreon.

in the description. We normally leave our Patreon page there. Go ahead and support us because we hope to grow this channel. To reframe the narrative about Africa is a worthy cause and please support. So we come on to our final story for the day and surprise surprise it reads

Adesoji Iginla (48:24.821)
It's from Deutsche Welle. This is the German news agency. And it reads, Germany suspends arms export to Israel for use in Gaza. German Chancellor Frederick Merck cited Israel's plan to take over Gaza City as a reason for the decision, marking a major policy change. It goes on, German Chancellor Frederick Merck said,

on Friday that Berlin would not approve German weapons export to Israel for use in the Gaza Strip until further notice. The announcement marks a major change in the course for Germany, which has been one of Israel's staunchest international allies. It came as Israel's security cabinet approved a plan to take over Gaza City, with the government saying it was a necessary move to destroy Hamas,

and free the remaining hostages held in Gaza. Israel's decision has prompted international condemnation and opposition from hostage families who say the plan endangers their loved ones. That's the strip after it's been leveled and it beggars belief that in light of what happened a couple of decades ago we will see such stuff

So a bit of background. From 2020 to 2024, Germany accounted for a third of Israel's incoming arms supply. Germany's arms supply to Israel has included armor vehicles, trucks, anti-tank weapons, and ammunition.

Anti-tank weapons. The last time I checked, their adversaries were not rolling around in tanks. But hey, what do I know?

Milton Allimadi (50:25.924)
Right.

Adesoji Iginla (50:29.227)
What say you?

Milton Allimadi (50:31.526)
Okay. All right, so.

First of all, what you just pointed out, it's very significant. They don't have any armored vehicles, right? When they have been liquidated...

And I say purportedly liquidated because obviously they've killed so many civilians. So when they say they killed Hamas fighters, you you take it with a grain of salt. But when they've been liquidated, they're normally driving in, you know, like pick up, you know, vehicles, right? That are just disintegrated with those anti-tank missiles or missiles.

outfired from air to surface missiles.

for missiles that are now being fired against children from ships. And this whole mantra of the need to eliminate Hamas, Hamas, Hamas.

Milton Allimadi (51:41.301)
You know, we have to weigh the conduct of the Israeli Defense Force as well.

Milton Allimadi (51:50.307)
So Hamas is an organization that has committed acts of terrorism. about the Israeli Defense Force?

Adesoji Iginla (51:59.767)
the response.

Milton Allimadi (52:01.537)
this killing of all these civilians. That's not an act of terror.

to say but of course they won't raise these questions they'll never raise this question because the bottom line is the major media outlets that have global outreach are corporate even the BBC is corporate right you know it not be like a regular

Adesoji Iginla (52:25.079)
reach.

Adesoji Iginla (52:28.525)
Mm.

Milton Allimadi (52:34.887)
see cooperation but it's still a corporation. know the way it's run it has like a executive structure and it conforms with a type of political context in which they the range is prescribed by the political you know umbrella.

that actually governs it, which is the British government. And the British government has a particular type of attitude toward Israel, right? And that is directly reflected even in the BBC. So all of these corporates, as we have said in our previous show, they are part of the problem. They have become like weapons of mass destruction, right? So you say that just for people to, know.

Sometimes they keep telling you this and this and that to prevent you from thinking broader context, you know

We only do not see the Israel Defense Force as a terrorist organization because it's a, what I call, professional army with a professional structure. Generals, brigadiers, colonels, lieutenants, and all that, you know, funded by the state, right? With a budget that is passed by the state.

Adesoji Iginla (54:01.515)
on it.

Milton Allimadi (54:14.58)
getting weapons from state to state, you know, from the United States and in this particular case from Germany, right? But examine what they have been doing, really. The actions must speak louder than the words and perceptions. So I like people to start thinking like that. I wanted to just get that out of the way first. But in terms of Germany coming to that position,

Adesoji Iginla (54:21.325)
Jimny.

Milton Allimadi (54:43.857)
is very very significant because Germany for the longest while its policy toward Israel has been conducted based on the Holocaust guilt.

you know, when the German state under the Nazi regime exterminated, you know, millions of Jews.

And so since then, their politics has been really dictated by that crime that they committed. But even in this case, it seems that it's reaching its limit. You see, even in the case of Germany, know, I mean, Germans are one of the most educated of all the Europeans, right? With one of the largest powerful economies in Europe. So you're telling me that.

Adesoji Iginla (55:12.267)
Yeah.

Milton Allimadi (55:38.245)
I am watching what's happening in Gaza as an African. I'm watching it from the United States. the Germans are watching the same thing that I'm seeing. And I'm seeing that this is a genocide, particularly with this new phase of starvation, know, genocide by starvation. You're telling me that

regardless of what the German government's attitude is toward Israel and its policy, the German people themselves are not seeing what I'm seeing and coming to the same conclusion. I can't believe that. And I don't believe that at all. So it looks like that pressure is now building. Even the German chancellor himself is seeing what I'm seeing. The legislators, what do they call it, the Bundes, whatever. Right.

Adesoji Iginla (56:34.253)
The Bunshtack. The Rajtack.

Milton Allimadi (56:36.176)
their parliament, the ministers of the government. They're seeing it and you can only lie to yourself for so much. And it looks like that lie is reaching its limit in Germany, in Britain, and France, and other European countries. That lie that you could not convince Africans with because South Africa was way early out there filing that lawsuit.

in the International Court of Justice, you see. So forget all the pretence. Many of those countries are now arriving at the same location which South Africa had arrived in early 2024.

Adesoji Iginla (57:18.701)
months exactly early 2024. I, the beginning I said the new story in Britain ties into this story. There was a group that was took direct action. The name of the group is Palestine Action. The group was subsequently prescribed in the most

Milton Allimadi (57:24.081)
Right?

Adesoji Iginla (57:48.321)
fastest way any group has been prescribed in this country and considered a terrorist organization. But clearly the population, the local population said, well, this is a miscarriage of justice. This country prides itself on direct action, the right to protest. And so they've been out in the streets protesting that prescription.

But the government then went a step further that if you offer, if you hold up a placard or you wear a t-shirt purporting to support that group, Palestine Action, you would be arrested. When the action was first done a couple of weeks ago, about two weeks ago now, there were a couple of 83 year olds, maybe about 14 of them that were arrested. 83 year olds, you know.

Last weekend, protest was organized where they said they were looking for volunteers to be arrested. The number they wanted to push because what happened is when a law goes into effect here and the law is being challenged, there is what is known as a judicial review.

So the judicial review would look at whether that law is in the interest of the public. If it's not, then it would be struck off the books. But in order to get that judicial review or to feed into it, an arrest protest was organized. So what they wanted was 500 people to turn up in front of parliament holding placards that they would

the support Palestine action. Guess what happened?

Milton Allimadi (59:45.876)
They had 2,000.

Adesoji Iginla (59:47.656)
Hahaha!

Initially 500 showed up. So the police came in arrested 356.

And then they stopped. While they were resting their 356 to take them away, another 500 moved into that square.

Milton Allimadi (01:00:09.684)
Excellent.

Adesoji Iginla (01:00:11.015)
So you get a sense that, like you said, what you're seeing, everybody else in the world is now seeing. And the scene has gone beyond the pill, especially when you're starving people.

When you said never again, you meant it. You should mean it. You should mean it because the pictures, the images coming out of Gaza does not, you know, does not paint the so-called democracies in a good light. was speaking to my brother the other day. say, do you notice that they basically just destroyed every fabric?

of the democratic society. The International Court of Justice, the Human Rights Convention, the Geneva Convention, the law when it comes to war, the use of starvation in going after, I mean, I said basically they don't have anything. Thank you very much. The media. The media.

Milton Allimadi (01:01:20.712)
The media. Think about that.

Adesoji Iginla (01:01:28.68)
When the media has lost

Milton Allimadi (01:01:29.555)
That is the most shameful, but in a way good because it exposed the hypocrisy that all media objective, professional, blah, blah, blah, all nonsense that we've been critiquing for years. And now you prove, in fact, the most recent example was Libya. When they all ganged up saying, bomb him, take him out. Yeah, boom. This is another good example.

Adesoji Iginla (01:01:33.78)
Yes, the meat.

Adesoji Iginla (01:01:50.284)
Yes.

Adesoji Iginla (01:01:55.275)
and the country will be better for it.

Milton Allimadi (01:01:58.415)
of media hypocrisy, showing that there's no such thing as objective independent media. The only independent media outlets such as this, where nobody else is signing your check. You can talk about any topic, take any perspective. So, you know, that is what is being exposed in the United Kingdom also.

Adesoji Iginla (01:02:20.845)
mean I'll just buttress the point again with the the the the on the media angle. Here what you've had the media do is the BBC which is supposed to obviously show you what is going on in the world give you the right angle are playing two sides. There is no two sides to a genocide. The genocide is happening. There is no but.

It is happening before you. There is no but. So recently, there was a group that looked into the BBC's coverage of Gaza from October 7 till June this year and found the way the reporting has been skewed is unbe- I mean, in some cases,

There's the story of the girl, Rajab Hind, that she lost her folks in the car and she dialed for help and help was coming to her. The murder of Rajab Hind, the way it was covered here, leaves more to be desired. We've not even spoken about the medics. There were

basically were laid, executed, and their trucks buried. And the story coming out from the IDF at the time was they didn't have their lights on, there was no marker, there was no identifier and everything. But, yeah.

Milton Allimadi (01:04:03.768)
I think, to be honest with you, even looking at these individual stories in itself is a of immediate spin. We really don't need to analyze each of these individual stories. The fact that they're not collectively saying that Israel is committing a genocide against the Palestinians people, that is me, is the most outrageous thing. If it was the reverse, can you imagine Arabs, right?

Adesoji Iginla (01:04:08.79)
Yeah.

Adesoji Iginla (01:04:15.489)
Hmm

Adesoji Iginla (01:04:31.714)
Mm.

Milton Allimadi (01:04:33.1)
decimating all those cities in Israel, starving Israeli children. There would be a single media outlet that's not referring to the Arab genocide against the Israelis.

Milton Allimadi (01:04:47.137)
That to me is end of story right there. know, everything else is just a way to trick people into what is there to analyze, you know. This is a clear cut case of genocide. It would not be tolerated if it was being committed against European people, you know.

Adesoji Iginla (01:05:06.221)
Yes, Yeah. Again, we continue to do this work. Again, do like, share, and subscribe. Join our Patreon. And again, we thank Comrade for coming through. Sister I-

Milton Allimadi (01:05:31.053)
Thank you.

Adesoji Iginla (01:05:31.949)
Sister Aya is in Egypt. She's on a study tour of Egypt. And she will be back in two weeks. But before then, I would like to thank everybody that come through. You know, you've been supportive of this podcast for, like I said earlier, 75 episodes in.

This will be the 76th. So continue to like, share and subscribe and yeah, bring a friend to bring a friend to bring a friend. We hope to grow this channel. And again, my thanks goes to comrade Milton Alimadi who has, who immediately just said when I reached out to him said, yeah, let's do this. We've got work to do. I believe those were your words actually. We've got work to do.

Milton Allimadi (01:06:23.178)
Yes,

Milton Allimadi (01:06:27.199)
Yes, sir.

Adesoji Iginla (01:06:30.453)
So that said, any final thoughts from you?

Milton Allimadi (01:06:34.655)
A loop to continue on. Breakthrough is certain.

Adesoji Iginla (01:06:36.941)
Thank you very much. And from me, it's a good night and God bless.