🔅 Zimbabwe: From Liberation to Sanctions & Elephants' Climate Plight
Plus, Cape Town's Unusual Conservation Strategy to Tackle Water Crisis
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Zimbabwe: From Street Celebrations to Sanctions and Standstills
In 2017, Zimbabwe threw a massive street party, not for a music festival but to mark the end of Robert Mugabe's era, courtesy of a military intervention. Mugabe's role was taken over by Emmerson Mnangagwa, the deputy turned protagonist promising to bring Zimbabwe back from its international timeout.
Fast-forward over six years, and the scene has shifted from hopeful cheers to disillusioned jeers.
Mnangagwa and his better half found themselves on the naughty list of the U.S., sanctioned under the Magnitsky Act for human rights no-nos.
The U.S. also lifted broader sanctions on the country, saying it did not want to hurt the average Zimbabwean, although it did — at exactly the same time — pause talks on a massive debt relief program that would have been critical for Zimbabwe's return to the global economy's fold. The country is left saddled with a debt of $18 billion.
Climate Change Turns Elephants' Golden Years to Bronze
Climate change is showing up as an uninvited guest to the elderly African elephants' pension party. According to a new study, the climate is turning up the heat and reducing water supplies, which is stressing out our senior elephants.
Elephants over the age of 40, who were looking forward to spending their golden years grazing in peace, instead now see their favourite buffet shrinking. They also need to migrate more for food, turning relaxed retirement into a nomadic nightmare.Â
With fewer older elephants come fewer baby elephants, leading to a genetic pool that's about as deep as a mud pool, which is something no one — least of all a retiring elephant — wants.
Ghana's Financial Future Hanging by a Rainbow Thread
Ghana is teetering on the edge of a financial faux pas that could make their bank account weep. The country, fresh off the high of securing a cosy $3 billion IMF bailout cushion after plunging into a debt crisis, is now flirting with disaster. The reason? An anti-LGBTQ bill that's leading the World Bank to withdraw funding to the tune of $3.8 billion.
The bill has already been assented to by legislators and is waiting for President Nana Akufo-Addo's signature. The bill, among other things, would lead to three years in jail for those who identify as LGBTQ.
Cape Town's Counterintuitive Crusade: Chopping Trees to Save Water
Cape Town is waging war on trees. Yes, the city in which every drop of water is as precious as gold, the leafy green giants we've long thought of as our allies in the fight against climate change have found themselves on the chopping block. But before you label this as environmental blasphemy, let's dig into the roots of the matter.
Cape Town, the picturesque poster child for scenic wine lands and majestic Table Mountain, is facing a water crisis of epic proportions. Climate change has thrown a wrench in the works, with droughts queuing up like unwelcome guests, threatening to turn the taps dry.Â
The villains of this story are invasive tree species. These botanical invaders, namely black wattle, pine, and gum trees, have been slurping up groundwater faster than a teenager with a milkshake, leaving native vegetation gasping for moisture and the city's reservoirs on a diet.
But fear not, Cape Town has a plan. Conservationists, in a move that flips the script on traditional environmental narratives, are now armed with chainsaws and handsaws. Over the past three years, they've cleared 120 square miles of thirsty trees, with another similar-sized swath still to go.
The goal? To quench Cape Town's thirst by allowing water to flow naturally into its reservoirs, instead of being hoarded by these greedy green outsiders.
Food for Thought
“The child of a rat is a rat."
— Malagasy Proverb
Again the west manipulating Africa like its her possession, Ghana won't get World Bank funds if it does not follow foreign culture and practices, if Africa wants help then we MUST adopt the Woke LGBT+ dogma. That people will suffer and economies stagnate is not their concern, we MUST follow their dictates.