'I won’t tire of repeating that we are one people. We are obliged to find one another, going beyond formality and discourse, in the same feeling of our unity.'

Dear editor,

I enjoyed reading the article 'What’s at stake in the Central African Republic?'. Since it was published in January, no other contribution has been published ever since, which is very frustrating.

I think it's sad for this country forgotten by most African and world media. In spite of your article, I can't help wondering if the CAR is considered a geopolitical issue at all. I've been trying to grasp why this country has been so unstable since it took independence from France in 1960. The CAR gave birth to one of the few panafricanists from the colonial era : Barthélémy Boganda, who died under dubious circumstances. Since his death, the CAR has gone to the dogs. Why? Why has the CAR remained one of the few African states epitomizing instability with its many coups? I would be very grateful if you would contribute an article about the issue.

Jeanne Nyock

Fare thee well great literary spirit
That inspired millions
To dream a new.

Fare thee well great literary mind
That provoked many a mind
To think
creatively.

Fare thee well great literary giant
Father of African literature
Who spiced words for eating.

Fare thee well prophet of social justice,
May things not fall apart as you depart;
May anarchy not befall the
African literary world.

May you join the great ancestors
As you cross the great river;
Rest in peace as you await
The second coming.

We are no longer at ease
Without you;
For you were our arrow of God
Shooting without missing.

You are our man of the people
Traversing the ant hills of the savanah;
Adieu great literary soul, spirit, and mind.

On March 9, the Supreme Court of Kenya upheld the contested victory of Uhuru Kenyatta as president of Kenya and William Ruto as his deputy, without giving any reasons. The full ruling is expected in the coming days. Here is the reaction of one citizen

When Chinua Achebe showed the horrors of colonial rule in ‘Things Fall Apart,’ the narrative easily became the African story that impinged itself on our consciousness. The novel epitomized the case against imperialism

Achebe’s ‘Things Fall Apart’ brought us face to face with our own story for the first time ever in the history of modern writing. It barely scratched the surface, but it opened the doors in the hearts of many other African writers to start telling their stories.

Achebe fought to dissipate and disabuse the numerous misconceptions that the rest of the world held about Africa and its peoples. He was an incredible truth teller and moral bearer of our time.

‘The lasting and befitting honour that the Lions and the Lionesses of Africa can bestow on Chinua Achebe is to write their own history’

As a successful author and editor of the influential and prestigious Heinemann Educational Books African Writers’ Series, Chinua Achebe opened the door to many African writers

Achebe was certainly a great writer. But not all his works are masterpieces; and the idea that he is the ‘father of African fiction’ is romantic and naïve.

Should social movements take part in national elections they are unlikely to win due to the fierce competition, shameless manipulation of voters by clever politicians and the heavy finances required? Patrick Schukalla sought the views of a Kenyan social justice activist

Our Eagle on the Iroko has flown home... No, not really... Our Eagle is right here – with us. Our Eagle lives on. This has been the solemn promise made since age 28 with ‘Things Fall Apart’ and followed by the unrelenting, exemplifying rigour of the entire consummate stretch of discourses and reflections and yet more discourses during the course of 54 subsequent years that culminated in that towering testament of our age, ‘There was a Country’. Our Eagle lives on.

Focusing on the Eagle´s first discourse, a classic, Kwame Anthony Appiah, literary scholar and philosopher, has argued: ‘It would be impossible to say how ‘Things Fall Apart’ influenced African writing. It would be like asking how Shakespeare influenced English writers or Pushkin influenced Russians. Achebe didn't only play the game, he invented it’.

Chinua Achebe has indeed run a great race. Ka Chukwu anyi gozie his blessed soul and give comfort to his loving family. Odogwu Mmadu, ije oma. Our pledge at this time: Igbo will be free and we will surely bring to a halt this ongoing genocide against our people, which started on 29 May 1966, and we will transform Igboland to an advanced state and society as duly resolved in the Ahiara Declaration.

That Black athletes work hard to hone their craft is unfathomable to some Whites. It is therefore important to showcase Black males who have overcome adversity and, in the process, become models of inspiration, leadership and perseverance.

Just before the BRICS state bureaucrats and corporate interests met in Durban this week to plan how to continue to extract profits, the tragedy of thirteen SA National Defense Force troops in the Central African Republic lost their lives in a vain attempt to safeguard potential mining deals. A different way is needed in which people-led activism challenges and transforms vulture capitalism

Until politicians, economic elites and citizens sincerely address complex and sensitive policy challenges in Liberia, the quest for national development and identity might remain an elusive dream packaged in shiny slogans.

Somalia is on the road to recovery after more than two decades of collapse. Now is the time for all the citizens to help the government achieve its goals by being patient and tolerant.

The just concluded election in Kenya has been hailed for being peaceful. But there are serious allegations about the conduct of the polls, which are the basis of two cases before the Supreme Court.

‘I deplore what I regard as a growing tendency among Cameroonians to equate expression of dissent with lack of patriotism. I insist that to criticize one’s country is in itself an act of patriotism.’

Henry Okah was this week jailed for 24 years by a South African court for the bombings in Abuja, Nigeria, in 2010. The trial raises a number of important issues. The judge was hardly thorough, professional and impartial in handling of the case.

The recent elections showed that tribe is not the main driver of politics in Kenya. But while progress has been made, the fight for democracy has yet to be won, with minority communities, women, the disabled and the Diaspora remaining largely underrepresented