Free Republic

Nairobi, Dec 22 (UNI) China is likely to take over Kenya’s Mombasa port if Kenya Railways Corporation defaults in the payment of a loan from Exim Bank of China. Kenya used Mombasa port to secure the loan which was taken from the Chinese bank to finance construction of the standard gauge railway (SGR). A leaked audit report shows that the government waived sovereign immunity on the Kenya Ports Assets on signing the agreement with China thus exposing Kenya Ports Authority to foreclosure by China Exim Bank. The report said “The payment arrangement agreement substantively means that the Authority’s revenue would...

The Trump administration on Thursday announced a sharp refocus of its Africa strategy to counter what it called the “predatory” practices of China and Russia, moves which National Security Adviser John Bolton said “deliberately and aggressively targeting their investments in the region to gain a competitive advantage.” Speaking at the conservative Heritage Foundation,Mr. Bolton said that curbing Moscow and Beijing’s growing influence in Africa will be the White House’s top objective in the region. “Great-power competitors, namely China and Russia, are rapidly expanding their financial and political influence across Africa,” Mr. Bolton said Thursday. “They are deliberately and aggressively targeting...

Kenya runs the risk of losing control of the Port of Mombasa if it should default on loans from state financial institution China Exim Bank, according to a new report from Kenya's auditor general. The terms of a $2.3 billion loan for Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC) specify that the port's assets are collateral, and they are not protected by Kenya's sovereign immunity due to a waiver in the contract. "The payment arrangement agreement substantively means that the Authority's revenue would be used to pay the Government of Kenya's debt to China Exim bank if the minimum volumes required for [rail]...

Ambassador John Bolton, the President's national security adviser, unveiled the strategy in remarks delivered at the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank in Washington, D.C. "Under our new Africa strategy, we will target U.S. funding toward key countries and particular strategic objectives," Bolton said. "We will make certain that all aid to the region—whether for security, humanitarian, or development needs—advances U.S. interests," Bolton said. Currently, the U.S. sends more than $8 billion annually to African countries, though Bolton, citing a "longstanding pattern of aid without effect," indicated that amount may soon be slashed. "Unfortunately, billions upon billions of U.S. taxpayer...

Kenyan RnB singer Eliud Sagini, popularly known as Sagini, who died on Monday, complained of not feeling well while on a live TV interview Saturday. During that interview with KTN’s Str8up, the singer told the show host that he wasn’t feeling well. Two days later, Sagini passed on after being rushed to the hospital. During the show the interviewer, after introducing the show, informed the viewers that although the guest was not feeling well and was under medication, he had managed to make it. ‘TESTIMONY’ “Thank you so much for coming Sagini, so you are not feeling well what is...

President Donald Trump continues to take bold steps, recapturing America's exceptionalism at home and leadership abroad. These important developments are too often getting drowned out by relentless noise in Washington, where the media obsess over many issues concerning this president except those most relevant to his job -- his performance leading the nation to excellence. A good example is the superlative new initiative just announced by National Security Advisor John Bolton establishing a new Africa strategy. The initiative echoes the foreign policy vision Donald Trump articulated in his inaugural address. That is, that America's relationship with the nations of...

South Africa: Black South Africans Unleash Campaign of Savagery and Predation on Local Whites Video at the link.

Woman takes mitochondrial DNA test to find out which African tribe she descends from, and is horrified to find out that her mitochondrial DNA is of “non-African lineage” In the first five minutes of this video, this woman goes on and on about how happy and excited she is because she just got back the results of her mitochondrial DNA test. She took the test because she wanted to find out which African tribe or tribes she is descended from. A person (male or female) inherits Mitochondrial DNA solely from their mother.After five minutes of joyous anticipation, she finally opens...

BENIN CITY, Nigeria — Jude Ikuenobe sensed the car following him before he saw it. Heart pounding, he turned around. Under the Libyan desert sun, the highway stretching behind him was so hot it shimmered in the distance. Nobody’s there, he tried to reassure himself for the tenth time since he had stepped out a few minutes earlier in search of water, along with three of his friends. The sandy side streets were deserted, every shop and café shuttered. It was a Friday afternoon, which meant even the armed militias who ruled Sabha, a sprawling oasis city 480 miles inland...

It is said that "clothes maketh the man." It is therefore a paradox that researchers have not shown more interest in the dress of the San hunter-gatherers, historically among the most studied groups of people in the world. Vibeke Maria Viestad, a senior lecturer at the Department of Archaeology, Conservation and History at the University of Oslo, believes this is so because of a prevailing myth about "the nearly naked bushman.""The San people dressed differently from us, often with a bare upper body, and were therefore perceived as naked when first met by Europeans. This view was commonplace in travel...

As plans for a mega-port on Kenya's northern-most coast begin to take shape, new concerns are emerging that the project could damage already-strained relations between Sudan and South Sudan. Kenya's $25.5bn Lamu Port and New Transport Corridor Development to Southern Sudan and Ethiopia (LAPSSET) includes the construction of a 32-berth port, three international airports, and a 1,500km railway line. A new oil refinery, in nearby Bargoni, and an oil pipeline are also planned. The pipeline would run to Kenya's Eastern Province before splitting, with one branch running to South Sudan's capital, Juba, and another through Moyale in the north to...

The United States must revamp policies toward Africa on improving trade, fighting terrorism, and providing financial assistance to stave off the growing influence of China and Russia on the continent, White House national security adviser John Bolton said. “Great power competitors, namely China and Russia, are rapidly expanding their financial and political influence across Africa,” Bolton said Thursday in an address at The Heritage Foundation in Washington. “They are deliberately and aggressively targeting their investments in the region to gain a competitive advantage over the United States.”[snip]“The predatory practices pursued by China and Russia stunt economic growth in Africa; threaten...

South Africans are outraged after a recent speech by a local revolutionary socialist politician who called upon his followers to kill white people, including women, children, and even pets owned by whites. Andile Mngxitama, the leader and founder of pan-Africanist political party Black First Land First (BLF), has been repeatedly heard using harsh language to criticize white people. But this time his comments seem to have gone way overboard. Speaking at a rally in the city of Potchefstroom over the weekend he promised that “for every one black person we will kill five white people.” The politician was apparently referring...

US national security adviser John Bolton unveiled President Trump's strategy for Africa, outlining a plan that he said focuses heavily on countering China and Russia's expanding influence across the region....

A statue of Mahatma Gandhi, the famed Indian independence leader, has been removed from a university campus in Ghana's capital, Accra. University of Ghana lecturers began a petition for its removal shortly after it was unveiled in 2016 by India's former President Pranab Mukherjee. The petition said Gandhi was "racist" and African heroes should be put first. In the wake of the row, Ghana's government at the time said the statue would be relocated. Lecturers and students told the BBC that the statue, originally located at the university's recreational quadrangle, had been removed on Wednesday. The university confirmed this, saying...

The search for the Ark of the Covenant has led to renewed speculation that the biblical artifact may be hidden inside a church in Ethiopia, but historians have pushed back against the theory. Archaeologists have searched for centuries for clues and hints of where the Ark, containing the stone tablets bearing the Ten Commandments given to Moses by God, could be. The BASE Institute has sent research teams to Ethiopia, Egypt, Israel and Rome and it believes the evidence points to Ethiopia. Although it has not found the actual Ark, it stated, "As unusual as this may sound, the BASE...

Defense Secretary Jim Mattis was livid last month when he summoned top military officials to a video conference at the Pentagon to press them about an investigation into a 2017 ambush in Niger that killed four Americans on a Green Beret team. His anger, Pentagon officials said, came from seeing news reports that junior officers were being reprimanded for the botched Niger mission while the officers directly above them were not. Days later, a senior officer who had largely escaped punishment was told he would be reprimanded. Another senior officer’s actions before and around the time of the mission were...

About 500 people are killed in hippopotamus attacks each year. On Saturday, Kristen Yaldor was almost one of them. The 37-year-old American woman was on a river safari tour with her husband, Ryan, when she was suddenly attacked by a hippo that was said to be protecting her calf. The couple was on a guided canoe safari on Zimbabwe’s Zambezi River. Led by tour operator Wild Horizons, the safari group had three guests and two guides. While canoeing down the river, one of the guides spotted the hippo on the river’s right bank. He reportedly instructed the group to paddle...

Bryant Swenson and his wife Lauren, from Utah, were driving near Mai Mahiu on November 30 when three masked men attacked their car. The couple, who moved to Nairobi with their three children to open a CrossFit gym, spotted a white van which the gangsters are believed to have been trying to rob. Bryant said in a Facebook post about the attempted robbery, that one of the men was carrying a gun but “couldn't get it out of his waistbelt in time”. As the bandits rushed towards their Toyota Land Cruiser, Bryant had to reverse backwards to give himself time...

THIS is the secret African island inhabited by super aggressive "monster'" chimps all freed from a US testing laboratory. The apes -who are infected with contagious diseases- were abandoned on the Liberian river island after being released by their captors. The jungle wilderness - known to locals as ‘Monkey Island’ - is now home to more than 60 chimps who are notoriously protective of its shores. Many of the animals are said to be "super aggressive"and those living nearby are terrified to go there for fear of being attacked. Only a select few locals - who regularly take the apes...