ZAM Magazine

04/08/2026

Who was Simon Nkoli, the anti-apartheid activist who organized Africa's first Pride?
(NRC Podcast in Dutch)

Wie was Simon Nkoli, de anti-apartheidsactivist die Afrika's eerste Pride organiseerde?
Bart Luirink Bart Luirink , voormalig hoofdredacteur van ZAM en voormalig correspondent in Johannesburg, spreekt met Gabriella Adèr over het levensverhaal van Simon Nkoli.

luister mee!

Deze zomer is Amsterdam het middelpunt van de internationale queergemeenschap. Het is World Pride, twee weken vol feest én protest. Want wereldwijd staan de rechten van lhbti’ers onder druk. Vandaag vertellen we het levensverhaal van Simon Nkoli. Als zwarte homoseksuele man streed hij in Zuid-Afr...

03/08/2026

Dutch Opinion magazine De Groene Amsterdammer De Groene Amsterdammer , republishes “Strange bedfellows” by Emmanuel K. Dogbevi Emmanuel K. Dogbevi and ZAM

Since its founding in 1877, De Groene Amsterdammer has been an independent, critical, and engaged weekly magazine. Early on, its editorial team opposed colonialism, supported universal suffrage, and resisted totalitarian ideologies. The magazine remains editorially independent, free from external commercial influence.

Read the De Groene Amsterdammer’s republication under https://www.groene.nl/artikel/soeverein-en-tegen-woke and read the ZAM publication under https://www.zammagazine.com/investigations/2108-africa-strange-bedfellows

Strange bedfellows

African autocrats — and the US right wing — demand “sovereignty” at a Family Values conference in Accra

“I recommend that all of you read this book,” the Speaker of Ghana’s Parliament and keynote speaker, Alban Bagbin, says as he — resplendent in traditional kente dress with a matching crown — addresses the 4th African Family Values Conference in Accra. Representatives of twenty African legislatures peer at the book he defiantly holds up: White Malice. It deals with white Western — especially CIA-plotted — counterrevolutionary operations in postcolonial Africa.

UK-based historian Susan Williams, who wrote the book, might be surprised to learn that it is featured so prominently here, at a conference that, in a series welded together with white Western Christian nationalists, seeks to put women back under the authority of husbands and fathers, LGBTQIA+ people in jail, and ‘confused youth’ back in the village to be disciplined by local chief and church.

Welcome to the 4th African Inter-Parliamentary Family Values Conference in Accra, Ghana, held at the country’s Parliament House, which has been cordoned off for the occasion by military and police. The event is being celebrated as the first to take place outside Uganda, whose autocratic leader, 81-year-old Yoweri Museveni, is now the guest of honour.

Read the full article by clicking the link above.

Article by K. Dogbevi Emmanuel K. Dogbevi

Image: Screenshot of De Groene Amsterdammer De Groene Amsterdammer




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30/07/2026

How do we relate to technology and what is Glitching the Future all about?

Glitching the Future’s Heidi Sincuba and ZAM Magazine’s Sean Fitzpatrick dive deep into how the Glitching Project tackles future thinking and how the project originally came about. Presented during the "Thinking South Africa Forward Otherwise" symposium hosted by South Africa House (Zuid-Afrikahuis) on 4 June 2026, where a group of scholars and practitioners were examining how South Africa's futures are narrated, contested, and reimagined: in literature, film, journalism, performance, and other cultural forms.

In their conversation Heidi Sincuba builds on the insights of author Nnedi Okorafor , professor Clapperton Mavhunga and more..
Watch the full conversation here: https://youtu.be/NfPunQ1Xisc?si=BG6HDPXr8gEOkezI

28/07/2026

This issue of the Kleptocracy Report centers around some remarkable counting, accounting and influencing that has taken place in the previous month. Excitingly, this includes work done by protagonists who do their own probing into theft and fraud by the powerful in their countries. They include a vocal activist who counted budgets for Nigeria's 36 states and 774 Local Government Areas; our NAIRE partners in Uganda who saw a victory when an official investigation finally followed up on political elite theft they had unearthed; intrepid investigators in Malawi who found that their country is missing out on US$10 million and US$50 million annually because of an archaic colonial tax treaty that their own government doesn't seem to be in a hurry to change; and a brave Parliamentary Speaker in Senegal. Be heartened by the math skills as well as the bravery on display in this Kleptocracy Report #19 and see the full version on Substack via the link in our bio!

15/07/2026

Ombudsman Calls on the Attorney General to Intervene in Cabo Delgado in the Estácio Valoi Case

Maputo – The Ombudsman has forwarded a request for intervention to the Chief Prosecutor of the Republic in Cabo Delgado province regarding the seizure of work equipment belonging to journalist Estácio Valoi, editor of the Moz24horas website, which took place in Pemba on June 16.

In the document, dated July 2, 2026, Ombudsman Isaque Chande states that he received a complaint filed by Luís Nhachote Luis Nhachote , executive coordinator of the Center for Investigative Journalism (CJI), alleging the seizure of the journalist’s personal and professional equipment by agents of the National Criminal Investigation Service (SERNIC).

According to the letter, while acknowledging that SERNIC has the authority to conduct investigations in the context of criminal cases, the Ombudsman emphasizes that the seizure of journalists’ work tools must respect the principles of legality, necessity, proportionality, and transparency—principles which, in his view, “were not observed in this specific case.”
In light of the allegations presented, the Ombudsman requests that the Public Prosecutor’s Office review the case and take the measures deemed appropriate. The case file was forwarded to the Chief Prosecutor of the Republic of Cabo Delgado, as the Ombudsman believes the matter falls within that institution’s jurisdiction.

The case of Estácio Valoi has raised concerns among press freedom advocacy organizations, which view the seizure of the equipment as a potential obstacle to the practice of journalism and the protection of sources. (Moz24h)

14/07/2026

Africa’s wealth enriches many, but rarely its own citizens. In Big Brother Wildlife, a transnational team of journalists exposes how Africa’s rich natural heritage and wildlife are increasingly being fenced off — using even military-grade surveillance technology — to benefit foreign visitors, while local communities face ever-growing restrictions on the use of their own land.

In Behind Enemy Lines, our colleagues on the ground show how ever since the capture of much of the eastern DRC by Rwanda-aligned rebel movements, journalists in the region have been forced to work under new, dictatorial, rulers. Amid their challenges are broadcasting bans, muzzled sources, direct threats, and self-censorship. Neither in the east nor in the capital do citizens or independent media receive support from the DRC government, which has just concluded a major minerals deal with the Trump administration.

That large minerals deal, incidentally, was facilitated in part behind the scenes by an evangelical Ghanaian bishop with links to the US government. A few months later, the same bishop was seen hosting an “African Family Values” conference in Accra, where leaders from some of the continent’s most repressive countries outlined policies aimed at keeping “confused youth” under the authority of “chief and church”. The conference’s goal — beyond policing youth and restricting LGBTQI and women’s rights — was to cement their “sovereignty” over Africa’s “abundant mineral wealth”. Behind the scenes, their Trump-aligned Christian nationalist allies in the USA were cheering them on. Read our explosive story, on zammagazine.com

On a positive note, resistance to autocracy and censorship continues to grow. In When Art Becomes Dissent, Blessing Oladunjoye reviews a report on artistic movements across the continent that are keeping the flame of free expression alive.

Read all the articles on zammagazine.com

Big Brother Wildlife by Benon Oluka Benon Herbert Oluka , Sam Schramski and Tulani Ngwenya Tulani Ngwenya

Strange bedfellows By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi Emmanuel K. Dogbevi

When Art Becomes Dissent, Blessing Oladunjoye

10/07/2026

African autocrats — and the US right wing — demand “sovereignty” at a Family Values conference in Accra

“I recommend that all of you read this book,” the Speaker of Ghana’s Parliament and keynote speaker, Alban Bagbin, says as he — resplendent in traditional kente dress with a matching crown — addresses the 4th African Family Values Conference in Accra. Representatives of twenty African legislatures peer at the book he defiantly holds up: White Malice. It deals with white Western — especially CIA-plotted — counterrevolutionary operations in postcolonial Africa.

UK-based historian Susan Williams, who wrote the book, might be surprised to learn that it is featured so prominently here, at a conference that, in a series welded together with white Western Christian nationalists, seeks to put women back under the authority of husbands and fathers, LGBTQIA+ people in jail, and ‘confused youth’ back in the village to be disciplined by local chief and church.

Welcome to the 4th African Inter-Parliamentary Family Values Conference in Accra, Ghana, held at the country’s Parliament House, which has been cordoned off for the occasion by military and police. The event is being celebrated as the first to take place outside Uganda, whose autocratic leader, 81-year-old Yoweri Museveni, is now the guest of honour...

Read the full article by clicking the link in bio.

By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi Emmanuel K. Dogbevi

Images courtesy of the Parliament of Ghana. Design by ZAM

08/07/2026

A new pan-African arts magazine documents how art across the continent is routinely subjected to abuse, attacks, and other violations. However, despite these growing pressures, artists continue to persist and thrive.

As a Nigerian journalist, I have witnessed how the shrinking civic space continues to limit freedom of expression across my country. From investigative journalists navigating fear, censorship, and backlash from both state and non-state actors, to women journalists facing coordinated online attacks, to storytellers being arbitrarily arrested, and songs being banned from broadcast media platforms, speaking truth to power has become a visibly risky act.

As the “Giant of Africa,” as Nigeria is often called, continues to grapple with persistent attacks on free expression, it is perhaps not surprising that other countries across the continent also wage war on dissenting voices. The Pan Africa Network of Artistic Freedom VOICES Issue 1 Introducing PANAF Voices Magazine PANAF documents how art across Africa is routinely subjected to abuse, attacks, and other violations. However, despite these growing pressures, artists continue to persist and thrive.

From Zimbabwe to Nigeria, Uganda, South Africa, Sudan, Kenya, and Ethiopia, and across an overview of East African countries, PANAF’s inaugural issue succeeds not only as a literary collection but also as a strategic intervention in Africa’s increasingly constrained civic and artistic spaces.

Read the full article by clicking the link in bio.

Article by Blessing Oladunjoye

Images courtesy of PANAF PANAF

06/07/2026

Modern wildlife conservation has, in effect, morphed into a video game with real-world consequences. AI-powered surveillance systems, military-style drones, individual animal tracking, Special Forces veterans, and satellite imagery are now routinely deployed to protect endangered species. As the Sixth Extinction looms and poaching syndicates continue to gain ground, the sector increasingly relies on counter-insurgency tactics and paramilitary-style units. Organisations such as the Dutch-originating non-governmental organisation African Parks now manage a substantial force of around 2,000 rangers across the African continent.

However, while the elephants may benefit, people living in these areas often experience the situation very differently. Human rights abuses are widespread, community privacy is sacrificed in favour of mass surveillance, and local populations are subject to violent enforcement. The protection of wildlife has transformed hunting and fishing communities into so-called “poachers” and, by extension, criminals, while the underlying drivers of poaching — poverty, land dispossession, and the lack of viable livelihood alternatives — remain unaddressed. Even those who simply seek to defend their land risk arrest, abuse, and imprisonment..

Read the full article by Benon Oluka Benon Herbert Oluka , Sam Schramski and Tulani Ngwenya Tulani Ngwenya through the link in bio.

30/06/2026

Behind enemy lines

ZAM spoke with Armel-Gilbert Bukeyeneza, Head and Founder of Ukweli Coalition Media , about the article “Behind enemy lines” and the situation of journalists in Eastern DRC.

Ever since the capture of much of the eastern DRC by Rwanda-aligned rebel movements, journalists in the region have been forced to work under new, dictatorial, rulers. Amid their challenges are broadcasting bans, muzzled sources, direct threats, and self-censorship. As if that wasn’t enough, they are now also viewed with suspicion by their own DRC government and journalists’ union in the capital, Kinshasa.

Read the full article here:
https://www.zammagazine.com/investigations/2105-drc-behind-enemy-lines