Editor's note

Daniel arap Moi, who was Kenya's president from 1978 to 2002, has died. He was 95 years old. Moi is widely held responsible for a regime that bore witness to and benefited from violence, corruption and discrimination. Gabrielle Lynch looks at Moi's path to power - he was not particularly well connected as a young man – and what insights this can provide into the leader he became.

Experts warn that the locust invasion devastating swathes of the Horn of Africa may soon spread to other countries on the continent. The locusts feed on crops and could leave millions of people without food: in the past few weeks, for instance, some parts of Kenya have received swarms that cover more than 100km². Cyril Piou explains that these invasions are cyclical and describes the best way to deal with them.

Moina Spooner

Commissioning Editor: East and Francophone Africa

Top Stories

Daniel Arap Moi Wikimedia

Daniel arap Moi: the making of a Kenyan ‘big man’

Gabrielle Lynch, University of Warwick

Moi’s financial generosity, skills in the vernacular, frequent tours of the countryside, and excellent memory for names and faces kept him popular with many.

A man chases away a swarm of desert locusts in the bush near Enziu, Kitui County, some 200km east of the capital Nairobi, Kenya. DAI KUROKAWA/EPA

Locust invasions are cyclical: African states shouldn’t be caught napping

Cyril Piou, Cirad

The best way of dealing with desert locust, as other locust species, is to adopt a preventive management strategy.

Arts, Culture + Society

Santu Mofokeng: master photographer who chased down shadows

Patricia Hayes, University of the Western Cape

No South African photographer leaves a more substantial legacy than Santu Mofokeng. He was adept at mapping interior worlds through haunting images of black life and, above all, his landscapes.

Cannabis in South Africa: the duplicity of colonial authorities

Utathya Chattopadhyaya, University of California, Santa Barbara

There are two histories of dagga in South Africa - the one of criminalising it and the other of the state trying to make money off it.

From our international editions

How we discovered a personality profile linked to war crimes

Magnus Linden, Lund University; David Whetham, King's College London

The military should take more care when hiring new staff if we are to prevent atrocities in wars.

Charles Dickens: newly discovered documents reveal truth about his death and burial

Leon Litvack, Queen's University Belfast

How two ambitious men put their own interests ahead of the great writer and his family in an act of institutionally-sanctioned bodysnatching.

How does the Wuhan coronavirus cause severe illness?

Allen Cheng, Monash University

The Wuhan coronavirus can cause lung damage, pneumonia and multi-organ failure, or sepsis, among other things.

France-US skirmish over Amazon digital tax shows why the century-old international tax system is broken

Ruth Mason, University of Virginia

France agreed to postpone implementing its law to tax US technology giants as negotiators from nearly 140 countries seek agreement on reforms to the international tax system.

En Français

Coronavirus : comment Pékin cherche à sauver la face

Antoine Bondaz, Sciences Po – USPC

Pour les autorités chinoises, au-delà de la crise sanitaire, l'épidémie de coronavirus représente également un défi majeur en termes d'image, à l'intérieur comme à l'extérieur.

Des technologies de pointe au service de l’archéologie sous-marine

Vincent Creuze, Université de Montpellier

Pour localiser et expertiser leur patrimoine culturel immergé, les scientifiques ont recours à des technologies de plus en plus sophistiquées, combinant précision maximale et préservation des épaves.

 
 
 
 

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