Chinua Achebe's "Things Fall Apart"

It's been over 50 years since Nigeria's Chinua Achebe, hailed as the father of modern African writing, penned the legendary novel 'Things Fall Apart' in 1958. The novel was Achebe's first and sold over 10 million copies. Nigerian novelist Chinua Achebe is a fine stylish and an astute social critic, is one of the best-known African writers in the world and his novels are often assigned in university courses. His works explore the impact of European culture on African society. Paul Ndiho has more

President Obama's Relatives in Kenya

President Obama's Kenyan relatives are busy managing a kind of international stardom conferred upon them by their famous, if distant, relative.
In a short span of time, the routines of their lives have been replaced by the trappings and oddities of global fame: crowds, bodyguards, tabloid stories and the varied, at times mystical, expectations of an awe-struck public. I interacted with the Obama's briefly and here is what they make of President Obama.

Barack Hussein Obama Becomes 44th U.S President

Barack Obama has become the 44th President of the United States, taking the oath of office on the steps of the U.S. Capitol before a crowd of more than one million people who had gathered in frigid temperatures to see the first African American become president. Immediately after President Obama took the oath of office, a military color guard fired off a 21-gun salute as an enormous and diverse crowd cheered, waved American flags and chanted the new president's name.

Obama's Inauguration Jan 20, 2009

The inauguration of Barack Obama has a special significance for Africans. They expect the joy they will feel in celebrating Obama’s swearing-in ceremony to exceed even the elation they felt in celebrating his Election Night victory in November. I spent some time today at the Washington Mall and here is more...

Women are Born or Sold into Slavery in Niger

Born or sold into slavery. It's a brutal reality for hundreds of thousands of African women. But in Niger, one woman's groundbreaking legal battle has triumphed, and a West African court recently found Niger's government guilty of failing to protect a woman from slavery. Paul Ndiho has more

DR Congo rebels 'oust Gen Nkunda'

Officers in the main rebel group in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo say they have ousted their leader, Gen Laurent Nkunda - a claim he denies.

CNDP officers told Paul Ndiho they had removed Gen Nkunda because of what they described as "bad governance and corruption".

But Gen Nkunda speaking to Vipi Africa by telephone from Eastern Congo denied the media reports saying that it was not true.

The CNDP launched a major offensive in August, which displaced more than a quarter of a million people and raised fears of a wider regional war. Paul Ndiho has more

Guinea's Junta leader Warns Mining Sector

Guinea's coup leader has frozen the country's numerous mining contracts and gold extractions as part of what he called an anti-corruption drive. The West African country sits on one-third of the world's reserves of bauxite reserves, the raw material used to make aluminum, and also has important reserves of gold, diamonds, and other minerals.

But because of corruption and mismanagement, Guinea ranks 160 out of 177 in the United Nation's development scale. Paul Ndiho has more.

Opposition Wins Ghana's Presidential Election

Opposition leader John Atta Mills was declared Ghana's next president Saturday in a peaceful ballot that secured the West African nation's place as a beacon of democracy on a volatile continent.

The country is one of the few in Africa to successfully transfer power twice from one legitimately elected leader to another, proof that Ghana's democracy has truly matured after an era of coups and dictatorship in the 1970s and 1980s.

But tensions still ran high in what became the closest vote in Ghana's history, and some feared violence could erupt as it did earlier this year in Kenya — an East African nation that also was a model of stability until a similarly tight 2007 ballot unleashed weeks of tribal bloodshed.

Ghana's ruling party candidate, Nana Akufo-Addo, had threatened to reject the results, but withdrew his court challenges and conceded peacefully. President John Kufuor appealed on both sides to accept the outcome and his call appeared aimed at his own governing party. Paul Ndiho Has more.