Every day, OkayAfrica shares a roundup of news we’re following but haven’t published as full articles. These short updates cover what’s happening on the continent — in culture, politics, and beyond. For more on stories like these, be sure to check out our News page, with stories from across the regions.
Kenyan President Seemingly Approves Deadly Force Against Protesters
Many online have condemned Kenyan President William Ruto’s statement that police officers can shoot and injure anyone found looting during protests. The reactions are tied to police indiscriminately attacking unarmed protesters with deadly force, using water cannons, live and rubber bullets, as well as reportedly working with armed thugs. Kenya’s human rights commission (KNCHR) announced yesterday, Tuesday, July 8, that 31 people were killed during Monday’s Saba Saba demonstrations, most of them victims of gunshot wounds.
“Anyone who burns down someone else’s business and property, let them be shot in the leg and go to the hospital as they head to court,” Ruto said at the launch of a police housing project in Killimani, Nairobi, adding that attacks on the police amount to acts of terror. The Kenyan President blatantly ignoring the role of police brutality in civil demonstrations is an ominous sign, especially as the UN Human Rights Commission (UNHCR) has condemned “alleged violations and abuses of international human rights law,” stemming from reports of deaths and injuries inflicted by police and state-sponsored thugs at protests.
Trump Hosts Five West African Leaders in White House Lunch Amid Aid Slashes, but Skips Nigeria
U.S. President Donald Trump welcomed leaders from Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania and Senegal to the White House today, Wednesday, July 9, for a summit focused on “trade not aid” and bolstering U.S. business ties, including backing the Banio Potash Mine in Gabon via the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation’s support. This comes as Washington slashes African aid and threatens a 30% reciprocal tariff on trade partners.
Noteworthy was Trump’s exclusion of Nigeria from the summit, which prompted criticism from Nigeria’s new opposition party, the African Democratic Congress (ADC), to say the snub was evidence of Nigeria’s worldwide decline under President Bola Tinubu. Nigeria’s growing alignment with BRICS could also be a reason for the exclusion. Trump has threatened an extra 10% tariff on all countries associated with the intergovernmental organization.
U.S. Aid Cuts and Tariffs: Lesotho Declares State of Disaster, and White South African Farmers Could Go Bankrupt
Lesotho has declared a national state of disaster after youth unemployment soared to nearly 50%, driven by U.S. aid cuts and steep tariffs under President Donald Trump’s trade policies. The small southern African country’s textile-heavy economy, which provides roughly 40,000 jobs and makes up 10% of GDP from exports like jeans to the U.S., now faces factory closures and cancelled orders following a 50% tariff announced by Trump in April and later paused. Lesotho’s exports are being hit harder than any other country. The declaration lets the government divert funds toward start‑up incentives, such as scrapped business registration fees and SME support, to respond quickly to economic strain.
Meanwhile, Trump’s recently announced 30% tariffs on all goods from South Africa threaten key sectors, including citrus, wine, vehicles, and agri‑goods, that previously benefited from AGOA duty‑free access. With jobs in citrus farming alone at risk and an estimated 35,000 people potentially affected, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has called Trump’s reasoning “inaccurate,” pointing out that 77% of U.S. goods enter South Africa tariff‑free and the average tariff is just 7.6%. Earlier this year, Trump invited white Afrikaner farmers to come to the U.S. as refugees, citing false claims of a white genocide. Now, white South African citrus farmers who stayed in the country could go bankrupt from the 30% proposed tariff.
Ghanaian Government Launches Taskforce to Combat Illegal Gold Mining
Ghana’s President John Mahama has inaugurated a special task force aimed at tackling illegal gold mining, locally known as ‘galamsey’. Mahama, who’s enjoying a positive start to his second stint in office, stated his readiness to end the scourge of galamsey, which has led to pollution of water bodies across Ghana and caused serious economic losses for Africa’s largest gold producer. Mahama says the launch of the GOLDBOD Task Force “signals our readiness to act decisively,” as the body is expected to work hard to “dismantle the black-market economy surrounding gold.”
Tunisian Opposition Leader Sentenced to 14 Years in Prison
Several politicians, including Rached Ghannouchi, leader of the Ennahda party, have been sentenced to prison terms on charges of inciting violence and attempting to overthrow the government. Ghannouchi, a former speaker of Tunisia’s assembly, was sentenced to 14 years in prison. His defence team said that the charges were politically motivated, stating that the “accusations were based on a false and contradictory testimony by a secret, anonymous witness who failed to present any evidence for his baseless and contradictory allegations, and who ultimately retracted most of them.” These latest bout of imprisonments continues a trend of Tunisian authorities silencing opposition figures through allegedly bogus court cases.
U.S. Cuts Visa Validity for Nigerians and Ghanaians to Three Months
The United States has slashed the duration and flexibility of non-immigrant visas for most Nigerian and Ghanaian travelers, limiting them to single-entry permits valid for just three months. The U.S. says the change, which took effect yesterday, July 8, is part of a global reciprocity realignment; they are matching Nigeria’s and Ghana’s short-term visa policies. Previously, many Nigerians held five-year, multiple-entry visas. The U.S. says it’s working with Nigerian authorities on visa overstays, criminal data-sharing, and secure travel documents. In June, Trump announced a travel ban on 12 countries and hinted that 36 more, Nigeria and Ghana among them, could be added unless they addressed U.S. security concerns. Social media vetting for all visa applicants is also now mandatory. While older visas remain valid, many Nigerians fear their chances of visiting or studying in the U.S. will drop under the new rules.