African journalism. February 20 2021 ISSUE NO. 38 The Continent with EXCLUSIVE Secret weapons shipments to Congo- Brazzaville Ahead of elections, Congo’s president turns to Azerbaijan to amass an enormous arsenal The Continent ISSUE 38. February 20 2021 Page 2 Inside: Comment: How do you say ‘blackface’ in Mandarin? (p8) Resurrecting Musa Mansa, the richest man in history (p11) Movies: When Nollywood met Bollywood (p20) In conversation with Kizito Mihigo, the gospel singer who died in a Rwandan jail (p23) COVER STORY: Rifles, of both the assault and sniper varieties. Anti-personnel rockets. Anti-tank rockets. Rocket launchers. Heavy machine guns. Grenades, by the tens of thousand. Grenade launchers. Millions of bullets. These are just some Life on Mars: At 10.55pm of the weapons that have Central African Time on been delivered, in secret, Thursday, a robot made by to the Republic of Congo’s humans touched down on the Presidential Guard. This is surface of another planet. revealed for the first time in a This is what it saw. The pixels The Continent exclusive (p13) that make up this photograph with the Organised Crime and – the very first taken by Corruption Reporting Project. NASA’s Perseverance rover – The only question that remains: were first recorded on Mars, What is President Sassou and have travelled several Nguesso – one of Africa’s hundred million kilometres to longest-serving leaders, appear in this newspaper. It’s running for re-election next not a bad view. month – planning to do with all this firepower? The Continent ISSUE 38. February 20 2021 Page 3 The Week in Numbers 6 The number of journalists injured by Ugandan military police this week. Army chief David Muhoozi has apologised for the beatings and promised to cover all medical bills. The incident occurred as opposition leader Bobi (Photo: Stringer/AFP) Wine lodged a petition against human rights abuses with the United 1,000 tonnes Nations in Kampala. The estimated amount of oil spilled when the MV Wakashio, an oil tanker, ran aground off the coast of Mauritius last July. This week, the $50-million ship captain admitted that the accident – which The sum of money has been described as the island’s worst-ever allegedly laundered environmental disaster – occurred when he by a “Ghana-based steered the ship closer to the shore in search criminal enterprise”, of a WiFi connection. “There was no internet whose supposed on the ship and I agreed to dock in Mauritius ringleaders were so that the crew members could communicate arrested in the United with their relatives as it helps keep the morale States this week. of the crew high,” he said. “The scams we allege in this investigation include romance scams targeting the 3.6 metres elderly, business e-mail The height of a mysterious silver monolith that compromise scams, appeared suddenly in the middle of a traffic circle in and even fraudulent Kinshasa. Residents promptly set fire to it. Similar Covid-19 relief loans,” structures have recently appeared in Utah in the said the FBI. United States, Romania and Turkey. datadesk Datadesk, the M&G centre for data Brought to you by the Mail & Guardian’s Data Desk. journalism, produced this story FIGHT FAKE NEWS WITH REAL NEWS. Disinformation is often shared on closed networks like WhatsApp. That’s why The Continent exists. Help us fight fake news by subscribing to high quality journalism, and share that instead. Get your copy delivered to your phone or inbox every Saturday. And if you like what you read, forward it to your friends, family and colleagues – not indiscriminately, but only with people who might appreciate it. HOW TO SUBSCRIBE Email: TheContinent@mg. co.za with ‘SUBSCRIBE’ in the subject box WhatsApp/Signal: Save +27 73 805 6068 on your phone, and send us a message saying ‘NEWS’ Share real news. The Continent Page 5 ISSUE 38. February 20 2021 News Zimbabwe First jab: VP Covid vaccine Chiwenga receives the roll-out begins Sinopharm amid concerns vaccine over efficacy Kudzai Mashininga Zimbabwe’s Lawyers for Human Rights said they had written to the imbabwe’s vice president and health health ministry seeking assurances that Zminister Constantino Chiwenga clinical trials of the Sinopharm and became the first person in the country future vaccines would be conducted in to be vaccinated against Covid-19 when the country to establish their safety and he received a jab of China’s Sinopharm efficacy before distribution. They were vaccine on Thursday. surprised the government planned to Chiwenga’s shot kickstarts Zimbabwe’s gather data on efficacy only during the distribution of the 200,000 doses of the roll-out. The lawyers said they would Sinopharm vaccine donated by China. approach the courts if they did not receive The government says it has acquired an a response by Friday. additional 600,000 doses of the vaccine, Enoch Dongo, president of the which will arrive in early March. Zimbabwe Nurses Association, told The But the immunisation campaign is Continent the state had not provided not without its critics. Former deputy enough information. “Vaccinating people prime minister Arthur Mutambara is a better option but the matter has not questioned why the vaccine had not been handled well. Is it the right vaccine? been tested against the 501.V2 variant of People are in the dark, even us as nurses.” the virus that emerged in neighbouring Zimbabwe’s vaccination efforts began South Africa and is now dominant in a day after South Africa rolled out the Zimbabwe, saying there had been no Johnson & Johnson vaccine in Cape “meaningful partnership” between China Town, with President Cyril Ramaphosa and Zimbabwe on the vaccine. among the first to be vaccinated. ■ The Continent ISSUE 38. February 20 2021 Page 6 Nigeria Okeke. He’s better known as Invictus Obi, and you might recognise him – after all, he graced the cover of Forbes Africa in June 2016. In addition to appearing on the magazine’s highly revered “30 under 30” list of African entrepreneurs, Okeke was a motivational speaker and internationally recognised businessman who was invited to a summit at the London School of Economics alongside the Ghanaian president. He gave interviews to the BBC in London, SAfm in South Africa and was covered extensively in the Nigerian press for his business acumen and high-flying lifestyle. He was Instagram famous. It all came crashing down in August 2019 when he was arrested at Dulles International Airport in Virginia in the Invictus Obi’s United States for defrauding Unatrac, a UK firm which handles exports for fall from Caterpillar, the construction machinery and equipment company. grace He will now begin a 10-year prison term in a US federal prison after being ometime in 2018, the chief financial sentenced this week. Unatrac was not Sofficer of Unatrac got phished. He his only victim: he was found to have entered his password onto a dummy committed a series of wire frauds between website. Once the scammers had access 2015 to 2019, along with unnamed to his email, they sent invoices to finance accomplices. staff who processed about 15 payments “The FBI will not allow cyber criminals over a seven-day period. The company free rein in the digital world to prey on US was defrauded of almost $11-million. companies,” said Brian Dugan, an agent The ringleader of the scam was a for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Nigerian man by the name of Obinwanne in response to the verdict. ■ The Continent ISSUE 38. February 20 2021 Page 7 Zanzibar Maalim Seif Sharif Hamad (1943 – 2021) Covid claims veteran Zanzibari politician OBITUARY fficially, Tanzania’s government Oclaims that there are no cases of the virus in the country, although doctors are reporting a surge in cases seen in hospitals and clinics. Maalim Seif Sharif Hamad, who cannot and should not be ignored. also chaired the opposition Alliance for Zanzibar matters. We cannot and should Change and Transparency-Wazalendo not be ignored. Let’s avert a tragedy and party, went public with his Covid-19 ensure the eyes of the world are focused diagnosis, openly challenging the state’s on our islands.” narrative. He did not know then that the tragedy He was a veteran opposition leader would be his own. who ran for president of Zanzibar on “Words are not enough to describe six occasions, each time unsuccessfully. Maalim’s legacy,” said his friend and The most recent election in October, colleague Zitto Kabwe. “Maalim’s legacy like others before it, was marred by of a true, modern-day freedom fighter, accusations of electoral fraud and fighting for the freedom that he believed irregularities. was fundamental for Zanzibar and for Shortly before the vote last year, Tanzania. Fighting with the means – Hamad wrote a column for The Continent, whether words or action – that he had in which he explained his fears that the at his disposal throughout the decades. election would not be free and fair. Maalim continued the struggle until he “Zanzibar matters,” he wrote. “We could not anymore.” ■ The Continent Page 8 ISSUE 38. February 20 2021 Comment ‘Africa is grateful’: A Chinese actress in blackface at the 2018 Spring Gala. How do you say ‘blackface’ in Mandarin? EDITOR’S NOTE: The decision to publish the controversial image from China’s state TV was taken after extensive conversations within the team here at The Continent, with input from the writers of this article. Undoubtedly, the image is offensive but we decided it was important to show our readers how China, one of Africa’s most strategic partners in terms of trade and loans, still views Africans in 2021.