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Africa Uncensored

The Fixers: Uncovering Kenya’s Match Fixing Network

Kenyan football is facing its biggest threat, with perennial allegations of match fixing eroding the quality and integrity of the beloved sport. So what happens when the final score is decided before kickoff?As Kenya prepares to co-host the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), the integrity of the game is more than just a preference; it’s a necessity for survival.Martin K.N Siele is an experienced multimedia journalist and filmmaker committed to telling the most important African stories of the day. His work has appeared in local and international outlets including Quartz, Semafor and Rest of World and spans areas including technology, environment, governance and culture.Δ document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() );

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Africa Uncensored

Inside Kenya’s Protest Abductions | Shadows of Fear

They picked him from the streets with no warrant, no charge, and no court arraignment. Just a locked room & silence. Mulinge Muteti, a Kenyan human rights defender, went to commemorate the June 25th protest killings. What happened next, he claims, was that he was abducted and disappeared by state agents. #ShadowsofFear, produced by Africa Uncensored’s Moige William, exposes a pattern of abductions & extrajudicial detention targeting Kenyans, activists and ordinary people taken, tortured, then dumped. The chilling part is that Kenya has seen this before, in the Moi era, in the Mwakenya crackdowns, in the darkest chapters of the country’s history.Δ document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() );

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Associated Press

Women are dying in Africa as US ramps up its global battle against abortion

A woman walks past a billboard promoting the Safe Motherhood Bill on Wilkinson Road in Freetown, Sierra Leone, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Caitlin Kelly, File)The son of Mary Olouch, who died at 25 after a botched abortion procedure, holds a photo of her in her home in Karabok, Kenya, July 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Annie Risemberg)Community health worker Loice Ochieng stands over the grave of Mary Olouch, who died at 25 after a botched abortion procedure done without the help of healthcare professionals, in Karabok, Kenya, July 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Annie Risemberg)Anti-abortion activists rally outside of the U.S. Supreme Court during the March for Life in Washington, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)Hannah Ruguru, a health worker at Marie Stopes clinic, sits in a consultation room in Kisumu, Kenya, July 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Annie Risemberg)A woman walks past a billboard promoting the Safe Motherhood Bill on Wilkinson Road in Freetown, Sierra Leone, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Caitlin Kelly, File)A woman walks past a billboard promoting the Safe Motherhood Bill on Wilkinson Road in Freetown, Sierra Leone, March 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Caitlin Kelly, File)The son of Mary Olouch, who died at 25 after a botched abortion procedure, holds a photo of her in her home in Karabok, Kenya, July 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Annie Risemberg)The son of Mary Olouch, who died at 25 after a botched abortion procedure, holds a photo of her in her home in Karabok, Kenya, July 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Annie Risemberg)Community health worker Loice Ochieng stands over the grave of Mary Olouch, who died at 25 after a botched abortion procedure done without the help of healthcare professionals, in Karabok, Kenya, July 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Annie Risemberg)Community health worker Loice Ochieng stands over the grave of Mary Olouch, who died at 25 after a botched abortion procedure done without the help of healthcare professionals, in Karabok, Kenya, July 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Annie Risemberg)Anti-abortion activists rally outside of the U.S. Supreme Court during the March for Life in Washington, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)Anti-abortion activists rally outside of the U.S. Supreme Court during the March for Life in Washington, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)Hannah Ruguru, a health worker at Marie Stopes clinic, sits in a consultation room in Kisumu, Kenya, July 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Annie Risemberg)Hannah Ruguru, a health worker at Marie Stopes clinic, sits in a consultation room in Kisumu, Kenya, July 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Annie Risemberg)KISUMU, Kenya (AP) — For decades, U.S. anti-abortion groups have lobbied domestically and abroad for restricting access to abortion. In the U.S., their biggest success was the reversal of Roe v. Wade. Now, the Trump administration is delivering new momentum to the movement exporting “family values” to nations overseas.At anti-abortion activists’ annual March for Life demonstration in Washington, Vice President JD Vance announced sweeping new restrictions on U.S. funding for nongovernmental organizations, foreign governments and U.N. agencies that promote access to abortion, gender-affirming care and diversity initiatives overseas.“We’re going to start blocking every international NGO that performs or promotes abortion abroad from receiving a dollar of U.S. money,” Vance told the crowd in January.The expanded restrictions build on the anti-abortion advocacy work carried out by conservative U.S. nonprofits abroad — especially in Africa, where healthcare is highly dependent on foreign aid. The region has the world’s highest estimated proportion of unsafe abortions and highest maternal mortality rates — including the highest number of maternal deaths per 100,000 abortions.This is part of a series on maternal mortality in sub-Saharan Africa, which has the world’s fastest-growing population and accounts for 70% of global maternal deaths. Around 180,000 pregnancy deaths are recorded every year across the continent.The new rules represent a radical expansion of earlier U.S. policy that cut assistance to overseas groups providing abortion-related services. Experts say at least $30 billion in U.S. aid could be affected, reshaping health policies worldwide.Anti-abortion activists rally outside of the U.S. Supreme Court during the March for Life in Washington, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)Anti-abortion activists rally outside of the U.S. Supreme Court during the March for Life in Washington, Jan. 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)“We’re seeing opportunity here to have a consistently pro-life ethic,” Nicole Hunt of Colorado-based Focus on the Family, a conservative Christian evangelical group, told The Associated Press. “We’ve been influencing health policies for a long time with our foreign aid. This is just a new direction.”In the crosshairs is an international convention signed by African countries two decades ago declaring safe abortion a human right. Known as the Maputo Protocol, it obliges signatory nations to legalize abortion in cases of rape, incest, fetal malformation or risk to a woman’s health. But implementation has been spotty, forcing women to seek illicit procedures. Every year, sub-Saharan Africa records over 6 million unsafe abortions, according to the African Institute for Development Policy.

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Africa Uncensored

Power and performance: How African Union organs are shaping, or failing, Africa’s Future

An institution born out of a need for a unifying force against historical conflicts, poverty, poor governance, and economic isolation in a continent where borders were drawn in faraway conference rooms, the African Union (AU) was envisaged as a tool for addressing the common problems facing a united Africa. More than two decades since, those same problems persist while the institution thrives. Whereas conflicts flare up across Sudan and the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, trade remains stifled by underdeveloped infrastructural networks and non-tariff barriers. Meanwhile, millions of unemployed youth continue to emerge into economies that struggle to accommodate new workforce members. The list of ongoing challenges in Africa goes on. Against this backdrop is the AU, a complex structure of various organs designed to solve Africa’s problems. However, the extent to which these institutions are successful in executing their roles remains debatable. Independent research highlights the gap between the AU’s ambitions and its institutional performance A broader body of independent research echoes these institutional tensions. In its publication The African Union at 20: African perspectives on progress, challenges and prospects (2023), the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) brings together African experts to critically assess the AU’s performance over two decades. The study notes that although the AU was envisioned as a transformative force for governance, peace, and development on the continent, progress has been uneven, with its 20th anniversary marked by relatively muted recognition. It points to recurring constraints across AU organs, including weak enforcement capacity, reliance on political will, and inconsistent commitment from member states, factors that continue to limit effective implementation. The ISS further argues that strengthening the AU requires more than technical adjustments; it demands a deeper reconsideration of how Africa conceptualises, designs, and operationalises its continental institutions. By drawing on diverse African perspectives, the publication contributes to on-going debates on improving the effectiveness of organs such as the AUC, AUDA-NEPAD, and the Pan-African Parliament (PAP), underscoring the persistent gap between institutional ambition and practical delivery. Using the latest available research, institutional actions, and expert opinions, Africa Uncensored explores the following fundamental question about the AU: ​Are its organs making an impact on shaping Africa’s future, or are they being held back by institutional constraints and political challenges? Based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the African capital, the African Union Commission (AUC) acts as the administrative and executive hub of the entire continental institution. It formulates, monitors, and supports the execution of policies across all member states of the institution. According to academic research on the subject, specifically “Punching Above Weight: How the African Union Commission Exercises Agency in Politics”, the AUC has been shown to influence the continent’s agendas and even politics. At the same time, influence is quite distinct from power. Indeed, the AUC is forced to operate within certain boundaries set by sovereign states, each of which has its unique political, economic, and social conditions. During political crises, for instance, the AUC can take measures such as issuing statements or calling upon member states to engage in conflict resolution processes.Such initiatives have failed, however, in addressing the ongoing conflicts in eastern Congo and Sudan. Therefore, while the AUC may be considered influential on a continent scale, the extent of its leadership is quite limited, as its activities depend entirely on the willingness of member states to comply with its recommendations. Whereas the AUC formulates policies, AUDA-NEPAD is charged with the task of implementing those policies. At the recent 2025 Luanda Summit on Infrastructure Financing, the organisation made its intentions very clear: “This Summit was intentional, to move beyond speeches and create a dynamic marketplace, moving us from rhetoric to concrete financing.” This means that there are real challenges facing citizens on a daily basis due to infrastructure deficiencies, such as long travel times along poorly paved roads, power shortages in urban areas, limited availability of water and other utilities, and fragmented logistics and transportation systems hindering trade. According to AUDA-NEPAD, there were US$43.9 billion worth of infrastructure projects in the pipeline. As some of the strategic changes in the approach towards infrastructure development include treating major corridors as continental resources, the organization said: “Our priority PIDA corridors are not just national projects…they require a governance framework to match.” What does it mean for ordinary citizens in practical terms? It means that multiple states should collaborate on large-scale projects in the form of rail transport networks, electricity infrastructure, and port facilities connecting different countries’ economic zones. The problem is that such cooperation may require substantial investments, agreement, and coordination between multiple stakeholders, which often does not happen. For the people affected, the difference can be either positive or negative, depending on the success of infrastructure development. 

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Africa Uncensored

The Cost Of A Bullet – Surviving The June 25th Protests | Africa Uncensored Documentary

Rose is a 21-year-old woman who was struck by a stray bullet while heading home during the June 25th, 2025, protests in Kenya. She wasn’t demonstrating; she simply found herself caught in the crossfire. Shot twice in the leg, Rose was moved from hospital to hospital as doctors tried to remove the bullet. This story looks at the physical and psychological scars, the human cost of the June 25th protests and the pursuit for justice a year later. What happened to the victims after people “moved on”?Δ document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() );

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IEBC

IEBC strategic plan flags dispute management as a core 2027 risk area

IEBC’s strategic materials say the commission will strengthen mechanisms for handling pre-election disputes and issuing guidance to candidates and parties.Why it matters: Dispute resolution is central to candidate eligibility, party-list fights and county-level nomination conflicts. Published outside the 48-hour window but still relevant.

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Africa Uncensored

A Campaign of Disappearances: Inside the Killings, Abductions and Surveillance of Mozambique’s Government Critics

Key findings. The abduction of journalist Arlindo Chissale is part of a broader pattern of enforced disappearances and political killings in Mozambique, with over 300 dead and 3,000 victims of violence from October 2024 to January 2025; Our reporting suggests actors close to Mozambique’s ruling party FRELIMO were involved in the surveillance and targeting of […] The post A Campaign of Disappearances: Inside the Killings, Abductions and Surveillance of Mozambique’s Government Critics appeared first on Africa Uncensored.

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