Somali author Nuruddin Farah discusses his writing—and its relation to Somalia and the African condition—with Tom Odhiambo of Nairobi University. The interview was filmed for the Rift Valley Review.

Congolese colonial subjects have vivid memories of the grotesque and spectacular violence inflicted upon them by Europeans during Leopold’s reign of the Congo Free State: ‘Soldiers made young men kill or rape their own mother and sisters.’ Witnesses of events in 1953 mention sentries ‘amusing themselves while pounding the insides of women’s…

The subject of the Comprehension test in the school certificate exam this year was cattle-raiding. Cattle-raiding is a specialty round here, so it was much easier for the students than last year’s test, when the subject was the fifth and seventh Pan-African Congress. A Ministry of Education directive apparently says that no students should be…

RVI Fellow Mary Harper of the BBC World Service, Nuur Sheekh, Coordinator of the RVI Nairobi Forum and Sitara Jibreen of the International Committee of the Red Cross discuss the compromises made by aid agencies operating in al-Shabaab-controlled areas of Somalia.

RVI Fellow Mary Harper of the BBC World Service, Nuur Sheekh, Coordinator of the RVI Nairobi Forum and Sitara Jibreen of the International Committee of the Red Cross discuss the compromises made by aid agencies operating in al-Shabaab-controlled areas of Somalia.

Sudanese President Umar al-Bashir’s appointment as vice president of a former military officer who helped him seize power a quarter-century ago strengthens the country’s army against Islamists who may threaten his rule, according to Magdi El Gizouli at the Rift Valley Institute. The choice of Bakri Hassan Saleh, a lieutenant general who…

Sudanese President Umar al-Bashir’s appointment as vice president of a former military officer who helped him seize power a quarter-century ago strengthens the country’s army against Islamists who may threaten his rule, according to Magdi El Gizouli at the Rift Valley Institute. The choice of Bakri Hassan Saleh, a lieutenant general who…

Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir has unveiled a partially new cabinet, replacing two vice presidents in a move prompted by urgent calls for reform in his 24-year-old regime. The changes, announced on Sunday, come less than a week after leading ruling party dissident Ghazi Salahuddin Atabani said he had launched a new "Reform" party relying on…

Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir has unveiled a partially new cabinet, replacing two vice presidents in a move prompted by urgent calls for reform in his 24-year-old regime. The changes, announced on Sunday, come less than a week after leading ruling party dissident Ghazi Salahuddin Atabani said he had launched a new "Reform" party relying on…

KAMPALA, Uganda—The biggest rebel group in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Tuesday declared an end to its 20-month insurgency, after government troops earlier in the day drove fighters from their last remaining strongholds near the Ugandan border. People displaced from fighting in the Democratic Republic of the Congo troops gather in…