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Rufaro Samanga
Oct. 25, 2019 04:50AM EST

Thousands of Zimbabweans March Against Economic Sanctions Imposed by the West

Zimbabweans hope the anti-sanctions march will result in the lifting of economic sanctions imposed by the West.

Zimbabwe's economy continues on its downward spiral. After the infamous "coup-not-coup" of last year, which saw the ousting of former president Robert Mugabe after almost a four decade-long rule, current president Emmerson Mnangagwa and his cabinet are yet to inspire any confidence in Zimbabweans. A few days ago, the country embarked on an "anti-sanctions crusade" which included prayer sessions and the declaration of a public holiday. More recently, thousands of Zimbabweans are participating in a nationwide march which hopes to see the economic sanctions imposed by America and the European Union lifted. However, both America and the European Union have been clear that sanctions will only be lifted following economic and political reforms.

Zimbabwe has been facing economic sanctions since Mugabe was in power. America, the European Union, Australia and several others have maintained that because of alleged human rights violations, rigged elections and the expropriation of land from White farmers, the sanctions will remain in place. American ambassador Brian Nichols said in an interview with Zimbabwe's Trevor Ncube that, "The perception of the issues in Zimbabwe is driven by the actions of the government of Zimbabwe both in the run up to and in the wake of the elections in 2018."

READ: Zimbabwean Police Are Using Violence to Disperse Peaceful Protesters

Members of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) are reportedly also in attendance to show their support for the mass mobilization of Zimbabweans by the ruling Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (Zanu-PF). According to VOA Zimbabwe, each member country of SADC is set to individually call for the lifting of Zimbabwe's sanctions as previously agreed upon at the 39th regional summit held in Tanzania this past August. Last night, the Zanu-PF Youth League called on Zimbabweans to occupy the American embassy as part of what they've now dubbed "Sanctions Must Fall".

Social media is alive with images and video footage of the various anti-sanctions marches taking place across Zimbabwe.





Interview

Interview: Wavy The Creator Is Ready to See You Now

The multidisciplinary Nigerian-American artist on tapping into all her creative outlets, creating interesting things, releasing a new single and life during quarantine.

A trip canceled, plans interrupted, projects stalled. It is six months now since Wavy the Creator has had to make a stop at an undisclosed location to go into quarantine and get away from the eye of the pandemic.

The professional recording artist, photographer, writer, fashion artist, designer, and evolving creative has been spending all of this time in a house occupied by other creatives. This situation is ideal. At least for an artist like Wavy who is always in a rapid motion of creating and bringing interesting things to life. The energy around the house is robust enough to tap from and infuse into any of her numerous creative outlets. Sometimes, they also inspire trips into new creative territories. Most recently, for Wavy, are self-taught lessons on a bass guitar.

Wavy's days in this house are not without a pattern, of course. But some of the rituals and personal rules she drew up for herself, like many of us did for internal direction, at the beginning of the pandemic have been rewritten, adjusted, and sometimes ditched altogether. Some days start early and end late. Some find her at her sewing machine fixing up thrift clothes to fit her taste, a skill she picked up to earn extra cash while in college, others find her hard at work in the studio, writing or recording music.

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(Youtube)

The 10 Songs You Need to Hear This Week

Featuring Wizkid, Alicia Keys x Diamond Platnumz, Manu WorldStar, Maya Amolo, La Dame Blanche and more.

Every week, we highlight the cream of the crop in music through our best music of the week column.

Here's our round up of the best tracks and music videos that came across our desks, which you can also check out in our Songs You Need to Hear This Week playlists on Spotify and Apple Music.

Follow our SONGS YOU NEED TO HEAR THIS WEEK playlist on Spotify here, Apple Music here and YouTube Music here

Check out all of OkayAfrica's playlists on Spotify and Apple Music.

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News Brief

Michael Kiwanuka Wins Highly Coveted 2020 Mercury Prize

The British-Ugandan artist proves that staying true to yourself will get you further than you can imagine.

British-Ugandan musician Michael Kiwanuka has gone on to win the 2020 Mercury Prize at this year's virtual awards ceremony.

The win was assigned to Kiwanuka's 2019 album KIWANUKA, produced by Danger Mouse and Inflo. KIWANUKA, Michael's third full-length so far, seems to be the artists' most personal one yet.

In his own words, Kiwanuka told New Statesman, "I thought, what better way to say that you're comfortable with who you are than by using just your name? KIWANUKA goes against fame, it goes against success. It's not in the pocket, it's not a smooth rock'n'roll name that's up in lights. It can be clumsy, if you haven't seen it before."

Well, we are certainly grateful for the singer's personal evolution as it has landed him top honors in the industry, as well as, amongst his die hard fans.

The artist said of his win, "I don't even know what to say - I'm speechless. This is amazing...I don't even have any words. This is ridiculous, it's crazy! I'm so happy. Third time's a charm. It's blown my mind. I'm over the moon, I'm so excited - this is for art, for music, for albums. This is the only thing I've ever wanted to do so to win a Mercury is a dream come true. I'm so happy. Music and art means so much to me and this is an award that celebrates that so I'm over the moon."

Watch Michael Kiwanuka's performance of "You Ain't The Problem" off of his Mercury Prize winning album "KIWANUKA" here.

Mercury Prize 2020 Winner | Michael Kiwanuka - You Ain't The Problem (Later... With Jools Holland) www.youtube.com

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South African President Cyril Ramaphosa Supports Removal of Apartheid Statues

This past Heritage Day, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that monuments 'glorifying' the country's 'divisive past' should be repositioned and relocated.