African press review 10 April 2015

Cecil John Rhodes is finally dragged off the Cape Town University campus. Robert Mugabe promises to improve Zimbabwe's infrastructure. And a top Muslim cleric says today's holy warriors have completely misunderstood the concept of jihad. 

Cecil John Rhodes has left the University of Cape Town and South African financial paper, BusinessDay, has the pictures to prove it.

A statue of the British colonialist, businessman, mining magnate and politician on the Cape Town campus had been the object of various attacks recently.

Rhodes is regarded by many critics as the founding father of colonial oppression in South Africa. Rhodesia, which is now Zimbabwe, was named after him, as was Rhodes University in Grahamstown.

BusinessDay does not say where the Cape Town statue is likely to end up.

We are, however, likely to hear more of this sort of thing.

According to a separate story in BusinessDay, the statue of Louis Botha‚ which stands outside parliament‚ has become the latest in a series of South African monuments to be vandalised.

The statue of the first prime minister of the South African Union‚ which depicts Botha on a horse and is inscribed with the words "warrior‚ farmer‚ statesman"‚ was covered in red and blue paint on Thursday morning.

Several statues have been vandalised across the country this week including the statue of Paul Kruger in Pretoria and the Horse Memorial in Port Elizabeth. Not even King George V has escaped.

The Botha statue has been a source of controversy for some time.

In a statement released yesterday, Julius Malema's Economic Freedom Fighters party said that "The EFF has long held the conviction that it is these monuments that continue to inspire white people to think they are superior and have the right to celebrate their murderous and racist past, even 21 years after [the end of apartheid in] 1994. Let all statues fall‚ together with their legacies of landlessness‚ racism and poverty."

The other big story in South Africa this morning concerns a different sort of monument.

BusinessDay gives its main headline to Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe, who is continuing his three-day state visit to South Africa. Yesterday Mugabe said Harare is now giving priority to upgrading its dilapidated road, rail and air infrastructure in order to attract more investors.

Zimbabwe's Finance Minister Patrick Chinamasa, who was part of the Mugabe delegation at the South Africa-Zimbabwe Business Forum in Pretoria yesterday, said the country’s roads and rail network were in a poor state and called for South African business to explore investment opportunities in infrastructure.

The Beitbridge-Harare road is to receive urgent attention. The road links Zimbabwe with South Africa, Zambia, Mozambique, Malawi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The decision by the Nairobi government to take action against those suspected of helping to finance the Somali-based armed Islamist group Al-Shebab makes the main story in this morning's Standard.

The Kenyan authorities have instructed financial regulators to immediately freeze accounts, insurance cover, pension, shares and bond instruments for individuals and companies suspected of funding terror activities.

The Central Bank of Kenya has already shut down 13 suspected money transfer bureaus as well as the bank accounts of several individuals and companies.

The terrorist organisations concern are named as Al-Shebab, the Mombasa Republican Council, Al-Qaida, the Islamic state of Iraq and Syria and Boko Haram.

Over at the Kenyan Daily Nation, it is reported that the stage has been set for discussions on two controversial media laws that were suspended last year.

The Information and Communication Cabinet Secretary said yesterday that the government was ready to hold talks with media owners and practitioners in order to review the controversial media laws of 2013.

Last year two clauses were suspended by the High Court as being unconstitutional. The state appealed and the case is pending.

Former Kenya Editors Guild Chairman Macharia Gaitho welcomed the proposal, saying the editors were ready to settle the dispute, provided their concerns are addressed.

He cautioned the government against comparing Kenya with Rwanda, Uganda and Ethiopia, saying Kenya was ahead of those countries on questions of press freedom.

The front page of the Cairo-based Egypt Independent has the Grand Sheikh of Al-Azhar, the most prestigious religious institution in the Muslim world, talking about the concept of jihad (holy war).

Ahmed Al-Tayyeb says the idea of jihad has been misused for the alleged goal of establishing an “Islamic caliphate”, while the concept is not meant to impose Islam on others.

According to Tayyeb, applying the term to impose control over others would be “a jihad in the name of the devil”.