Bingu wa Mutharika, President of Malawi:
Born 24 February 1934. Died April 5, 2012.

Posted on April 14, 2012 by

Bingu wa Mutharika – who died in hospital after having a cardiac arrest early on Thursday April 5, 2012 had nursed ambitions of ruling Malawi since the dictatorship of Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda began to unravel in 1993. That ambition was first realised in May 2004 – and five years later he won a second term, with a resounding victory. But both Dr Mutharika’s terms in office were mired in controversy. Critics demanded Mutharika’s resignation, saying he had not so much run the country as run the country into the ground. He had been accused of trampling on democratic freedoms and economic mismanagement. In 2011, as people struggled with rising … Continue reading →

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Ahmed Ben Bella President of Algeria (1963-1965)
Born December 25, 1916. Died April 11, 2012

Posted on April 11, 2012 by

Algeria’s first President and one of six historic leaders of the bloody independence struggle from France who has passed away in his family home in the capital Algiers at the age of 96, was a symbol of pan-Arabist ideology as well as the global anti-colonial movement, and president of Algeria from 1963 until he was overthrown in a military coup in 1965 by the army chief of staff, Col. Houari Boumedienne. Until 1980 Ben Bella was under house arrest but later went into self-exile in Switzerland until 1990 when he returned to Algeria. A giant of Algeria’s independence struggle, he played only a symbolic role in the latter years of … Continue reading →

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Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed, Somali Politician (Dec 15, 1934 – March 22, 2012)

Posted on March 23, 2012 by

Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed who has died in Dubai aged 77 was born‎‎ on 15 December 1934 and was one of the founders of the Somali Salvation Democratic Front, as well as the Puntland State of Somalia, where he served as the autonomous region’s first President. In 2004, he helped establish the Transitional Federal Government, which he led as President of Somalia from 2004 until 2008. Ahmed was born  in the city of Galkacyo, situated in the north-central Mudug region of Somalia. For his post-secondary education, he studied Law at the Somali National University in Mogadishu. Ahmed later moved abroad to pursue Military Studies. He obtained a degree in Military Topography from … Continue reading →

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John Njoroge Michuki – Kenyan Politician: (December 1932 – February 22, 2012)

Posted on February 23, 2012 by

Cabinet Minister in Kenya credited with streamlining the chaotic Public transport sector popularly known as ‘Matatu’ industry John Michuki died of a heart attack on Tuesday night at the age of 80. The Minister, who was a close political ally of President Kibaki, died at the Intensive Care Unit of the Aga Khan Hospital, Heart and Cancer centre, Nairobi on Tuesday night. Michuki who was until his death, the Kenyan Environment Minister, was taken ill on Sunday morning two days after returning from a London Hospital, where he had been undergoing treatment since December last year and admitted at the Aga Khan hospital after he was rushed there in critical … Continue reading →

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Marie Colvin – Journalist: January 12, 1956-February 22, 2012

Posted on February 23, 2012 by

Marie Colvin, one of Britain’s leading war correspondents, was killed alongside French photographer Remi Ochlik in the city of Homs when the house they were staying in was hit by government forces. Ms Colvin, who worked for The Sunday Times, stayed in the besieged city despite being ordered to get out by her editor because of the risk, her mother Rosemarie said last night. “She had to stay. She wanted to finish one more story,” her mother added. Lebanese intelligence staff were said to have intercepted communications between Syrian army officers revealing that direct orders were issued to target the building which was being used as a makeshift press centre. … Continue reading →

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Whitney Elizabeth Houston – Singer/Actress: Agust 9, 1963-February 11, 2012

Posted on February 15, 2012 by

Whitney Houston’s sad and sudden death on the eve of the Grammys after a well-documented history with substance abuse has plunged the media into schizophrenic mode as it wrestles with ways to praise her legacy while acknowledging her lurid end. The news on Monday, after hagiographic tributes at the Grammys on Sunday, dragged readers back to ugly reality: Whitney Houston was found submerged in her bathtub, police said. She’d been pulled from the bathwater and attempts at resuscitation were futile.   Before that, most news organizations by and large focused on her superstardom and on her climb to the top of the music charts with a uniquely powerful and stirring … Continue reading →

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ETTA JAMES – Singer: January 25, 1928 – January 20, 2012

Posted on January 21, 2012 by

  Etta James, whose powerful, versatile and emotionally direct voice could enliven the raunchiest blues as well as the subtlest love songs, most indelibly in her signature hit, “At Last,” died on Friday morning in Riverside, Calif. She was 73. Her manager, Lupe De Leon, said that the cause was complications of leukemia. Ms. James, who died at Riverside Community Hospital, had been undergoing treatment for some time for a number of conditions, including leukaemia and dementia. She also lived in Riverside. Ms. James was not easy to pigeonhole. She is most often referred to as a rhythm and blues singer, and that is how she made her name in … Continue reading →

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Malam Bacai Sanha, President of Guinea-Bissau:
Born May 5, 1947. Died January 9, 2012

Posted on January 10, 2012 by

President Malam Bacai Sanha of Guinea Bissau who died Monday. Malam Bacai Sanhá who has died on January 9, 2012 was a Guinea-Bissau politician who was President of Guinea-Bissau from 8 September 2009 to 9 January 2012. A member of the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), Sanhá was President of the National People’s Assembly from 1994 to 1999 and then served as acting President of Guinea-Bissau from 14 May 1999 to 17 February 2000, following the ouster of President João Bernardo Vieira. Standing as the PAIGC candidate, he placed second in the 1999–2000 presidential election as well as the 2005 presidential election before winning … Continue reading →

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Samuel Kiendrebeogo: 1949-2012

Posted on January 8, 2012 by

By Mohammed Keita The African media community lost a central voice this week with the passing of Samuel Kiendrebeogo, the veteran host of weekly media magazine Médias d’Afrique et D’Ailleurs on Voice of America‘s French service. Sam, as he was known, died while vacationing in his native Burkina Faso. He was 63. Most of Sam’s listeners probably only knew him by his voice, which I had gotten used to hearing over the phone when he called to request interviews. I had the privilege of meeting Sam a handful of times during my visits to the VOA studios in Washington, D.C. A warm but austere man whose calm put me at … Continue reading →

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The life and times of Kim Jong-il – North Korea’s ‘Dear Leader’

Posted on December 20, 2011 by

By James Robbins Kim Jong-il was one of the world’s most reclusive and enigmatic leaders, presiding over a secretive and internationally isolated country. The world’s only hereditary communist ruler, he was criticised for flagrant human rights abuses and for threatening the stability of the region by pursuing a nuclear weapons programme and testing long-range missiles. When he assumed power after the death of his father, Kim Il-sung, in 1994, very little was known about Kim Jong-il. He had seldom been seen in public. He was said to have personally ordered the shooting down of a South Korean airliner in 1987. The South Korean media portrayed him as a vain man, … Continue reading →

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