Christian Putsch’s Post

Nelson Mandela's life inspired people around the world. But South Africa has moved away from his values 10 years after his death (5 December 2013) - and some are partly blaming the country's icon. How could it come to this? I spoke to his former chef who became unemployed after cooking for Mandela for 18 years, his daughter who criticises some of his policies, former struggle activists who never reaped the benefits they fought for and a group of young students who respect Mandelas achievements but think that iconising politicians can distract from current problems. It was a huge pleasure to research this long read, published in last week's WELT AM SONNTAG

It was a pleasure to participate in an online panel hosted by Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom about Boko Haram in Nigeria, grateful for the interesting debate with Professor Andrea C. Hoffmann and the opportunity to present some of my research from Maiduguri. A big thank you to Jessica Buchmann for the invitation and the excellent moderation. Here is a link to the recording: https://lnkd.in/e32veS5q

https://lnkd.in/dj5-dKaT I published a Thread on Twitter on the importance of "fixers" for (crisis) reporting

A few thoughts on the elections in Nigeria today: In Lagos, many young voters firmly believe that Peter Obi, a Catholic, will win the elections. But I'm now in Maiduguri in the Muslim north for WELT media group, where I don't see any posters from his party.In the past, Nigeria voted mostly based on ethnic, religious and regional considerations. Obi and his rather small Labor Party focused the campaign more on factual issues than the competition. Open if that's enough. A Obi victory would be a surprise.At this polling station, the voters are verified by fingerprint and face recognition, the elections started 2 hours late here, "we'll catch up on that," said this employee of the election commission.There has been hardly any cash in Nigeria for weeks, and the government says it wants to prevent voter buying with the policy. However, in recent days, large amounts of cash have been confiscated, and those arrested are accused of trying to influence the election.In the city of Maiduguri, my sources say that the 2 biggest parties PDP and APC have been distributing food in some places over the past few days.Africa's most populous nation faces an economic and security crisis. In 2022, 10,000 people died in conflicts. In addition, there were thousands of victims of kidnapping. I spoke to a man who paid a criminal gang a ransom of 9000 USD for his mother.The brain drain of qualified Nigerians is dramatic, not only in the medical field, many IT specialists are also migrating. This is one of the reasons reason why there were repeated problems with mobile payment systems in the past year.There has been some progress in the fight against Boko Haram in the northeast, and around 5,000 fighters have taken advantage of an amnesty program. A former Boko Haram commander told me that 7,000 (including the ISWAP offshoot) are still active. Saturday morning, there was a Terror attack attack in Gwoza town, Borno State, several injuries were reported, local media said it was an attempt of Boko Haram trying to disrupt the voting process.In my opinion, the growing civil society keeps some hope for Nigeria a alive, like the poet Samuel Osaze or Victoria Ohaeri (@Spaces4Change) and many more, who are are trying strengthen democracy: Osaze told me: “The youth have a vision to save this country.”  Links to my pre-election stories (in German): https://lnkd.in/eAmTsVx9 https://lnkd.in/e6DGWzYt

Looking forward to talk about my research in Tigray, Ethiopia at this event in Zurich tonight and learn about the work of fellow panelists Charlotte Touati, Hagos Abrha Abay, Samuel Misteli, Paul Slovic, Philipp Aerni, Jan Nyssen, Thomas Cottier and Scott Slovic @kunstraum_walcheturm

Some thoughts on my research in the Ethiopian Tigray region, until recently the scene of one of the cruelest wars of our time with a death toll of 600,000, according to estimates. A conflict that has received scandalously little attention from the international community. The November peace agreement between Ethiopia and the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) has improved the situation, but it is nowhere near a „normalization" that the Ethiopian government is talking about. I have never seen so many people cry. Eritrea must completely withdraw from Tigray, otherwise there can be no lasting peace. I interviewed the young mother Selam, who was raped by Eritrean soldiers in early January, just a few weeks ago. Like so many other women after the peace agreement. Only in the past few days have Eritrea's troops left some cities in northern Tigray. Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy must ensure that his key wartime ally, Eritrea's army, completely withdraws if his promises of peace are to be taken seriously. In rural areas in particular, not enough aid is arriving. I was in a village that was largely destroyed in the war. There, 60 km south of Mekelle, many children are still malnourished and schools remain closed. For 3 years now. The roads to Tigray urgently need to be opened to passenger traffic. The few flights to Addis are not enough, especially since Ethiopian authorities, who control Mekelle Airport, do block many passengers from boarding. Peace will depend on transitional justice. Ethiopia regards this as an internal matter. "How can those responsible for crimes judge their own guilt?" a former Ethiopian prosecutor told me. Ethiopia has by no means allowed enough observers of the peace process to come to Tigray. This applies to journalists too. Except for state media, there have not been any media accreditations so far, my visit was only possible through informal channels. I have seen a lot of anger, such as a mid-ranked fighter from the Tigray Defense Forces (TDF) who opposed the TDF disarmament and hoped that not all heavy weapons were not surrendered. He explained this with the Eritrean soldiers in Tigray and the unresolved Western Tigray issue. Human rights organizations accuse all warring parties of human rights crimes. The TDF also inflicted enormous suffering on the civilian population during advances into the neighboring regions of Amhara and Afar, I got an idea of this in May 2022: https://lnkd.in/duYpG8nz There were fragile moments of hope in Tigray. In the village that was destroyed 2 years ago, they showed the Ethiopian flag for the first time again next to the Tigray flag at the Timkat ceremony. The elders wanted a sign of reconciliation. Many residents were against it. The research will be published this weekend in German newspaper WELT AM SONNTAG. Many thanks to Marc Neller and the team of the foreign desk for the editorial support.

Grateful that we could amplify the voices of women in Afghanistan, Iran and Sudan in this weekend’s WELT am SONNTAG

Johannesburg ist die Stadt des Goldes, Heimat von 15.000 $-Millionären. Doch in stillgelegten Bergwerken unter ihr graben 15.000 „Zama Zamas“ nach den Resten des Goldrausches - oft einzige Chance auf sozialen Aufstieg. Oder Überleben. Und seit Pandemie und Wirtschaftskrise steigt ihre Zahl. Meine Reportage heute in der @welt am Sonntag

Thanks a lot for the excellent moderation, dear Marco Vollmar, I very much appreciated the debate and opportunity to share my perspective on the importance of independent journalism in African countries