The Kenyans saying no to motherhood and yes to sterilisation
This week, we start in Uganda, where a grassroots movement is training future female climate leaders. Next, we travel to Nigeria, where medical errors are leaving people with lifelong deformities. Finally, we stop in Kenya, where more women are choosing not to have children.
But first, in South Africa, a court has ruled that claims of a white genocide are “clearly imagined” and “not real,” contradicting statements from US President Donald Trump and Elon Musk.
The case involved Grantland Michael Gray, who tried to donate $2.1 million to the white supremacist group Boerelegioen, but the court blocked it. Gray’s siblings said he became obsessed with white genocide conspiracies due to racist beliefs and online misinformation.
Judge Rosheni Allie noted that Gray’s paranoia led him to support Boerelegioen, a group that fuels racial division. The court also pointed out that crime data doesn’t back claims of targeted violence against white farmers. Between October and December 2024, South Africa recorded 6,953 murders—only 12 were in farm attacks, with one farmer among the victims.
Still, Trump has mentioned that white South African farmers would be allowed to move to the US and recently froze financial aid to South Africa over new land policies. No matter what happens next, this case shows how dangerous misinformation can be in shaping policies and public opinion.
Don’t Miss These Stories
BBC
‘They took all the women here’: Rape survivors recall horror of DR Congo jailbreak
DW
Ugandan women train future climate leaders
Top Picks This Week
“Some people never made it out alive”: Tackling endemic trafficking in North-West Nigeria
Auwal Muntari was filled with joy when three men approached his family, offering to enrol him in a secondary school in Niger Republic, which was located just across the border from his village in Illela, Sokoto state, Northwest Nigeria.
It was 2017, and at the age of 17, Auwal had longed to attend a good secondary school ever since he completed primary school in 2013. Unfortunately, there were no operational secondary schools in his village, so the opportunity in Niger seemed promising. Being just a few kilometres away from his village, it felt like a viable option.
A few days later, Muntari, along with two other teenagers who had also been promised a quality education, embarked on a motorcycle journey through a bush path towards Niger. They were hopeful that the journey to the nearest town in the French-speaking country would only take a few hours, but to their surprise, it ended up taking approximately two days. Eventually, they arrived at a village where Muntari was allocated a room with seven other young men.
The cracks in LGBTQ+ legislation in Mauritius
Mauritian Law says there is no ‘censorship’ around LGBTQ+ identities and relationships. However, sexual activity between same-sex couples can earn them up to 5 years in prison.
What’s Happening Around the World
CNN
Indian teenager alleges rape over five years by nearly 60 schoolmates, neighbors, relatives and strangers
Context
U.S. aid freeze derails LGBTQ+ rights work in Pacific Islands
HumAngle
Post-Injection Paralysis: How ‘Medical Errors’ Left Nigerians Paralysed for Life
Intramuscular injections have left some patients with permanent foot deformities. In addition to stealing their dreams, the condition has subjected them to stigma and discrimination, even decades after.
A Quick Read Before You Go
BBC
For as long as Nelly Naisula Sironka can remember she has never wanted children – and with one irreversible decision the 28-year-old Kenyan has ensured she never will get pregnant. Last October, she took the definitive step of undergoing a sterilisation procedure known as tubal ligation – permanently closing the door on motherhood.
“I feel liberated,” the organisational development expert tells the BBC, adding that it has ensured her future is now entirely her own.
The operation prevents pregnancy by blocking a woman’s fallopian tubes and is sometimes referred to as “getting your tubes tied”.
Between 2020 and 2023, roughly 16,000 women in the East African country underwent tubal ligation, according to Kenya’s health ministry. It is unclear how many of these women didn’t already have children.
Yet Dr Nelly Bosire says the kinds of women coming forward seeking sterilisation in Kenya is changing.