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piqer for: Global finds
Ciku Kimeria is a Kenyan author "Of goats and poisoned oranges" - (https://www.amazon.com/goats-poisoned-oranges-Ciku-Kimeria-ebook/dp/B00HBBWPI6), development consultant, adventurer and travel blogger (www.thekenyanexplorer.com). She writes both fiction and non-fiction focusing on African stories that need telling. She has worked on diverse pieces for various international and local publications including Quartz, Ozy, The East African etc. She has travelled to 45 countries – 16 of them in Africa. 153 countries to go and 63 territories!
"Of goats and poisoned oranges" has been extremely well received in Kenya and beyond. It tells the story of a Kenyan middle aged power couple and their complicated marriage. The novel explores issues of greed, revenge, betrayal and murder. It runs from the 1960s to 2013. It has been described as “Wicked, funny, poignant, wacky, human, a big ball of fun and danger”, “A unique and captivating book”, “Fun and intriguing”, “Impossible to put down once you start reading.”
She recently moved to Dakar, Senegal from Kenya to work on her second novel. She also works at as the Africa Communication Manager at a leading global strategy consulting firm.
She holds a B.S. in Management Science from MIT with minors in Urban Planning and International development studies.
The War You've Never Heard Of: US Military Activity In Africa
It will be fascinating to see how President Trump's America First foreign policy goes, given just how deeply involved the US military is in operations abroad - especially in Africa. According to this Vice News special report based on US military documents, 100 of the US Army Special Operations' 116 missions are being carried out in Africa.
The US military's activities on the continent are mostly related to fighting terrorism and extremism. To give actual figures, there are 1,700 special operations personnel currently spread out across 20 African countries. This represents 17% of all US commandos deployed overseas.
Donald Bolduc, the US Army general who runs the special operations command in Africa (SOCAFRICA), claims that the US is not at war in Africa, but such assertions are contradicted by ongoing operations against the al-Shabaab in Somalia. There are indications that the US military is doing more in Africa than "train, advise and assist missions" and other type of "support" operations.
The article is interesting in that, while it is not able to fully solve the puzzle, it does raise a lot of questions that could support a number of exposés trying to really uncover what the US is doing in its 100 missions in Africa.
