ZAM Magazine

Statement on the harassment of NAIRE member Agather Atuhaire at Schiphol, the Netherlands

The Network of African Investigative Reporters and Editors, NAIRE, joins the Human Rights Foundation HRF in condemning the distressing treatment meted out by Dutch immigration officials to its member, Ugandan journalist and human rights defender Agather Atuhaire, upon her transit at Schiphol airport last Thursday. Seemingly not acquainted with Ugandan passports and saying they had “never seen that type” of document before, Atuhaire was held for 30 minutes in silence, causing her to miss her onward flight to Nairobi. Afterwards the officers offered no apology, only a replacement flight 24 hours later.

Meanwhile, the brief detention, silence and uncertainty had triggered a full trauma response in Atuhaire, who had just last year survived detention by immigration officers, followed by solitary detention and torture in Tanzania (1). Though a brief phone internet search could have immediately established Atuhaire’s identity as a journalist and human rights activist, as well as a victim of severe recent abuse by authorities, -and also her itinerary as she was on her way back from a human rights conference in Norway-, the authorities who detained her did not see it necessary to check this record.

Agather Atuhaire is based in Uganda, where she, with fellow activists and democrats, engages daily with the fight for human rights, democracy and good governance in the autocratically-ruled state, known for its political prisoners, disappearances and record of torture. She lives continuously with fears of arrest and worse. She is the very example of a person who espouses human rights values, often purported to be “Western”, and indeed even more often waved about by Western states as “their” values. It is therefore with shock and dismay that we note that such a brave colleague of ours could be treated in this way by officers of the government of the Netherlands.

Read the full statement by swiping on the post above.

The dream of the Caliphate

Nigeria’s army readily collaborated with the United States when Donald Trump ordered a Christmas Day 2025 missile strike against what he described as “ISIS terrorist scum” in northwestern Nigeria. It also cooperated in the more recent US-led operation that killed senior ISIS commander Abu-Bilal al-Minuki in the Lake Chad Basin. Yet the Nigerian government still refuses to call a spade a spade when it comes to what many of these Islamist militants regard as their ultimate objective: the eradication of Christians in Nigeria.

When Donald Trump announced late last year his campaign to protect Christians in Nigeria from what he described as genocide, Nigerian elites gleefully cashed in on the global perception that much of what Trump says is, at least, exaggerated and often untrue. Even ZAM magazine published articles that aligned with denialist narratives also advanced by the Nigerian government. ZAM’s editorial titled ‘The Nigerian War of Donald Trump’ argues that “armed groups operate across nearly every region of the country and are motivated by a range of factors rather than a single sectarian or religious cause.” A second ZAM piece, Nicki Minaj’s Genocide, took to task the Trinidadian-American rapper for adding her fame to Trump’s campaign.

The assertion by many, including ZAM, that factors such as poverty, scarce resources, survival, and weak governance are simply key is a common conclusion that shuts down other voices that have complained about the targeted killing of Christians...

Read the full Op-ed here:
https://www.zammagazine.com/investigations/2099-nigeria-the-dream-of-the-caliphate

Written by Theophilus Abbah

From cannon fodder to avant-garde—the forgotten soldiers who freed Europe

Until 14 June 2026, the Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW) , or House of World Cultures in Berlin, presents Tirailleurs: Trials and Tribulations, subtitled “From Cannon Fodder to Avant-Garde—The Forgotten Soldiers Who Freed Europe.” The exhibition highlights the often overlooked fact that the majority of the 250,000 troops in the so-called B Army, the main French force that liberated southern France from the N***s in 1944, were African soldiers from then-French colonies.

While commemorative gestures, such as inviting African leaders to anniversary events, intermittently take place, most recently when on 15 August 2024 French President Emmanuel Macron invited the world to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the B Army’s landing in Provence that followed the Normandy invasion, this history remains politically co-opted, under-researched, and unknown to many people.

In 2026, the HKW seeks to address this gap with a wide-ranging programme that examines the role of the Tirailleurs in the liberation of France; how their efforts contributed to the liberation of Germany itself; and their impact on securing peace in Europe after 1945. The consideration of the Tirailleurs is expanded to reflect similar histories from other geographies and temporalities, demonstrating the continuity of the exploitation of “human resources” across different regimes. The exhibition brings together works by more than thirty international artists across generations, including fourteen new commissions, and features archival materials, research from five art spaces and collectives, and film screenings.

Image credits:
1) Josèfa Ntjam, Dislocations (2022). In collaboration with Sean Hart and Nicolas Pirus, co-produced by Aquatic Invasion Production, Palais de Tokyo, Paris, and Cincinnati Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati. Courtesy of the artist and Nicoletti Gallery.

2) Exhibition view Tirailleurs, Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW), 2026. Photo by Mathias Völzke/HKW

3) Félix Vallotton, Soldats Sénégealais au Camp De Mailly (1917), Oil on Canvas, 46 x 55cm. Courtesy bpk, GrandPalaisRmn, René-Gabriel Ojéda.

Zambia | Restraint and fear

For more than four decades, Caesar Masina (62), a resident of Lusaka, Zambia’s capital, has participated in his country’s elections, lining up at polling stations, casting his ballot, and watching governments change through the vote. This year, however, may be different. With elections approaching in August, he says his trust in the country’s institutions has gradually eroded. “The forthcoming election is ridiculous. I may not vote.”

“The Electoral Commission, and also Parliament and the judiciary, are so politicised,” he adds. “The outcomes sometimes appear predetermined long before voters enter the polling booth. Governance institutions now decide for me, as if there is already a prepared script that will declare the elections ‘free and fair’.”

Masina’s frustration reflects a broader and deepening public unease. Many election observers in the media and civil society have pointed to patterns that increasingly appear to define Zambia’s recent electoral cycles, in which official narratives of “calm and order” often sit uneasily alongside reports of intimidation, structural bias, and contested institutional conduct.

Read the full article here:
https://www.zammagazine.com/investigations/2091-zambia-restraint-and-fear

Article by Charles Mafa
Images by Kalenga Nkonga
Design by ZAM

This article is part of the ZAM transnational investigation Election Circus. The project, conducted by investigative journalists across five African countries: Kenya, Zambia, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, and Uganda, spans ten election cycles in total and traces the history of EU election funding across these cycles over the past decade.

Read more by clicking the link here:
https://www.zammagazine.com/investigations/2092-elections-circus