The pandemic continues to tighten its grip on Africa, as elsewhere. Every death matters and statistics sometimes seem hollow. Equally, fixation on casualties amongst high-profile personalities could be construed as callous. But at least it tells us something about the indiscriminate nature of the virus.
In southern Africa, some well-known politicians have succumbed to the disease. On 13th December 2020, Prime Minister Ambrose Dlamini of Eswatini died, four weeks after testing positive for Covid-19. On 12th January 2021, Malawi lost two ministers on the same day – Lingson Berekanyama (Local Government) and Sidik Mia (Transport). On 20th January 2021, Zimbabwe’s foreign minister Sibusiso Moyo also became one of the region’s high-profile victims. Moyo, a former army officer, became famous as the face of the 2017 coup against former president Robert Mugabe. His Covid-related death follows that of Perence Shiri, previously agriculture minister and head of the Air Force of Zimbabwe, in July 2020. Shiri was one of the architects of the coup against Mugabe.
RIP to all of them and to the many thousands of other victims, across Africa and the rest of the world. And condolences to their loved ones.
It is sometimes challenging to remain positive in the face of such unrelenting tragic news. But the human spirit is nothing if not resilient. Much else has been happening in Africa during the pandemic. And this has inspired us at Africa Integrity to launch our first writing competition.
We are now calling for competition entries on the theme of: Inspiration from Africa During the Covid-Crisis. There are, of course, many inspiring stories from health and other front-line workers during this pandemic. But this is not the place for them. We are looking for stories that have happened during the pandemic but are unrelated to it. We wish to showcase the creativity, imagination and drive of the African people in a time of adversity.
The writer of the winning entry shall receive a cash-prize of £250.00 and their work will be published in Africa Integrity’s newsletter, as well as on our website. We would like to receive as many entries as possible, so please share this with everyone you know who loves to write.
The competition rules are as follows:
We are excited to read the many entries that we anticipate receiving. Good luck.
This article originally featured in Africa Integrity’s January 2021 Newsletter. To join our newsletter mailing list, please contact us.