This month, we are finishing our comics journalism project about public authority in Africa. In the past months, we worked with the Centre of Public Authority and International Development (CPAID) of the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) to translate research in various African countries into compelling visual narratives. We already published two comics, one on vigilante justice in Uganda and one on human rights abuses by rangers of Virunga National Park in DRC.
In the coming weeks, we'll publish four more comics:
A tale of two women
This comic, drawn by Moses Kas, focuses on two women of different social status in a small town in DRC. How do they access healthcare, justice and education? As one of the women says: It's not about how much you have, it's who you know.
Poisoning in Palabek
In this harrowing tale about witchcraft in Palabek refugee camp in Uganda, a old woman is accused of poisoning a young woman. The story that unfolds shows what happens when formal authority is blind to the needs and concerns of those they are supposed to govern. The art work is by Charity Atukunda.
Hazard Pay
2014, Sierra Leone. In the midst of the Ebola crisis sweeping the country, the comic tells the story of a burial team in charge of documenting Ebola cases and processing the bodies. Although a gruesome job, for most this was also their first formal employment that paid well and regularly. Art by Didier Kassai, who also made Making ends meet around Virunga.
The politics of peace
Since 2005, there have been 9 peace meetings in South Sudan. Instead of a goal, peace became a bargaining strategy for authority to legitimise power and justify violence. Artwork by Tom Dai.