The top stories making the news in Africa in the past week

$100 Afritondo Alternative Ending Prize

Specially composed for Ruth and Racheal Torty.

A poem on the challenges facing the Nigerian electoral system

Captivating short story by Allwell Uwazuruike

The top stories making the news in Africa in the past week

Lakes and lagoons

City built on the brink of flood and overflowing seas

This is the place that I call home.

Robert Mugabe’s death and xenophobia in South Africa are two of the stories making the news in Africa this week

But our blessing is turning a curse

The mighty warriors no longer want to fight

The farmer forgets to reverence his hoe

The cutlass that paved his path

Is now concealed beneath his lush soil

Poem by Tralone Lindiwe Khoza

We have touched the reflections of Sofia Town in our dreams

Felt the pulse and the afflictions of our people

Kept to the red roofed, haunted houses and sassy Shebeen queens.

They should also, whilst they are at it, do some soul searching. They should reflect on the value of human life. They should imbibe the spirit of pan-Africanism and embrace the principles of human rights.

Because to have made it is to be able to afford a wig or a weave. It is not to look after your hair properly or to still have your cornrows.

Poetry by Kehinde Precious Olaseni

Let us call the heart of our attire from her whimpering ground

And say no more to our fathers that their days were dark

A lonely and mentally ill girl finds solace in writing and tries to make sense of her world.

In Africa’s top stories this week, Kenya makes huge economic leap as it exports its first batch of crude oil and Uganda signs peace pact with Rwanda

Summary of top news around Africa

‘No.’/ Is such a controversial word. Poetry by Nigerian poet Obehi Aigiomawu (Vessel).

That Christmas, as we began our British lives, my parents bought a Christmas tree. It made up, somehow, for the snow which did not come.

I suspected she had wished that I stay out of this heat as much as she wished I had never learnt of it.