Latest News

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In this TutuTalk in the series collaboration between the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation and the African Leadership Institute, Hopewell Chin'ono, a 2008 Tutu Fellow and award-winning Zimbabwean journalist explains how he switched his goals from law to journalism and the ethical underpinning beneath that decision.

In his Tutu Talk titled "The Journalist's Calling - Exposing the truth in the face of oppression", Hopewell says journalists must be driven by a clear understanding of what is right and just to be able to report resolutely on the truth and endure the oppression that ensues.

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The first Tutu Talk of 2022 - in partnership with the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation - features Aidan Eyakuze, a 2006 Tutu Fellow and Executive Director of TWAWEZA East Africa. Hear how this Tanzanian activist unpacks the essence of courageous leadership and the humility needed to do what is just.

Aidan says that “I took that courage of conviction and action from the Arch. It’s not about you. Humility isn’t about thinking less of yourself. It is about thinking of yourself, less. Understanding you have a deep worth as a human being, talents and skills. Humility is employing those skills for the greater good. From there comes a great strength.”

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Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta has re-appointed 2012 Tutu Fellow James Mworia to a second term as the Chancellor of Machakos University.  James is the CEO Centum Investment Company, the largest listed investment company in East Africa, with approximately $1.8 billion USD in direct and third party assets under management. 

Machakos University was founded in 1957 as a Technical Rural Training School by the then colonial Government. It was converted into Machakos Technical and Trade School in 1958, Machakos Technical School in 1967, Machakos University College in 2013, and chartered to Machakos University in October 2016.

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2014 Tutu Fellow Ada Osake has been appointed to the board of AGRA - the Alliance for a Green Africa. AGRA is an African alliance with roots in farming communities across the continent that is seeking uniquely African solutions to meet its specific environmental and agricultural needs to sustainably boost production and gain access to rapidly growing agriculture markets. Ada joins five others on AGRA's board to bolster the organization even further in accomplishing its mission. The other new board members are Binta Touré Ndoye, who has a distinguished career in banking; Ambassador David Lane, a former US diplomat with experience in policy reform in food security and development; Delphine Traoré Maidou, the CEO of Allianz Africa; Mallika Srinivasan, who brings farm machinery manufacturing experience; and Dr. Roy Steiner, who is a leader in enhancing access to nourishing food across the world.

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 2015 Tutu Fellow Wiebe Boer has been selected as the next President of Calvin University, a private evangelical university in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The university is his alma mater and he has close ties to the university. Wiebe graduated in 1997 as a second-generation Calvin student and is married to Joanna Bachew, who graduated from Calvin in 2003. Founded in 1876, Calvin University is an educational institution based on the Calvinist tradition, and named after John Calvin, the 16th-century Protestant Reformer. 

Born and raised in Jos, Nigeria to Dutch missionary parents, Wiebe earned his Ph.D. in African History from Yale University.

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2019 Tutu Fellow Ronak Gopaldas has been appointed a 'Global South African' brand ambassador by Brand South Africa.

Brand South Africa was established in 2002 to help create a positive and compelling brand image for South Africa. Its mandate is to develop and implement a proactive marketing and communication strategy for the country, promote economic competitiveness, drive trade and investment, and develop pride, patriotism, social cohesion and active citizenship among South Africans.

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2018 Tutu Fellow Adebola Williams has been appointed a Patron for Malaria No More, the UK-based charity organisation.  In a recent announcement, Malaria No More officially welcomed Adebola to its family of global spokespeople. 

In the role, he joins founding patrons Simon Fuller, Peter Chernin, and Ray Chambers, as well as Global Leadership Council members David Beckham, Andy Murray, and Eliud Kipchoge. Malaria No More has as its goal a world in which no one dies from a mosquito bite.

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2016 Tutu Fellow Dorothy Ghettuba has been promoted to Director of Africa Originals Series at Netflix. Previously, she was Manager, Africa Originals Series at Netflix.  In this new role, she will continue to build on the library of original series she has already developed for Netflix. 

It gives her greater latitude to source and bring African stories to the screen, and continue to grow an important market for the company. 

Digital TV Research, says that Netflix ended 2021 with approximately 2.61 million streaming subscribers in Africa and this is anticipated to grow to around 5.84 million by 2026.

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2017 Tutu Fellow Rosy Fynn has been appointed as a Non-Executive Director of First National Bank GH.  First National Bank traces it's roots back to Eastern Province Bank, which started in 1838 in South Africa, but over time evolved and changed ownership and in 1998 started being active in Ghana. It has commercial banks in nine African countries and the Ghana bank offers a wide range of banking products with a focus on digital banking. 

Rosy has extensive experience in the technology, financial services, consulting, and insurance industries, has been a senior executive at three major telecommunications companies, and heads a leading ISP in Ghana.

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2019 Tutu Fellow Samson Itodo has joined the board of the Kofi Annan Foundation.  The Chair of the Board, Elhadj As Sy, said that at a time when half of the world’s population was younger than 30, Samson's expertise and commitment to the inclusion of young people in politics and effective leadership would bring great value to the work of the foundation. Founded in 2007 by the late former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan the foundation is an independent, nonprofit whose mission is to help build peaceful, democratic and resilient societies.

Samson is a lawyer from Nigeria and Founder of Yiaga Africa, an NGO with the mission of promoting democracy in Africa. 

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2019 Tutu Fellow Ronak Gopaldas has written a paper for the Centre for African Studies at Nanyang Technological University titled Africa walks a tightrope - Economic implications of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.  He begins by saying that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine has thrown global markets into disarray and threatens to derail what was an already fragile post-Covid global economic recovery. Beyond the global geopolitical and humanitarian implications his actions also have some serious ramifications for the global economy.  He continues by saying that the question for Africa is whether policymakers can tactfully navigate the crisis.

He says African countries stand to benefit enormously from surging commodity prices, but whether the windfall will be enough to stem the global currency, inflation and interest rate shocks will depend on their willingness to make bold political decisions.

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The organisation started by 2014 Tutu Fellow Linda Kasonde, Chapter One Foundation, has obtained a consent judgement against ZICTA - the Zambia Information and Communication Authority - over an illegal interruption of Zambia's internet service that occurred during Zambia's elections. At the time, President Edgar Lungu was trailing opposition candidate Hakainde Hichilema.  Chapter One filed an urgent application to require the restoration of services.

Linda Kasonde, the Executive Director of Chapter One, said that it is the first case of its kind in Zambia and an enormous victory for internet freedom and freedom of expression in the country.

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The integrated vanadium producer in South Africa, Bushveld Minerals, has appointed three new independent non-executive directors to their board, one of whom is 2011 Tutu Fellow Jacqueline Musiitwa.  The other two were Kevin Alcock and Mirco Bardella.  The appointments are of immediate effect.

In a statement by the company, it said that the appointments were made to ensure the board's composition met the high standards of corporate governance expected of London-listed companies and reflected Bushveld's status as a significant producer of vanadium in South Africa.

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In her TED talk, 2018 Tutu Fellow Zoë Karl-Waithaka explains that marketing impacts the livelihoods of farmers in ways that are unexpected.  She takes a look at campaigns promoting agricultural products like milk and avocados. Perhaps 'Got Millet' - to borrow from the campaign promoting milk - can help farmers by creating a greater market for the product.

She says marketing campaigns like "Got milk?" to "avocados from Mexico," influence what people eat more than one might realize. But despite the known power of food marketing, Zoe says farmers in Africa are more likely to receive funding for seed and fertilizer than they are for advertising geniuses.

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2006 Tutu Fellow Palesa Kadi has been appointed as Chairperson of the South African Geographical Names Council at the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture.  The South African Geographical Names Council (SAGNC) is the body that receives recommendations from provincial names committees and advises the government on new geographical names as well as the changing of existing geographical names. 

Changing some of the country's many colonial or apartheid-legacy names formed part of a call made by the arts and culture minister in 2021 for an audit of offensive names and also to write black people into South Africa's history.