{"id":1592,"date":"2018-12-27T08:12:31","date_gmt":"2018-12-27T08:12:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aptnewsghana.com\/?p=1592"},"modified":"2018-12-30T08:33:42","modified_gmt":"2018-12-30T08:33:42","slug":"letter-from-africa-africas-history-makers-in-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aptnewsghana.com\/index.php\/2018\/12\/27\/letter-from-africa-africas-history-makers-in-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"Letter from Africa: Africa’s history makers in 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In our series of letters from \nAfrican writers, Ghanaian journalist Elizabeth Ohene looks back at some \nof the big events on the continent in 2018.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It has been a year where one is tempted to invoke the “always something new out of Africa” theory. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is not every day you have a prime minister leading a group of soldiers into doing press-ups,<\/a>\n particularly not when the armed soldiers had tried to force their way \ninto the compound of the prime minister to protest against unpaid wages.\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is the type of scenario that used to end up in coups in the old days. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Abiy Ahmed has been doing the seemingly impossible ever since he unexpectedly became prime minister of Ethiopia in April.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He is 42-years-old, and currently Africa’s youngest leader. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is nothing predictable about the man and how he has set about doing his job. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ethiopia\n had been seen by critics as an authoritarian state that brushed off \ncriticism and remained an implacable foe to neighbour Eritrea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But\n within a few months of taking office, Mr Abiy had lifted the state of \nemergency, released thousands of political prisoners, allowed dissidents\n to return home and unblocked hundreds of websites and TV channels. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Peace with long-time foe<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Just\n as people were digesting the dizzying changes on the domestic front, \nthe prime minister, in the sphere of diplomatic relations, did the \nequivalent of making the sun rise from the west.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He ended the state of war with Eritrea by agreeing to give up disputed border territory thereby normalising relations with the long-time foe. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This came in an unexpected visit to the Eritrean capital<\/a>, Asmara, and publicly holding hands with Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki to declare the end of the two-decade old war. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Women in power<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Flights\n and telephone communications have been restored and there has been an \noutbreak of love between the two nations that has stunned the world. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And if anyone thought there had been enough surprises, in October, Mr Abiy appointed women to half of all cabinet posts<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If\n that does not sound impressive enough, there were other changes. \nEthiopia now has a female president (Sahle-Work Zewde), a female head of\n the Supreme Court (Meaza Ashenafi), a female head of the electoral \ncommission (Birtukan Mideksa), and the official spokesperson of the \ngovernment is a woman (Billene Aster Seyoum). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

South Africa was another country which saw a major change of leadership, but the optimism that came with the accession of Cyril Ramaphosa to the presidency has fizzled out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"South
Cyril Ramaphosa is under pressure to curb corruption and unemployment <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He took over after the scandal-hit President Jacob Zuma was forced to resign in February<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr\n Ramaphosa was not doing press-ups but he did start with a lot of \nenthusiastic jogging that attracted a lot of attention from his \ncompatriots. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘Brooding shadow’<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

When he started the hashtag “the tummy must fall”, many South Africans felt the time for smiles had returned to their country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But\n the brooding shadow of Mr Zuma looms large as Mr Ramaphosa tries to \ntackle the alleged corruption which came to define his his predecessor’s\n time in office. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr Zuma maintains his innocence, and has asked \nthe courts to throw out 16 corruption charges brought against him over a\n notorious arms deal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

For a brief period this year, all 54 countries on the continent appeared united in outrage in January when US\n President Donald Trump was reported as not wanting migrants from Africa\n coming to the US because their countries were “shitholes”<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Later in the year, his wife Melania undertook a four-nation African tour when she visited Ghana, Malawi, Egypt and Kenya. Whilst she was still on the continent, President Trump was tweeting that Africans loved his wife. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Melania<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indeed, Melania cut a swathe with her pith helmet, even though it does not seem to have started a new fashion trend yet. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whilst\n some people were still debating Mr Trump’s reported insult against \nmigrants, a young man from Mali held Paris spellbound as he scrambled up\n the wall of a high-rise apartment block to save a dangling child. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He earned himself the title of Spiderman, and was granted French citizenship by President Emmanuel Macron. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weah honours Wenger<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If\n the Parisian Spiderman temporarily forced the French to look at \nmigrants in a different light, President Macron himself was forced to \nlisten to an eight-minute exposition on how Africa does not want the \ngenerosity of the world by the Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo when \nhe visited the West African state. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

That video went viral and many Africans cheered that a leader had articulated their feelings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But other things went viral which did not make too many people proud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n