Africa Factbook

Ghanaian proverb do not beat a drum with an axe teaches us to understand our words and actions. Our words can make beautiful music in a person’s life or cause devastation and destruction.  Words hurt, do not beat a drum with an axe Watch what you say, you may not realize sharp, hurtful words create lasting damage while positive words inspire us to be hopeful and kind. Words do hurt. Ridicule, distain, humiliation, taunting, all-cause injury, and when it is delivered in childhood from a child's peers, verbal abuse causes more than emotional trauma. It inflicts lasting physical effects on brain structure.  When that environment is hostile or socially unhealthy, development of the brain is affected, and often it is impaired. The environment that children are raised in molds not only their mind but also their brain.  This is something many long suspected, but now we have scientific instruments that show us how dramatically childhood experience alters the physical structure of the

Crocodile thought himself to be the smartest person in the room but as we shall soon see in this African Folklore he was wrong. Thinking yourself to be the smartest person in the room is usually a big mistake. Smartest Person in the Room African Folklore Crocodile and a Gazelle lived together with their wives and families in the same town. One day the Crocodile said, "My good friend Gazelle, let us go and buy some drums in the Oko country." "All right," replied the Gazelle; but where are we to get the money from?" "I have the money!” answered the Crocodile. They started out on their shopping trip and when they walked a little way Crocodile snarled. "Wait here! I must return to our town, as I have forgotten something." The Crocodile returned to town, went to the Gazelle’s wife and said, "My friend has sent me for his children." Mrs. Gazelle gave them to him, and putting them into a bag, he returned to the place where h

War Crimes Crime and Punishment African Proverbs The Central African Republic War Crimes Trial of Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo in court Transfer to The Hague July 3, 2008. The trial began on November 22, 2010. The International Criminal Court (ICC) on June 21, 2016, sentenced former Congolese vice-president, 58-year-old Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo to 18 years in prison and he was criminally responsible pursuant to Article 28(a) of the ICC Rome Statute for the crimes against humanity.  The crimes were murder, rape, and the war crimes of murder, rape and pillaging committed by the MLC troops in the Central African Republic from on or about October 26, 2002, to March 15, 2003. His arrest warrant was issued on June 10, 2008. As a military commander, he was held responsible for two counts of crimes against humanity, murder and rape, and three counts of war crimes, murder, and rape and pillaging. Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo was the President and Command