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France's President Emmanuel Macron (left) and Secretary General of the Organisation Internationale de la Francophonie Louise Mushikiwabo, center, welcome Chad's President General Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno for the 19th Francophonie summit in Villers-Cotterets, France, October 4, 2024
FRENCH President Emmanuel Macron recognised on Thursday for the first time the killing of west African soldiers by the French army in 1944 as a massacre.
The long-awaited admission from France came in a letter addressed to the Senegalese authorities and on the eve of the 80th anniversary of the World War II killings in Thiaroye — a fishing village on the outskirts of the Senegalese capital Dakar.
It also comes as France’s influence is declining across Africa, with Paris being ousted from its former colonies.
As the Alliance of Sahel States and southern African nations advance pan-African goals, the African Union must listen and learn rather than parroting the Western line on these positive developments, writes ROGER McKENZIE
Money makers already exploit cleaning and catering contracts while the military-industrial complex diverts billions from health to warfare — but Bevan’s vision will endure as long as people fight for it, writes ROGER MCKENZIE
