KR#12: Chasing shadows and facing threats

New investigations and analysis from ZAM and our network.

In this edition of the Kleptocracy Report:

• African investigative journalists talk about the obstacles and risks they face.
• Tracing ‘fair minerals’ in the Congo unearths a façade.
• Ivory poaching kingpins in Benin keep evading justice.
• Citizens are under increasing government surveillance in East Africa.
• Mozambican researchers trace “jihadi” insurgency to a “fractured state” and a “neocolonial extractive economy”.
• And more from the network!

Editorial

The work presented by NAIRE members at the Global Investigative Journalism Conference 2025, held in Malaysia, may sound technical -and, where data is involved, perhaps even dry-, but these colleagues’ daily practice is anything but. Always soft-spoken, Africa data editor for the Organised Crime and Corruption Project OCCRP, Purity Mukami, explained to audiences from around the world how chasing data in many African countries is often “nearly impossible — more like chasing shadows”, and that one does this “constantly looking over their shoulders (…) Doing this job means always being alert, always weighing the risks.”

Unfazed, Mukami has nevertheless unearthed assets owned by politically exposed Kenyans in Dubai, traced the wealth of former First Family the Kenyatta’s and mined a treasure trove of dodgy government contracts, inter alia reported within a ZAM special.

Fellow GIJC speaker Armel-Gilbert Bukeyeneza presented the investigative projects done by his Ukweli team in the Great Lakes region, explaining that the reporting often happens cross-border and from exile, since the overall hostile press environment comes with threats, bans, team dislocation and censorship, not to mention mental health concerns for all team members. Ukweli’s recent Uganda-focused documentary “The Spying State”, on increasing government surveillance of citizens and journalists in that country, is featured below.

At the same conference, NAIRE executive member Anas Aremeyaw Anas, from Ghana, spoke about the increasing challenges of his hallmark undercover filming to unearth wrongdoing. The practice is now made more difficult by oppressive governments who increasingly use deepfakes -while accusing others of doing the same- to muddy waters. And colleagues Samuel Baker Byansi (Rwanda) and Charles Mafa (Zambia), part of ZAM’s Migrant Battalion team, were there to connect with colleagues for follow-ups on their efforts to take on some of the most oppressive and kleptocratic elites on the continent. (See more about the Global Investigative Journalism Conference here.)

We look forward to platforming it all, and much more, here in our efforts to, as ZAM’s mission states, fight exploitation in Africa and equalise the playing field with the West.

We produce the Kleptocracy Report with a small team of African investigative journalists. Your support can help us to keep publishing in freedom and open gateways for democratic change. Read more about our work and funding here. (And we’ll be back in January!)

The blood mixes with everything

Tracing ‘fair minerals’ in the DRC led researchers to unearth a façade of certificates of ‘peaceful sourcing’ which obscure alarming truths. Not only rebels, but also local authorities are complicit. “As soon as the supply chain initiative started, I realised it wasn’t working,” says a local activist. Little will change as long as root causes of Congo’s war aren’t addressed, the researchers conclude.

Read the conflict minerals story here

Benin’s ivory kingpins

In Benin, key individuals in the syndicates that poach elephant tusks, including “dignitaries and politicians”, are continuing to escape justice, says a new investigation by Aziz Badarou for Le Matin Libre, done with support from ZAM partner, the Norbert Zongo Centre for Investigative Journalism in West Africa.

Read the ivory poaching story here

The Spying State

Increasingly, East African governments spy on citizens. While journalists are charged with ‘cybercrimes’ for searching information on the wealthy and powerful, security forces are equipped with ever more advanced spyware to monitor media and activists. At times, targeted individuals get arrested or disappear. ZAM partners Ukweli and Africa Uncensored each delved deep into their spying states, resulting in two documentaries.

See Kenya’s Invisible Eyes here

See Ukweli’s Spying State here

News from our network

• ZAM colleagues at IntelWatch in Mozambique took an in-depth look at the insurgency in the north of their country. In their new report, they stipulate that calling the violence ‘jihadi’ is “dangerously insufficient”, pointing to factors like a “fractured state” and a “neocolonial extractive economy.” Read it here.
• A new book (in Dutch) by Follow the Money colleagues Mira Sys and Ties Gijzel, with contributions from NAIRE member Emmanuel Mutaizibwa, exposes how polluting the planet is perfectly fine as long as you also plant some trees -and how in Uganda, such projects have actively harmed people. “Wie betaalt mag vervuilen”, which translates to “you can pollute as long as you pay”, can be ordered here.
• Not that the New York Times is part of ZAM’s network, but we were happy to see they caught on to Kenyan President Ruto’s sticky fingers, too: see this story about the First Family’s role in the export of their own citizens as slave labour to Gulf states. ZAM and NAIRE earlier highlighted Kenya’s citizen export practices here.

ZAM works with investigative reporters in African countries to bring you this content. Please subscribe, preferably paid, to support and enable more ZAM and NAIRE Kleptocracy Reports.