This week’s Palava Praise goes to Khadija Sharife, a freelance researcher and investigative journalist residing in South Africa as one of the continent’s clearest voices on insidious exploitation and the quiet architecture of corruption. Sharife’s most notable work, “Tax Us If You Can: Why Africa Should Stand up for Tax Justice”, focused on illicit financial flows, natural resources, and political economy, was written while she served as Senior Africa editor at OCCRP (Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project). Sharife has also contributed significant work to Yale’s Global Justice fellowship, and her journalism has been featured in many publications including the Boston Globe, which recently won the 2025 Pulitzer Prize for their investigative piece about Steward Healthcare’s illegitimate practices. Sharife and other journalists also founded PPLAAF (Platform to Protect Whistleblowers in Africa), as a means to combat corruption even further and give Africans a semblance of transparency. Sharife’s work keeps forcing the same critical question back into our minds; who benefits, who pays, and who was never meant to read the fine print? The Palava Hut commemorates Sharife’s activism and efforts for the continent and applaud her dedication to the truth. 

Liberia’s House of Representatives earlier this week passed a bill to bar active government officials from serving on the boards or management of public institutions, further pushing the existing policy that only blocked them from collecting sitting fees. FrontPage Africa reported that the measure passed during the House’s March 17th sitting and is being framed as a governance reform aimed at independent supervision and transparent oversight. But who tr/uly benefits from this small instance of refinement? This manner of “double-dipping” is only one visible aspect of the corruption that plagues the Liberian government. 

As Zambia moves toward national elections in August, women politicians and activists are warning that some candidates are being asked by senior male party officials for sexual favors in exchange for endorsement and campaign support. The issue came to the forefront this week after Mainga Kabika, permanent secretary in the government’s Gender Division, said she had received 10 complaints from women seeking party backing. Opposition politician Saboi Imboela said this problem is not new, but a recurring feature of election season, and in the meantime, women’s groups have set up a committee and toll-free helpline for reporting. None of the perpetrators have been publicly named. These circumstances arise after Zambia has incorporated new changes meant to increase women’s representation after the 2026 vote, while only 15% of the country’s parliamentary seats are held by women. Representation bears a heavy price for the road into public service, and the cost is misogyny and humiliation.

French billionaire Vincent Bolloré is set to stand trial in France on corruption and embezzlement charges tied to election campaigns in Togo and Guinea between 2009 and 2011, according to France’s financial prosecutor. Prosecutors allege that Bolloré’s companies provided discounted communication services during the campaigns of Faure Gnassingbé in Togo and Alpha Condé in Guinea, meant to secure commercial advantages linked to port contracts in the two countries. French authorities have been investigating the matter since 2018,and have found the case is not limited to Bolloré alone: Gilles Alix, a former Vivendi board member, and Jean-Philippe Dorent, the head of Havas International Consulting, are also set to stand trial. In 2021, the Bolloré Group agreed to pay a €12 million fine in a settlement with French prosecutors in an alleged bribery case which did not end scrutiny around the wider network of deals, and anti-corruption groups later pushed for broader accountability over how Bolloré-linked businesses won valuable African port concessions. Bolloré and his family still maintain significant holdings in major French companies including Vivendi and Havas, but now their influence is being questioned along broader terms.

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