BY STEVE OGAH

The African media is all in on Donald Trump. Here’s a look at how the media reacted to the former president’s conviction in a few countries across the continent.

Premium Times, a leading online news publication in Nigeria had this to say: “Trump’s guilty verdict presents new democratic promise-Soyinka.” Quoting Professor Wole Soyinka, Africa’s first Nobel Laureate in Literature, the publication wrote: “For us in vast swathes of the African continent, Mr. Trump’s guilty verdict is a daybreak on a new democratic promise.” In a personally signed statement on Friday, Mr. Soyinka noted that the verdict presented a clear warning that sooner or later, the clamor of equity would break down the stoutest gates on guard across the citadel of impunity.” Read the full story here

Kenya’s Nation reported: “Trump is a convicted felon. Now what?” The paper added: “Donald Trump, the first former US President to be convicted of a crime, will remain a free man while he awaits sentencing and could avoid a prison term entirely for falsifying business records to cover up a hush money payment to a porn star.” Full story available here

Vanguard Newspaper (Nigeria) notes that: “The trial has distracted Trump from his campaign to unseat Biden.” The paper wrote: “Donald Trump convicted on all charges in hush money trial.” The report stated: “A New York jury convicted Donald Trump on all charges in his hush money case Thursday in a seismic development barely five months ahead of the election where he seeks to recapture the White House.” See the report: See the report: Click here to read the full story 

In Ghana, the papers reported the same headlines. The country’s Graphic Online carried this headline: “Donald Trump guilty on all counts in historic criminal trial.” The report added that: “Donald Trump had been convicted on all 34 counts of falsifying business records in his historic criminal trial in New York. It is the first time a former or serving US President has been convicted of a crime.” The article is available here

“Guilty: Trump Becomes First Former US President Convicted of Felony Crimes,” that was how Arise News framed the story, going further to state: “Donald Trump became the first former President to be convicted of felony crimes Thursday as a New York jury found him guilty of falsifying business records in a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election through hush money payments to a porn star who said the two had sex.” See link

Channels Television (Nigeria) makes the point in its reporting that Donald Trump’s “trials-on far weightier alleged crimes-are unlikely to get underway before the presidential election.” the media house wrote: Channels, a leading television channel, was head-on in its headline. The media house wrote: “Guilty On All Counts: Trump Criminal Conviction Makes History.” The report added: “Donald Trump on Thursday became the first former US President ever convicted of a crime after a New York jury found him guilty on all charges in his hush money case, months before an election that could see him yet return to the White House.” Link is available here: Link is available here

The Sun Newspaper (Nigeria): “The law is not respecter of persons,” Kenneth Okonkwo’s Global Square column noted. In “Judicial rascality and implosion of democracy,” Kenneth Okonkwo wrote in The Sun newspaper: “On 30^th May, 2024, history was made in the United States of America (USA) with the conviction of former President Donald Trump, on 34 count charges bordering on falsification of business records in a Manhattan District Court.” See link to the column: See here

Daily Maverick, South Africa, carried this headline: “Guilty on all counts, Donald Trump becomes first US President convicted of a crime.” The paper wrote: “Donald Trump became the first U.S. President to be convicted of a crime on Thursday when a New York jury found him guilty of falsifying documents to cover up a payment to silence a porn star ahead of the 2016 election.” Click here to read the whole story