Africa Eye - Season 6 / Year 2023

‘What Is Eating My Mind' is an insightful and deeply personal story of living with bipolar disorder in Kenya, where the issue of mental health is often taboo.

A joint investigation between BBC Africa Eye and Panorama has uncovered widespread sexual abuse on farms which supply some of the UK's most popular tea brands including PG Tips, Lipton and Sainsbury's Red Label. Women in Kenya say they've been forced into sex by their managers while working on plantations which have been owned for decades by two British companies.

The Seychelles is known as a tropical paradise with a multi-million-dollar tourist industry. But beyond the 5-star hotels and azure beaches is a country in turmoil. Based on population, Seychelles has the biggest heroin problem in the world with around 10% of Seychellois dependent on the drug.

In the wake of the pandemic, reports emerged from Uganda of a 300% increase in girls aged 10 -14 becoming pregnant. Sexual violence has been further fuelled in the north by the traumatic legacy of a 20-year insurgency led by notorious warlord Joseph Kony and the Lord's Resistance Army.

This is the story of a country where the path to womanhood can bring pain, trauma, and even death. A country where children can be left motherless because of the ancient traditions of Bondo - a Sierra Leone secret society which cuts out female genitals as part of centuries old rite of passage ceremonies. FGM – female genital mutilation – is woven so deep into the female fabric of Sierra Leone, most women there have had their genitalia cut. No-one really knows how many have died as a result.

When Nigeria passed some of the toughest anti-homosexuality laws in Africa, the internet became a place for the LGBT community to connect with others more safely – until criminal gangs went digital too.
Africa Eye investigates how members of the LGBT community in Nigeria are targeted by criminal gangs who pose as potential dates on popular apps, only to extort, beat and even kidnap them.
This crime is so prevalent it even has a name: Kito. Africa Eye speaks to dozens of victims who have been ‘kito'd', and meets the activists, and even law enforcement officers, who are using the very tactics of the blackmailers to fight them back.

On 6 September 2022, in Northern Ghana, four children were taken, at gunpoint, from their home in the middle of the night.
They were brought to a hotel, photographed, washed and fed. At sunrise, they were relocated to a shelter. Their families were left in the dark as to where and why.

For the American charity coordinating the raid, it was a successful mission to rescue child slaves.
For the families, it felt like a kidnapping leaving them bewildered and traumatised.
What really happened to these children?

With a trail of WhatsApp messages, secret filming, and a journey to some of the remotest areas of Ghana, Africa Eye brings you the story of what happens when good intentions go horribly wrong.

Across Africa, the elderly have traditionally been cared for by their families. Now, with life expectancy increasing, many Africans are turning to care homes for help. Are the elderly getting the care that they need?

BBC Africa Eye goes undercover at a Kenyan care home to investigate allegations of mistreatment, theft and neglect.

A network of anti-migrant groups has emerged across South Africa. The groups blame illegal migrants for the state of the country's economy, lack of housing and an explosion of drug abuse. But their critics accuse them of being violent vigilantes who target some of the country's most vulnerable people.

BBC Africa Eye gains rare access to Operation Dudula, South Africa's most notorious anti-migrant group, as they take to the streets and fight for political power.

In Gabon, it's the dream of most young footballers to play internationally. But, in 2022 a long serving coach for youth national teams admitted to charges of raping, grooming, and exploiting young players. He faces up to 30 years in prison. BBC Africa Eye's Khadidiatou Cissé travels to Gabon to investigate one of the biggest sexual abuse scandals in the history of football. She speaks with victims and eyewitnesses who reveal a shocking culture of sexual abuse and despair, with claims that many people knew, and many stayed silent. We follow a coach who, at personal risk, is determined to bring about change. Fifa are facing accusations of failing to take effective action over the sexual abuse scandal.

BBC Africa Eye revisits some of Nairobi's poorest neighbourhoods to find out what impact the broadcast of the 2020 investigation ‘The Baby Stealers' had in the fight against child trafficking in Kenya.
What happened to the main targets of the investigation and how much have things really changed since?

Corporal punishment in Kenyan schools has been banned for over twenty years. Yet teachers are beating their students on a daily basis and the consequences can be fatal.
BBC Africa Eye's Tom Odula goes on a journey to investigate the extent of the problem and what can be done to address it.

An estimated seven women die every day from unsafe abortions in Kenya.
BBC Africa Eye investigates the battle for abortion rights in a country where unregulated terminations are a leading cause of maternal deaths, claiming the lives of over 2000 women each year.