Issa G. Shivji (2009) Where is Uhuru?.
Features
Reparations and regrets: Why is the US Senate apologising now?
Horace Campbell (2009-07-02)
cc Murky1With the US Senate approving a resolution formally acknowledging the historic injustice behind slavery and the country's 'Jim Crow' laws on 18 June, Horace Campbell asks 'Why now?' Coming in the same week as a call for a new, multi-polar world order from the BRIC countries of Brazil, Russia, India and China, the timing of the apology from a US Senate edgy about the internationalisation of reparations claims is no coincidence, Campbell argues. But with the Senate clear that the resolution offers no scope for any 'claim' against the United States, Campbell situates such action within an established tradition of pre-emptive apologies designed to inhibit further action. With political circles in the US keen to ensure the country's access to Africa's abundant resources, resolutions such as the US Senate's represent an attempt to replace crude conservative tactics with a more nuanced approach to imperial expansion, Campbell contends, an approach which must be countered by sustained will from progressive forces around the world to see reparative justice fulfilled.
We need leadership now, comrade Zuma
William Gumede (2009-07-02)
cc World Economic ForumWith South Africa in the throes of an economic crisis, William Gumede says it's time for the country's government to step up. With the rand's relative strength against the US dollar putting pressure on domestic manufacturing exports, Gumede calls for the Reserve Bank to intervene to weaken the country's currency. President Jacob Zuma must curb price increases, argues Gumede, and offer emergency measures befitting emergency times.
Mwalimu and stage fright?
Haroub Othman (2009-07-02)
cc Wikimedia CommonsThis week we received the tragic news of the death of the giant of Africa, Haroub Othman. Many have been devastated by the news of the loss of such a gentle giant. We carry several obituaries and tributes to the late Haroub Othman. In this short essay, Haroub shares a revelation about Mwalimu Nyerere: Although everyone assumed public speaking 'all came easy to him, water off a duck's back', Nyerere suffered from stage fright, something he mangaged so well that no-one knew this until he confessed it in 1996. This article appeared in the maiden issue of Chemchemi.
Isaias Afewerki and Eritrea: A nation’s tragedy
Selam Kidane (2009-07-02)
cc gordontourSince winning its de facto independence in May 1991, Eritrea has come to represent a tragedy, laments Selam Kidane. Having fought and suffered alongside one another during the country's liberation struggle, Eritreans have seen their country embroiled in conflicts with every one of its neighbours under the leadership of Isaias Afewerki. With President Isaias increasingly viewing power as 'a weapon of self-aggrandisement' and surrounding himself with a sycophantic clique of military associates, the hope of the post-independence years has tragically faded, Kidane concludes.
Kenya's civil society needs a new vision
Zaya Yeebo (2009-07-02)
cc MothersFightingForOthersWhile acknowledging that Kenya's Grand Coalition Government (GCG) has given rise to much debate and commentary, Zaya Yeebo argues that civil society's ability to influence change without violence is often ignored. Though other African countries see their people's voices expressed through groups such as trade unions and youth organisations, Kenyans' voices are muted by the noisy contestations of the country's political elites. The tendency of the last few years to 'franchise' the role of civil society out to international NGOs must be challenged, Yeebo contends, and Kenyans must look to the recent examples provided by Ghana, Sierra Leone and South Africa of how people power can bring about change. But while Kenyan civil society can draw inspiration and even support from outside, it alone must work to stoke popular pressure if effective and lasting political reform is to be achieved, Yeebo concludes.
Propping up Africa's dictators
Khadija Sharife (2009-07-02)
cc TV Boy‘Lone-ranger’ dictators Bongo (Gabon), Nguessor (Congo) and Obiang (Equatorial Guinea) have in fact been sustained by neocolonial relationships set up by France and the international financial system, writes Khadija Sharife. Françafrique, France's postcolonial Africa policy, was designed to create structural dependence and domination by reasserting geostrategic control over natural resources through the use of black 'governors', says Sharife. Illegitimate governments representing external interests have shaped and normalised the inherited legacy of colonialism, Sharife argues. These leaders, Sharife adds, have thus subsequently ‘internalised the economic, cultural, and political imperialism and cultivated an atmosphere of compliance concerning French interests in Africa.’ Unlike the United States, Sharife notes, ‘France treads lightly, attracts little or no attention, and leaves few footprints behind.’
When do ‘settlers’ or ‘natives’ become ‘citizens’?
Chambi Chachage (2009-07-02)
cc ChadicaChambi Chachage explores when and how ‘settlers’ or ‘natives’ become ‘citizens’, in the first of a series of three articles exploring the idea of dual citizenship with reference to Tanzania. Definitions of citizenship in modern nation-states in ‘societies other than Euro-American ones’ were influenced by how the notion developed in Euro-America and how it was ‘selectively applied in the Africa, Asia, Australia and Latin America in the context(s) of colonialism, imperialism and developmentalism,’ Chachage argues. ‘It is this colouring that we need to unpack as we trace the historical and political trajectories and implications of the idea and praxis/practice of citizenship in Africa,’ says Chacage.
Nigeria: Mass-based student unionism could counterweight cultism
Kola Ibrahim & Ayo Ademiluyi (2009-07-02)
cc loukreuCampus cults have ‘entrenched their diabolical tentacles’ across Nigeria’s institutions of tertiary education, write Kola Ibrahim and Ayo Ademiluyi, despite a mass movement against them in 1999 after five students were killed at Obafemi Awolowo University. Cults are to blame not only for the recent killing of twenty people in Edo State, but also for incidences of robbery, intimidation of students and the community and rape in a number of universities. Poor economic prospects make cultism an attractive option for youths, but there are also reports of officials allegedly using cults to protect their economic and political interests by suppressing student union activists, write Ibrahim and Ademiluyi. Noting that affected institutions lack a ‘viable, radical, independent and issue-based students' movement’, they suggest that this is what is needed to tackle the ‘monster of cultism’.
US committed to tackling racial discrimination?: The Troy Davis case
Keith Jennings (2009-07-02)
cc abardwellAwaiting execution on death row in the US state of Georgia, Troy Davis is an innocent victim of entrenched racial discrimination within the US judicial system, writes Keith Jennings. With his legal representatives not 'claim[ing] his innocence in a timely fashion', Davis faces the prospect of being murdered by Georgia's authorities simply for not submitting his papers on time. If the US is to practise what it preaches and show the world that it is genuinely tackling domestic racial discrimination, such a flagrant human rights violation must be put right immediately, Jennings concludes.
The African Group: Friend or foe of Africa's aspirations?
Korir Sing’Oei (2009-07-02)
cc United Nations PhotoUnsurprised by the African Group's defence of Kenya at the UN, Korir Sing’Oei considers whether the group's actions should historically be regarded as positive or negative for the African continent it represents. Just as it has often stood in the way of some of the more radical action proposed against human rights violators, the group also has the dubious distinction of regularly championing the right of autocratic regimes in Africa to 'territorial integrity', Sing’Oei notes. In marked contrast however, the African Group has also proven a key advocate for international appreciation of the continent's economic difficulties. Concluding that the African Group should be regarded more as a champion of Africa's development rather than human rights, Sing’Oei cautions that such an approach should not be permitted to jeopardise the creation of a culture of accountability in governance.
Kenya: Government commitment necessary for police reforms
Louise Edwards (2009-07-02)
cc DEMOSHThe Kenyan government has conceded that the country has a problem with the widespread and systematic use of extrajudicial killings by the Kenya Police Force, as highlighted in a report by UN special rapporteur Professor Phillip Alston, writes Louise Edwards. Now, however, the focus must shift to action to be taken to address the problems with policing the report raises, says Edwards. ‘Police reform is a daunting and long-term process,’ Edward notes, that ‘requires substantial law reform, a radical shift in policing culture from one of impunity to accountability and the restoration of trust between police and the community.’ But, Edwards cautions, ‘None of these urgent reforms will happen in Kenya without the political and financial commitment of the government.’
Hypocrisy and internal contradictions threatening to tear Kenya apart
Antony Otieno Ong’ayo (2009-07-02)
cc computerwhiz417With Kenya's exploitative elites continuing to monopolise the country's resources, Antony Otieno Ong’ayo argues that profound change is needed to halt a debilitating 46-year status quo of marginalisation and impoverishment for much of the Kenyan populace. While change will ultimately need to come from below, Otieno Ong’ayo contends, Kenya's leadership will need to moderate its relentless appetite for wealth if 'business-as-usual' is to be prevented.