Through the voices of the peoples of Africa and the global South, Pambazuka Press and Pambazuka News disseminate analysis and debate on the struggle for freedom and justice.
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Features
The politics of penises: Myths about transgender people
Audrey Mbugua (2010-07-28)
cc Irina SlutskyThe struggle against gender oppression in Kenya endures. Following the recent unlawful arrest and assault of a transgender woman in the country, Audrey Mbugua voices the subordination of those who do not comply with the restrictive gender-based identities adopted by society at large. Mbugua unlaces these societal constructs that tie their subjects to an existence of marginalisation and abuse. Mbugua suggests ignorance and bureaucratised discrimination amongst Kenyan society is to blame.
Somalia’s rough road to peace
Abena Ampofoa Asare (2010-07-28)
cc OM: PessoaFollowing the al-Shabaab bombing in Kampala, current plans to send more AMISOM (African Union Mission in Somalia) troops into Somalia will simply jeopardise the possibility of a new moderate leadership emerging in the country, writes Abena Ampofoa Asare. Observers in the African Union, UN and international community at large would do well to look at Somaliland to the north, the author stresses. Solutions to Somalia’s civil war will not emerge in Kampala, Washington DC or Addis Ababa, Asare contends, underlining that a key lesson of Somaliland’s experience is that ‘effective government must come from within’.
Food crisis in the Sahel: Real problem, false solutions
Tidiane Kassé (2010-07-29)
cc liquidslvFollowing food crises in 2005 and 2008, Niger is once again reeling under a famine that has reached Chad and northern Mali, with repercussions for other countries in the Sahel region. As appeals for solidarity increase, Tidiane Kassé cautions that by tackling the consequences rather than the causes of the crisis, the region’s people are likely to remain vulnerable to hunger.
Treasure islands: Mapping the geography of corruption
Khadija Sharife (2010-07-29)
cc ThierryNeither the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development nor the country’s government agree that Mauritius is a tax haven, but Khadija Sharife’s investigations suggest otherwise.
Serving our life sentence in the shacks
Abahlali baseMjondolo (2010-07-29)
cc rabbleAs people all over South Africa ask why the government continues to ignore the demands of shack dwellers, not just for the right to the city but for their basic human needs to be met, Abahlali baseMjondolo reply: ‘Everybody knows that we are the people who do not count in this society…the truth that must be faced up to is that we have been sentenced to permanent exclusion from this society.’ But, write Abahlali, ‘we have recognised our own humanity and the power of our struggle to force the full recognition of our humanity. Therefore we remain determined to continue to refuse to know our place.’
Abahlali baseMjondolo: Full and independent enquiry vital
Rubin Phillip (2010-07-28)
cc InkaniBacked by strong support both domestically and from abroad, the South African shackdwellers’ movement Abahlali baseMjondolo continues to push for a full and independent enquiry into the violence suffered by the Kennedy Road settlement in September 2009, writes Bishop Rubin Phillip.
Leave new oil in the soil in Africa
Oilwatch Africa (2010-07-29)
cc fsgmThroughout the continent, ‘oil has correlated with imperial subjugation, local authoritarianism and flagrant human rights abuses’, writes Oilwatch Africa. Citing examples of the devastating consequences a growing global hunger for energy has had for communities and ecosytems in oil-bearing regions, the advocacy group calls for the world to start weaning itself from its ‘addiction to oil’ by ‘investing more in renewable energy, energy efficiency, better public transportation and small decentralised energy projects.’
Bishop Tutu: Using moral methods for moral ends
Sokari Ekine (2010-07-29)
cc Lewisham HeritageBishop Desmond Tutu, a book about four African women taken to Belgium to become commercial sex workers, a chance encounter with a ‘white Yoruba aunty’ on a train in London and Kenya’s revolt against tacky ‘traditional’ dance displays for tourists are among the topics talked about in this week’s round-up of the African blogosphere, compiled by Sokari Ekine.
Do Ethiopians really need human rights?
Alemayehu G. Mariam (2010-07-29)
cc turkairoAlthough US government has pledged to defend human rights, it hasn’t followed up on this promise in Ethiopia, argues Alemayehu G. Mariam. Despite the detention and torture of hundreds of political prisoners by the Ethiopian government, the United States continues to provide aid to the country, allowing the country’s current dictatorship to maintain its power and deprive citizens of their human rights, Mariam writes. Arguments that 'forceful action' could create ‘instability’ in the country are no justification for the US’s failure to defend the human rights of ordinary Ethiopians, Mariam adds.
Sexuality in Africa
Sokari Ekine and Muna Ali (2010-07-28)
In an audio interview with Muna Ali of CHRY, Sokari Ekine discusses a worldwide dominant discourse around sexuality, assumptions in Africa around the absence of LGBTI people, the role of right-wing and Christian fundamentalism, and the scapegoating of vulnerable people (available here under the heading 'African Perspectives').
Summit arrivals; Kagame prepares for election
Gado (2010-07-28)
Gado's latest cartoons…