Back Issues

FEATURED THIS WEEK

2006-07-13

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/highlights/35883

FEATURED: If you thought that University education was brought to Africa by the Europeans, you were wrong, writes Paul Zaleza
COMMENT AND ANALYSIS:
- Censorship and suppression of freedom of expression by bloggers is becoming rife in Africa, writes Sokari Ekine
- Parties in Nigeria are 'established as coalitions of various factions of regional and economic rent-seekers' according to recent research
- There are lessons from East Timor for failing state of Cote d'Ivoire, warns Juan Federer
LETTERS: Readers pay tribute to Issa Shivji on his retirement
OBITUARY: Africa has lost one of its giants - Chachage. His contribution is celebrated in prose and poetry
PAN-AFRICAN POSTCARD: Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem wonders what Nkrumahists are doing at the Dr Busia's memorial in Ghana
BLOGGING AFRICA: Sokari Ekine rounds up the African blogosphere
BOOKS AND ARTS: New publications about Looting of Congo
AFRICAN UNION MONITOR: As the AU celebrates its 6th anniversary, calls are made for the continents scientific renaissance
CONFLICT AND EMERGENCIES: No agreements on small arms conference while killings on the ground escalate
HUMAN RIGHTS: Human rights defenders in East Africa publish report
WOMEN AND GENDER: Women hail Zimbabwe's domestic violence bill
REFUGEES AND FORCED MIGRATION: Europe seeks African collusion in controlling migration
ELECTIONS AND GOVERNANCE: DRC Elections - calls made for delays
DEVELOPMENT: ActionAid exposes corruption of development aid
CORRUPTION: Opportunistic money in creating a new elite in Zimbabwe
HEALTH AND HIV/AIDS: Male circumscision and HIV risk
EDUCATION: Fear of 'language genocide' in South Africa
ENVIRONMENT: Pastoralists organise in week-long meeting
MEDIA AND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION: Egypt printing stoppage in protest against new laws
INTERNET AND TECHNOLOGY: Migrant songs hits the internet in Senegal
PLUS: e-Newsletters and Mailings Lists; Fundraising and Useful Resources; Courses, Seminars and Workshops; Jobs.

Beyond Afropessimism: Historical accounting of African Universities

Paul T Zeleza

2006-08-30

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/35832

There are two widespread assumptions about university education in Africa: first that the Europeans introduced it, and second that it has declined since independence. Both are false, writes Paul Zeleza. Higher education including universities long antedated the establishment of “western” style universities in the nineteenth century and the post-independence era was a period of unprecedented growth during which the bulk of contemporary Africa’s universities were established.


Discourses about Africa continue to be infected by what we used to call in the 1980s and 1990s Afropessimism, the belief that Africa is irredeemably doomed to backwardness and chaos. Afropessimism embodies two tendencies—vilification of African experiences and valorization of Euroamerican engagements with Africa, that Africa is incapable by itself of historical progress and that any progress evident there is the result of Euroamerican interventions. Discourses of African higher education have not escaped this narrative. There are two widespread assumptions about university education in Africa: first that the Europeans introduced it, and second that it has declined since independence. Both are false. Higher education including universities long antedated the establishment of “western” style universities in the nineteenth century and the post-independence era was a period of unprecedented growth during which the bulk of contemporary Africa’s universities were established.

As a historian profoundly committed to Africa’s development and social transformation, I believe history—a long historical perspective—is a powerful antidote to the fatalism often induced by the overwhelming flow of current events that Afropessimism turns into eternal trends. In this case, as an intellectual historian interested both in the history of ideas and of knowledge producing institutions, and one who is engaged in African and global debates about the future of higher education, the need for a proper understanding of Africa’s long and complicated history of tertiary education is imperative. I offer here brief reflections on the history and contemporary challenges of African universities.

The origins of higher education in Africa including universities as communities of scholars and learning can be traced to three institutional traditions: first, the Alexandria Museum and Library, second, the early Christian monasteries, and third, the Islamic mosque universities. The Alexandria Museum and Library was established in the third century B.C. in Egypt. It grew to become the largest center of learning in the ancient world. The complex is estimated to have housed more than 200,000 volumes, and supported up to 5,000 scholars and students. Clearly, this was a large research institution, and many of the leading Egyptian and other African as well as Greek, Roman, and Jewish scholars of the ancient world studied or worked there at some point in their lives. The library gradually declined as buildings were destroyed by fire, its holdings looted in times of warfare, and scholars left due to political instability in the twilight years of the Roman empire. Alexandria left a rich legacy of scholarship covering a wide range of fields from mathematics and the sciences to philosophy and religion.

It was also in Egypt, one of the earliest centers of Christianity in the world, that monasteries first developed in the third century A.D. Tens of thousands of Christians gathered in the monasteries in the desert not only to escape the exactions of Roman rule, but also for a life devoted to spiritual contemplation. The monasteries and the monastic orders that regulated them provided important spaces for reflection, writing, and learning. The idea and institution of monasteries spread to other parts of Africa, and elsewhere in the world as far as Britain and Georgia in Europe and Persia and India in Asia, out of which some universities later developed.

One country where monastic education developed early was Ethiopia where Christianity was introduced in the fourth century A.D. and became the state religion. From the period of the Zagwe dynasty in the twelfth century this system included higher education, which was largely restricted to the clergy and nobility. At the bottom of the system was the Qine Bet (School of Hymns), followed by the Zema Bet (School of Poetry, and at the pinnacle was an institution called Metsahift Bet (School of the Holy Books) that provided a broader and more specialized education in religious studies, philosophy, history, and the computation of time and calendar, among various subjects.

It is the third tradition, Islam, which gave Africa its first higher education institutions that have endured to the present. Indeed, Africa claims distinction as the center of the world’s oldest Islamic universities and some of the world’s oldest surviving universities. They include Ez-Zitouna madrassa in Tunis founded in 732. Next came al-Qarawiyyin mosque university established in Fez in 859 by a young migrant female princess from Qairawan (Tunisia), Fatima Al-Fihri. The university attracted students and scholars from Andalusian Spain to West Africa. Then in 969 Al-Azhar mosque university was established in Cairo, the same year that the city was founded by the Fatimid dynasty from the Maghreb. It came to be regarded as the most prestigious center of Islamic education and scholarship and attracted the greatest intellectuals of the Muslim world, including Ibn Khaldun the renowned historian who taught there. Another major early Islamic university was Sankore mosque university in Timbuktu founded in the twelfth century where a wide range of courses were taught from theology, logic, astronomy and astrology, to grammar, rhetoric, history and geography.

The legacy of the ancient Islamic university for modern Africa is three-fold. First, many of the Islamic universities have survived to the present, although they have undergone major changes over the centuries, including the introduction of more secular, technical and professional fields of study. This is true of three of the four universities mentioned above—Sankore being the sole exception. Second, in recent times new Islamic universities have been created in several countries across the continent often patterned on the old Islamic universities as part of the wave of privatization of higher education as state control has loosened. Third, the “western” university introduced in Africa from the nineteenth century bore Islamic influences. Europeans inherited from the Muslims a huge corpus of knowledge, rationalism and the investigative approach to knowledge, an elaborate disciplinary architecture of knowledge, the notions of individual scholarship, and the idea of the college, all of which became central features of the European university exported to the rest of the world with the rise of European imperialism.

Missionaries—both European and African including those from the diaspora—initially undertook the introduction of Africa’s “western” style universities. The process was largely concentrated in the expanding European settler colonies of South Africa and Algeria, and in Sierra Leone and Liberia newly established colonies for African diaspora resettlement. The first was Fourah Bay College founded in Sierra Leone in 1826 and more than three decades later, in 1862, came Liberia College. The two institutions became the beacons of West Africa’s bourgeoning colonial intelligentsia and nationalism. Edward Blyden, the renowned Pan-Africanist scholar-activist was actively engaged with both colleges. In addition, there were a series of smaller colleges in Liberia.

In the meantime, in South Africa segregated institutions were set up beginning in 1829 with the South African College in Cape Town (later the University of Cape Town), which mostly catered to the English settlers. In 1866 a college for the Afrikaner settlers was created called the Stellenbosch Gymnasium, which finally became Stellenbosch University in 1918. A small college for Africans, the Lovedale Institution, was created in 1841, which was increasingly modeled on African American industrial and vocational colleges in the United States. Then in 1873 the University of the Cape of Good Hope (renamed the University of South Africa in 1916) was established initially as an examining body before it became one of Africa’s and the world’s leading distance education providers.

As in South Africa, in French Algeria higher education was largely confined to the settler population. It began with the establishment of the School of Medicine in 1857, followed in 1879 by the creation of four specialized schools of medicine, pharmacy, sciences, letters, and law, which merged to form faculties of the University of Algiers in 1909. Another French colony where higher education started in the late nineteenth century was Madagascar where the Antananarivo Medical Training Academy was established in 1896.

It was not until the twentieth century following the European conquest that colonial universities spread to the rest of the continent. Two countries escaped colonization, Liberia and Ethiopia, but both sought to modernize their educational systems. In Liberia, where American models were popular, Cuttington University College was created in 1949 with support from the Protestant Episcopal Church, and Liberia College destroyed by fire in the late 1940s was reconstituted into the University of Liberia in 1951. The brief Italian occupation of Ethiopia 1935-41 shocked Ethiopia into embarking on a drive for educational modernization. In 1949, the government created Trinity College, which was granted a charter in 1950 under the name of University College of Addis Ababa, and renamed Haile Selassie University in 1961.

In colonial Africa, the development of higher education remained limited until after the Second World War because the colonial authorities were generally suspicious of and opposed to the modern educated African elite and their nationalist demands for equality and freedom, and colonial civil servants feared African competition. Africans seeking higher education were often forced to go abroad including the imperial metropoles themselves. During this period higher education was limited to the British and French empires, virtually none was provided in Belgian and Portuguese Africa.

The first colonial university college in Northern Africa was the Gordon Memorial College founded in the Sudan in 1902, renamed Khartoum University College in 1951 and Khartoum University at independence in 1956. A decade later, in 1912, the Islamic Institute was founded; it became a college in 1924 and was renamed the Omdurman Islamic University in 1965. In Egypt, Cairo University was founded in 1908 despite the vehement opposition of the colonial governor. It grew to become one of the largest universities in Africa, with a student population presently of 155,000 students and more than 5,500 faculty members and instructors. In 1938 the university formed a branch in Alexandria, which later became Alexandria University in 1942. In South Africa, a new era in higher education began with the establishment of the Inter-State Native College in 1916, later renamed the University College of Fort Hare in 1951. Fort Hare became a magnate for not only black South African students but also for African students from across Southern Africa as attested by its list of alumni who include such nationalist leaders as Nelson Mandela, Seretse Khama, and Robert Mugabe.

Elsewhere, before the war a few institutions were created that functioned largely as secondary schools or technical schools before they were converted after the war into university colleges. Examples from the British colonies include Makerere Government College established in Uganda in 1921 first as a vocational school before it was turned into Makerere University College in 1949. In Nigeria Yaba Higher College was set up in 1932, which served for years as the country’s major higher education institution. In Ghana there was the Government Training College, which was formally opened in January 1927 and renamed the Prince of Wales School and College, Achimota. Among its most famous instructors was Dr. Kwegyir Aggrey, the eminent educator, and its alumni include Kwame Nkrumah who obtained his teacher’s certificate from the college in 1930. These colleges were often affiliated with and provided courses, examinations, and qualifications from British universities.

In the French colonies, higher education was hampered by the preference among both the colonial authorities and the African elites, spawned by the policies and ideology of assimilation, for higher education in the metropole. Moreover, missionary provision of education was rather limited, which undermined the development of primary and secondary education that could feed into higher education. The institutions of higher education established before the war included the French Western Africa Medical Training Institution founded in 1918 in Dakar, the William Ponty School established in Goree in 1903 that provided some medical training and teacher training, schools of marine engineering and veterinary medicine in Goree and Bamako, respectively, and a polytechnic also in Bamako.

It was not until the end of the Second World War that more systematic efforts were undertaken by colonial governments to establish higher education. In the British colonies, the new era started with the establishment of university colleges in Nigeria (Ibadan in 1947), Ghana (Legon in 1948), Sudan (Khartoum in 1949 from the merger of the Gordon Memorial College and the Kitchener Medical School), and Uganda (Makerere was upgraded in 1949). In addition, in Kenya the Royal Technical College was established in Nairobi in 1951, and further south the University College of Salisbury was formed in 1953 and renamed two years later as the University College of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. Meanwhile, Fourah Bay College became the University College of Sierra Leone. Most of these new or upgraded university colleges served as regional universities and were affiliated with and awarded degrees of the University of London.

After the war French universities also set up a few overseas campuses in the colonies. The University of Paris established Institutes of Higher Studies in Tunis in 1945, and together with the University of Bordeaux, in Dakar in 1950 and Antananarivo in 1955 that became the University of Dakar in 1957 and the University of Antananarivo in 1960, respectively. In Algeria access to the University of Algiers for Algerians was expanded slightly, although by the time of the Algerian revolution in 1952 there were only 1,000 Algerian university graduates. In the rest of the French colonial empire university education had to await independence.

The Belgians in the Congo followed the French practice as the Catholic University of Louvain established the Lovanium (little Louvain) University Centre in 1949, with which it became affiliated in 1954, while the state created the Official University in 1956 in Lubumbashi. Lovanium also catered for students from Rwanda and Burundi. In the Portuguese colonies higher education lagged behind until the turn of the 1960s. In Angola, institutions to train priests were formed in 1958 in Luanda and Huambo, followed by the establishment in 1962 of two General University Studies in Angola and Mozambique as branches of the Portuguese university system that were converted in 1968 into the Universities of Angola and Lourenço Marques, respectively.

In the meantime, in South Africa where apartheid had been established in 1948 higher education became even more racially segregated than before. Blacks were no longer allowed to attend the “white” universities without special government approval and separate universities were created for Africans in the so-called self-governing homelands and for Coloreds and Indians in the major cities. By 1994, the year that ushered in the country’s first democratically elected government, there were 36 higher education institutions consisting of 21 universities and 15 technikons, of which 19 were for whites, 2 for coloreds, 2 for Indians and 13 for Africans. Needless to say, higher education was far better resourced for whites than for the other races with the Africans at the bottom. In Namibia, under South African occupation from the end of the First World War until independence in 1990, college education started as late as 1980 with the establishment of the Academy for Tertiary Education, followed in 1985 by the formation of the Technikon of Namibia, and the College for Out-of-School Training.

Decolonization was a staggered process as African countries got independent at different times, but the bulk of them did so in the 1950s and 1960s. Colonial rule left behind very few universities, the majority of countries did not even have a single university, so that one of the key challenges for the new independent states was to establish or expand their higher education systems. Also, since the few existing universities were patterned on European models and were rather elitist there was the need to make them more relevant to Africa’s developmental needs and socio-cultural contexts and more accessible to students of different social backgrounds.

Across Africa the growth in higher education after independence was nothing short of phenomenal. The new states embarked on ambitious development programs in which universities were seen as central for training a highly skilled labor force, creating and reproducing a national elite, and enhancing national prestige. The new national universities were quite diverse and flexible in their structures and models. On the whole, they were much larger in size than their colonial predecessors, broader in their missions, and they expanded their disciplinary and curricula offerings from the arts and social sciences to include professional fields of study such as business, medicine and engineering, and they incorporated graduate programs.

In 1960, often taken as the year of African independence, there were an estimated 120,000 students in African universities; the number jumped to 782,503 in 1975 and to 3,461,822 in 1995, and presently it is probably around 5 million. Similarly, the number of universities grew from less than three-dozen in 1960 to more than four hundred in 1995 and several hundred more have perhaps been introduced since then with the explosion of private universities. Today, tertiary education exists in all African countries, although the systems vary enormously in terms of size and levels of development and internal differentiation. For example, in 1995 the largest concentration of university students was in Egypt (850,051), followed by South Africa (617,897), Nigeria (404,969), Algeria (347,410), and Morocco (294,502) (World Bank 2000: 111). In contrast, in the same year there were 23 countries with fewer than 10,000 university students.

There were also sharp gender differences in terms of access to higher education. While several countries had managed to attain gender parity at the primary and secondary levels by 2000, very few had managed to do so at the tertiary level. The exceptions were Botswana, Lesotho, Swaziland, Namibia, and South Africa. The gender gap also manifested itself in fields of study and faculty distribution. Women were concentrated in the humanities and social sciences, while they were grossly underrepresented in the sciences and most of the professional fields. As multi-ethnic, sometimes multi-racial, and invariably class societies, access to university education in African countries was further differentiated according to ethnicity, race, and class, as well as, in some cases, religious and cultural affiliations. Class became increasingly salient as the African middle classes grew rapidly after independence, in many cases thanks to the establishment or expansion of university education itself, and sought to reproduce themselves.

The massive expansion of education across the continent not only led to huge improvements in the African human capital stock, it also laid the institutional basis for the social production of African intellectual capacities and communities. But Africa remained the least educated continent in the world, with a tertiary gross enrollment ratio of less than 5 percent, as compared to 10 percent for the low- and middle-income countries and 58 percent for the high-income countries. The challenges facing African higher education deepened with the imposition in the 1980s and 1990s of draconian structural adjustment programs (SAPs) by the international financial institutions including the World Bank that led to severe government cutbacks in social expenditures, including education, especially for higher education whose rates of social return were deemed by the supporters of neo-liberalism to be lower than for primary education.

Thus from the 1980s even as the number of colleges and universities continued to expand, it became increasingly evident that the higher education system in many countries was in crisis, which was expressed in declining state funding, falling instructional standards, poorly equipped libraries and laboratories, shrinking wages and faculty morale. Academics increasingly resorted to consultancies or they became part of the “brain drain” as they sought refuge in other sectors at home or universities abroad. The costs on teaching, research, and Africa’s capacity to produce highly skilled human capital were predictably high.

There were other responses to the crisis besides increasing academic labor migration. One was the proliferation of regional research networks, the growth of an academic NGO sector. Examples include the Dakar-based Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA), and the Nairobi based International Institute of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE). These organizations and networks provided crucial support for basic and applied research, both individual and collaborative, and offered training, internships, and fellowships to graduate students.

Another response was seen in the explosion in private universities and the privatization of programs and funding sources in public universities, both of which were manifestations of the growing liberalization of African higher education. The private universities can be distinguished in terms of their institutional types (their status—not-for-profit and for-profit; identity—religious and secular; and focus—business, Christian or Islamic), programs and levels, staffing and funding, and governance structures and regulation. While these universities faced numerous challenges, by the beginning of the 2000s they had begun to outstrip the number of public universities in some countries, a development that profoundly and permanently altered the terrain of higher education.

From the late 1990s African leaders, educators, researchers, and external donors became increasingly aware of the challenges facing African higher education and the need for renewal if the continent was to achieve higher rates of growth and development and compete in an increasingly knowledge intensive global economy. The reform agenda has centered on five broad sets of issues, even if expressions of concern have yet to be matched by the provision of adequate resources. First, the need to examine systematically the philosophical foundations of African universities is widely recognized. Included in this context are issues pertaining to the principles underpinning public higher education in an era of privatization, the conception, content and consequences of the reforms currently being undertaken across the continent, and the public-private interface in African higher education systems.

The second set of issues center on management, how African universities are grappling with the challenges of quality control, funding, governance, and management in response to the establishment of new regulatory regimes, growing pressures for finding alternative sources of funding, changing demographics and massification, increasing demands for access and equity for underrepresented groups including women, and the emergence of new forms of student and faculty politics in the face of democratization in the wider society. Third, there are pedagogical and paradigmatic issues, ranging from the languages of tuition in African universities and educational systems as a whole to the dynamics of knowledge production—the societal relevance of the knowledges produced in African higher education systems and how those knowledges are disseminated and consumed by students, scholarly communities, and the wider public.

Fourth, the role of universities in the pursuit of the historic project of Africa nationalism: decolonization, development, democratization, nation-building and regional integration is under scrutiny. Included in this regard are questions of the uneven and changing relations between universities and the state, civil society, and industry, as well as the role of universities in helping to manage and resolve the various crises that confront the African continent from civil conflicts to disease epidemics including HIV/AIDS. Also, the part universities have played and can play in future to promote or undermine the Pan-African project is a of great interest as African states, through the African Union, renew their efforts to achieve closer integration within Africa and between Africa and its diasporas.

Finally, there is the question of globalization, the impact of trends associated with the new information and communication technologies, the expansion of transborder or transnational provision of higher education, and trade in educational services under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) regime. Critical in this context for Africa is the changing role of external donors from the philanthropic foundations to the World Bank and other international financial institutions and multilateral agencies. The impact of these trends on African higher education and vice-versa are of utmost importance and provide one area of fruitful collaboration between researchers from Africa and other world regions.

The challenges facing African universities are serious and disquieting, but higher education in Africa has a long history and it will have a long future. And the onus for ensuring that such a future is a healthy and productive one lies primarily with African leaders, educators, and scholars, who cannot afford the morbid indulgences of Afropessimism.

* This article was first published on http://zeleza.com/ the website of the author, who has kindly given permission for its reproduction by Pambazuka News.

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

Blocking the Blogosphere – online censorship in Africa

Sokari Ekine

2006-07-12

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/35866

The internet and more so blogging has enabled a growth in freedom of speech amongst civil society groups and individual activists and citizens across the continent. In China, Iran and the Middle East the governments have been active in monitoring and restricting access to the internet by it’s citizens. The first African country to ban websites was Tunisia which hosted the second phase of the WSIS (World Summit on the Information Society) was held in Tunisia last November. The irony was not lost on many of the participants who held their own workshops and seminars promoting freedom of expression despite threats from government employed thugs. Earlier on March 1st Tunisian journalist Muhammad Abou was arrested and subsequently imprisoned for publishing an article on a banned website where he compared the President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

The first reports that the Ethiopian government was blocking blogs hosted by blogger.com came on the 18th May as Ethiopian blogger, Ethiopian Life reported that his blog had been blocked along with a number of others. Later Meskel Square asked “Where have all the Ethiopian Blogspot Bloggers gone?. In addition, Free Our Leaders and Ethiopian Review were also unavailable. In total 75% of Ethiopian blogs tracked on Global Voices are no longer accessible from Ethiopia.

The Ethiopian blogosphere has been one of the most vibrant on the continent and highly critical of the government of Meles Zenawi. Though the government is still denying any involvement in the shut down there is really no other explanation. Ethiopian bloggers in the Diaspora continue to relentlessly attack the tyranny of Zenawi’s government and question the US and other Western countries who continue to support his government. Ethiopia is not the only country trying to prevent African citizens an online presence. RSF http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=17842) reports that the Gambian government has hacked into the website of exiled Gambian journalist, Pa Nderry Mbai, who runs the Freedom Newspaper and posted “a false statement of allegiance to an associate of the president together with the names, addresses, phone numbers and e-mail addresses of all its subscribers, describing them as “informers”(http://www.freedomnewspaper.com/).

The false statement was made worse by the exposure of people’s names and email addresses who had set up user accounts on the site. Mbai’s email and phone number in the US were also published. Those living in Gambia are now at personal risk of arrest and detention by the Gambian government.

The same day, the Gambian police ordered all those “who continually supplied him with information which he used to castigate and vilify the democratically elected government of His Excellency President Alhaji Yahya Jammeh” to report to the nearest police station within 24 hours or face immediate arrest.
The hacking was done from an IP address in Southampton, England.

The implications for activists and dissidents in Africa are obvious. How safe is your personal information? How safe are you? This is especially worrying for those blogging from Ethiopia, Tunisia and Egypt - governments which have arrested and detained bloggers and journalists in recent months. Egypt has been particularly viscious…. in it’s response to bloggers. On May 7th activist and blogger, Alaa Ahmed along with 11 others, was detained in prison by the Egyptian police. They had all been arrested for supporting another group of protestors. According to a Human Rights Watch report, the thousands of police were deployed against protestors proving once again that President Mubarak “is committed to zero tolerance when it comes to peaceful dissent”. Despite the arrests, Egyptian bloggers launched a collaborative campaign against the governments repression and to free the arrested activists and bloggers. Alaa Ahmed was not the first Egyptian blogger to be arrested. Last October, 21 year old activist, journalist and blogger, Abdel Karim Seliman was also arrested and detained for 18 days. His writings were confiscated by the Egyptian state security.

In Zimbabwe where freedom of speech died many years ago, the government is planning to enact legislation that will allow it to monitor the phone calls and mail of anyone suspected of threatening national security or involvement in criminal activities in the country. The Interception of Communications Bill will include the monitoring of email and there is no doubt in my mind that the government will seek ways to block internet usage and particularly blogs from operating within the country. In truth the Bill is simply another tool for the government to continue its repression of the people of Zimbabwe and places Zimbabwean bloggers at an increased risk to their personal safety.

Two African countries that have had relatively free press and freedom of speech, South African and Kenya, are now hinting at curbing free expression. In the case of South Africa the government is proposing legislation that will monitor require mobile phone providers to monitor and intercept phone calls.
The proposed law requires operators Vodacom, MTN and CellC to put in place systems for the interception of cellphone communications, and to keep detailed information of all their clients, as well as phones and SIM cards .

The providers such as Vodocom (http://www.citizen.co.za/index/article.aspx?pDesc=17511,1,22) are angry at the legislation which will increase their administration costs on a scheme they say is unworkable. They will face huge fines for not complying with the proposed legislation - the “Regulation of Interception of Communications and Provision of Communications Related Information Bill” (http://www.legalbrief.co.za/filemgmt_data/files/RIC%20Bill.pdf) and of course they will loose millions in revenue as their customer base is reduced by as much as 20 million people (http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/article.aspx?ID=BD4A206373).

However from a user perspective the Bill has implications for both privacy and access or use of mobile phones. As always it is the poor that will mostly be affected by this legislation. If you dont have an address, do not work in the formal economy or are an illegal immigrant then under the Bills regulations you will no longer be able to use a mobile phone. The second hand sale of SIM cards which again is used by mostly poor and rural people will be criminalised as failure to report the sale or exchange will result in a prison sentence of up to 12 months.

The governments cites the high crime rate as the main reason behind the legislation. There is no doubt about the high level of crime in South Africa and that mobile phones are used in carrying out many crimes. However it will be the poor, the migrants, the low paid or those employed in the informal sector who will suffer most and become even more disenfranchised from society and not the criminals who as one report states (http://www.citizen.co.za/index/article.aspx?pDesc=17511,1,22) can afford to buy SIM cards from a neighbouring country, use them and dispose of them with ease.

Last month the Kenyan Internal Security Minister, John Njoroge Michuki place an advert in the Daily Standard where as Kenyan blogger, Thinkers Room wrote “not so subtly dishes out warnings to radio talk shows, newspapers and Internet bloggers……. Bottom line – bloggers are now on the government radar”. He continues….”I won’t be cowed online but I jolly well will keep a very low profile physically.”

Africa’s dictators and paranoid leaders are beginning to discover cyberland where, unlike traditional media (newspapers, radio and TV), freedom of expression is much more difficult to control. Nigeria, has a huge online presence not only from bloggers but from news portals, forums and discussion groups – most of them highly critical of the present government. Two weeks ago, a Nigerian photographer, Jide Adeniyi-Jones, was refused publication of an article by various Nigerian newspapers so he simply sent the article to various bloggers who published it on his behalf. Many dissidents and activists from the Niger Delta and Igboland who are calling for secession already use the internet to publish their writings which would be banned in Nigeria. How long before they find themselves on the governments radar.

* Sokari Ekine is Blogging Africa editor for Pambazuka News

* * Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

Political parties indispensible for democracy in Nigeria

Jibrin Ibrahim, Fabian Okoye and Tom Adambara

2006-07-12

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/35864

Political parties are indispensable for making democracy work and deliver. Finding the proper conditions for better internal functioning and effective legal regulation of political parties is of key importance anywhere.

This report is a result of world-wide research and dialogue with political parties as part of International IDEA’s Political Parties’ programme, where International IDEA is working with national and regional research partners to improve insight and comparative knowledge. The purpose is to provide for constructive public debate and reform actions helping political parties to develop.

Political parties researched: Alliance for Democracy; All Nigeria Peoples Party; All Progressives Grand Alliance; and Peoples Democratic Party.

Methodology

Nigeria currently has 33 registered political parties. Some 24 of them were registered just before the 2003 elections, while three were registered in February 2006 after the completion of the research. Most of them are very small and have little impact on the political process. The four parties chosen for this report were selected because they won the largest number of parliamentary seats in the 2003 elections. The desk study phase on the country context and external regulation of political parties drew on an analysis of the country’s constitution and laws, as well as published sources. Unpublished materials—such as party documents, newspaper reports and mimeographs—were also consulted.

Interviews were held with paid, full-time party officials at the party secretariats. The interview process on the internal functioning of the political parties was difficult and time-consuming, since all four parties underwent periods of internal crisis during the research period. Indeed, some of the party offices were closed and under police protection, or were occupied by one faction of the party. The situation improved by April 2005, however, and it was then possible to administer the questionnaires with the help of party staff at their secretariats.

Background

Nigeria is a federation of 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja. It has a presidential system of government with an executive President, a judiciary and a bicameral National Assembly (Senate and House of Representatives) whose members are elected. Political crisis during the First Republic led to intervention by the armed forces and a civil war between 1967 and 1970. It also led to 30 years of military rule, except for the four-year period between 1979 and 1983. In 1999, the military government organized general elections and President Olusegun Obasanjo thereafter took office.

The last general elections were in April 2003. The next are scheduled for 2007, because those elected at the state and federal levels have a four-year tenure, with a maximum of two terms for the executive. The human rights situation has improved relative to the period of military rule, but there are still several human rights violations. The population lives in profound poverty, largely due to mismanagement of the economy and widespread corruption. In Transparency International’s last report, Nigeria was ranked sixth from last on the organization’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI).

The ruling party is the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), whose winner-takes-all outlook, coupled to the authoritarian tendencies of incumbent President Olusegun Obasanjo, pose a threat to the country’s democracy. Stability is also threatened by communal clashes, as well as violent insurgencies in many parts of the country.

Nigeria’s first general elections were held in 1960 when the British colonial authorities were preparing to hand over power to a local political leadership under the parliamentary system of government. The second general elections in 1964 were marked by boycotts in many areas. This led to the end of the First Republic in January 1966 and a military takeover of power. The armed forces ceded power to civilians in 1979 under the leadership of President Alhaji Shehu Shagari. Widespread electoral irregularities and other malpractices, however, were decried by opposition parties, as well as by civil society following the 1983 elections. This led to another military takeover in December 1983.

The military regime of General Ibrahim Babangida organised elections in 1992. The elections were inconclusive, however, because the result of the presidential election was annulled just before the vote-counting was completed. A new election was held by General Sani Abacha in 1997, but these too were inconclusive. General Abdulsami Abubakar, who succeeded Sani Abacha, organised the elections that brought the present incumbent, President Obasanjo, into power. President Obasanjo presided over the last general elections in April 2003. Both elections have been generally acknowledged by the opposition parties, civil society, and local and international observers as beset by large-scale irregularities.

During the military government of General Ibrahim Babangida (1985-1993), an eight-year transition programme began. General Babangida went further than the earlier regime in the regulation of political parties, decreeing that only two political parties would be registered. He instructed politicians to choose one of these parties as the platform for the attainment of their political ambitions. His government also wrote the parties’ constitutions, funded them and built offices for them throughout the country.

General Sani Abacha, who succeeded Babangida, registered five political parties. Remarkably, he induced all five parties to adopt him as their sole presidential candidate, but he died shortly thereafter. He was succeeded by General Abdulsalami, who registered three political parties and organized general elections that led to the election of General Obasanjo in 1999.

On the Freedom House World Country Ratings, Nigeria is classified as partly free in terms of political rights and civil liberties. This rating has been unchanged for the past five years.

Regulatory framework

Sections 221-229 of the 1999 constitution make elaborate provision for the registration, functioning, conduct and finances of political parties setting difficult conditions for the registration of political parties. As a result, only three parties were registered to contest the 1999 elections. This was partly because the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the country’s election management body, imposed conditions for registration that were more stringent than the provisions of the constitution. The Electoral Act was later amended and the procedure for registering parties was liberalised somewhat. Nonetheless, Nigeria retains a very illiberal regulatory regime for the registration and functioning of political parties.

The effect of these conditions is that parties that emerge must be very big, very rich and have the capacity to bring together money-wielding forces from different parts of the country. In effect, the major factor in party formation is not the aggregation of people with similar ideologies or interests but the establishment of ethnic coalitions led by regional barons with strong financial backing.

Internal functioning and structure

Election of leadership

The most important aspect of the parties’ internal functioning is that the regulatory framework outlined above tends to give rise to a situation in which political ‘godfathers’ play a major role in internal party politics. Parties have formal procedures for the election of their leaders but these procedures are often disregarded; when they are adhered to, the godfathers have means of determining the outcomes.

At the party congresses, leaders are elected and candidates are nominated for elective positions. The elections, however, are usually pre-determined and party bosses tend to have the final say in the selection of leaders. This process leads to the continual internal party crisis that the country has experienced. Party bosses or godfathers are unwilling to allow internal party democracy, a circumstance that leads to frequent conflicts and constrains the development of parties as popular organizations. Indeed, over the years these party bosses have developed comprehensive techniques for eliminating popular aspirants from party posts and for preventing them from being nominated for elective positions.

Techniques for the elimination of popular aspirants

Nigerian parties have a wide range of techniques to eliminate people from party primaries, including the use of power by powerful ‘party owners’, party barons, state governors, godfathers and so on; zoning and other forms of administrative fiat; violence by thugs or security personnel; bribing of officials and voters to support particular candidates; and simply disregard for the results declaring the loser as the winner

Policy development

Given this history, policy development tends to be disarticulated from policy implementation. While formal party structures such as the National Conventions and the National Executive Council have responsibility for policy formulation, the policies that get implemented in practice tend to reflect the desires of godfathers rather than formal party organs. Given this context, Nigerian party life is characterised by a very low level of debate on policy options and by members that are only active during election periods. There is urgent need for Nigerian parties to prioritise the issue of policy development.

Funding

Parties are partly funded by the state. The regulatory framework requires that parties prepare regular audited financial reports. Most party funds, however, come through party financiers and the details of these sums rarely enter the formal process of party accounts. Indeed, the role of money in contemporary Nigerian politics is so overwhelming that it tends to supersede other considerations. Precisely for this reason, the country’s political parties provide only very limited opportunities for marginalised individuals—youths, the poor and women.

Marginalization of women in politics

The marginalisation of women from political power in Nigeria’s patriarchal political system dates back to the colonial era, and women were not allowed to vote in Northern Nigeria until 1976. This marginalization has continued into the Fourth Republic. Of the 11,881 electable positions available during the 1999 elections, only 631 women were in contention. Only 181 of them won (a mere 1.62 per cent of the total positions).

Following the political party primaries for candidates in the 2003 elections, it became evident that the elimination of women through a well-orchestrated process of manipulating the outcome of most primaries was virtually party policy across the board. Indeed, the primaries were a charade because most popular candidates—female and male—were eliminated by party barons and replaced by other candidates who enjoyed the support of state and party executives. Studies of 15 female political aspirants reveal the following means of marginalizing women.

The indigeneity ploy

The 1979 constitution introduced the concept of ‘indigeneity’ into Nigerian public law to guarantee a fair regional distribution of power. Over the years, the principle has been subverted to discriminate against Nigerian citizens who are not indigenous to the places where they live and work. Women married to men who are non-indigenes of their local governments suffer discrimination. In their own constituencies, they are told that by marrying out, they have lost their indigeneity. In their husband’s constituency, they are told they do not really belong because indigeneity is based on the consanguinity principle.

Challenges and opportunities

Nigerian political parties were conceived to be cohesive, national bourgeois parties. Nonetheless, the aim or political project of most Nigerian parties has been the development of a national system for sharing out the ‘national cake’ as a system of patronage. This is why the parties are established as coalitions of various factions of regional and economic rent-seekers. Most party leaders see their political party activity as a means to further their business interests.

Nigerian political parties face two challenges. First, an extremely high level of corruption has made politics a competitive business. Second, the regulatory framework for the establishment of parties should to be changed so that new parties do not have to forge coalitions of the wealthy as a basis for their registration.

About International IDEA

Founded in 1995, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) is an intergovernmental organisation that seeks to promote and develop sustainable democracy world-wide.

About CDD

The Centre for Democracy and Development is a non-governmental organisation which aims to promote the values of democracy, peace & human rights in Africa and especially in the West African sub-region.

The full report is available at the link shown.

*Dr. Jibrin Ibrahim, is Principal Researcher at the Centre for Democracy and Development; Fabian Okoye and Tom Adambara are Research Assistants at Global Rights.

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at www.pambazuka.org
FULL REPORT.


Nigeria

Country Report based on Research and Dialogue with Political Parties
About this report:

Political parties are indispensable for making democracy work and deliver. Finding the proper conditions for better internal functioning and effective legal regulation of political parties is of key importance anywhere.

This report is a result of world-wide research and dialogue with political parties. Together with national and regional research partners, International IDEA is improving insight and comparative knowledge. The purpose is to provide for constructive public debate and reform actions helping political parties to develop.

For more about the Political Parties’ programme, please visit www.idea.int/parties

Country researchers:
Dr. Jibrin Ibrahim, Centre for Democracy and Development (Principal Researcher); Fabian Okoye and Tom Adambara, Global Rights (Research Assistants).
Partner Organization:
Centre for Democracy and Development, Global Rights
IDEA Research coordinator:
Per Nordlund
Research Period:
November 2004 to May 2005. Questionnaires were administered in April and May 2005.

Political parties researched:
Alliance for Democracy;
All Nigeria Peoples Party;
All Progressives Grand Alliance; and
Peoples Democratic Party.

© International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance 2006

International IDEA publications are independent of specific national or political interests. Views expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent the views of IDEA, its Board, its Council members or other organizations involved in its production.

Printouts of this document for individual use are allowed without special permission from IDEA. For reproduction or translation of any part of this publication a request should be made to:

Publications Office International IDEA SE -103 34 Stockholm, Sweden
E-mail: publications@idea.int


Methodology

Nigeria currently has 33 registered political parties. Some 24 of them were registered just before the 2003 elections, while three were registered in February 2006 after the completion of the research. Most of them are very small and have little impact on the political process. The four parties chosen for this report were selected because they won the largest number of parliamentary seats in the 2003 elections. The desk study phase on the country context and external regulation of political parties drew on an analysis of the country’s constitution and laws, as well as published sources. Unpublished materials—such as party documents, newspaper reports and mimeographs—were also consulted.

Interviews were held with paid, full-time party officials at the party secretariats. The interview process on the internal functioning of the political parties was difficult and time-consuming, since all four parties underwent periods of internal crisis during the research period. Indeed, some of the party offices were closed and under police protection, or were occupied by one faction of the party. The situation improved by April 2005, however, and it was then possible to administer the questionnaires with the help of party staff at their secretariats.

Background

Nigeria is a federation of 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja. It has a presidential system of government with an executive President, a judiciary and a bicameral National Assembly (Senate and House of Representatives) whose members are elected. Political crisis during the First Republic led to intervention by the armed forces and a civil war between 1967 and 1970. It also led to 30 years of military rule, except for the four-year period between 1979 and 1983. In 1999, the military government organized general elections and President Olusegun Obasanjo thereafter took office.

The last general elections were in April 2003. The next are scheduled for 2007, because those elected at the state and federal levels have a four-year tenure, with a maximum of two terms for the executive. The human rights situation has improved relative to the period of military rule, but there are still several human rights violations. The population lives in profound poverty, largely due to mismanagement of the economy and widespread corruption. In Transparency International’s last report, Nigeria was ranked sixth from last on the organization’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI).

The ruling party is the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), whose winner-takes-all outlook, coupled to the authoritarian tendencies of incumbent President Olusegun Obasanjo, pose a threat to the country’s democracy. Stability is also threatened by communal clashes, as well as violent insurgencies in many parts of the country.

Nigeria’s first general elections were held in 1960 when the British colonial authorities were preparing to hand over power to a local political leadership under the parliamentary system of government. The dominant political parties then were the Northern Peoples’ Congress (NPC), the National Council of Nigerian Citizens (NCNC) and the Action Group (AG); there were also other opposition parties.

The second general elections in 1964 were marked by boycotts in many areas. This led to the end of the First Republic in January 1966 and a military takeover of power. The armed forces ceded power to civilians in 1979 under the leadership of President Alhaji Shehu Shagari of the National Party of Nigeria (NPN). Widespread electoral irregularities and other malpractices, however, were decried by opposition parties such as the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), the Nigerian Peoples Party, the Great Nigerian Peoples Party (GNPP), the People’s Redemption Party (PRP) and later the Nigeria Advanced Party (NAP), as well as by civil society following the 1983 elections. This led to another military takeover in December 1983.

The military regime of General Ibrahim Babangida organized elections in 1992. The elections were inconclusive, however, because the result of the presidential election was annulled just before the vote-counting was completed. A new election was held by General Sani Abacha in 1997, but these too were inconclusive. General Abdulsami Abubakar, who succeeded Sani Abacha, organized the elections that brought the present incumbent, President Obasanjo, into power. President Obasanjo presided over the last general elections in April 2003. Both elections have been generally acknowledged by the opposition parties, civil society, and local and international observers as beset by large-scale irregularities.

In the First Republic, individuals and/or associations were free to come together to form political parties without restrictions, and many political parties were then active. By 1979, during the second republic, the departing military regime changed this convention by insisting that only political parties registered by the state’s election management body could contest elections. The argument was that political parties under the First Republic were ethnic pressure groups whose activities divided the country. It was therefore decided that parties must not henceforth be formed on the basis of ethnic support. The regime also decried the use of religion in politics and decided to set guidelines for the formation and registration of political parties, with a view to promoting national unity. The guidelines included registering the names of officials, open membership, non-sectarian names and logos, situating the party headquarters in the federal capital and establishing party branches in at least two thirds of Nigeria’s states. Consequently, at the end of the exercise, only five of 59 associations that submitted applications for registration were actually registered; the NPN, the Nigerian Peoples Party (NPP), the GNPP, the UPN and the PRP. Four years later, the NAP was added.

During the military government of General Ibrahim Babangida (1985-1993), an eight-year transition programme began. General Babangida went further than the earlier regime in the regulation of political parties, decreeing that only two political parties—the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the National Republican Party (NRC)—would be registered. He instructed politicians to choose one of these parties as the platform for the attainment of their political ambitions. His government also wrote the parties’ constitutions, funded them and built offices for them throughout the country.

General Sani Abacha, who succeeded Babangida, registered five political parties. Remarkably, he induced all five parties to adopt him as their sole presidential candidate, but he died shortly thereafter. He was succeeded by General Abdulsalami, who registered three political parties and organized general elections that led to the election of General Obasanjo in 1999.

On the Freedom House World Country Ratings, Nigeria is classified as partly free in terms of political rights and civil liberties. This rating has been unchanged for the past five years.

Regulatory framework

Sections 221-229 of the 1999 constitution make elaborate provision for the registration, functioning, conduct and finances of political parties. These stipulations are mainly patterned on the provisions of the 1979 constitution, which set difficult conditions for the registration of political parties. As a result, only three parties were registered to contest the 1999 elections. This was partly because the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the country’s election management body, imposed conditions for registration that were more stringent than the provisions of the constitution. That decision was challenged judicially by those parties that were seeking to register in 2003 but whose registration was being denied by INEC. The case went to the Supreme Court and INEC was overruled. The Electoral Act was later amended and the procedure for registering parties was liberalized somewhat.

Nonetheless, Nigeria retains a very illiberal regulatory regime for the registration and functioning of political parties. Section 222 of the constitution restricts the definition of a political party to organizations registered by INEC under the stringent conditions stipulated by Sections 221-229. Section 229 defines a political party as ‘any association whose activities include canvassing for votes in support of a candidate for election to the office of President, Vice-President, Governor, Deputy Governor or membership of a legislative house or of a local government council’. This is a very narrow definition that reduces the essence of political parties to canvassing for votes.

Section 222 of the constitution specifies the conditions under which an association can function as a political party. It states that no association by whatever name called shall function as a political party unless:

• the names and addresses of its national officers are registered with INEC;
• the membership of the association is open to all citizens of Nigeria irrespective of their place of origin, circumstance of birth, sex, religion or ethnic grouping;
• a copy of its constitution is registered in the main office of INEC in such form as may be prescribed by INEC;
• any alteration in its registered constitution is also registered in the main office of INEC within 30 days of the alteration being made;
• the name of the association, its symbol or logo does not contain any ethnic or religious connotation or give the appearance that the activities of the association are confined to only a part of the national territory;
• the headquarters of the association is situated in Abuja; and
• the names and addresses of its national officers are registered with INEC.

The effect of these conditions is that parties that emerge must be very big, very rich and have the capacity to bring together money-wielding forces from different parts of the country. In effect, the major factor in party formation is not the aggregation of people with similar ideologies or interests but the establishment of ethnic coalitions led by regional barons with strong financial backing.

Internal functioning and structure

Election of leadership

The most important aspect of the parties’ internal functioning is that the regulatory framework outlined above tends to give rise to a situation in which political ‘godfathers’ play a major role in internal party politics. Parties have formal procedures for the election of their leaders but these procedures are often disregarded; when they are adhered to, the godfathers have means of determining the outcomes.

INEC and the Independent State Electoral Commissions have powers under the Electoral Act 2002 to be present as observers at the parties’ conventions, congresses, conferences or meetings. Section 75 of the Electoral Act provides that:

• Every registered party shall give the Commission at least 21 days notice of any convention, congress, conference or meeting convened for the purpose of electing members of its executive committees, other governing bodies or nominating candidates for any of the elective offices specified under the Act.
• The Commission may, with or without prior notice to the party, monitor and attend any convention, congress, conference or meeting convened by a party for the purpose of (i) electing members of its executive committees or other governing bodies; (ii) nominating candidates for an election at any level; or (iii) approving a merger with another registered party.

At the party congresses, leaders are elected and candidates are nominated for elective positions. The elections, however, are usually pre-determined and party bosses tend to have the final say in the selection of leaders. This process leads to the continual internal party crisis that the country has experienced. Party bosses or godfathers are unwilling to allow internal party democracy, a circumstance that leads to frequent conflicts and constrains the development of parties as popular organizations. Indeed, over the years these party bosses have developed comprehensive techniques for eliminating popular aspirants from party posts and for preventing them from being nominated for elective positions.

Techniques for the elimination of popular aspirants

Nigerian parties have a wide range of techniques to eliminate people from party primaries, including:

• A declaration by powerful ‘party owners’, party barons, state governors, godfathers and so on that those entitled to vote must support one candidate and other aspirants must withdraw. Since these people are very powerful and feared in their communities, their declarations carry much weight.
• Zoning and other forms of administrative fiat are used to exclude unwanted aspirants simply by taking the party zone out of the seat or position in question to an area where the aspirant being excluded is not indigenous.
• Aspirants who oppose the godfathers’ candidates are often subject to violence by thugs or security personnel.
• Money, a significant factor in party primaries, is used to bribe officials and to induce voters to support particular candidates. Since the godfather generally has more money than the ‘independent’ aspirants trying to gain access, many are eliminated because they simply cannot match their opponents’ spending.
• One disturbing technique is what Nigerians call ‘results by declaration’, whereby an aspirant wins a nomination or election, but polling officials simply disregard the results and declare the loser as the winner.

Policy development

Given this history, policy development tends to be disarticulated from policy implementation. While formal party structures such as the National Conventions and the National Executive Council have responsibility for policy formulation, the policies that get implemented in practice tend to reflect the desires of godfathers rather than formal party organs. Given this context, Nigerian party life is characterised by a very low level of debate on policy options. There is urgent need for Nigerian parties to prioritise the issue of policy development. Unfortunately, the arsenal of sophisticated techniques for the elimination of candidates from democratic party arenas means that democratizing the parties’ internal processes poses a huge challenge for party reform.

Membership

All the parties indicated that their members are active only during elections. In non-election periods there are very few activities that concern the membership, and thus the opportunity to consult members on policy issues hardly arises. Party membership is male-dominated and very few women manage to become active in party affairs.

Funding

Parties are partly funded by the state. The regulatory framework requires that parties prepare regular audited financial reports. Most party funds, however, come through party financiers and the details of these sums rarely enter the formal process of party accounts. Indeed, the role of money in contemporary Nigerian politics is so overwhelming that it tends to supersede other considerations. Precisely for this reason, the country’s political parties provide only very limited opportunities for marginalized individuals—youths, the poor and women..

Marginalization of women in politics

Women are marginalized from political power. According to the Declaration of the Summit of All Women Politicians in Nigeria, held in Abuja on 28 June 2002, the ‘women of Nigeria have noticed with utter dismay the almost complete deterioration of our political and social values, born out of more than three decades of continued male-dominated and -oriented misrule. The obvious conclusion is that enough is enough; the time for positive change has arrived … The systematic entrenchment of practices aimed at the continued marginalization of women in the political process must stop.’1

The marginalization of women in Nigeria’s patriarchal political system is not new. It dates back to the colonial era, and women were not allowed to vote in Northern Nigeria until 1976. This marginalization has continued into the Fourth Republic. Of the 11,881 electable positions available during the 1999 elections, only 631 women were in contention. Only 181 of them won (a mere 1.62 per cent of the total positions).

Table 1. Number of Women Elected in the 1999 and 2003 Elections
Office
No. available
No. in 1999
No. in 2003


% (2003)
President
1
0
0
0
Vice-President
1
0
0
0
Senate
109
3
3
2.80
House of Representatives
360
12
21
5.80
Governors
36
0
0
0
Deputy Governors
36
1
2
5.60
State House of Assembly-Speakers
36
1
2
5.60
State House of Assembly
990
12
23

Cabinet Ministers
34
4 (of 49)
6
17.65

Source: Habiba M. Lawal Overview of Political Participation of Women in Nigeria: Challenges, Triumphs, and the Way Forward. Paper for IRI, 30 March 2004, p. 12.

Conscious of the need for change, many gender activists and civil society organizations in Nigeria have organized programs of advocacy, training and research on affirmative action for women leaders in political parties. They have succeeded in encouraging a significant number of women to compete for political office in an effort to ensure that women, in line with Nigeria’s National Policy on Women, occupy at least 30 per cent of all appointed and elected posts.

Following the political party primaries for candidates in the 2003 elections, it became evident that the elimination of women through a well-orchestrated process of manipulating the outcome of most primaries was virtually party policy across the board. Most of the women that sought to compete in the primaries were eliminated, although the parties had previously promised that many female aspirants would be encouraged and supported in their search for nominations. Indeed, the primaries were a charade because most popular candidates—female and male—were eliminated by party barons and replaced by other candidates who enjoyed the support of state and party executives. Studies of 15 female political aspirants reveal the following means of marginalizing women.2

Labelling as a strategy of exclusion: subverting affirmative action

In general, party officials refused to take the candidacies of female aspirants seriously. Ironically, one of their main reasons was the affirmative action policy adopted by some parties, which waived nomination fees for female aspirants. In most constituencies, party executives set out to portray women as having insufficient commitment to the party. Local party barons repeatedly argued that by convincing the national executives to waive nomination fees, women had demonstrated a lack of commitment to party development. It was said that male candidates are more committed because they made their financial contributions willingly.

Labelling women aspirants as cultural deviants

A second labelling strategy to exclude women concerns ‘cultural deviancy’. The argument is that Nigerian culture does not accept assertive, or public, or leadership roles for women. Concerted campaigns portraying female aspirants as acting in contravention of their culture were designed to marginalize them. Many party officials made overt or covert statements that some female aspirants are too assertive and independent, and therefore cannot be team players.

The politics of invective: undermining the moral standing of female aspirants

Closely associated with negative labelling is the use of invective—that is, abusive language to demoralize and delegitimize female aspirants. Many of them were subject to smear campaigns centred on their alleged loose moral standing, and some were insulted directly.

The indigeneity ploy

The 1979 constitution introduced the concept of ‘indigeneity’ into Nigerian public law to guarantee a fair regional distribution of power. Over the years, the principle has been subverted to discriminate against Nigerian citizens who are not indigenous to the places where they live and work. Women married to men who are non-indigenes of their local governments suffer discrimination. In their own constituencies, they are told that by marrying out, they have lost their indigeneity. In their husband’s constituency, they are told they do not really belong because indigeneity is based on the consanguinity principle.

Challenges and opportunities

Nigerian political parties were conceived to be cohesive, national bourgeois parties. Nonetheless, the aim or political project of most Nigerian parties has been the development of a national system for sharing out the ‘national cake’ as a system of patronage. This is why the parties are established as coalitions of various factions of regional and economic rent-seekers. Most party leaders see their political party activity as a means to further their business interests.

In his analysis of the American political system, Max Weber showed that the emergence of the party machine led to the development of a spoils system, whereby politics became a business in which entrepreneurs invest so as to obtain material profit by distributing patronage, while clients also vote for state resources. In a sense, Nigerian political parties are the highest form of development of this process.

Nigerian political parties face two challenges. First, an extremely high level of corruption has made politics a competitive business. Second, the regulatory framework for the establishment of parties should to be changed so that new parties do not have to forge coalitions of the wealthy as a basis for their registration.


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About International IDEA

Founded in 1995, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote and develop sustainable democracy world-wide. For information about IDEA, its work and publications, please visit www.idea.int

International IDEA
Strömsborg SE-103 34 Stockholm Sweden
Tel: +46-8-698 37 00 Fax: +46-8-20 24 22 E-mail: info@idea.int Website: www.idea.int

About CDD

The Centre for Democracy and Development is a non-governmental organisation which aims to promote the values of democracy, peace & human rights in Africa and especially in the West African sub-region.

CDD
West Africa Regional Office 30 Lingu Crescent off Aminu Kano Crescent Wuse II, Abuja Nigeria Tel: +234 (0)9 523 1270 Tel: +234 (0)9 671 6454 Fax: +234 (0)9 523 1266 E-mail: cddabv@cddnig.org

Notes

1 Declaration at the National Summit for All Women Politicians held in Abuja on 28 June 2002 by Global Rights, in collaboration with Centre for Population and Development Activities (CEDPA) and Gender and Development Action (GADA).

2 For details, see Ibrahim and Salihu (2004).

The Failure of East Timor: what to avoid in Ivory Coast

Juan Federer

2006-07-10

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/35833

Ivory Coast, a failing state in West Africa, is a formerly wealthy country is in urgent need of increased attention by the international community. The state is collapsing under the weight of a protracted rebellion that controls half its territory, sharpening ethnic differences, and leading to a dramatic decay in the quality of life of the population. The insufficient international peacekeeping presence prevents a full-scale civil war erupting, without however allowing a return to peace. This no-war no-peace situation also threatens the stability of the whole West African region. But there are lessons to be learned from the experience of East Timor.


East Timor, where the UN created the fragile state of Timor Leste barely four years ago, has once again made tragic media headlines. Despite its smallness, it is once more illustrating an important shortcoming in international politics, and as such captures top world media attention. The current chaos and the collapse of government authority clearly prove that the past nation-building efforts of the international community were insufficient to create a viable independent state in East Timor. The granting of independence after a brief 30 months of UN temporary administration, meant to create a modern state, was premature. The country had suffered too much under the 25 year brutal Indonesian occupation that followed its colonial experience under Portugal, a master that had done little to prepare it for independence. The fragility of the UN state building job has been clearly revealed by the tragic events of recent days, as the country fractures along several lines. The dramatic appeal of its governing authorities for international assistance to restore basic law and order shows that the Timor Leste state has failed and that its ‘sovereignty’ is illusory. The costs of this failure in terms of human suffering for the Timorese population and of instability for its geographic region in South East Asia and the South Pacific are considerable. The expenses that countries contributing to the restoration of order in Timor Leste have, and will have, to bear are also significant.

Despite the past intense publicity aimed at portraying the UN state building efforts in East Timor as successful, we now see that this was not so. It may be tempting to blame “the UN” for this failure, as it has become fashionable to do when the organisation is unable to do magic in the field of peace keeping. Or it may be tempting to blame the Timor Leste authorities for their poor governance capabilities. In my view, none of these would be just. Instead, I feel that we should use the East Timor example to examine some underlying principles that govern our contemporary world affairs, and draw lessons that would be helpful to deal properly with other failing state situations. There are, after all, several such cases at present. They represent still unresolved and burdensome legacies of 20th century colonialism which continue having a serious negative impact on world peace.

As follows from the argument of my book on the subject, the failure of Timor Leste is no surprise. Together with many others, I anticipated it. The East Timorese people suffered from the unwillingness of key UN member states to commit the necessary resources to the lengthy process of state building to prepare the country - over which the UN held sovereignty- for viable independent statehood. Instead, to cut expenses, they pressed for a speedy withdrawal and the granting of a premature independence. Those locals in East Timor keen to become the new power elite eagerly encouraged this irresponsibility.

Having been so strongly geared to the dismantling of colonial empires in the past, the UN members never made the organisation pay much attention to developing a capacity to prepare colonial territories or failing post-colonial weak states for successful independent statehood. It is encouraging to note that now, may be partly as a result of the recent East Timor experience, the UN is setting up a Peace Building Commission (PBC), aimed at strengthening weak states so as to become viable in post-conflict phases. Hopefully key UN member states will muster the necessary political will to endow the PBC with adequate resources to handle this difficult and lengthy task properly instead of just cosmetically. Strengthening of fragile states is crucial for peace, to advance democracy and prosperity. But it is a long process which requires a significant investment. The returns of this outlay are well-worth it. As Timor Leste has just shown us, skimping on state building is not.

Timor Leste would benefit from a strong state building support through the PBC or by some other competent international agency. This will be the only way to ensure that a viable state is eventually put in place in East Timor. The benefits for its population and for the stability of its entire geographic region would be significant. Even if they have to pay for such state building, the longer term savings for its neighbours are considerable. Being called in to keep the peace, as Australia, New Zealand, and Malaysia are doing at present is, after all, very expensive.

But Timor Leste is not an isolated case. There are many failing post-colonial state examples crying out for strong international support to restore peace and strengthen state institutions. The PBC will not be short of work if its principals among the UN membership allow it to take on these needy clients.

Ivory Coast, a failing state in West Africa, is one particular example which I mention since I am currently involved with it. This formerly wealthy country is in urgent need of increased attention by the international community. The state is collapsing under the weight of a protracted rebellion that controls half its territory, sharpening ethnic differences, and leading to a dramatic decay in the quality of life of the population. The insufficient international peacekeeping presence prevents a full-scale civil war erupting, without however allowing a return to peace. This no-war no-peace situation also threatens the stability of the whole West African region.

In the view of many of its people, including that of the Ivorian civil society organisations I am currently advising, what Ivory Coast urgently needs is a stronger commitment by the international community to empower the UN to undertake a peace-enforcement action to end the rebellion and restore government authority. Once this is achieved, a strong peace building and state strengthening program, possibly through the UN Peace Building Commission, would be appropriate. During this time, an UN-supported transitional government should conduct intensive reconciliation and civic education activities to restore national unity. The severely damaged state institutions would need to be repaired and their administrative and professional capacity strengthened. Only after the accomplishment of all this would the holding of elections for a new government be meaningful and lead to sustainable peace.

Our big question at present, which is in urgent need of an answer, is whether lessons such as those that have been provided to us by the tragic East Timor experiences have been learned by the international community? Is the political will to empower the UN to do a proper state building job in failing post colonial states going to emerge at last? This negative legacy of 20th century colonialism will not be resolved by continuing to pretend that the UN can perform magic in this field without being provided the means to strengthen fragile states. It is high time for the international community to face this reality and to master the political will to act. The birth of the UN Peace Building Commission is the perfect time to do so. The Ivory Coast is an excellent field in which to apply the lessons that East Timor has taught us. Will it be done this time around?

* Dr. Juan Federer had a long involvement in the liberation process of East Timor. He now is Projects Director of the Center for War/Peace Studies of New York (www.cwps.org). His book The UN in East Timor: building Timor Leste a fragile state (Charles Darwin University Press, 2005) decries the lack of sufficient commitment by the international community for proper state building in East Timor, anticipating the recent crisis.

The French version of this article first appeared in Pambazuka News French Edition No 9 (http://www.pambazuka.org/fr/category/comment/35730)

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

What's a Nkrumahist doing at a Busia memoriam?

Tajudeen Abdul Raheem

2006-07-13

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/panafrican/35881

Attending a memoriam for Ghana's Dr Busia, Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem describes his reactions to the speech made by Akwais Aidoo, Director of the newly founded TrustAfrica Foundation. There is a need, he suggests, for us to engage - and engage seriously - with our political opponents, rather than merely reacting to them - we may find we are holding both ends of the same stick. Sectarianism has caused too much division in the Pan African movement, and much of it based more on prejudice than a clear understanding of the actual differences - which is needed if we are to influence others holding different political positions to our own.


Accra, the capital city of Ghana, is my favourite city on the west coast of Africa. It is peaceful, fairly well-planned, though it is rapidly growing into a mega city with all the attendant problems of pollution, insufficient infrastructure, extreme poverty amidst riches, slums, etc. It is also badly copying Lagos in ‘go slow’ (traffic hold-ups) on the major roads but thankfully not up to the manic levels yet.

There is also the general friendliness of Ghanaians and Pan Africanist awareness. To many people the obvious pull of Ghana as a whole is because it gave us Kwame Nkrumah. You cannot walk around Accra without feeling the proud heritage of Pan Africanism and the high hopes and dreams that once bestrode this country that blazed the trail of popular struggles for independence. Not only Pan Africanist heroes /heroines and cities are so honoured other icons of Third World struggles like Gandhi, Nehru, Sukano, Ho chi Mi, Castro, etc have streets named after them. Civil rights figures like WEB Du Bois, Malcolm X, Harriet Tubman, Martin Luther King Junior, are all represented in this city of Circles and Statutes.

For those of us who are unashamedly Nkrumahist, Ghana will always mean Nkrumah and vice versa. It also means that, either consciously or unconsciously, we make political choices either for or against political figures and parties in Ghana based upon our loyalty to the Osagyefo. In the pantheons of our hate figures in Ghanaian politics Dr Kofi Busia, a political rival and opponent of Kwame Nkrumah is probably top of the infamous club. The mere mention of his name to many Pan Africanists of the Nkrumahist tradition invites many unprintable reactions. The death of both men many years ago has not diminished the political hostility between their supporters.

Fifty years since Ghana’s independence and more than 6 decades since the political lines were drawn in the epic struggles for independence, several regimes down the line including two failed revolutionary attempts, prolonged military rule and now an increasingly confident democratizing environment, Ghana politics is still very much polarised between the BUSIA-DANQUA group and the ever fractious and sectarian broad Nkrumahist tradition. Not even 20 years of JJ Rawlings’ rule both in its brutal first ten years and authoritarian reluctant democrat of the second decade has changed this division. Broadly even his regime is seen (at least by the Busia-Danquah people) as part of the Left/Nkrumah family not withstanding the fact that at a personal level the Man either hated or is hostile to Nkrumah.

Nowhere is the saying: 'never say never' more applicable than in politics. I could not imagine myself attending a political memoriam for Dr Busia despite my tenuous link to him academically through St Peter’s College Oxford of which he remains the most famous Alumni. It became stranger still that I should be attending such an event under the auspices of the Busia Foundation. Yet on Monday 10 July at the British Council Auditorium in Accra I went to listen to the 3rd Annual Memorial Lecture in honoor of Dr Busia organized by The Busia Foundation set up by his aged widow. I have nothing against the family personally. Prof Abena Busia, who is co-chair of the foundation, is a sister I know and respect hugely and her cousin, Nana Busia, is a fellow Pan Africanist soldier. The problem is just inherited political prejudice. What really persuaded me to go was the Guest Lecturer, a senior comrade (even if his perpetual youthful face does not indicate he has become a Mzee too) and Pan Africanist of the same Nkrumahist orientation, Dr Akwasi Aidoo, the Director of the newly launched TRUST AFRICA Foundation. I had to take a second look at the advert when I first saw it in the papers on the morning of the event. Like other Nkrumahists (admittedly few), I later met at the talk I wondered what Akwasi will say about Busia in such a public space that is so tied up to a man we grew to loathe politically? Indeed I felt like a gate crasher at the event.

However I was glad I went. The Lecture was very measured, carefully crafted and calibrated. He began by identifying why we needed to hear about Busia and other leaders who made great contribution to cause of liberating our peoples. One, we did not know the man beyond the prism of those who opposed him because he was a political opponent of Nkrumah and those who lionized him because of that. Two, there is a benign if not a calculated political and intellectual neglect of the man. Three, reaction to Busia was often based on political prejudices without due recognition given to him first and foremost as a credible intellectual who took himself seriously, researched and wrote voraciously addressing what he considered challenges of his time. In particular the man regarded education as key to ending poverty, bringing prosperity and modernizing the society. Finally Akwasi, for the first time, even to the Busia family with whom he has been close for many years, acknowledged his personal debt to Busia who had paid part of his school fees purely out of a chance meeting with the Young Akwasi in his home village. The family was to discover later at his funeral the many people whom Dr Busia had personally helped on the ladder of self-reliance and achievements through education.

Akwasi then sought and succeeded in many ways to take the audience on a journey to meet and get to know Dr Busia. He did not hide his political position and did not shy away from mentioning Busia's controversialist politics be it the aliens compliance act or the devaluation of the Cede, and mother of all, promotion of dialogue with apartheid South Africa, etc. But they were done in measured tones. There was a stage I felt he was being too accommodating but I stayed much longer than I thought I would and learnt to unlearn some of my prejudices about the man. The lecture did begin a necessary interrogation and engagement with our lived political experience that is not just about Busia or Ghana. It goes to the heart of the biggest challenge facing Africa today as we struggle to create a society in which the majority of our peoples are not victims but agents of change and a leadership that is organically linked to serve them and not just rule over them. When we look at the nationalist elite regardless of where they were politically whether as presidents or opposition leaders they took themselves seriously, tried to understand their society, study it and proffer solutions. They were both intellectually and politically much more in charge then than now.

How many of our leaders today, whether holed up in State houses or hankering after same in opposition, can we say are applying themselves both intellectually and politically to the challenges we face? It is not just that they are not thinking but they actively discourage original thinking. Thinking has been contracted out to 'experts' often meaning non-Africans while development is delegated to humanitarian agencies whose stocks rise with every disaster we suffer.

The other lesson I took away from Akwasi’s lecture is the need to engage and engage seriously with even our political opponents, read them and understand why and what we disagree about. Sometimes we may just be holding different ends of the same stick. You will be surprised how much you share with your opponents if you only learn to listen, persuade instead of trying to convert but above all have the humility and the intellectual and political integrity to accept that your opponent may sometimes be right. Politics should be an art of the possible and the possibilities include those who may not agree with us.

* Dr Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem is General-Secretary of the Pan African Movement, Kampala (Uganda) and Co-Director of Justice Africa

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

Global: UNFPA Campaign to End Fistula

2006-07-10

http://www.endfistula.org/index.htm

The Campaign to End Fistula currently covers some 30 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, South Asia and some Arab States. The Campaign works in three key areas: prevention, treatment and support to help women who have been repaired return to their communities. Fistula is most common in poor communities in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia where access to or use of obstetric care is limited.

Zimbabwe: MDG monitoring by civil society

2006-07-12

http://www.zeroregional.com/news_events.htm

Zimbabwe CSOs (Sustainability Watch Network) has launched an e-newsletter aimed at sharing information and initiating discussions and creating debate on MDGs monitoring efforts by Civil Society in Zimbabwe. The monitoring is based on the Government's implementation of MDGs. The unique newsletter will be used as a tool for advocacy on MDGs by Zimbabwean CSOs interested in MDGs work.

Tribute to Issa Shivji on his retirement from University of Dar es Salaam (1)

Willy Mutunga

2006-07-12

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/35867

I can write a book on Issa's contributions in various fields he has undertaken. For now, I need to remind all movements that seek to liberate Africa of two of his contributions that are, perhaps, not so obvious: 1) I do not know of any other African revolutionary who, after the so-called collapse of socialism and communism, unwaveringly gave intellectual leadership in support of the revolutionary paradigms that imperialism, through its ideological, intellectual, economic, social, cultural and political engines, sought to bury with the rubble of the Berlin wall; 2) As a Tanzanian, East African and African, Issa has defended Mwalimu's great legacy courageously and consistently.

Tribute to Issa Shivji on his retirement from University of Dar es Salaam (2)

Kaori Izumi

2006-07-12

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/35868

My first meeting with Issa Shivji was his book “Silent Class Struggle in Tanzania!, when I was a student of Africa studies in Tokyo, studying African Socialism. I later met him at the University of Dar es Salaam for several occasions during my Ph.D study on the economic liberalisation and the land question in Tanzania. Prof. Shivji was then appointed as the Chairman of the Land Commission in Tanzania. Many of us wondered why him? I remember that I had stimulating discussions on land issues with him at his office in the Land Commission and at his home. I had closely followed the work of the Land Commission, and then a surprise came that a new land policy drafted by the Inter-Ministerial Committee on Land Policy was released.

Recently, it was a happy surprise for me to meet Issa Shivji in Pumbazuka news in my office in Harare. His articles on globalisation and liberalisation reminded me of him from old days. This does not mean that Shivji’s thoughts have been stagnating without progress since 1970s. The world surrounding us has greatly changed and so did many of our colleagues around us and ourselves. But Shivji is the Shivji I know. His writings are refreshing than ever. It was as if he was fighting a lonely struggle, but the fact that many people will be celebrating the publication of his new book means that this is not the case.

I congratulate for his past work and his new book, and I will be waiting for his next work.

Chachage Seithy Loth Chachage

Firoze Manji

2006-07-12

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/obituary/35869

Pambazuka News is deeply saddened to learn of the untimely death of Chachage S.L. Chachage. Africa has lost a comrade and fighter for freedom, someone who has not only contributed to the struggle for justice and emancipation, but has also been a major influence on the development of critical and creative thinking of generations of African intellectuals and activisits. Below is a selection of voices that speak to his extraordinary contribution.

Chachage Seithy Loth Chachage Lives On in Our Daily Struggles

Adebayo Olukoshi

2006-07-13

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/obituary/35882

The news of the sudden death on Sunday of our esteemed colleague and comrade-in-arms, Professor Chachage Seithy Loth Chachage came to us in the CODESRIA Secretariat as a rude shock that will take us a while to come to terms with. During the last two weeks of his life, he had numerous telephone exchanges with us in the CODESRIA Secretariat both concerning the on-going struggle for academic freedom he was helping to coordinate at the University of Dar-Es-Salaam and CODESRIA programmatic matters centring on medium-to-long-term institutional personnel strategy. During those exchanges, we had a full glimpse into the full agenda which he was running and the usual selfless commitment with which he was attending to his assignments. We also noted that he was, in spite of his time pressure, his usual witty self, delivering his critique of all that was wrong with contemporary African higher education with his uncommon, trademark punchlines that sent us both thinking and cracking with laughter at the same time. What we did not see, nor even had a possibility of guessing was that we were witnessing the last moments of his sojourn with us. And when the news of his death reached from his mentor, colleague and friend, Professor Issa Shivji, a numbing sense of disbelief prevailed among us. And now, we have the onerous duty of informing all members of CODESRIA, on behalf of the Council´s Executive Committee, of the loss of a titan of African social scientists.

CSL Chachage, a completely self-educated and self-made person was unique among his peers. An original thinker who had no time for intellectual fads, he contributed some of the most interesting insights into the roots of the crises of post-colonial development in Africa. He left no one in any doubt as to where his commitment lay: with the working people of Africa whose toils he identified with as defining the purpose for his scholarship. His versatility was also unmatched. Apart from bestriding the social sciences in his writings, at once addressing historical, philosophical sociological, political and economic issues, he was also a keen novelist who combined his passion for creative writing with an equal commitment to supporting African scholarly publishing. The last five years of his life were easily among his most prolific; it was as if he knew, somehow, that time was no longer on his side. But the stream of works that flowed from his pen did not prevent him from maintaining his love for teaching. He was elected head of the Department of Sociology and a member of the deanage at the University of Dar-es-Salaam during this period. He also resumed a frontline leadership role in the University of Dar-Es-Salaam Academic Staff Assembly. Furthermore, after a period of time as the Chair of the CODESRIA Scientific Committee, he was elected into the Council´s Executive Committee at the 1General Assembly held in Maputo, Mozambique, in December 2005.

To say we shall miss Chachage will be an understatement. But as our comrade transits to join other frontline CODESRIA militants such Claude Ake and Guy Mhone, we must, as a community, seize the moment to rededicate our commitment to Africa and humanity. For, when the epitaph of our Chachage is written, it will surely be highlighted that he was a foremost gentleman driven by the greatest humanitarian principles of all: social justice and freedom.

Members of the African social research community wishing to send messages of condolence to the late CSL Chachage´s family may do so through this e-mail address: Executive.Secretary@codesria.sn

Buriani Kamaradi

Farewell, Comrade Chachage

Issa G Shivji

2006-07-13

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/obituary/35880

Ndugu yangu
Rafiki yangu
Kamaradi Chachage:

Nani kasema umetuacha?
Eti umefariki!

Kwani mwili ndiyo maisha?

Maisha ni fikra.
Maisha ni vitendo.
Maisha ni ubinadamu.

Fikra zako,
Vitendo vyako,
Ubinadamu wako,
Utadumu.
Leo, kesho, keshokutwa na milele.

Vitendo vyako tutavienzi,
Ubinadamu wako tutauiga,
Fikra zako tutazieneza.

Msomi wa afrika,
Mtetezi wa wanyonge,
Mshabiki wa fikra za kitabaka,
Tabaka la wavujajasho.

Nimetumwa.

Nimetumwa na wasomi wenzako wa afrika kupitia codesria nikuletee salaamu zao.

Wameniambia, nikuage.
Nimekataa.
Sikuagi.

Nitakusindikiza tu.
(Follow link to view the complete poem)
Buriani Kamaradi [Issa Shivji, 12 Julai 2006]

Ndugu yangu
Rafiki yangu
Kamaradi Chachage:

Nani kasema umetuacha?
Eti umefariki!

Kwani mwili ndiyo maisha?

Maisha ni fikra.
Maisha ni vitendo.
Maisha ni ubinadamu.

Fikra zako,
Vitendo vyako,
Ubinadamu wako,
Utadumu.
Leo, kesho, keshokutwa na milele.

Vitendo vyako tutavienzi,
Ubinadamu wako tutauiga,
Fikra zako tutazieneza.

Msomi wa afrika,
Mtetezi wa wanyonge,
Mshabiki wa fikra za kitabaka,
Tabaka la wavujajasho.

Nimetumwa.

Nimetumwa na wasomi wenzako wa afrika kupitia CODESRIA nikuletee salaamu zao.

Wameniambia, nikuage.
Nimekataa.
Sikuagi.

Nitakusindikiza tu.

Uwaone wazee wako,
Majirani zako,
Watu wema wa njombe.


Uchanganyike na viumbe wa ardhi na bahari,
Viumbe visivyo na ubaguzi,
Mipaka,
Unyonyaji,
Ukandamizaji.

Uwashawishi, wafundishe wanadamu maana ya ukombozi. kama ulivyokuwa Unatufundisha sisi daima.

‘ewe Isssa, kwani, Shivji siyo mwana wa adamu?’,
Ukanitania,
Ukichota kutoka hazina ya ucheshi wako bila uchoyo.

‘umejipachikia majina haya yote ya miungu!
Mlimbikazi, we issa!’

‘mungu wa waislamu na mungu wa wakristo,
Mungu wa wahindu na mungu wa wasambaa.

Unataka wapigane?
Wachinjane.
Eti moja ni –a,
Mwingine ni –ji!’

‘futilieni mbali ushenzi wenu wa kubaguabagua!’, ukakasirika.
‘unganeni kujikomboa’, umetusihi,
‘kutoka kwa makucha ya ubeberu na ubepari, unyonge na udhalilishaji.’

Buriani ndugu yangu,
Buriani rafiki yangu,
Buriani kamaradi chachage.

Ufikesalama.
Upumzike na viumbe visivyonyumbishwa na vituko vya wanaadamu.

Nakuahidi.
Nitaufikisha ujumbe wa maisha yako.
Kwa wanaudasa,
Kwa wanaCodersia.

Kwa wana wa Tanzania,
Kwa wana wa afrika………………….buriani………..

The meek shall also inherit the mineral rights!

For CSL Chachage

Michael Neocosmos

2006-07-13

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/obituary/35879

I lost a brother today,
a friend, ndugu, comrade,
a human being.
I always thought I would see him again...
Sadness overwhelms me.
He walked through life his head held high
speaking up against injustice
and laughing at the stupidity of oppression.
His giggles still resound in my head
tho’ his seriousness never wavered
to fight for a better world
where ‘the meek would inherit
not only the earth, but also the mineral rights’...
Go well comrade and brother
you made us laugh, you showed us the way;
we shall miss you in the coming struggle...
Keep a place at the table for us
for when we come to join you
so we can laugh one more time
together.

Looting of Congo

Friends of Congo

2006-07-10

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/books/35834

London based Global Witness recently published a scathing report entitled Digging in Corruption: Fraud, Abuse and Exploitation in Katanga's Copper and Cobalt Mines. http://globalwitness.org/reports/show.php/en.00095.html The report documents the corruption, abuse and rank exploitation taking place in the formal and informal mining sectors in Congo's Katanga province (one of the world's richest copper and cobalt producing areas).


The report is yet another lucid documentation of the pilfering of the Congo's wealth. The United Nation's four reports from 2001 – 2003, reports by Human Rights Watch, Fatal Transactions reports, independent journalist Keith Harmon Snow's work and the Congolese parliament's Lutundula Commission Report all clearly identify the link between corrupt Congolese officials and foreign mining companies, mainly from Europe, Canada, United States, Australia, South Africa and of late India and China. Global Witness says the mining sector in Katanga is characterized by "widespread corruption and fraud at all levels." See the reports section of the FOTC website!

The rapid pace at which the wealth of the Congo is being sold at below bargain basement prices is shameless. The rebels, turned so-called politicians, and multi-national corporations are the primary beneficiaries of the Congo resource grab. Gerhard Kemp of the Rand Merchant Bank, of Johannesburg, SA is quoted in the Global Witness report (p.34) saying "The Congo is so rich in mineral wealth, you can't just ignore it. You don't want to be the last guy at this party." Without a doubt this is the greatest land grab party of the modern era.

The South African Mail and Guardian reported that there is an international scramble for the wealth of the Congo and that "billions of dollars will be made." Juxtaposed to the billions to be made and the estimated $1 billion that left Katanga province in 2005, is the unending suffering of the average Congolese. One Congolese miner interviewed by Global Witness says "We know that the Congo is rich. But despite this - we do not even have enough to eat. Only one category of people profits." Congolese live on an average of $100 per year and 80 percent of the population lives on 30 cents per day. The Congo is a classic case of modern day serfdom and the depravity of those seeking to benefit at the expense of others even if millions more Congolese must die. Surely, King Leopold II would have a rye smile on his face knowing that over 100 years later the plunder and pillage that he began continues uninterrupted with impunity.

According to Global Witness, the majority of the contracts signed over the past five years give the Congo less than 25% share and in some cases, significantly less. An example of the type of deals signed is represented by the worlds richest copper mine, Tenke Fungurume; the foreign companies Phelps Dodge of Phoenix, Arizona and Tenke Mining Corp. of British Columbia, Canada own 82.5%, while the Congo owns a paltry 17.5% of its own resources through the parastatal, Gecamines. Many of these contracts are signed for an entire generation, 30 – 40 years, which for all intents and purposes condemn a generation of Congolese to serfdom and poverty, whereby their resources are plundered to benefit foreign corporations. In fact, Global Witness reports that deals signed with Phelps Dodge, Global Enterprises Corporate Ltd and Kinross-Forrest (Kinross Gold Corporation of Toronto, Canada and George Forrest International of Belgium) deliver 70 percent of the Congo's known copper reserves to these foreign corporations.

Should the pilfering continue unchecked, Katanga province will serve as a precursor of what is to come for the entire country. The province is under government control, unlike some of the other eastern provinces embroiled in conflict, yet the people are subject to abject poverty and deprivation. While the world’s eyes are on the upcoming July 30th elections, the wealth is going out the back door at warp speed. This reinforces what Congolese say is the under-belly of the election process whereby the international community is working feverishly and spending heavily to legitimize the current client regime so that the unfettered pilfering of the Congo can continue (See interview with Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja by Pambazuka News).

A window of opportunity exists to break the cycle of pillage of the Congo's human and natural resources; a process, which began in its modern form under King Leopold II of Belgium in 1885, continued under Belgium Colonialism for a half-century and perpetuated for over 3 decades by the Western-imposed and backed dictator Mobutu Sese Seko.

The underdevelopment and impoverishment of an entire generation is being carried out while a perverse alliance between corrupt government officials and big business line their pockets. Surely such a proposition is repulsive to any nation or people who claim to be moral, just or civilized. No human rights group or concerned celebrity can claim to be fighting poverty with any moral veracity and be silent or ignore the plunder and rape of the Congo. People of conscience and goodwill can hardly sit idly and do nothing as another generation of Congolese is in the process of being condemned to forced labor, poverty, and mass death. Friends of the Congo

Email: info@friendsofthecongo.org Voice: 202-584-6512 web: http://www.friendsofthecongo.org The Friends of the Congo (FOTC) is a collaborative effort of people of African ancestry and others of goodwill who believe that the vast potential of the Democratic Republic of the Congo can be realized with strong support from the International community.

Become a Friend of the Congo and change the future of Africa and the African world.

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

Africa: African gender studies - a reader

2006-07-11

http://www.africabookcentre.com/

By Oyeronke Oyewumi, this book seeks to bring African experiences to bear on the ongoing global discussions of women, gender and society. Courses on gender and Africa have become a staple in many departments including History, Sociology, Anthropology, Africana Studies and Women's Studies. A good body of research and writing has been carried out in this field in the last decade or two and this reader brings together the essential writing on the topic from the last 25 years, with a focus on theoretical and conceptual writings.
Seeks to bring African experiences to bear on the ongoing global discussions of women, gender and society. Courses on gender and Africa have become a staple in many departments including History, Sociology, Anthropology, Africana Studies and Women's Studies. A good body of research and writing has been carried out in this field in the last decade or two and this reader brings together the essential writing on the topic from the last 25 years, with a focus on theoretical and conceptual writings. Selected contents: White Women's Burden - O. Oyewumi; Women's Roles and Existential Identities - I. Kopytoff; Home-Made Hegemony: Modernity, Domesticity, and Colonialism in South Africa - J. Comaroff & J. Comaroff; What's So Feminist About Doing Women's Oral History? S. Geiger; Sheroes and Villains: Conceptualizing Colonial and Contemporary Violence Against Women in Africa - A.Mama. 448pp, UK. PALGRAVE.

2006 1403962839 Paperback

Africa: African parliaments - between government and governance

2006-07-11

http://www.africabookcentre.com/

Edited by M. A. Mohamed Salih this book offers in-depth analysis of parliamentary (legislature) development set in a historical context informed by Africa’s post 1990s democratic resurgence. In particular, it illustrates how African parliaments are caught between the twin processes of being part of the machinery of government while exercising the function of holding government accountable.
Salih, M. A. Mohamed (Ed.)
Offers in-depth analysis of parliamentary (legislature) development set in a historical context informed by Africa’s post 1990s democratic resurgence. In particular, it illustrates how African parliaments are caught between the twin processes of being part of the machinery of government while exercising the function of holding government accountable. The chapters are divided into three parts articulating: a) a contextual analysis of the broader socio-economic and political circumstances within which African Parliaments operate, b) the evolution of African parliamentary systems from colonialism to the present and c) the relationship between parliament and government (or legislature and executive) with particular reference to political accountability and oversight. 304pp, UK. PALGRAVE.

2006 1403971226 Hardback

Africa: Breathing life into the AU protocol on women's rights in Africa

2006-07-11

http://www.africanbookscollective.com/

The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People's Rights on Women's Rights is arguably one of Africa's most ground-breaking and progressive rights instruments for gender equality. Arising from a conference of Solidarity for African Women's Rights, and the Women, Gender and Development Directorate of the African Union, the focus here is on ensuring meangingful interpreptation of the Protocol. Edited by Roselynn Musa, Faiza Jama Mohammed & Firoze Manji.
The Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People's Rights on Women's Rights is arguably one of Africa's most ground-breaking and progressive rights instruments for gender equality. Arising from a conference of Solidarity for African Women's Rights, and the Women, Gender and Development Directorate of the African Union, the focus here is on ensuring meangingful interpreptation of the Protocol. Edited by Roselynn Musa, Faiza Jama Mohammed & Firoze Manji

978-1-904855-66-8 $24.95/£14.95 Solidarity for African Women's Rights
Available now from orders@africanbookscollective.com

Africa: Three decades of art

2006-07-10

http://www.artmatters.info/fashion/decades.htm

The Nairobi-based pan-African gallery, African Heritage, recently won the "Visionary Leadership in the Arts in Africa" award from the continental Pan-African Broadcasting, Heritage and Achievent Awards in recognition of its efforts in promoting African culture globally.

Kenya: Hurling Words at Consciousness

By: Mukoma wa Ngugi

2006-07-12

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1592214630/ref=sr_11_1/103-7034138-8955832?ie=UTF8

Kenyan poet Mukoma wa Ngugi is the author of Conversing with Africa: Politics of Change (KPH, 2003) and the forthcoming A Malignant History: Looking at America (KPH, 2007). His poems and political essays have been published widely. He is the coordinator for the Toward an Africa without Borders Organization. "By turns soothingly tender or implacably harsh, Hurling Words at Consciousness is an unflinching meditation on our globalized inequities. It is thoughtful and richly rewarding."

South Africa: History lives through play

2006-07-10

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5154520.stm

"You will be kept informed as often as is necessary." The Orwellian statement borders on satire, but in fact it comes straight out of the archives of the South African Broadcasting Corporation, from the late 1970s or early 1980s. Radio clips like this fill the air as the audience takes its seats for the Johannesburg Market Theatre's current production of Black Dog Inj'emnyama - a play that stems from that anguished period in South Africa's past.

African Blog Roundup

Sokari Ekine

2006-07-12

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/blog/35870

Mantis Thoughts From a Hot Rock – Mantis thoughts from a hot rock (http://pearl-island.blogspot.com/2006/07/world-united.html) writing for Reunion Island comments on the passing of the World Cup and the reportage from the local media on the French team. Amidst all the fanfare, Marine Le Pen (the daughter of French National Front leader Jean Marie Le Pen) arrived on the Island.

..”Marine Le Pen - she who be the daughter of the father, arrived amidst the blue football fever to encourage the faithful and probably have a bit of a holiday. What is odd, and strikingly so, is that to an outsider "La Réunion" is the melting pot of seventies pop songs and lacks the racism (so I am informed) of other French departments such as Martinique and Guadeloupe. If so, how does one explain the 8.1% of the vote to the FN in 2002? I dunno! Yet Marine was given an hour of air time on Radio Freedom when she found time to escape the Creolia Hotel and avoid the thirty or so demonstrators who had decided that there are more important things in life than the footie!”

An interesting question, who were the 8.1% of the Island that voted for Le Pen? Were they the same group that supported the French football team? Or as in the case of many people of African decent, the support was not for the French team but rather the 17 African players who were part of France’s 22 man squad?


Alb Sayed - Alb Sayed (http://albsayed.org/2006/07/06/yacoubian-parliament) reports on yet more censorship in Egypt. This time it is an MP, Mustafa Bakry who is asking that some of the scenes in the film “The Yacoubian Building” be cut. Interesting though is that one of the scenes he is wanting removed shows a woman being sodomised by officers in a police station. Alb Sayed reminds us:

….”which is nearly identical to what happened to activist Mohamed elSharqawi. And in this case, I do believe that the whole of Egypt needs to see what our beloved Security Forces and police are doing to people in the police stations. Furthermore we need to realize that while these characters are fictional, the acts are very real”.

The government is therefore calling for censorship of the very acts that it’s own security forces are committing on Egyptians citizens today. Freedom of Expression is being curtailed once again and at the same time Freedom to Abuse by the security forces is continuing unabated and unabashed.

AfroMusing - AfroMusing (http://www.afromusing.com/blog/?p=239) introduces us to the solar powered ipod charger – She describes this as the “Making of the African Yuppie”.

It also includes 5 interchangeable mobile phone adapters compatible with Nokia®, Samsung®, Sony Ericsson®, Siemens®, Motorola® and Blackberry®……..Exactly my type of gadget. I will let you know once i test its performance (I will try it out on both the video Ipod and a basic motorola phone)….No need to go without your tunes when you go to shags (upcountry) or wherever for that matter!!
For the African Yuppie – everything s/he needs to be truly mobile without any concerns over power outages or no power at all!

You missed this - You Missed This (http://kumekucha.blogspot.com/2006/07/kingsway-house-building-in-nairobi.html) has a post on the secrets of “Kingsway House” in Nairobi – which used to house the Special Branch and was thought to be the place where the plot to assassinate Tom Mboya took place.

“One set of secrets that many Kenyans would have liked Kingsway House to reveal, if buildings would talk, was the planning of details that led to the assassination Of Tom Mboya.......There is plenty of evidence to suggest that whoever planned and executed the murder of Mboya had access to impeccable intelligence information. The day before Mboya was assassinated, he arrived at the then main Embakassi International airport from a conference he had been attending in Addis Ababa Ethiopia. The Standard newspaper on the morning of his assassination carried a photograph of Mboya arriving and waving to somebody who must have been at the waving bay in the airport. However, to have planned and executed this assassination, the person or persons who plotted must have had the information about Mboya's arrival back into the country, the day before.”


Nigeria’s Whats New - Nigeria, Whats New (http://nigeriawhatisnew.blogspot.com/2006/07/another-fail-africa-summit-in-abuja.html) comments on the forthcoming “Sullivan Summit scheduled for Abuja from July 17 to 20.” Amongst the participants will be former US President Bill Clinton and Bush hawk now World Bank President, Paul Dr Paul Wolfowitz. What’s New writes:

The same usual suspects are back to milk the Nigerian cow! Have these summits benefited Nigeria or Africa? Poverty, despair and disease is mentioned but not seen. A little bit of effort in stopping and reversing the rot without moving from your opulent mansions is all that is required. Oil, Diamonds, Gold, and many more are plentiful in Africa but in partnership with a rotten few. Africa is still poor and the few are holding a huge number of people prisoner".

The cow is dry – this will end up as another useless, ineffective talking shop that will in no way change Nigeria or Africa in anyway whatsoever.

Trials and Tribulations of a Freshly Arrived Denizen of Ghana - Trials and Tribulations (http://ekbensahinghana.blogspot.com/2006/07/as-week-draws-to-close-in.html) comments on the possibility of an ECOWAS regional police organisation that would be responsible for drug dealing in the region.

“At the sub-regional level, I maintain that there should be an ECOWAS Convention on Combating Drugs in the same manner there is one on small arms to the degree that the Kimberely Process on Blood Diamonds has eventuated from it”

While it is an excellent idea, if such a force is to be created then it should also take on responsibility for combating other cross regional crimes such as trafficking of women and children and sex tourism.


Black Looks - Black Looks (http://www.blacklooks.org/2006/07/953.html) comments on immigration in Europe and the new forms of “migration management” that are emerging such as the creation of a school in Senegal to train young men and women in the hope that they will stay in their country rather than want to go to Europe. Other management methods are the setting up of camps:

“The EU is planning and funding a series of transit camps across the continent and North Africa (from Ukraine to Libya) as part of a holistic “system of control” along with the Schengen agreement, the closing of the two Spanish enclaves in Morocco, Ceuta and Melilla, that will effectively “barbed wire” Europe. The contradiction is that many European countries such as Britain and Spain are in desperate need of increased migration due to falling birth rates and emigration of their own indigenous citizens”

It is also important to note that many of the “migrant management” policies being implemented are racist. Furthermore you cannot stop people from coming by setting up skills acquisition centres in home countries whilst at the same time refusing to cancel the country's debt; providing subsidies to EU farmers at the expense of African farmers; fixing the price of raw materials so low as to further impoverish local people; using child labour; destroying the local environment and of course where do the jobs come from once the skills are acquired?

Africa: AU enters sixth year

2006-07-10

http://en.ljbc.net/online/news_details.php?id=1697

The African Union enters today the 9th of July its sixth year since its start in the city of Sert in 9/9/99 to become a promising African giant and a Space that proved its position at the international level. On this same day of the month of July 2002 and at a huge African wedding in the presence of the Leader of the Revolution and a number of African presidents and the Prominent African Freedom Fighter, Nelson Mandela , it was declared, in the city of Durban, in the Republic of South Africa the birth of the strategic accomplishment, the Great African Union which was realized by an initiative and intensive efforts made by the Leader Muammar Al-Gathafi and with the support of his brothers, the African leaders.

Africa: Science - now is the time to deliver

2006-07-12

http://www.scidev.net/content/editorials/eng/african-science-now-is-the-time-to-deliver.cfm

Next January, the heads of member states of the African Union will meet to discuss science and technology in what will be a unique opportunity to support the continent's scientific renaissance. The projects listed in the plan range from biodiversity research to laser technology. Each is intended to be an Africa-led initiative, based on the conviction that this is necessary for proper integration into Africa's efforts to tackle its own problems and economic needs.

Africa: Time to deliver

2006-07-10

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=276648&area=/insight/insight__africa/

Representatives at the recent Africa Summit stressed the need for governments to spend more money on education. A veteran of 20 African summits, Hassan Sunmonu, secretary general of the Organisation of African Trade Union Unity, recently declared that the Banjul gathering of the continent’s leaders was the best he’d experienced. He raised eyebrows in the gathering of NGOs where he was a panelist, not the least because his remarks came while foreign ministers - sitting at the African Union (AU) executive council - were still preparing their final drafts for their heads of government.

Africa: Unclear policies blamed for donor aid misuse

2006-07-12

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=54556

African countries misuse development aid from donors because of "unclear" policies, Burundi's first vice-president, Martin Nduwimana, said at an ongoing regional conference on gender and development in Bujumbura. He said to manage development aid well, African women, urban and rural, should be at the heart of the fight against poverty. If we end ... mismanagement ... we will for sure give a chance to the integration of women in all sectors,"

Global: Gender and Media Handbook - Promoting Equality, Diversity & Empowerment

2006-07-10

http://www.comminit.com/materials/ma2006/materials-2905.html

This handbook aims to help journalists and media professionals internationally to be sensitive to gender issues such as negative portrayals of women in the media, the lack of women in leadership positions in media organisations, etc., and to provide practical help for people who want to see things change.

Global: More Funding Needed to Help Victims of Sexual Violence, UNFPA

2006-07-10

http://www.unfpa.org/news/news.cfm?ID=816

Doctors and social service providers from countries affected by conflict today called for greater resources to support women and children suffering from sexual violence. In heart-wrenching testimonies, they highlighted the long-term consequences of such violence, which they said required medical, social, legal and psychological services to help victims regain control of their lives.

Global: Women leading the response in their communities to HIV and AIDS

2006-07-12

http://www.eldis.org/cf/search/disp/DocDisplay.cfm?Doc=DOC22327&Resource=f1gender

Providing powerful stories of a range of women who are actively engaged in the response to HIV and AIDS this publication is powerful. Each woman’s story describes her experiences and the AIDS situation in her respective country. Country experiences include Zimbabwe, Uganda, Ukraine, Kenya, Swaziland, Bangladesh, Nepal, USA and Pakistan. These stories emerge from a month long workshop run by CEDPA in October 2005, which aimed to build leadership abilities, technical expertise and programme management skills of women.

Swaziland: Old habits die hard

2006-07-10

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=54366

A new constitution has granted Swazi women a degree of protection that is shocking tradition-bound Swazi men as an education campaign tours the conservative kingdom outlining those hard-won rights. "The rights of HIV-positive women, inheritance issues for unwed couples, child maintenance and domestic violence - all these new issues for Swazis are addressed in law. The traditional family structure cannot cope with these," said Sibonlo Mdluli, one of a team of eight lawyers addressing community meetings across the country.

Tanzania: Analysis of male rural-urban migration and HIV/AIDS

2006-07-12

http://www.eldis.org/cf/search/disp/DocDisplay.cfm?Doc=DOC22286&Resource=f1gender

The focus of this study is male rural-urban migration in Tanzania and its interaction with sexual behaviour. The analysis presents results from a comparison with individual-level analyses from two populations, one in an urban area and one in a rural area. The findings challenge the view that return migrants are responsible for the spread of HIV and AIDS in rural areas, and the authors recommends that programmes need to be contextually designed in order to understand the cultural context of migrants.

Uganda: Women's representation in politics

2006-07-10

http://www.eldis.org/cf/search/disp/docdisplay.cfm?doc=DOC20771&resource=f1

What is the position of women in politics in Uganda? The authors of this paper argue that the mode of electing women to parliament, and the interpretation of the reserved seats, has also meant that women representatives have found it difficult to challenge the government in controversial matters.

Zimbabwe: Women hail Domestic Violence Bill

2006-07-12

http://www.herald.co.zw

Women's organisations have hailed the Domestic Violence Bill, saying the proposed law would help curb domestic violence which has resulted in deaths or serious injuries to many people in the country. Musasa Project director Ms Ednah Bhala said the provisions of the Bill were comprehensive enough to deal with domestic violence.

Global: Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples adopted

2006-07-10

http://www.hreoc.gov.au/media_releases/2006/47_06.htm

Social Justice Commissioner, Tom Calma, has welcomed the adoption by the United Nations Human Rights Council of the Draft Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Geneva on 29 June 2006. 'This is a very significant day for Indigenous peoples worldwide in the struggle for recognising their rights' said Commissioner Calma. 'Adoption by the Council brings to a close nearly twenty years of negotiations on this text in the United Nations human rights system'.

Global: Vision to Action - WITNESS 2005 Annual Report

2006-07-10

http://www.witness.org/images/stories/pdf/Annual_Report_2006h.pdf

A picture is worth a thousand words—but what happens when you’re faced with a thousand pictures? At different points in 2005, violent natural disasters and war created devastation around the world, captured in a slew of heart-wrenching images. In the midst of so many visual calls on our compassion, how do we continue to communicate the stories of people suffering and surviving human rights abuse in ways that not only move us but also inspire a belief that change is possible?

Algeria: Intelligence still detains, tortures

2006-07-10

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=276845&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__africa/

Algeria's security forces continue to detain and torture prisoners secretly, Amnesty International said on Monday (July 10) in a report ahead of the Algerian president's trip to London. The human rights group said Algeria's intelligence agency, the Department of Information and Security (DRS), is using the war on terror as an excuse to perpetuate torture and ill-treatment.

East Africa: Rights defenders launch first situation report

2006-07-10

http://www.oneworld.net/link/gotoarticle/addhit/136073/8/91032

Human rights defenders in East Africa and the Horn of Africa - who have been harassed, defamed, attacked, and tortured - have formed a network to support and protect one another. Their first report, launched Thursday (July 6), reveals the current human rights situations in their respective countries.

Guinea: Government Must Investigate and Prosecute Those Responsible for Abuses

2006-07-10

http://www.hrea.org

In response to a nationwide strike protesting increases in the prices of rice and fuel, Guinea’s security forces committed murder, rape, assault and theft against demonstrators and bystanders alike, Human Rights Watch said today (6 July). The Guinean government must immediately investigate and prosecute those responsible for the abuses, which occurred during the week of June 12, shortly after Guinea’s main labor unions had called a nationwide strike.

Nigeria: The People vs. The Federal Attorney-General

In the Matter of the Independence of Nigeria’s National Human Rights Commission

2006-07-12

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/rights/35876

As a condition for its election to the United Nations Human Rights Council in May 2006, Nigeria pledged “its determination and commitment to continue to promote and protect human rights at home by strengthening and actively supporting the work of the National Human Rights Commission.” This report chronicles how, in the matter of the NCHR, Mr. Bayo Ojo, SAN, as Nigeria’s Federal Attorney-General and Justice Minister has committed abuse of power, usurped Presidential powers, compromised the credibility and effectiveness of the Commission, mis-led Nigeria into violating the United Nations (Paris) Principles on the independence of National Human Rights Institutions, and done incalculable damage to the largely successful efforts of the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo to redeem Nigeria’s international reputation.
As a condition for its election to the United Nations Human Rights Council in May 2006, Nigeria pledged “its determination and commitment to continue to promote and protect human rights at home by strengthening and actively supporting the work of the National Human Rights Commission.”

On Monday 19 June, 2006, the first day of the inaugural Session of the newly constituted United Nations Human Rights council, Nigeria’s Federal Attorney-General and Justice Minister, Bayo Ojo SAN, through a letter signed by the Director of Personnel in the Ministry, Mr. A.S. Durojaiye, directed the “re-deployment” back to the Ministry of Mr. Bukhari Bello, Executive Secretary of the Nigerian National Human Rights Commission (NCHR). The Minister issued no public reasons for this decision. It subsequently emerged that in a private meeting with Mr. Bello 48 hours before the “re-deployment”, the Minister had told Mr. Bello that the government was unhappy with the tone and vigour of his criticism of government’s poor human rights record.

These events crystallised the severe deterioration in Nigeria’s human rights situation, which accelerated with the onset of the failed attempt to prolong the tenure of the government of President Olusegun Obasanjo.

The decision to “re-deploy” Mr. Bello was vigorously denounced both within and outside Nigeria as egregious interference with the independence of the National Human Rights Commission. The Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary General on Human Rights Defenders, Hina Jilani, and the Special Rapporteur of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights on Human Rights Defenders, Reine Alapini-Ginsou, jointly condemned Mr. Bello’s removal as “reprisal for his critical work in the defence of human rights.”

The Justice Minister and federal Attorney-General does not have the power in law to sack the Executive Secretary or interfere in the work of the NCHR. Faced with unanimous domestic and international condemnation of his decision, the Minister compounded his abuse of power by resorting to smears and intimidation. Two weeks after the letter “re-deploying” Mr. Bello, the Minister announced that he would investigate hitherto undisclosed and still unsubstantiated allegations of mis-conduct against him but admitted that he had chosen not to bring these allegations to Mr. Bello’s attention. Without alleging any crimes against him, the Minister wrote to direct the Inspector-General of Police to arrest Mr. Bello if he showed up on the premises of the Commission. In response to this directive, the Inspector-General deployed 14 Police officers to the Commission. Simultaneously, the Minister’s Press Secretary visited senior journalists and editors in Lagos to lobby for publication of the Ministerial smears against Mr. Bello, asking them to “go easy” on the Minister.

This report chronicles how, in the matter of the NCHR, Mr. Bayo Ojo, SAN, as Nigeria’s Federal Attorney-General and Justice Minister has committed abuse of power, usurped Presidential powers, compromised the credibility and effectiveness of the Commission, mis-led Nigeria into violating the United Nations (Paris) Principles on the independence of National Human Rights Institutions, and done incalculable damage to the largely successful efforts of the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo to redeem Nigeria’s international reputation. It concludes that the Minister has lowered the authority and esteem of the high office of Minister and Attorney-General. As a result, he has become a liability to the federal government and, in the circumstance, his position has clearly become untenable.

The report recommends an urgent and independent public inquiry into the serious allegations of abuse of power against the Minister of Justice and Federal Attorney-General. Pending this inquiry, Mr. Bayo Ojo, SAN, should stand down as Attorney-General or, if he fails to do so, be relieved of his position in the public interest.



The People vs. The Attorney-General
In the Matter of the Independence of
Nigeria’s National Human Rights Commission

Introduction: A Routine Re-Deployment?
As a condition for its election to the United Nations Human Rights Council in May 2006, Nigeria pledged “its determination and commitment to continue to promote and protect human rights at home by strengthening and actively supporting the work of the National Human Rights Commission.”

On Monday, 19 June 2006, the first day of the first Session of the newly established United Nations Human Rights Council, Mr. A.S. Durojaiye, Director of Personnel Management in Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Justice, wrote to Mr. Bukhari Bello, Executive Secretary (and Chief Executive Officer) of Nigeria’s National Human Rights Commission (NCHR) purporting to re-deploy Mr. Bello back to the Federal Ministry of Justice. The letter ordered Mr. Bello to vacate his position as Executive Secretary immediately and to hand over his responsibilities to the senior-most officer in the Commission. Mr. Durojaiye’s letter was written under the instructions of Nigeria’s Federal Justice Minister and Attorney General, Mr. Bayo Ojo, SAN. On its face, the letter gave no reasons for the re-deployment.

This Ministerial decision crystallised the severe deterioration in Nigeria’s human rights record, which accelerated with the onset of the failed attempt to prolong the tenure of the government of President Olusegun Obasanjo. Across the country, there is a widespread belief that “a process of vengeance against political enemies and the media” has begun, resulting in serious violations of human rights and, especially, repression of political participation, free expression, association, and public assembly and dissent. The attack on the independence of the National Human Rights Commission diminishes the prospects for securing effective protection against these violations and suggests that the government may be planning an escalation of human rights abuses.

This report chronicles the facts of how Nigeria’s Justice Minister compromised the independence of the NCHR, attempted to force out of office the Executive Secretary of Nigeria’s NCHR, and orchestrated egregious violations of the commitments it made prior to its election to the United Nations Human Rights Council. It provides details of the background to the decision by the Minister, its motives, the reactions that followed it, and the legal and institutional context showing that the purported removal of the Executive Secretary was both unlawful and an abuse of power.

A Ministerial Invitation
The alleged re-deployment of Mr. Bello followed his meeting with the Justice Minister at the latter’s request and in his official residence in Abuja on the evening of Saturday, 17 June 2006. At the meeting, the Justice Minister informed Mr. Bello that he had asked to see him out of courtesy for the many years in which he had known Mr. Bello in other capacities. He told Mr. Bello that the President of Nigeria was unhappy with him and had requested the termination of his appointment for three reasons, namely:

 A press briefing by the Executive Secretary criticising numerous incidents of disobedience of court orders by the Federal Government and its agencies, and harassment and intimidation of the media and journalists by Nigeria’s security agencies. The Council of the NCHR requested the Executive Secretary to address this press conference at its meeting Benin, Edo State, in May 2006.

 a statement read by the Executive Secretary on 11 May 2006 at the 39th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights in May 2006, in his capacity as Chairperson of the Co-ordinating Committee of African National Human Rights Institutions and on their behalf, condemning sit-tight African leaders and denouncing “African leaders who are not military men but using constitutional amendments to perpetuate themselves in power.”

 a recent statement by the Executive Secretary reiterating the position of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights that the Guantanamo Bay detention facility was incompatible with the obligations of the United States of America under international law to ensure protection of human rights protect human rights, and should be closed.

In response, Mr. Bello reportedly informed the Attorney-General of the mandate of the National Human rights Commission (NCHR), to “deal with all matters relating to the protection of human rights as guaranteed by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the African Charter, the United Nations Charter and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and other international treaties on human rights to which Nigeria is a signatory.” He said he believed that it was the responsibility of the Justice Minister to explain, uphold, and defend the functions and independence of the Commission in government. Replying, the Attorney-General reportedly told Mr. Bello that he should have been “diplomatic” in criticising human rights violations by government. In closing the encounter, the Justice Minister advised Mr. Bello to expect a letter conveying the termination of his appointment on Monday.

Protest by Chairperson of NCHR
The Justice Minister did not give prior notice of his decision nor of Mr. Bello’s alleged re-deployment to the Council of the National Human Rights Commission chaired by recently retired Supreme Court Justice, Francis Iguh. On hearing of the alleged re-deployment, Justice Iguh promptly travelled to Abuja from his residence in Onitsha, Anambra State, in South Eastern Nigeria, where, on the afternoon of 19 June, he met with the Justice Minister to protest the Minister’s interference in the independence of the Commission. Justice Iguh also reportedly explained to the Minister that, in respect of the activities over which the Minister had communicated concerns to Mr. Bello, the Executive Secretary acted in fulfilment of the mandate of the Commission and with the support and instructions of its Council. In reply, the Justice Minister reportedly informed the Chairperson that he would consult the President and convey a response to the Chairperson of the Commission before embarking on previously scheduled international travel on the evening of 20 or 21 June. The Minister did not contact the Chairperson before travelling out of Nigeria on 20 June.

A Reprisal for Critical Work
The actions of the Minister in attempting to remove the Executive Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission created uproar both within and outside Nigeria. All the reactions were unanimous that the action of the Minister was an unlawful interference with the independence of the National Human Rights Commission.

In a joint statement issued 28 June, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations on Human Rights Defenders, Hina Jilani, and the Special Rapporteur of the African Commission for People and Human Rights on Human Rights Defenders, Reine Alapini-Gansou, expressed “profound concern” at the purported removal of Mr. Bello. They feared that “Mr. Bello’s removal was occasioned because of his public statement of the critical stance taken by the National Human Rights Commission on a number of human rights issues” and confirmed that “Mr. Bello has been targeted by the Government following his statement at the thirty-ninth session of the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights, press statements and media appearances criticizing the failure of authorities to respect human rights and the rule of law.” In particular, the Special Representative and the Special Rapporteur concluded that:

The Special Representative and the Special Rapporteur find that the removal of Mr. Bello represents a reprisal for his critical work in the defence of human rights as Executive Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission. The experts regret this form of interference with the work of the National Human Rights Commission that can only result in undermining its independence and obstructing its work for the protection and promotion of human rights. They, therefore, urge the Government of Nigeria to take all measures that are necessary to restore confidence of the Commission in the guarantee of its independence and freedom to perform its essential functions.

The Nigerian Human Rights Community unanimously denounced the purported removal of Mr. Bello, describing it as an unwarranted interference in the independence of and an attempt to intimidate the Commission. In two separate petitions to the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, they urged the suspension of consultative relations between the Nigerian National Human Rights Commission and regional and international institutions for the protection of human rights.

Leading international human rights organisations, including International Federation of Human Rights, International Service for Human Rights, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the World Organisation against Torture (OMCT), all strongly denounced the actions of the Justice Minister. In a Joint Statement on 23 June, the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation of Human Rights and the Geneva-based World Organisation against Torture, condemned decision to remove Mr. Bello as “an attempt to silence the Commission and to prevent it from carrying out its human rights mandate” The International Service for Human Rights denounced the Minister’s action saying it “violates the United Nations principles regulating the status and functioning of National Human Rights Institutions, which are spelled out in the Paris Principles.” Human Rights Watch described it as a “politically motivated assault on the independence of the National Human Rights Commission”, while Amnesty International strongly condemned Mr. Bello’s removal as “serious interference with the independence of the NHRC”

Justice Minister’s Belated Explanation
The Minister initially publicly offered no reasons for his actions. Following consultation with his Council members and in the absence of contact or feedback from the Minister, Justice Iguh, as Chairperson of the Council of the National Human Rights Commission, scheduled an emergency meeting of the Council of the Commission on Tuesday, 27 June. Shortly before the beginning of the meeting on the same day, the officials from the office of the Minister delivered a letter to the Chairperson of the Council, inviting them to a meeting with the Justice Minister in his office at noon on Friday, 30 June 2006. By the time of his meeting with the Council of the National Human Rights Commission, the Justice Minister was faced with a crisis of his own making.

Before the meeting began on 30 June, the Minister ordered Mr. Bello who had accompanied members of the Council of the Commission, out of his office building. At the meeting, which took place two weeks after the Minister’s first encounter with Mr. Bello, the Justice Minister for the first time informed the members of the Council of the Commission that he “re-deployed” the Executive Secretary to pave way for an administrative and financial audit and investigation of complaints of financial and administrative irregularities lodged with him by several persons against Mr. Bello. When asked by surprised members of the Council whether he had brought the existence or contents of these allegations to the attention of Mr. Bello, the Minister reportedly admitted that he had not. He also was unable to offer any reasons for the delay in notifying the Council of the Commission of the existence of allegations.

In explaining his actions, the Minister, in a statement published by Thisday Newspaper on Tuesday, 4 July 2006, claimed:

As the parent Ministry, we thought we should allow investigation to take place, and because he is still a serving staff of the Ministry of Justice, that’s why he has been redeployed to the Ministry. A panel is being set up to carry out the investigations. I met with members of the Human Rights Commission (June 30) because I thought I should intimate them of this before telling the world. If he’s cleared of the allegations, he goes back to the job. They are just allegations. He has not been removed, he’s just been redeployed. It has nothing to do with all the insinuations that he was redeployed because of his comments in The Gambia on AIT, sit tight African leaders, Gauntanamo Bay or others.

I, as supervising Minister, am entitled to redeploy a serving staff of the Ministry of Justice anytime I deem fit. It’s also based on part of the reforms and brings to the fore, the reforms we want to make in the Human Rights Commission, in line with the ongoing reforms in the Justice Sector. I’m of the view that a serving staff of the Ministry of Justice should not be in charge of the Human Rights Commission, preferably it should be someone from outside, to give it a true independence the place really deserves. It will continue to be the way it is until the reforms are concluded and the law is amended accordingly. There’s an amendment Bill on the Human Rights Commission before the House of Assembly right now, as part of the reforms, which I envisage. People should hear the other side before they jump to conclusions and start making insinuations. All we’re trying to do is to reposition or reorganise the Human Rights Commission.

Until the time of this report, the Minister had failed to substantiate his allegations against Mr. Bello. He had not communicated the existence of any such allegations or their contents to Mr. Bello or to his legal representatives. Similarly, the Minister had also failed to announce the membership of the panel to inquire into the allegations nor provide details of their place of sitting or methods of work.

Playing Low and Dirty: Ministerial Abuse of Power
24 hours before the meeting with the Council of the Commission, the office of the Justice Minister began to float the name of Mrs. Folashade Ajoni, a staff of the Federal Ministry of Justice representing the Minister on the Council of the NCHR, as replacement for Mr. Bello. In the week-end following the meeting, between 1 and 2 July, the Press Secretary to the Minister, Mrs. Boade Akinola, visited leading media houses in Lagos to plead with editors and heads of news rooms to “go easy” on the Justice Minister and focus instead on the Minister’s belated and unsubstantiated allegations of financial irregularity against Mr. Bello.

On Monday, 3 July, the Minister announced the appointment of Mrs. Ajoni as Acting Executive Secretary of the Commission. This announcement contradicts the Minister’s claim that he had no desire for staff of his Ministry to head the Commission.

On Tuesday, 4 July 2006, the Justice Minister wrote to the Inspector-General of Police to request the deployment of Police personnel to prevent Mr. Bello from gaining access to the premises of the Commission. On the same day, about fourteen Police officers, including ten uniformed and four others in plain clothes were spotted around the premises. They claimed to have instructions from the Justice Minister to arrest Mr. Bello on sight if he showed up on the premises of the Commission. He made no allegation that Mr. Bello had committed or was suspected of a crime. This further substantiates the impression that the Minister chose to bend the law and abuse the institution of government in order to get his way.

On the following day, 5 July, Mrs Ajoni resumed duties at the headquarters of the Commission in Abuja. In a statement issued on the same day, the Nigerian Human Rights Community described her appointment by the Minister to the position of Acting Executive Sectary of the Commission as “unlawful, illegal, and unknown to law”, declaring that they “will not accord any recognition to the office of the Acting Executive Secretary and will campaign to ensure that regional and international institutions for the protection of human rights similarly deny the office recognition.”

The Minister Acted Unlawfully
Nigeria’s National Human Rights Commission is established under the National Human Rights Commission Act, No 25 of 1995 to protect human rights, investigate allegations of violations of human rights by both government and other actors, assist victims of human rights violations and undertake activities to promote human rights policy, education, and awareness such as seminars, conferences, studies etc. The work of the Commission is overseen by a Council which comprises a Chairperson, representatives of the Federal Ministries of Justice, Foreign Affairs, and Internal Affairs, representatives of human rights NGOs, the Nigerian Bar, and the media; three other persons representing a diversity of interests, and the Executive Secretary.
Under S.2(2)(g) of the Act, the Executive Secretary is a member of the Council of the Commission. According to S. 4(2):
A member of the Council may be removed from office by the President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces if he is satisfied that it is not in the interest of the Public that the member should remain in office.
Concerning the tenure of the Executive Secretary, the same law provides in Section 7(2):
The Executive Secretary shall hold office for a term of five years in the first instance on such terms and conditions as the President, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces may, on the recommendation of the Attorney-General of the Federation, determine, and may be re-appointed for one further term of five years and no more.
Clearly, under the National Human Rights Commission Act, the Justice Minister lacks the power to remove the Executive Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission or appoint a replacement. These are powers that only the President can exercise. Moreover, as a Presidential appointee, Mr. Bello was not and could not be available for re-deployment unless he had been lawfully removed from his statutory office. This has not yet happened. Contrary to the claim by the Minister of Justice, the office of the Executive Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission is a statutory creation, not an appendage of the Ministry of Justice. This is the legal basis for insisting that its independence deserves to be defended.
Violations of African Charter and Paris Principles
Quite apart from being unlawful, the action of the Minister also violated international legal standards obliging Nigeria to protect, respect and uphold the independence of the Commission. In Article 26 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which is domestic law in Nigeria, the government of Nigeria undertakes to “guarantee the independence of. …appropriate national institutions entrusted with the promotion and protection of the rights and freedoms guaranteed in the Charter.” Principle 3(a)(iv) of the Paris Principles, requires the establishment of National Human Rights Commissions for the purpose of “drawing the attention of the government to situations in any part of the country where human rights are violated and making proposals to it for initiatives to put an end to such situations and, where necessary, expressing an opinion on the positions and reactions of the government.” Principle 6 of the Paris Principles requires governments to “ensure a stable mandate for the members of the national institution, without which there can be no real independence.”

Serious Diplomatic Consequences for Nigeria
By orchestrating these serious violations of Nigeria’s domestic, regional, and international obligations, the Justice Minister and Federal Attorney-General, Bayo Ojo, SAN, exposes the country to serious diplomatic consequences and loss of international esteem, including:

 Domestically, the NCHR will lose the support and participation of Nigeria’s respected and quite active human rights community and of donors. Already, in response to the actions of the Minister, the Nigerian human rights community has announced suspension of collaboration with both the Federal Ministry of Justice and the NCHR. Also, in protest, at least one international partner of the Ministry and Commission has suspended indefinitely further collaboration with the Commission.

 At the regional level, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights will suspend the Affiliate Status of Nigeria’s NCHR once it confirms these violations. This suspension will deny Nigeria vital representation at the highest levels of human rights policy making in Africa.

 For similar reasons, Nigeria will also lose its position as Chairperson of the Co-ordinating Committee of African National Human Rights Institutions and will be suspended from further membership of this important regional forum of African national human rights institutions pending full restoration of the independence of the Commission.

 Internationally, Nigeria will be suspended indefinitely from membership of the International Co-ordinating Committee of National Institutions (ICCNI), pending re-certification of its compliance with the Paris Principles.

 In addition, Nigeria will lose it membership of the very influential sub-committee on Credentials and Accreditation of the ICCNI on which it represents Africa. Hosted by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the Credentials and Accreditation Sub-Committee currently comprises four countries selected on a representative basis, namely: Canada (Americas), Denmark (Europe), Fiji (Asia-Pacific), and Nigeria. This Committee is responsible for monitoring and certifying compliance with the Paris Principles by newly established national human rights institutions. Such certification is a pre-condition for membership of the ICCNI.

Together, these measures risk returning the country to the international pariah status of its recent past.

Conclusions and Recommendations
The Justice Minister’s removal of the Executive Secretary of the NCHR was a clear case of abuse of power. There is overwhelming evidence to show that it was a premeditated act of reprisal against Mr. Bello for his bold efforts to hold Nigeria’s federal government accountable for its poor human rights record.

The Justice Minister lacked legal authority to remove Mr. Bello or to appoint a replacement in his stead. Such authority resides only with the President of the Republic. In the absence of such authority, the Attorney-General resorted to smears, threats, and intimidation of a public servant. The Minister clearly interfered with the independence of the NCHR in the most egregious way possible. In so doing, he damaged the credibility and effectiveness of the Commission.

In acting the way he has, the Attorney-General usurped Presidential powers. He has also done incalculable damage to the largely successful efforts of the administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo to reconstruct Nigeria’s international esteem and reputation. Above all, the Federal Attorney-General has lowered the esteem and authority of his office. He has become a liability to the federal government and, in the circumstance, his position has clearly become untenable.

While considerable, the damage caused by the Justice Minister’s misconduct is not irreparable. For this purpose, the Nigerian Human Rights Community recommends:

 An urgent and independent public inquiry into the serious allegations of abuse of power against the Minister of Justice and Federal Attorney-General.

 Pending this inquiry, Mr. Bayo Ojo, SAN, should stand down as Attorney-General or, if he fails to do so, be relieved of his position, in the public interest.

 The Federal Government should guarantee that it will respect and uphold the independence of the NCHR. To implement this guarantee, a joint working party of representatives of the government, the NCHR, and the Nigerian Human Rights Community, in partnership with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the Co-ordinating Committee of African National Human Rights Institutions, should establish firm benchmarks for monitoring compliance with this guarantee.

 Until the Federal government credibly guarantees the independence of the NCHR, Nigerian and international human rights organisations should not accord any recognition to the office of the Acting Executive Secretary of the Commission.

 The Co-ordinating Committee of African National Human Rights Institutions should suspend the membership of the NCHR until Nigeria brings the Commission into compliance with the Paris Principles.

 Similarly, regional and international human rights institutions, including the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights should suspend collaboration with the Commission except technical assistance designed to ensure full restoration of its independence; and

 The Federal government should respect and recognize Mr. Bukhari Bello as of the Executive Secretary of the NCHR and refrain from interfering with the discharge of his responsibilities in that position.





Bukhari Bello: A Distinguished Record of Public Service
Mr. Bukhari Bello transferred his services from the then Sokoto State Ministry of Justice to the Federal Civil Service of Nigeria in May 1989 when he was appointed Legal Adviser to the then National Electoral Commission (NEC). The NEC was a statutory body with legal personality. As principal Legal Adviser to the NEC, Mr. Bello oversaw legal arrangements for the conduct of Nigeria’s elections in June 1993, widely acclaimed as the most credible elections since the country’s independence in 1960. The elections were subsequently annulled by the military regime of then military ruler, General Ibrahim Babangida, while his successor, late General Sani Abacha, imprisoned the winner, Chief M.K.O. Abiola, who died in detention in July 1998.

Following the annulment of those elections, the Federal Government ordered Mr. Bello re-deployed in August 1993 to the Federal Ministry of Justice. On arrival in the Ministry, Mr. Bello was appointed Special Assistant to the Federal Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, a position he held until 2000.

In 1996, the then Federal Attorney-General deputed Mr. Bello as his representative to the inaugural Council of the National Human Rights Commission. In 2001, Nigeria’s civilian President, Olusegun Obasanjo, appointed Mr. Bello Executive Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission for a five-year term. This appointment was renewed in 2005. The position of Secretary of the National Human Rights Commission is a statutory appointment made by the President. The holder of the office is not a staff of any department of government and may only be removed from office in the manner prescribed by the National Human Rights Commission Act. In 2003, President Obasanjo conferred on Mr. Bello, the high National Honour of Member of the Federal Republic (MFR).

Rwanda: Tribunal's appeals court sentences ex-mayor to life in prison

2006-07-10

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=54464

The Appeals chamber of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) on Friday (July 7) sentenced a former Rwandan mayor to life imprisonment for his role in the 1994 genocide. Judge Mohamed Shahabuddeen, presiding, handed down the sentence to Sylvestre Gacumbitsi, in revision of an earlier 30-year jail term imposed by a trial chamber of the tribunal.

Senegal: Government Agrees To Try Hissene Habre

2006-07-10

http://www.globalpolicy.org/intljustice/universal/2006/0702agrees.htm

Encouraged by a panel of legal experts, the African Union (AU) has asked Senegal to put exiled Chadian ruler Hissene Habre on trial for alleged crimes against humanity during his eight-year rule. Human Rights Watch reports that while welcoming Senegal's acceptance to try Habre, victims of the alleged atrocities promise to seek a binding ruling from the International Court of Justice if Dakar does not fulfill this commitment.

Uganda: LRA Leader Must Be Arrested, ICC Insists

2006-07-10

http://www.globalpolicy.org/intljustice/wanted/2006/0703iccinsists.htm

The International Criminal Court (ICC) reiterates that Uganda has a legal obligation to arrest rebel group leader Joseph Kony, despite President Yoweri Museveni's amnesty offer. While Museveni chides the ICC for failing to capture Kony and other top Lord's Resistance Army commanders, some lawyers criticize the Ugandan government's inconsistency. Museveni referred the case to the ICC in 2004 and passed an act in April 2006 denying Kony amnesty.

Africa: Moves to tackle African migrants

2006-07-10

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5164514.stm

Ministers from more than 50 European and African governments are meeting in the Moroccan capital, Rabat, to discuss ways of dealing with migrants. There are an increasing number of Africans trying to cross into Europe. The ministers are talking about human trafficking and security but also ways of alleviating the poverty which causes many migrants to seek a better life. Already this year at least 8,000 African migrants have reached Spain's Canary Islands alone.

Global: International Migration and Development

2006-07-12

http://www.un-ngls.org

On 6 June 2006, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan presented his report International Migration and Development to the General Assembly. The report will provide the framework for discussion during the Informal Interactive Civil Society Hearings taking place on 12 July 2006 and the High-Level Dialogue of the General Assembly, being held from 14-15 September 2006. In mid-June, NGLS launched an online call for comments on the NGLS website to create an opportunity for civil society, especially those organizations who were unable to participate in the 12 July Hearings, to provide their views, comments and responses to the Secretary-General's report in order to help support a constructive exchange in the process leading up to the Dialogue.

CAR: ICRC, Red Cross begin aid distribution

2006-07-10

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=54407

Up to 20,000 war-displaced people in northwestern Central African Republic (CAR) are set to benefit from the distribution of relief aid begun on Wednesday by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the CAR Red Cross, an official said. "At least 100 villages around the towns of Markounda, Paoua and Batangafo will benefit from the relief operations," Alphonse Zarambaud, the programme coordinator of the CAR Red Cross, said in Bangui, the capital.

France: Government warns over Africa migrants

2006-07-10

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5164514.stm

Europe must be careful not to turn itself into a fortress just to keep out immigrants, a French minister has said. Addressing a European-African migration conference, French Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy said the concept of zero immigration was a dangerous myth. Ministers from 57 European and African nations are meeting in the Moroccan capital Rabat to discuss ways of dealing with migrants.

South Africa: Government tackles growing backlog

2006-07-10

http://www.hrea.org

Each day crowds form outside the refugee reception offices of the Department of Home Affairs, asylum seekers who have often crossed thousands of kilometres only to find that the process to gain recognition as a refugee can take years in South Africa. The government is determined to clear this backlog of asylum applicants – now about 100,000 – over the next year. Success will mean ending both long delays and many of the problems in documentation faced by the growing queue of those awaiting a decision on requests for refugee status.

Uganda: Beyond 'vulnerable groups': Effective protection of IDPs

2006-07-10

http://www.refugeelawproject.org/papers/workingpapers/RLP.BP04.pdf

The Refugee Law Project (RLP) conducted over 100 in-depth interviews in Gulu and Kitgum districts in early June 2006. In a context where nearly all residents of Gulu and Kitgum are displaced, government and humanitarian actors have increasingly sought to target those with the greatest need through the identification of 'vulnerable groups'. This amorphous population has typically included women, children, the sick, disabled and elderly. Taken together, these groups in fact form the majority of the internally displaced population of Northern Uganda, making the term 'vulnerable' almost meaningless.

DRC: Police disperse demonstrators

2006-07-12

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=54554

Riot police in Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), fired into the air and used tear gas to disperse demonstrators calling for transparency in the country's general elections, scheduled for 30 July. One demonstrator lost his hand when a tear-gas canister exploded, while a parliamentary candidate was admitted to hospital suffering from tear-gas inhalation after the demonstration on Tuesday.

Guinea: Leader 'unfit to govern'

2006-07-12

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5172376.stm

Guinea's opposition leader has called on ailing President Lansana Conte to resign. Jean-Marie Dore told the BBC that Mr Conte was no longer medically fit to govern the country. Mr Conte is rarely seen in public. The government insists his poor health does not effect his ability to do his job. The Supreme Court can remove him and call elections, says Mr Dore.

DRC: Call for election delay

2006-07-10

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5153244.stm

Twenty of the 33 candidates are calling for a delay, say the elections are being badly organised and question why an extra 5m ballot papers have been printed. The United Nations is helping to organise the polls, which follow five years of conflict. The east remains unstable - some 5,000 people have fled their homes recently.

Gambia: Civil liberties under fire in election run-up

2006-07-10

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=54471

As The Gambia gears up for presidential elections in September questions are being raised about the preparations for the polls, but a clampdown on local journalists means independent scrutiny is in short supply. Also, leader of the opposition United Democratic Party (UDP), Ousainu Darboe, alleged there are problems with the way new voters are being registered.

Sierra Leone: Annan wants successful elections

2006-07-10

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=276119

United Nations chief Kofi Annan has vowed that the international community will do everything in its power to ensure the success of presidential elections due in Sierra Leone next year. Sierra Leone holds its first post-civil war elections early next year, although no date has been fixed yet.

Togo: Inching towards peace

2006-07-10

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=54475

In a step aimed at ending years of political hostilities, most of Togo’s feuding politicians have agreed on the general lines of a framework for holding free and fair elections. After several months of talks in the divided country, seven of the nine groups taking part signed a deal that aims to steer Togo onto a peaceful path to elections expected at the end of next year.

Uganda: Deadline for peace extended

2006-07-10

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5164386.stm

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has extended a deadline for a peace deal with the rebel Lord's Resistance Army. Talks due to begin on Wednesday 12 July were to conclude at the end of July, but Mr Museveni has now given until mid-September for an agreement. The government has also appealed for rebel leader Joseph Kony to participate so progress is as swift as possible.

Zimbabwe: The two-step between Mugabe and opposition goes on

2006-07-10

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=54483

Benjamin Mkapa, a former Tanzanian head of state, has been asked by regional leaders to help find a solution to the divide between Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe and an opposition that rejects the legitimacy of his government. Without a settlement, Zimbabwe's pariah status in western capitals is likely to continue, and financial aid will remain frozen.

Africa: 'Aid only feeds corruption' says African journalist

2006-07-10

http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,19609-2260652,00.html

The Ugandan journalist and broadcaster Andrew Mwenda is in London telling anyone who is prepared to listen that aid has been a disaster for Africa, fuelling corruption and hindering development. For Tony Blair and the G8 leaders who meet next week in St Petersburg, for Bono, Bob Geldof and all the other celebrity campaigners for generosity towards Africa, Mr Mwenda has a curt message: stop the aid and stop the debt relief.

Kenya: State targeting ministers' lifestyle

2006-07-10

http://allafrica.com/stories/200607100036.html

The Kenyan government's directive to have senior officials return luxury cars to cut costs may have been good news to tax payers, but lack of transparency and accountability could undermine the exercise. The government is expected to save about 17 million dollars in running costs, which will be channelled to development projects, from the exercise.

Nigeria: Anti-corruption agency launches $4m fraud probe

2006-07-11

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5167248.stm

Nigeria's anti-corruption agency has launched a probe into allegations of fraud after a massive overpayment was made to a maritime organisation. More than $4m (£2.2m) was paid to the International Seabed Authority (ISA) in March for a bill of $22,000 (£12,000), according to the president's office. Officials say an investigation has been launched into foreign ministry staff.

Nigeria: Britain returns US $1.8 million seized from former governor

2006-07-10

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=54480

Britain has returned the equivalent of US $1.8 million seized from a former Nigerian state governor, the first time it has returned funds illegally stashed away in a foreign account by a political office holder. The money which was seized from the London home of former Bayelsa state governor Diepreye Alamieyeseigha was returned to the Nigerian diplomatic mission in Britain, said a statement by London Metropolitan Police.

South Africa: Prisons winning battle against fraud, corruption

2006-07-11

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=276279

Fraud and corruption in prisons are on the decline, a senior official has said. "Although the road ahead remains arduous and long, I can confidently say we are winning this battle," said acting National Commissioner of Correctional Services Patrick Gillingham. He was speaking at the opening ceremony of the department's ethics management and anti-corruption training programme in Pretoria.

South Africa: Scorpions clear Mbeki

2006-07-10

http://allafrica.com/stories/200607100330.html

The Scorpions investigative unit has confirmed that it has information linking President Thabo Mbeki to a French defence company implicated in arms-deal corruption, but says it has no evidence of wrongdoing on his part. Mbeki, who was deputy president at the time, allegedly met executives of Thomson-CSF in Paris in 1998. The company, now known as Thales, was bidding for a stake in the multibillion-rand arms deal.

Zimbabwe: Opportunistic money is creating a new elite

2006-07-10

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=54449

Zimbabwe may have the fastest shrinking economy in the world, but a small, well-connected elite appears immune to the hardships. According to economist James Jowa, government policies that have allowed the parallel market to thrive, combined with corruption, have led to the skewed distribution of wealth. This means that every evening long lines of people walk home from work in the city centre because they cannot afford bus fares, while a fortunate few cruise past them in expensive cars.

Africa: Aid for the Poor, not for consultants

2006-07-10

http://ipsnews.net/africa/nota.asp?idnews=33878

No less than a quarter of annual development aid -- about 20 billion dollars -- is being used by donor countries to fund technical assistance of sometimes dubious worth, says ActionAid International in a new report. According to the report it typically costs about 200,000 dollars a year to keep an expatriate consultant on staff. School fees account for more than a third of this expense, which could be reduced with greater use of local advisors.

Africa: Call for total debt cancellation

2006-07-10

http://africa.oneworld.net/article/country/950

As the G8 assembles again, a leading African lobby group exhorts summit leaders to finish what they started a year ago and fully cancel Africa’s debt. Last year G8 leaders proclaimed that 2005 would be the “year for Africa” and created a plan to address the continent’s challenges. Debt cancellation figured prominently and the G8 leaders crafted a deal to cancel 100% of the debts owed by 18 countries – 14 in Africa – to the IFIs.

Global: Making Technical Assistance Work

2006-07-10

http://www.globalpolicy.org/socecon/develop/oda/index.htm#actionaid2

This ActionAid report highlights ways to make global aid more effective so that it will have a lasting, positive impact on the poor throughout the world. The report critiques excessive spending on foreign consultants, a lack of coordination with locals, and aid that never reaches poor countries as major problems. ActionAid calls for increasing the shared responsibilities between donor countries and aid recipients to solve the current shortcomings.

DRC: Minerals flow abroad, misery remains

2006-07-10

http://ipsnews.net/africa/nota.asp?idnews=33867

International companies and local elites in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are pocketing revenues from copper and cobalt production instead of sharing it with local communities or spending it to reduce poverty, a watchdog group has said. A new report by the London-based Global Witness says that despite being one of the richest copper- and cobalt-producing areas in the world, the province of Katanga in southeastern DRC remains severely poor and the population has little or no infrastructure or public services.

Sudan: Southern gov't boosts UN aid work

2006-07-10

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5152638.stm

After years of receiving international aid, southern Sudan has reversed the trend and announced a donation of $30m (£16m) to the United Nations. The money will build roads in the south, which has little infrastructure and a very low standard of living.

Uganda: Policy to attract investors as regional market beckons

2006-07-10

http://allafrica.com/stories/200607100249.html

Uganda has drafted a policy to manage its oil and natural gas resources now that early tests in the Lake Albert region have shown that the country has commercially exploitable reserves. The policy seeks to ensure that the country benefits from any oil reserves that might be discovered, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Energy and Minerals Fred Kabagambe-Kaliisa has said.

Africa: Circumcision 'could cut HIV risk'

2006-07-11

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/5165118.stm

Male circumcision could significantly reduce the burden of HIV in Africa, a study suggests. It concluded that the operation could avert about six million HIV infections and three million deaths in sub-Saharan Africa over the next 20 years. "However, people who are circumcised can still be infected with HIV and any awareness campaign would have to be extremely careful not to suggest that it protects against HIV or is an alternative to using condoms."

Africa: Has HIV incidence peaked?

2006-07-10

http://africa.oneworld.net/article/archive/563

Evidence is accumulating that the incidence and prevalence of HIV/AIDS in some African countries - notably Kenya and Zimbabwe - is declining. Why? What do these reversals say about the best way forward for prevention on a large scale?

Africa: Making money count in health care and prevention

2006-07-10

http://us.oneworld.net/article/view/135485/1/

Keeping people healthy is a complicated task. It’s no surprise that in poorer communities and less developed countries — where resources for healthcare may be lacking — death and disease rates are usually higher and quality of life significantly lower. But as healthcare interventions have become more effective many have argued that the poor should no longer have to suffer the burdens of disease and other health conditions to the extent that they still do.

Global: Row over access to AIDS drug

2006-07-10

http://africa.oneworld.net/article/archive/563

People living with HIV/AIDS in developing countries who are in urgent need of an improved version of the AIDS drug lopinavir/ritonavir continue to be denied access to it by its sole manufacturer, Abbott Laboratories, according to the international medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).

Angola: Cholera every year if water and sanitation not improved

2006-07-10

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=54476

The cholera epidemic in Angola has peaked and new cases are on the decline, but if water and sanitation issues are not addressed, aid agencies expect to be back for another outbreak within a year. Cholera is an acute intestinal infection spread by drinking contaminated water or eating contaminated food. Symptoms include vomiting, cramps and diarrhoea, which can lead to severe dehydration and death.

Chad: Poorest suffer as hospital strike enters second month

2006-07-12

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=54549

The poorest residents of the Chadian capital N’djamena are struggling to cope as a strike that has closed hospitals across the city enters a second month, and union and government leaders say they are still not ready to compromise. At 10 a.m. one Saturday morning in front of the emergency ward of the general hospital, not far from the N’djamena town hall, 50-year-old Saleh, a filthy bandage wrapped around his shoulder, stood slumped against a wall, groaning.

Malawi: Keep treatment programme simple, experts warn

2006-07-11

http://www.plusnews.org/AIDSreport.asp?ReportID=6124

As the Malawian government takes stock of its anti-AIDS treatment programme, health officials have been faced with the question: how does a poor country with a serious epidemic and an overburdened health system provide indefinite care for up to 200,000 people living with HIV? In a recent article in the medical journal The Lancet, three researchers involved in the country's treatment programme said the answer lies in sticking to a simple public health approach.

Tanzania: Zanzibar sprays households in anti-malaria effort

2006-07-10

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=54499

Health officials in Tanzania's semi-autonomous island of Zanzibar have begun spraying thousands of households with a non-toxic insecticide in an effort to control the breeding of mosquitoes that transmit malaria, Africa's top killer. The Zanzibar minister of health and social welfare, Sultani Mohamed Mugheiry, said the support of the entire community was necessary to ensure Zanzibar would be free of malaria by 2008.

Zimbabwe: Country to double ARV roll-out

2006-07-10

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=276493

Aids-ravaged Zimbabwe is hoping to double the number of people on antiretrovirals (ARV) in order to reach 70 000 sufferers by the end of 2006, top official, Raymond Yekeye, has said. He said the Global Fund to fight Aids, Tuberculosis and Malaria was to bankroll the programme. Zimbabwe last year failed to reach its target to provide ARVs to 100 000 people.

Africa: Making literacy a priority

2006-07-10

http://www.choike.org/nuevo_eng/informes/1325.html

The eradication of illiteracy -a goal long proclaimed by the international community- had advanced significantly over the second half of the 20th century. Now, however, the trend towards improving literacy levels seems to be slowing down and many fear that past gains may even be lost as resources for education are cut down, with some countries alarmingly moving backwards from previously high rates of literacy.

Africa: School enrollments rise as education systems are reformed

2006-07-10

http://africa.oneworld.net/article/country/950

After decades of setbacks in education, countries in Sub-Saharan Africa are sending more children to school and taking steps to improve education quality. But the region still needs help from wealthy nations to achieve universal education by 2015, says a global partnership of donors and developing countries. “We have seen that progress is possible when political will and resources come together,” says Desmond Bermingham, the new head of the global compact on education, known as the Fast Track Initiative (FTI).

DRC: No money, no school

2006-07-12

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=54558

As is the case for most public schools in the DRC, the government is responsible for paying teachers' salaries and providing benches, tables and classrooms for the 150 pupils at the Lokanja Lina Nkoy village school. However, students here are crowded into four classrooms where the sun shines through gaping holes in the roof. They sit on logs, bare feet in the sand, wearing shabby clothes instead of uniforms. Still, the children are enthusiastic about learning, even if they must do so without even the most basic supplies.

Egypt: President announces 15-year education strategy

2006-07-10

http://tinyurl.com/hj9a2

Egypt has announced a series of initiatives intended to strengthen its scientific research and higher education sectors, reports SciDev. In the latest move, Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak this week (3 July) approved a 15-year strategy for higher education whose aims include increasing the proportion of students who study at scientific institutions from 40 to 60 per cent.

South Africa: Experts worried about language 'genocide'

2006-07-10

http://www.int.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20060710015034102C440008

Language experts are worried about the "genocide" of certain African indigenous languages in South Africa. This follows recent case study findings that some schools are reluctant to include African indigenous languages as part of their curriculum. The Dean of Education at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Professor Renuka Vithal, said the State needed to promote indigenous languages.

Uganda: Govt recruits 2000 more teachers for USE plan

2006-07-10

http://allafrica.com/stories/200607100039.html

Education Minister Namirembe Bitamazire has disclosed that the government has made available Sh30 billion and will recruit 2,000 teachers for the Universal Secondary Education (USE) programme commencing in February next year. "Plans will be finalised by December 2006 and the actual release will be done by February when schools open," she said.

Zambia: 'Improved education will develop country'

2006-07-10

http://allafrica.com/stories/200607100271.html

There is need to harness the education sector in Zambia to enhance development. Perth Institute of Business and Technology (PIBT) managing director at the Edith Cowan University (ECU) of Australia Andrew Crevald has said. "Having the private sector operate in the education system in Zambia offers competition as well a solution to meet the inception demand the two Government universities can not stand," Mr Crevald said.

South Africa: 'Come home to Africa in 2010'

2006-07-10

http://www.southafrica.info/2010/mbeki-speech-100706.htm

President Thabo Mbeki's speech at the ceremony unveiling the emblem for South Africa's 2010 Fifa World Cup, in Berlin on 7 July 2006 spoke of the importance of the tournament to the continent. He said 'the 2010 Soccer World Cup belongs to the many Africans who in many parts of the world engage in a continuous struggle against racism and xenophobia'.

South Africa: Race tensions split staff and students

2006-07-11

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=276638

Students at the University of KwaZulu-Natal’s (UKZN) medical school believe they are racially victimised while staff counter that personality clashes and academic rigour are being misconstrued as racism. Over the past three years escalating racial tension at the Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine has seen black students alleging racial discrimination by Indian academics in the teaching and assessments of students.

South Africa: Racism and mental illness

2006-07-12

http://www.health24.com/mind/Mental_health_in_SA/1284-1301,16664.asp

Racism and mental illness have a long, sad history in South Africa, with the effects of Apartheid still painfully apparent. A spotlight was placed upon the issue of racism, at the World Racism Conference held in South Africa last year. Amongst other things highlighted was the issue of racism towards foreigners from neighbouring states. The increase in the flow of illegal immigrants, since the 1994 elections has led to a rapid growth in local xenophobia toward illegal immigrants.

South Africa: White farmer trial for shooting black boy

2006-07-10

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/07/09/wsaf09.xml

If the tearful pleas of the man who pulled the trigger are to be believed, it was no more than a tragic accident. When Marcel Nel, a white South African farmer, shot at a dark shape rustling in the long grass at dusk on his neighbour's plot, he thought that he had at last caught the dog that had been terrorising his animals. In another stark example of the racial tensions that still haunt South Africa, many are convinced that it was a deliberate, racist murder.

Africa: Continent's renaissance depends on environment

2006-07-11

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13573396/

Africa must harness its teeming mineral, freshwater, tourism and land resources to help fight poverty, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) has said. From the northernmost point of Morocco to the tip of South Africa, the continent is only realizing a fraction of the economic potential tied up in its forests, lakes, mines and coastlines, UNEP said in a report titled “Our Environment, Our Wealth."

Africa: Pastoralists begin week-long meeting

2006-07-10

http://uk.oneworld.net/article/view/136143/1/

The Regional Pastoralist Gathering will bring together over 300 members of the pastoralist economy and policy makers from across the Greater Horn of Africa and beyond. The focus will be innovation in the economic, social and political spheres of the pastoralist system, and the gathering will be attended by pastoralist producers, traders and product processing entrepreneurs as well as customary leaders, high level policy makers and opinion leaders.

West Africa: Fewer fish leads to jellyfish explosion

2006-07-11

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13806028/

Nature abhors a vacuum. Wipe out one creature, and another will move in. Jellyfish are taking over. In a region off the west coast of Africa in the Atlantic Ocean, heavy fishing in recent decades has depleted fish stocks while leading to increased numbers of jellyfish. Their numbers are beginning to "significantly interfere with fishing operations," the researchers report in the July 12 issue of the journal Current Biology.

Ethiopia: Unicef faces $43 million shortfall in fighting drought

2006-07-10

http://allafrica.com/stories/200607100221.html

The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) still needs nearly USD 43 million to respond to the urgent needs of millions of children and women in the drought-hit Horn of Africa, where seasonal rain has not ended the emergency and has even compounded the already fragile situation in many places, according to the agency's latest donor update, UNICEF said.

Kenya: Rescuing a forest plundered by its custodians

2006-07-11

http://allafrica.com/stories/200607101241.html

Kakamega Forest, the only remaining tropical rainforest in Kenya, is threatened with extinction. The forest has experienced severe degradation during the past three decades. Presently, more than half of the indigenous forest cover is bare. The closed canopy indigenous forest covers a paltry 25 per cent of the gazetted forest area.

Malawi: Turning the future into charcoal

2006-07-10

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=54481

Chopping down the forests for charcoal and fuel wood seems so shortsighted, but until there are alternative sources of energy for Malawi's rural poor, the destruction will continue. Malawi loses about 50,000ha of indigenous forest every year - the highest deforestation rate in the Southern African. The government estimates that just 4 percent of the population has access to electricity; over 93 percent depend on wood fuel.

Botswana: Bushmen land case nears completion

2006-07-12

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=276947

Botswana's longest-running court case, in which its San Bushmen are fighting for rights to ancestral land, will hear final submissions next month as the trial nears completion, lawyers have said. The judges will decide whether the Bushmen can return to the large wildlife sanctuary they have called home for the past 20 000 years.

Global: Small farmers lose out in supermarket expansion

2006-07-10

http://www.eldis.org/cf/search/disp/DocDisplay.cfm?Doc=DOC22304&Resource=f1csr

For all the efforts of civil society and governments alike, in ensuring fair conditions for developing country agricultural sectors, the reality on the ground is somewhat more compex. This report critically analyses the influence of trade and distribution on production and production conditions in the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable sector. The report identifies the key challenges and opportunities of the sector from the perspective of poverty eradication and sustainable development.

South Africa: Housing backlog stuck on the ground floor

2006-07-10

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=54511

The South African government has spent over US$5.2 billion on housing subsidies since 1994 but is still no closer to overcoming the desperate shortage of adequate homes. Government figures show that the housing backlog has continued to grow, even though 1.8 million subsidised houses have been built since 1994 - in 1996 the deficit stood at two million, compared to the current 2.4 million gap between demand and supply.

South Africa: Land - more action, less talk

2006-07-12

http://allafrica.com/stories/200606270841.html

Government has identified land reform as central to the alleviation of poverty. The programme, begun with the passing of legislation in 1996, has three main elements: restitution of rights through the land claims process; the redistribution of land via acquisition to develop a black farming middle class; and securing tenure for people living on the land of others. The director of tenure reform at land affairs, Sipho Sibanda, admitted that there was a degree of paralysis in government.

Africa: Broadcasting Pluralism and Diversity

2006-07-10

http://www.article19.org/pdfs/tools/broadcasting-manual.pdf

The past 10 to 15 years have seen a dramatic growth in pluralism in broadcasting in Africa. From a broadcasting scene overwhelmingly dominated by government-controlled or state media, the landscape has evolved considerably with the licensing of many private commercial and community broadcasters. The task of implementing the principles of pluralism and diversity lies to a large extent with African broadcasting regulators. This manual is aimed at members and staff of African broadcasting regulatory bodies, along with others, such as journalists, broadcasters and civil society groups who are seeking to realize the ideals in these declarations.

Global: BBC to offer 'personalised' radio

2006-07-10

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/5145236.stm

BBC wants to allow audiences to create personal radio stations from its content, its director general has said. The planned service, provisionally called MyBBCRadio, was revealed by Mark Thompson at the Radio Festival in Cambridge. It aims to give audiences more control by combining existing services such as podcasts and the BBC Radio Player.

Global: The Effects of News Stories that Put Crime and Violence into Context

2006-07-10

http://www.comminit.com/strategicthinking/st2006/thinking-1581.html

Using an experiment that manipulates the framing and graphic presentation of newspaper stories on crime and violence, the authors of this study seek to discover whether the public health model that calls for news stories to incorporate information on context, risk factors, and prevention strategies will help readers learn more about the context in which crime and violence occurs, endorse prevention strategies in addition to punishment, and become more attuned to societal risk factors and causes of crime and violence.

DRC: Journalist killed as voting day nears

2006-07-10

http://tinyurl.com/nazpd

A local journalist in DRC was shot dead on Saturday (July 7) at his home in Kinshasa, press rights group Journalists in Danger (JED) said. Bapuwa Mwamba was killed by three armed men around midnight at his house in the Matete district JED said. Bapuwa Mwamba worked for a number of newspapers in the capital, including the opposition daily Le Phare. JED said the murder "did not seem to be an act of chance", coming about three weeks before crucial presidential and legislative elections in the vast Central African country, reports the Mail and Gaurdian.

Egypt: Newspapers stop printing to protest law

2006-07-10

http://tinyurl.com/eb4o4

Egypt's independent and opposition newspapers were not published on Sunday (July 9) to protest against a draft press law which the government bills as a reform but journalists say puts new limits on press freedom. The government-drafted bill, which won preliminary approval in parliament on Saturday 8 July, eliminates imprisonment as a penalty for some media offences, but continues to allow judges to impose jail terms for journalists in many others.

Kenya: Radio station targets slum residents

2006-07-10

http://www.eastandard.net/hm_news/news.php?articleid=1143954797

From outside, it looks like any other transit goods container, or storage for the popular mitumba (second-hand) clothes. But inside the nondescript structure is the studio of the country’s first slum radio station. The container houses equipment and machines of newly launched 101.5 Koch FM, a private radio station owned by youth from the Korogocho slum in Nairobi. Raphael Obonyo, a manager with Koch Youth Club, came up with the radio station idea to caution young people against crime and to provide entertainment.

Uganda: Journalist charged with extortion

2006-07-10

http://tinyurl.com/zb2ce

A journalist for Uganda's tabloid Red Pepper has been charged and sent to Luzira prison for demanding money from an MP with intent to steal, according to a report in The Monitor. Mr Julius Odeke, a resident of Namanve is accused of demanding Shs500, 000 from the Busiro East MP, Ms Susan Nakawuzi as inducement to stop publishing negative stories about her, reports Journalism.co.za.

Zimbabwe: Mirror in serious trouble

2006-07-10

http://www.zwnews.com/issuefull.cfm?ArticleID=14752

The Zimbabwe Mirror Newspapers Group, publishers of The Daily Mirror and The Sunday Mirror on Friday (July 7) nearly failed to produce an edition of its daily. This comes in the wake of reports that the Mirror group "is in deep financial trouble and is saddled with a staggering debt profile that threatens its survival". Sources at the troubled newspaper group told The Standard that of late, the company has been struggling to meet its financial obligations

Global: Discussing Africa's underdevelopment

2006-07-10

http://allafrica.com/stories/200607070356.html

As Africans -- especially those of us who live in the West -- we are uncomfortable with our continent's state of underdevelopment in economic growth and human security. And so it is that wherever there is a gathering of Africans, the conversation is likely to revolve around, politics and the sorry state of our continent.

Ghana: Project launched to welcome Diaspora Africans to the Motherland

2006-07-11

http://www.blackbritain.co.uk/news/details.aspx?i=2210

The Ghanaian Minister for Tourism and Diasporean affairs, Hon. Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, addressed a special briefing session last Friday (July 7) to launch an initiative for the year 2007 to “heal and reconcile” relations between Africans at home and abroad. Among the Joseph Project’s immediate objectives are to establish Ghana as the gateway for the return of Africans from the Diaspora to the continent.

UK: Community groups prepare to counter bicentenary gov't propaganda

2006-07-11

http://www.blackbritain.co.uk/feature/details.aspx?i=64

Community Groups met last Friday (July 7) to discuss strategies to counter what is perceived as government ‘propaganda’ plans for the 2007 Bicentenary to 'dishonour' the memory of African people who fought for their freedom and resisted enslavement. To many of the organisations present at the forum with, held at Kingston University, the name itself is offensive and seeks to present Africans as mere victims in what the establishment refers to innocently as the ‘slave trade.’

UK: Dumped girl 'trafficking victim'

2006-07-10

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/south_yorkshire/5164370.stm

A heavily-pregnant teenager was found abandoned in Sheffield in what police described as a "shocking and tragic" case of people trafficking. The 16-year-old Kenyan girl was dumped on the city's streets after being held captive and forced into prostitution elsewhere, possibly in London. Detectives have spent a fortnight building up a disturbing picture of what happened to the girl.

USA: New push succeeding for slave reparations

2006-07-11

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/entertainment/books/15003063.htm

Advocates who say black Americans should be compensated for slavery and its Jim Crow aftermath are quietly chalking up victories and gaining momentum. Fueled by the work of scholars and lawyers, their campaign has morphed in recent years from a fringe-group rallying cry into sophisticated, mainstream movement. Most recently, a pair of churches apologized for their part in the slave trade, and one is studying ways to repay black church members.

Global: Small-arms conference ends without agreement

2006-07-10

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=276777&area=/breaking_news/breaking_news__international_news/

The United Nations world conference on small arms has collapsed without agreement - despite the majority of governments, including the European Union and many African and Latin American governments, backing tougher controls on the international trade in small arms and light weapons, Oxfam Great Britain said on Monday (10 July).

Burundi: Increased killings as talks delayed

2006-07-10

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5159586.stm

Burundi's army says it has killed 13 fighters from the last active rebel group, the National Liberation Forces (FNL), outside the capital, Bujumbura. The killings took place after the army learnt of the presence of a 20-strong group, including new recruits. An army spokesman denied allegations the rebels had been shot in cold blood. Peace talks in Tanzania between the government and rebels aimed at ending the 12-year civil war have been postponed.

Côte d’Ivoire: Ivorians agree to break deadlock

2006-07-10

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5153310.stm

Ivory Coast's president and rebel leader have agreed a new disarmament deadline aimed at breaking the deadlocked peace process. Pro-government militias, who have recently missed two deadlines, must hand in their arms by the end of July. The leaders' announcement came after talks with UN head Kofi Annan and other African heads of state.

Somalia: Fluid Politics Move Toward Polarization

2006-07-10

http://www.pinr.com/report.php?ac=view_report&report_id=522&language_id=1

Somalia's fluid political situation underwent yet another shift during the weeks of June 26 and July 3, as the conflict spilled over into neighboring states and became regionalized, and Osama bin Laden weighed in with his take on the struggle between the Islamic Courts Council (I.C.C.), which controls most of the country's south, and the internationally-backed but weak Transitional Federal Government (T.F.G.) based in the town of Baidoa.

Somalia: Fresh fighting in capital

2006-07-10

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5165348.stm

Heavy fighting has broken out in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, with Islamic militia using rockets and artillery. The Islamists, who control most of the south of the country, are trying to take an area in the city's south that is controlled by warlord Abdi Qeybdid. Eyewitnesses spoke of heavy casualties with up to 60 people reported killed and 100 injured in two days of clashes.

Sudan: Bloody battle in northern Darfur

2006-07-10

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5165856.stm

Sudan's Darfur region has seen its bloodiest few days since the signing of a peace agreement over two months ago. More than 80 people have been killed as rebels fight each other for territory, according to sources within the African Union peacekeeping mission. In early May, under pressure from the international community, the Sudanese government signed an agreement with one of the region's rebel movements. But the deal has not been implemented and security has worsened.

Uganda: Peace talks with LRA delayed

2006-07-12

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=54552

Peace talks between the Ugandan government and the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), scheduled to start in the southern Sudanese capital of Juba on Wednesday 12 July, have been delayed, according to a Sudanese official. An official in the office of the southern Sudanese Vice-President said Riek Machar, who is mediating the peace talks, had not returned to Juba yet. As a result the talks could probably start on Thursday 13 July instead.

Africa: African leaders welcome microsoft support for IT access

2006-07-11

http://tinyurl.com/m3eqo

African political leaders praised Microsoft's support for the region's development of information-technology access and called for greater investment to further expand this reach. Speaking at the start of a two-day conference Microsoft organized to discuss ways to bring more software to Africa, Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete said Africa was the world's "last frontier in information technology," with just 10% of the Tanzanian population having easy access to computers.

Libya: African telecom union meetings

2006-07-10

http://www.businessinafrica.net/news/north_africa/669346.htm

The African Telecommunications Union (ATU) on Sunday 9 July started a series of meetings in Libya devoted to the formulation of a four-year telecommunications development plan for Africa. The meetings taking place in the Libyan capital from July 9-17 include a special session of the ATU board of directors (9-11 July), a preliminary committee of the ministerial conference (12- 15 July) and the 2nd conference of ministers (16-17 July).

Nigeria: President launches CANI

2006-07-11

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/internet/35835

President Olusegun Obasanjo on July 6 2006, launched the Computer for All Nigerians Initiative (CANI) aimed at easing access to, and use of computers amongst all Nigerians in irrespective of class, age gender and location. He said the objective of the CANI scheme is to increase computer penetration in Nigeria in line with the National ICT policy, the multi-sectoral reform agenda of government and the realisation of the objectives of the Millennium Development Goals.
President Olusegun Obasanjo on July 6 2006, launched the Computer for All Nigerians Initiative (CANI) aimed at easing access to, and use of computers amongst all Nigerians in irrespective of class, age gender and location.

President Obasanjo explained that the scheme is his administration's social programme designed to assist individual employee in both public and private sectors to purchase personal computers and laptops at discounted prices under affordable and convenient repayment plan.

He said the objective of the CANI scheme is to increase computer penetration in Nigeria in line with the National ICT policy, the multi-sectoral reform agenda of government and the realisation of the objectives of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

"I believe CANI will stimulate a vibrant local industry in hardware and software, employment generation, poverty alleviation, wealth creation as well as capacity building Nigrian workforce. In addition, it will engender an enabling environment for more electronic services such as e-Business,
e-Government, and e-payments", he stated.

President Obasanjo commended the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology National Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Microsoft and INTEL for collaborating on the scheme; saying is a clear demonstration of this Administration's commitment to promoting a robust public-private partnership towards the re-engineering of the socio-economic infrastructure of the country.

Senegal: Migrant song hits the net

2006-07-11

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5155592.stm

A hard-hitting song accusing Senegal's government of forcing young people to risk their lives to seek their fortunes abroad has been an internet success - ahead of its official release planned later this week. But the man behind the song, DJ Awadi, says he is not trying to use the internet to market his latest release, just trying to educate people.

Sudan: Darfur activism meets video gaming

2006-07-10

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/5153694.stm

The ongoing violence in Sudan's Darfur region has spawned many forms of activism. The goal is to increase public awareness of the conflict, in which hundreds of thousands have died and more than two million people have been displaced. Now, that activism is going online, in the form of a video game entitled Darfur is Dying.

ReConnect Africa Online Publication and Careers Resource – July Issue

2006-07-11

http://www.reconnectafrica.com/

The June issue of ReConnect Africa is now online. Connecting Africa to the global world, ReConnect Africa is a unique online publication and portal that provides readily accessible information, articles, interviews and jobs in Africa. With essential services for employers who recruit, manage and develop African human resources and careers advice, services and information for graduates and professionals in Africa and the Diaspora seeking opportunities in employment and business in Africa.

Africa: 2006 AISI Media Awards

2006-07-10

http://www.uneca.org/aisi/mediaaward.htm

The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and its partners are pleased to announce the 2006 AISI Media Awards. The AISI Media Awards were introduced in 2003 to encourage more informed coverage of the information society and ICT for development issues in Africa as part of ECA's Information Society Outreach and Communication Programme.

Global: Awards and Medals Competition

2006-07-10

http://www.gdnet.org

Submissions are being accepted for the Seventh Annual Awards and Medals Competition, which carries prizes in cash and travel of over US $200,000! Submissions can be for a new research proposal or for a completed research paper. We welcome submissions from all branches of the social sciences. Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary submissions are particularly encouraged.

Global: Basic Fund-Raising for Small NGOs in Developing Countries

2006-07-10

http://www.wougnet.org/Links/generalresources.html#FNGO

Some of the most frequently asked questions (FAQs) to forums for community-based organizations (CBOs) in developing countries, whatever the subject, are regarding funding. The 'Basic Fund-Raising for Small NGOs serving the developing world' guide is meant to provide very basic guidelines for small NGOs in the developing world regarding fund-raising, and to point to other resources.

Global: Eldis Guide to the Effective Use of the Internet

2006-07-10

http://www.eldis.org/internetguide/about.htm

This Guide is a resource to help development researchers make the best use of information sources available on the Internet. It offers descriptions of well known Internet resources and suggests how their use can be best applied to development research.

Global: Handbook on Monitoring and Evaluating for Results

2006-07-10

http://www.comminit.com/materials/ma2006/materials-2898.html

This publication aims to support the use of monitoring and evaluation of development results. It is intended to support United Nations Development Program (UNDP) country offices in aligning their monitoring and evaluation systems with a results-based management methodology, specifically in tracking and measuring the performance of UNDP interventions and strategies.

Global: New Governance and Social Development Resource Centre website launched

2006-07-10

http://www.gsdrc.org

The Governance and Social Development Resource Centre GSDRC) provides access to the best thinking, research and training available in governance, conflict and social development. Funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID), the GSDRC aims to help reduce poverty by better informing policymaking and enhancing professional knowledge and competencies.

Africa: Management courses

2006-07-10

http://www.imtctraining.com/courses.html

Swaziland-based ITMC offers dozens of different types of management courses and training to people from all over Africa. These range from Business Management and Project Management through Computer and IT training to Women in Development Action. They continually update course content and develop new courses. See this sight for more information.

Australia: WiSER - The Inaugural International Women and Leadership Conference

2006-07-10

http://tinyurl.com/hze35

The Women and Leadership Conference will provide a unique opportunity within Perth for local, interstate and international scholars and practitioners within the fields of leadership, management, organisational change, gender studies, social policy, business and education to attend the conference, have the option to present both refereed and non-refereed papers and benefit from the networking opportunities that will arise from a meeting of their peers.

Canada: Global Justice Youth Symposium

2006-07-10

http://www.comminit.com/events_calendar/2006-events/events-4489.html

Organised by Oxfam Canada in partnership with the Victoria International Education Development Association, this youth symposium focusing on global justice issues promises to be empowering and action-oriented. Through a series of interactive workshops on such issues as food security, sweatshops, and the global AIDS epidemic, participants will share their experiences and help develop global alternatives.

Germany: Scribani Conference - Africa and Europe - Cooperation in a Globalised World

2006-07-10

http://www.comminit.com/events_calendar/2006-events/events-4487.html

Collapsing states, violent conflicts and natural disasters shape the picture of Africa in Europe. This conference, organised by the Scribani European Jesuit Network and the Institute for Social and Development Studies, aims to challenge the common picture through an analysis of the relationship between Africa and Europe.

South Africa: Facilitation course

2006-07-10

http://www.comminit.com/training2006/2006-events/events-4241.html

This course is intended for practitioners to learn essential facilitation concepts and skills for working developmentally with groups of people in small group, workshop or training course settings. Practitioners will learn the basics of facilitation and improve the ways they already facilitate.

Swaziland: The Politics of HIV/AIDS Healthcare

2006-07-10

http://www.comminit.com/events_calendar/2006-events/events-4472.html

This course, organised by The Southern African Media Training Trust (NSJ), is meant for journalists in the South African Development Community (SADC) region. The aim of the course is to equip journalists with the ability to understand, analyse and report professionally on issues relating to antiretroviral roll-out.

Global: Translators

The Association for Progressive Communications

2006-07-10

http://www.apc.org

APC is seeking professional:
* Spanish-to-English translators (native English speakers)
* English/Spanish-to-French translators (native French speakers)
* Spanish-to-Portuguese translators (native Brazilian Portuguese speakers)
* English-to-Arabic translators (native Arabic speakers)
for occasional freelance work. We'd like to hear about your areas of experience working with texts particularly related to internet, civil society and gender issues for an international audience.

Egypt: Project Coordinator

The Egyptian Center for Women's Rights

2006-07-10

http://www.ecwregypt.org,

The Project Coordinator will be responsible for managing and implementing ECWR's activities for the FGM Regional Media Task Force Partnership and our Stop Sexual Harassment Campaign.

Ethiopia/Mozambique: Country Directors

ActionAid

2006-07-10

http://www.civicus.org/new/jobs_info.asp?id=492

ActionAid is looking to recruit two committed and competent Country Directors in the Africa Region. These are two senior positions reporting to the International Director for Africa, have functional relationships with counterparts in ActionAid and upward accountability to donors sponsors and National Advisory Boards where they exist as well as downward accountability to both their teams, partners and communities in the country programmes.

New York: Communications Officer

UNICEF

2006-07-10

http://www.comminit.com/vacancy2762.html

The communication officer is responsible for the conceptualisation, planning, execution, monitoring and evaluation, and global use of content, initiatives and technologies related to internet, broadcasting and interactivity. These strategic initiatives are aimed at promoting respect for children's rights and support for UNICEF's mission globally.

Tanzania: Various positions

OIC International, Inc.

2006-07-10

http://www.eldis.org/cf/search/disp/DocDisplay.cfm?Doc=DOC21013&Resource=f1

OIC International, Inc., an International PVO based in Philadelphia, PA, is seeking qualified candidates for the position of Project Director, Education Specialist, and Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, pending the results of our application to the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL) for an upcoming multi-year initiative, Combating Exploitive Child Labor Through Education, Tanzania

Sudan: Gender-based Violence Consultant

JAM Darfur/UNFPA Sudan

2006-07-10

http://www.awid.org

Under the guidance and supervision of the JAM Gender Advisor, the consultant will collaborate with the JAM Gender Group Secretariate and the UNFPA Emergency Coordinator to highlight the multi-sectoral dimension of gender-based violence, particularly vulnerabilities that arise during transit and return.

Fahamu