Back Issues

Kenya: Crisis - Mazrui Blames Kibaki

2008-01-11

http://allafrica.com/stories/200801101086.html

A leading Kenyan political science academic, Prof. Ali Mazrui, has accused President Mwai Kibaki of plunging the relatively peaceful East African nation into tribalised bloodshed by grabbing state power through a "civilian coup". "This (Kenyan post-election scenario) is a civilian coup at a presidential level," Prof. Mazrui, who is the director of Global Cultural Studies at State University of New York in the US, said.

Kenya: It's the economy, stupid (not "tribalism")

2008-01-10

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/0abaa83dacd4b1243d3fe0b6406a08b8.htm

The wave of violence that engulfed Kenya after the presidential election has been widely described as tribal or ethnic in nature. But analysts in the east African country point to basic economics as the true cause of the unrest. Widespread violence and a humanitarian crisis were triggered by the 30 December announcement that incumbent Mwai Kibaki had won a hotly contested presidential poll amid opposition claims of rigging and international observers' reports of serious irregularities in the vote-tallying process.

Kenya: Kenyans for peace, truth, justice

Statement from Concerned Citizens and Governance, Human Rights and Legal Organizations

2008-01-10

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/action/45289

We speak in the name of Kenya's governance, human rights and legal organizations, as well as the concerned citizens who have contacted and chosen to work with us over the last week. We strongly condemn the violence that has erupted across the country following the questionable outcomes of the counting and tallying done under the electoral process. We express our deepest sympathy to all those who have been injured, raped or killed and their families, those who have lost property, those who have been internally displaced as well as those who continue to live in fear.
We speak in the name of Kenya's governance, human rights and legal organizations, as well as the concerned citizens who have contacted and chosen to work with us over the last week.

We strongly condemn the violence that has erupted across the country following the questionable outcomes of the counting and tallying done under the electoral process. We express our deepest sympathy to all those who have been injured, raped or killed and their families, those who have lost property, those who have been internally displaced as well as those who continue to live in fear. We are only too acutely aware that the survivors and victims continue to be those with the most to lose from the violence as well as those who least deserve to experience it—Kenya's impoverished women and men in both low-income urban areas as well as in rural areas.

We are aware that the violence experienced has taken three primary forms. First, disorganized protest at the supposed results of the presidential tally. Second, instigated and organized militia activity particularly in the Rift Valley, but also through the re-activation of Mungiki in Central and Nairobi and, now, Chinkororo in Nyanza. And third, extraordinary use of force by Kenya's Police Force and General Service Unit to the extent of extrajudicial executions violating the most fundamental of freedoms and human rights—the rights to life and the safety and security of persons. We strongly condemn all three forms.

We note that the violence experienced is being used to legitimize the curtailing of the most basic of freedoms and human rights—the freedoms of expression, assembly and association. These freedoms and human rights are guaranteed by international law, regional law and our own Constitution. They must be upheld at all times—especially as the exercise of these freedoms and human rights is the only way for Kenyans to legally and legitimately express their protest at the alleged presidential outcome of the electoral process. We believe that the repression and suppression of legal and legitimate forms of protest can only perpetuate further violence.

It is also clear to us that, at the heart of the violence now being experienced is a violation of other fundamental freedoms and rights directly related to the electoral processes. It is clear that the electoral anomalies and malpractices experienced during the counting and tallying of our electoral process were so grave as to alter its outcomes. Some of those electoral anomalies and malpractices were, in addition, illegal—thus rendering the supposed presidential outcome not only illegitimate but also illegal. We therefore consider Mwai Kibaki to be in office still on his first term.

Our hope lies in Kenyans standing up against the travesty that has been made of the electoral process. Our hope lies in Kenyans who have, at great personal risk, and without regard to ethnicity, on principle provided security, shelter and safe passage to those Kenyans targeted by the militia activity in the Rift Valley and elsewhere. We note the domestic humanitarian efforts coordinated by the National Council of Churches of Kenya with statistical support from the Catholic Relief Services—efforts to which many individual Kenyans and Kenyan businesses have now associated themselves. We note too the domestic peace initiatives being worked on by Amani Focus, the 'Ibrahim group' (including Ambassador Kiplagat and General Sumbeiywo) and Peacenet. And we now invite other concerned citizens to join the 'peace through truth and justice' efforts being carried out by domestic governance, human rights and legal organizations.

In particular, we would like to call on:

1. All efforts and initiatives to consistently stress that peace cannot and will not be achieved without electoral truth and justice;

2. All Kenyans to stand up to be counted not just for peace but also for electoral truth and justice;

3. The state to respect and uphold the rights to the freedoms of expression, assembly and association so as to ensure Kenyans protest only legally, legitimately and non-violently;

4. All politicians and political parties to immediately desist from the re-activation, support and use of militia organizations such as those active in the Rift Valley, Mungiki and Chinkororo;

5. The Ministry of Internal Security, the Police Force and the General Service Unit to exercise their duties within the boundaries of the Constitution and the law and desist from any extraordinary use of force and, in particular, extrajudicial executions;

6. The Electoral Commission of Kenya to immediately resign for having participated in and condoned a presidential electoral process so flawed as to result in our nation's current crisis;

7. African states and the rest of the international community to pressurize for mediation between the Party of National Unity and the Orange Democratic Movement on addressing the electoral travesty that has occurred;

8. The mediation process to, as its first priority, agree upon an interim electoral oversight body to conduct a forensic audit into the polling, counting and tallying process with a view to recommending, depending on its findings, a re-count, a re-tallying or a re-run within a specified time period;

9. African states and the rest of the international community to, in the interim, deny official recognition to the man sworn in as President;

10. African states and the rest of the international community to immediately revoke any and all visas for any and all of the PNU's and ODM's leadership—as well as all of their immediate family members—to ensure they remain in this country to resolve the electoral travesty that has occurred;

11. The man sworn in as President to desist from announcing a Cabinet and otherwise aggravating and inflaming the current violence.

Signed:

Africa Centre for Open Governance (AfriCOG)
Awaaz
Centre for Law and Research International (CLARION)
Centre for Multiparty Democracy (CMD)
Centre for Rights, Education and Awareness for Women (CREAW)
(CRADLE)
Constitution and Reform Education Consortium (CRECO)
East African Law Society (EALS)
Haki Focus
Hema la Katiba
Independent Medico-Legal Unit (IMLU)
Innovative Lawyering
Institute for Education in Democracy (IED)
International Commission of Jurists (ICJ-Kenya)
Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC)
Kenya Leadership Institute (KLI)
Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR)
Kituo cha Sheria
Media Institute
Muslim Human Rights Forum
National Constitution Executive Council (NCEC)
Society for International Development (SID)
Urgent Action Fund (UAF)-Africa
Youth Agenda

Kenya’s trauma, and how to end it

2008-01-11

http://www.pambazuka.org/actionalerts/comments/684/

The crisis of violence and disorder in Kenya since the election [1] of 27 December 2007 poses hard questions to members of the country’s political class of all parties and ethnicities. It also raises the issue of what can and should be done now to meet the needs of Kenya’s citizens and the interests of truth, justice and democracy.

Kenya: Text of rejected agreement

2008-01-11

http://www.nationmedia.com/dailynation/nmgcontententry.asp?category_id=2&newsid=114371

This is the agreement ODM says its leader Raila Odinga and President Kibaki were to sign to end the political impasse brought about by the disputed presidential election results. It was to be witnessed by mediator John Kufuor who is the President of Ghana and also the chairman of African Union, British high commissioner Adam Wood, US ambassador Michael Ranneberger, French ambassador Elisabeth Barbier and the local head of the European Union.

Kenya: Famine looms in Eastern province

2008-01-11

http://www.eastandard.net/news/?id=1143980243

Famine looms large in parts of Eastern Province due to lack of rains. Crops, especially beans and maize, are withering, sparking panic among farmers. A spot check in parts of Machakos, Makueni, Kitui, Yatta, Kangundo, Kibwezi and Mwingi districts showed that most farmers did not expect to harvest anything.

Kenya: Threats to the safety of Maina Kiai and others - KPTJ

2008-01-11

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/action/45360

We are Kenyans for Peace with Truth and Justice, an initiative which has been meeting and organising for the past two weeks in order to understand and make public what happened with the counting and tallying process of our Presidential vote, as well as the nature of the violence experienced across the country since. We have also continually reiterated the need for the Kenyan Police Force and the General Service Unit to respect the right of all Kenyans to the freedoms of expression, assembly and association to respond to concerns raised—in a legal and legitimate manner.
KENYANS FOR PEACE WITH TRUTH AND JUSTICE

C/o Africa Centre for Open Governance
P.O. Box 18157
00100 GPO NAIROBI

The Minister of State for Internal Security Office of the President

Harambee House NAIROBI


11th January 2008

Dear Sir, RE: THREATS TO THE SAFETY OF MAINA KIAI AND OTHERS


We are Kenyans for Peace with Truth and Justice, an initiative which has been meeting and organising for the past two weeks in order to understand and make public what happened with the counting and tallying process of our Presidential vote, as well as the nature of the violence experienced across the country since. We have also continually reiterated the need for the Kenyan Police Force and the General Service Unit to respect the right of all Kenyans to the freedoms of expression, assembly and association to respond to concerns raised—in a legal and legitimate manner. We wish to inform you of reports that have come to our attention that there is a five- or- so man elite squad that has been tasked with the liquidation of, inter alia, Maina Kiai, Chair of the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights.

The sources indicate that tactics such as car jacking or calculated accident are being actively considered to be employed.

We take these threats very seriously particularly in view of the present highly charged and polarised political atmosphere. We are therefore distributing this information through our networks locally, in the region, and internationally. We take this opportunity to formally apprise Major General Hussein Ali, Commissioner of the Police, of this information and to ask that he investigate the information received as a matter of urgency. We also take this opportunity to formally inform the Hon. Attorney General and the person sworn in as Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs of these threats and urge them to provide direction to all arms of Kenya’s intelligence and security services that is within the limits of our Constitution and laws. Attached herewith is a copy of a Press Statement we issued in this matter.

Kindly urgently acknowledge receipt of this letter and advise on the action taken.

Yours sincerely, Gladwell Otieno Executive Director Africa Centre for Open Governance (AfriCOG)

for and on behalf of the following organisations:

Awaaz Centre for Law and Research International (CLARION)
Centre for Multiparty Democracy (CMD)
Centre for Rights, Education and Awareness for Women (CREAW)
(CRADLE)
Constitution and Reform Education Consortium (CRECO)
Haki Focus Hema la Katiba Independent Medico-Legal Unit (IMLU)
Innovative Lawyering Institute for Education in Democracy (IED)
International Commission of Jurists (ICJ-Kenya)
Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC)
Kenya Leadership Institute (KLI)
Media Institute Muslim Human Rights Forum National Constitution Executive Council (NCEC)
Release Political Prisoners (RPP)
Society for International Development (SID)
Urgent Action Fund (UAF)-Africa Youth Agenda

CC: The Hon Attorney General State Law Office NAIROBI

The Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs Cooperative House Nairobi

Permanent Secretary and Secretary to the Cabinet Office of the President Harambee House Nairobi

Maj. Gen. Hussein Ali Commissioner of Police Vigilance House Nairobi

Kenya: Statement from concerned citizens - KPTJ

2008-01-11

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/action/45361

We speak in the name of Kenya’s governance, human rights and legal organizations, as well as the concerned citizens who have contacted and chosen to work with us over the last two weeks.

We have been meeting and organising for the past two weeks in order to understand and make public what happened with the counting and tallying process of our Presidential vote, as well as the nature of the violence experienced across the country since. With respect to the former, it has been our considered and informed opinion that the electoral malpractices—and illegalities—experienced invalidate the swearing in of Mwai Kibaki.
Kenyans for Peace with Truth and Justice

Statement from concerned citizens and governance, human rights and legal organizations on Safety of Human Rights Defenders

We speak in the name of Kenya’s governance, human rights and legal organizations, as well as the concerned citizens who have contacted and chosen to work with us over the last two weeks.

We have been meeting and organising for the past two weeks in order to understand and make public what happened with the counting and tallying process of our Presidential vote, as well as the nature of the violence experienced across the country since. With respect to the former, it has been our considered and informed opinion that the electoral malpractices—and illegalities—experienced invalidate the swearing in of Mwai Kibaki. With respect to the latter, it has been our considered and informed opinion that the violence being experienced is of four forms—disorganised and spontaneous protest expressed anarchically; organised militia activity first in the Rift Valley and now in Central and Nyanza; disproportionate use of force by the Kenya Police Force and the General Service Unit; and, more recently, retributive communal actions inspired by the experiences narrated by the inflow of internally displaced persons. We have consistently condemned all four forms.

We have also continually reiterated the need for the Kenyan Police Force and the General Service Unit to respect the right of all Kenyans to the freedoms of expression, assembly and association to respond—in a legal and legitimate manner—to both the counting and tallying process of our Presidential vote as well as the violence experienced across the country since. We have supported citizens’ desires to come together to do so while compiling our empirical evidence on the same for imminent release to the public. And we have engaged with interested political actors as well as those involved within the mediation process to seek meaningful ways forward that will secure sustainable peace on the basis of electoral truth and electoral and post-electoral justice.

We stress, in the strongest possible terms, that it is within our rights as individual citizens and within the legally recognised mandates of our various institutions and organisations to have done so—and continue to do so. We therefore note, with the deepest of concerns, information received from no less than four sources within the Kenyan Police Force and the National Security Intelligence Service, that points to the personal safety and security of some of our members now being at risk for having done so—most notably (but not only) that of Maina Kiai, Chair of the Kenya National Commission of Human Rights. We have been advised by these sources of a special unit being formed to consider methods for our neutralisation and warned to be cautious while driving alone or at night as the most obvious of methods would be to mask the deliberate targeting of ourselves as common criminality, such as by carjacking or calculated road accidents.

We wish to stress that we do not take this information lightly. While we may consider our efforts almost insignificant in light of their immediate impact on the bigger goings-on around us, we are aware that in today’s highly charged political atmosphere, the expression of and action on independent opinion is considered politically partisan—particularly when by those of us who have consciously broken away from the ethnically-aligned and near hegemonic positions being propounded by, in particular, political actors aligned with the man sworn in as President.

We therefore take this opportunity to formally inform Major General Hussein Ali, Commissioner of the Police, of this information and to ask that he investigate the information received as a matter of urgency. We also take this opportunity to formally inform the persons sworn in as Minister of Internal Security and Minister of Justice and Constitutional Affairs of these threats and urge them to provide direction to all arms of Kenya’s intelligence and security services that is within the limits of our Constitution and laws. Again, it is within our rights as citizens and as institutions and organisations mandated to be mobilising and organising as we are. And we consider it our patriotic duty to be doing so—in the interest of peace with electoral truth and justice. Our personal safety and security as human rights defenders must be upheld at all times.

Signed:

Africa Centre for Open Governance (AfriCOG)
Awaaz Centre for Law and Research International (CLARION)
Centre for Multiparty Democracy (CMD)
Centre for Rights, Education and Awareness for Women (CREAW)
(CRADLE)
Constitution and Reform Education Consortium (CRECO)
East African Law Society (EALS)
Haki Focus Hema la Katiba Independent Medico-Legal Unit (IMLU)
Innovative Lawyering Institute for Education in Democracy (IED)
International Commission of Jurists (ICJ-Kenya)
Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC)
Kenya Leadership Institute (KLI)
Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR)
Kituo cha Sheria Law Society of Kenya (LSK)
Media Institute Muslim Human Rights Forum National Constitution Executive Council (NCEC)
Release Political Prisoners (RPP)
Society for International Development (SID)
Urgent Action Fund (UAF)-Africa Youth Agenda

Whither the Kenyan people?

Wangui wa Goro

2008-01-10

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/45296

Wangui Wa Goro makes the case that hope for democracy in Kenya and Africa is with the civil society and citizens and calls for a national convention to map the way forward.


The Kenyan elections on Thursday December 27th 2007, after polling stations were closed, were supposed to fulfill an African dream, to have a free and fair closely contested democratic election. The outcome has shown the fragility of the postcolonial and post-dictator state of Kenya and much of Africa. After the carnage which has left over 500 people dead, over a quater of a million people displaced and many others fleeing from the region in fear of reprisals and for their lives, the dream had become a horrible nightmare, manifesting itself through murder, spontaneous rioting, organized thuggery, politically motivated and ethicized targeted attacks.

That was the week that was gripping the democratic world with shock and utter dismay and waking the world to the reality that the haven of peace, the African show case of democracy and the darling of the West was crumbling and revealing an unpleasant underbelly which has been camouflaged for far too long. It revealed the real Kenyan who is the casualty of party political posturing, a weak state, a world which has preferred not to see the decay of many years and the rot which has set in since colonial times to the present. The vulnerable, dispossessed, the economically and socially marginalised; and things may get worse before they get better. Kenya is a test case of what is happening all over Africa and the post-colonial world: The crumbling of a colonial and postcolonial order. It is not just an electoral moment, but the foundation of democracy, not just in Kenya but beyond. The question, after the storm, however is how Kenya and indeed Africa is going to move forward beyond the impasse created by a state and electoral system which has essentially collapsed and dictators who want to hang on to power to their very last at the expense of lives and the people.

We must look to the Kenyan people for an answer, as it is they who have to face the next morning, their children, their families, and not policies hatched out far away by well meaning, interested and benevolent friends, kith and kin, from which ever guise they may come. Here-in lies the answer to the question of the secret or not so secret passage out of the mess, and a huge mess it is.
Although from where we stand it does not look like it, the time for Kenyans and Africans has come. The overreliance on state, on the goodwill of parties or individual politicians, on paternalistic/maternalistic international benevolence has shown up the weaknesses in a nation which does not listen to its own people and which does not function within universally accepted democratic principles (please let me not hear the word relativism again!)

An emerging strong civil society is finally flexing its muscle on behalf of the Kenyan people and reminding the contending and other interested parties that the crisis goes beyond the electoral and constitutional issues to the very core of the identity of Kenya and Kenyans. In addition to adding a very clear political voice into the debate, the civil society and pro-people organisations have also rolled up their sleeves and stepped into action to alleviate the humanitarian suffering of their fellow citizens and have been acting as their own advocate both at home and abroad, thus performing the role of the state and its conscience in many instances.

In many ways, Kenyans have been pushing towards a Kenyan voice to be heard long before and after independence, only to be drowned and ignored by those holding state power and others whose interests seem to supersede those of the majority of Kenyans. This is through failed promises such as those of institutionalizing the constitution and holding of free and fair elections since Kenya became an independent state and worse, when it became a one party state. The history of Kenya is littered with the undermining of the constitution, banning opposition, repressing individuals, fraudulent elections and bypassing of the instruments of democracy by party, class and individual interests which have so far been the order of the day. No longer. As well as a very vocal opposition and in true Kenyan tradition, the Kenyans are not having it. Through the opposition party, civil society and Kenyans of conscience across all class, ethnic and social spectrum all over the world, a powerful message is emerging and the world needs to listen. The civil society and pro-people organisations in particular, speaking on behalf of the Kenyan people have issued a powerful statement which rejects the highjacking of people's democracy by refusing to recognize what they consider a "palace coup" which is what lies at the heart of the current disquiet despite its varied manifestations. However, they are not seeking piecemeal solutions and have quickly grasped the fact that solving the current crisis will require more than a temporary fix; a whole reconstruction. They recognize that Kenya needs to move on beyond the current crisis towards a longer term solution which calls for reconstructing a new democratic foundation. They feel that this is a national crisis and not just a party political issue which in any case, the country cannot leave to the interested parties to resolve on their own.

It is a courageous call on behalf of the Kenyan people that the civil society has called for a rejection of the regime as it is currently constituted and called for a process where electoral and human rights justice are pursued through all the means available. They have gone further and asked the international community not to recognize the regime. They are have also called for an interim government of national unity to oversee a transitional justice process which would go beyond the electoral crisis and one which would begin to look at the underlying issues which led to the current crisis including weaknesses in the system such as the constitutional and electoral arrangements. They are also calling for a national people's convention which would be part of building the road map out of the crisis and also leading to fresh elections. Such a legally constituted and recognized body as an interim government of national unity would be empowered to oversee such a transitional arrangement. Justice seems to lie at the heart of such a demand.

The international community has also moved swiftly by rallying to the Kenyan people's call and particularly the intervention of imminent people such as Desmond Tutu and President John Kuffour of Ghana, also the current head of the African Union. This demonstrates that there is hope in democracy through solidarity. The hope for a Pan-Africa solution seems highly prized and many in the world are watching with bated breath and hope that Kenya, for Pan African's sake can heed the wider call of the continent and its peoples. The world intellectuals, activist, ordinary people from all walks of life and media too, (despite initial negative reporting by the Western media in particular) has played a crucial role in engaging the Kenyan process with keen interest and itself is a promise of global democracy and solidarity out of which much of the democratizing process can be learned for all humanity.

The world wills it, only those without eyes will not see, those without ears will not hear and history will judge them individually and collectively, very harshly, in the public global glare of the media in the here and now and in the future.

* Dr. Wangui wa Goro: Kenyan human rights activist, writer, translator, academic and public intellectual. Currently Associate Fellow at the Institute of Human Rights and Social Justice; London Metropolitan University.

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

Let us not find revolutionaries where there are none

A look at the Kenyan opposition party

Mukoma wa Ngugi

2008-01-10

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/45291

Mukoma Wa Ngugi argues that rather than being a people power movement, Kenya’s Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) is modeled after political parties that consolidate democracy for International capital and US Foreign Policy. He discusses the differences between a people powered movement and one such as ODM that employs techniques modeled after the Ukrainian orange revolution and the ouster of Aristide in Haiti

One cannot fully grasp what is happening in Kenya and Africa without considering the changing nature of opposition movements and the differences between a people powered movement, or a democratic revolution, and a plethora of movements that consolidate democratic institutions for international capital while flying under the radar of democracy.

Even though here below I am mainly speaking about Raila Odinga and the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), I could just as easily be speaking about Mwai Kibaki and the Party of National Unity (PNU). It is only because ODM has actively courted the image of being a people powered movement engaged in a democratic revolution that I draw your attention to it. Amilcar Cabral once said “tell no lies, claim no small victories.” It is in that spirit that I write.

Let me begin by pointing to the question of ethnicity and say this: In the same way you ought to be surprised to meet a white American denying the existence of racism in American politics, so should you be when you meet an African denying that ethnocentrism is deeply entrenched in African politics. Racism is a historical creation that serves a function – so is ‘tribalism.’ In the same way that leaders in the West manipulate race and fear for political goals, so do African leaders. Ethnocentrism can be benign or extremely vicious depending on its conductor. Ethnocracy, like a racist power structure, exists to the extent it is able to obscure for the victim and the activist the root causes of economic, political and social exploitation. It misdirects.

Let us also consider Kwame Ture’s (Stokely Carmichael) reminder that we should not mistake individual success for collective success. The majority of Kenyans -- Luos, Kikuyus, Luhyas etc -- are poor. The 60 percent of Kenyans living under two dollars a day cut across all ethnicities. The Kikuyu elite live at the expense of the Kikuyu poor; it is the same for other ethnicities. There is much more in common between the poor across ethnicities, than between the elite and the poor of each ethnicity. Racism, nationalism, and ethnocracy all ask that the poor die in the defense of economic and social structures that keep them poor. It is no surprise that those who have been both dying and doing the killing in Kenya in the past week are the poor. Yet they are killing along ethnic, not class, lines.

And in the same way that over time western political parties come to represent different and contradictory positions, so have African political parties. In the dictatorships of the 1960s, 70s and 80s, the opposition parties were the good guys. Progressive international political analysts are still working with that framework, which has blinded us to glaring present-day contradictions. The assumption that opposition immediately means people-power cannot be sustained by an analysis informed by the complex shifts in African politics in the last two decades. Take Zimbabwe, for example. The opposition Movement for Democratic Change is a neo-liberal party. Calling it revolutionary or anti-imperialist would be wrong. In Kenya, both the sitting government and the opposition exchange members fluidly as they position and reposition themselves, eyes on the national cake. William Ruto, a top leader in the ODM was previously a treasurer for the KANU Youth Wing – a political thug organization created by former dictator Moi, who is now in Kibaki’s camp. And the recent church killings that claimed over 50 lives took place in Eldoret, which William Ruto has represented in parliament for many years.

Therefore not all opposition parties are anti-imperialist or opposed to the move by global capital to consolidate the world. At a time when the rich nations and their elite are getting richer, and the poorer nations and the poor within them are getting poorer, some opposition parties will choose the side of global capital. ODM is composed of some of the wealthiest people in the country. For example, the Odinga family owns Spectre International, a molasses company in conjunction with a multi national petroleum and diamond mining company. The international press, which refers to Raila as a “flamboyant millionaire”, is not entirely wrong.

With the above said, analysis of what it means to be a people powered movement is crucial. For people-power politics to be effective, solidarity has to be across ethnicity not along it. In other words, a people power movement has to at its basis be informed by the consciousness of a collective oppressed. Because it has no real grass roots developed over years of working with and for the people, ODM can only rile up discontentment by pointing to one ethnicity rather than organizing the whole country against elite exploitation. Like any populist movement it takes the worst fears of a people (fear of Kikuyu domination for example) and plays them out in the national stage. A people power movement on the other hand peels away these fears to reveal how power and wealth are being distributed. Because ODM has not done this, its supporters have identified the fellow poor Kikuyu as the enemy. A people power movement would have directed its energies and anger at the state not at another ethnicity.

A people power movement declares its solidarity with other marginalized peoples across the world. It is third-worldist in vision. A people power movement, because its vision grows organically from its struggle and engagement with the people, exhibits a stand against exploitative international economic arrangements because its constituents are impoverished through them. ODM cannot be termed as radical pan-Africanist or third-worldist, rather it has a populist consciousness.

Also, the shell – the façade -- of a people power movement can be used by a national elite to seize power for international capital. Rather than use the term populist/people power to refer to ODM, it is appropriate to borrow a term from the International Republican Institute. The term the IRI (www.iri.org) uses is “consolidating democracy,” referring to a technique it used in the Ukrainian Orange Revolution and in Haiti against Aristide. Consolidating democracy translates into bringing together civil organizations (religious, universities, local NGO’s, women’s organizations etc), and uniting various opposition factions into one large electoral force. If missionaries paved the way for colonialism, evangelists of western democracy like IRI pave the way for US foreign policy.

The sole purpose of consolidating democracy is to remove the sitting government. There is no coherent underlying people centered ideology in this goal – no interest in empowering the people, or returning economic and political institutions to them. Rather than develop real roots with the people so that when in power ODM becomes an extension of them, ODM has taken the easy route of consolidating democracy following the IRI model.

We urgently need to distinguish between people power movements (such as those we have seen in Latin America), populist movements, and neo-liberal opposition movements that consolidate democratic institutions for global capitalism. People power movements are a fifth force usually in opposition to the legislature, executive, judiciary and military. When they seize power through democratic means, they immediately attempt to transform the other four forces into revolutionary instruments. Laws nationalizing resources or redistributing land and resources are passed. The army is transformed from an instrument of intimidation into one that helps in times of disasters – in short a people power government places the people at the center of the state. When a movement that has been consolidating democracy gets into power it does the opposite, and the democratic structures become instruments of global capital and US Foreign policy. Liberia, for example, after working with IRI is one of the few countries to open its national door to the US African Command Center.

We should at least consider that the ODM has in the last few weeks not been engaged in the last phase of a people power revolution but rather in the last stage of consolidating neo-liberal democracy - using the people as the battling ram against the state. This is where the neo-liberal party calls for millions to take to the streets with the hope of immobilizing the state. Because consolidating democracy requires the ebb and flow of violence from the state and protest from the people, Raila could cynically tell a BBC reporter when asked whether he will appeal for calm that "I refuse to be asked to give the Kenyan people an anesthetic so that they can be raped."

In case you are wondering, let me say this: for progressives, Kibaki is not the answer. Before the elections, the Kenyan Human Rights Commission released a report implicating the Kenya police in extra-judicial killings of close to 500 young men, all from poverty stricken areas such as Kibera and Mathare, slums currently up in flames. This is a stark reminder that the 6 percent economic growth was not trickling down to the people. Also that vote rigging took place (on both sides it is turning out) is almost certain. Enough doubt has been cast by the electoral commissioners to make a recount of the votes, a reelection, a united government or another suitable solution a matter of democratic principle.

If the country is to heal, reconcile and find justice, progressive voices should call for a UN probe into the December – January post-election ethnic cleansing in Eldoret and other areas. There should be calls and support for a United Nations probe into the 1994 Rift Valley killings in which a reported hundreds of Kikuyus were killed and thousands displaced during Moi’s regime, and The Wagalla Massacre of 1984 (again during Moi’s regime) in which hundreds of Somali Kenyans were shot to death. Finally the non-electoral extra judicial killings of the 500 young men last year should also be investigated.

Progressives should also call for the crisis to be resolved within democratic structures. When Bush won an election that the rest of the world understood as rigged, we did not ask Al Gore to try and overthrow the government through an Orange revolution, we did not ask him to divide the country across racial lines, blacks pitted against whites, whites pitted against Latinos; we asked him to find redress through peaceful and democratic processes. And for that, the United States remains standing, in spite of Bush. Al Gore did not ask for a recount of all the votes, or for a re-election. But both Raila and Kibaki can form a united government; ask for a recount, and even a re-election. Whatever process or option is used to adjudicate this must be one that leaves Kenya standing for generations to come.

My plea to you is this: Let us not find revolutionaries where there are none. A whole nation, where ethnic cleansing has already started, is at stake. International solidarity should be with the Kenyan people and not with individual leaders. The best thing for Kenya right now is a return to a non-violent path governed by principled democratic structures that will outlive both Raila and Kibaki. It is this that will make possible a people powered government through a democratic revolution.

* Mukoma wa Ngugi is co-editor of Pambazuka News (www.pambazuka.org), author of Hurling Words at Consciousness and a political columnist for the BBC Focus on Africa Magazine.

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

Ethnic woes a legacy of colonialists’ power game

Caroline Elkins

2008-01-10

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/45292

Caroline Elkins traces the origins of the Kenyan crisis to Britain's colonial legacy

Kenya appears to be on the brink of an ethnically charged civil war following a disputed election on December 27.

President Kibaki was declared the winner of a second term after a vote that opposition candidate Mr Raila Odinga denounces as rigged and that European Union observers agree was seriously flawed.

As tens of thousands of Kenyans flee their homes and hundreds lie dead, part of the blame rests with Britain and its imperial legacy.

The immediate cause of the crisis was Kenya’s delicate ethnic balance. In the bitter electoral contest, in which Raila promised to end ethnic favouritism and spread the country’s wealth more equitably, ethnicity was the deciding factor, and a marred victory on either side had always been likely to spark violence.

Both men are rich, elitist African politicians who have far more in common with each other than they do with their supporters; in their struggle over power, both are using their followers as proxies in a smoldering war. Still, Raila has a point about vote tampering.

If you’re looking for the origins of Kenya’s ethnic tensions, look to its colonial past. Far from leaving behind democratic institutions and cultures, Britain bequeathed to its former colonies corrupted and corruptible governments. Colonial officials hand-picked political successors as they left in the wake of World War II, lavishing political and economic favours on their proteges. This process created elites whose power extended into the post-colonial era.

Added to this was a distinctly colonial view of the rule of law, which saw the British leave behind legal systems that facilitated tyranny, oppression and poverty rather than open, accountable government. And compounding these legacies was Britain’s famous imperial policy of "divide and rule," playing one side off another, which often turned fluid groups of individuals into immutable ethnic units.

In many former colonies, the British picked favourites from among these newly solidified ethnic groups and left others out in the cold. We are often told that age-old tribal hatreds drive today’s conflicts in Africa. In fact, both ethnic conflict and its attendant grievances are colonial phenomena.

It’s no wonder that newly independent countries such as Kenya maintained and even deepened the old imperial heritage of authoritarianism and ethnic division. The British had spent decades trying to keep the Luo and Kikuyu divided, quite rightly fearing that if the two groups ever united, their combined power could bring down the colonial order. Indeed, a short-lived Luo-Kikuyu alliance in the late 1950s hastened Britain’s retreat from Kenya and forced the release of Jomo Kenyatta from a colonial detention camp.

But before their departure, the British schooled the future Kenyans on the lessons of a very British model of democratic elections. Britain was determined to protect its economic and geopolitical interests during the decolonisation process, and it did most everything short of stuffing ballot boxes to do so. That set dangerous precedents.

Among other manoeuvres, the British drew electoral boundaries to cut the representation of groups they thought might cause trouble and empowered the provincial administration to manipulate supposedly democratic outcomes.

Old habits die hard. Three years after Kenya became independent in 1963, the Luo-Kikuyu alliance fell apart. Kenyatta and his Kikuyu elite took over the State; Oginga Odinga formed an opposition party that was eventually quashed. Kenyatta established a one-party State in 1969 and tossed the opposition, including Odinga, into detention, much as the British had done to him and his cronies during colonial rule in the 1950s. The Kikuyu then enjoyed many of the country’s spoils.

The Kikuyu’s fortunes took a turn for the worse when Daniel arap Moi, a member of the Kalenjin ethnic minority, assumed dictatorial power in 1978. He managed to hang on for more than two decades. Western Kenya enjoyed the economic benefits of state largesse until 2002, at which point the pendulum again swung back to the Kikuyu, led by the incoming President Kibaki.

Fears of ethnic ascendancies, power-hungry political elites, undemocratic processes and institutions — all are hallmarks of today’s Kenya, just as they were during British colonial rule. This does not excuse the undemocratic behaviour of President Kibaki, nor that of his opponent Raila, neither of whom is necessarily a true voice of the masses. Nor does it excuse the horrific violence that has unfolded.

Rather, it suggests that the undemocratic historical trajectory that Kenya has been moving along was launched at the inception of British colonial rule more than a century ago.

In retrospect, the wonder is not that Kenya is descending into ethnic violence. The wonder is that it didn’t happen sooner.

* Caroline Elkins is an associate professor of African studies at Harvard University and the author of ‘Imperial Reckoning’.

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

The US and Kenya: Tragic setback for democracy in Africa

Keith Jennings

2008-01-10

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/45293

Keith Jennings writes on the blatant disregard for democratic principles in Kenya's contentious elections and the Bush administration's flawed foreign policy

In the immediate aftermath of the recent elections in Kenya, the Bush Administration wasted no time in sending its glowing congratulations to incumbent President Mwai Kibaki and the Kenyan Election Commission. But despite the subsequent attempt to ignore the congratulatory message, and adamant claim of a global commitment to democracy, the Bush Administration’s official stamp of approval for Kibaki and the elections reflected a de facto endorsement of a naked power grab and contempt for the democratic process.

To be sure, the Bush administration’s eagerness to embrace a stage-managed election reveals a sharp inconsistency between pronouncement and practice -- declining to support calls for a re-count and urging “all candidates to accept the Commission’s final result.” Some would argue that the Bush focus on security and economic interest supersede its rhetoric for democracy. Clearly, the Bush statement and its later about-face joint statement with Kenya’s former colonial masters –the British- reflects morally bankrupt policies which only see Kenya as a staunch ally and “frontline state in the global war on terrorism.”

The Kenyan people participated in a democratic process to elect the representatives of their choice. When the election results were leaning toward the challenger and long time pro-democracy activist, Raila Odinga, the democratic process was over taken by manipulation and fraud. How can a U.S. Administration that preaches democracy in almost biblical terms refuse to pressure the Kenyan government for a re-count or an independent audit? Of course, this question may strike some Americans as naïve in the light of the Florida and Ohio fiascos in our own 2000 & 2004 presidential elections.

After the Bush Administration, offered congratulations to Mwai Kibaki on December 30, in the midst of widespread violent clashes between civilians and Kenyan police, I have to agree with those commentators who have been critical of the Bush Administration’s democracy promotion policy in Africa. Moreover, how can the views of hundreds of European international observers, who proclaim a “staggering mismatch” between recorded vote counts at local polling stations and what the Election Commission officials announced, be ignored. One wonders what the Administration would be saying if this were Zimbabwe or Burma.

The fighting in the streets of Nairobi and police abuse started long before the recent election results were announced. In the pre-election period, numerous human rights violations occurred including the killing and beating of dozens of women candidates and widespread intimidation and violence against opposition politicians. Recent poll results indicate fraudulent vote counting in at least 72 constituencies, which equate to an undermining of the electoral process and a democratic set back once again on the African continent. While the democratic process should never be reduced to an election, it is during an election that the strength of a country’s democratic system is put to the test. This is clearly the case in Kenya.

After years of autocratic rule by Daniel Moi (who’s home was burned down last week), citizens from all walks of life and political persuasions closed ranks to elect a new government in 2002, one that promised never to treat the people the way they had been sidelined and marginalized by previous governments. The promises were soon broken as charges of corruption were leveled against high ranking members of the Kibaki Administration. Consequently, the Kenyan people rightfully expected and democratically prepared for change.

It is important to note that Kibaki’s party won only 35 of 210 parliamentary seats losing more than 20 of his cabinet ministers, including his vice president. These facts alone reveal the deep seated and widespread public resentment against the legendary corruption of the Kibaki Administration.
With an official result producing a less than 233,000 vote difference (4,584,721 for Kibaki to 4,352,993 for Odinga), what is in order is a recount and an independent audit of the tallying process and final results, not a hasty swearing-in of the controversial President for another five years with Bush’s blessings. That swearing-in was immediately followed by a media ban on live coverage of events, a ban on all public rallies and threats from the declared winner to “deal decisively with those who breach the peace.” We have heard those words before. The Kenyan peoples’ right of peaceful assembly and expression should be respected by the current government. The attempt to suppress any opposition to the fraudulent election results is bound to fail and only lead to more violence and conflict.

As it has been reported in the Kenyan and international media, even the Kenyan Election Commission chair, Samuel Kivuilu, admits that the Commission was under pressure by government, which raises questions of its independence. Commissioner Kivuilu also states that he is not sure ‘if Kibaki won the elections.’ At least five other Commissioners have said they are certain that the vote count was manipulated.

The Kibaki power grab may well cause Kenya, a model of stability in the East Africa region, to become another in the growing list of African countries that risk slipping down the path of ethnic conflict amidst a rekindling of old prejudices that has led to genocide in neighboring countries.

We have seen the U.S. government prioritizing its security concerns over democracy promotion in Africa before. Who can ever forget the shameful April 2007 elections in Nigeria, which provides the US with 12% of its oil needs? Nigerians refer to that election as the most fraudulent elections ever held in the country. Despite calls for electoral reform, official U.S. congratulations to Yar’Adua were followed by a recent White House visit, which ended with Yar’Adua promoting the establishment of the U.S. African Military Command that could potentially place U.S. soldiers throughout the continent despite opposition in Nigeria. No wonder many believe there is scant U.S. commitment to global democracy when its economic and military interests are relevant. The Bush Administration’s policies appear to respond to narrow, ill-perceived security and economic imperatives that will ultimately lead to long-term instability in Kenya and other parts of Africa.

It is more than noteworthy that as the 2005 Ethiopian elections were being won by the opposition at such an unprecedented rate that the Melis government intervened and halted the announcement of results. After a series of recounts and adjudication trails, which the opposition was not prepared for, it was once again business as usual, a witch’s brew of repression and torture. The arrest and detention on treason charges of all major opposition leaders followed. The Bush administration, which also sees Ethiopia as a staunch ally in the war on terror who is more than willing to do its bidding in Somalia, offered congratulations to Melis on his victory and urged “dialogue” and “reconciliation.”

As the optimism of the 1990s has given way to the more vexing problem of making democracy deliver on its promises, the past few years have been filled with setbacks for the democratic process in Africa, with the possible exceptions of the 2005 elections in Liberia and the 2007 elections in Sierra Leone. And the U.S. has been largely silent in its actions to reverse those setbacks.
The peace in Kenya was breached long before the day when the elections were stolen. Sanctimonious calls for peace, compromise and reconciliation will do no good when the people’s confidence in the democratic process is what is at stake and the legitimacy of those making the calls for “law and order” or respect for the rule of law is questioned.

The issue here is about power and the future of democracy in Africa not ethnic rivalries. Unfortunately some of the big men in Africa, as in other parts of the world, have not realized how to share power or to let it go when the will of the people is against their continued stay in office. There are those who talk about freedom and democracy but practice autocratic policies, they never really believed in the will of the people to begin with. What will be the world’s response to the farce currently underway in Kenya? Democracy in Africa or business as usual?

* Dr. Keith Jennings is President of the African American Human Rights Foundation and former Director of Citizen Participation for the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs. He can be reached at rightsfoundation@yahoo.com

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

Letter from a self-hating African to his beloved French brother

Pius Adesanmi

2008-01-10

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/panafrican/45295

Pius Adesanmi puts Nicholas Sarkozy to task on France's foreign policy towards Africa

Dear President Sarkozy,

Happy new year. This is my second letter to you since you became the principal resident of the Elysée. A lot of water has passed under the bridge since I wrote my first letter to congratulate you on your election to the presidency of France and to offer a few mots de sagesse on how to successfully negotiate the intricacies of your new station. Your actions since I wrote that letter are clear indications that you agreed with some of my propositions and disagreed with others. That’s fine. That’s the essence of democracy. You must be able to disagree with me on occasion. There are certain aspects of that first letter I now wish to renounce. I wrote that letter as an African patriot who knows the history, language, and culture of France very well and who hates the uses to which those things were put in places like Indochina, Algeria, Madagascar, and so many places where your people displayed unsurpassable brutality. I wrote as someone who hated the France that participated in slavery, the France that colonized, the France that civilized, the France that tortured, the hypocritical France that still despises “le Black” and “le Beur” while parading Thierry Henry and Zinedine Zidane as its finest gifts to humanity in recent times.

I hated this France until very recently. Now I’ve seen the light! Like Doc Gynéco, I’ve fallen in love with the France of Jean-Marie Le Pen, the France of Charles Pasqua, the France of you, my brother, Nicolas Sarkozy. I take back every negative thing I’ve said, written or thought about my beloved France. Those were my days of ignorance. Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa! I have now washed myself clean of the blight of my uncivilized African origins. I no longer have any trace of the jungle left in me. I sleep and dream every day of my brand new Gallic ancestors. And as you know, I do not just speak French, I speak le Français de France, le Français du Français, le Français français just like brother Léon Damas of Guyana. You and I can now speak of our common heritage, our common history, our culture, and our civilization.

On the basis of our new, unimpeachable bond, I want to commend you for the valiant efforts you made to ensure that our compatriots, who were recently found guilty of child kidnapping and trafficking in Chad, were returned to us to serve their prison terms in Paris. It beats me that those uncivilized Africans would actually imagine that we would allow French criminals to serve jail time in Africa! Unimaginable. In N’Djamena of all places! Isn’t it insulting enough that dignified French criminals had to suffer the indignity of passing through an African judicial system and being treated like ordinary African criminals to boot? Imagine the emotional and psychological toll this treatment must have had on our criminals. I hope you will put pressure on the Chadian president to consider paying compensation to our criminals.

Really, these are times when I regret that we still haven’t found a proper replacement for my brother, the great Charles Foccart. There just will never be another Monsieur Afrique like him. He was a great man. He knew his Africa; he knew his Africans. They were like his children. When Charles Foccart handled Africa on behalf of La République, Africans were very well behaved children. Things would never have degenerated to a point where a whole Président de la République personally had to travel to Chad to secure the release of our criminals. One phone call from Foccart and Idriss Déby would have pissed in his pants. For more than three decades, Foccart raised and nurtured the boys who served us so well: Etienne Gnassingbé Eyadéma, Abdou Diouf, Paul Biya, Omar Bongo, Félix Houphouët-Boigny, Mathieu Kérékou, Dennis Sassou Nguesso, Modibbo Kéita and so many others. Even Mobutu Sese Seko, who belonged to the Belgians, knew that his bread was buttered only when he recognized Foccart’s authority. Every family has a black sheep. Our black sheep in those days was Thomas Sankara who consistently misbehaved and reared his vegetable head on our path. Foccart arranged for him to be disciplined by Blaise Compaoré…

This brings me to my next point. In less than one year of your Presidency, you’ve visited Gabon, Senegal, Chad, and a few other places in Africa. In Senegal, you gave that great speech but Africans have reacted to it with characteristic ingratitude. No surprise here. They were never grateful for the civilization we took to them anyway. My point, however, is that you’re fraternizing too much and too frequently with Africans. It is one thing for us to make them happy by calling them partners in the Francophonie, it is another matter entirely if your behaviour begins to create the erroneous impression that the said partnership is, for us, anything more than the productive partnership between the horse and its rider. We must never forget that they are still subjects of our vast neocolony. Familiarity breeds contempt. We already have unpalatable consequences of your trips to Africa on our laps…

You have spent almost two precious decades of your public career waging a jihad against the immoral and amoral effects of the black and beur presence in our clean, pure, and intrinsically moral Aryan cities in France. You and I agree that every single problem of moral decadence and degeneracy one encounters in Paris, for instance, is attributable to the presence of those undesirable, hungry racaille from West Africa and the Maghreb. Just look at what they have turned neighbourhoods like Barbès and Belleville to! They are dirty, do not speak French, grow Islamic beards, wear Islamic foulard, marry too many wives, have too many concubines or “deuxieme bureau”, have too many children who drain our sécurité sociale. I’m not going to talk about your predecessor, Jacques Chirac, who complained, justifiably, about the “noise and odor” of these unwanted folks who invade our territoire national.

Of these undesirable attributes, polygamy, concubinage, and marital infidelity are the most alien to our pure, Christian, civilized Western culture. They are the most formidable indices of the primordial immorality of these people. This explains why your jihad against immigrants and sans-papiers has consisted in trying to demonstrate that they are just too steeped in their immoral and amoral cultures to be able to integrate fully into our civilized society. How does one expect a Malian or an Algerian not to have a harem of wives that makes a single family look like a football team? It’s their culture, not ours. How does one expect a Gabonese or a Togolese, who pretends to have only one wife, not to have a string of concubines scattered all over Paris? It’s their culture, not ours. How does one expect them not to cheat and lie? It’s their nature, not ours. The sacrosanct essence of marital vows, so fundamental in our culture, is completely alien to Africans and Arabs.

Given these incontrovertible facts, I’ve been trying to understand recent developments in your own life that are completely at odds with our culture. I am not talking about the much-publicized divorce between you and Cecilia. Divorce is the Siamese twin of marriage in our Western societies. The problem I have is with the time line of events. The mathematics is not working. No matter how one cuts it, slices it, spins it, the inevitable scenario is that you were seeing Carla Bruni – that stunning Italian model, your current girlfriend, and future Madame Sarkozy – long before you divorced Cecilia. Now, that looks awfully lot like you were cheating on Cecilia, lying to her. That looks awfully lot like you had a girlfriend or a concubine or a “deuxieme bureau”. At some point in this time line, you had a loose form of polygamy going on. Now, you have spent an entire career explaining to the world that such behaviour – the idea of polygamy, concubinage, deuxieme bureau, marital infidelity, etc – is alien to our pure Aryan culture and can be found only in the immoral and amoral cultures of folks from West Africa and the Maghreb. Do you see my problem now? Already, some mischievous African immigrants, who have resisted full cultural integration ferociously for a very long time, are now saying that if Sarkozy’s lifestyle is emblematic of Western culture, they won’t mind integrating at all! It seems to me that you are degrading our culture by making it look like the culture of Africans.

In my search for explanations, I have come up with a brilliant thesis. Since your degenerate behavior of rotating droits de cuissage (conjugal duties) between Cecilia and Carla is completely alien to our culture, you must have caught the virus during your frequent trips to Africa. I think you caught what Americans call jungle fever. Definitely, Africans are to blame for your behavior. Since you know their history so well – as your Dakar lecture reveals – you must know that the pages of our colonial library are littered with the ghosts of Europeans who ventured into the Dark Continent - the white man’s grave - and were physically and metaphorically eaten up. Those who did not die lost their minds and their souls to the degeneracy of Africa. Something about the environment, the mosquitoes, the heat, the humidity, and the incomprehensible roar of jungle drums destroys the moral compass of Europeans who venture into Africa. In your own case, you went to Africa, lost the purity of our culture, and came back a lying, quasi-polygamist, two-timing … (let’s leave the four words that would have followed to Americans).

I am trying to start an NGO in Paris. Our aim will be to sensitize our compatriots to these things and to ensure that no future President of France will ever set foot in Africa. The risks aren’t just worth the gains. This, I hope, will be my contribution to my new home, my new culture, my new society, and my new country: France!

Yours in Francophilia,

Pius Adesanmi

* Pius Adesanmi is Associate Professor of English and Director, Project on New African Literatures ( www.projectponal.com) at Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada. Apart from his academic work, Dr. Adesanmi publishes opinion articles regularly in various internet fora. He runs a regular blog for The Zeleza Post ( www.zeleza.com) and has contributed to Counterpunch, Slepton and Chimurenga online. Tel: (613)520 2600, ext. 1175 Visit us today at : www.projectponal.com

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

Facts on the Kenyan crisis

2008-01-10

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/45287

I received your newsletter (Kenya Crisis: Action alerts at Pambazuka News/ Appeal on RapeCrisis Centres) and just wanted to say thanks for all the useful articles therein.

You may wish to alert your readers to the news service I work with in Nairobi. IRIN is part of the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs but wholly independent editorially. As you will see from the website, we have been providing extensive coverage of the humanitarian aspects of the current crisis and will continue to do so as it unfolds (and, hopefully, subsides).

One issue in particular we are focusing on right now is the increase gender-based violence. If you had further contacts other than the ones noted in your mail, I’d be most grateful.

I would like to point out one factual inaccuracy in your mail: as of Monday, 7th January, there are between 4,000 and 5,000 IDPs in Jamhuri park, not 75,000.

Best regards

Anthony Morland
Senior Editor, East & Central Africa
IRIN - Humanitarian News & Analysis
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Tel: +254 20 762 2964
Mob: +254 738 220 009
www.irinnews.org

Kudos to Pambazuka News

2008-01-10

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/45282

I've been an ardent admirer of the work you and the Pambazuka News Team have been producing for several years now. Like many people, I subscribe to quite a few online newsletters. But Pambazuka is one of the few I impatiently wait to see in my inbox every week...Being involved in ICT4D and watching many initiative come and go, I've noticed that only a handful seem to be making a real difference. Pambazuka is definitely one of them.

Warmest regards and all the best for the New Year,

Usha.

Planet of Slums

2008-01-11

http://www.isj.org.uk/index.php4?id=398&issue=117

Mike Davis’s book Planet of Slums provides a brilliant account of the rapid growth of urban areas and megaslums, created by the hammer blows of the global restructuring of the world system since the 1970s. Though Davis’s principle arguments concern the extraordinary growth of “megacities”, he also raises vital questions about the role of the working class in a world transformed by “market reforms” since the mid_1970s.

Kenya bloggers on Kenyan Electorial Crisis

Sokari Ekine

2008-01-09

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/blog/45278

White African comments that sometimes the only thing you can do in a crisis is report what you see. Using technology from google maps he takes Kenyan Pundit’s (see below) suggestion and creates a mashup of incidents reported by citizens.

“Basically, let’s create a mashup that people can report into on incidences of violence that they see.........Basically, you have an incident - that hopefully someone gets a picture or video of. A report on what happened and who was involved, and a location. That information is submitted and then populated into a map-based view that is easy to search by location and/or category. “

The idea for the site was first suggested on Saturday and by Wednesday due to sheer hard work and collaboration the site Ushahidi (meaning Witness) was up and running www.ushahidi.com/. The next step is to integrate an SMS messaging function which would enable anyone with access to a mobile phone to send in reports. A brilliant idea and example of how technology can be implemented in a short time when there is a crisis.


Kenyan Pundit has been publishing a series of diary entries on the elections and post elections. In Diary 12 “Reach Out” she writes of her “disbelief” in some of her friends who have engaged in “tribal bashing” and defended the actions of the government towards Kenyan citizens....

“And for them to turn around and approve and stand in defense of the unfairness meted to our fellow Kenyans has been most disturbing.Then add to that the open tribal - bashing and stereotyping, this from people who’ve not been back to Kenya in over a decade and whose circle of friends is pretty diverse - It has just been agonising and heartbreaking so much so that at one of our heated exchanges the blatant tribalism was so much I for the first time felt
ashamed of my tribes folks.”

Gerald Baraza is critical of the newly announced “illegitimate cabinet” announced by Mwai Kibaki which he describes as “Total Greed and Madness” and shows Kibaki has no regard for Kenyans, the democratic process or Kenya’s future. Baraza lists some of the possible outcomes of Kibaki’s announcement and makes some suggestions to the international community on how they can “save Kenya”...

“1. Tribal tensions will escalate to levels never witnessed before.
2. Feelings by majority of the Kenyan ethnic groups, especially the Luo, that Kibaki's dominant Kikuyu tribe has always given them a raw deal when it comes to the management, distribution, and utilization of resources and opportunities, will reach unparalled levels.

3.Violence is going to tripple in the country!
4. Guerilla warfare will become an option for many who feel cheated, frustrated and oppressed by an illegitimate regime.”

Mental Acrobatics shares a report on two grassroots taking initiatives taking place which provide encouragement.

Nafsi Afrika is a team of acrobats formed in 2000. Its acrobats come mainly from the Kawangware and Kibera slums in Nairobi. These two areas have been rocked by the violence of the past few days. Later on today this team of acrobats will build a human pyramid of acrobats from different tribes in a show of unity................AND
REPACTED is a community based youth-to-youth organization. They are based in Nakuru. In the Free Area part of Nakuru most of the landlords are Kikuyu and most of the tenants are Luo they managed to get both groups together in a forum.



Shajila Patel writes an open letter to Samuel Kivuitu (Chair of the Electorial Commission of Kenya) accusing him of betraying the people of Kenya and pointing our the consequences of his failure to act honourably and truthfully in the election process.

“You betrayed us. Perhaps we'll never know when, or why, you made that decision. One rumor claims you were threatened with the execution of your entire family if you did not name Kibaki as presidential victor. When I heard it, I hoped it was true. Because at least then I could understand why you chose instead to plunge our country into civil war.................... Do you think of the 300,000 Kenyans displaced from their homes, their lives? Of the thousands still trapped in police stations, churches, any refuge they can find, across the country? Without food, water, toilets, blankets? Of fields ready for harvest, razed to the ground? Of granaries filled with rotting grain, because no one can get to them? Of the Nairobi slum residents of Kibera, Mathare, Huruma, Dandora, ringed by GSU and police, denied exit, or access to medical treatment and emergency relief, for the crime of being poor in Kenya?”

Gukira confesses that despite watching the events unfold, reading and listening, writing has not been easy as he imagines that at least
“Somewhere, in this mess, someone I know, someone I love, someone I respect, has raised a hand in anger and frustration.”

Nonetheless he see the events of the past two weeks as either extraordinary or unexpected.

“It would be a mistake to view the events of the past week as entirely singular, extraordinary, or unexpected. Instead, they dramatize that for too long many Kenyans have been closing their eyes and blocking their ears to the ordinary suffering and frustration of fellow citizens. If what we have seen was an eruption, it was fed, in part, by our easy smiles and tolerance of inequality. Perhaps the sad truth is that we have all been living in a horror movie and we just awoke to that fact..................Unlike most horror movies, which end in total destruction or in some kind of redemption, the way ahead for us is not as scripted. It’s clear that we cannot simply assume we share the same values. Instead, we must cultivate shared values. We cannot rely on our leaders to heal our wounds. Instead, we must take responsibility for wounding each other. We can no longer live within purely ethnic enclaves. Instead, we must begin to bridge cultural and geographic differences.”

African Rhetoric is critical of the claim by many Kenyans and observers that both Mawi Kibaki and Raila Odinga are equally responsible for the post election violence.

“The problem, though, is that such a claim is not accurate. It is not true that Kibaki and Raila are to blame in equal measure for Kenya’s current predicament. It shouldn’t need saying that Kibaki stole the election; that the violence that erupted is a reaction to a coup. Attempts to bracket Kibaki’s wrongdoing in the name of focusing on ending the violence simply echoes Kibaki’s own vacuous talking point that he will only engage in dialogue once there is peace. It just so happens, though, that the violence stems from a dispute which must be resolved in order to bring about peace. Moreover, Kibaki and Raila do not occupy symmetrical positions of power. Kibaki, having seized the presidency, has the entire military-police apparatus at his command. He has far more resources, albeit illegitimately expropriated, and far more direct command over his forces than Raila does over the crazed mobs carrying out the ethnic cleansing of Kikuyus. A case in point: Kibaki’s internal security minister, John “Rasputin” Michuki, has converted Kisumu into a human abbatoir.”
Diary of a Mad Kenyan Woman

Diary of a Mad Kenyan Woman posts a daming essay on the election fraud, violence and those wishing to maintain the “feudal principlality of Kikuyustan”.

“How have we produced this population of Kenyans so estranged, so alienated from a sense of collective hope and a progressive trajectory that they are willing to burn to the ground this national edifice we call our home? I begin to suspect that it might have something to do with the ways in which we treat our people as if they are disposable nappies....first we crap all over them and then we throw them away. Or, first we work them up with visions and dreams of a utopia denied them only by the holding of office by the ‘the other side’ then we slyly make insinuations of how much easier life would be without ‘them’ and then we give them a little nudge and say “oh look, there goes one of them now. And who left this panga lying about in the open like that, all nice and shiny and sharp?”

And then we exclaim in shocked horror: oh goodness, me! However could this have happened? Oh please, please, well, gracious me, whatever shall we do?

On the other hand, whatever can Kikuyus think we are about, saying complacently that “we” won the election when even Europeans who can count are quite able to figure out the implications of votes which add up to fifty thousand and are transmuted into seventy thousand by some mysterious Kikuyu alchemy? It boggles the mind, the sheer bare-faced effrontery of fraud meant to thwart the popular will and carried out in naked defiance of international observers and Kenyan media. We may not have universal education yet, but a good number of Kenyans can count for themselves with a fair degree of confidence in their own tallies. What on earth do the people of Central Province mean, dancing about in the streets like that with joy, when it is evident to anyone who believes in this country that uchawi numbers are self-evidently not a cause for celebration? There’s hubris, and then there’s Central Province. I am fairly sure that it didn’t help matters. No one has won here, folks. We are all our own victims and our own oppressors—and some of us are guiltier than others.”

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Peace for Kenya


Kenya’s Post Election humanitarian crisis

* Sokari Ekine is author of Black Looks blog [www.blacklooks.org]

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

Flag and Future

Neema Ngwatilo Mawiyoo uses the image of the Kenya national flag to appeal for peace.

Neema Ngwatilo Mawiyoo

2008-01-11

http://www.pambazuka.org/en/broadcasts/podcasts.php

Neema Ngwatilo Mawiyoo is a young writer and musician based in Nairobi. She asks and seeks to answer difficult artistic and human questions. She does not always reach an answer, and the dialogue is not always pleasant. To contact Ngwatilo: nmawiyoo [ at ] gmail.com.

Talks on hold to accommodate Chinamasa holiday

2008-01-11

http://www.swradioafrica.com/news100108/chamisa100108.htm

The ruling Zanu PF party has requested the postponement of mediation talks between itself and the MDC, because chief negotiator Patrick Chinamasa is on holiday. Earlier in the week South African president Thabo Mbeki personally took charge of the talks in an attempt to save them from collapse. Sources say he intended to chair this weeks meeting in person and try to use his influence to clear outstanding issues.

AU Monitor Weekly Roundup

Issue 119, 2008

2008-01-10

http://www.aumonitor.org/

This week's AU Monitor brings you important updates regarding the African Union's response to the post-election crisis occurring in Kenya.
Immediately following post-election uprisings, the African Union Commission delivered a Communique' on the situation in Kenya and reiterates its "attachment to democratic principles", especially when it pertains to "free, fair, and transparent elections".

Also, AU Chairman Ghanaian President John Kufuor accepted an invitation of Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki to visit Kenya and assess the situation in that country. Chairman Kufuor agreed to make the trip soon, stating that "Kenya had always been a flagship of Africa's rising image and nothing should be done to destroy the country". Further, Chairman Kufuor joined in the mediation efforts following post-election violence in Kenya , urging President Kibaki and opposition leader Odinga to "restrain their supporters to avert further violent clashes which could only lead to the destabilization of the great country, Kenya". Lastly, a Kenyan envoy recently met with Chairman Kufuor in Ghana to discuss strategies for ending the conflicts occurring in Kenya.

In other AU news, in his New Year message, AU Commissioner Konare' encourages continued efforts towards a unified continent, and calls for the continent to develop new alliances, envisioning a multi-dimensional continent. Further, the AU Commission is set to approve the appointments of a new Chairperson and eight new commissioners at its next Heads of State Summit this month in Addis Ababa.
A thirteen-member high-level panel, chosen by AU commissioners at the July Accra summit, conducted an audit of the AU and has produced a report which facilitates political integration on the continent.

Lastly, the AU Commission will hold a Private Sector Forum, with the theme "Africa's Industrial Drive: The Private Sector and Corporate Citizenship". The Forum will focus on ways of strengthening the private sector on the continent as it can play a key role in alleviating poverty and reducing the vulnerability of African countries.

In peace and security news, a UNAMID supplies convoy was recently attacked during a re-supply mission. Further, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged member states to speed up the process of sending units and equipment to UNAMID , which is still thousands of troops short of its intended goal of deploying 20,000 to the Darfur region. General Ki-moon adds that, "a robust and effective UNAMID will contribute towards Darfur's long-term stability".

Leaders of the Pan-African Parliament are calling for the Parliament to shift from its current advisory role to a legislative body, in order to "harmonize national laws across the continent to ensure free trade and common ties in various areas of cooperation to push the development of the continent forward".
The African Development Bank (AfDB) announced the receipt of a record-breaking US $8.9 billion of support for its African Development Fund. With this assistance, the AfDB commits to improving infrastructure, governance and regional integration on the continent.

In regional news, Damas Kanyabwoya provides commentary on the need for the East African Community (EAC) to focus on developing infrastructure and improving trade relations amongst member states, in order to improve the movement of resources and reduce transaction costs within the region.

In economic news, Emmanuel Wetang'ulagi provides analysis on how economic partnership agreements (EPA's) with Europe harm the policy autonomy of African countries, and that the negotiations taking place are "not bound to yield much for developing countries". Lastly, Bamuturaki Musinguzi discusses a paper entitled "The Impact of High Oil Prices on African Countries", which says that high oil prices can lead to a "decrease in output and consumption and to a worsening of the net foreign asset position of such said countries".
Lastly, the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Africa Steering Group has been established by the United Nations to specifically address concerns in Africa.

Liberia: UNMIL sex abuse declines

2008-01-11

http://www.afrol.com/articles/27647

There has been a sharp decline in the number of allegations of sexual exploitation and abuse against the United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) staff in the last half of last year, a report revealed. The latest UNMIL sexual exploitation and abuse report was a complete variance of what happened during the same period in 2006.

U.N. Reform and the 52nd Session of the CSW

2008-01-11

http://www.choike.org/nuevo_eng/informes/6233.html

Statement submitted on behalf of the global campaign for Gender Equality Architecture Reform in the United Nations by Amnesty International, Asia Pacific Women’s Watch, Association for Women’s Rights In Development, Center for Women’s Global Leadership, Development Alternatives for Women in a New Era, African Women's Development & Communication Network, International Planned Parenthood Federation, Women’s Environmental and Development Organization, WIDE - Globalising Gender Equality and Social Justice non-governmental organizations in consultative status with the Economic and Social Council.

Nigeria: The shame of the Nigeria Police Force

Leo Igwe

2008-01-11

http://culturekitchen.com/leo_igwe/story/the_shame_of_the_nigeria_police_force

Recently, I was involved in getting prosecuted a man who raped a ten-year-old girl in Imo state in Southern Nigeria. In the course of this, I visited several police stations in Southeastern Nigeria where I met, interacted and encountered various police officers. And I must say that I was deeply shocked and disappointed by what I saw-by what I noticed going on at the police stations in the name of police work.

Liberia: Mixed feelings about truth commission’s purpose

2008-01-11

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=76178

Many Liberians observing the opening of the country’s first public truth and reconciliation commission hearings on 8 January were confused about what the hearings would mean if the accused would not be prosecuted afterwards.

Liberia: War crimes trial of former president resumes in UN-backed court

2008-01-11

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=25228

After a delay of more than four months, the war crimes trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor resumed today at the United Nations-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL). Mr. Taylor is facing 11 counts of war crimes, crimes against humanity and other serious violations of international humanitarian law – including mass murder, mutilations, rape, sexual slavery and the use of child soldiers – for his role in the decade-long civil war that engulfed Sierra Leone, which borders Liberia. He has pleaded not guilty to all charges against him.

UK: Removed Ghanaian patient in care struggle

2008-01-11

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7182467.stm

A terminally-ill Ghanaian woman who was forced to return home after her UK visa expired is struggling to receive the medical treatment she needs. Ama Sumani, 39, who has cancer and requires kidney dialysis, was removed from a Cardiff hospital and flown back to her home country on Wednesday.

Rwanda: Former army officer arrested in France

2008-01-11

http://allafrica.com/stories/200801100029.html

A former officer of the Rwandan Armed Forces (FAR), Lieutenant-Colonel Marcel Bivugabagabo, 53, was arrested Tuesday in Toulouse, southern France, at the request of the Rwandan authorities. Bivugabagabo, who was commander of the operational sector of Ruhengeri, northern Rwanda, during the genocide from April to July 1994, is sought for his participation in the killings.

Kenya : 250,000 displaced by post-election violence

2008-01-11

http://tinyurl.com/23bmk9

According to the United Nations, 250,000 people have been displaced in Kenya and 600 killed by violence following the country’s disputed elections. With the delivery of aid hampered by roadblocks, healthcare NGO Merlin is warning of a devastating health emergency. Representatives of IDPs in temporary camps in Bungoma, Western Province, reported on 7 January that food rations had run out and disease was setting in, while several children have reportedly died of exposure.

Kenya: Refugees at Uganda border: Red Cross intervenes

2008-01-11

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/EDIS-7AQR6V?OpenDocument

Uganda Red Cross Society (URCS) has so far supported over 3, 778 Kenyan families in Malaba and Busia towns with basic non food items like blankets, soap, jerry cans, mosquito nets and cooking utensils. As of January 9, the population of Kenyans at the boarder was put at 3, 115 people. URCS has pre-positioned stocks to cater for 1, 000 households at the border.

Countdown to Global Day of Action

2008-01-11

http://www.wsf2008.net/

The Global Call for Action is asking social movements and civil society worldwide to mobilize together in the week culminating on January 26, 2008. The Call was generated inside the World Social Forum and was launched in June 2007 in Berlin by many international networks. It is promoted by all the organizations and movements at the global, national, and local level who refer to the WSF Charter of Principles.

Message of solidarity with the people of Kenya

2008-01-11

http://gracekwinjeh.blogspot.com/2008/01/message-of-solidarity-with-people-of.html

The Global Zimbabwe Forum in partnership with its local regional affiliate, the Zimbabwe Diaspora Forum would like to confirm that it successfully participated in a public protest outside the Kenyan High Commission in Pretoria, South Africa.

Kenya: Reach Out concert

2008-01-11

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/socialmovements/45303

The Reach Out concert on January 13 will be a fund raising effort through which, with your help we can achieve several objectives:
1) Help those displaced and affected by the election violence.
2) All gate proceeds from the show will be donated to the International Red Cross and Pamoja Youth Foundation to aid in the support of displaced persons due to election skirmishes in Nairobi .
3) To provide a platform where local artistes and participants can join hands in a single united effort to show the world that Kenya is united and peaceful regardless of ethnicity or political influences.
4) To provide an avenue for Kenyans to contribute to the ongoing relief efforts by:-direct donation to the International Red Cross, who will be on-site-donate blood through the Blood donor Service of Kenya
5) To regain a sense of normalcy where our city will regain it's vibrancy. Please forward this mail to more people so they too can join hands and Reach Out to help our brothers and sisters in need.
KENYA NI YETU!
A FUND RAISING CONCERT WILL BE HELD AT THE CARNIVORE GROUNDS AS FOLLOWs:

Event: Reach Out Fundraising Concert

Date: Sunday, 13th January 2008
Time: 1.00pm - 6.00pm
Charges: Kshs 200.00
Artists already confirmed:
-Suzanna Owiyo
-Kayamba Africa
-Jemima Thiongo
-Jua Cali
-Didge
-Karma
-Atemi
-Kaz
-Nikki
-Sarakasi Dancers

The Reach Out concert will be a fund raising effort through which, with your help we can achieve several objectives:
1) Help those displaced and affected by the election violence.
2) All gate proceeds from the show will be donated to the International Red Cross and Pamoja Youth Foundation to aid in the support of displaced persons due to election skirmishes in Nairobi .
3) To provide a platform where local artistes and participants can join hands in a single united effort to show the world that Kenya is united and peaceful regardless of ethnicity or political influences.
4) To provide an avenue for Kenyans to contribute to the ongoing relief efforts by:-direct donation to the International Red Cross, who will be on-site-donate blood through the Blood donor Service of Kenya
5) To regain a sense of normalcy where our city will regain it's vibrancy. Please forward this mail to more people so they too can join hands and Reach Out to help our brothers and sisters in need.
KENYA NI YETU!

Gabon: government suspends 'political NGOs'

2008-01-11

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7180686.stm

Gabon has temporarily banned the activities of up to 20 non-governmental organisations for their alleged interference in politics. Interior Minister Andre Mba Obame said the ban would be lifted as soon as each NGO clearly defined its mission and structure with his ministry.

Kenya: Elections boss Kivuitu disowns poll results

2008-01-11

http://www.eastandard.net/news/?id=1143980257&cid=4

The credibility of the presidential results took a further beating when the chairman of the disgraced Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) disowned a list published in the press on Thursday. And Mr Samuel Kivuitu hinted — for the second time after the announcement of the disputed presidential results — of external pressure being brought to bear on his commission to act in a certain way.

Kenya: World Bank boss’ leaked memo stirs controversy

2008-01-11

http://www.eastandard.net/news/?id=1143980258&cid=4

World Bank Country Director, Mr Colin Bruce, was a man on the spot as a confidential memo he authored supporting President Kibaki’s re-election kicked off controversy in Nairobi and Washington. The leaked January 8 briefing note, originating from the World Bank Kenya office, lays out the case for accepting Kibaki’s victory on the basis of "oral briefings and documents from senior UNDP officials" who "monitored the overall electoral process".

Kenya: Talks collapse as Kuffuor jets out

2008-01-11

http://www.eastandard.net/news/?id=1143980256&cid=4

Talks between the Government and ODM to hammer out a solution to the crisis that has crippled the country collapsed, putting in jeopardy a process that had returned calm to the country.

Kenya: Opposition to resume nationwide protests

2008-01-11

http://africa.reuters.com/top/news/usnBAN131900.html

Kenya's opposition said on Friday it planned to restart protests across the east African nation against President Mwai Kibaki's disputed re-election after the failure of African Union (AU) mediation. Opposition leaders will hold an afternoon news conference "to announce the immediate resumption of nationwide mass action against the irregular presidential results," Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) spokesman Tony Gachoka said.

Zimbabwe: Election observers report problems

2008-01-11

http://www.zwnews.com/issuefull.cfm?ArticleID=18052

Impoverished Zimbabwean farmers have to show they are loyal members of the ruling party if they want free equipment that the government is offering, and opposition supporters have been threatened with dogs, independent democracy monitors said on Thursday. Thursday's report by the Zimbabwe Election Support Network three months ahead of planned national elections also outlined problems with voter education and registration.

Nigeria: Graft boss strikes again

2008-01-11

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7178734.stm

Nigerian anti-corruption agents have issued an arrest warrant for an eighth former governor. Lucky Igbinedion of Edo State is accused of stealing more than $24m (£12m) through three front companies. Seven other governors have so far been charged with corruption by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Morocco: New national centre to monitor corruption

2008-01-11

http://tinyurl.com/2pjbph

Transparency Maroc kicked off the New Year by opening the National Corruption Monitoring and Transparency Development Centre in Casablanca. Created in November 2007 with the financial support of the Embassy of the Netherlands, the centre has just begun work on tackling corruption, assisting victims of the problem and building integrity in both the government and the private sector.

South Africa: Police boss blames former prosecutor

2008-01-11

http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=13&art_id=vn20080111110500279C281645

Former national director of public prosecutions Bulelani Ngcuka is driving the investigation against him, National Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi claims. This allegation is contained in Selebi's founding affidavit lodged with the Pretoria High Court.

Global: Watchdog faults IMF loan conditions

2008-01-11

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=40686

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) continues to burden its borrowers with superfluous demands despite efforts to streamline loans, an internal watchdog has found. "Progress had been made in better aligning IMF conditionality to its core areas of responsibility and expertise, but about one-third of conditions continued to reach outside these areas," said Tom Bernes, director of the fund's Independent Evaluation Office.

Southern Africa: Mines & mineral in Malawi - Are Malawians benefitting?

2008-01-11

http://topics.developmentgateway.org/environment/rc/ItemDetail.do?itemId=1126704

This is an overview of mineral deposits and extractive industries in Malawi - with particular emphasis on recent initiatives to exploit uranium deposits that were, until recently, deemed uneconomic, but have now attracted attention due to changing global factors.

South Africa: Cellphone helps reduce irrigation costs

2008-01-11

http://www.africanews.com/site/list_messages/14531

Small scale sugar cane farmers in South Africa have managed to potentially reduce their direct irrigation costs by US$300 per hectare thanks to the use of a high cellphone technology system that is providing them with practical, real up to date information about when to irrigate their crops. A pilot project was implemented by the South African Sugar Association on two small scale irrigation schemes at Pongola in Mpumalanga province and Makhathini in KwaZulu Natal, meant at boasting production as well as saving water a precious commodity in these dry regions.

Tunisia: Uncertainty about EU free trade agreement

2008-01-11

http://tinyurl.com/2dwcw8

The last remaining customs barriers between Tunisia and the EU were lifted when the Free Trade Zone Agreement became effective January 1st, but Tunisian opinion remains mixed over the measure. Noting that Tunisia is the first south Mediterranean country to establish a free trade zone with the EU, Businessmen's Association Secretary-General Hedi Jilani said the country has entered into a new stage "full of challenges and rich in promises and ambitions".

Africa: Tourism and poverty alleviation

2008-01-11

http://www.choike.org/documentos/tourism_help_poor.pdf

This paper explores the current tourist destination trends and uses airline linkages and distribution systems as focal points to enquire if tourism can be an appropriate tool in alleviating poverty.

Senegal: Protest over EU trade deals

2008-01-11

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/56842DB0-E793-4737-9405-E8D2F40AA51F.htm

Thousands of people took to the streets in Senegal's capital Dakar on Monday to protest against proposed trade deals with Europe. The rally was backed by Senegal's government which says the new agreement will expose local African markets to too much foreign competition.

Kenya: Displaced persons advised to take full ART doses

2008-01-11

http://www.eastandard.net/news/?id=1143980242&cid=159

The Ministry of Health has advised displaced Aids patients not to take an under dose of Antiretroviral drugs. The ministry acknowledged that victims might experience difficulties accessing the drugs, but cautioned against reduction of the daily dosage. On Thursday, the Director of Medical Services, Dr James Nyikal, asked patients who interrupt medication to keep records to enable medical staff help them when they resume.

Kenya: MSM urgently require targeted HIV prevention

2008-01-11

http://www.aidsmap.com/en/news/A4ED06C5-E06D-4C1B-82D6-9E2D4794BB9F.asp

Men who have sex with men (MSM) in Kenya urgently need targeted, HIV risk-reduction prevention information, according to the first study describing HIV prevalence and risk factors in a large group of East African MSM. The study is published in the November 2007 edition of AIDS.

Malawi: Rapid, opt-out HIV testing accepted by over 99% of women

2008-01-11

http://www.aidsmap.com/en/news/F1C42D0C-E3C4-4AD5-92B5-6FD80FF42235.asp

Acceptance of HIV testing among pregnant women at an urban clinic in Malawi has risen steadily since the testing programme was instituted in 2002, according to a retrospective analysis published in the January 2nd edition of AIDS. Acceptance rose from 45% to 73% after rapid, same-day testing was made available in July 2003.

Africa: Africa 'being drained of doctors'

2008-01-11

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7178978.stm

Many African countries now have more doctors and nurses working in richer countries abroad than they have at home, research shows. There has long been concern about the exodus of African medics, but the Human Resources for Health study suggests the problem may be greater than assumed. Several countries, including Mozambique and Angola, have more doctors in one single foreign country than at home.

South Africa: Solving treatment bottlenecks

2008-01-11

http://www.plusnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=76096

The monthly "Improvement Meeting" at Qumbu Health Centre, 50km from the Eastern Cape province town of Mthatha, is supposed to start at 9am, but rarely starts before 10am. Many of the nurses attending work at remote rural clinics scattered across Mhlontlo District and have to travel along rudimentary roads using the mini-bus taxis system to reach the meeting, so no-one complains about late arrivals.

Mozambique: Property grabbing leaves orphans destitute

2008-01-11

http://www.plusnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=76012

On a farm in the district of Bárue, in the central province of Manica, 16-year-old Helena Ivan hurries home with a small bundle on her head. After hours packaging potatoes, she’s allowed to take a few for herself and the two brothers she has been supporting since her parents died of AIDS-related diseases in 2005. Of the possessions Ivan’s mother and father left – a kiosk, a house, a minibus and some goats – only the house was handed over to the children, and only because it had been registered in the name of the youngest child, Januário, who is now 12.

Kenya: Report to nearest school, PC tells students

2008-01-11

http://www.eastandard.net/news/?id=1143980245&cid=159

The Government has asked parents displaced by the recent post-election violence to take their children to the nearest school from where they are camping. On Thursday, the Government also directed teachers and other staff displaced by the violence to report to their work stations. Rift Valley PC, Mr Hassan Noor Hassan, told a news conference in Nakuru that only three of 38 districts in the province were not affected by the skirmishes.

Swaziland: Urban youth slipping through the cracks

2008-01-11

http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/nota.asp?idnews=40745

As the new school year begins here many destitute or orphaned children are in need of assistance to pay for their educations. An unknown number of urban youngsters, however, are slipping through the social welfare net. "Impoverished children in the country’s urban areas might run into the thousands," Juanita Mkhonta, a social welfare worker in the central commercial town Manzini, told IPS.

Rwanda: Peace and reconciliation studies for universities

2008-01-11

http://allafrica.com/stories/200801110264.html

Plans to begin teaching peace and reconciliation studies in universities are in the pipeline, an official at the National Unity and Reconciliation Commission (NURC) has said. According to Frank Kobukyeye who is in charge of conflict management at the commission, NURC is working with Permanent Education for Peace and Reconciliation (EPPR) to implement the programme.

Nigeria: Inefficient gas flaring remains unchecked

2008-01-11

http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/nota.asp?idnews=40751

"The Federal Government policy to stop gas flaring commences on Jan. 1, 2008, and any company which flares gas after that time would be shut down." This was the strong warning from the Nigerian government in October last year to multinational oil companies operating in the country. Gas flaring continued in 2008 in defiance of the Nigerian government’s warning that the act would not be tolerated in the new year.

Southern Africa: Death toll rises in Zim, Mozambique floods

2008-01-11

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=328951

Four more people have drowned in Zimbabwe, bringing to 31 the numbers killed in flooding caused by a month of heavy rains, which have also claimed two lives in neighbouring Mozambique, according to various reports on Friday. In Zimbabwe, three people travelling in an ox-drawn cart were swept away by floodwaters in an area in northern Mashonaland West province, the state-run Herald reported.

Western Sahara: UN-led talks end with parties pledging to step up negotiations

2008-01-11

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=25251

The latest round of United Nations-led discussions on Western Sahara wrapped up today, with Morocco and the Frente Polisario agreeing on the need to move into a more intensive and substantive phase of negotiations. The two-day talks, which took place in Manhasset, just outside of New York City, were also attended by the neighbouring countries, Algeria and Mauritania, which were present at the opening and closing sessions and consulted separately during the discussions.

Ethiopia: Mursi celebrate withdrawal of conservation organisation from their land

2008-01-11

http://www.survival-international.org/news/2885

Mursi tribal people living in and around the Omo National Park in Ethiopia are celebrating the withdrawal of conservation organisation African Parks from their land. The decision by African Parks (formerly Africa Parks Foundation) to terminate their agreement with the Ethiopian government to manage the Omo Park was announced in December, and was greeted with joy and relief by many Mursi.

Egypt: 51 websites escape ban

2008-01-11

http://www.afrol.com/articles/27645

A court in Egypt has refused to place a ban on 51 websites in the country. The court recognised the importance of freedom of expression in a civilised society and as such the websites should operate as long as they do not undermine fundamental beliefs or public order.

Kenya: IFJ Calls for Kenyan Government to Lift Ban on Media Immediately

2008-01-11

http://www.ifj.org/default.asp?Index=5668&Language=EN

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has called on the Kenyan government to end its 10-day ban on live news reports as violence that erupted after President Mwai Kibaki was declared winner of the election subsided.

West Africa: Press freedom violations decrease in 2007

2008-01-11

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/media/45299

The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA)’s monitoring of attacks on freedom of speech and expression in West Africa shows a decline in the number of incidents of press freedom violations in the sub-region in year 2007.
Press Statement
Press freedom violations decreased in 2007

The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA)’s monitoring of attacks on freedom of speech and expression in West Africa shows a decline in the number of incidents of press freedom violations in the sub-region in year 2007. One hundred and forty-two (142) cases of violations were recorded in fifteen of the sixteen countries covered by the MFWA in the sub-region, including Mauritania, as compared to one hundred and sixty-eight (168) in 2006. Niger topped the list with twenty-three (23) cases of abuses of press freedom rights. Nigeria, the country with the largest population and land size, follows with eighteen (18) cases of abuses. Of the remaining figure, Sierra Leone and Liberia had fourteen (14) each. Ghana is fifth on the list with thirteen (13) cases. Guinea-Conakry and The Gambia, where there is state repression, followed with eleven (11) cases each. Senegal follows closely with nine (9) cases.Cote d’Ivoire recorded eight (8) cases, while Burkina Faso had six (6). Mali and Mauritania recorded seven (7) cases each. The last sets of countries that had cases ranging from 2-4 were Benin two (2); Togo three (3) and Guinea-Bissau four (4).

Cape Verde registered no case.

The MFWA notes that, as usual, this compilation may not include several other possible acts of violation that may not have been noticed, observed or reported. It is likely that some of the countries that registered a low number of cases may have been poorly monitored. Even for those where there appears to be more cases reported, not all cases may have been captured, especially if they occurred outside the capitals and big cities.

Moreover, the MFWA observes that while a low number of cases does not necessarily mean less harmful violations, more cases do not necessarily represent the cruelest violations, either. Two countries, The Gambia and Guinea-Conakry, exhibited the worst and generally more violent forms of repression, yet recorded numerically less than, say, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Ghana.

This report only records violations against press freedom, and does not represent numerous other acts of attacks on free speech or violations of other realms of freedom of expression in the region, such as academic freedom, etc. However, Mali’s small number of cases included one distinctly disturbing violation of academic freedom. Mali’s cases also indicated a negative tendency away from the country’s fine records in recent years. The MFWA reiterates its numerous calls to human rights organizations, political parties, and their leaders and civil society organizations who cherish democracy to join the MFWA and free expression advocacy organizations to intensify activities to protest such violations.

Issued by the MFWA, Accra on January 9, 2008.

The MFWA is a regional independent, non-profit, non-governmental organization based in Accra. It was founded in 1997 to defend and promote the rights and freedom of the media and all forms of expression.

For further information: Please Contact:

MFWA P.O. Box LG 730, Legon Accra, Ghana
Tel 233-21 242470 Fax 233 -21 221084
Email: mfwa@africaonline.com.gh
Website: http://www.mediafound.org

Niger: IFJ Calls for Investigation into Death of Radio Director

2008-01-11

http://www.ifjafrique.org/anglais/index.php?page=lire&id=459

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has called for an investigation into the death of private radio station director Abdou Mahaman, who was killed after his vehicle ran over a landmine Tuesday night in Niger’s capital Niamey.

Côte d’Ivoire: IFJ calls for release of French journalist detained

2008-01-11

http://www.ifjafrique.org/anglais/index.php?page=lire&id=458

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has expressed concern over the prolonged detention of the French freelance photojournalist Jean-Paul Ney who was arrested two weeks ago in Ivory Coast for allegedly endangering state security.

Tanzania: Attack on Tanzanian reporters denounced

2008-01-11

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=329150

Media rights watchdog Reporters sans Frontières on Tuesday condemned an attack on two Tanzanian journalists who were beaten and had acid thrown at them. The Paris-based rights group said assailants attacked Saeed Kubenea, publisher of Swahili weekly Mwanahalisi, and its editor, Ndimara Tegambwage, in their offices in a suburb of Tanzanian commercial capital Dar es Salaam.

DRC: UN-backed peace summit begins in volatile east

2008-01-11

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=25225

A United Nations-supported conference aimed at bringing peace, security and development to the strife-torn eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is underway in North Kivu province, where fighting has uprooted hundreds of thousands of people in the past year. Over 1,000 delegates are taking part in the nine-day summit which began yesterday in Goma, the capital of North Kivu, where fighting has escalated in recent months between Government troops and rebels allied with the dissident army general, Laurent Nkunda, forcing hundreds of thousands of civilians to flee their homes.

Africa: Kenya is not the new Rwanda

Frank Furedi

2008-01-10

http://www.spiked-online.com/index.php?/site/article/4249/

Back in the 1970s, when Eldoret in Kenya was a relatively sleepy town, I was struck by the frontier-type mentality of many of the people I encountered there. Individuals and families came to this part of western Kenya to start a new life, and to try to make their fortune.

Kenya: WFP food starts to reach Nairobi slums

2008-01-11

http://appablog.wordpress.com/

The Kenya Red Cross Society and local partners have started distributing food assistance from the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the Government of Kenya to tens of thousands of people in the Nairobi slums hardest-hit after days of post-election violence. It was the first time WFP food was handed out in the slums in a general food distribution. The Government of Kenya provided cereals to the Kenya Red Cross (KRC) while WFP gave the pulses, high energy biscuits, vegetable oil and corn-soya blend needed for a full food basket.

Sudan: Government admits attacking Darfur peacekeepers

2008-01-11

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=329343

Sudan admitted on Thursday that its troops had opened fire on a joint United Nations/African Union peacekeeping convoy in Darfur, contradicting an earlier denial by its ambassador to the UN. A spokesperson for the Sudanese armed forces said the attack was the result of a "shared mistake". He said the UN/AU Mission in Darfur (Unamid) had failed to warn his soldiers they would be passing through the area, Sudan state news agency Suna reporte

Chad: Government threatens to strike at rebels inside Sudan

2008-01-11

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=329013

Chadian President Idriss Déby Itno on Saturday threatened to pursue and strike Chadian rebels inside neighbouring Sudan and repeated charges that Khartoum was trying to destabilise his country. Déby claimed his forces had already driven out the rebels from Chad and said: "We're going to destroy them in their nest inside Sudan. "We're going to make them eat dust inside Sudan," he added at a support rally in Ndjamena.

Global: Intel 'undermined' laptop project

2008-01-11

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/7178241.stm

Intel repeatedly undermined a not-for profit scheme to bring cheap laptops to children in the developing world, the head of the charity has told BBC News. Nicholas Negroponte accused Intel, which makes a rival PC, of underhand sales tactics and trying to block contracts to buy his machines.

Rwanda: Mayors Promise ICT for All in 2008

2008-01-11

http://africa.oneworld.net/article/view/156735/1/

All Rwandans at the cell level could have access to ICT facilities by the end of next year if plans presented by district mayors yesterday are implemented. A cell is the second lowest administrative level. While presenting their development plans, most mayors promised President Paul Kagame that by the end of next year, Information Communication and Technology (ICT) facilities would have been extended to the cell level.

Global: CCM Activation Grants 2008 - Request for concept papers

2008-01-11

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/fundraising/45305

The Global AIDS Alliance (GAA) is soliciting concept papers from local and national civil society organizations (CSOs) in Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Madagascar, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and Zambia to develop and implement intensive country-level advocacy campaigns to increase access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services supported by the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. The campaigns will be supported by an activation grant of up to US$20,000 to be implemented over a period of 8 months, beginning March 1, 2008 through October 31, 2008. The deadline for submitting concept papers is 21 January 2008.
REQUEST FOR CONCEPT PAPERS

CCM Activation Grants 2008

Increasing access to sexual and reproductive health services in Africa via Global Fund Round 8 grants

SUMMARY

The Global AIDS Alliance (GAA) is soliciting concept papers from local and national civil society organizations (CSOs) in Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Madagascar, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and Zambia to develop and implement intensive country-level advocacy campaigns to increase access to sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services supported by the Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. The campaigns will be supported by an activation grant of up to US$20,000 to be implemented over a period of 8 months, beginning March 1, 2008 through October 31, 2008. The deadline for submitting concept papers is 21 January 2008.

The CCM activation grants form one component of a broader effort to increase funding for integrated SRH programs and services within the Global Fund's Round 8 grant cycle. Partners that receive a CCM activation grant will be expected to
· participate in an Africa-wide advocacy workshop 29 February 2008 in sub-Saharan Africa (location to be confirmed);
. travel and lodging expenses within Africa will be fully covered and should not be included in the grant application;
· contribute to regional and continent-wide information sharing and collaboration to leverage expertise and experience across individual countries;
· serve as an expert resource to inform GAA's advocacy efforts; and · participate in monitoring and evaluating both GAA's and the overall success of the initiative in achieving its stated goals.

ABOUT GAA

The Global AIDS Alliance seeks to mobilize a comprehensive, evidence-based response to the global AIDS crisis while addressing the epidemic's fundamental links to global health, gender, and income inequities. Based in Washington, DC, GAA conducts advocacy aimed at donor governments and multilateral institutions to fulfill their political and financial commitments for achieving universal access to HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, and care by 2010. GAA partners with rights-based advocates in implementing countries to promote governmental accountability and tangible improvements to the quality of life for people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS. We demand faster, bolder action and concrete results to stop AIDS while protecting the dignity and rights those most at risk of infection and its consequences.

For more information, please see www.globalaidsalliance.org

ABOUT THE GLOBAL FUND RH-HIV INTEGRATION INITIATIVE

The global community has committed itself to achieving universal access to reproductive health by 2015, and affirmed the linkages between SRH services and HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, and care. The WHO and other agencies that provide technical expertise to the Global Fund further identify integrated SRH/HIV/AIDS services as a 'best practice' that should be included in Global Fund disease-component proposals. However, in order to ensure that SRH linkages are translated into concrete programs and services via Global Fund grants, Country Coordinating Mechanisms (CCMs) must include integrated programming in their country proposals. To that end, the objectives of the Initiative are twofold.

1. At the country level, catalyze Country Coordinating Mechanisms (CCMs) to include integrated SRH programming within Global Fund Round 8 proposals by mobilizing political commitment and country demand for SRH.

2. At the global level, advance Global Fund policy, institutional, and operational reforms to foster an enabling environment for the submission and approval of Country Coordinated Proposals that include integrated SRH programs and services. The initiative is a collaborative civil society effort of GAA along with Population Action International (PAI), Interact Worldwide, the International HIV/AIDS Alliance, the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF), and Friends of the Global Fund Africa. It is funded through contributions from non-corporate/non-governmental private donations from organizations and foundations.

IMPORTANT DATES

21 January 2008 Deadline for submitting concept papers to GAA
25 January 2008 Notification of invitation to submit proposals
11 February 2008 Deadline for submitting proposals to GAA
15 February 2008 Notification of grant awards
27-29 February 2008 Advocacy Workshop to kickoff Global Fund Round 8 demand creation, Nairobi, Kenya (tentative, location to be confirmed)

1 March 2008 Global Fund launches Call for Proposals Round 8
1 July 2008 Global Fund deadline for submission Round 8
Aug - Sept 2008 Global Fund Technical Review Panel (TRP) meets on Round 8 November 2008 Global Fund decisions on Round 8 proposals

WHO CAN APPLY?

Independent, indigenous civil society organizations and networks based and engaged in national-level advocacy in one of the initiatives' focus countries (listed at the beginning of this document). Organizations should be in existence for at least 3 years, although exceptions may be made on the basis of individual proposals. Preference will be given to women-led organizations. Ideally, funding will contribute to and strengthen the organization or networks' overall priorities and capacity and complement broader national and regional advocacy strategies aimed at protecting sexual and reproductive health and rights and addressing the causes and consequences of HIV/AIDS.

WHAT WILL THE GRANTS FUND?

CCM activation grants are intended to support advocacy activities to catalyze demand for integrated SRH programs and services within proposals submitted by CCMs in the Global Fund Round 8 funding cycle. The objective of these activities is to create a favorable social and political environment for integrating sexual and reproductive health priorities and services in Global Fund programs including access to contraceptives; counseling, testing, and treatment for sexually transmitted infections; positive prevention; integrated prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT+); youth-friendly services; maternal health; and efforts to detect and address gender-based violence. Sample activities include
* Targeted outreach to members of the CCM;
* CCM watchdog activities to promote governmental accountability for sexual and reproductive health commitments;
* Coalition building activities to bring together diverse stakeholders to advocate on behalf of sexual and reproductive health and rights, including people living with HIV/AIDS, children';s advocates, and human rights champions; and/or
* Media outreach and public education to demonstrate country demand for SRH services.

Grants may include relevant and reasonable core/operating costs.

Funds may not be used for
* Religious proselytizing
* Electoral activities or the support of political parties
* Governmental activities
* Academic studies
* Individuals

GUIDELINES FOR CONCEPT PAPERS

· Concept papers should be submitted to the attention of Alia Khan, Global Partnerships Advisor, via e-mail (akhan@globalaidsalliance.org) or facsimile (+1 (202) 789-0715) no later than 21 January 2008.

· No more than 2 pages. English language submissions are preferred, however French and Portuguese submissions will be accepted.

· Contact information
o Name of organization
o Primary contact person's name and title o Address (physical and postal)

o Telephone and fax numbers o E-mail, Skype user name, and web address (if available)

· Organizational information
o Organizational description, mission, size, date established, and primary activities
o National-level advocacy experience related to sexual and reproductive health and rights
o Experience with the Global Fund
o Organization's primary beneficiaries and stakeholders
· Brief project description o Key strategies for building governmental support for sexual and reproductive health and rights o Advocacy targets, for example, national ministries, policy makers, and members of national Global Fund Country Coordinating Mechanism (CCM)
o Potential allies o Sample tactics, for example, coalition building, media outreach, public education activities, etcR30;
· Size of grant requested

APPLICATION PROCESS

GAA will notify all applicants on the status of their concept paper submissions no later than 25 January 2008. Organizations invited to submit proposals will be required to do so by 11 February 2008, and final notification will be given no later than 15 February 2008. Final review and approval of concept papers and proposals will be made by GAA. GAA may consult with members of the project team (see 'About the initiative' above) and seek external reviewers whose names and organizational affiliation will be disclose to all applicants.

Detailed guidelines for proposal submissions will be made available. Organizations will be asked to submit, among other information, details regarding
* Expected outcomes and timeline
* Plans for evaluating the proposed activities
* Governance structure, management, and financial accountability
* Contact information for 2 references

FOR MORE INFORMATION
For additional information, questions, and/or feedback on this notice, please contact Alia Khan, Global Partnerships Advisor Global AIDS Alliance akhan@globalaidsalliance.org +1 (202) 789-0432 x. 208 www.globalaidsalliance.org

Global: Online Course on Gender Development

2008-01-10

http://justicegroup.org/training/application.htm

The overall purpose of this web-based training programme is to enhance the gender-responsive planning of key institutions and the management skills of their employees, so that they can more effectively play their part in implementing gender-sensitive development policies as well as mainstreaming gender in their activities in order to achieve the Millennium Development Goals, MDGs.

Southern Africa: International conference on 'political economies of displacement in post-2000 Zimbabwe’

2008-01-11

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/45306

This conference, to be held at Wits Campus in Johannesburg from 9-11 June 2008, emerges from an ongoing collaborative research project initiated in late 2006 by the Nordic Africa Institute entitled Political Economies of Displacement in Post-2000 Zimbabwe. The project links researchers located within and outside Zimbabwe who share an active interest in mapping the complex dynamics of change related to the crises, uncertainties and multiple displacements of contemporary Zimbabwe and their effects on neighbouring states and diasporas further afield.
FIRST CALL FOR PAPERS
International conference on 'political economies of displacement in post-2000 Zimbabwe’
Wits University Campus, Johannesburg, 9-11 June 2008

Organised by Nordic Africa Institute Uppsala, Sweden and Forced Migration Studies Programme Wits University, Johannesburg, South Africa

This conference, to be held at Wits Campus in Johannesburg from 9-11 June 2008, emerges from an ongoing collaborative research project initiated in late 2006 by the Nordic Africa Institute entitled Political Economies of Displacement in Post-2000 Zimbabwe. The project links researchers located within and outside Zimbabwe who share an active interest in mapping the complex dynamics of change related to the crises, uncertainties and multiple displacements of contemporary Zimbabwe and their effects on neighbouring states and diasporas further afield. Recognising that within the multiple spheres of transformation that emerge in the present times of turbulence, the boundaries and relationships between the official and the unofficial, the legal and the illegal, the public and the private, are constantly being redefined. This is part of what explains the paradox of displacement: namely, that while it produces profoundly negative effects for large numbers of people, it also generates complex and creative dynamics of survival, inventiveness, productivity and even prosperity for some. Understanding this requires broader intellectual reflection on how ‘displacement’ and ‘the displaced’ are conceptualised and studied. This means, among other things, moving beyond homogenising labels often used to describe situations and populations affected by forced displacement. It also demands that we look beyond the violence and victimisation of subjected populations by acknowledging their heterogeneity, their individual and collective resourcefulness, and their abilities to address displacement and loss while creating alternative futures. In line with the overall project, the Conference is especially interested in investigating the following kinds of questions in the context of post-2000 Zimbabwe:
- How and why have particular displacements (material and symbolic) been generated, and how are they understood by those involved;
- What new dynamics and patterns of inclusion and exclusion have emerged, and how is this reshaping categories of belonging and generating new ideas of state, nation, citizenship and kinship;
- How have systems and practices of rule, politics, and sovereignty altered in Zimbabwe and elsewhere in the region;
- How have modes of production, exchange, distribution and accumulation been reconfigured at different scales and in different locations. The Conference seeks especially (but not only) empirically grounded contributions from researchers from different disciplines, whose work on post-2000 Zimbabwe (yet with linkages to other times and places), helps to address some of these issues.

Abstracts of approximately 350 words should be submitted to the following mail address by 15 February 2008: displacement.conference@gmail.com
You might consider relating your abstract to one or several of the following themes:

1. Agrarian Displacements, Replacements and Resettlement
2. Reshaping Youth, Gender and Belonging in Cities
3. Displacement Economies and Changing Modes of Investment and Exchange
4. Border Crossings, Mobile Livelihoods and Reinventions of Kinship
5. Diasporic Divides and Diverse Futures
6. Altered States of Security, Politics and Development


Funds will be made available for those participants successfully selected from
within Southern Africa to assist them with the costs of travel and subsistence in attending the conference. Those whose abstracts have been accepted will be informed by mid-March 2008. Papers by presenters will be expected in advance by 16 May 2008.

Several keynote speakers will provide innovative conceptual framings to situate, stimulate, and move the discussions beyond the context-specific focus on post-2000 Zimbabwe.
These will include such renowned scholars as Jane Guyer (Johns Hopkins University), Achille Mbembe (Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research), Brian Raftopoulos (Solidarity Peace Trust, formerly of Institute of Development Studies, University of Zimbabwe), and Finn Stepputat (Danish Institute for International Studies), and possibly others. For further queries, please contact: Amanda Hammar (amanda.hammar@nai.uu.se <mailto:amanda.hammar@nai.uu.se>) or Tania Berger (tania.berger@nai.uu.se <mailto:tania.berger@nai.uu.se>) at the Nordic Africa Institute, and Loren Landau (Loren.Landau@wits.ac.za at the Forced Migration Studies Programme at Wits University.

Africa: Chief Operating Officer - Trust Africa

2008-01-10

http://tinyurl.com/36g226

TrustAfrica is looking for an exceptional individual to serve as its Chief Operating Officer. The successful candidate will have extensive experience in management and philanthropy in Africa. The position is based in Dakar, Senegal. Interested candidates should submit the following application materials in English: a cover letter, a detailed CV describing the candidate’s professional experience, three writing samples, and contact information for three references. Only complete applications will be considered.

Africa: Coordinator / Civil Society Facility - Trust Africa

2008-01-11

http://www.trustafrica.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=113&Itemid=73&lang=en

TrustAfrica is looking for a dedicated individual to manage its civil society facility in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The successful candidate will have extensive experience in working with regional organizations and civil society organizations. The civil society facility will provide support to CSOs in their quest to more effectively engage the AU Commission and its organs as well as other stakeholders based in Addis. The deadline for applications is Friday, January 18, 2008.

Global: Executive Director - WITNESS

2008-01-10

http://www.witness.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=806&Itemid=70

WITNESS, an international human rights organization based in Brooklyn, New York, seeks an Executive Director. In a world that is increasingly tuned-in to all things digital and tuned-out to everyday atrocities and abuses, WITNESS is harnessing the powers of visual imagery and human stories to create change.

Global: Project Manager – Gender and Climate Change WEDO

2008-01-11

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/45304

WEDO is an international organization that advocates for women’s equality in global policy. This is a part-time consultant position for one year, commencing February 2008, with possibility of renewal pending funding. Consultant will be based at WEDO’s office in New York, or with a partner organization in Latin America or Africa that has reliable communications systems. Deadline for applications is January 27, 2008.
Women’s Environment and Development Organization (WEDO)

JOB DESCRIPTION Project Manager – Gender and Climate Change (part-time consultant)

WEDO is an international organization that advocates for women’s equality in global policy. It seeks to empower women as decision makers to achieve economic, social and gender justice, a healthy and peaceful planet and human rights for all. Our four programs are: Sustainable Development, Gender and Governance, Economic & Social Justice, and US global policy.

This is a part-time consultant position for one year, commencing February 2008, with possibility of renewal pending funding. Consultant will be based at WEDO’s office in New York, or with a partner organization in Latin America or Africa that has reliable communications systems.

RESPONSIBILITIES

Consultant is responsible for managing WEDO’s advocacy project on gender and climate change in four to five developing countries. Consultant will work as a team with the Sustainable Development Program Coordinator and be in close communication on a daily basis. The project manager will coordinate the following activities in collaboration with partner organizations and under the supervision of the Sustainable Development Program Coordinator:

· Develop national assessments and recommendations on gender and climate change in each country
· Synthesize analysis and recommendations into fact sheets and advocacy-focused materials
· Organize one national launch meeting and one national event per country
· Coordinate communications and advocacy strategy with NGO and government partners, shifting priorities as opportunities and challenges emerge
· Undertake research and writing in the area of gender and climate change
· Analyze lessons learned across countries and make recommendations for future phases of project
· Represent WEDO as needed in meetings, conference calls, etc.
· Contribute to project planning and reporting
· Undertake other activities related to the project as directed

Consultancy is for 3 – 4 days per week. Heavier workload is expected during national launch meetings and national events. International travel required.

REQUIREMENTS
· Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English. Fluency in French and/or Spanish preferred
· Academic background in international development, gender, sustainable development, natural resource management, climate change, etc
· At least 8 years work experience in the areas of gender and sustainable development
· Experience living and working in developing countries required · Experience in advocacy, networking, and collaborations with NGOs and governments
· Computer literacy required · Highly organized and able to meet deadlines
· Able to take initiative

Applicants from the Global South are strongly encouraged to apply. WEDO is an equal opportunity employer and will not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, gender, religion, age, disability, political beliefs, sexual orientation or family status.

Send CV, cover letter, writing sample, fee requirements, and location/timing possibilities by email only to projmgr@wedo.org We regret that we cannot respond to phone calls.

Deadline for applications is January 27, 2008.

Fahamu