Back Issues

Kenya: Petition for sanctions against Kibaki and his corrupt government

2008-01-15

http://www.gopetition.com/online/16283.html

Targeted and broad-based sanctions must be imposed against the illegitimate and corrupt government of Mwai Kibaki. Everyone knows that the elections were fraudulent and steps must be taken to defend Kenya's nascent democracy. No lasting peace will come to Kenya without justice in the 2007 elections and too much is at stake. The welfare of 150 million people in the East African region is in jeopardy.

West Africa: Petition for peace in Niger

2008-01-15

http://www.petitiononline.com/pinnne07/petition.html

Since its independence, the state of Niger has been in latent conflict with the Tuareg population living on the Nigerien territory. This situation escalated in 1990 with a massacre of this population group in Tchin-Tabaraden and resulted in an armed conflict. After the conclusion of a treaty of peace, which was intended to make allowances for certain claims brought forward by the Tuareg organizations in 1995, this conflict calmed down. Today, it seems that the implementation of the treaty has failed.

US-Kenya Coalition for Peace with Truth and Justice

2008-01-15

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/action/45423

Dear all Kenyans and friends of Kenya,
My name is John Barbieri. I am desperately trying to reach out to other people in the US who are concerned and outraged about the current situation in Kenya, and to see ways that I and others may help take unified action in any possible way. In that vein, I am reaching out to all Kenyans living in the US and friends of Kenya, and am proposing the idea of trying to form and expand a network of people in the US in order to establish a kind of united front to vigorously advocate for the US to play a more neutral, multilateral and transparent role in the negotiation process for peace with truth and justice in Kenya.
Dear all Kenyans and friends of Kenya,

Hello, my name is John Barbieri. I am desperately trying to reach out to other people in the US who are concerned and outraged about the current situation in Kenya, and to see ways that I and others may help take unified action in any possible way. In that vein, I am reaching out to all Kenyans living in the US and friends of Kenya, and am proposing the idea of trying to form and expand a network of people in the US in order to establish a kind of united front to vigorously advocate for the US to play a more neutral, multilateral and transparent role in the negotiation process for peace with truth and justice in Kenya. For those who have been following the situation you will recognize the last line as the name of the coalition of Kenyan human rights and civil society organizations, "Kenyans for Peace with Truth and Justice," whom I think we should be showing solidarity with by amplifying their demands and statements, particularly regarding US involvement in Kenya, to leaders and media outlets here in the US by forming a "US Coalition for Peace with Truth and Justice in Kenya." An additional focus for those in the US is to raise awareness of the situation in Kenya and to educate members of the press to stop inaccurately depicting the situation as an extreme "shock," as a result of just "tribal conflict," and underestimating the US's interests and role in the situation. Also, the disproportionate affect of the humanitarian situation on specific groups must be highlighted without trivializing or sensationalizing it, particularly violence against women and children, and the disruption in the flow of essential goods and services throughout eastern Africa (especially medicines such as antidiarrheals, antibiotics, malaria meds, ARVs, etc.).

There are certainly many people and organizations in the US who are already doing great work on this, and this is not an attempt to be purposely ignorant of the great work they are doing, it is merely an effort to try to reach out and connect as many people as possible who are concerned and want to take united action on this issue. If I, like I imagine I may be, am ignorant enough to not know that such a unified network already exists, then I will immediately withdraw my proposal and humbly ask to be included in the previously established network(s). Nevertheless, there is the need for an organized listserv in order for such a campaign (if that's what it is) to stay up-to-date and to communicate effectively with each other, that is if such a listserv/group is not already established either. If no such organized group/listserv already exists then I have created a simple google group for now, but perhaps more tech savvy people have better suggestions. The name of the google group is "US Coalition for Peace with Truth and Justice in Kenya" and the email address of the group is USkenyaptj@googlegroups.com Please suggest any other better ideas, otherwise PLEASE DISTRIBUTE THIS WIDELY.

One initial proposed action is to encourage lots of people to submit questions to the upcoming US Presidential candidate debates to pose questions to the candidates in order to get them to publicly address and raise awareness of the situation in Kenya and propose what as President they would do to promote peace, truth and justice in Kenya, and the surrounding Horn and East of Africa (i.e., will they continue to prioritize US "national security" interests and actions of the "war on terror" in the region, or rather will they prioritize investing in community healthcare capacity, for example). Pending the response I get from people here, I will post more contact information on this. A basic idea is also for a massive US organizational sign-on letter, unless this is already underway by anybody?

I am also including people in Kenya and Kenyan organizations, including those part of "Kenyans for Peace with Truth and Justice," on this email and would greatly appreciate any and all comments, concerns and suggestions that you may have for us here in the US who are seeking ways to help in both the humanitarian situation and the political situation by taking account of the interests and actions of the US government and other US actors in Kenya.

Thank you all for your stern devotion and commitment to peace, truth and justice in Kenya! I am desperately eager to hear back from any and all of you.

Sincerely,

John Barbieri

kenyanpeace@gmail.com

South Africa: Criminal attack on shack settlement in Reservoir Hills

2008-01-17

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/action/45461

The Arnett Drive Settlement has been in Reservoir Hills since 1972. Many of the people living there came there after being evicted from Cato Manor in 1959 and then Newlands in 1971. Today they are under armed attack by the eThekwini Municipality that has its notorious Land Invasions Unit demolishing shacks.
EMERGENCY PRESS RELEASE:

Criminal Attack on shack settlement in Reservoir Hills

The Arnett Drive Settlement has been in Reservoir Hills since 1972. Many of the people living there came there after being evicted from Cato Manor in 1959 and then Newlands in 1971. Today they are under armed attack by the eThekwini Municipality that has its notorious Land Invasions Unit demolishing shacks. This attack is completely illegal (there is no court order, there was no warning, no documentation has been handed over etc, etc) and under the law it is not just illegal but criminal. If the rule of law is to be followed the Municipal offical who gave the order for this attack should be arrested immediately.

Most residents are away at work and are only now rushing home to try and defend their homes or, if it is too late, to try and rescue what ever possessions may have survived the demolitions.

Abahlali from other settlements and lawyers are on the way too.

Arnett Drive residents Nosipho Mtshali (0713965981) and Zama Mhlongo (0794667052) are on the scene and can give comment.

GROOTS Kenya issues report on violence in Mathare

2008-01-18

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

“The 2007 post election skirmishes is just a culmination of sustained tension in the community but the extent and impact of damage, looting, raping, sodomy, eviction and killing has never been witnessed before. The country was hosting three presidential candidates from three ethnic tribes Luo, Kamba and Kikuyu. Political tension and envisioned ethnic conflicts was certainly predicted as this was the most hotly contested election in the history of Kenya.

Kenya: Health workers grappling with conflict-related sexual violence

2008-01-18

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

As Kenya counts the human and material cost of the political violence, hospitals are reporting an increase in reported rapes during the immediate post-election period, spurring the government and health organisations to find ways to treat these cases as well as protect the displaced from further incidents of sexual violence.

Kenya: Alarming reports of gangs preventing people attending rallies - KPTJ

2008-01-18

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

Kenyans for Peace, Truth, Justice have received alarming reports from human rights monitors in Nairobi’s low-income areas, who have reported that local political leaders are mobilising gangs of youth to deter attendance to the rallies called by the Orange Democratic Movement on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

Congo’s contract review

Its strategic and economic significance

Maurice Carney

2008-01-17

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/45463

Maurice Carney analyses the recently-concluded review of Congo's mining contracts and the significance of this process in safeguarding the country's considerable mineral wealth

On par with a resolution to the current conflict in the northeast of the Congo is the mining review process that the Congolese government announced in April 2007. The government initiated a review of some 60 odd mining contracts, established during the period of conflict (1996 – 2002) and the transition (2003 – 2006). The review offers an opportunity for the Congolese government to stop the systematic looting of the Congo. The review is now complete but the government has yet to publish the results. In spite of repeated requests and pressure from civil society to make the review process transparent, the government has kept the process shrouded in secrecy. In early November, the Congolese newspaper, Le Phare [1] published what it claimed to be leaked results of the review, which stated that many of the contracts would be renegotiated or outright cancelled. Reuters [2] also reported that it saw preliminary reports that called for 61 mining contracts to be renegotiated or cancelled. The impact of these news reports was swift and global in scope; publicly traded mining companies with interests in the Congo on the London, Toronto and New York stock exchanges experienced a sudden drop in their stock prices. This provided some insight into the significance of Congo’s resources to investors in the West. Moreover, it begins to explain in part why the Congo, probably more than any other African nation, has been subjected to repeated external intervention. Kwame Nkrumah stated as much in his Challenge of Congo, [3] when he observed that the Congolese peoples’ struggle is both an internal and external one. The forces arrayed against the Congolese are enormous and global in scope. Foreign governments, global mining conglomerates, multi-lateral institutions and local elites all work in concert to control Congo’s fabulous wealth in perpetuity.

Watchdog groups such as Global Witness estimate that 70 percent of Congo’s copper wealth may already by sold-off to foreign mining companies without little discernible benefit to the Congolese people [4]. Billions of dollars have been raised in the financial markets of London, New York and Toronto while the Congolese people suffer from crushing poverty and debilitating and incessant conflict.

According to the Canadian Journal Corporate Knights, some companies stand to gain spectacular wealth at the expense of the Congolese people. Tenke Mining from Canada, who recently merged with the Lundin Group, also from Canada acquired the Tenke Fungurume concession for just $15 million. The mine is reputed to be valued at $60-billion and contains the largest and highest grade of undeveloped copper cobalt deposits in the world [5]. American mining giant Phelps-Dodge, recently bought out by Freeport McMoRan, also has ownership in the Tenke Fungurume deposits. In spite of reports by human rights groups that the contracts around Tenke Fungurume represent one of the most odious in the Congo, the United States government Overseas Private Investment Corporation recently provided risk insurance for Freeport McMoRan’s billion dollar Congolese venture [6].

When Katanga Mining announced its potential merger –worth about $3.3 billion- with Nikanor in early November, its stock price jumped 42 percent. According to Katanga Mining chair, Arthur H. Ditto, the agreement “sets the course to establish one of the largest and most important mining complexes in the world." [7] The remarkable benefits to these companies are clear and unmistakable but when it comes to the people of the Congo, the benefits are hard to find. Corporate Knights says of the Katanga mining agreement with the Congolese government that it “allows a tax regime that appears to offer very little benefit to the Congolese government.” [8] One of the key principals of Katanga mining is Belgian, George Forrest for whom the United Nations prescribed financial sanctions as a result of his participation in the illegal exploitation of Congo’s resources. It was also revealed that George Forrest was a key funder of Joseph Kabila’s political party, People's Party for Reconstruction and Democracy (PPRD) during the 2006 elections. [9] In April 2007, the Congolese newspaper “Le Potentiel” reported that Nikanor got the KOV concession located in the Katanga province in 2005 by promising to lend Gecamines, Congo’s state company 24 million Euros. Le Potentiel noted that should Nikanor sell its rights to the KOV concession, its two principles, Bennie Steinmetz and Dan Gertler would stand to pocket 350 million Euros each without producing a single gram of copper [10] . Nikanor executives say the KOV project represents "the highest grade major ore body in the world." This may explain why the listing of Nikanor on the London’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM) at $1.5 billion represented the largest valuation of any company in history on entry to AIM. Together Katanga Mining and Nikanor have raised over $2 billion for the KOV project, [11]which is about the same amount of the proposed 2007 Congolese government budget.

Clearly with the hundreds of billions of dollars at stake, renegotiation or cancellation of any of the contracts mentioned above is highly unlikely and potentially as risky as the conflict in the east for the Kabila government. The Congolese people are watching to see whose interests the government will serve. The results from the contract review process will serve as one of the key determinants to the relationship between the Kabila administration and the people of the Congo for the duration of his tenure as head of state. However, one must say that there is little chance that Kabila will act in the interest of the people of the Congo. Many observers believe that if it were not for the insistence of long-time nationalist and current Prime Minister who served as Deputy Prime Minister to Lumumba in 1960, Antoine Gizenga the mining review process may not even have been initiated in the first place. Now that the review is complete, the Kabila government finds itself in a quandary regarding the publication of the report’s contents, knowing that the people of the Congo are being vigilant in regard to the future of their country’s wealth.

When one contemplates the corporate and foreign political forces, as have been outlined in this article and elsewhere, surely the most casual observer would say that the die in all likelihood has already been cast for the Congolese people to be impoverished for generations to come. The international finance community is determined to consign the people of the Congo to pauperization, dependency and perpetual supplier of raw materials for the West’s economic benefit. In fact, a key reason Kabila received unconditional support from the West prior to the 2006 elections, is because he had made it clear to them that he would facilitate unfettered access to Congo’s riches and preside over a client regime. Kabila infamously stated “I invited the business community to go into the Congo just like Stanley did way back in the 1800s and I told the business community back then that they had to have a spirit of adventurism - go see what is happening look at the opportunities and of course install yourself.”[12] The arrogance with which these western forces and their local sycophants are moving, one gets the sense that they feel entitled to the wealth of the Congo even as the soil of the Congo is drenched with the blood of its sons and daughters. There is a callous disregard for the at least 4 million Congolese who have perished in the current scramble for the country’s riches. It appears that the devaluation of the African people, the Congolese in particular has been normalized to the point where millions dead and hundreds of thousands of black bodies raped and sexually mutilated while local elites and multi-national corporations enrich themselves hardly register a whimper of indignation or protest.

As people of conscience, we must do our utmost to expose one of the greatest heist of the 21st century and provide solidarity to those Congolese who have been waging a historic fight for genuine independence, democratic rule and control of their country’s resources. Anything less makes us co-conspirators in the devaluing of our self-worth as Africans and the debasing of our sense of dignity as human beings. The words of Che Guevara are ever present and relevant when he asserts, “The Congo problem is a world problem. Victory will be continental in its reach and its consequences and so would defeat.”[13] Should one agree with Guevara, Nkrumah, Fanon and others who spoke of the significance of the Congo to the future of Africa, people throughout the African world must:
1. Aggressively raise awareness about the situation in the Congo
2. Determinedly mobilize global support on behalf of the Congolese people
3. Doggedly resist corporate appropriation of the Congo’s wealth
4. Actively support progressive forces and civil society in the Congo

* Maurice Carney is Executive Director of Friends of the Congo

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

* Please click on the link for the article notes
Notes:

1. A Congolese newspaper (http://www.lepharerdc.com)
2. http://www.reuters.com/article/email/idUSL038482120071103?sp=true
3. Kwame Nkrumah. Challenge of Congo, PANAF Books,1960.
4. Global Witness, "Digging in Corruption: Fraud, Abuse and Exploitation in Katanga's Copper and Cobalt Mines," July 2006, p. 37.
5.http://www.corporateknights.ca/content/page.asp?name=OECDmatrix. June 5, 2006
6. http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2007/oct/94456.htm
7.http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/natural_resources/article2820766.ece
8.http://www.corporateknights.ca/content/page.asp?name=OECDmatrix
9. Op cit. Global Witness p.52
10. Le Potentiel. "Mines et contrats léonins au Katanga: Des maffieux gagnent des millions d'eurosLe Potentiel" April 6, 2007
11.http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20060713/ai_n16529131Nikanor becomes AIM's largest float Independent, The (London), Jul 13, 2006 by Saeed Shah
12.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWwGQZa8kVc
13. by Ernesto "Che" Guevara, Aleida Guevara March, Patrick Camiller (Translator), Patrick Camiller (Translator), The African Dream: The Diaries of the Revolutionary War in the Congo. Grove/Atlantic, Inc., September 2001

EPA means economic enslavement

Kola Ibrahim

2008-01-17

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/45465

Kola Ibrahim argues that the new economic partnership agreements that are being proposed by the EU are driven by the old unequal economic relationships.

The new plan of the European Union to have economic agreements with her former colonies has not received much attention in terms of critical analysis especially by the civil society groups and trade union movements. However, those who have spoken on it have given some explanations on why it must be rejected. The issue is what alternative is available if the agreement is rejected. It should also be stated that as the negotiation of the agreement is going on, the WTO is also renegotiating with African countries in order to force the pill of economic enslavement that was earlier rejected at the Cancun Round in 2005. According to the letters of the agreement, African countries are to be given "preferential treatment" to European market for some of their agricultural products without restriction while the third world countries will also have to "gradually" open up their market for European business. Definitely, this market includes education, health and public utilities. Many African leaders have vaguely complained about the agreements but there is a consensus that the agreement will represent an advantage for the third world countries.

The agreement represents another way of rapaciously and legally exploiting the resources of the third world countries especially Africa where most of the population are living in absolute poverty. In the first place, the goods to be exported to European countries are mostly agricultural produce with little local content and market value while European countries will bring in finished goods which are high valued. This definitely means the continuous underdevelopment of the third world countries. Therefore, there will continuously be wide technology gap, increased trade imbalance and capital flight from the countries.

Secondly, most poor African farmers lack the infrastructure facilities to produce agricultural goods at cheaper cost as the transport system are archaic, modern storage system unavailable, farm equipments inaccessible while credit facilities are rare for tens of millions of poor farmers. This will mean that African countries will receive little pie of the market while local farms in Europe will massively and cheaply produce as a result of favourable technological and economic situations thus lowering prices in the market which will only benefit the big farmers who produce at cheap prices. Thirdly, as against what is being portrayed, the European countries will continue to subsidize their local farmers, especially the big business farms, which will mean economic disaster for the African countries most of whom depend on agricultural export for revenue.

Furthermore, the agreement gives right of access to European business in African countries. This means that there will not special treatments or consideration for government owned firms while social services should be open to competition without any special spending. It implies that state-owned firms will be under funded thus leading to their being bought over at the stock market or through wholesale privatization (that is to the European multinationals) while education, health, water, electricity, transportation will be totally commercialized and privatized for the market to have access. All this is meant to make labour cheap and flexible for exploitation. This process will result in retrenchment, high cost of accessing social services, rotting away of social services as a result of under funding and fall in living standards. It is a return to full scale neo-liberalism. All this is meant to give European firms a preferential access to African market at token as against the threat from other economic centres especially China, South East Asia and US. This is the real kernel of the agreement.

However, it is the rich big business of Europe that will enjoy this plan to rapaciously exploit the working poor of Africa. For instance, it is the rich farms (mostly owned by big multinationals in beverage industries) that are enjoying the subsidies being given by the European governments from the state resources that should have been used to provide better living for the poor in their countries. According to a 2005 report from Seattle to Brussels Network, titled "the European Corporate Trade Agenda", 15 percent of French farms (that is big business farms) received 60 percent of the European Commission's subsidies to France while 70 percent of small farmers received just 17 percent of the subsidies. It goes further to show that 70 percents of the EU subsidies goes to just 20 percent largest farms in Europe. These subsidies are in the final analysis going to the pockets of the big multinational firms such as beer and beverage companies that have big farms. These companies are also extensions of the world capitalist business with links to bigger firms through stock trading, bank loans and credits, etc. In fact, Oxfam reported that "farm income in UK has declined by more than 40 percent while France has lost half of its (small) farmers over the past 20 years".

Therefore, the so-called subsidies and economic agreements being negotiated by the European countries are basically on behalf of big business and not in the interest of the whole European working class. In fact, the movement of European big farms and industrial production to some third world countries is being used to drive down wages in developed countries as European working class are threatened with retrenchment employment movement and industrial relocation. Therefore, the imbalance trade agreement that favours privatization, commercialization and trade liberalization will neither favour the European working class as much as the poor people of Africa. Two third of the world trade is concentrated in just 500 big multinationals while the top 200 companies that account for one quarter of the world economic activities employ just 1 percent of the global workforce meaning that the rest are employed mostly by governments. Therefore, further attempt at handing over the economy to the big business through trade liberalization will lead to retrenchment and further concentration of wealth in the hands of the rich few.

On the other hands, the African leaders are not much enthusiastic to confront this imperialist agenda because they depend on them for survival. For instance, most African leaders are sustained in power by big business in their various countries through political support and provision of liquidity from which most of these leaders get their “rents" through direct looting of the treasury or promotion of policies that will favour their personal economic interests. In fact, most African leaders have been integrated into big business with most of them coming from the private sector while most of their advisers and legislators are either businessmen or IMF/World Bank trained intellectuals who are seconded to the African leaders to give prescriptions of neo-liberal policies that will favour the multinational vampires that are the backbones of these multilateral financial institutions. Through shares, stock trading, merger, "strategic partnership", etc, local businessmen and politicians are linked to the world business; therefore, the local leaders cannot challenge it.

Also, career advancement for these IMF/WB advisers depends on how much they are able to ensure the implementation of these policies. For instance, the multilateral institutions have promoted the former ministers of finance and education in Nigeria, Okonjo Iweala and Oby Ezekwesili, after they have ensured the implementation of the neo-liberal economic pills of privatization, deregulation, commercialization and debt buyback fraud. Moreover, these leaders have practically nothing to lose in the agreement. For instance, most of the government subsidies to farmers through bank loans and fertilizers only go to the big farms that are owned for instance in Nigeria by ex-generals and politicians in power. With a smooth connection to the local and international markets they definitely have a lot to gain as they will have increased access to the European market at the expense of millions of local farmers and working people who will bear the brunt of economic enslavement and neo-liberal exchange for big business profits.

Therefore, the Economic Partnership Agreement is nothing but another attempt to colonize the African countries and indeed the third world countries in close collaboration with the local leaders and businessmen. A genuine agreement to help Africa and her poor people will mean massive development of infrastructures, technology and industrial capacities of the African countries by Europe with no strings attached. This will help Africa to develop its massive human, natural and materials potentials while the trade between various countries will be dictated by mutual interest to provide basic needs for the working poor. Capitalist businessmen, multinational vampires and their local collaborators cannot carry out this task who are ready to milk the poor dry in search of maximum profit; it lies in the hands of the working people of Africa, third world and indeed Europe by building a radical working people's party that will struggle for power and create a socialist economic planning where the massive resources of the society will be nationalized under the democratic control of the working and poor people themselves which will provide the resources for the massive development of the third world countries while laying the basis for a genuine trade and aid among nations. Leaving the fate of the working and poor people in the hands of the rich moneybag politicians is the tragedy of all time.

Many free trade agreements have been signed and enacted into law by capitalist governments at the back of the working people. This is because the working people in Africa and other third world countries do not have political platform of their own. This is why a radical, working class party is needed to champion the interests of the poor working people. The first task in this direction is to build a left alliance among labour activists, radical organizations, civil societies against this ruinous capitalist onslaught and demand for abrogation of all imperialist free trade agreements. This will mean building struggle movements at the grass root, local national and international levels against this agreement as a basis for the formation of a working class political platform. It is unfortunate that many official trade unions bureaucrats in many third world countries have accepted neo-liberal ideology. They only raise fingers when pressures from the rank-and-file workers threaten their positions. This places heavy duties on genuine working class activists to build a genuine alternative - through day to day interventions in the struggle of the working people for better deal - firstly within the trade union movements as a basis for building working class political platforms.

* Kola Ibrahim is a student activist from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria, email: kmarx4live@yahoo.com

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org

Let the women speak! and listen

Anene Ejikeme

2008-01-17

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/45464

Anene Ejikeme underscores the need for African women to be seen as an integral part of the solution.

In 1929 women in southeast Nigeria mounted a war against the forces of British colonial rule. The women targeted all the symbols of the new political order – the offices and homes of colonial officialdom, as well as its representatives. The "disturbances" and the demands made by the women at the Commission of Inquiry set up by the colonial government to investigate surprised the British. The women who testified before the Commission consistently demanded that women be represented in the new institutions which had been set up by the colonial government. More than 50 women lost their lives, but colonial authorities failed to appreciate the extent to which women felt aggrieved by colonial policies which rendered them invisible. Although the women organized and carried out this rebellion, it did not stop colonial authorities and missionaries from continuing to insist that African women were "no better than cattle and sheep" and completely lacking in agency.

"The assumption that African women lack agency continues to be the prevailing view."

Almost eighty years later, the assumption that African women lack agency continues to be the prevailing view about them. This impression is so often at variance with what I see, for example, when I am at home in Nigeria where, every day, I meet women who struggle to feed their families and to send their children to school, daily making decisions that help sustain their families.

The role of "Tradition"

Researchers and development workers appear eager always to point to "Tradition" as the reason for African women's lack of agency. Take, for example, the statement issued by a recent international summit convened to address the economic crisis in Africa.

"In Africa, the gender gap is even wider and the situation is more complex due to the cultural and traditional context which is anchored in beliefs, norms and practices which breed discrimination and feminised poverty. There is growing evidence that the number of women in Africa living in poverty has increased disproportionately to that of men."

This was the conclusion of the 8th Meeting of the African Partnership Forum (APF) in Germany in May 2007. The APF was founded in 2003 as a forum designed "to facilitate Africa's economic growth." The members of the APF are Western donor countries which give more than $100 million in aid, multilateral institutions such as the UN, World Bank, IMF, WTO, African regional institutions such as ECOWAS, SADC, ADB, as well as the pan-African NEPAD and AU.

There is no doubt that there are many traditions in Africa that hamper women's ability to lead economically prosperous lives, but to point to "Tradition" as the root cause of African women's poverty obscures reality more than it clarifies it. First of all, there is no single "Tradition" which exists all over Africa. Secondly, what is considered "traditional" in African communities is often of relatively recent vintage and was colonially-generated. Foreign aid workers and African men are too eager to point to "Tradition" when excluding women from development projects. For example, in Kenya, local men – and "development officers" – are often quick to insist that it is "untraditional" for women to own land. The truth is, of course, that individual land ownership is not "traditional" for anyone in Kenya; individual land ownership was usefully introduced by British colonial authorities keen to claim the most fertile lands for Europeans.1 "What is considered "traditional" in African communities is often of relatively recent vintage and was colonially-generated. Foreign aid workers and African men are too eager to point to "Tradition" when excluding women from development projects."

The idea conveyed when "Tradition" is blamed for African women's economic predicament is that African beliefs and practices constitute part of an ancient, unchanging way of life, not easily amenable to change. The reality too often is that aid and development workers assume that the existence of "Tradition" makes African women incapable of acting as authors of their own lives. Numerous studies now exist which point to the unwillingness or incapacity of development workers to engage African women in dialogue as a fundamental obstacle to the success of many so-called aid programs.2 Fundamental to any task of understanding Africa is the acknowledgment of the continent's diversity. Not even within a single country do sweeping generalizations hold. An absolute priority to ending poverty in Africa is to listen to the experiences and wisdom of poor African women.

As we acknowledge that "Tradition" cannot be the beginning and the end of any analysis of African women's economic realities, we must also acknowledge that the facts of African women's lives do not make for happy reading. The statistics, while they do not capture the reality of women's lives in all the different contexts in which they live, give an overall picture.

Of all the continents, Africa has the largest percentage of people living in poverty, with signs that ever larger numbers will be threatened by poverty in the future. HIV/AIDS, for example, is leaving millions of African children as AIDS orphans. The HIV/AIDS epidemic, which is recognized to be of significant consequence for development, affects women in notably higher numbers than men in some African countries. In Zimbabwe, Zambia, Kenya and Malawi, this has resulted in a lower life expectancy for women than men, a reversal of what typically obtains.3 Although African women work longer hours, they own disproportionately less than African men. African women receive only 1 percent of credit facilities extended to agricultural producers. Yet, at least 70 percent of African women are involved in agriculture. A disproportionate percentage of African babies are of low birth weight, a factor closely related to maternal poverty.

"African women receive only 1 percent of credit facilities extended to agricultural producers. Yet, at least 70 percent of African women are involved in agriculture."

Ending Poverty?

How to end poverty in Africa? This question has become a staple of discussion for commentators from pop stars to world-renowned economists. For decades, the image of Africa in the world has been as the poor neighbor, always receiving charity yet remaining forever destitute and helpless. Despite numerous pop concerts, organizations with a plethora of acronyms, roundtables, meetings and conferences, poverty in Africa remains.

The most ambitious poverty-eradication effort to date is the Millennium Development Project, which was ratified by all the UN member nations as well as major donor and aid institutions in September 2000. Its goal is to eradicate poverty all over the world, especially in Africa. The Millennium Development Goals (MDG) explicitly recognize the centrality of women's economic empowerment to any serious poverty reduction program: the third of the eight goals is "to promote gender equality and empower women."

While it is clear that Africa will not meet any of Millennium Development Goals by the 2015 deadline, 4 it is important that the MDG acknowledge that development cannot take place in a vacuum. In 2005, five years after the MDG were passed and ten years before their due date, the UN issued a major report assessing achievements so far and delineating what needs to be done. According to the UN 2005 MDG Report, in 1990 44.6 percent of Africans were living on less than a dollar a day; by 2001 the percentage of Africans living on less than a dollar a day had actually increased to 46.4 percent, a goal even further removed from the Millennium Development Goal of about 25 percent by 2015 (MDG
2005 Report). Since 1990, millions more people are chronically hungry in sub-Saharan Africa, where half the children under the age of five are malnourished. (MDG Report 2005)

Despite these disheartening statistics, aid is certainly not the panacea. In the first place, "aid assistance" and "development programs" have typically discriminated against women. In the second place, attempts to incorporate women into development programs may be tempted to "bring women up to men's standards." The economic situation of African men is no model! But the strongest argument against aid is the fact that 30 years of ODA have produced little beyond huge amounts of crushing debt. In 2000, African external debt accounted for over 51 percent of GDP; by 2003 it had fallen to 49 percent of GDP. Such global figures obscure the particularly harsh reality for individual countries: for Malawi external debt was almost 200 percent of its GDP in 2006; for Sao Tome & Principe it was 350 percent!5 "Aid is certainly not the panacea... the strongest argument against aid is the fact that 30 years of ODA have produced little beyond huge amounts of crushing debt."

Fortunately, in 2006 debt was about 25 percent of GDP for Africa as a whole. There are other signs for cautious optimism. For example, several African countries have reported economic growth rate of 5 percent or more for the last two years.6 A stronger economy is the only path poor countries have to get out of poverty. In 1980 Africa contributed 5 percent to global trade. By 1995 the figure was 2.2 percent. In the 1990s Africa was attracting 3 percent FDI. Compare this with 20 percent for Latin America and 50 percent for East Asia.7 On practically every indicator used to measure poverty, and in contrast to Africa's continued weak position, Latin America and East Asia have made positive gains, and this is no doubt a direct result of the positive gains in their position in the global marketplace.

Rather than idealistic slogans about making poverty history, we need to attend more closely to practical ways to increase Africa's share of the world market. Here, the role of African governments is paramount. Clearly, investors will invest only in places where profit seems likely and stability can be guaranteed. For too long, African regimes have failed to provide a climate attractive to investors.

"Rather than idealistic slogans about making poverty history, we need to attend more closely to practical ways to increase Africa's share of the world market."

Related to economic development must be the question of arms sales.
Africa is awash in arms, from small ones to massive missiles. Armed conflict makes agriculture impossible and does not allow for the kind of stability that investors want. The number of Africans affected by armed conflicts is staggering. Between 1994 and 2003 more than 9 million Africans, mostly women and children, perished as a result of armed conflict. That's the entire population of Sweden. Much more than the population of Switzerland. No region in the world comes close to such statistics. In Southern Asia, the region next in terms of casualties from armed conflict, the figure was under 2 million. War produces not only casualties in terms of deaths, but also refugees and other displaced peoples. It will come as no surprise that Africa far exceeds any other region in the world in its refugee and displaced populations.

People cannot farm or run factories if they are dodging bullets or coerced to fight wars. Governments cannot invest in infrastructure if they use their country's wealth to buy military equipment. It is almost impossible to imagine a world in which the arms producing nations of the world agreed not to sell to impoverished countries. Impossible to imagine, but what a world of difference it would make!

Women and Economic Development For Africans, women and men, to become economically more prosperous, African economies have to be radically restructured. Most of the economies in Africa remain monocultures. There can be no prosperity for the majority of its citizens if a country relies on the exportation of low-value raw materials that are sent to other countries where they are processed and then returned to the world market with a much increased price-tag. Exporting copper or coffee will only make a few individuals or a multinational rich; copper and coffee alone will not a country enrich.

Greater diversification of African economies has to incorporate a more inclusive and empowered role for women. Today, individual experts and agencies all claim to acknowledge that African countries can move significant proportions of their populations out of poverty only if women are able to improve their economic lot. "Women in Development", from its start in Western feminist circles, is now a staple concept in all multilateral agencies. Yet the success of Women in Development programs has not been much better than that of development tout court. This is because too often a paternalistic approach persists and projects are designed without any consultation with the target women who are seen only as recipients.

"Greater diversification of African economies has to incorporate a more inclusive and empowered role for women."

It is critically important not to make assumptions or to behave as if categories from Western societies can be uncritically used to analyze African ones. We have to be vigilant not to be careless in our thinking: too often, for example, education is treated by experts as a fetish. Because people are poor or "uneducated" does not mean they are stupid.

The success of the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh provides one example that poor, uneducated women know what they want and will successfully implement it if they have the opportunity (via credit, for example). In my own research on Onitsha, Nigeria, an important center of trade where women controlled the marketplace in the nineteenth century, I found that lack of literacy was no bar to the ability of women to accumulate enormous wealth. Students of West African history are very familiar with self-help microfinance groups organized by women; such groups have a deep history, long predating the current "discovery" of microfinance in the West, due in large part to the award of the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize to Mohamed Yunus, founder of the Grameen Bank.

The kind of aid with which we are most familiar, involving "experts"
going from the global north to tell people in the global south what to do, especially in the form of government to government monetary packages, cannot bring poor people permanently out of poverty. On the other hand, assistance which is conceived as a partnership and actually involves the "recipients" in the planning as well as implementation, can succeed. And there are examples of such successes. The Canadian organization, Match International, was founded on just such principles.

According to the organization's mission statement, "Match supports initiatives identified by women in the global South, led and implemented by the women, and innovative in their context. This approach is based on Match's belief that women's development must be considered within their own context, and for strategies to succeed, women's views and agendas must be taken into consideration." In Nigeria, the organization Baobab for Women's Human Rights, has achieved notable successes. It is worth noting that, in one campaign, Baobab was forced to expend much energy and resources in asking women's groups in the global north to scale back their activities as these were negating their own local initiatives, threatening to derail the goal on which all were agreed. Baobab's activities have focused in the primarily Muslim parts of Nigeria, and under the rubric of "women's human rights" the organization has been able to address a wide range of issues, including women's economic empowerment.

A work that remains - unfortunately – very relevant is Barbara Brown's book The Domestication of Women which shows just how expensive can be well-intentioned but ill-conceived projects devised by men and women who "go to help" without ever bothering to listen or even consult with those whose lives are supposed to be impacted by their projects. Her book is a catalogue of failures spearheaded by various branches of the United Nations and other multilateral organizations. One tragicomic scenario involving the building of wells comes readily to mind: exasperated, "aid" workers abandon the building of wells because, despite all their efforts, local men do not maintain the wells as instructed. The fact that it is women who fetch water had never been taken into consideration by the "aid" workers. The poverty eradication programs which have been shown to produce significant and lasting results tend to be smaller in scale and always involve the active participation of the so-called "target women". The point is not that large organizations are doomed to failure but that they must learn to listen as well as to acknowledge that poor people are not only students but also can be teachers. Women at the so-called grassroots level must be heard because only they have the intimate knowledge of their lives and needs.

"Women at the so-called grassroots level must be heard because only they have the intimate knowledge of their lives and needs."

Conclusion Who should speak for African women? Too often it is either African men or Western women. We need to hear more from the African women themselves whose lives we all claim we wish to improve. Also, we must incorporate the important critiques by African women scholars of the flawed categories that continue to be used to describe African women's lives and African societies. Scholars such as Felicia Ekejiuba, Achola Pala, Nkiru Nzegwu and Oyeronke Oyewumi have written about how the categories used to describe African women's lives often are derived from very different realities in other parts of the world and end up doing more violence to the women whose lives the activists/scholars claim they seek to ameliorate.

In the context of the discussion here, it is important to note that the UN Commission on the Status of Women has declared its theme for 2008 as "Financing for gender equality and the empowerment of women". In February 2007 the Commission convened an informal expert panel to discuss how to move forward on this agenda. It is disheartening – but, unfortunately, not surprising – that no African women were amongst the list of panelists; indeed the only African – the Minister of Finance for Zambia – was also the only man.

* Dr. Anene Ejikem is Assistant Professor of History at Trinity University. This article was first published in the AtIssue ezine

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

* Please click on the link for the article notes
References and links:

1. On the gendered nature and consequences of the codification of "customary law" see Martin Chanock, "Making Customary Law: Men, Women and the Courts in Colonial Northern Rhodesia," in African Women and the Law: Historical Perspectives, eds. Margaret Jean Hay and Marcia Wright (1982): 53-67.

2. Nkiru Nzegwu's account of a development program based on real partnership with poor women is an excellent place to begin. "Questions of Agency: Development, Donors and Women of the South," Jenda: A Journal of Culture and African Women Studies 2, 1 (2002); available at http://www.jendajournal.com/vol2.1/nzegwu.html Although published almost thirty years ago, Barbara Brown's The Domestication of Women:
Discrimination in Developing Societies (New York: St. Martin's Press,
1980) remains an important source for the range of discrimination faced by women from so-called aid workers and agencies.

3. Economic Commission for Africa/AU, Economic Report on Africa 2007.
Available at http://www.uneca.org/era2007/

4. UN, "Africa and the Millennium Development Goals: 2007 Update."
(United Nations Department of Public Information, June 2007). Available at http://www.un.org/millenniumgoals/docs/MDGafrica07.pdf .

5. African Development Bank (ADB) Pocketbook 2007.

6. ADB Selected Statistics on African Countries Volume XXVI 2007.

7. Carol Thompson, "Economic Policy Toward Africa," FPIF, January 1997.
Available at http://www.fpif.org/briefs/vol2/v2n23eaf.html

The Kenyan post-election crisis - A digital essay (Part Two)

Onyango Oloo

2008-01-15

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/45419

In part one, Onyango Oloo diagnosed the Kenya crisis. In Part two he prescribes, amongst other remedies, continued civil action against the Kibaki government

In this section of my essay, I want to examine the options ahead for the Kenya democratic movement.

Many of us heaved a sigh of relief when Raila Odinga announcement the postponement of the rallies.

Let me hasten to add that our sigh of relief DID NOT coincide with NOR WAS IT THE SAME AS the sighs from the Kenyan comprador and petit bourgeois elite.

Rather, our own sense of relief was grounded on organizational, tactical and strategic considerations.

We felt that the initial round of protests were largely spontaneous and unfocused.

Even the first attempts of ODM to rally the troops to Uhuru Park relied heavily on the passions and voluntarist energies of the ODM popular base. These actions were not very well coordinated in our view and that is why the cops had an upper hand.

We also felt that after the series of lumpen jacquerries in the informal settlements which had left in their wake infernos, innocent victims and tribal acrimony, it was crucial for the ODM to step and take charge, because contrary to the strident accusations of PNU supporters online and throughout the country, the Orange Democratic Movement as a party HAD NO ROLE in the riots and subsequent carnage.

This fact is graphically illustrated by the plight which befell hundreds of innocent Kisii speaking voters in Nyanza and parts of the Rift Valley. A comrade of mine who was one of the defeated aspirants in one constituency on the southern tip of Nyanza province recounted to me the violent reprisals and terrible ordeals which befell innocent Kisiis who had actually voted for Raila Odinga. He told me that there was a series of very blatant rigging of the ballots for Kibaki in parts of the Greater Kisii region where the PNU Presidential candidate got abnormally high amounts of votes- a clear plan to steal votes from Raila Odinga. When these artificial tallies were announced by ECK and especially after the shocking award by Kivuitu to Kibaki of the 2007 Presidential prize, mass anger erupted in places like Migori, Kericho, Kuresoi and Kisumu. The target this time was not confined to innocent Kikuyus and their property but also members of the Kisii who were wrongly accused by enraged Luo and Kipsigis mobs of having “betrayed” the people of Nyanza in bringing back Kibaki to power. I am told that even now there are unclaimed bodies literally some of the tea estates in Kericho with many members of the Kisii community losing their businesses in Kisumu and some areas in the Rift Valley. The many illegal road blocks erected on the Kisii-Nairobi road especially the Sotik-Narok section were scenes of unbelievable horrors if one happened to be a Kisii. This account corroborates the harrowing narrative of the Toronto-based Dr. Matunda Nyanchama that was posted on the Africa-Oped and Mwananchi online discussion forums.

My comrade told me that it took his own urgent personal intervention to two members of the ODM Pentagon that enabled the leadership of ODM to travel to the Rift Valley and Nyanza to appeal for calm and the end of ethnic slaughter.

The point I am trying to drive home is that the ODM leadership could have hardly "ordered" an ethnic attack on the Kisii community which rallied together to rout Simeon Nyachae and eliminate the PNU as a political force in Gusii land.

If anything, the ODM leadership, especially in southern Nyanza can be accused of being largely impotent in the face of a grave crisis affecting their own fervent supporters.
I would like to state for the record that I have been disgusted by the emerging PNU propaganda that attempts to portray the ODM leadership as Interhamwe type masterminds of genocide when the facts point to two developments:

The deployment of state troops who went on a shooting rampage in Nairobi, Eldoret, Kakamega, Bungoma, Kisumu and Mombasa killing innocent civilians and two; The cynical abdication of duty by the same state employed uniformed security forces when looting and plunder was taking place in Kisumu, Kibera and Mombasa to just cite three examples where eye-witnesses (including my brother in law in Mombasa who happens to be a half-Kikuyu and who had his bar on the west mainland pillaged and plundered under the uncaring eye of hordes of heavily armed cops who stood by as his club was stripped of all the equipment, appliances and facilities that he spent the last two years installing to revamp the place). It is my considered opinion that the looting and plunder WAS CONSCIOUSLY FACILITATED BY THE STATE TO DISCREDIT RAILA ODINGA AND THE ODM. This position was echoed by an elderly clear headed Kisumu resident when he was interviewed last night by a KTN television crew.

The PNU propagandists peddling the spurious “genocide” allegations are of course blissfully oblivious to the fact that the MAJORITY OF DEAD VICTIMS of the post-electoral violence has police wounds riddling their corpses.

If there is a case that can be made of pre-meditated mass killings, then the person in the dock should be those Kibaki connected and conniving political schemers who instituted a shoot to kill policy after arming cops with live ammunition instead of rubber bullets.

The breaking news revelations by Maina Kiai, the fiercely independent Chair of the state funded Kenya National Commission on Human Rights to the effect that members of the dreaded Mungiki sect had been reactivated by the Kibaki regime to carry out murderous attacks in Nairobi slums thought to be ODM strongholds is a stunning setback that is already causing ripple effects and knocking the wind out of the sails of those Kibaki supporters online who have been trumpeting a concocted campaign against Raila Odinga and his ODM colleagues who they have stridently accused of ethnic cleansing.

What is even more astonishing that this story was broken by none other than Mungiki insiders who took the initiative of contacting Maina Kiai's offices.

It should be recalled that only a few months ago the same Kibaki regime was indiscriminately executing innocent Agikuyu youth suspected of being Mungiki members based on the sole “evidence” of ethnicity.

What a CYNICAL case of Use and Dump and Abuse Again!

The PNU propagandists may very well get what they wish for with unintended legal consequences for their paymasters because I earnestly believe that an independent, transparent international inquiry composed of legal experts into the Kenyan post-electoral deaths is far more likely to indict the Michukis and the Murages than anyone else within the ODM leadership.

And that is why I say:

Bring on the Inquiry, the Tribunal, the Commission!

Let the investigations commence this very afternoon!

As I was saying before I veered off on that tangent, many progressive and democratic minded Kenyans were grateful when ODM called off the mass rallies.

Why?

The masses were fatigued; they were famished; they were unorganized and disorganized and certainly not very politically conscientized and sensitized. As one of my comrades was pointing out to me yesterday evening, mass action is NOT A JOKE.

You need a detailed strategy.

You need mobilizers.

You need resources; in the same way an army needs supply lines, commanders and maximum flexibility of tactics to outwit the other side.

Of course Onyango Oloo is NOT going to delve into any kind of detail about how one can implement a successful, sustained and popular mass action strategy here online.

I would have to be certified INSANE for me to do that.

The key thing to remember is that the crisis in Kenya has by now evolved far beyond Raila Odinga and the stolen Presidential vote or the right of ODM to form the next government.

What we are now dealing with as Kenyans is the need to repulse a criminal conspiracy to overthrow democratic rule and restore the neo-colonial fascist ethno-kleptocracy of the Moi-KANU years.

What we are dealing with as Kenyans is a direct danger to ALL of the democratic gains we have made over the last twenty-five to thirty years.

What we are dealing with as Kenyans is an immediate threat that could plunge Kenya into a bloody civil war that would make Liberia, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, Somalia and Congo look like child’s play.

The danger we face as a nation calls IMMEDIATELY for, among other prerogatives:

1. A UNITED response that does not look at the problem through PAROCHIAL ETHNIC spectacles;
2. A DEMOCRATIC and PEACEFUL response that eschews militaristic and violent conspiracies;
3. A perspective grounded on SOCIAL JUSTICE and ANTI-IMPERIALIST precepts to ensure a progressive, egalitarian and just eventual outcome;
4. A PROTRACTED approach realizing that Kibaki and his henchmen, having tasted state power, will not, of their own accord relinquish the same unless forced to do so by united, democratic, progressive determination of the Kenyan people rising up to demand their country, their rights and their aspirations back from the PNU usurpers;
5. An organic linkage with the international solidarity and fight back campaigns spearheaded BY PROGRESSIVE AND PATRIOTIC KENYANS OUTSIDE THE COUNTRY together with our other global comrades in many countries throughout the world; There is ONLY ONE WEAPON at the disposal of the Kenyan people at this present time and that weapon is:

ORGANIZATION.

Let me repeat Ho Chi Minh’s revolutionary dictum over and over and over and over again:

Organize, Organize, Organize!

Yes we know that the MOST AGGRIEVED IMMEDIATE ENTITY is the ODM who have just been robbed of an election that they won fair and square in broad daylight.

However the issue is far, far beyond the ODM and its immediate supporters. They are millions of Kenyans who are not necessarily aligned to ODM who are completely outraged and want to be part of a successful fight back.

This reality calls for the launching of a Kenya- wide organizational and democratic conduit which is much broader than any one political party in the country.

The other day I called for the formation of a NATIONAL DEMOCRATIC MOVEMENT founded on the four pillars of JUSTICE, PEACE, DEMOCRACY and TRUTH. This movement must be based on the poor wananchi in the urban and rural areas, the youth, the women, the cultural and religious minorities, the progressive elements among the middle-class, patriotic Kenyans outside the country and all anti-imperialist forces.

My call is merely one of dozens of such calls emanating simultaneously from Kenyan progressives from all over the country, from Mombasa to Malaba, Moyale to Loitoktok.

Already we see fast mutating ancestors of that kind of an organization sprouting almost on a daily basis.

At the civil society front, a network of over 30 NGOs and non-profit formations formed a Coalition for Peace, Justice and Truth within the first few days of January.

At the core of this coalition are such credible institutions like the Kenya Human Rights Commission, Mars Group, Law Society of Kenya, Kituo Cha Sheria, the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, NCEC, the Centre for Multi-Party Democracy-Kenya and other like minded bodies.

We must commend the admirable work of such Kenyan militant patriots and progressives like Muthoni Wanyeki, Gladwell Otieno, Cyprian Nyamwamu, Kepta Ombati, Ndung’u Wainaina, Maina Kiai, Zahid Rajan, Haron Ndubi, Zarina Patel and Mwalimu Mati in jump-starting this much needed vehicle and process.

Among the praise worthy initiatives of the new coalition are efforts to engage members of the Central Kenyan communities through an entity called the Republican Forum- a network of younger business people and professionals from among the Agikuyu. This forum which meets regularly at a certain Nairobi hotel and counts among its regulars people like David Ndii, Mutahi Ngunyi to name just two, is right now assessing the ECONOMIC and FINANCIAL immediate impact and long term ramifications of the Kibaki/PNU on Central Kenya within the context of the national reality that the Agikuyu, like other Kenyans live all over the country and if the anti-Kibaki backlash maintains an ethnic tag how this will mess up national harmony. Apart from that, the group has a mandate to emphasize to the GEMA communities that Kibaki’s coup should not be seen as synonymous as a “victory” for millions of individual Kikuyus, Merus and Embus but rather an insult and assault on every one of them who as Kenyans are equally affronted by this callous subversion of democracy, justice, and yes, prospects for peaceful coexistence across all our diverse Kenyan peoples.

Over and above the above, forces within the coalition are exhorting Kenyans to do the following:

(i)Agitate for new presidential elections within the next three months;
(ii)Urge ODM to take up their seats and continue their struggle in the 10th parliament because a boycott will be a political faux pas that will play right into the hands of the PNU usurpers;
(iii)Engage the police, the paramilitary and the military with a view of winning over these security forces to the side of the democratic and patriotic forces;
(iv)Mobilizing the international community, especially the United States, Canada, Japan and the European Union to realize that Kenya will be UNGOVERNABLE under an illegitimate regime and that their interests and the interests of neighbouring countries like Uganda, Rwanda, the DRC, Sudan, Ethiopia etc will be at risk if the current political impasse persists;
(v)Step up indigenous, in country humanitarian efforts reaching out to ALL the victims of the post-electoral strife regardless of ethnicity, political affiliation and regional origins;

There are of course some other interesting developments but I guess it as this point that I will dutifully ZIP MY LIPS.


*Onyango Oloo, a Kenyan political activist and ex political prisoner.

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

Ethiopian Genocide victims deserve justice

Farah A. Farah

2008-01-17

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/panafrican/45467

Farah A. Farah casts light on the Ogaden massacre of 2006 and calls for the perpetrators to be brought to justice

In April 2006, a horrible mass murder got momentum ad reached new heights in Ogaden region of Ethiopia. Over the course of five months, more than 2800 civilians were slaughtered and estimated 120.000 individuals were driven out of the country by the Ethiopian National Defence forces (ENDF). A campaign of terror was undertaken against defenceless civilians. Women and underage girls were gang raped. Torture, mass killing, detention and disappearance were and are still common. Villages were burnt down resulting in hundreds of thousands to be forcefully displaced. To make matters worse, dislodged communities (with their livestock) were denied access to drinking water.

Though the inhuman and degrading treatment inflicted on the communities was (and still remains to be) widespread all over the region, its degree varied from zone to zone. Wardher, Korahay, Degahbur and Fik zones were the epicentre of the campaign. In every standard, what happened in Dagahbur and Fik during this period amounts to genocide. Surely many renowned International Human Right groups described it as a genocide.

The depressing question that many victims and survivors ask themselves is why the international communities are silent on the issue. It is painful and indeed disappointing that they do not know why they deserve to be treated so inhumanely. It is equally disappointing that no one has an answer when or where these atrocities will end. The very security forces funded and trained by the US (as part of war on terror) have been terrorising these vulnerable and defenceless society with impunity. Surely Meles and his associates have misused the wider objectives of the war on terror badly. They diverted it terribly to dealing with their domestic critics and constantly tried to embroil US in regional crisis. Nowhere is this abuse more acute than Ogaden Region where the regime is so brutal and unkind enough to burn and/or bury the people alive. Will they get justice or Meles and his cronies will get away with the crimes? Will the criminals be held accountable for the killings, tortures, detentions etc they have committed? Crimes against humanity are common and institutionalised in Ethiopia.

It was late 2003 when Gambellas were massacred by the National Security Forces. Former Deputy Minister of Federal Affairs, Dr. Gabreab Baranbaras was coordinating the process. However Abbay Tsahay (former Minister of Federal Affairs) now security adviser of the Prime Minister and General Samora Yunus (Chief Staff of Armed Forces) were the main protagonists closely supervising and giving the necessary directions. Before, Gambellas, it was Oromos who suffered the wrath of the Government and its consequences. No action was taken against those directly responsible for the crimes. This shows that Meles Zenawi was (and still is) guilty of complicity at best. Dr. Gabreab was transferred to Tigrai Region and he now heads Regional Health Bureau. In Ogaden, the picture is even darker. Still Abbay Tsahaye and General Samora are directly involved in the massacre. They unrepentantly continue the process though now greater in scale. Particularly Mr. Abbay does constantly fly to Jijiga to evaluate the impact, reward those who have inflicted more damages and punish who haven’t done enough. Sadly he personally chaired the meeting in which the regional cabinet approved collective punishment. Similarly, General Samora has visited Dagahbur recently and urged the army to do more crack down the dirty pastoralists (as he put it). Following his return from Dagahbur, the army has immediately started to intensify the killings and other damages they were undertaking. Other perpetrators include:

- Tawlde Berhe: EPRDF representative and the de facto regional administrator
- Brg. General Quarter Commander of Eastern Division
- Colonel Wandituru Commander of 32nd Brigade
- Da’uud Mahamed Head of SPDP
- Abdi Omar Head of Regional Security Sector.

More than 200 others working in the security apparatus and the regional government are known to have participated in this terror and massacre campaign. Estimates of the genocide vary from thousands to tens of thousands. However, regardless of the exact figure, what is clear is that the architects of this infamous genocide have s far eluded justice. Not only has the Government killed, tortured, detained, displaced or gang raped. It has also starved the whole population denying them any access to food and drinking water.

Therefore, the victims, survivors and those who lost their beloved ones are now demanding the arrest and prosecution of those who committed these horrendous crimes. They would like to see Zenawi and others held accountable for what they did the innocent civilians. Truly the current Ethiopian regime led by Zenawi has been committing uglier crimes than Milosevic and Charles Tailor. But the regime still enjoys considerable support from Western countries. This is really unacceptable to powerless victims.

Until now the Gambella genocide architects have not been prosecuted in any court of justice, within or outside Ethiopia, because of other priorities by the US and western countries.

This has encouraged practicing another slaughter in conflict torn Ogaden once again, were government army forces are accused by human rights organisations of mass murder and starvation policy that claimed nearly million innocent lives Years of massacre campaign and rampages has been accompanied by starvation policy, the recent UN mission in the region gave premonitions that the situation in the region has all hallmark of Darfur in making.

John Holmes, UN Under-Secretary for Humanitarian affairs briefed the Security Council after visiting the region that the food and goods blockade will be lifted immediately but it is still in place. He urged incumbent Prime Minister Zenawi to allow independent UN mission to investigate atrocities committed. As the starvation deaths increase, Meles is trying to subvert and obstruct independent UN mission. Majority of international community are party to the Convention on the Prevention of the Crime of Genocide, and as such, all governments have signed both to prevent and to punish acts of genocide, therefore they have moral duty to upheld their commitment and bring justice all senior military and regional officials identified.

A detailed report published by advocacy organisations described the situation as Genocide and called for international intervention. The recent report by Centre for Development Research Advocacy (CDRA) investigated whether the atrocities qualified as Genocide, an examination teams sent to Ogaden and neighbouring countries to meet the survivors concluded that the answer is yes. This is important report, because it expands the usage of the term “Genocide” to include tribally targeted mass killings, rapes and large number of population displacement perpetrated in the course of military crackdown.
What is emerged from this report anyway, is the grand design to torture, starve, brutalise an entire Ogaden population and ultimately murder a quarter of them was going on since April.

Since Zenewi’s minority TPLF regime came to power with barrel of gun nearly two decades ago, state repression and denial of basic rights for 80 million Ethiopians became rampant and widely institutionalised. In his bid to hang onto power for fifth term and ensure his own survival in the face of international condemnation and embarrassment fro last 2005 elections, the regime resort to snuffing more people.

The army officers who masterminded the Gambella killings were simply following the orders as the Nazis did before them and will continue to do in Ogaden unless those in charge are tried for crimes against humanity. The international community, particularly, the United States government, with its powerful Genocide Accountability Act, could be invoked here to stop more killings in Ogaden. This piece of legislation together with ICC rules would permit all perpetrators of genocide living in US to be prosecuted within the US legal system, regardless of their citizenship or the location of their crimes.
Like the US, this is the only way the international community can prevent further killings and deny safe havens for genocidaires and ensure they are brought to justice.

In the previous decades we saw genocide occur in other parts of the world. Today we confront the reality of ongoing genocide in Ogaden and it’s shameful if we don’t stop now and talk about a century later in a manner analogous to Armenian genocide.

The international community, particularly the US, and citizens everywhere must take a stand today to prevent and to stop acts of genocide.
It is incumbent on every nation in the world to ensure that such crimes against humanity are not tolerated. The not so distant tragedy in Rwanda should at as a wake up all.

* Farah A. Farah is the Director of Centre for Development Research and Advocacy (CDRA)and can be reached at farahafey@gmail.com

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org

Mukoma wa Ngugi's article

Vinod Dhall

2008-01-17

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/45449

Congratulations to Bw Ngugi, for a very succinctly presented case for the "people powered revolution", in his article, LET US NOT FIND REVOLUTIONARIES WHERE THERE ARE NONE A look at the Kenyan opposition party"
The only hope is that we can find right thinking people/leaders like Bw Ngugi to galvanise action accordingly
Best wishes to all Kenyans

On People Power movements: A reply by Stephen Zunes

www.stephenzunes.org

2008-01-17

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/45450

I do not wish to try to argue against Mukoma Wa Ngugi’s analysis of the Kenyan opposition movement and I certainly agree with his contention that “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.” I do, however, feel obliged – as a fellow anti-imperialist and a supporter of popular struggles for justice and equality in Africa and elsewhere – to respond to his faulty analysis regarding some of the recent “people power movements” against autocratic regimes elsewhere.

To begin with, Mukoma Wa Ngugi is completely inaccurate to compare the violent foreign-backed overthrow of democratically-elected Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide with the nonviolent indigenous-based Orange Revolution in Ukraine. Unlike the imperialist conspiracy against Aristide, Ukraine’s Orange Revolution was a popular movement against an attempt by the incumbent corrupt and autocratic regime of Leonid Kuchma to steal an election on behalf of his favored successor.

Unlike Aristide, President Kuchma was no progressive. In fact, among the popular criticisms directed at Kuchma had been his call for Ukraine to join NATO and, in particular, his support for the deployment of Ukrainian forces in Iraq. By contrast, opposition presidential candidate Victor Yushchenko pledged during his campaign to immediately withdraw Ukrainian troops from Iraq, which he did once assuming office. There was some limited Western support for election monitoring and related efforts that aided the opposition, but the popular movement which forced the invalidation of the rigged election and a fair second vote which followed was of the Ukrainians own doing.

Since coming to power, Yuschenko has continued to demonstrate his independence from Washington. For example, despite enormous pressure from the United States and international financial institutions to give in to neo-liberal reforms, the Ukrainian government under Yuschenko’s leadership still maintains the strongest state role in the economy of all but one of Europe’s 42 countries, hardly the victory for “international capital” that the author implies.

Similarly Mukoma Wa Ngugi is wrong to dismiss Zimbabwe’s Movement for Democratic Change as simply a neo-liberal party. It is a broad-based pro-democracy movement which includes both neo-liberal and progressive forces. Certainly there are Western powers and imperialist interests (which hypocritically back pro-capitalist dictators elsewhere in Africa) that are opportunistically trying to engineer the ouster of Robert Mugabe, but that does not mean that they are not also millions of Zimbabweans who have their own legitimate reasons for struggling nonviolently to remove him from power – not the least of which is Mugabe’s chronic mismanagement of public and social services and the economy.

My more fundamental critique of Mukoma Wa Ngugi’s analysis is over the nature of popular struggles against authoritarian regimes. No true people power movement can ever “be used by a national elite to seize power for international capital.” While there have certainly been numerous cases in Africa and elsewhere in which national elites have seized power on behalf of international capital through coups, armed revolts, rigged elections and other means, there has never been a case in which a government that has had the support of the majority of its people has ever been overthrown through a massive nonviolent civil resistance movement. This is why the U.S.-backed strike in Venezuela in 2002-2003 failed to bring down President Hugo Chavez’ government, whereas similar shutdowns of key economic sectors in other countries under less popular regimes have often succeeded. It is certainly true that most of the nonviolent people power revolutions which have brought down dictators in recent decades in such countries as the Philippines, Mali, Serbia, and Indonesia have tended to bring in various forms of liberal democracy, not the more radical changes that are so badly needed in so many societies. It is also true that free elections and political liberty do not guarantee a progressive government or a just society and that these movements which have toppled dictatorships through nonviolent action have oftentimes been led by individuals and coalitions whose political agenda is not as politically progressive as many of us would ideally like to see. However, without individual liberties and accountable government, building a just society becomes virtually impossible. Democracy affords a political opening whereby popular organizations stand a better chance of challenging the excesses of national and global capitalism; of empowering local communities; of openly defending the rights of women, minorities, and the poor; and, of eventually gaining political power.

Few in the Latin American left, for example, would argue that – despite the failure of democratic governance to alter the continent’s underlying social end economic inequality – things were somehow better under the U.S.-backed military dictatorships that once ruled those nations. And, two decades since Latin America’s democratic opening – made possible in large part by people power movements – leftist parties are now winning elections throughout the region. Political and civil rights do not automatically lead to social and economic equality, but such equality will be far more difficult to achieve without the establishment of democratic institutions and the guaranteed protection of individual liberties.

Conversely, while successful violent revolutions have often initially been more effective in overturning the power of traditional elites, reforming archaic social systems and establishing greater economic equality, the authoritarian structure and martial values which come to the fore during armed struggle have tended to result in simply establishing a new form of authoritarianism that creates its own brand of unaccountable elite rule and injustice.

The reality is that successful nonviolent revolutions, like successful armed revolutions, often take years or decades to develop and do so as part of an organic process within the body politic of a given country. There is no standardized formula for success that a foreign government could put together, since the history, culture and political alignments of each country are unique. No foreign government or group working on the behest of international capital can recruit or mobilize the large numbers of ordinary civilians necessary to build a mass nonviolent movement capable of effectively challenging the established political leadership, much less of toppling a government. Furthermore, short of cruder forms of foreign intervention – such as coups, armed revolts, rigged elections – a regime will lose power only if it tries to forcibly maintain a system which the people oppose.

In maintaining our steadfast opposition to U.S. imperialism and efforts to impose the neo-liberal agenda on the people of Africa and elsewhere, let us not belittle the power of masses to make change themselves, even if we do not always have 100% ideological affinity with particular leaders of some of these mass movements. Let us acknowledge that just because a regime spouts anti-imperialist rhetoric, it does not necessarily have their people’s best interest at heart and that the establishment of a more democratic system is often a necessary if not sufficient means of bringing justice to the oppressed.

Transforming the current conflict

Urgent Action Fund -Africa

Betty Kaari Murungi

2008-01-17

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/45466

Over the last 20 years Kenya has had serious episodic occurrences of direct violence but none as serious as what we have witnessed over the last one week where the violence is widespread and systematic. Indeed the present violations amount to crimes against humanity. These crimes will continue to occur unless we are prepared to deal with the root causes of the discontent. And I don’t mean the disputed presidential election. Our problems run deeper.

Root causes are those issues about which the conflict is really about. They are the contradictions that need to be addressed to enable a constructive transformation of any conflict. If not dealt with, the potential for violence will remain even if we put out the fire that is presented by the election standoff.

Kenya’s fault lines for conflict have now burst open as a result of what a large section of the population is claiming to have been a stolen election: Key among these fault lines are corruption and ineffective governance, unemployment, gender discrimination, generational exclusion, identity, insecurity, economic and social disparities. All these problems have been simmering and now the lid is off.

Our government very quickly needs to accept that our country is in conflict and deep crisis. Calls for peace without addressing the injustices that are highlighted by the fault lines amount to mere rhetoric. All citizens have the responsibility to save Kenya. There are many ways to do this; demanding action on corruption, governance and a new constitution are a few options open to us.

Already we are witnessing massive rapes, maiming , mutilations, pillage, looting and burning of properties, displacements of populations, starvation, solidarity and polarization on ethnic identify, loss of trust among groups that have hitherto coexisted peacefully, shootings and mass social trauma. These are events that happen in war and conflict situations and they are happening here.

This is not a problem that we can sort out on our own. Let’s no delude ourselves. Let’s accept the AU and local offers of mediation. I implore our leaders to take pause, and think through what messages they are sending out. I urge them to critically examine the root causes of our current explosion and deal with the issues in an inclusive manner.

Referring to one side as ‘losers’ will not help us transform this conflict peacefully. We shall all become losers in that scenario.

We need democracy, not band peace!

Director, Inter Region Economic Network

James Shikwati

2008-01-15

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/45402

We need Democracy, not Band Peace! I have watched with utter shock some of the prescriptions the middle class residing in leafy suburbs have opted to give to Kenya. It is very clear that Kibaki presidency is as a result of pure robbery of the will of voters. How on earth can one then prescribe celebrity bands to sing for peace, and religious groups to pray for peace when its public knowledge what the cause of discord threatening to burn Kenya to ashes is?

Prayer and music will not restore our republic if it does not isolate the issues and urge the people to act on them. For peace to prevail, all must push towards a speedy dismantling of a leadership system whose mandate is questionable. All prayers and songs ought to be encouraging those who are acting within the law and civility to see to it that this happens. Prayer and music ought to be educating all those who are keen on breaking the law by destroying other people’s property to desist and instead refocus their energies on the public enemy of the time.

Kenyans do not need music reminding them of patriotism, they need music to urge on the fight against tyranny of the few against the majority. We do not need to pray for peace, we need to pray for those who are genuinely fighting the dictatorship of a few elites against the will of the Kenyan people. Engaging in musical bands for peace is to seek cheap publicity at the expense of the lives and property of innocent civilians who are bearing the brunt of electoral fraud.

What we need now are liberation songs. Songs such as Bob Marley’s “Stand up for your rights.” We need songs to make those who might have misplaced anger to direct it against the actual public enemy…theft of people’s will. That is not similar to suing for peace while camouflaging and sugar coating tyranny. The Kenyan song ought to be “don’t seat back and hope for the best, get rid of the individual tyrants… don’t allow them to hide behind tribal masks.” Will prayer restore the Kenyan republic? Not at the tenor it has assumed! If Kenyans simply pray for peace and attain artificial normalcy, chances are that they will be giving more time for enemies of the republic to simply restock their powder keg reserves. Kenyans prayed in 1988, 1990 – 92, and in 1997. The year 2002 offered an opportunity for Kibaki and his team to help actualize the 14 year prayer wishes. It became clear that we were on a rollercoaster to strife after 6 months of his leadership. A leading anti corruption czar, Mr. John Githongo fled the country; this was simply wished away. Kenyans held a government sanctioned prayer for peace after the referendum and buried under the carpet what the will of the people had stated by voting against a state sponsored constitution.

As middle class, we might retreat to our restaurants and sip cold drinks. We might even have passports to flee if the red ambers of public anger catch up with us. Yes, we might even choose to simply engage in intellectual talk about the situation and position ourselves for jobs in either of the two warring factions. But we must remember that our drivers, watchmen, cooks, house helps, are watching keenly the developments. For religious leaders, we must remember that the displaced people and those whose property is being destroyed are our members. As it was in the ancient times when faith was used to rally people to a just cause, so it should be today in Kenya if we are to succeed in our quest for peace. Kenyans should not burry their heads in the sand.

A tribute to the Man in Black

Vivek Mehta

2008-01-18

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/books/45473

This is a tribute to the “Man In Black T Shirt”
His name we may or may not know
But that’s how he was referred to by the KTN Television network...
A TRIBUTE TO THE MAN IN BLACK


This is a tribute to the “Man In Black T Shirt”

His name we may or may not know

But that’s how he was referred to by the KTN Television network

The date was Wednesday 16th January 2008

I spent an hour sitting alone last night replaying the KTN clip in my mind

Did you see it?

The Man in Black was dancing in Nyanza, Kenya – was it in Kisumu?

He was Dancing and also Protesting with his friends

He was exercising one of his basic Human Rights – The Right to Free Speech and Assembly

He had no stone to hurl and no panga in his hand to hurt

He was just Dancing and Protesting

He was not looting either

Just Dancing and Protesting

Then came the grand finale

He was running away… he was not fighting

He was not dancing or protesting either

The Man in Green was only a few feet away

Two rapid shots from an automatic rifle

and the dance was over ….

The Man in Black lay on the floor together with his friend

He tried to get up one more time – he was only dancing!!

But the shot had done its job

As he tumbled down yet again the brute in Green had to kick him

Probably to kick the Man in Black’s last breath out

That was the sudden end to the Dance

Farewell Man in Black – a friend I never got to meet

A friend who gave up his life for Kenyans’ freedom

As I sat I realized that The Man in Black was probably a ‘poor man’

No riches and no bank account either to his name

All I can offer his Soul are my Prayers for His Soul’s Peaceful Journey

And May My Prayers and those of Many Others enrich your Soul

And May that Enrichment of your Soul be our reward and thanks for your Sacrifice

May that Enrichment Power your Journey

And your Soul be Blessed with Riches not seen

I take Solace in that the Nature of the Soul is

WEAPONS CUT IT NOT, FIRE BURNS IT NOT, WATER WETS IT NOT, WIND DRIES IT NOT

After this thought propped up in my Being

Yet another Powerful thought Burst thru

This was the one that surprised me, my friend

May the World of Justice Notice this Brutal Crime against Humanity

In the Meantime May Peace and Justice Prevail in Kenya

When will we see sense in this beautiful Land and Country called Kenya?


By Vivek Mehta Jan 17th 2008, Mombasa

African Blogging Review

Sokari Ekine

2008-01-16

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/blog/45441

Kenya continues to dominate the African blogosphere as the ODM opposition begin three days of protests against the election.

Kenyan Pundit continues to publish her diary of events and thoughts around the election and post election. Her latest post is a piece by Kenyan Mariposa “I am a lesbian.
A queer.
A shoga.
A dyke.
An ‘ abboration’ of nature.
Mariposa writes that she left Kenya when she was 24 years old “burdened” by the choice she had to make. She finds herself far away from friends, family and country in this time of crisis and violence but is not surprised
“Yet, in the stillness of my heart, I am not surprised. I am not at all surprised that underneath the veil of calmness lies intolerance. We are as a nation and as individuals are not sentries of peace, we would like to believe that we have no strong affiliations to the groups that we belong to. However, I ask, take a moment to ask, who do you consider your friends, your crew, are they born from the same background, do they look like you, what are their professional and personal affiliations, are they in synch with yours?”
Yet despite the chaos and violence, the corruption and intolerance she remains hopeful in that the Kenyan people have an opportunity to become more mindful and compassionate about others and end the “vicious cycles of hate”.

Mental Acrobatics considers the possibility of a “silver lining” in the midst of dark clouds over Kenya when Parliament convened “and no punches were thrown”. Nonetheless the situation has reached the levels of farce as the President appears to have dug his head in sand whilst the opposition have their man elected as Speaker of the House.

“ODM controlling parliament sets up some very interesting and indeed ridiculous scenarios. Kibaki gets to appoint a cabinet and that cabinet has to work through parliament. Yet the majority in parliament is completely opposed to Kibaki’s policies and will do whatever it can to wreck them. Kibaki, if he was thinking straight, could have overcome this by appointing ODM MPs to key cabinet positions. Instead he chose to ignore ODM all together in a move that made no political sense. ODM due to their strength in numbers will control all parliamentary committees. In another ridiculous scenario, some powerful parliamentary committees have a majority of seats reserved for the opposition in an attempt to prevent the largest political party in parliament from dominating all proceedings.”

Kenyan Urban Narrative revisits his “Kikuyuness” and discovers that all Kenyans are equal but some are more equal than others – those who stole the truth and with it took the land.

“They told me that Red was for the blood that was shed and green was for the land that was won. I grew up and then I realised: red was for those who died fighting and green was for those who lived- to reap matunda ya uhuru. My ancestor inherited the red, your ancestor inherited the red; so why do we have to die that those that inherited the land may stay ever green?”

The Trial of Charles Taylor provides a detailed day to day report on the trial of Charles Taylor which for the past week has seen the defence cross examine one Denis koker, a Mende from Sierra Leone and former member of the AFRC who were aligned to the RUC. Koker provided security for an advisor to the President. His evidence is a detailed and chilling witness to the violence wielded by
Taylor and the RUF as he describes what was called “Operation No Living Thing”.

“He said it was an order from Mosquito–that we are burning houses so that if ECOMOG or government soldiers come, they cannot stay in Kono. He said we will take the zinc roofs and build other houses. Then the RUF and Juntas would completely control Kono. I saw them shooting civilians in Kono. I saw them capture civilians in Koidu Town and surrounding villages, looting property, capturing kids–boys and girls, they shot civilians who were unwilling to carry loads. In Koidu, they captured civilians and forcefully initiated them into the force. Many women and children were captured. Those who weren’t captured ran away toward Guinea as refugees. In Koidu, women were captured and made into wives. It was like serving yourself tea to drink. It was very common wherever we went–in Freetown, Masiaka, Kono, and all along the way there. I saw it myself. Operation No Living Thing went on every day and every night, burning houses all over Kono. They burned mud houses and even concrete houses. In Koidu Town, there were more houses burned down than I could count. There were more than 100 and I couldn’t count them anymore. I wanted to find a way to reach Kailahun because that was my mother land. The group was moving towards Kailahun anyway. RUF and AFRC fighters had broken into a bank in Koidu and taken money and diamonds. They wanted to use this to open a route to Kailahun. Eldred Collins handed us over to be security for this together with Staff Sargeant Saliu Kanneh, who was Julius Maada Bio’s bodyguard. I saw the money myself in big bags. I became frightened because I had taken a military oath. We had no respect. In the military I had taken some courses and learned how to fight a war. I saw that the money was looted and thought it would be a disgrace to my family.”


Nigerian blogger, Akin reports on the “shame and scandal in the family” surrounding former President Obasanjo who is accused by his son, Gbenga, of having an affair with his wife and far worse, his father-in-law for having an incestuous relationship with his daughter.

My grandfather is my father
There appears to be two children in the marriage and their supposed father casts doubt on their paternity by seeking a DNA test that brings in his father and father-in-law – how reprobate can this get?.............Some matters need to handled with discretion especially where children are involved though this matter of a seemingly seriously wronged man by his wife, his father and his father-in-law is a powder-keg ready to shake Nigerian societal values to its core – this case cannot be an exception..............But this can almost be too reckless on the part of the petitioner, representing the very ugly face of acrimonious divorces – if the children were to find out that their father is either of their grandfathers rather than the husband of their mother – how damaging would that be for the children and to what end?

Ore of Ore’s Notes reports on her recent trip to the island of Zanibar and her final stop in the “Spice Tour” where she visits a slave chamber.

“Slaves were hidden in here after trade in slaves was abolished. The cave is a dank pit, which appeared to spiral into the ground. After taking about 20 steps down, the daylight was already being subsumed by the underground darkness. I climbed down as far as my slippers would allow me to on the slippery and damp ground. Our lone torch gave out and my camera battery, which I had been carefully nursing all through the trip (not having a battery charger with me) eventually failed. It was time to call it a day and head back.”

Black Looks publishes messages from members of Kenya’s Nabuur community in towns and villages across the country. The messages were sent my email and sms to each other and to their volunteer supports.

“04 jan: “Hi Pelle! It’s terrible here! No phone cards. Pple dying esp. children of disease. Hunger biting. More police shooting. Trying to raise some support to assist people.”
01 jan: “Security situation is getting worse! over 300 ppl killed - one being my cousin. Gun shots everywhere. The impact is real - no basic needs available.”
30 dec: “Kibaki declared Presidential winner though opposition won. He’s just been sworn in 15 minutes after. There’s bloodshed in Kenya. Police kills over 50 ppl.”

* Sokari Ekine the Community Coordinator for Kabissa.org and is author of Black Looks

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

Africa: Malawi cuts ties with Taiwan

2008-01-18

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/3260D66F-9692-4C62-8006-5C06AAC3175D.htm

Malawi has cut diplomatic ties with Taiwan after 41 years and switched allegiance to China, which has become a major economic power in Africa. The decision, announced on Monday, reduced Taiwan's allies to just 23 countries, most of which are small and impoverished nations in Latin America, Africa and the South Pacific.

Global: EU to pursue partnership with China on Africa

2008-01-15

http://euobserver.com/24/25425

EU development commissioner Louis Michel has revealed that the European Commission wants to build a partnership between the EU and China on Africa. His comments come amid Europe's growing concern that China is exercising too much influence on the resource-rich continent and that the EU has been too slow off the mark.

Mbeki flies to Harare

2008-01-18

http://www.swradioafrica.com/news170108/mbeki170108.htm

The Southern African Development Community’s initiative to resolve the Zimbabwe crisis, believed to be at a deadlock over key electoral issues, went into high gear as mediator Thabo Mbeki arrived in Harare on Thursday. The South African President met separately with Robert Mugabe and leaders of the two MDC factions, Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara. Reports said Mugabe returned home from his holiday on Sunday allegedly earlier than planned, after Mbeki requested this crucial meeting.

AU Monitor Weekly Roundup

Issue 120, 2008

2008-01-17

http://www.aumonitor.org/

This weeks' AU Monitor brings you news and updates from the African Union, as it announces the 10th Ordinary Session of the Assembly in Addis Ababa, holding under the theme: "Industrial Development of Africa". Also, questions are being raised as to whether this summit will cause African leaders to " rethink the continent's approach to an industrial take-off ".

Further, former United-Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan has accepted an invitation from AU Chairman John Kufuor to lead an AU panel to negotiate peace in Kenya . Mr. Annan called on both sides of the conflict to "bear in mind the interest of Kenyans and show goodwill".

The Centre for Citizen's Participation in the AU is holding a continental conference on the AU summit in which the main objective is to " create a platform where structured debate and collation of views will be made among stakeholders across the continent". The conference aims to include the meaningful participation of Africa's citizens into decision-making processes of the AU. Lastly, draft agendas for the 12th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council and the 10th Ordinary Session of the Assembly are now available.

In regional news, Charles Onyango-Obbo provides commentary of the East African Community's (EAC) involvement in the Kenya crises , stating that the crises has set a record for attracting the most former African presidents but that "the East African Community has had no public role at all" in the process.

In peace and security news, the United Nations and African Union Special Envoys for Darfur recently began a week-long mission to facilitate peace in the region.
Following a meeting of the Forum on Tax Administration of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) participants agreed to set up an international tax centre in Africa, with the aim of building the capacity of tax administrations in African countries.

Global: How did women fare in 2007?

Kathambi Kinoti

2008-01-15

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/wgender/45422

Last year saw three female presidents come into power. In Argentina, left-leaning Cristina Fernandez was elected president, becoming the country's second ever woman to occupy its highest office. In her inaugural speech, Fernandez vowed to ensure the conclusion of the numerous human rights abuses cases arising from the dictatorship era from 1976 to 1983.
By Kathambi Kinoti

Last year saw three female presidents come into power. In Argentina, left-leaning Cristina Fernandez was elected president, becoming the country's second ever woman to occupy its highest office. In her inaugural speech, Fernandez vowed to ensure the conclusion of the numerous human rights abuses cases arising from the dictatorship era from 1976 to 1983.

Her election means that South America now has two women presidents; Fernandez and Michelle Bachelet of Chile. Pratibha Patil was appointed President of India in July of 2007. She was a compromise candidate for the job and not everyone linked her appointment to progress for women's rights. A columnist in the Asian Age newspaper wrote: 'Don't mock our intelligence and call it a victory for women. It is a selfish victory for the Congress party and its leadership.' [1] Nevertheless, Patil set a precedent as India's first female President. In Switzerland, Micheline Calmy-Rey was appointed President.

Benazir Bhutto, Pakistan's former Prime Minister who recently returned from exile, was assassinated on December 27, 2007. Bhutto, who was her country's first female Prime Minister, was set to run for office in the country?s upcoming elections. Her assassination precipitated riots and political turmoil. In February, Zil-e-Huma Usman, a female provincial Cabinet Minister from Pakistan's Punjab region was also assassinated. Her assassin, who confessed to the crime, told police that 'women should not hold important positions.'[2] In May, the country's tourism Minister Nilofar Bakhtiar was forced to resign after 'hardline Islamist clerics branded her 'obscene' for hugging a man after a charity parachute jump.' [3] Another female politician in Afghanistan, Malalai Joya was suspended in what she described as a political conspiracy, after she said that Afghanistan's parliament was 'worse than a stable.' [4] Women's participation in politics was the subject of a fatwa (religious edict) from Egypt's Grand Mufti in February 2007. In the fatwa, which generated vigorous debate, the Grand Mufti said that 'nothing in Islamic principles prevents women from holding high institutional positions and even becoming president...Islam gives equal political and social rights to men and women.' [5] The president of the Fatwa Commission of the al-Azhar University however drew attention to socio-political realities saying that 'even if Gomaa's fatwa is backed by valid arguments, in fact what he says is not viable, given the political and social situation.' [6] Kenya's general elections held on December 27, 2007 saw fifteen women elected to parliament, a record for the country whose previous parliament had only nine elected female members, and nine nominated members out of a total of 222. The number of women in parliament is likely to rise after the different political parties nominate more women as required by the state's constitution. Despite this relative progress, in terms of women's representation in parliament, Kenya continues to lag behind its neighbours in eastern and central Africa.

Conflicts around the world continued to take their toll on women in 2007.

The situation in Darfur came no closer to resolution, with women bearing the brunt of the death, destruction, rape and hunger that came in the wake of the conflict. The Democratic Republic of Congo continued to see large scale sexual violence against women and girls. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights reported on the rape and recruitment of girls and young women by irregular armed forces such as the ultra-rightwing United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC) and the leftist Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). Leaders of these paramilitary groups reportedly force them to provide sexual services and do domestic work. [7] In February, it was reported that Mynamar's military has been guilty of killing, raping and torturing with impunity ethnic Karen women. [8] Disputes over the result of the presidential elections in Kenya have led to political turmoil. Hundreds of people have been killed, tens of thousands have been displaced, and there has been an upsurge in the rape of women and girls. [9] In April 2007, the United Nations war crimes tribunal passed a landmark judgement against a Bosnian Serb military policeman for participating in the notorious campaign of rape against Muslim Serb women in the town of Foca in 1992. The indictment against the policeman for the first time charged rape and sexual enslavement as a crime against humanity.

Last year was tumultuous for women's rights defenders in Iran, particularly from the beginning of July. A number of them took part in the One Million Signatures Campaign that seeks to educate women in Iran about their rights and to reform laws that discriminate against women. Several women's rights activists were arrested as they collected signatures in support of the campaign. When some of them refused to sign an agreement to stop their activities, they were charged with 'actions against national security' and transferred to prison. Other activists were arrested when they participated in peaceful demonstrations for women's rights. International pressure helped in securing the release of most of these activists, albeit under stringent bail conditions for many of them. [10] It was reported that in Zimbabwe security forces were routinely sexually abusing and otherwise torturing women human rights activists who demonstrated against human rights abuses, forced evictions and food shortages in the country. [11] Abortion continued to be a major women's rights issue in 2007. Pro-choice groups in Nicaragua lobbied their Congress in vain to overturn a no-exceptions law passed in 2006 that banned all abortions even where the woman's life is at risk. It was reported that the ban has had a 'devastating impact on women's health and lives' with women being afraid to seek even health services that are legal. [12] In Portugal, after a referendum, abortion laws were reformed. Abortion is now authorised for pregnancies that are up to ten weeks old. In cases of rape, abortions are permissible up to 16 weeks into gestation and where the foetus is found to have a congenital malformation or incurable disease, up to 24 weeks.

However a number of women were unable to take advantage of the new laws due to 'conscientious objection' by doctors. [13] The European Union's highest human rights court challenged Poland's restrictive laws on abortion when it awarded a Polish woman damages after she was denied abortion services in spite of health risks. Mexico City's legislature in April agreed to allow abortion during the first three months of pregnancy.

Mozambique also considered legalizing abortion, pushed by its health ministry which argued that unsafe abortion is the third leading cause of maternal mortality in the country. At the end of 2006, Togo had amended its laws to allow for abortion resulting from rape or incest.

Saudi Arabia is the only country in the world that bans women from driving.

In September a group of Saudi women formed a committee to lobby for women to be allowed to drive. The action of the group, though it has not yet resulted in a reversal of the law, highlights the fact that no women's rights gains should be taken for granted.


Notes:

1. Quoted in 'India's first female president sworn in.' Reuters Africa, July 25, 2007.
2. 'Cabinet Minister Killed in East Pakistan.' Guardian Unlimited, February
21, 2007.
3. 'Female Afghan and Pakistani politicians forced from office.' Guardian Unlimited, May 23, 2007.
4. See note 3.
5. Quoted in 'Fatwa over women in politics stirs controversy.' AKI Italy, February 5, 2007.
6. See note 5.
7. 'Women Suffer Abuse Behind the Front Lines.' Inter Press Service News Agency, January 23, 2007.
8. 'Myanmar military accused of raping ethnic Karen women.' Guardian Unlimited, February 12, 2007.
9. 'Scores in hospital after rape ordeal.' Daily Nation, January 2, 2008.
10. Radio Free Europe, November 17, 2007.
11. 'Zimbabwe police torture women activists.' Reuters Africa, October 10,
2007.
12. 'Over their Dead Bodies' Human Rights Watch, 2007.
13. 'Epidemic of Conscientious Objection to Performing Abortion. Inter Press Service, July 20, 2007.

Burkina Faso: Shea butter - A case study

2008-01-17

http://62.149.193.10/wide/download/Africa.pdf?id=553

This Case Study has examined how rural women mobilised to establish a women's shea butter sector enterprise in Burkina Faso. By adding value through processing of shea nuts into shea butter, women are directly reaping the benefits of their labour. The enterprise is creating jobs and providing extra income to the women. Shea is one of the few economic commodities in the region that is entirely under the control of women.

Sudan: Ending sexual violence in Darfur: an advocacy agenda

2008-01-18

http://www.eldis.org/go/topics/resource-guides/conflict-and-security&id=34967&type=Document

Sexual violence defines the conflict in Darfur. This report argues that whilst the primary obstacles to preventing rape and assisting survivors are the perpetrators and the Sudanese government officials, international response has been insufficient.

Zimbabwe: Rural women struggle to get treatment

2008-01-18

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=76250

HIV-infected women living in rural areas are finding it increasingly difficult to access life-prolonging antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) and tend to be more marginalised than those living in urban areas, non-governmental organisations say. "Rural women who need ARVs find themselves in a quandary because levels of income for a rural household tend to be low," said Tariro Kutadza, provincial coordinator of the Zimbabwe AIDS Network (ZAN) in the northern province of Mashonaland West.

Global: Freedom in the World 2008: Global freedom in Retreat

2008-01-18

http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=70&release=612

The year 2007 was marked by a notable setback for global freedom, Freedom House reported in a worldwide survey of freedom released this week. The decline in freedom, as reported in Freedom in the World 2008, an annual survey of political rights and civil liberties worldwide, was reflected in reversals in one-fifth of the world’s countries. Most pronounced in South Asia, it also reached significant levels in the former Soviet Union, the Middle East and North Africa, and sub-Saharan Africa.

Egypt: OMCT/FIDH Recommendations on human rights in Egypt

2008-01-18

http://tinyurl.com/yw45nz

In view of the meeting of the Subcommittee on political matters: human rights and democracy, international and regional issues between the EU and Egypt to be held on 2324th January 2008, the Euro Mediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN), the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) are deeply concerned about the deterioration of the human rights situation since the adoption of the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP) action plan in March 2007.

Kenya: Police under fire over live rounds

2008-01-18

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=76297

Human rights activists in Kenya have dismissed as meaningless police plans to launch an inquiry into the use of live rounds during protests against December’s controversial presidential elections. On 16 January alone, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW), five people were shot dead in the western city of Kisumu during attempts by supporters of the opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) to stage a rally.

CAR: Conflict uproots 300,000, UN reports

2008-01-18

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=25320

Government troops and rebel forces in the Central African Republic (CAR) continue to clash despite ongoing talks of a peace agreement, and nearly 300,000 people had been driven from their homes as of last month, according to a United Nations update. Even more worrying are the attacks by Coupeur de Route bandits, who continue to wreak havoc across the country’s northwest, burning and looting houses and kidnapping and killing civilians, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported.

Africa: AU grants financial contributions to members dealing with forced displacement

2008-01-17

http://tinyurl.com/22hnjk

The PRC Sub-Committee on Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons undertook missions to various countries affected by the problem of forced displacement as part of its activities for 2007. It should be recalled that this Sub-Committee deals with all matters pertaining to forced displacement on the Continent.

Kenya: Post-election violence displaces over 100,000 children – UNICEF

2008-01-18

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=25328

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimates that at least 100,000 children have been forced to flee their homes due to the wave of violence that swept through Kenya following last month’s disputed elections. The agency said that as many as 75,000 children are now residing in over 100 camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs), while many thousands more children are believed to be living temporarily with other family members.

Zimbabwe: No welcome mat for asylum seekers

2008-01-18

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=76230

The British government's loud condemnation of human rights abuses in Zimbabwe led many Zimbabweans to assume they could find easy refuge in the United Kingdom: the reality for asylum seekers has been far less straightforward. According to Home Office figures, around 20,000 Zimbabweans sought asylum in Britain between 2000 and 2007; of those, 4,807 applications were successful - 944 of that total making it on appeal.

Burundi: Thousands of displaced need assistance

2008-01-18

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=76220

About 1,400 families (8,400 people) displaced in Musigati commune in the northwestern province of Bubanza, following fighting between government forces and the Forces Nationales de Libération (FNL), desperately need help, according to local officials. Laurent Kagamba, adviser to the Musigati administrator, said that since the simultaneous attacks on three military positions on 28 December and another on 9 January in the same commune, residents had fled their homes.

North Africa: Million Africans mass in Libya for trip to UK

2008-01-18

http://www.mg.co.za/articlePage.aspx?articleid=329529

Up to a million migrants have gathered in Libya, from where they will attempt to sail across the Mediterranean for Europe and, ultimately, the United Kingdom. New estimates reveal that there are two million migrants massed in the North African country and that half of them plan to sail to the European mainland and travel on to Britain in the hope of building a new life.

AFRICOM threatens the sovereignty, independence and stability of the African continent

A position paper of the the National Conference of Balck Lawyers

2008-01-18

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/socialmovements/45521

The National Conference of Black Lawyers (NCBL) concludes that the mission of Africa Command (Africom) infringes on the sovereignty of African states due to the particularity of Africa’s history and Africa’s current economic and political relationship to the United States. Further, Africom is designed to violate international law standards that protect rights to selfdetermination and that prohibit unprovoked military aggression. Africom is also likely to become a device for the foreign domination and exploitation of Africa’s natural resources to the detriment of people who are indigenous to the African continent.
AFRICOM threatens the sovereignty, independence and stability of the African continent

A position paper of the the National Conference of Balck Lawyers

The National Conference of Black Lawyers (NCBL) concludes that the mission of Africa Command (Africom) infringes on the sovereignty of African states due to the particularity of Africa’s history and Africa’s current economic and political relationship to the United States. Further, Africom is designed to violate international law standards that protect rights to selfdetermination and that prohibit unprovoked military aggression. Africom is also likely to become a device for the foreign domination and exploitation of Africa’s natural resources to the detriment of people who are indigenous to the African continent. NCBL opposes Africom in the strongest terms and calls upon people of African descent in the U.S. to avoid military service to ensure that they will not be ordered to carry out missions on behalf of Africom, or any military unit or program engaged in violating international law, committing crimes against humanity, or committing crimes of any kind that threaten the peace of any continent. What Is Africom? Africom is a project that will substantially change the nature of the U.S. military presence in Africa by establishing a single U.S. military command headquarters that will have Africa as its sole focus.

Africom has become a Rorschach Test because while the U.S. government sees it as a vehicle for bringing peace and prosperity to the continent, it is seen by others as Africa’s greatest new threat. Because of vague, confusing official statements, it has been difficult to ascertain precisely what the U.S. government claims that Africom will actually do. Africom’s website describes the project as a vehicle for the Defense Department to collaborate with “partners to achieve a more stable environment in which political and economic growth can take place.” That description raises more questions than it answers. The following official statement sheds little additional light: “Africa is growing in military, strategic and economic importance in global affairs.

However, many nations on the African continent continue to rely on the international community for assistance with security concerns. From the U.S. perspective, it makes strategic sense to help build the capability for African partners, and organizations such as the Africa Standby Force, to take the lead in establishing a secure environment. This security will, in turn, set the groundwork for increased political stability and economic growth.” Some critics are highly suspicious of the reference to “economic growth.” Specifically, does that refer in real terms to the economic health of Africa’s poor, or instead to expansion of opportunities for multinational corporations to exploit Africa’s natural and human resources as they have for decades? It has been suggested that the Bush Administration actually has three primary items on its agenda:
1) making Africa another front in the Administration’s war on “terrorism”;
2) protecting U.S. access to African oil, mineral wealth and other raw materials; and
3) putting the U.S. in a better position to compete with China for domination of Africa’s resources. It is further suggested that the Bush Administration has no interest in accomplishing any of these objectives directly, and that Africom’s purpose is to identify and nurture the development of African governments that will function as U.S. surrogates. In this regard, Africom is off to a very bad start. As of the date of this writing, the Africom concept has been received with everything from skepticism to hostility by significant African governments, and NCBL is aware of only Liberia as having expressed a clear willingness to provide a location for Africom headquarters.

TransAfrica Forum spokespersons have astutely suggested that Africa’s cool reaction to Africom may well reflect shared memories and opinions that: “[d]uring the cold war, African nations were used as pawns in post-colonial proxy wars, an experience that had a devastating impact on African democracy, peace and development. In the past Washington has aided reactionary African factions that have carried out atrocities against civilians. An increased U.S. military presence in Africa will likely follow this pattern of extracting resources while aiding factions in some of their bloodiest conflicts, thus further destabilizing the region.” Why NCBL is concerned If there is any principle that runs like a thread through all of the work of the National Conference of Black Lawyers, it is that protecting the human right of self-determination for all people must be given the highest priority. NCBL also recognizes that crimes against peace are among the most serious of all international criminal law violations. NCBL’s principles have motivated the organization to consistently oppose military intervention into the sovereign territories and internal affairs of other countries. NCBL has opposed military operations against the Palestinians, instituted litigation against the Reagan administration in the aftermath of the invasion of Grenada, and also provided a consistent voice in opposition to the efforts by several administrations to destabilize Cuba through covert and military means. NCBL has opposed threats of military intervention and the use of mercenary proxies in Nicaragua, Angola and elsewhere. NCBL vigorously opposed the kidnapping of Jean Bertrand Aristide from Haiti, and has sounded an ongoing note of concern about the shrill threats made against the current government of Zimbabwe. Lastly, NCBL has opposed the war in Iraq, and regards it as a crime against peace. It is against this backdrop that NCBL has grave concerns about expansion of U.S. military operations in Africa. The U.S. in Africa – The Historical Context To say that the U.S. enters Africa with unclean hands understates the reality. The full extent of U.S. crimes against African governments and leaders during the past 40 years is likely yet unknown.

However, in 1978, former CIA agent John Stockwell provided for many their first peek into a deadly, ruthless U.S. foreign policy that destroyed what could have been a far more promising political and economic future for the continent. In his book, In Search of Enemies, Stockwell explained that U.S. policy in Africa was driven heavily by cold war concerns. Socialist forces in Angola and Mozambique were prime targets, and the favored method of suppression was use of mercenaries. Stockwell wrote: “Mercenaries seemed to be the answer, preferably Europeans with the requisite military skills and perhaps experience in Africa. As long as they were not Americans...” He went on to describe a collaboration between the CIA and South Africa’s apartheid regime in a campaign to crush emerging progressive Black leadership in Southern Africa. The use of proxies and mercenaries to carry out U.S. objectives in Africa became a standard practice as a new class of socialist leaders emerged during the early years of African independence. In his book, Stockwell referenced the CIA’s complicity with dissidents in Ghana who overthrew Kwame Nkrumah, the country’s first president. Congo’s first prime minister, Patrice Lumumba, received special attention from the highest levels of the U.S. government after he announced plans to nationalize major industries in his country and to pursue a path of nonalignment in the then raging cold war between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Author Ludo De Witte wrote: “On 18 August 1960, during [a] National Security Council meeting, [President Dwight] Eisenhower had made it clear, without explicitly saying so, that he favored Lumumba’s elimination. An assassination operation was planned with the support of CIA chief [Allen] Dulles.” Thereafter, the CIA concocted elaborate schemes to kill Lumumba by, among other things, putting poison in his toothpaste. Ultimately, the CIA saw its objectives accomplished by henchmen of the agency’s stooge, Joseph Mobutu. After Lumumba was killed, Mobutu went on to become head of state in Congo, and his more than three decades of tyrannical reign was one of the bloodiest Africa has ever seen. John Perkins, a former operative of the National Security Agency, has explained that the U.S. has routinely resorted to everything from bribery to cleverly-disguised assassinations in cases where heads of state have in some way threatened the profit-making potential of U.S.-based corporations. This raises special concerns because the threat to Africa’s political and economic integrity comes not only from the U.S. government, but also from the multi-national corporations that are the beneficiaries of government policies. In recent years, this is seen most dramatically in Congo. In 2005, Human Rights Watch issued a report that from 1998 to 2003, a war to control gold fields in northeast Congo resulted in the deaths of more than 60,000 persons along with “ethnic slaughter, executions, torture, rape and arbitrary arrest...” The report goes on to attribute significant responsibility for this carnage to two foreign corporations that financed and fueled the conflict. They were Metalor Technologies, a Swiss refinery; and AngloGold Ashanti, a multinational corporation that, notwithstanding its name, is overwhelmingly directed and managed by non-Africans. All of this raises critical questions of whether, with Africom, the U.S. is now positioning itself to become more directly involved – with or without proxies – in protecting corporate access to Africa’s resources. In many other parts of the world, the U.S. has engaged in “regime change” as a matter of course for more than a century as a method of protecting the interests of the corporate world. What’s Really At Stake? The list of Africa’s valuable mineral resources is endless: gold, diamonds, chromium, copper, etc. However, the continent’s vast oil reserves have attracted perhaps the most attention from the U.S. government. In 2002, Walter Kansteiner, former U.S. assistant secretary of state for Africa, declared: “African oil is of strategic national interest to us and it will increase and become more important to us as we go forward.” It is easy to understand why that perception exists.
Currently, the amount of oil imported by the U.S. from the Persian Gulf is about 16 percent of its total imports. By the year 2015, it is projected that 25 percent of U.S. oil imports will be from West Africa. It is clear that, on this issue, the U.S. puts its money where its mouth is. There is a stark correlation between U.S. aid to African countries and the oil producing potential of recipient African states. To be more concrete, as the two largest oil producers on the continent, Nigeria and Angola receive the most U.S. aid. More disturbing however (particularly for purposes of this discussion) is the level of U.S. military involvement in the protection of access to Africa’s oil. The U.S. spends about $250 million a year on military assistance programs in Africa. This assistance is not only in the form of “peacekeeping training” but it also involves direct arms sales. As a major oil and natural gas supplier Algeria has been allowed to acquire large quantities of counter-insurgency weapons.

Why the U.S. concern with “security” for Africa’s oil? U.S. access is threatened for various reasons, but one that has been of great concern is guerrilla activity in the Niger Delta. An organization calling itself the Movement to Emancipate the Niger Delta (MEND) has, in recent times, been accused of destroying oil pipelines, kidnapping oil company personnel, stealing oil and assorted other acts. MEND has complained of oil industry economic exploitation and environmental destruction. It was reported that during the last year, many oil fields were shut down because of the attacks, and oil production fell short by more than 340 million barrels. All of this prompts NCBL to view with great suspicion U.S. military statements that imply that the security objectives of Africom will be focused on Al Qaeda or other organizations that fit popular contemporary notions of terrorism. It will be all too easy for Africom to target groups like MEND, or even other political formations in Africa that pose no direct threat to oil operations, but which in a broader sense threaten corporate hegemony in Africa. NCBL has been quite clear about its interest in eliminating the domination of Africa’s natural resources by foreign corporations, and the idea that organizations that may engage in political work to bring about that objective might somehow become the targets of U.S. military operations is unacceptable. The Legal Concerns As an association of lawyers and legal activists, NCBL is particularly concerned about the potential Africom presents for routine and ongoing violations of international law. With disturbing frequency, the U.S. has in recent decades launched unprovoked military attacks on other countries, or intervened in the internal affairs of other countries through the use of mercenaries or covert action designed to destabilize foreign governments or the economic, political or social order. Notions of self-determination and sovereign integrity are closely intertwined, and international law has attempted to protect both by proscribing military aggression and other actions that constitute crimes against peace. In fact, the treaty that governs the International Criminal Court has designated aggression as one of “...the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole.” Nevertheless, the International Criminal Court is currently unable to punish the international law crimes committed by the U.S. because the Bush Administration has steadfastly refused to submit to that court’s jurisdiction.

The absence of a method of prosecuting such crimes only heightens NCBL’s concerns about the likelihood that Africom will engage in criminal acts with impunity. The United Nations Charter is one of the most authoritative sources of international law, and it explicitly acknowledges the sovereign equality of all countries and provides that aggression which threatens international peace and the territorial integrity and independence of sovereign states is prohibited.

So strong is this concern about respect for independence that the United Nations even prohibits itself from injecting the U.N. into the internal affairs of member states unless very specific circumstances are present.

However, even with those purported safeguards in the U.N. Charter, serious questions have been raised about the legality and usefulness of certain U.N. interventions over the years, providing additional reasons for the acute concerns about Africom, a far less restricted entity. The U.S. claims that Africom is a response to African countries’ continuing requests for assistance with security. However, this is at best a distortion given the cold shoulder that Africom has been given by most African countries. If assistance has been requested, there is apparently little interest in such assistance coming in the form of Africom. This means that if the U.S. goes forward with Africom, even without malicious intent, it will essentially become an unsolicited, unwelcome intrusion that threatens the ability of African states to exercise rights to self-determination. It is more likely however that the ulterior motives of the U.S. that have been suggested by various commentators are the driving force behind Africom, and it will be difficult for that agenda to be carried out without military action, either by U.S. troops, or by surrogates. This threat to the peace, independence and stability of Africa is inconsistent with both the letter and spirit of applicable provisions of the U.N. Charter, and NCBL is therefore compelled to oppose Africom on legal as well as policy grounds. What is to be done? While NCBL will continue to call upon all people of good will to voice their strongest opposition to Africom, there is also a practical realization that the Africom train has already traveled a good distance down the track and the chances of it being voluntarily recalled are somewhat remote. It is with that fact in mind that NCBL assumes a posture comparable to that which it assumed with respect to the Iraq war. NCBL strongly encourages Black youth to decline any recruiters’ requests to enlist in the U.S. military. If Africom cannot be stopped at the outset, then certainly there is no reason for Africans born in America to participate in the destabilization and exploitation of a continent from whence their ancestors were kidnapped for purposes of enslavement.

The call for Black youth to boycott the military has been raised not only by NCBL, but also by countless unnamed ministers, educators, youth counselors and other leaders in the Black community. There is also evidence that these pleas have not fallen on deaf ears. Whereas, Blacks constituted approximately 25 percent of Army personnel until the year 2000, by 2004, less than 16 percent of the Army’s recruits were of African ancestry. In a study conducted by the Army itself, the conclusion was reached that the continuing decline can be largely attributed to the unpopularity of the Iraq war among members of the Black community who are respected by the youths. This has had a significant impact on the military’s ability to maintain troop levels in Iraq. Finally, for those persons of African descent who are potential recruits, or who are already members of the U.S. armed forces, NCBL pledges to make its best efforts to arrange for pro bono legal representation if they are threatened, disciplined or prosecuted for refusing Africom assignments, or for exercising their right to conscientiously object to military service.

Distributed By: THE PAN-AFRICAN RESEARCH AND DOCUMENTATION CENTER
50 SCB BOX 47, WAYNE STATE UNIVERSITY DETROIT, MI 48202-- E MAIL: ac6123@wayne.edu
======

Liberia: Firestone challenge advances

2008-01-18

http://www.africafocus.org/docs08/lib0801.php

Workers at the Firestone Rubber Plantation in Liberia have for the first time won representation under a free union vote, throwing out the officials of a company-controlled union. The vote took place in July last year, but it took two court decisions and an unauthorized strike before officials finally agreed to negotiate with the new union and hand over their company-collected union dues. The union recognition is only a first step, however, in changing a system of brutal exploitation of child labor and virtual bondage for the rubber tappers.

South Africa: Communities placing their own stamp on the N2 Gateway project

2008-01-14

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/socialmovements/45362

On 3rd January more than 1000 backyarders from Delft and other areas of Cape Town, who occupied N2 Gateway houses in Delft before Christmas and were granted a stay of eviction by the Cape High Court, return to the Court. They claim that the order through which first the Cape Town City Council and then Thubelisha Homes tried to evict them was invalid and hence the evictions were illegal. They want to stop the evictions altogether.
Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign
Press Statement January 2nd 2008
Communities are placing their own stamp on the N2 Gateway project

On 3rd January more than 1000 backyarders from Delft and other areas of Cape Town, who occupied N2 Gateway houses in Delft before Christmas and were granted a stay of eviction by the Cape High Court, return to the Court.

They claim that the order through which first the Cape Town City Council and then Thubelisha Homes tried to evict them was invalid and hence the evictions were illegal. They want to stop the evictions altogether.

Their occupation was sparked by a visit from Housing Minister to Delft on 16 December, when she handed over keys to former Joe Slovo residents for these houses, totally ignoring that 30% of them had been promised to Delft backyarders.

The backyarders plan a march from Kaisergracht to the High Court and will be joined by other communities. These will include residents of Joe Slovo informal settlement, for whom the N2 Gateway Delft houses were ultimately intended by government and Thubelisha, and who are resisting eviction to Delft. Joe Slovo residents want houses built for them in Joe Slovo and support the claims of the backyarders to the Delft houses.

Other communities, including residents of N2 Gateway Phase 1, Mitchells Plain, Gugulethu, Khayelitsha, Athlone etc, are also supporting the Delft backyarders in their occupation. Everyone is welcome to participate in support.

Thubelisha Homes were refused a new eviction order by the Cape High Court on 24 December and may well try to apply for such an order again on 3rd January. This will be opposed by the Delft backyarders, just as Joe Slovo residents opposed the attempt by Sisulu, MEC Richard Dyantyi and Thubelisha Homes to get an urgent eviction order against them last year. This means that the Delft backyarders will not in any event face immediate eviction. The Joe Slovo case was eventually heard in December and the Cape High Court is likely to make a judgement on 15 January.

Delft backyarders also plan to sue the relevant authorities for damages for the illegal evictions.

N2 Gateway is proclaimed as a "pilot project" which is supposed to be susceptible to change when mistakes are made. As long ago as July 2005 the residents of Boys Town, Crossroads, occupied the N2 in protest against plans to move them into flats as part of the project. Since then, however, Sisulu, Dyantyi and Thubelisha Homes have been deaf to all the views expressed by affected communities and dogmatically proceeded with their own plans -- even though one of Thubelisha Homes proclaimed values is "flexibility": "Our ever-changing environment requires us to be adaptable, innovative, and bold in order to remain effective and to seize opportunities." Now affected communities are placing their own stamp on events and demanding the housing that they require.

Already, in response to the mass protests by Joe Slovo residents, Thubelisha Homes has announced that it has reduced the number of FNB-sponsored bond houses that will be built in Joe Slovo from 200 to 35! With more flexibility, it would be possible to accomodate the demands of residents of Joe Slovo as well as the Delft backyarders. But for this, Sisulu, Dyantyi and Thubelisha must withdraw their eviction plans and engage in serious negotiations with all the affected communities.

For more information contact
Ashraf Cassiem 076-186-1408
Mcnedise Twala 078-580-8646
Mzonke Poni 073-256-2036
Pamela Beukes 079-370-9614

Kenya: EU parliament endorses aid freeze

2008-01-18

http://www.africanews.com/site/list_messages/14854

The European Union (EU) parliament has recommended an immediate aid freeze on Kenya to push President Mwai Kibaki to urgently kick-start efforts to end the East African country's post-election political stand-off. EU parliamentarians, meeting almost 20-days into the country's post-election political crisis, also recommended an urgent re-run of the presidential elections if a recount of the disputed presidential votes was not possible to determine the winner.

Zimbabwe: New political parties mushroom as March election nears

2008-01-18

http://www.swradioafrica.com/news170108/shroom170108.htm

With elections about 6 weeks away the number of political parties mushrooming across the country continues to grow. In a week that saw intense speculation over a new party to be led by former finance minister Simba Makoni, another political party in Gweru has been formed. Former town councillor Ruyedzo Mutizwa is reported to have formed the People’s Democratic Party and wants to contest the presidential election.

Power-sharing should be the way forward

Kintu Nyago

2008-01-18

http://www.pambazuka.org/actionalerts/comments/770/

Kintu Nyago, Ex.Director, Forum for Promoting Democratic Constitutionalism, Kampala, Uganda, writes that there is need to tame the Kenyan executive, whereby some of its powers are diffused into the other pillars of state, notably the legislature and judiciary. There is also need to reformulate the Kenyan electoral system to allow for more inclusivity, based on proportional representation, rather than its current clearly ill suited ‘The First-Past the Post’, “Winner-Takes All” model. Constitutional provisions for power sharing require to be adopted, he argues.

Global: WB corruption chief quits

2008-01-17

http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3641.aspx

On Wednesday, January 16, Reuters and the Financial Times (FT) reported that Suzanne Rich Folsom resigned as chief of the World Bank's anti-corruption unit. Folsom's appointment to lead the Department of Institutional Integrity (INT), the Bank's internal, anti-corruption unit, was highly controversial since her appointment in 2005 by former Bank President Paul Wolfowitz.

Nigeria: Emerging dangerous signals in the fight against corruption

2008-01-18

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/corruption/45500

The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) is a civil society organisation that is committed to good governance, human rights promotion and development in the West Africa sub-region. The Centre notes with concern dangerous signals emanating from the Presidency as it relates to the steady and continuous decline of the fight against corruption in Nigeria. Since the inauguration of the government of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua on 29 May 2007, the administration has consistently proclaimed the respect for the rule of law and due process as its anchor point.
Press Statement
Emerging dangerous signals in the fight against Corruption in Nigeria

The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) is a civil society organisation that is committed to good governance, human rights promotion and development in the West Africa sub-region. The Centre notes with concern dangerous signals emanating from the Presidency as it relates to the steady and continuous decline of the fight against corruption in Nigeria. Since the inauguration of the government of President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua on 29 May 2007, the administration has consistently proclaimed the respect for the rule of law and due process as its anchor point. However, actions of the government have left more to be desired as its body language seems to portray the very opposite of what it proclaims.

- The Centre is worried at the realisation that the government and some of its ministries and parastatals especially the Federal Ministry of Justice, creates the impression that it is desirous of protecting some former governors, ministers and political leaders who have been fingered in allegations of corrupt practices, money laundering and abuse of office.

- Another disturbing signal was the indication expressed by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice—and recently, the House of Reps- to the effect that it wants to merge the main anti-corruption agencies, the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Whilst we felt that the emergence of the administration and their proclamation for the promotion of the rule of law will give rise to strengthening the legislative mechanisms of the institutions in the fight against corruption, we were taken aback by such moves because we believe that merging them has potentials to weaken the EFCC which has shown total commitment and dedication to the crusade.

-Also, the inability and reluctance of the government to give legal force and implementation of the anti-graft laws by setting up their implementing councils and inaugurating them in addition to the slow pace of the National Assembly to promptly pass into law the Freedom of Information (FOI) Bill aimed at enhancing the fight against corruption, has given indications that the government is not committed to the fight against corruption.

- The government’s decision, through the directive of the Inspector-General of Police, to send the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Mallam Nuhu Ribadu on a 9–month training course at the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, at an auspicious time when the Commission was on top of very high profile investigations and prosecutions of influential personalities is not only sending very negative signals about the commitment of the government in the fight against corruption, but is viewed as being against the very due process and the rule of law that the government talks about. CDD is convinced that this action is negatively affecting the credibility of the anti-corruption campaign and is diminishing the confidence of the international community in the country’s sustained fight against corruption including the gains of the anti-corruption war. This is evident in the de-listing of Nigeria by the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering from the list of substantially non-compliant countries. Whilst CDD is not opposed to the training and re-training of public officials to enhance their work and develop the capacities, it is of the view that the manner in carrying out such tasks should be consistent with the provisions of the law establishing the EFCC.

- Furthermore, CDD notes the unending debate that have followed the deployment of the EFCC Chairman to NIPSS and to that extent, it is convinced that the fight against corruption in Nigeria has been personalised which we believe is detrimental to sustainability of the campaign. In this regards, CDD is of the firm belief that the separation of the anti-graft institutions and personalities is the most appropriate way for the prosecution of the campaign against corruption.

The Centre for Democracy and Development:

1. Urges the Federal Government to progressively take steps aimed at accelerating the fight against corruption in Nigeria by undertaking actions that give executive effect to existing anti-graft laws that will strengthen judicial and legislative institutional mechanisms;
2. Calls on the National Assembly to undertake a holistic and comprehensive review of the enabling laws of the various anti-graft agencies as regards appointment, deployment etc, with a view to strengthening them and remove every ambiguities that will guide against such actions;
3. Calls on the Federal government to immediately sack the Attorney-General of the Federation and the Minister of Justice Mr. Michael Aondoakaa as he has consistently shown his determined bid to frustrate the activities of the EFCC and have thus lost the confidence of Nigerians to act in that capacity;
4. Calls on the Federal government to convince Nigerians and the international community about its commitment to the fight against corruption and the promotion of the respect for the rule of law and due process;
5. Calls on President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua to clearly articulate in an unambiguous manner, his vision and plan to sustain the anti-corruption crusade in Nigeria;
6. Calls on the National Assembly to immediately begin the process of domesticating the United Nations Convention against Corruption in fulfilment of her international obligation;
7. Calls on the National Assembly to expedite action on the passage of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Bill.

Dr. Jibrin Ibrahim Director

South Africa: Selebi resigns as Interpol chief

2008-01-18

http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/D640542A-F380-4A5E-BE8C-E6C398F08488.htm

Jackie Selebi, South Africa's police chief, has resigned as president of Interpol to fight corruption allegations in his home country. The world police organisation on Sunday said Selebi had stepped down "in the best interests of Interpol and out of respect for the global law enforcement community that it serves".

Africa: Protest in Brussels against new EU-Africa trade deals

2008-01-15

http://euobserver.com/9/25442/?rk=1

Representatives of the African diaspora gathered in Brussels recently following a call by Senegalese president Abdoulaye Wade to protest against the signing of new EU-Africa trade deals. The EU says the agreements will be beneficial for the African economy, something disputed by some African states.

Tanzania: Government wins legal battle against British water company

2008-01-17

http://www.wdm.org.uk/news/tanzaniawinslegalbattle11012008.html

City Water Services, a subsidiary of British-based water company Biwater, has lost an international legal case for breaching its contract to deliver water and sanitation services in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania between 2003 and 2005. The contract with City Water was issued following a controversial water privatisation, supported by the UK government.

South Africa: Assessing the prospects for the adoption of biofortified crops

2008-01-18

http://www.agbioforum.org/v10n3/v10n3a08-wolson.htm

South Africa was an early adopter of GM crops and, more recently, introduced a national food-fortification program. This article discusses the country's experiences in developing an appropriate regulatory framework and the responses of key stakeholders. In addition, an assessment is presented of the prospects for the adoption of biofortified crops in South Africa.

Southern Africa: 2008 The Year of SADC Free Trade

2008-01-18

http://www.sardc.net/Editorial/Newsfeature/08010108.htm

The Year 2008 is set to be a momentous one for the region with the official launch of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Free Trade Area slated for August. The Botswana-based Secretariat of SADC has confirmed that while the agreed tariff phase-down takes effect this month, the official launch will be in August, coinciding with the annual Summit of Heads of State and Government. South Africa, which takes over the rotating SADC chair in August, is expected to host the summit.

Mozambique: Growing poverty with mineral wealth

2008-01-18

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=76119

For years, the coal-mining town of Moatize, in the northern Mozambican province of Tete, has been a ghost of its former self, but this is about to change. Its railroad is closed and the purpose-built prefabricated neighbourhood, called Berlin after long-disappeared German miners, now houses local residents. Like much of Mozambique's extractive industry, the decades-long civil war resulted in large-scale damage to infrastructure, and the region's mineral wealth was all but ignored.

DRC: Over 550 cholera cases in Lubumbashi

2008-01-18

http://africa.reuters.com/top/news/usnBAN838291.html

More than 550 people have fallen victim to a cholera epidemic so far this year in Lubumbashi, capital of Congo's mineral-rich Katanga province, medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) said on Friday. At least eight people have died from the waterborne illness in the city of around 1 million, and 104 are receiving medical care at a treatment centre set up by MSF's Belgian chapter.

Congo: Fear, stigma undermine fight against MTCT

2008-01-17

http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/nota.asp?idnews=40712

At the Integrated Health Centre of Bissita, located in the Bacongo area of Brazzaville, the capital of the Republic of Congo, pregnant women seated on a long bench wait to have prenatal examinations. A member of this talkative group, Sylvie Bakani*, wears a concerned expression. Due to deliver in a few weeks, she is also HIV positive.

Uganda: Good results when distributing ARVs via volunteers

2008-01-18

http://www.health-e.org.za/news/article.php?uid=20031860

A Ugandan study has shown that community volunteers can effectively distribute antiretrovirals in rural areas with around 90% of patients adhering to treatment. This week’s Centers for Disease Control newsletter on HIV, Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention also reports on the link between Christopher Columbus and the spread of syphilis.

Kenya: Drug resistance risk as displaced HIV patients skip ARV doses

2008-01-18

http://www.aidsmap.com/en/news/6B24BD5E-6B24-4474-85A4-0AC3646A1AD5.asp

After a fortnight of political violence during which an estimated 250,000 Kenyans were displaced, health workers are scrambling to ensure that HIV-positive people on life-prolonging anti-retroviral (ARV) therapy continue to receive their drugs and adequate food supplies.

Africa: Higher mortality in children born to mothers with lower CD4 cell counts

2008-01-18

http://www.aidsmap.com/en/news/73A8E41D-094A-4535-879F-54784A4EFA5E.asp

Children in sub-Saharan Africa born to mothers with CD4 cell counts under 350 cells/mm3 are more likely to die, whether or not the children themselves are HIV-positive, according to a study published in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes in December 2007. Child malnutrition and low maternal haemoglobin were associated with higher child mortality rates.

Zambia: Targeted HIV research and care programmes may improve antenatal care

2008-01-18

http://www.aidsmap.com/en/news/9C6E664F-5029-4968-BFD7-A3BC3A083FB6.asp

A review of records from antenatal clinics in Lusaka, Zambia has found that pregnant women were screened for syphilis more commonly after prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT) research and service programmes were implemented at the clinics. This increase in screening was interpreted as a marker of improved routine clinical services for pregnant women.

Botswana: Two XDR TB cases reported

2008-01-18

http://www.aidsmap.com/en/news/1B5F0A58-9125-461F-9F37-36CC930B6E79.asp

The government of Botswana announced yesterday that two cases of extensively drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR TB) have been identified in the country. They are the first cases to be reported in sub-Saharan Africa outside South Africa. Two patients with XDR TB have been quarantined at the Princess Marina Hospital in Gabarone.

Morocco: Health care reform plan benefits rural poor

2008-01-18

http://tinyurl.com/28c3us

The Moroccan government has announced an ambitious programme to reform its health care system to provide better care in all regions of the country. Health Minister Yasmina Baddou said the ministry hopes to make more affordable treatment available to the country's least privileged.

Nigeria: Classroom shortages threaten primary education targets

2008-01-18

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=76243

The success of the Universal Basic Education (UBE) programme which aims to provide free education to every child in Nigeria caused the number of primary school leavers to more than double in 2007, creating a backlog that the secondary education system is struggling to cope with. Over 49,000 children in the northern Nigeria city of Kano who completed primary school in 2006 and wish to attend secondary school may not be admitted due to a severe shortage of trained teachers and classrooms.

Morocco: Court upholds prison terms for six homosexuals

2008-01-18

http://tinyurl.com/2b7v9n

A Moroccan court of appeals upheld the prison sentences of six convicted homosexuals, MAP reported on Wednesday (January 16th). One of the men in the highly-publicised sexual rights case received a 10-month prison term and a $130 fine. The five others received lighter sentences. The men were rumoured to have participated in a supposed gay wedding ceremony in Ksar El-Kebir in northern Morocco.

Egypt: New asylum chance for gay Egyptian

2008-01-18

http://www.mask.org.za/article.php?cat=AfricaAbroad&id=1792

A unanimous three-judge panel of the U.S. 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals, based in Philadelphia, ruled on December 20 that a gay Egyptian man should receive a further hearing from the Board of Immigration Appeals (BIA), which earlier rejected his bid to stay in the US.

Egypt: Onscreen lesbian kiss upsets Egyptian academics

2008-01-18

http://www.mask.org.za/article.php?cat=egypt&id=1790

A lesbian sex scene in an Egyptian film has outraged religious scholars, who are telling people not to watch the 'sinful' movie. An Islamic Studies professor at Cairo University wants the Egyptian authorities to prosecute the director and both actresses involved in the scene, Ghada Abdel-Razeq and Sumaya Al-Khashab.

Africa: Egypt accuses Europe of discrimination, xenophobia

2008-01-18

http://africa.reuters.com/wire/news/usnL18567974.html

Angry about a European Parliament resolution on human rights in Egypt, the Egyptian government countered with an accusation that religious and ethnic minorities face increasing discrimination in Europe. "Egypt is deeply concerned at the deteriorating state of the rights of religious and ethnic minorities and immigrants on the European continent," a Foreign Ministry statement said.

DRC: World Bank plans to do more in forest sector

2008-01-17

http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.3645.aspx

An Inspection Panel report on the World Bank’s safeguard policy violations in its Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) forest sector operations prompts discussion on new approach and greater role for Pygmies in decision-making about the future of the world’s second-largest rainforest.

Global: Sustainable biofuels: Prospects and challenges

2008-01-15

http://royalsociety.org/displaypagedoc.asp?id=28632

According to this study by the Royal Society, it is vital that policies that promote biofuel development also address the environmental, economic and social impacts, so that they are made to perform their task effectively. The study concludes that biofuels are potentially an important part of the future is therefore tempered with careful consideration.

Zimbabwe: No middle ground for crops between drought and deluge

2008-01-18

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=76274

After six years of drought, the forecast was that Zimbabwe was set for good rains and a decent harvest this season - and then came the deluge. The country has been pounded by torrential rains, with December 2007 the wettest month in 127 years, according to the metrological department. Localised flooding has claimed 21 lives, affecting around 5,000 people along the southeastern border with Mozambique, and a further 3,000 in Muzarabani district in the northeast of the country.

Zambia: Mining companies accused of environmental negligence

2008-01-18

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=76144

Zambia's mines are coming under increasing and sustained criticism for repeatedly polluting drinking water sources in the Copperbelt mining region, the country's economic heartland. Last week the country's second largest copper producer, Mopani Copper Mine, which has mining operations in Mufulira town, near the border of the Democratic Republic of Congo, accidentally discharged polluted water, after a pump malfunction failed to purify it, into the reticulated water system of a private water utility company.

South Africa: Shackdwellers plan resistance to forced removal

2008-01-17

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/land/45460

About 75 shackdwellers and one family living in a house in a section of Hangberg in Hout Bay, Cape Town are facing eviction from their land by South African Sea Products. The community will appear in the Cape High Court on Tuesday 29th January 2008 to oppose the eviction order. They will be assisted by the Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign in opposing their forced removal.
Hout Bay shackdwellers plan resistance to forced removal

About 75 shackdwellers and one family living in a house in a section of Hangberg in Hout Bay, Cape Town are facing eviction from their land by South African Sea Products.

The community will appear in the Cape High Court on Tuesday 29th January 2008 to oppose the eviction order. They will be assisted by the Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign in opposing their forced removal.

The community is angered and intends to resist the forced removal because they say that some of the land belongs to the City and not to South African Sea Products, so the company does not have the right to evict them. In addition, most of the residents work in Hout Bay as fisherpeople and some work as casuals at the company itself.

Michelle Yon of the Hangberg Solution Seekers Association (the community organisation) says that most of the residents have worked at South African Sea Products at many points in their lives, with some of them starting work at the company as children and only finishing later in life once they were injured on duty.

There were other South African Sea Products workers and former workers living in a hostel near the shacks but recently, the company closed it down and relocated those workers to proper houses in Mitchells Plein. South African Sea Products has started tearing down the hostel even while it is surrounded by the shackdwellers, thereby creating a very hazardous environment. They have not even put up a signboard stating that the area is a demolition site and that people must stay away.

The one house that remains in the shack area belongs to a man who was injured on duty at South African Sea Products some time ago. The family says that South African Sea Products offered them R63 000 to buy their two bedroom houses, which directly faces Chapmans Peak. The market value of this house, small as it is, is estimated to be around R1 million.

Michelle Yon says that the community will not allow South African Sea Products to forcibly remove them without alternative accommodation being provided.

In addition, the Hangberg Solution Seekers Association, is very concerned that this forced removal signals the beginning of a speedy elimination of the entire community of Hangberg by property developers who want to gobble up all the scenic land facing the sea and Chapmans Peak. For this reason, the community has vowed not to move from the area.

The community tried already to buy the hostel themselves to set up a low cost housing project and were under the impression that the company would still sell it to them.

"Why should they sell our land to a private developer? To our knowledge we had a deal to buy the hostel for low cost housing but now they have a private investor and they want people to vacate. We are not going to allow this. If the private developers are going to get the right to remove us, they will try to remove everyone else in Hangberg. We are already living in poverty because we didn't get fishing quotas as real fisherpeople because the companies got given all the quotas," said Yon.

"Our demands are that those people must not be evicted unless South African Sea Products gives us alternative accommodation like they did for the people in the hostels. But apart from this, we want something back for the community. That parcel of land is part of our history. Everyone who stays there was born and bred in Hout Bay and many are working for South African Sea Products to this day," said Yon.

*For comment call Michelle Yon on 074 2855473,
Chairperson of Hangberg Solution Seekers Association or Mzonke Poni from Anti-Eviction Campaign on
073 2562036*

North Africa: Polisario losing patience over Morocco's non-cooperation

2008-01-18

http://www.humanrightshouse.org/dllvis5.asp?id=6181

The conflict between Western Sahara´s independence movement Polisario and Morocco has reached its most critical point since the ceasefire in 1991, writes Tom Varghese, right, former leader of the Rafto Foundation´s student group. Rising tensions, a deteriorating humanitarian situation and a diplomatic deadlock are nurturing a steadily growing fraction within Polisario, pressuring the current leadership to return to arms.

Namibia: Dam will mean our destruction, warn Himba

2008-01-18

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=76311

Asking the local Himba people where on the Cunene River in northern Namibia they would choose to site a hydroelectric dam "is like asking me which of my three children do you want me to kill", a Himba elder told IRIN. In the event, the announcement by President Hifikepunye Pohamba late last year that construction on "the Baynes hydropower project [on the Cunene River] as soon as possible", was made without consulting the Himba.

Ghana : Newspaper journalist's camera destroyed

2008-01-18

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/media/45520

A digital camera belonging of Fred J. A. Ibrahim, a Kumasi correspondent of the Daily Guide, a privately-owned Accra-based newspaper, was on January 11, 2008 destroyed by Yaw Amankwah, a photographer of Manhyia Palace, official seat of the Asante Kingdom.
Ghana ALERT: Newspaper journalist's camera destroyed

A digital camera belonging of Fred J. A. Ibrahim, a Kumasi correspondent of the Daily Guide, a privately-owned Accra-based newspaper, was on January 11, 2008 destroyed by Yaw Amankwah, a photographer of Manhyia Palace, official seat of the Asante Kingdom. A furious Amankwah insulted the journalist, seized his camera and ordered him to leave the premises since "the Palace does not need any media coverage".

The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA)'s correspondent reported that the journalist, Daily Guide correspondent at the Manyhia Palace was covering an activity involving important dignitaries including Ghanaian President J.A. Kufuor.

Ibrahim said the Palace Public Relations Officer later came to his rescue and retrieved the camera from Amankwah who had already destroyed it, in an attempt to remove the memory chip.

The Daily Guide newspaper in its January 18 edition, reported that "for some time now, the Palace has become a no go area for journalists", alleging that journalists covering the Manhyia Palace have been treated with contempt by some officials of the Palace in recent times.

Prof. Kwame Karikari
Executive Director MFWA
Tel: 233 21 242470
Fax: 233 21 221084 Email : <mailto:mfwa@africaonline.gh> mfwa@africaonline.gh

Niger: Police officer threatens radio journalists

2008-01-18

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/media/45472

Ben Issoufou Mohammed and Moussa Inne, journalists of Sahara FM, a privately-owned radio station, based in Agadez, a town of about 1000 km north of Niamey, capital of Niger, were on January 10, 2008 threatened by a police officer stationed at the town’s police station.
Niger ALERT: Police officer threatens radio journalists

Ben Issoufou Mohammed and Moussa Inne, journalists of Sahara FM, a privately-owned radio station, based in Agadez, a town of about 1000 km north of Niamey, capital of Niger, were on January 10, 2008 threatened by a police officer stationed at the town’s police station.

The police officer told the journalists: “You are hypocrites and accomplices; I wish you (would) suffer the same fate as your colleague who drove over a landmine in Niamey”, referring to the killing of Abdou Mahamane, director of Radio R & M (Radio and Music), first independent radio station in Niger, in a landmine explosion on January 9.

The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) correspondent reported that the journalists had gone to the station to cover an invitation extended by the Niamey Criminal Investigations Department (CID) to the former Prime Minister of Niger, Hama Amadou, for allegedly inciting violence at a political rally.

The invitation of the former Prime Minister followed a newspaper’s report. “The Repulicain”, a privately-owned newspaper produced an audio recording of the rally, which was the basis of the invitation.

Earlier on January 8, a similar threat was issued via telephone to another journalist, Abdoul Karim Hassouni, editor- in-Chief of Bonferey FM by an activist of the ruling MNSD party. The activist, Fati Salha accused Hassouni of given the tape to the newspaper.

MFWA condemns these threats on journalists following the recent red alert which empowers the country’s security agencies to act in the wake of the Tuareg Rebellion in the middle of last year.

Prof. Kwame Karikari Executive Director MFWA
Tel: 233 21 242470
Fax: 233 21 221084
Email : mfwa@africaonline.gh

West Africa: Gambian journalists launch online radio

2008-01-15

http://www.radioavg.com/website/

A group of Gambian media practitioners in Dakar, Senegal, and The Gambia have recently launched an online radio that features mainly issues affecting The Gambia. Radio Alternative Voice, found at www.radioavg.com on the World Wide Web, offers programmes in English, Mandingka and Wollof. With the current political atmosphere in The Gambia, the Dakar-based journalists, with their counter-parts in Banjul, felt it necessary to initiate an online media with the sole objective of providing the Gambian people with an alternative means of accessing impartial and independent information.

Somalia: Analysis of Draft Media Law

2008-01-17

http://www.article19.org/pdfs/press/somalia-media-note-pr.pdf

ARTICLE 19 has released its analysis of the draft Somali Media Law, which seeks to establish a broad regulatory framework for all media in Somalia. Although the draft Law does include some positive features, it seeks to subject all media to a largely government controlled regulatory regime and imposes a number of overbroad restrictions on what may be published or broadcast.

Somalia: Journalist arrested in Central Somalia

2008-01-17

http://www.ifjafrique.org/anglais/index.php?page=lire&id=468

The National Union of Somali Journalists (NUSOJ) is condemning the arrest of journalist Ayanle Hussien Abdi in Beledweyne town of Hiran region, which situates in central Somalia. The journalist, who is freelancing for BBC Somali Service, was arrested on Tuesday evening, 15 January 2008, by forces sent by Governor of Hiran Yusuf Ahmed Hagar "Dabaged". The reason behind the arrest is not identified.

DRC:Journalist arrested after being invited to ministry of mines

2008-01-18

http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=25051

Reporters Without Borders has called on the authorities to explain how Maurice Kayombo, an investigative reporter for the privately-owned monthly Les Grands Enjeux, came to be detained. Arrested on 9 January while interviewing the secretary-general of the ministry of mines in his office, he has been charged with blackmail and “disparaging an official.”

Chad: Police close down N’Djamena radio station, arrest manager

2008-01-18

http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=25091

Reporters Without Borders has caled on the Chadian authorities to explain why the police raided privately-owned radio FM Liberté in N’Djamena, closed it down and arrested its manager, Djekourninga Kaoutar Lazar.

DRC: Rebel group spells out demands

2008-01-18

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=76275

The insurgency led by dissident general Laurent Nkunda in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has spelt out its demands at a peace conference to end the conflict in the troubled North and South Kivu provinces in the east, where, according to the UN, insecurity and human rights abuses have displaced at least half a million people in the past 12 months.

Kenya: Police kill 4 on protest day one

2008-01-17

http://www.mediafocusondevelopment.com/

Police on Wednesday shot dead four people and violently dispersed opposition leaders at the start of the three-day opposition mass protests which saw businesses paralysed in Nairobi and all the major towns and cities, including Kisumu, Mombasa and Eldoret. The opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) has vowed to pursue protests and engage in international mediation efforts while constantly raising the issue of the flawed presidential elections in parliament where it has a controlling majority.

Mozambique: Flood water officially worse than 2000, evacuations in overdrive

2008-01-17

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/EGUA-7AWSPE?OpenDocument

Mozambican officials have now confirmed what people living in the Zambezi valley and along other rivers have suspected for at least a week: that in terms of water levels, the 2008 seasonal floods are worse than those of nearly a decade ago. However the authorities and the Mozambique Red Cross (MRC) have been working flat-out in a so-far successful operation to move people away from immediate danger – especially along the Zambezi.

sudan: UN, AU envoys meet with key Darfur rebel alliance

2008-01-17

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/YSAR-7AWS4H?OpenDocument

A key rebel alliance has told the United Nations and African Union (AU) Special Envoys for Darfur that it is ready to work with the newly-deployed hybrid peacekeeping force, known as UNAMID. The Envoys, Jan Eliasson and Salim Ahmed Salim, held a four-hour meeting in an undisclosed location in the north-west of the war-ravaged Sudanese region with the United Resistance Front (URF), a grouping of several of Darfur’s splintering movements.

Sudan: Government releases eight Darfur rebels into UN custody

2008-01-18

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=25327

The Sudanese Government has released eight rebel detainees to the newly-deployed United Nations-African Union (AU) hybrid peacekeeping force, known as UNAMID, which is seeking to bring peace to the war-ravaged Darfur region. The eight members of the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) were released in El Fasher in North Darfur, into the custody of UNAMID Force Commander General Martin Luther Agwai in his capacity as Chairman of the Ceasefire Commission (CFC).

Côte d’Ivoire: Security Council extends UN operation for further six months

2008-01-18

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=25298

The Security Council has renewed the mandate of the United Nations Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI) and French forces supporting it until 30 July so the world body can support the holding of free, open, fair and transparent elections. In a unanimously adopted resolution, the Council said it will review by 30 July the mandates of UNOCI and the French force, as well as UN troop levels, “in light of the progress achieved in the implementation of the key steps of the peace process.”

Africa: How should Africa exercise its 'responsibility to protect'?

2008-01-18

http://www.eldis.org/go/topics/resource-guides/conflict-and-security&id=34991&type=Document

To what extent is international society responsible for the protection of civilians during humanitarian crises? This paper reports on a policy advisory group convened to discuss Africa’s responsibility to protect. The aim was to interrogate issues around humanitarian intervention in Africa and the responsibility of regional governments and the international community in the face of humanitarian crises.

Global: World Bank GEP 2008 report: Technology diffusion in the Developing World

2008-01-15

http://go.worldbank.org/RUTFVOKW40

Technology and technological progress are central to economic and social well-being. The creation and diffusion of goods and services are critical drivers of economic growth, rising incomes, social progress, and medical progress. Global Economic Prospects 2008: Technology Diffusion in the Developing World examines the state of technology in developing countries and the pace with which it has advanced since the early 1990s.

Global: Shuttleworth urged to rethink Ubuntu names

2008-01-18

http://www.tectonic.co.za/?p=2053

Would a rose by any other name smell as sweet? Or, more importantly, would as many people stop to smell a rose by a different name? In an open letter to Ubuntu Linux founder Mark Shuttleworth, published yesterday, the suggestion was made to rebrand all the forms of Ubuntu as different editions of the distribution.

Global: Sun buys MySQL for $1 billion

2008-01-18

http://www.tectonic.co.za/?p=2046

Sun Microsystems has agreed to buy MySQL AB, the developers of the popular open source MySQL database, for “approximately” $1 billion. Both MySQL AB and Sun issued press releases today announcing the surprise deal.

Africa: Radio scriptwriting competition

2008-01-15

http://www.comminit.com/en/node/266027

Developing Countries Farm Radio Network (DCFRN) and Technical Center for Agricultural Cooperation (CTA) invite African scriptwriters to participate in the African Farmers’ Strategies for Coping with Climate Change scriptwriting competition. The competition is open to African radio organisations, including broadcasters, production organisations, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) with a radio project, and farmers’ associations with a radio show. the Deadline is March 15, 2008.

Changemakers: Tapping local innovation

Unclogging the water and sanitation crisis

2008-01-18

http://www.changemakers.net/competition/waterandsanitation

Tapping Local Innovation: Unclogging the Water and Sanitation Crisis is a collaborative competition to find and discuss groundbreaking approaches that are making universal access to safe water and sanitation a reality. Addressing challenges from the high cost of water in urban areas to creating access to water in rural areas can lead to critical impacts on global health, the environment, poverty, peace and conflict. Submit, review and comment on entries starting now through March 26, 2008. Online voting will take place April 16-30 2008 at www.changemakers.net

Global: European summer school in resource and environmental economics

2008-01-18

http://www.feem-web.it/ess/index.html

The European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists (EAERE), the Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM) and the Venice International University (VIU) are pleased to announce their annual European Summer School in Resource and Environmental Economics for postgraduate students. The 2008 Summer School will take place from the 6th to the 12th of July, at the VIU campus on the Island of San Servolo, in Venice, located just in front of St. Mark’s Square. The theme of this Summer School is Space in Unified Models of Economy and Ecology.

Global: Leaders in development: Managing political & economic change

Jun 9, 08 - Jun 20, 08

2008-01-14

http://ksgexecprogram.harvard.edu/program/lid/overview.aspx

Leaders in Development is intended for political leaders, senior-level policy makers and managers, executives of political and public interest organizations, and leaders of non-governmental organizations from developing, newly industrialized, and transitional countries. Participants are selected to reflect a broad range of leadership positions from the public, private, and non-governmental sectors. They are united in sharing positions of leadership, challenging political and economic environments, and a desire to use their positions to promote equitable and sustainable change in their countries.

Global: Summer institute for new global health researchers

2008-01-18

http://www.ccghr.ca/dev/default.cfm?content=si5&lang=e&subnav=si5

The Canadian Coalition is pleased to announce the call for applications for the 5th Summer Institute for New Global Health Researchers, to be held in partnership with Network Environments for Aboriginal Research BC of the University of Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. The Summer Institute will be held at the Quw'utsun' Cultural and Conference Centre located in the Cowichan Valley, in the southeast corner of Vancouver Island from July 16-23, 2008

Global: Swedish funded training programme on journalism and democracy

2008-01-15

http://tinyurl.com/3y5b98

Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) requests applications for their 2008 programme in Journalism and Democracy to be held in Kalmar and Stockholm during 5 May – 23 May. The programme is set up as a process-oriented workshop consisting of lectures, discussions, group sessions, study visits, research and presentations both written and oral. Participants from Zimbabwe are particularly encouraged to apply. This is a fully funded programme. the deadline for applications is February 15, 2008.

Fahamu