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Global: Sign on to WHO letter - Save mothers' and infants' lives!

2008-10-10

http://tinyurl.com/4c4wc5

Review and sign on to the letter below urging the World Health Organization (WHO) to revise its guidelines to recommend full-course antiretroviral treatment for all expectant and breastfeeding mothers worldwide, in place of short-course therapy. With a united voice, we can save the lives of scores of mothers and infants, and prevent millions of orphans.

Chinese and African Perspectives on China in Africa

Call for Proposals

2008-10-09

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/Announce/51039

The Chinese and African Perspectives on China in Africa is a research project initiated by FAHAMU, the network for social justice issues, with funding from OXFAM Novib and OSI. China’s engagement in Africa has expanded and intensified in recent years. But much of the current debates and research has been informed by a Northern perspective. Fahamu’s China in Africa programme therefore seeks to develop an African perspective by strengthening the civil society voice in the emerging Africa-China discourse.
CALL FOR PROPOSALS

FAHAMU
Collaborative Research Project on Chinese and African Perspectives on China in Africa

Terms of Reference for In-Depth Thematic Areas


Introduction

The Chinese and African Perspectives on China in Africa is a research project initiated by FAHAMU, the network for social justice issues, with funding from OXFAM Novib and OSI. China’s engagement in Africa has expanded and intensified in recent years. But much of the current debates and research has been informed by a Northern perspective. Fahamu’s China in Africa programme therefore seeks to develop an African perspective by strengthening the civil society voice in the emerging Africa-China discourse. It aims to achieve this by:

Enabling research to be undertaken on the political, social, economic and cultural effects of China's engagement with Africa,
Developing informed discussion and advocacy in China and in Africa about China's role in Africa, and
Enhancing long-term cooperation between researchers, academics, media and activists in China and Africa.

The Research themes

The primary purpose of this research project is to undertake a comprehensive analysis of Africa’s engagement with China by focusing on the following thematic areas:

China and de-industrialisation
The Chinese firm in Africa - how are the '9 principles' enforced? (See attached appendix)
The Chinese MNC – what is its modus operandi and how does it differ from the corporate behaviour of other ‘rising’ powers?
China, human rights and good governance
China and the environment
China’s comparative trade, aid and investment behaviour vis-à-vis other Asian and 'Southern' powers, and the older 'Northern' players
Agriculture and biotechnology as alternate sectors for mutual development
Chinese enclave communities and their sociological impact on African societies
The intention in each of these areas is to identify appropriate and sector-specific policy measures as well as development opportunities and challenges. This call for proposals therefore aims to:
Provide an in depth understanding of the impact of the specific research theme on the recipient African country
Evaluate how African governments are responding and ensuring a better co-ordinated response to the Chinese engagement within the specific research theme
Observe the effect this has for African societies - in particular how the Africa-China engagement helps or harms development at the grass roots.
Determine a set of recommendations that could be useful for strengthening the Africa-China engagement.

Call for Proposals

The FAHAMU China in Africa programme therefore invites interested African individuals and institutions to submit proposals in the above thematic areas. There are a total of six research grants to be awarded. Each proposal should include a brief review of the relevant literature in the thematic area relating to the China-Africa engagement, with particular reference to the relevant case study and where the research will be conducted. A clear outline of the methodology must be provided, including the type of data, availability of information and collection strategy.

Applicants are encouraged to form collaborations. Researcher teams must comprise at most three persons with one identified team leader and at least one female researcher.

This call for proposals is designed to strengthen the capacity and development of researchers and institutions working within their home countries. As a result, and given the total value of each grant, researchers are encouraged to submit proposals relating to their home countries and not apply to conduct research in third countries.

Finally all interested parties are encouraged not to duplicate existing studies. Instead the proposals are designed to assist researchers with seed funding for projects, which offer new insights into China’s African impact in each of the thematic areas. In addition, applicants are encouraged to develop their project proposals in line with the 2006 FOCAC commitments (see attached appendix) in order to assess their implementation since the research findings from the six projects will be aimed at feeding into the forthcoming FOCAC Summit to be held in Cairo, Egypt 2009.

Proposals designed along the guidelines specified below should be submitted to the attention of the Research Director of the China in Africa programme, FAHAMU, at the following email address: sanusha@fahamu.org The deadline for submitting proposals is 3rd November 2008.

Proposal requirements

Each proposal should include the following:

Background: The policy context of the proposed research.

Objective(s): A brief statement of the specific objectives based on the coverage of the scoping studies mentioned above.

Methodology: A statement detailing how the research objectives are to be achieved, i.e., hypotheses, methods, data collection, data analysis, etc.

Results: Anticipated results and how they might contribute to knowledge, future research and especially public policy.

Statement of qualification and current CVs

Work Programme and Timeline: The brief description of activities and timeline needed for each activity. Total duration of this study is 6-8 months.

Budget. Estimated expenditure by major line item, e.g., research time, in market travel etc. Total budget should not exceed GBP 5,000

Project leaders must at least fulfill all or some of the following criteria:

a. Completed at least one research project in the proposed thematic area of study;
b. Have a good publication record in the proposed thematic area of study;

Proposals should demonstrate a strong mentoring of young scholars engaged in the China-Africa discourse.

Concluding

It is envisaged that the successful applicants will conduct the research over a 6-8 month period starting in early 2009. All project reports must be finalized before the FOCAC 2009 Summit in Cairo so that they can be collated and published as policy papers as part of the African civil society contribution to the FOCAC process.


2006 FOCAC Commitments:
1. Double its 2006 aid commitments to the continent by 2009.
2. Provide US$3 billion in preferential loans and US$2 billion in preferential buyer’s credits over the next three years.
3. Set-up a China-Africa development fund that will reach US$5 billion, which would encourage and support Chinese companies to invest in Africa.
4. Cancel debt arising from all the interest-free government loans that matured at the end of 2005 owed by heavily indebted poor countries and the least developed countries in Africa that have diplomatic ties with China.
5. Further open up the Chinese market to African products by increasing from 190 to 440 the number of export items to China receiving zero-tariff treatment from the least developed countries in Africa that have relations with China.
6. Build a conference centre for the African Union to support African countries in their efforts to strengthen themselves through unity and to support the process of African integration.
7. Train 15,000 African professionals.
8. Send 100 senior agricultural experts to the continent.
9. Set up ten specific agricultural technology demonstration centres in Africa.
10. Build 30 hospitals.
11. Provide RMB 300 million grant for artemisinin and for the construction of 30 malaria prevention and treatment centres to fight malaria in Africa.
12. Dispatch 300 youth volunteers to the continent.
13. Build 100 schools across the continent.
14. Increase the number of Chinese government scholarships to African students from the current 2000 to 4000 annually.

Mbeki, Zuma: a political earthquake

William Gumede

2008-10-09

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/51032

Following the resignation of South African President Thabo Mbeki, William M. Gumede explores the future of the ANC and the likely consequences of a Jacob Zuma presidency. While suggesting that an elected Zuma would scarcely provoke an all-out political implosion in the short-term, Gumede concludes events to represent a genuine reconfiguration of South African politics.

The brutal ousting of South African President Thabo Mbeki by the 88-member national executive committee of the ruling African National Congress has unleashed political and economic turmoil, but it has also finally forced open the space to focus on how to bring fresh ideas, imagination and leadership to bear to renew a faltering democracy, mend a torn society, and foster more equitable development.

South Africa is stuck in a number of interlocking crises: broken families, communities and society; soaring poverty, unemployment and crime; a pervasive air of public corruption; rising racial animosity; battered democratic institutions; rapidly declining public confidence in government’s ability to deliver services; and looming economic problems ahead. The country must deal with these problems in an increasing complex, dangerous and economically volatile world. The ANC and South Africa need a less divisive and more unifying leader, with fresh ideas, to tackle imaginatively the country’s pressing problems. Mbeki and his group at the helm for over a decade now had clearly run out of ideas, direction and energy.

Yet, this is not why he was so vindictively forced out. It was also not because of ideological differences with the disparate coalition of his political enemies rallied around his rival ANC president Jacob Zuma: Mbeki’s centrist economic instincts against the leftist views of the trade unionists and communists or the virginity testing supporters on the traditionalist right. No, it was simply revenge. Those who fell under Mbeki’s sword saw an opening for an eye-for-an-eye retribution. They wanted to humble Mbeki, as they thought the president had humiliated them. But they also wanted to launch a pre-emptive strike, fearing that in his last days in office, Mbeki would use state resources to crush his enemies. They also feared he would set up a commission investigating corruption related to the controversial arms deal, in which Zuma is implicated, or recharge him. Zuma’s supporters are bragging about their triumph, and seeking to purge the government and the party of pro-Mbeki supporters. Anybody critical of Zuma is now increasingly labelled Mbeki loyalists. All the purges are going to destabilise the ANC and paralyse government further. South Africa now faces a leadership vacuum. Yet, Zuma is certainly not the answer.

The very obvious and most sensible solution to the African National Congress and now South Africa’s deepening crisis is to appoint Kgalema Motlanthe, the former trade unionist and deputy ANC leader, appointed as interim president until next year’s general election as the permanent presidential candidate of the ANC. Such is the political crisis that the only way to prevent an implosion of the ANC is to retire both Mbeki and Zuma, who are equally divisive. Zuma’s candidacy as South African president threatens to break up the ANC before it reaches 100 years in four years’ time. It is better to appoint a new leader with the necessary political gravitas, who is above both the Mbeki and Zuma political divisions, and who can rally significant groups in both camps. Right now the two ANC leaders that may be able to do this are most probably only Motlanthe and Mathews Phosa, the ANC Treasurer. The ANC could have prevented this destructive process if Mbeki had long ago stood aside for Motlanthe or any other of the younger talent, Phosa, Cyril Ramaphosa, Nelson Mandela’s preferred successor ahead of Mbeki, and Tokyo Sexwale, the former Gauteng Premier.

This is the obvious solution to unite the ANC and the country, which should have been done a long time before. In the end Mbeki’s selfish insistence to stand for a third term as party leader last year, rather then endorse either of these young Turks, because they criticised him in the past, meant that everybody opposed to Mbeki’s centralised, aloof and prickly reign, temporarily rallied around Zuma to dislodge the former president and his crew. Among the real reasons why many of the more reasonable on the ANC Left have embraced Zuma is the fear that any of the in-waiting, younger and more competent leaders may marginalise, as Mbeki did, not only the Left again, but also the pressing issues of the poor, of deepening democracy, of building stable families and communities and of inclusive nation building.

Furthermore, under Mbeki the democratic institutions have been undermined, ordinary citizens’ participation in policy and decision-making reduced and freedom of expression threatened. Judge Chris Nicholson in his judgement clearing Zuma of corruption charges was critical of the manipulation of public institutions for political ends under the Mbeki administration because the prosecutors did not follow the correct procedures; they did not interview Zuma before they charged him. Yet, in his campaign to quash the corruption charges against him, Zuma and his sometimes violent supporters have attacked the judiciary, democratic institutions, the media and critics to such an extent that the country’s not yet consolidated constitutional system, institutions and values are at the same risk as Mbeki’s previous manipulation of them. But the talent of all of South Africa’s people, whatever their ideology or colour, has also sadly been marginalised under the Mbeki presidency, who sideline even polite critics or different opinion, within the ANC as racists if white or handmaidens of whites if black. Yet, the Zuma camp is now purging everybody associated with Mbeki, and they now label everybody critical of Zuma as Mbeki loyalists. Zuma himself has sued a number of individuals, including this correspondent, in the biggest defamation to date in South Africa, following mild criticisms of his behaviour.

To make inroads into South Africa’s pressing problems will firstly need a less divisive and more unifying leader, and a clean break from the two factions – Mbeki and Zuma - currently paralysing the ANC, government and South Africa. Furthermore, any new leader must show a commitment to the deal with corruption, deepen democracy within the ANC and the country, be inclusive and tackle race and class inequality. The reality is, Zuma may be popular, and have a hardcore, loud and militant support base who are prepared to ‘die’ to have him president, but at the same time, a large proportion of the ANC’s membership disapprove of him with equal gusto. They are unlikely to vote for the ANC when he is the presidential candidate. Furthermore, such is the strength of the opposition against Zuma within the ANC that his administration is likely to be paralysed by log-jams, which will make it difficult to implement pro-poor policies. The lingering questions over Zuma’s involvement in alleged corruption if he does not answer the allegations fully in court will continue to paralyse government, erode public confidence and undermine the democracy. A new South African president will need to tackle a pervasive air of public corruption, which will demand honesty. Judge Nicholson rightly heavily criticised Mbeki and his government for routinely abusing public institutions to launch vendettas against critics. Zuma claimed he could see by the way a woman dresses and sits that she was looking for sex and that he should oblige. With violence against women reaching record levels, such views are not only unconstitutional, but it provides a legitimate cloak for sexist views. Outside the court house, Zuma’s supporters daily shouted abuse the accuser and stoned a woman they thought was her. He said nothing about this.

Zuma’s rape trial exposed the deep divide between the call for women’s equality in South Africa’s model constitution – which has priority to cultural considerations, the ANC, Cosatu and the SACP’s statutes and rhetoric and the archaic public attitudes to women. He gave his backing to traditionalists who want to introduce virginity testing for young girls. Throughout his rape trial and again during his corruption trial, Zuma played the ethnic card, speaking in Zulu in court, inventing new Zulu cultural norms to excuse his appalling sexist attitudes. South Africa is struggling with the consequences of broken, one-parent and child-headed families, caused by the combination of the legacies of apartheid, through its undermining of black male identity, the breaking-up of families because of the migrant work system, the militarisation of society by the apartheid state and the liberation movements violent response to it, the macho male identity culture among both black and white communities, and the consequences of poverty and HIV/Aids. Mbeki had failed to provide progressive leadership on this. Mbeki’s ally Trevor Manuel, the finance minister, said providing income support to vulnerable families will mean these families will spend it on alcohol.

It is hard to see Zuma presenting a progressive response to how to provide stable families, how to make gender equality as set out in the constitution real, and how to set a progressive example of male identity that aligns with the values of the constitution. With South Africa having among the highest HIV/Aids case loads in the world, Zuma believes that having a shower after unprotected sex with a HIV/Aids positive partner will stop infection. He has urged the police to shoot first and ask questions later to combat high crime levels. He will consider the death penalty. He is under fire from his own camp for flip-flopping on economic policy depending on the audience. Zuma has surrounded himself with hard-line demagogues. This will make it difficult for him to bring in new talent from across the colour, ideological and political divide, which is so necessary to energise the country, but which Mbeki has not done.

Under Mbeki, only a relatively small black middle classes benefited from affirmative action, and a dozen oligarchs from black economic empowerment. The white middle class, with the social capital, education and property acquired during apartheid and white business did well too. Yet the majority black poor and working class, and those eking out a living in the informal sector were marginalised. Many rightfully fear Zuma will be held hostage by the special interests, big black business oligarchs, such as the casino magnate Vivien Reddy, the Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) moguls Don Makwanazi and the Shaik family, and arms companies like Thint, of which Zuma is alleged to have been bribed to shield them from prosecution.

Competent and decisive leadership is now required to lift the economy, not populism. Economic growth is slowing, inflation and costs are rising, and power shortages are undermining production, while high unemployment and poverty persist, service delivery remains poor, and ANC supporters are demanding urgent redistribution; all this amid the global financial disaster. Zuma has reassured the markets that the post-Mbeki government will steer the same economic path as Mbeki. President Motlanthe has been handed a new government report (Towards a 15-year Review) by his predecessor that concedes that in spite of growth levels averaging 5% the past years, not enough has been done to slash poverty and inequality, and to increase trust in government. Problems identified five years ago had proved more ‘deep-seated’ than previously recognised, Joel Netshitenzhe, head of policy coordination and advisory services, said: ‘Growth has exposed weaknesses ... the increase in the rate of growth does not necessarily result in a reduction in poverty.’ Nor had growth reduced inequality, but had rather created a bigger gap between the rich and poor, as Netshitenzhe outlined: ‘The state has had to learn new ways of doing things as it implemented, but not always have these been decisive and flexible enough.’

The Left’s backing for Zuma is not likely to give them much influence on economic policy. They may be consulted more regularly, of course, but will be told, as Mbeki told them before, that the government cannot risk unsettling the markets. Zuma will have to pay back other supporters – the BEE oligarchs, who were marginalised under Mbeki, but who are now sponsoring Zuma. Others who lost out on the gravy train will want their slice of the pie too. Cosatu and the SACP will have to compete with them for Zuma’s ear. The ANC’s allies, the SA Congress of Trade Unions and the SA Communist Party, are demanding to be upgraded as ‘full partners’ instead of junior partners as under Mbeki. Blade Nzimande of the SACP says it wants more of its members on the ANC's candidate list for the 2009 elections, and more appointed as national and provincial ministers, mayors and local councillors, with a 'deployment committee' to pick its people. It has just concluded a policy conference, ahead of an alliance summit with Cosatu and the SACP; Nzimande says the summit should veto government policy.

Instead of stopping the legal problems of Zuma, forcing out Mbeki has actually only increased Zuma’s legal woes. When announcing that Mbeki was ‘recalled’ as president, Gwede Mantashe, the ANC general secretary had said: ‘The National Prosecuting Authority’s decision to appeal the judgment has become a worry and a point of division for the ANC.’ The reality is that Zuma still has very real 16 charges of corruption against him. Judge Chris Nicholson, who cleared Zuma on a technicality – the prosecutors had followed the wrong procedure - emphasised he did not give a verdict on the charges, but proposed the prosecutors recharge Zuma, provided they do so by the book. To rescue their own credibility, the prosecutors have no other choice but to appeal and recharge Zuma.

Moreover, the prosecutors have been under such an attack from Zuma militants now that their very credibility may rest on successfully recharging Zuma. In any event, they know that if Zuma comes to power, the prosecuting unit may be broken up, with members of the team that have been prosecuting Zuma likely be ‘redeployed’ elsewhere, or simply put under pressure to resign. Furthermore, even if the prosecutors did bow under the pressure and did not prosecute, a number of private prosecutions against Zuma have been lined up – so it is difficult to see how Zuma is going to extricate himself out of this, which have already seen his former financial advisor sent to jail for 15 years. The National Prosecuting Authority has now confirmed that it had applied to appeal against the ruling that sprang Zuma free on a technicality. Mbeki has also formally approached the Constitutional Court to ask that Judge Nicholson's findings be declared unconstitutional and set aside; he says the judgement was ‘vexatious, scandalous and prejudicial’, cost him his job and damaged his good name and reputation. Zuma is opposing Mbeki’s bid to clear his name. If Mbeki won, his sacking by the ANC’s executive would be shown to be based on false assumptions, and therefore void.

Following Mbeki’s forced exit, the Zuma coalition, consisting of five distinctly different groups, who were all opposed to Mbeki, have lost the glue that hold them together – opposition to Mbeki. Furthermore, with Mbeki gone, all of them are now focusing on securing their own interests in the leadership vacuum. Within the Zuma coalition, not all are set on securing the presidency of South Africa for Zuma. Those who are, though include: the ANC youth league, the pro-Zuma black economic empowerment business oligarchs – both hoping to secure patronage; the Communist Party and the trade unionists, who nave no alternative presidential candidate of their own, think they can manipulate Zuma in power; and those ANC leaders who are being investigated by the National Prosecuting Authority for corruption, because, they argue that if Zuma’s case is quashed – especially when he comes to power, theirs will also. So, now the Zuma coalition are divided between those who want Zuma at all costs to become president, such as those seeking a pardon for corruption or patronage, versus those who are prepared to look for a unifying ANC leader that will be pro-poor, the latter include the more serious elements of Cosatu and the SACP. Yet, Zuma is not entirely in control of his own coalition. Ahead of Mbeki’s ouster, he opposed efforts to oust Mbeki, because he feared he will inherit a divided party, unprepared to run a general election. However, he was rudely overruled by his own militants.

Furthermore, in the week when Mbeki detractors within the Zuma coalition moved to oust him, all the old presidential rivals of Mbeki, Cyril Ramaphosa, Mathews and Tokyo Sexwale, again took centre stage within the ANC, dwarfing Zuma, almost like a decade ago. Zuma initially wanted Baleka Mbete, the Speaker of Parliament, and the ANC’s chairwoman, a more pliable supporter, as caretaker president. However, he lost out on that. Until yesterday, the Zuma camp, in control of the ANC had planned to appoint Baleka Mbete, the Speaker of Parliament, as interim president, to smooth the way for Zuma and to create an environment for Zuma’s legal charges to be withdrawn. Motlanthe was the choice of those in the Zuma coalition, who are more interested in keeping the ANC united, and securing a pro-poor government focus, rather then putting Zuma into the presidency. They have long seen him as an alternative candidate for the presidency if Zuma stumbles over his legal hurdles. Motlanthe does things by the book. In this crisis, their may be openings for other Young Turks of Motlanthe’s generation. To contain the Young Turks – Motlanthe, Phosa, Sexwale and Ramaphosa, Zuma has promised to stay as president for one term only, and then allow a competitive election for the leadership between them. But Mothlante obviously now has the inside track, because he is already an MP, the others, including Zuma are not. He will be presiding president for six months, which is enough to show his credentials not only as a unifying figure, but a source of new ideas, energy and principle, and to contrast this to the divisive potential of a populist Zuma.

Under the Mbeki administration, corruption was often only selectively punished, depending on one’s closeness to Mbeki’s inner circle. A number of ANC leaders under investigation for corruption support Zuma’s attempts not to stand trial, on the basis that their cases will also be cleared. This week parliament has started winding down the National Prosecuting Authority's elite crime fighting unit, the Directorate of Special Operations, known as the Scorpions, which brought the corruption charges against Zuma. The Zuma dominated ANC leadership voted to have the Scorpions, South Africa’s most effective crime-busting disbanded, claiming it was used for political ends, when it investigated Zuma and other ANC leaders for corruption. With the country awash with crime, the best solution is not to close down the most effective crime fighting unit. A better solution would have been to expanded democratic oversight over the Scorpions, and intelligence, defence and security services. While, all eyes were focused on the transition from Mbeki to Motlanthe, the Zuma-dominated ANC parliamentary caucus slipped in a decision to cancel outstanding monies owned by individual ANC MPs who were defrauded parliament’s travel voucher scheme, dubbed ‘travelgate’, to stop outside civil actions against them to recover the money. Parliament had tasked liquidators to recover outstanding monies from MPs implicated in the travel voucher fraud, which amounted to R6 million. More than 100 MPs, including some ministers, who implicated in defrauding parliament’s travel scheme for MPs.

One worrying now also is that the division between the ruling party and the state is now increasingly blurred. In fact, South Africa is in danger now of becoming a party-state or ‘partocracy’ where there is no clear firewall between the executive, legislatures, and public institutions on the one hand, and the ruling ANC, on the other. Yet, the country constitutional democratic system demands a clear division between the party on the one hand, and the state and public institutions on the other. The problem is also that ANC leadership under Mbeki and now again under Zuma, assumes that they are the South African nation, or euphemistically, the ‘people’ itself, rather then its representatives. This means every decision taken by the ANC leadership is viewed as a good for the country, without consulting the wider nation. It also means that decisions that are often purely factional ones are seen as in the interest of the nation as a whole.

Of course there are many problems inherent in a party-state. The one is that if the party is paralysed by factional fights, tainted by corruption or run undemocratically, the country are also likely to be. Turning into party-states are one of the reasons why many African countries run by former independence or liberation movements have failed to institute broad-based democracy when they came to power. When the ruling independence or liberation movements became corrupt, undemocratic or divided into factions, or the leadership become personalised, their governments became so also, stunting a democratic, development and service delivery efforts. Can the worse effects of party-state or ‘parto-cracy’ be reversed?

The first thing is that the ANC must become more internally democratic. The truth, although the ANC’s Polokwane conference has made a call for greater internal democracy in the party, little has change. A case in point is the face that Zuma is currently explaining to ANC provinces, branches and ordinary members why Mbeki was so brutally pushed when he only had six months to go. The decision should have been canvassed among the membership, branches and provinces before. An integral part of becoming more internal democratic is to make the ANC’s internal elections more democratic. South Africa’s electoral system that allows the party bosses, rather than the ordinary people, to decide who should be candidates for parliament, provincial legislatures and local government should be scrapped. This means that the elected representatives are more accountable to the welfare of the party bosses rather than to the people and to defend the constitution – to which they pledged allegiance when elected.

It is even more urgent now that South Africa adopt a new electoral system, as already proposed in 2004 by the electoral task team headed by Frederick Van Zyl Slabbert, to give more say to ordinary people, rather than the party, and which make elected candidates are accountable to their constituencies and allow them to be recalled by their constituencies, if they fail to deliver. Secondly, democratic institutions, the judiciary, parliament and audit institutions must become more vigilant and assert to defend the democracy, constitution and its values. Thirdly, civil movements, non-governmental organisations and the media must do so also. Fourthly, ordinary citizens must also assert their rights more, and hold government and public institutions accountable.

Finally, South Africa’s opposition parties must get more serious, adopt more relevant policies, actually do the hard work of establishing proper and working branches and elect more competent leaders. Faced with the real prospect of Zuma likely to become president of South Africa, some ANC members have said they will form their own party, to challenge a Zuma-led ANC in next year’s general election. Mbeki’s 92-year old mother, Epainette, a struggle icon in her own right, has said she will support such a new breakaway party ‘100%’. This shows the extent of the dissatisfaction among the ANC rank-and-file. The absence of an effective and relevant opposition party in South Africa remains one of the biggest shortcomings of the country’s infant democracy.

The main reason why the ANC under Mbeki has been so complacent, and why Mbeki was ultimately forced out, is because the party had no opposition to fear it if messed up, that could dislodge it. Only when a ruling party faces the real prospect of losing an election, will South Africa’s politics be infused with the electoral dynamism the country so desperately needs to renew its faltering democracy and provide a better life for it’s people. Before the ANC’s Left components, the Congress of South African Trade Unions and the South African Communist Party, in one last gamble in 2005, decided to rally behind Jacob Zuma, in an attempt to change the direction of the ANC, each of them had already resolved to combine forces and form a party of the Left. Both the memberships of Cosatu and the SACP resolved in 2005 to form a new party, if they could not sway the ANC to become more pro-poor. However, when Mbeki fired Zuma for corruption in 2005, the latter joined forces with the leaders of the unionists and communist party, and signed a pact that instead of them forming their own party, they should back him (Zuma) for the ANC presidency, and he would in turn make the ANC more pro-poor.

Whether a breakaway party will be formed depends on whether Zuma becomes the president of South Africa. If Motlanthe is given the job permanently, and unite the ANC, pursue a pro-poor agenda and deepen the democracy within the country and the ANC, the disaffected ANC members are more likely to stay. Or if they go, a new party may have less legitimacy. If Zuma becomes president of South Africa, the chances of a breakaway party being set up will increase. Ultimately, if it happens, the success of a breakaway party will also depend on the policies and leadership at the helm. It will only work if its leaders and reason of existence is genuinely pro-poor, for deepening democracy and for equitable redistribution. The current crop of opposition parties in South Africa are irrelevant because they don’t differ from the ANC on policies if they do the policies are on the right, rather than pro-poor or to deepen democracy, or on the unrealistic far-left or Africanist. The parties are often one-man or woman and a fax machine, no deep-rooted branches, credible policies. Yet, in the long-term it will be better for the democracy if the ruling ANC/SACP/Cosatu tripartite alliance is reconfigured – the forcing out of Mbeki will now bring that closer.

Ultimately, the best solution for South Africa is the breakaway of the ruling ANC tripartite alliance into centre-left faction, and its left faction, and the assortment of current opposition parties on the centre-right. Of course, if Zuma becomes president of South Africa, the country won’t implode, yet, but it will just plod along business as usual, democracy, protection and development for the well-off and politically well-connected, and pockets of wealth, service delivery and excellence, for the few, and continuing poverty and tyranny for the majority. Mbeki’s enforced early exit and the ANC leadership’s attempt to push Zuma into the South African presidency at all costs, and the inevitable backlash thereof, are providing the political earthquake South Africa needed to reconfigure its politics.


* William M. Gumede is author of Thabo Mbeki and the Battle for the Soul of the ANC. Zed Books ISBN: 9781842778487

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

Canada and Africa: The opportunity to make history

Gerald Caplan

2008-10-09

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/51036

Millions of Canadians care deeply about Africa. Look at all those who belong to Darfur solidarity groups, contribute to the Stephen Lewis Foundation, and tell pollsters they favour much more generous foreign aid.

Yet this article may well be the only time in the entire election when the word is actually used, and I salute the Ottawa Citizen for commissioning it.

Of course all generalisations about Africa need to be handled with great care. The continent couldn't be further from a monolith. It includes 54 wildly diverse countries and a billion wildly diverse citizens. And it's absolutely true that Africa is not just a collection of bad news stories and that millions of Africans do lead normal, happy, vibrant, fulfilled, loving lives.

But the other truth is that Africa remains a continent of a million woes. It has more problems per square person than any other: poverty, conflict, genocide, corruption, hunger, disease (including HIV and AIDS), miserably mistreated girls and women, despicable leaders, giant slums, insufficient drinking water and sanitation, inadequate electricity, lousy schools, minimal health care, little infrastructure. What's worst, each of these harsh realities feeds on and exacerbates the other, so all must be dealt with at the same time, a superhuman task that has barely been begun.

Many Canadians feel deep sympathy for the plight of Africans and wish they could do more to help. Most Canadian governments have made the same claim. We want to be part of the solution to Africa's ills.

The trouble is, however, that we're actually part of the problem. We proudly see ourselves as some kind of noble missionaries—the dedicated white man or woman come to save the hapless blacks from their own failures. But the harsh reality is that for some 600 years we've consistently pursued policies and actions that have brought misery and suffering to the majority of Africans, especially those in sub-Saharan Africa. Almost all of us in the rich world continue to benefit from the exploitation of Africa that has been executed by our governments, the powerful multilateral financial institutions we support, and the private companies that our governments often promote.

This doesn't mean that all Africans are simply the passive victims of white neo-colonialists; that's knee-jerk liberalism run amok. The opposite is true. Since formal colonial rule ended, country after country has suffered from a plague of malign leaders whose only interest has been to reward their own cliques while increasing the oppression of their citizens. In fact, it's this double jeopardy that has been the scourge of Africa; venal leaders at home and destructive intervention from outside. These twin afflictions are not unrelated.

Look at the list of Africa's ills. Virtually every one has been caused, or exacerbated, by Western influence in one form or another.

Almost without exception, Africa's ‘Big Men’, its despots and tyrants, have either been installed or propped up by a western power, usually the US, Britain or France. It began at the very dawn of African independence when the US initiated and the Belgians executed a plot to murder Patrice Lumumba, the Congo's first elected leader and, for the next 45 years, its only one. The Americans helped put Joseph Mobutu in power, who for 3 decades plundered his country and brutalised his people with the active and knowing participation of the US, France and the World Bank. The appalling war that has convulsed eastern Congo in recent years is a direct result of Mobutu's misrule and the decision of France to allow leaders of the genocide against Rwanda's Tutsi to escape into Congo. Africans kill, the West enables.

That 1994 genocide is another perfect storm of African elites and westerners colluding to cause incalculable harm. It was Catholic missionaries and Belgian colonialists who were most responsible for pitting Hutu and Tutsi against each other. A tiny greedy elite of Hutu extremists planned and executed the genocide, it's true, but it would not have succeeded without the active support of the French government and its military. The genocide might well have been stopped dead in its tracks but for the adamant refusal of the Clinton administration to send reinforcements to General Dallaire's puny UN force.

Even Africa's most notorious Big Man today, Robert Mugabe, might not have gained power had Britain stopped the illegal rebellion of a handful of white racists, and had it not then embraced good old President Bob in his first decade of murder and oppression.

Look at the terrible cost in lives and lost development opportunities caused by the apartheid state in South Africa before 1994. Besides its vicious internal policies, the apartheid government systematically raided and destabilised all the African-led governments of southern Africa. The US and Britain bolstered the white government as a so-called bulwark to communism in Africa. The tragic toll is still being paid.

Take corruption, an ugly phenomenon that has almost become synonymous with Africa itself. It's quite true that corruption is a deep-seated crisis for much of the continent. But there's corruption and then there’s corruption. Cops demand bribes from drivers to ratchet up their miserable salaries. But the big guys, the ones who steal millions of dollars and more, can only succeed with the aid of a sophisticated network of Western banks, lawyers, accountants, middlemen and tax havens. We never hear of this half of the dance, yet it takes two to tango. Let's have a Transparency International for rich countries that creates a dishonour roll for those that facilitate and profit from the hundreds of millions, even billions, they help steal from Africa.

Take the crises in education and healthcare. Believe it or not, policies imposed by the World bank and International Monetary Fund, on which so many African states depend for loans and legitimacy, actually put a ceiling on the number of teachers and health workers that government can employ, in order to keep the cost of government low. Questions of need were irrelevant. In fact, the West demanded that fees be imposed on both schooling and health care, which, to the apparent astonishment of the horde of PhDs who work for these institutions, led to a serious decline in school attendance and the use of health clinics.

This is only one example of how western policies and practices have contrived to worsen the burdens for many Africans. There are countless others. Many of them stem from the same ideology that led to school ad health fees for the poorest people in the world. Nobel Prize-winner Joseph Stiglitz calls it ‘market fundamentalism’, the dogma that whatever the question, market nostrums are the answer: small government, privatization, the conviction that the private sector will bring growth that will trickle down and benefit all.

As report after report has documented, in Africa as in the much of the poor world these dogmas have palpably failed to create sustained growth while dramatically increasing inequality, in short a perfect failure.

Onerous conditions for receiving a loan - privatizing water supplies, for example, or grossly under funding higher education - were actually destructive of African economies. So were the loans themselves. Often provided to the most egregious of African leaders at exorbitant rates, many desperately poor countries have spent more repaying the interest on their loans to the affluent West than on their health and education budgets combined.

Instead of trade being profitable for Africa, the West has forced the continent to open its markets to western goods, all in the name of free trade, at least for the weak and poor. At the same time, European and North American farmers are subsidised to the tune of $1 billion a day or more. Incredibly enough, it costs Ghanaians more to buy a local chicken than one shipped from Europe. No country has developed without protecting its markets and industries until they were strong enough to be competitive. But we insist Africa, with all its burdens, be the first to try. It can't be done.

We promote more Western investment for Africa, but in reality most of it goes to a small number of oil-producing states. China is always blamed, half fairly, for its obsession with Africa's resources. But they've learned everything they know from us. Few western resource-extracting industries pay appropriate taxes, royalties or wages. Many pollute the environment and use bribes to get contracts. Western investors are in fact the source of much of Africa's corruption.

Finally, foreign aid is far from the generous contribution to Africa that we like to think it is. Not only isn't there enough of it, it often doesn't do the job intended. Under Canada’s current Prime Minister Stephen Harper, aid - already at record lows - has actually declined in the past two years. And a great deal of so-called aid rarely gets to where it's needed in any case. Much is tied to buying Canadian products, and large amounts end up going to Canadian consultants. What actually goes to alleviating poverty or helping development is never quite clear, but it's only a fraction of whatever amounts you hear.

The truth about the West's relationship with Africa is exactly the opposite of what most of us believe. The West exploits Africa far more than we help develop it. The reality is that over six centuries, from the slave trade to the brutal decades of colonialism right through to today, year after year the West drains off far more of Africa's resources than we invest or donate.

What should Canadians do? First, understand that we are not compassionate humanitarians or modern missionaries, but that in the name of justice we owe Africa an enormous debt for the way it’s been looted and plundered. Second, we need to make the rest of the Western world understand that many of our trade, aid, lending, investment, recruiting and other practices are causing far more harm than good. Otherwise, despite the best efforts of millions of courageous African social activists, their continent will remain a mess.


* Gerald Caplan, who has a PhD in African history, recently published The Betrayal of Africa.

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

Northern Kenya: A legal-political scar

Ekuru Aukot

2008-10-09

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/51035

This article offers a critical perspective on the making of the Kenya post-colony using the example of ‘The Kenya of the North’, a region that has been relegated to the periphery – politically, legally, economically, socially and culturally – in the building of a nation. Using northern Kenya as a case study, the paper asks whether Kenya has ever been inclusive of all its regions and peoples, and whether it has succeeded in building consensus on issues affecting all its citizens, especially in as far as the rule of law, democracy, human rights and their protection are concerned.
THE ‘FORMATION OF KENYA’ ERA

Kenya became a British protectorate in 1895 and a colony in 1920. The north was important only for securing Kenya’s territory and governmental authority. The Northern Frontier District (comprised of Turkana, Marsabit, Moyale, Wajir, Mandera, Ijara, Isiolo and Samburu) was contrasted with the colonial administration’s favoured area, the white highlands. Legislation was imposed to control and exploit the people and their region, which colonial officers had already declared to be of no economic value. These laws included the Northern Frontier Province Poll Tax, the Vagrancy Act, the Outlying Districts Act, and the Special Districts (Administration) Act that were only repealed as recently as 1997. Even alien laws such as the India Frontier Crimes Act were tried out in the north.

However, the indigenous inhabitants of the region had little or no sustained contact with the colonial administrator. This could be attributed to their way of life (nomadic pastoralism) or to the region’s rough terrain and harsh climate. This meant that northern Kenya did not experience the political impacts of colonialism that are sometimes held to be beneficial. In fact, the people of the north feel no difference between the colony and the post-colony.

The closed district policy and in particular the creation of the NFD excluded northern Kenya. For a time the region was watched for reasons of territorial control, but as soon as colonial rule had been consolidated, even the watching ceased. The north acquired the characteristics of a Siberia in old Russia, where political enemies and civil servants were banished to re-affirm their political allegiance, or to learn how to stay on the right side of the political law.(1)

The sentiments of colonial officials toward northern Kenya were summed up in the view that ‘there is only one way to treat the Northern Territories and that is to give them what protection one can under the British flag and, otherwise, to leave them to their own customs... Anything else is certainly uneconomic.’(2) ‘Two Kenyas’ became evident, as one district officer recalled in his memoirs:

‘Kenya, as we used to call it… is divided roughly into two halves, the southern half of which consists of what we call the settled area where the white people had their farms and the agricultural natives and plantations, and the northern area which extends from Lake Rudolf to the Somali border and consists of about a hundred thousand square miles of acacia scrub, laval desert and patches of sand desert, roughly twice the size of England. The administrators in the southern half of Kenya thought we were mad to live there at all…’(3)

The closed districts policy caused the two halves of Kenya to dislike each other. Dislike of the north by the south was founded in fear and prejudice. One district officer recalled:

‘The North had a bad name in certain sense; it was regarded by some people like joining the foreign legion and most officers couldn’t or didn’t want to stand more than eighteen months of it, after that they either got bored or their health gave way because of the heat, or they became nervous, so that was the average period during which an officer stayed in that territory. The result of course was that the Government in Nairobi used to have to send new officers fairly frequently, and very often there were not enough volunteers and so people used to be posted there and it was referred to sometimes as a sort of punishment station where you did your eighteen months and having got that over your name was erased from the list…’(4)

The cumulative effect of these attitudes entrenched the separation of the north from the ‘other Kenya’.

THE KENYA POST-COLONY ERA

Successive independent governments failed to unify the post-colony, pursuing differential treatment of regions in the style of the colonial administration. Post-colonial governments continued to neglect northern Kenya or give it minimal consideration. They only saw its relevance during election periods when it (subconsciously, perhaps) sustained the very regimes that distanced it from the rest of the country. The following are illustrations of the shortcomings of post-colonial administrations.

A) UNDEMOCRATIC PARLIAMENT AT INDEPENDENCE

The post-colony parliament was not sufficiently representative. In the immediate aftermath of independence, those attempting to represent a constituency or sections of the population that had been relegated or ignored faced serious consequences. This is demonstrated by the political assassinations of Pio Gama Pinto in 1965 (who was perceived to represent the Asians), J.M. Kariuki in 1975 (who, despite coming from the populous and ruling Kikuyu elite, represented wider principles of inclusion and advocated for the interests of the disadvantaged), and Tom Mboya in 1969 (popular as a nationalist and unionist). Democratic representation was seen as undermining state leadership. The early post-colonial era defined Kenya’s political path, which was followed until the last decade of the 20th century when section 2(1) of the 1963 independence constitution was repealed to pave the way for multi-party democracy in Kenya.

B) RETENTION OF THE COLONIAL LEGACY

This was apparent at two levels. The first was the retention of the colonial structures of government, represented by the unelected provincial/district administration, which was answerable only to the executive.(5) The second was the retention of colonial legislation. (Most laws affecting the north prior to independence were called Ordinances. The post-colonial government simply changed the name from ‘Ordinances’ to ‘Acts of Parliament’.) For example, land in Northern Kenya is even now conceptualised around legal notions of Trust Land, introduced by the colonial administration and accepted by its post-colonial successors.(6) Different land law regimes, such as the Registered Lands Act,(7) applied to the white highlands and other parts of the country. In essence, the law deprived the peoples of northern Kenya from owning the very land on which they were born. Instead, the government held it in trust for them.

C) NEGATIVE ETHNICITY

One notable aspect of post-colonial administrations is the instrumental role played by the tribe. Each president used the tribe for political purposes and to develop his geographical area. Kenyatta used the Kikuyu while Moi used the Kalenjin, and with the Kibaki administration it is back to the Kikuyu. It is tempting to conclude that tribes whose representatives will never be presidents will always be relegated to the backwaters of state affairs. Consequently, multiple nationalisms based on ethnicity have emerged.

D) PARTY POLITICS

Another blunder of the post-colony government was its emphasis on party politics rather than on the development of one Kenya. Moi would often state that only those in a Kenya African National Union (KANU) region or constituency would realise development. However, this was not true, because although election statistics show that northern Kenya supported KANU, it never really received any benefits. So the tribe played a bigger role than the party. The tribe-party axis with respect to leadership effectively relegated other ethnicities, including those from the north.

E) UNDERDEVELOPMENT

Development is to all intents and purposes a measure of inclusion. Northern Kenya has the poorest infrastructure in the country, which means that government services cannot be delivered or guaranteed. Moreover, civil servants posted to the region perceive their assignment as punishment. These negative perceptions have over time forced the people of the north to fight social exclusion and prejudice. Even at the earliest inception of the Kenyan state, they were never integrated into the idea of an independent Kenya. They always believed – and by policy were encouraged to believe – that they were different. They are the people at the periphery, the victims of socio-economic and political injustice.

NATION WITHIN A NATION?

The way in which the Kenya post-colony developed, through the exclusion of many groups within its boundaries, contradicted the nationalism of the anti-colonial struggle. The development of the post-colony was marked by the growth of nations within a nation. It appears that the differential treatment of regions has re-awakened characteristics of nationhood. In a recent regional conference organised by the Northern Frontier Districts Centre for Human Rights and Research (NFD-CHR), over 135 participants asserted their strong roots in northern Kenya and their belief that their way of life distinguishes them from the majority of Kenyans in political, social and economic terms. The question is, has there been a government policy that responds to their way of life as there has been for those in other regions of Kenya?

This raises a number of issues: first, the need to question and reflect on the factors that contributed to the creation of the Kenya of the North, as discussed above; second, the geographical location of northern Kenya which has distanced its people from centralised opportunities; third, the differential treatment of the region in relation to the rest of the country, as demonstrated by successive post-colonial governments; and lastly, the fact that the creation of the Kenya post-colony proceeded without the integration of an integral part of its existence – the north. The government encouraged northern Kenyans to see their region as outside Kenya’s main territory (hence the phrase ‘going to Kenya’). This attitude is reinforced by the striking differences in development and services, especially in security matters, partly fostered by the quality of political representation in the region.

Although Kenya is a democracy in which the representation of the north should be felt, this is hardly the case. The region’s blind and weak political leadership has been unresponsive to its constituents’ problems. Between 1963 and 1982 the ruling KANU transformed Kenya into a de facto one-party state, despite the existence of the Kenya African Democratic Union (KADU) until 1964 and the emergence of the Kenya People’s Union (KPU) in 1969. The entrenchment of KANU had strong roots in the north. Northerners accepted how they were governed, despite the myriad problems affecting them. Political leaders were rewarded with ministerial positions until they were blinded to the way in which the region they purportedly represented was being systematically relegated. This paved the way for politicians from other parts of Kenya to take advantage of that blindness, further impoverishing the people of the north.

For example, political leaders have repeatedly failed to question development projects which have had negative or minimal impacts. One example of many is the Turkwel Gorge project on the border of West Pokot and Turkana districts, which is associated with powerful down-country politicians and which has blocked the Turkwel waters, on which the Turkana have relied for generations and now cannot reach. Political leaders in the north became the stooges of the national ruling elite and the enemy of their own people simply by aligning with the ruling regime. They fostered the region’s disenfranchisement from mainstream Kenya. Even they do not feel part of the north – the region is only relevant to them in the same way it was relevant to the colonialists. When NFD-CHR invited the Pastoralist Parliamentary Group (PPG) to a regional symposium entitled ‘The Kenya of the North Revisited’, all the MPs from the region were absent, their excuse being that Marsabit, the venue, was too far away.

In the post-colony era there has been little government presence in the north. The government decided to arm people through home guards, despite a huge military capability that could protect its citizens but is often idle. Partly as a result, northern Kenya has experienced more internal conflict than any other part of the country. It has also been affected by its proximity to other nations in conflict. The region is the crucible of human rights violations and a zone where conflict is perpetrated with impunity. Under such circumstances the state’s absence is very evident. The fundamental obligation of any state is the protection of its citizens from internal or external aggression. This is lacking in the North. Recent atrocities have taken place with impunity, including those perpetrated by the government.

FUTURE PROSPECTS FOR THE KENYA OF THE NORTH

Before examining the future prospects for the north, a few comparative points need to be made regarding the eras of the colony and the post-colony, and the way in which the region was treated in each.

Of the two eras, which was better for the residents of northern Kenya? The colonial era set in place the character of what was to become the Kenya post-colony, but the independence administration perfected and enforced colonialism’s injurious and divisive policies. Colonialism’s intent was not good; it was discriminatory and selfish in nature, concerned solely with resources. But the colonialist at least made it his duty to know everything in his district and took measures to remedy undesirable situations. In newly independent Kenya the North was ignored.

Besides knowing the people, the colonialist took a keen interest in the land and natural resource base and how best to make this beneficial to both the residents and the administration. This is something that post-colonial administrations have failed to do. The degree of knowledge displayed by the colonial administration is a challenge to the present day administration. Additionally, budgetary allocations in the Kenya post-colony have always treated regions in the north the same as those in central Kenya, despite the differences in land mass, distances and hardships.

Post-colonial governments underestimated the importance of the volatile regimes along the northern borders. The colonial administration took these seriously in a way that post-colonial administrations have not. Moreover, post-colonial governments have demonstrated suspicion of some northern residents, doubting their nationality and citizenship.(8) The post-colony should have embarked at an early stage on the equal treatment of all its regions and citizens, regardless of origin. Sadly, the era of the post-colony produced more second-class citizens than that of the colony.

Future prospects for northern Kenya, and for a united Kenya in general, must take into account the history that created the divide that is evident in the post-colony today. Perhaps one of the vehicles to that unity lies in the draft constitution, if it comes to pass. There is still an opportunity to bring the Kenya of the North into the mainstream of Kenya’s politics as an equal partner in one Kenya. The end game and emphasis should be on how to reform the post-colony in order to forge a new path for its development. This could be spearheaded by the political leadership taking advantage of things like the Constituency Development Fund and the Pastoral Parliamentary Group. It could also be supported by investments in areas such as mobile education, the livestock industry, food security, judicial institutions and empowerment of the female children.

CONCLUSION

The ‘Kenya of the North’ reflects both historical and current realities, but it may also be a projection of the future if drastic political and legal measures are not taken. In the aftermath of colonialism, and during the era of President Moi, the North was only recognised in the language of ‘quota system[s]’ and ‘affirmative action’. Mercy and pity reigned, not equality.

What unites northern Kenya today appears to be little more than its marginalisation and difficult terrain. Now is the time to look beyond this. Political unity should facilitate the growth of social movements that seek respect for and promotion of human rights, democracy and good governance. This is the ultimate path to the formation and development of a new Kenya.


* Ekuru Aukot is Advocate of the High Court of Kenya and the Executive Director at Kituo Cha Sheria, an organization dedicated to the fight for the rights of the marginalised specifically in areas of housing, Land, Labour and governance (http://www.kituochasheria.or.ke).

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


Notes:

(1) Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya’s first President, was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment and hard labour at Lokitaung prison in Turkana and was then put under house arrest in Lodwar. The colonialists wanted to remand Kenyatta to a place where nationalistic views did not exist and which did not matter to the colony.

(2) Sir Geoffrey Archer, officer in charge of the NFD in 1920, cited in Harden, B. (1993) Africa: Dispatches from a Fragile Continent, p.193.

(3) Allen, C. (1979) Tales from the Dark Continent, p.112-113.

(4) Ibid, p.115.

(5) Executive power is the bone of contention that is threatening the whole process of constitution-making today. Retention of an executive president goes against the views of Kenyans as articulated in the Bomas draft constitution.

(6) See chapter nine of the constitution (ss.114-120).

(7) See chapter 300 of the Laws of Kenya.

(8) For example, several residents of Wajir district revealed to the author in a recent legal aid clinic that they are still required to prove before the General Service Unit police manning the roadblocks between Mandera and Garissa that they are indeed Kenyans of Somali origin and not from Somalia.

Open cast mining in South Africa will ruin livelihoods

Azad Essa

2008-10-09

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/51037

Sustaining South Africa’s Wild Coast (SWC) campaign, a loose coalition of organisations continue to lobby the government to overturn the decision to permit open cast dune mining in the Pondoland Wild Coast region. The SWC argue that not only was the decision-making process flawed but mining in the region would have grave consequences for its ecology. But the campaign continues to face a number of obstacles, from stakeholders with different agendas to accusations of the campaign being ‘a white elitist concern’, to approving authorities lacking sufficient clout to make a difference. Azad Essa speaks to the SWC communications officer, Val Payn, to get a better understanding of the issue.
Azad Essa: The SWC is a collection of organisations and individuals opposing the proposed open cast mining of the Wild Coast. Can you briefly outline the issue at hand?

Val Payn: [The] SWC is a registered Section 21 NGO. However, we collaborate and cooperate with, and lend support too and are supported by, a large number of organisations and individuals who are opposed to the mining, including the communities along the Wild Coast who will be directly affected by the mining.

AE: Is it a local consortium?

VP: Under the Xoobeni Sands Dune Mining proposal, Australian Mining Company, Mineral Resources Commodities LTD (MRC) and its local subsidiary, Transworld Energy and Mineral Resources and Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) associate Xolco (26% shareholding) have ambitions to mine some 346 million tons of minerals in a lease area known as the Xolobeni Mineral Sands. Mining over the entire area is estimated to last for 22 years. To date they have been given authority to mine, by DME , the centrally placed Kwanyana block, one of the four blocks demarcated for mining over an approximately 22km stretch of coastal dune in the heart of the Pondoland Centre of Plant Endemism.

AE: Is it an issue that a foreign mining company together with a BEE partner has the contract, or is it the mining per se?

In SWC opinion both of these are issues. The mining is not part of the original Wild Coast SDI proposal for this region, which had proposed community based tourism as the appropriate driver of development. Also, studies undertaken as part of the Wild Coast Conservation and Sustainable Development Plan showed that, in the long term, the development of community based eco-tourism and sustainable livelihoods projects would bring far greater socio-economic benefits to a broader range of people than the mining. That is, most of the benefits that mining brings are unlikely to be benefits to people who live in the area, and any benefits, such as jobs, will be of short duration for the 22 years lifespan of the mine. On the other hand the social and environmental upheaval that the mining is likely to create for those who occupy the land earmarked for mining is likely to be immense. It is questionable whether any so-called 'benefits' will outweigh these negative impacts. That a foreign mining company will be the greatest beneficiary of this proposal simply compounds the issue.

KEY AREAS OF CONCERN

Fundamental human rights enshrined in the South African Constitution have been violated by the mining company and its supporters.

The public participation process for the conduct of the EIA was grossly biased in failing to ensure those residents most affected by the mining proposal were capacitated to participate meaningfully.

Relevant authorities have not been in full compliance with the relevant statutes: the Mineral and Petroleum Resources' Development Act (MPDRA), the National Environmental Management Act (NEMA), and the Interim Protection of Indigenous Land Rights Act (IPILRA).

Major contradictions exist between DEAT and DME interests. For example, the DEAT report has advised that: 'The mining is a short-term economic activity with long-term negative impacts whereas the ecotourism in the area has an unlimited life span,' concluding with a strong recommendation that the mining license should not be awarded, given available information.

The mining venture will destroy the local resource base upon which community based sustainable development is dependent.

The mining venture is in conflict with several of South Africa's agreed international obligations to sustainably conserve and manage our biodiversity and ensure benefit-sharing from such use, including under the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

Suggested mitigations of environmental impacts are not viable or possible (given the available data and information on which they are based), which will therefore result in the destruction of a unique, internationally recognised centre of endemism, with the risk that this will push a number of threatened (red data) endemic species to extinction due to their restricted ranges within the centre of endemism.

AE: Minerals and Energy Minister Buyelwa Sonjica admitted a few days back that the consultation process with the local community was flawed. Has there been any indication to suggest the mining permit will be revoked?

VP: The minister has indicated that she will not execute the mining right on 31 October in light of the appeal, but will hold an appeal hearing in due course.

AE: Is this a battle being fought by concerned citizens, or has the issue been taken up by traditional leadership and/or local government in the region?

VP: Traditional leadership in the region, right up to the level of the king and queen is very concerned about the issue, and has sought legal advice. Local Wild Coast communities have also elected a representative delegation from local community leaders, the Amadiba Crisis Committee (ACC), to voice opposition to the mining agenda. With the support of the Legal Resources Centre in Grahamstown, the ACC have lodged an appeal against the DME decision. They have also sought the advice of human rights lawyer Richard Spoor, in order to protect community interests.

As far as SWC are aware, local government has been very reserved about the issue, with the exception of Mayoress Capa of O.R. Tambo District, who is a vocal supporter of the mining.

AE: Who are the winners and losers of this deal? If a Social Impact Assessment (SIA) is completed, and a sustainable industry is assured with long-term jobs, will this be acceptable?

VP: Unfortunately [given] the way an SIA is conducted in terms of the Mineral and Petroleum Resources development Act (MPRDA), this seems to leave little room for democratic consultation processes. If one is talking of democratic development processes as being driven by a community having a say in the way that development unfolds, then the processes outlined in the MPRDA leave much to be desired.

Under MPRDA processes, an SIA is simply a way to 'mitigate' any undesirable social effects that might be caused by the mining. It does not raise the 'grassroots' issue of whether the mining is the best development option for affected communities in the first place, but merely imposes a 'solution' on the community after the decision to mine has already been made. The power of the community to thus determine what type of development would be in their best interest is totally undermined. An SIA under MPRDA processes does not allow the option to prevent the mining should the social impacts be deemed unreasonable, but merely seeks to alleviate these. But the means by which they are 'alleviated' are at the discretion of the mining company, which basically sets the rule book.

The EIA indicates that only about 80 jobs for unskilled workers would be created by the mining. The rest, about 200 jobs, would be for skilled and semi-skilled labour. As the population of the region is largely illiterate and unskilled, the benefits of jobs for local populations [are] negligible. On the other hand, many families that are dependent upon subsistence agriculture would be deprived of their means of livelihood for the duration of the mining.

AE: Some critics have labeled this an elite 'white' concern for the environment when there are poor communities desperate for jobs. How did 'race' get tangled into this issue?

VP: The issue of race seems to have been raised by BEE supporters of the mining agenda, such as the Chair of Xolco (the BEE partner), Madiba Qunya, as well as by various politicians who are in favour of the mining proposal, such as Minister Sonjica and Mayoress Capa.

AE: If eco-tourism is the more logical and sustainable industry for the region, why is it proving so hard to convince the necessary authorities?

VP: I am not sure that it is so much a case of convincing the necessary authorities, as of different rules applying to different authorities, and of different authorities having different conflicting agendas. The development of tourism, under DEAT, has to fulfil the requirements of Environmental Impact Assessment's (EIAs) which fall under NEMA, as well as comply with LEDs. These are more strident in their conditions, and thus take more time to comply with in order to ensure that development is indeed 'sustainable' than the DME requirements to get a mining license under MPRDA. The approval for mining is thus easier to come by, as it is not conditional on the project being put to the scrutiny of an EIA. The EIA process under MPRDA is merely a 'benchmark' from which a mining company has to indicate that it will comply to address 'mitigations', it does not necessarily judge the effectiveness of stated 'mitigations' or the broader socio-economic impacts of the proposal. In this case the project also seems to have been rushed through.

The Department of Environmental Affairs and Tourism (DEAT) have voiced their disapproval of the mining, but do not seem to have the 'legislative 'teeth' to prevent it under current policies at this stage.

AE: The SWC lobbies for ‘ecologically sensitive economic solutions for the Wild Coast region.’ What are these solutions if economic development is to take place?

VP: Any 'sustainable' solutions for development would have to achieve a balance between economic, social and environmental considerations. The Wild Coast Conservation and Sustainable Development Plan ha[ve] already outlined a process that would allow leeway for development in an 'ecologically sensitive' manner, but this seems to have seen little action.

Whether this is due to government indifference, government 'bungling', or government incapacity is a matter of debate.

AE: Where to from here? If the mining goes ahead in October, how does the SWC plan on tackling it thereon?

VP: SWC are preparing to take the matter to court of lodged appeals fail. However, in this we would be lead by the wishes of those Wild Coast communities who will be most directly affected by the mining.


* Azad Essa is a journalist, lecturer and an aspiring filmmaker.


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

The Mugabe-Tsvangirai rotten alliance

Kola Ibrahim

2008-10-09

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/51029

Denouncing the implications of the Mugabe-Tsvangirai alliance, Kola Ibrahim assesses the consequences of a pro-capitalist union for the Zimbabwean working masses. Emphasising the MDC’s and ZANU-PF’s moral bankruptcy, the author concludes that unless the country’s labour movement is resurrected to take a lead in forthcoming struggles, its future will be doomed.
Events postdating the political stalemate that precipitated the unilateral elections in Zimbabwe where Robert Mugabe was the sole contestant could hardly be described as respite for the working but poor masses of Zimbabwe. News had it that Mugabe and the opposition Movement for Democratic Change’s (MDC) Morgan Tsvangirai concluded an agreement for negotiation with the possibility of forming a unity government (as witnessed in Kenya and as advocated by Nigeria's Umar Yar'Adua). This is coming at a time when inflation in the country has skyrocketed to over 2 million percent; a sign of an unprecedented plummeting in the standard of living with over 80 percent of the population officially poor. The increase in living wage is linear while the inflation (which was 200,000 percent about three months ago) is increasing geometrically. The situation is so terrible that the government had to give free food to the masses. It is under these conditions that the opposition - that should serve as the beacon of hope and a platform for struggle for better living - is in reality forging an alliance with the rotten, anti-poor and dictatorial Mugabe government. This clearly reveals the real quagmire in which the poor masses of Zimbabwe find themselves, a quagmire overseen by a rotten government with practically no platform of hope and change.

During the presidential run off, Tsvangirai had predicated his withdrawal from election based on widespread violence against the opposition members which he rightly claimed could snowball into serious crisis if the contest should continue. Inasmuch as one cannot deny the reality of Mugabe's brazen violence, the retreat of Tsvangirai and his party in the election is a reflection of the political frustration that has beset the working poor. How else could one describe a situation where the masses who voted out the Mugabe dictatorship, (despite unprecedented campaign of violence) would back off from defending their choice at the run off, even if it includes taking arms against the regime? The main reason is that Tsvangirai and his MDC party do not represent any beacon of hope for the masses; they possess no clear-cut economic programme to take the country's economy out of the woods or any plan to challenge imperialism. A glance through the MDC's website clearly reveals its pro-rich, pro-imperialism neoliberal economic orientation that will further economically disenfranchise the working poor. In its normal messianic nature, the opposition did not reveal how it intends to resolve the land problem (which in the real sense affects the poor Zimbabwean farmers than the much-touted white farmers). Maybe he is taking after Nigerian crooked politicians who conceal their ignorance-cum-hypocrisy with the argument that they do not want the other party to steal (or maybe loot) their programme when they are really the same birds flocking in different camps. This is coupled with the fact that Tsvangirai himself was formerly part of Mugabe's dictatorship – his former official physician – just as many of the MDC stalwarts are former staunch members of Mugabe's ZANU-PF.

The fact that Tsvangirai and the opposition do not pose any genuine alternative to the masses is clearly manifested in the manner in which Tsvangirai reacted to the violence initiated by the Mugabe's shock troopers. Rather than appeal to the working masses and youth to organise and resist the fascist troops (who are in reality in minority), he is fond of calling on the ‘international’ community (note his definition of international community means the imperialist nations of the US and Europe) to use military actions and sanctions against Mugabe. The implication of this is that he has contempt for the masses for which he claims to be 'fighting'. Any international action by any imperialist country will not be in the interest of the working poor of Zimbabwe and will either boost Mugabe's status as an anti-imperialist - which he never was - or help imperialism establish a military and economic base in the country (and turn the country into another Iraq – where a ‘liberation’ war overseen by the US and Europe has turned into war over oil and occupation). This has further intensified the skepticism felt by the Zimbabwean poor attitude towards him, something which in the process has unfortunately given the Mugabe regime another lease of life.

A possible calculation of Tsvangirai is that reliance on the working masses could inspire a mass movement that may push him to the left. This will definitely undermine his capitalist neoliberal economic programmes. This will definitely also diminish his status to govern on behalf of big business. Having realised that imperialism had more in its hands than the problems facing Zimbabwe, and fearful of the consequences of a mass movement to dislodge Mugabe on his political interests, Tsvangirai resorted to negotiation with a regime he has decried as dictatorial. He was even reported to have renounced all his critical statements on Mugabe's dictatorship. This treachery of Tsvangirai is not unexpected because - as I had earlier stated in my previous commentaries on Zimbabwe and Kenya (published in many newspapers and websites) - as a pro-capitalist politician, he is bound to limit his struggle for power within the precinct of capitalism and not raise the masses to their feet. The era of progressive capitalism is long gone, and the current neoliberal capitalism is not favourable to mass movement, even one that would give it a ‘human face.’

It is vital to stress that the treachery and the pro-imperialist, anti-masses character of Tsvangirai (and his MDC) should not bolster any latent credibility for Mugabe's autocratic regime. As against the claim of many commentators that Mugabe is an anti-imperialist, anti-apartheid hero, he actually emerged from imperialism, even during the apartheid struggle. Of course, like every other nationalist petty bourgeois and in the spirit of the mass anger against imperialism during the period, he was against apartheid, but he was also used by British imperialism to maintain its presence in Zimbabwe. It is noteworthy to state that the same Mugabe who claims to be fighting white rule did not take white big farms during the anti-apartheid victory, when the movement was raging, but rather negotiated with British imperialism. But having lost control of the economy through subjugation of the nation to the poisonous neoliberal pills of commercialisation of social services, privatisation of public corporations and trade liberalisation (which led to the loss of over 25,000 jobs in 1996 alone and a slashing of wages by 25 percent in 1995, among other terrible results) and looking for a shortcut, resorted to anti-imperialism slogans. Ridiculously, the land distribution could only benefit just a thousand of rich black farmers (out of millions of poor and landless farmers) most of whom have stakes in his ruling ZANU-PF party. Therefore, it is a miscarriage of logic to present Mugabe as fighting imperialism. The economic woes witnessed in Zimbabwe are a product of the anti-poor neoliberal policies of imperialism implemented by Mugabe in the 1990s and not a result of economic sabotage of western imperialism as some people claim. While of course the role of western imperialism, which in actual fact benefited from the neoliberal policies implemented by Mugabe (and subsequently left the economy in ruins), should not be underemphasised, this should not be done to bestow credibility on the Mugabe regime.

This also brings to focus the role and hypocrisy of imperialism in the crisis facing Zimbabwe. Aside from the fact that imperialism contributed to the country's economic woes, western imperialism's reactions again reflect a certain hypocrisy. It will be recalled that while these nations (especially the US and the United Kingdom) were condemning the Mugabe regime, they did not mention their roles in the economic crisis. No relief package was given to the poor people of Zimbabwe who are groaning under economic woes that had provided unprecedented wealth to capitalist corporations. Rather, imperialist nations in the UN Security Council prefer to place sanctions – including in economic and military form – which will further the sufferings of the Zimbabwean poor, who represent anywhere up to 80 percent of the country’s population. Though sanctions were vetoed by China and Russia, this does not portray any section of imperialism in any good light. The fact is that it is sheer selfish capitalist interests that drive foreign policy and international politics.

Russia's and China's vetoes are not a product of sympathy for the Zimbabwean poor, but an attempt to boost their capitalist economic agendas. For instance, Russia has been boosting markets in Third World countries for its economy, especially its gas industry. Furthermore, Russia has been trying to stand on its feet in the committee of imperialist nations after the collapse of Stalinism (a grotesque caricature of genuine socialism), something reflected in the recent nationalism campaign begun by Vladimir Putin, a policy meant to mask the glaring failure of capitalism in Russia. The only way for Russia to stand therefore is by posing as an alternative to US and British imperialism, all the while pursuing the same capitalist and imperialist policies (Chechnya as an example) in the eyes of Third World countries with the central aim of boosting its outreach economic status.

As to China, it is a known fact that the Asia country's recent economic boom coupled with its importance to the world (and US especially) economy has boosted its international status, something which has further reinforced its struggle for resources and markets to sustain its economic boom. Failure in this regard will spell political doom for the fragile ruling class of China, and as a result, the international economy. This informs its international politics and indeed the veto. As against the thinking that the veto is meant to protect Africa's interests or liberate countries of the Third World, it is worth recalling the terrible role of China in sustaining Sudan's terror and its direct repression in Tibet.

In the much the same vein, the US and the UK's pro-sanction vote shows no concern for human rights. The historic record of the two countries has been one of sustaining tyrannical governments: in its arming of strategic supporters in Chile, Panama, Morocco and; in supporting armed forces against popular governments like Cuba (since the 1960s), Nicaragua (in the 1970s), and Venezuela (since 2002). Even the role of US and other section of imperialism in recent events in Africa have confirmed the treacherous policy of imperialism. For instance, despite the brazen manner of election-rigging in Nigeria and Kenya, the US (and later the UK) was the first country to congratulate the beneficiary of the rigging, even when people rejected the election. Therefore, the crisis in Zimbabwe is also a clear failure of international capitalist politics which tailored its political agenda according to the interests of profit of the big capitalist classes of each country, especially the imperialist ones. The latest reports indicate that the European Union has endorsed the negotiation between Mugabe and Tsvangirai, and has in fact commended South Africa's government, the new face of imperialism in Africa. Definitely, this recognition of the negotiation will give a new lease of life to Mugabe, yet the same EU had earlier strongly condemned Mugabe's sit-tight rule!

More horrible is the reaction of most African countries to what amounts to political barbarism in Zimbabwe. Aside most African leaders who maintained criminal silence, those that claim to have spoken out – like Angola's Dos Santos and Nigeria's Umar Yar'Adua – are little different from Mugabe in their manner of emergence, repressive activities and economic policies, and their comments have been evasive, mostly in the attempy to boost their image while avoiding confrontation with Mugabe. In fact, to show the level of Africa's political doom, Mugabe even threatened to expose any African leader who criticises his government. However, Thabo Mbeki went a mile further by not only giving surreptitious support to Mugabe but also organizing a power deal between Mugabe and the opposition MDC to stabilise Mugabe's government and give him international recognition. Aside from the moral burden of most African rulers, the fear of a mass revolt in Zimbabwe, which can set the masses of other lands in motion, is a dangerous sore that made many African leaders keen to maintain a notorious deafening silence. It is this same silence that was maintained during the Kenyan election standoff. Most African leaders are lapdogs of capitalist imperialism, who fear losing their status as apron strings of imperialism through mass movement. Gone and never to return is the old era of petty bourgeois nationalism of many African leaders. The crisis in Zimbabwe has manifested the ‘primer faecal’ (apologies to Wole Soyinka) nature of capitalism and imperialism, and the terrible stench is suffocating the working poor of Africa and the world at large.

What is the future of Zimbabwe, and the implications of the present situation for the poor people of Africa? As has been said earlier, the major reason the poor masses had not come to the centre stage of the struggle to chase away Mugabe is the fact that they see no alternative to the rotten Mugabe regime, as represented by Tsvangirai and MDC. However, the political alliance being forged between Mugabe and Tsvangirai will further deem the future of the working poor of Zimbabwe. As against the position of some commentators that the deal will restore sanity to Zimbabwe, the reality is that the deal will further deem any hope of respite for the masses who have been suffocated by the economic strangulation. It should be noted that the simple majority gained by Tsvangirai in the first round is a sign that the masses are in need of change but do not have trust in the capitalist economic policy of MDC and Tsvangirai. This coupled with the political bankruptcy of the MDC further alienated the Zimbabweans who prefer to stand aloof rather than shed blood on behalf of one capitalist politician, who stand for nothing clear. Therefore, the political alliance between Mugabe and Tsvangirai will further frustrate the masses – some of whom still nurse some illusion in Tsvangirai – who will now feel totally insecure. Expected economic failure that will result from this rotten collaboration will further estrange the masses, who may, in the absence of clear cut working class leadership, resort to self-help through sectarian means as witnessed in the Kenya election crisis, something which is only the first phase of the simmering discontent.

Unless the labour movement in Zimbabwe is resurrected to take a lead the oncoming political and economic struggle of the working masses for change, the future is doomed. The labour movement and working class activists in Zimbabwe must start to build a political alternative that will genuinely defend the interest of the poor Zimbabweans. Such movement must incorporate the working class with other oppressed strata including the peasants and youth (most of whom are unemployed and thus pose a serious challenge to the social stability of the country) by linking their demands together.

With the clear manifestation of the political bankruptcy of the opposition MDC and Tsvangirai, the stage is set for a social revolution by the working and poor people of Zimbabwe to bring back the economy in the interest of the working poor of the country, and to restore sanity to the polity. This is the central task of the labour movement and the working class movement in not only Zimbabwe but the whole African continent. It is unfortunate that the Zimbabwe Trade Union Congress (ZTUC) has played an insignificant role in the whole political development to provide a serious political hope for the Zimbabwean poor. Genuine pro-working class organisations in both Zimbabwe and the whole African continent must start the process of building a working-class mass movement in Zimbabwe as a stepping stone towards forming a pan-African working-class movement that will bring back the fighting spirit of the African poor for genuine socialism where the vast but mismanaged and plundered resources of the continent (human, material, natural and monetary) will be nationalised and democratically run by the working and poor people themselves. This will mean that the huge agricultural resources of Zimbabwe (and other African countries), rather than being struggled over by the both imperialism and local moneybags, will be used to develop a vast, environmentally friendly agro-based economy that will employ the majority of the country while providing the resources to develop the country – provide basic social infrastructures along with free, qualitative education, healthcare, cheap, efficient and environment-friendly transport, agriculture and communication system, and a developed industrialised economy – which cannot be achieved within the framework of neo-colonial, neoliberal capitalism. This transformation cannot be achieved without working class solidarity, and the elimination of decadent capitalism in Africa.

It is unfortunate that most labour leaders in Africa did not take a practical action in support of the working poor of Zimbabwe, with most of them either supporting one section of the bourgeoisie or the other. This clearly shows the pro-capitalist orientation of most of the central labour leaders in Africa, since the collapse of the Stalinist Soviet Union. One would have expected the labour movements in Africa to declare solidarity with mass action in support of the Zimbabwean poor but for the pro-business character of the labour leadership. This is not to say that the working poor are not ready for change. On the contrary, the mass movement that greeted the recent capitalist-induced food crisis is a sign that the masses are ready for social change, but for the character of the pro-capitalist labour leadership. The spirit of solidarity of the African poor is clearly manifested in the heroic actions of South African dockworkers, who refused to ship arms meant for Mugabe to implement a form of fully fledged fascism. The lesson to be learnt from the present Zimbabwean issue is the need for a political platform of the working poor in each and every African country to lay the basis for social revolution to enthrone a socialist society in the continent to prevent total descent to barbarism. This is the challenge before the labour movement and pro-working class activists in Africa to build a change-seeking, fighting, mass-based, democratic working class organisation and movement as a basis for a mass socialist political alternative.


* Kola Ibrahim is a member of the Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM), Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria.

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

Zimbabwe’s ‘gender neutral’ agreement blind to women

Pumla Dineo Gqola

2008-10-09

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/51038

Highlighting women’s conspicuous absence in the media coverage, negotiations, and resolutions during the Zimbabwe crisis, Pumla Dineo Gqola outlines the extent to which we have grown accustomed to the near total elision of women’s lives, contributions and agency from significant political events. Drawing upon her recent experiences with a group of South African women on a feminist solidarity trip to Zimbabwe, the author concludes the Mugabe-Tsvangirai power-sharing agreement and its ‘gender neutral’ language to be blind to women’s struggles.
Over the last week, news of the agreement signed by Robert Mugabe, Morgan Tsvangirai and Arthur Mutambara has received repeated airplay. As well it should. Indeed, radio station listeners have been calling in to comment on the perceived vindication of the now former South African president in the eyes of the international community now that there has been success in Zimbabwe. All of this has been seen as further evidence that African solutions work best for African problems. Significantly, this narrative has continued to permeate the contributions of even those callers who are more critical of Mbeki’s other stances. We have, therefore, been reminded that although there may be solutions in Zimbabwe, and maybe next in Darfur, problems at home abound.

As I listened to the live coverage of the signing, I was struck by consistent absences in the reporting as well as in what could not comfortably be used in the interest of the celebrated moment. One reporter, live outside the venue in Harare, noted that even as the ink was drying on the paperwork, a group of MDC women approached him to say they had been attacked by ZANU-PF male youths moments before. I was somewhat relieved that this was a radio, rather than a television broadcast because I did not want to see more brutalised bodies. I could not help noticing that this information was quickly passed over.

I recoil from the sight of more bruised and bloodied bodies not because of what Gail Smith has called ‘compassion fatigue in relation to the crisis in Zimbabwe,’ but because there are other ways to make sense of our continent. A.C. Fick insists that when we privilege particular forms of evidence over others ‘we run the risk of giving the former more power than they already have in our world.’ Therefore, we trap ourselves in a certain cycle, since ‘we are educated to understand the world in particular terms.’ Furthermore, we remain so accustomed to our particular view that we completely miss the presence of other events and ‘critical languages’ in the very same moment in which we attempt to understand. Part of what we have grown accustomed to is the near total elision of women’s lives, contributions and agency from large political events.

Consequently, I turned away from the coverage I had been obsessively following in between teaching, and reflected on what was unfolding through other events I have access to. Sometimes it helps to turn away in order to better make sense of what we are in the midst of. This is the approach I brought to my reading of the text of the power-sharing agreement signed on Monday 15 September.

In August, I formed part of a group of South African women who went on a feminist solidarity trip to Zimbabwe. The excursion was coordinated by activist and international relations and development expert Bunie Matlanyane Sexwale, and divided into a group that went to Harare and one that flew to Bulawayo. My group, the Harare group, included the essayist Gail Smith, as well as poets Lebogang Mashile and Gertrude Fester. We went to have conversations with a variety of women’s and civil society groups; unionists, students, health activists, law and human rights activists and so on. This trip clarified many of the niggling questions that had been plaguing me in previous years. The Johannesburg office of the Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition had made the trip possible, also offering us insights into what we might encounter upon arrival. Among us, Bunie was the only feminist who was personally familiar with the different Zimbabwean epochs.

To the extent that it had been impossible to live in South Africa without reflecting on Zimbabwe constantly, the trip followed numerous conversations with people more familiar than I with the crisis in Zimbabwe. Two artist friends, one a filmmaker and the second a novelist, who had grown up in Zimbabwe as South Africans in exile, noted upon returning from visits recently that this was a different Zimbabwe from the one they knew. There was sadness in one’s eyes and anger etched onto the face of the other. My child’s day-mother, herself Zimbabwean, had remarked upon return from an earlier trip that her homeland made her despair. Colleagues commented on how fatigued they were at being asked to comment about their home country at every turn. I was careful to listen to information volunteered, but not to pry and further exhaust them. Only one said ‘things are not the worst they have ever been.’

I had questions raised by other areas of information as well. Where were the women in all the coverage of Zimbabwe, in the negotiations, in the interviews broadcast, among the experts explaining and helping the continent and the world make sense of the crisis? I know from reading, watching and from interactions with feminists from the continent over the years that Zimbabwe has a very strong women’s movement. How is it that I was hearing so little about what women were doing, when they were not being brutalised, inside Zimbabwe?

The trip was to help me grapple better with some of these struggles.

Unfortunately, it also raised many more. Very few of the new questions are addressed in the resolution we are all invited to celebrate. The Harare we arrived in at the end of August brought different worlds into collision. In a very public sense, it was the Harare in which the (Women of Zimbabwe Arise) WOZA 14 trial was scheduled to start, after many postponements. These are women considered so dangerous that the Zimbabwean State imagines their varied activism treasonous. This was also the Harare which staged the opening of the new parliament, during which MDC leaders, among them the leader of Senate Sekai Holland, shouted for Mugabe to go back to the talks so much that he was visibly flustered as he tried to open parliament.

When Holland agreed to meet us in a public place, with unionist and former MDC Women’s Assembly Chair, Lucia Matibenga, the disbelief was palpable on the faces of many young Zimbabweans in the Harare CBD location where we met. There was no question that both women were recognised. As they explained to us, it was unusual for powerful Zimbabwean politicians to be seen in a food court. Holland and Matibenga had both been driven underground by the physical and other attacks instigated by ZANU-PF and other agents of state sanctioned violence. They shared some of these experiences with us. But more so, and interspaced with a wicked sense of humour shared by both, they articulated a very clear vision for a new Zimbabwe. These were women who demonstrated what Pregs Govender has called ‘insubordinated spirit’, in their actions, incisive analysis of power and in rising after being personally attacked. I was saddened by the fact that as powerful and active as they have been, even these women’s names were often lost in the reporting of what occurs in Zimbabwe.

I wonder how much of such voices we will hear in the future, given the bizarre half-protected freedom of speech as articulated in Article 19 of the agreement signed on Monday. Recognising the necessity for freedom of speech in Zimbabwe, the article nonetheless opens doors for dismissing certain media outlets if they are ‘foreign government funded external radio stations broadcasting into Zimbabwe’ since these ‘are not in Zimbabwe’s national interest.’ What about radio stations operated by Zimbabweans in exile as one of the few ways to contest state-controlled media outlets? So what if another government or its agencies fund them? What if that government is Botswana’s? How will the stated desire to ensure ‘the opening up of the airwaves and ensuring the operation of as many media houses as possible’ translate in a context where ZANU-PF youths allegedly attack people outside the signing?

Further down the same srticle, I had to laugh as I read ‘the public and private media shall refrain from using abusive language that may incite hostility, political intolerance and ethnic hatred or that unfairly undermines political parties and other organisations.’ Perhaps there is hope for the Zimbabwean Broadcasting Corporation, whose evening television bulletins were peppered with Mugabe pronouncing on the immaturity of MDC MPs, their unsuitability to lead, and on this being the worst parliament he had ever presided over.

However, that was the end of August when we watched aghast, and everything had changed now that it was September and the agreement had been signed.

What would that change mean, when Article 18 of the agreement, which focuses on the security of persons and prevention of violence, conflates state-sanctioned brutality against citizens after the elections with violence by unarmed people? There is no mention of the brutality of the military, even though this emerged in many of the conversations we had with women on our visit. The army was credited with hunting people down, militia and the formal army tortured, killed, maimed and raped. What happens to this memory? How do people just move forward? Many women’s organisations reported on how women were forced to pay for reintegration into their communities after surviving previous post-election displacement. Given that the violence between the powerful and ordinary citizens is falsely equated in this agreement, what happens to the scars? Where do these women, whose houses have often been razed to the ground and their means of livelihood destroyed while their children are raped or driven into exile, fit into the ‘gender neutral’ language of the agreement?

History teaches us that ‘gender neutral language’ is very often blind to women’s lives. Yet, women in Zimbabwe, like in South Africa, are the majority. They are the majority of the displaced, raped, tortured and burnt alive, and of the people sleeping in the safe houses all over Harare. They are also the majority of those who resisted and voted for change.

Writing of another African context, Pregs Govender has recently reminded us in her Julius Nyerere Lecture on Lifelong Learning at the University of the Western Cape last week that, the links between ‘the militarisation of society and the increased levels of violence against women across borders and in homes’ are not just clear but also backed up by much research at academic and trans-national levels.

Is the Zimbabwean crisis over? Can it be over when there is no recognition of the results from the March elections or of how people suffered for the choices they made? It is not inconceivable, given the absence of a clear call for accountability for perpetrators of violence in Article 18, that the president of Zimbabwe may claim the power vested in him under Article 19 to both ‘declare war’ against his enemies as in the past, as well as ‘grant pardons, respite, substitute less severe punishment and suspend or remit sentences, on the advice of the Cabinet’ which he chairs. Is it conceivable that he will bring the rapists and the men who destroyed the livelihoods of men to book?

Perhaps I am pessimistic at what should be a moment of great joy. However, the questions remain in the aftermath of the signing: where are the women?

When we met Netsai Mushonga, the co-ordinator of the Women’s Coalition of Zimbabwe, she reminded us of the necessity to come up with new paradigms for thinking about vigilance. The automatic equation of violence with militancy is an unfortunate southern African inheritance. In an article written long before our meeting, and far before the agreement, Mushonga had written: ‘Democracy for women in Zimbabwe can be summarized in two key capacities: participation in decision-making at all levels, and equal access to resources.’ The Agreement is vague on this.

Pregs Govender could have been speaking directly to this statement when she remarked last week: “One of the central features of patriarchal authoritarian systems is the way in which we stop thinking for ourselves and begin to depend on the political leader, the expert, the husband or the priest.’ This is also a statement for those of us who watch as Zimbabwe changes, and who feel solidarity and search for ways to assist and support meaningful change.

I am not entirely convinced that the agreement, which mentions women only three times – in relation to access to land, entitlement to full citizenship and gender equity, as well as the need to appoint women to ‘strategic Cabinet posts’ – goes far enough. These are important recognitions, and reflections on South Africa’s recent past illustrate how difficult it is to get any gender recognition into a negotiation process. The presence of these acknowledgements is no small matter.

However, it seems that much ended up on the negotiation floors given the demands that were shared with us by various women’s groups and individual women. It would be a travesty if this southern African country continues to revel in our most uncomfortable heritages as a region, that of downplaying women’s lives and pretending women exist as nothing but victims. Our trip showed that women are organising across class and education status in ways that directly intervene in the crisis, and the manner in which the state’s courts and violent men responded was a clear recognition of the power of such women. Yet, this agreement that we are all invited to celebrate falls short of this recognition of women’s multi-faceted activisms.

On the importance of telling stories carefully, Veronique Tadjo argues: ‘We live in a community and in trying to tell one story in particular, I have to rely on other stories. Our destinies cross, we meet people, they enter our lives, then exit, to be replaced by others, etc. Our existence is layered by an amazing number of stories. So that’s why I move in and out.’

Would it not be a remarkable thing if this were true of the Zimbabwean Agreement and the future it ushers in?


* Pumla Dineo Gqola is a feminist writer and blogger, and is associate professor of literary, media and cultural studies at the University of the Witwatersrand.


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

‘Angola 3’ Black Panther conviction reversed after 35 years

Attention now turns to 'Omaha Two' case

Michael Richardson

2008-10-09

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/51031

After some 35 years imprisonment under solitary confinement in Louisiana’s Angola prison, the Black Panther Albert Woodfox of the ‘Angola 3’ is now up for retrial following the decision that his original case was unfairly assessed. Describing the experiences of two other Black Panthers to have also endured dubious original murder trials within the state of Nebraska, Michael Richardson reviews the evidence withheld from their initial case.
US District Court Judge James J. Brady of Baton Rouge, Louisiana has ordered the state to either free or retry Albert Woodfox after almost three dozen years in solitary confinement. Woodfox, tried with two other co-defendants, was convicted for the 1972 murder of prison guard Brent Miller at Angola prison where he had been serving a sentence for armed robbery.

After a controversial trial and an even more disputed second trial in 1998 (when he was retried following appeal of his first conviction), Woodfox may see freedom from the infamous prison where he has been held in virtual isolation for over three decades.

Woodfox had been active in a prison chapter of the Black Panthers in the racially-charged Angola Prison, a vast plantation-style penitentiary in rural Louisiana. Following conviction for the stabbing of Miller, a life sentence was imposed and Angola officials decided that for security reasons Woodfox and fellow Panther Herman Wallace would be held in solitary confinement. The 6 by 9 feet isolation cells would become home, night and day, for thirty-five years.

Magistrate Docia L. Dalby has described the punishment meted out to the two Panthers as: ‘durations so far beyond the pale that this court has not found anything even remotely comparable in the annals of American jurisprudence.’

Judge Brady, after a careful review of the trial record and the recommendation of Magistrate Judge Christine Noland, determined that Woodfox had not received a fair trial, that his attorney had failed to adequately represent him, and that the state's chief witness, Hezekiah Brown, had received a reduced sentence for naming Woodfox. Further, exculpatory information about the physical evidence in the case in the form of bloodstains was also withheld from the jury.

While Woodfox waits for a prosecutor's decision on his future, another Black Panther in the Nebraska State Penitentiary, Ed Poindexter, waits for a ruling from the Nebraska Supreme Court on his request for a new trial. Poindexter and fellow Panther activist Mondo we Langa (formerly David Rice) were convicted in April 1971 for the murder by bombing of Omaha police officer Larry Minard.

Unlike Woodfox, who was an inmate at the time of his alleged crime, Poindexter and Langa were free and officers in the Nebraska Committee to Combat Fascism and were Omaha's most vocal police critics. On 17 August 1970, police were lured to a vacant house investigating a report of a woman screaming when a bomb killed Minard and injured seven other police officers. Within two days of the bombing, J. Edgar Hoover, director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), who had targeted the Black Panthers, ordered Ivan Willard Conrad, director of the FBI’s national crime laboratory, to withhold information that was not favorable to the prosecution of Poindexter and Langa for Minard's murder.

Hoover was at war with the Black Panthers and secretly directed a clandestine ‘no holds barred’ operation, code-named COINTELPRO, to put the group out of existence. Using illegal tactics, FBI agents engaged in a nationwide campaign that encouraged violence, planted and withheld evidence, obtained false arrests, and took a host of other measures that would later be denounced by the US Senate Select Committee to Study Government Operations (commonly known as the Church Committee).

At question in the Minard killing was the identity of an unknown individual who made the emergency call to police headquarters. Hidden for years behind a secrecy stamp, Omaha Assistant Chief of Police Glen W. Gates, in a confidential COINTELPRO memo to Hoover, asked the FBI to abandon the search for the killer who made the call because it might ‘prejudice the police murder trial’ against Poindexter and Langa.

Ultimately a 15 year-old, Duane Peak, confessed to the crime and claimed he made the phone call and that Poindexter and Langa put him up to the murder. Peak's story falls apart if someone else had made the deadly call. The tape recording, which was withheld from the jury that convicted the two Panther leaders, did not sound like Peak but rather resonated with the voice of an older man.

Local authorities destroyed the tape after the trial only to have a duplicate recording emerge years later. The duplicate tape was subjected to modern vocal analysis in 2006. Expert Tom Owens has testified that the voice on the tape is not that of Peak, thus leaving an unidentified accomplice on the loose.

Poindexter is seeking a new trial over the withheld evidence and the Nebraska Supreme Court hears oral arguments in the case this week. No date has been set for a decision. Poindexter and Langa are serving life sentences at the Nebraska State Penitentiary. Both men deny any involvement in the crime.


* Michael Richardson is a freelance writer and political consultant based in Boston, Massachussetts, who writes mainly about politics, law, nutrition, ethics, and music.

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

Latest from the French language edition (72)

2008-10-09

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/summaryfr/51034

Ahmed Sékou Touré: ‘We prefer poverty in liberty than slavery in riches’
Tidiane Kasse

Tidiane Kasse looks back at Guinea’s historic “No” vote of 1958 that led to independence from France, and the continued resonance of Ahmed Sékou Touré’s famous declaration; ‘We prefer poverty in liberty than slavery in riches’ for a continent that strives to maintain its dignity and sovereignty in the face of poverty and suffering.

Between “poverty in liberty” and “riches in slavery”
Ahmed Sékou Touré

On 25th August 1958 in an address to the Territorial Assembly attended by then French Prime Minister Charles de Gaulle, Ahmed Sékou Touré asserted the need for African people to equality, dignity and self-determination, even if this meant losing the economic patronage of France and former colonial master. This speech set the scene for developments that led to the independence of Guinea-Bissau


The new priorities of African, Caribbean and Pacific countries
Abel Gbêtoénonmon

Abel Gbêtoénonmon reviews the 6th ACP summit held in Ghana on the 2nd of October 2008. Key issues emerging at the meeting were the exploration of bilateral ties with the European Union, and the creation of a Free-trade zone for the ACP countries. Other topics discussed at the summit were the current global food, energy and economic crises, development assistance and climate change.

Guinea Bissau: What is new in the land of Amilcar Cabral?
Carlos Cardoso

Ahead of elections to be held on November 16, Carlos Cardoso reviews the political and economic realities of Guinea Bissau. From the 70s through to the mid-80s the country was thriving economically while remaining faithful to the principles of Non-Alignment. 30 years later, Guinea Bissau is characterised by a general decline at all levels. It remains to be seen what prospects the elections hold for the resuscitation of this erstwhile great nation.

Latest from the Portuguese language edition (8)

2008-10-09

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/summarypt/51040

Angola after 33 years
José Patrocínio

Some 33 years after his nation’s independence from Portugal, José Patrocinio reviews Angola’s political history, revolutionary spirit, and democratic struggles. In the face of marked contemporary inequalities in spite of considerable national economic growth, the author salutes the role of civil society in providing an electoral check and as source of continual debate and momentum for the more equitable distribution of power.

Legislative elections in Angola and youths of the street
José Patrocínio

Following Angola’s second ever legislative elections on 5 September 2008, José Patrocínio reviews the interaction of the ruling MPLA and dissident UNITA parties and the continuing difficulties around the creation of a representative democracy his country faces. The author continues by praising the work of the NGO OMUNGA, whose efforts to register and organise youths of the street enabled a new generation to access to their democratic right to vote on the day of the election.

33 years of Mozambican independence
Josué Bila

33 years after its independence from Portugal, Mozambique is still yet to have signed the Pacto Internacional dos Direitos Económicos, Sociais e Culturais (PIDESC). In his review of Mozambican post-colonial political history, Josué Bila offers his perspective on the struggle for the protection of social, cultural, and economic rights within the country, while lamenting the Mozambican state’s reluctance to sign up to a international system of legal obligations around human rights.

A world without conscience

Ochieng M. Khairallah

2008-10-09

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/panafrican/51033

Lamenting the persistence of widespread social and economic inequalities, Ochieng M. Khairallah asks whether the continued experiences of marginalisation and disenfranchisement suffered by the global poor belie a world without conscience. In light of sustained human rights abuses and marked power imbalances both nationally and internationally, the author highlights a resulting culture of impunity in which politics and representation become a mere question of protecting one’s interests.
A careful look at the world today reveals worrying trends and confounding tendencies in so far as matters of global interest are concerned. Thematic issues such as human rights, education, leadership, justice, religion, environment and a formidable array of other equally important subjects are witnessing systematic loss of both public interest and confidence. The growing levels of global atrocities and harrowing impunity hold these assertions in the affirmative. Under the circumstances, one is therefore tempted to question the conscience of the modern day world.

For instance, wherein lies the conscience of the world amidst the emergent culture of human rights without respect for the rights of the individual person? When there is a growing disrespect for people’s rights. This is evident the world over. Despite many conventions affirming individual rights and a plethora of human rights organisations apparently in the name of human rights advocacy and education, violations of human rights continue unabated. The world is continually being treated to an opera of wars and conflicts with harrowing scenes of injuries of varying dimensions; corpses, limps, dismemberment of body parts, etc.

Debilitating hunger, starvation, disasters and related tragedies are exacerbating already fluid situations. It is simply a case of injuries and more deaths yesterday, today and likely tomorrow. It is a dangerous trend especially taking into account the fact that when society gets used to seeing deaths and violations of human rights on a continuous basis, the logical consequence is a dangerous loss of respect for human rights. People begin to treat human rights issues with little interest.

This slowly matures into a dangerous culture of impunity in which people trample on each other with reckless abandon. It assumes tragic proportions particularly when the defenders of human rights themselves begin to violate the rights of others. Without batting an eyelid people begin to preach what they do not practice. Before long, people begin to feel insecure and for fear of being trampled upon by others as neighbours turn against each other with bestial force, hurt others and even expose others to life threatening risks without looking back. Simply a case of each against the other. And what does the world do? Does it proceed as if though nothing happened? Or is it business as usual?

There is justice without respect for the rule of law, especially when the law operates like a cobweb only tailored for small animals while big ones go through it with reckless abandon. Does the world raise an eyebrow when legal systems are susceptible to the vagaries of raw capital, where money talks even if the language of money is reckless and destructive? Where human rights and justice are exclusively for a select few. Where the poor are deprived further and are even penalised for being poor while the rich are enriched beyond imagination. Where you are rewarded for being corrupt and even for manipulating the stock market or authoring misfortune for others, especially the poor and the so-called ‘Wretched of the Earth.’ What does the world do? Does it reprimand or encourage impropriety, impunity and other acts of injustice?

Politics without fidelity to the common good is equally destructive when we reduce the hallowed realm of politics to merely an arena for individual avarice and a game of parochialism based on partisan and selfish interests at the connivance and detriment of the common good. Where politicians seek positions specifically to advance selfish agendas devoid of collective benefit. Where politics is simply a game of mine, myself, I, and me alone. Where community and national resources are vandalised at the politicians’ pleasure. Where leadership is totally divorced from the core principles of integrity and accountability.

Education without merit is a tragedy of monumental proportions and a recipe for anarchy as it breeds a dangerous culture of professionalism without professional responsibility. Where the best effort is least rewarded or the worst efforts best rewarded due to extraneous considerations, a situation akin to the worst becoming the best and the best becoming the worst or simply where the best careers can be terminated by a computer mishap or a syntax error. When people lose confidence in fair practice and fair competition, society is reduced to a mess akin to an animal farm in which the big animals trample and even feed on smaller animals.

Religion without spirituality is catastrophic and reduces life to nothing more than a butchery of human character, advancing hopelessness and ill-will. This is where religion is merely a tool for political and resource mobilisation and competition and is thereby reduced to a mere captive of modern day avarice, malice and treachery. As a result, religion abdicates its traditional and sacred role of being the repository of hope, good will and righteousness. As a result society is deprived of spiritual nourishment and development.

In the face of wars, increased violations of human rights, increased accidents, calamities in the form of floods, earthquakes, typhoons, and the destruction of environment, wherein lies the conscience of the world? We must not allow a world where you can trample on another persons right, injure your neighbour, hurt your colleague, expose another person to imminent danger or cause serious risks and threats to another person’s life, or injure another person’s character.

Personally I am not ready for a hurting world. I need a gentle and caring world. My world must be a caring world for all irrespective of one’s colour, race, language, status, location and related prejudices and nuances! Such a world is only possible if we resist acts of injustices and human rights violations.

* Ochieng M. Khairallah is a lawyer and human rights activist.

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

To the next 400 Pambazuka News issues!

Shailja Patel

2008-10-09

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/51023

Huge congratulations, to the entire Pambazuka team, and the larger Pambazuka community. Even while we reflect on the challenges facing Africa, these are both extraordinary achievements, absolutely worthy of celebration.

I am thrilled to have shared a tiny part of Pambazuka's journey. I  look forward to the next 400 issues - and to adding my voice to the ever-growing and ever-deepening conversation.

When I think of Pambazuka, what comes to mind is a favourite poem, OPTIMISM,  by a favourite poet, Jane Hirshfield

More and more I have come to admire resilience.
Not the simple resistance of a pillow, whose foam
returns over and over to the same shape, but the sinuous
tenacity of a tree: finding the light newly blocked on one side,
it turns in another. A blind intelligence, true.
But out of such persistence arose turtles, rivers,
mitochondria, figs--all this resinous, unretractable earth.

Pambazuka: What about the Horn of Africa and North Africa

Eritrean News Agency

2008-10-09

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/51027

I really admire the Pambazuka website for giving and entertaining valuable information and analysis towards the good well-being of Africans.

As we know this days, the world media are controlled and manipulated by the super powers and particularly the United States. Therefore, the African continet as a whole and the Africans specifically become voiceless. In order to give a voice to the voiceless we Africans should have to work together and show the real truth to the imperialism imposed on the continent in order to loot its wealth in the name of democracy and human rights.

In exposing this all things Pambazuka should have to work deligently but its articles and comments are only in the Southern and Western Africa what about the Horn of Africa and North Africa. Please try to present these two important locations of the continent in fair and balanced reporting.

Order of Kush and a new people's movement

Earl Smith

2008-10-09

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/51028

In response to, Our political guiding post: Pan-Africanism’s new dawn, I would like to say that as an outsider, an African American who has more than an affinity with Africa and its politics, I believe a synthesis of "Nkrumah’s vision of continental political unity" and Nyerere's gradual approach to that vision can be realised.

Further, I do not think we Africans should dismiss Muammar Gaddafi so quickly. Rather, we should hear him out and look for common ground in his messages. The author rightly points out that "Pan-Africanism was rooted in anti-imperialist politics. It was a political and not an economic, cultural, or racial project."

In my view, the next step in the development of Pan-Africanism and the quest for continental unity of Africans is to arrive at a concensus that transcends political, economic, cultural and racial lines. What is needed at this juncture is a "People's Movement" that leaves petty politics at the door. We have started such a movement in the United States. It is a movement of people who have a passionate love for Africa and its people. We call it the Order of Kush.

To learn more, please go to our website at http://www.orderofkush.org

Liberation movements and myths

Liu Haifang

2008-10-09

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/51025

The article, African liberation Movements and the end of history, provokes audience to analyze the current situation by re-thinking the post-colonial history in a broader spectrum of the whole of Southern Africa. I would like to add the same is to be found in the history of other countries of Tiers Mond. One point is that many countries are affected by the unconcious heritage of the "revolutionary movement", or the effect of double-edged sword.

Secondly, as the generation growing up in post-revolutionary age, we should learn how to read "patriotic form of writing history" which has turned the independence struggle into a myth, such as Zimbabwe's Chimulenga, such as China's socialist mainstream.

Thirdly, more importantly and more explicitly, winners turned to criminalize the loser, as the recent Angolan hisotry has revealed. Yet for long-term reconciliation, all these seemingly critical conclusions at that historical time need a second thought, will be or are being questioned, such as in China's case as China's peaceful talking across the Taiwan Strait is going on faster than ever in recent years.

Mandela is irony

Uzoechi Nwagbara

2008-10-09

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/51026

Andile Mngxitama's piece, Mandela as South Africa's metaphor, is supposed to hold a mirror up to the struggles of Nelson Mandela and the nature of his statesmanship on the African continent - and the world at large, but rather than do that, it foreshadows an antinomy of a sort: what is wrong with the present crop of African leaders. Though a good piece, it does not point a flambeau to the way of moving South Africa from the doldrums of national asphyxiation, which Mandela's essence epitomises.

Wole Soyinka's reference to Mandela's statue as evident in the article, as ''soulless'', adumbrates the mess made of his fight to have a new South Africa - filled with the bliss of post-Apartheid as well as inter-racial brotherhood. The realities effulgent in today's South Africa, are a far cry from what Mandela and his comerades figured out.

Also, the writer's friend who reckoned in the wake of world's celebration of Mandela phenomenon, that we should sing ''Free Nelson Mandela Campaign'', should rather spare a thought for what I call ''Free African Leaders's Campaign''. African leaders serve as a foil to Mandela's statesmanship. The sqandering of Africa's bounties and the mortgaging of its future by African leaders in the marketplace of global one-upmanship and continental malaise, are a disturbing pattern that sends shivers down my spine as I reflect on our journey so far as a continent. For me, a more fitting title for Mngxitama's piece should be ''Mandela as South Afrca's Foil''. This titular reconstruction, would underscore more pointedly the meat of his preoccupation in the article.

In an interview which Mandela granted on his last visit to the United Kingdom - as a run-up to his 90th birthday celebration, he was asked what was his reading preference: the sort of books he reads. His answer was strikig. On top of the list was Tolstoy's ''War and Peace''. No doubt, African leaders would prefer Machiavelli's ''The Prince''. The logic of this book, underwrites their inhuman activities on the continent. I make haste to suggest Henry Kissinger's ''Diplomacy'' to African leaders. Its proemal gambit distils a road map to the philosophy of statesmanship. There is a lot to gather from Bill Clinton's ''Between Hope and History'' as well as other books that deepen the debate on moving humanity (Africa) from the margin to the centre. Mandela's senility and possible departure will mark a watershed in (South)Africa's liberation from the menacle of neocolonialism, class attrition and prebendalism.

Mandela is no metaphor for South Africa; he is rather a sheer irony of today's South Africa - a spooky antinomy that haunts South Africa, nay, the continent of Africa.

Charcoal Traffic wins Best Short Fiction Award!

Santa A. Mukabanah

2008-10-09

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/books/51030

Charcoal Traffic is a short story of two brothers trapped in a murderous cycle of environmental and cultural devastation in Somalia.

Charcoal Traffic is a global first:

• Charcoal Traffic is the world's first short fictional film based on Somali pastoral culture.

• Charcoal Traffic was shot entirely on location in northern Somalia under very challenging conditions due to almost 20 years of civil war.

• Charcoal Traffic has an all Somali local cast with no previous acting experience.

• Charcoal Traffic is in Somali with English subtitles.

Charcoal Traffic was directed by Nathan Collett, assisted by Godfrey Ojiambo, and co-produced by international award winning environmentalist, Fatima Jibrell with James Lindsay, co-founder of Sun Fire Cooking. Godfrey Ojiambo, resident of Kibera and trustee of Hot Sun Foundation, travelled with Nathan Collett to Somalia to film Charcoal Traffic.

The ‘Best Short Fiction Award’ will be presented to Charcoal Traffic during the VideoFest in San Francisco, California, October 17-18, 2008. Charcoal Traffic has been selected and screened at 19 international film festivals around the world.

* To interview Godfrey Ojiambo or Nathan Collett about their experiences in Somalia or for more information, contact SANTA MUKABANAH, Hot Sun Foundation Communications Officer, santah161@gmail.com or visit http://www.charcoaltraffic.com/ and http://kiberakid.blogspot.com

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

Kenya: Broken bodies, unbroken spirit

2008-10-10

http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/nota.asp?idnews=44156

It was a sad occasion, and an occasion to rejoice. Sad, said Dr Ludeki Chweya, introducing Flora Terah's new book, because her heart-wrenching story shows that physical abuse and torture are a weapon of choice to deter wo

South Africa: Book Launch - World City Syndrome

Neoliberalism and inequality in Cape Town

2008-10-10

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/books/51109

The literature on world cities has had an enormous influence on urban theory and practice, with academics and policy makers attempting to understand, and often strive for, world city status. In this new work, McDonald explores Cape Town’s position in this network of global cities and critically investigates the conceptual value of the world city hypothesis.
BOOK LAUNCH (hosted by Amandla magazine)….

World City Syndrome: Neoliberalism and Inequality in Cape Town (Routledge, New York, 2008)
By David A McDonald

October 21, 2008
The BOOK LOUNGE
71 Roeland Street (at Buitenkant)
Cape Town

5.30 for 6pm

The literature on world cities has had an enormous influence on urban theory and practice, with academics and policy makers attempting to understand, and often strive for, world city status. In this new work, McDonald explores Cape Town’s position in this network of global cities and critically investigates the conceptual value of the world city hypothesis.

In some respects, Cape Town is an ‘ideal’ world city, reflecting the service-oriented spatial economies of new global systems of production and consumption. And yet, the world city framework is an inadequate tool for understanding uneven capitalist development. Drawing on marxist urban theory, McDonald argues that Cape Town must be understood as a neoliberal city, wracked by the socio-spatial inequalities inherent to market-oriented reforms. Despite the pro-poor rhetoric of local and national government in post-apartheid South Africa, Cape Town has arguably become the most unequal city in the world, due in part to a ‘world city syndrome’ that deepens these inequalities and plagues its urban planning.

Drawing on more than a dozen years of fieldwork, McDonald provides a comprehensive overview of the city’s institutional and structural reforms, examining fiscal imbalances, political marginalization, (de)racialization, privatization and other neoliberal changes. The book concludes with thoughts on alternative development trajectories.


"This is a theoretically pathbreaking, if politically heartbreaking, account of post-apartheidCape Town and the betrayed promises of integration and equality. It also offers a formidable, often brilliant, overview of the debate on neoliberalism."
Mike Davis, author of Planet of Slums, Professor of History, University ofCalifornia, Irvine.

“McDonald’s aim of merging his scholarship with the concerns of real people, struggling over real issues, is impressive. In this book he advances our understanding of the challenges facing a new Cape Town in a new South Africa by eloquently exemplifying the sensitivity and insight that sustained commitment and rich experience on the ground can give rise to. A sobering but deeply illuminating account.”
John Saul, Professor Emeritus, Social and Political Science, York University,Canada.

“With rigour and precision, McDonald takes apart the neoliberal model that dominates Cape Town’s post-apartheid trajectory. He shows how this so-called development strategy sets us on the path to increased social, spatial and economic inequality. But it is really in the alternatives that the book comes to the fore. Drawing on a sophisticated reading of Marxism in conversation with Keynesianism, McDonald presents an agenda for reforming Cape Town that directly challenges the present received wisdom and foregrounds a raft of eminently sensible strategic counter-hegemonic interventions. The book is at once compelling as it is intellectually courageous and builds on McDonald’s pioneering theoretical expose on urban neoliberalism in South Africa”.
Ashwin Desai, Research Fellow, Institute of Social and Economic Research,Rhodes University, South Africa.


David A McDonald is Associate Professor and Director of Global Development Studies at Queen’s University, Canada.

South Africa: Filmmakers against Racism

Screening 9-16 October 2008

2008-10-10

http://filmmakers-against-racism.blogspot.com/

The Documentary Filmmakers Association will be presenting weekly documentary screenings at the Labia Cinema. We will be launching these DOCLOVE nights with a selection of films produced by FILMAKERS AGAINST RACISM - an initiative launched on 23rd May 2008 in response to the shocking wave of xenophobic violence hitting South Africa.

The Heart of Struggle: A Pavement Exhibition

2008-10-10

http://abahlali.org/node/4241

For over a month now Antonio Angelucci, an independent photographer from Italy, has been visiting the community and working with the children here on Symphony Way. The kids have had to opportunity learn how to take photographs with both film SLR cameras and digital cameras. At the same time, the children have been teaching Antonio a thing or two about their lives and what it is like to live in an informal settlement.

Africa Blogging Roundup, 6th October 2008

Sokari Ekine

2008-10-09

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/blog/51024

My Haven by Matuba Mahlatjie:

My Haven expresses his disappointment at a statement by Rev Desmond Tutu, condoning voter abstention as a way of protest the political climate in South Africa. For Matuba, not voting is not an option and an insult to those who died for freedom in South Africa.

“Archbishop Tutu says the rifts in the ANC left citizens insecure. I have said it before and I am going to shout once more; YOU DON'T LIKE THE ANC? THEN GO TO THE POLLS NEXT YEAR AND EXPRESS IT BY VOTING FOR ANOTHER PARTY. It is that simple.”

Somali blog, Harowo:

Harowo comments on the recent seajacking of an arms ship by Somali pirates stating they could not have known the ship was full of tankers nor that it was probably part of an illegal arms deal sending tanks to the Sudan from the Ukraine. Harowo describes the Somali pirates as the equivalent of pickpockets stealing a mafia suitcase.

“Ali’s small-time gangsters, in their sneakers, have climbed up onto a world stage normally reserved for bigger players. In the ensuing drama, the boundaries between the good guys and the villains have become difficult to discern, primarily because there may not in fact be any good guys. In this production, the pirates are the equivalent of pickpockets who had the bad luck of stealing a mafia godfather’s briefcase. In reality, the incident is about much more than a hijacking and Ali’s demand for $20 million (€13.8 million) in ransom money. It is also about anarchy in a failed state like Somalia, and about the interests of the United States, Russia and the European Union, as it gradually takes on a new role on the world stage.”

Who are the other criminals in this saga – the Ukraine government, Sudan, possibly China who may have if only indirectly provided the funding for the tanks and the international community who are failing to challenge all of the above.

Ethiopia Watch:

Ethiopia Watch wonders if the Ethiopian famine has really been averted. He refers to an article by Rob Crilly on his blog “from the frontline” who suggests the original story was more of a “fabrication” based on the desire of some journalists “putting their critical faculties to one side in favour of reporting a worst-case scenario peddled by NGOs with an interest in collecting cash? Did we jump when they cried wolf?”

White African:

White African calls for a reframing of “Brand Africa” , that is the way we Africans think about technology in Africa. What White African is saying is that as Africans need to have the confidence to export our technology explaining it’s uniqueness and advantage in the global context.

“Most people outside of Africa don’t align any type of technological edge to what we do here on the continent. In fact, most are surprised when a developer from Africa pops up on the international stage at all. Though there are fewer software developers in Africa per capita relative to their Western counterparts, what most don’t realize is that those few are really quite talented.

This means the South Africans as well as their counter parts in Ghana, Uganda and Senegal. We’re all in this together, whether we like it or not. Remember, to outsiders we’re one homogeneous landmass. What we each do reflects on everyone, whether we’re creating for local or global markets.”

Kenya Imagine:

publishes some interesting website statistics of African users (Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria) on local and international sites visited. Nigeria is the only country where a blog is the most visited website "Nairaland, the Nigerian Forum". None of the top 10 sites visited are local sites with Google and Yahoo leading in all three countries. Similarly a Kenyan chat and discussion forum , Mashada, is in the top 10 which shows the popularity of these kind of websites.

Stories from Malawi:

Stories from Malawi publishes some good news from Malawi where this year’s tobacco crop has earned the country “US$461 million” an annual increase of $196million. The even better news is that the income of local farmers has also increased. The bad or rather sad news is all this money being made from something which kills!

BlackLooks:

Blacklooks is critical of the Ugandan government over its continued harassment of LGBTI activists, along with the threats to publish names of sexworkers and to punish women for wearing mini skirts :

“Instead of focusing on violence against women, child labour and sexual abuse the government’s latest assault is a misogynist attack on women which blames them for causing car accidents. All of these attacks, against the LGBTI community, sexworkers and women show a government and religious leadership in a state of crisis and fear of loosing control over women’s bodies and in particular a fear of sexuality. All of this is underpinned by this thing they call “our culture”. Culture is not viewed as a construct, in constant change or for that matter static. It is not even historical but rather something constructed on a subjective set of myths from the past which bear little meaning in the present except to oppress women and anyone who dares express difference in terms of their sexuality, dress and ideas.”


* Sokari Ekine blogs at www.blacklooks.org

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

Two more African countries to ban Chinese milk

2008-10-10

http://tinyurl.com/3rar4u

Liberia and Senegal have become the latest African countries to ban Chinese milk products following the tainted milk scandal that left tens of thousands of children ill in the Asian country. "In September we received reports that these products made lot of victims in China, and that a good quantity has been shipped towards Africa. On October 2 the same report was reiterated," Liberian Minister of Commerce Frederick Nuckeh told state radio on Tuesday.

Inflation bubble gets bigger as politicans fiddle

2008-10-10

http://zimbabwejournalists.com/story.php?art_id=4829

Zimbabwe's annual inflation surged to a record 231 million percent in July up from 11.2 million percent in June, state run daily Herald reported Thursday. The ever rising cost of food has been cited as the main driver of inflation according to the Central Statistics Office (CSO) statement quoted in the Herald. "The month on month rate rose 1760,9-percentage points on the June rate of 893,3 percent to 2600,2 percent. Bread and Cereals were the main drivers," the Herald reported.

Power-sharing talks deadlocked - Tsvangirai

2008-10-10

http://zimbabwejournalists.com/story.php?art_id=4828

Zimbabwe's opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai said Thursday that power-sharing talks with President Robert Mugabe's government had stalled and outside mediation was needed to break the deadlock. But he insisted the deal to form a joint unity government could work, saying: "We are confident about the potential of the deal. There is nothing wrong with the deal."

Africa: Launch of SOAWR website

2008-10-10

http://www.soawr.org/en/

Solidarity for African Women's Rights (SOAWR) is proud to announce the launch of its new website. SOAWR is a coalition of 30 civil society organizations across the continent working to ensure that the Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Women in Africa remains on the agenda of policy makers and to urge all African leaders to safeguard the rights of women through ratification and implementation of the Protocol.

Ethiopia: Reducing violence against school girls

2008-10-10

http://tinyurl.com/4o2lnr

With a focus on Ethiopia, this paper identifies and analyses the types, prevalence, major causes and effects of violence against girls in schools. It also aims to assess the availability and effectiveness of policies, rules and regulations and concludes with recommendations on ways to reduce violence against school girls.

Global: Hunger free women on the move!

2008-10-10

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/wgender/51108

In the coming weeks and months we will see ground breaking activities taking place in over 15 countries as part of HungerFree Women. Women in each of these countries are coming together at local, district, regional and national level to discuss, strategise, mobilize, and demand their rights and needs as women farmers in the face of the food crisis, and in the face of discrimination against them in terms of accessing land, natural resources, and ways of earning a living. This campaign push will be brought together internationally through a media push around World Food Day and through the new revamped www.actionaid.org/hungerfree website which will go live on 15th October.
In the coming weeks and months we will see ground breaking activities taking place in over 15 countries as part of HungerFree Women. Women in each of these countries are coming together at local, district, regional and national level to discuss, strategise, mobilize, and demand their rights and needs as women farmers in the face of the food crisis, and in the face of discrimination against them in terms of accessing land, natural resources, and ways of earning a living. This campaign push will be brought together internationally through a media push around World Food Day and through the new revampedwww.actionaid.org/hungerfree website which will go live on 15th October. Watch that space for stories, photos, video and news of what is happening on the ground.

Here is a snapshot of what will be happening across the world

Zimbabwe
Rural meetings in 11 districts are using PVA tools to better understand what is needed to secure the rights and bolster the food production of women farmers. These are then being followed by rural hearings where women are meeting with local leaders and raising their issues directly to the authorities. In some cases responses have been instant -i.e. a local councillor in one area straight away ordered 17 farms to be allocated to women.

There will be a national Women and Land conference between 22nd and 24th November.

Mozambique
A Rural Women's Forum has taken place with powerful leaders such as Graca Machel and government ministers taking part. Country-wide in-depth consultations with women farmers over the past few months have generated the following charter demands:
1) Access to written Rights to Land for a woman within 45 days of applying
2) Access to credit & financing
3) Access to information and training on land laws
4) Implementation of a monitoring mechanism to analyse the progress made with land laws.

Women from AA DAs will take part in an event and march in Maputo organised by wider social movements to mark Rural Women’s Day from 15-17th October. Graca Machel will be coming for the march and the President of Mozambique will receive the charter himself from the women at the end of the march.

Vietnam (Dinah – there is bowl demands image)
Charter meetings have taken place in 7 DAs, where women have had discussions around their entitlement to land, and signed charter messages on rice bowls.
The key rallying slogans for AAV’s HungerFREE Women activities are:
- Women have the legal rights to access land
- Land entitlement ensures sustainable livelihoods for women
- The law provides for land use certificate bearing both husband’s and wife’s names

Preparations are now gearing up for a national event on the 12th. Two reports – women’s entitlement to land, and the impact of the food crisis on the poor – which are both based on recent surveys conducted by AAV, will be launched at the event. A concert with popular artists will also take place at the university, with a special performance of the KaKaKonKele song in Vietnamese.

The Gambia
Under the local HungerFREE brand, “Keno dii Musolu-la ka konko Bai” (give space to women to eradicate hunger), AA The Gambia is this year building even further on its work to build a strong women’s movement calling for women’s right to land and productive resources for agriculture and enterprise development.

The HungerFREE Women specific aims are to get the government to review the obsolete customary law (the Provincial Lands Act, 1955) in favour of women farmers and to increase budget allocations to the agriculture sector with a special budget target to support specific women’s activities.

Starting on15th October a 5 day cross-country caravan (long bus) supported by media events, local musicians and artists will visit all regions, and will be accompanied by radio and TV channels. The caravan will culminate at the FAO World Food Day candlelit vigil on 21st October, where women farmers will hand over their demands to the Speaker of the National Assembly

Pakistan
Having already done country-wide consultations with women AAP is now building up to nearly 6 weeks of mobilisation. A launch event on 15th – 16th October on the theme food security and women’s right to land, will see women farmers from across the country sharing their experiences on the food crisis and women’s right to land.

A journey starting in Sindh province on 17th October will then travel through all other provinces inPakistan and culminate in Islamabad. Along the way there will be press conferences, a long march (1st - 11th November), demonstrations, rallies, conferences, dialogues, seminars, consultations, and presentations of charters to provincial government. The journey will culminate on 27th Nov with a joint national convention on food crisis and women’s right to land.

HungerFREE Women in Pakistan is calling for an end to the food crisis, equitable and just distribution of land among landless peasants particularly women through Agrarian Reforms, a revision of the agriculture policy, and for women farm workers’ rights and protection.

Senegal
Following on from the Paris-Dakar events earlier this year where women’s right to land was one of the key messages, AAS is now launching HungerFREE Women with the Music 4 Justice CD in a concert that will take place on 17th October. Organised in partnership with GCAP, the overarching message is for the government to respect their MDG1 commitment to halve hunger by 2015. Ending the food crisis and women’s right to land are the specific messages that will be promoted. Two partners will give testimonies with Didier Awade on stage during the concert, with killer facts displayed on big screens, and women artists will speak out against women discrimination towards land.

Americas [Dinah – use the muheres sin hambre logo]
The Americas region has partnered up with VIA Campesina women, the Guatemala HungerFREE campaign, IFSN networks, and other national women’s groups under the Muheres Sin Hambre (Women without hunger/ Women for a HungerFREE world) banner.

Across 6 countries women are making a variety of demands on access to land, women’s full ctizeinship and identity cards, food sovereignty, water, urban agriculture.

There are plans for mobilizations in Honduras and:
Peru – a march of over 100 women in Lima along with a seed and food fair and public forum;
Chile – mobilizations across the country, a seminar on food security and a big march on water on 15th
Nicaragua – a parade and the delivery of the manifesto to the national assembly
Paraguay – a traditional food fair, campaign activities and press conference
Guatemala – a big presence at the Americas Social Forum (7th – 12th October) with a cooking fair, plates signature collection, petition photos, an event on women and land and participation in the social forum march.


Also happening
- AA DRC, having just set up a national coalition on women and land, will celebrate Rural Women’s Day on 15th October. They are caling for the harmonisation of laws around women’s right to land, and for peace and for an end to the sexual violence that means women fear going to work on their land.
- AASA is working with DA partner, Masifunde, in the Eastern Cape to develop campaigning work on women’s right to land. There will be a mobilisation and charter presentation on 15thOctober.
- AA Kenya is launching report on women’s rights to land
- AA Nigeria is holding a big music for justice concert around world food day
- AA Ghana will be mobilising against biofuels in the regional capital


It doesn’t stop there - Keeping up the momentum
Keeping up the momentum of this campaign push, AA Bangladesh, Sierra Leone, Nepal, Zimbabwe,Malawi, India, Haiti and Brazil will be mobilising with women in November and December.

The HungerFREE food crisis campaign push for the coming months will be focused on investing in women farmers, and small holder farmers more generally. Through our e-action on the revamped website, and through other promotions, other people including our supporters can take action alongside the women farmers’ actions and we can start to build a global movement for agricultural change through this campaign push. This advocacy work will be supported and coordinated by the AA Food Crisis Task Force, which will provide more guidance to national campaign teams.

Madagascar: A difficult step for women

2008-10-10

http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/nota.asp?idnews=44201

The northern region of Diana is known for the beautiful beaches of the Nosy-Be district and the scent of fields of ylang-ylang flowers. But the political landscape of Diana is as extraordinary as its geography: the region's administrative head is a woman, Anjara Mantasara. Madagascar counts three women amongst its 22 regional heads, who are appointed by Cabinet and responsible for local development.

Sudan: Outrage at trouser arrests

2008-10-10

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7659060.stm

South Sudan's government has expressed outrage after police in the capital, Juba, arrested more than 30 women for wearing tight trousers or short skirts. Police said local officials had issued an order banning "bad behaviour and the importation of illicit cultures".

Uganda: Radio drama strengthens women's voices

2008-10-10

http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=44089

Fifteen-year-old Taboni's parents are in a bind. Their daughter has been raped by the commandant of the squalid internally-displaced persons camp they call home, and they do not know what to do. The implications of reporting the camp commandant, M R Otim, to the police could be grave. Like the 1.4 million other internally displaced persons, Taboni's parents have been impoverished, displaced, and disempowered by 20 years of conflict in northern Uganda. The camp commandant wields enormous power over their lives.

Egypt: woman dies in police raid

2008-10-10

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7661230.stm

Crowds of Egyptians have attacked police with clubs and stones in a town south of Cairo after a pregnant woman died during a police raid on her home. The woman was pushed to the ground by officers when she would not let them enter her home to look for her brother, a suspected thief, police said.

Global: Bush signs law on child soldiers

2008-10-10

http://hrw.org/english/docs/2008/10/03/usint19912.htm

Under a new law signed by US President George W. Bush, leaders of military forces and armed groups who have recruited child soldiers may be arrested and prosecuted in the United States, Human Rights Watch has said. The law could apply to leaders of dozens of forces that have recruited and used child soldiers in over 20 armed conflicts.

Guinea: One killed in protest over bauxite trains

2008-10-10

http://africa.reuters.com/top/news/usnJOE4990XB.html

At least one person was killed when police in Guinea cleared protesters from a railway carrying bauxite for Russian aluminium company RUSAL, police and industry sources said on Friday. The trains, which have been blocked since Monday, had still not restarted, the sources added.

Kenya: Implementing community-based policing

2008-10-10

http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=3042

Community-based policing (CBP) is an approach to policing that brings together the police, civil society and local communities to develop local solutions to safety and security concerns. This paper, published by Saferworld, assesses outcomes of and lessons learned from two CBP pilot-sites supported by Saferworld as part of its broader programme of police reform in Kenya.

Libya: Prisoner of conscience released

2008-10-10

http://tinyurl.com/4popov

Libyan prisoner of conscience Idriss Boufayed was released by the Libyan authorities on Wednesday 8 October.An outspoken critic of Mu’ammar al-Qadhafi and secretary general of the Libyan organisation National Union of Reform, Idriss Boufayed was arrested on 16 February 2007 for trying to organize a peaceful demonstration against the Libyan government.

Chad: More than 180,000 displaced contend with lack of security

2008-10-10

http://tinyurl.com/52e8hn

Despite difficult security conditions, ICRC staff are pressing ahead with their activities aiming at addressing the needs of the people worst affected by armed conflict and other situations of violence in eastern Chad. The lack of security remains the primary factor impeding displaced people from returning to their homes, and the main challenge for the delivery of humanitarian aid. ICRC activities from July to September 2008

DRC: 5000 arrive in Sudan after attacks

2008-10-10

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=28453

At least 5,000 refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have arrived in South Sudan in the past two weeks after fleeing “ferocious” attacks by the notorious Ugandan rebel group, the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), the United Nations refugee agency reported. Ron Redmond, a spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), told reporters in Geneva that an estimated 150 Congolese are crossing every day into the villages of Sakure and Gangura, in the Yambio area of South Sudan.

North Africa: Voices from clandestinity

2008-10-10

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80841

The International Organization for Migration estimates that up to 35,000 sub-Saharan clandestine migrants leave for North Africa and Europe every year. But researchers concede the near impossibility to track what is carried out in secrecy, facilitated by family connections and favours, bribes and beatings. Despite increased security crackdowns and forced mass expulsions by North African security forces, thousands of West African migrants still attempt the desert crossing from northern Niger through the gateway town of Agadez.

Somalia: Migrants 'feared dead' off Yemen

2008-10-10

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7663318.stm

About 100 migrants are feared to have drowned after being thrown overboard by smugglers in the Gulf of Aden, the UN refugee agency says. The migrants were attempting to flee to Yemen from war-torn Somalia but were forced off the boat about 5km (3 miles) from the coast, a UN official said.

15th October is Blog Action Day 2008

2008-10-10

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/socialmovements/51095

October the 15th is Blog Action Day 2008. Blog Action Day is a nonprofit, grassroots movement of thousands of individual bloggers coming together for one cause. This year's theme for Blog Action Day is Poverty. We have registered the Sokwanele blog - This is Zimbabwe - to participate in the action, and we are inviting YOU to send us items written by you that we will publish throughout the day on our blog.
October the 15th is Blog Action Day 2008. Blog Action Day is a nonprofit, grassroots movement of thousands of individual bloggers coming together for one cause.

This year's theme for Blog Action Day is Poverty.

We have registered the Sokwanele blog - This is Zimbabwe - to participate in the action, and we are inviting YOU to send us items written by you that we will publish throughout the day on our blog.

Here are some questions that we think you might have for us. We've answered them for you. If there is anything else you want to know, please email us.

Why should I participate?

Zimbabweans are uniquely qualified to talk about the issue of poverty, and Blog Action Day 2008 is a chance for Zimbabweans to step out from behind all the newspaper articles and tell the story in their own words.

Let's speak for ourselves and tell the world what words like 'poverty' and 'hyperinflation' and a 'failing economy' really mean for ordinary people in Zimbabwe - ordinary people like YOU.

What do you want me to do?

Write and tell us how poverty and the failing economy has affected your life or your family's life or the lives of people you know around you.

This sounds like a good idea, but I'm so busy surviving (and queuing so I can survive) that I'll probably forget to get around to doing my bit.

Send us an email right now saying you want to be involved, and we'll email you a day or two before the 15th October to remind you about the action

But I am not a good writer. I want to tell my story, but I don't think I can do this.

Your stories and experiences are too important to be silenced by something like worries about writing skills. The world cannot possibly understand how poverty affects lives by reading newspaper articles that quote statistics or talk about an economy collapsing.

What does this mean in real life? Only you can tell them. So please speak out. Send us your experiences and stories as you would in an email to a friend. We'll worry about the trivial things like punctuation and paragraphs.

I don't want my name on the Internet where other people can see that I have written about my life in Zimbabwe.

We understand people are fearful. We won't publish names, and we won't publish locations, or email addresses, or anything at all that can lead back to a person.

"Poverty" is a big theme, what do you want me to write about exactly?

That's up to you. The list below is not a request for articles along these lines unless you want to write about them, but it might help you to focus your thoughts and think about what you want to write.

* Your daily life is something you could write about: how hard it is to find fuel, how long you queued at a bank, how difficult it is to find and pay for food, the troubles you have trying to find forex because you need it to survive etc
* If you are a school teacher you might want to write about how difficult it is to survive as a teacher, how you feel about the children who are affected by poverty in your classroom, or how the school you work for is struggling to manage without resources.
* If you run a business and employ people, you might want to tell us about the struggles you go through everyday, and how this impacts on you, your business and your employees.
* If you work in the nursing profession, or you know someone who is sick, you might want to talk about the shortages of drugs or the prices of treatment.
* If you are a parent, you might want to talk about how poverty and how the failing economy is affecting your children.
* Maybe you want to write about how the country's infrastructure is failing: roads, telephones, electricity, water supply etc. How does this affect Zimbabwean lives?
* Do you work in an NGO? Do you want to tell the world about the work you're doing (anonymously) and what it is like to be in the frontline fight against poverty.
* Everyone privileged enough to be receiving and reading this email also has a good chance to tell the stories of those who do not have access to email or computers. How are your families and friends affected in the rural areas? Tell the world how bad it is for them. Or the people you know who do not have jobs and are struggling every day?

We hope this list helps to focus your mind. You can write about what you like within the theme of poverty, and we ask that you help us to talk about poverty in Zimbabwe by writing about your experiences and thoughts in relation to Zimbabwe.

I only have access to email so I can't see the Sokwanele blog on the Internet. How will I know what other people have written?

On the 15th October we will compile a mailing out of the entries and send it to our mailing list. Please note that our list includes journalists and government officials in other parts of the world - the sort of people who would like to know the grassroot's truth about what it is like to be living with Poverty in Zimbabwe. We will try to include as many of the entries as we can in our mailing so you can read them too.

I don't want to write about poverty; I want to write about politics because I am angry and want to shout about Zanu PF / MDC-MT / MDC-AM.

The worldwide theme for Blog Action Day is 'Poverty', so we ask that you focus on that.

You are entitled to express your political views but we ask that you write them thoughtfully and with respect for different opinions and that you stick to publically known facts. We also ask that you write your views in the context of poverty.

Sokwanele will not publish anything that contains political rumours or information that cannot be verified. Our country needs to be strong and united and rumours and fighting between the parties and ourselves does not help us to stand together and confront the challenges facing Zimbabwe - the biggest challenge being poverty.

I am a Zimbabwean, but I am in the diaspora. I want to be involved too!

You can be. If poverty made you leave the country then write and describe why and how that happened. Maybe you are seeking asylum in another country and cannot work and finding it hard to survive... tell the world what its really like to be a stranger in another land, forced to leave for economic reasons.

Do you know any refugees who do not have access to email? Or do you work with Zimbabwean refugees in another country. You might want to tell their stories too.

OK, how long does it have to be, and when do you need it by?

When: We will publish on the 15th October so we need it by the end of the 13th October, preferably, or on the 14th October at the latest. But you can start sending them now if you want, and we will get things ready to go in advance.

How long: As long or as short as it takes you to tell your story.

Please write in English so the majority of the world can hear our stories.

Can I send photos as well as, or instead of, writing something?

If they are photographs you have taken and you are happy for us to publish them then, yes, please do. Email them to us. Please include a caption with them so people know what the photograph is about. (Any faces appearing in the pictures will be blurred out by us before publishing).

Can I write more than one entry on different topics about poverty in Zimbabwe because there is so much to say about what's happening!?

Yes, you can. Go for it!

I am not a Zimbabwean, but I would like to help as well.

If you can speak about poverty in Zimbabwe from your own perspective then please send us an entry. Maybe you are actively involved in trying to address poverty in Zimbabwe with a group or organisation overseas? Tell us about it.

If you are someone who wants to support and stand by Zimbabweans, then please come by our blog on the 15th October and spend time leaving comments and feedback for those who have sent in entries. When Zimbabweans speak out, its always good to know that we have been heard! So please support us by listening and reflecting back.

I am a Very Important Person and I would like write something in my own name so I can communicate with Zimbabweans about poverty and tell them I am standing with them.

Thank you very much. Send it to us and tell us you do not want to be anonymous. Send us a link to your own website too and we'll publish that alongside it.

Ok, I'm in! Is there anything else I need to know...?

Yes. If you don't have time to write your entry today, I'm reminding you now to send us that email saying you want to be involved, so we can remind you later that the 15th October is fast approaching.

Let's get the conversation about Poverty in Zimbabwe started!

Africa: Fahari Afrika

2008-10-10

http://www.fahariafrica.com/index.html

Fahari Afrika is a community based youth organization of performing artists and was formed in the year 2004 through a strong network of Dancers and singers.At this home of theater we boast of young teams of youths with a lot of potential and energy with high discipline who can work and have managed to work both locally and internationally with a professional approach

South Africa: City-wide shack fire summit

Joint statement

2008-10-10

http://tinyurl.com/4vmcww

The City Wide Shack Fire Summit called by Abahlali baseMjondolo was initially scheduled to be held in the Foreman Road settlement. It had to be moved to the Kennedy Road settlement after the Foreman Road settlement burnt down on 13 September leaving thousands destitute and homeless and Thembelani Khweshube dead. The Summit was attended by shack dwellers from all over Durban and from various organisations.

South Africa: Khayelitsha Struggles website

2008-10-10

http://www.khayelitshastruggles.com/

The ABM Western Cape has created a website for Khayelitsha Struggles as part of its project. The website is created and managed by people that are living at Khayelitsha, most people that are currently working at this project does not even have metric and some of them are still at high school. The website will not only focus at housing struggle only but will at broader social, economic and environmental issues and will focus on internal(khayelitsha) struggles.

South Africa: Police illegally destroy homes on Symphony Way

2008-10-10

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/socialmovements/51092

On Saturday 4th afternoon, the Symphony Way community was once again invaded by about 15 police officers from the city's notorious Land Invasions Unit. This time, they attempted to illegally destroy a resident's home without a court order and without the permission of the City.
On Saturday 4th afternoon, the Symphony Way community was once again invaded by about 15 police officers from the city's notorious Land Invasions Unit. This time, they attempted to illegally destroy a resident's home without a court order and without the permission of the City.

Under the direction of Loot Petersen, the Unit proceeded to destroy residents home. Even though it is clearly illegal to evict anyone without a court order, the Land Invasions Unit does this all over South Africa on a regular basis. Still, the people committing these illegal acts are never charged.

This incident was no different. When the police arrived, the Anti Eviction Campaign immediately called Mzwandile Sokupa (the City of Cape Town's Manager of Informal Settlements) to inquire as to whether or not he had authorised the eviction. Mr. Sokupa then spoke directly to Mr. Petersen.

However, despite this, Mr. Petersen and his unit went ahead an demolished the shack.

The AEC is now calling for the immediate firing of Mr Loot Petersen for his illegal and immoral action on Friday. It is unjustifiable for any law enforcement official to circumvent the courts and take the law into their own hands.

The AEC would also like to point out that Mr. Petersen has also been accused numerous times of corruption when selling government built shacks in the nearby Temporary Relocation Area (TRA) aptly dubbed 'Blikkiesdorp'. It therefore makes sense that Mr. Petersen would go to great lengths to intimidate and evict residents of Symphony Way in order to force them into Blikkiesdorp where he stands to make a quick buck.

Within an hour after the home was demolished, residents had already come together and collectively rebuilt the home.

Symphony Way's defiant – though traumatised residents – will remain united!

For comment, call Ashraf at 076 1861 408 and Auntie Jane at 078 4031 302

South Africa: Stop the "Eradication and Prevention" of our homes

2008-10-10

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/socialmovements/51094

Community leaders from across Gauteng will meet with newly elected Ekurhuleni Mayor Ntombi Mekgwe to show her the devastating impact of government policy in the informal settlement of Makause on the east of Johannesburg. The visit will take place on the 16th October, the eve of the United Nations' International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.
MEDIA ALERT: Stop the "Eradication and Prevention" of our homes.

Issues on 3 October 2008 by a coalition of Gauteng community organizations*

Community leaders from across Gauteng will meet with newly elected Ekurhuleni Mayor Ntombi Mekgwe to show her the devastating impact of government policy in the informal settlement of Makause on the east of Johannesburg. The visit will take place on the 16th October, the eve of the United Nations' International Day for the Eradication of Poverty.

The KZN government has passed a law ominously named the Eradication and Prevention of Re-emerging of Slums Act of 2007. The Act declares that our settlements should be destroyed by 2014. The National Department of Housing has given other provinces until November 2008 to develop similar laws. In line with these laws government will no longer extend service to citizens living in these communities.

Government currently provides no electricity, water, or waterborne sewerage to the 18-year-old informal settlement of Makause. "These are our homes. We will not allow them to be destroyed, We need the services our Constitution promises" said General Moyo of the Makause Community Leaders Forum.

The Forum has delivered various memorandums to their local and provincial governments. The Forum then took the government to the Supreme Court of Johannesburg, which ordered government to 'meaningfully consult' and accommodate Makause community concerns.

In Gauteng most local governments treat consultation as a formality and even exclude community organizations from planning processes. According to Buyi Nhlumayo from SANCO: "They forget the power is ours. They don't take our contributions seriously, and in some cases even exclude us for public consultation processes".

Gauteng leaders will show solidarity with the Makause community. "We are struggling in SOWETO, Alex, the Vaal, all over the province. Makause have the same right to free basic services as all of us and we will stand with them" said Mimi Ntsibolwane from the Soweto Electricity Crisis Committee.

We invite the media to join Mayor Ntombi Mekgwe as she walks though the Makause settlement and responds to the concerns of her constituency.

DATE: Thursday 16 October 2008
TIME: 11am
MEETING POINT: Primrose swimming Pool, Pretoria Rd, Primrose

FOR MORE INFORMTION OR COMMENT: General Moyo, Makause Community Leaders Forum, on 073 430 7006 or generalmoyo@gmail.com

Africa: Kenya PM slams Africa's 'conspiracy of silence'

2008-10-10

http://tinyurl.com/43qjxh

Kenya's Prime Minister, Raila Odinga, on Thursday blasted African leaders' fear of criticising each other, saying it was stifling the continent's progress towards democracy. "The African Union has fallen short, failing to condemn brutal regimes and sham elections, including the second round of elections in Zimbabwe. This has now become the norm.

South Africa: ANC split is 'good for democracy'

2008-10-10

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7660730.stm

The leader of South Africa's official opposition, Helen Zille, says she would welcome a split in the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party. She was responding to former Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota's threat on Wednesday to form anew party. "We're seeing a non-racial alignment... on the basis of principles and that's a very good thing," she told the BBC.

Zambia: EISA Election Observer mission to the 2008 Presidential election

2008-10-10

http://www.eisa.org.za/EISA/pr20081008.htm

EISA hereby launches its election observer mission to the forthcoming Presidential Elections in Zambia which will be held on 30 October 2008. Leading the delegation is Mr Abel Leshele Thoahlane, Chairperson of the EISA Board of Directors and Former Chairperson of the Independent Electoral Commission of Lesotho. The mission will consist of 20 members drawn from civil society organisations in all regions of Africa.

Africa: Africa is the dark continent on solar power

2008-10-10

http://tinyurl.com/438bud

From household solar panels to thermal generators big enough to power a town, sun power has enjoyed explosive growth around the world. Everywhere, that is, except on the sun-drenched continent of Africa. With an average daily dose of five to seven kilowatts per hour (kWh) for every square metre, Africa has more potential for producing energy from the sun than almost anywhere on Earth, with the possible exception of northern Australia or the Arabian peninsula.

AFrica: Bank plays blocking game in Accra aid negotiations

2008-10-10

http://www.brettonwoodsproject.org/art-562436

The influence of the World Bank was felt in Accra when developing countries and donors met at a resplendent conference centre for the recent High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness. The Bank, together with the OECD and the Ghanaian government, were the joint organisers of this event that hosted some 1,200 participants including 80 civil society representatives

Africa: Communicating agricultural research in Africa

The New Role of Rural Radio

2008-10-10

http://www.comminit.com/en/node/223240/306

This paper addresses the role of rural radio in Africa and explores how researchers can improve communication with farmers via radio. It also discusses research relationships among civil society where media is an influential but often underestimated institutional partner. According to the report, radio remains a vital part of development in Africa.

Africa: How the MDGs are unfair to Africa

2008-10-10

http://www.brookings.edu/papers/2007/11_poverty_easterly.aspx

This paper by William Easterly argues that the MDGs are poorly and arbitrarily designed to measure progress against poverty and deprivation, and that their design makes Africa look worse than it really is. The paper does not argue that Africa’s performance is good in all areas, only that its relative performance looks worse because of the particular way in which the MDG targets are set.

DRC: Rural poor to benefit from grant

2008-10-10

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=28503

An $8.6 million grant to enhance agricultural production and provide food security for poor people in rural areas of the Republic of Congo was announced today by the United Nations International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD). The initiative is part of a larger $18.7 million project in the Likouala, Pool and Sangha Departments, which aims to reach 250 villages and some 20,000 households, according to a news release issued by the Rome-based UN agency.

East Africa: Legislative assembly rejects EPAs

2008-10-10

http://tinyurl.com/52rshm

Members of Parliament from the East African Community (EAC) and the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) overwhelmingly recommended to reject the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPAs) framework initiated between EAC and the European Union (EU). The legislators’ views are contained in a joint communiqué which sealed a three-day 4th inter-parliamentary seminar in Kigali, Rwanda. The event brought together EALA and National Assemblies from the member states of Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi.

Southern Africa: Can South Africa afford to bail out Zimbabwe?

2008-10-10

http://www.radiovop.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4037

As the current global financial turmoil deepens, Zimbabwe's chances of garnering a much-needed financial aid injection for its shattered economy hangs in the balance. With major world economic powers - the US and the EU - bogged down in a desperate effort to save their economies from slipping into a recession or, even worse, a depression, the Zimbabwean economic quandary is the last thing on their minds.

Africa: High early mortality after starting ART

2008-10-10

http://www.aidsmap.com/en/news/3BADC5D7-D625-4B9B-B875-3D766B8DCD8D.asp

Patients starting antiretroviral therapy in sub-Saharan Africa have a high rate of mortality, according to a review article published in the October 1st edition of AIDS. Many of the deaths occurred in the first three months of treatment, and there was also notable mortality in the interval between joining a treatment programme and actually starting therapy.

Africa: Ten Kenyans hold Key to an HIV Vaccine

2008-10-10

http://www.awcfs.org/content/view/511/1/

The individuals, who the scientists say have powerful antibodies that neutralise the virus, stopping it from infecting new cells, have neither used any antiretroviral drugs nor been attacked by opportunistic infections despite living with the virus for over nine years. On being screened, the individuals were found to possess high CD4 count- immune cells used to fight infections- and very low viral loads-amount of HIV in the body-, which were uncharacteristic of an infected person.

Global: Jury still out on whether circumcision protects gay men

2008-10-10

http://www.aidsmap.com/en/news/50E2ECDF-D17D-4195-91F6-57551AE84501.asp

A meta-analysis of studies of circumcision in gay men and men who have sex with men (MSM) has not found sufficient evidence to show that being circumcised reduced their risk of acquiring HIV. Although it finds a small reduction in the risk of HIV infection in circumcised men, this is not statistically significant - in other words it could just be a chance finding.

Kenya: Rising demand for male circumcision

2008-10-10

http://www.plusnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80838

Health facilities in Nyanza Province in western Kenya are struggling to meet the demand for medical male circumcisions since politicians threw their weight behind efforts to promote the procedure as a way of reducing HIV infections. The campaign initially faced opposition by community elders of the ethnic Luo community that makes up the bulk of the province's inhabitants and does not traditionally practice circumcision.

Malawi: AIDS organisations face funding interruptions

2008-10-10

http://www.plusnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80794

Grassroots AIDS organisations in Malawi are facing uncertainty as the National AIDS Commission (NAC) ends its dependence on international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) for dispersing grants. The responsibility for channelling funds to more than 3,000 AIDS organisations working to alleviate the impacts of HIV and AIDS in Malawi has now shifted to local government authorities known as district assemblies.

South Africa: Fear over killer disease

2008-10-10

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7658803.stm

More than 100 people in South Africa are under medical observation after coming into contact with people who died from suspected haemorrhagic fever. Doctors have tried to calm fears that the disease could spread throughout the wider population in Johannesburg.

The Impact of HIV/AIDS and drought on local knowledge systems

2008-10-10

http://www.comminit.com/en/node/221758/347

According to this 2007 report focused on Swaziland, drought and a high incidence of HIV/AIDS are both long-term crises that create vicious cycles of vulnerability, poverty, and food insecurity. The livelihoods approach was used in this study to highlight the linkages between the impact of HIV/AIDS and drought on human, financial, and social capital.

Africa: ‘Sexually-transmitted grades’ kills quality education

2008-10-10

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80851

Sexual exploitation in African schools has become so widespread that children have come up with their own terms to refer to sexual relations with their teachers. From ‘Sexually Transmitted Grades’ to ‘BF’, or bordel fatigue, which refers to exhaustion from multiple sexual activities with teachers, this slang hints at the prevalence of exploitation in Africa’s learning environments.

East Africa: Rwanda opts for English teaching

2008-10-10

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7663298.stm

Rwanda's parliament has decided that all education will be taught in English instead of French. Officially the Rwandan decision is a result of joining the English-speaking East African Community. But relations between Rwanda and France have been frosty following the 1994 genocide, when France was accused of supporting Hutu militias.

Global: Improving the management of teachers to increase quality

2008-10-10

http://tinyurl.com/4e6mz5

This report gathers together learning from primary research undertaken in thirteen developing countries and from other available national level research and international synthesis reports concerning the human resource aspects of quality education and in particular the role of teachers. The headline message of the report is that the quality of an education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers.

East Africa: Uganda vows crackdown on gays and lesbians

2008-10-10

http://www.mask.org.za/article.php?cat=uganda&id=1966

The Ugandan government said Saturday it would strengthen anti-gay laws and step up police operations against homosexuals amid concern over the "mushrooming" number of gays and lesbians in the East African nation. "The state of moral health in our nation is challenging and we are concerned about the mushrooming of lesbianism and homosexuality," Ethics and Integrity Minister James Nsaba Buturo told a news conference.

South Africa: Charges dropped against Banyana accused

2008-10-10

http://tinyurl.com/49keca

Charges against one of the five men accused of killing and raping a Banyana Banyana player Eudy Simelane were withdrawn in the Springs Regional Court on Tuesday. The case against the remaining four men was then transferred to the Delmas High Court for trial due to the nature of the offences committed.

South Africa: Johannesburg pride hopes to engage key decision makers

2008-10-10

http://www.mask.org.za/article.php?cat=southafrica&id=1969

The LGBTI community can, in future, expect to see key decision makers such as government officials in the annual Johannesburg Pride Parade. Its Marketing and Communications Officer and board member Luiz De Barros implied this after Behind the Mask questioned if the Pride Board is not inviting the already empowered gay community, instead of decision makers, service providers, and straight members of society who should be targets for anti hate messages.

Cote d'Ivoire: Pollution trial stops

2008-10-10

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7660419.stm

The trial of nine people in Ivory Coast accused of involvement in the dumping of 500 tons of chemical waste around the port of Abidjan has been suspended. Five defence lawyers walked out in protest at the fact that no one from the Dutch firm Trafigura which transported the waste was in court.

Egypt: Efforts to fight “black cloud” in Cairo

2008-10-10

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=80831

“Black cloud”, a mass of polluted air which darkens the skies of the Egyptian capital in October-November, is less severe this year, but efforts to reduce the pollution that leads to this phenomenon should continue if a disaster is to be avoided, an environment official said. “Last year the cloud appeared for 20 hours [in October-November] compared with more than 100 hours in 1999.

Global: Biodegradable and non-biodegradable materials

2008-10-10

http://tinyurl.com/53xz47

As we become more technologically advanced, we produce materials that can withstand extreme temperatures, are durable and easy to use. Plastic bags, synthetics, plastic bottles, tin cans, and computer hardware- these are some of the things that make life easy for us. But what we forget is that these advanced products do not break down naturally. When we dispose them in a garbage pile, the air, moisture, climate, or soil cannot break them down naturally to be dissolved with the surrounding land.

Somalia: 'Toxic waste' behind Somali piracy

2008-10-10

http://tinyurl.com/4ho9a5

Somali pirates have accused European firms of dumping toxic waste off the Somali coast and are demanding an $8m ransom for the return of a Ukranian ship they captured, saying the money will go towards cleaning up the waste. The ransom demand is a means of "reacting to the toxic waste that has been continually dumped on the shores of our country for nearly 20 years", Januna Ali Jama, a spokesman for the pirates, based in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland, said.

Uganda: Land battle looms

2008-10-10

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7646374.stm

With the start of the rainy season in Uganda, Livingstone Chinyenya should be tending to the farm which he says his family has lived on for four generations. Instead, the 64-year-old now lives as a squatter along the edge of the land where he was born and raised. He is one of more than 17,000 people who were evicted from their farms in Kayunga District, about 200km (124 miles) north-west of the capital, Kampala.

Botswana: Government giving editorial directives to state media

2008-10-10

http://tinyurl.com/3uqqhv

The Mmegi newspaper of 9 October 2008 has reported that the state owned media is being given editorial directives to advance government positions on civic issues such as its fight against alcohol abuse. The newspaper quotes 'reliable sources' saying the government has marshalled the state media to cover positively and extensively it's anti alcohol abuse. The directive was issued this week.

Cameroon: Songwriter sentenced to three years in prison

2008-10-10

http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/97528/

On 24 September, almost six months after his arrest and detention, Mbanga (51) was found guilty of taking part in riots against the high cost of living in Cameroon in February and sentenced to three years in prison. The songwriter was convicted of three of the six charges against him: "complicity in looting, destruction of property, arson, obstructing streets, degrading the public or classified property, and forming illegal gatherings".

Kenya: Ex-journalist finally freed on bail

2008-10-10

http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=28820

Reporters Without Borders is relieved to learn that former journalist Andrew Mwangura, the Seafarers Assistance Programme’s representative in Kenya, was finally released on bail in Mombasa after being held for nine days. Mwangura said he was “happy” with the court’s decision and was ready to go back to work and to continue trying to combat piracy in the region.

Niger: Moussa Kaka released

2008-10-10

http://tinyurl.com/4xjr7c

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has welcomed the provisional release of Moussa Kaka by authorities in Niger after the journalist spent more than a year in detention on charges that he was linked to rebels in the northern part of the country. "We believe that all accusations against Moussa Kaka are baseless and that he was targeted for his investigative reporting," said Gabriel Baglo, Director of the IFJ Africa Office. "

Tunisia: Press NGO criticises freedoms

2008-10-10

http://tinyurl.com/4jlhqe

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has published a harsh new report on the condition of press freedoms in Tunisia. The study, released September 23rd on the group's website, found that press freedom in the country is in bad shape.

Africa: U.N. says will work to prevent Congo-Rwanda war

2008-10-10

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LA472424.htm

The United Nations will do everything possible to stop Congo's eastern conflict from becoming a wider war after the government accused Rwanda of sending troops over the border, a U.N. official said on Friday. Democratic Republic of Congo has asked the U.N Security Council to hold an emergency meeting on what it says was a Rwandan military incursion this week into eastern North Kivu province in support of Congolese Tutsi rebels.

CAR: Inside France's secret war

2008-10-10

http://www.thefrontiertelegraph.com/?p=138

For 40 years, the French government has been fighting a secret war in Africa, hidden not only from its people, but from the world. It has led the French to slaughter democrats, install dictator after dictator – and to fund and fuel the most vicious genocide since the Nazis. Today, this war is so violent that thousands are fleeing across the border from the Central African Republic into Darfur – seeking sanctuary in the world’s most notorious killing fields.

Ethiopia: Number of hungry jumps to 6.4 million - Oxfam

2008-10-10

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L9111834.htm

The number of Ethiopians needing emergency food assistance has jumped to 6.4 million from 4.6 million in June, the aid agency Oxfam said on Friday. Drought and high food prices have both contributed to the worsening crisis in Ethiopia and other parts of the Horn of Africa like Somalia and north Kenya, aid workers say.

Africa: New technology sweeps continent

2008-10-10

http://tinyurl.com/4z4cs3

African farmers of the 21st century can decide what crops to plant by checking prices at local markets using their cell phones. Physicians can help nurses in rural clinics diagnose patients by “telemedicine.” In Nigeria, new subscribers are signing up with mobile phone services at a rate of almost one every second. In Kenya, they can transfer money, get exam results and even find dates using their phones.

East Africa: Does Uganda need "Internet Governance"?

2008-10-10

http://tinyurl.com/4xoogy

Should Uganda care about how the Internet is "governed"? Should we be on the same page with much of the world which has placed issues such as Openness, Security, Diversity and Access among those that need to be addressed by the Internet Governance Forum (IGF), and by respective national and regional bodies? Or should we have a set of other issues that should be a priority for Uganda?

Kenya: Empowering self-help groups in Kenya through ICT

2008-10-10

http://www.comminit.com/en/node/271386/38

This project aims to alleviate economic poverty, promote sustainable development, and empower women's self-help groups in coastal areas of Kenya through the use of ICTs. Women's groups are assisted with ICT training and facilities to engage in alternative livelihood activities and improve productivity. The self-help groups include Mwamlongo, Karoyo, Wakunga, Lolarako, and Gazi Women Mangrove Boardwalk.

Nigeria: VoIP in the wilderness

2008-10-10

http://ictupdate.cta.int/en/Feature-Articles/VoIP-in-the-wilderness

With no fixed-line service and mobile phone operators reluctant to invest in rural areas, the Fantsuam Foundation decided to provide VoIP to customers on its wireless network in northern Nigeria.

South Africa: The mesh potato network

2008-10-10

http://tinyurl.com/4pbo32

A group of software experts, technical specialists and telecommunications entrepreneurs in South Africa is working to develop an inexpensive system to provide rural and under-served area with affordable telephone communication.

Tanzania: Livelihood changes enabled by mobile phones

The case of Tanzanian fishermen

2008-10-10

http://www.comminit.com/en/node/269625/306

This 2006 Bachelor Degree thesis discusses the use of mobile phones in Africa for economic support and livelihood, using the study of fishermen in Tanzania as its core case. From the Abstract: "Mobile phones have had a tremendous diffusion rate in Africa in recent years. This has brought access to telecommunication to new user groups, among them Tanzanian fishermen.

Zambia: The community call box

2008-10-10

http://ictupdate.cta.int/en/Feature-Articles/The-community-call-box

A pilot project to introduce payphones, connected to satellite networks, is providing telephone services to remote communities and helping to develop the telecoms market in Zambia. The unprecedented success of mobile phones across Africa is well documented and clear for anyone to see. But leave the cities and main roads, and the mobile phone is quickly transformed from an economic success-making tool into an interesting but essentially useless accessory.

Africa: African language locales: Call for Volunteers

2008-10-10

http://kamusiproject.org/en/100locales

ANLoc, the African Network for Localization, has started an initiative to build locales for over 100 African languages. The project is now ready to line up volunteers. We are NOT quite ready to begin the technical work for the specific languages, but we ARE in the process of finding volunteers to help out for each language.

Africa: Cyber Seminar: The US Election: Is the US a friend or a foe of Africa?

2008-10-10

http://www.afrika.no/Detailed/16859.html

Will a new US president with ancestry from Kenya mean a better deal for the people of Africa? Join us and discuss this online on Tuseday the 21st of October 2008. The Cyber Seminar is a virtual seminar – a forum for participants all over the world to engage with each other and with panellists from academia, politics and civil society on issues of current interest to Africa.

Global: Fill the cup

2008-10-10

http://www.comminit.com/en/node/268148

Launched in March 2008, this international fundraising and awareness initiative is designed to benefit hungry schoolchildren worldwide. "Fill the Cup" draws on the involvement of high-profile actors and athletes to educate people about the problem of hunger, and to encourage them to donate online in order to "fill a cup" with porridge, rice, or beans. The ultimate goal is to increase the chances of hungry schoolchildren to enjoy better health and education, and a promising future.

Global: The Info-Activism Camp, 2009

2008-10-10

http://www.informationactivism.org/

Struggling to make an impact on your target audience? Are issues unresolved despite your best efforts? Do the internet, mobile phones or information design present exciting possibilities in advocacy but difficult to take advantage of? The Info Activism camp, to be held in Bangalore, India from February 19 to 25, offers rights advocates the chance to make a greater impact in their work.

Global: Via Campesina Vth International Conference in Mozambique

Maputo 16-23 October

2008-10-10

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/51120

The international farmers movement La Via Campesina is holding its Vth International Conference in Maputo, Mozambique, from October 16 to 23, 2008. This congress will gather more than 500 men and women farmers (OMIT 's' in farmers) leaders from more than 70 countries, at a time when the food crisis is at the top of the global agenda. This event is starting with the Rural Youth Assembly on October 16, while the world is celebrating World Food Day.
Via Campesina holds its Vth International Conference - Maputo 16-23 October
The international farmers movement La Via Campesina is holding its Vth International Conference in Maputo, Mozambique, from October 16 to 23, 2008. This congress will gather more than 500 men and women farmers (OMIT 's' in farmers) leaders from more than 70 countries, at a time when the food crisis is at the top of the global agenda. This event is starting with the Rural Youth Assembly on October 16, while the world is celebrating World Food Day. It will be followed by the Women's Assembly and by the Conference itself. The president of Mozambique, Mr. Armando Emilio Guebuza, announced his presence at the inauguration of the Conference on October 19.

La Via Campesina offers a real vision and proven solutions to address the current food crisis. More than ever, small farmers around the world are struggling for their very survival. The crisis in the agricultural sector, along with the current financial crisis, the unprecedented climate and environmental crises, the energy crisis and a profound and global social crisis are all the symptoms of the failure of the same model, the neoliberal model under which the whole society is organized around profit making.

Since its creation 15 years ago, La Via Campesina has become the primary global network of small farmers, peasants, landless and small-scale food producers whose voice is now being heard in the international press as well as in foras such as the Food and Agriculture Organisation in Rome and the Human Rights Council in Geneva. La Via Campesina is also recognized and respected within anti-globalization networks and among other social movements that are being invited to join the Conference in Maputo.

The International Conference is the major meeting of the organization which takes place every four years, and at which most organizational and political decisions are collectively made. Delegates will present their analyses of the current situation and debate lines of action for the future. The conference is hosted by UNAC, the National Peasants Union of Mozambique.

Small producers from the South and from the North have been struggling for years to defend a model of agricultural production based on family farms and sustainable agriculture, and to oppose the industrial, export-oriented model of agriculture which has led to the destruction of livelihoods, rural communities and the environment. The current crisis has revealed that a food system based on imported food and the so called « green revolution » is not reliable and in fact generates hunger and poverty. The time has now come for localized food production, sustainable and low-fossil-oil intensive agriculture and the empowerment of small farmers.

Media coverage

This conference will give journalists the opportunity to interview farmer leaders from every continent, to document their stories and to better anticipate the strategies that will be adopted by family farmers to solve the current crisis. It will also give you a chance to meet the emerging Mozambican farmer movement and to meet local producers in the fields.

Due to logistical limitations and to the internal nature of the conference, only a few journalists will be accredited to cover the conference from October 21 to 23. However, we can organise media interviews by phone (or other means) during the conference and send high resolution pictures and video images to any media willing to cover this event from their home base.

Press kit and special coverage on www.viacampesina.org

For more media information contact:

Isabelle Delforge (e-mail: idelforge@viacampesina.org, Phone: +32 498522163)

Fredson Guilengue (e-mail: fguilengue@gmail.com, phone: +258-82 89 05 190)

South Africa: Meeting to develop CEDAW project document

2008-10-10

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/51144

The United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) Southern Africa Regional Office is planning a consultation meeting to develop a CEDAW project document. This meeting is scheduled to be held in Johannesburg from 4 to 5 November 2008.
Although the focus will be on CEDAW, consideration will be given to incorporating activities regarding the Women’s Protocol and the SADC Protocol.
CONSULTATION MEETING TO DEVELOP A CEDAW PROJECT DOCUMENT
JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA
4 – 5 NOVEMBER 2008


Introduction

The United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) Southern Africa Regional Office is planning a consultation meeting to develop a CEDAW project document. This meeting is scheduled to be held in Johannesburg from 4 to 5 November 2008.
Although the focus will be on CEDAW, consideration will be given to incorporating activities regarding the Women’s Protocol and the SADC Protocol.
Countries to be covered are Angola, Botswana, Comoros, Lesotho, Malawi,Madagascar, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambiaand Zimbabwe.

If you are based in one of the above-mentioned countries, involved in CEDAW-related activities and interested in attending, please e-mail the following information to Elize Delport (illisd@mweb.co.za) by 10 October 2008:
1) Name and contact details
2) Name of organization
3) A brief description of the CEDAW activities you or your organization are involved in
4) A brief description of the Women’s Protocol and / or SADC Protocol activities you or your organization are involved in
5) Please forward any documentation that you consider relevant (e.g annual reports highlighting CEDAW / Protocol activities)


Participant profile

About 25 participants from the following organisations / institutions will be selected and invited:

* Representatives from selected women’s organisations working in the area of gender and human rights.
* Representatives from the Gender Machineries.
* Representatives from the SADC Gender Unit, COMESA and IOC
* Gender experts

South Africa: Post-docoral fellowships

Centre for Sociological Research, University of Johannesburg

2008-10-10

http://www.uj.ac.za/csr/Positions/tabid/14573/Default.aspx

The Centre for Sociological Research seeks applications for up to four post-doctoral fellowships. The PDFs are tenable for two years and successful applicants will be paid R160,000 in the first year. The CSR's PDFs will be expected to publish a book and/or a series of articles based on their doctoral research; begin a new research project; and participate in the intellectual life of the centre.

Africa: Civil Society engagement ahead of EAC/COMESA/SADC summit

2008-10-10

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/51106

On 20th October 2008 Heads of State from three sub-regional economic organizations COMESA, EAC and SADC will come together in a first historic tripartite summit in Kampala to “decide on matters related to enhancing cooperation among EAC, COMESA and SADC, including deepening trade, investments, and infrastructure, linking transport corridors, promoting joint projects to boost of industrialization agriculture and food security as well as enabling free movement of people between the three RECs”.
On 20th October 2008 Heads of State from three sub-regional economic organizations COMESA, EAC and SADC will come together in a first historic tripartite summit in Kampala to “decide on matters related to enhancing cooperation among EAC, COMESA and SADC, including deepening trade, investments, and infrastructure, linking transport corridors, promoting joint projects to boost of industrialization agriculture and food security as well as enabling free movement of people between the three RECs”.

The summit presents an opportunity for civil society from the region to come together to exchange experiences and lessons learned around successful engagement with the RECs; discuss key cross cutting issues facing the region from freedom of movement/xenophobia to peace and security and the responsibility to protect; and to develop potential litigation and other strategies before the REC mechanisms. We expect that the meeting will issue a final communiqué setting out civil society recommendations with respect to the prospects for greater coordination and integration.

The East Africa Law Society and International Refugee Rights Initiative have developed the attached concept note and draft agenda for a one day session on the 18th, followed by an optional discussion in working groups on the 19th ahead of the summit itself on the 20th and would welcome your feedback.

We are very aware of the short notice but are hoping that you could indicate whether you would be interested in attending and participating? We are seeking support from funders and may have some small travel costs reimbursement available for some NGOs from East and Southern Africa – but we are hoping very much that you may be able to self-fund.

Looking forward to hearing from you by 13 October.

Joyce Kevin Abalo,
Programme Assistant,
Regional Integration,
East Africa Law Society,
Tel: +255 27-2508707;
Cell: +255-782-174942;

ICASO Board of Directors: Call for Applications

2008-10-10

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/51091

The ICASO network of networks operates globally, regionally and locally, and supports community advocates in over 100 countries. ICASO operates from its International Secretariat in Canada and through Regional Secretariats based on five continents. Recently, the ICASO Board created two new Board positions specifically dedicated to representatives of people living with HIV. By doing this, ICASO aims to ensure that the voices of people living with HIV are an integral part of ICASO’s strategic decision-making plans and processes.
Call for 2 Applications: ICASO Board of Directors

Are you living with HIV and want to influence AIDS and health policy around the world?
Founded in 1991, the International Council of AIDS Service Organizations’ (ICASO) mission is to mobilize and support diverse community organizations to build an effective global response to HIV and AIDS. This is done within a vision of a world where people living with and affected by HIV and AIDS can enjoy life free from stigma, discrimination, and persecution, and have access to prevention, treatment and care.
The ICASO network of networks operates globally, regionally and locally, and supports community advocates in over 100 countries. ICASO operates from its International Secretariat in Canada and through Regional Secretariats based on five continents.
Recently, the ICASO Board created two new Board positions specifically dedicated to representatives of people living with HIV. By doing this, ICASO aims to ensure that the voices of people living with HIV are an integral part of ICASO’s strategic decision-making plans and processes.
We are looking for two people living with HIV (PLHIV), with a strong commitment to supporting the community response to HIV, human rights, and the GIPA Principle, who are connected to networks of PLHIV, and have an in-depth knowledge of one or more of the following areas:
· HIV and AIDS
· Policy development and advocacy
· Community development
· Finance
· Resource mobilization
· Media and public relations
· High level governance or management experience

Good communication skills in English are essential. For more information, please see the description of Board responsibilities and person specification (http://www.icaso.org/board.html). These are unpaid appointments, but ICASO will reimburse expenses related to twice-yearly Board meetings held in Canada and abroad. The position will be held in an individual capacity rather than with any organizational affiliation the person may have.
To apply, please submit a CV/résumé and a statement (maximum two hundred words) describing why you want to become a part of ICASO and what skills and experience you will bring to this position. Send to icaso@icaso.org Application deadline: October 9, 2008.
ICASO is committed to equal opportunities and is proud of its diverse Board and employees.


ICASO BOARD OF DIRECTORS (2)
PERSON SPECIFICATION

Essential:
1. Interest in international issues and HIV and AIDS
2. Living with HIV (PLHIV)
3. Strong commitment to supporting the community response to HIV, human rights and GIPA Principle
4. Connected to networks of PLHIV
5. In-depth knowledge of at least one of the following areas:
a. HIV and AIDS
b. policy development and advocacy
c. community development
d. finance
e. resource mobilization
f. media and public relations
g. high level governance or management experience
6. Ability to execute responsibilities with regard to the board, which include:
a. determining the mission, strategic plans and policies;
b. monitoring progress in meeting the mission and goals;
c. ensuring the accountability to the communities served by ICASO;
d. ensuring the financial well-being of the organization, including regularly monitoring financial statements;
e. ensuring the continuity of the board, including through the recruitment and orientation of new Board members;
f. promoting ICASO and its policies;
g. monitoring the performance of committees, including the executive committee;
h. providing input and support to the executive director;
i. approving the annual performance review of the executive director; and
j. selecting, appointing and dismissing the executive director (as necessary).
7. Good communication skills in English

Desirable:

Able to speak another language(s): Spanish, French, Portuguese, Russian
Work or life experience in Africa, Asia-Pacific, Latin America and the Caribbean and/or Eastern Europe and Central Asia

Fahamu