Back Issues

Fax and phone campaign to support Herman Bell and Jalil Muntaqim

Free the San Francisco 8

2009-02-18

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/action/54182

To all celebrating Black History Month:

Black History Month is a time to not only celebrate, educate and embrace Afrikan contributions, but a time to continue upholding the legacy of our unsung Afrikan heroes, many of whom sacrificed a great deal in the times of the civil rights and black liberation movements.

1,000s of Afrikan people have been held captive as political prisoners or prisoners of war for holding America responsible for its injustices. Martin Luther King Jr., Rosa Parks, Kwame Ture and Huey P. Newton were all incarcerated for political reasons.

Many of the men and women who stood beside the civil rights and black liberation heroes of yesterday are still incarcerated today. Jalil Muntaqim and Herman Bell (of the San Francisco 8) are two of many who sacrificed so much during the civil rights and black liberation movements. Both have been held captive since the early 1970s.
Jalil and Herman are being denied their right to parole hearings because neither the California nor New York governor will act on their request to be transferred to New York in order to work on their parole hearings. ‘Phone for parole!’ every Monday during Black History Month. Let us commemorate Black History Month by simply calling or faxing for the immediate transporting of Jalil Muntaqim and Herman Bell for parole hearings. ‘Phone for parole!’ every Monday during Black History Month.

Please look at the attached letter for more details on this injustice. Feel free to use it as a basis for your fax or phone call.

Free the SF 8!

Honorable David A. Paterson
Governor of the State of New York State Capitol Albany
NY 12224 FAX: 1-518-474-1513, 1-518-474-3767
david.paterson@chamber.state.ny.us
phone: 518-474-8390

Dear Governor Paterson:

I call upon you to immediately approve the already agreed upon transfer of Herman Bell and Anthony Bottom (aka Jalil Muntaqim), back to New York State custody to attend their parole hearings. Mr. Bell and Mr. Bottom have been languishing in the San Francisco County Jail for over two years. Their case is at least four months away from preliminary hearings, but red tape continues to block the implementation of their transfer. The San Francisco County Jail does not have the proper facilities or capacity to hold people for an extended period of time, and two years in sub-standard living conditions, woefully limited visits and little to no access to proper medical care or activities has had devastating effects on Mr. Bell and Mr. Bottom and their families. Both of these men have been incarcerated for over 35 years and are model prisoners. Their return to New York State is essential in order for them to be present for crucial parole hearings. It is unfair and cruel to deny them this right. Additionally, Mr. Bottom has submitted a fully documented application to you for clemency/commutation of his New York sentence. Please do not allow Mr. Bottom's custody in California to lessen the urgency of acting on his compelling case.

Please act now to end this injustice.
Sincerely, _______________________________ _____________________ (Print Name) (Signature) ________________________________________________________________ (Address) ________________________________________________________________________ (Address) _______________________________________________


Please support these brothers by sending a donation. Make checks payable to CDHR/Agape and mail to the address below or donate on line: www.freethesf8.org/donate.html Committee for the Defense of Human Rights (CDHR) PO Box 90221 Pasadena, CA 91109 (415) 226-1120 FreetheSF8@riseup.net
www.freethesf8.org

Guadeloupe : Union Activist Shot Dead at Barricade

2009-02-19

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/action/54231

A man in his 50s was killed by gunshot fired "from a barricade manned by youths" on Tuesday night in Pointe-à-Pitre, according to the Prefecture's crisis unit, confirming a report made on Europe 1 radio.

The victim was a "union activist returning from a meeting" and was killed in a car in Henry IV popular district, a sensitive area of Chanzy in Pointe-à-Pitre, the source confirmed by telephone to French news agency Agence France Presse (AFP) in Paris.

Another person in the victim's vicinity at the time of the incident is currently being questioned by police.

Whilst escorting firemen coming to the aid of the victim three policemen were slightly injured that evening by lead bullets "probably from a hunting rifle" stated an official from the crisis unit.
Emergency services were informed around 00.18hrs (05:18 Paris time) that a man inside a car had been shot. But after having had projectiles thrown at them they asked for a police escort. And it was only once the area was "secure", at approximately 02.50hrs (07:50 Paris time) that they were able to reach the union activist who in the meantime had died, according to the Prefecture.

The Public Prosecutor at Point-à-Pitre, Jean-Michel Prêtre, told AFP that he would hold a press conference on the matter at 09.30hrs (14.30 in France).
The Secretary-General at the Guadeloupe Prefecture, Hubert Vernet, gave the following version to Reuters press agency : the victim "found himself in front of a barricade and it seems that as he attempted to turn back he was beaten and shot at by youths manning the barricade".

Questioned by AFP, Elie Domota, the leader of the strikers' collective LKP [1], in turn said it was sad that "each time" a death was necessary to help and solve the social problems in the island. After having called for a return to peace on the local radios, he observed that "Guadeloupe is almost about to explode", calling for "urgent, immediate but also long-lasting solutions".

Apart from this fatality the Prefecture's crisis unit has compiled a report on the night's clashes : 15 shops were looted, 7 buildings set alight, 21 vehicles burned, 13 people were arrested and some 60 or so firemen intervened.
The Minister of the Interior, Michèle Alliot-Marie, has decided to hold a meeting on Wednesday at 16.00hrs in Paris on the theme of "public security in the Antilles".

[1] Liyannaj Kont Pwofitasyon or "Collective Against Exploitation" in Creole
Translated mercredi 18 février 2009, par Kristina Wischenkamper

Kenyan activists beaten and arrested for peaceful demonstrations

Kenyans for Peace, Truth and Justice

2009-02-19

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/action/54225

Three Kenyan activists have been arrested and beaten by the Kenyan police after peacefully standing outside parliament. The three were among a handful of Kenyans hoping to grab the attention of Minister for Agriculture William Ruto and Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta to plead with them to act swiftly to prevent more deaths from starvation in the looming famine that is threatening 10 million Kenyans.

The minister of agriculture is facing a censure motion in parliament today for his role in the recent maize scandal where more than 1 million bags of maize from the National Cereals and Produce Board (NCPB) have disappeared. MP Dr Bonny Khalwale has moved the motion, accusing the agriculture minister of failing to give satisfactory answers over the disappearance.
The scandals come in the wake of a drought where 10 million Kenyans could be facing starvation. A number of people in the north-eastern province of Kenya have died as a direct consequence of the famine. Several Kenyans have been taking to the streets over the past two months to protest over the multiple scandals associated with Kenya's coalition government. George Nyongesa, an active spokesperson for justice in Kenya says, ‘We need the government to know that they have failed to treat hunger and starvation. Parliament and government of Kenya especially President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila must know that we the people are not going to allow those who have created hunger that will kill 10 million Kenyans to continue enjoying public office.’

Kenyan activist Philo Ikonya has been taking to the streets regularly in a bid to wake Kenyans into action for justice and drought victims. The three activists, Patrick Kamotho, Philo Ikonya and Fwamba Chrispus, have been beaten and are currently being held at the Central Police Station with no charges. Several other well known activists, including the former deputy of Transparency International and his wife Jayne Mati and several members of PEN International, have been outside the station for several hours waiting to hear the charges. The two were among 50 Kenyans arrested in December for wearing t-shirts demanding Kenyan MPs pay taxes and implement the Waki Report, which would ultimately see several politicians being brought to trial for their possible involvement in the ethnic-based murders during the post-election crisis in January 2008. Mati and his wife were retained for over 48 hours with no charges.

Though scattered, other protesters are still around the parliament buildings and the police are on the chase to arrest the rest of the group members. ‘Today's activity is a test drive of many other sporadic activities that we are mounting across the country through our networks. Our message shall target President Kibaki, Prime Minister [Raila] and anyone who is a beneficiary of their failed leadership’, says Nyongesa, spokesperson for Bunge La Mwananchi.
For more information contact:
- Dipesh Pabari – tel: 0733989082, email: dpinkenya@yahoo.co.uk
- George Nyongesa – tel: 0720451235, email: grnyongesa@yahoo.com.

Background information available at:
a. www.bulamwa.co.ke/
b. marsgroupkenya.org/partnershipforchange/
c. sukumakenya.blogspot.com/

STOP PRESS

Philo Ikonya was released at 11pm last night. Below is her immediate, visceral, unedited account, sent out at 3.30am, of her experiences.

Chrispus Fwamba and Patrick Kamotho were kept in police custody overnight.

All three were charged this morning at the Chief Magistrates Court with taking part in an unlawful assembly. The court released them on a cash bail of Ksh Ten Thousand each, which their colleagues are making arrangements to pay to facilitate their release. They will need legal and moral support as they face these charges and also require medical attention after assault by senior police officers while in custody.

If you would like to offer support, please contact:

Mwalimu Mati
mmati@marsgroupkenya.org
www.marsgroupkenya.org
Phone: + 254-20-2132311/2
Cell: + 254-710-25-27-27


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

Maize flour and roses: Urgent call for action

Shailja Patel

2009-02-19

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/action/54224

And they asked him:
Why do you sing?
And he answered, as they seized him:
I sing because I sing

And they searched his chest
But could only find his heart
And they searched his heart
But could only find his people
And they searched his voice
But could only find his grief
And they searched his grief
But could only find his prison
And they searched his prison
But could only see themselves in chains

From Poem Of The Land, Mahmoud Darwish
(Written to commemorate five Palestinian girls killed by the Israelis, 30 March 30 1976 at a demonstration to protest Israeli seizures of Arab land).
When I read this poem, I think of my friend, Philo Ikonya. Philo is the president of the Kenya Chapter of PEN, the international society of writers dedicated to the promotion of literature and freedom of expression, a lifelong activist, an artist to her fingertips. She puts her heart into everything she does. Looks unflinchingly at the horrors of poverty and violence. Brings the voices of their survivors into the spaces where powerful elites gather. She mentors Kenyan girls raped in the post-election violence, protests government corruption, wields her pen with fierce, lyrical intelligence in the global media.

Philo organises, campaigns, writes, sings, publishes, reads to children in Uhuru Park from her latest book ‘Barack Obama: The Boy Who Became President’, and raises her son single-handed. And glows with unquenchable charm and delight in everyday life. Last August, we left Kibera courthouse together after a hearing on police violence. My mind was reeling with the enormity of the forces against us – I saw nothing of the vibrant life around us. Philo, beautifully present in the moment, was pointing out attractive skirts on market stalls.

Just two weeks ago, she emailed me:

‘I have to share my joy at being 50 and on top of the world.... I love it!!! I feel marvellous!! Had a lovely quiet birthday..... started at 4 am 'cos I could not wait!!!’

And a few months ago:

‘I was moved spending a little time with my Mum. She told me that when something outrageous happened in the old days... women had a tune... they would call out from shamba to shamba and abandon their weeding implements and go to the paths singing and pleading with God. Often it was about drought... and they would push off this evil... and the rain would come....

Shailja, you triggered off something about me and my mum with Migritude… I now try to spend a few hours with her every week. I have learnt to do it knitting... (I admire Gandhi's weaving, these physical things draw out something to share with others). Stories come... We have fun… I tell her I am knitting for her the way she knit for us when we were little. I see her surprise at me knitting. It takes her straight back to her youth and stitches taught by nuns... winning the handicraft show… I think of the people who can no longer 'knit' family because of our violence in Kenya.’

Philo was arrested today. Along with other activists, she stood outside Kenya's parliament, holding a 2-kilogram bag of maize flour in silent protest at the government corruption that has led to mass hunger in Kenya. She and two other activists, Chrispus Fwamba and Patrick Kamotho, were grabbed and manhandled by the police, and are now being held in Nairobi police stations.

An email from the PEN Kenya treasurer, Khainga Ookwemba, says:

‘Philo has been physically brutalised by a police officer, who pulled her chest as she demanded the police give her a phone, which had been taken away. Lawyers Elisha Ongoya and Anne Njogu are demanding her release so that she can receive medical treatment. By the time of writing this note, after spending the whole afternoon at the police station, they had denied her bond and release.’

My arms fly reflexively to cover my own chest, and I take deep breaths.

A press release from the Mars Kenya Group says:

Philo Ikonya’s clothes were ripped off and the police have refused her access to clothing.

I put my face in my hands and cry.

When I opened my inbox today, I was going to send Philo a poem I wrote this weekend. Unabashedly dreamy, about Valentine's roses. I've been drinking in their velvet loveliness. And thinking with each perfumed inhalation of the human exploitation, environmental destruction, wreaked by the global flower industry. Of the atrocity of starving Gazans forced to feed roses grown for export to livestock, due to Israel's military blockade. More than anyone I know, Philo would understand what I was trying to say, about receiving beauty, honouring the impulses of the heart, while never denying the truths beneath.

So here's a post-Valentine's bribe :-). Please ACT, with all the energy and time you can allocate, TODAY, to have Philo and the others arrested with her, released. Take the steps below. Forward this to your networks, listserves, friends, colleagues. And then, if you want to read the poem, send me an email with ‘Roses, please’ in the subject line. I'll trust that you've really done your best, and send you the poem.

Towards a world of justice and beauty,
Shailja

WHAT YOU CAN DO RIGHT NOW

(1) Send a text message TODAY, to Kenya's President and Prime Minister. Use the one below, or craft your own.

Mr Kibaki/Mr Odinga - we hold u accountable 4 police violence and illegal arrests against Philo Ikonya n other civil society activists. Release them NOW and fire Police Commissioner Ali!

To President Mwai Kibaki (via his spokesperson, Alfred Mutua):
Cellphone number + 254 721 240 443

To Prime Minister Raila Odinga
Cellphone + 254 733 620 736

Attorney General:
Amos Wako + 254 722 772 453

2) Send an email

To President Mwai Kibaki
president@statehousekenya.go.ke

To Prime Minister Raila Odinga
railaodinga@yahoo.com

Suggested Message:

Mr Kibaki / Mr. Odinga, I urge you to act immediately to release Philo Ikonya, Fwamba Chrispus, and Patrick Kamotho from illegal police custody. Police Commissioner Ali must be fired for presiding over escalating police violations of civil and human rights in Kenya.

Signed: Name, Organization / Affiliation (if any), City, Country

3) If you are a Kenyan repeat steps 1) and 2) with your own MP and other parliamentarians. Contact details for Kenyan MPs here.

4) If you live outside Kenya, repeat steps 1) and 2), directing the texts and emails to the Kenyan Ambassador or High Commissioner in your country.

5) If you are a foreign national living in Kenya, repeat steps 1) and 2) with the Ambassador or High Commissioner of your country in Kenya.

6) Copy to the Feedback Form on the site of the Kenyan Police Force: http://www.kenyapolice.go.ke/contactus.asp

7) Kofi Annan, in his capacity as the head of the Kenya National Dialogue and Reconciliation Process, through his spokesman:Nasser.Ega-Musa@unon.org

Women’s responses to state violence in the Niger Delta

Violence as an instrument of governance

Sokari Ekine

2009-02-18

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/54174

cc. USNICOIn an extensive piece examining the reactions of Niger Delta women towards the militarised violence of the Nigerian state and its multinational oil company allies, Sokari Ekine discusses the iniquitous contrast in wealth visible in the abject poverty of the Delta region’s locals and the hugely profitable resource extraction of external players. Amounting to an estimated US$30 billion in oil revenues over a 38-year period, this plundering of resources has become progressively rooted in the institutionalisation of violence directed towards dissenting local groups. Though suffering terribly at the hands of government forces, local women, Ekine writes, have spearheaded the defence of local livelihoods through organised protests which cut across regional ethnic divisions.
+++

Nigeria has for the past 39 years been a militarised state, even when so-called civilian governments, including the present one, have been in power. Militarisation consists of the use of the threat of violence to settle political conflicts, the legitimisation of state violence, the curtailment of freedom of opinion, the domination of military values over civilian life, the violation of human rights, extrajudicial killings and the gross repression of the people (Chunakara, 1994). Turshen describes the militarised state as one in which ‘violence becomes a crisis of everyday life, is disenfranchising and politically, physically and economically debilitating’ (Turshen, 1988: 7). The Niger Delta is a region of Nigeria that has been subjected to excessive militarisation for the past 13 years, where violence is used as an instrument of governance to force the people into total submission (Okonta and Douglas, 2001; Na’Allah, 1998). It is where, by far, the majority of the people live in abject poverty and where women are the poorest of the poor (Human Rights Watch, 2002; 2004; 2007). This region has little or no development, no electricity, no water, no communications, no health facilities, little and poor education. In contrast, the region generated an estimated over US$30 billion in oil revenues over a 38-year period in the form of rents for the government and profit for the multinational oil companies (Rowell, 1996).

The multinational oil companies – mainly Shell, Chevron/Texaco and Elf – have treated both the people and the environment with total disdain and hostility (Okonta and Douglas, 2001). They have worked hand in hand with a succession of brutal and corrupt regimes to protect their exploitation of the land and people by providing the Nigerian military and police with weapons, transport, logistical support and finance. In return the Nigerian government has allowed the oil companies a free hand to operate without any monitoring. In fact, the oil companies in the Niger Delta have one of the worst environmental records in the world.[2]

DESTRUCTION OF THE ECOLOGICAL SYSTEM

The Niger Delta has become an ecological disaster zone, a place where rusty pipelines run through farms and in front of houses (Rowell, 1996). Day and night huge gas fires rage in massive pits and towers, spewing noxious gases and filth into people’s homes and farms. Oil spills and fires are a regular occurrence, often causing the death of local people as well as the destruction of wildlife and property. Michael Fleshman of the New York-based Africa Fund describes what he saw at the site of one oil spill:

The impact of the spill on the community has been devastating, as the oil has poisoned their water supply and fishing ponds, and is steadily killing the raffia palms that are the community’s economic mainstay. Lacking any other alternative, the people of the village have been forced to drink polluted water for over a year, and the community leaders told us that many people had become ill in recent months and that some had died. The sight that greeted us when we finally arrived at the spill was horrendous. A thick brownish film of crude oil stained the entire area, collecting in clumps along the shoreline and covering the surface of the still water. The humid aid was thick with oil fumes (Fleshman, 1999).

Often, the spillages lead to raging fires, as in the case of the Jesse fire (17 October 1998[3]) when over a thousand people were killed and thousands more horrifically burned and left homeless. To date, not a single person has received compensation. Indeed, in a region where medical care is scarce and only available to the rich, it is easy to envision the fate of these people. Ponds, creeks, rivers and land are soaked with thick layers of oil. Terisa Turner, co-director of the United Nations NGO, International Oil Working Group (IOWG), describes one particular oil spill that she personally witnessed as follows:

150,000 residents of the community of Ogbodo battled a massive petroleum spill from a Shell pipeline, which burst on 24 June, churning crude into the surrounding waterways for 18 days until Shell clamped the pipe on 12 July. Severe environmental damage and threat to life by Shell’s neglect is the other side of the ‘corporate rule’ coin of ever-expanding neo-liberal license. The dangers to human life, human rights and the environment were dramatically experienced by Ogbodo community members in Nigeria’s ‘Shell-Shocked’ oil belt (Turner, 2001: 11).

This scene is typical. The common response of the oil companies to such spills however, has been to blame the villagers for sabotage. The question is, why would the villagers commit acts of sabotage that will only worsen the environmental damage and pollution of their land and prevent them from engaging in their livelihoods, namely farming, fishing and trading? In this particular case, the pipeline in question was buried six feet deep (many pipelines in the region are built above ground, running through farm land and through villages), and split underneath the ground (Turner, 2001). In addition to air and water pollution and other kinds of environmental degradation, lands have been expropriated and personal property damaged. The people have received only very little compensation for the land taken or damages from oil spillage and fires. Indeed, efforts at compensation have been ‘case(s) of broken promises, development programmes that are abandoned halfway, poor quality facilities that break down and simply rust away as soon as they are installed’ (Okonta and Douglas, 2001: 106).

MILITARISATION

As the dispossessed communities demand corporate responsibility, environmental, economic and social justice and proper compensation, their protests have been met with violence including extrajudicial killings and mass murder, torture, rape, the burning of homes and property, and increased military presence. As such, the Niger Delta has become completely militarised and ‘secured’ by unrestrained and unaccountable Nigerian military personnel. The report by Human Rights Watch, ‘No Democratic Dividend’, notes that violence in the region continues despite the change from military to civilian rule (Human Rights Watch, 2002).

The Niger Delta is a particularly extreme example of a culture of violence that is woven into the fabric of a society ruled by military dictators. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo was a key player in no less than three successive military regimes. He was a senior officer under General Gowon and participated in the 1975 coup d’état that overthrew General Gowon. He then served as the deputy supreme commander under Brigadier General Murtala Mohammed until the latter’s assassination in the 1976 coup. General Obasanjo then took over as supreme commander until he handed power to the second civilian government of Shehu Shagari in 1979. Four more military regimes followed this brief interregnum, including the particularly brutal regime of General Sani Abacha between 1993 and 1998. It was during this period that Ogoni activists, including Ken Saro-Wiwa, were murdered. Despite the fact that the Obasanjo government, which ruled from 1999 until 2007, was viewed as a transition to civilian rule, the level of violence in the region continued to escalate. Examples of this escalation include:

- The intensification of the military option to control the oil fields and pipelines. Through the specially created Nigerian Military Task Force for the Niger Delta with specific orders to ‘shoot-to-kill’ protesting indigenes, Obasanjo demonstrated his propensity to use brute force to compel silence and acquiescence.[4]
- The invasion of Odi Town on the direct orders of Obasanjo in retaliation for the murder of 12 policemen by youths in the town in 1999.
- The brutal raping of women and young girls by Nigerian Army personnel in Choba.
- The gunning down of unarmed youths who protested against unemployment in Bonny Island.
- The ravaging of communities in Ke-Dere in Rivers State for protesting the unwanted and forceful return of Shell Oil to Ogoniland.
- The killings of women and children, and the burning and looting of property in Oleh town in Isokoland.
- The massacre on 17 October 2000 of 15 youth protesters in Tebidaba in Bayelsa State (INAA, 2000).

The government of the newly elected president of Nigeria, Umaru Yar’Adua, continues the policy of militarisation of the region in response to the increased militancy of local people.

FORMS OF RESISTANCE

Resistance can take many forms, some of which are explicit in their actions and consequences and others less so. Despite the intangible nature that resistance can sometimes take, any forms of resistance are nonetheless worthy of recognition and can be just as powerful as overt acts. Women experience oppression in the domestic sphere, within the context of the community, cultural and traditional roles and mores, as well as through formal organisations and social institutions controlled by men (Hill Collins, 1990). Often women experience all three simultaneously and may engage in acts of resistance that challenge all three levels of oppression either singularly or simultaneously.

In Gender Violence in Africa, December Green uses a schema developed by Jane Everett, Ellen Charlton, and Kathleen Staudt to illustrate the efforts of women to protect themselves and their interests in areas where they have little formal power as ‘strategies of disengagement’ (Green, 1999). This schema is a useful framework to analyse the acts of resistance of women of the Niger Delta. As Green (1999: 154) states, the schema is not rigid and one or more strategies may be used at any given time. It also allows for the inclusion of a broad range of actions and forms of resistance. The schema consists of four categories:

‘The management of suffering occurs when women living under imposed hardships seek out survival or coping mechanisms. Although survival requires active pursuit, this activism is often regarded as passive. Insulation consists of a turning inward to family and kin as an alternative way of gaining recognition, power, and resources. In collective action, women as a group, confront authority in order to resist its growth or to demand adherence to norms of behaviour. Escape, the fourth type of resistance, is often taken as a last resort and is perhaps the most extreme, escape is often ventured under only the most dire circumstances’ (Green, 1999: 154).

The ways in which women engage in acts of resistance range from everyday simple acts, which when maintained over a period of time can become transformational and extreme, leading to organised and confrontational acts (Green, 1999). Women in the Niger Delta have used and continue to use a variety of forms of resistance such as dancing and singing, collective action including demonstrations and strikes, testimonies, silence, and the use of culturally specific responses such as stripping naked. They have also refused to alter work routines and habits such as opening up market stalls, collecting water, participating in women’s meetings and they have struggled to maintain their daily routines amidst the chaos and violence that surrounds them. These acts of resistance are bound within local cultures as well as with the socioeconomic and political context.

RESISTANCE AND RESPONSES TO STATE-SPONSORED VIOLENCE

One of the most common forms of violence is destruction of property: burning homes and shops, looting and stealing money. Communities often respond to these attacks by fleeing either to a nearby village or to a hiding place in the bush (forest). In Green’s (1999) schema, escape is considered to be the most extreme form of resistance as it is usually ventured only in the direst circumstances.

During the invasion of Odi town in 1999, many townsfolk escaped, leaving behind their meagre possessions accumulated over a lifetime, often losing family members during the escape, and eventually returning to find other family members killed, their homes burnt to the ground, and property looted. For women, this was particularly difficult as the following interviewees explain:

‘I left everything to run for my dear life and pleaded with people to let me in their canoe with my children… I pleaded with people to take my children. I don’t even know the destination they were, where they ran to. I started to trace my children… As God would have it none of them died and at the end all of us came here. When I saw my house I cried… People were hugging me. We will survive this thing with God.’ (Charity, Odi Woman)

‘When the soldiers came we were in our various houses, we only heard that soldiers have come and surrounded everywhere. Since the soldiers were coming we were all afraid. Everyone started packing and running away, we were not able to stand soldiers. We carried a few things and we left. When we came back we saw all our houses, food had been burned down, all burned down money that we left in our houses. Since then we have been trying to manage with nothing again. We are lying on the ground nothing to sleep on.’ (Amasin, primary school teacher, Odi)

‘We ran to a nearby village called Odoni. We were crying our houses are finished. We also heard the gunshots and knew people were being killed. Others ran to the bush. Those who could not get boats ran to the bush… Women, not men, only women, the men were dead. One woman was captured, she came out with her children because they couldn’t stand it (the bush) so the army were feeding her with gari (cassava). The soldiers did that – gave people burnt gari to drink and burnt yams to eat.’ (Imegbele, school teacher, Odi Town)

During this invasion, however, many of the elderly women refused to run with their families and therefore witnessed the horror of shooting, burning, and looting by soldiers, including those of their own homes. One elderly woman explained how soldiers broke the doors of her house and started packing her personal property to steal. They came with a big lorry to pack all the things they looted. According to her, some of them even slept in her house. However, these women were protected from physical violence by their status as elderly women and mothers/grandmothers. In some instances, the soldiers ended up giving them food, albeit very meagre amounts. These elderly women were able to command sufficient respect to protect them from the abuse of the soldiers.

The testimonies in Blood and Oil (Ekine, 2000) and in other interviews conducted by activists and researchers in the region are all examples of women speaking out about their personal and community experiences of violence. Women narrated their stories of rape, beatings, sexual harassment, burning of their property, arrest and murder of their husbands, sons, fathers and brothers. They spoke of the loss of their fishing ponds and farmlands to pollution, and the poverty of their lives. They also mentioned the lack of employment opportunities for the male family members, the harassment of their young sons by police and army personnel. Moreover, these women talked about both the support and, in most cases, the lack of support they received from their husbands and traditional elders in their activism. They discussed their decisions to take action and the consequences of those actions.

SILENCE AS RESISTANCE

Closely related to the act of speaking out is the act of silent resistance, by which I mean not speaking and choosing to do nothing. The question of whether silence constitutes resistance, an exercise of choice, is worth exploring.

Before undertaking fieldwork for Blood and Oil,[5] I had never considered silence as an act of resistance. However, during the interviews with groups of women, I observed that there would often be some women who did not speak or spoke very little. As a researcher and observer, although ‘listening to their silence’ was difficult, I was very conscious of the need to respect it. I became aware of the power of these silent voices. I saw their silence as an act of defiance and strength and also a way to manage the pain in their lives. Traci West (1999) states that resistance includes any coping mechanism used for survival, including silence when it is used as an aid to the survival and healing of the individual. Building on this, Mamphela Ramphele includes as part of women’s coping mechanisms ‘the decision not to act as a powerful act in itself’ (cited in Green, 1999: 153). In other words, what may appear as doing nothing is, in effect, making a choice not to do anything. In local parlance, this kind of deliberate inaction is referred to as ‘sitting on oneself’.

One example of silent resistance took place in the small town of Kaiama in western Ijaw. Here, on 11 December 1998, representatives of over 40 Ijaw clans issued a communiqué known as the Kaiama Declaration and created the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) to administer the affairs of the Ijaw youth. The communiqué called for an end to 40 years of environmental damage and underdevelopment in the region and asserted the right to ownership of resources and land by the indigenous people. In response, the Nigerian government created a Naval Special Task Force and, on 29 December, sent 1,500 federal troops to the nearby state capital at Yenagoa and occupied it and the surrounding area. Following a massacre, rape and burning of properties in Yenagoa on 1 January 1999, the army invaded the town of Kaiama on 2 January. On 4 January, using Chevron helicopters and boats, the army invaded seven other Ijaw towns.

During interviews with women, one woman stood out because she was not interested in speaking. We learned that her son had been killed on the day of the invasion. Whereas most people had fled upon hearing that the soldiers were coming, he had run back to the house to collect an item he had forgotten and was fatally shot in his stomach. Standing face to face with her silence was an overpowering experience which conveyed her profound grief and loss at least as effectively as speech. In this case, a woman had survived by a silence that allowed her to disengage herself from her surroundings and she continued to live and hold herself with a dignity that denied her violators any sense of victory. Given that Kaiama is still under occupation today, she lives a situation in which she has to face her son’s murderers everyday, possibly even having to sell them foodstuffs from the stall she runs in order to earn a living to support her surviving children. Her silence, her stance and her body language thus serve her well in an inescapable situation, that many other women living under occupation share.

RESPONSES TO SEXUAL VIOLENCE

Rape, sexual slavery, and forced prostitution by the military are all acts of violence and demonstrations of power used in times of war and conflict. Rape serves to gratify the soldiers, feeding their hatred of the enemy while also being used as an effective weapon of war, especially to spread terror amongst the people (Turshen and Twagiramariya, 1998). In this instance, rape also has an ethnic dimension as the military and police deployed in the Niger Delta are not indigenous to the region, with many of them coming from the north of the country.

In the Niger Delta, rape and other forms of sexual violence such as forced prostitution have taken place repeatedly in communities that have been invaded by the Nigerian army, where paramilitary forces have been used to quell demonstrations, or simply to make a particular town or village an ‘example’ of what would happen should the people assert their human rights.

Blessing, one of my interviewees, explained that the soldiers and police often forced girls to ‘befriend’ them. If they refused, they were threatened with rape and beatings. She had managed to avoid being ‘befriended’ by her lack of fear and sheer stubbornness. She explained that at first she had tried to make friends for protection and was bought drinks following which the soldiers attempted to force her into having sex with them. She said, ‘the pressure was terrible and most girls just gave in.’[6] Another woman reported seeing a soldier walking into the bush with a girl of about 12 years. After the abuse (the woman did not know what actually took place) they came out and the soldier gave money to the child.

The responses to rape have varied from community to community. Several factors explain the varying responses of the women, the male members of their families, and their wider community. Using two different incidents of rape in two different ethnic groups, I will examine the different responses.

The town of Choba is an Ikwerre community in Rivers State and the headquarters of a pipeline construction company called Wilbros Nigeria Ltd (a subsidiary of Wilbros Group, a US company). Community relations between Wilbros and the people of Choba were poor, mainly because of two reasons. The company demonstrated disdain and disinterest in Choba and its people and they failed to employ local people, even at lower unskilled levels. This led to a number of demonstrations against Wilbros. In June 1999 the youth of Choba began a series of demonstrations and sit-ins outside the company gates. The youth demanded that Wilbros replace 600 of their employees with Choba residents. On 28 October, the mobile police – a paramilitary group – invaded Choba and once again unleashed murder, the destruction of property and rape on the people of the town. The rapes of women by soldiers were captured on film by a journalist and published in the Nigerian daily press. President Obasanjo’s response was to declare the photographs a fake, asserting that his soldiers would never do such a thing. The response of the women of Choba was one of insulation, turning inward towards their community. These women not only had to cope with the trauma of being publicly raped but also with the shame that they and their community felt when the photographs were published in the newspaper. Some months later, a local journalist spoke anonymously to some of the rape survivors.

‘It is a taboo to rape a married woman…(now) these women cannot sleep with their husbands and cannot cook for them. It is our tradition and we have to respect it, not just for the sake of respecting our custom but because there are grave implications for disobedience…’

‘At the time, we rallied our women to protest to the wife of the governor so that she can help us to push the case but we were arrested and detained for four days. It took the intervention of well-meaning elders before we were released… We, the women of Choba, appeal to those behind the ugly event to come and do the necessary things to appease the gods… This is important to us because without this, these women are as good as divorced.’

The community did not judge the women survivors totally negatively. On the contrary, they acknowledged the women’s pain and suffering. The women supported each other and organised themselves according to traditional ways. They sought help from their village elders and the governor’s wife. Their response was part of their healing process and, seemingly, of the community, so they could all move past the trauma to some kind of normalcy in their lives.

The responses of rape victims and their families in Ogoniland were very different from those of Choba. The Ogoni Bill of Rights (OBR) was launched on 26 August 1990. The OBR, like the declarations and communiqués of other ethnic groups, articulated the basis of a struggle for ethnic autonomy and self-determination for the Ogoni peoples and challenged both the Nigerian government and Shell’s legitimacy to determine the economic and political affairs of the Ogoni people and the entire Niger Delta communities (Ekine, 2000). The Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni peoples (MOSOP) was to become the mechanism to carry out the objectives of OBR along with the Federation of Ogoni Women’s Organisations (FOWA) (Turner, 2001). The troubles in Ogoniland came to a head in November 1993 when the Nigerian military government began a three-year campaign of violence, murder, rape, burning, looting, beatings and torture, against the Ogoni people.[7] For the Ogoni women, resistance was a daily norm as they faced both the impact of Shell’s destruction of their environment and the presence of the Nigerian army and mobile police everyday. Women were harassed on the way to their farms, on the way to their markets, in their villages minding their homes, and at night when they were asleep.

In interviews with members of FOWA, woman after woman stood up, said their names, and described in graphic detail the rapes and other types of sexual violence they had been subjected to.

‘They started beating the women, dragging them into the bush. And they started loosing their cloth and raping them…my mate was with pregnancy. One army man just used his leg and hit her stomach and she miscarry. That was the beginning of suffering in Nyo Khana.’[8] (Comfort Aluzim)

‘They started beating us; all that we were carrying to the market to sell, they took. They took our things, our bags. They asked us to raise our hands and jump like frogs. There was an old woman with us that could not jump. What the army man did was to use his double barrel gun to beat the old woman’s back and she fell down.’ (Mercy Nkwagha)

‘One day we were demonstrating. We sang as we moved from our town to Ken Khana. Singing near the main road we met face to face with the army…they asked us to lie down on the road. After using the koboko (whip) on us they started kicking us with their foot. They dragged some of the women into the bush. We were naked, our dresses were torn, our wrapper were being loosed by a man who is not your husband. They tore our pants and began raping us in the bush. The raping wasn’t secret because about two people are raping you there. They are raping you in front of your sister. They are raping your sister in front of your mother. It was like a market.’ (Mrs Kawayorko)

Unlike in Choba, the Ogoni women were able to stand up and publicly speak about the violence they had suffered. Through the actions of FOWA and MOSOP, the women became highly politicised and engaged actively with elders and youth in the struggle against Shell’s activities and for the political autonomy of their land. Together with the youth branch of MOSOP, FOWA was given ‘unprecedented power within a democratic configuration…a steering committee was created in which each of the nine constituent organisations had three votes’ (Turner, 1997). Thus, FOWA was able to use a strategy of collective action as an act of resistance in their struggle and coordinate their activities with men in the community. Another strategy of the Ogoni women was to use their position and status as mothers to work with the youths who were, in effect, their sons or the age of their sons:

‘During the period, the women of Tai kingdom suffered a lot… Many of the women were beaten; many of the houses destroyed. At that time the women decided that come dead or alive they would still hold their meetings. FOWA women had their meetings in the bush. We arranged with the youth wing of the movement, the youth of Tai dug a very big pit in the ground and we the women entered the pit and the youth used bushes to cover us.’ (Ogoni woman farmer)

Women were not ostracised or excluded because they had been raped, as
explained by a FOWA member:

‘Our men just take it as what happen because they know their wives did not just go out like that but it was forceful. Also the other women took it the same way.’ (Ogoni woman)

FOWA, in opposition to some local politically motivated traditional leaders, actively advocated the boycott of the 1993 presidential elections. Diana Barikor-Wiwa explains:

‘Of course they spoke with their men – if that is translated into English, it’s a bit like ‘bedroom talk’. They tried to work on that within the home. But besides that they had a lot of strife with their children, especially their sons. It was most effective with their sons, and of course, somebody’s husband is another woman’s son. And so it was, there was always that bond. It’s a traditional thing. You were a great man if you could respect your mother. So they did that.’ (Barikor-Wiwa, 1996)

The women became agents of change by using culturally specific methods and their position as mothers to persuade their husbands and sons, thereby MOSOP, to take the decision to boycott the election.

FOWA’s response to violence was a combination of collective action, individual courage and sheer defiance in the face of military aggression and environmental destruction. More recently, women of the Niger Delta have used both collective action and traditional methods in response to the complete neglect of their ecosystem: natural environment, health, education, infrastructure, employment and general underdevelopment by the government and multinationals.

MASS PROTESTS

Between June and August 2002, thousands of women occupied no less than eight oil facilities belonging to Chevron/Texaco and Shell Petroleum including Chevron’s main oil terminal at Escravos in Delta State. This series of direct action by women in the Niger Delta was unprecedented for a number of reasons.

First, never before had so many women taken a series of actions against an oil company within such a short period of time. Second, the actions, in particular the initial occupation of Escravos oil terminal, were highly organised. The women divided themselves into seven groups, each occupying a different strategic area of the complex, including the main office building (Okon, 2001). Third, because the actions taken by the women – all mothers and grandmothers whose age ranged from 30 to 90 – had been organised collectively in the interest of the community at large, they had the complete support of their communities including their husbands, the youth, elders and chiefs. Finally, and most importantly, although in the first instance the actions were taken separately by women from three different ethnic nationalities, in the final occupation, for the first time women from three different ethnic nationalities, Ijaw, Itsekiri, and Ilaje, came together in a united action against corporate irresponsibility, putting aside previous inter-ethnic hostilities and grievances.

One of the strategies used by both the multinational oil companies and successive Nigerian governments has been to deliberately exploit existing tensions between the various ethnic nationalities in the region and to encourage antagonisms between youth and women, elders and youth, and elders and women in towns and villages. Therefore, the importance of the solidarity between women in this instance is indeed major. This solidarity across different ethnic divides was forged because the situation had become so desperate that many women realised that such cooperation was essential for their success. Their political awareness of the divide-and-rule tactics encouraged them to put aside previous hostilities and fight the common enemy together.

The women occupied the operational headquarters of Chevron/Texaco and Shell, singing songs of solidarity to protest years of plunder of their rural environment by the oil companies (Okon, 2001). In this particular siege, about 800 women were injured during a particularly brutal encounter with security forces belonging to the oil companies. The voices of the women speak of their coming together and their grievances:

‘The rivers they are polluting is our life and death. We depend on it for everything… When this situation is unbearable, we decided to come together to protest. Ijaw, Itsekiri and Ilaje we are one, we are brothers and sisters, it is only people who do not understand that think we are fighting ourselves. Our common enemies are the oil companies and their backers’. (Mrs Bmipe Ebi (Ilaje))

‘We don’t want Shell, Chevron, Texaco or any other oil companies again. They should leave us alone. We don’t have guns, and we don’t have any weapon to fight them. Since they have treated us like this. We are prepared to die.’ (Mrs Rose Miebi (Ijaw))

‘If Chevron no keep the promises, next time I ready to go naked.’ (Mrs Funke Tunjor (Ilaje))

The women were relentless in their protest and demands. In a final act of defiance, they confronted the oil companies with one ingenious and powerful weapon: they threatened to remove all their clothes in what is known as the ‘curse of nakedness’. The stripping off of clothes, particularly by married and elderly women, is a way of shaming men, some of whom believe that if they see the naked bodies they will go mad or suffer great harm.

CONCLUSION

In this paper, I have discussed the types of violence and violent situations to which women in the Niger Delta are subjected and I have commented upon some of their responses. It is indeed necessary to look beyond one’s own expectations and preconceptions about resistance to violence to avoid the risk of neglecting the entire range and variety of women’s responses in different cultural and political contexts. What may appear initially as passive inaction may actually be a show of strength. For example, ‘sitting on oneself’, that is, to stand silently with dignity as a mature woman, is a response that becomes a very powerful act. Individual acts such as these are ways of managing suffering on a personal level by turning inwards for strength.

Women in the Niger Delta resorted to using the ‘curse of nakedness’ as a weapon after they had failed to have their demands met through more conventional protest actions. Though greatly feared and rarely used, nakedness as a form of protest is legitimate within the cultural context of the Niger Delta. In this instance, it was one of the few occasions when women were able to manoeuvre themselves into a position of power. Also, because it is used only under extreme provocation, it has remained a powerful weapon of women’s collective resistance. It is also critical to note that while the scale of destruction and violence within the Delta is overwhelming, at a day to day level women continue not just to survive but also to put up resistance within the territories, using the means at their disposal: If Chevron no keep the promises, next time I ready to go naked.

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

* This article was first published in Feminist Africa and is reproduced here with the permission of the author.

FOR NOTES AND BIBLIOGRAPHY, SEE LINK BELOW
[1] The testimonies used in this paper were gathered by members of the Niger Delta Women for Justice (NDWJ), the Ijaw Council for Human Rights (ICHR), and myself during fieldwork undertaken between 2000 and 2003. NDWJ works with other women’s organisations across the Niger Delta; ICHR works alongside Environmental Rights Action, Oil Watch Nigeria, and NDWJ.
[2] For more on the activities of multinational oil companies (Shell, Chevron-Texaco, Mobil, Elf) and their unholy alliance with successive military and civilian regimes, read Where Vultures Feast (Okonta and Douglas, 2001) and Green Backlash (Rowell, 1996). Further information can also be found at www.seen.org and Project Underground at www.moles.org
[3] ERA field report 17 - http://www.essentialaction.org/shell/era/eraField17.html
[4] The Military Task Force continues to operate under the new Presidency of Umaru Yar’Adua
[5] Blood and Oil: Testimonies of Violence from Women of the Niger Delta, is a collection of testimonies of women from seven different ethnic groups of the Niger Delta. The testimonies cover the period from 1990-2000 of state and multinational violence against Niger Delta communities and the impact of the violence specifically on women’s lives.
[6] I have paraphrased Blessing’s testimony because, due to her use of local English, the reader would find it very hard to understand.
[7] When the brutal military dictator, General Sani Abacha, came to power in November 1993, one of the first things he did was to create the now notorious Rivers State Internal Security Task Force led by Lt Colonel Paul Okuntimo and to appoint a new military governor of the Rivers State, Lt Colonel Dauda Komo. These two together with Shell Oil spent the next three years terrorising the Ogoni people culminating in the judicial murder of Ken Saro Wiwa and 8 other activists on 10th November, 1995. Following the execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa, the women of FOWA became prime targets of the RSISTF who in the words of a FOWA member ‘were looking for us the way children look for rats in the bush.’
[8] Nyo Khana – Ogoniland is divided into six kingdoms (or clans) of Babbe, Eleme, Gokana, Nyo-Khana, Ken-Khana and Tai.

REFERENCES

Alidou, O. and Turshen, M. 2000. ‘Africa: Women in the Aftermath of Civil War’, Race and Class 41(4): 81.
Ashton-Jones, N. 1988. The ERA Handbook to the Niger Delta: The Human Ecosystems of the Niger Delta. London: Environmental Rights Action.
Barikor-Wiwa, Diana. (not dated) ‘An interview with Diana Wiwa, International Representative of MOSOP and FOWA’, Guelph Ontario: Ontario Public Interest
Research Group, University of Guelph.
Chunakara, M. G. 1994. The Militarisation of Politics and Society: Southern Asia Experience. Hong Kong: Daga Press
Davies, M. ed. 1994. Women and Violence: Realities and Responses Worldwide. London: Zed Books.
Drew, A. 1995. ‘Female Consciousness and Feminism in Africa,’ Theory and Society 24(1): 1–33.
Dumont, J.P. 1992. ‘Ideas on Philippine Violence: Assertions, Negations, and Narrations,’ in Nordstron, C. and Martin, J. eds. The Paths to Domination, Resistance and Terror. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Ekine, S. 2000. Blood and Oil: Testimonies of Violence from Women of the Niger Delta. London: Centre for Democracy and Development.
Ekineh, A. 2001. Tears and Weeping of the Niger Delta. London: Southern Solidarity Press, London.
Fleshman, M. 1999. ‘Report on the Crisis in Nigeria’. New York: The Africa Fund. Available at: http://www.prairienet.org/acas/alerts/nigeria/nigeria1.html
Green, D. 1999. Gender Violence in Africa: African Women’s Responses. New York: St Martin’s Press.
Hill Collins, P. 1990. Black Feminist Thought: Knowledge, Consciousness, and the Politics of Empowerment. London and New York: Routledge.
Human Rights Watch. March 2002. ‘Nigeria: No Democratic Dividend for Oil Delta’. Available at: http://www.hrw.org/reports/2002/nigeria3
Human Rights Watch Overview. January 2004. ‘Nigeria’. Available at: http://hrw.org/ english/docs/2004/01/21/nigeri6976.htm.
Human Rights Watch. 2007. Audio report on Nigeria. Available at: http://hrw.org/ audio/2007/english/nigeria01/nigeri15204.htm.
Ijaw National Alliance of the Americas. November 20, 2000. ‘Odi Massacre: One Year On.’ Available at: http://www.ijaw-naa.org/archives/inaa_arch3.htm
Jacobs, S., Jacobson, R. and Marchbank, J. eds. 2000. States of Conflict: Gender Violence and Resistance. London: Zed Books.
Lobe, J. 2002. ‘People versus Big Oil: Rights of Nigerian Indigenous People Recognized’. Foreign Policy in Focus Global Affairs Commentary May 5. Available at: http://www.fpif.org/commentary/2002/0207nigeria.html
Maynard, M. and Purvis, J. eds. 1994. Researching Women’s Lives from a Feminist Perspective. New York: Taylor and Francis.
Na’Allah, A. ed. 1998. Ogoni’s Agonies: Ken Saro-Wiwa and the Crisis in Nigeria. Trenton, NJ: Africa World Press.
Niger Delta Women for Justice. http://www.ndwj/kabissa.org
Nordstrom, C. and Martin, J. 1992. ‘The Culture of Conflict: Field Reality and Theory’ in Nordstrom, C. ed. The Paths to Domination Resistance and Terror. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Nordstrom, C. 1997. A Different Kind of War Story. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press.
Okon, E. 2002, August. Report of the Niger Delta Women for Justice (NDWJ) on the Delta Women’s Seige on the American Oil Company, Chevron-Texaco in Delta State, Nigeria. Available from Niger Delta Women for Justice: http://www.ndwj.kabissa.org
Okonta, I. and Douglas, O. 2001. Where Vultures Feast. San Francisco: Sierra Club Books.
Rowell, A. 1996. Green Backlash: Global Subversion of the Environment Movement. New York: Routledge.
Stamatopoulou, E. 1995. ‘Women’s Rights and the United Nations’ in Peters, J. and Wolpher, A. eds. Women’s Rights Human Rights: International Feminist Perspectives. New York: Routledge.
Turner, T. E. and Oshare, M. 1993. Women’s Uprisings against the Nigerian Oil Industry in the 1980s.’ Revised paper presented at Canadian African Studies Association, Montreal, May 1992.
Turner, T. E. 1997. ‘Oil Workers and Oil Communities: Counterplanning from the Commons in Nigeria’. Available at: http://www.uoguelph.ca/~terisatu/Counterplanning/c3.htm
Turner, T. E. 2001. ‘The Land is Dead: Women’s Rights as Human Rights: The Case of the Ogbodo Shell Petroleum Spill in Rivers State, Nigeria.’ Paper published by T. Turner.
Turshen, M. 1998. ‘Women’s War Stories’ in Turshen, M. and Twagiramariya, C. eds. ‘What Women Do in Wartime’. London: Zed Books.
United Methodist Church. 1996; 2004. ‘Rape in Times of Conflict and War.’ The Book of Resolutions. Available at: http://archives.umc.org/interior.asp?ptid=4&mid=1037
Walby, S. 1990. Theorizing Patriarchy. Oxford: Blackwell.
West, T. 1999. Wounds of Spirit: Black Women, Violence, and Resistance Ethics. New York: New York University Press.

Let's leave Nigeria’s oil in the soil

No to more oil blocks in Niger Delta

Nnimmo Bassey

2009-02-19

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/54226

cc. USNICOSurveying the myriad problems behind the Nigerian state’s facilitation of unregulated oil and gas extraction, Nnimmo Bassey and Environmental Rights Action (ERA) demand that obscene oil company profits be used to clean up the environmental and social mess inflicted upon the Niger Delta population. Concerned about the government’s inability to tackle the problem of gas flaring, Bassey and the ERA propose a concerted endeavour to stop gas flaring, audit all oil spills and bring about a thorough clean-up of the region in order to detoxify the land once and for all. With a view to moving Nigeria away from its dependence on crude oil exports, Bassey and the ERA argue that offering new oil blocks should be resisted and oil kept in the soil.

As the Niger Delta boils and as Nigeria looks towards a bleak future with diminished oil revenues, the oil corporations operating in Nigeria continue to garner obscene profits. This happens because these corporations are not paying for the environmental costs of their operations and because ecological debts go unattended to. Local communities have shouldered the burdens while the corporations laugh all the way to the banks secured by their opaque joint venture agreements.

The trend of profits made by oil companies over the past couple of years is very telling. These companies reap profits in the face of whatever woes the world is confronted with.

In 2007 Shell's net profit rose to US$11.56 billion from US$8.67 billion a year earlier.[1] According to reports, Exxon, the world's largest privately-held oil company, reported a 14 per cent rise in profit to a record US$11.68 billion, which was adjudged to be the largest ever for a US corporation. In the first quarter of 2008, Exxon made nearly US$90,000 profit a minute![2]

Today, we expect Shell to declare another big profit, underscoring the fact that the Niger Delta environment is still not receiving the attention it deserves. Spills remain unattended to at Ikarama in Bayelsa State, Ikot Ada Udoh in Akwa Ibom State, Uzere and Iwerekhan in Delta State. Today we demand that they use their ‘profit’ to clean up their mess in the Niger Delta.

The convulsions currently gripping the global system have directly impacted on the economic outlook of Nigeria. Banks and other money-gobbling corporations have begun to bop belly side-up and citizens of the world have been forced to bear the brunt of their profligacy. What we are witnessing may be on a new scale, but certainly it is not a novel thing. We do well to note that crises of capital would always heap the burden on the producer and consumer while the middlemen constrict both and live off their blood.

The major challenge of the Nigerian state is related to the collapse of crude oil revenue from an unprecedented height of about US$150 per barrel to below US$40 barrel. This crash has revealed that behind the cheap piles of petrodollars is the true face of active fingers behind the forces that shape the market. We should quickly note at this point that so-called market forces are not as free as international financial institutions would want the world to believe.

Some Nigerians are equally worried that even the cheap oil that we depend on may soon be set aside due to the real possibility that the world will move on to new alternative energy sources. If that happens and crude oil attracts less attention, what will be the consequence for the Nigerian economy?

While these are legitimate concerns, they also present us with a great opportunity to transform our environment and by extension our economy. And this is why we are making this proposal.

Cheap petrodollars drove us into believing that money was not the problem but merely how to spend it. They drove us into debt and debased our sense of nationhood. Cheap petrodollars turned Nigerian politics into a struggle for the control of the national purse and led to a massive regime of conversion of public funds and properties into private control. That has been the visible meaning of privatisation in our nation. Cheap petrodollars invited the jackboots into Dodan Barracks and into Aso Rock and rocked and overturned every sense of common good and collective ownership in our dear nation.

The drive to maintain the flow of foreign exchange into national coffers made it impossible for the government to see that a safe environment is a basic requirement for citizens to be productive. The government overlooked the fact that in a largely subsistence economic system where the vast proportion of the citizens thrive outside of the formal economy, the first thing that must be secured for national health and productivity is an environment that supports the people's efforts in the areas of family farming and livelihoods. The grave inability to grasp this truth allowed oil companies (national and transnational alike) to operate with impunity in the oil fields and to pollute, destroy and dislocate the very basis of survival of the people in the region. This inevitably spread to the entire nation, since we run a quirky unitary federalism.

We have a clear proposal on how to turn the crises into a real opportunity for breaking from an ignoble system and moving on to a sustainable path. As they say, it will require sacrifice, especially that of jettisoning our firmly held prejudices.

QUENCH THE FLARES

The issue of gas flaring is a burning one that must be addressed once and for all. An estimated 168 billion cubic meters of natural gas is flared yearly worldwide and 13 per cent of this is flared in Nigeria (at about 23 billion cubic meters per year). After years of paying lip service, the Nigerian state must wake up to its responsibilities to protect the lives of Nigerians. The many health impacts of gas flaring are well documented and include: leukaemia, bronchitis, asthma, cancers and other diseases.

In economic terms, Nigeria sends over US$2.5 billion worth of gas up in smoke annually, going by 2005 estimates. If we assume that this rate held good for the last 10 years, we are talking of US$25 billion wasted, and if we extend it to the past 20 years that figure doubles. For each additional year that the government refuses to act in this regard, the amount wasted continues to rise, as does the log of the dead due to the poisonous nature of the gases.

We are worried that at a time when the world is seeking ways to combat global warming we are busy cooking the skies through gas flaring. From pronouncements on climate change emanating from government agencies, it is obvious that the government cannot plead ignorance of the massive contributions of gas flaring to global warming. This places every citizen of this country, and indeed the word, at risk. There can be no excuse for this unhealthy and uneconomic act.

At this point we want to quote a 1963 confidential communication from the British Trade Commissioner to the UK Foreign Office:[3]

‘Shell/BP's need to continue, probably indefinitely, to flare off a very large proportion of the associated gas they produce will no doubt give rise to a certain amount of difficulty with Nigerian politicians, who will probably be among the last people in the world to realise that it is sometimes desirable not to exploit a country's natural resources and who, being unable to avoid seeing the many gas flares around the oilfields, will tend to accuse Shell/BP of conspicuous waste of Nigeria's “wealth”. It will be interesting to see the extent to which the oil companies feel it necessary to meet these criticisms by spending money on uneconomic methods of using gas.

‘In the longer run, Shell/BP is going to have to consider very carefully how it should explain publicly the large outflow of capital that is likely to take place towards the end of the decade... it will no doubt come as something of a shock to Nigerians when they find that the company is remitting large sums of money to Europe. The company will have to counter the criticisms which will very probably be made to the effect that the company is “exploiting” Nigeria by stressing the very large contribution it is making to Nigeria's export earnings.’

From the above quote, it is clear that the oil corporations have been engaged in this action for at least half a century now. The 50-years-old script of pacification by underhand play requires urgent critical political, environmental and socio-economic examination and replacement.

It was not until the 1979 Associated Gas Reinjection Act that routine gas flaring was finally outlawed in Nigeria. Section 3 of the Act set 1984 as the deadline after which companies could only flare gas if they have field(s)-specific, lawfully issued, ministerial certificates. There are over 100 flare sites still emitting a toxic mix of chemicals into the atmosphere in the Niger Delta. Through this obnoxious act the country lost about US$72 billion in revenues for the period 1970–2006, or about US$2.5 billion annually.[4]

The proposal by the Gas Flares Prohibition Bill before the Senate allowing for the penalty for gas flaring to be at the market price of gas being flared is a good intention, but the government must order the immediate stoppage of gas flaring even if it means shutting down the offending oil wells.

DETOXIFY THE LAND

The stoppage of gas flaring will mark a major step towards detoxifying the Niger Delta environment. The other steps are twofold. First is the immediate auditing of all oil spills, produce water handling, drilling mud and cuttings discharges, and other related polluting incidents in the entire Niger Delta. Second to this is the immediate commencement of thorough clean-up of the environment to international standards, such as those set by the World Health Organization (WHO) for safe drinking water and air quality.

These steps will make it possible for the people to farm and fish with a reasonable hope of achieving living incomes from such activities. Life expectancy would also increase beyond the current 41 years, as the environment would once more become people friendly.

NO MORE OIL BLOCKS

Environmental Rights Action (ERA) proposes that Nigeria should learn that there is no future in crude oil as the major revenue earner. We propose that, as a starting point, Nigeria should not make any new oil block concessions. We agree that existing fields should continue to be exploited, but at internationally acceptable standards. Halting the giving out of new oil blocks would not mean a major loss in revenue. To start with, the current lowering of oil prices is also leading to production cuts. This means that the current fields can meet Nigeria's quota for quite some time. Leaving the oil underground does not translate to losses but saving. We must learn to save. The oil under the ground is still our oil. We must not exploit every resource simply because we have it. This is simple wisdom. Nigeria must step back and think!

Generally, it is believed that the world will soon witness a peak in oil production and this will coincide with the world having used more than half of all currently proven reserves.[5] It is already estimated that Nigeria reached her own peak oil level a couple of years ago. Nigeria's production stands at 2 million barrels per day. That is the official figure. The plan to increase this production level to 5.2 million barrels per day by the year 2030 is a thinking that fits our profligate pattern. The country should at this time be working on halting the daily theft of crude oil from the oil fields. That amount which estimates place at between 200,000 to 1,000,000 barrels per day would serve either to boost production or to increase and sustain reserves.

ECONOMIC CONSIDERATIONS

Let us assume that Nigeria would have probably been in a position to increase her crude oil production from 2015 by say 2 million barrels per day from new oil blocks, which we are demanding should not be given out to the bidders. By this simple act, Nigeria would have kept the equivalent tonnes of greenhouse gases out of the atmosphere. This would be a direct measure of curbing global warming through an infallible technology of carbon sequestration. This is a foolproof step that requires no technology transfer and does not require any international treaty or partnership.

If Nigeria were to trade the amount of carbon used through any of the available market mechanisms for tackling climate change, such as the so-called Clean Development Mechanism, the country would surely earn good income from keeping the oil under the ground. But we do not support the use of market mechanisms for this purpose. We would rather suggest the halting of the massive capital flight from Nigeria to boost the economy and offset whatever may be seen as a 'loss' of projected revenue from crude.

But let us do some calculations here, supposing crude oil prices stabilise at US$30 per barrel over the next several years. In that case 2 million barrels per day would mean a daily revenue of US$60 million or an annual income of US$21.9 billion. Now, assuming our population to stand at 140 million, this means that the amount due to each citizen would be US$156.4 per year.

If we factor in production costs (including staff salaries, payment of the military, etc) and company profits, we can safely say that the amount that would get to each citizen would be less than US$156.4 per year.

ERA proposes that rather than exploiting new oil fields with the attendant pollutions, human rights abuses and malformed political system, we should keep oil under the ground and require that every Nigerian pays US$156 per year as a crude oil solidarity fund (for want of a better name). This will bring additional revenues to whatever the country makes from current oil fields, including the corked ones.

ERA recognises that not every Nigerian can afford to pay US$156 per year into the national coffers. We can reasonably expect about 100 million Nigerians to enthusiastically make this payment if the benefits are carefully made public. Those who can pay multiples of the minimum amounts would take up the amount the remaining 40 million Nigerians could not pay. International aid agencies, philanthropists as well as other countries can be approached to symbolically buy some barrels and the entire budgeted income would be met.

Moreover, by 2015 there would be more Nigerians[6] and the burden would thus be less. We also consider that the Naira would regain strength as corruption goes down and as governance becomes more transparent. If that happens, the Naira equivalent of the amount to be contributed by each Nigerian would further decrease. Note that these payments would not need to commence until 2015 and this will give us sufficient time to take caravans around the nation to explain the beauty of this economic move.

Nine-point benefit of no more oil blocks:

1. Carbon capture and storage, thereby tackling climate change
2. No oil spills and gas flares from new oil fields
3. No destruction of communities or high sea environments
4. No socio-economic ills related to oil field activities
5. Nigerians would have a direct stake in how national revenues are spent. There would be greater accountability and transparency. Moreover, hawks would no longer gather for so-called ‘excess crude cash’
6. Halt to the corrupt nature seen in the oil blocks allocation exercises
7. No bunkering since the oil will be left in the ground
8. Safe and clean environment
9. Reduction and ultimately elimination of violent conflicts in the Niger Delta.

It is our considered opinion that the best foot forward for Nigeria is to halt new oil field developments and to leave the oil in the soil.

OIL AT A DEAD END

Decades of oil extraction in Nigeria have translated into billions of dollars that have spelt nothing but misery for the masses of the people. It is time for Nigeria to step back and review the situation into which it has been plunged. The preservation of our environment, the restoration of polluted streams and lands, and the recovery of our dignity will only come about when we stand away from the pull of the barrel of crude oil and understand that the soil is more important to our people than oil.

Oil block licensing has become a bazaar in Nigeria.[7] Huge signing fees are exchanged as though the players in the game were soccer or music stars. This signals the fact that there is something fundamentally faulty about the entire enterprise. This is the time for all Nigerians to demand that no more oil blocks should be given out for exploration or for exploitation. Nigeria was richer through her great agricultural produce before the ascendancy of crude oil as the major foreign exchange earner for the nation. Crude oil brought about crude actions in every realm of national life. ERA is making a modest contribution to give Nigeria a better future by urging the nation to look away from oil and at the same time keep a stable economic platform from where to leap unto greater heights. This will be through agriculture with supporting governmental structures. We must end our decades-old dependence on oil rents that has damaged our national psyche and sense of commitment to nation building.

Let every Nigerian contribute to the national purse. This will make it clear to politicians that when they misappropriate public funds they are indeed stealing from the suffering people. Our life and our future are in our hands.

Notes
[1] http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/07/31/business/oil.php
[2] http://wsws.org/articles/2008/aug2008/oil-a06.shtml This report indicated that ‘The major US oil companies appear headed for a combined $160 billion in profits for 2008. That compares to $123 billion in 2007. Exxon and other oil companies have rewarded their CEOs with multi-billion dollar payouts. Last year Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson cashed in $16.1 million in stock options in addition to his $1.75 million salary. He also received a $3.36 million bonus. Conoco Chairman James Mulva received $31.3 million last year.’
[3] Quoted in ERA/CJP, Gas Flaring in Nigeria: A Human Rights, Environmental and Economic Monstrosity, Amsterdam, June 2005. This booklet can be found at both www.climatelaw.org and at www.eraction.org
[4] ERA Fact Sheet on Gas Flaring, December 2008
[5] Multinational Monitor, The End of Oil (editorial), (Washington: January/February 2007 edition). P. 6. This issue of the Multinational Monitor illustrates, among others, that the ‘Corporate control of energy policy and energy resources, especially in the United States, the country that consumes more energy than any other, is the single greatest obstacle to slow and hopefully reverse the world's headlong rush to disaster.’
[6] At a growth rate of 2.025%. See https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/print/ni.html
[7] New reports abound to show this. See for example, Obinna Ezeobi: FG suspends oil bid rounds, The Punch , Saturday, 23 Aug 2008 at http://www.punchontheweb.com/Articl.aspx?theartic=Art200808231593070

Framework for the Special Tribunal in Kenya

Yash Ghai

2009-02-18

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/54175

cc. DEMOSHWith the ‘Waki’ Commission of Inquiry into Post-Election Violence identifying several politically-prominent figures in Kenya, Yash Ghai argues that the Kenyan people will increasingly regard their government as illegitimate if those responsible are not effectively brought to task. Contending that some form of international arbitration is required to make up for the deficiencies of Kenya’s domestic courts, Ghai considers the recommendations of the commission and the composition of a special tribunal, arguing that these will represent a key means of developing ordinary Kenyans’ trust and restoring the country’s international reputation.

The ‘Waki’ Commission of Inquiry into Post-Election Violence was clear that an essential component of the process for the return to a peaceful and democratic Kenya, where the rule of law is respected, is the trial of persons with most responsibility for the violence. It seems that the list of persons prepared by the Waki Commission for further investigation includes some who are in politically powerful positions, even in the cabinet. Many Kenyans are outraged that these persons still hold important posts and may continue to do so in the future. The ethnic violence that followed the 2007 elections traumatised the whole nation, threatened its unity and led to senses of deep grievance. If those responsible are not brought to justice, the impunity which has characterised Kenya’s political and public life will continue unabated, and the sense of betrayal and of the illegitimacy of the government will become acute.

A compelling reason for an international court, or at least a hybrid court (with significant participation of international judges and prosecutors) for the trials is the weaknesses in the national legal and judicial system. The Kenyan system has the appearance of independence, competence, and effectiveness (at least when compared to Cambodia). But the Waki report points to the lack of political will to prosecute persons in high authority for serious offences, whether illegal appropriations of land, embezzlement of astounding sums of money, incitement to ethnic hatred and violence and killings. The initiation and termination of prosecutions are politically driven, so that when private groups have tried to bring highly placed suspects before the courts, the attorney general has terminated the trials. The judiciary has the reputation of extreme corruption, and subservience to the government. The Commission on the Goldenberg scandal describes how the courts have been used to launder stolen public funds and to whitewash perpetrators of theft. The Waki Commission says, ‘nothing short of comprehensive constitutional reforms will restore the desired confidence and trust in the judiciary’. [p. 463]

Added to the political manipulation of the legal and judicial process are deficiencies in the system, as the attorney general himself admitted to the Waki Commission. Particularly weak is investigative capacity; the commission cites many cases of prolonged delays in investigations. Capacity for the conduct of prosecutions is also weak. The commission concluded, ‘In view of the lack of visible prosecution against perpetrators of politically related violence, the perception has pervaded for sometime now that the Attorney General cannot effectively or at all deal with such perpetrators and this, in our view, has promoted the sense of impunity and emboldened those who peddle their trade of violence during election periods, to continue doing so’. [p. 455]

The commission has provided a number of carefully considered principles for the structure and jurisdiction of the Special Tribunal. If the legislation does not fully implement them, then the commission’s conditions will not have been met and the list of suspects could be handed over to the Special Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court.

This article discusses the recommendations of the commission. Unfortunately, the bill for the tribunal has still not been published, so near the commission deadline for its enactment. The law is not a matter for horse-trading between politicians but of the greatest public interest, and full public discussion of the bill before parliament passes it is essential.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE DESIGN OF THE SPECIAL TRIBUNAL

A SELF-CONTAINED TRIBUNAL

Given the past record of the prosecution and judiciary, the commission recommends that the Special Tribunal should be detached from the other courts and the attorney general. They will have no jurisdiction in relation to the proceedings of the tribunal, which will have its own judges, prosecutor and investigators. Appeals from the tribunal’s Trial Chamber would go to the Appeal Chamber (also part of the tribunal).

INTERNATIONALISATION

A majority of judges would be foreigners, drawn from the Commonwealth, and appointed on the nomination of the Panel of Eminent African Personalities by the President in consultation with the Prime Minister. The prosecutor would be appointed on the nomination of the panel in the same way, and presumably be an outsider qualified to be a judge in a Commonwealth country. Reflecting its hybrid nature, the tribunal will have two Kenyan judges, one presiding over the Trial Chamber and the other the Appeal Chamber. They will be appointed by the president in consultation with the prime minister, both acting on the advice of the chief justice (which means they must accept that advice). The hybrid nature is also reflected in the jurisdiction of the tribunal, covering both Kenyan penal law and international crimes.

INDEPENDENCE

The tribunal will have authority to recruit and control its own staff, which will consist of Kenyan and international persons. Investigations will be conducted under the direction of the tribunal’s prosecutor. The head of investigations and at least three other members of the team will be non-Kenyans ‘so as to provide an independent approach to the investigation function of the Tribunal’. Similarly, having judges and the prosecutor from outside and detached from local politics will enhance independence. The tribunal will take custody of all investigative material and witness statements and testimony collected and recorded by the commission. The commission seeks to ensure non-interference with the tribunal by requiring that holders of public office (including civil servants) who are charged by the tribunal shall be suspended from duty.

CONSTITUTIONAL STATUS

The commission wants the tribunal to be ‘insulated against objections on constitutionality’ by anchoring it in the constitution. It is no doubt concerned that the typical Kenyan ploy, under which culprits in conjunction with lawyers, judges, and the government, conspire to derail important cases or processes, should not be available to subvert the tribunal. The provisions to be entrenched must be carefully drafted, not merely to give the tribunal constitutional status, but to ensure its independence, internationalisation, detachment from the ordinary court and legal processes (specifying, for example, that the attorney general’s powers of investigation and the initiation and termination of prosecutions do not apply in relation to the tribunal). There may also be questions over the retrospective application of the international crimes legislation (dealt with later) although some offences there were also effectively prohibited in Kenya (like torture).

GOOD FAITH AND INTEGRITY

The Special Tribunal is a hybrid, but with a clear twist. In Cambodia if the government were to subvert the purposes of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC), the UN would withdraw. By contrast, if the local process was subverted, the cases would be ‘internationalised’ by reference to the International Criminal Court (ICC). It remains to be seen whether, given Kenya’s political culture, this threat will be sufficient to ensure an honest process at home.

SUPPORTING ENVIRONMENT

The commission recommends three measures to create a supportive environment for the tribunal. To lay the legal foundation for its jurisdiction over crimes against humanity, it wants the speedy enactment of the International Crimes Bill, which was gazetted in April 2008 and appears to have languished since. Secondly, it wants the Freedom of Information Act enacted ‘forthwith’ so that both state and non-state actors can have full access to information leading to the arrest and prosecution of persons responsible for gross violations of the law. Thirdly, it wants the operationalisation of the 2006 Witness Protection Act to ensure protection for informers and witnesses.

These principles provide an effective framework for the tribunal. As is well known, the commission was not allowed time to produce more comprehensive proposals. I discuss below how some of its proposals could have been strengthened and suggest a few others to ensure that the spirit underlying the commission’s recommendations is better reflected.

IMPROVING ON WAKI?

THE APPOINTMENT AND TENURE OF JUDGES

The ultimate decision on the appointment of the Kenyan judges seems to be left to the chief justice. This would be unfortunate, for in practice the initial and the ultimate decision would be the president’s, leaving little discretion for the prime minister or chief justice. To overcome the problem of a chief justice who is widely perceived to be allied to the president, and a Judicial Service Commission which is heavily under the influence of its official members, the rule could be revised to require the chief justice to send the president names of three persons for each chamber, in consultation with other members of the Court of Appeal. Preferably the Kenyan judges should be drawn from senior practitioners, rather than serving judges.

In principle, the role of the president, prime minister and the chief justice should be minimised as each might, in different ways, be deemed implicated in, and share in the responsibility for, the chaos that followed the elections.

The tenure of judges should be specified for the duration of the tribunal. Provision should be made for removal for misconduct, with the determination to be made by a tribunal constituted of Commonwealth judges appointed by the panel. There should also be immunities and other privileges of judges (and other tribunal staff).

FUNDING OF THE TRIBUNAL

Such tribunals tend to be expensive, and the source of funds also affects the independence of the tribunal. No doubt the usual donors and lenders will assist, and it is to be hoped that funds will be sufficient and timely. In particular, the salaries and expenses of foreign judges and staff should be provided from such sources.

LEGAL REPRESENTATION

The commission envisages a defence component of the tribunal but is short on detail. The tribunal should be allowed funds to set up a defence office or provide payment to lawyers chosen by the accused. Unfortunately, no scheme of official legal aid exists, despite a long standing constitutional requirement. Also, in keeping with the internationalisation of the tribunal, foreign lawyers briefed by the accused should be permitted to represent them.

TRIBUNAL’S JURISDICTION

Jurisdiction is restricted to ‘serious crimes, particularly crimes against humanity, related to the 2007 election violence’. It is necessary to specify the jurisdiction clearly (at least as elaboration of ‘serious crimes’, such as murder, rape and other sexual violations, torture, forced disappearances, massive destruction of property – most of these are to be found in Kenya’s penal laws). Crimes comprehended by the concept of ‘crimes against humanity’ are well understood now (and the International Crimes Bill adopts the definition in the statute of the ICC). But that bill is not yet law, and even when it is, its application could be challenged on the grounds of retrospectivity. It is therefore all the more important to clarify that Kenyas’s penal laws covering charges of the ‘serious crimes’ mentioned above are made applicable.

Jurisdiction in respect of persons (‘persons bearing the greatest responsibility for serious crimes’) also needs to be specified. The tribunal will start with a list of potential accused and the evidence against them collected by the commission, but the tribunal should be free to investigate others. But only the most reprehensible persons should, additionally, be charged, in order to bring the trial to closure within a reasonable time. Kenya cannot afford the luxury of the trials going on and on. Among the suspects are leading politicians and the early determination of responsibility and remedial action are essential for peace, stability and justice. The law on the tribunal should specify that the ordinary process of investigation and prosecution should apply after the tribunal process ends.

EFFECTIVE INTERNATIONALISATION

In Cambodia and other instances of hybrid tribunals, the role of the international community, particularly the UN, has been crucial. The ‘international’ status of the tribunal comes from its association with the Panel of Eminent African Personalities headed by Kofi Annan. The commission urges that its recommendations should be implemented under the auspices of the panel, and, in addition, gives it specific tasks (as in the appointment of judges and prosecutors). Oversight by the panel should be expressly stated in the law. The panel in turn should be free to use such institutions as it deems appropriate to discharge its responsibilities.

MONITORING AND AUDITS

Monitoring by local and international NGOs and UN audits have played an important role in the accountability of the Cambodian tribunal. This is also important here, and should be provided in the law.

FINAL OBSERVATIONS

It is imperative that the government and parliament get a proper and credible system in place, for a great deal depends on it. Quite apart from dispelling the reputation we have established abroad for violence, impunity and unprincipled politicians, we have also to convince Kenyans of the ability and willingness of political parties to end impunity and to punish those who place the security of the people and the integrity of the country at risk. And we have a chance to learn through the participation of foreign judges, prosecutors and investigators, how a proper criminal justice works. Over the years, as we have so shamelessly politicised our legal system that not only have people lost all confidence in it, but the government and the judiciary have forgotten the professional competence, skills, and integrity necessary for a just and effective legal system.

* Yash Ghai is a professor of constitutional law. He is the head of the Constitution Advisory Support Unit of the United Nations Development Programme in Nepal and a Special Representative of the UN secretary general in Cambodia on human rights.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org/.

Demons in paradise

Fernando Gamboa

2009-02-18

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/54176

cc. Bert van DijkIn an emotive piece about a country largely distant in the world’s consciousness, Fernando Gamboa discusses the entrenched hold of the brutal Obiang dictatorship in Equatorial Guinea. Underlining the relentless ability of the presidential clan to systematically plunder the central African nation’s abundant natural resources, Gamboa evokes the shocking practices of torture and robbery imposed upon a long-suffering populace. Situating the country’s demise in Spain’s rushed decolonisation process of 1968, the author appeals to the cultural unity of contemporary Spaniards and Equatoguineans, with a view to fostering greater awareness and international pressure to undermine tacit global support for uncompromising oppression.

For those that don’t know me, my name is Fernando Gamboa. A few months ago I finished a new adventure novel entitled ‘Guinea’ which goes on sale through Ediciones El Andén this October.

The goal of this article is my wish to share with the greatest number of people possible – and not simply those likely to purchase the novel – all that I’ve learnt over the months of investigation prior to writing the book. What I detail below, for all that it may seem exaggerated or tendentious (when not simply incredible), is entirely true and can be verified by the sources I cite.

Few may be familiar with the name ‘Equatorial Guinea’, and very few would be able to locate it on a map of Africa. Fewer still would remember that, until exactly 40 years ago, Equatoguineans were Spanish citizens like anybody from Alicante or Cádiz. In those times Equatorial Guinea was a Spanish province found in Africa’s Gulf of Guinea; ‘the Pearl of Africa’, it was known as.

Today, four decades after its independence, under the dictatorial yoke of Obiang Nguema’s family and operating at the pleasure of great powers whose companies freely exploit its oil and timber resources, Equatorial Guinea has emerged as one of the most underdeveloped and corrupt countries in the world, with the Equatoguinean people one of the most terrorised at the hands of its own government.

With twenty-nine years in power following the assassination of the former president – his own uncle, no less – the current President Teodoro Obiang Nguema has systematically plundered, robbed and assassinated to inconceivable extremes, amassing a fortune that makes him one of the world’s richest men in one of Africa’s poorest countries. Host to one of the continent’s largest reserves of petrol resources, strictly speaking it could not be said that the country in itself is poor, with the benefits of this reserve going directly to the current regime in the form of thousands of millions of euros. The Obiang family pockets absolutely all of what foreign governments and oil companies pay (North American and Chinese above all) for extraction rights.

For all that this may seem untrue, in reality the Obiang family goes even further than seizing such huge sums of money, also dedicating itself to the theft of private property (the family has appropriated approximately half of the country’s constructible land without paying a single cent) and salaries (many workers pay a significant part of what they earn to the Obiang familiy). Many businesses are likewise obliged to pay the government or the Obiang family (which are effectively the same thing), whose boundless shame reaches the point of capriciously stripping impoverished compatriots of any asset with impunity and without any justification whatsoever.

Teodoro Obiang and his clan govern the country as though slave masters at a ranch. Equatorial Guinea’s citizens are in their eyes mere slaves at their beck and call, with the country a private estate to be plundered at will.

Despite the flow of money pulsing from this unhappy corner of Africa, the country’s inhabitants currently have no sanitation, education, security or justice. For example, in the face of any medical emergency the sole option is to attend the Hospital de Malabo, and only under the condition that one can provide payment for the stay and treatment in advance, as well as bringing everything necessary for said stay and treatment (and by everything, I mean everything: from syringes or whatever medication is required, to a mattress, sheets and food). Without carrying on too much, when I was in Equatorial Guinea a few years ago, in order to carry out a blood test for my partner the only means of extraction was a cut on the hand with a piece of crystal.

Shocking as it may be, this is really only the beginning, and certainly not the worst of it.

What has made Teodoro Obiang (known as ‘The Boss’ or ‘El Jefe’) and his acolytes not only robbers, if not dangerous criminals, is the politics of arbitrary detention, dubious imprisonment, torture and assassinations inflicted upon their own citizens. Over the course of its time in power, it has been calculated that the Teodoro Obiang government has exterminated no less than 10 per cent of the country’s population, while an undetermined number of people have simply disappeared or been illegally imprisoned without trial.

According to the most recent Amnesty International report, those detained by the police and the regime are systematically tortured with brutal methods such as mutilations, the breaking of bones, rape, electrical equipment attached to genitals, and – attention – sticking forks into the vaginas of female prisoners.

And for those with a taste for impartial figures and statistics, here are a few:

- Equatorial Guinea produces 400,000 barrels of oil each day.
- The country exports almost 1,000,000 cubic metres of tropical wood every year.
- While its per capita income puts it at no. 38 in the world ranking (higher than Kuwait or Saudi Arabia), it occupies no. 121 in the UN’s Human Development Index.
- The country is at 151 of 20,163 in corruption according to Transparency International.
- Life expectancy is only 43.3 years, according to Amnesty International.
- The governmental elite commands around 98 per cent of national income.
- 8 per cent of the population lives on less than 20 euros per month.
- The Obiang government has turned the country into the drug-trafficking centre of west Africa.
- Teodoro Obiang won the previous election with 99.5 per cent of the total vote. The 13 authorised political parties were formed by members of the government.
- In a recent visit to the US, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice described Obiang as a ‘good friend’.
- In July of 2003, state radio announced that ‘The president is a god in permanent contact with the almighty, and can kill without fear of going to hell as he is God himself.’

PERSONAL COMMENTS

What makes this shame even more painful for me personally is that the Equatoguinean people, one of the kindest, most hospitable and generous that I’ve known, has been, as I mentioned at the beginning of this article, and integral part of the Spanish state. The hurried and careless process of decolonisation of the country overseen by the Spanish in 1968 is at the heart of the inadmissible suffering endured by today’s Equatoguineans and which we regard today with complete indifference and disaffection.

But it should be remembered that Equatoguineans don’t simply continue to speak Spanish, but also that many of their customs, celebrations and traditions remain the same as our own. Their children sing the same songs as ours at school, their jokes are the same, and even their swearwords are the same as ours. They are, simply speaking, our forgotten cousins and a part of our family that we have ignored and in whose unwarranted suffering we have been accomplices.

Because in all probability, as you read this article, an elderly women suffering from malaria will be calling out for a doctor that will never arrive, while a child asks about the whereabouts of his disappeared parents. While brutally raped and tortured in a police station, a woman will be imploring God to kill her.

And each day, Equatorial Guinea sinks a little further into darkness.

Each day, our ignorance leaves further culpable.

Each day matters.

Somebody once said that ‘The only thing evil needs to triumph is that the good do nothing.’

Perhaps this represents a good moment to find out the sort of men and women we are.

And I guess you’re saying to yourself: ‘Well alright, but what can I do? This is all far from me.’ The truth is that, unfortunately, you’re on the wrong track.

Equatorial Guinea is the victim of an oil curse, and as you can imagine, states like China, the US and France will do everything in their power to keep Obiang in their pocket and thus ensure a reliable supply of crude oil for their oil companies. So it will be very difficult to changes things quickly in the maltreated yet beautiful Guinea.

And yet, there is something we can do for these people: spread the word.

These dictators only sustain themselves thanks to the rest of the world’s ignorance of their actions. The more of us there are aware of what goes on and why, the greater the chance there is that one day in the not-too-distant future there will be a sufficient number of us to say ‘enough’. Only when both our own and others’ politicians feel the shame that comes from the murders perpetrated by Obiang, and discover that cuddling up to dictators who regard the most of basic human rights as a political cost to be paid by their voters, will we see things change and be able to expel once and for all these demons from paradise.

But this article is but a first step; now it is up to you to spread the word yet further. If you think that this struggle makes sense and want to deposit your grain of sand, send this message to all you know. Thank you for your time and your help.

* Fernando Gamboa is a Spanish writer whose latest novel 'Guinea' is published by Ediciones El Andén. This article was originally titled ‘Demonios en el Paraíso’.
* Translated from the Spanish by Alex Free.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org/.

How Liberia subsidises the Super Bowl

Does The Boss approve?

Gerald Caplan

2009-02-18

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/54180

cc. Stygian GloomAs he laments Bruce ‘The Boss’ Springsteen’s willingness to cuddle up to the Bridgestone tyre corporation and mega-market Wal-Mart, Gerald Caplan explores the exploitative history of Bridgestone and its Firestone subsidiary in Liberia. Alluding to many African countries’ ‘double jeopardy’ in the shape of avaricious leaders and self-interested rich-country policies, Caplan discusses the outrageous working demands imposed upon Firestone’s rubber-tappers, demands which often see workers obliged to draft in unpaid family members in order to fulfil quotas. With the company largely impervious to the campaign of elected union leaders to improve working conditions, the author highlights the struggle of the Stop Firestone Coalition for greater labour equity.

President Obama's quixotic crusade against the ugly face of capitalism has more loopholes than restrictions and will prove a mere nuisance to America's army of greedmongers. Thanks to the unprecedented generosity of government, in which they don't believe but which they are thrilled to loot, these guys have continued to make themselves rich far beyond the dreams of avarice.
It's reassuring to have been reminded over the past decade that not terrorism, not war, not natural disaster, not economic meltdown, nothing, it appears, is allowed to interfere with the natural right of America's filthy rich to further self-enrichment.

The myth of corporate social responsibility is exposed for the PR exercise it's mostly been. Even those companies that might actually pay some attention to the environment or provide childcare can be counted on to be part of mega-lobbies demanding lower corporate taxes, opposing higher minimum wages, and undermining the right to unionise.

Take, for example, the giant Bridgestone corporation, maker of Firestone tyres and the largest tyre and rubber company in the world. According to its website, the company’s vision includes being a ‘leading corporate citizen in all of our communities’, and among its values is ‘treat[ing] all people with dignity and respect’. Well, not quite all communities and people.

One of Bridgestone's big PR coups was a recent deal with the National Football League to be ‘the first official tire of the NFL’. On Sunday 1 February, Bridgestone sponsored the half-time show at the Super Bowl, a coup within a coup. That presumably included Bruce ‘The Boss’ Springsteen’s fab 12-minute set. This surprised some fans of Springsteen, already feeling let down when he made a deal with Wal-Mart to be the exclusive peddler of his new greatest hits CD. Wal-Mart doesn't exactly have such a great reputation for treating its workers the way The Boss wants workers treated. So how come he didn't care about how Bridgestone makes a good chunk of its very considerable profits?

Which brings us to the tiny west African nation of Liberia, number 175 of 179 on the UN's development index, where Bridgestone is the largest employer. I have long argued that Africa's people have been cursed by the twin scourges of rapacious leaders and the destructive policies and activities of rich countries. This is true of Rwanda, Congo, Zimbabwe and South Africa – to name just those making bad news at the moment. Liberia is another perfect example of this calamitous double jeopardy.

Firestone's concession in Liberia is the world's second-largest rubber plantation. Its rubber-tappers collect sap from rubber trees, which is shipped to a Bridgestone/Firestone plant in Nashville, Tennessee, where it's used to make tyres. Way back in 1926, in return for generous considerations, the tiny African elite that ran the country bestowed on Firestone a 99-year lease. For the next 80 years, through corrupt authoritarian rule, military dictatorships, vicious civil war and ethnic cleansing, Firestone made its vast plantation a Hobbesian universe. Think of any wretched African scene you've seen on TV – appalling living and working conditions, miserable crowded shacks with no running water, electricity or sanitation, and with rubber-tappers working like dogs in fields covered with hazardous chemicals and pesticides in return for a barely liveable wage – and you'll get the picture.

According to Dan Adomitis, president of the Firestone Natural Rubber Company, each tapper spends a couple of minutes at each tree and taps some 650 trees a day. The math’s not very complicated. It means a 21-hour day. If you don't make your quota, your daily pay of US$3.19 is cut in half. To make their number, tappers recruit their wives and kids, who of course are not paid.

For most of the 20th century, Liberia was an American neocolony. Firestone's arrangement was duly protected by the US navy. The US trained the Liberian army, which fought 23 brutal wars against local uprisings in those years, with the US intervening directly on the army's behalf in nine of them. In the last 25 years, the US backed the brutal Sergeant Sam Doe and the coolly psychopathic Charles Taylor. A quarter of a million people were killed and a million displaced.

Three years go, the indomitable Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf won a genuinely fair presidential election and took over her profoundly failed state. Many things changed. Six months ago, the 4,700 Bridgestone/Firestone workers held the first free union election, dumped their company union, elected independent union leaders, and signed a new contract. While seriously flawed, it called for a reduced, less inhumane quota level as well as health and safety improvements. Firestone, which has fought the union every step of the way, often brutally, has failed to implement many of these rudimentary changes. The Stop Firestone Coalition is trying to draw attention to the ongoing struggle for fairness.

David Zirin, one of the world's few sportswriters who digs deeply into the political economy of sports, asked this question in the Los Angeles Times before the January, 2008, Super Bowl: ‘Should the NFL be offering an international platform to a company accused of using child labour and refusing to bargain with a union whose leadership was democratically elected?’ I guess the answer was ‘Yes’, since the league is still doing it. Should The Boss be party to this arrangement? Should the 151 million viewers of Super Bowl XLIII care? Will you ever buy a tyre from Bridgestone/Firestone again?

* Gerald Caplan’s latest work is The Betrayal of Africa. This article was originally published in the Globe and Mail.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org/.

Nairobi’s ‘Glass House’ experience and post-election IDPs

Caroline Mose

2009-02-18

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/54186

cc. Caroline MoseBeginning by reviewing the circumstances behind Kenya’s 2007 post-election crisis, Caroline Mose discusses the role of an alternative radio station-led initiative in Nairobi to draw attention to the plight of the country’s internally displaced persons (IDPs). Underlining the social role of Hiphop as a tool of consciousness, Mose considers the significance of Ghetto Radio FM’s ‘Glass House' experience, a six-day event staged at Nairobi’s Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC) in which three radio MCs took turns to broadcast continuously with only a daily glass of carrot juice for sustenance. Highlighting the historical marginalisation of much of Kenya’s youth, the author emphasises the ability of the Glass House experience’s participants to force the government into direct contact with the country’s IDPs, and success in driving a conveniently-forgotten issue back into Kenya’s collective memory.

One of the ‘darkest’ periods in the history of the Republic of Kenya was witnessed just after the December 2007 presidential election, an election that saw Raila Odinga of the Orange Democratic Party (ODM) take on incumbent Mwai Kibaki of the Party of National Unity (PNU) in a closely contested poll. The poll turned out to be flawed however, with claims of rigging and violent episodes in poll centres around the country. The Electoral Commission of Kenya (ECK) was accused of tampering with ballot returns. On the evening of 29 December, and after days of delayed results, Mwai Kibaki was hastily declared winner by the then ECK Chairperson Samuel Kivuitu in a small room at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC) in central Nairobi with only state-owned Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) in attendance. Moments later, Mwai Kibaki was sworn in as president of the republic, paving way to weeks of first, anti-Kibaki protests thwarted by police, then violence and the displacement of people from all over the country. Thousands were killed violently, spurred on by the ODM’s assertion that Raila had won, and PNU’s stance that Kibaki was the legitimate president.

At day’s end, 1,000 lay dead and more than 600,000 were displaced from their homes nationwide. Kenyans themselves believe the number of the dead might have been between 3,000 and 5,000, with many of these undeclared and unknown, left rotting in the remote countryside, and in the no-go areas that urban slums, especially those in Nairobi, had become. Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan brokered a peace deal that saw, if anything, a fragile and uneasy power-sharing government formed. The nation tried to get over what is now quietly referred to as ‘postelection’ and pick up the tattered threads the violence had wreaked, but the internally displaced, now living in camps, were a constant reminder of ‘postelection’, especially when the coalition government was seen to be doing nothing to address their plight.

Several government-initiated schemes were formulated in mid-2008, including ‘Operation Rudi Nyumbani’ (Operation Return Home) which sought to resettle IDPs (internally displaces persons) in their former homes and did not work. Many IDPs said they could not return to these homes due to the insecurity that had crystallised largely as a result of ‘postelection’ ethnic divisions. To date, IDPs still live in utter poverty in camps around the country, surviving on handouts. Some, forcibly removed from certain camps, have found temporary refuge in slums, especially those in Nairobi. This article seeks to comment on how, a year later, a select group of popular culture figures in Nairobi reiterated the plight of IDPs through an alternative radio station-led initiative.

ENTER HIPHOP

Hiphop is a global culture with origins in Africa and America. Its ancient form was practiced by griots and soothsayers in Africa, while its modern form was perfected by African immigrants and descendants of slaves living in the ghettos of New York in the 1970s. These immigrants took up Hiphop as a protest voice against racism, inequality, crime, police brutality and poverty. In the 1990s, modern Hiphop was appropriated by mostly urban youth in Africa, especially those living in slums and ghettos, as a protest voice against the very same issues that their New York counterparts had tackled.

Despite its commercialisation, pure Hiphop remains a tool of consciousness, especially in Nairobi, where it is called ‘underground Hiphop’. Mainly taken up by young artists, underground Hiphop, locked out from mainstream radio, has found a medium of expression through alternative radio stations like Koch FM (based in Korogocho slum, the third largest in Nairobi) and Ghetto Radio FM. These alternative FM stations address issues from the slums and ghettos of Nairobi through various slum-based reporters, and through taking music requests from listeners living in slums and ghettos.

Between 19 and 24 December 2008, nearly one year to the day after ‘postelection’, Ghetto Radio FM staged ‘Serious Request: On the Run, but not Outta Sight’, a six-day event that was popularly described as ‘The Glass House’ experience. In this event, three radio MCs from the station entered a glass house constructed on the grounds of KICC and spent the entire six days inside the enclosure, fasting and broadcasting live to remind the nation that IDPs were still displaced and living lives of poverty all over the country. The three, Angela ‘Angel’ Wainaina [Editor: who since sadly died in January’s tragic Nakumatt fire], Muki Garang and Rapcha the Scientist took turns sleeping and broadcasting continuously for the six days, only drinking a glass of carrot juice once every day to prevent dehydration. Muki is an independent rapper and activist, Rapcha is best known for his role as ‘Lambert’ in popular television programme ‘Vioja Mahakamani’ (Drama in the Courtroom), while Angel boasts the title of Kenya’s first female MC. Both Angel and Muki work with Ghetto Radio, the former as a presenter and the latter as reporter for the radio’s website. Generally, the Glass House Experience was being carried out in three different countries, and its aim was to highlight the plight of IDPs and refugees worldwide. In Kenya, there was deeper interest in highlighting the plight of IDPs, whose number had shot up by leaps and bounds after the post-election violence.


cc. Caroline MoseDuring each day, the three presenters attracted crowds of IDPs and people living in ghettos and slums, playing their requests and interviewing them, and during the night, they took telephone and text message requests from hundreds of listeners, both in Nairobi and upcountry, asking them to include a caption that had a message for the IDPs and refugees. On many occasions during the day, the crowds outside the glass house were entertained by several Hiphop artists, and watched them being interviewed inside the enclosure. Broadcasting equipment, turntables and the presenters themselves were clearly visible through the glass walls of the enclosure. I happened to have a close-up view of the proceedings in the glass house through daily attendance of the day-events, and through telephone interviews with Muki Garang.

THE GLASS HOUSE – IDPs, GOVERNMENT AND IMPLICATIONS

The Glass House experience had several political and social implications that spoke directly to the post-election violence that rocked the country, and the ensuing peace deal that gave birth to the present coalition government.

First and foremost, the presenters are all popular culture figures through Hiphop and theatre. This in itself is an endorsement of popular culture as moving away from a sphere of mere entertainment into more socially-conscious movements that seek to provide solutions to societal challenges, and at the least, offer a space for debate regarding these challenges. Furthermore, the use of alternative radio is testament of the extent to which Hiphop has influenced its growth and established itself in the arena of national discourse. The three presenters went without eating food for the six days, a gesture of solidarity with IDPs, most of whom starve, or go for days without having anything to eat. This gesture alone served to create empathy in listeners and observers who were curious to see if the presenters would make it through the six days without ‘breaking’.

Second, the link between ‘youth’ and ‘postelection’ cannot be ignored. It is no secret that many of those who took up arms and participated in riots and violence were predominantly the country’s youth; loosely, those between 15 and up to about 40 years of age. However, the context and history of Kenya’s youth must also be taken into consideration. Kenya ranks one of the highest in inequality indices, with the gap between rich and poor being phenomenal. The majority of the country’s youth remain jobless and unable to eke out a decent if dignified living, despite a huge number of them being graduates of colleges and universities. Some of these turn to crime and violence in order to restore a sense of dignity, though politicians have often honed the youth-for-hire habit into a fine skill. History shows that from independence, all political regimes and their corresponding politicians have repeated formed youth gangs as political instruments, including various ‘majeshi’ (armies) to the present-day Mungiki, an organised group that has continually controlled public transport routes in the country, and used violence and gruesome murder to silence their enemies. Thus the Glass House Experience, carried out by youth, was a refreshing and symbolic gesture that while youth is seen as prone to violence and crime, they can participate in social justice causes as well. Muki reiterated this in a short interview, saying that it was time for young people to reverse the trends of history, and take charge of positively impacting Kenyan society in place of destroying it at the behest of politicians, as was the case during the post-election violence.

Third, the Glass House experience was broadcast live from the Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC), in itself a highly symbolic and even defiant gesture. It must be remembered that during the Moi regime, the KICC was considered the ruling Kenya African National Union (KANU) party’s personal property. Following the end of Moi’s rule, KANU was forcibly ejected from the centre by the new NAtional Rainbow Coalition (NARC) government in an acrimonious process. While the NARC government refurbished the centre and turned it into an enviable asset, the newly appointed Government Spokesperson Alfred Mutua started to broadcast frequent government briefings that were quickly regarded as cheap government propaganda. During the 2007 election, the KICC was the centre at which the ECK received poll results from constituencies in the country and then released them to a waiting press. It is from the KICC that Kivuitu announced Kibaki’s contentious win, days after delayed and irregular ballot counting. It is from the KICC that the government planned to quell peaceful protests against this ‘stolen victory’ through deploying General Service Unit (GSU) personnel, blocking off Uhuru Park for weeks on end. Uhuru Park is adjacent to parliament and the KICC, and was where ODM politicians and supporters had planned on having protest rallies to demand a transparent recount of votes cast. And, it is from the KICC that Ghetto Radio broadcast the plight of IDPs for those six days, attracting crowds from ghettos and slums of the city. In this way, the event brought ‘government’ closer to the people, for inspection and critique.

Fourth, during these six days, various personalities came in person to be interviewed. Among these were upcoming and established underground and independent Hiphop artists. These spoke on various issues of social justice, including what they thought the government should be doing with regards to the ‘IDP problem’ in the country. Brought up frequently was the contentious problem of land and irregular land allocation practices in Kenya. Some of those interviewed, plus those who spoke live just outside the glass studio, agreed that the issue of land in Kenya must be addressed, pointing out that the bulk of fertile land is owned by politicians. In the same vein, a member of parliament for Starehe Constituency, Margaret Wanjiru, also came for an interview, and those present came and watched her through the glass walls as she asked her colleagues in parliament to provide security for IDPs currently living in hostile areas, to allow for IDP camps to exist as workable solutions and finally, to increase the proposed KSh10,000 allocation to IDPs as resettlement payments.

Fifth, during the six days, there were food giveaways for women with children. This was also highly symbolic given the current food crisis in Kenya. Basic maize flour is unaffordable for most people, and is too expensive due to rising food costs. Maize is the staple food in Kenya, the highly nutritious and energy giving ugali a delicacy for practically all ethnic groups. Ugali is made from maize flour. There have been protests in the country due to the rising un-affordability of this staple. The minister for agriculture unveiled a new, 5-kilo bag of cheaper maize flour in December 2008, but this is yet to reach the people. Thus, the giving away to women with children of maize flour and sugar by the presenters was another symbolic gesture, and no less because this was done at the KICC. During a daytime broadcast hosted by Muki Garang, one woman came forward to collect her bag of maize flour and sugar and was briefly interviewed. She said she was an IDP living in a Nairobi camp, and had come to KICC because she had heard about the free giveaways on radio. She was, she said, going to make some porridge for her children. This was a key highlight of that day, demonstrating that the Glass House Experience was, indeed, achieving its aim and emphasising the plight of IDPs in the country.

The Glass House Experience in its totality worked to bring back the ‘forgotten’ issue of the 2007 post-election violence and internally displaced persons back onto the country’s collective memory. Many of these displaced people live in abject poverty, waiting for handouts from well-wishers, their futures uncertain. In and of itself, this is a human rights issue, for these are people whose very dignity as human beings has been stripped, contravening the tenets of the Universal Declaration. As such, only political will can resolve the issue of IDPs in Kenya, starting with the prosecution of the instigators of the election violence, named in Justice Waki’s report on the violence. As it is, some of these instigators are said to sit in present government, making the situation of these IDPs very uncertain. But even as the future looks uncertain, Hiphop culture seems to say that it will not allow the nation to forget, and the Glass House Experience certainly seems testament to this.

* Caroline Mose is a PhD candidate at the School of Oriental and African Studies.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org/.

Crisis resolution through learning history’s lessons

Vondrona Miralenta ho an’ny Fampandrosoana (VMLF)

2009-02-18

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/54184

cc. DanIn the wake of Madagascar’s political crisis, Vondrona Miralenta ho an’ny Fampandrosoana (VMLF) calls for a coalition of interests to transcend party differences for the greater good of the stability of the country and the livelihoods of its population. Pointing the finger of blame at all those fighting over previous weeks, the organisation calls upon political parties to renounce false, self-aggrandising declarations and work towards achieving the effective decentralisation of power and preparations for future municipal and presidential elections.

We, members of the Vondrona Miralenta ho an’ny Fampandrosoana (VMLF) association working to promote women’s increased political participation in Madagascar, are outraged and grieving because our sons, daughters, sisters, brothers and friends have been slaughtered.

We express our deepest sorrow and concern about the loss of human lives and the deadlock in the life of our nation. In the face of this tragic bloodshed, we affirm that it is utterly inappropriate to take sides with any particular force, and we call on all stakeholders to uphold the nation’s interest over any party consideration.

Therefore, to the best of our knowledge and belief, and with as much serenity as possible, we declare that the forces which had been fighting over the last few weeks share the responsibility for the present disaster.

The recent history of Madagascar has demonstrated that political practices characterised by power struggles among politicians, a democratic deficit, corrupted governance, social injustice, the protection of private interests at the expense of public interest, and the instrumentalisation of the population through demagogic propositions have led our country into successive crises. It is the same process which brought about the political crises of 1972, 1991, 2002, and the current crisis.

We are determined to contribute to change in political practices and governance in Madagascar, and we affirm that the following principles must be the minimum basis for the code of conduct of political leaders, whether they are in power or in the opposition:

- Renounce declarations that provide false information and create confusion, fear or unreasoned hatred among the population
- Listen to the minority(ies), out of respect for the freedom of opinion, even if one has been elected by a majority (which always remains relative anyway)
- Respect the separation between the management of public affairs and religious and private economic activities.

The resolution of the present crisis requires the immediate creation of a totally neutral and independent body that will be tasked with the establishment of a transitional institution that will be in charge of:

- Undertaking the necessary reforms of the constitution and electoral code
- Designing mechanisms that can guarantee the separation of the executive, legislative and judicial powers in order to prevent attempts to accumulate power in the hands of a single individual or party
- Ensuring the effectiveness of the decentralisation process, by sharing responsibilities with each and every decentralised entity and providing them with the means to discharge these responsibilities
- Preparing and organising elections, which will start as soon as feasible at the municipal level and end with the presidential elections
- Ensuring gender equality, that is an equitable and balanced representation of women and men in decision making at all levels, in order to compensate for our slow progress (Madagascar ranks at the bottom end of SADC figures in terms of the percentage of women in parliament).

For all these deaths not to have been in vain, we must adopt sound political practices and we must change in order to move towards a society that is more progressive, more tolerant and more equitable.

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

Voices of African women

Marie-Claire Faray-Kele and the Women's International League for Peace (WILPF)

2009-02-18

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/54185

cc. Brice BlondelSurveying the plethora of problems faced by women in Africa, Marie-Claire Faray-Kele and the Women's International League for Peace (WILPF) argue that while divided in the diversity of their backgrounds, African women are united in their collective voice. Highlighting the detrimental role of spurious assumptions about ‘tradition’ in preventing women from speaking for themselves, the authors state that overcoming gender inequality represents the key solution for tackling poverty on the continent and allowing the wisdom of Africa’s women to be harnessed.

Marie-Claire Faray-Kele and the Women's International League for Peace (WILPF)

This paper is a simple compilation aiming to raise the general voices of many grassroots African women. References are included to provide links for further reading and research.

THE POSITION OF WOMEN IN AFRICA

In several African countries, women represent the majority of the population.[1] Responsible for the daily survival of their communities, they have played a significant role in the movements for independence from the colonial and apartheid minority governments[2] and they have a crucial role yet to play in Africa’s future.

Women, of course, are not all the same. They are individuals, with distinctive educational, class, religious and linguistic backgrounds. And yet, people often define themselves and are defined by the communities to which they belong. While it is impossible to speak of ‘African women’ as if they were a readymade collective, one story which consistently emerges about these women and makes their voice a collective voice is that they have been central to building peaceful communities and to rebuilding those societies ravaged by conflict and war.[3][4][5][6] Furthermore, they also share in common gender discrimination, gender-based violence and exclusion.[7][8][9][10]

African women continue to be absent from decision-making tables for the governance of Africa even though on the political front, more women are members of parliaments across Africa today than ever before.[1][11][12][13] This invisibility of women is in spite of numerous commitments made by several African countries towards international instruments such as the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)[14], the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPFA)[15], United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 (UNSCR)[16] and regional instruments including the Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Women[17] and the African Union Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality.[18]

Many African women representing grassroots movements, activists, parliamentarians, councillors, scholars and mothers, from north, east, west and southern Africa are disappointed with their governments. which have mortgaged their futures as well as that of their children without their having a say in the matter.[3][4] Women want to have more say in the governance and development of Africa.[3][4][5]

Recognising their common plight, many African women have put aside their religious, political and tribal differences and are making an effort to work together. They are taking responsibility by rising above clan politics to build strong movements which not only inform the peace process, but also provide much needed social services.[4][6][13][20] These include: health care, revenue generating activities, environmentally friendly activities, support to other women and elderly people and education for children.[4][6] This is particularly the case in failed states or war-ravaged countries.[11]

A GLANCE AT THE AFRICAN CONTINENT

The African continent is a diverse cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious and linguistic region,[21] rich in human and natural resources. Africa has contributed greatly to humanity, with great civilisations and a rich legacy to the world in many fields of language, music, arts, medicine and mathematics.[21][22][23]

It must be remembered that the African continent is vast. Individual countries are very different in size and population. Some countries are rich in minerals, others are not. Some have one or two predominant ethnic or religious groups; others have myriad groups, and hence potentially conflicting social and political interests.[21] The level of poverty and underdevelopment varies from one country to the next. And conflict does not affect all of Africa’s countries nor indeed can all conflict zones be similar. The continent is not just a huge war zone where development has failed to take place and which is now being mined by new economic interests. In order to understand Africa’s nature, complexity and challenges, it is important to understand both its regional dimensions as well as the individual realities of each country.

Indeed, the recent history of Africa includes slavery, colonialism, the Cold War, dictatorship, economic debts, unfair trade, natural resources exploitation and the illicit arms trade, all causing many conflicts, violence and human rights abuses.[21] These factors, in conjunction with the collapse of the infrastructure of many states, and the failure of these states to form equitable and answerable governments, have contributed significantly to population displacement, disease and famines, as well as to the mass migration of populations and to the underdevelopment of many African countries. [24][25][26]

The African Union (AU) as a collective body of states was granted the powers and the right to intervene in any of its member states for humanitarian purposes, and has established an African Standing Force. It has gradually been developing its capabilities to engage fully in the problems that are plaguing the continent, ensuring new mechanisms for conflict resolution.[27] However, in the 21st century, although governance is improving in some African countries, Africa is the only continent that lags behind.[28]

WOMEN MOBILISING FOR HUMAN RIGHTS AND SOCIAL JUSTICE

Despite many recovery programs set up in the past for Africa by UN agencies, AU organisations, other international community donors and NGOS, there has been little economic progress.[29][30][31] Several countries in Africa are not only reeling with external debt but also burdened with internal debt. Most European Union (EU), International Monetary Fund (IMF) or World Bank (WB) loans negotiated in Africa were agreed with undemocratic regimes without consulting the people, who are now asked to service monumental debts.[32][33]

Many African women have questioned, and continue to question, the prudence of economic formulas and prescriptions that hurt local communities and have failed to bring any meaningful change in their lives.[3][4][34a & b] National governments and international institutions are profiting unjustly from the unpaid and unrecognised labour and sacrifices of African women.[4] Women have to assume multiple roles to provide a buffer against the social and economic effects of IMF and World Bank policies and the World Trade Organization’s unfair trade rules, as well as poor national and global governance.[4][34]

Several foreign governments and agencies have demonstrated imbalance and double standards in their policies and deliberations toward many African countries, particularly their old colonies. Many of these external agencies have sacrificed human rights and ignored corruption and bad governance for the greater (apparent) good of maintaining a smooth relationship for the interest of these external actors’ economies.[34][35] One cannot encourage democracy and the rule of law while simultaneously encouraging and backing regimes according to non-African economic interests.

Key to effective and sustainable programmes for raising people’s standard of living is the issue of good governance: the capacity and quality of governments to create jobs and an economic independence that will sustain growth and peace. Furthermore, democracy is not only a process that involves politicians, institutions and government but most importantly involves civil society members understanding their duties and rights and being able to practice their duties and enjoy their rights.

The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)[36], which stress the importance of empowering women for progress and development especially in Africa and set goals for 2015, were adopted in 2000. The MDGs complement the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD)[37], an agreement advanced by Africans themselves. Both the MDGs and NEPAD promote a much needed partnership between governments and civil society, ensuring that the policies and practices of participating states conform to agreed political, economic, and governance values, thus holding leaders and states accountable for their actions.

However, as we stand in 2008, it seems that as soon as one conflict is resolved, another one lies ahead on the horizon. Since 2000, there has been an increase in conflicts and widespread human insecurity, injustice, human rights abuses, illicit trade of small arms and light weapons and illegal trade in natural resources. The arms trade and conflicts are affecting development both directly and indirectly and have contributed to the overall human suffering and environmental degradation.[38][39]

In addition, there is the material and human cost of conflicts that are serving the purpose of the many multinational companies that are reported to breach the standards of Corporate Social Responsibility, including labour rights, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development) guidelines and the Voluntary Principles on Business and Human Rights. [34][35]

Two-thirds of the people in Africa live in rural areas, and many depend upon the forest or savannah to provide food, medicines and building materials. Additionally, Africa’s forests provide one of the biggest stores of carbon in the world, critical for combating climate change. Large-scale deforestation and mining are rapidly despoiling the region.[40]

Research shows that many multinational companies have dual operating systems, which means unregulated quality standard and non-environmentally sustainable policies while working in the developing world which are the exact opposite of the policies they champion in their home countries.[34][35][40] With such a large proportion of its population living rural rather than urban lives, the degradation of Africa’s environment has a strongly visible effect on people’s immediate habitat, their health and the short- and long-term development of the region and the world.[40]

The majority of people in Africa are still facing extreme poverty and famine, leading many countries to a slow pace in general development; particularly that of Information Technology. In many African countries much remains to be done to ensure accountability and the rule of law, as well as the reduction and, ultimately, elimination of corruption. All these factors are necessary to make progress in the development of education and healthcare infrastructures, as well as for the building of strong local and regional markets, and in order to encourage the kind of national and international investment that will be beneficial to the region in both the short and longer term.

Thus it is clear that today in sub-Saharan Africa none of the Millennium Development Goals will be achieved by 2015. The missing link in the issue of conflict resolution, peace building and development, is the presence and involvement of civil society, particularly that of women.[3][4] It is vital therefore that regulations be set in place and that governments have both the will and the ability to ensure that good practice is maintained by international and national business groups.

‘OLD’ ATTITUDES AND THE ROLE OF EXTERNAL AGENCIES

Most African countries are falling back into old patterns of gender discrimination when allotting the benefits of peace and prosperity.[4] Many African women have suffered and are continuing to suffer from the brunt of proxy wars and institutional patriarchy.[3][4][11] Widows, women with disabilities, victims of rape and those living with HIV/AIDS are doubly disadvantaged on account of their stigmatisation, yet their positions are barely accounted for in mainstream development programmes.[3][4]

Many women and young girls continue to suffer from harmful traditions and customs that violate their human rights as well as deprive them of inheritance, property rights and land.[4] In several countries, widespread impunity condemns many women to domestic and sexual violence, particularly those from conflict zones who share gruesome stories of torture, mutilation, rape, unwanted pregnancy, abortion and displacement from the senseless conflict engulfing their countries and communities.[41] This is a system that is supported by multinationals (with local elite complicity) seizing land and forcibly denying local grassroots African communities not only their livelihoods but also any sense of human dignity.[4][34]

African women are survivors amidst insurmountable odds where regressive traditions and structures, poor governance, and bad political and economic choices compound and complicate their situation.[3][4][20] The burdens of daily survival, wars, poverty, reproductive health, discrimination, as well as limited access to education and healthcare are borne by women.[1][2][3][4][20]

Although African people themselves have a role to play in creating lasting peace and sustainable development in the continent,[42] governments and the private sector have their own responsibilities. The international community, and especially the British Government, working together in cooperation with local women actors, can all exert an important influence.

Numerous studies now exist which point to the unwillingness or incapacity of development workers to engage African women in dialogue.[4] This is a fundamental obstacle to the success of many foreign aid programmes.[43] Too often the reality is that aid and development workers assume that the existence of ‘tradition’ makes African women incapable of acting as authors of their own lives. The prevailing view is that African women lack the power to act. The idea conveyed when ‘tradition’ is blamed for African women's economic predicament is that African beliefs and practices constitute part of an ancient, unchanging way of life, not easily amenable to change.[4] African women refute this.[2][3][4][20]

These assumptions fail to take into consideration that many women across the continent have shaped the history of Africa for centuries, especially since the Second World War, mobilising and sustaining nationalist movements in Africa.[2][4] Almost without exception, the struggle for women's rights in Africa has risen and co-existed alongside nationalist movements which have proved domineering.[2][4] Whenever women strongly advocate women's rights they are accused of being under imperial or Western influence and therefore are anti-nationalist and anti-male.[2] They are said to have lost their culture and tradition, and if women have lost their culture and tradition, who will teach the children? The construction of women's movements as Western, feminist, imperial, or foreign, has automatically meant nationalists' constant suspicion and de-legitimisation of African women’s movements.[2]

ENSURING WOMEN’S PARTICIPATION IN DECISION-MAKING PROCESSES

The participation of women is fundamentally important to reducing poverty in Africa.[4][43][44][45] Without such promotion, it is almost impossible to break into a male-dominated sphere. While CEDAW,[14] UNSCR 132516, UNSCR 182019 on sexual violence in conflict, the AU Women’s Rights Protocol[17] as well as the Solemn Declaration[18] are steps in the right direction, African women now face the greatest challenge, that of ‘implementation’. The words of such conventions, resolutions and declarations stand empty of meaning without being transformed into action. Therefore it is important to continually review and evaluate the goals of implementation. Evaluation should take account of both successes and failures.

More needs to be done for women to have their say in governance and decision-making in Africa. Women are struggling to have their voice heard at peace negotiation tables,[6][11] even though they play key roles in civil society and are working hard in that sphere.[4][6][11] Furthermore, despite their tireless work, many women's groups lack both the financial resources and the support needed to carry out their activities.[4][11][46]

Clearly, African women are tired of rhetoric and want action.[4][46] They want human security, which means in Africa, (as elsewhere) food, housing, healthcare, education, employment and a dignified existence.[4][11][46] Security should not be about arms or weapons or military power; security should have a human face. Without the protection of the basic resources needed for survival and ‘human’ needs, an environment of insecurity is perpetuated.[47]

Undoubtedly, African women want to benefit from bilateral and multi lateral agreements.[43][46] Further, they want better regulations to prevent armed domestic violence and for the control of arms traffic through an international arms trade treaty [41b & c], and they want corrupt and despotic leaders who have failed them out of government. They want the culture of impunity and hypocrisy informing global economic and political agendas to end.[3][4][34][43][46]

The link between gender equality and economic growth is well established in various studies in the world.[44][45][48] There is now overwhelming evidence that empowerment of women is one key variable in fighting poverty, HIV and AIDS, infant and maternal mortality, violence against women, and gender discrimination.[1] Women have a key role to play in closing existing gender gaps and providing equal opportunities and representation.[1][3][4][44][45][48]

There can be no peace, security and sustainable economic development if societies continue to deny human rights, including the human rights of women. Until men and women work together to secure the rights and full potential of women, lasting solutions to the world's most serious social, economic and political problems are unlikely to be found. Overcoming gender inequality through justice systems and education, therefore, becomes the main solution for overcoming poverty in Africa.

While it is clear that Africa will not meet any of the Millennium Development Goals by the 2015 deadline, it is important that the international community acknowledges that development cannot take place in a vacuum. An absolute priority to ending poverty in Africa is to listen to the experiences and wisdom of African women at all levels of society.[4]

WHO SHOULD SPEAK FOR AFRICAN WOMEN?

Too often it is either African men or Western women who speak for African women.[4] We need to hear from the African women themselves whose lives we all claim we wish to improve. Also, we must incorporate the important critiques by African women scholars of the flawed categories that continue to be used to describe African women's lives and African societies. Many scholars who have written or have described African women's lives are from very different realities in parts of the world remote from Africa. Such studies end up doing more harm to the African women whose lives the activists or scholars claim to be seeking to ameliorate.[4]

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

Let African women speak! Listen to them first and then act.

* Marie-Claire Faray-Kele is a Congolese research scientist and an active campaigner for peace and women’s rights in the DR Congo.
* This compilation was edited by the Women's International League for Peace (WILPF).
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org/.

REFERENCES

[1] Women Watch. Directory of UN Resources on Gender and Women's Issues. Africa http://www.un.org/womenwatch/directory/sub-saharan_africa_10473.htm
[2] Joyce M. Chadya. Mother Politics. Anti-colonial Nationalism and the Woman Question in Africa. Journal of women History’s. Journal of Women History.Indiana University Press. Vol 15.No3. http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/journal_of_womens_history/v015/15.3chadya.html#authbio
[3] United Nations. C.O.N.G.O Events. Thursday, 9th September 2005, Presentation: Obstacles to the MDGs: Strategies to Overcome Them.
[4] Anene Ejikeme. Africa Files 2008. ‘LET THE WOMEN SPEAK! AND LISTEN’. http://www.africafiles.org/article.asp?ID=16943
[5] BBC Africa's women speak out. Africa's women on their role in contemporary society http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4376967.stm
[6] African Women’s Concern for Peace http://www.uneca.org/eca_resources/Major_ECA_Websites/beijingplus5/african_womens_concern_for_peace.htm
[7] Solidarity for African Women's Rights (SOAWR). www.soawr.org
[8] Women's Development and Communication Network (FEMNET) http://www.femnet.or.ke/viewnews.asp?ID=28
[9] Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF). www.wildaf.org
[10] Akina Mama wa Africa (AMwA) Reports. http://www.akinamamawafrika.org/
[11] International Alert & The Eastern African Sub-regional Support Initiative for the Advancement of Women (EASSI)., Report of the Consultative workshop on Women’s politial participation in countries emerging from conflict in the Great lakes region of Africa. 28-30 August 2007. Kampala. Uganda. http://www.international-alert.org/
[12] Rwanda News Agency: Women Députés More Concerned With Grassroot Issues. http://www.peacewomen.org/news/Africa/GreatLakes/August08/RwandaDeputes.html
[13] UNICEF. Women parliamentarians lead major changes in African politics. http://www.unicef.org/girlseducation/index_44828.html
[14] CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women. http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/cedaw/
[15] Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action (BPFA) http://www.unesco.org/education/information/nfsunesco/pdf/BEIJIN_E.PDF
[16] United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325. October 2000. http://www.peacewomen.org/un/sc/1325.html
[17] Protocol to the African Charter on the Rights of Women. http://www.africaunion.org/root/au/Documents/Treaties/Text/Protocol%20on%20the%20Rights%20of%20Women.pdf
[18] Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa (SDGEA) http://www.africa-union.org/root/au/Conferences/Past/2006/October/WG/doc.htm
[19] Security Council Resolution 1820: A Move to end Sexual Violence in Conflict,' PeaceWomen E-News, Issue 102, June 2008. WILPF. http://www.peacewomen.org/un/sc/Open_Debates/Sexual_Violence08/PW_1820_Analysis.pdf
[20] Wangari Maathai. Unbow. The green belt movement. http://www.wangari-maathai.org/
[21] Africa. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Africa
[22] 'Wall Of Africa' Allowed Humanity To Emerge. ScienceDaily (Dec. 22, 2007). http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/12/071219082604.htm
[23] Parsons, Thomas J., et al. A High Observed Substitution Rate in the Human Mitochondrial DNA Control Region by was published in Nature Genetics. Volume 15 number 4 page 363. http://www.nature.com/ng/wilma/v15n4.861211442.html
[24] Goran Hyden. Between State and Community. Challenges to Redesigning Governance in Africa. Paper presented for Conference on ‘Designing Constitutional Arrangement for Democratic Governance in Africa’. Political Theory and Policy Analysis. Indiana University Bloomington. 30-31 March, 2006.
[25] René Lemarchand. Consociationalism and Power Sharing in Africa: Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. African Affairs 2006, 106/422,1-20.
[26] Greg Mills & Michael Holman. Africa's Democratic Pains. Open Democracy.25/01/08. http://www.opendemocracy.net/article/democracy_power/africas_democratic_pains
[27] African Union. http://www.africa-union.org/root/au/index/index.htm
[28] Michael Fleshman. Africa struggles to attain millennium goals. Progress and setbacks in continent's efforts to improve well-being.Africa Recovery, Vol.17 #3 (October 2003), page 10. http://www.un.org/ecosocdev/geninfo/afrec/vol17no3/173mdg.htm
[29] Serge Michailof, Markus Kostner, Xavier Devictor. April 2002. Post-conflict Recovery in Africa. An Agenda for the Africa region. http://www.worldbank.org/afr/wps/wp30.pdf
[30] Millennium Partnership for the African Recovery programme. Pretoria 2001. http://www.nepad.org.ng/PDF/About%20Nepad/map3A.pdf
[31] The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) http://www.nepad.org
[32] Africa: Multilateral Debt Cancellation. Africa Focus Bulletin. Jan 18, 2005 (050118)http://www.africa.upenn.edu/afrfocus/afrfocus011805.html
[33] Sony Kapoor. Multilateral Debt Cancellation: a Briefing paper. Jubilee Research at the New Economics Foundation For Debt and Development Coalition Ireland. December 2004. [Full text, including graphs, available at http://www.debtireland.org/resources/
[34](a) Rose Ngomba-Roth. Multinational Companies and Conflicts in Africa. - 2007 - Business & Economics - 384 pages
(b) Bobby Peek. People's Action for Corporate Accountability http://www.groundwork.org.za/Newsletters/September_2002.asp#Lead%20Stor
[35] Anne Marchand. Impunity for Multinationals. ATTAC. September 11, 2002 http://www.globalpolicy.org/socecon/tncs/2002/0911impunity.htm
[36] United Nations Millennium Development Goals. The MDG Africa Steering Group, convened by the UN Secretary-General. www.un.org/millenniumgoals
[37] The New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) http://www.nepad.org
[38] Oxfam Press Release: Fifteen years of conflict have cost Africa around $300 bn October 31, 2007
[39] United Nations General Assembly. Review Conference on Illicit Small Arms Trade 3rd & 4th Meetings (AM & PM). Illicit Small arms trade in Africa fuels conflict contributes to poverty. 27 june 2006. http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2006/dc3032.doc.htm
[40] Friends of the Earth. Corporate Power. Cover up. Climate change. http://www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/corporates/issues/corporate_power_index.html http://www.foe.co.uk/campaigns/corporates/issues/cover_up_index.html
[41](a) Marie-Claire Faray-Kele. The Impact of Small Arms on Women in Central Africa. http://www.peacewomen.org/resources/SALW/salwindex.html
(b) IANSA Women's Network. http://www.iansa.org/women/index.php
(c) Towards an Arms Trade Treaty Resolution. http://www.iansa.org/un/att.htm
[42] Wangari Maathai. Africans can do it for Ourselves. African Diaspora and Development Day. London 2005. Open Democracy 2005. http://www.opendemocracy.net/globalization-G8/natural_resource_2652.jsp
[43] CSOs Call for Concrete Commitments on Aid Effectiveness at the Third High-Level Forum. African Women’s Regional Consultative Meeting on Aid Effectiveness and Gender Equality: Road to Accra. May - June 2008. http://www.femnet.or.ke
[44] ODI. Briefing Paper. September 2008 - Gender and the MDGs. http://www.odi.org.uk/resources/odi-publications/briefing-papers/42-gender-mdgs-poverty.pdf
[45] Ms. Noeleen Heyzer. UNIFEM. Development Effectiveness: Gender Equality at the Core of Aid Effectiveness. High-level Regional Consultation, Almaty, Kazakhstan, 20 May 200
[46] UNIFEM. September 2008. Empowering Women Central to Africa’s Progress. Women’s forum to highlight urgent needs at the UN high-level meeting on Africa’s development needs. United Nations, New York. http://www.unifem.org/news_events/story_detail.php?StoryID=734
[47] The Women International League for Peace and Freedom. WILPF statement on Human Security. WILPF International Day of Peace Statement. September 2008. www.wilpf.int
[48] Danny Leipziger. Integration of gender perspectives in macroeconomics.Poverty Reduction and Economic Management. World Bank. Written Statement.United Nations. Commission on the Status of Women. Forty-ninth session. New York, 28 February 11 March 2005. PANEL I. http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/Review/documents/panel-VI/leipziger.pdf

Social injustice and transsexual people in Kenya

Audrey Mbugua

2009-02-18

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/54181

cc. The SearcherOutlining the essential differences between sex and gender, Audrey Mbugua discusses the damaging general incomprehension of transsexualism within Kenyan society. Drawing upon personal experience of prejudice in the field of work and life at large, Mbugua states that transsexual people deserve the same respect and treatment as any other member of society, and urges those uneducated about transsexuals to think before opening their mouths.

A transsexual person is someone who experiences deep and long-lasting discomfort with his or her anatomical (genital) sex and wishes to change their physical characteristics, including genitals (through hormone therapy and sex reassignment surgery), to the opposite of those usually associated with their anatomical sex in order to live in the gender role opposite to that normally associated with their anatomical sex. It is not a form of sexual orientation but a clinical condition whose basis is the existence of sex and gender conflicts. It is best managed by a psychiatrist, a urologist and a gynaecologist. Contrary to public misconception, sex and gender are two entirely different entities. Sex refers to the type of genitals one has. Gender refers to one’s internal perception as male, female or something else (like androgynous).

The etiology of transsexualism lies with the neurological wiring of the brain and is common in the animal kingdom. In Kenya, there exist different groups of transsexual people: pre-operative, non-operative and post-operative. Transsexualism is not illegal, much in the same way that diabetes, cancer, kidney failure and heart failure are not illegal. It is extremely naïve to suggest that it is illegal to have a certain psychological disorder. It is common among Kenyans to claim that transsexuals are criminals, thoughtless and foolish utterances that beggar pity for the depths to which human folly has sunk in this information age.

Transsexual people face deep-seated hatred and intolerance within Kenyan society. That’s not the end of their problems. The people expected to protect and serve all Kenyans (including transsexuals) are the worst human rights abusers in the world. It’s obvious I am referring to the police, a group who are so good at arresting and beating up transsexual people held within cells while sexually assaulting them. I think they love transsexual people with a passion and they can’t help but want to touch them, even if it means kicking them around. Much as they are justified in doing such horrendous acts owing to the fact that they are intellectually challenged, as well as being stressed back home, breeding as they do like rats (and with the price of maize flour skyrocketing, stress levels are reaching record heights), the police should know that transsexual people have feelings like everybody else. I feel pain when am slapped and it doesn’t feel nice been slapped around for no ‘fault’ of your own.

Another minefield in transsexual people’s lives is the issue of discrimination in Kenya’s labour market. Though I have personally been denied job opportunities just because I am a transsexual, I still don’t understand the logic. I hope I am just too daft to get the argument. Here is the argument, and maybe you could help me understand the quantum electrodynamics behind it: ‘You were born a boy and you are now a woman. How could you do that to yourself? Do you actually think God made a mistake in creating you the way he did? In the first place, who do you sleep with? …blah…blah…blah…lots of crap’.

Will somebody please help me understand, because I thought the employee–employer relationship was that of ‘Give me your most productive 40 hours in the week and at the end of the month, I will deposit KSh blahblahblah in your account. Satisfied?’ That’s how I see things and furthermore if you are clean and tidy, does it matter that I look like a woman but I have a penis between my legs?

How is my penis supposed to make organisations lose profits? In fact, I am wondering why these morons are not blaming transsexuals with penises for the global financial crisis. A penis on a transsexual people is not a substitute for her brain. Look at the skills he or she possesses, not penises and vaginas. Why don’t you go around the streets of Nairobi, stopping and squatting under women in skirts to see whether there is a shwing shwong up there? Go ahead and feel the crotch of every person you meet to determine whether their genitals and physical presentation are incongruent or not. You could go further and smell the genitals. Your god will add more days to your lives and you will live to blow 1,001 candles.

Don’t annoy transsexual people further by asking them who they have sex with. That is none of your bee’s wax. How would you feel if you accompanied your dad to a bank and the cashier asked him whether he enjoys taking it up his ass or whether he suffers from impotence? Would you nominate the cashier for an Oscar or a Jerk-of-the-year award? Another thing my dearest friends, I have the right to change my sex if am not comfortable with my sex or even for whatever reasons I have. It’s my body and I don’t see how it interferes with your lives. Or, had you expected me to first consult with your church elders before I had a scalpel plunged inside my scrotum? No, maybe you wanted me to accept myself as a man that god created me to be? Why don’t you also tell diabetic people to stop taking insulin shots and accept themselves the way God created them, as diabetics? We hate such stupid and disrespectful questions and you hateful, ignorant and annoying religious nutcases need to reform.

Religious fundamentalism is another irritating obstacle in our lives. Let me put it in a nutshell: use your religious doctrines to guide your lives not mine. I also have my religion which I don’t use to try to mess up your life. If we worship different gods, there is no point in you hitting my face with a shovel to prove that your god is better or to ridicule me behind my back, and you should know that your kids and I were in the same school and I know their memory and intelligence to be like those of earthworms. Give the shovel to your god and tell him to square it with me. After I am done with him, he will regret the day the homo habilis created him in their primitive cultures. Furthermore, public institutions and even private organisations such as banks should not assume the role of venerating their employees’ gods and goddesses irrespective of whether you are the CEO or the senior human resource manager. It’s a form of human stupidity. If you deem yourself a qualified human resource manager and you don’t know how to deal with transsexualism at the work place, then there is a high possibility you got your degree between your lecturers’ bed sheets or in the back seats of their cars, or else there is a serious problem with our education system.

Have some unconditional, positive regard for human beings irrespective of the differences that exist between us. Differences don’t have to be justifications to deny other people jobs, medical care, respect and security. I don’t think anyone worth less than dogs and wolves in the jungle would resist the temptation to deny a transsexual person a chance to put a roof over her/his head, or her/his right to put bread on the table or the right to access healthcare. Learn something about transsexualism before you open your trap to say something you think is a fact about transsexual people. Such foolish utterances make you dumber and there is a high risk very soon there won’t be much difference between your IQ score and those of plants.

* Audrey Mbugua is a member of Transgender Education and Advocacy, a Kenyan organisation formed to address social injustices committed on the country's transgender community.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org/.

Obama and the black wave: Deconstructing myths, building strategies

Raquel Luciana de Souza

2009-02-19

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/54223

cc. CassimanoHaving closely followed Barack Obama’s electoral success, Raquel Luciana de Souza considers the prospects for a presidential candidate of African descent within the South American giant of Brazil. Scrutinising the historical myth of Brazil’s racial democracy and the supposed absence of formal barriers to Afro-Brazilian social mobility in contrast to the US, de Souza considers the role of the US’s implementation of measures to address socio-racial disparities and the successful struggles of black organisations in framing the broader background behind Obama’s rise.

At last the calendar signals the much anticipated 4 November 2008, the day the long marathon of the latest American electoral process would be concluded. It is impossible to ignore the irony that after spending nine years of my life studying in the United States, I found myself in front of the television in Recife, Pernambuco, Brazil, homeland of Gilberto Freyre. Freyre, of course, was the very author whose racist, sexist, and fairly imaginative visions about race relations in Brazil influenced generations of national and international researchers, politicians, intellectuals, as well as common sentiments concerning gender, class, race, and racism in Brazil. As the counting of the votes officially begins, a friend cautions me about the possibility of a McCain victory, which triggers an unutterable anguish in the very core of my being. However, that feeling was quickly replaced by the absolute thrill of witnessing the reconfiguration of the American electoral map. At the first hour of 5 November, it was confirmed that the US had elected its first black president. Barack Obama’s triumph was the culmination of a highly competitive political contest; the media and global frenzy surrounding the Democratic candidate’s campaign became gradually more palpable as he gained strength in opinion and voter intention polls. That day I realised that I had spent months holding my breath, immersed in an intense electoral process that was marked by unprecedented circumstances. For the first time, a black man and a woman vied to be nominated for presidential candidate of the Democratic Party.

I have followed the electoral process almost obsessively through the media and daily contact with Americans within and beyond the academic realm. Upon arriving in Brazil, I was compelled to reflect upon the implications of the electoral process within a Brazilian context, a country that currently finds itself engrossed in intense debates about issues of race, racism, racial identity, and the historical influence of these factors on the quality of life of Brazilian citizens. The polemics also pinpoint the intensification of political and academic disputes over the role of race as a key historical factor structuring highly unequal power relationships. The dynamics of such injustices are frequently expressed through the violence perpetrated against those Afro-Brazilian women, men, and children historically confined to the peripheral and less affluent areas of Brazilian cities and society at large. The historical struggles of black social movements in Brazil have played a key role in this process, fomenting discussions about access to education, the job market, and political power. These movements have also vehemently denounced and mobilised police brutality, while proposing public policies that seek to address social, racial, and political inequalities. Moreover, black social movements have been actively participating in the process of proposing and implementing affirmative action policies for Afro-Brazilians at public universities and within the job market, as well as for TV stations and other sectors of Brazilian society that have historically excluded people of African descent.

Therefore, while I euphorically contemplated the conclusion of an electoral process that culminated with the election of a black president for the position of commander-in-chief of the US, questions and speculations about the ramifications of such an important political development for Brazil and the African diaspora consumed me. The triumph of a high-ranking politician, the son of a continental African from Kenya and a white American woman from Kansas, was consolidated before the whole world. Before me was a black president married to a black woman, both products of the highest quality of formal education acquired at Harvard, a prestigious university, and eloquent lawyers who demonstrated in their discourse and intervention an almost unwavering self-confidence and mastery of words that slowly but surely conquered even the favouritism of the media. As a researcher of racial issues through a comparative perspective, I realised then that such a political moment urged for perspectives and approaches that went beyond pre-established parameters. Aiming to discuss the possible ramifications of such political scenery and its broader implications more adequately, I constantly transferred my thoughts to the Brazilian context.

There is plenty to be discussed and researched about the process that has led to the election of the first black president of the US, a very rich subject for researchers from various fields and disciplines. A candidate of African descent, who was classified as such both phenotypically as well as through the application of the ‘one drop of blood rule’, emerged from an almost anonymous position – particularly if compared to the forthright favourite Hillary Clinton – to become the candidate chosen by the Democratic Party. The necessity of reflecting upon this process through a comparative perspective became even more overpowering a few days later due to what I experienced while participating in a manifestation of black communities on 20 November in Salvador, Bahia. Black consciousness in Brazil is celebrated on this date; I participated in demonstrations in which Afro-Brazilian rappers, holding their microphones as potent weapons in the struggle against racial oppression, thunderously announced in grave bass tones that the black wave fast approached. A black wave took over the streets, orchestrated by a master of ceremonies who incessantly saluted leaders of black Brazilian movements and organisations, the Formula 1 champion Louis Hamilton, and more specifically, Barack Obama. It still reverberates in my ears, ‘it is the black wave, which approaches (itself).’

Therefore, from a comparative perspective, it should prove worthwhile to exercise our imagination transferring, even partially, in order to locate such political scenery within a Brazilian context. Undoubtedly, herds of Brazilian and foreign researchers, academics, intellectuals, and graduate students would frenetically write research projects and grants, searching for funding in order to investigate, document and theorise about the ultimate and irrefutable proof that Brazil is indeed a racial democracy. Ultimately, Barack Obama would fit perfectly within the ideological and theoretical model proposed by such a myth – a political candidate and son of a white mother and an African or black father who manages to mobilise huge multiracial masses around a political platform grounded in rhetoric of a nationhood that is beyond racial differences. Barack Obama would have been classified as a racial hybrid perfectly imaginable within the universe of traditional conceptions about the racial configuration of Brazil.

More specifically, as we consult a vast amount of research and publications which establish comparisons between race, racial identity, and politics in Brazil and the US, the election of a ‘mulato’ candidate as the president of Brazil would be soundly explained as an apex of a hegemonic historical process fomented by the state and popularly celebrated through novels, songs, movies, soap operas, academic publications, and political discourses. When analysing the majority of discourses delivered by Obama within this perspective, one concludes that his political platform, highly committed to the vision of a nation that is above racial differences, would be the reflex of a historical harmful predisposition of blacks, whites, pardos, mulatos, browns and Brazilians alike investing in the myth of racial democracy. It would also be compelling proof that black Brazilians do not have a well-consolidated racial consciousness, since it would be at least condemnable that a Brazilian equivalent of Obama would invest in a political platform that was not grounded on vehement denunciations against racial oppression and discrimination, a political strategy that would be analysed as a product of a mentality that is (mis-)informed by the influence of the myth of racial democracy.

The political trajectory of the Democratic candidate was also marked by controversies about Obama’s racial identity, with speculations about the possibility that he was ‘too black’ to become a palatable candidate for the taste of white voters. Conversely, questions circulated about the possibility that the candidate may not be ‘black enough’ to be accepted as a legitimate candidate within various sectors of the African-American community. Such debates were particularly rich, evincing that social ascendance, formal education, financial resources, and social class influence and alter racial perceptions and achievements in the US. The aforementioned controversy would likely be discussed and interpreted in the Brazilian context as irrefutable proof that those factors enable the ‘whitening’ of blacks. Within traditional comparative approaches between Brazil and the US, such polemics would also be situated within the perspective that the ‘fluidity’ of racial identities constitutes one of the main characteristics of the Latin American racial classification system. Moreover, within the Brazilian context such ‘racial fluidity’ would typically be evaluated as too inconsistent or unstable to enable political alliances (particularly among Afro-Brazilians) that could effectively result in the consolidation of a black candidate as the nation’s president.

During Obama’s candidacy, the controversies generated by his affiliation with Reverend Jeremiah Wright, the leader of the Trinity United Church of Christ, were equally significant within the context of the latest presidential race in the US. The surfacing of a video in which portions of a sermon delivered by Wright included declarations deemed as radical and incendiary by the American media, provoked intense criticism towards the Democratic candidate. Subsequently, Obama decided to position himself in opposition to those comments and sever ties with the church, his mentor, and pastor. In one of the very few discourses delivered by Obama about racial issues in the US, the reverend was described as someone who presented a distorted vision of the country, who defended archaic thoughts and mistaken views about patriotism and race relations in the US. Obama thus counter-positioned himself as the candidate who represented the ostensible ‘post-racial’ era. Moreover, in this discourse, Obama equalised the tough experience endured by blacks of Reverend Wright’s generation with the challenges faced by white immigrants attempting to establish themselves in the US, asserting that throughout that process racial hatred had negatively affected both groups.

Hence, let us continue our scenery-transposition exercise and discuss possible analytical perspectives framed within traditional comparative models and approaches. One should imagine such discourse being delivered by an Afro-Brazilian political candidate, coupled with his rupture with a black pastor who celebrated his wedding ceremony and baptised his daughters at a black church (in this text I utilise the terms Afro-Brazilian and black as equivalent). The most obvious analytical path to follow would be to situate such polemics as symptomatic of the difficulty of consolidating a strong black political front, since such efforts would be fatally doomed to failure within the context of a country deeply contaminated by the myth of racial democracy. Moreover, the political and ideological conflict that motivated Obama’s severance would then be analysed as evidence of the negative impact of this myth in the capacity of an efficient political mobilisation of Afro-Brazilians. Traditional approaches would prevent a less superficial analysis through which Obama’s political stand could be considered a wise political manoeuvre aimed at captivating the trust of apprehensive voters who feared the possibility of a possible ‘black revolution’. Within that scenario, Obama’s political platform of ‘racial neutrality’ would be evaluated as an attitude merely influenced by or resulting from a historical investment in the hegemonic project of whitening (excepting the fact that he married a black woman). It is worth noting that such an angle would be substantially corroborated by the fact that his black father had already initiated that process by marrying a white woman. In sum, if we imagine the political process that resulted in Obama’s election within the Brazilian context, theorising about this process would probably involve treading through beaten, simplistic paths and previously established answers – he would represent the triumph of the myth of racial democracy if his victory occurred in Brazil.

Conversely, we should now consider the real scenery in which Barack Obama became the first black president of the US. In Brazil, the celebration of such a historical event has been featured prominently on the front page of all the mainstream newspapers and magazines. A sort of cynical satisfaction has also been displayed on the faces of TV anchors, political commentators, and reporters as they announced and discussed the fact that Americans had elected their first black president. Images from the US of whites, blacks, and others who celebrated Obama’s victory in euphoric tears were exhibited, demonstrating that the country had finally transcended the racism that had infested its social, legal, political, and educational relations for so many centuries. Yet, for the most accurate eyes and ears, what was implicit in accounts of celebration disseminated through Brazilian mass media was the notion that such cathartic and healing experiences were not needed in Brazil. In fact, the fallacy that Americans had finally overcome their racial injuries while our racial problems had been resolved many decades ago, if they ever existed, was to some extent cynically celebrated. After all, according to traditional hegemonic narratives that romanticise race relations in Brazil, Brazilians never had to deal with formal racial segregation that established barriers to the socio-economic ascension of Africans and their descendants, and therefore did not have wounds to heal or damage to repair.

A prominent political commentator argued that it was actually racist to classify Barack Obama as a black president, since such classifications were supposedly dangerous, distorting, and offensive. In sum, while mass media in Brazil celebrates the fact that Obama was elected president of the US, it implicitly asserts that Brazil fortunately does not possess wounds of such nature to be healed. Affirmative action policies for Afro-Brazilians are thus vehemently criticised within this perspective as absurd foreign imports, operating within a context where no formal barriers have ostensibly been imposed against the socio-economic ascendance of Africans and their descendants. However, what also may be observed is the dreading of the ‘black wave’, of reverberations resulting of the consolidation of a black candidate as the president of one of the most powerful nations in the world. This fear manifests itself in ways simultaneously emphatic and subtle. Stratagems which utilise white hegemonic forces in attempting to perpetuate the myth of racial democracy – generally constructed around the fantasy of a harmonious coexistence between races supposedly responsible for grounding Brazilian civilisation – become even more evident in such a context. These attempts to perpetuate such traditional narratives would be comic were they not tragic and motivated by disingenuous and criminal intentions.

Within this context, pearls of worthless synthetic value are produced, as illustrated in a Christmas special aired by one of the most influential television networks in Brazil in December 2008. Gilberto Freyre wanders through the corridors of this media conglomerate in a moribund manner, reflected in the ideological conceptions put forth in this programme. In a Christmas tale which revolved around Emperor Dom Pedro II’s upbringing, the viewer becomes acquainted with his childhood memories; a lonely and unhappy rich child, the emperor’s life is profoundly transformed when he meets someone very special during a trip through the vast gardens that adorn his palace. An enslaved child whom we first meet at the top of a tree, comfortably placed in his natural element, saves the young white emperor who became stranded from his guard, a rather illustrative image which conveys various problematic aspects of this tale. Such unexpected friendship brings joy to the cheerless king’s life. As a ‘Christmas gift’, the emperor receives this black child, who jumps out of a package like a jack-in-the-box placed before his throne. I must remind the reader that this programme aired in 2008, and I received the insulting fable as a Christmas gift. A merry racial Christmas to everyone!

What does jump out of the TV box, however, is the fact that all of the scenes in which the king and his ‘Christmas gift’ interact perfectly illustrate the profound social inequalities that have historically characterised the purportedly harmonious racial relationships in Brazil. The black child, constantly barefoot and shirtless, coexists as a subaltern of his emperor ‘friend’. The child is unfairly accused of a crime he did not commit, supposedly breaking the law by playing with and then misplacing the monarch’s precious crown. The façade of such a fantastical Christmas tale (or nightmare) is strongly evinced when the monarch regrets having betrayed his ‘befriended’ property. In the end, the emperor generously and symbolically gives the boy a pair of shoes as a gift, and grants him freedom. The emperor’s apologies culminate with a discourse about freedom and the apex of the tale is the carnavalisation of the Portuguese court, seasoned by a song that glorifies the merging of races in Brazil and centuries of harmonious coexistence. Blacks and whites then dance, sing, play capoeira, and effusively celebrate Brazil’s so-called multiracial roots.

Evidently, perpetual investment in a myth that has been refuted by research carried out by Brazilian and foreign institutions and organisations, confirms the enormous socio-economic disparities between blacks and whites, and more importantly, substantiates the tragic results of the lack of investment in adequate policies aiming to foster racial equality in Brazil. Such investment is not accidental and certainly not naïve; the Brazilian mass media, which almost invariably represents and defends the values of dominant classes and white hegemony, demonstrates a profound awareness of the fact that the myth of racial democracy is a failed, bankrupted entity. I would further argue that it is illustrative of an apprehension of the black wave propagation that has been significantly unleashed and reinforced by the consolidation of Barack Obama as president of the US. Despite the complex facets of the historical and contemporary processes that have led President Obama to capture the highest post in American government, some fundamental aspects become undeniably evident. Obama’s triumph is the result of a successful historical investment on behalf of the American state’s policies, even if imperfect and limited, which have led to the implementation of measures and initiatives seeking to repair historical socio-economic disparities between blacks and whites in the US. This broad social investment was also implemented as part of an acknowledgement of the existence of racism in American society, a result of the struggle of black organisations which have historically mobilised against racial oppression in the US.

The current economic crisis as well as the ascension of the recently inaugurated US president became more evident almost simultaneously. We are facing a set of challenges posed by a complex historical moment in which the capitalist system, grounded on and enabled by the institution of slavery, manifests troublesome signs of possible collapse. A political leader, derived from a group that was historically brutalised, exploited, and socio-economically and politically marginalised, emerges as the individual responsible for re-establishing and restoring the economic system’s credibility and equilibrium. Ironically, Barack Obama seems to have configured himself as the messenger of hope in the survival of the capitalist system. Such awkward contradictions notwithstanding, Obama’s victory has profound implications for the discussion of racial issues and politics in the African diaspora. The challenges presented by the analytical exercise of scenario transposition proposed here, which was favoured by intricate political development in the US, demonstrate the pressing necessity of new theoretical models. We must move beyond pre-established parameters and ready-to-use formulas in order to recognise and establish more accurate and adequate comparisons between different contexts of racial formations. Consequently, we would be able to configure more efficient solutions, generating sound public policies which effectively address the challenges that mark the historical trajectory of Africans and their descendants.

* Raquel Luciana de Souza is a translator with a Master’s degree in American Studies and History from the University of Maryland. She is currently a doctoral student in Social Anthropology and Diaspora Studies at the University of Texas in Austin.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

Pambazuka News 13: Slave labour in Brazil and the WSF in Belem

2009-02-18

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/summarypt/54178

Contemporary slave labour in Brazil and the persistence of the racial question

Alyxandra Gomes Nunes (2009-02-07)

Pambazuka News’s Portuguese-language Editor Alyxandra Gomes considers the endurance of racial divisions in labour in her native Brazil. Taking off from the city of Belem's hosting of the 2009 World Social Forum, Gomes describes the persistence of slave labour practices, especially within the Amazon region, some 110 years after slavery's abolition in the country. With the overwhelming bulk of unsalaried and unofficial employees in the sugar-alcohol sector of African descent, the author argues that Brazil must overcome its vast disparities in labour practices, move towards genuine racial equality, and criminalise poverty to tackle broad socio-economic inequalities once and for all.

Respect term limits for democratic change

Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem

2009-02-19

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/panafrican/54230

President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela’s recent referendum victory to change the constitution of his country to allow all elected public officials – including the president – to stand for more than two terms is both a blow for and against democracy. By 54 to 46 per cent Venezuelan voters voted to remove any limits. This means that the popular president may continue to stand for re-election till he dies.

It was a hotly contested referendum, especially given the highly polarised politics of this oil rich country with a radical, openly socialist and revolutionary president about whom no one is indifferent. He is a hero to the masses, but a villain to his internal rivals and former wielders of power and their external, predominantly US allies. Chávez’s opponents – with the full backing of the US – have for the past 10 years tried everything to challenge him. This has included assassination plots, investor strikes, campaigns of sabotage, a recalled referendum and also a coup (backed by Bush’s government) that ‘succeeded’ briefly (before the masses struck back, returning Chávez to the presidency), among many other failed attempts.

His continuing popularity is not simply due to defying the US (the hegemonic imperial power in Latin America), but also because his has been a revolutionary government that delivers to ordinary people, a people who have been victims of irresponsible political leaders with no loyalty to the country or any care beyond lining their own pockets and keeping their imperialist bosses happy. He is reversing the proverbial curse of ‘oil boom to the rich and oil doom for the poor’ familiar to many oil-producing countries, heralding a boom time for the poor with remarkable achievements in the areas of health and education. That is why ordinary people regard him as a Junior Jesus, while his enemies regard him as a Junior Judas for the very same reason!

Chávez’s foreign policy is not only militant in declaration but he has also been able to put his money where his mouth is. He never hides his revolutionary inspiration and desire to link to the Bolivarian and Cuban radical national-regionalist revolutionary tradition, nor the anti-imperialist, especially anti-American, struggle, South–South solidarity, and progressive internationalist alliances.

With Luiz Inacio 'Lula' da Silva in Brazil, Evo Morales in Bolivia, the return of the Sandinistas in Nicaragua and the general swing to the Left across the Americas, Chávez and his comrades have become global left-wing icons, proving that we all do not have to give in to the dictates of the West and that we can have different dreams and organise our society to serve our people’s interests. More importantly, they have shown that we can elect leaders to serve our interests and not those of outsiders

The rest of the world does not have to like such leaders, but they have to respect these decisions. For instance, the rest of the world did not like Bush but the Americans elected him – albeit under disputed circumstances – for a first term and with clear majority for a second. We in the world at large were forced to put up with him for eight years, years that have happily come to an end. Why then is it difficult for the Americans and their Western cousins to respect the democratic wishes of other peoples, whether it is in Gaza, Iran, Haiti, Venezuela, Bolivia, Algeria in the 1990s, or any other country? Democracy may not always produce the best outcome, but it is no less democratic because of this.

In demanding democracy in one place while turning the other cheek in areas more allied to selfish Western interests, the West’s hypocrisy, selective amnesia and opportunism continue to undermine democratic development globally. This unprincipled position has sustained a several dictators, who have successfully exploited anti-Western sentiments to remain in power. In many countries in Africa, Asia or Latin America being anti-West – especially anti-American and anti–former colonial powers (predominantly Britain and France, and to a lesser extent, Portugal, in Africa) – is a winning card.

However my support and admiration for Chávez notwithstanding, I think this referendum victory might in the long run prove pyrrhic. Sometimes an election may not be about democracy but a conspiracy against it. The principle of limiting the terms of office for public officials – especially the presidency – is about the renewal of democracy, giving the public effective choices, and preventing leaders from becoming complacent or undoing the good they may have brought about. It is about institutionalising change rather than personalising it around ‘great leaders’ that often create personal and family rule and fake dynasties. Many of our tired and tiring leaders in Africa, some of them ex-revolutionaries, who have changed their constitutions to perpetuate their personal rule in perpetuity (even if none of them dared put it through a referendum), will be standing side by side with Chávez, but this is the wrong kind of solidarity. A wrong cannot be made right because the perpetrator happens to be one’s hero.

The world has changed and so must revolutionaries. The conditions that produced and prolonged the regime of Fidel Castro are completely different from what obtains today. Also, Cuba occupies a very peculiar historical situation which cannot be used to justify other countries’ situations.

What are the compelling reasons for Robert Mugabe, for instance, to continue to hold on to power in Harare? Is it really true that Uganda would collapse were Yoweri Museveni not to rule the country till he dies? Would Ethiopia and Eritrea not be better off if there were limit on the terms that Meles Zenawi and Isaias Afworki continue to dominate them? Of what benefit is the long-term dictatorship of Omar Bongo to the people of Gabon? While Libya remains a prosperous country with huge benefits percolating down to the masses, is it sustainable that it cannot have another ruler but Brother Gaddafi? Is it not part of the problem of limitless and ultimately purposeless time in office that is making Gaddafi to despair of his own government? Recently he criticised his own government for being corrupt and failing the Libyan people in delivery of social services. He has recommended to the General People’s Congress to dissolve the government and give Libya’s vast oil fortune to Libya’s citizens.

Is this not an indictment of his own forty-year leadership as the ‘guide’ of the Al-Fatah revolution? Imagine what would have happened to South Africa had Thabo Mbeki been able to impose his will over the ANC and changed the constitution of the country to go for a third-term. What would Olusegun Obasanjo have done to Nigerians if he had succeeded in his third-term bid?

Limiting terms may not limit the suffering and oppression of countries’ citizens, but it is essential if people are to have any faith in the democratic order. Instead of leaders trying to perpetuate themselves in office, they should be seeking a legacy that ensures that their good practice and transformative agenda outlives them. This should as true in Caracas as in Kampala, Addis Ababa, Harare, Asmara, Yaoundé and countless other capitals across the African continent, where presidents delude themselves that they can occupy state power until they die, and indeed even after death through their fake dynasties.

What you cannot do as president in ten years you will not achieve in a hundred.

* Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem is general secretary of the Global Pan-African Movement, based in Kampala, Uganda, and is also director of Justice Africa, based in London, UK.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org/.

Africa’s ambivalent union

Tim Murithi

2009-02-18

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/panafrican/54179

The recently concluded African Union assembly of heads of state and government elected Muammar al-Gaddafi as its chairperson for the next year. To the casual observer this seems to be an odd choice given the dictator’s suppression of dissenting voices within his own country and his supporting of all manner of armed militia groups around the world. However, the election of Gaddafi was the culmination of an ongoing internal struggle to define the extent of the AU’s reach into the internal affairs of its member states. Since 2005 when the idea of a ‘United States of Africa’ was first muted by Libya there has been an ongoing, behind-the-scenes battle between those who would prefer to have a gradual transition towards a union government of Africa and those would like to launch it immediately.

In 2006 the AU debated and issued a report assessing the feasibility and desirability of a United States of Africa. In 2007, at the AU summit held in Accra, Ghana, an extensive debate between the heads of state and government on the scope and reach of the proposed Union Government of Africa descended into discord and acrimony. A last minute communiqué by the continent’s leaders was not a decisive declaration of a transition to ever deeper union but instead a watered-down compromise that proved to be empty and hollow.

At the Accra summit the fault-lines dividing the opposing positions became more pronounced. Libya and Senegal led a small coterie of ‘unionists’ who argued that deeper continental political union was urgent and necessary. The ‘gradualist’ camp, which included South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, and Zambia among others, argued that it would impudent to rush into a union government when the AU had not even managed to achieve the rudimentary aspects of operational efficiency. The gradualists also argued that continental integration could only be achieved by building upon the integrative processes already underway within sub-regional economic communities (RECs) – namely the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS), the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CEN-SAD), the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the East African Community (EAC).

These current debates afflicting the AU are not new. The formation of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), the AU’s predecessor, was marred by a similar division of interests between Kwame Nkrumah’s vision of a United States of Africa and those newly liberated post-colonial African leaders who felt that they were better off retaining their national sovereignty. The election of Gaddafi is therefore an indication that the unionist camp has decided to adopt a higher profile and will seek to use the next 12 months to make the case to push for deeper continental integration, if not lay the foundations for a full blown United States of Africa. The election was not left to chance, the Libyan regime actively campaigned behind the scenes, granted support, made pledges and cajoled other AU leaders to assure their desired electoral outcome. Gaddafi, who is no stranger to controversy, does not conceal his desire to be viewed as a pan-African elder statesman in the mould of the founding fathers of the United States of America – Washington, Jefferson, Hamilton and Adams. This caricature was reinforced when he arrived at the AU summit with a motley crew of ‘traditional’ African leaders in tow. This entourage was supposed to be the garnish in his crowning as the pan-African visionary who would lead his continent to the promised land.

Africa’s leaders demonstrated their ambivalence towards the unionist project by electing Gaddafi, whose government does not uphold the principles of democratic governance or human rights enshrined in the Constitutive Act of the African Union, nor its array of impressive declarations including the AU Protocol on Democracy, Elections and Governance. The tragedy is that the majority of African heads of state and government do not uphold these principles within their own countries, so perhaps the election of ‘one of their own’ did not pose a moral dilemma for them.

In the meantime, the AU will continue to lurch from crisis to crisis in Darfur, Somalia and Zimbabwe. The consequences of the recent election will only become clearer as the year proceeds. This interminable debate on integration may ultimately derail the African unity project, and also encumber further progress towards addressing the urgent problems that the continent’s 800-million constituency faces in terms of impoverishment, access to healthcare, education, improved infrastructure, the exploitation of natural resources and Africa’s continuing marginalisation in the global economy. Continental integration is a necessary stepping stone towards being able to address these problems. It is now clear that no African country is an island unto itself. The AU leaders will need to overcome their ambivalence and transcend their interminable debates. A leadership that is divided cannot hope to be able to convince its own citizens of the merits of continental integration.

* Tim Murithi is a senior research fellow at the Department of Peace Studies, University of Bradford.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org/.

Independent refugee press

Lori Kemp West

2009-02-19

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/54229

Wow. I have never been an activist but after reading this article I am attempting to process the idea that an organization could be against allowing refugees to speak out in whichever manner they choose. Are they prisoners to be told what and how they should speak?

On Mamdani, Moyo and deep thinkers

Netfa Freeman

2009-02-19

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/54228

This is a great analysis and dissection of the article criticizing Mamdani. Too often is the imperialist agenda against Zimbabwe, abetted by attempts to nullify peoples critical thinking. Articles and books are written by these "scholars", especially Campbell, that passes off as scholarly research and analysis to an uncritical, less informed reader, allowing Africa's primary enemies to remain unscathed and unchallenged. The critique in this article is very instructive on how to analyze other articles dealing with the crisis on Zimbabwe today. We must scrutinize any accusation and assertion and take for granted none of what we read or hear, and only half of what we see. The prominance of those who wish to make Mugabe and ZANU PF the end all be all for Zimbabwe's problems are the main reason why there is no anti-blockade or sanctions movement around Zim in the same way there is around Cuba. Or even was around Iraq before Imperialism invaded there. Even though many believed Saddam Hussein a brutal dictator, all took a principled stand against the sanctions that caused countless death and destruction to Iraqi people. In Zimbabwe these scholars openly abett the falsehood that the West's sanctions are of no consequence, when they are the primary (not sole) responsible for the ailing economy in Zimbabwe at this time.
IPS' Social Action & Leadership School for Activists

Questions about Cote d'Ivoire

Mgrd

2009-02-19

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/54227

Regarding Cote d'Ivoire, reading the resolution 1721, I saw no mention "that in the event of a collapse in the transition, the ruling cadres would be replaced by others from Ivorian civil society." The direct dialogue initiated in late 2006, shortly after the toxic waste scandal has rendered obsolete the resolution. Where the resolution strengthened the powers of Konan Banny and of the High Representative of the United Nations and it introduced Sassou Nguesso as a mediator, the direct dialogue composed the trio Gbagbo, Compaoré, Soro. One question: where can I find the full report of the Commission Internationale d'Enquete sur les Dechets Toxiques?

ICT in education in Africa

2009-02-20

http://community.eldis.org/ICT4ED/Blog/ICT-in-education-in-Africa

The free, online book - ICT and changing mindsets in Education - edited by Kathryn Toure, Therese Mungah Shalo Tchombe and Thierry Karsenti, draws on research in 36 schools and surveys of 66000 students and 3000 teachers. It has chapters in both English and French by 19 researchers from Africa, Europe, and North America

Interview with Valerie Tagwira

World Press Review

2009-02-18

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/African_Writers/54183

Valerie Tagwira is a Zimbabwean medical doctor and an author. Currently she is working in London while preparing for her membership exam for the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.

Her debut novel, The Uncertainty of Hope, is set in the densely populated suburb of Mbare, Harare, and explores the complex lives of Onai Moyo, a market woman and mother of three children, and her best friend, Katy Nguni, a vendor and black-market currency dealer. The novel gives an insight into the challenges faced by a wide cross-section of Zimbabwe, where life expectancy has dropped to 37, possibly the lowest in the world.

In 2005, Operation Murambatsvina, the government's controversial urban slum clearance programme, created over half a million internally displaced persons and destroyed the livelihoods of close to 10 per cent of the population. Eighty per cent of the country's population is unemployed.

The International Monetary Fund estimates that the rate of inflation, which currently stands at over 1,700 per cent, could reach an unprecedented 4,000 per cent this year.

In this interview, Tagwira spoke about the concerns that influenced the novel.

World Press Review: What would you say The Uncertainty of Hope is about?

Valerie Tagwira: The Uncertainty of Hope is a novel set in contemporary Zimbabwe. It looks at poverty, homelessness, HIV/AIDS, domestic violence, and a host of other socio-economic challenges of the day. It is also a story about surviving against the odds and, hopefully, gives an insight into the intricacies of contemporary Zimbabwe with respect to how people are trying to survive.

When I initially started thinking about writing, I had a desire to do something different, something creative, and because I'm something of a ‘mild feminist’ at heart, I always knew that I would write something featuring strong female characters. Writing about contemporary Zimbabwe was a natural choice because I am very much attached to ‘home’ and I travel back quite frequently. At each visit, it strikes me how the living standards are deteriorating, and at each visit, I never imagine that things can get any worse, but they do, and people still survive. I was particularly concerned about how women deal with the challenges that are thrust upon them.

When I started writing the book, being a woman was my motivation, but I also had a strong interest in socio-economic, developmental, and health-related issues that affect women. I wanted to highlight the plight of the disadvantaged in modern day Zimbabwe… the poor. This encompasses the homeless, be they adults or street children, the unemployed, and all the employed and ex-middle classes who are now living below the poverty datum line. It includes everyone who cannot afford basic necessities like food, clothing, education, and access to healthcare.

World Press Review: Among the disadvantaged in Zimbabwe, are there groups that are more vulnerable than others?

Valerie Tagwira: In each of the groups I've mentioned, I think women (and the girl-child) are worse off than their male counterparts.

World Press Review: What is life like for these women and children?

Valerie Tagwira: Extremely difficult.

They have been disempowered, and have very little or no means with which to make their lives better. The issues discussed in the novel have touched most people either directly or indirectly because there is now so much poverty in Zimbabwe.

To me, it feels as if most things are collapsing, be it industry, the health system, or the education system… you name it, it's going… deteriorating. Even the judicial system is struggling. The current political situation and the country's negative publicity certainly don't help. All these have the combined effect of making life very difficult for the people.

Also, women are more likely to be unemployed, less educated, and less in control of their lives because of cultural and biological reasons, all of which makes them even more vulnerable. The collapsing health system in Zimbabwe has placed an even bigger burden on women, who are naturally expected to be caregivers. For example, childbearing necessitates the provision of obstetric services which, for the greater proportion of women, are now out of reach, even at a very basic level. I can see a situation where pregnancy and childbirth are soon going to be gratuitously risky. In addition to this, women's role as caregivers now brings with it the extra burden of looking after family and friends with HIV/AIDS.

World Press Review: Is there a solution?

Valerie Tagwira: In my opinion, this is where the uncertainty about the future of Zimbabweans lies. If a solution is ever to come, I don't know when it will be or how it will come. What I'm sure of is that drastic changes have to take place in order for the lives of ordinary people to improve.

World Press Review: What can/should be done to improve the lives of women and children in Zimbabwe?

Valerie Tagwira: Empowerment through education, employment creation, affirmative action where possible (as long as this does not lower standards), and generally making resources available to the population.

This can be effected by government leaders as they are the ones in charge of policymaking processes and allocating funds to various sectors.

I must also say it was heartening to see the Domestic Violence Act come into being in 2006. To me, this was a demonstration of an awareness of the significance of domestic violence and its negative effects. It will go a long way toward protecting the rights of women and children. They are affected to a greater extent than men, who are more likely to be perpetrators of violence and abuse. The women's coalition which campaigned for the bill had representatives from women with different political and social affiliations. This provided a window of hope that if women can come together to pursue a common goal, they can bring about positive changes in a patriarchal society which tends to put men's interests before those of women and children.

NGOs and the donor community also have the capacity to complement government efforts aimed at improving the lives of women and children. And at grassroots level, communities do have a duty of care toward the next disadvantaged person. As the core unit of society, the family setup has a very important role to play as well.

World Press Review: Which aspects of the work that you put into The Uncertainty of Hope did you find most difficult?

Valerie Tagwira: The novel is quite long, and for each of the characters, I had to maintain consistency throughout, taking into account various interpersonal relationships.

I did find that a challenge. I don't know if I got it right. I suppose I will be able to tell from how the novel is received.

World Press Review: What did you enjoy most?

Valerie Tagwira: Working with my editor.

I was able to participate in the editing process, which was a great learning experience. Basically, this involved checking the manuscript for errors, consistency, language, etc. Being in medicine for so long and not reading as much as I did when I was younger made me feel that my English had gone rusty so this was a great opportunity to ‘revise’ language skills as well.

World Press Review: How did you decide on a publisher?

Valerie Tagwira: I didn't decide on a publisher as such. I heard about Weaver Press from my cousin and I rang them to ask about manuscript submission.

I was very fortunate to have my manuscript accepted, and to have Irene Staunton as my editor. She is very supportive and serious about the work she does.

World Press Review: In the writing that you are doing, who would you say has influenced you the most?

Valerie Tagwira: My parents. They were teachers, and I was always surrounded by books from a very early age. I developed a love for books because of their influence.

I read anything that I could get my hands on. This included the Benny and Betty series, the Nancy Drew series by Carolyn Keene, volumes of fairy tales, Enid Blyton, Jane Austen, Thomas Hardy, Shakespeare, Charles Dickens, Catherine Cookson, [Charles] Mungoshi, Chinua Achebe, Ngugi [wa Thiong'o] (and many more). My favorite Shona novels were: Pafunge, Ziva Kwawakabva, Ndiko Kupindana Kwamazuva, Rurimi Inyoka, and Maidei. The list goes on and on…

World Press Review: What are your main concerns as a writer?

Valerie Tagwira: My biggest challenge is how to juggle family life, my medical career, and still find enough time to work on my writing. My career makes it impossible for me to have enough time to write as much as I would like to.

World Press Review: How do you deal with this?

Valerie Tagwira: When I have to write, I just make sure that I set aside time to do so, which might mean giving up some leisure time. I enjoy writing so much that I don't mind terribly when I have to give up something else in order to write.

While I was working on the novel, I tried to make time for about three writing sessions per week. Each session was at least three hours during the week and much longer, with short breaks, during weekends, and involved expanding the manuscript, rewriting, checking for mistakes, inconsistencies, the usual… and later, working with the editor to shape the story into something worthy of being called a novel.

World Press Review: What will your next book be about?

Valerie Tagwira: I recently came across some disturbing UN statistics on child abuse in Zimbabwe. I would like to find out more about this sometime in the future and see if I can write a book which looks at that theme.

World Press Review: When did you decide you wanted to be a writer?

Valerie Tagwira: Several years ago… sometime in my late twenties. I can't remember the exact age.

It was one of those vague ideas that kept crossing my mind time and again. However, because of work and study, I never seemed to have the time to settle down and commit myself to writing. I only started working on my novel earnestly toward the end of 2005, when I made a conscious decision to start working and get on with it, instead of daydreaming about being a writer one day.

I think I worked really hard once I started. It took me about 10 months to complete the manuscript.

* Valerie Tagwira is a Zimbabwean medical doctor and an author. This article was first published by the World Press Review.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org/.

African Blog Review – February 19, 2009

Dibussi Tande

2009-02-19

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/blog/54222

My Heart’s in Africa writes about the deactivation of the Kubatana blog site by Bluehost:

“For the past two years, Kubatana has hosted a joint blog for a wide range of Zimbabwean citizens, some who wrote anonymously, and others who wrote under their names - it’s been one of the key sources of information and perspective for people around the world who follow Zimbabwe, and a critical outlet for Zimbabweans who have few other ways to communicate.

Earlier this week, Kubatana’s blog site, as well as a couple of sites hosted on behalf of activist organizations, went dark. Visitors to the blog received a message that the webhost, Bluehost, had disabled the account. When the folks who run Kubatana asked why their account had been suspended, they were informed that an “internal review” revealed that Kubatana was a Zimbabwean organization, and Bluehost’s regulations prohibit them from doing business with ten countries that are subject to US government trade sanctions.”

Kanmi Iyanda calls on Nigerians to look beyond prevailing ethnic stereotypes when dealing with each other:

“As is the case all over Africa, I was brought up in a household where my elders innocently and casually made 'politically incorrect' statements about everyone who spoke a language separate from ours. The Hausas were uneducated dunces, the Igbos could not be trusted and the average Mid-westerner was steeped in an ancestry of armed robbery. We, the Yorubas, as you would expect were perfect, but suffered from being apparently held back by our parasitical tribal neighbours. Nothing was ever our fault and Nigerian history, at least through our myopic eyes showed how we never took the wrong turn....yeah...right!....

“It is time to erase the false lines we have drawn around ourselves and begin to see the potential in working for the same thing. If an Igbo president is to emerge by 2015 (that's my prediction), then Igbos have to embrace the Yoruba and Hausas, without whom that eventuality will never see the light of day…

Some might call me a dreamer, but did you ever think we would have a black man at 1600 Pennsylvania?”

The blog Africans in Minnesota discusses potential solutions to Africa’s brain drain:

“… Could liberalizing free flow of labor in Africa curb the outflow of professionals to the west? If you agree with me on this point then could a united lobby group of Africans in Diaspora be formed to prevail over the AU to liberalize this free flow of labor in Africa?
The civil service as I pointed earlier is the primary employer of professionals in majority of African countries but could something be done to strengthen the private sector in Africa? Since availability of start up capital happens to be a major bottleneck for willing young entrepreneurs to enter the private sector, could the West concentrate on making this capital available so that rather that giving food aid, aim at building a this new promising and positive as well as encouraging approach.”


George Ngwane analyzes the challenges that await President Qadhafi as he tries to establish a United States of Africa during his tenure as AU president:
“While official diplomacy (political will of our leaders) remains the more realistic option for the establishment of the United States of Africa, Track 11 diplomacy (political pressure of the masses) is the more potent weapon needed to jumpstart it.
Qadhafi’s outreach agenda would consist of negotiating with some of the most acerbic opponents of the United States of Africa. These opponents include South Africa, Nigeria, Uganda and Ethiopia. Rather than widening the “gradualists versus radical divide” that has historically been the yeast of Africa’s consensus, Qadhafi should remember that even the European Union was born out of two divides-the functionalist approach which favoured a gradual transfer of sovereignty from national to community level represented by Frenchman Jean Monnet and the federalist approach which believed in the idea that local, regional, national and European authorities should cooperate and complement each other represented by the Italian Altiero Spinelli.”


House of Chiefs, a blog that focuses on traditional authorities in Zambia explains why Zambian traditional rulers are increasingly getting involved in national politics
“First, increased electoral competition has given chiefs unparallel opportunities to emerge as ‘kingmakers’....
Secondly, the market and constitutional reforms of the Chiluba era, in particular the land reforms of 1995 and the constitutional amendment in 1996…effectively gave chiefs a new lease of life…
Thirdly, traditional leaders are becoming more educated. We now have a number of well educated chiefs like Chief Bright Nalubamba, Chief Kapalaula, Chief Shabaila and many others who are able to speak intelligently on many issues…
Fourthly, increased poverty levels especially with the SAP reforms have forced chiefs to become more vocal for their rural dwellers.
Finally, the rise of new and more accessible mediums of communication.”

China blocks subsidy challenge from SA

2009-02-20

http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/topstories.aspx?ID=BD4A940365

SA’s first legal bid to protect itself against unfairly subsidised imports from China has been thwarted, under what appears to have been undue pressure from the Chinese government. South African manufacturing firms are already squeezed by heavily subsidised imports from China. The situation is set to get worse as the Chinese government increases payments to its manufacturers to keep exports competitive in the global economic downturn.

China eyes long-term needs with Chinalco's Rio move

2009-02-20

http://uk.reuters.com/article/governmentFilingsNews/idUKPEK76220090213

A near-$20 billion (13.8 billion pound) investment by China's top state-owned aluminium producer in miner Rio Tinto and some of its best assets shows how Beijing can use the commodities downturn to buy good assets, and raise the game of China Inc. While China has a long-term strategic interest in securing resources supplies, its big banks are among the most likely to buy minority stakes in foreign counterparts, analysts said, as Western peers bleed red from the global financial crisis.

China quotas renewed ‘without consultation’

2009-02-20

http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/topstories.aspx?ID=BD4A941909

The trade and industry department has formally asked China to extend import curbs on clothing and textiles from that country. The request was apparently made without consulting industry players, as none of the industry’s representative bodies was aware of SA’s bid to extend the quotas.

China's commodities drive in Africa

2009-02-20

http://tinyurl.com/ao9hlr

Chinese President Hu Jintao is on his first foreign tour of 2009, which includes four African states -- Mali, Senegal, Tanzania and Mauritius. Business is booming between China and Africa in commodities and energy. Here are some details of China's growing business in Africa: Trade between the two has jumped in the past decade, driven by China's resource needs and growing African demand for cheap Chinese-made products. In 2008, total Sino-Africa trade was $106.8 billion, up 45.1 percent on 2007.

Egypt: Textile companies weave Nile dreams

2009-02-20

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2009-02/14/content_7477190.htm

Li Jinglin is one unique Chinese businessman. This owner of a textile company in Egypt has become one of the few Chinese businessmen to sniff out opportunities in the African nation, mainly to beat fierce competition from back home. Even as domestic enterprises start to feel the pinch from deepening credit woes caused by the global downturn, Li has been busy dealing with rising orders from the US and European markets.

Forging a New China-Africa Consensus?

Stephen Marks and Sanusha Naidu

2009-02-19

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/africa_china/54232

President Hu Jintao’s Friendship and Cooperation visit to Africa ended on a high note. With more than US$380 million loans and grant agreements signed during the whistle-stop visit to Mali, Senegal, Tanzania and Mauritius, President Hu put to rest any speculation or confusion regarding Beijing’s long-term strategy in Africa and reaffirmed its economic assistance during times of financial uncertainty and crisis. But the real significance of this visit was the keynote speech President Hu delivered in Tanzania entitled ‘Work together to Open a New Chapter of China-Africa Friendship’.
The speech wove together China’s traditional friendship with Africa and the forging of a new consensus. It indicated how Beijing seeks to cement its ties with the continent in a changing global environment of instability and economic uncertainty. A five-point proposal was unveiled as the basis of this new consensus:

1.Cementing solidarity and extending mutual support to cope with the international financial crisis.
2.Improving mutual trust and consolidating the political foundation of China-Africa traditional friendship.
3.Lifting up the mutually beneficial and practical trade and economic cooperation between China and Africa.
4.Widening exchanges and deepening cultural and educational cooperation.
5.Collaborating closely and stepping up coordination in international affairs.
On a first reading this five-point plan seems merely to reiterate previous rhetoric and could easily be dismissed as nothing new and more of the same. But as ever, the true significance is in the small print which defined the meaning of each of the five apparent platitudes.

For example, the first point was fleshed out as;
‘China will faithfully implement the assistant measures concerning Africa defined at the Beijing Summit, continue to increase assistance within its capacity, reduce or exempt debts of African countries, expand trade with them and reinforce China-Africa pragmatic cooperation. China is also ready to enhance exchanges and cooperation with them on how to prevent and manage financial crisis’.

- clearly intended as a contrast with fears that Western interest and investment will fall off as a result of the crisis.

The second point was fleshed out as;
‘China hopes to step up high-level contacts, strengthen strategic dialogue and communications and enhance mutual understanding and trust with African countries. China firmly supports the efforts of African countries and the African Union (AU) of maintaining national sovereignty and solving their own problems independently, will continue to take an active part in the UN peace operations in Africa and play a constructive role of settling conflicts and hot issues and maintaining peace and security in Africa’.

Again this indicates a continuing development of the traditional principle of ‘non-interference’ to take account of decisions at AU level, as well as flagging up a potential conflict between ‘non-interference’ and conflict resolution – Darfur comes to mind…
There was also solid content to the explanation of the third point;
‘China is willing to boost trade with Africa, take care of Africa’s concerns and take preferential measures to increase import from Africa. The Chinese government encourages and supports the competitive Chinese businesses to invest in Africa, create more jobs for the local people, increase technology transfer to the continent and urge them to shoulder greater social responsibilities and live in harmony with local communities’.

Clearly the concerns of African civil society about the social impact of some Chinese investments have registered in Beijing though the impact in practice is of course another matter.

While the details on cultural exchanges did not appear to go beyond previous statements, the final point on stepping up international cooperation reinforced the theme of working together to ‘deepen cooperation with African countries in such multilateral organizations as the UN and the World Trade Organization to address global challenges like climate change, food security, poverty alleviation and development. We also hope to participate jointly with them in developing international economic, financial and trade rules and pushing forward the international economic order in a fair and just manner’.

This last point would appear to reinforce the point made by the Ghanaian observer, Bright B Simons, that
…the visit to the four African countries is actually one plank in what seems to be a multi-prong diplomatic offensive aimed at consolidating some kind of Southern Hemisphere solidarity in anticipation of an era of mercantilist alliances arrayed to the effect of greater multilateralism and the breaking of Euro-American economic hegemony.

Indeed, the China-Africa debate seems currently caught between the market-centric approach and the geostrategic angle. For the market pundits this new consensus is framed more along how China’s multi-billion dollar stimulus package is going to reignite Africa’s commodity exports. This was reflected at the Mining Indaba hosted in Cape Town last week. It is true that markets are cyclical, and follow trends of booms-busts-booms. China can stimulate Africa’s commodities export earnings though it remains optimistic to assume that this will happen in the immediate or medium term future.
However, this approach overlooks the most significant feature of the visit – that it avoided the major historic trading partners and sources of raw materials. Angola, Sudan and South Africa were all off the itinerary.
The agreements that President Hu signed in the four African countries where he pushed for more trade vowed to increase its aid to Africa despite the financial crisis, or the promise by the Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson, Jiang Yu that [/url=http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-02-12-voa16.cfm] 2009 will be a ‘turning point for China and Africa’ marked by ‘great opportunities’[/url] all underlined this aspect.

In Mali President Hu inaugurated , the Sino-Malian Friendship Bridge which has a project cost of US$74,9 million and will stretch over the Niger River.

In Senegal, the Chinese presence could be felt in Dakar with the 212[ Chinese shops that are in the market even before President Hu could offer over US$90million in gifts and loans. The deals included:

* A grant for US$18 million.
* A loan of US$49 million for national security.
* A second loan of US$23 million for renovation of the country’s buses. And
* A contract to buy 10 000 tons of Senegal’s peanut oil.

In Tanzania, expectations were high that President Hu’s visit would stimulate more business joint ventures in mining, large-scale agro-business, processing of agro-products, promotion of tourism and infrastructure investments as well as see China help bail out two state assets, namelyTanzania’s failing national carrier, Air Tanzania and the privatization of the Tazara Railway. While very little was said about the two state assets, President Hu undertook the following commitments totaling US$21,95 million[url=,http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/News/0,,2-11-1447_2470339,00.html]split between the mainland and the island of Zanzibar[/url]:
A US$17.5 million agricultural cooperation agreement to finance investments, especially providing loans to importers of agricultural machinery.
A US$4,4 million agreement to rehabilitate the state radio and television in Zanzibar.

In Mauritius, President Hu took advantage of the statement by Raju Jaddu, Chairman of the Board of Investment, that the island state could become ‘a value added service platform between the two continents ‘ and committed China to :
* A US$260 million to expand the main airport building.
* A US$6.5 million interest free loan.
* A US$ 5 million grant

Hoping to become the strategic trade corridor between Asia and Africa, President Hu also pledged that construction on the China-funded $730 million Economic and Trade Zone or Tianli Project in the north of the capital would be accelerated.
Even industry analysts like Craig Bond, chief executive of Standard Bank were betting that the time is ripe for Chinese companies to strengthen their investments in Africa as ‘some developed countries have withdrawn their investments from Africa due to the worsening global crisis, thereby , opening up more opportunities for Chinese companies.
With such emphasis on the trade, investment and aid side of things, it is easy to see how this visit by President Hu could be interpreted as an indicator that forging a new consensus actually means strengthening trade and investments ties with Africa.

Yet, as President Hu cautioned about the contagion effect of the global financial crisis on the developing world, it should be remembered that the inherent lesson from this crisis is precisely that the market led approach that has created winners and losers, not least a growing problem of economically marginalized people who remain underemployed.

Thus, if this new China-Africa consensus is about the market only being able to deliver the right formula for Africa’s development, then China will face an uphill battle in convincing the rest of the Africa’s citizens that its strengthened trade and investment ties holds significant benefits for a ‘better life for all’. A moot point that President Hu implicitly acknowledged when highlighting that the future of China’s African engagements should be shaped by achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and consolidating people to people collaboration.

The choice of countries for the visit certainly seems to indicate that China is concerned to dispel the impression that its African interest is merely generated by an appetite for the continent’s raw materials, and also reflects the importance of broader political alliances between China and African states in international arenas, whose importance acquires new prominence in the wake of the crisis.

If the purpose of President Hu’s visit was to win the hearts and minds of ordinary people and not only appease the market, he certainly did so by even unwittingly opening a space for a new consensus - less about what the market wants and more about greater collaboration and civic partnership between Chinese and African non-state actors.

Moreover, he also reiterated the need for Chinese firms ‘to shoulder more social responsibilities and forge amicable relations with the local communities’. This definitely provides an opportunity for African CSOs to take up President Hu’s challenge, especially since the State Council made a similar call before the 2006 FOCAC Summit by proposing the ‘Nine Principles on Encouraging and Standardizing Foreign Investment’ namely:

1] Insisting on mutual respect, equality, and mutual benefit, complementarity and win-win cooperation. 

2] Strengthening of policy guidance, coordinating and standardizing orderly and rational distribution, preventing disorderly competition, and safeguarding national interests. 

3] Improving the policy-making mechanism, the implementation of overseas investment enterprises, the autonomy of scientific studies and careful decision-making, and prevention of investment and operational risks. 

4] Strengthening supervision of state-owned assets overseas, and supervision of sound evaluation and examination systems, establishment of security risk assessment and project cost accounting systems, and preserving and increasing the value of assets. 

5] Complying with local laws and regulations, and adhering to fair, transparent public works project contracts, making a commitment to and fulfilling the necessary social responsibility to protect the legitimate rights and interests of local employees, paying attention to environmental resource protection, caring for and supporting the local community and people’s livelihood. 

6] Increasing the level of offshore project building contracts, improving product quality and efficiency, and constantly enhancing overall competitiveness. 

7] Strengthening safety training, improving safe production responsibility systems, increasing protection of foreign-funded enterprises, institutions and property safety. 

8] Accelerating personnel training, paying attention to the cultivation of operating in the international talents, and enhance their transnational operations management capabilities. 

9] Creating a friendly environment for public opinion, propaganda, walk the road of peaceful development policy, and to preserve our good image and a good corporate reputation.
The time has come to take the China-Africa engagement to a new level and in forging any new consensus there should be a special focus around the CSO Dialogue. This is because as much as the market may hold important benefits for economic development, in the end it is the impact on human development and community experiences, which will be the basis of history’s judgement on China’s African engagement, and determine who are its ultimate beneficiaries.

* Stephen Marks is Research Associate and co-ordinator
* Sanusha Naidu is the research director, of Fahamu's China-Africa programme

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

G-20 summit may offer ‘grand IMF bargain’ to India, China

2009-02-20

http://tinyurl.com/c9jndw

Emerging economic powerhouses China and India may be encouraged to strike a “grand bargain” at a coming London summit in which they will take on a greater role in the international financial system in exchange for keeping down protectionist barriers. The deal could be struck at the April 2 summit of the Group of 20 (G-20) countries in London - to be attended by US President Barack Obama - and forms part of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s efforts to seek sweeping reforms of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)

Hu Jintao delivers an important speech in Dar

2009-02-20

http://www.fmprc.gov.cn/eng/zxxx/t537784.htm

On the morning of February 16, 2009, President Hu Jintao delivered an important speech to a welcome conference attended by people from various sectors of Dar es Salaam. He stressed the Chinese people cherish their traditional friendship with Africa in the past, now and in the future, always take the African people as completely trustworthy and all-weathered friends and will maintain brotherhood and partnership with the African people forever.

India may sign trade pact with 5 African nations by 2009-end

2009-02-20

http://tinyurl.com/davzaq

India and the five-nation South African Customs Union (SACU), a regional sub-group of African countries, are likely to sign a preferential trade agreement by the year end, an official of South Africa High Commission said on Wednesday. "By the end of 2009, we should be close to signing of the PTA between India and its southern African customs union partners," Counsellor in the High Commission Jardine Omar said.

South Africa hopes to double trade with India to $12 bn

2009-02-20

http://tinyurl.com/cxh5se

South Africa is hoping that its participation in the forthcoming International Engineering and Technology Fair (IETF) in Bangalore, as well as recent investments in India by South African firm Sasol, will lead to doubling of bilateral trade to $12 billion by 2010. The 18th IETF, organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry, will be held Feb 23-26, and will see 500 exhibitors from 25 countries.

Why Hu went to Africa

2009-02-20

http://www.upiasia.com/Economics/2009/02/19/why_hu_went_to_africa/5684/

Chinese President Hu Jintao completed his visit to the four African nations of Mali, Senegal, Tanzania and Mauritius on Tuesday. This was his first overseas trip in 2009 and his sixth visit to Africa. Obviously China is sending a strong message that it intends to expand and develop its relations with the continent. China’s goals in Africa include increased trade and greater market integration. They also include spreading its culture, values and political philosophy toward a harmonious world.

Cholera cases top 80,000

2009-02-20

http://uk.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUKTRE51J3H920090220

More than 80,000 people have now been infected with cholera in Zimbabwe's six-month-old outbreak which has killed 3,759, the World Health Organisation (WHO) said on Friday. About half of the patients who died from the water-borne diarrhoeal disease failed to reach any of the country's 365 cholera treatment centres, the United Nations agency said.

Mugabe brushes off MDC detentions

2009-02-20

http://www.zwnews.com/issuefull.cfm?ArticleID=20292

Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe says he doesn't see why a terrorism case against a longtime rival has made news around the world. Mugabe's first public comments on the charges faced by Roy Bennett show the gulf between his Zanu PF party and the Movement for Democratic Change, two longtime opponents now trying to work together in a unity government.

Rrepair package may cost $5 billion: Tsvangirai

2009-02-20

http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE51J0KE20090220

Repairing Zimbabwe's battered economy could cost as much as $5 billion, said Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai on Friday, adding the country is looking to attract direct foreign investment to help its recovery. Meeting South African President Kgalema Motlanthe and Finance Minister Trevor Manuel to discuss a recovery strategy, Tsvangirai said Zimbabwe planned to use a number of currencies but was not considering adopting the rand as legal tender.

Statement from Archbishop Ndungane

2009-02-20

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/zimbabwe/54276

The swearing in of the Prime Minister and the ministers in a unity government in Zimbabwe should be hailed as a landmark in the political development of the country. We acknowledge the political leaders in Zimbabwe for forging this outcome and the role played by SADC and former President Thabo Mbeki in facilitating the process. Now, everything must be done to sustain the momentum generated and make it irreversible. In particular SADC must closely monitor the arrangement to make sure that there is full implementation and the desired outcomes are realised.
Archbishop Njongo Ndungane, Founder and President of the African Monitor

The swearing in of the Prime Minister and the ministers in a unity government in Zimbabwe should be hailed as a landmark in the political development of the country. We acknowledge the political leaders in Zimbabwe for forging this outcome and the role played by SADC and former President Thabo Mbeki in facilitating the process. Now, everything must be done to sustain the momentum generated and make it irreversible. In particular SADC must closely monitor the arrangement to make sure that there is full implementation and the desired outcomes are realised.

Moving forward, addressing the humanitarian crisis and reconstruction of the country must form top priority, turning immediate attention to attending to the urgent humanitarian needs in terms of food, medical supplies, scholastic materials and other basic necessities to restore the dignity of our sisters and brothers.

Secondly, a mechanism to mobilize African professional expertise such as judges, police, local governments and the like, needs to be instituted so as to rush these experts into Zimbabwe to help restore and de-politicize national and local government institutions and to retool these institutions in the next three –five years.

Thirdly, a round table is needed to hammer out how Zimbabwean professionals - engineers, educationists, doctors, nurses, lawyers, foresters, agriculturalists, veterinarians, and the like, currently dispersed around the globe can contribute to the reconstruction of their country.
We at African Monitor are doing all we can to join forces in mobilizing regionally and internationally for the realization of enduring peace and progress in Zimbabwe.

African Monitor, First Floor, Tokai-on-Main Office Complex, Main Road, Tokai 7945, Cape
Town, South Africa, Tel: +27 21 713 2802, Fax: +27 21 712 1082, www.africanmonitor.org

The undecided union government of Africa

AU Monitor Weekly Roundup: Issue 169, 2009

2009-02-18

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/aumonitor/54172

The final decisions of the January 2009 African Union (AU) summit, including the assembly decision on the union government, are available to download at www.aumonitor.org The decision on the union government and the election of the Muammar Gaddafi of Libya as chairperson of the AU was the culmination of an ongoing internal struggle between the ‘unionists’ led by Libya and Senegal who want an urgent and deeper continental political union and the ‘gradualists’ that include South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, and Zambia who argue that it would be impudent to rush into a union government. Indeed, the director of South Africa’s foreign affairs department reiterated that the establishment of a United States of Africa cannot be achieved in one leap but that it is first necessary to strengthen the regional economic communities and to agree on democratic principles and values that would govern the continent, amongst other conditions. Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi further warned that the United States of Africa could not be wished into existence but that an integrated economic bloc across Africa must first be built. Whereas Senegalese president Abdoulaye Wade declared that the government of the AU would be established by January 2010 while the United States of Africa would be proclaimed in 2017. He added that a group of 20 African countries were ready to go their own way and set up a Federal Union. The African Development Bank launching the report ‘Assessing Regional Integration in Africa III’ in fact made note that many regional economic blocs were hindering regional integration.

Several regional leaders attended the swearing in of Morgan Tsvangirai as Zimbabwe’s prime minister in a unity government that is expected to end months of power struggle between the ZANU-PF government and the MDC opposition following contested elections last year. ‘The swearing in of the Prime Minister and the ministers in a unity government in Zimbabwe should be hailed as a landmark in the political development of the country’ notes the African Monitor, while outlining three next steps that are required to meet the needs of the people of Zimbabwe in their estimation. The first is addressing the humanitarian crisis and reconstruction of the country; the second being the creation of a mechanism to mobilize African professional expertise into Zimbabwe to help restore and de-politicize national and local government institutions and to retool these institutions in the next three to five years; and lastly they propose a round table to hammer out how Zimbabwean professionals currently dispersed around the globe can contribute to the reconstruction of their country. While Zimbabwe’s unity government moves forward, the AU chairman sent a team to meet Mauritania’s political stakeholders with a view to resolving the political crisis plaguing the country since military officers overthrew the democratically elected government in August 2008.

African ministers participating in the ‘African Agriculture in the 21st Century: Meeting the challenges, making a sustainable Green Revolution’ conference 'support the call for a uniquely African Green Revolution to help boost agricultural productivity, food production and national food security' and 'support the work of the Alliance for Green Revolution in Africa (Agra) in spearheading efforts to achieve a sustainable green revolution, working with African governments, farmers, donors, private sector and civil society'.

Finally, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is inviting participation and input of citizens into the ECOWAS Vision 2020 Project that seeks to provide a reference point for an integrated development approach for the West Africa region.

Africa: Voices of African Women Declaration

2009-02-20

http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/voices-of-african-women-declaration.html

We women of Africa from Angola, DR Congo, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Sudan and Zimbabwe, together with activists and supporters from UK WILPF and diaspora organisations, aware of the negative consequences of neo-colonisation in Africa, have gathered in London in November 2008 to voice our concerns. We take this opportunity to ask the general public for their support and to raise our demands to decision-makers including the international community, national governments and non-governmental agencies.

Global: CSW 2009

2009-02-20

http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw/53sesspriorityhtm.htm

The 53rd United Nations Commission on the Status of Women will consider the theme: "The equal sharing of responsibilities between women and men, including caregiving in the context of HIV/AIDS" at its 53rd session at United Nations Headquarters in New York from 2-13 March 2009. As part of efforts to increase its focus on national-level implementation, the Commission will return to this theme in two to three years time to review the implementation of the policy recommendations adopted and to identify remaining gaps and challenges.

Madagascar: Women's statement on crisis

2009-02-20

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/wgender/54281

We, members of Vondrona Miralenta ho an’ny Fampandrosoana (VMLF), association working to promote women’s increased political participation in Madagascar, are outraged and grieving because our sons, daughters, sisters, brothers and friends had been slaughtered. We express our deepest sorrow and concern about the loss of human lives and the deadlock in the life of our nation. In the face of this tragic bloodshed, we affirm that it is utterly inappropriate to take sides with any particular force, and we call on all stakeholders to uphold the Nation’s interest over any party consideration.
CALL FROM VMLF

Learn lessons from History; Resolve the crisis; Reconstruct in the short term

We, members of Vondrona Miralenta ho an’ny Fampandrosoana (VMLF), association working to promote women’s increased political participation in Madagascar, are outraged and grieving because our sons, daughters, sisters, brothers and friends had been slaughtered.

We express our deepest sorrow and concern about the loss of human lives and the deadlock in the life of our nation. In the face of this tragic bloodshed, we affirm that it is utterly inappropriate to take sides with any particular force, and we call on all stakeholders to uphold the Nation’s interest over any party consideration.

Therefore, to the best of our knowledge and belief, and with as much serenity as possible, we declare that the forces which had been fighting over the last few weeks share the responsibility for the present disaster.

The recent history of Madagascar has demonstrated that political practices characterized by power struggles among politicians; democratic deficit; corrupted governance; social injustice; the protection of private interests at the expense of public interest; and, the instrumentalization of the population through demagogic propositions, have led our country into successive crises. It is the same process which had brought about the political crises of 1972, 1991, 2002, and the current crisis.

We are determined to contribute to change in political practices and governance in Madagascar, and we affirm that the following principles must be the minimum basis for the code of conduct of political leaders, whether they are in power or in the opposition:
- Renounce declarations that provide false information and create confusion, fear or unreasoned hatred among the population;
- Listen to the minority(ies), out of respect for the freedom of opinion, even if one has been elected by a majority (which always remains relative anyway);
- Respect the separation between the management of public affairs, and religious and private economic activities.

The resolution of the present crisis requires the immediate creation of a totally neutral and independent body that will be tasked with the establishment of a transitional institution that will be in charge of:
- Undertaking the necessary reforms of the Constitution and Electoral Code;
- Designing mechanisms that can guarantee the separation of the executive, legislative and judicial powers, in order to prevent attempts to accumulate power in the hands of a single individual or party;
- Ensuring the effectiveness of the decentralization process, by sharing responsibilities with each and every decentralized entity and providing them with the means to discharge these responsibilities;
- Preparing and organizing elections, which will start as soon as feasible at the municipal level and end with the presidential elections;
- Ensuring gender equality, that is an equitable and balanced representation of women and men in decision making at all levels, in order to compensate for our slow progress (Madagascar ranks at the bottom end of SADC in terms of the percentage of women in Parliament)

For all these deaths not to have been in vain, we must adopt sound political practices; we must change in order to move towards a society that is more progressive; more tolerant; and more equitable.

Chad: Ex-leader faces court move

2009-02-20

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7901359.stm

Belgium has lodged a case at the International Court of Justice seeking to compel Senegal to prosecute former Chadian President Hissene Habre. Mr Habre, who is accused of crimes against humanity, has lived in Senegal since being removed from power in 1990.

Global: New ICHRP report on corruption and human rights

2009-02-20

http://www.ichrp.org/

The International Council is pleased to announce the release of its report Corruption and Human Rights: Making the Connection. What impact does corruption have on enjoyment of human rights, including economic, social and cultural rights? When can human rights principles and tools help to curb and prevent corruption? In recent years, governments, NGOs and international organisations have taken many initiatives to fight corruption. However, these efforts have rarely been analysed from the point of view of human rights, despite their potential and relevance.

Global: To bring Tony Blair to trial for war crimes

2009-02-20

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

We, the citizens of the United Kingdom and other countries listed, wish to uphold The United Nations Charter, The 1998 Rome Statute of The International Criminal Court, The Hague and Geneva Conventions and the Rule of International Law. We therefore call on you to indict Anthony Charles Lynton Blair in his capacity as recent Prime Minister of the UK, so long as he is able to answer for his actions and however long it takes, in respect of our sample complaints relating to the 2003 Iraq War waged by the UK as ally to the United States of America.

Kenya: Update on the mission on extrajudicial executions

2009-02-20

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/rights/54298

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions, Professor Philip Alston, met with victims and survivors of the Mt.Elgon conflict. The civilian population in the area had been trapped between the violence of the Sabaot Land Defence Force (or SLDF) and a military and police operation within Mount Elgon's district.
Update on the Mission of the Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial Executions in Kenya

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions, Professor Philip Alston, today met with victims and survivors of the Mt.Elgon conflict. The civilian population in the area had been trapped between the violence of the Sabaot Land Defence Force (or SLDF) and a military and police operation within Mount Elgon's district.

Yesterday, Prof. Alston and his team were in Nakuru, as it has been widely publicized, and Eldoret later in the day where they met with victims of the violence which erupted during the post-election crisis.

Earlier today, in Eldoret, the team visited the Kiambaa Assemblies of God Church, site of the 2008 New Year’s Eve massacre and spoke with both survivors and witnesses.

The Special Rapporteur continues on his mission which is scheduled to conclude on 25 February 2009.

Based on the information obtained during the visit, Professor Alston will present a report containing his conclusions and recommendations, to a forthcoming session of the Human Rights Council.

NOTE: At the end of his country visit to Kenya the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial executions will hold a press conference on 25 February 2009 at 3 pm at the United Nations Office in Nairobi.



For more information please contact:

Nasser Ega-Musa,
Director
UN Information Centre
Tel: 254 020 623292
Fax: 254 020 624349
Email: Nasser.ega-musa@unon.org

Southern Africa: Swaziland E action: Suppression of Terrorism Act

2009-02-20

http://tinyurl.com/d6nzzu

The controversial Suppression of Terrorism Act was passed by the Swaziland parliament in May 2008. Certain provisions of the Act empower the Prime Minister to declare virtually anyone or anything to be a terrorist entity. Lawyers have challenged the Act saying it violates fundamental rights of ordinary citizens protected under the constitution. Political activists and human rights defenders have apparently become persona non-grata, battered and/or arrested.

DRC: Over 15,000 fleeing violence flood into Sudan

2009-02-20

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=29917

More than 15,000 Congolese have fled to South Sudan since the Ugandan rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) began launching attacks in north-east Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the United Nations refugee agency reported today. “It is critical to move all of these refuges away from border areas both for security reasons and to facilitate distribution of aid,” UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokesman Ron Redmond told a news briefing in Geneva. “Access to the refugees will soon become impossible when the seasonal rains begin in April and roads become impassable.”

Eritrea: IDPs returned or resettled but border tensions remain

2009-02-20

http://tinyurl.com/bxt6jb

Despite the Algiers Peace Agreement and the decision of the Ethiopia-Eritrea Border Commission, there is a continuing impasse over the demarcation of the border between the two countries and the status of the town of Badme. This presents an ongoing serious risk of escalating tension and of renewed conflict that may have serious political and humanitarian consequences.

Comoros: Comoran party opposes annexation of Mayotte by France

2009-02-20

http://tinyurl.com/c3z79r

The Democratic Front of the Comoros has appealed to the head of state, Ahmed Abdallah Sambi, to mobilize the people against attempts by France to hold a referendum in March with a view to transforming the Island of Mayotte into its overseas territory.

Kenya: Annan statement on defeat of constitution amendment bill

2009-02-20

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/elections/54295

I am disappointed that the Constitution of Kenya Amendment Bill 2009, which would have paved the way for the establishment of a Special Tribunal in Kenya, was defeated in Parliament yesterday. This development is a major setback to the implementation of the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry into the Post-Election Violence (CIPEV).
PRESS STATEMENT
Panel of Eminent African Personalities

H.E KOFI ANNAN ON THE DEFEAT OF THE CONSTITUTION OF KENYA AMENDMENT BILL IN PARLIAMENT
13 February 2009

I am disappointed that the Constitution of Kenya Amendment Bill 2009, which would have paved the way for the establishment of a Special Tribunal in Kenya, was defeated in Parliament yesterday. This development is a major setback to the implementation of the recommendations of the Commission of Inquiry into the Post-Election Violence (CIPEV). I believe it is also a blow to efforts aimed at ending the culture of impunity in Kenya, which is a central objective of the Kenya National Dialogue and Reconciliation process.

Ending impunity is critical to addressing the root causes of the crisis that engulfed Kenya last year. The findings of the just-released independent report on the implementation of the KNDR agreements and the defeat of the bill have underscored the absolute necessity for Kenya’s political leadership to live up to their responsibilities and to redouble their efforts to implement the agreements, particularly those under Agenda Item Four, if Kenya is to avoid a recurrence of violence in the immediate future.

The CIPEV report was clear in its recommendations, which the Government has accepted. The Panel will now review the actions it should take in line with the spirit, letter and intent of that report.

São Tomé: Coup leaders charged

2009-02-20

http://www.afrol.com/articles/32463

São Tomé and Príncipe government has charged 38 people for allegedly trying to topple President Fradique de Menezes last Thursday, government has confirmed. Last Friday, justice ministry spokesman Justino Veiga announced the arrest of a group of men after the foiled coup and the confiscation of more than 310 assault rifles in the home of one of the opposition party leaders.

Zimbabwe: Mugabe swears in ministers, deputies

2009-02-20

http://zimbabwejournalists.com/story.php?art_id=5304&cat=1

Robert Mugabe on Thursday swore in 19 deputy ministers to a new unity government with opposition agriculture nominee Roy Bennett still held in detention on a criminal charge. The ceremony finalised the historic unity government formed last week after years of political turmoil between Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, leader of the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC).

Africa: Yet another case of graft involving France

2009-02-20

http://www.ipsterraviva.net/europe/article.aspx?id=7079

Three days ago, Jean-Charles Marchiani, a former member of the French secret services, was released from the Paris prison of La Santé where he had been serving time since May 2008. Last year, a tribunal in Paris found Marchiani guilty of influence peddling and other corruption charges involving African countries. Marchiani, who was also a close collaborator of former French minister of the interior Charles Pasqua, was sentenced in 2008 to three years in prison. He has been freed early thanks to a special amnesty granted by French president Nicolas Sarkozy.

North Africa: Morocco plagued by corruption, new survey reveals

2009-02-20

http://tinyurl.com/c32ofk

At its thirteenth general meeting on February 1st in Rabat, Transparency Maroc (TM) commended the efforts of many public institutions and civil society in fighting corruption in Morocco, but still described it as not good enough. Corruption remains deeply rooted, and the problem is only growing, according to the organisation.

Africa: Canada in Africa -- Economic Justice

2009-02-20

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/development/54292

In mid December, 2008, Robert Fowler, a career Canadian diplomat who is currently the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy to Niger, and his aide Louis Guay, an official at Foreign Affairs, were abducted in Niger. They were kidnapped not long after visiting a mine operated by Montréal-based SEMAFO (Société d’exploitation minière-Afrique de l’Ouest). The president and CEO of SEMAFO, Benoit La Salle, told the National Post: “Louis [Guay] called me and said he was going down there on a UN mission and that he heard the mine was a Canadian success, and he wanted to report this back to Canada.”
Canada in Africa

In mid December, 2008, Robert Fowler, a career Canadian diplomat who is currently the UN Secretary General’s Special Envoy to Niger, and his aide Louis Guay, an official at Foreign Affairs, were abducted in Niger. They were kidnapped not long after visiting a mine operated by Montréal-based SEMAFO (Société d’exploitation minière-Afrique de l’Ouest). The president and CEO of SEMAFO, Benoit La Salle, told the National Post: “Louis [Guay] called me and said he was going down there on a UN mission and that he heard the mine was a Canadian success, and he wanted to report this back to Canada.”

At this point there are few other confirmed details regarding the kidnapping. Agence France Presse reported that the federal government, Niger and the UN have all become extremely secretive about the kidnapping. The UN initially denied that Fowler was on an official trip, but then a spokesperson contradicted this earlier statement, admitting that in fact he was on official business.

This event raises some questions about relations between Ottawa and Canadian resource corporations operating abroad:
Is it common for diplomats to visit Canadian operated mines in foreign countries?

Why was a UN envoy, sent to a country to deal with a conflict largely over natural resources, visiting a Canadian operated mine?
Was the visit a message to Niger’s government? The rebels? The UN?
Finally, does Guay, who organized the last minute trip to the mine and who once ran a Canadian gold company in the Dominican Republic, have ties to the President of SEMAFO?

The mine Fowler and Guay visited is run by a company with interesting ties to Ottawa’s so-called “development” world. SEMAFO is an outgrowth of La Salle’s work for Plan Canada, a subsidiary of Plan International, “one of the world’s largest development organizations, working in more than 65 countries worldwide on critical issues affecting millions of children.” Plan Canada is funded by the Canadian International Development Agency.

In July, La Salle told an interviewer that SEMAFO “was created in 1995 during my first visit to Burkina Faso as part of a mission with the NGO-Plan. I am the president of the administration council of Plan Canada and a director of Plan International. So, after the Plan organized visit to Burkina Faso provided me an opportunity to get close with national authorities, I decided to create SEMAFO to participate in the development of Burkina Faso’s mining industry.”
In another interview, La Salle said “[in my position at Plan] I was able to meet [African] presidents, prime ministers and functionaries” whom he now does business with. La Salle has put his political contacts to good use. An April 2007 Montreal Gazette business article headlined “Local Miner a Major Force in Niger” reports on the close relations between SEMAFO and Hama Amadou, then Prime Minister of Niger. “’We work very closely with him,’ said Benoit La Salle, chief executive and chairman. ‘We’re part of his budget every year. He knows us.’

The Prime Minister was even helpful in solving a strike at the mine that shut down production just before Christmas. ‘He gave us all the right direction to solve this legally,’ La Salle said. ‘We went to court, we had the strike declared illegal and that allowed us to let go of some of the employees and rehire some of them based upon a new work contract. It allowed us to let go of some undesirable employees because they had been on strike a few times.’”
SEMAFO’s preferred prime minister seems also to have been involved in some activities not quite as “legal” as firing striking workers. In June 2008 Reuters reported that “former Niger Prime Minister Hama Amadou has been arrested on corruption charges. Niger’s Parliament voted this week to try Amadou, who is accused of embezzling $237 000, in a separate corruption scandal.”

SEMAFO is not the only Canadian resource company that has put its political connections to good use in Niger. Calgary-based TG World Energy, the Globe and Mail reported, “hired Mr. [Jean] Chrétien last year [2004] to help it get out of a pickle in the impoverished African nation of Niger.” TG’s rights to explore 18 million acres of Niger’s wilderness for oil and gas were revoked by the government, which felt TG hadn’t invested enough in prospecting. Niger then awarded the concession to a subsidiary of the China National Petroleum Corp.

The Calgary company sued Niger’s government and went to arbitration with the Chinese firm. “It also asked Mr. Chrétien to intervene,” reports the Globe.
“The former prime minister spoke with officials of China National Petroleum during a trip to Beijing and then in March of 2004, he flew into Niamey, the Niger capital. In normal circumstances, the best TG World could have hoped to get on its own was a meeting with the Energy Minister. But Mr. Chrétien managed to snag a meeting with the President.” Chrétien’s lobbying led to a new agreement between TG World, Niger, and the Chinese, which saw the Canadian company’s stock price increase from 8 cents to more than $1 per share within a year.

In fact, none of this sort of Canadian “diplomacy” is unusual. Canadian diplomatic involvement in Niger is widely replicated across Africa. Within 13 months after leaving office Chrétien made business-related visits to Gambia, Nigeria, Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Describing political lobbying on behalf of Canadian mining corporations in the Congo, one commentator told Democracy Now that every Prime Minister since Pierre Trudeau (Clark, Mulroney, Chrétien, Martin) “has left office and profited from the natural resources of the Congo while the Congolese people suffer.”

There is something particularly distasteful about former public officials exchanging their political contacts, prestige etc. for a buck. But, this is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to public officials’ support for Canadian business in Africa. Canadian embassies and trade missions are largely focused on advancing this country’s corporate interests. The authors of Africa’s Blessing, Africa’s Curse note:
“Canadian diplomatic missions in Africa spend much of their time making sure that mining companies and host governments are brought together and the companies are much praised by Canadian officials.”

This diplomacy has enabled Canadian corporations, particularly mining companies, to thrive. Today, Africa is home to some 600 Canadian mining concessions worth more than $12 billion. Over the past two decades, there has been a huge increase in Canadian mining investments across the continent. Up from about a quarter billion dollars in 1989, Canadian mining assets in Africa were (before the recent commodities crash) projected to top $20 billion by 2010. Every Canadian should be concerned about this investment and ask what is being done in our name.

While a few independent-minded reporters have written about Canadian mines that have spurred war in the Congo, killings in Tanzania and environmental devastation from Kenya to Ghana, most of the mainstream media prefers to focus on how the Chinese are buying up Africa. Wouldn’t Canadians be better served if the media told us about companies based in our country buying up Africa, the politicians helping them do it and the effects on ordinary Africans?

Yves Engler is the author of the forthcoming Canada on the World Stage: A Force for Good or Bad Actor? and other books. If you would like to help organize a talk as part of a book tour in May Please e-mail:
<mailto:yvesengler@hotmail.com>yvesengler@hotmail.com

Africa: Ghana's rocket man

2009-02-20

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7881708.stm

On the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth, BBC News asks one of Africa's pioneering scientists, Dr Ave Kludze, of the US space agency Nasa what inspired his stellar career and what he thinks of the standard of science teaching in Africa today.

Africa: Protecting health and health services in the services negotiations

2009-02-20

http://www.equinetafrica.org/bibl/equinetpub.php

Negotiations are underway on the services agreements towards concluding a full and comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between East and Southern African countries (ESA) and the European Union (EU). The services negotiations will impact on health services and access to health care. The brief outlines the issues affecting health services, and presents options for ESA negotiators to ensure that the negotiations meet international and African health and human rights commitments, use available trade flexibilities, promote public health and ensure adequate assessment and information to support the negotiations.

Global: Britain invites Africa, poorer Asia nations to G20

2009-02-20

http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE51J0G620090220

Representatives from Africa and poorer Asian nations have been asked to attend the G20 financial crisis summit in London on April 2, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Friday. Brown has asked the New Partnership for Africa's Development, the Association of South East Asian Nations and the African Union Commission to send delegates to the summit.

Niger: An old uranium frontier made new again

2009-02-20

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/development/54287

The number of Canadian miners poking the arid terrain of Niger is increasing, and the relative durability of the uranium price in a down market isn't the only thing fuelling their inquisitiveness. Possessing one of the world's best uranium resources, Niger has long been all but closed off to foreign investors - unless they were French.
The number of Canadian miners poking the arid terrain of Niger is increasing, and the relative durability of the uranium price in a down market isn't the only thing fuelling their inquisitiveness. Possessing one of the world's best uranium resources, Niger has long been all but closed off to foreign investors - unless they were French. The one time colonizers discovered uranium in the country while looking for copper back in the late 1950s and managed to secure deals with the government that guaranteed the European power a virtual monopoly on Niger's uranium assets for a long time after.

But things began to loosen somewhat in 2005 when the government drafted a mining code much in line with other western African countries. Some junior miners like North Atlantic Resources (NAC-T), which was doing work in neighbouring Mali, took notice and staked some claims. But it wasn't until the summer of 2007 that real change came. In July of that year the government took the extreme step of expelling Areva's director of operations in Niger from the country. That move came amidst terse negotiations where the government was trying to get a better share uranium's selling price - it had agreed in the past to settle for a severe discount - and appease Touareg rebels in the north who were violently complaining about the lack of benefice that Areva's uranium mining had brought to them.

A new deal between the French nuclear giant, Areva, and the government was struck in the same year, one that saw the government take a larger share of the spot uranium price and, importantly for foreign investors, took away Areva's preferential treatment with regards to exploration licences. Areva operates two mines in the country, Cominak and Somair, and the re-negotiation with government cleared the way for the development of its third and most ambitious mine in the country, Imouraren. Areva describes the Imouraren deposit as the largest known uranium deposit in Africa, and the world's second largest, after Australia'sOlympic Dam deposit. The company plans to begin mining in 2010 with annual production of 5,000 tonnes of U308 per year. The US$1.5 billion project would propel Niger to the second from the fourth largest producer of uranium in the world. Only Canada would rank higher.

And while such a mega project is a ringing endorsement for the uranium industry in the country it doesn't come without caveats. While Niger has recently been in the news for kidnapping of two Canadian diplomats late last year, Robert Fowler and his assistant Louis Guay, Areva has had four of it employees kidnapped. And unlike the Canadians the perpetrators and the motives of the kidnappings are known. The disgruntled Touareg tribe claimed responsibility. That atmosphere has made miners weary of exploring the grounds they so eagerly want to delve into. But that too is changing according to North Atlantic's presidentand chief executive Scott Waldie.
Waldie admits the unrest has slowed exploration down at its Abelajouad uranium permit - which sits just 5 km west of the Imouraren.

But despite the lack of a peace agreement between the government and the Touareg, Waldie says things have improved and plans to have his exploration team back on the ground in three months. "It is not the rebel's stated business to stop us," Waldie explains. "GoviEx is going ahead; Areva is going ahead; so it's very possible to work there." The GoviEx Waldie refers to isGovi High Power Exploration, a company that holds 2,300 sq. km of exploration property in the region around Arlit in northern Niger roughly 200 km from the Algerian border and another 2,400 sq. km near Agadez which is 175 km south of Arlit.

A quick look at the president and chief executive officer of GoviEx shows a name not unfamiliar with making the next big find - Friedland. In the case of GoviEx, however, it is not the much heralded head of Ivanhoe Mines (IVN-T, IVN-N, IVN-Q), Robert Friedland, but his son, Govind Friedland. And, while Govind may well be on the way to a big find, it is still early days for miners outside of Areva. But Canada's uranium giant isn't taking any chances with regards to being left out of what could be shaping up. Cameco (CCO-T, CCJ-N) has decided to get active in Niger by acquiring 11% of GoviEx for $28-million. If things go well, it can move up to a 48% stake over the next four years for a cost of between $145-million and $212-million.

Waldie says the presence of big players like Cameco and Areva can only help continue to improve the investment climate for smaller players who continue to file in around them in what is still a vastly under-explored region. And the investment dollars they bring are most welcome in Niger - a country widely held to be one of the poorest countries in the world, with a GDP of just US$5.3 billion. "There's tremendous potential there," Waldie says. "We kept a crew there; and we kept our offices going even through the rougher times for a reason."

Aguila American Resources (AGL-V), Bayswater Uranium (BAY-V), NWT Uranium (NWT-V),Rockgate Capital (RGT-V), Southampton Ventures (SV-V) and Semafo are other Canadian-based company's exploring for uranium in Niger.

Africa: Disadvantage of late treatment start may persist for years

2009-02-20

http://www.aidsmap.com/en/news/28D93D76-70F3-4D5B-AAB4-A4D83B1413B4.asp

Starting antiretroviral therapy earlier, before the development of symptoms, is the most likely way to reduce the high death rates after treatment initiation seen in people with HIV in resource-limited settings, two large cohort analyses show. The studies also show that the major disadvantage of starting treatment late - an increased risk of death - may persist for some years, burdening already overstretched health systems with illness that could be avoided by earlier treatment.

Kenya: Testing on the rise but four out of five do not know status

2009-02-20

http://www.aidsmap.com/en/news/C01AB3CA-F2F7-4471-BBDA-FA8043948A48.asp

HIV prevalence in Kenyan adults has remained relatively steady since 2003, at around 7%, according to a major national study presented to the Sixteenth Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) on Wednesday. However, less than one in five HIV-positive adults were aware of their HIV status, and over half had never been tested for HIV at all.

Tanzania: Unviersal ART acess has not erased stigma

2009-02-20

http://www.aidsmap.com/en/news/0490F40D-9CCB-4686-94FA-0CC2E1D0907B.asp

The roll-out of antiretroviral therapy may paradoxically increase stigma, reduce counselling and testing and increase sexual risk-taking, according to the findings of a Tanzania based study published in the online edition of the journal Sexually Transmitted Infections.

Zambia: See-sawing HIV figures cause alarm

2009-02-20

http://www.plusnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=82979

The recent two-percent drop in HIV prevalence in Zambia may not be a true reflection of the state of the pandemic in the country, health officials have warned. UNAIDS Monitoring and Evaluation Advisor Dr Michael Gboun told IRIN/PlusNews that while there has been a marked decline of HIV in the general population, some geographical areas and groups were showing an alarming increase.

Zimbabwe: Survival in the time of cholera

2009-02-20

http://www.health-e.org.za/news/article.php?uid=20032191

Pia Engebrigtsen worked for 2 months as a nurse in Zimbabwe's Masvingo province during the country's cholera outbreak, in which MSF has so far treated more than 45,000 people. Here she shares her story of death, heartbreak, survival and saving lives against all odds.

Burundi: Respect privacy, reject repressive law

2009-02-20

http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/02/16/burundi-respect-privacy-reject-repressive-law

Burundi's parliament should respect its human rights obligations and reject a pending criminal code revision that would outlaw consensual homosexual conduct, Human Rights Watch has said in a letter to President Peter Nkurunziza and the members of the Burundian Senate.

South Africa. Sentencing of Simelane's killer just one step

2009-02-20

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/lgbti/54286

February 11 to 13 saw the first days into the trial of murdered lesbian soccer player, Eudy Simelane, at the Delmas Circuit Court. Four men, aged between 18 and 24 were to appear before Judge Moses Mavundla on the charges of murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances and rape. On February 10, a bus load of activists left Kwa-Thema (Gauteng) to 'camp' in Delmas (Mpumalanga) for the duration of the trial.
SENTENCING OF CONFESSED MURDERER OF EUDY SIMELANE JUST ONE HUDDLE IN A LONG STRUGGLE

February 11 to 13 saw the first days into the trial of murdered lesbian soccer player, Eudy Simelane, at the Delmas Circuit Court. Four men, aged between 18 and 24 were to appear before Judge Moses Mavundla on the charges of murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances and rape. On February 10, a bus load of activists left Kwa-Thema (Gauteng) to 'camp' in Delmas (Mpumalanga) for the duration of the trial. Another bus left the next morning [and the two days after] in the early hours of the morning from the same township to participant in the court proceedings. They were joined by activists from different social movements, notably LGBTI Joint Working Group members, the Treatment Action Campaign, the National Association of People living with AIDS, and the African National Congress from Delmas, Johannesburg, Nelspruit, Germiston, Witbank and over a dozen from other provinces in the country. International solidarity was received from activists, joining the crowd attending court in calling for an end to hate and justice for Eudy. Before a packed court room, where the majority accompanied the Simelane family, was also family and friends of the co-accused and one Tsepo Pitje who was acquitted in October 2008 in the same matter concerning the murder of Simelane. Inside court loud singing of activists from outside demanding justice could be heard, leading the Judge to make reference to the difficulties in hearing the proceedings. Three of the co-accused – Khumbulane Magagula, Johannes Mahlangu and Themba Mvubu pleaded not guilty to all of the charges. Accused number 4, Thato Petrus Mpithi pleaded guilty to murder and robbery, not guilty to rape, but guilty to being an accomplice to rape. The trial was separated. The first three will appear before a different judge on 29 July 2009. Accused number 4 was convicted and Judge Mavundla stated that for his sentencing a balancing act on the offence (crime) had to be considered also in light of previous conviction of assault and robbery, his age, level of education and drunken state of mind. In his testimony, Mpithi said that he saw Simelane for the first time on the day of the crime. In his sentencing Judge Mavundla declared that Simelane's sexual orientation had "no significance" to her killing. Mpithi was sentenced to 18 years for murder, 15 yrs for robbery and 9 yrs for being an accomplice to rape. The first 10 yrs of the 15yrs of robbery will run concurrently with the 18yrs of murder. This means he is sentenced to 32 yrs less the time already spent in jail from April 28. As activists and the Simelane family left the courtroom on the last day of Mpithi's trial, too many mixed reactions were expressed. The 32 year sentence seems acceptable given legal precedents' in our country. The fact that Judge Mavundla found "no significance" in Mpithi's crime, he failed to recognise that lesbians do face rape and murder in South Africa. Activists hope that this aspect will be more prominent in the case against the other three accused as Eudy Simelane was known to one or more of them. Most alarming were the reports from the activists and others who attended court on the threats received from the co-accused friends. Over a dozen lesbians especially from Kwa-Thema reported that young men were heard threatening things like "no matter what transpires in court, we are going to eliminate lesbians and gays" – in vulgar Zulu words. Not only lesbians and gays, but general supporters of the Simelane family and human rights defenders are now in fear that they will be targeted. This signals a sense of impunity, despite the sentencing expected to send a strong message to perpetrators and continues to raise fears among open LGBTI people in a Constitutional dispensation that guarantees rights to freedom, dignity and bodily integrity. From today to the trial date in July, and beyond, many initiatives will be engaged in strategies on the actual case proceedings against the three co-accused, keep communities mobilised and vigilant, and enhance efforts to out route this scourge of violence and crime in society. The international solidarity has been significant and we hope that this will continue as we celebrate a minor victory whilst faced with huge challenges. Amandla!

For further information: Phumzile S. Mtetwa Executive Director Lesbian and Gay Equality Project Tel: +27 11 487 3810/1 Cell: +27 72 795 9194 Fax: +27 11 487 2332 or +27 86 652 9523 Email: phumi@equality.org.za Physical Address: 36 Grafton Road (Corner Hopkins Str.); Yeoville Postal Address: P O Box 27811; Yeoville; 2143 South Africa Website: www.equality.org.za Working for social, economic and political transformation!

Africa: Climate change threatens livelihoods

2009-02-20

http://www.ipsterraviva.net/europe/article.aspx?id=7078

Environmental experts warn that climate change will lead to oceanic acidification and increase surface water temperatures, especially around the African continent. This will affect fish stocks and, as a result, threaten the livelihoods of small-scale fishing communities. "Acidity levels of our oceans predominantly affect fish larvae, which depend on calcium carbonate in the seawater to build their shells, skeletons and cell coverings," explained professor Geoff Brundritt, chairperson of the Global Ocean Observing System in Africa (GOOS Africa). "A higher acidity level hampers this process."

Ghana: Forests protected

2009-02-20

http://www.greengrants.org/breakingnews/images/newspaper.JPG

The National Coalition on Mining reports that the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources has declared that mining will no longer be allowed in protected forest reserves. This decision follows years of destruction to Ghanaian forests by mining interest, which have displaced thousands of citizens and contaminated water supplies.

Gambia: Case against editor postponed

2009-02-20

http://tinyurl.com/ceynga

The case against the Co-Publisher and Managing Editor of the Gambia's Point newspaper, Mr. Pap Saine, standing trial for alleged false publication and broadcasting was Thursday adjourned by Magistrate Sagarr Jahateh of the Kanifing Magistrate's Court to 25 February 2009 for hearing.

Kenya: Discussing the Kenya Communications Amendment Act

2009-02-20

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/media/54288

This symposium will bring together students of media, journalism academics, communication professionals, civil society groups among others to discuss the Kenya Communications (Amendment) Act, 2008 and Kenyan media reportage of it.
KENYA COMMUNICATIONS (AMENDMENT) ACT, 2008
Media Law, Propaganda and Public Opinion


Date: March 9, 2009
Venue: Pan Africa Hotel, Nairobi
Host: Department of Communication, Daystar University


CALL FOR PAPERS


This symposium will bring together students of media, journalism academics, communication professionals, civil society groups among others to discuss the Kenya Communications (Amendment) Act, 2008 and Kenyan media reportage of it.


Kenya's location plus its media that by default is structured along the Western Commercial model bequeathed the nation one of the liveliest media in this part of the world. Yet over the years, and particularly as the country has moved further from independence, relations between media and the state have been, at times, frosty. Some have argued that Kenyan media grew in an environment without much regulation, but marked with suspicion of government intent at every turn. Others have pointed out that African governments, steeped in corrupt ways, do not suffer critical media gladly and lose no opportunity to clamp on free expression


The Kenya Communications (Amendment) Bill, 2008 was passed in parliament in December 2008, assented to by the President on December 30, 2008 and became law on January 2, 2009. Following the passing of the bill in parliament, the media covered the subject extensively. We invite papers that will look at the Act, both from the point of view of law and of journalism practice and education. Speakers could focus on the history and implication of media law in Kenya, program coding, cross media ownership, freedom of expression, right of reply, broadcast regulation, ICT and the media, ethics, priming and framing etc. We also encourage papers that review media coverage of the issues around the bill and later the Act.


We encourage scholars, researchers, journalists, lawyers and civil society groups from different disciplinary backgrounds to participate in this symposium. Abstracts of no more than 250 words should be submitted by January 30, 2009. Papers should reflect any of the above themes but even if not, should focus on the Act and the events around it. Deadline for full papers is March 2, 2009.


Please send all submissions and enquiries to Dr. Levi Obonyo (Symposium Coordinator) on: Email: lobonyo@gmail.com: Tel 0750 908 005

Kenya: State drops case against journalists

2009-02-20

http://www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/532634/-/u2gf0m/-/index.html

The prosecution was on Thursday allowed to withdraw a case against seven journalists accused of taking part in an unlawful assembly. Prosecutor Capis Otieno, told Nairobi's Kibera senior resident magistrate Cosmas Maundu that he had been instructed by the director of Public Prosecutions, Mr Keriako Tobiko, to withdraw the case.

Madagascar: UNESCO DG condemns killing of journalist Ando Ratovonirina

2009-02-20

http://tinyurl.com/b6m9za

The Director-General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura, has condemned the killing of Malagasy broadcast television journalist Ando Ratovonirina and called for improved safety of journalists. “I condemn the killing of Ando Ratovonirina,” declared the Director-General. “Ando Ratovonirina died in the line of duty, while reporting on events that are important for the whole of Malagasy society. His loss is a blow to a profession that is essential to the fundamental human right of freedom of expression, a right that is important to each and every one of us, a right that is vital for democracy and good governance.

Sudan: End censorship and repression

2009-02-20

http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/02/18/sudan-end-censorship-and-repression

The Sudanese government is censoring the media and cracking down on human rights activists and journalists who speak out on human rights and justice, Human Rights Watch said in a report today. Harassment, repression and censorship has worsened in the last year, particularly since the International Criminal Court's (ICC) request for an arrest warrant for President Omar al-Bashir in July 2008.

Zimbabwe: Photojournalist denied bail

2009-02-20

http://zimbabwejournalists.com/story.php?art_id=5303&cat=1

Harare High Court judge Justice Yunus Omerjee on 19 February 2009 dismissed a bail application by detained freelance photojournalist Anderson Shadreck Manyere accused of acts of banditry saying he was facing a serious offence. Justice Omerjee ruled that the photojournalist had been found in possession of rounds of ammunition and faced a serious charge making him an ineligible candidate for bail.

DRC: Rwandan rebels slaughter over 100 civilians

2009-02-20

http://tinyurl.com/bvwut7

The rebel Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) brutally slaughtered at least 100 Congolese civilians in the Kivu provinces of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo between January 20 and February 8, 2009, Human Rights Watch has said. Human Rights Watch researchers interviewed dozens of victims and witnesses who recently arrived from neighboring areas of Ufamandu and Walowaluanda (North Kivu province) and from Ziralo (South Kivu province) at displaced persons camps near Goma, the capital of North Kivu.

DRC: UN urged to send in more troops

2009-02-20

http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2009/02/16/un-send-more-troops-dr-congo

The United Nations Security Council should act with urgency to send additional peacekeepers to northern Democratic Republic of Congo, where the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) continues its brutal attacks on civilians, Human Rights Watch said in a report. The Security Council is expected to discuss the situation in Congo on February 17, 2009.

Guinea Ecuatorial: Mystery over gun battle

2009-02-20

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7894651.stm

An unidentified armed group has launched an attack on the presidential palace in Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea. The West African country's ambassador to London accused Nigerian militants and said they had been repulsed.

Mali: Touareg rebels honour Algiers accord and lay down arms

2009-02-20

http://tinyurl.com/c7x78a

In a positive step towards establishing peace in northern Mali, more than 500 Tuareg rebels laid down their arms in their fight against the Malian government. The brokers of the tentative quieting of violence are encouraged about the prospect of putting an end to the conflict in the Kidal region.

Global: PhD Studentships in law at Westminster

2009-02-20

http://www.westminster.ac.uk/page-17525

The University of Westminster has three new studentships available for students starting their PhD research in October 2009. Each studentship includes a stipend of £15000 and a fee waiver, and applications must be received by 5pm on March 3rd, 2009. Applicants need to apply for one of the specific projects advertised at http://www.wmin.ac.uk/page-17661

Global: Prix Ars Electronica 2009

2009-01-22

http://www.aec.at/prix_about_en.php

Since 1987, the Prix Ars Electronica has served as an interdisciplinary platform for everyone who uses the computer as a universal medium for implementing and designing their creative projects at the interface of art, technology and society. The 23rd Prix Ars Electronica - International Competition for CyberArts is open for entries now! We kindly invite you to submit your latest projects! If you know any further interesting works we'll be happy to get your recommendation! The deadline for submissions to the 2009 Prix Ars Electronica is March 6, 2009.

Africa: Conference: Remembering Rwanda15

2009-02-20

http://www.rememberingrwanda15.webs.com/

On March 20-22, a conference will be held in Toronto at the University of Toronto to coincide with the 15th anniversary of the Rwandan Genocide, which claimed the lives of some 1,000,000 in approximately 100 days. The conference, which will focus on lessons learned / not learned from the Rwandan Genocide, will feature some of the world's most renowned genocide scholars and genocide activists. Hundreds of scholars, students, teachers, members of the Rwandan community, and other members of the general public are expected to attend.

Africa: Sub-Regional Methodological Workshops for Social Research in Africa

University of Botswana, Gaborone, 27 – 31 July, 2009

2009-02-20

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/54291

The 2009 session of the CODESRIA sub-regional methodological workshops will explore the conditions for the employment and validation of qualitative perspectives in African contexts. To this end, the workshops will be open to all the social research disciplines. These disciplines are uniformly confronted with broadly similar difficulties of understanding social reality and the challenges posed by techniques of data collection and analysis, which, on account of their “qualitative” nature, are suspected by some to be seriously lacking in scientific rigour.
CODESRIA
Sub-Regional Methodological Workshops for Social Research in Africa
2009 Session for Southern Africa
Theme: Fields and Theories of Qualitative Research
Date: 27 – 31 July, 2009
Venue: University of Botswana, Gaborone, Botswana.

Call for Applications

One of the major weaknesses of contemporary social research in and about Africa is its lack of careful attention to epistemological and methodological issues. This weakness has made itself manifest at a time when the increasing complexities of the social dynamics that shape livelihood on the continent and the wider global context call for a greater investment of effort in the refinement of the procedures and instruments of investigation and analyses with a view to achieving a more accurate and holistic assessment of rapidly changing realities. But instead of such an investment of effort, we are increasingly witnessing an astonishing neglect or misapplication of theory and method on a scale and with a frequency that calls for intervention. At one level, the neglect that has taken place has comprised a serious trivialisation of basic research protocols and their reduction to a fetishistic evocation of superficial recommendations thinly disguised with ritualistic appeals to rigour that are not reflected in the analyses undertaken. At another level, methodological issues have simply been instrumentalised in ways that ensure that narrow ideological considerations and pre-determined outcomes take precedence over science. Furthermore, it is not uncommon to come across studies in which methodological questions are outrightly ignored in the name of an alleged specificity or immediacy that amounts to the exclusion of African social realities from universal debates on the validity of scientific frames of analyses. The result is that in those debates, studies produced on Africa come across as a mix of purely literary discourses without an empirical anchorage or anecdotes hidden under a “scholarly” discourse that is not only pretentious but also vacuous. Consequently, the knowledge produced is bereft of heuristic value and simply becomes an element that, wittingly or unwittingly, justifies a predetermined set of economic, political and social policies. This is clearly not an acceptable state of affairs, if only because it impoverishes African social research. It is, therefore, high time that the social research community revisited and discussed the methodological foundations of current knowledge about Africa in order first to put an end to scientific impunity as it manifests itself within and outside Africa, and give a new impulse to the African social sciences through support programmes targeted at younger researchers.

The future of young social researchers begins with an excellent mastery of core research processes and their patient application to concrete situations as demanded by their work in the field, the archives, and the library. Unfortunately, the combination of the prolonged crises in African higher education systems and the poor example set in the writings of an increasing number of Africanists who have succumbed to the temptation to take liberties with methodological rigour mean that younger African researchers are poorly served in matters of training for independent social research. It is for this reason that the CODESRIA Secretariat has decided to convene young African researchers to methodological workshops on epistemological and methodological issues in social research designed to fill the gaps in their formal and informal training. The workshops are meant to serve as a critical space that would offer experience-sharing in the basic epistemological and empirical prerequisites for rigorous scientific imagination. The workshops will not only offer insights into the current state of the art but also provide an occasion for a critical review of contemporary research procedures, tools and theories as seen from an African perspective. The major question which the workshops will address can be summarized as follows: How can the researcher productively establish a link between dominant theoretical approaches and concrete situations in the field whilst simultaneously taking into account the state of knowledge, the techniques to be mobilized, and the evolution of African societies? In answering this question, the workshops will privilege qualitative research methods and tools on the basic premise that the popular tendency to oppose quantitative and qualitative methods is due to a wrong assumption that the former offers an exactness and “hardness” which the latter is supposedly too “soft” and “fickle” to match. Without diminishing the importance of quantitative research and methods, participants in the workshops will be encouraged to explore qualitative methods of capturing African social dynamics which do not always or often find expression, fully or partially, in figures and which are, therefore, lost to those who are wedded to rigid and exclusively quantitative approaches.

The 2009 session of the CODESRIA sub-regional methodological workshops will explore the conditions for the employment and validation of qualitative perspectives in African contexts. To this end, the workshops will be open to all the social research disciplines. These disciplines are uniformly confronted with broadly similar difficulties of understanding social reality and the challenges posed by techniques of data collection and analysis, which, on account of their “qualitative” nature, are suspected by some to be seriously lacking in scientific rigour. Each workshop will have the following concerns at its core:
i) A critical assessment of the distinction between “quantitative” and “qualitative” research with particular attention to the question of measurement in the social sciences. Participants will be taken through presentations and exercises aimed at showing that the mode of processing data that is collected depends both on the field constraints encountered and the paradigmatic options of data interpretation that are available. The procedures for the “quantification” of “qualitative” approaches will also be reviewed through discussions on the distinction between the non-metrical and “comprehensive” presentation of data and the more mathematical renditions favoured by the quantitativists.
ii) A presentation of the methodological principles of “object construction” which enables the researcher to transcend the illusions of immediate knowledge and undertake a hypothetical reconstruction of social reality. This demands that the status of the researcher, as well as the systematic role of theories and tools be subjected to intense epistemological control.
iii) An assessment of various techniques of data collection and “fact-finding” instruments available to the researcher. The usual tools of qualitative research such as interviews, observation, archival studies, and the less usual ones such as photography, will be reviewed, so as to locate their potentiality for construction of successful research projects.

The Southern Africa edition of the methodological workshops is designed for doctoral students and young, mid-career African researchers resident in Southern Africa. The working language to be employed during the workshop will be English. The session will be led by a director who will be assisted by a team of three lecturers, all with an acknowledged expertise in the application of social science research methods. Senior researchers wishing to be considered for a role as resource persons are invited to send an application which indicates their interest and includes their current CV and an outline of issues they would like to cover in four lectures of two hours each. The outline submitted should be detailed enough to enable the director of the workshop compile a syllabus for the guidance of the resource persons and laureates. Apart from the actual preparation of lectures and field visits, the resource persons will also be expected to submit a bibliographic list of texts relevant to the theme of the workshop and which can be made available to the laureates.

As to the advanced postgraduate scholars and younger, mid-career researchers wishing to be considered for participation in the workshop, they are also required to submit an application that should comprise the following:
i) A letter of motivation which should also clearly indicate the area of research or topic on which they are working;
ii) A statement of their research project (maximum of three to five pages) stating clearly the problematic that is being addressed, the kinds of field research to be undertaken, the theoretical and methodological framework being used, as well as the methodological and epistemological problems encountered;
iii) A detailed and up-to-date curriculum vitae;
iv) Two reference letters, one of which must be from the thesis supervisor and the other from the head of the department in which the applicant is registered. The reference letter from the supervisor is expected to address the relevance of the research project, the state of progress of the research and the theoretical and methodological approaches used, as well as the results expected. The reference letter from the head of the department is expected to attest to the qualities and academic potential of the candidate; and
v) A letter confirming the institutional affiliation of the applicant.

Applications will be selected on basis of the innovative nature of the research question being addressed, a commitment to gender balance that is central to CODESRIA’s institutional strategy, and the desire for a geographical diversity that will, in itself, constitute an important aspect of the learning experience at the workshops. Applications must be submitted by
15 May, 2009. They should be sent to:

CODESRIA Sub-Regional Methodological Workshops,
CODESRIA,
P.O. Box: 3304, Dakar, CP 18524 – Senegal.
Tél.: +221-33 825.98.22/23 — Fax: +221-33 824.12.89
E-mail: methodological.workshop@codesria.sn
Web site: http://www.codesria.org

Global: International Conference on Protecting People in Conflict & Crisis

Call for Papers

2009-02-20

http://tinyurl.com/bjpv8e

The Refugee Studies Centre at the University of Oxford (RSC), in collaboration with the Humanitarian Policy Group at the Overseas Development Institute (HPG), is organising an international conference on the theme of /Protecting People in Conflict & Crisis: Responding to the Challenges of a Changing World/. This conference aims to convene a broad range of academic researchers, humanitarian practitioners, policy makers and civil society representatives to review the state of policy and practice in the broad field of humanitarian protection as
we look forward into a potentially turbulent 21st Century.

Global: "Young" Researchers' Workshop at ICTD2009

Call for Papers and Participation - Friday 17 April 2009

2009-02-20

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/54265

IPID (the International Network for Postgraduate Students in the area of ICT4D) together with GSHCID (Graduate Students in Human-Computer Interaction and Development) are organising a workshop for "young" researchers to be held on Friday 17 April 2009 8:30am - 5:00pm at Carnegie-Mellon's campus in Doha, Qatar.
Call for Papers and Participation
“Young” Researchers’ Workshop at ICTD2009 Friday 17 April 2009
in conjunction with the 3rd IEEE/ACM International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development (ICTD2009)
17 - 19 April 2009, Doha, Qatar, http://www.ictd2009.org

IPID (the International Network for Postgraduate Students in the area of ICT4D) together with GSHCID (Graduate Students in Human-Computer Interaction and Development) are organising a workshop for “young” researchers to be held on Friday 17 April 2009 8:30am - 5:00pm at Carnegie-Mellon’s campus in Doha, Qatar.
Focus: The focus will be on the process of ICT4D research giving the participants an opportunity to discuss and reflect on various aspects of such research.

Program: The workshop aims to provide an informal forum where participants can share their research experiences, initial findings and ideas in a supportive peer-environment. The area of ICT4D includes a wide range of fields of studies. By attending the workshop participants can share and reflect on their research findings as well as on their own experiences in ICT4D research.

Format: Participants will be asked to read everyone’s position papers in advance, to maximize face-time at the workshop. The morning session will include presentations of short papers of between 5-10 minutes followed by feedback from both the participants and invited senior academic researchers. The afternoon session of the workshop will revolve around small breakout group discussions, structured around themes to be decided with participants via email prior to the workshop, followed by a closing discussion among all attendees.
Intended Audience: The workshop will be open to all “young” researchers in the area of ICTD/ICT4D. We use “young” broadly to reflect the vibrancy of ICTD as a new discipline, in which we strive to create an inclusive workshop atmosphere where all researchers - whether they are students, recent Ph.D. graduates or even senior researchers with a track record in other fields - who view themselves as “young-at-heart” researchers congregate to learn from one another about how to do research in the nascent field of ICTD. Space is limited and will be allocated on a first-come-first-serve basis. The morning session will be more generally across ICTD topics, the afternoon session will have a greater focus, though not restricted to HCI issues.

Submissions: If you’re interested in attending, submit a short position paper (no longer than 4 pages) describing your prior ICTD research experience and your views on the challenges of ICTD research, and mail it in PDF format to yrictd@gmail.com by March 1st for review.
Important Dates:

Submission of short papers: 1 March 2009 Notification of acceptance: 15
March 2009

Workshop: 17 April 2009

Cost: Workshop attendance is free for ICTD2009 conference attendees. Attendees however have to be registered for ICTD2009 to attend the workshop, or apply for a waiver.

Attendee Sponsorships: There are very limited sponsorships and waivers for workshop participants. If you need these, you have to apply directly through the website at: http://www.ictd2009.org/scholarships.html (the deadline is Feb 25).

Organisers: IPID has 320 members representing 224 universities in 77 countries and is sponsored by SPIDER, the Swedish Program for Information and Communication Technology in Developing Regions. Behind the program stands Sida, the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and KTH, the Royal Institute of Technology. For further information about IPID:
http://www.humanit.org/PID/ For further information about SPIDER:
http://www.spidercenter.org/

GSHCID was formed by participants at the HCID workshop at CHI ‘08. It is a virtual group, with biweekly discussions held via teleconference, with participants from North America, Africa and Asia. In each meeting, one person leads the discussion, covering either their work-in-progress research, or presenting research papers or thoughts on issues in ICTD/HCID.
Recently, the group has begun inviting ICTD experts to present and discuss
their work with the group. To join GSHCID, email gshci4d@googlegroups.com

Contact / Organizing chairs
Morning Session (IPID):
Gudrun Wicander, IPID coordinator, Karlstad University, Sweden Annika
Andersson, PhD candidate, Örebro University, Sweden, Mathias Hatakka, PhD
candidate, Örebro University, Sweden,
Afternoon Session (GSHCID):
Jahanzeb Sherwani, Carnegie Mellon University, USA Matthew Kam, Carnegie
Mellon University, USA Divya Ramachandran, Univ of California, Berkeley, USA
Tapan Parikh, Univ of California, Berkeley, USA

Speakers Bill Gates and Carlos Braga keynote the confirmed programme for the
forthcoming ICTD2009 conference, to be held 17-19 April 2009 at Carnegie
Mellon University in Qatar: http://ictd2009.org/program.html
The 3rd IEEE/ACM International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development brings together the latest ideas on ICTs-for-development from both technical and social science perspectives. Alongside academic paper presentations, we have poster sessions, workshops, panels and application demonstrations.
A number of these will deal specifically with mobiles and development, including work from Mike Best, Jonathan Donner, Melissa Ho, Matt Kam and Bill Thies.
To register for the conference, click the “Conference Registration” link
near the top of page: http://ictd2009.confmaster.net
To obtain further details about registration, see:
http://ictd2009.org/registration.html
Applications for fee waivers or travel support are being accepted until February 25: http://ictd2009.org/scholarships.html (Some funding support might be available for non-presenting participants, with priority to applicants from developing countries.)
Early registration before February 28: US$200 General / US$150 Student. Standard registration from March 1 to April 19: US$250 General / US$200 Student.
Information about obtaining visas, hotel accommodation and other travel
needs is available at http://www.ictd2009.org/travel.html If you have any
questions about registration, please contact: registration@ictd2009.org
We hope that you will be able to join us in Doha for this exciting event.
Richard Heeks (Manchester University), Rahul Tongia (Carnegie-Mellon University)
Programme Committee Co-Chairs, ICTD2009
http://www.ictd2009.org

Global: CODESRIA-SEPHIS Extended Workshop on Social History

Historicizing Citizenship

2009-02-20

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/54299

CODESRIA/SEPHIS collaborative programme is pleased to announce the sixth session of its Extended Workshop on New Theories and Methods in Social History which is scheduled for the 3rd -21st of September 2009 in Dakar, Senegal. The theme of the workshop is: Historicizing Citizenship. The Workshop will be organised around the comparative experiences of Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Latin America.
CODESRIA-SEPHIS Extended Workshop on Social History
Historicizing Citizenship

Call for Applications

CODESRIA/SEPHIS collaborative programme is pleased to announce the sixth session of its Extended Workshop on New Theories and Methods in Social History which is scheduled for the 3rd -21st of September 2009 in Dakar, Senegal. The theme of the workshop is: Historicizing Citizenship. The Workshop will be organised around the comparative experiences of Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and Latin America. It will bring together about 12 young historians for three weeks of joint reflection, knowledge building and training. The participants will follow a programme designed to permit them to share experiences, improve the theoretical and methodological quality of their work, and deepen their comparative insights.

Theme and Content of the Workshop
Concerns with issues of citizenship are as old as the history of political formations. As a research theme, citizenship has engaged the attention of scholars from the earliest beginnings of political communities. The question of citizenship is a live one with historical and contemporary relevance as the attributes of citizenship, its content and contours have shifted over time in tandem with broad changes occurring in society. It is such shifts in the content and contours of the concept of citizenship, especially in the Global South, that the 2009 workshop on social history invites participants to investigate and debate during the course of the workshop. The objective of the workshop is to stimulate a historically-grounded, comparative, all-encompassing analysis of citizenship issues with a view to promoting reflections on the origin, direction and changes in the concept and ideal of citizenship especially in the light of globalisation.

Among the sub-themes around which reflection will be organised are:
Conceptualizations of Citizenship in the North & South: Historical Perspectives; Migration Processes, Migrant Identities and Citizenship; Theories of Local and Global Citizenship; Gender, Globalisation and Citizenship; Masculinities, Femininities and Citizen Identity Questions; Justice, Gender and Citizenship in the Global South; Citizenship, Development and Democracy.

Theoretical and empirically-grounded studies on each of these sub-themes will be encouraged in order to promote debate on recent methodological and theoretical developments in Social History as they bear on citizenship. To this end, participants will be encouraged to carry out their reflections in a comparative perspective. Participants will also be offered practical support in sharpening their skills on how to write an article, plan a research project, and submit a research proposal for funding. The discussions will be linked to the research interests of the participants and the progress of their work. The 2009 session of the Extended Workshop will also feature a roundtable on Gender & Citizenship in the Age of Globalisation.

Accommodation and Excursions
The workshop will be held in Dakar, Senegal. CODESRIA will provide a stimulating and pleasant environment within which participants can work. The Council will also take care of the air travel, accommodation, and local transport expenses of the participants. Furthermore, a subsistence allowance to cover living expenses will be provided. Local excursions will be organised for the laureates in order to make their stay more enjoyable.

Eligibility
The Workshop is open to PhD students registered in Southern universities, i.e., Africa, Asia, the Caribbean, and Latin America.

Application procedures
Laureates: Applications should include the following:
1) a Curriculum Vitae (maximum of two pages),
2) a letter certifying that the candidate is enrolled in a PhD programme at a university in the South,
3) a research proposal outlining the candidate’s current research project, including the methodology that is being employed or considered (at most four pages),
4) a sample of the applicant’s work (a draft paper, a draft research proposal or a draft thesis chapter),
5) a letter from the thesis supervisor indicating why this workshop will be of importance to the applicant,
6) a statement that the candidate has not attended a SEPHIS funded workshop before.

Convener/Resource Persons: Applicants for the position of Course Convener and Resource Persons should submit: 1) an application letter; 2) a curriculum vitae; and 3) a two-page proposal, indicating the course outline specifically focusing on the issues to be covered in the sub-themes.

Applications must be written in English. The deadline for the submission of applications is 15th June 2009. An international scientific committee will examine the dossiers of all candidates by 15th of July 2009. Successful applicants will be notified immediately after the completion of the selection process. Incomplete and unnecessarily lengthy applications will not be taken into consideration. All faxed and e-mailed applications must also be accompanied by a hard copy original version sent by post if they are to be considered.

Additional information about the Extended Workshop can be obtained via:
- the CODESRIA web site: http://www.codesria.org
- the SEPHIS web site: http://www.sephis.org

Applications and requests for more information should be sent to:

CODESRIA/SEPHIS Extended Workshop on Social History
Avenue Cheikh Anta Diop, angle Canal IV
B.P. 3304, Dakar, CP 18524 Senegal
Fax: (221) 33 824 12 89
Tel: (221) 33 825 98 22/23
E-Mail: extended.workshop@codesria.sn

Global: IPHU short course: People, politics and Global Health; Actions to change the approach

2009-02-20

http://www.phmovement.org/iphu/en/london

IPHU and PHM UK are pleased to announced 'People, politics and Global Health; Actions to change the approach', a six day short course for health activists, scheduled for London, 30th March to 4th April, 2009. IPHU aims to contribute to achieving Health For All by strengthening the people's health movement by providing learning opportunities which are well targeted and address priority learning needs and which are well designed and presented.

Kenya: Iupui International Symposium - Call for papers

2009-02-20

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/54273

With the onset of multi-party democracy in Kenya, three of the four general elections conducted have resulted in a web of violence of an unprecedented scale, each seemingly surpassing the other. Taking the dimension of inter-ethnic struggles, they have not only been notable for their brutality, but also for the widespread internal displacement of civilians and destruction of property never seen since the days of colonialism. The election held in December 2007 was the latest, and led to an unprecedented process of national reconciliation and dialogue.
CALL FOR PAPERS
MOI UNIVERSITY - IUPUI INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM

THEME: TOWARDS KENYAN NATIONAL DIALOGUE, HEALING, AND RECONCILIATION:
REFORM ISSUES IN A MODERN AFRICAN STATE

WEDNESDAY-FRIDAY, 13-15 MAY 2009

HOST: MOI UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF LAW, ELDORET, KENYA

With the onset of multi-party democracy in Kenya, three of the four general elections conducted have resulted in a web of violence of an unprecedented scale, each seemingly surpassing the other. Taking the dimension of inter-ethnic struggles, they have not only been notable for their brutality, but also for the widespread internal displacement of civilians and destruction of property never seen since the days of colonialism. The election held in December 2007 was the latest, and led to an unprecedented process of national reconciliation and dialogue.

The Kenya National Dialogue and Reconciliation team, chaired by the former UN Secretary General Kofi Anan and the Panel of Eminent African
Personalities, agreed, among other things that there were long-standing issues that required resolution for sustainable peace to endure. These were to be addressed under Agenda Item No. 4.

This agenda item noted that poverty, the inequitable distribution of resources and perceptions of historical injustices and exclusion on the part of segments of the Kenyan society constitute the underlying causes of the prevailing social tensions, instability and cycle of violence.

Discussions under this Agenda item would be conducted to examine and propose solutions for long standing issues, such as, inter alia, a) Underlying constitutional, legal and institutional reform, b) Tackling poverty and inequity, as well as combating regional development imbalances, c) Tackling unemployment, particularly among the youth, d) consolidating national cohesion and unity, e) undertaking land reform and f) addressing transparency, accountability and impunity. These items were to be resolved within a period of one year after commencement of the Dialogue.

This Symposium aims to build upon this explicit recognition by the parties that long-standing issues may continue to threaten the social fabric of a modern African state; Kenya in this matter. It aims to take a critical look at the long-standing issues and propose concrete solutions as a way forward towards a prosperous and stable Kenya. It will take stock of perspectives from the community, national and international levels. Incisive and well-researched works featuring local and international scholars will be presented, but considerable emphasis will also be placed on facilitating dialogue on issues of critical concern in Kenya, with participation encouraged by church, village and tribal elders, youth representatives, women’s groups, and so on.

We will also showcase successful and inspiring reconciliatory initiatives that are currently underway in Kenya within the framework of the symposium.

STRUCTURE
This symposium will feature keynote speakers and invited discussion papers by leading national and international scholars, as well as a diverse representation of members of the Kenyan community. There will be three plenary sessions, one per day of the Symposium, and numerous breakout sessions, whose structure will be disseminated upon receipt of abstracts and confirmation of attendances. There will also be a film series on reconciliation, sessions celebrating successful local reconciliation initiatives, and opportunities for networking by peace and reconciliation groups from eastern Africa.

SYMPOSIUM THEMES
Discussion themes include:
a) The Role of Institutions and Community Leadership in Enhancing National Reconciliation and Cohesion: Case Studies
b) Perceptions of Exclusionary Politics: Threats to Local Communities
c) Challenges of Distribution of Resources in Society:
d) Poverty, Ethnicity and Instability in Modern Societies
e) Historical Injustices, Conflicts and Development of States
f) Impunity, Accountability and Transparency in Modern States
g) Harmonization and Reconciliation. Highlighting successful initiatives at the local level, and comparative perspectives from around the world.

DESIRED OUTCOMES: WORKING TOWARDS RECONCILIATION
1.Release a communiqué and relevant policy papers to the government and relevant institutions on specific resolutions pertaining to reconciliation that arise from the proceedings.
2.Publication of scholarly journal articles related to the broad question of addressing historical grievances in the Moi University Law Journal, and also articles produced specifically for popular consumption i.e. in local dailies, student and church newspapers. .
3.With regards to ‘the troubles’, understanding what happened at the local, regional, national and international levels.
4.Building trust and creating a mutual symbiosis between government, institutions and communities to work together for a common future.
5.To situate institutions of higher learning as agents of reconciliation in Kenya.

SUBMISSION
Submission of paper abstracts are invited. To submit, send a 500-word abstract to musymposium2009@gmail.com Please include your name, institutional affiliation and contact information. All entries submitted will be subject to a review by various members of the planning committee’s technical team.
The submission deadline for abstracts is March 23rd 2009 and notifications of acceptance will be issued out by March 31, 2009. All full papers are due by April 20, 2009.

SYMPOSIUM REGISTRATION FEES
East African Residents: Kshs. 5,000
Non East African Residents US$ 200
Students Kshs. 1,500


CONTACTS
For general inquiries, contact
The Dean, Moi University School of Law
Email: deanlaw@mu.ac.ke
Tel. No: (+254) 053-8000637


For any specific inquiries, contact;
Mr. Vincent Kiplangat Mutai
Email: Vincent.mutai@gmail.com
Tel No. (+254) 725-028599

South Africa: Advanced conflict transformation course - COPA

2009-02-20

http://www.copafrica.org/training.html

We are pleasedto announce the next intake for our Advanced Conflict Transformation course which will be taking place in South Africa starting from the 4th of May to the 29th. The training now has independent modules, each running for a period of one week. Participants can apply for whichever modules they are keen to attend.

Sudan: 2009 RVI Sudan Field Course

2009-02-20

http://www.riftvalley.net/?view=home

The 2009 RVI Sudan Field Course will be held from 24 to 30 May 2009, in Rumbek, Southern Sudan; the Horn of Africa Course from 20 to 26 June in Lamu, Kenya. RVI courses are intensive, graduate-level immersion programmes, covering history, politics, culture, environment, livelihoods and human rights.

Global: Programme Officer - FOSI

2009-02-20

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/54279

The Arab Regional Office in Amman of the Foundation Open Society Institute (FOSI) works to build vibrant and tolerant democracies whose governments are accountable to their citizens. To achieve its mission, OSI seeks to shape public policies that assure greater fairness in political, legal, and economic systems and safeguard fundamental rights. Foundation Open Society Institute (FOSI) is recruiting a Program Manager whose responsibilities will include grant review administration and grants management as well as other programmatic and administrative responsibilities.
Program Manager Vacancy

The Arab Regional Office in Amman of the Foundation Open Society Institute (FOSI) works to build vibrant and tolerant democracies whose governments are accountable to their citizens. To achieve its mission, OSI seeks to shape public policies that assure greater fairness in political, legal, and economic systems and safeguard fundamental rights. FOSI implements a range of initiatives through its grant-making and operating activities through three main programs: Rights & Governance, Youth & Knowledge, and Media & Information.
Foundation Open Society Institute (FOSI) is recruiting a Program Manager whose responsibilities will include grant review administration and grants management as well as other programmatic and administrative responsibilities.
Grant Inquiries:
• Serve as primary contact for telephone, paper, and electronic grant inquiries
• Handle inquiries from potential applicants
• Review and route eligible inquiries to appropriate program staff
• Track the status of all requests to ensure timely response
• Prepare annual summary reports
Grant review and grants management:
• Manage the tri-annual grant reviews with Middle East North Africa Initiative team and OSI-NY
• Write summaries for grant proposals
• Assist with review of grant proposals.
• Review grant reports and administrative follow up
• Process new grant agreements with Grants Management
• Review grant extension requests and process with Grants Management
Other programmatic and administrative responsibilities:
• Liaise with and assist OSI network programs working in MENA region as needed and provide logistical support and programmatic guidance
• Participate in site visits in the region if necessary
• Perform any other duties assigned by her/his immediate supervisor
Qualifications and skills:
• Bachelor's degree required; Masters degree preferred
• Strong computer skills; Microsoft Office and web applications
• Excellent analytical, written, verbal and organizational skills
• Attention to detail and ability to work well under pressure
• Ability to communicate effectively with staff at all levels of the foundation
• Ability to exercise independent judgment, initiative, and motivation
• Good representation, communication and interpersonal skills
• Excellent spoken and written English; Knowledge of the French language a plus
• Translation skills a plus


Submit CVs to gmeiering@osimena.org and info@osimena.org (in English and with a picture if possible)

Kenya: Africa Women's Programme Officer - OSI

2009-02-20

http://www.soros.org/about/offices/washington/africa_20090211

As part of OSI, the International Women's Program (IWP) seeks to promote the advancement of women's rights and gender equality in law and practice. The mission of IWP is to use grant-making and programmatic efforts to promote and protect the rights of women and girls in priority areas around the globe where the principles of good governance and respect for the rule of law are absent or destroyed because of conflict. Reporting to the Director of IWP, the Africa Program Officer (Nairobi) will be responsible for facilitating the implementation of IWP's strategic plan for the region. The Program Officer will work jointly with the Program Officer for Africa and Director of Advocacy Projects based in New York.

Kenya: Consultant - CREAW

2009-02-20

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/54271

The Centre for Rights Education and Awareness (CREAW) is a non-governmental, non-partisan, membership organization whose Mission is to transform society by empowering women and expanding new frontiers for women's rights and freedoms. Our Vision is to realise a just and free society in which women and men have, exercise and enjoy equal and full rights and opportunities. We are seeking the services of a researcher.
CALL FOR A CONSULTANT

CENTRE FOR RIGHTS EDUCATION AND AWARENESS
Deadline for application: 26th September 2008

The Centre for Rights Education and Awareness (CREAW) is a non-governmental, non-partisan, membership organization whose Mission is to transform society by empowering women and expanding new frontiers for women’s rights and freedoms. Our Vision is to realise a just and free society in which women and men have, exercise and enjoy equal and full rights and opportunities.
We are seeking the services of a researcher.

Selection Criteria
The consultant must have the following qualifications to be considered:
. At least five years experience in research and gender programming or
gender equity work in a development setting
. At least a masters degree in relevant field
. Ability to conduct high level discussions with senior government
officials/representatives and experts on gender issues
. Knowledge of developing frameworks and gender mainstreaming
. Experience, knowledge and good understanding of women and decision
making issues in Kenya, existing policies and legislative frameworks
. Excellent writing and communication skills
Duration
. The research is to be conducted within twelve days, starting 1st
October 2008

Interested or eligible researchers with experience and qualifications, should send in their application (preferably by email) indicating their professional capability to undertake the consultancy. Such information may include details of past experience especially in their area of expertise, description of similar assignments and appropriate skills, with a quotation of the consultation fee.
Interested or eligible researchers may obtain further information from the office before the deadline.
Contact Information:
To the Selection Committee
Centre for Rights Education and Awareness (CREAW)
Convent Drive, Lavington, off Isaac Gathanju Road
P.O. Box 11964 00100 GPO Nairobi
Email: info@creaw.org
Tel/fax: +254-20-3860640/ 3861016/ 2378271/ 720357664

Kenya: Director, Centre for African Family Studies (CAFS)

2009-02-20

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/54264

CAFS seeks a dynamic and charismatic Director to be an ardent advocate, leader and champion of our work in training, technical services, and research. Our goal is to build and sustain human, institutional and program capacity for health and development in Africa with emphasis on population and development, sexual and reproductive health, and HIV&AIDS. Reporting to the CAFS Board, the Director is accountable for the overall leadership, executive management, strategic partnerships, and institutional success of CAFS, and for ensuring its efficient and effective operation. The position is based in the CAFS Corporate Head office in Nairobi, Kenya
POSITION ANNOUNCEMENT:
DIRECTOR, CENTRE FOR AFRICAN FAMILY STUDIES

The Organization
Founded in 1975, the Centre for African Family Studies (CAFS) is a dynamic international non-governmental organization with its corporate headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, Regional Office for Central and West Africa inLome, Togo and Country Offices in Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria and Togo. A market-oriented organization, CAFS works throughout sub-Saharan Africa developing and sustaining excellence in training, technical assistance and research in health and development, with emphasis on population and development, sexual and reproductive health, and HIV&AIDS, collaborating with national and international development partners.

The Position
CAFS seeks a dynamic and charismatic Director to be an ardent advocate, leader and champion of our work in training, technical services, and research. Our goal is to build and sustain human, institutional and program capacity for health and development in Africa with emphasis on population and development, sexual and reproductive health, and HIV&AIDS. Reporting to the CAFS Board, the Director is accountable for the overall leadership, executive management, strategic partnerships, and institutional success of CAFS, and for ensuring its efficient and effective operation. The position is based in the CAFS Corporate Head office in Nairobi, Kenya

The Successful Candidate
The successful candidate will possess an advanced degree (minimum of master level) in health or social sciences, with specialization in public health, development studies, business administration or management. The successful candidate will demonstrate proven success in building and managing training and/or technical services organizations or large departments thereof. Possessing a keen strategic intelligence and focus, the successful candidate will have extensive management experience, a deep knowledge of the non-profit sector, and broad competence in resource mobilization strategies and tactics. Also, the successful candidate will be a collaborative relationship builder and an exceptional communicator able to work in a consultative manner to navigate the increasingly competitive market of training and technical assistance services, and demanding requirements of donors and clients. Ability to work in a second language (English or French with the other) would be a critical advantage.

How to Apply
Interested and qualified persons are advised to obtain more details on CAFS and the position from the CAFS website (www.cafs.org). Subsequently you may apply in one of three ways. Apply electronically via email or fax. Alternatively you may apply by sending your application package in hard copy.

In all cases, quote Ref. No. CAFS/DIR/09-01. Also, please provide a one-page application letter stating your reasons for applying and how you envision leading CAFS should you be given the opportunity. Attach a comprehensive and up to date curriculum vitae (not longer than five pages, typed single-spacing), providing personal details, education and training, work experience, professional affiliations, and key publications. Also, please indicate timing of your availability to assume duties should you be offered the position, and your salary expectation.

Applications should be addressed to CAFS Executive Search Committee, CAFS Centre, Mara Road, Upper Hill,PO Box 60054-00200, Nairobi, Kenya, if prepared in hard copy. If in electronic copy, please send toesc@cafs.org, or fax number +254 (0) 20 273 1489. Closing date for applications is 1700Hrs GMT 31st March 2009.

CAFS is an equal opportunity employer. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

Kenya: Finance officer - CREAW

2009-02-20

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/54270

CREAW is a non-governmental, non-partisan, membership organization whose goal is to transform society by empowering women and expanding frontiers for women's rights and freedoms. CREAW aims at setting standards in upholding human rights and empowering society through civic education, legal advocacy and women's rights awareness. CREAW seeks to fill the position of Finance officer
CENTRE FOR RIGHTS EDUCATION AND AWARENESS
Deadline for application: 26th September 2008
CREAW is inviting applications from individuals for the following position:
Job Title: Finance Officer
Duty Station: Nairobi

CREAW is a non-governmental, non-partisan, membership organization whose goal is to transform society by empowering women and expanding frontiers for women’s rights and freedoms. CREAW aims at setting standards in upholding human rights and empowering society through civic education, legal advocacy and women’s rights awareness.
Required qualifications and competencies:
. University Graduate in business or commerce, certified as CPA (K) or ACCA.
. Minimum three year experience in NGO financial management/administration, especially in diverse donor funded programs and projects . Excellent skills in MS Office (excel and word) and experienced in computer based accounting software (QuickBooks). . Documented knowledge of banking, auditing, financial and internal control methodologies.
. Solid analytical skills with proven ability to work independently and complete assignments.
. Good interpersonal and team playing skills with strengths in discretion and maintaining confidential information.
. Able to manage a diverse workload with competing priorities,
. Fluency in spoken and written English.
. Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
. Experience in procurement procedures and financial capacity
building/leadership is an advantage.
Duties and Responsibilities
. Establish sound financial and reporting systems for the organization
to ensure efficient financial management of grant finances and
improvement in accounting skills for the organization.
. Prepare training materials and manuals for reference by team
members.
. Do proper book-keeping, accountancy and reporting requirements for all program and projects and the use of computerized accounting systems.
. Conduct financial reviews for the organization in the course of program implementation.
. Work with the partner staff to aid them to submit timely reports in line with donor regulations and liquidate their advances on time. . Review of documents and transactions at the organizations and ascertain compliance, accuracy, relevance and reasonableness of each transaction.
. Review the quarterly budgets comparison reports and forward them to the project officers and partners.

Those who qualify and are interested should send (or deliver) an application letter, curriculum vitae (CV) and copies of relevant certificates & testimonials to:
Languages
Excellent writing skills in English, with fluency in speaking Kiswahili.
APPLY NO LATER THAN 26TH SEPTMBER, 2008
If you know you have the right qualifications and experience, please send your application together with C.V. and relevant testimonial noting to provide details of three work related references.
Apply to:
SELECTION COMMITTEE
CENTRE FOR RIGHTS EDUCATION
AND AWARENESS - CREAW
Email: info@creaw.org
Tel/fax: +254-20-3860640/ 3861016/ 2378271/ 720357664
P.O. BOX 11964 -00100 GPO
NAIROBI - KENYA

CREAW IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER.

Kenya: Paralegals – 5 Positions in Kibera - CREAW

2009-02-20

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/54269

CREAW is a non-governmental, non-partisan, membership organization based in Nairobi, Kenya. Our Vision is to realize a just and free society in which women and men have, exercise and enjoy equal, full rights and opportunities. CREAW’s Mission is geared to transform society by empowering and expanding new frontiers for women’s rights and freedoms. The paralegals responsibility will be to give limited assistance to clients. They will also help clients access the police, chiefs, write simple documents and hold monthly community forums.
POSITIONS: Paralegals – 5 Positions in Kibera

CREAW is a non-governmental, non-partisan, membership organization based in Nairobi, Kenya. Our Vision is to realize a just and free society in which women and men have, exercise and enjoy equal, full rights and opportunities. CREAW’s Mission is geared to transform society by empowering and expanding new frontiers for women’s rights and freedoms.

Over the last number of years, CREAW has been implementing community awareness/empowerment programmes with a focus to end gender based violence. Currently CREAW intends to establish an outreach programme based in Kibera. To complete this task, CREAW intends to recruit; train and commission paralegals that live reside in Kibera.

The paralegals responsibility will be to give limited assistance to clients. They will also help clients access the police, chiefs, write simple documents and hold monthly community forums.

A monthly allowance will be paid to the paralegals to facilitate their work.

Desired Qualities
• The candidate must posses a diploma in community development.
• Conversant with community development work, with at least 2 years of experience.
• Good oral and written command of English, Swahili and relevant local language(s)
• Must have resided continuously in Kibera for a period of 2 years
• Demonstrable interest and knowledge of human rights and community empowerment
• Demonstrable leadership and pleasant interpersonal skills.
• Strong commitment to human rights, good governance, democratization, and constitutionalism.
• Ability to work without supervision and meet strict deadlines
• Experience in human rights , good governance and other issues of civic education will be an added advantage
• Practical experience in training and/ or facilitation.
• The contract will be for an initial period of 12 months
• Must be willing to take up the position at short notice.

Women are especially encouraged to apply. CREAW is an equal opportunity employer
Those who qualify and are interested should send (or deliver) an application letter, curriculum vitae (CV) and copies of relevant certificates & testimonials to:

The Selection Committee,
Convent drive, Lavington off Isaac Gathanju Road
(100 meters from Lavington Green)
CREAW, P.O. Box 11964-00100, GPO
Nairobi
Tel. 020-3860640/3861016
0720357664
E-mail: info@creaw.org
Applications must be received on or before 25th February 2009 at 5.00 pm.


Applicants must provide reliable telephone/ mobile contacts. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted directly.

Fahamu