Current Issue

Democracy under attack in Kennedy Road

Bishop Rubin Phillip

2009-10-01

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/action/59123

I was torn with anguish when I first heard of the unspeakable brutality that has raged down on to the Kennedy Road shack settlement. In recent years I have spent many hours in the Kennedy Road settlement. I've attended meetings, memorials, mass ecumenical prayers and marches. I have had the honour of meeting some truly remarkable people in the settlement and the work of Abahlali baseMjondolo has always nurtured my faith in the power and dignity of ordinary people. I have seen the best of our democracy here. I have tasted the joy of real social hope here.

The achievement of our hard won democracy was a great moment of shared grace. The militia that have driven the Abahlali baseMjondolo leaders and hundreds of families out of the settlement is a profound disgrace to our democracy. The fact that the police have systematically failed to act against this militia while instead arresting the victims of their violence and destruction is cause for the gravest concern. There are credible claims that this milita has acted with the support of the local ANC structures. This, also, is cause for the most profound concern.

I have shuddered to the core as my thoughts have, with those of many others, turned to the the attacks on democratic politics unleashed by apartheid and its allies in the 1980s. Once again people have been beaten, had their homes destroyed, been driven from their community and killed for their political views and practices. Once again an armed minority have used violence to implement a ban on a democratic organisation favoured by a majority. Once again there is just cause for deep concern about the role of the police. Once again we in the churches are looking for safe houses for activists, accommodation for political refugees who have fled with nothing more than the clothes on their backs, doctors for the injured and lawyers for the jailed. Horrors that we all believed to have been buried in our past now stalk the present. This is unacceptable. There can be no compromise on this score. I will take my anger and my fear for the future of our democracy to the highest levels of leadership in our country and to our sister churches around the world. I encourage others to do the same.
In 2007 I was part of a group of church leaders that issued a statement testifying to the brutality and political intolerance that the Sydenham police had unleashed against Abahlali baseMjondolo in our presence. It is clear that the Sydenham police should not be allowed to police Kennedy Road or to investigate the crimes that have been committed in recent days. A credible and independent force needs to be deployed as a matter of urgency.

It is equally essential that all of our political leaders take immediate steps to distance themselves from the actions of the milita that have seized control of the settlement, that they call party members who have been complicit with this militia to account, and that we all affirm that Kennedy Road and its residents have the same right to democratic practices as everywhere else and everyone else in South Africa. This includes the right to dissent.

Of course my condolences go out to all those have lost people whom they love and on whom they depend. It seems that some among the militia that launched the attack on the elected leadership of the settlement may also be among the dead. If, as may well be the case, the militia has been exploited by local elites determined to roll back the development of a vibrant popular democracy then we will pray for their own healing and for a turn away from violence and lies and towards life and truth.

Many people are asking what they can do. I would like to make three suggestions:

1. It is essential that the attack on democracy in Kennedy Road is widely publicised so that we can all confront what has happened and ensure that it never happens again. We need to give platforms to the victims of these attacks where ever we can.
2. It is also essential that we convey our concerns to our political leaders with urgency and clarity. I will be writing to President Zuma and encourage others to do the same.
3. Many people have fled their homes with nothing but what they could carry. They need urgent financial assistance. I have agreed to co-ordinate a relief fund and donations can be made to:

Diocese of Natal - Trust Account
First national bank
Account number: 509 3118 7386
Branch code: 257 355
Midlands mall branch, Pietermaritzburg

A democracy that is not for everyone is a democracy in name only.

Bishop Rubin Phillip
Anglican Bishop of Natal (KZN) and Chairman of the Kwa Zulu-Natal Christian Council

‘The ANC has invaded Kennedy Road’

S'bu Zikode

2009-10-01

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/59122

© Ahahlali.orgFollowing the attacks and deaths of Abahali baseMjondolo members at the hands of African National Congress (ANC) members at Kennedy Road, S'bu Zikode condemns developments that amount to an attack on South Africa's democracy itself and requests support from other civil society groups.

The ANC has invaded Kennedy Road. We have been arrested, beaten, killed, jailed and made homeless by their armed wing. This is what it took for Yakoob Baig and Jackson Gumede to finally take back the settlement.

This is not just an attack on the KRDC. It is not just an attack on Abahali baseMjondolo. It is an attack on our politic.

This attack is an attempt to suppress the voice that has emerged from the dark corners of our country. That voice is the voice of ordinary poor people. This attack is an attempt to terrorise that voice back into the dark corners.

Yakoob Baig says that 'harmony' has been restored. For the ANC harmony means their power and our silence. For us our silence means evictions, shack fires, children dying of diarrhoea and the organised contempt that we face day after day. Therefore we have to speak. We have to break the 'harmony' that is our silence in the face of our oppression.

Our movement has won many victories. We have forced the state to accept that there will be nothing for us without us. We have forced the state to accept that they must negotiate our development with us. Our politics is a common politics. We have, in many places, raised the common politics above the politicians' politics. For this some politicians hate us.

And we must not forget that we have exposed the corruption of many senior officials – most recently in Siyanda, eShowe, Mpola and Howick. We have also exposed how 'housing delivery' is actually a form of oppression breaking up communities and forcing people into ghettos far outside the cities. We have done this most famously with our case in the Constitutional Court against the Slums Act. That judgment will be coming out very soon.

For all these reasons the strength of the movement, the strength of those who are supposed to be weak and silent and powerless, is taken as a threat.

Our crime is a simple one. We are guilty of giving the poor the courage to organise the poor. We are guilty of trying to give ourselves human values. We are guilty of expressing our views.

In this time when we are scattered between the Sydenham jail, hospitals, the homes of relatives and comrades, or even sleeping in the bushes in the rain, we are asking for solidarity. In this time when we do not know if the state will allow us to continue to exist we are asking for solidarity. In this time when we do not know if we will also be attacked in Motala Heights or Siyanda or anywhere else we are asking for solidarity.

Our message to the movements, the academics, the churches and the human rights groups is this:

We are calling for close and careful scrutiny into the nature of democracy in South Africa.

Sibusiso Innocent Zikode, President of Abahlali baseMjondolo (and, consequently, political refugee) 083 547 0474

Current list of solidarity statements by members of civil society:

1. Democracy Under Attack - A Statement by Bishop Rubin Phillip
2. Joint Statement on the attacks on the Kennedy Road Informal Settlement in Durban - 27 signatures from academia
3. Letter of concern: Kennedy Road Attacks - 103 signatures from Civil Society
4. Testimony from Brother Filippo Mondini - Italy
5. Kennedy Road Murders Recall Terror of the 1980s - ZACF
6. In Solidarity of Abahlali Leaders at Durban Kennedy Road - AbM-WC
7. URGENT Online Petition to end the Violence in Kennedy Road - over 600 signatures so far.

Last Sunday's press releases can be found here and here. Also, click here for some photos of S'bu Zikode's home that was demolished on monday by the ANC mob

For more, please visit the website of the Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign at www.antieviction.org.za and follow us on www.twitter.com/antieviction. Visit Abahlali baseMjondolo at www.abahlali.org and www.khayelitshastruggles.com.

Niger Delta: The impending military assault

Sabella Ogbobode Abidde

2009-10-01

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/59120

cc WikimediaThe response of Nigerian President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua's regime to the Niger Delta crisis jeopardises the country's entire existence, writes Sabella Ogbobode Abidde in this week's Pambazuka News. With the president only interested in pursuing brutal, military 'solutions' aimed at completely annihilating 'trouble-makers' in the region, fears around the launch of a full-scale invasion seem set to be realised. Calling for a national sovereign conference to establish a lasting, long-term solution, Abidde stresses that no amount of bombing will ever lead to a sustainable peace.

'Alea iacta est: The die is cast. The assault on the Niger Delta is about to begin.'

Beginning in 1999 when President Olusegun Obasanjo’s regime came into being, there were ample opportunities to solve some of the most pressing problems that have confronted Nigeria since 1914 when a parchment of differences were put together to form a single political entity. At the very least, Obasanjo could have made genuine attempts at solving those that have confronted the country since 1960. But he didn’t. He was in power for eight years, during which time he legalised corruption, mediocrity and inanity. He was succeeded by Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, a president who relies primarily on the military and the hawks around him to do his bidding.

President Yar’Adua’s greatest challenges seem to be his deteriorating health, how to rein in his greedy associates, how to rule the country and how to approach the Niger Delta tragedy. And a tragedy it is. Insofar as the Niger Delta is concerned, the president’s approach has been to listen to the dictates of the military and the Arewa Consultative Forum: namely, annihilate trouble-makers and restless communities in the region. The goal of his government is not to arrest and prosecute, but to invade, destroy and kill. This mild-mannered and self-effacing man has turned out to be more brutal that General Obasanjo. And so, 'Alea iacta est: The die is cast.' The assault and annihilation of the Niger Delta is about to begin.

Daniel Volman, the director of the African Security Research Project in Washington, DC, is reporting that the Yar’Adua government 'is set to launch a full-scale offensive in the Niger Delta when a ceasefire declared by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) ends on 15 September 2009. And this time, Nigerian military forces will be using special warships, helicopter gunships and troop transports, and unmanned drone intelligence planes and ships sold to Nigeria by Israeli, Malaysian, Singaporean, Dutch, and Russian companies.'

Volman went to say that 'Israeli and Russian instructors have been providing specialized training to Nigerian Navy and Air Forces sailors and pilots in how to operate the ships and helicopters over the past few months, and some of these instructors may help operate them during the offensive.' As disquieting as this report may sound, Niger Deltans – especially the Ijaw ethnic nationality – have been expecting such a move for quite some time now. Indeed, how to deal a knock-out blow to the Ijaw has been on the government’s agenda since the escalation of hostilities in 2001, and the formation of MEND in 2005. They have waited and waited and waited. The time seems to have come.

Historically, citizens of the Niger Delta have been a thorn on the flesh of pre- and post-colonial Nigerian governments. Not a people to suffer injustice in silence, they have a history of political activism that dates back to the 18th century, at least. Rulers who opposed the shenanigans and the inhumane behaviour of the European powers were dethroned, killed or sent abroad to die. Indeed, European powers made sure that the region was thoroughly destabilised by engaging in and introducing ethnic politics, malevolent survival strategies and divide-and-rule politics. In the intervening years, successive Nigerian governments – military and/or civilian – have continued such practices.

Depending on the context, there is the geographical Niger Delta, the political Niger Delta and the economic Niger Delta. In general, however, when people speak of the Niger Delta, they are basically referring to the vast expanse of land and waterways that house virtually all of the oil and gas that supports the domestic and global economy, in this case, the Ijaw land. For more than 200 years, the Ijaw nation has cemented its place in the international political–economic system.

For instance, the Ijaw territory was the centre of commerce, renowned for its trade in ivory, palm oil and other natural resources. It was also a centre of the African Atlantic slave trade. And for a period in its history, it had an independent diplomatic relations with European powers. Then and now, especially since the last 45 years, how to subjugate and control the Ijaw has been a preoccupation – an obsession even – on the part of the Nigerian government.

Why would a people who have always fought for their inalienable rights suddenly acquiesce to the shenanigans, the duplicity and the brutality of the Yar’Adua regime? Other than a handful of hungry elites and misled commoners, no one, in my view, is going to succumb to Yar’Adua’s threat and the actual use of force. President Yar’Adua, the Arewa Consultative Forum and their band of fellow travellers may, in the end, find themselves in the deepest end of the river, without a lifejacket. They should know, or should have known, that this is a conflict that can never be solved by military force.

Indeed, no amount of military brutality can solve a problem that otherwise calls for a political settlement. However, if and when this or any other government takes to the sea, air and land to invade, to bomb and to forcibly impose its iniquitous will on the Ijaw and on the people of the larger Niger Delta, my guess is that there may be no known bystanders left, no known moderating voices left, and there may be no one left calling for 'one Nigeria' in the region. It most likely will be the beginning of the end for Nigeria.

As it is, there is a growing voice within the region calling for secession. A military invasion culminating in deaths and destruction, therefore, will only embolden the secessionist movement.

Consider this: Would the Yoruba have simply stood askance if pre- and post-colonial governments had misappropriated their cocoa farms? Would the Hausa–Fulani have looked the other way if the government had exercised undue control over their groundnut pyramids? As for the Igbo, they never would have appreciated it if government had taken over their natural resources in an unfair manner. Awolowo and Ojukwu fought for fairness. Ahmadu Bello and Balewa too would never have subscribed to anything that was not in northern interests.

But today, Nigerians for the most part think the Ijaw and other oil-producing communities should just be quiet, even in the face of economic injustice, resource theft, environmental degradation and political exclusion.

A military invasion of the Niger Delta, and especially of Ijaw land, will have several consequences: thousands of innocent men, women and children will die; thousands more will be maimed and displaced; and the region’s environmental problems will be exacerbated. We already have a region – especially the riverine area – that is vastly underdeveloped, with much of it looking like 18th century Louisiana. These are the same areas the Yar’Adua government wants to bomb? I wonder if he knows what the Stone Age era looks like. The pain will deepen, the anger will deepen, and vengeance shall not be the Lord’s alone.

The Ijaw and others will most likely extract their pound of flesh. And in this regard, not a single federal infrastructure will be safe, not a single oil pipeline will be safe, and not a single military or intelligence officer in the region may ever be safe. What’s more, the theatre of operation may be expanded to include Abuja and all federal infrastructures in Lagos and elsewhere. It will be tit-for-tat, an equivalent retaliation. Of course, Yar’Adua knows when the bombings will begin, but he may never know when it will end. If he opens this can of worms, he may not be the one to close it.

No one disputes the fact that a very small faction of MEND may have gone roguish. No one disputes the fact that a very small section of other justice-seeking groups within the region may have sold out or gone wayward. Still, that does not justify the planned and actual invasion of the region. What reasonable government and what sane president, bombs his own country simply because he is in search of a few criminals? What sane government spends billions of dollars on the acquisition of military hardware for the sole purpose of destroying his people and his country, when such an amount could have been used for the development of the same region? What doesn’t this president understand about nation-building?

In recent years, at least, six factors have helped to give rise to militancy, and these are: 1) the gross underdevelopment of the region; 2) the sickening environmental condition of the region; 3) the unfair manner in which revenues from oil are allocated, plus the exploitive derivation formula; 4) the unconscionable state of poverty; 5) the political marginalisation of the people; and 6) the socially irresponsible manner in which multinational oil companies operate. But beyond the militancy engendering factors, there are other national problems which deserve urgent attention, of which only a sovereign national conference can help mitigate and/or solve.

And until the aforementioned conditions are properly tackled, no amount of military force will bring about sustainable peace. Whatever peace and security that seem evident the day after the bombing stops, shall be untenable. It will be the worst type of peace ever witnessed in the history of Nigeria. President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, what will history say about him? The man who hastened the disintegration process?

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* Sabella Ogbobode Abidde is with Niger Delta Rising.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

State and politics: Nigeria’s policy towards the Ijaw

Sabella Ogbobode Abidde

2009-10-01

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/59152

cc WikimediaThe Nigerian government is bleeding the Niger Delta dry of its oil, but the Ijaw ethnic community that actually owns most of the land is left empty-handed, writes Sabella Ogbobode Abidde in this week's Pambazuka News. Abidde stresses that Niger Deltans cannot be treated in this fashion and that their will must be respected by the central government, arguing that more money must flow back into Ijawland in order to tackle the chronic neglect the region has suffered.

In recent years, a number of troubling issues have dominated the news and intelligence reports coming out of Nigeria. However, none are as disconcerting as the Niger Delta crisis, a domestic problem that should not have risen to the level of a crisis. However, it has. The situation was problematic to start with, but successive governments' miscalculations and insensitivity made the situation catastrophic. Today, the effects of the crisis are felt regionally and internationally. All indicators show that the government is stumped; how to solve the Niger Delta crisis has now become a paralysing challenge, consumed by its own duplicity and inertia.

This is not a crisis that calls for domestic military intervention and neither is it a crisis that calls for foreign military intervention. The Niger Delta crisis should be resolved through an honest democratic process and diplomacy. In other words, this is a socio-political and economic problem that calls for genuine political engagement under the aegis of an honest third party. A third party is needed because the oil-producing communities, especially the Ijaw ethnic group, do not trust the Nigerian government to do what is right by domestic and international laws and in the eyes of God. This lack of trust originates from the fact that no other government has been judicious in handling the crisis.

More than 30 different ethnic communities live in the Niger Delta. The Urhobo, the Itsekiri and the Ijaw for instance have coexisted and cohabitated for centuries. Their lives are so entwined that in some communities, it is difficult to tell who is who. Even so, the region is first and foremost identified with the leading group, the Ijaw. In terms of population and landmass, the Ijaw are the largest – with a population of more than 25 million, they are indigenous to seven federal states.

Since June 2009, about 70 per cent of the oil wells have been onshore and another 30 per cent offshore. Offshore or onshore, more than 70 per cent of all oil reservoirs are located on Ijaw territory. On account of this, the Ijaw own the most lucrative and the most coveted land and waterways in Nigeria. Their direct access to the Atlantic Ocean is also a coveted advantage. For these and other reasons, whatever political settlements that are to be reached, must be reached principally through and to the satisfaction of the Ijaw.

The Ijaw ethnic community never wanted to be part of post-colonial Nigeria. The ensuing feeling of a forced marriage is still widespread in some enclaves. According to Lindsay Barrett, ‘The Ijaws already showed signs of being unwilling partners in the post-colonial Nigerian state during the struggle for independence. Their leaders complained loudly that they were marginalised in the affairs of the eastern region, which was dominated by the Igbos. The Ijaws also raised the alarm over the developmental and service deficiencies they were inheriting from the colonial period. Their argument was so persuasive that in 1958 Sir Henry Willinks of the Colonial Office in London was sent to study their grievances and make recommendations for redress prior to the granting of independence, which was to come in two years' time. The Willinks Commission, largely vindicated the complaints of the leaders of the Niger Delta.

Since independence from Britain in 1960, the Ijaw have never stopped complaining about their ill treatment at the hands of successive Nigerian governments, be they military or civilian. Even when in 1998 a group of progressive Ijaw youths ‘gathered at Kaiama, the birthplace of the martyred Ijaw hero, Isaac Boro, to express their concerns for reform of the circumstances of their people’, the Nigerian government did not bat an eyelid. The silence was deafening and disdainful. Evidence shows that for more than 30 years, nothing tangible has been done to alleviate the fetidity of the riverside areas. Nothing tangible has been done to justify the amount of wealth that is being extracted from the region. The extraction of oil has instead left the environment desecrated.

There is nothing to show for the billions of dollars the region has given to Nigeria. In effect, there is no social, political or economic development. Nothing good is being done for the Ijaw. Whatever was done has been ornamental, provisional and superficial. Instead of development, we have air and waterborne diseases, social tension, social dislocation and high unemployment.

In an area traversed by rivers, tributaries and streams, there is a shortage of potable water. Consequently, a sizeable number of the people bathe, drink and do their laundry in the river. However, they also go to the same river to defecate. In the same river! Rivers are for swimming, fishing, and for other activities – not for ‘shitting, shaving, bathing and drinking'. Sad isn’t it? That is the stark reality of how the Ijaw people lives! How could Nigeria and Nigerians allow this to happen? How could they, as humans, allow this to happen to fellow human beings?

In terms of education, there is not a single federal institution of higher education on Ijaw land – no universities, no polytechnics and certainly no think tanks. Such institutions are instead located in the western, northern and eastern regions of the country. In fact, federal presence in the region, especially on Ijaw land, is pitiable. Where did all the money go, the trillions of dollars used to construct Abuja and other Nigerian cities? Where did all that money from the sale of oil and gas go? Today, Abuja is the shinning city on ‘Mount Dollar’ while Ijawland is enmeshed in the valley of hopelessness, sorrow and destitution.

The usual refrain of government officials is that the ‘terrain of the Niger Delta makes physical development of any kind very expensive’. Nonsense! Billions of dollars worth of oil and gas are being extracted on a yearly basis; a commensurate amount of dollars should be ploughed back in for development. Furthermore, how different is the Niger Delta terrain compared to some parts of Louisiana, Florida and Amsterdam? These are places with human ingenuity at work, places where humans have been able to ‘conquer’ nature and make growth possible.

In 2006, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) said of the Niger Delta: ‘Ordinarily, the Niger Delta should be a gigantic economic reservoir of national and international importance. Its rich endowments of oil and gas resources feed methodically into the international economic system, in exchange for massive revenues that carry the promise of rapid socio-economic transformation within the delta itself. In reality, the Niger Delta is a region suffering from administrative neglect, crumbling social infrastructure and services, high unemployment, social deprivation, abject poverty, filth and squalor, and endemic conflict.’

What we have also noticed is the deliberate policy of mediocrity and control that is being advanced in Ijawland. In this instance, the ruling oligarchy encourages and promotes the least sensible, the least courageous and the least capable of all Ijaw leaders to the position of leadership. In this way, the affairs and destiny of the Ijaw region are easily manipulated from the centre. This accounts for why especially in the last 30 years, the vast majority of Ijaw political and economic leaders have been errand boys and errand girls, men and women whose loyalties rest not with their own people, but with the ruling oligarchy. There is enough blame to go round, but the ruling oligarchy must stop this policy – allow the people to freely choose their own leaders at all levels of governance.

The overwhelming majority of Niger Deltans, especially the Ijaw, are peace-loving people. During the Nigerian civil war, they sacrificed their young men and women for a united Nigeria. They believed in the unity, the security and the prosperity of Nigeria. But as it turned out, Nigeria has a sinister agenda towards the Ijaw and the Niger Deltans. It is now evident that Nigeria’s policy is to conquer them. The Ijaw have the land and the waterways, the natural resources, the strategic location and the population. Such wealth is more than enough for the powers that be to want to dominate and conquer it. But the Ijaw are no fools. The younger generation of Ijaw will soon walk away if Nigeria continues on this path.

To the extent that we are citizens of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, our inalienable rights and dignity must be respected; our farmlands and waterways treated with utmost care; our basic needs and security guaranteed; and our rights to full and equal political and economic participation assured; with more indigenous Ijaw states created and profits from the sale of oil distributed to our satisfaction. It is that simple.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* Sabella Ogbobode Abidde is a public intellectual who has written and commented extensively on African affairs.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

Meles Zenawi and contempt for the truth

Alemayehu G. Mariam

2009-10-01

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/59119

cc WikimediaThe Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's refusal to accept the findings of a recent International Crisis Group (ICG) study on his country smacks of a basic contempt for the truth, argues Alemayehu G. Mariam in this week's Pambazuka News. Ethiopia's 'ethnic federalism' policy has proven itself to be of dubious value, the author argues, and is ultimately highly divisive in its politicisation of power, representation and resources along ethnic lines. If it wants to achieve genuine representation and a vibrant democracy, Ethiopia's would do well to follow Ghana's example as a strong and functioning federal system, Mariam concludes.

IN CONTEMPT…

Commenting recently on an International Crisis Group (ICG) study dealing with rising ethnic tensions and dissent in advance of the 'May 2010' elections, Ethiopia’s arch dictator Meles Zenawi wisecracked, 'This happens as some people have too many billions of dollars to spend and they feel that dictating how, particularly, the developing countries manage their affairs is their God given right and to use their God given money to that purpose. They are entitled to their opinion, as we are entitled to ours.'

The dictator’s opinion of the ICG and its findings was predictably boorish: 'The analysis [the ICG report] is not worth the price of or the cost of writing it up', he harangued. 'We have only contempt for the ICG. You do not respond to something you only have contempt for.' The dictator boasted that his 'ethnic federalism' policy had saved a 'country [which] was on the brink of total disintegration.' He marshalled anonymous authorities to support his fabricated claim that he is the redeemer of the nation: 'Every analyst worth his salt was suggesting that Ethiopia will go the way of Yugoslavia or the Soviet Union. What we have now is a going-concern.'

Daniela Kroslak, ICG’s Africa programme deputy director, denied the dictator’s wild and bizarre denunciations. At any rate, the dictator’s criticism was a 'tale full of sound and fury signifying nothing', as Shakespeare might have said. He had not read the report! Why? Because it 'was not worthy of [his] time'. The dictator unabashedly criticises a report he had not even read – a textbook case ofargumentum ad ignorantiam (argument to ignorance). In other words, because the report is 'not worth the cost of the paper it is written on', it is not 'worthy' of being read (therefore, it is false and contemptible.) Trashing a report completed by a respected international think-tank (the ICG provides regular advice to governments and intergovernmental bodies like the United Nations, the European Union and the World Bank) and heaping contempt on its authors is a poor substitute for a rigorous, reasoned and factually-supported refutation of the report’s findings, analysis and arguments.

Truth be told, contempt is the emotional currency of the dictator. The ICG just happens to be the latest object of the dictator’s wrathful contempt. The dictator’s record over the past two decades shows that he has total contempt for truth, the Ethiopian people, the rule of law, human rights, the free press, an independent judiciary, dissenters, opposition leaders and parties, popular sovereignty, the ballot box, clean elections, international human rights organisations, international law, international public opinion, Western donors who demand accountability and even his own supporters who disagree with him and his flunkeys…

THE EVIDENCE: DOES THE ICG AND ITS REPORT DESERVE CONTEMPT OR CREDIT?

The ICG report is balanced, judicious, honest and meticulously documented. Entitled 'Ethiopia: Ethnic Federalism and Its Discontents' (29 pages without appendix, and an astonishing 315 scholarly and other original source references for such a short report), the report 'applauds' the dictator’s constitution for its 'commitment to liberal democracy and respect for political freedoms and human rights'. It credits the dictatorship for 'stimulating economic growth and expanding public services'. The study even approvingly notes the 'proliferation of political parties' under the dictatorship’s watch.

The report is not a whitewash. It also points out failures. The most glaring failure is the radical political 'restructuring' engendered by 'ethnic federalism' to 'redefine citizenship, politics and identity on ethnic grounds'. The study suggests that the 'intent [of ethnic federalism] was to create a more prosperous, just and representative state for all its people'. However, the result has been the development of 'an asymmetrical federation that combines populous regional states like Oromiya and Amhara in the central highlands with sparsely populated and underdeveloped ones like Gambella and Somali'. Moreover, 'ethnic federalism' has created 'weak regional states', 'empowered some groups' and failed to resolve the 'national question'. Aggravating the underlying situation has been the dictatorship’s failure to promote 'dialogue and reconciliation' among groups in Ethiopian society, further fuelling 'growing discontent with the EPRDF’s [Ethiopian Peoples' Revolutionary Democratic Front] ethnically defined state and rigid grip on power and fears of continued inter-ethnic conflict'.

The ICG report implicitly criticises the opposition as well. It notes that they are 'divided and disorganized' and unable to publicly show that they could overcome the EPDRF’s claim that they are not 'qualified to take power via the ballot box'. As a result, the 2010 elections 'most probably will be much more contentious, as numerous opposition parties are preparing to challenge the EPRDF, which is likely to continue to use its political machine to retain its position'. The study also addresses the role of the international community, which it claims 'has ignored or downplayed all these problems'. The donor community is specifically criticised for lacking objective and balanced perspective as they 'appear to consider food security more important than democracy in Ethiopia, but they neglect the increased ethnic awareness and tensions created by the regionalisation policy and their potentially explosive consequences'. The report does not even spare the defunct Derg regime, which historically was responsible for 'repression, failed economic policy and forced resettlement and "villagisation"'.

Of course, none of the foregoing is known to those who are wilfully ignorant of the report, but have chosen to preoccupy their minds with hubris, hypocrisy, arrogance and contempt for the truth.

OPINION VERSUS FACTS

Meles the dictator said, 'They [the ICG] are entitled to their opinion as we are entitled to ours.' That is true. But as the common saying goes, 'Everyone is entitled to his own opinions, but not his own facts.' The facts on the dictatorship and 'ethnic federalism' are infamous and incontrovertible. It is not a matter of opinion, but hard fact, that after the 2005 elections the dictator unleashed security forces under his personal control to undertake a massive 'crackdown on the opposition [that] demonstrated the extent to which the regime is willing to ignore popular protest and foreign criticism to hold onto power'. It is a proven fact by the dictator’s own Inquiry Commission, not opinion, that his 'security forces killed almost 200 civilians [the real number is many times that] and arrested an estimated 30,000 opposition supporters'. It is a plain fact that 'there is growing discontent with the EPRDF’s ethnically defined state and rigid grip on power and fears of continued inter-ethnic conflict'. It is an undeniable fact that the dictatorship has caused the 'continuous polarisation of national politics that has sharpened tensions between and within parties and ethnic groups since the mid-1990s. The EPRDF’s ethnic federalism has not dampened conflict, but rather increased competition among groups that vie over land and natural resources, as well as administrative boundaries and government budgets.' It is a fact just as sure as the sun will rise tomorrow that 'Without genuine multi-party democracy, the tensions and pressures in Ethiopia’s polities will only grow, greatly increasing the possibility of a violent eruption that would destabilise the country and region.'

It is true the dictator is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts!

THE ART OF DISTRACTION

What could possibly be 'contemptible' about the ICG report? The obvious way to counter a report by a respected international think-tank is by presenting countervailing evidence that undermines confidence in the report’s findings and conclusions. But the dictator opts for something proverbially attributed to the legal profession: 'When the law is against you, argue the facts. When the facts are against you, argue the law. When both are against you, pound the table and attack and abuse the plaintiff.' In this case, when you can’t handle the facts and the truth, throw a fit, make a scene, vilify the ICG, demonise the individual authors, demean the report with cheap shots and declare moral victory with irrational outbursts.

BUT WHY THROW A TEMPER TANTRUM?

The fact of the matter is that 'ethnic federalism' is indefensible in theory or practice. The ICG report hit a raw nerve by exposing the fundamental flaws in the dictatorship’s phony 'ethnic federalism' ideology. The report makes it crystal clear that the scheme of 'ethnic federalism' is unlikely to keep the nine ethnic-based states in orbit around the dictatorship much longer. The ICG’s reasonable fear is that over time irrepressible centripetal political contradictions deep within Ethiopian society could potentially trigger an implosion of the Ethiopian nation. This argument is logical, factually-supported and convincing. As we have previously suggested, 'ethnic federalism' is a glorified nomenclature for apartheid-style Bantustans.[1] By unloading verbal abuse and sarcasm on the ICG, the dictator is trying to divert attention from the central finding of the report: Ethnic federalism is highly likely to lead to the disintegration of the Ethiopian nation. That is what the dictator’s sound and fury is all about!

WHAT MAKES FOR A STRONG FEDERALISM?

We believe the ICG report does not go far enough in explicitly suggesting a way out of the 'ethnic federalism' morass. It seems implicit in the report that if 'ethnic federalism' is dissolved as a result of forceful action by the 'states', the country’s national disintegration could be accelerated. If the dictatorship fails to reform or modify it significantly, ethnic tensions will continue to escalate, resulting in an inevitable upheaval. If the dictatorship escalates its use of force to keep itself in power, it could pave the way for the ultimate and inevitable collapse of the country into civil strife. All of these scenarios place the Ethiopian people on the horns of a dilemma.

We believe there are important elements from the Ghanaian constitution that could be incorporated to produce a strong and functioning federal system in Ethiopia. As we have argued before,[2] Ghana’s 1992 constitution provides a powerful antidote to the poison of ethnic and tribal politics: 'Every political party shall have a national character, and membership shall not be based on ethnic, religious, regional or other sectional divisions.' Membership in a political party is open to 'every citizen of Ghana of voting age' and every citizen has the right to 'disseminate information on political ideas, social and economic programmes of a national character.' Ghanaian citizens’ political and civic life is protected by the rule of law and an independent judiciary. Citizens freely express their opinions without fear of government retaliation, and the media vociferously criticises government policies and officials without censorship. Ghana has a strong judiciary with extraordinary constitutional powers to the point of making the failure to obey or carry out the terms of a supreme court order a 'high crime'. Ghana’s independent electoral commission is responsible for voter registration, the demarcation of electoral boundaries, conduct and oversight of all public elections and referenda and electoral education. The commission’s decisions are respected by all political parties. These are the essential elements missing from the bogus theory of 'ethnic federalism' foisted upon the people of Ethiopia.

OB LA DI, OB LA DA…

It is truly pathetic that after nearly 20 years in power the best the dictators can offer the suffering Ethiopian people is an empty plate and a bellyful of contempt, acrimony and anger. Well, ob la di, ob la da, life goes on, forever! So will the Ethiopian nation, united and strong under the rule of law and the grace of the almighty. If South Africa can be delivered from the plague of the Bantustans, have no doubts whatsoever that Ethiopia will also be delivered from the plague of the Kililistans!

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* Alemayehu G. Mariam is a professor of political science at California State University, San Bernardino, and an attorney based in Los Angeles.
* This article was originally published by Ethiomedia.com.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

NOTES
[1] http://www.ethiopianreview.com/content/10705
[2] http://www.ethiopianreview.com/content/10396

Déjà vu: Much ado about an already won election

Alemayehu G. Mariam

2009-10-01

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/59149

cc ALEMUSHEthiopia has been ruled for too long by a dictator who mocks all Ethiopians with puppet elections, writes Alemayehu G. Mariam in this week's Pambazuka News. While Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi talks about the 'moral and prudent' need for a 'single negotiating team' for Africa on climate change, the same demands could easily be made around ensuring a genuinely democratic election in 2010. But if democratic progress is to be achieved in Ethiopia, the author concludes, pro-democracy forces need to draw on the successes of the 2005 election, and not simply support Meles's party's pseudo-participation and 'silly little game of "elections"'.

Last April, we commented that the whole business of elections in Ethiopia is ‘much ado about nothing’. We offered a catalogue of reasons why the whole election rigmarole and ritual under the current dictatorship was an exercise in futility and absurdity:

‘The insufferably meaningless [2008] election ritual is now almost over. But for a few more days, we'll have to put up with the regime's self-congratulatory blabber and vacuous sloganeering about Ethiopia's unstoppable march on the road to democracy. Mercifully, in another week or so, no one will even remember there was an “election” in Ethiopia in 2008.’[1]

Perhaps we spoke too soon. Here we go again with another election charade! We are once again being finessed into talking about ‘the 2010 election’ as though it is a real election. It is as real as Mickey Mouse, Pinocchio, Bugs Bunny and Mr Magoo. It is just crazy: How is it possible that we fall for the same old trick over and over and over again? How can one conceive of contesting an ‘election’ in 2010 that has already been won in 2009? How can any reasonable person believe that the same crooks that rigged the 2005 election will sit in their rocking chairs on the front porch to watch a real election being held? Didn’t the same gang of election thieves tell us last April that opposition party members won only 3 out of the 3.5 million elected seats won by their party? What they call an ‘election’ is a three-ring circus where they will be formally announcing their landslide victory in May 2010.

But the charade goes on. It was reported that Ethiopia’s arch dictator Meles Zenawi ‘has set up talks with the opposition about drawing up a code of conduct for [elections] next year’. As per usual, he tried to pull a fast one by trying to get the opposition party leaders to sign it. Ato Seeye Abraha, a former defence minister who is now in the Forum for Democratic Dialogue in Ethiopia (FDDE) (a coalition of eight opposition parties), said, ‘The code of conduct assumes a context where there will be independent administration of elections, freedom of movement, freedom of expression, [and] no intervention by security forces.’ FDDE members pulled out of the talks as it was a simple case of ‘Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.’

JAMAIS VU: WHAT IN THE WORLD IS GOING ON IN ETHIOPIA?

When the familiar seems new or bizarre, psychologists call it ‘jamais vu’. Something strange is going on in the relationship between the pro-democracy opposition parties and the one-man, one-party dictatorship in Ethiopia. The two opposing factions seem to have finally come to a complete agreement on political strategy. They have all become Gandhians. Ethiopia’s arch dictator has threatened to use the collective numerical power of African countries and walk out of the Copenhagen climate change negotiations in December if the ‘rapists’ of Africa do not pay up US$67 billion a year as ‘blood money’ for their century-long abuse of the continent:

‘If need be, we are prepared to walk out of any negotiations that threatens to be another rape of the continent… While we reason with everyone to achieve our objective we are not prepared to rubber stamp any agreement by the powers… We will use our numbers to de-legitimise any agreement that is not consistent with our minimal position … Africa will field a single negotiating team empowered to negotiate on behalf of all member states of the African Union.'

The FDDE using its ‘numbers’ wants to negotiate with the ruling Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front to contest the 2010 elections. But they walked out of the negotiations when the dictatorship began a campaign of arrest and intimidation against FDDE members. Ato Bulcha Demeksa, leader of the Oromo Federalist Democratic Movement, bitterly complained: ‘The ruling party cadres throughout the country are jailing our potential candidates on false charges… We want to negotiate with the government and ask them to stop arresting and jailing our potential candidates.’ Meles in his polished Orwellian gobbledygook was sarcastically dismissive: ‘Those parties that apparently are concerned about harassment are not concerned enough to participate in the devising of a code of conduct that is designed to put an end to it, if it exists, or to prevent it if it doesn't… The intent of these individuals is to discredit the election process from day one, not to participate in it.’ The dictator’s reptilian consigliore, Bereket Simon, with his signature condescension, contempt and mockery of the opposition, quipped, ‘Nobody is being jailed for being a politician… To walk away from [the talks] is disastrous and is to walk away from democracy.'

GHANDI RULES!

We are now witnessing an epic Gandhian confrontation over how to use ‘numbers’. To use or not to use one’s ‘numbers’, that is the question in Ethiopia and Africa today; whether African countries or opposition political parties in Ethiopia should use their ‘numbers’ in negotiations for a fair outcome in climate change or election negotiations; whether a group of countries or political parties should use their ‘numbers’ to de-legitimise a concocted climate change agreement or a bogus code of conduct to facilitate rigged elections; whether ‘numbers’ should be used to resist and fend off Africa’s and Ethiopia’s ‘rapists’ and; whether African countries should rubberstamp a lopsided climate agreement with the West or opposition political parties a one-sided code of conduct with a dictatorship.

In a Gandhian confrontation, there are no losers, only winners. Africans will certainly win if they use their ‘numbers’ in the climate change negotiations. So will Ethiopian opposition political parties if they use their ‘numbers’ to insist on holding an open and free election.

CLIMATE CHANGE AND REGIME CHANGE

Climate change and regime change are actually two faces of the same coin. Think about it. Climate change affects the ecological wellbeing and survival of the entire planet; regime change is about the political ecology and welfare of human beings in a small corner of the planet. The mechanism for positively transforming both is the same: attain moral clarity and act decisively and courageously on sound and unassailable moral grounds. If walking out of negotiations is a good and prudent moral act to save Africa from the ‘Western rapists’, it is also good and prudent enough to rescue Ethiopia from her rapists. If it is moral and prudent for ‘Africa to field a single negotiating team empowered to negotiate on behalf of all member states of the African Union’, it is moral and prudent for the FDDE to do the same in Ethiopia. If it is a moral act to ‘de-legitimise any agreement that is not consistent with minimal positions on climate change’ using one’s ‘numbers’, why would it not be an equally compelling moral act to de-legitimise any ‘code of conduct’, election or regime that does not meet ‘minimal positions’ of universally accepted standards of human rights and democratic practices? Those who point an index finger at the Western predators and ‘rapists’ of Africa for hypocrisy, chicanery and underhandedness should look at their own clenched fists and see that three fingers are pointing directly at them.

REGIME CHANGE BEFORE ACTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE

Just in passing, what is the ‘2010 election’ about anyway? Is it about the famine that is now voraciously consuming one-fifth of the Ethiopian population? The confinement of hundreds of thousands of political prisoners in prisons and secret detention facilities? The prosecution of torturers, murderers and other human rights abusers? The ecological catastrophes facing Ethiopia? The galloping inflation? The rampant corruption and plunder of the public treasury? The complete lack of legal accountability of Ethiopia’s dictators? The millions of dollars worth of gold bars that walked straight out of the bank in 2007? The lack of access to clean and safe water (only 24 per cent of the total Ethiopian population has access to clean and safe water)? The reckless intervention in the Somali civil war? The squandered resources and wasted young lives? The massive human rights violations and absence of the rule of law? The establishment of an independent judiciary and free functioning of civil society organisations and the press? Improving one of the worst educational systems in the world (only 33 per cent of boys and less than 20 per cent of girls are enrolled in school in Ethiopia)? Improving one of the worst healthcare systems in the world (only about 20 per cent of Ethiopians have any access to some form of primary care and there is only one physician for every 40,000 people and one nurse for every 14,000 people)? Or is it about none of the above?

REMEMBER 2005?

Real elections took place in 2005. Back then there were real opposition parties who campaigned vigorously. There were free and open debates. The private, free press challenged the dictators and scrutinised the opposition. Civil society leaders worked tirelessly to inform and educate the voters and citizenry about democracy and elections. Voters openly and fearlessly showed their dissatisfaction with the regime in public meetings. On 15 May 2005, the voters did something that had never been done in recorded Ethiopian history. They used the ballot box to clean the house. That was a lesson in real elections!

It is time for all Ethiopian pro-democracy forces to wake up and refuse to be pawns in the dictatorship’s silly little game of ‘elections’. The dictators want the opposition to participate in their ‘election’ so that they could use the ‘participation’ as a stage prop when they go panhandling Western donors for aid. The key to Ethiopia’s future is based on building coalitions and organisations that strive to create strong bonds and linkages across ethnic, linguistic, political, regional and ideological lines. The FDDE holds great promise in this regard. Until pro-democracy forces inside and outside Ethiopia develop a consensus and a plan of action for democratic change, the dictatorship will continue to put up election circuses and make puppets of us all in its freak show.

It is foolish to believe the 2010 election will make any difference in the lives of Ethiopians. It is an election about nothing and we should condemn it as a travesty and caricature of democracy and a shameless mockery of popular sovereignty. We are entertained by Mickey Mouse, Bugs Bunny, Pinocchio and Mr Magoo but we do not believe any of them are real. It is the same with the 2010 election circus in Ethiopia.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* Alemayehu G. Mariam is a professor of political science at California State University, San Bernardino, and an attorney based in Los Angeles.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

Notes

[1] Ethiomedia

Report reveals North Mara Gold Mine pollution

Manfred F Bitala, Charles Kweyunga and Mkabwa LK Manoko.

2009-10-01

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/59161

cc US ArchivesPeople and the environment in the vicinity of the North Mara Gold Mine in Tanzania are being exposed to heavy metals and cyanide pollution, according to a report published in June for the Christian Council of Tanzania (CCT). The study collected and analysed samples of water, sediments/soil for four heavy metals Nickel, Cadmium, Lead and Chromium. Concentrations of almost all of these were found to exceed the standards of the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Tanzanian and US Environmental Protection agencies.

The following is a summary is taken from Levels of Heavy Metals and Cyanide in Soil, Sediment and Water from the Vicinity of North Mara Gold Mine in Tarime District, Tanzania[pdf 1.1Mb], a report presented to Christian Council of Tanzania (CCT) by Manfred F Bitala, Charles Kweyunga and Mkabwa LK Manoko.

SUMMARY

Heavy metal and Cyanide leakage from Gold mine projects is a challenge that mining companies face the world over. All gold mine companies that properly assume their responsibility of good practice take steps to ensure that people and the environment are safer from their operations. During the present study we have observed heavy metals and Cyanide that are higher than International and National standards. Although the extent of spread can not be estimated it is obvious that people and the environment in the vicinity of North Mara Gold Mine (NMGM) are exposed to heavy metals and Cyanide pollution thus to the dangers associated with these chemicals. These chemicals find their way into human body through direct ingestion of contaminated food, drinking water or air and their health problems are of major concern.

Outcry of people surrounding gold mine projects about pollution has been a characteristic of many mining projects in Tanzania, NMGM project being one of them. This short study was initiated by religious leaders as a way of responding to such outcry. During the study samples of water, sediments/soil were collected and analysed for four heavy metals Nickel, Cadmium, Lead and Chromium using Atomic Absorption Spectrometer AAS, while CN analysis was analysed using pyridine; pyrazolone method as described by Allen (1989). We also recorded pH levels. The study was carried in Kwimanga, Kwinyunyi, between Kwimanga and Kwinyunyi, River Tighite and Nyabigena. Observed levels of Cyanide were then compared to standards by WHO, Tanzanian and US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

In overall terms, observed concentrations for all, almost all parameters were higher than the standards used. These observations therefore suggest that both heavy metals through Acid Mine drainage (AMD) and Cyanide were leaking from waste rock piles and tailing dam, respectively. Generally therefore, people living in the study area are in danger of suffering pollution effects of heavy metals and Cyanide as stipulated in the literature. Water samples taken from River Tighite indicate that Ni, Pb, and Cr, were 260, 168 and 14 times higher this year than it was observed in the year 2002 suggesting that humans and other living organisms in the area are highly vulnerable from pollution resulting from current gold mining activities of North Mara Gold Mine.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* This summary is taken from Levels of Heavy Metals and Cyanide in Soil, Sediment and Water from the Vicinity of North Mara Gold Mine in Tarime District, Tanzania[pdf 1.1Mb], a report presented to Christian Council of Tanzania (CCT) by Manfred F Bitala, Charles Kweyunga and Mkabwa LK Manoko.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

Tanzania's pot of gold

Not much revenue at the end of the rainbow

Khadija Sharife

2009-10-01

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/59142

cc WikipediaTanzania is sitting on top of a US$39 billion ‘pot of gold’, Khadija Sharife writes in Pambazuka News, but unless the government can capture a more just proportion of royalties and taxes from the multi-nationals with concessions to mine the commodity, the country, one of the ten poorest in the world, is likely to get poorer still.

For Tanzania, seated atop a giant, 45 million ounce pot of gold, economically valued at US$39 billion, the country, one of the ten poorest in the world – and Africa’s third largest gold producer – is bound to get poorer still if the government fails to capture a just proportion of royalties and taxes.

Though US$2.5 billion in gold has been exported during the past five years, primarily through two major multinationals, Canada’s Barrick Gold, and the South African-based Anglo-Gold Ashanti (AGA), the government has accrued just US$21–US$22 million per annum on average.

12 million of Tanzania’s 36-39 million people live on under a dollar per day. Over the past ten years, following the 1998 Mining Act – the product of a five-year World Bank-financed sectoral reform programme – Tanzania has experienced large-scale mining developments including the Geita, North Mara and Tulawaka mines. Gold production has since increased from 1-2 tonnes per annum in 1998, to 50 tonnes, valued at US$876 per ounce in 2008.

But the liquidation of Tanzania’s finite resources has yet to really benefit the country, despite the recent five-year commodity boom (2003-2008).

MULTI-NATIONAL MINES AND TAXATION

According to a recent report by Tanzanian lawyer Tundu Lissu, and British historian and former researcher at Chatham House, Mark Curtis, Barrick failed to declare payments in royalties and taxes to the government. AGA, producing 3 million ounces of gold from the Geita mine, valued at US$1.43 billion at current gold prices, paid taxes averaging US$13 million per annum, cumulatively totalled at US$96 million (2000-2006). AGA’s 2006 own country report reveals remittances including corporate tax of US$1 million paid to the government, along with royalties of US$5.6 million, import duties of US$11 million, and other indirect taxes of $US8.2 million. Since 2000, stated AGA’s Alan Fine, the company has paid US$266 million in tax.

Meanwhile, allege the authors of the report, both companies have failed to pay a cent toward corporation tax (pegged at 30 per cent), consistently declaring losses despite making heavy capital investments. In 2008, Barrick’s General Manager Greg Walker stated, ‘Barrick is not paying corporation taxes, we will only start paying corporation taxes in 2014 when we will begin realising profits.’

A leaked report of US auditing firm Alex Stewart Assayers (ASA), contracted by the Tanzanian government in 2003, revealed that four gold mining companies, including Barrick and AGA, deprived the government of US$132 million via tax avoidance, by overstating losses of US$502 million from 1999-2003.

A LACK OF ACCOUNTABILITY

Each year, developing countries lose US$385 billion in tax abuse, due to the lack of corporate country reports and automatic exchange of tax information. Ironically, the firm, which demanded an advance of US$1 million, in addition to fees set at 1.9 per cent of the market value of gold exports, applied for tax exemption. It was mired by accusations of corruption concerning the tender process and allegedly received questionable remittances from the Bank of Tanzania.

Of the report’s government-imposed secrecy, ASA’s chief executive Dr Enrique Segura stated, ‘The auditing contract was laced with confidentiality clauses that virtually ban the auditors from publishing their findings.’ This may be because according to Tanzania’s own auditor general, 20 per cent of the budget is lost to corruption, nor are revenues publicly disclosed by the government, or accessible to parliament. Some officials in the Ministry of Minerals are alleged to own mineral rights, lending to a conflict of interest, while officials in the mining department allegedly demand bribes prior to issuing mining or prospecting licenses, stated the report.

At the current rate of extraction – 1.6 million ounces per annum from five major mines (Geita, Tulawaka, North Mara, Bulyanhulu and Buzwagu), Tanzania’s gold is expected to last just 28 years, a situation prompting Tanzania’s Commissioner for Mineral to declare, ‘The companies are holding a panga by the handle and we are getting the sharp end.’

In response to a recent report, A Golden Opportunity: How Tanzania is failing to benefit from gold mining, Barrick stated: ‘the 45 million ounces of gold referenced as the basis for their calculation of a US$39 billion “fortune” still reside in the ground. The 45 million ounces of gold contained in rock in the ground had utterly no value until someone invested in its discovery and delineation, nor does it have any value now if it cannot be profitably extracted – none.

‘So far, based on the evidence that is available to the investors in the Tanzanian gold industry and Tanzanian Government policy makers, it is not at all clear whether the large gold deposits in remote parts of Tanzania can be extracted, processed and marketed at a profit on a sustained basis.’

TAXATION BY COUNTRY: $210 MILLION (2006)

Argentina: $13 million
Australia: $25 million
Brazil: $38 million
Ghana: $5 million
Guinea:
Mali: $47 million
Namibia: $4 million
South Africa: $77 million
Tanzania: $1 million
USA :
(Anglo Gold Ashanti 2006 Annual Report)

CRYSTALISING CORPORATE ADVANTAGE

Thanks to the 1998 code, the cornerstone of the country’s mining industry, royalty rates – fixed at three per cent and determined not on production value, but instead on ‘netback value’, allowing the company to subtracts costs – can be deferred, described by an official at the Tanzania Revenue Authority classified as, ‘as good as an exemption.’

An IMF study (2001) found that most royalty rates – ranging from 2-30 per cent, are often pegged at 5-10 per cent. Countries like Botswana have largely managed to avoid the ‘resource curse’ by fixing royalties at 10 per cent, unlike Zambia’s 0.6 per cent, again – the latter negotiated by the World Bank. Were Tanzania to peg rates at 5 per cent, say the authors, revenue would increase by US$61 million over the past seven years, while a rise to 7.5 per cent and 10 per cent would have increased revenue to US$131 million, and US$300 million respectively.

The World Bank’s involvement in Tanzania extends back four decades and US$4 billion – a strategy the Bank (2000) would later admit was ‘flawed’.

In 1990, the World Bank published a Mining Sector Review for Tanzania, coinciding with the Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) reform of Tanzania’s financial sector. This reform included partial liberalisation and bank privatisation, facilitating the flow of foreign direct investment – and potential mass capital reversals and flight – by removing controls on international transactions.

Further reviews were later undertaken by the World Bank and Transborder, a UK firm that markets their services and areas of expertise as attracting and maintaining foreign investment in the petroleum sector, and mining and minerals sector.

In the case of Tanzania, Transborder reviewed the Tanzanian Companies Act as well as the country’s legal, fiscal and regulatory framework for mining, financed by a World Bank credit to Tanzania. The product was the foundation of the 1998 mineral code.

The Act allows 100 per cent ownership of minerals and mines to foreign corporations, preventing the government from entering into joint ventures; the right to employ unlimited foreign personnel; unrestricted repatriation of capital and profits; the right to carry forward and offset losses; and various tax exemptions and concessions amongst other hidden subsidies. According to the ‘tax stability’ provision, the Tanzanian government is forbidden from revising tax and royalty rates for the ‘full project life’ of the mining operation i.e. until the corporations willingly leave or the gold reserves are exhausted.

A 2002 report published by the government, entitled Poverty and Human Development Report, revealed that ‘despite growth, the share of mining in GDP is still small at 2 per cent. Economic linkages between mining and the rest of the economy, including the government budget, have been limited. The tax/royalty incentives have so far resulted in limited tax revenues, though clearly, increased export earnings have been generated…’

The report also found, ‘Foreign mining companies in Tanzania are given up to 5-year tax holiday at the beginning of production, pay to the Tanzanian government a royalty fee of only 3 percent of the value of their mineral output, and thereafter are free to take out of the country 100 percent of their profits. Most of their mining equipment is also not taxed.’

Attempts by the government in 2004 to alter the tax holidays granted to mining corporations, resulted in the full force of ‘home country’ governments lobbying against implementation.

In 2004, in a letter to the Chairman of the Mineral Sector Regulatory System Review Committee, then-Minister for Industries, Trade and Marketing Basil Mramba recounted events: ‘During preparations (for enacting the 2004 Act) several foreign diplomats based in the country formed a committee to examine the proposals…which is rather unusual. As the (then) Finance Minister I met twice with them to hear and respond to their objections on the method for taxation of mining incomes as had been proposed by an expert from Oxford University, United Kingdom. Eventually the Cabinet decided to shelve an entire portion of that Bill that related to mining.’

According to Lissu and Curtis, parliament does not have any access to the contracts signed by the government. ‘The government’s repeated refusal to make these agreements public means that elected representatives cannot influence the terms under which foreign mining companies extract the country’s most lucrative resource.’

The exception was Barrick’s leaked Buzwagi contract, referring to a mine at its namesake in the Shinyango region. The contract, negotiated by Barrick and the government, was signed in a London hotel in February 2007. It allows for the company to maintain current tax levels throughout the ‘life of the project’, placed at 25 years, with an option for Barrick to renew the same terms for a further 25 years: VAT exemption; a cap of US$200 000 in taxes per annum; the right to repatriate 100 per cent of profits; deduct 80 per cent of capital expenditure from tax payable; right of access and acquisition of water and land; and the right to pursue arbitration in London, or alternately, via the 1998 code, the World Bank’s International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes, amongst other clauses. The UK is Tanzania’s largest bilateral aid donor, with aid – the centre of Tanzania’s political economy, supplying 40 per cent of the country’s budget (2007).

MINING AND DEVELOPMENT

Presently, close to 80 per cent of Africa’s resources are primary commodities; the bulk of income is derived in three ways: Tax, royalties and employment. Due to the World Bank and IMF’s structural adjustment programme (SAP), marketed as the vehicle toward ‘development’, African economies were located within the global economy as producers of raw commodities. SAP development goals were described by the World Bank as, ‘more to do with ‘global positioning’ than with management of the national ‘households’.

But as the UN’s trade body reveals, the employment impact of large-scale mining is largely negligible: ‘Large-scale mineral extraction generally offers limited employment opportunities, and hence has little impact on employment.’

A survey by the World Bank (1995) placed Tanzania’s artisanal miners at 550 000, a figure alleged to have trebled over the following decade. In 2004, a report by the British government’s Department for International Development described artisanal mining as possessing, ‘considerable potential to reduce poverty… what emerges from the study is that income from mining, particularly gold mining, is a more regular source of income than from other livelihood sources…and it has been instrumental in reducing household food shortages…’

Monthly payments for mine workers average $120 - $240 per month, similar to what artisanal miners can expect to earn. In Tanzania, 10 000 miners are employed in the gold industry by multinationals, with little in the way of collective bargaining. In 2006, AGA placed the figure of unionised workers at 3.1 per cent. Failure to capture, disclose, transparently monitor and invest revenue from liquidated finite resources has resulted in a continent consistently mired in the ‘resource curse’, with governments holding themselves accountable to corporations only, as the primary source of revenue, estimated at 60 per cent.

COUNTING THE ECOLOGICAL COSTS

Less than 17 per cent of GDP in Sub-Saharan is derived from tax, a figure that has remained stagnant during the past 14 years; grants or ‘aid’ often exceed non-grant revenues in countries like Zambia and Sierra Leone.

Yet the impact of large-scale gold mining is not limited to revenue, but additionally, the loss of scarce ecosystem services such as water and timber, the economic cost of pollution and its impact on surrounding communities and ecologies.

For every ounce of gold extracted, 79 tonnes of waste is created, leaching toxic heavy metals such mercury, arson and lead into the ecosystem. Meanwhile, sulphides released from crushed rock interact with water and air to form sulphuric acid, causing acid mine drainage (AMD). Gold is often extracted using cyanide, a deadly chemical and vital reagent, via a leaching process. In 2008, AGA’s cyanide use increased by 6 per cent to 26,803,755 kilograms, or 5kg per ounce. AGA’s use of cyanide in Tanzania totaled 2,226,000kg (2008); US$22 million was allocated to environmental rehabilitation in 2008.

AGA, a signatory to the Cyanide Code, asserts that the legacy of pollution emanating from the Geita mine is also rooted in the country’s colonial history, with 4.5 million tonnes of toxic tailings having already contaminated aquatic, wetland and other vegetations.

A 2007 study by Cornell University revealed that 40 per cent of the world’s death toll is caused by pollutants contaminating air, soil and water resources, which saw industrial – specifically gold mining – ranked as one of two lead causes.

The latter issue recently came to the fore following allegations of AMD contaminated water from Barrick’s North Mara gold mine leeching into the Tigithe River, leading the government to ban water usage near the mine in July. ‘The mining companies proclaim to have a policy of zero discharge, but this is not the reality,’ stated Lissu.

‘But I believe that things can change for the better,’ he continued. ‘There are only two ways to change the situation. The first is to allow the government to enter in joint ventures with the corporations. The second is for us, Tanzanians, to stand up and demand a seat at the table. It will not be given to us for nothing.
‘We have to earn it.’

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* This article first appeared in The Thinker(August 2009).
* Khadija Sharife is a journalist and a visiting scholar at the Centre for Civil Society (CCS) in South Africa.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

From Polokwane to ‘Fokolwane’

Harvesting bitter lies for all

MP Khwezi ka Ceza

2009-10-01

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/59141

cc D BIt's no wonder South Africa's poorest are angry, MP Khwezi ka Ceza writes in this week’s issue of Pambazuka News – despite earlier efforts to present its struggle against its predecessors as pro-poor, the post-Polokwane administration is beginning to reveal its neoliberal stripes. As an ‘emerging democracy with a painful legacy of deliberate underdevelopment, South Africa cannot rely on the private sector to lift people out of poverty, ka Ceza says. Arguing that left to their own devices, market forces are more likely to exacerbate inequality, ka Ceza calls for the state to ‘be activist in the economic life’ of the country, if it really wants to take a pro-poor stance.

The current state of affairs bedevilling South Africa lies in the fact that the post-Polokwane administration has launched an intensive and relentless propaganda throughout the country in presenting its struggle against its predecessors as pro-poor. The layman who is not conversant with the ruling party’s politics has fallen snare to the heterodoxical propaganda of ‘the Zunami’. And now that the JZ regime is quickly revealing its bourgeois, neoliberal, pro-capitalist stripes; and it is clear that public discontent is going to increase – as indicated by several protest actions and sporadic labour strikes, it is the most relevant time to put things into perspective, so as to address pertinent issues with a clear analysis of the current situation.

From Polokwane, under the current politico-economic programme, we are nevertheless harvesting the same bitter lies for all on our way to ‘Fokolwane’, where there will be ‘fokol’[1] jobs, ‘fokol’ electricity, etc despite all the promises and false hopes.

The centre is no longer holding, and indeed, things are falling apart. Is there anyone who still doubts that? How long shall we be told to give every ‘new’ president a chance/ for the very same problem? People are rushing around trying to offer solutions that are bizarre and unworkable; that do not address the problem at hand. The Travelgate, the arms deal, the credibility of our judiciary system, ad infinitum. The wash of words and half-baked statements assault our eyes and ears everyday.

If anything, all this posturing, these words of caution and pleas for change merely endorse the fact that we are in a state of siege. Leading the rush to self-destruction is a government that is conducting a desperate ‘back-to-the-wall’ campaign – a campaign based on the principle of force, more force, and hoping and praying that something will happen to save the situation.

That is why we are faced with every issue being a permanent emergency. That is why poverty and squalor are permanently housed in the townships and rural settlements. That is why millions of people are slapped into indefinite wait for service delivery of their basic necessities. Despite the current global economic depression that is politely referred to as recession, this government is engaged in bull-headed economic policies. Where will it end? From the ruling class’s point of view, it is a matter of wait and see. From the masses’ point of view, there is a sense of confusion. None seems to have a clear-cut strategy to deal with the situation.

Today, more than ever, we are facing a dilemma in as far as political/economic programmes and ideologies are concerned. For more than half a century now, the former liberation movement and current ruling party has held on to an abstract thing called the Freedom Charter. Though it was meant to unify and strengthen the struggle, it attained the worst opposite, given the breakaway and formation of the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), and most recently, the Congress of the People (COPE).

Top of the list of questions that need to be asked about the Kliptown Charter are: 1) Is it just a statement of demands that could be met within the liberal framework of a non-racial, free enterprise system – or does it provide a basis for the transition to socialism, as claimed by its ‘leftist’ champions?
2) Is it as popular as it is because of its content and relevance to our current situation, or purely because it is associated with the history of the ANC and, dare I say, the sainthood of Nelson Mandela?

The late Steve Tshwete, in his days as a UDF official, once stated that the Charter is a document of maximum and minimum demands – maximum for the progressive bourgeoisie and minimum for the working class. Hellen Zille, writing in the Frontline magazine (Vol. 3, No. 10), stated that if it were possible to crystallise the criticisms of the Charter into a single, over-simplified sentence, it would be: The Charter is too moderate.

However, it looks like some leaders of the Tripartite Alliance are sincerely ignorant of these facts, given the recent calls for nationalisation of mines, allegedly as espoused by the Freedom Charter. It is a call that got the likes of Gwede Mantashe’s tongue twisted.

But thankfully Ben Turok, the ANC MP and the author of the economic clause of the charter in 1955, recently cleared the issue in a Sunday newspaper. Thus, his interpretation went: ‘As the author of the economic clause of the charter in 1955, I suppose I have a responsibility to comment. First, the word “nationalisation” does not appear in the clause headed ‘The people shall share in the country’s wealth.’ The clause states, “The national wealth shall be restored to the people,” and “The mineral wealth beneath the soil shall be transferred to the ownership of the people as a whole.” (Note: ‘beneath the soil’). What was in our minds at the time was to emphasise that White economic power had usurped the historical legacy of the indigenous people whose ownership had to be restored. It was the colonial aspect that the charter sought to reverse, not private ownership of property. It has never been the intention of the ANC to create a command economy by nationalisation, either then or now.’ In the same article, Turok reiterates: ‘Certainly, as the ANC moved to a negotiated settlement, there was no suggestion of taking over major industry, and this continues to be the formal policy position. So why the statement about nationalisation?’ (Sunday Times, 19/07/09, p12). So the nationalisation of mines has never been on the ANC’s economic agenda.

In a country like ours, grappling as it does with transition from the era of dictation to one of democracy, to relegate the state to the position of a spectator in a game that it should be refereeing is to do the transition process and the people of this country the greatest disservice.

As one political activist observed,’…we have just installed the beginnings of democracy, and already we are being asked to replace the elected government with an unelected market.’ The state, especially during the present phase of development of our country, carries the responsibility to act as an equilibrating force- to ensure that development is taken to the hinterland of our country, to be commandist as far as our macro-economics is concerned.

That would be curbing the savagery of being fixated with keeping the inflation at single digits, regulate exchange controls in such a way that the flight of capital –especially domestic – is rendered very difficult, letting the fiscal deficit reduction targets be informed by service delivery rather than the other way round.

It is the view of the neo-liberal orthodoxy that the role of the state in society is to create an environment that is conducive for social players such as business, civil society, organised labour, etc to be effective in their respective sectors. This view contends that only the private sector creates wealth and all that the public sector does is to consume this wealth. Accordingly, this view argues, it is not possible for the government to create jobs, only the private sector can. Therefore, government must sell off public assets and move out of the employment creation scene.

It might be helpful to contemplate the words of former Secretary of State of the US, Dr Henry Kissinger. During a rare moment of frankness, as he delivered the Sixth Independent lecture at Trinity College in Dublin, Dr Kissinger said: ‘The US and other industrial countries have been forming capital for nearly 50 years and have been compounding it annually. This is an advantage that even with perfect politics is not easy to match… Anybody who is familiar with the Chinese situation knows that the state enterprises in China are the country’s social security net. If China privatised them, they would have up to 50–100 million unemployed. Whether any country can take the pain of such a decision is doubtful.’ (Sunday Independent, 17/10/99, p6)

It is public knowledge that the private sector invests only in areas where viability studies reveal the reality of short-term-to-medium-term lucrative returns. Otherwise, and it does not matter how important this is to society, the government must take responsibility for such investment.

In the main, the history of the ‘Big Four’: Telkom, Eskom, Transnet and Denel tells the story of the reluctance of the private sector to invest in the areas these parastatals operate in. However, now that these areas have been fully developed through public investment, the private sector demands the privatisation of these enterprises. The present form of accumulation is aptly categorised as finance capital.

For, whereas in the past the formula was Money-Commodity-Money (M-C-M), where the last M is bigger than the first M, and denotes the profit margin, today the formula is Money-Money (M-M) where the same, if not a better profit margin is realised without going down the commodity route. In other words, the level of development of financial markets has now made it possible for capital to continue to accumulate without investing in productive activity. The point is simply that the private sector does create jobs and that the occult power of the private sector to hold monopoly on job creation is not borne out by facts. On the contrary, the facts show that the private sector actually destroys jobs.

Another indirect effect of privatisation is that the state must play a progressively diminishing role in the economic life of our country and allow this to be regulated by the private sector, and therefore, also by the market forces. The difficulty with this is that, in these circumstances, the state cannot function as an effective agent of change. To do so, it would always have to look over its shoulder for approval from the private sector.

This means that the developmental agenda of our country would remain captive to the desires of the market forces, which are not known for action in favour of the poor and development. We are an emerging democracy with a painful legacy of deliberate underdevelopment. Market forces are incapable of mitigating this condition and will certainly exacerbate the situation if left in their own. Therefore, the state must not only be activist in the economic life of our country, but must exercise meaningful control over commanding heights of the economy.

More often than not, progressive forces are engaged in reactive moves, moves that have allowed any initiative to slip from grasp. The most frightening part of it all is the vicious in-fighting that has given these forces and their cohorts every opportunity to take advantage of a situation where the left hand does not know what the right hand is doing.

It helps no-one to bluster and complain, while the system trundles along this path to destruction. Bold initiative is required to step forward and shake us out of our reactionary behaviour. If there is a rubicon to be crossed, it is only these progressive forces who can do it. However, the laudable achievements only find expression in the content and the actors.

For once, in the history of our people and of the whole continent, we had the possibility of contributing really big to humankind. And here we are trampling on it. In an intensely capitalist economy, those who can find space defend it by whatever means. Even the current political jostling no longer has the allure of an ideal or a principle as the fight against apartheid was.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* MP Khwezi ka Ceza is a freelance journalist and an independent political commentator based in Durban.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

NOTES

[1] Fokol is ‘absolutely nothing’ in Afrikaans and Xhosa.

The real source of South Africa’s social malaise

Ibrahim Steyn

2009-10-01

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/59139

cc D PReflecting on South Africa’s recent wave of protests, Ibrahim Steyn argues in this week’s Pambazuka News that the original source of the country’s ‘social malaise’ is threefold: The difference between legal definitions and grassroots interpretations of socio-economic rights, government pursuit of neo-liberal policies, and the limitations of liberal democratic frameworks for facilitating genuine public participation in decision-making.

As many of South Africa’s disproportionately working poor and unemployed masses continue to inveigh against the post-apartheid state for failing to meet their material expectation of democracy, the only real difference between Mbeki and Zuma’s responses to the protesting voices is that whereas the former has been callous the latter seems more sympathetic. The fact that Mbeki has hardly commiserated with protesting communities during his tenure and obstinately denied that South Africa is experiencing a so-called ‘service delivery’ crisis in 2007, doesn’t mean he will necessarily disagree with Zuma’s recent statement to the Durban Chamber of Commerce and Industry that the concerns of the protestors are genuine and that there are problems with the state’s delivery apparatus.

As a matter of fact, like the ANC-led administration under Zuma, the Mbeki regime also cited lean capacity, poor communication, political infighting and malfeasance as the main reasons for South Africa’s social malaise at the local level. Hence, it’s not wrong to surmise that the main text of the ANC-led government’s response has not much changed since April 2009, but the way it’s being communicated has. Either way, the response is superficial!

It is my contention that the original source of the social malaise is threefold: A disjuncture between legal thought and grassroots expectations of socioeconomic rights, a neoliberal mode of governmentality, which is the sine qua non of the economic rationality of neo-liberal capitalism, and liberal democracy’s limited assumption of politics and by implication political participation, as will become clear below.

THE EMPTINESS OF SOCIOECONOMIC RIGHTS

Who are the protestors? They are predominantly young unemployed men and women who are demanding material entitlement to the socioeconomic rights that have been guaranteed to them and their poor communities by the South African Constitution since 1996, very simply put. They are persons like Nosizwe from Barcelona in Cape Town, who told a journalist during the April 2009 elections: ‘We have many problems in Barcelona. We have no roads, no houses, no water. You can see yourself. We’re living on sand here. We’re living in a swamp. Winter’s arrived, we’re going to swim in flood water. Each year’s the same story.’

The reality is that these rights are conceived as ‘access-rights’ and not concrete entitlements. They offer no guarantee of concrete relief and so have no automatic effect on socioeconomic hardships, which raise questions about their redistributional effects. The court uses a procedural test to measure compliance with the Constitution’s socioeconomic rights framework. As long as state departments can demonstrate that their respective policy programmes guarantee adequate access, but that social demands are not affordable, they’ve passed the compliance test. The legal narrative thus defies the very interests that prompted the inclusion of socioeconomic rights into the South African Constitution.

The effect is that without some element of socioeconomic resources poor people will remain deprived of any substantive experience of these rights, which explains why Ms Irene Grootboom, eight years after the famous Grootboom case, was still waiting for her house and eventually died without it, in 2008. To be sure, I’m not suggesting that socioeconomic rights are not an important political tool in the hands of the working poor and unemployed masses to demand social change. However, the emptiness of the court’s socioeconomic rights jurisprudence, which is grounded in liberal constitutionalism, militates against the potential for these rights to have concrete value in the lives of the beneficiaries.

THE NEOLIBERAL THREAT TO SOCIAL CHANGE

The socioeconomic rights predicament is compounded by the state’s neoliberal political logic. It refers to a mode of governmentality that is suffused with an economic rationality, which gears state practices towards bolstering the health and growth of the economy whilst being less concern with the poverty reduction effect of economic growth. A market rationale is imposed on development planning and policy discourses, which means that decisions regarding the provision of social services are submitted to cost and benefit considerations. The focus is on keeping the cost of delivering a particular service low without necessarily decreasing its quantity and on recovering the cost of unpaid services, like water and electricity. In the context of a highly socially stratified society such as South Africa, submitting social policy to market rationality weakens its ability to confront poverty. It compromises the quality of social services that are being delivered to the working poor and unemployed, who lack the choices enjoyed by those in the middle-to-upper echelons of society, and causes them to go without basic social amenities, like electricity and water, for long periods of time.

For example, a 2008 report on housing delivery by the Centre on Housing Rights & Evictions (CORE) reveals staggering details about the quality of the houses that are being built under the eThekwini Municipality’s low-cost housing scheme. According to the report, many of the houses that were visited by the CORE researchers had large cracks, no ceiling or waterproofing under the roof tiles. All of the houses were one room with a secluded toilet, which thrust enormous social stresses on larger size families, especially their women folk. Most of those who cannot afford to fix up their houses indicated that they were better off in their shacks. In Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan, protesting communities rejected the government’s RDP houses. They argued that the houses were built on clay soil and lacked privacy: the cracks in some of the houses are so huge that neighbours can see each other’s every movement.

In the case of electricity, despite cross-subsidisation, Eskom’s full cost recovery policy has led to consistent increases in electricity tariffs, which have fuelled massive disconnections since the mid-90s. Over the years, many poor households with electricity access have been either disconnected by the state or decided to disconnect themselves, in the case of prepaid meters, because electricity prices have been out of kilter with their means. David McDonald has calculated that there were two million disconnections by 2002. This figure makes nonsense of the Department of Mineral and Energy and Eskom’s celebrated claim that a total of almost three million homes have been electrified since 1991, and reports that South Africa’s electricity is the cheapest in the world.

Meanwhile, data by Earthlife Africa shows that industry accounts for about two thirds of electricity consumption in South Africa: (68 per cent according to the 2002 Energy outlook) commerce 10 per cent and domestic consumers about 17 per cent. Yet poorer customers are charged higher electricity rates than business and affluent consumers. According to the latest figures, prepaid users are paying over 50c/kWh whilst the domestic average is 44c/kWh. The evidence reveals that it has been business and affluent consumers that have disproportionately benefited from Eskom’s so-called low-cost electricity supply.

More harrowing, the state declared a national electricity emergency in 2008 when companies experienced blackouts. Yet many poor communities have and continue to be without electricity since the dawn of our democracy. Poor people are regularly maimed and killed by fires in shack settlements because the state refuses to electrify their shacks. Curiously, the state signed a long-term deal with Alcan in 2006, a Canadian aluminium corporation, to allow it to build a smelter at Coega. It is mindboggling why the government would want to sell electricity to a foreign company when it complains about shortages here at home! The cost of the power to Alcan has been kept secret, but energy activists have pointed out that the amount of energy that Alcan will purchase is said to be equal to half of the consumption of the City of Cape Town and more than the current consumption of nearby Port Elizabeth. This is a clear illustration of how the state with a 90 per cent stake in Eskom is using its political power, entities and the law to support market interests whilst the social needs of the working poor and unemployed are being submitted to budget calculations.

THE TYRANNY OF PARTICIPATION

Finally, although the Constitution guarantees public participation in municipal affairs, South Africa’s liberal democratic framework, like anywhere else, creates an incestuous relationship between the political elite and their electors. It’s preposterously assumed that an electoral victory for the ruling party means that every policy decision of the political elite correlates with the wishes of electors who are not part of the decision-making process. Moreover, most ward councillors are not living within the communities whose needs they are suppose to resolve and therefore are not in touch with their everyday life social experiences. They are nominated and elected by members of their respective political parties and so tend to use ward committees as adjuncts of the local party branch, ostracising the voices of non-party activists. It’s inconceivable that party activists can speak for the whole of society.

Meanwhile, participation in local formal channels for citizenship participation is often used as a stratagem to legitimise preordained decisions and to contain mass resistance against the socioeconomic status quo. Those who reject this kind of farcical participation are being criminalised. The awkward truth is that when people are not directly involved in the decision-making process, discontent is inevitable. What is required is a popular democratic effort by the working class and the poor to reduce the centralised bureaucratic control of the state over social transformation, on the one hand, and to increase the political power of the masses over public policy, on the other.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* Ibrahim Steyn is a political science researcher at the Democracy Development Programme and a PhD student in the School of Government at the University of the Western Cape. He writes in his personal capacity.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

Resistance to linguistic feudalism and Darwinism

Conditions for creating a reading culture in Africa

Ngugi wa Thiong’o

2009-10-01

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/59136

cc WikipediaReading empowers people, Ngugi wa Thiong’o writes in this week’s edition of Pambazuka News, but people need more than access to books, they need access to books in their own languages. In the first part of a keynote speech given at the 6th Pan African Reading for all Conference, wa Thiong’o argues that ‘if you want to hide knowledge from an African child, put it in English or French.’ To ‘know one’s language, whatever that language is, and add others to it, is empowerment, says wa Thiong’o, ‘but to know all the other languages while ignorant of one’s own is slavery.’

I want to start by congratulating the organisers of this conference, for nothing can surpass in importance books as entries into human history. I like the lines quoted from morality plays in the Everyman Library series: ‘Everyman will go with thee and everywhere be thy guide.’ The book as a guide! That’s why what one of the speakers said yesterday facetiously, that that if you want to hide something from an African, put it in a book, is sad, tragic even, where it is true. But I would put it differently and say that if you want to hide knowledge from an African child, put it in English or French. Tragically this is true; it is what we do to our children everyday.

I remember when my mother used to send on a journey alone, to some relatives for instance. She would give me rigu, food and water for a rainy day, and then would sit me down and tell me everything about the path before me to ensure that I would not get lost. Every instruction was punctuated with: Do you understand? Then would she let me go. Only a very irresponsible parent would give instructions in words and language that the child does not understand. Now, nothing is more important than life’s journey; and yet we in Africa following the colonial path, send our children on the journey of life with instructions coded in European languages. The colonialist may have wanted us to go astray, but why would we, an independent Africa, want our children to get lost? More likely, it’s a case of the lost giving instructions on how to lose your way in life.

In my book, Decolonising the Mind, published in 1984, I told the story of my relationship to my mother tongue, Kikuyu, and my language of education, English. English was also the official language of the colonial state. I told how we used to be punished when we were caught speaking an African language in the school compound. We were humiliated by being made to carry a piece we called ‘monitor’ around our necks, literally stating that we were stupid. This humiliation and negativity were attached to African languages in the learning process. A good performance in English on the other hand was greeted with acclaim. Two things were taking place in the cognitive process: Positive affirmation of English as a means of intellectual production; and criminalisation of African languages as means of knowledge production. With English, went pride: With African languages, shame. For a long time I used to think that this was an African problem.

But some years ago, when I was researching my new Book, Re-Membering Africa, which has just been published, I found out that what was done to Africa had already been done to the Welsh. In 19th century Welsh kids caught speaking their mother tongue in school compound were also humiliated by being made to carry something around their necks with initials: WN-Welsh Not. At the very least, my colonial story had been re-enacted in Wales.

Even earlier than Wales was the case of the relationship between English and Irish languages. English colonial settlement was first tried out in Ireland in 16th century. But the English were finding it difficult to conquer the Irish or rather, tame them. In 1598, Edmund Spencer, a contemporary of Shakespeare and the celebrated author of the Fairie Queen and other poetic works, published A View of Ireland at the Present Time. Spencer was an English land-owner in Ireland, a neighbour to Walter Raleigh, the founder of the colony of Virginia. In the book, A View of Ireland, Spencer literally prescribes a cultural solution to the political and military problem posed by the Irish resistance. He argues that if you change their names, strike out the Mc’s and O’s of their naming system, and then impose English, the Irish would soon forget the Irish nation. Language conquest would enable indeed complete political conquest. The solution to native resistance is thus seen as lying in the erasure of their memory through changing their memory through changing their language and main system.

It’s really the same colonial process dramatised in Shakespeare’s The Tempest, where Caliban loses his tongue and then his land to Prospero. When Caliban complains about the loss of his natural and human resources, Prospero accuses him of ingratitude for seemingly forgetting the gift of Prospero’s language: But then Caliban curses back, pointing out that the price of learning Caliban’s language is the loss of his sovereignty: ‘I was my own subject, now, your slave.’ Language in other words is part of that transition from freedom to slavery.

Africans who were taken to Americans by force by Raleigh and his descendants to become plantation slaves had their languages and their names literally banned, almost as if the colonists were reading from Spencer’s manual. In the place of African names, they were given those of their owners. Even the drum language was banned by the act of banning the instrument itself. But the plantation master never lost his linguistic connection to Europe. The Spanish, French, Dutch and English plantation owners remained connected to their European Languages.

We find similar practices in Asia. Japan banned the Korean language and imposed Japanese during the brief Japanese colonial era. We can say the same things relative to the indigenous peoples of Australia, New Zealand, South and North America. In the history of modern colonialism all the colonial powers, at one time or other, have imposed their languages on the conquered peoples, thus ensuring that the entire system of production, dissemination and consumption of knowledge takes place through the colonial language only. Even the very identity of the colonised is expressed in the language of conquest. In Africa, in other words identity is based on the language of the colonial conquest.

The case for mental conquest through language was put best by McCauley, the British secretary of education, who argued, in his famous minutes on Indian education, that English should be used to create a class, Indians in the name, but otherwise imbued with an English mentality; this class, he argued will help the British as effectively governors and the governed.

We can then generalise and say that where there is a situation of domination and subordination, between any two groups, whatever their colour or religion, this will be reflected in the language relationship. Unfortunately the linguistic imbalance of power takes a life of its own and may continue even after the underlying economic and political situation has changed. I believe that is how English and other European languages have come to be in the position in which they are today vis-à-vis other languages in the world, languages through which instructions for children on their life’s journey, are coded, with the gleeful approval of their own parents. The result of the many years of imperial relationship between Europe and the rest of the globe is world of languages divided into a dominant few, largely from Europe, and marginalised many, largely from Africa and Asia and Americans. Today, four of the five languages of the UN Security Council, are European. It is also not a coincidence that European and the West happen also to be the dominant economically in the world.

Therefore the problem is global, not peculiar to Africa, although it manifests its worst results in our continent. While the problem is basically economic and political; but philosophically, its roots lie in the conception of relationship between languages in terms of hierarchy, a kind of linguistic Feudalism and linguistic Darwinism.

Linguistic and cultural feudalism is the view consciously or unconsciously held that some languages between and even within nations, are of higher order than others; that they constitute an aristocracy while others, in a descending order of being, occupy lesser positions, different degrees of minions.

In the world today, a handful of western languages constitute that aristocracy. They dominate in the production and dissemination of ideas; they dominate in publishing and distribution and consumption of knowledge; they control the flow of ideas. Intellectuals who come from the supposedly lesser languages find that, to be visible globally, they must produce and store ideas in Western European languages, English mostly. In the case of most intellectuals from Africa and Asia, they become visible on the world stage but simultaneously invisible in their own cultures and languages. Global visibility comes at the price of local or regional invisibility.

This is because the dominant languages become perceived, even by the dominated, as having all the magic power of knowledge and production of ideas, culture itself, where the dominated languages are seen as having the opposite. They are incapable of producing knowledge and good ideas. But I wish it was simply a case of linguistic feudalism is being transformed into linguistic Darwnism.

Linguistic Darwinism is the extreme product of hieratic dominant language, dependent of the death of other languages. Languages can grow but only on the graveyard of others, an attitude that underlies all practices of monolingualism. In this most extreme form of monolingualism, linguistic Darwinism sees the growth of a national language as being dependent on the death of all the other languages. This is the assumption behind many national language policies: In order for the national language to be, other languages must die.

The death of any language is the loss of knowledge contained in that language. The weakening of any language is the weakening of its knowledge producing potential. It is a human loss. The saying cited yesterday that the death of an old person is the death of a library is probably more true of languages. Imagine the impoverishment of world culture if all the learning in say classical Greek and Latin had died with the languages? Today we can only imagine but never know the loss of knowledge with the disappearance of so many languages on earth. Each language, no matter how small, contains the best knowledge of its immediate environment: The plants and their properties, for instance. Language is the primary computer with a natural hard drive.

African languages face the destiny of dinosaurs: Things of the past. For the national, African and even global good, the prevailing power relationships of languages and cultures, has to be challenged and hopefully even shaken up. This was the thinking behind my books, Decolonizing the Mind, and also Re- Membering Africa.

My first prescription was that writers from marginalised cultures and languages had the duty and responsibility of making themselves visible in their languages. As I did not want to be saying do as I say but not as I do, I made the decision way back in 1978 to break with English as the primary mans of my writing, particularly in fiction and drama. My first novel in Gikuyu, Devil on the Cross, was first written on toilet paper in a maximum security prison where I had been put by a postcolonial African Government for having participated in the writing and performance of a play in my mother tongue. Today, I still believe that writers and other intellectuals have the duty to challenge and shake up that view of languages in theory and practice

But later I realised that though writers bore the primary duty of producing ideas in African languages, there was another equally important player. Writers do no do so in order to decorate their home shelves with unpolished manuscripts. They want to be published in order to reach the reader. But alas there were no major publishers in African languages. So lack of publishers in African languages leads to lack of writers in African languages and therefore few readers of African language productions and therefore few publishers willing to risk money by venturing there, and you can see the vicious circle.

The publisher then is an integral part of any meaningful challenge to linguistic feudalism and linguistic Darwinism. I have written several works in Gikuyu. But this would have been impossible without the willingness of Henry Chakava and the East African Educational Publishers to invest resources and skills into the project.

It is not question of books only. There are no journals of creative and intellectual production in African languages. So a young writer beginning to write has absolutely no forum in which he can showcase short pieces, at least. Let me show you what effects a journal can have by citing my own practice. Conscious of the problem of journals and with the assistance of the New York Niversity where I then worked as Professor of Comparative Literature and Performance Studies, I founded a journal of culture and modern literature in 1992. Mutiri was the first of its kind in Gikuyu. Even under very limited circulation the journal has made some impact. Let me cite one example.

A Kenyan student, Gatua wa Mbugua, was doing his senior paper at the University of California, Santa Cruz, when he came across the journal, Mutiri, at a friend’s house. It was the first time that he was seeing modem poetry and essays in Gikuyu. He immediately started writing his own poems and songs in Gikuyu. Later at Cornell University, he wrote the first ever Masters dissertation on Crop Science in Gikuyu. And early this year, he successfully defended his Doctorate in Agricultural Science at Wyoming University. Where his fieldwork for his Masters was done in Kenya, that for his dissertation was carried out in the central highlands of Wyoming. He had to be very dedicated to his task. For his examiners in both cases at Cornell and Wyoming, he had to give an English translation of the thesis and dissertation. As for as I know, this was the first doctoral science dissertation in an African language, certainly so in Gikuyu. The point here is that it was a Gikuyu language journal that inspired him to do what he has done, and now he is committed to producing smaller and simpler Science texts in Gikuyu.

The writer and the publisher need another partner. The government. Many African states don’t have a national language policy in a multilingual situation, meaning African languages. In some cases they have shown hostility. Whatever we may say of colonial states, they, through literature bureaus, often came up with some sort of policies. Some post-colonial governments have even shown active hostility to African languages. Governments have to create an enabling environment in terms of policies and resources. We have only to look at Kiswahili in Tanzania today, the result of Nyerere’s progressive linguistic foresight, continued in the successor Tanzanian governments. By Kiswahili having a home and a base, it is the one African language that is becoming an active player in the globe.

The fourth partner is of course the seller of books. Booksellers have to be willing to stock books written in African languages. At present this is largely missing. There are very few bookshops that sell African language books.

I could add other partners: Award givers and conference organisers. At present, many awards meant to help in the growth of African literature actually work against African literature and readership. They give awards that stipulate English as the linguistic means of literary production. Conference organisers within and outside Africa recognise only those intellectuals and writers who write in English. I was talking to Zanzibari writers and on the mainland, and they all felt that global visibility only went to writers in English. This obviously has to change: African languages have to speak for the continent. I have never heard of awards for French literature that stipulate that such writers, to qualify as French writers for purposes of French literature awards and conference invitations, must written in Chinese or Zulu.

There is finally the reader. The reader is the most important component of the four partners. Without readers and buyers of African language books, there can never be such a literature. But then those books have to be there, in the first instance. In other words the five elements have to work together: Writers, visibility in the world for writers and books in African languages, will come automatically, from a solid base in Africa.

The choice open to the world should not be between mono-lingualism and hierarchy of languages; but between those two models and a network system among languages. Language relationships within and between nations should not be in terms of hierarchy but rather in terms of network, with transitions enabling the transmission of knowledge and ideas between languages, a theme we can explore tomorrow.

I hope this conference will debate and share experiences that will really create the African reader of African literary and intellectual productions, a reader who is an integral active member of the global intellectual productions, a reader who is an integral, active member of the global intellectual community. ‘Father, do not send me into the dark alone among strangers,’ says the persona in one of Sonia Sanchez’s poems. Parents have the responsibility to send their children out into the world equipped with the self-confidence that arises from a clear knowledge of one’s base. Let me put it this way. To know one’s language, whatever that language is, and add others to it, is empowerment. But to know all the other languages while ignorant of one’s own is slavery, I for one choose empowerment rather than slavery and I believe that this I what this conference is all about: Empowerment through reading.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* This speech was made as the keynote address at the 6th Pan African Reading for all Conference, hosted by the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on 11 August 2009.
* Professor Ngugi wa Thiong’o is Distinguished Professor of English and Comparative Literature, and director of the International Centre for Writing and Translation, at the University of California Irvine.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

Dialogue among African languages

The case for translation

Ngugi wa Thiong’o

2009-10-01

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/59138

cc Aleutia‘Translation is what enables the traffic of ideas between languages,‘ Ngugi wa Thiong’o writes in this week’s edition of Pambazuka News. In the second part of a keynote address given at the 6th Pan African Reading for all Conference, wa Thiong’o shares his own experiences of and views on writing both in English and in his mother tongue Gikuyu, and of translating works from one language into the other.

A question frequently asked, after talk about the necessity of using African languages as literacy instruments, is that of the multiplicity of languages. But many languages within nations can be a strength if the relationship between them is not based on the nations of hierarchy, but rather on nations of a network.

In the vision of a network, there is not one centre there are several centres, equidistant with each other but connected in a give-and-take. Every language draws from another. Every language gives to another. All languages end up giving to, and taking from, each other, laying the groundwork for a complex independence and interdependence of cultures within and between cultures. Translation is what enables that traffic of ideas between languages. In his book, Discourse on Colonialism, the Martiniquan poet, Aimé Césaire, once described culture contact and exchange as the oxygen of civilization. Language networking through translation can only help in the generation of that oxygen within and between nations.

I could talk about the role of translation in the history of ideas in philosophy, politics and science. European renaissance is inconceivable without translation. And religion? Can you think of the spread of Christianity without translation? Also the Qu’ran? I have discussed some of this in my book Re-Membering Africa. What I want to do is briefly discuss my own work and my relationship to translation. I started writing seriously in 1960s when I was a student at Makerere University College, Kampala, Uganda. I wrote in English. It seemed natural. The writers that I had read and studied had written in English. I had not read or come across any intellectuals who questioned the wisdom and desirability of writing on African writing in European languages.

My first two novels Weep not Child (1964) and The River Between (1965) were in English and it was not until I published my third novel, A Grain of Wheat (1967), that I started questioning my linguistic choice seriously. This did not stop me from continuing the habit and I published Petals of Blood, in 1977. As it turned out, that was to be my last novel in English.

I wrote my first novel in Gikuyu, Caitani Mutharabaini, on toilet paper in cell no 6 in Kamiti maximum prison where I had been placed because of my work in theatre in an African language, principally because of my play, Ngaahika Ndeenda (I will marry when I want).The novel, and the play Ngaahika Ndeenda ,were published in Gikuyu in 1982, two years after I had come from prison. It is then I embarked on the task of translating from Gikuyu into English.

Kenya and Africa have many African languages and I did not want my non-Gikuyu to feel that they had been left out. I did not want their inaccessibility to be used as an argument against writing in African languages. This was my first exercise in translation, auto-translation, in this case. Or was it?

Thinking back about it, I realise that I have always live in translation. First my own when I expressed my sentient interaction with the world around me, hunger, thirst, pain, discomfort, need, in a continuous cry; and happiness, contentment and well being, in laugher; to which people, my mother mostly, responded by meeting desires. This was self-translation of the world within and around me, through the only sounds that I could make. It was my first exercise that, through unconscious, in auto-translation. Later my mother helped me make sense of the same material world – the one I touched, tested, saw or heard and which I had earlier expressed in cry and laugher – by translating it into definite sound which, when I repeated, elicited response. This was another exercise in translation, not my own, but which I later come to know as my mother tongue.

My mother tongue, Gikuyu, communally inherited and continually enriched through time, was a storehouse of knowledge, attitudes, feelings and moods and I drew from this granary of communal memory to understand the world around me. Gikuyu became my primary language. Initially, it was simply my spoken language. When later I went to school and learnt to read and write, a kind of translation of sound images into visuality, it also became my first literary language.

In my third year in school, I started learning Kiswahili and English. To understand the languages, I kept on referencing back to my mother tongue, a process that Marx described as characteristics of all who learn a new language. According to him one has mastered a new language when one no longer feels it necessary to first translate the new into the old to understand it. But while relationship to Kiswahili followed that Marxian observation in peaceful way, I soon came to realise that my relation to English was based on coercive system of rewards and terror. I was rewarded with praise and distinction when I did well in English, spoken and written, but punished and humiliated when I was caught speaking Gikuyu in school compound. In have come to learn that the same was done to Welsh kids who were made to carry a placard, Welsh Not, when they were caught speaking English in the compound.

Soon English took over and became the language to which I referenced back in relation to other languages even my own. [For instance, although the first book that I ever read in my own was the Gikuyu language Bible, a translation, but on learning English, I, along with other English neophytes, would carry an English bible to church. The preacher would still read his chosen passages in Gikuyu but we would follow the same passage through our English language Bible. We would thus learning be hearing Gikuyu sounds, as read by the preacher, through the English literary text we read silently. The irony was of course that the English bible was itself a translation, so it was as if we were negotiating the biblical terrain through complex process of mental translation from one translated text to another. We were looking at the world through a Gikuyu language translation of a biblical text, but through the literary text of an English translation of the same biblical text. It was all a mental exercise.

It is now easy to see that when years later I wrote novels of African life in English, I was simply continuing the practice we had established in church. Writing in English became a literary act in mental translation. The people about whom I wrote in my first four novels had been shaped by their experience of Kenyan history. In real life they spoke Gikuyu or Kiswahili. They voiced their interactions with the natural and social environment in an African language. They talked an African language in their homes, in their fields, in education of their children. They argued and settled disputes in their own language. They imported knowledge and morals in their own language. They sung in their own language. They planned and carried out their ant-colonial resistance in their African languages. And yet when I presented the same characters and actions in the literary text, I made characters emerge as English speakers. By a sleight of literary hand, I had obliterated an African language speech community and created English language speaking African peasantry. I effected this through the act of mental translation of my earlier silent reading in church.

All writing in a language that is not a mother tongue, or the first language of one’s upbringing, is largely a mental exercise in translation. Underlying the exercise persists the question: How much of one’s language does one retaining the mentally translated text? The question – which is really one of the relationships between the source language and the target language – is at the heart of all translation even a mental one.

In my case I had to try making the reader feel that these characters were speaking an African language. One finds the proliferation of African sayings in my English language novels. Sometime songs are given in the original language. At other times, I would mention an African language word and then indicate the meaning in the context. Proverbs are the hardest to render in another language where one is tying to make the reader feel the rhythm of the original. Sometimes, as in Petals of Blood, I left a whole lot of African words without any attempt at their translation either directly or in the context.

Thus when in 1978, at the maximum security prison, I decided to break with English as the language of my fictive imagination and wrote in Gikuyu, I suddenly felt liberated from these exercises in mental translation. Psychologically, I felt I had restored African characters to their own language. They had re-possessed their own voice in the original sounds and structures of their language. In other words, I had stopped bringing death to an African language-speaking peasantry and then having them resurrected as an English language-speaking peasantry.

One of the saddest results in writing in English was that, through mental translation of my creative process, I had lost what would have been the ‘original text’ in Gikuyu. It was lost in the mind. It did not exist. Writing in Gikuyu directly now ensured the existence of original text. Its life was not dependent on translation. That is why I felt that my first novel in Gikuyu, Caintaani Mutharabaini, was an act of self liberation.

I translated the novel into English under the title Devil on the Cross and it was published by Heinemann (Kenya) and Heinemann (London) under the same title in 1982. The translation followed the same track I had followed in my ‘mental translation’ days that had produced Weep Not Child and The River Between. That is, I try to make the reader become aware of the source language through the target language in such a way as to suggest the structure and the rhythm of the original source of language. The only difference was that now there was a real material Gikuyu language text from which to work. In this method as in the first, African characters who are otherwise mature and wise and complex often emerge as simple, though the English words which they voice their thoughts about the inner and external world. This is one of the unintended consequences of trying to make source language be very present in the target language.

My second novel In Gikuyu was Matigari. It came out of Kenya in 1986 and it became famous when the Moi Dictatorship sent police to arrest its eponymous hero, intelligence reports having reached him that Matigari was a real living person going about the country asking question of truth and justice. The novel was translated into English by another hand, Wangui wa Goro and published in London, in its English translation bringing back the old contradiction. Its Gikuyu language original had been banned. But it acquired a second life, Walter Benjamin’s notion of surviving life, through the English translation. Wangui wa Goro avoided the pitfalls of mental translation and that of making the rhythms and syntax of original language overly present in the target language. In this way she manages to capture the complex thought process of Matigari’s question for truth and justice. In other words, readers could concentrate on their identification with the world of the novel without tripped through constant reminder that one is reading a translation.

It took me ten years before I embarked on my major novel in Gikuyu. Mugori wa Kagogo took me many years to write, from about May 1977 to December 2002. The novel, a fantastic epic on a dictatorship, takes place in the fiction Africa territory of Aburiria. Its spatial and temporal landscape is wide. Eastern, Africa and western religious and philosophic systems interact in the text. The action of the novel takes us to India, across Africa, to New York and back to Africa. Many subjects and themes including space exploration are touched upon. But many of these religious, philosophic and technological systems are not part of the Gikuyu language tradition. So in writing the novel, I found myself doing mental translation in verses, where a concept, like space and spaceships, would come to me in English and I had to find a way of rendering them in Gikuyu which often forced me to coin new words in Gikuyu or simply domesticate the English word in Gikuyu.

I did my own translation into English, eventually published in 2006 under the title, Wizard of the Crow. [The process was complex because quit often I found myself having to translate a draft I had thought was complete, only to find, in the process of translation, that there were original was inadequate. The muse would possess me again and I would go to the Gikuyu original, wrote more draft, which I later subjected to yet another translation into English. I would say that in the course of writing and rewriting it, translating and retranslating it, there was continuous dialogue and interaction between Gikuyu and English in away that would have been different had I been translating from a finished and published text the way I had done with Devil on the Cross.

My one determination was that I would not try to make the source language intrude overtly in the target language. I was no longer interested in trying to make the reader feel that he was reading a text that had been written in another language. If one wanted to authenticate the original language of its composition, he or she could go to the Gikuyu language original. My novels in Gikuyu have now been translated into German, Spanish, Finnish, Swedish, thus putting Gikuyu in some sort of dialogue with those languages. My hope is the novel would eventually be translated into other African languages within Kenya and Africa and also into other languages in Asia and Latin America.

Translation is definitely one way of enabling that that complex dialogue among languages. In my book Re-membering Africa, I have talked of translation is truly the language of language, or call it, the common speech of languages. But only if the vision and practices are seen as embodying the idea of translation. It is sermon, a lecture, an order, or a statement. Translation, seen as conversation among languages, can help in undermining the false notions of networking among languages, thus generating the oxygen of a common inheritance that Césaire talked about.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* This speech was made as the keynote address at the 6th Pan African Reading for all Conference, hosted by the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on 11 August 2009.
* Professor Ngugi wa Thiong’o is Distinguished Professor of English and Comparative Literature, and director of the International Centre for Writing and Translation, at the University of California Irvine.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

The rule of law and the presumption of whiteness

Lurie Daniel-Favors

2009-10-01

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/59143

cc D B King‘Our default setting is one that sees the world through white values – unless programmed otherwise,’ writes Lurie Daniel-Favors in this week’s Pambazuka News. With reference to the US legal system, Daniel-Favors argues that ‘white judges have the privilege of acting as though their race and rationale are the default setting from which every other race and rationale deviate’. When white judges ‘use the law to rule in favour of white interests’, their rulings are seen an unbiased application of the law’, says Daniel-Favors. But when judges of colour are confronted with making decisions ‘that might in some way give some benefit to people of colour’ or ‘make a decision that impinges on white freedom’, they face criticism for ‘making decisions based on “race” or “personal” politics’.

‘I would hope that a wise Latina woman, with the richness of her experiences, would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasn’t lived that life.’ Judge S. Sotomayor

There was quite a buzz about this sentence from an old speech made by the newest member of the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS), Sonia Sotomayor. Conservative commentators called her statements racist and labelled her a reverse racist for making the claim. In classic American fashion, these claims of reverse racism were repeated ad nauseum but they had no basis in fact. Indeed, the reactions of these conservative talking heads actually prove the point Judge Sotomayor was making – but we’ll return to that later.

Popular liberal commentator Bill Maher recently addressed this controversy with some guests on his show, Real Time with Bill Maher, including former US ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton and Heather Wilson, who served in the US Air force and was a five term U.S. Representative from New Mexico. Maher quoted from an article written by CNN columnist Jeffrey Toobin, which reviewed decisions made by former SCOTUS Justice Roberts. The article stated that ‘in every case, Roberts has sided with the prosecution over the defendant, the state over the condemned, the executive branch over the legislative, the corporate defendant over the individual plaintiff.’ Maher continued, ‘In every case Roberts has had to decide, he has sided with the white male power structure.’

In response, Heather Wilson, quipped, ‘I would think that John Roberts would say that he applied the law to the particular case.’ Maher retorted, ‘Well it came out on the white side every darn time. That’s pretty amazing.’

Ms Wilson’s belief, that Justice Roberts was merely siding with the law when he agreed (every time) with that ‘white male power structure’, is based on a false assumption. You see, Ms Wilson’s comment and those of the conservative voices claiming that Sotomayor is a racist, assume that only white judges are capable of divorcing who they are and their personal backgrounds from their decisions and legal analysis.

That is one of the benefits of white privilege. White judges have the privilege of acting as though their race and rationale are the default setting from which every other race and rationale deviate. That they – by virtue of not being judges of colour – are the only ones who are capable of interpreting the law in a way that is devoid of bias.

The underlying (and unstated) premise of this belief is that the law canonises white privilege as the default setting and the standard by which our society operates. And since we as citizens are indoctrinated in a society that values whiteness above all else, we participate in fostering this phenomenon. Our default setting is one that sees the world through white values – unless programmed otherwise.

For example, if you are reading a book with a central male character, if the author does not mention the character’s race, the reader automatically assumes the character is white. I have found myself several pages into a story when the author casually mentions the male character’s ‘mocha brown skin’ or makes some other reference to the fact that the character is a person of colour. It can be a jarring experience. Not because the character is a person of colour – but rather because up until the point where the reader is informed that the character is a person of colour, that character received the benefits of the positive associations of whiteness – by default.

Let’s say the character is initially described simply as a male suspect who is being questioned for a crime. When the character’s race is not mentioned – he gets the presumption of innocence. Any perceived flaws in his character are usually resolved in a way that gives him the benefit of the doubt. In fact, race is not even an issue because we the readers are viewing the story in the default ‘white’ (i.e. race-less) setting.

Once it is revealed that the character is a black male, most readers take a momentary subconscious pause to reassess what they know about the character. He goes from being a likely innocent man, wrongly accused by the police and turns into a possible thug…in mere seconds. ‘Perhaps,’ the reader thinks, ‘the police in the story are right. Maybe this guy is a thug who needed to be taken off the streets.’

That, my friends, is an example of how the presumption of whiteness works. The presumption carries over into all aspects of life and the judiciary is no different. As a male character who has no race (i.e. a white character), the reader unknowingly affords the character every benefit of the doubt: 1) the cops got the wrong guy; 2) mistaken identity; 3) some other reason or excuse that makes us cheer for this character.

But as a character with ‘mocha brown skin’ – all of those benefits are replaced with suspicion and doubt. Instead of the presumption of innocence, we view this character more closely. He now has a hurdle to overcome if he is going to prove his innocence to the reader.

The presumption made by Heather Wilson on Bill Maher’s show, was that when Justice Roberts ruled 100 per cent of the time with that ‘white male power structure’, he was reaching his judicial decisions free of bias. That he was merely applying the law in a neutral fashion. The irony of the fact that an ‘unbiased’ application of the law always happened to come out in favour of the state – in favour of white ruling interests – was dismissed out of hand.

That is the benefit of the presumption of whiteness. That as a white judge, when you use the law to rule in favour of white interests, every time, your rulings are an unbiased application of the law. Judges of colour who are confronted with making a decision that might in some way give some benefit to people of colour – or God forbid – make a decision that impinges on white freedom in any way are never afforded the benefit of this presumption. They are usually criticised profusely for making a decision based on ‘race’ or ‘personal’ politics.

Based on the history of this country, Judge Sotomayor’s comments were correct. A wise judge of colour could make, on average, better decisions than an old white judge who had not been through those experiences. Why is that? Simply put, it is because white male judges have been using the law to make decisions in the interests of white people since the judiciary was installed. These decisions tend to extend benefits to non-white people only to the extent that those benefits do not impinge on the benefits afforded to whites.

SLAVERY

Let’s start with the obvious example. Slavery and the Black Codes. In case after case, white judges ruled on an entire host of issues, pertaining to enslaved Africans. With rare exception, these rulings were made against the enslaved Africans and in favour of what was deemed white society’s best interests. The judicial opinion which best sums up this trend is the infamous Dred Scott case (Scott v. Sanford, 60 U.S. 393 (1856)) where Supreme Court Chief Justice Taney informed the world that the black community was so inferior when compared to the white community that ‘they had no rights which the white man was bound to respect.’ This means that the only types of rulings that the black community could expect from the judicial system would be those that ruled against them and in favour of white interests.

Legal slavery ended in 1865. Which meant that the roughly four million former slaves who had been forced to work all their lives for nothing, were now legally in a position where they would have to be compensated for their labour. However, just because the social order could no longer be called slavery that did not mean that the power dynamic between whites and blacks had changed. Nor did it mean that the judicial system would stop being used to benefit the White community.

THE BLACK CODES

Slavery seamlessly evolved into the Black Codes and Convict Leasing system. The Black Codes were a ‘special’ set of laws designed just for black people. These codes essentially criminalised the acts of being black, poor, out of work or caught walking without one’s identification papers and a host of other ‘crimes’ that were then germane to newly freed blacks. If a black person broke these laws, they could be sentenced to jail time. Once sentenced to jail, black people could be forced to work for white land-owners (who used to be land and slave owners) who ‘leased’ or ‘rented’ them and their labour from the state. Which means that after slavery, a newly freed black person could be arrested for the crime of being black and jobless. At which point that person could be leased or rented by her former master and forced to work for free on the same plantation she used to work on as a slave.

The convict leasing system evolved into the modern day prison industrial complex. This evolved form of slavery was supported and re-enforced by judges. White judges who were making biased decisions that benefitted white people and the preferred social order.

The judiciary – as an institution – has a history of using its power to rule in favour of those interests deemed to be most important to the white community. Let’s be honest, a room full of diverse minds and opinions can make better decisions than a room full of people who all think alike or who all share the same interests (and a history replete with examples of using every power at their disposal to protect those interests). A wise Latina (or person of colour) who had lived a life that more likely than not was negatively impacted by those very same rulings should be able to reach better decisions (although this is not a hard and fast rule – hence Justice Sotomayor’s use of the subjunctive tense). Unfortunately, since the judiciary remains more than 90 per cent white, it may take us a while to build up a legal system and a body of law that actually reflects the benefits of that diversity.

What do you think? How can the benefits of diversity in thought and experience translate to practical application of the law?

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* This article was first published in The Race and Law Report.
* Lurie Daniel-Favors is director of Sankofa Community Empowerment.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

Football crazy: A red card for the modern game

McEdwin Ifeanyi Obi

2009-10-01

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/59118

cc M B EFootball's popularity in Africa belies the harmful socio-cultural and economic effects of the global game, argues McEdwin Ifeanyi Obi in this week's Pambazuka News. Once a sporting pastime for which the issue of money extended only as far as having kit to play in, the global brand of football under the power of the English Premier League and the UEFA Champions' League is now an all-consuming drain on Africans' intellectual and financial resources, Obi stresses.

When Zinedine Zidane moved from Juventus to Real Madrid for a transfer fee of well over US$50 million shortly after the 1998 FIFA World Cup (which he won with France), the world thought they had seen the limit of football 'business'. That record has been broken at least three times since 1998. Then came the summer of 2009 and the mother of all transfers (at least for now) when the same Madrid-based club renowned for its deep pockets doled out a whopping US$130 million for the 'legs' of Portuguese maestro Cristiano Ronaldo. There was even more drama when the 23-year-old was unveiled at Santiago Bernabéu some weeks later as over 80,000 of the Madrid faithful thronged the stadium to officially welcome him.

A few days before that watershed event, Real's spendthrift returnee president had snapped up AC Milan's Kaká for over US$90 million, and he was feted in similar fashion. Real Madrid also acquired Frenchman Karim Benzema and even Liverpool's Xabi Alonso, amounting to well over US$300 million in new player fees in one transfer season! Real Madrid seems not to be the only free-spending club in Europe at the moment; Manchester's blue corner is also making waves in the transfer market. Since a billionaire tycoon from the United Arab Emirates took over the club, Manchester City has joined the coterie of big European sides; some even joke they will displace one of England's 'big four', maybe Liverpool!

With the billionaire's petro-dollars, Manchester City has lured Robinho, formerly of Real Madrid, and Emmanuel Adebayor and Kolo Touré from Arsenal, with the total bill currently up to US$150 million. Madrid and Man City between them have spent half a billion dollars in a matter of weeks at a time of dire economic challenges – unemployment is over 9 per cent in the US and at almost 15 per cent in Madrid's Spain. It's not in doubt that football is no longer the passion or mass movement we thought it was; it's now an obsession, a religion where the round leather has become a 'god', the players the 'priests' and the 100 x 50 yard enclosure of the pitch the 'shrine'. What some folks started some centuries ago just to kill boredom has grown beyond anything they ever imagined. The beautiful game is now in the clutches of capitalism. Today it is one of the best-paying professions in the world and will remain so for at least the next half a century.

But can capitalism be said to be driving the madness that following soccer has become on the African continent? My answer is, well, partially. Football was introduced to Africa by missionaries in the mid-19th century. At the time, it was played mainly in church premises, school fields and all other open spaces that belonged to the early Christian evangelists. The game was played by these missionaries and much later their students (in their schools) and domestic staff. Money was never mentioned anywhere near the football pitches. It was purely recreational and those that got involved in it either as players or spectators just got involved for the heck of it. Even if there was a monetary part to it, it was that which players spent on getting their wears for the game-shirts and boots. But 200 years down the line, things have changed considerably.

I recall the beginning of international football in Nigeria with the assembling of young men who went on a tour of the UK in 1949. Subsequently they were known as the 'UK Tourists'. History has it that they played barefoot; of course they travelled to the UK by sea! There was nothing of a standing national football team until independence. At this time, other African nations were also becoming independent and started organising football around the same time.

Most of the players of the freshly independent African states were playing the game as amateurs; they held other jobs and soccer was done part-time. So there was no issue of a sign-on fee, weekly wages or endorsements. From what we were told, they were very committed, much more than today's crop of players and the game was 'real'. They played because they wanted their teams to win, not to impress scouts or attract endorsements. Spectators went to watch just good football and not a lovely hair-do or a colourful boot. There was order and discipline in the game.

With the movement overseas of African players (the likes of Tony Yeboah from Ghana) to Europe to ply their trade, we in Africa saw the money in football and soon after Europe became the toast of all African players. Today all members of the Super Eagles – Nigeria's national squad – are based outside the country, over 90 per cent in Europe! When governments in Africa (especially military ones) saw the growing interest in soccer, they cashed in on this and spent massively on the game, mainly at world tournaments. Remember Mobutu Sese Seko's Zaire team at the West Germany World Cup in 1974 and even other Congolese of that era? Mobutu bankrolled the teams at a time when his people were one of the poorest in the world. Stability still hasn't returned to that country today!

The thinking is that when people are passionate about sport, particularly football, they are distracted and will not notice poor leadership in the country. And ever since, football in that country has been growing while human development remains as bad as it's always been; some argue it has even worsened. Even in my native Nigeria we've had leaders at the national and state levels who don't have an iota of interest in football, but because it makes people 'happy', they fund it at the expense of more critical sectors of the economy. The catchphrase 'football is the only unifying factor in the country, so pump in all the money' seems to be driving this anomaly. Every World Cup year, Nigeria's annual budget is jacked up by almost half of a per cent due to expenses incurred on the Super Eagles' preparations, yet football contributes next to nothing to our GDP (gross domestic product). Even on a global scale, the story is not much different: About 2 per cent of consumption (spending) is on soccer, yet the sector doesn't attract commensurate growth in the world economy.

There is even a more threatening angle to it now, the Champions' League and the English Premiership games beamed into Africa. It is not only snuffing life out of our local football; our youth are hooked on these leagues. Seventy per cent of young people (mainly males) go to cyber-cafés to know the time of the Chelsea–Arsenal game rather than pick the internet's brain for meaningful information from what is widely acknowledged as the biggest repository of knowledge since the beginning of life. Sports dailies now sell more than traditional broadsheets. These boys stab and kill each other when their 'teams' lose. It's pathetic that these clubs are only useful to shareholders and my brothers may never visit England, let alone get any dividend from Manchester United or Newcastle United.

Some boys drop out of school now to follow in the footsteps of Didier Drogba or Samuel Eto'o because there is so much money to be made. The brand of soccer played today is a disservice to the world, not least Africa. Can someone turn the hand of the clock back to 1949?

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

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

Yahya Jammeh to 'kill' human rights defenders?

Sam Okudzeto and Maja Daruwala

2009-10-01

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/59121

cc HyrckAppalled by the recent threats to kill human rights defenders made by Gambian President Yahya Jammeh, Sam Okudzeto and Maja Daruwala of the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) call on the Commonwealth to seek assurances of Gambian and foreign citizens' safety in the country.

25 September 2009, Mr Kamalesh Sharma, Honourable Secretary General, Commonwealth, Marlborough House, London

Dear Secretary General,

It is with deep concern that I draw your attention to the recent statements attributed to the president of Gambia, Yahya Jammeh, on the eve of his departure to New York for the UN General Assembly last Monday. It states as follows:

'I will kill anyone who wants to destabilize this country. If you think that you can collaborate with so called human rights defenders, and get away with it, you must be living in a dream world. I will kill you, and nothing will come out of it. We are not going to condone people posing as human rights defenders to the detriment of the country. If you are affiliated with any human rights group, be rest assured that your security and personal safety would not be guaranteed by my Government. We are ready to kill saboteurs.'

The statement appears to go on to repudiate the necessity to adhere to the rule of law or rely on the judicial process when it states: 'From now on, we will kill anyone trying to sabotage this country. Don't be fooled by Human Rights Groups. They cannot save you from dying. We will kill you, and nothing will come out of it.' This also appears to assure impunity for murder.

The president's words have been widely quoted in concerned circles and reported by the BBC (25 September 2009), along with many African newspapers and news services.

The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) condemns this irresponsible and callous statement as a serious violation of the fundamental principles of the Commonwealth to which Gambia has publicly committed itself in accordance with the Harare Declaration (1991) and subsequent CHOGM (Commonwealth heads of government meetings) declarations. The statement also amounts to a clear repudiation of the understanding under which the African Commission on Human and People's Rights operates out of Banjul. The statement puts in doubt the safety of the commissioners and users of the commission and undermines its ability to function.

At the 2007 CHOGM in Kampala, the CHRI had drawn the attention of the heads of government to Gambia's dismissive attitude to the demand for mounting an inquiry into the deaths of several Ghanaians and others in Gambia. Since then a UN and ECOWAS (Economic Community Of West African States) inquiry has reaffirmed the CHRI's stand and found the Gambian government responsible for failing to protect the lives of these people who were in its jurisdiction. The joint inquiry has also urged payment of compensation; to date compensation has not been provided. The human rights situation in Gambia remains a matter of serious concern to the CHRI and other human rights organisations.

As you know, Gambia remained on the agenda of the CMAG (Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group) for many years on account of human rights violations. The government has been given more than adequate time by the CMAG to open the political space in Gambia, incorporate international and regional human rights standards into its national legislation and improve its human rights record. Failure to show clear progress and meet the expectations of the international community – and, more importantly, the demand of the people of Gambia for genuine democracy – makes a strong case for reinstating Gambia on the formal agenda of the CMAG without involving the usual good offices process, as provided in the revised mandate of the CMAG adopted at the 2002 Coolum CHOGM.

The CHRI therefore requests you to take up this matter urgently with the Commonwealth foreign ministers as well as CMAG ministers who are meeting in New York this weekend in the wings of the UN General Assembly. The CMAG should be urged to condemn the above-mentioned statements for making such clear and unequivocal threats to human right defenders from the highest political office and for engaging in serious and persistent violations of the Harare principles, the CMAG must inscribe the Gambia once again onto its formal agenda. We also urge you to recommend to the prime minster of Trinidad and Tobago, as the host of the next CHOGM, to withdraw his government's invitation to the Gambian president unless the highly offensive statement is publicly repudiated, withdrawn and satisfactory clarification provided.

Yours sincerely,

Sam Okudzeto (Chair, International Advisory Commission, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI)) and Maja Daruwala (Director, Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI))

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

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

Makerere, Mazrui and Tajudeen

Okello Oculi

2009-10-01

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/59151

cc P PIn this week’s Pambazuka News, Okello Oculi reminisces about the relationship between Makerere University alumni, the late Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem and Professor Ali Mazrui. In particular Oculi contemplates how Tajudeen might have responded to a recently announced joint initiative between Ugandan President Museveni and Makerere University to honour Professor Mazrui by establishing a new centre for Global Studies and scholarship fund in his name.

Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem was born in far away Funtua in Northern Nigeria’s sahalian flatlands barely two years before Mazrui hit Makerere University as meteorite. In his own words: ‘Makerere made me a professor, less than two years after making me a lecturer’. Tajudeen would live for ten years in Kampala, Makerere’s home, after Ali Mazrui had fled from Makerere.

A peculiar form of solidarity was manifested by Idi Amin’s soldiers, parking a military tank on the street in front of Mazrui’s residence daily from around sunset to dawn. The strain on Mazrui’s family (whether he was at home or out of the country on his numerous nomadic public lectures), advised a flight that may well have echoed in his Islamic ancestral memory as a personal ‘hijra’ (the journey by Prophet Mohammed out of Mecca in search of security from persecution).

Tajudeen came into Kampala to run the secretariat of the 4th Pan-African Conference, having been encouraged to leave Oxford University and the lures of London by Mohammed Abdurrahman Babu, a radical ideological from Zanzibar. Babu had gone from being a cabinet minister in Tanzania, a prisoner and political refugee from Abed Karume’s murderous plans for him. He had settled in London and turned his home into an intellectual drinking pool for radicals from Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and the Americas.

Professor Mazrui attended the 4th Pan African conference held in 1994 at Kampala, but complained that copies of his paper on the need for a ‘re-colonisation of Africa’, vanished and that he was not allowed the opportunity to deliver it at a session commensurate with the importance its subject merited.

Tajudeen talked most warmly about contact made with Mazrui in another geography and political site – Trinidad. They met at a conference on Islam. Taju recalls appealing to Mazrui to save him from a burdensome honour assigned to him of delivering the sermon at the local mosque. He invoked a cultural pressure on him to pay deference to Mazrui’s age, scholarly fame, and higher social status.

Mazrui insisted that Taju owed the Muslim Umma of Trinidad the appeal of youth and sense of succession from an ancient to a recent graduate of Oxford University. In desperation Taju confessed that he saw a most inhibiting clash looming between his role as the Imam-of-the-day at prayer time and his personal ‘anticipation of a joyous beer-drinking session with the comrades’.

Mazrui relented but warned him not to assume his own innocence in that domain of joyful human participation in history. That combination of generosity of spirit, tolerance, solidarity in minor vice and humility had touched Tajudeen deeply.

So, how has he, from ‘After-Africa’ (Mazrui’s coinage) responded to the initiative by Makerere University and President Museveni’s government to honour Professor Ali Alamin Mazrui? The honour is reported to be a product of ‘Makerere University Private Sector Forum’, whose vision is to develop the university’s capacity to ‘raise funds that will later on promote the exchange of professors between Makerere and other foreign institutions of learning’.

The infrastructural expression of this project are: The establishment of a professorial fair named after Ali A. Mazrui; a fund that would award scholarships associated with Mazrui’s name, and the construction of an eight-story building that would host the ‘East African Ali A. Mazrui Centre for Global Studies’. Apart from lending his name to the project, Mazrui will equip a resource centre which will contain: ‘A photo gallery and archives, displays of Mazrui awards, prizes, significant speeches, public lectures and any other academic and professorial narratives’.

Tajudeen must have immediately chuckled in his staccato mirth and congratulated himself for expecting that gesture by Mazrui of generosity and sense of devotion to his academic roots. It is a gesture he would have expected of Museveni who is himself a graduate of Political Science and author of a book on the drama of his record as a political actor.

There are, however, some intriguing paradoxes that would tickle Tajudeen. For a start, that Museveni was groomed by a radical academic culture on the campus of the University of Dar es Salaam, as well as field research experience of visiting ‘liberated zones’ controlled by freedom fighters of the Movement for the Liberation of Mozambique (Frelimo), may tickle Tajudeen in two ways.

Firstly Mazrui’s record of support for the liberation struggles in Africa may have been fatally affected by the character of the ‘Zanzibar revolution’ of 1964. It has certainly not endeared him to the subsequent union of Zanzibar and Tanganyika into ‘Tanzania’. He has openly mocked the revolutionary plumes of the union by claiming that Nyerere was pressured into it by the imperialist former American President Lyndon Johnson.

Secondly, from early in his academic career Mazrui put much value on capturing the flavour of the present as expressed in contents of newspapers; radio and television broadcasts, speeches and interviews by politicians and those in power. A young John Ken Lukyamuzi, who would later become a combative member of Uganda’s parliament, cut his teeth in higher education through undertaking newspaper cuttings whose contents Mazrui cherished.

The late Professor Archie Mafeje was brutally dismissive of this tradition of scholarship, accusing Mazrui of ‘superficiality and journalistic predisposition’. As one who travelled around Africa like a human tornado, and also used media data and interviews with people of power, it is unlikely that Tajudeen would have been so harsh on Mazrui’s methodology. Mazrui would not, however, have been a man who worked with the methods of a ‘comrade’ in seeking out the pulse of people in an African country. The exception would have been the making of the BBC documentary ‘The Africans: A Triple Heritage’ if research was not primarily done by those paid to craft the script.

In his ‘debate’ with Mafeje in CODESRIA Bulletin, Mazrui revealed much pain about how Makerere had later treated him. He accused Mafeje of not knowing ‘that I have offered myself more than once to my old university, Makerere, in Kampala. Uganda, and not been taken up’.

Tajudeen must have heard quite a lot about how Museveni and his comrades in the National Resistance Movement remembered Mazrui’s record in Uganda’s turbulent political history. For President Museveni this would go back to the period when he was a research (cum intelligence) officer in Milton Obote’s presidency.

Mazrui has given his own version of his closeness to Obote during the period before the Idi Amin’s military coup of 1971. A pro-Obote satirist did publish a book in which the role of a certain Professor Salim Fisi is not favourably portrayed. In the context of such divergences in recalled and interpreted historical records, the decision to give Professor Mazrui a home that pleases his heart, as well as enriches Makerere, must be commended by Tajudeen.

In the context of the current political crisis in Uganda over honouring the ‘sovereignty’ of Buganda, a little historical record crops us. Professor Mazrui had once used what Professor Archie Mafeje noted disapprovingly as ‘his mental agility and great sense of imagination’ to throw up ‘bright but ephemeral ideas like white phosphorus in a bowl of water’.

Four are worth recalling, namely: ‘documentary radicalism’; ‘violent constitutionalism’; the notion that the Baganda are ‘the Japanese of Uganda’, and the notion that ‘Uganda is the Switzerland of Africa.’ The third notion was seen by ideologues of the ruling Uganda Peoples Congress, UPC, as hostile to them and partisan as a form of giving primacy to the culture of Buganda. That meaning of culture rolled directly to power for Mengo.

The fourth notion was detested as suggesting that Uganda should become an immoral site into whose secret bank vaults corrupt African leaders and crooks elsewhere would hide their looted wealth. What was ignored was the more positive notion that Switzerland may be small but it runs the best intelligence organisation in the world; and celebrates a deep culture of industrial genius in inventing products it sells into markets of bigger countries, including the vast and rich American market. That Museveni’s regime may be exercising reflexes of reconciliation and wishing to hear prophet Mazrui at his own home, is something Tajudeen would commend.

Makerere’s initiative in treating Mazrui to an ‘intellectual coronation’ comes at a time when public universities in Nigeria have been closed for four months because academic and administrative staff unions are on strike. The strike has drawn attention anomalies in wages in which local government councillors earn three times the salary of a university professor. Also, whereas a professor would earn 330,000 Naira per month, if she/he climbs to become the Vice Chancellor he earns 2.8 million Naira per month.

The gap is regarded as provocative and scandalous. The level of decline in the quality of teaching and research in the universities has, however, bred widespread resentment against endless strikes by university unions. Repeated complaints by employers in the private sector to the effect that the quality of Nigeria’s university graduates is so low that they have to put them through re-training to get any useful output from them, has fuelled the deepening hostility among parents. Makerere’s celebration of scholarly achievement by Professor Ali A. Mazrui sends out a useful signal to Nigeria. Tajudeen would wish that it were heard across Nigeria.

And talking of Nigeria, the culture of public lectures that Mazrui took to a higher gear at Makerere, led to a novel project created by the Makerere Students Guild (or executive). Growing dissatisfaction with what was increasingly regarded as Mazrui’s hostility to radical African nationalism, the Guild under the troika of Peter Anyang Nyongo, Joshua Mugyenyi and Daudi Mulabya Taliwako convinced Y.K. Lule, Makerere’s Principal, to fund ‘The Makerere Africa Lecture Series’.

Distinguished scholars would be nominated to deliver an annual lecture. Makerere would publish and market the lectures to libraries worldwide. Professor Ade Ajayi was nominated to launch the series. He arrived in Kampala the morning after Idi Amin’s coup. He was met at the Apolo Hotel and urged to return to Nigeria immediately. Word had reached the student leadership that Amin’s regime had been launched on a very bloody note inside and outside military barracks. Tajudeen would have wished to participate in a revived series. The dictum that ‘not by good tasting bread alone does man live’, is a worthy gift that Mazrui since the 1960s gave Makerere and Africa, because it forced others to rise and engage him in intellectual combat. Intellectual combativity in the defence of African dignity, freedom and development is a call for which Tajudeen demands action. He would urge that vigilance be adopted by Makerere and all Africa’s universities to ensure that Mazrui’s honour and valued gifts serve the call.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* Okello Oculi is the executive director of Africa Vision 525.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

South Africa’s climate of rebellion

Peter Dwyer

2009-10-01

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/59155

cc D BReflecting on the recent wave of protests and strikes across South Africa, just three months after Zuma won the election with two-thirds of the vote, Peter Dwyer examines why the country’s poorest have taken to the streets to express their anger. ‘Whenever the ANC government fails to deliver, it comes up with excuses and blames it on individuals. It’s true that its councillors lack commitment and skills, but it is the national leadership that is also to blame,’ said one protestor, ‘and meanwhile people have to suffer. The only way the government notices us is when we express our anger and rage. Then they understand how we feel.’

The spectacular images on our TV screens of jubilant South Africans at the FIFA Confederations football Cup in June (a precursor to the FIFA World Cup to be held in South Africa next summer) were quickly replaced by those of South Africans burning tyres and building barricades in townships as another wave of protests and strikes swept the country in July and August. In scenes reminiscent of apartheid, police clashed with the unemployed township protestors and striking workers firing tear gas, rubber bullets and live ammunition.

This wave of township protests and strikes came just months after the April re-election of the African National Congress (ANC) and the new President Jacob Zuma. He was seen by many, particularly his supporters in the giant trade union federation the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) and the South African Communist Party (SACP), as representing a new start for the ANC government after 12 years of neoliberal polices imposed by former President Thabo Mbeki. The protests and strikes caught many people by surprise with some commentators expressing disbelief at the level of political anger at a government elected just three months before with 66 per cent of the vote. As one commentator said about South Africa ‘They just don’t vote they throw bricks as well’.

One protest which captures the depth and nature of the anger at the broken promises of housing and improved service delivery of water and electricity, mass unemployment and grinding poverty was in the Siyathemba township in Balfour, a small mining and farming town in Mpumalanga province. When local ANC mayor Lefty Tsotetsi arrived in an armoured police car to address local residents, he was advised it was too dangerous for him to get out of the car. Protestors carrying clubs add pipes accused him of living a life of luxury and giving out jobs to his friends and family. Despite promising to improve services in the future, the new house that he was building for himself was set alight, with protestors saying ‘he will die like a dog’ if he addresses the crowd.

In an attempt to deflect the anger for the surge of ‘service delivery’ protests, the government blamed ‘municipal incapacity’ and pleaded for people to give them more time to clean out inefficient and corrupt councillors. They even threatened to use a Municipal Act that would allow the government to take control of so-called ‘failing municipalities’. However, protesters blame the failure of service delivery on ANC appointees into local jobs and corrupt ANC politicians. With reports of protestors attacking African immigrants and migrant workers, some mainstream commentators have sought to project the protests as simply a repeat of the terrible outbreak of xenophobic attacks that rocked South Africa in May 2008, when 150 people were left dead, hundreds injured and 30,000 people (mainly foreign nationals) were internally displaced.

Yet as the dust settled in some townships, in reports by people speaking with protest leaders a different picture emerged. The violence in Siyathemba was sparked when people leaving a community meeting on July 19 were attacked by police firing rubber bullets, teargas and, according to some residents, live ammunition. Protesters set fire to two buildings: A small municipal office and a partially ruined school store. On the Monday, in the course of the rioting, foreign-owned shops were looted and the press quickly reported this as another outbreak of xenophobia. Whilst there may have been some anti-foreigner sentiment, this was limited and condemned by local protest leaders. As one recent report argued, while xenophobia has been exaggerated little attention has been paid to the police brutality, including a fifteen-year-old boy who had been shot with rubber bullets and a young mother who was dragged from under a bed and had her stomach ripped apart by a rubber bullet.

The township protests coincided with an outbreak of national strikes. These latest strikes followed the month long strike in June 2007 that was the longest and largest public-sector strike in the history of South Africa and included over 700,000 workers on strike and another 300,000, for whom it was illegal to strike, taking part in militant marches, pickets and other forms of protest. In August 2008 another general strike brought the economy to a standstill when COSATU (Congress of South African Trade Unions) called its two million members out on a one-day strike in protest of rising prices of food and fuel. This strike followed an announcement that electricity prices would increase by 27.5 percent. Since the start of 2009 there have been 24 officially recorded major protests across the country and government officials believe that the rate of protests this year will exceed those for 2007 and 2008.

ECONOMIC GROWTH FOR SOME, POVERTY FOR MANY

Although South Africa is Africa’s most successful economy (it contributes a third of all sub-Saharan Africa’s 48 countries), not everyone has benefitted equally. Since the late 1990s South Africa’s economy has grown at 6 percent each year and inflation has been reduced to around 6 per cent, on a par with other similar economies. Yet this has been done through introducing neoliberal policies (what some in the trade union and social movements have called ‘home-grown structural adjustment’) with tight control over public spending and service delivery, that has hit the poorest hardest as money has been diverted from public spending into tax cuts for the rich and middle class. Increases in government budget allocations have come not through some fundamental shift in macroeconomic policy but through emphasising fiscal efficiency. Such ‘efficiency savings’, argue COSATU and others, are at the expense of social spending for the working class.

Yet the ANC government has found the money to line the pockets of big business through billions of pounds of tax cuts as they have reduced corporation tax from 50 percent in the early 1990s to less than 30 percent today. The growth in the economy in the last few years is linked to the growth in global demand, particularly from China, for South African manufacturing and primary commodities. As elsewhere in the world this coincided with a financial and speculative boom resulting in property prices rocketing by 400 per cent – higher than the rise in property prices in the USA and Ireland. Whilst there has been investment in infrastructure, this has been money based on Private Finance Initiatives similar those in the UK, with money ploughed into tourist projects such as the football stadiums for the 2010 World Cup, the controversial World Bank backed Lesoto Highlands Water Project and an elitist fast rail service (that avoids Soweto) between Johannesburg and Pretoria that will largely service rich and middle class commuters.

Although the proportion of people living below the poverty line dropped from 58 percent in 2000 to 48 percent in 2005 and many families have access to social grants and other poverty alleviation programmes, many households and communities remain trapped in poverty. Some 75 percent of African children lived in income poverty in 2007, compared to 43 percent of ‘coloured’ children, 14 percent of Indian children and 5 percent of white children. Little wonder that South Africa is a country in turmoil as the anger and bitterness of shattered dreams of liberation eats away at the very fabric of society. It is an anger that is also expressed in the average of 50 people a day murdered and high levels of child abuse and rape. Although crime figures have fallen over the past several years, they are still high by international standards

The government claims to have built over two million new houses but there are still 2000 informal settlements across South Africa, in which people live without sanitation and electricity in shacks made of corrugated iron and waste materials. On average there are 10 shack fires a day killing several hundred people a year. These disasters devastate the lives of all concerned, putting young children, the old and disabled people particularly at risk and making the poor and vulnerable destitute. Life in the shacks is one of permanent drudgery as one shackdweller Funake Mkhwambi told how ‘My shack gets flooded every year. I have to move every winter to stay with my cousins elsewhere. We are a family of 8, including 5 children who often get sick because of the cold and dirty water.’

UNEMPLOYMENT

Although unemployment is officially 23 percent, most serious observers and activists put the figure at over 40 percent. A figure that is set to rise as the global economic crisis starts to bite in a country whose recent economic fortunes have been built on demand for commodities such as coal, gold and platinum. Little wonder that the demand for jobs and decent wages is at the heart of calls from township protestors and striking workers alike. This is a country in which one worker feeds on average another 5 members of the family. Media coverage of the township protests has not failed to notice how young many of the protestors are. In a country in which the every other 18-24 year old is unemployed and the youth have played such a prominent and symbolic political role since the great Soweto revolts in 1976 it is no surprise they are involved. Yet having promised to create 500,000 jobs in a recent state of the nation address, President Zuma retracted and stated that ‘These are not the permanent jobs the economy should create but opportunities that should help our people survive in the short term’.

UNDERSTANDING ZUMAISM

It is important to understand the significance of the election of Jacob Zuma and the expectations he unleashed. Zuma unlike Mbeki is seen as a ‘man of the people’ and a friend of the workers who is willing to listen to the trade unions. Zuma and his supporters (including the Congress of South Africa Trade Unions (COSATU) and the SACP) long argued that he was victimised by Mbeki and his supporters. In September 2008 then President Thabo Mbeki was ‘recalled’ (fired) by the ANC National Executive Committee, following a judge’s ruling suggesting Mbeki – or some in the cabinet – might have interfered with the National Prosecuting Authority’s decision to charge Jacob Zuma with corruption related to a giant arms deal. This led to a split in the ANC and the formation of a new political party, the Congress of the People (COPE), by his supporters and led largely by black multi-millionaires. In January 2009, Zuma was set to be charged again with corruption, but a few months before the general election the charges were dropped, clearing the way for Zuma to become president of the country.

Some on the left argued that Mbeki was replaced as president due to the internal conflicts inside the ANC. But the conflicts inside the ANC reflect the anger and frustration with ANC neoliberal policies and Mbeki’s fate was not sealed by internal party manoeuvres but by general strikes and protests in recent years that Zuma cleverly latched on to with help from the SACP and COSATU. By seeming to victimise Zuma, Mbeki enhanced his popularity and created a new leader for millions of disaffected people. However Zuma is no radical. He was deputy president under Mbeki and never spoke out against Mbeki’s pro-business policies and his outrageous stance on HIV-AIDS in which he denied there was a link.

Zuma is a pragmatist who has sought, so far successfully, to reassure the country's capitalists that he will not lurch to the left. Touted as a leftist by his supporters, he sounds more like a US Republican, said one newspaper columnist, as he calls for tougher action against crime and freer markets. Prior to his election as president one of Zuma's closest advisers, former trade union leader Gwede Mantashe, met with investors in Cape Town and stressed the ways to accelerate South Africa's rate of investment, fight crime and provide a progressive social safety net. He said that under President Zuma’s leadership ‘this isn't about business versus the poor, it's about creating an environment for business while tending to the needs of the poor.’ At one point prior to his election Zuma talked of establishing a ‘pact’ between businesses, government and unions to address low wages, strikes and inflation. Yet this has already been shattered by the strikes and protests and instead of bringing social peace, the Financial Times has noted ‘There is an ugly, unpredictable mood among South Africa’s poor’.

THE ALLIANCE

It is very difficult to know what the political fallout of this latest wave of protests and strikes will be. There is always talk of the Alliance between the ANC, COSATU and the SACP breaking up, but many leading activists still feel that it is better to work on the inside of the Alliance and as President Zuma warned members in the run up to the acrimonious split in the ANC: ‘I'll tell you one thing that we know from decades of experience. Anyone who has left the ANC, for whatever reason, has failed to shine.’ The Alliance is wracked with contradictions and tensions resulting from the confusion surrounding how to understand the ANC, with even the radical National Union of Metalworkers Union leadership saying that the protests are the result of polices led by ‘neoliberal agents in government’ – but it also accused some protestors of being ‘opportunists and reactionary forces’ who are manipulating the township protests.

What is clear is that the militant strikes and the township protests over the last few years have had the cumulative effect of blowing apart the neoliberal consensus in the Alliance. With the election of Jacob Zuma as president, many hoped that this would usher in a new period of social stability. 15 years of ANC rule have seen South Africa become the most unequal country in the world but also the protest capital of the world. In May 2008 government and police figures noted that between 1997 and 2008 there had been 8695 violent or unrest‑related crowd management incidents and 84, 487 peaceful demonstrations or peaceful crowd management incidents.

The difference this time is that whilst previous protests have focused on issues such as lack of water and housing, the recent protests have been more generalised and more violent. As protestor Mzonke Poni told reporters ‘Whenever the ANC government fails to deliver, it comes up with excuses and blames it on individuals. It’s true that its councillors lack commitment and skills, but it is the national leadership that is also to blame – and meanwhile people have to suffer. The only way the government notices us is when we express our anger and rage. Then they understand how we feel.’

This climate of rebellion creates immense opportunities and challenges for socialists to help organise the protests and help unite the struggles of the unemployed township poor and the working poor into a political alternative that can begin to challenge the dominance of the ANC.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* Peter Dwyer is a research associate at the Centre for Sociological Research at the University of Johannesburg and tutor in Economics at Ruskin College.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

West African Students Union's indelible Nkrumah

Daniel Yao Dotse

2009-10-01

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/59150

© Africa WithinThe West African Students Union (WASU) was a key organisation in the de-colonisation process of the African continent and one of the first pan-African organisations. In his historical analysis, Daniel Yao Dotse brings us closer to understanding the organisation itself and how it nurtured the growth of the great pan-Africanist and President of Ghana Kwame Nkrumah. In this week's Pambazuka News, Yao Dotse discusses the heydays of the organisation, its demise and ultimate rebirth in 2004.

With a genesis most attributable to an innocent reception of greedy tourists, evolving into enduring repressions, brutal slavery, an exodus of ancestors, the despoiling of natural resources and a cold despotism of a colonial administration, the reminiscence of the pre-independence period solicits sensations of ecstasy, reverence, despondence and relief for many worldwide.

Indeed, induced in West Africa was the urgency to breed an insurmountable species of martyrs for freedom with the audacity to reclaim the continent's dignity: Oladipo Solanke, Kwame Nkrumah, Nnamdi Azikiwe, J.B. Danquah, Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Taylor Cummings, Herbert Bankole Bright and Joseph Appiah are among the many intrepid disciples that emerged.

The survival and attainment of the task bestowed upon them demanded altruism, wit, discipline, tenacity and most importantly the need to be literate (Africans were an educated civilisation, just not literate in the white man's culture) to surmount the colonial despotism.

Many West Africans, particularly from the British colonies of the Gold Coast, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Gambia studied in the United Kingdom, enduring segregated tuition. Amongst them, a few residents of the colonies were admitted to British universities in the hope of making them British-appointed mediators (stooges) to the indigenous people in order to facilitate the despotism and the ruthless despoil of their natural resources.

By the 1920s, many West African students in London (and to a lesser extent in other large British cities) conglomerated, spawning several organisations which focused on their welfare but evolved into academies furthering African independence. These included the Nigerian Progress Union (NPU) led by Ladipo Solanke, a Nigerian law student, the Union of Students of African Descent (USAD), a Christian social organisation dominated by students from the West Indies, the National Congress of British West Africa (NCBWA), the African Progress Union and the Gold Coast Students Association.

On 7 August 1925, the need for a formidable united front inspired Herbert Bankole Bright, a Sierra Leonean doctor of the NCBWA to solicit a West African students organisation, which received unanimous approval from 21 law students. Enthusiastically, the West African Students Union (WASU) was born, honouring Solanke Ladipo as the first secretary-general, J.B. Danquah as the first president and J. E. Casely Hayford as the first patron, who subsequently used his position to promote African nationalism. WASU earned a reputation for Pan-Africanism and worked for colonial independence. This attracted many independence activists such as ‘Osagyefo’ Dr Kwame Nkrumah.

Before his arrival in London in 1945, Kwame Nkrumah studied in the United States where he formed the African Students Organization, which relentlessly promoted Pan-Africanism, earning him a reputation as an African independence advocate. On arrival he quickly joined the WASU, passionately became active in study groups on key political issues and partook in many discourses with prominent Labour politicians like Prime Minister Clement Attlee. His knack for quickly forming groups propelled him to form a subgroup within WASU known as ‘the Circle’, which was a revolutionary cell agitating for political independence.

While remaining closely connected with WASU, Nkrumah established connections with other organisations such as the Pan-African Federation and the World Federation of Trade Unions. He also became involved in the organisation of the 1945 fifth Pan-African Congress in Manchester. This brought him closer to many great leaders including W.E.B. Du Bois, future president of Kenya Jomo Kenyatta and American actor and civil rights activist Paul Robeson.

In 1946 Nkrumah left his academic studies to become secretary-general of the West African National Secretariat, which had been formed at the fifth Pan-African Congress to coordinate efforts for West African independence. That same year, Nkrumah became vice-president of the WASU where his numerous accomplishments prepared him for his political career. In 1947, as the fine product of WASU he left to join the first political party of the Gold Coast, the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC) to deliver his expertise as the general-secretary. In 1948, a UGCC-organised boycott of foreign products led to riots in Accra, and Nkrumah and several other UGCC leaders were arrested by British colonial authorities and briefly imprisoned. For being too conservative in its efforts to win independence, Nkrumah broke away from the UGCC and formed his own Convention People's Party (CPP).

After organising a series of strikes in favour of independence and nearly bringing the colony's economy to a standstill, Nkrumah was again imprisoned for subversion in 1950. However, the strikes had convinced the British authorities to establish a more democratic colonial government in a move toward independence. In 1951, after elections for the colonial Legislative Council, the CPP won most of the seats and Nkrumah, while still in prison, won the central Accra seat by a landslide. This compelled his release and he became leader of government business and subsequently the first prime minister.

Re-elected in 1954 and 1956, Nkrumah guided the Gold Coast to independence and in 1957 renamed it after an ancient West African empire, Ghana. He became the first president (1960–66) and the first black African post-colonial leader, representing a powerful voice for African nationalism. Nkrumah also offered generous assistance to other African nationalists and initially pursued a policy of nonalignment with the United States and the Soviet Union.

Nkrumah built a strong central government, unifying Ghana politically and bringing together all her resources for rapid economic development. He spearheaded ambitious and very expensive projects such as hydroelectric projects and the Tema motorway in a bid to industrialise Ghana.

Through his unwavering sovereignty from Western influence, he provoked life-threatening envy from Western powers, worsening in the mid-1960s when he courted development aid from the USSR and other communist states. He was accused of fostering a personality cult, as his supporters called him Osagyefo (‘the redeemer’ or ‘warrior'). Prior to his overthrow in 1966 while on a visit to China, he survived assassination attempts in 1962 and 1964. He did however earn an honorary appointment as co-president of Guinea whilst in Romania receiving treatment for throat cancer shortly before meeting his ultimate death in 1972.

In Nkrumah the WASU had indeed produced a true martyr for Africa, a legend of hope for independence and an inspiration to the universe. Furthermore the WASU is credited with landmark strides in the opposition to the colour bar, influence on the British political dispensation, the pursuit of campaigns against the exploitative African Village exhibition in Newcastle, the breaking of the cocoa cartel of Cadbury for the Gold Coast Farmers Union and the campaign against the Italian invasion of Ethiopia.

In consonance to the pursuit of universal suffrage, the WASU gained recognition as an anti-colonial confederacy that supported the allied powers in the Second World War, earning recognition from communist groups such as the League Against Imperialism (LAI), the Negro Welfare Association and the United Negro Improvement Association (UNIA). The WASU was also supported by Marcus Garvey, who provided its original headquarters.

The WASU established many branches in West Africa, encouraging the scholarly publication of the widely circulated WASU Journals that bridged the gap between the diaspora and the homelands.

In the late 1940s and early 1950s, WASU began to lose its prominence, deteriorating as Ghana attained independence in 1957, followed by other West African colonies. Gradually it wilted into a minor foreign students' organisation as many of its initial goals had been fulfilled, finally closing down in the 1960s.

The hitherto defunct WASU was re-formed during the National Union of Gahana Students (NUGS) week in Accra on 28 May 2004 by O'seun A.R. Odewale (Nigeria), Issaka Moussa (Niger) and Ken Kofi Abotsi (Ghana). Among other visionaries, there were nine national student unions from member states, including the Alliance Démocratique des Etudiants pour le Développement du Burkina (ADEDB) (Burkina Faso), the Student Federation of Cote d'Ivoire (FESCI), the Federation Nationale des etudiant(e)s du Benin (FNEB), the Liberia National Student Union (LINSU), the Mouvement National de Etudiants et Stagiaires du Togo (MONESTO), the National Association of the Nigerian Students (NANS), the Union des Scolaires Nigeriens (USN) and the National Union of Sierra Leone Students (NUSS). Among others, it now boasts Daniel D. Onjeh (Nigeria) as president of the union and Renate Dzodzomenyo (Ghana) as director of female affairs. Today the reformed WASU prides itself on the milestone chalked by the pioneers of this martyrs training academy, with profound appreciation of the inherited responsibility to Africa.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

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

Gani Fawehinmi: Not yet a postscript

Kola Ibrahim

2009-10-01

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/59163

cc VaxineIn this week’s Pambazuka News, Kola Ibrahim reflects on the life of the recently deceased Gani Fawehinmi, one of Nigeria’s leading human rights lawyers and activists. Gani, as he was affectionately known, had not only been an advocate for human rights in Nigeria but addressed other issues such as the capitalist system in general that led to human rights abuses indirectly, writes Ibrahim. Gani Fawehinmi must not be forgotten and seen as a role model for the Nigerian youth in its struggle against the injustices of neocolonialism, Ibrahim concludes.

The title is taken from an earlier writing by Dr. Olatunji Dare in his opinion article on Chief Gani Fawehinmi (herein called Gani). He titled the article ‘Gani: A Postscript’. This suggests a tendency to end the debate and discussion about the enigma of Gani with his burial. This explains why many so-called notable Nigerians were falling over themselves to participate in the orgy of accolade for the man before he was buried. Gani is not just another important personality that will be celebrated for just few days and then forgotten. Gani represented an idea of change, the exploration of which is vital for the future of the millions Nigerians and Africans he represented and defended during his lifetime. To the Nigerian ruling class, their apologists and followers who represented what Gani fiercely fought against, his burial was a big relief. To the fake political heirs to Gani, debate must end with a call for ‘masses to fight for their rights’. To his millions of fans and supporters, who constitute the poor working masses of Nigeria and Africa, Gani was a revolutionary working class tribune. For this reason the exploration of his life is vital for the working class activists and youth seeking to defeat capitalism, especially in this era of neoliberal madness and utter failure of Nigeria’s and indeed Africa’s backward ruling classes.

That the late Gani was enigmatic was confirmed by the torrent of tribute to his memory by millions of Nigerians. Despite the attempt of some of the media to concentrate on the 'eminent personalities' view (a term Gani himself ridiculed openly) of Gani, the reality is that it was the poor, the working people, students and youth who actually gave the honour to Gani. One thing is significant in Gani's life, which could only be found in another enigmatic personality, Fela Anikulapo Kuti: he stood against all corrupt and anti-poor governments from the beginning to the end. As Fela had hitherto sung, it was 'no agreement today, no agreement tomorrow'. For young people looking for role model and to develop a genuine and resolved mind for social change, this aspect of Gani's life is a shinning example. Young people, especially our students, should know that it is not how decently dubious you are or your commitment to the current iniquitous capitalist system that can earn you eternal honour, but commitment to the common cause for an egalitarian society where public resources will be used for common good.

It is worth stating that Gani did not venture into the human rights and pro-democracy struggle as a rich man. In fact, he started the human rights struggle far before human rights activism became a thriving industry. It was only the contradiction of the unjust capitalist arrangement that through his profession, produced a capitalist out of Gani. It is apposite to say that he would have altogether become a richer man, if he had not ventured into the life-risking human rights and pro-democracy struggles. Exceptionally, rather than being carried away by the wealth, Gani was able to resolve the contradiction to a certain extent by aligning with the poor masses in their struggles for better living. He risked his life and wealth to fight against privatisation, commercialisation (including law education commercialisation), deregulation, fuel price hikes, and low wages (even for the judges) ect. One must ask how many human right entrepreneurs would be ready to sacrifice subventions and grants (from foreign donors and governments) to these kinds of struggles not to mention the building of a political movement against capitalism?

However, it is worth stating that Gani's relevance is not only in his commitment, doggedness and sacrifice. We are witnesses to several self-acclaimed anti-military, pro-June 12 fighters, who are as anti-poor as the military rulers they falsely claimed to have resisted. The way Gani stood out was neither through his expansive and unique philanthropy. Instead, what placed Gani above his contemporaries, juniors and seniors, is his working class approach which he peaked with his involvement in the direct anti-capitalist political struggle for change. However, all attempt to hide this aspect of Gani's contribution. It is this working class character he brought to all these endeavours coupled with his political activism that will live for evermore.

As a lawyer, Gani was a contradiction. Law, as Karl Marx defined it is an instrument for the sanctification of robbery of the poor by the rich in a capitalist society. Therefore, no matter the seeming progressive character of law, it is limited in challenging the status quo. Gani, especially during public interest cases, was unable to use law to change the capitalist status quo, but was able to use law and the legal system to expose the contradictions within our backward neocolonial capitalist state: The contradiction between the profit-oriented system and its so-called avowed social and jurisprudential transparency. Until he breathed his last, he was clearly demonstrating the failure of the ruling class, which while claiming to be committed to rule of law continue to rape the fundamental aspect of the Nigerian constitution: Chapter two, which guarantees free and quality education at all levels, free medical services, national minimum living wage, old age and disabled social security, living pension (not extortive contributory pension), and nationalisation of the economy.

Gani’s exploration of the contradictory facade of the law in an unequal society, pitched him against the legal establishment and many of his colleagues, who see the law as a means of sustaining the system. This explains his battle with the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), not only over the Buhari quasi-judicial military tribunal but also during the Olisa Agbakoba-led NBA era when he combated the NBA’s uncritical romance with the Bench. On the former issue, it is imperative to comment on the one-sided critique of Gani by many pundits. For instance, Olakunle Abimbola writing in The Nation newspaper, had suggested that Gani’s acceptance to appear before Buhari’s tribunal, when NBA called for a boycott, gave the regime a lease of life, and further justified future military regimes. This argument is bizarre, as it deliberately ignored Gani’s arguments and previous history of the NBA. It should be noted that while Gani appeared before the tribunal, he played an active role in combating the Buhari regime’s autocratic laws against students, workers and journalists. He defended and supported students and workers during the struggles against the regime’s anti-poor policies. This is a far cry from the character and position of the NBA. Gani has maintained correctly, that the NBA leadership was hypocritical on its boycott position. The same NBA was mute when students and workers were attacked by previous regimes; the same NBA did not organise any boycott against the first election rigging, the first coup or the civil war. In addition to this, many NBA members did not protest against subsequent military regimes’ military tribunals, repressive actions and economic policies.

NBA’s boycott call may be right but neither consistent nor principled. Criticising NBA is not a justification for Gani’s decision. For a working class activist, opposition to the military and repressive regimes must be sacrosanct, but participation in the activities organised under the military regime is tactical. For instance, it would have been wrong not to appear before Sani Abacha’s military tribunal on Ken Saro Wiwa’s trial, because abstention initially would have easily justified Abacha’s thirst for blood. But the two are not mutually exclusive; a working class fighter must know that any participation in activities under a military regime must be linked with the struggle to topple such a regime. Gani stood against military rule and participated actively in struggle to end it. It would have however been more meaningful if Gani had mobilised the students, workers, etc to demand for an open tribunal for not just civilian politicians but also military officials since 1966. This would have de-mystified the Buhari regime itself, and further undermined its basis of existence. On the other hand, the NBA’s rejection was not based on its long-term opposition to the military regime, as it also did not mobilise people against past repressive regimes. Is today’s NBA better off?

Gani’s philanthropic exploit was also exceptional. While a philanthropist believes that through charity, wealth can be given to the poor while the system of inequality continues to produce a vicious cycle of poverty, Gani’s practice of philanthropy was oriented towards empowering the poor so that they could fight the system that made them poor. Gani’s philanthropy was meant to undermine the basis for philanthropy itself. This explains why Gani’s material contributions to people’s lives were more pronounced in pro bono legal services, especially for activists in the workers’ and student movement; education sponsorships and donations of books and materials to press houses, student organisations, civil society groups and professional groups. He even published books on national issues like such as fuel deregulation. In many ways his pioneering law report was also a philanthropic gesture. He was not just a philanthropist but a radical humanist philanthropist.

Aside from the earlier point that Gani started his activism far before ‘human rightism’ became an enterprise; Gani's definition of activism was different. Not only was he not reported to have secured financial aid from foreign donors (many of which are attached to intelligence agencies, multinational agencies and corporations etc., all of whom are contributing to the suffering of the working people in both advanced and backward countries) but, Gani's human right activism was directed at the contradiction between capitalist rule (both military and civilian) and people’s interests. He stood out due to his expansive definition of human rights activism that included opposition to neoliberal capitalist policies of privatisation, commercialisation, and deregulation, issues which most human right elements can hardly openly oppose as a result of their commitment to their local and foreign donors, who benefit from these policies.

Gani's approach to the defence of people’s rights during both the military and civilian regimes was political. He not only stood in the courts to defend students, workers and their organisations, he would go to the streets along with them to defend their democratic rights. Even during the military regime when the central demands were the ousting of the military and validation of June 12 mandate, Gani along with socialist and young activists in the National Conscience Party (NCP) combated the anti-poor, pro-imperialist and capitalist economic policies. This is significant, as many of the pro-June 12 elements were not fundamentally opposed to military rule, as events since the arrival of civilian rule have exposed.

Gani’s political method clearly stood out, avoiding the treachery of bourgeois opposition during and after the military rule. Socialists had maintained that the bourgeois anti-military oppositionists were not reliable, and that there was a need to build a genuine working class political platform that would transcend the demand for ousting of the military and validation of the June 12 mandate. Additionally it would raise socio-economic demands vis-à-vis public ownership of the mainstay of the economy (oil and gas, minerals, power and energy, steel, etc) under the democratic control of the working and poor people through their elected representatives. To concretise this, socialists raised the need to build such a platform from the grassroots, with the formation of local struggles and defence committees around workplaces that would then be linked up to the national level as a way of mobilising a comprehensive struggle against capitalism and imperialism, that led to the military rule in the first place. With such an arrangement, it would not have been possible for the bourgeois opposition to hijack the struggle and make a rotten agreement with the military ruling class under the guise of engendering transition. Gani formed the NCP during the time when the Abacha government outlawed alternative political platforms; when many so-called pro-democracy elements and groups withdrew back to their shells, ran away from the country, grumbled in their bedrooms or sold their birthright to the regime.

It will not be adequate not to explore Gani’s political activism in the civilian experiment. It has been severally alleged that Gani’s ‘one-man-ism’ led to his failure politically. This view was expressed, among others, by Mr. Sam Omatseye (editorial board chairman of The Nation newspaper) in his evaluation of Gani’s life. Aside from other ludicrous allegations that Gani believed in dictatorship, Omatseye had posited that Gani’s lack of collective action led to the failure of his political career. This is ridiculous. In the first instance, flowing from the previous analysis, it was not Gani that failed politically but those shameless politicians of today, including the so-called opposition, who struck a rotten alliance with the Abdulsalami Abubakar regime in order for them to attain political relevance. It is those journalists and politicians who kept quiet when the right of the poor people to form a political party in a civilian regime was curtailed by the Olusegun Obasanjo regime in alliance with the so-called opposition. It is those who allied with the Obasanjo regime in 2003 for their own political survival that failed; those that claim to be the opposition but continue to retrench tens of thousands of workers, victimise labour and student leaders, privatise and commercialise. Indeed, Gani had succeeded politically as opposed to the cowards that refused to even murmur their grudges.

Gani’s sustenance of the NCP showed his contempt for the Nigeria’s bourgeois opposition parties, which were (and are still) implementing anti-poor policies especially in the southwest, where over 50,000 workers were retrenched by the Alliance for Democracy (AD) government. It was the refusal of Gani to ally with political opportunists that earned him the opprobrium of the self-acclaimed progressive politicians. But to millions of poor and working class people, Gani’s political integrity and formation of a pro-poor political party is legendary. The Gani-led NCP was a huge success going by the then prevailing conditions. Although the NCP of today has lost all its genuine working class, radical political outlook as a result of the hijack of the party leadership by the rightwing elements within the party, the party’s role during Gani’s leadership was significant for the working and poor people, especially the activists looking for change from this rotten, capitalist system. It is on this note that the NCP was denied early registration by the ruling central government of Obasanjo, in alliance with the opposition party and a section of the judiciary, but miraculously the party sprang up despite not winning virtually anywhere. The party was officially allowed to exist in late 2002 and the struggle to democratise the electoral space and right of contest was won early 2003. Against these odds and despite widespread rigging and massive monetary inducement of the electoral process by the major capitalist parties, NCP made significant gains.

In Lagos State, despite financial constraints, where about N8 million (generally mobilised from members only) that were expended on the governorship and senatorial elections, as a result the party received over 150,000 votes and over 77,000 votes for governorship and (Lagos West) senatorial candidates respectively. The senatorial candidate for Lagos West, Lanre Arogundade a socialist, former student leader and unionist ran an anti-capitalist, socialist campaign. He committed to collecting a worker’s wage and donating of the rest of his salary to communities and the working class and youth movement. He would have won if the ruling party in the state would not have been rigged the election. His votes (like others) were big blow to the nefarious propaganda that you need to join corrupt capitalist political arrangement before you can gain mass support. Furthermore, Gani, despite the aforementioned obstacles, came fifth in the presidential election. Compare this to the political collaboration of the capitalist parties. In Lagos State, according to a newspaper report, the ruling party, seeing the enormous progress parties like the NCP were making, mobilised over N400 million overnight from the 20 local governments they controlled, not to print posters but to induce voters. Is this a sign of political success? It should also be recalled that against all sectional and ethnic politics being played, Gani stood for the alliance of the poor people nationally. Indeed, when Gani came to Osun State, precisely Ile-Ife in 2003 during his campaign he got his loudest ovation from the Hausa community.

It is on note that while other parties, claiming to be democratic imposed the views of the leaders on the membership, and in fact attacked the opposition when they are power, Gani-led NCP allowed open critique of the party policies and programmes, which allowed socialists and other left forces to recruit members. For instance, socialists in NCP had maintained that while NCP was not yet a mass working class party, its care programme must be linked with the ultimate struggle to change the capitalist socio-economic outlook of the country, as the programme, as beautiful as it was, could not be fully implemented without a revolutionary programme of public ownership of the economy. Politically, socialists argued that the party had to be a fighting party of the masses, leading protests against attacks on economic and democratic rights of workers, students, youth, and the unemployed, as it was doing during the military regime. With this, the party would become the official party of the working people. This critique helped NCP to develop and recruit the best of progressive minds.

On the other hand, the ruling parties were busy attacking workers and the poor. Gani was himself a victim. For instance, when he questioned Bola Tinubu’s (then Lagos State governor) academic credential in court, he was not only vilified, but thugs were mobilised to attack him. In fact, some of those claiming to come from his human right constituency openly chastised him. For instance, one of those now posing to be his heir apparent was not only a lawyer to Tinubu, but openly called Gani senile. Ironically, this same person, who sought for gubernatorial ticket under Alliance for Democracy (AD), Tinubu’s party, is not only a central leader of NCP today, but one of the chief organisers of Gani’s burial. Also, in Osun State in 2002, Gani, along with several thousands others were tear-gassed by the police mobilised by the Bisi Akande government to quell a mass rally organised to resist retrenchment and high-handedness. Bisi Akande is now the national leader of one of the major bourgeois opposition parties, Action Congress (AC).

Gani Fawehinmi as a human being made mistakes – ‘show me who never makes a mistake and I will show you a fool’ – but such were products of circumstances and lack of rounded out socialist understanding of the capitalist system. For instance, his acceptance of Buhari as a presidential candidate in 2007 was flawed, but that in it self was due to the absence of a viable political alternative. While not justifying Gani’s mistake, in reality, if there had been a genuine party of the working people, even to the level of pre-2003 and the NCP running with a person like Adams Oshiomhole, a labour leader contesting under such party as a presidential candidate, Gani might not have made such decision. Also, Gani’s relinquishment of party leadership to the rightwing elements, who were either in bourgeois parties or played no major role in the party’s struggles, led to the collapse of the party politically and ideological, with the party receiving only 580 votes in the 2007 governorship election as opposed to over 150,000 it received in 2003. Fortunately, Gani was able to recognise that the NCP he built had veered off track politically and ideologically. In late 2007, he granted an interview with Vanguard newspaper where he openly admitted that the party had been bastardised by the rightwing leadership with himself not knowing what the party stood for. In the same year, in a symposium organised by the Democratic Socialist Movement (DSM) and United Action for Democracy (UAD), he openly reiterated the same point, going further to support the need for a socialist (working class) party, canvassed by Dr Dipo Fashina. His promise to join and support such a party did not materialise as the party was yet to be formed before his demise. Gani sought to build a sane, modern capitalist society that would serve the poor, but his endeavours met with the backwardness of the neocolonial capitalist ruling class, which drew him in the anti-capitalist socialist direction.

The best honour genuine working class and pro-democracy activists and youth can give to the memory of Gani is to hasten his struggle for the toppling of the anti-poor, neo-liberal capitalist arrangement through a socialist revolution by building a genuine mass working people’s political party. There is need for a summit of genuine left-wing and pro-labour forces on building this political movement. While Gani called for labour (working masses) taking over the reign of governance, the Labour Party that should serve as a pole of attraction to millions of workers and youth has been denied mass participation by the right wing leadership of the party, who want to use it as a bargaining tool in 2011. It is not enough to ask the masses to fight for their rights; we must provide the political platform for them to do so. While Gani’s fought all his life to ensure the sustenance of platforms of resistance, the students’ national platform has been destroyed; radical workers’ movement has been crippled by the pro-bourgeois leadership, while working people have been denied an independent political voice. However, as the ruling class in Nigeria continue to attack workers, students, the poor and the youth; destroy education and deregulate the economy, the need to build on Gani’s heroic and revolutionary zeal by the working and poor people will gain echo, which will fire the movement to the overthrow of capitalism and enthronement of a just socialist society. This will be the real celebration of Gani Fawehinmi, the revolutionary tribune.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* Kola Ibrahim is a student activist from Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Nigeria.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

Enshrining rights to food, health and housing

L. Muthoni Wanyeki

2009-10-01

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/panafrican/59146

One would be forgiven for thinking that about half of Kenya’s Cabinet was in New York this past week. Ostensibly, the ministers, assistant ministers and various official hangers-on were attending the United Nations General Assembly Special Session – this year focused on climate change. In truth, they, like most of the world, were there because this was the American president’s first UNGASS – one which he used to place the Americans back on a multilateral path.

Of course, they could not all access the UN. President Obama’s presence meant that access was tighter than ever before. It seemed that all of New York’s police force was stationed around the UN. Together with a host of other security service people, replete with the black and black-windowed cars and ubiquitous ear phones. The notoriously rude New York taxi drivers were not amused – traffic was crazy and diversions abounded. All to keep those with no business at the UN. And, in some cases, even those with business at or around the UN away.

By all accounts, Barack Obama’s speech was well received by his peers and the global media. While he did not say much new on climate change, he clearly acknowledged the unilateral path followed by the previous administration had done little to endear the United States to the rest of the world. He also acknowledged that the unilateral path was one that could no longer feasibly be followed – given the ever-present imperatives for constructive engagement on a host of global security issues. Interestingly, however, his speech was far less well received by the American media. The right trotted out all of its usual paranoid nonsense about American sovereignty. And the centre was lukewarm – while criticising the right’s now apparently instinctive knee jerk reaction to anything that Obama does or says. An indication of just how parochial large swathes of the American population are – despite the fact that any American has more opportunities to access information about and from the rest of the world than the average citizen elsewhere. Life’s ironies.

Away from Obama’s near celebrity status and the global focus on his every move though, the UNGASS also saw the opening for signatures of the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. One of the key international human rights treaties, the ICESCR was pushed for largely by newly independent states emerging from colonialism. For those states, which shared the independence clarion call to ‘end poverty, illiteracy and disease’ believed that the human rights encapsulated in the other key international human rights treaty, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, would only have meaning if accompanied by real changes in citizens’ material condition and realities. The ICESCR therefore covered human rights related to food, health, housing, labour and so on.

But, recognising that states’ obligations to provide for this set of human rights would obviously be constrained by states’ financial capacities, the ICESCR allowed for ‘progressive realisation’ – meaning that the human rights it covered could be gradually realised over time. It is this allowance that lead to the widespread belief that these human rights are not ‘justiciable’ – subject to strictly legal claim and protection.

What this meant in practice, however, was that these human rights have largely been treated as add-ons – not as entitlements. In addition, with time, it became clear that violations of these human rights can be committed not just by acts of omission – the persistent failure to plan for and finance their realisation as ‘development’ or as social services. Violations of these human rights routinely happen also as acts of commission – the equally persistent failure to take them into account when deciding, for example, to evict smallholders.

But now, finally, after years of work by the global human rights community, an Optional Protocol to the ICESCR has been elaborated and was opened for signature last week. The Optional Protocol establishes two things: An individual and group complaints process, as well as an inquiry process. The latter will be particularly relevant where violations of the human rights covered by the ICESCR are believed to be both ‘gross and systematic.’ The import of the Optional Protocol is thus clear. Economic, social and cultural rights are justiciable legal entitlements. States’ obligations to promote and protect them is both re-affirmed and extended. And, most importantly, the possibility for redress through legal remedies for those individuals and groups – particularly minorities – now exists at the international level.

This is a huge normative step forward. And one that should be celebrated. While only eight states parties to the ICESCR formally signed onto the Optional Protocol last week, an additional 12 committed to doing so. And only 10 full ratifications are needed for the Optional Protocol to enter into force. Africa, as the historical driving force behind the ICESCR, should reclaim that historical position by being first in line to provide those ratifications. ‘Poverty, illiteracy and disease’ still plague us, more than 50 years following the liberation of the first African country from colonialism. That is more than a disgrace – regardless of the reasons, both internal and external, for that being the case. But there are many ways to skin the proverbial cat – and legal protection is one of them. Africa should commit, at the very least, to this.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* This article first appeared in The East African.
* L. Muthoni Wanyeki is the executive director of the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC).
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

Provincial government and police endorse attacks on Abahlali baseMjondolo

Richard Pithouse

2009-10-01

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/59125

Friends and comrades, the situation in Durban is dire. To summarise:

1. On Saturday night members of the Kennedy Road Development Committee were subject to a surprise attack by a group of about 40 armed men chanting anti Mpondo slogans. The police failed to intervene. People were killed. Later on that night all key AbM (Abahlali baseMjondolo) leaders were subject to attack. Everyone's houses (and businesses in two cases where people had shops) were destroyed. This mob (now known as 'the Zulu mob' in the settlement) has direct connections to the local ANC who had promised, two weeks ago, to turn the AbM office into an ANC office.
2. The police arrived in the morning and arrested 8 people all (as far as we know - we'll only be sure who has been arrested when they appear in court this morning) are members of the KRDC - the same people who were attacked. Among the arrested are people who were performing a dance at a public event elsewhere in the city on Saturday night. Attacks and threats continued unimpeded in the presence of the police. Calls for help were ignored.

3. Thousands have fled the settlement and some individuals, all key AbM activists, are in hiding as they have been told that they will be killed. Some Xhosa and Pondo people organised themselves against 'the Zulu mob' - this was independent of AbM or the KRDC which are mulit-ethnic organisations.There may well have been counter violence from this quarter. If so it may well be accurate to characerise it as defensive.

4. On Monday morning a huge police presence descended on the settlement as the local ANC coucillor and the provoncial MEC for Safety and Security arrived (proving that it is easy to get the police there when the state wants them there). They spoke in the hall and offered a clear endorsement of the fact that AbM has been driven out of the settlement. Some of their statements have been recorded. They began, bizarely, to claim that the KRDC had launched the attacks - this is a total fabrication which they will not be able to sustain as there were many witnesses on the scene - including some who are independent of local politics. They have also denied the ethnic character of the first attack.

5. After the politicians left so did the police. The settlement was left in the hands of groups of armed men - many not know to the residents. They trashed the AbM office and banned, on the pain of death, all AbM activists and supporters as well as media from entering the settlement.

6. The spin is now that AbM has been driven out of Kennedy Road because the KRDC implemented a curfew. The KRDC did, indeed, implement a rule that shebeens (bars) must close at 10 in the evening and that they could not continue to run 24 hours a day as before. Given the links between alchohol and violence (including violence against women) - and also shack fires (of which there were 9 in the settlement last year) this is not an unreasonable measure. But even if one takes the view that it is unacceptable to place limits on 24 hour bars and their loud music that hardly justifies killing, destroying people's homes, and ending the right of individuals and the movement to be in the settlement. In fact given that AbM has been subject to constant intelligence and police attention for 4 years its laughable that the only 'crime' that the state has now found AbM guilty of is that a sub-comittee of an elected local sub-committe in one settlement decided to set closing times on bars. If people didn't like it they could have voted new people on to the KRDC - the next election was set for November. A further irony is that the Saftey committee was in fact set up in alliance with supportive local cops during the thaw in the relations with the state that began in late 2007, picked up some momentum last year and has now been decisively ended. Local cops attended its launch and many of its meetings. There is nothing unusual about this. The state actively asks communities to set up these sorts of structures to liase with the police. And doing so had meant that, for the first time, shack dwellers could, via relations with supportive local police officers actually get help with all kinds of things from the police.

The attached statement from the provincial government and the police speaks for itself. It makes no pretence at political neutrality. Suddenly a closing time on a bar is a restriction of a basic democratic right while violently hounding people and an organisation (one elected to represent the residents of the settlement) out of a settlement is 'liberation'. We are in a situation of grave crisis. This is not just about Kennedy Road or Abahlali baseMjondolo. It is about democracy in South Africa.

We are all rushing between all kinds of pressures. More careful and detailed information will come when it can. There are still people sleeping on the streets, people in hiding, people in prison and so on. Please forgive any omissions or errors in this rushed note.

We need clear statements and actions of support that are clear about the political character of what has happened and what is happening.

AbM will issue a detailed and full statement when that's possible. In some respects we still don't full information - e.g. about who is in prison, exactly how many people have died and who they all were.

Richard

In solidarity with Abahlali leaders at Durban's Kennedy Road

Mzonke Poni

2009-10-01

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/59126

These kinds of attacks to our comrades are completely unacceptable, we know this is not the first time for our comrades to be attacked, as much as previously they were attacked by group of unknown people but the current attacks at Kennedy road clarifies that the ANC had been behind these attacks with a view to push our strong comrades out of mobilized communities so that they can reclaim the leadership of those communities.
This is clear that people who attacked me last year September 2008 and took my valuable belongings including my laptop which I was using to store the movements confidential information were also sent by the ANC to attack me.

Sbu Zikode the president of Abahlali DBN was also attacked last year by unknown people as a results of that at last year’s annual general meeting of ABM DBN he declined the nomination as the president of the movement for the 4th time and he was forced to the position by people of Kennedy because of his leadership style and democratic practices which the ANC government failed to do and instead of the ANC to learn from the movement on how to lead the poor they are doing all of their best to ensure that they kill the movement whatever they can.

I salute comrade Sbu ZIkode and Lindela for their courage in leading the poor, these two comrades after they were attacked last year they refused to leave the settlement, even if their attackers were passing a strong message of future attacks if they don’t leave the settlement.

And I condemned the current incident at Kennedy Road by ANC members to demolish the structures of these two comrades, these kind of behavior is completely unacceptable and this means that our comrades does not have a right to freedom of expression and affiliation.

I also condemn the failure from the police to act immediately, because if they had handled the attack of the ABM youth league camp seriously they would have been able to prevent the situation and arrest the culprits at scene.

I call upon to arrogant ANC members to allow people of Kennedy their right to choose freely their political affiliation without a fear of intimidation or being attacked or killed by the ANC.

The ANC must not think that they will win our settlement by intimidating the strong leaders of our movement; we will make sure that the movement does not collapse and it continues to grow throughout the country.

Qina Qabane, Sbu Zikode and Lindela, I know to lose your houses guys its not a small thing but let us be glad that you are still alive, as you have survived bullets early Sunday 27 September 2009.

Mzonke Poni
Chairperson of Abahlali Western Cape

Slum Dwellers International on the Kennedy Road attacks

2009-10-01

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/59127

Slum Dwellers International (SDI) echoes the outrage that has been widely expressed in response to the violent attacks perpetrated against AbM in Kennedy Road over the weekend. These attacks come as no surprise. They mirror similar acts of violence that are regularly perpetrated against slum dwellers throughout the world. Only last month shack dwellers in Old Fadama, Accra, Ghana, also had to deal with an outward manifestation of ethnic violence, which was in fact an attack launched by vested political and property interests against organized communities of the urban poor. Almost two years ago SDI members were seriously affected by the violence against the urban poor that ripped through Kenya's informal settlements. At this very moment SDI linked groups in Gauteng and Cape Town face similar threats. SDI groups in Zimbabwe had to deal with devastating evictions in 2005. The list goes on and on.
There is no doubt that the impetus behind these consistent acts of brutality against citizens living in slums is almost always the same - a cocktail of vested political and economic interests. The flip side of the coin is that every time the urban poor are able to express and insert themselves incisively they unmask the contradictions that underlie the urbanization of poverty - including the appalling violence of the police and vigilantes that is generally tolerated by the media, the state and the market.

The challenge for the urban poor is to come together at scale and to begin to "box clever". The leaders of Kennedy Road have shown extraordinary courage - just like leaders of Old Fadama, Fort Harcourt and Phonm Penh. The human rights fraternity - both within South Africa and beyond - have rallied to their cause, notwithstanding the fact that they make strident legal and moral appeals against something that they are the first to recognize as being blatantly illegal and against individuals, institutions and social classes that they know only too well have no respect for the rule of law. It is obvious that the crude and glaring illegality from which shack dwellers suffer in most countries - including South Africa - has its roots in a socioeconomic contradiction that is not within the scope of existing laws - national or international - to change in any meaningful way. No future judicial law, no constitutional right, will be usable by the poor to get rid of this contradiction in the face of the more fundamental structural economic inequalities of our global society.

What the Slum Dwellers of Kennedy Road and Manenberg, Dharavi and Byculla, Kibera and Huruma are (only sometimes) daring to demand is the right to really live as citizens in the cities in which they reside, and in the final analysis this requires a lot more than the understandable and laudable but inadequate glorification of leaders and comrades and the naming and shaming of enemies. It requires using the very moral authority that comes from being victims of violence to move beyond this struggle for the redress of wrongs and the winning of an abstract moral high ground. It requires the creation of slum dweller agglomerations at the community level, the city level, the national level and the international level - and then it requires the building of alliances between these agglomerations and professionals who align with their struggles. These pro-poor platforms then need to identify, develop and implement tangible solutions that demonstrate sustainable alternatives to the short term violence and long term havoc that is generated by the kind of brutal responses displayed at Kennedy Road.

SDI notes Sbu Zikode's call for solidarity and re-affirms its commitment to bottom-up practical action and to the development of a strong pro-poor platform in the country. SDI's experience, in every single country where it has a presence, may have led it to dismiss the world view that regards the state and civil society as binary opposites. Indeed SDI explicitly acknowledges the complex and relational nature of the state and the need not only to contest it but also to engage it as a practical way in which to transform the focus of its interventions. A willingness to engage the State does not mean that SDI condones its acts of violence - overt or institutional. It implies, however, that responses to state violence may well incorporate, but need to move beyond condemnation, counter-villification and resistance.

SDI and AbM share the same point of departure. They both recognise that the power of those who control the world’s resources depends on the systematic disempowerment of the global poor. This shared point of departure should be the basis for a broad-based alliance. This is the root of a real solidarity. Differences in strategies - between resistance and negotiating deals - create a healthy diversity within such an alliance.

Statement on the Kennedy Road attacks and the forced closure of the Claire Estate Drop-In Centre

Children of South Africa (CHOSA)

2009-10-01

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/59124

The Children of South Africa (CHOSA), an international non-governmental organisation based in the United States and South Africa, would like to express its deep concern regarding the situation in Kennedy Road.
CHOSA's mission is to identify and support community based organizations (CBOs) that reach out and take care of orphans and other vulnerable children in South Africa.

One of the organisations we are currently working with and supporting is the Claire Estate Drop-In Centre (CEDIC) whose offices are in the Kennedy Road informal settlement in Durban, South Africa. As a community-based organisation, the Drop-In Centre is the only organisation in the area providing much needed and essential services to orphaned and other vulnerable children.

However, since Saturday 26 September 2009, the CEDIC has been forced to close after a mob of about 40 people from a nearby settlement attacked a local youth committee meeting. Firsthand accounts from the community indicate that the offices were ransacked on Monday 28 September by the mob which wielded guns, knives and spears. A number of community members have indicated that their homes have also been demolished by the mob and that some of their family members are still missing or arrested and that at least four residents have been found dead.

Just as worrying to us is the assertion from residents that the mob was supported and coordinated by the local branch of the African National Congress and are aimed at members of the Abahlali baseMjondolo (AbM) movement with much of the violence being perpetrated in full view of members of the Sydenham SAPS who have done nothing to stop it. These allegations are backed up by statements we have read from social workers, professors, church organisations and NGOs associated on different levels with members of the community.

The attacks on Kennedy Road are a significant violation of people rights including the rights of the children in the settlement. We are profoundly concerned with the lives of the children of Kennedy Road and we request that they be given a platform to voice their concerns. Since Saturday, over 100 children who are fed by the CEDIC have been going hungry and hundreds have not attended school. The significant number of child-headed households that the CEDIC assists have been left without much needed support.

The Children of South Africa therefore calls for an immediate secession of violence in the community, the re-opening of the Clare Estate Drop-in Centre and the safe return of all staff members. We call for Kennedy Road and the CEDIC to be run by the residents themselves where the community's voice will be heard and where decisions are made democratically. We also call for an immediate transparent and independent investigation into the causes of the violence including the involvement of local political parties and the failure of the Sydenham Police to prevent the attacks in the settlement. Finally, CHOSA demands that all those involved in perpetrating attacks be arrested and prosecuted.

Sincerely,

Jared Sacks
Executive Director of the Children of South Africa (CHOSA)

Petition to AU to Relocate African Commission

2009-10-01

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/59148

A group non-governmental organizations (NGOs) involved in the work of the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights have written to The Commission of the African Union chariperson, Jean Ping, to request the African Union to remove the Headquarters of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights from the Gambia. The basis for this request is the personally communicated threat by the President of The Gambia, Col. A.J.J Jammeh (Rtd), to kill all human rights defenders who enter The Gambia.
H.E. Jean Ping

Chairperson, Commission of the African Union

Addis , Ababa, Ethiopia

Dear Chairperson Ping,

We the Undersigned non-governmental organizations (NGOs) involved in the work of the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights respectfully write to request the African Union to remove the Headquarters of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights from the Gambia. The basis for this request is the personally communicated threat by the President of The Gambia, Col. A.J.J Jammeh (Rtd), to kill all human rights defenders who enter The Gambia. We reproduce below the text of the threat by President Jammeh:

I will kill anyone, who wants to destabilize this country. If you think that you can collaborate with so called human rights defenders, and get away with it, you must be living in a dream world. I will kill you, and nothing will come out of it. We are not going to condone people posing as human rights defenders to the detriment of the country. If you are affiliated with any human rights group, be rest assured that your security and personal safety would not be guaranteed by my Government. We are ready to kill saboteurs.” (Italics supplied)

This declaration by President Jammeh leads us to fear for the safety, security, and lives of ourselves and our colleagues who have to work with the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, whose headquarters is in Banjul, The Gambia.

Quite apart from violating the right to life in Article 4 of the African charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, the assurance by President Jammeh that his Government will not guarantee the security and personal safety of human rights defenders visiting the country clearly and unilaterally repudiates the basic obligation assumed by The Gambia in the Headquarters Protocol between the African Union and the State of The Gambia to guarantee the safety and security of the Members and personnel of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights as well as all users of the Commission.

In the circumstances, the location of the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights in Banjul can no longer be justified. Until this petition is credibly addressed, we also request that the Commission should stop holding any Sessions in Banjul or in any other location in The Gambia.

In the interim, the Undersigned NGOs hereby announce that they will forthwith cease any further participation Sessions or activities of the Commission in The Gambia.

Yours Faithfully

Namibia: ECN independence must be guaranteed at all times

National Society for Human Rights (NSHR)

2009-10-01

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/59156

Namibia’s National Society for Human Rights (NSHR) joins the Namibian Chapter of the Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA-Namibia) by registering its strongest reputation of the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) for the reported exclusion of certain media houses and, by extension, for withholding voter vital information from a large number of potential voters. Such exclusion also amounts to widespread disenfranchisement of potential voters.

In a Media Statement issued on September 13 2009 MISA-Namibia listed at least five additional media houses that were excluded by ECN for disseminating essential information about the supplementary voter registration process scheduled to start tomorrow, September 17 2009.

Last week ECN also excluded the country’s largest independent daily, The Namibian, from the dissemination of the information on the supplementary voter registration process. ECN was reportedly complying with a 2000 blatantly unconstitutional Cabinet resolution banning The Namibian because of inter alia its alleged unpatriotic and or anti-Government reporting.

NSHR advises ECN that unless immediately corrected, the exclusion of the said media houses has the potential of strongly influencing the outcome of the electoral process and, as such, it must be viewed as a very serious violation to warrant the current electoral process to be perceived as neither free and fair nor credible.

In addition, the exclusion of certain media houses is not only a clear infraction of the principle of fairness for all the contestants in the electoral process, but also a blatant contravention of the peremptory principle of ECN impartiality, neutrality and objectivity as contemplated under section 4 (1) of the Electoral Act 1992 (Act 24 of 1992) as amended.

“Moreover, it would be ludicrous for anyone at ECN to believe or even assume that the constitutional and legal requirements of ECN impartiality, neutrality and objectivity is less stringent than the constitutional doctrine of separation of powers and checks and balances as well as institutional and operational independence of State organs as contemplated under paragraph 3 of the Preamble to the Namibian Constitution governing other state organs, such as the National Assembly (Article 45), the Judiciary (Articles 12 and 78), the Judicial Service Commission (Articles 85(2) and 85(3)), the Office of the Prosecutor General (Article 88(1)) and the Office of the Ombudsman (Articles 89(2) and 89(3))”, said NSHR executive director Phil ya Nangoloh this morning.

The said ECN’s exclusion of certain organs of civil society also flies straight in the face of the non-derogable Constitutional principles of inclusiveness, equality and non-discrimination as contemplated under Paragraph 5(5) of the Preamble to the Namibian Constitution and under Articles 1(1), 10, 11(3), 12(1)(d), 12(1)(e), 16(1), 17(1), 20(1) and 21(1) of the same Constitution.

Meanwhile, NSHR is also deeply concerned about media and other reports that the ruling Swapo Party has received substantial in-kind and or huge financial contributions from foreign Chinese and Pakistani entities for the purpose of the current electoral process. Such contributions might amount to bribery, undue influences, slush and or corrupt funding because the ruling Swapo Party is viewed as the facilitator of Chinese and Pakistani investments in the country.

“This state of affairs, seen together with the fact that, President Lucas Pohamba and his Cabinet Ministers extensively [ab]use State facilities and other logistics, such as aircraft and motor vehicles for their party-political campaigns. This, additional to the favourable media coverage by the State-funded New Era newspaper and local NBC TV and Radio, signifies that the playing field is not all level”, noted ya Nangoloh.

In case of additional comment, please call Dorkas Phillemon or Phil ya Nangoloh at Tel: 061 236 183 or 061 253 447 (office hours) or Cell: +264 811 299 886 (Phil) or E-mail: nshr@nshr.org.na or visit: www.nshr.org.na

6th Pan African Reading for All Conference: Resolutions and recommendations

Judith Baker

2009-10-01

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/59144

The Pan African Reading for All Conference, sponsored by the International Development Committee for Africa, the leadership of African councils of the International Reading Association, took at the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania in August. The ideas of presenters were distilled into a set of resolutions and recommendations, which will be presented to bodies concerned with improving education in Africa.
Every two years since 1999, there has been a Pan African Reading for All Conference, sponsored by the International Development Committee for Africa, the leadership of African councils of the International Reading Association. The conference began in part as a response to the Millennium Goal that every child in the world have a free elementary education by the year 2015, a goal which, sadly, will not be met in most of Africa.

The 6th Pan African was held at the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania from August 10-14, 2009, its tenth anniversary year.

The Pan African may be the only professional conference for literacy people in Africa. It is independent of government and run by educators in their professional capacities.

This conference is not yet well- known, but this year it attracted over 500 delegates from 34 countries and was very successful both in attendance and in quality of research and experience presented in its over 200 sessions.

Its keynote speaker was Ngugi wa Thiong'o, a hero of African literature, as well as a courageous dissident who has consistently worked for democracy at great personal and family risk. Ngugi’s stunning two-part address to the plenary can be found in its entirety at http://6thpanafricanrfa.blogspot.com In it, he speaks about what language is beyond its words, and the deep effects of ‘translation’ in his own life.

The 7th Pan African will be held in Botswana in 2011. People interested can add their names to the conference announcement and information group by contacting Judith Baker.

The conference included over 200 presentations of many sorts, and rapporteurs attended them all. A detailed report and proceedings will be published. The ideas of presenters were distilled into the following set of Resolutions and Recommendations, which will be presented to many bodies concerned with improving education in Africa.

6TH PAN AFRICAN READING FOR ALL CONFERENCE: RESOLUTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

ON READING MATERIALS FOR CHILDREN AND ADULTS

RESOLUTION 1.1
All stakeholders have noted with alarm the lack of both children’s and adult reading materials

RECOMMENDATIONS
- All partners in the book sector (publishers, writers, governments, booksellers, readers) should cooperate in making sure that children’s and adult books are made available to learners.
- Given the scarcity of books for children in many schools, there is need for teachers in collaboration with students to make their own reading materials.

RESOLUTION 1.2
Children’s books that are available are often written from the writers’ point of view, instead of the child’s, thus making the book hard to relate to.

RECOMMENDATION
- Writers of children’s books should focus on issues and themes that are relevant to children’s interests and contexts.

ON TEACHING LITERACY IN SCHOOLS

RESOLUTION 2.1
It has been noted that the habit of reading and writing in schools has declined.

RECOMMENDATIONS
- Governments and stakeholders should formulate national reading and writing policies and guidelines for primary education.
- Every primary school should formulate its own targets, teaching arrangements and regular assessments in regard to reading and writing.
- In order to enhance the reading habit, teachers should promote what is called the ‘healthy book cycle’, i.e, creating books, reading books and sharing books.
- Teachers should be trained in the current methods of teaching the skills of reading and writing.
- Teachers should use proper techniques in teaching reading and writing, bringing into play student-centered approaches.
- Literacy lessons should be linked to every day lives of learners.

- Schools and parents should work together to create a print-rich environment that beckons children to be inquisitive.
- It is important to ensure that reading and writing remain the central preoccupation and goal for all stakeholders.
- Socio-economic variables play a significant role in literacy learning and should be addressed when teaching literacy in schools.

ON LITERACY AND EDUCATION FOR THE VISUALLY IMPAIRED

RESOLUTION 3.1
In matters of literacy, the problems facing the visually-impaired have not been given sufficient attention.

RECOMMENDATIONS
- Access to reading materials in both Braille and normal orthography needs to be enhanced.
- More teachers for visually-impaired should be impaired.
- The World Union for the Blind should be made internationally known and supported for the steps it takes towards literacy for the visually-impaired.

ON MOTHER-TONGUE LITERACY AND MULTILINGUALISM

RESOLUTION 4.1
It is noted with concern that African countries have not started implementing the Harare declaration of 1997 on the use of African languages in education and the Asmara declaration of 2000 as regards the use of African languages in the writing of African literatures.

RECOMMENDATIONS
- African countries governments should start implementing the Harare declaration of 1997 on the use of African languages in education and the Asmara declaration of 2000 as regards the use of African languages in the writing of African literatures.
- Positive reinforcement of mother-tongue language use should be encouraged in schools and supported by governments through policy and action.
- For proper teaching of mother-tongues to students, governments should support fully the training of mother-tongue teachers.

RESOLUTION 4.2
Research has shown that it is easier to become multilingual when beginning with literacy in one’s mother-tongue.

RECOMMENDATIONS
- All stakeholders should work towards promoting and strengthening the teaching and learning of African mother-tongues.
- Schools should encourage the promotion of mother-tongue languages through use of traditional story-tellers.

RESOLUTION 4.3
It has been noted that there is a weak link among book sector stakeholders as far as literacy promotion in African mother-tongues is concerned.

RECOMMENDATIONS
- There is need for forging a strong partnership among authors, publishers, booksellers, government and readers.
- The book sector partnership should hold regular reading and writing competitions in African mother-tongues in order to promote them.

RESOLUTION 4.4
Most children of the educated families today in African communities do not learn their mother-tongues.

RECOMMENDATIONS
- All stakeholders should create opportunities and conditions for our children to learn their mother-tongues.

ON ADULT LITERACY

RESOLUTION 5.1
Adult literacy is an important issue as many adults worldwide lack reading and writing skills.

RECOMMENDATIONS
- Governments should plan and implement adult literacy programs that would eliminate illiteracy.
- There is need tp train skilled teachers for adult education in methodologies specifically designed for adults.
- Governments and other stakeholders should establish permanent educational facilities which would make adult learning ‘life-long’, functional and sustainable.

ON LIBRARIES AND LITERACY

RESOLUTION 6.1
It is noted with concern that there is a visible lack of reading centres, especially in rural areas.

RECOMMENDATIONS
- Governments and stakeholders should plan and implement the establishment of reading centers and libraries down to the grassroots and, where possible, mobile libraries should be put in place.
- Governments should seriously consider mainstreaming the literacy successes of local non-governmental organizations such as that of CBP (Tanzania) and LETTER.

ON LITERACY AND CULTURAL INTEGRATION

RESOLUTION 7.1
Africa is endowed with a rich repertoire of literatures that has not been translated into different African languages.

RECOMMENDATION
- Good African stories should be translated in as many African mother-tongues as possible in order to share cross-cultural and philosophical experiences, which may be common or unique.

ON PRESERVATION OF MOTHER-TONGUES

RESOLUTION 8.1
Most African languages are on the verge of disappearing owing to their being marginalized in the current globalized socio-linguistic, socio-economic and literary setting.

RECOMMENDATIONS
- In this ICT age, there is strong need to plan and implement the localization of computer programs into the marginalized languages as a way of promoting and preserving them.
- Broadcast media should also be actively engaged in promoting literacy.

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

Black is Back! Nov. 7 Anti-war March in Washington, D.C

2009-10-01

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/59134

A newly-formed Black coalition has announced a rally and march on the White House to take place November 7, 2009 beginning in Washington, D.C.’s historic Malcolm X Park. The Rally and March are to protest the expanding U.S. wars and other policy initiatives that unfairly target African and other oppressed people around the world. Known as the Black is Back Coalition for Social Justice, Peace and Reparations, the coalition formed on September 12, 2009 during a meeting in Washington, D.C. of more than fifteen activists from various Black organizations, institutions and communities.
November 7th anti-war rally to challenge Obama regime's wars on Africans and oppressed peoples around the world

Who: The Black is Back Coalition for Social Justice, Peace and Reparations
What: Rally and March
When: Saturday, November 7, 2009, 10am-6pm
Where: Malcolm X Park, Washington, D.C.

Contacts:
Omali Yeshitela 727.821.6621
Chioma Oruh 202.320.5542 info@blackisbackcoalition.org
Rosa Clemente 646.721.7441 knowthyself@mac.com
Jared Ball 202.997.0267 freemixradio@voxunion.com
Website: blackisbackcoalition.org

Washington, D.C. – A newly-formed Black coalition has announced a rally and march on the White House to take place November 7, 2009 beginning in Washington, D.C.’s historic Malcolm X Park. The Rally and March are to protest the expanding U.S. wars and other policy initiatives that unfairly target African and other oppressed people around the world. Known as the Black is Back Coalition for Social Justice, Peace and Reparations, the coalition formed on September 12, 2009 during a meeting in Washington, D.C. of more than fifteen activists from various Black organizations, institutions and communities.

The Black is Back Coalition aims to draw upon the support of many of the leading anti-imperialist organizations, journalists, organizers, artists and scholars of the African world. In this age of Obama, the rally and march on November 7, 2009 aim to bring back the tradition of resistance historically associated with Black communities around the world. Comprised of seasoned veterans of Black political struggle, including members of the African People's Socialist Party, the NAACP, MOVE, the Green Party, Black Agenda Report and many other grassroots organizations and efforts, this coalition is perfectly situated to do just that.

As the coalition's Call to Action states, "Many well-meaning people in this country and around the world are afraid to take more progressive political positions for fear of being seen as anti-Black…We need to remind people of the absolute lack of 'progress' since new faces assumed leadership of this nation. Many of the leading concerns of Black people, Latinos and working people in this country remain insufficiently addressed. Black and Brown people continue to suffer the brunt of un/under-employment and predatory loan scandal crises. Military spending under Obama has increased as have the warfare this nation continues to export to Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Venezuela and Colombia. Mass incarceration, police brutality and political imprisonment remain rampant and the most negatively impacted by the levee breech in post-Katrina New Orleans continue to be without homes, jobs or health care assistance. And to that point, these are precisely the communities who nationally will be the most negatively affected by yet another myth of health care 'reform.'"

The political paralysis now being experienced by anti-war and other progressive movements stems from the lack of a Black-led, anti-imperial movement that would off-set the traps set by Obama’s so-called “post-racial” politics that facilitate the same oppressive militarist agenda well known during the Bush regime. Black is Back is not simply a slogan for the African Diaspora but for all progressive struggles which have historically benefited from Black-led movements. On November 7, 2009 beginning promptly at 10am, all are welcome to participate in the rally and march which will include many speakers and performers of the coalition. They will stand and demonstrate in political solidarity, announcing the return to leadership of the world's most reliably anti-war and pro-social justice communities. As the coalition says, "To free our people’s hopes and dreams from oblivion, we need a coalition dedicated to the proposition that Black is Back!”


Black is Back Steering Committee:
Omali Yeshitela, APSP - Chair
Ayesha Fleary, AAPDEP - Secretary
Yaa Asantewq Ohema, NCOBRA – Fundraiser
Jared Ball, Vox Union Media – Media Coordinator
Rosa Clemente, Green Party – Program Coordinator
Efia Nwangaza, Malcolm X Center Self Determination – Recruitment Coordinator
Chioma Oruh, ASI North America – Outreach Coordinator
Ousainou Mbenga – APSP – Logistics Coordinator
Rich Piedrahita – APSP – Graphic Designer/Website Manager
Riley Hamilton – Uhuru Radio – Website Manager

Other Members of the Black is Back Coalition:
Glen Ford, Black Agenda Report
Cynthia McKinney, Green Party
Pam Africa, Free Mumia Campaign
Chimurenga Waller, InPDUM
Stic Man, Dead Prez
M-1, Dead Prez
Abdul Alim Musa, Masjed al-Islam
Omowale Kefing, The Burning Spear newspaper
Ona Zene Yeshitela, APSP
Curtis Gatewood, NAACP in North Carolina
Netfa Freeman, SALSA
Naji Mujahid, BAPO
Ron Reynolds, KPFT Pacifica Houston
Shannon McCollum, Filmmaker
Omowale Adewale, G.A.ME
Jahahara Amen-RA Alkebulan-Ma'at, FONAM
Luwezi Kinshasa, ASI
Raheal Rayza, University of Toronto Outreach Coordinator
Chakanda Gondwe, Toronto Community Outreach Coordinator
Norman Richmond, Toronto Community Organizer
Kali Akuno, MXGM
Sister Heart Olevette, DC Outreach Organizer
Remy Johnson, Syracuse University Outreach Coordinator
Priest Hemnetcher, Howard University Outreach Coordinator
Kobina Bantushango, St. Petersburg Outreach Coordinator
Oronde Takuma, New York City Outreach Coordinator
Jamye Wooten, Kinectics of Tubman City (Baltimore)

Death of Ethiopian refugee baby in Cairo's Al-Qanatar prison

Lesley Hunt

2009-10-01

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/59160

Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s Re-membering Africa (2009)

Issa Shivji

2009-10-01

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/books/59162

European renaissance marked the beginning of the dis-membering of Africa, her body and soul were torn apart as her resources were raped and her beauty disfigured. Vasco da Gama rounded the Cape of Good Hope in 1498 – ‘good hope’ for the invaders and ‘bad omen’ for the invaded. In early 1500s the great city states of Kilwa, Mombasa and Malindi, which were the centres of blossoming Swahili civilization, were ruthlessly cannoned. European civilization came to Africa, (to use Marx’s phrase in relation to capital), ‘dripping from head to foot, from every pore, with blood and dirt’. Four centuries of slave trade dis-membered mother Africa into the continent and diaspora, as a century of colonialism dis-membered it into, what Mwalimu called, vinchi – statelets.

The memories of the great pre-Vasco da Gama epoch – the Indian Ocean civilization of the Eastern Coast and the great learning of the West Coast centred around Timbuktu – were submerged in the doctored and orchestrated histories of obscene barbarity called European civilisation. Formal independence of the so-called African states was a great, potentially revolutionary moment in the re-membering of the continent and recovery of African memory but the foetus was spiritually strangled at its birth. It carried the ugly birthmarks of territorial nationalism as the umbilical cord with its progenitor, Pan-Africanism, was severed.

The dis-membering of Africa continues to this day, its most current reincarnation being neoliberalism. I shall not go through the seemingly new forms of dis-membering Africa. Sufficient to quote this graphic posting by a young African blogger - Chambi Chachage – in UDADISI: Rethinking in Action:

As we re-act to Barrick Gold's Toxic Sludge into River Tigithe in North Mara, Tanzania lets pro-act-ively inform ourselves about what Barrick Gold is (un)doing in other countries that are also at the receiving end of Speculative Capital masquerading as Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) by reading Barrick's Dirty Secrets and heeding the call for support from Rights Action and the call for protest from ProtestBarrick in the light of this famous statement in Karl Marx's Das Kapital 1867 Part VIII Volume 1 Chapter 31: ‘If money, according to Augier, “comes into the world with a congenital blood-stain on one cheek”, capital comes dripping from head to foot, from every pore, with blood and dirt!’ [posted on May 29, 2009]

In Re-membering Africa, Ngugi captures an important intellectual moment in the long struggle of African people to re-claim and recover our collective memory. As Mwalimu said, the history of Africa has not simply been one of deprivation, dispossession and exploitation but also one of resistance and struggle. At the centre of this struggle has been the quest for re-membering Africa, so brutally dis-membered by the ‘vultures of imperialism’. Kinjikitile united Wangoni from the south to Wazaramo on the Coast against German invasion and occupation. It was an act of re-membering. Ali Ponda founded the African Association which was named Chama cha Umoja wa Watu wa Afrika. In the language reminiscent of nineteenth century founders of Pan-Africanism, of which he did not know, Ali Ponda said:

The African Association is a union of the black people of Africa. Any black man of Africa can be a member of this association…for this association is not concerned with any one tribe, or with wealth or indeed with poverty. This association is for men of any religion and any tribe and any condition, it is for the black people of Africa. Do not accuse us of belonging to this or that religion, this is or that tribe, this or that condition. We have one father and one mother. And that is indeed AFRICA… [quoted in Iliffe, 1979:414]

When the young Chambi Chachage calls upon his fellows to proactively protest against the poisoning of our people by the modern-day vultures of imperialism, the multinationals, he is re-membering Afrika.

Ngugi goes further. He asks: Can you really re-member Afrika in the images, symbols and languages of the master? Can you really dream the dreams of liberation in the language of the oppressors? Just as you cannot bring down the master’s house using the master’s weapon, so you cannot re-member Africa using the master’s language. Yes, indeed, you can even better the language of the master, sing songs of liberation in the language of the master, condemn and protest against the master in his language. Yes, indeed, you can do all that and do it so beautifully that the master awards you Pulitzer and Nobel Prizes. Your great contribution, though, remains a contribution to enrich English, French, or Portuguese literature and language. And you remain rooted in the Europhile elite. You may even represent the masses, and talk to the master for the masses, in his language, but you cannot be one of the masses because you do not speak, write, think and dream in the people’s language.

Re-membering Africa has two powerful messages. You cannot re-member Africa outside the vision of Pan-Africanism, the vision to re-member Africa across states, races, tribes, religion and cultures. The time for aggressive Pan-Africanism has come. Let it not go, says Ngugi wa Thiongo. ‘Seize the hour. Seize the time.’ This message echoes the great Julius Nyerere Intellectual Festival Week on Reflections on Pan-Africanism that we held on this Campus last April. You will be happy to know, brother Ngugi, that one of the outcomes of that Week was to make Pan-Africanism a mandatory course at this University. The process to do so has begun.

The second message is that you cannot re-member Africa, you cannot reclaim and recover African memory, outside your own languages. That is the message, hopefully, that will go out of this Pan-Africanist gathering coming on the heel of the April Festival.

Ewe ndugu Ngugi,
Wa Thiongo.
Mwana wa Baba En’doinyo Ormoruak
Na Mama Mto Kiyiira.

Mjukuu wa Kinjikitile
Mrithi wa Ali Ponda.
Afrika ni Moja,
Vinchi ni feki.

E’nyi Waafrika,
Eti wajidai Uafrika!
Ndoto zenu Kireno,
Lugha yenu Kimarekani.

Walimu wenu wafadhili,
Eti wahisani.
Viongozi wenu mafisadi,
Eti wa-utandawazi.

Amkeni, Waafrika.
Uafrika ni Umajumui wa Afrika.
Oteni ndoto, Kizaramo,
Fikra, Kiswahil; mawazo Kigikuyu.

Fuateni nasaha za Sheikh Ali bin Ponda:
‘Baba ni Afrika, Mama ni Africa’.
Silaha ni U-africa,
Askari ni AfrikaMoja.

Nkosi sikelele Afrika.
Mungu ibariki Afrika.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* Re-membering Africa by Ngugi wa Thiong’o is a local edition of Something Torn and New: An African Renaissance, published by Basic Civitas Books (ISBN: 9780465009466).
* Issa Shivji is the Mwalimu Nyerere Professor of Pan-African Studies at the University of Dar es Salaam.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

Review of Issa G. Shivji's 'Pan-Africanism or Pragmatism?'

Mohamed Bakari

2009-10-01

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/books/59117

Issa G. Shivji’s book offers a thrilling account of the rift between the ideals of Pan-Africanism and the realities of politics as practised by the first generation of African nationalist leaders who posed as staunch Pan-Africanists. This is the first study on the union from a Pan-Africanist perspective. In his introduction, the author correctly argues that the creation of the union was much more inspired by pragmatism and Cold War politics than by the spirit of Pan-Africanism.

The author is a renowned legal scholar and a prolific writer who has written extensively on the union theme. Needless to say, this book is a product of many years of research and reflection. Currently, the author occupies the newly established Mwalimu Julius Nyerere Chair in Pan-African Studies, based at the University of Dar es Salaam. Although trained in law, Shivji typically adopts an interdisciplinary approach in his analysis, and this book is no exception. Much of this work has apparently been written from a political science rather than a legal perspective. This interdisciplinary approach, in my view, has been very effective in providing a sound context for the subsequent legal interpretation and analysis of the union.

The organisation of the book allows the reader to easily follow the narrative and comprehend both the political events and legal controversies around the union. The book is divided into six chapters, excluding the introduction and conclusion, although the latter is long enough to constitute a separate chapter. The first chapter talks about race, class and politics on the eve of the revolution. The book progresses through the revolution, the union, Julius Nyerere’s interim constitution and Abeid Karume’s extra-constitutionality, constitutional opening and closure leading to Aboud Jumbe’s downfall and finally a conclusion presenting clear lessons for Pan-Africanism. The book contains useful appendices including the Articles of Union, the Ratification Law by Tanganyika Parliament and Ratification Law purportedly passed by the Zanzibar Legislature. It also includes a detailed bibliography with both primary and secondary sources.

The book is both interesting and instructive. The author has managed to raise several key issues relating to the revolution and the union, and their resultant political and legal problems. Using a case-study approach, the author critically assesses the commitment to Pan-Africanism among nationalist leaders, and more specifically, Julius Nyerere.

The issues raised in the book are of great relevance today. The Zanzibar conflict still remains unresolved, with the political legitimacy and legality of the union being still common themes in the seemingly endless debate on the union, when the spirit of Pan-Africanism seems to get a new impetus through regional integration arrangements, as well as through continental schemes for the promotion of African union.

The author has used a combination of methods in presenting his thesis. In a succinct and systematic way, he uncovers new evidence and provides very interesting narratives in support of his main thesis and other emerging themes in the book. However, methodologically, the book seems to be considerably dominated by elitist narratives at the expense of popular discourses. The latter would have demonstrated the relevance and utility of the union today by bringing in people’s perceptions that would have shown congruence or incongruence with the ruling elite’s perception. In Chapter One, he provides the background and setting of his study. His description of Zanzibari society on the eve of the revolution – socially and ethnically polarised with the degree of polarisation hiked during the era of politics (zama za siasa, i.e., 1950s to independence) – correctly captures the realities of the time. In this chapter, the author talks about social classes, ethnic cleavages and regional differences between Unguja and Pemba, factors which significantly shaped pre-independence political parties and nationalist struggles. Unlike most scholars who view competing nationalist outlooks in Zanzibar as an ethnic contest pitting Arabs against Africans, Shivji views the contest as one between Zanzibari and African [black] nationalism. This perspective in essence challenges the conventional wisdom to which most politicians and scholars subscribe, particularly those from the mainland. The author, correctly in my view, argues that 'if Zanzibari nationalism was rooted in culture, African nationalism was rooted in race' (p. 19).

In Chapter Two, the author attempts to explain the revolution, another highly contentious issue in Zanzibar’s politics. The centre of the controversy is not essentially how it was carried out but rather who was actually behind it. The author starts off his analysis by identifying what he calls 'the two mythologies' (p. 41) on the Zanzibar revolution. The first one is represented by 'the so-called autobiography of John Okello, self styled Field Marshall of the insurrection' (p.41), while the second is presented as the 'official' account of the revolution. Questioning the authenticity of these two versions, the author explores other sources to construct his view on the issue including 'primary documents in the British archives verified against interviews with some Zanzibari actors as well as secondary published sources' (p.42). In my view, the author has used those methods with great sophistication, and makes a significant contribution to the seemingly endless controversy over the forces behind the revolution, but the mystery about these forces still remains.

As in the first chapter, the author refers to a 'mainland perspective to the Zanzibar revolution which explains the political contradictions in Zanzibar as a political and social contestation between the two competing nationalisms – African [black] nationalism versus Zanzibari nationalism.' What is not clear from the author’s analysis is whether Nyerere and his associates were really ignorant of the actual societal configuration in Zanzibar or whether they advocated that perspective out of political expediency of practising hegemonic control over the islands of Zanzibar. It may be a plausible hypothesis to assume that Nyerere was aware that the political conflict in Zanzibar was not in essence a tussle pitting an African majority against an Arab minority, but rather an ideological conflict pitting Zanzibari nationalism – conscientiously guarding the sovereignty of Zanzibar – against an African [black] nationalism exploiting a racial category to cling to power by extracting considerable support from the mainland.

In Chapter Three, Shivji characterises the union in terms of both its origin and evolution as a 'pragmatic' outcome which was not significantly informed by Pan-Africanist principles and ideals, saying: 'There is no doubt that the process of the formation of the Union was fraught with legal manipulation and political expediency' (p. 99). It was essentially a matter of political survival for Karume, and of dealing with the perceived imminent threat of Zanzibar on the part of Nyerere. To illustrate the enormity of Nyerere’s fear, the author quotes one of his most famous statements of his perception of Zanzibar, a few years before Tanganyika’s independence: 'If I could tow that island out into the middle of the Indian Ocean, I’d do it' (p. 76). The author argues, correctly in my view, that 'Since he [Nyerere] could not, he towed it into the mainland, ironically realising his other fear that Zanzibar will become a headache for us [Nyerere and Tanganyika].' Indeed, according to Shivji, 'Zanzibar has become a headache for him as long as he lived and continues to be a headache' (p. 76).

As in his previous works on the union, here too Shivji re-engages himself in the unresolved controversy over the ratification of the Articles of Union by Zanzibar. Interestingly, however, in this book the author has managed to bring into the debate new sources of evidence in support of the assertion that the Zanzibar Revolutionary Council never met to ratify the Articles of Union (pp. 78–93). The new sources of evidence include a minute dated 3 June 1964 and written by D.F.B. La Breton, an officer in the British Commission in Dar es Salaam (p.87), and an affidavit sworn by Salim Rashid, then secretary to the Revolutionary Council and the cabinet in the Zanzibar High Court case of Rashid Salum Adiy & 9 Others vs. Attorney General & 4 Others of the Revolutionary Government of Zanzibar (No. 20 of 2005). Based on the analysis of old and new sources of evidence, in this book the author seems to be more definite in his conclusion: 'Finally, it is also very clear that the Revolutionary Council never enacted any law, nor did it even go through the motion of making any law, ratifying and giving the Articles force of law' (p. 90).

In Chapter Four the author narrates what transpired after the union and gives an interesting account of Karume’s attitude towards the union. He correctly describes the character of Karume and his rule as autocratic, despotic and racist, committing a wide range of atrocities against his real and perceived opponents (p.112), some of which continued during the early years of Aboud Jumbe. Whereas Nyerere was apparently disturbed by those atrocities, the author correctly asserts that he tolerated them for the sake of sustaining the union. This, according to the author, was a glaring deviation from the principles and ideals of Pan-Africanism.

The question of Nyerere’s vision of the union and Jumbe’s consolidation of his powers and the drafting of the Permanent Union Constitution is dealt with in Chapter Five. According to the author, Nyerere’s vision of consolidating the union and Jumbe’s attempt to consolidate his power by neutralising the power of the Revolutionary Council through the party merger in 1977 were at the expense of Zanzibar’s autonomy. But since single-party supremacy was the pillar of the new constitutional order, Shivji argues, the union continues to be fragile in the context of multiparty politics (p. 180). In Chapter Six, Shivji continues the argument emerging in the previous chapter on the constitutional order of the union based on single-party supremacy and its consequences on Zanzibar’s autonomy, eventually culminating in the downfall of Aboud Jumbe in 1985.

In his conclusion, Shivji presents some basic lessons for Pan-Africanism. Among the challenges he identifies for Pan-Africanism is the issue of 'competitive and conflicting nationalisms – cultural, racial and territorial – that pervade the African continent' (pp. 244–45). His conclusion ends with a dilemma, as he puts it: 'Can the Tanzanian unity be built on the foundation of existing and growing racial and cultural nationalism?' (p.247). He does not provide the answer to that paradox, but it is good food for thought.

In 'Pan-Africanism or Pragmatism? Lessons from Tangayika-Zanzibar Union', Issa G. Shivji has sufficiently argued his case and proved that the union in terms of both its origin and evolution has been largely shaped by pragmatism and political expediency at the expense of the fundamental principles and ideals of Pan-Africanism.

This book is a valuable addition to the literature on Pan-Africanism, Zanzibar politics and the Tanganyika–Zanzibar Union in particular. It is timely in the context of the ongoing debate on the union, the emerging East African cooperation, the envisaged East African Political Federation and the African Union.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* Issa G. Shivji's 'Pan-Africanism or Pragmatism? Lessons of the Tanganyika–Zanzibar Union' is published by Mkuki na Nyota, Dar es Salaam, in association with OSSREA, Addis Ababa, pp xix + 313 (text: 253), ISBN: OSSREA 978-9994-455-21-8, Mkuki na Nyota 978-9987-449-99-6, $25.00, paperback.
* Mohamed Bakari is a member of the Department of Political Science and Public Administration at the University of Dar es Salaam.
* This article first appeared in the maiden issue of CHEMCHEMI, Bulletin of the Mwalimu Nyerere Professorial Chair in Pan African Studies of the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and is reproduced here with the kind permission of the editorial board of CHEMCHEMI.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

Review: The creation of Tanzania

An incomplete survey of its genesis?

Hamudi Majamba

2009-10-01

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/books/59157

Professor Issa Shivji's book, Pan-Africanism or Pragmatism? Lessons of the Tanganyika-Zanzibar Union, gives a detailed account of the historical, political and legal intricacies relating to the evolution of the Union between Tanganyika and Zanzibar, based on intensive research and exclusive interviews with selected people. In the course of recounting these events, he also provides insights into the history and challenges faced by African states in their effort to amalgamate under the philosophy of Pan-Africanism.

The author argues that imperial powers played a significant role in some of the successes and failures of the efforts by independent States of Africa to merge, including Tanganyika and Zanzibar. Shivji’s main thesis on the Union is that it is flawed from constitutional and international law points of view. He maintains that the leaders and peoples of Zanzibar were not adequately consulted, did not have access to adequate legal advice and on some occasions made some effort to reject the move.

He suggests that where some of the leaders in Zanzibar appeared to show any interest in the Union, the driving force was to propagate their hold on power, banking on support from Nyerere. In some cases, the author insinuates, Nyerere (the pragmatist) pushed for the merger beyond limits.

The foundation set up by Shivji in the course of his analysis of the political struggle to assume state power in Zanzibar and the subsequent merger of Zanzibar and Tanganyika to form one state is grounded in the dominant and sometimes controversial issues of class and ethnicity. The laying of the foundation on the issue of class and ethnicity in Zanzibar has been tactfully set to provide a basis for the arguments advanced by the author in dismissing others’ views, including Nyerere’s, on yet another contentious issue that has troubled the minds of great political scientists: What constitutes nationalism?[1]

In his analysis of the period preceding the Union between Tanganyika and Zanzibar, the author provides, in chapter two, some insights on episodes that led to the revolution. He admits that there are many versions of the revolution and states that it is not important to go into the argument of which one is true. However, he proceeds to delve into the issue, where he dismisses other accounts and draws the reader to his theory, which is to some extent based on a combination of respondents, notes from former colonial officers and books purposefully selected to make his case.

Interestingly, the author does not seem to fully appreciate the role played by Okello in the revolution. He seems to rely more on Jumbe’s account of the revolution but tactfully brushes aside Okello’s. He does not make an attempt to critically analyse Okello’s claims as published in his autobiography.[2] It is also clear that the choice of respondents on the issue of the revolution is lopsided. Some of the key figures mentioned by Okello in his account on the revolution, for example, Job Lusinde and Rashid Kawawa, were not interviewed.[3] There is also no explanation why these important people were left out especially in view of the fact that Shivji generally seems to underestimate Okello’s account of the revolution and relegates his contribution to it to the periphery. [4]

The analysis seems to rely more heavily on the recollections of selected respondents from Zanzibar. The author does not state exactly why he omitted interviewing prominent personalities and then TANU stalwarts who are still alive on the Mainland to back his arguments. These people are certainly also quite knowledgeable and some worked very closely with Nyerere, not only on issues of the Union but on some of the contentious issues relating to the politics of Zanzibar.

As pointed out earlier, the author relies heavily on information from Jumbe, whom he considers as probably most knowledgeable on the history of what led to the formation of the Union and other issues relating to the history of Zanzibar. However, on some occasions Shivji dismisses the recollections of Jumbe on the excuse of 'memory lapses' and in one instance cautions the reader that Jumbe’s information should be taken with 'a pinch of salt' – implying that the respondent is not credible.[5]

In chapter three Shivji assesses the Union in the context of the East African Community. He suggests (although elsewhere he makes an effort to deny this) that forces behind the formation of the Union were predominately driven by imperialist pressure. According to him, the Union was not arrived at due to the urge of the peoples of both sides to link up for common purposes and objectives. The author seems to suggest, in a rather strategically cautious tone in some cases, that Nyerere was driven (and in some cases supported) by imperial powers in forming the Union between Zanzibar and Tanganyika. In coming to this conclusion, Shivji relies heavily on communiqués of former US and UK diplomats and officers (stationed in Zanzibar and Tanganyika at that time). Ironically, at times the author brushes aside some of those communiqués (ostensibly those not in his line of thinking) as exaggerations.

Surprisingly, the author omits to make a critical analysis of Nyerere’s vehement denunciation of allegations that he was a puppet of Western powers in the course of establishing the Union.[6] In his address to the special Meeting of the National Assembly on 25 April 1964, on the Union of Tanganyika and Zanzibar, Nyerere stated:
'
It is an insult to Africa to read cold war politics into every move towards African Unity. Africa has its own maturity and its own will. Our unity is inspired by a very simple ideology – unity. We do not propose this Union in order to support any of the “isms” of this world….'[7]

Nyerere is also on record to have refuted similar insinuations when he stated: 'It has been suggested by some stupid people that I advocate Federation because I am a stooge of the British and I want to impose on East Africa a form of government acceptable to my British masters. I believe in the unity of Africa. I do not mind, therefore, what appellations stupid people give me as a result of that belief. But let us examine the true position.' [8]

Shivji admits that he has made a u-turn relating to the legal status of the Union. He 'disowns' his Professorial Inaugural Lecture delivered in 1990. Eighteen years later, he appears more convinced that there is no evidence in law to give legal credence to the Union between Zanzibar and Tanganyika. What is interesting is the basis for the round about turn: Documents retrieved from the archival records of the British High Commission and CIA records, further interviews and readings.[9] Mark you, as pointed out elsewhere, in some cases the author has dismissed records from these sources as having been exaggerated. This time around, the author showers a lot of credit on these sources, to the extent of 'disowning' his own findings duly presented at his Professorial Inaugural Lecture.

It will also strike the reader that some of the prominent people who would have provided some information for the author to work on were not interviewed, although they are mentioned in the chapter as having played key roles in negotiating the instruments from both a political and legal standpoint. Admittedly, some of the persons who were party stalwarts at that time and played a key role could certainly not be traced. However, one would have expected the author to make at least some attempt to trace close associates to get their views, just as he did in respect of some respondents from Zanzibar.

The author even went to the extent of relying on information obtained from a reported conversation on Nyerere’s thinking between an official of the British Embassy and Irene Brown, a spouse of the expatriate Attorney General, Roland Brown.[10]

What the author acknowledges, without necessarily directly saying it, is that research is essentially an on-going process aimed at generating knowledge with the passage of time. Along the same lines, what is discovered today may be refuted later. This reality equally applies to the author’s findings, not only on the issue of the legality of the instruments that were used to establish the Union, but the whole thesis he advances, especially in the light of the observations on choice of respondents, among others.

This also partly explains the deviation that the author makes from his own findings in 1990. The author seems to suggest that his study now provides conclusive evidence that there was no ratification or enactment of any law ratifying the Articles of the Union on the part of Zanzibar. Accordingly, Shivji argues that a court of law would certainly agree with his argument. The choice of respondents who formed the Commission which concluded that the Revolutionary Council actually ratified the Articles of the Union would also not escape a critical eye.

One of the key members of this Commission, who is still alive, is mentioned by the author, but again there is no reason why his views on this matter were not probed further by way of interview. A court of law would certainly want to satisfy itself by inquiring into some of the controversial matters pointed out before reaching a verdict on whether or not the evidence the author presents borders on conclusiveness.

In the fourth chapter, the author paints a vivid picture of the events that followed after the signing of the Union, culminating in the assassination of Karume and the increasing usurpation of constitutional power by Nyerere. According to the author, the creation of a Union Constitution by Nyerere and the cementing of the Union by him led to the progressive erosion of Zanzibar’s autonomy. Shivji argues that the creation of a party-state, dismantling of the independence of the judiciary and the elimination of those who opposed the move were part of the strategies to erode Zanzibar’s autonomy.

The differences between the founding fathers of the Union on substantial matters which, according to Shivji, almost led to the break up of the Union are discussed in chapter five. The author provides an illuminating analysis of what he suggests were efforts made by Jumbe to uphold Zanzibar’s autonomy and the ploy employed by Nyerere to counter the efforts. Accordingly, Nyerere’s endeavours paid off with the promulgation of a Permanent Constitution for the Union which in the author’s view, was structured in a manner that put matters to rest, in so far as diminishing the autonomy of Zanzibar, within the Union framework, was concerned.

It will also not take the reader any effort to realise that the type of respondents the author has selected to corroborate some of the documents retrieved from the archives in Zanzibar and London reveal that there has been an inclination to focus more on those who have vivid memories of the events and in some cases those who took part. The author also made some effort to trace relatives and close associates of people who either took part or who were knowledgeable on the events that led to the formation of the Union, in some cases, their spouses.

Again, conspicuously absent in those sourced for information in this chapter are the respondents who were influential in the formation of the Union from Tanzania mainland. It would have been helpful if the author explained this bias, or at least the limitation confronted in pursuing other renowned people who are alive and still active in politics. Suffice it to point out here that some of these people have been involved (directly or otherwise) in initiatives to resolve what the author refers to as the “headache” of the Union that Nyerere did not live to see.

In chapter six, Shivji continues his analysis on the increasing marginalisation of Zanzibar within the framework of the Union. He maintains that the chronology of events from the judicial and military reforms, among others, that Nyerere crafted were aimed at demeaning Zanzibar within the Union. Accordingly, Jumbe became more adamant in efforts to protect the 'sovereignty' of Zanzibar and fell out of Nyerere’s favour. Since that time, Shivji argues, there has always been a crisis on the nature of the Union as a result of first, Nyerere increasing the list of Union matters at the expense of Zanzibar, and second, subsequent political gimmicks to legalise and legitimise the usurpation of Zanzibar’s sovereignty.

By way of concluding his study, the author analyses the problems that have hindered the example of a Pan African Union and points out to the lessons that can be drawn from the Tanganyika-Zanzibar merger and implications for the future of Pan-Africanism, in the wake of globalisation and imperialism. The solutions to circumvent the legal problems in a manner that will ensure tranquillity considering the 40 years of the life of the Union discussed by the author, are not critically analysed, especially in the light of the ripples that may unfold, threatening its very existence.

Of course, the author makes an implicit and rather remote reference to a constitutional court and consulting the people, ostensibly as part of the solution. The attempts being made by the fourth phase government to find a solution to the problems that have plagued the Union, which had commenced before the author’s study, are interestingly not analysed. On the contrary, Shivji suggests that Nyerere’s successors have made things worse.[11]

These contentious issues notwithstanding, the book provides food for thought. It is certainly a valuable and welcome addition to the literature on the history of Zanzibar from legal and political perspectives. It is also an eye-opener, providing thought-provoking insights on efforts to revitalise Pan Africanism.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* Pan-Africanism or Pragmatism? Lessons of the Tanganyika-Zanzibar Union, by Issa G. Shivji, is published by Mkuki na Nyota, Dar es Salaam, in association with OSSREA, Addis Ababa. (ISBN: OSSREA 978-9994-455-21-8; Mkuki na Nyota 978-9987-449-99-6).
* This article first appeared in the maiden issue of CHEMCHEMI, Bulletin of the Mwalimu Nyerere Professorial Chair in Pan African Studies of the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and is reproduced here with the kind permission of the Editorial Board of CHEMCHEMI.
* [email=hmajamba@udsm.ac.tz]Hamudi Majamba is in the Dar es Salaam School of Law at the University of Dar es Salaam.[/url]
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

NOTES

[1] See pages 66-67of the book.
[2] The author cites Okello’s biography in his list of references.
[3] See Okello pp. 173 and 205. On the contrary, Okello’s account of events and his role in the revolution seem to be acknowledged and corroborated by Michael Lofchie (1965) Zanzibar: Background to the Revolution, New Jersey: Princeton University Press (see specifically pages 274-277). Luanda et al, (1993) Tanganyika Rifles Mutiny January 1964 Tanzania People’s Defence Force., Dar es Salaam: Dar-es-Salaam University Press, also suggest that Okello had planned the Mutiny, p. 66.
[4] Okello states that he was welcomed by Kawawa on his visit to Dar-es-Salaam after the revolution to collect supplies requested from Nyerere, see p. 171. Kawawa’s views would have thrown some light on the genuineness of Okello’s claims on his role and contribution in the revolution. Kawawa agreed to be interviewed by Luanda et al, op cit p. 89.
[5] See p. 121: footnote 63; see also p. 59, footnote 60, where the author admits that one of his interviewees was apparently lying to him.
[6] Luanda et al, op. cit, provide a comparatively revealing account of the “arm-twisting” techniques employed by imperial powers during the 1964 Mutiny and the efforts that Nyerere used to avoid being submissive, see p. 126.
[7] Nyerere, Freedom and Unity/Uhuru na Umoja, p. 292 (Shivji in fact cites this quotation, though from a different source on p. 83).
[8] Ibid., p. 92.
[9] Including the views of Wolfgang Dourado, former Attorney General of Zanzibar, whose character, as portrayed by the author, the reader would find inconsistent and opportunistic.
[10] See footnote 44 on p. 115 of the book.
[11] See p. 251 of the book.

Pambazuka Blog Review – October 1, 2009

Dibussi Tande

2009-10-01

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/blog/59128

ccSeyllou/AFP

Kongol Afirik reports on the killing by Guinean security forces of scores of demonstrators protesting against President Dadis Camara’s decision to renege on an earlier promise not to run for office in forthcoming elections:
“The majority of the dead and wounded were caused by… elite Special Forces … The death toll keeps growing by the hour…
It seems that two of the main opposition leaders, Cellou Dalein Diallo and Sydia Touré, are amongst the wounded. They were reportedly arrested and taken to a military camp. Their fate is currently unknown. According to certain sources, Cellou Dalein Diallo's residence was ransacked by the army. Some rape cases were reported in Bambeto, a neighborhood in the capital. The names of the people responsible for this day of carnage have the following names: Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, the head of the junta and the self-declared President of the Republic; Captain Tiegboro Camara, Secretary of State in charge of the war against drugs and banditry; General Sékouba Konaté, Defense Minister; Jean-Claude Pivi, Minister in charge of presidential security. Once again, the African Union, ECOWAS, and its international partners revealed themselves to be ineffective before an officer who seized power through a coup and who is ready to step on corpses to stay in power.”


cc Denford Magora

Denford Magora comments on a recent survey by the Mass Opinion Public Institute in which “71% of the people interviewed said that the Inclusive Government was "doing very well or fairly well" on the issue of Economic Management”:
“…my main problem with the survey is that it is historical. Things are happening too quickly in Zimbabwe and this survey, as even they admitted, no longer reflects the reality on the ground.
We cannot say that people are satisfied with this Government when we have 80% of teachers still on strike, 60% of doctors either on go-slow or complete strike, workers up in arms because they cannot afford the food that now fills shop shelves.....
It is a nice measure of the optimism engulfing the nation in the aftermath of the formation of the coalition between Mugabe and Tsvangirai.”


cc Saharska

Sub Saharska takes a hard look at Western Union’s money transfer services to Africa:
“I curse the graves of the founders of Western Union anytime I need to pay someone for work who lives in Africa. With their telegram operations shelved 162 years after they were founded… and some 10 years after widespread adoption of the internet and email, one wonders how many more years before they shutter completely? Given the rate of contraction, I'm thinking maybe four years or so. Because it's really money transfers that are keeping that company alive now and I don't know what the exact statistics are, but it seems like the bulk of them are to Africa.
Don't get me wrong, I'm thrilled that there is actually some sort of mechanism that allow me to transfer money around the world in mere minutes to pay someone, but the prices they charge are ludicrous. I'm sure everyone has their own story, but I just spent $8 to send $25. That's a 30% surcharge. It's an impressive way to make money (although SMS charges still beat it) but it simply can't last forever…
While I despise the charges from Western Union, at least I know what they are and they're not a bank. But then again, their charges and inflexibility are part of the reason why so many people are gladly turning to mobile payments….
… the real solution [is] having proper banks that are accountable to a great number of countries and regulatory bodies handling our money. Africa definitely needs more of this. How does Western Union fit in to that? I don't think they do.”


cc Pan-African Newswire

Rusty Gate replies to a recent statement by former Namibian President Sam Nujoma that ‘The white imperialists should be careful not to topple President Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe, because if you touch Zimbabwe, then you touch Namibia and the whole Southern African Development Community’:
“Not to burst your bubble, comrade, but there are no imperialists trying to topple anybody. I assure you the only people doing any toppling are purely local. All the imperialists are doing is refusing to have anything to do with him, and some of his associates. In fact, I’m not sure any toppling is needed anymore, and the topplers appear to be waiting for nature to take its course...
No, Comrade Sam, no it’s not because of the western powers that oppositions are formed, it’s because of revolutionary parties that immerse themselves in largesse and finery whilst ignoring the welfare of the people they ostensibly ‘liberated’.”


cc Bosco

Wikispaces writes about BOSCO, an organization in Uganda which uses wikis and technology to help give the isolated and war-affected people of Northern Uganda an online voice:
“BOSCO is training them to use technology to tell their stories, articulate the problems they face, design solutions for these problems, and invite global collaborators to help….
Because Wikispaces was so easy to use, even kids who had never seen a computer before were able to get on their wiki and share their stories.
BOSCO is now in 20 different locations and 8 Internally Displaced Persons camps in Northern Uganda. And the group they initially trained is training others. Residents in the region are posting their stories and are beginning to use the wiki to articulate solutions for their problems. These solutions include proposals for a local farming initiative, an orphan’s group, and a small music festival…
BOSCO is growing as more people in the Ugandan villages are trained to use the technology and more people in the global community hear their stories.”



In the latest issue of Palapala Magazine, Dibussi Tande shares his travel diary from a recent trip to South Africa’s “Frontier Country” in the Eastern Cape Province:
“After about 20 minutes, we finally made it out of the Port Elizabeth onto N2, the highway leading to Frontier Country, “the historic heartland of Eastern Cape”, where the Xhosas unleashed a ferocious war of resistance against the British, but were ultimately subjugated by the power of the cannon. We drove past the breathtaking but rugged and dry landscape, with its undulating hills and valleys dotted with isolated farms which Frank Partridge has described as “a tribute to man's tenacity in the face of overwhelming odds”.
As we drove on, I couldn’t help but wonder what stories this landscape would tell if it only could talk. What had these hills and valleys witnessed during the hundred year war? What acts of bravery or outright recklessness occurred as the British clashed with the Xhosas for control of this land? What atrocities had taken place on those hills? What secrets lay beneath those valleys? And what exactly was the story behind these sprawling farms in the middle of nowhere? …
I was regularly jolted out of my reverie by the disconcerting sight of cars driving on the “wrong” side of the road. South Africa is one of the few countries where left hand driving is still the norm and cars are right-hand drive vehicles. So each time there was oncoming traffic, it seemed as if it was heading straight at us. And it didn’t help that our bus driver was driving at break-neck speed…”

* Dibussi Tande, a writer and activist from Cameroon, produces the blog Scribbles from the Den.

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

China's Foreign Aid Activities in Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia

Congressional Research Service

2009-10-01

http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/row/R40361.pdf

Chinese mining operactions in Katanga, DRC

Rights & Accountability in Development (RAID), September 2009

2009-10-01

http://raid-uk.org/docs/ChinaAfrica/EXSUM%20ENG%20LR.pdf

Pambazuka News 116 : Afrique : les défis de l'unité et de l'affirmation dans la gouvernance mondiale

2009-09-30

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/summaryfr/59116

Nestle stops buying from controversial farm

2009-10-02

http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE5910AN20091002

Global food leader Nestle's Zimbabwean unit has stopped buying milk from a farm owned by President Robert Mugabe's wife which was seized under his controversial land reforms. Western countries vital for Zimbabwe's recovery from an economic crisis demand political reforms, including an end to land seizures, before aid flows.

Africa: Young female fighters in African wars

Conflict and its Consequences

2009-10-02

http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=3543

What role do young women play in contemporary African wars? Mainstream thinking on war and conflict sees women as passive and peaceful and men as active and aggressive. This report from the Nordic Africa Institute calls for a broader understanding of women’s roles and participation in armed conflict in Africa. Programmes to disarm, demobilise and re-integrate former fighters need to be adapted to local contexts and designed to meet the needs of female ex-fighters.

Joint statement to the 12th Session of the Human Rights Council

Gender integration and harmful traditional practices

2009-10-02

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/wgender/59173

On behalf of the Inter African Committee on Traditional practices Affecting the Health of Women and Girls as well as the members of the NGO Committee on the Status of Women, I would like to congratulate the President on his appointment, as well as wish him a successful tenure. We would also like to take this opportunity to commend the Council for holding this annual discussion on the integration of gender into its work of promotion and protection all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights.
Joint statement to the 12th Session of the Human Rights Council
Item 8: Annual discussion on the integration of gender perspectives in the council’s work (with focus on UPR)

Geneva, 28 September 2009

Co-signers


World Organization Against Torture (OMCT)
Women's World Summit Foundation (WWSF)
World Federation For Mental Health
International Council on Social Welfare
Worldwide Organization for Women (WOW)
CIVICUS
International Federation of University Women (IFUW)
Women Federation for World Peace International (WFWPI)
Inter Faith International
Solar Cooker International


On behalf of the Inter African Committee on Traditional practices Affecting the Health of Women and Girls as well as the members of the NGO Committee on the Status of Women, I would like to congratulate the President on his appointment, as well as wish him a successful tenure. We would also like to take this opportunity to commend the Council for holding this annual discussion on the integration of gender into its work of promotion and protection all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights.

However, in commending the efforts that have been made so far, it is important to continue to remind the Council of the negative impact of some traditional practices on the health, integrity and dignity of women and girls all over the world. While some traditional practices can be beneficial many are harmful and violate the human rights of women around the world.

We would therefore like to call upon the Council that in its efforts to integrate gender into its work, governments should be made accountable for the elimination of harmful traditional practices that affect the health of women and girls all over the world. This should form an integral part of the reporting back process of member states in their obligations to combating all forms of discrimination against women through the Universal Periodic Reviews.

We welcome the fact that the High Commissioner in her update report highlighted that thehuman rights of women continue to be denied or curtailed in many countries, and that overall, their situation falls short of international standards. Also, that even in cases when States have ratified international conventions, their application of the law is often arbitrary. We concur with her observation.

Furthermore, it is also pleasing to know that some member states of this distinguished forum have called for a synergy between international policies and national laws such that international commitments are duly implemented at the national level, in terms of practice and policies.

Next year, on the 6th of February 2010, IAC will be commemorating the 25th anniversary of its efforts in campaigning against harmful traditional practices on the health of women and girls. We hope that by 2015 such practices would have been fully eliminated. We would therefore like all of you, Governments and NGOs to join us in marking this special day and making our dreams a reality.

In view of the above, it is important to continue to appeal to the Council to use its power to ensure improvement towards the effective implementation of international commitments. No doubt Governments need to rise up to the challenge of domesticating existing resolutions of the Human Rights Council and the reporting back process in the Universal Periodic Reviews.

Again, I thank you Mr President for the opportunity to make this statement, and all of you for the attention.



Contact: Mariana Duarte, Violence against Women Coordinator, World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) -md@omct.org; +41 22 809 4939

North Africa: Sudanese refugees 'raped in Chad'

2009-10-02

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8282360.stm

Sudanese women who escaped the Darfur conflict to eastern Chad are facing high levels of sexual violence, an Amnesty International report says. Despite the presence of a UN force, women and girls are being attacked when they leave 12 designated camps in search of water, the report says. It also documents cases of refugees being attacked inside the camps by Chadian aid workers.

Swaziland: NGOs and government on collision course

2009-10-02

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=86395

Simmering animosity and tension between non-governmental organizations and the conservative authorities of donor-dependent Swaziland are threatening to boil over, bringing legislation that could restrict the activities of civil society. "It has been building for some years. The deeper Swaziland sinks into poverty, hunger and AIDS, and the more dependent we become on non-governmental organizations [NGOs], the more hostile government officials, like MPs and some chiefs, become to NGOs," said Amos Ndwandwe, who works as a counsellor for an HIV/AIDS NGO he declined to identify, in the second city, Manzini.

West Africa: Sierra Leone damns AI report

2009-10-02

http://tinyurl.com/y9crwfw

The authorities in Sierra Leone have disputed a recent "alarming" report by the right group Amnesty International (AI) on the country's present maternal mortality rate. The report stated that one in every eight pregnant women in the country risk a chance of dying whiles giving birth and that six out of the 13 districts still have no emergency Obstetrical Care facility.

Algeria: National reconciliation moves forward

2009-10-02

http://tinyurl.com/ybsvb4a

Algeria has addressed the cases of nearly 25,000 victims of terrorism through its national reconciliation programme, and many key terrorists have surrendered, leading some observers to proclaim the process a success. The 2005 Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation "has realised its objectives," said Farouk Ksentini, head of the National Commission for the Promotion and Defence of Human Rights, at a special forum on Monday (September 28th).

DRC: Community justice thrives in the villages of eastern Congo

2009-10-01

http://advocacynet.org/resource/1259

Amid the chaos and lawlessness of Eastern Congo, a local organization has developed an innovative approach to settling disputes and promoting justice, one community at a time. Arche d'Alliance, a partner of The Advocacy Project (AP) in Uvira, has created Comites de Mediation et Conciliation (CMCs), or conflict resolution committees, in 24 communities across South Kivu.

Guinea: Stop violent attacks on demonstrators

2009-10-02

http://tinyurl.com/yekrpub

Guinean security forces should immediately cease violent attacks on demonstrators protesting against the military government, Human Rights Watch has said. Human Rights Watch called upon the government to hold accountable security forces responsible for firing upon and killing dozens of generally peaceful demonstrators in the Guinean capital, Conakry, on September 28, 2009.

Kenya: Government to hand over ministers to Hague

2009-10-02

http://www.nation.co.ke/News/-/1056/666678/-/ungjsn/-/index.html

The government will hand over election violence suspects, thought to include six sitting Cabinet ministers, to The Hague. The six are part of a list of suspected perpetrators of the chaos, compiled by a judicial commission of inquiry chaired by Justice Philip Waki, that also names five MPs, seven former MPs and prominent people and businessmen. They are accused of either financing or orchestrating the worst ethnic violence in Kenya’s history in which 1,133 people were killed and 650,000 others left homeless.

Rwanda: ARTICLE 19 releases its comment on Genocide Ideology Law

2009-10-02

http://tinyurl.com/yahw5uy

ARTICLE 19’s Comment expresses alarm in relation to almost all the provisions of the Genocide Ideology Law which was adopted by the Rwandan Parliament on 23 July 2008. In ARTICLE 19’s view, the law’s central concept of “genocide ideology” is extremely broadly defined and would catch a whole range of legitimate forms of expression. Indeed, the definition of “genocide ideology” violates international law under the Genocide Convention 1948 and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 1966 in multiple ways.

Uganda: Troops killed unarmed people in riot period

2009-10-02

http://tinyurl.com/ybgc56d

The Ugandan government should immediately order an independent investigation into the killing of unarmed persons during and after riots in Kampala on September 10 and 11, 2009, Human Rights Watch has said. A Human Rights Watch investigation found that at least 13 people were shot by government forces in situations where lethal force was unnecessary.

Zimbabwe: Activists sue for torture case

2009-10-02

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8286656.stm

Nine Zimbabwean human rights activists and others tortured in custody are suing government officials for $500m (£314m), their lawyers have said. Jestina Mukoko and eight others are suing the police commissioner, a cabinet minister and police officers.

Africa: Libya deports more Nigerians

2009-10-02

http://tinyurl.com/y8rkx35

Libya deported an additional 740 Nigerians Thursday, bringing the total number of Nigerians repatriated from the north African nation in recent days to 1,064, the local press reported. Last month, Libya also brought back about 330 Nigerians. Most of the deportees did not have the required papers to stay in Libya, which many use as a transit point to Europe.

Algeria: National reconciliation fails to address needs of IDPs

2009-10-02

http://tinyurl.com/ybh6whc

Although Algeria was affected by large-scale displacement caused by conflict between 1992 and 2002, internally displaced people (IDPs) were not a priority for the government during or after the conflict. As a result, even the most basic information about their number and situation has consistently been unavailable. The European Union estimated at the end of the conflict that violence had displaced one million people, while other sources put the number as high as 1.5 million. The government has not contested these figures.

Chad: Relocating a refugee camp in volatile east

2009-10-02

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=86360

Aid workers in eastern Chad are preparing to move some 28,000 Sudanese men, women and children from a refugee camp infiltrated by supposed rebels. The Chad government decided in mid-September to relocate Ouré Cassoni camp, which is near the northern town of Bahai and 7km from the border with Sudan.

Egypt: How many migrants are dying at the border?

2009-10-01

http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?ReportID=86368

Rights groups such as Amnesty International have called on the Egyptian authorities to "urgently rein in their border security forces" after seven African asylum-seekers were killed in September trying to cross into Israel on foot, but some Israeli NGOs and soldiers say the death toll at the border is far higher.

Kenya: Last of Eldoret IDPs leave camp, reluctantly

2009-10-02

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=86408

After days of stalling, hundreds of people displaced by Kenya's post-election violence in early 2008 have begun leaving a camp in the western town of Eldoret after receiving cash handouts from the government. Most of the estimated 2,700 internally displaced persons (IDPs) had, between 28 September and 1 October, declined to accept KSh35,000 [US$460] from the government to help them resettle.

Somaliland: Puntland cracks down as potential migrants gather in Bosasso

2009-10-02

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=86322

The authorities of Somalia's self-declared autonomous region of Puntland have begun cracking down on would-be migrants and people smugglers, who have been using its ports to reach the Gulf States, a senior police officer has said. He said thousands of Somalis and Ethiopians had gathered in Bosasso, the commercial capital, with the aim of attempting to cross the Gulf of Aden into Yemen.

Global: Online survey for civil society on impact of economic crisis

2009-10-02

http://www.choike.org/2009/eng/informes/7648.html

The Civil Society and Outreach Unit of the United Nations Secretariat's Division for Social Policy and Development invites organizations to take part in a survey on the current situation that local, national and international civil society organizations (CSOs) are facing as a result of the global economic and environmental crises. The results of the study will be published for advocacy use of CSOs and also made available at the next session of the UN Commission on Social Development.

Zimbabwe: 5th Edition of the Zimbabwe Social Forum (ZSF)

2009-10-01

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/socialmovements/59137

The Zimbabwe Social Forum (ZSF) will be hosting the 5th edition of its annual commemoration in Harare, on the 2nd of October 2009. The theme for this year’s activities is, “Reclaiming the Political Transition for People-Centered Governance; and Sustainable Social and Economic Reform.”
The Zimbabwe Social Forum (ZSF) will be hosting the 5th edition of its annual commemoration in Harare, on the 2nd of October 2009. The theme for this year’s activities is, “Reclaiming the Political Transition for People-Centered Governance; and Sustainable Social and Economic Reform.”

The ZSF is a space where local social movements, NGOs and other like-minded organizations to meet, reflect and map out alternatives to the current dominant neo-liberal paradigm and corporate-led globalization processes. The ZSF commemoration is an annual event, preceded by a series of mobilisation and build-up activities that is taking its own shape in the spirit of the World Social Forum (WSF). Participation at the annual ZSF commemoration is open to organizations, social movements and individuals that subscribe to the ideals and principles of its Charter adapted from the African Social Forum (ASF) and WSF charters and values. Specific activities are informed by participants’ opinions, arising from their unique experiences and local environments.


Your participation and contribution.

Activities are organized under the following thematic clusters, in which your participation is welcomed;

Gender,Youth, Labour, DebtandTrade,HIV&Aids, Human Rights, Constitutionalism and Governance Land and Environment,Food Security,Social Services Delivery

Venue: Harare Gardens
Time: 0900hrs
Admission is free!


Contact: ZSF Secretariat
C/O Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development (ZIMCODD)
Tel/Fax: +263 4 776830/1
Email: zimsocialforum@zimcodd.co.zw/gchikodzi@zimcodd.co.zw

China's Economy: 60 Years of Progress

2009-10-01

http://english.caijing.com.cn/2009-09-30/110269580.html

Since its founding 60 years ago, the People's Republic of China has been transformed from a centrally planned economy to a market economy. The journey has been fraught with twists and turns on a road paved with hardship, upheavals and reversals. It's been an important process, however, as any search for direction in the course of human development. And it's taught us valuable lessons about the entire process of a planned-to-market economy transformation.

China's new colonialism

2009-10-01

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2009/09/25/chinas_new_colonialism

The resource-based corruption and international greed that has typified so much of the West's interactions with African countries has now arrived in the tiny and impoverished West African country of Gabon. Only this time, the external predator, working in tandem with a venal, autocratic local ruler, isn't the West - it's China.

Nigeria: Militants criticise China’s plans to tap Nigerian oil

2009-10-01

http://tinyurl.com/yevf67m

Nigerian militants said on Tuesday they opposed a bid by a Chinese energy group to secure 6bn barrels of crude reserves, comparing the potential new investors to “locusts”. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta told the Financial Times that the record of Chinese companies in other African counties suggested “an entry into the oil industry in Nigeria will be a disaster for the oil-bearing communities”.

The new landlords

2009-10-01

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-5060584,prtpage-1.cms

Ramakrishna Karuturi does not feature on any international power list. Perhaps he should. A new UNCTAD (UN Conference on Trade and Development) report names Karuturi Global Ltd as one of the top 25 agri transnational corporations in the world. Another report, by the International Food Policy Research Institute, says he owns one of the world's largest landbanks — over 3,000 sq km. In a conversation with The Times of India, he claimed, "I'm the largest landbank holder in the world."

Côte d’Ivoire: Technical difficulties could delay poll

2009-10-02

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=32392

The top United Nations official in Cote d’Ivoire warned today that technical difficulties may adversely affect the timeline for the country’s long-awaited presidential elections, which were to have been held as far back as 2005, and are now scheduled for 29 November. Young-Jin Choi, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative and head of the UN Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (UNOCI), said that two months have already been lost, but he noted some successful political developments, such as the establishment of mobile court hearings across the country and the end of voter registration.

Gabon: Opposition rejects recount

2009-10-02

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8280079.stm

Opposition parties in Gabon have rejected the terms of a re-count of votes from last month's controversial presidential poll. Activists, who alleged widespread vote rigging, were angered after a court ruled that opposition observers would not be allowed to oversee the re-count.

Guinea: Injured ex-PM denied foreign treatment

2009-10-02

http://tinyurl.com/y99a2wy

The leader of the Union of the Democratic Forces of Guinea (UFDG) and former Guinean Prime Minister, Cellou Dalein Diallo, who was grievously wounded during Monday's rally at the 28 September Stadium in Conakry, was prevented Wednesday evening from going for treatment abroad, according to sources close to his family. The UFDG leader, who sustained five broken ribs during the bloody repression by the police force on Monday, was about to board a plane to Paris, France when he was forced to return to his room in a local clinic where he was receiving treatment, under heavy military guard.

Mozambique: Constitutional Council rejects MDM appeal

Mozambique political process bulletin

2009-10-01

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/elections/59167

In a unanimous decision, the Constitutional Council rejected the appeal of MDM against the exclusion of its lists from most provinces. It upholds the CNE’s interpretation of the law, and publishes lists of unqualified candidates to show that MDM simply did not have enough candidates in most provinces.
CC rejects MDM appeal; says MDM had too few candidates

In a unanimous decision, the Constitutional Council rejected the appeal of MDM against the exclusion of its lists from most provinces. It upholds the CNE’s interpretation of the law, and publishes lists of unqualified candidates to show that MDM simply did not have enough candidates in most provinces.

The CC agreed with the CNE view that it is not acceptable to simply submit the name of a candidate with no supporting documents, and thus the opportunity to correct errors or gaps in documents does not extend to submitting the entire file. The CC also accepted the CNE interpretation of the law that no candidates could be submitted after the 29 July deadline, and thus there could be no substitutions after that date.

The CC then lists all of the MDM candidates excluded or asked for further documents, and gives the reason (which until now the CNE has refused to do).


Election to national parliament is by party list. Each province is a constituency and each party must submit a list of candidates of at least the number of seats for that constituency (45 for Zambezia, 16 for Gaza, etc) plus three extras (suplentes). For each candidate there must be a file (processo individual) of five documents – notarised copies of an identity card and voters card, birth certificate, a certificate of no criminal record, and a letter agreeing to stand. This had to be submitted by 29 July. If there are problems with documents, then the CNE notifies the party, which has five days to try to resolve the problem.

Both CNE and CC stress that a “candidature” in this sense is not just the name of the candidate, but also the processo individual. The CC notes that both in the election law and in the rules announced by the CNE, both the name and the file must be submitted together. The CC points out that MDM submitted 43 names without files (see table below) and that the CNE should not have even allowed them to be handed in.

Thus for Zambezia, with 45 seats, there must be 48 candidates. MDM submitted just 48 names, but five did not have files, so this was not an adequate list and should have been immediately rejected.

The CC is highly critical of the CNE for two errors which added significantly to the confusion. First, the CNE should not have accepted lists without actually checking for the processo individual. The lists without enough files were from the first unacceptable, and therefore should have been immediately rejected. The CC notes that MDM only submitted its lists at 16.40 on 29 July, with other parties, which made it difficult to actually check for files. But the CNE should have told MDM that its lists were subsequently not accepted. Then the CNE made another mistake which only compounded the confusion – in several provinces, including Gaza and Cabo Delgado, the CNE actually notified MDM that some candidates with processos individuais were missing some documents – without apparently noticing that there were not enough valid candidates to fill this list. This also totally confused the MDM, which assumed its other names had been accepted.

But the CC adds that it made no practical difference. It confirms the CNE view that after 29 July, no further candidates could be submitted, even to replace those who are not accepted.

Finally, the CC points out that in the provinces where MDM did have lists accepted, it had not problems – nearly all the names were accompanied by files and the minor problems were corrected in time.

The CC has rejected all protests by all parties about excluded lists, but the MDM protest was clearly the most important.

All CC decisions are posted on its website: http://www.cconstitucional.org.mz/

Nigeria: Opposition party criticises country's leadership as nation clocks 49

2009-10-02

http://tinyurl.com/ydrm6n4

Nigeria's most vocal opposition political party, the Action Congress (AC), said Nigeria's "comatose state", on the occasion of its 49th independence anniversary, has brought to the fore the litany of opportunities missed by the nation to leap into the rarefied height of developed countries and ensure better life for its people. In a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Alha ji Lai Mohammed, the party said a succession of inept, selfish and visionless le a ders was to blame for the sorry state in which a country that was so promising at independence in 1960 had now found itself.

Uganda: Museveni, King Mutebi dialogue after deadly riots

2009-10-02

http://tinyurl.com/yd7awxy

After four years of giving each other a cold shoulder, Uganda President Yoweri Museveni and the King Ronald Muweanda Mutebu II of the Buganda held an hour-long private discussion at the State House in Entebbe on Wednesday, government officials said. The meeting is aimed at easing tension between the dominant Buganda ethnic group - with an estimated 12 million population out of the country's 30 million " and the President Museveni -led central government, after riots 11-14 September 2009 level several people dead.

Kenya: Auditors suspect fraud in World Bank projects

2009-10-02

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601116&sid=aGW10zerueuw

Kenyan government auditors found losses of about 131 million shillings ($1.8 million) in two World Bank-funded projects “due to what appears to be fraud and corruption,” Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta said. As many as 50 project managers, junior and senior staff accused of involvement have been suspended while investigators look into the cases, Kenyatta said at a briefing in the capital, Nairobi.

Kenya: Corruption chief resigns

2009-10-02

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8283103.stm

Kenya's much-criticised anti-corruption chief has resigned just weeks after he was reappointed by the president. Aaron Ringera said he was stepping down in the best interests of the country and the anti-corruption commission. President Mwai Kibaki had unilaterally reappointed him for a second five-year term as head of the commission without consulting parliament.

Kenya: Statement on Kibaki letter to Obama

The Partnership for Change

2009-10-01

http://blog.marsgroupkenya.org/?p=1287

The Kibaki administration is ruffled by the United States Government latest actions on Kenya and it has nothing to do with travel bans. Money is at stake and the soft underbelly of the regime is exposed. Although it touts itself as financially self-reliant, in truth the Grand Coalition Government of Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga cannot afford to ignore the International Community and especially the United States’ stated intention of scrutinising all loans and financial programmes for Kenya by the International Financial Institutions.

Africa: EU, Central African countries sign agreement

2009-10-02

http://tinyurl.com/y8598cl

The European Union and Central African bodies have signed an agreement in Brussels under which the EU will help develop projects with trans-border roads and railways and telecommunication infrastructure.

Global: Emerging economies battle for more voting rights at IMF

2009-10-02

http://tinyurl.com/yc94sph

Arguments about how much influence developing economies have over the world’s financial affairs are set to dominate the International Monetary Fund summit in Istanbul this week. There was some progress at last week’s G20 meeting in Pittsburgh, but until details are agreed, the balance of power between key economic players remains unresolved. Under existing arrangements, the industrialised countries hold 57 per cent of the IMF votes.

Zimbabwe: IMF says economy to grow by 3.7% this year

2009-10-02

http://zimbabwejournalists.com/story.php?art_id=6044

Zimbabwe's economy is projected to grow by 3.7 percent this year, according to the International Monetary Fund, the first expansion since 1997. The IMF in its latest World Economic Outlook published on Thursday did not give reasons for its assessment. It forecast that growth in the southern African nation's gross domestic product would accelerate to 6 percent in 2010.

Africa: Taking stock of ARV access

2009-10-02

http://www.health-e.org.za/news/article.php?uid=20032519

Less than half of adults and children needing antiretroviral treatment (ART) in sub-Saharan Africa - where two-thirds of all global HIV infections occur - are receiving it. This is despite the region showing the greatest gains worldwide in terms of access to the lifesaving drugs. According to a report released today, (Wed) 45% of HIV positive pregnant women received the drugs needed to prevent them from passing the virus on to their baby, up from 35% the year before.

Angola: "It's normal here that children die young"

2009-10-01

http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=48632

Angelina Silva doesn’t remember the exact dates when her sons died. She just remembers their ages. "One was one year old, the other was one year and nine months," she said. "They had an illness. We think it was malaria, but we don’t know for sure." The 30-year-old, who has five other children and lives in a shantytown on the outskirts of Angola’s capital Luanda, is unsentimental.

Global: Big Pharma, conservatives and Aids in Africa

2009-10-01

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/abandoning-our-responsibility/article1301942/

When is a government guilty of mass murder? If a government knowingly allows hundreds of thousands of people to die unnecessarily, what is its responsibility? Is indirect guilt, or guilt by omission, less culpable than direct guilt or guilt by commission? All these fraught questions now arise because Apotex, the Canadian generic drug giant, has sent its final shipment of inexpensive AIDS medication to Africa. The company says that the five-year-old federal legislation meant to facilitate this process is impossible to work with, and the Harper government refuses to fix it, writes Gerald Caplan.

Global: Inching towards universal access to PMTCT services

2009-10-02

http://www.plusnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=86379

More than half of HIV-positive pregnant women in low- and middle-income countries continue to go without life-saving anti-retroviral medication that could prevent transmission of the virus to their unborn children, according to a new report, Towards Universal Access. "Although there is increasing emphasis on women and children in the global HIV/AIDS response, the disease continues to have a devastating impact on their health, livelihood and survival," Ann Veneman, executive director of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), said in a statement.

Southern africa: Botswana 'fighting devastating AIDS pandemic'

2009-10-02

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=32358

Botswana – where nearly one quarter of people between the ages of 15 and 49 are living with HIV – is taking steps with the help of international assistance to combat the devastating AIDS pandemic, an official from the Southern African nation told the General Assembly. “HIV/AIDS undoubtedly continues to be one of the most daunting challenges of our time,” Charles Thembani Ntwaagae, Botswana’s Ambassador to the United Nations, told the Assembly’s annual high-level gathering.

Uganda: Majority of patients lost to follow-up still alive one year late - study

2009-10-02

http://www.aidsmap.com/en/news/F02C75BA-8D4A-4314-AC14-6BF2D3B6B2A0.asp

A study of patients who failed to return to their HIV clinic in Uganda found that the majority were still alive after one year, contrary to assumptions, and in many cases had either transferred to other clinics or faced transport and access difficulties in getting to the clinic, according to research by Elvin Geng and colleagues in a paper published in advance online by the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes.

Zimbabwe: health workers afforded mobility with UN bikes

2009-10-02

http://www.afrol.com/articles/34317

The United Nations has provided hundreds of bicycles and motorcycles for Zimbabwean health workers to respond to potential cholera and flu outbreaks, the latest in a series of steps by the world body to help the southern African country confront acute humanitarian needs. The 300 black bicycles and 124 bright red motor cycles, purchased by the UN World Health Organisation (WHO) with $500,000 from the Central Emergency Response Fund, will enable health workers to move quickly to prepare for and respond to potential health concerns, including cholera outbreaks and the H1N1 flu pandemic.

Africa: Appeal for help keeping poor students in school

2009-10-02

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/EGUA-7WEN2D?OpenDocument

14 leading African Finance and Education Ministers have written to development and finance ministers in leading OECD donor countries, appealing for financial help to send 20 million children to primary school for the first time by the end of next year.

Niger: Educating disabled children

2009-10-02

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=86343

Despite efforts to accommodate disabled students in Niger's schools, a lack of trained specialists limits the number of children schools can serve, according to the NGO Handicap International. "Schools for blind and deaf persons do not have qualified teachers to work with this population," Abdourhamane Barké, an outreach worker with Handicap International in the capital Niamey, said.

Global: Hazardous chemicals in plastic shoes

2009-10-01

http://tinyurl.com/nunvme

The shoe industry is one of the most globalised industries in the world. Shoes, and in particular plastic shoes that have been analysed in this study, have become a throwaway item for many people the world over. This study has been conducted in collaboration with six of the Swedish Society for Nature Conservtion's (SSNC) co-operation organisations in the Philippines, India, South Africa, Uganda, Tanzania and Indonesia.

Global: Why the climate revolution must be a fair revolution

Fairtrade Foundation

2009-10-01

http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/includes/documents/cm_docs/2009/c/climate_report_final.pdf

It is those at the heart of the Fairtrade movement, poor farmers and workers, in developing countries, that are at the very frontline of the climate crisis. These individuals and their families are already reporting to us the impact that climate
change is having on their livelihoods and their wellbeing. The Fairtrade movement has always fought to support small farmers and workers in their quest to find solutions to the challenges they face. As the climate crisis looms we will continue to do so, and this document outlines how we believe that our founding principles, experience, and the networks we have built up, mean that we are uniquely placed to play a specific role in the global response to climate change.

Southern Africa: Neglected land washing away

Patrick Burnett

2009-10-02

http://www.ipsterraviva.net/europe/article.aspx?id=7875

Damage to wetlands high in Lesotho's Maluti mountains has impacts on the health of the whole of the Orange-Senqu river system. The wetlands in this mountainous region stabilise soil, retain sediment and contribute to river flow from this area of high rainfall. In so doing, they indirectly support the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP), which captures water in dams and supplies it to water-thirsty South African industry and agriculture. The water Lesotho sells to South Africa is the mountain kingdom's largest source of foreign income.

Times Heroes of the Environment 2009

Nnimmo Bassey

2009-10-02

http://tinyurl.com/yd4jso7

It wasn't an oil spill that made Nnimmo Bassey an environmentalist. It was a massacre — the 1990 assault by Nigeria's armed forces on the village of Umuechem, where residents of the oil-rich Niger Delta had accused the Shell Petroleum Development Company of environmental degradation and economic neglect.

West Africa:UN experts advance plans for biodiversity corridor

2009-10-02

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=32393

A plan to develop a biodiversity corridor across the border between Côte d'Ivoire and Liberia will be the focus of discussions to be held in Abidjan next week in cooperation the United Nations and other organizations. Hosted by the Ivorian Minister of Environment, Water and Forests, the meeting on 5-6 October is part of a transnational initiative launched by the UN-led Great Apes Survival Partnership (GRASP) and the Wild Chimpanzee Foundation (WCF).

Global: Promoting responsible international investment in agriculture

2009-10-02

http://farmlandgrab.org/8002

The Government of Japan, in association with the World Bank, FAO, IFAD and UNCTAD, hosted a Roundtable “Promoting Responsible International Investment in Agriculture” on Wednesday 23 September in the Millennium Hotel, New York. The meeting was intended to initiate a coordinated global response to the growing trend of major agricultural investment associated with acquisition of rights to land and related resources, particularly in the developing world.

Kenya: Government blamed for persistent food crisis

2009-10-02

http://farmlandgrab.org/7982

Small scale farmers have accused the Kenyan Government of failing to act to address persistent food insecurity. Further, they want policies that discourage use of chemical fertilisers and other substances that damage soil fertility to be introduced. Under the auspices of the Sustainable Agriculture and Community Development Programme, the group also opposed the leasing of agricultural land to foreigners.

South Africa: Farmers to conclude Congo, Libya land deals

2009-10-02

http://farmlandgrab.org/8019

South Africa’s largest farmers’ union expects to conclude a multimillion hectare farmland deal with the Republic of Congo and agree a smaller land lease with Libya next month, its deputy president said. Theo de Jager, Deputy President of farmers’ grouping AgriSA said on Wednesday the union expected to finalise its 10 million hectare deal with the Republic of Congo in mid October.

Tanzania: Pressure mounts on government following Maasai evictions

2009-10-02

http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/4974

Pressure is mounting on the Tanzanian government following the recent violent evictions of Maasai from their land in Loliondo, Northern Tanzania, to make way for the hunting company, Otterlo Business Corporation (OBC). Local human rights organizations are filing criminal and civil cases against the Tanzanian government on behalf of the affected Maasai people at the High Court in Arusha. More than 100 witnesses are reportedly willing to testify.

Global: Price Moot Court 2010

2009-10-01

http://pricemootcourt.socleg.ox.ac.uk/

A very successful Second Edition of the Price Moot Court took place in Oxford from 18 - 21 March 2009. Teams from Malaysia, India, China, Jordan, Europe and the United States competed, and many internationally recognized media law experts acted as judges, including Judge Dean Spielmann from the European Court of Human Rights, Ms Siobhain Butterworth from The Guardian, Ms Gugu Moyo from the International Bar Association, Mr Mark Stephens from Finers Stephens Innocent and Sir Louis Blom-Cooper QC. The finals of the Third Edition of the competition will be taking place in Oxford in March 2010.

Senegal: Attacks against Wal Fadjri media group condemned

2009-10-02

http://www.ifex.org/senegal/2009/10/01/walfadjri_offices_attacked/

The management of Wal Fadjri told ARTICLE 19 on the phone that the 'talibes' (disciples) of religious leader Serigne Modou Kara Mbacke broke into the premises of the broadcasting company at 14h45 on 25 September 2009 wielding clubs and iron bars. The disciples wrecked part of the equipment in the marketing department and sacked the office of the head of administration.

Sudan: UN welcomes order to lift censorship on newspapers

2009-10-02

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=32351

The United Nations has welcomed the reported decision by President Omar Al-Bashir to immediately lift censorship on Sudanese newspapers. “This decision will advance the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) and is an important step towards creating an appropriate environment for the multi-party elections scheduled for April 2010,” the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) said in a statement.

Uganda: Talk radio in hot water over riots

2009-10-02

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=86402

Criminal charges and the closure of several radio stations over alleged incitement to violence in Kampala have sparked a debate about the limits of free speech in Uganda. The Uganda Broadcasting Council (UBC) silenced four Luganda* radio stations during three days of riots in September 2009 sparked by the government's refusal to allow the king of Buganda, Kabaka Ronald Mutebi, from travelling to a district within his kingdom.

Zimbabwe: Goodbye ZW News

2009-10-02

http://www.swradioafrica.com/news011009/zwnews011009.htm

On Wednesday close to two hundred thousand people from Arizona to Zanzibar read the last email from ZW News – a daily email compilation of the latest news stories on Zimbabwe. Despite the cost effectiveness and wide subscriber base, the man behind ZW News in the UK, and his colleague in Zimbabwe, have been unable to source funding to keep going.

CAR: The LRA - not finished yet

2009-10-02

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=86391

As three truck-loads of newly arrived soldiers from the Central African Armed Forces (FACA) drove through Obo, local residents talked with bitterness and resignation about the continuing security problems and inability of either local forces or their allies from the better-equipped Ugandan People’s Defence Force (UPDF) to flush out combatants from the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA).

Indonesia: Aid trickles in as quake toll tops 1,000

2009-10-02

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/SP439980.htm

Aid for thousands of survivors of an earthquake in the Indonesia port of Padang began trickling in on Friday, but rescue efforts were hampered by power blackouts and a lack of heavy equipment to shift masonry. The United Nations said more than 1,000 had been killed in Wednesday's quake in and around the city of 900,000, which sits atop one of the world's most active seismic fault lines along the Pacific "Ring of Fire".

Somalia: Port city buries its dead

2009-10-02

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8286449.stm

Residents of the Somali port of Kismayo are burying the dead and tending to the injured after a day of fierce clashes between rival Islamist groups. Al-Shabab has gained control of the city and the Hizbul-Islam fighters have withdrawn to villages to the west.

Sudan: Organized violence escalating in the south

2009-10-02

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=86389

A month before the recent attack in Jonglei State that left scores dead, Daniel Dau had moved his family from Duk to Twich East County, about 100km away, believing they would be safer there. But he was wrong. On 20 September, Duk Padiet village in Twich was attacked and at least 167 people killed, according to Jonglei State statistics.

South Africa: Kontax launched

m4Lit Project

2009-10-01

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/internet/59145

On 30 September 2009 Kontax – an m-novel created for the Shuttleworth Foundation’s m4Lit project– launches in South Africa, making world history as the first of its kind to be offered in both English and isiXhosa. The m4Lit project, led by Steve Vosloo, 21st Century Learning Fellow for the Shuttleworth Foundation, aims to not only explore the potential for increased reading and writing for 21st century teens through mobile phones, but also to introduce a more interactive style of story writing and publishing that holds appeal to the participatory culture of youth.
m4Lit Project, Shuttleworth Foundation, September 2009, Cape Town, South Africa

On 30 September 2009 Kontax – an m-novel created for the Shuttleworth Foundation’s m4Lit project– launches in South Africa, making world history as the first of its kind to be offered in both English and isiXhosa. The m4Lit project, led by Steve Vosloo, 21st Century Learning Fellow for the Shuttleworth Foundation, aims to not only explore the potential for increased reading and writing for 21st century teens through mobile phones, but also to introduce a more interactive style of story writing and publishing that holds appeal to the participatory culture of youth. The hope behind the m4Lit project is that by researching the role of cellphones in teen reading and writing, educationalists and publishers can better understand the opportunities and risk for literacy practices presented by the most popular communication device used by any teen today.

About m4Lit (mobile phones for literacy)

The m4Lit pilot project aims to explore whether teens are interested in reading stories on their cellphones, whether and how they write using their cellphones, and whether cellphones might be used to develop literacy skills and a love of reading. Enter Kontax, an m-novel written on commission from the Shuttleworth Foundation by prize winning ‘mobilist’ Sam Wilson. Kontax is an m-novel made for mobile – and from 30 September readers will be able to access the dynamic teen narrative from their WAP-enabled cellphones, or from their computers. Every day another exciting chapter in the mystery plot will be told, with 21 chapters rolling out over 21 days. Teen readers will be invited to interact with Kontax as it unfolds on their cellphones: they can vote on and discuss the progressing plot, leave comments, download wallpapers and finally submit a written piece as part of a competition, with airtime prizes available for winning submissions.

The story – about the adventures of a group of teenage graffiti writers – is published in both English and isiXhosa to increase accessibility to a broad range of South African teenagers, aged 14-16 years. As part of the research component of this project, interviews with teens in Cape Town before and after the publishing of Kontax will establish to what extent this project changes South African learners' attitudes to reading and writing, what learners think about m-novels, and whether the mobile medium as a literacy tool interests or excites them.

Global perspective

In inviting interaction from and discussion amongst its teenage readers, Kontax is aligned with leading global trends, and follows the success of audience participation in story writing found in Japan, where teens have been reading and writing novels on their cellphones in this way for a number of years. The popularity of the m-novel is clearly evident in Japan, where six out of the top 10 fiction best sellers in 2008 were m-novels that had later been printed in book form. The evolution of digital media has had a profound impact on the literacy practices of teenagers from east to west – in the USA, research has shown that through their computers today's teens are reading and writing more than ever, not formally but on blogs, MySpace pages and via instant messages. Increasingly, SMSes and chats on their cellphones also form part of the “reading” and “writing” of digital literacy.

In 2006 Steve Vosloo spent a year at Stanford University in the heart of Silicon Valley, tapping into all these developments in his research on how youth can use digital media to tell stories. He had been using ICTs (Information and Communication Technologies) for development and education for some time in SA, but the focus now shifted specifically to youth, at a time when user-generated content and Web 2.0 were really taking hold. Two things became apparent: young people do not only want to consume content, they also want to create, share and remix it – characteristics of a so-called participatory culture. Secondly, digital media and ICTs, whether blogs, videos or mobile phones, are the much loved tools that empower this youth creativity.

Placing South Africa in the global digital collage

Teens in South Africa (SA) are not as broadband and web-enabled as their American counterparts, but they do have a lead in terms of access to and usage of mobile phones. In SA, mobile texting and mobile instant messaging is prolific. MXit, the popular instant messaging service, claims that 250 million messages (as part of chat conversations) are exchanged every day amongst its 14 million subscribers, a substantial number of whom are in the 18 and under age group.

Having returned from the USA to take up a fellowship at the Shuttleworth Foundation, Vosloo saw first hand that Africa is the world's fastest growing market for mobile phones. The continent is truly experiencing a communication revolution through cellphones (despite excessively high tariffs), especially in SA. The ways in which youth are using their cellphones to communicate, socialise, play, learn and even earn money, are far more innovative than in most developed countries. With computer-based broadband penetration at around 10%, and cellphone penetration up to 90% amongst the youth, for many in SA the cellphone, not the PC, is the tool for user-generated content. For many a cellphone also means access to the Internet. In this context, a worthwhile research project seemed to involve exploring the mobile medium as a way to get young people to read, interact with, and write stories. Kontax is the result of years of interrelated research, many months of planning as well as exciting creative and technological collaboration. Kontax officially launches at the the Book Lounge in Cape Town on Wednesday 30 September at 18h00. All are welcome, but should please RSVP to either booklounge@gmail.com or 021 462 2425.

Pros and Cons of the m-novel

Pros: Providing accessible, interactive reading material. The low level of literacy amongst South African youth is a recognised problem. Two factors that contribute to this is that learners do not read and write enough, and that books are unaffordable, and therefore unavailable, to many learners. Given that cellphones are increasingly pervasive devices, it is worth exploring their potential for publishing and authoring. Cellphones may represent a way to alleviate the chronic shortage of books in SA as they provide a viable content distribution solution.

Cons: One potentially negative impact of mobiles for literacy is around text speak – or "txtspk". Most written communication on cellphones doesn’t follow the traditional norms of the written language, but is rather based on emergent practices of abbreviations, shortenings and letter-number combinations, e.g. gr8 for great. The jury is out on whether txtspk is responsible for the degradation of spelling and grammar amongst today's youth, or whether it encourages writing that is economical, inventive and playful – and even improves phonetic awareness – thus making it a positive practice.

Contextual affiliations

The Shuttleworth Foundation supports innovative applications of digital media that improve teaching and learning in the 21st century, through practical projects. The m4Lit project explores the role of ICTs that are already in the hands of many youth to encourage reading and writing as they are practised in the 21st century.

The team at the Shuttleworth Foundation has been advised by two researchers from the University of Cape Town. Associate Professor Ana Deumert specialises in multilingualism and indigenous literacies, while Dr Marion Walton specialises in media, digital literacies and mobile literacies. Dr Walton has researched how youth in Cape Town use their cellphones and, in particular, MXit, for socialising and learning.

Fontera has developed the mobisite, while the m-novel and visual design for the Kontax story has been created by Clockwork Zoo. Sam Wilson, a writer there won the Novel Idea story competition last year, when he wrote a 30-chapter, 900-characters-per-chapter m-novel. Nkululeko Mabandla translated the story into isiXhosa.

The m4Lit project started in August 2009 and will run until November 2009, with project findings being released in December.

Practical info

After 30 September a new chapter from Kontax will be released every day. Each chapter is about 400 words long

To read the story, vote, comment and enter the competitions, teens can register on www.kontax.mobi from 30 September.

Or SMS "Kontax" to 33039 now. (Readers will be sent a reminder SMS back when the story launches.)

Readers will get the story – and clear directions on how to participate and enter the competitions from the Kontax mobisite.

SMS is charged at R1.50. This service is only available to WAP-enabled cellphones.

Follow Kontax:

On Twitter: http://twitter.com/kontaxmobi or using #kontax.

On Facebook: join the group Kontax (http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=159939092618)


PRESS IMAGES

For a range of high-res press images and related captions please go to http://www.flickr.com/photos/41661758@N08/

CREDITING OF IMAGES
All images and Kontax story content will be released under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 2.5 South Africa licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5/za/)
Credit should read: “Shuttleworth Foundation, Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 2.5 South Africa”

Contact person

Steve Vosloo

m4Lit Project Leader

Shuttleworth Foundation

Call: 083 208 9891

Email: steve.vosloo@shuttleworthfoundation.org
Blog: http://m4lit.wordpress.com (for project updates)

Press Release

Issued by: Emerging Media

Contact person: Renee Conradie
Call: 011 792 4706

Email: renee@emergingmedia.co.za

5th Conference of the Portuguese Political Science Association

4-6 March 2010

2009-10-01

http://tinyurl.com/ydco9x5

The Portuguese Political Science Association (APCP) is inviting submissions for panels and papers for presentation at its Fifth Conference, which will take place at the University of Aveiro during 4-6 March 2010. Proposals should be sent by email to congressos(at)apcp.pt no later than 31 October 2009.

Africa: African Women Public Service Fellowship

2009-10-01

http://wagner.nyu.edu/international/awpsf.php

New York University Wagner announces a call for applications for the African Women Public Service Fellowship, a fellowship program made possible by a donation from the Oprah Winfrey Foundation, which expands the opportunity for African women to prepare for public service in their home countries. As fellows at NYU Wagner, African women study in one of two graduate programs: the two-year Master of Public Administration or the one-year Executive MPA: Concentration on International Public Service Organizations.

Global: Africa Women's Law and Public Policy Fellowship Proga

2009-10-01

http://www.law.georgetown.edu/wlppfp/

The Leadership and Advocacy for Women in Africa (LAWA) Fellowship Program was founded in 1993 at the Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, D.C., in order to train women's human rights lawyers from Africa who are committed to returning home to their countries in order to advance the status of women and girls in their own countries throughout their careers. Over 50 women's human rights advocates from Botswana, Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe have participated in the LAWA Program. The application deadline for the LAWA Program, is Wednesday, September 30, 2009.

African Journal of Science, Technology, Innovation and Development (AJSTID)

2009-10-02

http://www.ajstid.com/

Harnessing science and technology, and fostering innovation have become imperatives to address the problems and challenges of structural transformation of the South. This is increasingly so in the context of globalised and knowledge economy. As there is no journal with special focus on science, technology, and innovation in Africa, AJSTID aims to address this need.

Programme Director, Demand Dignity

Amnesty International

2009-10-02

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/59172

Programme Director, Demand Dignity
London based
£53,568 plus excellent benefits (3 year fixed-term contract)

Big issues demand big ideas. If you have them, bring them to the biggest human rights campaigning platform there is. Amnesty is the only global movement of its kind. And we can give you a louder voice and the chance to make a massive difference the world over.

About the role
You’ll boost the Demand Dignity campaign’s effectiveness and the quality of Amnesty’s work on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights by shaping the direction that the programme takes, and deciding which issues they focus on. It’s a strategic role and a creative one. It’ll be down to you to get the most out of your budget by harnessing new approaches and fresh thinking. Working closely with others at the International Secretariat, Amnesty’s sections worldwide, and our partners, you will steer the resources using innovative forms of activism and capitalising on other emerging campaigning opportunities. But whatever tactics you employ, you’ll never lose sight of the big picture, our core values and the ultimate aim of ending human rights violations.

About you
You’ll have already proven you can develop and deliver global campaigns that galvanise people into action and make change happen. And whichever part of the world you’re working in now, you’ll have shown you’re forward-thinking, and well able to initiate and win support for your innovative projects. Thoroughly familiar with human rights issues, you’ll have a deep understanding of the links between poverty and human rights including perspectives from the global south, you’ll also have developed sound political judgement, strong relationship-building skills and a flair for putting your points across convincingly. Now you’ll be looking for a more influential role in a complex campaigning environment – one where you can truly capitalise on your ability to make and win arguments.

About us
Amnesty International is a worldwide movement of people standing up for human rights. Our network extends to more than two million members and subscribers in more than 150 countries around the world. Each one of us is outraged by human rights abuses but inspired by hope for a better world – and together we work to improve human rights through campaigning and international solidarity. This year Amnesty launched its biggest and most ambitious global campaign to date, the Demand Dignity Campaign against the human rights violations that keep people poor.

To apply, visit our website and quote reference CP/09/15.

Closing date: 25th October 2009.

Regional Campaign Coordinator - Africa

Amnesty International

2009-10-02

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/59171

Regional Campaign Coordinator - Africa
Central London Based
£37,584 plus excellent benefits and relocation package
Permanent contract

As Regional Campaign Coordinator for the Africa Program, you will be responsible for developing AI’s campaigning and crisis response work on sub-Saharan Africa. This will include initiating, coordinating and evaluating campaigns and major actions on the region. Working closely with our membership Mobilization Programme in strengthening the campaigning skills and capacity of AI’s membership structures in Africa, you will contribute directly to the development of our campaigning work worldwide.

You will have knowledge of sources of social, political and economic influence in the region and advise on AI’s strengths in mobilizing such influence in relation to Africa in order to enhance the campaigning activities on the region. Sensitive to the cultures and peoples of sub-Saharan Africa, you will have a sound knowledge of human rights concerns in the region as well as experience of working with civil society in Africa. You must be able to think and plan strategically, have sound political judgement and excellent organisational and communication skills. Fluent English and French language skills are essential.

Amnesty International (AI) is a worldwide movement of volunteers and professionals standing up for human rights. Independent of any government, ideology, economic interest or religion, we have more than 2 million supporters in over 150 countries. Our purpose is to research, speak out and take action to protect individuals wherever rights, justice, fairness, freedom and truth are denied.

Closing date for this position: 25th October 2009.

To find out more and apply, visit our website and quote reference AFR/09/09.

Fahamu