Back Issues

Climate change and Africa's natural resources

African governments and outside powers must be accountable

William Minter and Anita Wheeler

2009-10-29

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/59823

cc TFTFOn the eve of the UN Climate Change Conference this December, ‘momentum for action falls far short of that needed to avert catastrophe’, William Minter and Anita Wheeler write in this week’s Pambazuka News. When it comes to Africa's natural resources, say Minter and Wheeler, the ‘prospects for change depend squarely on African governments, on foreign companies and their home-country governments, and on the pressures that can be mobilised by national and international civil society’. With Africa predicted to ‘suffer consequences out of all proportion to its contribution to global warming, which is primarily caused by greenhouse gas emissions from wealthy countries’, African governments ‘can and should take action now’.

On the eve of the climate change summit in Copenhagen this December, momentum for action still falls far short of that needed to avert catastrophe. Africa will suffer consequences out of all proportion to its contribution to global warming, which is primarily caused by greenhouse gas emissions from wealthy countries.

But Africa can also make significant contributions to mitigating (i.e. limiting) climate change. Stopping tropical deforestation is one of the most cost-effective means to slow the growth of greenhouse gases. Ending gas flaring in Africa's oil-producing countries could reduce carbon emissions and, as a bonus, also provide cleaner electricity.

Environmental activists in Africa – people like Nnimo Bassey in Nigeria, Wangari Maathai in Kenya, and Marc Ona Essangui in Gabon – are thus also on the frontlines against global warming. The damage from gas flaring and deforestation shows up both on the ground and in satellite photographs on the Internet. Reversing the damage will require both local and global action.

AFRICA'S STAKE IN CLIMATE CHANGE ACTION

In Africa, as around the world, awareness is growing that climate change is not a remote threat but an immediate danger causing more frequent ‘extreme weather conditions’ of drought and flooding. Ice is melting at the poles and on Mount Kilimanjaro. The waters of Lake Chad are disappearing. Drought cycles in East Africa are becoming more unpredictable.

Africa is particularly vulnerable to climate change, notes the International Panel on Climate Change. Factors such as dependence on rain-fed agriculture and the impact of warming on the spread of disease reinforce multiple pre-existing stresses. Like AIDS, the threat is already here. The toll is rising. Even more damaging effects will play out over decades.

Yet global warming comes primarily from greenhouse gas emissions outside Africa. Much of Africa's share, moreover, comes from extracting natural resources to be exported.

According to the latest estimates, the entire African continent was responsible for only 3.7 per cent of the world's annual CO2 emissions, compared to China with 21.5 per cent, the United States with 20 per cent, and the European Union with 14 per cent. Comparing cumulative emissions, a better measure of environmental impact, Africa's estimated 26.7 billion metric tons of emissions (1900-2004) were less than half the 55.1 billion tons from the United Kingdom, and only 8 per cent of the 314.8 billion tons from the United States.



African countries have prepared a common position for Copenhagen, stressing strong targets for emissions reduction by developed countries and global responsibility to aid Africa in reducing emissions and adapting to change. But attention at the conference will centre elsewhere. The United States and China are the two largest contributors to global warming, followed by Europe and emerging powers such as India, Brazil, and Russia. Africa's leverage in the negotiations is limited.

Whatever is decided in global talks, the crucial test will be what happens on the ground. When it comes to Africa's natural resources, the prospects for change depend squarely on African governments, on foreign companies and their home-country governments, and on the pressures that can be mobilised by national and international civil society.

Two sectors well illustrate the point: Oil production with its by-product of gas flaring, and deforestation, the result both of local land-use pressures and the export of tropical woods.

GAS FLARING

When crude oil is extracted, it comes with natural gas which must be separated. If this gas is not captured for fuel, or reinjected into the earth, it is vented into the air or burned. Venting and flaring produce methane and CO2, both greenhouse gases. Gas flaring is one of the two largest sources of CO2 emissions in sub-Saharan Africa, second only to coal-fired power generation in South Africa.

Recent satellite studies show that Russia is by far the largest gas flaring country, with an estimated 40.6 billion cubic meters (BCM) in 2008. But Nigeria ranks second, with 15.1 BCM. Algeria, Libya, and Angola rank 5th, 7th, and 9th (see National Geophysical Data Center for data and satellite images). Nigeria now exports liquefied natural gas to Europe, as well as to Togo, Benin, and Ghana. But about a third of the gas is still flared. If all the gas was instead used to produce energy, the country could gain as much as US$2.5 billion a year in revenues, as well as reducing greenhouse gas emissions and toxic effects on the local environment.



Stopping gas flaring, it would seem, would be a win-win proposition. Indeed the Nigerian government and even the oil companies have joined critics in recognising this. The Nigerian government first outlawed routine gas flaring in 1979, imposing fines and setting a target to end flaring by 1984.

All the major oil companies in Nigeria, principally the Dutch-British Shell Oil, and American companies Chevron and ExxonMobil, are members of the World Bank-sponsored Global Gas Flaring Reduction Public-Private Partnership, as are Nigeria and the United States. The World Bank notes that ‘Capture and use of the flared gas is ... a so-called low-hanging fruit relative to other carbon emissions reductions.’

But as Nnimo Bassey of Environmental Rights Action testified to Nigeria's National Environmental Consultation in December 2008, both the oil companies and the government (which has majority shares in the major oil concessions) have again and again found excuses for delay.

Most recently, despite some reductions, deadlines to end flaring were missed in 2007 and 2008. A new deadline for the end of 2009 will also not be met. Meanwhile, fines for non-compliance are so low that the companies easily include them in the cost of production. In 2005, the Nigerian High Court, judging a case brought by the Iwerekan community in Delta State, declared gas flaring to be an unconstitutional threat to human welfare. It ordered Shell to stop gas flaring there, and mandated the government to impose meaningful penalties to stop the practice. The judgment has not been enforced.

OPPORTUNITIES AND OBSTACLES

The effects of gas flaring on global warming are, of course, only part of the damages from Niger Delta oil. Analysts have repeatedly documented corruption and distortion of the national economy, toxic effects on the local environment, marginalisation of local communities, and militarisation of repression, all with the complicity of international oil companies. (For a dramatic visual record and sharp analysis, see The Curse of the Black Gold, by photographer Ed Kashi and political scientist Michael Watts).

There is also an enormous opportunity cost in failing to convert gas to reliable electricity. More than half of Nigerians have no electric power. Power outages plague Nigeria's businesses, leading those who can afford them to rely on fossil-fuel-burning generators. The gas lost through flaring could more than fill Nigeria's electricity needs. In one community in the Delta, Bonny Kingdom, there is a local small-scale gas distribution system that provides power, in addition to the LNG export facility there. But many – if not most – of the oil-producing communities have no electricity at all. Nationwide, serious power shortages are predicted to continue at least through 2015. And expensive projects to export natural gas are still given priority over those to provide electricity within the country.

Local communities in the Delta have been involved in resistance for decades. The non-violent campaign by the Ogoni people was met with the killing of Ken Saro-Wiwa by the Nigerian military regime in 1995. But non-violent actions by environmental groups have continued, as civilian governments since 1999 have also failed to satisfy the grievances of people in the oil-producing areas. Since 2005, a guerrilla insurgency under the banner of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has targeted oil installations, causing as much as US$4 billion a year in lost revenues.

International environmentalist and human rights groups have documented the abuses, campaigned for accountability, and supported legal actions such as a suit by Ogoni activists that won a US$15.5 million settlement from Shell in mid-2009. Yet pledges to resolve the conflict and clean up the environment in the Niger Delta have repeatedly evaporated, just as have the deadlines to end gas flaring. Vested interests have demonstrated their capacity to resist change.

Industry defenders argue that oil production must continue while ways are found to solve the problems. Niger Delta activists are now turning that argument on its head. ‘The truth is that indeed that is the best option: Leaving the oil in the ground,’ Bassey told the National Environmental Consultation. Such an option is unlikely, given the country's dependence on oil revenues. But unless action is taken to reduce the damage, Bassey noted, the externalised costs will continue to rise.

Open conflict in the Niger Delta may be temporarily abating, as several key leaders of armed resistance have accepted a government amnesty. But there is still little evidence that the Nigerian government or foreign oil companies will confront the long-term issues. And so the damage continues to mount up. As the effects of global warming accelerate, it will not only be the marginalised communities of the Niger Delta that suffer. Lagos and other coastal cities around the world will face the dangers of rising sea levels and catastrophic floods.

AFRICA'S CARBON SINK

Africa's oil contributes to global warming both when produced and when consumed. Africa's tropical forests, in contrast, are among the most productive ‘carbon sinks’. Tropical forests store much more carbon than they produce, storing it in biomass or soil.

Globally, tropical forests absorb nearly a fifth of carbon emissions released by fossil fuels each year (Nature, February 2009). They also cool the atmosphere by putting moisture into the atmosphere through evapotranspiration (See the Annual State of the World's Forests).

The Congo Basin is home to the world’s second largest rainforest, second only to the Amazon. Africa's forests help regulate both temperature and rainfall. But Africa is losing more than 4 million hectares of forests a year, according to the UN Environment Programme. This is more than three times the world's average rate, equivalent to clearing an area the size of Switzerland every year. As a result, according to UN estimates, by 2020, some African countries may see a 50 per cent reduction in rain-fed agricultural yields.

Kenyan environmental activist Wangari Maathai won world renown for the Kenyan Greenbelt movement, becoming the first African women to win the Nobel Peace Prize, in 2004. ‘Protecting and restoring forest ecosystems, and arresting global warming, are matters of life and death,’ she stresses.

There is a clear international consensus that slowing deforestation is one of the most cost-effective ways to slow the growth of greenhouse gas emissions. Central African states have recognised the critical role of their forests, establishing the Central African Forests Commission (COMIFAC) in 1999 to coordinate forest protection. COMIFAC works with the Congo Basin Forest Partnership, which also includes donor governments, international organisations, non-governmental organisations, scientific, and industry groups.

The US Commission on Climate and Tropical Forests, in a report released this October, stressed that mitigating climate change by preserving the forests of the developing world, especially the Congo Basin, was ‘a vital national interest.’ Under pressure from international and local NGOs, China and the EU have committed to helping curb illegal logging in the Congo Basin. The May 2009 African Ministerial Conference on the Environment (AMCEN) in Nairobi also called for action against deforestation to be included in the new global climate regime.

Implementation, however, is difficult. There are multiple threats to Africa's forests. There is competition for land with local farmers, rising demand for wood for fuel, and rising world demand for tropical woods, with China replacing European countries as the top importer of logs in recent years, as this graph demonstrates[pdf]. Incentives for illegal logging and for cutting corners in legally approved projects are high.

In Africa's second biggest wood exporter, Gabon, local civil society has pushed the government and foreign companies towards greater accountability in the timber industry, illustrating the possibilities for constructive action. But, as in other countries, there is still a large gap between policy and reality.

CHINESE COMPANIES AND GABON’S FORESTS

Gabon’s forests cover up to 85 per cent of the country’s land area. Gabon was until recently relatively unaffected by deforestation because of its sparse population and oil wealth. Yet now that its oil reserves are diminishing, industrial logging by European and Chinese companies is expanding.

The government has laid out clear policies to control forest use. In 2002, President Omar Bongo declared 10 per cent of Gabon’s territory national park land. Quotas were set to reduce the share of logs in timber exports to 25 per cent by 2012, in favor of processed products. Companies must prepare ‘sustainable forest management plans.’ The rate of deforestation, about 10,000 hectares a year, is still relatively low, compared to neighbouring countries such as Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Yet nearly half of the nation's forest is now under timber leases. Demand for tropical timber is increasing, particularly from China, where massive rural to urban migration has driven a surge in construction. Gabon has become the leading African supplier of timber to China, and China the leading importer of Gabon's timber.

In this regard, greater environmental sensitivity in China has had contradictory effects. Domestic environmental activists, working with sympathetic scientists and government officials, have had some impact. Chinese banks have explicitly adopted environmental guidelines. China imposed strict laws banning logging in virgin forests a decade ago, winning praise from environmental groups. But the ban on domestic logging spurred imports linked to excessive logging in Southeast Asia as well as Africa. China thus stands accused of supporting policies abroad that it rejects at home.

News coverage of China's rapid economic expansion into Africa, such as the reported deal with the military regime in Guinea, has stressed China's willingness to disregard human rights concerns. But China is more sensitive to international and African criticism than generally acknowledged. The Chinese government wants to deflect criticism, especially on issues that garner international attention. This is particularly so in the environmental arena.

Thus the Chinese government has encouraged companies working in the Congo Basin to abide by local forest use laws In 2008, Chinese government and timber industry representatives visited with the government, private sector and civil society in Ghana, Liberia, DRC and Gabon, reiterating commitment to Sustainable Forest Management.

As in Western countries, the gap between national policy guidelines and the practice of specific companies can be very wide. In practice, in Gabon, Chinese as well as European companies are operating a significant proportion of timber concessions illegally. The burden is on Gabon's government to enforce the laws. But the fact that the laws are in place does give environmental activists some leverage.

One recent case demonstrates the potential, even in a context where neither the host country nor foreign interests are inclined to transparency and democratic accountability. That is the case involving the Ivindo National Park, which includes 3,000 square meters of forest rich in biodiversity. In 2006, the Gabon government and Chinese-owned CMEC entered into secret negotiations on the Belinga Iron Ore Project in Ivindo, a violation of Gabon's environmental protection laws.

Marc Ona Essangui, who leads the environmental NGO Brainforest, successfully pressured the Gabon government, CMEC and China’s Exim Bank to conduct an environmental assessment of the project.



Marc Ona Essangui (Credit: Rainforest Foundation)

In late 2008, Essangui was temporarily detained by police for his activism. But the Gabonese government and China's Exim Bank have put the project on hold to reassess its environmental impact.

Gabon, where 47 years of rule by strongman Omar Bongo has been followed this year by his son's victory in a disputed election, may seem an unlikely place for such pressure to have much effect. And the outcome is still uncertain. Essangui notes that forestry laws are still vulnerable to ‘well-oiled networks of corruption.’ Nevertheless, he told journalists after winning the Goldman Environmental Prize in April, ‘We have to protect our forests. It is our country, it is our duty.’

THE BOTTOM LINE

Decisions in Copenhagen will matter for Africa – what commitments the United States, China, and other countries are willing to make to firm targets on reducing carbon emissions, for example, and who will pay how much for mitigation of global warming and adaptation to changes already well under way.

It will make a difference to what extent international agreements mandate direct action or rely instead on complex ‘offset’ schemes that fund climate action in one place by allowing pollution to continue elsewhere (examples include the international Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) and the ‘cap-and-trade’ provisions in the proposed US climate bill). Depending on the details, the UN's REDD (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Degradation) may end up as one way to pay poor people and countries to preserve the environment, or as another offset mechanism vulnerable to fraud and deceptive calculations.

Whatever the results from Copenhagen, the bottom line on climate mitigation is how to actually decrease carbon emissions. Priority measures include increasing efficiency and cutting back the dirtiest fuel sources, particularly in the countries most responsible for emissions. But ‘low-hanging fruit’ such as curbing gas flaring and tropical deforestation must also be on the list for immediate action.

African governments can and should take action now. Foreign companies and governments can help or hinder. But overcoming resistance from vested short-term interests will not be easy. Local environmental activists have already taken the lead by actions such as targeting gas flaring in the Niger Delta and deforestation in Gabon. Global climate change activists must follow suit, using international platforms to connect local and global issues and demanding that change be measured against realities on the ground.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* William Minter is the editor of AfricaFocus Bulletin. Anita Wheeler is a doctoral student at Howard University specialising in China/Africa relations.
* This article appears in AfricaFocus Bulletin, Niger Delta Rising and the Institute for Policy Studies.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

Obama and racism in the West: What does it mean for Africa?

Patricia Daley

2009-10-29

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/59830

cc AdaminaThe prominence of the Obama family has brought black people's humanity onto the world stage, writes Patricia Daley. The Obama family's success challenges patriarchal systems headed by white alpha-males and reveals possibilities of overcoming exclusion for non-white people across North and South America and Europe, Daley contends, albeit in the face of a backlash aimed at reinforcing white supremacy. But if struggles in the West over racial exclusivity can ultimately promote greater confidence from Africans and black people around the world, will there be a fresh impetus to challenge explicit and implicit claims of superiority?

African peoples of all backgrounds, academics and governments have long been concerned about the image of Africa in the West. More recently, countries are being encouraged to re-brand themselves for the Western market and entrepreneurs, from a place of wild animals and semi-naked tribal peoples, to modern spaces where business can be conducted with efficiency and in languages that can be understood by foreigners. How does the re-branding of Africa as an entrepreneurial space fit with the persistently negative image of the continent’s people? In most of the world, and in particular in the West, these images have deep historical roots, and were used to justify slavery, colonialism, accumulation by dispossession and the continued unequal and ‘unfair’ trade relations that exist between Africa and the West. Despite hundreds of years of effort by Africans living in the West to challenge these images, they continue to be propagated. To many in the West, the only way for the continent’s image to improve is for Africa to take hold of its own destiny – to validate the lives of its people through improved access to those services which protect the human. However, a surprising alternative is the rise of people of African descent to positions of power in the West.

The election of the Obama family to the US presidency caught right-wing and liberal America, if not the world, by surprise. In the US, the right-wing press appears determined to force him prematurely out of the presidency. There the so-called ‘birther movement’ are trying to convince people that Obama is not an American. Obama is facing fierce criticism from all sides, while battling to deliver even the most minimal improvement to the lives of middle-income and poor Americans. For some sections of the Left, Obama is no different from former President George W. Bush. However, the Obamas’ presence, intellect, dignity and ordinariness have brought the humanity of black people to the world stage, and made its denial by racists even more difficult. Their presence challenges and destabilises notions of whiteness and white supremacy. The response has been a growing revisionist movement evoking historically derogatory and racist images of black people in Western culture as a way of reinforcing white supremacy. Some recent knee-jerk reactions are:

- The British Broadcasting Corporation’s (BBC) willingness to give the platform to a racist political party in the form of the British National Party (BNP) to express its policy of racial hatred. The broadcaster’s argument is that this is a legitimate political party, with local and European representatives, and that they have a right in a democracy to express their views. What the BBC does not realise is that they also have a responsibility not to cause harm to their non-white licence payers. One can be appalled by the policies of a political party on healthcare, education and even immigration, but a party whose modus operandi is race hatred, that attacks the essence of your being, is the ultimate threat. Did the BBC display its usual helpline message for people who are disturbed by the viewing after the broadcast? Would the BBC have sanctioned the role that Radio Télévision Libre de Milles Collines (Mille Collines Free Radio and Television) played during the Rwandan genocide?
- A spate of minor celebrities spouting racist remarks and backtracking when they are accused of racism. This has been a common practice in British culture, where the popular view is that hardly anyone in Britain is racist, even fascist parties, and if black people complain it’s ‘political correctness gone mad’. Having a sensible debate about the racism which permeates British culture and institutions is often blocked by the hostility of those seeking to protect their right to be racist – or to have a joke!
- The anxiety that the virulently anti-immigration Italian President Silvio Berlusconi faced in having to confer with a black man as an equal led him to draw attention to Obama’s skin colour as ‘suntanned’.
- On 15 October 2009, an Associated Press journalist, Liz Sidoti, described Obama as ‘obnoxiously articulate’.[1] It seems that some Americans are more comfortable with an inarticulate white man, AKA George W. Bush, than an ‘uppity’ black man.
- Another reaction is to invoke black stereotypical images from the past. Recently, the fashion magazine French Vogue blacked-up a white model and dressed her in tribal clothing.[2] This follows renewed criticism of the lack of black models on the runways and more so the covers of women’s magazines. Many people claim that they cannot see what is offensive. For a magazine that does not use black models it can only be ‘sick joke’. There is no doubt that this was a carefully planned project to cause a reaction or to make a statement.
- Of course none of the above compares to the numerous threats against Obama’s life by white supremacists – a reported ‘30 threats per day’ or ‘over 400% more than his predecessors’.[3]

One can only expect more racial ‘incidents’ as the capitalist depression, combined with the challenge to white supremacy, forces the ‘outing’ of many closet racists and the promotion of racist imagery.

US academics, noting the significance of race in American society, have started to address the Obama effect scientifically, in a new and growing research area termed ‘Obama studies’ – looking at the effects of Obama on racial attitudes in the US. The findings are varied, such as, for example, whites who voted for Obama are 'more likely to vote for whites in the future’, having felt that they have proven their ‘moral credentials’ by voting for Obama.[4] Some of the researchers hope that this may encourage white Americans to become more comfortable with discussing race. However, the reaction to Jimmy Carter’s accusation of Obama’s critics as being motivated by race, even by Obama himself, suggests that America has not yet reached that conversational moment.

What the Obamas’ presence means for Africa, militarily, politically and economically has been debated in these pages. There has also been some acknowledgement of their symbolic presence for what it means for a white America coming to terms and overcoming its slavery past. Some white commentators have even claimed that the US has entered a post-racial era, where racism was no longer a factor in defining who you are. I don’t think many African-Americans would have supported that claim, and certainly not those affected by revenge killings after Obama’s election and inauguration.

Can we unpack the symbolic meaning of the Obamas’ presence on the world stage, bearing in mind what a close friend said after Obama’s inauguration: ‘There are many black presidents – what’s special about this one?’? To begin with, he is the president of a declining, yet still powerful empire. He is the president of a country where racial politics simmers below the surface, despite legislative gains; where one in nine African-American men between the age of 20 and 34 are imprisoned and where, according to the Indian Nobel laureate Amartya Sen in his book 'Development as Freedom', the life expectancy of the average African-American man is well below that of men in Kerala state, India. However, I want to look at three symbolic significances of the Obama presidency. To Africans on the continent, where ‘being black’ is not a preoccupation, the following might seem rather surprising.

Firstly, Obama and his family symbolise the ability to transcend narrow racial categorisations in order to unite people for the common good. They challenge the patriarchal systems headed by white alpha-males and show non-white people, especially in North and South America and Europe, the possibilities of transcending the life-paths that have been written for them and a future where they cannot be excluded or bypassed. It may no longer be necessary for Afro-centrics to unearth the contributions that black people have made to Western society and to modernity – they can no longer be written out of history.

Secondly, on a personal level, the Obamas represent and give credence to the sanctity of the black family – despite Barack Obama’s attack on the absentee black fathers of African-American society – and the fact that everywhere there are black men and women who form stable, loving and supportive relationships. The image of the dysfunctional black family is one which is used by Western society to denigrate black people, and by black people themselves as an excuse for their personal failure – often not of their own making – to negotiate a more life-sustaining existence in capitalist societies.

Finally, for black women, the Obama family are particularly important – they give them their own fairytale. Black women in the West, especially those who survived slavery, were not represented by wider society as sufferers; instead, like their men, they were potential troublemakers, ready to take up arms to liberate their people. However, the media, in the form of early Hollywood films, prefers to represent them as fat and asexual mammies whose duty was to serve a white family, especially a white mistress, as the character depicted in the movie ‘Gone with the Wind’. It was the hatred of everything black, and the denigration of the features of black womanhood as ugly that made the 1960s dictum ‘black is beautiful’ such a revolutionary statement. Since enslavement, black women have always sought to liberate themselves from the brutality of enslavement and from the patriarchal structures and misogyny which black men sought to impose in their post-slavery households. When women fought to hold their families together amid this onslaught, they were labelled ‘superwoman’. Back in the 1970s, Michele Wallace in 'Black Macho and the Myth of the Superwoman' challenged this stereotype that denied black women the emotional support they deserve as human beings.

In 21st century America, the prevailing stereotypes of black women are ho (a prostitute), welfare queen and balls-buster. For the young especially, the dominant image of black women is of scantily-clad women gyrating themselves next to a fully-clothed male rapper signing misogynistic lyrics. Michelle Obama’s visibility, as a black-skinned, not mulatto or bleached, beautiful, independently-minded, educated and loving woman, challenges the prevailing stereotypes of black women in America. Michelle’s presence gives a fillip to the millions of black women like her and provides inspiration to the youth that an alternative way of being a black woman in the West is possible.

Michelle has also had her share of negative press, depicted during the presidential campaign as a warring black power figure in the New York Times, to more recent accusations as selfish, because she takes care of her body and has not degenerated into some cartoon stereotype. Michelle’s fiercest critics are white women. There may be myriad reasons for this, but perhaps we should consider the racial and gendered hierarchies that are embedded in Western capitalist societies, where Obama’s choice of a black woman destabilises those women whose self-worth is derived purely from their position within these hierarchies.

In terms of global political economy, the Obamas' presence occurs precisely at the moment when the capitalist system, refined and mastered over by the West, faces serious challenges from the East. The Obamas’ presence confronts hegemonic, racist worldviews and an economic system which is dependent on the perpetuation of racial and gendered hierarchies. The so-called success of modern capitalist society was built on racism and genocide. At such a pivotal moment in our history, as the balance of power shifts from West to East, it is incumbent on progressive scholars and activists to use the Obamas’ presence on the world stage tactfully; to challenge racism and patriarchy not just in the US and Europe, but in Brazil, Columbia and China, so that the economic system – be it a variant of capitalism or not – that emerges in these societies does not continue to de-humanise sectors of these societies deemed inferior.

WHAT OF THE IMAGE OF AFRICA?

The image of Africa in the West is intertwined with attitudes towards Africans in the West. There is no doubt that Obama is a US citizen and will be faithful and serve the US well, just like the millions of black men and women who fight in America’s armies. Africans may want to claim him as their son, and may express disappointment when he pursues policies that are counter to the wellbeing of their continent. But they must remember that Obama was brought up in a white household, though one in which there was a history of overcoming poverty and in which social justice issues were taken seriously. His political conscientisation took place in the run-down areas of Chicago’s South Side. He knows more about what it means to be a black man in America than an African on the continent.

How will the current struggle over racial exclusivity in the West impact Africa? If Africans become more empowered, maybe more Africans will start questioning the claims of Western academics and development experts, claims often made purely on the strength of the assumed superiority of their skin colour and the legacy of white-dominated colonialism. Will some Africans still be so willing to quickly hand over their children to white pop singers who would have difficulty adopting in their own countries? Will African women stop administering poison to their own skin in order to be bleached white? And, will African governments start trusting their people and allowing them to invest freely in their own countries, rather than pursuing a race to the bottom to make their countries attractive to foreign investors? If African governments do not value themselves and their people, then how, in a world which is so crippled by the scars of racial politics, do they expect outsiders, with ingrained racial superiority, to treat them as equals?

In sum, concurrent with the empowerment that the Obama presidency has given to a marginalised community in the West is the destabilisation of white supremacy, which may result in the heightening of racist and violent acts. In the West and in Africa, non-racists of all hues should be vigilant against these acts, however minor, and be aware that the more insidious acts are not always committed verbally, but are carried out within institutions, and especially, by white-coated technicians in 21st century eugenics laboratories.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* Dr Patricia Daley is the chair of Fahamu Trust and a fellow of Jesus College, University of Oxford.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

NOTES
[1] Originally posted on Ari Melber’s blog 15.10. 2009, and reproduced in The Nation 'http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion/484939/ap_asks_if_obama_is_obnoxiously_articulate
[2] Hannah Pool, ‘ Why blacking up is the worst kind of fashion crime: Has French Vogue gone too far in its shoot of Dutch model Lara Stone?’, The Guardian Newspaper, 14 October 2009.
[3] See ‘Why the Democracy Corp Study on race doesn’t pass the smell test’, http://Daily Kos.com
[4] See D. Effron, J. Cameron & B. Monin (2009), ‘ Endorsing Obama licenses favouring whites’, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 81, 33–43 ; also cited in Chicago Tribune’ article by Richard Fausset, ‘Studies of racial attitudes grapple with Obama Factor’, 23.8.2009

The plight of Eritrea's boat people

Why Eritrea's refugees shouldn't accept their fate

Yohannes Woldemariam

2009-10-29

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/59828

cc N B NWith a government that makes it illegal to leave the country and military service compulsory for all men and women aged 18 to 40 in the name of a festering border conflict with the more powerful Ethiopia, it’s no wonder Eritreans undertake perilous journeys in search of a better life. But getting out of Eritrea itself is no guarantee of change for the better, thanks to flawed international responses that fail to see the humans behind ‘the refugee problem’, Yohannes Woldemariam writes in Pambazuka News.

On 20 August 2009, off the Italian island of Lampedusa, the Italian coastguard rescued five of the remaining 78 Eritrean passengers aboard a rickety boat set sail from the Libyan capital, Tripoli. While a number of European sailing vessels had passed their boat in the three weeks it had spent at sea, only one stopped to give them life jackets, bread and water. But it soon went on its way, leaving them to face the perils on their own. Seventy-three of the Eritrean refugees died from thirst, hunger and heat. Those that managed to stay alive were flayed by sun and caked in salt by the time they were spotted. The five survivors now face a fine of €5000 to €10,000 for illegal immigration under an Italian law that took effect in early August.

The neglect and mistreatment of Eritrean refugees can partially be explained by the evolving relationship between Libya and Italy and the politics of oil. Years of UN sanctions for Libya’s sponsorship of terrorism meant that Gaddafi's oil and gas had not been exploited nearly as much as other Middle Eastern countries. Gaddafi is now keen to use oil in projecting his country's regional influence. The immediate target of Libya's investments has been Italy, a former colonial power and the largest investor in Libya’s energy sector. Italy is without any energy resources of its own. This is why Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has been more than happy to deal with Gaddafi. There is a plan to expand the pipeline that transports gas from Libya to Italy from eight to 11 billion cubic meters annually.

In August 2008, Berlusconi negotiated the Accordo di Amicizia e Cooperazione (Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation) between Rome and Tripoli. Italy colonised Libya from 1911 to 1943. In that era, about 27,000 Libyans died as victims of Italian colonialism, including almost six thousand executed opposition guerrillas. According to the August, 2008 agreement, Italy apologises for the crimes it committed during the colonisation of Libya with the promise of US$34 billion to be paid over the next 24 years. In turn, Gaddafi will provide Europe with gas and oil and guarantee full cooperation in the joint operations against the boat people. Berlusconi's euphoric reaction to this treaty was dubbed as the end of the 'refugee problem’.

After this agreement, what is the plan for refugees caught on the high seas of the Mediterranean? According to the Italian journalist Gabriele Del Grande, Eritreans are being jammed into containers and deported to large Libyan camps (funded by EU money) in the middle of nowhere under inhumane living conditions, of food and water shortages, and of rape and other forms of mistreatment.

It is ironic that while Berlusconi agreed to pay reparation for the horrors suffered by Libya when it was an Italian colony, there is absolutely no mention of compensation for Eritrea, Ethiopia and Somalia, which were also Italian colonies in Africa. In fact, the Italian fascist Benito Mussolini authorised the use of chemical weapons against Ethiopia, on 16 December 1935. Italian Air Force planes sprayed mustard gas and dropped bombs filled with mustard agent on Ethiopian soldiers and villagers. Moreover, Italy recruited thousands of Eritreans to fight its colonial wars in Libya and Ethiopia. My great grandfather was among those who perished in Libya in this sinister Africans against Africans scheme. It is their descendants who are now the untouchables left to drown in the Mediterranean Sea.

WHY DO ERITREANS FLEE?

Eritrea is a small country north of Ethiopia, east of Sudan, with 837 miles of breathtaking coastline along the Red Sea. It is a few nautical sea miles from the Middle East. The country was colonised by the Italians in 1890 and was linked in an ill-fated federation with Ethiopia in 1951. The United States has a long and ignoble history of interfering in Eritrean affairs and in making possible the so-called federal arrangement between Eritrea and Ethiopia. Until the mid-seventies, the US had its biggest military base in Africa, in the Eritrean capital of Asmara. It supplied weapons to the then Ethiopian emperor, Haile Selassie, and actively helped him suppress the Eritrean struggle for self-determination. With the overthrow of Haile Selassie by the Dergue (a military clique), the Soviet Union replaced the US as a patron of the new regime in Ethiopia.

Only in 1993 did Eritrea gain its independence, after a devastating thirty years war of independence. The two current leaders, Ethiopian Meles Zenawi and Eritrean Isaias Afwerki, had relatively good relations as liberation fighters against former Ethiopian dictator, Mengistu Hailemariam, for about three or four years after Eritrean independence. But they soon fell out over a range of economic and political matters, as well as the border conflict. Before the deterioration of Mr Afewerki, he was labelled by the West as one of the hopes of Africa. President Bill Clinton once lauded him as a ‘renaissance African leader.’ Deserved or not, this reputation was short lived. President Afewerki now violates basic human rights for what he perceives as ‘threats to his rule’ and the security problem with neighbouring Ethiopia.



To be sure, Eritrea has genuine security concerns stemming from lingering Ethiopian expansionist sentiments, and a two-year border conflict with Ethiopia that cost tens of thousands of lives, from 1998 to 2000. Ethiopia has since refused to implement the border demarcation decision of an independent UN commission, which awarded the disputed area of Badme to Eritrea. This festering dispute has become chronic, forcing a protracted border dispute with Ethiopia, and the militarisation of the region. Eritrea is third only to North Korea and Angola as the world's biggest military spender – relative to population size. Eritrea has 4.6 million people, in contrast to Ethiopia, which has passed the 80 million mark. However, no security concern can justify the excesses and flagrant violations of human rights by the Eritrean regime.

Hence, Eritreans are voting with their feet and taking the drastic decision to leave their country on this perilous journey – an illegal act under the current government. Some are trying to escape conscription while others are fleeing indefinite military service – years spent in trenches facing Ethiopian forces dug-in across the border. Military service is required for all men and women aged 18 to 40. There is no limit on length of service. There is no exemption for conscientious objectors, and no alternative non-military service.

Eritrea's extensive detention and torture of its citizens and its policy of prolonged military conscription are creating a human rights crisis and causing Eritreans to flee the country. Arbitrary arrest, torture, appalling detention conditions, disappearances, forced labour, and severe restrictions on freedom of movement, expression, and worship forces the youth to take any desperate measure in search of freedom. Those who try to flee risk the possibility of being shot by Eritrean border guards. The government also punishes the families of those who escape or desert from national service with fines or imprisonment.

The boat people of Eritrea encapsulate all the suffering the people are enduring. The country has become one huge prison and is now compared with such places as North Korea and Burma. Many prisoners are held in overcrowded shipping containers, with no protection from extreme weather conditions. Torture by means of the painful method known as ‘helicopter‘ is routinely practiced. It involves having hands and feet tied behind the back in a painful position.


The ‘Helicopter’ torture method




Typical shipping container in which prisoners are kept


Disappearances and prison deaths are common. No legal challenges are permitted. Making inquiries on behalf of detained relatives is both pointless and dangerous. During interviews with the European media, President Afewerki routinely denies knowing the whereabouts of even high profile prisoners.

THE PERILS ON THE WAY

Most refugees’ immediate destinations are either Ethiopia or Sudan en route to Libya, Egypt, and Europe. Hundreds of Eritreans have been forcibly repatriated from Libya, Egypt, and Malta in the past few years and have faced detention and torture upon their return.

There are many predators who profit from this human misfortune at different stages of the flight. Smugglers take away the life savings of these refugees and put them in decrepit boats for the dangerous journey to Malta or Italy. Profiteers are also known to trick desperate asylum seekers onto crowded boats which resemble slave ships and which put to sea without enough fuel to reach their destination.

In general, the primary cause of Eritrean refugee deaths is drowning in storms, though many refugees have been attacked by smugglers and murdered or raped. When in trouble, smugglers throw people overboard into the shark-infested waters to avoid getting caught. Refugees also die from thirst, hunger, or heat. Sometimes the corpses wash up on the beaches and are spotted by fishermen, coast guards or passersby folks.

In the particular case of the boat ultimately rescued by the Italians, according to UNHCR spokesperson Andrej Mahecic, as passengers died from thirst and hunger, the survivors threw them into the sea. One of the survivors, 27 year-old Eritrean Titi Tazrar described how the 73 other passengers had died: ‘They included three pregnant women who aborted at sea…Some died because they fell into the sea at night…The pregnant women aboard suffered the most. We didn't know how to help or comfort them. But soon after losing their children they too died.’

How can anyone abandon people who are in such a dire situation? I can only imagine the international outrage had these boat people been of European descent. Travelling in the open seas in overcrowded boats is a harrowing experience, and as a former refugee myself, I am appalled and heartbroken by the inhumanity these refugees experienced. It is only ultimate desperation that drives these human beings to such a precarious journey.

For those who make it over the Sahara but are captured by the Libyans, the conditions in the Libyan detention centres are inhumane, and police exercise repression, rape and extortion. At best, Eritreans in Libya are subject to indefinite warehousing in remote areas without access to courts or due process. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has advised against deporting anyone to Eritrea, including rejected asylum seekers, because of the mistreatment faced by those who are forced to return. Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on all countries hosting Eritrean asylum seekers not to forcibly return them, given the risk of torture.

Yet, Libya is not a signatory to the 1951 Geneva Conventions. The country does not observe international norms and continues to detain, deport and even kill refugees in overcrowded detention centres. Furthermore, Libya does not allow the refugees any visits or interviews with UNHCR officials and has handed over refugees to the Eritrean government, where the refugees face certain imprisonment, torture and possibly death. In one such instance on August 27, 2004, 75 Eritreans were put aboard a chartered Libyan air force plane without being told their destination. Upon learning that they were headed to Eritrea, four of the Eritreans hijacked the plane and forced it to land in Sudan. In short, Libya is a country whose authoritarian leader, Mohammed Gaddafi, scoffs at the very notion of human rights.

Across the Mediterranean, European countries are tightening their immigration laws. Italy's lower house backed a bill that would fine illegal immigrants and those who rent houses to them. Racism, compassion fatigue, and the view of these refugees as ‘dangerous waste’ are pervasive. In June, the European Commission proposed a much tougher border-control regime for Europe, where more dead and half-dead Africans continue to wash up along the beaches.

Yet European politicians find Eritreans and other Africans easy scapegoats for their xenophobic public. Mr. Berlusconi is quoted as saying: ‘When I walk down the streets of Milan and I see the large numbers of non-Italians, I feel like I am no longer an Italian or in a European city but in an African one’. One can definitely sense the growing irritation of the Italians and the Maltese. They ask: ‘Why don't these boat people accept their fate instead of crossing the sea to land themselves in countries that don't want them and can't cope with them?’

Behind such comments lies the European paranoia of African/black hordes lining up to cross the Mediterranean. To callously suggest that refugees be returned to the circumstances that forced them to leave their home country betrays a serious lack of compassion, and a refusal to engage with the motivations for why people flee the country in which they are living. It is also a refusal to acknowledge, at least partial responsibility by the class of people and countries who control the international economy, and who create debt, militarisation, war, famine, and poverty. Denial aside, this is one problem that is not going to go away anytime soon. It is a tragedy that cries for urgent attention, as Eritreans are in a state of despair and frozen misery.

WHAT IS TO BE DONE?

Tougher policies by the Europeans will not deter Eritreans who have little to lose. In their desperation, they continue to escape Eritrea in droves, risking – among other things – death in the high seas. From Sudan, refugees continue the journey in different directions, but most end up in Libya. Libya’s Mediterranean coastline makes it a natural jumping-off point for Europe. Many refugees perish from thirst, hunger and fatigue before they reach Libyan cities. The Sahara is treacherous even for well-prepared and seasoned travellers. These refugees are often ill equipped and ill informed for such a journey.

The Eritrean nightmare cries for a coordinated response from affluent countries like the United States and the European Union. So far, the European countries have crafted policies that essentially deny access by making it as difficult as possible to enter their territory.

Countries on the periphery of Europe had the harshest policies, protecting their neighbours to the north, often for money. The European Union requires asylum seekers to file their claims in the first European country they enter, meaning that most file claims in countries like Malta and Italy, which deny asylum at rates far greater than other European countries. The decision by the Italian government to return asylum seekers to Libya without any assessment of their protection needs is a clear violation of international human rights standards and the EU and its member States must urgently call on Italy to put an immediate end to such practices.

There is a clear need for coordinated action to address the situation in the Mediterranean, but it is crucial that actions envisaged by the EU uphold respect for international human rights and asylum obligations. Italy’s decision also violates the fundamental principle of non-refoulement, enshrined in the 1951Convention relating to the status of refugees, which prohibits returning refugees to countries where they may face persecution. States are obliged to respect this principle wherever they exercise jurisdiction, including on the high seas.

Europeans will meet at the end of October to discuss refugees and migrants. The EU can utilise economic aid to try to extract concessions from the Eritrean regime. It can make aid contingent on tangible human rights improvements. Despite his despotism, Mr Afewerki still enjoys cordial relations with the EU. Recently, the EU granted his government, €122 million of development aid.

The EU's president, Swedish Premier Carl Bildt has promised that spreading the burden would come up for discussion by EU ministers. Europeans should heed the plea of Jacques Barrot, the EU commissioner for freedom, security and justice Issues, who is quoted as saying: ‘We will not solve this crisis by reacting in a xenophobic manner.’ Burden sharing in the form of resettlement by the more affluent European countries, Canada and the United States can save lives. Barrot’s proposal for a ‘Joint EU Resettlement Program’ of refugees is the only humane way forward.

At the root of the problem is also the unresolved border conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia for which Ethiopia is largely to blame. The Obama administration and the EU can play a positive role by helping break the impasse and thereby depriving the Eritrean government of the pretext for conscription of the population and the ‘no war no peace’ footing. The United States and the guarantors of the Algiers agreement need to take a diplomatic offensive to compel Ethiopia’s compliance with the Hague verdict. Ethiopia is an aid dependent country and coercive diplomacy against the Zenawi regime may provide an opportunity to change the rules of the game. Ethiopia’s intransigent attitude is destabilising the entire Horn of Africa region and contributing to the youth exodus from Eritrea.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* Map provided by World Travel Guide.
* Images A and B provided by Justice for Ermias and Senait Debsai.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

Beyond Bandung: Awakening of the South

Challenging the imperialist dimensions of capitalism

Samir Amin

2009-10-29

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/59826

cc WikimediaCapitalism is in crisis, Samir Amin writes in Pambazuka News, creating new opportunities to challenge its imperialist dimensions. While the first wave of struggles for the emancipation of workers and people simply wore itself out, Amin asks whether this time round bridges can be built that ‘associate the anti-imperialist and popular struggles in the South with the progress of a socialist conscience in the North’, converging struggles from the North and South in ways that previous movements of the 1950s failed to.

For the second time in contemporary history the imperialist dimension of capitalism is being challenged. The first time was after the Second World War.

Since 1947, the United States of America, the dominating imperialist power of that epoch, proclaimed the division of the world into two spheres, that of the ‘free world’ and that of ‘communist totalitarianism’. The reality of the Third World was flagrantly ignored: It was felt privileged to belong to the ‘free world’, as it was ‘non-communist’. ‘Freedom’ was considered as applying only to capital, with complete disregard for the realities of colonial and semi-colonial oppression. The following year Jdanov, in his famous report (in fact, Stalin’s), which led to the setting up of the Kominform (an attenuated form of the Third International), also divided the world into two – the socialist sphere (the USSR and Eastern Europe) and the capitalist one (the rest of the world). The report ignored the contradictions within the capitalist sphere, which opposed the imperialist centres to the peoples and nations of the peripheries who were engaged in struggles for their liberation.

CHANGING DYNAMICS

The Jdanov doctrine pursued one main aim: To impose peaceful coexistence and hence to calm the aggressive passions of the United States and their subaltern European and Japanese allies. In exchange, the Soviet Union would accept a low profile, abstaining from interfering in colonial matters that the imperialist powers considered their internal affairs. The liberation movements, including the Chinese revolution, were not supported with any enthusiasm at that time and they carried on by themselves. But their victory (particularly that of China, of course) was to bring about some changes in international power relationships. Moscow did not perceive this until after Bandung, which enabled it, through its support to the countries in conflict with imperialism, to break out of its isolation and become a major actor in world affairs. In a way, it is not wrong to say that the main change in the world system was the result of this first ‘Awakening of the South’. Without this knowledge, the later affirmation of the new ‘emerging’ powers cannot be understood.



The Jdanov report was accepted without reservation by the European communist parties and of those of Latin America of that era. However, almost immediately it came up against resistance from the communist parties of Asia and the Middle East. This was concealed in the language of that period, for they continued to affirm ‘the unity of the socialist camp’ behind the USSR, but as time went on resistance became more overt with the development of their struggles for regaining independence, particularly after the victory of the Chinese revolution in 1949. To my knowledge, noone has ever written the history of the formulation of the alternative theory, which gave full rein to the independent initiatives of the countries of Asia and Africa, later to crystallise at Bandung in 1955 and then in the constitution of the Non Aligned Movement (from 1960 defined as Asian-African, plus Cuba). The details are buried in the archives of some communist parties (those of China, India, Indonesia, Egypt, Iraq, Iran and perhaps a few others).

Nevertheless I can bear personal witness to what happened, having been lucky enough, since 1950, to participate in one of the groups of reflection that brought together the Egyptian, Iraqi and Iranian communists and some others. Information about the Chinese debate, inspired by Zhou Enlai, was not made known to us by Comrade Wang (the link with the journal Révolution, whose editorial committee included myself) until much later, in 1963. We heard echoes of the Indian debate and the split that it had provoked, which was confirmed afterwards by the constitution of the CPM. We knew that debates within the Indonesian and Filipino communist parties developed along the same lines.

ORIGINS OF BANDUNG

This history should be written as it will help people to understand that Bandung did not originate in the heads of the nationalist leaders (Nehru and Sukarno particularly, rather less, Nasser) as is implied by contemporary writers. It was the product of a radical leftwing critique, which was at that time conducted within the communist parties. The common conclusion of these groups of reflection could be summed up in one sentence: The fight against imperialism brings together, at the world level, the social and political forces whose victories are decisive in opening up to possible socialist advances in the contemporary world.

This conclusion, however, left open a crucial question: Who will ‘direct’ these anti-imperialist battles? To simplify: The bourgeoisie (then called ‘national’), whom the communists should then support, or a front of popular classes, directed by the communists and not the bourgeoisies (who were anti-national, in fact)? The answer to this question often changed and was sometimes confused.

In 1945 the communist parties concerned were aligned, based on the conclusion that Stalin had formulated: The bourgeoisies everywhere in the world (in Europe, aligned with the United States, as in the colonial and semi-colonial countries – in the language of that era) have ‘thrown the national flag into the rubbish bin’ (Stalin’s phrase) and the communists were therefore the only ones who could assemble a united front of the forces that refused to submit to the imperialist, capitalist American order.

The same conclusion was reached by Mao in 1942, but only made known (to us) when his New Democracy had been translated into Western languages in 1952. This thesis held that for the majority of the peoples of the planet, the long road to socialism could only be opened by a ‘national, popular, democratic, anti-feudal and anti-imperialist revolution [the language of the day], run by the communists.’ The underlying message was that other socialist advances were not on the agenda elsewhere, i.e., in the imperialist centres. They could not possibly take shape until after the peoples of the peripheries had inflicted substantial damage on imperialism.

The triumph of the Chinese revolution confirmed this conclusion. The communist parties of South East Asia, in Thailand, Malaysia and Philippines in particular, started liberation struggles inspired by the Vietnamese model. Later, in 1964, Che Guevara held similar views when he called for ‘one, two, three Vietnams.’

ANTI-IMPERIALISM AND THE ACCUMULATION PROCESS

The avant-garde proposals for initiatives by the independent and anti-imperialist ‘countries of Asia and Africa’, which were formulated by the different communist groups of reflection, were precise and advanced. They are to be found in the Bandung programme and that of the Non-Aligned Movement, of which I gave a systematic presentation in my L’eveil du Sud (Awakening of the South). The proposals focused on the essential need to re-conquer control over the accumulation process (development which is auto-centred and delinked from the world economy).

It so happens that some of these proposals were adopted, although with considerable dilutions in certain countries, as from 1955 to 1960, by the governing classes as a whole in both continents. And at the same time the revolutionary struggles waged by all the communist parties of South East Asia were defeated (except in Vietnam, of course). The conclusion would seem to be that the ‘national bourgeoisie’ had not exhausted its capacity for anti-imperialist struggle. The Soviet Union also came to that conclusion when it decided to support the non-aligned front, while the imperialist Triad declared open warfare against it.

The communists in the countries concerned were then divided between the two tendencies and became involved in painful conflicts that were often confused. Some drew the lesson that it was necessary to ‘support’ the powers in place that were battling imperialism, although this support should remain ‘critical’. Moscow gave wind to their sails by inventing the thesis of the ‘non-capitalist way’. Others conserved the essentials of the Maoist thesis, according to which only a front of the popular classes that was independent of the bourgeoisie could lead a successful struggle against imperialism. The conflict between the Chinese communist party and the Soviet Union, which was apparent as from 1957 but officially declared as from 1960, of course confirmed the second tendency among the Asian and African communists.

However, the potential of the Bandung movement wore out within some fifteen years, emphasising – if it should be needed – the limits of the anti-imperialist programmes of the ‘national bourgeoisies’. Thus the conditions were ripe for the imperialist counter-offensive, the ‘re-compradorisation’ of the Southern economies, if not – for the most vulnerable – their recolonisation.

EMERGING MARKETS

Nevertheless, as if to give the lie to this return imposed by the facts to the thesis of the definitive and absolute impotence of the national bourgeoisies – Bandung having been, according to this vision, just a ‘passing episode’ in the cold war context – certain countries of the South have been able to impose themselves as ‘emerging’ in the new globalisation dominated by imperialism.

But ‘emerging’ in what way? Emerging markets open to the expansion of capital of the oligopolies belonging to the imperialist Triad? Or emerging nations capable of imposing a genuine revision of the terms of globalisation and reducing the power exercised by the oligopolies, while reconducting the accumulation to their own national development? The question of the social content of the powers in place in the emerging countries (and in the other countries of the periphery) and the prospects that this opens up or closes is once again on the agenda. It is a debate that cannot be avoided: What will – or could – be the ‘post-crisis’ world?

The crisis of the late imperialist capitalism of the generalised, financialised and globalised oligopolies is patent. But even before it passed into the new phase inaugurated by the financial collapse of 2008, people had begun to stir out of the lethargy which had set in after the first wave of their struggles for the emancipation of the workers and people had worn itself out.

Latin America, which had been absent during the Bandung era (in spite of Cuba’s efforts with the Tricontinental), this time seems to be even in advance of the rest of the movement.

STRATEGY, STRUGGLE AND SOCIAL CONSCIENCE

There are of course many important new aspects in the present situation, but the same questions that were being posed in the 1950s are once again on the table. Will the South (emerging countries and others) be capable of taking independent strategic initiatives? Will popular forces be capable of imposing the transformations in the power systems that will be the only way of making serious progress? Can bridges be built that associate the anti-imperialist and popular struggles in the South with the progress of a socialist conscience in the North?

I will refrain from giving quick answers to these difficult questions that only the development of struggles will resolve. But the importance of these discussions in which the radical intellectuals of our era should commit themselves should not be underestimated, nor the proposals that may result from such discussions.

The conclusions reached by the groups of reflection of the 1950s formulated the challenge in terms that have remained essentially the same ever since: The peoples of the periphery must undertake national construction (supported by regional plans and those of the South as a whole), which are auto-centred and delinked; they cannot take this route unless their struggles are carried out in a socialist perspective; for this reason they must shed their illusions about the false alternative, that of ‘catching up’ in the globalised capitalist system. Bandung embodied this independent option but within the limits later to be revealed, as history unfolded.

Would the results be better now, when a second ‘Awakening of the South’ is on the horizon? Above all, will it be possible this time to build convergences between the struggles in the North and in the South? These were lamentably lacking in the Bandung epoch. The peoples of the imperialist centres then finally aligned behind their imperialist leaders. The social-democrat project of the time would in fact have been difficult to imagine without the imperialist rent that benefited the opulent societies of the North. Bandung and the Non Aligned Movement were thus seen as just an episode in the cold war, perhaps even manipulated by Moscow. In the North, there was little understanding of the real dimensions of this first emancipatory wave of the countries of Asia and Africa, which was, however, convincing enough for Moscow to give it support.

The challenge of constructing an anti-imperialist internationalism of workers and peoples remains to be tackled.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* Samir Amin has been the director of IDEP (the United Nations African Institute for Planning), the director of the Third World Forum in Dakar, Senegal, and a co-founder of the World Forum for Alternatives.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

Africa's elite and the Western media

Chielo Zona Eze

2009-10-27

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/59816

cc G HResponding to intellectuals' efforts to repair the downtrodden image of African people, Chielo Zona Eze urges us to recognise that we have 'moved beyond the world shaped by the 19th century ideas of the African'. Stressing that he sees little probability of Nigeria's difficulties coming to an end anytime soon, the author asks us to consider a 'change of heart that begins with a radical rejection of the thought that the West is only interested in grubbing in the African compost'.

Greek mythology has it that Sisyphus, once the king of Ephyra (Corinth), was condemned by the gods to roll a big chunk of stone up a steep hill. Whenever he reached up the top, the stone tumbled back. And he began all over again, day in, day out. Albert Camus tells us to imagine Sisyphus happy. In certain contexts, I can do so. In most cases though, I find it difficult to believe that rolling a boulder up a steep hill with the knowledge that it will tumble back down would ever satisfy a rational mind.

I think that this is exactly what the African elite do in their God-given task of defending Africa against the Western media, who, is it said, are to the African social and moral malaise what vultures are to carcasses along the Serengeti. The average African intellectual is in a bind; they stand between the unacceptable social conditions in their homeland and the need to fight the West for its exclusive interest in those conditions.

It is with a measured anguish that I watched Chimamanda Adichie’s extraordinarily beautiful speech, 'The danger of a single story',[1] in defence of the African image. I couldn’t help but think of Chinua Achebe’s dogged defence of the same, a project that has shaped the more than 50 years of his intellectual life. There is little doubt that Achebe and others such as Wole Soyinka and Ngg wa Thiong’o have demonstrated that the African has his story. Thus, decades after their efforts to redress the battered image of the African, there are reasons to believe that we have moved beyond the world shaped by the 19th century ideas of the African. If the European thinkers of said time – or even Joseph Conrad in Achebe’s thinking – saw the African as bereft of rationality and therefore incapable of helping himself, the African elite of today have, without doubts, got all it takes to turn Africa’s fortunes around. Yet I cannot easily shake off the nagging suspicion that they might, indeed, be on the wrong trajectory toward that goal.

I was five years old when the Nigerian civil war broke out. By the time it ended, three and half years later, I had already seen more of the ugly side of humanity, experienced more pains than most people would ever imagine in their lifetime. My impulses to dream have been tempered by the shocking realisation, during the war, that I could die any minute without my people halting their breath even for a second. This pessimism has been hardened not only by the steady deterioration of life in Nigeria, but also by wars and instances of human rights abuses in many parts of Africa. I have seen death; I have not seen much of the brighter side of life in Nigeria to suggest that the civil war has indeed ended.

Not that I have a good personal story to tell. Quite the contrary, my life is one single example of humanity’s capacity to love and to withstand adversities. Having survived malnutrition and its attendant diseases during the civil war, thanks to the extraordinary intervention of world relief agencies such as Irish Concern, and helped by Catholic institutions that granted me a free scholarship in various stages of my academic career, I have attained the highest degree possible in my chosen academic discipline. To me, life is a miracle.

I survived, I thrive. But many, alas, too many Nigerian children of my age weren’t as lucky as I am. Millions and millions more, born years after the war, have become victims of the gross misrule that has characterised Nigerian governments since independence. Most were as talented as I am. Some even more. Some would never be able to feed their families.

Perhaps, I shouldn’t write about Africa in ways condemned by the Kenyan writer Binyavanga Wainaina in 'How to write about Africa'.[2] I shouldn’t write that Africa has been left to crumble by African leaders, or that far too many Africans lose their lives to senseless acts of brutality. I would indeed love to sing in praise of Mama Africa.

Perhaps it was the naïve part of me that forced me to tears when I visited Nigeria in July 2009 and learnt that Nigerian national universities have been on strike since April? The strike continued till early October. Being as realistic, or perhaps just dubious, as I have been conditioned to be, I did not travel to Nigeria with my laptop. I knew there wasn’t going to be constant electric supply. Sure enough, the four days I spent with my brother and his family in Lagos confirmed my realism. Like many sincere, hardworking Nigerians, not ready to succumb to Nigeria’s darkness, my brother had an electric generator. So did his neighbours in the other three flats of the house. For the greater part of the night, these four generators huffed and puffed in dutiful service to their owners. To hear one another, we had to almost shout because the generator was on the veranda. I had difficulty breathing because of the smoke that got into the flat. And when I woke up in the middle of the night to ease myself – the generator was turned off at 12 – I had to feel my way to the bathroom with the help of the faint light of my cheap Nokia cell phone.

Over the next weeks I spent with my mother in the village I was literally cut off from the world. I had to manage the time I spent on my cell phone not out of fear of running out of my prepaid credit, but of my battering running down. In that case I had to go to Enugu (30 kilometres away) to recharge it – if indeed Enugu had an electric supply at the time. Is it this bad in Nigeria, the one-time self-proclaimed giant of Africa? I don’t even want to talk about the Nigerian roads, or water supply, or public health. They are all in appalling condition, yet the Nigerian minister of information thought it necessary to re-brand the country.

I am afraid I am making the mistake of telling a single story – of the failure of my beloved country. Given that I came from a very poor background, and given that my family hasn’t yet escaped poverty, there is the likelihood that I see African reality from a largely negative perspective. In respect to this fact, I need to state right away that my story is not representative of the experiences of all Nigerians. Thank God, it is not. There are well-situated Nigerians out there, as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie eloquently stated in her speech. But while it is true that not all Africans live in abject poverty and ignorance and disease, the more troubling issue, however, is that many do, far too many. And there is no excuse for that.

My thinking is that if at least 50 per cent of Africans could boast of average education and basic infrastructure like a constant electric and water supply, good roads and security, our intellectuals wouldn’t occupy themselves with the European gaze. But since many Africans are still wallowing in poverty, their rights denied them, one is left to wonder whether it is more important to explain and re-brand Africa than to change it? Could it be possible to examine why African leaders have no respect for their own people?

It is perhaps one of the ironies of Africa that hardly a year after Binyavanga Wainaina published his well-regarded essay, Kenya was roiled by political violence in the wake of the 2007 elections. What the world saw in the wake of that crisis hinted that perhaps the intellectual leaders of that country might have failed to write about their country in ways that would have exposed the evil that had been festering all the while.[3] Many concerned Africans are still trying to figure out how it could be possible that a 46-year-old soldier, Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, would hold Guinea – a country of more than 10 million people – hostage. To be sure, on 28 September 2009, security forces turned on demonstrators who had gathered in the national stadium in the capital, Conakry, to demonstrate against the government. More than 200 people were shot dead instantly. Many women were raped in the open by soldiers. Perhaps the silver lining in that outbreak of violence is that most of the reporting was done by the locals who captured scenes of violence on their cell-phones.[4] Thus in capturing scenes of violence and in wanting these scenes exposed to the world, they took a stance against the forces of darkness. They didn’t think of what it would mean to the image of Africa; they were prompted by a feeling of decency and the need to save what is human in them.

In J.M. Coetzee’s 'Age of Iron', Mrs Curren, a white South African professor of classics, had lived a sheltered existence much of her life. Her life begins to unravel however when she is diagnosed with cancer. Coming home from her doctor, she finds that a homeless man has chosen her compound for camping. By the grace of a string of incidents, her black house help, Florence, takes her to Guguletu, a black township, where she experiences first-hand the horrors of apartheid and police brutality. Her life, or what remains of it, would change. In one of her many epiphanies, she asks herself a morally relevant question: 'And I? Where is my heart in all of this?'

I see no reason why the tide of bad news in Nigeria will not be stopped. Perhaps all it takes is a change of heart that begins with a radical rejection of the thought that the West is only interested in grubbing in the African compost. If Chinua Achebe’s attack of Joseph Conrad and co. was timely 50 years ago, doing the same in this new century, I think, is a bit counterproductive to the African mind.

Yet I share Camus’s idea that we should imagine Sisyphus happy with his task. Sisyphus could be happy if he knew he was pushing the right stone; if he knew that reality was absurd and the only thing in the face of absurdity was to confront it. Yes, confront it with the grits of the Yoruba god, Ogun, whose uncompromising moral stance and promethean instinct of rebellion, according to Wole Soyinka’s Ogun,[5] released man from a destructive despair.

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* Chielo Zona Eze is a Nigerian writer and philosopher. He teaches English and post-colonial literature at Northeastern Illinois University, Chicago. He is the author of 'The Trial of Robert Mugabe'. He blogs at chielozona.blogspot.com and africanliteraturenews.blogspot.com.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

NOTES
[1] http://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story.html
[2] www.granta.com/Magazine/92/How-to-Write-about-Africa/Page-1
[3] http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/1026884.stm
[4] http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/06/world/africa/06guinea.html
[5] Wole Soyinka, Myth, Literature and the African World. London: Cambridge UP. 1976. (146)

IMF on Africa: The good news and the bad

Stephen Marks

2009-10-27

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/59815

cc TransaidFollowing the release of the latest IMF 'regional economic outlook' report for sub-Saharan Africa, Stephen Marks argues that predictions around Africa's ability to bounce back from the global economic crisis rest on a number of 'good-news' assumptions.

'"Good news" for Africa – bad news for the poor'. That is the message of the IMF’s (International Monetary Fund) latest regional economic outlook for sub-Saharan Africa. But you would have to look for the small print to find the second half of the message.

As the global economy seems to be moving back into expansion, the IMF finds grounds for cautious optimism that sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) could be set for a rebound, and a quicker one than the region experienced in previous economic downturns.

In 2009 the SSA economy grew by just 1 per cent after five consecutive years of growth averaging 6.5 per cent. As well as exports and commodities revenues, the global recession also disrupted capital flows and cut remittances. The downturn hit particularly hard at oil exporters and middle-income countries.

However, growth in the region is expected to bounce back to 4 per cent in 2010 and 5 per cent in 2011, the report predicts. And more prudent financial management during the good years has left governments with a greater ability to use counter-cyclical economic tools in the downturn. So for the region as a whole, where governments were running budget surpluses of just over 1.25 per cent of GDP (gross domestic product) in 2008, they have been able to use their increased room for manoeuvre to let budget deficits rise to an expected 4.75 per cent deficit in 2009, thus maintaining public spending to some extent and so offsetting the recession’s worst effects.



The report also claims credit for the IMF’s own stepped-up financial support. New commitments to the region have already reached about US$3 billion this year, as against US$1.1 billion in 2008 and only US$0.1 billion in 2007.

But the small print makes clear that the good-news scenario rests on a number of assumptions, any of which could produce bad-news outcomes if the figures come out the other way. 'The region’s poor will be particularly vulnerable if some of the major risks to the recovery are realized', the report notes.

Global figures imply that world export demand will ‘remain well below previous trends and thus that surplus capacity in the global economy could again squeeze out sub-Saharan African producers and delay investment plans', the authors concede.

Low-income countries, which lack the large external reserves enjoyed by oil producers, will 'remain heavily dependent on external assistance and private inflows, including remittances, that are themselves vulnerable to global uncertainties’. Domestic demand could also be held back by ‘the limited availability of social safety nets to mitigate the long-term impact of the downturn on the poor’, and credit could be slow to return to the private sector.

Most of the expected rebound is slated to come from oil-exporting countries as a global recovery brings oil prices back up. But by the same token, oil-importing countries will take a further knock. For them, the report predicts, ‘GDP growth rates are unlikely to be high enough to substantially reverse the loss in tax payments resulting from the downturn and the higher spending that many are planning to offset its impact… Oil importers as a group are expected to continue to sustain fiscal deficits [excluding grants] of 5–7 percent of GDP … for several years.'

Lower-income countries have so far been less affected by the recession and those with a broad mix of commodities should be best-placed to return to higher growth rates. But many remain vulnerable, especially where they have a high exposure to South African financial links and investment.

South Africa’s recovery is expected to be slow, with GDP growing by only 1.75 per cent in 2010 and 3.75 per cent in 2011. The report blames higher urban unemployment, low consumer confidence and tight business credit and points to South Africa’s exposure to possible swings in capital flows.

Exposure to ‘problems that flare up in international financial markets’ is flagged up as a more general problem by the report’s authors. ‘Many banks (a disproportionate number in some countries) have foreign parents, and trade finance, cross-border banking transactions and direct and portfolio capital flows are fragile. These vulnerabilities could compound problems arising from domestic economic developments…’

At the report’s London launch it was left to Gareth Thomas, a reader in economic history at the London School of Economics (LSE), to point to the irony of these comments, and of the report’s finding that the poorest countries had been least affected by the global slump due to their lack of exposure to global financial markets.

It was the IMF, he pointed out, that had been one of the leading promoters of global financial integration throughout the 1990s. And the fund’s current support for counter-cyclical government spending and a limited role for deficit financing was a welcome contrast to its attitude of 20 or 30 years ago.

Nor is this the only area where the report strikes a different tone to that with which the IMF has been associated in the past. It quotes research confirming the importance of investment – especially by the public sector – in human resources and in infrastructure. Halving the infrastructure gap between the region and comparators in the rest of the world, according to one estimate, would raise annual growth by 2 percentage points.

Thomas quoted ‘an informed World Bank source’ as predicting that 700,000 more African babies will die before their first birthday as a result of the recession. For them, the new-found and belated – if limited – realism of the IMF report could be said in an unusual sense to be a ‘death-bed conversion’.

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* The full text of the October 2009 'Regional economic outlook: sub-Saharan Africa' can be found on the IMF’s website at www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/reo/2009/AFR/eng/sreo1009.htm.
* Stephen Marks is research associate and project coordinator with Pambazuka News's Emerging Powers in Africa project.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

Ethiopia’s elections: Another zero-sum game?

Alemayehu G. Mariam

2009-10-29

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/59825

cc WikimediaEthiopia’s aspirations for a fair and free election in 2010 depend on whether the country’s government agrees to and abides by an election code based on respect for the rule of law and human rights, Alemayehu G. Mariam writes in Pambazuka News. An election code of conduct forged through ‘a consensus of all the political parties and administered by an independent and impartial electoral commission could go a long way to ensure a peaceful, fair and free election in 2010,’ writes Mariam, or it could simply ‘end up being the old zero-sum game the regime has played for the past two decades’ in a different guise.

In the first part of our commentary on the madness of Ethiopia’s 2010 ‘elections’, we posed the question: ‘Is it possible to have a fair and free election in a police state?’ In light of the persuasive anecdotal evidence presented by former Ethiopian president Dr Negasso Gidada, which pointed to the complete absence of a level electoral playing field, we concluded that it was not possible. We were cautiously optimistic that all stakeholders, acting transparently and in good faith, and with robust accountability mechanisms in place, could take a leap of faith into what appears to be a sham election in the offing to vindicate the cause of democracy, rule of law and popular sovereignty. But our optimism and aspirations for a fair and free election in 2010 hinge precariously on whether the following question is answered affirmatively, and without any mental reservations and purpose of evasion: Will the dictatorship agree to and in good faith abide by an election code of conduct that is based on the principle of respect for the rule of law and human rights, and conforms to its own constitution and election laws?

THE PILLARS OF FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS: CO-EQUALITY, EQUITY, CIVILITY, GOOD FAITH, MUTUAL RESPECT AND TOLERANCE

Free and fair elections are best guaranteed if certain basic principles are accepted and fully adhered to in the relationship between the political parties, candidates, their supporters and other stakeholders. The first pillar is the principle of co-equality. In George Orwell’s Animal Farm, ‘All Animals are created equal but some are more equal than others.’ Not so if we are to have free and fair elections in Ethiopia. All parties are presumed to be co-equal under the Ethiopian ‘constitution’ because fundamentally elections are about equal access and participation in the democratic governance process based on the principle of one person, one vote. This proposition is consistent with Articles 56, 60 and 72 of the Ethiopian ‘constitution’ which prescribes the rules for the formation of party governance, scope of power during a period when elections are underway and coalition-building to form a government.

In the run-up to the 2010 ‘election’ what we witness is a one-man, one-party dictatorship in which the ruling ‘EPDRF’ party is astronomically ‘more equal’ than all of the other opposition parties combined. The leaders of that party serve as prosecutor, judge, jury and executioner in all matters relating to elections. If fair and free elections are to take place, the ruling party and its leaders must accept in principle and in practice that the opposition political parties are their equals in the eyes of the law; and that their complete dominance of the society does not entitle them to harass, mistreat, abuse and persecute the opposition in the electoral process.

There is a huge equity gap between the ruling party and its leaders and the opposition. The rulers enjoy extraordinary legal and political privileges, advantages, benefits and entitlements because they literally own the political system. Their party members and leaders dominate the bureaucracies, the courts, the police forces and the local administrative structures. Most importantly, they own the election commission. It is a necessary precondition for a fair and free election that there be mechanisms in place to ensure all parties and stakeholders have equal opportunities to compete fairly for votes. Equitable principles require that the opposition receive and disseminate information freely, have access to state media on the same terms and conditions as the ruling party, be able to educate and canvass voters, hold meetings, conduct campaigns freely and vigorously engage fellow citizens to exercise their right to vote in an informed manner.

Civility is an attribute of civilised people in the way they relate to each other particularly in controversial matters. Civility is one thing that is abundantly available in Ethiopia. As the 2005 election has demonstrated, political campaigns, debates and discussions were conducted largely focused on the issues and less on leadership personalities. Passionate statements and speeches were given and robust exchanges of views took place in the media; and even in heated debates, the rule was reflective reaction than reflexive counteraction. In 2005, the stakeholders ‘disagreed without being unduly disagreeable.’ That is civility!

Good faith and fair dealing are two things missing from the ethical satchel of the ruling party. They have used ‘bait and switch’ tactics as evidenced in their recent attempts to finesse Medrek to sign a prefabricated ‘code of election conduct’. They have shown little honesty of intention in what they do or promise to do. They have a long history of bad faith dealing with opposition parties. They have relentlessly sought to outsmart, outfox, outwit, hoodwink and bamboozle the opposition through organised trickery, misrepresentation, duplicity, slyness and other underhanded techniques.

These things will simply not work in 2010. As the old saying goes, ‘You can fool some of the people some times, all of the people some of the time; but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.’ Everyone in the world knows that the ruling party is at the end of its wits desperately trying to fool all of the people all of the time. It is time they tried a little bit of good faith bargaining, negotiations, compromising and fair dealing with their opposition. They must stop their brinksmanship games and their peculiar diplomacy by ultimatum: ‘Our way or the highway!’

Respect and tolerance in the context of free and fair elections mean, first and foremost, respect for the rule of law; and secondly, respect for each other in the electoral process. The ruling party must respect its own constitution and laws and its international treaty obligations which require compliance with basic standards in the conduct of free and fair elections. They must also respect the electoral process and the participants in it, including the voters. The evidence shows that the ruling party has been consistently paternalistic, disdainful and dismissive of the opposition. They have arbitrarily imprisoned major opposition party leaders and their supporters; and Ethiopia’s preeminent political prisoner, Birtukan Midekssa, remains jailed without legal cause. She must be released along with the thousands of other political prisoners forthwith.

The ruling party’s contempt and disrespect for the opposition has its roots in the party leaders’ views that they came to power through the barrel of the gun, and that no one will take that power away from them through the ballot box. That is their fundamental existential problem. The issue of respect, however, goes deeper to the level of respect for the sovereign verdict of the people in a free and fair election. If the ruling party has no respect for opposition parties and their leaders, and is unwilling to show tolerance for competing views, ipso facto, it does not have respect for the citizens who cast their votes or for the choices made by the people. In the context of free and fair elections, respect means ‘Respect the Vote!’

CODE OF CONDUCT FOR A LEVEL ELECTORAL PLAYING FIELD

As we have argued on New America Media (NAM), there is really no need for an ‘election code of conduct’ in 2010. In 2005, without such a code, real opposition parties were able to campaign vigorously. There were free and open debates throughout the society. A free private press challenged those in power 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, voters did something unprecedented in Ethiopia’s 3000-year history: They used the ballot box to pass their verdict. That is the best way to conduct the 2010 election – by letting the people pass their sovereign verdict in a fair and free election.

But if an ‘election code of conduct’ could help facilitate fair and free elections and enable the people to pass their sovereign verdict, it is worth trying, even against overwhelming odds. But there is no need to reinvent such a code; one is readily available from the largest democracy in the world, India. Since 1947, India has successfully conducted thousands of elections at regular intervals as prescribed by its constitution, elections laws and international obligations. There are seven national and 39 state registered parties by the India Election Commission, along with 730 unregistered ones competing for office. There is no doubt that the Indians know a thing or two about conducting free and fair elections.

The 2009 Model Code of Election Conduct of India (Model Code) offers arguably the best archetype that could be adopted for elections in Ethiopia. The Model Code is ‘a unique document that has evolved with the consensus of political parties themselves and the Commission implements and enforces it with the aim of providing a level playing field for all political parties and ensuring free and fair elections.’ It is comprehensive and addresses nearly every potentially disruptive and unfair election practice that could undermine confidence in an election outcome. It disapproves of actions and messages by any party that creates ethnic hatred or communal tensions, prohibits the use of inflammatory rhetoric based on personal attacks and false allegations; it strongly discourages demagogic appeals to communal feelings and divisive propaganda for votes; and it prohibits and penalises corrupt and illegal practices such as bribery, voter intimidation, violation of election laws, improper use of public property and resources for partisan advantages.

To ensure a level playing field, the Model Code prohibits government ministers from combining their official visits with electioneering. They are prohibited from using official equipment, vehicles or government employees in electioneering work; and they may not make payments, financial grants or promises of money or other public works projects to any person or constituency from the time elections are announced by the Commission. There are special rules for election day to ‘ensure peaceful and orderly polling and complete freedom to the voters to exercise their franchise without being subjected to any annoyance or obstruction.’ Criminal penalties in the form of a three-year simple imprisonment or fine are provided ‘for persons who create enmity between people in the name of religion, caste, community or language during the election campaign.’ There are ample mechanisms to challenge the party in power where there is reason to believe officials are exploiting their offices for partisan advantage.

Central to the whole process of free and fair elections in India is the constitutional role played by the independent Election Commission of India, which has broad authority in elections administration. The Commission decides and announces the election schedules for general or by-elections, registers political parties, settles disputes and conducts periodic consultations with them. It has broad authority to review charges of election fraud and corrupt election practices. It has the power to disqualify candidates who fail to meet basic requirements of the election law. It has advisory jurisdiction in post-election disqualification of sitting members of parliament. The Commission maintains its transparency and reinforces its impartiality by holding regular press briefings during elections. Most importantly, the Commission is insulated from executive, legislative and judicial interference.

TO HAVE OR NOT TO HAVE FREE AND FAIR ELECTION IN 2010

We would like to end on a hopeful note. We believe that an election code of conduct that is forged through a consensus of all the political parties and administered by an independent and impartial electoral commission could go a long way to ensure a peaceful, fair and free election in 2010. We are also realistic. We may try to analyse, theorise, slice and dice the obvious. In the final analysis, it may all end up being the old zero-sum game the regime has played so well for the past two decades, this time dressed up as a new game of ‘election code of conduct.’ We can wax eloquent all day but none of us understand or are able to tell the truth about elections in Ethiopia with greater moral clarity and conviction than Birtukan Midekssa, who, a day before she was manhandled and whisked back to Kality prison on December 27, 2008 by the regime’s security officers said:
‘The message [of the regime] is clear not just to me but to all others involved in peaceful struggle [in Ethiopia]: Participation in the political process shall be as approved by the regime in power or at the discretion of individuals [wielding state power]. For me, this is extremely difficult to accept.’

It may be difficult for many of us to accept this bizarre reality as well. ‘To have or not to have a free and fair election in 2010,’ that is the question facing the people of Ethiopia today. We used the word ‘madness’ in describing the 2010 election advisedly. Albert Einstein once said, ‘The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results’. Participating in a bogus election over and over again and expecting a different result could be an alternative definition of insanity.

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* This article first appeared in Ethiomedia.com.
* 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.

Courageous people needed to fight corruption

William Gumede

2009-10-29

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/59827

cc WikimediaCorruption in South Africa is becoming so widespread now, that unless it is decisively tackled in this presidential term, it will become entrenched as a ‘normal’ aspect of life in our country, William Gumede writes in Pambazuka News. And once it becomes part of the ‘culture’ of South African society, it will be impossible to uproot.

The now daily, but empty anti-corruption rhetoric and slogans from our political leaders could have been laughed off as a joke, if the consequences of corruption on society were not so devastating. To start with, we must declare corruption a national emergency. Corruption busters must have some credibility. It is farce if those paid to fight corruption, are perceived in society to be corrupt themselves.

Any serious campaign to deal with corruption must start with tackling political corruption, which provides the incubating environment for other corruption. The ANC, as the ruling party of South Africa, dominates society. This means that the behavioural norms, practices and internal cultures of the ANC, will also dominate society.

If the cancer of corruption has started to infuse the norms, values and practices of the ANC, it will spill over into broader society. In such an instance, no amount of corruption busting in broader society will do much to uproot corruption. Eradicating corruption within the ANC itself is a prerequisite for cleaning up corrupt practices in society.

Joel Netshitenzhe, the outgoing government policy chief, has rightly warned in an interview with the Sunday Times last Sunday that corrupt practices inside the ANC will soon reach a ‘tipping point’ if not stopped ‘with all the power of society and by the ruling party itself’.

We will have to tackle the widespread perception that one can get away with corruption if connected to the ‘right’ political faction or the leadership in the ANC. In fact, the culture of corruption will continue if there is a widespread belief – which there is – that when it comes to prosecuting corruption, some individuals and groups are ‘immune’ to prosecution because of their political ‘connectivity’.

The media is awash with glaring cases of corruption, abuse of scarce public resources and funds, but it appears that not a finger will be lifted by authorities to prosecute the guilty, because the implicated are perceived to be connected to dominant factions or leaders in the ANC.

The perception is also that if one is not connected to the leadership or the dominant faction, one is likely to be quickly prosecuted for wrong-doing. In any society there must be a sense that rules are applied fairly – if there is going to be broad buy-in to society’s rules. Different rules should not apply to different people, depending on how close they are to the dominant faction of leadership of the ruling party. But fairness must also include not allowing state institutions – such as the police, security and intelligence services – to be used to ‘plant’, manufacture or smear political rivals, critics or opponents with alleged ‘corruption’.

Tackling political corruption within the ANC is likely to be career limiting, for whichever party leaders, activists or members, wanting to seriously do so. Those who do so must prepare themselves to become very unpopular among some party bosses, groups and factions. They will risk being marginalised, ousted or demoted through ‘redeployment’. They will found out that even outside government life will be difficult: If in business, government tenders will not be forthcoming, even private companies and other organisations wanting to be in the good books of government – for contracts, will stay away from them. Yet, to stop corruption from preventing the attainment of a better life for the majority of our people, and not only the elite, a lot of courageous people are needed within and outside the ANC, to not only support honest corruption fighters, but to become corruption fighters themselves.

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* This article first appeared in the Sowetan.
* William Gumede is author of 'Thabo Mbeki and the Battle for the Soul of the ANC'.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

Challenging deregulation: Nigerian labour needs alternative political platform

Ayodele Ademiluyi

2009-10-27

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/59814

cc N DWith Nigeria's Yar'Adua administration pursuing a policy of 'deregulation', Ayodele Ademiluyi calls on Nigerian workers to oppose the country's direction and stand up for their rights. Critical of the marked gulf in the decision-making power of labour's leadership and ordinary workers, Ademiluyi also stresses the need for greater democratic organisation in the struggle to effectively challenge the excesses and exploitation of the government.

For what could be termed as the most brazen of its daredevilry, the present anti-poor and pro-rich Yar’Adua regime has discovered a ‘magic formula’ of deregulation and privatisation of oil refineries for the backwardness and underdevelopment of the nation. To end its enormous spending on fuel subsidies – amounting to over 3.1 trillion naira – such a policy becomes necessary to furnish it with the adequate resources to face the deep social crises of a decayed infrastructure and other public amenities.

However, the experience of the 'full deregulation' of diesel and black oil has shown the prices of these essential products skyrocketing and thus leading to the collapse of factories and industries, which according to statistics number up to 820. While ordinary Nigerians are demanding lower fuel prices, the lickspittles in government alongside the leeches in the oil industry remain resolute around an anti-poor plan of deregulating oil importation, which means higher fuel prices for the poor and more profit for the rich oil marketers.

While openly acknowledging that trillions spent on fuel subsidies sink into the pockets of looters, the government has now come up with the disingenuous solution of selling off the entire oil sector to the same looters and their capitalist collaborators in the name of privatisation and deregulation. Despite giving out 18 licenses to private companies to build local refineries, none exist today. If built at all, with the absence of stable electricity and sustaining infrastructure, the prices of these products will remain exorbitantly high.

To add insult to injury, the government has been shifting the goalpost on its agenda to deepen the stagnation and mass misery by first calling 1 November for the take-off and later denying it. What is clear is that whether next year or anytime, the government remains hell-bent on its bizarre policy.

Labour, in the most strident manner, has condemned this fraudulent posturing of the anti-poor Yar’adua regime and has taken out more than six rallies against this diabolical plan. With the 1 November hysteria from government agents, labour has declared war on any attempt of government to deregulate. Already it has fixed 29 October for its delayed Abuja rally, with the intention of launching strikes and further mass action.

Clearly the government – in realisation of the huge mass struggles that may erupt as a result of fixing a definite date for deregulation's take-off – has decided to buy time and to proceed to initiate ‘dialogue’ with labour. What is significant is that the government also seems to be calculating on exploiting the position of partial acceptance of deregulation by the leadership of labour.

It is noteworthy that labour's leadership needs to understand that the underlying principle of the present profit-geared capitalist system – which the Yar’Adua regime oversees through deregulation, privatisation and trade liberalisation – is just another name for the remorseless exploitation of the poor masses. It is not only merely an agenda of the current regime but the fountain from which all the features of deregulation (fuel price hikes included) that labour has fought in the past.

The leadership of labour – the TUC (Trades Union Congress), the NLC (Nigeria Labour Congress) and the LASCO (Labour–Civil Society Coalition) – must recognise the need to first of all build an alternative political platform that will put in place a working-class government which will place the commanding heights of the economy, including oil, under the democratic control of workers, and that deregulation can be no more. With the government still brazenly going ahead to announce a date for deregulation's take-off, labour's leadership should have cast off any illusions they could have had from the present Yar’Adua regime.

It is also germane to note that labour must be prepared to wage a decisive struggle against deregulation. It is becoming the accustomed behaviour of labour leaders to bring the masses out to the streets, either through general strikes or mass rallies, without engaging in any open class battle. This is evidenced by the over six general strikes led by the Oshiomole-led NLC against the infamous Obasanjo regime without challenging the capitalist system he represents and defends. This can only be achieved by building a political movement of the working class that will wrest power from the present rotten ruling class and place the resources of the working masses in their hands.

It is only from this perspective that labour will be able to reject any compromise that the government wants around striking over deregulation. Labour must be able to demonstrate more than the mere token shows that have always been the case, as reflected in the last 2007 general strike. Labour's leadership must be prepared to step up its actions in the current anti-deregulation struggle. The October 29 mass rally must hold, in spite of the government’s subversion and its shifting of the goal-post. A 48-hour general strike should also be launched to give the government a warning over the deregulation policy.

Despite massive calls for a general strike long before the nick of time on the deregulation issue, the leadership of labour have ignored them and there seems to be no resoluteness around the issue. This reluctance brings to mind the treacherous role the leadership of the labour movement played in the simmering struggles of the striking education workers' union in the university system. While the strike drew massive support from the mass of working people, labour failed to call a one-day general strike in solidarity with the striking workers in their struggle for the upgrading of the university system. This gave a sterile Yar’Adua government the opportunity to pursue divide-and-rule tactics at the latter part of the strike. While the government maintains its anti-education stance, labour also took a backseat in the struggle, and the rot continues in the education sector with the struggle for a teachers' salary structure (TSS) in shambles and unity schools still on strike.

What is clearly responsible for the complacent, petit-bourgeois character of labour's leadership cannot be detached from the bureaucracy of the labour movement. The rank-and-file of workers are detached from the day-to-day decisions of labour. This has engendered a situation in which labour leaders, under the cover of a bureaucracy partnered with big-business, inflict anti-worker policies such as the extortive pension system, instead of taking out mass actions against them. The decision-making organs of labour must therefore be democratised; workers’ representatives from the lowest ranks should be elected, subject to the right of recall.

Yet with the imminent deregulation crisis, it imperative for labour to call for mobilisation around the two-day general strike. Strike committees of action should be put in place made up of workers, students and youths to galvanise action. Equally, labour must sharpen its ideological and political arsenal against pro-big business assaults, as reflected in the last 2007 general strike.

General strikes always raise the germane question of who controls power. Streets get dry and government business halts at the instance of general strike; even the ruling class is unable to loot. Power rests in the hands of the working class, but they are unconscious of it. Labour must step up the struggle by building a labour party as a mass-based, anti-rich and pro-poor fighting masses’ party, as an alternative to the ruling party and its shadows in the fake, capitalist opposition (AC (Action Congress), the ANPP (All Nigeria People's Party), the PPA (Progressive People's Alliance) and the APGA (All Progressives Grand Alliance)).

However, the party is presently under the grip of pro-bourgeois pseudo-labour elements, who utilise it as bargaining tool with rejects from capitalist parties like Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State, whose ‘mis-governance’ is not different from other bourgeoisie governors. Workers, students and youth must campaign for the party to be open, with access to forms and membership. Next year the 2011 general elections will put this issue on the agenda and labour must gear up the party for mass participation through conventions and congresses to field candidates for the general elections. It is such a party with a clearcut alternative programme that will wrest power from the ruling and ruining class and put in place a working-class government that will place the commanding heights of the economy under the democratic control of workers.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* Ayodele Ademiluyi is with the Legal Education Rights Agenda, Nigeria.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

HIV/AIDS: The struggle for human rights and dignity in South Africa

2009-10-29

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/Announce/59831

Date: Wednesday 4 November
Time: 6.30pm
Place: Tawney Hall Ruskin College, Ruskin Hall, Headington
Map

THE TREATMENT ACTION CAMPAIGN (TAC)

The Treatment Action campaign (TAC) is a South African movement that campaigns for affordable treatment for people living with HIV and AIDS. Acclaimed and supported by, amongst many others, former South African President Nelson Mandela and nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2003, it is regarded internationally as an iconic movement that is the most successful of the new South African social movements to have emerged since the end of apartheid in 1994.

VUYISEKA DUBULA

Vuyiseka Dubula was diagnosed with HIV aged 22 and was effectively told by her doctor 'to go home and die'. This she refused to do, and having joined TAC as a volunteer in 2001, she was elected the general secretary of TAC in 2008. She is committed to ensuring that People Living with HIV have a positive voice in the struggle against HIV and that women and girls have access to health services and live equally in society free of gender and sexual violence.

She has presented and published at multiple national and international health and human rights conferences. She was recently nominated as one of the most influential 300 young South Africans in 2009 by a leading South African newspaper.

This meeting is a unique and rare opportunity to hear Vuyiseka talk about TAC’s work.

Brought to you by Ruskin College and Fahamu – Networks for Social Justice.

Will Kenya ever conclude its constitutional reform process?

L. Muthoni Wanyeki

2009-10-29

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/panafrican/59824

It would have, I suppose, been too much to hope for. That the Committee of Experts (CoE) charged with determining options to resolve the so-called ‘contentious issues’ with respect to constitutional reforms would be allowed to proceed with their work unhindered. This is Kenya, after all. And, in Kenya, nothing that could be simple and straightforward ever is. And too, this is our Constitution. Around which no less than two decades of struggles to advance democratic space have revolved.

Two questions must be answered. First, why are so many seemingly disparate groups unhappy with the CoE? Second, and more importantly, will their unhappiness, combined, perhaps unwittingly play into the hands of those determined not to enable the fundamental re-structuring of power that we need?

As to the first question, let us start with the most vocal of protesters. A significant section of civil society seems to believe that the CoE has not been ‘consultative’ enough – and seeks further influence, through ‘representation’ – to amend the situation. I put ‘consultative’ and ‘representation’ in inverted commas because I, for one, am becoming increasingly tired of the abuse and misuse of these terms.

Just as ‘participation’ has been reduced to the dreaded (by me) and apparently now unavoidable use of ‘working groups’ in meetings, ‘consultation’ has been reduced to two elements in Kenya. Actual physical presence – in this case, the possibility of being able to see and touch the CoE. And uncontested take up of concerns – in this case, whatever is said when being seen by the CoE. Hence the call for ‘representation’ – in this case, ensuring that a person is by the CoE at all times to defend, rigidly (not negotiate) whatever it is that needs to be said.

This is, of course, rubbish. We selected ‘experts’ (another badly abused and misused term) on the basis of their ‘expertise’ – in this case, knowledge of constitutional law from both Kenya and elsewhere. And, on this CoE sit some of Africa’s best in this respect. They cannot meet physically with every Kenyan with an interest in the process. Neither can every Kenyan with an interest in the process follow them around to ensure they do their bidding. Hence the CoE’s decision to ‘consult’ through calls for written submissions on whatever Kenyans considered to be ‘contentious.’ And hence the use of their ‘expertise’ to determine what, from what was submitted really is ‘contentious.’ Their job and mandate is not simply to parrot back to us the full list of what was submitted. It is to use their ‘expertise’ to negotiate interests, which sometimes contradict but sometimes can be resolved, and thus present to us a pared down version of what, in their determination, actually needs fundamental discussion.

Which is what they did. And they then called for further written submissions on how, in the views of Kenyans, those ‘contentious issues’ could and should be resolved. With the implicit understanding, again, that their ‘expertise’ would be brought to bear in assessing those proposals so as to prepare viable options for the Parliamentary Select Committee to consider.

In my view, therefore, they have ‘consulted’ – and I personally do not feel that I was not ‘represented’ because the organisation I work for responded to both calls. This is not the colonial era and the country cannot be run by barazas alone. Which is not to say that barazas do not still play important roles in enabling communication between the administration and the people – they do, for reasons as obvious as the literacy levels in this country. But the work of extracting people’s concerns through barazas was done well before the CoE began its work.

As for the other protesters, the fundamentalist Christian right is hell-bent (a word deliberately chosen) on being its usual ignorant and intolerant self – abortion is murder, gays are evil incarnate and the Kadhis’ Courts are a blatant attempt to impose Sharia on the country. I think we can ignore their ranting and raving – which is indicative of a complete misunderstanding of Christ’s teachings. The Ministry of Justice is worriedly wringing its hands because it sits too close to the endless machinations of the Executive and parliament. The Parliamentary Select Committee is feeling slighted – like the CoE, by quietly getting on with its work, has somehow usurped its role. And the Executive is, as usual, pulling in all kinds of different directions, all with an eye to 2012.

Which brings me to the second question. Which is whether or not all of this unhappiness will somehow combine so as to defeat and derail this latest effort to finally conclude our constitutional reform process. My conclusion? It could. Very easily. For interests that are really about succession – and what powers will be available post-2012, all of this moaning and muttering is bound to be used to legitimise another stalling of the constitutional reform process. None of us have actually seen what the CoE has prepared to date. Or the options it is presenting to the Parliamentary Select Committee, which does, in fact, retain the power to determine which of those options to carry forward for us all. We need therefore to think about the possible implications of the moaning and muttering – the bigger picture – and find more constructive and useful ways of expressing it, without derailing this latest chance. The country is bigger than us all. The country demands it.

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.

Anti-homosexuality or anti-human rights bill?

Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights and Constitutional Law

2009-10-29

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/59819

The Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights and Constitutional Law has issued a statement on the Anti-Homosexuality Bill, which was tabled in Uganda's Parliament on 14 October 2009, and is currently before the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee of Parliament. The coalition argues that the bill targets everybody, and involves everybody: It cannot be implemented without making every citizen spy on his or her neighbours.
Hon. Bahati’s Anti-Homosexuality Bill, which was tabled in Parliament on October 14, 2009, and is currently before the Legal and Parliamentary Affairs Committee of Parliament covers much more than the title alone proclaims. A much better title for this bill would have been the ‘Anti Civil Society Bill, the ‘Anti Public Health Bill,’ or the ‘Anti-Constitution Bill.’ Perhaps more simply it should be called the Anti Human Rights Bill. As a matter of fact, this bill represents one of the most serious attacks to date on the 1995 Constitution and on the key human rights protections enshrined in the Constitution including:
• Article 20: Fundamental rights and freedoms are inherent and not granted by the State
• Article 21: Right to Equality and Freedom from discrimination
• Article 22: The Right to Life (the death penalty provisions)
• Article 27: The Right to Privacy
• Article 29: Right to freedom of conscience, expression, movement, religion, assembly and association (this includes freedom of speech, Academic freedom and media freedom)
• Article 30: Right to Education
• Article 32: Affirmative Action in favour of marginalised groups and
• Article 36 on the Rights of Minorities

Let us think for a moment of who—quite apart from the homosexuals it claims as its target—this bill puts at risk:
• Any parent who does not denounce their lesbian daughter or gay son to the authorities: Failure to do so s/he will be fined Ush 5,000,000/= or put away for three years;
• Any teacher who does not report a lesbian or gay pupil to the authorities within 24 hours: Failure to do so s/he will be fined Ush 5,000,000/= or put away for three years in prison;
• Any landlord or landlady who happens to give housing to a suspected homosexual risks seven years of imprisonment;
• Any Local Council I – V Chairperson or Executive member who does not denounce somebody accused of same-sex attraction or activity risks imprisonment or a heavy fine;
• Any medical doctor who seeks to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS through working with what are known as most at risk populations, risks her or his career;
• All civil society leaders, whether in a Community Based Organisation, NGO, or academic institution; if their organisations seek to have a comprehensive position on sexual and reproductive health, they risk seeing their organisations closed down;
• Any human rights activist who seeks to promote an understanding of the indivisibility and inalienability of human rights would be judged to be promoting homosexuals and homosexuality, and be punished accordingly;
• Any religious leader who seeks to provide guidance and counselling to people who are unsure of their sexuality, would be regarded as promoting homosexuality and punished accordingly;
• Any Member of Parliament or other public figure who is sent a pornographic article, picture or video will become vulnerable to blackmail and witch-hunts;
• Any media house that publishes ‘pornographic’ materials risks losing its certificate of registration and the editor will be liable to seven years in jail;
• Any internet café operator who fails to prevent a customer from accessing a pornographic website, or a dating site, could be accused of ‘participating in the production, procuring, marketing, broadcasting, disseminating and publishing of pornographic materials for purposes of promoting homosexuality’; their business licence could be revoked and they themselves could land in prison.
• Any Person alleged to be a homosexual is at risk of LIFE IMPRISONMENT and, in some circumstances, the DEATH PENALTY

In short, this bill targets everybody, and involves everybody: it cannot be implemented without making every citizen spy on his or her neighbours. The last time this was done was in the Amin era, where everyone very quickly became an ‘enemy of the state’. It amounts to a direct invasion of our homes, and will promote blackmail, false accusations and outright intimidation of certain members of the population. Do Ugandans really want to mimic the practices of the Khartoum regime? Have we already forgotten the sex police of Apartheid South Africa, who smashed their way into people’s bedrooms in an attempt to prevent inter-racial sex?

As Civil Society organisations we condemn all predatory sexual acts (hetero or homosexual) that violate the rights of vulnerable sections of our society such as minors and people with disabilities. However, the Bill lumps “aggravated homosexuality” together with sexual acts between consenting adults in order to whip up sentiments of fear and hatred aimed at isolating sexual minorities. By so doing, the state fails in its duty to protect all its citizens without discrimination.

The bill also asserts Extra Territorial jurisdiction. In other words, all of the offences covered by the bill can be applied to a Ugandan citizen or permanent resident who allegedly commits them outside the country. Thus homosexuality and/or its ‘promotion’ are added to the very short list of offences, which fall in the ‘political offences’ category. It joins treason, misprision of treason, and terrorism as offences subject to extra-territorial jurisdiction. Clearly, this is out of all proportion in relation to the gravity of the act.

On top of these day-to-day considerations about everybody’s safety and security, let us consider what this bill will do for civil society organisations in Uganda, which seek to have a critical voice and to engage in issues of global concern. One of the objectives of the bill is to prohibit the licensing of organizations which allegedly ‘promote homosexuality.’ Thus, for example, any organisation, which talked about anal sex as part of a campaign of HIV prevention, can be affected. Had this bill been in place earlier this year, no Ugandan could have participated in the World AIDS meeting held in Mexico to discuss HIV prevention.

And what about our standing in the eyes of the world? The Bill calls for Uganda to nullify any international treaties, protocols, declarations and conventions which are believed to be ‘contradictory to the spirit and provisions’ of the bill. In reality, this would involve Uganda withdrawing from:
• The Universal Declaration of Human Rights;
• The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and its protocols;
• The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights;
• The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women;
• The Convention on the Rights of the Child, and
• The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights

We note that Uganda is current Chair of the UN Security Council which operates with the UN Charter and UDHR as guiding principles. It is also current Chair of the Commonwealth and a signatory to the African Union’s Constitutive Act, which has as its premise the promotion, and respect of human rights. In 2009 and 2010 it is hosting AU Summits. What will happen to Uganda’s hard-won role on the global stage if it nullifies its international and regional human rights commitments? Uganda cannot wish away core human rights principles of dignity, equality and non-discrimination, and all Ugandans will pay a heavy price if this bill is enacted.

We will have bargained away our hard-earned rights and freedoms as well as our right to challenge the State and hold it accountable for the protection of these rights.

In sum, the Bahati Bill is profoundly unconstitutional. It is a major stumbling block to the development of a vibrant human rights movement in Uganda, and a serious threat to Uganda’s developing democratic status. If passed, this law would not only prove difficult to implement, it would also consume resources and attention which would be better directed at more pressing issues of human rights abuse, corruption, electoral reform, domestic relations and freedom of the press.

Regardless of our personal moral beliefs and values, we the undersigned organisations are standing up in defence of Democracy, our Constitution and its enshrined principles of human dignity, equality, freedom and justice for all.

Kampala, 23 October 2009
• African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF)
• Akina Mama wa Afrika (AMwA)
• Advocates for Public International Law in Uganda (APILU)
• Center for Land Economy and Rights of Women (CLEAR-Uganda)
• Centre for Women in Governance (CEWIGO)
• Development Network of Indigenous Voluntary Associations (DENIVA)
• East & Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project
• Uganda Association of Women Lawyers (FIDA-U)
• Forum for Women in Democracy (FOWODE)
• Human Rights Awareness & Promotion Forum
• Human Rights & Peace Centre (HURIPEC), Faculty of Law, Makerere University
• Integrity Uganda
• International Refugee Rights Initiative
• Mentoring and Empowerment Programme for Young Women (MEMPROW)
• MIFUMI Project
• National Association of Women’s Organisations in Uganda (NAWOU)
• National Coalition of Women Living with HIV/AIDS (NACWOLA)
• Refugee Law Project (RLP), Faculty of Law, Makerere University
• National Guidance & Empowerment Network of People Living with HIV/AIDS (NGEN+)
• Spectrum Uganda
• Uganda Feminist Forum
• Women’s Organisation & Network for Human Rights Advocacy (WONETHA)

For further information please contact the coalition at kalendenator@gmail.com.

Anti-homosexuality bill should not be adopted

Centre for Human Rights

2009-10-29

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/59820

PRESS STATEMENT FROM THE CENTRE FOR HUMAN RIGHTS, FACULTY OF LAW, UNIVERSITY OF
PRETORIA
For immediate release
22 October 2009

UGANDAN ANTI HOMOSEXUALITY BILL SHOULD NOT BE ADOPTED
The Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, has taken note of the
introduction into the Ugandan Parliament of the Anti Homosexuality Bill, 2009.
We are of the very strong view that this Bill should not be adopted. It not
only violates the Ugandan Constitution and Ugandas international human rights
obligations, but also stifles debate, undermines civil society and demeans the
common citizenship of all Ugandans.

THE OFFENCE OF HOMOSEXUALITY
The Bill criminalises certain acts as offences of homosexuality, and allows for
the imposition of life imprisonment (clause 2). The fact is: Uganda's Penal
Code, in article 145(a) already criminalizes carnal knowledge of any person
against the order of nature - a charge used to prosecute, persecute and
blackmail LGBT people with the threat of life imprisonment. In so far as the
Bill merely restates the existing law, it is redundant and contradicts the
principle that laws should only be adopted to address a nuisance that has
previously not been legislated upon.

The Bill however goes further than the existing law by criminalising, with a
potential life imprisonment, touch[ing] another person with the intention of
committing the act of homosexuality. The punishment of life imprisonment is
clearly disproportionate with such an offence. In any event, it would be almost
impossible to establish such an intention, making the application of this part
of then Bill arbitrary and open to abuse. The existing law has already been
employed in an arbitrary way, and the Bill will just exacerbate that effect.
Over the recent months increased campaigns of violence have continued
uncontrolled. The violence directed at homosexual Ugandans has resulted in the
unwarranted arrests of many people; there are eight ongoing cases in various
courts all over Uganda of which four accused persons are unable to meet the
harsh bail conditions set against them. These acts of violence have now
resulted in the deaths of several homosexual people, such as Brian Pande at
Mbale Hospital as he awaited trial. The conclusion one arrives at in respect of
this aspect of the Bill is that its only purpose is to further stigmatise and
demonise activities that are already criminalised under Ugandan law.

THE OFFENCE OF AGGRAVATED HOMOSEXUALITY
The Bill goes further than existing law by making punishable with death
aggravated homosexuality, including activity by serial offenders or those who
are HIV positive (clause 3). The death penalty is a disproportionate sentence
for an offence that is essentially only directed at upholding the moral
sentiments of part of the population. Only a very small number of states
world-wide, such as Iran and Saoudi Arabia, make such offences punishable with
death.

The Bill also requires compulsory HIV testing for a person charged under the
relevant section. The aggravated offence relates to a person who is living with
HIV. In order for HIV status to be an aggravating factor, it is contended, the
person should have been aware of his or her status at the time the offence was
committed. The fact that HIV status is determined after the fact does not seem
to constitute a rational requirement, related to the moral blameworthiness of
the accused person. In this respect, the Bill will undermine efforts at HIV
prevention, as it will serve to inhibit testing for HIV. In fact, the whole
design of the Bill will have a negative impact on HIV prevention among Men who
have Sex with men (MSM). This proposed legislation is a huge step backwards for
HIV prevention, treatment and care initiatives in Uganda. By significantly
expanding criminal sanctions against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender
(LGBT) people - with penalties going as far as the death sentence in some cases
- this bill drives sexual minorities underground and away from vital
information and services, further fuelling HIV transmission in the Uganda.

CRIMINALISATION OF PURPORTING TO CONTRACT SAME SEX MARRIAGE
The Bill makes it an offence for anyone to purport to contract a same-sex
marriage, and sets life imprisonment as the sentence (clause 12). This is
essentially an unnecessary provision, given that same sex marriages are
illegal, as already stated in the Ugandan Constitution. The punishment is yet
again a disproportionate sentence for an act that does not have legal
consequences.

THE OFFENCE OF PROMOTING HOMOSEXUALITY
The Bill further criminalizes "promotion of homosexuality" in the form of
funding and sponsoring LGBT organizations and broadcasting, publishing, or
marketing materials on homosexuality and punishes these acts with a steep fine,
5-7 years of imprisonment, or both (clause 13). The Bill effectively bans any
kind of community or political organizing around non-heteronormative sexuality.
This part of the Bill is a clear violation of the right to freedoms of speech,
expression, association, and assembly (Article 29) of the Ugandan Constitution,
and which is also contained in a number of international treaties ratified by
Uganda (such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
(ICCPR) and the African charter on Human and Peoples Rights (African Charter).
The fact that this offence would set a fixed minimum sentence of five years
imprisonment is also outrageously disproportionate to the offence, given
particularly the broad ambit and scope of the offence.

THE OFFENCE OF FAILURE TO REPORT HOMOSEXUALITY
The Bill also sets up a system of civilian surveillance, compelling citizens to
report each others conduct (clause 14). According to the Bill, any person in
authority who fails to report known violations of the law within 24 hours will
also be subject to a significant fine and up to 3 years in prison - even when
this means turning in their colleagues, family, or friends. More shocking, the
Bill claims jurisdiction over Ugandans who violate its provisions while outside
of the country. This aspect of the Bill is overbroad and makes potential
criminals of all Ugandans. By intruding into the private sphere, the Bill
violates the right to privacy.

NULLIFICATION OF INTERNATIONAL LAW AGREEMENTS
In one sweep, the Bill further proposes to expunge the effect of international
law obligations already undertaken by Uganda. In the Bill, clause 18 stipulates
that any international agreement contrary to the Act will be null and void.
This is a step unprecedented in international law, and flies in the face of the
principles of the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties. The Bill's
revocation of international law commitments would also seriously undermine the
country's reputation and credibility in the international arena.

CONCLUSION
The Anti Homosexuality Bill is ill-conceived and in many ways redundant. It is
not clear how it will achieve its stated aim, namely to protect the traditional
family (Preamble). There is no evidence that the institution of marriage in
Uganda is so fragile that its survival depends on the draconian measures
proposed in the Bill. The Bill does little more than to entrench stigma and
prejudice, which will polarise the Ugandan society further and undermine public
health efforts to combat the spread of HIV. It places a total ban on public
discussion of an issue whose existence cannot be wished away. The Bill is an
unprecedented attempt to drive a wedge between members of sexual minorities and
their friends and family. It exemplifies the approach of a totalitarian regime
in its broad scope and disproportionate prescribed punishment, including the
death penalty. It is an example of ostrich politics, in that it aims to
legislate way part of social reality. If the Bill is adopted, it will make
Uganda a pariah in the international community.We therefore urge the Ugandan
Parliament to reject this Bill in its entirety.

Afro-Cuban activist imprisoned

Carlos Moore

2009-10-29

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/59821

INTERNATIONAL PETITION ON BEHALF OF AFRO-CUBAN CIVIL RIGHTS LEADER, DR DARSI FERRER,

RECENTLY ARRESTED AND IMPRISONED BY THE CUBAN GOVERNMENT

Dear brothers and sisters: 



Many of you may never have heard of the Civil Rights Afro-Cuban activist, Dr. Darsi Ferrer. Yet, he is one of the most important Civil Rights leaders in Cuba today, and a tireless, courageous fighter against social exclusion. Dr. Ferrer was arrested more than three months ago, and jailed on absurd, untrue charges of having "stolen materials" from the state. 



What did he do? 



Dr. Ferrer runs a number of independent programs designed to help impoverished, marginalized and discriminated communities in Cuba (who are overwhelmingly of African descent). But because the government claims that there are no such things as poverty, racism or marginalized communities in Cuba, Dr. Ferrer is regarded as a highly subversive person by the authorities. 

Herein, you may see for yourselves a documentary produced by Dr. Ferrer, showing the condition of these communities (residents of what are called “tenements”). These are the people that Dr. Ferrer has been assisting for many years. Clicking the link you will see the type of work Dr. Ferrer has tirelessly been engaged: http://www.cubaencuentro.com/es/multimedia/videos/vivir-en-albergue 



I want to make clear, that this is the first time in my life, as an anti-racist activist myself, that I publicly raise a voice in support of any Cuban dissident. If I have done so, it is only because the Cuban government has, once again, crossed another threshold in the sort of oppression that it customarily dishes out to its citizenry. We have come to the point where to remain silent before such injustice and oppression, is tantamount to be complicit with it. That is why I raise my voice on behalf of those who have no voice inside of Cuba. 

I appeal to your own sense of justice, asking you to help me mobilize world opinion around this case where an honorable, brave, black Cuban citizen, has suffered detention because he dared place himself at the service of the humblest of communities in Cuba. 



I am asking for your help to free the black political leader, Dr. Darsi Ferrer. 

I thank you from the bottom of my heart, and beg you to sign this online petition

Please help us free this brave Black intellectual whose only crime is to have stood up and protested against the racism and discrimination that Blacks confront in Cuba

(every signature makes a difference)

Zimbabwean activists arrested

Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum

2009-10-29

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/59822

Statement on the arrest of NANGO Board Chairperson Dadirai Chikwengo and NANGO CEO Cephas Zinhumwe


The Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum unreservedly condemns the arrest and detention of NANGO Board Chairperson Dadirai Chikwengo and Chief Executive Officer Cephas Zinhumwe on Sunday, 25 October 2009. The conduct of the police in Victoria Falls is reminiscent of the repression and clamp down on Civil Society and political opposition forces that was taking place before the inception of the Inclusive Government.


Dadirai Chikwengo and Cephas Zinhumwe are said to have been charged under the notorious Public Order and Security Act (POSA) for convening a “political meeting” without obtaining the requisite police clearance. The arrests took place after the release of the 2009 NGO Directors’ Summer School Communiqué in which the 120 participating Directors of Civil Society in Zimbabwe raised concerns about the slow pace by the Inclusive Government in resolving the crisis in Zimbabwe.

The arrests, together with numerous hate messages that have been published in the state-controlled media are symptomatic of a greater plot by less progressive elements of government to muzzle and frustrate the work of Civil Society. These developments are a draw back to members of the Civil Society who are working tirelessly for the promotion of human rights and justice in Zimbabwe. Furthermore, the arrests are an affront to the spirit of tolerance brought about by the Global Political Agreement.

The Forum demands the urgent release of the two and an immediate halt to further persecution of human rights defenders in Zimbabwe.

Aye Afrika, belonging to all, but yours only

2009-10-27

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/African_Writers/59813

She is her, like-in-her
poetic rituals
mystical diamond
that speaks
multi-fold'd miracles
on earth,
she
wearing moonstone for slippers
gleams
like meteoric splendor,
affectionate for stars
blossoms early
in seasons of
darkness,

Enough-in-herself
graced with all inside
she
always river-like,
harbors black water
emerging from
hollow mountains
varied terrains
swelling to gush
divine truth
into seas
infinitely vast
in breadth and depth,

She makes, petals of jasmine
fall open
she-as-in-her
roses that leave shadows on ground
bless gardens scented
Afrika, born of night musk
our garden queen
paradise to us
thousands over,
she
open to us, as-in-blossomed flower
silently residing in us,
as-in the secret word
of Divine's love,

She,
firstborn as-in-known-in legends
royally sits
above honored
Kings and Queens,
throne
bent across high heavens
she, a sight of elegance unseen,
birth-er
of many-colored rainbow
gifted butterflies
float on diverse seas,
she
ancestor of seasons
goddess of wealth
brings all around
belonging to all, but yours only.

Gifted bee of the heart
that resides deep
inside
she-is-her
who makes me
feel safe
to be a rose,
she-is-her
who lies abed with me
enraptured in her embrace
she
helps me rise to live
destiny's fiery life-giver
heartbeat of bodily soul to me,

Aye Afrika, yene fikeregna.

(to be continued)
* 'Yene fikeregna' is an Amharic phrase that translates in English to 'my beloved'.
* This poem comprises Amira Ali's feelings around the 'Dark One' (series one of responses to Joseph Conrad’s 'Heart of Darkness').
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

Maneno: A blogging platform for the African blogger

Dibussi Tande

2009-10-29

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/blog/59818

cc Maneno

This week, we will review blogs on Maneno , a relatively new blogging and communication platform specifically designed for the Sub-Saharan blogger and writer. According to its founders, Maneno “allows those with limited or narrow-bandwidth internet to use a system that is lightweight and straightforward in functionality.” Most significantly, the site content and interface is translated into many languages “to remove linguistic barriers that are being seen more and more in a growingly Anglophonic web.”


Subsaharska, a technology and travel blog, explains how the idea for “BarCamp Africa UK 2009”, an “un-conference” focusing on “Moving away from Aid to Technology Driven Development in Africa”, was hatched on Twitter:
“These things always start small enough. One twit begets another twit which then begets an official site and before you know it, a barcamp is ready to happen. Such was the case leading up to the BarCamp Africa UK which is happening November 7th in London.

Ethel Cofie started the twit about having a BarCamp Africa in the UK as to date there hasn't been one. Quickly the movement gathered a great deal of steam and a number of other people signed on as organizers…

The organizers are mostly a group of Ghanaians and I was curious if there was a direct focus to the event, as sometimes a barcamp will have one. Ethel told me that they are much the same as other BarCamp Africa events which are to foster connections, grow ideas, and showcase success stories… I still can't get over how our social technologies allow something that starts out as a musing thought to morph in to a full-fledged event in a matter of just a few weeks.”

General Topics on Social Science, a blog that deals with African affairs, has a 4-part posting on the life of Samori Toure, the Warrior King who founded the Wassoulou empire and resisted French imperialism:
“Samori Toure was important because he was an African leader who defeated the European colonial masters on numerous occasions before his capture. He was a master of military tactics and brilliantly organized the empire that he controlled. But more than anything else, he was, and is, a symbol. He is a symbol of defiance and strength in the face of overwhelming odds. Overwhelming odds that many African peoples find themselves in today in the face of modern day colonialism and exploitation.

Throughout colonialism and post-colonialism, Africa’s colonial masters made great efforts to hide the exploits of many of our leaders from us. African children were taught that they were monkeys with inferior intelligence to whites and that all of our great leaders such as Samori were just ruthless savages. As the renowned African historian Basil Davidson notes, “Men like al Hajj Umar appear in the European story as nothing more than wild fanatics or frantic nuisances; leaders like Samory as bloodthirsty bandits or mere adventurers. In truth, these men responded, as outstanding leaders always will, to the most profound movements of social need and thought of their time” (Davidson, 1964; pg. 268).”


Madame Toubab expresses her frustrations at the continued negative portrayals of Africa in the Western media:
“I guess many (all?) of you have already been frustrated by the way African countries and people are represented in the Western media, and it is only because I am a neophyte in this affairs that I find the issue particularly poignant. Does one every get used to this manipulation of languages, images, and discourses? I can't say. All I know is that it makes me angry to witness in my work, day after day, how Senegal, Senegalese people, and in particular Senegalese migrants are misrepresented in the newspapers... One of the things that I find particularly disturbing is that even professionals with international reputation such as J. Bauluz, the one and only Spanish Pulitzer Prize, are making their career on the endless repetition of the same stereotypes, the same victimization, the same blood-and-pus-and-corpses-floating-in-the-sea images, the same death that we've always seen. Even when those who talk and write claim to be talking a different take on the issue, the result is the same.”


Twiga writes about a visit to a market in the Ghanaian border town of Osseikro:
“During my first week in Abengourou I took a quick trip to the Ghanaian border at Niablé, which is only about 20km away, with some colleagues who needed to do some shopping. Apparently import taxes in Ghana are lower than in Côte d'Ivoire, so many products in Abengourou's stores arrive via Ghana. To cross the border for the day no visa is required, so it's quite popular to go shopping there. The first town right after crossing the border is Osseikro (or Osseikadiokro), which is basically a little market on a road with a few houses around it. Most stores seem to sell the same products, the most popular being bicycles, kente cloths and all sorts of crappy Chinese-made household stuff such as kitchen implements.

However, I found one interesting store in this repetitive border market (it's not big, so I looked at every single shop): a Ghanaian sandalmaker. Actually, the whole market is Ghanaian (although everybody spoke French), but this was the only store selling handmade stuff. Apparently these types of sandals are called ahenemaa and are traditionally reserved for Akan chiefs. Maybe that would explain why nobody was paying any attention to the shop, which also served as a sandal-making workshop as you can see below.”


Konakry Express revisits the September 28 massacre in Guinea by reproducing a call by the Council of the Intellectuals of Africa and the African Diasporas for the creation of an African commission of inquiry:
“Whereas, on Monday September 28, 2009, Africa and the whole world waited to live again and reinforce the historic Non of Guinea to French colonialism and General Charles de Gaulle, that powerful resounding Non that had come a year after the Independence of Ghana in 1957, and had given a strong signal of the political emancipation of the French ex-colonies of Africa from the yoke of the old colonial power. Alas…instead of the celebration of the honor and dignity found in that Non, it is a disaster which was unrolled in the first independent French-speaking country in Africa…
Whatever the reasons, the immediate actions of the actors of this day make this September 28, 2009 more a time of nightmare and tragedy than a celebration… It is a PROVOCATION intended to push the Guineans in a contrary direction against their objective and subjective interests, but also it is an INSULT to Africa and the conscience of Africans, just at the moment when the question of the United States of Africa is at the forefront of our thinking.”


Canchas 2010, another Maneno blog which focuses on human stories around makeshifts soccer fields, displays pictures of kids playing soccer in the streets of Abidjan:
“A couple of weekends ago, I had the chance to be guided through the streets of the popular Adjame market in Abidjan by a friend who lives there. I really enjoyed our Sunday afternoon walk, and not only because I love street markets, but also because there were a lot of other things happening in the street. Such as football games on every block. Here are a few of them, including a poster of the 2010 World Cup in the background”.

* 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.

Pambazuka News 120 : Malam Bacai Sanha décline sa feuille de route

2009-10-27

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/summaryfr/59812

Pambazuka News 22: Mundo corporativo e corrupção em Moçambique, quais relações?

2009-10-29

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/summarypt/59829

Government expels UN torture expert

2009-10-30

http://zimbabwejournalists.com/story.php?art_id=6142&cat=1

United Nations torture expert Manfred Nowak said on Thursday he would recommend that the U.N. Human Rights Council (UNHRC) take action against Zimbabwe after his expulsion from the country. Zimbabwean officials denied him entry and forced him to board a South Africa-bound plane on Thursday after he was detained by security officials on arrival overnight.

MDC claims more intimidation

2009-10-30

http://zimbabwejournalists.com/story.php?art_id=6139

As tensions worsen in Zimbabwe, the Movement for Democratic Change says an armed gang tried to abduct its security administrator in central Harare on Tuesday. Zimbabwe’s unity government is on the verge of disintegration after Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai pulled his ministers out of cabinet meetings.

SADC Troika begins mission in Zimbabwe

2009-10-30

http://www.swradioafrica.com/news291009/sadc291009.htm

The SADC Troika on Defence, Security and Politics began its fact finding mission in Harare on Thursday in an effort to narrow the differences between Morgan Tsvangirai and Robert Mugabe. The ministerial mission is being led by Oldemiro Baloi, the Mozambican Foreign Affairs Minister, Zambia deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Fashion Phiri and Lutho Dhlamini from Swaziland.

Talks open to resolve coalition government crisis

2009-10-30

http://tinyurl.com/yj7daqo

Diplomats from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) are mediating in the talks, the latest in a series the regional group has brokered to find a durable solution to Zimbabwe's long-running political instability. Tsvangirai, accusing Mugabe of violating a power-sharing agreement they signed last year, partially pulled out from government some two weeks ago, sparking the latest political crisis.

Global: Address the needs of poor female farmers

2009-10-30

http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=3604

What are the key strategies for closing the gender gap in agricultural production? This paper from the International Food Policy Research Institute reviews attempts to increase poor female farmers’ access to, and control of, productive resources in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia.

Guinea: Rapes test U.N.'s stronger promises to women

2009-10-30

http://tinyurl.com/yhktxyx

In recent weeks, the U.N. has bolstered a groundbreaking, but largely symbolic, resolution passed in 2000 that identified women's rights and roles during war. Recent public rapes in Guinea now pose a crucial test of their strength

Kenya: Practical measures needed on teen sex-ed

2009-10-30

http://tinyurl.com/yfz97ku

Kenyan teenagers are having sex. And they appear to have no clue how to go about it. A report by the Nairobi-based Centre for the Study of Adolescents (CSA) reports that 40 percent of girls and 50 percent of boys reported having had sex before their 19th birthday, a significant minority reported having sex with more than one partner in the previous six months.

South Africa: New attitude needed for women in business

Sarah Ndzinisa

2009-10-30

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/wgender/59842

It’s a busy day as usual in the city-centre, with everyone moving about their daily business. Looking around, it seems that you will mostly find women and girls sitting by the roadside selling fruits and vegetables, while men are operating bigger businesses, like construction. Male directors are moving up and down their construction sites to make sure work is at its best. Meanwhile, women dust their wares, waiting for passersby to purchase, so that at least they are able to put food on the table by the close of day.
It’s a busy day as usual in the city-centre, with everyone moving about their daily business. Looking around, it seems that you will mostly find women and girls sitting by the roadside selling fruits and vegetables, while men are operating bigger businesses, like construction.

Male directors are moving up and down their construction sites to make sure work is at its best. Meanwhile, women dust their wares, waiting for passersby to purchase, so that at least they are able to put food on the table by the close of day.

You ask yourself who owns what, and why? Is construction work or big business really only for men? It is an even more important question to ask, with the whole region getting ready to take advantage of the many opportunities created with the upcoming FIFA World Cup landing on African soil in 2010.

A quick trip through town to do a mini-survey on the businesses operating, and you will likely find that most of the time the real moneymaking entrepreneurs are males. Most women are running small enterprises like grocery shops, hair salons and operating as informal hawkers. This is what women can usually afford as most of the time they are denied access to finance because they are women.

The situation was even worse in the country’s recent history because of laws and regulations that were unfriendly to women. These laws did not give equal opportunities to both male and female, especially when it came to access to business finance, land acquisition and personal loans.

The review of the country’s constitution to keep up with changing times was gave more chances to women. However, although the constitution has tried to address the inequalities between men and women, old habits die hard. There is still stigma attached to women in business, which requires a lot of gender awareness campaigns.

People always seem to think that a woman will never do a good job. Of course, women can make mistakes. Yet, how many times have we found unfinished jobs by the roadside, with male-owned contractors responsible? But noon ever says, “that’s what you get for employing a man.”

Have we ever engaged women on these big works, either construction or any other, or does society only judge their capacity by their long held stereotypes of what a “woman’s job” is?

Most women entrepreneurs do register good, positive, growth-promising companies, but because they do not get support either from government or their private sector colleagues, their business do not succeed. In any business, market access is essential for business growth. Even if they get finance, women can be hindered from accessing markets, because of the market’s prejudices against women.

Gender activists and organisations must lobby government to formulate laws that will give equal opportunity to both male and female. Although gender issues are covered in the country’s constitution, it is equally important that we come up with a specific regulation to give guidance on how to achieve gender equality, especially in the business sector.

It is heartbreaking to see a woman-owned business fail to get a government tender, not because it does not qualify, but it is woman owned. In most cases, women are associated with shoddy jobs when in fact, no one has given them any great piece of the job to do, but continue judging by assumption.

Starting and running a business is not gender-biased, every human being can operate any form of business. There is a need for a significant change of attitudes towards women and business. Some people have a tendency of classifying certain businesses for certain people; there is no business that is specifically for a certain group of people.

Moreover, it goes both ways. Who said men could not provide childcare? In this way, they are also deprived of an opportunity. Some may even be the best caregivers, and have a greater love for children than some women do, but because of the stigma attached to this type of work, men shun away from such jobs. Despite how society may consider this occupation for a man, it is a good way to earn a living.

If countries in Southern Africa are to progress, people must realise that each individual must be free to use their unique talents for business and entrepreneurship, and not be deterred by the stereotypes that stifle initiatives. That is the only way that we will all progress as individual, communities, and countries.

* Sarah Ndzinisa produced this article as part of a Gender Links’ media literacy training course in Swaziland.
* This article is part of the GL Opinion and Commentary Service.

Southern Africa: First woman speaker for Botswana Parliament

2009-10-30

http://www.sardc.net/Editorial/Newsfeature/09351009.htm

The appointment of Margaret Nasha as the first woman to occupy the post of Speaker of the National Assembly in Botswana signals another step towards gender equality in southern Africa. However, the low number of women who made it into Parliament in the recent elections is a setback in a region committed to reach 50 percent parity in decision-making by 2015, in six years time, following just one more election.

Africa: Citizenship Law in Africa: A comparative study

2009-10-30

http://www.afrimap.org/english/images/report/OSI-Citizenship-Law-in%20Africa-full.pdf

Citizenship Law in Africa: A comparative study, published by two programs of the Open Society Institute (AfriMAP and the Open Society Justice Initiative), describes the often arbitrary, discriminatory, and contradictory citizenship laws that exist from state to state and recommends ways that African countries can bring their citizenship laws in line with international rights norms.

Africa: Geo-mapping for human rights

2009-10-30

http://www.newtactics.org/en/blog/new-tactics/geo-mapping-human-rights

With the growing use of satellite imagery and easy-to-use technology, geographical maps are being used more often by human rights organizations. Geo-mapping can help an organization map crises, places of heritage, visualize data, monitor the impact of conflict, uncover critical evidence, and more! The goal of this dialogue will be to take the stories shared by practitioners with experience using these tools and tactics and draw out lessons to enable other organizations to strategically apply these resources.

Eritrea: A forgotten people held hostage

2009-10-30

http://humanrightshouse.org/Articles/12184.html

A new report on Eritrea has been commissioned by the Oslo Center for Peace and Human Rights. Contributions were also made by other NGOs, including Human Rights House Foundation. “The HR violations are extensive and systematic, and the oppression by the authorities is total”, says the president of the Oslo Center, Kjell Magne Bondevik.

Global: New report on legal pluralism and human rights

2009-10-30

http://www.ichrp.org/files/reports/50/135_report_en.pdf

The International Council on Human Rights Policy has released a new report, When Legal Worlds Overlap: Human Rights, State and Non-State Law. This report highlights human rights impacts and dilemmas associated with plural state and non-state laws, such as family laws based on religion, customary justice practices and Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanisms. Drawing on examples of such plural legal orders from around the world, it proposes principles and a framework to guide human rights practitioners and policy-makers.

Guinea: September 28 massacre was premeditated

2009-10-30

http://tinyurl.com/yhptsq6

An in-depth investigation into the September 28, 2009 killings and rapes at a peaceful rally in Conakry, Guinea, has uncovered new evidence that the massacre and widespread sexual violence were organized and were committed largely by the elite Presidential Guard, commonly known as the “red berets,” Human Rights Watch has said.

Guinea: Youth on hunger strike for justice

2009-10-30

http://tinyurl.com/yh8r5y9

Guinean youths have embarked on a hunger strike exactly one month after the massacre to demand justice and call for a political dialogue. The youths say the hunger strike will last for five days and they hope to draw their leaders' attention to engage in dialogue, and prevent any further violence.

Nigeria: AU backs 'hybrid court' to try Darfur crimes

2009-10-30

http://tinyurl.com/yzkr2hf

Finding 'an African solution to an African problem', the African Union (AU) has endorsed the establishment of a hybrid court to try all crimes committed in the Darfur crisis. The decision was reached by the AU Peace and Security Council (PSC), which met at the level of heads of state and government in Nigeria's capital city of Abuja Thursday to consider the recommendations of the Thabo Mbeki Panel on the Darfur crisis.

North Africa: Libya to compensate victims of repression

2009-10-30

http://tinyurl.com/yjwqhy4

In a statement published in a local newspaper, Oyia, the Libyan general people's committee of justice urged citizens deprived of their freedom by security agencies or those who have been proved innocent after being jailed, to fill the reconciliation application forms. The invitation is also meant for Libyan men who have been arrested without trial and those who have been released and wish to participate in the national reconciliation process.

Rwanda: Canada jails war criminal

2009-10-30

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8333046.stm

A Rwandan man convicted of war crimes has been jailed for life by a Canadian court, without the prospect of parole for 25 years. Desire Munyaneza, 42, was found guilty in May in the first court case brought under Canada's 2000 War Crimes Act.

Sierra Leone: Convictions in RUF appeals judgement welcomed

2009-10-30

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/rights/59834

The Acting Prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, Joseph Kamara, has welcomed the final convictions of three leaders of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF). The trial convictions of the RUF leaders were upheld by the SCSL Appeals Chamber, with Issa Sesay and Morris Kallon convicted on 16 counts and Augustine Gbao was convicted on 13 counts of an 18-count Indictment charging them with atrocities committed during Sierra Leone’s civil war.
SPECIAL COURT FOR SIERRA LEONE
OFFICE OF THE PROSECUTOR
PRESS RELEASE
Freetown, Sierra Leone, 26 October 2009

PROSECUTOR WELCOMES CONVICTIONS IN RUF APPEALS JUDGEMENT

The Acting Prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, Joseph Kamara, has welcomed the final convictions of three leaders of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF). The trial convictions of the RUF leaders were upheld by the SCSL Appeals Chamber, with Issa Sesay and Morris Kallon convicted on 16 counts and Augustine Gbao was convicted on 13 counts of an 18-count Indictment charging them with atrocities committed during Sierra Leone’s civil war.

“Today’s Appeals judgement is a final condemnation of one of the most brutal and notorious rebel groups in modern times,” said Kamara. “The suffering inflicted by the RUF on the people of this country is beyond words.”
“With the end of this trial, there is now a final recognition of their crimes.

And there is a strong measure of justice and accountability for their victims – the families of those who were slaughtered, the women who were raped, the children forced to fight and kill, the many thousands who were mutilated and terrorized.”

The Appeals Judgement upheld nearly all the conviction counts of the Trial Chamber’s February 2009 ruling, including that the RUF had committed ‘acts of terrorism’ against the civilian population. “During the Sierra Leone civil war, it was more dangerous to be a civilian than a soldier,” said Kamara. “This judgement sends a signal that such tactics of warfare will not go unpunished. It may act as a deterrent against those who would use this strategy to further their own aims at the expense of the innocent.”

The Appeals Chamber also upheld two new international precedents from the trial judgement. The convictions of all three Accused were upheld for the crimes of ‘forced marriage’ and of ‘attacks on peacekeepers.’

With today’s judgement, trial proceedings of the Special Court in Freetown are now complete. The Court has now delivered final judgements against the Accused in all of its Freetown-based trials, with eight Accused persons convicted.

In its three Freetown trials, the SCSL has expanded jurisdiction for international crimes with the achievement of numerous “firsts” in international justice. In addition to the RUF convictions on forced marriage and attacks on peacekeepers, these include being the first court to recognize and pronounce convictions for the crimes of the use child soldiers and of sexual slavery.

The one remaining SCSL trial is that of former Liberian President, Charles Taylor, which is ongoing in The Hague, where it was moved for security reasons. The Accused has been testifying in his own defence since 14 July. It is expected that the Prosecution’s cross-examination of Taylor will begin within the next few weeks.

Africa: More than a million recently displaced in Eastern and Central Africa

2009-10-30

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=32716

The total number of people forced from their homes in the past six months by persistent violent conflict in Central and Eastern Africa has topped 1 million, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has reported. According to the data compiled by OCHA’s regional office, the total number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) across the region has now passed the 10 million mark.

Mauritania: 15,000 Mauritanian refugees repatriated from Senegal

2009-10-30

http://tinyurl.com/yjopsdm

Some 14,955 Mauritanian refugees, consisting of 3,888 families, have been repatriated from Senegal to Mauritania since the end of January 2008, under a tripartite agreement signed in November 2007 by both countries and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Tanzania: Last Burundians from 1972 exodus depart

2009-10-30

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/LU641951.htm

The last 400 of more than 200,000 Burundians who fled to Tanzania 37 years ago travelled home on Friday, ending one of the longest-running refugee sagas in the world, the U.N. refugee agency said on Friday. The Burundians arrived in 1972, fleeing ethnic conflict at home. While many have returned under a U.N.-backed voluntary repatriation programme, some 29,000 were naturalised in Tanzania and 133,000 citizenship applications are still pending there.

Uganda: Hungry refugees go on strike, demand relocation

2009-10-30

http://tinyurl.com/yfb85p3

An estimated 60,000 hungry refugees in the western Uganda settlement of Nakivale have staged a strike complaining of lack of food supplies for three months leading to deaths of mainly children.

Kenya: “It's Our Money. Where's It Gone?”

International Budget Partnership

2009-10-30

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2zKXqkrf2E

The International Budget Partnership has released “It's Our Money. Where's It Gone?”—a new documentary film on the work one of its partners, MUHURI (Muslims for Human Rights), is doing to involve communities directly in monitoring the Constituency Development Fund (CDF) in Mombasa, Kenya. The CDF allocates approximately one million dollars annually to each member of parliament to spend on development projects in his or her constituency but provides for no meaningful independent oversight. This is the story of ordinary Kenyans stepping in to do something about it.

South Africa: Renewed eviction of 200 residents begins in Mandela Park

2009-10-30

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/socialmovements/59837

The residents of Mandela Park in Khayelitsha are reliving their worst nightmares once again - residents are being evicted from their homes just like five years ago. More than 200 homes have been served with eviction orders, with approximately 10 evictions having taken place in the past two weeks alone. However with the help of the community those families are not on the streets as they have been returned to their homes forcefully by the residents.
The residents of Mandela Park in Khayelitsha are reliving their worst nightmares once again - residents are being evicted from their homes just like five years ago.

More than 200 homes have been served with eviction orders, with approximately 10 evictions having taken place in the past two weeks alone. However with the help of the community those families are not on the streets as they have been returned to their homes forcefully by the residents.

At a community meeting held yesterday people spoke of a white VW Golf, with three armed men who have been taking down addresses and making "appointments" with the residents to do "evaluations" of the people homes so that they will be sold at auctions whether we like it or not. People are now living in fear as we do mot know when these people are going to return to continue their terror and render the poor people of Mandela Park homeless.

This is all happening against the background of government having promised the residents that they will finally get title deeds to these homes. These homes are of an inferior standard than RDP houses but still we, as the poor, continue to face threats of evictions.

The strange part of this story is that some other people did in fact get the title deeds through the government. The mystery though is why these few people got their deeds while others didn't and are therefore facing the reality of spending cold nights on the streets?

A few weeks ago

This eviction crisis comes on the backs of the chaos broke out in Mandela Park when the Housing MEC lied when he promised that Backyarders would get the empty RDP houses build in the area. He then changed his words saying he was misunderstood by the residents. But much of the media was there and they know that the MEC lied.

At the same meeting that he made those promises, he also promised to look into the eviction crisis in Mandela Park and issue us with long promised title deeds. Needless to say that did not happen either. People got arrested after their protest actions and he has not returned to Mandela Park to address the people about the eviction crisis.

It is important to note that MEC Madikizela was once also a part of the local Ward Development Forum in the area and we believe that he is fighting past political battles using his new found power at that expense of the poor masses of Mandela Park.

We need every support we can get to stop this madness.

We also deserve to live a normal life; free of intimidation and free political gimmicks.

Down with all evictions everywhere!

For more information, please contact:

Mabhuti at 082 9978 475
Loyiso at 073 7662 078
Sluja at 071 4331 101

Morocco: Fresh delays slow labour talks

2009-10-30

http://tinyurl.com/yl3jd92

A recent round of talks has failed to achieve agreement between Morocco's unions and the government on several of organised labour's key demands. Moroccan Prime Minister Abbas El Fassi began his annual "Social Dialogue" with leading Moroccan unions on Monday (October 26th) in Rabat.

DRC: Pros and cons to huge Chinese investment

2009-10-30

http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/nota.asp?idnews=49031

Concerns abound about a nine billion dollar Chinese investment in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, especially around environmental consequences and transparency. And, on the Chinese side, investors complain not only about the lack of security in the DRC but about their own government not providing enough support.

Emerging poowers news roundup

Stephen Marks

2009-10-30

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/emplayersnews/59904

FOCAC PREPARATIONS
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao will attend the opening ceremony of the fourth Ministerial meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation [FOCAC] in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el- Sheikh on 8 November. And he will take the opportunity to pay an official visit to Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak, according to China’s official Xinhua news agency. More

China’s delegation will be led by Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi and Commerce Minister Chen Deming. The meeting will review how the consensus of the Beijing Summit has been implemented. It will also adopt a ‘Sharm el-Sheikh declaration’ and an action plan for 2010-2012 to chart the path for further China-Africa cooperation. More

In the first half of this year China's direct investment in Africa, excluding in the financial sector, shot up 78.6 percent year-on-year to $875 million, according to an unnamed Commerce Ministry official quoted in the official Communist Party organ‘Peoples Daily’.

Last year's total African investment was $5,49-billion, or about one-tenth of China's total overseas investment, said the paper.

At the first China-Africa summit in 2006, President Hu Jintao promised $5-billion in loans and credit. The People's Daily said that of that money, $2-billion had already been lent out to 11 projects. The report did not say how much of the remaining $3-billion has been disbursed.
As of 2008, China's overall investment in Africa had reached $26-billion, the report added, though it did not give an exact timeframe. More

CHINESE DEALS IN AFRICA
There is growing evidence that the controversial $7 billion deal with a Hong Kong-based Chinese company announced by the Guinean miltary junta is not what it seems. More

China’s $9 billion investment package in the Democratic Republic of Congo promises to provide the country with badly-needed infrastructure. But controversy continues including over the predictable issues of environmental impact, financial terms, and transparency. There are also calls for closer liaison between the Chinese embassy, civil society, and Chinese entrepreneurs on the ground. More

China's CNOOC is drilling a $26 million exploration well in northern Kenya that will be the deepest yet in a country that has searched in vain for commercial oil and gas deposits for decades. More

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from China to Nigeria has doubled from $3 billion in 2003, to $6billion, with the oil and gas sector taking the lion share of 75 per cent, according to a Nigerian business leader. More

China Petroleum & Chemical Corp.’s spokesman Huang Wensheng said he isn’t aware of discussions with Ghana National Petroleum Corp. to jointly bid for the Jubilee offshore oil field. More

THE DOLLAR AND THE RMB
US criticism of China for keeping its currency too low by pegging the RMB to the dollar has traditionally come from the neo-con right, or from US unions worried for their members jobs. So it was a surprise when liberal economist Paul Krugman joined the chorus, claiming in the New York Times that
‘China’s bad behavior is posing a growing threat to the rest of the world economy. The only question now is what the world — and, in particular, the United States — will do about it’. More

With the dollar falling, Krugman argued, the RMB peg amounts to a devaluation against other currencies than the dollar, boosting China’s jobs at the expense of the EU and of other poor countries.

But consultant and fund manager Zachary Karabell disagreed. ‘Before the crisis of the past year, Chinese authorities had actually begun a slow, quiet revaluation of the currency, but only after American politicians and officials stopped using the currency question as a cudgel against China. The recent decision of Timothy Geithner and the Obama Administration not to label China a currency manipulator marked a welcome change in tactics’ he argued
‘But with China now accounting for nearly $1 trillion of American debt, and with the two economies in a symbiotic relationship that neither loves but that neither can escape, the U.S. can't simply insist that China do something about its currency and expect action. These economies are now fused...China will again allow its currency to appreciate when it feels that doing so won't cause a crisis or disrupt growth. Its massive accumulation of reserves is an issue. As the crisis eases, it's likely that Beijing will return to its pre-2008 policy of gradual appreciation, especially now that it is focusing on generating domestic demand and wants greater purchasing power for Chinese citizens. More

Independent analysts seem to agree that China will maintain a weak yuan until its export sector has recovered from the global crisis, prioritising concerns at home despite growing pressure from its major trading partners.
"Their focus is domestic issues, not foreign issues," Ben Simpfendorfer, a Hong Kong-based economist at the Royal Bank of Scotland, told news agency AFP.
"They recognise the problem of a weak currency but they have to worry about a large low-income population which has an overwhelming influence on policy-makers." More

But China’s economic policy is also under fire for diverting too much of its massive economic recovery package into inflated and often corrupt state investment, instead of boosting real consumer spending. More

Once again Zachary Karabell comes to China’s defence, arguing that even if official figures are unreliable and much of the growth package ends up in speculative bubbles, the underlying dynamism of the economy and continuing development of the interior means that China’s growth is real.
‘Yes, there will be bubbles, but what the critics have missed is that the growth of the past years has seen multiple bubbles form and pop--in Shanghai real estate, in stocks not once but at least three times, in export industries, and in loan growth and contraction. To those who warn darkly of another stock bubble, the response should be, so what? Shanghai can go up and down 75%--enriching and then destroying portfolios, elating and then depressing millions of investors--and the lumbering giant of the overall economy will continue to plow ahead’. More
An in-depth analysis by Time Magazine came to similar conclusions.

"Most economists think they've overdone investment and underdone consumption and spending for social welfare," says Stephen Green, the Shanghai-based head of research for Standard Chartered Bank. "There will be a price to pay. No one knows how big that will be. The bet is they'll grow through it. That's the bet they're taking." More

Meanwhile Time’s rival Newsweek argued that at least one aspect of the massive boost to China’s infrastructure will have real and revolutionary implications for China’s economy and society - the transformation of the country’s rail network and the consequent ‘shrinking of China’.
‘Over the next three years, the government will pour some $300 billion into its railways, expanding its network by 20,000 kilometers, including 13,000 kilometers of track designed for high-speed trains capable of traveling up to 350kph. Result: China, a nation long defined by the vastness of its geography, is getting, much, much smaller’. More

The promised boost in healthcare spending could have similarly far-reaching results. But the form it will take has still to be decided, and it could be less radical than some earlier predictions. More

Meanwhile, in a tit-for-tat move, China was reported to be preparing to launch a trade investigation into whether US carmakers are being unfairly subsidised by the US government. The move comes at a time of heightened trade tensions between the two countries after the US imposed duties on Chinese tyres last month. Many warned this would prompt Beijing to retaliate. Few vehicles are actually exported from the US to China, but the move would have symbolic power by turning the tables on Washington. More

Other emerging economies in the BRIC group were feeling the backwash from the glut of global liquidity, and the peg of the RMB to the dollar. Brazil’s decision to impose a 2 per cent tax on inward portfolio capital inflows was described by one commentator as ‘an unorthodox response to a global problem’. ‘
‘As emerging market currencies gain ground against the super soft dollar, the prices of too many financial assets — stocks, property and other assets from Turkey to Brazil — are bubbling.. But one big currency, the fixed Chinese renminbi, isn’t appreciating. Brazil is just one of many emerging economies to find it is losing competitiveness to the Asian leviathan’. More

The IMF’s decision to criticise Brazil for imposing the levy sparked a controversy. More

Former Indian Finance Secretary S. Narayan argues that if the fall in the US currency looks like becoming permanent, India should consider following China in diversifying away from the dollar. More

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS
* Stephen Marks is research associate and project coordinator with Fahamu's China in Africa Project.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

India grants Congo $263 mln in infrastructure loans

2009-10-30

http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE59T0CM20091030

India has offered Democratic Republic of Congo $263 million in loans to build hydroelectric plants and repair battered infrastructure in the war-ravaged central African nation, Congo's foreign minister said on Friday.

Botswana: SADC election observers applaud elections

2009-10-30

http://www.sardc.net/Editorial/Newsfeature/09341009.htm

Election observers from southern Africa have said Botswana’s elections were in conformity with regional standards and principles. The Southern African Development Community (SADC) Election Observer Mission (SEOM) said the elections were conducted in compliance with the SADC Principles and Guidelines Governing Democratic Elections adopted by SADC Member States.

Côte d’Ivoire: Security Council extend sanctions for another year

2009-10-30

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=32773

The Security Council has extended the sanctions imposed on Côte d’Ivoire, warning that the situation in the divided West African nation continues to pose a threat to international peace and security for the region. In a unanimously adopted resolution, the 15-member Council voted to maintain for another year an arms embargo, restrictions for certain individuals on travel and financial movements, and the ban on any State importing rough diamonds from Côte d’Ivoire.

Gambia: Detained opposition leader charged, released

2009-10-30

http://tinyurl.com/yl7t4fn

The detained Campaign Manager of Gambia's main opposition United Democratic Party (UDP), Femi Peters, appeared before Banjul Magistrates' Court charged with "organising an unlawful assembly". According to sources, Mr. Peters refused to enter into a plea when the charges were read out to him in court on Monday in the absence of a lawyer.

Global: UN guidance note on democracy

2009-10-30

http://www.un.org/democracyfund/Docs/UNDEF_Update_4.doc

The Secretary-General has issued a widely awaited Guidance Note on Democracy to all parts of the United Nations Secretariat, setting out the UN framework and committing the Organization to action in support of democracy. The Note, which followed the Secretary-General’s call in 2007 for an organization-wide strategy for democracy support, was the product of many months’ collaboration by several entities of the UN, including UNDEF

Mozambique: Guebuza headed for election victory

2009-10-30

http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE59T01G20091030

Mozambican President Armando Guebuza appeared headed for a resounding victory in an election on Thursday that would also see his ruling Frelimo party winning parliamentary and provincial polls. Partial results showed Guebuza, seen as welcoming of greater foreign investment, taking a commanding lead over his rivals, longtime opposition leader Afonso Dhlakama, and the head of a new party, Daviz Simango.

Tunisia: Ben Ali's election validated

2009-10-30

http://tinyurl.com/ylmbvfv

The Constitutional Court in Tunisia has validated the results of Sunday's presidential election, won by President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali with more than 86.62% of the votes, official sources said. The 73-year-old Ben Ali, who was the candidate of the ruling party in power for 22 years, beat three opposition candidates to win his fifth, consecutive five-year term, which should be his last, since the constitution prescribes 75 years as the maximum age for presidential candidates.

Tunisia: Opposition wins quarter of Parliament seats

2009-10-30

http://tinyurl.com/yg2npdk

Opposition parties made strong advances in legislative elections held on Sunday (October 25th), capturing an unprecedented 53 of Parliament's 214 seats. The ruling Democratic Constitutional Rally (RCD) of incumbent President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali obtained an expected majority, winning 161 seats, though only capturing 31% of the popular vote. Ben Ali himself was elected to his fifth five-year term with 89.62% of the votes in the presidential election held the same day.

Angola: Jail terms for 'Angola-gate' guilty

2009-10-30

http://tinyurl.com/yka56dd

Arkadi Gaydamak, a Russian-born Israeli businessman and Pierre Falcone, his French associate, have been sentenced to six-year jail terms for organising the illegal trafficking of weapons to Angola.

Global: France halts African leaders case

2009-10-30

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8331372.stm

A French appeals court has halted a lawsuit against three African leaders accused of embezzlement. Anti-corruption group Transparency International had accused the leaders of using African public funds to buy luxury homes and cars in France.

West Africa: Senegal admits "money gift" to IMF official

2009-10-30

http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSLQ73622

Senegal has admitted that it gave a "money gift" to an International Monetary Fund official earlier this month at the end of his three-year posting, citing an African tradition of offering goodbye presents. The gift, which the IMF said amounted to 100,000 euros and $50,000, was returned within days by IMF representative Alex Segura, who had been an outspoken critic of the West African nation's budget process during his posting.

Africa: $50 billion needed annually for infrastructure

2009-10-30

http://tinyurl.com/yjrl9xn

To maintain sustained economic growth and meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), Sub-Saharan African countries have to invest up to US$ 50 billion annually in infrastructure, said Zemedeneh Negatu, the Managing Partner of Ernst & Young, LLP in Ethiopia. He made the comments at the Africa Investor “CEO Forum on Infrastructure, Energy and Clean Tech”, held at the Cape Town International Convention Center.

Global: IMF-supported macroeconomic policies and the world recession

2009-10-30

http://www.cepr.net/documents/publications/imf-2009-10.pdf

This paper looks at IMF agreements with 41 countries. These include Stand-By Arrangements (SBA), Poverty Reduction and Growth Facilities (PRGF), and Exogenous Shocks Facilities (ESF). The paper finds that 31 of the 41 agreements contain pro-cyclical macroeconomic policies. These are either pro-cyclical fiscal or monetary policies – or in 15 cases, both – that, in the face of a significant slowdown in growth or in a recession, would be expected to exacerbate the downturn.

Morocco: Setting sights on poverty reduction

2009-10-30

http://tinyurl.com/ykkl9bz

Morocco is developing a new strategic framework to fight poverty, which will place top priority on addressing the vulnerabilities that lead families into destitution. "There was a need to bring all governmental and non-governmental initiatives together to fight poverty, given the necessity of coordinating all activities, both in terms of financial and human resources," said Minister of Social Development Nouzha Skelli, as her office unveiled the plan on October 22nd in Rabat.

Southern Africa: Impact of the global financial crisis on mining

2009-10-30

http://tinyurl.com/yg4latj

It is projected that if the economy does not improve within the next two years, more than half a million mineworkers in the region will lose their jobs. It is estimated that more than 25% of mineworkers are HIV positive. Only two countries reviewed in the study have sufficient reserves to deal with a long-term recession.

Africa: Nurse prescribing of ARVs: evidence of success in Rwanda and Lesotho

2009-10-30

http://www.aidsmap.com/en/news/6E49B0BE-0B3C-4434-B2DE-207EADBB67CD.asp

Nurses in Rwanda and Lesotho are successfully prescribing antiretroviral drugs and managing HIV treatment, two studies published this month show. Both Rwanda and Lesotho face a serious shortage of doctors, and in order to increase the capacity of the health system to treat people with HIV the World Health Organization recommends "task shifting"— the delegation of many medical tasks including ARV prescription and management to nurses and clinical officers.

Central Africa: Germany donates 23m euros to fight HIV-AIDS

2009-10-30

http://tinyurl.com/yh7a7n3

Germany has granted 23 million euros to the Organization coordinating the fight against Endemics in Central Africa (OCEAC) as part of its project for the fight against HIV/AIDS in Central Africa. An agreement to this effect signed Monday in Brazzaville, the Congolese capital, by a representative of the German Development Bank (KFW), Hubert Eisele, and the Secretary-General of OCEAC, Dr. Jean Jacques Moka.

Côte d’Ivoire: Cost-effective ways to reduce loss to follow-up in ART programmes identified

2009-10-30

http://www.aidsmap.com/en/news/A012DA86-B026-44F5-BDF3-9F5D78712DF7.asp

Measures to reduce loss to follow-up in antiretroviral treatment programmes such as abolishing user fees, paying transportation costs, providing meals and improving staff training would be cost-effective even if they prevented less than half of patients from failing to return to the clinic, according to projections based on data from Côte d’Ivoire.

Kenya: Government to launch homosexual census

2009-10-30

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8331338.stm

Kenya is to carry out a census of its gay population in an effort to bolster the fight against HIV/Aids - despite homosexuality being against the law. Nicholas Muraguri, head of Kenya's Aids prevention programme Nascop, told the BBC it was vital that the government reached out to the gay community.

South Africa: Zuma delivers historic AIDS speech

2009-10-30

http://www.health-e.org.za/news/article.php?uid=20032543

In what has been described as the final death of state sponsored AIDS denialism, President Jacob Zuma has delivered a historic speech in the National Council of Provinces acknowledging that the country was not winning the war against the disease and that extraordinary measures were needed.

Zimbabwe: Women combat HIV stigma

2009-10-30

http://tinyurl.com/yfuee7j

Women's football is being used in Zimbabwe to confront the stigma associated with HIV and Aids. A total of 16 women's teams now take part in competitions for players who have openly declared that they are HIV positive. But despite the courage of the women involved, there has been much resistance.

Africa: African universities need affordable and reliable broadband

2009-10-30

http://tinyurl.com/yg7alsh

With the click of a mouse, students at Canadian universities find information quickly and download what they need at high speeds. They could not imagine doing research without using the Internet to supplement material from their university library.But it’s a different story in most parts of Africa, where limited library collections make access to the Internet even more critical for research, yet that access is harder to come by.

Africa: Countries urged to upgrade education systems

2009-10-30

http://tinyurl.com/yk9cx5l

The conference on contractual teachers, called Bamako +5, ended in the Malian capital, Bamako, with an appeal to African governments to mobilize more resources to ensure a better quality of their education systems and the training of contractual teachersThe conference in a declaration called on African governments to initiate political dialogue between stakeholders of their educational systems in order to find ways and means to build leadership in schools. They should also allocate at least 20% of their national budgets to education.

Uganda: Lifting silence on menstruation to keep girls in school

2009-10-30

http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/nota.asp?idnews=48961

More than half of Ugandan girls who enrol in grade one drop out before sitting for their primary school-leaving examinations. The fact that girls are dropping out between age 11 and 13 is being linked to the beginning of the menstruation cycle and its associated challenges.

Uganda: Remove death penalty on gays - Clergy

2009-10-30

http://www.afrol.com/articles/34560

The Ugandan Clergy have appealed to the government to scrape the death penalty in the Anti-homosexuality Bill 2009 currently being debated in parliament. The clergy said the government should rather opt life imprisonment. Earlier this month, the homosexual groups expressed rage over the tabling of the Anti-Homosexuality bill, saying it was in violation of their human rights.

Southern Africa: Have your say! - Call for submissions: 16 Days of Activism

2009-10-30

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/16days/59843

Gender Links is commissioning submissions that will be used as part of activities for 16 Days of Activism 2009. Commissioned pieces may be used in a booklet to be launched on Human Rights Day entitled “World Cup 2010: Problems and Possibilities" and/ or distributed to mainstream media and through the Gender Links Opinion and Commentary Service.
Gender Links is commissioning submissions that will be used as part of activities for 16 Days of Activism 2009. Commissioned pieces may be used in a booklet to be launched on Human Rights Day entitled “World Cup 2010: Problems and Possibilities" and/ or distributed to mainstream media and through the Gender Links Opinion and Commentary Service.

We are looking for:

· Commentary/ Opinion – 800 - 1000 word commentary pieces reflecting on gender issues, based on the themes below.
· “I” Stories – 800 – 1000 word first person accounts of how gender and gender violence has impacted on men and women in Southern Africa, as well as first person accounts of how people are getting ready for 2010 – economically, politically, and socially.

Themes will include:
· Media: Is media part of the problem or part of the solution?
· Taking stock: How much progress countries have made in the last year in ending gender violnce?
· Localising the 365 Days of Action - the role local government can play in ending GBV.
· Human trafficking - initiatives and legislative measures dealing with human trafficking across the SADC region, linked with soccer 2010.
· Sex work - current debates around sex work across the SADC region, linking with soccer 2010.
· Sexual harassment - attitudes towards sexual harassment throughout the SADC region
· Social networking, IT and GBV: How social networking tools such as the internet, Face Book, Twitter and Mix It can be potential threats to women’s safety.
· Culture and tradition: How cultural and traditional practices contribute to or may be used to address gender violence, examining in particular the increase in child brides and the legal age for marriage of girls across the SADC region.
· Religion: The critical role religious institutions have to play in dealing with gender violence through their teachings and by providing services and support to GBV survivors.
· Gender and Soccer 2010: The possibilities and the problems that Soccer 2010 presents for women across the SADC region with a particular focus on the economic opportunity it could provide and the issues of trafficking and sex work across the region, examining the current debates around these issues in the context of 2010.
· Economic Justice – are women and men accessing opportunities, especially related 2010.
· Disability – gender violence and disability
· Migration and xenophobia – exploring economic and political migration, as well related disempowerment and/ or violence.
· LGBTI – the links between gender based violence and sexual orientation.

We are looking for “I” Stories from a wide variety of contributors, including women, men, and, youth, writing their own personal stories. This may include but is not limited to:

· Survivors of human trafficking
· Sex workers – on topics such as violence, harassment, and legalisation.
· Economic migrants – problem and positive outcomes
· Women in sport – players, coaches, journalists
· Success stories of women in businesses, challenges and achievements
· Activists getting ready for 2010
· Survivors of gender-based violence – domestic violence, sexual assault, harassment.
· Experiences with violence from social networks such as the internet.
· The LGBTI community’s experience with GBV.

Please send your ideas to editor Deborah Walter at editor@genderlinks.org.za by Wednesday, 4 November. The editor will discuss payment, deadlines, and possible angles with you.

Uganda: Reducing run-off to protect Lake Victoria

2009-10-30

http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/nota.asp?idnews=48986

The Ggaba landing site on Lake Victoria is the nearest wholesale fish market to the Ugandan capital, Kampala. More than 6,000 people live and work in this fishing community. The water looks green and dirty from the quay. It smells like - well, like fish, or an abandoned, stagnant water pond.

West Africa: Firestone in Liberia 'pollution'

2009-10-30

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8332851.stm

An investigation by the government in Liberia has concluded that the Firestone Rubber Plantation Company has polluted local water sources. The three-month investigation found that a plant south-east of the capital Monrovia was responsible for high levels of orthophosphate in creeks.

Africa: Land grab ‘in the public interest'

An issue of democracy and sustainable development

2009-10-30

http://farmlandgrab.org/8603

When in 2008 the government of Madagascar agreed a deal with Korean Daewoo Logistics for the company to access 1.3 million hectares of agricultural land to grow maize and palm oil for export, protests, political crisis and ultimately the fall of the government and the cancellation of the deal followed. Madagascar’s citizens were not consulted.

Africa: Protect small farmers: 27 groups tell African leaders

2009-10-30

http://farmlandgrab.org/8606

Twenty-seven civil society groups, among them, Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) rose from a brain-storming session in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city, with a call on governments in Africa must initiate, implement and sustain policies that guarantee the protection of small scale farmers and provide them subsidies and needed inputs to ensure increased food production and general food sovereignty

Africa: EU should provide more support for media freedom

2009-10-30

http://tinyurl.com/yhh48rq

ARTICLE 19 joins with the Africa Forum for Media Development, the African Media Initiative, the Global Forum for Media Development, the International Federation of Journalists and the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers in calling for stronger dedicated European Union support to media freedom in Africa.

Morocco: Newspapers crippled by legal action; journalist jailed

2009-10-30

http://www.ifex.org/morocco/2009/10/28/legal_attack/

Fifty-seven IFEX members and other rights organisations joined the Arab Network for Human Rights (ANHRI) to condemn the recent targeting of Moroccan journalists who have been hit with lawsuits, high fines and jail sentences, threatening media diversity. Orchestrated by the monarchy, newspapers have been shut down as the government ramps up its repression of independent journalism, report IFEX members.

Niger: Publisher freed after more than two months in custody

2009-10-30

http://www.rsf.org/Newspaper-publisher-gets-three.html

Reporters Without Borders has noted the release from prison of Abdoulaye Tiémogo, editor of the independent weekly Le Canard déchaîné, after his sentence was reduced on appeal. The journalist, who is in poor health, had been held in custody since 1st August. He had been found guilty of “discrediting a judicial decision”.

Sierra Leone: Ruling party militants violently assault radio journalist

2009-10-30

http://www.ifex.org/sierra_leone/2009/10/29/gottor_assaulted/

Gibril Gottor, a reporter for Radio Kolenten, based in the Kambia district of northwestern Sierra Leone, was violently assaulted by a group of men on 10 October 2009 for allegedly "sabotaging" the government. The men are believed to be supporters of the ruling All People's Congress Party (APC).

DRC: Police 'killed' in north DR Congo

2009-10-30

http://tinyurl.com/yk3goco

Armed villagers have killed at least 47 policemen who were trying to intervene in ethnic clashes in the northern Democratic Republic of Congo, reports say. A number of civilians were also killed in the violence which erupted in the village of Dongo in Equateur province early on Thursday, the UN-sponsored Radio Okapi said, citing local officials.

Somalia: "Too much, too soon" as 15,000 flee floods

2009-10-30

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900SID/MDCS-7XAJ25?OpenDocument

Flash floods caused by four days of torrential rains have displaced more than 15,000 people in the southwestern town of El-Waq near the Kenyan border and submerged most homes and businesses, say locals.

Africa: Tanzania first to lower Internet rates

2009-10-30

http://www.balancingact-africa.com/news/current1.html#internet

Tanzania Telecommunication Company Ltd customers will from this month enjoy a 50 per cent cut in Internet charges, making Tanzania the first East African country to lower Internet charges. TTCL chief executive officer Said Amour Said, told The EastAfrican that the lowering of charges follows the firm's connecting to the Seacom submarine fibre optic cable.

Africa: Zambia not host next e-Learning Africa

2009-10-30

http://www.elearning-africa.com/newsportal/english/news206.php

By hosting the next eLearning Africa, Zambia is confirming its commitment to placing Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) at the heart of its development projects and is highlighting the different plans and programmes in progress that incorporate ICT as an essential development factor.

Global: Global Teenager Project launches new website

2009-10-30

http://www.iicd.org/articles/global-teenager-project-launches-new-website-1

The IICD-supported Global Teenager Project (GTP) has launched a new virtual learning environment to support online classroom discussion on social issues with peers from all over the world. Founded in 1998, GTP offers collaborative global learning to over 10,000 students in 34 countries based on themes, or Learning Circles.

Kenya: PesaPal: Kenyan web & mobile payments

2009-10-30

http://whiteafrican.com/2009/10/25/pesapal-kenyan-web-mobile-payments/

Start local, then Africa, then the world. That’s the mantra app developers in Africa should be repeating to themselves as they build their game changing tools. That’s what Agosta Liko and his team at Verviant are doing with their new web and mobile payment platform: PesaPal.

Rwanda: Policy vacuum could mean trouble for broadband

2009-10-30

http://www.apc.org/en/news/rwanda-s-policy-vacuum-could-mean-trouble-broadban

Whatever else it is, information and communications technologies (ICTs) policy-making can often be symbolic, especially in poor countries. The vision is one of social upliftment, and a new golden age of possibilities brought on by technological roll-out. Sometimes these promises can feel like fantasy in contrast to the real spadework of laying cables, orbiting satellites, and securing billion-dollar investment deals that don’t exploit the poor.

South Africa: Keep Your Chats Exactly That!

2009-10-30

http://www.takebackthetech.net/

"Keep Your Chats Exactly That!" is a campaign by Women'sNet and Girls'Net that aims to empower young people in the use of the internet and cell phones. It looks at both strategies of prevention from harassment, bullying and violence, as well as strategies for using ICTs in affirmative ways to advocate for change on issues that concern them.

Africa: Climate Change and Natural Resources

AfricaFocus Bulletin Oct 29, 2009 (091029

2009-10-30

http://www.africafocus.org/docs09/clim0910.php

On the eve of the climate change summit in Copenhagen this December, momentum for action still falls far short of that needed to avert catastrophe. Africa will suffer consequences out of all proportion to its contribution to global warming, which is primarily caused by greenhouse gas emissions from wealthy countries. But Africa can also make significant contributions to mitigating (i.e. limiting) climate change, by stopping tropical deforestation and ending gas flaring from oil production.

Global: PhD and MA programs in human rights

Mahidol University, Thailand

2009-10-30

http://www.humanrights-mu.org/

The PhD in Human Rights and Peace Studies is the only PhD program of its kind in Asia, while the MA is the longest running graduate degree program in human rights in Asia. These programs offer a unique opportunity to engage in depth with the highly important issues of human rights and peace in the world today. The objectives of the programs are to produce graduates with excellent research skills and thorough theoretical and conceptual knowledge of these fields, and who are able to apply this knowledge to the field.

Kenya: Violent Cartographies Colloquium

2009-10-30

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/59878

The Institute for Human Security (IHS) will be hosting a multi-disciplinary and multi-genre colloquium on Cultures of Violence /War and Identity on the 3-4 November 2009. The title of the event this year is "Violent Cartographies: Mapping Colonial and Postcolonial Identities and Cultures of War"- a project that seeks to "unmap" the familiar world by raising questions and employing genres of expression that interrogate dominant ways of thinking about violence/ war , identities and the spaces of their occurrence.
The Institute for Human Security (IHS) will be hosting a multi-disciplinary and multi-genre colloquium on Cultures of Violence /War and Identity on the 3-4 November 2009. The title of the event this year is "Violent Cartographies: Mapping Colonial and Postcolonial Identities and Cultures of War"- a project that seeks to "unmap" the familiar world by raising questions and employing genres of expression that interrogate dominant ways of thinking about violence/ war , identities and the spaces of their occurrence.


Most broadly, the project engages a variety of counter spaces in order to reflect on how ‘we’ encounter peoples with incommensurate practices of identity. It also seeks to encourage critical discourses that speculate on the possibilities of an ethics of encounter predicated on minimal violence and respect for alterity.

To explore the shifting conceptualisations of war, ethics and identity from a variety of aesthetic and political perspectives, the Violent Cartographies Event will involve a 2 day colloquium and a writers workshop to be held at the British Institute in Eastern Africa Seminar Room. A 15 day photo installation- exhibition by fine-art photographer Rujunko Pugh will also be take place at the Kuona Trust gallery [between 4th -15th November 2009].

Attached is the colloquium program and further details on the photo-exhibition.

To confirm your attendance, please send an email to opondo@hawaii.edu or call Sam on 0714666042 by 2nd November 2009.

A colloquium registration fee of Ksh 750 is payable at the venue to cover meals and light refreshments.

East Africa: Programme officer - ARTICLE 19

2009-10-30

http://www.article19.org/pdfs/other/programme-officer-kenya-east-africa.pdf

ARTICLE19 is recruiting a Programme Officer to further strengthen our presence in Kenya and East Africa. He/she will ensure ongoing projects are delivered in a timely manner and assist in the preparation of future project plans. Educated to degree level, the successful candidate will have extensive experience in policy work, monitoring, advocacy and/or campaigning work in the human rights sector combined with demonstrable project management, implementation and budgeting skills. Familiarity with human rights issues and knowledge of societies in Eastern Africa are also essential.

Please apply by CV and a covering letter detailing how you meet the person specification to Kenya@article19.org

Alternatively, send your CV and covering letter to:

The Selection Panel
ARTICLE19, Kenya & East Africa
ACS Plaza, 3rd Floor, Lenana Road
PO Box 2653, 00100
Nairobi
Kenya

Closing date for receipt of applications: 5.30pm 6th November 2009
Only short listed applicants will be contacted

Fahamu