Back Issues

Chevron bans international human rights and environmental advocates from shareholder meeting

2010-05-27

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/action/64761

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 26, 2010

CONTACT:
Abby Rubinson
Justice In Nigeria Now
(415) 990-0792

Chevron Bans International Human Rights and Environmental Advocates from its Shareholder Meeting

New CEO Bans Human Rights and Environmental Critics Even As He Announces a Company Human Rights Policy Dedicated to “Two-Way Communication” with Concerned Community Members

Houston, TX – After traveling halfway around the world from Nigeria to the U.S., Emem Okon, along with 17 other people representing oil-producing communities around the globe, stood today as shareholders ready to attend Chevron’s Annual General Meeting of the Shareholders. Chevron arbitrarily denied Ms. Okon and at least 13 others entry to the meeting despite the fact that other representatives from Chevron-impacted communities were allowed to enter the meeting.

Ms. Okon traveled to Houston from Nigeria’s Niger Delta, the oil-producing region of the country. The women whose voices and stories Ms. Okon wanted to convey to the Chevron Board and Shareholders have contacted Chevron many times at home in Nigeria, but the company has not responded to them. The women have called, written letters, and peacefully protested, urging the company “to clean up the environment, end gas flaring, and to respect their human rights policies, which call for two-way communication between Chevron and the community people,” says Ms. Okon.

Indeed, Chevron’s 2009 Human Rights Policy states the following: “Community: We respect human rights in the following ways…By fostering ongoing, proactive two-way communication with communities and knowledgeable stakeholders.”

The company’s behavior today in Houston contradicted its own Human Rights Policy by  silencing the voices of people from Nigeria, Australia, Burma, Richmond (California), and elsewhere by preventing them from communicating with the company’s shareholders–without any legal basis for that denial.

Nigerian Omoyele Sowore explains, “By its actions today, Chevron continues its criminal behavior by denying its shareholders a voice, as it has denied impacted communities a voice about pollution and climate change, and continues its connivance and collusion with military dictators around the world to suppress the voices of people in the communities where it operates.”

Justice in Nigeria Now (JINN) is a San Francisco-based organization working in solidarity with communities in Nigeria and allies in the U.S. to promote peace and corporate accountability and to ensure that extractive industries operate in a manner that respects human rights, protects the environment and enhances community livelihood.

Abby Rubinson
Justice In Nigeria Now
(415) 990-0792
www.justiceinnigerianow.org

Raid and arrest of GALZ and its employees

GALZ

2010-05-26

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/action/64739

We write to inform you of the detention of two employees of Gay and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ)—Ellen Chademana and Ignatius Mhambi—on the evening of 21st May. They were arrested after a raid of the GALZ office by the Central Intelligence Department. The officers came with a search warrant looking for evidence that GALZ was dealing in hard drugs and/or were in possession of pornography. They took all the GALZ computers and other materials from the office. The officers then came back and arrested everyone in the GALZ office. Only Ellen and Ignatius were there. Both Ellen and Ignatius are still in custody. Derek Matyszak, a human rights lawyer who has been working with GALZ for a long time, has been trying to get in to see them. Ellen’s health is of particular concern as she is diabetic and needs her medication and food.

We understand that it is currently unsafe for GALZ employees and volunteers who are outside of Zimbabwe at various meetings, including an OSISA meeting in Johannesburg, to return to Zimbabwe as there is a concern that they will be arrested at the airport.

This arrest and raid are part of growing pressure in Zimbabwe against LGBT rights. About a month ago, two foreign student interns were stopped at the airport trying to leave Zimbabwe and interrogated and detained. All of the GALZ material they had in their possession was confiscated.

At the moment, we are waiting for word from Chesterfield Samba, who is at a meeting in Namibia, to determine a strategy going forward and particularly what those of us outside of Zimbabwe can do to assist. Also, we know Fadzai is on this list and we are sure she can also provide more information and updates.

Ian Swartz
Priti Patel

AFRICOM and the ICC: Enforcing international justice in Africa?

Samar Al-Bulushi and Adam Branch

2010-05-27

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/64752

cc US Army AfricaThe ICC (International Criminal Court) prosecutor has called for the US military to enforce ICC arrest warrants in Africa, while American officials have declared a new phase of cooperation between the US and the ICC, write Samar Al-Bulushi and Adam Branch. What some see as a solution to the ICC’s lack of enforcement capacity, the authors argue, in fact poses a dramatic danger to peace and justice in Africa and to the future of the ICC itself.

THE ICC’S ENFORCEMENT CRISIS

Nearly eight years since its establishment in July 2002, and with its first major review conference just around the corner, the International Criminal Court (ICC) faces a number of challenges. The fact that it has prosecuted only Africans has provoked charges of neocolonialism and racism; its decision to indict certain actors and not others has triggered suspicion of the court’s susceptibility to power politics; and its interventions into ongoing armed conflicts have elicited accusations that the ICC is pursuing its own brand of justice at the cost of enflaming war and disregarding the interests of victims.[1] Each of these concerns is likely to provoke heated discussions at the review conference in Kampala next week.

But there is another aspect of the court’s role in Africa that will require scrutiny going forward: enforcement. Lacking its own enforcement mechanism, the court relies upon cooperating states to execute its arrest warrants. The ICC has found, however, that many states, even if willing to cooperate, often lack the capacity to execute warrants, especially in cases of ongoing conflict or when suspects can cross international borders. Moreover, the African Union (AU) has rejected the ICC’s arrest warrant for its most high-profile target, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, and ICC supporters worry that the AU will continue to challenge the court’s authority, especially when the court targets African leaders. The court today thus faces an enforcement crisis: out of 13 arrest warrants issued, only four suspects are in custody. Apparently, having concluded that African states are either unwilling or unable to act quickly or forcefully enough to apprehend suspects, the court has begun to seek support from the one country that has shown itself willing and able to wield military force across the globe: the United States.

The ICC’s Office of the Prosecutor is leading this effort. In June 2009 at a public event in the US, Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo declared the need for 'special forces' with 'rare and expensive capabilities that regional armies don’t have', and said that 'coalitions of the willing', led by the US, were needed to enforce ICC arrest warrants. More recently, Special Adviser to the Prosecutor Béatrice Le Fraper du Hellen declared to CNN, 'We have our shopping list ready of requests for assistance from the US government', which, she asserted, 'has to lead on one particular issue: the arrest of sought war criminals. President al-Bashir, Joseph Kony in Uganda, Bosco Ntaganda, the "Terminator in Congo" — all those people have arrest warrants against them, arrest warrants issued by the ICC judges, and they need to be arrested now.' She said that the ICC needed American 'operational support' for the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Uganda and the Central African Republic (CAR) 'to assist them in mounting an operation to arrest him [Kony]. They have the will—so it’s a totally legitimate operation, politically, legally—but they need this kind of assistance. And the US has to be the leader.'[2]

The ICC’s entreaties are a response to an apparent re-assessment of US–ICC relations undertaken by the Obama administration and to the inception of a new US policy of pragmatic, ad hoc engagement with the court. Indeed, in recent months, the US government has declared its interest in working more closely with the ICC – not with the intent of becoming a party to the Rome Statute (the ICC treaty), but to help execute arrest warrants. In late March, Stephen Rapp, US ambassador-at-large for war crimes, stated that: 'The United States is prepared to listen and to work with the ICC and go through requests that the prosecutor has.' He continued: 'There may be obstacles under our law. But we’re prepared to do what we can to bring justice to the victims in the Democratic Republic of Congo, in Uganda, and Sudan and in the Central African Republic.'[3]

And State Department Legal Adviser Harold Hongju Koh declared in March that the US is seeking cooperation with the court as a non-state party observer: 'The Obama Administration has been actively looking at ways that the US can, consistent with US law, assist the ICC in fulfilling its historic charge of providing justice to those who have endured crimes of epic savagery… We would like to meet with the Prosecutor at the ICC to examine whether there are specific ways that the United States might be able to support the particular prosecutions that are already underway.'[4] A recent Council on Foreign Relations report echoed these sentiments, recommending that the Obama administration not ratify the ICC treaty, but 'consider boosting its cooperation with the court in such areas as training, funding, the sharing of intelligence and evidence and the apprehension of suspects'.[5]

This proposed alliance between the US military and the ICC has elicited little reaction from the human rights community despite the devastating consequences it may produce. At heart is the question of what it will mean for justice and the rule of law if the ICC comes to rely heavily on the military capacity of a single state – a state with its own military agenda and interests in Africa – as its enforcement arm, in particular when that state declares itself above the very law it claims to enforce. The ICC appears to be trading its independence in return for access to coercive force, a Faustian bargain that will be made at the price of the court’s legitimacy, impartiality and legality, and the Western human rights community seems to be accepting this bargain as a necessary price to pay to encourage any US engagement with the court. But the price paid by the ICC will be trivial compared to the very dangerous possibility that this alliance could help justify and expand US militarisation in Africa, in particular in conjunction with AFRICOM (Africa Command), at a dramatic cost to peace and justice in the continent.

US INTERESTS IN THE ICC

US overtures for pragmatic engagement with the ICC in Africa should be understood in the context of increased US military engagement in Africa, particularly the new military command for the continent, AFRICOM. Since the US announced the creation of AFRICOM in 2007, activists have sounded alarm bells about its implications. Recalling the Cold War legacy of intervention that contributed to the militarisation of African states and the funding of proxy forces, they are concerned that AFRICOM will serve as a vehicle to expand the 'war on terror' into Africa, to secure US access to Africa’s oil and to challenge China’s increasing commercial and political influence. They cite dwindling development aid as contrasted with massive increases in foreign military financing via AFRICOM as evidence of the US government’s prioritiation of narrow security interests over democracy, the rule of law and African interests more broadly.[6] Gender rights activists have highlighted the potential for AFRICOM to undermine efforts to demilitarise African communities, particularly those emerging from conflict.[7] Considering the US track record of destructive interventions in Africa during the Cold War and the US military’s disregard for international law in Iraq and Afghanistan, Africans have reason to be wary of greater US military involvement on their soil. The possibility that AFRICOM might add justice enforcement to its repertoire is therefore a genuinely troubling development, and the ICC risks becoming the latest pawn of US military strategy on the continent.

For one, just as the US invokes counter-terrorism as a basis for military assistance to African states, it may come to use international justice enforcement to justify increased militarisation of select African armies. This fits well with AFRICOM’s general strategy: in place of direct intervention (which would trigger unwanted scrutiny), the US prefers to rely on proxies to carry out its military agenda.[8] As the US attempts to expand its sphere of influence in Africa through local 'partners', the ICC may inadvertently justify the militarisation of African states in the name of international law enforcement. History provides a chilling lesson in the impact of US military aid to Africa – more than US$1.5 billion worth of weapons were transferred to the continent during the Cold War,[9] most of it to authoritarian and repressive regimes whose legacies are painfully felt in ongoing cycles of violence and instability in many African countries.[10]

Secondly, ICC arrest warrants could provide the US with justification for the direct use of military force where desired. In the words of the prosecutor’s special advisor, the ICC offers a convenient way to make military action (such as the pursuit of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA)) 'a totally legitimate operation, politically, legally', without having to overcome the political and legal obstacles in the way of Security Council authorisation for the use of force. Like the impunity that characterised the US and UN 'humanitarian' intervention in Somalia in the 1990s,[11] political and human destruction wreaked by US military actions under ICC cover will be dismissed as 'collateral damage' in the name of international law enforcement. It is probably safe to predict that the US will avoid ICC scrutiny for any use of military force as long as the ICC depends upon US military capacity.

And US allies in Africa could enjoy similar impunity thanks to the Bush-era bilateral immunity agreements guaranteeing US citizens protection from ICC prosecution and, in some cases, guaranteeing that the US would not hand over individuals from those African countries to the court. An April 2010 Congressional Research Service report on AFRICOM confirms that the Obama administration has no intention of reversing these immunity agreements.[12]

Instead of bringing the US back within international law, the proposed US ‘engagement’ with the ICC would thus allow the US to declare itself above international law while using international law for its own interests. The human rights community must not be complicit in this charade and must hold the US and the ICC to account.

POLITICISATION OF THE ICC

If the ICC partners with US military power, the politicised 'justice' that the ICC effects will not only create a geography of impunity in Africa, but will also lead to increased accusations of partiality against the court. And it is hard to imagine that the ICC, in its reliance on US enforcement capacity, would be able to avoid politicisation and not fall into the trap of prosecuting only those the US is willing to capture, regardless of crimes committed.

The vast discretion afforded to the Office of the Prosecutor by the Rome Statute and the lack of transparency that characterises the prosecutor’s decisions as to whom to prosecute and why is unlikely to provide any check on this type of politicisation. Luis Moreno-Ocampo has shown himself willing to take full advantage of the discretion provided him, practicing immense selectivity in his investigations and prosecutions. Even if the prosecutor were to try to prosecute US allies, the US could exert its influence by threatening to revoke funding or support for the court or by interfering with its internal workings. US meddling in supposedly independent international criminal tribunals has been documented elsewhere, including having Carla del Ponte removed from her position as prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in 2003 when she sought to investigate the US-allied Rwandan government for war crimes.[13] If the ICC is seen as working hand-in-glove with US interests in Africa, its legitimacy may end up fatally damaged.

EXPANSION OF AFRICOM

The appointment of AFRICOM as the ICC’s police officer in Africa may, along with providing cover for US military operations and for the militarisation of African states involved in ICC enforcement operations, also help establish a long-term US military presence on the continent. After US forces have set up bases or surveillance centres as part of a law enforcement operation, it will be easy for that military presence to remain long after the actual 'enforcement' operation has ended. Once US drones are circling overhead hunting ICC suspects, these drones could easily keep circling, collecting intelligence and carrying out 'targeted assassinations' when required.

One recent incident may provide a taste for what is to come through an AFRICOM–ICC alliance. In December 2008, a military operation coined 'Operation Lightning Thunder' was carried out principally by the Ugandan military with training and financial support from AFRICOM against the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army, the top commanders of which have outstanding ICC arrest warrants against them. The operation failed to capture the LRA leadership, however, and led to over 1,000 civilian deaths and the displacement of up to 200,000 Congolese.[14]

Despite the devastating consequences of that operation for civilians, the US Congress recently passed legislation authorising intensified US-led military action in the region 'to apprehend or otherwise remove Joseph Kony and his top commanders from the battlefield'. The legislation includes no commitment to upholding the ICC’s arrest warrants, but Senator Russ Feingold, a co-sponsor and vocal advocate of the bill, stated that the effort to stop the LRA is 'exactly the kind of thing in which AFRICOM should be engaged'.[15] In its latest report on the LRA, the International Crisis Group supported the bill and called for long-term US military engagement in the region: 'Uganda and the US should see that getting rid of Kony may win them praise and be politically valuable, but removing the LRA requires going further. They should prepare now to continue operations after Kony is caught or killed,' with mechanisms to 'review the operation every four months to assess civilian casualties and increase civilian protection measures accordingly,' signalling the projection of a long-term US military deployment in the region, a deployment justified originally as part of an effort to apprehend the LRA leadership.[16]

The presence of US military on African soil raises a number of concerns for those communities where they are deployed. Former US Army Colonel Ann Wright warned against deploying US soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo, citing the high number of rape and violent sexual assault cases in the US military and by US military personnel against women and girls in areas around US military bases.[17] As she stated, 'If the women of the Congo should Google, "US military – sexual assault and rape", I suspect they will decline the offer of assistance from the African Command.'

Similarly, given the massive civilian devastation wreaked by recent US military interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is likely that most Africans would say 'no thank you' to the offers of justice from the barrel of American guns. This is especially the case given that many of these law enforcement operations may be carried out not by uniformed US soldiers, but by US-contracted private security firms who anticipate a boom in business thanks to AFRICOM.[18] Given the near total lack of accountability that private contractors have enjoyed in Iraq and Afghanistan, this should also give human rights and peace advocates considerable pause for thought.

Finally, regardless of how the proposed cooperation works out in practice, there is the underlying issue that, for people in many areas of the world, the idea that US military force is the chosen instrument of global justice makes a mockery of the violence and devastation they have suffered at the hands of US military intervention. The ICC’s pandering to the US military is an insult to all those in the US and around the world struggling to hold the US military and its mercenaries accountable. The quest for global accountability will only become more difficult if the US military is appointed by the ICC as the chosen agent of global justice instead of being a force that itself needs to be held accountable.

PRESERVING THE RULE OF LAW

In order to ensure that any future ICC–US cooperation builds, rather than undermines, the rule of law, human rights activists, in particular at the ICC Review Conference, have a right and responsibility to make several demands:

- First, that the US sign and ratify the Rome Statute as a signal of its commitment to the rule of law
- Second, that all US-initiated bilateral immunity agreements be nullified
- Third, that if the ICC works with the US while the US is not a state party, it should do so in an open, transparent and accountable manner.

Most important, it is up to all human rights and peace advocates to make clear that we will not allow the enforcement of international justice to be used as a cover for US militarisation of Africa and for the dangerous expansion of AFRICOM in the continent.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEW

* Samar Al-Bulushi is an independent researcher examining the influence of external actors on peace and justice debates in Africa. Adam Branch is assistant professor in the Department of Political Science at San Diego State University.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

NOTES

[1] See for example: Mary Kimany, 'International Criminal Court: Justice or Racial Double Standards?' Afrik.com, 16 December 2009 available hereat ; Hama Tuma, 'ICC and Omar Bashir no friends of Ethiopia…Contempt for Africa or Justice Served?' Afrik.com, 9 March 2009 available at http://en.afrik.com/rejoinder15397.html; Adam Branch, 'Uganda’s Civil War and the Politics of ICC Intervention,' Ethics and International Affairs, 2007, available at http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/~abranch/Publications/index_pub.html; Mayank Bubna, 'The ICC’s Role in Sudan: Peace versus Justice,' Eurasia Review, 28 April 2010, available here.
[2] George Lerner, 'Ambassador: US moving to support international court,' CNN US on-line, www.cnn.com/2010/US/03/24/us.global.justice
[3] George Lerner, 'Ambassador: US moving to support international court,' CNN US on-line, www.cnn.com/2010/US/03/24/us.global.justice
[4] Harold Hongju Koh, 'The Obama Administration and International Law,' Keynote Speech at the Annual Meeting of the American Society of International Law, 26 March 2010. http://www.state.gov/s/l/releases/remarks/139119.htm
[5] Vijay Padmanabhan, From Rome to Kampala: The US Approach to the 2010 International Criminal Court Review Conference. Council on Foreign Relations Special Report No. 55, April 2010.
[6] See for example, 'African Voices on AFRICOM,' at
http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/47047 See also A. Sarjoh Bah and Kwesi Aning, 'US Peace Operations Policy in Africa: From ACRI to AFRICOM,' International Peacekeeping, 2008. See also Daniel Volman and Beth Tuckey, 'Militarizing Africa (Again),' Foreign Policy in Focus, 20 February 2008 at http://www.fpif.org/articles/militarizing_africa_again

US militarisation: The tragedy of Somalia

Explo Nani-Kofi

2010-05-27

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/64754

© Siegfried Modola/IRINAs the US Africa Command (AFRICOM) force becomes ever more active in Somalia, questions must be raised as to the intentions of this militarised organisation, writes Explo Nani-Kofi. Nani-Kofi stresses that the African continent grows ever more vulnerable to a maturing breed of neocolonial occupation based on US-led proxy wars.

When Barack Obama was elected president of the US, it was supposed to be the end of the bad old days of George W. Bush. But in Somalia, the 'war on terror' continues.

March this year saw the start of a new US operation in support of the transitional government in Somalia.

According to the New York Times, American advisors had spent the last several months training Somali forces to be deployed in the offensive against factions of the Union of Islamic Courts movement, and the US had provided ‘covert training to Somali intelligence officers, logistical support to the peacekeepers, fuel for the maneuvers, surveillance information about insurgent positions and money for bullets and guns’.

This was something of a covert operation from the US point of view. A US official, who told the paper ‘what you’re likely to see is air strikes and Special Ops moving in, hitting and getting out’, said he was not allowed to speak publicly about it.

The Somali government, however, was happy to boast of US involvement. General Mohamed Gelle Kahiye, the new chief of staff of the armed forces, said of a military surveillance plane overhead, ‘It’s the Americans. They’re helping us.’

On 2 May, explosions in a mosque in Mogadishu’s Bakara market, a stronghold of the US-targeted Al Shabaab group, killed 45 people and triggered fighting between a pro-government militia and Al Shabaab and Hizbal al Islam, both factions of the Union of Islamic Courts movement. It’s not clear who actually set off the explosions, but it is beginning to seem that Somalia could be the US Africa Command’s (AFRICOM) first overt war.

The Obama administration's 2011 budget request for security assistance programmes in Africa includes $38 million for arms sales to African states, $21 million for training African officers and $24 million for anti-terrorism programmes. This is in addition to the 40 tonnes of arms and ammunition supplied to the Somali transitional government in 2009, and military aid to Ethiopia, which fronted for the US in the fight against the Union of Islamic Courts in 2006. AFRICOM has now taken over US security assistance programmes with Mali, Niger, Chad and Senegal, and the Defense Department is now considering forming a 1,000-strong marine rapid deployment force for Africa. Although AFRICOM gives the impression it is not a combat force, it looks as if this may change.

The justification for US involvement in Somalia is ‘Islamic extremism’. Al Shabaab is on the US list of terrorist organisations as a supposed part of al-Qaeda. On 14 March, General William (‘Kip’) Ward, commander of AFRICOM, singled out Somalia in testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee as the east African country most ‘threatened by terrorists’, while Senator Carl Levin stated that ‘al Qaeda and violent extremists who share their ideology are not just located in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region but in places like Somalia, Mali, Nigeria and Niger’. Kip Ward also spoke of support for the Somali government, which is being fought against by radical Islamist groups, as a responsibility that the US has to take up. This means that there is no separation between the US–UK presence in Afghanistan and AFRICOM’s operations in Somalia and other parts of Africa.

Writing in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on 10 March, the last ambassador of the United States to Somalia (1994–95), Daniel H. Simpson, posed the question ‘Why, apart from the only lightly documented charge of Islamic extremism among the Shabaab, is the United States reengaging in Somalia at this time?’ He provided the answer himself: ‘Part of the reason is because the United States has its only base in Africa up the coast from Mogadishu, in Djibouti, the former French Somaliland. The US Africa Command was established there in 2008, and, absent the willingness of other African countries to host it, the base in Djibouti became the headquarters for US troops and fighter bombers in Africa.’

AFRICOM, responsible for US military operations for the whole of the African continent except Egypt, was established in October 2008, but the idea goes back to the beginning of the decade, when the US National Intelligence Council estimated that the US will buy 25 per cent of its oil from Africa by 2015. Oil and natural gas seems to always sit nicely with this so-called war on terror.

The case of Somalia epitomises the proxy war situation in Africa and also smashes some of the myths around why African countries are in the situation they are. It’s sometimes argued that the different languages and tribes in many African countries are the cause of their problems. However, Somalia is one country with one language and one dominant religion, so by that reasoning it should have more internal harmony than its neighbours. The explanation for its problems lies in the history of colonialism and exploitation by Western powers. The breakdown of national cohesion in Somalia and the civil war in 1988, since when the country has been ungovernable from Mogadishu, was caused by its use in the Cold War and specifically by President Siad Barre’s decision to seek alliances with the US and apartheid South Africa against Soviet Union-backed Ethiopia. Subsequent international interventions, like the UN force in 1992 and the Ethiopian US-backed invasion in 2006 have been more about occupation than mediation.

The US proxy war in Africa is a mechanism to re-colonise the continent and extend the boundaries of the war on terror. It’s time to mobilise against it. To support the campaign against AFRICOM and the proxy situation in Africa, check the Sons and daughters of Africa Movement Facebook page, coordinated in Europe by Agnes Munyi-Vanselow and Explo Nani-Kofi of KILOMBO – Campaigning Against Proxy War Situation in Africa and AFRICOM. The latter is affiliated with the Stop the War Coalition in the UK.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* This article was originally published by Counterfire.
* Explo Nani-Kofi is coordinator of KILOMBO – Centre for Civil Society and African Self-Determination as well as editor of the Kilombo Pan-African Community Journal.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

Kenya and the ICC: Court of last hope?

Dana Wagner

2010-05-27

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/64751

cc ActionPixs (Maruko)The International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation into Kenya's post-2007–08 election atrocities is being dubbed the country’s ‘last hope’ for justice due to a lack of domestic initiatives to deal with suspects, writes Dana Wagner. Amidst high Kenyan and international expectations, can the ICC deliver this justice as a lone and external judicial body?

Luis Moreno-Ocampo’s arrival on 8 May and five-day visit to Nairobi came and passed quietly. It was documented by soft clicks of media cameras and by sharp but measured musing of social commentators. There was no civil unrest to challenge the tour and not even a visible protest in a capital that just two years ago was ripped open with street-level violence.

Without incident Moreno-Ocampo, prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), reportedly met with victims, witnesses and suspects, and wooed a watchful press.

Before the prosecutor’s arrival, opposition to the ICC in Kenya played out in an alleged government plot to block the prosecutor’s visit that quickly flopped. During the tour it was through an inquisitive media at a handful of press conferences that questioning the ICC presence was again dragged into discourse – because it hadn’t been there for a while.

The ICC investigation to pursue justice for the victims of the 2007–08 post-election violence – violence that left 1,220 dead, thousands more injured and over 350,000 people forcibly displaced, according to the Office of the Prosecutor – is now accepted as the crucial next step and better than any domestic option, says L. Muthoni Wanyeki, executive director of the Kenya Human Rights Commission.

ICC involvement, reluctantly, is dogma for getting something done.

‘At this point the ICC is the only option,’ Wanyeki says. ‘In our case it’s a court of last resort.’

Current Kenyan solutions to investigate post-election violence in addition to the ICC are the Special Tribunal, born from recommendation by the Waki Commission, and the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC).

The start-up of both these institutions has been riddled with funding problems and other political setbacks, including the contested appointment of Bethuel Kiplagat as chair of the TJRC, which resulted in one commissioner stepping down on principle after Kiplagat refused a request by colleagues for his own resignation. Kiplagat is now facing a potential sub-inquiry into his political history – as a high-ranking official under the former president, Daniel Arap Moi – which has essentially rendered the beleaguered commission defunct.

The Special Tribunal too has been unable to reach a foothold after an attempt to establish it with the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill 2009 by Mutula Kilonzo, the minister of justice and constitutional affairs, was blocked in Parliament.

‘There’s now overwhelming support within Kenya for the ICC – I think that’s based on a lack of alternatives,’ says Lionel Nichols, administrative manager of the Oxford Transitional Justice Research Group (OTJR).

Because of the idling TJRC and the Special Tribunal in parliamentary limbo, Nichols says that ‘for many Kenyans the ICC is their only hope’.

‘WE’RE NOT A FAILED STATE’

The start of atonement-seeking and the first initiative of juridical inquiry into post-election violence – the Waki Commission, headed by Justice Philip Waki – was not characterised by resigned support for ICC participation in Kenya’s problems.

After the Waki Commission put forward its recommendation for an investigative tribunal, support for a solely Kenyan solution was at least alive, if not widespread.

‘What was originally proposed [by the Waki Commission] would have been the best option, but the bill failed and at that point it was clear there was not enough will on the political side,’ Wanyeki says.

Nichols underscores the lack of political will to establish an effective and probing body like the tribunal, as expected suspects are high rankers in the political class in both the (President Mwai) Kibaki and (Prime Minister Raila) Odinga camps.

Not surprisingly then, initial criticism against involving the ICC as an external and international institution was levelled by both civil society and government.

The government’s position was and is still that an in-country process is the better solution, says Alfred Mutua, a government spokesperson.

‘Kenya should be able to take care of its own problems,’ Mutua says. ‘We understand the lack of faith by some because of politicization … but we’re not a failed state.’

When asked why the government wasn’t following through with funding for one home-grown option, the TJRC, Mutua affirms it has been allocated money but ‘that doesn’t mean it’s available on the spot’.

Kenya’s inability to conduct an independent, internal investigation is stunting the growth of its judicial institutions by simply not using and strengthening them, says Stella Ndirangu, a legal officer at the Kenyan Section of the International Commission of Jurists.

Transitional justice is being put on the shelf while the ICC steps in.

And as the ICC steps in, the proceedings are stepping out. The prosecutor will present his case in court in The Hague, the Netherlands. This creates a logistical barrier for victim participation in the trial.

The victims have steadily organised themselves into a determined lobby, Wainaina says, but their participation will be extremely limited by distance, whereas a Nairobi court proceeding would have cemented victims as a physical part of the process.

Critics also took aim at the ICC for making Kenya the fifth African investigation in the court’s short history. The unflattering continental focus won the ICC its share of criticism, and so too did Moreno-Ocampo’s own credibility as prosecutor, shaken by his record in office.

OPPOSITION DRIES UP

Attempts to stave off Moreno-Ocampo and his international mandate with an effective domestic response failed. The step that sealed ICC involvement was when the conflict’s technical arbiter, former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, gave the symbolic nod by handing over a list of suspects drafted by the Waki Commission to Moreno-Ocampo.

The move came after an already extended deadline set by the Waki Commission to establish a tribunal had expired, and by that time the opposed had become the exasperated supporters.

‘The government failed to set up the Tribunal, so [the ICC go-ahead] was an indictment of the Kenyan leadership,’ says Ndung’u Wainaina, executive director of the International Center for Policy and Conflict (ICPC).

Wainaina is a reluctant supporter.

‘Kenya failed its own national proceedings. This is an option this country drove itself into.’

The failed tribunal and current state of the TJRC is proof that accountability for the violence is not a government priority, Wainaina says.

‘The Kenyan government at any one time was never genuine about prosecuting the masterminds,’ he says.

The lack of commitment and serious intention to prosecute by the political elite secured support for the ICC. At this point, to dump international involvement and leave justice to a government with a deplorable reputation for accountability would be an endorsement of impunity, Wainaina says.

But the ICC alone cannot ensure blanket accountability for the people who incited mass killing and violence; Moreno-Ocampo has resolved to pursue the most responsible and has narrowed his mandate to prosecute six accused. Wainaina warns that without a concurrent domestic process to the ICC investigation, which at most will hold six people criminally accountable, there is a risk of an ‘impunity gap’.

THE LOCAL AGREEMENT

Kenya’s illegitimate criminal justice system has been highlighted by the ICC entrance.

‘It’s a very serious indictment of Kenya’s criminal system,’ Wainaina says, including ordinary criminal courts and the High Court. ‘There has to be a tremendous overhaul.’

The best complement to the ICC investigation to ensure accountability and victim participation, and to revamp the domestic criminal process, is to establish the Special Tribunal, Ndirangu says. Alone, the ICC cannot battle impunity.

The TJRC is not an alternative to domestic prosecutions either, as the cabinet suggested in a 30 July 2009 ruling, Nichols says.

‘The victims are demanding there be a justice component at home, and not just truth-seeking,’ Ndirangu says.

Nichols echoes the need for the Special Tribunal but warns – as Kenyans have already witnessed – that its establishment will continue to be slowed by domestic politics.

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* Dana Wagner is a recent journalism and political science graduate from Carleton University.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

Do we need the state in our bedrooms?

L. Muthoni Wanyeki

2010-05-27

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/64748

cc Dana GonzalesMalawian gay couple Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza have been sentenced to 14 years of hard labour, after a court found them guilty of sodomy, under criminal code provisions originating from the UK, writes L. Muthoni Wanyeki. ‘The law as it stands may criminalise sodomy and whatever the powers determine to be indecent’, writes Wanyeki, but ‘it is not the business of any state to determine how consenting adults derive sexual pleasure.’ What’s more, Wanykei notes, sodomy is not ‘a sexual practice unique to gay men’, and the right to privacy that heterosexuals currently enjoy should apply equally to homosexuals.

Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza are two Malawians who happen to be gay. The Malawian criminal code, like those in most former British colonies, does not outright criminalise being gay.

But it does contain provisions criminalising sexual behaviour assumed to be uniquely engaged in by gay men – that is, sodomy.

It also contains other, more vague provisions as well such as those relating to indecency. On those two counts – sodomy and indecency – Chimbalanga and Monjeza were sentenced last week by a magistrate’s court to 14 years’ imprisonment with hard labour.

It is a sad irony that criminal code provisions originating from the UK – which has since deleted them – were used to so severely punish people whose sexual orientation is wrongly perceived ‘a Western perversion’. But there are other problems.

First, the law itself. The law as it stands may criminalise sodomy and whatever the powers determine to be indecent. But it is not the business of any state to determine how consenting adults derive sexual pleasure.

The state can only intervene when there is no consent – for example, when those involved are legal minors or when coercion, force or violence is involved.

In such instances everyone’s right to privacy is obviously superseded by everyone’s right to safety and security of the person. The struggle to decriminalise sodomy, for example, is thus at base a larger battle about the limits of the state in regards to the individual.

The state cannot tell any of us what we can or cannot do in our own bedrooms – as long as we are doing it as fully consenting adults.

Second, the law’s execution. The assumption is that sodomy is a sexual practice unique to gay men. This assumption is obviously untrue, if we are honest.

Imagine if the state started forciby to anally examine married women to determine if they and their husbands had engaged in sodomy – whether experimentally or because they had mutually determined they liked doing so as a matter of practice.

Or imagine if, as happened in this particular case, the state lined up a bunch of ‘witnesses’ to testify to their belief that a married couple had, in fact, engaged in sodomy as though they were actually present when the said sodomy occurred.

I do not write to be crude or titillating. I write to make a point; that however conservative we are as a society and however uncomfortable we are talking explicitly about what we actually do in our bedrooms, we would have a problem with both possibilities – being forcibly examined and having people who have no business with what we do comment on it.

And if we would have a problem with these possibilities, we should have a problem with the fact that they are routine realities for Africans who are gay men – leading in this case to a conviction of 14 years with hard labour. This raises yet another right that is violated in the law’s execution; the right to equality, which implies the right to equal treatment by the law.

So, it is obvious that when we speak of the need to respect the human rights of Africans who are gay, we are not speaking of creating new rights – we are speaking about the fact that all existing rights apply to all Africans, including the right to privacy and the right to equality.

In this sense, the judgment of the Malawian magistrate’s court is an absolute outrage. I trust the couple will appeal on constitutional and human rights grounds. And I hope even more that the Malawian state will step in before the appeal.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

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

‘African values’ in question

Dibussi Tande

2010-05-27

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/64747

DISPATCHES FROM AFRICA

Following the sentencing of two Malawian gay men to 14 years of hard labour, Dispatches from Africa challenges the claim that homosexuality is contrary to African cultural values:

‘The sentence I hear most often round here when I say I think this is barbaric? 'You just don't understand African values'.

‘My Rwandan informants share this discursive move with much of Africa. All the big names (Museveni, Mugabe, Muthariku...) and everyone else besides defend their bigotry in a particular way: homosexuality is foreign to the African way of life...

‘Defence by authenticity is a peculiarly African trope, it would appear. And a particularly resistant one: homophobia appears to be on the wane elsewhere, but not here. Across the world there are 76 countries in which people can be prosecuted because of their sexual orientation. Half of those countries – 38 out of the continent's 53 states – are in Africa...

‘The whole discourse of whether or not something is 'authentically African' get applied as and when the leaders of this continent find it convenient ...The homosexuality laws used to oppress today are (most often) statutes given to these states by their departing colonial powers. The family values so zealously defended by the Kings of Uganda and other such bigots are similarly identical to the puritanical morality of Les Péres Blancs. They are no more authentically African than I am. But they are not the subject of this criticism, because they serve the interests of those in power.

‘And with regards to homosexuality itself, the point could hardly be clearer: look behind the speeches and rallies in Uganda, and Malawi and elsewhere, and you will find American money.’

SANGONET

Sangonet republishes an article by Deborah Walter which asks South Africans to commemorate Africa Day by saying No to xenophobia:

‘Celebrated since 1963, Africa Day is a commemoration of African unity. In celebrating the continent's diversity and achievements, there is also a need to keep stressing that unity is the only way to continue developing and progress further, and this includes unity against all forms of xenophobic or gender violence. Perhaps it is fitting that much of this year's celebrations are taking on a football theme - after all, the only way to win is if all members of the team pull together...

‘Two years ago, many expressed outrage at lack of action despite signs and warnings, while for others the violence came as a complete surprise. But, nobody can ever again say they did not see it coming. Everyone knows that xenophobia is a problem, and for all the promises made two years ago, how much has changed?

‘So, as we celebrate this Africa Day and enjoy the afrobeat from Nigeria and soukos from Congo, dance Mozambican passada, and sample Ghanaian fufu or Moroccan couscous, remember that unity is more than celebrating.

‘Few migrate by choice, and there is a need to make migration safer, taking into account the particular vulnerabilities of women and girls. Whether it is saying no to human trafficking or raising our voices loudly to say "never again" against xenophobic violence, 67 years after the idea of African unity was first introduced, it's more than high time.’

THIS IS AFRICA

This is Africa tells the story of how his proposal for a story on pre-election violence in Burundi was repeatedly rejected by American newspapers because it was not relevant to the lives of their readers:

‘To be fair: the budgetary concerns and limitations of American newspapers in 2010 is hardly news, and that alone would have been, in this reporter’s opinion, grounds for a polite rejection.

‘But the idea that a story has to translate into something that readers can feel to be “relevant to their lives”? Really? Haven’t Americans’ onanistic media-consumption habits gotten us into enough trouble already? Can’t a story have a certain merit even if – or precisely because – it doesn’t matter to American lives at all? Do we really need more stories about African rape victims selling hand-woven baskets in Nordstrom and Macy’s, thanks to the plucky American woman who started a foundation to heal the lives of the tragic lost African masses? Really?

‘Undeterred by my failures, unmoved by the calamitous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the ominous ash cloud still blowing its way across Europe, the audacious people of Burundi have decided to go ahead and hold an election anyway – a bunch, in fact, stretching from now until September. So for a few glorious days, the world will take notice of little plucky Burundi – unless the elections result in widespread violence, in which case we’ll pay attention for a few weeks.’

GEORGE NGWANE

George Ngwane reviews the state of the creative industry in Cameroon 50 years after independence:

‘The creation of the Ministry of Culture a few decades ago was arguably a launching pad for a cultural renaissance in Cameroon. The Ministry still remains a gateway for artistic blossoming if only like most Culture Ministries in Africa, it resists the temptation of civil service bureaucracy, the foibles of patronage and the virus of centralisation...

‘The way forward is to celebrate individual artistic excellence as has been the case in the last fifty years but with added administrative value in the manner which Indomitable Lions have been idolised. Any art form that borders on the commodification of art, the bastardisation of artists and the propagation of an ululation culture is anathema. Art advocates and cultural militants in Cameroon in collaboration with their counterparts in other African linkages like Arterial Network would have to craft a bigger picture of intercultural dialogue, cultural tourism and the status of the artist which all underpin the cultural dimension of development...

‘We can in the next fifty years create a more vibrant creative industry and even postulate as a cultural capital if local companies take a corporate social responsibility in promoting arts, if administrative authorities at home and abroad disconnect cultural showcasing from mere folklore during national events and if Cameroonians start emulating the global trend of patriotically consuming their own art goods and cultural services.’

TEXAS IN AFRICA

Texas in Africa comments on a recent New York Times op-ed piece by Nicholas Kristof in which he uses the example of a family in The Congo to argue that ‘if the poorest families spent as much money educating their children as they do on wine, cigarettes and prostitutes, their children’s prospects would be transformed’:

‘Kristof's latest column not only presents the case of one family in one village in one country as representative of the entire African continent, but also manages to condescend to the people he purports to "understand" by stereotyping every poor man on the continent as a lazy drunk ...while of course there are poor parents with misplaced priorities who neglect their children in Africa, there are also neglectful parents in Paris and Tokyo and Lima and Bangalore and Des Moines and Oslo and even the Upper West Side. I daresay there might even be a big-time columnist or two who has gotten drunk rather than seen to a child's pressing needs.’

WRONGING THE RIGHTS

Wronging the Rights joins in the criticism of Kristof by arguing that there is no context for his conclusions:

‘Kristof doesn't spend much time imagining why people might want to spend money on things like alcohol or tobacco - or cell phone credit, which he mysteriously places in the same category. He clearly assumes that they are luxury items that ought to be cut from the budget. However, I'm not sure that's reasonable. A cell phone might be a luxury here in New York, where residents have myriad other reliable communications systems to choose from. (USPS, land lines, FedEx, Interwebs...) But without knowing why the people he interviewed spend that much on credit each month, I can't begin to speculate about whether it should be considered a luxury, a necessity, or somewhere in between... And, finally: how is it acceptable to insist that poor people sacrifice the few small pleasures within their reach in order to comply with a random American journalist's view of what is Really Important? That kind of supercilious morality seems to me to be a particularly judgmental form of cruelty. Color me unimpressed.’

SCRIBBLES FROM THE DEN

Following the controversy over Columbian star Shakira’s unauthorised reinterpretation of a song by the Cameroonian group Zangalewa which is now the official anthem of the 2010 FIFA World Cup anthem, Scribbles from the Den demonstrates that this is part of a long tradition of undermining the intellectual and artistic rights of African artists:

‘The issue here is first of all about the respect of intellectual property and the right to be acknowledged and credited for one’s work of art. And it is also about being compensated fairly for one’s labor. [As Dolly Parton unequivocally pointed out during her May 21 appearance on the Oprah Show, “Every time [Whitney Houston’s version of “I will always Love you”] is played, I receive a check”. That is how it should be for all artists irrespective of where they come from.

‘For decades, African artists have had their works plagiarized by the West with little or no compensation or acknowledgement. The most memorable example of the theft of the intellectual rights of an African artist is that of Solomon Popoli Linda who in 1939 wrote the song "Mbube" and received 10 shillings (less than $US2) for his efforts. The song which later became the pop hit The Lion Sleeps Tonight was reinterpreted by dozens of American artists without Linda or his family receiving a dime. In fact he died penniless. In 1995, the Lion Sleeps Tonight earned an estimated $15 million dollars just for its use in the movie Lion King – a movie which has since grossed about 800 million USD worldwide. Linda's descendants sued Walt Disney for 1.5 million dollars with the full backing of the South African government. Disney settled for an undisclosed sum just as the trial was about to begin.

‘Back to those who believe that the Zangalewa should just enjoy their 15 minutes of fame and shut up, I would like to remind them that Waka Waka is not just any song; it is the official anthem of the FIFA World Cup, the world's most popular and lucrative sporting event. Not only do the Zangalewa deserve a check from Shakira and Sony each time the song is played, they are also entitled to royalties from all FIFA merchandise that will be tied to the song (video games, action figures, toys, ring tones, etc.).’

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* Dibussi Tande blogs at Scribbles from the Den.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

Ethiopia at the crossroads of history

Alemayehu G. Mariam

2010-05-26

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/64741

cc London SummitWhile it was as good as a foregone conclusion that Prime Minister Meles Zenawi would remain in power after the latest Ethiopian 'election', writes Alemayehu G. Mariam, those prone to being dejected should not give up on the struggle for freedom and democracy in the country.

There is an old morality tale of 'The Emperor's New Clothes' about a king who is so self-absorbed, vainglorious and obsessed with his appearance that he hired two suit-makers and gave them vast amounts of money to sew him the finest silk robes. They agreed to make the robes but warned the king that the types of robes they make are invisible to anyone who is unfit for their official position or hopelessly stupid. As they set out to sew their make-believe robes, the king and his ministers would drop in from time to time and offer their admiration for the suit-makers' craftsmanship of the invisible robes. None would dare challenge the suit-makers, afraid of being called incompetent or stupid. Finally, the suit-makers dressed the king in their pretend silk robe and marched him down the street with his courtiers to the applause and cheers of his obedient subjects. The people could see that the king was naked but were afraid to say so, fearing his anger. A child in the crowd suddenly yelled out that the king is naked, and the crowd began chanting: 'The king is naked!' The king cringed with shame and embarrassment, but held himself up proudly as he continued to walk naked in the royal procession.

The tale of the naked emperor is an apt allegory for the so-called Ethiopian election held on 23 May. The ruling regime in Ethiopia has been blowing its horn about an invisible 'democratic election' for over a year. They brought in the best European 'election' tailors to embroider the finest 'election code of conduct'. They threatened, cajoled, bribed and withheld food aid from the people to force them out into the street and clap and ululate for them as they paraded themselves in their invisible majestic robe of a democratic election. Some Western and African representatives volunteered to line up the streets, cheerleading for the king. The European Union (EU) sent a delegation of 150 observers to observe 32 million voters vote at 43,000 polling stations in an election that was won by the ruling regime long before it was even conceived. The African Union (AU) deployed 60 observers to do the same in flagrant disregard of its own Elections Observation and Monitoring Guidelines, section V (14). Both the EU and AU boogied down at the naked king's parade with full knowledge that 'the people who cast the votes (and observe the votes) decide nothing. The people who count the votes decide everything.'



Dictator Meles Zenawi prohibited diplomatic representatives from travelling outside the capital during the 'election'. He told Al Jazeera a few days ago that it was a bad idea for diplomats to observe the elections because it was disapproved of by the Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA), the Swedish organisation which helped him devise the 'election code of conduct': 'I know that some diplomats in Addis are offended when they are told they [cannot go outside Addis Ababa], but I am sure [allowing them to travel] is not internationally [IDEA] accepted best practice.' That is simply not true! It is a verifiable fact that IDEA strongly encourages all individuals, organisations and governments who conduct or are involved in elections to maintain openness, transparency and neutrality because 'the public will measure the legitimacy of an election on the basis of both the actual integrity of its administration and the appearance of integrity of the election process.' IDEA emphatically urges 'each person or organization using its code of conduct to apply it flexibly, together with good common sense, to meet the requirements of each situation'. By IDEA's own standards, allowing the diplomats to observe would be 'best practice' because they could help ensure and verify the integrity of the election process.

The fact of the matter is that we have witnessed an election in terrorem for the past year in which the ruling party has harassed, intimidated, threatened and inflicted violence against opposition party leaders and members. On 13 April 2010, Zenawi issued a thinly veiled threat to Ethiopian opposition leaders that he would hunt them out of their hiding places and burn them at the stake if they boycotted the May 2010 'election' or agitate the youth for political action.[1] Weeks before 'election' day, the ruling regime mounted a sustained campaign of smear and fear, distortions and lies, fabrications and accusations and allegations and charges of incitement to violence, 'acting against the constitution' and other malicious hyperbole and propaganda against opposition leaders. All this was manifestly intended to prepare public opinion (and the donor community) for the inevitable incapacitation, neutralisation and paralysis of all opposition in Ethiopia in the post-'election' period. As usual, Western donors have covered their eyes with their hands pretending not to see, but peeking at this travesty of democracy between their fingers. They know the whole election farce is staged for their cynical amusement and to beg them later for more handouts. They have become willing collaborators in their own manipulation. So the king proudly marches down the boulevard to applause, but alas, he has no clothes!

Of course, the issue is not whether the emperor has clothes, but whether the people have clothes to cover their own backs, backs withered by two decades of dictatorship, enough food to quell the hunger in their stomachs, adequate shelter from the elements and enough oxygen of freedom to breath. In the final analysis, there is one and only one question of consequence in this 'election':

Are the people of Ethiopia better off today than they were five years ago?

Do Ethiopians have more food to eat today than they did five years ago? Is there less unemployment in the country today than five years ago? Less inflation? More health care? More press freedom? More human rights protections today than five years ago? Is there more accountability, transparency and openness in government today than five years ago? Do young Ethiopians today have more confidence in their future than they did five years ago? Do Ethiopia's youth have more employment opportunities today than they did five years ago? More academic freedom in the universities? Do Ethiopians have more access to the vast universe of information available on the internet than they did five years ago? (On 3 May, World Press Freedom Day, President Obama singled out Ethiopia as one of four countries in the world that have prevented their citizens from 'gaining greater access than ever before to information through the Internet, cell phones and other forms of connective technologies'.) Do Ethiopians today have more confidence in their future, their rulers and their public institutions than they did five years ago?

The answer is a resounding 'no'.

After 19 years of one-man, one-party rule, does the same crew of kleptocrats cling to power like barnacles to the sunken Ethiopian ship of state? Do the dictators continue to use more violence, intimidations, threats and arbitrary arrests and detentions against their opposition to maintain themselves in power? Do those who massacred 193 innocent protesters and wounded hundreds more after the 2005 elections still walk the streets free? Are the country's prisons full of political prisoners? Are the members of the ruling party and their allies getting richer, and the masses growing hungrier and poorer everyday? Are the robbers who stole millions of dollars worth of gold bars from the national bank in broad daylight in 2007 still roam the streets free enjoying their loot? Is the environment more degraded today than it was five years ago? Is corruption so endemic in Ethiopia that the country for the last five years has been ranked at the very bottom of the International Corruption Index? Does Ethiopia still rank at the very bottom of the UN Human Development Index (in 2005 as 169th of 177 countries; in 2009 as 171st of 182 countries)[2]?

The answer is a resounding 'yes'.

The fact of the matter is that talking about elections in a police state is like talking about a fish riding a motorcycle. It is silly. It is sheer madness.[3]

But Ethiopia today stands at the crossroads of history, and as the old African saying goes, 'If you don't know where you are going, any road will take you there.' At this crossroads, Ethiopians can choose to take the right way or the wrong way. The right way is the way of national reconciliation, compromise, mutual understanding and tolerance. The wrong way is the way of force, violence, brutality, threats, intimidation and persecution. Ethiopians can choose the easy way or the hard way. The easy way is to follow and live by the rule of law and ensure everyone's human rights are respected and all are held to account for their actions and omissions. The hard way is the way of dictatorship, despotism, deceit and conceit. Ethiopians can take the high road or the low road. The high road is the way of morality, ethical conduct, common sense and compassion. The low road is the way of dishonesty, lies, distortions and trickery. We can take the road to somewhere or the road to nowhere. The road to somewhere take us to national unity, commonality of purpose, harmony, coalition-building and cooperation. The road to nowhere takes us to ethnic division and tribal conflict, irrational fear and hatred and needless violence and destruction. We can take the superhighway or the dirt road. The superhighway will take us on a wonderful journey to a brave new world of information, ideas and knowledge on the wings of modern technology. The dirt road has a one-way ticket to dictatorship, tyranny, darkness and ignorance. We can walk together on the united way or remain stranded on a divided highway.

Ultimately, we can choose the way of all our ancestors – the Ethiopian way – or join the way of the ignoramuses who arrogantly proclaim that 'if it is not my way, there ain't no way but the highway.' We must choose the Ethiopian way, the way of humanity, unity, solidarity, integrity, honesty, cordiality, empathy, fraternity and congeniality.

If we choose to take the Ethiopian way, we must collectively make our roadmap to get us to our preferred destination. We will need to set the mileposts and detail out the rules of the road. We must brightly mark the 'yield' and 'stop' signs together with the 'no crossing' and 'danger' signs along the way. We must be prepared to take the 'the road less travelled' to get to our destination. That is the road of tolerance, good will, broad-mindedness, patience and understanding. We must avoid the beaten path of personal attacks, hatred and prejudice, recriminations, accusations and pettiness. We cannot begin a new journey along the Ethiopian way with the old mindset: 'If you don't agree with me in everything, you are my enemy.' We must trade it in for a new spirit of brotherhood and sisterhood across ethnic, linguistic, class and regional lines. We must reinvent a new mentality that substitutes the concerns of ethnicity and partisanship with the needs of our basic humanity, our unity in our Ethiopian nationality and our personal authenticity.

Let us use this bogus election as the impetus for the development of a comprehensive political, economic, social and legal agenda for Ethiopia that is based on a compelling vision of a better future for this and coming generations. Let us cast off the short-sightedness and narrow partisanship of the past. Let us gather ideas from all segments of society – and not just from the intellectuals and the elites – and pursue them inclusively and aggressively with a common sense of purpose and destiny. If desperate times require desperate actions, times of great opportunity such as this one require quick, bold and determined action. Carpe diem! Let us seize the moment and set a new course for Ethiopia.

The future is bright for Ethiopia regardless of the already-won election of 2010. No doubt some will be disheartened and dispirited, but it is illogical to be disappointed about an 'election' outcome that has always been a foregone conclusion. It is natural to anguish over the loss of such a great opportunity to plant the seeds of democracy in Ethiopia. But we must always be mindful of the fact that nothing will give the dictators greater pleasure than having us all depressed and dejected about their 'victory' in this 'election'. Their ardent wish is that we abandon and give up the struggle for the cause of democracy, freedom, human rights and the rule of law in Ethiopia. But they fail to grasp a simple fact: These causes are much larger and greater than any one election, one dictator, one party or one regime. These causes represent the quintessential, timeless and universal yearning of all humanity in recorded history. As the great Nelson Mandela said: 'Let freedom reign. The sun never set on so glorious a human achievement.' We must never let the sun set on freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law in Ethiopia.

As for the 'election', let us just say that it ain't the votin' that makes for a free and fair election. It is the countin'. We sure know who was burning the midnight oil on 23 May counting, double-counting, triple- and quadruple-counting the same ballots to proclaim victory at the crack of dawn on 24 May. This Ethiopian election caper aside, it has been said that a 'politician thinks of the next election; a statesman, of the next generation.' Let us all strive to develop in earnest the true attributes of genuine statesmanship and stateswomanship so that we may be able to help the next generation become Ethiopia's greatest generation.

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* Alemayehu G. Mariam is professor of political science at California State University (CSU), San Bernardino.
* Follow Alemayehu G. Mariam on Twitter at www.twitter.com/pal4thedefense.
* This article was originally published by The Huffington Post.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

NOTES

[1] http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alemayehu-g-mariam/ethiopia-the-fire-next-ti_b_560470.html
[2] See http://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics/ ;
http://hdr.undp.org/en/media/HDR_20072008_EN_Indicator_tables.pdf
[3] See http://www.ethiopianreview.com/content/11046 ; http://www.abugidainfo.com/?p=11869

A tale of three cities: The global struggle over who will end hunger

Eric Holt-Giménez

2010-05-27

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/64745

© Via CampesinaEverything is ‘up for dialogue’ but ‘few things can actually be negotiated’, says Eric Holt-Giménez, reporting back on last week’s Dublin Dialogue, a consultation with civil society organisations hosted by the UN High Level Task Force on the global food security crisis. Lacking budgetary or decision-making power, the task force cannot stray far from the mandates of purse-holder the World Bank in the design of its Comprehensive Framework for Action to end hunger, which presents the global market as ‘the solution rather than the cause of hunger’, and prioritises ‘the private sector rather than public institutions’. ‘Without organised pressure from civil society, there is little likelihood of advancing food sovereignty at the UN or anywhere else,’ says Holt-Giménez.

Dublin was unusually sunny and warm last week when the High Level Task Force on the global food security crisis held a consultation at the Malahide resort just north of the city. Dr David Nabarro, coordinator of the High Level Task Force was looking to elicit comments from civil society organisations on the Comprehensive Framework for Action to end hunger (CFA). The CFA, hastily written a year ago by a team of experts from 23 bureaucracies within the UN system, is a multilateral attempt to create a plan of action for dealing with the growing global food crisis.

Dr Nabarro, an energetic showman, literally took off his coat and tie and rolled up his sleeves before some 100 representatives from farmers’ organisations, think tanks, NGOs, human rights and food security organisations from around the world (more had been invited, but were foiled by the Iceland ash cloud). It was a lively two days. Given the diversity of voices, and considering civil society organisations were called to weigh in long after the main document had already been written, Dr Nabarro and his dedicated crew must be congratulated in keeping the ‘Dublin Dialogue’ from resulting in just another consultative cacophony. However, as things turned out, it is not easy to make music with civil society, the G-8, and the pursers at the World Bank.

Not that anyone objects to ending hunger. Everyone accepts that the Global South will need up to US$40 billion a year to rebuild its national food systems (destroyed, ironically enough, by 30 years of the industrial North's overproduction). The struggle is around just how the South's food systems will be rebuilt, who will pay, and who will actually benefit. Getting this right will largely determine whether or not world hunger – now increasing by 100 million people a year – will ever be ended.

Who participated in the Dublin Dialogue and who didn't speaks reams about the deep divide over how to end hunger. La Vía Campesina, the international peasant organisation fighting for the rights of farmers, pastoralists and fishers around the world, refused to attend and sent a scathing letter denouncing the Dialogue as merely ‘an exercise of style... to get comments on a set of preset replies.’ The letter quickly got to the point:

‘[For the CFA] the solutions to the food insecurity are global market, increase in productivity and investments in agriculture by means of industrial inputs and technology, reduction of tariff barriers allowing for a greater circulation of goods, a quick conclusion to the Doha round, development of private investments to produce agro fuels in developing countries. The goal is to transform peasant agriculture into industrial agriculture as quickly as possible. Yet for many organisations from civil society, those so-called answers are the very causes of the critical food situations encountered by many countries.’

Vía Campesina is a signatory – along with hundreds of other farmer organisations and NGOs – of another Open Letter advocating ‘Policies and actions to eradicate hunger and malnutrition.’ The document calls for 'food sovereignty – the right of all peoples, societies and states determine their own food systems and have policies that ensure availability of sufficient, good quality, affordable, healthy, and culturally appropriate food to be recognised and implemented by communities, peoples, states and international institutions.'

This position is supported by the findings of the International Assessment on Agricultural Knowledge Science and Technology for Development (IAASTD). After a four-year global assessment, the 400 participating scientists of the IAASTD declared:

‘The way the world grows its food will have to change radically to better serve the poor and hungry if the world is to cope with growing population and climate change while avoiding social breakdown and environmental collapse.’

Offering up faint praise for GMOs, and the new ‘Green Revoution’ the IAASTD supports agroecological, bottom-up approaches to food production and ending hunger.

Most of the participants in the Dialogue (as well as many of the organisers, and possibly even Dr Nabarro himself) agreed with the need to curb global markets and prioritise investments in agroecology over GMOs. Most wanted agriculture out of the WTO and believe Southern countries need to protect their farmers from the US and EU's decades-long policy of dumping surplus grain on their national markets. Everyone is against land-grabbing and the spread of agrofuels. The IAASTD was frequently invoked.

But it became very clear that the Dialogue would not get the High Level Task Force to drop their assumptions. In their view, the global market is the solution rather than the cause of hunger, and they prioritise the private sector rather than public institutions. The Task Force has yet to seriously address the rash of land-grabbing and seems unable to come to agreement on how to control the expansion of agrofuels. Despite the Dublin Dialogue, the HLTF is unwilling (or unable) to allow civil society – the thousands of farmers organisations and CSOs actually working on the ground – to play a lead role in the fight against hunger. Everything is up for dialogue, but as it turns out, few things can actually be negotiated.

This is because Mr Nabarro and the High Level Task Force (a self-admitted team of bureaucrats with no budgetary or decision-making power), for all their good intentions, cannot stray far from the mandates of the World Bank – which was conspicuously absent from the Dialogue. To do so would result in the rejection of the CFA. By whom? Most likely by the GAFSPF – The Global Agriculture and Food Security Program.

The GAFSPF is the multilateral trust-fund being set up by the US, Canada and Spain under the leadership of the World Bank to span the gap between the US$40 billion a year needed to end hunger, the US$20 billion promised by the G-8 countries, and the US$14 billion that is actually forthcoming on these promises.

The GAFSPF Framework Document of December 2009 is based on the Bank's 2007 World Development Report on Agriculture. In direct opposition to the IAASTD (which the Bank funded but now refuses to support) the 2007 Development Report recommends more global trade and more public money for the spread of new agricultural technologies, simply stated: Signing the Doha Round and spreading GMOs across the Global South. It also laments that regions like sub Saharan Africa will need to experience significant ‘land mobility’, which a euphemism for forcing small farmers off the land. Unable to win the Global South's support for these positions at the summits in Rome, Madrid, d'Aquila and Pittsburg, the formation of the GAFSPF reflects a strategic move by the Bank to shift the locus of the war on hunger from Rome and New York to Washington – firmly under the control of the World Bank. In the image of World Bank operations, the GAFSPF will divide support between the public and private sector, with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in charge of long and short-term loans, credit guarantees and equity to support private sector activities. In typical World Bank fashion, the results of the GAFSPF will never be directly measured in terms of reducing the number of hungry people or measurable improvements to livelihoods. Rather, success will be measured by the numbers of people participating in GAFSPF-supported programs. The heroic assumption is that doing more of the same – i.e., free markets & technology packages – with more people, will end hunger.

Since the World Bank will be holding the purse strings, it appears the HLTF has no choice but to buckle under to the GAFSPF. However, there is another important player that may well tip the agenda in another direction: The Committee on World Food Security – CFS.

The Committee on World Food Security is not the HLTF collection of 23 bureaucracies, but a political entity with representation from 192 governments. Recently reformed, the CFS is a global policy forum on food that has a participatory mechanism in which Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) are autonomous and self-organising. The interim coordinating committee of the CSO Advisory Group is run by representatives from the International Policy Committee on Food Sovereignty (IPC), Oxfam and Action Aid, who have developed a draft proposal for the CSO Advisory Committee. This committee will establish the permanent civil society mechanism of the CFS. Policy and addressed issues such as:


- Food security & nutrition
- Land tenure & resource access
- Food price volatility
- Climate change
- Social protections
- The role of the CFS in the global strategic framework to end hunger

The possibilities for unleashing the tremendous social dynamism and development potential of farmers and civil society in the war on hunger are more likely with the CFS process than either the High Level Task Force or the GAFSPF. Without organised pressure from civil society, there is little likelihood of advancing food sovereignty at the UN or anywhere else. Indeed, if the High Level Task Force's Comprehensive Framework for Action is going to have any chance, it may well have to throw its support to the Civil Society Advisory Group at the newly-reformed CFS. Otherwise, the tug-of-war between Rome, New York and Washington D.C. over who will end hunger will likely end up supporting ‘business at usual’ – not a hopeful prospect for the world's 1.4 billion hungry people.

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* This article first appeared in The Huffington Post.
* Eric Holt-Giménez is executive director of Food First/Institute for Food and Development Policy.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

Bunge la Mwananchi discusses Kenya's draft constitution

Dana Wagner

2010-05-25

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/64736

In this photo slideshow and audio clip, a team from the grassroots organisation Bunge la Mwananchi (BLM) hosts a civic engagement event on 20 May at Muthurwa Market, which services the vibrant but low-income neighbourhood of Eastlands in Nairobi. BLM is a Kiswahili title that means 'people's parliament', and this informal event is one in a series of the group's civic engagement initiatives aimed at educating Kenyans on the country's proposed draft constitution that will be put to a referendum vote on 4 August.

At this event at Muthurwa Market, 2,500 copies of the draft constitution were distributed and BLM members fielded questions about controversial clauses on topics like abortion and the Khadi's courts, both especially hot issues as misinformation abounds from both the 'yes' and 'no' camps. Muthurwa Market is a crowded hub where hawkers, residents and commuters at the central bus terminal converge. Copies of the draft constitution were in short supply and each bundle of 250 copies was grabbed by passers-by hungry to self-educate.

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* Dana Wagner is a recent journalism and political science graduate from Carleton University.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

Southern Africa: The liberation struggle continues

John S. Saul

2010-05-27

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/64746

© David RumseyFifty years on from the beginnings of liberation in Africa, John S. Saul finds there is still much work to be done, especially in southern Africa where the final triumph over colonial and racial domination occurred. In each of the five sites of the overt struggle against domination – Angola, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Namibia and South Africa – there are clear signs of recolonisation, this time by capital.

Many of us came to southern Africa from the starting-point of support for the peoples there who were struggling, in the 60s, 70s and 80s, against the white minority/colonial regimes that dominated them and shaped so negatively their life chances. However, some in the worldwide liberation support/anti-apartheid movement also came to understand that defining liberation only in terms of national liberation from white colonial dominance told, at best, half the story. For, important as it was to overcome apartheid and similar racist structures in southern Africa, seeing people liberate themselves from class and corporate oppression, from structures of male domination, and from authoritarian political practices could readily be seen to be at least as important to any true liberation as was national self-assertion. Now, several decades or more after the fall of the most visible forms of colonial and racial domination, it is ever more apparent just how accurate that critical insight was.

For what we have seen, various commentators have argued, is the virtual recolonisation of southern Africa by capital. This is something new, for it is at present much less easy to disaggregate this ‘capital’ than previously into national capitals, and see it as being primarily the instrument of various nationally-based imperialisms and their several colonialisms. No, coming from the Global North and West (as it has done historically) but also now from the East (Japan, China and India), it is an ‘Empire of Capital’ that is currently recolonising Africa. Of course, this has been complicated by the still independent role that national states per se (of both the North and the East), with their diverse raisons d’etat, also play in the imperial equation. Moreover, it is the case that such a ‘recolonisation’ has been accomplished with the overt connivance of indigenous leaders/elites – those who have inherited power with the demise of ‘white rule’ but who, in doing so, have manifested much greater commitment to the interests of their own privileged class-in-creation than to those of the mass of their own people. In short, it is not a happy world for the vast mass of ordinary southern African citizens – despite the freedom that they had seemed once to have won.

So what do we now celebrate in 2010, precisely fifty years after the launching, in 1960, of the ‘thirty years war (1960–1990) for southern African liberation,’ 35 years after the year of Angola’s and Mozambique’s independence, more or less 30 years after the day of independence in Zimbabwe, and a full 20 years after both Namibia’s inaugural day and the release from prison of Nelson Mandela that marked so clearly the first of the very last days of apartheid (days of transition that would culminate in Mandela’s election as president in 1994)? For it is a sad fact that one feels forced to ask the question, as I have recently done, as to just who actually won the struggle for southern African liberation. As I continued:

‘We know who lost, of course: The white minorities in positions of formal political power (whether colonially in the Portuguese colonies or quasi-independently in South Africa and perhaps in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe). And thank fortune, and hard and brave work, for that. But who, in contrast, has won, at least for the time being: Global capitalism, the West and the IFIs, and local elites of state and private sectors, both white and black? But how about the mass of southern African populations, both urban and rural and largely black? Not so obviously the winners, I would suggest, and certainly not in any very expansive sense. Has it not been a kind of defeat for them too?’[1]

How much of a defeat? Some facts for South Africa may provide an indication of such a reality, one that has also scarred each of the five countries of the region that once became key sites of overt liberation struggle: Mozambique, Angola, Zimbabwe, Namibia and South Africa. Indeed, the several country case-studies that comprise the body of this edition of AfricaFiles' Ezine will, cumulatively, give a very clear sense of this reality. Merely note here that in South Africa, for example, the economic gap between black and white has indeed narrowed statistically – framed by the fact that some blacks have indeed got very much richer (from their own upward mobility as junior partners to recolonisation and from the fresh spoils of victory that this has offered them). Yet the gap between rich and poor is actually wider than ever it was – and it is growing.

Much valuable research (by the likes of Terreblanche, McDonald and Nattrass and Seekings, as cited in the selected bibliography) documents this harsh fact – and other similarly sobering facts – and its stark implications. But note also the intervention several months ago by a leading South African prelate, Rev. Fuleni Mzukisi, who charged that poverty in South Africa is now worse than apartheid and, in fact, ‘a terrible disease.’ As he said, ‘Apartheid was a deep crime against humanity. It left people with deep scars, but I can assure you that poverty is worse than that... People do not eat human rights; they want food on the table.’[2]

This outcome is the result, most generally, of the grim overall inequalities between the global North and the global South that, as in many other regions, mark southern Africa. But, more specifically, it also reflects the choice of economic strategies in this latter region that can now imagine only elite enrichment and the presumed ‘trickle down benefits’ of unchecked capitalism as being the way in which the lot of the poorest of the poor might be improved there. How far a cry this is from the populist, even socialist, hopes for more effective and egalitarian outcomes that originally seemed to define the development dreams of all the liberation movements. Indeed, what is especially disconcerting about the present recolonisation of the region under the flag of capitalism is that it has been driven by precisely the same movements (at least in name) that led their countries to independence in the long years of overt regional struggle. But just why this should have occurred, how inevitable it was, is something we must consider in the essays that follow.

To be sure, the record varies somewhat from country to country. Thus, Mozambique under Frelimo, once the most forthrightly socialist of all the region’s countries, has had to abandon that claim. True, it has also abandoned its initial brand of developmental dictatorship in favour of a formal democratisation that has stabilised the country – albeit without markedly empowering the mass of its people or improving their socio-economic lot. Indeed, a recent text-book by Bauer and Taylor on southern Africa (a book of sympathetic though not notably radical predisposition) notes that the election to the presidency of Armando Guebuza who is the ‘holder of an expansive business empire and one of the richest men in Mozambique hardly signals that Frelimo will attempt to run anything but a globalist, neo-liberal agenda – regardless of the abject poverty suffered by most of the electorate.’

As for Angola it has, until quite recently, experienced a much greater and more dramatic degree of divisive fragmentation than Mozambique – although its antidote to that, since the death of Savimbi, has had as little to do with popular empowerment and broad-based development as have the present policies of its fellow ex-Portuguese colony, Mozambique. In fact, it has been argued that it is only a handful of progressive international initiatives (Human Rights Watch, Global Witness and the like) that have had some success in holding the feet of exploitative corporations and of Angola’s own government to the fire of critical scrutiny. For unfortunately, as David Sogge will argue in his article on Angola in the present collection, the country’s own population, battle-scarred and battle-weary, has been rather slower to find effective means to exert their own claims. Yet, as the same Bauer and Taylor volume quoted above feels forced conclude of Angola, oil money and corruption have merely ‘exacerbated the already glaring discrepancies between rich and poor’ and have, ‘quite simply, threatened the country’s recovery and future development.’

Meanwhile Zimbabwe, in the brutal thrall of Mugabe and Zanu PF, has witnessed an even greater deterioration of national circumstances than either of these two countries. There, say Bauer and Taylor, ‘the ZANU-PF’s stewardship of the economy [has] been an unmitigated disaster’ while its politics, through years of overt and enormously costly dictatorial practices, have produced a situation, as Richard Saunders will detail in his own essay here, that is proving enormously difficult both to displace and to move beyond.

The results in both Namibia and South Africa, even if not quite so bloody as those produced by Renamo’s war, the prolonged sparring of Savimbi with the MPLA (Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola) and Mugabe’s depredations, are not much more inspiring in terms of effective mass enfranchisement and broad-gauged human betterment – as we will see in the articles by Henning Melber and William Gumede included in this issue of the Ezine. Thus, a long-time and firmly loyal ANC cadre (Ben Turok) has himself, in a recent book entitled ‘The Evolution of ANC Economic Policy’, acknowledged both the contribution of ANC policies to growing inequality in his country while reaching ‘the irresistible conclusion that the ANC government has lost a great deal of its earlier focus on the fundamental transformation of the inherited social system’!

In sum, South Africa, like the other ‘liberated’ locales of the region, has become, in the sober phrase with which Neville Alexander has titled a book of his own on South Africa’s ‘transition from apartheid to democracy,’ merely ‘an ordinary country’ – despite the rather finer future that many, both in southern Africa and beyond, had hoped would prove to be the outcome of the long years of liberation struggle themselves. But Alexander’s characterisation could be said to apply to all of the countries in the region: What we now have, instead of a liberated southern Africa that is vibrant, humane and just, is a region of a very different sort indeed.

Moreover, not only is there deepening inequality within countries but, in the region taken as a whole, there is also – to take one glaring example – a situation in which South Africa’s capitalist economic power now merely complements global capitalist power in holding the impoverished people of southern Africa in quasi-colonial thrall (as the six-part series of AfricaFiles' Ezine on South Africa in the southern Africa region recently documented[3]) – while doing disturbingly little to better the lot of such people, the vast majority both in South Africa and elsewhere. Or take SADC, the Southern African Development Community: It has become (albeit with a few honourable exceptions) primarily a club of presidents that reveals itself to be – as the sad case of its kid-gloves treatment of Zimbabwe and its backing of an otherwise deservedly embattled Mugabe amply demonstrates – to be more a source of tacit support for the status quo than a force for facilitating any kind of just transition to effective democracy in Zimbabwe.

In truth, it is now often said by people of left persuasion that the current global situation offers no real alternatives, no real hope, for Africa (including southern Africa). It cannot, they say, count on any plausible socialist alternative (see Gabriel Kolko’s deeply unsettling ‘After Socialism’). Moreover, a seasoned observer like Giovanni Arrighi could only urge Africa to look to a relatively benign China (a doubtful haven of hope, one fears) and/or to the kinder and gentler practices of its own elites in order to realise even a marginal adjustment to its desperate plight. Others fall back on the equally unlikely prospect of a revolutionary transformation of the exploitative West to then lift many of the key barriers towards a brighter future. Thus, as one friend has recently written to me: ‘I don’t see how the South can ever liberate itself in the absence of a new socialist project becoming powerful in the North.’ Yet he feels forced to add that ‘I don’t see that happening until people are hurting and see no prospect of meeting their personal needs under globalied neoliberalism, and until a new left movement with a serious attitude to organization and democracy.’ But this is a faint hope too, my correspondent – who confesses to feeling ‘very pessimistic’ – obviously fears.

Failing a revolution in the global capitalist centres, however, what are the actual prospects for some dramatic change occurring within the region itself, one, necessarily, driven from below? The present author has called elsewhere for ‘a next liberation struggle’ in southern Africa for precisely this reason, a struggle, like the one that is currently afoot in several places in Latin America for example, that seeks to at least neutralise the intervention of imperialist forces from the North while also facilitating the empowerment of its own people in political and economic terms.

And there are – as will be surveyed on a country by country basis in the articles that follow – localised and grass-roots resistances in the region in a wide variety of settings and on a broad range of policy fronts that seek to make headway and even to begin to add up to potential hegemonic alternatives to the failed liberation movements that we still see in power. Moreover, some attempts to so resist – the initial rise of the MDC in opposition to Mugabe, for example, and the removal of the brazen Thabo Mbeki from South Africa’s presidency before the end of his term; the dramatic grass-roots resistance, especially in South Africa, to the AIDS pandemic that stalks the entire region; and the signs of a resurgent economic nationalism that threatens to renegotiate contracts with the private sector and even to reverse certain privatizations – do begin to so promise: Promise, that is, to ‘add up,’ even if, to this point, ‘not quite’ and certainly ‘not yet’!

So the question remains: How might one hope, even expect, that the diverse instances of resistance that are visible could come to pose hegemonic alternatives in southern Africa to the recolonisation that has been the fate of that part of the continent in the wake of its seeming ‘liberation’? What might Africans on the ground in the region have to do next, and how can they best be supported from outside in doing so? Equally importantly, how might residents of the global North organise themselves in order – with respect to any ‘next liberation support struggle’ – to best assist them: Staying the hand of our own governments and corporations on the one hand and speaking out clearly and effectively on behalf of such movements for genuine liberation on the ground on the other? One thing is clear: The liberation struggle continues. We cannot live in the (recent) past. We must act to shape the future.

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* This article first appeared in AfricaFiles At Issue ezine, Volume 12 (May–October 2010) The Liberation of Southern Africa, No. 1, May 2010.
* John S. Saul is a Canadian political economist and activist whose work has focused on the liberation struggles of southern Africa, from the 1960s to the present.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

NOTES

[1] John S. Saul, ‘Liberation Support and Anti-Apartheid Work as Seeds of
Global Consciousness: The Birth of Solidarity with Southern African
Struggles,’ in Karen Dubinsky, et. al (eds.), New World Coming: The
Sixties and the Shaping of Global Consciousness (Toronto: Between the
Lines, 2009), 139-40; see also John S. Saul, Revolutionary Traveller:
Freeze-Frames from a Life (Winnipeg: Arbeiter Ring, 2009).
[2] Fuleni Mzukisi, as cited in Fredrick Nzwili, ‘South Africa: Pastor
says poverty is worse than apartheid,’ from Ecumenical News
International and circulated by AfricaFiles (September 10, 2008).
[3] See AfricaFiles' At Issue Ezine, ‘Vol 8: South Africa in Africa’ (2008).

SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Alexander, Neville. An Ordinary Country: Issues in the Transition from
Apartheid to Democracy in South Africa. Pietermaritzburg: University of
Natal Press, 2002.
Arrighi, Giovanni. ‘The African Crisis,’ in New Left Review 15 (May–June
2002).
Bauer, Gretchen, and Scott D. Taylor, eds. Politics in Southern Africa:
State and Society in Transition. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2005.
Gumede, William. Thabo Mbeki and the Battle for the Soul of the ANC.
London: Palgrave MacMillan, 2008.
Hanlon, Joseph, and Teresa Smart. Do Bicycles Equal Development in
Mozambique? London: Boydell and Brewer, 2008.
McDonald, Michael. Why Race Matters in South Africa. Cambridge and
London: Harvard University Press, 2006.
Melber, Henning. Re-examining Liberation in Namibia: Political Culture
Since Independence. Uppsala: Nordiska Afrikainstitutet, 2003.
Nattrass, Nicoli, and Jeremy Seekings. Race, Class and Inequality in
South Africa. New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2005.
Raftopoulos, Brian, and Alois Mlambo. Becoming Zimbabwe: A History from
the Pre-colonial Period to 2008. Harare: Weaver Press, 2009.
Saul, John S. The Next Liberation Struggle: Capitalism, Socialism and
Democracy in Southern Africa. Toronto, Durban, New York and London:
Between the Lines, University of Kwazulu-Natal Press, Monthly Review
Press, The Merlin Press, 2005.
Saul, John S. ‘The Strange Death of Liberated Southern Africa,’ in
Decolonization and Empire. Delhi, London and Johannesburg: Three Essays
Collective, Merlin Press, and University of Witwatersrand Press, 2007.
Saul, John S. ‘Arrighi and Africa,’ in Review of African Political
Economy (December 2009).
Saul, John S. Liberation Lite: The Roots of Recolonization in Southern
Africa. Delhi: Three Essays Collective, 2010.
Terreblanche, Sampie. A History of Inequality in South Africa,
1652-2002. Scottsville: University of Natal Press, 2002.
Turok, Ben. The Evolution of ANC Economic Policy: From the Freedom
Charter to Polokwane. Cape Town: New Agenda, 2008.

France-Africa leaders’ festivities: What to celebrate?

Sanou Mbaye

2010-05-27

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/64753

cc WikipediaAs the former French colonies of Africa head to Nice to celebrate the 25th France-Africa Summit at the end of May, Sanou Mbaye questions the enduring legacy they’re honouring. Following decades of political and economic tyranny forged by French politicians, the citizens of former colonies continue to absorb the impact of chaotic and ruinous policies left over from their imperial history. ‘As long as these psychological wounds are not rooted out of black consciousness, the road to mental emancipation will still be a long way off’, Mbaye writes.

The late French president, General Charles de Gaulle, foresaw the wave of nationalism, political freedom and revolution that swept across Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East in the aftermath of the Second World War. He circumvented the tide by proposing to the leaders of France’s African colonies a negotiated settlement for their independence.

The colonies had to agree, among other things, to allow the stationing of French troops on their territories to guarantee their security, provide France with a steady supply of raw materials at pre-determined prices, endorse the transfer to their newly independent states of all debts contracted by France for their exploitation, keep the African Financial Community (CFA) franc as their common currency within the franc zone, and grant to the French Treasury a right of veto in administration of their regional central banks. De Gaulle got what he wanted and granted independence.

President Nicolas Sarkozy has invited the leaders of these countries to come and celebrate the 50th anniversary of their independence in Nice for the 25th France-Africa summit on 31 May 2010.

Half a century is a good time span to assess whether France and its African allies have something to celebrate. With regard to security, African-based French troops have been active on several occasions in Chad, Gabon, Zaire, Central Africa, Togo and Ivory Coast protecting complacent, corrupt, undemocratic and incompetent leaders, removing recalcitrant ones, or curbing civil unrest. In Rwanda, dark clouds still hang over France with regard to its presumed responsibility in the 1994 genocide.

On the monetary front, the member countries of the franc zone dismantled the federal structure that united them during French occupation and erected trade barriers between them instead. The CFA franc is issued separately by Banque Centrale des États de l’Afrique de l’Ouest (BCEAO) and the Banque des États de l'Afrique Centrale (BEAC) –the two sub-regional central banks – and is not interchangeable. As a result, the pre-colonial economic integration of the region disintegrated and regional trade became stifled. The ensuing economic difficulties were exacerbated under President François Mitterrand whose prime minister, Pierre Bérégovoy, pursued a strong French franc – a policy that ultimately led to a massive 100 per cent devaluation of the CFA franc in 1994. And the euro’s appreciation against the dollar from 2002 until very recently meant that the shift in the exchange-rate peg of the CFA franc from the French franc to the euro caused a repeat of that scenario. With the bulk of their exports denominated in USA dollars and their imports priced mainly in euros, chronic structural deficits have wrecked the economies of the franc zone, and the prospect for a second devaluation looms larger by the day.

Still more appalling, the CFA franc is freely convertible in hard currency. This convertibility was guaranteed by France on condition that all fifteen member states of the franc zone surrender 100 per cent of their foreign external reserves to the French Treasury. This amount, deducted directly by France from members’ exports earnings, was reduced to 65 per cent, and then 50 per cent in 2005. However, the mandatory 20 per cent foreign exchange cover stipulated in the conventions signed with France in 1962 stands nowadays at 110 per cent. This capital drain is reinforced by a foreign exchange control enacted in 1993 that restricts free capital flow to France, the unique destination of the massive capital flight that bleeds the economies of the region and erodes their competitiveness.

This is a shame because the overall economic situation of the African continent has been improving steadily over the last few years. Inflation has been halved since the 1990s and exchange reserves have increased 30 per cent. Public finances surplus represented 2.8 per cent of GDP in 2008 compared to a deficit of 1.4 per cent for the period 2000-05. Savings rates stand between 10-20 per cent, and the level of external debt has decreased from 62.4 per cent of GDP in 1998-2001 to 23.1 per cent in 2005-2007. Return on investment averages 35 per cent. Since 2000, sub-Saharan African countries have achieved economic growth of five to seven per cent. In 2008, Africa has been spared the twin woes of financial turmoil and economic downturn. The economies of the continent experienced a slowdown, but not a recession. According to McKinsey & Company, Africa was the third contributor to world economic growth in 2009, after China and India.

This revival has been achieved mostly in Eastern and Southern Africa, along with further economic integration within the sub-regional groupings: the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC). Sadly, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the sub-regional grouping in West Africa, is not as effective. It is customary among African intellectuals to state that there are two superpowers in ECOWAS: Nigeria and France. With the establishment of ECOWAS, the franc zone member countries created two sub-regional groupings, the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) and the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC), in a bid to curb Anglophone and Nigerian influence in the region.

As a result, West African countries are missing out on the first signs of economic rejuvenation in Africa for decades. Controversy about France’s role in the crisis that plagues their economies and the need for change will continue and is likely to be exacerbated by the prospect of a prolonged period of stagnation in the eurozone.

The imbalanced relationship between France and its former African colonies would beggar belief if one did not take into account the psychology of African leaders who initially signed this deal fifty years ago. These were the Senegalese president, Leopold Sedar Senghor, a strong believer in white supremacy to the extent that he wrote ‘Reason is Helen, Emotion is Negro’; Leon Mba, the first Gabonese president, was such a Francophile than when he died, he bequeathed his personal fortune to France in order to finance the construction of a hospital in Paris; as for Ivoirian Felix Houphouet- Boigny, he coined the word ‘Françafrique’ to underline the total osmosis between France and its former colonies. His support to France’s politics in Africa led him to establish diplomatic ties with the apartheid regime of South Africa and make his country a supply-transit point for the Biafra secessionists. These leaders were unlikely to dispute France’s diktat.

Their heirs are not different. Indicted French child abductors were freed by Chad at France’s request. In Mali, several suspected terrorist members of a local branch of Al Qaeda were set free in exchange for a French hostage. Senegalese politician Abdoulaye Wade labelled the CFA franc a colonial relic when he was a opposition leader. Now elected president, he considers it to be the best currency in the world. Like the late Michael Jackson, a few among these African leaders went as far as bleaching to whiten their skin. The attitude of these leaders reflects badly on the wider public, especially among the young generation.

As long as these psychological wounds are not rooted out of black consciousness, the road to mental emancipation will still be a long way off. Hopefully, with the balance of world economic power shifting to emerging countries and with the emergence of new black role models and a new generation raised in a globalised world, coming of age ready to take over the mantle of leadership, there are good reasons to be optimistic.

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* Sanou Mbaye, is a Senegalese economist, a former member of the senior management team of the African Development bank, and the author of ‘L’Afrique au secours de l’Afrique’ (Africa to the rescue of Africa).
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

Nile waters and an east African oil spill

Gado

2010-05-27

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/64760

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Remembering Tajudeen: Speaking truth to power

Walter Turner and Horace Campbell

2010-05-25

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/Tajudeen/64730

In an interview for the Africa Today programme on KPFA [mp3], Walter Turner speaks to Horace Campbell about Tajudeen's immense contribution and the challenges for a revolutionary world. Campbell is the author of the foreword to the new Pambazuka Press book 'Speaking Truth to Power', a compilation of Tajudeen's weekly Pan-African Postcards.

TRANSCRIPT OF INTERVIEW

WALTER TURNER: Dr Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem worked under many titles and missions. Born in Nigeria, he received his doctorate degree in Oxford. He was director of London based Africa Research and Information Bureau and one of the founding editors of Africa Review and worked as secretary general of the seventh Pan-African Congress which was held in Uganda, the general secretary of Pan-African Movement, chairman of the Senate Development of Democracy, Justice in Africa, United Nations Millennium Campaign which was in Uganda.

He began to write actively a series of Pan-African postcards around the time of overturn of the Mabutu government. They morphed into Thursday postcards, which appeared in Pambazuka Newsletter. On May 25th 2009, African Liberation Day, Dr Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem made his transition to the ancestors. Recently released a book entitled ‘Speaking Truth to Power: Selected Pan-African Postcards’ on Pambazuka Press with the support of the African Women’s Development Fund and CODESRIA.

In the beginning there is a forward by Dr Horace Campbell who is Professor of African Studies and Political Sciences at Syracuse University. Dr Campbell has written extensively on Africa. He has a new book coming out on Pluto Press ‘Barack Obama and 21st Century Politics’. He also has another publication on Africom ‘the US command on Africa’. He was a good friend of Tajudeen, and he talks to us today to talk about the life and work of Tajudeen and some of the ways that his work is being carried forward.

Horace, thank you for joining us.

HORACE CAMPBELL: Thank you for inviting me for this historic occasion, because it is too important that young people draw inspiration from the life and work and commitment of Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem.

WALTER TURNER: What were you working to say in your foreword about Tajudeen in that address and the one you made in London in July? What was some of the key points that you wanted to emphasise for many people who may not know of Tajudeen?

HORACE CAMPBELL: That Tajudeen committed himself to dignity, dignity of all people. He committed himself to this principle and he involved himself in organising, and he organised at different levels. He spent his time with the most oppressed, and Tajudeen also had a vision. That vision was a free Africa, a united Africa and African people creating spaces where they can be creative and change the planet in which we live, and these features of the life of Tajudeen are features that we hope that younger people will emulate as we go through the tribulation of the present moment.

WALTER TURNER: Horace whenever we talk you always say we are in a revolutionary moment, and I know you mean that in a broad sense, but I also know that you mean it in a sense of African peoples world wide. Why do you say that? Interpret that for us, Horace.

HORACE CAMPBELL: This revolutionary moment transcends boarders. As we speak in the United States of America, this crisis of environmental justice, it’s sharpening to us more than ever that we have to change this system of economic organisation.

Every moment that we are alive and breathing we have signals that the planet is in peril and we have passed a tipping point and drastic measures must be taken. It is just as if there was a wake up call – less than two weeks after President Obama announced that United States government would initiate offshore drilling, we have this terrible catastrophe orchestrated by Halliburton, and British Petroleum and Transocean in the gulf of Mexico. A catastrophe, which reminds those who have been paying attention, of the catastrophic conditions of mining and drilling that has gone on in Africa.

So the environmental question is at the forefront of the revolutionary conditions that we are in. If we add to that the question of the financial crisis – which is a manifestation of the crisis of capitalism – we say the way in which in United States of America the government is willing to expend trillions of dollars to bail out the banking system. That is, according to the thinking of the country, the profitability of banks is more important than health and welfare of ordinary citizens, so that the sharpening of the contradictions within the United States of America is forcing the people to make choices. Will they support old ideas of white supremacy, capitalist accumulation, profit before all, and environmental destruction and war or will they support peace, withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan and Iraq, reparation and social justice.

And these questions in United States are replicated in all parts of the world. We see it in South African, in Durban, we see it in Nigeria, we see it in the Congo, and we see it in Ethiopia, in Somalia and in Europe we are seeing it on the daily basis in Greece. We seeing it sireland (???), in all parts of the world. The question is will the wealthier, the well being of citizens, human beings, come before a small group, and the fall out of the crisis in Greece will be played out in Portugal, in Spain and in Britain and in Scotland. We are in a long period of revolutionary change. What we need are the ideas and the organisation so that counter-revolution, fascism does not take over in this period of economic crisis.

WALTER TURNER: What did your good friend Tajudeen, Horace, mean? How do you interpret it for us when he used the word Pan-Africanism. It’s used often in history but that was the title of his postcards when he began them, Pan-African Postcards. Talk about what Pan-Africanism means for the work you do and the work that Tajudeen was doing.

HORACE CAMPBELL: Pan-Africanism in the world we live now and the world that Tajudeen did, it’s about the dignity of all human beings. This concept of dignity today means that women should have access to health care. And as you read in the book of his postcards, one of the things that concerned Tajudeen, women should not die in child-birth. How do we create a social system that provides health care for all so that health care is a right by birth for everyone in the society?

So the Pan-Africanism of the era of Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem – and in all eras – is the Pan-Africanism that repairs the dignity of not only human beings, but ecosystems and the planet earth. Recently, we have the development of the Pan-African Environmental Justice Network, that came to the forefront in Copenhagen. These are new areas of Pan-African struggle – over health, environment, dignity, education, and more importantly, peace. These new questions of Pan-Africanism, they are liberating us from the Pan-Africanism of states.

For a 100 years from 1900–1994, Pan-Africanism was conceptualised as the liberation of states and when South Africa ended apartheid, through the struggles of their people in 1994, the idea of Pan-Africanism being vested in the liberation of states was qualified that Pan-Africanism in the liberation of states is an important step, but its not sufficient for the dignity and wellbeing of the peoples.

I mean for that reason it is in South Africa where Treatment Action Campaign is carrying forward the struggles for healthcare, the struggles for water, electricity –what they call in South Africa ‘service delivery’. So if we can say in the 19th century Pan-Africanism was the fight to end slavery… When we fought to end slavery from the Haitian revolution to present we found that ending slavery was not sufficient to give us dignity. In the United States of America the foremost Pan-Africanist thinkers emerged in the struggles against Jim Crow and against disenfranchisement. W.E.B. DuBois called five Pan-African congresses. Those congresses also said that the question of independence of Africa is central to Pan-Africanism so we have a second queue to Pan-Africanism that talked about independence and ended in Jim Crow. But ending Jim Crow and civil rights legislation did not change the conditions of the people. Then we went to the stage of fighting against apartheid.

We are in a new stage of the Pan-Africanism in the biotic (10.51) century. This Pan-Africanism is not about governments, or about great leaders, because as we have seen leaders such as Robert Mugabe, Yoweri Museveni, or Meles in Ethiopia, they use the language of the old Pan-Africanism to keep themselves in power, while oppressing the masses of the people. So the Pan-Africanism of today is about dignity and the well being of ordinary citizens and it is not racially exclusive, because Pan-Africanism is linked to the dignity, not only the Africans but of all peoples in the world.

WALTER TURNER: We are talking about the new book out ‘Speaking Truth to Power: Selected Pan-African Postcards’, Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem. Speaking with Professor Horace Campbell of Syracuse University, good friend who is now doing the Pan-African Postcards. I was interested as I read you, Horace, that initially those postcards came at the time of the end of the Mobutu Sese Seko government and later we began to see them as Thursday postcards in Pambazuka. I am interested in some of that history but I am also interested in the points there that Tajudeen raised, some of his most brilliant pieces at least from my impression, corrupt leaders and mass murders, does Meles think that he is Africa’s George Bush? Zimbabwe is as good a place to draw the line as any right now. Talk about the root of the postcards in this, as Tajudeen says the need to liberate ourselves from liberators?

HORACE CAMPBELL: Yes, that is such a wonderful statement that you’ve just made, we must liberate ourselves from liberators, because Tajudeen was very clear that when liberators become murderers, become oppressors, we who supported those liberators, should also liberate ourselves from supporting those liberators.

The best example was Tajudeen’s own experience in Uganda, where he had been introduced to Yoweri Museveni by Abdulrahman Babu, who wanted Tajudeen to work from Uganda. Uganda had been through armed struggle for fighting against militarism and Museveni came to power in 1986 and presented himself as a liberator, so that Uganda should be the base for supporting the Pan-African movement and Tajudeen learnt bitterly the way in which the liberator, Museveni, was turning into an oppressor of the people, unleashing a militarism to the point in which today Uganda is a society where the accumulation of wealth by the ruling elite is so obscene, the ideas of the leaders are so backward that they have aligned themselves with the most conservative sections of United States, saying that homosexuals should be put to death and one of the things that Pan-Africanists must be very clear about, we can not fight for dignity for one group of people and oppress others and that is why women have emerged as leading spokespersons for Pan-Africanism, because they have been at the forefront of the fight against sexism and all forms of oppression.

There has been a silence within the ranks of the Pan-Africanists over the attempted legislation in Uganda to put homosexuals to death. This idea that people who are of the same sexual orientation are somehow deviant and should be put to death was promoted by very conservative sections in the United States of America, so Pan-Africanists cannot be silent when there is oppression of peoples. So we have Meles in Ethiopia, we have Mugabe in Zimbabwe and you’ve heard me on this programme many times thinking about why I had to write the book ‘Reclaiming Zimbabwe: The Exhaustion of the Patriarchal Model of Liberation’ because it is that mode of liberation where the liberators themselves become corrupt and became murderers, and Tajudeen was not shy in speaking to their faces, because Tajudeen was on first name basis with all of these leaders. He knew them, he operated as a writer, as a diplomat, and as an activist within the Pan-African movement. So, Tajudeen was not afraid to speak to these leaders and to write about what they were doing, and I believe that postcards and this book ‘Speaking Truth to Power’ will be such an educational tool to a younger generation, who have been be-saddled by leaders such as Robert Mugabe.

WALTER TURNER: You, Horace, you knew Tajudeen, you knew him well. In one of the pieces there he talks about a dialogue that you and him and a good friend from the University of Makerere were having about the up coming US elections. The book is absolutely breath-taking in terms of the depth, I mean he talks with ease about the developments in Venezuela, as well as he talks about Cuba, as well he talks about Africa, Asia, etcetera. Where does his brilliance come from? How it does make it so much from somebody who is on the ground, to print, to diplomacy, to global activism? I am asking you personally if you’ll share that with us.

HORACE CAMPBELL: Well, Tajudeen was a brilliant person as you said, and if you met Tajudeen, he was so relaxed. He was so unassuming and he could move in the inner circle. As you said he moved with presidents but he spent most with the down trodden. Tajudeen was a Rhodes Scholar, who went to Oxford University. Even when he was being interviewed by the panel of Dons from Oxford about accepting him to Oxford he made it very clear what he thought about Cecil Rhodes and the history of Rhodesia but he was so brilliant that they thought once he got to Oxford, he could be seduced by the rituals and by the pomp and the privilege that one would see in Oxford University, but he, while in Oxford, participated with like-minded persons who were also brilliant, who wanted to use their knowledge on the side of the people and he would say clearly that he was at Oxford and he met persons such as Susan Rice, but Susan Rice, who is now the ambassador of United States to United Nations, had no time for questions of anti-apartheid and fighting struggles for oppressed peoples. So, one could see that Oxford was a place that the ruling class used as a recruiting ground for those who would govern the masses of the people through out the world, but Tajudeen used his time in Oxford to agitate around questions of Palestine, around questions of Kenyan dictatorship, around questions of apartheid and yet while doing that he found time to do his research and write a brilliant thesis about militarism in Nigeria. The moment he completed his doctorial degree, Tajudeen went and served the people of Africa.

You mentioned it in the introduction that he was one of the founders of the Africa World Review, and the Africa Research Information Bulletin in London. Tajudeen was a glue in London that kept the left and radical progressive together. Radicals not only from Africa, from Latin America, from Asia and from Palestine and then Tajudeen went from there and worked in Uganda as the general secretary of the global Pan-African Movement at a great sacrifice to himself and to his family, because at that time he was having affair with his wife to be Munira and he subsequently had the two children, two beautiful children. But, what many people do not know is that Tajudeen did all of this at a great sacrifice because he should’ve been paid by the Ugandan government but the corruption in Uganda meant that the monies that were expended for the secretariat did not get to the secretariat, so Tajudeen was basically for about eight years working gratis for building this movement called the Global Pan African Movement, and that is why it is our belief that we as a movement owe great debt to Tajudeen and his family in England and his wider family in Nigeria where Tajudeen sought to build an institution. He build a community college named after his sister who died in child birth in Funtua and when we hear about violence in Nigeria between Christians and Muslims, we understand that Tajudeen in his life as a follower of the Islamic faith did not manifest all of those prejudices and differences that are being exploited by leaders. So we have an exemplary person, one who devoted his life, his talent and his brilliance towards the dignity and […]of the peoples in all parts of the world.

WALTER TURNER: We are speaking to Horace Campbell. We are talking about the new book on Pambazuka press Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem’s ‘Speaking Truth to Power: Selected Pan-African Postcards’ done with the assistance of the African Women’s Development Fund and CODESRIA. You mentioned something, Horace, in your presentation in July and you mentioned it again in the forward to the book that you wrote, and that you mentioned, and I know that you did this around the work around the campaign leading up to the election of Obama, you mentioned that Tajudeen always mentioned that he was the son of a ‘petty trader’. Why did you include that? Why did Tajudeen always make sure people knew that?

HORACE CAMPBELL: Because, there are so many in leadership positions who manifest great disdain for poor persons. There are many who are leaders, who come from humble backgrounds, but use their humble backgrounds as a basis to say I made it and so everyone else can make it. It’s like rag to riches story, but Tajudeen was making a statement that his mother was a humble trader. That there are millions of women in Africa who are seeking to eke out an existence, who want to have a better quality of life. What do we mean by that? They want very simple things, food, clothing, shelter and healthcare and the tragedy is in this era of great technological advances we can not provide these basic requirements for human beings, so we hear all kinds of statistics from the world bank about people in Africa living on less than a dollar a day, and we hear about the statistics of Millennium Development Goals. But, behind these statistics lay a fundamental understanding of the world that capitalism and the capitalist mode of production is the best way forward for human beings. But Tajudeen was pointing to the fact that ordinary people like his mother struggled for him to go to school and they are struggling to change their conditions and conditions of their family, and we cannot change these conditions through capitalism because capitalism has destroyed the lives of millions and capitalism promises to destroy planet earth if we do not change the social system.

WALTER TURNER: Horace, I haven’t been able to attend one but I know people that have. When I heard about it and read about it, it sounded like a mirror of the work that you done with Tajudeen globally and it seemed to be really be in some senses like sharing a baton around on the work around building a Pan-African community, and that’s a series of African initiatives that you have been holding at your institution with support from number of different areas. You had one on China, you had one on Zimbabwe. What are you focusing? What are you looking top do here, Horace, with the African initiatives that you have been part sponsoring?

HORACE CAMPBELL: Well our task within the spaces that we inhabit at the moment is to point to an alternative future. Our task is to point to the possibilities that were pointed to by our ancestors. Our ancestors lived through enslavement and they fought against enslavement and they organised for a better standard of living for us.

Within the university at the moment, the university is torn between the pathology of Africa, the idea of representing Africa as a failed state. Where, there are corrupt leaders, and there’s wars and terrorism and we need humanitarian involvement with international NGOs.

Our task in the Africa Initiative is to break the pathology about Africa, and to represent new scholarship that recognises that the African peoples have always been at the forefront of the fighting for Ubuntu. That is for peace, love, reconciliation and sharing and this peace, love, reconciliation and sharing will inform the Africa of the future, if the scholarship of today creates in the minds of the young people, the confidence that they can make history and that they can make changes.

It is the attempt to inspire confidence in young students black and white, Chinese and Indian, Latin American and Eurasian. That is our task for every moment that we live, that we do not support the kind of systems that undermine the confidence in young people, that tells them that they can not think for themselves, that they can not write and they can not make history.

So, our last meeting on Africa and China was to intervene in the growing industry that is called Chinaphobia in the United Sates, where there is an attempt to present China as the new exploiter of Africa. What we are seeing is that, the African peoples will organise with the Chinese people so that they will ensure that China does not become an exploiter of Africa. Even if there are some capitalists in China who would like to lay down this tradition, it is not for Europeans to tell Africans about Chinese potential exploitation, while there is contemporary United States and European exploitation of Africa.

Africans can see for themselves and what we need to do is to do the kind of scholarship the kind of agitation that will support the African peoples and the Chinese peoples, so that one of the important questions that came out in our last symposium in Syracuse was about the conditions of African workers. Their struggles for healthcare by African workers, their struggles for eight-hour days, their struggles against bad conditions in mines, so when that Chinese capitalists come to Africa in the Congo and in Zambia and reproduce labour conditions that are dangerous for the African peoples, the African workers will struggle against the Chinese capitalists as well as against European or African capitalists. So, it is how to build relations between China and Africa, between Chinese traditional medicine and African medicine, between Chinese cultural workers and African cultural workers. As one of our feminist sisters, […] said in the conference, that many people talk about bridges and infrastructure, and rail road and oil, but all of these are masculine concepts, because Chinese/African relations are reflected through human beings. What is the cultural contact between China and Africa and how will this enrich China and Africa, or how will it diminish China and Africa. So that we in the Africa initiative, we are seeking to break new bounds away from the cold war politics of Africa or the old terrorist narrative on Africa.

WALTER TURNER: The book is out, ‘Speaking Truth to Power: Selected Pan-African Postcards: Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem’. What do people here in the diaspora – that’s always been part of what you talk about Horace – what do people here in the United States, in the Caribbean –Tajudeen’s work was global, he was known more in Africa and Europe and many other places than perhaps we know or recognise him here – what’s our task in terms of what Tajudeen’s vision was and is?

HORACE CAMPBELL: Our task is a task that Malcolm X laid for us. Next week we are remembering Malcolm X’s life and death. Malcolm X was a freedom fighter who transformed himself from a pimp, from a preacher to a leader of international recognition. And Malcolm X said if you do not know what’s going on in the Congo, you will not know what’s going on in Mississippi.

In other words at a time when Patrice Lumumba was assassinated, and at a time when people were fighting with the Mississippi Freedom Democratic party, Malcolm X was saying one struggle and many fronts. The same struggle for dignity in Mississippi was the same struggle that going on in the Congo.

Today we have been domesticated by politics in each of our individual countries, so we do not know of the struggles of the Columbian workers against narco-traffickers and militarists. We do not know of struggles in Haiti, of the people of Haiti that want a government that is not controlled by drug traffickers and international humanitarian imperialist, they call NGOs. We do not know of struggles in France of women who want their dignity as women, whether they follow the Islamic faith or not. We do not know of the struggles inside of the Congo against rape and violation.

So what Tajudeen stood for was that he wrote on Venezuela, Cuba, Palestine, Sudan, Jamaica, Guyana; He did not know boarders in the Pan-African world and that is what we are looking to. We are looking forward to the youth of today understanding that the struggles in Louisiana today over the deport and raise of oil spill can not be separated from the struggles in the Niger Delta where Shell oil company has spoilt and destroyed the environment.

WALTER TURNER: You have two books coming out Horace. Let us know what those titles are?

HORACE CAMPBELL: Well, the first one,which is coming out in August, I’ve just finished going through the page proofs – is ‘Barack Obama and 21st Century Politics: A Revolutionary Moment in the USA’ – has been published by Pluto Press and it addresses the convergence of the revolutionary forces in the United States and globally. The second one is exposure of United States Africa command and that will be published by Pambazuka. Press By the way every week, I now have weekly column called pan African postcard which is published at Pambazuka News and for the next five years Pambazuka will be working within the tradition of Tajudeen to build the unity of the peoples of Africas, Because the unity of the peoples of Africa and the coming together of the peoples of Africa will strengthen Africa in the midst of this economic crisis.

WALTER TURNER: Those are some big shoes Horace. Writing the Thursday postcard when I mentioned to you earlier, you responded with a bit of a smile and bit of a laugh. Those are big shoes to fill, the shoes of Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem

HORACE CAMPBELL: Oh, I do not hope to fill the shoes of Tajudeen. I am hoping to make a contribution. Tajudeen is someone who has made his contribution and Tajudeen’s contribution will stand on its own. I was trying to make my own contribution.

WALTER TURNER: Well, we certainly appreciate you Horace and we hope that you continue to take good care of yourself. And you continue to write and help us all to seize this particular moment. ‘Speaking Truth to Power: Selected Pan-African Postcards’ by Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem. We are talking with professor Horace Campbell. He has been gracious enough to spend time with us talking about the book coming out. Professor Campbell has two books coming out: ‘Barack Obama and 21st Century Politics: A Revolutionary Moment in the USA’, that’s coming out on Pluto Press very soon and ‘Africom’ which is coming out on Pambazuka Press. He has other book is out, the myth ‘Reclaiming Zimbabwe: The Exhaustion of the Patriarchal Model of Liberation’ and you can read his column weekly in Pambazuka, which is www.pambazuka.org Horace please give our best to your family.

HORACE CAMPBELL: Thank you very much and I hope we will stay in touch.

WALTER TURNER: Pleasure my brother.

HORACE CAMPBELL: Thank you.

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* Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem's 'Speaking Truth to Power: Selected Pan-African Postcards' is available now from Pambazuka Press.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

Into the new millennium: Righting past wrongs

Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem and Assumpta Oturu

2010-05-25

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/Tajudeen/64729

As part of a Spotlight Africa radio programme broadcast last Saturday 22 May, Assumpta Oturu introduces excerpts of Tajudeen's thoughts on Pan-Africanism, African history and his wishes for Africa in the new millennium. The audio programme is available at http://tinyurl.com/2w6fkfe [mp3].

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem's 'Speaking Truth to Power: Selected Pan-African Postcards' is available now from Pambazuka Press.
* This audio piece comprises an excerpt from the KPFA radio programme 'Spotlight Africa', hosted by Assumpta Oturu and first broadcast on Saturday 22 May 2010.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

A day for Tajudeen’s truth and Africa’s power

Dana Wagner

2010-05-26

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/Tajudeen/64742

The death of Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem one year ago was marked on Tuesday 25 May in Nairobi with the launch of 'Speaking Truth to Power', a collection of his Pan-African Postcards. His legacy was manifest amidst Africa Day celebration and debate. Images from the day accompany this article.

The day was everything Tajudeen.

It was the launch of 'Speaking Truth to Power', a compilation of his writing for Pambazuka News, timed for the one-year mark of his 2009 death.

This is an afterthought though, really, because in cruel irony his death on 25 May fell on Africa Day, a day designated as a celebration of African unity by the then Organisation of African Unity (OAU) – what is today the African Union (AU).

But not so cruelly, the common date shared by Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem’s death and Africa Day enables pan-Africanists, friends and admirers of ‘Taju’ to recognise the ideas of the man, and not simply his personality.



‘Let us be careful; we create heroes, we create a cult of personality. Let’s honour him for his ideas,’ said Firoze Manji, editor of Pambazuka News and moderator of the book launch.

His ideas are the true legacy, Manji said, and it was Tajudeen's ideas that broke over and at times boiled the crowd of 250 gathered at Lillian Towers in Nairobi.

The amorphous group, primarily drawn from civil society, also featured representatives from business and government.

Participants were invited to be vocal and, true to the Pan-Africanism of Tajudeen, open discussion from the audience drew cheers as most began with comments like ‘I’m an African born in Uganda …’ and ‘I’m an African from Malawi …’



This Pan-Africanism is the core of 'Speaking Truth to Power'.

‘It’s an intellectual legacy to Taju’s Pan-Africanism,’ rang the words of absent co-editor Ama Biney. ‘He spoke truth to power with utter fearlessness … and the pages of this book are nothing but pan-African truths.’

The range of Tajudeen’s writing was reflected in the topics that emerged as speakers took the floor and participants were invited to respond, topics like defining Africa, corruption, resources, imperialism, struggle, gender justice and equality.

FOR AFRICAN WOMEN

On display at the event, fittingly called Africa Liberation Day – the alternative name championed by Tajudeen – were a range of poetic and musical performances, at times poignant and at times brilliantly jubilant, such as when artist Sarah Mitaru and her personal classic 'Woman from Africa' brought the room to its feet.



The anthem was a true tribute to Tajudeen’s ideal of gender equality and justice for African women.

By a different style, Wahu Kaara, the formidable global activist for social justice, also stole her audience from their seats with her cries: ‘I want to dismantle the system – the system is a patriarchic, market economy.’

‘The struggle has been ongoing … and the bedrock of the struggle is women.’

This was a stunning echo of Tajudeen, a man Kaara called a comrade.

‘He was committed to human dignity, and he knew why people were undignified and was determined to see it restored,’ Kaara said. ‘That was the common thread that tied us together.’



Human dignity forged the truths Tajudeen spoke to power, truths like ‘no woman should die giving birth’ and ‘corrupt leaders are mass murderers,’ said Charles Abugre, deputy director of the United Nations Millennium Campaign.

He was virulent, and believed change is possible, Abugre told the crowd. ‘That is the way Taju spoke.’

KNOW YOUR AFRICA

He spoke with truth, and with history too.

Omnipresent (Tajudeen that is), this pillar – historical perspective – was recognised too by Peter Anyang’ Nyong’o, professor and Kenya’s minister of medical services.

‘Study African history,’ Anyang’ Nyong’o implored at the end of the night as he formally launched Tajudeen’s postcards.

‘History is written so the past can be present in our present … or we risk being ignorant of our present.’



A copy of 'Speaking Truth to Power' in hand, Anyang’ Nyong’o spoke to an audience that had quietly swelled with after-work latecomers.

‘Here is a wealth of knowledge on the past and present of this continent and its people.’

Here are the ideas of Tajudeen.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* Dana Wagner is a recent journalism and political science graduate from Carleton University.
* Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem's 'Speaking Truth to Power: Selected Pan-African Postcards' is available now from Pambazuka Press.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

'A true Pan-African leader'

Review of 'Speaking Truth to Power: Selected Pan-African Postcards'

Amir Demeke

2010-05-25

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/Tajudeen/64733

In the week of the anniversary of the first year of Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem's passing, Amir Demeke reviews 'Speaking Truth to Power', a compilation of Tajudeen's weekly Pan-African Postcards. Describing the book as 'a well-balanced meal', Demeke stresses: 'For those who read for enlightenment, find a copy of the book and turn on the light.'

While the world celebrated the first anniversary of the life and legacy of Dr Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem at London’s Amnesty International Human Rights Action Centre, Africanists on the continent have taken a moment to reflect on the impact of a man who was for many the flag-bearer of global Pan-African thought. I sat this weekend to read the latest compilation book of Tajudeen’s postcards, 'Speaking Truth to Power', in order to appreciate the essence of the man who dedicated his adult life to African liberation. The former United Nations Millennium Campaign deputy director for Africa and director of Justice Africa lost his life on 25 May 2009 in Nairobi en route to launch a maternal health campaign in Kigali.

'Speaking Truth to Power' is a well-balanced meal from the novice to expert Pan-Africanist, and reads with the pace and tone of a man committed to African people over political alignment. From urging African leaders to hasten toward continental unity to charging men to play critical roles in ending violence against women, Tajudeen illustrates his acute awareness of the most pressing issues in contemporary African affairs. Of particular relevance today are the articles, 'Every day should be a woman’s day', 'Africa without borders' and 'Africa Day: who says slavery is dead?' The first article mentioned reminds readers that 'the world cannot be a better place if women’s conditions are not better in it' and calls for true liberation and equality across gender. The second postcard applauds the efforts made within East Africa to drive socio-political and economic integration, particularly with Rwanda and Burundi joining the East African Community. In the third, which was posted exactly four years ago today, Tajudeen does not fail to bring our attention to the essential question for every person moving toward a better Africa. Speaking from the land of the greats, Tajudeen returns repeatedly on his day, Africa Day, with a clear demand: 'You need to ask yourself whether by your action or inaction you are part of the problem or part of the solution. Happy Africa Day!'

'Speaking Truth to Power' is a good book for those who want a broad-spanning look into the mind of a true Pan-African leader. For those who read for enlightenment, find a copy of the book and turn on the light. For those with differing views, grow more committed in your stance only after giving Dr Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem your time and your ear. The man who simply said 'Don’t agonise! Organise!' becomes clearer through the compilation.

A copy of 'Speaking Truth to Power' is available at the National Library in Gikondo, Rwanda, but you may also find this Pambazuka Press book at the Librairie Ikirezi in Kigali, Storymoja in Nairobi, Fountain Publishers in Kampala, A Novel Idea in Dar es Salaam or online at the Pambazuka Press website. Pambazuka Press, dubbed the progressive pan-African publisher, disseminates analysis and debate on the struggle for freedom and justice in Africa through the voices of the peoples of Africa and global South.



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* Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem's 'Speaking Truth to Power: Selected Pan-African Postcards' is available now from Pambazuka Press.
* Amir Demeke is an international correspondent with Black Power Media ('Nothing more, nothing less'), an independent media group that centres on the experiences and liberation of African people.
* This review was originally published by Black Power Media.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

Revisiting tributes to Tajudeen

2010-05-26

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/Tajudeen/64737

With 25 May 2010 marking the first year of Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem's passing, the Pambazuka News team would like to draw our readers' attention to the wave of tributes we received in the wake of his tragic accident. These tributes feature as comments on an article entitled 'Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem: a giant is lost on African Liberation Day', as well as responses to Tajudeen's final Pan-African Postcard, 'City beautification is destroying livelihoods'.

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* Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem's 'Speaking Truth to Power: Selected Pan-African Postcards' is available now from Pambazuka Press.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

Happy Africa Day!

Akwasi Aidoo

2010-05-26

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/Tajudeen/64738

Some say "African Unity Day"
Some, just "Africa day"
Whatever your choice,
here's to a freer, safer
united Africa of our dreams!

And, let's re-member
our dear Taju. The broda who chose
this day. He spoke words with spirits
that grew and stayed longer
than the baobab, inflamed our passion
for this land, spoke truth to power,
unveiled leaders who are dealers
in dream-trade, made history.

The broda who said NO
when a fake yes was a sure path
to our woes, wane and wail…
Here's another, to Taju!
_
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* Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem's 'Speaking Truth to Power: Selected Pan-African Postcards' is available now from Pambazuka Press.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

Banking on Africa's diaspora: Institutionalising finance

Sanou Mbaye

2010-05-27

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/64749

cc guuleedHome-bound money transfers from the African diaspora in Europe and the US are increasing in terms of their developmental contribution to African economies, writes Sanou Mbaye. Mbaye affirms 'the social, economic and financial importance of migrant remittances in recipient countries' and calls for a more advanced facilitation of money transfers.

Although locked out of borrowings on capital markets for most of the past five decades, African countries have been spared the twin woes of financial turmoil and economic downturn that have been besetting most countries of the world since 2008.

Throughout the 1980s and the 1990s these countries went through drastic structural adjustments imposed by the Bretton Woods institutions and their Western mentors. Official development assistance (ODA) has been their sole long-term source of financing. Worse, the development model spearheaded by these institutions, which was based on producing and trading natural resources without any further domestic processing whatsoever, was doomed. This situation, however, is currently changing. Several African countries have received ratings from credit agencies that opened up world financial centres to them. In some cases, these ratings have proved higher or equivalent to those of countries such as Turkey or Argentina. Stock exchanges are being established across the continent.

Furthermore, the economic assertiveness of countries such as China, India and Brazil has provided a platform for increased exports and the inception of a model of cooperation based on trade, investments and technology transfer rather than 'aid'. For China alone, trade with Africa increased from US$10 billion in 2000 to US$107 billion in 2008, and billions of dollars are being invested in sectors such as oil production, mining, transportation, electricity production and transmission, telecommunications and other infrastructure projects.

The combination and convergence of these developments have drastically improved the macro-economic framework of African countries. Many factors have contributed to fuel this upturn. First, there is the appreciation of commodity prices fuelled by demand from emerging markets. Another lever of economic growth relates to the rural exodus and the urbanisation that stemmed from it, giving birth to a dynamic informal sector. Improved governance, an increase in food production, inter-regional trade, debt cancellation, better use of ODA funds, and thriving telecommunications and housing markets are among the other engines driving economic growth in the region.

But migrant transfers from the African diaspora stand out as the most significant contributing factor to economic growth in the region. A study commissioned by the Rome-based International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) indicates that more than 30 million individuals living outside their countries of origin are contributing every year more than US$40 billion in remittances to their families and communities back home in Africa. For sub-Saharan African countries, migrant remittances increased from US$3.1 billion in 1995 to US$18.5 billion in 2007, according to the World Bank, representing between 9 per cent to 24 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) and 80 per cent to 750 per cent of ODA. This underscores the social, economic and financial importance of migrant remittances in recipient countries, the migrants representing, de facto, their first fund providers.

In the remittances market, migrant behaviour is essentially dictated by the regulatory environment, the quality of products and services offered by banks, money transfer companies (MTC), micro-finance institutions (MFI) and informal operators in relation to speed of service, collection times, cost, security, coverage and accessibility of network. In this respect, there are three different strategies in place in Africa. The anglophone strategy is focused on freeing up the market by inciting competition, relaxing regulatory constraints for non-bank operators, offering financial incentives, encouraging the development of technical and financial innovations and stimulating collaboration among market players. This approach, adopted also by Italy, contributes to reducing costs, removing barriers to free competition and generating an increase in the overall volume of funds for beneficiaries.

The Hispanic approach emphasises scaling up the involvement in banking of migrants, proposing a range of banking services available in both the country of origin and the host country, developing products of specific interest to the migrant and charging as low a commission as possible on foreign transfers. This approach, widely developed by Morocco and the Portuguese-speaking world, is epitomised by a policy of zero commission initiated by the partnership between the Spanish bank Santander and its Moroccan counterpart Attijariwafa Bank, which remains the best international reference.

The francophone approach works on two brands of monopoly. The first is enjoyed by money transfer companies such as Western Union, which controls up to 90 per cent of the total formal transfer volume within the franc zone. Western Union is characterised by the cost of the money-transfer fees it charges, which are as high as 25 per cent on transfers to African countries compared to an average world benchmark of 5 per cent. It has required that most African countries sign exclusivity agreements that prevent foreign exchange bureaux, post offices and micro-finance institutions from carrying out money transfers and expanding their network.

The second overwhelming dominating factor in the franc zone is exercised in the banking sector at two levels. First, there is the right of veto granted to France within the board of directors of the two central banks of the franc zone - the Banque Centrale des Etats de l'Afrique de l'Ouest (BCEAO) and the Banque des Etats de l'Afrique Central (BEAC). Second, two French commercial banks, BNP-Paribas and Société Générale, exercise a quasi-monopoly on the dictation of lending programmes. Their main activities are centred on the short-term financing of trade and consumption, catering to the needs of their customers, especially governments, public and private companies and the elite. So far, all other banks operating in the area have adopted the same practice, instead of enhancing competition by lowering costs. Although realising handsome profits from their trade and constantly running a surplus of liquidities, these banks have contributed little to the productive investments desperately needed by these countries. This explains the high level of the un-banked population and the local entrepreneurs' lack of access to financial services. The less the market is subject to concurrence, the less the benefiting households are 'bankarised', and the more these transfers transit through informal channels. As a rule, it has been observed that the volume of informal transfers is inversely proportional to the level of 'bankarisation' of benefiting households.

In these times of financial turmoil, workers' remittances are being recognised for their contribution to the economic health of the region, as well as for their vital importance to recipients. For obvious historical and linguistic reasons, France remains the main host country for migrants from its former colonies, including the Comoros and Madagascar. Notwithstanding the increasing importance of new corridors from Italy, Spain and the United States, in absolute terms the largest share of remittances still originates from France.

There is a real need for the establishment of a medium- and long-term financing institution for leveraging the development impact of migrant remittances in converting these funds into medium- and long-term productive investments generating added value, wealth, jobs, economic growth and development. It will meet the needs of the diaspora, benefiting not just households but the states themselves, in terms of access to banking services, mortgages and productive investments, insurance products, co-development, pension plans, technical assistance and modernisation of the informal sector. It will enable competition, and restructure and fructify migrant savings. It will also contribute to the creation of hundreds of thousands of jobs in Africa, Europe and the United States in this age of economic and financial difficulty.

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* Sanou Mbaye is a Senegalese economist and former member of the African Development Bank senior management team.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

Canada and the DR Congo conflict: A responsibility to atone

Gerald Caplan

2010-05-27

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/64750

cc United Nations PhotoBefore Canada considers sending troops to the UN’s military mission in the DRC, it should first engage in serious debate about its international role and ‘the usefulness of a serious Canadian military presence’, argues Gerald Caplan. ‘With a disturbing presence of Western – including Canadian – resource giants and a history of “white” interference, social responsibility is an essential part of the discussion that must happen before any decision is made to dispatch troops to another conflict zone,’ Caplan writes.

The role of the Canadian military has undergone a sharp shift from tradition without corresponding debate and justification for the change – a troubling reality as Canada now faces potential military participation in the UN-led mission in Congo, writes Gerald Caplan. The conflict in Congo presents a complex challenge not only militarily but also morally. With a disturbing presence of Western – including Canadian – resource giants and a history of ‘white’ interference, social responsibility is an essential part of the discussion that must happen before any decision is made to dispatch troops to another conflict zone.

Just as Jean Chrétien and then Stephen Harper shipped Canadian troops to Afghanistan with no debate or rationale beyond pleasing Washington, so we can now heedlessly take the plunge into the Congo. But that would simply be to repeat the Afghanistan error. It's not that I oppose the UN request for Canadian troops to join the military United Nations Organization Mission in DR Congo (MONUC). In fact, I'm quite ambivalent.

What I am certain of is that it shouldn't be done without a serious debate about Canada's international role in general and in particular the usefulness of a serious Canadian military presence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Liberal Senator Roméo Dallaire and New Democratic Party MP Paul Dewar have made a constructive beginning with a thoughtful argument for intervention. But one newspaper column does not a debate make.

In fact, we need two separate conversations. The DRC's the second; the first is larger. It's been a long time since Canada's place in the world was scorned and ridiculed as much as it is today by non-partisan Canadians with established international reputations.

Here's Louise Arbour, straight-talking jurist and human rights and peace advocate:

‘Is Canada punching below its weight? Is it punching at all? Ottawa is largely absent on the international scene. It's very difficult to capture any kind of message, position or form of engagement these days ... It mattered [once] what Canada thought. On issues of justice and ethics, it mattered what the Canadian position was. There was a sense that you would get an honest well-thought-out approach. Not just a raw pursuit of ideological or national interest.’

Or Robert Fowler, who served as foreign policy adviser to generations of Canadian prime ministers. Even though Harper’s Conservative government helped bring about his release from his Al Qaeda kidnappers, Mr Fowler felt impelled to tell the recent Liberal Party policy conference of the ‘wanton squandering of Canada's reputation’ as a respected voice in the world.

He went on:

Domestic political posturing ‘by politicians of every stripe in Canada as they compete to corner the “ethnic vote” [ has led to] a small-minded, mean-spirited, me-first, little-Canada, whatever-the-Americans-want foreign policy. The scramble to lock up the Jewish vote [has led the Harper government to] sell out our widely admired and long-established reputation for fairness and justice in the Middle East in particular, for the cause of just settlement for the Palestinian people.’

It must be killing Jason Kenney, the prime minister's zealous machete man and minister of citizenship, immigration and multiculturalism, that he can't just bury Ms Arbour and Mr Fowler by slandering them as anti-Semites. But even Mr Kenney knows it won't wash. The need for a public discussion of Canada's role in the world is a national priority.

So should Canada jump into the Congo mess? Maybe. But it surely needs a hard look. Already those who know little about either Afghanistan or Congo are weighing in: we must not jump from the quagmire of one into the quagmire of the other. But Congo is not Afghanistan, and its plight, while appalling, is of an entirely different nature, with entirely different causes. And that's the first critical task – to understand who's been responsible for Congo's deplorable state.

Congo in fact was not the heart of darkness until rich white interests made it so. The title of Joseph Conrad's iconic 1902 novel actually referred not to the Congolese but to the white men who invaded to plunder the country and terrorise and slaughter its citizens.

For this has been the role of most whites in Congo for the past 125 years: from King Leopold of Belgium's elimination of 10 million of the area's 20 million inhabitants, to the murder by the Belgians of the country's first elected president (just beating the Americans to the punch), to the West's multi-billion dollar support for the tyrannical kleptomaniac President Mobutu Sese Seko, to the French army's release into Congo of armed, unrepentant leaders of the Rwandan genocide, to the depredations of most of the foreign mining companies who have bribed their way into the country.

Congo is the perfect example of Africa's tragic ‘resource curse’, as Western corporations (Canadian mining companies very much included), backed by their governments, do whatever is necessary, literally, to extract its precious metals. This largely unregulated struggle for minerals is at the heart of the country's brutal wars. It's a perfect storm of betrayal for the Congolese people: governments like Canada's protect mining companies that collaborate with venal Congolese elites in looting and hollowing out the country, if necessary colluding with raping, murderous militias to do so.

So the first key truth to recognise is that the West, including Canada, doesn't simply have a responsibility to protect the citizens of Congo. It has a responsibility to atone. We have a huge debt to pay to the Congolese people. If we join MONUC, it should be not as great humanitarians marching off to save the poor Congolese. It's as partial repayment for our contribution to Congolese suffering.

At this very moment, Canadian mining companies have perhaps US$5 billion of assets in Congo. But libel chill is alive and well in Canada. Don't question how these companies operate in the Congo, even though several UN reports have made nasty accusations. In fact, if you even try to ask you risk being sued by some of these companies, which – as University of British Columbia professor Philip Resnick has pointed out – are known to threaten legal action to keep nosy parkers out of their business.

The real question, then, is not our obligation, which is clear; it's our capacity to make a difference in Congo, which is a more complex matter that should not be oversimplified. This requires a careful assessment of our capabilities, of the situation there, the nature of the violence, the ability to contain the many insurgent gangs, the attitude of the government, the role of civil society, the role of neighbouring countries, the problems with the Congolese army and all the other obvious issues that must be weighed before committing our troops.

Luckily, Canada is choc-a-bloc with experts in the field, NGOs that have dedicated decades to the Sisyphean task of improving the lives of Congo's citizens. A sensible government given to transparency would open the discussion before making an irrevocable decision either way.

PS: I inadvertently did a disservice to HEAL hospital in eastern Congo in my recent column on the governor-general's visit there. I should have emphasised that it is among the very best hospitals in the entire country, its all-Congolese staff is remarkably dedicated, and it does an essential job in treating the endless victims of atrocious wounds, especially women. My point was to make sure that Michaëlle Jean and her party had no illusions that HEAL is in any way typical of health care in Congo, especially in the wretchedly neglected public sector.

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* This article first appeared in The Globe and Mail.
* Gerald Caplan is a Canadian academic and a public policy analyst and commentator.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

World Cup 2010: ANC scores own goal

Nicholas Tucker

2010-05-27

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/64744

cc DanieVDMSouth Africa’s ANC has spent hundreds of billions of rand in preparation for the World Cup, writes Nicholas Tucker, with ‘almost none of it’ improving the lives of the millions of citizens struggling with unemployment, reduced wages, poor housing, lowered education outcomes and failing health systems. Will ‘the hard-pressed working class of this country realise how they have been short-changed by the ruling party’, asks Tucker, and if so, how will they ‘express their displeasure'? It ‘may well be too late’ for the ANC ‘to do anything other than to apply force in quelling the rising dissent’, Tucker warns.

June 2010 – the year we witness the glorious bursting forth from the chrysalis of the ‘democratic state’ the ravenous beast of the security-centric state. A one kilometre Ring of Steel to be erected around each and every stadium where FIFA fixtures are to be played, meaning that any ‘unpatriotic citizens’ who hope to use the hundreds of international media networks to highlight their conditions of poverty will be dealt with in the same manner that exactly 34 years ago the apartheid regime dealt with black people on 16 June 1976.

R28 billion spent in the past two years to upgrade of stadiums, airports, another R16 billion to revamp and widen highways, R35 billion for Gautrain, and of course the undisclosed R100s of millions to the Local Organising Committee, certainly with such hefty expenditure to entertain the world at the expense of the poor, the ANC (African National Congress) cannot take any chances that the ‘chattering masses’ will behave themselves. All their detailed planning and event co-ordination strategies of an event of this magnitude, no doubt, gives them sleepless nights, for to visualise every contingent plan requisite under almost any perceived scenario takes both insight – which they clearly do not have – and billions of rand which have yet to be paid for in blood on the backs of the black working class over the next generation.

So, exactly why should there be discontent on the eve of a ‘world-class extravaganza’? Well to start with, the empty campaign promise of 1994, 1999, 2004 and again 2009 of ‘…a better life for all…’, in the face of the reality of rising unemployment, reduced wages, growing squatter camps, lowered education outcomes and failing health systems. Given the 15-year tenure of the ANC as a democratically elected government, given their near-perfect track record of non-delivery, given the extent of expenditure running into literally hundreds of billions of rand in preparation for the World Cup with almost none of it qualitatively changing the lives of millions of citizens, the potential for rebellion and social dissent amongst those ‘ unpatriotic’ citizens can very easily spell disaster for the best laid plans of mice and men.

What contingency plan could the ANC possibly put in place to mitigate the righteous indignation and protestations of a people denied ‘bread, peace, security’? Well, that’s easy – thousands of police and soldiers and of course the ‘old’ Act No. 74 of the Internal Security Act of 1982 been substituted with the ‘new improved’ Protection of Constitutional Democracy Against Terrorist and Related Activities Bill of 2003 that could see the banning of all public gatherings and protests – and that includes the potential banning of all June 16 commemoration services.

The ANC faces an intractable dilemma having squandered vast sums of money in order to beautify infrastructure ‘suitable’ for a handful of transient tourists in order to proudly proclaim our civility and ability to savour the finer things in life, thus revealing their oafish natures and their shrink-wrapped ability to match the consumptive patterns of western culture so evident and readily exportable from the Imperialist countries of the ‘ North’, to the deliberately underdeveloped countries of Africa and in general the ‘ South’ . Now they have to bluster and bully the populace into believing that what they did was for the common good. A devastatingly risky gamble, taken on the assumption that their ‘ historical popularity’ would carry them through yet again, the same dwindling popularity that has consistently returned them to power over and over again in the past 15 years, yet unwittingly squandering the last vestige of ‘credibility’ it had in its ‘goodwill coffers’ in the hope that such a gamble could pull off an amazing ‘smoke and mirrors’ event, bamboozling citizens with non-delivery while alleging lack of resources, yet pulling off a successful World Cup, at huge expense to adulating bourgeois audiences to whom South Africa will be deeply indebted post-2010.

The staggeringly disproportionate expenditure used to create ‘world-class facilities’, when compared against the allocated budgets for social delivery programmes boggles the mind. Will the hard-pressed working class of this country realise how they have been short-changed by the ruling party, and if they do realise it, what are the most likely courses of action that they would engage in to express their displeasure?

Clearly something of this magnitude cannot go unnoticed and surely millions of people will not merely shrug their shoulders and declare that that is life and wander on in their normal state of complacent oppression. How does one reconcile the fact that every second Municipal water treatment plant has ground to a halt as a result of poor maintenance and inadequate upgrades, triggering cholera outbreaks across the country? How does one reconcile the fact that the numerous hospitals across the country are desperately short of adequately trained staff and desperately short of sufficient medical supplies and equipment? How does one reconcile the fact that millions of children engage in an educational system that is largely dysfunctional? How does one reconcile the fact that millions of children attend school on a daily basis hungry and tired? How does one reconcile the fact that some 28 million of our people live in the worst kind of squatter conditions imaginable? How does one reconcile the fact that some 28 million of our people do not have access to clean drinking water? How does one reconcile the fact that some 19 million of our people are still unemployed when we are fed the lie that our economy is stable and will weather the storms of the now evident global economic depression?

We consistently hear the ANC using the term ‘…our young democracy’, purely in reference to voting and elections, as if the notion of democracy has absolutely nothing to do with the resolution of hunger, resolution of all homelessness, resolution of faulty education, resolution of landlessness, resolution of unemployment, etc.

It appears that the ANC through its rapacious expropriation of the wealth of this country from the workers in order to benefit the few elite has by its own actions set in motion a series of events that do not bode well for the outcome of the 2010 World Cup. The ANC does not need clever ‘first world’ risk analysis strategies and complex disaster management scenarios to be painted for them in order for them to understand or forestall the inevitable consequences of an empty stomach.

Unfortunately, for its card-carrying membership, there is no ‘battle for the soul of the ANC’ – its soul is already owned lock stock and barrel by the IMF and World Bank overlords and they do not have the requisite authority to deliver on their ‘promise’ in order to negate those very likely consequences and outcomes of popular dissent and the rising tide of rebellion. In essence they have scored an ‘own goal’ and as such proudly argue that at least they have scored one goal in this game of life.

We expect to hear the standard defence line normally advanced by the ANC government and its sycophants in the face of such spontaneous uprisings, ‘…that they are the work of a third force, who are intent on destroying our fragile democracy’. We may even see the phrase ‘ third force’ been replaced with the word ‘ terrorist’, yet surely, the answer must be less ‘ conspiratorial’ and lie somewhere in the area of the ‘ accepted responsibility’ of a democratically elected government to ensure the adequate delivery of basic housing in order to negate the potential damage and destruction to their precious ‘world-class’ infrastructure put in place for 2010.

In order to mitigate against theft from and robbery of tourists, you do not need to deploy 41,000 more police and 20,000 soldiers, just create more jobs for the ordinary citizen. It is no credit to the government as it finds itself in a situation where it has to quell angry dissent of its own citizens – using revised laws originally created by the apartheid machine – citizens who simply demand what is due to them in the context of their understanding of democracy.

In a nutshell the ANC is an event management team put together for the sole purpose of expediting the will of global capitalism, yet, foolishly have come to believe that their authority and function transcends the rather narrow boundaries prescribed by the dictates of both the World Bank and the IMF and the specific requirements of their global economic strategies, and much like the former regime, it could well be the defining month wherein the dissent you seek to suppress, will swamp the embankments of your sophistry.

Given the above ‘ scenarios’, what the ANC should be focusing on is how best to ride out the gathering storm. But then again, it knows as well as we do, that it may well be too late to do anything other than to apply force in quelling the rising dissent.

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* On the 16 June 2010 the Socialist Party of Azania is holding a Commemorative Rally at Regina Mundi, Soweto at 10am. Please see the invitation [PDF] for more details, or call Nicholas Tucker on 0823619820.
* Nicholas Tucker is publicity secretary of the Socialist Party of Azania.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

Optimistic about realising a better Africa

Horace Campbell

2010-05-27

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/panafrican/64762

Between 22–25 May 2010, an international centenary colloquium was held in Ghana to reflect on the ‘Contemporary Relevance of Kwame Nkrumah’s contribution to Pan-Africanism and internationalism’. Jointly sponsored by the Kwame Nkrumah Planning Committee of the government of Ghana (under Chairperson Professor Akilagpa Sawyerr) and the African Union, there was a series of events to engage with the ideas and practices of Kwame Nkrumah.

The Nkrumah Planning Committee brought together some renowned writers, intellectuals and cultural artists to celebrate Nkrumah. In the scholarly papers presented, the strengths and humanist foresights of Nkrumah stood out against the background of the present ‘leadership in Africa’. Nkrumah one of the leaders of the independence movement in Africa and a pre-eminent Pan-African thinker and organiser was born on 21 September 1909. This was a celebration of the one-hundredth year of his birth, and the celebrations started in September 2009. The decision by the African Union and the government of Ghana to celebrate Nkrumah’s life and work, and to reflect on the continuing importance of the ideas of Pan-African liberation helped bring to the fore, among other things, the growing influence of Pan-African ideas among large sections of the African youth. Numerous speakers addressed the vision of Nkrumah and called on the youth to carry forward the vision into the 21st century.

The centenary committee had been going around the country of Ghana for months meeting with youth groups, students and community groups. According to the testimony of Akilagpa Sawyerr, everywhere they went in the country, the youths were hungry for information on the life and work of Nkrumah. After nearly forty years of the denigration of Nkrumah by the elements within and outside Ghana, the moment demanded the ideas of Nkrumah, and the powers that be could no longer hide from the power of the ideas of people’s freedom and African Unity.

The colloquium brought together scholars and activists from all over the world. Issa Shivji, the Mwalimu Nyerere Chair and Professor of Pan-African studies at the University of Dar es Salaam reflected on the current thirst for information on radical Pan-Africanism from the youth. In his presentation, Shivji recalled the reality that five years ago, there was little interest in the ideas of Nyerere and Nkrumah but now there was such a demand that Pan-Africanism is now being taught from Dar Es Salaam to Dakar and from Ghana to Nigeria.

In their presentations, both Issa Shivji and Ama Biney zeroed in on the contemporary crisis of capitalism and the urgency for African peoples to unite and draw lessons from earlier organising efforts. Former heads of governments such as Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia and current leaders such as the President of Ghana and the President of Senegal all spoke glowingly of the contribution of Nkrumah to the ideas of Pan-Africanism. The radical tone of the speech of President Wade of Senegal was a reflection of the insight of Issa Shivji that the spirit of Pan-Africanism was now so strong among the people that the politicians had to make radical statements on Pan-Africanism, even when they do not implement Pan-African policies.

This statement on the differences between statements and the practices of governments was made throughout the colloquium by youths who challenged the government and leaders of Ghana to make the ideas and books of Kwame Nkrumah more available. A youth summit that was held on the first day of the colloquium brought together youths from different parts of the continent, with one of the largest youth delegation comprising of a group that was brought by President Wade. Abdul Karim Hakih, secretary general of the All African Students Union, made a passionate plea for the governments and the African Union to redouble the efforts to ensure that the books and ideas of Kwame Nkrumah were made available to the present younger generation.

This plea was again made in the communiqué from the youth summit, which was presented to the deputy chairperson of the African Union Commission, Erastus Mwencha, at the close of the colloquium. In the resolution of the youth summit, there was a forthright call for the youth to form networks and coalitions to embark on sustained campaigns to build African unity while moving towards an African Union government. The resolutions of the youth summit stated inter alia that:

- A union government as a vehicle for the socio-political and economic development of the continent is imperative and long overdue and therefore we want it now
-Practical step be taken by governments to develop strategies and programs to realise a Union government now
- As a matter of urgency countries must implement the numerous charters that have been signed especially the African Youth Charter
- Emphasis must be placed on strengthening the role of existing institutions and structures to fulfill the core mandates and
- A clear strategy on the way forward and timelines for the continental government be outlined and put forward before 2015 by the AU assembly.

BETWEEN THE CEREMONIAL AND ENGAGEMENT WITH THE PEOPLE

On Monday 24 May, the headline of one of the main newspapers in Ghana screamed, ‘Nkrumah Colloquium opens with pomp and ceremony’. This designation by the newspapers could not bring out the intensity of the discussions on the questions of health, peace, education and the challenges of lifting the quality of life of the people. Former President Kenneth Kaunda sang the song ‘Forward Ever, Backward Never’, and declared that the most important tribute to Nkrumah would be a dedicated fight to rid the continent of HIV/ AIDS. Many other presenters brought forward challenging issues such as global warming, the oppression of women and the contemporary drag on political mobilisation by religious fundamentalists.

As a participant in this international colloquium, this writer was struck by the enthusiasm of the youth and their eagerness to advance the agenda of the 1958 All African Peoples Conference. Despite the clear timeline of the Resolution of the Youth, Yao Graham in his paper on the present scramble for Africa pointed to the lack of seriousness on the part of the present leaders of the states of Africa. Graham detailed the contradictions between the avowed goal of moving towards a United Africa and the exiting regional blocs and their individual member states’ economic partnership agreements with foreign countries that thwart effort towards continental unity and freedom. Drawing attention to the present rush of governments from Turkey to Brazil and from China and Russia to instigate partnership agreements with Africa, Graham specifically outlined how partnership agreements with entities such as the European Union constituted a hindrance to the goal of African Unity.

The colloquium was organised around themes such as ‘the ideas and vision of Kwame Nkrumah’, the ‘institutions and structures’ that were created for African liberation and unity, ‘the rights of women and social issues’, ‘popular expressions’, ‘political and economic development’, and ‘Africa Unity and beyond’. In the main, the papers were inspiring with the convergence of the energy of the youth with the insights of veterans who had been together with Nkrumah. There were moving moments such as the introduction of one woman who had been shot and paralysed during one of the many attempts on the life of Kwame Nkrumah. Another elder recollected her place as one of the female member of parliament who was arrested at the time of the military coup recalled in the corridor to all who would listen the fact that the Ghanaian bourgeoisie wanted to bury Nkrumah even before he had physically expired.

This colloquium demonstrated the fact that for many of those who struggled for independence, the ideas of Nkrumah could never die. There were contemporaries of Nkrumah from the period of the independence struggle who reminded the youths that the achievements of Nkrumah belonged equally to the organised people of Ghana who had been the backbone of the struggle for independence. These veterans answered the youths who were asking what to do. They reminded these young aspirants that the generation of the anti-colonial struggle never asked permission to engage in the fight for freedom. The issues were burning then and are burning now.

Many of the presenters reminded those attending the colloquium not only of the many efforts to kill Nkrumah but also of the more successful efforts among western and local intelligentsia to distort the record of Nkrumah and what he stood for. Older trade unionists recounted the numerous incidents of intense labour struggles in the urban and rural area, with roots in earlier peasant and worker protests in the 1920s and the depressions of the 1930s. These presenters contextualised Nkrumah in order to provide a clear profile of the social groups involved in the independence struggles.

Bience Gawanas, commissioner for social affairs of the African Union brought her own personal story from one of the liberation movements in Southern Africa to affirm the importance of Nkrumah beyond Ghana. She recounted the fact that numerous freedom fighters in Guinea, Zambia, Angola, as well as from the numerous freedom parties from Southern Africa had found a home in Ghana.

The African Cultural Renaissance Campaign was also launched at this colloquium. The African Cultural Renaissance Charter of the African Union replaced the Cultural Charter for Africa adopted by the Organization of African Unity in 1976, and states clearly inter alia that, the objective of the charter was to ‘assert the dignity of the African men and women as well as the popular institutions of their culture.’

Both Kenneth Kaunda (former President of Zambia and Dudley Thompson (of Jamaica) recounted their work with Nkrumah and called on the youths to carry forward the work of African Unity. Dudley Thompson articulated a socialist base for African Unity. Dudley Thompson, celebrating his age of 93 years, reminded those present that he was in London in 1945 when Kwame Nkrumah brought the famous letter of introduction to George Padmore from C.L.R. James. Dudley Thompson, an attorney from Jamaica and formerly one of the defenders of Jomo Kenyatta, recounted the activism of the generation of Azikiwe, Kenyatta, Nyerere and those who had worked with Dubois and Nkrumah at the 5th Pan-African Congress. Dudley Thompson, currently president of the World African Diaspora Union (WADU), not only underlined the socialist content of African Unity but also reminded the Ghanaian participants of the role of the African Diaspora in the political life and work of Nkrumah. Thompson made a passionate plea for the regularisation of the citizenship status of African Diaspora community residents in Ghana.

Given the fact that this colloquium was organised by the government of Ghana and the African Union, one could not escape the ceremonial aspects of the programme and the ‘pomp’ communicated to those outside the conference. These state oriented aspects of the colloquium included the opening rituals with President John Atta Mills and the statements from President Wade and the commissioner for the African Union, Mr Erastus Mwencha.

These ceremonial rituals were again carried out on the morning of 25 May, African Liberation Day, when the government of Ghana raised the national flag and laid a wreath at the resting place of Kwame Nkrumah. The political leadership of Ghana was recognising the contribution of Kwame Nkrumah to the liberation of Ghana and of Africa. This was a public holiday in Ghana; this celebration of Nkrumah and African Liberation was only one indication of the massive efforts to restore the ideas of Pan-African liberation.

The presence of numerous progressive activists from all across Africa and beyond ensured that the ceremonial and state involvement did not dominate the celebration. Merika Sherwood read out various quotations from Nkrumah and reminded the audience of the unfinished tasks inside and outside of Ghana. Fatima Barak from Morocco recounted the years when the Casablanca Group of the African progressive formation worked with Nkrumah to push forward the ideas of independence. She reminded the audience that there was a time when Morocco stood within the ranks of those who were for freedom. She vowed that there was a Pan-Africanist constituency in Morocco working to bring Morocco back into the ranks of the progressive Pan African bloc. Reminding the audience that there were still parts of Africa occupied by Spain, (the enclaves of Keuta and Merida) she was one of the few who brought up the question of the outstanding issue of the independence of Western Sahara.

Because most of the present governments in Africa are opposed to the liberation of the peoples and the union of the peoples of Africa, the detractors of African Union do not refer to the sacrifices of the peoples of Africa for freedom. This opposition to liberation takes the form of the silences over the outstanding colonial enclaves, such as those in the Comoros and Western Sahara. In this work to denigrate Africa, these external forces have plenty of assistance from some of the present leaders of Africa. In fact in the closing speech, the Vice President of Ghana spent considerable time refuting the claim of some in Ghana who believed that the celebration of the life and work of Nkrumah was a waste of the money of the people of Ghana. The detractors who are opposed to the ideas of Nkrumah are from the same orientation as those who maintained during the time of Nkrumah that supporting the African liberation struggle was a waste of money.

On the last day of the colloquium I asked Professor Shivji what his impression was. He said some of the questions and comments from the youths reflected the tremendous damage done by the neoliberal propaganda in Africa. He was however, very encouraged by the new burst of energy. His watchword was that the progressives should be vigilant, organise and work for the building of socialism in Africa.

In the meantime, news came of the results of the elections in Ethiopia. The re-election of Meles Zenawi reminded us of many of those who were previously in the ranks of the liberation struggles but now stand as an obstacle to the freedom and dignity of the peoples of Africa. Despite such impediments as reflected in leaders such as Zenawi, the kind of energy and inspiration exuded by the celebration of the life and ideals of Kwame Nkrumah make us optimistic about the realisation of a better Africa by the younger generation. One speaker summed up this energy by reminding those present that, ‘Our political independence could not be procured without the need for Africa to unite. Today, let us rededicate ourselves to his (Nkrumah’s) ideals. Indeed this will be a true and lasting memory.’

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* Horace Campbell is a peace activist who is working to realise the dream of the late Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem of building African unity by 2015.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

Homophobia divides, working class solidarity unites

SAMWU

2010-05-26

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/64740

News has been received that a court in Blantyre has convicted Steven Monjeza and Tiwonge Chimbalanga for committing so-called “unnatural acts”. Steven and Tiwonge were arrested in December 2009 after celebrating their engagement and have been in jail ever since. They face up to 14 years in jail, even though the only ‘crime’ that they have committed is to admit to being partners.

Discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is not permitted under the South African Constitution, and South Africans should be immensely proud of this progressive tract.

However, it is not enough to simply be proud of a seminal document that helps to define the nature of our society. Our leaders here in SA, and elsewhere who support a tolerant and democratic continent must not only praise our Constitution, but share its wisdom, and promote and defend the universal rights that it enshrines.

With this in mind, we call upon the SADC countries and the African Union to disassociate themselves from the judgement that has been made in Malawi, and further to urge the immediate release of the two individuals concerned, for all charges to be dropped, and for a complete review of colonial homophobic legislation. We also call for an end to police and media harassment of minorities that serves no purpose but to encourage division and misery. This is the very least that should be done at this time.

Homosexuality exists in all of our societies. It is a reality, however difficult it is for some to accept this simple fact. Incarcerating innocent couples who just happen to be of the same sex serves no purpose other than to feed the cancer of discrimination.

We pledge our support to the campaign initiated by Section 27, a new organisation established to protect basic human rights, and we urge all Unions and Campaign groups to do likewise. Let’s make it clear that repressing sections of our community because of their sexual orientation is not acceptable, and that we refuse to be silenced and divided by prejudice and homophobia. Let’s remember: An injury to one is an injury to all! Free Steven and Tiwonge now!

For further comment contact Steve Faulkner, SAMWU’s International and Equality Officer on 0828175455
Issued by;
Tahir Sema.
South African Municipal Workers’ Union of COSATU.
National Spokesperson.
tahir.sema@samwu.org.zaThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Office: 011-331 0333.
Cell: 0829403403.

On meeting Frederik Van Zyl Slabbert

Isabella Matambanadzo

2010-05-25

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/obituary/64735

It was November of 2004. I was late and in a panic. The tarmac at Johannesburg’s O.R. Tambo international airport was soaked because of foul weather and our flight was backed up in the landing queue. Immigration was a nightmare. 'Visa? How long are you staying? Where are you staying? What are you here for? How much money do you have? You must leave in 14 days!' Rubber-stamp thud like a baton stick on and run.

Never one to miss a thing, he nabbed me as I walked stealthily into the room thinking I could sneak in unnoticed. Thud. Thud. Thud. The last drops of rain from my umbrella fell on the carpet. 'Welcome Bella. Take a seat,' or something convivial like that. During the meeting’s tea-break he headed towards me. I was still cowering in my pity corner as I thought he was the sort of man to hand out a delayed form of discipline. I was certain I was going to get a lecture on meeting etiquette. But not Van Zyl. His warm hand outstretched, he gave me a greeting that will go down as one of the warmest and sincerest I have ever had.

I hope I never forget the comfort of that firm grip. I would later learn it belonged to an ace rugby player, someone who could have taken the game professionally, but luckily for me, chose a different path. With that handshake came the biggest smile, reaching all the way to his eyes, and a twinkling out of them.

He was wearing a white and brown cotton shirt of the pan-African tradition, the neat fabric of the hemline of the sleeves just grazing his rough elbows. The idea stuck. Since then my male friends get one regularly from me.

Van Zyl was generous of spirit. My country was going through difficult times. 'It’s going to get worse before it gets better. But don’t doubt it. It will definitely get better. Zimbabwe will be the amazing country it should be', he said with such prescient confidence, I frankly thought some of his nuts and bolts were coming undone.

In the years to follow, he would be a constant source of encouragement, a kind man, of the way your maternal grandmother is when you are having a hard time with something she knows you can accomplish. A phone call would come through to me every so often. 'I am just checking on you, no pressure,' his voice would boom, not with authoritarianism, but to give you a big boost. I could always tell there was a smile on the other side, trying to ease my pain.

He was a role model in autonomy, Van Zyl. If an institution or organisation did not work for him, he wasn’t afraid to step out of it, and create something of his own. He believed in human agency and worked tirelessly for it. He would craft a niche, find a place where his exuberance and intellect could always thrive, and where his ideas would rapidly take shape. IDASA is a poignant example.

He tools were optimism and a positive spirit that all would turn out right. I never quite figured where his reserves of relentless hope came from when the rest of us were slipping into deep caves of distress and despair. Once he had my email address, the reading instructions followed. 'This might inspire you,' was the simple message.

Occasionally a text message would come through – 'Hang in there, don’t give up' – especially in 2006 when we were on trail for our belief in a society where the airwaves belong to all of us, not just a select few. The Radio Voice of the People case was arduous. Some friends chose to distance themselves from us because we were seen as 'too controversial … too confrontational'. Others spoke with their body language, or just became distant. Rather than play hide and seek, Van Zyl compiled a docket for me of case material on how South Africa ensured the devolution of the airwaves.

In the years that I was born, Dr Frederik Van Zyl Slabbert was already leader of the opposition in the South African parliament of mid-1975. A decade later he was working as far a field as Dakar, Senegal, paving the way for South Africa’s talks about a transition to a plural and democratic state.

'Slabbert gave me all his wisdom,' says Davie Malungisa, executive director of IDAZIM, a think tank that we set up as quickly as Slabbert has said the name. 'I think what Zimbabwe needs right now is an IDAZIM, an independent place for dialogue and capacity building to play the role that Idasa did during our own transition,' he’d said with a sweep of his hands. And that was another of his abundant gifts – ideas. They would spew from his mind with his characteristically burly lucidity.

Dr Frederik Van Zyl Slabbert’s death on 14 May is not only a loss to his family, his friends and the society of South Africa. It is a loss to those of us in Africa who, through his selfless and unpaid contribution, learned from him and keep alive our beliefs in the possibility of attaining open, tolerant, just and equitable societies in our lifetime. As the founding African board member for the Open Society Institute’s (OSI) southern Africa foundation, he brought to our soils Karl Popper’s philosophy and expanded the depth and breadth of the work of the Soros Foundation’s OSI footprint across the African continent.

And so, as we fly our personal flags at half-mast in honour of Van Zyl, we no doubt feel a deep personal loss. Our ache is dulled a little by the knowledge that bighearted as he was, Slabbert gave to our world his dues, and so much, much more.

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

Worth crying for?

Review of Kopano Matlwa's 'Spilt Milk'

Litheko Modisane

2010-05-25

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/books/64734

Kopano Matlwa’s second novel is about an uneasy reunion between two old flames, the black, successful principal of Sekolo sa Ditlhora (School of Excellence), Mohumagadi, and the white William ‘Bill’ Thomas, now a priest who has fallen on hard times. The equation of Mohumagadi to Oprah Winfrey’s school is immediately apparent.

William is given the task of presiding over the detention of four errant pupils for a period of six weeks. It turns out the children were caught showing each other their genitalia in the school bus. It is not an easy task as Bill has to face up to the little but shocking impertinences of the children, Mohumagadi’s open hostility and her stubborn memories of hers and Bill’s past. The narrative is largely an emotional rollercoaster for all involved, the adults who cannot resolve their issues and the little 10-year-olds who have to contend with their absent parents. Though young, the children mouth big words and use explicitly sexual concepts that are far removed from their young lives. Highly emotionally involved, and unbelievably intelligent, the children are regrettably a blight in a novel that appears rushed thanks to its erroneous editing and partially developed characters. One cannot help but wonder whether Matlwa allowed her second book to be published in the desperate attempt to satisfy her publishers’ opportunistic branding of her work in superlative terms, much like the fantastical children she portrays. Needless to say, this happens at the expense of the quality of her work.

The novel reads like an attempt at addressing the state of the South African nation at its sweet 16. But there is no sweetness at all in its imaginary of post-apartheid South Africa. The country comes across as a wasteland of displaced moral values and dishonesty; a betrayal of its founding imaginary of reconciliation, nation-building and non-racialism. Parents are no longer around for their children, only too happy to develop their careers and pursue hollow celebrity. Others simply instil a disdain for God in their children, creating a moral vacuum that is not good for growing minds.

Importantly, the narrative does not struggle to help the readers navigate their fingers towards the authorship of these failures, the new black middle class. Apparently, black people, chiefly represented by the protagonist Mohumagadi, are caught in a time-warp of anti-white-ism and are not prepared to forgive the past. Against this sorry state, the novel suggests that it is not wise to cry over ‘spilt milk’.

The motif of ‘spilt milk’ recurs in the encounters between the book's bitter protagonist, Mohumagadi, and her past in the form of Bill and any symbol of whiteness. In spite of the passing of 15 years since her abortive romance, she cannot bear the memory of her disappointment when the church fathers separated her from William. Even William does not escape her deep-seated hatred for white people when he happens at the school one morning, to begin the work of presiding over the children’s detention. But the consequences are not as pretty as the children who, having harvested liberal doses of Mohumagadi’s vision, also throw anti-white sentiments about. Poor, disgraced Bill is the first in line to taste the bitter taste of Mohumagadi’s poisoned chalice to the children.

In spite of her apparent progressiveness, Mohumagadi simply fits the bill of a fascist and atheist black matriarch who pollutes the minds of the precocious pupils. Her cultural consciousness finds resonance in the buildings, gardens and playgrounds of the school which, ostensibly, bear out her disdain for whites. The campus is bedecked with insignia of Africa’s historical memory and political consciousness. In this, the novel makes the gross error of lending to Africanist political and cultural thought, the function of a blanket anti-white attitude. In doing so, it adopts a seriously misplaced aesthetic choice and ideological course.

While the symbols conventionally stand for a worldview with a historical pedigree and enduring cultural and political value, the novel puts a spin on them – in it, they simply envelope the pathologies of the black middle class. As the bearers of pathologies, the black middle class simply has to spew its bile against agonistic and therefore, innocent whites who, the narrative implies, have either done their penance or are simply too flawed to be denied a sympathetic embrace. After all, 16 years is a long time; the world has moved on.

But at no point is Bill’s whiteness qualitatively ascribed to his past. He is simply Bill, a white priest who disgraced himself through sexual misdemeanours. Yet, his interaction with the children and Mohumagadi foregrounds the attitude of the latter in terms of her racial consciousness. Thus, the novel puts a racial tag on Mohumagadi's thoughts and actions, but effectively denies Bill the same. This allows it to pass a too-easy value judgment on black people and to absolve whites of their historical role in the past and of post-1994 social and political problems in South Africa. Perhaps the motif should not be spilt milk, but the inaccessible, copious amounts still carried in many buckets across South Africa’s farmlands. The issue at the end of the day is not bitterness in and of itself, but the enduring racialised contradictions of post-apartheid South Africa and the resentments it causes.

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* Kopano Matlwa's 'Spilt Milk' is published by Jacana Media (978-1770097919, 2010).
* Litheko Modisane is A.W. Mellon post-doctoral fellow in the Archive and Public Culture Research Initiative, University of Cape Town. He writes in a personal capacity.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

Austria deports African gay footballer

Heinz Leitner

2010-05-27

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/64756

I’d like to draw your attention as a white leftist man to an article about ‘Austria deports African gay footballer’ on LGBT Asylum News, London.

In memory of the death of Marcus Omofuma, who had been suffocated by adhesive blasters on the airplane in 1999, and other African asylum applicants whose human rights had been violated by my country: We’ll never forget and accept it, and continue in our fights.

Declare African Day a national holiday

Petition to the government of Kenya

Nation of Afreeka

2010-05-27

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/64743

We, the people of Africa;

Residing in the territory under the jurisdiction of the Government of Kenya (GOK),

Being citizens under the laws of Kenya and by extension members of the African Union (AU) of which the GOK is a signatory to all the statutes and declarations,
Recognising that social cohesion and identity are components of overall integration, which are as critical as any other,

Aware of the need for a people to share common institutions including cultures, commemorations and other institutions so as to bond as a people and as a nation,
Invoking the government’s commitment to the ideals, principles and objectives of the 2002 Constitutive Act of the AU and other continental agreements as stated elsewhere in this document,

Remembering resolution 13 of the first Conference of Independent African Heads of State and Government held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to ‘appoint the day of 25 May as African Liberation Day’,

Informed of the 10 African countries that have already realised this commitment in as far as this development is concerned,

Move this petition which demands that the powers that be, namely those executive and the legislative, move with expediency to fast track the unification of African people as expressed in the unity documents, and in particular to:

Establish henceforth the Date of May the 25Th, currently marked as the African Day on the AU calendar, as a national public holiday, and as an institution of African unity.

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* This petition was sent to us by Agwambo Odera who can be contacted by email: agwambo8@yahoo.co.uk.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

Somalia: Pirates or protectors?

Kwame Maseko

2010-05-27

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/64757

The Volunteer Coastguard of Somalia needs the support of all African countries for the unparalleled work they are doing.

We need organised effort to keep these foreign exploiters at bay. It's time for all Africans to put their differences aside and take action. Enough is enough with all the disinformation provided by mainstream news media.

The world belongs to all people not one group of people. Action now.

‘Mugabe and the White African’: An exercise in dangerous help

Allison Lobb

2010-05-27

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/64758

As a white Zimbabwean I was interested to read Blessing-Miles Tendi’s article on the Mugabe and the White African.

Whilst the film was perhaps one extreme, I felt his review was in someway propagating the other extreme!!

His comment ‘In the documentary the Freeth and Campbell families are distinctly white Europeans in Africa who claim to be white Africans based on their right to own land. Never are they captured speaking in any of the local languages.’ Indeed applies to the film but for 98% of the 40000 white farmers who have since lost their land this could not be further from the truth – they all spoke the local languages and their workers were treated fantastically well, clothed and fed etc.

And reality is that the film was attempting to highlight the biggest problem with land distribution – namely that the land was not given to the people who needed it, but to politicians who were the least entitled to it. I don’t think any of the white farmers at the time disputed that they needed to give up some of their land to the less well off. The problem was that the land went to politicians not to the ordinary black ‘poor’ person who had nothing – it should have been given to the farm workers themselves for example to let them start their own businesses.

The other point he fails to pick up on though is the reality that whilst the Freeths were ‘White Europeans’, there are a significant number white Zimbabweans (myself included) who ARE white Zimbabwean (and indeed I classify myself as white Zimbabwean not white African.) For these people there are no other options – we are nearly 6 generations through colonialism and for these people Zimbabwe is home and they have no entitlement to live anywhere else. And the inability of ZANU-PF to accept this fact has been one of the crucial factors in stalling progress in the country.

That said Blessing-Miles does sum up the key ‘white’ problem stalling progress:

‘Becoming ‘African’ is not about economic integration alone – something many white Zimbabweans never grasped. It is also about social, residential and political integration, and about learning local languages.

This is indeed a very accurate statement and indeed is very offensive that there are still people in Zimbabwe who have not adapted to the times and still feel a sense of entitlement to their prestigious lifestyles.

Independence

Charmaine Mandivenga

2010-05-25

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/African_Writers/64731

30 years ago we walked free
Liberated from Rhodesia, we claimed Zimbabwe
Said goodbye to Ian Smith
Welcomed Robert Mugabe and hope
Ha! Would it not be the joke of the century?
One once said a bitter heart beats to a vindictive heart
The heart of this now malnourished beast
Is the war veteran – Mr Mugabe
Come to save the Zim natives from the white man
As it were – until he lost the plot
You point one finger but
My friend there’s three pointing back
Blame Blair once and we will triple your sentence
How does such a man sleep?
With the pain inside so deep
You can almost forget it;
Suffocate it with arrogance and the over used
My oh so favourite “it was Cecil Rhodes’ fault”
But look into a Zimbabwean child’s eyes and you will remember
That it is not his fault he was born to an AIDS positive teenage mother
And a father she can’t put a finger on
Because she was just another girl on the path of destruction
Used and thrown away
Maybe one day he will forgive you
But today he has to live with the fact that
There is no food on the table
But on Mugabe Avenue – they are feasting
How do you sit next to your mortal enemy?
Share a presidency that was corrupt from the start
How?
How do you share a rotting cake?
Where is new the side when they are both charred?
We will all be tarred with the same brush
All painted damaged goods
Because of one man’s thirst for power
When will it be enough?
_
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* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

We hoisted the flag

Nancy Muigei

2010-05-25

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/African_Writers/64732

Today -when we hoisted the flag I knew it was done;
Today -when we sung the freedom song;
And raised our banners high;
I knew Uhuru was now!
As my soul rests tonight,
My thoughts run in sight,
I think of the blood they shed;
The years they lost;
I look at you;
And look at me;
My soul needs rest,
Rest from the whirlwind
Rest from the noises
And Rest from the unrests
I am old they say;
Yet spent my youth and days for you;
As my soul rests tonight
My thoughts run in sight,
Looking at the ray in the way
A sight of hope?
A sight of grief?
Who knows?
My sight fails they say;
Women in gowns and sacks;
Men in suits and tatters;
The hunger stricken children with bowls;
Their sullen sunken eyes popping out;
As they hurriedly take images of whom they have become;
I pity our struggle,
I pity their struggle;
They have fought;
They have survived
Others have died
And others hope;
Quantified pain they pay,
Weighty tears they shed
Africa! Africa!
They sigh mournfully
Africa! Africa!
The Land they own
Africa !
Is this the freedom we fought?
_
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* Nancy Muigei is a poet and a youth activist.
* Nancy Muigei © 2010.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

Africa becoming low cost manufacturing hub for Chinese investments

Sanusha Naidu

2010-05-27

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/africa_china/64759

Over the past several months there have been a variety of newspaper reports outlining China’s increasing investment footprint across Africa. Some of these announced deals and projects include the following:

- In April First Automobile Works (FAW), the Chinese car marker, announced a US$100 million project in South Africa through the China-Africa Development Fund (CADF) for a manufacturing facility for spare parts component.
- In May, the second largest investment deal worth US$877 million was announced between Jinchuan Mining, a Chinese state owned mining company and Wesizwe Platinum Ltd., a junior South African mining company in the platinum industry. The deal would see the Chinese company take a 51 per cent stake in Wesizwe. Jinchuan would purchase the stake in Wesizwe for US$227 million while the CADF would raise the rest of the US$650 million to help finance the Frischgewaagd-Ledig mine near Pretoria. Once the mine is built Jinchuan will be the recipient of the platinum produced.
- In May China International Fund (CIF) agreed to invest US$2.7 billion in a Guinea iron ore project. The project would entail investment in 286km of rail and port for Bellzone’s Kalia Iron Project. Bellzone is an Australian company.
- In Niger, the Chinese ambassador announced a multi-billion dollar energy and infrastructure project. Already a Chinese company, Sino-U, is digging China’s largest African uranium mine at Azelik. Part of the project would include a 2000 km pipeline to export oil from the landlocked country that would either connect to the West African coast in Benin or Chad where China has vested oil investments. The project will only be decided upon once the country starts producing the crude. China National Petroleum Company (CNPC) is already in the market with a US$5 billion investment for which it paid a US$300 million signature bonus. Niger is also attractive because of its major uranium deposits.
- A US$100 million loan to assist Ethiopia to complete a railway networking system that links Addis Ababa to various regions of the country.
- The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) announced in May that it had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with China State Construction Engineering Corporation Ltd. to construct three oil refineries (about 250,000 barrels per day capacity each) and a petrochemical plant. The total cost would reportedly be $28.5 billion.
- The China Development Bank (CDB) is to fund construction of a cement factory in Beluluane, in Mozambique’s Maputo province, costing US$100 million funded through the CADF.
- Kenya's Equity Bank announced that it had signed a US$50.82 million financing agreement with the China Development Bank for lending to small and medium businesses.
- Women Investment Portfolio Holdings Limited (WIPHOLD), a black women-owned company, and Continental Cement, a South African limestone mining company, signed a major deal with Jidong Development Group, the largest cement producer in Northern China, to build a US$217 million cement plant, which makes it one of China's biggest investments in the country.
- Plans to spend US$1 billion to help build a power plant to boost Zambia's electricity supply by 600 MW.
- Pledged economic aid to Seychelles worth approximately US$6 million for development projects.
- Pledge of US$15.6 million for various development projects, in addition to the US$7.1 million grant signed in January 2010, following a visit by President Kibaki after attending the opening of the Shanghai Exposition.

Clearly the above planned deals and projects confirm that China’s economic footprint is not withdrawing anytime soon. While this maybe interpreted as significant in revitalizing Africa’s economic growth and leveraging Africa’s integration into the global economy, there are of course important inquiries that must be made about whether this creates the necessary conditions for Africa’s path to sustainable development and improved livelihoods.

But the most strategic and perhaps critical to the Chinese engagement in Africa are the several industrial development zones that are being set up across Africa. While these zones are being identified as important economic interlockers between the Middle Kingdom and African economies, they also represent an important space for China to move its low cost manufacturing base offshore.

It is only natural that a country, like China, that has enjoyed such spectacular growth rates and sustained economic prosperity over the last decade should be seeking to move up the global value chain, especially as Chinese labour is becoming a little more expensive domestically. Some may remember that this was what Japan did during its own economic modernisation success. Termed the ‘flying geese model’ or, more appropriately, what the Chinese refer to as the ‘going global’ strategy, Africa seems to have become the last economic frontier for this shift in the global production chain.

As much as the economic gurus and the markets may dictate that this is part of the way that the global structures of production evolve, it is hard not to ignore the costs associated with this type of economic restructuring and shifting of production spheres.

Most obvious of these is whether the model is sustainable. Not only does it seem that China maybe shifting its low cost production offshore, but in the process it may also be exporting its environmental costs along with it. So what is the long-term impact on Africa’s ecology and environmental sustainability?

Second, as the Chinese firm entrenches itself in the African market, there are of course corresponding questions of skills transfer, economic governances issues and the protection of workers’ rights including both African and Chinese labour that will raise new forms of class struggles.

One aspect of this is to be found in the third related point as to whether a new form of African private sector (with business links to Chinese counterparts) is going to emerge whose power, outreach and ambitions may continue to marginalise the interests of Africa’s politically and economically indigent through different forms of capitalist class structures and formations.

Fourth, by enabling these special economic zones to become purveyors of cheap goods it would appear that China is giving up its image as a cheaper producer. If so, what implications would the label ‘made in Africa’ have on the continent’s own global economic integration, how would this impact on the position of African countries in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and to what extent are these low cost manufacturing hubs aimed at taking advantage of preferential trade agreements with other regions? Would Africa have to pay the price for undermining the doctrines of trade liberalisation that China was able to overcome because Western investors were willing to ignore protectionist policies in their own backyards so that they could profit out of China’s economic modernisation programme? Will it be the same for Africa, or not?

Fifth, how would other Southern actors like India, Brazil and South Africa react to this? Would they see this as challenging their presence in African markets through increased competition or would they want to negotiate a share for themselves? Or would they also want to set up similar zones in Africa? India has already proposed a rural agricultural zone in Ethiopia.

Then, of course, is the issue of political stability and sovereignty in most African countries, which may become further complicated by the security threats that these zones may pose to the livelihoods of ordinary Africans.

So, while there are those who may applaud that these zones are going to rescue Africa’s moribund development framework, these zones represent new forms of challenges for social movements and peoples’ justice organisations. How they are conceptualised, the impact they have on labour rights, their environmental consequences and social development effects point to the hardening reality that such economic restructuring requires more than just a superficial understanding that China and other actors are going to be panaceas for Africa’s development or merely that they represent the next set of neo-imperialists. What is critical to define is where the benefits to Africa’s people can be identified and to protect against any infringement of these rights.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* Sanusha Naidu is research director of the Emerging Powers in Africa programme based with Fahamu in South Africa.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

Pambazuka News 147: Cinquante ans d'«indépendance» et dépendances

2010-05-25

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/summaryfr/64728

Ambassador calls US official ‘house slave

2010-05-28

http://www.swradioafrica.com/news270510/zimambass270510.htm

Dr Machivenyika Mapuranga, the Zimbabwe Ambassador to the United States, was forced out of an event to commemorate Africa Day after he heckled and continuously interrupted a speech by US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Johnnie Carson.

GALZ staff released

Press Statement on the state of the judiciary in Zimbabwe

2010-05-28

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/zimbabwe/64768

On Thursday 27th of May 2010, at around 12 noon, Magistrate Munamato Mutevedzi granted bail in relation to Ellen Chademana and Ignatius Muhambi - 2 employees of the Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ) organization on the seventh day of their detention. The bail application was observed by many representatives of local non-governmental organisations. It was encouraging to note that, despite the best efforts of the police – particularly Detective Inspector Timothy Chibvuma who is the Officer in Charge of Drugs Section of the Harare Central police station, and the office of the Attorney General – particularly Mr. Bruce Tokwe – the magistrate came to his conclusions on the basis of the law and not external factors.
Press Statement on the state of the judiciary in Zimbabwe in the wake of the GALZ case

On Thursday 27th of May 2010, at around 12 noon, Magistrate Munamato Mutevedzi granted bail in relation to Ellen Chademana and Ignatius Muhambi - 2 employees of the Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ) organization on the seventh day of their detention.

The bail application was observed by many representatives of local non-governmental organisations. It was encouraging to note that, despite the best efforts of the police – particularly Detective Inspector Timothy Chibvuma who is the Officer in Charge of Drugs Section of the Harare Central police station, and the office of the Attorney General – particularly Mr. Bruce Tokwe – the magistrate came to his conclusions on the basis of the law and not external factors.

The same, however, cannot be said of other judicial officers who have become involved in this case, which once again smacks of persecution rather than legitimate prosecution. It is a matter of public record that lawyers representing our 2 colleagues were forced to file an Urgent Chamber Application in the High Court in Harare on Tuesday 25th of May 2010 whilst all of us were commemorating Africa Day. This was because Chademana and Mhambi were, as from the previous evening, being over-detained by the police without being brought to court or released. In addition, medication for Ms. Chademana’s diabetic condition was being denied to her.

Instead of attending at court to apply her mind to the matter, the Duty Judge, Justice Lavender Makoni, instead asked a clerk present at court to read her the basis of the application over the telephone. Thereafter, she advised that the matter “could wait” for the following day.

It is also a matter of public record that, that same evening, our 2 colleagues – left at the mercy of the police – were severely assaulted by state agents in a manner which clearly amounts to torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. They were also warned that these criminals were going to return later to deal further with the two.

We learned that on the morning of Wednesday 26th of May 2010, these extremely disturbing developments were brought to the attention of the High Court by way of a Supplementary Affidavit which is part of the public record, with the expectation that the court would realise the urgency and act to protect the fundamental rights of detainees. Instead, Justice Joseph Musakwa – who is dealing with the matter now – chose to set the matter down for hearing on the afternoon of Thursday the 27th of May 2010 – leaving our colleagues exposed to the police and other state agents for another 24 hours.

We commend Magistrate Mutevedzi for acting in terms of the law to protect the interests of accused persons appearing before him. However, the time has come for us to refuse to allow the actions of the High Court to go unnoticed or unchallenged.

Judicial officers are constitutionally obliged to protect the rights and freedoms of all the people of Zimbabwe without fear or favour. Not only must justice be done, but it must be seen to be done. In this instance, it is regrettable that the perception in the mind of any reasonable person is that some courts and some judicial officers do not care about their constitutional obligations, and that they believe some accused persons are not worthy of their attention or the protection the courts are meant to offer.

It is not the first time that delays on the parts of the High Court have led to unspeakable violations – one only has to recall the images of March 11, 2007 or the abduction and subsequent torture of Jestina Mukoko.

In the Global Political Agreement, our leaders committed themselves to “re-orient [their] attitudes towards respect for the Constitution and all national laws [and] the rule of law”. Article XIII goes further to state that “State organs and institutions … should be impartial in the discharge of their duties” and that “all state organs and institutions [must] strictly observe the principles of the Rule of Law and remain non-partisan and impartial” and that “laws and regulations governing state organs and institutions [must be] strictly adhered to and those violating them be penalized without fear or favour”. The courts themselves have publicly commented on this and bound themselves to such a way of doing business.

What kind of society are we living in if we cannot be assured that the courts will come to the assistance of the weak and those who are at the mercy of powerful state forces and machinery? It is time for the judiciary in this country to make a stand and reclaim their independence and effectiveness. Rule of Law must be maintained if we are to have any hope for economic recovery, investment, uplifting of social and economic conditions, and public confidence in the justice delivery system.

Judicial officers who refuse or are unwilling to play their part must and will be publicly exposed as they should not remain part of the bench in a free, democratic and prosperous society. Judges may believe that they are immune or exempt from public criticism, but where they themselves act with no regard for laws and rules of procedure, they – and no others – are the ones bringing the bench into disrepute.



This statement was issued by the Zimbabwe Human Rights NGO Forum on behalf NANGO, Crisis in Zimbabwe Coalition and the broader civil society. For further information feel free to contact Abel Chikomo on 0912 260 664 or 04-772 860.

Zimbabwe may hold referendum next year, says Tsvangirai

2010-05-28

http://zimbabwejournalists.com/story.php?art_id=6661&cat=1

Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai said Thursday a referendum on a new constitution will be delayed, possibly until next year. Under the unity deal that brought Tsvangirai into government with his long-time rival President Robert Mugabe, Zimbabwe was meant to vote on a new charter by August.

Africa: Commission on Human Rights ends meeting in Gambia

2010-05-28

http://bit.ly/9yvXZY

Experts at the 47th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and People's Rights (ACHPR), which ended Thursday in Banjul, the Gambian capital, have said that the Commission's greatest handicap was its inability to perform its mandate of protecting human rights in Africa. Reine Alapini-Gansou, Chairperson of the Commission, stated that at the Banjul session, participants adopted new rules which seek to enhance human rights services in such a way that they would complement the activities of the African Court on Human and People's Rights.

Africa: Three women assume AfDB leadership roles

2010-05-28

http://bit.ly/9hfEZE

Three women have been selected to fill senior-level positions at the African Development Bank, AfDB president Donald Kaberuka announced on May 14th. Cecilia Akintomide will serve as the first-ever female Secretary-General of the bank, while Hela Cheikhrouhou will head the New Energy, Environment and Climate Change department. Gemina Archer-Davies will direct the Corporate Human Resources Management branch.

Africa: Women’s empowerment key to continent’s progress, says Annan

2010-05-28

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/wgender/64780

Amid what he characterised as renewed grabs for Africa’s resources, former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has said that women’s empowerment remains crucial for Africa’s development and must be prioritised as the continent moves forward. Annan currently chairs the Africa Progress Panel and was speaking at the Johannesburg launch of the Panel’s latest progress report entitled, “From Agenda to Action: Turning Resources into Results for People,” which identifies gender inequality as a major barrier to Africa’s development.
Kofi Annan - women’s empowerment key to continent’s progress

*By Laura Lopez Gonzalez

Amid what he characterised as renewed grabs for Africa’s resources, former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has said that women’s empowerment remains crucial for Africa’s development and must be prioritised as the continent moves forward.
Annan currently chairs the Africa Progress Panel and was speaking at the Johannesburg launch of the Panel’s latest progress report entitled, “From Agenda to Action: Turning Resources into Results for People,” which identifies gender inequality as a major barrier to Africa’s development.
Formed in 2007 after the Gleneagles G8 Summit, the panel was originally formed to monitor international commitments made to Africa at the summit, but also works to assess the continent’s progress in areas such as governance, economic development and progress made in achieving the Millennium Development Goals.

“Too many Africans remain poor, and women and girls remain the worst off – they are still treated like second-class citizens in many of our countries,” Annan said.

The report highlights that although women produce up to 80% of all basic food products in sub-Saharan Africa, they continue to face cultural, economic, educational and legal barriers to economic empowerment. And while countries like Rwanda, South And Lesotho have made considerable gains in ensuring gender parity in local and national government, women continue to be under-represented in politics.

Hitting close to home

For fellow panellist and governor of the Bank of Botswana Linah Mohohlo, the report’s findings hit close to home. “In Botswana, several years ago you had to be very nice to your husband if you wanted to borrow money. Even me, with my position in finance, would have to be nice,” she said Mohohlo.
According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Atlas of Gender and Development, while Botswana recently enacted changes to support greater gender equality, women who choose to marry under traditional law, or “in common property,” still have limited ownership rights and access to credit absent of their husbands. However, the OECD’s Social Institutions and Gender Index notes that women in the country are increasingly opting to marry under different legal frameworks in order to maintain their rights.

Mohohlo added that there were countries in which this was still the case and that the time for such thinking was over. “We have to make sure that women are equal partners in efforts to turn the corner,” she said. “If women were to take part, we’d begin to see not just good governance but also leadership from a political and business standpoint.”
“I speak as a woman – I know what I want; I have a daughter, I know what she wants,” she added.

Almost half of the report’s almost 40 recommendations address women’s empowerment and range from promoting women entrepreneurship to ensuring that adaptation to climate change, thought to hit vulnerable populations the hardest, be women-centred.

* Laura Lopez Gonzalez is a freelance journalist based on South Africa. This article is part of the GL Opinion and Commentary Service.

Angola: Calls to make wife -beating a crime

2010-05-28

http://bit.ly/cHo7xM

Susana Mendes is the first woman to hold the title of editor in chief at Angolense, Angola's leading investigative weekly--and she is doing it a bit differently than her predecessor. She is in charge of directing coverage of the country's $1.7 billion oil industry, government corruption and injustices in the poorer neighborhoods of Angola. However, she also keeps the paper routinely focused on a topic often treated as a special women's issue: domestic violence.

Global: Making contraceptives accessible to save women’s lives

2010-05-28

http://bit.ly/cBUOvg

The Pill has touched the lives of many people but – like so many other technologies – remains an unknown luxury to around 200 million women, the majority of whom live in developing countries. Unintended pregnancy is a major public health concern that endangers the lives of women and children and perpetuates the cycle of poverty. The percentage of women who do not want to get pregnant but are not using any type of contraceptive method, the “unmet need,” is alarmingly high across the globe.

Global: U.N. biodiversity plan demands voice for women

2010-05-28

http://www.ipsnews.net/africa/nota.asp?idnews=51615

Women provide up to 90 percent of the rural poor's food and produce up to 80 percent of food in most developing countries, and yet they are almost completely ignored when policy decisions are made about agriculture and biodiversity. That's about to change thanks to a United Nations agreement on biodiversity that will ask countries to ensure women are involved in decisions regarding biodiversity - including agriculture.

Global: Writing contest and interactive site on maternal health launched

2010-05-28

http://bit.ly/dpKT33

The Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting, a nonprofit that sponsors and produces award-winning international journalism, has launched a new interactive site focused on maternal mortality issues, Dying for Life. This multimedia exhibit includes photo essays, videos and dispatches from Guinea Bissau, India, Mexico, Ethiopia and Nigeria. The centre is also partnering with the writers' site Helium to sponsor a writing contest about maternal health. The aim is to foster in-depth engagement with this important global issue. Join the global conversation by engaging with the journalists, and sharing your own stories about maternal health and its impact on your community.

Africa: Civil society urges support for ICC

2010-05-28

http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2010/05/24/africa-civil-society-urges-support-icc

A group of 124 organizations from more than 25 African countries have released a declaration calling on African governments to advance accountability for grave international crimes at the review conference for the International Criminal Court (ICC). The conference, which will take place in Kampala, Uganda from May 31 to June 11, 2010, is being convened to discuss amendments to the court's treaty.

Africa: South Africa may arrest Bashir if he attends World Cup

2010-05-28

http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE64R0RW20100528

South Africa has invited Sudan's Omar al-Bashir to the continent's first World Cup along with the rest of Africa's leadership, but will arrest him if he takes up the invitation, President Jacob Zuma said. Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges of war crimes. He rejects the charges of ordering mass murder, rape and torture in the western Darfur region.

Botswana: Army and Police enter Bushman reserve

2010-05-28

http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/6006

Trucks of soldiers and police have entered the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. Survival believes this is to intimidate the Bushmen, and perhaps even force them out, because:
1) Gem Diamonds wants to open a diamond mine on their land;
2) the Botswana High Court is now due to hear a Bushman application to reinstate their water borehole.

Global: Chevron denies Nigerians entry into shareholders’ meeting

2010-05-28

http://bit.ly/ckBUnV

After traveling halfway around the world from Nigeria to the U.S., Emem Okon, along with 17 other people representing oil-producing communities around the globe, stood today as shareholders ready to attend Chevron’s Annual General Meeting of the Shareholders. Chevron arbitrarily denied Ms. Okon and at least 13 others entry to the meeting despite the fact that other representatives from Chevron-impacted communities were allowed to enter the meeting.

Global: Commonwealth Games in Delhi come at a high price for the poor

2010-05-28

http://bit.ly/91H7og

The Commonwealth Games, which begin in Delhi on 3 October, are already surrounded by concerns over security. Far more worrying than the possible threat to a few thousand privileged visiting foreigners, however, is a new report by the Housing and Land Network, an arm of the global movement Habitat International Coalition, suggesting that by the time the Games begin about 140,000 families will have been evicted from their homes to clear the space for the lavish facilities now compulsory for such events.

Nigeria: Police kill, rape, torture and extort says rights group

2010-05-28

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=89220

Nigerian police routinely carry out summary executions of suspected criminals, use torture to extract confessions from detainees, and rape as an interrogation technique, according to a report by the Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI), a rights group, which appeals to President Goodluck Jonathan to make good on promises to urgently reform the force.

Rwanda: French arrest Rwandan doctor accused over genocide

2010-05-28

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/europe/10170843.stm

French authorities have arrested a Rwandan doctor accused of involvement in the 1994 genocide. Eugene Rwamucyo has been wanted by Interpol since 2006, and was dismissed from his job in a hospital in northern France last month. Rwandan authorities, who allege Dr Rwamucyo committed war crimes during the genocide, welcomed the arrest.

Sudan: ICC refers war crimes cases to UN

2010-05-28

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/africa/10167800.stm

The International Criminal Court has reported Sudan to the UN Security Council for refusing to arrest two suspected Darfur war criminals. Former Minister Ahmed Haroun and militia leader Ali Muhammad Al Abd-Al-Rahman are both alleged to have been involved in attacks on civilians. The ICC took the unprecedented move after the government refused to accept arrest warrants for the two men.

Zimbabwe: All diamond exports banned

2010-05-28

http://zimbabwejournalists.com/story.php?art_id=6660&cat=1

Zimbabwe has banned all exports of diamonds until a monitor from the Kimberley Process regulator approves the sale of gems from a field plagued by human rights abuses, the mines minister said Thursday. "I have suspended all diamond exports from Zimbabwe with immediate effect until the issue of Kimberley Process certification scheme has been sorted out," mines minister Obert Mpofu said in the state-run Herald newspaper.

Botswana: Refugees can now access ARVs

2010-05-28

http://www.unhcr.org/4bfbbf7f6.html

Squealing with delight, young Elvis rushes off to greet his mother as she wends her way towards the family's hut in north-eastern Botswana's Dukwi refugee camp. The Zimbabwean infant, aged almost three, is a picture of health. But one year ago, carrying the Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), he was near death's door. Elvis could barely sit up. His body was wracked with opportunistic infections, including tuberculosis, and he was constantly in hospital for treatment.

CAR: LRA still blocking access to thousands of IDPs

2010-05-28

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=89265

Thousands of people displaced from their homes in the Central African Republic (CAR) cannot be reached by aid workers because of insecurity caused by the Ugandan Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and other armed militias, a UN official said. “The main humanitarian challenges relate to civilian protection and humanitarian access,” Jean Sebastien Munie, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the CAR, told IRIN. “There are pockets of conflict.”

Fahamu refugee e-newsletter

May 2010

2010-05-28

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/483/FahRefNewsMay2010.pdf

In the May edition of the Fahamu refugee e-newsletter, Tanzania grants 162,000 Burundians citizenship, Sierra Leonean and Liberian refugees feel abandoned in Guinea, New United Kingdom government pledges end to immigration detention of children, addresses refoulement on sexual orientation or gender-based refugee claims, and Refugee Law Project in Kampala, Uganda, opens internet and computer facility for clients.

South Africa: Refugee exhibition

2010-05-28

http://www.solidaritypeacetrust.org/720/refugee-exhibition/

The Refugee Exhibition is an interactive exhibition with recordings from the children themselves. It highlights the plight of the Forgotten Children who fled Zimbabwe’s political turmoil, in search of a better life, peace and security. Seen through the eyes of the children, you will be taken on a journey to share their experiences and amazing stories of hope and determination to succeed despite the challenges facing them. The Refugee Exhibition will run until the end of May.

Sudan: New waves of displacement

2010-05-28

http://bit.ly/aG7tok

As of May 2010, at least 4.9 million people are internally displaced in Darfur, the Greater Khartoum area, South Kordofan and the ten States of Southern Sudan, with unknown numbers of internally displaced people in the other northern and eastern States. They make up one of the two largest internally displaced populations in the world, alongside that of Colombia. Some people have been displaced for more than two decades, while others were newly displaced in 2009 and 2010.

West Africa: Ghana, Togo agree number of refugees in Togo

2010-05-28

http://bit.ly/coI6d3

Ghana and Togo on Wednesday agreed that about a 1,000 Ghanaians, and not 3,500, were sheltering in Togo after fleeing ethnic conflict in Ghana's Northern Region. The figure was agreed after a closed-door meeting between a Togolese government delegation led by National Security Minister Colonel Mohammed Atcha Titikpina and Ghana's President John Evans Atta Mills and senior security officials in Accra.

South Africa: A poor man’s view on Freedom Day

2010-05-28

http://www.abahlali.org/node/6729

Mostly South Africans celebrate freedom day. Some they feel free but some do not feel free. Some are told that they are free and get excited because they trust those who tell them that they are free. They still have hope that one day the politicians will recognise them. As hard as it is we all have to face up to the reality that this is a false hope. We have to face up to the need for a second struggle.

South Africa: Group warns of shacks outside Cape Town Stadium

2010-05-28

http://www.eyewitnessnews.co.za/articleprog.aspx?id=40150

A local group representing informal settlements has warned plans to erect shacks outside Cape Town Stadium unless proper housing is given to the poor. Abahlali Basemjondolo demanded the underprivileged be allocated housing within the city but authorities were having none of it. Basemjondolo planned to use the World Cup as a platform to vent their frustration with city bosses.

Algeria: Union headquarters shut down

Act Now!

2010-05-28

http://www.labourstart.org/cgi-bin/solidarityforever/show_campaign.cgi?c=704

On 12 May 2010, Algerian authorities effectively shut down La Maison des Syndicats (2 Rue El Oued, Bach Djarrah, Algiers), the headquarters of an important coalition of independent labor unions fighting for workers rights, including the Syndicat National Autonome des Personnels de l'Administration Publique (SNAPAP). Their website has also been shut down.

China supports Gibe III: Goodbye environmental reforms?

Peter Bosshard

2010-05-27

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/emplayersnews/64755

In recent years China has become the world’s leading dam builder. China not only builds the biggest number of hydropower projects within its borders, but Chinese companies have also begun to dominate the world market. Sinohydro, a state-owned enterprise, claims to control 50 per cent of the world’s hydropower market. The state’s Export-Import Bank of China (China Eximbank) has become the most important financier of such projects, including in Africa.

In the early years of the new century, Chinese dam builders and financiers took on overseas projects which no other dam builders would touch because of their social and environmental impacts, such as the Merowe Dam in Sudan. Recently the major actors have begun to carry out environmental reforms; China Eximbank strengthened its environmental guideline in 2007 and Sinohydro is preparing an environmental policy.

Smaller Chinese dam builders have also entered the global market. And the government is urging Chinese exporters to rely less on support from government financiers and more on commercial banks in their overseas projects. Will the new overseas dam builders and financiers follow the environmental reforms of China’s leading actors, or will they damage the country’s international image by taking on more destructive projects? The Gibe III Hydroelectric Dam in Ethiopia is now putting this question to the test.

The Gibe III dam on the Omo River is Ethiopia’s biggest infrastructure investment and one of the most destructive hydropower projects in recent years. By stopping the Omo River’s natural flood cycle and reducing the flow of water into Lake Turkana, it will negatively affect fragile ecosystems and 500,000 desperately poor people in southern Ethiopia and northern Kenya.

Parts of the lower Omo River valley and Lake Turkana – the world’s largest desert lake – have been recognized as UNESCO World Heritage Sites for their unique ecological and cultural heritage. Water scarcity is already fuelling deadly resource conflicts between Ethiopian and Kenyan tribes in the region. The Gibe III dam would aggravate these conflicts.

The World Bank, the African Development Bank and the European Investment Bank have studied the Gibe III dam for years but have so far not committed any support for the project. On 13 May the Ethiopian government announced that China’s Dongfang Electric Corporation would provide the turbines for the controversial project and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Limited (ICBC) would fund the deal with a loan of approximately $400 million. This creates the impression that new Chinese dam builders and financiers do not care for the social and environmental impacts of their projects.

While Sinohydro wants to become a leading global brand and is careful to protect its reputation, the smaller Dongfang Electric Corporation may simply not care about its international image. ICBC, however, is China’s top international bank and has become the world’s largest bank. ICBC has expressed a strong commitment to China’s Green Credit Policy and is developing a range of environment-friendly financial products. The bank won 131 banking awards in 2008 alone, including for its corporate social responsibility efforts. ICBC’s ill-considered support for a destructive dam in Ethiopia will leave a big stain on this reputation.

Is ICBC not aware of the controversy around the Gibe III dam? Has the bank not considered the impact that support for an international symbol of environmental destruction will have on its image? In a joint letter, Friends of Lake Turkana, International Rivers and the global BankTrack network have called on ICBC’s chairman to reconsider lending for the Gibe III dam before it is too late. If ICBC allows the project to be completed, it will do lasting damage not only to the environment and affected people, but also to its own reputation.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* Peter Bosshard is a policy director at [url= International]http://www.internationalrivers.org/]International Rivers[/url].
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

Emerging Actors in Africa news round-up

2010-05-28

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/emplayersnews/64773

GENERAL
New AGOA: Merely Recycling Old Ideas?
A few weeks ago, the AGOA Action Committee - a group consisting primarily of U.S. companies, U.S. academics, and Washington-based NGOs - recently released its six-pronged policy proposal that allegedly signifies a new U.S. policy approach toward Africa. This comes at the time of the 10th anniversary of the passage of AGOA and when a general stock-taking is underway in Washington. However, many of the policy proposals put forth are merely the repackaged ideas of old and, more importantly, reflect a failure to understand how both U.S. and African stakeholders need to and have changed in this post-recession new world order. Read more

African Development Bank is seeking to triple the amount of funds it has available to invest in roads and power plants
The bank’s 77 members will meet in Abidjan, the commercial capital of Ivory Coast, on May 27 and 28 to approve an increase in the capital base to about $100 billion. The investment funds may help Africa offset the impact of the Greek debt crisis, which threatens to stall the global economic recovery and spark another wave of risk aversion that sent emerging market currencies tumbling late in 2008. The bank, based in Tunisia’s capital, Tunis, more than doubled lending to $12.6 billion last year. Read more

Investment in Africa: All to Play For
When many western people think of Africa a set of stock images comes to mind: starvation, poverty, corruption, violence. No matter how many television programmes, articles and campaigns try to change perceptions, these views dominate. In this context, you would have to be mad to call for greater private sector investment. Yet increasing numbers of emerging powers are doing just that. This gulf between western perceptions and modern African realities is doing growing damage to the economic prospects of countries like Britain, just as global competition for resources and power heats up. Read more

African leaders urged to spread the wealth
Africa's growing wealth needs to be spread beyond the confines of powerful elites and goverments must come clean about opaque mining and oil deals, a leading think-tank said on Tuesday.
In its annual report, the Africa Progress Panel, chaired by former United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, identified poor governance and creaking transport and power infrastructure as the main impediments to the continent of a billion people. Read more

Africa: a new economic frontier
This is an important year for Africa. The World Cup is putting the continent at the centre of global attention. Its strengths and frailties will be under greater international scrutiny than ever before. What will the story be? Read more
CHINA in AFRICA

In Africa Town, everything to gain
This place is not really China, nor is it Africa; it lies in the midst of major highways in Guangzhou, southern China (formerly known as Canton). Officially, 20,000 Africans – probably more like 100,000 – live in or pass through the 10 square kilometres of “Africa Town,” where Igbo, Wolof and Lingala mingle with Mandarin and Cantonese. Some Chinese call it “Chocolate Town.”
In this roaring city of 18 million inhabitants and tens of thousands of micro-factories, the commercial activity is very different from the oil deals and huge public-works contracts the Chinese have secured in Africa. Read more

“China has genuine desire to help Africa”
Aside from Africa’s economic and strategic importance to China, the Beijing Government “has a genuine desire to help” the continent, said Zhiqun Zhu yesterday. On the other hand, added the international relations expert, China represents, for Africans, “a counterweight to Western pressure” and an alternative model of development. Read more

China short-term boost could become a long-term threat to Africa
China’s trade and investment has created a positive boost for Africa’s growth, however in the long term the continent could face over-dependence on aid and growing unemployment. The warning was made yesterday by various speakers at the “China-Africa: New Types of Exchange, Cultural Identity and Emerging Relations in a Globalized World” conference. Read more

Chinese buy control of Wesizwe
JUNIOR miner Wesizwe Platinum said yesterday it had secured an $877m (R6,6bn) financing package from Chinese investors, in a deal that will see the investors gaining a majority stake in the company.
The capital injection will also revive Wesizwe’s ambition of transforming from an exploration company to a mining company.
Jinchuan Group and China- Africa Development Fund will pay $227,5m for a 51% equity stake and provide $650m in loans to finance Wesizwe’s flagship Frischgewaagd-Ledig project, near Sun City in North West. This equates to a subscription price of R2,07 per Wesizwe share. Read more

West Africa to become China's key source of crude oil
Figures released by General Administration of Customs of China shows Angola remained China's largest source of crude oil in April and exported 4.3 million tons of crude oil to China, up 181 percent compared to the same period last year.

In April, Saudi Arabia ranked second with 3.1 million tons of crude oil exports to China, down 14.8 percent. Iran ranked third with 1.7 million tons, declining 21.2 percent.

Read more
China committed to strengthening cooperation with Africa
The Chinese government is firmly committed to strengthening its friendly cooperation with Africa and supporting the continent in achieving peace and development, a senior Chinese diplomat said here on Tuesday.
"China is the largest developing country and Africa is home to most developing countries. China-Africa cooperation is an important part of the South-South cooperation," said He Yafei, China's ambassador to the United Nations Office in Geneva.
Read more

China: recapitalising global mining
This has been a benchmark week for the mobilization of Chinese capital, with the announcements that USD 2.7bn will be invested in infrastructure to enable an iron ore development in Guinea to get its goods, ready only some good years hence, to the Atlantic coast, and that in a mix of equity and debt, USD 877m has been earmarked for building a mine at a platinum group metals (PGM) deposit in South Africa. Read more

Africa should take lessons from China
The model of agriculture applied by the People’s Republic of China during the last 30 years is an example that the poorest countries in sub-Saharan Africa should follow in their quest for development and growth and to eradicate poverty, according to agricultural experts.
Dr Shenggen Fan, director general of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and co-author of the study titled "China’s Agricultural and Rural Development: Implications for Africa", told IPS that there is consensus on the importance of agriculture and rural development as an engine of growth in sub-Saharan Africa. Read more

China sweeps the board in Africa
Across Africa, the Chinese are outdoing themselves in scooping up deals that secure the lion's share of the continent's immense mineral treasure house, eclipsing their main competitors, the United States, India and Europe, while leaving Japan trailing far behind. Read more


INDIA in AFRICA

EXIM India to open office in Ethiopia next month
In a bid to support Indian companies' growing investments in East Africa, the Export and Import (EXIM) Bank of India will open an office in Ethiopia next month, officials said.
Ethiopia's Minister of Finance and Development Sufian Ahmed and EXIM bank officials are expected to sign the agreement Tuesday, which will further boost ties between India and East Africa.
The bank and the Ethiopian ministry have been in negotiations for the last couple of months about the opening of the East African office in Addis Ababa. Read more
India to tap African markets to boost exports
India will focus on making Africa a major export market and increase trade with African nations amid the fragile global economic recovery and persistent financial woes in Europe.
"We are preparing a strategy paper on Africa with an aim at increasing our exports to the continent,"a Commerce Ministry official said.
The Department of Commerce will come out with a strategy paper to increase exports to Africa, which accounted for USD 8.36 billion, or less than six per cent of India&aposs exports, in the first 11 months of the 2009-10 financial year. Read more
Address of External Affairs Minister at the ‘Africa Day’ Lecture on “India-Africa Relations”
„In a rapidly changing world, an important dimension of India-Africa Partnership is our meeting of minds on pressing global issues. These issues include the reform of the United Nations, combating International Terrorism, Climate Change, WTO, reform of international financial institutions, combating diseases, eradication of hunger and poverty and promotion of inclusive democratic societies and polities.“ Read more

India's opportunity in Africa
With the potential of development, Africa is in need of investment in areas like ICT to improve governance, overcome poverty and deal with critical infrastructure gaps. And the continent can look at India as an example to learn from. Because, India and Africa have similar problems, therefore, the solutions can be similar. What's been tried and tested in India, and with the technology readily available to transfer knowledge and experience from our country, it could actually be quite an African safari. Read more

India backs Africa for Security Council
India Wednesday backed Africa’s demand to get a permanent seat in the UN Security Council and sought closer collaboration with the continent over a slew of global issues ranging from terrorism and climate change to eradication of poverty and hunger. Read more

'Sulabh toilets can help reduce global warming'
An Indian innovator who plans to promote cheap toilet technology in 50 developing countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East region says his technologies could also help developed nations reduce global warming. Read more


Other Emerging Actors
Russia ready to invest $1 Billion in Namibian Uranium
Russia, the fifth-largest uranium miner according to the World Nuclear Association, signed a cooperation agreement with Namibia on exploration and production during Pohamba’s visit, a move that may allow them to challenge the top three producers, Kazakhstan, Canada and Australia. Read more

Israel denies South African nuclear weapons agreement
A UK news website claims Israel intended to sell nuclear weapons to apartheid South Africa, but Jerusalem denies the charges. The Guardian news website, citing the work of an American academic, has reported that declassified South African documents reveal that Israel offered to sell nuclear weapons to the apartheid regime in 1975. The office of Israeli President Shimon Peres, who was defense minister at the time of the alleged agreement, has vehemently denied the claims. Read more
Southern Africa: Responsible mining companies?
Corporate responsibility, as this new study from Southern Africa Research Watch (http://www.sarwatch.org) notes, is much more widely honored in word than in practice. Nevertheless, the authors argue that standards in place, along with greater efforts for governments and civil society to monitor compliance, can potentially have significant impact. Their studies, including South African mining companies operating in Mozambique, Namibia, Zimbabwe, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, as well as the role of South African Banks, show that this promise is still far from realization.
Read more
Algeria says no Orascom sale in site for South Africa
Algeria's foreign minister ended speculation Wednesday that South Africa's MTN group might try to buy Djezzy, the local subsidiary of Egyptian Telecom giant Orascom. Mourad Medelci said during a visit to this North African nation by South African President Jacob Zuma that "concerning Orascom, the page is turned with South Africa." Read more

Blogs&Opinion

South Africa and the continent
The other theme that came out during the Cape Town conference was the idea of SA playing a role as the “Gateway into Africa”. Here there was an increasing worry that SA’s influence on the continent was declining. This is natural. As more countries outside the continent find their feet in dealing with Africa , they’ll go directly to African partners and governments.
Read more

Making Africa's Dam Deals Public
International Rivers announces the 2nd edition of the 2010 African Dams Briefing, which offers a summary of key public data on Africa's proposed large dams and creates accountability regarding these deals. Read more
South Africa Should Join the BRIC bloc - but needs better selling skills
South African needs to market its "highly attractive value offer" better and improve the country's brand so that it can be included in the Bric group of countries – Brazil, Russia, India and China.
So says Kuseni Dlamini, Old Mutual chief executive for South Africa and developing markets, implying the country can benefit a great deal from inclusion in this well-regarded group of developing countries with high growth rates. Read more

Cultural differences in business relations: the case of China and Africa
What does culture have to do with business? Many business majors and practitioners immersed in questions of financial forecasting, market studies, and management models have turned aside from the question of culture and how it affects business. But more and more organizations are finding themselves involved in communication across cultures, between cultures, among cultures; because they are doing business in foreign countries, perhaps, or because they are sourcing from another country, seeking financing from another country, or have an increasingly multicultural workforce Read more


Did Indonesia miss the bus to Africa?

Do you know which African country has more foreign exchange reserves than Indonesia? Do you know which country was Indonesia’s biggest foreign investor in 2008?
The answer to the first question is Algeria, which currently holds US$149 billion in foreign exchange reserves. The oil-rich North-African country’s reserves exceeds the $72 billion held by Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s largest economy.
In 2008, many people were surprised to hear that the Indonesia’s biggest foreign investor was
Mauritius. The tiny country invested $6.47 billion in Indonesia — more than global giants such the US, Japan, China or Germany. Total foreign direct investment in Indonesia in 2008 reached $14.87 billion. In 2009, four African countries — Seychelles, Mauritius, Liberia and Mali — invested almost half billion dollars in Indonesia. Despite these amazing facts about Africa, awareness of the world’s second largest (and second most populous) continent is low in Indonesia. Read more

China in Africa: Potholes in the road
Along the way it’s utterly transforming the infrastructure in many parts of Africa, bringing road and rail links that are often better than those in parts of China itself. So everyone’s a winner, right? Well, not necessarily – improvements in infrastructure aren’t always the foundation of a flourishing domestic economy. One of Richard Dowden’s most interesting points in his 2008 book Africa:Altered States, Ordinary Miracles was that nearly all the railways built by the European colonists led from a mine to a port; essentially, they were built to help get Africa’s mineral wealth out of the country as quickly as possible. It’s surely not overly cynical to suggest that much the same logic lies behind all this Chinese infrastructure spending. It’s generally accepted that the key to economic development in Africa is a move away from simple commodity exports towards manufacturing and services. But these new roads and railways will hardly help African countries to diversify if more and more of their resources are sent away to be processed in China. It all adds weight to Thabo Mbeki’s fears that China’s move into Africa could become “a new form of neo-colonialist adventure” Read more

Building Africa: Where's The United States?
One promising trend is the emerging East African Community (EAC), a regional economic group with a population of over 126 million across the member states of Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, and possibly the oil-rich nascent nation-state of southern Sudan. Currently, the U.S. role in this embryonic economic growth story falls far short of the level of engagement shown by its Asian counterparts. If the United States wishes to maintain its strategic interests in the East Africa region, it must seek to better engage with the continent’s emerging regional structures. This will require policymakers to move beyond the confines of military strategy and to embrace a more holistic approach to economic and security policy in the region.Read more

CAD Fund to boost footprint in Africa
The China-Africa Development Fund (CAD Fund), China's largest private equity (PE) fund focused on African investments, has kicked off its second-phase of fund raising to raise $2 billion over three years. The fund's investment in 2009 alone was $140 million compared with China's total investment of $1.3 billion in Africa last year.Read more

Sovereign wealth rewrites old-world rules
Sovereign wealth funds -- national vehicles created to grow state wealth for the future -- have long experience investing in exotic and lesser-known lands. To these funds, many of which originate in what the West calls the "frontier" region, it's a local market.This year alone, countries including China, Singapore, South Korea, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan and Abu Dhabi have invested easily more than $1 billion in frontier markets, in such projects as mines in Mongolia and companies in Africa, the Caribbean and Latin America.Read more

4) Bharti seeks funds for Zain buyout
Country’s largest telecom operator Bharti Airtel said it was seeking funds from its bankers to pay for the acquisition of Zain's African operations, the deal for which was negotiated by the company earlier in the year. Read more

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS


* Compiled by Sanusha Naidu, Director of the Emerging Powers in Africa programme.

Burundi: EU pleased with poll

2010-05-28

http://www.news24.com/Africa/News/EU-pleased-with-Burundi-poll-20100527

Burundi's district elections, seen as a test of the tiny African country's stability ahead of presidential elections in June, met international standards, European observers said on Thursday. Monday's elections were the first of a series of polls in which the coffee-producer will also vote for representatives to parliament and its next president. District polls are often an indicator of how the rest of the vote will go.

Burundi: Opposition demands re-run over fraud claims

2010-05-28

http://bit.ly/bSq3Ou

Burundi's opposition have demanded a re-run of local polls it said were rigged by the regime while the country's top former rebel threatened a boycott of crucial upcoming elections. The allegation of fraud in Monday's local council polls -- the first phase of a months-long electoral marathon -- was likely to heighten fears over the stability of the small war-scarred central African nation.

Cameroon: Fragile state?

2010-05-28

http://bit.ly/8ZV8JI

The latest background report from the International Crisis Group, examines Cameroon’s history, its contemporary politics and the relations between its main social groups. The report uncovers points of potential instability and suggests how to tackle them. The country’s history shows a pattern of apparent stability followed by violent crisis. For long periods, problems have been masked but not dealt with, and consequent frustrations have led to explosions of violence.

Ethiopia: Ruling party wins 533 seats in parliament

2010-05-28

http://bit.ly/cYFrEX

Ethiopia's ruling party swept all the parliamentary seats in Sunday's elections and appeared to head back to a single party era. The opposition coalition, Medrek, won a single seat in capital, Addis Ababa, in a race over 547 seats in the House. Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) and its allied political parties won all the 533 seats out of the 536 seats declared when the Ethiopian National Electoral Board (NEBE) released the provisional results.

Nigeria: Jonathan says 4th Republic depends on National Assembly

2010-05-28

http://bit.ly/aOKokS

President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria on Thursday said the democratic stability of the Fourth Republic was traceable to the position the National Assembly took following "the unfortunate health challenges" which confronted late President Umaru Musa Yar'adua. Jonathan said "many speculated that Nigeria was going to split but you (National Assembly) proved them wrong." The President also stated that the success of his administration "would depend on the cooperation of the National Assembly".

Swaziland: Zuma asked to intervene

2010-05-28

http://bit.ly/cA42iT

The Southern African Catholic Bishop's Conference on Thursday asked President Jacob Zuma to intervene in Swaziland's "political crisis". SACBC president Archbishop Buti Tlhagale said in statement: "I have written to President Zuma to ask the government to take part in normalising the situation before it resembles what happened in Zimbabwe.”I've asked the president to consider a mediating role to facilitate a climate of dialogue among all stakeholders in Swaziland." SACBC leaders recently expressed shock at the death of Sipho Jele after he was arrested for wearing a People's United Democratic Movement T-shirt during May Day celebrations in Manzini on May 4.

Togo: Opposition 'to join coalition government'

2010-05-28

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/africa/10177087.stm

A veteran opposition leader in Togo has said he will enter into a power-sharing deal with the government. Gilchrist Olympio told the BBC that his party will get eight ministerial posts in the coalition. President Faure Gnassingbe won re-election in March, although the opposition alleged irregularities in the vote-counting system.

Zambia: Ex-Finance Minister jailed for corruption

2010-05-28

http://bit.ly/92tnCk

Zambia's former finance minister, Katele Kalumba, has been jailed for five years for corruption. Lusaka High Court deputy director of operations, Edward Musona, sitting as magistrate on Wednesday, convicted Kalumba to five years, along with six others, including former finance permanent secretary Stella Chibanda and former finance chief economist Bede Mphande.

Africa: AfDB to increase capital to US$ 100 billion

2010-05-28

http://bit.ly/dCGh47

The African Development Bank (AfDB) is to increase its capital from US$ 33 billion to US$ 100 billion, in a bid to continue supporting African countries, a communique issued by the bank disclosed.

Africa: Competing visions of agricultural development at a critical juncture

2010-05-28

http://www.foodfirst.org/en/node/2933

A contest of competing visions over the future of Agriculture is playing out across Sub-Saharan Africa. Farmers' organizations are lining up against an aid regime that threatens to swamp smallholders with purported "solutions" to which these farmers have not assented and do not desire. The current economic crisis is bringing this situation to a critical point, as transnational corporations seek to capitalize on the current economic downturn, and the ongoing weakness of States whose economies and democratic institutions have withered since the 1980s; under the ministrations of the IMF, the World Bank, and the WTO.

Africa: EU subsidizes companies guilty of illegal fishing

2010-05-28

http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=51554

The European Union has for years been paying subsidies to the tune of one billion euro annually to industrial fishing companies based in its member states, including companies that have been caught fishing illegally in African waters. "The fact that the EU pays subsidies to vessels fishing in African waters is already a problem because, by doing so, European taxpayers are exacerbating poor African people’s difficulty to sustain livelihoods," Isabella Loevin, member of the European Parliament’s (EP) fisheries committee, said.

Africa: Namibia stands up to EU 'bullying'

2010-05-28

http://www.mmegi.bw/index.php?sid=1&aid=2578&dir=2010/May/Thursday27

Tensions between the European Union and Africa have once again erupted, with Namibia accusing the Brussels elite of resorting to bullying tactics in trade negotiations. In official statements, the European Commission -- the EU's executive -- has consistently argued that the Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs) it has been hoping to conclude with 47 African countries will bring tangible benefits to the continent. African governments have proven far less enthusiastic about these trade liberalisation accords, with some arguing that they are fomenting divisions among neighbours.

Global: Debt relief effectiveness and institution building

2010-05-28

http://www.gsdrc.org/go/display&type=Document&id=3688

What effects have recent debt-relief programmes had? Does debt relief promote institutional change? This article from the Development Policy Review provides new evidence on debt-relief programmes in Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPCs). It shows that debt relief is only weakly associated with subsequent improvements in economic performance and is correlated with increasing domestic debt.

Kenya: Bamboo project to expand rural housing

2010-05-28

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=89283

Kenya should encourage the use of bamboo in building affordable shelters, especially for 60 percent of the population who live in poorly constructed dwellings in rural areas, says a specialist. "Poor construction means they [houses] serve as breeding grounds for diseases including malaria, amoebic dysentery and respiratory conditions, which commonly claim the lives of many of their inhabitants,” Jacob Kibwange, project director of an initiative at Maseno University that aims to encourage bamboo exploitation, told IRIN.

South Africa: Minister will see farmers get all the help the WTO allows

2010-05-28

http://bit.ly/a70wmT

South African farmers have not received government support for 10 years, but Agriculture Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson intends to change this by pushing the World Trade Organisation (WTO) restrictions to the limit to do so. State assistance to agriculture has been a controversial issue for many years in the WTO and is on the agenda in the current Doha round of negotiations. Of particular importance are support measures for agriculture in developed countries that render products from the developing world uncompetitive.

South Africa: Nestlé accused of bio-pirating genetic resources

2010-05-28

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/development/64785

Research by the Berne Declaration and Natural Justice reveals that five recent patent applications by Nestlé on the use of Rooibos and Honeybush are in conflict with South African Law and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). This second bio piracy case in South Africa in less than a year again demonstrates how big corporations neglect their obligations to seek prior informed consent and to share benefits when using genetic resources from the developing countries as obliged by the CBD.
Research by the Berne Declaration and Natural Justice reveals that five recent patent applications by Nestlé on the use of Rooibos and Honeybush are in conflict with South African Law and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). This second bio piracy case in South Africa in less than a year again demonstrates how big corporations neglect their obligations to seek prior informed consent and to share benefits when using genetic resources from the developing countries as obliged by the CBD.
Four out of the five patents in question relate to the use of Rooibos and Honeybush for the treatment of certain hair and skin conditions. Another patent claims the use of Rooibos for the preparation of a product to prevent inflammatory disorders. The claims are very broad and subsequently applicable to a product range that stretches from cappuccino to salad dressing and from toothpaste to lipstick. Applicant of the patents is Nestec S.A., a subsidiary of Nestlé.
Rooibos and Honeybush are both endemic to the South African Western and Eastern Cape Provinces and both plants have a long tradition of use in the region, also for related medicinal purposes.
According to the South African Biodiversity Act (which implements the CBD in South Africa) a company needs a permit from the Government to do research with commercial intent on, or patent the use of, genetic resources occurring in South Africa. Such a permit can only be obtained if a benefit-sharing agreement has been negotiated. The Department of Environmental Affairs of the South African Government confirmed to Natural Justice and the Berne Declaration that Nestlé has never received the permits to use these South African genetic resources.

Based on the information provided, it is clear the patents of Nestlé and the research on which they are based are in contradiction with South African Law and the CBD. The Department of Science and Technology’s National Indigenous Knowledge Systems Office has also been approached given their mandate to safeguard the interests of indigenous communities and they are currently considering the nature of their involvement.

Nestlé’s holds a 30.5% participation in L’Oreal (the biggest cosmetic producer worldwide) and 50% in Innéov, a joint venture with L’Oréal, which could explain the company’s interest in skin and hair care products. “Nestlé builds its new business on illegally accessed material, precluding South Africa of their rightful share of benefits. Such illegal behaviour must no longer be supported by the patent system and tolerated by our governments”, says François Meienberg of the Berne Declaration.

Over the last few years CBD member states have been negotiating a new protocol to ensure compliance with the rules of Access and Benefit Sharing under the CBD and the corresponding national laws. “The Nestlé case highlights the urgent need for a new protocol that prevents the misappropriation of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge. Only a strong protocol will protect developing countries from an unlawful exploitation by companies”, says Kabir Bavikatte from Natural Justice.

West Africa: Ghana bids to break Africa’s oil curse

2010-05-28

http://bit.ly/8ZLyTS

As Ghana awaits the first riches from one of Africa’s top oil finds of the decade, expectations on the street are high and rising. “I believe in the oil,” said grocery vendor Grace Asantewaa from behind her meagre stall of tomatoes and chilli peppers at the Agbogbloshie market in the capital Accra. “We are sure everything will change in the name of Jesus,” predicted the 36-year-old mother-of-two, echoing widespread dreams of a more comfortable life once production from the Jubilee offshore field gets going in December this year.

Global: Anal sex 'a major driver in HIV epidemic'

2010-05-28

http://www.health-e.org.za/news/article.php?uid=20032800

Anal sex is viewed as something that only takes place among men who have sex with men (MSM) denying the fact that this form of sexual intercourse was a major driver in the HIV epidemic among heterosexual couples, researchers told the Microbicides 2010 conference this week.

Global: Eliminate bottlenecks to end mother-to-child HIV transmission

2010-05-28

http://bit.ly/cB0wyn

Making services for the prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT) available without addressing the factors that keep mothers from accessing these services was an exercise in futility, experts told a press briefing in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.

Global: Microbicides safe during pregnancy - study

2010-05-28

http://www.health-e.org.za/news/article.php?uid=20032798

A microbicide that researchers are pinning their hopes on is safe for use in pregnant women, according to a study presented at the Microbicide 2010 conference taking place in the United States this week. Study participants applied a single dose of tenofovir gel two hours before birth by cesarean section.

South Africa: ARV donor money running dry

2010-05-28

http://www.health-e.org.za/news/article.php?uid=20032806

Donors are disengaging from the fight against HIV/AIDS leaving behind millions who are still in dire need of lifesaving treatment in South Africa and other hard-hit Sub-Saharan African countries, warned Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).

South Africa: Women over-estimate condom use in study

2010-05-28

http://bit.ly/9Olemo

Surveys of condom use in women based on self-report may be seriously unreliable, to the extent of overestimating true use by 100%, the 2010 International Microbicides Conference has heard. This finding comes from a South African survey, but if it applies broadly it may have significant effects on trial design and mathematical modelling of the effect of microbicides.

Southern Africa: Malawi moves to adopt WHO guidelines

2010-05-28

http://www.plusnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=89266

Developing countries like Malawi are calculating the cost of adhering to new World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines that recommend starting HIV-positive people on antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) sooner. Malawi is one of three African countries that have conducted WHO-supported feasibility studies to assess what adopting the new guidelines would mean, and has announced plans to roll out the new WHO guidelines by mid-2011, said Dr Frank Chimbwandira, head of the HIV and AIDS department in the Ministry of Health.

Zambia: To screen or not to screen for HIV

2010-05-28

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/africa/10175172.stm

A landmark court case in Zambia is sure to reignite a debate about the pros and cons of mandatory testing for HIV. Zambia Air Force (ZAF) officers Stanley Kingaipe and Charles Chookole say they were tested and treated for the virus without their knowledge. ZAF has now been ordered to pay them compensation for mental anguish. The controversy about compulsory testing has been smouldering for some time. It was a stray remark by the minister of health at a HIV conference late in 2008 that started it. Kapembwa Simbao was reported as saying that too few Zambians were voluntarily going for an HIV test and that they should be compelled to do so.

CAR: Newly settled nomadic children go to school

2010-05-28

http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/car_53644.html

Fatima Yadik, a mother of 12 and grandmother of 18, recently settled in the Central African Republic town of Yaloké after 60 years with her nomadic community. Her camp of Peuhl nomads was attacked by bandits who killed all the men and stole their cattle. Peuhl people are often targeted by bandits because of the relative wealth of their livestock. Fleeing to safety, Ms. Yadik and her family joined the growing number of nomadic peoples across Africa’s interior who are escaping poverty and insecurity in the countryside in favour of life in towns and cities.

South Africa: Civil society organizations condemn ban on march for quality education

2010-05-28

http://bit.ly/bcHumG

A wide cross-section of civil society – unions, students organisations, faith based groups, community organisations and NGOs – with a collective membership of over a million people, strongly condemn the decision taken by the authorities to ban a peaceful march for the right to a quality public education for all, planned for June 10th 2010.

West Africa: Universal Education an empty promise for Liberia's girls

2010-05-28

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=51596

In a small office tucked behind the stairwell in Liberia’s Ministry of Education, the once-proud staff of the Girls’ Education Unit appear defeated. The workers in this fourth floor office, entrusted with charting a new course for the education of the country's girls and women, have no salaries, no budget, and few projects under way.

Malawi: Call for Zuma to lobby for freeing of jailed gays

2010-05-28

http://ilga.org/ilga/en/article/mrLdPmh14d

The Anglican church in Southern Africa called on President Jacob Zuma and the South African government to lobby for the immediate release of two Malawian men sentenced to 14 years in prison for their homosexual relationship. “We urge them to press for the swift release of these two individuals, who have committed no act of violence or harm against anyone; for the quashing of the sentence against them; and for the repeal of this repressive legislation,” the Synod of Bishops of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa said.

Morocco: Gay magazine 'Mithly' debuts

2010-05-28

http://bit.ly/aujA7Q

In a move that probes the limits of freedom of expression in Morocco, a group of gays and lesbians is working to raise their community's profile by publishing a trail-blazing magazine. The organisation Kif Kif (Similar) released a limited number of copies of the first edition of Mithly (Gay) in April, without applying for a government licence that they claim would have been denied.

South Africa: Celebrating Africa Day: Remembering our commitment to “never again”

2010-05-28

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/racism/64786

On 25 May, the continent, along with Africans all over the world, celebrate Africa Day. In most corners, it is an opportunity to celebrate the diversity and richness of African culture. In South Africa, Africa Day is taking on special significance as the nation prepares to “welcome the world” for the FIFA World Cup.
Yet, reports in the United Kingdom’s The Guardian and another in the South African Mail and Guardian about the possibility of post-event xenophobia in the country should remind us that just two years ago the nation came together with a rallying commitment to say “never again.”
South Africa: Celebrating Africa Day: Remembering our commitment to “never again”

* By Deborah Walter
Johannesburg, 24 May 2010. On 25 May, the continent, along with Africans all over the world, celebrate Africa Day. In most corners, it is an opportunity to celebrate the diversity and richness of African culture. In South Africa, Africa Day is taking on special significance as the nation prepares to “welcome the world” for the FIFA World Cup.
Yet, reports in the United Kingdom’s The Guardian and another in the South African Mail and Guardian about the possibility of post-event xenophobia in the country should remind us that just two years ago the nation came together with a rallying commitment to say “never again.”
On Africa Day in 2008, South Africa was still struggling to cope with the aftermath of xenophobic clashes that left sixty-two people dead, including twenty-one South Africans, and resulted in mass displacement of men, women, and children. The country marched, held vigils, collected food and blankets for the displaced, spoke out against the violence, and lamented about how this could possibly happen in a country so proudly deemed the rainbow nation.
The Guardian report says that dozens of Zimbabwean women interviewed in Hillbrow in downtown Johannesburg say they face daily intimidation and threats by their landlords and groups of men gathering outside their homes at night. Organisations such as the Consortium for Refugees and Migrants and the Forced Migration Studies Programme at Wits University corroborate their fears, saying this is not the first hints of possible violence.
Meanwhile, other organisations all over Southern Africa have stepped up efforts against the potential of human trafficking, especially trafficking into the sex industry to feed the perceived increased demand for sex services that comes with mega-events such as the World Cup. Women and girls from poorer countries are especially vulnerable to human trafficking, since promises of opportunities and a chance to earn a living are hard to pass up.
Southern Africa has long been a region of porous borders, with people seeking better lives on the other side – migrating from South Africa to countries like Mozambique and Zimbabwe during the apartheid years, and more recently into countries like South Africa and Botswana where stronger economies mean more jobs.

Traditionally this migrant movement has been mostly male, but times have changed. Economically, women across the continent are at a disadvantage. Social stereotypes and cultural practices reduce opportunities for education, work, and entrepreneurship for women. Yet at the same time, there are increasing numbers of female-headed households, especially resulting from HIV/AIDS, and more women responsible for the family’s daily bread.
Families often now expect their daughters, almost as much as their sons, to help provide for the family. And with limited opportunities in many Southern African countries, migration becomes the not so-easy solution. And it seems that migration is becoming even riskier business than ever before.
Celebrated since 1963, Africa Day is a commemoration of African unity. In celebrating the continent’s diversity and achievements, there is also a need to keep stressing that unity is the only way to continue developing and progress further, and this includes unity against all forms of xenophobic or gender violence. Perhaps it is fitting that much of this year’s celebrations are taking on a football theme – after all, the only way to win is if all members of a team pull together.

Zimbabwe has even themed this Africa Day “Promoting Peace Through Sports.” In South Africa, President Jacob Zuma will address to the nation, followed by a music concert featuring a range of artists from the famed "6-Pack" (the African nations that have qualified for the World Cup tournament) at Ekurhuleni's Dries Niemandt Park on 29 May.

The celebrations even go as far away as Taiwan, where African students are organising a soccer tournament, and Ireland, where groups of Africans are mounting sporting and cultural activities.

There are Africans all over the world, on every continent and in every country. Patterns of migration may change, but the movement of people never will. Unfortunately, except when there is a shocking event – xenophobic riots or a particularly horrific media report of human trafficking - making migration and migrants safe just does not seem to be a priority for most governments.
Two years ago, many expressed outrage at lack of action despite signs and warnings, while for others the violence came as a complete surprise. However, nobody can ever again say that they did not see it coming. Everyone knows that xenophobia is a problem, and for all the promises made two years ago, how much has changed?

So, as we celebrate this Africa Day and enjoy the afrobeat from Nigeria and soukos from Congo, dance Mozambican passada, and sample Ghanaian fufu or Moroccan couscous, remember that unity is more than celebrating.
Few migrate by choice, and there is a need to make migration safer, taking into account the particular vulnerabilities of women and girls. Whether it is saying no to human trafficking or raising our voices loudly to say “never again” against xenophobic violence, 67 years after the idea of African unity was first introduced, it’s high time.

* Deborah Walter is the Editor of the GL Opinion and Commentary Service and Director of CMFD Productions. This article is part of the GL Service that provides fresh views on everyday news.

South Africa: Undertone of xenophobia to soccer world cup

2010-05-28

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=89276

South Africa is hosting the continent's first soccer World Cup but the mounting anticipation is not drowning out a vicious whispering campaign calling for the expulsion of foreign nationals within hours of the curtain going down on football's biggest jamboree. The local media has been awash with anecdotal stories of conspiracies brewing at taxi ranks, shebeens and markets to bring a pogrom against foreign African nationals, who are blamed for taking jobs and diverting government services, while NGOs concerned with the plight of refugees and migrants are becoming more worried as 12 July - the day after the final game - draws near.

Global: Eskom fallout spurs new opposition to WB role in climate funding

2010-05-28

http://www.bicusa.org/en/Article.11889.aspx

A new ClimateWire article looks into the growing number of voices concerned about the World Bank's role in a post-Copenhagen world. The Bank's recent approval of a controversial loan to South African utility Eskom has spurred several previously reserved groups to demand reforms. BIC board member David Hunter was quoted.

Global: U.N. body urges caution on synthetic bacteria, geoengineering

2010-05-28

http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=51559

Scientists announced the creation of first self-replicating synthetic life form last Friday, and a few hours later, a United Nations science advisory body meeting here urged countries to take a strong precautionary approach to avoid release of such entities into the environment. Acting as the world's guardian on biodiversity, it also expressed deep concern about the potential impacts of geoengineering schemes to combat climate change on the Earth's ecosystems.

Kenya: Miracle tree lacks magic touch

2010-05-28

http://bit.ly/bfrarO

Large-scale farming of the biodiesel jatropha tree should be stopped since it creates a food shortage. It will harm the environment and is of little commercial value, according to a national research institution. This comes as the country gears up for what could be the biggest jatropha biodiesel project in the region. An Italian company, Nouve Iniziative Industriali sri, is clearing 55,000 hectares leased from the Malindi County Council for the jatropha plantations.

West Africa: Gabon launches climate council

2010-05-28

http://bit.ly/9gpMFi

A Climate Council, charged with developing a National Climate Plan, has been inaugurated by the Republic of Gabon's President Ali Bongo Ondimba. During the launch, President Ali Bongo Ondimba explained that the Climate Council was set up to recommend ways in which to develop the nation sustainably while combating climate change and preventing species loss.

Global: African land interest is opportunity and threat

2010-05-28

http://farmlandgrab.org/13281

Africa, with an estimated 700 million hectares of cheap potential new farmland, has been attracting the attention of foreign investors from nations seeking to enhance food security. Foreign companies with funding from the likes of China, the United Arab Emirates and India have been acquiring land across sub-Saharan Africa. Ethiopia alone has reportedly approved more than 800 foreign-funded agro-projects since 2007.

Africa: Needs growing for millions facing hunger in Sahel region

2010-05-28

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=34840

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today warned of growing needs in the Eastern Sahel region of West Africa, one of the most destitute regions in the world, where some 10 million people are facing extreme hunger due to drought and poor harvests. Thomas Yanga, WFP Regional Director for West Africa, said that despite efforts by governments, humanitarian agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the situation in eastern Mali, northern Cameroon, Chad and Niger is critical.

Global: The global struggle over who will end hunger

2010-05-28

http://huff.to/cnqhVB

Dublin was unusually sunny and warm last week when the High Level Task Force on the global food security crisis held a consultation at the Malahide resort just north of the city. Dr. David Nabarro, coordinator of the High Level Task Force was looking to elicit comments from civil society organizations on the Comprehensive Framework for Action to end hunger (CFA). The CFA, hastily written a year ago by a team of experts from 23 bureaucracies within the U.N. system, is a multilateral attempt to create a plan of action for dealing with the growing global food crisis.

Kenya: GMOs, food security and misplaced aid

2010-05-28

http://bit.ly/cTturs

Organic foods aren’t only the preference of countries in the so-called developed North. Forty thousand tons of genetically engineered maize was recently rejected in Kenya. Protesters are making sure it remains stuck in the port city of Mombassa. Jos Ngonyo, with Kenya’s Biodiversity Coalition, spoke to Green Acre Radio in a recent visit to Seattle. Ngonyo talked about why small-scale farmers reject the Green Revolution in Africa and “dysfunctional aid.” The Gates Foundation helped launch the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa four years ago.

Africa: Journalists gun for CNN award

2010-05-28

http://bit.ly/dgcdu4

The crème de la crème of Africa's media are gathering in Uganda's capital Kampala for the prestigious 2010 CNN MultiChoice African Journalist Awards on Saturday. Already some of the 27 finalists from 15 countries had started arriving. They include Uganda's Halima Abdallah Kisule of The EastAfrican and NTV sports reporter Leon Ssenyange.

Sudan: WiPC concerned by detained editor's reports of torture

2010-05-28

http://www.ifex.org/sudan/2010/05/27/al_amin_tortured/

The Writers in Prison Committee of International PEN (WiPC) protests the arrest and detention since 16 May 2010 of three journalists with the opposition daily newspaper "Rai al-Shaab" amid a post-election crackdown on the Sudanese media and opposition leaders. Deputy editor Abu Zar al-Amin has reportedly been transferred to police custody after being given electric shocks; the whereabouts of reporters Ashraf Abdel Aziz and Dahab Ibrahim remain unknown.

Zimbabwe: Media body grants licences to private papers

2010-05-28

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/africa/10170565.stm

Licences have been granted to four private daily newspapers in Zimbabwe by a commission set up by the unity government to implement media reforms. The Zimbabwean media is currently dominated by state-run newspapers. One of the licences has been granted to the Daily News, a paper critical of President Robert Mugabe, which was closed down in 2003.

Africa: DRC requests Zimbabwean troops

2010-05-28

http://bit.ly/9xlRqL

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has requested Zimbabwe to re-deploy its troops in the central African country to replace of a United Nations (UN) force that has been stationed there since 1999. The DRC wants the UN mission, known as MONUC to start winding down its operations by June 30 when the vast country marks 50 years of independence from Belgium.

Central Africa: Aid agencies prepare for MINURCAT exit

2010-05-28

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=89275

Humanitarian officials will look to the Chad government to protect civilians and secure aid operations after the UN Security Council decided on 25 May to withdraw some 3,000 UN peacekeepers from the country's volatile east. "The Chadian government has said quite clearly both publicly and privately that they take on the responsibility for our [humanitarian workers'] security," and that of other civilians, UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator John Holmes told IRIN from the capital, N'djamena, at the end of a four-day visit to Chad.

Somalia: Clashes continue to kill and uproot thousands

2010-05-28

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=34837

Renewed fighting between Government troops and armed opposition groups have displaced over 17,000 people from the Somali capital, Mogadishu, over the past month, with more than 14,300 fleeing in the last two weeks alone, the United Nations refugee agency reported. This brings to 200,000 the number of Somalis estimated to have been uprooted since the beginning of this year, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Uganda: bodies of landslide victims still missing

2010-05-28

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/africa/10180940.stm

Hundreds of bodies buried in a mudslide in Uganda three months ago have yet to be recovered, the rescue team says. Three villages on the slopes of Mount Elgon, near the eastern town of Bududa, were swept away in mudslide. About 200 people are still unaccounted for, while around 100 bodies have been recovered, officials say.

Africa: Protecting Africa’s ICT Consumers in a fast changing market

2010-05-28

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

Africa’s regulators are increasingly moving to assert their role as the protector of consumer interests in the ICT space. This week the Commissioner responsible for Consumer Affairs told a meeting held by the Liberian Consumers Action Network that it had established a consumer help desk. But if the landscape for ICT consumers is getting more complicated then the responsibilities of companies within the sector is also becoming more demanding.

Africa: Youth, Rural Development and ICT: ARDYIS Essay Contest now open

2010-05-28

http://www.wougnet.org/cms/content/view/527/1/

The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA), in collaboration with FARA, Yam-Pukri, CAFAN, AYF, ANAFE and PAFPNET, is organizing an essay writing contest on Youth and ICTs in Agriculture and Rural Development, aimed at identifying innovative solutions on challenges faced by
youth in agriculture and rural areas using Information and Communication Technologies.

Global: Mobile banking closes poverty gap

2010-05-28

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/10156667.stm

Mobile banking has transformed the way people in the developing world transfer money and now it is poised to offer more sophisticated banking services which could make a real difference to people's lives. Currently 2.7bn people living in the developing world do not have access to any sort of financial service. At the same time 1bn people throughout Africa, Latin America and Asia own a mobile phone.

Kenya: Safaricom launches a mobile bank account product with M-Kesho

2010-05-28

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

The introduction of a seamless mobile bank account product by Equity Bank and Safaricom on Tuesday promises to open up electronic commerce -- and mobile commerce in particular -- to the mass market. The service, dubbed M-Kesho, will allow users to perform basic banking transactions like deposits, withdrawals, loan applications, processing and reception right from their handsets.

Senegal: Mobile technology amplifying social change

2010-05-28

http://bit.ly/dl5xcb

Since 1991, Tostan has brought its holistic, human rights-based, 30-month non-formal education program – the Community Empowerment Program (CEP) – to thousands of communities in ten African countries: Burkina Faso, Djibouti, The Gambia, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Mauritania, Senegal, Somalia, and Sudan. The goal of the CEP is to provide its participants – 80% of whom are women and girls living in rural areas – with the skills and knowledge to improve their lives in a sustainable way. Developed methodically over the past 20 years through an ongoing process of community consultation and careful revision, the CEP has become today one of the most unique and effective community development programs in Africa.

West Africa: Submarine cable system installation complete

2010-05-28

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

Main One Cable Company, a submarine cable company offering open access, wholesale broadband capacity in West Africa, and its system supplier, Tyco Electronics Subsea Communications SubCom, have completed the installation of the first phase of its cable system on schedule

Ethiopia: Democracy deferred

AfricaFocus Bulletin May 25, 2010 (100525)

2010-05-28

http://www.africafocus.org/docs10/eth1005.php

"Behind an orderly facade, the government pressured, intimidated and threatened Ethiopian voters, ...Whatever the results, the most salient feature of this election was the months of repression preceding it." - Rona Peligal, acting Africa director at Human Rights Watch. There is little surprise in Ethiopian election results now beginning to come out, with the ruling party being returned with overwhelming majorities in all parts of the country. Nor has there been any large-scale violence reported, although some observers warned that new crackdowns on opposition might follow the election, But both Ethiopian and non-Ethiopian critics warn that the most important issues are structural, and that the appearance of democracy is belied by an authoritarian system.

Africa: The Dream, The Reality: Re-assessments of African Independence

CODESRIA

2010-05-28

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/64789

The Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) and the University of Ghana are pleased to announce the international symposium ”The Dream, The Reality: Re-assessments of African Independence”, to be held in Accra, Ghana, from 27th to 29th of September 2010. The symposium constitutes the central event in the inaugural issue of the Kwame Nkrumah Pan-African Intellectual & Cultural Festival Week, a bi-annual event to be held under the Kwame Nkrumah Chair in African Studies.
CODESRIA - University of Ghana
International Symposium

THE DREAM, THE REALITY: REASSESSMENTS OF AFRICAN INDEPENDENCE
Venue: Accra, Ghana
Date: September 27-29, 2010

The Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) and the University of Ghana are pleased to announce the international symposium ”The Dream, The Reality: Re-assessments of African Independence”, to be held in Accra, Ghana, from 27th to 29th of September 2010. The symposium constitutes the central event in the inaugural issue of the Kwame Nkrumah Pan-African Intellectual & Cultural Festival Week, a bi-annual event to be held under the Kwame Nkrumah Chair in African Studies. The Chair was recently established at the Institute of African Studies, University of Ghana, in honour of Nkrumah's dedication to a tradition of vigorous and liberating Africa-centred intellectual and cultural activity. He outlined his vision in the major address he gave on the occasion of the formal opening in 1963 of the Institute of African Studies. The coming symposium and the entire festival are being organised under the auspices of the Kwame Nkrumah Chair in African Studies as a major collaboration between CODESRIA, the Institute of African Studies-Legon, and the African Humanities Institute Programme, which is a CODESRIA institute based at the University of Ghana-Legon.

The symposium aims at achieving the triple objective of commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the Year of African Independence (1960-2010) while celebrating the Centenary Anniversary of the birth of Kwame Nkrumah (1909-2010); promoting an ongoing critical study of the contemporary condition of Africa; nurturing reflections on the future development of the continent.

It has become customary for some time now, especially for a generation too young to have been personally touched by the events of that great moment in African and world history, to dismiss African independence as a fluke, a mirage. Independence as a movement certainly has suffered serious setbacks, but its general import must not be dismissed so lightly. As CLR James observed in 1969:

The dozen years that have unfolded since the winning of independence by the Gold Coast in 1957 are some of the most far-reaching and politically intense that history has known. African state after state has gained political independence with a tumultuous rush that was not envisaged, even by the most sanguine of the early advocates of independence …. The British Government, as did the French and Belgian, found that despite their soldiers, their guns and planes, they could not rule. The colonial mentality having been broken, the only way to restore some sort of order ... the only way to have a viable society was to transfer the man in jail to be the head of state.

What we may call the African independence imperative constitutes one of the most rapid and most hopeful, even if short-lived moments in world history. Thirty African countries gained their political independence from reluctant but somewhat helpless European powers within five years of Ghana's historic moment on March 6, 1957, more than half that number gaining their independence in one year—1960, ‘the Year of African Independence’. A large part of the credit must go to such visionary leaders as Nkrumah, Nyerere, Azikiwe, Kenyatta, even Banda, despite how each of them later turned out. But we cannot overlook the role played by the ordinary citizenry. Without their support, without the sacrifices they were prepared to make, in some cases, sacrifice that took the form of armed struggle against the best armed militaries in Europe, often aided by African collaborators, the lofty ideals of even the most revolutionary, most visionary leader was bound to amount to nothing but a dream. Perhaps this was the one thing that each of these leaders eventually seemed to have lost sight of -- that an enduring spirit of freedom resides in the collective will and struggle of a people, not in the lofty ideals of one leader, however gifted, however progressive. Any disconnect between the vision of a leader and the will and spirit of the people can only lead to one result—the collapse of the independence dream itself, a tragedy for leader and the people alike.

Since the era of independence, the African continent has undergone profound socio-economic, political, and cultural changes. Backed by different ideologies, most of them inspired by foreign paradigms, African states have experimented with various socio-economic development models, with varying degrees of success and failure. The continent is still struggling to overcome violent conflicts that have characterised the political and social development of the continent for decades. Many African states are now moving into the early years of a new wave of independence in which they are actively striving to rid the continent of negative stereotypical crises, including war, famine and disease, by developing vibrant economies, investing in infrastructure and working with partners on the continent and beyond to build prosperous societies.

Fifty years down the line, what assessments can we make from that historic moment when close to twenty African countries gained independence in one year (1960), an event so vividly celebrated around the world? What have we done with the hopes raised by independence? New developments in international relations give rise to urgent questions about the role and place of Africa in the new international order. What responses can and should African states adopt to face the rise of new players in the new emerging international order? How should African States position themselves with these new emerging powers that are turning to the continent in the quest for new sources of raw materials to feed their economic growth, attracted by Africa’s rich natural and human resources? What are the challenges facing the African continent, for example in terms of integrating its economies?

CODESRIA, the Kwame Nkrumah Chair in African Studies, the Institute of African Studies, and the African Humanities Institute Programme of CODESRIA at Legon, invite social science and humanities scholars, artists, cultural and political activists to produce carefully thought-out papers for open discussion and debate in an international forum intended to be as critical and innovative as possible. It is proposed that a small number of invited papers will serve as lead presentations around which panels can address clearly defined issues of special historical significance and contemporary relevance.

This symposium is aimed at ‘taking stock’ of our growing knowledge base with respect to social, political, and cultural developments in African countries, directing a special focus on the place and role of African countries in the international arena. As several countries celebrate their 50th anniversary, it is important that the social sciences and the humanities re-examine where we are with our scientific knowledge and creative vision of African societies, as well as how influential this knowledge and vision could be for the future development of the continent. The symposium offers a forum where research and creative work in various fields can be presented, discussed and further developed to fill critical knowledge gaps with respect to African development in all its aspects. Symposium organisers are particularly interested in creative thinkers, researchers, research groups and networks studying African societies through comparative perspectives and from different theoretical and creative angles. The symposium is organised around six focal areas:
a) Social Transformation and Prospects of African Development
b) Democratic Governance, Peace Building and Social Justice
c) Economic Growth, Social Policy and Issues of Equity
d) Education, Culture and Identity
e) Citizenship, Gender and Social Inclusion/Exclusion
f) Africa in the Global Economy and the Global Economy in Africa.

In developing their abstracts and papers, potential conference participants are encouraged to focus on, but not limit themselves to any of the following sub-themes:

1. The Liberation Struggle: Contending Ideologies, Strategies & Programmes
- e.g. Individual Nationhood vrs. The Pan-African Project
2. African Independence: Successes, Failures, Prospects
3. The Challenge of New Nationhood:
- Building Independent Economies
- Internal Factors & The Global Environment
4. Pioneer Figures and Movements of African Liberation Struggle
5. Lessons from the African Diaspora
6. Beyond Leadership – The Role of the Elite, the Masses, the Women, the Youth
7. The Military & the Police: Their Role in African Independence and After
8. The Role of the Press in Independence Struggle and After
9. Cultural Dimensions of the African Independence Movement
- Creative Visions & Voices of the Liberation Struggle
- Historical and Cultural Models of Resistance
- Language and the Destiny of the New Nation States
10. Pioneering Scholarship in the Era of African Independence
11. Conflict and Conflict Management in Post-Independence African States
12. Models for a Union of African States
13. Missed Steps and Lessons for a Future Africa.

Abstracts of 200-250 words should be submitted by 30th June, 2010. Authors of abstracts that are deemed suitable for development into full papers will be notified by 10th July, 2010. Full papers from those whose abstracts are selected must be received by 20th August, 2010. Those whose papers are accepted for presentation will be notified by 31st August, 2010. Participation costs of those whose papers are accepted for presentation will be covered fully or partially by CODESRIA.

All abstracts and papers should be sent, preferably by email, to the two addresses below:

CODESRIA
BP 3304, Dakar CP 18524, Senegal
Tel.: +221-33 825 9822/23
Fax: +221-33 824 1289
E-mail: humanities.programme@codesria.sn
Website: http//www.codesria.org

and

KWAME NKRUMAH CHAIR IN AFRICAN STUDIES
INSTITUTE OF AFRICAN STUDIES
UNIVERSITY OF GHANA
LEGON - ACCRA, GHANA.
E-mail: <k-anyi@ug.edu.gh>

Global: Food sovereignty tour

2010-05-28

http://bit.ly/9qKDE8

Applicants are invited to participate in a two week study tour to study food sovereignty, social movements and social change in Venezuela, 19 July to 2 August, 2010. The tour will examine issues of land reform, urbanization issues, rural development and food sovereignty within a dynamic political context. Venezuela is an outstanding example of a country that strives to ensure its citizens’ right to food while bolstering its domestic agriculture sector, with an emphasis on organic practices and agroecology. We will also explore other areas of social transformation, including education, healthcare, and direct citizen participation in the political process.

Fahamu