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Dozens dead and hundreds injured at the Shebin al-Kom Prison

Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights

2011-02-24

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/action/71170

The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR) today called for an immediate investigation into the excessive violence being used by officers at the Shebin al-Kom Prison in Monufiya against prison inmates since 25 January, which has left dozens dead and hundreds more injured. The EIPR asked the Public Prosecutor to take immediate action to stop the use of violence against prisoners and provide the necessary medical care for the injured and sick.

The EIPR has received credible information from inside the prison indicating that the warden and prison administration used tear gas canisters and live ammunition against inmates, ostensibly in response to a collective escape attempt organized by some prisoners. The prisoners deny this, adding that the administration shot at them while they were inside their cellblocks.

The EIPR added that it has a list of 17 prisoners among those killed so far in Cell Block A alone. The list includes the name of Kamal Said Mahmoud, who was killed while inside the cell on Sunday, 20 February.

“The Public Prosecutor must take action now to stop the murder of prisoners and save those injured in the Shebin al-Kom Prison,” said Magda Boutros, a researcher with the EIPR. “He must put an end to the collective killing of prisoners in other prisons around the country, especially since every day we discover more victims in more prisons.”

Testimonies from the Shebin al-Kom Prison indicate that the unrest that began in the prison on 25 January still continues, despite periods of calm. Several prisoners said that injured inmates only received medical care days after their injury. They added that they have been denied food, water, and electricity in the cellblocks for long periods since the beginning of the turmoil. They have also been denied family visits.

The unrest broke out again yesterday, 22 February, when security forces under the Interior Ministry, supported by army troops, attempted to evacuate some inmates. The prisoners refused, fearing they would be subjected to retaliation by administrations of other prisons.

Yesterday the EIPR contacted Gen. Khaled Hamdi of the Prison Authority, who said that the security situation does not permit the presence of prisoners because the cellblocks have been destroyed. He said that the Prison Authority had decided to evacuate the inmates and temporarily transfer them to other prisons until the necessary repairs could be completed.

The EIPR urged the Prison Authority to guarantee that the transfer of prisoners to other prisons will not endanger their lives or safety, and to guarantee their right to humane treatment in all cases.

The EIPR previously filed a complaint with the Public Prosecutor on behalf of 11 families of inmates at the al-Qata Prison in Giza on 9 February, asking for an immediate investigation into information received by the families that the prison administration had randomly opened fire on inmates in late January, killing dozens.

Opposing massacres in Libya: A call for solidarity and vigilance

Horace Campbell

2011-02-24

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/71185

cc AzlsTracing Colonel Gaddafi’s dubious history of collusion with Western interests, Horace Campbell stresses that current developments in Libya must push towards a people-centred democratisation of the country’s society.

The news of the massacre of innocent citizens of Libya by the dying regime of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi reminded the world of a number of basic facts. The first is that dictators everywhere are weak and require brute force to remain in power. The second is that an organised and dedicated people can enter the political stage and bring about revolutionary situations. Third is the new awareness that once the people gain confidence and the wave of revolutionary energy sweeps through Africa, no external force can contain this energy and no foreign military intervention can derail liberation. And fourth is the reality that money cannot guarantee political loyalty for long. It is for these reasons that in the last seven days, not even the US$150 billion of foreign reserves controlled by Gaddafi and his sons can save the regime from a people who want basic freedoms. These points have been driven home by the rapid disintegration of the governments in North Africa and the Middle East with the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions leading the way to a new era of political change in world politics. It is apt to term the Libyan uprising a revolutionary situation to distinguish this first phase of the Libyan rebellion from the robust forms of self-organisation that had matured inside of Tunisia and Egypt.

From Ethiopia to Gabon and from Djibouti to Yemen and Bahrain, the stirrings of the oppressed have exposed those governments that used the so-called ‘War on Terror’ as a smokescreen to exploit the mass of the people. In every country of Africa and the Middle East, dictators are calling on each other to dust off manuals on repression as people defy the weapons and torture to demand a new mode of economics and politics. The struggles for freedom in Libya and the dying spasms of Gaddafi are particularly noteworthy because Gaddafi and his Western backers had calculated that this dictator could use the billions of dollars from hydrocarbons to not only buy weapons but also to seek to bribe all and sundry. On Tuesday 22 February the Security Council of the United Nations expressed ‘grave concerns’ about the mass murders that were being carried out by paid militia persons as the permanent members of the same UN Security Council rushed to cover their tracks in relation to their military support for Gaddafi. The Arab League expelled Gaddafi while numerous governments in Europe lined up behind cameras to condemn the killing of innocent civilians. Belatedly, after the Arab League expelled Libya, the chairperson of the AU Commission, Jean Ping, expressed ‘deep concern’ about what was going on in Libya. It is in the face of the timid position of the leaders of the African states that this statement wants to forthrightly express solidarity with the peoples of Libya and their demand to end the Gaddafi police state.

DISTINGUISHING THE OPPRESSED FROM THEIR OPPRESSORS

We seek to distinguish between the peoples of Africa who have been oppressed by Gaddafi and his allies and those mercenaries who are now on the streets killing innocent civilians. One can understand the anger of the citizens of Libya, who are being killed in cold blood, but it is urgent that in the process of a rebellion, xenophobia and racist ideas are not brought into the opposition to Muammar Gaddafi. Instinctively, Libyans who are mourning the more than 1,000 persons who have been massacred will curse those Africans who supported Gaddafi, but it is in moments like these that those fighting for freedom in Libya should remember that Africans in Chad, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Uganda did not blame all Libyans when Gaddafi supported genocidal violence and the worst dictators in Africa.

Because of the level of repression in the police state of Gaddafi, the levels of political organisation by the Libyan working class were underdeveloped. This social and political limitation meant that Gaddafi benefitted from chauvinism among differing regions, to the point that many Libyans identified with Europe and accused Gaddafi of squandering money in Africa. This anti-African posture was accentuated by the reports that Gaddafi had recruited mercenaries from ‘African countries’ to repress the people, as if Libya was not an African state.

It is in the midst of this confusion it is necessary to say just as how Tanzanians did not classify all Libyans as supporters of Idi Amin of Uganda when Gaddafi used his mercenaries to back up that dictator in invading Tanzania in 1979 so it is also necessary to distinguish between poor African migrant workers in Libya and mercenaries and military entrepreneurs who are the leftovers from the military adventures of Gaddafi. This kind of clarity is necessary so that Africans in Libya and in other parts of the continent can distinguish between the oppressed and their oppressors in order to form the solidarity that could bring about true revolutionary transformation of relations of peoples across the Nile and the Sahara.

As the flames of revolutionary energy fan across North Africa, not even the bombing of cities and shooting of innocent civilians from helicopter gunships can deter the people from taking to the streets to demand the removal of the regime. Unlike in Tunisia and Egypt, the revolutionary demands of the people in motion had been distorted because Gaddafi himself had distorted the meaning of revolution and socialism in Libya. This distortion is most manifest by the fact that in a country with billions of dollars in reserves, there was more than 20 per cent of the population unemployed, with another large percentage underemployed. This unemployment existed in a country with close to 2 million foreign workers, as foreign workers are easier to control because of the insecurity associated with being migrant workers.

Forty-two years after Muammar Gaddafi seized power in the coup d’état against King Idris in 1969, the form of personalised rule of Gaddafi and his family meant that the spoils of the capitalist state did not trickle down to the mass of 6.7 million Libyans. In a state sitting on one of the largest deposits of hydrocarbons in Africa, Libya had squandered the wealth of the society as Gaddafi and his children recycled the wealth to Western arms manufacturers and financial interests while the standard of living of the people remained very low. Libya is supposed to be the country in Africa with the highest Human Development Index ranking in Africa. Yet, even with significant oil reserves, the wealth of Libya did little for the peoples of Libya since only a small clique around Gaddafi and his family benefited from the billions of dollars of oil revenue. Gaddafi and his ‘revolutionary committees’ did very little to address the deep exploitation and marginalisation of the peoples of Libya, especially among the country's largely young population. It is this squandering of the wealth that serves as an abject lesson that wealth does not come from money, but from wealth creation arising from the sweat of workers and the transformation of the economic relations in society.

THE BROTHER LEADER, A STRANGE BEDFELLOW OF THE WEST

With the knowledge of the vast oil reserves of Libya, Western states competed to gain contracts to exploit this wealth. In order to be at this table of looting, the George W. Bush administration worked hard to regularise relations with Libya, using all of its diplomatic clout to take Libya off the list of countries ‘sponsoring state terrorism’. Gaddafi was a willing accomplice in this manoeuvring so that at precisely the moment when peace and justice forces were opposing the US war against the peoples of Iraq, Gaddafi welcomed Britain and then the US in the renewal of diplomatic relations. In tandem with the US rush to compete with members of the European Union who were active in Libya, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) showered praise on Gaddafi as Libya’s relationship with Western capitalist firms deepened after UN sanctions were lifted in 2003. While France toyed with the idea of a Mediterranean Union to compete with US military penetration of North Africa, Gaddafi was fast becoming a close ally of the United States as Condoleezza Rice flew into Libya to proclaim that ‘nations have no permanent friends or allies, they only have permanent interests’. As a representative of the Bush faction of the US rulers, this faction had their eyes on Libya’s oil reserves, which are estimated to be 41.46 billion barrels with gas reserves at 1.419 trillion cubic metres. With four rounds of exploration agreements completed since 2004, those in the energy business understood that proven reserves will double or even triple in future.

The British were supplicant and carried out the necessary political and diplomatic gymnastics so that the massive oil polluter of the Deep Horizon infamy of British oil giant BP could push on with a US$900 million exploration contract in Libya. Yet, while France, Britain and Germany, as well as all members of the EU, sought to solve their unemployment problems by taking jobs away from young Libyans, the closest relationship of Gaddafi was with the quasi-fascist government of Italy. The alliance between Italian ‘entrepreneurs’ of the Berlusconi ilk and the elite elements around Gaddafi ran deep, to the point where the wealth from Libya went to prop up Italian capitalist firms such as carmaker Fiat, banking group UniCredit and even the Juventus football team. Italian oil giant Eni has a €14 billion investment programme in the country, as well as supply contracts stretching to 2047. Overall Libyan oil accounts for around 27 per cent of Italy’s consumption. On top of this economic relationship, Gaddafi agreed to act as the police for the European Union, arresting and detaining Africans who believed that the freedom of labour should be the same as the freedom of capital. Muammar Gaddafi agreed to keep African migrants from leaving Libya’s frontiers for Italy, and to readmit to Libya, for detention and torture, those intercepted in international waters. In order to cover up this cosy relationship with Berlusconi, Libya attached this agreement to the reparations of cultural objects and signed a friendship pact with one of the most conservative governments in Western Europe. Italy and Libya pledged to increase cooperation in ‘fighting terrorism, organised crime, drug trafficking and illegal immigration’.

KING OF KINGS OF THE AFRICAN UNION

It must be reiterated that it was the same moment when Gaddafi was signing agreements to be the gatekeepers for the EU that this same leader was campaigning to become the kings of kings in the African Union. I want to draw attention to my submission last year when I wrote that despite the statements of Gaddafi that he supported African unity, his leadership represented an obstacle to the future unity of the peoples of Africa. I then drew attention to the fact that Gaddafi assisted Idi Amin of Uganda to divert attention from the liberation struggles in Southern Africa and that the Libyan government had been complicit in the mass killings in Uganda between 1972–79. When Idi Amin did invade Tanzania in 1978, Libya dispatched elite armed elements to support the invasion. When Tanzania pushed back the invasion and defeated the joint Libyan–Ugandan forces, Tanzania captured Libyan troops. In classic mercenary style, Libya wanted to pay for the return of the soldiers, but Tanzania returned the soldiers without asking for money.

Gaddafi continued to make mischief in all parts of Africa using the money left over from dealings with Europeans to spread insecurity and violence in all parts of Africa. Whether it was in Liberia, Sierra Leone or Chad, military entrepreneurs who worked with Western arms manufacturers to destabilise Africa worked hand-in-glove with Gaddafi. Despite this record of destruction, Gaddafi had bought some respect by giving material support to the African National Congress (ANC) of South Africa and the South-West People’s Organisation (SWAPO) of Namibia. It was this relationship that earned the ire of the West and in 1986, at the height of the Cold War, the US military under Ronald Reagan bombed Libya. This bombing increased the stature of Libya with the cooling of relationship between the West and Gaddafi. The bombing of the Pan Am plane over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988 further deepened the rift between Libya and some of the states of the West. With the impending fall of the Libyan government, citizens of the world may yet find out the truth behind this sordid and deadly affair of the Lockerbie bombing.

Nelson Mandela worked assiduously to end the stand-off between Libya and the West over the Lockerbie bombings. It was after this intervention by Mandela that sanctions were gradually lifted and Western oil companies began to aggressively compete again in the Libyan oil sector. It was after this that Gaddafi called the extra-ordinary meeting of the Organisation of African Unity and set in motion the convergence of forces that resulted in the Constitutive Act of the African Union. From the moment this Constitutive Act came into force, Gaddafi worked with those elements who wanted to turn the African Union into a club of dictators. It must be clarified here that, contrary to reports from many quarters, Gaddafi is not the original champion of the vision of a United States of Africa. Neither did his brand of Pan-Africanism capture the essence of the kind of grassroots Pan-Africanism that had been envisioned for the unity of African peoples and for the uplifting of the dignity of African peoples. When visionaries like Kwame Nkrumah and Cheikh Anta Diop championed the idea of a federated African state in the 1960s and 1970s, they did not envision one which would be ruled by corrupt dictators and an arrogant king of kings.

Gaddafi himself paid the dues of dictators who kept large Swiss bank accounts while they did not pay their dues. It was because Gaddafi used some of the wealth to contribute to the running of the AU that Libya emerged as one of the top five contributors to the operational budget of the African Union. The top five were Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Nigeria and South Africa.

With the fall of two core members of this club that dominated the AU, Egypt and Libya, the door is now more open for a people-oriented African unity that starts from the interest of the people. Gaddafi himself was afraid of the cultural and political influence of the Nigerian peoples in a democratised African Union, hence his call for a breaking-up of Nigeria. This call was a desperate effort to gain leverage in a society that was not holding out the begging bowl to Libya. At the start of the uprisings, Reuters news agency exposed a list to show the countries that owed Libya more than US$3 billion dollars.

Below are details of the loans set out in the document, which was drafted by the Libyan General People’s Committee for International Cooperation, or foreign ministry:



* Amounts in millions of US dollars unless otherwise stated
** Loans not yet due for repayment

One can see from this list that a dictator such as Omar al-Bashir of Sudan was one of the principal benefactors of the loans from Gaddafi, and this was at the same time that Gaddafi was pursuing this offensive to buy support within the African Union.

Western news agencies used the antics of Gaddafi to discredit the AU. But pan-Africanists at the grassroots worked hard to give meaning to the AU by building networks among the various constituencies of Africans who wanted to build a genuine union of peoples across borders. African women who were fighting for their rights joined with workers and other activists to build a constituency within the AU for the voices of the people. One major battle was manifest in the struggles for the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa. After the Constitutive Act came into force in 2002, on 26 October 2005 there was another milestone in the AU when the protocol on the rights of women received its 15th ratification, meaning the protocol entered into force on 25 November 2005. This marked a milestone in the protection and promotion of women’s rights in Africa, creating new rights for women in terms of international standards. Solidarity for African Women’s Rights (SOAWR), a coalition of groups across Africa in which the Africa regional office of Equality Now plays a leading role, has been campaigning for the ratification, domestication and popularisation of the protocol since April 2004 after learning that the pace of ratification was very slow and concern was raised that it might take years for the protocol to come into force unless member states were held publicly and consistently accountable for their promises to ratify it. Activists such as the late Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem embraced the AU’s Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC) to facilitate the deepening and widening of civil society engagement with the AU. The ECOSOCC, which is an official civil society general assembly of the AU, was launched in September 2008, in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Its membership includes trade unions, non-governmental organisations, women’s groups, human rights campaigners and anti-poverty campaigners.

It was in the face of a robust ECOSSOC that Gaddafi declared to his friends such as Mugabe, Museveni and Meles that ‘revolutionaries should never retire’. It is with this kind of thinking that the African Union elevated Equatorial Guinea’s ‘big man’, Teodoro Obiang Nguema, to be chairperson of the African Union. Obiang Nguema is considered to be at the head of one of the most corrupt, ethnocentric, oppressive and undemocratic states in the world, and the fact that he is currently the chairperson of the AU is a clear statement on why the AU has not condemned the violence and crimes against humanity in Libya. Equatorial Guinea is like one big prison for the people, with one of the worst human rights records in the world, consistently ranking among the ‘worst of the worst’. Abuses under Obiang have included ‘unlawful killings by security forces; government-sanctioned kidnappings; systematic torture of prisoners and detainees by security forces; life-threatening conditions in prisons and detention facilities; impunity; arbitrary arrest, detention, and incommunicado detention’. There is no freedom of speech, or freedom of assembly, as Obiang recycles the oil wealth of Equatorial Guinea back to Europe and the USA.

This is the climate of dictatorship where looters and killers like Gaddafi are all over Africa, and as I write there is a major debate in Kenya as killers seek the support of the AU for the deferral of those politicians who were implicated in the 2008 post-election violence in Kenya.

Gaddafi feels that he is in good company when he unleashed mass violence against the people, but the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions had changed the political calculus in Africa. While Africa is silent, Gaddafi goes back to those elements that he supported in the past to recruit mercenaries to suppress the uprising of the Libyan people. It is in the midst of this uprising where the forms of solidarity have to be very sophisticated and clear so that the machinations of foreign incursions are not engineered in an opportunistic manner to impose a solution on post-Gaddafi Libya that could rob Africa of the kind of revolutionary breakthroughs in Tunisia and Egypt.

African civil society and workers across Africa must raise their voices against the likes of Obiang of Equatorial Guinea and Gaddafi of Libya. These forces must declare that Obiang is unfit to be the chairperson of the AU if Article 4(h) of the Constitutive Act should have meaning. This article gives the right of the AU to ‘intervene in a member state pursuant to a decision of the assembly in respect of grave circumstances, namely war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity’. Neither Obiang nor his ilk in the AU apply this article to the grave situation in Libya as long as they know that the revolutionary wave might be headed to their own domain soon.

VIGILANCE IS NECESSARY

Peace activists around the world should be ready to organise protests to expose the complicity and hypocrisy of Western powers as the Gaddafi regime attempts to use lethal force against the challenge to its rule. With the rise of popular protest against neoliberalism globally – as we are witnessing inside the United States with massive demonstrations in Wisconsin, Indiana and Ohio – the US militarists and barons of Wall Street are on the defensive. Despite the isolation and repression of the people of Libya under Gaddafi, after one week of protest people have learnt enough from the Tunisian and Egyptian phases of the revolution to neutralise the armed forces of Gaddafi. This neutralisation of the armed forces means that Gaddafi and his sons are isolated. ‘The troops that remain loyal to the regime are showing no mercy in their suppression of the uprising.’ The shooting is not designed to disperse the protesters,’ one Tripoli resident told The New York Times. ‘It is meant to kill them.’

In the face of the new organisational techniques of the people in rebellion, Western Europe and North America shudder when they think of a popular and democratic government getting its hands on US$150 billion of foreign reserves. It is this reality along with the massive oil and gas reserves of Libya that has precipitated the warning of Fidel Castro that NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) was preparing to invade Libya. In the midst of a capitalist depression when workers across Europe and the United States are battling the forces of austerity and the enrichment of billionaires, such an invasion would be the perfect diversion to whip up racism, xenophobia and Islamophobia. Already the Western media are declaring that the exodus from Libya will be of biblical proportions. News reports such as this whip up hysteria in Europe.

For centuries Libya, like Egypt, stood as a bridge between peoples and civilisations. Since the 7th century, when peoples from the Arabian Peninsula invaded North Africa, there has been a strained relationship with those invaders who assumed ideas of superiority over Africans. It is the chauvinism of these forces that has led to the intense cleavages within the Pan-African movement over issues of Arab ‘imperialism’. For a short moment, Nasser linked the fortunes of independence in Egypt with the fortunes of decolonisation in Africa and in Palestine. Gaddafi sought to emulate Nasser without the kind of popular support that Nasser enjoyed. Isolated and wallowing in oil wealth, Gaddafi was open to manipulation by the West, who understood very early that his brand of ‘radicalism’ and Green Book revolution was no threat to capitalism.

Now that there is the possibility of the democratisation of Libyan society, progressive persons everywhere must stand in solidarity with the peoples of Libya against the repression of Gaddafi while opposing all forms of divisive manipulations. Progressives in Europe and North America want to take Libya, Egypt and Tunisia out of Africa and term the process an Arab awakening. There are many in North Africa who may call themselves Arab, but as Firoze Manji rightly corrected some progressives in Europe, ‘Egypt is an African country.’ These progressives must understand the geography of revolution as it unfolds because the union of the peoples of Africa is one of the goals of this phase of the revolution. After the quagmire and killings of Afghanistan and Iraq, the last thing Africa needs is another war. And yet, if war comes, the war itself will sharpen the revolutionary pace in Africa. The rebellion in Libya has been inserted into the revolutionary moment in Tunisia and Egypt. The people of Libya must work with all of the peoples of Africa so that the rebellion takes on a revolutionary character.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* Horace Campbell is a teacher and writer. Professor Campbell's website is www.horacecampbell.net. His latest book is 'Barack Obama and 21st Century Politics: A Revolutionary Moment in the USA', published by Pluto Press.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

Gaddafi’s overthrow: Telling the story online

Patrick Burnett

2011-02-24

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/71189

cc AzlsBlackout. No international journalists. No network cameras. And yet the story of Libya’s revolution has poured out on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other online platforms. It’s a story that has been raw, uncut and shocking. Below is a selection of this material from four days in Libya this week.

WARNING: Videos posted in this article contain graphic scenes of violence and are not for sensitive users.

20 FEBRUARY: Mercenaries reported to have reached Tripoli and deployed in crackdown on anti-Gaddafi protestors. Ongoing fighting in Benghazi between protestors and security forces. Gaddafi’s son, Seif el-Islam warns of ‘rivers of blood’ if demonstrators do not disperse.

On the blog Alive in Egypt, one eyewitness reported: ‘We don’t know what will happen even in the next five minutes. But every so often we get news that an area has fallen in the hands of the protesters. So there was a suggestion that we go to the Green Square, and the youth started gathering themselves…’

The user continues: ‘The youth put their trust in God and at about 10:30 they reached the Green Square. They kicked out the pro-Gaddafi people in the Square and burned the internal security center. They entered and burned it all, and I think the general security building overlooking the martyrs square too.

‘After the speech, of course we were listening, after the speech, suddenly cars came, the land cruisers, with people. They were far away so I can’t tell you if they were Africans or Libyans or from Sirte. They gave us no chance. Heavy fire, like it was a war. Until you can’t even hear or even see what’s happening.

‘The demonstrators scattered, and they suddenly brought in their gangs chanting “Fatih, Fatih” (One of Gaddafi's titles) and they re-entered the square. We took shelter in the neighboring buildings for a while then retreated. There was also strikes by anti-aircraft missiles, we saw this in front of us. Those that I saw with my own eyes, two wounded, one shot in the head.’

This video later surfaced, apparently showing fighting around Green Square.

Another post on Alive in Libya said: ‘It’s a massacre, it’s a massacre, the Libyan regime got crazy. He started killing the protesters who went out in peace to protest to say get rid of this regime and they are tired of injustice.’

In another post, it was made clear that nowhere was safe: ‘There is an attack on the hospitals. The injured that were taken to Tripoli Central Hospital have been tracked down and killed inside the hospital said the doctors.’

This was in Tripoli, but on Twitter, Libyan4life tweeted: ‘The situation is VERY grave in #Benghazi. Libyans abroad are working with NGO's to try to get med. supplies into #Libya.’

This prompted Libyan4life to ask: ‘How can the US, UK other countries stay quiet? THEY ARE BEGGING FOR OUR HELP.’

Libyan4life posted this video containing an interview with an emotional eyewitness in Benghazi. ‘Please help us. We do nothing. Please help us. I am afraid. I am really afraid.’

Later, the situation in Benghazi appeared to have stabilised. This video showed people celebrating victory in Benghazi.

Twitter user ShababLibya tweeted:
‘#qaddafis regime is on its knees, i can see its end, i smell freedom, i have never known it in my homeland before i see it i see it #Libya’

Meanwhile, on Alive in Libya negative reaction to Seif el-Islam’s speech was widespread: ‘We don’t like it, we just hear the same tone, like his father. We don’t see any difference, just another liar. He’s just intimidating us, he’s just challenging the people, but he’s underestimating what’s really going on.’

21 FEBRUARY: Reports that Misratah, a city east of Tripoli, is attacked by airstrikes. Military planes land in Malta: pilots say they refused to attack protestors. Numerous Libyan diplomats around the world resign. Phone lines are cut. Reports of chaos in Tripoli.

Response to Seif el Islam’s speech continued: ‘I ask the Libyan people to unite and not to listen to the words of this dictator…

‘We are one people and the petrol is the petrol of all the Libyans and we are one people who wish to live in freedom that we have been forbidden for forty years, for forty years we have been forbidden from this petrol and now the petrol is petrol for all of Libya…’

Meanwhile, this video emerged as further illustration of the chaos gripping Tripoli, showing buildings being burnt down.

ShababLibya tweeted: ‘we are getting eye witness accounts of terrible crimes currently taking place in the city of #Tripoli we fear the worst #Libya #Feb17.’

And, also from ShababLibya , news that created shock across the world, ‘Fighter jets overhead tripoli confirmed firing at protesters #libya #feb17.’

As news reports began to focus on the rising price of oil due to the crisis, Libyan4life tweeted: ‘I'm starting to get annoyed about this coverage on #Libya's oil. Our people are dying, that discussion is secondary.’

And the leaden-footed international response to the crisis sparked outrage. Libyan4life tweeted: ‘@PJCrowley: We join the international community in strongly condemning the violence in #Libya. Time to stop this unacceptable bloodshed. JOKE!’

EnoughGaddafi tweeted: ‘OBAMA: @whitehouse where are you? nothing? no comment? this is a disgrace. You are standing by as a war crime occurs. #feb17 #libya.’

‘World, people! Libya is being burned, he’s burned the whole coast of Libya… Muammar has killed all the Libyan soldiers and is bringing planes full of mercenaries. Libya is burned! Libya is burned! He is striking with heavy artillery and rockets. Where are you world, conscience! O Rescuer, o Rescuer [God],’ appealed an Alive in Egypt post.

‘I plead with you, our families, we don’t know what has happened to our families. All connections have been cut. To everyone who hears this message, please open the borders…There are intense military aircraft strikes…God willing this message reaches you, and don’t hesitate, as soon as possible…and peace be upon you,’ said another post.

Videos of shocking violence began to emerge, following on allegations that Gaddafi had hired mercenaries form the rest of Africa to sow terror amongst protestors.

And this video claimed to show soldiers who had refused to shoot protestors that had been burnt to death.

The human cost remained unclear, but Libyan4life tweeted: ‘Almost double the number of the causalities that #Egypt experienced in 18 days, #Libya has suffered in 5.’

22 FEBRUARY: Further clashes reported in Tripoli. Military offices join protestors. Response to Gaddafi’s speech. Death toll reported at 300. Countries scramble to evacuate nationals. East Libya reported to be in control of protestors.

An extract from an email to Alive in Libya reports: ‘Situation is very tense here in Tripoli. Movements are very limited during the day. All shops are closed, except bakeries, gas stations and limited grocery stores.

‘Situation at night is different and dangerous. We heard a lot of gun shots, explosions, demonstrations, and the sound of sirens. Also during a downtown drive this morning, we saw burnt tires, trees, stones, ripped picture of Kaddafi and burned garbage in the middle of the streets.’

ShababLibya appeared to confirm news from Benghazi, tweeting: ‘got through to family in Benghazi and they are CONFIRMING that the East is safe and secure and the Tripoli still under fire #feb17’

Many tweets again pointed to what was seen as an inadequate international response – and international complicity in the situation in Libya: ‘UK Gov't may have licensed equipment used to crush protesters #Libya http://www.amnesty.org.uk/news_details.asp?NewsID=19274,’ said one tweet.

Twitter user Cyrenaican tweeted: ‘I will never forget the silence of the international community. I will never forget the silence of the United States. #Libya #Feb17’

Meanwhile, Al Jazeera posted an interview with the family of Mohamed Bouazizi, the Tunisian from Sidi Bouzid whose death triggered the Tunisian revolution. ‘I say to the people of Libya: May God help you. I hope you get everything you wish for,’ she says.
Another video to emerge apparently showed security forces conducting house-to-house raids.
As the online response geared up, a Google map emerged showing incidents of violence against pro-democracy protests in Libya. Like in Egypt, a website called 1000 Memories posted names and pictures of those killed.

Gaddafi’s speech, in which he vowed to cling to power by any means, created anxiety. Again, from ShababLibya : ‘We are all a bit upset tonight, not because we feel defeated, but because we know Gaddafi, he will try to kill anyone and everyone #Libya.’

But there was still defiance. ShababLibya tweeted: ‘he threatened to cleanse Libya house by house…we have excess youth Gaddafi, all ready to die for our homeland #Libya #Feb17.’

23 FEBRUARY: UN condemns violence. French doctor claims more than 2,000 killed in Benghazi alone. Pro-Gaddafi forces reported to be roaming Tripoli. Benghazi and Tobruk under protestor control. Libyan protesters claim to have taken over Misurata.

On Alive in Libya, via @speak2tweet, indications were that other towns were falling to protestors: ‘Greetings this is an urgent message from Kufra. Young people have taken complete control of the city, they hoisted the flag of Libya and Gaddafi down the flag. Dozens of Chadian families head to the southern border.’

Also on Alive in Libya , an interview with a Benghazi resident: ‘Things in Benghazi are really good. Streets are pretty safe. There’s a lot of protesters still standing in front of Benghazi courthouse, families still on the street.

‘Very good. No violence, people organizing the traffic movement. Some of the traffic police are already out, people cleaning some of the damage that has happened, things are going in the right direction. We heard yesterday and the day before, some people already left to support the civilians in Tripoli.’

ShababLibya tweeted: ‘the oppressor the dictator the pharaoh he is GONE he is no longer in here and Tripoli is next we are so happy #Libya.’
Meanwhile, a video from One Day on Earth claims to show the burial of those killed in the battle for Benghazi.

And the situation in Tripoli remained uncertain: ShababLibya tweeted: ‘The people of Tripoli are putting on a heroic effort this city is littered with mercenaries roaming streets with snipers #Libya #Feb17.’

More videos emerged, giving an idea of the frightening situation in Tripoli by night time.
And as foreign nationals fled the country and violence continued, osamasolieman tweeted: ‘what is the blood to oil ratio right now for the US govt? a thousand to one? a million to one? a billion to one? higher??? #Libya’

LIBYA: SOCIAL MEDIA LINKS

TWITTER

Overall Twitter hashtag: #libya

Users Tweeting about Libya:

Libyan4life
ShababLibya
changeInLibya
alarabiya_eng

Phone to Tweet service:

Alive in Libya: Transcribing the voices of Libya
http://alive.in/libya/

ONLINE VIDEO

Save Libya Youtube channel:
http://www.youtube.com/SaveLibya#p/u/0/A7py0ccWYGU

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* Patrick Burnett is editor of Pambazuka News, Links & Resources.
* Pambazuka News has not been able to verify these videos, but they are posted here as representing what is available on the internet about events in Libya.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

Gaddafi’s ‘African mercenaries’: Myth or reality?

Dibussi Tande

2011-02-24

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/71178

cc B WDibussi Tande discusses growing concern about ‘the worrying racist undertones of claims that Gaddafi is using “African mercenaries” to kill Libyan protesters.'

myweku writes about the worrying racist undertones of claims that Gaddafi is using ‘African mercenaries’ to kill Libyan protesters:

‘Col. Gaddafi has made no attempts in hiding his supposed love of “Africa” and his determination to help create a free borderless continent and single currency. A 2010 report about the state of “race relations” in Libya does, however, paint a different picture within his own borders.

‘According to a United Nations Human Rights statement – ‘Libya must end its practices of racial discrimination against black Africans, particularly its racial persecution of two million black African migrant workers. There is substantial evidence of Libya’s pattern and practice of racial discrimination against migrant workers’...

‘Against such a background it is perhaps reasonable to question the validity of this supposed use of “African” mercenaries by the Gaddafi regime to thwart the efforts of protesters. Given Libya’s relatively large black population, are we to assume or conclude that their presence in Gaddafi’s security forces is that mysterious? If so I wonder why?

‘Africans in the main have been sympathetic and supportive of the desires of Tunisians and Egyptians in their protests. However, the African media and forums are beginning to ask if the prominence and publicity given to so called African mercenaries running amok amongst Libyan protesters pillaging and raping is beginning to tell a rather interesting story about the motives of some Libyan protesters.’

Tomathon.com explains why it is necessary to challenge the generally accepted narrative of the sanguinary ‘African mercenary’ in Libya:

‘But like much of northern Africa, in Libya there is a long history of fear, hatred, and oppression based on skin color. There is a distinct minority of “black” Libyans whose slave origins mean they are still regarded with contempt by some, as there is a large number of political and economic refugees in what is a relatively prosperous state... And while oppression organized by skin color has a long history, the Gaddafi regime has contributed a different angle to this prejudice: the foreign fighter. Since the early 70s, Libya has offered aid, by degrees of openness, to revolutionary and opposition groups in most every corner of the world...

‘Foday Sankoh, Charles Taylor, Moses Blah, Blaise Compaore trained in Libya. Future Malian and Nigerien Tuareg rebels trained in Libya in the late 70s, recruited from refugees fleeing famine and oppression. The band Tinariwen actually formed in one such camp.

‘Photos and videos, many horrific, have been provided of a handful (I have seen five total) dead uniformed soldiers with varying degrees of dark skin. This is hardly proof of the hysterical rhetoric built around thousands of black Africans raping women and murdering protesters... these stories play into a natural combination of nationalism, existing social prejudices (of low class “slave” “Blacks”) and fears (of foreign looking immigrants, familiar to xenophobic discourse in Europe and America). They are understandable, but should they go unchallenged in the lore of this revolution, the new Libya being build risks becoming a no less cruel and unjust place, if for a smaller part of its citizens, adjudged outsiders and traitors by their skin color.’

Sky, Soil & Everything in Between writes an open letter to Al Jazeera alerting them of the unintended consequences of using the term ‘African mercenaries’:

‘I now write to you with concern at international media's coverage of events in Libya, particularly concerning 'African mercenaries'. I honestly don't have a problem with the term 'African mercenaries' because this is how Libyans probably refer to Black non-Libyans, but what bothers me is the way some of your tv anchors and field journalists continue to push this meme on air…

‘Understandably this may have been an unintentional oversight on the part of the news network as this is what Libyans on the ground are reporting, but I think continually pushing a singular narrative about a more complex story has the danger of reinforcing an African and Arab narrative that has an uncomfortable racial connotation to it. I am not accusing Al Jazeera of having a racial bias, far from it. I just feel it’s important for the network to be sensitive to how this issue plays out to an international audience of both Black Africans and Arabs when the full story is untold...

‘UNHCR is becoming increasingly concerned at the displacement and violence experienced by foreigners living in Libya, including the other one million plus legal and illegal migrants from different parts of Africa other than Egypt. In the interests of humanity, its only fair and right that Al Jazeera to report on the fate of these people as well as they have reported Egyptian, Turkish and Italian migrants returning from Libya. There are another one million plus legal and illegal migrants from different parts of Africa other than Egypt. What is their fate? Surely their welfare is important enough to be covered by the media?

‘This isn't just an Arab story, its an African story and it's a World story too. It must be told as such, with its multi-layered, complex, tragic and heartwarming narratives including the all too-often forgotten voices of poor migrants and refugees of all hues, tongues, nationalities and faiths.’

Sahafrica wonders what Africa would look like without Gaddafi:

‘If there’s one thing Gadhafi is great at, it’s the ability to reinvent and rebrand himself. Despite his poor track record on governance and human rights, the Leader and Guide of the Revolution has managed to avoid major costs for his continued tight and despotic rule since 1969. After spending most of his political career focused on Libya’s role in the Middle East, Islamic movements and the Arab world, he shifted his attention in the new century to Sub-Saharan Africa, in an attempt to remain relevant and influential in the global arena.

‘What transpired over the next decade was a significant outpouring of financial assistance, military support and political positioning towards many of its [r]egional neighbors as well as key countries throughout Central and East Africa.

‘As the 12th largest exporter of oil in the world, Libya’s exports about $44.5 billion dollars of oil a year. It is evident that Gadhafi has used his country’s wealth as leverage for regional and Pan-African power. But is it working?

‘A quick look at Libya’s monetary lending to African governments reveals that over 2 billion USD was given to some thirty countries. Of that, 22 are African and 4 are from the Horn of Africa.

‘Clearly, Ghadafi is just doing what any dictator or powerful government will do – use their money to gain influence. What would a potential removal of such support do to countries so reliant on Libyan aid, such as Sudan and Ethiopia? How is that any different than the Western donor countries that so many people are quick to blame?’

Ethiopian Review calls on Ethiopians to overcome their fear and take on the Meles Zenawi regime:

‘The Tunisians and Egyptians developed a new vaccine to overcome Fear. Fear is what paralyzes us. Fear is our number one enemy. We spend too much time trying to design a perfect plan. Fear compels us to fret about the little details even before we take the firs step. We worry about the so-called lack of unity, we stress regarding the absence of a strong leader, we exaggerate the might of the enemy and we freeze with a sack full of uncertainty. Fear is our number one enemy.

‘Did you notice how centralized power was in both Tunisia and Egypt? Did you see both were one man shows? Does this kind of arrangement ring a bell? When we said Meles’s Ethiopia was a one man show people doubted us. Tunisia and Egypt proved dictatorship is a solo affair. You slay the head and the body flails around. The yes people, the sycophants and the spineless around the tyrant burn away like the morning dew.

‘Today we got a reversal of circumstances. Ato Meles is the one in FEAR. He is the one unable to sleep. The last two months have been a time of round the clock meetings with his fellow criminals. Like Ben Ali and Mubarak he has been pouring over plans on how to instill more fear on his people...

‘We are certain Ato Meles will follow the footsteps of Gaddafi and unleash unprecedented terror on our people. He will use ethnic divide, religious divide any and all divisive issues to confuse and set us up against each other. We are hopeful that we have learned a lesson from our mistakes in the past and refrain from cannibalizing each other but rather aim our collective fury at the evil regime.

‘Yes we can, yes we will Ethiopia will be free, that no one can change.’

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

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

Would Africa miss Gaddafi if he went?

Cameron Duodu

2011-02-24

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/71186

cc WikimediaIt's nonsensical for Gaddafi to be preaching the theory of establishing a 'United States of Africa' to people, when Libya makes it impossible or difficult for them to interact with one another in the flesh, writes Cameron Duodu.

On 24 March 2010, I published an article on the website of UK newspaper The Guardian in which I reported that Colonel Muammar Gaddafi had caused immense anger in Nigeria by suggesting that the country should be divided into two – a Christian south and a Muslim north – to save it from religious strife.

Among Nigerian politicians who took umbrage with Gaddafi for his statement was the president of the senate, David Mark. He described Gaddafi in just one word: ‘Mad’. A statement released by the Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs then said that the country’s ambassador to Tripoli had been recalled for ‘urgent consultations’ because of the ‘irresponsible utterances of Colonel Gaddafi’.

The statement added – undiplomatically – ‘Gaddafi’s theatrics and grandstanding at every auspicious occasion have become too numerous to recount.’

It says much for the sense of reality exhibited by African leaders that at the time Gaddafi made his totally insensitive remark about a member state of the African Union (AU), he had been basking in the glory, such as it is – of being the chair of the African continental organisation, the AU. Its chair is supposed to be the public face of the organisation. Was a man who raised such hackles about other member states the best possible choice for election as leader?

The AU has shown the same lack of concern for world opinion by electing another unsavoury character as its chair for the coming year: President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo of Equatorial Guinea. The AU convention is that each member state gets a shot at the chairmanship. But should convention be allowed to obscure the fact that if – say – the AU were to be officially represented at an international function of great importance (such as the funeral of a world leader), the world’s television sets would display the features of a man alleged to have a great deal of innocent blood on his hands, as the official ‘Face of Africa’?

On his election as AU chair, I allowed my imagination to play with satire: The result is presented for – hopefully – your enjoyment.

For argument’s sake (I wrote), let us assume that in the 12 months that he will be chair of the African Union, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi of Libya will actually bring off the project that appears dearest to his heart — the creation of a ‘United States of Africa.’

And let us imagine also that to celebrate the Brother Leader’s coronation as King of Africa – or ‘King of Kings’ – the African Union Authority decides to organise a series of durbars in African capitals at which the King will deliver speeches exhorting his subjects to practise the precepts of African unity.

Everything goes swimmingly for the Brother Colonel and he is received with wild cheers everywhere. Until he reaches Nigeria. There, a pressure group originally formed as the ‘Deportees From Libya Union’ but quietly camouflaged as the ‘Support The Brother Leader Brigade’, has placed a series of advertisements in local newspapers, urging the durbar to be transferred from Abuja to Lagos to enable more people to be enabled to offer their ‘adoration’ to the Brother Leader.

‘Why Lagos?’ the advertisement asks. Then it answers its own question: ‘The people of Lagos are known to be more ”expressive” and “demonstrative” than those of Abuja, who are relatively new to political activism. Lagos is the city of Zik of Africa (Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, first President of Nigeria). Lagos is also the city of Chief Obafemi Awolowo (first Premier of the Western Region of Nigeria). And Lagos is also the city of Herbert Macauley (Nigeria’s uncrowned man of ‘timber and calibre.’

The advert drives the point home by adding: ‘The King of Kings of Africa deserves nothing but the uttermost best that Nigeria has to offer’! And Lagos is where it is at!’

On reading the advert, the Nigerian national security organisation, the SSS, is horrified. It is terrified at the idea of shifting the venue, at very short notice, from Abuja to Lagos. It makes its views firmly known to the Federal Government of Nigeria. But in the meantime, Libyan secret agents in Nigeria have transmitted the adverts advocating a change of venue to the office of the Brother Leader, with not so subtle hints that the adverts are the work of sub-agents of the agents, who have been putting the huge budget appropriation at their disposal to very good use. The tireless work of ‘conscientising’ the Nigerian public to the canon of the ‘Green Book’ has been progressing really well. In fact (the agents add snidely) it was after a simultaneous republication of the Green Book in Kaduna, Kano and Zaria –with an initial print run of 5 million (to be reprinted to 20 million copies, as soon as the supplementary estimates submitted to the Brother Leader’s office have been approved and urgently transmitted) that the ‘tremendous enthusiasm generated by the advertisements began to make itself felt throughout Nigeria for the Leader’s visit.

The Libyan secret agents’ dispatch went on to say that the host country’s authorities, aware of their own unpopularity with the populace, fear that the visit will undermine their own standing. Indeed, there have been suggestions that the ‘Brother Leader’ should be crowned King of Africa’s Most Populous Nation, before proceeding to place the continental crown on his own head. (For who was worth that honour in Africa, now that Nelson Mandela is so frail he has withdrawn from public life?)
The Libyan dispatch added: ‘It can be forecast with authority that the Federal Government of Nigeria will resist, or even veto, the move of the venue to Lagos. They will, of course, cite “security reason” as the reason for the veto, but that can be ignored. The Brother Leader is loved in Lagos (we repeat) as nowhere else, Lagos being a city half of whose inhabitants are fervent Muslims. As pointed out by the adverts quoted earlier, Lagos has the best traditions of literacy – and political awareness – in the whole country, to bow to pressure and neglect an opportunity to address its inhabitants directly, would be remiss of the Brother Leader in his programme to actualise the Glorious United States of Africa.

‘We therefore humbly entreat The Brother Leader to hold his ground in backing the transfer of the durbar from Abuja to Lagos’, the secret missive to the Brother leader’s office concluded.

As soon as it arrived by diplomatic bag, it was minuted to the Leader ‘FOR URGENT ACTION!‘ and within 20 minutes dead, 40 large suitcases, full of crisp, new $1,000 bills (to the tune of $200 million) were their way by diplomatic containers flown by air, to the Libyan agents in Abuja.

Acting further on the coded message, the Libyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs next sends a ‘strong protest’ to the Nigerian foreign ministry, which makes it clear that if the ‘popular clamour’ in Nigeria for a change of venue to Lagos is not ‘acceded to’, the Libyan Government would be forced to conclude that the position of the Nigerian authorities is covertly ‘unfriendly’ towards the sisterly Republic of Libya – despite the overt co-operation that exists between the two states in practice, both at the UN, and the AU.

The polite protest note concludes that in the event of ‘these ‘strong representations’ being ignored, the Libyan Government ‘would have no option‘ but to advise itself to ‘reconsider, urgently, as a first step, its level of diplomatic representation in the Federal Republic of Nigeria’.

Mercy! The Libyan note throws Aso Rock, Abuja, into panic. Nigeria cannot be seen to be engaging in a public diplomatic row with the newly-elected chair of the AU – the enthroned King of Kings of Africa. Everybody would conclude that the Nigerian action stems from jealousy, for Nigerians have not been unknown to canvass the view that their country is ’the most important nation in Africa’, and that ‘one of every two black persons on the planet is a Nigerian.’

So, against the warnings of the SSS – presented and resubmitted in separate warnings, each tagged ‘MOST URGENT’, the last of which even bore the highest classification: ‘EYES ONLY’ (but of course to be passed to the Head of State after it had been read by those closest to him) the Federal Government concluded unwillingly that the venue of the venue should be shifted to Lagos. After all, whether in Lagos or Abuja, Gaddafi would insist on organising his own security, and unless one wanted to engage in an embarrassing public confrontation, he would have to have his own way.

The day finally dawns. Everybody in Lagos, it appears, has come to the new Teslim Balogun Sports Stadium, Surulere, which, although built to accommodate only 60,000 people, is on this day, filled with about ten times that number – by virtue of the fact that the playing area has also become one huge public stand. Word has spread through Lagos and its environs that everyone who passes through the turnstiles is followed and quietly handed a pack of 500 Naira notes. Ajekunle, Festac Village as well as Ekpe and its environs, empty of people like ghettoes stricken with the plague.

Drums rent the air with their fabulous rhythms. (‘Orchestras’ had been pre-paid 75,000 Naira each). Representatives of the various Nigerian ethnic groups dance and engage in mock battles and the hunting rituals of ancient times (‘Cultural Displays’ brought their organisers 125,000 Naira each; ‘transport extra’).

The Brother Colonel beams at the people, and back to the Nigerian dignitaries on the podium with him, as if to say, ‘Didn’t I tell you they love me?’ But when he makes eye contact with President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, the latter continues to present his usual inscrutable face. If anything, he looks more detached than usual, for that very morning, he had been told by his doctors that he needed another kidney transplant).

Finally, the Brother Leader is called upon to speak: ‘I bring you greetings from your brothers and sisters in Libya, in the name of Allah The Merciful!’ he begins.
But instead of the wild applause he expects, a lone shrill voice, that of a woman, is heard from one corner of the stadium. She yells into a battery-powered megaphone smuggled into the stadium, in the way only a Lagos woman can, who, as a child, used to carry wares on her head and yell such names as ‘goorooooo!’ or ‘pepehmenteeee’ so loudly they could penetrate into houses hundreds of yards away:

‘Gaddafi oooh! Gaddafi! So where is the high definishon TV my husband was bringing me from Tripoli, nko?’

As the Brother Colonel looks bewildered around the stadium, an enormous outburst of boos breaks out from all four corners of the stadium:
‘HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!’

And then, as if they had rehearsed their moves, people carrying hidden placards take them out of their agbadas and babaringas, lift them aloft, and rush uncontrollably like one man towards the podium.

One of the placards reads:
’YOU DEPORTED ME AND FLEW ME HOME ON A PLANE WITHOUT ANY SEATS!’

Another reads:
’LIBYANS ARE RACIST TOWARDS BLACKS, ABI?’

A third states starkly:
’NOT EVEN WATER TO DRINK BEFOREING DEPORTATION!’

And, a fourth proclaims: ‘GADDAFI-TYPE AFRICAN UNITY KO! AFRICAN UNITY NI!’ (‘Gaddafi-type African unity is a load of….’)

As the placard-carriers charge menacingly towards the podium, the cries of ‘HOOOOOOOOOOOOH!’ emanating from all sides of the stadium, get louder and louder. It is as if a referee has allowed a goal against the Green Eagles that was scored from a position ten clear yards offside.

The Nigerian police on duty at the stadium react as usual: They panic. They automatically fire tear gas into the crowd.

Pandemonium breaks out. President Yar’Adua instinctively covers his nose and mouth with his babaringa and is immediately hustled from the stadium towards his car, which has driven on to the field at a signal from his handlers. Tear gas is not what Yar’Adua needs, what with his delicate health. Didn’t even the relatively more robust Dr Chuba Okadigbo, former president of the Nigerian Senate, die in September 2003 as a result of inhaling fumes from tear gas at a public rally?

Covering their eyes, and ululating battle-cries, the Colonel’s Amazonia guard, Uzi sub-machine guns at the ready, surround him. They fire warning shots from their guns, preventing the Nigerian security personnel from approaching the Brother Leader. The Nigerians are stupefied: How can a visitor’s security detail operate independently, and in isolation from the host country’s own security detail, in disregard of all the preliminary drills they have jointly undertaken together?

And all this is watched the world over, on live television, by Al Jazeera…

The Brother Leader is pushed by his guards into his armoured-plated car and is driven at high speed towards Seme on the Nigerian- Benin border, on his way to Accra, Ghana, where the next durbar is scheduled to take place. His convoy is two hundred and seventy-five cars long, but is able to penetrate Lagos like a single lengthy serpent, thanks to Uzis being fired into the air all along the pre-determined escape route. But each and every car receives some rotten tomatoes or eggs from the crowds that line the streets.

People shout ‘OLE OHHHHH…! OLE OHHHHHH!’ in time-honoured fashion. (In Lagos, when someone shouts ‘Ole ohhhh!’ (thief! thief!) everyone else assumes there is a thief really about and repeats the refrain instinctively. The alleged thief invariably does the wrong thing: Run. Yet the moment he runs, he signs his or her own death warrant: If he or she was not a thief, why would he or she run? This conundrum leads to the deaths of many innocent people in crowded areas, particularly markets, in Lagos every year. People just have to learn not to annoy others when walking in crowded areas, for one shout of ‘Ole!’ and that may be the last word one ever hears!)

But no sooner has the Leader crossed the Nigerian border than word reaches him that all the way from Aflao to Accra, people carrying coffins, Fela Anikulakpo-Kuti style, are lining his route. They claim some Ghanaians had been returned from Libya in coffins and their relatives want to out Gaddafi in one, too!

In exasperation, the Brother Leader’s convoy makes a serpentine U-turn and drives straight to Cotonou airport, where he awaits his personal aircraft. He refuses all hospitality offered by the Benin government, afraid as he is that all West Africa is united in a gargantuan conspiracy against him. Anyway, how could his diplomats get their intelligence so wrong? They’d been given nearly $500 million altogether to organise this fiasco?

Soon, the Brother Colonel is on his way to Sirte, where he goes into a depressed slump. He stays there for two hundred and eleven days, during which he only partakes of camel milk and dates…

Pan-Africanists would hope that Colonel Gaddafi, during his retreat, would understand that you cannot create a ‘United State Of Africa’ without Africans. The Accra summit of 2007, devoted to this theme, was unsuccessful precisely because exactly 42 years before the meeting, a similar attempt had been made, in the very same city, to institutionalise a ‘United States of Africa’. Without success.

Ghana’s first president, Dr Kwame Nkrumah had first tabled the idea at the very first African summit at which the AU’s predecessor Organisation of African Unity (OAU) was formed – in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in 1963. If Gaddafi had done his homework, he would have recognised that subjective factors play a part in how such grandiose ideas are perceived by others, and he would have gone about healing the wounds that his fellow-countrymen had inflicted on Africans who had attempted to live and work in Libya, before uttering the words, ‘African unity’, let alone attempt to implement the thought into an organic body of nation states.

Because of Libya’s past contemptuous treatment of Africans of the sort that the Kenyans and Tanzanians call ‘wananchi’ and the Nigerians call ‘talakawa’, (street people who take enormous and sometimes unbelievably dangerous risks in trekking to different places, often on foot, to seek their fortune) what African leaders thought would be a kind gesture to Gaddafi – the chairmanship of the AU – had brought nothing but wrath on the head of the Colonel. African bloggers were deriding him as a man with an overweening ambition to become ‘King of Kings’ in Africa.

So, just as President Nkrumah’s ideas were derided in 1963 and 1965 because he was being ‘bad-mouthed’ both at home and in many parts of Africa, Gaddafi too has few admirers outside a magic circle that is mesmerised by his personality – and largesse – and doesn’t take any interest in his actual deeds.

In Nkrumah’s case, the overthrow and brutal murder, by the Togolese army, of President Sylvanus Olympio of Togo – with whom Nkrumah was barely on speaking terms– in January 1963, had given rise to widespread speculation, false though it turned out to be, that Nkrumah had had a hand in the Togo coup.

Indirect evidence had given rise to these speculations, for indeed, at the very time he was passionately urging other African leaders to join him in forming a United States of Africa, the implacable enemies of some African heads of state – such as Djibo Bakary, a bete noire of the Niger government – were welcome guests in Accra; Sam Ikoku, whom the Nigerian government had declared ‘wanted’ as an alleged collaborator of Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s in the ‘treasonable felony’ that had sent Awolowo to jail, was also a favoured resident in Accra. Other people whose governments viewed them as ‘undesirable’ but were often found in Accra were Habib Niang (Senegal), Germain Mba (Gabon) and J M Tchaptchet (Cameroon).

Thus, Nkrumah’s efforts at achieving a United States of Africa were somewhat vitiated by a contradiction created by what his would-be co-confederationists regarded as his insensitivity towards their political predilections. Belatedly, he was forced to expel some of the alleged ‘subversives’ from Ghana before the Accra Summit of 1965. But 1963 was a disaster for him – there were wry smiles on the faces of many of his peers, as he delivered himself of eloquent speeches in Addis Ababa pleading with his fellow heads of state to form a United States of Africa. President Julius Nyerere of Tanzania gave vent to some of the views held in other African countries at the time about Nkrumah’s stance, when he took the unusual step of launching a hardly-veiled personal from the podium of the OAU summit in Cairo in 1964. He later admitted that this was a mistake.

All this has been documented, but almost as if he is not interested in the antecedents of the grand idea he is trying to push, Gaddafi goes on without adequately appraising the contradictions that confront him, too, vis-à-vis his effort to achieve a United States of Africa. His situation is probably worse than that of Nkrumah, because whereas Nkrumah was popular with the African masses, but not necessarily with African heads of state, in Gaddafi‘s case, it is the masses who are, in many cases, baying for his blood.

Their main concern is the rough treatment – often amounting to brutality – meted to Africans who have tried to live and work in Libya. No-one denies the fact that Libya has the right to expect Africans to obtain visas before travelling to Libya, or that they should obtain work permits before working in Libya, and that once there, they should act lawfully.

But as this report in the Ghana Daily Graphic of 17 December 2004, shows, the methods adopted by the Libyan authorities in dealing with the citizens of other African states who fall short of the behaviour expected of them while they are on Libyan territory, is often deplorable:

‘The Libyan Government has deported another batch of 132 Ghanaians living in that country.

‘This brings to 6,027, the total number of such deportees since the Libyan Government began the exercise… The deportees had been coming in on regular intervals of between two weeks and one month. They were brought in “aboard a cargo flight”.

‘Airport sources said that “apart from the first batch, which was brought in aboard a passenger plane, the rest had always been on cargo planes which had no seats… In an interview, some of the deportees alleged that the conditions at the camp had been dehumanising, since there were no sleeping places. ‘’There were only canopies stretched across a vast area of land and we were not fed regularly. We had to stay without water for over a day or two,” the deportees said, adding that there was overcrowding at the camp… “The source said that a particular batch had been kept at the camp for 17 days and so they were very exhausted.”’

Now, which Ghanaian patriot does Gaddafi think can condone such ‘dehumanising treatment” by a country that purports to have the interests of other African states so much at heart that it wants to unite with them? Only those who benefit from Libyan petrodollars can close their eyes to such inhumanity.

Over in Nigeria, too, people have a bone to pick with Gaddafi. An article in the influential Lagos Guardian, as recently on 13 February 2009, said:

‘One wonders about this sudden enthusiasm [for a United States of Africa] which has overtaken Gaddafi, given the fact that his government has been involved in brutality against Africans from other countries who found themselves legally or illegally in Libya.

‘A lot of Nigerians and other Africans in search of greener pastures have been brutalised, dehumanised and tortured; some killed while the lucky ones got deported. If Gaddafi had shown some iota of mercy to these Africans who sneaked into Libya, maybe we would not have read [too] much h [hidden] meaning into this idea being touted by him.’

Has Libya made any serious attempts to heal wounds of the sort it has inflicted on the psyche of Africans who have had it rough in Libya? I doubt it: Gaddafi is so protected from public opinion in his own country – such as it is – that he probably thinks he is viewed elsewhere with the same enforced adulation as exists in Libya.

Yet if the African people as a whole do not give their blessing to any agreement unifying their countries, their blessing, the agreement will be a mere scrap of paper. For it is not presidents who implement agreements between nations, but the people of a country. Take, for instance, the most fundamental provision that an agreement between countries that want to unite should make: Free movement of peoples and goods between the contracting states.

Apart from regional arrangements, such as that entered into by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), no African can get up just like that and go to visit another African country. He or she will need a visa. Yet not every African country has an embassy in all other African countries.

I was myself once caught in this dilemma when I was assigned to do a story in Cameroon about the Cameroon football club that was going to the World Cup in 1982. Cameroon is a country that had conned the rest of Africa into voting for two of its citizens to head the OAU – Nzo Ekangaki (1972-74) and William Eteki Mboumoua 1974-78). Yet this country that in spirit, should have been the leader of the OAU, did not allow me entry to report on its World Cup football team in 1982, but detained me at Douala airport for forty-eight hours, while its immigration officers toyed with me, claiming to be trying to contact Yaounde for authority to let me in!

As I waited, feeling sorry for myself, I saw Europeans being waved in without visas. On the third day, my exasperation boiled to an intolerable level and I caught a plane back home. Roger Milla or no Roger Milla, I now have no enthusiasm for the exploits of the Cameroon football team. Even the great skill of Samuel Eto’o hasn’t been able to eradicate the bitterness from my mind.

I have since also experienced unfriendly behaviour from customs, immigration or health authorities at airports in Cairo, Lusaka, and – even Johannesburg, my spiritual home! It is so sad, if you’re an ardent Pan-Africanist, to be subjected to these indignities by people you consider your brothers. Once I was almost reduced to tears to find that immigration officers at Accra airport had denied entry to Miriam Makeba, ‘Mama Afrika’. She had been banned in 1966 after the coup against Dr Kwame Nkrumah, who was her friend. But years after Nkrumah had died, the ban was still in place.

Yet you cannot blame the officials. It is the responsibility of their political masters to accept their failure to make African unity a meaningful concept to their citizens. These leaders take taxpayers’ money with them to go on the African jamboree; summits each year, just to slap each other on the back. But they forget to educate their officials back home that Africans are brothers and should be treated humanely by all their brothers and sisters.

As the very minimum step to be taken to develop African unity, it is imperative that visa requirements should be abolished between all African states, for visits that last not more than six months. Extensions for a longer stay should not be made difficult, nor should applications for work permits.

African countries should also get their academics and foreign service officials, who are knowledgeable about the full benefits that African unity can bring to each African state, to undertake seminars for their countries’ immigration and customs officials, so that their attitudes will become less hostile to visitors from other African states.

Television and radio stations should be encouraged to carry programmes emphasising how goods from African countries can be cheaper and perhaps better than those produced in Europe, America or Asia. We should also encourage exchanges of visits between African educational institutions. You only relate to people positively when you get a chance to meet them physically.

Certainly, it is nonsensical to be preaching the theory of establishing a ‘United States of Africa’ to people, when you make it impossible or difficult for them to interact with one another in the flesh.

I am sure governments will say they have no money for this, but I can retort by saying that if they cut down on the size of the delegations they take to AU conferences to read speeches about African unity, they could save enough money to send a few students each year on exchange programmes with other African educational institutions. The same thing applies to the employees of banks, factories, shops and market women.

Sure, the 21st century should be seized upon to make Africa great. But we cannot achieve greatness with mere words. It must be done with positive, practical deeds.

The latest news from Tripoli – that Gaddafi is using African mercenaries recruited from Chad, Darfur, Niger, Burkina Faso and other black African countries – to kill Gaddafi’s Libyan opponents in Tripoli and other cities – will, of course, constitute the death-knell of any pretence he ever had of leading Africa into unity. Indeed, he is contributing enormously towards the entrenchment of racial hatred between Africans ands Arabs.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* Cameron Duodu is a journalist, writer and commentator.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

The world remade

Richard Pithouse

2011-02-24

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/71171

cc AzlsIn the wake of the crises and revolutions of Libya, Tunisia and Egypt, European claims to moral leadership look highly dubious, says Richard Pithouse.

As the first unconfirmed reports of airborne attacks on protestors in Tripoli and Benghazi reached Al Jazeera the station crossed to a spokesperson for the European Union. There was talk of the need to affirm ‘European values’. Moments later the programme cut away to the story of the two Libyan fighter pilots who had landed in Malta and sought political asylum rather than obey orders to attack protestors in Benghazi.

Those pilots are not the first people to have arrived in Malta after crossing the Mediterranean from Libya. But most people who make that journey don’t arrive in Mirage F1s. Migrants take many routes into Europe. Some people cross into Greece from Turkey, others from Algeria into Spain. For many, the way into Europe is through the Sahara into Libya, across the ocean and into Malta and Italy. The migrants come from Somalia, from Chad, from Senegal, from Nigeria and from all over North and West Africa.

The journey across the Mediterranean in small and usually over crowded boats is perilous and many have sunk. If they are intercepted by the Italian navy the migrants are forced off the boats, often with clubs and batons that dispense electric shocks, and taken to prisons in Tripoli. In crass violation of international law no attempt is made to ascertain whether or not the migrants are political refugees or to enquire into their health or where the parents of children may be.

From Tripoli they are taken to European funded migrant detention centres in places like the tiny village of Al Qatran out in the dessert near the border with Chad and Niger. Al Qatran is a thousand kilometres from Tripoli and it may take three days for captured migrants to be moved across that distance in trucks. In the detention centres there may be more than fifty people in a room. They sleep on the floor. The routine sadism that always occurs in any situation in which some people are given absolute power over others is endemic. There are beatings, rapes and extortion. Suicides are a common response as are mass jailbreaks in which many migrants have been killed by the Libyan police. But some have escaped out into the vastness of the Sahara to make what they can of sudden freedom without papers or money in a desert.

It was in the early days of the 2003 Iraq war that Tony Blair first proposed the idea that migrants trying to enter Europe should be sent to ‘transit processing centres’ outside of Europe. There is a similar logic here to the way in which the United States has outsourced torture to countries like Egypt.

Muammar Gaddafi’s early attempts to show that he would be able to take on the policing of Europe’s borders were not a huge success. In August 2004 a plane was chartered to deport 75 captured Eritrean migrants from Tripoli but the passengers seized control of the plane in mid flight and diverted it to Khartoum where the UNHCR recognised 60 of them as legitimate political refugees.

But on the same day that the European union lifted its economic sanctions and arms embargo on Libya in October 2004 it was agreed to engage with Libya on ‘immigration matters’ and a technical team was sent to Libya the following month. The United Kingdom and France both moved quickly to sell weapons to Libya and in 2008 Italy and Libya signed The Treaty of Friendship, Partnership and Cooperation between the Italian Republic and Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya in which Italy agreed to invest five billion dollars in Libya in exchange for, amongst other things, a Libyan agreement to undertake to police migration into Europe via Libya. Silvio Berlusconi declared that closer relations with Libya are about “fewer illegal immigrants and more oil.” Since then Berlusconi and Gaddafi have, through the investment arms of their respective family trusts, become co-owners of a major communications company.

This sort of personal connection between an elected politician in the West and a despot elsewhere is hardly unique. The French Foreign Minister Michele Alliot-Marie spent her Christmas holiday in Tunisia as a guest of a businessman with close ties to Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali as the protests against Ben Ali were gathering strength. The first response of the French state to the protests in Tunisia was to send arms to Ben Ali. The French Prime Minister Francois Fillon spent his Christmas holiday on the Nile as a guest of the Egyptian state. In March 2009 US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, commented, in a discussion about severe and routine human rights violations by the Mubarak regime, that “I really consider President and Mrs. Mubarak to be friends of my family.”

In recent years all sorts of European institutions beyond oil companies and security agencies made their own deals with the dictatorship in Tripoli. The London School of Economics accepted a £1.5m grant from the Gaddafi International Charity and Development Foundation for a ‘virtual democracy centre’. The Foundation is headed by the same Saif al-Islam Gaddafi who recently went on to Libyan television to tell protestors that his father’s government would ‘fight to the last minute, until the last bullet’.

The Europe of colonialism, slavery and genocide has no claim to moral leadership in this world. The Europe that backed the Mubarak dictatorship for thirty years and the Ben Ali dictatorship for twenty-three years has no claim to moral leadership in this world. The Europe that helped to smash Iraq in the invasion of 2003 has no claim to moral leadership in this world. The Europe that refused to allow the Haitian people to elect a leadership of its choosing by supporting a coup against that leadership in 2004 has no claim to moral leadership in this world. The Europe that has been directly responsible for the documented deaths of almost 14,000 migrants since 1993 has no claim to moral leadership in this world.

It is true enough that the modern form of democracy began in Europe with the French Revolution of 1789. But when African slaves in Haiti took the ideas of liberty, equality and fraternity seriously and won their own revolution in 1804 it immediately became clear that the French did not intend democracy to be for everyone. That has been the European position ever since.

To choose democracy is not to choose Europe and it is certainly not to choose the United States of America, which has overthrown democratically elected governments around the world when electorates have had the temerity to elect the ‘wrong’ leaders. In fact, any serious commitment to democracy has to reject the moral and political authority of Europe and the United States of America. Any commitment to democracy has to assert, very clearly, that all people everywhere have the right to govern themselves according to their own will.

We cannot know the trajectories of the uprisings that have swept North Africa and the Middle East. But one thing is for sure. Whatever pompous claims to the contrary come out of Washington and Brussels, these are not revolts for American or European values. On the contrary they are a direct challenge to those values. They are revolts against a global power structure that is formed by an international alliance of elites with one of its key principles being the idea, the racist idea, that Arabs are ‘not yet ready’ for democracy. This, of course, is an echo of one of the common justifications for apartheid. But the plain fact of the matter is that anyone who says that anyone else isn’t yet ready for democracy is no democrat.

Ben Ali and Mubarak were little more than co-opted Bantustan leaders in a system of global apartheid. Gadaffi’s oil funded cruelty, megalomania and opportunism has taken him in many directions in his 42-year reign but have, in recent years, been leading him in the same direction. Democratising a Bantustan is progress. But democratising a Bantustan is not enough. The whole global system needs to be democratised.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* Richard Pithouse teaches politics at Rhodes University.
* This article was originally published by The South African Civil Society Information Service.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

No more imposed policies: Challenges for Africa

Demba Moussa Dembele

2011-02-24

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/71166

cc T N IIn an interview with Rosa Moussauoi and Chantal Delmas, Demba Moussa Dembele discusses Western-imposed policies for Africa, the faces of contemporary imperialism, the notion of China’s ‘yellow peril’ and reinvigorating the struggle against neoliberalism.

ROSA MOUSSAUOI AND CHANTAL DELMAS: We are in a period in which the world crisis is still unresolved. It has had very concrete social repercussions, particularly in Africa. What is the context in which the World Social Forum took place in Dakar?

DEMBA MOUSSA DEMBELE: The Dakar World Social Forum took place in the context of a worsening of the crisis, not only in Senegal but also in the bulk of African countries. For over 30 years we have been experiencing various aspects of this crisis, which was imposed on us both by the international context and by the negligence and abdication of some African leaders.

The hunger riots recently in Mozambique remind us that the problem of food supply remains acute in Africa. In Europe you are often faced with the problem of immigration, allegedly clandestine and illegal. This is due to the developmental crisis Africa is experiencing: mass unemployment of young people and the crisis of education. These problems are linked to the programmes imposed on us, which have caused budgetary austerity, the dismantling of state and para-state enterprises and which have prevented economic growth and employment. As a result, poverty has increased. More than half of African countries – or rather more than half of the African population – live on less than one dollar a day. This is less felt by us because there are ‘safety nets’ built into the way African societies are organised. However, the fact remains that the world is now recognising that the programmes that have been imposed on Africa have aggravated not only the unemployment problem but, especially, the problem of poverty – not only in rural areas but also in urban centres. In Dakar itself, let alone its outskirts, there are families who can only afford one meal a day.

ROSA MOUSSAUOI AND CHANTAL DELMAS: Therefore this forum was to take place in an extremely difficult economic and social environment. What about the political implications?

DEMBA MOUSSA DEMBELE: Since people no longer accept being pushed around, forms of resistance are developing at both local and national levels. Civic awareness has increased over the last few years and people no longer will allow themselves to be played for suckers. They no longer want solutions imposed on them that worsen the problems they are facing. In Senegal today and every day spontaneous demonstrations are taking place throughout the country against decisions taken by government representatives in Dakar or at the local level, decisions by a government that cannot handle the situation because of budgetary restrictions on education, health, drainage or public lighting. For example, power cuts take place every day in every part of Senegal. I left home in the dark because the government is incapable of meeting the demand for electricity; public services are declining in the hospitals; there are recurring strikes in the education system because the government has not been able to meet the teachers’ demands for better working or environmental conditions. This is the context in which the World Social Forum took place. We think that this is an appropriate time for sharpening the resistance against these disastrous policies imposed on us by the IMF (International Monetary Fund) and the World Bank – and also to increase pressure on the government that is acting as their accomplices instead of meeting its responsibilities.

Therefore, we hope that the forum will provide an occasion for increasing the awareness of our citizens and strengthening the convergence between the social movements and the political parties, as we do have progressive political parties that are struggling for different policies and putting forward alternative solutions. This will be a good opportunity for seeing to what extent the convergence between the political parties and the social movement could ensure the transformation for which we are hoping.

ROSA MOUSSAUOI AND CHANTAL DELMAS: You spoke of this resistance to budgetary austerity but also of resistance to imperialism. What does ‘resistance to imperialism’ mean in a country like Senegal 50 years after independence?

DEMBA MOUSSA DEMBELE: So far the discourse of Western countries on Africa has been an arrogant, condescending and sermonising one. Take, for example, the organisation of elections. The Western countries set the criteria; they send their observers to say ‘We can certify that all went well’ or ‘In our view the elections did not take place in accordance with international standards’ – according to their standards. Thus they continue to tell us how to behave, how to run our elections, what democracy and human rights mean and what policies to carry out. They claim this is to fit us into the world economic system. All these, in my view, are signs of imperialism – quite apart from their military interventions. For example, the French intervention to save Idris Deby, or their military bases in Africa, which are there to remind us that, while basically we are independent, France still remains, in a way, the boss in many African countries. Moreover, there is also American imperialism at work.

ROSA MOUSSAUOI AND CHANTAL DELMAS: Obama’s arrival has not really changed the image of American imperialism, and yet his election had raised hope of this.

DEMBA MOUSSA DEMBELE: Many Africans thought that with Obama America would change the way it sees the African continent, its relations with the continent and that there would even be a massive influx of capital towards Africa. In fact, nothing has changed! On the contrary, Barack Obama is pursuing George Bush’s AFRICOM (Africa Command) project of installing military bases in Africa, ostensibly to fight terrorism and strengthen the capacity of African armies. He is trying to do this now because George Bush failed to find any country in which to set up such a base. Most countries said no to George Bush. However, Barack Obama has maintained the project and is using his African ‘roots’ all the better to sell it. However, so far the countries are continuing to resist. They say they do not want AFRICOM. Moreover, even in the United States the Afro-Americans and Afro-American organisations are opposed to the project and say they do not understand why Barack Obama insists on selling it. Thus, as far as we are concerned, nothing has changed. They continue to intervene everywhere. They want to carve up Sudan. The other day I heard Hilary Clinton on the radio declare: ‘We are preparing the Sudanese for a referendum on self-determination.’ She added: ‘and we know [that’s Hilary Clinton speaking!] that the inevitable result will be separation’. She has already voted – and has made the Sudanese vote for the separation of the South from the rest!

ROSA MOUSSAUOI AND CHANTAL DELMAS: There is thus increasing American activity on the continent, particularly with the shrinking of France’s private hunting ground there. There is also a lot of talk about the massive arrival of subsidiaries of Chinese firms. Is this a new form of imperialism or is their way of doing things different?

DEMBA MOUSSA DEMBELE: As far as we are concerned this discourse of the Westerners about a new Chinese imperialism is just them saying: ‘Our interests are threatened by the arrival of China, India and Brazil, etc. So let’s stress the new Chinese threat.’

ROSA MOUSSAUOI AND CHANTAL DELMAS: The ‘yellow peril’…

DEMBA MOUSSA DEMBELE: The ‘yellow peril’, even if they don’t dare say so, is just this – a way of making Africans suspicious. However, it is a discourse that, in reality, only strengthens the cooperation between China and Africa, because people say:

‘Who are they to preach to us and warn us?’ All of a sudden they wish us well! Since when? We’ve cooperated with them since the 15th century … slavery … and what have they done for us so far? Just policies of contempt, condescension and arrogance! And now they are warning us about others?’

If we’re realistic, where do the military bases in Africa come from? From Western countries – France and Britain – and now the Americans want to set up bases here. Who is it that controls the key sectors of our economy? They do! Especially through their adjustment programmes and the resulting privatisation – the bulk of the firms that used to belong to the state or para-public sectors have been bought up by foreign capital, and Europeans own most of the key sectors of our economy. Though the Chinese are indeed arriving, they are working on the infrastructures – the bridges and roads. As far as I know, the Chinese have not bought a single working African firm.

ROSA MOUSSAUOI AND CHANTAL DELMAS: Regarding the question of neocolonial pillaging, how, today, can Africa take back its own resources?

DEMBA MOUSSA DEMBELE: We have always opposed privatisations and said that whatever its problems, Africa must preserve its own resources and use them wisely. First of all, we will take them back, that is to say cancel all the privatisation policies that were imposed on us by the World Bank and the IMF. That is a fundamental demand. Moreover, when we speak to politicians, that is what we tell them. Just because a state has lapsed in some way or has had problems, the solution is not necessarily privatisation. We can see that this doesn’t work, so we will take back our resources.

Then, how should we use them? Certainly the continent will continue to sell some of its raw materials. We cannot use everything immediately. However, we must increasingly turn towards transforming these raw materials on the spot. We think that inter-regional cooperation allows us to have an area in which viable policies of industrialisation become possible, which would enable us to convert our raw materials, to create fresh added value and jobs!

ROSA MOUSSAUOI AND CHANTAL DELMAS: You spoke of the disastrous consequences of structural adjustment. How do you see the promise of a better representation of Africa in international institutions?

DEMBA MOUSSA DEMBELE: Firstly, even if they give a few minor roles to the African countries, this is not worth very much. It’s negligible in practice. Secondly, the Africans who will be there will be those who have accepted neoliberal ideology. So they are not the ones who will defend different policies. Thirdly, as long as these institutions still fully support neoliberal ideology, the fact that they have some African representatives doesn’t change anything very much, since the economic policies remain the same, policies based on privatisation, free trade and the completely free movement of capital and flexibility of the labour market. So long as the World Bank and the IMF remain standard-bearers of this ideology, putting a few more Africans there is meaningless. As far as I’m concerned it’s not worth discussing.

ROSA MOUSSAUOI AND CHANTAL DELMAS: You spoke of the need to stress the alternatives. Can Africa, precisely because it is the first victim of this capitalist system, also be a prime area for the invention of alternatives?

DEMBA MOUSSA DEMBELE: But of course! Even on the African level, even at the level of decision-makers, Africa has already decided to create an African Central Bank, an African monetary union and an African Investment Bank in three different capital cities. The president of the African Union’s Commission, Jean Ping, formerly foreign minister of Bongo’s Gabon but now, because of the crisis, expressing an almost militant discourse, has declared:

‘We know that the capitalist market cannot resolve everything [I’m just quoting from memory] and that no one must impose policies on Africa anymore. Africa must no longer accept policies being imposed on it – it must regain its freedom and choose what suits it and who its partners shall be’.

This is most important, coming from Jean Ping, who is president of the African Union Commission. We ourselves have always said that another policy is possible. Some others are also saying we must control our own resources and put an end to this policy of unbridled privatisation that has been imposed on us. Sub-regional integration allows us to speak with a single voice at the sub-regional level and even at the continental level. This gives us negotiating strength.

Then there is the problem of sovereignty of food supply. I am not talking about security but of sovereignty, because Africa can feed itself – on the condition that present policies are changed. We have producers, some associations of producers, particularly in West Africa, the ROPPA (peasant and producer organisations in West Africa), which is a member of Via Campesina and which has affirmed: ‘We can feed not only this sub-region but also a good part of Africa. However, we need politicians who follow us, who are ready to listen to us’. Politicians are beginning to listen to them. The government of Senegal is talking of reaching sovereignty of food supply by 2015; so is Nigeria. Even the CEDAO (Economic Community of West African States), in its programme, is talking about sovereignty of food supply by 2015 or later, as is Mali. So there are ideas that are gaining ground.

Then there is the problem of industrialisation. People are realising that we cannot simply export raw materials, the prices of which depend on speculators and other fluctuations – they have no added value and do not create jobs. Moreover, very often, even for the raw materials that we do sell, we do not get paid the full value because intermediaries take a big slice… Therefore, they must be converted on the spot as part of a policy of socialisation. This can only be viable at the sub-regional level. In the 15 countries of West Africa, we number 300 million souls. Even in capitalist terms this is a viable market. Here is an area that allows the conversion of our products.

There is increasing discussion of the need for autonomous African currencies, because it is not possible – as the whole history of development has shown – to develop using someone else’s currency. At the level of the CEDAO there are discussions about a sub-regional currency, but political inertia has put a brake on the process… Moreover, even at the level of the board members of the African Central Bank, this is being spoken of as a necessity, because we cannot continue to use other currencies and, above all, to submit to the supremacy of the dollar. If we want integration, we must have a common currency that enables easier trade and exchange.

ROSA MOUSSAUOI AND CHANTAL DELMAS: The social forum was held at the UCAD (University of Cheikh Anta Diop). This is unfortunately known in Paris as the venue of Nicolas Sarkozy’s speech. Was holding it there also a way of turning around and rejecting this colonialist ideology?

DEMBA MOUSSA DEMBELE: There are two reasons I’m glad you asked that question. Firstly, it’s the 50th anniversary of certain (essentially French-speaking) countries’ independence – an anniversary that, obviously, will not be forgotten in 2011! Secondly you’ve referred to the speech Sarkozy made in Dakar – a speech to which a number of Africans replied in a book to which I also contributed, ‘L’Afrique répond à Sarkozy, Contre le discour à Dakar’ (‘Africa answers Sarkozy – against the Dakar speech’). In Dakar we intend to pay tribute to Cheikh Anta Diop himself, to Thomas Sankara and to those who, in our view, have contributed to the resistance as much at the level of ideas as at the political level: to Kwame Nkrumah, Patrice Lumumba, Amilcar Cabral and others. This covers all the struggles against colonialism, for independence and for Pan-Africanism. We expect to bring together a number of African intellectuals to talk about this. This, in our opinion will be the best reply to Sarkozy, because, I believe, Sarkozy does not know Africa. If he knew a little bit of Africa’s history, he would know that capitalism has been integrating Africans against their will since the 15th century, but before then some African empires, for example like the Mali Empire, had a wide influence at a time when Europe was still in the Middle Ages. This will be an additional lesson to Sarkozy.

ROSA MOUSSAUOI AND CHANTAL DELMAS: The years 2010 and 2011 are going to be very busy years in Africa, with a number of difficulties. However, all the election periods are marked, in all countries, by the emergence of civic associations that are now refusing to permit lackeys, who serve the interests of the colonialist powers, to be foisted upon them. Were these associations at the World Social Forum?

DEMBA MOUSSA DEMBELE: Certainly! The problem of democracy will be one of the main focuses of activity – the relationship between the state and civil society, the choosing of African leaders. We have noticed that, with neocolonialism, the majority of African leaders tend to think that they are more answerable to the Western powers and international institutions than to the citizens who elected them. We want leaders who feel responsible for and answerable to our citizens, not to the West. To this end, they must be people close to the ideas for which the social movements stand. That is why we want this roundtable – to bring the political leaders and the leaders of African institutions together for discussion, to tell them: ‘Your loyalty must be to Africa, to those who elected you and who trust you and not to Sarkozy or Obama, to the World Bank or the IMF.’

Moreover, we want to stress the need to expand democracy, because in our country, as in others, there are monarchist trends. Abdoulaye Wade wants his son to succeed him – he denies it but his actions prove it. The Senegalese have said this will not happen here. He tested the waters with the 2009 municipal elections – he wanted his son to become mayor of Dakar. However, the polls massively rejected him – a real humiliation. We are, obviously, fighting for a rejection of the trend to monarchy, for a deepening of our democracy, for leaders answerable to the people – not to France or Brussels.

ROSA MOUSSAUOI AND CHANTAL DELMAS: How do you envisage, globally, the importance of the World Social Forum in relation to the crisis?

DEMBA MOUSSA DEMBELE: I think that the forum should enable the social movements taking part first of all to make an assessment of 10 years of struggle against the neoliberal system and be proud of the victories we have won on the ideological level. We said that all these policies of privatisation and liberalisation, the policies of the World Bank, the IMF and the WTO, were leading us to a dead-end, to the destruction of the economic and social fabric. Now the system is in a deep crisis, and most of the policies we attacked have been shown to be disastrous, just as we had foreseen. All in all, the international financial crisis has only demonstrated that the foundations were fundamentally bad. The forum should enable us to deepen our critique of the system. We must not rest on our laurels and say we are satisfied because we were right. We should say: ‘Let’s go deeper, because the system continues to live and intends to overcome its problems at the expense of the people.’ We must deepen our critique of the system, above all in connection with the problems arising from climate change. All those policies for coming out of the crisis, the co-opting of emerging countries to accede to the G8 to make a G20 … these are all issues that were to be re-examined during the Dakar forum. Capitalism is in a crisis – but it is still here.

Second, in the course of the forum, we needed an emphasis on all the anti-systemic struggles, in the North as in the South – all the struggles against capitalism, but also against the imperialist system of all-out intervention and oppression of peoples. We must give voice to all the movements, all the organisations that are struggling, in their different ways in different parts of the world, to build resistance against the system and against imperialism.

Third, we have said that another world is possible. However, for us this is an opportunity not only to demonstrate the bankruptcy of the neoliberal capitalist system but also to say: ‘This is what we have proposed for this sector’, ‘this is what we propose for overcoming the crisis’ and ‘this is what we are proposing at the national, European and African levels – and also at the world level.’ What new policy, what new institutions must be created to really come out of the crisis – not to save capitalism but to secure advances in a period of post-capitalist transition? Indeed, I think that the Dakar forum was an opportunity to impart fresh momentum to the World Social Forum.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* Demba Moussa Dembele is the coordinator of the Forum for African Alternatives (Senegal).
* This interview was first published by the Rosa Luxembourg Foundation blog.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

Out of touch in the Horn of Africa?

Alemayehu G. Mariam

2011-02-24

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/71164

cc A HIt’s true that the Ethiopian ‘political opposition is weak and disunited’, but ‘Western governments seem to be conveniently oblivious of the reasons for the disarray in the opposition’, writes Alemayehu G. Mariam.

THE BERLIN CONFERENCE OF 2009

In 1884, the Berlin Conference was convened by the European imperial powers to carve out colonial territories in Africa. It was called the "Scramble for Africa".

In 2009, another Berlin Conference was convened by a high level group of diplomats (referring to themselves as the "partners") from the U.S. and several European countries to hammer out an "agreement" on what to do (and not do) in the Horn of Africa.

According to a recently released Wikileaks cablegram, with respect to Ethiopia, the partners "agreed [on] Ethiopia's key role in the region" and "the need to support and observe its May 2010 elections." They acknowledged "Meles as a regional leader, pointing out he would represent Africa on climate change in Copenhagen." They agreed Meles is "intent on retaining power" and that he is "a guy you can do business with". They expressed doubts about "being associated with a likely imperfect process" that could result from the May 2010 elections (which subsequently produced a 99.6 percent win for Meles' party), but "they nonetheless agreed on the importance of international involvement in the elections."

The German and French partners debated "Ethiopia's economic situation, namely [the] hard currency and the poor investment climate." The German diplomat suggested that Ethiopia's economic problems could be traced to "Meles' poor understanding of economics". The French diplomat argued that "Meles actually had a good understanding of economics, but was hampered by his ideological beliefs." In a single sentence, out of the blue, the partners ganged up and whipsawed the entire Ethiopian opposition: "The [Ethiopian] political opposition is weak, disunited, and out of touch with the average Ethiopian, partners agreed."

For quite some time, foreign journalists have been reporting wholly disparaging and categorically dismissive remarks about Ethiopia's opposition by anonymous Western diplomats. In February 2010, I wrote a commentary decrying and protesting the cowardly and scandalous statements issued by Western diplomats hiding behind the veil of journalistic anonymity. I complained that the derisive characterizations were not only unfair, inaccurate and self-serving, but also dispiriting, disheartening and demeaning of Ethiopia's besieged opposition. It is gratifying to finally put faces to the surly anonymous lips.

IS THE ETHIOPIAN POLITICAL OPPOSITION "WEAK AND DISUNITED"?

It is true that the Ethiopian "political opposition is weak and disunited", an issue I have addressed on previous occasions. But Western governments seem to be conveniently oblivious of the reasons for the disarray in the opposition. For two decades, Meles Zenawi and his regime have done everything in their power to keep the opposition divided, defeated, discombobulated and dysfunctional. Zenawi has pursued the opposition relentlessly often comparing them to Rwanda's interhamwe (meaning "those who stand/work/fight/attack together") genociders. In 2005, he rounded up almost all of the major opposition political and civic leaders, human rights advocates, journalists and dissidents in the country and jailed them for nearly two years on charges of genocide, among many others. Zenawi's own Inquiry Commission has documented that hundreds of peaceful opposition demonstrators were massacred in the streets and over thirty thousand suspected opposition members jailed in the aftermath of the May 2005 elections. In 2008, Zenawi jailed Birtukan Midekssa, the first female opposition political party leader in Ethiopian history, on the ridiculous charge of "denying a pardon". He put her in solitary confinement and categorically and absolutely ruled out any possibility of freedom for her declaring: "There will never be an agreement with anybody to release Birtukan. Ever. Full stop. That's a dead issue." (He let go in October 2010.)

Zenawi has demonized a major opposition group as a "terrorist" organization bent on "creating a rift between the government and the people of Oromiya." In his pursuit of the opposition, he has "used extreme force trapping the civilian population between the insurgents and the government forces." He put on trial and sentenced to death various alleged "members" of Ginbot 7 Movement, and contemptuously described the Movement as an organization of "amateur part-time terrorists". He has intimidated and verbally shredded his former comrade-in-arms who have stood with the opposition and rhetorically clobbered his critics as "muckrakers," "mud dwellers", "sooty," "sleazy," "pompous egotists" and good-for-nothing "chaff" and "husk." He even claimed the opposition was "dirtying up the people like themselves." Opposition parliamentarians are routinely humiliated in public and treated like delinquent children. In parliamentary exchanges, they are mocked for their pronunciation of English words.

When opposition leaders went on the campaign trial in 2010, they were prevented from meeting with voters in their districts as former president Dr. Negasso Gidada and others have documented. Opposition political and civic leaders and dissidents are kept under 24-hour surveillance, and the people they meet are intimidated and harassed. The culture of fear that permeates every aspect of society is reinforced by a structure of repression that is vertically integrated from the very top to the local (kebele) level making peaceful opposition impossible. Unless one is a member of the ruling party, the chances of higher education, employment and other privileges are next to nil. By becoming part of the opposition, the average and not-so-average Ethiopian invites political persecution, economic hardship and social isolation. Under such circumstances, is it any wonder that the Ethiopian opposition is weak and disunited? Is it not ironic that Western donors are unwilling to help the opposition in any way (including giving moral support) yet skulk behind journalistic anonymity to heap dismissive contempt on them while turning a blind eye and a deaf ear to flagrant abuses of human rights and misuse of their aid money to buy votes?

IS THE ETHIOPIAN OPPOSITION "OUT OF TOUCH WITH THE AVERAGE ETHIOPIAN"?

The gratuitous backhanded slap on the face of the Ethiopian opposition as "out of touch with the average Ethiopian" has caused disappointment among some political and civic leaders. But the evidence shows that the Western "partners" may actually be right! For instance, Birtukan Midekssa was completely out of touch with any Ethiopian, except her mother and young daughter, for nearly two years. She was spending time in solitary confinement in Kality prison, a/k/a Kality Hilton, feasting on gourmet food and "putting on weight", according to one highly placed source. Following the May 2005 elections, for almost two years, nearly all of the country's opposition party leaders, leading journalists, human rights activists and civic society advocates were completely out of touch with any Ethiopian, except their jailors, at the same Kality Hilton. As to opposition party members and dissidents, tens of thousands of them have completely disappeared from the face of the earth over the past decade alone and are out of touch with anyone. Tens of thousands more are held incommunicado as political prisoners in secret jails. In light of this evidence, could it be denied that the Ethiopian opposition is completely out of touch with the average and not-so-average Ethiopian?

IS THE RULING REGIME IN TOUCH WITH THE AVERAGE ETHIOPIAN?

One would have to answer that question in the affirmative. The whole idea of a police state is to make sure that the rulers stay in very close touch with the average citizen. Zenawi's regime stays in close touch with the average Ethiopian using the services of hundreds of thousands of secret police operatives and informants spying on each individual. Dr. Gidada has documented one of the common ways the regime stays in extremely close touch with the people:

The police and security offices and personnel collect information on each household through other means. One of these methods involves the use of organizations or structures called "shane", which in Oromo means "the five". Five households are grouped together under a leader who has the job of collecting information on the five households... The security chief passes the information he collected to his chief in the higher administrative organs in the Qabale, who in turn informs the Woreda police and security office. Each household is required to report on guests and visitors, the reasons for their visits, their length of stay, what they said and did and activities they engaged in. ... The OPDO/EPRDF runs mass associations (women, youth and micro-credit groups) and party cells ("fathers", "mothers" and "youth"). The party cells in the schools, health institutions and religious institutions also serve the same purpose....

The average and not-so-average Ethiopian looking for a government job or applying for a business license needs to be in close touch with the powers that be to get one. The regime is so in touch with the average and not-so-average Ethiopian that they want them to hear only what they have to say. They have jammed the transmissions of the Voice of America, opposition satellite broadcasts and filtered out websites of regime critics.

ARE THE WESTERN DONORS "IN TOUCH WITH THE AVERAGE ETHIOPIAN"?

Western donors are very much in touch with the average Ethiopian, that is in the same way as they were in touch with the average Tunisian, Egyptian, Yemeni, Bahraini and so on. They were so in touch with the average citizens of these countries that they anticipated and correctly predicted the recent popular uprisings. That was the reason President Obama "applauded" the people for throwing Ben Ali out of Tunisia. The U.S. was so in touch with the realities of the average Egyptian over the past 30 years that President Obama and his foreign policy team froze in stunned silence, flat-footed and twiddling their thumbs and scratching their heads for days before staking out a position on the popular uprising. They could not bring themselves to use the "D" words (dictator, democracy) to describe events in Egypt. Western governments were also very much in touch with Hosni Mubarak floating his ship of state on an ocean of corruption and repression with billions of dollars in military and economic aid. They are very much in touch with Zenawi; after all he is the "guy you can do business with," a partner. Truth be told, they have done tons of business with him over the past 20 years, no less than $26 billion!

WHO IS "THE AVERAGE ETHIOPIAN"?

Who is the "average Ethiopian" whose contact is so highly prized and coveted? It seems s/he has an average life expectancy at birth of less than 45 years. S/he lives on less than $USD 1 per day. S/he is engaged in subsistence agriculture eking out a living. S/he survives on a daily intake of 800 calories (starvation level). S/he can neither read nor write. If s/he is sick, she has a 1 chance in 39,772 persons to see a doctor, 1 in 828,000 to see a dentist, 1 in 4,985 chance to see a nurse. She has little or no access to family planning services, reproductive health and emergency obstetric services and suffers from high maternal mortality during childbirth. She is a victim of gender discrimination, domestic violence and female genital mutilation. She has fewer employment and educational opportunities than the "average" man and is not paid equal pay for equal work. S/he is likely to die from malaria and other preventable infectious diseases, severe shortages of clean water and poor sanitation. The "average" Ethiopian youth is undereducated, underemployed and underappreciated with little opportunity for social mobility or economic self-sufficiency. The "average" urban adolescent is unemployed and a drop out from school. S/he is frustrated and in despair of his/her future and is likely to engage in a fatal pattern of risky behaviors including drug, alcohol and tobacco abuse, crime and delinquency and sexual activity which exposes him/her to a risk of acquiring sexually transmitted diseases including HIV. The "average" child has a high likelihood of being orphaned and die from malnutrition and is vulnerable to all forms of exploitation, including child labor and sexual. So, who really is in touch with the "average Ethiopian"!?!

BE IN TOUCH WITH THE YOUTH

Regardless of how the Western donors define the "average Ethiopian", the fact is that s/he is a young person. An estimated 67 percent of the population is under the age of 30, of which 43 percent is below the age of 15. Two of history's evil men understood the importance of staying in touch with the youth population. Vladmir Lenin, the founder of the totalitarian Soviet state said, "Give me just one generation of youth, and I'll transform the whole world." His counterpart in the Third Reich said, "he alone, who owns the youth, gains the future." Both failed because they wanted to use the youths as cannon fodder for their warped vision of world domination. Africa's dictators have ignored and neglected the youths and consigned them to a life of poverty and despair. They have tried to put in the service of their dictatorial rule Africa's best and brightest. They too will fail.

The demographic data on Africa's youth is frightening. As Africa urbanizes rapidly and its population population continues to grow uncontrollably (expected to increase from 294 million to 742 million between 2000 and 2030), the number of young people trapped in poverty, hungry and angry will multiply by the tens of millions per year. Frustrated, desperate and denied political space, they will become the powder keg that will implode African societies. African dictators and their Western partners continue to delude themselves into believing that the youth will continue to passively accept and tolerate corruption, repression, abuse of power and denial of basic human rights. But a new generation of African youths is rising up declaring: "Enough is Enough!"

REVOLUTIONARY DEMOCRACY MEETS "FACEBOOK" DEMOCRACY IN ETHIOPIA

If Tunisia and Egypt are an indication, Zenawi's vision of revolutionary democracy will in due course collide with the "Facebook" democracy (tech savvy young people creating a functioning civic community using information technology) taking over Africa's youth. Zenawi wrote:

When Revolutionary Democracy permeates the entire society, individuals will start to think alike and all persons will cease having their own independent outlook. In this order, individual thinking becomes simply part of collective thinking because the individual will not be in a position to reflect on concepts that have not been prescribed by Revolutionary Democracy.

This is not democracy (revolutionary or reactionary). In the old days, such "democracy" was called fascism where the national leader (Der Fuhrer) sought to create "organic unity" of the body politic by imposing upon the people uniformity of thought and action through violence, legal compulsion and intense social pressure. It is no longer possible to brainwash, mind control and indoctrinate impressionable young people with meaningless ideology as though they are helpless and fatuous members of a weird religious cult. The days of programming human beings as jackbooted robots marching to the order of "Der Fuhrer" are long gone.

"Facebook" democrats reject any totalitarian notions of "individual thinking becoming part of collective thinking". They do not need a single mind, a single party, a single operating system to do the thinking for them. Africa's youths have their own unique outlook and independent voice on their present circumstances and their future. History shows that every regime that has sought to force unanimity of opinion and belief among its citizens has found the unanimity of the graveyard. When free speech, free press and the rule of law permeate society, and human rights and the voices of the people are respected and protected, citizens will experience dignity and self-respect and muster the courage and determination to forge their own destinies.

There are enough young Africans with the idealism, creativity, knowledge, technical ability and genius to transform the old fear-ridden Africa into their own brave new Africa. In this effort, they do not need the guiding hands or the misguided ideas of ideologues from a bygone era. Western partners have the choice of supporting a brave new Africa of young people on the march or they can continue their "partnership" in the crime of democricide with the old "stable" police states careening to the dustbin of history. With the recent departure of two of the most powerful and entrenched police chiefs, and others teetering, the West may not be able to shoehorn the youths of (the Horn of) Africa into silence and submission from boardrooms in Berlin, Washington, London, Rome, Paris...

Power to Africa's Youths!

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* This article first appeared in The Huffington Post.
* Alemayehu G. Mariam is professor of political science at CSU San Bernardino.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

Egypt: Women of the revolution

Fatma Naib

2011-02-24

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/71168

cc H HEgyptian women describe the spirit of Tahrir and their hope that the equality they found there will live on.

When 26-year-old Asmaa Mahfouz wrote on Facebook that she was going to Cairo’s Tahrir Square and urged all those who wanted to save the country to join her, the founding member of the April 6 Youth Movement was hoping to seize the moment as Tunisians showed that it was possible for a popular uprising to defeat a dictator.

Mahfouz later explained on Egyptian television that she and three others from the movement went to the square and began shouting: “Egyptians, four people set themselves on fire out of humiliation and poverty. Egyptians, four people set fire to themselves because they were afraid of the security agencies, not of the fire. Four people set fire to themselves in order to tell you to awaken. We are setting ourselves on fire so that you will take action. Four people set themselves on fire in order to say to the regime: Wake up. We are fed up.”

In a video she subsequently posted online, which quickly went viral, she declared: “As long as you say there is no hope, then there will be no hope, but if you go down and take a stance, then there will be hope.”

Egyptian women, just like men, took up the call to ‘hope’. Here they describe the spirit of Tahrir – the camaraderie and equality they experienced – and their hope that the model of democracy established there will be carried forward as Egyptians shape a new political and social landscape.

MONA SEIF, 24, RESEARCHER

"I have never felt as at peace and as safe as I did during those days in Tahrir."

The daughter of a political activist who was imprisoned at the time of her birth and the sister of a blogger who was jailed by the Mubarak regime, Mona Seif says nothing could have prepared her for the scale and intensity of the protests.

“I didn’t think it was going to be a revolution. I thought if we could [mobilise] a couple of thousand people then that would be great.

"I was angry about the corruption in the country, [about the death of] Khaled Said and the torture of those suspected but never convicted [of being behind] the Alexandria Coptic church [bombing].

"I realised this was going to be bigger than we had anticipated when 20,000 people marched towards Tahrir Square on January 25. That is when we saw a shift; it was not about the minimum wage or emergency law anymore. It became much bigger than this, it turned into a protest against the regime, demanding that Mubarak step down and that parliament be dissolved.

"On the night later dubbed ‘the battle of the camels’ when pro-Mubarak thugs attacked us, I was terrified. I thought they were going to shoot us all and get it over with. The turning point for me was when I saw the number of people ready to face death for their beliefs.

"I was amazed by the peoples’ determination to keep this peaceful even when we were under deadly attacks. When we caught the pro-Mubarak thugs, the guys would protect them from being beaten and say: ‘Peaceful, peaceful, we are not going to beat anyone up’. That was when I started thinking: ‘No matter what happens we are not going to quit until Mubarak leaves’. The spirit of the people in Tahrir kept us going.

"My friend and I had the role of ensuring that all of the videos and pictures from Tahrir were uploaded and as the internet connection was bad in Tahrir, we would use a friend’s nearby flat to make sure the images made it out so everyone could see what was happening in the square.

"I have never felt as at peace and as safe as I did during those days in Tahrir. There was a sense of coexistence that overcame all of the problems that usually happen – whether religious or gender based.

"Pre-January 25 whenever we would attend protests I would always be told by the men to go to the back to avoid getting injured and that used to anger me. But since January 25 people have begun to treat me as an equal. There was this unspoken admiration for one another in the square.

"We went through many ups and downs together. It felt like it had become a different society – there was one Egypt inside Tahrir and another Egypt outside.

"The moment Tahrir opened up, we saw a lot of people that were not there before and there were reports of females being harassed.

"I know that Egypt has changed and we will transfer the spirit of the square to the rest of the country. Before Tahrir if I was [harassed] I would refrain from asking people for help, because there are a lot of people that would disappoint you by blaming you. But I think the spirit of the revolution has empowered us to spread the feeling we established wider and wider. From now on, if anything happens to me, I am going to scream, I am going to ask people to help me and I know that I will find people that will help me.

"I was in front of the TV building when the news broke about Mubarak stepping down. I found myself swept away with people screaming and cheering. It was an emotional moment that I celebrated with strangers. People were hugging me, shaking my hands, distributing sweets. At that moment we were all one.

"I no longer feel alienated from society. I now walk the streets of Cairo and smile at strangers all the time. I have gained a sense of belonging with everyone on the streets of Cairo – at least for now. Before January 25 I was tempted to leave the country. This feeling has changed now, I want to stay here. This is an extension of our role in the revolution, we have to stay here and contribute to changing our society.”

GIGI IBRAHIM, 24, POLITICAL ACTIVIST

"In my experience women play a pivotal role in all protests and strikes."

Political activist Gigi Ibrahim played an instrumental role in spreading the word about the protests.

“I started [my political activism] by just talking to people [who were] involved [in the labour movement]. Then I became more active and the whole thing became addictive. I went to meetings and took part in protests. I learned very quickly that most of the strikes in the labour movement were started by women.

"In my experience women play a pivotal role in all protests and strikes. Whenever violence erupts, the women would step up and fight the police, and they would be beaten just as much as the men.

"I have seen it during the Khaled Said protests in June 2010 when many women were beaten and arrested. Muslim, Christian – all types of women protested.

"My family always had problems with me taking part in protests. They prevented me from going for my safety because I am a girl. They were worried about the risks. I would have to lie about attending protests.

"When the police violently cleared the square on January 25, I was shot in the back by a rubber bullet while trying to run away from the police as they tear gassed us. I returned to the square, as did many others, the following day and stayed there on and off for the next 18 days.

"As things escalated my dad got increasingly worried. On January 28, my sister wanted to lock me in the house. They tried to stop me from leaving, but I was determined and I went out. I moved to my aunt’s place that is closer to Tahrir Square and I would go there every now and again to wash and rest before returning to the square.

"At first my family was very worried, but as things escalated they started to understand and to be more supportive. My family is not politically active at all.

"The day-to-day conditions were not easy. Most of us would use the bathroom inside the nearby mosque. Others would go to nearby flats where people kindly opened their homes for people to use.

"I was in Tahrir Square on February 2, when pro-Mubarak thugs attacked us with petrol bombs and rocks. That was the most horrific night. I was trapped in the middle of the square. The outskirts of the square were like a war zone. The more things escalated the more determined we became not to stop. Many people were injured and many died and that pushed us to go on and not give up.

"I thought if those armed pro-Mubarak thugs came inside the square it would be the end of us. We were unarmed, we had nothing. That night I felt fear but it changed into determination.

"The women played an important role that night. Because we were outnumbered, we had to secure all the exits in the square. The exits between each end of the square would take up to 10 minutes to reach, so the women would go and alert others about where the danger was coming from and make sure that the people who were battling swapped positions with others so that they could rest before going out into the battle again.

"The women were also taking care of the wounded in makeshift clinics in the square. Some women were on the front line throwing rocks with the men. I was on the front line documenting the battle with my camera. It was like nothing that I have ever seen or experienced before.

"During the 18 days neither I nor any of my friends were harassed. I slept in Tahrir with five men around me that I didn’t know and I was safe.

"But that changed on the day Mubarak stepped down. The type of people who came then were not interested in the revolution. They were there to take pictures. They came for the carnival atmosphere and that was when things started to change.

"When the announcement came we all erupted in joy. I was screaming and crying. I hugged everyone around me. I went from being happy and crying to complete shock. It took a while for it to sink in.

"The revolution is not over. All of our demands have not yet been met. We have to continue. This is where the real hard work begins, but it will take a different shape than staging sit-ins in the square. Rebuilding Egypt is going to be tough and we all have to take part in this. There are organised strikes demanding workers’ rights for better pay and conditions and those are the battles to be won now.”

SALMA EL TARZI, 33, FILMMAKER

"What kept us going was the conviction that we did not have any option – it was either freedom or go to jail."

Having never been politically active, Salma El Tarzi was sceptical about the protesters’ chances of getting their demands met until the day when she stood on her balcony and saw the crowds. She decided to join the protesters and has not looked back since.

“I was protesting on my own on the 26th and 27th, but bumped into my younger brother in the crowd by chance on the 28th. We just carried on from then onward.

"What kept us going was the conviction that we did not have any option – it was either stay and fight for freedom or go to jail.

"My dad has been very supportive. He was getting to the point where he was telling me and my brother: “Don’t run away from gun fire, run towards it.”

"While in Tahrir we were all receiving threatening calls telling us that if we didn’t vacate the square we would be hunted and killed. But we didn’t care at that point. We were at the point of no return.

"Tahrir Square became our mini model of how democracy should be. Living there was not easy. We would use a nearby mosque and I would go to a friend’s house every now and then to wash. But I must admit that conditions were not ideal. It was very cold, we slept on the floor. Some of us had tents and some made their own tents. Let’s put it this way, due to the difficult conditions we called it the ‘smell of a revolution’.

"I was one of many women, young and old, there. We were as active as the men. Some acted as nurses and looked after the wounded during the battles; others were simply helping with distributing water. But there were a great number of women that were on the front line hurling stones at the police and pro-Mubarak thugs.

"The duties in the square were divided. We were very organised. Something changed in the dynamic between men and women in Tahrir. When the men saw that women were fighting in the front line that changed their perception of us and we were all united. We were all Egyptians now.

"The general view of women changed for many. Not a single case of sexual harassment happened during the protests up until the last day when Mubarak stepped down. That is a big change for Egypt.

"The fear barrier was broken for all of us. When we took part in the protests it was just a protest for our basic human rights, but they [the regime] escalated it to a revolution. Their brutality and violence turned it into a revolution. What started as a day of rage turned into a revolution that later toppled the regime that had been in power for 30 years. They [the regime] empowered us through their violence; they made us hold on to the dream of freedom even more. We were all walking around with wounds, but we still kept going. We were even treating injured horses that they had used in their brutal attacks against us.

"Before January 25 I didn’t have faith that my voice could be heard. I didn’t feel like I was in control of my future. The metaphor used by Mubarak that he was our father and we were his children made us feel as though we lacked any motivation.

"The revolution woke us up – a collective consciousness has been awoken.”

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* This article was originally published by Radical Africa.
* You can follow @FatmaNaib on Twitter.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

Egypt: How to overthrow a dictator

Samir Amin

2011-02-24

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/71173

cc H HSamir Amin discusses the role played by four key components of the opposition to Mubarak – the youth, the radical left, middle-class democrats and the Muslim Brotherhood – and the strategies used to oust the regime.

SAMIR AMIN: In a previous paper, I wanted to stress the strategy of the enemy, that is, the strategy of the USA and the ruling class of Egypt. Many people do not understand this. Now I would like to discuss the components and the strategies of the movement.

There are four components of the opposition. One is the youth. They are politicised young people, they are organised very strongly, they are more than one million organised, which is not at all a small number. They are against the social and economic system. Whether they are anti-capitalist is a little theoretical for them, but they are against social injustice and growing inequality. They are nationalist in the good sense, they are anti-imperialist. They hate the submission of Egypt to the US hegemony. They are therefore against so-called peace with Israel, which tolerates Israel’s continued colonisation of occupied Palestine. They are democratic, totally against the dictatorship of the army and the police. They have decentralised leadership. When they gave the order to demonstrate, the mobilisation was one million. But within a few hours, the actual figure was not one million, but fifteen million, everywhere throughout the whole nation, and in the quarters of small towns and villages. They had an immediate gigantic positive echo in the whole nation.

The second component is the radical left, which comes from the communist tradition. The young are not anti communist, but they do not want to be put in the frame of a party with chiefs and orders. They do not have bad relations with the communists. Absolutely no problem. Thanks to the demonstrations, there is a coming together, not of leadership, but of interaction.

The third component is the middle class democrats. The system is so full of police and mafia that many, including small businessmen, were continuously racketed in order to survive. They are not part of the left; they accept capitalism, business and the market, they are even not totally anti-American, they do not love Israel but they accept it. But they are democrats, against the concentration of power of the army, police and the gang mafia around. Mohamed El Baradei is typical of them, he has no idea of the economy other than what it is – the market. He does not know what socialism is, but he is a democrat.

The fourth component is the Muslim Brotherhood. Even if they have a public political popular echo, they are ultra-reactionary. They have not only religious ideology, they are also reactionaries on social ground. They have been openly against the strikes of the workers, standing with the state. They think workers should accept the market. They took a position against the peasants’ movement. There is a strong middle peasant movement, they are menaced by the market and by rich peasants; they struggle for the right to maintain their property. The Muslim Brotherhood took position against them, saying that land property is a private right, and market is sacrosanct in Qu’ran. The Muslim Brotherhood has in fact been complicit with the regime. The regime and Muslim Brotherhood are in apparent conflict, but in fact they are combined. The state has given up to Muslim Brotherhood three major institutions: Education, justice, and state TV; these are very important state institutions. Through education, they have imposed the veil, first for the girls in school and then for society. Through justice, they introduced the Islamic law, Shari’a. Through the media, they influence public opinion. The leadership has always been a corrupted political leadership made of very rich people. They have always been financed by Saudi Arabia – which means by the USA. But they have two big influences, one in the sectors of the middle class that are pro capitalist, anti-communist, afraid of the people, and who think Muslim rule is not a bad thing. These are spontaneously with them. They are very influential among teachers, medical doctors, and lawyers etc. At the same time, they have a lumpen support in which they recruit their paid militias. In Egypt, extreme poverty is large-scale. We have five million in Cairo that can be totally deprived among a population of 15 million. Among the very poor with very low political understanding, Muslim Brotherhood has this army that they can mobilise.

What happens is the following. The movement was started by the youth, joined immediately by the radical left, and joined the next day by the bourgeois democrats. The Muslim Brotherhood boycotted for the first four days because they thought that the movement would be defeated by the police. When they saw that the movement could not be defeated, the leadership thought they could not stay out, and they moved in. This fact must be known.

We come to the strategy of the USA. The system is not Mubarak, but the people started with one symbol, which is Mubarak. A few hours after Mubarak nominated Omar Suleiman as vice president, the slogan shouted by the people was ‘No Mubarak, no Suleiman, they are two Americans.’ [US president] Obama said we want a soft transition, which would be something like in the Philippines. The people say, we want to get rid of not one criminal but all criminals, a real transition not a farce – so there is a very high political consciousness. Yet the USA target is a soft transition. How? By opening negotiation with the right and the centre, with the Muslim Brotherhood and eventually some bourgeois democrats, they would isolate the left and the youth. That is their strategy. With or without formal concessions, they say soon Mubarak will be out. An invitation to so-called ‘negotiation’ was initiated by vice president Suleiman. The Muslim Brotherhood leadership is clever, they did not surrender. But they accepted the principle of negotiations with the system.

The conference of the movement, which is discussing everyday, is establishing the rules for a real transition:

- First, the immediate dissolution of the fabricated assembly
- Second, the immediate lifting of the martial law and allowing free demonstration
- Third, starting the project of a new constitution
- Fourth, the assembly elected should be a constitutional assembly
- Fifth, not immediate or fast elections, but allow for a long time of freedom.

If it is immediate elections, many people will vote for the Muslims because they are organised, they have the media, and so on. But if you allow for a year of real freedom, the left and the youth can then organise themselves.

It is the beginning of a long struggle. Egypt is a country of long revolutions, from 1920 to 1952, with ups and downs. In the long run, the youth and the left are the majority, with capacity of action. But a bad possible scenario is the possibility of the Muslim Brotherhood attacking them. They have tried. The system is very vicious. It had opened the prison and released 17,000 criminals, given them pro-Mubarak badges, arms, money, and the guarantee that they would not return to the prison, for them to attack the demonstrators. These criminals could not have escaped from the prison if not with the protection of the police. Nobody from the movement opened the prison.

WANG HUI: You think the young people are for the left. But it seems likely that the right and Muslim Brotherhood will try to divide the young people. I think it is important that the youth, even the democrats, are not for the Americans.

SAMIR AMIN: Many democrats are neutral, not against the Americans. El Baradei is rather naïve [in thinking] that the Americans are for democracy. We continue repeating that the target of USA is not democracy.

LAU KIN CHI: What has been the role of the workers and the farmers?

SAMIR AMIN: Three years ago, there was a wave of strikes in Egypt, the strongest in the African continent, South Africa included, since 50 years. The official trade unions are completely controlled by the state, since the time of Nasser, like the Soviet model of state control of the trade union. The strike did not start from the trade union leadership, but from the bottom. We can say it was spontaneous in terms of it not being initiated by the leadership. It was a success, a gigantic success. The regime three years ago wanted to send the police. The companies said no, it was impossible, because we could have all the factories destroyed. They negotiated. The strikes won very small concessions, 10 per cent or 15 per cent increase in wages, which was less than what had been eaten by the inflation of those years. However it won something important for dignity, and for trade union rights, such as no one would be dismissed without the knowledge of the trade union. They established themselves as new independent trade union. They are there now in the movement.

The peasant movement is much more difficult in connecting. There has always been a radical movement since 1920. You have the latifundias, but there are also the rich peasants who are very strong in rural society since they are not the absentees, and they have relations with the government, the lawyers, the doctors. There are the middle peasants, the poor and the very poor peasants, and the landless. The situation of the landless, curiously, has not deteriorated in the last 30 years, because they have out migrated to the Gulf countries for work, and they have made some small money which allowed them not to buy back land, but to establish themselves in the grey, informal economic activities. The very poor are menaced, because the neoliberal market allows and facilitates them to be expropriated by the rich peasants, new capitalist landowners, and modern Egyptian companies associated with agribusiness. They are very radical, they are not anti-communist, but they do not know what communism is. They simply do not know. It is the weakness of the communists that they have never been able to integrate them. The only people who went to discuss with them were the communists, not Muslims, not bourgeois democrats. But nobody has influence on them. But they have continued their struggles.

LAU KIN CHI: Have the workers and the peasants participated in the recent mobilisations?

SAMIR AMIN: The peasants have mobilised in the small villages, but there are no links with the global movement. They do not participate in the conference that is discussing the transition.

WANG HUI: Are the movements mostly urban?

SAMIR AMIN: Yes, also in small towns.

WANG HUI: How would you explain their spontaneity?

SAMIR AMIN: The people are fed up with everything, with the police. If you happen to be arrested, even if it is only because of the red light, you will be beaten and tortured. There is the daily torture and repression from the police. Absolute impunity. Most ugly. People are also fed up with the mafia system. The entrepreneurs that the World Bank says are the future, are gangsters. Where do they have their fortune? From selling land of the state given to them by the state for nothing, for building projects; wealth accumulated by dispossession. They are squeezing the real entrepreneurs.

People are also fed up with the American dictates. Egyptians are good nationalists. We ask, how can we be so low, that the American ambassador and president dictate everything everyday? There is also the social degradation. Unemployment and poverty is growing for the majority, inequality is gigantic. So all that combined. The government has no legitimacy. Now that is no more. Sudden explosions. People got killed. But they know that if you struggle, you may die.

WANG HUI: What is the impact on solidarity on Arab countries?

SAMIR AMIN: It will have an echo, but each country is different. Tunisia is a small country, with a higher level of education and of living, but it is a small country and vulnerable in the global economy.

WANG HUI: It seems people are more organised in Tunisia, and it is more spontaneous in Egypt. There would certainly be an impact on Palestine?

SAMIR AMIN: Sure, [and] also an impact on Syria which is very complex. It is very difficult to know the impact on Iraq. South Yemen is nationalist populist left and with Marxist rhetoric and some thinking of the radical left, the strong feeling for one nation. But it is like Korea, with a backward north and an advanced south. Yemen may split again, because the south cannot accept unity.

PART TWO: MUBARAK STEPS DOWN

LAU KIN CHI: Please comment on the latest developments.

SAMIR AMIN: What has happened is that firstly, Mubarak has not resigned. He has been dismissed by a coup d’état of the head of the army, and he and his fellow vice president Omar Suleiman have been dismissed. This new official leadership of the army is claiming that it will hold power until new elections, and then the army will go back to the barracks. In the meantime, they are responsible for the transition.

But the conference of the movements has continued its work, to push for its demands for a new democracy with all freedoms such as organisation and access to the media.

Secondly, this conference will deliberate on a concept of new constitution, so that the assembly that will be elected will be a constitutional assembly, not a legislative assembly, even if the government makes its soft amendments to the present constitution.

It is too early to know how this new government will manage the condition. We will know in the coming days. The movement has not completed its project. The leadership of the army wants a strong transition with an election in which of course the Muslim Brotherhood will be highly represented. We want a slow transition in order to allow for the new political, democratic forces to organise themselves, to elaborate their programmes and projects, and to have access to the public opinion, before the elections

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* Samir Amin is the director of the Third World Forum.
* Interview conducted by Wang Hui and Lau Kin Chi.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

'The power is within us': A protest diary from Cameroon

Kah Walla

2011-02-24

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/71188

cc J AKah Walla, the presidential candidate for Cameroon Ô’Bosso, who led yesterday’s peaceful protests which were brutally quelled by the army, produced this diary of events leading up to and during the protest.

Wednesday, 23 2:30 a.m. We left our strategy room feeling quite good. We were convinced we had a surprise itinerary which the police did not know about and we would be able to march for at least a half-hour before they fell upon us. We were also thrilled with the symbolism of our start point: Um Nyobe’s house in Nkolmondo (one of Douala’s poorest neighbourhoods) was full of both historic and current day symbolism and would get us off with the type of energy we needed for the day. We had met with the family and they were in full agreement. Off we went to catch a few hours of sleep before our scheduled start time of 9:00 a.m.

8:00 a.m. The first part of our organization team arrived at the site. Water sachets and 200 t-shirts in tow, they were busy setting up things for all to march non-violently and determinedly. The gendarmes show up, arrest 6 of our members and 1 journalist from AFP and confiscate our 200 t-shirts and our water. Our close to 300 protestors panic. The march has not even started and people are being arrested. The majority of them desist. A handful of about 20 die-hards persist. We start figuring out possible new itineraries. On the spot we decide to print 50 new t-shirts.

11:30 a.m. We get a call from our colleagues at the P.U.R.S. political party. They are still willing to march and they are a good 2-3 dozen as well. We decide to make sure we mark this day. We set off to “Feu Rouge Bessengue” new red t-shirts brandishing “Ca Suffit” on them, in tow. We meet up with our colleagues of P.U.R.S. and don the t-shirts.

About 12:15 p.m. We occupy Boulevard de la République at Feu Rouge Bessengue. No traffic can move on one of the busiest streets in Douala. Amazingly, not one single car driver or motorbike driver protests. Those who support join us in our chants. Others turn their vehicles around quietly and go. Some passersby grab a red tee, don it and join our ranks.

About 12:45 p.m. The forces of law and order show up. An armada. About 70-80 policemen, two water cannons, riot gear and shields. We remain firm and as previously decided, sit, to show we are non-violent. These boys (and a few girls) do not have that word in their vocabulary. They use their clubs to begin seriously hitting on some of our protestors. To their grand surprise, I walk up to ask them to stop. The chiefs then realised they had Kah Walla, “l’oiseau” (bird) as one of them called me, right in front of them. For a few minutes they could not figure out what to do with me and had me walking back and forth while they decided to put me in a truck or in a car.

Finally a big boss in civilian clothes shows up. He wants to “teach me a lesson” as he said. He asks that I be put on the median in the middle of the street. Then he turned the entire water cannon truck on for my personal benefit. Note my two fists up in a victory symbol under the water cannon. That’s the lesson I learnt: the power is within us. No amount of violence and hysteria can remove it.

The icing on the cake is that as we choked and burned from the chemicals on the water, they then asked us to climb onto their truck. As we climbed up, with our backs turned, they hit us with their clubs. The only feeling I had was one of sadness that those whom yours and my taxes pay to protect us show such extreme cowardice and meanness. After climbing onto the truck they let us catch our breaths then set us free. What was the point of climbing onto the truck? Just so they could beat our backs? Sad.

13: 40 p.m. The team and I head to Muna Clinic to make sure everybody is ok – a few wounds, some serious, some not too bad. Some serious welts on the backs of a few of our members, my back and eyes are still burning and I smell of hydrogen even as I write this. The amazing result though is a profound feeling of accomplishment:

* They wanted to stop us from protesting, we protested.
* We have a non-violent philosophy, which we maintained in the face of extreme violence. I could not believe it when the Cameroon Ô’Bosso guys were walking over to stop the population from throwing stones at the police. An incredible force of young Cameroonians.
* We started out almost 300 and ended up less than 50 but (being a) nugget has banished fear, for ourselves and for many other Cameroonians.
* The population did not join us in droves, but: not one person out of hundreds complained about the blocking on the road; when the violence broke out they started throwing stones at the police; they doused us with water as soon as the police let us go. They also refused water to a few policemen who had been accidentally sprayed by the water cannon.

If we ever doubted it, we now have extreme clarity on the absolute need for change and the absolute need for unwavering determination in bringing it about in our country.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* Kah Walla can be contacted via email: kahwalla@gmail.com.
* This article was first published as a blogpost by product of my past.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

The iron heel: Why the US continues to crush Haitian democracy

Ben Terrall

2011-02-23

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/71126

cc L GRecent Wikileaks cable releases reveal why the US continues to crush democracy in Haiti.

Haiti watchers in the US repeatedly hear several questions from North Americans new to the island nation’s history: why is Washington obsessed with containing any legitimate pro-democracy movement in the hemisphere’s poorest country? How is a nation state the size of Maryland with a mostly destitute population of nine million a threat to the US?

Classified US diplomatic cables recently released through Wikileaks provide some interesting insights into how to answer such queries. (Many can be found at investigative journalist Ansel Hertz’s excellent site [http://www.mediahacker.org/] and via the Center for Economic and Policy Research [http://www.cepr.net/index.php/relief-and-reconstruction-watch/].)

The palpable aversion to Jean-Bertrand Aristide and his Fanmi Lavalas party, which dominate these cables, is not surprising to anyone familiar with the last 20 years of Haiti’s history. As thoroughly detailed in Peter Hallward’s ‘Damming the Flood’ and Randall Robinson’s ‘An Unbroken Agony’, the US, with France and Canada, aided and abetted the February 2004 coup which ousted the democratically-elected Aristide government and replaced it with a murdering kleptocracy which systematically jailed, tortured, and killed thousands of Lavalas activists.

Haitian activists I spoke to in Port-au-Prince in 2006 told me the George W. Bush-backed coup likely destroyed more lives than the horrific first anti-Aristide coup of 1991 (which George H.W. Bush’s administration supported).

On 8 June 2005, US Ambassador to Brazil John Danilovich and his political counsellor met with then President Lula da Silva’s international affairs adviser Marco Aurelio Garcia. The relevant leaked cable reads: ‘Ambassador and PolCouns…stressed continued US G[overnment] insistence that all efforts must be made to keep Aristide from returning to Haiti or influencing the political process…[and that Washington was] increasingly concerned about a major deterioration in security, especially in Port-au-Prince.’

Garcia duly assured the superpower’s representatives of ‘continued Brazilian resolve to keep Aristide from returning to the country or exerting political influence.’ Further, Garcia noted that Aristide ‘does not fit in with a democratic political future in Haiti.’ Given that Aristide was twice elected by overwhelming majorities in the most open, nonviolent elections in Haiti’s history, the definition of ‘democratic’ here must be uniquely Washingtonian.

An October 2008 cable from then US Ambassador to Haiti Janet Sanderson is a choice example of the patronising doublespeak that students of US foreign policy either tune out or relish. Arguing fiercely for the continuation of the UN ‘peacekeeping’ operation known by its acronym MINUSTAH, set up to take over from US, French and Canadian troops to legitimise the 2004 coup, Sanderson asserts: ‘MINUSTAH is a remarkable product and symbol of hemispheric cooperation in a country with little going for it.’

Sanderson explains: ‘The fundamental USG policy goal in Haiti is to make it a viable state that does not pose a threat to the region through domestic political turmoil or an exodus of illegal migrants. To reach that point, Haiti must be able to assure its own domestic security, govern itself with stable democratic institutions, and create a business climate that will get the economy moving […] The United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) is the largest and most effective external institution pursuing [these goals].’

She concludes breezily, ‘Haiti’s progress toward viability hinges on a large international security preserve and continued injections of assistance to consolidate its institutions and ease human misery.’ A sentient being capable of rudimentary critical thinking might wonder if Sanderson is being droll here, given the human misery brought on by both US-backed anti-Aristide coups. Aristide, after all, earned the enmity of Washington primarily for taking seriously the teachings of liberation theology and actually advancing a ‘preferential option for the poor’. Most impudently, Aristide’s last administration pushed through a doubling of the pitifully low Haitian minimum wage, an initiative more clearly directed at ‘easing human misery’ than anything done under the post-2004 coup UN occupation (which has cost around $600 million yearly and with next year’s requested budget now at $850 million).

In fact, the human toll of the heavily militarised UN mission has been significant. A March 2005 report by the Harvard Law School Advocates for Human Rights and the Global Justice Center stated: ‘MINUSTAH has provided cover for abuses committed by the HNP [Haitian National Police] during operations in poor, historically tense Port-au-Prince neighborhoods. Rather than advising and instructing the police in best practices, and monitoring their missteps, MINUSTAH has been the midwife of their abuses.’

During trips to Haiti between 2004 and 2008, I spoke to a number of poor Haitians who lost (unarmed, civilian) family members in UN raids on poor neighborhoods, which too often have turned into free fire zones for international troops.

In August 2004 I spoke to witnesses to a UN operation in the Bel Air neighborhood of Port-au-Prince in which Brazilian troops killed several unarmed residents on 29 June 2004. One of those killed was a wheelchair-bound man named William Mercy. Neighbors present at the scene told me Mercy felt safe in front of his residence as the raid commenced, since he was clearly handicapped and unarmed. But in the event, a UN soldier blew the top of Mercy’s head off. William Mercy’s family told me UN officials subsequently ignored their remonstrations, and tried to deny the killing took place.

On 24 August 2005 I witnessed a MINUSTAH operation in Simon Pele (a community bordering the seaside shantytown of Cite Soleil) which was stunning in its liberal use of heavy caliber weapons in a densely populated area. Footage taken by a videographer shows a Brazilian soldier firing from the top of an Armored Personnel Carrier. I witnessed Brazilian troops running from two APCs into Simon Pele, and soldiers within the neighborhood were firing their weapons.

One of those shots killed a young man whose mother I spoke to four days later. Adacia Samedy told me her son Wildert was fixing a radio on the roof of their family home when UN snipers shot him in the operation I witnessed from the outer perimeter. Ms. Samedy told me: ‘My message to the UN is: “Thank you for killing my son. I don’t see the sense in their work, they come in, shoot, and people passing can get shot.”’

I asked her if any UN personnel had returned to see if civilians were killed, or to offer any assistance. Nobody with the UN had offered so much as a basic acknowledgment of her loss.

The Haiti Information Project documented a 6 July 2005 assault on Cité Soleil by UN troops which killed and wounded dozens of civilian residents, including children and infants. Eyewitness stated that UN troops were directly responsible.

According to declassified cables sent that day from the US Embassy in Port-au-Prince to the State Department, UN troops fired 22,000 shots in seven hours in a neighborhood where most people live in flimsy sheet metal structures.

A March 2008 US State Department cable released by Wikileaks shows that Brazil played the role of brutal enforcer in Haiti, expecting an eventual payoff at the UN: ‘Brazil has stayed the course as leader of MINUSTAH in Haiti despite a lack of domestic support for the PKO. The MRE has remained committed to the initiative because it believes that the operation serves FM Amorim's obsessive international goal of qualifying Brazil for a seat on the UN Security Council.’

A recently released September 2009 State Department cable points to other reasons for Brazil’s participation in MINUSTAH. Discussing ‘a September 18 seminar hosted by Brazilian development bank BNDES entitled “Opportunities for Favelas”’, the cable notes that ‘Brazilian Army General Alvaro de Souza Pinheiro (retired) stated the Brazilian Army was prepared to cooperate with Rio de Janeiro state and municipal officials and police to occupy and maintain control of favelas.’ Further, ‘Citing the Brazilian army's role in United Nations Peacekeeping operations in Haiti, [the General] said many officers and units were specifically trained and prepared to undertake operations related to public security and general policing in communities lacking state control.’

In April 2008 a spike in global food prices, partly the result of speculation on global markets, triggered riots around the world by other humans in misery. Sanderson’s communique notes that Haiti’s food riots ‘threw into stark relief MINUSTAH’s role as a security force of last resort. MINUSTAH troops, FPU’s and UNPOL provided the criticl [sic] extra security capability that prevented rotes [sic] from overrunning the Presidential Palace and pobably [sic] chasing President Preval from office.’ As what Sanderson called ‘the country’s ultimate riot control force,’ MINUSTAH thereby kept a lid on the kind of misery-driven pressure from below which has more recently given Washington such headaches in Tunisia and Egypt.

Sanderson helps clarify the broader picture of US enthusiasm for MINUSTAH: ‘Paying one quarter of MINUSTSAH’s budget through our DPKO assessment, the US reaps the security and stabilization benefits of a 9,000-person international military and civilian stabilization mission in the hemisphere’s most troubled country. The security dividend the US reaps from this hemispheric cooperation not only benefits the immediate Caribbean, but also is developing habits of security cooperation in the hemisphere that will serve our interests for years to come. In the current context of our military commitments elsewhere, the US alone could not replace this mission […] Without a UN-sanctioned peacekeeping and stabilization force, we would be getting far less help from our hemispheric and European partners in managing Haiti.’

Sanderson concludes: ‘Abruptly downsizing or prematurely withdrawing [MINUSTAH] will make more likely a result in Haiti we don’t want, and would make future hemispheric peacekeeping efforts more difficult to justify.’

A June 2007 cable by then US Ambassador to Chile Craig Kelly addresses the threat posed to Washington by Hugo Chavez, whom Craig notes ‘has made significant inroads, particularly with local populations, by providing programs for the underprivileged and by casting the US as elitist and only interested in promoting free trade to the benefit of big business. The slogans are facile: neoliberalism makes the rich richer and the poor poorer; the Bolivarian Revolution guarantees our region’s sovereignty and dignity. But they ring true with some local populations and make others feel better about their own lack of progress.’ Luckily the US diplomatic core can see through such drivel.

And lucky too that Washington has its traditional allies to turn to. As Kelly notes, ‘Southern Cone militaries remain key institutions in their respective countries and important allies for the US […] An increasingly unifying theme that completely excludes Chavez, and isolates Venezuela among the militaries and security forces of the region, is participation in traditional and regional peacekeeping operations.’

Kelly concludes: ‘We should explore using the mechanism that the region’s contributors to MINUSTAH (Haiti) have established to discuss ways of increasing peacekeeping cooperation in a broader scale.’

It’s not unlikely that one of the reasons ‘Southern Cone’ militaries pitched in to help squelch Haiti’s democratically elected and still wildly popular leader Aristide, and his political party Fanmi Lavalas, has to do with one of the former priest’s most popular moves in office: unlike any other Latin American or Caribbean leader of the past 20 years, in 1995 Aristide successfully disbanded the notoriously brutal and widely despised Haitian military.

In recent news, as Aristide once again asserted his eagerness to return to Haiti from forced exile in South Africa, Washington has continued to express its opposition to such a disturbing expression of sovereignty. ‘It would prove to be an unfortunate distraction to the people of Haiti,’ asserted State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley. Crowley didn’t explain if the US approving elections which excluded Lavalas, leading to a runoff with two rightwing candidates, was also distracting, or just imperial arrogance.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

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

In search of an African revolution

Azad Essa

2011-02-23

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/71127

cc B B MAzad Essa explores the significance of popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia for other African countries.

Demonstrations are continuing across the Middle East, interrupted only by the call for prayer when protesters fall to their knees on cheap carpets and straw mats and the riot police take a tea break.

Egypt, in particular, with its scenes of unrelenting protesters staying put in Tahrir Square, playing guitars, singing, treating the injured and generally making Gandhi’s famous salt march of the 1940s look like an act of terror, captured the imagination of an international media and audience more familiar with the stereotype of Muslim youth blowing themselves and others up. 
 


A non-violent revolution was turning the nation full circle, much to the admiration of the rest of the world.

‘I think Egypt's cultural significance and massive population were very important factors in ensuring media coverage,’ says Ethan Zuckerman, the co-founder of Global Voices, an international community of online activists.

‘International audiences know at least a few facts about Egypt, which makes it easier for them to connect to news there,’ he says, drawing a comparison with Bahrain, a country Zuckerman says few Americans would be able to locate on a map.

Zuckerman also believes that media organisations were in part motivated by a ‘sense of guilt’ over their failure to effectively cover the Tunisian revolution and were, therefore, playing ‘catch up’ in Egypt.

‘Popular revolutions make for great TV,’ he adds. ‘The imagery from Tahrir square in particular was very powerful and led to a story that was easy for global media to cover closely.’


THE AFRICAN EGYPT VS THE ARAB EGYPT

Egypt was suddenly a sexy topic. But, despite the fact that the rich banks of the Nile are sourced from central Africa, the world looked upon the uprising in Egypt solely as a Middle Eastern issue and commentators scrambled to predict what it would mean for the rest of the Arab world and, of course, Israel. Few seemed to care that Egypt was also part of Africa, a continent with a billion people, most living under despotic regimes and suffering economic strife and political suppression just like their Egyptian neighbours.



‘Egypt is in Africa. We should not fool about with the attempts of the North to segregate the countries of North Africa from the rest of the continent,’ says Firoze Manji, the editor of Pambazuka Online, an advocacy website for social justice in Africa. ‘Their histories have been intertwined for millennia. Some Egyptians may not feel they are Africans, but that is neither here nor there. They are part of the heritage of the continent.’


And, just like much of the rest of the world, Africans watched events unfold in Cairo with great interest. ‘There is little doubt that people [in Africa] are watching with enthusiasm what is going on in the Middle East, and drawing inspiration from that for their own struggles,’ says Manji. He argues that globalisation and the accompanying economic liberalisation has created circumstances in which the people of the global South share very similar experiences: ‘Increasing pauperisation, growing unemployment, declining power to hold their governments to account, declining income from agricultural production, increasing accumulation by dispossession - something that is growing on a vast scale - and increasing willingness of governments to comply with the political and economic wishes of the North.

‘In that sense, people in Africa recognise the experiences of citizens in the Middle East. There is enormous potential for solidarity to grow out from that. In any case, where does Africa end and the Middle East begin?’



RALLYING CRY

The ‘trouble’ that started in Tunisia (another African country) when street vendor Mohamed Bouzazi’s self-immolation articulated the frustrations of a nation spread to Algeria (yes, another African country), Yemen and Bahrain just as Hosni Mubarak made himself comfortable at a Sharm el Sheik spa. Meanwhile, in 'darkest Africa', far away from the media cameras, reports surfaced of political unrest in a West African country called Gabon.

With little geo-political importance, news organisations seem largely oblivious to the drama that began unfolding on 29 January, when the opposition protested against Ali Bhongo Odhimba’s government, whom they accuse of hijacking recent elections. The demonstrators demanded free elections and the security forces duly stepped in to lay those ambitions to rest. The clashes between protesters and police that followed show few signs of relenting.


‘The events in Tunisia and Egypt have become, within Africa, a rallying cry for any number of opposition leaders, everyday people harbouring grievances and political opportunists looking to liken their country's regimes to those of Ben Ali or Hosni Mubarak,’ says Drew Hinshaw, an American journalist based in West Africa. ‘In some cases that comparison is outrageous, but in all too many it is more than fair. Look at Gabon, a tragically under-developed oil exporter whose GDP per capita is more than twice that of Egypt's but whose people are living on wages that make Egypt look like the land of full employment. The Bhongo family has run that country for four decades, since before Mubarak ran nothing larger than an air force base, and yet they're still there. You can understand why the country's opposition is calling for new rounds of Egypt-like protests after seeing what Egypt and Tunisia were able to achieve.’
 


Elsewhere on the continent protests have broken out in Khartoum in Sudan where students held Egypt-inspired demonstrations against proposed cuts to subsidies on petroleum products and sugar. Following the protests there on 30 January, CPJ reported that staff from the weekly Al-Midan were arrested for covering the event.
 


Ethiopian media have also reported that police there detained the well-known journalist Eskinder Nega for ‘attempts to incite’ Egypt-style protests.

In Cameroon, the Social Democratic Front Party has said that the country might experience an uprising similar to those in North Africa if the government does not slash food prices.

‘There are lots of Africans too who are young, unemployed, who see very few prospects for their future in countries ruled by the same old political elite that have ruled for 25 or 30 or 35 years,’ says CSM Africa bureau chief Scott Baldauf.

‘I think all the same issues in Egypt are also present in other countries. You have leaders who have hung onto power for decades and who think the country can only function if they are in charge. A young Zimbabwean would understand the frustration of a young Egyptian.’



DIVDE AND RULE

Sure, the continent is vast and acts of dissent and their subsequent suppression are the bread and butter of some oppressive African states. But just as self-immolation was not new in Tunisia, discontentment and rising restlessness is not alien to Africans.

In the past three years, there been violent service delivery protests in South Africa and food riots in Cameroon, Madagascar, Mozambique and Senegal. But whether the simmering discontent in Africa will result in protests on the scale of those in Egypt remains to be seen.
 


‘All the same dry wood of bad governance is stacked in many African countries, waiting for a match to set it alight,’ says Baldauf. ‘But it takes leadership. It takes civil society organisation,’ something the CSM Africa bureau chief fears countries south of the Sahara do not have at the same levels as their North African neighbours.



Emmanuel Kisiangani, a senior researcher at the African Conflict Prevention Programme (ACCP) at the Institute of Security Studies (ISS) in South Africa, believes the difference in the success levels of protests in North and sub-Saharan Africa can be attributed in part to the ethnic make-up of the respective regions.

‘In most of the countries that have had fairly “successful riots” the societies are fairly homogeneous compared to sub-Saharan Africa where there are a multiplicity of ethnic groups that are themselves very polarised. In sub-Saharan Africa, where governments have been able to divide people along ethnic-political lines, it becomes easier to hijack an uprising because of ethnic differences, unlike in North Africa.’



‘WHERE IS ANDERSON COOPER?’

Egypt and Tunisia may have been the catalysts for demonstrations across the Arab world, but will those ripples spread into the rest of Africa as well and, if they do, will the international media and its audience even notice?



‘What the continent lacks is media coverage,’ says Hinshaw. ‘There's no powerhouse media for the region like Al Jazeera, while European and American media routinely reduce a conflict like [that in] Ivory Coast or Eastern Congo to a one-sentence news blurb at the bottom of the screen.’



Hinshaw is particularly troubled by the failure of the international media to pay due attention to events in Ivory Coast, where the UN estimates that at least 300 people have died and the opposition puts the figure at 500.



‘With due deference to the bravery of the Egyptian demonstrators, protesters who gathered this weekend in Abidjan [in Ivory Coast] aren't up against a military that safeguards them - it shoots at them. The country's economy has been coughing up blood since November, with banks shutting by the day, businesses closing by the hour and thousands of families fleeing their homes,’ he continues. ‘And in all of this where is Anderson Cooper? Where is Nicolas Kristof? Why is Bahrain a front page news story while Ivory Coast is something buried at the bottom of the news stack?’ The journalist is equally as disappointed in world leaders.

‘This Friday, Barack Obama publicly condemned the use of violence in Bahrain, Yemen and Libya. When was the last time you saw Obama come out and make a statement on Ivory Coast? Or Eastern Congo? Or Djibouti, where 20,000 people protested this weekend according to the opposition? The problem is that most American media compulsively ignore everything south of the Sahara and north of Johannesburg. A demonstration has to be filmed, photographed, streamed live into the offices of foreign leaders to achieve everything Egypt's achieved.’
 


Nanjala, a political analyst at the University of Oxford, suggests this journalistic shortcoming stems from journalists' tendency ‘to favour explanations that fit the whole “failing Africa” narrative’.



FILLING A VOID

So with traditional media seemingly failing Africa, will social media fill the void? Much has already been written about the plethora of social media networks that both helped engineer protests and, crucially, amplified them across cyber-space. Online-activists, sitting behind fibre optic cables and flat screens, collated and disseminated updates, photographs and video and played the role of subversive hero from the comfort of their homes. Of course, not all Tweets or Facebook uploads came from pyjama-clad revolutionaries far from the scene of the action - an internet-savvy generation of Egyptians was also able to keep the world updated with information from the ground.

‘It's not clear to me that social media played a massive role in organising protests,’ says Zuckerman. ‘[But] I do think it played a critical role in helping expose those protests to a global audience, particularly in Tunisia, where the media environment was so constrained.’



So, could the same thing happen in Africa?



‘I think it's important to keep in mind that African youth are far more plugged in than most people realise. The spread in mobile phones has made it possible for people to connect to applications like Facebook or Twitter on their telephones,’ says Nanjala, adding: ‘At the same time, I think most analysts are overstating the influence of social media on the protests. The most significant political movements in Africa and in other places have occurred independently of social media - the struggles for independence, the struggles against apartheid and racism in Southern Africa. Where people need or desire to be organised they will do independently of the technology around them.’



Baldauf concurs: ‘In every country you see greater and greater access to the internet and greater access to cell phone networks. I remember getting stuck on a muddy road in Eastern Congo, out where the FDLR [Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda] controls the mining industry. We had to stay the night in a village, the guests of a lovely old man in his mud hut. It was [at] the end of the world, but to get a phone call off to my wife and my editor, I just had to walk out of the hut and use my cell phone.’



AN IMPORTANT YEAR

2011 is an important year for Africa. Elections are scheduled in more than 20 countries across the continent, including Zimbabwe and Nigeria. But as food prices continue to rise and economic hardship tightens its grip on the region, it is plausible to imagine Africans revolting and using means other than the often meaningless ballot box to remove their leaders. ‘What people want is the democratisation of society, of production, of the economy, and indeed all aspects of life,’ says Manji. ‘What they are being offered instead is the ballot box.’

But, Manji adds: ‘Elections don't address the fundamental problems that people face. Elections on their own do nothing to enable ordinary people to be able to determine their own destiny.’ This, according to Kisiangani, is because ‘the process of democratisation in many African countries seems more illusory than fundamental’.
 


Gabon, Zimbabwe, even Ethiopia may never have the online reach enjoyed by Egyptians, and the scale of solidarity through linguistic and cultural symmetry may not allow their calls to reach the same number of internet users. But this does not mean that a similar desire for change is not brewing, nor that the traditional media and online community are justified in ignoring it.
 


Screens were put up in Tahrir Square broadcasting Al Jazeera’s coverage of the protests back to the protesters. It is difficult to qualify the role of social media in the popular uprisings gaining momentum across the Arab world, but it is even more difficult to quantify the effect of the perception of being ignored, of not being watched, discussed and, well, retweeted to the throngs of others needing to be heard.
 


Ignoring the developments in Africa is to miss the other half of the story. ‘The protests have created the “hope” that ordinary people can define their political destiny,’ says Kisiangani. ‘The uprisings…are making people on the continent become conscious about their abilities to define their political destinies.’

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* This article was first published by Al Jazeera.
* Azad Essa is an Al Jazeera journalist. Follow @azadessa on Twitter.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

Democratising society: Breaking out of the ballot box

Firoze Manji

2011-02-23

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/71137

cc F SIn an interview with Azad Essa for Al Jazeera, Firoze Manji, editor-in-chief of Pambazuka News, discusses the rise in protests across Africa and the extent to which the events inspire people’s demands for greater political representation and self-determination.

AZAD ESSA: There are often protests all over Africa – food riots have been the case over the past two years. What is the story this time? Is it possible to say that the protests in Gabon, Djibouti and those in Sudan (earlier in the month) are linked to the uprisings in Egypt? You are in West Africa right now; how are people responding to the events in the Middle East?

FIROZE MANJI: I think that we have to consider what makes masses of people take to the streets, even under conditions where it is dangerous and there is a military or despotic regime. It is partly linked to the so-called 'food riots'. First of all, these were not riots, but protests against the massive (25 per cent) rise in the price of basic foods. These price hikes are a direct result of widespread speculation on food as a commodity by the parasites that occupy the stock exchanges across the world. But this speculation is a reflection of a deeper crisis, that is, the profound crisis of capitalism. As part of that crisis, we have seen the financial meltdowns and economic crisis developing across the advanced capitalist countries. We have to understand, though, that what we are facing is not just a financial crisis, not merely an economic crisis, but also a profound and escalating crisis of confidence, a crisis of credibility in the existing powers and the so-called 'solutions' that they are offering. There is growing mass discontent across the continent. People are being treated as if they are stupid, that the crisis can be solved by the very same economic policies that created the crisis in the first place. It is no wonder that they protest. And it took just the huge hike in food prices to provoke a mass reaction in Egypt. But we have to recognise that what provoked the reaction was not all that people there were protesting about. The mass mobilisations were the outcome of years of repression, abuse and immiseration that the Egyptian people faced for decades from a regime that was maintained militarily, financially and politically by the US as well as by Israel.

The protests in Gabon, Djibouti, Sudan and Libya, as well as elsewhere, are organically a reflection of the crisis of credibility in existing powers: we are living in an era where discontent is the order of the day. There is little doubt that the events in Tunisia and in Egypt have been an inspiration to many - if the Tunisians can expel Ben Ali, if the Egyptian people can expel Mubarak, then of course the oppressed feel inspired. But they are responding to their own oppressions and exploitation, not merely mimicking what happened in Tunisia and Egypt. I think the world's attention has been grabbed by the events in these countries – and Al Jazeera has played an unusually brilliant role in ensuring people knew about what was happening. It is natural that people we feel – well, if the Egyptians can do it, why not us? But drawing inspiration from such events is not the same as saying that this has 'resulted' in protests such as we have seen in Djibouti and elsewhere. But they are linked in the sense that each of these protests are a reflection of the crisis of confidence that is growing because people no longer believe that the solutions offered by their own ruling classes are meaningful.

There is little doubt that people in Senegal and other countries in West Africa draw on the same inspiration as most of us do in the challenge made by ordinary people to the despotism in Tunisia and Egypt. But their conditions are different, and while we can be certain that in due course people will rise up against their rulers, we cannot predict when that might happen.

In any case, we face a long and protracted period of struggle: the situations in Tunisia and Egypt are not resolved. There will be ups and downs in the struggles. But what we are witnessing is the fragility of regimes that are more concerned with creating a conducive environment for corporations than for citizens. Across the continent we have seen 30 years of structural adjustment programmes that have made governments and the state less and less accountable to the citizens, and more and more to corporations and the US, Europe and Japan.

AZAD ESSA: Though the contexts are different, are Africans growing increasingly tired of ‘botched’ elections? Think of Kenya, Zimbabwe, Côte d'Ivoire and now Gabon.

FIROZE MANJI: I don't think it is accurate to talk of 'botched' elections. The elections in Kenya in 2007 were not botched: there was a civilian coup d'état. The election results were stolen. The elections in Côte d'Ivoire were not botched. In both cases though, what the elections showed was how divided these societies are. The so-called international community is obsessed with elections where the choice offered to people is merely voting. What people want is the democratisation of society, of production, of the economy and indeed of all aspects of life. What they are being offered instead is the ballot box. What Kenya, Zimbabwe, Côte d'Ivoire, Gabon and other places are increasingly showing is that the ballot box does not represent a solution to the crisis they are facing of pauperisation while a minority get rich in collusion with a small number of oligopolies. There is a desperate desire for democratisation rather than ‘parliamentary cretinism’: elections don't address the fundamental problems that people face. Elections on their own do nothing to enable ordinary people to be able to determine their own destiny.

AZAD ESSA: Are Africans watching these protests in the Middle East? Are they drawing inspiration for their own struggles? Africa also has many young, even educated, but unemployed people. Are the situations increasingly similar to the Middle East in this context?

FIROZE MANJI: There is little doubt that people are watching with enthusiasm what is going on in the Middle East, and drawing inspiration from that for their own struggles. I think that the process of globalisation and the imposition of the neoliberal agenda has resulted in an extraordinary homogenisation of the experience of the majority of people in the global south: increasing pauperisation, growing unemployment, declining power to hold their governments to account, declining income from agricultural production, increasing accumulation by dispossession – something that is growing on a vast scale – and increasing willingness of governments to comply with the political and economic wishes of the North. In that sense, people in Africa recognise the experiences of citizens in the Middle East. There is enormous potential for solidarity to grow out from that. In any case, where does Africa end and the Middle East begin?

AZAD ESSA: Social media has driven a lot of these protests and the coverage. Can Africans match this?

FIROZE MANJI: Social media has clearly played an enormous role in enabling information to be disseminated widely. There are many who think that social media such as Twitter created the Egyptian and Tunisian revolutions, which of course is idiotic. Young people who were the force behind the revolution, and they have been immensely creative in using whatever tools that they have at their disposal – including social media – to mobilise and to enable solidarity actions to take place. The same potential exists in much of Africa, only the reality is that access to the internet is much more limited in most of Africa than is the case in Egypt or Tunisia. Despite that, I am sure that we will witness creativity in the use of all kinds of media as the struggles emerge.

AZAD ESSA: The scale of revolt in Africa – can it reach the level of Egypt? And if Egypt is the catalyst for the Middle East, what might be the catalyst for Africa?

FIROZE MANJI: First of all, Egypt is in Africa. We should not fool about with the attempts of the North to segregate the countries of North Africa from the rest of the continent. Their histories have been intertwined for millennia. Some Egyptians may not feel they are Africans, but that is neither here nor there. They are part of the heritage of the continent. So Egypt has been an inspiration – as was reflected in the discussions at the recent World Social Forum in Dakar, Senegal. I think it is not helpful to talk about the events there being a catalyst. There are enough conditions of repression, oppression, exploitation and dispossession to act as a catalyst without the need for struggles in Egypt to serve as one. Inspiration, for sure; catalyst, I doubt.

AZAD ESSA: International media has largely ignored the ripple effects on to the rest of Africa – how would you rate this assessment? Unfair?

FIROZE MANJI: One of the features of corporate media, especially when it comes to dealing with revolutions, is their own capacity to delude themselves. None of them – perhaps with the exception of Al Jazeera – understood at the beginning what was happening in Tunisia, nor its impact on Egypt. I think it might be reasonable to talk of a 'ripple effect' within the Arab north of Africa: we may well be witnessing the rebirth of the Arab nation. Whether there is a ripple that spreads across the rest of Africa is a moot point. As I said before, Africans are drawing inspiration from the struggles in Egypt: if Mubarak, with all the military, financial and political support from the US, Europe and Israel can be toppled, why not lesser despots?

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* Firoze Manji is editor-in-chief of Pambazuka News.
* Azad Essa is an Al Jazeera journalist.
* Thanks to Al Jazeera for the publication of this interview.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

The flames of Phaphamani

South Africa’s ‘untouchables’ demand to be heard

2011-02-24

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/71163

cc J BSouth Africa’s poor ‘are steadily getting angrier and they are preparing for something.' They have little to lose, except the hope that drives their movements, informed by desire for justice for those 'systematically dehumanised in our country today', writes Pedro Alexis Tabensky.

The poor are steadily getting angrier and they are preparing for something. They have relatively little to lose, except the hope that drives their movements, informed predominantly by desire for justice for those who are systematically dehumanised in our country today. These movements include: Abahlali baseMjondolo (AbM), the Poor Peoples’ Movement, the Landless Peoples’ Movement, the Anti-Evictions Campaign, Mandela Park Backyarders and Sikhula Sonke. And, in my hometown – Grahamstown – the Unemployed Peoples’ Movement (UPM) and the Woman’s Social Forum (WSF) are represented.

All these independent movements are communicating with one another, having conferences such as the recent Conference of the Democratic left in Johannesburg, and using the courts and the internet, to achieve their aims. They are organising themselves, finding moneys here and there that do not carry strings attached, thinking about possible futures without economic injustice, rereading Biko and Fanon, and using their feet and voices. Little will stop them except repression or genuine change for the better. Sadly, more often than not, their voices are met with police or grassroots ANC thuggery (such as the widely reported violence met out against AbM in 2009 and the ANC Youth League sabotage of a meeting convened by the UPM to discuss the Makana Municipality water crisis in 2010). But this violence only stops them temporarily. In the medium term, it works as a catalyst. The more they are shot at and beaten in police stations and on the streets around the country, the more they become convinced that their fight is a fight to assert their humanity; the more they are convinced that they are largely alone and that what they hope for can only be brought about by their own efforts.

And their voices are starting decisively to be heard and taken seriously by the mainstream, despite countless acts of official and semi-official violence against them, and despite mainstream condescending portrayals of them as angry children unproductively venting out frustration or as blind automata of some mysterious third force.

I will focus here primarily on recent events in my hometown. They are exemplary of what is happening nationally.

On Wednesday the 9th of this month (February), tyres started burning in the Phaphamani informal settlements in Grahamstown after a failed attempt – one of many – to get the local Mayor, Mr Vumile Lwana, to address the grievances of the local poor. The first thing one finds when visiting the Makana Municipality website is its vision statement: ‘We shall strive to ensure sustainable, affordable, equitable and quality services in a just, friendly, secure and healthy environment, which promotes social and economic growth for all.’ If only the municipality acted in accordance with its own stated commitments, the Phaphamani fires would not have started.

The flames of Phaphamani were an offshoot of a failed peaceful protest organised primarily in response to a spate of recent rapes and murders. In late December last year Ms Zingiswa Centwa, a learner at Nombulelo High School, was raped and murdered. A few days later Ms Ntombekhaya Blaatjie was also raped and sustained severe brain injuries from the attack. These acts, in addition to many other recently reported sexual assaults in Grahamstown, prompted the WSF and the UPM to join forces to organise a protest march on the day of the trial of Ms Centwa’s alleged rapist and killer to demand desperately needed services, such as better lighting, that would help put an end to the violence met out against women. But the aims of the planned protests were also more general. The radical lack of security on township streets is only one sign of many more that point to the glaring fact that in South Africa today only some of its citizens are treated as full-blown human beings.

The protest conveners requested permission to protest in a timely fashion, but the Makana Municipality unilaterally banned the march without convening a legally mandatory Section 4 meeting, making their banning of the march illegal. Given the municipality’s disregard for the law, the organisers decided to carry on with the protest and moved from the Grahamstown Magistrate’s Court to stage a sit-in at the municipal offices, demanding to speak to the mayor, Mr Lwana. They were in the building for the better part of the day, but the Mayor did not present himself. Instead, the municipal manager, Ms Ntombi Baart, made an appearance towards the end of the day and assured the crowed that a meeting with the Mayor would be arranged within 48 hours and then left giving those present assurances that she would now contact Mr Lwana to arrange the meeting and get back to them shortly. Soon after she left, the police came, claiming that Ms Baart had called for them, and they dispersed the peaceful protest. Residents of Phaphamani, who witnessed the deceit, were incensed and decided, without consulting the protest conveners, to return to their settlement, set tires alight and to dig up a recently laid tar road running through Phaphamani.

The promised meeting with the Mayor never materialised itself. The commitment made by Ms Baart was broken, lending further evidence that municipal officials are not to be trusted.

From the perspective of an outsider, one may think that this gesture of lighting tires and destroying public property is senseless, but one must take time to reflect on why residents of Phaphamani decided to do this. First, they were outraged at the ongoing non-responsiveness of municipal officials. Second, and relatedly, their needs were not considered when deciding to spend public moneys on a road that will only advantage the relatively rich. The residents of Phaphamani are too poor even to make use of taxis, so the road clearly was not meant for them and, yet, their demands for better housing, dignified toilets, water, security and jobs are not being heard.

The flames of Phaphamani went on all night. Next morning when Mr Ayanda Kota (UPM president), Mr Xola Mali (UPM spokesperson) rushed to the settlement upon receiving a call from Ms Nombulelo Yami (of the WSF) informing them of police violence against the protesters. On arrival they found that police were firing rubber bullets and rocksalt at the protestors. They immediately went to speak to them to stop the unnecessary violence, and were arrested with Ms Yami on the spot, handcuffed and placed in a police van. While in the van they overheard a policeman ask the driver to give him more ‘sweets to enjoy himself’. He wanted more rubber bullets, and got them. Shortly after these arrests one of the protesters – Ms Ntombentsha Budaza – was beaten and arrested.

The prisoners were taken to the police station and the following day they were released on bail. The conditions of bail, disturbingly, are unconstitutional according to Professor Jane Duncan from Rhodes University. In summary, they are forbidden from organising and participating in further public expressions of the right to freedom of speech. Their trial is scheduled for March 16.

In conclusion, unnecessary violence, dubiously motivated arrests and intimidation, illegal actions and deceit are being used by state representatives to suppress the voices of those who may as well be called the South African untouchables.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* Professor Pedro Alexis Tabensky is in the Department of Philosophy at Rhodes University, South Africa.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

Swaziland: What lessons from Egypt, Tunisia?

Peter Kenworthy

2011-02-23

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/71125

cc S F‘Tunisia and Egypt are a big “we can do it too,” not just for Swaziland, but for the rest of the African continent and the repressed Arab world,’ according to Swaziland United Democratic Front (SUDF) project coordinator Sikelela Dlamini.

Change is becoming increasingly urgent in Swaziland, an authoritarian and absolute monarchy where the economy is in danger of spiralling out of control. But as recent events in Tunisia and Egypt have shown, change can happen quickly, says Dlamini. ‘We cannot afford to be imperceptibly rigid given rapid upheavals and their unexpected outcomes in Tunisia and Egypt. I believe that even if we do not formalise an immediate viable alternative to Tinkhundla (administrative system), it remains prudent to consciously develop credible leadership to usher in the transition.’

The democratic movement, spearheaded by the SUDF, faces several major challenges, however. Firstly, it has to ensure political unity in opposing the present Swazi regime, as ‘unity for democracy is ultimately what triggers change,’ as Dlamini puts it. ‘Unity and numbers are what will ultimately shake the ramshackle but deeply entrenched Tinkhundla off its hegemony of power. The major role of the SUDF initially is to galvanise as wide and crosscutting support for the democratisation of Swaziland as possible. The secret of course lies in mass mobilisation, which begins with recognition and due attraction of the main political players, including political parties, labour, students, women, CBO’s, the church, the informal sector, the unemployed, youth, etc.’

Secondly, although Tunisians and Egyptians have shown that unseating dictators can be done without external pressure or help, the democratic movement in Swaziland will probably need outside assistance to be successful. And even though such assistance has not been forthcoming up till now, there is really no reason for the international community - and most importantly the IMF, the West and South Africa - not to pressurise the Swazi regime on its poor human rights record, lack of democracy and appalling recent economic mismanagement, says Dlamini.

‘The West has enough data to justify imposing targeted sanctions on the Tinhkundla regime without further delay.’

And thirdly, although the civic education of organisations such as the Foundation for Socio-Economic Justice and the Swaziland National Ex-Mineworkers Association have dramatically improved the political and rights-related consciousness of many Swazis and enabled them to link their poverty and lack of freedom to the policies of the present regime, many Swazis are still politically apathetic, says Dlamini. ‘At a very sceptical level, I sometimes regard my fellow citizens as not just apolitical but rather deeply depoliticised. Sadly, this goes for the highly educated too who should in a normal world constitute an influential intelligentsia. For this reason, their level of political consciousness will require perhaps double what it took to capacitate Zimbabweans to rise against three decades of Mugabe rule.’

But improved political consciousness is vital for other reasons, not least because history shows that anger and frustration is not necessarily vented at the regimes that are the root cause of this anger. ‘Ultimately, the economic crisis will make everyone stop, look, listen, and possibly act as well. People are already unhappy and there is a lot of uncertainty. No anger or frustration must be wasted. We must channel it to the collective agenda for regime change, almost the same way it happened in Tunisia and Egypt. The success of the SUDF’s rollout of mass mobilisation, for me, lies in seizing this opportunity to its advantage,’ Dlamini insists.

Mass mobilisation requires the technology to inform the masses, however, and the level of technology in Swaziland lags behind that of Tunisia and Egypt. Nevertheless, Dlamini remains confident that increasing access to especially mobile phones in Swaziland will play an important part of Swazi democratisation. ‘Technology in the shape of the mobile phone has become ubiquitous across all sections of society, right from the primary school pupil all the way to the street vendor. All that remains is for every phone to have Internet connectivity to ease what has become decisively politically enabling social networking. It’s doable.’

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* Peter Kenworthy is Africa Contact's communication and project officer.
* Dlamini is the Swaziland United Democratic Front’s project coordinator. He has also been secretary to the Swaziland Chapter of the Swaziland Democracy Campaign (SDC), an activist-based campaign wing of the SUDF, since its inception in February 2010. He has a Master’s Degree in education from the University of Exeter and a PhD in Education from the University of Cape Town, and has been a political commentator on issues relating to Swaziland since 2003.
http://sudfinfo.wordpress.com/
http://www.afrika.dk
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

Occupied territory: Africa and the oligopolies

Interview with La Decroissance

Firoze Manji

2011-02-24

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/71165

cc US ArmyAfrican governments, once the product of our liberation struggles, are ‘more accountable to Northern governments and to the international financial institutions than they are to citizens’, says Firoze Manji.

An interview of an African in the French weekly news Politis (9 February 2011) caught our attention. It was titled ‘Emancipation not development’. Firoze Manji, the Kenyan editor of Pambazuka News, was strongly against the mystification represented by the new technologies and ‘development’. This position is in contrast with the mainstream ideologies, even of the left of the left. Interested, we got in touch with Firoze Manji.

LA DECROISSANCE: You assert that in Africa, ‘NGOs unconsciously take part with the current oppression’ and you go as far as comparing that with the French collaboration of the Vichy regime. What could we say to all those well-wishers from the rich countries who think they are helping Africa with those NGOs supporting development?

FIROZE MANJI: Some have criticised me for the use of the analogy about collaborators and the Vichy regime in France. It is true that Vichy was a collaboration with an occupying force. But I would argue that African countries, like many countries of the global South, are also occupied territories. Only in this era, we are dealing not with colonial occupation, but with occupation by corporations and oligopolies. They control production of almost all aspects of life.

Our governments, once the product of our liberation struggles, have been rendered supine clients of corporations and of the international aid system over the last thirty years as a result of the neoliberal structural adjustment programmes. Our governments are more accountable to Northern governments and to the international financial institutions than they are to citizens.

Social and economic policies are all set by these institutions, not by the citizenry. And the implementation of neoliberal policies involved forcing the state out of support for the social sector – health, education, sanitation, water , communications, agricultural production (at least small scale production) etc, leaving these sectors to be privatised by international corporations: The health sector is effectively privatised, with good health care for the rich, but facilities worse than under apartheid for the vast majority.

Water, energy, communications – all these profitable sectors have been privatised. And as the state retrenched from the provision of services, it was left to the other private sector – the development NGOs – to provide services to the poor, with the assistance of the aid industry. What was once our birthright, won through the struggles for independence and liberation, are now charitable services provided not as a right, but nobless oblige by the NGOs who are accountable only to their funders.

But let me make my point clear here: I am not concerned with the motives of the people who work for these NGOs: I am sure many of them do the work out of genuine concern for the poor. But objectively what they end up doing is being the sweet pill, the 'human face' of neoliberal policies. The NGO sector is not homogeneous: There are a few who genuinely act to speak truth to power, to challenge the process of pauperisation that has condemned the vast majority of our people to misery. But the majority of the NGOs speak about 'poverty', but actually do little to challenge those forces, including the oligopolies, who create pauperisation. So back to the Vichy state: If you don't challenge the legitimacy of these occupying forces, then many would be justified in describing your actions as collaborators in the process of pauperisation.

LA DECROISSANCE: In France there is an ‘anti-development’ or ‘post-development’ movement. It is composed of persons who, like you, have contributed to development and have then changed their minds. For those like Serge Latouche or Majid Ranemah, development is the new name of colonialism. Are those ideas a reality in Africa today?

FIROZE MANJI: I think there is growing discontent about the whole idea of development. Supposing we were living in a time of slavery: Would we be building schools and hospitals for slaves, digging wells for slaves? Or would we be challenging the very system of slavery?

I don't think the idea of development as the new name of colonialism is new: Nkrumah and others wrote about the process of neocolonialism – and the aid industry is very much part of the infrastructure of neocolonialism. What I think we should be outraged about is that what is called 'development' is in fact the use of public funds to subsidise and facilitate the work of the oligopolies, the transnational corporations who are the principal beneficiaries of functioning 'development'.

But I don't think this is colonialism: this is a form of imperialism, a way of extracting wealth from our countries, subsidised by public taxes. Imperialism has evolved over the last hundred years, and the accelerated financialisation of capital has created conditions in which there is a frantic drive for accumulation by dispossession. That is fundamentally what is going on.

And the aid industry is providing the oil to make that machinery work effectively in the interest of capital. Instead of using euphemisms like 'development', we should be calling it what it really is: Capitalism in the peripheries in the age of financialisation and the centralisation of capital on a global scale. This is important, because it allows clarity about what is going on, and at the same time poses the question: If accelerated pauperisation of the many is a characteristic of capitalism in the peripheries, what then should be the anti-capitalist alternative?

LA DECROISSANCE: You criticise the new technologies, but even among European ecologists, they are presented as the means that could topple the regimes of Ben Ali and Hosni Mubarak in North Africa. Those new technologies aren't more of a problem than a solution?

FIROZE MANJI: We should be careful to avoid fetishising technologies – that is, we should stop pretending that inanimate objects have some kind of social or other magical power. Technologies like the mobile phone are tools, nothing more. Ben Ali and Hosni Mubarak were overthrown by a social revolution – primarily led by the youth. They used these new media technologies to further their cause. To attribute their success to mere technological things is to take away agency from social movements, from the oppressed and the exploited. If it was just the existence of tools that was sufficient to topple despotic regimes, how come we have not seen the same thing happen in the US or France where the penetration of mobile phones is much larger than in Egypt or Tunisia! People make revolutions, not toys – however technologically 'sexy' they might be.

LA DECROISSANCE: Do you know the Degrowth movement in France ? The ‘growth objectors’ are supporting a relocalisation of the economy but most of all a way out of an accounting and quantitative vision of the world, ‘less but better’ for the rich countries. Degrowth follows the ideas of Gandhi, Schumacher or Illich. Could it be a solution for Africa?

FIROZE MANJI: Look, we have lived the last hundred years in Africa with 'less is better'. So enthusiastic have the ruling classes been about less-is-better that the last 30 years have witnessed massive pauperisation – the poor have got poorer, while a minority have got richer. Solutions have to address the problem. The escalating pauperisation of the global South has not been the product of growth, but of grand scale larceny and exploitation. So 'degrowth' is not a solution to that problem.

Certainly there is much to be explored about localisation of the economy: Africa produces almost exclusively for the capitalist oligopolies of the North, but has very little trade with its own neighbours, and indeed does not even produce for the needs of its own population. I would argue that far from having de-growth, what we need is a democratisation of production, democratisation of the economy, so that citizens themselves decide what is produced, how it is produced, how much is produced and under what conditions the production takes place, and what is done with the surplus. We actually need a growth in this form of production.

But that said, I believe that many of the adherents of the degrowth movement reflect the level of discontent with the way in which capitalism operates, and I can see that they are seriously trying to work out another way of running the economy. I may not agree with their solutions, but I respect the reason for the discontent they have with a system that threatens the future not only of humanity but of the planet itself.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* This article was first published by La Decroissance.
* Firoze Manji is editor in chief of Pambazuka News.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

No head, no tail to the politics of our day

Cameron Duodu

2011-02-23

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/71134

cc H HA common message through the uprisings in North Africa and the Middle East is that leaders must serve the interests of the people or quit, writes Cameron Duodu.

One of the most notable features about the current revolutions rocking North Africa and the Middle East is that the revolutions do not appear to have yielded - or indeed been led by –‘charismatic leaders’ eloquently urging the people on to sacrifice their blood to achieve specified goals for the nation.

There is no fire-spouting Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov (Lenin) in sight. Nor a rifle-wielding Fidel Castro. Beautiful posters of a Che Guevara who has conquered all in death, are not being held aloft by the crowds. The revolution, in the words of someone I once knew, is ‘crawling like a worm’. It has no head. It has no tail. But it is accomplishing its mission.

Those who talk impatiently about the slow pace of achieving constitutional advances, and the lack of concrete plans of action to implement socio-economic goals, are being wrong-footed by the new reality of politics that is being born. This seems to be that with freedom, these matters can be ironed out. But freedom is the thing of the moment: let us enjoy real freedom and we can discuss, amend, and plan. So many plans and manifestoes have been transmuted into instruments of oppression in history. Let us not repeat the mistakes of history.

The situation reminds me of a poem I once wrote that took its imagery from a mysterious denizen of the Ghanaian anthills, known as the nni-ti-nni-fo (no head, no tail).

Mushrooms growing on an anthill,
They will make a nice meal
But in the anthill
Lives a snake
Which has no head
But can make
Your foot swell.
You cannot tell
It head
From tail
But step on it and you won’t fail
To draw poison
Into your person!

Kai! - Nni-ti-nni-fo
No head, no tail.

HEY! Nni-ti-nnifo
‘Waben sen Amfo!’
(Nni-ti-nnifo –he’s more potent
Than the trap fetish sent
To catch it!)

I hope that captures the magic of a political moment that is making nonsense of political theories and puzzling so-called ‘analysts’ who tend to believe that human action, and inter-action, can be reduced to certainties programmed into modules long ago and put into labels, ready to be retrieved, re-labelled and applied.

Where is Egypt heading? Why are there still no recognisable new faces in the political game-plan in Tunisia, one month after Ben Ali was handed his chips?

No answers. And yet, now comes Bahrain. Libya. Yemen. Iraq. And Iran.

The mighty United States is politically flailing all over the place - supporting revolution in Iran, yet counselling caution in Bahrain. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sends former ambassador Frank Wisner to Egypt; the Obama White House denounces Wisner’s views.

Political mayhem; policy schizophrenia; asymmetry of intelligence. Here too, in an arc of power where the future of nations have been tele-guided generation after generation, there is no head, no tail.

This becomes known in the ‘target areas’ of the crawling revolution. And sheer fear is felt in places where, hitherto, money had been thought able to buy safety for those in power. Why fear?

Well, why wasn’t Hosni Mubarak able to use some of the $70 billion he is alleged to have salted away, to buy three or four divisions of the Egyptian Army? Couldn’t Ben Ali have imported a couple of thousand mercenaries from among the murderers hiding from the ICC in caves scattered around Central Europe?

And note this: the Americans have a mighty fleet based in Bahrain, and yet the government there is so panic-stricken it is shooting people who are lying asleep on the pavements of Manama. Does it make sense?

Yes. So was Egypt, you see. And also, Tunisia. The revolution crawls. It thus falls under the radar of the sort of big guns mounted on ships. And the revolutionary crowds are too thick on the ground to be targeted by drones, either.

In years gone by, when the Chinese used almost to monopolise the coining of pithy revolutionary slogans, this situation would have been described by them as illustrating their dictum that ‘the US and its allies are all paper tigers’. But now, how can it be invoked now without also arousing memories of the Tien-An-Meng Square incident on 4 June 1989, when the Chinese army used the ‘barrel of a gun’ to impose its power on thousands of student demonstrators? Aw! No head, no tail. No?

The mystery of all this accounts for the fact that, as they wheeled me away in early February to operate on me at a hospital in London, the nonsensical thought flashed through my mind that it would be very disappointing to leave this world without knowing how the Egyptian revolution ended (it’s mad isn’t it - of all the things one should miss in this life).

Anyway, thanks be to God - within two hours of being totally anaesthetised, I was again following what had become an amazing ‘theatre of the absurd’. On 11 February 2011, I could again hear the noise made by the hundreds of thousands of people who had gathered at Tahrir Square in Cairo.
The people had massed up for a solid 18 days, baying for the blood of Hosni Mubarak.

‘Leave! Leave!’ they cried.

But there was Mubarak behind a microphone, stubbornly uttering inanities about the ‘constitutional reforms’ he would undertake before leaving the scene in September.

I said: ‘This chap is quite stupid. He doesn’t read history. At certain stages in a nation’s life, you cannot fool the people with words any longer. If he knew his history, he would be aware that words didn’t work for President Nicolae Ceausescu of Romania, when his people turned on him on 25 December 1989. And he would run with his life, instead of annoying the people some more, with all this legalistic verbiage.’

Truly, at sunset on 11/02, up popped on Egyptian national television - and the world networks - the cold-eyed intelligence chief who had overseen Egypt’s nasty torture machines for nearly two decades, Omar Suleiman. He was forced to announce that his boss, President Hosni Mubarak, was stepping down.

Mubarak was going right away, Suleiman said. Not in September, as he had earlier intimated.
I had lived to see the day Suleiman’s cold eyes had been forced to think one thing, while his lips said another.

An erupting Cairo now boiled over. It must have been utterly humiliating for Mubarak supporters to watch the pictures - on whichever world television channel they tuned to, but especially on Al-Jazeera, the BBC and CNN - that told them that his three decades of rule had turned him from a respected air force commander who steered Egypt out of trouble after the assassination of Anwar Sadat on 6 October 1981, into a heap of sand on the rubbish heap of history by - his own, once ‘adoring’ people.

Well, retiring to Sharm el Sheikh with the $70 billion (think of it – seventy thousand million dollars) he is supposed to have stashed away, won’t be so bad, will it?

Now, of course, we cannot believe everything we hear when a dictator in sole charge of a nation’s finances, is finally overthrown. But there really is no smoke without fire, in many such instances.

For example, when the late President Sani Abacha died in Nigeria in 1998, it was widely reported that he had amassed a fortune worth over $4 billion.

And despite the murky and intricate routes through which such funds escape to hide in cosy, sacred corners in very respectable bankers’ vaults overseas, at least a third of that sum has since been traced, and staggering sums have in fact been retrieved. At one stage, the Swiss, masters of the art of hiding dictators’ loot, turned on the banks of Great Britain and accused them of being unwilling to help trace Abacha’s loot.

When I read that, I said, ‘This is rich. The Swiss, whom the British used to deride as “the gnomes of Zurich”, have turned on the British?’

The Egyptians will probably be finding out soon enough that if they are serious about trying to trace Mubarak family assets, they had better spend more time in London than in Zurich. The Swiss have tactically scored a point: they very promptly announced that they have frozen Mubarak’s assets. (Of course, what that means is only know to the Swiss).

However, in the City of London, a loud silence reigns. If asked, I am sure the bankers will answer: ‘Mubarak assets? What Mubarak assets?’ I don’t think one needs to be a seer of great perspicacity to forecast the size of bankers’ bonuses in Britain next year. Small gains for the people themselves so far, eh?

Let’s recap: Tunisia’s dictatorship, was, of course, the first to bite the dust in North Africa. Then followed Egypt. Next was to have been Algeria, but there, the government, which can teach a thing or two to anyone who advocates democracy, managed to stave off planned demonstrations with armed might.

But for how long can a few people at the top, who have inherited power and wealth, fought for at the cost of hundreds of thousands of lives heroically given up by the people, withstand the people’s wish to determine how power and wealth should be distributed in their country? Algeria is just postponing the ‘People’s Day’. With blue murder.

Power does belong to the people. ‘Leaders’ often believe that the people are ‘with’ them just because they happen, at certain moments in history, to say a few things which the people ardently want to hear. But words alone cannot remain magically meaningful to all people all of the time.

In my own country, Ghana, I personally witnessed the word ‘freedom’ - which sent our hearts racing when uttered against British rule - change after the Preventive Detention Act was passed and used in 1958, and come to mean, ‘freedom for some Ghanaian and Nsawam Prison for others’.

Again, in 1982, ‘accountability’ came to mean two systems of justice: one [normal] court for those favoured by the ‘revolutionaries’ and another [revolutionary] ‘tribunal’ for those determined beforehand to be ‘enemies of the revolution’.

Who was making those determinations? Thus, a perfectly valid popular aspiration encapsulated in the word, ‘accountability’ became an empty slogan that built up resentment because it was used to deny - rather than accord - true justice to all Ghanaians alike.

Similar sweet-sounding slogans have passed the lips of African leaders, and have equally been savaged to rob them of their original intent. Words have been seized upon as the facile means of achieving a radical transformation in the living standards of individuals, while the rest of the people are largely left behind, and forced merely to take note and wait for an opportunity to raise questions of their ‘leaders’ in future.

Well, that future is here - to a large extent. I mean, the WikiLeaks cables, for instance, describe a situation that is still relevant in many of her countries where the cables originated from.

Yes - in the modern world, where information is now easily within the reach of many millions of people, at the mere click of a mouse on a computer, ideas do get exchanged at a very fast rate and those who have benefited from words in the past, can equally well perish by the force of words.

Indeed, if I ran an educational course for world leaders, the juxtaposition of what was happening in Tahrir Square on one side of the television screen, with what Mubarak was saying in his last speech on the other side of the same screen, would be my number one project of intense study. It was a classic example of the disconnect between reality and fantasy in a relationship of power.

Ruling countries has never been easy. Again and again, we see in history, humble people rise on the shoulders of the people to become great. But for every Alexander The Great, you get an ‘Ozymandias’; for every Gaius Julius Caesar, you get a Nero Claudius Caesar.

What matters is this: leaders must always remember that they came from the people, and must serve the people SINCERELY or they are lost.

I put the word ‘sincerely’ in capitals because that is what matters. A leader may think that because it is sometimes possible to hide information about his private life and business dealings, he can go on for ever pretending to the people that he is still their servant. But it doesn’t work.

I was lucky enough to discover the meaning of true disconnection in my early years as a journalist. In 1958, a mere one year after Ghana’s independence, I visited the Soviet Union for the first time. I travelled by TU-104 – the world’s first successful jet airliner. Its speed was very, very impressive, compared to the turbo-props flown by Western airlines.

But in my hotel room in Moscow, I found the soap to be inferior and the toilet paper much worse than what I used in Accra. And my mind told me, ‘There is a disconnect here. Nothing in Accra should be superior to anything in the mighty USSR.’

I had hit on the Achilles’ heel of Soviet power, but the Soviets themselves couldn’t see it - they achieved symmetry in big things, and asymmetry in small things: the small things that concerned consumers.

Hence, later on, as our relationship grew, sophisticated Ghanaian students, utilising their foreign exchange allowances from home, evolved the idea of travelling to East Germany and using their international passport to go to West Berlin, and loading themselves with Western consumer goods, especially ladies’ nylons and cosmetics. When they came back to their hostels in Kiev and Moscow, they showed off their purchases - adding immensely to their desirability as potential dates to the prettiest girls.

In Tashkent, young Uzbeks told me they went into the ‘bush’ to dance to smuggled rock and roll music.

It was the attitude of nonchalance within the Communist Party leadership towards consumers’ yearnings - often tossed away as ‘superficial’, signified by fragmental asymmetries, that created the cumulative situation that eventually led all the way to the climatic moments in Berlin in 1989. Then, the attraction of the consumer goods that lay beyond The Berlin Wall proved mightier than the concrete blocks and bricks that held The Wall together. Even the deadly razor wire and machine guns that guarded it proved to be an insufficient deterrent. And The Wall had to fall.

Even so, the triumphant Cold War ‘Iron Lady’ of Great Britain, Margaret Thatcher, lost power when she too ignored the true welfare needs of her people and imposed a market-devised ‘poll tax’ that caused some of the most furious riots seen in London in generations.

So the message of the people remains: ‘Serve our interests or quit. If we tell you to quit and you won’t go, wait and see. Your guards are people, too, you should know.’

Nothing, as I have noted, is settled yet in Egypt, or even Tunisia. But as the people stumble, rise and steady themselves, seeking a better way out of their misery, they see that whatever lies ahead of them in the future, is preferable to the inane stupidities they have had to endure in the past.

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* Cameron Duodu is a journalist, writer and commentator.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

Enahoro’s ‘brutuses’

Okachikwu Dibia

2011-02-23

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/71138

cc WikipediaFollowing the passing of Anthony Enahoro, Okachikwu Dibia salutes his thinking around Nigeria’s composition and laments the disingenuous public well-wishing of friends happy to reject his ideas.

The late Chief Anthony Enahoro’s Movement for National Reformation (MNR) was a strident and cogent idea, well-neglected and frustrated by those who loved him so much in Nigeria. They are the ones rushing to Edo State to pay empty and deceitful condolences to his family. In Nigeria, we are rich with such despicable characters: they were there at midday evening in Rumuigbo on 26 April 1993 when Ikwerre spokesperson Dr Obi Wali was butchered in his bedroom. In the case of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the same characters are there to ever organise his wife’s birthdays in any of the best hotels in Nigeria. But do not forget that it was they who made sure that Awo remained the best president Nigeria never had. Go and ask the family of Pa Rewane; these characters are there supporting the family. The Aminu Kano family may today be enjoying the fat financial support from his faceless enemies who, while he was alive, ensured that his excellent ideas never saw the light of the day.

When Enahoro was alive, he put forward the idea that Nigeria should be politically restructured into ethnic states and that the peoples of Nigeria should be allowed to discuss how they wish to live together in a federal state. The sense in that restructuring was that the resources and allied occupations with which to develop Nigeria are domiciled in the ethnic groups. All that is required is for the groups to respect one another as equals, convene a sovereign national conference (SNC) where they will determine how they can live together and grant self-determination and development rights to the native peoples of Nigeria within the Federal Republic of Nigeria, thereby fostering healthy economic, social and political competition among themselves. This, I believe, were some of Pa Enahoro’s passionate ideas that were neglected, rejected and frustrated by his closest political friends, who now are gathering in the public, wearing fake sympathy for a man that languished and died labouring to be heard.

Indeed, many ideas that would have truly developed Nigeria have been so killed. Remember Obafemi Awolowo, Anthony Enahoro, Pius Okigbo, Odemegwu Ojukwu, Aminu Kano, Obi Wali, Ken Saro-Wiwa, Claude Ake, Bola Ige, Gani Fawehinmi and Fela Kuti. Compare their ideas with what Nigeria glorifies and implements today – which is better?

The simple truth is that as long as what we adopt today in Nigeria is not leading the country near true development, then the alternative may be better. To continue to neglect, reject and frustrate the alternative and thereby one way or the other killing its messengers, so long shall Nigeria continue killing themselves in Jos, Kano, Ngelzerma, Ife-Modakeke, Aguleri-Amuleri, Zango-Kataf, Zaki-Biam, Bauchi, Maiduguri, Odi, Umuechem, Ogoni, Choba, Okrika, Rebisi, Emohua, Ogbogoro, Yenegoa, Rumuekpe, Lagos, Abuja, Okene, Warri, Tivland and Idomaland. These are signs of deep-rooted socio-political issues that have not been resolved and cannot be resolved using the existing method of forced unity. Forced unity had served us to survive a civil war; after that unity, what next? It certainly is day-dreaming to see the issues resolved and true unity achieved without the consensus of the native peoples of Nigeria. To think that Nigeria can become peacefully united without consensus means that we either do not know history or we do not appreciate it.

Pa Enahoro surely would have lived longer if his ideas had at least been given national attention. This was the energetic Enahoro who was bold enough in 1956 to move the motion for the political independence of Nigeria. The over four decades of frustration of his ideas may have contributed significantly to his death. Psychologists should tell us whether or not the frustration of a man’s ideas leads to longevity of life. Those who frustrated his ideas are his true enemies, and indeed the obscure enemies of a true federal Nigeria. They are all those who ensured that his ideas never saw the light of the day, yet they are now the ones writing and publishing beautiful tributes. They are those who attended the service of songs (hearty laughs) in his honour. They are donating private and or public funds for his burial and upkeep of his family. They are those who mill around the family of Enahoro proclaiming serious sympathy they truly never had for him. They are his ‘Brutuses’. Just like Awolowo, they ensured that his ideas and he himself were killed and frustrated respectively; now they pay steady lip service to his ideas just to attract votes and popularity. To Bola Ige, they were those who danced at his grave side. To Obi Wali, they even laughed and ate at his grave side, besides dancing there.

These indescribable characters rule Nigeria; theirs is politics without politics as represented in empty posters. They belong to the top-most secret societies and cult groups in the world. They claim to be lovers of Nigeria, when they are not. They are too endeared to individual justice than social justice. They ignorantly preach diseases and measures (HIV/AIDS and reproductive healthcare) that will gradually kill and wipe out Nigerians. They preach violence or prosperity, neither of which will ever bring God’s kingdom on earth. They make suggestions (in the name of professionalism) that are not realistic to Nigeria’s problems. Their understanding of development is only to the extent of copying what other nations are doing, with no originality in thoughts and thinking. Their idea of development starts and ends in infrastructure building, when they know that infrastructure merely facilitates development and cannot be development in itself. They preach economics without society. They preach federalism without voluntarism and consensus. They preach and implement irrelevant education that manufactures unemployment in Nigeria. They have no regard for human dignity, otherwise why should their own children dress naked on the streets of Nigeria. They do virtually nothing about the steady killings of Nigerians by Nigerians. They hardly understand the basic tenets of democracy, capitalism or even socialism. They are empty heads that do not know that every good nation functions through ideas. They hate discussion, hence they encourage or fight more often. They constitute the real troubles cutting down the hands, legs and heads of Nigerians. They are the reason Nigeria is standing upside-down. They are the real challenge to the true survival of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. They should be squarely held responsible for whatever happens to Nigeria.

Nigerian critical minds and well-meaning sons and daughters of Africa’s most populous nation must arise, intervene and interrogate these questionable characters of Nigeria who have kept Nigeria where she ought not to be: an underdeveloped country with huge potential for true development. Let us die today so that our children can have something called tomorrow, because to our creator, the latter is more important than the former.

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

Fahamu Refugee Legal Aid Newsletter - March issue

2011-02-28

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/Announce/71257

Fahamu’s Refugee Programme is pleased to announce the March issue of the Fahamu Refugee Legal Aid Newsletter, a monthly publication that aims to provide a forum for providers of refugee legal aid. With a focus on the global South, it aims to serve the needs of legal aid providers as well as raise awareness of refugee concerns among the wider readership of Pambazuka News.

David Kato: Life after death

Nick Mwaluko

2011-02-24

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/71191

© Wikipedia‘Before leaving, the wind blows so I turn, take one long, last look at circle of candles to keep their flame burning in my memory forever. Dead, the wind blew them out. But there is one that stands alone, free, and still burns bright to this day. David Kato.’

Young, strong, sharp, reality’s electric in your present tense – this is who you are before the phone rings:

‘Dead? Murdered, who was?’

David Kato, 46, gay rights activist, Ugandan, bludgeoned with a hammer to the skull in his own home and now a group of organisers in New York City want a vigil in his honour followed by peaceful protest outside Uganda House would you like to come? Poof, just like that, from the time you answered the phone then put it back down, you’re older, weaker, matured in the face of sudden death.

Two days later it’s Thursday and two hundred-plus people gather outside Dag Hammarskjold Plaza on 48th street and 1st Avenue, yourself included. There are larger than life photographs of David Kato in black and white. Posters stamped with his profile held high above cardboard placards written in Kiswahili, east Africa’s lingua franca, the common language that binds a people who share similar customs, tribal traditions, and legislative bigotry against same-sex partnerships.

Marching single column three-person thick, moments later we arrive at the Ugandan Mission to the United Nations. Men, women, leaders at the podium tell us why Kato’s death is so important to this day and age. And so speech after speech adds power to our peaceful protest but the war of words, no matter how poetic or epic, can’t quiet the pain of losing a gay brother to state-sanctioned bigotry, fear, hatred, ignorance, denial, silence.

The speeches die, the drumming stops, the chanting begins:

‘What do you want?’

‘Justice!’

‘When do you want it?’

‘Now!’

‘Can’t hear you. What do you want?!’

‘JUSTICE! JUSTICE! NOW! N—’

Meanwhile Ugandan diplomats, safely snug inside their cozy mission, peep through blinders at the spectacle below. We’re a strong, diverse, fist-pumping crowd directing our anger at nobody in particular.

My first thought? Where is the rage?

My next thought? Why is activism so inactive?

My final thought? Since when is activity action? By which I mean, let’s throw rocks at the window the next time a diplomat dares look down at us, shatter any false sense of safety by breaking glass or spilling blood. Kick down a door or two, set off an alarm maybe, set fire to a tall pile of paper trash. Do something, anything so they feel what it’s like when hatred erupts at any given moment for no reason then goes unpunished and unexplained. Not that revenge can snuff the fire burning in our hearts by bringing David Kato back to life in a world remade without terror, a world filled with social justice. But unexplained hatred directed at someone for no reason is a feeling queers know all too well and Ugandan diplomats don’t know enough of, so maybe they should experience it just once before drafting legislation against homosexuals.

It’s late. Protestors interviewed by TV crews are gone. Those carrying posters with slogans in Kiswahili are gone too. So are the diplomats.

One group takes their candles, places them on a mound of snow covering slush. The candles are in a circle surrounding with flowers in the middle. They glow like embers, like stars in the nighttime sky.

Before leaving, the wind blows so I turn, take one long, last look at circle of candles to keep their flame burning in my memory forever. Dead, the wind blew them out. But there is one that stands alone, free, and still burns bright to this day.

David Kato.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* Nick Mwaluko was born in Tanzania, raised mostly in Kenya and other east African countries. Nick came to New York, transitioned from anatomically female to male, and writes plays. S/He, the story of a man in a woman’s body, has its second run in southern Florida on 27 February 2011. Waafrika, a lesbian love affair set in a rural Kenyan village in 1992 immediately following Kenya’s first multi-party elections, will have a showcase run in October 2011 following a reading on 30 March 2011. Other plays include Blueprint for a Lesbian Universe, Asymmetrical We, Brotherly Love, Trailer Park Tundra, Are Women Human?
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

Youth demand Dedan Kimathi museum at Kamiti Prison

Dennis Dancan Mosiere

2011-02-24

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/71190

cc S 1Kenya’s youth are demanding that their government build a Dedan Kimathi museum, says Dennis Dancan Mosiere.

Saying that they are the current Mau Mau in Kenya, the youth in Nairobi are demanding that the government build a Dedan Kimathi museum, and a monument in Kamiti maximum security prison to replace the notorious jail where Kimathi is believed to have been buried in an unmarked grave. They were speaking after coming back from Nyeri to commemorate the Dedan Kimathi Day on 18 Feb, a day when Kimathi was killed by the British colonialists in 1957.

They accused the government of using Kimathi and other Mau Mau heroes for political gain and then of celebrating the day in Nyeri's Kimathi University away from the limelight in the capital city Nairobi.

They urged the Ministry of State for National Heritage and Culture, whose officials were at the event, to consider bringing Kimathi Day to the city's Uhuru Park or Uhuru Gardens Heroes’ Corner. They demanded that Kimathi Day be made a recognised national holiday in Kenya to truly honour him.

The youth also want a community centre in Kirinyaga where the Mau Mau were fighting to be the place for all pan-Africanists and revolutionaries like Kimathi to live as ‘it is a home in Zion, near the dwelling place of Jah.’

‘This place will be like Shashamane that Emperor Haile Sellasie gave to the African people in the diaspora to come and live. So we are going to create our own here in Kenya. We don't have to go to Shashamane.’

Meanwhile, in other news, speaking at Kimathi University the following day after Kimathi Day, Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka said that the government is now ready to start another attempt to search Dedan Kimathi's unmarked grave at Kamithi Prison.

This is welcome news and the youth reiterated that they must push the government to accord Kimathi the fitting status within Kenyan society and not just for political gains by riding on Kimathi's appeal to the youth. They cited the new constitution that guarantees Mashujaa Day as the force to drive their will.

'We also want to petition the government to make the African Liberation Day a national holiday on the 25th May.’

On 18 February a crowd gathered around Dedan Kimathi’s statue on Friday at around 9am. A developing spectacle had pulled them near the steel bar protected area along Kimathi Street, Nairobi.

Dreadlocked men and women were chanting and reciting poems as they waved flags towards the statue, an act that bore uncanny resemblance to idol worship. Kimathi is also wearing thick locks, which run to the shoulders, military regalia with one hand bearing a rifle and the other a dagger. They hailed him as the uncelebrated freedom fighter, a warrior whose life was snuffed out 54 years ago on Friday.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* Dennis Dancan Mosiere is a performance poet/writer based in Nairobi and currently a Fahamu Pan African Fellow For Social Justice.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

A beer for Mo Ibrahim

Ethiopian Recycler

2011-02-24

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/71139

cc WikipediaThe blog Ethiopian Recycler raises a glass to a brewery deal and good governance.

Mo Ibrahim recently announced he is in a joint venture bid with the government of Ethiopia for Meta Abo Brewery. Ibrahim is none other than the Sudanese-British mobile communications entrepreneur who in 2006 established The Ibrahim Prize of $5 million over 10 years and $200K annually for life to recognise and ‘award a democratically elected former African executive head of state or government who has served their term in office within the limits set by the country's constitution and has left office in the last three years.’

The recognition is, obviously, planned to be an incentive to remedy a perennial problem plaguing Africa of leaders not wanting to leave office (keeping qualified and credible candidates out and preferring to die in office or appoint a successor, thus depriving the nation of potential human capital).

The problem with Meles Zenawi and his wife (and other African leaders) is that good character never registers high in their public life and, hence, they don’t understand why they should settle for $5 million over 10 years when they could make ten-fold or 50-fold with no obligations attached.

According to the declared standards, Zenawi falls dismally short on all criteria (safety and rule of law; participation and human rights; sustainable economic opportunity; human development) for excellence in leadership. We suggest that level of education for those in leadership should also be considered in the evaluation. That way, diplomas doled out (sold) to the undeserving by western diploma mills (extortionists, really) and the danger they pose to a nation’s economic and human welfare would be identified for what they are: illegal, worthless and a threat.

The above bid was made public by the Privatisation and Public Enterprises Supervising Agency (PPESA) - a corrupt agency with a history of under-pricing state enterprises to favour members of the ruling minority and their supporters. More than likely Ibrahim could be the winner in the bid for Meta Abo.

So, what could that mean for the ruling minority and its Liqqu (‘wise’) leader Meles Zenawi? We never could tell except he has been angling for the coveted prize since 2006. The problem is that The Ibrahim Index has consistently rated Ethiopia low in terms of governance (31st in 2008; 37th in 2009). In 2009, the second year for Zenawi’s bid, the prize committee could not find a single leader deserving of the prize.

Here is an excerpt (verbatim) from an argument (proposed in 2006 and revised in 2009) for awarding the prize to Zenawi. Observe how it is all about Zenawi and little about the long-suffering Ethiopian people. Observe also the spurious information presented as factual.

‘Meles deserves to work towards getting the Mo Leadership Prize by the end of his term given he transfers power peacefully. As we all do, whenever there is a prize announcement in academic competition or any other competition we try our best to win. We write our applications and essentially nominate ourselves and present our work to achieve it. It is not any different here. If the bylaws of the Prize are to nominate oneself by writing an application statement then he should do it. If it is by third party nomination, then we should support his nomination.

Why does Meles deserve this prize? First and foremost, he is one of the very few leaders in the world who has successfully transformed himself from a second year medical student to a fighter, commander/leader, head of state, economist and intellectual, and from a communist to an architect of developmental state. He has passed through challenges - jungle life, within party fights (the 1984 and the 2000) and the recent election fights with people who have grave hate towards him and his people. Shortly, he is tested!

On the other hand he is a very disciplined man. He values family - sticking to his ‘amin’ first wife and is a family man. He has been seen accompanying his daughter to a high school graduation despite the hectic nature of being head of government. He has made conversations and letter exchanges with school children at several levels…

He also has other qualities. As far as my knowledge is concerned he is the only leader in the history of Ethiopia who fluently speaks English, Amharic, and Tigrigna. He probably is the only leader who has achieved the highest ladders of education while in office. If the recent news is true he might get a PhD very soon. That would probably make him the first leader to achieve a PhD while in office. He has demonstrated to friends and foe how brilliant he is in articulating the issues that are fundamental for economic development in African countries.

His nomination to the Blair African Commission, his recent role in the China-Africa partnership, his recent invited speech in the EU development conference, the prizes and honorary doctorates he has been getting, the recent invited speech at the G20 summit and the invitation to the forthcoming G8 meeting clearly show the high regard he is winning from the international community.

He has had a key role in influencing the World Bank and IMF aid policy for Third World countries. His recent manuscript on the developmental state is, simply put, a great addition to the debate on the possible strategic solutions to the problems of developing countries (especially Africa). What makes it more interesting is that his background is from the poor like one of us.’ More here.

So, we raise a Meta Abo beer to Mo’s health. But we warn him to make sure he has paid in full for all his dealings in this dark and shark-infested underworld of a market overseen by a corrupt agency with a misleading little title and taking orders from the prime minister's wife.

A last note to Ibrahim. We applaud your entrepreneurial spirit and humanitarian acts. But above all, we cling to the hope you raise in us all in your worthy campaign, ‘No Safe Havens: A Global Forum on Stolen Asset Recovery and Development’.

Another Meta bottle for Mo; this time charge it to Recycler!

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* This article originates from the blog Ethiopian Recycler.

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

All the pharaohs in Africa, go now!

Philo Ikonya

2011-02-23

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/71136

cc SaharuiakAs the extraordinary events within North Africa and the Middle East continue, Philo Ikonya stresses that genuine support for people’s freedom around the world must increase.

If anyone doubts that Egypt is flying today on the wings of the cities of Cairo, Alexandria and Suez, they must at least acknowledge that Egypt is on fire. We saw Tunisia before. Jordan decided for an early attempt of baptism of water rather than fire. Yemen moved with Egypt. Something happened in Khartoum but was only briefly analysed. There is heaving discontent in Sudan and below. Analysts who were surprised by Tunisia now agree that this is an Arab world uprising. They continue to talk about the Arab world fighting oppression and dictatorships. The Middle East and North Africa we may speak about but in the world today, unless you are not seeing it, boundaries are melting under the pressure of the power of communication.

And yet, a BBC documentary only a few weeks ago was the first in which a journalist interviewed African victims of trafficking stuck in the Sinai Desert. There was an eerie moment during that broadcast where the presenter said that nobody knows how many Africans are caught up in the desert.

He was speaking to a woman who had been raped endlessly. Her husband had died from the anger and frustration of seeing his wife thus abused. With all our pride in the internet, Al Jazeera and these brave journalists, we have got to ask ourselves why some places remain so hidden from the world. They are silent forgotten graves.

It’s immoral. We, as the world, especially the progressive world, cannot allow ourselves not to be proactive in knowing what is going on that should shame the earth if it were exposed and continue as if all is well, only stopping when the people risk everything and scream on streets and die for change. In some places oppression since Europe divided up Africa like a pancake during the Berlin Conference killed all voices.

The complacency in peaceful nations that have progressed until fire burns in troubled nations is incredible. The indifference of some of them when the fire begins to burn is shocking. In places like the Nordic countries, you would be forgiven for thinking anything was wrong in the world. Their media is constipated with their own little world. From time to time, you will see this criminal refugee as the face of black Africa especially.

Darfur in Sudan was and is. It is almost buried from our history because this poor, torn nation, which gave birth to a new country last week, could not muster the kind of people action steaming on the streets of Cairo on international channels and TVs just now. Who supports Omar al-Bashir, a president indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC)? Omar is not in trouble with the law because South Sudan wants its freedom! Why are we washing his diapers and covering bloodshed with him?

What do we do when a people cannot rise up in a clearly unjust situation? We sit and wait. What media is covering Central Africa these days? Will Twitter save us there, or in Somalia, Madagascar and Guinea-Bissau?

We wait for thousands of young Africans who will want to leave Africa and come to Europe where we will deny them entry most of the time because we still think this part of the world is ours and that other rich but unstable one theirs.

And this happens too to poor countries of Europe. In France, Nicolas Sarkozy just sends the Roma home to be more homeless. He gets them arrested. But Africa.

I feel the pain of a voiceless Chad, Mauritania, Ethiopia and Eritrea as the world sits and notices a major crisis. We act as if those places are far-away and worse, exploit situations through diplomacy as we benefit before the people wake up or never wake up. We trade in resources with the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) as 200 women get raped, even by the United Nations soldiers that we sent there with our money. In Washington DC, we even hear out Muammar Gaddafi of Libya because his country is quiet. He has been in power for 42 years. What does the vote mean here, that he will save us from terror?

The International Criminal Court tries to seek justice, but even then it is losing support because the same pharaohs have sworn against it in Africa ever since it sentenced Charles Taylor and others. They are killing it in the pretence of questioning Luis Moreno-Ocampo’s ability. They are pretending that we poor Africans have never understood the difference between the sovereignty of a country in Africa and injustice. Governments in most oppressed worlds blatantly overlook international conventions and keep the people down. Libya was staunchly behind supporting Kenya for a deferral from the ICC for a year. Thousands of refugees within Kenya are still in camps after the post-poll violence of 2007 that caused the people to seek recourse in the ICC. If the rest of the world in the UN supports the African Union in this, we might as well agree not to have a UN or anything that binds us to protect justice.

We should be ashamed to take pride in the people of Egypt now if we are waiting to be surprised by events, as we were by the genocide in Rwanda in 1994. It is not just a matter of suddenly hopping onto the right side of history. No. We know that Kenyan civil society is agitating for change and increasingly feeling repressed and frustrated for the creation of change, even if Kenyans have a new constitution. We know Zimbabweans are still suffering.

You know how Ivory Coast has been of late. Nigeria is often in tension. Kenya and Nigeria have elections in 2012. The oppression being fought in Egypt exists in almost all of Africa’s 50 countries. One may choose to see a neat division of the so-called Africa south of the Sahara, but one should like to take less for granted. People power as witnessed in the Philippines has influenced, if not always in action, many processes in search of freedom in the world. WikiLeaks before this, our own progress in communication in the last decade should wake us up to a different world. The last to understand will always be the oppressors, but history is not on their side.

Let us not look at what is happening within narrow lenses. We cannot afford to. Many analysts in the West and other thinkers worried and worried about this being Al-Qaeda at work before waking up to the realisation that this is about the people’s undying love for freedom, as it was in the days of Martin Luther King Jr in the One Million March in America.

Egyptians had to keep reminding all that there were Christians and Muslims on the streets. I pity those of us who would remain narrow. I pity the USA and Europe if they fail to see that the world, not just the Arab Middle East countries, has changed. I pity them if they do not realise that there must be more solidarity today with the people of Eritrea rather than with the corrupt and overbearing leadership entrenched in present-day Eritrea. I hope they can hear the heaviness and pain in some countries where they are still supporting terrible leaders, even if it is because of fear of fundamentalists taking over. I hope those working for the release of writers and journalists in such lands – they are usually the first victims – will see how much more they must work for better leadership if they are not just here to make careers on poor situations. The same goes for us, human rights activists.

The only way to go in order to also quell to some extent radical terror attacks is in fact that all the people get their freedoms back. It is easy to radicalise people who live in as dastardly conditions as we have seen existing in Egypt as we all just did normal business supporting with billions of dollars and snorkelling as usual at Sharma el Sheikh.

Things should not be the same again after this.

Does the world care today about what is happening in Ethiopia with regard to freedom? What kind of power is the West supporting there? Have we not just seen the ‘au’ – which from the day it has decided to support Kenya against the ICC we now will only spell in small letters – is incredibly supporting impunity? If the UN endorses this decision we shall also call it the ‘un’.

January 2011 in Tunisia and Egypt has been not just as many have been saying, history staring at us from Facebook, Twitter and the TV screen, but also a great reminder to the so-called world powers that life has changed in the world. It does not matter that China has suppressed demonstrations in support of Egypt. It does not matter that a Nobel Prize recipient is locked up in China, freedom will surge in people’s minds and hearts and will ultimately win.

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* Philo Ikonya is a Kenyan poet and activist.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

Conditions and consequences: Anatomy of Egypt's revolution

Esam Al-Amin

2011-02-24

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/71177

cc Abusalah‘Like perfect storms, several factors have to simultaneously and collectively come together for popular uprisings or protests to turn into a revolution,’ writes Esam Al-Amin. ‘So what are the elements that distinguish the Egyptian revolution?’

‘The revolution is not an apple that falls when it is ripe. You have to make it fall.’-- Che Guevara

Like perfect storms, several factors have to simultaneously and collectively come together for popular uprisings or protests, even massive ones, to turn into a revolution. That is why only a few of them have been successful in world history. A revolution is, by definition, a successful struggle embraced by the masses that radically alters the existing political, economic, and social order.

The triumphs of the American, French, Russian, Cuban, and Iranian revolutions were the exceptions. While each one had its genesis in battling an oppressive or corrupt existing political system, each engendered its own unique features while satisfying distinctive conditions in order to produce a successful outcome.

One was initiated by an armed insurrection, but embraced by the public, against a tyrant monarch. Another was led by mobs producing enormous violence before settling down. Other revolutions had core ideological groups embedded in their midst that greatly influenced or manipulated their course of action before achieving their feat.

Likewise, the Egyptian revolution that erupted on January 25 in the aftermath of Tunisia’s was marked by its own unique features. Although the declared goals of the Egyptian revolution have yet to be fully realized, its primary goal of overthrowing its dictator was spectacularly achieved within a historically short period of time. While it took 28 days of continuous protests to depose Tunisia’s dictator, a country of 10 million people, it required only 18 days of massive demonstrations to accomplish the same in Egypt, a country of 85 million people.

The spark for Tunisia’s revolution was Mohammad Bouazizi setting himself ablaze in the city of Sidi Bouzeid on December 17. It was a desperate act of protest against the authorities who insulted him and seized his sole means of sustenance. Remarkably, the downfall of Zein al-Abideen Ben Ali’s regime four weeks later on January 14 was itself the spark for the Egyptian revolution, which erupted eleven days later. It was probably the only revolution in history that determined its commencement and announced its date to the world online. By February 11, the Egyptian regime had collapsed when its head, Hosni Mubarak, after much obstinate and arrogant behavior, was forced to resign in disgrace.

So what are the elements that distinguish the Egyptian revolution?

Historians will most likely debate for many years the various factors that came together to set off the uprising that turned it into a triumphant revolution. However, the most significant and distinctive features are outlined here. They are:

Popular revolution: The Egyptian people have taken ownership of this revolution from its inception. The youth movement that called for the protests before Jan. 25 admitted that they did not know what to expect. Although many opposition parties had called for demonstrations in the past, they only attracted a vocal but limited number of activists and elites. The popular support for these protests was at best timid if not totally ignored.

But in this instance when the young men and women, calling for the uprising on social media websites, moved to rally support on the ground from neighborhood to neighborhood, thousands of people from all walks of life joined in. They did not stop by simply announcing it online, but actually toured the streets mobilizing the people calling for wide participation.

Asma’a Mahfouz, one of the young activists from the April 6 Youth Movement said in her interview with Al-Sharq Al-Awsat newspaper that, shortly after the protests started, ‘I was printing and distributing leaflets in popular areas, and calling for citizens to participate. In those areas, I also talked to young people about their rights, and the need for their participation.’

She continued, ‘I went to a street in Bulaq Dakrur (poor Cairo neighborhood), where I and a group of members from the movement intended to start protesting. At the same time, other members were doing the same thing in other areas. When we had assembled, we raised the Egyptian flag and began to chant slogans, and it was surprising when a large number of people joined us.’

She added, ‘With increasing numbers joining us, we stopped for some time in front of Mustafa Mahmoud Mosque, and then we led the march to Tahrir Square. We found several demonstrations coming from different areas toward this one, and thus we decided to occupy Tahrir Square.’

As the demonstrations continued, every day broke new ground. It started with the educated youth, both middle class and affluent. They were soon joined by the oppressed and uneducated poor. Within a few days, the protests swelled to include all segments of society, including judges, lawyers, doctors, engineers, journalists, artists, civil servants, workers, farmers, day laborers, students, home makers, the underclass and the unemployed.

Moreover, the demonstrations spread across Egypt like none in its history, not even the great 1919 revolution against the British occupation. The protests since Jan. 25 were not confined to Cairo or Alexandria or even to the main urban centers.

Impressive numbers made their voices heard in every province and city, every town and village, in Upper Egypt and the Nile delta, the coastal areas across the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, in the Canal Zone and the Sinai. On the day Mubarak resigned, an unprecedented 15 million people were demonstrating. Almost twenty per cent of Egyptians were in the streets that day, first protesting, and then celebrating the end of the dictator.

The Role of the Youth: There is no doubt that the Egyptian youth played a critical role in initiating the protests. The ‘April 6 Youth’ and ‘We are all Khaled Said’ movements along with other youth-led organizations including the youth branches of the Muslim Brotherhood and Al-Baradei Campaign for Change, were at the forefront of the activities before and during the revolution.

At critical moments during the tense negotiations with the regime, it was the steadfastness of these young revolutionaries that defeated the attempts by the regime to push for half measures in order to save Mubarak, proposals that might have been acceptable to some opposition parties. But the youth organizers insisted on their main demand, which was the removal of the president. Most of these leaders are in their late 20s or early 30s.

Incidentally, the youth paid the brunt of the sacrifices. A list on Al-Dustoor newspaper’s website shows that 70 percent of those who lost their lives during the massive protests, as well as 80 per cent of the injured, were 32 years old or younger.

The Role of Women: Egypt, like most Muslim countries, is a largely patriarchal society not used to having women, especially young females, leading any group or organization, let alone a political movement. But here the Egyptian people witnessed young women like Mahfouz, Isra’a Abdel Fattah, Nawwara Nagm, and Sally Tooma Moore, not only speaking out against the brutality and illegitimacy of the regime on live television, but also leading the demonstrators in chants and camping out in Tahrir Square for weeks.

The participation of women in the revolution, including in leadership positions from the beginning, have also encouraged other women across Egypt to participate. They have also sacrificed heavily for their freedom. At least 10 per cent of the casualties in the first week were women. This experience has solidified their role as real partners for genuine change, and entitled them to an ownership of this great event in their history.

Applying Non-Violent and Peaceful Means: From the outset, the organizers of the protests adhered to a strict code of non-violent and peaceful protests. They realized that the regime would crack down and employ brutal methods hoping to either deter or provoke them to use violence to justify even greater violence against them.

Ahmad Maher, the coordinator of the April 6 Youth Movement explained in an interview with Al Jazeera English that non-violence was not a tactic but a strategy for the movement. For over two years, thousands of members debated the writings and methods of non-violent struggle, including those of Gandhi, King, and Gene Sharp of the Albert Einstein Institution in Boston, the sages of the use of non-violent means for social change.

Last year Maher’s second-in-command, Muhammad Adel, was dispatched to Serbia to meet with Srdja Popovic, a proponent of non-violent resistance and leader of the Otpor (Resistance) Movement, a group of young activists who helped depose Slobodan Milosevic in 2000. He came back to Cairo with DVDs and other educational and training materials that demonstrated in detail some of the non-violent means and civil disobedience techniques used to induce political change.

When the protests in Egypt began, there were strict instructions for all participants not to carry any weapons, including knives, sticks, stones or sharp objects. They held signs that said this was a peaceful protest. When confronted by the police who tried to intimidate or beat them they would chant ‘peaceful, peaceful.’

Even when the regime sent thousands of its goons on February 2 to beat them with sticks and sharp objects, attack them with Molotov cocktails, or even shoot them with live ammunition, the protesters only tried to defend themselves, refusing to employ violent means. When they arrested about 350 of the hired thugs, they refused to take revenge despite the dozens who were killed and thousands more injured. They simply handed them over to the military units stationed nearby.

Non-ideological and homogeneous: Another distinctive feature of the revolution across Egypt was its focus on common goals. Despite the desperate efforts by the regime and its regional and international supporters to paint it as either ideologically based or foreign inspired, these efforts failed miserably.

The organizers were non-ideological. Although most ideological parties participated, including the Muslim Brotherhood (MB), the leftists, the liberals, the secularists, and the Copts, all groups displayed a rare unity of purpose, focusing on the primary goal of the revolution without falling into the trappings of narrow divisions.

Unlike other Arab societies with a history of tribalism, sectarianism or ethnic conflicts, Egyptian society is largely homogeneous. The only fault line that its opponents have tried to foment or exploit is that of Muslim-Coptic tension. However, these tensions are a recent phenomenon and are the exception, not the rule. Much of Egypt’s history bears witness to that.

This rare unity among Muslims and Copts was displayed in Tahrir Square and across Egypt. Tooma-Moore, a Christian Copt, demonstrated the unity of all Egyptians, Muslims and Copts, in a recent interview when she said, ‘It's totally beyond description how the mosque has been transformed into a working hospital. It is a mosque but there are no religious divisions.’

The youth organizers and all participating groups carefully abstained from any religious or sectarian chants. During Friday prayers many Copts surrounded and protected the Muslims while praying. Likewise, on Sunday the Muslims joined the Copts in their Christian services, in a moving display of national unity.

Disciplined and focused: Many observers were surprised at the level of discipline and focus the revolutionaries were able to demonstrate. Throughout the 18 days in the streets, they maintained their focus on Mubarak and his despised regime. They refused to engage in any negotiations that might distract from their primary goal of ousting the beleaguered president. Their slogans and chants reflected this unity of purpose among all demonstrators.

When the regime started offering concessions, almost daily, in the hope of splitting the opposition, weakening their resolve, or slowing down the momentum, the revolutionaries were able to energize the people further, raise their demands and mobilize even greater numbers without conceding their foremost demand.

Decentralized and highly organized leadership: This revolution was not leaderless, but the leaders were not visibly identifiable. They cleverly structured their protests and activities without naming a single group or leader. Dozens were speaking on behalf of the revolution, communicating the same message. Some identified with the youth, others with the diverse opposition movements, while many were independent. The security apparatus was confused and could not identify the major leaders of the revolution.

Even when some leaders were arrested, they were easily replaced because no one person held sole power or vital information that could derail the revolution. When the youth within the Muslim Brotherhood joined the protests on Jan. 28, they were immediately embraced and given leadership roles because of their discipline, resources, and abilities. Although some minor opposition parties tried to take credit or present a different political line, they were immediately exposed and marginalized.

The leaders also illustrated great organizational skills. Makeshift hospitals, staffed with hundreds of doctors, were established to treat the injured and sick. Remarkably, with over two million demonstrators in one geographical area, transportation, security, medicine, food, drink, bathroom facilities, trash collections, Street newspapers, and lost and found services were provided. Tents and covers were also supplied to the thousands of people who chose to camp out in the square.

When the government withdrew all the security forces and released thousands of criminals in order to spread fear and chaos across the country, the people immediately organized and established protection and security teams and neighborhood watches in order to protect their families and neighbors. Within days, thousands of criminals were caught and handed over to the military.

Steadfastness, bravery and determination: When many people in the streets were interviewed on dozens of television networks and new media outlets covering the unfolding events, there was a notable theme that stood out in their tone, namely, the eradication of the fear barrier.

All dictatorial and repressive regimes rule their subjects through intimidation and fear. The Mubarak regime was no different. The regime dispatched at least 350,000 security officers throughout Egypt in the first four days, employing all the tools of repression: beatings, water canons, tear gas, rubber bullets, live ammunition, and armed carriers.

However, the youth led the efforts in facing the brutality of the police even when dozens were killed and hundreds injured in the streets. It was clear that when the youth refused to abandon the protests and faced courageously the repression of the state without retreat, the rest of the people followed and the fear factor was removed from the equation.

Creative and resourceful: As much as this revolution was peaceful, it was also incredibly creative. By Sunday January 30, the demonstrators were in control of all the main streets and squares. Millions of people were following the program set by the organizers. Activities were set to mobilize the people and demoralize the regime.

They were also resourceful. They brought huge speakers to broadcast the singing of the national anthem and play patriotic songs to the delight of the massive crowds. It brought a sense of national unity and patriotism, a feeling of honor, duty, and resolve.

On certain days where the protesters were called to attend by the millions, they were given names to consolidate the gains and unite the people under a single theme: Day of Rage, Day of Departure, Martyrs Day, Day of Defiance. People were free to be inventive and artistic as they thought up slogans, created chants, and drew up posters that focused on Mubarak, his family, and the regime.

Many of them were funny and daring. Bold jokes were widely shared, and comedy sketches were daily performed in the squares and streets. Poets, singers, rappers and bands were everywhere creating a festive Woodstock atmosphere. The more the president showed stubbornness the more entrenched and audacious the people became. With each passing day, the people no longer feared Mubarak, and even displayed an attitude of total ridicule and revulsion toward him.

Ingenious use of technology: It is common knowledge that the youth have not only mastered the use of modern technology, but also transformed it into an exceptionally effective political tool to communicate with their peers, educate the public, organize events, and mobilize the masses.

With over 800,000 Egyptians, mostly youth, using Facebook alone, the revolutionaries found a platform that allowed access with little challenge from the government. The use of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and other social media outlets played a significant role in disseminating the message and galvanizing the support of the public.

Educational materials, political messages, training videos, mobilization calls, and organizational information, were placed online and utilized before a single protest was called. By the time the government shut down all mobile phone and Internet services, the genie was already out of the bottle. When asked by the French news service AFP, Abd el-Fattah, one of the April 6 youth organizers said after the government disrupted the Internet, ‘We've already announced the meeting places. So we've done it, we no longer need means of communication.’

Yet even during the revolutionary days of massive protests, the organizers were able to set up safe houses to send blogs, press releases, and instructions to others across the country, as well as announcing their activities, and communicating their viewpoints to the world.

Effective media strategy: The revolutionaries had a simple media strategy: ignore the government-controlled media and build strong contacts with the local opposition and independent media as well as the Arab and international media outlets.

The organizers knew that the regime would mobilize its propaganda machine through the state-owned print and electronic media. After first ignoring the widespread protests, the official media embarked on vast distortion and smear campaigns against the protesters.

Therefore, the organizers set up a sophisticated multilevel strategy comprising numerous spokespersons, who were united in their message and articulated their vision against tyranny, oppression, and corruption. They presented to the public a coherent pro-democracy social justice and freedom agenda. Every day, more prominent individuals from all segments of society were speaking out against the regime and joining the revolution.

They even set up a huge screen in Tahrir Square that featured live non-stop Al-Jazeera coverage. In essence, the revolution was indeed televised, providing not only a significant level of protection to the demonstrators, but also providing rapid response to all breaking news.

Whenever Mubarak or Vice President Omar Suleiman addressed the public in an attempt to seize the initiative, the organizers would immediately present several spokespersons to effectively respond and neutralize any effect on the public.

Neutralization of the Army: Perhaps the most vulnerable matter facing the revolution was the unpredictable reaction of the army. Initially, the organizers knew that the regime would rely heavily on the brutality of its security forces. But once the revolutionaries prevailed over the security forces by standing their ground, the regime would try to force a confrontation with the army.

The strategy of dealing with the army was to embrace it and avoid any confrontation by all means. The Egyptian army is one of the most respected institutions in Egypt, and the organizers were not going to challenge that.

In fact, the moment the army was in the streets after the withdrawal of the security forces, the people chanted, ‘the people and the army are one.’ They rushed to embrace and kiss the officers. Every pro-democracy speaker praised the army and appealed for its support.

Immediately, the army not only declared its neutrality in the confrontation between the people and the regime, but also pledged to protect the people. This posture made it possible for the revolution to continue its peaceful protests and embolden its political demands.

Even though the army was slow in providing protection to the protesters when they were attacked by the government’s bullies, the fact that the army did not attack the demonstrators and remained neutral was a huge blow to the regime, which at the end helped topple it.

Lacking depth and understanding, pundits recklessly invented names for the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions. Borrowing from the color and flower revolutions of Eastern Europe or Central Asia, they called them the Jasmine and Lotus revolutions, respectively. But such names are meaningless, as they do not reflect the spirit of these revolutions.

People in Tunisia and Egypt revolted primarily to become free; to restore their dignity; to regain respect for themselves. Hence, these were revolutions marked by the deafening calls for freedom and dignity.

As Martin Luther King Jr. once reminded his fellow oppressed compatriots at the height of their struggle against a repressive system, ‘I am somebody. I am a person. I am a man with dignity and honor. I have a rich and noble history.’

Indeed these words capture the essence of the revolutions underway in the Arab world today.


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* This article first appeared in CounterPunch
* Esam Al-Amin can be reached on alamin1919 AT gmail.com
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

Rejecting hypocrisy, standing for freedom

Abahlali baseMjondolo

2011-02-24

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/71174

© Abahlali.orgEngaging in ‘unlawful and criminal evictions’ and blacklisting a journalist for her political views undermine the Democratic Alliance’s claims of support for the rule of law and press freedom, says the Western Cape branch of South African shackdwellers movement, Abahlali baseMjondolo.

Abahlali baseMjondolo of the Western Cape Rejects DA Hypocrisy and Stands Firm for Press Freedom

As a movement we have become used to the blatant hypocrisy of the DA over the years.

The DA says that it wants to crack down on crime and support the rule of law but then it engages in unlawful and criminal evictions, as in Macassar Village in 2009. In South African law any eviction without a court order is an unlawful and criminal act and yet the DA began to demolish shacks without a court order on 21 May 2009. We went to court to secure an urgent interdict to stop the DA from engaging in these criminal attacks on the poor and we won that interdict and yet you then went ahead and demolished shacks in violation of that court order. The criminality of your municipal government here in Cape Town was condemned by local church leaders and international human rights organisations.

This was not a one off event.

The DA engages in systematic criminality against the poor in Cape Town. On the 21st of September 2010 your party sent in the City Police and the SAPS to attack the Hangberg shack settlement in Hout Bay. You had no court order and your demolitions were again unlawful and criminal. To make matters worse the police engaged in wanton acts of serious violence against the community. This has all been documented in the brilliant film known as ‘The Uprising in Hangberg’ which we are calling on all people in South Africa to view and to discuss in their communities. This film really shines a light on the war that is being waged on the poor in this country.

When we have organized road blockades we are demonized as ‘violent’ even though we have never harmed another human being on one of our protests. Yet when you send in your police and they do serious harm to people, even destroying their eyes with rubber bullets, your party is not presented as it should be, as a violent and criminal organization.

Just last Friday the DA destroyed 26 houses and shacks in Mandela Park. Once again this was an unlawful and criminal act. When the people in Mandela Park protested at the criminal actions of the DA your party had them arrested! It is clear that you have no respect for the right to protest when that protest is directed against the DA.

Just recently the DA has been making a big noise about press freedom. The ANC are a threat to press freedom. There is no doubt about this. Yes it has become clear that the DA’s opposition to the intolerance of the ANC is sheer opportunism. The hypocrisy of the DA has been made crystal clear by your decision to blacklist Anna Majavu from The Sowetan newspaper. We read that the DA is claiming that she has a political agenda because she used to work for a trade union – the South African Municipal Worker’s Union. This is outrageous. Will you also blacklist Donwald Pressley from Independent Newspapers because he used to work for the DA? Will you blacklist any journalist that you to work for a corporation? We all know that you will not. Your organization is the one that is expressing serious political intolerance here. Anna Majavu has the some right as anyone else to work for a newspaper. The DA takes it as normal and neutral for someone to have an elitist view on the world. But when someone comes from the background of seeing the world from the perspective of the working class or the poor the DA sees this as biased and threatening. Your position on press freedom is sheer opportunism and hypocrisy.

Anyone who takes a serious position on any matter has to take it consistently. A commitment to freedom of expression is only really tested when it comes to allowing the free expression of criticism of yourself or your organization. The DA has failed this test. You want freedom of expression for yourself and others from your background but not for everyone.

We are not fooled by party politics. We are very well aware that party politics is a battle between different factions of the elite. We know very well that the ANC engages in unlawful and criminal evictions in all the places where it holds power. We know very well that the ANC is hostile to press freedom and that it has backed violent attacks on our comrades in Durban and the blatant demolition of their homes by party thugs.

We remain determined to reject party politics and to build the power of the poor from the ground up. However we cannot be silent in the face of the blatant and shocking hypocrisy of the DA. The DA is a party of privilege that wants to dress itself up in the language of the rule of law and human rights but it only wants the rule of law and human rights to be protected for the rich. When it comes to the poor the DA supports state criminality and state violence. You are not even true liberals. You are just claiming to be liberals in order to protect your privilege.

For comment call: Mzonke Poni ABM WC Chairperson 073 2562 036/ 083 446 5081

* For more, please visit the website of the Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign and follow us on Twitter: www.twitter.com/antieviction
* Visit Abahlali baseMjondolo at www.abahlali.org and www.khayelitshastruggles.com.
* The Poor People's Alliance: Abahlali baseMjondolo, together with with Landless People's Movement (Gauteng), the Rural Network (KwaZulu-Natal) and the Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign, is part of the Poor People's Alliance - a unfunded national network of democratic membership based poor people's movements.

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‘Closing down’ of Cape Town’s Centre for African Studies

Paula Ensor

2011-02-23

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/71135

cc WikipediaFollowing the concerns raised by Concerned CAS Students around the proposed merger of departments at the University of Cape Town (and the resultant disestablishing of the Centre for African Studies and the African Gender Institute), Professor Paula Ensor, dean of the university’s Faculty of Humanities, provides a response.

There has been some public speculation over the past week about proposals for departmental reorganisation in the Faculty of Humanities at UCT (University of Cape Town), and the so-called ‘closing down’ of the Centre for African Studies (CAS). Claims have been made that CAS and all its courses, programmes, exchange links, intellectual activities and so forth have either been, or are about to be, closed down, and that students have been excluded from discussion on the matters. This is completely untrue. No decision, administrative or otherwise, has been made in relation to any department in the faculty at this time, and any decision that may finally be made will be arrived at through open discussion and debate within the faculty. A statement was made about this on 4 February, but it appears that further details are required.

One comment has linked the alleged ‘closing down of CAS’ to the so-called Mamdani affair at UCT in the late 1990s. This is a very useful connection, as the Mamdani affair has powerfully important lessons for us at the present time.

Professor Mahmood Mamdani held the A.C. Jordan chair in the Centre for African Studies in the late 1990s, at the time that a foundation course was being prepared for the teaching of Africa to first-year students. A dispute arose between himself and other members of a curriculum planning committee about what should be taught on the course. University and faculty management (of the previous Faculty of Social Sciences) attempted to resolve the dispute by suspending Mamdani from the planning committee, thereby effectively denying him the opportunity to contribute further to the course planning. Mamdani responded by insisting that a seminar be organised at which the different viewpoints could be debated by the university community. Mamdani made a dazzling presentation of his argument, which in my view devastated that of his interlocutors. Many of us still remember this as one of the most exhilarating debates held at UCT.

I believe this debate holds two crucial lessons for us in the present context. Firstly, the use of administrative fiat to stifle intellectual debate has no place in a university setting. Secondly, what it means to study Africa is fiercely contested, and the academic project as a whole can only flourish if all viewpoints are enabled to contend freely.

Over the past year, a group of approximately 30 academics in the Faculty of Humanities at UCT have been discussing the creation of a new department which, if it were to be born, would lift African studies at UCT to a significantly higher level. This group of academics, from the Centre for Africa Studies, the African Gender Institute (AGI), linguistics, anthropology and sociology, included three NRF research chairs, a number of highly esteemed professors and leaders of major research projects. The discussions were wide-ranging and intense, and provoked such excitement that academics from other departments asked to be included. ln time the group came up with a proposal to form a new department to be called the New School for Critical Enquiry in Africa. lf this school were to be born, it would be the second largest in the faculty, and would draw together cutting-edge research and teaching about epistemologies and representations of Africa, heritage and public culture, archive studies, language and migration, indigenous knowledge systems, feminism and violence, land reform and democracy and much more. lt would lay the basis for an extraordinary flowering of intellectual work, and lift the academic game of the faculty to an entirely new level.

The following is an extract from a draft vision statement crafted by colleagues in the group discussing the new school:

‘Key to its intellectual project is the conception of the New School as a space in which we negotiate the legacies of the knowledges that we have inherited. These are knowledges in and of Africa, but they are also knowledges which place us in relation to a conception of the disciplines, as a notion of global scholarship and global theory. Part of our aim, framed as a question, is to ask: what would it take to create knowledges capable of moving African centred scholarship into the dialogic centre of global paradigms of humanities research? The new School sets out to be a research and teaching hub, a world leading institution of its kind, able to attract top students and significant research funding.’ The draft vision statement went on to say that to achieve this, the new school will be guided by five main principles: locating ourselves, locating theory [taking seriously the way in which we are located, as scholars in post-apartheid South Africa in Africa, and in the global south]; working in and out of disciplines; re-inhabiting the global; practising theory/theorising practice; and working together, working in new ways.

The group of academics involved in the discussions proposed to form the New School through a merger of CAS, the Africa Gender lnstitute, linguistics and anthropology, with the yet-to-be-filled A.C. Jordan Chair as its leader and champion, in a two-stage process. The plan is to merge the departments under an interim placeholder name, the Department of Anthropology, Linguistics and Gender Studies, as a step towards the creation of the New School. This proposal will go to the faculty for discussion at the end of February, and again in March.

It is quite true that an important impulse towards this merger has been the problem posed by the size and vulnerability of two very small departments in the faculty – CAS and the AGI – and how best to support them. CAS has the equivalent of two full-time academic members of staff; the Africa Gender lnstitute has three. A larger, merged department would provide a more spacious and more secure platform for staff from both of these small departments to flourish, to protect and extend the important work that they already do.

What has this to do with the Mamdani affair? Firstly, if this new school is able to emerge, it will rise to the challenge made by Mamdani, to take the study of Africa seriously, and to seriously institutionalise it. Secondly, if this school is to emerge, it has to grow on the basis of intellectual will and commitment, and not be driven by administrative fiat. These departments are not being forced to merge through a top-down management decision – faculty deans at UCT have no such authority anyway. The proposals that will go to faculty forum have been developed from the bottom up, by the academics themselves who are most affected.

I believe that the proposed merger holds great potential for our faculty. Whether it comes off or not will depend on the decision of the faculty itself, of the senate and of the council. The input of the community we serve, both inside and outside of UCT, is obviously extremely important to us, and it is for this reason that it is important that it based on the facts.

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Action and solidarity: Disestablishment of the African Gender Institute

2011-02-23

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/71132

The African Gender Institute (AGI) runs a full suite of undergraduate and graduate programmes at the University of Cape Town, publishes a journal and maintains three websites, and is fully engaged in a number of funded projects concerned with strengthening gender/women's studies on the continent, organizational transformation and research and activism in diverse arenas. The AGI has its roots in the humble beginnings of visions of gender and race equality, redistribution of intellectual resources, and the activism and research of some of the first students and faculty at UCT which identified gender dynamics as part of the historical systems of inequity. These inequities have resulted in significantly skewed access to resources, relationships, and freedom within South Africa, and the African continent. The following timeline begins to sketch the story of how the AGI developed, and suggests the way in which its identity and capacity have unfurled in relation to contextual opportunities and its ongoing commitment to innovative, equitable, and Africa-centric environments for learning, advocacy, and research.[1]

The creation of a new department of Anthropology, Linguistics and Gender Studies at the University of Cape Town, poses a number of disquieting challenges for the political and intellectual project of the African Gender Institute.

The proposed merger aims to:

1. Disestablish the African Gender Institute, the Centre for African Studies and the department of Social Anthropology as independent academic departments.
2. Recognize a new formation, the department of Anthropology, Linguistics and Gender Studies, comprising staff from Social Anthropology, the African Gender Institute, Centre for African Studies and the department of Linguistics.
3. Open up a debate within the university about the desirability of a cross faculty platform which can serve to promote engagement with Africa, in much the same way as the Centre for African Studies did in its early years.

The notion that the intellectual projects of African Studies and Gender and Women’s Studies can only be complemented by being placed under a haphazardly concocted interdisciplinary scheme reflects a poor understanding of the epistemological development of both fields and a complete lack of regard for the kinds of political interventions they aim to make.

This is of course not to mention the glaring absence of the term “Africa” in the proposed department’s title.

This proposal illustrates the Faculty of Humanities’ disengagement with national, continental and international political and ideological debates on the subject of Africa, and in the fields of Gender and Sexualities. It serves to undermine the role that the African Gender Institute has played in sustaining these discussions.

The Faculty of Humanities has failed to appropriately credit the AGI for the unique position in scholarship and activism that it holds, as it serves as a critical platform for scholars and activists interested in work on Africa that takes gender seriously. The teaching and research done at the AGI is engaged with the thinking and teaching of Gender and Women’s Studies on the continent. The AGI’s Gender Women’s Studies in Africa network offers African feminist scholars Africa-authored and Africa-focused resources and materials that take gender and feminism seriously. Through this and other networks, the AGI has partnerships with many scholars and activists on the continent and across the globe. These partnerships have led to transformative synergies, for instance, the AGI’s journal Feminist Africa is the only continental and Afro-centric bi-annual journal. This too is available electronically to readers.

Crucially, in its current form (as an independent unit) the AGI is a space that generates the kind of feminist scholars that can come back to staff the very unit.

The AGI has faced organizational challenges, particularly with regards to the recruitment of senior level staff. Additionally, the AGI continues to grapple with the challenges of what it means to stay true to the meaning of being an African Feminist space on the continent that not only generates African scholarship but is home to it as well.

The Faculty of Humanities is quick to note these challenges, and less forthcoming about how the Faculty has worked to restrict enlarged staff capacity and has been impotent in its support of the AGI.

The AGI is critical to UCTs reputation as a renowned continental university. It has been created and led by some of the most esteemed academics, feminist academics, and African feminist academics. To disestablish the AGI in its present form would be an injury to the University.

As the Dean of the Faculty of Humanities wishes to propose that no department in the Faculty should have less than six (6) full time permanent members of staff, it would be our wish to express a strong recommendation that this be applied to the AGI - that the Faculty of Humanities and the University of Cape Town pursue this agenda and give this department the institutional support it requires in order to become such a department, without the proposed disestablishment.

Following the actions of the Concerned CAS Students, we as students, alum, allies, activists, associates and friends of the African Gender Institute wish to express our disapproval of the proposed disestablishment of the African Gender Institute and wish to call for action and solidarity.

There is a need for urgent action as the faculty has planned to hold a Faculty Forum on Friday, 25 February 2011.

Please consider articulating your support for the AGI by forwarding this CALL FOR ACTION to your friends and colleagues.

Please also consider articulating your support for the AGI by writing a letter to Vice Chancellor Max Price: Max.Price@uct.ac.za and the Humanities Faculty Dean Paula Ensor: hum-dean@uct.ac.za

If you would prefer to remain anonymous, please send your letter to us: alliedfortheagi@gmail.com

Alternatively, you can copy and paste the following statement and email it to the above email address:

I support the African Gender Institute at the University of Cape Town as a valuable space for students, scholars and activists. I believe in the AGI’s vision of gender and race equality, redistribution of intellectual resources and activism. I believe in the AGI’s political and intellectual project as it is a crucial intervention in knowledge production on Africa. I believe that the proposed disestablishment of the AGI and the proposed departmental merger will compromise the AGI’s ability to pursue its intellectual and political project. Instead, I believe that that Faculty of Humanities must better commit itself to the project of supporting the AGI’s development in its present form.

Thank you for your time and support. We look forward to hearing from you.

[1] http://agi.ac.za/about

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Condemning David Kato's murder

MenEngage Alliance

2011-02-23

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/71133

The MenEngage Alliance, a global network working worldwide to increase men’s support for gender equality and human rights, mourns the death of David Kato, a fearless advocate for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersexed people (LGBTI) rights in Uganda. We call on the Ugandan Government and the African Union to take swift action to bring his murderers to book and to make clear their commitment to protecting the rights of LGBTI people across the continent.

David was murdered on Wednesday, January 26th, 2011 in a brutal attack. We express our sincere condolences to his family, to Sexual Minorities Uganda, for whom David Kato tirelessly campaigned and his many friends and colleagues from civil society. The MenEngage Network stands in solidarity with the courageous LGBTI activists in Uganda and across the continent. We are greatly saddened by this loss.

Uganda has been the epicenter of vitriolic hate campaigns against LGBTI communities. An anti-homosexuality bill currently before the Ugandan Parliament has been roundly condemned across the world and a number of newspapers have published inflammatory and hateful articles, including an article in the extremist newspaper The Rolling Stone with the inflammatory headline, ‘Hang them, they are after our kids’ and photographs of members of Ugandan LGBTI organisations. Articles such as these contributed to the escalating death threats Kato and others advocating for LGBTI rights had reported receiving.
We agree with the statement issued by the South African human rights organisation Amandla who say, “the killing of Kato and persecution of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex (LGBTI) people on our continent is an attack on democracy, equality and human rights for all. Struggles for justice and human rights are not complete without addressing state and religion sponsored homophobia and persecution of LGBTI people.”

In their statement condemning David’s murder, the Ugandan Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights and Constitutional Law said: “the climate of fear and homophobic hatred stirred up in Uganda by political and religious leaders, as well as some sections of the public media, a murder of this kind was increasingly possible; the question was not whether it would happen, but when. David, along with fellow activists, had been facing direct intimidation, including receiving threats, for many months before he was killed. The matter now, therefore, is to ensure that those who survive can be better protected from violence.”

The MenEngage Alliance and its member organisations across the world, including in many African countries, urge the Ugandan government to take immediate action to arrest the perpetrators of David’s murder and make clear to the Ugandan people that such acts of hatred will be met with swift and severe sanction. We call on the Ugandan government to decriminalize same-sex relations and withdraw the Anti-Homosexuality Bill currently before the Ugandan Parliament. This bill has fanned the flames of hatred and led to many acts of violence. We also call on the Ugandan government to ensure the safety of the LGBTI community, including activists working to advance LGBTI rights.

We echo the call made by the Uganda Ugandan Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights and Constitutional Law that political and religious leaders abandon hate speech and fulfill their constitutional obligations to promote a political culture that unflinchingly promotes a human rights culture. As they did, MenEngage also calls on all religious leaders, whatever their denomination to promote love of one’s neighbour rather than narrow-minded bigotry. Religious fundamentalism has done much to make such a murder possible in Uganda.

The MenEngage Alliance also calls on the African Union to take action to prevent the routine violation of LGBTI rights, including taking a firm position against bills criminalizing homosexuality currently under review in a number of African countries. The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the African Charter for Human and Peoples’ Rights, both extend equal rights and equal protection to all persons without distinction. The United Nations Human Rights Committee has ruled that this protection extends to sexual minorities. We call on the African Union to deliver on their commitments to protect the rights of LGBTI communities as outlined in the ICCPR and the African Charter for Human and Peoples’ Rights

MenEngage country networks across Africa will deliver petitions to the Ugandan embassies and consulates in their respective countries and hold demonstrations calling for action from the Ugandan Government. For more information on how to participate in these activities, please follow up with the people listed below.

The MenEngage Alliance represents hundreds of organisations and thousands of individuals committed to achieving a more just and gender equitable world in which all people can enjoy their full human rights. The MenEngage Alliance’s founding principles include a firm commitment to advancing the rights of LGBTI communities and the Alliance recognizes the link between homophobia and restrictive gender roles for women and men. More information on the MenEngage Alliance can be found at www.menengage.org

Contact information:

• Reverend Desmond Lesejane, Deputy Director, Sonke Gender Justice Network, Johannesburg, South Africa: desmond@genderjustice.org.za and 27 11 339-3589 (office) and 27 84 581-6306 (mobile)
• Monica Mbaru, Proramme Coordinator Africa, International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, mailto: mmbaru@iglhrc.org, 27 21 4693704 (office) and 27 729 284706 (cell).

Click here for online endorsement.

Endorsing organisations:
1. The Athena Network
2. Sonke Gender Justice Network, South Africa
3. Instituto Promundo, Brazil
4. EngenderHealth, USA
5. Men’s Resources International, USA
6. International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, South Africa
7. Men for Change, Mozambique
8. PADARE and the Zimbabwe MenEngage Country Network
9. Salud y Genero, Mexico
10. White Ribbon Campaign, Canada
11. Save the Children
12. Cultura y Salud, Chile
13. The White Ribbon Campaign
14. Salud y Genero, Mexico
15. PADARE
16. Zimbabwe MenEngage Country Network
17. The Men For Change Network, Mozambique
18. HOPEM, Mozambique
19. Men’s Resources International

Picket against David Bahati: In memory of David Kato

Lesbian and Gay Equality Project

2011-02-24

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/71167

FOR QUEER EQUALITY IN A DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE'S AFRICA

The Lesbian and Gay Equality Project (LGEP) calls on all activists and organisations in the Gauteng province to join a picket against David Bahati, the anti-human rights Member of the Ugandan Parliament who, last year abused his public position to propose and promote a draft law that would criminalise lesbian, gay, bisexual and others who share intimacy and sex with people of the same sex. We also call on all organisations to endorse this picket by issuing statements in its support. Bahati joined up with and others to up an irrational frenzy on the basis of conservative and retrogressive religious and cultural ideologies. This crusade led to the cowardly murder of queer and human rights activist David Kisule Kato in his Kampala home in January after his picture, home address and other personal details were published in a clear and explicit anti-gay campaign by Bahati's allies in The Rolling Stone newspaper. Bahati must be held personally responsible for the murder of Kato and the ongoing persecution of many others in Uganda simply on the basis of their sexuality and gender identity.

The picket will take place as follows:

DATE: Sunday, 27 February
TIME: 11h30 to 15h30
VENUE: outside the recording studios of Urban Brew, 28 Harley Street, Ferndale, Randburg

Bahati is in Johannesburg to speak at a panel organised by the BBC to debate gay rights in our continent. The picket is aimed to ensure that Bahati receives a loud and clear message when he arrives for the debate. He is due to arrive at the studios at 12h30. This is not a picket against the BBC or the producers of the show. This is a picket to send one clear message to Bahati, a message he must keep with him whilst in Johannesburg, in Uganda and everywhere he goes for the rest of his life! We say to Bahati: We are all David Kisule Kato! We are all Ugandan queers! We are queer, African and proud! Whether Bahati likes it or not, we will win full equality and freedom for all lesbian, gay, bisexual, bisexual, trans-gendered and inter-sexed (LGBTI) people in Africa in our lifetime! Bahati must answer for Kato's killing and the ongoing persecution of LGBTI people and activists in Uganda!

In our view, Kato's murder and Bahati's homophobia are part of the same continuum of hate, societal homophobia, ignorance, patriarchy, oppression, dictatorship, exploitation, violations of human rights and social injustices that still mark our continent. In this sense, the oppression of one is an oppression of all. For this reason, we will also dedicate the picket to the 52 comrades who were arrested by the Mugabe dictatorship in Harare on 19 February. These comrades were arrested at an unpublicised meeting of workers and students organised by the International Socialist Organisation (ISO: Zimbabwe) in order to discuss the people's revolutions for democracy, freedom and social justice currently unfolding in the Maghreb and the rest of the Arab world. To this day 8 of these comrades are still in custody without having been charged. These 8 were subject to beatings and torture with comrade Gwisai Munyaradzi suffering the most. We condemn Mugabe and his police state for these arrests, the beatings and torture. These are tactics meant to intimidate activists and the general population of Zimbabwe from exercising their rights to freedom of association, speech, thought and peaceful political action. We will therefore also dedicate the picket against Bahati to the activists and people of Zimbabwe.

Presidents Yoweri Museveni and Robert Mugabe are bed-fellows in promoting homophobia and violating the rights of LGBTI people. They also share the dubious honour of suppressing human rights, failing to promote the full liberation of women, undermining democracy, abusing public resources, fostering crony capitalism at the expense of socio- economic justice and wealth redistribution, and over-staying their period in public office. Their anti-imperialist/anti-Western rhetoric does not confuse or fool us. Far from being anti-imperialists, they have long sold out the struggles of the peoples of our continent. The struggle for freedom, in and of our continent belongs to the people, and not them. So does the future of democracy, equality, social justice and full social liberation. This picket is also a message to the South African government which has begun to fail its constitutional mandate to promote, protect and advance human rights, equality, freedom and socio-economic justice. Like the Ugandan and Zimbabwean governments, it too has failed to act consistently to promote queer equality, has used its foreign policy in a manner that says that democracy, human rights, freedom and equality can be for sale, is failing millions of women who suffer abuse and violence, has promoted crony capitalism and is failing to address socio-economic inequality.

Sunday's picket is one small step in the long and difficult journey ahead to build solidarity and connections between people and their different struggles for equality, non-discrimination, democracy, freedom and socio-economic justice.

Join us! Tell others!

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Southern Sudan: Ensuring the right to a nationality

Submission to the AU Peace and Security Council in the context of the referendum

Citizenship Rights in Africa Initiative

2011-02-24

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/71179

26 January 2011

The undersigned civil society organisations, who are supporters of the Citizenship Rights in Africa Initiative, a campaign for the right to nationality in Africa, present our complements to the members of the AU Peace and Security Council (PSC). We make this submission to request the PSC to take all necessary steps to ensure that the right to a nationality is respected for all following the anticipated secession of Southern Sudan to become a new state on 9 July 2011, and, in case of need, to take appropriate steps to ensure that this question does not form the basis for a serious conflict between the two states.

We welcome statements by President Bashir indicating his commitment to protect southerners in the North from violence, and his promise to allow them to retain residence and employment in the private sector, and to keep students in education. Similarly, we welcome statements on behalf of the Government of Southern Sudan indicating that the rights of northerners in the South will be protected, while those pastoralists whose home base is in the North will preserve their traditional rights to graze and move cattle through the South.

Nonetheless, the allocation of nationality rights between the two future states remains of critical importance for the human rights of those concerned, and the current failure of the negotiating parties to agree a framework on nationality law is therefore very worrying.

The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights has clearly found that the right to a nationality is a key component of the African human rights system. It has ruled that the provision of Article 5 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights that states “Every individual shall have the right to the respect of the dignity inherent in a human being and to the recognition of his legal status” includes the right to a nationality and protection against arbitrary deprivation of nationality. In addition, the Commission has held that the due process protections included in the African Charter apply to everyone, including persons alleged to be non-nationals. Finally, the Commission has ruled in several cases that mass expulsions on the basis of ethnicity, specifically prohibited by Article 12(5) of the African Charter, “constitute a special violation of human rights.” It is to be hoped that the Commission never needs to hear a case on mass expulsions from either successor state in Sudan: and the Peace and Security Council should be particularly concerned to avoid any such outcome as a result of the referendum on independence.

We understand that the current position of the National Congress Party (NCP)-led government of the Republic of Sudan is that all those who were eligible to vote in the referendum (those who are members of “one of the indigenous communities that settled in Southern Sudan on or before the 1st of January 1956”) should automatically become nationals of Southern Sudan on the basis of their ethnicity, with no right to opt for the nationality of the Republic of Sudan, even if they have been resident there for many years or have other strong connections, and that dual nationality will not be permitted. The Government of Southern Sudan, meanwhile, has indicated that it will not automatically grant its nationality to all those eligible to vote in the referendum who are resident in the North, but will require a process of individual application for those resident outside the territory of Southern Sudan.

This situation creates a substantial risk that a large stateless population will be created. The grant of nationality in law or practice on the basis of ethnicity creates the likelihood that the right to nationality of those whose status as “indigenous” may be in doubt will not be respected, however long their families may have been resident on the territory concerned. Among the groups most likely to be affected are those that have members on both sides of the north-south border and people of mixed ethnic parentage. Such discrimination, and the lack of respect for other rights that often follows, brings in turn the serious danger of long-term instability and conflict, as illustrated by the ongoing crises in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Côte d’Ivoire, among other cases.

To avoid these problems, the presumption in international law when a territory secedes is that nationality will be awarded on the primary basis of habitual residence (with secondary criteria such as links to the territory through birth or family ties applied to ensure that no individual is left without a nationality). This is the system most likely to avoid statelessness and to give individuals the nationality of the country where the centre of their interests lie; as a second-best option, nationality could be attributed on the basis of place of birth of a person or his or her parents.

In addition, when a territory secedes, the usual rule is presumed to be that a person who has a connection to both the continuing and new states should be given the right to choose his or her preferred nationality. Perhaps most obviously, the right to opt would help to resolve the situation of those who have mixed parentage or who are members of pastoralist or nomadic groups.

The parties have indicated that dual nationality will not be accepted between the two countries under any circumstances, although the Interim National Constitution of the Republic of Sudan and the 1994 Nationality Law currently permit dual nationality. The trend within Africa is for more and more countries to allow dual nationality: a majority now do so, and we urge you to accept the same rule for both states in Sudan. At minimum, a better solution than a total ban on dual nationality would be for individuals to choose or be given one or other nationality of the two states at first instance, but thereafter to permit them to naturalise in the other state, according to generally applicable rules. This option would provide comfort on issues of national security, while preserving principles of non-discrimination on the basis of national origin in domestic law (assuming that the Republic of Sudan would wish to preserve the right to dual nationality with other countries).

In principle, the rules governing the attribution of nationality to the pastoralist groups in Sudan should follow rules that are similar to those for the rest of the population; and they should avoid definitions of citizenship that follow ethnic boundaries, since such rules tend to create statelessness for individuals whose ethnicity is not clear cut, as well as to harden identities in a way that can be used as the basis for conflict. Though the technicalities pose some challenges, they are by no means insurmountable: the fundamental difficulties here are political. For example, the definition of habitual residence could accommodate the situation of pastoralist communities whose traditional migration routes cross the north-south border by including a cumulative period of residence over several years rather than requiring in all cases a continuous period of residence in one place.

In any event, there should be due process protections before the nationality of the Republic of Sudan can be withdrawn. In particular, the Republic of Sudan should not withdraw its nationality from those persons who were displaced from Southern Sudan during the civil war and are now resident in the north (or in a third country) without verifying that each individual has in fact acquired Southern Sudanese nationality and without providing an appeal to the courts from an administrative decision.

Finally, we urge you to ensure that an agreement on nationality also guarantees that, in recognition of the shared history between the two states in Sudan, all those who were previously Sudanese nationals shall have the right to reside, to practise their profession, or to establish a business in either successor state, whether or not they have its nationality, and to freedom of movement within either state and between the two successor states.

In summary, we urge you to ensure that, in the interests of the peace and security of the region, both the Republic of Sudan and the future government of South Sudan rapidly adopt nationality laws that, at minimum:

Do not discriminate on the basis of race, ethnicity, language, religion, gender or any similar ground prohibited by the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights;
Provide those who have a connection to both states with a right to opt for their preferred nationality during a transitional period;
Provide for dual nationality between north and south; and, at minimum, permit dual nationality by naturalisation following the option for an initial nationality;
Provide for due process in the process of withdrawal or grant of nationality; and
Provide guarantees against statelessness.

We reiterate our commitment to work closely with the PSC for the realisation of these objectives and assure you of our greatest respect.

Statement endorsed by supporting organisations of the Citizenship Rights in Africa Initiative:

Action pour les Droits Humains et l'Amitié
African Democracy Forum
Alfallah Local NGO
Arab Coalition for Darfur (ACDarfur)
Centre de recherche sur l’environment, la democratie et les droits de l’homme (CREDDHO)
Centre for Minority Rights Development (CEMIRIDE)
Consortium for Refugees and Migrants in South Africa (CoRMSA)
Coordination des Organisations de la Société civile pour la Défense de l'Environnement et le Développement du Bassin du fleuve Sénégal (CODESEN)
Darfur Reconciliation and Development Organization (DRDO)
Ditshwanelo – the Botswana Centre for Human Rights
Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR)
Hargeisa Women’s Rescue Association (HWRA)
Horn Handicap Women Association (HHWA)
Institute for Human Rights and Development in Africa (IHRDA)
International Refugee Rights Initiative (IRRI)
International Commission of Jurists, Africa Regional Programme (ICJ)
Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC)
Open Society Justice Initiative
Pan African Movement (PAM)
Refugees International
Rema Ministries (Burundi)
Socio-Economic Rights & Accountability Project (SERAP)
Somaliland Transformation Group (SOMTRAG)
Sudan Democracy First
Union des Ressortissants Rwandais au Sénégal (URRS)
West African Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons Network (WARIPNET)

CITIZENSHIP RIGHTS IN AFRICA INITIATIVE (CRAI)

CRAI is a campaign dedicated to ending statelessness and the arbitrary denial of citizenship in Africa.

CRAI responds to the challenge of guaranteeing for Africans the right to co-exist in community, pursue livelihoods and participate in the government of their countries without arbitrary interference with their right to belong.

CRAI works to end the continuing impoverishment of the peoples of the African continent through citizenship-inspired conflict, insecurity and exclusion or citizenship-related persecution on the basis of race, religion, ethnicity, color, sex, political opinion, or status.

CRAI monitors, investigates, documents, denounces and where necessary litigates, cases of statelessness and denial of citizenship rights in Africa.

CRAI advocates for African governments to adopt a treaty to establish principles and rules to eliminate arbitrariness and discrimination in the proof, acquisition, enjoyment, and loss of citizenship in Africa.

www.CitizenshipRightsAfrica.org

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* CRAI is a joint project of the Global Pan African Movement, the International Refugee Rights Initiative and the Open Society Justice Initiative. Contact: CRAI@CitizenshipRightsAfrica.org
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

The right to inform and be informed

Declaration of the Assembly on the Right to Communication

2011-02-24

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/71184

We, actors in the field of alternative information as well as citizen activists who use communication as a tool for social transformation:

Note that, in a global context:

- information is held in a stranglehold by political, economic and industrial forces and is manipulated by the governments and States;
- freedom of expression is being denied, thwarted or repressed;
- there is little or no guarantee for an unfettered access to information for all citizens;
- a violent repression is unleashed upon citizens and actors in the field of information;
- information is being commodified and standardized;
- there is an increasing distrust by public opinion regarding information conveyed by the mainstream media.

We also note, particularly in Africa:

- an almost total absence of laws favouring citizens’ access to information;
- freedom of expression and freedom of the press being undermined by repressive laws;
- hindrances and restrictions, if not outright censorship, placed upon communities who wish to establish community media.
At the same time, we see new perspectives opening up, in the face of this disturbing situation:
- a greater awareness and ability by citizens to participate in the production and circulation of information in order to promote social justice;
- the emergence of alternative media and the stepping unto the stage of citizens who contribute to social and political change, as evidenced by recent events in Tunisia and Egypt.
We declare that the right to communicate is a fundamental right and a common good of humanity.

We commit ourselves to:

- defend, support and promote all initiatives that ensure and extend the right to communication and information as a fundamental human right;
- building advocacy for a legislative and regulatory framework for public, alternative and community media, including ensuring among others a better right to airwave-access and broadcasting options;
- recognize and protect the actors and activists involved in information and communication around the world;
- create and strengthen synergies between all actors and activists working towards social transformation;
- promote accessibility and popular ownership/mastery of media and information/communication technology by all citizens, without restriction of gender, class or origin;
- promote mechanisms for ongoing communication between the various actors, participants and organizers of social forums, including the "extended" Social Forum as well as the various experiences of shared communication.
- support the development and strengthening of community and alternative media;
- combat censorship and guarantee freedom of expression on the Internet;
- work towards the elaboration of a model that ensures the viability, sustainability and independence of the alternative media;
- give a central place to issues of communication rights in the thematic spaces of social forums.

ACTION PLAN:

-Center our information campaigns and awareness-raising activities on key issues that are on the international agenda (Rio+20, G8, G20, Palestine Forum, Durban, etc.).
- Organize a World Forum of Free and Alternative Media in 2012, as part of the WSF process.

As actors of communication, we clearly state our support for the Tunisian and Egyptian peoples, we call on their governments to lift censorship and to stop the repression against all citizens and actors in the field of information.
We also call on all actors of social change and to unite our forces in the struggle for the right to information and communication, without which no change is possible.

PARTICIPATING ORGANIZATIONS:

Abong (Brasilian association of NGOs) - Brasil
Action Jeunesse - Morrocco
African Klomeo renaissance - Nigeria
AK-Project France-Sénégal
Alai - Agência Latinoamericana de Información - Ecuador
Alba TV Venezuela
Alternatives Canadá
Amarc World association of community radios
Aphad - Senegal
Arcoiris TV - Italy
Babels
Berlin Carré - Germany
Caritas - France
CIC Bata - Spain
Caritas (France)
CIC Bata (Espagne)
Cdtm72 (France)
Cedidelp (France)v
Ciranda International - Shared Communication
International Commons strategies group - Germany
Citim (France)
Communautique - Canada
Editions Charles Léopold Mayer - France
e-Joussour - Morrocco
Federacion de sindicatos de periodistas - Spain
FocusPuller - Italy
Forum Alternatives Morrocco - FMAS
Fundacion Quepo - Spain
Giaba - Guinée Bissau
Guinée Culture - Guinea
HEKS - Senegal
IMC Africa
Imersao Latina - Brazil
Indymedia
Intervozes - Brazil
IES News Service - Palestine
IPS (Inter Press Service)
KebethCache women resource center - Nigeria
Maison des citoyens du monde (France)
Maison des droits de l’homme (France)
Maison du Monde d’Evry (France)
May first / People link - USA
Mission for Youth - Uganda
NIGD
Pambazuka (Afrique)
Queens Magazine - Nigeria
Revista Forum - Brasil
Ritimo - France
Rural Health women Day - Nigeria
Saharareporters.com - Nigeria
Social Watch - Italy
Solafrika
Soylocoporti - Brasil
Support Initiative For sustainable development - Nigeria
Survie - France
TIE - Brasil
TV Star - Senegal
UnisCité - France
UPO - Spain
Vecam - France
WarriorsSelf-Help group - Kenya
WSFTV

Contacts: Info_fsmdakar@ritimo.org

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

Following up on Liberia's FOI law

Vinnie Hodges

2011-02-23

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/71131

Colleagues! Last February 7-9, 2010, we attended the African Regional Conference on the Rights of Access to Information in Accra, Ghana, hosted by the Carter Center. I was member of the Liberian delegation, and a member of the Liberian Parliament who chairs the House Standing Committee on Information, Broadcast Culture and Tourism. At the meeting if you can recalled while speaking I challenged the Ghanain Minister of Justice and said that the Liberian parliament was going to be the first to passed the Freedom of Information Bill that was in my committee room before the Ghanains and we all laughed at my challenge. I am pleased to tell you the bill has been passed and signed into law by our President Madame Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf.

My concern now, is to see the working of the law and its benefits to the Liberian people. When I was a practicing Journalist, after winning the CNN African Journalist of the Year award for Radio; my dream was to see an FOI enacted and now that the law has been enacted I pray that others Countries can enact the FOI law and it lives up to its intended purpose. I hope that the Carter Center can do a followup to see if the law is really working for the people. I would also like to hear from you and the progress you have made in your various countries on the FOI.

I wish you all a happy and properous 2011.

Sincerely Yours,
Hon. Vinicius S. Hodges
Member of the House of Representatives
Electoral Disticts Two
Grand Bassa County

Engraved in Eulogy

Song for Patrice Lumumba

Natty Mark Samuels

2011-02-24

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/African_Writers/71176

I hear you talking of African Icons
Assembling the African Pantheon.
Don't forget to cite the Congo Man
For we must always speak of him.
Tried to humiliate him
To obliterate him
But Lumumba lives on and on.
In our thoughts
And in this song
Patrice Lumumbas' vision will prolong.

Pan- African Statesman
Pride of the Congo.
Through the Saga of Final Savagery
We engrave his name in eulogy.

Untied States of the Mind

2011-02-23

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/African_Writers/71130

I wake to the news
of Egyptian unrest
on calls for freedom
and democracy

The tid bits of awareness
fall like lies
About how the American president
is waking a thin line -
to support "our friends"
in power on one hand
and civil, human rights on the other.

The hole in my soul
is screaming at the TV
knowing that if some
unrest happened here -
in California -
there would be zero tolerance.

The tanks would roll out
the riot police
the National Guard

They would not allow
what they say other countries
have to do -
permit the People to demonstrate
especially if violence broke out

Kent state
times 1,000

Overthrow
could not happen here,
The 5 companies
that control all media information
wouldn't stand for it -
The illusion of representative
Democracy would shatter
and the corporate veil would lift
the Power exposed.

Marshall Law

Sir, yes sir!

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* Jerry Danielsen is founder of the Los Angeles Poet's Press.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

Pambazuka News 178: Les femmes rurales africaines se mobilisent pour l'agriculture familiale

2011-02-24

http://www.pambazuka.org/fr/issue/178

Gaddafi seeks exile

2011-02-24

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/cartoons/71169

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

Kenya: Ready for revolution?

Gado

2011-02-23

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/cartoons/71129

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

Meles Zenawi, Facebook and Twitter

2011-02-24

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/cartoons/71183

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

Museveni, after 25 years...

Gado

2011-02-24

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/cartoons/71182

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

Support for Berlusconi

Gado

2011-02-23

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/cartoons/71128

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

Uganda's presidential race

2011-02-24

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/cartoons/71181

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

Uhuru and the NCIC

Gado

2011-02-24

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/cartoons/71162

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

Zimbabwe: Condemnation grows over detention of activists

2011-02-28

http://www.swradioafrica.com/news250211/condemnation250211.htm

There is growing condemnation of the ongoing detention of a group of activists in Zimbabwe, arrested almost a week ago for watching TV footage of the revolution in Egypt. Former MDC MP Munyaradzi Gwisai, and 44 other activists, will spend the weekend behind bars after their case was postponed until next Monday. They were this week charged with treason for watching the footage of events in Egypt and Tunisia, which led to the fall of the governments in those countries. Local and international rights groups are calling for the immediate release of the activists, condemning their detention and their treatment at the hands of state security agents.

Zimbabwe: Cosatu condemns arrest of activists

2011-02-23

http://zimbabwejournalists.com/story.php?art_id=7184&cat=2

COSATU has condemned the continued persecution of political activists in Zimbabwe and the never improving situation in that country. 'The detention of about 52 activists of the International Socialist Organisation (ISO) in Harare on baseless charges of plotting to topple the government indicates the state of insecurity in that country. Amongst those arrested was a former MP for Highfield, who is also the general coordinator of International Socialist Organisation (ISO).'

Zimbabwe: Country urged to follow Egypt, Tunisia, Libya’s lead

2011-02-23

http://www.swradioafrica.com/news220211/zmisurged220211.htm

Various campaigns hoping to defy Robert Mugabe’s clampdown on civic action have been launched, trying to encourage Zimbabweans to follow the lead of other African countries protesting against their dictators. The campaigns, launched over email and through the social networking websites, Facebook and Twitter, encourage Zimbabweans to hold peaceful marches calling for Mugabe to step down. The ‘Zimbabwe Million Citizen March’ was launched a week ago, and calls for a mass protest next Tuesday under the theme ‘Power in numbers to remove dictatorship’.

Zimbabwe: MDC members attacked by axe-wielding ZANU PF mob

2011-02-28

http://www.swradioafrica.com/news250211/mdcmembers250211.htm

Three MDC members from Mutare North are recovering, after they were assaulted by a mob of ZANU PF activists, wielding axes on Thursday (24 February). According to the MDC, Farai Matsika, Mabel Manhumwa and Gainmore Machikuni of Mutare North were assaulted for being MDC activists. Matsika was admitted to hospital with a deep cut on his leg, while the other two were left bruised and shaken. Machikuni and Manhumwa’s homes were also both burned down by the ZANU PF mob. The MDC said the violence is part of ZANU PF’s campaign to intimidate people ahead of possible elections.

Africa: Commonwealth's answer to gender equality: regional monitoring

2011-02-22

http://bit.ly/ggUe6g

The annual meetings of Commonwealth women's ministers and officials began on Saturday 19 February in New York, with an assessment of the progress and challenges in implementing the Commonwealth's 10 year Plan of Action for Gender Equality. At the meeting, it was decided that regional groupings would play a bigger role in monitoring the Plan of Action. Dr Sylvia Anie, Director responsible for Gender at the Secretariat said: 'The formation of regional groups is an important development. Their observations will feed into the general monitoring of the Plan and the groups will hold their first meeting before June.'

Egypt: Women of the revolution

2011-02-24

http://bolekaja.wordpress.com/2011/02/23/egyptwomen-of-the-revolution/

Egyptian women, just like men, took up the call to ‘hope’ represented by Tahrir Square. In this article, they describe the spirit of Tahrir – the camaraderie and equality they experienced – and their hope that the model of democracy established there will be carried forward as Egyptians shape a new political and social landscape.

Global: Ordinary women not part of the discussion at CSW 2011

2011-02-28

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/wgender/71261

'Donor support is absolutely necessary, but not at the expense of ignoring women at both grassroots and decision-making levels. If we can’t get it right at UN events in New York, what message is this sending to governments in Africa?' asks Lindiwe Makhunga at the African Women's Caucus during the 55th Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW).
CSW 2011: Ordinary women not part of the discussion
Lindiwe Makhunga

New York: A passionate comment from a Cameroonian woman, appealing to the African Women's Caucus that gender advocacy must begin at home and address ordinary women, reminded me of two things yesterday.
The first is that when African women gather in groups of more than one, as we were at the African Women's Caucus during the 55th Session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), it will be loud and bustling.
The second is that for millions of women across the globe whose lived realities are lives of abject deprivation and the struggle for dignity, the Commission on the Status of Women is not about the excitement of New York or even about this year's particular theme: Equal access to education, training and science and technology: Pathway to decent work for women. It is about asking governments (and donor agencies that fund them) to make their lives better.
Yet ordinary women and girls seemed so far removed from the process. They are still a disembodied and monolithic ‘them’ that was hardly likely to ever have official accreditation at the UN or meet the individuals who decide whether or not they will be able to access education or decent work.
We as ‘civil society’ try our best to put the interests of ordinary people, our primary constituency, on the agenda, but it sometimes seems to be an accessibility issue and also is still so dependent on whose ear one has.
Yesterday I attended an NGO parallel session on costing the implementation of Resolution 1325 – which addresses the role of women in wartime – and it highlighted this particular dynamic.
The resolution underscores the vital role of women in the prevention of conflicts, peace negotiations, peacekeeping, peace-building and humanitarian response in post-conflict reconstruction. Most importantly, it calls for their equal participation in all efforts to maintain peace and security.
Sitting in a room of about 70 people who were all hanging on the words of international donor NGOs, I thought about the fact that one crucial indicator of the success of Resolution 1325 was missing: its ability to include women in peacemaking at all levels. This includes government and civil society, who should be enabling women to own their processes of change.
As these donor NGOs talked about how successful their advocacy efforts for allocating money around Resolution 1325 have been, I felt there was a great absence.
At not one point in any of these presentations did we get to hear the voices of women talking about their experiences around the costing of Resolution 1325 and its role in rebuilding their societies. This needed to be front and centre, and it was not. In addition to appealing to donor communities and the private sector to invest in post-conflict countries (in all their many different shapes and forms) we need to include women, isn’t that the point?
The focus should have been on strongly lobbying governments to promote women’s equal participation in the decision-making structures of post-conflict governments. This, to me, would serve as the best indicator of the success of the resolution’s implementation. It is also vital to discussions of peace-building in Southern Africa.
According to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Protocol on Gender and Development, ‘State Parties shall endeavour to put in place measures to ensure that women have equal representation and participation in key decision-making positions in conflict resolution and peace building processes by 2015 in accordance with United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security.’
Angola and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) are two post-conflict countries in the SADC region whose women are still experiencing insecurity. However, they both also have vibrant grassroots women's peace movements. The voices of these women must also be represented at a higher level.
At present, these two states represent opposite sides of the spectrum in terms of women in formal-decision making structures. Angola has the 10th highest number of women in parliament in the world, somewhere between Belgium and Denmark, with 38.6%. Yet DRC lags far behind with just 7.7% women in parliament.
International non-governmental organisations, as well as government, including the member states of SADC, need to address women's movements and what they require to implement resolution 1325. This, along with prioritising the needs of donors and the private sector, should be a paramount consideration.
Donor support is absolutely necessary, but not at the expense of ignoring women at both grassroots and decision-making levels. If we can’t get it right at UN events in New York, what message is this sending to governments in Africa?

* Lindiwe Makhunga is the Gender Links Alliance Programme Officer. This article is part of the Gender Links Opinion and Commentary Service special series from the Commission on the Status of Women in New York.

Global: Tactical dialogues from new tactics in human rights

2011-02-24

http://bit.ly/h8XlcV

Join New Tactics and the International Fellowship of Reconciliation's Women Peacemakers Program (IFOR/WPP) for an online dialogue on the topic 'Joining Forces: Engaging men as allies in gender-sensitive peacebuilding' from 30 March to 5 April 2011. For more information on the dialogue and how to participate, click on the URL provided.

Global: UN commission focuses on education

2011-02-23

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=37591&Cr=gender+equality&Cr1=

Deputy Secretary-General Asha-Rose Migiro has underscored the importance of education in raising the status of women in society and called for greater investment in measures to ensure gender equality, deploring the fact that two-thirds of illiterate adults across the world are female. 'Investing in women and girls is a force multiplier,' Migiro told the opening of the two-week session of the UN Commission on the Status of Women at UN Headquarters.

Global: Working with men to promote gender equality

2011-02-24

http://www.comminit.com/en/node/325520/38

This research report from the International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) describes and analyses 12 programmes and interventions from around the world that have sought to alter the sexual attitudes and behaviours of men. It is intended for use by programme managers, service providers, and researchers who are part of IPPF Member Associations and other organisations seeking to develop more effective ways of engaging men and boys and addressing their health needs. In all areas - sexuality and sexual and reproductive health, violence and healthy relationships - the interventions led to behaviour change.

Kenya: Insecurity and indignity in Kenya's slums

2011-02-24

http://bit.ly/f39fmk

This Amnesty International report shows that for many women living in informal settlements, poverty is both a consequence and a cause of violence. Many women who suffer physical, sexual or psychological violence lose income as a result and their productive capacity is impaired. Violence against women also impoverishes their families, communities and societies.

Malawi: Parents marrying off daughters as young as nine

2011-02-28

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/wgender/71258

The future of many girls in Malawi is in jeopardy. Poverty-stricken parents are marrying their daughters off at a tender age, robbing young girls of their right to education and exposing them to gender-based violence and HIV and AIDS in a country with one of the world’s highest prevalence rates, says this article from the Gender Links Opinion and Commentary Service.
Malawi: Parents marrying off daughters as young as nine
By Daud Kayisi

The future of many girls in Malawi is in jeopardy. Poverty-stricken parents are marrying their daughters off at a tender age, robbing young girls of their right to education and exposing them to gender-based violence and HIV and AIDS in a country with one of the world’s highest prevalence rates.

In Chitipa, Mulanje, Mzimba and Karonga districts, some of the worst cultural practices persist. These are what locals call Kupimbila, Kupawila and Chithyola imvi.

Kupimbila and Kupawila involve parents arranging marriage for their young daughters without the child’s consent or knowledge. Money or cattle exchange hands between the parents and the soon-to-be husband (usually much older than the girl) and the oblivious youngster is allowed no objection to the arrangement.

Chithyola imvi is when young girls are forced to have sex with their father or grandfather. It is said this act will help boost a business venture or bring financial rewards.

According to the Malawi Human Rights Commission (MHRC) report Cultural Practices and their Impact on the Enjoyment of Human Rights, Particularly the Rights of Women and Children in Malawi, the reason why these practices persist varies depending on the region of the country.

The report notes that sometimes a ‘girl’s parents get into debt and as payment for the debt they offer the daughter in marriage to the creditor. The girl can be as young as 9-years-old and the man could be as old as 40-years or older. The girl in this situation ends up attaining puberty while staying with the husband.’

Another practice involves parents sending their daughter to live with a rich man in the community. The understanding is that after the young child comes of age she will hopefully then get married to the man, bringing money to her family.

During a 2010 visit to Chitipa with ActionAid International Malawi (AAIM), I witnessed some of these tragic stories myself.

Maria Banda*, then only 13, was being forced to marry a 78-year old man. Her parents had arranged the marriage but she was fighting it with the help of Thalire Women’s Forum (TWF), a grouping of women, funded by AAIM, advocating for girl-child education and women’s rights in the area.

Her future was uncertain and she was very scared.

I later found out that after the consent of the area’s senior chief, Banda was allowed to quit the arrangement and stay with TWF’s chairperson. TWF works with local chiefs to educate communities on the rights of the girl child, aware that convincing chiefs may be the key to changing harmful practices within communities.

I met another girl from the same area, 16-year-old Margaret Nkhoma*, who recounted her story about how her father had arranged a similar marriage.

‘It was in 2007 when I asked my father to provide money for my school fees as I was about to start secondary school education,’ she said. ‘He promised to borrow money from somebody because he didn’t have it then. After some time, he told me to go and collect the money from a certain man. Fortunately, my friend tipped me that my father had arranged with the man to lock me up in his house when I got there.’

These reports and others like them are not only shocking and sad; they also threaten the development of my struggling nation, and are a sharp contrast to the advancement of women’s rights in many other parts of the world.

This week the United Nations will launch UN Women, an amalgamation of all UN bodies devoted to promoting women’s rights. The UN has recognised the importance of empowering women in order to fuel economies and reduce poverty, HIV and AIDS and gender-based violence. At a local level, this might also be an opportunity to galvanise Malawians who are working towards gender equality.

Malawi is a signatory to the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights and it has also ratified the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Protocol on Gender and Development: both guarantee the rights of the girl-child, including the right to education. However, it is apparent these rights are not yet being realised by many Malawian girls.

Girls who are forcibly married to older men are not allowed to question their husbands. In a country where gender equality has not yet been realised, this amounts to insubordination and is considered a disgrace to family and community.

MacBain Mkandawire, Executive Director of Youth Net and Counselling (Yoneco), a local organisation advocating for youth rights, said there are many problems associated with early marriage. One major issue is premature pregnancy, which he said is a leading cause of death for girls aged 15-19 years in Malawi, which has one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world.
‘Premature pregnancy carries significant health risks,’ he said. ‘Early marriage also jeopardises a girl’s right to education. In addition, married girls have few social connections, restricted control over resources and little power in their new households, where domestic violence is always common in such marriages.’
With the above cultural practices still prevalent, the dream of seeing more women empowered and taking up decision-making positions is in a peril, and with it Malawi’s dream of development and growth.

Yet there may be an unorthodox solution for this cultural quandary.

During my tour of Chitipa and Karonga, I heard of some senior chiefs who are campaigning to end these practices, hoping to see the girls in their communities instead excelling at school. Like it or not, such chiefs are still the custodians of culture in these areas, so convincing them to end these harmful practices might be the key to winning this battle.

*Names have been changed.

* Daud Kayisi is a Malawian journalist and the Gender Links media intern. This article is part of the Gender Links Opinion and Commentary Service, which brings you fresh views on everyday news.

Cameroon: Police Use Brute Force Against Protesters

2011-02-28

http://globalvoicesonline.org/2011/02/26/cameroon-police-use-brute-force-against-protesters/

Opposition groups in Cameroon organised protests on Wednesday, 23 February 2011 to call for President Paul Biya to leave office. President Paul Biya, who is running for re-election later this year, has been in power for 28 years. Paul Biya's Special Intervention Brigade crushed the protest with brute force. Global Voices issues this report on how the police responded.

Côte d'Ivoire: Amnesty reports abuses by both political camps

2011-02-23

http://bit.ly/hJASH1

Human rights violations including sexual violence and unlawful killings are being perpetrated by forces loyal to both Côte d'Ivoire's outgoing President Laurent Gbagbo and internationally recognised incumbent Alassane Ouattara, an Amnesty International investigation has revealed. Victims and eyewitnesses first-hand accounts of the ongoing abuses, which follow the disputed November 2010 election, are contained in a six-page summary of preliminary findings compiled by Amnesty International researchers during a four-week visit to Côte d'Ivoire.

DRC: Verdict sends strong signal to criminals

2011-02-23

http://www.africanews.com/site/DRC_Verdict_sends_strong_signal_to_criminals/list_messages/37531

A senior United Nations official has welcomed a verdict by a military court in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) which marked the first time that a high-ranking commander and several other army personnel were arrested, tried and sentenced for conflict-related sexual violence in the conflict-prone nation.

Libya: Africa’s rights body should act now

2011-02-28

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/rights/71263

The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights should impose immediate measures on the Libyan government to end the massive human rights abuses occurring throughout the country, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), Human Rights Watch, and INTERIGHTS have said. The three human rights organisations submitted a joint request to the commission on 24 February 2011, asking it to act on Libya during its meeting in Banjul, Gambia, which began on 23 February.
For Immediate Release
Libya: Africa’s Rights Body Should Act Now
Groups Urge Continent’s Human Rights Commission to Take Steps to Halt Abuses

(London, February 25, 2011) – The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights should impose immediate measures on the Libyan government to end the massive human rights abuses occurring throughout the country, the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), Human Rights Watch, and INTERIGHTS said today. The three human rights organizations submitted a joint request to the commission on February 24, 2011, asking it to act on Libya during its meeting in Banjul, Gambia, which began on February 23.

The African Commission is the continent’s principal human rights body, charged with implementing the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, to which all African countries, including Libya, are parties, except Morocco. Libya’s ruler, Muammar Gaddafi, has previously claimed a leadership role in the African Union (AU), whose predecessor, the Organisation of African Unity, adopted the Charter.

“Colonel Gaddafi has long claimed a leadership role for Libya in Africa,” said Clive Baldwin, senior legal adviser at Human Rights Watch. “Africa’s human rights body should act now, when some of the continent’s worst atrocities are taking place in Libya.”

The organizations’ letter sets out human rights violations in Libya since February 16, as documented by Human Rights Watch and others. These include the apparent unjustified killings of hundreds of people who participated in largely peaceful protests by state security forces and mercenaries and efforts to shut down the Internet and exclude foreign journalists, violating freedoms of expression and of information.

The three organizations asked the commission to impose immediate “provisional measures” on Libya to stop the human rights violations, including the unlawful killings, and to ensure that those responsible for crimes are held accountable.

“Africans need to see the commission taking action to deal with abuses of the scale we see in Libya,” said Hossam Bahgat, executive director of EIPR.

Earlier on February 24, the Peace and Security Council of the AU issued a communiqué on Libya in which it said it “strongly condemns the indiscriminate and excessive use of force and lethal weapons against peaceful protesters, in violation of human rights.” It joined the United Nations Security Council, the European Union, the United States, Russia, and others who have made similar statements. The Arab League has suspended Libya from membership.

“Recent events in Libya and Egypt have shown the terrible human cost of states failing to respect human rights,” said Joanne Sawyer, litigation director at INTERIGHTS. “We urge the African Commission, as Africa’s principal human rights body, to deal swiftly with our request and grant the measures sought. The African Commission should press the Libyan authorities to end immediately the brutal repression and killing of protesters airing their grievances.”

For more Human Rights Watch reporting on Libya, please visit: http://www.hrw.org/en/middle-eastn-africa/libya

For more about the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, please visit: http://www.eipr.org

For more about INTERIGHTS, please visit: http://www.interights.org/

For more information, please contact:
In London, for Human Rights Watch, Clive Baldwin (English, French): +44-78-0305-9701 (mobile)

In London, for INTERIGHTS, Judy Oder (English): +44-207-843-0479

In Cairo, for the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, Hossam Baghat (English, Arabic): +20-122-126-751

Sudan: Rights groups criticise Khartoum crackdowns

2011-02-28

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportID=92031

Anti-government protesters, who have taken to the streets of Khartoum and other Sudanese cities over recent weeks, run the risk of sexual assault, torture and detention, say human rights workers and demonstrators. 'We confirmed five cases of women who were sexually assaulted during or after the protests,' said Rania Rajji, Amnesty International’s Sudan researcher, adding that there had also been cases of torture, and injured people being denied medical care while in detention. According to Amnesty, some 60 people who took part in protests are in the custody of security forces.

Uganda: Police parade key terror suspect

2011-02-28

http://www.newvision.co.ug/D/8/12/747339

The police have paraded a Tanzanian national; a key suspect in last year’s twin bomb blasts that killed more than 70 people in Kampala. Hijar Seleman Nyamadondo, 31, was paraded at the Rapid Response Unit (RRU) headquarters in Kireka amid tight security hours after he was extradited to Uganda by the Tanzanian authorities.

Angola: Mass evictions displace thousands

2011-02-28

http://globalvoicesonline.org/2011/02/22/angola-mass-evictions-displace-thousands/

A large-scale demolition in Lubango, capital of Huíla province, carried out by the government of Angola, has already left in its wake over 5,000 displaced people in the southwest of the country, Global Voices reports.

Burundi: Helping returnee students overcome language barrier

2011-02-28

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportID=92023

Unversed in Burundi's official languages of French and Kirundi, children of refugees returning after decades spent in Anglophone countries, such as neighbouring Tanzania, often find it difficult to continue their studies and some drop out. To ensure such students continue learning, a group of returnee teachers has set up an education centre in the commune of Mabanda in Makamba Province, near Tanzania. The teachers work without pay.

Cote d'Ivoire: Urban exodus as violence escalates

2011-02-28

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportID=92047

Hundreds of families have fled their homes in parts of Abidjan amidst clashes between armed groups supporting Côte d’Ivoire’s two rival leaders, Alassane Ouattara and Laurent Gbagbo. The fresh violence in the commercial capital's Abobo District comes as fighting hits parts of the interior, particularly around the political capital, Yamoussoukro, which is held by forces loyal to Gbagbo but lies directly south of territory held by former rebels.

Djibouti: 'Not knowing your future is the hardest part'

2011-02-23

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportID=92003

Amina Ahmed Barre, 29, a mother of two, has lived in refugee camps most of her life. She is one of nearly 14,000 Somali refugees in Djibouti. Barre fled Somalia with her parents in 1991 when civil war broke out; she was only eight years old. 'I do not recall much about my life in Somalia because I left there when I was very young. My parents took us away when the fighting started in Mogadishu in 1991.'

Libya: UNHCR fears for the safety of refugees caught in Libya's violence

2011-02-22

http://www.unhcr.org/4d6393e06.html

The UN refugee agency said in Geneva on Tuesday it has become 'increasingly concerned' about the dangers for civilians inadvertently caught up in the mounting violence in Libya, especially asylum-seekers and refugees. 'We have no access at this time to the refugee community. Over the past months we have been trying to regularise our presence in Libya, and this has constrained our work,' Melissa Fleming, UNHCR's chief spokesperson, told journalists in Geneva.

Libya: UNHCR says open borders imperative for people fleeing violence

2011-02-24

http://www.unhcr.org/4d653ee25.html

The UN refugee agency has said it welcomes the positive indications it has received over the past two days from Tunisia and Egypt that they will maintain open borders for people fleeing the continuing violence in Libya. 'Given the continued reports of violence and human rights abuses inside Libya, it is imperative that people fleeing the country are able to reach safety,' the refugee agency added in a press release. Several hundred people have been killed in the violence that followed anti-government protests last week.

Mozambique: At least 50 migrants drown

2011-02-22

http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE71F05C20110216

At least 50 Somali and Ethiopian migrants died when a ship carrying 129 people sank off the northern coast of Mozambique last week, media reports said. Reuters reports that survivors, thought to be illegal migrants, have been taken to refugee camps.

Latest Edition: Emerging Powers News Roundup

2011-02-28

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/emplayersnews/71251

In this week's edition of the Emerging Powers News Round-Up, read a comprehensive list of news stories and opinion pieces related to China, India and other emerging powers...
1. General

Mozambique targets $4bn foreign investment in 2011
Mozambique aims to attract $4-billion in foreign direct investment this year, double last year's figure, the head of the government's Investment Promotion Centre (CPI) said on Thursday. CPI General Director Lourenco Sambo told Reuters in an interview that his agency would market the country's agriculture, mining, energy and infrastructure sectors to foreign investors from India, China and Europe. "Our major target is to have more than $4-billion of foreign direct investments in 2011, up from $2-billion last year when the global financial crisis swept across the world resulting in the downward trend of investments", Sambo said.
Read More

'India, developing countries grew 43% biotech crops in 2010'
It could engender renewed debate, in the thick of high food prices that analysts and food sector think tanks including the FAO say are here to stay, over the urgent need to adopt new crop technoIogy and boost production to feed the world's burgeoning population. The annual report of the ISAAA (International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications) released here today said that India and other developing countries grew close to 43% of the biotech crops in 2010 and would exceed acreage in industrialised nations by 2015. While biotech sector stakeholders may be frustrated over the fact that the moratorium on Bt Brinjal (last week ws the first anniversay of the moratorium), India's first biotech food crop, persists and blocks the road to other feed and food GM crops, India had in the meantime grown self sufficient in cotton thanks to large scale adoption of Bt cotton, the report emphasized.
Read More

2. China in Africa

China's Africa investment to hit $50 billion by 2015
A fast-growing China is shipping more of its investments to the less-developed African continent, and the Standard Bank Group Ltd has predicted the country's gross investments in Africa will rise to $50 billion by 2015. The bank also estimates bilateral trade between the two is expected to hit $300 billion by 2015, double the 2010 figure, The Bloomberg News reported Wednesday. Thanks to China's huge capital inflows, Africa's gross domestic product will rise by around 6 percent annually through 2015, the bank said.
Read More

Kenya-China bilateral trade hits record Sh144 billion
The value of bilateral trade between Kenya and China hit Sh144 billion ($1.8 billion) in 2010, with the Asian nation promising to encourage Chinese firms to import more as a way of addressing the trade imbalance between the two countries. China’s ambassador to Kenya, Mr Liu Guangyuan, said the value of bilateral trade between the two nations was expected to strengthen further this year. “The sentiments are good and our ties are deepening,” he told a news conference in Nairobi. According to provisional data by in Economic Survey 2010, bilateral trade between the two countries slightly surpassed the Sh104 billion ($1.3 billion) mark in 2009 following a firm run over the first 10 months.
Read More

East Africa, China explore new areas of cooperation
The East Africa Community (EAC) and the Chinese government held talks on Wednesday to explore new areas of cooperation and boost trade between both sides. A statement from the EAC Secretariat said China's Ministry of Commerce Director Department of West Asian and African Affairs Chai Zhijing held discussions with Secretary General of the East African Community Juma Mwapachu on bilateral cooperation. "The Chinese delegation were at the EAC Headquarters to explore areas of cooperation specifically trade and investment opportunities in areas such as agriculture, animal-husbandry, production and processing of mineral and other natural resources, manufacturing, commerce and logistics, and tourism," the statement said. It noted that the delegation wants to know how China could support and facilitate cross-border infrastructure projects such as transport, communication and power.
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Groups protest, seeking China’s pullout from controversial Ethiopian dam

International environmental groups, members of civil society and other concerned individuals on Sunday held a protest in Kenya to petition the Chinese government against financing the construction of Ethiopia’s controversial mega-dam. Sudan Tribune has learnt that the protesters, lobbied by Friends of Lake Turkana, marched to the Chinese embassy in Nairobi where they delivered a petition calling on China to stop its firms from engaging in the dam project, which is being under construction by an Italian company. Campaigners argue that the construction of Gibe III Dam will devastate the fragile ecosystems of the lower Omo Valley and Kenya’s Lake Turkana, on which 500,000 poor farmers, herders and fisher folk rely for their livelihoods.
Read More

3. India in Africa

Ethiopia to host second India-Africa summit
India Monday announced it will hold its second summit with African states in Ethiopia later this year and underlined that the continent enjoys a special place in the hearts of the Indian people. 'My government intends to hold the second India-Africa Forum Summit in Ethiopia later this year,' President Pratibha Patil told the joint session of the Indian parliament's two houses. 'As the first such initiative in Africa by India, it is a measure of the special place that Africa enjoys in the hearts of the people of India,' Patil said. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will fly to the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa to participate in the summit in May.
Read More

Ahead of May summit, India steps up Africa diplomacy
Ahead of the second India-Africa Forum Summit, External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna Thursday met his counterparts from over half a dozen African countries and underlined New Delhi's commitment to the development of the continent. Krishna met his counterparts from Eritrea, Lesotho, Burundi, Ethiopia, Niger, Central African Republic, Togo and Angola and discussed a range of bilateral issues, including intensification of trade, counter-terror cooperation and the UN reforms. Underlining India's historical ties with Africa, which had been re-invigorated in recent decades, Krishna said India felt privileged to be the development partner of fellow African nations, particularly Lowest Developing Countries (LDCs), in accordance with their priorities and aspirations.
Read More

India's SAIL may build 3Mt/y steel plant in SA
Steel Authority of India (SAIL) will build four overseas steel plants with a total $12-billion investment, which will be mostly funded through debt, its chairman said on Monday. The state-run company is also looking for a strategic investor for its proposed plants in Indonesia, Oman, Mongolia and South Africa, which would produce three-million tons of steel each, C.S. Verma told reporters. "Funding of $12-billion will be met through 70% to 80% of debt and the rest 20% to 30% through equity," Verma said.
Read More

Clothing and textiles show to promote SA-India trade relations
To further promote trade relations between South Africa and India, 30 clothing and textile manufacturers from India would show their collections of finished garments and interior décor at the Indian clothing and textile trade show in March. Although South Africa was viewed as a relatively small market for India, when compared with the US and Europe, it was hoped that this would increase. Indian Consular General Vikram Doraiswami said that eventually, the idea would be to invest in manufacturing capacity in South Africa, should suitable incentives be in place to attract investors.
Read More

4. In Other Emerging Powers News

Sudan invites Russia to infrastructure, energy projects
Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir has invited Russian companies to take part in infrastructure and energy project in the northern part of the country. The Khartoum government is seeking ways of restructuring the country's economy before South Sudan splits in July. Al Bashir met with the Kremlin's special envoy for Sudan, Mikhail Margelov, to discuss Russian-Sudanese contracts. "We discussed a whole range of economic issues, including Sudan's readiness to sign a contract with Russia on the construction of a railway linking [Sudan's main port city] Port Sudan and West Darfur's capital el-Geneina, as well as contracts to build power plants in the country," Margelov said after the meeting.
Read More

Russian special envoy to Sudan meets Ethiopian officials
Russian envoy to Sudan Mikhail Margelov on Thursday held talks with prime minister Meles Zenawi and foreign affairs minister Hailemariam Desalegn on bilateral, regional and continental concerns, according to an official from the ministry of foreign affairs. During the discussion, Margelov reaffirmed his country’s readiness to maintain lasting peace and security in the horn of Africa’s region. He lauded Ethiopia’s ongoing efforts for regional peace. He also hailed roles Ethiopian troops are playing to maintain durable peace in Sudan, which he said that he had witnessed during his visit to Sudan.
Read More

SA companies must get into Southern Sudan early - Sisulu
South African businesses must take advantages of opportunities in Southern Sudan as soon as possible, with the state set to gain independence on 11 July, said Minister of Defence and Military Veterans Lindiwe Sisulu. Briefing journalists on Tuesday, Sisulu said the drive for regional integration on the continent would remain a key focus of the government. Sisulu, who chairs the government's International Co-operation, Trade and Security cluster, said South African firms are already involved in the reconstruction of Southern Sudan. While SABMiller had already built a $30 million brewery in Southern Sudan, which had been in operation for over a year, consulting engineers at KV3 are assisting in refurbishing government buildings, such as Juba Hospital.
Read More

5. Blogs, Opinions, Presentations and Publications

Special Report: In Africa, can Brazil be the anti-China?
Hiring locals might seem unremarkable on a continent with an oversupply of cheap labor. But the issue of who works on Africa's big infrastructure projects has come into sharp focus in recent years. At building sites from Angola to Zambia, teams of Chinese workers often do the work instead of Africans. Where locals are employed, their rough treatment by Chinese managers has stirred bitterness. In Zambia last October, the Chinese managers of Collum Mine shot and wounded 11 local coal miners protesting over pay and working conditions. That growing resentment is one reason why Brazilian engineering group Odebrecht, contracted to get Liberia's railway rolling again, made a conscious decision to employ locals for the job -- and treated them well.
Read More

Africa, China to reshape oil markets
Africa is poised to become a major player in the global oil markets due to the discovery of new reserves and as it ramps up production to meet growing global demand, especially from China, according to a special report released by Standard Bank at the International Petroleum Week conference in London. The report was researched and written by Standard Bank commodities experts James Zhang, Walter de Wet, Marc Ground, Jeremy Stevens and Simon Freemantle. Africa, already a major source for oil exports to China, has shown huge potential in oil reserves and future production. According to the report, Chinese demand and African production will play an increasing role in the shaping of global oil markets in the years to come.
Read More

Algeria: State of emergency to be lifted 'imminently'

2011-02-23

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12546346

Algeria's government has adopted a draft order to lift the country's 19-year-old state of emergency, the official APS news agency reports. It says the measure will come into force after its publication in the official gazette, which is expected 'imminently'. It did not elaborate.

Djibouti: Mass arrests stop further protests

2011-02-28

http://www.afrol.com/articles/37449

The planned resumption of mass protests in Djibouti this weekend was hindered by massive police presence in the capital and arrests of about 300 opposition and civil society leaders. Friday 18 February saw an estimated 30,000 Djiboutians protesting in central Djibouti City.

Egypt: Key ministers stay in reshuffle

2011-02-23

http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE71L0NJ20110222

Egypt's key portfolios of defence interior, foreign, finance and justice were unchanged in a cabinet reshuffle, state television confirmed on Tuesday when it broadcast the swearing in ceremony for the new ministers, reports Reuters.

Egypt: Who's who in the new Egypt?

2011-02-24

http://www.peacebuilding.no/eng/Noref-News/Who-s-who-in-the-new-Egypt

This document from the Norwegian Peacebuilding Centre provides an overview of the four groups that have emerged as major political players in Egypt's political transition. Having actively supported an authoritarian regime for 30 years, US and European politicians now have a unique opportunity to engage more seriously with the real forces of change, the document suggests.

Guinea: Country bankrupted by junta, says Conde

2011-02-23

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12531738

Guinea's President Alpha Conde has told the BBC the military junta that held power before he was elected has left the country bankrupt. Conde said the army leaders had spent more money in two years than in the 50 years from independence in 1958.

Kenya: Pressure builds up on Kibaki, Odinga to compromise

2011-02-23

http://bit.ly/fykXDP

Pressure piled on President Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga to defuse rising tension in the country following their standoff over state office nominations and declaration of political warfare by their lieutenants, reports The Standard. There was also fear their disagreement over picking of nominees to key judicial postings and newly created Budget Office would compromise the implementation of the Constitution, and poison the road to next year’s general election.

Malawi: Security forces stop fuel protests, detain organisers

2011-02-22

http://bloom.bg/f101Hy

Malawi’s security forces blocked a demonstration against fuel shortages on 14 February and arrested organisers of the protest, reports Bloomberg. Mavuto Bamusi, the national coordinator for the Human Rights Consultative Committee, was among those detained, Deputy Commissioner of Police Innocent Botomani told reporters in the capital, Lilongwe.

Morocco: Protests halted by police violence

2011-02-28

http://www.afrol.com/articles/37461

Several Moroccan cities saw attempts to organise follow-up pro-democracy protests brutally stopped by riot police. Following the large, nation-wide protests one week ago, on 20 February, and smaller protests following, big pro-democracy manifestations were planned for Sunday. However, contrary to one week ago, the protests were mostly banned by local authorities and police in the last moment.

Nigeria: Explosions hit opposition party offices

2011-02-22

http://indepthafrica.com/news/westafrica/explosions-hit-opposition-party-offices-in-nigeria/

Multiple pre-dawn explosions rocked opposition offices in oil-rich southern Nigeria, the latest in a wave of attacks ahead of April elections, police and the party said Monday (21 February). The explosions went off at the Labour Party campaign offices in Bayelsa, President Goodluck Jonathan’s home state.

Tunisia: Premier replaced after new violence

2011-02-28

http://www.africareview.com/News/-/979180/1116122/-/hr2fr4z/-/index.html

Tunisia's Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi resigned and was replaced by Beji Caid Essebsi, a former minister, after anti-government protests left five people dead over the weekend. Security forces again clashed with protesters in Tunis demanding the removal of some ministers of Ghannouchi's interim government before the premier announced his resignation.

Tunisia: Revolution protection council stirs debate

2011-02-23

http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2011/02/22/feature-03

A heated debate is raging in Tunisia over the creation of a special body to monitor the current government. A group of 28 parties and organisations of various political hues on 15 February called for the establishment of the National Council for the Protection of the Revolution, 'in dedication to the principles of the revolution, so as to counter all attempts to abort the revolution and shove the country into a state of vacuum'.

Uganda: AU observers fault Uganda election

2011-02-22

http://mg.co.za/article/2011-02-21-african-union-observers-fault-uganda-election/

African Union (AU) election observers say Uganda's presidential poll suffered from several shortcomings, while two losing candidates are calling for Egypt-style protests. Two of the losing presidential candidates on Monday threatened to mobilise mass protests against the government. Museveni said last week he would jail anyone who tried to spark Egypt-style unrest.

North Africa: The French elite and North Africa's dictators

2011-02-23

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2011/feb2011/fren-f23.shtml

Amid revolutionary struggles across North Africa and the Middle East that have already toppled dictatorial regimes in Tunisia and Egypt, details continue to emerge of the corrupt ties between these dictators and leading French politicians. These revelations are embarrassing the French political establishment, including the main bourgeois 'left' opposition party, the Parti Socialiste (PS), writes Kumaran Ira on the World Socialist Web Site.

Sierra Leone: Overview of corruption and anti-corruption

2011-02-24

http://zunia.org/post/overview-of-corruption-and-anti-corruption-in-sierra-leone/

Almost 10 years after the end of the civil war, Sierra Leone continues to face major challenges of weak governance, widespread poverty and systemic corruption, which undermine sustainable development and long term reconstruction efforts, says the Anti Corruption Resource Centre. Corruption continues to permeate almost every sectors of Sierra Leone’s public life, compromising citizens’ access to basic public services and institutions such as health, education and the police.

Tunisia: French Foreign Minister Alliot-Marie quits

2011-02-28

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12591452

Embattled French Foreign Minister Michele Alliot-Marie has announced her resignation after weeks of criticism over her contacts with the former Tunisian regime. Revelations about her and her family's links to the regime of former President Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali, and the fact that she had taken a Christmas holiday in Tunisia during the uprising made her position increasingly untenable.

Africa: Debt robs Africa of social spending, retards growth

2011-02-28

http://bit.ly/hn4WNq

Activists meeting at the World Social Form (WSF) in Dakar, Senegal, criticised creditors for perpetuating a system of dominance on African countries through debt. Scarce resources are used to service debts at the expense of expenditure of social services in a continent lagging behind in meeting its commitments towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The meeting, held on 9 February 2011, which was hosted by Jubilee South, The Committee for the Abolition of Third World Debt (CADTM), African Forum and Network on Debt and Development (AFRODAD) and a host of other groups focused on debt, took place under the theme, 'Debt Crises and IFIs in Africa and Globally'.

Global: World economic situation and prospects

2011-02-24

http://www.un.org/en/development/desa/policy/wesp/wesp_current/2011wesp.pdf

After a year of fragile and uneven recovery, global economic growth started to decelerate on a broad front in mid-2010, says this UN publication. The slowdown is expected to continue into 2011 and 2012 as weaknesses in major developed economies continue to provide a drag on the global recovery and pose risks for world economic stability in the coming years.

Southern Africa: South Africa losing interest in SADC customs union

2011-02-23

http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=54569

A schism about the division of revenues in the world’s oldest customs union threatens to derail the process of regional economic integration in Southern Africa. The internal problems plaguing the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) for the past year have entered a new phase. A concept study looking into revenue sharing from the SACU pool proposes a radical overhaul in which South Africa receives more money, while Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland (BLNS) see their shares drop.

Zambia: Zambia must launch copper mining tax probe, says Christian Aid partner

2011-02-22

http://bit.ly/fCVVrM

A subsidiary of one of the world's largest commodity trading companies stands accused of a series of tax irregularities in Zambia - a desperately poor developing country where life expectancy is 47 and tax revenues are urgently needed. According to a leaked auditors' report, the copper and cobalt mining company Mopani Copper Mines Plc may be using derivatives trades to shift profits out of Zambia in order to minimise its tax bill in the country. Swiss giant Glencore International AG has a 73 per cent interest in Mopani through one of its subsidiaries.

Africa: Changing sanitation patterns in Africa

2011-02-22

http://thinkafricapress.com/article/sanitation-changing-behaviours

The supply of water is often said to be this century’s greatest challenge, and with good reason. However, in many parts of the world it is the lack of adequate sanitation and safe hygiene practices that remain the most ubiquitous threat to people’s health. Addressing this offers the chance to bring fundamental change to the lives of billions. This is no truer than in Sub-Saharan Africa where only 31 per cent of people have access to improved sanitation facilities, a number that falls to 24 per cent in rural areas.

Côte d'Ivoire: Warnings on shortage of essential drugs amidst crisis

2011-02-22

http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/cotedivoire_57599.html

Malaria is the leading cause of mortality among children under the age of five in this West African nation, and UNICEF is concerned that stocks of essential drugs to treat the deadly disease are in danger of running out in two to four weeks’ time.

Uganda: The Ugandan tragedy, human rights, and US foreign aid

2011-02-23

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/serra-sippel/ugandan-tragedy-human-rig_b_815161.html

While the US has condemned egregious examples of rights-violating policies in Uganda, it still funds HIV interventions that are inherently anti-LGBT (lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender) and anti-woman, says this Huffington Post article. 'They assume and reinforce the idea that everyone is heterosexual, everyone is going to get married, and everyone has control over when and with whom they and their partner have sex; ideas that are flat-out wrong and result in useless HIV interventions and rancid discrimination.'

Zimbabwe: A helping hand for HIV-positive mothers and babies

2011-02-23

http://www.plusnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=92005

The high cost of maternity and health care, the lack of a proper follow-up system, and a limited ability to diagnose HIV infection early in babies means many Zimbabwean children are not being caught by the safety net that the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) programme was intended to provide. At least 150,000 children below the age of 15 are living with HIV, and more than 90 per cent of HIV infections can be attributed to vertical transmission, according to government figures.

Malawi: University lecturers in peaceful demonstrations over academic freedom

2011-02-22

http://bit.ly/epTKIW

Lecturers at the Chancellor College, a constituent college of the University of Malawi in the eastern city of Zomba, some 80 kilometres from Blantyre, Monday held peaceful demonstrations, protesting what they called an intrusion on their academic freedom. This follows the summoning, by Inspector General of Police, Peter Mukhito, of political science lecturer, Dr. Blessings Chinsinga, over an example he allegedly gave in one of his classes. Dr. Chinsinga reportedly drew parallels between Malawi's current fuel crisis with the insurrections that toppled the government of President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt.

Botswana: Government faces court over anti-sodomy laws

2011-02-24

http://www.mask.org.za/gays-sue-government/#more-3798

Members of the gay community are taking the government to court to challenge the constitutionality of its anti-sodomy laws. In 2005 gays attempted to register their association, the Lesbians, Gays and Bisexuals of Botswana (LEGABIBO), with the Registrar of Societies, but their application was turned down in 2007 on the grounds that the republican Constitution does not recognise homosexuals.

Africa: Green wall planned to stop Sahel desertification

2011-02-24

http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=54590

Imagine a green wall - 15 kilometres wide, and up to 8,000 kilometres long. Imagine it just south of the Sahara, from Djibouti in the Horn of Africa in the east, all the way across the continent to Dakar, Senegal, in the west. The building of this pan-African Great Green African Wall (GGW) was just approved by an international summit taking place this week in the former German capital Bonn.

Global: Evidence mounts that green growth is better, safer growth

2011-02-23

http://wwf.panda.org/?199393/Evidence-mounts-that-green-growth-is-better-safer-growth

More and more evidence is accumulating that a clean and green economy is most likely to deliver a more secure, prosperous and less tumultuous future for humanity, WWF has said. WWF International Director General Jim Leape was commenting on the release of the major United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) report 'Towards a Green Economy' which shows that appropriate policies and relatively modest redirections of global investment flows could grow the global economy at equivalent or greater levels than current forecasts.

Kenya: Irregular and illegal land acquisition by Kenya’s elites

2011-02-24

http://www.landcoalition.org/sites/default/files/publication/906/WEB_ERIN-KLA_Elites_final_layout.pdf

This International Land Coalition report analyses the illegal/irregular acquisition of land by Kenya’s elites to ascertain the types of land affected, the processes used to acquire land, and the profiles of the perpetrators, as well as to identify the victims and the impacts of land grabbing.

South Africa: Rural transformation and land reform

2011-02-22

http://bit.ly/f4flKr

Based on comments from presenters and the audience the key priorities emerging from the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS) public debate on rural transformation 'Back to the Plot!' held on 31 January 2011 included land reform; service delivery in rural areas; experimenting with alternative modes of agricultural production, such as smallholder producers and organics; enabling access to food value chains for more producers, especially small producers; addressing the rising cost of farm inputs, including new technologies, fertiliser and petrol; and addressing ecological matters. For more details about presentations at the event, please click on the link provided.

Congo: The ‘motorcycle-wheelbarrow’ prevents harvest loss

2011-02-24

http://bit.ly/hcu1rJ

Over the last two years, a small vehicle known as the 'motorcycle-wheelbarrow' has changed the lives of farmers in Pokola, reports Farm Radio Weekly. The vehicle has three wheels and features a large bucket on the back. Before the motorcycle-wheelbarrows arrived, many producers abandoned their fields because they were unable to get their produce to market. But with its help, farmers now lose fewer of their crops after harvest. Many farmers have increased their productivity.

Global: Food price watch

2011-02-24

http://zunia.org/post/food-price-watch-1/

Global food prices continue to rise, though not uniformly for all grains. The World Bank’s food price index rose by 15 per cent between October 2010 and January 2011, is 29 per cent above its level a year earlier, and only 3 per cent below its June 2008 peak. A breakdown of the index shows that the grain price index remains 16 per cent below its peak mainly due to relatively stable rice prices, which are significantly lower than in 2008. The increase over the last quarter is driven largely by increases in the price of sugar (20 per cent), fats and oils (22 per cent), wheat (20 per cent), and maize (12 per cent).

Coté d’ Ivoire: Two detained TV journalists refused bail

2011-02-28

http://www.mediafound.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=628&Itemid=1

Ladji Aboubacar Sanogo and Kangbé Yayoro, two reporters of pro-Ouattara Télévision Notre Patrie (TVNP) in Bouaké, the second largest city in Coté d’ I voire were sent back to prison custody on 24 February 2011 after being denied bail by the public prosecutor's office in connection with alleged terrorists activities. Sanogo and Kangbé are facing a charge relating to an 'offence against national security' for working for TVNP, which belongs to the Forces Nouvelles that waged a rebellion against Gbagbo’s government in the early 2000s.

Côte d’Ivoire: Concern over media's 'slow death'

2011-02-24

http://en.rsf.org/cote-d-ivoire-ivorian-media-s-slow-death-23-02-2011,39616.html

Reporters Without Borders says it is deeply concerned about the continuing deterioration in the climate for the media in Côte d’Ivoire. Harassed, threatened and exposed to physical violence, journalists are now finding it virtually impossible to work freely. The press freedom organisation has urged civil society and the two rival camps led by Laurent Gbagbo and Alassane Ouattara to respect freedom of expression and the right to news and information.

Ghana: MP threatens to kill newspaper editor over drug trafficking allegations

2011-02-22

http://www.mediafound.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=624&Itemid=1

Alhaji Bature Iddrisu, managing editor of privately-owned Bilingual Free Press on 19 February 2011 filed a complaint at the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service against Kennedy Agyapong, an opposition Member of Parliament (MP) for Assin North Constituency of the Central Region, for threatening him with death. Agyapong was reported by a pro-government daily newspaper, The Enquirer, to have said that he would 'kill' Alhaji Bature for consistently linking him and his family to illicit drug trafficking from one radio station to another.

Global: The right to inform and be informed

Declaration of the Assembly on the Right to Communication, Dakar - 11 February 2011

2011-02-28

http://www.ciranda.net/fsm-dacar-2011/article/the-right-to-inform-and-be

'We, actors in the field of alternative information as well as citizen activists who use communication as a tool for social transformation:
Note that, in a global context:
- information is held in a stranglehold by political, economic and industrial forces and is manipulated by the governments and States;
- freedom of expression is being denied, thwarted or repressed;
- there is little or no guarantee for an unfettered access to information for all citizens;
- a violent repression is unleashed upon citizens and actors in the field of information;
- information is being commodified and standardized;
- there is an increasing distrust by public opinion regarding information conveyed by the mainstream media.'

Senegal: Push for free expression at UN Review

2011-02-23

http://bit.ly/ekJDDF

The Accra-based media rights body, Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA), is pushing for the inclusion of issues of freedom of expression and media rights in UN Human Rights Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of West African states. Sources told PANA on Saturday in Dakar that MFWA is at an advanced stage of working on 'stakeholders’ reports and recommendations' to State delegates on the 'free expression situation' in West Africa.

Tunisia: Restrictions on banned books lifted

2011-02-24

http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2011/02/23/feature-01

Tunisia's interim government on January 22nd lifted licensing restrictions on the importation of books, publications and films, opening the floodgates to foreign media. The constraints were imposed by the Ben Ali regime to control the flow of information. 'Lifting restrictions on importing books is a key demand that has been called on by voices of enlightenment, modernity and the democracy of culture and knowledge in Tunisia,' said Moktar Kalfaoui, a writer for the website Alawan.

South Africa: Budget orthodoxies hamper response to challenges

2011-02-28

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/welfare/71259

'The 2011/12 budget tabled this afternoon by Minister Pravin Gordhan represents continuity in Government’s approach to economic policy to economic development. Great emphasis is placed on "macro-economic stability", fiscal prudence and monetary policy directed to keeping inlation within the 3 – 6 per cent band. Yet, these orthodoxies of economic policy is precisely what has hampered an effective response to the tremendous socio-economic challenges confronting our society and contradict the idea that South Africa has entered a New Growth Path.'
Budget shows lack of urgency and nothing new on the New Growth Path
The Alternative Information and Development Centre (AIDC) Statement

24 February statement on the 2011/12 budget

The 2011/12 budget tabled this afternoon by Minister Pravin Gordhan represents continuity in Government’s approach to economic policy to economic development. Great emphasis is placed on 'macro-economic stability', fiscal prudence and monetary policy directed to keeping inlation within the 3 – 6 per cent band. Yet, these orthodoxies of economic policy is precisely what has hampered an effictive response to the tremedous socio-economic challenges confronting our society and contradict the idea that South Africa has entered a New Growth Path.

Further evidence of this is the refusal to consider exchange rate and capital controls that could go a considerable way in stabilising the present volatility of the Rand. It is surprising that a government which wants to pursue a New Growth Path sticks to the discredited dogma of free capital flows. Comparative countries like Brazil, South Korea Thailand etc. have seen it necessary to protect their economies from the storms of financial speculation.

In spite of jobs and decent work having been brought to the centre of policy concern in government and in the President’s State of the Nation address, the Minister offers very few initiatives that will make a dent into South Africa’s unemployment crises. The Minister is not very confident of government’s proposed job creation projects only envisaging an annual 2 per cent growth in employment. Unemployment currently is over 24 per cent, using official figures or nearly 40 per cent when taking into account discouraged workers. The main initiatives consist of a R20 billion tax incentive directed towards big corporations able to undertake between R200-R900 million mega projects or R30-R550 million for giant 'expansions' and 'upgrades'. These tax grants are destined for capital intensive big private corporations already drowning in money. It is completely wrong to depend on private sector investment for job creation, especially on the scale needed to deal with the depth of our unemployment crisis. Big corporations are driven by another logic, i.e. profit maximisation and not social values. The R5 billion youth subsidy scheme is controversial as it is likely to undermine wages and lead to a further division of the labour force.

The R2,2 billion allocated for 'environmental employment programmes' is something that needs to be amplified in the coming period especially towards funding climate jobs

If Gordhan’s 'R9 billion over 3 years job-fund' was not less than one tenth of the Eskom/Transnet R950 billion program, then the Community Works Projects (CWP) and Expanded Public Works Programme (EPWP) would not only offer 'job opportunities' but decent work. The work already being done without pay by thousands of community health workers would then be recognised by the government. They should be paid a living wage for their invaluable contribution to the lives of the majority.

What is required is a state driven economic and social infrastructure programme for wage-led development of domestic industry and employment. This could be achieved through a massive housing programme, as an example, that could mop up youth unemployment on a dramatic scale.

Instead the budget speech talks of a 'decades-long transformation' and thus displays a lack of urgency. Events in Africa and the Middle East suggest that ignoring youth unemployment is a recipe for social instability. Although Gordaham calls for extraordinary measures, he and his government has failed to rise to the occasion.

Ends

For more information contact Thembeka Majali on 021 447 2525 or 083 595 3934, email thembeka@aidc.org.za

Ivory Coast: Cops open fire on crowd

2011-02-22

http://indepthafrica.com/news/westafrica/ivory-coast-cops-open-fire-on-crowd/

Witnesses say security forces fired on protesters for the second consecutive day in Ivory Coast’s biggest city, following a call for an 'Egypt-style' uprising to depose sitting president Laurent Gbagbo.
The witnesses say military police encircled a group of supporters of Alassane Ouattara in the Abobo district of Abidjan on Sunday afternoon, before opening fire. There were reports of several injured, though their numbers could not be independently verified.

Kenya: ‘Dogs of War’ fighting for Gaddafi

2011-02-28

http://bit.ly/eBUe69

Kenyan mercenaries are among foreign soldiers helping the besieged Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi fight off an uprising, the Daily Nation reports. This was confirmed by Col Gaddafi’s former Chief of Protocol Nouri Al Misrahi in an interview with the Al Jazeera broadcasting network. Mr Misrahi was detailing how Gaddafi had resorted to using mercenaries against his own people after losing control of the Libyan armed forces.

Libya: Gaddafi rivals close in on Tripoli

2011-02-28

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/02/20112286305265691.html

Libya's opposition movement has seized control of territory close to the capital, Tripoli, as anti-government protesters gear up for what could be a final battle for leader Muammar Gaddafi's stronghold. Three areas in the east were reported to be under the control of protesters on Monday, a day after pro-democracy demonstrators took control of the city of Az-Zawiyah, just 50km west of Tripoli.

Libya: US neo-cons urge Libya intervention

2011-02-28

http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/features/2011/02/2011227153626965756.html

In a distinct echo of the tactics they pursued to encourage US intervention in the Balkans and Iraq, a familiar clutch of neo-conservatives appealed Friday for the United States and NATO to 'immediately' prepare military action to help bring down the regime of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and end the violence that is believed to have killed well over a thousand people in the past week.

Africa: Interactive protest map

2011-02-22

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/interactive/2011/feb/11/guardian-twitter-arab-protests-interactive

The London Guardian has established an interactive map that syncs with Twitter feeds relevant to protests currently prevalent in the region. The page makes it possible to click on a region, following which the relevant Tweets for that country show up.

Egypt: From clicktivism to activism

2011-02-23

http://www.hanimorsi.com/blog/

'What social media has created is a sort of an alternate space for reviving a dormant public consciousness into a sentient, dynamic social discourse,' says this blog post reflecting on the significance of social media in the Egyptian revolution. 'The assumption that social media’s largest influence was during or shortly before the 18 days in which Mubarak’s regime was brought down is very naive.'

Egypt: Mapping Egypt's protests

2011-02-22

http://bit.ly/guMu6o

This page shows an infographic that maps out Twitter accounts active during the Egyptian revolution. 'Someday in the near future, the chart you see below might be looked at as a hero's roll call - the same way that war heroes are listed at the sites of famous battles. Or, it might simply be useful to social scientists, hoping to understand the role Twitter played in bringing about the end of Hosni Mubarak's 30-year dictatorship. Either way, it's an astounding document of a once-in-a-lifetime event,' says the article posted with the page.

Global: Social media guide for researchers

2011-02-24

http://zunia.org/post/social-media-a-guide-for-researchers/

This guide will show you how social media offer researchers an opportunity to improve the way they work. One of the most important things that researchers do is to find, use and disseminate information, and social media offer a range of tools which can facilitate these activities.

Nigeria: Science committee laments severe budget cuts

2011-02-24

http://www.scidev.net/en/news/nigeria-s-science-committee-laments-severe-budget-cuts.html

The head of a parliamentary science committee has expressed dismay at drastic cuts planned for Nigeria's capital development budget for science. The cuts were highlighted last week (9 February) during a hearing by the House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology. The government will slash the budget, which funds buildings and equipment but not salaries, from 53 billion naira (US$350 million) in 2010 to US$33 million in 2011.

South Africa: Count on cell phones

2011-02-23

http://ictupdate.cta.int/en/Feature-Articles/Count-on-cell-phones

A project in South Africa supports mathematics education in schools using the web, social networking and mobile apps to deliver learning material directly to students’ cell phones. Teachers can also use the content in their classroom lessons. Students can practise mathematics exercises from a cell phone at any time and receive immediate feedback.

February edition of Facing Fundamentalisms newsletter

2011-02-24

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/enewsl/71143

AWID's Resisting and Challenging Religious Fundamentalisms initiative is an advocacy-research project that seeks to strengthen the responses of women's rights activists to the rise of religious fundamentalisms across regions and religions. The February 2011 edition of the Facing Fundamentalisms Newsletter is now available. Email cf@awid.org to subscribe.

Middle East & North Africa Up-Dates

2011-02-28

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/enewsl/71247

MENA WATCH has been put together to provide people with broad coverage of up-dates and events from nonviolent actions and people’s movements in the Middle East and North Africa. Each day MENA WATCH will collect articles, reports, analysis and links to blogs and video blogs. Visit www.patrir.ro/mena

AL Jazeera Live Blog

2011-02-28

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/live/africa/live-blog-libya-feb-26

As the uprising in Libya enters its second week, Al Jazeera's live blog is indispensable for keeping up with the fast-moving events in that country.

Global: Google donates $2.7 million to fund innovation in journalism

2011-02-28

http://mashable.com/2011/02/23/google-ipi-news-innovation-contest/

Google announced Wednesday it has awarded $2.7 million to the International Press Institute to foster innovation in journalism. The Institute, based in Vienna, will use the grant for its IPI News Innovation Contest, which will fund both non-profit and for-profit projects related to the development of digital news platforms, new business models for journalism and training in digital reporting throughout Africa, Europe and the Middle East.

Kenya: The Dolphine Okech Writing Grant

2011-02-28

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/518/DOWG Call.pdf

Kenya Female Advisory Organisation (KEFEADO) in partnership with the Urgent Action Fund – Africa are pleased to announce a new grant to support undergraduate and masters women students in Kenyan universities who are in the final stages of their dissertation work. The Dolphine Okech Writing Grant (DOWG) seeks to facilitate rigorous engagement of undergraduate and masters students in research, strengthen their research skills, and provide the fellows an opportunity for timely completion of their dissertations.

Moving Walls group photography exhibition

Application deadline: 1 April 2011

2011-02-28

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/fundraising/71262

Moving Walls is an exhibition series that features in-depth and nuanced explorations of human rights and social issues and recognizes the brave and difficult work that photographers undertake globally in their documentation of complex social and political issues. Their images provide the world with human rights evidence, put faces onto a conflict, document the struggles and defiance of marginalized people, reframe how issues are discussed publicly, and provide opportunities for reflection and discussion. For participating photographers, a key benefit of the program is to gain exposure for both the social justice or human rights issues they photograph, and for themselves as photographers.
The Open Society Foundations invite photographers to submit a body of work for consideration in the Moving Walls 19 group exhibition. Application deadline is April 1, 2011.

Moving Walls is an exhibition series that features in-depth and nuanced explorations of human rights and social issues and recognizes the brave and difficult work that photographers undertake globally in their documentation of complex social and political issues. Their images provide the world with human rights evidence, put faces onto a conflict, document the struggles and defiance of marginalized people, reframe how issues are discussed publicly, and provide opportunities for reflection and discussion. For participating photographers, a key benefit of the program is to gain exposure for both the social justice or human rights issues they photograph, and for themselves as photographers.

Some of the topics that are focus areas for the Foundations and about which we are interested in receiving submissions include (but are not limited to) the following:

* Muslim communities in Europe
* Women in post-conflict countries
* Global pretrial detention (not United States)
* Public health issues in Africa, including access to essential medicines, access to health care, palliative care
* Climate change
* Economic downturn in the United States, including the foreclosure crisis
* Images that reframe mainstream media representations of African American men and boys
* Detention of immigrants in the United States
* Youth movements, especially political participation in voter registration, policy reform efforts, public education
* Reconstruction and rebuilding in Haiti
* Physical and mental disabilities in Eastern Europe or Central Asia, focusing on integration or inclusion
* Political violence, especially in Latin America and Africa
* Elections in Uganda and Nigeria

For more information on the application process and to view images from current and previous Moving Walls exhibit go to:
http://www.soros.org/initiatives/photography/focus_areas/mw/guidelines

New blog on resistance

2011-02-24

http://popular-resistance.blogspot.com/

The Popular Resistance blog contains writing in Arabic and English. It covers postings on the rapidly
escalating situations in the Arab world.

Radio for Peacebuilding Africa Awards 2011

2011-02-24

http://weekly.farmradio.org/2011/02/21/radio-for-peacebuilding-africa-awards-2011/

The Radio for Peacebuilding Africa Awards 2011 are now open for submissions. The RFPA Awards recognise radio programs that contribute to peace in Africa. The awards particularly celebrate programs that help to reduce group and community tensions, that enhance and give value to shared interests, that break down listener stereotypes, and/or that provide positive role models.

South Africa: Amandla! TV Youtube channel

2011-02-28

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/fundraising/71254

Amandla! TV aims to strengthen the movement for social justice in South Africa through the production of alternative knowledge and facilitating a dialogue giving voice to the poor and marginalized locally and internationally. Visit their Youtube channel to see videos from the recent Conference of the Democratic Left and responses to the South African budget.

Addressing Women's Specific Health Needs & Challenges in Africa

Call for Papers: The African Women's Journal

2011-02-24

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/71145

The African Women’s Journal - the African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET) signature publication - will focus on the first priority theme of the African Women’s Decade (2010-2020): Health, Maternal Mortality and HIV&AIDS.
The African Women's Development and Communication Network
Call for Papers

The African Women's Journal
January - June 2011

THEME: Addressing Women's Specific Health Needs & Challenges in Africa during the African Women’s Decade (2010-2020)

There is increased funding globally for women’s health issues particularly reproductive health, and a renewed emphasis on gender equality and women’s rights as a pathway to improving women’s sexual and reproductive health outcomes, especially within the context of maternal health.

In contrast, attitudes towards women’s health and sexuality continue to be punitive and retrogressive on the Continent. Conservatism and fundamentalism continue to erode women’s right to health, which could mean that increased funding and additional frameworks and policies in this area may not yield the desired results.

In kick starting the year 2011, The African Women’s Journal, the African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET) signature publication- will focus on the first priority theme of the African Women’s Decade (2010-2020): Health, Maternal Mortality and HIV&AIDS. The Journal will specifically focus on the theme: Addressing Women's Specific Health Needs & Challenges in Africa during the African Women’s Decade (2010-2020).

Guidelines:

For those interested in submitting articles, kindly send us an ABSTRACT of your article on or before 15th March, 2011. The abstract should be written in English or French and must not be more than 100 words. It should capture critical information in your country and/ or sub-region, giving statistical data, cases studies on what has worked or not worked or real life experiences/ stories in relation to the theme of the Journal.

You will be notified if your abstract has been approved. Only writers with selected abstracts will be asked to submit a full article, which must be written in English or French and should be between 1000 to 2,000 words. The article will also need to be well researched with clear referencing. We will also require pictures relating to the article. (NB: The picture will have to be in Jpeg format), a brief biographical note, contact information with a JPEG mug shot picture of yourself in high resolution.

Deadline for submission of FULL ARTICLE will be 15th April, 2011.

Please note that all abstracts should be submitted by 15th March, 2011 by email to:
communication@femnet.or.ke

Kindly circulate this call for papers within your networks.

The Women Peacemakers Program-Africa (WPP-A)

Call for Applications

2011-02-28

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/518/Call for Applications.doc

The Women Peacemakers Program-Africa (WPP-A) is organising a Movement building and Gender-sensitive Active Nonviolence training to build the capacities of 26 heads of organisations from conflict and post-conflict fragile states in Africa, notably Kenya, Nigeria, Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea, Uganda, Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Congo DRC, Burundi, Rwanda, Zimbabwe and Madagascar. The training is to be held in Accra, Ghana from 28 March to 1 April 2011.

New issue of the Journal of Refugee Studies

2011-02-22

http://fm-cab.blogspot.com/2011/02/new-issue-of-jrs.html

A new issue of the Journal of Refugee Studies (vol. 24, no. 1, March 2011) has just been published. It includes the following articles:
- Laws, Policies, or Social Position? Capabilities and the Determinants of Effective Protection in Four African Cities.
- Refugee Camp Security: Decreasing Vulnerability Through Demographic Controls.
- ‘Let Me Go to the City’: African Asylum Seekers, Racialization and the Politics of Space in Israel.

Director

Tuliwaza Program, Fahamu

2011-02-28

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/71250

The mission of Fahamu's Tuliwaza Program is to generate and share knowledge towards a liberated Africa based on the needs and input of African social movements using progressive, feminist and people-centred approaches and methods.
JOB DESCRIPTION

TITLE

Director – Tuliwaza Program, Fahamu

FAHAMU’S VISION
Fahamu has a vision of the world where people organise to emancipate themselves from all forms of oppression, recognise their social responsibilities, respect each other’s differences, and realise their full potential.

FAHAMU’S MISSION AND VALUES
Fahamu supports the movement for social justice in Africa by providing learning, platforms for advocacy, platforms for analysis, debate and discussion as well as supporting the generation of knowledge.

TULIWAZA PROGRAMME - MISSION
To generate and share knowledge towards a liberated Africa based on the needs and input of African social movements using progressive, feminist and people-centred approaches and methods.

REPORTING TO

The Executive Director

RESPONSIBILITIES

• Represents the organisation in public forums and in relation to other institutions
• Supports and manages program staff
• Program and financial management
• Oversees implementation of policies and plans within the program as approved by the Board
• Fundraising and resource mobilization
• Provides strategic direction and leadership of the program
• Facilitates knowledge production in various forms
• Leads, manages and oversees the implementation of research and knowledge generation projects related to Fahamu’s core mandate
• Coordinates advisory committee input into Fahamu’s knowledge generation and research contribution to the movement for social justice

PERSON SPECIFICATIONS

• Demonstrable extensive knowledge of political, economic and social context in Africa and in relation to the rest of the world
• Commitment to the mission and values of the organisation
• Experience of managing a range of diverse projects
• Experience in management of staff at a distance
• Experience and knowledge of partnership development and working
• Knowledge of and experience in cross disciplinary research methods, feminist and post-colonial epistemologies
• Knowledge of, skills and experience in developing frameworks for participatory action-based research
• Demonstrated commitment to democratization of knowledge and the production of knowledge in various forms
• Ability to provide leadership whilst also being a team worker
• Ability to work under pressure and to tight deadlines
• Demonstrable organisational and planning skills
• Experience in fundraising and donor liaison
• Strong people skills (both in relation to the external partners and in relation to staff)
• Excellent communicator
• A dynamic, visionary person with a passion for social justice

QUALIFICATIONS
Required:
• Relevant masters level or Phd degree from accredited university (equivalent experience will be considered)
• Participatory action-oriented research experience
• Excellent English communication skills – both written and oral.
• Knowledge of qualitative and quantitative research methods
• Commitment to social justice and progressive change
• Experience working with social movements in diverse contexts
• Commitment to diversity and non-discrimination.
• Experience managing budgets and fundraising.

Preferred:
• Fluency in French, Portuguese, Arabic or Kiswahili an advantage.
• Fluency in other African languages an advantage.


The position will be based in Nairobi, Dakar or Cape Town with substantial travel throughout the continent.

Fahamu is an equal opportunity employer.

Salary range: GBP 30,000 - £35,000

To apply, please send the following documents on or before March 17, 2011, to fahamujobs@googlemail.com
1. a detailed CV including salary history
2. a cover letter explaining why you are interested in this position and why you feel you match the requirements for this position
3. a one page description of a key research question that you think is critical to the struggle for social justice in Africa at this time which outlines why this question is important, what methods you would use to carry out the research, who would the research benefit and how would you reach your primary audience. Please use Arial font 12 for this one page description.

Applications received after March 17, 2011, will not be considered.

Please note that only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.

Southern Africa: Regional Director

Synergos

2011-02-28

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/71249

Synergos is looking to recruit an innovative and entrepreneurial leader to be its Regional Director for its Southern African region to champion Synergos’ efforts to change the systems that perpetuate poverty and social injustice. Synergos supports leaders, leadership networks and partnerships that promote equitable access to basic human rights and needs – with particular emphasis on health and nutrition, the wellbeing of children and women, and education.
Synergos
Regional Director, Southern Africa
Based in Johannesburg



Synergos is looking to recruit an innovative and entrepreneurial leader to be its Regional Director for its Southern African region to champion Synergos’ efforts to change the systems that perpetuate poverty and social injustice. Synergos supports leaders, leadership networks and partnerships that promote equitable access to basic human rights and needs – with particular emphasis on health and nutrition, the wellbeing of children and women, and education.

The successful candidate will be an experienced professional, with a demonstrated capacity to generate ideas and resources, build trusting relationships and manage people and programs. He or she will have diverse networks in the non-profit, public and private sectors in Southern Africa, communication skills and fluency and the capacity to bridge social, economic and political divides. Prior experience working in the development field is advantageous.

A passionate advocate for social justice, the successful candidate will have the strategic capacity and entrepreneurial skills to help Synergos play a significant role inspiring, supporting and facilitating multi sector partnerships in Southern Africa. The successful candidate should also have prior experience in generating resources to support promising programs and initiatives.

As part of a global organization, with its head office in New York, the Regional Director will need to operate both independently and collaboratively, working with the Global and Regional Boards, the President and CEO, other Senior Directors and staff, partners and funders. He or she will need to have excellent planning, budget and management skills, and the ability to contribute regularly at a strategic and operational level to global and local partners.

A post-graduate qualification would be desirable. Candidates are expected to have at least 15 years of relevant experience including some time in a senior management position.

Compensation will be competitive and commensurate with experience and skills.

Interested candidates are requested to send a copy of their CV, together with a covering letter, which addresses suitability for the role to laurenfk2012@gmail.com

Deadline for Submissions: 18 March 2011

For further information please refer to our website www.synergos.org

Should you not hear from us, you should assume that your application has been unsuccessful. Shortlisted candidates will be contacted for an interview.

Fahamu