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Libya: behind the politics of humanitarian intervention

Mahmood Mamdani

2011-04-06

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/72300

cc KalliophSeeing the bombing of Libya only as an exercise in saving civilian lives barely scratches the surface, writes Mahmood Mamdani.

Iraq and Afghanistan teach us that humanitarian intervention does not end with the removal of the danger it purports to target. It only begins with it.

Having removed the target, the intervention grows and turns into the real problem. This is why to limit the discussion of the Libyan intervention to its stated rationale - saving civilian lives - is barely scratching the political surface.

The short life of the Libyan intervention suggests that we distinguish between justification and execution in writing its biography. Justification was a process internal to the United Nations Security Council, but execution is not.

In addition to authorising a ‘no-fly zone’ and tightening sanctions against ‘the Gaddafi regime and its supporters’, Resolution 1973 called for ‘all necessary measures to protect civilians under threat of attack in the country, including Benghazi’. At the same time, it expressly ‘excluded a foreign occupation force of any form’ or in ‘any part of Libyan territory’.

UN CONFLICTS

The UN process is notable for two reasons. First, the resolution was passed with a vote of 10 in favour and five abstaining. The abstaining governments - Russia, China, India, Brazil, Germany - represent the vast majority of humanity.

Even though the African Union had resolved against an external intervention and called for a political resolution to the conflict, the two African governments in the Security Council - South Africa and Nigeria - voted in favour of the resolution.

They have since echoed the sentiments of the governments that abstained that they did not have in mind the scale of the intervention that has actually occurred.

The second thing notable about the UN process is that though the Security Council is central to the process of justification, it is peripheral to the process of execution.

The Russian and Chinese representatives complained that the resolution left vague ‘how and by whom the measures would be enforced and what the limits of the engagement would be’.

Having authorised the intervention, the Security Council left its implementation to any and all. It ‘authorised Member States, acting nationally or through regional organisations or arrangements’.

As with every right, this free-for-all was only in theory; in practice, the right could only be exercised by those who possessed the means to do so. As the baton passed from the UN Security Council to the US and NATO, its politics became clearer.

MONEY TRAIL

When it came to the assets freeze and arms embargo, the Resolution called on the secretary-general to create an eight-member panel of experts to assist the Security Council committee in monitoring the sanctions.

Libyan assets are mainly in the US and Europe, and they amount to hundreds of billions of dollars: the US Treasury froze $30bn of liquid assets, and US banks $18bn. What is to happen to interest on these assets?

In the absence of any specific arrangement assets are turned into a booty, an interest-free loan, in this instance, to US Treasury and US banks. Like the military intervention, there is nothing international about implementing the sanctions regime. From its point of view, the international process is no more than a legitimating exercise.

If the legitimating is international, implementation is privatised, passing the initiative to the strongest of member states. The end result is a self-constituted coalition of the willing. War furthers many interests. Each war is a laboratory for testing the next generation of weapons. It is well known that the Iraq war led to more civilian than military victims.

The debate then was over whether or not these casualties were intended. In Libya, the debate is over facts. It points to the fact that the US and NATO are perfecting a new generation of weapons, weapons meant for urban warfare, weapons designed to minimise collateral damage.

The objective is to destroy physical assets with minimum cost in human lives. The cost to the people of Libya will be of another type. The more physical assets are destroyed, the less sovereign will be the next government in Libya.

LIBYA’S OPPOSITION

The full political cost will become clear in the period of transition. The anti-Gaddafi coalition comprises four different political trends: radical Islamists, royalists, tribalists, and secular middle class activists produced by a Western-oriented educational system.

Of these, only the radical Islamists, especially those linked organisationally to Al Qaeda, have battle experience. They - like NATO - have the most to gain in the short term from a process that is more military than political. This is why the most likely outcome of a military resolution in Libya will be an Afghanistan-type civil war.

One would think that this would be clear to the powers waging the current war on Libya, because they were the same powers waging war in Afghanistan. Yet, they have so far showed little interest in a political resolution. Several facts point to this.

The African Union delegation sent to Libya to begin discussions with Gaddafi in pursuit of a political resolution to the conflict was denied permission to fly over Libya - and thus land in Tripoli - by the NATO powers.

The New York Times reported that Libyan tanks on the road to Benghazi were bombed from the air Iraq war-style, when they were retreating and not when they were advancing.

The two pilots of the US fighter jet F15-E that crashed near Benghazi were rescued by US forces on the ground, now admitted to be CIA operatives in a clear violation of Resolution 1973 and that points to an early introduction of ground forces.

The logic of a political resolution was made clear by Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, in a different context: ‘We have made clear that security alone cannot resolve the challenges facing Bahrain. Violence is not the answer, a political process is.’

That Clinton has been deaf to this logic when it comes to Libya is testimony that so far, the pursuit of interest has defied learning the political lessons of past wars, most importantly Afghanistan.

Marx once wrote that important events in history occur, as it were, twice - the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce. He should have added, that for its victims, farce is a tragedy compounded.

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* This article first appeared on Al Jazeera.
* Mahmood Mamdani is professor and director of Makerere Institute of Social Research at Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda, and Herbert Lehman Professor of Government at Columbia University, New York. He is the author, most recently of ‘Good Muslim, Bad Muslim: America, The Cold War and the Roots of Terror’, and ‘Saviors and Survivors: Darfur, Politics and the War on Terror’.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

African solutions for Côte d’Ivoire: The deception of ‘no solution’

Tiago Faia

2011-04-05

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/72293

cc S PDespite Africa's intention to empower its continental and regional organisations, the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States have failed to propose a determined solution for the post-electoral crisis in Côte d’Ivoire, writes Tiago Faia. Instead the prospect of a new civil war looms on the Ivoirian horizon.

The second round of Côte d’Ivoire’s presidential election on 28 November 2010 marked the beginning of a new deep political crisis in the West African country. The two opposing candidates – Laurent Gbagbo and Alassane Ouattara – both claim victory in the election. The most important continent-wide and regional political organisations of which Côte d’Ivoire is a member, the African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), have failed thus far to propose a resolute African solution for the stand-off between the two candidates. As a result, the AU and ECOWAS demonstrated their incapacity to secure respect for democracy and the rule of law in one of its member states, and Côte d’Ivoire marches on to a potential new civil war.

Following the conclusion of the second round of the presidential election in Côte d’Ivoire on 28 November 2010, the Ivoirian Independent Electoral Commission proclaimed Ouattara the victor with 54.1 per cent of the votes. However, Gbagbo, the opposing candidate and incumbent president of Côte d’Ivoire, refuted the announced result. Against the findings of the international election observers stationed in Côte d’Ivoire during the electoral process, Gbagbo alleged the existence of voting fraud in seven Northern regions of the country. Accordingly, he urged the Ivoirian Constitutional Council to cancel the election results in the stated regions. The Constitutional Council abided by Gbagbo’s statement of claim and declared him the winner of the presidential election with 51.45 per cent of the votes.

The presidential election was to represent the culmination of the United Nations (UN)-sponsored peace process in Côte d’Ivoire, ongoing since the end of the bloody civil war of 2002–04. Instead it instigated a profound new political crisis in the country that resulted from the disputed victory in the presidential election by the two main candidates. The AU and ECOWAS are the most important continental and regional political organisations of which Côte d’Ivoire is a member. Therefore, they should have advanced a swift and effective response to the country’s post-electoral crisis. Nevertheless, and conversely to their aim to play an increasingly commanding political role in the governance of Africa and the West African region, the AU and ECOWAS have to date failed to advance a resolute solution for the mounting imbroglio in Côte d’Ivoire. By doing so, the two organisations fell short of demonstrating a capable posture in a matter that threatens directly the political, economic, social and military stability of both West Africa and the African continent. Before the inoperative capacity of the AU and ECOWAS, Côte d’Ivoire is presently on the brink of civil war.

The popular AU slogan of ‘African solutions for African problems’ remained ingrained in the organisation’s discourse concerning the resolution of Côte d’Ivoire’s post-electoral impasse. Following the early endorsement of Ouattara as the legitimate winner of the presidential poll, the AU created the High Level Panel for the Resolution of the Crisis in the Ivory Coast on 28 January 2011.[1] Its aim was to devise a solution for the complex crisis that afflicted the country. From the outset, the panel reiterated the AU’s adage, and asserted that its objective was to find an ‘African solution for an African problem’. On 10 March 2011, the panel announced its official proposition, which rested on both a pledge to Côte d’Ivoire’s Constitutional Council to swear in Ouattara as the legitimate president of the country, and an appeal to Ouattara to form a government of national unity.[2] Alas, the confrontation between Gbagbo and Ouattara had moved beyond the political sphere in the weeks that followed the elections, which prompted the two candidates to reject boldly the AU’s proposal. Furthermore, the AU’s political proposal was based on the same principles of its advanced recommendations for the polling disputes in Kenya and Zimbabwe in the recent past, which had brought markedly disappointing results.

The AU’s proposed solution was defective because it failed to consider the military, social and economic dimensions of the dispute between the two candidates. Militarily, the country resumed the partition that resulted from the civil war of 2002–04. The north fell again under the control of the former rebel group of the Forces Nouvelles, which declaredly supports Ouattara, and the south remained under the command of the Ivoirian army, which remains manifestly faithful to Gbagbo. Moreover, Gbagbo continued to enjoy the staunch backing of the nationalist armed militia of the Jeunes Patriotes. Both sides continually refuse to demilitarise and have exchanged fire in countless occasions across the country, including in Abidjan, over the most recent weeks.

Côte d’Ivoire’s military division corresponds largely with the current social cleavages that emerged in the country. Gbagbo draws his support from southern ethnic groups who regard themselves as ‘true Ivoirians’, whereas Ouattara’s popular backing comes mostly from northern ethnic groups that arguably originate from neighbouring countries. Additionally, there are large immigrant communities in Côte d’Ivoire from the entire West African region, who are often targeted by Gbagbo and his supporters.

Economically, the country is in disarray. In partnership with Ouattara, the international community imposed strict sanctions and a commercial blockade to Gbagbo’s regime. As a result, foreign banks discontinued their activities in the country, Côte d’Ivoire was suspended from the Central Bank of West African States, and its main industries (cocoa, coffee, cotton,and oil) suffered substantial setbacks. Accordingly, the solution advanced by the AU proved to be a ‘no-solution’ in practical terms. It neglected a multitude of factors that continue to sever the country in two distinct factions, which make conciliation unattainable under the terms of the AU’s proposition.

Similarly, ECOWAS’ attempts to find a solution for Côte d’Ivoire’s post-electoral crisis has so far produced little to no effect. Hitherto, ECOWAS endorsed Ouattara as the legitimate winner of the presidential poll, suspended Côte d’Ivoire from its activities and threatened to oust Gbagbo from power through the possible use of force.[3] Nevertheless, the organisation’s military warning to Gbagbo was never real but part of its strategy to pressurise him to negotiate the transfer of power in the country.

Gbagbo and his aides were well informed about the genuine capacity and verve of ECOWAS to intervene militarily in Côte d’Ivoire, and openly disregarded the organisation’s statement of intent. As a result, and at its most recent meeting on 23 March 2011, ECOWAS reaffirmed its standing on the subject and called upon the UN to intervene firmly in the resolution of the post-electoral crisis in the West African country. For that purpose, it appealed to the UN Security Council to review the mandate of the United Nations Operation in Côte d’Ivoire (ONUCI) to allow it ‘to use all necessary means to protect life and property and to facilitate the immediate transfer of power to Mr Alassane Ouattara’.[4]

Correspondingly, ECOWAS took a firm political stance on the post-electoral crisis in Côte d’Ivoire, yet it failed to resolve the dispute between Gbagbo and Ouattara. The organisation remains divided regarding the possible use of force in the country, which is most notably rejected by some of Côte d’Ivoire’s immediate neighbours – Ghana and Liberia. They fear a potentially pyrrhic victory for ECOWAS, which could spill over equally into their borders. Nigeria, which has the most capable armed forces in West Africa, expressed similar views on the matter but largely due to security concerns within its own territory. Whilst the use of force to oust Gbagbo from power could be a burdensome option for ECOWAS, the reality is that the organisation has failed to find a determined solution for the post-electoral crisis in Côte d’Ivoire. Moreover, ECOWAS’ recent appeal to the UN Security Council to resolve the dispute between Gbagbo and Ouattara denoted resignation regarding its capacity to play a commanding role in the governance of the West African region.

The response by the AU and ECOWAS to the complex post-electoral crisis in Côte d’Ivoire has thus far been feeble and irresolute. At a time when Africa seems intent on empowering its continental and regional organisations in line with the mantra of ‘African solutions for African problems’, more should be expected from the AU and the ECOWAS to resolve a presidential election dispute in one of its member states. The capacity to use force should not be considered a panacea or a prerequisite to resolve African crises. Nevertheless, the AU and ECOWAS must have at their disposal multiple and capable tools to convince the incumbent president of one of its member states to accept defeat at the poll. The incapacity of the AU and ECOWAS to resolve the Ivoirian post-electoral crisis demonstrated their defective resourcefulness to provide effective ‘African solutions for African problems’. As a result, Côte d’Ivoire now marches on towards a potentially full-blown military conflict with unforeseeable results for the country, the West African region and the African continent.

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

NOTES

[1] BBC, ‘Ivory Coast: AU Panel of Leaders to Seek Way Forward’, 29 January 2011 (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12314022)
[2] African Union, ‘Communiqué of the 265th Meeting of the Peace and Security Council, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia – Decision on the Situation in Côte d’Ivoire’, 9 March 2011, (http://au.int/en/dp/ps/documentshttp://au.int/en/dp/ps/documents)
[3] ECOWAS, ‘Press Statement by the President of ECOWAS Commission on the Current Crisis in Côte d’Ivoire’, 10 February 2011 (http://news.ecowas.int/)
[4] Reuters, ‘ECOWAS Calls for Strict UN Sanctions on Ivory Coast’, 24 March 2011 (http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/24/ivorycoast-ecowas-idUSLDE72N1TV20110324)

Côte d'Ivoire: Descent into hell

Dibussi Tande

2011-04-07

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/72352

cc Wikimedia‘The fog of war clouds everything for the moment; it's impossible to tell who is responsible for what -- and against whom. But it's important to look at all sides of the fighting, because when the dust settles, Cote d'Ivoire is going to be torn apart.’

Texas in Africa provides an eyewitness account from a source in Abidjan:

‘I don't know about if this will be technically genocide, but an aspect that is being missed is that the pro-Gbagbo camp is not in control of anything right now. The armed forces on the street are FRCI and civilians they have armed and they are extracting revenge at an alarming rate. The FDS and Gbagbo forces that are armed are mostly contained and surrounded by ADO forces in one or two tiny parts of the city. The FRCI have been looting our district like mad and banging on our door regularly trying to get inside since this morning. They have a roadblock set up right outside our gate. They completely looted many of our neighbors and are burning houses to the ground in retaliation. Ouattara has no control over many of them anymore at all. There is no central command. A prison was opened yesterday morning and all the 5,000 prisoners freed and armed many who then took revenge on the population...

‘If it is to be genocide here, I think it will now be from the FRCI side, as Ouattara has no control and many Dioula are angry and wanting revenge. The French and UN are basically saying they can't help a lot of people anymore. Many are dying right now. We have heard sustained gunfire since 5am yesterday morning. There have been [shell explosions], RPGs and mortars heard as well fairly regularly. We also heard heavy bombing most of the day today from the downtown region, where they are attacking Gbagbo's palace.

‘Our water has been cut, and our power is intermittent. We have enough supplies for several months and are hiding out in a barricaded room in our house in darkness.

‘I hope that this insanity ends soon. It is absolute anarchy here right now.’

A number of comments in the comments section questioned the accuracy or neutrality of this eyewitness account. As one commentator put it:

‘I agree with those who say that this account sounds like it comes from a Gbagbo supporter (LMPiste). This is not to say s/he is inventing. It's just to say that I think the situation on the ground is very confused right now, because there are multiple actors: (a) organized fighting force of Gbagbo, former FDS, etc; (b) Youth militias of Ble Goude; (c) released prisoners, whom ADO's government says were released & armed by Gbagbo; (d) the FRCI (national army) & (e) IB and his ‘commando invisible’ which is not connected to any politician. I have heard widespread reports of Gbagbo supporters putting on FRCI t-shirts and masquerading as FRCI. It's a confusing and horrifying situation.’

Chris Blattman provides yet another eyewitness report about the situation in Abidjan which demonstrates how difficult it is to get reliable on-the-ground reports:

‘I’ve talked to several folks in Abidjan today, and they paint a relatively different picture of Abidjan from the one that you just retweeted from @texasinafrica (“pure anarchy”) – even the ones living close to Gbagbo’s residence. They say that most people are staying home but that they are able to move through the streets a bit to get to shops, etc. There are gunshots being heard with some regularity, although not in all neighborhoods. Perhaps I’m just clinging to hope against hope, and obviously this is a very awful situation, but their general feeling is that this siege is going much better than would have been expected.’

Chris adds in the comments section that:

‘If there’s one theory of mass violence I believe, it’s what economists call the “security dilemma”, also known as “mutual fear”. Essentially, one side worries that the other side is going to commit violence, and so begins to consider a preemptive attack. The other side, knowing that the other side believes this, also begins to fear attack and so begin to mobilize as well. The other side, knowing that the other side thinks that their side is going to… You get the idea.

‘Escalating fears and violence thrive in low information environments. Explosive rumor is the greatest ally. The killing becomes self-fulfilling.

‘I’m only suggesting that bloggers and commenters don’t become part of the problem.’

Foreign Policy Blog’s Elizabeth Dickinson warns against the fog of war and points out that all parties in the Ivorian conflict have committed atrocities:

‘And to be clear: that's guns on all sides.

‘There's been a tendency -- an understandable one -- to single out Gbagbo for the atrocities that his troops have committed. As the obstinate one in this political crisis, it's Gbagbo who is under sanction by the West and who the African Union is calling upon to step down. It's Gbagbo whose forces fired upon and killed protestors, vividly captured on YouTube... And so naturally, it's Gbagbo who most people expect to end up in the International Criminal Court, paying for his crimes...

‘But it's important not to forget that Ouattara-loyal forces are also fighting. And on the battlefield, there's always a risk that atrocities could be committed. Reuters reports that Ouattara-loyal forces have remained disciplined so far, though they have executed some Gbagbo militiamen, according to Human Rights Watch. And yesterday, the United Nations called on Ouattara to "rein in" his forces as they take final control in Abidjan....

‘The fog of war clouds everything for the moment; it's impossible to tell who is responsible for what -- and against whom. But it's important to look at all sides of the fighting, because when the dust settles, Cote d'Ivoire is going to be torn apart. Civilians of all political persuasions are going to have horror stories to tell. And if only half the perpetrators are selectively brought to justice, it will be no justice at all; a society divided cannot be stable for long.’

Penelope M.C. compares the situation in Abidjan to the one that prevailed during the 2003 siege of Monrovia in Liberia:

‘For all the differences between the two conflicts, Laurent Gbagbo’s desperate hold on power is profoundly reminiscent of Charles Taylor’s in Liberia. Like Taylor, Gbagbo has his most loyal men controlling key areas, while he continues to sit in the presidential palace. Monrovia’s unique geography played into the hands of advancing rebel forces, who were able to isolate Taylor in the center of Monrovia by taking over bridges leading into the city. In Abidjan, the layout is different, but, similarly to Monrovia, there are islands and bridges, which are strategically important in urban warfare – whoever gains control of access routes has the advantage. The airport, which is currently controlled by UN and French forces, is on an island. The presidential palace sits on a peninsula.

‘I don’t know how long this siege will last. Gbagbo will not step down, and will not leave easily. The best case scenario is that he’s currently negotiating exile conditions in a third country and will get airlifted with his family. Worst case scenario is that the presidential palace where he sits is stormed by rebels and he is killed. At this stage, I’d say both of these possibilities are equally as realistic.

‘It’s our responsibility to bear witness to what is happening in Cote d’Ivoire now. Unspeakable crimes have already been committed by both sides of the conflict, and will continue to happen. Media and public attention are not silver bullets, but along with the real threat of prosecution, may help attenuate the levels of violence. At least, that is my hope.’

Nnenna explains how the #CIV2010 Twitter hashtag, originally created to monitor the 2010 presidential elections in Cote d’Ivoire, ended up being a virtual war zone, a ‘hate-tag’ used by the different factions of the ongoing Ivoirian crisis to settle scores:

‘The tag was kicked off on Twitter around October 2010. The idea was to get citizens interested in the upcoming elections to use it. So we used it as a monitoring tag for the campaigns and all the surrounding issues of the first presidential elections in the Ivory Coast. Having been there from the beginning, I must say, I enjoyed the early days of #civ2010...

‘The climax was the Thursday of the face to face debate of the 2 candidates of the run off. Allasane Dramane Ouattara, ADO for short, and Laurent Koudou Gbagbo, LKG for short. I do recall tweeting the whole of the debate, directly from the French that came out of their mouth into English, the whole 3 hours 13 minutes that it lasted! I also recall Twitter had to quarantine some of the heavy tweeple of #civ2010. My Twitter embargo was lifted after 10 hours!...

‘Then the run off on November 28… and the “the walls came tumbling down”. What a great transformation of the tag. It has gone from citizen watch and reporting space to a kind of association of folks who have something in common: someone or something they hate! Granted, the war is raging on the streets of Abidjan, but the war on Twitter is equally viral…

‘Nobody can say for sure how long the war in Abidjan will last. Neither can we say for sure who will come out having lost the least (since I personally don’t believe that anyone will come out a winner). The greater question that is looming larger by the day is: what do you with all these negative sentiments? How do you rebuild trust, acceptance and love? Is it possible? How long will it take? When will it begin..?’

Craig Murray argues that Cote d’Ivoire is in dire need of a transcendent ‘healing figure’ because Ouattara and Gbagbo have become lightening rods and divisive figures who’re unfit to rule:

‘In the short term, military force might be able to install Ouattara as President of Ivory Coast. But the ethnic and religious divisions of the civil war have been reopened, and deepened. Ivory Coast desperately needs a healing figure, somebody who is not Ouattara or Gbagbo. Having been imposed on Abidjan by force, Ouattara will only stay there by force. The future looks bleak…

‘Many thousands have been killed in the last week. The massacre of 800 civilians at Duekoue is only the worst individual event. It was carried out by fighters from the old LURD camp in the Liberian civil war, brought across the border by Ouattara with French money. That money has also brought in Burkinese and Senegalese fighters for Ouattara.

‘This is a tragedy for Africa, because it devalues democracy… Somehow the UN and the international community find themselves in the position of imposing by force, fighting alongside the perpetrators of massacre, the “democratically elected” victor. This denigrates democracy.

‘Nor should it be forgotten that Gbagbo’s forces had been responsible for plenty of killing of innocent civilians, particularly among the Ouattara minority in Abidjan itself. The international community should declare that both men have shown they are unfit to rule, and disqualify both from new elections.’

The BBC’s Andrew Harding blogs from Abidjan about a city in the throes of pain as it awaits the denouement of the Gbagbo-Ouattara confrontation:

‘A negotiated ending might have helped ease tensions in this bitterly divided country. After all, Mr Gbagbo won 46% of the vote in the recent election.

‘But he seems to have over played a weak hand, and so a more forceful denouement beacons, and with it the real risk of greater instability.

‘What will his militias do if Mr Gbagbo is killed, or dragged out and humiliated?

‘Yesterday I drove a few miles through the city suburbs. Small groups of civilians were half trotting along the side of the road arms raised as if in surrender. They were, they said, risking the bullets and the looters to search for water and food.

‘The stench of dead bodies, littering the sides of the road, is a powerful reminder of the price this city has paid for the "restoration of democracy".

‘What new horrors will we uncover if and when the city is finally pacified?’

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

North African dispatches: Why Algeria is different

Imad Mesdoua

2011-04-05

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/72294

cc MagharebiaIn contrast to its North African neighbours, Algeria has yet to see sustained mass protests from a broad base of its population. Imad Mesdoua discusses why this is the case.

He’s gone! Pharaoh finally understood he was the problem. Better yet, Hosni Mubarak finally managed to find a safe exit through which he, his family and, most importantly, his finances could make a run for it!

With his departure, Egypt breathes again. In fact, the Arab street as a whole celebrated the success of the Egyptian revolution. For weeks, the entire region was there to witness history unfold as millions of Egyptians took to the streets and in a truly heroic movement deposed the seemingly unshakable autocrat. In the euphoria which followed Mubarak’s departure, the army seized power and promised to go ahead with reforms demanded by the protestors. Mubarak had done the same following Sadat’s assassination, and one cannot help but fear the possibility of a regime perpetuating itself through the sacrifice of its figurehead.

Throughout the revolt, the army’s lukewarm support for the revolution and its tardy rally to the cause are greater causes for concern than celebration. Surely the end of Mubarak is not the end of the system nor is it the start of the democracy which the movement’s founders probably envision. Revolutions are often confiscated by those who join them last. Egyptians, like the Tunisians before them, should not stop at this success and make the fight for democracy a daily struggle!

Whilst Egypt rejoiced, nearby Algeria stood in anticipation at the call for pro-democracy protests on 12 February. A coordination made up of several members of civil society and political parties called for a rally on Algiers’s 1 May square and throughout the nation, hoping to emulate the wind of change blowing through the region. Despite high ambitions to mobilise, they were somewhat left short, with only a few thousand showing up.

Why was this case? Algeria has always been a land of rebels, the ‘Mecca for revolutions and revolutionaries’. In the 1960s, it emerged an independent nation following an atrocious war with the French coloniser, which gained it a sobriquet as the land of the ‘1.5 million martyrs’. In 1988, a recession-hit Algeria witnessed events comparable to those which recently took place in Egypt and Tunisia. Millions of Algerians took to the streets in nationwide riots and protests to demand the end of the FLN’s (National Liberation Front) one-party rule and reclaim their political and socio-economic rights.

In this respect, Algeria is the unrecognised antecedent to much of the revolts we are now witnessing. The rise of an Islamist tsunami and the coming to power of the army, as a result of cancelled democratic elections, would sadly put an end to an unparalleled – and short-lived – period of democracy. The North African nation quickly plunged into a tragic decade of violence and Algerians were left profoundly scarred from a civil war of unmatched brutality, widespread terror and complete paranoia.

Today, the country’s problems remain multiple and complex but stem from a reality easily observed: Algeria is rich, Algerians are not. Whilst macro-economic indicators are green, social and human development indicators show bright red. Home to considerable oil and gas reserves, Algeria has yet to rid itself of an exclusive reliance on primary sector exports to generate growth. This has simultaneously created a dangerously heavy dependency on importation. In 12 years, Algeria has made a whopping US$600 billion in benefits from its oil industry, with not much to show for it. Salaries are low, unemployment is high and inequality continues to grow, despite figures which state otherwise.

Despite efforts to restore state investment aimed at infrastructure and education, money is often poorly spent or squandered. The plague of corruption and nepotism recently materialised in the eyes of the public when the country’s economic pillar, SONATRACH (a petroleum company), was found to be riddled with handouts and shady dealings amongst officials.

Finally, the bureaucracy continues to be a burdensome, onerous and tedious labyrinth stifling the formation of capital and the encouragement of innovation. Start-ups that do flourish do so under the state’s watchful eye, which inevitably hinders the chance for job creation. Doctors, teachers and the civil service therein rely on very low wages compared to other economies where capital is created as opposed to simply distributed.

Finally, no real diversification to other resource-generating sectors was ever undertaken and the country’s shy industrialisation has always been subjected to petty ideological battles and superfluous regional favouritism. In this climate, Algeria’s economy and stability continue to be tributary to international oil and gas prices, as well as that of basic foodstuffs.

As recently as December, countrywide riots broke-out in response to sharp increases in the prices of cooking oil and sugar. In a country where many struggle to make ends meet, slight increases in basic food prices easily provoke the ire of the underprivileged. The Algerian press often mentions that in the sole year of 2010, 10,000 riots and protests took place throughout the country. More than anything, there is the imperative for housing. Riots also regularly break out over unjustly distributed public housing as it has become a fundamental frustration in the day-to-day well-being of many families.

Why then did Algerians, in this apparently negative environment, not march by the hundreds of thousands under the circumstances? For one, there is the fear of violence breaking out. The government mobilised for the occasion a daunting arsenal of helicopters and the odd-30,000 anti-riot police in the capital, a sign that nothing was being left to chance in the higher echelons of the country’s polity.

Despite a recent promise to lift the country’s 19-year state of emergency, protestors were frigidly reminded that protests were not authorised in the capital Algiers. With trains suspended and all major access routes carefully monitored, any sort of movement from neighbouring counties was rendered impossible. All of these measures obliviously made for a particularly tense build up which evidently left many wondering, whether it was worth putting one’s own security at risk.

The tragic reality for Algerians today is that no political party or figure seems able enough of rallying then aptly voicing grievances around one truly coherent set of political objectives (i.e., change!). This problem originates primarily in the political elite’s inability or unwillingness to rejuvenate it. Both the opposition and government boast figures at the other end of the country’s demographic make-up. With a population among the world’s youngest – the average Algerian being 24 – any political figure over the age of 50 talking of ‘change we can believe in’ is bound to seem out of touch or irrelevant.

All of these observations bring me to the final possible reason behind Saturday’s meagre showing. This movement for change does not yet resonate to a majority because it might appear, with the presence of certain political parties and/or figures, as another venture through which they may gain greater exposure. Though intense grievances exist in the country, Algerians continue to be highly sceptical of political parties – whether they are of the opposition or not. They are seen as self-serving or in league with the powers that be, thereby rendering their actions legitimate to audiences already acquired to their beliefs.

Young Algerians remain desperate for change, thirsty for a better life and disenchanted with their overall situation. Politics and ideology aside, they aspire to nothing more than dignity and a visionary project for their society. For some it can come through economic accomplishment and personal stability. For others it is a sense of belonging and a renewed trust in the country’s politics. Over the past weeks, the attempts by over a dozen people to immolate themselves publicly served as a bleak reminder to all of the profound malaise felt throughout vast sections of the nation. In this context, while many will continue to debate over the success/failure of Saturday’s march, what is certain is that the march broke a long-standing taboo of challenging the status quo.

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* Imad Mesdoua writes weekly on African and Maghreb affairs for Ceasefire. His interests include politics, current affairs and Real Madrid F.C.
* This article was first published by Ceasefire.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

North African dispatches: between a rock and a hard place

Imad Mesdoua

2011-04-06

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/72299

cc FilqImad Mesdoua dissects the politics of Western intervention in Libya. ‘In short, it is far too evident that Western powers are only ready to act decisively when it suits their interests,’ he writes.

History, they say, repeats itself.

In Afghanistan, we were told the Taliban, by aiding and abetting Al Qaida’s leadership, had indirectly contributed to the attacks of 9/11. Months later, US-UK unilateral intervention in Iraq, motivated by the presumed and now categorically disproved presence of Weapons of Mass Destruction, left a nation already scarred by internal divisions and the rule of a ruthless tyrant utterly devastated.

In Afghanistan and Iraq, NATO and American forces carry the burden of a ghastly legacy. Millions have died to achieve objectives we have yet to fully comprehend, let alone see on the ground. Nonetheless, the dawning of a ‘limited’ intervention in Libya over the past week through the enforcement of a ‘no-fly zone’, tells us that little from these past two experiences seems to have been assimilated by Western capitals.

The rise of the Arab spring has given observers in the Arab world hope that Arab populations themselves can finally be the actors of the change they so desperately needed. As autocrats in Tunis and Cairo fell in less than six weeks, it seemed only a matter of time before Muammar Gaddafi announced he was retiring to any African state willing to welcome him.

As days turned to weeks, a peaceful revolution turned into a protracted battle with each side aiming to control key cities of the country. As Gaddafi began to regain the upper hand, the international community found itself between a rock and a hard place. Though his departure seems to be the only thing anyone can agree on, the methods through which this is accomplished is far from generating any consensus. Libyans seem to be the ones held hostage, between the gluttony of their leaders and that of outside powers with unclear intentions.

The reality is that Libya, like Iraq, is a nation with a highly diverse ethnic and tribal landscape. We are told by the French they are coordinating their efforts with ‘rebels on the ground’. Who are these men of the ‘free rebel’ council the coalition says it is dealing with as partners on the ground? Who has given them such a mandate? What do they stand for?

Local envoys of international media organisations point to similarities between the rebel council and the Gaddafi clan’s methods of governance. Though only in its early days of existence, the armed rebellion’s leadership is already a divided one. Rife with nepotism and tribal connections, its authority is bound to erode in the coming weeks.

What’s more, as divisions within the coalition as to whether or not Gaddafi himself was a legitimate target were laid bare, I was of those to wonder just what on earth was going on within the higher echelons of NATO’s hierarchy. Surely one must ensure a workable political agenda is intertwined with military objectives to ensure Libya, in a post-Gaddafi era (if indeed this is what NATO is aiming for), is stable.

In its suspicious rush to go to ‘war’ the coalition has failed to spell out its objectives, the time frame in which it hopes to operate, who will head its military operations and worst of all, any politically viable exit strategy.

With Russia, China, Brazil and Germany opposed to the Security Council’s resolution on military action in Libya, France, in a role almost contradictory to its foreign policy traditions, emphatically led the charge as it hammered through a start to operations against key Gaddafi targets. One can only explain such enthusiasm by President Sarkozy’s faltering domestic standing.

Overwhelmed (willingly) by the Tunisian and Egyptian uprisings, facing public anger over his handling of the economy and confronted with what looks to be brutal electoral losses ahead, it seems the French president has gone so far as to launch a foreign intervention to shore up his approval ratings.

What is one to say of David Cameron, whose campaign to 10 Downing Street championed fiscal restraint and blasted foreign military intervention as costly luxuries the United Kingdom could not afford? It seems the temptation to appear a world statesman was too great.

Surely Barack Obama, concerned ‘above all’ with America’s standing in the region, should know that the very idea of American fighter planes carrying tomahawks anywhere near an Arab conflict is an image to be avoided at all costs? Finally, the Arab League served as the eternal rubber stamp to validate NATO’s intervention - only to condemn it days later, realising that Arab public opinion was hostile to the idea.

In the longer run, there exist two major risks that NATO leaders must immediately examine if they are to bring any sort of legitimacy to their actions. There is the imperative to avoid the death of innocent civilians, which needless to say will only antagonise local populations and harvest support for Gaddafi as a ‘hero’ resisting imperialism.

Furthermore, should the coalition fail to maintain any consensus amongst the country’s major tribal leaders, it runs the risk of reshaping Libya’s - and indeed the region’s - delicate power balances, thereby creating a chaos of greater proportions. Though there is a necessity to remove the Colonel and those loyal to him from power, are the methods being used tailored to the country and can they avoid the risks I have pointed to?

Therein lies the problem. Whilst we cannot and should not ever condone foreign military intervention, neither should we support inaction. The world simply cannot stand by and watch as a population faces the full force of Gaddafi’s military arsenal. It’s hardly a secret to anyone that neo-liberal, humanitarian interventionism is held hostage by geostrategic and political objectives which often render it illegitimate and certainly counter-productive. Though I am the first to understand and defend such a noble idea of aiding those unable to defend themselves, I certainly am all too aware of the real imperatives and double standards surrounding intervention.

These double standards have left a well-wishing public opinion, myself included, sceptical of Western powers’ good faith in undertaking such interventions. Ivory Coast, Bahrain, Yemen and Syria are currently the theatre of blind murder, and yet not much as one word is being said to remedy these injustices. Israel is a nation that has never heard so much as one condemnation for its aerial bombing of innocent civilians in Gaza and yet this is something Gaddafi will now pay for, and at a very high price.

Certainly all the states I mentioned earlier should be held accountable for their disproportionate use of force against their own and/or occupied populations through the creation of a no-fly zone. Or is it that some states are more sovereign than others? In short, it is far too evident that Western powers are only ready to act decisively when it suits their interests and those of their businesses and, sadly enough, at the expense of their own citizens’ taxes/opinions.

To paraphrase a friend’s wry comments, perhaps we are witnessing nothing more than a well-conceived and well executed business plan. Step 1: sell tyrant countless weapons. Step 2: hope or make it so that he becomes a threat. Step 3: destroy the arsenal just sold to him. Step 4: provide the new regime with new weaponry. Step 5: reap the financial and geostrategic reward of being the ‘liberator’.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* This article first appeared in Ceasefire Magazine.
* Imad Mesdoua writes weekly on African and Maghreb affairs for Ceasefire. His interests include politics, current affairs and Real Madrid FC.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

Uprising, imperialism and uncertainty

Sokari Ekine

2011-04-07

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/72342

cc FilqWill the protests across Africa result in real social and political reform, or just a changing of the guard, asks Sokari Ekine.

In addition to the uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya – all of which remain in various revolutionary stages – protestors have taken to the streets in Zimbabwe, Senegal, Gabon, Sudan, Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria, Benin, Cameroon, Djibouti, Cote d’Ivoire and most recently in Burkina Faso and Swaziland. Some protests have been single ‘days of rage’, others have lasted a few days or weeks. There are many similarities between the uprisings but also differences, often related the level of organising prior to the uprisings, for example the strength of trades union and student movements, political activism and so on; levels of repression and overall frustration of youth in particular with high unemployment and lack of freedom; the belief that civil disobedience can work; and the willingness to persevere not for days but for weeks on end.

Social movement scholar George Katsiaficas describes the mass movement of citizens uprising against their governments as ‘the eros affect’ – people coming together out of solidarity and revolutionary love for one another with a shared self-understanding. This contrasts with the enemy – authoritarian regimes which act out of hate, fear and repression of the masses. Katsiaficas points out that uprisings like the ones taking place in Africa at the moment often take place regionally, such as in Asia in the 1980s and 1990s – in Bangladesh, Taiwan, Indonesia, South Korea, Nepal, the Philippines, Burma, Thailand – and in Eastern Europe. It is also worthwhile considering the outcomes of these previous waves. How different are these countries today? In most cases there has been little real change in the power structures – different faces, same people. The post Tahrir Square uprisings in Egypt speak to the complexities and difficulties in achieving real social and political change and it is a long way from clear how Egypt or Tunisia will look in one, two, five years time.

In [/url=http://www.africavenir.org/news-archive/newsdetails/datum/2011/03/31/democratic-uprisings-brutally-suppressed-in-many-african-countries-interview-with-firoze-manji-pa.html?tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=12&cHash=0002b1f1368d68974db63ec0f3f3d579]an interview with The Real News[/url], Pambazuka editor-in-chief Firoze Manji made the important point that there is far more to the uprisings than just the removal of dictators – there is collective discontent with the whole post-colonial project. Independence and democracy have in reality proved to be myths in the minds of the people:

‘But the real, real thing is and real common thing that everyone faces has been 30 years of structural adjustment programs, 30 years where all social services have been privatized, 30 years where there has been massive accumulation by dispossession. You have the peasantry losing land. You have people migrating to the cities. You have a huge decline in income. And what we have most seriously is not just dispossession of land and of resources and services, but also a dispossession politically.’

I think we have reached a point now when political activists from across the continent and allies need to ask how can we support each other in these uprisings – crossing regions and national borders? How can we in the diaspora support our sisters and brothers at home? How do we create a Pan-African network of solidarity – students, workers, trade unionists, queers, land rights activists and civil society in general which can give support to national movements, possibly in the same way that leaders of the 1950s and 60s independent movements supported each other in their struggles.

COTE D’IVOIRE

Last Wednesday the UN Security Council unanimously passed a resolution ordering sanctions against Laurent Gbagbo, which would impose a travel ban and the freezing of his assets. As the week progressed, the battle between Laurent Gbagbo and Alassane Ouattara became more entrenched whilst UN [UNIC] and French Special Forces, in a similar move to those in Libya, went from protecting civilians to actively engaging forces loyal to Gbagbo and in the process killing civilians.

Nearly a week after the UN resolution, Gbagbo who has stubbornly refused to accept defeat is on the verge of surrendering as he is surrounded by Ouattara forces with no way out. According to Reuters, Gbagbo is negotiating his departure with the UN and by the time this is published this may have been agreed. I hope he will be arrested and called to account for his actions. At this juncture it is highly unlikely that his surrender alone will end the conflict. Just a few days ago the bodies of 800 people were discovered in a mass grave and thousands had fled the town of Duekoue. It is not yet clear whether Ouattara or Gbagbo forces are responsible for the massacre.

Although the Obama administration response to Cote d’Ivoire has been relatively muted, the US president has openly supported Ouattara as the rightful winner of the elections. However, blogger Bombastic Element reports that some US Republicans are openly supporting Gbagbo in what appears to be motivated by Islamophobia.

‘First it was Pat Robertson, now Republican senator James Inhofe took the senate floor yesterday, pleading Gbagbo's case and presenting his version of Cote d'Ivoire's rigged election math to CSPAN cameras.

‘We are no fans of Quattara, but in pitching their buddy Gbagbo and his line about rigged election results, Robertson and Inhofe, blinded by Christian camaraderie and the fact that Quattara is a Muslim, are selling snake oil to a Libya fatigued American public, who is just now tuning in to watch.’

Whether Gbagbo leaves or not, Cote d’Ivoire has been thrown over the precipice. Thousands of civilians have been killed, in protests, crossfire or purposefully hunted down and massacred. Hundreds of thousands more have been internally displaced or fled as refugees to neighboring countries. ECOWAS and the African Union have failed the Ivorian people – in the end they did nothing of substance and should be thoroughly ashamed. As for French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, he is turning out to be a prime war-monger.

BURKINA FASO

Street protests across Burkina Faso began in February following the death of a student in police custody:

‘Unprepared for the scale of public protest which had spread throughout the country and involved all sectors of society, the regime began to waver and the country saw one of its most serious crises since the revolution. Thousands of people came out in the streets of Ougadougou and the provinces when news came that Norbert Zongo had died in a car “accident”. People attacked symbols of state, including the headquarters of the presidential party, the Congress for Democracy and Progress (CDP). More than 20,000 people turned out for the funeral of the slain journalist on 16 December and public emotions ran high for several months after his death.’

But President Blaise Compaore, whom it is believed was complicit in the assassination of revolutionary leader, Thomas Sankara, is also having to deal with a rebellion by his own army officers.

SWAZILAND

Radical Africa blog reports that students in Swaziland are planning a ‘North Africa’ style uprising beginning on 12 April. The announcement was made by student leader and exile, Pias Vilakati. Swaziland Coalition of Concerned Civic Organisations (SCCCO) and Swaziland National Union of Students (Snus) will lead the protests. The government of Swaziland has learned nothing from its counterparts in Tunisia and Egypt instead they have threatened to arrest online activists who set up a Facebook page in support of their actions. Swaziland reports:

‘The Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA), the premiere media freedom organisation in Swaziland, has criticised the Swazi Government’s attempts to censor free speech on the Internet, in particular in Facebook groups.

‘MISA says, ‘Such threats only serve to instil further fear among citizens who are already constrained and unable to express themselves freely through the traditional media, which is heavily censored by the government.’

Apart from the attempts at censorship, this is such a ludicrous action by the government to prevent people from organizing, as it assumes that without social media uprising cannot or will not take place. It goes hand in hand with the ‘technoholics’ who continue to attribute revolutionary actions with social media – Twitter, Facebook and blogs. The blog also reports on the Swazi Observer’s ‘trying to instill fear’ by reporting the government will deploy security forces across the country’s schools on 12 April to ‘protect teachers and pupils’.

LIBYA

As the US announces it is withdrawing from the bombing campaign, many believe they are simply switching their intervention to supplying the rebels with arms and training on the ground. For many though, the Libyan rebels are fast loosing credibility. Lenin’s Tomb writes:

‘Can I just risk a modest proposition? NATO, the CIA and the special forces belonging to the world's imperialist states are not forces of progress in this world. Does anyone disagree with that? If not, then it follows as surely as night follows day that the successful cooptation of the Libyan revolution by NATO, the CIA and special forces is a victory for reaction. It's no good hoping that the small, poorly armed, poorly trained militias of the east of Libya, who are now utterly dependent on external support, will somehow shake themselves free of such constraints once - if - they take power. Even if they eventually get some of the Libyan money that has been frozen by international banks, as UN Resolution 1973 promises, it will have come all too late to have been decisive.’

The Angry Arab has given up on the Libyan rebels altogether:

‘It is no more a Libyan uprising I was as excited as anyone to see the Libyan people revolt against the lousy dictator, Qadhdhafi: a tyrant who one should hate with an extra measure of eccentricity because--like Saddam--he is particularly obnoxious and repugnant as far as tyrants are concerned. But I can't say now that I support the Libyan uprising: it is no more a Libyan uprising. The uprising has been hijacked by Qadhdhafi henchmen, Qatar foreign policy agenda, and the agenda of Western government. Count me out.’

In response to an Al Jazeera report that Libyan rebels are receiving covert training from the US, Arabawy echoes the Angry Arab in this post on the hijacking of the Libyan revolution by western imperialist forces. [Video]

‘This is catastrophic. The biggest imperialist force on the planet, NATO, is bombing Libya “in the name of revolution,” CIA operatives are active on the ground, Western “military advisers” become visible in Benghazi, as US and Egyptian military specialists are reported by Al-Jazeera to be training the revolutionaries.

‘The Libyan revolution is being hijacked in front of our eyes… This is counterrevolution…’

DJIBOUTI

The president of Djibouti, Omar Gelleh, changed the Constitution so he could run for a third term in the 8 April elections. This has been followed by an increase in repression with dozens of arrests of opposition leaders and human rights activists.

The government of Djibouti has refused to allow peaceful protest and continues to silence critics and political opposition. A Human Rights Watch reports on the crackdowns:

‘The Djibouti government has repeatedly prevented protest rallies since it violently dispersed a peaceful demonstration on February 18 and arrested scores of demonstrators and bystanders. The security forces responded with violence and arrests after demonstrators left the area designated for the rally, and marched to the national stadium.

'The February 18 rally was called to protest an amendment to the Djibouti constitution that allows the President Ismael Omar Guelleh to run for a third term on April 8. Opposition parties also object to an opaque election system they believe unfairly benefits the president and his party.’

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* Sokari Ekine blogs at Black Looks.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

Will Swaziland become the next Tunisia or Egypt?

Peter Kenworthy

2011-04-06

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/72298

cc Salym Fayad Pro-democracy campaign groups are calling for an ‘April 12 Uprising’ in Swaziland. Peter Kenworthy assesses the potential impact of the campaign.

Inspired by Tunisia and Egypt, Swaziland is the latest African country to plan an uprising based on online social networking tools such as Facebook.

The name and the date of the campaign, the ‘April 12 Uprising’, is symbolic. April 12 was the day the absolute monarch’s father, Sobhuza II, declared a state of emergency in 1973 that banned all political parties, centralised all power within the monarchy, and generally set the course for the mass poverty and increasing financial mess that Swaziland finds itself in today.

This state of emergency, and a monarchy that is increasingly out of step with the desperate situation of the majority of Swazis, is still in place 38 years later. The effects of this are clear to all: the regime brutally and routinely clamps down on all calls for democracy however peaceful, two thirds of the population live below the poverty line whilst the monarchy and a small elite live in luxury, hundreds of thousands survive on food aid from the World Food Programme, over 40 per cent have Aids, and over 40 per cent are unemployed.

Those behind the April 12 Uprising campaign, who are all anonymous except for the group’s founder, ‘Jahings Dada’, promises that ‘a hundred thousand men’ (and presumably women too) will ‘march into the country’s city centres to declare a 2011 democratic Swaziland free of all royal dominance.’

More specifically, the campaigners demand democracy and a (provisional) end to the monarchy. The regime must ‘hand over power to a transition government elected by the Swazi people’, and ‘the king must vacate office immediately and go on vacation’ until the Swazi people have decided on the future role of the monarchy. They also speak of wealth redistribution, free education and health facilities, the ‘uprooting’ of traditional structures and of creating an ‘egalitarian society’.

The campaign claims to be ‘unaffiliated’, that ‘all political parties and civic organisations are ‘invited to take a leadership role’ in the campaign, and that there has been recruiting in ‘major centres’ to ensure that the campaign is able to be truly national in scope.

Several organisations from within and outside Swaziland have already stated their support for the campaign, including the South African based Swaziland Solidarity Network, South African trade union federation COSATU, and from within Swaziland, the Swaziland United Democratic Front, the Swaziland National Union of Students, the Swaziland Democracy Campaign and some of the Swazi trade unions.

Those that I have contacted for this article were cautiously optimistic about the campaign’s potential.

Thamsanca Tsabedze, from the Foundation for Socio-Economic Justice, calls the April 12 Uprising ‘extremely important and absolutely necessary’. ‘It has the potential of exerting the necessary pressure on government to concede power one way or the other,’ he says, ‘and to a certain extent it has already succeeded. A clear attestation to this has been the outcry by a Member of Parliament who also happens to be a Minister that his constituency is infested with people who are talking about the April 12 Uprising.’

On the other hand, Tsabedze warns people not to be overly optimistic. ‘The numbers might not be that impressive owing to the fact that the April 12 Uprising has taken a more radical and broad approach in announcing itself as an activity that seeks to topple the government. A low turnout might impact negatively because people might not take the mass democratic movement seriously in the future for similar activities.’

Bongani Masuko, COSATU’s international relations secretary (and himself a Swazi national) is also cautiously hopeful. ‘I do believe that it [the April 12 uprising] will contribute to the advancement of our struggle objectives for a democratic Swaziland,’ he said. On the other hand, he insisted that it will take the energy of the democratic movement as a whole to bring change. ‘We must not fall into the trap of believing that it is the on-going social networking or Internet sites that have made people aware of their problems and the existence of a struggle in Swaziland. It is the years of hard work, dedication and sacrifice by cadres of the progressive movement, civil society and all social forces involved therein. Every struggle is not an event, but a process.’

Richard Rooney, former associate professor at the University of Swaziland and author of the widely read Swazi Media Commentary, is less sure of the initial impact of the campaign, mostly because of the logistical problems in getting people in from the rural areas, where most Swazis live, and because he believes people are still too scared of the consequences of a large-scale demonstration.

‘People are very unhappy that the economic meltdown has started to affect them personally. This has brought them on to the streets. April 12 is about something different. It is the stated aim of the April 12 Uprising Facebook group to ‘topple’ the Swazi monarchy. It remains to be seen how many people will take to the streets to support that.’ He does acknowledge, however, that even though the campaign might not achieve its immediate goals of regime change, it might still ‘be the day that led to something else’.

Another representative from within the democratic movement, who wished to remain anonymous, is worried about the lack of coordination around April 12. ‘I am not sure that there will be an uprising nor that there has been extensive preparation to ensure a huge turn out.’ He did, however, believe that the democratic movement as a whole was well prepared for action in April. ‘My colleagues will be coming up with a roll out, if not for 12 April then for some dates in April as it is for us a busy and focus month.’

But whatever the scope and impact of the campaign come 12 April, the regime and those that support it are visibly worried about it. The Swazi senate has mandated the labour and social security minister to try and prevent it, security forces are allegedly searching high and low to try and find those behind it, arbitrarily taking people in for questioning according to the campaigners, and parts of the conservatively inclined and heavily censored Swazi media are busy discrediting it in what the campaigners call a ‘smear campaign’.

Additionally, and perhaps more worrying, the Swazi army has been sent for training in Pakistan and huge quantities of military hardware have recently been bought (the military budget is now equivalent to the health budget). ‘We are spending a lot on the army but we are not anticipating what is happening in North Africa. The army is there to avoid such situations,’ Finance Minister Majozi Sithole told French news agency, AFP.

All this is a clear indication that the regime, known for its brutality against peaceful democracy campaigners, is not going to go quietly, however much the campaigners insist on wanting a peaceful demonstration. Many in Swaziland hope, however, that a combination of a huge turnout, good international press coverage, and the fact that even the armed forces and police are beginning to feel the economic problems, will ensure a peaceful and ultimately successful demonstration.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* Peter Kenworthy is a member of Africa Contact's Swaziland group.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

Swazi economy: Time for intensive care

Bongani Masuku

2011-04-06

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/72303

cc UN PhotoAs pro-democracy forces gear up of a protest on 12 April, this edited paper from the the Swaziland Democracy Campaign (SDC) shows how the Swazi economy has all but collapsed – with devastating consequences for the poor.

The Swazi economy is currently in the depths of a deep-seated structural crisis, negatively impacting workers, communities, and the poor more broadly. The current crisis explains the Tinkhundla regime’s desperate attempts to effect massive structural changes that seek to reconfigure the Swazi economy, paradoxically still in line with the narrow interests of the royal minority that is at the heart of the collapse in the first place.

At the time of Swaziland’s independence in 1968, the royal minority inherited a highly skewed colonial economy. The edges of the skewed nature of the economy were further sharpened through a royal ‘bourgeoisification’ process, with the establishment of a ‘royal fund’ through the vehicles of Tibiyo and Tisuka TakaNgwane. To date, royalties from mining as well as land held by the monarchy for the Swazi nation (utilised by the major sugar and forestry estates), accrue to the royal family through these institutions, and not to the state, lesser still to the people. This system is designed to ensure that the parasitic royal family maintains their huge, highly unproductive and unfettered share from government in the form of the Swazi National Treasury (SNT), an entity separate from central treasury. According to the Swazi Royal Emoluments and Civil List Act (enshrined in the Constitution of 2005), Parliament should legislate a limit to the money going to royal institutions. Inexplicably, this stipulation has been ignored over the decades, handing the royal family 5 per cent of the annual budget to dispense with as they please.

THE PARASITIC ECONOMY: CAUSES

Swaziland is Southern Africa’s second-smallest economy after Lesotho and is suffering from a combination of low investment, dwindling international opportunities, low productivity levels, deteriorating trade receipts and low domestic resource capacity. This is further compounded by the years of poor growth levels, which have resulted in the deepening of poverty and unemployment. Even worse is the alarming impact of the 32.4 per cent prevalence rate of HIV/AIDS.

Swaziland ranks as one of the most unequal societies in the world. Two key factors contribute to this:

Firstly, the deliberate designs of the Tinkhundla royal regime to monopolise national resources and allocate these for their own narrow interests, to the exclusion of the suffering majority of the people and;

Secondly, the inability to translate the economic growth experienced in the 1980s and 1990s into effective development for the benefit of the majority of the people and instead the pursuit of a neoliberal policy framework.

The royal family consumes about 5 per cent of the annual budget while 70 per cent of Swazis live below the poverty line of US$1 per day. This reality exists despite the fact that Swaziland qualifies as a middle-income state due to a flattering per capita GDP. Swaziland is therefore not poor in strict economic terms. However, the country’s glaringly skewed politics of distribution certainly are.

Neoliberal economic policies remain a large part of the problem. Any structural adjustments would have and will still hurt the ordinary citizen while temporarily cushioning the interests of big businesses. Are these not the same policies responsible for the total collapse of the global economy?

The Swazi economy is therefore characterised by massive concentration in the hands of a tiny minority with land in the hands of a few (largely members of the royal family who are unable to use it for productive purposes). The economy is largely agro-based, with semi-feudal relations frustrating its development potential, as the majority produce for their landlords rather than for national or for their own benefit.

There are very high and unsustainable levels of poverty, which are compounded by the systematic destruction of jobs and the lack of creation of new ones. As the economy is no longer expanding, excess dependence on the Southern Africa Customs Union (SACU) revenues have exposed the fragility and lack of foresightedness on the part of the regime, who have looted without regard for the future sustainability of the economy. The crisis of the economy is deep and systemic.

Not so long ago, Swaziland was regarded as a middle-income country with a GNP per capita of US$1360 (1999). This global economic ranking illustrates the weakness of the neo-liberal model of economic measurement, as it disregards the huge inequalities and resorts to an artificial or narrow, technical means of categorisation. The standard of living for the majority of Swazi nationals has been steadily and gradually declining since the royal regime’s ascendance to power in 1968.

According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Swazi economy is characterised by huge unequal distribution of income and living conditions, regional disparities in income and living conditions, skewed property income and land ownership, inequality in upward mobility and favouritism in social opportunities, unequal access to safe and clean water and sanitation facilities, massive rural and urban poverty and landlessness.

The enormity of the current crisis is spoken for when one looks at the facts surrounding Swaziland: life expectancy is now at 31.88 years, 30 per cent of all children are orphaned or vulnerable due to living with a critically ill parent, only 6 per cent of the national budget is allocated to health and 2.4 per cent to social services, 69 per cent of the population live in extreme poverty, 25 per cent of the population live on food aid donations and unemployment is estimated at over 40 per cent. Meanwhile, the king has an estimated personal fortune of US$200 million.

THE DIAGNOSOS: INTENSIVE CARE

According to a media commentary, ‘It is estimated that the Swaziland government is overspending by E30 million a month (4.2 million US dollars) and is using its foreign currency reserves to pay bills.’ It went on to say, ‘there is also suspicion that “development aid” destined for Swaziland doesn’t go where it is needed, but instead is siphoned off by King Mswati to pay for his palaces, Mercedes cars and his general lavish lifestyle.’

It summed up by saying, ‘there is overspending by E30 million a month, little chance of selling bonds or assets or securing loans, and a potentially unsympathetic international community.’

The question is where does all this spending go, and who benefits from it?

Finance Minister Majozi Sithole said that government revenues are so low that ‘non-SACU’ revenues are not enough to pay the government wage bill. The extent of the crisis is further explained by the revelations that, ‘the government needs income and it needs it quickly. It is trying all the usual tricks of economists to stay afloat, such as seeking loans, selling assets, issuing bonds’.

However, there is very little, if any success in the aforementioned. The World Bank and the IMF have refused to offer Swaziland a 500 million US dollar loan from the African Development Bank (ADB), citing that the government was spending too much for a kingdom of its size. And more recently the government made a commitment to the IMF to cut 7,000 jobs in the public sector to help ease its possibilities for securing a loan.

Given this situation, the sale of assets is a last resort. Deplorably, the Swazi monarchy (estimated to be wealthier than the country as a whole), is unwilling to release its resources (ill-gotten and belonging to the people anyway) to better the situation.

Notwithstanding, the real source of the problem is the Tinkhundla system in its entirety. It is a fraudulently designed framework founded on the basis of safeguarding and perpetuating the interests of the greedy royal minority to the exclusion of the poor majority.

As early as 1989 the Swazi regime was beginning to realise what the implications of the end of apartheid in South Africa meant for Swaziland. For a long time, the royal regime openly flirted with the apartheid regime, benefitting from the sanctions against apartheid South Africa and acting as a sanctions buster, collaborating with the Pretoria regime and other such global forces. Swaziland was seen as an alternative destination, with apartheid South Africa products being branded as originating from Swaziland. Further, the civil war in Mozambique added to the notion of Swaziland being a rather ‘peaceful and stable’ investment destination.

With democracy, peace and stability descending on South Africa and Mozambique, Swaziland’s competitiveness against a relatively stable Mozambique and a post-apartheid South Africa disappeared. Investors preferred the developed infrastructure in South Africa, access to the sea in both countries, population sizes, and the geo-economic spaces offered by these two countries.

The early 1990s marked a consistent decline in the Swazi economy’s growth rates, though not much in the consumption rates by the ruling elite. Despite this, and in the midst of deepening poverty levels, expenditure on military and security increased.

The health and education budget for members of the royal family using expensive institutions outside the country continues to skyrocket, whilst education and health facilities in the country continue to deteriorate and collapse. Social expenditure, national development and the interests of ordinary people suffered as royal projects such as state-of-the-art royal villas and clinics received priority funding. This explains the deepening inequalities in income and opportunities for the poor majority, particularly for women and those living in rural areas.

The decline in the growth rate of the economy led to the ruling regime introducing neo-liberal economic reforms in the form of their so-called medium-term intervention, the Economic and Social Reform Agenda (ESRA), and what they called their long-term scenario mitigation or planning programme, the National Development Strategy (NDS). Both these programmes have failed. There are now new emerging initiatives that seek to replace these, without an open acknowledgement of the failures of these past initiatives.

According to an Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report, ‘the country’s manufacturing sector is hard hit, with virtually all significant manufacturing sub-sectors (cement, agricultural machinery, electronic equipment, refrigerator production, footwear, gloves, office equipment, confectionery, furniture, glass and bricks) affected by the global slowdown in trade. Further, forest fires that destroyed timber supplies impacted on the wood-pulp industry. Equally, the apparel industry was hit as it is dependent on preferential trade arrangements with the United States through the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).’

TAX THE POOR, GIVE TO THE ELITE

Whilst the economy is in a free-fall, there are no credible measures being taken in the medium term to normalise the situation. Instead, the government has engaged in underhanded tactics aimed as fleecing citizens of their last penny. Examples include: a new three per cent tax for low income earners, forcing the adoption of new car registration plates, aggressively dealing with traffic offenders through exorbitant fines or bail, new travel documents, the prime minister and finance minister’s unilateral ‘home grown Fiscal Adjustment Roadmap’ recently presented to the IMF, World Bank, and EU, and others. While these stern measures negatively affect the ordinary taxpayer, they do nothing to tackle the big-time tax evaders.

In fact, for some time now, the Swazi regime has been involved in an exercise to expand the tax base by targeting all those things upon which the poor and working masses rely for their livelihoods; including trees, domestic animals and other such basics.

Budget estimates point to about 68 per cent of the budget being allocated for security services. This bears testament to the priorities of the Swazi regime, which is essentially about protecting the privileged few and keeping the rest in conditions of starvation.

The government seems unfazed by the gravity of the situation, with unwarranted expenditure continuing. They are going ahead with:

- plans for a 25th Anniversary for King Mswati III;

- wasteful and fruitless expenditure associated with the royal family and high expenditure on functions meant to buy patronage and popularity such as the annual Reed Dance’

- salary increments for politicians and (inevitably) civil servants at a time of crisis;

- Hefty handshakes for retiring top politicians and inordinately excessive funding for security forces (including the creation of new ranks to be accompanied by increased pay).

In essence, Swaziland’s economy is suffering from a lack of a clearly articulated national development plan or growth path aimed at supporting strategic sectors, and enforcing a redistributive capacity to ensure the effective and full participation of all the people in the development of the country.

THE URGENT NEED FOR AN ALTERNATIVE

It is clear from the foregoing that Swaziland is suffering from a democracy deficit in its governance system. Democracy in Swaziland will ensure that credible institutions tasked with properly managing the affairs of the state are put in place. In this regard, multiparty democracy holds the only promise for the reform of the Swazi state, both to keep the monarchy in check and to ensure the establishment of these credible institutions with strong checks and balances to run state affairs efficiently.

MERITOCRACY VERSUS PATRONAGE

There has been a deliberate path of rewarding loyalty to the royal family rather than on the basis of excellence or merit. This is a most debilitating strand of corruption, as it kills off honest industry and demotivates those who uphold this value. Their reality is of having to look on in bemused helplessness as the indolent ‘get ahead’ through royal connections.

There is an equally pressing need to change the structure of the economy from export orientation to an import substitution model.

There’s an even bigger need to support an agrarian revolution, coupled with the need to enhance this crucial sector’s linkages to other economic sectors.

EMERGING FORCE FOR CHANGE

Realising that the hopeless state of the economy is foremost a symptom of bad governance, the trade union movement and other progressive social forces inside Swaziland continue to express their disgust and anger. Since its historic launch in Johannesburg on 21 February 2010, the Swaziland Democracy Campaign (SDC), a campaign-oriented operational wing of the Swaziland United Democratic Front (SUDF), has been active in bringing the massive socio-economic time bomb to the attention of the world. This time bomb has remained largely unnoticed by the outside world and is now waiting to explode. The SDC has undertaken the task of uniting the forces for democracy both inside and outside Swaziland through engaging in rolling mass protest actions inside Swaziland aimed at building an appreciation of the extent of the Swazi crisis globally. Through this it hopes to ensure that the world takes the necessary measures to support those inside the country that are facing this painful and harsh reality and who are struggling to change the situation for the better.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* Bongani Masuku is the international relations secretary for the Congress of South African Trade Unions.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

The war on Africa’s family farmers

Joan Baxter

2011-04-06

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/72302

cc ILRIProposing ‘grandiose solutions without first diagnosing the causes of what ails Africa and her people has never stopped the World Bank, corporations and the odd billionaire from prescribing the wrong medicine for the continent,’ writes Joan Baxter, as the Bank makes plans to ‘unlock’ the future of African agriculture.

‘A VIVID IMAGE OF RURAL POVERTY’?

The opening line in the World Bank’s ‘World Development Report 2008 — Agriculture for Development’ goes like this: ‘An African woman bent under the sun, weeding sorghum in an arid field with a hoe, a child strapped on her back—a vivid image of rural poverty.’[1]

With all due respect to the team of World Bank experts who put together this extensive (and no doubt very expensive) 365-page report, there are problems with this picture. Conspicuously absent are the woman’s family members and other women with whom she may be chatting and laughing as she weeds. And she may be quite happy to have her baby snuggled against her back – where better for both mother and child?

But its lack of context and narrow focus are not the only problems with this World Bank ‘vivid image of rural poverty’. It’s a one-dimensional stereotype concocted to arouse pity rather than inspire the respect that Africa’s farmers deserve. It ignores their intricate knowledge of local resources, the crop varieties they have developed to cope with a wide range of soil and climatic conditions, their complex and resilient agro-ecological family farming systems. It misses the bigger picture, the myriad other crops that the woman undoubtedly cultivates on a very agro-biodiverse family farm, the valuable trees that she and her family depend on for income, food, fibre, medicine, wood and that the soils depend on for fertility and protection. It perpetuates the false notion that Africa’s family farms are inefficient and non-productive.

It ignores the importance of the family unit and the solidarity of the rural community, its advantages over urban slums. It misses the enthusiasm, ingenuity and energy of Africa’s farmers who continue to produce their own dazzling array of crops and the seeds for them. The stereotype doesn’t jive with reality of women’s farming groups like the indefatigable women of Petaka in Mali, the determined ‘Perseverance Women’s Group’ in the village of Bongor in Sierra Leone, the exuberant ‘Rural Housewives’ Group’ in the village of Ngalli II in Cameroon singing and dancing all the way to their agro-forest.

Countless more farmer groups (male and female) across the continent are working tirelessly to increase their incomes, against all the political and economic odds stacked against them, and in the face of increasing hardship of climate change that they are not causing.

But this kind of detail and perspective would spoil the stereotype the World Bank is promoting of the universally hapless, helpless African farmer, unable to do much of anything without the wisdom of World Bank and its corporate friends.

A VIVID IMAGE OF MODERN URBAN WEALTH, HUBRIS AND GREED?

Since the World Bank seems comfortable with the business of stereotypes, perhaps we should offer them another one: ‘A clique of very powerful, well-fed and very rich corporate tycoons and bankers clad in expensive suits, meeting around a gleaming Board Room table and deciding how to ‘unlock’ the future of African agriculture – a vivid image of 21st century urban wealth, hubris and greed.’

In late January this year, the World Bank hosted just such a high-level meeting of ‘experts’ at its headquarters in Washington, DC. Their purpose was to ‘unlock Africa’s agriculture,’ ‘assist African smallholder farmers to transition from subsistence to commercial farming’ and to ‘help nurse Africa’s baby agricultural industry to maturity’.[2]

Hosting the confab was the World Bank president himself, Robert Zoellick, formerly vice chairman of the Goldman Sachs Group, one of the most powerful and wealthiest investment banks on earth. And who were these handpicked ‘experts’ that he invited to Washington to decide the fate of millions of African farmers? Unfortunately, we don’t have the complete list because the World Bank has failed to respond to repeated requests for this information. So we have only a short World Bank report on the meeting to give us some idea of which ‘experts’ were present. What is almost certain is that not one of them has ever looked past the stereotype they themselves are developing of Africa’s family farmers – and their farms – as pathetic, immature and unproductive.

Among those represented at the meeting were, for example, the US-based retail giant, Walmart, and the South Africa-based retailer Shoprite, and beer maker SABMiller. The report says that they ‘spoke exciting [sic] about their belief in the African small farmer’.[3] Also present at the meeting were Standard Chartered and Cargill.

It is not obvious that these participants are ‘experts’ on Africa’s family farming or understand the very real problems that they face and therefore, what the solutions would be for them. But proposing grandiose solutions without first diagnosing the causes of what ails Africa and her people has never stopped the World Bank, corporations and the odd billionaire from prescribing the wrong medicine for the continent.

The Structural Adjustment Programs, for instance, which were then replaced by Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers, have all involved austerity budgets that have slashed health and education budgets, agricultural extension services and support programs for family farmers and rural communities. The Green Revolution supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates and Rockefeller Foundations emphasises global markets, imported seed, fertilisers and pesticides, and merely threatens the diversity and resilience of agro-ecological family farms.[4] Furthermore, on the advice of so-called ‘donors’, the World Bank Group and the International Monetary Fund, trade liberalisation has cranked open African doors to the flooding of local markets with cheap and imported – often subsidized – foodstuffs that undermine local economies.[5]

All of this leads to ever-increasing hardship for Africa’s family farmers. Even with all the enormous obstacles in their way – poor roads, lack of access to markets and basic amenities such as schooling, lack of storage and processing equipment, unfair competition from dumped produce from overseas, bad advice from foreign experts, climate change and a serious lack of respect – Africa’s smallholders still manage to produce 80 per cent of the continent’s food.[6]

But now it seems that the World Bank and its corporate friends have yet another even more dangerous plan for Africa and her farmers. This involves taking over Africa’s agriculture so that corporations and wealthy investors will ultimately control the production and sale of food, agrofuels and other commodities grown on the continent. That same old corporate strategy that has already decimated the North American family farms and food system, taking complete control of the food chain with a ‘Corporate Food Crusade’.[7]

They don’t frame it that way, of course. The ‘experts’ at the World Bank meeting spoke of boosting ‘the productivity of Africa’s farm sector, creating jobs, improving livelihoods and alleviating poverty’.[8] You’d swear that they were kind, compassionate people sincerely interested in the welfare of Africa’s family farmers and food security on the continent. Until, that is, you examine who they are and what it is they really have in mind for African agriculture.

WHO ARE THESE ‘EXPERTS’ WHO WILL ‘UNLOCK’ AFRICA’S AGRICULTURE?

Walmart is the world’s largest retailer, owned by the Walton family in the US. The net wealth of the four Waltons is about US$90 billion; on the Forbes list of the world’s billionaires they rank 10th, 20th, 21st and 22nd.[9] Walmart is known for its extremely low wages and cutthroat business practises in its global sourcing network, which drive down prices no matter what cost to producers. Walmart has given rise to the term ‘Walmartisation’, synonymous with union-bashing and a race to the bottom.[10] Walmart’s foundation has set aside US$1 billion to ‘invest in agriculture in Africa’.[11] Given its own record of cutting costs and increasing profits on the backs of employees and producers, it is difficult to imagine that Walmart has even a microscopic shred of interest in the welfare of Africa’s farmers.

Another presence at the World Bank meeting was Cargill, the world’s largest agribusiness and food trader, the world’s largest privately owned company.[12] Cargill is not an obvious candidate to be best friend to family farmers in Africa, or to anyone else for that matter. Among other things, the company has been sued on behalf of trafficked children who were abused on cocoa plantations in the Ivory Coast,[13] has been responsible for food contamination [14] and for causing rampant deforestation.[15]

SAB Miller is a global brewing and bottling giant, a major bottler of Coca Cola.[16] The company, with profits of over 2 billion British pounds a year, has been accused of using tax havens to evade 20 million pounds worth of taxes across Africa and in India.[17] Predictably SAB Miller ‘strongly rejects’ the allegations.[18]

Standard Chartered, also among the ‘experts’ in Washington to ‘unlock’ African agriculture, is a multinational financial services company dating back to colonial times when its profits accrued from British colonies.[19] Its recent history is chequered with scandals, described benignly in business circles as ‘ethical lapses’.[20] Standard Chartered is now heavily into private banking,[21] a euphemism for socking very wealthy people’s money away in tax havens.

So what on earth were representatives of such corporate giants and banks doing meeting behind closed doors with the World Bank president to discuss African agriculture? Their intentions, while shrouded in corporate-speak, can only be understood by reading between the lines of the World Bank report.

First, they appear to be after farmland. The World Bank Group, despite its claim to be promoting ‘responsible agricultural investment’[22] is fully behind the land grabbing in Africa. It helps set up investment promotion agencies and provides consultants to help foreign investors get their hands on massive tracts of land, often with extremely generous tax holidays.[23]

At the Washington meeting, participants said there is a need for more agricultural investment in Africa, where ‘60 percent of all arable land continues to lie fallow’ or is ‘uncultivated’. The implication here is that fallow or ‘uncultivated’ land is somehow unused and available for investors to gobble up. A beginner’s guide to environmental sustainability and agro-ecological agriculture would teach them that fallow land is immensely important. It improves soil fertility, preserves biodiversity, protects precious water and soil resources, acts as a crucial source for firewood and construction materials, for medicines, wild annual crops and tree crops, and straight-from-the-tree delights such as palm wine. Fallow periods are becoming shorter,[24] suggesting that there is not a surplus of arable land in Africa, but increasingly a shortage of it.

‘Today’s scientific evidence,’ says the UN Special Rapporteur on Food, ‘demonstrates that agro-ecological methods outperform the use of chemical fertilizers in boosting food production where the hungry live — especially in unfavorable environments.’[25] Using agro-ecological methods, family farmers could double food production in critical regions in the next ten years and also improve the situation of the poorest.’[26]

But such evidence seems to have eluded the ‘experts’ meeting at the World Bank. They spoke not of family farms but of ‘private farms’ – undoubtedly mechanised plantations doused with chemicals and heavily irrigated, planted with a handful of seed varieties (including genetically modified ones), which will be in the hands of enormous investors – to ‘satisfy demand from global retail giants like Walmart and Shoprite’.[27] These ‘private farms’ can, they say, ‘provide jobs, help raise farmers’ incomes [as lowly paid farm labourers? tenant farmers?], improve livelihoods in rural communities as well as provide health, education and housing services to rural dwellers’.[28]

These are precisely the fallacious arguments being used by foreign investors – hedge funds, sovereign wealth funds, corporations – that have already grabbed tens of millions of hectares of Africa’s land to transform it into giant plantations that are the anti-thesis of the family farms.[29] These corporations and bankers do not believe in farming as a way of life; they believe in farming as a very profitable business that they control. Their goal is not to improve family farming in Africa, but to eradicate it.

Interestingly, the ‘experts’ from the top end of the private sector, corporations and banks worth billions of dollars, claim that to transform African agriculture, they should be able to access public money. In Washington, they argued that, ‘Success will come if African governments and donors worry less about the public dollar finding its way into the private bottom line.’[30] In their distorted worldview, by turning Africans into labourers on their own land, they will be ‘rendering a public service’ and they ‘should be able to benefit from public funding.’

One wonders how their ‘free market’ ideology, their disdain for the public sector and loathing of taxes reconciles with their desire to suckle from the public teat.

A GLOBAL CORPORATE ASSAULT

The World Bank meeting is just part of a global assault that is being waged on Africa’s farmers by giant corporations and financial interests. The World Economic Forum in Davos is also in on the act, with its report ‘Realizing a New Vision for Agriculture — A Roadmap for Stakeholders.’[31] The stakeholders that ‘championed’ the initiative are 17 giant global corporations, ‘Archer Daniels Midland, BASF, Bunge, Cargill, The Coca-Cola Company, DuPont, General Mills, Kraft Foods, Metro, Monsanto Company, Nestlé, PepsiCo, SABMiller, Syngenta, Unilever, Wal-Mart Stores and Yara International’.[32]

These corporations, about as far removed from Africa’s family farmers as one can get and still be in the same universe, reportedly ‘contributed tremendous leadership and technical expertise’. The report recommends ‘market-based solutions’ but would have us believe their real interest is to help the world’s rural poor.

Across the continent, donors and governments echo the same rhetoric, saying that agriculture must become ‘agribusiness’, that farmers must produce for the global marketplace, that the private sector (with public money?) is the answer, the ‘hoe and cutlass’ are no longer viable; mechanisation on large privately held plots of land are the future.[33] This is coming at a time that the UN Special Rapporteur on Food is warning that farmers around the world need to wean themselves off fossil fuels.[34] Africa’s farmers won’t need to do that, if they are allowed to keep their land and their farms – they’ve never become addicted to fossil fuels.

To soften up the public to accept this massive takeover of Africa’s land, seeds, farms, water resources – this War on Africa’s Family Farmers – the corporate ‘experts’ and bankers start with stereotypes that reduce the African farmer to an object of pity and derision as backwards and dirt-poor. Conjure up that ‘vivid image of rural poverty’.

Once again, it pays to consider an alternative image, one of the wage-earning woman turned labourer on land she once farmed. This one is real and it comes from one of those corporate ‘farms’ in Africa, on a 20,000-hectare lease taken out by Addax Bioenergy of the Addax & Oryx Group on 20,000 hectares of land in Sierra Leone, for the production of sugarcane for ethanol to be exported to Europe. A woman, once a farmer and now a labourer on the Addax plantation, approaches visitors with open arms, begging them to look at her ‘diminished’ body now that she is toiling under the hot sun, carrying sugarcane for a large corporation and earning about US$2 a day.[35] This doesn’t even begin to compensate her for the loss of her farm and the many crops she once grew to feed herself and her family – a vivid image of the truly impoverished life of a lowly paid farm labourer on a corporate plantation in Africa. But this image – of the future they envision for Africa’s farmers – is not one that the World Bank and large corporations wish to visit.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* Joan Baxter is a journalist, development researcher and award-winning author. Her book ‘Dust From Our Eyes – An Unblinkered Look at Africa’ is published by Pambazuka Press.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

NOTES

[1] World Development Report 2008: Agriculture for Development. 2007. Washington, DC: The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development / The World Bank. p 1
[2] World Bank. 29 January 2011. Concessional funding key to unlock Africa’s agriculture. Washington, DC: The World Bank. http://bit.ly/fzQlXO
[3] Ibid
[4] Food First Institute for Food and Development Policy. Alliance for a Green Revolution (AGRA) Fact Sheet. http://bit.ly/fj39uO
[5] Christian Aid. June 2005. The economics of failure: the real cost of 'free' trade for poor countries
http://bit.ly/i3SY09
[6] See: Steering Committee of the Pan-African Campaign: We Are the Solution: Celebrating African Family Farming. 7 February 2011. Dakar Declaration. Available at: http://bit.ly/ftQqKs: AND: Altieri, Miguel A. 2009. Agroecology, small farms and food sovereignty. Monthly Review. http://bit.ly/hL5S2Y
[7] Food First Institute for Food and Development Policy. 3 February 2011. Onward Corporate Soldiers: colonizing the poor for their own good. http://www.foodfirst.org/en/node/3288
[8] World Bank. 29 January 2011. Op. cit.
[9] Forbes. 9 March 2011. The World’ Billionaires. http://www.forbes.com/wealth/billionaires/list
[10] Colin McGranahan, analyst for Sanford C. Bernstein & Company, cited in: Stohlman, Joseph. 4 March 2011. Walmart enters Africa. Think Africa Press. http://thinkafricapress.com/article/walmart-enters-africa
[11] World Bank. 29 January 2011. Op. cit.
[12] Forbes. Andrea Murphy, Private Eye. 8 February 2011. Private companies: 2011’s top spot? http://blogs.forbes.com/andreamurphy/2011/02/08/private-companies-2011s-top-spot/
[13] Keating, Gina. 16 July 2005. ADM, Nestle and Cargill sued to end trafficking, torture and forced labor on African cocoa farms. Reuters. Available at: http://bit.ly/hdpXx3
[14] United States Department of Agriculture, Food Safety and Inspection Service. 6 October 2007. Wisconsin Firm Recalls Ground Beef Products Due to Possible E. coli O157:H7 Contamination. http://1.usa.gov/exxiyQ
[15] Astor, Michael. 19 July 2006. Amazon port in stormy waters
U.S. company finds resistance by environmentalists. Associated Press. Available at:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/4058727.html
[16] SABMiller, Overview. http://bit.ly/h2nQsA
[17] ActionAid. November 2010. Calling Time — Why SABMiller should stop dodging taxes in Africa. http://bit.ly/hIJvh7
[18] SABMiller News. 26 November 2010. SABMiller reacts to ActionAid’s report on tax in developing markets. http://bit.ly/hv3wXy
[19] Standard Chartered. History. http://www.standardchartered.com/about-us/history/en/index.html
[20] Lee, Yoolim and Menon, Jon. 4 November 2009. Standard Chartered 79% return overtakes HSBC with Asian rebound. Bloomberg. http://bloom.bg/hfL4Xb
[21] NEWSGD.com. 29 May 2007. Standard Chartered Bank sets up private banking HQ in Singapore. http://www.newsgd.com/business/enterprise/200705290048.htm
[22] Deininger, Klaus and Byerlee, Derek. 2011. Rising global interest in farmland: can it yield sustainable and equitable benefits? Washington, DC: The World Bank. p xiv
[23] Baxter, Joan. 6 May 2010. Protecting the investors — but what about the people? Pambazuka News. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/64224
[24] Franzel, S. 1999. Socioeconomic factors affecting the adoption potential of improved tree fallows in Africa. Agroforestry Systems: 47: 305–321
[25] United Nations Human Rights, Office of the High Commissioner. 8 March 2011. Eco-Farming Can Double Food Production in 10 Years, says new UN report. http://bit.ly/f6Sn1Z
[26] ‘Agroecology and the Right to Food’, Report presented at the 16th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council. 8 March 2011. http://bit.ly/f6Sn1Z
[27] World Bank. 29 January 2011. Op. cit.
[28] Ibid
[29] For a collection of articles on the ‘farmland grab’ worldwide and in Africa, see the special website created by GRAIN: http://farmlandgrab.org/
[30] World Bank. 29 January 2011. Op. cit.
[31] World Economic Forum. 2010. Realizing a New Vision for Agriculture — A Roadmap for Stakeholders, prepared in collaboration with McKinsey & Company. Davos, Switzerland: World Economic Forum. http://www.weforum.org/issues/agriculture-and-food-security
[32] Ibid. p 3
[33] Interviews conducted in Mali and Sierra Leone in 2010.
[34] Henshaw, Caroline. 8 March 2011. Farmers must be weaned off using oil, days U.N. expert. Wall Street Journal. http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704758904576188220051993828.html
[35] Interview conducted in Sierra Leone in December 2010.

Somalia: Manifestation of stealth trusteeship

Afyare Abdi Elmi

2011-04-07

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/72335

cc E IIt's time to put the destiny of Somalia back in the hands of the Somali people, writes Afyare Abdi Elmi.

Somalia is currently under what James Fearon and David Laitin of Stanford University call ‘a neo-trusteeship system’. Various external powers, while disagreeing among themselves, make the important decisions for the Somali people.

On 30 January 2011, the Ethiopian-dominated Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), a regional organisation comprised of seven East African states, called for an extension of the Somali parliament's mandate. The dysfunctional Somali parliament duly understood the message sent by Addis Ababa and within three days unilaterally extended its mandate for three years.

The US and UN rejected the unilateral extension, with James Steinberg, the US deputy secretary of state, arguing that it would strengthen al-Shabab and Augustine Mahiga, the UN special representative for Somalia, joining in the chorus of criticism. The disagreement within the international community over Somalia was exposed, with Ethiopia and IGAD lining up on one side and the US and UN on the other.

The fact that agencies within the US have at times pursued different policies in Somalia adds another layer of complexity. The defence department views Somalia through the lens of the 'war on terror' and, as a result, allies itself with Ethiopia, while the state department is aligned more closely with the rest of the international community.

Two months on, the Obama administration is still insisting that the decision to extend the mandate be reversed. As a compromise, Washington has suggested a one-year extension of the parliamentary mandate and two back-to-back presidential elections in August 2011 and 2012.

But the Obama administration has condemned neither IGAD nor Ethiopia for triggering and defending the Somali parliament's decision at international forums. Logic dictates that if Washington is so serious about this it should direct its concerns to the source of the latest political entanglement - Ethiopia. And, as bizarre as this may seem, Meles Zenawi, the Ethiopian prime minister, could deliver a reversal of the decision much more promptly than the Somali parliament.

Meanwhile, the UK is positioning itself to lead Somalia's post-transition period after August 2011 - a role it sought to kick start during a conference it hosted in February. Unsurprisingly, besides some general recommendations, nothing substantive came out of the gathering.

Although Mahiga participated in the UK conference, he failed to influence its outcome and therefore called for another conference to be held in Nairobi in March. Both the Djibouti government and the TFG rejected this, arguing that it would not advance peace in Somalia. Obviously, this will further exacerbate perceptions that Mahiga, like his predecessors, is micro-managing Somali affairs as though he is the governor of the country. Perhaps a reconciliation conference for Somalia's external patrons is in order.

MISSING SOMALI VOICES

In all of these discussions the one thing that is missing is the voice of the Somali people. And this politicking does nothing to advance peace or state-building in the country.

Somalis have not elected the members of their parliament. Ethiopia and its proxy warlords selected half of them in 2004. The rest were selected by Sharif Sheikh Ahmed, the president, and Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan, the speaker of parliament, in 2009, when the parliament was expanded to feature a staggering 550 members.

In the more than six years that the Somali parliament has been in place it has not fulfilled its basic functions, failing to produce a single piece of legislation. In addition, it has not linked the government to the people it claims to represent; many of its members do not even visit, let alone seek to advance the long-term interests of, their constituencies.

In general, the assumption, although this is not stated publicly, that drives these external, paternalistic and, at times, counterproductive initiatives is that Somalia is not ready to become a nation again.

There is a widespread belief among members of the international community that Somalis are too divided and too clannish to lead their own state. Some even employ economic arguments to question the viability of a Somali state.

The most important decisions, such as the type of constitution it adopts or who represents the people, are therefore taken with minimal input from the Somali people themselves.

SEEKING SUPPORT

Of course, one may argue that Somalia is not alone in its trust status. The international community has used similar arrangements in a number of cases, including East Timor, Sierra Leone and Liberia. But, at least, the powers that be (the five permanent members of the UN Security Council) were open about their approach to those countries. In these instances, the Security Council deliberated over the available options and then tasked one country with leading the transition process; Australia in East Timor, the UK in Sierra Leone and the US in Liberia.

In Somalia, that is not the case at all.

For the last 20 years, the international community, as divided as it is, has chosen to create or facilitate transitional governments and/or regional administrations. In one way or another, these administrations have been undermined by members of the same international community. For example, a transitional government was created in 2000 in Djibouti. But, Ethiopia and IGAD undermined it by inviting warlords loyal to them to another conference where a parallel process was set up to torpedo the existing one.

In 2004, another transitional government was established. Even though President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed was willing to work with the international community and sought its assistance, Washington chose to empower Mogadishu warlords while ignoring the government it recognised as legitimate. Within that same modus operandi, when Islamists defeated the warlords, the Bush administration ignored the Somali government, supporting and encouraging the 2006 Ethiopian invasion.

Similarly, the current Sheikh Sharif Ahmed-led government has been struggling for the last two years to secure genuine support. It is true that the TFG has failed to control corruption and has not delivered on the tasks set for it. But it is equally true that while the international community chooses to support, empower and fund - to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars - the AMISOM (African Union Mission in Somalia) forces, it has not provided timely and substantive support to the transitional government.

In 2006, the Islamic Courts Union pacified Mogadishu with a militia of less than 1,000 people. Now, in theory at least, the AMISOM has close to 10,000 troops in Mogadishu, while the TFG claims to have more than 15,000. But even with these forces at their disposal they have failed to pacify Mogadishu, let alone the rest of the country.

It is a public secret that there are many ghost soldiers in the Somali forces and the tribal militias they use. But what about the AMISOM forces - are all of the 8,000 to 10,000 peacekeepers in Mogadishu also ghost soldiers?

ETHIOPIAN MEDDLING

Ethiopia's meddling remains one of the principal obstacles to attaining and sustaining peace in Somalia. Addis Ababa, as it did in the past, has now created proxy militias, which it supports financially and militarily. It is openly involved in the war against al-Shabab in the central and southern regions of Somalia. And while there is wide opposition to al-Shabab, Ethiopian involvement in these operations does not have public support. If Ethiopia's past role in Somalia is anything to go by, Zenawi is essentially interested in establishing his proxy groups in those regions so that he can use them to sabotage efforts to re-establish the Somali government.

Both the TFG and the international community must expose and reject Ethiopia's harmful interventions. If the TFG remains silent about Addis Ababa's military interventions or attempts to justify them, it will lose twice. Firstly, any territorial gains will have been made by Ethiopia's proxy groups and not by the government. And secondly, the government will lose credibility by jeopardising its greatest achievement - removing Ethiopian troops from Somalia.

Like the government, the international community has not learned from its past mistakes. Outsourcing the Somalia war to Ethiopia backfired, empowering al-Shabab at the expense of other groups. When Ethiopia was removed from the country, al-Shabab dramatically lost the support of the people and communities began to organise themselves against the group.

The lesson here is that the best way to defeat violent extremism or piracy in Somalia is by helping to build a powerful central state, not via the dysfunctional trusteeship of many masters or clan fiefdoms. The sooner we understand and act on this, the closer we will be to establishing durable peace in the country.

FORMAL UN TRUSTEESHIP

To put it bluntly, the Somali people deserve better than to have external parties micromanaging their internal affairs. But, until the current web of political confusion, frustration and exploitation is untangled, one approach is to be straight with the Somali people and to formalise the harmful practice that is currently in place.

As happened in East Timor and, to some extent, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Afghanistan, the US and UN should seriously think about placing Somalia under some form of 'trusteeship'. If this is done, the current contest between the Ethiopian-controlled IGAD and US-controlled UN will end. The Security Council could assign Somalia to one country - preferably a state like Turkey or China - which will then assist in rebuilding.

There are two benefits to such an arrangement.

Firstly, the Somali people will know when this trusteeship period will end and what the final result will be - a Somali-owned state. With the current arrangement, nobody knows when the de facto external control will come to an end and what the final outcome will be.

Secondly, any country tasked with assisting Somalia will have to be transparent and accountable to the Somali people and to the UN. There are already performance benchmarks in place for this.

HELPING SOMALI INSTITUTIONS

Another option for the international community is to help existing Somali institutions to deliver context-appropriate and workable structures within a specified time and then provide them with the support they need.

This would involve establishing new legal and governance structures, reducing the number of members of parliament (to between 120 and 160) and the number of people in government (to about 15 to 18 ministers), the separation of the executive and legislative branches and the introduction of a second chamber (of about 60 members) to represent the clans.

Once workable institutions are in place, the international community should give more support to Somalis than it provides to AMISOM.

Somalia is run by many masters, who have multiple and irreconcilable agendas. None of these have the support of the Somali people and none have been mandated by the UN to manage Somalia. This freewheeling and political exploitation must end.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* This article first appeared on the Al Jazeera website.
* Afyare A. Elmi teaches international politics at Qatar University and is the author of ‘Understanding the Somalia Conflagration: Identity, Political Islam and Peacebuilding’.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

Listening to the voices of Kenya's election exiles

Including refugees in transitional justice processes

Bernadette Lyodu

2011-04-06

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/72305

cc M M TBernadette Lyodu looks at the relationship between forced migration and transitional justice, with reference to efforts to include refugees who fled the 2007 election violence in Kenya's transitional justice processes.

On Thursday 26 March 2011, members of the Kenyan Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) led by Ms Tecla Wanjala Ag. Commissioner, visited Kenyan refugees living in Kiryandongo refugee settlement in north-western Uganda. Kenya’s 2007 national presidential elections were marked with violence resulting in loss of lives, widespread displacement and consequently, a TJRC was established with a view to conduct investigations into the violence.[1] During the visit, commission officials conducted interviews and discussions on how refugees can be included in the transitional justice processes about to kick off in Kenya, inviting the community to air out their grievances and offer suggestions. Concerns were voiced over the possibility that those who fled the election violence of 2007 being automatically labelled as perpetrators upon their return, along with uncertainties over repossessing properties, including land and questioned whether they can enjoy security upon return. The TJRC also in turn recorded refugees’ stories to share with the rest of the country and for inclusion in the transitional justice processes. Participants’ willingness to speak on camera about their experiences as refugees and fears associated with return are indicative of the importance attached to the transitional justice process by Kenyan refugees.[2]

The above visit fundamentally contributed to the development of transitional justice processes in the Great Lakes Region by practically facilitating the participation of refugees living in exile in the development of transnational justice mechanisms. It represents a step forward in developing and understanding the complex relationship between forced migration and transitional justice. It remains to be seen whether the refugees’ views will be incorporated into the emerging Kenyan process and whether doing so will enable them obtain justice and eventually facilitate return for this population.

This article aims at contributing to the vast transitional justice literature by using Kenya’s TRJC as a case study to illustrate the complex relationship between forced migration and transitional justice.[3]

BACKGROUND TO THE KENYAN REFUGEE SITUATION

The Kenyan refugees presently in Uganda arrived in the country between 2007 and 2008 as a result of the violence that erupted during the 2007 Kenyan presidential elections. Since it gained independence from Britain in 1963, Kenya had enjoyed a reputation of a relatively stable democracy within the East African region, until the disputed 2007 presidential elections that led to the worst ethnic unrests in Kenya, changed the status quo.[4] It was the first time Kenya generated significant numbers of refugees as well as IDPs, thus joining the ranks of other refugee-generating countries in the Great Lakes region.[5] The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in 2008 reported that over 12,000 Kenyan refugees had crossed into Uganda.[6] Some of the Kenyan refugees returned spontaneously soon after arrival. Others, however, found themselves unable to return, as long as the issues which contributed to their flight remained unresolved. As is usually the case with residual populations that remain after repatriation, individuals in this group cited a variety of individual and community concerns related to return. As refugees cannot be returned (refouled) to their country of origin under duress,[7] such residual populations often remain in the country of asylum permanently or until they become convinced that conditions have improved sufficiently for them to risk going home. A demonstrated willingness on the part of the home country to engage in transitional justice processes, improve governance – and otherwise ensure that the original violence does not recur – can be key to facilitating return. The refugee community consultations carried out in Kiryandongo refugee settlement camp can be viewed as an attempt to restore confidence among the refugees through demonstrating that the Kenyan state is genuine in its desire for an inclusive and just society.

TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE OFFERING THE HOPE OF A DURABLE SOLUTION FOR REFUGEES

Transitional justice as a field concerns itself with how societies address legacies of past human rights abuses, mass atrocity (including genocide and civil war) in order to build a democratic, just and a peaceful future.[8] Transitional justice relies in part on international law to provide the legal frameworks necessary in order to hold states responsible for halting on going human rights abuses, investigating past crimes, identifying persons responsible for human rights violations,[9] prevention of future human rights abuses, preserving and enhancing peace, providing reparations to victims, and fostering individual and national reconciliation.[10]

The inclusion of all affected parties, and of victims in particular, in the planning and execution of any transitional justice process has increasingly been recognised as crucial to the proceeding’s success, and has resulted in the increased popularity of quasi-judicial bodies such as truth and reconciliation commissions which provide greater opportunity for victim participation than formal legal processes. Victims having a voice in the proceeding is now recognised as a crucial component of justice and is held forth by some as conducive to psychological healing. By including voices in exile in the transitional justice processes, decision-makers can hope to increase the willingness to return among those who have been consulted by demonstrating the value they attach to the refugees as citizens and communicating acceptance. The psychological impact for forced migrants of feeling heard cannot be overemphasised.

To date, policy connections between transitional justice and forced migration have largely been limited to the internal displacement context. For example, the UN Framework on Durable Solutions states:

‘IDPs who have been victims of violations of international human rights or humanitarian law, including arbitrary displacement, must have full and non-discriminatory access to effective remedies and access to justice, including, where appropriate, access to existing transitional justice mechanisms, reparations and information on the causes of violations.’[11]

The UN Framework on Durable Solutions also holds states as being primarily responsible for addressing the needs of its displaced population with the assistance of humanitarian agencies and other international organisations. The same logic which has been used in the internal displacement context can easily be extended also to externally displaced refugee populations, particularly as similar factors are often at play in both internal and external displacement. In some conflicts, it may be a matter of mere chance whether the camp an individual flees to is located on one or the other side of an international border. For the refugees who fled the Kenyan election violence, the mere fact of having crossed an international border should not act as a hindrance to their accessing effective remedies including existing or prospective transitional justice mechanisms including reparations and the ability to speak publicly about the violence of which they have been victims.

In the Great Lakes Region a tendency has developed for countries to indiscriminately label those who flee across borders as the perpetrators of the violence. Indeed, there have been instances where perpetrators have found it easier to hide among bona fide refugees outside of their country’s jurisdiction.[12] Above all, however, this argument has provided a convenient scapegoat for regimes unwilling to examine and address the often deep-rooted social and political problems that manifest in sporadic violence. With those who fled both conveniently absent and vilified by the authorities, former neighbours who remained in the country can benefit from their compatriots’ inability to return by taking over their land and property. Once this happens, it becomes even more difficult for refugees to risk return. Moreover, return, also known as voluntary repatriation as far as refugees are concerned, is considered the preferred durable solution because it is the closest to restitution, theoretically placing the refugee in roughly the same position they were in prior to flight.

The Kenyan TRJC’s decision to reflect the voices of those living in exile in the transitional justice process demonstrates a respect for the refugees’ rights as Kenyan citizens, and also makes it easier for individuals to make informed decisions on whether to continue living in exile or return home in the near future. A majority of the refugees were excited to make contact with fellow countrymen involved in the reconciliation discussions, and commented that they have not, after all, been forgotten as they had feared. They described at length the refugee experience and expressed hope that they will be able to return home once their issues have been resolved by the TRJC and safety assurances been guaranteed when they choose to return.

Although the true impact of this single consultation is not yet known, it nevertheless remains noteworthy that voices in exile have been included in transitional justice processes.

In summary, through its groundbreaking decision to include refugee voices in its consultations, the Kenyan TRJC has effectively acknowledged and acted upon a little understood link between transitional justice and forced migration.

CONCLUSION

The gesture by the Kenyan TJRC can be summarised as ‘leading by example’. Africa’s history is marked by civil unrests resulting in gross human rights violations and massive population movements. Given these historical circumstances, it is crucial that transitional justice processes in the region be capable of addressing issues of refugee flight. The Kenyan TRJC has proved that it is possible to be living in exile and yet still be heard and included in the justice processes of one’s country. Whether displaced internally or externally, those who flee violence deserve the right to participate as citizens in rebuilding, reshaping and transforming their country. More work is needed in the transitional justice field to determine the best ways in which victims forced into flight can be heard. In particular, explicit connections must be made between victims’ right to restitution and refugees’ right to return home in safety and dignity. With Kenya taking the lead and Uganda about to embark on its own transitional justice process aimed at addressing the legacy of the more than two decade civil war between the Lord’s Resistance Army and the Government of Uganda, the question remains: will our country, Uganda take Kenya’s example to heart and include the diaspora in its deliberations?

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* Bernadette Iyodu is senior legal officer/coordinator of the Asylum and Durable Solutions Programme, Refugee Law Project Faculty of Law, Makerere University.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

NOTES

[1] International Centre for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) focusing on Kenya; http://www.ictj.org/en/where/region1/648.html (accessed 28 March 2011).
[2] Visit was captured by NTV and video clip of the visit is available at http://bit.ly/hrrKlQ (accessed 28 March 2011).
[3] There have been previous studies conducted in this area analysing the relationship between refugees, internally displaced persons and transitional justice. For example some authors have argued that refugees, like internally displaced persons have a primary interest to be actively involved in processes that improve the conditions in their countries of origin. See Susan Harris Rimmer (2010) Reconceiving refugees and internally displaced persons as transitional justice actors, available at http://bit.ly/gS7L4f (accessed 28 March 2010).
[4] Global Peace Convention, Kenya initiatives (2010) http://www.globalpeaceconvention.org/kenya-initiatives/an-agenda-for-peace.html (accessed 28 March 2011).
[5] 2007 – 2008 Kenyan crisis http://bit.ly/gmtDCC (accessed 28 March 2011).
[6] UNHCR, Number of Kenyan refugees in Uganda rises to 12,000, 5 February 2008 http://www.unhcr.org/47a886fc2.html (accessed 28 March 2011).
[7] The 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, article 33(1).
[8] The Encyclopedia of Genocide and War Crimes Against Humanity (2004) vol.3 pp1045-1047.
[9] The four Geneva Covenants and First Additional Protocol obliges states to investigate and charge those responsible for breach of international humanitarian law; see Covenant I, article 49; Covenant II, article 50; Covenant III, article 129; Covenant IV, article 146; Protocol I, article 85.
[10] Basic Principles and Guidelines on the Right to a Remedy and Reparation for Victims of Gross Violations of International Human Rights Law and Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law, General Assembly Resolution 60/147 of 16 December 2005; available at http://www2.ohchr.org/english/law/remedy.htm on the right to an effective remedy, see Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, article 13 and African Charter on Human Peoples’ Rights article 7; The right to a remedy and reparation for victims of violations of international human rights and humanitarian law - Note by the High Commissioner for Human Rights - E/CN.4/2003/63 – 27 December 2002 http://bit.ly/hUXlgd
[11] UN Framework on Durable Solutions for Internally Displaced Persons (2009).
[12] An example of situations where perpetrators have hidden amongst bona fide refugees is the case of the 1994 Rwanda genocide; perpetrators took advantage of mass victims and survivors of the genocide flights to neighbouring states seeking refuge and were granted prima facie refugee status. See International Refugee Rights Initiative & Refugee Law Project (2010) A dangerous impasse: Rwandan refugees in Uganda June 2010, p14. Available at http://bit.ly/hI1vqf (accessed 28 March 2010).

Manning Marable and the march towards a socialist America

Horace Campbell

2011-04-07

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/72350

cc G LManning Marable, African American activist, scholar and author, passed away on April 1. Horace Campbell pays tribute to a man who dedicated his life to the struggle against oppression.

Manning Marable, who passed away on Friday 1 April 2011 in New York City, belonged to the traditions of Black radicals who were not afraid of red baiting, and therefore he spoke out clearly against the capitalist system and the associated values of greed, individualism, sexism and exploitation. Like Ella Baker, W.E.B. Dubois and Paul Robeson, Marable used his intellect to challenge the system of injustice and this was clear in his first major book, ‘How Capitalism Underdeveloped Black America: Problems in Race, Political Economy, and Society’. This book was a thorough critique of the evolution of US capitalism. Marable made it clear through the chapters that one could not fight against racism without fighting the capitalist mode of production. In the last section of the book, Marable raised the issue of the genocidal tendencies of the capitalists and concluded with his vision of the need to organise and mobilise towards a socialist America.

Throughout his earthly life, Manning Marable never forgot the imprint of chattel slavery on the United States and the concomitant crimes against humanity. Hence, Marable understood the limitations of liberal democracy and natural propensity of the system towards militarism and warfare. He opposed the wars against the people of Vietnam as a young man, just as he opposed the war against the people of Iraq and the imperial pursuit of US policies. He worked within the radical left in the United States. As he passed away on 1 April 2011, the challenges of building a socialist alternative were becoming clearer in the middle of the capitalist crisis, in which the capitalist class is moving to take away the basic rights of collective bargaining from US workers.

MARABLE AS A SCHOLAR AND ACTIVIST

Since 1993, Manning Marable was the M. Moran Weston/Black Alumni Council Professor of African American Studies at Columbia University. He was also the founding director of the Institute for Research in African-American Studies and the Center for the Study of Contemporary Black History at Columbia University. Before joining the faculty at Columbia, Manning had taught and directed Black Studies programs at Ohio State University, at the University of Colorado at Boulder, and at Colgate University in New York. He was also a former director of the Race Relations Institute at Fisk University. Manning used his position in academia to further the knowledge of the social system and the institutions of oppression; his scholarly activities over the past 30 years have furthered the Black radical and socialist traditions that have raised a generation of distinguished Black intellectuals.

As a teacher and mentor of students, Manning Marable built a base from inside the belly of Columbia University that was essentially viewed as an occupying power in Harlem. For decades this university, like so many others in urban areas, has been encroaching on the black community, displacing people from their neighborhoods. Thus, Manning Marable understood that he had to work inside and outside academia to build one front for the struggle for change within the very corridors of the same institution that legitimised capitalist oppression in New York.

Marable was a prolific writer. Apart from the book, ‘How Capitalism Underdeveloped Black America’, Manning Marable authored and co-edited more than 20 books including, ‘African and Caribbean Politics from Kwame Nkrumah to the Grenada Revolution’ (1987), ‘Race, Reform and Rebellion’ (1991), ‘Beyond Black and White’ (1995), ‘Black Liberation in Conservative America’ (1997), ‘Speaking Truth to Power: Essays on Race, Resistance, and Radicalism’ (1996), ‘Black Leadership’ (1998), ‘Let Nobody Turn Us Around’ (2000), ‘Freedom: A Photographic History of the African American Struggle’ (with Leith Mullings and Sophie Spencer-Wood, 2002), and ‘The Great Wells of Democracy’ (2003).

His most recent book, ‘Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention’ (2011), was issued on Monday 4 April 2011, three days after he joined the ancestors. From press reports of the book, this work of over 600 pages will ignite new debates and discussions on one of the principal figures of the black liberation movement in the United States. I have not yet read the book, but the New York Times has already declared that it is a ‘re-evaluation of Malcolm X's life.’ In due time, I will be reading and commenting, but I vividly remember the challenge that came from Manning Marable when he gave an interview about the book on ‘Democracy Now’. He called on scholars and intellectuals within the Black Studies movement to engage the scholarship on Malcolm X, drawing attention to the thousands of pages of documents that still had to be processed to have a better appreciation of the life of Malcolm X. Scholars in general, but especially younger scholars, were being challenged to do serious scholarly work that can advance the understanding of the social conditions, ideas and forms of community that created leaders such as Malcolm X.

Manning Marable wrote hundreds of scholarly articles. He was an internationalist who exposed the conservatism of those sections of the black community who sought to domesticate black political activity in the United States in the service of capitalism and through the two established political parties – the Republican Party and the Democratic Party. In his castigation of black capitalism and black conservatism there was one article in ‘Race and Class’ where Marable took Marcus Garvey out of the context of Jim Crow and chided Garvey for the attempts to build corporations such as the Black Star Line. Shades of the 1920s divisions between nationalists and communists could be discerned in that essay. Marable critiqued the idea that capitalism can be the basis for liberation and he was clear in his opposition when Louis Farrakhan embraced Sani Abacha in Nigeria. Manning Marable understood that one could not be anti-racist at home and embrace dictators overseas. Hence, he was consistent in his support for African liberation and the attempts of the Cuban people to build an alternative way of life away from Yankee imperialism.

Like his former colleague at Columbia, Robin D.G. Kelly, Manning Marable understood the centrality of cultural struggles within the left movement and he worked within the board of directors of the Hip Hop Summit Action Network. His clarity on the need to work from the inside of the power of the hip hop movement in the United States showed a level of political maturity because Marable was against the crude capitalist orientation of other members of the board of directors of the Hip Hop Summit Action Network.

In the traditions of W.E.B. Dubois and Walter Rodney, he ensured that his skills and training did not serve those who oppressed the majority of the working peoples, both black and white. He was the general editor of ‘Freedom on My Mind: The Columbia Documentary History of the African American Experience’ (2003). He was also the general editor of ‘Souls: A Critical Journal of Black Politics, Culture and Society’. This journal was a platform for discussion on the principal debates within the Black Studies community.

For years, when I taught an introductory course on African American Studies at Syracuse University, I used Marable’s co-edited text, ‘Let Nobody Turn Us Around: Voices on Resistance, Reform, and Renewal an African American Anthology’. This was a text that he edited with his wife, Leith Mullings, and it brought to life for younger students the history of struggles and the revolutionary leadership provided in the society by thinkers and activists such as Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass. This text captured the voices of black people who spoke for themselves. For young undergraduates who were exposed to this history for the first time, this text was an important inspiration. However, Manning was not only interested in lifting up historical voices. Manning Marable worked closely with the feminist movement and the gay and lesbian movement to expose and challenge homophobia in black political spaces.

While teaching, running a research centre and speaking on the circuits of the international freedom struggle, Manning Marable was on the editorial board of the ‘Black Commentator’ ensuring that his ideas did not remain solely within academia. He wrote political columns that were syndicated widely in numerous platforms and newspapers in the United States. In the last twenty years, Manning had been researching and writing the book on Malcolm X, and while he was ill and diagnosed with sarcoidosis, he soldiered on with his determination to contribute to building a solid basis for the ideas and organisation that will be the foundation for an alternative society.

Manning did not shy away from the hard questions, like the issue of police brutality, the hollowing out of the urban spaces, and the conservatism of a section of the black church that wanted to turn religion into a business venture. Working inside the black freedom traditions, he was forthright in his opposition to the prison-industrial complex, and was involved in numerous conferences and meetings to oppose the mass incarceration of black youths. He used his position in academia to build the Africana Studies Against Criminal Injustice Network. In bringing together formidable scholars and activists such as Julia Sudbury, Angela Davis, Anthony K. Van Jones and others to tap into the vast reservoir of knowledge that is locked away inside the prison system, Manning used his position to advance research, education and political action. There were so many facets of his massive contribution that this short tribute cannot do justice to his legacy. He left a valuable body of work for those who want to interrogate the injustices of capitalism and racism.

In his efforts to build Africana Studies in the service of the people, Manning embarked on projects that brought together some of the best activists and he did not confine himself to the work in the black community. As a committed socialist working in the traditions of Paul Robeson, Manning Marable served as chair of Movement for a Democratic Society (MDS). This remains one of the broad fronts for the radical and socialist left forces in the United States. It was his work with MDS that brought Manning to the forefront of the broader struggles for socialism, and he understood that this struggle must be anchored in the history of the black liberation struggles. In this work, he was very close to the formation of former members of the Communist Party of the United States who were organised under the umbrella of the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism. After the fall of the Soviet Union, this group of committed socialists sought to maintain the organisational basis for thinking through the challenges of building socialism in the United States.

MARABLE, SOCIALISM, AND THE REPARATIONS MOVEMENT

Throughout his life and in his political practice, Manning Marable was an educator who sought to show society that there needed to be repair from the destructive traditions and contemporary forms of capitalist exploitation. As a historian he understood the impact of the transatlantic slave trade on human history and he actively participated in the activities of the international and US-based reparations movement. This work was not the kind of political activism that endeared him to the sections of the left that refuse to deal with the issues and consequences of slavery. I remember when Manning traveled to Durban, South Africa for the NGO conference of the World Conference Against Racism (WCAR) in August-September 2001. Marable spoke before a big rally at the City Hall of Durban where he linked the struggles for repair and renewal in Africa and the United States. Reparations were not simply about monetary compensation, but a way of opposing militarism and reactionary conservative politics. Writing in support of reparations, Marable observed that:

‘Billions of dollars of tax money paid by blacks and whites alike were allocated to the military-industrial complex to finance global military interventions and a nuclear arms race. The vast majority of African Americans strongly opposed these reactionary policies. We were not “guilty” of participating in the decisions to carry out such policies. Yet, as citizens, we are “responsible” for paying to finance Reagan’s disastrous militarism, which left the country deeply in debt. We have an obligation under law to pay taxes. Thus, all citizens of the United States have the same “responsibility” to compensate members of their own society that were deliberately stigmatized by legal racism. Individual “guilt” or “innocence” is therefore irrelevant. America’s version of legal apartheid created the conditions of white privilege and black subordination that we see all around us every day. A debt is owed, and it must be paid in full.’

Manning Marable was fully aware that capitalism could not pay this debt, so he understood that the fight for reparations was part of a fight to lift the political consciousness of the society of the ‘crimes against humanity’ that had been committed by the United States and Western Europe. Like the different forms of black struggles, there were differing formations within the Black Reparations Movement, and Marable stood out while others within the ‘dream team’ from Harvard studiously avoided serious discussions about reparations in fear of alienating their benefactors in the capitalist classes. Manning Marable’s Institute of Research held sessions on reparations at Columbia. In the State of New York, Marable was also a member of the New York Legislature’s Amistad Commission, created to review state curriculum regarding the slave trade.

I interacted with Manning inside the Black Radical Congress (BRC). Within the BRC, there was always the concrete question of the organisational form necessary to build an alternative to the traditional forms of politics. There were differences of opinions on whether the Congress would be a formation with individual members or based on networks that were grounded in local organising committees (LOCs).

In New York City, where the traditions of black left politics were strongest, there were two LOCs: The New York LOC and the New York Metro. Manning Marable was a dominant force within the New York branch of the Black Radical Congress. There were, however, differences over tactics and strategies with sections of the BRC that had formed the New York Metro.

Despite its short life, the Black Radical Congress worked to oppose war and militarism at home and abroad and fertilised the black liberation struggles and the wider socialist movement inside the United States. Marable worked very hard to place the important stamp of linking anti-racism to anti-sexism work with in the liberation movement. Working with his partner Leith Mullings and fighters such as Barbara Ransby and Cathy Cohen, among hundreds of others, the BRC successfully placed the fight against homophobia within the liberation history. The documents and statements of the Black Radical Congress remain a force in the struggles for an alternative social system.

Manning Marable was one of the authors of the ‘Freedom Agenda’ that declared:

‘Resistance is in our marrow as Black people, given our history in this place. From the Haitian revolution, to the U.S. abolitionist movement against slavery, to the 20th Century movement for civil rights and empowerment, we have struggled and died for justice. We believe that struggle must continue, and with renewed vigor. Our historical experiences suggest to us, by negative example, what a truly just and democratic society should look like: It should be democratic, not just in myth but in practice, a society in which all people -- regardless of color, ethnicity, religion, nationality, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, age, family structure, or mental or physical capability -- enjoy full human rights, the fruits of their labor, and the freedom to realize their full human potential.

‘We will fight to advance beyond capitalism, which has demonstrated its structural incapacity to address basic human needs worldwide and, in particular, the needs of Black people.'

Manning fought and even in poor health left his mark in the struggle to advance beyond capitalism. By his work within a socialist organisation such as the Committee for Correspondence, he made it clear that he was working in theory and in practice for a socialist alternative. I will agree with our brother Cornell West who said of Manning, that he was ‘our grand radical democratic intellectual,’ and that ‘he kept alive the democratic socialist tradition in the black freedom movement.’ Manning Marable passed at a moment when the struggle for an alternative system has matured with revolutionary upheavals all over the world. May his example of commitment inspire the generation that is learning from the history of the strengths and weaknesses of the Black Radical Congress.

To Leith and all of the members of his family we send our deepest condolences.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* Horace Campbell is professor of African American Studies and Political Science at Syracuse University. He is the author of ‘Barack Obama and Twenty First Century Politics: A Revolutionary Moment in the USA’. See www. horacecampbell.net.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

Manning Marable and Malcolm X

Michael Dyson, Bill Fletcher Jr

2011-04-07

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/72397

cc WikipediaRenowned African American historian Manning Marable passed away on April 1 at the age of 60, days before the publication of his new biography of Malcolm X. Sociologist Michael Dyson and Bill Fletcher Jr, founder of the Black Radical Congress, discuss Marable’s legacy with Democracy Now! Watch the interview. Read the transcript.

JUAN GONZALEZ: On Friday, renowned African American historian Manning Marable passed away at the age of 60, days before the publication of his monumental biography of Malcolm X. Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention is published today by Viking. Two decades in the making, the nearly 600-page biography is described as a reevaluation of Malcolm’s life, providing new insights into the circumstances of his assassination, as well as raising questions about the Malcolm X’s original autobiography.

To discuss the legacy of Manning Marable, we’re joined in Washington, D.C., by Michael Eric Dyson, university professor of sociology at Georgetown University. He was named by Ebony as one of the hundred most influential black Americans. He has written 16 books, most recently, ‘Can You Hear Me Now?: The Inspiration, Wisdom, and Insight of Michael Eric Dyson’. He’s also the author of Making Malcolm: The Myth and Meaning of Malcolm X.

We’re also joined on the phone by Bill Fletcher, Jr., longtime labor, racial and justice and international activist. He’s an editorial board member and columnist for blackcommentator.com, and he’s a founder of the Black Radical Congress.

Welcome to you both. I’d like to start with Michael Eric Dyson. First, your reaction on hearing of the death of this giant of scholarship and activism in America, and also a colleague of yours?

MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: Absolutely. I was deeply and profoundly saddened by the loss of this intellectual giant, this man whose scholarly ambition and achievement were remarkable and set a pace, a tone and a standard that had been rarely equaled in our history. Manning Marable was the perfect fusion of the scholar who engaged in the most serious forms of critical scrutiny for the development of ideas that would help free black people and all progressive people, on the one hand, and on the other hand, as an activist who was concerned about the most salient means by which black people and other progressive peoples could enact the very ideas that he studied.

So, he studied as a scholar. He put forth books, articles, newspaper columns, that constantly engaged the American public and the world, if you will, public, about the means toward radical democracy, about the prohibition of it in our own culture, about the obstacles and impediments that had to be overcome, as well as speaking about the inspiring sources for critical reflection upon our condition, and then what we must do to make sure that especially poor and working peoples could be equitably represented in the broader American and, indeed, international court. So, Manning Marable’s loss is a huge loss, both in terms of scholarship and in terms of activism.

JUAN GONZALEZ: And his direct influence on you? When did you first discover him, and how did he influence your development?

MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: My goodness. I was a student at Knoxville College. I had, for four years, from 18 to 21, taken an alternate path, so to speak. I had gone to night school; after being kicked out of a private school, I was at night school. I had a child. I hustled in the streets, worked on—you know, in a couple of jobs, lived on welfare and the like, and then decided to go back to school. So, in 1979, I went down to Knoxville College, and in 1980, I was in the library stacks and discovered a set of essays by a young brilliant scholar. And his picture on the back of that book was of an—you know, a handsome-faced Afroed African American who was very young and very brilliant and who used serious analytical prisms drawn from European social theory, especially from Marxism, but then applying them to African American culture, baptizing them in the nuance and the idiom of our own expression. I said, "Man, if Karl Marx was a brother, this is what he’d talk like. This is what he’d speak like. This is how he’d think." And so, I began reading him and was immediately impressed with the depth of his analysis, the range of his brilliance, but also his inspiring identification with vulnerable masses, especially African American people. So, from that point on, I became a huge fan of Manning Marable.

Years later, when I met him, of course I was in awe and told him that story. And Manning, with his characteristic humility, deflected my appreciation for his genius and said, you know, he was happy to help a young, budding scholar find his own way. But he did much more than that. He was a friend of mine. I loved him very greatly. He encouraged me throughout my career, invited me in the late '90s, in 1997, to become a visiting distinguished professor at Columbia for a couple of years. And that's when my wife and I, Marcia, became very close to Manning and his now-widow, his wife, Leith Mullings, the noted anthropologist. And we spent many an evening talking in each other’s apartments, going out to dinner, even went to a fight at Madison Square Garden, and shared an enormous amount of time thinking and reflecting and having fun and talking. And Manning Marable was the best of who we are as a race. He was the best of who we are as Americans. He was the best of who we are as a human being, attempting to use critical analysis in defense of vulnerable populations and to articulate a broadly multiracial, multicultural democratic ideal that continues to be a goal that many of us who fight for such ideals can embrace.

JUAN GONZALEZ: And Bill Fletcher, you are also a longtime friend of Manning Marable. And, of course, you’ve been long active in the labor movement, and Manning Marable was one of those African American intellectuals who was not only a giant of scholarship but also a Marxist and an activist in his own right. Could you talk about the meaning of his death to you?

BILL FLETCHER: Well, thanks, Juan. I guess I have to start by just saying, when I heard the news, it felt like someone with a very big fist had hit me in my stomach. And it took me a while to recover from that, and I actually haven’t. I mean, this is very, very painful. Much like Michael, I was very inspired by Manning. Manning and I became very close. He became one of two people that I know that are—essentially, have been like big brothers to me, for a very long time. And we worked very closely together in the construction of this thing called the Black Radical Congress.

And one of the things that Michael was saying that really resonates is that, as opposed to many academics, one of the things that Manning did—it was actually two things. One is that he worked on both sides of the line, in terms of scholarship as well as activism. But the other piece, Juan, was that he promoted actively the importance of organization. That was one of the things that I loved about Manning, that it wasn’t just about Manning, and it wasn’t just about ideas, but it was about the necessity to have organization to implement ideas. And so, whether he was himself involved in an organization, which he was in many cases—Democratic Socialists of America, National Black Independent Political Party, the Black Radical Congress—or whether he was standing back, he was nevertheless supporting the building of organization. And I loved him. He was incredible.

JUAN GONZALEZ: Michael Eric Dyson, the book now that has come out today, this monumental work, which really reinterprets large segments of the life of Malcolm X, from his assassination to his personal struggles, to his relationship to the Nation of Islam. Could you talk about some of the key contributions that have been made in this book into understanding and reinterpreting the life of Malcolm X?

MICHAEL ERIC DYSON: Well, we can talk about specific things, of course. You can speak about, you know, Manning grappling with the fact that the autobiographical narrative, as he talked about in the excerpts that you played earlier today on your show—the autobiographical narrative, of course, contrasts with and indeed outright contradicts some of the more appealing and vigorous aspects of Malcolm’s organizational life—the OAAU, the Muslim Mosque Incorporated—and his ideas, that were literally excised from the text for political and ideological purposes. So, you know, Malcolm is restored to the full grandeur of his vision early on, in his independent career, from the Nation of Islam, through Manning’s text.

Also, Manning gives us a fuller, more complicated vision of the perilous journey toward selfhood that, you know, Malcolm undertook, whether in terms of his own personal life—he’s not a solo gunslinger, so to speak. He’s not a lone ranger out there on the plains fighting against the odds as a child who has, you know, in one sense, raised himself, reared himself. You know, Manning gives us a more complete and complicated understanding of the domestic sphere in which he emerged. He gives us a sense of his hustling life; it wasn’t as big as has been exaggerated. But he gives us a reason for the exaggeration, that Malcolm X wanted to prove that the Nation of Islam and the Honorable Elijah Muhammad could overcome even the worst sort of criminal and turn him or her into a converted being who believed in Allah and who could serve his community. So, you know, Manning deals with this in a brilliant way.

He also speaks honestly and openly about the complicated domestic arrangement between Malcolm and his beloved wife, Dr. Betty Shabazz, later on, and about the disaffection that might have occurred there, and the sexual dissatisfaction that existed for a variety of reasons, and Malcolm’s own distance from her, and his complicated relationship to women and the like. So, all of that stuff is there.

But even more broadly, the beauty of this portrait is that it exhaustively deals with the private diaries of Malcolm X, the FBI records. You heard him—his visit to Gregory Reed in Detroit. Manning went anywhere and everywhere that any—even an iota of evidence existed, to help tell the more complete, complicated, complex and nuanced, colorful story of Malcolm X, to rescue him, on the one hand, from the vice grip of hagiographers who uncritically valorized and celebrated Malcolm, on the one hand, but dismissed contradictory evidence that suggested his complicated, conflicted reality, and on the other hand, he rescues him from the vicious demonization of those who would assault Malcolm X as the perpetrator and perpetuator of violent mythologies—and that’s just not true.

So he gives us a beautiful, complicated, full-flown Malcolm X, who, as Manning Marable in his own words said, was the greatest figure to emerge, in his view, in African American culture in the 20th century. That’s a remarkable statement. So, those who would take issue with Manning Marable about this revelation or that revelation or dealing with some of the unsavory realities he had to confront, the broader picture of Malcolm X is of a remarkable human being in constant transformation and process, whose ultimate goal was the liberation of, first of all, African American people who had been victimized by white supremacy in America, but more broadly, to understand the human rights arc into which African American people fit.

JUAN GONZALEZ: And Bill Fletcher, for so many decades now, The Autobiography of Malcolm X, written with Alex Haley, has been sort of the textbook on Malcolm X in so many colleges and across the country. Your sense of how this biography, this last testament of Manning Marable—its importance for scholarship and for understanding of the development of the African American liberation struggle?

BILL FLETCHER: This book humanizes Malcolm. After reading this book and after reading the manuscript, I can tell you that you feel like you know Malcolm as a human being, someone that you could literally have sat down with, you know, on the block and had a discussion with, as opposed to a Saint Malcolm, you know, some sort of icon. And so, I think what’s going to happen is that there will be many people, Juan, who are going to be very upset in reading this, because, to build on what Michael was saying, this brings him back to earth. It shows the confusion that he had at certain points. But the other part, why I think this is going to be so valuable, is that the actual research that Manning did was itself remarkable and itself was exemplary, that he demonstrates to students of history what you need to do if you’re going to take this seriously, and that it’s not enough to rely on myths and secondary sources, no matter how compelling they may be. And so, it is a really—it’s a remarkable book.

JUAN GONZALEZ: Yeah, I’d like to ask you, in the vein of his being not only a scholar, but an activist, the fact that right now, today, on the anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King, there are protests, labor protests, across the country, the "We Are One" labor protests. And your sense of how Marable would be reacting to these protests occurring on this day?

BILL FLETCHER: Oh, well, he was always one that was encouraging agitation and encouraging mobilization. He was not standing back. He was—whether he was going to be there himself, and particularly in the last year or so of his life, he had to be very, very careful physically, but he was someone that absolutely saw the importance of this. And he saw the importance of the labor movement in terms of what it could be. He was never pollyannaish about the labor movement. He was very critical of the limitations of the labor movement, while at the same time recognizing the necessity for unions and other forms of labor organization to raise struggle. And so, I think that he would have been extremely excited about this, as I think all of us should be. This is a very, very important day, Juan. The only other thing I would say is that these demonstrations can’t be a one-shot deal. They can’t just be "rah, rah, let’s do it today" and then go back to everything as usual. This country is in a different place, and we’re going to have to keep the pressure on. And I think that that would be a tribute to Manning.

JUAN GONZALEZ: And Bill, if we can, we just have 30 seconds, but I just wanted to ask you one last question about—

BILL FLETCHER: Sure.

JUAN GONZALEZ:—the book’s view of the assassination of Malcolm, that two of the—of those who were convicted really had nothing to do with it, and that the Police Department of New York had much more knowledge about what was going on that day beforehand.

BILL FLETCHER: It was not even—it was—in addition to that, Juan, it was that there were three different sources that had an interest in Malcolm’s death, and that’s where it becomes very, very important. It was the police and the FBI, it was the Nation of Islam, but there were also people in his own organization who resented the trajectory that he was moving. And so, there was this confluence of forces that led to a situation where he was permitted to be killed. And I think that when people read this, it’s going to be an incredible eye opener.

JUAN GONZALEZ: Well, I want to thank both of you very much. We’ve been joined by Bill Fletcher, Jr., a longtime labor, racial justice and international activist. He’s an editorial board member and columnist for blackcommentator.com. We’ve been joined in Washington, D.C., by Michael Eric Dyson, university professor of sociology at Georgetown University. He’s also the author of Making Malcolm: The Myth and Meaning of Malcolm X. You can go to our website to read, watch or listen to Democracy Now!’s complete interviews with Manning Marable, democracynow.org.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* This article first appeared on Democracy Now!
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

No Land! No House! No Vote!

Voices from Symphony Way

Raj Patel

2011-04-06

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/features/72304

© abahlali.orgA haunting new anthology of life stories told by South African pavement dwellers is ‘both testimony and poetry’, writes Raj Patel, opening ‘the door to a world of compassion, of fellow-suffering, that holds you firm.’ There’s ‘too much at stake to shy from truth, and the writers here have the courage to face it directly, even if the results are brutal.’

Before the Soccer World Cup last year, I was asked to write a foreword to an anthology of life stories told by South African pavement dwellers, living on Symphony Way, near Cape Town. The stories blew me away. It was very easy to write the short introduction below, just as it’s easy to encourage you to take a look at it now. The book is called No Land! No House! No Vote! Voices from Symphony Way, and it’s available here.

ON SYMPHONY WAY

For those outside South Africa, particularly for the generation of activists who fought apartheid, it’s tempting to imagine that after Mandela was freed from Robben Island, and lines snaked outside polling booths in the first free elections, and after the ANC won, and the national anthem became Nkosi Sikelele Afrika, and after Nelson Mandela held high the Rugby World Cup trophy, that even while the Soviet Union collapsed and capitalism crowed triumphantly from the United States, all was well in the Rainbow Nation.

But despite the close-harmony singing and the holding aloft of leaders, South Africa isn’t ‘The Lion King’. It’s more like ‘Animal Farm’. Orwell ends ‘Animal Farm’ with a scene in which we see the pigs and the humans whom they displaced, sharing a meal together, and it being hard to tell pig from human. Over the past two decades, a few black South Africans have become very wealthy, as Steve Biko predicted in 1972:

‘This is one country where it would be possible to create a capitalist black society, if whites were intelligent, if the nationalists were intelligent. And that capitalist black society, black middle class, would be very effective … South Africa could succeed in putting across to the world a pretty convincing, integrated picture, with still 70 percent of the population being underdogs.’

For many, the struggle against apartheid never ended, because apartheid continues to live. The introduction of neoliberal economic policies have led to falling levels of social welfare for the poorest. In South Africa, human development levels are now lower than in Palestine.[1] The ascent of a new black capitalist class isn’t, however, the end of the narrative. The state itself, in trying to stamp out the uncomfortable appearance of poverty, and in behaving in ways similar to the Apartheid regime, has done much to fan the flames of dissent, and to continue the story of the fight against apartheid.

Think, for instance, of over one hundred families living in backyards across Delft, who thought that Christmas had come early in 2007. They received letters from their local councillor inviting them to move into the houses they had been waiting for since the end of Apartheid. They left their backyard shacks, to occupy their new homes along the N2 highway. For a brief moment, all was as well as can be expected. The quality of housing on the N2 project is an ongoing scandal, but at least the homes were theirs.

Then the families received another notice. They were to be evicted. The original letters authorising them to move into their new homes had been sent illegally. The local councillor who sent them suffers the modest indignity of being suspended for a month. The N2 residents are treated altogether more harshly. They are kicked out of their homes with nowhere to go – their former backyard shacks having been rented to new families the moment the old ones left. The city tried to move them to the temporary relocation areas, many kilometres away from the communities they have grown up with. The units that pass for housing here are tin shacks, ‘blikkies’, ramshackle blocks of metal in the sand, wind and baking sun, sealed in by armed police yet beset with crime. The evicted families refused to move to ‘Blikkiesdorp’. They organized, setting up a temporary camp on the pavement of Symphony Way. The government threw its might into the legal system, extracting an eviction order that, by October 2009, soon after the letters in this book were written, moved all 136 families to the sandy wastes of Blikkiesdorp, in time for the tin shacks to bake in the summer heat.

Apartheid ends and apartheid remains.[2]

The squires of the new order bicker among themselves for the spoils.

The poor, who fought and died for justice, wait for it long after its arrival has been announced. Movements arise to hasten the day when apartheid’s remains can be swept away. The movements are crushed. At the beginning of 2010, when this preface is being written, the South African government has gone on the offensive against organizations of poor people across the country, from refugee camps to mob attacks against the leadership of the Kennedy Road Development Committee in Durban, to the residents of Symphony Way in Cape Town.

So why should you care about the pavements of Symphony Way when there’s no one there anymore, just in time for the 2010 World Cup tourists? The readiest answer is that while the government can take the people out of Symphony Way but they can’t take Symphony Way out of the people. As the residents themselves announced, “Symphony Way is not dead. We are still Symphony Way. We will always be Symphony Way. We may not be living on the road, but our fight for houses has only just begun. We warn government that we have not forgotten that they have promised us houses and we, the Symphony Way Anti-Eviction Campaign, will make sure we get what is rightfully ours.”

This book is testament to what it is to be Symphony Way. Written toward the end of the struggle on the pavements, this anthology of letters is both testimony and poetry. The power of the words comes not simply from confession, but through the art with which these stories are told. Every struggle has its narrators, but some on Symphony Way are wordsmiths of the highest order. When Conway Payn invites you to ‘put your shoes into my shoes and wear me like a human being would wear another human being,’ he opens the door to a world of compassion, of fellow-suffering, that holds you firm.

The letters do not make for easy reading. Lola Wentzel’s story of the Bush of Evil, of the permanent geography of sexual violence, will haunt you long after you close the pages of this book. In here you will find testimony of justice miscarried, of violence domestic and public, of bigotry and tolerance, of xenophobia and xenophilia. There’s too much at stake to shy from truth, and the writers here have the courage to face it directly, even if the results are brutal. Amid this horror, there is beauty, and the bundle of relationships between aunties, husbands, wives and children, of daughters named Hope and Symphony. All human life is here.

A few visitors have seen this already. Indeed, Kashiefa, Sedick, Zakeer and Sedeeqa Jacobs remark on the cottage industry of visitors, students and fellow travellers who visit – ‘Everyday there is people that come from everywhere and ask many questions, then we tell them its not lekker to stay on the road and in the blikkies.’ But this book isn’t an exercise in prurience. It’s a means to dignity, a way for the poors to reflect, be reflected and share with you. This book is testimony to the fact that there’s thinking in the shacks, that there are complex human lives, and complex humans who reflect, theorise and fight to bring change. This book is a sign of that fight, and in reading it, you have been conscripted. Mon semblable, mon frère[3] – you are addressed, reader, not as a voyeur, but as a brother or sister, as someone whose eyes dignify the struggle.

If your tears fall from your eyes as did from mine, you have will have been touched by the idea, the incredible realisation!, that the poor can think for themselves, write for themselves, and will continue to fight for their humanity to be recognised. Whether or not you went to the 2010 World Cup, come to this book with open eyes, and you’ll leave with an open heart.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

* Raj Patel is an award-winning writer, activist and academic.
* ‘No Land! No House! No Vote! Voices from Symphony Way’ by Symphony Way pavement dwellers is published by Pambazuka Press.
* This article first appeared on Raj Patel’s blog.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

NOTES

[1] http://hdr.undp.org/en/statistics/
[2] This ambiguity is one soon to be explored by Sharad Chari in his ‘Apartheid Remains’ project.
[3] T his is a line from the poetry of Charles Baudelaire, whose finger-pointing to the reader was a little more accusatory. http://www.press.uchicago.edu/Misc/Chicago/039250.html

The assassination of Patrice Lumumba: 50 years on, what future for the Congo?

18 April, Human Rights Action Centre, New Inn Yard, London EC2A 3EA

2011-04-11

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/Announce/72497

Join us for a short documentary film: ‘Assassination: Colonial Style – Patrice Lumumba, an African Tragedy’. The film will be followed by a discussion with Firoze Manji from Pambazuka News and Vava Tampa from Save the Congo. 50 years ago Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) first Prime Minister, Patrice Lumumba, was assassinated as part of Belgian and US plots only 10 weeks after he took power. The event has been described as 'the most important assassination of the 20th century'.

Côte d'Ivoire: Laurent, Simone and the bible

Venance Konan

2011-04-07

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/72395

Simone wearing a white dress and Laurent in his best suit, holding hands like newly-weds who have just made their vows to the mayor. Even today I cannot explain why this image came to my mind when, on March 25, I learned that forces close to the elected President Alassane Outtara had launched a general military offence against the troops of Laurent Gbagbo.

LAURENT AND SIMONE GBAGBO UNDER FIRE

On December 4, 2010, Gbagbo had sworn himself in as president of Côte d’Ivoire even though the results of the election had declared him to be the looser, even though people had taken to the streets to protest and the whole world had condemned his attempted coup. And that day, the Gbagbo couple had found itself again, as if by miracle. Every one in Côte d’Ivoire knew their marriage was in crisis.

While the soldiers of the Prime Minister Guillaume Soro were advancing towards Abidjan, while the cities fell, one after the other, I saw Laurent and Simone hug each other as if it were the last time. But could they really have thought that after December 4 they would be able to remain in power, against everything and every one? In order to understand it we have to take a step back into history, a cruel history that brought an entire nation, my nation, to its knees.

AN INSANE HISTORY

Laurent and Simone met in the ‘70s when they were both teachers and activists in clandestine parties. In 1982, after a teachers strike, Laurent had to escape to France in order to hide from the wrath of the then President Houphouet-Boigny.

Following the introduction of the multiparty system in 1990, Laurent and Simone founded the Ivorian Popular Front (IPF) which would soon become the most important opposition party in Côte d’Ivoire. Two years go by and Alassane Ouattara, who then was the Prime Minister of Houphouet-Boigny, throws the Gbagbo couple into prison, following a march which ended violently.

The seeds of hate that Laurent and Simone harbour for Ouattara were probably sown then, but the time was not yet ripe to say so openly. Rather, an unusual alliance was born between Gbagbo and Ouattara after Bédié, Houphouet-Boigny’s successor, denied Outtara the right to run for the Ivorian presidency due to ‘suspected origins’ (Ouattara was accused to have at least one of his parents was from Burkina Faso).

It only took Bédié’s fall, following a military coup, to shatter the alliance. With Laurent Gbagbo in power in 2000, it was like having two presidents for the price of one. Standing behind him, Simone was ever present. Elected Vice President of the National Assembly, she behaved herself like a Vice President of the Republic. Laurent had never hidden his traditional marriage to the young and beautiful Muslim Nady Bamba. But Simone shrugged her shoulders and became a wholehearted Christian Evangelist, to the point that she organised prayers every Friday at the National Assembly.

In between prayers, in 2002 a rebellion guided by Guillaume Soro rose in the North. His attempt to take over is a failure but it is more than enough to split Côte d’Ivoire in two. Gbagbo suspects Ouattara, who is from the North, to be the godfather of this rebellion.

International forces enter into play in order to keep the peace between the two sides of the country but their presence does not prevent the death squads from killing Ouattara’s supporters. Simone Gbagbo is accused of being behind the squads, a fact she has always denied. In the same way that her husband denied all the tricks he used to postpone presidential elections from 2005 to 2010.

EVANGELICAL PASTORS GOT ON BOARD

In the meantime Evangelical pastors who have always frequented the couple proclaim that the power conferred to Gbagbo is the fruit of a divine choice and those who dare to fight them have been sent by the devil. For a while it was funny but when people realised that the Gbagbos were being serious we became scared.

In October 2010 we end up going to elections. Gbagbo sells himself as the ‘100% candidate for Côte d’Ivoire’ while Ouattara is the ‘foreign candidate’. This time the electorate doesn’t give in and votes for Ouattara. A victory that the United Nations confirmed, however, against the law and all possible proof, the president of the constitutional council, a friend of Laurent Gbagbo, declares him the winner of the presidential elections.

LAURENT GBAGBO, THE ILLEGAL PRESIDENT

Among the protests of the international community, on December 4 Gbagbo becomes president of Côte d’Ivoire. Since then and despite all attempts at mediation, the sanctions, the threats to resort to the use of force, Gbagbo refuses to step down from power. The voices from the palace say that it is Simone who, under the influence of her pastors, does not want to leave the helm to the so-called ‘forces of Evil’. As they wait for the final ruling, the men close to Gbagbo start to kill the opponents.

At least 200 people had already been found dead by the time I am informed, in the afternoon of January 10, that pro-Gbagbo militias have been looking for me at my old house. I hid for two days and then left Abidjan with the help of international forces to reach Paris on January 19 via Burkina Faso.

I HAVE A DREAM

Dozens of Ivorians preceded me and many others followed in my footsteps. While I dreamed of returning to my homeland as soon as possible, in Côte d’Ivoire the situation became increasingly desperate. Soldiers opened fire against women, threw grenades in a market and every day the number of victims increased. On the opposite front, the rebel forces of the premier, Soro, decided to side with Ouattara and organise the resistance. First in Abidjan and then in the rest of the country with an offensive that every one expected.

We have feverishly followed the conquests made by pro-Outtara troops. We thought that once they arrived in Abidjan the liberation would only be a matter of time. I felt that I could be back home soon, celebrating with my beloved ones. Saying ‘yes, a new day has come’. But something happened on April 1. The television, which we thought was controlled by the Republican Forces, asked Gbabgo’s supporters to take to the streets. According to the media, cities were sacked as the liberators conquered the presidential palace. But Gbagbo and his men kept on resisting. The situation was incredibly confused.

The Ivorians abroad who had packed their suitcases, thinking of going back home soon, were forced to unpack them with a heavy heart. While I’m finishing this article, the United Nations and France are announcing negotiations with Gbagbo in the quest to make him recognise Outtara’s victory and hand over power to Côte d’Ivoire new leader. But I still see Simone and Laurent in their wedding clothes, united by an insane destiny, with a bible in their hands.

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* This article first appeared on Afronline.
* Venance Konan is an Ivorian journalist and writer. Following the political crisis, he was persecuted by pro-Gbagbo soldiers and forced to escape to France.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

Gambia: Jammeh is a ‘brutal dictator who wants to cling to power by all means’

Edwin Nebolisa

2011-04-07

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/72396

cc K T HSentenced to six months in prison after falling foul of Gambia’s Jammeh government, democracy and human rights activist Edwin Nebolisa talks to Pan-African Visions’ Ajong Mbapndah about his ordeal.

Jailing and deporting Edwin Nebolisa may not be the good riddance of a nuisance as the Government of President Yaya Jammeh thought. Far from keeping quiet, the prison ordeal described by Nebolisa as inhuman has greatly fortified him in his crusade for democracy, human rights and good governance in Africa. It is this crusade that led him to create the civil society organisation Africa in Democracy and Good Governance with Head Quarters in the Gambia.

The activities of his organisation and the outspokenness of Nebolisa landed him in the bad books of the Jammeh government and the result was a six month prison sentence “for providing false information to a public official in March 2010. Jailed in September of last year, Mr Nebolisa was released in January 2011 and deported from The Gambia to his native Nigeria.

As gruelling as the prison experience may have been, Mr Nebolisa tells Pan-African Visions’ Ajong Mbapndah that he feels stronger than ever and what he went through only justifies the need for Africans to be more engaged in the struggle to entrench democracy and better respect for human rights across the continent. The determination of Nebolisa is clearly seen when asked about the assessment of human rights in the continent and the future of Africa in governance and democracy. Nebolisa says much still has to be done.

President Yaya Jammeh, who many do not know besides the fact that he claims to cure HIV/AIDS and frequently changes his names, is described by Nebolisa as a brutal dictator who wants to cling to power by all means. The Judiciary yields to the dictates of Jammeh Nebolisa says and free and fair trials are inexistent when it comes to political issues.

PAN-AFRICAN VISIONS: Mr. Nebolisa you recently got released from prison in Gambia, so why were you imprisoned in the first place?

EDWIN NEBOLISA: I was accused of giving false information to the office of the president, that African Democracy organisation and Good Governance (ADGG) is a non governmental organisation and seeks the nomination of Ms. Mariama Jammeh daughter of the president as ADGG/WWSF Geneva general ambassador, known same to be false. It was later amended to giving false information to a public officer. This was exactly how their charge sheet read.

PAN-AFRICAN VISIONS: Prior to your imprisonment had you had any issues with the authorities in Gambia?

EDWIN NEBOLISA: Yes indeed, 2009 was the worst year for me and my organisation in the Gambia; prior to my imprisonment I had suffered a series of arrests and detentions without trial by the notorious national intelligence agency. This was also due to my interviews with various local and international medias, including the BBC Network Africa on series about the Gambia, ADG press releases and petitioning of various government departments for grave human rights violations; and of course our biannual magazine which had been critical of the government human rights records. In September 2009, Jammeh promised to cut off the head of all human rights activists if they did not leave the country.

PAN-AFRICAN VISIONS: So how was the judicial process, did you have a lawyer, can you describe the trial process for us, was there anything in it you considered fair?

EDWIN NEBOLISA: In the first place we must understand that the Gambia is an authoritarian state with a democratic setting only in theory. In today’s Gambia, everything revolves around one person, President Jammeh. The ruling party, government institutions and all the fundamentals of the state revolve around him alone with hardly any distinction between them. Jammeh systemically neutralized the powers of the judiciary and parliament thereby rendering them ineffective. He frequently sacks judges, other judicial workers and at times even parliamentarians within his ruling APRC without due process of the law. My charge was trump up and thus I do not expect any fair process because there are no independent judiciary/judges, though I had one of the best lawyers in the Gambia that absolutely had no meaning. In the Gambia unlike anywhere else in the world, the judges are the real prosecutors, before the trial they will first find you guilty. This is even more worst with the Nigerian mercenaries that Jammeh imported into the Gambia to carry out his dirty work of using the court to silenced his critics in the event he is unable to abduct and assassinate them without public knowledge.

Getting a Nigerian as a chief justice of the Gambia and a host of Nigerian Judges, Magistrates and State Counsel was a very important and strategic move by the tyrant Yaya Jammeh.

- First, it will help to shut the eyes and mouth of the Nigerian government because they will see it as a great honour and thereby shutting their eyes and mouth in the face of egregious crimes against humanity even when it involves her citizens;
- Secondly, it helps Jammeh to seek for increased financial aid and more support in technical assistance from the Federal Government at the expense of the Nigerian tax payers’ money;
- And thirdly, these are the only people that can carry out Jammeh’s dirty works without conscience at the expense of their career and reputation just for some few tokens of the dollar.

PAN-AFRICAN VISIONS: How were the prison conditions, where you tortured were there a lot of political prisoners that in the jails?

EDWIN NEBOLISA: It was a terrible place, in fact, one can sum it up as a deliberate slaughter house; it also made me to appreciate some certain things, during my incarceration I had the opportunity to speak with some officers and older inmates who gave me terrifying informations about the way the prison is been operated and how people are silently killed with their foods being poisoned or injected; and there is no coroner’s inquest to ascertain the cause of death before burial. The prison is over crowded coupled with lack of medication and poor feeding which can also be attributed to one of the reasons for a high death rate that frequently occurs. I was tortured mentally, I was denied access to my visitors which was a gross violation of my rights and it contravenes the prison codes.

PAN-AFRICAN VISIONS: So one of the precursors to your woes was writing a letter asking President Jammeh to make his daughter a good will Ambassador of the Africa in Democracy and Good Governance NGO you head. Why did you do that and what is it the President’s daughter did to deserve the honour?

EDWIN NEBOLISA: You know there is a popular adage that says ‘when you want to kill a dog, you now give the dog a bad name in order for you to be able to kill it’, there is this annual event of world day for the prevention of child abuse and violence against children in synergy with the international year of the child which was initiated by Women’s World Summit Foundation (WWSF – Geneva) since the year 2000, which ADG became a partner only in 2007. The programme encourages local initiatives. So, our 2009 initiative was to create greater awareness which was a huge success.

It was a committee that was set up that nominates all the personalities which includes the daughter of the president. The reason behind her nomination was that each year she took some gifts to the SOS Children’s village which was clearly stated in the letter that we wrote to her; moreover, we did not write any letter to the president or his office as they claimed, rather we wrote to Mariama herself in-care of her mother, Zainab.

Before the celebration of the week long programme in question, there was series of electronic and print media adverts; we were given a march-past permit by the Inspector General of Police, the march-past was led by the Army band which service we paid for; one of the recipients of the award was ASP Yamundow Jagne-Joof, the officer-in-charge of the child welfare unit at the police headquarter. The programme was covered and aired by the Gambia Radio and Television Services (GRTS) which is a state owned and the only television service in the country, various media also covered and published it. If all these things took place, so where is the false information and who is that person that it was given to, that never appeared in court?

They knew quite alright that there was nothing against me that was the reason they never tendered the said letter as evidence against me in court.

PAN-AFRICAN VISIONS: What kind of leader would you say President Jammeh is, little is heard about him apart from claims that he can cure HIV/AIDS and not much is known either about Gambia, how will you describe the country?

EDWIN NEBOLISA: Jammeh is a brutal dictator who wants cling to power by any means necessary even if it means to wipe away Gambians, this is one man that controls all three arms of government, he is gradually grabbing all the lands in the Gambia; systematically using his people as mordern day slaves by making them labour in his farms without recourse to salaries or allowance.

His claim of curing HIV/AIDS and other diseases are all false.

PAN-AFRICAN VISIONS: The African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights is based in Gambia In the face of what you have been through, are there any other avenues you are seeking to get redress?

EDWIN NEBOLISA: Yes, I intend to challenge it before the Ecowas Court of Justice sitting in the Nigerian Capital, Abuja. The African Commission are sluggish and the method of their procedures so frustrating; their decisions are not binding and in most cases not respected.

PAN-AFRICAN VISIONS: Did human rights groups like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch come to your defence?

EDWIN NEBOLISA: The rapid responds by human rights families was overwhelming. Amnesty International, Frontline Defenders, Media Foundation for West Africa, IFEX, Elomah, Civicus, Lokarri, Foroyya Newspaper, BBC News, Radio France International and a whole lots of others that am unable to mention here. Their hard campaigns and petitions is the very reason why am alive today, because it is just like me being thrown into the lion’s deen and you know what that means.

PAN-AFRICAN VISIONS: How does this sordid experience affect your sustained work in human rights and democracy?

EDWIN NEBOLISA: It does not affect me personally because it help to raise my moral and credentials but rather it hampers the work of the organisation, for us to be on our feet again, it needs a lot of finances and time.

PAN-AFRICAN VISIONS: What is your assessment of democracy and human rights in the continent and what next for Africa in Governance and Democracy?

EDWIN NEBOLISA: Available evidence indicates that many of the new democratic regimes remain fragile and some of the euphoria of the early 1990s had evaporated. By the beginning of the twenty-first century, the authoritarianism and statism of the early post-independence years was in retreat, and, where it persisted, was vigorously contested in a context in which democratic aspirations were firmly implanted in popular consciousness and the pluralization of associational life was an integral part of the political landscape. It was indeed a mark of the changed times that, whereas previously development had been regarded as a prerequisite of democracy, now democracy is seen as indispensable for development.

The challenges confronting Africa's democratic experiments are many and complex and include entrenching constitutionalism and the reconstruction of the postcolonial state; ensuring that the armed forces are permanently kept out of politics, instituting structures for the effective management of natural resources; promoting sustainable development and political stability; nurturing effective leadership, and safeguarding human rights and the rule of law.

In Africa, as elsewhere, democratic government and respect for human rights are closely linked. Democracy is the best means the world has produced to protect and advance human rights, based on individual freedom and dignity. In turn, respect for human rights is the only means by which a democracy can sustain the individual freedom and dignity that enables it to endure.

Despite some improvements in some parts of the continent, Africa remains the site of very serious human rights problems. For example, in Sudan, the armed conflict in Darfur continues amidst the international arrest warrant issued for President Omar El Bashir and the dismal human rights situation shows no signs of improvement. Both government and rebels commit horrendous abuses. In Somalia, the civil war continues unabated and the human rights situation goes on deteriorating; the civilian population has been the ultimate victim, and more recently the political unrest in North Africa. The ousting of democratically elected presidents and intention to change the constitution for a third bid by some leaders is tantamount to constitutional coup d’état that is eating the continent like cankerworms. Only a handful of countries that hold the regular multi-party elections in Africa are rated as free, and in line with international and regional standards.

In addition, most of the countries in Africa operate ‘semi-authoritarian regimes’ because they have the facade of democracy; that is, they have political systems, they have all the institutions of democratic political systems, they have elected parliaments, and they hold regular elections. They have nominally independent judiciaries. They have constitutions that are by and large completely acceptable as democratic institutions--but there are, at the same time, very serious problems in the functioning of the democratic system. Semi-authoritarian regimes are very good at holding multi-party elections while at the same time making sure that the core power of the government is never going to be affected. In other words, they are going to hold elections, but they are not--the regime is not going to lose those elections. Semi-authoritarian regimes intimidate voters, as it happened in Cote d’Ivoire, Kenya and Zimbabwe. Semi-authoritarian regimes manipulate state institutions for self-ends—governments don’t respect the laws, and don’t work through institutions. Semi-authoritarian regimes amend constitutions anytime they want.

Semi-authoritarian regimes will not introduce fully participatory, competitive elections that may result in their loss of power, and some are even unsure of how far they really want to go toward political pluralism in their countries. African politics in generally speaking is a matter of personality, not programs. For example, during the Obasanjo administration the prevailing idea was that the president was the father of the nation, the big man, or Kabiyesi, which means king, that is, no one dared question his authority.

A strong and effective democratic process should be able to establish a functioning administrative structure; and address the issue of how leaders are chosen; the issue of how different institutions relate to each other; the issues of how officials should act, for example, how the judiciary should act, the independence of the judiciary from other branches of government, and the problem of how the decisions that are taken by these democratic institutions can be implemented.

To move Africa forward, emerging democratic governments would have to confront a legacy of poverty, illiteracy, militarization, and underdevelopment produced by incompetent or corrupt governments. The syndrome of personal dictatorships and the winner-take-all practice as we continue to witness would need to be addressed, and there must be full respect for human rights; constitutional government and the rule of law; transparency in the wielding of power, and accountability of those who exercise power.

The basic rule of the democracy game is that the winners do not forever dislodge the losers. It is important for the consolidation of democracy that losers believe in the system and think that they can get back into the game. African governments must create an enabling environment in which traditions and values of the constitution will be able to take root and where rights and duties are set out. In this process, the separation of powers must be facilitated. Government must allow institutions to work and must allow citizens to exercise their rights, to live in accordance with their religious beliefs and cultural values, without interference. The legal order must be based on human rights, societal awareness of the instrumental and intrinsic values of democracy, a competent state, and a culture of tolerance.

Democracy requires that those who have authority use it for the public good; a democratic system of government begins by recognizing that all members of society are equal. People should have equal say and equal participation in the affairs of government and decision making in society, because, in the final analysis, government exists to serve the people; the people do not exist to serve government. In other words, governments must enhance individual rights and not stifle their existence. Repressive laws on many African countries’ statute books against personal liberty and habeas corpus must be removed from the statute books.

In most African countries, a tremendous amount of information does not circulate beyond a small portion of the urban population, owing to illiteracy, language barriers, and costs. Because the individual ignorance of personal rights and understanding of what democracy means has encouraged authoritarianism in Africa, political education at the grass roots is necessary. If a genuine democracy is to become a reality in Africa, the participation of the masses has to be sought by politicians, and not bought by manipulators. Politicians should try to understand what the masses know, because they sometimes lack the ability to articulate their interests and grievances. However, politicians also should be educated about human rights and respect for the constitution. Education is crucial to the development of a culture of tolerance, which, it is hoped, would contribute immensely to the creation of an enabling environment for democracy.
We must therefore encourage citizens to learn the habits of civil disobedience on a massive scale, rather than taking up arms and ammunitions. We must encourage people to go out and demonstrate peacefully, to show their opinion regarding issues, because eliminating the culture of fear is crucial to our democratic growth.

Mr. Nebolisa, thanks for talking to Pan-African Visions.

EDWIN NEBOLISA: The pleasure is mine.

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* This article first appeared on Pan-African Visions.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

Faceless Swazi Facebook campaign will disappoint without democratic movement

Peter Kenworthy

2011-04-07

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/72393

‘If the world media misconstrued the “uprising” to be representative of popular sentiment inside Swaziland, then its flopping would deal the wider struggle for democracy a serious body blow.’ Sikelela Dlamini, Swaziland United Democratic Front’s project coordinator, is speaking of the so-called ‘April 12 Swazi Uprising’, a Facebook campaign that has received a disproportional amount of international media coverage – not only for Swaziland in general , but also for an event that has yet to happen.

There has been much talk, both within and outside Swaziland, of the April 12 Swazi uprising, a campaign instigated by anonymous Swazis on Facebook and Wordpress – not least because it has been inspired by the successful use of Facebook and other online social media in Tunisia and Egypt. The campaign promises that ‘a hundred thousand men’ (and presumably women too) will ‘march into the country’s city centres to declare a 2011 democratic Swaziland free of all royal dominance.’

The main coordinative hub of the Swazi democratic movement, the Swaziland United Democratic Front (SUDF), is also planning demonstrations on April 12, however, the day in 1973 when the still-effective state of emergency in Swaziland was declared, that banned all political parties and centralised all power within a corrupt monarchy, that has brought nothing but financial mess and mass poverty to the potentially prosperous Swazi nation.

Sikelela Dlamini insists that we must not confuse the two campaigns or expect a ‘Facebook uprising’ to bring about a change of system in Swaziland without the muscle of the major above-ground organisations that make up the Swazi democratic movement. ‘This “uprising” talk is not an SUDF invention. We are extremely concerned that the “faceless” people behind it may not even be inside Swaziland, and could therefore not themselves even be directly involved in the hyped “uprising”; turning the entire hype into a hoax “campaign”.’

‘The SUDF together with its civil society partners will launch a series of rolling mass protests inside Swaziland in commemoration of, and in protest of, that fateful day in 1973 when the Swazi monarchy unilaterally outlawed the Independence Constitution and free political activity along with it, coincidentally commencing on the 12th and stretching to the 15th. Our aim is to force the undemocratic system of governance out through peaceful popular protest in order to begin the process of ushering in multiparty democracy,’ he continues.

The Swazi regime and monarchy is feeling the pressure from a combination of increasing numbers of Swazi’s calling for a regime change, and other countries, especially South Africa, calling for restraint towards such mass demonstrations of disaffection, Sikelela Dlamini tells me. ‘The March 18th protest marches were characterised by unprecedented calm, restraint, and, if you like, even professionalism on the part of the state security apparatus’s response to even sporadic incidents of provocation. My political antennae tell me that the meeting that King Mswati III had with South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma made him awake to the cold reality of growing regional and international isolation, should the marchers be met with open confrontation. I even suspect Mswati could be ready to “negotiate” a settlement if only the progressive forces made the first move. I could be very wrong, I do realise, though.’

Sikelela Dlamini and the SUDF therefore welcome any additions to their protests, hoping once and for all to lay to rest the divisiveness that has plagued the democratic movement in Swaziland, and create a massive united front of demands for democratisation. ‘If the so-called uprising takes off and it is pushed by equally disgruntled Swazis who employ peaceful means complementing ours, we will welcome the added muscle to force Tinkhundla [the Swazi “traditional” system whereby the king controls government and all land allocations] out. Swazis are increasingly ready to deliver a decisive blow to Tinkhundla in the forthcoming protest marches. So, yes, this could be BIG! We are looking to put at least 20,000 disgruntled Swazis out on the streets of Manzini, Mbabane, and Nhlangano. All indications are we can achieve these numbers if we stay focused, united in diversity, and pooling limited resources together; realising that our common enemy for now remains the undemocratic Tinkhundla system of governance,’ Sikelela concludes.


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* Peter Kenworthy is Africa Contact’s Swaziland representative.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

South Africa: March for toilets this Friday

Unemployed People’s Movement, Women’s Social Forum

2011-04-07

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/72398

Thursday, 07 April 2011

Unemployed People’s Movement Press Statement

*THE UNEMPLOYED PEOPLE’S MOVEMENT & THE WOMEN’S SOCIAL FORUM MARCH FOR TOILETS THIS FRIDAY*

On Friday the Unemployed People’s Movement & the Women’s Social Forum will be marching, in Grahamstown, for toilets, electricity and housing. Toilets are an important issue for the safety and dignity of our people. It is an absolute disgrace that all these years after democracy so many of our people have inadequate toilets or no toilets at all. It is a clear sign of the contempt with which the predatory that has captured the state treats the poor.

The demand for toilets has been central to the protests and struggles of popular movements around the country. The reason for this is that toilets are a matter of basic human dignity as well as safety in terms of both health and the risk that women without toilets face will looking for safe places to relieve themselves in the night.

Here in Grahamstown our comrades in the shacks have no toilets at all. Other comrades have those toilets that are supposed to be cleaned out twice a week. But they are left uncleaned for weeks with the result that they begin to smell, to overflow, to become infested with insects and to become unusable. The result is that many people that have access to toilets on paper do not have access to toilets in reality.

The Makana Municipality has not been negotiating on this issue in good faith. They continue to insult our dignity day after day. Therefore we will be marching on them once again. Our main demand is for toilets but we will also raise the issue of electricity and housing.

We invite all those journalists that continue to say that our struggle, and all the other protests and struggle around the country are driven by disgruntled members of the ANC with their eyes on party lists and tenders, to come and relieve themselves where we relieve ourselves. They will soon see that it is the material conditions of our lives that have given rise to our movements. The movements of the poor are genuine movements with genuine issues.

The SABC television programme *Cutting Edge* has been here in Grahamstown this week. They are making a programme about the disgraceful situation that the Makana Municipality has put us in. Their programme will be screened next Thursday at 9:90 p.m. on SABC 1.

We held a mass meeting last night and the position of the people is clear. Toilets are a matter of basic human dignity and we will defend our dignity. The march will start on Ragland Road at 10:00 a.m. and proceed to the Town Hall. Everyone who supports our demand for toilets for all is welcome to join us.

*Kwanele! Kwanele!
Genoeg is genoeg!
Enough!*

Contact people:

Xola Mali (UPM) – 072 299 5253 – xola.mali@yahoo.com
Ayanda Kota (UPM) – 078 625 6462 – ayandakota@webmail.co.za
Nosigqibo Saxujwa (WSF) 079 107 9596

Kenya’s silent majority

H. Nanjala Nyabola

2011-04-05

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/panafrican/72297

From an insider’s perspective, the greatest source of concern over the outcome of the 2012 elections in Kenya isn’t the potential of political bigwigs to fund campaigns of hatred. That, unfortunately, has been a staple of the Kenyan political class since the one-party era and, given the current rhetoric more than a year before the election, appears inevitable. What is more worrying is the potential effect, or lack thereof, of Kenya’s silent majority on the country’s historical arc. From a historically unparalleled mobilisation during the hotly contested 2007 election, it appears that the sleeping giant, encompassing the apathetic middle class and other politically disenfranchised groups accustomed to decades of disconnect with the country’s politics, is just about ready to turn over and go back to bed.

The diagnosis can be returned following even a cursory reading of the reaction of average Kenyans to the name of a small town in the Netherlands. If journalists are to be believed, say the word ‘Hague’ to just about anyone in the street and you are bound to get some kind of visceral reaction from the person you are speaking to – either passionately expressing support for the six Kenyan public figures that have been indicted by the International Criminal Court, or a heartfelt reminder of the plight of those still trying to repair their lives nearly four years after the country was thrown into chaos following the heavily disputed elections of December 2007. So catchy in fact is everything ‘Hague’ in Kenya that songs have been penned, plays written and endless pages of opinions expressing either of the two opinions highlighted above, emphasising that the country is on the cusp of something major.

Away from the media glare however, the silent majority highlighted above appears to be doing everything in its power to brush the nasty business of the post-election violence under the rug. Listening in to call-in conversations on the radio and on television, you would be forgiven for thinking that the average Kenyan is okay with Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto, sitting minsters in the current government indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for their part in the post-election violence, simply saying ‘I’m sorry’ and getting back to work. Beyond presumptions of guilt and or innocence and a desire to see the gears of justice complete their turns, it’s more a case of people shrugging their shoulders, accepting their guilt and being content to look the other way. Meanwhile scores of people who lost everything and in some cases everyone, continue to languish in poverty, abandoned by the state charged with their protection.

Are Kenyans simply selfish? Have decades of mindless violence and meaningless political intrigues bled the general population of any sense of justice or compassion for those victimised by the excesses of the political class? The truth, as in any similar situation, is probably a little more complicated than it first appears. It is often said that ‘bad things happen when good people do nothing’ and this appears to be the case in Kenya today. As in the Muslim community, or in the evangelical heartlands of the USA, the silent majority – by simply remaining silent – plays right into the hands of extremists whose raised voices then set the tone of the debate. Only people who feel strongly enough about a specific subject bother to raise their voices to talk about it, so when we listen to the radio and hear people phoning in their support for the ‘Hague Six’, we shouldn’t worry so much about whether Kenyans have stopped caring about each other, but wonder why so few Kenyans feel strongly enough for the cause of justice and restitution to speak up for the victims of the post-election violence.

Politicians know the power of the silent majority, and familiar with the penchant for the country’s majority to stay out of politics altogether rather than engage with the discomfort of the political process, three of those indicted have taken their pleas of innocence on the road, speaking at rallies all across the country to marshal support for their cause, knowing that those who turn up will already be at least sympathetic to their agenda. Note that none of these rallies are organised in middle-class neighbourhoods, or in the remote regions of the country. They focus on the most polarised regions of the country – in the Rift Valley and in economically marginalised quarters of cities and towns. In the meantime, the absurdity of extreme voices comes to the fore, wherein a sitting minister has promised to strip should Uhuru Kenyatta be detained in the Netherlands. (Before you ask, this isn’t one of Kenya’s legendary illiterate and ill-spoken Parliamentary Old Boys, but the highly educated Minister for Special Programmes Esther Murugi.) In the same breath, no fewer than 30 MPs have promised to take the show international, travelling to the Netherlands later this week to express solidarity with the six as they face a preliminary hearing in the Netherlands and promising to mobilise their support bases – read pay off idle, unemployed youth – to protest against the court.

In the melee, the only people who appear oblivious to the power of the silent majority are the majority themselves. Unbelieving of the power of numbers to alter the political trajectory of the country, some of the Kenyans I’ve spoken to have expressed greater belief in the myth of Kenyan exceptionalism – we’re not as bad as Rwanda, and we could never be Côte d’Ivoire – than in the power of an informed and engaged polity to push for political reform and hold those most responsible for the violence in 2007–08 accountable. Over and above everything else, the extent to which this lax attitude is altered will determine whether Kenya will once again be brought to its knees by the ballot box.

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

'Oil and Insurgency in the Niger Delta: Managing the Complex Politics of Petroviolence'

Review of Cyril Obi and Siri Aas Rustad's edited book

Nicholas A. Jackson

2011-04-07

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/books/72343

I agree with Michael Watts that Cyril Obi and Siri Aas Rustad's edited book ‘Oil and Insurgency in the Niger Delta’ will become ‘the reference point for future debates’ on the Niger Delta. This book, though rather short, nevertheless brings to bear a broad array of intellectual and methodological tools to tell the story of the past, present and future of the Niger Delta, which has been bedeviled by commodity exploitation, including present-day petroleum production.

Ukiwo and Soremekun join the editors in laying the groundwork by examining a historical and geographical context of oil and insurgency characterised by blurred boundaries, local/global and youth/elder divisions, and long-time collusion among hegemonic Nigerian public, private, ‘traditional’ and expatriate actors.

Building on this broad foundation, the core chapters of the book examine the violence, those who engage in violence, and those who benefit (see especially the chapters by Ikelegbe, Duquet and Zalik). We see here the roots of violence in flawed and selective access to justice (Emeseh); how popular and criminal violence are distinguished as well as blurred (Ikelegbe); networks through which small arms and light weapons proliferate as well as judgments about arms collection programs (Duquet); and use of image and discourse to criminalise resistance and to legitimate corporate exploitation (Zalik).

Equally important are chapters examining social movement resistance and corporate and government response. Ako, Ibaba, Ukeje, Ikelegbe and Oluwaniyi deal quite well with dynamics of peace and violence in these oppositions as well as the seeming inability, as Ukeje suggests, of the Nigerian government to deal with opposition in a non-violent manner.

Watts refers elsewhere to Niger Delta instability as a nearly ungovernable ‘governmentality’,[1] and Frynas has suggested that instability and barely controlled violence can be a competitive advantage for first-mover corporations.[2] The contributions in this book lend breadth and depth to such discussions through chapters on resource control and discontent (Ako), an excellent detailing of the Ijaw National Congress and non-violence (Ibaba), the problematics of resistance and criminality (Bøǻs, Ikelegbe), and the cultural and gender dimensions of resistance (Oluwaniyi).

Oluwaniyi and Zalik provide arguably the most path-breaking chapters, discussing women's movements in the context of Nigerian culture, economy and society (Oluwaniyi) and providing an excellent description of each ‘corporate intervention…a discursive and practical project with real effects, reconstituting ideas of exploitation, greed and accumulation as applied to petroleum extraction from the Niger Delta region of Nigeria’ (Zalik, p.199). By including Zalik's engagement with governmentality (rightly referencing Tania Murray Li's work in this area), Obi and Rustad move discussion effectively toward corporate control of space and discourse. The editors also remain focussed in this way on the difficult and messy realities of exploitation in the Niger Delta, rather than, for example, bringing in primarily discursive treatments that (though out of the mainstream) would privilege play on words at the expense of the materialities of domination. As Watts comments in ‘Collective Wish Images’[3] (p.107) regarding Abacha's execution of Sara-Wiwa and his colleagues: ‘Nine Ogoni were hung not for connivance or play but for confronting state legitimacy on the most sensitive of terrains: the geographical terrain…’

The primary weakness of the book lies in the treatments by Ahonsi and Idemudia of governance and corporate social responsibility. By accepting at face value the core research terms and methodologies of international financial institutions (‘capacity building’, ‘enabling environment’, ‘participation’, ‘local empowerment’), their chapters follow the well-worn reductionist path of essentialising states and public/private divisions, thus disregarding much of the material in the remainder of the book. In the process, these two chapters fall particularly short in acknowledging the long, intimate relationship between the political and corporate elite in Nigeria. Corporations are not simply profit-making organisations, distinct from the regime. Thus, for example, corporations do not get into CSR simply because governments are not fulfilling their role as providers of social welfare. Arguments about ‘enabling environment’ and ‘capacity building’ disregard realities that the corporate, political and cultural elite have interacted over many generations in maintaining control over productive resources.

In addition to the other chapters in this volume, Apter (Pan-African Nation),[4] Frynas (Political Instability and Business)[5] and Watts (Righteous Oil?,[6] Resource Curse?[7]) among others have mapped out quite well the dynamics of these problematic relationships.

Overall, Obi and Rustad have provided students of the Niger Delta as well as other areas of industrial extraction with an invaluable resource for understanding the complex and interrelated dynamics of violence, exploitation, resistance and social change.

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* Obi, Cyril and Siri Aas Rustad, eds, 'Oil and Insurgency in the Niger Delta: Managing the Complex Politics of Petroviolence', London: Zed Books in association with Nordic Africa Institute, 2011, 255pp, paperback, £21.99, ISBN: 9781848138070
* Dr. Nicholas Jackson is an independent researcher writing about neoclassical economics, governmentality, international development, social movements, corporate exploitation and the legacy of the Chad-Cameroon Petroleum Development Project.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

NOTES

[1] Michael J. Watts, ‘Development and Governmentality’, Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography 24, no. 1 (March) (2003): 6-34.
[2] J. G. Frynas, ‘Political Instability and Business: Focus on Shell in Nigeria’, Third World Quarterly 19, no. 3 (1998): 457-478.
[3] Michael J. Watts, ‘Collective Wish Images: Geographical Imaginaries and the Crisis of Development’, in Human Geography Today, ed. Doreen B. Massey, John Allen, and Philip Sarre (Cambridge, UK; Malden, Mass.: Polity Press; Blackwell Publishers, 1999), 85-107.
[4] Andrew H. Apter, The Pan-African Nation: Oil and the Spectacle of Culture in Nigeria (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2005).
[5] J. G. Frynas, ‘Political Instability and Business: Focus on Shell in Nigeria’, Third World Quarterly 19, no. 3 (1998): 457-478.
[6] Michael J. Watts, ‘Righteous Oil?: Human Rights, the Oil Complex and Corporate Social Responsibility’, Annual Review of Environment and Resources (30) (2005): 373-407.
[7] Michael J. Watts, ‘Resource Curse? Governmentality, Oil and Power in the Niger Delta, Nigeria’, in The Geopolitics of Resource Wars: Resource Dependence, Governance and Violence, ed. Philippe Le Billon (London; New York: Frank Cass, 2005), 50-83.

Playing by Their Rules

Coastal teenage girls in Kenya on life, love and football

2011-04-06

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/books/72311

In April 2001 the seeds of a girls’ football and development programme were sown in Kilifi district, coastal Kenya. At that time using football was a radical approach to tackling some of the issues – early school drop-out, lack of opportunities, unintended pregnancies, gender inequity – that affected girls in the district. Eight years later, there are 3,000 girls playing football and accessing vital reproductive health information and social support in the Moving the Goalposts (MTG) project.

In 2005 the author, Sarah Forde, a journalist, development practitioner and trained football coach who had been with MTG from the outset, started to have in-depth discussions with nine teenage girls in the project. Over a two-year period, in dusty classrooms, under the shade of trees, at the side of football pitches, Sarah sat with each girl and listened to what they had to say.

'Playing by Their Rules’ tells the girls’ stories. They are stories that expose how girls negotiate through their complex teenage years. We hear tales of their sexual dilemmas, the onset of menses, their fear of pregnancy, the prevalence of abortion and their school and home lives. They talk about how football both enriches and complicates their lives. Most of all, though, the book is an account of the author’s journey into the girls’ worlds – a unique telling of stories that are at times shocking, sometimes heart- warming but mostly enlightening for those of us who’d like to know more about the teenage lives of girls in East Africa.

‘What an amazing book. It has the wow-I-just-cant-put-it-down page turner feeling. I am moved by the stories of these girls who are young and old at the same time. In between their tears and laughter I find voices of hope and determination for girls in Kilifi. ‘Moving the Goalposts’ is not just about football. It is about coming to terms with one's sexuality and the transition into adulthood. That they face so many challenges, many of them not of their making, such as poverty and discrimination, and yet still manage to triumph is truly amazing. Indeed Tunaweza!’
– Hon. Njoki S. Ndungu, former nominated MP and architect of the Sexual Offences Bill

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* ‘Playing by Their Rules: coastal teenage girls in Kenya on life, love and football’ by Sarah Forde is available here.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

The roots of political violence go deep in Zimbabwe

Levi Kabwato

2011-04-07

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/books/72344

Zimbabweans ought to take time to understand the country’s tortured history of violence in order to make sense of the present. This is the message from the University of Zimbabwe’s Professor Lloyd Sachikonye who is in South Africa to launch his new book, ‘When A State Turns on its People: Violence in Zimbabwe’.

The book itself is the end product of research into political violence in Zimbabwe, especially during the 2008 election campaign. Hence, it is primarily an analysis of records of violence documented in the past 10 years. ‘What sparked my concern,’ Sachikonye says, ‘is that in 2008, Zimbabwe was on the verge of political change with [Morgan Tsvangirai of the Movement for Democratic Change] having won the first round of the [March 2008] presidential election and the indicators were there to suggest a similar result in the run-off. But then you had a process whereby state agents intervened and stopped that process.’

The professor said other concerns which led him to write the book were borne out of a need to analyse the ramifications of 2008 political violence on the wider Zimbabwe society. He noted acts of revenge perpetrated against those who were deemed to have voted for the ‘wrong party’. These victims reportedly suffered livestock theft, arson attacks and displacement.

But there seems to be growing yet mistaken thinking that political violence in Zimbabwe had its genesis moment in 2000 and only reared its ugly head 2008. An obvious elimination of a key fact by that thinking becomes the Gukurahandu massacres of the 1980s, reflective discussion of which has been consistently repressed by the state. So, where exactly do the roots of political violence lie in Zimbabwe’s history?

‘Roots of political violence in Zimbabwe go deep,’ says Sachikonye. He adds: ‘They go back to the 1960s. When ZANU PF and ZAPU were rivals in this period, they used violence as a tool for mobilisation, especially in the townships. These groups used petrol bombs, stones and other tools which enabled them to gain the upper political ground. That tradition continued during the liberation struggle, particularly within the liberation parties themselves; there was use of violence against dissidents and those who questioned the leadership both in ZANU PF and ZAPU.’

Unfortunately, there would be a hangover of this culture in the postcolonial state. ‘After independence, the state began to use the very same structures of violence it had inherited from its colonial past to put down those it deemed its opponents,’ says Sachikonye. He does not absolve colonialism of any responsibility. ‘But one cannot runaway from colonial violence because then you even had the use of dogs, detention and torture and those techniques were carried over into the new state,’ he adds.

The professor describes as a ‘missed opportunity’, the failure of a newly independent Zimbabwe to seek a different political path from what colonialism had chartered for it. ‘In 1980 we missed an opportunity to pause and reflect on political violence and maybe even probe deeper and find out who had participated in political violence and address the issue of impunity,’ he says.

Although Zimbabwe is not an exception on the continent with regards to inheriting, in their entirety, colonial structures of violence, could not its comparatively late independence in 1980 have served as a lesson on what needed to be done soon after winning freedom in dismantling the shackles of oppression?

‘A reason for this could be that the liberation war was a distraction for this kind of consideration. The majority of countries, especially our neighbours in the [SADC] region except for Mozambique did not pursue the option of liberation war. But there still was a need to take a serious review of that,’ says Sachikonye.

He adds: ‘There was a policy of reconciliation but this was from the top, it wasn’t a collective response by society to what had happened. Every family in Zimbabwe had been touched, one way or another, by the liberation war. I think 1980 would have been the vantage point to look into the excesses that had happened during the war both within the liberation movements and also those committed by the colonial state against the citizens. That golden opportunity was missed.’

Be that as it may, Zimbabwe is at a point where the country desperately needs to go through national healing processes, which can enable issues of transitional justice to be addressed in a sensitive but comprehensive way. But what shape can - and should - the organ for national healing? What should it look like? And how could it be informed by, for example, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) in post-apartheid South Africa?

‘South Africa managed to grapple with the issue of political violence and healing in a different but comprehensive way through the TRC…In the book, I make reference to what civil society organisations in Zimbabwe have been proposing for some time now - the need for a comprehensive transitional justice approach. Those in government can do well to look closely at those proposals,’ says Sachikonye.

But what about the role of the state through the organ for national healing? What interventions can be made taking this avenue? ‘[The organ] has not been very active, has had very little credibility within Zimbabwean society and I don’t think it has accomplished what it set out to do. I think that partly is a result of the restricted terms of reference it received from the onset,’ Sachikonye says. He adds: ‘I also think here again was an opportunity that was missed under the GPA (Global Political Agreement) for a forum or institution to take a much more comprehensive but also participatory approach to transitional justice. This organ was imposed from the top but what is needed is broad representation from civil society and other layers of society.’

He also makes the point that this organ will have to look to international practices and experiences such as those from countries like Sierra Leone and Liberia to discover the strengths and weaknesses of their approaches to transitional justice. This is not rocket science. So, why does there seem to be a great reluctance to pursue such avenues? Or does Zimbabwe have a government in place that has got its priorities in the wrong place?

‘It seems as if the priorities in Zimbabwe at the moment are constitutional reform and the next election. There is very little talk about serious institutional and collective approaches to transitional justice so the chances of having this organ functioning as it should are limited until there is a new democratic government is set up,’ says Sachikonye.

Concern is growing around Zimbabwe’s next election. Recent reports indicate a rise in cases of political violence and analysts are warning against regression into the 2008 atmosphere. How damaging can such a regression be?

‘2008 was symbolic in that for the first time in Zimbabwe’s history, the [ZANU-PF regime] lost a crucial election but sought to maintain power through the use of widespread, systematic and targeted violence,’ says Sachikonye. He adds: ‘As I mentioned earlier, violence in Zimbabwe is deep-rooted. [ZANU-PF] has leaders who boast of having degrees in violence. These ‘degrees’ were obtained from experiences accumulated in the 1960s and 1970s and that culture is part of the fabric of how they look at political processes. They don’t see a peaceful election as a normal election anymore.’

But at the heart of this culture of violence are young people, most of whom still had not been born in the 1960s or indeed the 1970s when political parties such as ZANU-PF were ‘accumulating experience’ in the use of violence. How come youths buy into this culture and become feared agents of terror in Zimbabwe?

‘Unfortunately we have not been able to address the issue of violence seriously. As a result, we have thousands of youths who have been indoctrinated into this whole strategy of political violence. Unemployment and promises of jobs, cash and other opportunities are partly the motivators of youth going this way. But then these youths are usually discarded after the elections. This is very unhealthy for our society,’ says Sachikonye.

It is quite clear that ZANU-PF has successfully hijacked the discourse on Zimbabwe and is looking set to claiming the agenda-setting role. Already, it would appear that in the fragile government of national unity (GNU), the party is dictating what issues should be tackled. What weaknesses in Zimbabwean society could have possibly delivered this outcome to the erstwhile ruling party?

‘There is little analytical discussion of violence itself in the media, particularly the state-controlled media. What you tend to find is underreporting of incidents political violence, misreporting of that violence in that the perpetrators of such are not named and sometimes you have disinformation regarding political violence. All these do not contribute to an analytical discussion on violence, we need to go beyond this,’ says Sachikonye.

But how can Zimbabweans go beyond that, arguably, shallow understanding of the role of violence in their history?

‘I think they need to be honest with themselves, they need to be honest with their history. Since the 1960s, political violence has been used as a tool of obtaining political power. We need to grow out of that, we need to grow out of state impunity but also party impunity. We need to break the cycle of violence and the only way to break it is to break the cycle of impunity. This means that those who were involved in violence during the time of the Gukurahundi and in later years such as 2000 and 2008 need to be brought before the courts. But they know that this won’t happen. So there is cynicism towards the system that lets people get away with murder in the name of a particular party,’ Sachikonye says.

He adds: ‘The rule of law needs to be implemented rigorously and independently. This means that there is need for strong, non-partisan institutions.’ But then, Zimbabwe’s institutions are pathetically weak, a result of a decade of unashamed manipulation and deliberate disabling of the capacity for them to deliver as they are mandated. What then becomes the role of African institutions such as the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the African Union (AU)?

‘SADC has guidelines and principles on the conduct of democratic elections. That body can play the role of a moral force and can encourage adherence to those principles. The AU also has a charter on good governance and elections and its incumbent upon them to enforce such charters. Moving towards the next election, SADC and AU must dispatch teams to Zimbabwe quite early, not a week before the election but perhaps two months before the election and a month after that,’ says the professor.

He continues: ‘I’m not naïve. I know that in these institutions there are countries that are not fully democratic like Swaziland. You’re probably expecting too much if you think that those countries can play a crucial role in the democratisation of other countries. But all the same, they have agreed to abide by certain guidelines and they must do that.’

So, faced with all of the above, how can civil society best engage in the region with success? ‘Solidarity, Solidarity, Solidarity. There is a lot regional civics have learnt from each other and they must continue to do so. Beyond that, there is an opportunity for collective approaches on particular campaigns such as those on violence and elections,’ says Sachikonye.

The book is a deeply provocative intervention that will take the reader through half-a-century of political violence in Zimbabwe. It will direct the reader to intra-party violence motivated by the scramble for positions. Even civil society organisations and the church will discover that this very same violence has seeped into their structures and has begun to affect the entire political culture of Zimbabwe.

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* Levi Kabwato is editor of Zimbabwe in Pictures.
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

‘How are you doing today sister?'

Review of ‘The Black Woman’s Agenda'

Norah Owaraga

2011-04-06

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/books/72306

‘How are you doing today sister?’ is a question that LeTava Mabilijengo in her book: ‘The Black Woman’s Agenda: Inner Peace & the Power of Black Love, Revolutionary-minded Black Women’ encourages black women to ask each other on a daily basis.

The reasons why 'sisters' should ask each other the question are clearly articulated in Mabilijengo’s book, which in my view, is a must-read for all back women at least and black men too. In fact, if I had the powers, I would decree that this text should be compulsory reading for all senior secondary school students in African.

While the book is set in the United States of America (USA) and focuses on the plight of black women in the USA, I find it relevant in the context of Africa as well. Mabilijengo explores pertinent issues relevant to the context of Africa, such as the misconception that problem solving of the specific issues of black women needs to somehow exclude black men.

She makes a good argument against such misconceptions and demonstrates the need to recognise that men are after all ‘genetically modified women’. She provides an enlightening account of the external battle and the internal battle that women are subjected to and which they need to fight. She gives the most valid and useful pieces of advice on how black women can focus their attention on their own self-development; how black women can go about regaining their lost identity and lost voice; and how to avoid ‘economic slavery’ by embracing ‘tribal economics’.

African women and black women as a whole need to be exposed more to the views of the likes of Mabilijengo and less to the current dominant views in which black women are portrayed as perpetual victims! Mabilijengo's book is worth reading for the value of the knowledge contained therein is priceless.

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* Norah Owaraga is a sociologist and the CEO of Executive Support Services.
* Download a free copy of LeTava Mabilijengo’s ‘[url=The Black Woman’s Agenda: Inner Peace & the Power of Black Love, Revolutionary-minded Black Women[/url]’. [pdf]
* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org or comment online at Pambazuka News.

Help us shut down Tomari nuclear power plant

Kaori Izumi

2011-04-06

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/letters/72328

Please circulate widely below online petition, calling the president of Hokkaido Electric to immediately shut down Tomari nuclear power plant in Hokkaido, Japan. I live in Sapporo Hokkaido, 110km away from the plant. In 2009 an active fault line was found near Tomari, which could cause earthquake of at least 7.5 magnitude and this means that Tomari could be next Fukushima Daiichi anytime. The deadline for signing the petition is 30 April.

Sign the petition (English)

I hope that you are fine. I am fine. But Fukushima put an end to my quiet life in Japan.

Our 3 April emergency demonstration calling for ‘Shut Down Tomari nuclear power plant, Hokkaido’ was a success, with record high attendance in our standard.

Here is some footage of the 3 April demonstration:

Internet Video stream
Hokkaido Press news video

We are expecting two important elections on 10 April, when we will have our second demonstration, calling to Shut Down Tomari and for a nuclear free world. As you may have heard, Tokyo Electric is releasing 1,500 tons of radioactive waste-water into the sea, only informing fishermen in the area with a one-page fax on the release. So far there are over 10,000 people dead and almost 20,000 missing; those bodies found near the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plants are so heavily contaminated that they cannot be cremated or buried without further spreading radioactivity. We do not know yet how many children have been orphaned. It was heartbreaking to see a photo of so many small school bags left behind, while their owners disappeared after a whole primary school had been taken by tsunami.

After Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan suffered from poverty; communists and unions were getting strong, which made USA fear that Japan might be taken by the then Soviet Union as an ally.

It was this American conspiracy in close alliance with then main Japanese media company, which controlled both TV and newspaper Yomiuri. Their ‘Psychological Strategy’ successfully manipulated nuclear-allergic Japanese to believe that a resource-poor Japan need to have nuclear power plants with ‘peaceful use of nuclear energy’.

Fukushima Daiichi and the Ministry of Finance have worked closely to hide information on accidents, leakage of wastes, extending the period of using almost 40-year old nuclear power plants, despite warnings. There is a problem of ‘Amakudari’ whereby retired staff from the ministry are hired by Fukushima Daiichi, which works against independent control by the ministry over the company.

The top ten leaders of Fukushima Daiichi are said to be lawyers and economists without any knowledge of nuclear power plants. Only today we were told by the designer of the Fukushima Daiichi that the oldest nuclear reactors were simply copied from an American one which was built for an area without any risk of earthquake. Our government kept repeating that it was safe even after the accident happened, and they keep saying that ‘radioactivity level is minimum without any “immediate” risk to human health’. Yet, in Tokyo young mothers were told not to give tap water to their babies.

And the latest news is that the national weather casting association has instructed its members and researchers not to release their own data on radioactivity movement – another manipulation of critical information.

This is a human-made disaster; nobody knows how long it will last. Livelihoods have been taken from fishermen, farmers, those who decided to evacuate, and many more.

We shall have a meeting today with the staff of nuclear power plants safety control in Hokkaido as well Hokkaido Electric, which runs Tomari nuclear power plants.

I have one request. If it is possible to contact a company who is producing radioactivity detectors in your country, please let me know. Under tremendous uncertainty on the levels of radioactivity, schools in Fukushima are starting a new school year just now. Parents are very worried about sending their children to school and they desperately need radioactive detectors, which are in short supply in Japan today.

Moves from the government and big relief organisations are not fast enough in this regard.

I have never imagined earlier that Japan would be a recipient of World Food Program (WFP) relief. I have seen corruptions, I have seen how those in power, with money and contacts, make the lives of the people who are living honestly and struggling everyday to make the end meets. But only now I am witnessing it happening so openly in Japan. Fukushima was an eye opener for me. Our ultimate objective is to have a nuclear and corruption free world.

Am only 14

Wanjiku Mwaurah

2011-04-05

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/African_Writers/72295

Though I rant and rave
And get these feelings
Of hurt and grief
Though I want to cry
But have to dry
These tears in me
In a well of pain and hurt
Though I smile at you
But hide my face
Coz am shy of the blemish that life has put
Of my childhood
So trodden and trampled
And on dust it lays
Of my memories
That am scared of forgetting
And cannot indulge in either
Sometimes even I forget
That am only 14

Am up early
Prepare my sibling and myself
Prepare the breakfast and our cell
I mean our home
He wasn’t there last night
So I slept just fine
‘twas one of the few nights
That he missed being at home
We are off to school
A long day for me
I think of books
And work to do
I think of dinner
And what to cook
Though lunch we missed
It doesn’t count
It’s 5 o’clock, we are out of school
For me it means
Am not 14

I try, I try
I try real hard
To fit in my role as snug as I can
A mother I become for a couple of hours
And that
Am fine with
I cook, I feed,
I give a bath
I lay to sleep
These ‘kids’ I have
And that am fine with
But later a wife…
With conjugal obligation to satisfy
And he prods and pries and forces himself
The fight is constant
The fears are real
The hate, the hate is so much
I can feel it in my mouth
Am only 14, a wife not a mother not
But a daughter to this man

So now I hope you understand why
I smile with my mouth
And cry with my heart
And with my eyes stare bleakly
At a future I see not
But at the pain that has been caused

I hope you understand when
You see me on the streets
Parading all my things
Or hawking for some pimp
Am just trying to
Take care of my ‘kids’

I hope you understand when
I ask for help in raising these kids
Coz though am only 14
Am read to lay low and die
So am kindly asking if you…
Can…take them through this system
Take them through life

I hope you understand when
I say I can’t take no more
Of this emotional physical
And psychological torture
Of this life,
The constant reminder
Of what transpires
Of the fact that
I lived not as a girl
Though am not yet a woman
Of the truth that I want
To live not
Though am only 14
I hope you understand

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

Shredded soul

Wanjiku Mwaura

2011-04-05

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/African_Writers/72296

She walked in breathing laboriously, holding a piece of soiled cloth to her body. She grunted as she struggled off her clothes plastered to her skin by sweat and blood. She was crying.

I turned over to switch on the lights next to the bed, the little clock on the bedside silently shimmered an 11 pm figure and I sighed unsure whether I should tell her something, to reassure her or scold her. I bit my lower lip and pretended to be asleep. This was becoming a habit. Today she was even early. She normally came home around 2 am and though we never talked about it I knew there was a man involved and maybe a woman too. Maybe she was a vampire or werewolf. Do they even exist … Drat! The movies I have been watching they always trigger my imagination. She bumped into something, a sign that she was high and I cursed her under my breath, wondering why she never quit the life she led. I hated that I was stuck with her and didn’t how much longer.

She stripped and stepped into the shower which was a few steps from the bed, adjacent to the little space we called our kitchen. She had a deep wound on her side that was now flowing freely. She got under the not so wide spray of water and let out a primal yelp that she quickly stopped with the back of her hand. She stepped out of the bathroom and sank down on the floor, biting her lips, her face contorted in pain. She let tears run down mixed with shower water and stuff hanging from her nose. She was crying noisily now.

I was playing dead. Pretending she wasn’t home yet, seemed easier than to ask what happened to her. I only turned once the entire time-when I was switching on the lights then I regulated my breathing; slow and deep to really prove that I was dead asleep. Then she started her crying, I had managed to let the yelp go but this crying was too much. She even had a rhythm and I figured soon as I got hang of it I would start breathing to it.

‘Please help me’

Was she speaking to me? No it was just my mind playing tricks. I always wished we talked; after all we shared a house. We shared a bathroom. We even shared a kitchen! We lived together and sometimes in my good-moment days, I wished we could sit down as housemates and just talk- like normal housemates do. I continued willing her away with my mind; toying with the idea of leaving the room and sleeping over at Julie’s. She would understand if I called her and told her am on my way, but it’s Friday night and the boyfriend is probably visiting.

‘Please help me’

She was speaking to me! Her voice was so low I almost missed it this second time. I threw back my bedcover and stepped towards her and without speaking helped her to the only seat we had. Blood was soaked on the little rug separating the bathroom form our kitchen. I must remember to send it to the drycleaner, there is no way am washing blood. I will work overtime.

I reached into the closet we shared and took an old shirt I hadn’t worn in a long while and pressed it on her side. I cleaned her up then called the campus security. I saw her protesting weakly but I had to do this put an end to what it was I didn’t know. Maybe I thought calling the campus police would give me answers or at least demystify the mystery of where I was that night.

In a few minutes, knocks on the door and the noisy siren outside shattered into my reverie. They matched in and asked who called then they saw me. Orders were barked by the man I had been with earlier in the night and as I was wheeled into the waiting van.

I watched as my eyes rolled back.

BROUGHT TO YOU BY PAMBAZUKA NEWS

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

Pambazuka News 184 : Cette Afrique qu'on veut mettre à genoux en brisant Khadafi

2011-04-06

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/summaryfr/72301

Gbagbo ready for discussion?

Gado

2011-04-07

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/cartoons/72351

Saddam's ghost in Tripoli...

Gado

2011-04-07

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/cartoons/72400

Kenya's condom shortage

Gado

2011-04-07

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/cartoons/72399

Zimbabwe: MDC's Lovemore Moyo re-elected speaker

2011-04-05

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12904531

Zimbabwean MPs have re-elected a close ally of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai as the speaker of parliament after his 2008 election was nullified. Lovemore Moyo from the MDC party took 105 votes, defeating a candidate from President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party who took 93 votes. The vote in the hung parliament was controversial following allegations of bribery and the arrest of some MDC MPs.

Zimbabwe: Police suppress prayer service

2011-04-11

http://www.swradioafrica.com/pages/zlhr090411.htm

Anti-riot police on Saturday 9 April 2011 violently stormed and suppressed a church service organised to pray for peace in Glen Norah suburb of Harare, says a Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights statement. A truck load of riot police carrying tear gas rifles and truncheons descended on the Nazarene Church in Glen Norah while the service was underway, stormed the church hall during prayer, and dispersed the congregation, which included many church, civic and community leaders.

Global: Gap widening between rich and poor women

2011-04-07

http://www.wunrn.com/news/2011/03_11/03_28/032811_gap.htm

The current financial crisis is likely to affect women particularly severely. In many developing countries where women work in export-led factories, or in countries where migrant women workers are the backbone of service industries, women’s jobs have taken the greatest hit. The International Labour Organisation estimates that the economic downturn could lead to 22 million more unemployed women in 2009, jeopardising the gains made in the last few decades in women’s empowerment. In many countries, however, the impact goes far beyond the loss of formal jobs, as the majority of women tend to work in the informal sector.

Global: Seeking common ground between CEDAW and Muslim family law

2011-04-07

http://www.eldis.org/go/what-s-new&id=57897&type=Document

Many State parties to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) assert that they cannot fully implement the Convention because it is in conflict with Shari‘ah, or family laws and practices based on the Qur’an. This research project on CEDAW examined the reports of 44 Muslim majority and significant minority countries (2005-2010) that justify not implementing portions of the treaty based on these perceived conflicts.

Kenya: US congressman condemns abortion

2011-04-07

http://bit.ly/hiNyau

The Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR) and Center for Health and Gender Equity (CHANGE) have condemned US Representative Chris Smith’s recent trip to Kenya, where he attacked the country’s new constitution and opened a new front in the international offensive of his war on women. Smith spoke under the guise of human rights at the Kenya Christian Professionals Forum. He condemned the new Kenyan constitution’s decriminalisation of abortion in emergency situations or to protect the life or health of the pregnant woman, telling audience members that 'we need a world that is free of abortion'.

Namibia: Students take action to end gender violence on campus

2011-04-11

http://bit.ly/evm6Bg

University of Namibia students are participating in a range of activities to create awareness on the need to stamp out gender-based violence after research showed that the problem - which has become an acknowledged social challenge in the country - exists at their institution. Lucy Edwards, one of two UNAM lecturers who led the research, said that gender-based violence had lately been rearing its ugly head in various forms at the university and that both male and female students were taking a stand against it. The research conducted by Edwards and her colleague is collaboration between five universities in Southern Africa and the African Gender Institute.

South Africa: Compromise needed to protect Muslim women

2011-04-11

http://mg.co.za/article/2011-04-01-compromise-needed-to-protect-muslim-women/

The Muslim Marriages Bill, which seeks to regularise and regulate Muslim marriages, has been characterised by extensive consensus building, negotiation and compromise between academics, activists, religious bodies, civil society organisations and women's groups, writes Shuaib Manjra, a doctor in Cape Town and a commentator on Islamic affairs. 'The Bill is not perfect, but there are insufficient grounds to reject it entirely. Compromises are necessary to achieve the ultimate object - the protection of Muslim women in marital relationships. All that is required now is the courage of legislators and the mobilisation of those who support the Bill.'

West Africa: Gender and security reform in West Africa

2011-04-11

http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/db900sid/MCOI-8EYHNY?OpenDocument

Good practices and lessons learned on integrating gender into security sector institutions (SSIs) and security sector reform (SSR) processes in West Africa were the topics of a three-day working level regional conference organised by the United Nations Office for West Africa (UNOWA) and the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF) in partnership with the ECOWAS Gender Development Centre (ECOWAS GDC), the Mano River Women's Peace Network (MARWOPNET) and the Alliance for Migration, Leadership and Development (AMLD). The conference took place in Saly, Senegal, from 22 to 24 June 2010 and a report from the meeting is now available.

Africa: New report on roots of unrest in the Arab world

2011-04-05

http://www.ifex.org/middle_east_north_africa/2011/03/31/roots_of_unrest/

The Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies (CIHRS) has issued its third annual report on the state of human rights in the Arab world in 2010, with a special focus on 12 countries: Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Sudan, Syria, Lebanon, the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Iraq, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Yemen. The report is entitled 'Roots of Unrest and reveals that one of the primary roots of unrest in the Arab world is a large-scale deterioration in the state of human rights, even in those countries that were, or still are, characterised by a level of ostensible political 'stability'.

Côte d’Ivoire: International Criminal Court may initiate probe into alleged crimes

2011-04-06

http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=38025&Cr=ivoire&Cr1=

The office of the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) said it may open investigations into the 'widespread and systematic' killings in Côte d’Ivoire, including the reported mass murder of civilians, saying it is gathering information on alleged crimes by all parties to the conflict. 'The OTP [office of the prosecutor] has been conducting a preliminary examination in Ivory Coast and the next step will be for the Prosecutor to use his independent...power to request authorization from the pre-trial chamber in order to initiate an investigation,' the ICC said in a statement.

DRC: Moved on to a minefield

2011-04-05

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportID=92370

More than 1,000 people in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have been ordered to move to a suspected minefield because the authorities want to build shops and restaurants on the site of their old homes. However, Kisangani mayor Augustin Osumaka Lofanga told IRIN: 'The landmine argument doesn’t stand up. If there is a risk, it is only 10 per cent. Nobody has died yet,' he said, adding that demining of the area had already been conducted by Handicap International Belgium and 'if not properly done, it is their responsibility...'

Global: Report on human rights defenders in 2010

2011-04-07

http://zunia.org/post/human-rights-defenders-in-2010/

The human rights organisation Front Line launched its second Annual Report on Human Rights Defenders which highlights global trends and developments in the situation of human rights defenders in 2010 and analyses the situation in each region of the world. The report highlights the fact that despite some positive developments and the wave of uprisings sweeping across the Middle East at year end, overall 2010 was not a good year for human rights defenders who continued to face harassment and repression in many countries.

Kenya: 61 per cent of Kenyans prefer ICC trials

2011-04-05

http://bit.ly/hMJnqq

A majority of Kenyans want the six suspected sponsors of 2007/2008 post election violence to stand trial at the International Criminal Court, a new opinion poll shows. Of those polled, 61 per cent said they prefer the Ocampo Six (as the suspects are popularly known) to answer charges at The Hague-based court, the survey by research firm Synovate showed.

Kenya: Ocampo Six allies threaten to defy hate speech warning

2011-04-11

http://bit.ly/fbidk7

Judges at the International Criminal Court last week warned the six post-election violence suspects against making public comments that might inflame tensions. But Laikipia East MP Mwangi Kiunjuri, one of the key organisers of Monday’s 'homecoming' rally at Nairobi’s Uhuru Park for the six suspects, said the judges’ warning does not apply to them. During their appearance at the court on Thursday and Friday, the ICC judges cautioned the six suspects against uttering statements in public that may once again raise public tensions.

Kenya: UK bid to cover up Mau Mau torture exposed

2011-04-06

http://bit.ly/fyUu1O

The British Government’s efforts to cover up one of the darkest episodes in colonial history have been revealed by the discovery of a vast cache of documents relating to the bloody Mau Mau rebellion in Kenya. The papers, documenting efforts to put down insurgency, were spirited out of Kenya on the eve of independence and have been held in secret British government archives for half a century.

Libya: Prisoners on both sides at risk

2011-04-06

http://www.ips.org/africa/2011/04/libya-prisoners-on-both-sides-at-risk/

After a month and a half of conflict in Libya, the situation of political prisoners and prisoners of war on both sides is uncertain, and their fundamental rights are at risk. More than 400 people in eastern Libya have gone missing since the revolt against Muammar Gaddafi began on 15 February, according to Human Rights Watch and the Libyan Red Crescent in Benghazi.

Zambia: Chinese mine shooting case dropped

2011-04-07

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12973534

The Zambian government has dropped charges against two Chinese managers accused of attempted murder after firing on miners during a pay dispute. Xiao Li Shan and Wu Jiu Hua said the workers' behaviour, at the Collum coal mine in October, had been threatening. The shooting left at least 11 injured. China has invested more than $400m in the copper-rich country.

Africa: Report hails migration benefits for Africa

2011-04-06

http://bit.ly/h4L5uQ

With about 30 million Africans living outside their home countries, migration is a vital lifeline for the continent. Yet African governments need to do more to realise the full economic benefits of the phenomenon, says a new report by the African Development Bank and the World Bank. The report, 'Leveraging Migration for Africa: Remittances, Skills, and Investments', presents data from new surveys. The report finds evidence that suggest migration and remittances reduce poverty in the origin communities.

Côte d’Ivoire: Refugees report murder, rape, abuse

2011-04-11

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportID=92417

Ivoirians who have fled across the border to Liberia have reported incidents of rape, sexual abuse and murder to NGOs and human rights groups working in Grand Geddeh and Nimba counties. Children in villages in Liberia’s Nimba County have told field workers at NGO Equip that they were forced to watch as their mothers were raped and then killed. In several cases, the children themselves were then sexually assaulted.

Kenya: Refugee feeds family with vegetable garden

2011-04-11

http://bit.ly/gJMqZj

The current food shortage in Kenya might soon be declared a national disaster, but one refugee does not take hunger lying down. With eight children and a ninth one soon, Ms Husna Mohammed, 30, is taking charge of her plates of food at Dagahaley in Dadaab Refugee Camp in North Eastern Province. She keeps a vegetable garden outside her tent to supplement her food ration. Refugees at this camp receive food rations every two weeks. The amount given depends on the family size.

Liberia: Agencies grappling with refugee crisis

2011-04-05

http://www.ips.org/africa/2011/04/agencies-grappling-with-liberia-refugee-crisis/

More than 24,000 refugees have recently entered Grand Gedeh County, south of Nimba, in Liberia and the scramble is on to put needed infrastructure in place there despite vast funding gaps. The UNHCR requested 55 million dollars for an anticipated 50,000 refugees in January. Now, with more than twice that number estimated in Liberia alone, the agency says it needs more than 132 million dollars. To date, it has received only about 17.5 million dollars.

Liberia: Ivorian women struggle to survive in crowded refugee camp

Gboko John Stewart

2011-04-11

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/refugees/72498

After leaving her husband behind to protect their home, Philomene Eholi* recently fled the Ivory Coast with her mother and 11 children. Eholi is one of thousands of Ivorian refugees who have crossed into Liberia and, according to the Women’s Refugee Commission, are receiving scant attention from the international community. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) predicts that as many as a quarter of a million may soon be in Eholi’s position.
Liberia: Ivorian women struggle to survive in crowded refugee camps

Gboko John Stewart

Buutuo, Liberia: After leaving her husband behind to protect their home, Philomene Eholi* recently fled the Ivory Coast with her mother and 11 children.

Eholi is one of thousands of Ivorian refugees who have crossed into Liberia and, according to the Women’s Refugee Commission, are receiving scant attention from the international community. The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) predicts that as many as a quarter of a million may soon be in Eholi’s position.

The ongoing Ivorian crisis began after Laurent Gbagbo, Cote d'Ivoire’s incumbent president since 2000, claimed he had won the 2010 Ivorian election, the first in ten years. Opposition candidate Alassane Ouattara was internationally-recognised as the real winner, but Gbagbo has refused to budge. The fight for the presidency has descended into another tragic civil war in the fragile West African region.

The area is no stranger to wars and their attendant refugee crises with recent fighting in neighbouring Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. Refugees fleeing the Ivory Coast are mostly women and children and many, like Eholi, are struggling to feed their families and at the mercy of local Liberians living near the border.

Still in her twenties, she has eleven children. With her country on the brink of civil war, she fled to what she thought would be safety in Liberia.

When a team from Liberia’s Ministry of Health and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) recently visited Buutuo (the historic area where Charles Taylor launched his rebellion in 1989), Eholi had just given birth to a baby girl, whom she named Annie. Amongst her 11 children she has a set of twins who played with their grandmother while Eholi spoke to the media.

Through a translator, she said she is surviving in the Liberian border town only by the grace of God. Besides the UN donated ration, she has had to take up cassava farming to feed her hungry family. Her plight aroused the sympathy of the UNFPA resident representative, Esperance Fundira, who was in Buutuo to donate medical items to refugees.

Eholi’s predicament is common in crisis situations, when women often become the breadwinners for their families.

The recently-ended civil war and fighting in Liberia meant many women here suffered the same problems in Ivory Coast and other neighbouring countries: this time the tables have turned.
The Women’s Refugee Commission has called on international organisations, including the UN, to expedite the processing of donor money and services for Ivorian refugees, noting that ‘many of those displaced are women and children . . . and there has been little, or no, consideration of their specific needs.’

Last year was the ten year anniversary of UN Security Council Resolution 1325 on Women Peace and Security. The Resolution was the first UN document to explicitly address the struggles faced by women in conflict and post-conflict situations. It also mandated women’s involvement in every stage of the peace process.

However, the UN has been criticised for not taking stronger action in Ivory Coast, as it has recently done in Libya. This includes taking steps to protect refugees in neighbouring countries like Liberia.
In her book ‘Redemption Road’, Elma Shaw narrates the story of Bendu Lewis, an Americo-Liberian girl who, along with her grandmother, was caught in one of the bloody battles during the Liberian civil war. Bendu was forced into marrying a general named Cobra. She was raped and later forcibly conscripted into a unit. She gave birth to a baby girl who she eventually had to leave behind after she escaped and was reunited with her family. Stories like this are common in the region, epitomising the plight women bear in times of crisis and one of the reasons why women like Eholi are fleeing to Liberia.

If the UN and international agencies don’t take measures to protect and feed these women and children soon, a similar or worse fate may soon befall Eholi and the thousands of other women caught in the middle of this senseless war.

*Not her real name.

Gboko John Stewart is a Liberian journalist. This article is part of the Gender Links Opinion and Commentary Service, bringing you fresh views on everyday news.

Sudan: About 34,000 people flee South Sudan clashes

2011-04-06

http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/about-34000-people-flee-ssudan-tribal-clashes-un/

About 34,000 southern Sudanese have fled their homes after tribal clashes over land, water and cattle in recent weeks, a humanitarian official said, adding to southern troubles before independence in July. The oil-rich south voted overwhelmingly to separate from the north in a January referendum, promised as part of a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of civil war in Sudan. At least two million died in the war, which destabilised much of the region.

Tunisia: 150 missing migrants after boat capsizes off Italy island

2011-04-06

http://bit.ly/gDVv8Y

A search is under way for 150 migrants missing in the Mediterranean after their boat capsized in rough seas near the Italian isle of Lampedusa. Italian rescue vessels and a helicopter have saved 48 refugees from the boat, which had been carrying about 200.

Egypt: Cracks appear in state labour body

2011-04-07

http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=55126

The state-controlled trade union federation that for over half a century was employed by Egyptian rulers to suppress workers' protests and mobilise voters for sham elections appears to be crumbling with the recent ouster of president Hosni Mubarak. 'There is a movement against state control of unions,' says Mohamed Trabelsi, a regional specialist on union activities at the International Labour Organisation (ILO). 'You now have many strikes and labour protests in Egypt, and workers in many sectors have started to organise and form free and independent unions.'

Latest Edition: Emerging Powers News Roundup

2011-04-11

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/emplayersnews/72468

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

'Walmart deal must not undermine SA'
The government welcomes investment by foreign companies as long as the deals do not undermine "productive capacity", Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies said on Wednesday. Davies said this in answer to a question on Walmart's 51% acquisition of local retailer Massmart Holdings. The R16.5bn deal, which is being assessed by the Competition Tribunal, is opposed by public interest groups led by the SA Commercial, Catering and Allied Workers Union (Saccawu), a Cosatu affiliate. Cosatu general secretary Zwelinzima Vavi said this week that the campaign against Walmart must be heightened. He accused Walmart of having no regard for local procurement and workers' rights.
Read More

2. China in Africa

Zambia Drops Case of Shooting by Chinese Mine Bosses
In what could be a politically explosive decision, prosecutors in Zambia have decided not to pursue a case against two Chinese supervisors who shot 13 coal miners last year during a wage protest, the managers’ lawyer said Monday. The episode, which occurred at the Chinese-owned Collum Coal Mine on Oct. 15, was viewed as an outrage by many Zambians who resent the enormous economic influence China has over their country.
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Libya rebel oil cargo China-bound –sources
China will buy the first oil cargo from Libyan rebels via trading house Vitol, sources said on Thursday, in a trial deal which is likely to clear the way for Europe to resume badly-needed purchases of Libyan oil. Traders, however, added that it could take a long time before flows of crude from Libya reach substantial levels. The war has cut oil output by 80 percent while rebels and government forces trade charges over attacks on oil fields
Read More

China-aided agriculture centre in Tanzania wins big applause
The Demonstration Centre aided by the Chinese government in Tanzania on Saturday was highly hailed by the President Jakaya Kikwete, central and local government officials as well as residents. At the handover ceremony at Dakawa town in Morogoro Region, about 240 km northwestern of Dar es Salaam, President Kikwete lauded China's assistance to Tanzania, terming the project as another boost to agricultural development in the East African country.
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Nigeria-China Trade Hits $7.76bn
The trade between Nigeria and China has hit a historical new high of $7.76 billion, the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria, HE Deng Boqing, has said. According to him, Nigeria has become the fourth largest trade partner and the second largest export market of China in Africa. The envoy spoke during a one day seminar on China-Nigeria Trade Promotion jointly organised by the Economic and Commercial Counselor’s office, Chinese Embassy and the National Association of Nigerian Traders (NANTS), in Lagos.
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China vehicle maker to open Kenya plant
China’s vehicle manufacturer Foton is setting up an assembly plant in Kenya in what is set to heighten the battle between China and Western nations for business in Kenya. The Sh1.2 billion assembly plant is expected to churn out 10,000 units of prime movers, tippers, buses, pick-ups, and light commercial trucks per year, making it one of the biggest foreign direct investments by a Chinese company. Foton said it is setting up the plant to avoid paying a 25 per cent import duty on cars to allow in its low cost products putting it in a head-to-head battle with Japanese and European brands such as Mercedes, Iveco, Mitsubishi, and Nissan.
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VP: Kenya remains preferred investment destination
A leading Asian commercial vehicle manufacturer, Foton East Africa has opened its operation in Nairobi targeting the larger East African market. Foton runs a chain of companies in other leading industrial hubs across the world including Japan, Germany and Taiwan with a work force of over 28,000 employees and researchers. Speaking during the groundbreaking ceremony, Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka, who was the Chief Guest, commended the company for setting a base in Kenya, noting that the move was a clear demonstration of their confidence in Kenya.
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BEDIA encourages bilateral relations with China
Botswana Export Development and Investment Authority (BEDIA) recently hosted a Chinese delegations in a business seminar last week at the Gaborone International Convention Centre (GICC). The delegation’s visit to Botswana was organised by China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) and it was led by the Council’s secretary General, Xu Hubin. BEDIA, whose primary mandate is to promote investment in the country with special emphasis on selected service sectors and export-oriented manufacturing, used the gathering as a stepping stone to promoting bilateral relations.
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Ecobank opens 'China desk' to manage Africa loans
Pan-African bank, Ecobank Transnational Inc, will open a China desk next week aimed at easing the flow of Chinese loans for African infrastructure projects, a bank official said. The desk will be located in Accra and include two Ecobank employees and two senior staff from the Bank of China, Henry Ampong, Ecobank's global account manager, told Reuters. "You'll see lots of funds being channeled through Ecobank for infrastructure projects especially in Liberia, Ghana and Sierra Leone where massive reconstruction is taking place," Ampong said in an interview.
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ANC's PBF strengthens ties with Chinese to promote trade
The ANC's Progressive Business Forum (PBF) met in Cape Town recently with the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT). The delegation from the CCPIT, under leadership of its Secretary-General, Xu Hubin, met with the Co-Convenors of the PBF, Daryl Swanepoel and Renier Schoeman, with a view to augmenting the trade promotion work already being done by the two sides in both countries.
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3. India in Africa

Malawi Farmers Scramble to Produce Pulses for India
Farmers in the landlocked southeast African country of Malawi are shifting from their traditional crops to grow pulses to meet the increasing demand in the international market, especially from India. The government in Malawi is encouraging farmers to grow more pulses to meet the demand in India, said Malawi businessman John Jimu Banda, who was here to attend the CII-EXIM Bank India-Africa Business Conclave March 27-29. Apart from attending the meet, Banda intended to buy some equipment, but he is going back to his country with an export order for the supply of pigeon pea or tuar dal.
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Shapoorji, Ethiopia ink 50,000ha land deal
The 140-year old construction firm, Shapoorji Pallonji and Co. Ltd, on Tuesday signed an agreement with the government of Ethiopia to take on lease up to 50,000ha of land to cultivate pongamia pinnata—a feedstock for biodiesel—in its first major step to expand its fledgling renewable energy business. “Initially they will take around 10,000ha and gradually scale up cultivation,” said Mehreteab Mulugeta, minister councillor for economic affairs at the Ethiopian consulate in New Delhi. Ashok K. Gupta, who heads the Shapoorji Pallonji Group’s energy division, confirmed the signing of the lease agreement but refused to give any other detail.
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Indo-African export fund fails to impress banks
Indian commercial banks are reluctant to participate in the proposed Indo-African export fund, owing to a limited pool of long-term resources for such programmes. The Union government had thought of the fund to boost exports, especially project exports, to that continent. The finance ministry had sought views from banks through the Indian Banks Association (IBA), on the proposal. IBA had also consulted the Export-Import Bank of India. The government had suggested it contribute 25 per cent, while banks contributed the other 75 per cent for the fund. The proposed size is not clear.
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India-Zimbabwe to work for early conclusion of BIPA
India and Zimbabwe on Tuesday agreed to work for early conclusion and ratification of the Bilateral Investment Protection Agreement (BIPA) to make it operational at the earliest for the benefit of both the countries. This was agreed to during the bilateral meeting between the Union Commerce and Industry Minister, Anand Sharma and visiting Industry and Commerce Minister of Zimbabwe, Prof. Welshman Ncube, here.
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Tanzania offers India uranium deal
Even as nuclear power comes under a cloud following the Fukushima disaster in Japan, Tanzania, East Africa’s economic powerhouse, has invited India to invest in uranium mining and underlined that India is a ‘special friend’ it turns to for advice and capacity building. ‘Uranium was discovered recently. Uranium mining is a relatively new area. We need good friends like India to invest in this area,’ Tanzania’s Prime Minister Mizengo Kayanza Peter Pinda told a group of Indian journalists who are visiting this country.
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Low cost, high returns make Africa attractive to India Inc
Several Indian companies have planned huge investments in the African mining and agriculture sectors, buoyed by the prospects of high returns, on the back of rich resources and low labour and input costs, stakeholders maintain. "Africa offers the most attractive returns when it comes to mining and agriculture. A lot of Indian companies are already there, and a massive investment is in the pipeline," K.S. Aswathanarayana, chief executive of Jaguar Overseas, told IANS.
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4. In Other Emerging Powers News

SA firm to build $251m Zambia sugar plant
A South African company plans to build a $251-million sugar and bio-ethanol plant in Zambia, one of the largest non-mining investments in recent years in Africa's biggest copper producer, an official said on Saturday. Muhabi Lungu, a director at the Zambia Development Agency (ZDA), said AGZAM of South Africa would start developing the project next month after signing an agreement with Zambia last week.
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Interview: Zuma urged to stand for African interests during BRICS summit
A leading South African business executive has called on President Jacob Zuma to stand for African markets and "not only the interests" of his country during the forthcoming BRICS summit to be held in China this month. South Africa is the only African nation in the BRICS which is an acronym for Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, a forum that provides its members with opportunities to network and to initiate economic arrangements. Under this arrangement, South Africa is expected to push for Africa to integrate trade and policies with the other members.
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‘More development zones needed’
The Department of Trade and Industry should look at spreading the industrial development zones (IDZs) to other parts of the country if South Africa was serious about boosting its manufacturing economy, analysts at Frost & Sullivan said yesterday. If the country’s manufacturing industry was competitive enough, it would be able to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) flows and South Africa would see fewer investors leaving for countries like China, said research analyst Tatenda Zingoni. The manufacturing and mining sectors have both seen a significant decline in FDI inflows in recent years.
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China, India Seeking Coal From South Africa, Universal Says
China and India, Asia’s two fastest- growing economies, are seeking to invest in coal assets in South Africa to diversify supplies after disruptions in output from Australia and Indonesia, said Universal Coal Ltd. “China gets most of its coal from Australia, but because of the floods in Queensland, you’ll need time and money to rebuild that,” said Tony Harwood, chairman of the Sydney-listed developer of South African coal mines. “A new major market for coal from South Africa is India.”
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5. Blogs, Opinions, Presentations and Publications

BRICS Form Unstable Foundation for Multilateral Action
The abstention by the BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China) failing to support UN Security Council Resolution 1973 raises serious questions about the future functionality of the multilateral system – a system in which the BRIC countries aspire to have a stronger voice. Effectively, the BRICs sent a message of opposition to allied intervention in countries experiencing fundamental political change. Their vote was an implicit acknowledgement that such collective action often has unintended consequences, and that it can result in one side being given an undue advantage over another. But a less obvious driver for their position is also the notion that one day such a vote could be cast against one of them.
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Potential political clout of BRICS emphasised ahead of summit
The upcoming summit of the nascent Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) bloc, which will take place on China’s island province of Hainan on April 14 and 15, could add political and diplomatic meat to the bones of what has hitherto been a loose economic concept, first coined by an investment banker ten years ago. Even the decision to open the grouping up to South Africa has been acknowledged as a “political choice”, designed primarily to ensure that Africa’s voice is represented in what could eventually evolve into a powerful new developing-economy platform.
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India's tryst with LDCs: Is it working?
Engaging the Least Developed Countries transcends our campaign for a permanent seat at the U.N. Security Council; it touches the very core of our national convictions. If South Block mandarins are looking for reasons why their initiative to host the historic India-Least Developed Countries (LDCs) Ministerial Conference received only limited notice in the country, they need not look far. Looking within will do; an exercise not just they but we, as a nation, should undertake with candour.
Read More

Djibouti: President Ismael Omar Guelleh wins third term

2011-04-11

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-13024117

The president of Djibouti has secured a third term in office after a landslide election victory, despite recent protests against his rule. Ismail Omar Guelleh has won 80 per cent of the votes cast, according to the country's electoral commission. The opposition had urged a boycott of polls, alleging irregularities. However turn-out was reported to be high, with almost 70 per cent of the 150,000 people registered casting their vote.

Djibouti: Why Djibouti matters

2011-04-11

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2011/04/08/a_friendly_little_dictatorship_in_the_horn_of_africa

In the shadow of the extraordinary events under way in the Middle East, Djibouti's presidential vote was always going to struggle for attention. Indeed, the plight of this tiny country, sandwiched between Somalia and Yemen, remains almost completely ignored. But as the primary seaport to 85 million landlocked Ethiopians, the center of anti-piracy efforts in the Horn of Africa, and a reliable Western ally in the war on terror, Djibouti is a strategically vital country in an unstable neighbourhood.

Guinea: Ex-Guinea junta leader unhappy with treatment by successor

2011-04-05

http://www.africareview.com/News/-/979180/1138612/-/hprufqz/-/

Guinea’s former junta leader Gen Sekouba Konaté has lashed out against the newly elected civilian government of President Alpha Condé for not justly rewarding him. 'Instead of thanking and congratulating me for the service rendered to the country, I have been abandoned and turned over to the vindictive population,' he said. Gen Konaté made the statement in Niger where he was invited by the outgoing military regime to share his experience on the transition to civilian rule.

Kenya: Feisty politician enters presidential race

2011-04-11

http://www.ips.org/africa/2011/04/kenya-feisty-politician-enters-presidential-race/

Martha Karua fears nothing and no one, but when her adversaries look back at her long track record in politics, they must get nervous. This previously staunch supporter of Mwai Kibaki resigned as justice minister in 2009, and will challenge all comers for the presidency at the head of her own party next year. The veteran politician has been around since the heyday of Daniel Arap Moi, who ruled Kenya from 1978 until 2002. Karua helped form the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) that won the 2003 general election, and ended nearly four decades of rule by KANU. When she entered parliament, there were six female MPs. Now there are 22 out of a total of 222.

Nigeria: Arrests threaten credible vote

2011-04-07

http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE7360CI20110407

Nigerian authorities have arrested scores of opposition members in the southeastern state of Akwa Ibom in a campaign of intimidation ahead of elections, opposition lawyers and rights activists said on Thursday (7 April). More than 40 supporters of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), including governorship candidate James Akpanudoedehe, have been arrested.

Nigeria: Ruling party loses political ground

2011-04-11

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/04/20114101866893616.html

Nigeria's ruling party looks set to see its grip on parliament weakened after results emerging from the first of three crucial elections this month showed it losing key parliament seats. Results by voting district began trickling through on Sunday, though some areas of the country's north voted late into the morning because of high turnout, residents said, possibly delaying announcements there. Early indications showed opposition parties making gains at the expense of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP).

Sudan: Politics and transition in the new South Sudan

2011-04-05

http://bit.ly/fwOI6e

Two factors may shape the coming transition period in Sudan more than any other, says a new briefing from the International Crisis Group. '...first, the degree to which the South’s ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) allows an opening of political space in which a vibrant multi-party system can grow; secondly, the will to undertake democratic reform within the SPLM, as intra-party politics continue to dominate the political arena in the near term.'

Uganda: Police detain opposition leader

2011-04-11

http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE73A05X20110411

Ugandan police detained opposition leader Kizza Besigye on Monday (11 April) at his home in the capital Kampala, a Reuters witness said. No immediate reason was given. Civil society and opposition parties are planning to hold a 'Walk to Work' protest on Monday over rising food and fuel prices in the east African country.

Africa: Access to information in Africa: transparency models and lessons learned

2011-04-06

http://bit.ly/fx9sMG

A new initiative was recently launched to promote government transparency and increase people's access to information in Ghana, Uganda and South Africa. The Access to Information in Africa: Transparency Models and Lessons Learned (ATI in Africa) project is coordinated by the World Resources Institute in partnership with the Centre for Democratic Development in Ghana, Greenwatch in Uganda and the Open Democracy Advice Centre (ODAC) in South Africa.

Egypt: Corruption panel to quiz Mubarak's son

2011-04-06

http://af.reuters.com/article/egyptNews/idAFLDE7341V920110405

An Egyptian panel formed to uncover illicit gains acquired during the rule of deposed President Hosni Mubarak, will question his younger son about corruption, the state news agency said on Tuesday. Gamal Mubarak held a leading post in Egypt's former ruling party. A widely-held belief that he was being groomed for the presidency helped galvanise opposition that toppled him.

Africa: Impact and effectiveness of CSOs, NGOs in promoting governance

2011-04-06

http://bit.ly/gHYg3R

The main purpose of this United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) report is to highlight the impact and effectiveness of the participation of CSOs and NGOs in promoting development and governance in Africa. The report draws mainly from case studies in three African countries, namely, Mali, Senegal and Uganda.

Egypt: Privatisation aided egypt revolt, army says

2011-04-11

http://www.ips.org/africa/2011/04/privatisation-aided-egypt-revolt-army-says/

Anger at Egypt’s privatisation programme, involving the transfer of billions of dollars worth of public assets to private hands, aided the Egyptian revolution that elbowed the Western-backed Hosni Mubarak out of office in February, a top army general said. Prodded by the Washington-based trio – the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), World Bank, and International Monetary Fund (IMF) – Egypt under Mubarak adopted an aggressive programme to sell public companies to both local and foreign investors since the early 1990s.

Global: NGOs call for IMF gold profits to cancel debts of poorest countries

2011-04-05

http://www.ips.org/africa/2011/04/ngos-call-for-imf-gold-profits-to-cancel-debts-of-poorest-countries/

Nearly 60 international civil society organisations urged the executive board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Monday (4 April) to earmark some 2.8 billion dollars in profits from the agency’s gold sales for cancelling the debts of the world’s poorest nations. In a joint statement, the groups, which included ActionAid International, Oxfam International, the International Trade Union Confederation, and the global Jubilee networks, said the profits should be used to help poor indebted countries weather external shocks, including the 2008-2009 financial crisis and, more recently, the sharp rise in global food and fuel prices.

Lesotho: Swaziland, Lesotho signed EPA under duress

2011-04-06

http://www.observer.org.sz/index.php?news=23243

Speaker in the House of Assembly Prince Guduza says Swaziland and Lesotho signed the interim Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Union under duress. He said both countries signed the agreement because they had certain export quotas to the EU. He noted that the EPA sowed a seed of confusion in the Southern Africa Development Community.

Southern Africa: Job creation remains a challenge in SADC

2011-04-05

http://www.trademarksa.org/news/ilo-job-creation-remains-challenge-sadc

Despite improvements in Southern Africa’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2010 compared to 2009, job creation and poverty reduction remain limited. Charles Dan, a representative of the International Labour Organisation expressed this view at a meeting in Windhoek of Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) ministers responsible for labour. He said that GDP for Southern Africa as a whole has improved in 2010, up from negative one per cent in 2009 to 3.7 per cent in 2010. He said the real test of recovery should not be whether the economy in aggregate is back on track but whether there are concrete signs of improvement in the labour market.

Africa: Tackling fake drugs needs technology and collaboration

2011-04-06

http://bit.ly/i3MaDH

Developing countries must be given all the scientific, technical and legal help they need to counter the growing trade in fake medicines, says www.www.scidev.net One estimate suggests that in some regions at least a third of the drugs supplied to patients are counterfeit. Detecting and identifying counterfeit drugs has become a major scientific and technical challenge for developing countries, and its urgency is becoming ever more widely recognised.

Ghana: Doctors fear coming rains will fuel cholera

2011-04-05

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=92327

Health officials in Ghana are worried the rainy season, due to start in April, will fuel the spread of cholera, which has killed at least 69 people and stricken more than 5,000 in the past few months. While Ghana has not pinpointed the source of the cholera bacterium, top health officials say poor sanitation systems and hygiene habits- including open defecation - are largely to blame for the epidemic.

Ghana: World Bank's privatisation approach fails to deliver

2011-04-07

http://www.brettonwoodsproject.org/art-567917

While the World Bank is developing a new social protection and labour strategy, its general approach to health and continuing push for privatisation of public services have come under fire again. Ghana’s national health insurance scheme, presented by the Bank as a success model for developing countries is 'unfair, inefficient and un-transparent', according to a report published in March by Ghanaian NGOs ISODEC, Alliances for Reproductive Health, and Essential Services Platform, with support from Oxfam International. It revealed that Ghana’s National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) - which has received technical assistance from the Bank - could be benefitting only 18 per cent of the country’s total population, despite the fact that every Ghanaian citizen pays for it through value-added tax (VAT).

Kenya: Patients on ARVs hard hit by drought, high food prices

2011-04-11

http://www.plusnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=92406

The East African region is experiencing a severe drought that has left an estimated 2.4 million Kenyans food-insecure; acute malnutrition rates of more than 25 percent have been recorded in the arid north-east of the country. According to government statistics, food prices have gone up by about 15 per cent over the past year. In Kenya's arid eastern and northern regions, health workers are noticing a higher number of malnourished HIV-positive people visiting health centres.

Somalia: Children hardest-hit by diarrhoea in Mogadishu

2011-04-05

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportID=92361

Up to 30 children suffering from acute watery diarrhoea (AWD) are treated daily at the Banadir Hospital in Mogadishu, capital of Somalia, medical staff told IRIN. Although the exact number of children affected by AWD across the city could not be established, the medical source, who requested anonymity, told IRIN some deaths had been reported.

South Africa: Concern over theft of ARVs

2011-04-07

http://www.health-e.org.za/news/article.php?uid=20033138

Civil society organisations want to see government taking a firmer stand to stop antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) from being smuggled onto the black market. Government needs to take the theft of anti-retroviral drugs or ARVs seriously as people’s lives are at risk. This is according to the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC) and the National Association of People Living with AIDS (NAPWA). Many HIV-positive people are now afraid to go fetch their treatment from public health facilities for fear of being victims of people stealing their medicine.

South Africa: DA in a spin over infant mortality

2011-04-05

http://bit.ly/gl0iaj

A row has broken out about the infant mortality rate in Cape Town, following claims from the Democratic Alliance that they are responsible for a decrease. But critics from the Treatment Action Campaign and Social Justice Coalition have slammed the claims. 'The Democratic Alliance claims that it is responsible for a significant drop in infant deaths. It also makes much of the fact that the City of Cape Town has a much lower infant death rate than the rest of South Africa. This is both misleading and false,' say the blog Writing Rights. 'It is misleading because even under apartheid, the City of Cape Town had lower infant mortality than the homeland of KwaZulu and most other cities in the country. Historically health care is better in Johannesburg and Cape Town than elsewhere because of apartheid. It is false because any significant drop in infant mortality in Cape Town in the last decade, took place before the DA came to power.'

South Africa: The invisible people

2011-04-05

http://www.ips.org/africa/2011/04/south-africa-the-invisible-people/

Since psychiatric care was decentralised last year in South Africa, patients have been moved from hospitals into community day hospitals that don’t have the appropriate resources to deal with mental illnesses. As a result, many of society’s most vulnerable have slipped through the cracks in the system and now walk the streets like invisible people. A 2007 study by the Medical Research Council revealed that one in six South Africans struggle with a mental disorder.

Tanzania: Authorities urge caution on popular 'cure-all' herb

2011-04-11

http://www.plusnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=92360

As thousands of people flock to the north of Tanzania in search of a popular herbal 'miracle' cure, authorities are urging HIV-positive people to continue taking their antiretroviral medication. A herbal concoction made by Ambilikile Mwasapile, a former Lutheran pastor, has drawn thousands to his home in the village of Loliondo in northern Tanzania's Ngorongoro district; believers claim it can cure several diseases including diabetes, tuberculosis and HIV. Patients pay 500 Tanzanian shillings - about US$0.33 - for one cup.

Tunisia: Libya conflict forces clinics to close

2011-04-07

http://www.magharebia.com/cocoon/awi/xhtml1/en_GB/features/awi/features/2011/04/06/feature-01

Tunisian private clinics relied heavily on patients from Libya in recent years, but the ongoing Libya turmoil makes doctors and nurses wonder whether they will have a job. Libyans made up nearly 80 per cent of patients at Tunisian clinics before the recent tumult. Other foreign patients represented fewer than 1 per cent of admittances. Three clinics in the south were already forced to close.

Africa: Discussing the impact of tablet devices on education

2011-04-07

http://bit.ly/hq7rry

With the rise of the iPad, Kindle, and similar eReaders and touchscreen devices, tablet-shaped form factor computing power has become much more portable and yet sizable. This holds great promise for educators on par with the introduction of slates, which swept across classrooms at the turn of the century before last. Visit the Educational Technology Debate website for more information.

Malawi: CODESRIA postpones colloquium due to abuses of academic freedom

2011-04-11

http://codesria.org/spip.php?article1302&lang=fr

'In recognition of his contributions to the development of CODESRIA and to the advancement of knowledge production in Africa and around the world, CODESRIA has planned to hold an international colloquium in honour of one of the greatest African scholars, the Malawi-born Professor Thandika Mkandawire. This event, organised by CODESRIA in collaboration with the University of Malawi and the South Africa-based Intellectual Heritage Project, was earlier scheduled to take place in his home country, Malawi, on 2-4 May 2011...However, the recent gross violations of academic freedom at the University of Malawi has made it necessary for us to postpone this historic occasion, until such a time when our Malawian colleagues feel less threatened in the exercise of their rights as scholars and the enjoyment of the freedom of research and expression, without fear of being persecuted because of their ideas.'

Malawi: Court stops council from shutting down university

2011-04-06

http://bit.ly/gBfbdI

The Industrial Relations Court in Blantyre has granted an injunction restraining the University Council, the regulatory authority of the University of Malawi, from 'completely shutting down' two constituent colleges of the University of Malawi. The Council ordered that the Blantyre-based Polytechnic and Zomba-based Chancellor College be sealed to prevent all academic and general staff from accessing their offices following the now seven-week-old stand-off between lecturers and Inspector General of Police Peter Mukhito. But the lecturers appeared before the Industrial Relations Court arguing that the Council's order was illegal.

Zimbabwe: Braying cavalry in campaign for literacy

2011-04-11

http://www.ips.org/africa/2011/03/zimbabwes-braying-cavalry-in-campaign-for-literacy/

Across Zimbabwe, economic and political crisis has forced students to do without books, classroom furniture, teachers - the basics of a conducive learning environment. These learners cannot go to libraries, so the libraries have gone to them. In recent years, Zimbabwe’s rural schools have become notorious for their under-funding and dilapidation. For two decades, mobile libraries have formed a crucial part of encouraging a reading culture and promoting literacy in hard-to-reach places. The donkey-drawn libraries have helped spur Zimbabwe’s literacy levels according to Sylvester Nkomo, a headmaster stationed in Inyati, about 60 kilometers north-west of Bulawayo.

Africa: Catch 22 in refugee status determination on the basis of sexual orientation

2011-04-06

http://bit.ly/dSW1VP

Seventy six countries around the world criminalize homosexuality, maintaining severe punishments for consensual sexual activity between adults of the same sex, says this abstract from the Journal for International Law. While political asylum may offer hope of refuge and protection, the asylum process has many problems, especially for those individuals applying for refugee status on the basis of sexual orientation.

Mali: Homophobia drives MSM underground

2011-04-06

http://www.mask.org.za/homophobia-drives-malian-msm-underground/

Malian men involved in same sex practices say blatant homophobia makes it difficult for them to live their lives freely and to express their sexual orientation. Although there is no law that specifically criminalises homosexuality in Mali, religion and ancestral traditions still play a huge role in the country’s society and same sex practices are highly condemned and seen as immoral by the vast majority of the population.

South Africa: Anger over delay in lesbian rape case

2011-04-06

http://www.mask.org.za/delays-on-lesbian-rape-case-reflect-unjust-justice-system/

Another delay in court has infuriated gay rights groups in Shirley Phangisa’s rape case which has been pending for over two years now in Nelspruit’s Magistrate Court. Phangisa will only know on 6 April 2011 when the next court date will be, as the case was postponed on 1 April 2011 after the defence lawyer told the court that he had double booked himself and could not represent the accused.

Africa: Opposition building to Great Green Wall

2011-04-11

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportID=92422

What’s green, controversial, 15km wide, 7,775km long, cuts across 11 African countries and is designed to reduce livestock deaths and boost food security for millions of people? Nothing yet, but the Great Green Wall project, a pipe-dream for decades, was recently endorsed by a swathe of African states stretching from Senegal to Djibouti. The project has faced opposition, despite its stated commitment to combating drought and desertification, which have exacted a heavy toll on the region as a whole. Wally Menne, a member of Timberwatch, the African NGO focal point for the Global Forest Coalition, told IRIN the organisation was sceptical. 'In our view it seems poorly conceived in terms of both ecological and socio-economic considerations. Its chances of being a success could be limited, and it may even cause more harm to the environment,' he said.

Global: World Bank proposes to limit funding to coal plants

2011-04-06

http://www.enn.com/business/article/42550

Following years of criticism from environmentalists and some governments the World Bank has proposed new rules regarding carbon-intensive coal plants, reports the Guardian. The new rules would allow lending for coal-fired plants only to the world's poorest nations and would only lend after other alternatives, such as renewable energy, had been ruled out.

Nigeria: Nuclear power plans dumped

2011-04-06

http://bit.ly/fH7eeL

Nigeria may have foreclosed any plans to explore nuclear energy as an alternative source of electricity power generation. Minister of state for power, Nuhu Wya, who gave this hint in Lagos, said the country would explore other means of power generation in which it has comparative advantage. Following the earthquake in Japan, global concern has been raised about the dangers of nuclear plants, especially for developing countries like Nigeria.

South Africa: Climate change threatens rooibos farmers

2011-04-05

http://bit.ly/f5wA45

Hendrik Hesselman is a small-scale farmer and picks the wild indigenous rooibos plant or cultivates it in small fields. They sell it overseas as a fair trade organic product. But as local and international markets for rooibos continue to grow, climate change is a growing threat. Mr. Hesselman explains: 'In 2003 the winter rains arrived three months late. After [the rain] in August that year did not provide enough rain to replenish the groundwater, drought set in and held this area in its grip for three years.'

South Africa: South African Civil Society Committee for COP17

2011-04-11

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/environment/72467

Climate change negotiations have not delivered what is needed to stop climate change. Following on from the outcomes of the past two years, the Durban hosted COP17 could be a defining moment for climate activists. At a January meeting of South African environmental, social, trade union, faith community and climate justice organisations, the Civil Society Committee for COP17 (C17) was mandated to facilitate civil society engagement in COP17. The C17 will work towards coordinating joint actions at and in the lead-up to COP17.
South African Civil Society Committee for COP17
First Public Communication
04 April 2011

Please distribute freely
Contact : C17SouthAfrica@gmail.com

Climate change negotiations have not delivered what is needed to stop climate change. Following on from the outcomes of the past two years, the Durban hosted COP17 could be a defining moment for climate activists.

At a January meeting of South African environmental, social, trade union, faith community and climate justice organisations, the Civil Society Committee for COP17 (C17) was mandated to facilitate civil society engagement in COP17. The C17 will work towards coordinating joint actions at and in the
lead-up to COP17.

We hereby invite further participation and involvement from international and South African civil society organisations.

Please contact Ferial Adam for further discussion.
Email : C17SouthAfrica@gmail.com

The Global Day of Action on December 3rd 2011, is a joint action of international and South African civil society to raise awareness and voice civil society concerns. This group is convened by Des D’Sa.

'The Space' is an open and inclusive venue that will accommodate the full spectrum of civil society voices. It will have meeting and caucus rooms, auditoriums, exhibition spaces, arts and expression spaces, and a media centre. This group is convened by Bryan Ashe.

An education and mobilisation strategy will help strengthen civil society engagement with the negotiations and the development of good solutions. This group is convened by Thembeka Majali.

The media and communications strategy will raise awareness of COP17 and climate change in the general public and mainstream media. This group is convened by Blessing Karumbidza.

Context

• A series of meetings was held by South African civil society during 2010, culminating in a Durban meeting in January 2011 that was attended by 130 representatives from 80 organisations and coalitions. The C17 was nominated at the Durban meeting.
• The United Nations Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) is to hold its 17th Conference of the Parties (COP17) in Durban, South Africa from 28 November to 9 December 2011. This is a government negotiations space where there is limited room for engagement by civil society.

Civil Society Committee for COP17

The C17 has representation from a broad range of organisations including NGO’s, CBO’s, faith communities, trade unions and academia. Many of the organisations on the committee are coalitions.

Alice Thomson: Earthlife Africa eThekwini
Bandile Mdlalose: Abahlali baseMjondolo
Blessing Karumbidza: Timberwatch
Bryan Ashe: Geasphere
Des D’Sa: South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA)
Ferrial Adam: Earthlife Africa Johannesburg
Laura Tyrer: WWF
Kelebogile Nthite: GenderCC
Melita Steele: Greenpeace Africa
Rehana Dada: Timberwatch
Sibusiso Gumede: Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU)
Sibusiso Owen Ndidi: Eastern Cape Environmental Network (ECEN)
Simon Vilakazi: Economic Justice Network (EJN)
Siziwe Khanyile: GroundWork
Sue Brittion: Southern African Faith Communities Environment Initiative (
SAFCEI)
Thembeka Majali: Alternative Information Development Centre (AIDC)
Wendy Tsotetsi: Youth Agricultural Ambassadors

Africa: Assessing the environmental and social aspects of biofuel deals

2011-04-06

http://www.plaas.org.za/pubs/wp/LDPI01Andrew-vanVlaenderen.pdf

The rapid increase in attempts by foreign investors to acquire large tracts of land in Africa for
biofuel developments has generated substantial concern about their potential negative impact on
the communities living in the targeted areas. This paper from the Land Deal Politics Initiative in collaboration with The Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS) examines three case studies of proposed biofuel developments in Mozambique and Sierra Leone.

Sudan: Farmers protest government 'land grab'

2011-04-06

http://farmlandgrab.org/post/view/18387

Around 800 farmers protested Friday (1 April) against a government decision to seize land from a village in Gezira state, Sudan's agricultural heartland, without compensating the owners, witnesses said. After Friday prayers in the village of Fudasi, around 160 kilometres south of Khartoum, 800 demonstrators marched to the land that was appropriated by the government to build a university college.

Global: Lawsuit seeks to invalidate Monsanto’s GMO patents

2011-04-06

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=24103

A landmark lawsuit filed on 29 March in US federal court seeks to invalidate Monsanto’s patents on genetically modified seeds and to prohibit the company from suing those whose crops become genetically contaminated. The Public Patent Foundation filed suit on behalf of 270,000 people from 60 organic and sustainable businesses and trade associations, including thousands of certified-organic farmers, arguing the invalidity of any patent that poisons people and the environment, and that is not useful to society, two hallmarks of US patent law.

Botswana: Shrinking space for free media

2011-04-05

http://www.freeafricanmedia.com/article/2011-03-30-botswana-space-for-free-media-keeps-shrinking

www.freeafricanmedia.com reports on media freedom in Botswana, which it says has been 'steadily eroded' over the last decade. 'The controversial Media Practitioners Act, passed in 2008, calls for all media practitioners to register with the press council, while simultaneously defining a media practitioner as anyone who transmits information. Civil society groups have filed a law suit against the state, but it has yet to have its day in court.'

Egypt: Drop charges against blogger critical of military

2011-04-06

http://www.e-joussour.net/en/node/9005

Egypt's ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces should drop all charges against a blogger for his internet posts critical of the military, Human Rights Watch has said. A military tribunal is expected to deliver the verdict in the case against Maikel Nabil, who faces up to three years in prison on charges of 'insulting the military'. 'It's pretty stunning in Egypt's supposed new era of rights to see the military government prosecuting someone in a military court for writing about the military,' said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch.

Kenya: Bloggers form new association

2011-04-07

http://globalvoicesonline.org/2011/03/31/kenyan-bloggers-form-an-association-bake/

On Friday 25 March, several Kenyan bloggers held a meeting in the Kenyan capital Nairobi, under the newly formed BAKE (Bloggers Association KEnya). The meeting was the 4th in an initiative by some of Kenyas veteran bloggers. Part of the background, reports Global Voices, is tension between the blogger community and the mainstream media, who bloggers feel have a lack of appreciation for blogging as a tool for the generation and delivery of news and information.

Rwanda: ARTICLE 19 calls for improvement in whistleblower law

2011-04-07

http://bit.ly/fvVYJT

ARTICLE 19 has released its analysis of the Draft Law Relating to the Protection of Whistleblowers of Rwanda. The analysis highlights the weaknesses of the Draft Law and calls for its revision in the light of international standards. ARTICLE 19 says the protections offered to whistleblowers against retribution by their bosses are not wholly convincing, and the range of subjects on which a disclosure may be made is limited.

Somalia: Shabelle journalists arrested

2011-04-07

http://africa.ifj.org/en/articles/ifj-condemns-arrest-of-shabelle-journalists-in-mogadishu

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has condemned in the strongest terms possible the arrest and continued detention without charge of the director of Shabelle Media Network, Abdirashid Omar Qase and the station's news editor, Abdi Mohammed Ismail who were taken into custody by members of the National Security Agency of the Transitional Federal Government (TFG). The journalists were arrested on Sunday, 27 March 2011, in relation to a story that was aired concerning the failure of the President, Sheik Sharif Sheik Ahmed, to tour areas captured from the extremists group, Al-Shabaab.

South Africa: Ombudsman rejects ANCYL’s request to probe media

2011-04-05

http://www.citypress.co.za/SouthAfrica/News/Ombudsman-rejects-ANCYLs-request-to-probe-media-20110405

The Press Ombudsman has denied an ANC Youth League (ANCYL) request for a probe into The Star and the Daily Sun newspapers’ use of incorrect quotes attributed to Julius Malema. The Star newspaper quoted Malema as saying: 'Since he got into power, comrade Zuma has been surrounded by bad advisers'. In its apology the newspaper admitted that Malema had not referred to Zuma and 'unreservedly' apologised to Malema for 'whatever embarrassment' he was caused by the report.

Zimbabwe: Facebook user granted bail

2011-04-05

http://www.kubatana.net/html/archive/hr/110331zlhr.asp?sector=HR

High Court Judge Justice Nicholas Ndou on Thursday 31 March 2011 quashed Magistrate Gideon Ruwetsa’s ruling denying bail to Bulawayo resident Vikas Mavhudzi, who is charged with subverting a government by unconstitutional means. Ruwetsa had on Wednesday 16 March 2011 denied bail to the 39 year-old Magwegwe resident, who is facing charges of subverting a government by unconstitutional means over a comment he allegedly made on Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s facebook page.

South Africa: Families in crisis, says report

2011-04-06

http://www.ngopulse.org/newsflash/sairr-report-south-african-families-crisis

South African families are in crisis according to a new report released by the South African Institute of Race Relations (SAIRR). Titled ‘The First Steps to Healing the South African Family’, the report documents the extent of family breakdown in South Africa and the effect this is having on children and the youth. The research includes often under-acknowledged influences on children and young people that affect many issues in South Africa - from violent crime, through to entrenching a cycle of poverty, as well as the values and norms South Africans hold.

Cote d'Ivoire: Air strikes on Gbagbo residence in Abidjan

2011-04-11

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/04/201141014275630213.html

United Nations and French helicopters have fired rockets on the residence of Laurent Gbagbo, Cote d'Ivoire's incumbent president, in Abidjan. Sunday's violence comes after forces loyal to Gbagbo fired on Alassane Outtara, the president-elect's hotel headquarters, on Saturday. Gbagbo, who has ruled Cote d'Ivoire since 2000, is defended by about 1,000 men, while the UN peacekeeping mission has about 12,000 troops.

Côte d'Ivoire: Who is responsible for the Duékoué killings?

2011-04-05

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportID=92372

Supporters of Laurent Gbagbo and presidential rival Alassane Ouattara are trading accusations over the reported deaths of hundreds of civilians in the western Ivoirian town of Duékoué. Residents of Duékoué said the killings on 30 March were a 'settling of scores' facilitated by the capture of the town by pro-Ouattara forces. Ouattara has denied his forces are responsible for the deaths of over 800 civilians, but the internationally recognised president is facing tough questions from human rights groups.

Libya: Gaddafi 'accepts' AU plan to end fighting

2011-04-11

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/04/2011410232126366150.html

Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader, has accepted a 'road map' for a ceasefire with rebels, according to a delegation of African leaders. The announcement followed a meeting between the leaders and Gaddafi on Sunday in Tripoli, the Libyan capital, just hours after NATO air raids targeted his tanks, helping the rebels push back government forces who had been advancing quickly towards their eastern stronghold. The African Union (AU) delegation was due to meet the rebels on Monday. The terms of the road map were unclear, including the matter of whether it would require Gaddafi to pull his troops out of cities as demanded by the rebels.

Libya: South Africa's Denel denies arms sales

2011-04-05

http://www.timeslive.co.za/local/article998879.ece/No-arms-sold-to-Libya--Denel

Arms manufacturer Denel emphatically denies it, or its subsidiaries, sold armaments to Libya, following a sales trip to that country a year ago. Earlier on Friday, the Mail & Guardian published details from a leaked Denel internal memo outlining a visit to Libya in April last year, which involved the 'planned sale of G6-52 artillery systems, missiles, grenade launchers and anti-materiel rifles'.

Sudan: Israel accused over Port Sudan strike

2011-04-07

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-12986864

Sudan has accused Israel of carrying out an air strike that killed two people in a car near the city of Port Sudan on Tuesday. Foreign Minister Ali Ahmad Karti said one man was Sudanese, but the identity of the other passenger was unknown. There has been no comment from Israel. But correspondents say Israel believes weapons are being smuggled through the region to Gaza.

Africa: Africa’s rising information economy

2011-04-06

http://www.un.org/ecosocdev/geninfo/afrec/vol25no1/africas-rising-information-economy.html

Nascent only a decade ago in Africa, the ICT sector has been growing in recent years at an unparalleled pace. In some countries, various studies note, the 'information economy' is becoming one of the main drivers for economic growth more generally.

Global: Exploratory research on sexuality and the internet

2011-04-06

http://www.apc.org/en/pubs/issue/erotics-exploratory-research-sexuality-and-interne

By limiting access to internet, claiming to avoid obscenity and preserve gender and sexual norms, governments are actually preventing communities from exercising their rights and freedoms. The growing practice of regulation may have an impact in how people learn about sexuality and express it – especially the most affected by regulation, women and people of diverse sexualities. The Association for Progressive Communication's EroTICs project conducted research in five countries: Brazil, India, Lebanon, South Africa and the United States. The EroTICs issue paper contains executive summaries for each country.

Global: Information sharing and emergencies

2011-04-11

http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportID=92317

Humanitarians do not yet make the most of new technology and virtual teams to expedite emergency response, and deal with 'exponential' information flow, says a new report. 'The humanitarian community, though relying on scarce resources in response, is still performing [basic] tasks that computers can handle,' John Crowley, from the Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, and the lead author of 'Disaster Relief 2.0: The Future of Information Sharing in Humanitarian Emergencies', told IRIN.

Global: The rise of liberation technology

2011-04-11

http://www.opendemocracy.net/armine-ishkanian/liberation-technology-dreams-politics-history

The popular uprisings in the middle east and north Africa have invigorated arguments about the power of new information and communication technologies (ICT), says Armine Ishkanian on http://www.opendemocracy.net 'The new tools and technologies certainly provide unprecedented means of connecting and coordinating. But there should be caution about reproducing technologically determinist and normative arguments which are often unsupported by strong empirical evidence or rigorous research,' Ishkanian cautions.

Blog showing African data in graphics

2011-04-06

http://afrographique.tumblr.com/

Afrographique is a blog that aims to collect as much data as possible with the aim of presenting the information in an exciting and digestible format to all. It has graphics on foreign investment in Africa, Facebook users, African CO2 emissions and more.

MS-TCDC invites applicants to Pastoralism & Policy Options in East Africa Course

Arusha, Tanzania, 16 - 27 May 2011

2011-04-11

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/72477

The course objective is to improve the capacity to inform and influence national and regional policies to improve pastoral livelihoods in East Africa, particularly on issues of access to and control over natural resources, livestock health and trade and regional and global integration.

Who should attend: Leaders of pastoral civil society groups, policy makers, including government and donors at local, regional and national levels, project staff, researchers, MPs and other key actors from the public and private sectors.

For more information on the course and fees, please contact the Course Administrator at
MS-Training Centre for Dev. Cooperation
P.O.Box 254, Arusha Tanzania
mstcdc@mstcdc.or.tz
www.mstcdc.or.tz

Summer Short Courses

5-23 June 2011, Center for Migration and Refugee Studies (CMRS), American University in Cairo

2011-04-07

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/72392

The Center for Migration and Refugee Studies (CMRS) at the American University in Cairo (AUC) is offering the following three short courses during the month of June 2011:

1. Introduction to Refugee Law (June 5-9, 2011):
2. Meeting the Psychosocial Needs of Refugees (June 12-16, 2011):
3. Understanding Irregular Migration (June 19-23, 2011)
Summer Short Courses June 5-23, 2011

The Center for Migration and Refugee Studies (CMRS) at the American University in Cairo (AUC) is offering the following three short courses during the month of June 2011:

1. Introduction to Refugee Law (June 5-9, 2011):

Course Description: The course will provide post-graduate students, international agency staff, NGO workers, lawyers and others working with refugees or interested in refugee issues with an introduction to the international legal framework which governs the protection of refugees. Through lectures, case studies and small group sessions, course participants will learn about the basic features of international refugee law including the components of the international refugee protection regime; the elements of the definition(s) of "refugee" contained in international instruments; the ethical and professional obligations of those representing refugees; the basic elements of the process by which refugee status is determined; and, the rights of refugees under international law. A background in law is useful but not required.

About the Instructor: Parastou Hassouri currently teaches International Refugee Law at the American University in Cairo. She has extensive experience in the field of immigrant and refugee rights. Her previous experience includes serving as an Attorney Advisor at the Immigration Courts of New York City and Los Angeles and working as an immigration attorney in private practice in New York City. In addition, she designed and directed the Immigrant Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey, where she focused on responding to anti-immigrant backlash in the United States in the aftermath of the attacks of September 11. More recently, she has worked for human rights and refugee rights Non-Governmental Organizations, including a refugee legal aid program in Cairo.

2. Meeting the Psychosocial Needs of Refugees (June 12-16, 2011):

Course Description: In this course, participants (including humanitarian workers, psychosocial workers, social workers and psychologists) will increase their understanding of the psychosocial and mental health issues of refugees and learn how to implement effective interventions. Topics will include the following:

• Review of Inter Agency Standing Committee Guidelines (IASC) for Mental Health and Psychosocial Support (MHPSS) for Emergency Settings and the implications for interventions;
• Latest research about the psychosocial and mental health consequences of war and violence;
• Skills for assessment of need;
• Culturally and contextually sensitive interviewing skills;
• Methods for working with translators;
• Introduction to individual, family and community interventions;
• Specific mechanisms workers and organizations can use to minimize staff burnout and maximize organizational effectiveness.

About the Instructor: Nancy Baron is the Director of Psychosocial Program at CMRS, the Psychosocial Training Institute of Cairo and Global Psycho-Social Initiatives (GPSI). She received her Doctorate in Education at the University of Massachusetts, U.S.A. with a concentration in Family Therapy and Counseling Psychology. Since 1989, she has provided consultation, assessment, training, program design and development, research and evaluation for UN organizations and international and local NGOs in community and family focused psycho-social, mental health and peace building initiatives for conflict and post-conflict countries. She has lived and worked with emergency affected populations in Africa: Burundi, Egypt, Guinea Conakry, Kenya, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan and Uganda; in Asia: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Indonesia, Japan and Sri Lanka; in Eastern Europe: Kosovo and Albania; in South America: Colombia; and in the South Pacific: Solomon Islands. She is also the International Training Director for the International Trauma Studies Program, New York, USA.

3. Understanding Irregular Migration (June 19-23, 2011)

Course Description: Irregular, “illegal” or “undocumented” migration has become a key concern for states and international agencies. It is associated with violations of border control, criminality, smuggling and human trafficking: those involved are often depicted as dangerous and threatening. Who are the “illegals”? Who facilitates their movements, why and how? What are the implications of irregular migration for governments, agencies and for the wider society?

Irregular migration into Egypt and from Egypt has increased sharply. In particular, migration from Egypt across the Mediterranean has recently increased in pace and scale, bringing a strong reaction in states of the European Union, which wish to strengthen migration control. Who is involved? Why do they undertake long, risky journeys? Who benefits? Should states or international organizations intervene more directly?

This course looks in detail at irregular movements. It uses recent research to shed light on clandestine migration and its outcomes for state authorities, for migrants and for migration agents - sometimes known as “facilitators”. Using examples from across the world, it examines state security and securitisation, surveillance and border regimes, and problems of abuse of migrants common within clandestine networks. It examines intervention by state authorities and international bodies, and initiatives by those who seek to support and to protect irregular movers. It considers the implications of increased irregular movement for immigration strategies and development agendas.
The course will interest those concerned with: migration; refugees and asylum policy; human smuggling and trafficking; national and international security; border control and policing; immigration law; and policies for integration, settlement and resettlement. It will assist academics, students and researchers, and those employed in state agencies, non-governmental institutions, migrant support networks and community organizations.

The course adopts a critical and comparative approach, mobilising research by academics, research groups and government agencies. It draws upon Migration Studies, Refugee Studies, Geography, Development Studies, Law, Criminology and Critical Legal Studies, using examples from across the world with a focus on the Middle East. It uses lectures, seminars, films and workshops to develop knowledge, critical abilities and analytical skills.

About the Instructor: Philip Marfleet, Professor of Migration and Refugee Studies at the University of East London, and a Director of the Centre for Research on Migration, Refugees and Belonging. Philip Marfleet is the author of many publications on migration and refugee issues, including Refugees in a Global Era (Palgrave 2006). He is currently working on a new analysis of migration in the modern world: Migration, Theory and Society will be published by Sage in 2012. He is also co-editor, with Rabab El-Mahdi, of Egypt – the Moment of Change (Zed/ AUC Press 2009).

Eligibility for all courses:

The courses are offered for graduate level students, researchers and practitioners in the field of migration and refugees. The maximum number of participants in each course is between 25-30.

All courses are conducted in English and no translation facilities are provided. Participants should have a sufficient command of the English language.

Application procedure for all courses:

To apply for the courses, please fill out the application available at http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/524/shortcourse.doc and attach your most recent CV and send to cmrscourses@aucegypt.edu: Att. Ms. Naseem Hashim

Applicants may apply and be accepted to more than one course.

The deadline for submitting course applications is May 5, 2010.
Applicants accepted for the course will be notified by email maximum by May 10.

Venue of the courses
The courses will take place on the Tahrir Campus in Downtown Cairo.

Course fees:
The tuition fee for each course is 500 USD.
Participants are expected to pay a 30% of the total fees ($150) as a deposit by May 15.
More information on payment method will be provided to accepted participants

Tuition fees will cover course material and 2 coffee breaks per course day.
Accommodation and any other expenses are not included. Please see the website for nearby recommended accommodation in Cairo.

Understanding Children's Human Rights

LSE Centre for the Study of Human Rights, 6 June - 11 July

2011-04-11

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/courses/72478

This practically-focussed course, consisting of six two-hour seminars on consecutive Monday evenings (and an additional study seminar), places international human rights law as it affects children in perspective.
LSE Centre for the Study of Human Rights - 'Understanding Children's
Human Rights' short course: 6 June - 11 July

It is two decades since the groundbreaking UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) came into force, resulting in an exponential growth in child-related law and policy, both on the international and domestic levels. International human rights law now informs all elements of UK strategy and policy as it relates to children. Childcare professionals, including lawyers and those directly working with and for children must therefore understand and be able to apply the international human rights
law framework as it relates to children and young people.

To assist busy professionals in how to use human rights effectively, and be able to realise its potential, the LSE's Centre for the Study of Human Rights has devised an innovative course in Understanding Children's Human Rights.

This practically-focussed course, consisting of six two-hour seminars on consecutive Monday evenings (and an additional study seminar), places international human rights law as it affects children in perspective.

The course is designed for professional participants involved in either developing policy and practice in relation to children, or working in child rights and child protection. Lawyers working in child law will be able to use the course to update and develop their knowledge in this crucial area of their work. Equally the course will be highly beneficial for those who campaign for children's rights and those who are interested in the added value of human rights, and in discussing and analysing these issues.

For more information about the course, and how to book a place, please
see attached PDF or on our website, here:

http://www2.lse.ac.uk/humanRights/teaching/childrensHumanRights.aspx

The Southern Africa Media and Diversity Journal, Issue 9

New edition

2011-04-06

http://bit.ly/e7qcyH

'This edition of the journal is produced within the context of the 2015 deadline set by the SADC Protocol on Gender and Development, which calls for gender parity within the media, as well as equal voice and fair treatment of women and men in editorial content.'

Independent Review Committee panel members

The GAVI Alliance

2011-04-07

http://pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/72394

The GAVI Alliance has already established a panel of potential Independent Review Committee (IRC) members to support their innovative grant proposal process, and progress monitoring and evaluation system. GAVI is keen that this panel should grow and more closely reflect the demographic profile of its low and middle income partner countries. Applications to join the IRC panel are therefore invited from suitably post graduate qualified and experienced health and public health experts with a range of backgrounds. Below are English and French versions of the advert, together with links to .PDF files of the adverts.
Integrity and expertise in public health

Panel Members – Health Professionals

Prestigious part-time positions (2-4 weeks p.a.)

http://bit.ly/i4PJm0

The GAVI Alliance was launched in 2000 to increase immunisation coverage and reverse widening global disparities in access to new vaccines. Governments in donor and developing countries, UNICEF, WHO, the World Bank, civil society, foundations, vaccine manufacturers, and research and technical institutions work together as partners in the GAVI Alliance to achieve common goals, in recognition that only through a strong and united effort can higher levels of support for global immunisation be generated.

To support their innovative grant proposal process, and progress monitoring and evaluation system, GAVI has already established a panel of potential Independent Review Committee (IRC) members, and is keen now that this panel should grow and more closely reflect the demographic profile of its low and middle income partner countries.

Applications to join the IRC panel are invited from suitably post graduate qualified and experienced health and public health experts with a range of backgrounds. In particular, and although our selection process is merit based, we would very much welcome applications from suitably qualified and experienced French speakers and women.

For more information about these positions, including the range of backgrounds, please visit our dedicated website which provides also details of the application process.

www.gavi-irc.org

Closing date for applications is 8 May 2011.
Interested applicants should continue to monitor the website to see if this changes.

To save children’s lives and protect people’s health by increasing access to immunisation in poor countries


Intégrité et expertise en santé publique

Membres du comité - professionnels de la santé

Éminents postes à temps partiel (2-4 semaines p.a.)

http://bit.ly/dZiBeC

GAVI Alliance a été lancée en 2000 afin d'accroître la couverture vaccinale et éliminer les disparités mondiales grandissantes en matière d'accès aux nouveaux vaccins. Les gouvernements des pays donateurs et des pays en développement, l'UNICEF, l'OMS, la Banque mondiale, la société civile, les fondations, les fabricants de vaccins, et les instituts de recherches et d’enseignements techniques travaillent ensemble en tant que partenaires de GAVI Alliance, pour atteindre des objectifs communs, bien conscients que seules l’union et la consolidation de leurs efforts peuvent permettre un meilleur soutient de la vaccination mondiale.

Afin de soutenir leur processus novateur de proposition de subventions, le suivi des progrès et le système d’évaluation, GAVI a déjà formé une équipe potentielle pour faire parti du Comité indépendant de révision (IRC). GAVI souhaite maintenant que ce groupe soit élargit mais aussi qu’il reflète mieux le profil démographique de ses pays partenaires à faible et moyen revenu.

Afin d’agrandir l’IRC, nous sommes à la recherche d’experts de la santé et de la santé publique, ayant suivi des études supérieures et aux profils variés. Bien que notre processus de sélection soit fondé sur le mérite, nous sommes tout particulièrement intéressés par des personnes parlant le français et/ou de sexe féminin.

Pour de plus amples informations à propos de ces postes, notamment les divers types de profils recherchés, veuillez consulter notre site internet où vous trouverez aussi une description du processus de sélection.

www.gavi-irc.org

La date limite pour postuler à cette offre est le 8 Mai 2011.
Les candidats intéressés voudront bien se reporter au site internet pour toutes éventuelles modifications.

Sauver la vie des enfants et protéger la santé des personnes en élargissant l’accès à la vaccination dans les pays pauvres

Fahamu