Pambazuka News is produced by a pan-African community of some 2,600 citizens and organisations - academics, policy makers, social activists, women's organisations, civil society organisations, writers, artists, poets, bloggers, and commentators who together produce insightful, sharp and thoughtful analyses and make it one of the largest and most innovative and influential web forums for social justice in Africa. 
justice
India's volte-face on Libya: The secret mission
2011-09-06, Issue 546
cc SauravThe recent Paris meet was a grim victory celebration by the NATO powers who wanted non-European poodles on the bandwagon, writes M.K. Bhadrakumar.
Is the IMF obstructing Kenya’s devolution process?
Charles Abugre
2011-08-18, Issue 545
cc IMF'If a government based on devolution and the dispersal of power is to be given a chance, the IMF’s role in political horse-trading in Kenya should be curtailed,' argues Charles Abugre.
Fighting illicit capital flight
Part 4
Charles Abugre
2011-08-18, Issue 545
cc GenvesselThe illicit extraction, concealment and channelling of capital from poor countries abroad destroys societies and must be curtailed. So how do we do this, asks Charles Abugre in the final article in a four-part series on the flow of ‘dirty money’.
The problem with affirmative action
Lewis Gordon
2011-08-18, Issue 545
cc TedeytanDespite accompanying debates about supposed non-white mediocrity, resistance to affirmative action is not about maintaining standards but rather about maintaining ‘white mediocrity’, argues Lewis R. Gordon.
Letter to Cameron: Lead, don't demonise
Gus John
2011-08-18, Issue 545
cc M o SGus John urges UK Prime Minister David Cameron to ‘lead’ one nation and not demonise and expose the African heritage community to racists and fascists in the wake of the recent violent civil unrest.
No easy path through the embers
Richard Pithouse
2011-08-03, Issue 543
© abahlali.orgThe recent acquittal of members of a leading South African social movement showed up the undemocratic tendencies of the ANC. Those committed to democracy will have to stand firm, writes Richard Pithouse.
Egypt: Pharaoh in a cage
Dibussi Tande
2011-08-04, Issue 543
cc S R'The surreal images of ex-Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak on a hospital bed inside an iron cage in a Cairo courtroom have been the leading topic in the African blogosphere this week,' writes Dibussi Tande.
Mauritania: Slavery and state racism
Sy Hamdou
2011-08-03, Issue 543
cc MagharebiaTackling the racism and slavery inherent in Mauritania will rely on overthrowing ‘the ideological and religious foundations of slavery and racism with the state’, writes Sy Hamdou.
Endemic violence in postcolonial Namibia
Shaun R. Whittaker
2011-08-03, Issue 543
cc C M‘Colonialism signified nothing less than the collective traumatising of the Namibian people who must carry the heavy burden of the consequences for generations,’ writes Shaun R. Whittaker.
Bringing LGBTI issues into the forced migration debate
Jeff Ogwaro
2011-07-26, Issue 541
cc IGLHRCThe recent International Association for the Study of Forced Migration (IASFM) conference discussed a range of issues around LGBTI people and forced migration, writes Jeff Ogwaro, such as the fears asylum seekers may have around declaring their sexuality.
The protection of internally displaced persons and property rights in Africa
Denis Barnabas Otim
2011-07-27, Issue 541
cc UN PhotoExisting ‘normative social, political and legal structures do not support’ internally displaced persons and ‘their quest to own and have access to properties or land’, writes Denis Barnabas Otim, in an exploration of the relationship between IDPs and property rights in Africa.
The exclusion of urban IDPs
Eveliina Lytinen
2011-07-27, Issue 541
cc MFFOEveliina Lytinen reports back on a roundtable discussion about the exclusion of internally displaced persons from protection and assistance, during the recent International Association for the Study of Forced Migration conference in Uganda.
The world of dirty money
Charles Abugre
2011-07-21, Issue 540
cc D GCharles Abugre introduces ‘the web of secrecy, collusions and the players that drive and sustain the world of illicit money flows’, with reference to the ongoing case of Kenyan public officials Chris Okemo and Samuel Gichuru and multinational corporation Alcatel-CIT.
Fighting the minerals-petroleum-coal complex’s wealth
Patrick Bond and Khadija Sharife
2011-07-20, Issue 540
cc C BProcrastination, paralysis, pollution and profit. These are the keywords for the UN climate conference slated for Durban, South Africa, in December. But, write Patrick Bond and Khadija Sharife

, the spirit of those who face down the powerful minerals-energy complex will shine through.
Magnus Malan and crimes against humanity in Africa
Horace Campbell
2011-07-21, Issue 540
cc UN PhotoWith General Magnus Malan – the main architect of South Africa’s apartheid military – passing away on 18 July (Nelson Mandela's birthday, no less), Horace Campbell reflects on Malan’s central role in the systematised discrimination of apartheid and the system’s troubling legacy.
If they come for you, who will speak out?
Jane Duncan
2011-07-20, Issue 540
© abahlali.orgAs part of a broad climate of political intolerance, incidents of torture of both activists and criminals in South Africa appear to be on a disturbing rise, writes Jane Duncan.
Beyond the genocidal concept of tribal homelands
On the East African Federation
Mahmood Mamdani
2011-07-14, Issue 539
cc Nukta 77'East Africa has two post-colonial traditions of citizenship', writes Mahmood Mamdani: territorial and ethnic. If the region is to have a political federation, it will need to be based on a common citizenship, he argues: 'Which one will it be?'
South Sudan and the meaning of independence
Horace Campbell
2011-07-14, Issue 539
cc ENOUGH project‘The new tasks of building a society to meet the needs of the people in the South Sudan must be conducted in a manner that puts the interests and wellbeing of the ordinary people above everything else,’ says Horace Campbell.
The salt that lost its savour: News of the World
Cameron Duodu
2011-07-14, Issue 539
cc 38 DegreesAt the time of a bid for a majority stake in BSkyB, the revelations of phone hacking and subsequent closure of the Rupert Murdoch-owned News of the World have rocked the British body politic, writes Cameron Duodu.
NATO is an outlaw, the ICC is its accomplice
Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey
2011-07-06, Issue 538
cc V 2Despite the contravening of at least 11 stipulations of international law, the International Criminal Court continues to turn a blind eye to NATO’s activities in Libya, making a mockery of its supposed status as an unbiased arbiter, writes Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey.
Justice for the people of Kenya
Zahid Rajan and Zarina Patel
2011-05-10, Issue 528
© S 1This special issue of Pambazuka News, published in association with AwaaZ, chronicles ‘justice’ as its main theme. This is particularly in the context of the enactment of the new constitution and by extension to seek justice for the people of Kenya. The issue covers a range of articles related to the struggle for justice in the overall context today: In the judiciary, in the courts of the people under public litigation cases and the eviction of the poor from their homes; in the environment – in this case Lamu; for sexual minorities – in this case the LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transsexual and intersex) movement in Kenya today; the relationship between the Kenyan Somali and the Kenyan state; the rights of women; and in the press. We have also examined the constitutional community justice systems in Kenya in comparison to the formal legal systems today.
In addition there is an article on the historical perspective on the Politics of Law in Kenya. We have also chronicled the life of the late Chief Justice of Kenya Hon, Mr Justice C B Madan. We hope that this story will have an impact on the current process of appointing a new Chief Justice in Kenya under the new constitution. The late Justice Madan was a ‘Champion for the supremacy of the rule of Law’, which we so badly lack today in Kenya.
Evictions, social justice and the constitution
The Muthurwa case
Yash Ghai and Jill Cottrell Ghai
2011-05-10, Issue 528
cc F FKenyans evicted from their homes to make way for new developments routinely have their social and economic rights violated. But these rights are enforceable under the country’s new constitution, which gives people easier access to the courts than ever before. Justice Musinga’s judgement on the Muthurwa case sets ‘the right approach to, and standards of, constitutional interpretation’, write Yash Pal Ghai and Jill Cottrell Ghai.
Marginalisation of Lamu people
Are some 2008 IDPs being settled in Lamu?
Abdalla Bujra
2011-05-10, Issue 528
cc WikimediaAmidst widespread rumour that the Kenyan government is buying up land in Lamu District to resettle people displaced by the 2008 post-election violence, Abdalla Bujra calls on the government to issue an ‘urgent statement’ on the matter, or risk increasing tensions in Lamu, whose people are afraid that they will lose their land and livelihoods.
A call to action for the rights of all
Tom Avant
2011-05-10, Issue 528
cc DemoshKenya’s new constitution is ‘the law of the land now’, writes Tom Avant. ‘Equal rights for all Kenyans are no longer just a dream’, as long as citizens learn to 'demand respect for those rights’ from their elected representatives.
Justice: Leitmotif of Kenya's constitution
Yash Ghai
2011-05-09, Issue 528
cc L NWhile the theme of justice is central to Kenya’s constitution, writes Yash Pal Ghai, it cannot in and of itself guarantee its own effectiveness.
Constitutional community justice systems in Kenya
Jedidah Wakonyo Waruhiu, Florence Gachichio and Ezra Rotich
2011-05-09, Issue 528
cc O DKenya has for many years been running two legal systems in parallel, the common law and community justice systems. With the country in need of ‘common guidelines’ around the administration of community justice, Jedidah Wakonyo Waruhiu, Florence Gachichio and Ezra Rotich discuss the challenges facing the system.
Making the constitution of Kenya the constitution for Kenyans
Public interest litigation
Jill Cottrell Ghai
2011-05-09, Issue 528
cc A PWhile the Kenyan courts have some way to go before they achieve the sort of impact that the Indian courts have had, the country’s new constitution should work towards making the courts of Kenya the courts for Kenyans, writes Jill Cottrell Ghai.
‘Today, I have cooked my own goose’
Personal reflection on our father, Justice Madan
Kamla Madan Dhall and Anil Madan
2011-05-09, Issue 528
cc B BIn celebration of the late Chief Justice CB Madan QC, his children Kamla Madan Dhall and Anil Madan reflect on the life and experiences of their father.
Justice Madan fondly remembered
Ramnik Shah
2011-05-10, Issue 528
cc M MRamnik Shah reflects on the life of Justice Madan, a ‘homegrown Kenyan jurist of the highest order’, and his ‘immense contribution to the political and legal history of Kenya’.
Race, class struggle and organised labour in the ‘age of Wisconsin’
Ajamu Nangwaya
2011-04-21, Issue 526
cc T T MWhile the recent protests in Madison, Wisconsin, may have given America’s working class ‘hint at the possibility of resistance’, the historic absence of support for ‘racialised’ sections of the working class exemplifies the stronghold of white supremacy over the US labour movement, writes Ajamu Nangwaya.