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. 
marginalisation
The African Group: Friend or foe of Africa's aspirations?
Korir Sing’Oei
2009-07-02, Issue 440
cc United Nations PhotoUnsurprised by the African Group's defence of Kenya at the UN, Korir Sing’Oei considers whether the group's actions should historically be regarded as positive or negative for the African continent it represents. Just as it has often stood in the way of some of the more radical action proposed against human rights violators, the group also has the dubious distinction of regularly championing the right of autocratic regimes in Africa to 'territorial integrity', Sing’Oei notes. In marked contrast however, the African Group has also proven a key advocate for international appreciation of the continent's economic difficulties. Concluding that the African Group should be regarded more as a champion of Africa's development rather than human rights, Sing’Oei cautions that such an approach should not be permitted to jeopardise the creation of a culture of accountability in governance.
Sustainable development for all
Tanzania Gender Networking Programme (TGNP)
2009-06-25, Issue 439
cc Katie Freeland: klf photographyEfforts to increase domestic revenue and reduce dependency on foreign donors and the allocation of substantial resources to education and health are among the aspects of the new budget welcomed by the Tanzania Gender Networking Programme's (TGNP) budget analysis task team. Critical of plans to privatise water and the government's prioritisation of large-scale producers over peasant and small-holder farmers in its response to the economic crisis, TGNP has called for more measures to ensure that the budget 'adequately serves the majority of Tanzanians, especially poor and marginalised women, children, and the disabled'.
Safeguarding women’s rights will boost food security
Mary Wandia
2009-06-25, Issue 439
cc Find Your FeetAfrican women play a critical role in ensuring the food security of the continent, writes Mary Wandia in the run-up to the 2009 African Union Summit (24 June-3 July), which has its official theme ‘Investing in agriculture for economic growth and development’. Highlighting that women contribute 60-80 per cent of the labour used to produce food both for household consumption and for sale, Wandia writes that improved women’s ‘access, control and ownership of land and productive resources are key factors in eradicating hunger and rural poverty’. Yet while land is ‘critical for improving women’s, social security, livelihoods and their social status’, culturally embedded discrimination continues to weaken their land rights and livelihood options, Wandia cautions. It is therefore essential, Wandia argues, for governments to ensure that women’s rights are comprehensively addressed in the AU ‘Africa land policy framework and guidelines’, scheduled for adoption at this year’s summit.
Remembering Soweto: Harnessing black consciousness
Blackwash
2009-06-18, Issue 438
cc eugene16 June was the anniversary of the 1976 uprising in Soweto, South Africa. With today's black youth in South Africa finding themselves marginalised in much the same way as those protesting against apartheid policy, Blackwash seeks to commemorate the 1976 uprising and further the development of black consciousness. Inspired by 16 June and the words of Steve Biko, Blackwash encourages young black people in South Africa to take up the struggle to put pressure on the government and create genuine change.
The fallacies of identity politics
Audrey Mbugua
2009-05-21, Issue 433
cc Liz HenryDeeply concerned about the profound discrimination experienced by Kenya's transgender community, Audrey Mbugua berates Kenyan society for its unjust treatment of a marginalised group. Rather than creating 'transgender rights' per se, Mbugua calls upon the country to view transgender people as human beings like any other group. Deeply scathing of Kenya's entrenched 'trans-phobia' and the divisive nature of different groups' competing for recognition, the author implores those marginalised to see themselves as part of a wider struggle for justice that transcends identity politics.
The messiah within: Redeeming the soul of the Kenyan nation
Njonjo Mue
2009-05-14, Issue 432
cc D B KingAs Kenyans struggle to find meaning in the protracted troubles surrounding their body politic, Njonjo Mue challenges the nation’s youth to join an army of ordinary people to fight the good fight and to defend Kenyans’ freedom, dignity, heritage and their children’s future by engaging in brutal self-appraisal and refusing to permit decay. Mue’s article is a call to arms, for men to leave the bars long enough to know what their children will eat for supper, for women to cease their escapism and confront the problems facing Kenya’s communities, and for all Kenyans to individually take responsibility for the future of their country.
Beyond mere 'brotherhood' and 'sisterhood'
Godwin Murunga
2009-05-14, Issue 432
cc J FrancisIn a response to 'Kenyan men should zip up and grow up' in last week's Pambazuka, Godwin Murunga charges that Wandia Njoya's letter smacks of intellectual laziness. Suggesting that Njoya's argument ignores entirely the attitudinal gains in gender relations made over previous years, Murunga emphasises that it is highly misleading to cast all men as equal recipients of 'patriarchal dividends'. Stressing that the problem of 'flawed masculinity' is in some respects actively fuelled by women themselves, Murunga underlines the inherent destructiveness of short-sighted generalisations.
The KwaZulu Natal Slums Act: Bloody legislation against the expropriated
Richard Pithouse
2009-05-14, Issue 432
cc Arne BoellWith South Africa's Constitutional Court today set to hear the efforts of the Abahlali baseMjondolo shackdweller movement to have the KwaZulu Natal Slums Act declared unlawful, Richard Pithouse reflects on the state's routine willingness to evict occupiers of informal housing in contravention of the protection afforded by the country's constitution. Stressing the destruction engendered through forcing people out of their communities, Pithouse discusses the state's flawed assumption that blindly razing settlements without fully accommodating their inhabitants amounts to progress. Highlighting the similarities of the 2007 Slums Act with apartheid-era legislation, the author criticises a technocratic act that regards the poor as the problem rather than the material and political realities they face, and proposes the implementation of measures aimed at privileging the social value of urban land over commercial concerns.
Resisting degradations and divisions
Interviewed by Richard Pithouse
S'bu Zikode
2009-04-30, Issue 430
© Abahlali baseMjondoloIn an interview with S’bu Zikode, Richard Pithouse questions the president of South Africa's Abahlali baseMjondolo shackdwellers’ movement about his understanding of a living politics and the considerable struggles faced by the movement. Zikode, the elected leader of the group, discusses the core importance of looking to ordinary people for political direction and beginning within the needs of your community as part of an inclusive approach which embraces debate and differences of opinion. As an antidote to the South African state's domination, Abahlali, Zikode explains, works to challenge the underlying greed advanced by the state's endeavour to sustain social divisions through empowering people to engage and shape the struggle in a way sensitive to the needs and roles of all.
Is Judgment Day near for Omar al-Bashir?
Kwesi Kwaa Prah
2009-04-30, Issue 430
cc Andrew HeavensIn response to Mahmood Mamdani's article 'Beware of human rights fundamentalism', Kwesi Kwaa Prah questions Mamdani's grasp of history. Taking issue with Mamdani's contention that 'Arabs never constituted a single racial group' in Sudan, Prah argues for the people of Southern Sudan's self-rule and a halt to the 'Arabisation' of Africans.
Third world prospects in an Obama presidency
Steve Sharra
2008-08-11, Issue 393
The exclamatory commentary that has accompanied Barack Obama’s ascendancy to the presumed nomination of the Democratic Party’s presidential candidate has excited, beneath it, the question of what the nomination itself, and a possible Obama presidency, might mean for the Pan-Africanist world as well as the Third World. While much of the commentary has been laudatory, there have also been cautionary tones, not to mention ambivalent ones. Beyond the excitement, caution and ambivalence of what a possible Obama presidency might entail for Pan-Africa and the Third World, what Obama himself has said in his writing, and has not said, might prove to be revelatory in attempting to explore the discussion that has exercised many minds around the world. We take this exploration by examining some of the issues that have been raised by editorialists and columnists, bloggers and other commentators in Africa and beyond. We also delve into what Obama himself has said in his two best-belling books, as we ponder how the significance of a possible Obama presidency may be realized more in the symbolic transformation of perceptions of race, racism and racial identity in the US and in the world, than in what the office of the US presidency itself is capable or incapable of achieving.
What about the black community, Obama?
Diop Olugbala
2008-08-13, Issue 393
On Friday, August 1st, I led a contingent of the Uhuru Movement into Barack Obama’s town hall meeting in St. Petersburg, Florida to raise the question, “what about the black community, Obama?” Without the benefit of a big media budget, our organization attempted to bring the serious issues experienced by African working class people across this country into the national political debate....
Politics at stake: a note on stakeholder analysis
Mark Butler and David Ntseng
2008-07-31, Issue 392
People in government, business, and political and civil society organisations routinely talk about 'stakeholders'. They do exercises in stakeholder analysis to inform their 'strategic planning'. Invariably they use the stakeholder language to adverti...
An African perspective: Is cyber democracy possible?
Clayton Peel
2008-07-30, Issue 391
Wole Soyinka was addressing a conference on the issue of the ‘brain drain’ from African countries. He remarked on how many of the speakers before him had lamented the flight of millions of Africans to the West and how apparently desperate were these ...
Friends of the Earth Africa on the food crisis
Friends of the Earth Africa
2008-07-16, Issue 390
Members of FoE Africa from Ghana, Togo, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Nigeria, Mauritius, Tunisia and Swaziland met for five days in Accra, Ghana reviewing issues that confront the African environment. A particular focus was placed on the current food crisis and agrofuels on the continent.
Access to information as a tool for socio-economic justice
Mukelani Dimba
2008-04-08, Issue 372
In this article Mukelani Dimba shows how freedom of information legislation can be used by citizens to pursue their socio-economic rights. He argues that it creates the conditions in which government decisions about resource allocation can be effectively challenged.
Paris Declaration undermines policy space through Aid
Celine Tan
2008-04-15, Issue 372
Celine Tan argues that "the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness may have the effect of circumscribing national sovereignty and country autonomy over development policies contrary to its stated principles of country ownership and mutual accountability."
Namibia and Zimbabwe - the second liberation
Henning Melber
2008-05-13, Issue 371
Henning Melber looks at the possibilities for a people-centred opposition and ultimately a true liberation in Namibia and Zimbabwe, after years of misrule by the liberation movements-turned-ruling parties.
A response to the Feminist Political Education Project
Grace Kwinjeh
2008-04-17, Issue 363
I was just sent a copy of this statement by the Feminist Political Education Project and must admit to being more than a little bewildered and shocked by what is suggested in light of recent events in Zimbabwe, by sisters whom I know very well – who are part of the Feminist Political Education Project.
Kenya: A closer look at power-sharing
Antony Otieno Ong’ayo
2008-03-26, Issue 358
As Zimbabwe threatens to pull a 'Kenya', this is a good time to consider the implications of the Annan mediated power-sharing deal. Antony Otieno Ong'ayo dissects and weighs the Kenya power sharing deal.
The Long Road to Democracy II
2008-02-12, Issue 344
In a follow up to her pre-election piece on Kenya, Wangui Wa Goro looks at the various ways democratic institutions have been challenged and charts a way forward.
The Kenya case and media bias
Antony Otieno Ong’ayo
2008-01-22, Issue 338
While the whole world is aware of the crisis is in Kenya, thanks to the international and local media, most of their reporting is accurate, however, there is need for an honest analysis of the situation in Kenya.
Kenya’s democracy on trial
Mukoma Wa Ngugi
2008-01-03, Issue 334
Mukoma Wa Ngugi argues that the dream of democracy is turning into a nightmare and suggests a recount as a possible solution.
Kenyan Women's Movement and the Political Process
Juliana Omale-Atemi and Rosemary Okello
2007-12-17, Issue 333
For Juliana Omale-Atemi and Rosemary Okello the electoral landscape mirrors that of the Kenyan society at large, a reason therefore for the struggle of women empowerment to continue after the elections.
Government leaders passive in the face of lesbian murders
Melanie Judge
2007-11-29, Issue 330
Melanie Judge writes about the apparent passivity of government leaders in the face of lesbian attacks and murders in South Africa.
South Africa's reservations and the Protocol
Delphine Serumaga
2007-11-21, Issue 329
Delphine Serumaga writes that despite the impressive policy framework that state has set in place for the protection of the women's rights, South African women and the girl-child remain marginalized with regards to access to basic human rights such as justice, safety and security, housing and health.
The rights of indigenous peoples in Africa
Korir Sing’Oei
2007-11-13, Issue 328
Korir Sing'Oei Abraham argues that Africa’s opposition to the adoption of rights for indigenous peoples — who are often nomads or hunter gatherers — has largely been informed by misconceptions and myths. He points out that the right to self-determination sought by these marginalised groups has been recognised by the AU as being consistent with the principles of a country’s territorial integrity.
Refugees and displaced people in Africa
An interview with the special rapporteur on refugees and displaced persons in Africa
2007-11-13, Issue 328
Bahame Tom Mukirya Nyanduga, commissioner responsible for upholding the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ rights talks to Hakima Abbas about Africa’s commitment to protecting refugees and his belief that democratic states that tolerate diversity do not experience the conflict that generates the displacement of their citizens.
The delusions of power: Beauty and the beast
John Samuel
2007-10-31, Issue 326
Everything small is beautiful these days. NGOs, busy with micro finance and micro politics for the poor, are small, beautiful -- and powerless. Meanwhile, the beast of markets and States can continue to dominate macro economics and politics. This neat division into micro and macro sustains the unjust power relationships that perpetuate impoverishment, inequality and injustice, says John Samuel