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. 
media
Riots, royal weddings and recession
Lara Pawson
2011-08-18, Issue 545
cc F WIn their highly misguided and at times absurd responses to the UK’s recent rioting, we may well ask if Britain’s elites ‘are living in a time warp’, writes Lara Pawson.
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.
Struggling for an alternative media
200th edition of Pambazuka News in French
Tidiane Kassé
2011-08-04, Issue 543
cc R A With Pambazuka News publishing its 200th French-language edition this week, Tidiane Kassé – Pambazuka’s French-language editor – discusses the importance of alternative, Africa-led media and the challenges for the future.
Is this Britain’s Watergate moment?
Cameron Duodu
2011-07-28, Issue 542
cc ssoosayWith UK Prime Minister David Cameron continuing to face pressure over the News International scandal, Cameron Duodu considers the parallels with Watergate in the US in the 1970s.
Confronting female genital mutilation
The role of youth and ICTs in changing Africa
Marie-Hélène Mottin-Sylla and Joëlle Palmieri
2011-07-21, Issue 540
'Confronting Female Genital Mutilation: The Role of Youth and ICTs in Changing Africa' by Marie-Hélène Mottin-Sylla and Joëlle Palmieri is a new title from Pambazuka Press. For 25 years campaigners from within and outside Africa have worked on eradicating female genital mutilation. This fascinating short book reports succinctly but in depth on an innovative research and action project among girls and boys in francophone West Africa that explored whether young people’s use of information and communication technology could contribute to the abandonment of female genital mutilation.
How free is the free press?
An interview with Chaacha Mwita
Ron Singer and Chaacha Mwita
2011-07-14, Issue 539
cc DEMOSHChaacha Mwita, former managing editor of The Standard in Kenya, and Ron Singer discuss the state of freedom of the press in Kenya, Mwita's newspaper’s experience of a raid during the 2007–08 election and the behaviour of particular elements of the press during the post-election period.
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.
Manning Marable and the Malcolm X biography controversy
A response to critics
Bill Fletcher, Jr
2011-07-07, Issue 538
cc AzlsDespite the overwhelmingly positive response to the late Manning Marable’s ‘Malcolm X: A life of reinvention’, within days its publication, the book ignited ‘a firestorm in some quarters of the Black Freedom Movement’. Bill Fletcher Jr examines the controversies around the biography.
Zero tolerance against (media investigating) corruption
Rafael Marques de Morais
2011-05-12, Issue 529
cc S A‘Are we witnessing a new era of restricted media, or will Angolans find a way to report their news in an objective and truthful forum?’ asks Rafael Marques de Morais, as government strategies to silence investigative journalists kick into action.
Don’t mess with a good thing: Kenya’s inconsistent media
Tom Maliti
2011-05-09, Issue 528
cc Internews NetworkKenya’s media regularly reveals itself to be inconsistent in its reporting of issues of justice, writes Tom Maliti.
Who said blackness cannot be synonymous with excellence?
Veli Mbele
2011-03-23, Issue 522
cc Frerieke‘The best legacy that we can bequeath to our children and grandchildren [is a] legacy of pride in ourselves, and of excellence,’ asserts Veli Mbele.
Togo: Violating the right to information
Bernard Bokodjin
2011-03-17, Issue 521
cc Timo‘In a country where the opposition isn’t strong and structured enough to provide a counterweight to a repressive regime which flouts the principles of democracy and good governance, the media provides a rare space for some amount of freedom of expression. But now, the media have also become part of the Togolese regime’s blacklist,’ writes Bernard Bokodjin.
Swazi Media Commentary: Telling the truth about Swaziland
Peter Kenworthy
2011-02-02, Issue 515
cc HezaRichard Rooney’s online Swazi Media Commentary is a rare example of objective, progressive news and journalism in a country burdened with biased reporting and censorship, writes Peter Kenworthy.
WikiLeaks, Tunisia and Egypt
The Real News Network (TRNN) interview
2011-01-26, Issue 514
cc AzisIn this interview from The Real News Network, Samer Shehata answers questions about the impact of leaked diplomatic cables on the Arab world.
Malawi at a crossroads
Chifundo Phiri
2011-01-19, Issue 513
cc W E FWith President Bingu wa Mutharika turning on his Vice-President Joyce Banda, is Malawi on the road to dictatorship?
WikiLeaks cables: Antidote to corruption in Africa?
Cameron Duodu
2010-12-16, Issue 510
cc S BAs the fallout from the release of the WikiLeaks cables continues, Cameron Duodu considers the implications for addressing corruption in Africa.
WikiLeaks Africa: Corruption, cocaine and chaos
Dibussi Tande
2010-12-16, Issue 510
cc F AShell’s infiltration of the Nigerian government, cocaine trafficking through Ghana and Kenya’s strategy for dealing with the chaos in Somalia are among the topics this week’s selection of bloggers are talking about, following WikiLeaks’ release of US diplomatic cables on Africa.
Protest politics and attacks on foreign nationals in South Africa
Makhosini Lucky Kunene
2010-12-15, Issue 510
cc W AMakhosini Lucky Kunene explores South Africa’s post-apartheid landscape of violent service delivery protests, with a special focus on how foreign nationals have become targets in these attacks.
Lesbians can no longer be silent
Rose Wanjiku
2010-11-22, Issue 506
The ACHPR’s refusal to award observer status to the Coalition of African Lesbians is further evidence of its desire to silence the voice of African women, writes Rose Wanjiku. It's time to speak out.
Ethiopia: Profiles in journalistic courage
Alemayehu G. Mariam
2010-11-17, Issue 505
cc BBC World ServiceWhile the Ethiopian regime uses its power to keep citizens in darkness, a cadre of young journalists are displaying a courageous commitment to the truth. Alemayehu G. Mariam pays tribute.
On violence
Richard Pithouse
2010-10-28, Issue 502
© abahlali.orgWe live in a violent society, Richard Pithouse writes, but this very fear of violence is used to justify other forms of violence such as racism, xenophobia and fear of the poor. ‘… the presence of self-organised poor people in civil society is often received as a threat by all kinds of constituencies, including some of those that, be they liberal or radical, assume a right to enlighten and lead poor people from above,’ Pithouse argues.
Towards a people's progressive movement
Continuing the struggle
Dale T. McKinley
2010-10-14, Issue 500
Dale McKinley discusses how Pambazuka News has avoided eclipsing grassroots activism in Africa by adhering to a Pan-African and internationalist foundation. He also adds new directions for the platform to pursue.
A common loyalty to justice and equality
Henning Melber
2010-10-14, Issue 500
To celebrate the newsletter’s 500th issue, Henning Melber remembers two of his favourite contributors to Pambazuka News, Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem and Dennis Brutus.
Pambazuka: A newsletter with attitude
Sokari Ekine
2010-10-12, Issue 500
Sokari Ekine looks back on years of involvement in Pambazuka News.
Art, censorship and the Gukurahundi
Freedom of expression in Zimbabwe
Sokwanele
2010-09-23, Issue 497
cc SokwaneleFollowing the Zimbabwean government’s banning of an exhibition focusing on Gukurahundi (a military operation to suppress opposition in the 1980s) by artist Owen Maseko, Sokwanele discusses the future implications of the case not just for political freedom of expression but also for art, in the face of Zanu PF's efforts to control narratives about the past.
Celebrities and the Taylor trial: Justice and false consciousness
Niels Hahn
2010-09-23, Issue 497
cc WikimediaInvolving international celebrities like Naomi Campbell in the Charles Taylor trial is essentially an exercise in seeking global attention, writes Niels Hahn. While ‘special courts’ trying alleged African war criminals symbolise a supposedly clear-cut picture of ‘international justice’, this brand of justice should be seen as ultimately operating in multinational and Western political interests, Hahn stresses.
Isaias Afewerki and Eritrea: A nation’s tragedy
Selam Kidane
2009-07-02, Issue 440
cc gordontourSince winning its de facto independence in May 1991, Eritrea has come to represent a tragedy, laments Selam Kidane. Having fought and suffered alongside one another during the country's liberation struggle, Eritreans have seen their country embroiled in conflicts with every one of its neighbours under the leadership of Isaias Afewerki. With President Isaias increasingly viewing power as 'a weapon of self-aggrandisement' and surrounding himself with a sycophantic clique of military associates, the hope of the post-independence years has tragically faded, Kidane concludes.
Zapiro: ‘Zapping’ for democracy
Annar Cassam
2009-06-04, Issue 436
cc G RohrigAs South African President Jacob Zuma starts legal proceedings against renowned cartoonist Zapiro, for sketches based on Zuma’s appearances in court on rape and corruption charges in 2008, Annar Cassam writes that she isn’t a fan of some of Zapiro’s work either. Cassam comments on two of Zapiro’s cartoons, one which depicts his own personal angst after having ‘lost faith’ in the ANC, and the other which shows what he thinks lies ahead for the majority of voters who voted for the ANC because of what the leadership promised them. Quoting Nelson Mandela, Cassam speaks of the need for South Africans to combine their ‘collective wisdom’ and the ‘talents and energies’ to address the glaring inequalities together. Cassam argues that Zapiro’s cartoons make a mockery of the aspirations of impoversished voters, and encourages citizens to switch parties rather than work with the ANC, which she argues, ‘remains the most important and the most inclusive organisation for the average South African’.
Vote for Pambazuka News
Pambazuka News Editors
2008-08-17, Issue 393
For three years running, with your help, Pambazuka News was voted one of the top 10 who are changing the world of Internet and politics. Pambazuka News has once again been shortlisted amongst the top 25 – and once again the only Africa-related websit...
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 ...