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militia
Kenya's civil society needs a new vision
Zaya Yeebo
2009-07-02, Issue 440
cc MothersFightingForOthersWhile acknowledging that Kenya's Grand Coalition Government (GCG) has given rise to much debate and commentary, Zaya Yeebo argues that civil society's ability to influence change without violence is often ignored. Though other African countries see their people's voices expressed through groups such as trade unions and youth organisations, Kenyans' voices are muted by the noisy contestations of the country's political elites. The tendency of the last few years to 'franchise' the role of civil society out to international NGOs must be challenged, Yeebo contends, and Kenyans must look to the recent examples provided by Ghana, Sierra Leone and South Africa of how people power can bring about change. But while Kenyan civil society can draw inspiration and even support from outside, it alone must work to stoke popular pressure if effective and lasting political reform is to be achieved, Yeebo concludes.
Nigeria: Mass-based student unionism could counterweight cultism
Kola Ibrahim & Ayo Ademiluyi
2009-07-02, Issue 440
cc loukreuCampus cults have ‘entrenched their diabolical tentacles’ across Nigeria’s institutions of tertiary education, write Kola Ibrahim and Ayo Ademiluyi, despite a mass movement against them in 1999 after five students were killed at Obafemi Awolowo University. Cults are to blame not only for the recent killing of twenty people in Edo State, but also for incidences of robbery, intimidation of students and the community and rape in a number of universities. Poor economic prospects make cultism an attractive option for youths, but there are also reports of officials allegedly using cults to protect their economic and political interests by suppressing student union activists, write Ibrahim and Ademiluyi. Noting that affected institutions lack a ‘viable, radical, independent and issue-based students' movement’, they suggest that this is what is needed to tackle the ‘monster of cultism’.
Kenya: Government commitment necessary for police reforms
Louise Edwards
2009-07-02, Issue 440
cc DEMOSHThe Kenyan government has conceded that the country has a problem with the widespread and systematic use of extrajudicial killings by the Kenya Police Force, as highlighted in a report by UN special rapporteur Professor Phillip Alston, writes Louise Edwards. Now, however, the focus must shift to action to be taken to address the problems with policing the report raises, says Edwards. ‘Police reform is a daunting and long-term process,’ Edward notes, that ‘requires substantial law reform, a radical shift in policing culture from one of impunity to accountability and the restoration of trust between police and the community.’ But, Edwards cautions, ‘None of these urgent reforms will happen in Kenya without the political and financial commitment of the government.’
Unfinished business: Moving Kenya forward
Korir Sing’Oei
2009-06-18, Issue 438
cc wikimedia.orgWith Kenya still in the throes of an entrenched crisis, Korir Sing’Oei considers the broader history behind the deficiencies of the country's political system. Arguing that there are clear similarities to be drawn between events such as the state's response to the 1963 Shifta War and today's military crackdowns at Mt. Elgon, Sing’Oei stresses that the government continues to have a single method of conflict resolution, that of state-sponsored violence. But if Kenya's dream of a new constitution is to come to fruition, Sing’Oei concludes, there must be firm resolve to see accountability for its leadership, beginning on the first day of the country's truth commission with an apology from President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga for the post-election violence.
The Ogoni Nine–Shell settlement: Victory, but justice deferred?
Sokari Ekine and Firoze Manji
2009-06-11, Issue 437
With Shell having agreed an out-of-court settlement of $15.5 million with the families of the Ogoni Nine activists killed in 1995, Sokari Ekine and Firoze Manji argue that a victory should not be confused with justice. Though representative of an emerging movement in bringing a multinational to the brink of a trial, the questions over the Niger Delta region and Shell's atrocious environmental and human rights records remain, with the company admitting no liability for its actions. We must continue to support the numerous trials against Shell still carrying on, Ekine and Manji contend, and ensure that widespread discussion helps establish broader justice for the Ogoni people and all those suffering from multinational and governmental exploitation in Nigeria and beyond.
Calling on the Kenyan leadership to be counted
Wangari Maathai
2009-06-04, Issue 436
cc Amber B CReflecting on Kenyan society's unquestioning acceptance of the police's right to intimidate and even kill those labelled as 'Mungiki', Wangari Maathai considers the dubious culture of impunity around harassing those supposedly in league with the Mungiki sect. With the pervasive demonisation of the Mungiki militia group providing an effective cover for the killing of members of the Kikuyu community – Mungiki and non-Mungiki alike – ordinary citizens are reluctant to speak out, both for fear of being accused of supporting the sect and of the reactions of Mungiki militia to criticism. Calling on the political and religious leadership of the Kikuyu community to face up to the challenge in its midst, Maathai urges the country to heal the growing rift between the community and other Kenyans.
Kenya: An unprecedented state of violence
ACHPR urged to take action on human rights violations
Kenya Human Rights Commission
2009-05-21, Issue 433
cc flickr.comThe Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) has urged the ACHPR to adopt a resolution to address the Kenyan government on its obligations to protect and promote the rights of all people and its duty to hold violators to account through criminal prosecution. The criminalisation of peaceful demonstrations and the rise in extra-judicial killings are evidence of the government’s failure to act on recommendations made by commissions of inquiry into the presidential elections and post election violence, say KHRC. The body also wants ACHPR to send a fact-finding mission to Kenya including special rapporteurs on human rights and human rights defenders, women, freedom of information and refugees; and to ‘address and inform the AU summit on the factual situation and risks in Kenya’.
Kenya: One year on
Shailja Patel
2009-01-29, Issue 417
2008 began for Kenyans with the murder of Kenya’s democracy. It ended with the son of a Kenyan migrant winning the US presidential race. In editing this special issue of Pambazuka News, ‘Kenya – one year on’, our guest editor, Shailja Patel, says the questions that arise apply to both these historic events.
How the Kenyan Left pulled Kenya back from the brink
Internal energy and external fire
Shailja Patel
2009-01-29, Issue 417
On the strength of her ‘Kenya Bulletin’ delivered at South Africa’s ‘Time of the Writer Festival’in March 2008, Shailja Patel discusses the pivotal influence of the Kenyan Left in pulling Kenya back from the brink. Patel stresses the necessity of telling, recording and perpetuating this narrative as a tale of seemingly insurmountable odds, the triumph of civil society organisation, and the instrumental role of Kenyans for Peace, Truth and Justice (KPTJ).
Unfinished business from Kriegler’s IREC
Kenyans for Peace with Truth and Justice (KPTJ)
2009-01-29, Issue 417
Highlighting the severe limitations of the IREC’s (Independent Review of Election Commission) Kriegler report, Kenyans for Peace, Truth and Justice (KPTJ) offers a damning analysis of the commission’s full report on the Kenyan electoral process. Noting the IREC’s inability to corroborate its primary evidence and testimonies, KPTJ argues that the commission effectively did everything possible to avoid getting to the truth. Concluding that the Kriegler report has manifestly failed to provide Kenya with a roadmap for adequately analysing the action of the ECK (Electoral Commission of Kenya), KPTJ contends that a key opportunity to restore Kenyans’ faith in the power of the ballot box has been lost.
Ending impunity
Kenyans for Peace with Truth and Justice (KPTJ)
2009-01-29, Issue 417
In this article, Kenyans For Peace, Truth and Justice (KPTJ) look in great detail at the Waki Report. “The setting up of a Special Tribunal to seek accountability from persons bearing the greatest responsibility for serious violations relating to the 2007 elections” is the most important call by the report. But also constructively criticising the report, KPTJ argues the Waki report stresses reform over a complete overhaul of some of the governnment agencies responsible for the gross crimes against the Kenyan people.
Transitional arrangements for Zimbabwe
SADC Council of NGOs
2008-07-09, Issue 387
SADC Council of NGOs (SADC-CNGO), Southern African Trade Union Coordinating Council (SATUCC) & Fellowship of Christian Councils in Southern Africa (FOCISSA), representing broad membership in all SADC member states, are deeply concerned that the developments in Zimbabwe grossly undermines the regional community’s efforts to achieve regional integration and go against the spirit and objectives of the SADC Treaty.
Appeal for solidarity by Zimbabwean women
Women in Zimbabwe
2008-07-03, Issue 385
On March 29,2008 Zimbabwe went to the polls to elect its next government until 2013. Results for the Presidential elections were announced a month later and people in Zimbabwe maintained peace. From 2 April 2008 the government organised a retribution campaign to target those who allegedly voted for the opposition and since then there has been terror in mostly rural Zimbabwe with youth militia under the command of the army and police confirmed to have gone on to unleash terror in a campaign to teach the rural people how to correctly vote in the forthcoming presidential run off supposed to take place on 23 May according to the law but whose date remains unannounced.
Death Spiral in Zimbabwe: Mediation, violence and the GNU
Grace Kwinjeh
2008-06-19, Issue 382
Rather than deflect and defeat the likelihood of political violence, the construct of a Government of National Unity would formally integrate it into the lifeblood of the Zimbabwean democratic dispensation. For South Africans, this situation recalls the kind of power sharing arrangements that former South African President F W De Klerk had in mind at the start of the 1990s negotiation process, where the share of actual voter support would not determine power arrangements. This proposal was not acceptable in the new South Africa then, and it is not acceptable in the new Zimbabwe now, writes Grace Kwinjeh examining the upcoming Zimbabwe presidential elections rerun.
Women left for dead—and the man who’s saving them
Eve Ensler
2008-05-22, Issue 374
In the Congo, where tens of thousands of women are brutally raped every year, Dr. Denis Mukwege repairs their broken bodies and souls. Eve Ensler visits him and finds hope amid the horror.
Zimbabwe: Women of the world help stop the violence!
Women In Zimbabwe
2008-05-13, Issue 370
As a result the terror campaign by the military and the youth militia, the most affected are women and children as 80% of Zimbabwean women live in the rural areas. This statement urges women in Africa and the world to take action against the Mugabe government.
Zimbabwe NCA condemns barring of EU and Commonwealth observers
National Constitutional Assembly
2008-03-11, Issue 352
The National Constitutional Assembly strongly condemns the arrogance being displayed by the Zimbabwean government and President Robert Mugabe for being at liberty to authorize who will come and observe elections this March.
Kenyan Human Rights Activist Pinpoints Reforms to Resolve Crisis
L. Muthoni Wanyeki
2008-02-12, Issue 344
L. Muthoni Wanyeki, executive director of the Kenya Human Rights Commission, recently spoke to AllAfrica.com about a wide range of aspects of the crisis that erupted over Kenya’s disputed presidential election.