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Thursday, July 14, 2016
English

CONTENTS: 1. Features, 2. Advocacy & campaigns 3. Jobs & announcements


Features


A victory for women: Dlamini-Zuma’s scorecard as AU Chairperson

Dinah Musindarwezo

The first woman Chairperson of the African Union Commission leaves behind an outstanding legacy of strong commitment to gender equality and women’s rights in Africa. Overall, Dr. Dlamini-Zuma scored remarkable victories in advancing the AU’s vision of an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in the global arena.

The African Union, a turning point?

Vijay Makhan

The eyes of Africa are this week turned to Kigali, host of the African Union Summit, where a new Chairperson of the AU Commission will be elected. The Summit presents yet another opportunity for African Heads of State and Government to place the continental body on a new path that will genuinely respond to the needs and aspirations of the African people.

 

Brexit: A nail in the coffin of neo-colonialism in Africa

Netfa Freeman

Believing that Brexit could represent the beginning of the end for international cooperation is to believe that the world does or should revolve around Europe. The late Pan-Africanist Kwame Ture (aka Stokely Carmichael) pointed out that those whose thinking is dominated by Euro-centrism and white supremacy often mistakenly “make the particular history of Europe the general history of the world.”
 

You talk about the collapse of Western civilisation as if it would be a bad thing

Kalundi Serumaga

The life template developed in Europe and then culturally transmitted to the rest of the world is not sustainable. The time has come for a wider, global discussion about how Europe may be kept in peace and prosperity alongside everyone else, as opposed to at the expense of everyone else, as has been, and remains, the case in today’s world.

The problem between White policemen and Black males in the US

Cameron Duodu

Entrenched racism going back to the days of slavery is the reason behind frequent killings of Black men by White policemen in America. White officers see themselves as slave masters who must be obeyed without question by the Black slave.

 

Bill Gates’ silver-bullet misfiring at the Mandela Memorial Lecture

Patrick Bond

Gates, who is worth $80 billion, specialises in top-down technicist quick-fixes, which often backfire on the economic shooting range of extreme corporate influence and neoliberal policies. On Sunday, Gates will get even richer, in terms of the moral legitimacy bestowed by the Mandela Lecture.
 

How the UN and Canada colluded to kill Lumumba

Yves Engler

The United Nations, then under Secretary General Dag Hammarskjold, and Canada played key roles in the assassination of popular Congolese Prime Minister and eminent African statesman Patrice Lumumba. To Prime Minister John Diefenbaker, Lumumba was a “major threat to Western interests”. Neither the UN nor Ottawa has ever accepted responsibility.
 

The UN had to go, but is Liberia really prepared for peace?

Robtel Neajai Pailey and Thomas Jaye

The UNMIL draw down will test Liberia's ability to maintain peace ahead of crucial elections scheduled in October 2017, within a region that is increasingly volatile. The elections will mark the country's first post-war transition from one civilian government to another. So, the stakes are quite high. But Liberia cannot continue to rely on external peacekeepers for this all important transition period.
 

The political and economic challenges facing the provision of municipal infrastructure in Durban

S’bu Zikode

Started 10 years ago, South Africa’s shack dwellers movement Abahlali baseMjondolo has mounted a remarkable struggle – often at a terrible cost - to protect and promote the rights of impoverished people in the towns. This inspirational story shows what poor people can achieve when they organize themselves outside the state, political parties and NGOs.
 

How political interference keeps hurting African universities

Ibrahim Oanda

Most of Africa’s political and economic elites retain a keen interest in determining how universities’ leadership is constituted. More and more student activities at universities are being organised along political party lines, which attests to new forms of politicisation.

 

For sexual minorities, “closing space” for civil society means losing access to critical services

David Kuria Mbote

Closing space for African sexual and gender minority groups is about far more than advocacy—it is about accessing critical services that no one else provides.

 

Dear President Buhari, Nigeria’s unity is negotiable

Chido Onumah

There seems to be consensus that Nigeria is not working for Nigerians. This is not because Nigeria is unworkable, but because it has been rigged to fail. Forty-six years after the atrocious Biafra War, low-intensity conflicts by state and non-state actors are raging across the country. Nigeria needs to be renegotiated.
 

The map of new Biafra

Osita Ebiem

The struggle for self-determination of the Biafran people will not end until they fully break away from Nigeria, a creation of British colonialists that has never worked. Unlike during the first failed attempt to secede, for the new territory to work it should not include any non-Igbo people.

 


Advocacy & campaigns


What the police murders of lawyer Kimani and two others say about Kenya

Sungu Oyoo

According to the Independent Medico-Legal Unit, 53 Kenyans were extra-judicially killed by the police between January and April of 2016. The organisation further reports that 125 Kenyans were summarily executed in 2015, and that another 199 lives were wasted by Kenya Police in 2014.
 

Sign Petition: People of Conscience Concerned about Human Rights #JusticeforWalterRodney

Aajay Murphy

IS THERE NO JUSTICE FOR MURDER, EVEN AFTER 36 YEARS? COMMISSION REPORT ISSUED ON ASSASSINATION OF DR. WALTER RODNEY. HOWEVER, THE GUYANA GOVERNMENT HAS REFUSED TO MAKE THE REPORT PUBLIC OR ACT ON THE COI RECOMMENDATIONS.
 


Jobs & announcements


Regional Researcher – Southern Africa (Malawi, Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe)

Johannesburg, Permanent $66,580 USD per annum

The Southern Africa Regional Office (SARO) of Amnesty International, is seeking a highly capable, experienced driven and team-oriented person to the role of Researcher covering Zimbabwe, Zambia, Malawi and Namibia, focussed on the critical human rights themes that are critical to delivery Amnesty International human rights strategy. 


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Henry Makori and Tidiane Kasse - Editors, Pambazuka News

Yves Niyiragira - Executive Director, Fahamu


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