CONTENTS: 1. Features 2. Announcements
Features
Land, law and decades of devastating douchebaggery
Jonathan Payn
On corruption, ‘violent’ protest and the probably quite unexceptional case of Freedom Park
The struggle of the black working class majority of Freedom Park, South Africa, is not just for land on which to build housing – although that is obviously a central issue and key demand; nor is it just against the accompanying political and police violence and intimidation. It is a struggle against the injustice, violence and corruption of a system that puts the power, privileges and profits of a few before the lives and wellbeing of the majority.
Death of a nation: Biafra and the Nigerian question
Chido Onumah
Nigeria began to unravel 50 years ago, on 27 May 1967. Since then, successive governments have failed to forge a nation out of what was left behind by the British colonialists. Nigeria works for only a small part of the population. The rest are largely on their own. There have been calls – and attempts - to break up the country. But this is not feasible today. Nigeria needs to be restructured in a way that ensures the interests of all its people are given top priority.
Open letter to WHO on industrial animal farming
Various
On 23 May 2017 Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus of Ethiopia was elected WHO Director-General. In a letter released a head of the election, over 200 scientists, policy experts and others concerned persons are urging the new Director-General to recognize and address factory farming as a growing public health challenge. Just as the WHO has bravely confronted companies that harm human health by peddling tobacco and sugar-sweetened beverages, it must not waver in advocating for the regulation of industrial animal farming.
Nairobi River basin rehabilitation and restoration: Succeeding by building on lessons from past failure
John O. Kakonge
If the Nairobi River were a human being, it would have choked to death by now. Despite various attempts to restore it over the past decades, the river continues to choke with garbage, industrial waste, agro and petro chemicals, heavy metals and other pollutants, which have caused the extinction of aquatic life and turned the river into an eyesore. Nairobi River is a huge potential resource for the city. It should not be left to die.
“Zuma Must Fall” and the Left: Lessons from Zimbabwe
Munyaradzi Gwisai
Faced with a growing crisis, President Zuma has raised the prospect of a radical reorientation of the ANC and the possibility of radical economic transformation. Alarmed, another faction of the South Africa’s capitalist class has thrown its support behind the Zuma Must Fall movement. In this article Zimbabwean socialist Munyaradzi Gwisai unpicks the situation in South Africa. He explains that the working class and poor must avoid the dangers of both Zuma’s ‘fake left-turn’ and the Zuma Must Fall protests. What are the lessons, Gwisai asks, for South Africa from the movement that rose-up against Mugabe in Zimbabwe in the late 1990s?
The bigotry underlying the notion of state capture in South Africa
Gerard Boyce
The notion of state capture is currently very topical in South Africa, in both popular and academic circles. According to the popular view, President Jacob Zuma, along with a number of senior civil servants, has been captured and is doing the bidding of a well-heeled expatriate Indian family, the Guptas. A more plausible explanation of the nature of this relationship is required.
Populism on the rise as South Africa and Namibia gear up to elect new presidents
Henning Melber and Chris Saunders
The ruling parties in the two countries have adjusted in different ways since taking power. SWAPO has entrenched its political dominance in all spheres of society since independence. The ANC is in decline and faces massive public protest and political opposition. In both cases the presidents have resorted to populism to pursue their agendas.
Ethiopia: A harvest of death and destruction since 28 May 1991
Alemayehu G. Mariam
This week 26 years ago a new regime took power in Addis Ababa. The Tigrean People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) is listed as a global terrorist organization. Unsurprisingly, its scorecard in Ethiopia features endless famine, land grabs, violent repression, dictatorship and corruption – with the generous support of the US and its allies.
How to tackle youth unemployment in Africa
Yves Niyiragira
Why do African governments seem unable to create jobs for their teeming throngs of young people, who are then forced to make dangerous journeys abroad in search of a better life? Wrong economic models. In addition, nations waste resources through corruption and investing in huge militaries and police forces often deployed against dissidents. Crooked leaders collude with the West to steal Africa’s resources to develop Europe. So, what would stop young people from following African stolen resources to the West?
Cashing in on the Rwandan tragedy
Yves Engler
The mass killings in Rwandan in 1994 are often invoked inside and outside the country for ulterior purposes. In Canada, the story is part of developing a “do-gooder” foreign policy mythology designed to lull the nation into backing interventionist policies. More generally, a highly simplistic account of Rwanda ‘94 has repeatedly been invoked to justify liberal imperialism, particularly the responsibility to protect doctrine.
German investor caught in web of fraudsters in Kenya
Mickie Ojijo
Without an iota of suspicion, a German national who fell in love with Kenya and embarked on a business venture there lost his marriage, was fleeced of his investments and could not get any help from the authorities. Last year, a stroke certainly related to these frustrations nearly sent him to the grave.
African Commission tackles sexual orientation, gender identity
Wendy Isaak
The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights has taken on issues of sexual orientation and gender identity, topics that some may have considered too “controversial” but that fall squarely within the ambit of human rights.
A question for every parent: Is U.S. foreign interventionism worth it?
Jacob G. Hornberger
The latest terrorist attack in England, which killed or injured dozens of teenagers, raises a question for every British, French and American parent: Is continued interventionism in the Middle East and Afghanistan worth it?
The Cuban Revolution: Still in motion
Danny Haiphong
The author’s recent trip to Cuba confirmed his confidence in the power of people to transform their lives. It is also clear that “the US government has not stopped its ceaseless attack on the Cuban Revolution and probably never will as long as the US possesses an imperialist system.” Nevertheless, every Cuban he spoke to “reiterated how the revolution remains non-negotiable.”
Trumpopist diplomacy at its best
Odomaro Mubangizi
If you were the Pope, what would you have told Donald Trump on his recent visit to the Vatican?
Announcements
Analysis of Kenya’s 2017 elections: A call for articles
The objective of the special issue is to examine the discourses of national, inclusive and equitable transformation as opposed to a mere exercise of power transfer between political elites.
Book review: Debating Eurocentrism, racism and knowledge
Boaventura Monjane
The book makes a strong call for a critical reading of the meaning of Eurocentrism and the values of knowledge, insisting on the need to interrogate and explain the “organization/order of knowledge” and its “descriptive/prescriptive statements”. It is a vigorous call for urgency in exposing the persistent coloniality present in academia.
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Henry Makori and Tidiane Kasse - Editors, Pambazuka News
Yves Niyiragira - Executive Director, Fahamu
Websites: Fahamu.org, Pambazuka.org
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