Pambazuka News 796: Speaking truth to power: Rwanda, Congo, Ethiopia and South Africa
28 October 2016
CONTENTS: 1. Features, 2. Advocacy & Campaigns,
Features
 The man most responsible for the death of six million Congolese – the worst genocide since World War Two – holds periodic celebrations in cities all around the world to celebrate the accomplishments of his regime. Rwandan President Paul Kagame is armed, financed and protected by the United States. When Kagame showed up in San Francisco last month, the author was there to mark the occasion.
 People of goodwill throughout the world should support the Congolese people to demand that President Kabila ceases attacks against the people and respects the Congolese constitution. The world has watched the Kabila regime jail innocent youth, drive others into exile, violently repress dissent and undertake a military build up to go to war against the unarmed population as he clings to power.
 A government edict under the current state of emergency prohibits the dissemination through internet, text message, or social media any message deemed to "incite violence." Communication with "foreign elements" or watching the diaspora-based TV stations Oromo Media Network and Ethiopia Satellite Television is also prohibited.
 How it is possible that a government that is led by people who, as part of the Black community, have first-hand experience of the brutality of state violence through the police, unleash the same type of state violence against their own people, and even seek to justify the use of such anti-Black violence? Every Black police officer must refuse to be used to silence their own Black sisters and brothers.
 Media organisations, like most of South Africa’s formal institutions, were infused with institutional racism during the apartheid-era. In many cases this is still unchanged. There has to be a greater acknowledgement of institutional racism in organisations.
 Britain’s Labour leader has challenged the neoliberal dogma that has ruled the world ever since Margaret Thatcher came to power in 1979 and Ronald Reagan in America in 1981. This has been disastrous for Africa, where it has come in the form of the so-called "Economic Structural Adjustment Programs" aimed at restructuring African economies to conform to the demands of the imperialist countries, and not the development needs of Africa.
 With respect to the Grenadian Revolution, authoritarian means could not have given birth to the desired end, namely, the self-emancipation of the people. Effective control, initiative and power must be in the hands of the working-class in order for it to carry out the tasks associated with the development of a socialist society.
 About two weeks ago, there were dramatic scenes of joy and relief in Nigeria when the government handed over 21 schoolgirls to their parents after their captors, the militant group Boko Haram, released them. Chika Ezeanya-Esiobu reconstructs the event in this piece of fiction.
 At a time when human well-being is measured not only in terms of economic development, but also on the resilience of the environment and the society we live in, it is important to question the nature of livelihood opportunities that young people are being encouraged to pursue and their implications for the future.
Why African youth are risking their lives to enter the developed world
 Many young people from Africa are risking their lives making perilous journeys to the West in search of greener pastures. The cause of this is to be found in the failure of African governments to offer opportunities to young people to realize their dreams. Africa is not poor; its children do not need to die in international waters looking for a better life.
Advocacy and Campaigns
 Marcus Garvey should be posthumously pardoned for his wrongful conviction for use of the mails in furtherance of a scheme to defraud. During a time when Blacks were seen as second class citizens, Garvey led a mass movement to elevate the Black community through economic empowerment and independence. He was convicted after being targeted by J. Edgar Hoover and deprived of a fair trial. Go to:https://petitions.whitehouse.gov//petition/grant-marcus-mosiah-garvey-po...
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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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