Pambazuka News 676: Inept rulers, images of women and Black heroes
Pambazuka News 676: Inept rulers, images of women and Black heroes
A proposed farm worker policy in South Africa is unlikely to offer any meaningful benefits to the workers. The primary demands of farm workers are not for equity in commercial farms, but for tenure security on farms, decent living conditions, improved wages, and access to land for their own use.
A transatlantic radical racist movement is emerging and gaining respectability, evidenced by the popularity of hitherto fringe right-wing political parties. The targets are immigrants
Amira Ali takes a critical look at the reconstructed identities of East African women along western political imagination. The identities, as expressed in hip-hop lyrics, objectify women from the region as being quite not African, amplifying the myths of western anthropologists of the past
£600 million of UK aid money is going to help companies like Unilever and Monsanto take over African land and agriculture. The corporate power-grab will be disastrous for the small-scale farmers who feed at least 70% of Africa's people
A new report highlights the huge amount of revenue that one of the poorest countries in Africa loses each year through tax breaks for multinationals.
An international group of activists has formed a committee for Walter Rodney and raises a number of issues with regard to the formation of a commission of inquiry into the death 34 years ago of the celebrated Guyanese intellectual
For the shack dwellers of South Africa, the past 20 years since the end of apartheid have not meant a better life for them. It is oppression and neglect by the ruling ANC
A noted Tanzanian botanist and conservationist is mourned
Tribute to a remarkable, unforgettable woman
Who really is an African student?
Pambazuka News 675: Rwanda: 20 years after the genocide, a state of fear
Pambazuka News 675: Rwanda: 20 years after the genocide, a state of fear
By opposing the designation of the 1994 conflict in Rwanda as “genocide,” Clinton not only opposed armed intervention but helped the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) into power. Many developments show a US preference for an RPF military takeover instead of the upholding the Arusha Peace Accords
After 20 years, the silent terror of Paul Kagame’s regime continues. Domestically there is a lack of democracy. In terms of foreign policy there is pillage and plunder of neighbouring DRC, killing of Rwandan dissidents and preying on the guilt of the international community to deflect any criticism
Rwanda has made remarkable progress to rebuild after the genocide. But the country is in the grip of a ruthless Tutsi oligarchy that has silenced everyone who doesn’t agree with President Kagame. His critics are either dead, in jail or exile. The struggle for a just and free nation should be intensified
It is 20 years since the genocide. The former rebels who ‘liberated’ the country now preside over Rwanda. But everywhere one sees evidence that the freedom they sought as rebels remains out of reach for the general population. An equal and just Rwanda is needed
Despite powerful backing from the West and strong media influence, there have emerged some important facts which call into question the widely-accepted narrative of what really happened in Rwanda in 1994 and the identities of those responsible
Post- genocide Rwanda has managed to rebuild on a development model that relies on Rwandan history, knowledge and people. It is marked by participatory political and economic processes, value of the Rwandan culture and heritage and the mobilization of internal forces as well as community work.
The process of peacebuilding undertaken in Rwanda provides evidence that healing and reconciliation are possible but they are not a one day thing. Trauma healing and reconciliation is a process that needs support from the community
20 years after the end of the genocide in Rwanda, Rwandans both at home and abroad still live in fear of their government, which goes to unimaginable lengths to hunt down and kill dissidents. The international community must band together to uphold the freedom and human rights of all Rwandans worldwide.
For 20 years, Kagame has posed as the soldier who stopped the Rwandan genocide, when all evidence and logic point to him as the main perpetrator of the crime
General Paul Kagame ordered the shooting down of the plane in which President Habyarimana and President Cyprien Ntaryamira of Burundi, French citizens, and all others on board were killed on 6 April 1994. This assassination triggered the genocide. Since then President Kagame has imposed a reign of terror to keep himself and the ruling party in absolute power.
This new book is an essential read for anyone interested in understanding the roots of the Rwandan tragedy – which are to be found not so much in ingrained ethnic hatred, as in the West’s determination to propel a sectarian client movement to power through the gradual destruction of state authority, at any cost
Rwanda, a military dictatorship, plays a key destabilising role in the Great Lakes region to benefit its imperialist partners, US and UK, whose primary interest is the mineral wealth in Eastern DR Congo. Democratic forces should work had to expose imperialist agendas and weaken Western influence in the region
The Rwandan Genocide has resulted in a complex web of victimhood, with different groups and individuals suffering in distinct and overlapping ways. The path towards recovery, both individual and national, requires a coming together of various organisations, each contributing what they can to the process
Pambazuka News 680: SPECIAL ISSUE: Africa in 50 years' time
Pambazuka News 680: SPECIAL ISSUE: Africa in 50 years' time
The mobile revolution. Geopolitical power shifts. A radically altered global economy. The world is changing, and so is the way that people fight for their rights. In order to be effective, Amnesty International’s (AI) International Secretariat needs to change how we work. That’s why we have opened a Regional Office in Kenya. And why we need your campaigning expertise with us on the ground.
The mobile revolution. Geopolitical power shifts. A radically altered global economy. The world is changing, and so is the way that people fight for their rights. In order to be effective, Amnesty International’s (AI) International Secretariat needs to change how we work. That’s why we have opened a Regional Office in Kenya. And why we need your campaigning expertise with us on the ground.
Pambazuka News proposes to address migration dynamics in a special issue in late June. Analysis may include historical, cultural, economic, psychological, developmental, social, legal and political dimensions of this age-old phenomenon.
Amnesty International, made up of millions of individual members and supporters, is a truly global human rights movement.
Of people who are passionate about defending human rights for all.
Of millions of people who believe the world would be a better place if together we took injustice personally.
And by mobilising the humanity in everyone, shining a light on human rights abuses wherever they may occur and speaking truth to power, for over 50 years now we have been making a tangible difference in the lives of those who are denied their basic rights, every hour, every day.
The mobile revolution. Geopolitical power shifts. A radically altered global economy. The world is changing, and so is the way that people fight for their rights. In order to be effective, Amnesty International’s (AI) International Secretariat needs to change how we work. That’s why we’ve opening a regional office in Dakar. And why we need your research expertise with us on the ground.
The mobile revolution. Geopolitical power shifts. A radically altered global economy. The world is changing, and so is the way that people fight for their rights. In order to be effective, Amnesty International’s (AI) International Secretariat needs to change how we work. That’s why we’ve opening a regional office in Dakar. And why we need your research expertise with us on the ground.
The mobile revolution. Geopolitical power shifts. A radically altered global economy. The world is changing, and so is the way that people fight for their rights. Our East African regional office will work to ensure respect for human rights, and for equal and just societies throughout a vast and diverse geographical area. You’ll provide the support they need to succeed.
The mobile revolution. Geopolitical power shifts. A radically altered global economy. The world is changing, and so is the way that people fight for their rights. Our East African regional office will work to ensure respect for human rights, and for equal and just societies throughout a vast and diverse geographical area. You’ll provide the support they need to succeed.
Determined to eliminate injustice and promote equality, Amnesty International is at the forefront of human rights advocacy. But to maximise awareness on a global level, we need to maintain a single and consistent voice. By co-ordinating translation requests across the West Africa region, you'll help us share vital information.
Amnesty International, made up of millions of individual members and supporters, is a truly global human rights movement. It is made up of people who are passionate about defending human rights for all, and who believe the world would be a better place if together we took injustice personally.
Africa must increase her capacity to be self-reliant. In the next 50 years Africa’s people must be willing to pay even a higher price for their economic power to control the riches of Africa for their people
At the African Union Commission Retreat of Foreign Ministers held at Bahir Dar, Ethiopia on 24-26 January 2014, Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, chair of the AU, gave the following address. It is addressed to the great visionary Pan-Africanist, Kwame Nkrumah in a futuristic look at Africa’s continental achievements in the year 2063
The Africa we shall all celebrate in another 50 years is one where the dreams of the liberation struggle are all realised
A river refuses to stop at the barriers on its path. Africa must steadily move ahead, regardless of the challenges it faces
Today’s young African adults—‘digital natives’— have begun looking to Africa’s own existing potential to solve problems and propel the continent forward. The new knowledge systems they are creating will make the Africa of 2065 independent of foreign burdens and confident in its own momentum.
The artists, writers and thinkers of Africa must work towards a future based on Africa’s past, and not one reliant on a global system which is itself reliant on the subjugation of African culture.
The immediate emergency that threatens the very survival of African peoples is the ‘Berlin-state’. After decades of failure, Africa must now build inclusive states where women and men live as co-operators and co-creators in fundamentally transforming their society.
Africa has no alternative but to invest in building the infrastructure of knowledge-based production. This means good governance, better school systems, excellent universities and a deliberate effort to bolster research and development across private and public sectors
Africa’s current development models tend to echo the priorities of colonialism, perpetuating structural inequalities that hinder development and exacerbate existing contradictions. To remedy this, development reciprocity and African-centred governance the promotes franchise, representation and responsiveness to basic needs should be adopted
Increasingly labeled hopeless, Africa’s future is often open to debate. Whilst there are those that doom the continent to a dire future citing corrupt leaders and deeply embedded poverty, the more optimistic types peg their hope on Africa’s youth to spearhead change on the continent.
After 50 years of independence, Africa is rippled with conflicts and it is foremost Africa’s leaders who are to blame. African leadership has to care about the African people and invest in them in the sense of Ubuntu.
Pan-African solidarity organizations ought to support organisations and movements that are working for power-from-below ‘under the leadership of the people.’
The future of Africa and the world will be defined by our response to the ongoing climate crisis. In order to effectively confront this era-defining challenge, we need to rethink our development paradigm and move beyond the narrow industrial focus towards a future where the environment and social benefit are seen as intrinsically inseparable.
Africa’s key strengths lie in its young population, women with potential, its big reserves of natural and mineral resources, especially huge reserves of water, vast arable land, hydropower potential and forests
Africa's people should be unchained by their own rulers and the imperialists with whom these despots happily collaborate, so that we can fly; we can invent; we can invest; we can develop our own continent.
This special issue is a reflection on conceptualising and constructing a new Africa in 50 years’ time. It is also devoted to the memory of the late Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem who was a Pan-Africanist visionary. Whilst we must ‘dare to invent the future’ as Thomas Sankara heeded us, we must be realistic in assessing the obstacles in the long term plans for Africa’s development
Read the first of Fahamu’s monthly round ups of the African Union’s engagement with peace and human rights across the continent.
Headlines
1. Analysts Decry Lack of Progress of African Union in Counter-Terrorism
2. African Union strike kills 50 al-Shabab insurgents in Somalia
3. AU Commission of Inquiry for South Sudan considers hybrid court
4. AU meets to discuss immunity clause for ‘African ICC’
5. AU calls for further peace negotiations in Darfur
6. AU engaging with Burundi politicians amidst growing political tensions
7. AU praises Rwandan peacekeepers in in the CAR
Monthly roundup: May 2014
Pambazuka News 674: African cash cows: From the Slave Trade to war on terrorism
Pambazuka News 674: African cash cows: From the Slave Trade to war on terrorism
The forthcoming African Odysseys programme will feature screenings of inspirational films by and about the people of Africa, followed by question and answer sessions with the film directors
Those who are fighting today against the splintering of Ukraine are the same as those who are working behind the scenes to break up Mali and who are financing the rebellions in eastern DRC in order to create a new republic in the Kivu tomorrow
Despite U.S.-backed violence against them, indigenous communities are fighting back as multinational corporations encroach on their lands
There is enough research to show massive capital drain from Africa and that Africa is a net creditor to Europe and North America. Without an African central bank functioning under democratic control and a credible African currency, the drain of resources will continue to rob Africa the means to achieve development
The Caribbean has lost a fighter and believer in social justice, one who knew that another world is not only necessary but possible! The working people and poor have lost a true friend!
Ethnic Somalis in Kenya have always been the target of security operations resulting in serious human rights violations. That is what is currently happening again following attacks by suspected Al Shabaab militants. But not all Somalis are terrorists. The state should respect their fundamental rights as citizens
We have the vote but the political parties do not represent the aspirations of the people, writes Ayanda Kota, founder of the Unemployed People’s Movement.
To blacklist students is not only a witch-hunt aimed at preventing activists from holding union offices but also a calculated scheme to weaken the OAU students’ union and establish it under the direct manipulation of the university administration
Excessive government force and state assassinations in the name of counterterrorism have split the Muslim community in Kenya into moderates and radicals with differing interpretations of Jihad. Extremists attract especially impoverished youths who hold resentment towards the government as their communities continue to be marginalized and deprived
Al Shabab followers wake up every morning with a plan on how many lives they can take, not how many lives they would save. They read Quran and in their demented minds come up with wrong self-serving interpretations
The Caricom Reparations Commission has outlined ten demands of the former European trading nations to pay reparations to them. Among the root causes of the current problems facing descendants of slavery and genocide in the Caribbean is the racial victimization that was engendered by enslavement of black people
Thirty six African heads of state recently attended an EU-Africa summit on the theme “Investing in People, Prosperity and Peace.” Yet, behind the scenes the EU plans to deploy a thousand troops to join UN troops in the Central African Republic
Underlying the current climate crisis that will worsen if not alleviated is the greed for greater profits, markets, fuel, and the rape of the earth’s resources. As this continues the ramifications will be increasing insecurity, competition and conflicts for water and scarce resources
Thabo Mbeki and Mahmood Mamdani have argued for post-conflict political resolution which seeks to peacefully reconcile societies by treating both victims and perpetrators as survivors. But such a model is an insult to victims and promotes impunity rather than justice. The courts are indispensable tools of justice and reconciliation.
Refugees in Kenya are often the victims of inhumane and illegal treatment by the government. Activists must work with the government to abolish the practice of forcible repatriation and to improve the pathetic conditions in refugee camps.
Badrudeen Shariff looks into some of the reasons for police corruption and unfair treatment of Somalis in Kenya – and questions whether giving fair treatment to police in the first place would not prevent such problems.
Chad accuses Hissène Habré of having looted the Chadian treasury upon fleeing the country, and with reason. But it is obvious that a legal entity, such as a company or a state, cannot be the victim of most serious violations of international law, such as genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and torture.
Russia’s policy to resist the project of colonisation of Ukraine by western powers should be supported. The target of constructing a Euro-Asian community, independent of the Triad and its European subordinate partners, is a positive initiative
Pambazuka News 672: Missed opportunities: Sham elections, colonial legacies and a forgotten heroine
Pambazuka News 672: Missed opportunities: Sham elections, colonial legacies and a forgotten heroine
The CFA franc is one of the symbols of the lack of sovereignty in African countries. This necessitates a break with the system and the creation of a sovereign currency which is one of the major conditions for the implementation of industrial policies to create value and jobs at the national and regional levels
The US military is making deeper inroads into Africa, including military involvement with at least 49 of 54 nations. But there is nothing to suggest that these interventions actually help end Africa’s post-colonial conflicts
The political upheaval witnessed in Venezuela is the continuation of a long destabilization plot by the US against popular Left-leaning governments in Latin America. As this interview reveals, America will stop at nothing to maintain its imperialist reach around the world
As Malawians prepare go to elections on May 20, a new comprehensive report shows that important electoral reforms have not been put in place. And the country’s politics is driven by regionalism and ethnicity
Why are African political leaders so drenched in opulence while their people are so poor? There are gluttonous heads of state in Africa who fail to emulate the example of the life of Nelson Mandela who was not inspired by greed and materialist accumulation
Over sixty percent of Zimbabwe’s population are Christians. However, not all churches are supportive of homosexuality and endorse the Zimbabwe constitution that criminalizes same sex marriage yet disallows discrimination. Meanwhile several politicians make reckless denunciations of homosexuals whilst others quietly indulge in homosexual acts themselves
The economy of Zambia is in bad shape under the helm of President Michael Sata. Sata’s liability is not in the fact that he is too old, or some of his ministers are ancient, his deficiency is in the fact that he lacks an economic vision for the country
Josina Mutemba Machel was a revolutionary Mozambican fighter for FRELIMO who like thousands of women fought for independence for her country until she died at the tender age of 25. 7 April marks the day she died – a day celebrated as National Women’s Day in Mozambique. It occasions a celebration of her exemplary short life
Ethiopia claims that it has enjoyed double-digit real economic growth for about a decade and that it is a stable nation. But the massive outmigration of its people points to a different reality
In the run up to Algeria’s presidential elections on 17 April, a tragic comedy unfolds in which presidential candidates contest against a rigid regime with false stability. The outcome of the election is predetermined; and the people will lose, no matter which candidate wins
Caribbean nations are seeking reparations from Europe for the slave trade. All peoples of Africa and the Caribbean should support this cause. We ought to fully appreciate the lasting effects of genocide, slavery and colonialism - and how they relate to our condition today
Following several major acts of violence in Kenya, the Centre for Law and Research International and the Coalition for Constitution Implementation are calling upon the government to urgently implement measures that will adequately tackle the problem.