Pambazuka News 664: Africa's mendicant rulers and beautiful laws failing the people
Pambazuka News 664: Africa's mendicant rulers and beautiful laws failing the people
This Moroccan filmmaker and human rights activist had the opportunity to visit the camps in southern Algeria occupied by Saharawi people. Bouhmouch describes his observations and measures these against the predominant narrative of ‘territorial integrity’ so vigorously promoted by Morocco, which illegally occupies Western Sahara
Ethiopia’s much vaunted recent economic growth belies the reality on the ground. Suggestions of rapid socioeconomic transformation to a middle-income economy are likely to prove fanciful, unless urgent significant national concerns are addressed
The FAO draft principles have little local basis and less community future. That is why they are very likely to be employed to obscure the power imbalances that exist to deepen industrial control of the means of agricultural production - and that is why these will not be acceptable as a measure of food growers' and food consumers' rights
Are all the delays, postponements and deferrals gentle hints and winks that some kind of a political deal has been cut between the ICC, Kenyatta, the African Union and the UN Security Council to eventually let Kenyatta off the hook for 'lack of evidence'?
There is no nice way of stating an ugly truth. As at this writing, the entire continent of Africa, from Cape to Cairo and all points in-between, is under the rule of mendicants enabled by a coterie of intellectuals who are either in profound denial or otherwise think there is something inevitable about Africa’s begging ways in world affairs.
While Kenya has the right to pursue its security interests and protect its people from terrorist attacks, it is important that the country adheres to relevant international conventions it is a signatory to in the repatriation of refugees
Given the history of nation-building in Africa, the violent conflict in South Sudan is not entirely surprising. To end it and lay the ground for lasting peace, the protagonists together with regional players and the international community need to isolate and boldly address the deep-rooted causes of the conflict
Vibrant student unionism has been repressed in campuses across Nigeria. It is a pitiful state of affairs as university administrators run dictatorships that silence student voices. What societies are these universities preparing the students for?
Zambia is not over-populated. On the contrary its small population is an economic disadvantage. A sensible population policy should let the country’s population grow to about 20 million people, after which the government can institute appropriate population control measures
Trade volumes between China and Africa have increased tremendously in recent years and close ties between the two are growing fast in a number of areas. Whether China will be a catalyst for massive transformation of Africa in the next few decades entirely depends on the strategic decisions taken by African nations
The new book are many more or less thinly veiled criticisms of the fictional Soshangane society - and by extension Swaziland - and the absolute monarchy that controls everything from the economy to the definition of culture
Sexual and gender based violence in Uganda fails to be adequately addressed by the Ugandan government that fails to consult with women on this issue. It seems sexual and physical attacks on women are new ‘weapons to discipline women’ in to submission
China may view the Japanese leader’s recent tour of Africa as an attempt to contain its own influence in Africa. Japan is focusing on developing trade with Africa, particularly Mozambique’s natural gas. How will China adjust to a new competitor?
Does the African Union confuse the term ‘African Renaissance’ with Pan-Africanism? These terms cannot mean the same thing when the ‘European Renaissance’ brought slavery, colonialism and racism to Africa
There are many lessons to be learned from the events of 1964 in the Southern states of America when many activists campaigned for political rights for black people. Among them was the valliant Fannie Lou Hamer. Many of those rights are being eroded today in America
Mining companies in South Africa, including Glencore seem to consider the Marikana massacre allows them to ride roughshod over the rights of miners and farmworkers. South Africa continues to have ‘beautiful laws’ that fail to be implemented in the interests of ordinary people
Muslim Human Rights Forum calls for an independent inquiry into the causes of the extreme violence at Masjid Musa and other places and the putting in place of civil and legally acceptable measures of detecting and dealing with manifestations of violent extremism from any quarter be they religious or secular, state or non-state actors
Do not expect honesty, accuracy, or even a semblance of reality from U.S. presidents’ reports on the State of the Union. Better to call it the State of Delusion address. So, skip the charade, here are the facts: “The state of the union is not very good for anyone except the ruling 1%.”
For a generation now, predatory policing, the war on drugs and the prison state have been government's most frequent intersection with young black Americans. The gossip before this year's State of the Union was that the president would now do by executive order all those good things Republicans have blocked him on the last 3 years. Does that include reining in or rolling back the prison state? Should we hold our collective breath?
Before the nation and the world, President Obama pledges to take “action” against “economic inequality,” while simultaneously holding secret negotiations on a Trans Pacific Partnership trade scheme that will quicken the pace of the global Race to the Bottom, deepening economic inequalities. “Lies of omission are even more despicable than the overt variety, because they hide.”
Oakland, CA – In a historic move, the US Congress has taken a stance on land grabs-related human rights abuses in Ethiopia. The 2014 Omnibus Appropriations Bill contains provisions that ensure that US development funds are not used to support forced evictions in Ethiopia
The decision to only recall the mayor and chief whip of the Madibeng municipality is nothing but election posturing by the ANC. It shows that the ANC leadership are tied hand and foot to Anglo American and are indeed a lackey of imperialism.
In this exclusive and wide-ranging interview with MOSES MAGADZA, BEAVEN TAPURETA, a well-known Zimbabwean poet says, inter alia, that too many people all over the world continue to turn their noses at writers, perpetuating the mistaken belief that they are essentially unemployed people. He says far from being part of the lumpen proletariat, writers are full-time workers and unless and until they are regarded as such, their rights would continue to be violated. Tapureta is the founding Director of Win Zimbabwe, an organisation that networks Zimbabwean writers through the internet and through workshops and readings. He was one of the key staffers at Budding Writers Association of Zimbabwe (BWAZ) when it folded a decade ago. Tapureta is a trained journalist.
The February 2014 issue of the Fahamu Refugee Legal Aid Newsletter is now available: Please help us distribute it, and consider contributing in the future. You can also like our Facebook page, and follow us on Twitter!
Pambazuka News 663: The woman, the dragon and black madness
Pambazuka News 663: The woman, the dragon and black madness
Africa was seen by Leopold II as a ‘magnificent African cake’ and still is considered as such by new foreign interests. Between the Chinese and the Japanese it seems the Japanese, like the West, seeks to ‘contain’ China’s influence in Africa. The Chinese aspire to a win-win-South-South cooperation and the restoration of Asia and Africa’s dignity
Southern Tanzania’s coal and gas-rich region which is part of the Mtwara Development Corridor is to see the construction of a new railway line from Mtwara to Mbamba-Bay. There are huge hopes that this new Chinese built railway – 40 years after TAZARA, will foster economic development in the region
Last week’s appointment of Catherine Samba Panza as CAR’s transitional president, the third female head of state in Africa, raises a glimmer of hope that this troubled nation at the heart of the continent could finally end its long history of coups, political violence, ethnic-based exclusion and grinding poverty
It is difficult to call the recent gathering in Montreux, Switzerland, a ‘peace conference’ on Syria, since the U.S. and its allies are determined to change the regime by force of arms. Washington has forged an ‘unholy alliance with its ‘Wahhabi allies from Saudi Arabia and al-Qaeda,’ who act as America’s ‘boots on the ground.’
The regime in power in Ethiopia today is orchestrating a full-court press demonization and vilification campaign against Atse Menelik II, the Nineteenth Century Ethiopian emperor whose centennial is being celebrated this year (Ethiopian calendar)
The ruling elite in South Africa combines the worst aspects of apartheid and post-apartheid nationalism with pro-corporate neoliberalism. Public interest and participation in the nation's moneyed politics is purely tokenistic
Through the years, the discourse about South Sudan has merely focused on power, wealth and armed conflict. The issues of identity, citizenship, unity and constructing the social fabric of the country have never been part of the conversation
When South Africa became democratic and political equality was adopted, little was done for economic equality. That mainly benefitted the already powerful whites. Economic liberalisation coupled with inequality and capitalist competition have engendered massive corruption
Rwanda’s leader uses UN peace missions to maintain the dictatorship in Kigali and to enhance his formidable global financial and criminal network that liquidates his opponents
A new poll shows “Blacks remain more NSA spy-friendly than whites and Hispanics.” Earlier surveys showed Blacks were the ethnic group most willing to go along with Obama’s threatened air war against Syria. What happened to Black progressivism?
It is been a long journey of personal reflection and discovery for the Moroccan filmmaker and human rights activist who now rejects and campaigns openly against his country’s unlawful and brutal occupation of Western Sahara, Africa’s last colony
President Kiir has several times in the past pledged not to take South Sudan back to war. He needs to demonstrate this now by doing everything in is power to end the current bloody crisis
Concern is growing at the secrecy surrounding deals struck between Haitian government and US and Canadian mining companies over the country’s estimated £12bn gold, silver and copper deposits
The hype around the ANC manifesto launch on the Sat 11th January had hardly died down when a mere two days later three protestors lay dead in the streets of Mothotlung
The measure of a man is not how he died, but how he lived his life. Not what he gained, but what he gave. The greatest thing in life is to live for a purpose
Pambazuka News 662: SPECIAL ISSUE: Amilcar Cabral and the unfinished African revolution
Pambazuka News 662: SPECIAL ISSUE: Amilcar Cabral and the unfinished African revolution
To Cabral, the liberation struggle was a revolution to overthrow the oppressive system of domination and exploitation of one human being by another. This has not been fully achieved in Africa, despite the end of formal colonialism. The liberation movements and current regimes lack an astute ideology grounded in the history and aspirations of their own people
Few countries in Africa have achieved total independence, despite the formal end of colonialism, and none have yet been able to liberate the productive forces and place them in the hands of the people. Amilcar Cabral’s thought provides the roadmap to achieve this
The ideas and example of Amilcar Cabral are an important link in the global quest for African liberation, a mission that, despite certain appearances and protestations to the contrary, persists. Cabral’s vision provides a theoretical roadmap for conceptualizing true freedom for Africa
Amilcar Cabral rejected the notion that culture is primordial, immutable. He was not only interested in change, or how culture changes, but in how this change could be produced. For him then the nationalist liberation movement could point to the direction national culture could be moved
Some of the men who apparently revered him were amongst those who would eventually betray Cabral to imperialist forces. He was not the first nor the last victim in the long line of treachery, which stretches backward along the road to African decolonization
Africa’s post-colonial history is one of unfulfilled missions because the national leadership has been lacking in revolutionary theory and ideology. Since so-called independence, Africa is still awaiting that moment when leaders such as Cabral will once again rise to the occasion and drive an agenda for the total liberation of Africa, from all vestiges of imperialism and neo-colonialism
Of all the African political leaders none have made more profound theoretical and strategic contributions to the advancement of the black liberation movement than Amilcar Cabral. As long as capitalism, colonialism, white supremacy, patriarchy, imperialism, and neo-colonialism exist as forces that exploit and oppress African (and all) people, Cabral’s insights and analysis will always have relevance
In this special issue on Amilcar Cabral we seek to return to the life, writings, legacy, political, social, economic and cultural insights of this revolutionary figure whilst examining what he means to Africans and their struggles of today
Pambazuka News 665: Popular resistance can deliver: Haiti, Mozambique and South Africa
Pambazuka News 665: Popular resistance can deliver: Haiti, Mozambique and South Africa
In February, Pambazuka News plans to carry a special issue dedicated to the LGBTI situation in Africa. Send in your contribution
Every free Black person owes a debt of gratitude to the Haitian Revolution. Now Haiti needs you. It is ten years since imperialist forces overthrew Haiti’s democratically elected leader and foisted on them a Western stooge. The people are resisting. Take action
Chinese investment in Africa has increased at an unprecedented level during the past two decades. Known as the ‘weapon of mass construction’, China’s footprint in Rwanda is no exception. Still recovering from the devastating 1994 genocide, the country urgently requires infrastructural investment to rebuild what was destroyed, and develop the future. The myth, however, looms larger than the reality
South Africa has been praised for progressive laws relating to women’s reproductive health. Free state-performed abortions have increased to 500,000 since 2004. But still, controversy and resistance have led to inadequate implementation of the law
As the African National Congress celebrates 20 years in power this year, many people may not know that the anti-apartheid liberation organization had close links with the African American civil rights movement. ANC should continue to support liberation struggles around the world
A third force has emerged in Mozambican politics, the MDM party that is causing powerful ripples, especially in urban areas and the regions until now marginalised by the ruling FRELIMO party. RENAMO, the main opposition party, is dying. MDM is likely to put a strong showing in October's presidential election because of growing disaffection for the ruling party. But MDM is unlikely to trounce the still well-entrenched FRELIMO
In a strange twist, the World Bank’s biggest ever hydropower project is now set to serve the interests of mining corporations rather than the people of DR Congo
Kouega’s seminal work, ‘Camfranglais, A Glossary of Common Words, Phrases and Usages’, is a succinct study of the emergence and structure of a new linguistic code in Cameroon—Camfranglais
With its eight chapters and more than a dozen rare photographs of Zanzibar, this book is a well-researched study by a respected author of long-standing. It outlines the dramatic history of Zanzibar and its anti-colonial and anti-imperialist struggles
The great Somali musician Maxamad Saleeban Tubeec is ailing in Germany and is in dire need of money to undergo surgery. The Somali people and government should help – for this man’s contribution to the nation is immense
It was in 1926 that “Negro History Week” began and has evolved into “Black History Month” and for some “African Liberation Month.” For many Africans and Diaspora Africans African history must liberate us mentally, economically, and politically from imperialism and neo-colonialism
Obama has no genuine plan to solve long-term unemployment in America despite meeting with the corporate and financial elite to discuss the matter. Radical organisations must organise to provide a counter-narrative and minimum program of opposition to neoliberalism that continues to exploit low waged workers
At least $10 billion is believed to have not been remitted to the national coffers by Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. A Senate committee is investigating the scam and civil society want the probe completed and stern action taken on perpetrators
It often seems that the American national pastime is murderous assault on Black people. The Malcolm X Grassroots Movement’s tally of one racist homicide every 28 hours is surely understated. The more Blacks die, the harder some whites push for broader latitude to kill them. There is no reciprocity in Stand Your Ground. ‘Self-defense means nothing when a black person asserts that right.’
The seemingly bizarre performance by the deaf signer at Nelson Mandela’s memorial is a manifestation of disorder in South African society. Service delivery protests and the shadow of Marikina haunts the nation, among many other socio-economic and political ills
Global struggles against capitalist economic austerity should take inspirational note of the gains of Spanish workers who have halted the government’s plans to privitise six hospitals. Demonstrations, strikes and occupations deliver results
Pambazuka News 661: In pursuit of justice: CAR, Haiti, Ivory Coast & South Africa
Pambazuka News 661: In pursuit of justice: CAR, Haiti, Ivory Coast & South Africa
To truly honour Amiri Baraka, one must examine his travels, the political journeys he undertook in search of paths to self-determination for his people and all humanity. He sought a liberatory synthesis of culture and politics. ‘We need a Cultural Revolution in the US and internationally, to reorient the world and ultimately transform it where we and everybody else is self-determining.’
Since opencast coal mining started on this farm ten years ago, the lives of the people have gradually deteriorated. The mine replaced the previous agricultural business that employed them. A villager said that only one person in the village has a full time job
Although Exxaro has denied that mining the wetland constituted an illegal environmental activity, investigations show that the remained in violation of the requirements of the law and committed a criminal offence
Contempt for Africans is still so strong in Germany that the government sees no point in returning to Namibia the human remains of the massacred Herero and Nama peoples. Further, Germany is unwilling to offer an apology and compensation
Around one billion people receive conditional cash transfers today, which have been praised as the magic bullet for poverty eradication. Such programmes are being implemented in Latin America and Africa. But they raise numerous ethical questions
Fundamentalism is a significant social problem that has secular and also religious manifestations. It’s roots are psychological and the cure lies in nonviolent strategies to resist the violent behaviours of fundamentalists which are important and necessary
The debate surrounding privatization of public enterprises is a popular and on-going concern of scholars, public administrators and concerned citizens the world over. In privatizing Nigeria’s refineries many issues need to be considered and carefully implemented in order to ensure that the privatization benefits Nigerians
The Toronto-based Biko Rodney Malcolm Coalition (BRMC) played an important role in isolating those African musicians who collaborated with the reviled apartheid regime and celebrating those who culturally boycotted South Africa. This history is important for us to remember
In the future, South Africa will explode into a racial Armageddon unless the crimes committed under apartheid are addressed following the recommendations of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) that was the handwork of Nelson Mandela
It appears the All Progressives Alliance (APC) is an amalgam of personalities from Nigeria’s main opposition parties. Yet, will the APC strengthen the party in terms of an ideology and build a mass base or continue to consort with unsavoury figures from Nigeria’s past? And for what purpose?
Many Ivorians are convinced that Laurent Gbagbo’s arrest, transfer and detention at the International Criminal Court is a political decision that perpetuates France’s maneuvers to keep the Ivory Coast under her sphere of influence. The restoration of Ivory Coast is impossible without Gbagbo
Pro-poor investment in key sectors like agriculture would hit all three of Kenya’s birds with one stone — job creation, poverty and cost of living. But the current government, like previous ones, is only interested in dazzling mega-infrastructural projects funded by loans but which are of little real economic value
In the negotiations to dismantle apartheid in the early 1990s, Mandela was admirably tough on the political front, but excessively soft on the economic side. In the end, Madiba settled for a lopsided economic deal that disinherited his people. But he wasn’t alone in doing this
The people of Haiti continue to suffer the economic tremors of a post-earthquake reconstruction programme that has failed to transform the lives of the majority of the people, despite the fact that it is the people of Haiti who must not only construct the future of Haiti but also decide that future
The violent political conflict in the CAR continues to claim innocent lives, cause massive displacement and destruction of property. The efforts being made to end the carnage and restore the country will not achieve much without taking into account the role of France in destabilising CAR
Racial and ethnic minorities are still disproportionately counted among the poor in America. Reducing employment among them and increasing the minimum wage would go some way in realizing the ‘promised land’ that Martin Luther King Jr. dreamed of
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