Pambazuka News 605: Obama's 'Occupy' win, Biya clocks 30 and beyond the ANC
Pambazuka News 605: Obama's 'Occupy' win, Biya clocks 30 and beyond the ANC
With a plan to create documentaries on woman's justice issues through local participation of partnering organisations, this video advocacy initiative was launched in 2010 by the Women's Initiatives for Gender Justice and WITNESS. The project is producing six gender justice films highlighting sexual and gender-based violence and other gender issues in armed conflicts, fragile states, and post-conflict environments. The first two videos posted are Our Plea, which exposes the attacks of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) on communities in the Central African Republic (CAR), and Our Voices Matter, which highlights the multiplicity of perpetrators operating in Eastern Democratic of the Congo (DRC), the lack of accountability for these crimes, and the medical services, psychosocial assistance, and economic support needed by victims/supporters.
This paper analyses through empirical data women’s reality in Northern Mozambique related to land tenure. Two different kinship systems coexist in Mozambique, one patrilineal in force in Southern Mozambique and one matrilineal in parts of the centre and North of the country. The paper argues that in the current context, the right of women to access and administer land is being limited not so much by traditional and customary social rules and law, but rather by the adverse socioeconomic context which characterizes the whole peasant sector.
Libya's former prime minister will be put on trial for crimes he allegedly committed during the rule of Muammar Gaddafi. Al-Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi was extradited from Tunisia, which he fled to in September 2011 after the fall of Tripoli to rebel forces. Along with Saif al-Islam, Gaddafi's most prominent son, Mahmoudi is one of the few remaining keepers of the many state secrets under Gaddafi, who was killed on October 20 last year.
Reporters Without Borders says it is relieved to learn that radio reporter Hassan Ruvakuki was finally allowed to testify to the court in the central city of Gitega that is hearing his appeal against his terrorism conviction, for which he was given a life sentence last June. Prosecutor-general Emmanuel Nyandwi thinks that the mere fact the Ruvakuki entered Tanzania clandestinely, and without getting permission from his employer, shows that he was linked to the 'terrorist' group.
The UN refugee agency on Friday welcomed Brazil's recent decision to grant permanent residency to nearly 2,000 former Angolan and Liberian refugees. Brazil's Ministry of Justice issued a decree on October 26 confirming the new status for this group. The measure was adopted by the Brazilian migration authorities following a global UNHCR recommendation in January this year, asking states to apply the cessation clauses on the two refugee situations and recommending countries of asylum to pursue local integration or an alternative status for former refugees.
Researchers unveiling critical trial results of a potentially major anti-malaria vaccine are expressing disappointment that the drug’s efficacy levels have proved lower than they had anticipated. Following on decades of research, the third phase of testing on a vaccine known as RTS,S found that the drug reduced malaria rates among infants (age six to 12 weeks) by about a third, far lower than expected. The study, funded largely by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is part of the largest malaria trial ever conducted, taking place in seven African countries.
African leaders were criticised for failing to prioritise immunisation with life-saving vaccines for children under five years of age to prevent deadly infectious diseases. Delegates and speakers at the International African Vaccinology Conference in Cape Town said there was little political will among African leaders who were out of touch with the needs of their communities. They also agreed that more pressure must be put on African countries to develop and produce their own vaccines to drive prices down and meet demands.
On Monday 12 November police in Bulawayo arrested 79 members of Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) for staging a peaceful demonstration against the water crisis in the city. All the activists were released after police realized the holding cells at police stations were without running water, a scenario that could have made the situation even worse.
A new report by the UN Commission on Life-Saving Commodities for Women and Children details how we can save six million lives over five years simply by improving access to 13 vital products. Using standard UN language, the report focuses on tearing down barriers that limit access to these products by solving regulatory and supply chain issues. The solutions it proposes aren’t simple, but they’re also not controversial, says this article on the site.
With South Africa still reeling from mining sector strikes in Marikana, Cosatu has called for nationwide stay-way in the agriculture sector in support of farmworkers in De Doorns who today entered their second week of striking for higher wages. Passop’s organiser in De Doorns, Owen Maromo, said none of the striking farmworkers reported to work. He said about 5,000 strikers had gathered on an open field in the Stofland informal settlement waiting for Cosatu provincial secretary Tony Ehrenreich to address them.
The third investigation by Partnership Africa Canada into illicit activity in Zimbabwe’s diamond sector, this report focusses on ongoing trade irregularities, the lack of transparency of diamond revenues, and examines ways ZANU officials and the global diamond industry have colluded to pull off the biggest plunder of diamonds since Cecil Rhodes.
Morocco's Prince Moulay Hicham, King Mohammed VI's first cousin, has said in a television interview the spirit of a new constitution adopted last year in a bid to stifle Arab Spring protests remains 'frozen'. The constitutional changes, introduced by the king to curb his near-absolute powers, followed mass protests in the north African country, and as similar unrest toppled regimes in Tunisia and Egypt.
A heated debate ensued in Parliament after Kawe lawmaker Halima Mdee moved a private motion calling on the House to adopt a resolution pressing the government to suspend the allocation of huge chunks of land for investment to foreigners. Tabling the motion, the outspoken MP, who also doubles as shadow minister for Lands, Housing and Human Settlements Development said increasing land conflicts in various corners of the country had prompted her to call for suspension of allocation of parcels of land to foreign investors.
Chinese land grabs in Africa are a media myth and the country's involvement across the continent is nowhere near as dominant as reports suggest, according to regional expert Professor Deborah Brautigam. Speaking at Citywire Berlin 2012 Professor Brautigam, director of the international development programme at John Hopkins University/SAIS and author of 'The Dragon's Gift:The Real Story of China in Africa', said there is a belief that China's investment in Africa is purely to procure land and natural resources for its' own ends. 'I think these myths persist because people are not looking very closely at the evidence and, in fact, they are not interested in looking closely at the evidence,' she said.
A total of 176 countries Monday 12 November adopted what World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General Margaret Chan called a 'game-changing' global agreement to combat the illegal tobacco trade. PANA reports that the pact was ratified at a meeting in Seoul, South Korea, on WHO's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC). The agreement came into force in 2005. 'The treaty envisages an international tracking system which aims to halt the smuggling and counterfeiting of tobacco products - a trade which accounts for 11 per cent of the total tobacco market and costs governments an estimated US$40 billion in lost tax revenue,' the WHO said in a statement.
The Civil Society on Monday launched a campaign against corruption which they said would go on until Government takes action on corrupt public officials. Representative s of various civil society organizations converged at Uganda Manufacturing Association Hall in Nakawa dressed in black T-shirts wielding placards with anti-corruption slogans. Leading the group, Irene Ovonji-Odida from Action Aid International Board of Trustees, said wearing black symbolized they had started mourning and mobilizing citizens to rise up against the evil of corruption.
President Museveni has been in touch with the Congolese rebel group, the M23, and told them to stop fighting, Defence Minister Crispus Kiyonga has revealed. Dr Kiyonga told the Sunday Monitor newspaper, in an exclusive interview, that secret meetings have been going on between Ugandan authorities and the rebels fighting President Joseph Kabila’s government, following a request by the Secretary General of International Conference for Great Lakes Region, Mr Ntumba Luaba. The revelation by the minister comes at a time when Uganda is fighting to clear its name with the UN, who, in a leaked report, accused Uganda of supporting the rebel group.
Kenya was elected on Monday 12 November to one of the coveted seats on the United Nations Human Rights Council. There was no expressed opposition to Kenya in the 193-nation General Assembly, which decides the make-up of the 47-member council. Kenya was one of five countries nominated to fill five open seats on the Geneva-based council that are reserved for African states.
Studies have revealed that residents of Zimbabwe's capital Harare literally drink their waste. A government owned newspaper at the weekend described pollution levels at Harare's water source – Lake Chivero – as comparable to a 'sewage pond'. It said recent tests on water samples detected about 2mg/l (two milligrammes in every litre of water) of phosphates or human and animal waste, exceeding the 0,5mg/l recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
The Tanzanian Budget Explorer is an initiative to make information about the way the Treasury allocates taxpayers money more accessible: transparent, easy to understand and exciting to follow. Public access to information about how the government spends money in Tanzania is beginning to improve. When available in reports or budget books, however, this information often is too bulky and complex to grasp. It can be a time consuming job to understand, and many people simply don’t have time to invest in doing it.
Swaziland Members of Parliament say they are being banned from the radio airwaves by the government. They say it is because of a policy made by the Swazi Cabinet. A row erupted in the House of Assembly when MPs accused Prime Minister Barnabas Dlamini of keeping them off the airwaves. In Swaziland broadcasting is state controlled and the PM is editor-in-chief of the SBIS radio stations and the Swazi TV Channel.
The mining arm of Israeli billionaire Beny Steinmetz's business empire has accused the government of Guinea of seeking to 'illegally seize' its assets through a probe into how it won rights to mine part of a major iron ore deposit. Privately owned BSG Resources, which has been working in the West African country with Brazilian mining major Vale, confirmed it had received a letter from a government commission alleging improper behaviour and graft in its winning of rights to develop blocks in the Simandou region.
A group of 17 political parties, NGOs and human rights associations in Egypt have called for loan negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to be ended immediately, citing a lack of transparency and the undemocratic nature of the current development. They are continuing their protests of a potential $4.8 billion IMF loan to Cairo in order to allow the Egyptian government to overcome pitfalls in spending.
735 police complaints of sexual harassment were recorded over the four-day Eid al-Adha holiday that ended October 29, according to a statement released by the Egyptian government. Sexual harassment continues to hit Egypt with increasing reports of incidents taking place across the country. Yet, Egyptians today acknowledge this long-standing problem exists, and growing social mobilization has brought together men and women in the fight against harassment.
The honeymoon period for new Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn has officially ended after 34 opposition parties together called on the government to ensure free and fair elections in regional voting next April. The parties had been invited by the country’s Election Board earlier this month to look at how to schedule the vote and when the groups demanded to know how the board was to deal with potential irregularities in the voting, the meeting was canceled.
More than 3.5 million people in Sudan's conflict-plagued Darfur region will be vaccinated against yellow fever which is suspected of killing nearly 100 people in the past seven weeks, officials said. '(The) vaccination plan has been finalised and will cover vaccination of approximately 3.6 million,' said a joint report from the UN's World Health Organisation and Sudan's health ministry. A WHO official earlier told AFP the inoculations could possibly begin by early December, after reconfirmation of the diagnosis from a laboratory in Senegal.
Ethiopians would like to continue to be good Samaritans to the hundreds of thousands seeking refuge from drought and conflict in neighbouring Somalia, but massive camps in fragile environments have sparked concern among both the government and the people sharing space with the refugees. 'We have had a million refugees at one time,' said Ayalew Awoke, Ethiopia’s deputy director for Refugee and Returnee Affairs (ARRA), the government’s refugee agency. Ayalew helped establish ARRA more than two decades ago.
Are the rights of women seriously under threat in post-revolution countries like Tunisia, Egypt and Libya? There are grounds for concern, but it is too early to tell, activists and experts say. 'There is very little that you can say in terms of rollbacks or undermining of women’s rights ... anything specific,' said Liesl Gernholtz, head of the women’s rights division at Human Rights Watch. Women organised and led some of the demonstrations that toppled decades-old governments in Tunisia, Egypt and Yemen – and helped the rebels who overthrew Muammar Gaddafi in Libya.
The movement to bring greater transparency to the oil, gas and mining industries is facing a crucial time in its development and needs to overcome three significant challenges to continue to be successful, Daniel Kaufmann, head of the international transparency watchdog Revenue Watch Institute told TrustLaw. The transparency movement must become more global, the data produced by the extractive industries must be clear and comparable across countries, and the movement must work to build up expertise within resource-rich countries so that local transparency watchdogs, governments and media can interpret the data, Kaufmann, a former World Bank economist, said.
South African opposition parties have submitted a motion of no confidence against President Jacob Zuma saying that corruption and unemployment have risen, the justice system has been politicised, and the economy has weakened. The motion, backed by eight parties, was triggered by the recent deadly mine strikes, the downgrading of the country's credit rating by two major agencies, and big spending of state funds on Zuma's rural residence, according to a joint statement by the parties.
Police in Kenya say 42 officers are now known to have been killed in the deadliest attack on police in the country's history. The officers were chasing suspected cattle rustlers on Saturday when a gun battle broke out in the remote Samburu district. Some police were airlifted to hospitals in Nairobi for treatment but later died from their injuries.
The world's wealthy countries often criticise African nations for corruption - especially that perpetrated by those among the continent's government and business leaders who abuse their positions by looting tens of billions of dollars in national assets or the profits from state-owned enterprises that could otherwise be used to relieve the plight of some of the world's poorest peoples. Yet the West is culpable too in that it often looks the other way when that same dirty money is channelled into bank accounts in Europe and the US. In this excellent investigation shown on Al Jazeera, Zimbabwean journalist Stanley Kwenda takes a journey through the murky world offshore banking.
The number of mobile phone users in sub-Saharan Africa rose by 44 per cent to 475 million, compared to just 12.3 million fixed line connections, representing the highest proportion of mobile versus fixed line connections in the world. Statistics released by GSMA, a global association of mobile survive providers revealed that mobile industry is driving explosive economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa.
In 2001 Brazil invested $69 billion in Africa. By 2009, the latest figures available, that had swelled to $214 billion. At first Brazilian firms focused their efforts on Lusophone Africa, Angola and Mozambique in particular, capitalising on linguistic and cultural affinity to gain a foothold. Now they are spreading across the continent, reports this Economist article.
The website's headlines trumpet al-Shabab's imminent demise and describe an American jihadist fretting over insurgent infighting. At first glance it appears to be a sleek, Horn of Africa news site. But the site - sabahionline.com - is run by the US military. The site, and another one like it that centers on northwest Africa, is part of a propaganda effort by the US military's Africa Command aimed at countering extremists in two of Africa's most dangerous regions - Somalia and the Maghreb.
Lawmakers moved a step closer Tuesday 13 November to approving a bill that would harshly crack down on gay rights, including banning same-sex marriage and public displays of affection between homosexual couples. The bill which has already been approved by the Senate passed a second reading in the House of Representatives with an unanimous vote and will now see a clause-by-clause review in the chamber at an undetermined date.
The ANC agreed on Tuesday 13 November to some of State Security Minister Siyabonga Cwele's hawkish proposals on the Protection of State Information Bill. Cwele notably appeared to have persuaded the ruling party to re-introduce a maximum five-year prison sentence for the disclosure of classified information, and to re-introduce a clause that would have the new law trump any other legislation dealing with such information. Without explicitly naming the Promotion of Access to Information Act, the new official secrets act would therefore trump it – as Cwele has asked for, and commentators have cautioned could render the bill unconstitutional.
Zimbabwe's newspapers are filled with public notices for auctions as many other individuals and companies lose their property to banks and money-lenders after falling behind on loan repayments. The country's financial sector has enjoyed three years of economic growth following the adoption of multiple currencies in early 2009 and an end to a tumultuous trading period characterized by record inflation, bank closures and failures. Buoyed by phenomenal growth in deposits and a steady currency, many banks have introduced personal bank loans to attract new clients.
The UN special envoy to Western Sahara says the Moroccan government and the Polisario Front rebels must resolve their dispute before lingering hostilities plunge the entire North Africa into renewed conflict. The Polisario Front fought a guerrilla war against Moroccan forces until 1991, when the United Nations mediated a ceasefire between the two sides with the agreement that a referendum would be held to determine the final status of the territory. However, the plebiscite has never been held.
African civil society organistions are calling for an immediate and complete ban on the growing, importing and exporting of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) on the African continent. 'We call upon the governments of Africa to take the necessary steps to protect the health of their populations by supporting this call and commit to conducting independent and authoritative long-term food safety studies.' A petition can be signed online.
Pambazuka News 604: Speaking the truth to abusers of power
Pambazuka News 604: Speaking the truth to abusers of power
Washington’s corporate interests are hidden behind ‘humanitarian interventions’. That is the story of the US involvement in Libya, Uganda, Sudan and other parts of Africa.
Yes, I have to be bold and proud of being South African. But I am not proud because our lovely country is in the wrong hands. Our struggle began with the question of land and land remains at the centre of our struggle today.
The inaugural Colours of the Nile International Film Festival (CNIFF) will run in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 7-11 November 2012, introducing the best of African cinema to African audiences.
The number of refugee families staying in the Netherlands after their asylum requests have been rejected is increasing. Last summer, they were being housed in two special centres. Since then five new centres have been opened, providing shelter to over 1700 people. A lawyer, who visited one of the centres, said conditions were so deplorable that he is taking the government to court to have it closed.
Algerians want 'frank acknowledgement' of crimes committed against them during the French colonisation of the country, a minister said, ahead of the 58th anniversary of the war for independence. 'In view of the crimes committed by this coloniser against a defenceless people... the Algerians want frank acknowledgement (of them),' Mohamed Cherif Abbas, minister of the mujahedeen (veterans of the war), told news agency APS.
A Tunisian court ordered blogger and anti-Islamist activist Sofiane Chourabi to pay a 104 dinar (52 euro/$67) fine for drunkenness and indecency during Ramadan, he said. Chourabi has accused the Islamist-led government of orchestrating the case against him and, denying any wrongdoing, said he would appeal the decision.
In a recent report published by the Cairo-based Nadim Centre for the Rehabilitation of Torture Victims, 34 cases of death, 88 cases of torture, and seven cases of sexual assault at the hands of Egyptian police were recorded during Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi's first 100 days in office. In the time period cited, the report recorded a total of over 247 cases of alleged police brutality.
Uganda's house speaker, Rebecca Kadaga, has promised to expedite the debate on the Anti-Homosexuality Bill days after she was engaged in a war of words with Canadian Foreign Minister, John Baird over Uganda's anti-homosexuality record. Speaking after arriving from the Inter-Parliamentary Union meeting in Quebec, Canada, Kadanga said she will allow debate and voting on th famous anti-homosexuality bill in the East African country. 'They said I should stop the debate on the Anti-Homosexuality Bill but I assured them there is no way I can block a private members Bill,' she said, while addressing religious leaders and journalists at Entebbe International Airport.
The first ever Gay and Lesbian Awards of Kenya (GALA) have been announced by the National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (NGLHRC) to honor gay, lesbian, Trans, queer, intersex and bisexual (LGBTIQ) individuals and organizations for their contributions to Kenyan society. The awards are also to honor politicians, employers and others who are committed to advancing equality and social acceptance for LGBTIQ people in Kenya. Scheduled to be held on 15 December 2012, the awards are expected to run each year and will recognized exemplary service, courage and work on LGBTIQ issues in the country.
The Syrian conflict has extended for over a year and there is no indication that it will soon end. Both sides are being superfluously equipped to kill each other. How is this a struggle for freedom by the Syrian people?
Whether it ends in 2013 or 2017, the Obama presidency has already marked the decline, rather than the pinnacle, of a political vision centred on challenging racial inequality.
The Marikana Support Campaign wants to clarify that it attended the Cosatu rally in Rustenburg on 27 October as supporters of the striking miners, wearing the Amplats-Marikana Support Campaign t-shirts.
BDS South Africa welcomes the position adopted by the African National Congress (ANC) International Solidarity Conference to support the international boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israel campaign.
People in many sub-Saharan African nations suffer and grumble, but they do not seem willing to pour out into the streets and demand accountability from their leaders. Do they believe change will come by merely wishing for it?
If anyone should seek the real definition of courage, let them not look for it in philosophical discourses or the annals of military history. Let them read the words of Reeyot and apply them to their cause.
At independence 50 years ago, Algeria inherited the oppressive cultural structures imposed by France. Today things are worse: the government allocates a meager budget to promote culture.
Achebe’s new memoirs should be a source of inspiration and an advocacy guide for those calling for a new Nigeria that confronts the mistakes of its past; a Nigeria where members of the different nations have an equal place no matter their size.
The Democratic Left Front condemns the police for shooting workers in Rustenburg on 27 October.
Army Times news service reported that the U.S. is expected to deploy more than 3,000 soldiers to Africa in 2013. They will be assigned to every part of the continent. Major General David R. Hogg mused: 'As far as our mission goes, it’s uncharted territory.' But the presence of US soldiers in Africa is nothing new, and even though Hogg is unwilling to admit it, the obvious mission is to lock down the entire continent.
A new IMF delegation has arrived in Cairo for negotiations about a renewed loan to Egypt. But the real agenda of Western international financial institutions is to consolidate and expand their control of the country.
They may have been routed from their stronghold of Kismayo, but the Al Shabaab militants could be re-grouping for a major assault on Kenyan and the African Union forces. Security analysts at the South African-based think tank – the Institute of Security Studies – are warning that the war against the terror group may be far from over. In a report on conflict prevention and risk analysis in Africa released last week, the Pretoria-based group says the celebration over the fall of Kismayo may have been premature.
South Africa hosts the third annual Tech4Africa conference, in Johannesburg, attracting innovators and entrepreneurs from a dozen countries. Among the speakers are Sim Shagaya, a Nigerian-born Harvard graduate planning to create the 'Amazon of Africa', selling Lagos's increasingly affluent consumer class everything from refrigerators to perfume to cupcakes. His previous venture, DealDey, which offers Groupon-style deals, is now the top-grossing ecommerce site in Nigeria with 350,000 subscribers.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has eased technical assistance restrictions on Zimbabwe in a move seen as moving towards normalising relations with the southern African nation. This will see Zimbabwe getting technical advice to design its economic programmes and the IMF will monitor the implementation of specific projects.
If there is such a thing as an African version of California's Silicon Valley, the country that is arguably leading the race to the future is Kenya. Household tech names such as Google, Intel, Microsoft, Nokia and Vodafone all have a presence here, and IBM recently chose Nairobi for its first African research lab. Kenyans enjoy faster broadband connections than their counterparts in Africa's economic powerhouse, South Africa. And the government plans to build a $7bn (£4.36bn), 5,000-acre technology city that is already being branded Africa's 'Silicon Savannah'.
The current global food system, based on an agro-industrial model, has failed to ensure food security and resulted in profound negative environmental effects. La Via Campesina promotes an alternative model with a feminist dimension.
'Ocean grabbing' or aggressive industrial fishing by foreign fleets is a threat to food security in developing nations where governments should do more to promote local, small-scale fisheries, a study by a UN expert said. The report said emerging nations should tighten rules for access to their waters by an industrial fleet that is rapidly growing and includes vessels from China, Russia, the European Union, the United States and Japan.
Sudan dismissed as 'misleading' Israeli allegations it supplies arms to foes of the Jewish state and said there was no foreign involvement in a munitions factory Khartoum says was bombed by Israel. The poor Muslim East African country has long been seen by Israel as a conduit for weapons smuggled to the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, via the Egyptian Sinai desert. Four people were killed after fire broke out a week ago at the Yarmouk arms factory in the south of Khartoum, and the following day Sudan said an Israeli air strike was responsible.
A recent academic study has identified a range of mental health disorders suffered by shack dwellers in South Africa's Western Cape Province, from chronic insomnia to low self-esteem. The study, 'The Impact of Living in Transitional Communities; The Experiences of People in Blikkiesdorp and Happy Valley', was conducted by the University of the Western Cape (UWC) and Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT). Because of budget considerations, the study was constrained to two settlements.
Their conditions improving, nearly all of the children admitted to health centres for nodding syndrome have now been released, according to Uganda’s Ministry of Health; less severely affected patients have also started treatment. Even as health officials bring the symptoms under control, the cause of the syndrome remains unknown, which means all of Uganda's diagnosed patients will have to remain on treatment for long periods. And gaps in the health system - highlighted by a recent two-day strike at an affected health facility - have raised questions about the government's ability to provide consistent care.
The Kimberley Certification Process (KP) was ostensibly designed to keep 'blood diamonds' off global markets. Not only has it failed to do so, but it is actively promoting the human rights atrocities it pledged to wipe out. At least that's the view of Khadife Sharife and Nick Meynen expressed in a strident denunciation of the KP published on 15th October 2012. Sharife and Meynen also claim that the world's largest purveyor of diamonds, De Beers, actively corrupted the application of the Kimberley Process to Angola, at a time when De Beers was majority-owned by Anglo American.
Uganda’s practice of pardoning and then integrating into its military captured or surrendered members of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), getting them to hunt down their former comrades-in-arms, has come in for criticism by civilians affected by the rebel group in the Central African Republic (CAR). 'This strategy is a real insult to the victims,' said Gaétan Zangagoumé, chairman of a victims’ association in Obo, capital of Haut-Mbomou Prefecture. The area, in the extreme southeast of CAR, has been heavily affected by LRA activities. Victims there include hundreds of civilians forcibly conscripted into the LRA as well as people from villages repeatedly attacked, torched and now deserted. Fear of further attacks greatly restricts freedom of movement.
Gunmen have killed 20 people, including a traditional leader, in an attack on a village in northern Nigeria's Zamfara state, a local official has said. The attackers stormed Kaboro village and began shooting indiscriminately.
Uganda's authorities have banned a play that criticises President Yoweri Museveni's government, the play's co-director John Ssegawa has said. He said the Media Council had ordered performances of State of the Nation to be halted until a review was held. The play highlights alleged corruption and poor governance in Uganda, ruled by Mr Museveni since 1986.
One of the only chances small-scale food producers have to gain competitive access to local and global markets is by banding together in cooperatives, FAO Director-General José Graziano da Silva told a meeting of the World Cooperatives Congress in Manchester. The International Year of Cooperatives is being observed in 2012. 'Cooperatives follow core values and principles that are critical to doing business in an equitable manner, that seeks to empower and benefits its members and the community it is inserted in,' Graziano da Silva said in a keynote speech. 'This is especially relevant in poor rural communities, where joining forces is central to promoting sustainable local development.'
Hotter than normal temperatures raise the risk of violent conflict in East Africa, while increased rainfall makes such disturbances less likely, according to a new study conducted by the US National Academy of Sciences. For both climate variables, there is about a 30 per cent change in the likelihood of violence occurring in an affected area, the study finds. The results appear to reinforce warnings of climate change leading to more conflict in Africa, which is regarded as particularly vulnerable to the effects of sharp shifts in temperature and precipitation.
Experts have called on governments and development organizations to put in place measures to significantly reduce the amount of food lost in the global food delivery chain. 'The amount of food lost along the food supply chain should be reduced as a way of reducing wastage within the food production system and also as a way dealing with global food insecurity,' Joseph Alcamo, chief scientist at the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), told IRIN.
Villagers in Gokwe, Mashonaland West, have reported that uniformed soldiers are forcing them to attend political rallies, where they are being warned that more soldiers with guns will be deployed to punish them if they do not support ZANU PF policies on the constitution and in elections due next year. The report comes just a day after Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's spokesperson, Luke Tamborinyoka, told reporters that Robert Mugabe met with Tsvangirai on Monday and agreed to call a meeting with the country's army generals, to discuss the issue of political violence and elections.
Nigeria may shut down oil fields as it tries to clamp down on gas flaring, even if it means a loss of revenue, the petroleum industry's chief regulator said. Africa's top oil producer and holder of the world's seventh largest natural gas reserves is considered to be among the top two gas flarers in the world, burning off unwanted gas, after Russia.
If Cameroon is to avoid catastrophes of possibly greater dimensions than so far witnessed, the citizens must take a hard and unsentimental look at the crucial question of leadership and the manner in which political power is exercised.
Four years ago Africa greeted Barack Obama's election with rapture, predicting America's first black president would smother the continent with attention. But instead of warm hand-holding, Africa got hard-headed, security-first policies. 'Obama to my mind is more engaged in Africa, but the nature of how the United States is engaging has changed. It is mostly security related,' said Jason Warner, a Harvard-based expert on African security. According to Mr Warner, President Obama has helped 'normalise' Africa policy. 'There is no other region in the world that the US engages on simply humanitarian grounds.'