Nigeria is facing its worst existential crisis since the Biafra war. There is no alternative other than approaching the Boko Haram threat as a war.

There are legitimate concerns in the Afrikan community and among police accountability advocates about racist policing in racialized working-class communities. After years of denial, racial profiling of Afrikans by the cops in Toronto is now a well-documented fact.

The latest unbelievably thoughtless statements by President Uhuru Kenyatta about runaway insecurity in Kenya are testimony enough that the lives of citizens mean little to him. It was not their votes that put him to power, but his wealth and tribe.

The events of 31st October 2014, leading to the popular uprising in Burkina Faso that removed Blaise Compaore from power, constitute a turning point for the entire region, and probably Africa as a whole.

The oral history tour took transitional justice practitioners, activists and scholars out of the comfort zone into reality: To engage directly with survivors, hear their personal stories and appreciate their lived experiences as they pursue justice and reconstruction within complex social, economic and political infrastructures.

Transitional Justice seeks to enable societies to come to terms with legacies of large-scale past abuse, in order to secure accountability, serve justice and achieve reconciliation towards a future that is democratic and free from violence, but its groundings and mechanisms are fraught with multiple dilemmas.

Kenya’s transitional justice processes have been crudely politicized to protect the interests of the powerful. The country typifies the dilemma that plagues most African countries today. While most of the regimes are beginning to acknowledge that there have been atrocities, human rights abuses and various forms of injustice, they simultanesouly appear to be perplexed by the demands for peace and justice.

Transitional Justice has rarely taken into account all forms of oppression, economic discrimination, globalized injustice and a wider understanding of dignity and freedom. African societies need to theorize on transitional justice holistically in order to create social transformation.

Sustainable and lasting peace in Africa’s conflict states would be better guaranteed if transitional justice included the rule of law, separation of powers, electoral reforms, decentralization and a democratic ethos nurtured by free media and a vibrant civil society.

In overthrowing Blaise Compaoré, the people of Burkina Faso have revived the revolutionary dream of Thomas Sankara whom he killed. Their uprising was against the old ties to imperialist governments and financial institutions, the old relationships of exploitation and the abuse of public office to amass personal wealth at the expense of the people.

Although the events in Burkina Faso have sparked hope among African workers, farmers and youth throughout the region and beyond, it remains to be seen whether the new leader, with his American links, will deliver a political program of anti-capitalist development for the gains of the popular struggle to win concrete results

Neither the state nor the corporate sector, let alone civil society, is monolithic. There comes a time when various sections of these entities come in unison on matters of national interest. This is Tanzanians ought to learn from Norway.

Rwanda has banned the BBC for airing a documentary that reveals the Big Lie told by Paul Kagame and his cronies about what happened in Rwanda in 1994. Kagame and his RPF have for 20 years concealed their primary role in setting off the genocide – in which most victims were Hutus and not Tutsis, contrary to State propaganda amplified by international media and powerful Kagame-Power enablers. With publication of a new book, this Big Lie is being dismantled.

With diminished state funding and a management that does not seem to be competent in handling its affairs, the once famous Makerere University risks losing its stature in East Africa and beyond. But it is not too late to stop the slide.

Western powers have been devastating Africa’s land, resources and populations for centuries. Africans must now throw off that legacy by first understanding it and then making the best use of their continent’s assets without the detrimental western intervention.

How did Oscar Pistorius get away with a slap on the wrist for killing another human being? The answer lies in the fact that Pistorius killed a white woman and subsequently, in his defence, appealed to white angst about crime, using mental images of the proverbial "native bogeyman".

Exactly a year since Typhoon Haiyan swept through central Philippines, a group of civil society organizations remembers the victims and survivors of one of the strongest and most fatal tropical cyclones ever recorded and declares Nov. 8 as International Day for Climate-Affected Communities.

President Blaise Compaore’s ouster last week by popular revolt was the culmination of the people’s opposition to his regime, starting in 2011. The regime contrasted sharply with the short-lived government of Thomas Sankara. But Compaore’s exit does not necessarily mean restoration of Sankara’s revolution.

Zambia’s president Michael Sata who died last week was unremarkable in leadership credentials in the short period of his rule. His attitude towards media freedom and freedom of expression exposed his authoritarian streak.

The constitution is clear on who should be Acting President when the head of state dies. So, Zambians should stay calm during this period of mourning and wait to chose their next president when the time comes.

The uprising of the masses in Burkina Faso proves Western arms and support doesn't guranatee unrestrained tyrannical control

Mazrui’s scholarship is vast thematically and theoretically, but above all, challenges positivist conceptions of hegemonic, universal and objective truths. His early work revealed the political, social and cultural function and limitations in established knowledge; later, Mazrui actively challenged and undermined constructed truths.

Jamaica was in serious need of money, but PM Manley resisted Kissinger’s pressure to denounce Fidel Castro for sending troops to Angola, in exchange for US dollars. It was a principled stand in support of Angola’s liberation, which had wide ramifications for Southern Africa.

The worsening Ebola crisis in West Africa exposes the extent of capitalist plunder of the continent. The natural wealth of the affected countries has over the years been looted by foreign corporations, with puppet governments investing little in health care. The people ought to organise and severe links with the imperialist centres

The proposed law, an almost exact replica of Sudan’s security laws, would grant the already dreaded agency entirely unfettered power to spy on private communications, to search and seize property without a warrant, to arrest and detain innocent people without explanation, and to use physical force – in other words torture.

The Nigerian government’s successful handling of Ebola contrasts sharply with its blunders in tackling Boko Haram. One factor in that disparity is whose interests were at stake in each case: Ebola had the potential to kill indiscriminately across classes, while Boko Haram has so far directly affected mostly lower classes.

Why would anyone want to make profit from something as basic to human life as food? The capitalist system transforms human needs into commodities, rights into privileges. The present agricultural model must be fought in favour of an alternative that places at its core people’s needs and respect for the land

The documentary is about the first Pan-African Cultural Festival in the continent that took place in Algiers, seven years after Algeria’s independence. The radical gathering was a genuine meeting of African cultures united in their denunciations of colonialism and fights for freedom.

The Pan-Africanism Working Group in Germany expresses solidarity with the people of Burkina Faso following the successful revolt against Blaise Compaore.

Mozambique’s elections on 15 October were once again won by FRELIMO. When the results are put under scrutiny, however, they reveal the longstanding opposition party RENAMO to have been the real winners, bouncing back as Mozambiques strongest opposition party – a position which was seen by many to be under threat from the newer MDM.

AFSA appeals to ARIPO member states for postponement of diplomatic conference and for urgent consultations with small-holder farmers

The right to life is a basic human right. Anita, a 4-year-old girl, was robbed of this extremely important right. She will never grow up to fulfill her dreams and actualize her full potential. She is no more!

The Bill discriminates against people on the basis of their sexual orientation, denying them equal rights to which they are entitled under international law. It will have a devastating impact upon the lives of LGBT people in the Gambia

The UN is a by-product of a murderous war started by European powers vying for supremacy. It has become the epitome of what it was set up, in theory, to eradicate: the predatory behavior of powerful entities. Haitians should now review their membership.

The UN has extended the presence of its deeply resented occupation force in Haiti for another year. Progressive forces need to organise in a global solidarity campaign to end the occupation and to restore the right of self-determination to the Haitian people.

There is nothing inevitable about the Ebola epidemic now devastating parts of Africa. Like other disasters, it too is the product of history, of the decisions that governments have made in the past as well as the present.