Pambazuka News 543: Resisting imperialism: Sites of struggle
Pambazuka News 543: Resisting imperialism: Sites of struggle
Liberia’s leading opposition party has called for a comprehensive boycott of the national constitution referendum set for 23 August 2011. The Congress for Democratic Change (CDC) made the declaration after the official announcement of the date of the referendum, which falls just ahead of the presidential polls in October this year. Among the things the referendum seeks to ratify is an amendment to Liberia’s constitution to the effect that changing an aspect of the constitution relating to elections would no longer require a two-thirds majority of the bicameral legislature.
Security forces broke up demonstrations by hundreds of people after weeks of electricity cuts in Niger, with several protesters wounded and arrested Monday 1 August, radio reports and police said. Police fired tear gas to disperse demonstrators who took to the streets of the central town of Tanout after a first day of protests on Sunday, private Anfani radio said.
The aim of this blog is to challenge readers and contributors to re-think the political common sense that denies migrants and immigrants access to health care and impedes their capacity to enjoy the social determinants of good health.
Lawyers for Human Rights says it is concerned about the large numbers of Zimbabweans who will become vulnerable to arrest and deportation at the start of August when the moratorium on deportations is lifted. This moratorium has been in place since April 2009 when Home Affairs took the decision not to carry out any further deportations to Zimbabwe for a defined period. The moratorium was supposed to be implemented together with a special dispensation for Zimbabweans to be able to regularise their immigration status. However, this special dispensation was only implemented from September to 31 December 2010. Any Zimbabwean who failed to successfully apply for one of the available permits during this time and will find themselves undocumented on 1 August may be legitimately deported for not having any authorisation to remain in the country. This deportation process will exclude any Zimbabwean who is in the asylum system and has a valid asylum seeker or refugee permit.
Increasing numbers of Ethiopians and Somalis fleeing war, drought and poverty in their home countries face arrest, deportation and detention as they try to make their way to the south of the continent. For most the goal is South Africa - the only country in the region where refugees and asylum seekers have freedom of movement and the right to work rather than being confined to camps. But as the number of migrants from the Horn of Africa seeking asylum in South Africa has reached unprecedented levels, border authorities have started refusing them entry.
Recent condemnation of homosexuality by religious and political leaders in Ghana has led to a climate of fear preventing men who have sex with men (MSM) from accessing vital health services, say local NGOs. The minister of Ghana’s Western Region, Paul Evans Aidoo, publicly described homosexuality as 'detestable and abominable'. As a result, far fewer MSM are accessing safe sex education and support programmes run by the Centre for Popular Education and Human Rights (CEPEHRG) to prevent the spread of HIV, said MacDarling Cobbinah from the Coalition against Homophobia in Ghana and a member of CEPEHRG.
The Society for International Development (SID)'s triennial World Congress, which concluded Sunday in Washington, drew over 1,000 attendees this year, 40 per cent hailing from the global south, making it arguably one of the most influential and far-reaching forums for development experts and organisations in the world today. 'The emergence of new paths to development has [grown] along with the rise of middle-and low-income countries,' Rebeca Grynspan, associate administrator of the UN Development Programme, said at the opening plenary. 'But we have seen that we can also have growth without inclusion. In Latin America, for example, one in every four young people is not studying or working - 25 per cent out of the education system and out of the labour market. If that's not exclusion, then I don't know what is,' she said.
Tuberculosis remains a leading cause of death in Mali despite the availability of free treatment. The resurgence of the illness, linked to poverty and HIV infection, could be reduced by changing behaviour, doctors say. Some 6,840 cases of tuberculosis, counting all forms of the disease, were recorded in 2009 in Mali, including 5,163 cases of highly contagious pulmonary tuberculosis, according to the medical authorities.
The South African government’s assault on media freedom over the last 18 months has emboldened other African states to further clampdown on free speech said South African National Editors’ Forum chair Mondli Makhanya. Speaking in Cape Town to the Southern African Freelancers Association, Makhanya, who is also editor-in-chief of Sunday Times publisher Avusa, said South Africa’s introduction of the Protection of Information Bill (POIB) and the mooting of a Media Tribunal had an negative effect on freedom of expression in other states on the continent.
The International Freedom of Expression Exchange Tunisia Monitoring Group (IFEX-TMG), a coalition of 21 IFEX members, is urging action to prevent any repeat of recent violent crackdowns on demonstrators and journalists in the run up to scheduled constitutional elections in October. The IFEX-TMG's concerns deepened after a statement by Interim Prime Minister Béji Caïd Essebsi in which he accused journalists of stirring up trouble.
Despite the stigma attached to divorce, ending a marriage is still relatively easy for Muslim women in Egypt. All they have to do is file paperwork with a family court and the deed is done, as long as they're not seeking alimony or damages from their husbands. For the country's millions of Orthodox Christians, or Copts, it's been nearly impossible since Pope Shenouda III, the head of one of the most conservative churches in Christianity, forbade divorce except in the case of conversion or adultery three years ago. That overturned a 1930s law that allowed Copts to obtain a divorce or an annulment for several reasons, such as impotence, mental disabilities and cruelty.
This document from Gender Action assesses the extent to which IFIs address gender based violence (GBV) in their policies and investments. The institutions dealt with include the World Bank (WB), African Development Bank (AfDB), Asian Development Bank and Inter-American Development Bank.
The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights has been working on the question of indigenous peoples since 1999. The Commission recognises the specific obstacles which indigenous peoples face in gaining recognition, exercising and enjoying their rights. The toolkit available through the link provided has been created in order to introduce indigenous women, and the organisations which represent them, to the African system of human and peoples’ rights. It highlights the different routes available to ensuring that the rights of indigenous women are valued and taken into account by
the African Commission.
While members of Freedom and Roam Uganda (FARUG) are shaken by a break in and robbery at their offices, FARUG director Kasha Jacqueline says a 'Hate No More Campaign' will go forward as planned. The campaign launches on 10 August before the possible reintroduction of the Anti-Homosexuality Bill in Uganda’s Parliament by far-right extremists.
Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ) says that it is outraged by the way that the country's media has targeted homosexuality in its reporting on the case of a police officer accused of sodomising his brother’s ten-year-old son. 'There has been a trend in the media to equate sodomy with rape,' said the organisation. 'This is alarming because it promotes the dangerous myth that homosexual men are automatically rapists and abusers of children.'
The state security sector is still actively being used by Robert Mugabe and ZANU PF to torture and oppress women in order to keep them out of the political process, a new report has revealed. The report also brings out the direct role of the ZANU PF militia in the violence. The ‘Women and Political Violence: An Update’ report was compiled by the Women’s Programme of the Research and Advocacy Unit (RAU). It is a study on the degree of violence against women and its impact, after Robert Mugabe last year began demanding an election in 2011.
South Africa’s department of Home Affairs has indicated that the current moratorium on Zimbabwean deportations has not yet been lifted, insisting that the condemned practice of mass deportations will not happen. The forced removals were set to begin when the Zimbabwe Documentation Project (ZDP) ended, and that deadline was meant to be 31 July. Over the weekend, Zimbabwean nationals were reportedly on the verge of panic amid concerns that deportations would resume first thing on Monday.
Morocco's King Mohammed is pushing for early polls to hasten reforms he has initiated but this alone is unlikely to satisfy critics without serious steps to curb corruption and to give the next assembly teeth. The monarch acted promptly in March to contain any spillover from the Arab Spring after protests spread to Morocco, promising constitutional changes to reduce the king's powers. The new palace-made charter won near-unanimous support in a July referendum that critics said was itself far too hasty to allow proper debate.
Blogger Natasha Elkington writes about a controversial online game involving refugees that was taken offline a few months ago, but has recently been relaunched. The game, which was taken offline after its launch amid claims it objectified refugees and lacked sensitivity, was developed by the Danish Refugee Council (DRC) with funding from ECHO, the European Commission’s humanitarian agency, and designed to raise awareness of Dadaab refugee camp on the Kenyan-Somali border. It is now back online but with some noticeable changes.
West African health experts are calling for governments to take the prevalence of hepatitis B and C more seriously, and to act to reduce the cost of treatment as part of more effective control of the disease. The hepatitis B virus is responsible for more than 80 percent of liver cancers in Africa, said the coordinator of Senegal's National Programme Against Hepatitis, Aminata Sall Diallo, during an international meeting held in the Senegalese capital, Dakar, from 27-29 July.
This report from Amnesty International draws on more than 200 testimonies from Somali children, young people and adults collected by Amnesty International in March 2009 in Kenya and Djibouti, in Djibouti city and the Ali Adde refugee camp and in March and June 2010 in Kenya, in the Dadaab refugee camps in the north-east and in the capital Nairobi. Amnesty International delegates interviewed refugees who had recently fled Somalia, to get as much as possible, an up-todate description of the situation in their country.
The opportunities for international oil companies (IOCs) to acquire new reserves are narrowing considerably, states this report from Oil Change International and Greenpeace. The companies have met this challenge with the development of technology and engineering that has enabled oil production in technically difficult locations and conditions. But the development of these resources, especially the offshore Arctic, Canadian tar sands and other unconventional oil such as oil shale, is significantly dependent on failure to adopt and implement effective policy to prevent climate change rising above the critical 2ºC mark, a stated aim of most of the world’s governments, says the report.
Education values and needs are often superseded by governments’ need to adhere to policies promoted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank, states this report from the Global Campaign for Education. 'Despite strong gender research, multiple gender strategies and operational policies, and much rhetoric about gender equality, the World Bank is often failing to translate their statements, strategies and policies into tangible reform in their investments. Education operations must be made
gender-sensitive and especially seek to promote fee abolition, gender-responsive budgeting and demand-side incentives to target marginalized groups.'
Although Fair Trade coffee still accounts for only a small fraction of overall coffee sales, the market for Fair Trade coffee has grown markedly over the last decade. But among the concerns, says this article, are that the premiums paid by consumers are not going directly to farmers, the quality of Fair Trade coffee is uneven, and the model is technologically outdated.
An eleventh hour compromise saw the US move back from the brink of defaulting on its debt burden. One of the results of this for emerging market economies - Brazil, other strong performers in Latin America, much of Southeast Asia, and even the better performers in sub-Saharan Africa - might be that they will continue to experience a flood of capital seeking higher returns, hot money with all the attendant risks of a bubble.
Hundreds of thousands of people have fled Libya since the crisis began in February 2011, but European policy has shown a lack of hospitality. Following a meeting in Cecina (Italy), a coalition of Euro-Mediterranean migrants’ rights organisations, decided to charter a flotilla which will undertake maritime surveillance so that assistance is finally provided to people in danger. The participatory organisations call on European bodies and governments on both sides of the Mediterranean to establish relations within this common area on the basis of exchange and reciprocity.
The British medical journal, The Lancet, has published a study that shows the Aids virus has mutated into strains resistant to ARTs used around Africa. The study published on 28 July, was funded by the Dutch Foreign Ministry, and aimed to assess the prevalence of primary resistance in six African countries after anti-retroviral treatments (ARTs) were introduced and whether wider use of ARTs in the region is associated with rising prevalence of drug resistance in areas south of the Sahara, as has been widely suspected in some circles.
Debates around GMOs or organic food are far from the first concern of those without food…
African countries could advise Greece on its economic woes…
Uganda could be the next country hit by alarming malnutrition rates due to drought which has already sparked famine in southern Somalia and hunger in Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti, the United Nations warned. Pockets of food insecurity have already been detected in drought-hit northern areas of Uganda, east Africa's third largest economy, the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said.
Health authorities in southern Ghana are battling an outbreak of meningitis which has killed four people in the municipality of Obuasi, the Daily Graphic newspaper reported. Seven other people suffering from the disease are receiving medical attention at the Obuasi Government Hospital although health authorities are not clear about how the disease broke out in the region, the paper said.
On Friday, July 29, 2011 President Barack Obama will meet Mr. Alassane Ouattara at the White House. Although the meeting may fall into the normal US-Côte d’Ivoire bilateral relations, it is nonetheless questionable that it is to take place at a moment when Côte d’Ivoire is still suffering from the consequences of the tragic events, which followed the presidential election of November 2010 and to which the Obama administration contributed.
With the Horn of Africa facing an acute drought and food crisis, Anne Mitaru underlines the need for African states and leaders to take centre stage in dealing with the crisis.
If Kenya’s new constitution is to provide for a genuine democratisation of the country’s politics, public participation will need to be the prerequisite underpinning all other constitutional provisions, writes Katto Wambua.
The recent acquittal of members of a leading South African social movement showed up the undemocratic tendencies of the ANC. Those committed to democracy will have to stand firm, writes Richard Pithouse.
When it comes to sexual violence against women in Uganda, Doreen Lwanga says it is about time men start seeing women as human beings and not sexualised objects.
In the absence of a well-functioning central government, Somalia is in effect being ‘managed and controlled by aid agencies’, writes Rasna Warah. But it’s a story that is unlikely to be told by either the global news networks or the ‘aid workers whose livelihoods depend on donor money that will soon flow into Somalia via Kenya.’
‘Life is cheap. And so we are lethargic – until the numbers become too large to ignore,’ writes Muthoni Wanyeki, as Kenyans fail to heed the plight of either their fellow citizens or neighbouring Somalis during the region’s worst drought in 60 years.
Tackling the racism and slavery inherent in Mauritania will rely on overthrowing ‘the ideological and religious foundations of slavery and racism with the state’, writes Sy Hamdou.
Why Pambazuka is unique
The 200th edition of Pambazuka News in French is a special issue featuring different contributors who over the years have made this a reality. In the 10 years of Pambazuka’s existence, 2,500 researchers, academics, activists and others, driven by a Pan-African ideal and a commitment to social justice, have made Pambazuka the most prolific African platform for citizen journalism. This special edition hears from these contributors, why they read Pambazuka and why it is important to them. The 200th edition also carries excerpts from the 500th English-language edition of the newsletter published in October 2010 (http://www.pambazuka.org/en/issue/500). Pambazuka is clearly more than just a newsletter.
******
The struggle for a new thought world order
Tidiane Kasse
Four years on, we are now at the 200th edition of Pambazuka News in French. After years of cutting one’s teeth in mainstream journalism, working with Pambazuka (which means ‘arise’ in Swahili) and immersing oneself in the fervour of activism has led to a better understanding of the issues at stake in the battle for information in Africa.
******
Pambazuka and the struggle against capitalism, imperialism and for the emancipation of peoples
Demba Moussa Dembele
Demba Moussa Dembele pays tribute to Pambazuka’s commitment to the struggle for political, economic and social justice for the peoples of Africa and the diaspora and underlines that ‘its credibility and prestige make it a vital source of information on Africa for other media in the world, many of which reproduce Pambazuka articles, including translations, on their websites.’
The second phase of African decolonisation needs an alternative press
Guy Marius Sagna and Fode Roland Diagne
After reviewing the evolution of the African press since colonisation, Guy Marius Sagna and Fode Roland Diagne make a plea for a different kind of press to tackle Africa’s current challenges, one that will put at the forefront the voices of ‘workers, peasants, workers in the informal sector, women, youth and progressive Africans’ and accompany them in the struggle to take destiny into their own hands and break with the slavish ties imposed on the peoples of Africa by Françafrique, Eurafrique and Usafrique.’ Pambazuka, they say, ‘is the kind of model required for a truly alternative and anti-neoliberal press.’
Alternative media, a means of struggle against the capitalist system
Bernard Dodji Bokodjin
Amidst the plethora of mainstream media that has swept through the world to consolidate a system of exploitation and servitude, Pambazuka News, according to Bernard Bokodjin, stands out as a platform that enlightens people in Africa and elsewhere on the real issues of governance in Africa and ‘fights for the emancipation of Africa from the yoke of colonialism and the domination of the Françafrique mafia’.
‘Colonialism signified nothing less than the collective traumatising of the Namibian people who must carry the heavy burden of the consequences for generations,’ writes Shaun R. Whittaker.
Christopher Zambakari’s article on South Sudan fails to address the key issue of leadership, writes Africaforafrica.
Following a trip to Madrid’s archives, Agustín Velloso uncovers the history of Spain’s relations with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in the 1960s and the secret backing given to Moise Tshombe’s ‘subversive activities’, his use of Spanish state resources and institutions and ‘the support of the press and other fascist entities of the time’.
The Arabic Network for Human Rights Information has condemned the raid on a Tahrir Square sit-in on 1 August. 'The return of violence and repression after a revolution against a dictatorial regime is extremely disappointing, and the statements of some members of the Military Council betraying the revolutionaries and describing them as "thugs, vandals and agitators aiming to drive a wedge between the people and the army" are unacceptable.' ANHRI's press release contains a list of the detained, the injured and the disappeared.
Graffiti is suddenly all over Cairo - on schools, on telephone exchange boxes, on empty walls and corrugated fencing around building sites, reports the New Yorker magazine. 'Daubs of slogans, finely rendered panoramas of Tahrir Square, and, increasingly, the kind of biting satire and subversion...' There's a great gallery of the graffiti at the top of this article, with 25 scrollable images.
In this working paper, Ruth Hall from the Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies analyses the shifting role of South African farmers, agribusiness and capital elsewhere in southern Africa and the rest of the continent. The research considers the changing character, scale and location of South African investments elsewhere in the region and the continent, focussing specifically on the AgriSA-Congo deal (the largest deal concluded thus far), and acquisitions by the two South African sugar giants, Illovo and Tongaat-Hulett, for outgrower and estate expansion elsewhere in the region. The study addresses the degree to which South Africa is no longer merely exporting its farmers, but also its value chains, to the rest of the continent — and what this means for trajectories of agrarian change.
The South African government has been called upon to display moral and political leadership as the country prepares to host the 17th round of United Nations-led climate change negotiations in Durban in December. But while the continent’s strongest economy gears itself up to represent Africa’s needs in the talks, it may also face scrutiny because of its coal-intensive economy which produces nearly half of the continent’s greenhouse gas emissions.
http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/543/stranded_tanker_tmb.jpgFrom a wrecked tanker on South Africa’s coast to the forests of South America, Patrick Bond explains why mining oil is a bad idea.
All charges have been dropped against four activists from the South African town of Grahamstown, reports the Unemployed People's Movement. But it has taken six month's for justice since their initial arrest on 10 February.
The Symphony Way Anti-Eviction Campaign reports on a spate of killings in Cape Town's notorious Blikkiesdorp and demands to know what the City of Cape Town is doing to address their circumstances.
Chuma Nwokolo revisits a childhood library and is shocked at its deterioration. 'It is great to have a completed central bank project and a new airport, but how about a time frame for a public library?'
‘Defying the image of Kenyans as a parasitic nation that would gladly stand by and watch fellow citizens die’, Kenyans of various backgrounds have raised ‘in eight days ten times what the Kenyan government had pledged to put towards food distribution to the drought stricken areas,’ writes H. Nanjala Nyabola. Shouldn't the government be doing more?
'The surreal images of ex-Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak on a hospital bed inside an iron cage in a Cairo courtroom have been the leading topic in the African blogosphere this week,' writes Dibussi Tande.
The famine spreading across the Horn of Africa is ‘not principally the result of drought’, it’s ‘due to political and social circumstances that if left unaddressed will begin one terrible unending famine capable of wiping out entire populations and massively stressing global resources’, writes Africa Answerman.
The ‘international and continent-wide issue is not so much whether Gaddafi's regime should be removed’, but rather ‘how this should be approached, and why it is being approached at all,’ writes Khadija Sharife.
With the health of the country’s economy hanging in the balance and financial markets watching closely, President Museveni convened a crisis Cabinet meeting to try to come up with austerity measures that would deliver a blueprint for economic recovery. Across the nation, the rising public concern caused by double-digit inflation - currently standing at 18.7 per cent, is palpable. Of late, public employees, particularly teachers, medical workers and the business, are increasingly growing impatient as a result of the depreciation of the Shilling and the rising cost of living.
Swaziland's pro-democracy activists have threatened to march on the Union Buildings in Pretoria to protest against SA’s R2,4bn conditional rescue package for the kingdom. Swaziland has been hit with protests this year after its government froze public sector salaries and cut social services. Protesters have accused King Mswati of looting state coffers to finance his extravagant lifestyle. The Swaziland Solidarity Network, which represents a consortium of pro-democracy movements in the kingdom, said it would organise protests at the Union Buildings and around SA to voice displeasure at the loan and in support of their demand that King Mswati lift the ban on political parties, in place since 1973.
Systemchange.ca is a free, public, interactive website – a multi-media tool for climate justice. With the full launch of the project in September 2011, you will find featured videos here including speakers such as Maude Barlow on the Rights of Nature, Peter Victor on no growth economics, former UN Bolivian Ambassador Pablo Solón on climate debt, John Cartwright on good green jobs, Naomi Klein on climate justice organising, Bill McKibben on climate science, Nnimmo Bassey on climate debt repayment and more.
The UN is to publish a long-awaited report on the impact of the oil spills in Nigeria's Ogoniland region. The report took two years to produce and is controversial in part because it was funded by oil giant Shell. On Wednesday (03 August) Shell accepted liability for two spills that devastated communities in 2008 and 2009. One community said it would seek hundreds of millions of dollars in compensation. Shell said it would settle the case under Nigerian law. After two years of research, and consultations with all the concerned parties, the UN Environment Programme must now present its findings to Nigeria's president and the wider public.
Following the desecration of the tomb of the late Thomas Sankara in Ougadougou, his family is calling on the Burkinabé state ‘to apprehend and sanction the authors of this barbaric act and to ensure that this type of behaviour does not go unpunished.’
Mali will soon hold a referendum to vote on political reforms after the country's parliament adopted proposed changes to its supreme law. The National Assembly's vote was overwhelming in favour of the constitutional changes, with 141 deputies supporting them. Only three deputies rejected the draft while one member abstained. Some 105 out of 122 articles are targeted in the reforms but the presidential term limit remains pegged at two and the governing system semi-presidential, although the president's duties will be reinforced.
The Sowetan newspaper apologised to City Press editor Ferial Haffajee on Thursday (04 August) for publishing an insulting column. 'In his latest column, [Eric] Miyeni crossed the line between robust debate and the condonation of violence,' said Sowetan and Sunday World general manager Justice Malala and Avusa editor-in-chief Mondli Makhanya in a statement on page 15. Miyeni's column, "Haffajee does it for white masters", appeared in the daily on Monday. He wrote that 'in the 80s she'd [Haffajee] probably have had a burning tyre around her neck'. City Press last week reported about African National Congress Youth League president Julius Malema's trust, which he allegedly uses to bankroll his lavish lifestyle.
Whites still occupy 73.1 per cent of top management positions in the country, the Commission for Employment Equity (CEE) says. Black people made up 12.7 per cent of top management, Indians 6.8 per cent and coloureds 4.6 per cent, the CEE said in its 11th annual report released in Pretoria. Labour Minister Mildred Oliphant said she was disappointed at the slow pace of reform at top management.
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has entrusted a Canadian company with managing a vast section of its forest, including containing deforestation, the environment ministry has announced. Ecosystem Restoration Associates (ERA) will handle a project covering nearly 300,000 hectares (740,000 acres) of woodlands in the Mai-Ndombe forest, in western Bandundu province, the statement said. The project is part of the country's Reducing Emissions from Deforestation (REDD+) programme.
The goal of this material is to connect some of the ideas and energy from the World People's Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth held in Bolivia in 2010 with the issues on the table at UN climate talks. It contains briefs on 13 issues, including climate debt, mitigation, adaption, the dangers of climate markets and gender and climate justice.
The four armed robbers who gang raped her may be serving time for their crimes, but six years later justice has turned out to be a myth for Mildred Mapingure. 'I was silently praying I was not pregnant,' Mapingure told IPS from her rural home in Mashonaland West, Zimbabwe. It is illegal to terminate a pregnancy in Zimbabwe unless the ‘pregnancy endangers the life of the mother and/or is a result of unlawful penetration (rape)’, according to the Termination of Pregnancy Act. And abortion is only allowed in the first trimester. When Mapingure realised the inevitable had happened two months after being raped, prosecutors rushed the application for a termination of pregnancy order through the Chinhoyi regional magistrate’s court in Mashonaland West. But long court delays resulted in the order being granted when she was eight months pregnant. Mapingure had no option but to give birth.
'In many ways,' writes Sophia Azeb on the blog Africa is a Country about the trial of former Egyptian strongman Hosni Mubarak, 'this trial is a showpiece.' Azeb writes that it is another attempt by the military to distract Egyptians from their own despotism. 'While many are well aware of this, Mubarak facing trial and conviction for his crimes against the people is still very important. I doubt this trial will keep the military safe from further demonstrations and actions just as I doubt this trial will end well – whether Mubarak is convicted or not. This spectacle is disturbing to me, and I don’t think imprisoning or executing the Mubarak family will mean justice is served.'
Côte d’Ivoire has one president but two 'treasuries' - one official, the other funded from the continued collection of road tolls and other taxes by former rebels. During the nearly nine years rebels controlled northern Côte d’Ivoire, the civil administration, comprising such things as mayors’ offices and the treasury, did not function and the rebels collected 'taxes'. Months after Alassane Ouattara was finally able to take charge of the country, 'parallel' taxation has yet to be eliminated: The disorder and unpredictable extra costs are affecting people’s livelihoods, just as they are looking to bounce back from months of chaos and economic stagnation.
With Pambazuka News publishing its 200th French-language edition this week, Tidiane Kassé – Pambazuka’s French-language editor – discusses the importance of alternative, Africa-led media and the challenges for the future.
In the wake of the passing of the Budget Control Act to prevent the US defaulting on its debts, Horace Campbell stresses the need for progressive people to organise to oppose militarisation, defend livelihoods and social security protection, and chart the path towards alternatives.
In recent years, Egypt has become home-away-from-home for a big number of Africans migrants, asylum seekers and refugees. Though the majority of these are Sudanese from both sides, Ethiopians, Eritreans and Somalis also make up the numbers, with a mixture of other African nationalities. Despite their numbers here, there are no reliable statistics of African migrants in the country, but most organisations quote a figure between 250,000 to a few million.
The African Union has delayed a fundraiser for millions of starving Somalis due to what is said were scheduling challenges. The event, initially set for 9 August, would now be held on 25 August at the bloc's Addis Ababa headquarters, although this new date remains tentative. 'The AU has serious financial challenges and member countries are also reluctant to pay their dues. It makes the upcoming fund raising [event] challenging,' the commissioner said.
New research suggests that HIV epidemics are emerging in North Africa and the Middle East among men who have sex with men (MSM). According to researchers from Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar, countries such as Egypt, Sudan, Pakistan and Tunisia are seeing high rates of infection in gay and bisexual men. Across the region, homosexuality is illegal or frowned upon in most countries. The researchers said it was a common belief that little or no data is held on MSM HIV transmissions in North Africa and the Middle East. However, they discovered some reliable and previously unpublished sources.
Individuals and organisations are invited to endorse a petition registering concern about the Nigerian government’s proposed ‘Gas Revolution’ and calling for the 'total stoppage of routine gas flaring.’
Tanzania will no longer become a victim of the new legislation that classifies it as a source of conflict mining in Africa, following the US government' pledge to ease the restrictions. The law known as 'Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act' is aimed at improving transparency and accountability in the supply of minerals coming from the conflict zones of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Commissioner of Minerals in the Ministry of Energy and Minerals, Dr Peter Kafumu, told the 'Daily News' in an exclusive interview in Dar es Salaam on Thursday that the decision was reached recently following a special request by the government.
Stakeholder Democracy Network produces a monthly news and analysis bulletin that is sent out via email. The August 2011 newsletter includes the following:
- Niger Delta Development Commission to be probed
- New Electoral Commission State RECs nominated
- Petroleum Industry Bill Re-emerges
- USIP Report on the Niger Delta.
Sometimes when a paper produces a defamatory piece, an apology will be published on page two in the next edition along with the day's news. In Rwanda, it would appear, a paper will use an entire edition to apologise - if the insults were directed at the president. The latest issue of Ishema, at left, is perhaps a sign of the times for Rwanda's press. The vernacular bimonthly had recently published an opinion piece that claimed President Kagame was a sociopath. The paper fell over backward in its attempts to apologise.
The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, plans to implement a cashless banking policy in June 2012. Bank representatives say the policy will enhance convenience and savings for Nigerians and the government, as well as elevate the economy to be more competitive internationally. But many Nigerians who have had negative experiences with ATMs say the country isn’t ready to go cashless, especially as the majority of the population doesn’t yet use banks.
At every stop along the campaign trail, Edith Kabbang Walla, 45, popularly known here as Kah Walla, is generating excitement among women nationwide. Walla is the only female candidate running for president in Cameroon’s October elections. 'The interest of women in politics has been aroused, but now we want their active participation,' Walla says during a recent visit to Bamenda, a city in northwestern Cameroon. Tracing women’s political participation in Cameroon, Walla says that women were the first group to hold a public demonstration against colonizers in the fight for Cameroon’s independence.