Pambazuka News 490: Food sovereignty in Africa: The people's alternative
Pambazuka News 490: Food sovereignty in Africa: The people's alternative
At least five more suspects linked to last Sunday's bombing in Kampala have been arrested bringing the number of suspects in police custody to 12. The police bomb squad was on day four still on its toes as telephone lines were jammed with calls of suspected bombs dumped in several areas, including outside Kampala City.
The African Union (AU) has named Nobel Peace Prize winners, leading sports personalities and musicians to lead a campaign for a conflict-free Africa, which is expected to climax on 21 September. Former South African President Fredrick de Klerk, Archbishop Desmond Tutu of Sou th Africa and wife of South African former President Nelson Mandela, Graca Machel, are among 12 key personalities selected to an advisory board to lead the campaign.
Uganda can provide 2,000 more troops needed to bring the African Union force in Somalia to its full strength if no other nation volunteers, the army's spokesman said. "We are capable of providing the required force if other countries fail to do so," Ugandan army spokesman Felix Kulayigye said. "I should say, however, that I think it is appropriate that other countries contribute."
The International Criminal Court ruled Thursday that Congolese militia chief Thomas Lubanga should be freed after his war crimes trial was suspended unless prosecutors mount an appeal within days. Presiding judge Adrian Fulford that Lubanga should be "freed without conditions" as his detention "is no longer fair" given the suspension of the trial.
The body overseeing the trade in "blood diamonds" has agreed that Zimbabwe can resume limited exports from new diamond fields in the east of the country. Under the terms of the deal, Zimbabwe will be able to sell some stockpiles. It may be able to resume full exports after a review of conditions at the Marange diamond fields in September.
Police in Rwanda investigating the murder of opposition politician Andre Kagwa Rwisereka have arrested a man. The suspect had been a business partner of the dead man, a police spokesman said. He had been seen with Mr Rwisereka in a bar on Monday night, he added.
A senior Tanzanian defence lawyer at the UN-backed tribunal for Rwanda has been shot dead outside his home in Tanzania's main city of Dar es Salaam. Jwani Mwaikusa, who also taught law at the University of Dar es Salaam, was killed as he drove into his compound on the outskirts of the town.
A reminder to the ANC that it needed to deepen democracy in society arrived at the ANC’s Polokwane conference, where one major gripe against President Mbeki was that he had failed to create “policy coherence” amongst the ANC and its alliance partners, let alone the broader society. Mbeki was criticised for insulating public policy through technocratic methods, and failing to build consensus in society beyond the so-called chattering classes. Whilst Mbeki’s vision for a post-colonial society that worked rested on making unpopular decisions, it was at least palpable.
For the past three months civil society organisations, academics and even some government officials have been warning that a new round of xenophobic attacks are coming soon after the World Cup has ended. Over the last two weeks, many of these same people have seen their world cup fever give way to a feverish effort to prevent (or at least prepare for) the forthcoming melee. No one has been readying themselves more fervently than migrants, many of whom have started packing and making their way to sites of safety either in South Africa or beyond its borders.
With about 3,000 Kenyan women and girls developing obstetric fistula each year, you might think the government would have a plan to prevent and treat it. Think again. Obstetric fistula is a childbirth injury which results in constant leaking of urine and faeces.
International AIDS Conferences—like the one planned for next week in Vienna—can be strange affairs. On the one hand, there is a reason to celebrate: Scaled up treatment campaigns have prolonged millions of lives; HIV testing and education are reaching many more. Yet, on the other hand, there is the reality that more than 33 million people are living with HIV worldwide. Despite efforts to expand treatment, nearly three million more become infected each year. In Zambia alone, over one million people are living with HIV.
African countries have to balance their spending on Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for education better. Skills development among teachers, which accounts for only 10% of most countries’ ICT budgets, has to be strengthened. Spending on costly hardware, which covers 90% of most countries budgets, should rather be reduced. This is one of the key recommendations of a communiqué released by participants in the Third African Ministerial Round Table on ICT for Education, Training and Development.
Civilians in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo are facing an increased risk of rape and forced labour as a result of internationally backed military operations against rebel groups, according to a new report by aid agency Oxfam. The survey of people living in north and south Kivu provinces in eastern Congo found 75 per cent of women felt in more danger than a year ago. This rose to 99 per cent in the parts of south Kivu, which is at the centre of a UN-supported offensive by the Congolese army against the Democratic Liberation Forces of Rwanda (FDLR) and other rebel groups.
IDMC has compiled a table showing the estimated numbers of IDPs over the past decade in all the countries which it monitors. The figures include people internally displaced by conflict, generalised violence or human rights violations. They are compiled from the figures published from 2001 to 2009 in IDMC’s annual summaries Internal displacement: Global overview of trends and developments.
The United Nations Emergency Relief Coordinator, John Holmes, has allocated some $41 million to underfunded humanitarian operations in nine countries across the globe where people are suffering the effects of hunger, malnutrition, disease, and conflict. The funds made available today will be granted to United Nations humanitarian agencies and the International Organization for Migration (IOM), and through them to partner organizations, including non-governmental organizations (NGOs), to cover funding gaps in key humanitarian projects in the affected countries
For a while after the global financial crisis broke, we were told that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) would change. The Group of Twenty (G-20) meeting in April 2009 provided a massive increase in resources for the IMF to provide lending to countries affected by the crisis. In return, the Fund announced that it was going to be more supportive of enlarged fiscal deficits and other expansionary measures in the face of the crisis, and provide large amounts of funds to developing countries to cope with the situation.
For the people of northwestern Kenya, fighting to protect Lake Turkana from the Gibe 3 Dam is a fight for their livelihoods and the future of their unique cultures. International Rivers recently took a trip to the area and documented their struggle. International Rivers has produced a short video reflecting the sentiments of the people dependent upon Lake Turkana. They tell a story of impending social and environmental collapse in the absence of the sustenance that the lake provides them. Along with the video, IR released a 13 page report about the lake, the dam, and the communities affected.
In Senegal, same-sex activity has, since 1965, been punishable by up to five years imprisonment. Enforcement of this law has escalated in the past two years, with the arrests of more than 50 people and trials of at least 16 individuals suspected of same-sex activity or being part of the Lesbian Gay Bisexual Trans community. Simultaneously, state-sanctioned violence and anti-gay rhetoric in the media against individuals believed to be LGBT has increased.
Amnesty International has called on the Kenyan authorities to halt the forced evictions in a Nairobi settlement that have left hundreds of families homeless and destitute. A bulldozer from the Nairobi City Council flattened market stalls in Kabete NITD on Tuesday night for the second time this week. On Saturday, authorities had demolished around 100 homes and 470 market stalls.
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has added its voice to that of journalists in Africa and around the world who have been shocked by the news of the death of leading Cameroonian journalist Pius Njawe who has been killed in a car accident in the United States. "Pius Njawe was a great friend of press freedom and also a loyal supporter of journalists, not just in Africa, but around the world," said Aidan White, IFJ General Secretary.
The Federation of African Journalists (FAJ), the African regional organisation of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), strongly condemned the kidnapping of Zonal leaders of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) on 11 July 2010 as a deplorable and a criminal act that was intended to destabilise NUJ dynamic leadership's commitment to defend journalists' rights and interests.
The Federation of African Journalists (FAJ), the African regional organization of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ), expresses its abhorrence of the bomb attacks in Kampala, Uganda, last night, in which more than 60 people were killed, including Vision Voice journalist Stephen Tinka. FAJ President, Omar Faruk Osman, strongly condemned these barbaric attacks in the Ugandan capital and conveyed his condolences to the family of late journalist Stephen Tinka, the members of the Ugandan Journalists Union, as well as to other victims and their families who have been tragically affected by these attacks.
United Nations development chief Helen Clark has lauded the progress made by Ghana towards women’s empowerment and gender equality, one of the eight social and economic objectives known as the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) that world leaders have pledged to achieve by 2015. Miss Clark, who is Administrator of the UN Development Programme (UNDP), was impressed by the “tremendous amount of activity on the legal framework for women,” she said yesterday as she began her three-day visit to the country.
The United Nations rural development arm is helping to improve agricultural programmes in West Africa’s Sahel region, especially in Niger, which is currently in the throes of a growing food crisis. Recurrent food shortages have impacted the Sahel, a narrow band south of the Sahara desert also including Burkina Faso, Chad, Eritrea, Mali, Mauritania, Nigeria, Senegal and Sudan. The last severe drought in 2005 resulted in a famine that claimed 1 million lives and affected another 50 million people.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has signed a cooperation agreement with two organisations in Lesotho under which it will allocate over $1.2 million to boost an integrated social protection system for orphans and other vulnerable children in the country. The groups – World Vision Lesotho and Sentebale – will use the funds for projects that contribute to the achievement of Lesotho’s vision for a society in which all vulnerable children are free from discrimination, live in dignity and have their rights and aspirations fulfilled.
Théophile Kouamouo, the Editor-in-chief of the Ivorian daily 'Le Nouveau Courier' and three of his collaborators are being held in detention at the headquarters of Ivorian judiciary police section in Abidjan, after publishing the results of the investigation carried out by the Prosecutor about alleged fraud and embezzlement in Cocoa and coffee sector.
Sudanese government has expelled two foreign employees of the International Organization for Migration working in the country's Darfur region, the agency said Thursday. The organization's Geneva-based spokesman, Jean-Philippe Chauzy, said the Sudanese government gave no explanation for the move. The expulsion order comes days after the International Criminal Court charged Sudan's president, Omar al-Bashir, with genocide in Darfur.
The political tension in Rwanda is heightening as a leading opponent of Rwanda's President Paul Kagame on Friday called for a boycott of next month's presidential elections because she and a number of would-be candidates have been barred from standing. Victoire Ingabire, the leader of the unregistered United Democratic Forces party who faces charges of crimes linked to genocide denial, told Reuters Kagame faces little competition and is set to easily secure a second seven-year term.
The High Court in the Gambian capital Banjul passed death sentence on a former head of the country's military. Former Chief of Defense Staff (CDS) Lt. General Lang Tombong Tamba was sentenced on two counts with seven co-accused, including a former Director General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and a Lebanese born businessman.
The Kenyan government and telecom companies have a new text service to report hate speech ahead of a referendum on a new constitution. According to NCIC's Millie Lwanga, the free SMS number - 6397 - was established thanks to $700,000 (£459,400) received from international donors, Kenya's Daily Nation paper reports. The National Cohesion and Integration Commission set up after the 2007 post-poll violence in which some 1,300 people were killed, will monitor it.
Recently appointed co-Home Affairs Minister Theresa Makone is reported to have asked officials in her ministry to explain why ZANU PF officials and military officers, implicated in the looting of white-owned farms, have not been investigated or arrested. A report in the weekly Zimbabwe Independent newspaper quotes Makone saying she had received a dossier containing ‘a long list’ of cases where officials have either looted property or taken over farms in defiance of court orders. Makone told the paper she was still working on the document and had given a copy to the permanent secretary in the ministry ‘to check what happened to the cases.”
After a month’s engagement with the World Cup, South African President Jacob Zuma is reportedly set to resume his SADC mediation role in Zimbabwe to try and bridge the gap between Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai. Talks to iron out outstanding Global Political Agreement issues between Mugabe and Tsvangirai have dragged on since the two leaders agreed to join hands in February 2009 to form the coalition government.
Leaders of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) agreed on Friday to reconsider how they share their trade duty revenues, a move that could hit Botswana, Namibia, Swaziland and Lesotho very hard. Tensions have been mounting within the 100-year-old SACU, the world's oldest customs agreement, because of a perception in South Africa, easily its biggest economy, that its customs receipts are bankrolling its four smaller neighbours.
Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete dissolved parliament on Friday ahead of a general election in the east African country slated for October. Kikwete pledged to continue with economic reforms, foster political reconciliation in the volatile Zanzibar archipelago and tackle corruption. "Based on our achievements of the past five years ... I am confident that the people will acknowledge our work and give us a fresh mandate to rule," he said in an address to parliament.
They inhabit a polluted part of Ivory Coast's main city with few jobs and a swelling population, but residents of Abidjan's slums have a rare respite: a stretch of pristine rainforest. From their wooden shacks and unpainted concrete houses by motorways on the edge of Banco National Park, the millions who live in north Abidjan need no lesson on its worth. "This forest is a great thing," said textile worker Sebastien Coulibaly, 35, in front of the sky-scraping green mass of vines and broccoli-shaped trees.
ViiV Healthcare, GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer's joint venture company for AIDS drugs, is opening its entire product line-up to generic drugmakers working in the world's poorest countries. The announcement, on the eve of next week's international AIDS conference in Vienna, means generic companies will be able to obtain royalty-free voluntary licences for all current ViiV products, as well as products still in development.
A new report from AVAC surveys the state of biomedical HIV prevention research, including the first evidence of vaccine-induced protection in humans and the emergence of ARV-based prevention—and provides strategic recommendations for moving forward in a time of constrained resources and faltering commitment to ending AIDS.
Moroccan activists are pressing law-makers to ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC), claiming the move would boost human rights and limit government impunity. Even though Morocco's Equity and Reconciliation Commission (IER) recommended that the Kingdom accede to the statute signed in 2000, it has yet to be ratified. Concerns have been raised that it contradicts the country's own laws.
The old woman walks on the Tunis street, pulling a trolley made from the remains of a child's pram. She gathers discarded bread and sells it by weight to a livestock feed processor. "I work from sunrise to sunset, summer and winter," Aljia says. On the best of days, the elderly widow makes just one or two dinars. "I do not find pleasure in this exhausting work, but who would provide for me if I stopped moving?" she asks.
When the United Nations hosts a summit meeting of world leaders next September to assess the current state of its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), it is expected to single out one of the major "success stories" of the day: a reduction in global poverty. But have there been any real, significant successes in the absolute number of people worldwide who have escaped poverty?
Josephine is just one of the more than 250,000 people who have been forced to flee their homes in this isolated and chaotic corner of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The reason for her flight – and that of many others – is one of the world's most ruthless armed militias, the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) which is infamous for its attacks on civilians. Thirty-five year old Josephine arrived at the Li-nakofu site for internally displaced person (IDPs) following an LRA attack on her village.
Nine-year-old Nomasonto* had no choice but to switch roles with her mother and care for the HIV-positive woman who gave birth to her. Instead of worrying about homework and going out to play with her friends, Nomasonto’s daily concerns were now a matter of life and death. Suddenly the child had to wash her mother, change and feed her. She even had to take her ill mother to hospital for checkups and to collect her medication.
"Instead of moaning all the time, why don’t you create your own (political) party?" some men asked Brigitte Rabemanantsoa Rasamoelina, a female politician from Madagascar. She accepted the challenge and in February formed Ampela Mano Politika, a political party which started with only 22 female members and now has over 5,000 female members ... and 10 men
African countries should deepen their tax bases to collect more revenues to finance their development, build state institutions and to improve national dialogue and, more generally, their social contracts with citizens. These are some of the conclusions in two new studies on the taxation systems in Africa.
The World Cup is wreaking havoc with a key millennium development goal in South Africa: as the football tournament hit its stride, not a single child across the nation attended school. It's temporary, of course: the winter holiday has been extended so schools are closed during the month-long tournament.
Educational inclusion relates to all children accessing and meaningfully participating in quality education, in ways that are responsive to their individual needs. The terms ‘inclusion’ and inclusive education’ are often used in relation to children with disabilities and/or special needs and emerged partly out of debates to reduce their segregation from mainstream schooling.
According to a new report from the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria, the Fund's efforts have contributed to saving an estimated 4.9 million lives by December 2009. The coming years will see even more results, as half of the total disbursements by the Global Fund were delivered in 2008 and 2009. Much of the US$ 5.4 billion of financing approved in Rounds 8 and 9 will reach countries in 2010 and 2011, and will continue to significantly boost health outcomes.
It does not rain, but it pours for the GALZ duo, who are facing charges of allegedly possessing pornographic material as they are likely to stand trial on a second charge of undermining the authority of President Robert Mugabe. In a letter given to representing lawyers by state prosecutor Memory Mukapa the two Ellen Chademana and Ignatious Muhambi are being accused of contravening Section 33(2) (ii) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform Act Chapter 9:23(undermining authority of or insulting President) ARW Section 277(4) &(5) of the Criminal Law Codification and Reform Act.
Zimbabwe’s First Lady Grace Mugabe has joined the bandwagon of homophobic leaders after she recently condemned homosexuality as ‘taboo and satanic’.Addressing a gathering in Mashonaland Central at a handover ceremony of foodstuffs in an Orphanage at Madziwa Business Centre, the first lady, not to be outdone by her husband, used the opportunity to divert people’s
Across the world, but especially in parts of sub-Saharan Africa, young people are taking action to protect themselves from HIV, says a new study by UNAIDS. "Young people have shown that they can be change agents in the prevention revolution," the agency said in a supplement to the OUTLOOK Report 2010, released ahead of the International AIDS Conference starting in Vienna, Austria, on 18 July.
Tinashe, a single mother of three living in Mbare township in Harare, the Zimbabwean capital, regularly misses a meal so as to stretch her US$90 a month income, and occasionally gives her children food left over from her employers' meals at the middle-class household where she is a domestic worker.
The Open Society Institute works to build vibrant and tolerant democracies whose governments are accountable to their citizens. To achieve its mission, OSI seeks to shape public policies that assure greater fairness in political, legal, and economic systems and safeguard fundamental rights. On a local level, OSI implements a range of initiatives to advance justice, education, public health, and independent media. At the same time, OSI builds alliances across borders and continents on issues such as corruption and freedom of information. OSI places a high priority on protecting and improving the lives of marginalized people and communities.
In 1993, investor and philanthropist George Soros created OSI as a private operating and grantmaking foundation to support his foundations in Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Those foundations were established, starting in 1984, to help countries make the transition from communism. OSI has expanded the activities of the Open Society Foundations to encompass the United States and more than 60 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Each foundation relies on the expertise of boards composed of eminent citizens who determine individual agendas based on local priorities. In addition, over twenty thematic specialist platforms serve as OSI Network Programs frontlining OSI’s engagement with various issue areas.
The Higher Education Support Program (HESP) is one such Network Program. It is supported by the Higher Education Sub-Board (HESB). HESP, through its support to institutions and individuals, promotes the advancement of higher education. HESP provides assistance – both financial and technical – to a network of institutions, ranging from undergraduate universities to doctoral programs and centers for specialized advanced studies. Institutional support tends to focus on sustainable curriculum and faculty development and the improvement of methods of teaching and learning. In the future, an important component of the work of HESP will be to collaborate with the School of Global Public Policy that is currently being established at Central European University. Drawing on the synergistic strengths of both Central European University and Open Society Foundations, the School of Public Policy addresses important contemporary issues in international public affairs.
The Director of HESP will be based in any of the three principal offices out of which Network Programs operate: Budapest, New York or London. S/he will report to the OSI Director of Programs and will work closely with the OSI President.
Responsibilities:
The Director of HESP will:
• Provide strategic leadership in the development of OSI's higher education program efforts.
• Manage the resources, including staff and budgets, of the Higher Education Support Program.
• Serve as program officer for the HESP grants portfolio.
• Serve as OSI’s focal point in networks of relevance to the organization's higher education program objectives.
• Develop, on the basis of priority regions agreed within OSI, cutting-edge programs in new geographies where HESP has not operated before.
• Strengthen OSI's effectiveness in its ongoing programs in the region of the organization’s traditional efforts, including the former Soviet Union.
• Contribute to the conceptual and strategic articulation of HESP as part of a composite OSI intervention in education – an intervention that includes the Education Support Program, Early Childhood Program, Roma Education Fund, the University-based Initiative on Climate Change Adaptation, and the Network Scholarship Program.
• Align, in relevant instances, the higher education support efforts of OSI with the Central European University's School of Public Policy.
• Support tertiary institutions and academics in the defense and enlargement of freedom of inquiry, in the context of initiatives such as the Bologna process, the Dar es Salaam Declaration on Academic Freedom and the Social Responsibilities of Academics, etc.
• Facilitate the work and role of the HESB in the furtherance of OSI's higher education support efforts.
Qualifications:
• A respected leader with a minimum of ten years of involvement in a higher education setting. A research background in higher education policy would be an advantage.
• Advanced academic training.
• Some experience of high-level programmatic work in thematic issues of OSI’s interest, such as human rights, public policy, etc.
• Strong international-level reputation and demonstrable track record as a program innovator.
• Strong program and staff leadership and management record.
• Superior analytical skills and an ability to deal simultaneously with a range of complex thematic issues.
• Superior written and verbal communication skills in English. Additional language skills would be an advantage.
• Willingness and ability to travel extensively.
Compensation: Commensurate with experience.
To apply:
Please send a covering letter, CV and writing sample; with ref: HESP in the subject line to: [email][email protected]
Application Deadline: August 31, 2010
Please note:
Due to the large volume of applications expected – only those candidates selected for interview will receive notification.
No phone calls, please. The Open Society Institute is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
Pambazuka News 489: Remembering Lumumba; Afrophobia and the Cup
Pambazuka News 489: Remembering Lumumba; Afrophobia and the Cup
The spread of digital technologies in the Middle East and Africa has generated the view that 'new media' open up political spaces for dissent, activism and emancipation. Cambridge University's Centre of Governance and Human Rights is convening a conference entitled 'New media, alternative politics' (14-16 October 2010) that will bring together researchers, academics, activists, journalists and policy makers to discuss whether and how new media empower an alternative politics and mobilise political change. A call for papers (and presentations) is now out, and can be found at
there is no place you can stand your feet
on the loamy soil of the vast home district
without a view of the majesty of Mt. Elgon.
whether you are behind Kapsokwony kiosks
urinating pints of refuse after an illicit binge
or you are chewing sugar cane at Cheptais
you may be weeding acres of Kopsiro corn
or watering the herd on the banks of Nzoia
a child chasing birds from a sunflower farm
in Kaptama or kins of Chebyuk clans at war
all behold the Mountain and its stony tower
it is rumored that old curses lie under rocks
of the highest peak waiting for provocation.
it is on the lush slopes of this Mount of God
that new songs of affliction sear the nights.
the bull frogs of the malarial swamps croak
not to their reluctant mates but to the sky.
the swamps are now smelling of dead men
so strong is the smell that it kills sex mood
among entire clans of frogs across the land.
the bull cows low low like the herds of oxen
with no sense of mischief or even bravado
in their calls to the strangely silent heifers.
the roosters now crow only in the daylight
as songs of sedition take over village nights.
it all started with the arrival at old Kapkoto
of the state men of war and their GK guns.
the hunts for a rebel and his bloodish lords
has now sown seeds of blood across the land
and now the district sings new songs of agony
as mounds of farm grass give way to skeletons
some with smashed skulls others without theirs
and yet others with ribs missing here and there.
the wells bear an ill smell from deep rotting flesh.
wherever you lift your nostrils for air it is there:
the smell of death mixing with grass and dry soil.
the songs have no rhythm and reveal no rhymes
they rely more on mimicry in their communication.
steady staccato of AK47s chattering about death
resemble the melodies of these new village songs.
the crrrunch of bones crushing under army boots
bear an uncanny similarity to these new choruses.
this dance style too is a masterful piece of mimicry.
tens of thousands of male villagers hit dry ground
with their naked bodies and smash their genitalia
on coarse shrapnel of bullets from the operation
their tearless eyes remain riveted on Mount Elgon.
as they exclaim and scream the vernacular climax
oxygen mixed with sweat spreads across the land.
the womenfolk hide in the lantana bush nearby
not allowed in the midst of this new male dance
and attempt with ears only their love to identify.
mouths of children are stuffed with maize cobs
and their cowardly buttocks tied with sisal cords
that no noise whether oral or anal may escape
from them and give away the female hideaways.
this is the new native song and dance in fashion
given to the citizens of the afflicted Elgon lands
by sons of the soil and the fathers of the nation.
and as the poet sits now under a canopy of pain
finding the right description for this oral tradition
his eyes on distant Elgon murmur-murmuring curses of stone.
As the World Cup draws to its much-anticipated finale, the democratic integrity of South Africa continues to be intoxicated, writes Patrick Bond. Bond recounts a recent anti-xenophobia rally in search of a better society, which was only to result in a run-in with the law. Bond unearths the deliberate distortion of South Africans’ constitution and freedom of speech to accommodate Fifa – soon to move on, leaving little benefits behind for its host society.
Cheating in global sporting arenas such as the World Cup not only brings down the ‘beautiful game’, it also sends negative shock waves to the world’s spectators who lay witness to the prevail of deceit, writes Mphutlane wa Bofelo. The values of society will lose their gravity as notoriously deliberate offences on the field are attributed to the divine ‘hand of God’ with little or no retribution, warns Bofelo.
Larry A. Greene reviews Jeffrey B. Perry’s ‘Hubert Harrison: The Voice of Harlem Radicalism, 1883-1918’, a biography which Greene believes ‘elevates the lesser-known Harrison to the stature he so richly deserves as one of America’s most perceptive public intellectuals on the critically intertwined issues of American democracy, race relations and class structure’.
With the DR Congo having passed 50 years of independence, Carlo Ungaro reflects on a turbulent history, the originally pervasive support for Mobutu and the greed of myriad interests in destabilising the country.
Following Ghana's controversial exit from the World Cup after Uruguayan striker Luis Suárez's goal-line handball, Cameron Duodu charges that governing body Fifa's rules must be changed to fully stamp out cheating.
As South Africa's World Cup begins to near its end, questions continue to be asked about the tournament's legacy for the country. Highly critical of the self-serving tendencies of South Africa's soccer elite, Dale T. McKinley laments the long-term neglect of the game's developmental and social potential. Once a genuine 'people's game' in the country, soccer has, as with so much, been entirely subsumed by rapacious commercial interests, McKinley writes.
Zimbabwe’s coalition government, formed under the auspices of a Global Political Agreement in 2008, has struggled to overcome the challenges the country faces. Jonathan Oshupeng Maseng’s paper identifies and discusses the issues heightening the rift between coalition members Zanu PF and the Movement for Democratic Change, whose political battles are stalling socio-economic progress. ‘The focus must be on achieving the objectives set out in GPA rather than on political disputes advancing their own interests,’ says Maseng.
Many Africans in the diaspora were taken from the continent against their will ‘during the long years of the inhumane and barbaric transatlantic slave trade’, writes Beharane Selasie Kabaka. Isn’t it therefore ‘our moral obligation as native Africans to fully accept them if they wish to return’, without subjecting them to bureaucratic procedures for the acquisition of citizenship, Kabaka asks.
The challenges of conducting online transactions from Africa, Ghana’s elimination from the World Cup and Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan’s first foray onto Facebook are among the stories featured in this week’s round-up of the African blogosphere, brought to you by Dibussi Tande.
The memory and legacy of the late Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem is alive in Funtua, Horace Campbell discovers during his first visit to Abdul-Raheem’s homeland. Impressed by the extraordinary work towards providing education through Hauwa Memorial College and the Pan-African Development Education and Advocacy Programme, Campbell calls on Pan-Africanists everywhere to provide support to keep the projects going.
Global Women's Strike and other solidarity organisations call for signatures in support of a return for exiled Haitian former president Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
Gabon presents fertile ground for Chinese investment in extractive industries, though the development of this relationship is a lengthy process and is much diversified across Gabon and the economy’s main sectors of interest to China, writes Johanna Jansson. Jansson suggests the observer of yet another African economy to come within range of China’s investment radar should take note of the diversity also present within the ranks of Chinese corporate actors, whose level of responsible conduct presents no general trend.
With African heads of state due to convene this month in Kampala for the latest African Union summit, the People’s Health Movement is asking people to sign its petition to ensure members of government work to respect budgetary targets for development goals.
As the DRC commemorates 50 years of independence, Mwaura Kaara finds there’s little official acknowledgement of the life of Patrice Lumumba, Congo’s first and only elected prime minister, removed from office after two months and eventually assassinated. The celebration ‘should have reflected on Lumumba’s main contribution to the Congolese struggle’, writes Kaara, ‘his articulation of the idea of a united Congo, a vision that sought to build a united nations across all ethnic and tribal divisions despite fierce European opposition.’
‘Gerald Caplan is right to outline various deficiencies of Edward Herman and David Peterson’s chapter on Rwanda in their new book 'The Politics of Genocide'. In important ways, however, Caplan’s review piece actually contributes to the very phenomenon he is trying to attack,’ writes Oliver Kearns.
Horace Campbell’s on lessons from the Dudus saga in Jamaica sparked several reactions and responses from our readers. Here is a selection of what people had to say.
It was in part Ethiopian opposition leader and activist Birtukan Midekssa’s campaign for women’s rights that led to her imprisonment by the Zenawi government, writes Alemayehu G. Mariam. Highlighting the challenges Ethiopian women continue to face, Mariam looks to Midekssa’s legacy for a vision of a better Ethiopia, in which women’s rights are recognised and in which women play a vital role in the country’s history.
The growth of the global population and increased competition for land and resources has the greatest effect on the poor, young and female population. Jonathan Beale reviews the book ‘Women’s Land Rights and Privatization in Eastern Africa’, a series of essays about land issues in East Africa edited by Birgit Englert and Elizabeth Daley. This collection of essays was gathered from young scholars in several east African nations including Uganda, Rwanda and Kenya and touches on a variety of topics related to women and land. Beale praises the contributors' thorough research and arguments, but notes the book’s oversight of land ownership in urban centres such as Dar es Salaam and Nairobi.
With rumours circulating that when the World Cup is over, foreigners will be expelled from South Africa, Glen Ashton asks whether xenophobia is the right word to describe the country’s attitude towards immigrants. ‘A close examination of purported xenophobic outbreaks of violence shines the spotlight on some of our most intractable problems, that of economic marginalisation’ writes Ashton. South Africa is dealing not with xenophobia, but the consequences of ‘poverty and the lack of progressive economic transformation since 1994’, Ashton argues.
Fahamu’s Refugee Programme is pleased to announce the June edition of the , a monthly publication that aims to provide a forum for providers of refugee legal aid. With a focus on the global South, it aims to serve the needs of legal aid providers as well as raise awareness of refugee concerns among the wider readership of Pambazuka News.
The e-Newsletter follows recent developments in the interpretation of refugee law; case law precedents from other constituencies; reports and helpful resources for refugee legal aid NGOs; and stories of struggle and success in refugee legal aid work. It welcomes contributions from legal aid providers, refugees, and others interested or involved in refugee legal aid.
Fahamu Refugee Programme & UNHRC invites lawyers and legal advisors to a course aimed at arming them with the information, networks and resources they require to represent those accused of witchcraft. Participants will learn how to best represent those whose claims to asylum are based upon accusations of witchcraft, an emerging area of refugee law in which there is a need for specialised knowledge and training.
4-5 September 2010
Oxford, United Kingdom
Registration fee: £150
If you would like to attend, please submit a completed to Fahamu by 21 August 2010.
After 13 years as founder and executive director, Firoze Manji has stepped down from his role as ED to focus attention on developing Pambazuka News and Pambazuka Press.
The board of trustees of Fahamu is therefore seeking a dynamic, visionary person with a passion for social justice, to lead the organisation, ideally based in Kenya.
If you are interested in applying, please review the by 31 August 2010.
As the 2010 Fifa World Cup draws to a close, Oliver Meth and Dan Moshenberg ask whether the legacy of the games will give South Africa any cause for celebration. Despite former president Thabo Mbeki’s hopes that the games would turn ‘the tide on centuries of poverty and conflict’, there’s little sign that ‘the private lives and domestic spaces in which real democracy either begins or founders’ have been transformed, conclude Meth and Moshenberg.
The World Peace Academy - Swiss Center for Peace Studies in Basel, Switzerland (see is a young institution of higher learning, which offers a "Master of Advanced Studies in Peace and Conflict Transformation" in cooperation with the University of Basel since 1 March 2010. The World Peace Academy is looking for a Director of Studies (50-60%), beginning immediately or upon mutual agreement.