Pambazuka News 485: Remembering Walter Rodney 30 years on
Pambazuka News 485: Remembering Walter Rodney 30 years on
Pambazuka News is pleased to congratulate Sokari Ekine's blog for its success at the 2010 Nigerian Blog Awards. Nominated for both the 'Best political blog' and 'Best use of theme' categories, Black Looks won both!
In the wake of Israel’s attack on aid ships bound for Gaza on 31 May, Natasha Shivji contrasts the oceanic activities of Somali pirates with the recent measures taken by Israeli security forces in maintaining Israel's siege of Gaza. East Africa ‘must straighten the international law that has been manipulated to condemn our people’, writes Shivji.
Home away from home
Thousands of kilometres
Where hospitality friendly yet strange
Cuisines at variance with home
Consuming unfamiliar meals
To keep body system in function
Homesick, yet home afar
From nowhere comes the bang
Wow! an invitation from whom?
A dinner from home
Is it home in faraway land?
Yeah, like bridal excitement
All guests sat chatting away
Golda, who is Golda
Golda our hostess
Golda offered garri meal
Garri served with eru veggie
Oh, garri my staple meal
Oyi, garri in Addis Ababa
Addis needs garri for staple
Garri in Addis the solution
We have received the following books and films for review. If you are willing to write a review of a book or film from the list below, please send an email to .
The past and present exploitation of the Congo’s people and valuable natural resources is a reflection of the profit-driven destruction of the fictional planet of Pandora, screened in the recent film ‘Avatar’, writes Kambale Musavuli. Musavuli calls for a greater awareness of the on-going and far-reaching devastation endured by this war-torn ‘storehouse of strategic and precious minerals’, which tragically mirrors the ruthless pillage of Pandora.
The African Union 'has remained curiously silent on the Middle East', writes Joseph Kaifala, but the continent ‘can no longer afford to remain oblivious to one of the saddest human crises of our time’. What’s missing, says Kaifala, are ‘active African voices in ongoing peace processes and political actions’ – ‘if nothing else, African leaders must at least start to teach their peoples about the Middle East and speak their opinions openly on the conflicts.’
With the launch of yet another advisory council for the continent, the Africa Progress Panel (APP), Carol Tabu takes a look at preceding initiatives and asks whether the APP brings anything new to the table, or is simply a rhetorical exercise in the diplomatic art of ‘saying everything and nothing at the same time’.
This AGRA Watch position paper takes a closer look at the Lugar-Casey bill, ‘a case study in the interlocking interests of big business, big philanthropy, US foreign policy and US aid’. It also highlights new developments, both in Kenyan legislation and in the international political economy that ‘threaten to use the global food crisis as an opening to solidify genetic engineering as a necessary part of food security strategies.’
A basic income grant (BIG) ‘might not be the best answer’ to solve Namibia’s challenges of ‘structurally rooted inequality and destitution’. But ‘at least it tries to come up with some kind of initiative’ to build a society in which ‘all members obtain the minimum standard of living they deserve’, writes Henning Melber.
For the next month, concerns about the World Cup – whether about the financial toll of the tournament on South Africa’s economy, the absence of concrete benefits for large swathes of the South African population, or FIFA’s stifling rules – will be put on the backburner as the world enjoys the beautiful game, writes Dibussi Tande, in this week’s round-up of the African blogosphere.
Following South African President Zuma’s first official visit to India last week, Sanusha Naidu investigates what kind of ‘strategic partnership’ was being forged between the two countries and who the partners were. Despite Gandhi’s vision for the commerce between India and Africa to be of ‘ideas and services’, this strategic partnership, says Naidu, is ‘really about the business of business is business’.
Thirty years after the murder of Guyana-born scholar and activist Walter Rodney, Wazir Mohamed considers the role of imperialism and the big powers in the silencing of ‘a defender of the people’s right to equality’.
The introduction of a single currency was an attempt ‘to force Europe to create a transnational state’, writes Samir Amin, but despite ‘illusions of transcending national sovereignty’, “Europe” still does not exist, either in the political sense or economically and socially. Given the lack of common ground among Europe’s deeply unequal states, Amin looks at the options for managing the Euro in the face of the global financial crisis.
A group of former prisoners of conscience, political exiles and spouses, widows, parents, sons and daughters of former victims of KANU dictatorship under presidents Kenyatta and Moi, have come together to endorse Kenya's proposed new constitution, and speak out against the forces of reaction and sabotage that have so far opposed the process.
Writing on his experiences as a gay westerner interested in LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer) issues in the Middle East, A of Arabia highlights the misplaced, 'imperialist' nature inherent in Western efforts to 'improve' gay and trans rights in other parts of the world. Western-based approaches commonly neglect acknowledgement of the economic security and opportunities associated with being openly gay within a given society, A of Arabia contends, failing in the process to take individual circumstances into account.
In the aftermath of the fatal attack on the Togolese football team on 8 January in Cabinda, Angola, the country's authorities moved to actively censor full and accurate coverage of what occurred, writes Rafael Marques de Morais.
The Ethiopian election that ushered Meles Zenawi back to power with a 99.6 per cent majority is a testament to the tyranny of the powerful and the hypocrisy of the collective opposition, writes Alemayehu G. Mariam. The opposition parties, through inaction and submission, betrayed the Ethiopian people and must share blame for this most recent violation of democratic rights. To atone, the opposition needs to make a public apology and a renew its commitment to speak the truth.
The first black South African to become bishop of the Anglican diocese of Natal, and chairman of the KwaZulu-Natal Christian Council (KZNCC), Rubin Phillip is playing a crucial role in opposing the government’s attempted subjugation of Abahlali baseMjondolo (AbM), a South African shack-dweller movement, writes Emma Pomfret. Pomfret investigates the recent traumas endured by AbM, and talks to the bishop about his commitment to seeing those who are suffering take charge of their own destiny.
The 13 June 2010 will be the 30th anniversary of the assassination of Guyanese historian and activist Walter Rodney. In attendance at various groundings held in Nigeria to commemorate Rodney's life and work, Horace Campbell discusses the political climate in the country and sense of optimism around political mobilisation.
The question Israelis should be asking themselves about the attack on the aid flotilla on 31 May shouldn’t be why their navy failed to plan for a scenario of violent resistance by individuals on the vessel, says Hagai El-Ad, it should be why Israel’s naval forces were defending the blockade on Gaza in the first place. While most Israelis feel no responsibility for the fate of Gaza’s inhabitants, El-Ad writes, the siege ‘represents a blatant violation of Gazan civilians' human rights’. ‘If not for the siege of Gaza's population, there would be no need for an international humanitarian mission – genuine or provocative.’
A visit to a museum in Nigeria’s Kano state, the contemporary debate on ‘illegal immigration’ in the US and Israel’s attack on a humanitarian aid flotilla attempting to break the blockade on Gaza prompt L. Muthoni Wanyeki to realise how much her contemporary understanding of global ‘dynamics and tensions’ has overtaken her own ‘sense of history and its timelines’.
The religious landscape in South Africa has been transformed by elements of the ‘born again’ evangelical church that are quietly penetrating political life, writes Dale T. McKinley. Life in South Africa has long been heavily influenced by religion, but until the recent appearance and stunning growth of the evangelical wing, there has been limited interference in politics. The new right-wing, ultra-conservative presence is pervasive, with 24-hour television networks that create celebrity-style leaders, community outreach events and missionary work.
In producing often 'negative resource transfers' (from developing to developed countries), development aid and official development assistance (ODA) essentially remain an exercise in taking money from poor countries for the purpose of enriching wealthier ones, writes Charles Abugre. Given the difficulty of enforcing ODA commitments and the need to halt the net transfer of developing countries' resources, poorer countries should look towards drawing upon SWFs (Sovereign Wealth Funds) in combination with the globally fast-growing Islamic bond market, Abugre argues.
from his book ‘Selected Pan-African Postcards’ with Dr Ama Biney, editor, and Dr Patricia Daley.
Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem's Pan-African Postcards demonstrate his steadfast commitment to Pan-Africanism and his vociferous belief in the potential of Africa and African people.
Date: Thursday 17 June 2010
Time: 5.30–7pm
Place: Rhodes House, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3RG
All welcome
Religious fundamentalism in Kenya has played a central role in the orchestration of gross human rights abuses against transsexuals and other minorities, writes Audrey Mbugua. Urging people to change their mentality, Mbugua argues that ‘we need to respect the human rights of others whether we – or our holy books – agree with how they live their lives or not. At the end of the day, the important question is whether the other person’s acts cause harm to others or not.’
Ten days after the Israeli attack on the Gaza-bound aid flotilla that left nine activists dead, the response from African governments and civil society groups is unrelenting. Organisation continues around the effort to condemn the 31 May attack, and to dismantle the Gaza blockade. Pambazuka News provides an update of last week’s condemning the violence against both the aid workers and the Palestinians of Gaza.
Abahlali baseMjondolo of the Western Cape 21 days ago launched its campaign ‘the right to the city campaign’ today the world and South Africans are counting few days before the kick off of the 2010 FiFa World cup, also Abahlali baseMjondolo of the Western Cape is counting few hours before kick starting its campaign.
Part of the aim of the campaign is to build shacks outside Green Point soccer stadium at Cape Town, occupying governmental offices, invading open public spaces within the city and occupying unused hotels, flats and schools within the City.
Tomorrow, the 11th June 2010 is the first day of our campaign, about 100 members of Abahlali baseMjondolo will meet at Cape Town next to Cape Peninsula University of Technology (CPUT) at Keizerngracht Street at 10:00 from there we will proceed to where our protest is going to take place.
Our action in terms of South African gatherings Act is viewed as illegal, as it suggest that we need to notify the police 14 days before such action but according to us our action is genuine and legitimate and we see no reason for us to notify them while we are going to occupy their offices because we refused to be controlled in any way in our actions.
All media agencies are invited to expose the police and governmental arrogance towards the poorest of the poor. We want the world to see how the poor are denied the right to well located land by South African Government and by the City of Toilets or the ‘Shit City’ (The City of Cape Town).
For more information please contact Mr. Qona at 076 875 9533 or Nobantu Goniwe at 078 760 5246
The OECD’s latest annual report on African economic development presents its findings on the economic performance and prospects of growth on the continent. Stephen Marks reflects on the report’s call for taxation reforms, and suggests a need for more 'effective, efficient and fair taxation in Africa’, to alleviate aid dependence and vulnerability to global financial downturns.
The is a tremendous blow to Pride Toronto. Many of Canada’s internationally recognised LGBTI activists who have received awards from Pride Toronto have returned their awards. Ugandan LGBTI activist Victor Mukasa is among the international award returnees. Bravo Victor for showing African solidarity with Queers Against Israeli Apartheid and the people of Palestine.
Gado's cartoons this week feature an alternative example of security checks during US Vice-President Joe Biden's trip to Kenya, Barack Obama being called by Nairobi about his support for Kenya's new constitution, the 2010 East African budget, and China & North Korea vs the US & Israel over nuclear weapons.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) is currently rethinking its highly criticised decision to allow Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, the president of Equatorial Guinea since 1979, to endow the Obiang Nguema Mbasogo International Prize for Research in the Life Sciences. Tutu Alicante voices the international community’s concern over this decision, and calls for action to stop the proceedings.
The World Bank, the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Secretariat recently presented seven “Principles for Responsible Agricultural Investment.” The principles seek to ensure that large-scale land investments result in “win-win” situations, benefiting investors and directly affected communities alike. But, though well-intended, the principles are woefully inadequate.
As the 2010 World Cup kicks off this Friday, thousands of football fans will arrive in South Africa to cheer on their favourite teams. HIV awareness and prevention is also a high priority during this time. HIV can spread particularly among young people, through the dangerous combination of alcohol and unsafe sex.
The United Nations envoy in Côte d’Ivoire has urged a new impetus for the country’s electoral process and reunification efforts to overcome the ongoing political impasse and make progress towards the holding of the long-delayed presidential polls. The objective in the immediate future is to concentrate on the production of the definitive electoral list, Y. J. Choi, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative, said in Abidjan on Wednesday following a meeting with the head of the Democratic Party of Côte d’Ivoire, Henri Konan Bédié.
Six countries in Central Africa have committed to end the recruitment of child soldiers, a move welcomed by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) as a step forward in giving all young people in the region a better life. In the N’Djamena Declaration adopted yesterday, the six – Cameroon, Chad, the Central African Republic (CAR), Niger, Nigeria and Sudan – outlined their commitments to child protection in line with global standards, including those in the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict.
The Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General on Somalia (SRSG), Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, and the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Somalia, Mark Bowden, invited Somali women to share their experiences, concerns and recommendations on the implementation of UN Security Council resolution 1325 in Nairobi on 9 June, on the occasion of the Global Open Day on women, peace and security.
With the World Cup finals looming, UNHCR and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) turned to football to tackle the lingering problem of xenophobia in South Africa's townships. The partner organizations, together with the Africa Diaspora Forum, have just staged a pilot Township Soccer Challenge. The initiative began in May and culminated last Saturday in Mohlakeng, when Randfontein beat Tembisa 5-0 to earn bragging rights to being the best township team in Gauteng Province.
The UN refugee agency has reported it had been told by the government of Libya to close its office in that country and halt activities. Speaking at a press briefing in Geneva, UNHCR's chief spokesperson, Melissa Fleming, told journalists that UNHCR was hoping the closure would be temporary and that negotiations to find a solution were continuing. However, she indicated that until the matter was resolved there would be difficulties in meeting vital refugee needs.
UNHCR is concerned about delays in a search-and-rescue operation involving a boat carrying more than 20 people, mostly Eritreans, near Malta. Distress calls were received on Sunday evening, including by UNHCR, and passed to Maltese and Italian maritime authorities. It is unclear which country had search-and-rescue responsibility when the distress calls were first sent. According to information made available to UNHCR, the boat was only rescued late on Monday, and by Libyan vessels.
Civil society groups attending a meeting on climate change in Bonn, Germany, have expressed disappointment that Saudi Arabia had blocked a review on the discussion of limiting temperature rise to 1.5 degrees Celsius target as suggested by scientists. "Many civil society groups are also disappointed to see discussions of the gigat on gap, the gap between pledged reductions and what is scientifically necessary, gone missing from the talks,' said Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org, an international climate campaign that has rallied millions of citizens in support of a science-based climate treaty.
Cameroonian writer, diplomat and civil servant, Ferdinand Leopold Oyono, died on Thursday in Yaounde, the Cameroonian capital, at the age of 81.
He was the author of two influential novels - The old man and the Medal and Une Vie de Boy written in the 1960s.
According to Geoges Etoa Oyono, who is the nephew of Oyono, the writer complained of weakness as he came out of the presidential palace where he attended the lunch offered in honour of the UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-Moon.
Oyono was an official at the UN in the 1970s and Cameroon's ambassador to the United Kingdom. He returned to Cameroon in 1985 and was appointed secretary-general of the presidency of the Republic.
He was minister of Foreign Relations and minster of Culture and worked for the setting up of copyright authority in the country.
UN Standing Committee on Nutrition has called for more diverse food sources to curb the impact of climate change on agriculture. The committee made the call in its latest publication. It reported that climate change trends will also affect food and nutrition security.
UNESCO has said that although social science from Western countries continues to be of great global influence, the field is expanding rapidly in Asia and Latin America, particularly in China and Brazil. Quoting from its findings in a 2010 World Social Science Report - "Knowledge divides", UNESCO said in sub-Saharan Africa, social scientists from South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya produced 75% of academic publications
Partner states of the East African Community (EAC) and the European Commission (EC) have ended their third negotiations session here on the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), observing that the main challenge in accessing the European Union market continued to be stringent rules of origin. Both sides, however, have affirmed their recognition of development needs of the EAC region and their commitment to ensure that EPA is an addition to development that would promote and consolidate regional integration and fast track the integration of the EAC into the global economy.
The global economy is likely to grow 2.9 per cent to 3.3 per cent in 2010 and 2011, the World Bank said. The bank, however, said that "Europe's debt crisis poses problems for global growth". In its latest Global Economic Prospects 2010, it said global economic recovery continued to advance "but Europe's debt crisis has created new hurdles on the road to sustainable medium term growth".
The global economic recovery continues to advance, but Europe's debt crisis has created new hurdles on the road to sustainable medium term growth, cautions the World Bank's latest Global Economic Prospects 2010 released on Wednesday. The World Bank projects global GDP to expand between 2.9% and 3.3% in 2010 and 2 011, strengthening to between 3.2% and 3.5% in 2012, reversing the 2.1% decline in 2009.
Sudanese President Omer al-Bashir has agreed to negotiate with the Southern Sudan on a pre-referendum that could herald the split of the semi-autonomous Southern Sudan from mainland Sudan. The Sudanese leader met the top leader of an African Union special panel on Darfur, Thabo Mbeki, former South African President, and announced he was ready for pre-referendum negotiations.
A leading London-based gay rights campaigner has blamed the recent break-up of Malawi's first openly gay couple on what he called the southern African country's homophobia. Peter Tatchell of Outrage! said 26-year-old Steven Monjeza and his 20- year-old partner Tiwonge Chimbalanga caved in to pressure from threats on their lives.
Al-Shabaab, one of the Islamist movements opposing the Somali government yesterday decreed a total ban on Somali speaking Universal TV. The group accused the London-based broadcaster, widely viewed in Somalia, of showing cartoons negatively depicting Prophet Mohammed. In the decree issued in Mogadishu, the top Council of Al-Shabaab quoted verses of the Koran (Muslims’ Holy Book) explaining the punishment to be faced by anybody undermining Prophet Mohammed a result, the movement described Universal TV as a tool used by non-Muslims to undermine Islam.
Scores of infants in northern Nigeria could be left with long-term neurological damage from lead poisoning caused by illegal gold mining which has already killed at least 170, most of them under five. Authorities in the state of Zamfara, aided by international agencies including Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF), the World Health Organisation and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), are helping treat the sick and bury mines to try to contain the pollution before heavy rains due next month
Zimbabwe's first private daily newspaper hit the streets to break a state monopoly established years ago after President Robert Mugabe's government banned a pro-opposition newspaper over a registration dispute. Mugabe, in power since independence in 1980, was forced to form a power-sharing government over a year ago with his rival, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, to tackle an economic and political crisis, including opening up the media industry.
In early 2008, an estimated 650,000 Kenyans were displaced and a further 1,300 lost their lives during two months of intense communal violence after the announcement of presidential and parliamentary election results. The incumbent, Mwai Kibaki, leader of the Party of National Unity (PNU), was declared to have defeated Raila Odinga, head of the opposition Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) in the presidential contest, despite the fact the PNU won fewer parliamentary seats. Both local and international observers questioned the results.
Hundreds of thousands of people in Zimbabwe remain internally displaced as a result of government policies and actions. The two largest groups of internally displaced people (IDPs) are farm workers and their families who have been displaced as a result of the fast-track land reform programme, which began in 2000 and continues to this day; and people displaced as a result of arbitrary evictions in Zimbabwe's towns and cities.
Food insecurity and livelihoods have been compounded by a critical lack of water in the worst-hit southern province of Zinder. "The women with whom I've spoken in villages have said water is their first problem," UN Under-Secretary General John Holmes told journalists during a visit to Zinder in late April.
The lawyers and paralegals of the Puntland Legal Aid Center go weekly to visit the 24 IDP camps that are scattered in and around Garowe to help displaced people with legal issues. The staff of the Center inform the IDPS of their rights, provide them with legal advice, and when needed, with free representation. Today, Youssuf, the Director of the Center, and Asha, a paralegal, are taking us to the Ajuran camp, by the river in Garowe.
Throughout the Women Deliver conference, and the Symposium on Strengthening Midwifery that preceded it, the critical importance of midwives to meeting the safe motherhood challenge was emphasized. Here, midwives and advocates from eight countries talk about their work, the challenges they face and what they need in order to save more women’s lives.
This brochure reflects a consensus of 40 international experts who convened in New York on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the International Conference on Population and Development. Together they reviewed evidence and developed recommendations on how to reduce inequities in access to family planning and other sexual and reproductive health services, particularly for disadvantaged populations. These actions are urgently needed to accelerate progress towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has called on Sudanese authorities to release up to a dozen journalists who have been held for over two weeks in two separate incidents in the North and South of the country. In Kharthoum, deputy Editor Abu Zar al-Amin and reporters Ashraf Abdel Aziz and Dahab Ibrahim, all working for the opposition owned Rai al-Shaab's newspaper have been in detention since 16 May accused of undermining relations between Sudan and the United State
The notorious rebel group known as the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) is carrying out ever more deadly attacks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and also continues to abduct children to use as soldiers in its ranks, United Nations aid workers reported. The rebels have murdered an average of 102 civilians every month in the DRC’s Orientale province since last December, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said, compared with an average of 64 per month in the previous two years.
South Africa’s travel and hotel industries have signed a code of conduct designed to protect children against sex tourism, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said today, praising the ethical guide as an enduring legacy of the 2010 World Cup. “The contribution of the travel and tourism industry is vital to help stamp out child sexual exploitation,” said Aida Girma, UNICEF’s representative in South Africa, following the signing of the Tourism Child Protection Code of Conduct in Johannesburg.
The United Nations human rights chief has urged the Kenyan Government to reconsider setting up a special tribunal to pursue accountability for the crimes committed during the violence that followed the disputed December 2007 elections. “I have been assured that this option is still open,” High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said in a statement issued at the end of a three-day visit to Kenya.
Survivors of the brutal conflict that has wracked northern Uganda for two decades, most of them young people, must be helped back on their feet by supporting their efforts to acquire skills that will help them reintegrate into society, a United Nations envoy has said after spending a week in the country. “Armed conflict creates victims, but also survivors whose resilience must be reinforced by government, international organizations and civil society as well as adequate rehabilitation and reintegration programmes,” said Radhika Coomaraswamy, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict.
A court in Finland has sentenced a Rwandan pastor, Francois Bazaramba, to life in jail for his participation in Rwanda's genocide. Bazaramba, 59, moved in 2003 to the Scandinavian country which allows prosecutions for crimes against humanity wherever they are committed.
Uganda's rebel group the Lord's Resistance Army attacked a village in the neighbouring Central African Republic on Thursday and kidnapped more than 30 people, police said. The rebels besieged the village of Fode at around 16:00 (15:00 GMT) and raided local houses and stole goods and provisions, a police official in the main local town of Bangassou said.
A former Nigerian rebel leader has said he would abandon an amnesty programme with hundreds of his followers if the government did not quickly provide jobs and development in the Niger Delta oil region. Ateke Tom, an ex-gang leader in the oil-producing Rivers state, told Reuters that life for his "boys" had yet to improve eight months after agreeing to surrender arms and participate in the government's amnesty programme.
South African Foreign Affairs officials in Pretoria are making frantic efforts to squeeze in a meeting between President Jacob Zuma and the three principals who will be at the official opening of the FIFA World Cup. The World Cup opens in Johannesburg on Friday and Robert Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and his deputy Arthur Mutambara have been invited to attend. The three will travel to the football extravaganza having failed to agree on any of the outstanding issues in the GPA during their Tuesday meeting in Harare.
A human rights campaigner has been sentenced to three years in jail by an Angolan court that convicted him of committing crimes against the state, in what his lawyer says is part of a crackdown on activists. A judge found Angolan rights activist Andre Zeferino Puati guilty late on Thursday after authorities found documents in his possession aimed at inciting people to protest against the government, his lawyer said.
The gold mining sector came under heavy criticism from clinicians, ex-miners, advocacy groups and the Minister of Health for the TB crisis it faces at the recent South African TB Conference. “If TB/HIV is a snake in Southern Africa, we know that its head is in South Africa in the mines,” stated Health Minister Dr Aaron Motsoaledi. Paula Akugizibwe from the Aids and Rights Alliance for Southern Africa (ARASA) stressed that the mining sector, which she referred to as a “TB factory”, was over a century behind schedule with regards to its TB response.
Researchers have started testing the safety a vaginal ring containing an antiretroviral drug in South Africa in the hope that it has the potential to prevent HIV infection in women. The clinical trial, known as IPM 015 will test the safety and acceptability of the dapivirine-containing vaginal ring – which is successfully used in Europe as a delivery method for hormonal therapy and birth control.
For lies to continue to hide the truth they must be constantly sustained and maintained. For truth to be able to emerge from under the lies we have to constantly remember what has really been said and done, by whom and for what purpose. We have often said that the attack on our movement in the Kennedy Road settlement on the 26th and 27th of September last year was planned at a very high political level. It was planned outside of the Kennedy Road settlement.
All of the Protea South Five, arrested after the electricity war in Protea South, Soweto, have been released on the grounds that 'there is no evidence against them'. None of the five were harmed while in detention. A sixth person from Protea South (who is not an LPM member) has now been arrested and charged with burning the transformer. There are currently conflicting reports at to whether or not there has been an arrest for the murder of the LPM activist shot by the Homeowners' Association in Protea South.
The National Information Communication and Technology Broadband Backbone (NICTBB) was switched on in 16 regions after the completion of the first phase of its construction.The move brings the hope of increased efficiency and reduced Internet charges in Tanzania.
TB patients who have knowledge regarding the relationship between TB and HIV or have been counselled on HIV are more likely to report having used a condom during sexual intercourse, according to a study presented at the 2nd South African TB conference held in Durban last week.
Behaviour change and high AIDS death rates contributed to the substantial decline in HIV prevalence in Zimbabwe from 29% in 1997 to close to 16% in 2007 according to findings published by Simon Gregson and colleagues in the April 20th advance online edition of the International Journal of Epidemiology.
Members of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) have taken different platforms in negotiating with the European Union (EU) for the implementation of the full Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs). This follows a recent engagement meeting between SADC’s Ministers of Trade and Industry and Economic Development and the EU in Brussels aimed at mapping the way forward for the implementation of the EPAs.
Over 15 fair trade lobby organisations have warned the East African Community leaders against signing the Framework Economic Partnerships Agreements (EPAs) with the European Union. The Framework Economic Partnerships Agreement between the European Union and the East African Community is scheduled to be signed today in the Tanzanian capital of Dar-es-Salaam, despite widespread criticism.
A High Court judge has reserved judgement on the Kalahari Bushmen’s bid to gain access to a borehole which they rely on for water. The Bushmen were at the Botswana High Court to hear their application for permission to use their borehole which the Botswana government has banned them from using.
Aid to poor countries should be tailored more towards benefiting European firms, a top-level Brussels official has recommended. Andris Piebalgs, the European Union's commissioner for development, is seeking a new aid strategy that has "value for money" as an overriding priority.
Hanging from a rafter in Jane Wanjiku’s home is a calendar bearing the image of the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo. It's an illustration of how the ICC has seized the imagination of ill-treated people around the world. Wanjiku has lived in Kibera for more than 60 years and witnessed many upheavals. But the 74-year-old says she has never seen violence as severe as what followed the 2007 elections.