Pambazuka News 452: Sp. Issue: How we wish you were here: the legacy of Mwalimu Nyerere
Pambazuka News 452: Sp. Issue: How we wish you were here: the legacy of Mwalimu Nyerere
Drawing from Mwalimu Nyerere’s thoughts on colonialism and post-colonialism, Marjorie Mbilinyi critiques the current state of leadership. “Corruption and the lack of patriotic leadership”, she observes, “has increased during the last 20 some years, but not in a vacuum.” This is so because an “enabling environment was created for corruption, individualism and compradorial tendencies by neo-liberal ideology and macroeconomic reforms which successfully took a dominant position in Tanzania – and much of the rest of Africa – in the mid-1980s.” To bring an end to this leader-centered group leadership, Marjorie calls for a people-centered leadership whereby “group-centered leaders … are grounded within their organizations or institutions, or movements; and the groups/organizations/movements they lead are identified not by a particular individual, but rather by the collectivity and its vision and mission.”
In this interview with Annar Cassam on 29 September 2009 in London, Chief Emeka Anyaoku, the former secretary-general of the Commonwealth Secretariat, reflects on Nyerere’s influence on international diplomacy. In “his many interventions and initiatives on behalf of Africa and the Third World in general and on behalf of the liberation struggle of South and Southern Africa in particular,” Anyaoku reflects with Cassam, Nyerere “came into serious conflict with the British government of the day, for the Commonwealth connection did not turn out to be the cosy network they had perhaps once imagined.”
Faustine Kamuzora’s article looks at the vision that guided Mwalimu Nyerere’s economic policies. “Since the majority of the citizenry lived in rural areas,” the article notes, “rural development was accorded high priority in economic policies.” These policies had mixed results whereby “while a number of indicators of human development indices improved appreciably, productivity in some sectors did not improve resulting into an economic growth decline.” “Nevertheless,” the article concludes, “the underlying philosophy of Nyerere’s economic policies of building an egalitarian society has enabled Tanzania to attain a stable nation status.”
Looking back on Mwalimu Nyerere's tremendous intellectual influence, Chambi Chachage considers the enduring importance of the leader. Noting Nyerere's prescience in arguing against nations surrendering their "power of decision making" to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Chachage stresses that the leader's legacy is rooted in stimulating impassioned public debate around positive socio-economic change.
Helen Kijo-Bisimba and Chris Maina Peter review the highly complex position that Mwalimu Nyerere had on human rights. On the one hand, they write, there “is Mwalimu the individual – a God fearing and religious family person who respects and champions rights of all people”. Yet on the other there is “Mwalimu – the President of the United Republic – signing a few death warrants, detaining people in custody without trial” and “deporting citizens of Tanzania from one part of the country to another”. This apparent complexity, they assert, had to do with his belief that “the community was far more important than the individual” and thus an “individual could be sacrificed but not the community.” Kijo-Bisimba and Peter thus conclude: “Whatever Mwalimu did that could be interpreted as violating human rights can always be explained in wider benefits to the community.”
Mwalimu Nyerere, writes Issa G. Shivji, “saw Tanzania essentially as a nation of village communities [that] was likely to be so for the foreseeable future.” He thus saw it as site of statist development and bureaucratic social service provision. Although there were “seeds of the conception of the village as a site of governance” in his thought, “there is no evidence that he advocated any consistent, political programme to evolve village governance.” Shivji thus calls on us take Mwalimu’s limited thought on the village one step further by placing the “restructuring of village governance on the centre stage” whereby it should be based on the rule of law and separation of power, not top-down administrative fiat. This will enable people’s development through a process of ‘accumulation from below’ in villages.
In an interview with Nawal El Saadawy of Egypt's El Mussawar first published on 19 October 1984, Mwalimu Nyerere discusses Palestine, Tanzania's relations with Libya, and Africa's economic woes.
In an interview originally published by El País on 16 November 1991, Ana Camacho questions Mwalimu Nyerere on the implications for the global South of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the role of democracy in Africa's development.
Annar Cassam discusses two historic interviews conducted with Mwalimu Nyerere, the .
"Tanzania must support the struggle for freedom … regardless of the political philosophy of those who are conducting the struggle. If they are capitalists, we must support them; if they are liberals, we must support them; if they are communists, we must support them; if they are socialists, we must support them. We support them as nationalists. The right of a man to stand upright as a human being in his own country comes before questions of the kind of society he will create once he has that right. Freedom is the only thing that matters until it is won."
President Nyerere, University of Toronto, October 1969
The totality of his commitment to the freedom of others regardless of their political affiliations and the universality of his belief in the unity of Africa and other oppressed people gave Nyerere considerable strength and confidence. From the very beginning of his career, first as a nationalist for Tanganyika's independence and then as an internationalist leader of a Third World country, he led the newly formed international organisations of the day, the OAU (Organization of African Unity) and the Commonwealth in particular, to find their identity and purpose in action. This is evident in the first-hand testimony provided by two eminent international civil servants, Chief Emeka Anyaoku and Mohamed Sahnoun, who were sent to serve at the OAU and the Commonwealth and who collaborated in the strategy for liberation. This week's Pambazuka News features an interview with Chief Emeka Anyaoku entitled and a memoir from Mohamed Sahnoun entitled [email protected] or comment online at Pambazuka News.
Ten years ago, on 14 October 1999, a giant died and left a cavern in our consciousness, if not in our conscience. Julius Kambarage Nyerere was a man of extraordinary achievements on a a national, continental and international scale, writes Firoze Manji, in this introduction to a special issue of Pambazuka News.
Pambazuka News 451: Attack on shackdwellers: Death of democracy in South Africa?
Pambazuka News 451: Attack on shackdwellers: Death of democracy in South Africa?
Salma Soliman reviews 'Global Unions, Global Business', by Richard Croucher and Elizabeth Cotton. Engaging with key themes such as the challenges for trade unionism presented by the growth in 'informal' employment, Soliman lauds a leading work on the central question of how imbalances between multinationals and employees can be redressed to the benefit of workers around the world.
Patricia Daley reviews Aernout Zevenbergen's 'Spots of a Leopard: on being a man in Africa' in this week's Pambazuka News. If the book suffers for the absence of non-violent male figures and an unclear focus towards its end, Zevenbergen's work successfully debunks myths and provides a springboard for discussion around the 'destructive effects of redundant traditionalism', Daley concludes.
Saluting the contribution of Ethiopia's 'patriot-soldiers', Alemayehu G. Mariam commends the courage, patriotism and resilience displayed by the country's defenders in this week's Pambazuka News.
Following the troubling deaths of Guineans under the repressive rule of Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, Okello Oculi argues that Camara's action represents the latest incident of a 'lethal psychotic disorder' manifested by an African leader. Camara's actions are reminiscent of those of former Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, Oculi contends, and necessitate an immediate response from ECOMOG (Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group).
Following the attacks on Abahlali baseMjondolo members at Kennedy Road, Durban, the South African Council of Churches condemns the violence perpetrated against a defenceless group.
Roderick Bush's new book, 'The End of White World Supremacy', is now available from .
Following the resignation of Justice Aaron Ringera from the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC) last week, L. Muthoni Wanyeki argues that rather than celebrating a supposed triumph of 'popular will', we should actually question the opportunity costs associated with a prolonged stand-off.
The members of Abahlali baseMjondolo describe their movement as 'made for us and by us' or, as their elected president S'bu Zikode describes, 'a living politics'. Pointing out the essential irrelevance of the Northern-produced term 'gentrification' to describe their conditions, Abahlali stresss that their situation is markedly different and results from the authorities' 'dehumanising hatred'.
Specific home and host-country policies, cheap land, the lack of a legal infrastructure, investment opportunities and the promise of quick profit returns are the driving factors behind land acquisitions throughout Africa, argues Nikolaj Nielsen in this week's Pambazuka News.
While the Niger Delta represents the epicentre of an ongoing crisis in Nigeria, it is but a microcosm of a nationwide problem, writes Sabella Ogbobode Abidde in this week's Pambazuka News. The country must face up to its difficulties, Abidde contends, and not simply marginalise voices of dissent. Common sense must prevail and President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua must use the instrument of the state to pursue peace.
In this week's Pambazuka News, Tafadzwa Thelma Madondo writes about last year's xenophobic attacks in South Africa and their dramatic consequences for foreign women and children. Madondo argues that the government did not do enough to protect the most vulnerable to violence and that more has to be done to guarantee everyone’s safety in South Africa in the future.
Mutsa Murenje argues in this week’s Pambazuka News that what is affecting the Zimbabwean people’s wellbeing is not the sanctions resulting from Robert Mugabe’s rule but rather his rule itself. Murenje writes that the sanctions that were implemented by the international community do not actually have an effect on Zimbabwe’s population, and makes the case for good governance as the key to helping Zimbabweans.
Following the students unrest on early march in Kenyatta University, four students and a lecturer were arrested after getting their suspension and expulsion letters charged with incitement and obstructing police from doing its duties.
Yesterday we received a phone call from a Kenyatta University student about the severe stabbing and strangulation of Moses Nandwale, the secretary general of University Students Leader Association. He is hospitalised; we are trying to locate the hospital he is admitted in since his phone line is not operational. Up to now there is a student still remanded in Industrial Remand Prison waiting for a 20,000 Ksh Bond. The last time we talked with Moses Nandwale was last Friday while we were in court for the mention of the five who were arrested while taking tea in Githurai 45 Hotel. Over the days Shalmat Kasim Naumi has been living in fear; even in court she was scared. Yesterday the stabbing of their fellow comrade leader shows the magnitude of the problem and the threats the students from Kenyatta University are facing.
In the meanwhile Professor Mugenda Olive – whose removal from managing Kenyatta University the students have been fighting for – yesterday heard a case brought against her by two lecturers to the industrial court over their reinstation to the institution after they lost their jobs illegally in 2006. She refused to heed the court order for the reinstatement and that’s why the judge committed her for a two-month jail term for contempt of court.
We are thankful to all the people who have shown a willingness to assist through the R.P.P secretariat. Among the students wishes is to challenge their illegal expulsion and the threats towards them.
Patrick Kamotho Githinji
In the wake of the armed African National Congress (ANC) takeover of Kennedy Road, Abahlali baseMjondolo has received support from all over the world.
On 7 October 2009 at 10:00 am, the Symphony Way pavement dwellers will appear in the Western Cape High Court.
has sent a letter to Mayor Dan Plato calling on the city to reconsider the eviction of the Symphony Way community to Blikkiesdorp.
We all face evictions from the city of Cape Town – for a second time. The first time was when we were evicted from the N2 Gateway houses without being given any suitable alternative place to stay. This is why we have been occupying Symphony way for 1 year and 8 months.
The city wants to put us in .
We refuse to be treated like aliens in our own country! This is why we say Asiyi eBlikkiesdorp! We will not go to tin-cans!
We will get together for our march at Keizergracht Square at 8:00 am and start marching to the High Court at 9:00 am. The march will be as follows: from Keizergracht down Darling Street, left onto Adderley Street, right into Wale Street and then left into Keerom Street where the court is situated.
For more information, contact Kareemah on (+27) 078-492-0943, Aunty Badru on (+27) 072-822-8109 and Evelyn on (+27) 072-748-6864.
To download the letter to Plato, .
* 'Voices from Symphony Way' is a forthcoming publication from Pambazuka Press.
Tierno Monenembo cries out in anguish at the killing of 157 people by Guinean soldiers on 28 September. Amidst shock at the bloody brutality, the anguish at the loss of sons and daughters, and the apparent treachery of the gods, there is a resurgence of hope. The death of 157 innocent citizens on 28 September also signals a new beginning. For their sake, the popular uprising must push on towards its ultimate goal: the departure of Dadis Camara. An old Soussou proverb serves a warning to the supporters of Camara: 'The snake you feed will be the one that bites you.'
The UN World Habitat Day, the attacks against Durban's Abahlali baseMjondolo, the campaign against Nestlé's buying milk from Robert Mugabe and Muammar al-Gaddafi's deal with Europe are among the topics covered in Sokari Ekine's fortnightly round-up of the African blogosphere for Pambazuka News.
While the global fight against poverty has made progress, Zikipediq writes in this week's Pambazuka News, the percentage of poor people in Africa has not reduced. With the global financial crisis threatening to plunge even further numbers into extreme poverty, the international community's support will remain key, along with a long-term view when it comes to supporting development goals.
Roland Bankole Marke makes a very pertinent and relevant call in this week's Pambazuka News to support African media organizations, not only through reading their articles and moral contributions but by giving more financial support to them. This call does not only come amid a financial crisis that threatens much larger media cooperations but also in relation to the long term sustainability of all free African media organizations. As he points out information is power however, the running of a news website costs money, and this money does not come out of thin air.
A relevant and thought-provoking poem that questions the priorities of the Kenyan government in relation to the tourism industry is brought to you by Wangui Kamari in this week's Pambazuka News.
AFRICA DIRECTOR
AFRICA OUTREACH MANAGERS X 2
ONE is a campaign and advocacy organization backed by two million people from around the world and every walk of life who are committed to the fight against extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa. We aim to hold world leaders to account for the promises made and we press them to support better policies and more effective aid and trade reform. We also work with African leaders to support greater democracy, accountability and transparency.
ONE is seeking an Africa Director and two Africa Outreach Managers to enhance our advocacy work with civil society, government, NGOs and media organisations on the continent. 2010 will be a very important year for Africa – it will mark years after Live Aid, 5 years on from Live 8 and Make Poverty History, 5 years before the deadline for the Millennium Development Goals and with the first football World Cup to be hosted in Africa, 2010 will be an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of recent years and demand that progress accelerates. It is therefore a crucial time for ONE as we ensure that our work accurately reflects the priorities of Africa at this time.
The Africa Director will lead our campaigning and advocacy work across the continent, supporting our wider work influencing G8/20 governments to maintain their commitments to the Millennium Development Goals and manage a strategy for maintaining our engagement and dialogue with key leaders in sub-Saharan African government, civil society, the private sector and the media.
The Africa Outreach Managers will support our advocacy and policy development work with government agencies, civil society and private sector organisations based in sub-Saharan Africa ensuring that ONE’s priorities are closely aligned with those of our African partners.
The ideal candidates will be great team players who can also operate well independently with substantial advocacy experience and a strong knowledge of the international policy architecture and environment. These roles will be based in Africa (exact location TBD) with some international travel.
For more information: please contact Tina Ajuonuma, European Operations Manager on +44 (0)207 434 7569 or [email][email protected]
In the wake of Guinea's bloody repression, CONAG-DCF (National Coalition of Guinea for the Rights and Citizenship of Women) condemns the violence and the atrocious abuse suffered by the country's women.
Following the tragic rape and death of Grace Ushang in Cross River State, Nigeria, Asma’u Joda and Iheoma Obibi deplore the absence of any meaningful protection for the country's women and the Senate's apparent move to exacerbate matters further through the adoption of the Indecent Dressing Bill. If Ushang had merely been wearing khaki trousers – the official uniform of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) organisation with which she worked – then how will Nigeria guarantee the safety of each and every women in the uniformed services at large?
A one year-old Ethiopian girl named Galila died in Egypt's El Quanater prison after having been incarcerated with her mother for six months, in contravention of Egypt's obligations under Article 31(1) of the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees not to punish refugees.
The assault and killings suffered by Abahlali baseMjondolo members at Kennedy Road represent a quiet 'coup' and an attack on democracy, write Nigel Gibson and Raj Patel in this week's Pambazuka News. At once a reflection of the ANC's (African National Congress) encouragement of thuggery and the disturbing entrance of an ethnic politics 'unthinkable even in apartheid’s darkest days', the incident was the result of a deliberate attack on an autonomous, grassroots movement. With S'bu Zikode – Abahlali's elected chair – now forced into hiding, the intolerance of poor people's desire for representation and the emergence of 'demons of ethnic hatred' threaten the nation's very stability, the authors conclude.
This report on Integrated Resource Recovery (IRR), written by Justin Carter for the Global Environmental Institute (GEI), outlines various components of a conceptual design that attempts to integrate community and industrial processes with ecological design. It is intended that by extracting the relevant parts of this approach, IRR-specific guidelines can be created that will serve the IPP program’s overall objectives. Much of what is described here is done with one of the Global Environmental Institute’s (GEI’s) core mandates in mind.
This week’s Pambazuka News brings you a lecture given by Samir Amin on the 22 September 1997 in memory of Abdulrahman Mohamed Babu. Amin recounts the struggles of independence and post-independence in Africa, struggles that Babu played a major role in. In this eye-opening historical analysis, Amin not only pays tribute to Babu but encourages us to look beyond the populism of the Bandung years and the following comprador societies and instead build on the independence struggles to create genuinely democratic societies in Africa.
The International Day of Rural Women directs attention to both the contribution that women make in rural areas, and the many challenges that they face. Women play a critical role in the rural economies of both developed and developing countries. In most parts of the developing world they participate in crop production and livestock care, provide food, water and fuel for their families, and engage in off-farm activities to diversify the family income.
Darfur Relief and Documentation Centre (DRDC) is gravely concerned about the renewed military operations and displacement of civilians in Darfur. Violence is reported in Korma, Meliet, Jebal Moo, Jebal Mediob and eastern Jebal Marra in North Darfur State. Heavy military equipments including fighter planes and artillery are being used intensively during the last 4 weeks causing indiscriminate damage on civilian targets.
At least 42 people are killed, 70 others injured following nearly a week-long fighting between Mundari and Bor youth, officials figures indicate. While 8,000 internal displaced persons (IDPs) are at the augury of starvation in Terekeke and Pariak in Terekeke and Bor Counties respectively and in dire need for humanitarian assistance.
The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) notes with concern the escalation of unbridled attacks in the on human rights in the Gambia. Since the 2004 murder of Deyda Hydera and several other alleged extra judicial killings, disappearance in detention, the wanton abuse of human rights especially the right of the freedom of expression and media freedoms have increased.
The Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) is a national non-governmental organisation with the mission to promote, protect and enhance the enjoyment of all human rights by all men and women. The vision of the KHRC is a Kenya without human rights violations. The KHRC wishes to recruit a suitably qualified person to fill the position of Programme Officer-Legal Affairs.
The Equal Status and Human Rights of Women in East Africa (EAHUWO) is an East African based program that seeks to improve the knowledge of international human rights standards, in particular those related to equality and non-discrimination among professionals working with the human rights of women in order to contribute to the enhancement of gender equality throughout the East African Region.
The transnational corporations are our common enemy; they constitute the present form of capital which exercises control over our economies. In the rural areas we are witnessing a savage offensive by capital and by the transnational corporations on agriculture and natural resources. It is a privatisation war of plunder directed against peasants and indigenous people, a privatisation robbery of the land, biodiversity, water, seeds, production, and agribusiness trade.
The Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) has sent a letter to Cape Town Mayor Dan Plato calling on the City to reconsider the eviction of the Symphony Way community to Blikkiesdorp. We all face evictions from the City of Cape Town – for a second time. The first time was when we were evicted from the N2 Gateway houses without being given any suitable alternative place to stay. This is why we have been occupying Symphony way for 1 year and 8 months.
This fellowship is located in the African Centre for Gender and Social Development Division (ACGSD) of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) is the regional arm of the United Nations in Africa. Its mandate is to promote the social and economic development of Africa. As part of its program of support to member States, ECA is inviting applications from qualified young African Professionals to the “ECA Fellowships for Young African Professionals” programme.
On September 30, 2009, the Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution that addresses the need to end sexual violence against women in conflict-affected countries. Introduced by the US government, at a session chaired by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the resolution builds on SCRs 1325 and 1820, both of which were instrumental in raising the issue of sexual violence on the Security Council’s agenda.
The application for the 2010 session of the annual Human Rights Advocates Program (HRAP) at Columbia University is now available. HRAP is designed to prepare proven human rights leaders from the Global South and marginalized communities in the U.S. to participate in national and international policy debates on globalization by building their skills, knowledge, and contacts. The Program features a four-month residency at Columbia University in New York City with a structured curriculum of advocacy, networking, skills-building, and academic coursework.
African Women Condemn Use of Force on Unarmed Civilian in Guinea African Women leaders meeting in Lome, Togo at a Women’s Leadership Conference convened by the African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET) in collaboration with ROFAF condemns in the strongest terms the use of excessive force on unarmed and peaceful demonstrators in Conakry, the capital of Guinea that has resulted in the death of at least 157 persons and injuring over 1,200 people since Monday 28th September 2009.
Founder of the Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force, one of the most prominent armed groups operating in the Niger Delta region, today Mujahid Dokubo Asari is a member of the main opposition party of Nigeria. After numerous unsuccessful attempts to win elections with the aim to fight the unbalanced oil management in the country, in 2004 he and his armed group stopped oil production but did not damage oil lots.
As experts on food and agriculture come together in Rome on October 12, 2009 to discuss the challenge of feeding the world by 2050, a new report from the Oakland Institute, The Great Land Grab: Rush for World's Farmland Threatens Food Security for the Poor, sounds the alarm on the threat that land grabbing poses to food security and livelihoods.
The Ethiopian Women’s Human Rights Alliance (EWHRA) has released a report submitted to the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), a United Nations (UN) mechanism aimed at reviewing the human rights record of UN member countries. EWHRA’s report details the egregious violation of human rights committed by the Ethiopian government in contravention of its obligations under numerous international human rights treaties.
The Sudanese government will take back a plot of land allocated for a Jordanian agricultural megaproject if the government does not implement the project within two weeks, Agriculture Minister Saeed Masri has said. The project was supposed to be implemented by a private company with government support, but last week, Masri announced that the private sector partner had withdrawn from the plan, noting that their decision was made unilaterally without prior notification.
People and the environment in the vicinity of the North Mara Gold Mine in Tanzania are being exposed to heavy metals and cyanide pollution, according to a report published in June for the Christian Council of Tanzania (CCT). The study collected and analysed samples of water, sediments/soil for four heavy metals Nickel, Cadmium, Lead and Chromium. Concentrations of almost all of these were found to exceed the standards of the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Tanzanian and US Environmental Protection agencies.
Nigeria's most vocal opposition party, the Action Congress (AC), has condemned the plan by federal legislators to surreptitiously grant themselves and their state counterparts the kind of immunity from arrest and prosecution now being enjoyed by the President, Vice President and the governors of the 36 states. In a statement, issued in Abuja by its National Publicity Secretary,Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the bill, which, according to media reports, had scaled second reading in the House, could create a new set of 'untouchables' if passed into law.
Ufahamu* has been an important forum for the publication of materials addressing Africa and the African Diaspora for more than 30 years. Named after the Swahili word for comprehension, understanding or being, UFAHAMU is committed views about social issues, addressing both the general reader and the scholar. Since its establishment in 1970, UFAHAMU continues to challenge and correct misconceptions about Africa, thereby creating relevant criteria for African Studies.
Some 8,299 militants embraced the Nigerian government's amnesty programme for oil militants, which ended 4 October, according to officials of the Coordinating Committee on the Amnesty. Chief Coordinator Lucky Ararile, an Air Vice Marshall, told journalists that the militants also surrendered 287,445 ammunition, 2,760 assorted weapons, 18 gunboats, 763 dynamites, 1,090 dynamite caps and 3,155 magazines.
A United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) top official has said the Copenhagen climate change agreement which is expected to be clinched in December needs to come up with a financial architecture that puts governments and parties to the convention in control, as well as decide what will be financed and how. UNFCCC executive secretary Yvo de Boer said it was also critical that the Copenh agen conference in Denmark also comes away with an architecture that clearly responds to nationally-defined needs and priorities, as opposed to priorities at national institutions.
In past elections, Frelimo in Tete took a hard line against any opposition, with violence and intimidation, and also obstructed observers. There is a danger that this might happen again, and our journalists are reporting higher levels of violence in Tete than elsewhere. In both 1999 and 2004, Frelimo drove all Renamo activists out of Changara district, there were no Renamo party delegates in the polling stations, and there was extensive ballot box stuffing. In 1999, Renamo houses were burned and the Renamo representative on STAE was driven out of the district.
In this week's emerging powers news, Stephen Marks looks at claims by Robert Fisk that Arab states have launched secret moves with China, Russia and France to stop using the US currency for oil trading, a new report from the IMF suggesting that emerging and developing countries are leading the recovery from the global financial crisis, and demands by Africa's poorest nations for representation in the G20
The Oakland City Council unanimously voted in favor of a resolution urging the U.S. State Department to facilitate peace in the Niger Delta through independently monitored peace negotiations. The City’s call contrasts with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s pledge in August to explore further U.S. military assistance to the government of Nigeria. The resolution marks a new level of support to pressure the United States to adopt a foreign policy that promotes constructive change through dialog in alignment with the American values of democratic civic engagement, and freedom of speech and the press.
The International Rescue Committee (IRC) has activated its emergency preparedness plan for Influenza A H1N1/A virus viral outbreak after 21 cases were confirmed in two large refugee camps in Kenya – collectively home to more than 320,000 people. There have now been 5 confirmed cases in Kakuma camp, northwestern Kenya, as well as 16 cases in Hagadera, Dadaab – one of the world’s largest refugee camps, where overcrowding and lack of resources are already putting a strain on healthcare systems.
A dispute broke out at the head of Guinea’s military government late on Wednesday after a junta leader sought to arrest a military officer for his part in the mass killings of anti-government protesters last month. The incident at junta leader Captain Moussa Dadis Camara’s headquarters in the capital Conakry is the latest sign of rifts within the leadership and came just hours after France for the first time suggested Camara could be implicated in the deaths.
South Africa’s Government plans to resubmit a Bill to parliament that would allow it to seize land from farmers if negotiations to buy the land from them failed, a government official has said.The expropriation Bill was submitted to parliament last year as part of efforts to speed up the process of handing over 30 per cent of agricultural land to landless blacks by 2014.
A deal on who should hold the top posts in Madagascar's power-sharing government faced collapse on Thursday after ousted leader Marc Ravalomanana refused to endorse his rival as president. Ravalomanana had agreed in principle to an agreement struck on Tuesday by the Indian Ocean island's feuding political parties which saw Andry Rajoelina, 35, retain the presidency on the condition he does not contest the next presidential ballot.
Two weeks ago President Mwai Kibaki ordered the closure of the camps, which at the peak of the violence were home to around 500,000 people. But more than a year-and-a-half later there are Kenyans still living in tents some of whom are reluctant to leave.
Human rights activists in Chad say they fear a new Chinese-backed oil project will displace hundreds of people and will destroy at least 10 villages. Work has begun to build a 300km (185 mile) pipeline from the Koudalwa oilfields in the south of the country, to a new refinery north of the capital. But activists say an environmental impact assessment was inadequate and residents were not properly consulted.
Former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan says the leaders of Kenya's post-election violence should face trial. The key perpetrators are to be tried at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, but Mr Annan said it was vital that others were tried in Kenya. Mr Annan helped mediate a peace deal after the 2008 violence in which 1,300 were killed and 300,000 displaced.
Since the birth of a democratic South Africa in 1994, there are a range of ‘isms that have had, and continue to have, varying degrees of currency and impact on our society. The favourite of the privileged classes and political-economic elites has, of course, always been capitalism while for a sizeable portion of the poor, alongside a few intellectuals and political activists (even within the South African Communist Party) socialism remains the preferred alternative. Some in our midst clearly still hanker for the repressive certainties of fascism and/or monarchism, while others endorse a more traditional communitarianism.
The Sudanese government should end attacks by its armed forces on civilians in Darfur and make the major human rights reforms envisioned in the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA), Human Rights Watch has said in a new report. The 25-page report, "The Way Forward: Ending Human Rights Abuses and Repression across Sudan" documents human rights violations and repression in Khartoum and northern states, ongoing violence in Darfur, and the fighting that threatens civilians in Southern Sudan.
Guinean authorities should immediately free all those detained without charge following the bloody crackdown on an opposition rally on September 28, 2009, or charge them with a specific criminal offense followed by a fair trial, Human Rights Watch has said. The group also supported the call by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to establish an international commission of inquiry into the violence, in which an estimated 150 or more demonstrators were killed.
This week’s [mp3] includes a report of Zimbabwe's police forcing striking workers back to work, and protest by South Africa's COSATU against labour brokers. Elsewhere, collective bargaining agreements become more popular as labour cases stack up in Kenya's courts, and Nigeria’s cement workers cry out over inhuman treatment. This bulletin is part of a partnership between Worker’s World Media Productions and Pambazuka News that seeks to highlight labour issues affecting Africa’s workers.
The push to reinvent the International Monetary Fund took a significant step forward this week, with nations agreeing to a rough timetable to come up with plans to reform its governance and expand its role in the global economy. The agreements, reached during the IMF's semiannual meeting in Istanbul that ends Wednesday, come as the mission of the 65-year-old Washington-based institution is re-examined in the wake of the global financial crisis
UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, will sponsor a special event on 12 October to open a major exhibition on violence against women around the world. The show, to be attended by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, other senior United Nations officials and representative of the diplomatic community, is also intended to observe the 15th anniversary of the Cairo International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), and will follow a full-day session of the General Assembly commemorating the anniversary.
ILGA is deeply worried and outraged by UN Assembly new President Ali Abdussalam Treki's failure to consider the protection of the life and safety of lesbians, gay men, trans, intersex and bisexual people all over the world a matter of human rights. In an interview prior to his first address to the UN Assembly in his new role, Mr Treki declared himself to be “not in favour at all” with reference to the Statement in favour of the decriminalisation of homosexuality signed by 66 Countries and read by the Argentinian representative last December at the General Assembly in New York.
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has firmly condemned the violence and death threats by the military junta against journalists in Guinea. Mouctar Bah, the Conakry correspondent of Agence France-Presse and Radio France Internationale, Amadou Diallo, the BBC’s correspondent and Mamadou Ba journalist of the satirical newspaper Le Lynx are roughed up by soldiers covering the violent dispersal of an opposition meeting in which more than hundred persons died in September, 28 2009.
United Nations legal experts are on a 10-day visit to Côte d'Ivoire to study the West African country’s implementation of national laws and its prison administration as well as the judiciary’s interaction with other sectors of society. Two experts from the UN Department Operations Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), Agneta Johnson and Gwendolyn Chellam, went to the western region to discuss the redeployment of judicial and prison authorities across the country following years of tensions in the wake of a political and military crisis.
A former senior Rwandan military officer indicted by the United Nations war crimes tribunal for his role in the 1994 genocide in the tiny Central African country was handed over to the court today after being on the run for nearly nine years – the second fugitive to be delivered up in two months. Idelphonse Nizeyimana, former second in command for intelligence and military operations at an officers’ school, was arrested in Kampala by the National Central Bureau of Interpol in collaboration with the tracking team of the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and transferred to the court’s detention facility in Arusha, Tanzania.