Pambazuka News 447: Morocco uses torture to silence Sahrawi activists
Pambazuka News 447: Morocco uses torture to silence Sahrawi activists
Since the conflict between the Nigerien government and Tuareg groups intensified in 2007 following the creation of the Mouvement Nigérien pour la Justice, around 11,000 people have been displaced from their homes in mountainous areas north of Agadez. The conflict has abated in 2009, and many of the internally displaced people (IDPs) have started going back to their homes, whether spontaneously or with assistance from the local municipalities and the international community.
Kenya is facing a new urban time-bomb, with millions of Nairobi residents suffering a daily struggle for food and water as the divide between rich and poor widens, international aid agency Oxfam warned in a new report. A combination of falling household income, rising prices, and poor governance is making life a misery for the poor majority in Kenya's capital, the report on 'Urban Poverty and Vulnerability in Kenya' said.
Though political instability, violence and chaos surround them, surgeons and backup teams dedicated to ending the misery of obstetric fistula continue their work in the failed state of Somalia. The gratitude of their patients keeps them going in the most desperate of situations.
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has condemned the harassment and intimidation campaign against journalists in Guinea and the consistent threats on freedom of expression since the advent of the military junta in the country. “Since the advent of the military junta, we have witnessed more and more threats, and arrests that are squarely designed to intimidate journalists,” declared Gabriel Baglo, Director of IFJ Africa Office.
An estimated 48,000 people uprooted by severe flooding in Burkina Faso are sheltering in temporary accommodation such as schools, churches and public buildings while another 40,000 are living with host families, the United Nations has reported. A UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) team that went to Burkina Faso in the wake of the recent flooding also found that facilities in many of the buildings in which people are taking shelter, especially sanitation, are under strain.
With two new United Nations reports detailing human rights abuses – including possible war crimes – carried out by both Government forces and rebels in the volatile far east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the world body’s top rights official has stressed the urgent need for reforming the country’s security and judicial systems.
September 10 marks the 40th anniversary of an African refugee convention, which the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNCHR) hails as “groundbreaking” for having paved the way for millions on the continent to receive protection and assistance. Under the 1951 UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, a refugee was defined as a person having “a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion.”
The head of the United Nations refugee agency has kicked off a five-day tour to North Africa to assess the conditions for people still sheltering in makeshift camps in Algeria after fleeing conflict in Western Sahara in the mid-1970s. UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) has been providing assistance to the Saharawi people since they fled to western Algeria in 1975-76, after fighting broke out between Morocco and the Frente Polisario – a Saharawi movement – at the end of Spain’s colonial administration of Western Sahara.
Respect for human rights must be central to police work, a senior United Nations official in Liberia has told the new members of an elite unit within the West African country's police force as she warned them never to misuse their strength and power. Eighty officers from the Liberia National Police (LNP) have completed a three-month intensive training programme to join the force's Emergency Response Unit (ERU), joining just over 200 others who have finished their training since courses began in mid-2008.
Most Malawian children are struggling to acquire pre-school education before enroll in primary schools because nursery education is not free. "In Malawi, children aged between 6 to 8 years are generally enrolled in primary school. The problem, however, is that many of these children miss out on early learning and stimulation that would have better prepared them for school," said Secretary for Ministry of Gender, Children and Community Development Olive Chikankheni.
The African Union condemned Madagascar's Andry Rajoelina's decision to appoint a new government and said it may impose sanctions on the authorities and their supporters. The country has been rocked by turmoil since Rajoelina toppled former President Marc Ravalomanana from power in March this year.
Global climate talks aimed at reducing harmful emissions should be resolved fairly, taking into account the interests of both rich and poor countries, South African President Jacob Zuma said on Friday. South Africa, whose over-reliance on coal-fired power stations make it Africa's worst polluter, said on Thursday it would not agree to any emission-cutting targets if doing so hurt its recession-hit economy.
Security forces in Madagascar fired tear gas on Friday to try and disperse hundreds of opposition supporters gathering for a rally in the capital of the Indian Ocean island. Backers of ousted President Marc Ravalomanana massed in a park near a central square, but security forces moved in saying the demonstration had not been authorised.
Mini hydro plants could be the answer to a lack of power in rural Africa, especially as larger power projects are put on hold due to limited cash and abundant red tape, industry officials say. Analysts say the continent could generate as much as 330,000 megawatts (MW) from its hydro reserves, yet only some 7 percent of that potential has been exploited so far.
Government publishes an ambitious timetable for preparing health institutions for the National health Insurance scheme - but leaves virtually no space for public comment. The public will have very little time to comment on the proposed National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme, as it will only see the official plan in November.
Dr Jorge Sampaio, the United Nations Special Envoy on Tuberculosis recently addressed the 59th World Health Organisation Regional Committee for Africa in Kigali, Rwanda. He reminded ministers that putting money in TB is one of the most cost effective public health investments.
The battle of the bandwidth suppliers has begun, with MTN and MWeb not dropping their fees but instead increasing bandwidth to end users. This is a sort of price war in reverse: the prices stay the same but the volume is increased. MWeb is targeting its 300,000 residential customers by increasing the size of its data bundles. Subscribers with a 1GB data cap will now get 2GB for an unchanged R145 per month. Users with a 2GB cap will get 3GB for R219, and 3GB packages rise to 5GB for R299.
The Government of Uganda has closed four independently-owned radio stations and suspended their operating licenses for what it called “flouting rules by inciting people, mainly the Baganda tribe, against President Yoweri Museveni, his government and against other tribes”.
In the high HIV prevalence countries of southern Africa, between five and fifteen men will need to be circumcised to prevent one HIV infection in the ten following years, at a cost of between $150 and $900 per infection prevented. These are the conclusions of an expert review of mathematical models of the impact of male circumcision, organised by UNAIDS, WHO and the South African Centre for Epidemiological Analysis, and published in the open access journal PLoS Medicine.
Some 200 young Moroccans from sixteen regions around Morocco attended the first Civil Society Forum from September 8th-12th in Rabat. The forum was organised by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), with co-operation from the youth ministry, under the theme "Mobilise, plead, change".
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights of the Organization of American States (OAS) condemned Brazil for illegal wiretaps of the Landless Workers Movement (Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra, MST) in the southern state of Paraná.
On September 10, 2009, in the Mitchells Plain Town Centre, traders were informed that the City of Cape Town would not attend a meeting that was scheduled by Traders. CHATA (Concerned Hawkers and Traders Association) was informed of this cancellation on the grounds that the city claims they cannot negotiate with the Traders. The meeting was intended by CHATA to inform the city of the irregularities and unfair & unconstitutional policies that have been implemented in the renovation and relocation process of the Town Centre.
Nigeria has over the past 10 years recorded high enrolment and completion rates in primary school education. From 67 percent in 1990, enrolment jumped to 74 percent by 2000, and 91 percent by 2007. The schooling completion rate also improved from 60 percent in 1990 to 76 percent in 2003, and 82 percent by 2007. Enrolment continues to rise.
An alarming rise has been recorded in the number of Nigerian girls trafficked to Italy. Last year 1,782 young girls from Nigeria arrived in Lampedusa, compared to 166 in 2007, human rights organisations say. Lampedusa, an Italian island 205 km from the Italian coast, located between Tunisia and Sicily, is used as a holding centre for migrants, particularly from Africa.
For Katriena Anthony, being four months pregnant comes with hazards particular to her living conditions. The 38-year-old resident of Mandela Square informal settlement in the rural town of Montague, three hours drive from Cape Town, she lives in a two-roomed shack made of wood and zinc sheets. She has no electricity or running water, and every morning she has to walk long distances to collect wood, while water for drinking and cooking must be carried to her home from a nearby tap in a plastic bucket.
The Professional Women, Executives and Businesswomen’s Forum (PROWEB) organised a unique investment conference last week in Zimbabwe’s capital where businesswomen from South Africa and Zimbabwe got the opportunity to not only network but forge what may be a unique African association among businesswomen across national borders. The conference resolved, among others, to create an executive committee that will pursue women’s economic empowerment in both southern African countries.
"Government must lead in breaking down the stereotypes of women as tuck-shop owners, candle-makers, peasant farmers, teachers and nurses and create the reality in which they become hoteliers, large-scale commercial farmers, miners and proprietors of retail chains." These were the words of Zimbabwe’s vice president Joyce Mujuru addressing a women’s investment conference held in Harare on Sep 4. The conference was attended by South African and Zimbabwean businesswomen.
Nine kilometres each way, rain or shine: That's how far Suzanne Chisulo has to travel to school each day. Chisulo is one of 120 girls who faced problems getting to the Ndapula Community School. Many of the girls were missing lessons at least twice a week.
In this week's emerging powers news, Chinese investors continue to focus on Nigerian, Kenyan, and South African assets, as India continues to grow in stature as an African investor and global economic power.
Thousands of African children with sickle cell anaemia are dying needlessly every year from preventable infections, say researchers. About 230,000 children are born every year with sickle cell anaemia in Africa. The genetic disease causes the formation of sickle-shaped red blood cells which block blood vessels, leading to pain, infections and organ damage.
Internet cafés are in decline in Senegal. These access points to knowledge and communication, once found on every street corner in Dakar and open day and night, are no longer so widely available. Thanks to the infrastructure and development of bandwidth put in place by incumbent operator Sonatel, the high cost of internet has fallen rapidly, from XOF 1,000 (USD 2.15) or 1,500 (USD 3.25) to XOF 300 (USD 0.65) or 200 (USD 0.43) an hour, making it possible for more people, from students to street vendors to private consultants, to surf the net from home (for those who can afford it) or elsewhere at a relatively accessible price.
Uganda was one of the first countries in Africa to develop a policy on universal access to telecommunications. Despite several blunders relating to the liberalisation of its telecoms sector, the country is held in high esteem by many for what is seen to be a far-reaching and proactive approach to providing access to information and communications technology (ICT) for the poor.
The World Bank Group announced today that its financing of renewable energy and energy efficiency projects and programmes in developing countries has gone up 24 percent in the last fiscal year to reach $3.3 billion, the highest ever. Total renewable energy and energy efficiency commitments for the year ended June 30, 2009 accounted for more than 40 percent of total Bank Group energy lending.
The Egyptian authorities must control their forces at the border with Israel and prevent them from killing migrants attempting to cross it, Amnesty International has appealed. The call follows the border incident this year, in which four men were shot dead by Egyptian security forces as they attempted to cross the border into Israel. Two others were also injured in the incident.
Thousands of people affected by a severe drought in the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, northeastern Somalia, are in desperate need of assistance, with officials describing the situation as “very critical”. "We are at a critical stage and if help does not come within weeks the situation could develop into a catastrophe,” Abdullahi Abdirahman Ahmed, head of the Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management Agency of Puntland (HADMA), said.
More than 2,000 refugees in Burundi have rejected UN appeals to move to a new camp for fear they could be exposed to attack. The refugees, from eastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s Banyamulenge community, are housed in a camp in Gihinga, in Burundi’s central Mwaro province. The UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, and the Burundian government
A Sudanese journalist was convicted on 7 September of "sensational dressing" and jailed for wearing trousers, report the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) and the International Press Institute (IPI). Protesters in support of Lubna Ahmed Hussein were beaten outside the court and reporters barred from the proceedings.
Six Gambian journalists imprisoned on charges ranging from defamation to "seditious publication" were released on 3 September on a presidential pardon, report the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) and other IFEX members. The journalists were convicted for issuing a joint statement holding President Yahya Jammeh's government responsible for journalist Deyda Hydara's murder in 2004.
Police should release Mohamed Osman, director of Radio Horyaal, who has been held without charge since his arrest on Saturday outside parliament in Hargeisa, capital of the breakaway republic of Somaliland, the Committee to Protect Journalists has said.
On August 28, 2009, President Mamadou Tandja signed into law a bill granting him absolute control over the Supreme Council for Communications (CSC), the country's media regulatory body. Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA)'s correspondent reported that Article 130 of the new Constitution that was recently adopted under a controversial referendum in early August has reduced the previous 11 members to seven. It also gives the president the power to appoint four members, including the CSC's president.
Pambazuka News 446: Joseph Stiglitz and the limits of liberal orthodoxy
Pambazuka News 446: Joseph Stiglitz and the limits of liberal orthodoxy
In this week's review of the African blogosphere, Dibussi Tande looks at Africa's inability to meaningfully exploit its natural resources, corruption in Cameroon, the ongoing water crisis in Kenya and questions of water catchment destruction, and male rape in Congo's ongoing violence.
The Feminist Activist Coalition, FemAct, are calling attention to the gross violations of human rights and citizenship rights and breaking of laws carried out by the Tanzanian government operation to forcibly move Maasai pastoralists from their homes in eight villages within Loliondo Division, Ngorongoro districton behalf of the business interests of a private investor from the United Arab Emirates, namely Ortello Business Corporation (OBC).
Kenyans against Impunity (KAI)is seeking support from willing Kenyans to carry out its activities which include public engagement on political and legal process to address among others corruption, extrajudicial killings, enforced evictions, enforced disappearances, mismanagement of public affairs, police brutality, arbitrary arrests, police harassments, rape and gender rights violations.
The Kenya 2012 general election is around the corner. A decision on where to try the perpetrators of the Post Election violence has not been reached. By September 2010, the 2012 election fever will have began. The Kenyans Eyes From the Diaspora urges for haste in both the prosecution of the perpetrators of the Post Election Violence and the setting up of a conducive and competitive Constitution.
Kenyans for Justice and Development have decided to constitute a parallel people’s government to widen the battlefield now that Kenya's two main parties, PNU and ODM have closed ranks to 'protect and propagate impunity', and to originate pro-people public policies and programmes that we will use to create a national platform for the people’s march to the Second Republic of Kenya.
The Open Society Initiative for East Africa (OSIEA) seeks a Grants Coordinator to maintain its grants database and oversee legal and administrative compliance for its grants portfolio. Based in Kenya, OSIEA implements a range of initiatives to advance justice, free speech, public health, and independent media in Eastern Africa. Working under the supervision of the Finance Manager, the Grants Coordinator manages the daily flow of grant-related data and documentation. This job requires strong computer skills. Search Closes: October 1, 2009.
This week, Stephen Marks reviews Jamie Monson's book, . The book tells the story of the TAZARA Railway - a symbol of the first heroic stage of China’s involvement in Africa and an ideologically inspired symbol of anti-imperialist solidarity, in contrast with today’s more pragmatic and market-driven Chinese engagement with the continent.
An emerging description of the South African economy is captured in the words "polarisation paralysis." The term has several renderings and different emphasis across academic disciplines, with important nuance and extensions. Another rendering is that it might provide a metaphor for the first 100 days of the Jacob Zuma Presidency, but also sets the challenge for this term of government. Two features prefigure the shadow boxing over economic policy since the start of the Jacob Zuma Presidency.
"Umvuthwandaba Voice" meaning The End of Revelations is a publication that pushes the agenda of new formation of the Zimbabwean politics. In a sense that the youth of Zimbabwe would want to riot now and cause a dramatic change in the leadership of any of the front political parties, it might be Zapu, Mdc, and Zanu PF. This has been brought about the youths that are in UK, South Africa and Botswana. In our view we need to see a man or woman age below 35yrs of Age taking the podium as the new President of Zimbabwe.
One of the thorniest and most uncomfortable workplace issues in media houses is sexual harassment. Recent research released by Gender Links, a South African non-governmental organisation, suggests that sexual harassment continues to be a problem in Southern African media houses. Glass Ceilings: Women and Men in Southern African Media, resonates with the voices of media women who are fed up, have left, or are considering leaving the noble profession.
Mary Wandia and Lila Kiwelu call on Sudan’s President Omar Hassan al-Bashir to withdraw the case against 13 women charged with ‘indecent dressing’ for wearing trousers, under Article 152 of the country’s 'archaic' criminal code. President al-Bashir must repeal the discriminatory provisions in this code, Wandia and Kiwelu write in Pambazuka News, and ensure that Sudan upholds its obligations as a signatory to the .
Africa the place is not poor, but Africans are, writes Walugembe Tom – and you ‘do not have to be a genius to figure out’ why.
Despite scores of studies and summits, gender equality in Africa remains elusive, Lila Kiwelu writes in Pambazuka News. Here Kiwelu shares some practical tools for tackling one of the most important causes of inequality on the continent – African women’s lack of access to and control over resources.
Bad leadership has plagued the Ethiopian people throughout the country’s history, Etyopian Simbiro tells Pambazuka News, and today the once oppressed rebels that overthrew a brutal military junta have become oppressors themselves, stifling human rights and dashing hopes for a better future. In order to return power to the people and avoid the installation of yet another dictatorship, democratic federalism, Simbiro argues, is the way forward.
As women in developed and developing countries alike find themselves among those hardest hit by the global financial crisis, Michele Ruiters writes in Pambazuka News on the need for the South African government to exploit opportunities to build a ‘good foundation for women’s equal participation in the country’s economy’, through ‘gender mainstreaming, gender budgeting’ and the inclusion of women in ‘decision-making processes’.
Greed on the part of those in authority is the primary driver of the crisis in Zimbabwe, Dewa Mavhinga tells Pambazuka News. Political power is the vehicle these people use to satisfy this greed and that is why they are ‘prepared to shed blood’ to retain it, Mavhinga argues. Until politicians of this kind are removed from office, says Mavhinga, ‘charting a new political direction for Zimbabwe will remain a pipe dream’.
S'bu Zikode, elected head of South African shackdwellers’ movement Abahlali baseMjondolo, looks at some of the barriers that prevent meaningful engagement between the state and the people, with reference to Abahlali’s experiences in KwaZulu-Natal and in the Cape. Abahlali representatives Mnikelo Ndabankulu and Zodwa Nsibande will be speaking at
Reflecting on the analysis of the Darfur conflict offered by Mahmood Mamdani’s ‘Saviors and Survivors: Darfur, Politics, and the War on Terror’, Harry Verhoeven, Lydiah Kemunto Bosire and Sharath Srinivasan find the book to be praiseworthy in its deconstruction of the conflict’s role within global humanitarianism yet lacking in its engagement with contemporary Sudanese politics. While Mamdani’s analysis of the Western-led global community’s bid to entirely de-politicise the conflict is highly perceptive, Verhoeven, Bosire and Srinivasan contend, ‘Saviors and Survivors’ neglects discussion of significant factors such as the violent, exploitative role of the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) in the conflict’s evolution. These gaps notwithstanding however, ‘Saviors and Survivors’ represents a thought-provoking and insightful analysis of the misguided state of international humanitarianism and its relation to the Darfur ‘genocide’, the reviewers conclude in this week’s Pambazuka News.
Concerned by government statistics on Kenya's ethnic composition, Samuel Abonyo laments the enduring difficulty presented by the concept of tribe in Kenyan society. First developed under the auspices of colonial-era governance, the practice of tribal geography, writes Abonyo in this week's Pambazuka News, is still going on in today's Kenya. But what really is a tribe? What is the government actually counting? Figures on tribes, Abonyo concludes, remain at best inaccurate and at worst highly damaging in depicting false, divisive categorisations.
Lamenting the longstanding inability of Kenya's citizens to transcend ethnic divisions, Cheruiyot Collins calls upon Kenyans to free themselves of ethnic jingoism in a bid to steer the country on a true path towards nation-building. While constitutional change and greater responsibility from politicians are not to be discounted, Collins contends in this week's Pambazuka News, ultimately Kenyans must strive for change from within and themselves take responsibility for the pervasive culture of greed and self-interest hampering the country.
Given US President Obama’s Kenyan ancestry, hopes have run high that his administration would change the nature of America’s relationship with Africa, writes Sehlare Makgetlaneng in Pambazuka News. But, argues Makgetlaneng, these expectations, dented by Obama’s Ghana speech, have no basis in political, economic and ideological positions articulated by Obama himself. Obama’s interests in Africa, Makgetlaneng suggests, like those of his predecessors, are bound up with the defence and expansion of the strategic interests of the United States.
Drawing upon near-death personal experience to shine light on the brutality of Sierra Leone's rebel forces, Karim Bah discusses the little-publicised events of the August 18th student uprising in Sierra Leone. What really happened to Vaffie Konneh, an activist who attempted to help with the organisation of student protesters? And why have the ruling class and international community alike abandoned Sierra Leone's youth? Students, Bah argues in this week's Pambazuka News, are the key to reform and should be at the forefront of the struggle for human dignity, social justice and the redistribution of national wealth, wealth which belongs to each and every Sierra Leonean, and not just the country's elites.
In a concise interview, Poéfrika asks the Zimbabwean poet Julius Chingono about his background and the craft behind poetry.
Once again, the source of an African conflict can be traced back to unsustainable demarcations of territories arbitrarily drawn by colonial powers and the resulting civil war, argues Lansana Gberie in this week's Pambazuka News. Drawing on interviews as well as personal experience of the Guinea–Sierra Leone border dispute, Gberie focuses on issues such as how the discovery of diamonds escalated the border conflict and proposes a set of steps needed – mainly through the involvement of ECOWAS (Economic Community Of West African States) – to see the dispute brought to an end.
Astounding allegations have come forth about the 1987 assassination of the former president of Burkina Faso, Thomas Sankara, through a documentary aired on Italy’s public channel RAI3. The documentary, entitled ‘African Shadows’ and by Silvestro Montanaro, details the alleged links of the American and French secret services to Sankara’s assassins and the involvement of the current President of Burkina Faso Blaise Compaoré. This week’s Pambazuka News brings you the striking three-part transcript of the recent documentary, featuring the testimonies of well-known Liberian figures.
Henry Kyambalesa makes the case for an electoral complaints authority in Zambia.
Reflecting on the experiences and ethos behind South Africa's Abahlali baseMjondolo shackdwellers movement, Nigel C. Gibson considers the group's 'living politics' in relation to the philosophy of liberation espoused in Frantz Fanon's classic 'The Wretched of the Earth'. With Abahlali growing on the strength of organised, bottom-up protest against the 'ordering and geographical layout' of post-apartheid South Africa, Gibson stresses the movement's significance in challenging those in positions of governmental authority to put the poor themselves at the forefront of solutions to poverty.
Marina Sharpe reviews Chris Dolan’s . Commending Dolan’s counter narrative to the standard, short-sighted characterisation of the conflict enveloping northern Uganda, Sharpe applauds the author’s success in sensitively capturing the experiences and suffering of the north’s Acholi people.
In the face of an ever greedy, self-interested ruling class, L. Muthoni Wanyeki considers what the majority of Kenyans could do to challenge the seemingly relentless ravaging of the public purse perpetrated by those in office. Firstly, Wanyeki suggests a tax boycott, taking the cue from the Langata Residents’ Association’s response to the Nairobi City Council, and secondly, preparing for new elections, albeit within a political system still in need of broad change. With the political settlement evidently having long reached its limits, Wanyeki argues for the need for the Grand Coalition Government to be entirely deprived of funds if Kenya’s politics is to move forward.
Concerned by President Yoweri Museveni’s comments on the ‘Bafuruki’ (‘immigrants’), Vincent Nuwagaba questions the assumptions around identity held by Uganda’s premier, calling for greater solidarity and mutual respect between the country’s groups, regardless of origin.
Still haven’t seen ? In this film, made by Jenny Morgan and distributed by Fahamu, members of Abahlali baseMjondolo, the grassroots shackdwellers' movement lay out their case – against forcible eviction and for decent services – with passion, eloquence, and sweet reason. is being screened at festivals in US and the UK in September and October.
Would you like to write a review for Pambazuka News? We are looking for people to write reviews for a number of books and academic papers. Interested? E-mail us at [email][email protected] to let us know which title/s you are interested in and we’ll get in touch with you.
“THE DRUM CAFE”, is an innovative network of creative and performing professionals with the Central aim of re-defining drum music as a powerful medium of social change in east Africa. The first drum cafe was first hosted by Alliance francaise de Nairobi in September 2006 and supported by various individuals, cultural and artistic institutions. The DRUM CAFÉ 2010 PEACE FESTIVAL will be a seven day celebration presented by and for the various Kenyan ethnic subgroups and communities living in Nairobi.
The fourth World Summit on Arts and Culture, a project of the International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies (IFACCA), will take place in Johannesburg from 22-25 September, hosted by the National Arts Council of South Africa. Mike van Graan, Programme Director for the Summit and Head of the Arterial Network’s Secretariat will write this weekly column in the build up to the Summit, raising some of the themes and provocative issues that will be debated at the event.
Four journalists from Uganda's largest independent newspaper are facing criminal prosecutions, joining four others already charged since 2007, according to local journalists and news reports. Criminal prosecutions against the Monitor are on the rise against the backdrop of mounting national tensions in the lead-up to general elections in 2011. This month, President Yoweri Museveni, who is expected to seek re-election, warned private broadcasters against inciting public discontent with the government.
the latest briefing from the International Crisis Group, examines the exploitation of oil revenues. Since 2003 they have contributed greatly to the deterioration of governance in Chad and to a succession of rebellions and political crises. The regime uses the revenues as a means to reward its cronies, co-opt members of the political class, and acquire the military means enabling it to reject genuine political negotiations. This has further limited space for the political opposition and civil society and helped keep the country in a state of political paralysis, stoking the antagonism between regime and opponents.
Due to bad governance and human rights violations, African governments have sought to enhance their tattered images abroad since it can make the difference between more and less foreign Aid. In the process, they have paid millions of dollars to lobby groups at the expense of development and democracy instead pursuing the most cost-effective way— putting their houses in order, writes policy analyst Patrick Mutahi.