Pambazuka News 593: Women’s power, Sudan uprising and Somalia maneuvers
Pambazuka News 593: Women’s power, Sudan uprising and Somalia maneuvers
The independent trade unions that have sprung up across Egypt over the last 17 months face an uncertain future, caught between Islamists and the military and operating under labour laws that have not changed since Hosni Mubarak was in power. 'The government and business owners don’t want to respond to workers’ demands or give them rights, so they are opposed to seeing workers establish independent syndicates,' says Kamal Abu Eita, a leader of the independent union movement.
In the eastern Congo, a onetime rebel leader charged with a range of war crimes lived in high style for three years, in full view of a large United Nations peacekeeping force. How did the UN find itself in the middle of one of the world's bloodiest and most unmanageable conflicts? And why are its troops picking sides? These are the questions this Wall Street Journal article investigates.
For the second time Kenyan fighter jets have targeted districts in southern Somalia, Radio Garowe reports. According to military sources, there are also contradicting reports saying that the strikes led to many civilian casualties, with a few Al Shabaab agents being killed in the strikes.
Members of the African Union Peace and Security Council meeting in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, Saturday warned the Islamists, including al-Qaida, are intent on creating a new sanctuary for their activities. AU Chairman Jean Ping called the situation one of the 'most serious crises to confront the continent'. And AU Commissioner for Peace and Security Ramtane Lamamra said 'the strengthening of the grip of armed terrorist and criminal groups in the area' also poses a serious threat to international peace.
A prominent Ethiopian journalist and blogger has been sentenced to 18 years in jail for violating the country's anti-terrorism legislation. Eskinder Nega and 23 others were found guilty last month. They were accused of links with US-based opposition group Ginbot Seven, which Ethiopia considers a terrorist organisation. Opposition activist Andualem Arage was given a life sentence by the court in the capital, Addis Ababa.
Protesters against government interference in religious affairs staged the latest of a series of mosque sit-ins in the Ethiopian capital on Sunday, saying police had arrested dozens in the run up to this weekend's African Union summit. Two activists told Reuters the sit-in - in protest at the government's promotion of the moderate Al Ahbash branch of Islam over other doctrines - had already been surrounded by police although there had been no clashes as yet on Sunday. Online activists, who have been using social media to call for demonstrations, have reported several deaths during previous clashes, and published several pictures of injuries they claim are those of victims.
The World Bank undermined the rights of indigenous peoples and the environment with its approval on 12 July 2012, of a US$684 million loan, Human Rights Watch, Friends of Lake Turkana, International Rivers, Survival International, and the Bank Information Center said. The loan is for a 1,000-kilometer transmission line that would supply power to Kenya from Ethiopia’s controversial Gibe III dam. The World Bank’s board of directors approved the loan without applying the Bank’s social and environmental standards to the Gibe III dam, a power source for the transmission line.
Doctors working in Tanzania government hospitals are leaving the country for greener pastures in other African countries after the government terminated their services over a strike. The Tanzania Medical Association says the exodus of medical specialists has peaked over the past week in response to what the professionals see as the arrogance and vindictiveness of senior state officials.
Armed, masked assailants abducted and beat a veteran journalist in Mali on Thursday, leaving him with a broken hand and other injuries, according to news reports and local journalists. Eight gunmen stormed the offices of L'Indépendant newspaper in the capital, Bamako, at about 9pm, firing in the air to disperse staff and bystanders, and then seizing publisher Saouti Labass Haïdara and taking him away in a 4-by-4 vehicle, news reports said. Haïdara, dumped by a roadside four hours later, was treated at a hospital in Bamako, local journalists said.
This discussion paper from the Transnational Institute's Agrarian Justice Programme argues that there is a need to come to grips with land issues in a changing global context and to rethink what may be needed to mobilise effectively in such a setting. 'The main frameworks of advocacy that have been employed by some academics, radical researchers and social movement activists have some particular limitations in the context of global land grabbing. Neither land reform nor land tenure security alone are well-equipped to be frameworks for analysis or action in the current conjuncture. Land reform remains important, but its limitations as a call to action are being exposed by the current cycle of land grabbing. Likewise, land tenure security is important, but alone is not enough, since adverse incorporation of the rural working poor classes into the corporate-controlled global food-feed-fuel regime does not necessarily require moving them off the land.'
In the context of the current rush for land in which the flows of land based wealth and power are being increasingly concentrated in the hands of dominant social classes and groups, an urgent debate on the future of farming is needed. Rather than accepting and seeking to regulate land grabs as if they were inevitable, this paper from the Transnational Institute proposes alternative investment opportunities which challenge the normative assumptions of the model of large-scale, industrial agriculture that these land appropriations promote.
In a decision outraging campaigners for food sovereignty and agroecological approaches, the Gates Foundation has awarded a $10 million grant to develop genetically modified (GM) crops for use in sub-Saharan Africa. The grant is for the John Innes Centre in Norwich, which hopes to engineer seeds for corn, wheat and rice that will fix nitrogen (take nitrogen from the air) so that the crops would not need fertilizers. But GM Freeze, which campaigns against GM food, crops and patents, says that 'nitrogen fixing wheat and other cereals have been promised by the GM industry for several decades' and that other, non-GM methods are the solution. Pete Riley, campaign director GM Freeze, adds that 'GM is failing to deliver'.
Darfuri refugees in Chad continue to depend almost entirely on humanitarian assistance for their basic needs, notes a June 2011 report by the US Cultural Orientation Centre. Access to arable land remains generally non-existent for these refugees, says ACT Alliance, an alliance of 125 churches and related organizations that work together in humanitarian assistance, advocacy and development.
About 120,000 people in the coastal, mid- and far western regions of the self-declared republic of Somaliland require emergency food assistance after four years of failed rains, says Mohamed Mousa Awale, chairman of Somaliland's environment research and disaster preparedness agency. The most affected areas include the Salel Region localities of Asha-Ado, Lughaya, Garba-Dadar, Gargaara and Waraqa-dhigta where some 450 tons of food aid from Djibouti was distributed on 6 July.
South African Home Affairs Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma was elected on Sunday to become the first female head of the African Union (AU) Commission, ending a bruising leadership battle that had threatened to divide and weaken the organisation. Cheers broke out at the AU's soaring, Chinese-built steel and glass headquarters in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa as supporters of President Jacob Zuma's ex-wife celebrated her victory over incumbent Jean Ping of Gabon.
A new supply of African blood diamonds is threatening to entrench the rule of Zimbabwean despot Robert Mugabe, just as Britain and other European countries plan to lift sanctions against the regime, it has been claimed. Human rights charity Global Witness says money is being siphoned from diamond mines to finance a 'parallel government' and its secret police force in Zimbabwe, helped by a Chinese businessman. It comes as a row brews over plans to lift travel restrictions and partial asset freezes imposed on some of President Mugabe's ministers by the EU.
A Ghanaian NGO called Abantu for Development has teamed up with the country’s Department of Women to draft a political affirmative action law to open the doors for women. 'If we do not put in place special temporary measures, women will never make it into public office,' said Hilary Gbedemah, a lawyer and the rector of the Law Institute in Accra who has worked on the draft legislation.
The so-called Arab Spring continues to reverberate locally, regionally and geopolitically. The 20 articles in this issue of Forced Migration Review reflect on some of the experiences, challenges and lessons of the Arab Spring in North Africa, the implications of which resonate far wider than the region itself.
This page on the Child Rights Information Network highlights violations of child rights in Kenya. 'The violations highlighted are those issues raised with the State by more than one international mechanism. This is done with the intention of identifying children's rights which have been repeatedly violated, as well as gaps in the issues covered by NGOs in their alternative reports to the various human rights monitoring bodies.'
Sierra Leone's Ministry of Health on Friday declared a cholera outbreak in the country following the death of five people from the disease. Deputy minister of Health and Sanitation Mahmoud Tarawalie, made the confirmation on Friday while stressing that the authorities were putting measures in place to stem the disease. This follows reports of two deaths because of cases of severe diarrhoea in the provinces. But one of death cases was recorded in one of the slums of the capital, Freetown.
Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo have agreed in principle to allow a neutral international force to patrol their borders, reports say. The proposed force would tackle militia groups in the eastern DR Congo. The deal was reached by leaders of the two countries on the side lines of an African Union summit, Rwanda's Paul Kagame told AFP news agency.
Togolese Prime Minister Gilbert Fossoun Houngbo has resigned. Although no reasons for the resignation were given, TVT said President Faure Gnassingbe accepted the resignation. His resignation comes at a time when the country was preparing itself for the general election to take place at the end of this year.
Civil society groups have challenged a recent news report on increased transparency in Uganda’s oil sector and repeated their call for the government to publish all oil deals. An article that appeared in The New Vision on 30 June noted in its headline that 'Government discloses oil deals'. However, campaigners argue, only limited information - on petroleum royalty rates - has been released to MPs.
Voters in the oil-exporting Central African state of Congo Republic have turned out to elect a new parliament, with the ruling party of President Denis Sassou Nguesso and its allies seen holding the majority. Opposition parties have complained about a lack of access to state media during campaigning, and voter turnout was thin at a number of polling stations in the capital Brazzaville, some of which stayed open up to two hours late during the voting on Sunday.
Pambazuka News 592: After Rio +20, struggles in Sudan and Algeria and helicopters in Haiti
Pambazuka News 592: After Rio +20, struggles in Sudan and Algeria and helicopters in Haiti
Namibia Dairies, a subsidiary of the Ohlthaver and List Group, loses up to N$20 million a year due to South African predatory pricing practices, while the production of Namibian cheese has already been halted, because the market has been killed by South African products. This was revealed by the Managing Director of Namibia Dairies, Hubertus Hamm, during a visit by Botswana President Lieutenant-General Seretse Khama Ian Khama to the dairy Super Farm at Mariental.
£41,124 per annum
London
The human rights situation in the Middle East and North Africa is currently a significant focus of Amnesty International’s global campaigning. Use your experience as a campaign strategist and your expert knowledge of human rights in the region to inspire worldwide action on what have become high-profile issues.
£34,032 per annum
Central London
About the role
We’re looking for a Campaigner to contribute to our campaign against human rights violations in North Africa. Working at the International Secretariat, you will contribute to a range of projects, including Amnesty International’s response to the momentous changes in North Africa witnessed in 2011 and 2012. You will act as a focal point, providing advice and support to our worldwide membership, including devising campaigning strategies, preparing written and other campaigning materials and providing research support.
In this podcast, Africa Today talks with Dr. Peter Lewis of the Center for Strategic International Studies at John Hopkins University on contemporary politics in Nigeria and the 4th Republic.
A new report by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) says while the linkages between the economic, social and environmental pillars of sustainable development are well understood within Southern Africa, the subregion has not adopted an integrated approach to development. The report, 'Progress towards sustainable development in Southern Africa' prepared with the assistance of the African Development Bank, and circulated at the ongoing Rio+20 conference, says that for this reason, the 'inter-linkages between the economic, social and environmental pillars of sustainable development are fundamentally not being achieved'.
The latest podcast by the Tax Justice Network is available: the edition contains news on celebrity tax avoidance, Greece’s missing billions, what should have been on the G20 agenda and trade mispricing – the tricks of the corruption trade.
Fifty-seven journalists fled their country in the past year, with Somalia sending the greatest number into exile. Journalists also fled Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Rwanda - mostly for Kenya and Uganda. Exiles in East Africa must grapple with poverty and fear, according to a special report from the Committee to Protect Journalists.
There were 800,000 new refugees in the world in 2011, according to the latest data out this week from the UNHCR. 2011 is a record year for forced displacement, with more people becoming refugees than at any time since 2000. This online map provides an excellent data visualization tool for patterns of displacement globally.
The way of life of minorities and indigenous communities in East and Horn of Africa is under threat as governments and investors expand natural resource extraction on their lands, Minority Rights Group International (MRG) says in its 2012 annual report. 'State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012' documents the scale and severity of the impact on minorities of an unprecedented competition for scarce resources, prompted by the prolonged drought that wreaked havoc in the region and the knock-on effects of the global economic downturn.
The Climate Connections blog has a variety of photographs from the just-held Rio+20 Conference and Peoples’ Summit in Brazil. Visit their blog to have a look.
Maina Kiai, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association has said that gays should be free to assemble and associate saying ‘such rights are essential components of democracy.’ ‘It is astonishing how often States have encroached upon the right of individuals to assemble peacefully by also violating their rights to life and to be free from torture, rights which allow no limitation, Kiai said during the presentation of his annual report to the UN Human Rights Council, in which he makes a number of recommendations to establish minimum standards to protect the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association.
A survey of international refugee assistance organizations has found widespread failures to protect Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) refugees. As increasing numbers of refugees flee persecution because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, the Organization for Refuge, Asylum & Migration (ORAM) and Indiana University sociologists have released the first ever survey of attitudes of the international refugee assistance non-governmental organizations (NGOs) serving asylum seekers and refugees worldwide.
Ethiopia has always been a country at the cutting edge of Internet censorship in Africa. In the wake of violence after the 2005 elections, when other states were only beginning to recognize the potential for online reporters to bypass traditional pressures, Meles Zenawi's regime was already blocking major news sites and blog hosts such as blogspot.com. Some sites and Web addresses have been blocked for their reporting ever since, including exiled media like Addis Neger Online and Awramba Times.
Civil society space in Uganda is rapidly shrinking, warn global network CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation and Uganda-based East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project (EHAHRDP). Independent civil society organisations are being openly threatened and placed under excessive scrutiny by senior government officials. For example, on 18 June, a skills-building workshop for LGBTI human rights defenders organised by EHAHRDP was closed abruptly after police raided the training venue.
Months after the central government tried to quell land speculation in oil-rich Bunyoro by suspending the issue of new land titles, Oil in Uganda visited Kasenyi, on the north eastern shores of Lake Albert, and unearthed a tale of double-dealing and thuggery seemingly abetted by district leaders and security officials. Eriakimi Kaseegu, the Kasenyi Local Council One Chairman, revealed that community land–including the plot where Tullow Oil’s Kasemene 3 well is located–was fraudulently sold by 'outsiders' and that the community’s efforts to investigate the sale were met with violence and arbitrary arrests.
Egypt’s first democratically-elected President, Mohamed Morsi has ordered the formation of a commission to review the cases of the people arrested following last year’s popular revolution. The commission is going to be made up of members of the military and the Interior Ministry as well as a general prosecutor, the country's official Middle East News Agency (MENA) reported. It quoted Morsi as saying 'this commission should be formed as soon as possible to release all who were proved not involved in any criminal cases'.
Hundreds of Libyan protesters demanding greater autonomy for the country’s east have stormed the election commission building in the city of Benghazi, setting materials on fire. Chanting slogans in support of federalism on Sunday, the angry protesters, some of whom were armed, occupied the election commission office in the eastern city, took computers and ballot boxes out of the building and began crushing them.
Gold traders in the eastern Congo district of Ituri have heard of the Dodd-Frank act, or 'Obama's law' as it's known here, but don't see why it's got anything to do with them, reports Reuters. The legislation, signed by President Barack Obama in 2010, puts the onus of proof on end-users. But while it has sent shockwaves through the global gold industry, the fractured and opaque nature of the gold supply chain means it has yet to have an impact where it counts - on the ground.
The Industrial Court in Swaziland has refused to allow the government to jail the entire executive of the teachers’ union for leading a pay strike. The Swazi Government had previously gained an order at the same court outlawing a strike over a 4.5 per cent pay claim. But, some members of the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) went ahead with the indefinite strike. For the past week the strikers have been visiting schools where some teachers continue to work to persuade them to join the strike.
One in three children in Ghana are engaged in child labor, which is increasing in Africa. Ghana’s government, international organizations and local associations used the recent World Day Against Child Labor to pledge their commitment to getting children out of the workplace and into the classroom, reports Global Press Institute.
Liberal Egypt news website al-Badil recently called on journalists and human rights activists to join them in a protest outside the Press Syndicate in Cairo after two of its reporters who were assaulted by security forces and military police during recent clashes, were taken to court by police, who are accusing them of participating in the violence. Islam Abu el-Ezz and Ahmed Ramadan were arrested while covering the development of the violent clashes and attacks on protesters in the populated area of Abbassiya last April.
An ambitious new Morocco campaign launched by a women’s rights organization has argued that the veiling of young girls in the country is a form of 'child abuse'. The Center for Women’s Equality announced the new campaign, with the slogan 'So that girls won’t live in eternal darkness' with the goal of battling against the forcing of young girls between three- and 10-years-old to veil. In a statement published by local media, the center called upon all human rights organizations as well as legislative bodies to join this campaign against what they termed 'a flagrant violation of innocence and childhood'.
The Arabic Network of Human Rights Institutions has expressed its extreme indignation over the increase of the harassment of journalists, bloggers and activists in Morocco. This comes after the arrest of the blogger 'Hasan Barhon'. In addition, they cite threats and assault against 'Ahmed El-Merini', as well as the arranged robbery of the activist 'Mohamed El-Morabt'.
Only nine Angolan parties and coalitions of the 27 that put themselves forward will be permitted to battle it out in upcoming parliamentary elections. 'The Constitutional Court found in favour of nine political bodies, of which five political parties and four coalitions,' the oil-rich nation's top constitutional authority said. The body, which has to okay parties ahead of the polls, considered applications of 27 political bodies, but rejected 18. The Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) and main opposition National Union for the Independence of Angola (Unita), as well as three other parties, were cleared to take part.
Blog Africa is a Country takes issue with the Failed States Index, published by Foreign Policy and the Fund for Peace. 'This year, pro forma, almost the entire African continent shows up on the Failed States map in the guiltiest shade of red. The accusation is that with a handful of exceptions, African states are failing in 2012. But what does this tell us? What does it actually mean? Frankly, we have no idea.'
The women of Sudan have had enough, says this post from blog Africa is a Country, about the protests in Sudan. 'What started as a protest by a small group of women escalated, by the following Friday, into a sandstorm, which has continued to today. That includes protests, crackdowns, arrests and disappearances, State violence. And the women keep on keeping on.'
The 9th session of the African Commission for Intelligence and Security Services (CISSA) concluded 27 June in Algiers with plans to further co-ordinate counter-terrorism initiatives across the continent. Government officials and security experts took part in the two-day closed session, which aimed to find solutions to the volatile situation in Mali, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) encroachment into the Sahel-Saharan region and other security threats. The annual meetings provide the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council with necessary information to draft African policy, preserve peace and settle disputes.
South African newspaper City Press reports that the ANC policy conference recommended the boycott of Israeli products as one of its planks to support the Palestinian freedom struggle. 'This is a significant policy shift in its relationship with Israel. At the policy conference the ANC delegates cheered the action by Minister Rob Davies to ensure that products from illegal Israeli settlements are re-labelled,' comments the blog Writing Rights.
Mireille Mbouaki farms in the village of Mboubissi, sixty kilometres southeast of Pointe-Noire, capital city of the Congolese department of Kouilou. This year the rains have been poor and irregular. Ms. Mbouaki is very worried. She has good reason to worry. In many coastal towns, cassava plants are suffering. Leaves are wrinkled and shriveled, plants are stunted, and roots are rotting. The changing climate has not been kind to Congolese farmers.
Abdul Hamid Adiamoh, managing editor of Today, a privately-owned newspaper, was on 28 June released by the Banjul Magistrates’ Court. Before his release, he had been in detention for eight days without charge. Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) sources reported that Adiamoh paid an outrageous fine of 100,000 Dalasis (about US$ 3,142) before he was released.
The World Bank, an institution set up to provide loans to developing countries and reduce global poverty, is often criticised in development circles. Much of this is directed at its failed structural adjustment programmes in the late-1980s which broke a trend of state-led development and introduced a market liberal approach. Questions remain about the bank's approach. Think Africa Press spoke to former World Bank President Robert Zoellick - replaced by Jim Yong Kim - and Peter Chowla of the Bretton Woods Project, an institution which aims to challenge the power of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund while opening the policymaking space and promoting alternative approaches.
Using or creating a new law is only the first step in what must be a longer political struggle to provide genuinely democratic forms of public water provision. As such, legal campaigns must also strive toward building frameworks for regulating, maintaining and monitoring progressive management of services after they become public. In addition, dedicated and committed activism is more critical to the success of campaigns than the legal tools themselves. These are two of the findings of a paper from the Municipal Services Project which examines how effective legal strategies have been in activism against the privatisation of water.
Israel deported 190 South Sudanese illegal migrants on Tuesday 3 July, raising the number of deportees from the Jewish state to the Africa’s newest nation to 317 since mid-June. The migrants landed at Juba international airport, where they were received by relatives and South Sudan government officials.
The lawyer for the family of slain Burkinabé president Thomas Sankara says he has 'irrevocable evidence' of those who assassinated the late charismatic leader. Mr Bénéwendé Sankara made the statement in Ouagadougou where he reapeted the call for Burkina Faso’s defence minister to order the launch of legal procedures in the matter. On Thursday, a superior court in Ouagadougou said the assassination case filed by the slain leader’s wife Mariam Sankara and their son could be prosecuted under local laws.
Human rights organisations in Sudan are calling on the government to release more than 1000 protestors reportedly arrested in the last two weeks over strikes which started on 16 June. The protests have been going on in the capital Khartoum and other regional towns, were triggered by the government's cut on fuel subsidies but generally they are due to economic hardships. Using tear gas and rubber bullets Sudan's anti-riot police units and plain clothed security agents of the National intelligence and Security Services (NISS) engaged in running battles with protestors arresting some in the process.
A campaign by Nature Kenya and other Environmental Justice Organizations (EJOs) has saved the Dakatcha Woodland Important Bird Area (IBA) from destruction from biofuel crops after Kenya's National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) rejected clearance for a pilot project on over 10,000 ha of land, reports Africa Report.
About 70.2 million hectares of agricultural land worldwide have been sold or leased to private and public investors since 2000, according to this article from the Worldwatch Institute. The bulk of these acquisitions, which are called 'land grabs' by some observers, took place between 2008 and 2010, peaking in 2009. Although data for 2010 indicate that the amount of acquisitions dropped considerably after the 2009 peak, it still remains well above pre-2005 level. Africa has seen the greatest share of land involved in these acquisitions, with 34.3 million hectares sold or leased since 2000.
This paper examines what motivates the participation of African slum dwellers in urban social movement activities, through a case study of grassroots mobilisation around evictions in Kurasini ward, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. The study shows that, contrary to the expectations of movement leaders, property owners were significantly more likely than renters to participate in a risky and time-consuming mobilisation effort. The study identifies three factors that favoured owner participation: the nature of expected payoffs from participation; greater belief in their efficacy of action; and greater connection to place.
Kenya has asked several countries to help it recover corrupt cash stashed in overseas accounts, but not all have agreed, the east African country's top legal adviser said. Corruption has blighted the image of east Africa's biggest economy for decades and many Kenyans view efforts to stamp it out as bogus and ineffective. Githu Muigai, Kenya's attorney general, said four territories had agreed to cooperate - Switzerland, Japan, the United Kingdom and Jersey, a British dependency known for its offshore banking.
Twaweza has developed a draft note, 'Three Experiments to Improve Learning Outcomes: Delivering capitation grants better and testing local cash on delivery,' on incentivizing learning in schools. The basic idea involves paying a set amount for every child that achieves proficiency in early grade literacy and numeracy, and to contrast it with an input based incentive such as the capitation grant. A set of randomized control trials (RCTs) will be used to rigorously measure impact. The idea has been developed in consultation with the Center for Global Development, the Jameel Poverty Action Lab (JPAL) at MIT, the Tanzania government, local Members of Parliament and the teachers’ trade union.
The international community on Tuesday 3 July weighed options to help embattled Mali save its north from Islamist fighters who have smashed ancient shrines in Timbuktu and rigged another city with landmines. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) regional bloc says it has 3,300 troops ready to enter Mali, whose vast north has been occupied by armed rebels for three months after a 22 March coup plunged the nation into chaos.
Idasa's Right to Know, Right to Education project has published its latest newsletter. The newsletter provides inisghts into the project impact and feedback from project partners involved with project implementation in Zambia and Kenya.
The Legal Resources Centre (LRC) has welcomed the news that the Department of Basic Education (DBE) will work closely with Section27 to resolve the text book crisis in Limpopo and that they have indicated that they intend meeting with civil society. This was revealed in a joint statement by Section27 and the DBE on Thursday 28 June 2012. Sarah Sephton, the LRC’s director in Grahamstown said the LRC has not had any response from the Minister of Basic Education’s office on the non-delivery of workbooks in the Eastern Cape and urged the Minister to adopt a similar approach to this issue as she has taken to the text books.
The three human rights organisations are deeply concerned about Moroccan refusal to investigate the assassination of a young Saharawi man, Sai?d Dambar, who was shot dead in the head by a Moroccan policeman on December 21st, 2010.
A foreign mining company has polluted the environment so much that the local people have no access to safe and adequate water. And that is not the only mining company killing people in Ghana. The government looks on.
Politics, ethnicity and religion have always been interwoven in Ethiopia, which is why Haile Selassie never wanted to reveal the full identity of his mother.
The current protests have clearly demonstrated that after 23 years in power the Bashir regime’s capacity for coercion is weak and increasingly de-linked from the Sudanese people.
Months after the central government tried to quell land speculation in oil-rich Bunyoro by suspending the issue of new land titles, ‘Oil in Uganda’ visited Kasenyi, on the north eastern shores of Lake Albert, and unearthed a tale of double-dealing and thuggery seemingly abetted by district leaders and security officials.
With the closure of gacaca and the winding down of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), many survivors of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda fear that the injustices they suffered will never be repaired.
A deficit of transformational leadership, dwindling economic fortunes and increasing violence have turned the vast plains of Northern Nigeria into a bastion of despair.
Rwanda has been involved in hostile actions to destabilize DR Congo over the last 15 years. The US is aware of this but protects President Kagame’s regime to secure its own interests in Africa’s Great Lakes region.
The ruling reaffirms that multinationals cannot use their power to silence the media.
Two subsidiaries debarred -- company agrees to pay $500,000 to the World Bank as part of settlement
http://www.pambazuka.org/images/govt_productivity.jpg
The tribal wisdom of the Plains Indians, passed on from generation to generation, says that: "When you discover that you are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount."
However, in government more advanced strategies are often employed, such as:
1. Buying a stronger whip.
2. Changing riders.
3. Appointing a committee to study the horse.
4. Arranging to visit other countries to see how other cultures ride dead horses.
5. Lowering the standards so that dead horses can be included.
6. Reclassifying the dead horse as living-impaired.
7. Hiring outside contractors to ride the dead horse.
8. Harnessing several dead horses together to increase speed.
9. Providing additional funding and/or training to increase the dead horse's performance.
10. Doing a productivity study to see if lighter riders would improve the dead horse's performance.
11. Declaring that as the dead horse does not have to be fed, it is less costly, carries lower overhead and therefore contributes substantially more to the bottom line of the economy than do some other horses.
12. Rewriting the expected performance requirements for all horses.
And, of course...
13. Promoting the dead horse to a supervisory position.
Aid workers’ stereotypes and prejudices about residents of displacement camps in post-earthquake Haiti stem from an acute disconnect between NGOs and the people they are there to work with. These misperceptions have perpetuated deliberate decisions to deny water and sanitation services to desperate survivors.
Abonnema Wharf Community demolished by the Rivers State government in flagrant disregard of judicial process.