Pambazuka News 748: Quest for change: Education, elections and WTO
Pambazuka News 748: Quest for change: Education, elections and WTO
The problem of increment of fees or commercialisation of education is taking a global character. The capitalist political class and policy makers are offloading the problems of the economy on the workers and working class youth, students inclusive. Yet in Africa, everyone keeps talking about the youth being the future of the continent and about the need to offer them the opportunities they need to succeed.
Pan-Africanism is part of African heritage. Governments to date have proven unwilling to implement this responsibility. That is why Pan-Africanism is the primary responsibility of Pan-Africanists, not governments. If it is to retain its integrity, Pan-Africanism should be wary of governments. If Pan-Africanism is co-opted and controlled by governments, then we are finished.
It is not enough to have a woman in power. German chancellor Merkel is biologically a woman, but her politics serve the white-male-dominant system.
The North American Delegation to the 8th Pan African Congress is holding a preparatory meeting to mobilize grassroots representation to the 2nd phase (to be held in 2016) on October 30?31, 2015 in New York City at Medgar Evers College. The first phase of the 8th Pan African Congress was held in Ghana in March 2015.
It is not surprising that the people who are rebelling against high fees and related injustices are Black students. These Black students are first part of the Black community and, whether they know it or not, their struggle is actually part of the broader struggle of the Black people as a perpetual underclass.
Miracles will not happen on Election Day anywhere in Africa. Important structural changes must be made before a true people’s revolution occurs at the ballot box. From the citizen’s point of view and from the perspective of concerned Africans who are working to realise honest democracy, elections must cease being events and become processes in which the citizen is fully engaged.
Pambazuka News 746: Global coloniality: Black people are not yet free
Pambazuka News 746: Global coloniality: Black people are not yet free
Former Jamaican Prime Minister PJ Patterson writes that British Prime Minister Cameron's "most noble intentions" were jarred by portions of his address to Parliament in which he asserted that slavery was a long time ago, in the historical past and “as friends we can move on together to build for the future.” No. The legacies of slavery are alive and well.
In the US – and throughout the capitalist world - the value of Black people is declining, as the economic system no longer relies on cheap labour. Lack of jobs for Black people means a lack of need for Black people, which means the wholesale devaluation of Black life. And anything without value in the capitalist system is disposable.
How many deaths of black youth are necessary before they are considered ‘genocide’ or political assassinations? No one seems to care. After all, the majority of the victims are black residents in the favelas.
Genuine democracy offers greater inclusiveness and accountability in reaching developmental, growth and industrialization goals; and makes states more effective, stable and robust against internal and external crises.
Who represents the greater “menace”: some 300,000 “illegal” refugees escaping from the countries destabilized or outright destroyed by the West, or those millions of Westerners who are annually fleeing their depressing lifestyles and selfishly over-imposing themselves on so many economically weaker and therefore more vulnerable parts of the world?
As Palestinians fight to overthrow Zionism, they need to understand Zionism as a form of racism, and as one of many global manifestations of settler-colonialism. Ending the occupation alone is not enough. Palestinians must aspire to create the first nation born in the 21st century that is truly founded on democracy, not demography.
In the name of national security and the war on terrorism, post-uprising Tunisia is witnessing increased securitization of public life; even a return to the Ben Ali days in some respects. The West is only too happy to help in reintegration of the North African nation into the global neoliberal system.
One cannot purport to condemn colonialism while enjoying the benefits of colonialism. Germany’s keeping of the looted Benin artefacts despite demands for return is the surest sign of lack of respect and an obvious demonstration of continuing centuries-old contempt of westerners for Africa and its peoples.
A man cannot hate the whip with which he is being flogged but then be expected to love the person doing the flogging. When such a black man, lying helpless bleeding on the ground expresses hate for the white person wielding the whip, it is only reasonable.
The Ethiopian was a widely praised deputy global manager of a high-profile international program at the World Bank. His problem started when he applied to become the global manager of the program. Despite his stellar performance, the Bank "advised" him not to apply because "Europeans are not used to seeing a black man in a position of power" and would not accept him.
Mugabe’s infamous homophobia employs the same logic as racism. Nor is it any different from the extremism of Al Shabaab or Boko Haram, because rather than foster understanding and mutuality it can only lead to mayhem and violence. Contrary to his claims, his views do not represent Africa in its past, present or future.
The program will start with a short video, “The Last Days of Ivory”, evidencing how poaching funds armed groups including al-Shabab, the Lord’s Resistance Army, Boko Haram and Darfur’s Janjaweed; they smuggle wildlife products valued at $1.3 billion each year.
Two events that caught the headlines in Ghana recently were Founder’s Day and the screening of the judicial bribery scandal video by investigative journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas. What ideas link the two events?
There must be a link drawn between law-enforcement repression, economic deprivation, gentrification and the denial of public services. The militarization of the police is designed to reinforce the system of oppression.
A project that could potentially meet a number of national priorities would be if the government incorporated a new capital district somewhere in the centre of the country and moved Parliament there. Geography dictates that a site somewhere in the Free State would probably be most suitable for this purpose.
On October 10, 2015, women, men and children watched with horror and disgust as various media outlets aired the degrading treatment of a woman from the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) during her arrest by Uganda Police.
The video production/story is around women and FGM. The video narrative is an amalgamation of many women's stories. The story is created under the notion that "it takes a village to tell a woman's story; it takes a village for a woman's voice to be heard." The work is part of a wider project entitled "Dear Mother" created by Daapo Reo. .
In the light of the British Prime Minister’s dismissal of reparations, activists must push the debate further and ask what should reparations entail? Fundamental to such a reparations programme must be the fact that we transform the system of capitalism which slavery gave birth to.
In #PunchBack this week: The political crisis in Burundi remains unresolved. Despite the rhetoric of “African solutions to African problems”, apparently nothing is going to address this issue at regional and continental levels. A crisis breaking out anywhere in the continent presents an opportunity to demonstrate pan-African solidarity, Ubuntu. Or does Africa still need lessons on conflict resolution? Watch the and share your thoughts.
Pambazuka News 747: Transition: More of the same in East Africa
Pambazuka News 747: Transition: More of the same in East Africa
Amnesty International (AI) has embarked on a 2 year project to strengthen criminal justice mechanisms in Africa in order to ensure justice, truth and reparation for victims of crimes under international law in Africa. The project aims to promote domestic and international accountability, strengthen emerging regional criminal accountability mechanisms as well as counter the existing political backlash and efforts to weaken international justice mechanisms, particularly the International Criminal Court (ICC), in Africa.
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Three Ethiopian activists are facing trial under a draconian counter-terrorism law after trying to attend a food security workshop in Nairobi earlier this year. They are all involved in supporting local communities in ensuring food security and access to land, in a country where around one million hectares of land have already been leased to investors. If you're able to, please consider supporting their families. Click on this .
The draconian law passed by the National Assembly is likely to be easily replicated by the County Assemblies across the country, setting in motion a wave of intimidation and harassment of journalists and ultimately lead to censorship.
What will it take to make the world shake its head and see that America is a fascist dictatorship, brutalising the world? Why in the arena of global sports is America welcome?
NEW YORK, OCTOBER 15, 2015- The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the late Wednesday by Kenya's national assembly of a bill that would .
"This bill has no place in a democracy," said CPJ's Africa Program Coordinator Sue Valentine. "The public has a right to hear news and criticism of what is discussed in parliament and how members conduct themselves. We urge President Uhuru Kenyatta to live up to his promise to respect press freedom and the role of the media in ensuring the free flow of information."
September is a sad month for the South African shack-dwellers movement Abahlali baseMjondolo. A number of their members have been assassinated in recent years by thugs associated with the ruling ANC party. This lecture is a tribute to a fearless Abahlali woman leader murdered last year.
Women’s roles in violent extremism are diverse and complex. Traditional stereotypes only create a misleading picture. Counter-extremism strategies are unlikely to yield expected results unless women are factored in.
South Africa is keen to strenghten its ties with Jamaica and other countries of the Caribbean in efforts to extend African solidarity. This cooperation is not only at the level of government. The two nations are pursuing increased people-to-people relations, especially those who are engaged in music, art, education and sport.
That population growth is necessarily a bad thing is no longer a sensible theory. It is labour that creates wealth. African nations that are witnessing a youth boom must concern themselves with how to take advantage of this growth.
This Sunday Tanzania goes to the polls to choose a new leader, after a decade under Jakaya Kikwete. What change, if any, could the winner bring? And will it be closer to, or further from, the socialist ideals of Mwalimu Nyerere and the nation’s other nationalist leaders?
The aim of the Legacy Project is to provide a forum and an engagement platform for issues relating to Africa to remain alive through culture, arts, youth clubs and the dissemination of books and works of leading pan Africanists.
The business of running a nation is a difficult one. But while the president is huffing and puffing to provide the services that the people voted him for, shouldn’t he surely stop a bit to entertain the citizens with a smart joke?
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Such acts at IBRD (See have been going on for several years. There is no doubt that the Bank has been mis-using and abusing the special privileges accorded by the US authorities. This cannot be left "as is". The entire grievance process is nothing but a Kangaroo court. The immunity privileges have to be withdrawn. No one is above the law.
This is the best time (election debate time) to put this issue up for the public eye. The Bank only sits up and listens when public pressure is put on them through proper channels. Submit your facts to the TV news stations hosting the debates and all the candidates standing for election.
Joseph Lopez
Political turmoil is already evident in Uganda ahead of general elections in February 2016, raising some concern about the East African nation that has a history of disputed elections and military takeovers. Various economic and political transitions have left Uganda without a national political and economic model that is people-centered or a political culture of peaceful transition.
Other scientists have proved their scientific theories beyond reasonable doubt. Evolutionists must do likewise. They speak of happenings of millions of years ago. But they fail to show convincingly how scientifically they have reached their conclusions.
This three-part series looks at the cooperative movement globally. Part I reviews the growing popularity of this form of economic organising. Part II will look at the history of workers cooperatives, especially in the African diaspora, as an instrument of self-empowerment and mutual self-help. The third part will explore the similarities and difference between workers cooperatives and investor owned firms - the bedrock of our current economic system - and how they represent an alternative way of organising economy and society, that promote economic democracy, employment and national self-reliance for 'developing countries'.
Academic staff at universities in South Africa call on their colleagues at universities and tertiary institutions around the world, members of civil society, and all who have been fortunate enough to enjoy the benefits of higher education, to sign this campaign and stand with South African students in their struggle for a democratised higher education sector. Sign the petition .
The WTO is located firmly in an old ethical order which puts profit over people; where those in power make the rules to suppress the powerless; and where this iniquitous and unjust world “order” (disorder) is legitimised by the ideology of neoliberalism. Progressive people must defy this iniquitous system and overturn it; it is not reformable.
History has time and again shown that violence does not take place in a vacuum and until the ongoing issue of an illegal and brutal occupation is addressed, there is unlikely to be peace and justice for Palestinians and Israelis, Jews and Muslims in Israel/Palestine.
Due to a lack of faith in the state’s justice system, an angry mob set four innocent-until-proven-guilty young men on fire three years ago. That same judicial system is living up to the mob’s reasoning by its inability to secure speedy justice for the victims.
The head of the African Union is a woman. The Prime Minister of Jamaica is female. Brazil and Chile have female presidents. The Vice-President of Zambia is female. Female ministers and powerful officials abound everywhere. Women are rising in power.
Students are insisting that the social value of education must come before its commercial value. Just as land should not be bought and sold, so also education is not something that should be bought and sold.
Pambazuka News 749: Whither Africa in the global order?
Pambazuka News 749: Whither Africa in the global order?
Zanzibar’s election commission last week abruptly canceled all results of elections held October 25, which the leading opposition party said it had won. There are fears of political violence in the Indian Ocean island. Over 30 Zanzibar scholars now want the governments of Zanzibar and Tanzania to keep all of their citizens well and free from harm and respect electoral democracy.
In Tanzania, as in the rest of Africa, God is ubiquitous in politics. Victory at elections is attributed to him. While there is nothing wrong about being religious, tying political outcomes to Providence is problematic as it deepens the passivity of citizens and absolves politicians of responsibility to their constituents.
Mandatory reporting of child sexual abuse is accepted policy and practice worldwide. The UN recognizes the duty to report a child victim to the authorities. Yet instead of pursuing the perpetrators of the abuse of children in Central African Republic, the same UN has placed the whistle-blower under investigation.
Tanzanians did not have much of a choice going into last week’s elections. The contest was between a ruling party heavyweight and a former ruling party bigwig who defected to the oppostion only recently. Nothing earth-shaking in terms of policies. And now that the ruling party has retained the presidency, it is time for it and the oppistion to deliver to the citizens.
The devastation and looting of DR Congo involves a racket of local, regional and international tycoons, warlords, smugglers and pillagers. What is happening illustrates a crisis of leadership at all levels of human society, and the total destruction of the conscience, by putting money and/or profit above human life. That is how Archbishop Munzihirwa understood the crisis.
Buhari has the potential to make history: to be remembered as the leader who restored sanity to Nigerian politics; the leader who tamed unbridled corruption; gave the youth a reason to hope and the transformational figure who raised the leadership bar in Africa. But he may also end up as a ridiculous figure: just another politician who was all talk and failed woefully when Nigerians gave him the opportunity.
President Kim's unorthodox public relations charm offensive that has successfully overwhelmed the senses of outsiders is matched in degree by the ruthless campaign of fear he wages that has at best silenced his internal critics or at worst forced vulnerable World Bank staff to praise his leadership.
Forget the SDGs. The time has come for millions of citizens in every country to collectively demand the universal realisation of basic rights – adequate food, housing, healthcare and social security for all – until governments significantly reform the global economic system to address the root causes of worsening global poverty.
There is a serious concern that Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration is targeting human rights groups, especially those that called for accountability for Kenya’s 2007-2008 post-election violence and those documenting security forces abuses.
President Kenyatta’s government is growing less tolerant of informed policy debate and dissent each day. This is immensely troubling. It is creating an atmosphere of state coercion and intimidation.
Prof. Mesfin has been the foremost Ethiopian public intellectual for at least the past four decades. His a book reveals his personal thoughts of an Ethiopia with a glorious past, an Ethiopia in political, social and economic turmoil today and the rise over the horizon of an Ethiopia whose best days are yet to come.
Africa’s comprador ruling classes and educated middle class are so compromised by imperialism that they are incapable of providing the revolutionary leadership required for the continent’s true liberation. The only possible alternative is that of the working people. They need an ideology, organisation and leadership to constitute an alternative political bloc.
Following threats to de-register 959 Kenyan NGOs, many working for good governance and human rights, CIVICUS, the global civil society alliance, and the National Coalition of Human Rights Defenders–Kenya (NCHRD-K), call on Kenyan authorities to immediately stop the repeated harassment of NGOs and ensure a conducive legal and political operating environment.
Dear Editor,
I refer to the article in issue 747 of Pambazuka News about . I find this position very disappointing coming from someone as learned as Dr. Pheko. I'm sure he has made far better contributions to Pambazuka than this.
The problem seems to be that if the evolution hypothesis is true, it upsets what some people already believe to be true. I wonder why those who have accepted the so-called teachings of God are offended by (or feel sorry for) those who also treat creationism as a hypothesis. Aren't we all looking for some kind of proof rather than a leap of faith? Or are scientists just a misguided bunch trying to undermine the true believers?
C. Coyne
With the elections concluded in mainland Tanzania last week, President Kikwete has retired after 10 years in power. In that period, the high expectations Tanzanians had of him have largely been betrayed by his regime, which accelerated the country's integration into global capitalism. Kikwete leaves behind a struggling ruling party and his legacy could be tainted by perceived shenanigans that cast a dark shadow on the elections.
When it comes to maintaining U.S. imperial power and the rule of the rich, impunity is absolute. The congressional Benghazi hearings exposed not a single official crime, while suppressing vast violations of U.S. and international law. The domestic Obama doctrine makes inner city teenage “rioting” a federal concern, but the people that supply weapons to al-Qaeda in Syria and Libya are untouchable. Crime isn’t crime when it’s imperial policy.
India-Africa cooperation that promotes economic and technological exchange and the indigenous transformation of Africa’s natural resources could help move the continent up the global value chain.
In the small absolute monarchy of Swaziland the struggle to get a decent education is connected to the struggle for political freedom. Student activist Njabulo Mazibuko has written about what implications this understanding has for himself and his fellow students.
As trade and investment relations of African countries with China grow, African officials must step up negotiations to secure benefits for their people and promote African businesses and investments in China to counter one-sided patterns. The Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) is great platform for this.
Pambazuka News 744: Dreams of cures: SDGs, oil and ICTs
Pambazuka News 744: Dreams of cures: SDGs, oil and ICTs
Intimidated for exposing the dark secrets of an African regime out of control, Canadian journalist Judi Rever drew the line at having the life of her own children threatened.
To much of the outside world, the self-declared republic of Somaliland is a success story that, although lacking international recognition, contrasts sharply with the collapsed nation of Somalia. Not so. In the past five years, the government of President Ahmed Mohamoud Silanyo has been engaged in a sustained campaign of self-enrichment and aggrandizement as it suppressed dissent and debased political debate through the overt promotion of tribal politics. The people must now mobilise to restore Somaliland to its founding tenets.
The supposedly self-evident idea that the nation-state is the logical form of political organization for the destruction of colonialism and for the remaking of African lives is patently false. True African liberation will not occur within the colonial structures of power erected by – and inherited from - Empire.
Tired of a stale diet of propaganda churned out by state radio, many Ethiopians rely on foreign broadcasters to follow events in their own country. Now the BBC has announced plans to broadcast in Ethiopian languages. This is welcome. But Ethiopians must continue the struggle to have their own independent and vibrant media.
“I became depressed on behalf of my age group; for clearly, we have failed our offspring who are to inherit the earth after us. What sort of earth shall we leave behind for them? Will my great-great-great grand-children have any tilapia to eat?”
Twenty-one years after the genocide, and despite a rosy picture created internationally of a healing nation, many Rwandan refugees are reluctant to return home for fear of persecution by the current regime. After those living in Zambia lost their official refugees status, Kigali is pursuing forced repatriation or issuance of Rwandan passports. Neither of these options is safe for the affected persons.
E-learning offers a range of benefits to students and society as it is cheap and based on resources that are becoming more available on the African continent. Rather than solely relying on traditional education, Africa needs to leap forward and realize the potential of e-learning in creating innovators and curbing mass youth unemployment.
As colonial Britain unleashed terrible violence in Kenya, Canada strengthened the British military. It’s almost certain that some of the British pilots who dropped bombs on Mau Mau hideouts were trained in Canada. There were Canadian men on the ground in Kenya involved in the colonial violence. Should Canada apologise for its role?
Caribbean nations are calling on Britain to pay billions of pounds in reparations for slavery. Ahead of Prime Minister David Cameron's first official visit to Jamaica next Tuesday, Sir Hilary Beckles, chair of the Caricom Reparations Commission and vice-chancellor of the University of West Indies, has asked Cameron to start talks on making amends for slavery. Here's Sir Hilary's letter in full:
The ubiquitous ‘development goals’ chosen by the United Nations – first Millennium (MDGs) in 2000 and now Sustainable (SDGs) – were and are and will be a distraction from the real work of fighting poverty done by social justice activists, including Africans.
GRAIN's report shows how fertiliser companies have infiltrated the main policy processes on agriculture and climate to position chemical fertilisers as a solution to climate change and to weaken support for non-chemical farming.
Report concludes that there is considerable scope for the City to improve the management of informal trade, and that any restriction or prohibition on trade is likely to negatively affect the way that traders make a living as it undermines the benefits that traders derive from permanence.
On 9 July, 2015, the Local Organizing Committee of the 8th Pan African Congress presented its final report to President John Mahama of Ghana. Zaya Yeebo presents his personal reflections of the 8th Congress held in Accra in March, 2015, observing that the Congress sought to revive the Movement, to reaffirm its anti-imperialist, anti-neo-colonialist nature and helped to define a path for the continued growth and regeneration of African economies and politics.