America looks like a perfect nation, but upon deeper reflection, one gets a very unflattering image. The nation is angry, grumpy, indulgent, violent, fearful, divided, distracted, in debt, addicted to power and material stuff, and in a self-inflicted siege

The recent violent repression of peaceful protests following the removal of fuel subsidy leading to a high coast of living showed a brutal government that has little regard for the lives and rights of its own people. State violence is still going on

An examination of the nationalist struggles in India and those in Africa reveals a historiography that is splashed with personalities. But these did not simply emerge as elite phenomena

The Pan African Parliament has a way to go in terms of consolidating its position as a continental parliamentary institution, not only with the AU system, but also in the eyes of the member states of the AU and the general public across the continent

The duplicity of the West at election time in Africa is evident. In Kenya’s recent election there were threats such as that made by Johnny Carson, former official in the Obama administration who warned Kenyans that voting for particular leaders will ‘have consequences’

Rwanda's recent elections were a sheer wasteful circus, like previous ones since Paul Kagame came to power in Kigali. The ruling party has a choke-hold on the country's politics. Progressive forces have a difficult task to truly free Rwanda

Much has been achieved since the Protocol came into force. But to ensure gender equality and transformation in gender relations between women and men, a comprehensive change that radically alters the status quo of the power relations rather than ad hoc or piecemeal reforms is needed.

The Somali militant group Al Shabaab has claimed responsibility for the September 21 attack at an upmarket shopping mall in Nairobi in which dozens of people were killed. Progressives must intensify their opposition to extremists who manipulate Islam, but also reject the imperial forces inside Africa and their allies

Is the United States of America and its NATO Allies replacing the United Nations? Is this alliance now the supreme world body in international affairs? Is the United Nations going the disastrous end of its predecessor the League of Nations? Should the civilised nations of the world allow the nefarious schemes of these self-appointed police of the world to destroy the world again through disguised colonialism, racism and new imperialism? And enslave other nations especially in the developing world through terrorist militarism?

There is persistent misrepresentation of the South African Left, that it did little while the Congress Movement engaged in the struggle against the apartheid regime. The historical record needs to be set straight

December will mark Makhan Singh's 100th birthday. To celebrate the anniversary of the legendary Kenyan trade unionist and freedom fighter and to reflect on his life and contribution to Kenya’s liberation, Mau Mau Research Centre organized a public lecture on Singh on 3rd August 2013. Here’s the .

Nigerian leaders are not curse, as former President Obasanjo now asserts. There are historical and structural reasons why people of the country and others in Africa are suffering from incompetent leadership

‘I believe that a strong and powerful United Africa will make a profound difference, for the better, in how Black people are perceived and treated in the United States, just as a strong global China has done for Chinese Americans’

A strong-but-decentralized state model is not necessarily ‘the answer’ to the problem of development in Africa, but it is a critical part of that answer. The state has a very important role in creating the conditions and directing development in a nation

We have the ability to limit climate change’s negative effects but only if we act, only if we change, only if we critically revisit and redefine what it is that drives us. We must revisit the goals that motivate us and between ourselves and our environment

The law reflects the spirit of ubuntu, which safeguards the dignity of child offenders and aims to reintegrate them back into society

Commercial interests, rather than health and scientific interests, are driving the push for genetically modified organisms. People in Africa need to know the truth about GMOs and resist their introduction

Imitating and catching up with the West lies behind the ‘Africa is rising’ narratives. Such narratives are uncritical of neo-liberal development models and therefore maintain Africa’s subordination to the international capitalist order

King's 'I Have A Dream' speech wasn't offered as the penultimate moment of his career till after his death. Those who offer it were the same corporate media honchos who first elevated, then slimed and slandered King the last year of his life. 'The Dreamer' too is their construct

Fifty years after the March on Washington, President Barack Obama is in the White House yet African Americans remain in poverty and suffer unemployment rates twice the size of that of the white population

Sources say the peacekeepers are struggling with equipment problems, poor training of some contingents and the reluctance by some governments to send their soldiers into combat zones

The constitution allows Kenyans in the diaspora to vote and there is adequate evidence of the diaspora’s active involvement in national development over the years. What is more, the African Union now recognizes diaspora as its sixth region. But still this writer has his reasons for urging Kenyans overseas to return

For the past 25 years or so, Sudanese women regardless of their race, religion, age or background, have suffered degrading treatment and humiliation under the Public Order Code of 1996, which changed in 2009 to The Society Safety Code

Western Sahara Resource Watch has launched a report detailing how Morocco intends to build over 1000 MW of renewable energy plants in Western Sahara, a territory that Morocco partially occupies

Egypt appears to be following the bloody path of Algeria in the early 1990s. The leaderless revolution of 2011 has been coopted by the military yet requires the demise of the terrorizing capitalist world system that encourages both military regimes and authoritarian populisms

Ethiopia’s elections in 2015 are likely to be similar to the recent Zimbabwean elections that perpetuated a ‘thugtatorship.’ As long as the US and Europe continue to provide endless handouts, Africa is doomed to remain a thugocracy

Successive Nigerian governments have should abysmal disregard for the labour rights of public university lecturers. The state willingly enters into agreements with the workers;, only to fail to implement those commitments

The mobile revolution. Geopolitical power shifts. A radically altered global economy. The world is changing, and so is the way that people fight for their rights. In order to be effective, Amnesty International’s (AI) International Secretariat needs to adapt to that change. That’s why we’re opening a regional office in Kenya. And why we need your campaigning expertise with us on the ground.

The mobile revolution. Geopolitical power shifts. A radically altered global economy. As the world changes, so does the way people campaign for human rights. To remain effective, Amnesty International (AI) needs to respond and adapt. That’s why we’re opening an International Secretariat office in Southern Africa. And why we need your campaigning expertise.

Use your experience as a human rights campaign strategist to respond to some of our most critical campaigning issues. Working within the Individuals at Risk Team, you'll react quickly to emerging priorities assessing changing situations quickly, capitalising on your political judgement and inspiring worldwide action within days.

Since formal independence the media in Africa has been bludgeoned into capitulation to the state. To overturn this reality there must be decriminalisation of libel and legislation on the right to access to information must be enforced

Local media coverage of the 2013 Kenyan elections downplayed acts of violence and bordered on self-censorship despite the fact that social media reflected a deeply politically and ethnically divided society. The new Kenyatta government has now embarked on a charm offensive to co-opt the media

The Insight newspaper is celebrating its 20th anniversary. Its contribution to the democratization of Ghana and its founder’s indefatigable spirit are outstanding

A draconian law passed recently is symptomatic of a larger concern: a shrinking of political space in the country and continued human rights violations that jeopardise the fragile peacebuilding process

This timely book should be required reading on any statistics and media studies programme in African universities, if not everywhere. As an accompaniment to standard statistics texts, it would act as a constant reminder to students as to the limitations of statistical methods without due regard to the socio-economic context in which the data is being collected, analysed and presented

Black stories are in the form of service delivery protests, which are characterized by angry mobs stealing electricity, invading lands and tossing poo. Such stories don’t engage Black politics in any meaningful way – they are not written nor seen through Black people’s experiences

The media in Kenya continues to be the target of intense criticism over its coverage of the elections in March. It is thought to have shirked its watchdog role and focused on peace messages. But supporters say that was necessary, given the circumstances