Pambazuka News 432: Redeeming the soul of Kenya
Pambazuka News 432: Redeeming the soul of Kenya
Nigerian gunboats exchanged fire with militants in the western Niger Delta on Friday, security sources and a prominent ethnic activist said, the latest sign of deepening unrest at the heart of Africa's biggest oil industry. More than a dozen navy gunboats opened fire on militants along Chanomi Creek in Delta state, the sources said. The region is home to U.S. energy giant Chevron's Escravos export terminal and Nigeria's 125,000 barrels per day Warri refinery.
A third of girls in Swaziland have experienced sexual violence by the age of 18, according to a study published in the May 9th edition of The Lancet. Such violence was strongly associated with sexually transmitted infections, pregnancy complications or miscarriages, unwanted pregnancy and mental health problems.
Three brightly-clothed women walk slowly around the fallen, charred trees strewn haphazardly across the blackened clearing, each carrying seashells filled with indigenous rice seed to bury in the rich soil. The women belong to a local cooperative, Women and Children Development Secretariat (WOCDES), and wake early for the 5-km hike down the dirt road to their farm near Zwedru, Grand Gedeh County, in Liberia’s vast forest region on the Ivorian border.
When Margaret Mensah-Williams walked down the steps after presiding over the Namibian parliament for the first time, male parliamentarians rushed to ask her how she became so good at chairing the house. "I told them women are born leaders," says Mensah, Vice Chairperson of the National Council.
'Provinces on fire with kidnapping rumours; every day more stories of missing children', read the May 1 headline of independent daily Al-Dustour. For months now, the independent press has been carrying reports of the disappearance of young children, mostly from Egypt's rural provinces. On Apr. 11 two children from the Sharqiya province vanished without a trace; on Apr. 28, four young children - three of them under six years old - were reported missing in the northern city Mansoura. Dozens of other cases have been reported through this period.
This document outlines a presentation given by the Salamander Trust at a meeting on women and AIDS at the House of Commons in Westminster. The presenter details how, because of global attitudes, women with HIV/AIDS have seen their reproductive health rights and rights to liberty systematically and institutionally eroded. The document shows how some countries are now sterilising young positive women, coercing them to sign consent forms when in labour, so that after delivery when they go for contraception, they learn that this is no longer needed.
African LGBTI human rights defenders attending the 45th Ordinary Session of the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR) currently underway in Banjul, Gambia, are optimistic that a resolution aimed at ending all forms of discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in Africa will be adopted by the African Commission. On 14 May, the panel presented the resolution which has been continuously barred during the preceding ordinary sessions.
Reporters Without Borders condemns the foreign travel ban that has been placed on William Tonet, the editor of the independent Luanda-based biweekly Folha 8 (F8), whose passport was seized when he tried to cross by land into Namibia on 9 May. Tonet has been harassed by the authorities ever since the newspaper’s creation in 1995.
Reporters Without Borders is alarmed by the decision to keep Radio Mada sports reporter Evariste Ramanantsoavina in detention and charge him with “inciting revolt against the republic’s institutions,” defamation and disseminating false information. He was arrested on 5 May and forced to reveal the location from which the radio was broadcasting in defiance of a closure order.
President Obama's global health budget plan, pegged at $63 billion over six years and announced on May 5, one day in advance of the full budget statement, met with predictably mixed responses. The administration spin was that it was a major new commitment to a comprehensive approach; health activist groups charged that it actually marked a cut from prior commitments made in campaign promises and by Congressional pledges.
This issue of AfricaFocus features brief notices of 15 books published so far in 2009 that AfricaFocus readers are likely to be interested in. This listing, including 10 on continent-wide issues or countries outside South Africa and 5 on South Africa, is far from comprehensive. But it includes a good selection of thoughtful analyses by both African writers and experienced non-African observers of the African scene.
African science researchers and policy advisers have agreed to set up a foundation, endorsed by a range of African-based banks, to promote the use of scientific and other forms of knowledge by both public and private decision-makers in the continent. The body, to be known as the Knowledge Management Africa (KMA) Foundation, will be under the auspices of the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) based in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Uganda's opposition parties are demanding reforms in the electoral commission as the country prepares for the presidential polls in 2011. The statement presented to parliament yesterday by Forum for Democratic Change president, Kizza Besigye, suggests major facelifts in the way elections are conducted, the announcement of winners, while also calling for the reinstatement of the presidential term limits.
The Burundian government has released 203 National Liberation Front political prisoners as part of the ceasefire agreement signed between the government and the former rebel group, Ministry of Justice has said late yesterday in a statement.
Reporters Without Borders has condemned an attempted murder of the editor of the independent Arab-language daily, El Wattan, and radio presenter Mohamed Ould Zeine in Mauritania. Mr Ould Zeine was allegedly attacked by two men with baseball bats and knives on the evening of 12 May. He reportedly suffered very serious injuries to his left hand.
Many people in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are dying of treatable diseases because they attribute their symptoms to a poison they believe only traditional healers can cure, according to health officials. "Many people are dying in this region because of this phobia whose current spread has to do with the environment we are living in and the wars we have experienced," said North Kivu provincial medical inspector Dominique Bahago.
Women in Mauritania who press charges for sexual assault face the risk of jail time because of poorly defined laws and stigma that criminalise victims rather than offenders, according to a local UN-funded non-profit. The subject of rape is still so taboo in Mauritania that there is no mention of it in the law and the word is absent from government documents, according to the NGO Mauritanian Association for Maternal and Child Health, based in the capital Nouakchott.
Returning to Burundi after years as a refugee in Tanzania, Jonas Saya knew it would be difficult to reclaim his land from former neighbours who had settled on it. "I wanted my children to get a home of their own," he said. Saya, 56, returned with six children after spending 37 years in Ulyankulu old settlement, western Tanzania.
Bars and nightclubs in several Tanzanian cities will soon have condom vending machines in the bathrooms as part of national efforts to combat HIV. "Our goal is to make condoms widely available to the people. The programme will start in Dar es Salaam [Tanzania's commercial capital] before it is scaled up to various upcountry regions," Stan Mwamaja, a ministry of health official, told IRIN/PlusNews.
For the past year, Olive Mutabeni's home in Chitungwiza, a low-income suburb 20km outside Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital, has been the makeshift centre of operations for the Life Empowerment Support Organisation (LESO). After 23 years as a nurse in the public health sector, most recently as the coordinator of prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT) services at Chitungwiza Central Hospital, Mutabeni quit her job and started LESO to provide the sick and elderly in her community with emotional, medical and practical support. Four other nurses soon joined her.
Ashoka’s Changemakers, in partnership with the National Geographic Society, have launched an exciting online competition entitled “Geotourism Challenge 2009: Power of Place – Sustaining Future Destinations". Our aim is to search for global innovative ideas in tourism that celebrate the distinct destinations of the world by honoring culture, cherishing history and enhancing the environment. Submit your entry by May 20, 2009 at to take advantage of the funding opportunities and global exposure, while contributing to the next big change!
cc Zimbabwe’s new lease of life is under threat, as signatories to the Global Political Agreement (GPA) fail to implement the deal, writes Richard Kamidza. Fresh farm invasions, the re-arrest of political prisoners and disrespect for the pluralistic processes of democracy set out in AU and SADC statutes are sending out the wrong signal to investors and damaging the Unity Government’s ability to unlock financial and technical assistance from global donors and western governments, Kamidza argues. The Harare administration needs US$8 billion to revive the country’s social and economic sectors. Zimbabwe has a monthly public sector wage bill of US$400 million and revenue of just US$30 million.
cc It's true that Congo is a disappointment, says Ali M. Malau, responding to 
cc Phanuel Akubueze Egejuru is awed by Kenyan poet Shailja Patel’s ‘eye-popping phraseology’ in , a volume of work around the theme of migration and its impact on human relationships. ‘Too delicate and too good to be touched’, Egejuru warns that the book may make painful reading for those who experienced direct colonisation, as Patel takes the reader ‘through years of exploitation…in Africa and Asia’. It is however ‘a must-read’, devoured by Ejeguru in one sitting, which ‘forges fresh expressions that invigorate and inspire budding poets to take risks and experiment’.
Phanuel Akubueze Egejuru is ‘totally enthralled’ by poet Shailja Patel’s performance about Zanzibari musician Bi Kidude at an Africa Literature Association conference in April. She describes here her experience of watching what the Igbo call ‘oha kara lama’, an event whose memory travellers carry and disperse in distant lands.
cc State-sanctioned witch-hunts in March have triggered growing popular criticism of Gambia’s repressive Jammeh government on the ground as well as internationally, writes Abena Ampofoa Asare. Detailing the failure of regional and continental mechanisms from the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) to respond effectively to human-rights abuses in a deteriorating political situation, Asare calls for the issue to be addressed at the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights annual meeting on 13 May.
Following reports of federal government plans to repossess temporary housing from Katrina victims, the has called for the Obama administration to reverse this decision and provide those affected with substantive directive support.
Mike Rainy writes to thank Pambazuka for its and to forward us an update from Pakuo, who attended a community meeting about the issue at the end of April.
cc In a response to In an interview with , Courttia Newland talks about the influences behind his writing and giving a voice to those left outside of mainstream fiction.
cc With South Africa's Constitutional Court today set to hear the efforts of the Abahlali baseMjondolo shackdweller movement to have the KwaZulu Natal Slums Act declared unlawful, Richard Pithouse reflects on the state's routine willingness to evict occupiers of informal housing in contravention of the protection afforded by the country's constitution. Stressing the destruction engendered through forcing people out of their communities, Pithouse discusses the state's flawed assumption that blindly razing settlements without fully accommodating their inhabitants amounts to progress. Highlighting the similarities of the 2007 Slums Act with apartheid-era legislation, the author criticises a technocratic act that regards the poor as the problem rather than the material and political realities they face, and proposes the implementation of measures aimed at privileging the social value of urban land over commercial concerns.
cc As Kenyans struggle to find meaning in the protracted troubles surrounding their body politic, Njonjo Mue challenges the nation’s youth to join an army of ordinary people to fight the good fight and to defend Kenyans’ freedom, dignity, heritage and their children’s future by engaging in brutal self-appraisal and refusing to permit decay. Mue’s article is a call to arms, for men to leave the bars long enough to know what their children will eat for supper, for women to cease their escapism and confront the problems facing Kenya’s communities, and for all Kenyans to individually take responsibility for the future of their country.
© In a piece considering the broader implications of the recent South African election for Africa at large, Mammo Muchie celebrates the calmness with which South Africans have consistently expressed their democratic and human rights. Encouraging other African parties to follow South African groups' example in ensuring political rivalries never descend into violent confrontation, Muchie salutes the country's ability to maintain a free and fair election process. Reflecting on the wider lessons for the African continent and his native Ethiopia in particular, the author stresses that the example of a free press and the right to criticise underpinning South Africa's success should be replicated across the continent.
cc Following UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food Olivier De Schutter's comments at the 17th session of the United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD), Vía Campesina and Friends of the Earth International give their response to the special rapporteur's comments. While highlighting the recommendations and broad understanding that they share with De Schutter, the authors' statement emphasises the centrality of 'food sovereignty', namely, the right of different communities and peoples to control their own territories. This the authors contend is a process that goes beyond producers' mere 'participation' in high-level decision-making; it is one which actively positions farmers and peasants at the centre of agricultural production and control.
cc As the African Development Bank (AfDB) holds its 44th annual assembly, African civil society groups met at a forum in Dakar to express their deep dissatisfaction with the bank's policies. Forum participants allege that the bank does not fully understand the implications of the global financial crisis for Africa and that it has done nothing more than peddle the neoliberal line of institutions like the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF). They also say that it has failed to come up with a single initiative of its own to tackle the African debt crisis. The forum stressed the need for the AfDB to be an institution committed first and foremost to the welfare of the African people if it is to promote sustainable development and food sovereignty successfully.
The need for to build alliances, and
Pambazuka News 431: Kenya: Despondency at peace deal failure
Pambazuka News 431: Kenya: Despondency at peace deal failure
On 8 April, Agriculture and Land Affairs Minister Lulu Xingwana acted on her threat to reclaim redistribution farms that were not being used. In the fifth such repossession, the minister moved onto a Gauteng farm with a group of officials, reportedly telling a tenant: “Do you know who I am? I am the minister of land affairs and this is my house. Pack your bags and get out of my house right now.”
Kenya has been challenged to exploit the opportunities found within the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) in an effort cushion the country from the imminent challenges posed by the ongoing global recession, Kenya’s Trade Minister Amos Kimunya said last week.
A third of the World Bank’s support for health, nutrition and population programmes over the past decade has been unsatisfactory, the multilateral agency’s own evaluation unit has concluded. Out of $17bn (€12.9bn, £11.5bn) in support to countries, only two-thirds had satisfactory outcomes, with many projects marred by inadequate risk assessment, weak monitoring and evaluation, and lack of accountability, said its Independent Evaluation Group.
For over 27 years President Mubarak has ruled with an iron fist. With protests and strikes forbidden, activists are finding new ways to fight for democracy. Through Facebook, protestors can now find a voice.
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has a long and ugly history of discrimination against Black people. The Department’s new Secretary, Tom Vilsack, recently said “Some folks refer to USDA as the last plantation.” Across the South, White local and regional USDA managers routinely denied Black farmers critical farm loans and disaster assistance—aid that was easily granted to White farmers. This federal assistance often meant the difference between a thriving, economically viable farm and foreclosure.
Six relatively unknown grassroots activists from around the globe receive a moment in the spotlight when the Goldman Environmental Prize announces its list of annual recipients. The prize, now in its 20th year, is considered the Nobel Prize for the environment. Past recipients include Nobel Peace Prize laureate Wangari Maathai, former Brazilian environment minister Marina Silva, and Nigerian environmental activist Ken Saro-Wiwa, who was killed seven months after his recognition.
The land reform that has unfolded in Zimbabwe since 2000 has had diverse consequences. There is no single story. Today policymakers are grappling with the question of ‘what next’? How can a new agrarian structure be supported, and a vibrant rural economy be developed? Yet such discussions are often taking place in a vacuum, with limited empirical data from the ground and overshadowed by misperceptions and inappropriate assumptions.
This stream invites papers that develop a critique of –or a dialogue with- Eurocentric interpretations of human rights, and proposals that advance an understanding of rights grounded on any of the historical and geographical sites of the modern struggles for self-determination in the Global South. This stream also welcomes papers that, from the point of view of Europe, enter into a dialogue with the Third-World conceptualization of human rights. Please send your name, affiliation, title of your paper and an abstract of no more than 250 words by Friday, 26 June 2009 directly to the stream convenor.
An earlier Indian Ocean network conference in Johannesburg in January thisyear explored ‘Print Cultures, Nationalisms and Publics of the Indian Ocean’. At the Goa conference, the aim is to develop further agendas for transnational research, transcending the points of reference provided by national historiographies. An important focus will be the dynamics of port cities, places of transit, and networks of migration, trade and communications, whose interconnectivities criss-cross the histories of empires, colonies and nations.
As a new post-Cold War order takes shape, the Indian Ocean brings into sharp focus many of the forces shaping contemporary world history. The rise of India and China raise questions about whether we are in a ‘post-American’ world. Yet, at the same time, Sino-Indian makes apparent new configurations and contradictions in the ‘South’. More generally, the historical experiences of the Indian Ocean offer a counterpoint to those of the black Atlantic which has become invisibly normative in much social and political theory.
Sinohydro is China's leading dam builder, and is developing scores of hydropower projects outside China. Its investments in Africa include dam projects such as Bui (Ghana), Dikgatlhong (Botswana), Grand Poubara (Gabon), Imboulou (Congo-Brazzaville), Kariba North Bank Extension (Zambia), Merowe (Sudan), Tekeze (Ethiopia) and Zungeru (Nigeria). The company is committed to becoming a global brand in the hydropower sector.
The Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa is pleased to announce its initiative targeted at those members of the African social research community who have responsibility in their universities for teaching undergraduate and graduate-level course in social science research methods. Over the last decade and half, in cognisance of the multi-faceted crises confronting the African higher education system in general and the universities in particular, CODESRIA has invested itself in offering platforms for postgraduate students and mid-career professionals to be offered opportunities for training in quantitative and qualitative research methods.
The Women's Refugee Commission and the SEEP Network are holding a four-day highly participatory workshop designed to bring practitioners from throughout the region to learn new techniques, share experiences, and collect tools designed to improve practice on the ground. Participants should be able and willing to read the Minimum Standards for Economic Recovery after Crisis. A participatory discussion will be held before the workshops on the scope and concepts presented in the aforementioned publication.
The Research and Advocacy Unit [RAU], an NGO working on providing specialist assistance in research and advocacy in the field of human rights , democracy and governance, has released a video and written report documenting political and human rights violations against women in Zimbabwe. The documentary, ‘Hear Us – Zimbabwean Women Affected by Political Violence Speak Out,’ and accompanying report, “Putting it Right: Addressing Human Rights Violations Against Zimbabwean Women,” present the findings of RAU’s study and call for action on the issue of politically motivated violence against women.
This report and reflection paper documents a roundtable convened by Inter Pares, which brought together over twenty women's rights activists from Africa, Asia, Latin America and Canada, with significant experience working on issues related to sexual violence against women in armed conflict. Although the women present recognized that they were acting in very different contexts, they also identified that their distinct struggles had commonalities.
African states and institutions are raising hundreds of millions of dollars in trade credits and business loans to shore up Zimbabwe's bankrupt unity government in the absence of a financial rescue package from the west. Regional officials fear that the reluctance of western and multilateral creditors to provide direct financial support could lead to the collapse of the fragile power-sharing deal they brokered between Robert Mugabe, president, and Morgan Tsvangirai, his opposition rival and now prime -minister.
The body of a man believed to be homosexual has twice been dug up from a Muslim cemetery in Senegal. The man, in his 30s, was first buried on Saturday before residents of the western town of Thies dug up his body and left it near his grave, police say. His family then reburied him, but he was once more exhumed by people who did not want him buried there. His body was dumped outside the family house.
At 18-years old, Maria Ivone Soares decided politics was her calling and the decision has paid off well. Soares is now one of Mozambique’s most respected, outspoken politicians. Growing up in Maputo, Soares wanted be part of the democratic revolution, so she joined Renamo, which waged a 16-year old civil war with the ruling Frelimo to fight off socialism and is now Mozambique’s leading opposition party.
The Harper government must report in a national public database all the pollution being produced by mining companies, a Federal Court judge has ruled. The National Pollutant Release Inventory (NPRI), created in 1993, details all the industrial and commercial pollutants released into the air, water and land in Canada. Since 2006, NPRI has also required that all pollutants released during mining activities must be reported. Some of the waste found in tailings and waste rock — including mercury, sulphuric acid and arsenic — is deemed toxic by law and must be reported in the NPRI.
In the year since Egypt outlawed female genital mutilation the government hasn't prosecuted a single case. Nonetheless, some activists say the law is a tool, among others, for gradually dismantling an ancient tradition.
The Mutual Review of Development Effectiveness in Africa Report 2009 is both an exercise in 'mutual accountability'- assessing what has been done to deliver on commitments to Africa's development, and a review of 'development effectiveness'- assessing what results have been achieved. It is also intended to be of practical use to political leaders in looking forward to the key policy challenges ahead.
Sanusha Naidu compiles a list of the top stories on Sino-African relations.
The T. Y. Danjuma Foundation (TYDF) seeks to hire an outstanding individual to serve as its first Executive Director based Abuja, Nigeria. The Foundation is a new, independent foundation dedicated to improving the quality of life of the people of Nigeria. The trustees seek a dynamic and creative leader with impeccable integrity to further establish the foundation, and develop and implement strategic grantmaking programs.
Saviors and Survivors: Darfur, politics and the war on terror
Written by Mahmood Mamdani - Herbert Lehman Professor of Government, Columbia University, New York
Saviors and Survivors is the first account of the Darfur crisis to consider recent events in the context of Sudan’s history. It is a devastating critique of the powerful Western lobby’s calls for a military response in the name of ‘humanitarian intervention’.
When: Tuesday 2 June 2009, 7.30 pm
Where: TOWN HALL, St Aldates, Oxford
Further details from
Pambazuka News, 51 Cornmarket Street Oxford OX1 3HA
01865-727006 [email][email protected] Fahamu Trust is a registered charity: 1100304
Oxford Transitional Justice Research
http://www.csls.ox.ac.uk/otjr.php
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The LPM is organising a march from Maurice Issacs High School to the Hector Peterson Museum in Soweto on the 16th June 2009 to repoliticise the meaning of the 1976 Soweto Uprisings. This march is a response to the ANC’s hijacking of the 16th June as they have turned it into a bourgeois event. We as the LPM believe we should not celebrate this day, as our government does, but commemorate it by reflecting on the struggle for the liberation of the youth that is still being fought for by poor communities 15 years into our so-called democracy..
IIE is pleased to announce Scholar Rescue Fund (SRF) fellowships for threatened academics whose lives and work are in danger in their home country. Professors, researchers and lecturers from any country or field may apply. We invite you to refer suitable candidates, and ask for your help in forwarding the announcement to any academic colleagues who may be interested.
At recent meetings of the Group of 20 and the International Monetary Fund, world leaders have gathered to discuss the global economic crisis. Unfortunately, it seems that many still believe they can solve the problems of the poor with sentimentality and promises of massive infusions of aid, which often do not materialise. We who live in, and lead, the world’s poorest nations are convinced that the leaders of the rich world and multilateral institutions have a heart for the poor. But they also need to have a mind for the poor.
The Africa Commission has delivered its final set of recommendations. The Commission is proposing a new consensus for international development cooperation with Africa. Focus should be directed towards private sector-led growth, which creates jobs. The Commission also decided to take action. It will launch five ambitious initiatives aimed at creating job opportunities for Africa's youth.
Darfur has welcomed the support from leaders across Africa who pledged to stand in solidarity with the civilians of Darfur as they meet in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to construct a mandate for their future. According to a press statement issued by Africa Forum for former heads of state and government, the Elders and the Coalition for Dialogue on Africa (CoDA) all welcomed the initiative.
Nigeria's federal government has condemned the post-election violence in the South-west state of Ekiti, where opposition party supporters have continued to protest the alleged rigging of the state's governorship re-run by the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). The re-run, ordered by the court, rounded off on Tuesday, when the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared the PDP candidate, Segun Oni, winner.
Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has given President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai an ultimatum to resolve issues fuelling infighting within the government. The move by the main wing of the divided MDC signals growing frustration within the shaky unity government, which is struggling to find cohesion and deal with the country's economic and social problems.
Former news reader with the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) and director of the Zimbabwe Peace Project, Jestina Mukoko was on 6 May 2009 granted bail by Harare Magistrate, Catherine Chimanda after the defence reached a mutual agreement with the Attorney General’s office to that effect. Appearing on behalf of the State, Chris Mutangadura, told the court that there had been communication between the Defence counsel and the Attorney General, and the latter had consented to the bail of all the accused persons with the exception of freelance photojournalist Shadreck Manyere, and Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) activists, Gandhi Mudzingwa and Kisimusi Dhlamini.
Sudan's government says it will invite new aid groups to work in Darfur and allow those still operating there to expand their activities. The UN's head of humanitarian affairs welcomed the move. Sudan expelled 13 foreign aid groups in March after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.
Heavy ground fighting between Chadian troops and rebels has erupted in the east, a day after the government said a rebel offensive had been defeated. The government said its forces had killed at least 100 rebels and some of its own soldiers had also died in an hour of combat near Am Dam. It said the rebels were retreating and looting as they left.
The Italian navy has transferred more than 200 migrants picked up in waters off the island of Malta to Tripoli under a new agreement with Libya.The migrants were rescued after they issued a distress call on Wednesday. Italian Interior Minister Roberto Maroni said the Libyan government's move could mark a "turning point" in the fight against illegal immigration.
A French magistrate has ruled that a lawsuit against three African leaders accused of embezzlement is admissible. Presidents Omar Bongo of Gabon, Denis Sassou-Nguesso of Republic of Congo and Teodoro Obiang Nguema of Equatorial Guinea deny any wrongdoing. The French arm of anti-corruption group Transparency International has accused them of buying luxury homes and cars in France with African public funds
A way may be emerging for East African countries to circumvent the mess in telecommunications in the region - and it is rising out of the sea. From having no undersea cable links to the rest of the world, East Africa is now poised to have three. As a result, many businesses are investing in finger-sized underwater fibre-optic cables that will open doors to the rest of the world.
Since the end of the civil war seven years ago, the Sierra Leonean authorities and child welfare agencies have been battling to remove children from the diamond-mining fields, a trend which began at the height of the conflict, when children were abducted by rebel forces and coerced to work in the mines. "It is now a major post-conflict problem and a threat to social stability," remarks Patrick Tongu of the Network Movement for Justice and Development (NMJD), which monitors mining activities in the country.
As nutritionists and medical doctors continue advising people to eat more fish for healthy living, environmental experts are now condemning this nutritious food, leaving people confused. The experts are basing their caution on new findings that show increased mercury levels in fish that is finding its way into the lake from mines around the lake.
Since January 2009, Madagascar has been experiencing serious political unrest, characterized by sporadic demonstrations and violence in the capital city of Antananarivo and other main urban centres. As of 5 May, some 1,332 casualties, including 191 fatalities, have been recorded in hospitals by WHO. The situation has provoked a climate of fear and uncertainty, leading to a rise in unemployment in key sectors, as well as disruptions in social services. In addition, a number of aid projects throughout the country have been experiencing delays due to difficulties of access and implementation.
The World Bank's Inspection Panel Annual Report highlights the problem of access to information within several World Bank-financed projects. Many of the cases brought to the World Bank’s Inspection Panel (IP) for review concern allegations of a lack of transparency, according to the Inspection Panel’s latest annual report. Alleged violation of the Bank’s disclosure policy was raised in 22 of the 52 cases, which equates to 42 percent of all cases brought to the panel since its 1993 inception, according to a summary chart in the report.
A Regional Consultative Meeting convened by Akina Mama wa Afrika was held at Munyonyo Commonwealth Resort, in Kampala, Uganda on 28th 29th April 2009 on the theme “The Power Of Women’s Leadership And Movement Building: Gender Based Violence And Sexual And Reproductive Rights In Conflict And Post Conflict Africa’. The consultation drew together a cross section of actors in the area of conflict and post conflict in Africa. The consultative meeting reflected on national, regional and continentals strategies, challenges, lessons learnt, emerging trends and experiences.
Amnesty International today called on the Ethiopian government to immediately disclose the names and fate of more than 35 people believed to be held by its security forces on political grounds since 24 April. Additional arrests have reportedly been carried out over the past several days and sources in the country have told Amnesty International that further arrests are expected.
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has condemned the arrest of Evariste A. Ramanantoanina, a journalist working with Radio Mada, which occurred on Tuesday 5 May at his residence located in the district of Andrononobe Analamahitsy. “We are concerned by the lack of security for journalists in Madagascar.
The cholera outbreak that took hold of Zimbabwe from last August sustained its downward trend last month while aid agencies continued their efforts to combat the disease, according to the latest United Nations update. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported 65 cholera infections by the end of April with four deaths, compared to 26 cases and 13 deaths the previous month.
The Security Council has expressed its concern over the resurgence of unconstitutional changes of government in some parts of Africa, and its negative impact on the economic and social welfare of the people and the development of affected countries. “The Security Council stresses the importance of expeditiously restoring constitutional order including through open and transparent elections,” according to a statement read by Ambassador Vitaly Churkin of Russia, which holds the Council’s rotating presidency for May.
The East Africa Submarine Cable System (EASSY) will be operational in June 2010 instead of June this year, according to a project official. The delay means that the cable, owned by African and international telecommunications operators, is again the subject of speculation and allegations about the lack of seriousness of the project developers. A rival project, the Sea Cable System (SEACOM), has already announced that it will be operational as scheduled in June this year.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has urged the Governor of the Democratic Republic of Congo's eastern province of North Kivu to ensure the safety of journalists. The committee also expressed concern about the safety of journalist Tuver Wundi Muhindo following an armed attack on his home.
Malawi has printed its ballot papers in UK which arrived in the country on Wednesday. The ballot papers were printed in Birmingham where the parties were supposed to oversee the movement but they failed as they were told to foot their own bills. The country goes to poll on May 19 to elect a president and MPs.
A High Court Judge has postponed the bail application of journalist Shadreck Manyere, MDC Director of Security Chris Dhlamini, and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai’s former aide Gandhi Mudzingwa, because the State said it needed more time to prepare a response. This is in spite of the fact that 13 other co-accused persons, including Jestina Mukoko, were finally freed on bail on Wednesday.
Abahlali baseMjondolo will once again climb another high mountain for the first time when our struggle for the safety, dignity and equality of the poor ascends to the Constitutional Court of the Republic of South Africa. In 2005 when we formed our movement we committed ourselves to do whatever it takes to protect the rights, lives and future of the shack dwellers and the poor in South Africa. We are determined to defend our children, without compromising our future generation.
Eritrea has avoided international attention in recent years in ways that may have protected the Red Sea country's rulers from proper scrutiny but benefit no one else. Even those who recall that the continent's youngest state gained its unlikely independence from Ethiopia in 1993 after a bloody thirty-year struggle may be shocked to hear that the optimistic nationalism of the 1990s has been dissolved under President Isaias Afewerki into a despairing void, causing thousands of Eritreans to flee the country that they fought so hard to establish.
The number of people in Africa using their mobile to access the Internet has rocketed over the last year. In many instances the number of mobile Internet subscribers far outstrips their fixed line equivalent. Sinking voice ARPUs may finally come off their downward curve on the rise of data revenues. Cheaper bandwidth and new developments look set to encourage this growth. The mobile is also a media as increasing numbers of people use it to access stuff and as it establishes itself as a media, advertisers will not be far behind.
Moroccan associations and human rights organisations want the practice of child marriage to stop. Campaigners from various associations recently criticised the way the Moudawana (Family Code), which was intended to limit child marriages, has been applied. The legal minimum age for marriage in Morocco is 18 years, although family judges are empowered to allow exceptions. This loophole has enabled thousands of families to marry off their daughters prematurely.
Ogeste Gelevasi sits in front of his humble house, looking out over fields of cassava and tobacco with a wide smile of contentment. He feels at home here in western Tanzania after almost 40 years as a refugee from neighbouring Burundi. For Ogeste, the country he fled aged two is a foreign country; that's why he, like an estimated 165,000 of the remaining so-called 1972 Burundians living in Mishamo and two other "old settlements," have decided to accept a landmark offer by the government to settle in Tanzania and apply for citizenship.
Zimbabwe’s unity government is stuttering in its attempt at restoring press freedom in a country which had once branded independent journalists as ‘enemies of the state’. The Media Alliance of Zimbabwe (MAZ) has boycotted a state-initiated national media summit which kicked off on May 6 in the resort town of Kariba. They are protesting the re-arrest and detention on May 5 of 18 human rights activists, including Zimbabwe Peace Project director, Jestina Mukoko, and freelance journalist, Andrisson Manyere, on charges including treason, terrorism and banditry.
Increased cases of rape and sexual abuse of women and girls is closely associated with armed conflict and its aftermath in Africa. "Rape has been used as a weapon of war by militia, and this hurts women forever, because even in peacetime you find little response in terms of repairing the effects and providing justice," Marie Jalloh told IPS.
It is a health crisis of alarming proportions. Up to nine million Egyptians have been exposed to hepatitis C, and tens of thousands will die each year unless they receive a liver transplant. Health authorities are taking steps to stop the spread of the blood-borne virus, but must also contend with higher liver failure mortality rates as the disease advances in those infected decades ago.
Environmental researchers predict Southern Africa will be hit heavily by climate change over the next 70 years. Agricultural production is projected to be halved - a development that will threaten the livelihoods of farmers in a region where 70 percent of the population are smallholder farmer
This week's AfricaFocus Bulletin contains this article from the latest Balancing Act Africa (http://www.balancingact-africa.com) on the rapid expansion of mobile internet access in Africa. Also included: a link to a new book on "Mobile Phones: The New Talking Drums of Everyday Africa" (http://www.africafocus.org/books/isbn.php?9956558532) featuring case studies of Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ghana, Mali, Sudan, and Tanzania; excerpts from another recent article from Balancing Act Africa on the rapid advance of mobile phones for cash transfers in Kenya; and report on a South African initiative to promote a strategy to deliver broadband internet access available to all South Africans (http://www.apc.org/en/node/8361/).
A petition demanding the government of Uganda to respect people’s rights and fundamental freedoms, as prescribed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, is doing the rounds among gay rights and civil society organisations throughout Africa. This is a result of what activists call a threat to lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people’s human rights in Uganda caused by the state’s failure to recognise these rights and protect this group’s rights to privacy, equality and freedom.
Two members of the Lesbians, Gays and Bisexuals of Botswana Organisation (LEGABIBO) have slapped government with a notice to sue for discrimination. Prisca Mogapi, a lesbian employed at Botswana Network Of Ethics, Law and HIV/AIDS (BONELA) and Caine Youngman, a gay member of LEGABIBO have indicated their intention to fight it out with government in court over section 164 of the penal code, which criminalises same sex relationships.
Results of a needs assessment by OUT LGBT-Wellbeing that showed that many homosexual people, among other risky behaviors, feel uncomfortable talking about safer sex, gave birth to the PRISM Lifestyle Centre to be launched in Tshwane on Friday 08 May 2009. This health and wellness centre is professionally staffed and offers all professional services free of charge but a R20 facility fee to cover administrative costs.