Pambazuka News 540: Legalised looting: Exploitation and dissent
Pambazuka News 540: Legalised looting: Exploitation and dissent
Having spent years uprooted by conflict, farmers in northern Uganda are again facing tough times – this time caused by the weather. In late June, Joel Lacung and Margaret Ataro of Got-Ngur village in northern Uganda’s Nwoya district, laboured under the scorching sun as they drove two pairs of oxen to prepare their land for the approaching second rice-planting season. They were among many rural farmers in Uganda whose livelihoods have been affected by increasingly erratic rainfall and high temperatures. Most were displaced by the years of conflict with the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and remain poor and unable to acquire farm inputs.
The bandage covering Olida Soanirina’s eye does not disguise the ravages of hydrocephalus as the three-month-old recovers from an operation at the Joseph Ravoahangy Andrianavalona Hospital (HJRA) in the capital Antananarivo. Hydrocephalus is caused by an accumulation of cerebrospinal fluid in the brain’s ventricles, with those who suffer from it producing up to seven spoonfuls an hour while the average person produces one. Left untreated, the condition causes the head to swell as pressure increases, leading to disability and a painful death. Treatment in the developing world is difficult because of the high cost of neurosurgery operations.
South Africa would not be able to escape an escalated European crisis unscathed, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said on Thursday, adding its direct economic exposure to the countries affected was reasonably low. 'South Africa's direct economic exposure to those countries affected by current market turmoil is reasonably low,' Gordhan said in an opinion piece published in Business Day. 'The greater risk for South Africa is the potential for contagion that results in a prolonged and expanding crisis in Europe and undermines global growth significantly.'
Moneytheism and monotheism or the obscurantist international?
Samir Amin
The resurgence of spirituality has made religion a determining factor in history. But despite its strength, argues Samir Amin, religious belief has not destroyed what he calls the ‘immoral and savage competition’ that accompanies the coupling of moneytheism and monotheism. Amin notes that ‘contemporary monopoly capitalism is in crisis and is desperately trying to develop a new ideological offensive by a systematic recourse to ‘spiritual’ discourse.
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Religion and the struggle of the oppressed
Samir Amin
History has a wealth of examples of the involvement of religious revivalist movements in revolts against oppression. But while liberation theology made waves in Latin America, similar movements in the Muslim world, says Samir Amin, were scotched in the bud with the complicity of all the powers. But today’s revolts seem to be unaffected by religious arguments and Amin asks whether 'this is an indicator of the limits of this model of legitimising the struggle for social justice.'
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Historical landmarks in the fight against violence against women
Aline Murin-Hoarau
The reason why violence against women seems to be so ingrained is because it is rooted in relationships of social dominance and racial discrimination, which historically have left little liberty for women. A key point Aline Murin-Horau took away from a recent meeting of Indian Ocean countries is that people must be aware of the history of this scourge if they want to succeed in transforming hearts and minds and the actions that follow.
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An African of his times - Mamadou Dia would have been 100 today
Tidiane Dia
Mamadou Dia died on 25 February 2009 at the age of 98. He was ousted from his position as president of the council in Senegal’s first government after only two years. Accused of attempting to stage a coup d’état, he was arrested in December 1962. His imprisonment effectively ended his dream of genuine independence in Senegal. He would have turned 100 on 18 July. Tidiane Dia looks back at his life and times.
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Ron Singer interviews Abiye Teklemariam, founding editor of 'Addis Neger’ (‘New Addis’), which until 2009 was Ethiopia’s leading dissident newspaper.
Charles Abugre introduces ‘the web of secrecy, collusions and the players that drive and sustain the world of illicit money flows’, with reference to the ongoing case of Kenyan public officials Chris Okemo and Samuel Gichuru and multinational corporation Alcatel-CIT.
The coming together of six East African states to sign the Cooperative Framework Agreement regulating use of the Nile – the first basin-wide agreement to attract the support of a majority of Nile riparian states – has elicited widespread media coverage. But, warns Fasil Amdetsion, ‘significant aspects of what appears in print is wrong.’
With General Magnus Malan – the main architect of South Africa’s apartheid military – passing away on 18 July (Nelson Mandela's birthday, no less), Horace Campbell reflects on Malan’s central role in the systematised discrimination of apartheid and the system’s troubling legacy.
Mandela Park Backyarders would like to congratulate Abahlali Basemjondolo for striking back against the government to free their comrades. Struggling for justice has proved to be packed with obstacles put before us by those we put in power through ballot paper.
‘Four months on, Egypt’s euphoria of 11 February has turned to anger and frustration against the military rulers who are proving to be as ruthless as the former regime,’ writes Sokari Ekine.
'Confronting Female Genital Mutilation: The Role of Youth and ICTs in Changing Africa' by Marie-Hélène Mottin-Sylla and Joëlle Palmieri is a new title from Pambazuka Press. For 25 years campaigners from within and outside Africa have worked on eradicating female genital mutilation. This fascinating short book reports succinctly but in depth on an innovative research and action project among girls and boys in francophone West Africa that explored whether young people’s use of information and communication technology could contribute to the abandonment of female genital mutilation.
Following the acquittal on all charges of 12 young men arrested after performing a dance at an Abahlali baseMjondolo Heritage Day, the Unemployed People’s Movement has issued a statement saluting the ‘witnesses for the prosecution that had the courage to tell the truth in the court’ and celebrating a victory for ‘the struggle of the working class and the poor in South Africa.’
‘We celebrate the victory that the shack-dwellers movement, Abahlali baseMjondolo, has won in court today where ALL of the "Kennedy 12" have finally been acquitted of ALL charges against them,’ Bishop Rubin Phillip has said in a statement issued on 18 July. ‘Abahlali's victory today is a victory for all who speak the truth; it is a victory that should give courage to the poor of eThekweni, of South Africa, and the world who organise and mobilise together, and who speak and act for themselves.’
There’s little sign that the Western Cape Human Settlement MEC intends to deliver on its promises to prioritise housing for the Mandela Park Backyarders in the 2011/12 financial year, the group has said in an open letter to mayor Patrica de Lille.
On the occasion of Nelson Mandela’s 93rd birthday, Elizabeth Barad reflects on the lives of anti-apartheid heroes, the late Walter and Albertina Sisulu and Helen Suzman.
Four elderly Mau Mau war veterans have been given permission to sue over alleged British colonial atrocities committed during the Mau Mau uprising in Kenya more than 50 years ago. The ruling issued by a High Court in the UK granted the war veterans permission to sue for compensation for the atrocities meted out to them by the British authorities between the 1950s and 1960s.
The Civil Society Coalition for Quality Basic Education has asked Malawi president Bingu wa Mutharika to transform the Commission of Inquiry on the University impasse into a Dispute Resolution Dialogue Committee in order to resolve the stand off which has led to the firing of four Chancellor College Academic Staff Union (CCASU) lecturers. The Coalition observes that since the president, as a Chancellor, is subject to the inquiry’s probe, the objectivity of the commission is likely to be compromised as he is known to have already taken sides and so the commission may be forced to change its modus operandi to accommodate him.
Everyone is trying to hide behind somebody else.
A senior United Nations humanitarian official says the world body is 'extremely worried' about the situation in Sudan's South Kordofan region after a leaked report said war crimes may have been committed there. The leaked UN report, which emerged on Monday, documents witness accounts of suspected atrocities and called for an inquiry into the allegations. Oil-rich South Kordofan borders the newly created nation of South Sudan. It has seen intense fighting in recent months between the Sudan's army and local armed groups.
President Mwai Kibaki has assured that the Government is committed to undertaking far-reaching reforms in the management of public affairs and entrenchment in constitutionality. Speaking when he met and held discussions with members of the African Peer Review Mechanism, Kibaki noted that new and vibrant structures of governance were being put in place under the new constitution.
Beji Caid Essebsi, the Tunisian prime minister, has said that a new outbreak of deadly violence in Tunisia is designed to prevent the country holding its first post-revolution elections. 'There were disturbances aimed at preventing elections,' said Essebsi during an address to the nation on Monday. 'These elections will be held on 23 October as scheduled.' Voters will choose a constituent assembly that will write a new constitution that will pave the way for legislative and presidential polls.
Kenya has agreed to open a new camp near its border with Somalia to cope with the influx of refugees fleeing the region's worst drought in 60 years. The lfo II camp in Dabaab will open its doors to 80,000 refugees within 10 days, the Kenyan government said. Prime Minister Raila Odinga agreed to open the new camp after visiting Dadaab's three existing camps where an estimated 380,000 refugees are now living at facilities intended to cope with a population of 90,000 people.
The United Nations is set to declare famine in parts of southern Somalia, signalling to donors the need for more aid and to insurgents that the population's suffering is being taken seriously. Mark Bowden, humanitarian coordinator for Somalia, was expected to make the announcement in Nairobi, based on fresh data from the food security and nutrition analysis unit for the violent Horn of Africa country, aid officials told the Reuters news agency on Tuesday. 'It will declare famine in several areas of southern Somalia,' a Geneva-based aid worker said. The world body has described the Horn of Africa drought as an emergency, one level short of a famine, citing dire levels of acute malnutrition among Somali children reaching camps in Kenya and Ethiopia.
Although many conferences, articles and TV broadcasts have tackled the topic of land grabbing, the voice of farmers has been marginalised. This is why La Via Campesina and the national farmers organisation of Mali is inviting people to a conference in November to listen, exchange experiences and support those who experience land grabbing every day.
As thousands suffer the effects of drought in the Horn of Africa, developing nations are silent on pledges they made to help developing countries cope with climate related change. In 2008, world leaders met to deliberate on climate change under the UN in Copenhagen, Denmark. The developed countries pledged aid to developing countries to help them cope with the impact of the global phenomenon that has caused several droughts and related disasters in Africa. According to the World Resource Institute, which has kept an eye on the Copenhagen Accord, less than four per cent of the pledged cash has been disbursed.
Zimbabwe’s immigration officials say they have instructed their officers at border posts not to accept illegal immigrants and refugees seeking to enter into the country. The ban is targeted at refugees mainly from Somalia and Ethiopia whom Zimbabwe accuses of using the country as a transit point to South Africa. The government-owned Herald newspaper reported that five border posts usually used by the Ethiopian and Somali immigrants had been instructed not to allow refugees into the country.
DR Congo's National Independent Electoral Commission has registered 31.4 million voters for the November elections. The announcement was made by the commission chairman, the Rev Daniel Ngoy Mulunga, following the completion of the first phase of the updating of the electoral roll. DRC’s population is estimated to be 65 million people. With 48 per cent of these already enrolled to vote, this will be a big increase compared to the last election in 2006.
Kenya’s Cabinet has approved the importation of genetically modified maize as it seeks to curb a biting food shortage ravaging most parts of the country. The move makes Kenya the first country in the region to allow GMO crops into the market for human consumption. Kenya is the most advanced country in the region in terms of GMO research and biosafety protocols, and analysts expect that the country’s experience in handling GMO crops in the market will be used as a model for other neighbouring countries to refine their own biotechnological practices.
The government of Burkina Faso has responded to long-standing demands of farmers for greater support for small family producers with the launch of 'Operation 100,000 Ploughs'. Smallholder farmers say this will strengthen the country’s food security. The operation, launched in June, will make 20,000 ploughs available to the poorest rural households in each of the next five years, half of them to be given to women. According to Dao, the ploughs will be made affordable thanks to an 80 per cent subsidy from the government.
Gender activists have won a significant battle in their quest for more women representation in government with the final unveiling of President Goodluck Jonathan’s cabinet. Of the 40 ministers, 13 are women, a major milestone in the campaign for more involvement of women in governance. The number of female appointees in the cabinet represents about 31 per cent of the 42-member cabinet.
The blog features a selection of photographs from South African photographer Lizane Louw, who has spent three years chronicling the lives of the people of Blikkiesdorp (translation: Tin Town), a temporary relocation camp in Delft, located about 30 km from Cape Town's city centre. 'I don’t think it is ethically and morally acceptable that people that are poor must live in such challenging and substandard living conditions. Something needs to be done and we need to seriously reflect on ourselves as a society, when these things happen in your backyard without us attempting to do anything about it,' she is quoted as saying.
The British arms and aircraft firm BAE Systems has been severely criticised by a UK parliamentary inquiry into a corruption case surrounding an air-traffic-control deal with Tanzania. MPs accused BAE of unilaterally setting up a compensation arrangement for Tanzania that was a 'complete sham'. BAE admitted to not keeping full accounting records of £8m ($12m) it paid to an agent who brokered the deal.
Procrastination, paralysis, pollution and profit. These are the keywords for the UN climate conference slated for Durban, South Africa, in December. But, write Patrick Bond and Khadija Sharife??, the spirit of those who face down the powerful minerals-energy complex will shine through.
South Sudan became the world’s newest nation on 9 July 2011, making it Africa’s 54th country. Independence brings enormous opportunities to South Sudan to increase its integration into the regional economy but also substantial challenges to put in place a policy and security regime that facilitates cross-border trade. The 2005 peace accord that ended Africa's longest-running civil war has led to a significant growth in demand in South Sudan, ushering in a new era of increased regional trade, in particular, with Uganda. A new Africa Trade Policy Note highlights the recent patterns of trade between South Sudan and Uganda, and draws attention to significant constraints that are limiting the prospects for enhanced cross-border trade.
Amado Kafando's elation followed news on 7 March that the price of cotton, a crop he plants each summer in rows broken by a cow-tethered plow, hit a record $2.197 a pound, capping a two-year surge of 430 per cent. Finally, he said, cotton could fulfill the promise of its nickname in his homeland of Burkina Faso: white gold. But within weeks, Kafando was clenching his fists. The government and regional cotton monopolies, which Burkinabe farmers must sell to, announced they would charge growers 38 per cent more for fertilizer - and pay them as little as 39 per cent of the world price at the time for their crop.
On his trip to South Africa, David Cameron talked of the need to go beyond debt cancellation and aid 'to make African free trade the common purpose of the continent'. But, argues this article from the UK Guardian, trade on the wrong terms has been of no benefit to Africa - rather it 'has ripped open markets, destroyed infant industries, undermined control of food production, and exploited resources. It is the opposite of what Africa needs'.
On 27 May 2011 the Centre for Health Human Rights and Development (CEHURD), a Ugandan NGO, and the families of two mothers who died in government hospitals in 2009 in Uganda approached the Ugandan Constitutional Court alleging the women’s deaths were caused as a direct result of Uganda’s failing healthcare system. The petitioners argue that the tragic deaths are but two manifestations of a larger problem of an unacceptably high rate of maternal mortality in Uganda. They hope that a declaration to this effect by the Court will force the Ugandan government to increase its budget for maternal healthcare.
The failure of post-apartheid South Africa to address the pressing challenges facing both land reform and the rural economy more generally may be due to inadequate policies and implementation, but essentially it indicates an intense political struggle, writes Obiozo Ukpabi on the blog Another Countryside. 'That the reality is much more complicated than finding compelling ways to get the land may be obvious. But how does South Africa move beyond the stuckness of the land reform process by confronting the key issues head on? A reframing of the issues for a truly progressive public debate requires an understanding of the powerful interests that are vested into the current deadlock.'
The Satellite Sentinel Project (SSP) has revealed visual evidence of mass graves in South Kordofan, which corroborates new eyewitness reports, obtained by SSP, of systematic killings and mass burials in this conflict-torn region of Sudan. The evidence found by SSP is consistent with allegations that the Sudan Armed Forces (SAF) and northern militias have engaged in a campaign of killing civilians.
The issue includes:
- ‘This place restored my dignity’: Stories of the Solms-Delta farm workers by Crystal Orderson
- Struggle songs, heritage and reconciliation by Cecyl Esau
- Employment Equity: Ticking Boxes or True Transformation?
- Are we democratic citizens? by Ayanda Nyoka
- South Africa documents the undocumented by Caroline Ruetsch.
The government ignored recommendations by the House committee on the rising cost of living in regard to importation of genetically modified maize. The committee’s chairman, Mr Ababu Namwamba, said this on the second day of a tour of the North Rift town of Eldoret to find out the factors that led to increased cost of farm produce. His team held a discussion with farmers. 'In our preliminary report, we advised the government to consult with the Kenyans first before giving a green light to the importation of GMO in the country,' said Mr Namwamba.
Campaign spending will be limited by new election laws in a move aimed at levelling the political playing field. This is among a raft of radical changes that have been introduced in the just published Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission Act.
Domestically abused women who are financially dependent on their abusers can now report the crime with the assurance that they will be able to get financial and medical support from the state, thanks to the country’s new law on domestic violence. Women’s campaigners have welcomed the introduction of the new law, which was signed into the statue books on 8 July, and which criminalises domestic violence and offers protection to victims and their families. Until now domestic violence had not been illegal in Angola - and on the rare occasions it reached court, it was prosecuted under rape, assault and battery laws.
In a blow to those calling for a new constitution to be drawn up before elections are held, Egypt's ruling military council last week reiterated its intention to hold parliamentary polls later this year. 'The council remains committed to an interim plan to hold parliamentary elections first, after which a new constitution will be drafted,' a spokesman for Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) declared in an official statement on 12 July. 'Presidential elections will be held some time after that.' Since the February ouster of longstanding president Hosni Mubarak, the debate over whether parliamentary polls should precede the formulation of a new constitution - or vice versa - has polarised the public.
Nomonde Vumazonke is one of about 100 learners from schools across the Cape Peninsula who have spent two nights camping outside Parliament in an attempt to pressure the Minister of Education to adopt Norms and Standards for all public schools in the country. Vumazonke, who is in grade 12 at Sangweni Senior Secondory in Khayelitsha, said she and her fellow learners needed the education department to set regulations that will list all the physical infrastructure schools require to function properly. This would ensure there is a basic infrastructure level that every school must meet, she said.
ARTICLE 19 says it is extremely concerned by reports of police and army clashes with demonstrators over the weekend of 15-17 July, which resulted in at least two deaths, including the killing of a 15 year old protestor, Hajlaoui Thabet, who was shot in the heart. In addition, ARTICLE 19 says it is equally concerned by reports it has received of attacks on journalists covering protests and police and army clashes with demonstrators in Tunis, on 15 July 2011.
Ghana's President John Evans Atta Mills has chastised the media for reporting that he 'would institute measures to check the menace of homosexuality and lesbianism'. He allegedly made the statement at the Sunyani Central Ebenezer Presbyterian Church. President Mills was said to have personally telephoned the acting editor of the Ghanaian Times to reprimand him over a recent publication in the state-owned newspaper of the raging homosexual issue, even though the story was originally a Ghana News Agency story.
A South African refugee rights group has called on the South African authorities to extend the deadline for Zimbabweans to get permits, warning that thousands of people are yet to receive their paperwork. The end of the Zimbabwe Documentation Project is less than two weeks away and South Africa is set to resume deporting undocumented Zim nationals when the process is finalised. But according to the Cape Town based PASSOP group, thousands of people have not got their documents yet, and fear is rising that they face possible deportation in the coming weeks.
A Chinese company has been given a contract to distribute media content in Kenya. The company has got the license to distribute digital broadcast signal, giving it control of key strategic infrastructure and role in Kenya’s transition to digital broadcasting. Pundits are scared that this is a measure by the 'conservative' forces in government to curtail the freedom of the media in Kenya.
As part of a broad climate of political intolerance, incidents of torture of both activists and criminals in South Africa appear to be on a disturbing rise, writes Jane Duncan.
In a review of Afyare Abdi Elmi’s ‘Understanding the Somalia Conflagration’, Farah Abdulsamed praises ‘a book which is well-written, inventive and amazingly readable’.
The Kennedy 12 have been acquitted on all charges. No defence was led as no case was made against any of the 12 by the prosecution. However, clear evidence of a police frame-up did emerge and the only two credible witnesses (an ANC leader and a police officer) both testified to the correctness of the Abahlali account of what happened back in September 2009. A great day.
More details to come. Now we celebrate.
I'm delighted to share the news with you that 'Dear Mandela' is finally completed, and will have its world premiere at the Durban International Film Festival on the 26 July.
Today we celebrate a victory as all twelve men of the Kennedy 12 were acquitted of all charges against them and released in the Durban Magistrates Court. We celebrate as these fathers, brothers and sons are able to finally reunite with their families and friends whose pain and suffering we can only imagine. This is a victory for the truth and a victory for the poor – indeed a wonderful gift on the birthday of Nelson Mandela!
The Democratic Left Front (DLF) salutes the 12 members of Abahlali baseMjondolo (AbM) who from Kennedy Road in eThekwini who were acquitted of all charges of murder.
We see this as a great day for the 12, their families, their movement and the struggle of the poor in South Africa.
The spread of HIV is driven more by how many sexual partners a person has in their lifetime rather than having more than one lover at a time. This is according to extensive research conducted over five years by scientists from the Africa Centre in Umkhanyakude district in rural KwaZulu-Natal. The results were published on 15 July in the prestigious Lancet journal. Debate has raged for years about the role that concurrent sexual partnerships (ie sexual partnerships that overlap in time) play in HIV transmission, with a number of experts arguing that concurrent partnerships are a key driver of the epidemic in Africa.
Tunisia is set to hire thousands of new teachers while at the same time doing away with a long-derided aptitude test for those wishing to join the ranks of educators. Many teaching hopefuls said the Contest of Aptitude for Secondary Education Teachers (CAPES) was a barrier to employment and a source of corruption. The education ministry will hire 2,000 new teachers, 1,345 new superintendents and 120 new chief superintendents.
South Africa's fuel workers' union has rejected a minimum eight per cent wage increase and is holding out for a double-digit hike, the union's chief negotiator said on Tuesday (19 July).The strike has left petrol stations dry across South Africa for more than a week and will probably cost the continent's top economy billions of rand in lost output.
British Prime Minister David Cameron and President Jacob Zuma have agreed that Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi must go. Cameron, who is on a working visit to South Africa, told reporters in Pretoria on Monday that he and Zuma believed Gaddafi needed to step down from power. However, Zuma said: 'What happens to Gaddafi must be decided by the Libyan people. You need to negotiate how, why and where he must go.'
Police have been asked to investigate a second complaint of corruption against Willie Hofmeyr, the head of both the Asset Forfeiture Unit and the Special Investigating Unit, the National Prosecuting Authority confirmed on Sunday. NPA spokesman Mthunzi Mahaga said the national director of public prosecutions (Menzi Simelane) called in the police after billionaire Dave King levelled the allegations against Hofmeyr. The Sunday Times portrayed the two charges as part of a campaign by Simelane to undermine Hofmeyr and the AFU. The newspaper said an investigation against the KwaZulu-Natal head of the AFU, Knorx Molelle, was linked to the fight for control of the unit.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel announced recently that Germany was prepared to sell six to eight patrol boats to Angola as part of an international cooperation deal. 'Germany is ready for an energy and raw materials partnership,' Merkel said during a visit to the oil-rich country. Politicians in Berlin are concerned about Angola's human rights record. Claudia Roth, the head of the Greens, described it as a bad move following the controversial decision to sell battle tanks to Saudi Arabia last week, calling Merkel the 'patron saint of the arms lobby'. And Rolf Muetzenich from the SPD parliamentary group alluded to Germany's concern over Angola's human rights record.
Zimbabwe is unable to fill 15,000 teaching posts in government schools because school leavers are reluctant to join the profession. The vacant posts are said to be increasing despite reports that thousands of Zimbabwean teachers, who had left the country at the height of the economic problems, were returning home. An official in the Ministry of Education told the state owned Herald newspaper that out of the 111,000 teaching posts in the country, 96,000 were filled by qualified teachers.
The trial of six Zimbabwean activists charged with treason for attending a lecture in February about the Egyptian uprising opened in Harare on 18 July. The activists had their charges altered to a lesser charge as the magistrate who was supposed to hear the matter recused himself. The activists are now being charged with conspiracy to commit public violence.
With support unravelling from within NATO itself, the organisation’s intervention in Libya is looking increasingly humiliated, writes Alexander Cockburn.
Regional and international bodies such as the SADC, AU and UN should make the implementation of anti-corruption instruments by all signatories mandatory. These bodies should specify time frames within which the implementation should be done and sanctions for failing to do so. Such sanctions can include but not be limited to automatic cancellation of the signature and ratification thereof. This is one of the recommendations of a survey report on barriers towards combating corruption in Africa, conducted by Anti-Corruption Trust of Southern Africa (ACT-Southern Africa).
'For too long the people of the Amajuba District have been raising their concerns with the office of Land Reform and Rural Development at many levels and at many times, but in vain. It is in our view that such an audience with both senior officials and politicians will ensure accountability which has been lacking thus far within the department.'
Hospitals in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, have been hit by a shortage of drugs following the arrival of large numbers of drought-displaced people in the past two months, with health officials reporting that up to five patients were dying daily due to disease outbreaks. 'Hospitals are experiencing shortages of medicines yet they need to distribute drugs to deal with outbreaks of measles, diarrhoea, malnutrition, malaria and respiratory diseases,' Aden Ibrahim, the Health Minister in Somalia's Transitional Federal Government, told IRIN in Mogadishu.
Ethel James cannot wait for the gravity-fed water scheme in her area to be fixed so that she and the other women in her village will no longer have to wake up before dawn everyday to queue for water. She is part of the team of local villagers repairing the existing water system, which consists of a pipeline connected to a reservoir. At various points in the village are taps connected to the pipeline, but there is no running water just yet.
South Sudan has three generations of children who have never seen the inside of a classroom. According to Dr. Michael Hussein, the minister for general education, the education sector suffered most during the civil war. 'Teachers were neglected, salaries were not regular, there was no training and many fled the war-torn areas. As a result, three generations lost the opportunity to go to school,' says the minister. The issue of education in South Sudan is so critical that most leaders are calling on the youth to go back to school.
While Kenya struggles to cope with the influx of refuges fleeing the drought in Somalia, it is estimated that about 1,300 people arrive daily at the Dadaab refugee camp. It takes on average nine days in 50-degree Celsius heat for those fleeing the drought in Somalia to travel the 80 kilometres of the sandy, expansive desert that separates Dadaab in Northern Kenya from Somalia. The journey to Dadaab is a treacherous one, made even more perilous as it snakes through territories of lawlessness where armed bandits and even police harass the refugees.
Pambazuka News 539: Defining citizenship, nation and the state
Pambazuka News 539: Defining citizenship, nation and the state
There has hardly been a week without headlines on mobile apps in the last six months. The launch of the Apple apps store in July 2008 has undoubtedly been a turning point in what is today considered as a sector that generates at the global level US$ billion of annual revenues through apps downloads. Consultancy and research company, Balancing Act, has just released a new report entitled 'Mobile apps for Africa: Strategies to make sense of free and paid apps' which analyses the nascent apps ecosystem in Africa while providing an analytical framework allowing African mobile operators or other stakeholders to decide on what strategy to adopt regarding mobile apps.
A new report by an international coalition of marine scientists makes for grim reading. It concludes that the oceans are approaching irreversible, potentially catastrophic change, reports the New York Times. The experts, convened by the International Program on the State of the Ocean and the International Union for Conservation of Nature, found that marine 'degradation is now happening at a faster rate than predicted'. The oceans have warmed and become more acidic as they absorbed human-generated carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. They are also more oxygen-deprived, because of agricultural runoff and other anthropogenic causes. This deadly trio of conditions was present in previous mass extinctions, according to the report.
When Demosthene Lubert heard that Bill Clinton's foundation was going to rebuild his collapsed school at the epicenter of Haiti's January 12, 2010, earthquake, in the coastal city of Léogâne, the academic director thought he was 'in paradise'. The project was announced by Clinton as his foundation's first contribution to the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission. However, when Nation reporters visited the 'hurricane-proof' shelters in June, six to eight months after they'd been installed, we found them to consist of 20 imported prefab trailers beset by a host of problems, from mold to sweltering heat to shoddy construction.
The website is dedicated to the declaration launched on 1 November 2010 by South African Artists Against Apartheid. You can follow the campaigns and events initiated by South African Artists Against Apartheid on this website, as well as recent news relating to international cultural boycott activities.
As part of contributing to the African Women’s Decade (2010-2020) through provision of information on the themes of the Decade, the African Women’s Journal for July-December 2011 will focus on the theme: Women’s Education and Training in Africa.
In this week's edition of the Emerging Powers News Round-Up, read a comprehensive list of news stories and opinion pieces related to China, India and other emerging powers...
'Women and Food Sovereignty: The voices of rural women from the south' provides an overview of the situation of peasant women in the Global South. The document showcases the problems faced by these women, as well as their different forms of resistance and struggle in demand for food sovereignty. It includes testimonies of rural women from Africa, Latin America and Asia. They explain why it is necessary to struggle for access to land, for the conservation of seeds and for small-scale farming.
A new collection of stories, research and good practice is showing how African climate and poverty activists are leading the global fight for climate justice - finding creative, inspired ways of using life-saving knowledge networks to share climate change and poverty research. But their voices are often ignored by African governments when it comes to policy, and funding for African-led research and knowledge sharing is not seen as a priority. 'New voices, different perspectives' is a pioneering pan-African ‘encyclopaedia’ of the brightest and best ideas in climate change adaptation. It’s the result of a collaboration between over 200 of the continent’s leading development researchers, community activists, NGOs, climate scientists and international donors at the AfricaAdapt Climate Change Symposium held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. 'New voices, different perspectives' offers a stark message to African politicians in the run up to the UN climate negotiations to be held in Durban, South Africa, this December: African governments can only lead the global fight for climate justice if they start to seriously value indigenous knowledge, community-led responses and African-led research. Apart from the publication, a video animation can be watched at:
'The Zimbabwe Election Support Network (ZESN) notes with concern the continued disregard of the voice of the people of Zimbabwe as witnessed by the lack of commitment to consult the people in the whole negotiation process. ZESN is of the view that the timelines that have been set are unrealistic and fail to address a number of pertinent concerns that are essential before the country can hold a new election.'
Make Every Woman Count (MEWC) is a newly established African women's organisation. The organisation has launched a website, which provides timely and accurate information regarding the African women's movement. Please visit the website for more information
'In many countries, IDPs are exposed to violence and to various violations of their rights, either by the State or by armed non-State Actors (ANSAs). ANSAs have various obligations towards IDPs under international law, which can be found in the Geneva Conventions and their additional protocols, but also in the Rome Statute and the Kampala Convention, as well as the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement (the 'Guiding Principles'). However, the vast majority of violations committed by ANSAs against IDPs and other civilians are perpetrated with impunity, as national governments have lost the monopoly on the use of force and their judicial systems may function poorly.' Visit to download the report.
The media circus surrounding the Dominique Strauss-Kahn rape case dishes out more drama each day, with a side of lurid fascination. But we basically know how the story ends. The narrative of the immigrant housekeeper allegedly assaulted by a European official perfectly illustrates an axiom of violence and power: the wider the gap between genders and races, the greater the latitude of injustice, states this article from
The Human Rights Committee of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights reviewed Ethiopia's compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights recently, including its press freedom record. Peppered with questions about an indefensible record of abuse - jailing the second largest number of journalists in Africa and leading the continent in Internet censorship - representatives of the Ethiopian government responded with cursory talking points and bold denials in contradiction of the facts, says the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Equality Now in conjunction with Solidarity for African Women’s Rights (SOAWR) is delighted to announce the release of 'A Guide to Using the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa for Legal Action'. The release of this manual comes five years after the Protocol came into force. 'We hope African lawyers and women’s rights advocates find the manual useful and it gives them hands-on guidance on how best to apply the remarkable standards of the Protocol in cases of violations of women’s rights,' said Faiza Jama Mohamed, Nairobi Office Director of Equality Now, which convenes SOAWR, a coalition of 37 civil society organisations working to ensure that the Women’s Protocol is ratified and implemented across the continent.
South Africa has set the stage for the mass deportation of more than one million Zimbabwean immigrants later this month in a move that could alter its status as the world's largest country of refuge. South Africa has been a beacon for asylum seekers due to liberal immigration laws, proximity to African trouble spots and massive economy compared to the rest of the continent that has attracted millions seeking wealth they cannot find at home. About one in five of the 845 800 asylum seekers globally in 2010 sought refuge in South Africa, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.
The Economic Community of West African States says that the region has a big chunk of internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugees in Africa. The regional bloc commissioner for human development and gender Adrienne Diop said this at a news conference on the ministerial conference on the implementation of the African Convention on Internally Displaced Persons in West Africa. Out of the 27.5 million people, who were displaced in 2010 in Africa, 11.1 million were from the West African sub-region, Diop said.
ECOWAS Ministers in charge of humanitarian affairs have resolved to set up a Task Force of Government Ministries, relevant partners and civil society to coordinate the implementation of the African Union (AU) Convention on humanitarian assistance and internal displacement in Africa, also known as the Kampala Convention. At the end of their first Ministerial Conference on Humanitarian Assistance and Internal Displacement in West Africa, held 7 July 2011 at the ECOWAS Commission headquarters in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, the ministers also agreed to formulate coherent national IDP (Internally Displaced Persons) policies, legal and institutional frameworks that will fully reflect the content and the spirit of the Kampala Convention.
About 1,300 Somalis are arriving at the Dadaab refugee camps in northeast Kenya every day. The nutritional state of older children, as well as under fives, is of concern, but the local Kenyan population is faring little better. Outside the camp, the host population is not faring much better. An MSF nutrition assessment showed that the local community was suffering from malnutrition at the same rates as the refugees living in camp outskirts, and people had stopped feeding their animals in order to have enough food for themselves.
Lucy Dollokieh, a mother of four from Liberia’s Nimba County, developed severe pains when urinating and thought she had been cursed by a witch, but when a volunteer came to her village describing diabetes symptoms she recognized them, went to a nearby hospital and was diagnosed with diabetes. She now injects herself daily with insulin. With low awareness of the disease’s symptoms and only one hospital in the country that can diagnose it - Ganta Methodist Hospital in Nimba County - the vast majority of the estimated 50,000 cases in Liberia go undiagnosed, according to the World Diabetes Foundation (WDF).
Egypt's new cabinet will be sworn in on Monday after a reshuffle that protesters say have partially satisfied their demands for deeper political and economic reforms. Protesters, who have camped out in Cairo's Tahrir Square since 8 July, say they want further measures, including a quicker trial of Hosni Mubarak. Thousands of Egyptians have returned to Tahrir Square, the epicenter of Egypt's uprising, complaining that change has come too slow under the military council that took over power.
NATO jets have struck a military storage facility and other targets in the eastern outskirts of the capital, Tripoli. Sunday's attacks came two days after major international players recognised Libya's opposition leadership as the country's legitimate representative. From Tripoli, bright flashes could be seen on the eastern horizon just after midnight, followed by a steady rumbling that went on for an hour.
Insecurity and malnutrition among Ivorian refugees in Liberia have forced the UN's refugee agency to relocate hundreds to inland camps. A UNHCR statement this week quoted refugees expressing fear for their lives due to fighting among armed rival gangs and which is affecting the distribution of relief aid. An estimated 2,000 refugees are affected by the relocation from transit centres and villages along the Liberian border with Cote d’Ivoire.
Just a few hours before South Sudan's independence, the popular Arabic daily 'Ajras Al-Hurriya' and five English-language newspapers were suspended - a worrying start to the relationship between north and south, report the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) and Index on Censorship. Sudan's National Press and Publication Council said the papers were closed because the owners and publishers are from South Sudan, and, under the country's Press Law, they must have Sudanese nationality, reports ANHRI.
The Republic of South Sudan formally became independent from Sudan on 9 July, but its three universities remain closed, bereft of staff, students or facilities. The universities moved to the north in the early 1990s, when civil war was at its worst in the south. They were supposed to have relocated by now, with lectures due to have begun in the south in early May. But South Sudan's government has raised only half of the US$12 million it needs to build and refurbish lecture halls, laboratories and student accommodation.
The National HIV/Aids Secretariat of Sierra Leone, which falls under the National HIV/Aids Control Program (NACP) recently conducted a study on Men who have Sex with Men (MSM) around the country. The 2011 study on MSM in Sierra Leone has broken the silence on the existence of sexual minorities in Sierra Leone. Findings from this survey revealed several problems affecting sexual minorities, especially MSM in Sierra Leone.
'Will the real terrorist please stand up' shows that US-backed violence against Cuba continued for decades. Some Bay of Pigs participants and the most well-known terrorists appear on camera to boast or re-evaluate their activities over the years. Orlando Bosch, Jose Basulto, Luis Posada Carriles and Antonio Veciana discuss assassinations and other actions they took to bring down the Revolutionary government. The new film, with Danny Glover, Cuba's top counter spy and Fidel Castro himself (filmed recently) is combined with fascinating archival footage and a rare recorded interview from prison with one of the Cuban 5.
Both supporters and opponents of constitutional changes offered by Morocco's king have protested in their thousands, indicating debate over the country's future sparked by the "Arab Spring" uprisings has not ended. Sunday’s opposition protests organised by the youth-based February 20 Movement took place in three cities and passed off without any clashes. The movement is a loose national network that was inspired by uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt.