Pambazuka News 539: Defining citizenship, nation and the state
Pambazuka News 539: Defining citizenship, nation and the state
The violent two-week metalworkers strike has ended, with some workers gaining a 10 per cent wage increase. Eight of the nine National Union of Metal Workers of South Africa (Numsa) regions accepted the offer, bringing an end to a strike that brought a near-total halt to the second-biggest contributor to GDP.
SA's top prosecutors are in a fight to the death over the future of corruption-buster Willie Hofmeyr, who heads the Asset Forfeiture Unit and the Special Investigating Unit. The Sunday Times reports that new corruption claims have been levelled at Hofmeyr and top NPA officials thought to be close to him. NPA officials in various provinces claim the charges were stage-managed by NPA boss Menzi Simelane.
The refusal of the minister of public works to answer questions on her role in clinching dodgy police lease deals amounts to a criminal offence. This is one of several damning findings in public protector Thuli Madonsela's final report on the police lease saga, which concludes Madonsela's investigation into dodgy police leases, worth R1.8-billion, in Pretoria and Durban with businessman Roux Shabangu, which was exposed by the Sunday Times last year. Shabangu is an associate of President Jacob Zuma's.
Claims that internet-based tools where behind the Egyptian revolution have angered activists. Nancy Messieh explains why.
Norman Girvan examines the politics of the Caribbean through the life of CLR James, the influential Afro-Trinidadian historian, journalist, socialist theorist and essayist.
Marking South Sudan’s independence on 9 July, SSCSTF’s statement highlights the challenges the new nation faces and calls on citizens, organisations, politicians and political parties to sign up to a set of principles to end internal conflict.
Independence celebrations in Juba, discrimination against civil servants of southern origin by the Sudanese government, the Arab world’s troubled relationship with South Sudan, secession in the DRC and criticisms of the Caine Prize for African Writing feature in this week’s review of African blogs, compiled by Dibussi Tande.
'The NGO Working Group on Women Peace and Security is alarmed at the latest reports by its member organisations and the United Nations of mass rape and other crimes against civilians perpetrated in the Fizi area of South Kivu by troops of the armed forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The NGO Working Group urges the Government of the DRC, the United Nations and Member States to heed the voices of Congolese women, who have repeatedly stressed that such attacks stem from the persistent failure of the DRC authorities to advance equality for women and ensure justice for survivors.'
A new report from the Global Campaign for Education shows that millions of girls are being forced out of school because of poverty, child labour, early child marriage, the threat of sexual violence, inadequate and poor-quality schools. The report examines 80 poor countries in terms of the gains they have made in girls’ education. The report shows that the Democratic Republic of Congo, Egypt, India, Iraq, Nigeria and Pakistan are among those countries failing to respect the rights of girls to an education.
'The profiteering of SA’s businesses (enabled by lax compliance with labour law and weak regulation of trade and capital flows) stand in the way of creating decent jobs that can offer the majority of South Africa’s the dignity prescribed in our Constitution. In this context the Alternative Information Development Centre (AIDC) supports the struggle of NUMSA and other unions for a living wage. A victory for them will set a better standard for the whole labour market.'
Following years of discussion, representatives from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) are now testing joint disaster responses in light of increased flooding and more severe droughts in West Africa over the past decade, according to the African Centre of Meteorological Application for Development (ACMAD). 'Major efforts' are under way for 'south-south cooperation between member states', according to Andrea Diop, disaster focal point at ECOWAS, including setting up an Emergency Flood Fund for disaster response which individual countries can tap into; a natural disaster reduction task force; and an Emergency Response team.
AfriMAP invites submissions of papers on the impact of the events in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya on governance in sub-Saharan Africa. Our objective is to encourage and promote new thinking and debate on issues that AfriMAP is exploring through its research. We are particularly keen to encourage submissions based on primary sources, personal research and innovative thinking.
Chaacha Mwita, former managing editor of The Standard in Kenya, and Ron Singer discuss the state of freedom of the press in Kenya, Mwita's newspaper’s experience of a raid during the 2007–08 election and the behaviour of particular elements of the press during the post-election period.
In May, Decree No. 2011-41 was promulgated in Tunisia relating to administrative documents held or produced by public authorities. In its comment on the Decree, Article 19 notes that the exceptions to the right to information outlined in the Decree should be amended in order to comply with international standards. 'According to international law in this area, information should never be withheld unless it affects a legitimate interest protected by law, release of the information would cause actual harm to that interest and this harm would be greater than the harm caused to the public interest by non-disclosure. The provisions of the Decree on exceptions (Articles 16 to 18) should be replaced by a
single provision clearly laying down this three-part test.'
Attending Santiago de Cuba’s Festival of Fire to deliver a lecture on CLR James at a colloquium on Pan-Africanism in the Caribbean, Norman Girvan finds that ‘culture is to Cubans what shopping is to Americans’.
Kenya has launched an Open Data portal, the first African country to make government data accessible to the ordinary citizen on an Internet-based platform. The portal will allow users to compare information at national, province and county levels. Users will also create maps and other visualisations and directly download data on their computer or mobile phone.
Renditions, an underground prison and a new CIA base are elements of an intensifying US war, according to a Nation investigation in Mogadishu, by Jeremy Scahill.
This is that has refused to stop resonating with me... Quite an eye opener and a continuous clarification of just how skewed motives and decisions, purportedly for the good of the people, in reality really are. Well put across. Thank you for this.
Political unity across much of African has proven to be a question of ‘glorified clubs of leadership chums’ protecting one another through regional institutions, writes William Gumede. With the rise of new emerging powers in the world, Africa needs a new ‘revamped’ African Union involving member countries who meet appropriate standards around democracy and economic governance, Gumede argues.
‘One of the most depressing things about being from an African country, and I suspect it is the same for being from any post-colonial society, is the need to seek validation abroad or by Western standards. You can be the best writer ever, but if a bunch of white guys in academies don't see it, you're not.’
‘A failed municipality wants to give the freedom of Grahamstown to a failed president,’ writes South Africa’s Unemployed People’s Movement, as Makana Muncipality awards Jacob Zuma the freedom of the city on 14 July.
THE REVOLUTIONS FROM TUNIS TO OUAGADOUGOU: OR IS IT THE RESPONSE OF AFRICAN MASSES TO 'THERE IS NO ALTERNATIVE'? (TINA)
Guy Marious Sagna
According to Jan Tibergen, '908 years is enough' to see the 'remedies' of the World Bank aimed at curing our countries of their social evils under structural adjustment. '908 years' is the response in 2011 of African masses from Tunis to Ouagadougou via Cairo – 'it is more than we can wait for. It is too much!'
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FACED WITH THE CHALLENGE OF THE DEMOCRATIC JOKE: INVENTING THE DEMOCRACY OF TOMORROW
Samir Amin
In the wake of what he terms a 'democratic joke', Samir Amin raises a crucial question: ' Give up on elections?' The answer is no, but this begs for a new interrogation: 'How to associate new, rich and inventive forms of democratisation, which enable the making of an election a practice other than that conceived by conservative forces?' Such is the challenge, according to Amin.
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FORMER MOROCCAN POLITICAL PRISONERS CONTINUE THE STRUGGLE
Naridah Khalid
Former Moroccan political prisoners are taking the European Union to task, which recently granted their country an 'advanced status' without actually respecting the criteria on human rights necessary for this status. In this letter the former political prisoners explain how they continue their struggle for their social rehabilitation after years of detention and torture.
The Somalia Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit (FSNAU) estimates that 2.85 million people - a third of the population - are now in humanitarian crisis and in need of urgent assistance, an increase of 42.5 per cent over the figure in December 2010. 'We are no longer on the verge of a humanitarian disaster; we are in the middle of it now,' Isaq Ahmed, the chairman of the Mubarak Relief and Development Organisation, a local NGO working in the south of the country, told IRIN on June 28. 'It is happening and no one is helping.'
Recent developments at national and international levels with regards to anti-counterfeiting legislation and actions have raised debate about such laws not undermining access to affordable generic drugs. This policy brief produced by EQUINET, SEATINI and TARSC points to the separate measures and mandates needed to combat firstly fraudulent trade mark and intellectual property (IP) infringement in counterfeit medicines by IP authorities, secondly to ensure that any anti-counterfeit measures protect TRIPS flexibilities, including for access to generic medicines.
AIDS drugs designed to treat HIV can also be used to reduce dramatically the risk of infection among heterosexual couples, two studies conducted in Africa have shown for the first time. The findings add to growing evidence that the type of medicines prescribed since the mid-1990s to treat people who are already sick may also hold the key to slowing or even halting the spread of the disease. The research involving couples in Kenya, Uganda and Botswana found that daily Aids drugs reduced infection rates by an average of at least 62 per cent when compared with a placebo.
Organisations are invited to sign an open letter calling on the United Nations and Member States to advance the human right to water and sanitation, including by taking a stand against the abuses of transnational corporations and safeguarding themselves from corporate influence.
In two new reports 'What has Tax got to do with Development: A critical look at Mozambique's Tax System' and 'What has Tax got to do with Development: A Critical look at Zimbabwe’s Tax System', AFRODAD analyses the role played by taxation in the development of the two countries. The link between development and taxation has come up in various fora as development practitioners and activists discussed methods of mobilisation of domestic resources for financing development in the South. The reports reveal that mobilising domestic resources as a means to financing development has become an important development issue, a shift from the past emphasis on financing development from aid and external borrowing.
'East Africa has two post-colonial traditions of citizenship', writes Mahmood Mamdani: territorial and ethnic. If the region is to have a political federation, it will need to be based on a common citizenship, he argues: 'Which one will it be?'
Groups from 13 developing countries have slammed UK climate loans to be given through the World Bank. Community leaders in countries including Nepal, Bangladesh, Mozambique and Yemen have written to British cabinet ministers Chris Huhne and Andrew Mitchell rejecting the loans the UK is providing to their countries to help them cope with climate change. In their letter they say the UK and other rich industrialised countries, who have done the most to cause climate change, owe a ‘climate debt’ to poor countries who are worst affected by the phenomenon. ‘Climate loans will only lock our countries into further debt, and further impoverish our people,’ reads the letter.
Matthew Newsome speaks to policy maker, professor, author and activist,Yash Tandon, about kleptocratic capitalism, African sovereignty and the challenges to creating a fair and sustainable society.
On 9 July 2011 the world witnessed the birth of a nation - South Sudan, Africa’s 54th country. In an interview with UN Women, South Sudan’s Minister of Gender, Child and Social Welfare Agnes Lasuba weighs in on the country’s independence and what it means for women. 'The women of South Sudan played various roles to achieve independence. During war they picked up arms. Others were mobilisers and others were taking care of the wounded, the sick and the elderly. And others were yearning for peace and they took it upon themselves to lobby other people and other countries, so that there could be peace for them and for their children,' says Lasuba in the interview.
‘The new tasks of building a society to meet the needs of the people in the South Sudan must be conducted in a manner that puts the interests and wellbeing of the ordinary people above everything else,’ says Horace Campbell.
The rights of access to information, public participation, and access to justice are essential to sustainable development. The 1992 Rio Declaration provided for these rights in Principle 10 and Agenda 21 moved them into reality in many countries. Now renewed commitment is needed for the full implementation of the rights in all countries. The Rio 2012 Summit provides an opportunity for governments to transform Principle 10 from aspirational goals into actionable rights. Governments and civil society should use the opportunity to commit together in adopting, implementing, and exercising these rights in support of sustainable development.
At the time of a bid for a majority stake in BSkyB, the revelations of phone hacking and subsequent closure of the Rupert Murdoch-owned News of the World have rocked the British body politic, writes Cameron Duodu.
Surgeons say there are no statistics on cosmetic surgery in Kenya, a country where half the population lives at or below the poverty line. But among higher-earning women here, tummy tucks and breast reductions are on the rise, according to surgeons interviewed for this story. Sue, who declined to give her last name to protect her privacy, is in her 40s and has one child. She says that after years of emotional abuse from her husband, she paid $5,500 to have a tummy tuck and a breast lift to boost her self-esteem.
Outbreaks of measles and cholera in parts of the Democratic Republic of Congo have killed hundreds of people, with thousands more infected, says an official of the UN World Health Organisation (WHO). 'Since September 2010, 115,484 measles cases and 1,145 related deaths have been reported in South Kivu, Katanga, Maniema, Kasaï Occidental, Equateur, Bas Congo and Kasaï Oriental provinces,' Tarik Jasarevic, a WHO media and advocacy officer, told IRIN. According to Jasarevic, a lack of government funding halted follow-up mass immunisation activities in the regions, leading to the measles outbreak.
Following a hearing before an British immigration judge, Tanzanian gay asylum seeker Edson 'Eddy' Cosmas was released from Harmondsworth Removal Centre at 5pm and was also removed from the 'detained fast track' process. The judge's decision has not been written but a witness at the court hearing said that it was on the basis that previous immigration judiciary decisions could be regarded as possibly 'unsafe' and that more time was needed for both a psychiatrist's report as well as for an expert witness of the situation of LGBT in Tanzania to be found.
The United Kingdom has announced the suspension of all general budgetary support to Malawi indefinitely, effective 14 July. The International Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell said they suspended aid based on concerns about governance, democracy, suppression of freedom of expression, chronic fuel shortages and a deteriorated tobacco industry. Relations between Malawi and UK soured in April this year when President Bingu wa Mutharika expelled British High Commissioner Fergus Cochrane Dyet and the UK reciprocated.
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe's party has renewed its calls for new elections this year, rejecting a timeline that his own negotiators hammered out last week, a state daily reported. 'The politburo is unanimous that elections should be held this year,' Zanu-PF spokesperson Rugare Gumbo told the Herald newspaper after the party's top decision-making body met in the capital. On 6 July, negotiators from Mugabe's party and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) agreed on a timeline for election preparations which would put the polls in 2012.
The Committee to Protect Journalists has condemned the Democratic Republic of Congo's ban of a private broadcaster favourable to opposition presidential candidate Etienne Tshisekedi. Radio Lisanga Télévision (RLTV), based in the capital, Kinshasa, lost its signal without formal notice, the station's director-general, Basile Olongo Pongo, told CPJ. The same day, Congolese Communication Minister Lambert Mende issued a decree indefinitely banning the station across the country over 'programs that are promoting violence and contribute to disturb public order,' according to news reports.
Ibrahim Kalokoh, an investigative journalist of the privately-owned For Di People daily newspaper, was threatened with death by two staff members of the Sierra Leone Port Authority (SLPA), following corruption reports by his newspaper against the SLPA’s General Manager, Benjamin Davies. The Media Foundation for West Africa’s (MFWA) correspondent reported that the two men warned him to discontinue 'publishing' negative stories about their boss or they would be killed.
Alioune Tine, the executive secretary of the Dakar-based African Human Rights Organisation (RADDHO), who was on 23 June 2011 violently attacked by militants of the ruling Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS) during a demonstration, has gone into hiding after being discharged from hospital. The militants indiscriminately attacked Tine, a prominent human rights defender, to the extent that he was rushed and admitted at the Dakar main hospital.
The government of Equatorial Guinea’s ratification of the African Union Protocol on the Rights of Women is a potentially important step toward gender equality in Equatorial Guinea, but to be meaningful it must be followed by concrete reforms designed to promote and protect the economic, political, and social rights of women, EG Justice said. Equatorial Guinea became the 31st African Union member country to ratify the Protocol, also known as the Maputo Protocol. It guarantees the equal rights of women to political participation, economic and social equality, reproductive rights, and an end to genital mutilation. Despite existing laws intended to forbid domestic violence and defend women’s rights, to date the Equatoguinean government has failed to consistently safeguard and advance the rights of women.
Having been illegally evicted from a building in Johannesburg’s CBD, several hundred people were able to return to their homes after an urgent hearing at the Johannesburg High Court. The residents had been evicted from their homes without a court order by the City of Johannesburg’s Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) and Fire Brigade officials. Hundreds of women and children, including 50 blind people, were locked out of their home by JMPD officers. The officers readily conceded that they had no court order but said that they were 'only following orders'.
The acting president of the party of former strongman of Cote d’Ivoire Laurent Gbagbo has quit. Mamadou Koulibaly resigned, accusing some executive members of being opposed to 'any change'. Koulibaly, who is also the Speaker of the National Assembly, accused the Ivorian People’s Front (FPI) of being 'static, immovable, walled up in disorder, idolatry, worship of its founders, hopeless contradictions and fear of innovation'.
Senegal has suspended its plans to forcefully send home Chad's former President Hissene Habre, who has been sentenced to death in his home country, Senegal's foreign minister has said. The move followed an appeal by UN human rights chief Navi Pillay. Ms Pillay had expressed concern that Mr Habre could be tortured in Chad. Mr Habre is blamed for killing and torturing tens of thousands of opponents between 1982 and 1990, charges he denies.
Hundreds of university professors are staging a sit-in at over a dozen campuses across Egypt to call for the ousting of university administration officials appointed by the former Mubarak regime and to replace them with elected representatives. 'We are calling for democracy that is part of the revolution that started on January 25th,' says Khaled Sameer, an assistant professor of cardiac surgery at Ain Shams Medical School and the spokesperson for the Unified Coalition for the Independence of Universities.
Kamal Abu Aita, representative of the Egyptian Independent Union Federation (EIUF) which was recently formed in Tahrir Square during the revolution, has confirmed that the EIUF rejects any attempt to ‘normalise' relations with Israel. In a speech in London to hundreds of activists from the campaign for Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel, Abu Aita also welcomed the formation of the Palestinian Trade Union Coalition for BDS (PTUC-BDS) and called on the international trade union movement to join the coalition.
The government wants new refugees settled outside Kenya to ease congestion in existing camps. Internal Security assistant minister Orwa Ojode said Kenya is overwhelmed by the number of people fleeing Somalia, which has escalated in recent months. 'It’s a very heavy burden which we did not budget for. The United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) can feed them in Somalia since the latest arrivals are not fleeing due to insecurity but lack of food,' he said.
Anne Maina of the African Bio-diversity Network says the introduction of patented seeds and related chemicals into Kenya’s farming systems threatens the country’s agricultural practices, its livelihoods, the environment, 'and undermines our seed sovereignty'. The House (Parliamentary) Committee on Agriculture has also warned that opening up the country to genetically modified products would endanger lives. Committee chairman John Mututho said last week that the country lacked technical capacity to assess the quantity and type of genes in imported products, and had a long way to go before fully embracing use of GM products while ensuring the health of its citizens.
Contrary to popular belief, intra-regional trade has actually been slowly going up since 2000, though the figure still pales into insignificance compared to what the rest of the region trades with the outside world, specifically China and United States of America (USA). SADC Secretariat trade policy advisor Paul Kalenga told The Southern Times that intra-SADC trade grew in absolute terms to US$34 billion in 2009 from US$13.2 billion in 2000, a 155 percent increase.
A joint meeting that sought to end the current power crisis in the country on 11 July ended without any solution after lawmakers on the budget committee threw out government officials, including ministers, over accountability concerns. Four ministers were in Parliament pleading for the approval of Shs207.5 billion needed to pay for the outstanding thermal power subsidy bills but without success.
West African country Togo's students' struggle for better education conditions is now in its fifth week and despite a recent truce, tensions remains high in the capital Lomé. A wind of appeasement seemed to blow on the demonstrations organised by the Mouvement pour l'Épanouissement des Étudiants Togolais - MEET (Movement for the Fulfillment of Togolese Students) - when students managed to obtain from authorities the reinstatement of the president of their association on 30 June. Abou Seidou, a student of the University of Lomé, had been previously expelled for allegedly causing troubles on the campus. This reinstatement was expected to open the way to negotiations, reports Global Voices Online.
Thousands of Nigerians are fleeing the north-eastern city of Maiduguri following a spate of recent attacks, which have killed at least 40 people. Some of those leaving are students after the university was closed. The attacks have been carried out by the radical Islamist group, Boko Haram, which opposes Western education and fights for Islamic rule.
The Democratic Republic of Congo and India have signed a deal to build a hydroelectric plant in southern Congo. Officials from both countries participated in a signing ceremony in the Congolese city of Kananga late Monday. Congo's Energy Minister Gilbert Tshiongo said the plant, when completed, will have a capacity of 65 megawatts. The project is part of Congo's effort to address power shortages and develop the country's infrastructure. Analysts say the country has huge hydroelectric potential because of its many rivers.
The United Nations should ensure that peacekeepers have a strong mandate to protect civilians and should increase the number of troops deployed to South Sudan, a global coalition of eight international nongovernmental organisations said. The UN Security Council is expected to authorise a new peacekeeping mission in South Sudan to succeed the current United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS). The UN secretary-general has recommended increasing the number of troops from the current 5,000 to 7,000. However, some member states have urged lower troop levels, citing cost concerns.
Angola's commodity-based economy is tied to global oil and diamond prices, and is thus highly susceptible to exogenous shocks, says this Chatham House briefing paper. 'Urban poverty is a source of social strife. The ruling People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) will need to improve service delivery and quicken the pace of social reform to stave off potential unrest. If mismanaged, the task of choosing a successor to President José Eduardo dos Santos could spark a destabilising power struggle within the MPLA.'
Violence against women is rampant, devastating and tolerated in South Sudan and the new country needs to address these gross human rights violations and train people, especially soldiers, to respect women’s rights. This is according to rights activists in the country. 'I have worked with many women and girls who have been abused. They are beaten by their husbands, raped by the rebel soldiers and they suffer in silence,' says Loise Joel, a human rights activist who runs the non-governmental organisation Human Rights for the Vulnerable, in Central Equatorial State in South Sudan.
While in New York to celebrate the launch of UN Women's flagship biennium publication, 'Progress of the World's Women: In Pursuit of Justice', Botswana's Unity Dow sat down with IPS to discuss the United Nations' newest entity, its landmark report, and the road ahead for women. Dow is a lawyer, human rights activist, and formerly Botswana's first female judge. She has studied both within Africa and abroad, and has authoured five books. She is serving her second term as commissioner of the International Commission of Jurists, and is chairperson of their Executive Committee.
Only two in every five people in the Southern African Development Community has access to safe water for drinking and household use. Three quarters of those lacking access, live in rural areas and the majority of these are women and children. Chrispin Sedeke, head of the Transboundary Water Management Division of the Ministry for the Environment of the Democratic Republic of Congo, believes that even these discouraging figures are likely understated. According to a report published in March 2011 by the United Nations Environment Programme, the DRC possesses half of the water resources in Africa, but more than 50 million Congolese do not have access to water.
The Kenyan government is taking steps to incorporate screening for cervical cancer - one of the biggest killers of women of child-bearing age - into HIV care, but health workers say low awareness means the uptake of this vital service is low. Studies show that HIV infection increases women's risk of human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, a leading cause of cervical cancer. Cervical cancer screening is included as part of routine care for HIV-positive women under the country's national guidelines for HIV care. However, screening levels remain low; according to the UN World Health Organisation, just 3.2 per cent of Kenyan women aged 18-69 are screened for cervical cancer every three years, compared with 70 per cent of women in the developed world.
As Christine Lagarde takes charge at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), Gado ponders whether policies will be consensual.
What does a 'clean slate' mean for South Sudan, wonders Gado.
As parts of the Horn of Africa experience their driest periods in 60 years, pushing the numbers needing aid to beyond 10 million, some have been quick to blame climate change. But no single event can be attributed to climate change, which involves long-term (decades or longer) trends in climate variability. There is, however, consensus in attributing the drought to the particularly strong La Niña event. The impact of climate change on the intensity and frequency of La Niña and El Niño in future is a big unknown. Philip Thornton, a senior scientist who works part-time with the Nairobi-based International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) and the University of Edinburgh-based Institute of Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences, told IRIN via email that projections of the climate-change impact in East Africa were 'a problem' as the authoritative Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change’s Fourth Assessment Report 'indicated that there was good consensus among the climate models that rainfall was likely to increase during the current century'.
Cameroon has opened its first landfill gas recovery plant, which aims to reduce methane emissions from waste and earn the country emissions reduction credits under the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism. The plant will trap methane generated by decaying household waste at the Nkolfoulou waste disposal site, on the outskirts of the capital, Yaounde. The gas will be stored in wells and burned off, releasing carbon dioxide, a gas that contributes substantially less to climate change per volume released than methane.
Staff at a public university have threatened to boycott work in protest against the dissolution of the institution’s governing council. The Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology workers gave the government one week to appoint a new council or face industrial action. The council, which is charged with the university’s administrative duties, was dissolved through a Kenya Gazette notice published on 3 June.
The book-length poem ‘Paradise of Idiots’ by Peter Wuteh Vakunta is a powerful wake-up call for the Cameroonian people, writes David T. Scheler, ‘in an exceptionally scintillating version of the political/poetic art form’.
I read your article – – and found it very interesting and alarming – profits and land grab seems to be the intention. From my understanding in Ethiopia many of the deals were land leases for large commercial farmers to produce crops using modern methods and increase food production, either for export or local consumption. The worrying impact for me is the nature, length and detail of the leases that are agreed between the sovereign government and investors and what they leave behind once the lease is up. If that can be researched it might give insight as to who gains the most overall. I look forward to reading more in-depth analysis on the subject.
Thanks so much for sharing our story with the world. Our Pambazuka article – – was picked up on AllAfrica and all major international outlets on Africa news, and many friends throughout the world have told me they found out about the Senegalese revolution through your website. Thanks for allowing our voices to be heard and our story to be told in our own words. We are beyond grateful for this.
I'll keep writing as the struggle continues.
In its on-going efforts to provide support and assistance to the long-suffering people of Palestine, the South African Relief Agency (S.A.R.A) in conjunction with communities and other organisations has embarked on another humanitarian relief mission to Gaza. The mission is scheduled to depart from Durban and will travel overland through Africa to Gaza. The primary objective of the mission is to answer the call of the Palestinian people to conscientise the African continent and to break the immoral and illegal siege of Gaza and show solidarity with the beleaguered people in Occupied Palestine.
More details are available from the website.
Student leader and Swazi political prisoner Maxwell Dlamini has suffered what his family described as a possible mild stroke yesterday but was apparently denied proper treatment.
When will aid agencies ‘develop a system of asking for assistance that does not involve dehumanising African people, especially children,’ asks H. Nanjala Nyabola.
The situation in Sudan ‘demands solidarity and action from all peace-loving people and human right activists,’ writes Explo Nani-Kofi, in a call for readers everywhere to take whatever action they can to stop the government’s genocidal actions.
South Sudan’s independence is ‘a dream come true’ for the country’s people, but ‘to avoid turning that dream into a nightmare, the new nation’s leadership will need to adopt a line of governance that reflects greater commitment to human rights, public freedoms and justice for all,’ cautions Aloys Habimana.
The social unrest that has swept through Africa in 2011 has its roots in the stripping of African economies by international finance, argues Pambazuka News editor-in-chief Firoze Manji, in a speech delivered for the Beyond Juba Distinguished Lecture on 22 June. Now is the time to map out a path towards emancipation, he writes.
Through reference to the history of Chinese medical assistance across the African continent, Li Anshan considers the differences in approaches and understandings behind Western and Chinese ‘aid’ and the scope for potential trilateral (West–China–Africa) cooperation.
Christopher Mlalazi’s work is a ‘reflection of the long suffering and the struggles’ of Zimbabwean people ‘living in a disintegrating society’, writes Ndumiso Mnkandla. ‘In the spirit of Ubuntu let the fight for social justice and human rights through creative writing begin.’
ANC eThekwini regional secretary Sbu Sibiya was shot dead at his home in Inanda, Durban, KwaZulu-Natal police said on Tuesday, 12 July. Brigadier Phindile Radebe said Sibiya (40) was shot in his driveway at 10pm on Monday. He had just returned from his office in Durban.
Sea ice in the Arctic is melting at a record pace this year, suggesting warming at the north pole is speeding up and a largely ice-free Arctic can be expected in summer months within 30 years. The area of the Arctic ocean at least 15 per cent covered in ice is this week about 13.6 square kilometres - lower than the previous record low set in 2007 - according to satellite monitoring by the US National Snow and Ice Data Centre (NSIDC) in Boulder, Colorado. In addition, new data from the University of Washington Polar Science Centre, shows that the thickness of Arctic ice this year is also the lowest on record.
Fifty young economists, academics and businesspeople called an Algiers press conference on Saturday (9 July) to unveil '100 Measures for a New Algeria'. It was the symbolic date of 5 July, however, that 'Nabni' ('Our Algeria Built on New Ideas') selected to announce the recommendations. The group hopes to implement the proposals, drafted after two months of deliberations, before next years' independence decennial.
Public Protector Thuli Madonsela anticipates she will have some tough questions for the government once her probe into missing apartheid billions gets under way. This week Madonsela announced she had reversed her initial decision not to investigate allegations that upwards of R26 billion was looted from state coffers via various schemes under apartheid. The allegations originate from a report compiled by a UK-based investigation and asset recovery firm, Ciex, which alleges it was contracted by the government to track billions which were siphoned from the government in the dying years of apartheid.
Africa now accounts for about one per cent of global manufacturing, and cannot realistically hope to reduce widespread poverty if its governments don't take effective measures to expand this vital economic sector, says a new joint report by UNCTAD and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation. The 'Economic Development in Africa Report 2011', subtitled 'Fostering Industrial Development in Africa in the New Global Environment', calls for a practical, well-designed approach to industrialisation, that is adjusted to specific country circumstances and based on extensive discussion with and feedback from businesses and entrepreneurs.
German economic interests played a key role during Angela Merkel's three-country trip to Africa. In oil-rich Angola improving business ties was a major topic on the agenda for Chancellor Merkel. Ricardo Gerigk, who has headed the delegation of German business in Luanda since last year, said: 'Angola's oil production is close to two million barrels a day,' he said. Angola is the second largest oil producer in Africa after Nigeria. But with a population of just 17 million, compared to Nigeria's 150 million people, there's more wealth, he said.
Reports that major opposition parties in the country have united to form an umbrella opposition coalition against the Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) could be the beginning of an end to the ruling party's 45-year rule over this country. However, the level of support for the new coalition remains unclear. With negotiations still underway, the opposition coalition has not yet taken control of any political power base nor demonstrated its popularity. Leadership of the coalition might also prove a contentious issue.
Three Zimbabwean government ministers were briefly detained on Sunday evening (10 July) as tension continues to mount in Harare’s troubled coalition, it was reported. Industry and commerce minister Professor Welshman Ncube, also the leader of the smaller faction of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) was arrested alongside two ministers from his party as they returned from a meeting in Victoria Falls. He was with regional integration minister Ms Priscilla Misihairabwi-Mushonga and her national healing and reconciliation counterpart Mr Moses Mzila Ndlovu.
A United Nations agency wants Kenya to open up a new settlement to accommodate refugees who have flocked to the Daadab camp. The head of the UN refugee agency Antonio Guterres was taken aback by the pathetic state of affairs at the camp, one of the word’s largest, when he visited at the weekend. According to UNHCR, the camp initially set up to cater for only 90,000 refugees, has now exceeded the number by nearly five times.
A Bill that gives Cameroonians in the diaspora the vote has been passed into law. The Bill sailed through during an extraordinary session of the National Assembly. Opposition groups and civil society organisations have, however, termed the new law a 'political gimmick' by the ruling Cameroon Peoples Democratic Movement (CPDM) party to gain political capital and extra votes from abroad during the forthcoming elections.
Uganda opened its first war crimes trial Monday, 11 July charging a commander of the Lord's Resistance Army rebellion blamed for brutal civilian murders during a 20-year war in the north of the country. Thomas Kwoyelo was charged before the International Crimes Division court in the northern town of Gulu with 53 counts of wilful killing, hostage taking, destruction of property and causing injury.
A new tool for measuring food price volatility in global agriculture markets could help poor countries or aid agencies like the World Food Programme (WFP) decide where and when to buy staples, says Maximo Torero, director of the US-based International Food Policy Research Institute’s (IFPRI) Markets, Trade and Institutions Division. The early warning tool, NEXQ (Non-parametric Extreme Quantile Model) has been developed by IFPRI and is based on sophisticated economic modelling, which provides daily price variability ratings for four major crops - hard wheat, soft wheat, maize (corn) and soya beans - and aims to help analysts predict price volatility.
While top government leaders of the world's newest nation, South Sudan, have announced plans to make the country not only the 'hub' of Africa but also the bread basket for the Eastern African region, the Civil Society Taskforce is stressing the need for creating a just, peaceful and equitable society. The new independent state needs hundreds of billions of dollars of investment in order to connect its territory, which is the size of Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania combined with expensive roads and bridges. It plans to build refineries and pipelines to transport its crude oil to the international market, reported the Sudan Tribune.
Cotton production resumed quietly in the small town of Sara after farmers won a victory in their fight with SOFITEX, the leading company in Burkina Faso which buys and processes cotton, reports Farm Radio Weekly. The renewed interest in cotton contrasts with the violent protests in June. Some farmers threatened not to produce the valuable fibre this year. But others had already planted and did not support abandoning the crop. Angry farmers destroyed some of the newly-planted fields. Police intervened to prevent them from pulling up all the young cotton plants.
Pambazuka News 538: Scams, theft and invasions
Pambazuka News 538: Scams, theft and invasions
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In response to a recent report by the Oakland Institute on land grabs in Africa, this blog article notes that, 'The free market attributes the demand of Westerners for transport fuel as more pressing than the demand of poor locals for basic food crops, because they are able to pay more, not because they have a greater need. Domestic governments need to intervene here to ensure that local economies produce enough food to feed themselves. Malnutrition has far reaching effects through every aspect of the economy, reducing productivity, increasing poor health, and damaging long term development of children both physically and mentally.'
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...
The African Studies Association is pleased to announce three pre-conference workshops to be offered on Wednesday, 16 November 2011. Participants will have the opportunity to explore governance and development at American University in depth or go behind the scenes to learn about the resources employed by The Library of Congress and the Museum of African Art.
When Libyan rebels requested NATO air support to help them in their fight against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, they might have gotten more than they bargained for, and might be paying for it for a long time to come. Several scattered reports released since the conflict began claim that some of the missiles NATO jets are using to disable Gaddafi's army are tipped with depleted uranium, a toxic heavy metal that could have long-term negative health effects on populations exposed to it.
Millions of people in developing countries rely on affordable generic medicines to stay alive. More than 80 per cent of the medicines used by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) to treat AIDS across the developing world are produced in India. But the European Commission is now shutting off the tap of affordable medicines by attacking the production, registration, transportation and exportation of generic medicines. Visit this page of you're interested in helping Médecins Sans Frontières send a message to the European Commission to keep their hands of our medicine.
The Center for Migration and Refugee Studies Database (CMRS) has announced the launching of its newly constructed information system. The CMRS information system aims at becoming a comprehensive location where migration and refugee research material especially, but not exclusively, on the Middle East region is compiled. The system is divided into three main components: legal, demographic and socio-economic. It contains material in both Arabic and English and it is possible to search in both languages.
Commercial sex workers in Nigeria are demanding more respect and more rights. Nongovernmental organisations have been promoting various rehabilitation and education initiatives. But prohibative costs for these programs lead some advocates to believe that the best option is to decriminalise commercial sex work. The Nigerian Criminal Code penalises prostitution with imprisonment, but some say the law shouldn’t govern morality. The government has mentioned no plans to decriminalise sex work and instead promotes education and alternative employment.
Egyptian companies and multi-nationals are now using images of and references to the youth-led uprising that toppled autocrat Hosni Mubarak in advertisements to sell internet service, mobile phones, soft drinks, tourism and more. The marketing has sparked something of a backlash among young Egyptians and has contributed to a rise in politicised street art and graffiti. 'Everyone sold us down the river. So all these people coming now and claiming that their phones, their kitchen appliances, their whatever, has helped the revolution - nothing has helped the revolution but the people that did the revolution,' said one Egyptian.