Pambazuka News 483: AFRICOM and the ICC: Enforcing international justice in Africa?
Pambazuka News 483: AFRICOM and the ICC: Enforcing international justice in Africa?
A landmark court case in Zambia is sure to reignite a debate about the pros and cons of mandatory testing for HIV. Zambia Air Force (ZAF) officers Stanley Kingaipe and Charles Chookole say they were tested and treated for the virus without their knowledge. ZAF has now been ordered to pay them compensation for mental anguish. The controversy about compulsory testing has been smouldering for some time. It was a stray remark by the minister of health at a HIV conference late in 2008 that started it. Kapembwa Simbao was reported as saying that too few Zambians were voluntarily going for an HIV test and that they should be compelled to do so.
A veteran opposition leader in Togo has said he will enter into a power-sharing deal with the government. Gilchrist Olympio told the BBC that his party will get eight ministerial posts in the coalition. President Faure Gnassingbe won re-election in March, although the opposition alleged irregularities in the vote-counting system.
French authorities have arrested a Rwandan doctor accused of involvement in the 1994 genocide. Eugene Rwamucyo has been wanted by Interpol since 2006, and was dismissed from his job in a hospital in northern France last month. Rwandan authorities, who allege Dr Rwamucyo committed war crimes during the genocide, welcomed the arrest.
Licences have been granted to four private daily newspapers in Zimbabwe by a commission set up by the unity government to implement media reforms. The Zimbabwean media is currently dominated by state-run newspapers. One of the licences has been granted to the Daily News, a paper critical of President Robert Mugabe, which was closed down in 2003.
The International Criminal Court has reported Sudan to the UN Security Council for refusing to arrest two suspected Darfur war criminals. Former Minister Ahmed Haroun and militia leader Ali Muhammad Al Abd-Al-Rahman are both alleged to have been involved in attacks on civilians. The ICC took the unprecedented move after the government refused to accept arrest warrants for the two men.
Mobile banking has transformed the way people in the developing world transfer money and now it is poised to offer more sophisticated banking services which could make a real difference to people's lives. Currently 2.7bn people living in the developing world do not have access to any sort of financial service. At the same time 1bn people throughout Africa, Latin America and Asia own a mobile phone.
A group of 124 organizations from more than 25 African countries have released a declaration calling on African governments to advance accountability for grave international crimes at the review conference for the International Criminal Court (ICC). The conference, which will take place in Kampala, Uganda from May 31 to June 11, 2010, is being convened to discuss amendments to the court's treaty.
What effects have recent debt-relief programmes had? Does debt relief promote institutional change? This article from the Development Policy Review provides new evidence on debt-relief programmes in Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPCs). It shows that debt relief is only weakly associated with subsequent improvements in economic performance and is correlated with increasing domestic debt.
As of May 2010, at least 4.9 million people are internally displaced in Darfur, the Greater Khartoum area, South Kordofan and the ten States of Southern Sudan, with unknown numbers of internally displaced people in the other northern and eastern States. They make up one of the two largest internally displaced populations in the world, alongside that of Colombia. Some people have been displaced for more than two decades, while others were newly displaced in 2009 and 2010.
The Pulitzer Center for Crisis Reporting, a nonprofit that sponsors and produces award-winning international journalism, has launched a new interactive site focused on maternal mortality issues, Dying for Life. This multimedia exhibit includes photo essays, videos and dispatches from Guinea Bissau, India, Mexico, Ethiopia and Nigeria. The centre is also partnering with the writers' site Helium to sponsor a writing contest about maternal health. The aim is to foster in-depth engagement with this important global issue. Join the global conversation by engaging with the journalists, and sharing your own stories about maternal health and its impact on your community.
A new ClimateWire article looks into the growing number of voices concerned about the World Bank's role in a post-Copenhagen world. The Bank's recent approval of a controversial loan to South African utility Eskom has spurred several previously reserved groups to demand reforms. BIC board member David Hunter was quoted.
The Anglican church in Southern Africa called on President Jacob Zuma and the South African government to lobby for the immediate release of two Malawian men sentenced to 14 years in prison for their homosexual relationship. “We urge them to press for the swift release of these two individuals, who have committed no act of violence or harm against anyone; for the quashing of the sentence against them; and for the repeal of this repressive legislation,” the Synod of Bishops of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa said.
The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) today warned of growing needs in the Eastern Sahel region of West Africa, one of the most destitute regions in the world, where some 10 million people are facing extreme hunger due to drought and poor harvests. Thomas Yanga, WFP Regional Director for West Africa, said that despite efforts by governments, humanitarian agencies and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the situation in eastern Mali, northern Cameroon, Chad and Niger is critical.
Renewed fighting between Government troops and armed opposition groups have displaced over 17,000 people from the Somali capital, Mogadishu, over the past month, with more than 14,300 fleeing in the last two weeks alone, the United Nations refugee agency reported. This brings to 200,000 the number of Somalis estimated to have been uprooted since the beginning of this year, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
The crème de la crème of Africa's media are gathering in Uganda's capital Kampala for the prestigious 2010 CNN MultiChoice African Journalist Awards on Saturday. Already some of the 27 finalists from 15 countries had started arriving. They include Uganda's Halima Abdallah Kisule of The EastAfrican and NTV sports reporter Leon Ssenyange.
A Climate Council, charged with developing a National Climate Plan, has been inaugurated by the Republic of Gabon's President Ali Bongo Ondimba. During the launch, President Ali Bongo Ondimba explained that the Climate Council was set up to recommend ways in which to develop the nation sustainably while combating climate change and preventing species loss.
Dr Machivenyika Mapuranga, the Zimbabwe Ambassador to the United States, was forced out of an event to commemorate Africa Day after he heckled and continuously interrupted a speech by US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Johnnie Carson.
South Africa has invited Sudan's Omar al-Bashir to the continent's first World Cup along with the rest of Africa's leadership, but will arrest him if he takes up the invitation, President Jacob Zuma said. Bashir is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on charges of war crimes. He rejects the charges of ordering mass murder, rape and torture in the western Darfur region.
Donors are disengaging from the fight against HIV/AIDS leaving behind millions who are still in dire need of lifesaving treatment in South Africa and other hard-hit Sub-Saharan African countries, warned Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).
Anal sex is viewed as something that only takes place among men who have sex with men (MSM) denying the fact that this form of sexual intercourse was a major driver in the HIV epidemic among heterosexual couples, researchers told the Microbicides 2010 conference this week.
A microbicide that researchers are pinning their hopes on is safe for use in pregnant women, according to a study presented at the Microbicide 2010 conference taking place in the United States this week. Study participants applied a single dose of tenofovir gel two hours before birth by cesarean section.
Africa’s regulators are increasingly moving to assert their role as the protector of consumer interests in the ICT space. This week the Commissioner responsible for Consumer Affairs told a meeting held by the Liberian Consumers Action Network that it had established a consumer help desk. But if the landscape for ICT consumers is getting more complicated then the responsibilities of companies within the sector is also becoming more demanding.
The introduction of a seamless mobile bank account product by Equity Bank and Safaricom on Tuesday promises to open up electronic commerce -- and mobile commerce in particular -- to the mass market. The service, dubbed M-Kesho, will allow users to perform basic banking transactions like deposits, withdrawals, loan applications, processing and reception right from their handsets.
Main One Cable Company, a submarine cable company offering open access, wholesale broadband capacity in West Africa, and its system supplier, Tyco Electronics Subsea Communications SubCom, have completed the installation of the first phase of its cable system on schedule
Making services for the prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT) available without addressing the factors that keep mothers from accessing these services was an exercise in futility, experts told a press briefing in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.
Surveys of condom use in women based on self-report may be seriously unreliable, to the extent of overestimating true use by 100%, the 2010 International Microbicides Conference has heard. This finding comes from a South African survey, but if it applies broadly it may have significant effects on trial design and mathematical modelling of the effect of microbicides.
In a move that probes the limits of freedom of expression in Morocco, a group of gays and lesbians is working to raise their community's profile by publishing a trail-blazing magazine. The organisation Kif Kif (Similar) released a limited number of copies of the first edition of Mithly (Gay) in April, without applying for a government licence that they claim would have been denied.
Three women have been selected to fill senior-level positions at the African Development Bank, AfDB president Donald Kaberuka announced on May 14th. Cecilia Akintomide will serve as the first-ever female Secretary-General of the bank, while Hela Cheikhrouhou will head the New Energy, Environment and Climate Change department. Gemina Archer-Davies will direct the Corporate Human Resources Management branch.
South African farmers have not received government support for 10 years, but Agriculture Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson intends to change this by pushing the World Trade Organisation (WTO) restrictions to the limit to do so. State assistance to agriculture has been a controversial issue for many years in the WTO and is on the agenda in the current Doha round of negotiations. Of particular importance are support measures for agriculture in developed countries that render products from the developing world uncompetitive.
Trucks of soldiers and police have entered the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. Survival believes this is to intimidate the Bushmen, and perhaps even force them out, because:
1) Gem Diamonds wants to open a diamond mine on their land;
2) the Botswana High Court is now due to hear a Bushman application to reinstate their water borehole.
Women provide up to 90 percent of the rural poor's food and produce up to 80 percent of food in most developing countries, and yet they are almost completely ignored when policy decisions are made about agriculture and biodiversity. That's about to change thanks to a United Nations agreement on biodiversity that will ask countries to ensure women are involved in decisions regarding biodiversity - including agriculture.
"Behind an orderly facade, the government pressured, intimidated and threatened Ethiopian voters, ...Whatever the results, the most salient feature of this election was the months of repression preceding it." - Rona Peligal, acting Africa director at Human Rights Watch. There is little surprise in Ethiopian election results now beginning to come out, with the ruling party being returned with overwhelming majorities in all parts of the country. Nor has there been any large-scale violence reported, although some observers warned that new crackdowns on opposition might follow the election, But both Ethiopian and non-Ethiopian critics warn that the most important issues are structural, and that the appearance of democracy is belied by an authoritarian system.
The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation ACP-EU (CTA), in collaboration with FARA, Yam-Pukri, CAFAN, AYF, ANAFE and PAFPNET, is organizing an essay writing contest on Youth and ICTs in Agriculture and Rural Development, aimed at identifying innovative solutions on challenges faced by
youth in agriculture and rural areas using Information and Communication Technologies.
South Africa is hosting the continent's first soccer World Cup but the mounting anticipation is not drowning out a vicious whispering campaign calling for the expulsion of foreign nationals within hours of the curtain going down on football's biggest jamboree. The local media has been awash with anecdotal stories of conspiracies brewing at taxi ranks, shebeens and markets to bring a pogrom against foreign African nationals, who are blamed for taking jobs and diverting government services, while NGOs concerned with the plight of refugees and migrants are becoming more worried as 12 July - the day after the final game - draws near.
Nigerian police routinely carry out summary executions of suspected criminals, use torture to extract confessions from detainees, and rape as an interrogation technique, according to a report by the Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI), a rights group, which appeals to President Goodluck Jonathan to make good on promises to urgently reform the force.
Developing countries like Malawi are calculating the cost of adhering to new World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines that recommend starting HIV-positive people on antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) sooner. Malawi is one of three African countries that have conducted WHO-supported feasibility studies to assess what adopting the new guidelines would mean, and has announced plans to roll out the new WHO guidelines by mid-2011, said Dr Frank Chimbwandira, head of the HIV and AIDS department in the Ministry of Health.
Kenya should encourage the use of bamboo in building affordable shelters, especially for 60 percent of the population who live in poorly constructed dwellings in rural areas, says a specialist. "Poor construction means they [houses] serve as breeding grounds for diseases including malaria, amoebic dysentery and respiratory conditions, which commonly claim the lives of many of their inhabitants,” Jacob Kibwange, project director of an initiative at Maseno University that aims to encourage bamboo exploitation, told IRIN.
With this year's African Day having just passed on 25 May, the Nation of Afreeka has drafted its petition to the Kenyan government to recognise the day as a national holiday.
South Africa’s ANC has spent hundreds of billions of rand in preparation for the World Cup, writes Nicholas Tucker, with ‘almost none of it’ improving the lives of the millions of citizens struggling with unemployment, reduced wages, poor housing, lowered education outcomes and failing health systems. Will ‘the hard-pressed working class of this country realise how they have been short-changed by the ruling party’, asks Tucker, and if so, how will they ‘express their displeasure'? It ‘may well be too late’ for the ANC ‘to do anything other than to apply force in quelling the rising dissent’, Tucker warns.
Everything is ‘up for dialogue’ but ‘few things can actually be negotiated’, says Eric Holt-Giménez, reporting back on last week’s Dublin Dialogue, a consultation with civil society organisations hosted by the UN High Level Task Force on the global food security crisis. Lacking budgetary or decision-making power, the task force cannot stray far from the mandates of purse-holder the World Bank in the design of its Comprehensive Framework for Action to end hunger, which presents the global market as ‘the solution rather than the cause of hunger’, and prioritises ‘the private sector rather than public institutions’. ‘Without organised pressure from civil society, there is little likelihood of advancing food sovereignty at the UN or anywhere else,’ says Holt-Giménez.
Fifty years on from the beginnings of liberation in Africa, John S. Saul finds there is still much work to be done, especially in southern Africa where the final triumph over colonial and racial domination occurred. In each of the five sites of the overt struggle against domination – Angola, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Namibia and South Africa – there are clear signs of recolonisation, this time by capital.
Challenges to the claim that homosexuality is contrary to African values, saying ‘No to xenophobia’, dismissing the prejudices of an American journalist, and calls for the continent’s musicians to be fairly remunerated for the commercial use of their intellectual property are among the inspiring stories presented by Dibussi Tande in this week’s round-up of the African blogosphere.
Malawian gay couple Tiwonge Chimbalanga and Steven Monjeza have been sentenced to 14 years of hard labour, after a court found them guilty of sodomy, under criminal code provisions originating from the UK, writes L. Muthoni Wanyeki. ‘The law as it stands may criminalise sodomy and whatever the powers determine to be indecent’, writes Wanyeki, but ‘it is not the business of any state to determine how consenting adults derive sexual pleasure.’ What’s more, Wanykei notes, sodomy is not ‘a sexual practice unique to gay men’, and the right to privacy that heterosexuals currently enjoy should apply equally to homosexuals.
Home-bound money transfers from the African diaspora in Europe and the US are increasing in terms of their developmental contribution to African economies, writes Sanou Mbaye. Mbaye affirms 'the social, economic and financial importance of migrant remittances in recipient countries' and calls for a more advanced facilitation of money transfers.
Before Canada considers sending troops to the UN’s military mission in the DRC, it should first engage in serious debate about its international role and ‘the usefulness of a serious Canadian military presence’, argues Gerald Caplan. ‘With a disturbing presence of Western – including Canadian – resource giants and a history of “white” interference, social responsibility is an essential part of the discussion that must happen before any decision is made to dispatch troops to another conflict zone,’ Caplan writes.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) investigation into Kenya's post-2007–08 election atrocities is being dubbed the country’s ‘last hope’ for justice due to a lack of domestic initiatives to deal with suspects, writes Dana Wagner. Amidst high Kenyan and international expectations, can the ICC deliver this justice as a lone and external judicial body?
The ICC (International Criminal Court) prosecutor has called for the US military to enforce ICC arrest warrants in Africa, while American officials have declared a new phase of cooperation between the US and the ICC, write Samar Al-Bulushi and Adam Branch. What some see as a solution to the ICC’s lack of enforcement capacity, the authors argue, in fact poses a dramatic danger to peace and justice in Africa and to the future of the ICC itself.
As the former French colonies of Africa head to Nice to celebrate the 25th France-Africa Summit at the end of May, Sanou Mbaye questions the enduring legacy they’re honouring. Following decades of political and economic tyranny forged by French politicians, the citizens of former colonies continue to absorb the impact of chaotic and ruinous policies left over from their imperial history. ‘As long as these psychological wounds are not rooted out of black consciousness, the road to mental emancipation will still be a long way off’, Mbaye writes.
As the US Africa Command (AFRICOM) force becomes ever more active in Somalia, questions must be raised as to the intentions of this militarised organisation, writes Explo Nani-Kofi. Nani-Kofi stresses that the African continent grows ever more vulnerable to a maturing breed of neocolonial occupation based on US-led proxy wars.
Recent environmental standard reforms and initiatives by Chinese corporations have earned international applause but emerging Chinese companies and a leading bank that now support Ethiopia’s Gibe III Hydroelectric Dam are threatening the reputation of Asian dam builders, writes Peter Bosshard. The controversial Gibe III is scheduled for construction despite the destructive threats to surrounding populations and fragile ecosystems. Support for the project from Dongfang Electric Corporation and Chinese commercial bank ICBC is a blow to both the region and the corporate reputation of Asian firms in Africa.
‘I’d like to draw your attention an article about “Austria deports African gay footballer” on LGBT Asylum News,’ writes Heinz Leitner, in a letter of solidarity.
‘The Volunteer Coastguard of Somalia needs the support of all African countries for the unparalleled work they are doing,’ writes Kwame Maseko, in response to Andrew Mwangura’s dossier on piracy in last week’s Pambazuka News.
While Blessing-Miles Tendi’s review of ‘Mugabe and the White African’ fails to acknowledge that not all of Zimbabwe’s white farmers disputed the need for land reform, writes Allison Lobb, he accurately sums up the key ‘white’ problem stalling progress: ‘Becoming “African” is not about economic integration alone – something many white Zimbabweans never grasped. It is also about social, residential and political integration, and about learning local languages.’
Chinese investments across Africa require ‘more than just a superficial understanding that China and other actors are going to be panaceas for Africa’s development or merely that they represent the next set of neo-imperialists’, writes Sanusha Naidu. Naidu explores the extent of these investments and suggests that a realistic assessment of where the practical benefits lie for Africa is needed to determine whether such a relationship is in the continent’s advantage.
African countries' inability to come to an agreement around the waters of the Nile and imagining the local response to an east African oil spill feature in this week's cartoons by Gado.
After travelling halfway around the world from Nigeria to the US, Emem Okon, along with 17 other people representing oil-producing communities around the globe, stood today as shareholders ready to attend Chevron’s Annual General Meeting of the Shareholders. Chevron arbitrarily denied Ms Okon and at least 13 others entry to the meeting, despite the fact that other representatives from Chevron-impacted communities were allowed to enter the meeting.
Scholars and activists from all over the world came together on 22–25 May to celebrate Kwame Nkrumah’s contributions to Pan-Africanism at an international centenary colloquium held in Accra, Ghana. Conference attendee Horace Campbell finds himself heartened by the recent resurgence of interest in Pan-Africanism among a younger generation, and inspired by ‘the convergence of the energy of the youth’ with the insights of Nkrumah’s contemporaries.
http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/483/taju_speaks.jpgWith 25 May 2010 marking the first year of Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem's passing, the Pambazuka News team would like to draw our readers' attention to the wave of tributes we received in the wake of his tragic accident. These tributes feature as comments on an article entitled , as well as responses to Tajudeen's final Pan-African Postcard,
Some say "African Unity Day"
Some, just "Africa day"
Whatever your choice,
here's to a freer, safer
united Africa of our dreams!
And, let's re-member
our dear Taju. The broda who chose
this day. He spoke words with spirits
that grew and stayed longer
than the baobab, inflamed our passion
for this land, spoke truth to power,
unveiled leaders who are dealers
in dream-trade, made history.
The broda who said NO
when a fake yes was a sure path
to our woes, wane and wail…
Here's another, to Taju!
Two employees of Gay and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ) – Ellen Chademana and Ignatius Mhambi – were arrested by police on the evening of 21 May. Zimbabwe's Central Intelligence Department raided the offices after GALZ posted a letter in their office from former Mayor Willie Lewis Brown of San Francisco, criticising President Mugabe’s resistance to homosexuality. The police confiscated the letter, which they said 'undermines the authority of the president', and took several documents and computers. Chademana and Mhambi were arrested on allegations under Zimbabwe's censorship laws.
**STOP PRESS**
Chademana and Mhambi have been released on bail (Thursday 27 May). The Zimbabwe NGO forum said that Chademana and Mhambi, who were detained for seven days, were 'severely' assaulted by state security agents after their arrests and were threatened with further beatings.
SAMWU has become increasingly concerned by the homophobic utterances of several national leaders on the continent over the last few years. Mugabe in Zimbabwe, Museveni in Uganda and a few others have made intolerable comments about the rights of consenting adults to engage in a same sex relationship. One has to ask what is it exactly that irks these ‘revolutionary’ leaders? What are they afraid of? However recent events in Malawi have surpassed even these levels of ignorance and prejudice.
While it was as good as a foregone conclusion that Prime Minister Meles Zenawi would remain in power after the latest Ethiopian 'election', writes Alemayehu G. Mariam, those prone to being dejected should not give up on the struggle for freedom and democracy in the country.
The death of Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem one year ago was marked on Tuesday 25 May in Nairobi with the launch of , a collection of his Pan-African Postcards. His legacy was manifest amidst Africa Day celebration and debate. Images from the day accompany this article.
http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/483/taju.jpgAs part of a Spotlight Africa radio programme broadcast last Saturday 22 May, Assumpta Oturu introduces excerpts of Tajudeen's thoughts on Pan-Africanism, African history and his wishes for Africa in the new millennium. The audio programme is available at [mp3].
Walter Turner speaks to Horace Campbell about Tajudeen's immense contribution and the challenges for a revolutionary world. Campbell is the author of the foreword to the new Pambazuka Press book
30 years ago we walked free
Liberated from Rhodesia, we claimed Zimbabwe
Said goodbye to Ian Smith
Welcomed Robert Mugabe and hope
Ha! Would it not be the joke of the century?
One once said a bitter heart beats to a vindictive heart
The heart of this now malnourished beast
Is the war veteran – Mr Mugabe
Come to save the Zim natives from the white man
As it were – until he lost the plot
You point one finger but
My friend there’s three pointing back
Blame Blair once and we will triple your sentence
How does such a man sleep?
With the pain inside so deep
You can almost forget it;
Suffocate it with arrogance and the over used
My oh so favourite “it was Cecil Rhodes’ fault”
But look into a Zimbabwean child’s eyes and you will remember
That it is not his fault he was born to an AIDS positive teenage mother
And a father she can’t put a finger on
Because she was just another girl on the path of destruction
Used and thrown away
Maybe one day he will forgive you
But today he has to live with the fact that
There is no food on the table
But on Mugabe Avenue – they are feasting
How do you sit next to your mortal enemy?
Share a presidency that was corrupt from the start
How?
How do you share a rotting cake?
Where is new the side when they are both charred?
We will all be tarred with the same brush
All painted damaged goods
Because of one man’s thirst for power
When will it be enough?
Today -when we hoisted the flag I knew it was done;
Today -when we sung the freedom song;
And raised our banners high;
I knew Uhuru was now!
As my soul rests tonight,
My thoughts run in sight,
I think of the blood they shed;
The years they lost;
I look at you;
And look at me;
My soul needs rest,
Rest from the whirlwind
Rest from the noises
And Rest from the unrests
I am old they say;
Yet spent my youth and days for you;
As my soul rests tonight
My thoughts run in sight,
Looking at the ray in the way
A sight of hope?
A sight of grief?
Who knows?
My sight fails they say;
Women in gowns and sacks;
Men in suits and tatters;
The hunger stricken children with bowls;
Their sullen sunken eyes popping out;
As they hurriedly take images of whom they have become;
I pity our struggle,
I pity their struggle;
They have fought;
They have survived
Others have died
And others hope;
Quantified pain they pay,
Weighty tears they shed
Africa! Africa!
They sigh mournfully
Africa! Africa!
The Land they own
Africa !
Is this the freedom we fought?
http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/483/taju4.jpgIn the week of the anniversary of the first year of Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem's passing, Amir Demeke reviews , a compilation of Tajudeen's weekly Pan-African Postcards. Describing the book as 'a well-balanced meal', Demeke stresses: 'For those who read for enlightenment, find a copy of the book and turn on the light.'
Reviewing Kopano Matlwa's 'Spilt Milk', Litheko Modisane has little time for an apparently rushed publication. In its misplaced reflections on post-apartheid South Africa, Modisane maintains, 'Spilt Milk' errs in focusing on bitterness in and of itself at the expense of an honest assessment of 'enduring racialised contradictions'.
Following the 14 May death of Frederik Van Zyl Slabbert, Isabella Matambanadzo pays tribute to a man who 'believed in human agency and worked tirelessly for it'.
http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/483/reading_draft_constitution.... this , a team from the grassroots organisation
Pambazuka News 482: South Africa: An unfinished revolution?
Pambazuka News 482: South Africa: An unfinished revolution?
The uneasy partners in Zimbabwe's national unity government have one more issue to divide them: President Robert Mugabe's appointment this week of a new Supreme Court judge and four High Court judges without consultation with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, to which his Movement for Democratic Change immediately objected.
Zimbabwe’s labour body on Thursday called for fresh elections to choose the country’s next leader, citing “lack of progress” in the 15-month old coalition government between President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai. The Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) that sired Tsvangirai’s MDC party said the government of national unity (GNU) has since inception in February last year been embroiled in disputes which are stalling progress.
"A new earthquake" is what peasant farmer leader Chavannes Jean-Baptiste of the Peasant Movement of Papay (MPP) called the news that Monsanto will be donating 60,000 seed sacks (475 tons) of hybrid corn seeds and vegetable seeds, some of them treated with highly toxic pesticides. The MPP has committed to burning Monsanto's seeds, and has called for a march to protest the corporation's presence in Haiti on June 4, for World Environment Day.
The private sector window of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group received, on 19 May 2010, board approval for a USD 40 million equity investment in the African Agriculture Fund (AAF), a private-equity fund designed to respond to the food crisis that severely impacted the continent in 2008 in the wake of escalating food prices and staple export bans.
Thihako Mukena paddles his mokoro slowly across a soccer field, pointing with a smile towards the goalposts that barely clear the water’s surface. Heavy rains in Angola months earlier have meandered down the Okavango to his doorstep: the river is at its highest point in nearly fifty years. His house is now cut off from the mainland, and 18-year-old Mukena navigates his way to school in the dugout canoe.
Rural people in several parts of Cameroon are protesting a government policy that allows the government to sell or lease vast parcels of arable land to foreign investors. Supporters say the deals could bring much-needed investment to agriculture. But critics warn that the policy could lead to more subsistence farmers losing their lands — their only source of food and income.
Fatima Yadik, a mother of 12 and grandmother of 18, recently settled in the Central African Republic town of Yaloké after 60 years with her nomadic community. Her camp of Peuhl nomads was attacked by bandits who killed all the men and stole their cattle. Peuhl people are often targeted by bandits because of the relative wealth of their livestock. Fleeing to safety, Ms. Yadik and her family joined the growing number of nomadic peoples across Africa’s interior who are escaping poverty and insecurity in the countryside in favour of life in towns and cities.
The heads of seven African states are in Yaoundé at the invitation of Cameroon’s President Paul Biya to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their countries’ independence. The seven leaders, who come mostly from central Africa, also took part in the closing ceremony of the international conference “Africa 21”
Despite some progress in Sudan’s war-torn Darfur region, violent clashes between Government and rebel forces persist, civilians are still dying or being displaced and humanitarian workers are still coming under attack, the top United Nations official in the region has said. “Results have been mixed despite our best efforts,” the head of the joint African Union-UN Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), Ibrahim Gambari, told the Security Council, presenting Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s latest report on the region, where seven years of conflict have killed an estimated 300,000 people and driven 2.7 million others from their homes.
A “green revolution” led by Africa’s small farmers, and harnessing the latest technologies and innovations, is vital if the continent is to reduce extreme poverty and hunger by 2015, just two of the eight globally agreed Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), according to a new United Nations report. The 2010 Technology and Innovation Report, issued by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), warns that “ineffective farming techniques and wasteful post-harvest practices” have left sub-Saharan Africa as the region most likely to miss the MDGs on poverty and hunger.
Ethiopia’s opposition says the style of deploying the police and the army might cause post-election violence if the forces intervene during celebrations of victory or expression of disgust at the vote outcome. Ethiopia’s opposition leader Beyena Petros, the chairman of a coalition of eight opposition parties, Medrek, said he was personally scared that the security forces' misreading of the public mood could cause post-election violence.
Nigeria's upper legislative chamber, the Senate, will begin its investigations into the alleged marriage to a 13-year-old Egyptian girl by Senator Ahmed Yerimah, next Wednesday. The official News Agency of Nigeria Thursday quoted the Chairman, Senate Committee on Ethics and Privileges, Sen. Omar Hambagda, as saying the committee had received petitions from three serving female senators over the issue.
The European Union (EU) and the Food and Agriculture Or ganization (FAO), in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (MAFS) are offering assistance to about 36,000 farmers in Lesotho, more than half of its vulnerable farmers. Soaring food prices and the recent global economic downturn struck Lesotho hard, especially the majority of its 1.9 million people that rely on agriculture.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called on the government of Madagascar to investigate a Saturday raid on the opposition radio station Fréquence Plus that resulted in the arrest of an opposition leader while he was on a live radio programme.
The Kenya government Thursday placed its veterinary department on high alert over a possible outbreak of a Rift Valley fever epidemic in the North Eastern, Upper Eastern and Rift Valley provinces. Livestock Minister Mohamed Kuti, while issuing the alert, announced that a massive vaccination campaign was due to begin in the affected regions to prevent an outbreak of the disease.
A report launched by the Open Society Justice Initiative and the Network on Police Reform in Nigeria (NOPRIN) said Police in the country commit extrajudicial killings, torture, rape, and extortion with relative impunity. According to the findings of the report, which was release simultaneously in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, and New York, many members of the Nigeria Police Force are more likely to commit crimes than to prevent them.
Kenya's Water Minister Charity Ngilu said the country had signed the controversial Nile Basin Agreement, allowing it to effectively put the Nile Waters into use for irrigation and other national development priorities. Kenya, with a small share of Lake Victoria, the source of the world's longest river, running some 6,695 kilometres across nine countries with a combined population of 400 million, said it signed the Nile Basin agreement because an earlier one signed in 1929 was obsolete.
Guinea's Interim Head of State, Brig.-Gen. Sekouba Konate, has re-stated his commitment to holding presidential elections 27 June 2010, a ccording to a communique issued by the International Contact Group on Guinea (ICG-G), which met in the nation's capital, Conakry, last weekend.
The Constitution Commission that reviewed Angola's constitution, which had been in force since February 2005, was dissolved on Wednesday by the National Assembly during its 12th plenary ordinary session.
The Johannesburg-based World Alliance for Citizen Participation (CIVICUS) has warned that the operating environment for civil society in Kenya remains fraught with danger. It said that as the spotlight is focused on impunity in Kenya by the international community, including the International Criminal Court (ICC) and special representatives of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), civil society activists are facing grave risks.
Deputy Manager, Regional and National Programme of the International Service for Human Rights, Mr. Clemen Nyalatsossi Voule, has said impunity is persistent in Africa in spite of the drafting and adoption of human right resolutions by rights' defenders on the continent.
The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) has recommended a fresh look at the continent's informal industries, saying new policies to address the quality of jobs and financing were required for their survival. UNECA's chief economics analyst, Adam Elhiraika, said Tuesday that although the informal sector in Africa plays in important role in creating jobs and driving economic growth, the sector faced a series of setbacks, including lack of loans and policy support.
Somalia’s president reinstated Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke and his cabinet on Thursday after days of uncertainty following a parliamentary vote of no confidence in them. President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed asked Mr Sharmarke and his ministers to step down after the vote on Sunday. A total 280 MPs had chosen to sack them, according to former speaker Sheikh Aden Madobe, who has since resigned.
Uganda’s opposition will boycott national elections next year unless the government reconstitutes the Electoral Commission (EC) to make it impartial, senior opposition officials told Reuters on Thursday. They say the electoral body favoured the incumbent President Yoweri Museveni at the last elections in 2006. The head of state appoints the commission’s seven members.
The Movement for Democratic Change has condemned the engagement and involvement of prominent "media hangman" Tafataona Mahoso in the reform of the media industry currently being spearheaded by the Zimbabwe Media Commission. This follows reports that Mahoso, former chairman of controversial Media and Information Commission, has been appointed chief executive officer of the ZMC.
Salva Kiir, the leader of south Sudan's former rebel group the SPLM, has been sworn in as the first elected president of the semi-autonomous southern region. It follows his landslide victory in April's elections, part of the peace deal that ended a 21-year civil war between north and south.
Calm has been restored after clashes in the Madagascar capital Antananarivo between rival security forces. Madagascar's army and police exchanged gunfire with a rebel police faction. The faction has retreated to its barracks and is trying to negotiate a way out, a military officer says. Madagascar has been in political turmoil since opposition leader Andry Rajoelina assumed power in January 2009, with military backing.
Guinea's army chief has promised the military will ensure that the 27 June elections proceed smoothly. Colonel Nouhou Thiam, who heads a military task force set up to oversee the polls, said the army would "defend the territory of Guinea." He also promised the army would remain neutral during the elections.