Chinese President Hu Jintao signed economic and agricultural deals in South Africa on Tuesday as part of his tour of Africa, where there are concerns such agreements will only hurt the continent's poor countries. According to a report by Reuters, after the agreements were signed Hu and South African President Thabo Mbeki said they would boost economic ties between the Asian giant and Africa's biggest economy.

Credible Eritrean sources in Asmara and abroad have told Reporters Without Borders that poet and playwright Fessehaye “Joshua” Yohannes, who was a journalist with the now-banned weekly Setit, died in detention on 11 January. “The death of Fessehaye Yohannes would be an appalling tragedy, one made all the more unbearable by the accommodating attitude of European governments towards Eritrea,” Reporters Without Borders said.

China's President Hu Jintao has pledged to increase imports from Africa to narrow a trade gap with the continent and allay concern that China was developing a colonial relationship with the world's poorest continent. China also planned to increase investments in agriculture, infrastructure, manufacturing and public welfare projects in Africa, Hu said in a speech in Pretoria yesterday.

Anti-graft officials from the Southern African region are meeting in the Zambian capital, Lusaka, to formulate a code of ethics aimed at curbing corruption in the business sector, the Herald newspaper has reported. The two-day meeting, organised by the Southern African Forum Against Corruption, a regional anti-corruption body, is expected to come up with a code of ethics and strategies in which the private sector could help fight the scourge in the region.

Ghana’s election as chair of the African Union has been welcomed by the Darfur Consortium, a coalition of civil society groups campaigning against the ongoing conflict in Darfur which was recently described by the new UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon as the world’s worst humanitarian disaster.

While the immediate impact of higher oil prices on general inflation, the cost of transport and the cost of agricultural inputs (inorganic fertilisers are petroleum derivatives) has attracted much concern in food insecure countries, a more disturbing dimension of the global energy crisis, which has received relatively little attention, threatens to have an even more significant impact on hunger and poverty in sub-Saharan Africa.

I just read the call for solidarity with Haiti on February 7, and I felt good that our brothers and sisters in Haiti are being heard. 2007 is the 50th anniversary of Ghana’s Independence. Between now and 2011 there will be a number of 50th anniversaries in Africa including the assassination of Patrice Lumumba.

One of the things which seem to be coming to me all the time, while visiting here in Maputo, is the kind of house arrest that Aristide has been submitted to in South Africa. Shouldn't South Africans, Africans from all walks of life come out and call for Aristide's freedom to travel anywhere, including going back as a free citizen to Haiti? Is he kept under house arrest for his own good/safety, or is he being kept away from the public eye so that we all forget about him, in the same manner Toussaint L'Ouverture was taken to France and let to die?

If we are true to our conscience, if we claim we are proud of what was done when Mandela was finally freed, then, is it not logical that we ask, as loudly as one can, the kind of questions which are not being asked with regard to Aristide and his quasi solitary confinement? Is it not the case that by keeping him under house arrest or something equivalent, and not allowing him to speak up, one is in fact colluding with those voices which went out of their way to accuse Aristide of all kinds of crimes. Why is it that so many people on the left would not rather talk about Aristide's situation?

What does it mean, today, to think emancipatory thoughts? If fidelity to the Subject who emerged out of Haiti in 1804 means keeping alive emancipatory politics, why do we keep quiet when innocent children, women, human beings are being killed in Cité Soleil, simply because in that place there are people who keep calling, among other things, for the return of President Aristide? For 200 years, and counting, Haiti continues to stand out both as a place in history to be proud of, but it continues to be treated as if what happened there should never have happened. Given this history, one has to ask oneself, is that why the powers that be, looked to South Africa as the best place to keep him under House Arrest?

I really did mean to write a thank you note, but I suppose I slipped into one of my favourite exercises: could I make you (Pambazuka), you who are already doing a fine job, to reach higher and outperform yourselves? If you can look at the above as a jumbled, rumbling, rambling poor attempt, I offer my apologies, but, at the same time, ask for your understanding, and think of this way: Can we promise ourselves that, as of today, 2007 till 2020 (the same 13 years it took the slaves --1791-1804), to bring Haiti back to where it was supposed to be. If we can do it before 2020, better still, but I am sure that, along the way, we shall find ways of pushing ourselves further beyond the current emancipated oases.

* Jacques Depelchin is author of “Silences in African History: Between the Syndrome of Discovery and Abolition,” and Executive Director of the ‘Ota Benga Alliance for Peace, Healing and Dignity in the Democratic Republic of the Congo’.

In the context of growing complexity in global governance arrangements, it is becoming increasingly difficult to understand issue-areas – such as 'security', 'migration', 'human rights' and 'development' - in isolation from one another. The way in which issue-areas are interconnected is an increasingly important factor in explaining political outcomes at the global level.

At least 10 people have been killed and hundreds more displaced in flooding after heavy rains in northwestern Rwanda, a government official said. The flood-waters also destroyed 354 homes in Rubavu District, area mayor Ramadhan Barengayabo said on Monday. He said the displaced fled their homes after the heavy weekend rains caused Sebeya River to rise and have yet to receive any aid.

The vast majority of children and youth from the south have not received any formal schooling, and education indicators in Southern Sudan today are among the worst in the world. Formal education in the south was severely limited even before the most recent two decades of civil war.

To all prospective and existing long titled bloggers – Cut the long titles please!

Trials and Tribulations - Trials and Tribulations (http://ekbensahinghana.blogspot.com/2007/01/as-week-draws-to-close-in-ac...) E K Bensah’s blog – the title is too long – has some thoughts on Africa Today and Kofi Annan who is in town (Accra). The headline and photo on the front page of Africa Today reads:

“Romancing China: Africa looks east for new trading partner”
I thought it was the other way around – “Romancing Africa: China looks west for new colonies to conquer and resources to seize” – I suppose it depends on where you are standing as to where you look – east or west?

Blogging for Darfur, Black Kush - Black Kush (http://bloggingjuba.blogspot.com/2007/02/chinese-are-coming.html) comments on the cry or is it a loud voice shouting “the Chinese are Coming”.

“This cry used to cause fear around the world, but it is too late now. They are already here, at least that is what the situation is in Sudan.”

What tricks do they (the Chinese) have up their sleeves or is it just business?

The Benin Epilogue Part 1 - The Benin Epilogue (http://africareadyforbusiness.blogspot.com/2007/02/inspiration-to-many-c...) explains the inspiration behind his blog. No not his mother or Mama Ellen or even Nobel Prize winner Wangari Maathai, but Carol Pineau, American journalist and producer of “Africa Open for Business”.

“Now, it just so happened that around the time of me learning about Carol Pineau two critical things were happening. 1) the off line group that I had really grown to love over the last several months was beginning to drift apart, with each member moving into other areas and 2) I had just read Professor George Ayittey's book called Africa Unchained. One of the things that this book did was point me in the direction of another amazing messenger of Africa's business successes called Emeka Okafor (not the basket ball player), author of Timbuktu Chronicles. These two events-aided by the strong impression left upon me by the Africa Open for Business website helped provide me with the impetus for starting the blog that you are reading right now. Now, it just so happened that out of the blue, after I'd already started blogging one of my good friends who has been to The Benin Epilogue blog a few times called me to give me the time, date, and the place of a local viewing of Carol's documentary. Upon hearing this I immediately stopped all of my other plans for that evening and happily attended the showing.”

He reminds us Africa is not just about Darfur, poverty and wars but also a land of stock markets, high rises, growing middle class and oh yes the internet. True and just in case you have forgotten in the midst of human rights and social justice - there is also a rising number of people living in squatter camps, street children and rural and urban homeless kicked off the streets of Cape Town becoming part of the invisible masses. Still we have to keep those stock markets rolling so those middle classes can buy their new 4x4s and other symbols of “success”.

Ugandan blogger, Country Boy - Country Boy (http://dennozbug.blogspot.com/2007/02/mr-president.html) is rather frightening as he tells us he is a huge fan of President Museveni of Uganda.

“Despite the many things people have said about Museveni, I’m an extremely huge fan of his. He survived the five years of the bush war to become president of a country as complicated as Uganda. He’s done a number of good things, is very knowledgeable –he absolutely seeks to add value to himself by educating himself –by all means I do quite admire him a lot.”

And oh yes, he too (Country Boy) wants to become President one day. My advice, please don’t follow in Museveni’s footsteps!

Another Ugandan Blogger, JackFruity - Jack Fruity (http://jackfruity.blogspot.com/2007/02/hour-of-our-discontent.html) discusses blogging anonymously and the “Ugandan Best of Blogs Award”.

“A study done in 2004 showed that 42% of bloggers almost never reveal their identities online, and 36% have gotten in trouble for something they wrote on their blogs. I value the freedom to say what you want online without offline retribution (provided you're not inciting riots or calling for murder), and I will never criticize those who treasure their online privacy. My intention with the BOB awards and the Ugandan Bloggers Happy Hours is not to force the spotlight onto anyone who would rather remain anonymous (UBHH guests: I went through the photos and deleted those that showed the faces of anyone who asked me to protect their privacy). If you don't want your blog involved in the awards, just e-mail me and let me know so I can take you out of the running.”

White African - White African (http://whiteafrican.com/?p=365) continues his promotion of mobile technology as essential to Africa’s development and connectivity. Here he comments on “Mobile Phones as a Platform in Africa”.

“Any long time reader here will know that I believe that the mobile platform is the only real platform for mass market communication efforts in Africa. Whether that’s with eCommerce, payment services, information, news or entertainment. More and more companies are coming out with new applications designed specifically for usage by Africans…..TradeNet is more than just a copycat of some other software, it’s a new take on how to communicate and foster trade in Africa. Not just that though, it has a business model. It’s not just an development agency, it’s a business that’s here to stay. That’s huge. It’s a big idea that is actually being executed on.”

Black Looks - Black Looks (http://www.blacklooks.org/2007/02/1313.html) comments on the trade of slaves from the “Rice Coast” of West Africa, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Senegal on the one hand, and the movement of “freed” slaves from Canada to Britain and finally to Sierra Leone as indentured workers for the first colonialists setting up agricultural trade between West Africa and Britain.

“The first 411 returnees took place as early as 1787 from Canada to Britain and then on to Sierra Leone. 15 years later another 1400 arrived however realistically I would think that returnees were arriving consistently from 1787 in small numbers. As with Liberia the returnees were “sponsored” by humanitarians and philanthropists in name but who were in fact the first colonisers running an indentured slavery system using returnees to develop commercial agricultural farms that would trade with Britain…..
Ironically at the same time that the freed slaves from Canada (runaways from the US) were returning to Sierra Leone, plantation owners in South Carolina and Georgia were purchasing slaves from what they called the “Rice Coast” Sierra Leone, Liberia and up to Senegal for their special knowledge of growing rice often using Bance Island - a major slave trading factory in Sierra Leone”.

* Sokari Ekine produces the blog Black Looks, and is Online News Editor of Pambazuka News.

* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

A critical examination of the WSF highlights the imbalances between on the one hand the NGOs and CSO and on the other, the people's movements. The conclusion is that the former must now begin to listen to the latter in order for globalisation to occur from below and for the masses to speak to power.

The World Social Forum (WSF) has carved its space as an assembly of movement of movements. The latest forum was held in Nairobi between 20th and 25th January 2007.

This discussion paper is part of the broader project by the author aimed at examining the role and place of human rights discourse in shaping the global social justice and human rights movement within the context of the WSF. At the outset, the paper explores two items based on the author’s observations and experience at the forum.

First the paper reviews the extent to which the Nairobi session stimulated or accelerated the vertical and horizontal linkage(s) between the various movements. In so doing, it attempts to appraise the counter force by the citizenry against the onslaught of capital-led globalization. Second, the paper attempts to review the utility of the human rights discourse and language in shaping the character and principal issues around which these movements do organize. The analysis reveals that although the connectivity of the movements seems to have been realized, the Nairobi session failed to emerge focused as a counter force to the Davos-led and capital-centered globalization.

Ultimately, it is only by defining the contours and ethical values as seen and experienced by the poor and marginalized themselves that real globalization will be promoted from below and the WSF made a strong, relevant and viable force.

Introduction

The 7th session of the World Social Forum (WSF) was held in Nairobi from the 20th to 25th January 2007. The Forum demonstrated the coming of age of what started as a resistance session against economic-centered globalization. The first session of the WSF was held in Porto Allegre Brazil in 2001, as a response to the World Economic Forum (WEF) -an annual meeting of top business leaders, journalists, national political leaders (presidents, prime ministers and others), and selected intellectuals and renowned personalities- usually held in Davos, Switzerland.

The main aim of the Davos forum that was founded in 1971 is to define the trajectory and architecture for more capital-led globalization. The thinkers behind the WSF intended to counterweight or shape the agenda of the Davos economic moguls. This greatly explains why part of the success criteria for the WSF has always been in demonstrating that it is made of large, visible and devoted international community. No doubt one of the indicators has been the rapid growth in the number of participants who attend the WSF. It is reported that the first WSF in 2001 had a participation of about 12,000 people, while the one held in 2005 had an approximate participation of about 150,000.

The Character and Message

Despite a decision that was made in 2003 to halt the monopoly of Porte Allegre in hosting the forum, the WSF has maintained its initial character guided by its ‘Porto Allegre’ charter of principles as an open forum. Additionally, the WSF has witnessed diverse initiatives from social movements, non-governmental organizations, activists and people committed to a better world founded on justice and human dignity converge for some sort of carnivore of resistance, especially against imperial globalization.

Despite the dwindling number of participants at the Nairobi session (estimated at about 40,000 from the initially projected 150,000) the Nairobi assembly still provided the much required moment and opportunity to define another world. In almost all sessions, the agenda was clear: that the current of globalization must change. This is more so because it has produced and continues to support a system where too few share in its benefits. It is characterized with deep-seated and persistent imbalances in the current workings of the global economy, which are ethically unacceptable and politically and economically unsustainable.

Through the various informal sessions at the WSF 2007 in workshops, art, theatre, processions and mute courts, the various grassroots movements were able to complete the picture of the nature and intensity of the unjust global system. It worked in linking residents of slums with landless squatters, the indigenous and the minority with the disabled and the excluded and the various other networks of men and women in the resistance movement. From the Forum, it was further clear that this movement is becoming stronger and bigger than the NGOs and CSOs which may have played a role in facilitating some of the community-based movements and organizations in attending the forum. It is however a shame that some of the CSOs are unable to let go beyond the facilitation.

A key message that one could carry from the Forum is that the middle class-based CSOs need to let go the space for the social movements. The CSOs must allow the movements to radicalize and define their claims within their own space. Truly, a time has come when the CSOs and NGOs, both local and international, must agree to be led by people’s movements.

In any case, as it did emerge during the Nairobi session, the WSF has now become bigger than the organizers, and this is why I say the WSF has come of age. A case in point is when community groups at the WSF 2007 protested vehemently against the local organizing committee that was adulterating the environment of the WSF.

The community groups fought back against the exploitative price of drinking water, the domination of food supply by the middle-class hotels, the arrogance and some of the unethical practices allegedly conducted and perpetuated by the organizers, and so on. In fact the protest march to the offices of the organizers seemed to state that the participants in the WSF and its organizers were no longer comrades. While some chose to see this as being disrespectful, such efforts are commendable as it did demonstrate that globalization from below shall be about clarification of value from within the movement and connection of the grassroots resistance. Indeed, the poor and the marginalized people struggles must protect the egalitarian nature of the WSF and safeguard it.

Talking to Davos

But, perhaps, it would also be vital to expound on two of the glaring limitations about politicizing and focusing our message and the challenge of using the rights language. As has been stated in the background, the WSF emerged as a counter force to capital organizing under the WEF. Over the years, the WSF sessions were designed to delegitimize Davos and define the agenda of another world that is guided by the principles of individual and collective responsibility, and that requires economic development based on the respect for human rights. Ironically, it is unfortunate that in the multiplicity of activities, the Nairobi session ended completely unfocused and with no message or rallying point to respond to or mitigate the negative consequences and dimensions of globalization.

As one of the usual white-wash mechanisms, the theme for the Davos session of the WEF this year was “the shifting power equitation”. In their discussion, the over 2,400 participants were focusing on the threats of power concentration due to the emergence of China and Asia in general. This theme was, in my opinion, very well-curved for reaction by the WSF. Unfortunately very few of the participants in the Nairobi session at any time knew that the WEF was going on. This serves to give ammunition to those who think that the WSF is a simple anarchist and CSO empty talk.

For WSF to maintain its relevance and significance the en mass must be able to talk to power and organize the social capital to some visible influencing strength that can tilt power to the common citizens.

Human Rights and People’s Struggles

The second decision point is on a major lesson that I leant at the WSF 2007. Having expended most of the time at the Human Rights Dignity and Caucus tent, I did notice the major contradictions between the people’s angle of human rights and the angle to rights taken by the NGOs. It has already been noted that the design of the tent was within the conventional power of a heavy podium vs audience arrangement. This attests that there seem to have been no discussion on how our values would guide how we organize the tent; who speaks; what we eat; in what language and how we communicate, and so on.

Nevertheless perhaps the most salient was the interpretation of the struggles as presented and seen by the communities, and the way it was presented and viewed by the CSOs. First and foremost, the sessions were led by renowned CSOs, locally and globally, and in most occasions the approach was that of articulating rights issues from the point of universal human rights law and regime. Obsessed by these views of rights, which were significantly middle-class, a number of CSO representatives shocked the audience when they, on occasions, attempted to respond even to the opinions of the various communities in the struggle purportedly to put it within the international human rights context.

Testimonies from the communities and presentations on the other hand demonstrated a belief and stand-point that human rights must be defined by the people’s struggle. For instance, the way communities see the struggle of land is what must inform the codification of claim in terms of the rights language. One classical example was the case of the cost of living and survival tactics in Kibera in Nairobi, as testified by a community member. The community representative illustrated very well the struggle for subsistence and dignity in Kibera. Nonetheless, it was such a shame when one of the so-called human rights NGO scholars attempted to engage her later, purportedly to educate her on which of her rights were being violated. In fact, the middle-class discourse, as was popularly the case at the Human Rights tent, has a potential of limiting the space and drive for community straggles. Amidst the communities in the struggle, expectations have run ahead of opportunities and hope clouded by resentments.

About Leadership and Human Rights

Judging from the various sessions at the WSF, the poor and marginalized communities recognize the reality of globalization. What they want is a freer cross-borders exchange of ideas, knowledge, goods and services; what men and women seek is respect for their dignity and cultural identity; they ask for opportunities to earn decent living; they expect globalization to bring tangible benefits to their daily lives and ensure a better future for their children; they also wish to voice in the governance of the process, including extent and nature of the integration of their economies and communities into the global market and to participate more fairly in its outcomes. This means that the human rights worker and activist must realize that social change that we are all struggling for must be informed by the needs of the poor and vulnerable masses, the way they see them and in the direction that they feel to be appropriate for them at any particular time. The only role that CSOs and human rights workers have here is when the poor and vulnerable choose to draw sustenance for their struggle from universal human ideas, and/or the practical experience of other struggles; but they must start from the full acceptance that this is their own struggle and belief that even when they do invite support from other struggles or partners like CSOs, they shall lead the struggle.

The relevance of human rights, therefore, is as far as it expands the space for community struggles; reinforces the realization of their capabilities or serves to legitimize wider horizons of claims for the communities. Otherwise, the attempts to impose the rights language to communities who are already organized in a more radical discourse can serve to limit the energy and organic nature of such struggles.

* Steve Ouma is the Programmes Coordinator and Deputy Executive Director of the Kenya Human Rights Commission. Contact address Valley Arcade, Gitanga Road, P.O. Box 41079, 00100 Nairobi – GPO, Kenya Tel. 254-2-3874998/9, 3876065, 0733-629034, 0722-264497, Fax: 254-2-3874997

* Please send comments to or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

A literary review of prison literature in Kenya provides the reader with an insight into political dissent in Africa and the irony that imprisonment itself becomes a catalyst for radicalisation of the prisoner.

Prison Literature-namely novels, short stories, poems or plays - that delve into the horrid conditions and experiences in prison, has increased immensely. It is a global phenomenon whose importance in examining the struggles in the society cannot be ignored. It would for instance be fallacious and inadequate to study the body that is African Literature without mentioning prison writings and the writers who have been so prolific in prison.

Like any other artistic venture, prison literature is an indicator of the various parameters that govern and shape society. It can on the one hand be closely linked to the democratisation of our society and an indicator that even jail has not and cannot dampen the fury of the pen, on the other hand. A brief explication of these writings indicates clearly that they can also be used to give an adequate, accurate and comprehensive commentary on the socio-economic, political development of Africa and Kenya for that matter. They are an important resource in showing where we are coming from and what sorts of fragments are scattered along the political, economical and social path that we have used.

Further scrutiny reveals that this body of literature is complex and can be classified differently. The two major classifications are the traditional ones namely-fiction and non-fiction. The non-fiction is further sub-divided into those that are mainly historical or just a diary of events. However, whether fictional or non-fictional, these writings capture vividly the horrid and gruesome experiences in the state corridors of silence. These writings can be traced as far back as colonial days in some countries and have become eminent beacons of many other countries and particularly Kenya's post independence histories.

They generally tell where the continent has come from and reached in its quest for justice, upholding the rule of law and ensuring that the fundamental human rights are respected. Prison writings, whether fictional or non-fictional, have become a major source of a vast body of knowledge that tells the African tale.

Kenya's experience can be traced as far back as during the British rule that saw many militant Kenyans agitating for self-determination thrown into jail and detention camps. Graduates of these jails and detention camps captured their experiences on paper and subtly outlined a path that has been followed by subsequent writers. The late J.M. Kariuki was amongst the first Kenyans to capture their horrid experiences in his non-fictional account Mau Mau in Detention back in 1963. Others soon followed suit. Gakaara wa Wanjau, an established writer and publisher, who had the misfortune of being imprisoned in both the colonial and independent Kenya, documented his experience in the British corridors of silence in his book, Mwandiki wa Mau Mau Ithamerio-ine (Mau Mau Author in Detention).

Independent Kenya has however produced more and better works of art that are indicative of many things. The doors were opened by Abdulatif Abdullah, the first post-independence Kenyan political prisoner. Abdulatif was imprisoned by the Kenyatta regime for four years and hard labour after he wrote an article titled Kenya Twendapi (Kenya Where are we Headed), in reaction to the disbandment of K.P.U. While serving his term, he wrote a collection of poems called Sauti ya Dhiki, which ironically won the second the edition of the erstwhile prestigious Jomo Kenyatta Prize for Literature.

Other writers were later to follow and each chose a unique way to capture the grisly events in jail. The most famous of these writers is Ngugi wa Thiong'o. His activities in the community theatre in Kamirithu led to his detention in 1977. While in Kamiti, he wrote Detained: A Writer's Prison Diary, which is a diversion from his other fictional works. Others, who have contributed a great wealth in this body, include Maina wa Kinyatti, Koigi wa Wamwere and Wanyiri Kihoro more recently. Maina wa Kinyatti perhaps has the highest number of books that vividly describe his harrowing experience. He has a collection of poems A Season of Blood: Poems from Kenyan Prison (1995), his day-in-day-out recollections, Kenya -A Prison Notebook (1996) and a third one that details events covering his arrest, torture and imprisonment called Mother Africa. Wanyiri Kihoro, the Nyeri Town MP has documented his ordeal in Never Say Die, which another writer, the late Wahome Mutahi described as a brilliant piece of work that was the closest work of art that detailed events that want on at the infamous Nyayo House basement cells.

There are hordes of other works that have been written that are largely fictional. Several others have a thrilling fast-paced drama. The East African Educational Publishers, who have a big collection in this area, have listed them under their Spear series. Most of these writings that are largely confessions of erstwhile crooks like John Kiriamiti's My Life in Crime, Kiggia Kimani's Prison is Not a Holiday Camp or Charles Githae's Comrade Inmate, amongst other offer scintillating narratives but they are all shrouded by the gruesome prison experience and the grotesque Mutahi's is shocking. The late Wahome Mutahi's Three Days on the Cross Karuga Wandai's Mayor in Prison and Benjamin Garth Bundeh's Birds of Kamiti are amongst those listed in the spear series in spite of their strong real life experience. Wahome was arrested a few days after he had submitted his manuscript to the publishers and when he was released, the publishers asked him to revise it incorporate other details of his incarceration.

Bundeh's Birds of Kamiti is a detailed account of his close shave with the hangman's noose. It is a personal account that is gripping and quite emotional. However, these works whether autobiographical or biographical or confessions are representative of pertinent issues. They provide a social commentary that needs consideration. They open new insights for both the authors and society at large. Incarceration did not provide an opportunity for Ngugi to write a prison diary but within this physical prison, Ngugi stumbled upon a non-physical prison, namely language. He sought the refuge in the power of the pen and wrote Detained. He defied the subordination of-physical prison and found refuge in Gikuyu. In cell 16, he wrote Caitaani Mutharabaine (Devil on the Cross) in Gikuyu as a demonstration of his new found freedom and EAEP boss intimated to me that his latest manuscript is being scrutinised.

For others like Maina wa Kinyatti, "writing and reciting poems in solitary confinement under conditions of unendurable physical and psychological torture hardened the heart and steeled the mind to remain steadfast and truthful to the cause". Incarceration has not been limited in Kenya only. Apartheid South Africa jailed writers like Dennis Brutus, who wrote Letters to Martha, the late Alex La Guma amongst others. Jack Mapanje from Malawi, Kofi Awoonor from Ghana, Sherif Hatata and Nawal el Sadaawi from Egypt, and the first African recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature, Prof. Wole Soyinka have all been imprisoned. They have also served to help raise fundamental questions on the dispensation of justice and the entire process of crime and punishment.

The works, whether biographical like Wanyiri's Never Say Die, which was also nominated for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, or confessions by erstwhile bank robbers or other crooks or other real-life drama experiences, have served as clear indicators that system is rotten and closer scrutiny is necessary.

WHAT DRIVES THEM TO WRITE ?

Could it be the appalling, grotesque, grisly conditions in the state corridors of silence that has kept the number of prison writings growing year in year out or just an insatiable desire to write and keep the tabs? It is certainly this and many other reasons that keeps that pen rolling. A discussion with a number of these writers reveals that it is a combination of these and many other reasons. It is a bottomless pit of stories and the experience cannot be bottled inside. "One normally feels that the story has to be told", comments one writer.

"For many writers", observed the late Wahome Mutahi, who has two books - Three Days on the Cross and Jail Bugs - on prison writing, "Writing about their horrid experiences behind bars is often cathartic". It is a way of telling time to comment on many things that go on both behind bars and outside. Writing is a way of telling the rest of the world, the awful conditions that persist in these places that society places some of its members for correction and punishment. It has been described differently by many writers. It is a place, where like Benjamin Garth Bundeh describes in Birds of Kamiti as a totally new world. "A world of prisoners, of warders, and of the tragic twist of fate. It was a world in which either the spirit was completely broken and degraded, or true courage was born". "When you enter this place", writes Bundeh, "you have to forget everything about the outside world. The dungeon becomes your home and you must survive, smoking is treason here - but we still manage to pass the traffic load of fags and like stone age man, we create fire in these caves". It is a place where the basic instinct of survival reigns supreme.

Writers want to talk about this place where every effort is geared towards removing any trace of humanity that could be remaining to these inmates. Bundeh notes in his non-fictional dossier that after his first night a truer picture started forming. "I saw more people and most of them looked like creatures out of a nightmare. Together with them, we had ceased to be human beings. Our names had been taken away from us. We had been relegated to more numbers in a heap of files. Both the beginning and end of life seemed to have been lost".

They want to narrate about these correctional places that are a law unto them selves. Into the damp mould and stagnation of these tombs, "the warders would from time to time burst in to remind us that unlike free people", inmates "could be tormented again and again, physically and spiritually, subtly and brutally, collectively and individually, day and night. "The warders enjoyed treating us to the choicest of gutter oaths", notes Bundeh. The authorities find several ways to further break and degrade the inmates. There is torture that targets the most vulnerable parts of our bodies and every writer seems to have endured this. The occasional beating is often capped with eating partially cooked food and solitary confinement that many writers argue that it is not different from a shot of L.S.D. or any other hallucinogen. They both degrade people "only that the drugs make one mad more quickly thus removing the utter hopeless".

Besides the deplorable and dehumanising conditions behind bars that most writers want to vividly point out, the other issues that often come out in prison literature appeals to the outside prison conditions. These books, whether fictional or non-fictional all offer important questions that society needs to consider for further scrutiny. In their writings, the writers often want to focus society on the entire system of justice and its dispensation. Many question the whole system of crime and punishment and although some don't ask directly, the effectiveness of the whole system is put to test. Bundeh, who was on the death row and actually witnessed some of his inmates and friends executed packs his narrative with so much energy and emotion that you can feel it deeply and is more direct when he poses these questions.

"I wonder, should any human being be allowed to condemn another human being to death? Should one form of killing be lawful and another one unlawful? Should the law be allowed to take away that which it cannot create? Is there any correlation between the execution of treasonous, murderers or violent robbers and the number of crimes committed? The gallows in Kenya, the guillotine, the electric chair, and firing squads elsewhere - are these deterrents?"

Many books that are non-fictional have a similar trait. The authors are in many instances unwilling guests of the state in their corridors of silence. Most of these authors repeatedly turn to writing as a catharsis. The majority have been thrown behind bars for their political beliefs and in their writings, they have more than once provided new insights into the political machinations of this country. Karuga Wandai, an erstwhile deputy mayor in Thika, provides interesting insights of the "siasa za kumalizana" in the Kenyan political arena in his prison account "Mayor in Prison". Although it is an account of his survival and fight for his freedom, he nonetheless manages to show the country's struggles, transition and some of the central issues that greatly influenced the political under-dealings.

Wanyiri Kihoro, the erstwhile Nyeri Town MP in his biography Never Say Die or Wahome Mutahi's work of fiction Three Days on the Cross capture the dark days in the country's political spectrum. They vividly document their gruesome ordeal in the hands of the state security machinery in the infamous underground cells of Nyayo houses was an experience that couldn't be bottled inside. The other way that many authors have managed to give a commentary on the political manoeuvres has been by giving the politicians central parts in the narratives. They (the characters) have in turn revealed how they manipulated people in society and how laws have been turned to suit a few and how these laws are in turn used against them once they fall out of favour.

* Kimani wa Wanjiru is author of the blog: “Arts and Culure – Kenya” (http://artsculture-kenya.blogspot.com)

* Please send comments to or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

As Nigeria prepares to go the polls in April of 2007, the continent and the world will be closely watching developments in the continent’s most populous nation. This will be the first civilian-to-civilian transfer of power in the country’s history. In the run-up to the elections, focus has been on the recently-released population census figures, the perceived incompetence of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as well as the sheer number of candidates and parties competing.

The 2006 census puts the population at around 140 million. Although most analysts consider this a conservative, if not inaccurate figure, the main area of contention is the breakdown by region. According to the census, the North is more populous than the South. Southerners dispute this finding based on population densities and geographical realities. Rather, they perceive these findings as a means to bolster resource allocation disparities, gerrymandering, and even a precursor to vote-rigging in favour of the North.

The INEC recently extended the voter registration deadline by 14 days to allow for more Nigerians to register for the polls. The electoral body has come in for heavy criticism over its incompetence. There is concern about potential vote rigging, so the manner in which the INEC discharges its duties will determine how well the election results are received by the country and the world at large.

In such a populous and political volatile country, the sheer number of parties and candidates vying for election is by no means surprising. Of the thirteen-odd main parties vying for elections, four are fielding candidates in real contention for the presidency.

People’s Democratic Party (PDP) is the ruling party. Its candidate is the present governor of Katsina state, Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, who is Obasanjo’s anointed successor. He has leftist leanings and is the only state governor untainted by corruption allegations.

The All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP) is the main opposition party. Its candidate, former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari is contesting elections again, having lost to Obasanjo in 2003.

The Action Congress (AC) candidate is Vice-president Atiku Abubakar. He was a founding member of the PDP but was suspended in allegations of corruption. He switched parties while in office, which has raised a potential constitutional crisis. Because the AC and the ANPP have an election pact, he will have to challenge Buhari to be able to vie for the presidency. His campaign is based on his call for a ‘power shift’ from the South to the North, whence he hails.

Former military ruler and power-broker Ibrahim Babangida has yet to find a political party to support his bid. He left the PDP after Obasanjo allegedly refused to back his bid for nomination in favor of Yar’Adua. He also enjoys wide public support in the North.

The All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) candidate is Chukwuemeka Ojukwu. He is the former leader of the Biafra secession uprising and a cult-figure of his Igbo people. His influence is more or less confined to South-Eastern Nigeria.

The spectre of violence and upheaval still hangs heavily over the country. There has been some unrest following the removal of high ranking officials and state governors by legislative process. The prominence of former generals in politics and in the elections is also a cause for concern given the country’s past experience of military rule.

Further reading and discussions:

INEC
The Vanguard http://www.vanguardngr.com
Nigerian Village Square http://www.nigeriavillagesquare.com/

This Report published by the Sahel and West Africa Club reviews the land reform process in West Africa and presents the recent initiatives carried out by regional organisations in support of land reform in the context of regional policies on agriculture, natural resource management, conflict prevention and security.

Pressures on the use of global fresh water have reached levels unprecedented in human history. Water has become a major factor in contemporary strategic conflicts and struggles, and as a species we are beginning to glimpse the crucial importance of this simple resource. Not only is water essential to human sustenance in the form of drinking water and the use of water in agriculture, but also industrial development could not occur without it.

Journalists interested in human rights can apply to attend a course on gender equality in September in South Africa. Organized by the Center for Human Rights at the University of Pretoria, the course will cover the latest gender developments and their implications for African women. Application deadline is August 3.

Patrick Bond assesses the aftermath of the World Social Forum, held from January 20-25 in Nairobi. There were some triumphs for social justice, but also some worrying trends that emerged from the forum. Bond examines what it means for the future of the WSF concept.

A mixed message - combining celebration and autocritique - is in order, in the wake of the Nairobi World Social Forum. From January 20-25, the 60,000 registered participants heard the triumph of radical rhetoric and yet, too, witnessed persistent defeats for social justice causes - especially within the WSF's own processes.

* Kenya Social Forum coordinator Onyango Oloo listed grievances that local activists put high atop the agenda: 'colonial era land edicts and policies which dispossessed their communities; the impact of mining and extraction activities on the environment and human livelihoods; discriminatory policies by successive governments that have guaranteed the stubborn survival of pre-colonial conditions of poverty and underdevelopment among many pastoralist and minority communities; the arrogant disregard for the concerns raised by Samburu women raped over the years by British soldiers dispatched on military exercises in those Kenyan communities; … and tensions persisting with neo-colonial-era settler farmers and indigenous Kenyan comprador businessmen in hiving off thousands of hectares of land while the pastoralists and minority communities are targets of state terror, evictions and denunciations.'

* WSF organiser Wahu Kaara: 'We are watching [global elites] and this time around they will not get away with it because we are saying they should cancel debts or we repudiate them. We refuse unjust trade. We are not going to take aid with conditionality. We in Africa refuse to be the continent identified as poor. We have hope and determination and everything to offer to the prosperity of the human race.'

* Firoze Manji, the Kenyan director of the Pambazuka (www.pambazuka.org) Africa news/analysis portal: 'This event had all the features of a trade fair - those with greater wealth had more events in the calendar, larger (and more comfortable) spaces, more propaganda - and therefore a larger voice. Thus the usual gaggle of quasi-donor and international NGOs claimed a greater presence than national organisations - not because what they had to say was more important or more relevant to the theme of the WSF, but because, essentially, they had greater budgets at their command.'

* Nairobi-based commentator Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem (also writing in Pambazuka): 'The WSFs show up Africa's weaknesses whether they are held outside or inside Africa. One of the critical areas is our level of participation and preparedness. A majority of the African participants - even many from Kenya itself - were brought by foreign paymasters or organisations funded by outsiders. Often they become prisoners of their sponsors. They must attend events organized or supported by their sponsors who need to put their "partners" on display, and the "partners" in turn need to show their loyalty to their masters.'

* New Internationalist editor Adam Ma'anit: 'The sight of Oxfam-branded 4x4s cruising around flauntingly, the many well-resourced charity and church groups decking out their stalls (and even their own office spaces) with glossies and branded goodies, all reinforce the suspicion that perhaps the WSF has become too institutionalized. Perhaps more worryingly has been the corporate sponsorship of the WSF. The Forum organizers proudly announced their partnership with Kenya Airways. The same company that has for years allegedly denied the right to assembly of its workers organized under the Aviation and Allied Workers Union.'

* Blogger Sokari Ekine ('Black Looks') on the final WSF event: 'Kasha, a Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgender and Intersex activist from Sexual Minorities Uganda, went up to the stage and asked to make a statement. She was asked for a copy of what she would be speaking about and gave them her piece. The organisers threw her piece on the floor and refused to allow her to speak. Kasha stood her ground saying she, like everyone else, had a right to speak here at the WSF. Despite the harassment by the MC and organisers, Kasha took the mic and spoke. She spoke about being a lesbian, about being a homosexual. She refuted the myth that homosexuality was un-African. She spoke about the punishment and criminalisation of homosexuals in Kenya, in Uganda, and in Nigeria. She said homosexuals in Africa were here to stay. Homosexuals have the same rights as everyone else and should be accepted and finally that even in Africa Another World is Possible for Homosexuals. Kasha was booed and the crowd shouted obscenities at her waving their hands screaming: "No! No! No!" But she persisted and said what needed to be said.'

These sobering observations were reflected in a statement by the Social Movements Assembly at a January 24 rally of more than 2000: 'We denounce tendencies towards commercialisation, privatisation and militarisation of the WSF space. Hundreds of our sisters and brothers who welcomed us to Nairobi have been excluded because of high costs of participation. We are also deeply concerned about the presence of organisations working against the rights of women, marginalised people, and against sexual rights and diversity, in contradiction to the WSF Charter of Principles.' (http://kenya.indymedia.org/news/2007/01/531.php)

Conflicts included arrests of a dozen low-income people who wanted to get into the event; protests to forcibly open the gates; and the destruction of the notoriously repressive Kenyan interior minister's makeshift restaurant which had monopolized key space within the Kasarani stadium's grounds.

Soweto activist Trevor Ngwane was a protest leader, but after the first successful break-in by poor Kenyans, reported stiff resistance: 'The next day we again planned to storm the gates but found police and army reinforcements at the gates. Those officers carried very big guns. Comrades decided to block the main road until the people were allowed in for free. This action took about half an hour and then the gates were opened. The crowd than marched to the Organising Committee's offices to demand a change of policy on the question of entrance. Another demand was added: free water inside the WSF precinct and cheaper food.'

Although that demand was not met, Oloo gracefully confessed the 'shame' of progressive Kenyans during the Social Movements Assembly rally. WSF logistical shortcomings reflected the Kenyan Left's lost struggles within the host committee, he said. The interior minister ('the crusher') snuck in at the last second, and the Kenya Airports Authority systematically diverted incoming visitors to hotels, away from home stays (2000 of which were arranged - only 18 actually materialized thanks to diversions).

Setting these flaws aside, consider a deeper political tension. For Oloo, 'These social movements, including dozens in Kenya, want to see the WSF being transformed into a space for organizing and mobilizing against the nefarious forces of international finance capital, neoliberalism and all its local neo-colonial and comprador collaborators.'

Can and should the 'openspace' concept be upgraded into something more coherent, either for mobilizing around special events (for instance, the June 2-8 summit of the G8 in Rostock, Germany) or establishing a bigger, universalist left-internationalist political project?

In South Africa, the Centre for Civil Society (CCS) has hosted several debates on this question, with at least four varying points of view emerging. Last July, for example, the great political economist Samir Amin presented the 'Bamako Appeal', a January 2006 manifesto which originated at the prior WSF polycentric event, and which combined, as Amin put it, the traditions of socialism, anti-racism/colonialism, and (national) development (http://www.forumtiersmonde.net/fren/forums/fsm/fsm_bamako/appel_bamako_e...).

In support was the leader of the Organisation of African Trade Union Unity, Hassan Sunmonu (also a WSF International Council member). Complaining that 'billions of ideas have been generated since 2001 up till the last Forum', Sunmonu found 'a lot of merit in that Bamako Appeal that we can use to transform the lives of ourselves, our organizations and our peoples.'

But reacting strongly against the Bamako Appeal, CCS student (and Johannesburg anti-privatization activist) Prishani Naidoo and three comrades criticized its 'last century' tone and content, which mirrored 'the mutation of the WSF from an arena of encounter for local social movements into an organized network of experts, academics and NGO practitioners.'

For Naidoo, 'It reassures us that documents like the Bamako Appeal will eventually prove totally irrelevant and inessential to struggles of communities in South Africa as elsewhere. Indeed, the WSF elite's cold institutional and technicist soup, occasionally warmed up by some hints of tired poeticism, can provide little nourishment for local subjectivities whose daily responses to neoliberalism face more urgent needs to turn everyday survival into sustained confrontations with an increasingly repressive state.'

In contrast, Nauvoo and the others, praise the 'powerful undercurrent of informality in the West’s proceedings [which] reveals the persistence of horizontal communication between movements, which is not based on mystical views of the revolutionary subject, or in the official discourse of the leaders, but in the life strategies of their participants.'

A third position on WSF politics is the classical socialist, party-building approach favoured by Ngwee and other revolutionary organizers. Ngwee fretted, on the one hand, about reformist projects that 'make us blind to recognize the struggles of ordinary people.' On the other hand, though, 'I think militancy alone at the local level and community level will not in itself answer questions of class and questions of power.' For that a self-conscious socialist cadre is needed, and the WSF is a critical site to transcend local political upsurges.

A fourth position, which I personally support, seeks the 21st century's anti-capitalist 'manifesto' in the existing social, labour and environmental movements that are already engaged in excellent transnational social justice struggle. The WSF's greatest potential - so far unrealized - is the possibility of linking dozens of radical movements in various sectors.

Instead, at each WSF the activists seem to disappear into their own workshops: silos with few or no interconnections. Before a Bamako Appeal or any other manifesto is parachuted into the WSF, we owe it to those activists to compile their existing grievances, analyses, strategies and tactics. Sometimes these are simple demands, but often they are also articulated as sectoral manifestos, like the very strong African Water Network of anti-privatisation militants from 40 countries formed in Nairobi (http://www.ipsterraviva.net/tv/nairobi/en/viewstory.asp?idnews=838).

These four positions are reflected in a new book released at the Nairobi WSF by the New Delhi-based Institute for Critical Action: Centre in Movement (CACIM) and CCS. The book, free to download at contains some older attempts at left internationalism, such as the Communist Manifesto (1848) and the Bandung Communiqué of the Asian-African Conference (1955), as well as the 'Call of Social Movements' at the second and third Porto Alegre WSF, the 2005 Porto Alegre Manifesto by the male-heavy Group of Nineteen, and the Bamako Appeal with sixteen critical replies.

There are also selections on global political party formations by Amin, analysis of the global labour movement by Peter Waterman, the Women's Global Charter for Humanity, and some old and newer Zapatista declarations. Jai Sen and Madhuresh Kumar of CACIM have worked hard to pull these ideas into 500 pages.

Lest too much energy is paid to these political scuffles at the expense of ongoing struggle, we might give the last word to Ngwane, who reported on his Nairobi debate with WSF founder Chico Whitaker at a CACIM/CCS workshop: 'Ordinary working class and poor people need and create and have a movement of resistance and struggle. They also need and create and have spaces for that movement to breathe and develop. The real question is what place will the WSF have in that reality. What space will there be for ordinary working class and poor people? Who will shape and drive and control the movement? Will it be a movement of NGO's and individual luminaries creating space for themselves to speak of their concern for the poor? Will it be undermined by collaboration with capitalist forces? I think what some of us saw happening in Nairobi posed some of these questions sharply and challenged some of the answers coming from many (but not all) of the prominent NGO's and luminaries in the WSF.'

* Patrick Bond directs the Centre for Civil Society: http://www.zmag.org/sustainers/content/2007-02/01bond.cfm and is reproduced here with the permission of the author.

* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

The African Union signalled its strongest intention yet to pursue the dream of a United States of Africa by making the proposal the key focus of its upcoming summit scheduled for Accra, Ghana—the cradle of Pan Africanism—in the second half of 2007.

Nobel peace laureates Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Professor Wangari Maathai have appealed to Africa’s Heads of State meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to renew their commitment to improving public health by among other things, allocating 15 per cent of their national budgets to health in line with the commitment made at the special Heads of State summit in Abuja in 2002.

FEATURES; Patrick Bond examines the future of the WSF concept
COMMENT AND ANALYSIS:
- Modern-day slavery is alive and well, says Emira Woods
- Doreen Lwanga stirs the debate over the Hollywood blockbuster Blood Diamonds
- Shack dwellers in Durban, South African are coming together to fight crime, writes S'bu Zikode
- Henning Melber reflects on whether another world is possible
LETTERS: Regular columnist Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem faces a challenge on his NGO views
PAN-AFRICAN POSTCARD: Tajudeen Abdul Raheem writes on the 8th Ordinary Session of the African Union
BLOGGING AFRICA: A round up of the African blogosphere
BOOKS AND ARTS: Betty Wamalwa Muragori gets creative about land
AFRICAN UNION MONITOR: There’s been much news coming out of the African Union this week

CONFLICT AND EMERGENCIES: China defends African arms sales
HUMAN RIGHTS: Call for release of DRC human rights lawyer
WOMEN AND GENDER: Challenging gender discrimination in universities
REFUGEES AND FORCED MIGRATION: Counting immigrants in cities across the globe
ELECTIONS AND GOVERNANCE: A quick guide to the Nigerian elections
AFRICA AND CHINA: Chinese premier visits Africa
DEVELOPMENT: The politics of the water justice movement
CORRUPTION: Zambia misses the point on corruption
HEALTH AND HIV/AIDS: People before patents in South Africa
EDUCATION: Early childhood care and education
ENVIRONMENT: Enforcing the law in forests
LAND AND LAND RIGHTS: Land, agriculture and conflict in West Africa
MEDIA AND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION: New report from Article 19 on freedom of expression in Senegal
INTERNET AND TECHNOLOGY: Open source, information sharing and Five Minutes to Midnight
PLUS: e-Newsletters and Mailings Lists; Fundraising and Useful Resources; Courses, Seminars and Workshops

The Africa Society and the Rhodes Scholars Southern Africa Forum at Oxford university has refused to allow Fahamu to sell copies of its new book ‘African Perspectives on China in Africa’ at a forthcoming seminar on China in Africa, despite a long established tradition of allowing booksellers to sell books at such events.

The organisers at St. Antony's College at Oxford University wrote to Fahamu to say that in their view the new book presents a monolithic, one sided view, and therefore would not be allowed to have the book displayed at the seminar. But how do they know it is monolithic? The book was only printed in Nairobi last week, and no copies are yet available in the UK.

Despite protests being lodged, Fahamu has still been refused the right to display the book.

We believe that this is an affront to academic freedom and an attempt at suppression of freedom of expression.

As Zimbabwe's disgruntled doctors and nurses continue their strike over low salaries and poor working conditions, concern is growing about how the prolonged stay-away is affecting HIV-positive patients. The strike by health professionals, now more than a month old, has left dozens of desperate patients without medical care in rural and urban areas.

is a beautifully written blog by a South African Gay-identified man who writes about life, his partner, social justice and "We're different and that makes us a good match."

This week he is upset with President Mbeki who he officially declares is a "denialist".

"You have done a lot to get the economy where it is - but you are doing nothing to sustain it. Keeping the crime levels down is one way to keep the economy booming. Crime divides the country. I'm upset with you Mr. President. Without comparing you to any other head of State - but think of the legacy you are leaving as you are about to retire! Like Redi Direko said to you ‘Come on Mr President’ get your act together!"

Gradiose Parlor comments on Nigeria's latest census results for "sparsely populated Bayelsa State" in the Niger Delta and comes up with some interesting figures:

"The total population of Bayelsa state is 1,703,358; it’s the least populated in the nation. Bayelsa received 5,325,414,955.84 (Naira) in May 2004 from the federal account (PDF document); the second highest in the nation. This works out to 3,126.42 Naira per citizen. The highest allocation-per-citizen ratio* in the country. And this is just from federal account, the figure doesn’t include locally generated revenue."

The question is where has all the money gone because it has yet to reach the communities of the State?

"An aside: Maybe he should just send stuff to Mzalendo and KBW and we can spruce it up for him. It pains me to see people who should know better sitting with so much good info. (e.g. hello where is Gladwell Otieno?)."

Carpe Diem Ethiopia writes about Ethiopian novelist, Bealu Girma who he finds "extremely challenging":

"For starters, out of his six novels: Kadmas Bashager (Beyond the Horizon), Yehilina Dewel (The Bell of Consciousness), Yeqey Kokeb Teri (The Call of the Red Star), Haddis, Derasiw (The Author), and Oromay ("Now, at this Moment"), I have only read three—Kadmas, Haddis, and Oromay. Second, the novelist's personal life and work deserve separate volumes of their own. Bealu's life and death are of Shakespearean proportions: Julius Caesar comes to mind - much like the Roman emperor's unprecedented expansion of his empire by his sheer ability to bend the will of men, the Ethiopian author reached the apogee of creativity by his ability to gain almost a cult following that allowed him to survive unscathed through much of his career despite his persistently harsh criticism of the societies in which he lived."

Singing SouthAfricanness discusses being a white South African and compares living in the US to SA.

"Quite simply, I feel safer here (New York), and that concerns me when I consider a future at home. I also feel hemmed in by my race at home. The fact that I am white has a very strong impact on how I am viewed, and what is expected of me, and what opportunities are available to me within my own country. Here, that matters less. What does matter is that I do work that people want to know about, and that is important."

Colour in SA has an impact on everyone's lives, opportunities, imprisonment in one's community, economic advantage. All of these also impact on people in the US. Apart from other advantages, part of the reason being white in the US is easier is because as part of the majority population you are less conspicuous?

Nata Village Blog profiles HIV lay counsellor, Kehumile Baganne.

"When I first started working at the clinic, few people came into test. I would only test four people per month. People were afraid in those days and the only ARV's were in Francistown and Gaborone. We weren't even able to offer IPT (prophylaxis for TB) in those days so some of the people here could not access those services. So when IPT came to Nata and the ARV's came to Gweta, people were more willing to test. I do my counseling in a caravan and when we first started everyone was afraid to come to the caravan. Because when someone goes there, they know they have AIDS. They even called me the caravan girl. I didn't like that name at all."

Annie writing on Black Looks writes about her two week experience in Cape Town, a place I have also become familiar with - looking for Africa in downtown Cape Town is not easy:

"I want to be in Africa! CT is very ‘modern.’ Unfortunately, modern also means Western. The two words are synonymous all over the world, but never have I seen it as glaringly as here. Is it not possible to be modern and still retain that special quality of ‘African-ess?’ And this is not me pandering to a stereotyped view of “African-ess” with regards to drums and naked people. This is me re-living my own, PERSONAL, African experience, me chanelling Ghana and my high school with its 60% representation of students from over 20 African countries. This is me remembering the differences and yet that special quality that brought us together, that led us to sing in one another’s languages, that justified our motto: ‘Knowledge in the service of Africa.’ So be on my case all you like, but I do believe there is such a thing as being African, such a thing as being in Africa, indescribable as they may be…but CT leaves me homesick. I wound up in an Irish bar (don’t ask) with a Lithuanian friend who told me how at home he felt in this European-like setting. I hope my smile looked real enough."

* Sokari Ekine produces the blog Black Looks, http://www.blacklooks.org and is Online News Editor of Pambazuka News.

* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org

The Free Trade Agreement between the EFTA States and Egypt was signed in Davos, Switzerland on 27 January 2007. The Agreement covers trade in industrial products, including fish and other marine products, and processed agricultural products. In addition, individual EFTA States and Egypt concluded bilateral agreements on basic agricultural products, which form part of the instruments creating the free trade area.

Scaling up effective partnerships: A guide to working with faith-based organisations in the response to HIV and AIDS provides background information and case studies, dispels myths, and gives practical guidance for United Nations staff, government officials, positive people's networks, non-governmental organizations, foundations, and the private sector who want to collaborate with faith-based organizations on joint projects related to HIV and AIDS.

Stinging criticism from the world-renowned Reuters news agency, evidence from numerous analysts and a verbal lashing by President Thabo Mbeki himself have failed to penetrate Telkom’s impervious skin and force it to cut its prices. So what impact will come from 200 despondent consumers moaning about the high cost of a phone call?

In line with the UNDP Corporate Gender Action Plan and to promote the achievement of MDGs, UNDP/Angola is making efforts to ensure gender is integrated at all levels of its operations and programme. The Country Office has just adopted a new strategy for programme and operations, which emphasizes the need to incorporate gender and capacity development in all its programmes, as drivers for development.

Gender Links, the lead agency for the policy arm of the Media Action Plan on HIV/AIDS and Gender coordinated by the Southern African Editor's Forum (SAEF), seeks a dynamic individual to fill the post of HIV/AIDS, Gender and the Media Manager as soon as possible.

Interested in participatory governance - CIVICUS wants to hear from you! The CIVICUS Strengthening Participatory Governance (PG) Programme, is launching a new initiative which focuses on enhancing the capacity of southern civil society practitioners to promote participatory and accountable governance of public institutions at local and national levels. The Programme is conducting a brief online survey that civil society is encouraged to participate in.

The nonprofit sector has come a long way in its use of the Internet. In the last six years, funds raised online by nonprofits have grown 20-fold from $250 million in 2000 to more than $5 billion in 2006. The pace of growth today continues to be strong. In fact, estimates suggest industry average online fundraising growth continues to exceed 30 percent per year. Today, almost every non-profit has basic online marketing capabilities including a Web site and the ability to take donations and send email.

A new phenomenon is gaining currency in the country: Lesbians, gays and transsexuals are coming out openly to demand their rights. The group stole the show at the World Social Forum which ended at the Moi International Sports Centre, Kasarani, with their stand being a crowd puller.

The African Research Association (ARA) seeks Project Director for their Community action project, Development in Nigeria. The NGO operates in Northern and Central Cross Rivers State with farmer and pastoralist communities for more sustainable natural resource management, conflict resolution and poverty reduction as well as HIVand AIDS awareness.

Though women are the largest group of entrepreneurs in South Africa, black women still face unequal access to finance. This fact sheet describes some of the barriers they face and identifies actions required by government and financial institutions to ensure that women can access credit and business development services.

The knowledge, priorities and aspirations of small scale producers are rarely included in policy debates on the future of food, farming and development. In response, a recent electronic conference, "The Future of Food and Small-scale Producers" sought the views of indigenous, small, and family farmers from over 30 developed and developing countries. The forum also included the opinions of landless people and fishing communities, as well as their representative organisations.

Nigeria confirmed the first human death from the H5N1 virus in sub-Saharan Africa on Wednesday (January 31) after tests on a dead woman showed she had contracted bird flu. The 22-year-old died after feathering and disembowelling an infected chicken. She was from Lagos, the commercial capital of Africa's most populous country, Information Minister Frank Nweke said. Test on three other victims, one of them the woman's mother, were inconclusive.

President Hu Jintao became the first Chinese head of state to visit Cameroon on Wednesday (31 January), kicking off his latest tour of an African continent which increasingly supplies oil and raw materials to his country. Hu, who also toured Africa last year, met Cameroonian President Paul Biya to discuss social aid programmes to provide drinking water and cheap housing, as well as a greater role for China in the local oil industry and other resource sectors.

More than 90 people were killed and at least 300 injured when security forces in Guinea opened fire to put down protests during a two-week general strike this month, a human rights group said on Wednesday (31 January).

Ivory Coast's cocoa merchants risk their money and their lives on the road as highway robbers increasingly target their cars to seize cash destined to buy beans, a senior police officer said on Wednesday (31 January). Millions of CFA francs have been stolen from cocoa buyers so far in this 2006/07 season by thieves who stop buyers' cars either by holding up the drivers with guns or by mounting fake police checkpoints and dressing in military uniforms.

FIDH and its member organisations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have welcomed the decision adopted today (30 January) by the Pre-Trial Chamber I of the International Criminal Court (ICC), to confirm the charges against Thomas Lubanga Dyilo and refer the case to a Trial Chamber.

Ahead of the Senegalese presidential elections on February 25, ARTICLE 19 publishes a report on the state of freedom of expression in Senegal. The legal, political and institutional framework for freedom of expression in Senegal must be reformed, urges a new report published by ARTICLE 19 just ahead of February 2007 elections. The report outlines key challenges and obstacles to freedom of expression in the lead up to presidential elections.

Radio Victoire, a privately-owned FM station in Lomé, that was suspended for 15 days by the media regulator, Haute Autorité de l'Audiovisuel de la Communication (HAAC), on 24 January 2007, resumed operations after serving the full term of the suspension. On 9 January, HAAC suspended the radio station for an alleged professional misconduct.

Startling new evidence from a three-year survey shows that HIV is now growing fastest among those who are wealthier and educated. “Our belief that HIV is a disease of the impoverished, the unemployed, the uneducated is actually wrong,” says Professor Carel van Aardt, Director of Research at UNISA’s Bureau of Market Research. “It seems that the most rapid growth at the moment is among the educated, among the employed, among the people with higher incomes, and also the people in high class in society.

Thanks to an ambitious organising campaign by women throughout the country, women’s participation is on the increase in unions. This is the first report on a very promising campaign.

Unjust land distribution is a legacy of colonial policies that took resources away from indigenous groups. At independence, many states had a minority of white settlers owning large commercial farms while the indigenous majority were left with small plots of land. Land redistribution has been a policy of many governments.

Illegal logging is a major problem in many developing countries. However, current attempts to enforce forest laws do not always target the causes of illegal logging. Instead, they persecute poor rural people living in forest regions.

International aid allocations are increasingly linked with assessments of performance in developing countries. Donors have become concerned with how to work with a group of countries that have been labelled as ‘poor performers’. But does a group of poorly performing countries really exist?

Learning begins before a child walks through the classroom door. Early childhood care and education (ECCE) supports children’s survival and cognitive, social, physical and emotional development. ECCE guarantees children’s rights, opens the way for the Education for All (EFA) goals and contributes to reducing poverty. Why, then, is it so low on the education agenda?

Save the Children UK's south Sudan programme concentrates its efforts in two regions: Bahr el Ghazal and Upper Nile. In the context of south Sudan, making a reality of children's rights is achieved through an integrated programme of work in the thematic areas of food security and livelihoods, basic education, child protection and preventative health.