The world is running a deficit of more than 4 million healthcare workers, but a proposed new shift in healthcare delivery may alleviate the shortage and bring new players to the field. An article in the 13 December edition of the New England Journal of Medicine, Rapid Expansion of the Health Workforce in Response to the HIV Epidemic, introduces the World Health Organisation's battle plan to combat the shortage and revolutionise the way we think of healthcare.

At least six people have been killed and 30 critically injured since clashes between Muslim and Christian communities in the north-central Nigerian city of Bauchi broke out on 11 December, Red Cross workers and residents said. Some 3,000 people have fled their homes in the area of the fighting, witnesses said. The government has ordered a 9pm to 6am curfew and closed the local university, which has often been the site of violent clashes.

After a truncated rainy season in Senegal’s southern Casamance region, granaries are empty and many families are getting by on one meal a day. Residents say as a result of food shortages some children are missing school, many families are divided as men leave to seek work, and people are increasingly turning to the production and sale of charcoal to make a living.

Kenya's main opposition party accused the government on Monday of bribing voters and risking regional insecurity by trying to rig polls due on December 27. "A rigged electoral process will cause such chaos and political instability in Kenya, not only here but in the entire East Africa region," presidential challenger Raila Odinga, leader of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), told Reuters.

Women own only a small percentage of the world’s land, yet produce two-thirds of the food in developing countries. A a recent FAO-sponsored Technical Consultation on Gender, Property Rights and Livelihoods in the Era of AIDS (28-30 Nov 2007), in Rome, it was stated that women still account for 60% of all HIV infected adults living in sub-Saharan Africa.

FAO is working with affected women’s groups as well as with governments and local-level groups to increase awareness about the issues of land grabbing and land reform as they affect women in developing countries, in particular in areas of HIV/AIDS prevalence. Women continue to be discriminated and stigmatized despite the efforts that many governments have taken to sensitise communities in recent years.

Unlike many widows or separated women, Flavia Kyomukama, HIV positive and member of Women's group in Uganda, survived land property grabbing from her husband.

Regional Network for Equity in Health in East and Southern Africa (EQUINET) Steering committee (2007), Reclaiming the Resources for Health – A regional analysis of equity in health in East and Southern Africa, EQUINET, Weaver Press, Zimbabwe, Fountain Publishers, Uganda, Jacana, South Africa, 228 pages.

The authors and one of the publishers of Reclaiming the Resources for Health – A regional analysis of equity in health in East and Southern Africa, EQUINET, are clear about their intention right from the onset. They write, “It is possible to learn from existing experiences in order to act.” This statement defines the book as one that stimulates social action and not some coffee table kind that one browses through while waiting for the doctor’s appointment or in a petrol or bread queue depending on which part of East and Southern Africa (ESA) one hails from.

Written by EQUINET’s steering committee (the acknowledgements section gives the names of the principal author and contributors), the book draws from a wealth of experience from this diverse and expert group. Most of the analysis comes from positions of authority and knowledge, backed by substantial research.

Reclaiming the Resources for Health is a critical resource book and a must read for policy makers and those working in equity in health in ESA countries such as civil society organisations (CSOs), faith-based organisations and community or grassroots level social actors.

Academics can also comprise another group that this publication will be of immense value to as the book pulls together sources that include work in progress by institutions working in health equity in ESA. The book refers to published reports, surveys, testimonials and experiences’ from communities, health workers, state and CSOs and country case studies and stories.

Comparative analysis of country case stories is critical to regional integration and economic development especially if ESA policymakers can learn from each other and replicate good practices in their own neighbourhoods. Such case stories feature in all sections of the publication together with other comparative information and data cited in the text.

For the social activist in health equity the book is a tool kit. It has all the ammunition one needs to understand the dynamics of health equity and captures important statistics in intelligent ways when presenting arguments. Furthermore, definitions of terminologies are beneficial to non-academics.

The media rarely covers the development story in detail and recently there has been renewed interest in highlighting issues such as poverty and its links to HIV and AIDS. Social determinants of poverty such as inequalities in wealth and limited provision of affordable and accessible health care and other social services are critical to fighting the pandemic.

Arguably health and citizen journalists will find the book a good source of information in understanding the multi-dimensional issues surrounding equity in health issues in ESA. Importantly also, after reading the book journalists will be able to critique international agreements by the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, World Trade Organisation and Economic Partnership Agreements in the context of health equity.

Reclaiming the resources for health refers to grey material that can be a good starting point for further academic research. In most instances, such material is difficult to access as it is mainly unpublished thus gathering dust in some offices. It provides the references used at the end of each section. Even from a cursory reading, consultation of wide sources is evident from the analysis and the book might meet the rigorous standards synonymous with social science and academic research.

Although produced in expensive full-colour format, the design is eye-catching with cartograms, charts, illustrations, maps, photographs, pull-quotations, tables, figures and statistics that make the book reader friendly. The index also provides a quick reference to information in the book.

Its seven sections, consisting 30-odd pages each, cover the entire spectrum of issues dealing with health equity and constitute the main theme of the book. A summary of key issues introduces each section thus providing the reader with a gist of the information and data. One can read a section as a stand-alone chapter or module because of the references at the end. This is useful to those interested in particular sections relevant to their work or adapting the book for training purposes.

Reclaiming the resources for health touches on key development issues that groupings such as the World Social Forum continue to grapple with. These include the negative impact of neo-liberal globalisation and structural adjustment policies; resource outflows caused by debt and unfair trade regimes promoted by the World Trade Organisation (WTO); difficulties in attaining Millennium Development Goals in the absence of equity; and most importantly building alternatives to the status quo by demanding more resources for health.

Abuja PLUS strategies mentioned in the book are an example of initiatives that can go a long way towards achieving equity. The strategies call for more resources for health, especially from debt cancellation, which governments can direct to primary health care. This is in addition to the fifteen per cent as stipulated in the Abuja agreement.

The book points out that inequalities put a brake on poverty reduction, and that absolute poverty is a challenge to health equity but that so too are the growing gaps between rich and poor. The publication identifies manifestations of poverty and its various forms. These include lack of income and productive resources sufficient to ensure sustainable livelihoods; hunger and malnutrition; and ill health; limited or lack of access to education and other basic services; increased morbidity and mortality from illness; and homelessness and inadequate housing. Social discrimination, exclusion and lack of popular participation in decision-making processes are additional impediments to achieving health equity.

The publication further amplifies the need for governments to grab opportunities for health equity such as those provided by WTO trade related intellectual property rights flexibilities in Doha agreement 2001 to produce affordable generic drugs especially antiretrovirals. Compulsory licensing by government allows for the production of drugs at reduced cost.

Reclaiming resources for health identifies the central role of health workers and calls for measures to arrest the brain drain especially migration to high-income countries. These include improving salaries and conditions of service inclusive of access to antiretroviral therapy and training for health workers.

The book advocates for people centred health systems. “When health systems are organised to involve and empower people, as people centred health systems they can create powerful constituencies to protect public interests in health.” (Page 172).

Reclaiming the resources for health identifies that the realisation of socio-economic rights in health equity requires not only resource-allocations but also accountability and commitment by ESA governments. The onus falls on the state not to only give lip service but fulfil policy or legally binding obligations.

Whilst some ESA countries are signatory to international instruments that promote health equity, others have adapted the obligations into their domestic law. However, limited resources affect the need for progressive realisation of economic and social rights in ESA countries. Additionally, although states are ultimately responsible as duty-bearers, non-state actors, notably the private sector and civil society organisations, also have a role in meeting citizens’ socio-economic needs.

The book also reviews achievements made so far since the regional meeting on ‘Equity in Health – Policies for survival in Southern Africa’ held in Kasane, Botswana in 1997. The meeting, which committed itself to regional networking and equity in health, formed the basis upon which EQUINET, the book’s author and publisher, came into existence.

EQUINET, which promotes knowledge and policy dialogue through social partners, clearly spells out its agenda in the book.

“Our concept of equity includes the power and ability people (social groups) have to direct resources to their health needs, particularly for those with worst health. This refers to people’s collective ability to assert their own needs and interests, influence the allocation of societal resources towards their needs, and challenge the distribution of power and resources that block their development.” (Page 211).

As mentioned earlier, the book does not only identify problems, it provides solutions in the form of alternatives and possible choices in reclaiming resources for health. The book lists three central points. The first one is that poor people should claim a fairer share of national resources. Secondly, there should be a return by east and southern Africa countries from the global economy. Thirdly, investments should be committed at global and national resources towards health systems. In return, such health systems should allocate resources to those with greater health needs.

In conclusion, one may easily say that EQUINET achieved its objectives in this book as the publication goes beyond assessing achievements made so far since Kasane 1997. It calls for an evaluation of strategies to achieve health equity by identifying what has worked out and what failed. In a sense, the publication is radical as it calls for social action, a proactive state and an alternative global economic order.

For more information on EQUINET you can visit To order a copy of the book contact [email][email protected] Alternatively contact one of the African co-publishers: Fountain publishers in east and central Africa ([email protected]); Jacana media in South Africa, Botswana, Swaziland and Lesotho ([email protected]; please note if you are a non profit organisation) and Weaver press for all other countries ([email protected])

* Elijah Chiwota works with MWENGO, Zimbabwe

This week's AU Monitor brings you news and updates from the African Union. AU Commissioner for Social Affairs Bience Gawanas calls for a collective effort in addressing drug trafficking and related crimes, referring to them as "human security and development issues that should be addressed if the AU was to achieve its objectives". Further, the One World Trust has profiled the African Union in its Global Accountability Report, with findings based on public information.

In other AU news, Mrs Julia Dolly Joiner, Commissioner for Political Affairs of the African Union Commission, delivers a message to commemorate the 59th annual International Human Rights Day.

The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) and the Spanish Government are calling for proposals under the NEPAD-Spanish Fund, an initiative intended to "empower African women by unlocking their economic potential, fight poverty and close gender gaps".

African Leaders who gathered at the recent Africa-EU Summit in Lisbon, Portugal have stated that their aim for building ties with Europe is not to seek charity but to increase Africa's role in the global economy and build a partnership based on common interest and mutual respect. At the Summit's opening session, AU Chairman Alpha Konare stated "Africa doesn't want charity or paternalism. We don't want anyone doing things for us. We want to play in the global economy, but with new rules." In other Summit news, African Heads of State refused to accept the EU's proposed economic partnership agreements (EPA) , instead agreeing to interim trade agreements until an alternative is devised. Finally, members of both Parliaments expressed 'surprise and disappointment' that Darfur was not on the agenda for the Summit attended by Heads of States. The legislators and campaigners urge leaders to make the protection of civilians from conflict a top priority of an African-EU cooperation.

In regional news, the Zambezi Basinwide Stakeholders Forum concluded that local communities should be given more possibilities to participate in the decision-making processes regarding natural resources such as water. Further, The South African Development Community (SADC) Tribunal is set to deliver judgment of a pivotal case in which a white Zimbabwean commercial farmer is challenging the legality of the country's land reform program.

In peace and security news, a recent conference on human security and armed violence reduction in Africa was convened in South Africa in order to "examine Africa's research capability in the context of increasing global security challenges". At the close of the conference, participants called on the AU to spearhead the use of research into policy formulation at all levels. Further, a group of elder world leaders have joined together to offer their insight and wisdom on global challenges. Reporting from Darfur, the group of elders compiled a list of recommendations to ensure peace and an immediate ceasefire in the region.

In other peace and security news, the deployment of the EU Force (EUFOR) to protect aid workers and civilians in Chad and the Central African Republic has been placed on hold, due to disagreements between EU countries.

Finally, Festus Aboagye analyzes reasons behind the Western world's push for African 'home-grown' peacekeeping, suggesting that the West mobilizes resources for conflicts when it serves its interests most. Aboagye adds that "the 'real' reason why the West has not been able to participate directly in regional peacekeeping is because of commitments towards the war on terror."

Both Houses of the Zimbabwe Parliament this week approved the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa. The next step is for Zimbabwe’s instrument of ratification to be lodged with the AU, at which point the Protocol will come into force for Zimbabwe. After that women’s organisations will need to monitor the Protocol’s incorporation into domestic [national] law and its implementation.

Starting antiretroviral therapy is associated with increased sexual risk taking, according to a study conducted in Cote d’Ivoire and published in the January 2008 edition of AIDS. Younger age and alcohol consumption were also associated with unprotected sex. Several studies in industrialised countries have noted increased levels of unprotected sex since effective antiretroviral therapy became available. The exact reasons for this are unclear and a meta-analysis found that levels of unprotected sex were not increased amongst HIV-positive individuals taking anti-HIV treatment.

There seems to be a common misconception that Africans are born dreaming of emigrating to the West. But if we are to see Africans as fully fledged members of humanity, argues Mukoma wa Ngugi, we should recognise that no-one would want to leave his or her family for an indefinite period of time to earn a living in a foreign country such as the United States.

Tens of thousands of Burundian refugees staying in Tanzania returned home this year; however, the Tanzanian government will miss its target to empty all camps by mid-2008, the United Nations has said. Authorities had indicated they wanted to pick up the pace, and set a deadline for voluntary repatriation for the end of this year -- or Jun. 30, 2008 at the very latest.

In contrast to the 1970s and 1980s, the last decade has spelt a period of steady growth across Africa, partly as a result of global market conditions (high prices for oil and minerals) and partly due a change in macroeconomic policies. However, political volatility remains a risk to investment, says this latest report from the World Bank.

Sierra Leone's new president has asked the country's anti-corruption body to probe ex-government ministers and other senior officials for alleged graft. Ernest Bai Koroma said this would set an example by making all accountable. He made the announcement after being presented with an audit into the state of corruption in Sierra Leone.

Niger has admitted that the army killed seven Tuareg civilians at the weekend. Niger's defence minister said the civilians were caught in a firefight between the army and rebels of the Niger Movement for Justice. A statement on state radio said the incident occurred on Sunday in the region of Tiguidit, some 80km from the regional capital Agadez.

Climate change is expected to dramatically alter the lifestyles of poor people in Namibia, say the authors of a study. Their findings were published by the UK-based International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) this month (December).

African leaders, entrepreneurs and development agencies should start developing content to harness the potential of emerging educational technologies, writes Calestous Juma. Digital education technologies like the XO '$100' laptop have their problems and critics. But the big challenge, says Juma, is teaching African children to use these technologies — and get the most out of them.

Why does it matter that two rich Westerners are batting back and forth over the strategies and benefits of a cheap computer for children in developing countries?, asks White African in his blog, in the wake of a debate as to whether children in the developing world would be better served by a laptop or food aid.

The governments of both Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have lost patience over the failure of Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) leader and founder to consent to lasting peace process, with the DRC giving Joseph Kony notice to leave its Eastern Garamba Park on or before 31 January 2008. Senior government officials of both countries had taken the decision at the recent Great Lakes Summit in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.

The Kenya Human Rights Commission has set up a listserve to enable information to be circulated as part of the mobilisation for the Mau Mau Reparations campaign.

The Nature of the Mau Mau Claim

The Kenya Land and Freedom Army (Mau Mau) claim relates to torture, cruel and degrading treatment of detainees perpetrated by the Kenyan Colonial Government during the State of Emergency (1952-60). It is a tortious claim based on negligence and will be instituted in the British High Court. The claimants are seeking compensation for personal injuries sustained while in detention camps of the Kenya Colonial Government which operated under the authority of Her Majesty’s Government (HMG). The proposed claims are based on the tort of negligence. It is alleged that HMG is liable not only because of actions of the Kenyan Colonial Government but for its failure to take any or adequate steps to prevent the widespread use of torture that it knew was being perpetrated in its name.

Campaign Objectives

The campaign seeks to:

1. Institute proceedings against the HMG in the British High Court with a view to achieve a ruling compelling HMG to pay reparations to Mau Mau torture survivors;
2. Build local and global awareness on the Mau Mau claim for reparations;
3. Energize ongoing efforts for recognition of Kenyan heroes and heroines;
4. Implant the tools for comprehensive transitional justice in Kenya.

You can subscribe to this listserve at

The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) recently launched the Academic Network of African Researchers on Languages to undertake research on how "Internet language" can be simplified and translated into local languages. "We want to link computer sciences closer with languages with an objective of bridging the language digital divide that does hinder our local people from using ICTs especially in the use of Internet," said UNECA's Director of ICT, Science and technology Division Aida Opoku-Mensah.

The Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP), the organisers of GK3 are optimistic that five billion people will be connected to the Internet by 2015. Walter Fust the Chair of the GKP Executive Committee expressed this while closing the conference. Fust, who is also the Director-General, Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) said the plan, will not only create enormous job opportunities for software and hardware suppliers, but also connect billions of people to the Internet.

Insurgents loyal to dissident general Laurent Nkunda, fighting government troops in North Kivu, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), are still recruiting children into their ranks, even as serious human rights violations, including some committed by agents of the state, are rife in the region, according to the UN Mission in Congo (MONUC).

Civil society groups in the Niger Delta region have warned that the government is destroying communities’ health and Nigeria’s environment by flouting laws against gas flaring, a technique used in oil production. For decades gas flaring has been used to separate crude oil from the associated gases that are extracted with it, but Nigeria flares more gas today than any nation in the world after Russia, even though it is only the world’s eighth largest oil producer.

In a welcome centre in Nigeria’s capital, Abuja, a small finger traces the words of an English text book; a young voice struggles to pronounce the words. Ruth is 13 years old and only in grade 3. But for her, this is a major achievement. At the age of five, Ruth was trafficked from her village in southern Nigeria to Gabon, further south on the Gulf of Guinea. For years of her life, she never attended school.

It was not with routine interest that I opened a copy of the book volume on “Transitions in Namibia”. This year has towards its end brought visible efforts to redirect the way Namibia is going politically, and thus redirect the lives of Namibians. The recent congress of the ruling SWAPO Party made important decisions, that were already in advance challenged by a new party formed by people with a background of the very core of SWAPO for the last three decades. We do not know what happens with the Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP). Will it experience the same as the Congress of Democrats, founded less than ten years ago, or will it be able to create enough support to really influence the way Namibia is developing? I would simplify the choices as either following the Zimbabwe way to disaster, or to find another, essentially more democratic and economically just and viable way of development.

Every analysis is based on history. I have found by experience that the government of Namibia is not really interested in history at all. They want something, which Chris Saunders calls “patriotic history”. The idea is to produce “the one and only” history. The right one, giving the only truth of what has taken place. It is almost written already. Sam Nujoma has published a book called “Where Others Wavered”, which aims to enshrine armed struggle as the decisive factor in bringing freedom and independence. As Saunders points out, the aim is to cement the arm of exile leaders in the present and coming power struggles in the power struggle establishing “liberation credentials” and labelling deviating opinions as unpatriotic and imperialist.

In writing about the centrally important issue of land, Phanuel Kaapama discusses also the surprising way SWAPO turned its coat from a quite rigid soviet version of socialism to all out capitalism just before the 435-process commenced at the end of the 1980’s. I do not question the wisdom of Hidipo Hamutenya, when he said in 1990: “democratisation of Namibian society was necessary before the process of socialist transformation could commence”. But contrary to what happened in South Africa, there was almost no public discussion whatsoever on this tremendous change of basic political line. Even the labour leaders adopted with little resistance a so-called “social partnership”.

Namibian leaders have repeatedly expressed their admiration of the Zimbabwean land distribution policies. I do not believe, however, that Namibia will in this question follow the disastrous footsteps. The government knows well the experience of the couple of hundred farms which have been bought by state or individuals through Affirmative Action Loan Scheme. The experience shows how all important is the professional competence of the new farmers. Instead of becoming prosperous, new farmers have impoverished and become dependent of continuous government support for survival. Some have found paid work in neighbouring farms. Some owners have rented the farm back to the previous owner. Without training and slowly accumulating expertise farms do not produce the expected returns. In this issue, Mr Kaapama is somewhat too optimistic, I suspect, in indicating that the experience gained in the communal areas is broadly sufficient for the task.

As a trade unionist, I was particularly interested to read Herbert Jauch’s account on labour policies. The Labour Research and Resource Institute, LaRRI, which would not exist without Jauch’s initiative and commitment, has produced invaluable analysis and data for trade unions and the general public. I remember in 1987 having to defend in a United Nations workshop in Lusaka the idea of a highest pay differential of 1:10 in the independent Namibia. It is about the actual situation in the Nordic countries. SWAPO leaders present said that they cannot accept such a large differential. Today the difference between the national minimum wage of a Ramatex worker’s salary, relates to the pay of managers in the civil service to something like 1 to 50, and more than 1 to 100 for managers of parastatals.
The Namibian elite wants to earn as much as their peers in USA and Europe, although the carrying capacity of the economy and productivity of work does not warrant it. It does not leave much money for anything else, especially when the civil service is relatively large. In his chapter on the new black Namibian elite, Henning Melber shows this in figures: the top 20% earn almost 80% of all income: “Independence did not produce a national bourgeoisie, but a crypto-capitalist self-enriching elite, which expends its energy on exploiting the public purse, a truly parasitic class.“

A long time issue in the labour movement in Namibia is the affiliation of the largest trade union federation NUNW to the ruling party. Just as has been argued, it has led to stagnation of efforts to defend the rights of workers. It has also led to spreading the internal struggles of SWAPO inside the NUNW. It has gone very far and contributed to an erosion of understanding of where the labour leaders belong. It is quite astonishing to read that trade union leaders have accepted board and management positions in private and parastatal enterprises. This way they adopt neo-liberal policies and with that, the NUNW loses its mass base, as Jauch states.

Logically enough, workers have had to take their mass power into their own hands and away from their compromised leaders. Volker Winterfeldt gives a very good account of what happened in the biggest single employer in Namibia, the Ramatex textile factory. Fed up with the stagnant wages, four years of inaction by their trade union and constant exposure to bullying by the management and the government, workers voted for strike. Surprisingly easily, after three days, they won a raise almost doubling their income and benefits. In a neo-liberal economy Ramatex has been able to exploit the opportunities offered by the Namibian state and its Asian and Namibian employees to an extent Karl Marx could vividly describe in his book The Capital. - And in addition to pollute the ground water.

On my latest visit to Namibia a year ago I was really astonished of the impressive Chinese presence in the country. In a very few years Chinatowns have emerged, bringing construction, shopping areas, investment for energy production. Obviously this has happened with the full consent of the government, tenders have been won, work permits and retail shop licences have been granted. Gregor Dobler has taken the trouble of finding out how the process works, including bribing the decision makers. The cost of a work permit is between 20,000 to 100,000 Namibian Dollars.

Dobler’s work is admirable. It came into my mind that the political system in China could be the ideal in the eyes of the present government of Namibia: One party in absolute power, enjoying the fruits of a free-wheeling capitalism, no real trade unions or effective opposition. - Preferably, no critical media either.

Lalli Metsola describes and analyses the situation of ex-combatants. It certainly deserves research. It is a rather safe prediction to say that the newest definition by the ministry of a war veteran will cause endless controversy and court processes. Even I myself qualify as a war veteran, according to the definition. Lalli Metsola describes the fate of the former SWATF/Koevoet members as being still pariahs. They are out from war-veteran definition because they were not members of liberation forces. On the other hand, it will be problematic to draw lines between those who have been in exile, but participated in different activities. Lots to do for lawyers, I bet.

Mattia Fumati is afraid of the vision of youth in uniform coming from Zimbabwe style training camps, marching before the President chanting SWAPO songs. We have seen it in Europe before. On the lighter side, he describes accurately the activities of the Shinyewile club in Rundu. The aspiring young elite organises activities that depict their capabilities as future leaders, taking care not to offend the present ones, although mocking them softly. And the club is the best way to have a good time together.

Wolfgand Zeller and Bennet Kangumu Kangumu have dug deep into the strange geography of the Caprivi strip, with which its problems are intimately bound. The separateness and particular identities have not given the Caprivi region and its people much chance to live common history with the rest of Namibia. The old modus vivendi between the Mafwe and Subia and their associates was shattered by the new power relations in independent Namibia. But now, with the construction of the Trans-Caprivi Corridor with bridges over Zambezi a real common blood vein has been established and with it, new economic and political structures may emerge.

Graham Hopwood explores the problems encountered in the effort to create a regional level of administration between central government and local authorities. Regional structures carry a bias from the Bantustan era. The central authorities are also otherwise reluctant to give away power from their own hands. On the other hand, administrative capacity to handle coordinating functions and especially accounting seems to be lacking. As a consequence progress to really delegate tasks to regional level has been slow, in spite of public pronouncements of intentions.
The book has a very strong gender equality tendency. It ends with three weighty analyses of where Namibia stands now in this important respect. Dianne Hubbard goes through the most important gender-related legislation and shows in detail, how traditions and opinions have found expression in the laws. She shows the difficulty in applying Western juridical concepts in another cultural environment. As an example we can mention parental leave, which is not really at home in Namibians social structures.

Lucy Edwards looks into the HIV/AIDS disaster from the female perspective and argues powerfully how it is linked to inequalities and gender relations. It was a surprise for me to read that only 13.4 % of Namibians are formally married and together with cohabiting 15.5% this kind of couples make up only 29%. The figures ridicule an effort to control HIV/AIDS through restricting sex life inside marriage.
Suzanne LaFont describes the real, rather promiscuous, sexual behaviour in Namibia. It is actually the tradition.
The legislation believes, however, that female sexuality needs to be contained and, if possible, controlled. Among lawmakers reverence of tradition and nostalgia compete with politically correct gender equality. Political corrected does not weigh much in the speeches of Sam Nujoma, who threatened homophiles with arrest, deportation and imprisonment, all illegal threats. Suzanne LaFont notes, however, that the HIV-pandemic has forced a discussion on sexuality, which would otherwise not be happening.

Now, as much as ever, we need to understand what is going on in Namibia. This book is therefore timely, clearly written for giving us tools for analysis today. I commend its editor for recruiting top-level researchers contributing to this book, and for his further commitment to the ongoing task.
Henning Melber (ed.), Transitions in Namibia. Which changes for whom? Uppsala. The Nordic Africa Institute 2007.

* Pekka Peltola lives in Helsinki/Finland. He is a long-standing trade union activist, who worked years in support of SWAPO in exile in Cuanza Sul and elsewhere. He published a PhD thesis on the Namibian trade union movement (“The Lost May Day”) in 1995 and together with Iina Soiri (in 1999) the book : “Finland and the Liberation of Southern Africa”.

On 18 October 2007, the Human Rights Committee completed its review of Libya’s fourth periodic report, which was due for consideration in 2002. Libya not only submitted its report five years after the deadline but also, more importantly, did not comply with the recommendations of the Committee made in 1998 on the conclusion of the review of the country’s third periodic report. In the words of the Committee, “the recommendations of 1998 have not been fully taken into consideration and [the Committee] regrets that almost all subjects of concern remain unchanged”.

Archbishop Desmond Tutu has accused the United States and Britain of pursuing policies like those of South Africa's apartheid-era government by detaining terrorism suspects without trial. At an event to commemorate the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UNDR) today, the Nobel laureate said the detention of suspected al-Qaeda and Taliban members at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, was a "huge blot on a democracy".

The first-ever multilingual poll of black, Hispanic and Asian Americans is a call to action for the ethnic media leaders who sponsored it. While respondents believe that ethnic media are "irresponsible" when it comes to covering race relations, they also describe ethnic media as a vital intermediary for strengthening inter-group communication. New American Media Editor Sandip Roy interviewed some of the poll’s media sponsors about how they view their shifting role in covering race relations in America.

Since April 2002, most of the four million internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Angola have resettled, integrated or gone home following the signing of a ceasefire agreement between the governing MPLA and UNITA, which marked the end of 27 years of civil war. In November 2005 the government estimated that there were still some 62,000 IDPs in Angola. Since then, population movements and the level of integration of the displaced have not been monitored.

The four special mandates on freedom of expression have issued a Joint Declaration on Broadcasting Diversity, with the assistance of ARTICLE 19. The Joint Declaration makes a number of general points about the promotion of diversity, including that where regulatory tools are applied by bodies which lack independence from government or commercial interests, or in a non-transparent manner, they are likely to be abused.

Some 60 religious leaders from 18 African countries stressed the need for members of faith-based organizations (FBOs) to partner with the United Nations at all levels to advocate for policy change and resource mobilization for the prevention of HIV and gender-based violence. At the end of a two-day regional forum organized by UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, and the World Conference of Religions for Peace-South Africa, a series of wide-ranging recommendations for strengthening partnerships were adopted.

A prominent New York Times article describes how Malawi went from food aid recipient to regional food provider in just two years after re-introducing fertilizer subsidies for its low-income farmers. The move contravened years of policy guidance from the World Bank and IMF, which warn against such distortions of the “free market.”

China has tightened the quality control on anti-malaria drugs sold to African countries with a newly-issued regulation and other efforts, according to the State Food and Drug Administration (SFDA). According to the new regulation, China will only export anti-malaria drugs produced through a group of government-appointed pharmacy companies to African clients and carefully examine their products before export, said Wu Zhen, the SFDA deputy Director, at a press conference.

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has urged its member unions worldwide to express their solidarity with the journalists locked out by The Guardian management in Nigeria. The 800 journalists and other workers took strike action on November 6 after negotiation with The Guardian management over a pay rise and better working conditions broke down. The Guardian online and print editions have not been published since.

The new Southern African Development Community (SADC) Tribunal in Namibia has finally held a hearing in the case brought by Zimbabwean white farmer Mike Campbell against the government of Zimbabwe. The farmer is seeking an interim order blocking the government from interfering with operations on his farm. There was a three-hour preliminary hearing, after which the President of the SADC tribunal Judge Onkemetse Tshosa, said they would deliver a ruling before the end of the week.

Cameroon's parliament has authorised the president to sign an interim trade deal with the European Union, joining a growing number of poor nations inking 11th-hour accords before preferential trade terms expire. The EU is rushing to strike basic interim deals with the comparatively better off former colonies to avoid disruption to their goods exports when preferential terms expire on Dec. 31.

The Government of Kenya is in the concluding stages of privatizing Telkom Kenya. The winning bidders France Telecom will take Board control by December 21, 2007.
The government is also planning to offload shares of Safaricom through an Initial Public Offer (IPO) before the end of this year. However there are reasons to be wary of this privatization exercise.

Jacques Depelchin reflects on the growing economic, political and cultural relationship between Brazil and the Africa and urges for a solidarity from below that is cognizant of black revolutionary history.

Almost everyone knows about Brazilian football, especially Pelé; but, it is a fair bet that a very tiny percentage of the same people will know about one of the foremost intellectuals of Brazil in the 20th century: Milton Santos (MS), winner in 1994 of the Vautrin Lud prize given to the most outstanding geographer (sometimes known as the nobel prize for geography). Others have described him as the Noam Chomsky of Brazil. One could go on with the accolades. Thanks to a recent documentary (directed by Silvio Tendler) on and around his ideas, MS’ reputation (1925-2001) is likely to gain greater recognition among Brazilians as they begin to realize how far ahead his visionary understanding of humanity’s plight and challenges was.

This is not an essay on MS, it is an encouragement to those who already know him or of him and those who do not, to get to know him better. It is also an appeal to those who have the wherewithal to contact the film maker and make it available in other languages, including Kiswahili since he did teach in the geography department of the University of Dar es Salaam in the mid-seventies.

The main reason for this essay is to reflect on the growing convergence (economic, political and cultural) between Brazil and the Africa which is not delimited by its geographical borders. To paraphrase MS’ view: surely, another kind of globalization is not only possible, but a must if humanity is going to be born [1]. Inexorably, it will be thought and led by the poor, or the Wretched of the Earth, as Franz Fanon long ago, saw it coming. Will African intellectuality join them or prefer to carry on their mimicking of the West?

1. Mimicking or thinking? 1804 or 184?

In one of his interviews (and in the documentary), MS lamented the fact that most Brazilian intellectuals were more interested in copying what is happening in Europe or in the USA, rather than thinking from where they are, where they have come from and where they would like to go. Calling it intellectual laziness, he pointed out that it is easier for people to consume than to produce. Obviously, he is not the first to have said so [2], the question however, for all thinking Africans, as we enter the era of 50th anniversaries of Independence, is what happened after Independence? Is it something one could reasonably describe as an event? One which could or should have mobilized fidelity to what it meant? Were they events on the same scale as other previous emancipatory events , e.g.Quilombo de Palmares in Brazil(1597-1695), Haiti (1791-1804), and so many other unknown feats of resistance. Which kind of subject emerged out of such a collective birthing event? Did Independences rupture the colonizing enterprise, like truths puncture lies? Did there emerge an emancipated subject in our individual and collective consciousness? Which kind of consciousness prevailed in our countries, 50 years after Independence? We can point to heroes and heroines who did all they could to maintain fidelity to the emancipated subject which emerged out of that event. Each reader can fill in the dots.

In Haiti today, 184 is the number of people and institutions who signed a petition against President Aristide, denouncing him in a manner reminiscent of the Congolese who colluded with external forces to eliminate Patrice Lumumba, back in 1960/1. Could 184 coincidentally be an apt metaphor of what came to be of 1804 [3]? The shrinking and squeezing of freedom, equality and fraternity to the point of a group of 184 whishing it never happened? Could it be said that the same process has occurred in many African countries, namely that of reducing Independence not to an event, but to a transition used and abused by a small group to enrich themselves while the largest part of the population remained poor or got poorer? Shouldn’t what happens to every single Haitian today, because of that transition from 1804 to 184, be of concern to all thinking human beings?

On December 12, 2007 it will be 4 months since the disappearance of Pierre Antoine Lovinsky [4]. Kidnapping (or rendition?) might be a more appropriate word. How many (among those who knew of it) have done even a symbolic gesture calling on his kidnappers to let him free? Kidnapping used to be one of the ways people were ripped from the continent and dragged to the forts and slave ships. Wherever he is, Lovinsky could be asking himself why there has not been greater efforts to get him back from where he is. He must wonder, like many others, why the Brazilian government, headed by a president who visited Gorée and, more or less [5], apologized for slavery, does not go out of its way to go and find Lovinsky. Or, as some have speculated, is it part of the agenda of the UN mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) to silence, completely, all those who have vowed to continue calling for the return of President Aristide to Haiti?

It is impossible to think of Africa 50 years ago without, at the same time, thinking about its history from 500 years ago, because it is only by looking over the entire period that one can only begin to guess at the magnitude of the crime which has been committed with unimaginable, relentless impunity. If the Brazilian government, through its President, really meant to apologize for slavery, should it not be seen thinking and acting in a manner which is aimed at restoring the Haiti of 1804 rather than allying itself with the 184?

2. Brazil-Africa: South-South or South-North-South?

As more and more thinking Africans clamor for greater and greater South-South cooperation, it is encouraging to observe how the Brazilian government is willing to tread where its ruling clique would not like to go. The ruling clique is only interested in so-called Real Politik, and not at building a Planetary future through healing emancipatory processes. Even if, as everyone can see from the climatic changes, such a course is the only viable one. The ruling clique is more interested in fitting in the world as it is, rather than trying to build a different world, in which solidarity with Africa (and Asia) would loom large. But the world as it is, as seen from G8 Meetings and places like Davos is not interested in solidarity with Africa [6]; Africa and all of the poor of the world –they tell us in their own way-- shall be rescued by charity [7]. The charitable option is the most logical given that even the G8 and Davos have lost their grip on world decision making processes as these have been eroded by the weight and impact of financial decision centers via “the markets”. Described as self regulatory, these financial monsters are beginning to show growing signs of being out of control. How could it be otherwise given that the few regulatory leashes in place have been removed…so that these financial monsters could –so the logic went—even better self-regulate themselves [8].

The pressure for greater solidarity with Africa, in Brazil, comes from its African ancestry population and its allies (indigenous, landless, working, jobless people). Even the ruling clique cannot completely ignore the fact that more and more people in Brazil are clamoring for greater justice, and so, on occasion, it has to be seen as responding to these demands. As an emerging country, Brazil wants to have a permanent seat at the UN Security Council. This is one of the objectives which has driven President Lula’s foreign visits, including the visits to Africa, including his recent stop in Burkina Faso, on October 15.

As readers of Pambazuka News know very well, October 15 2007 was the 20th anniversary of Thomas Sankara’s assassination (along with 12 of his comrades). One can only presume that the ruling clique decided that one additional vote for the quest of a permanent seat at the UN Security Council, should be achieved by any means necessary, and, therefore, accepted the Burkina Be invitation to “celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Burkina Be revolution”. In the eyes of Sankara’s foes such an accolade from Brazil would help bury Sankara one more time. Or for good!

However, this cynical collusion to treat African history like a serviceable walking mat does help illustrate the longer process of how the splitting apart of humanity has been carried out by the very ones who apologize in one venue and do the exact opposite in another. Most academics are likely to condemn these colluders. And yet, again, should one not ask the same question raised with regard to the 184 in Haiti? However inconvenient it might sound, is it not the case that, overall, 50 years since Independence, African people have been betrayed by those who were supposed to be thinkers and who, on paper at least, always like to be seen and heard as being on their side? Independence as a truth, as an event, has been treated like a mere happening, one which did not seize intellectuals to change their world view of the past, the present and the future. Yes, however uncomfortable it might make one, each one of us should be able to ask: did I do all that could/should have been done, and more, to turn that emancipatory event into a real transformation of the colonial situation? If one thinks one did, then the result should tell one that it was far from enough.

Now and then the daily routine of the last 50 years has been ruptured by someone like Thomas Sankara who did try to live in fidelity of that Independence as an Event. As MS might have said, Sankara’s courage was to think. Thinking, in a context dominated by mimicking, submission, keeping quiet, is the most courageous act, suggested MS. Pushing further: are intellectuals in Africa, of Africa, from Africa, thinking? Over the past 50 years, have we become, more or less, like the 184 of Haiti? Faced with either catechizing or thinking, which way has been the easier road to follow? What happens when a so-called “discovered” (e.g. Lumumba, Aristide) “discovers” something the “discoverer” does not want discovered? Ever since 1804, that question has been answered unilaterally in only one way, over and over, almost like a silent but persistent internal prescription: Shrink that 1804 to 184, from the outside and from within.

3. Lumumba (1960) Sankara (1987) Aristide (2004)

Certainly none of these three would have passed the catechist exam for mimicry. In the world of African spirits, one could imagine Sankara’s spirits, from wherever they are circulating, letting us know how they understand the difference between mimicking and thinking, between a revolution and its fake. Listening attentively, one might be able to hear the following from Sankara’s spirits:

“Why and how is it, that starting with resistance to dehumanizing practices, structures, mentalities, from the beginning of humanity, but especially since our Independence, our leaders (not just in Burkina Faso) have colluded with their worst enemies to liquidate those who were trying to change course? More importantly, why not have an open dialogue so that our own voices could be heard, against those whose version of events is patently self-serving?

Right after they got rid of my comrades and I, they began to say that they were the real revolutionaries. I would not have minded if, indeed, they went on pursuing (reaching new heights) what we had started together, but, instead they started describing the revolution from the moment of my liquidation, as they went on liquidating many of the projects we had initiated. Those we had planned were archived never to be heard of again. As singers have sung before why is it that we get rid so easily of those who struggle with the poorest of the poor, and in their place put the defenders of the richest of the rich?”

And Sankara’s spirits continue: “ From where I am, it is easy to meet with fellow victims of liquidation, including those who faced their fate after liquidating countless of their own people themselves. One with a very long name from somewhere at the centre of our continent told me, crying like a child that he wished he could be back and bring back to life the leader whose punishment was so severe that they dissolved his body in an acid bath. These liquidizers or liquidationists, after coming here, were confronted with the real history of our continent, one which, given what happened, is impossible to measure even by the standards imposed by those who claim no one has ever suffered more than themselves. These spirits are in such pain for what they did that it is difficult not to sympathize with them. Here is what one of them said (there is no point naming names, but he is one of the main characters in Ahmadou Kourouma’s Waiting for the Vote of the Animals): I knew our situation was bad, but first I really believed the stories of the experts on development who kept repeating that sooner or later tickling (sic) down would get everybody laughing all the way to the bank (just like it happened to me), but then it kept getting worse, and it is only after coming down here under ground that I could see (literally from below) how bad the suffering has been. I had seen some of it above ground, but from down here, I could not imagine how extreme the level of suffering has been. It is only now --continued this crying spirit-- that I understood how terribly, and horribly wrong I was. Somehow I bought into the notion that our suffering is lightweight, so trivial, not worth talking about, let alone, complaining. No one, not even some of our best griots, has been able to convey, in words what really happened, the terror, the fear that was inflicted through those wars of hunting for slaves. Those who escaped the brutal fate, either by luck or choice (becoming part of the hunters, in exchange of a few cowries, alcohol, cloth and/or guns), and their descendants, did their best to ensure that their own role did not get to be known. In short, what we are witnessing today, is a repeat of what has happened before: it is not the first time that our kin has colluded in and with self-liquidation.”

Again in the world of the African spirits, one would hear the spirits of Zumbi (the hero of the Quilombo de Palmares) and the spirits of Sankara meeting and commenting on the systematic downsizing, downgrading of the history of the continent, leading the 184 from Haiti and from other places to the point where downgrading would coincide with denigration and, finally, simply denial. Zumbi would say to Sankara: “You know, my spirits tried to talk to Lula about that choice and making him see that doing that visit on that day would be the equivalent of laughing at our own 20th of November which has been chosen by the African brothers and sisters to commemorate when I was killed on November 20th, 1695 [9]. But there was so much interference, there was no way he could have heard me. Of course, part of the problem is that he is trying to satisfy everybody.”

Not long ago, France, under Chirac passed a law calling slavery a crime against humanity, but in a world where the nation-state has become one more instrument of the financial oligarchy, the mind set which emerged out of slavery has been reinforced rather than weakened. Every time it looked like one was about to correct the history of the continent, one goes the other way, as if the ruling principle is to keep laundering it until it becomes unrecognizable. With forces trying to negate what happened and others deforming it beyond recognition, is it surprising that 50th anniversaries or any attempt to recognize a truth, an event is turned into its opposite, like the ruling clique of Burkina Faso celebrating the assassination of Thomas Sankara as the birth of something they call a revolution.

Undoubtedly, some readers will take issue with the raising of these discomforting questions. Others might even condemn it as a disguised way of celebrating afro-pessimism or useless self-flagellation. The vast majority of Africans will not even be able to access these words, and yet, it is this vast majority which has been robbed of what could have happened, had there been more thinking than mimicking within African intellectuality.

To carry on as the African brothers and sisters (by now ancestors) did in Haiti, from 1791 through 1804, without any help from outside, without human rights organizations cheering on the sides, took a kind of courage which is difficult to imagine today. Yet, one must nurture the courage to say, as MS did in the documentary, that there has been no humanity, so far; only now is it being built, little by little. Universalism has always been preached as coming from the Enlightenment. To which MS replicated: “we, Brazilians, are not universal because we fail to be thoroughly (sufficiently) Brazilians”. The same could be said of Africans. The failure has been one of not keeping at it: trying and trying to be sufficiently (i.e. more and more) Africans.

4. Brazil and the 10.639/2003 Law

In a context dominated by hesitations and vacillations, those who have most benefited from the systematic laundering of African wealth/history would like to keep on laundering it after each new phase, even if it means reducing the entire Planet to an unlivable place for all of its inhabitants. Those who have been cowered into submission still know that they were right to resist, but are running out of the courage of 1804. They do see the 184 waving at them to join their side, which, from the distant, does look like paradise on earth. Among them a half-despairing Congolese mutters: “do not get fooled”. “Back home”, he continued, “we had someone who also built a so-called paradise in the equatorial forest at a place called Gbadolite. Nature has returned. He and his paradisiacal Zaïre are gone.”

On the other hand, thanks to the work of people battling to carry on the spirits of Zumbi in Brazil, a law was passed in 2003, calling for the teaching of Africa and people of African ancestry in elementary and secondary schools (NB pre-primary and tertiary/higher levels are not mentioned). As its passing, the implementation will depend on keeping alive the spirits of Zumbi, Sankara and so many other known and unknown truth discoverers. In and of itself the law will not change the mindset, but it is arguable that the mindset will change faster, provided that on the African side there is the courage to respond to this law –10.639/2003. There is no point spelling out the possible multiplicity of responses because each individual, each collective can generate emancipatory thoughts/responses aimed at transforming the current situation for the better for everyone[10].

More than laws will be needed. No thoughts will be too small, no thoughts will be too big once total and complete emancipation from the remaining shackles of 1804 are turned into the single minded objective for humanity wherever people of African descent live, which is everywhere on the Planet.

* Jacques Depelchin works with the Ota Benga Alliance for Peace Healing and Dignity. He is currently visiting Professor at the Centre for Afro-Oriental Studies at the Federal University of Bahia, Salvador, Brazil

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

Ramesh Shah looks at the evolution of political discourse in Tanzania

Recently, Mr. Kabwe Zitto of opposition party Chama cha Demokrasia na Maendeleo (CHADEMA) faced a four month suspension in the Tanzanian Parliament. The opposition expressed disappointment on suspension of Mr. Zitto as a move by CCM legislators to conceal the “Truth”. The issue was very simple. It was regarding the Buzwadi mining contract between the present Tanzanian government and Barrick Gold Corporations in London. The opposition believed that by blocking Zitto’s motion, the government failed to show the transparency.

On the other hand, Mr. Zitto believed that he had an obligation to “defend the Nation’s resources in the interest of “Wananchi””. Perhaps, President Kikwete saw some truth, perhaps he was honest, perhaps he wants to use the best people and their ideas to lead the nation through the maze of globalization: Whatever the case may be, he made Zitto one of the members of inquiry into mining contract. But then came another surprise. In one of the newspapers, it was reported that the Karatu legislator, Wilbrod Slaa also wanted to disclose secrets on Bank of Tanzania when he felt that the Government would also block his private motion in the Parliament. It was interesting to see the first page of this paper. The top headline was about Mr. Slaa’s remarks regarding suspicion of corruption in the Bank of Tanzania. The lower headline was about the Vice President Mr. Shein asking people to avoid luxuries and invest at home. This showed nothing much except that in the process of fighting extreme poverty in the mineral rich Tanzania, the time had come and some people had risen to ask for greater transparency.

People are asking for more than parliamentary democracy. They are taking a closer look at the parliamentary laws and rules and asking how and for whom they work. Could all this be connected to another problem? Recently, Mr. Warioba said that it was high time that Tanzania had a Constitution that separates the legislative and executives arms. Mr. Masekwa also said that there was a need to amend the Constitution in order to avoid any situation whereby the executive could simply muzzle the parliament.

Tanzania still has to solve many other problems arising recently. The new Prevention and Combating of Corruption Act [2007] is expected to protect the PCB, journalists, and the public in fighting graft. But actually the media will be prevented from independent investigations from the PCB. Yet today’s crime in the world is such that it needs simultaneous investigations from all sides. In India, media plays a major role in the investigations and show their progress to the people on their media channels. Kenya also has similar problem in a Media Bill where it is legally mandatory for media to reveal its source of information in the court. If this Bill becomes effective, no one will give information to the media. Law Society of Kenya [LSK] has promised to go to court to stop this Bill.

A few months ago, some university student leaders were not allowed to continue their studies. I ask myself, when do “leaders” become “ring-leaders” in our country? When I was a student at this university, I always saw our leaders as “leaders”. My point is not on whether Mr. Zitto or the students were right or wrong. When Tanzania wanted to go democratic, the first thing CCM did was to propose the multi-party approach. It was the CCM that was to lead us into democracy. The second thing it tried to do was make the democracy more vibrant and asked the opposition to become more active. At this stage, Mr. Zitto was not an individual but he represented a trend of thought. He was not one but many. He was part of a new trend now emerging in all developing countries. He was not opposing as a party, but just trying to set up a new trend of transparency. Like many academics, and citizens, I have been dreaming of effective arguments and transparency. I did not look at our parliament as a “party” but as a “nation”. ??

When I was a student of economics at the university, I read a book called “Four Essays on Philosophy” by Chairman Mao. One of the essays was on “Contradiction”. When there is a major contradiction, we come to-gather as nation and try to solve it. This is when we fought for and achieved our independence. Then a new minor contradiction arose, and this was party politics. Since then, we have been struggling between different major [national] and minor [party] and still minor [individual] contradictions. Mr. Zitto’s approach showed a major [national] contradiction but many understood it as a minor contradiction, and he was suspended!!! It would have been a plus for the CCM members to respect Mr. Zitto's move if we agree that the CCM wants to increase the level of democracy and transparency. Democracy and transparency cannot be strengthened by merely setting up more human rights institutions, but rather by the people rising to make the use of them. Mr. Zitto may have done exactly that. ??

Amartya Sen has written a book on “identity”. In it he raises the question of how we identify our-selves. Do I identify myself as a national, or CCM, or as an individual, or as a Hindu, or as a socialist or as a capitalist or as a fan of a particular politician? What we are going to do depends on how we identify ourselves. Very often, issues of national interest may conflict with the party interest or religious interest and vice-versa. An issue of national interest may not resonate for the individual or the party. ??If we are to introduce the philosophy of a “majority” decision then it means that the majority can impose their decisions. Nowhere in the world or in history, is it ever said that the majority is always right. Majority is just numerical superiority.

Similarly, the minority is not always wrong, and yet she may loose her view due to the numerical strength of the “majority”. Very often, the law may contradict justice, and that is why we often call upon our nation to be just and not just legal. Laws emerge from the bills that are passed in parliament. A bill is drafted by the national legal persons and passed by the parliament. A Bill will not be just if drafted in the interest of a small influential group. Most of the third world was colonized some time ago.

The colonial “masters” used all sorts of unjust laws, fears, force and techniques to justify colonization. When we became independent, we inherited similar structure, and we also continued playing the same game towards our own people. The events following 1789 in revolutionary France were nothing but terror followed by Directorate and the Consulate. All this may suggest that the old oppression had merely been replaced by the new kind. For many philosophers, the aftermath only reinforced that a man’s true nature was as savage as it was wicked and vengeful. In this way, the social revolution got out of hand because many people wanted liberty before order, while others wanted to put order before liberty.

We should always ask, what is the best order to maximize liberty? If we talk of evil, then we may be talking about religion. The issue of evil troubled Plato greatly. If we use Leibniz’s idiom, God has made the best of all possible worlds. Among the many goods, He gave us, the good of freedom. He may not have liked the world without freedom, because the freedom itself is a necessary part of goodness. But freedom cannot exist without the possibility of abuse. The evil entered the world through our abuse of freedom. Beyond this, nothing else is evil. Some people think that evil itself is the necessary part of the global beauty in the same way the catastrophe is part of the beauty of a tragedy. ??I give regular lectures on Ethics at the University. At one time, while all good ethics may also contain good laws, not all laws absorb ethics. But today many laws are in contradiction to ethics. ??Then we end up with the use of power. When our thought is joined to will, we call it power; this means that if one has got power, one must manifest it to action.

The accumulation of power is likewise as important as its diffusion. An ounce of practice is worth more that a ton of theory. Talking is neither politics nor religion, parrots may talk, and machines may also talk. Each nation, each leader has a mission for the world. There is no power higher then power of purity. ?

* Dr Ramesh Shah is an Economics and Export Consultant and has given lectures on Ethics at the University of Dar-es-Salaam

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

Today’s global development challenges demand experts who are able to think systemically and who can use dynamic tools to analyze complex and interdependent social, economic, and environmental systems that influence sustainable development. Millennium Institute’s six-week System Dynamics-based Development Planning Course equips participants with the knowledge and skills required to effectively analyze these challenges and determine the best approaches to mitigating them.

Well said on the issue of remittances . If the money inflow was used to invest in infrastructure development or similar uses then maybe it would be beneficial. Furthermore, the funds are used to purchase goods that are possibly supplied by the same multinationals that remit dividends to the 'North'.

EASSI is an eleven year old sub-regional support initiative for women that boasts of having a hand in the implementation of Government commitments to women and girls’ advancement. This program targets women from the ages of 18 to 35 from any of the eight countries of the sub-region, Burundi, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, Tanzania and Uganda. Every year we target four women. In 2008, we specifically seek women from Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia and Tanzania.

In a few days Heads of State from Africa and Europe will meet in Portugal to discuss issues common to two continents whose histories, for good and bad, have intertwined for centuries. This is a historic opportunity to inaugurate a new era founded on shared values and a genuine friendship where we can support each other and learn from each other.

But that will not be possible while the summit meeting shies away from discussing two of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, those in Zimbabwe and Darfur. Despite Europe’s and Africa’s shared responsibility to address such crises, neither one is on the agenda. No time has been set aside for formal or informal discussion

What can one say of this political cowardice? We expect our leaders to lead, and lead with moral courage. When they fail to do so they leave all of us morally impoverished. Where they funk the difficult issues they make themselves irrelevant. Why should we listen to the mighty when the mighty are deaf to the cries of the afflicted? Millions of Africans and Europeans would expect Zimbabwe and Darfur to be at the very top of the agenda. It is not too late.

Since the 2005 Land Summit, new approaches to land reform have been on the agenda, yet there remains little clarity on the way forward. The main focus has been on means of accelerating the redistribution of land through new modes of acquiring land. In this policy brief, Lionel Cliffe cautions that acquisition is an important matter, but if treated in isolation risks mis-specifying the core problems evident in land reform in South Africa.

Inadequacies in HIV testing and treatment of pregnant women in South Africa means mother-to-child transmission is largely going unchecked in local clinics and hospitals, new research has found. The study was published in Aids Research and Therapy last month (November). Prevention of mother-to-child transmission programmes (PMTCT) are a standard protocol in South Africa. HIV-positive women take a dose of the antiretroviral drug nevirapine before delivery and the baby is given a dose within 72 hours of birth.

A baseline study into e-waste in Kenya has been launched at a meeting held in Nairobi recently. The meeting, on November 21 at the Jacaranda Hotel, was organised by the Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANeT), and attended by over 30 representatives of business, government, the non-profit sector and the media. The study will be conducted over the next three months, and is being supported by a partnership between Hewlett Packard (HP), the Digital Solidarity Fund (DSF) and the Swiss Institute for Materials Science and Technology (EMPA).

Corruption is a constant presence in the lives of people around the world. And poor families are hit hardest by demands for bribes. These are the unsettling results of the Global Corruption Barometer 2007, published by Transparency International (TI) on 6 December, ahead of International Anti-corruption Day. After five years of surveying the general public's views and experiences of corruption, the report shows that bribery is still prevalent in many countries, but that citizens are increasingly demanding accountability from their governments.

Senegal has joined Africa's economic tigers [South Africa and Nigeria] to openly declare its refusal to sign the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPAs) with the European Union. Senegalese President, Abdoulaye Wade, said his government would not endorse the agreements simply because they did not "defend Africa's interests."

To improve girls’ education, West African governments must adopt national policies addressing all aspects of violence against schoolgirls - who face rape by teachers, verbal abuse by male students and forced early marriage by parents - a grouping of policy makers, teachers’ unions and civil society organisations has said.