Integrating the continent can be used as a means of speeding up Africa's achievement of the United Nations Millenium Development Goals (MDGs), a top UN official says. Speaking at the opening ceremony of the 11th session of the AU Executive Council in Accra Thursday, Abdoulie Janneh, UN under-secretary general highlighted economic integration as vital for Africa's successful unification.

More than 3,500 people have fled the Somali capital Mogadishu this month amid an escalation of violence in the coastal city over the past few weeks. Meanwhile, only 123,000 of the estimated 401,000 civilians who fled the heavy fighting that raged in Mogadishu between February and May have returned to the capital, according to figures compiled by UNHCR and a network of partners.

The lives and well-being of hundreds of thousands of civilians are threatened by a rising tide of violence and lawlessness in Central African Republic (CAR), according to Amnesty International, which called Tuesday for the immediate deployment of U.N. peacekeeping force there.

New plans are being developed for the 4,100 km Niger River that passes through several West African countries. Regional leaders, with support from the World Bank and member states of the European Union, are now seeking to turn the Niger River's sprawling, churning expanse into a regional advantage, building up the region's economy and linking nations together in a shared vision of environmental preservation along the way.

Uganda's Constitutional Court recently nullified a law that made adultery criminal for women, but not men. The case also strengthened women's rights on divorce and inheritance. In April, the Kampala-based group, Law and Advocacy for Women in Uganda, brought a separate case before the Ugandan Constitutional Court, arguing that the 1995 national constitution ensures equal protection under the law.

The Institute for European Environmental Policy (IEEP) is looking for a an experienced researcher to join our five person Agriculture and Rural Development policy team, managing and contributing to a variety of projects and advisory work in this field. Currently the team is working on the issues surrounding the transition to a more sustainable agricultural policy model running up to the expected reform of the CAP before 2013. Deadline for applications is July 6, 2007.

You will be required to conduct and co-ordinate research activities, take a lead in developing, implementing and communicating a research programme of human rights work including thematic areas. You will have proven research skills and knowledge of Central Africa, and in particular the Democratic Republic of Congo. You will be a dynamic and team oriented person with first hand experience of the region with awareness and understanding of its cultures.

Nomadic rebels who launched a string of attacks in northern Niger's Sahara desert have said they wanted greater control over uranium and oil reserves being sold off to Chinese and other foreign firms.

The Center for the Study of Democracy, Toleration and Religion (CDTR) at the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) of Columbia University invites applications for a two-year appointment of a Postdoctoral Scholar to participate in the research and activities of the Center.

Malteser International, a Maltese relief agency, is looking for a Project Administrator and CBO Trainer to be based in Menongue, Angola. Profession: Administrator, Accountant, or any other profession with background in economics, accountancy, administration within NGOs. Malteser International has been active in Angola since 2002, especially in the area of emergency assistance and strengthening health care facilities in neglected regions of the post war country. Deadline for applications is 1 July 2007.

Search for Common Ground's Radio for Peacebuilding, Africa project aims: to help sub-Saharan African radio broadcasters' develop their potential to have a constructive impact on conflicts of all kinds, to build on other successes to share lessons learnt with other radio professionals across the continent.In order to measure properly the impact of the project, we are conducting a baseline, attitudinal survey among sub-Saharan African broadcasters. Throughout the project (2004-2006), we will monitor its impact on the radio professionals -specifically on how it changes what they produce and broadcast, and how they produce it.

Zambia's Information and Broadcasting Services Minister Mike Mlongoti threatened to revoke an operating license for Petauke Explorers, a local commercial radio station in Petauke district in the eastern province of Zambia for featuring the president of one of the leading political parties in an on-air paid for interview.

Swaziland's Health Minister has barred journalists from hospital and banned hospital staff from talking to media, after Swazi media had exposed negligence in state health institutions. The Swazi press already suffers from heavy regulation and self-censorship.

Gender activists congratulate the Finance Minister of Mauritius, Rama Sithanen, for making moves in the right direction with the 2007/2008 budget. The budget makes provision to close the gender gap and challenge gender stereotypes. While Mauritius has reformed its legislation and awareness, the budgets to back them up have so far been lacking.

Every year for the last 10 years, the Zambian government's reports to the World Bank have shrunk in both length and quality. From 100 pages they are down to 25 and vital statistics are missing. Why? Some experts suggest the reason is the untimely loss of experienced civil servants as a result of AIDS.

Two months after the government of the Central African Republic (CAR) concluded a peace agreement with a rebel group in the northeast, some fighters belonging to another insurgent group in the northwest have abandoned rebellion, sources said. The move, observers said, could boost ongoing efforts to resume humanitarian work in the volatile region where the killing of a Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) worker on 11 June prompted agencies to suspend operations.

Human trafficking is on the rise in eastern Africa and officials attending a meeting aimed at raising awareness of the problem called for concerted efforts by governments to curb it. "In the east African region, the statistical information is being gathered, but the crime is on the increase," Jeffrey Avina, director for operations at the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), told the first regional anti-human trafficking conference in eastern Africa, under way in the Ugandan capital, Kampala, until 22 June.

The successful second round of presidential elections on two of the three islands in the Union of Comoros has been overshadowed by the continuing political crisis on the third island, Anjouan. The elections on Sunday 24 June on the islands of Grand Comore and Moheli went "very, very smoothly", the UN Resident Coordinator in the Comoros, Opia Mensah Kumah, told IRIN.

The African Union will help its member states to develop a strategy for engaging China and other emerging economic powers from the South as a bloc, a senior AU official has said. Tarana Loumabeka, co-ordination and liaison manager in the AU’s Department of Trade and Industry, said the continental organisation has been directed by its Summit to play a bigger role in the relations between Africa and China, India, Brazil and Turkey.

When history is reduced from all the pages and pages to the underlining conclusion, we find regardless of if the author is British liberal, American conservative, or Australian the conclusion is the same. Africa has fostered nothing the Western World considers artifacts of civilization. With few exceptions, this is the underlying summarization on Africa, the pathology of discrediting and take-away, writes Owen Alik Shahadah.

To understand the entire discourse on Africa and African people is to indulge in a vivid exercise in the removal of agency. The primary purpose of this study, new and old is the continuous reassertion of Conrad's “Heart of Darkness.” This is the tradition in anti-African scholarship that provides the moral-academic justification for the slave trade: the most successful commercial venture in the history of humanity. In Europe's bid to protect their trade interest, the marriage between racist academia and the exploitation of Africa had to be made. The need for the continuation of this tradition is not lost in today's markets, which are heavily dependent on sustaining the impoverishment of Africa. Africa today continues to be the primary testing bed for new drugs, social experiments, cheap labor and raw material. A wealthy Africa would create stronger corruption-free government, which in turn would be an antigen to Western imperialist designs. The reality of Africa on-the-ground is a continent locked into a blind subservient orbit. Africa is the junk-yard of the Western World, the sole purpose of the continent is not for the native African, but for the harvesting of materials to construct Western civilization.

People speak from their cultural perspective; this in itself is not a problem. It is a natural aspect of human behavior. When Americans speak of tragedy, they reference their 9/11. However, 9/11 is a date in world history and may have significance to another culture. In Iraq, they have much reason to identify with other incidence in their recent history to reference tragedy, like 11/23. [1] The problem comes when the localized experience of one culture or nation is imposed on the reality of others directly outside of this experience.

Denial of agency

When African history is reduced the underlining conclusion we find, regardless of if the author is British liberal, American conservative, or Australian is the same: Africa has fostered nothing the Western World considers artifacts of civilization. With few exceptions, this is the underlying summarization on Africa, the pathology of discrediting and take-away:

* Ethiopia – Not of African Origin
* Egypt – Not of African origin
* Sudan – Not of African origin
* Mali – Not of African origin
* The Moorish Empire – Not African
* Ancient Zimbabwe – Not of African origin

There is nothing glorious in Africa that has not been reassigned to “White” ownership. And some are confused about terms like Arab, but Arabs from the perspective of Eurocentric history are a “Middle-Eastern Caucasoid,” so quite happily will they reassign Ancient Egypt or Islamic Spain to Arab people. The question for the discerning student of history is; why do all the conclusions always serve to empower Europeans and disempower Africans. It does not matter if they use archeology or genetics, linguistics; the conclusions always make a deposit towards the greatness of Europe, and a deduction from the glory of Africa.

• Who ended the slave trade- Europe
• Who stopped the Arab trade – Europe
• Who was the greatest Abolitionist – A European
• The greatest scientist, thinker, architect, composers, inventors – Europeans
• Who invented modern civilization – Europe
• Who invented everything good – Europe
• Who is the most civilized - Europe

The question that should is left hanging is “What has indigenous Africa contributed to the world?” Because the history of take-away has reduced Africa to nothing, thus validating the old statement “Africa is of no historical significance.” So how are today’s scholars any different from David Hume and Kant? If all their conclusions reduced all the nobility of Africa to given, borrowed or stolen. The ultimate hero in every single story is the European; it is the most inescapable imposed reality the world is forced to accept.

Making a slave

In the analysis of the paradigm “the making of a slave” the removal of agency from Africa was the first instruction needed in the creation of a “cooperative work-force.” Africans taken to the New World had no authority over their life; they were not even allowed to commit suicide. And the reason for adversity to African suicide was not religious or commercially motivated. It was not the fear of losing “merchandise” but moreover the mental domination and removal of all forms of self-ownership from the psyche of the African captives. The re-labeling and amalgamation of the Mandika, Fulani, Igbo, Asante, into one bland color label- black, was part of the greater process of absolute reduction of African identity: A color epithet that Europe believed to be the lowest color on Earth, thus reflecting the social designation of African people in European psyche. But for slavery to work this reality had to be transferred from the European mind to the African mind. Africans had to believe what Europe believed about Africa and Africans. Cultures, ethnicity, legacy, royalty, lineage was now melted down to a single entity—slave. The slave had no past and certainly no future, save for after death when they were allowed to service a white god in an abstract heaven.

When we traverse the globe today and look at oppressed people, we see that despite their oppression, they are fully conscious of self, they have religion and culture, which they proudly use to, distinguishes themselves from their oppressors. The Jews in Hitler's death camps knew they were Jewish, they had their Torah, they had the Talmud and they had their history, which was reinforced by a Jewish culture. No amount of “special treatment” could alter the Jewish religion or their historical legacy. However, Africans by a process of the most hideous system in humanity were removed and later denied access to their history. Africans could not be attached to greatness as this would then beg the question, if these people were capable of science, engineering, social structure and kingdoms, how can their function be as beast-of-burden? How can a people who forged Timbuktu, Aksum, Kanem-Bornu, Egypt, Nubia, Great Zimbabwe, Ancient Ghana, Songhay, Sokoto Caliphate, Monomotapa be now mere labor units, movable chattel, branded like cattle, confined, de-robed, whipped, and reduced?

It was essential to institutionalize the myth of a dark and savage Africa occupied by heathen cannibals who were saved by Europeans from absolute misery at the hands of their countrymen and marauding Arabs. History narrates that the European in their mercy did Africans a tremendous favor by bringing them to work in well-nurtured plantations in the West, allowing their lives to be touched by a white god, delivering them from savagery to culture, civilization and industrialization. And today this core racism is dressed with roses and resold in the form of the likes of John Reader et al.

Academic racism and agency

The legacy of the African Holocaust has made a profound affect on African academics: It puts the African at a chessboard where all the pieces are white. And because of the profound disinheritance in areas of social-economic, there has been a natural disinheritance in areas of academics. Africans do not have access to research aspects of their history, and even if they do they are trapped in scholarships programs from European institutions. And even if they survive this ‘killing field’ they need to return their work to European controlled publishing houses, if by divine intervention they escape this, there is the distribution issue to deal with. With the volumes of publish works by the “Hitler's of the African Holocaust” it is impossible for Africans to gain any authoritative stance in their own history. Year after year, the bookshelves are filled with one opinion, that of the most perjorative ideas on Africa. Just take a look in the African history section of ‘Barnes and Noble’ or ‘Books, etc.’ And if an African author is to be found it is likely those singing the loudest from this Eurocentric music score.

Oxford academic [[J.R. Baker]] listed that a civilization is comprised of 21 basic components which where critical to demarcate the degree of civilization of a race. His conclusion was that Caucasians met all 21 criteria in Iraq, Crete, India, and in Egypt, and the Asians met them all in China. The Africans and Australian aborigines met virtually none of the 21 criteria. ‘’Race’’. J.R. Baker’’, 1974, p 507-508

Baker, in his book, argues that a society originates a “civilization” if, prior to influence from outsiders, (FN1) most of its members meet most of these 21 requirements (), where “Africans” means sub-Saharan African

The self-referencing of the “old boys” like Hume and Kant is valid today because it is old, white, and used many, many times. We often hear “so and so is acknowledged by everyone to be one of the most prominent scholars of …” so and so is always white. Final authority is white, the accepted standard in academics is the white verdict on Ancient Egypt, Axsum etc. Scholarship is a white only seat, academic apartheid with no room for debate. They say with one breath that some of these old academics were “men of their time” but they still keep saying these people were the ‘definitive guide to Africa.’ How can you say something is wrong but keep using it as a definitive source? The complete dismantlement (deconstruction) of the academic paradigm of authority needs to be a first step in a pure analysis, and it is for Africans to adopt this approach as bases for articulating and imposing a new academic identify on Africa.

African history on an African schedule in an African format for an African agenda. Africans must determine the placement and the process by which African history and culture is taught, disseminated, absorbed and weighted. The agenda setting and permission slips from Europe are the legacy of mental enslavement. The agency of Africa means just that African people as agents of all aspects of their history, politics and culture. This is not a statement of supremacy but mere equality. And for this reason the Maafa studies is a key sign of the Pan-African paradigm-shift where the legacy of the African Holocaust on African people globally is studied within the framework of the natural history in which the Maafa occurred. The emphasis in the historical narrative is on African agents.

Europe solution for Africa

“Begging the fox to save you from the wolf.”

The premises behind much of the solutions for Africa are in the ideal that a hurting Africa needs a humanist hand from Europe. This is like appealing to the fox to save you from the wolf. An agreement in the United Nations’ Security Council or other diabolical agencies such as the World Bank is like an agreement among a choir, and such agreements are not meant to provide any relief to the problems of Africa. NEPAD insist that a richer Africa is in the interest of the entire world, true or false, this assumption will not appeal to the morality of a world system that never in its legacy acted along a moral compass. From “Feed Africa” to “Make Poverty History” which are mere sloganeering programs with no genuine effect to the teeming population of the continent. These campaigns are industries unto themselves that create billions of dollars and generate millions of jobs for Europeans. Entire European not African business exists that sustain their product line entirely from the poverty of Africa. We are naïve and childish to believe a richer Africa is in the interest of Europe. Poor people do not have the luxury of liberalism and freedom of speech. Poor people have no point of view other than “feed me”, Poor people are absent from the luxury of agency. And a poor Africa will always be a slave to a richer Europe.

Today at every major anti-slavery or save Africa project is lead by a European deciding and inviting personalities from the African world to sit at “THEIR” table, to discuss Africa’s problems. The frontline for Make Poverty History is a “museum of rock star” beyond their performance years, probably seeking redemption and revival; Gedolf is the expert on famine, Bono the authority on AIDS. Bob Geldof, the Jesus and Tarzan character all rolled into one. The first name that comes to mind when abolition is whispered is William Wilberforce and Granville Sharpe. Walking in the legacy of Dr. Livingston, I presume: A man who single-handedly ended the ENTIRE Arab Slave trade. Again, the agency in African liberation is Europe. None of these ‘saviors’ of Africa even deal with how Africa found itself in the endless cycle of horror. What kind of world do we live in when the views of the oppressed are expressed at the convenience of the rich?

Language of racism

To highlight the academic dilemma against Africans it is necessarily to just site one of Europe’s key historians on slavery. The age of the work and the period it was written in seem to make little impression in universities today, who seem to neglect the social status of Africans in the time these so-called scholarly books were being written in. It also neglects to highlight the mindset of the authors of these works and their contribution to the obscuring and footnoting of African history and African contributions to civilization. Men who would be labeled by a self-determined African today are referenced and cited with little challenge. Despite all the new research and development, this dead racist scholarship is still held high as the authentic source on Africa. Almost as if the more you reference a bad source the more authentic it becomes. The foundation of history of Africa cannot be studied outside of the dynamics of race and racism in the writings of African conquers. This is not to dismiss their entire work, but surely to raise the red flag of sincerity, and subsequently expose the agendas behind these scribbling. J.D. Fage sits high on this throne of Anti-African rhetoric [2].

“Today, however, some scholars assert that slavery did not have a wholly disastrous effect on those left behind in Africa.” [3]

We must assume there is again some degree of salvation in the actions of the Europeans enslaving Africans. It is like saying the Jewish Holocaust was not entirely beneficial because some Jews got senior position in the Nazi army, or slavery was good because Africans got free Caribbean cruises.

“At its peak, the Atlantic slave trade took about 90,000 slaves per year out of a total population of around 25 million in just Guinea, where the vast majority originated. This number was significant, yet only a moderate annual growth rate in population was enough to sustain it by replacement. Therefore, the slave trade is unlikely to have caused a decrease in the population of West Africa, though it may have reduced or even halted population growth in some regions.” [4]

Again, we see the apology and denial of the consequences of enslavement [5]. What this is saying is the harvesting of African people was done sustainable and that it had no demographic consequences on birth rate, it would be worth mentioning that the most viral and healthiest members where been exported overseas so it is inconceivable that it would not affect population demographics not to mention settlement patterns and human social potential.

The Nok civilization is argued by some to prove that Africa had a civilization prior to the arrival of Europe.

This kind of tone appears to vindicate Africa but it actually introduces reasonable doubt. Its references again the false notion of a primitive Africa as a half-valid hypothesis for it shows by implication that anything or everything in Africa has to be articulated by juxtaposition. African civilization does not require any proof or revolutionary rethink. This kind of reasoning follows from “he seems very educated for a black” or “you see they are not all savages.” What needs to be done is exposed the motives behind those removing African agency from the annals of world cultural contributions.

“For those left behind in Africa the standard of living increased substantially and the region became divided into highly centralized and powerful nation states, such as Dahomey and the Ashanti Confederacy. It also created a class of very wealthy and highly Europeanized traders who began to send their children to European Universities. [6]

The contempt in Eurocentrism is so self-evident it almost needs no commentary to identify either intention or fallacies. It is be restated the source of this material comes from a respected seminal academic and authority on Africa. Before Europe, we know the Kanka Musa had gold reserves that made Ancient Mali one of the riches economies in the Ancient world. It is also a fact that Sankore was an African university so notable that Arabs and others came to study there. All of these non-direct facts retort the claims that contact with Europe brought power and education. Also the statement about Europeanized traders is intended by the author as a compliment a kind of accession of the African from savage beast to Europeanized. Fage trips and stabs himself with his own pen and exposes and implements himself as one of the historical agents of academic racism that has distorted the African historical timeline.

Conclusion

It is the responsibility of the next generation of academics to re-interpret the works of their predecessors. This is not a duty exclusive to the victims of Eurocentric academic racism but rather to all. The plurality and multicultural world is far safer if we all exist in an environment of balance and fairness overriding the miss-motives of the past. We must sail the ship of truth on the sea of lies, against the tide of repetition, for this is the only way to erase the pre-assumed notion that washes and perverts the greatest human science--history.

REFERENCES

1. On November 23, 2006, a savage string of bombing attacks erupted on the capital's Shi'ite Sadr City slum to kill at least 215 people and wound 257.
2. The reclaimed history Man
3. A History of Africa: J.D. Fage pg. 261
4. A History of Africa: J.D. Fage pg. 260
5. Maulana Karenga 500 YEARS LATER, Film
6 History of Africa: J.D. Fage pg. 274

* Owen 'Alik Shahadah is a director, African academic , writer, musician, photographer and music producer. He is best known for authoring works, which deal with African history, social justice, environmental issues, education and world peace. Born in Hanover, Germany and educated in both England and the Caribbean, Shahadah is of a new generation of African Diaspora filmmakers inspired by the likes of Ousmane Sembène and Haile Gerima. He produces work that articulates a multidimensional African world perspective. Testimony to this is 500 Years Later.

* Owen 'Alik Shahadah is a director, African academic , writer, musician, photographer and music producer. He is best known for authoring works, which deal with African history, social justice, environmental issues, education and world peace. Born in Hanover, Germany and educated in both England and the Caribbean, Shahadah is of a new generation of African Diaspora filmmakers inspired by the likes of Ousmane Sembène and Haile Gerima. He produces work that articulates a multidimensional African world perspective. Testimony to this is 500 Years Later.

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

South Africa has played an intimate role in the recent Nigerian elections. Despite what the ANC government claims, South Africa’s foreign policy towards Africa is not based on Pan-Africanism or anti-imperialism; it is rather based on promoting South Africa’s expanding business interests on the continent. In reality, the South African state’s interests, in both the domestic and African arena, have become fused with those South Africa’s capitalist elite. The ruling party in Nigeria has served the South African capital and the state’s interests well. It has facilitated the process whereby South Africa has become a major economic player in Nigeria in only 8 years, writes Shawn Hattingh.

From the very start, the recent Nigerian elections, which saw Olusegun Obasanjo placing his hand picked successor, Umaru Yar’ Adua, into the Presidential palace, were mired in controversy. The ballot papers for the election, which were printed in South Africa, contained no counter foils or serial numbers – features which would have made vote rigging difficult. In fact, only 40 million ballot papers were even printed; this for an election where over 65 million people had registered to vote [1]. To make matters worse, only 30% of these ballot papers were ever sent to Nigeria; the rest remained lying in a warehouse in Johannesburg on day of the elections [2]. Of the ballot papers that were sent to Nigeria, most were rushed off to areas that were and are strongholds of Obasanjo’s and Yar’ Adua’s ruling party, the People’s Democratic Party. In contrast, areas where there was strong opposition to the government, such as the Niger Delta, did not receive enough ballot papers. On the day of the election, independent observers noted that vote rigging and fraud were rife. Yar’ Adua supporters were even seen stuffing fraudulent ballot papers into ballot boxes at voter stations across the county [3]. Intimidation of opposition supporters was also widespread. In fact, over 200 people, mainly members of the opposition parties, were murdered in the run up to the elections [4]. This situation that led most independent observers to declare the elections deeply flawed.

The South African government, however, had a very different view of the elections. Spearheaded by Thabo Mbeki, it came out and said the elections had been free and fair. Indeed, South Africa was the first country to congratulate and offer support to the ruling party’s candidate, Yar’ Adua, on ‘winning’ the elections [5]. Immediately following this, he was invited to Tshwane to have a personal congratulatory meeting with Thabo Mbeki. The question is: why would the South African government fall over itself to congratulate Yar’ Adua on ‘winning’ an election that was so clearly rigged? The answer to this question lies in South Africa’s policy towards Africa, in the form of New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), the relationship that it has with the ruling party in Nigeria, and the expansionist agenda that South African corporations and parastatals have in Nigeria.

South Africa’s policy towards Africa: neo-liberalism and NEPAD

Despite what the ANC government claims, South Africa’s foreign policy towards Africa is not based on Pan-Africanism or anti-imperialism; it is rather based on promoting South Africa’s expanding business interests on the continent. In reality, the South African state’s interests, in both the domestic and African arena, have become fused with those South Africa’s capitalist elite.

In Africa, South Africa has used it hegemonic position, based on leadership by consent and at times coercion, to develop a neo-liberal policy – NEPAD - for the entire continent. The close relationship that exists between the South African state and South African capital is the main reason why NEPAD emerged [6]. Representatives of South Africa’s capitalist class, along with other neo-liberal government advisors, played a central role in developing NEPAD. In true hegemonic fashion, however, South Africa also brought junior partners on board, such as ex-president Obasanjo of Nigeria, so that it could pass its own initiative off as an African initiative.

Nonetheless, South Africa’s control over NEPAD is underpinned by the fact that NEPAD’s headquarters are situated in South Africa. It is also no mere coincidence that Thabo Mbeki’s main economic advisor, Professor Wisemen Nkuhlu, is the executive head of NEPAD.

NEPAD itself is based on some of the classic pillars of neo-liberal economic fundamentalism. It views the private sector as the main driving force of the African economy. As such, NEPAD states that all barriers to companies making profits in African countries, such as Nigeria, should be removed. It explicitly promotes the development of the private sector; privatisation; free trade; financial liberalisation; labour flexibility; and foreign direct investment in Africa [7]. Indeed, NEPAD states that foreign direct investment is its most important pillar. Considering that South African corporations and parastatals are already responsible for the vast majority of foreign direct investment in Africa, it is very clear who stands to benefit. In fact, all of NEPAD’s neo-liberal pillars are creating a climate that facilitates the expansion and profiteering of South African companies in Africa. The reality is that NEPAD aims to further entrench the neo-liberal policies that the IMF and World Bank imposed on Africa, only this time the South African government hopes it will be to the advantage of South African multinationals [8]. Wisemen Nkuhlu stated as much in 2003, when he said:

“South Africa’s self interest in the socio-economic development of the continent is well understood by business. South Africa needs markets for her products and access to raw materials that are not produced in South Africa. Countries like Angola, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea and many other countries have resources that are of economic interest to South Africa…. Supporting and sponsoring NEPAD, places South Africa in a strong position to become the preferred development partner by a number of African countries”[9] .

The South African state has not only opened up Nigeria’s economy to South African investments and exports through NEPAD, it has also done so through bi-lateral agreements and a Bi-national Commission.

South Africa’s bi-lateral interventions in Nigeria

Prior to 1999, South Africa had a poor political relationship with Nigeria. At the time, Nigeria was ruled by a military junta that was politically hostile towards South Africa. This, however, dramatically changed with the end of the military government and the election of the People’s Democratic Party’s leader, Obasanjo, as the Nigerian president in 1999. From that point on, the South African state built a strong, but unequal relationship with the People’s Democratic Party government under the leadership of Obasanjo and Yar’ Adua. This relationship was also helped by the fact that Thabo Mbeki had formed a strong friendship with Obasanjo and Yar’ Adua when he was in exile in Nigeria from 1976 to 1979 [10].

In 1999, the South African and Nigerian governments signed bi-lateral agreements on trade and investment. These agreements, amongst other things, aimed to increase the amount of trade and investments between South Africa and Nigeria [11]. Along with this, the agreement on investments specifically protected South African companies’ investments in Nigeria, which included protection from any possible future nationalisation [12]. Indeed, the agreement on investments was highly favourable for prospective South African investors in Nigeria. Added to this, the two governments also signed an agreement on eradicating double taxation. This meant that South African companies that paid tax in Nigeria would not have to pay tax again on profits that were, and are, repatriated to South Africa [13]. Such measures were aimed at increasing the attractiveness of Nigeria for South African investors.

In October 1999, a South Africa-Nigeria Bi-National Commission was also established by the South African and Nigerian governments. The Bi-National Commission has been meeting twice a year ever since, and aims to increase the amount of trade and investment between South Africa and Nigeria. The Deputy Presidents of South Africa and Nigeria head up the commission. Representatives from all government departments attend the meetings along with top South African business people. At the meetings, trade and investment opportunities in Nigeria are identified and plans are put in place so that they can be realised. In this way, many deals that have proved very lucrative for South African companies and parastatals have been facilitated through the Bi-National Commission.

The South Africa-Nigeria Chamber of Commerce also arose out of the Bi-National Commission. Some of the largest South African companies that have investments in Nigeria are members of the Chamber, such as MTN, Standard Bank, First Rand, Imperial, Johncom, Massmart, Nampak and Sun International [14]. The main goal of the South African-Nigerian Chamber of Commerce is to identify investment opportunities in Nigeria for South African corporations [15]. Added to this, the South African-Nigerian Chamber of Commerce also provides information on Nigerian government policies and how to do business in Nigeria. It also conducts market research for South African companies wanting to invest Nigeria. The Chamber receives strong support from the

South African government. On many occasions the President, Deputy President and other government officials have addressed and offered support to members of the Chamber. Linked to this, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) launched the South African-Nigeria Business Investment Forum to assist South African companies wanting to invest in Nigeria [16].

The South African High Commission in Nigeria also provides massive assistance to South African companies investing, or wishing to invest in Nigeria. In fact, it works closely with the South Africa-Nigeria Chamber of Commerce and the DTI to further South African business interests in Nigeria. It also provides various services to prospective South African investors in Nigeria, including providing contacts and information on Nigeria’s business climate.

All of the above measures have been extremely valuable in furthering South Africa’s business interests in Nigeria. Indeed, the South African state has used its diplomatic power and the relationship that it has with the Nigerian government to assist South African corporations and parastatals to become big players in the Nigerian economy.

South African corporations and parastatals have become big players in Nigeria

Prior to 1999, there were only 4 South African companies operating in Nigeria [17]. This situation has dramatically changed with the assistance of the South African state, and the signing of bi-lateral agreements and the establishment of a Bi-National Commission. Today there are now over 100 South African companies doing business in Nigeria [18]. Within a mere 8 years, South African companies have become major players in almost every sector of Nigerian economy.

The biggest investment by South African companies in Nigeria has been in the telecommunications sector. In 2001, MTN was awarded a license by the Nigerian government to operate a cell phone network in the country. In return, MTN had to pay licensing fees of over US $ 285 million. Added to this, MTN has spent a further US $ 1 billion on setting up its operations in Nigeria [19]. Currently, MTN is the largest cellular network company in Nigeria and has over 10 million subscribers [20]. This has seen MTN making massive profits in the country. In 2004 alone, MTN recorded an after tax profit of over R 2.4 billion in Nigeria [21]. Such profits have led other South African telecommunications companies to also set up shop in Nigeria in a bid to get a piece of the very lucrative pie. This year, Telkom announced that it was buying Multilinks, which operates a wireless network in Nigeria, for US $ 200 million [22].

South African companies have also become dominant in Nigeria’s construction sector. Entech, a Stellenbosch based engineering company, headed a consortium of South African companies that were awarded a tender worth R 2.1 billion from the Lagos State government to redevelop the Bar Beach and Victoria Island area outside of Lagos. The idea is to turn the area into a complex akin to the V&A Waterfront [23]. Another South African construction firm, Group Five, was awarded a R 585 million deal to build a power station in Nigeria for the Ibom Power company [24].

Many large South African companies have also invaded the tourism and leisure sector in Nigeria. Under NEPAD, the South African parastatal, the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) has become one of the largest investors in Nigeria’s tourist sector. To date it has invested over US $ 1.4 billion in tourism and telecommunications ventures in Nigeria [25]. Another major player in the tourism sector is the South African company Bidvest. Through its subsidiary, Tourvest, it has purchased one of the biggest tourism companies in Nigeria, Touchdown Travel. The biggest development in the Nigerian tourism sector, however, is the massive Tinapa Project in the Cross River State. This project falls under the auspices of NEPAD and has the full backing of the South African and Nigerian governments. The project entails the construction of a massive entertainment complex, consisting of 4 shopping centres, 5 bulk warehouses, 4 hotels, and a casino, and is set to cost over US $ 300 million [26]. The major stakeholders in this development are South African companies, such as the Standard Bank, Tsogo Sun, Broll, Johncom and Southern Sun. Indeed, the centre pieces of this development will be a 300 room hotel owned by Southern Sun and a casino owned by Tsogo Sun. Another South African company, Broll, will be the leasing agents of the complex. The South African state has provided direct assistance to these companies so that they can carry out this project. Indeed, the state owned IDC has provided finance, and has underwritten these companies’ investments in this project.

In the Nigerian retail sector, South African companies also loom large. Massmart and Shoprite have opened a number of stores in Nigeria. Added to this, Johncom has established a number of stores selling books, CDs and DVDs in Nigeria [27]. A number of South African companies have also entered into the fast food business, including Famous Brands, St Elmo’s and Nandos. In fact, South African companies control almost 50% of the international fast food franchising industry in Nigeria, and have out competed companies from both the European Union and the United States. Considering that the fast food industry in Nigeria is worth over US $ 2.5 billion a year, this control over the fast food franchising business in Nigeria has meant that South African companies have made super profits 28]. The South African property management group, Broll, has also landed a deal to manage 594 retail fuel stations across Nigeria [29]. This deal too is worth millions of dollars.

South African companies are also heavily involved in Nigeria’s media and entertainment sector. DSTV is a major force in the television industry and accounts for 90% of the viewers that watch satellite TV in Nigeria [30]. This has seen DSTV growing into the sixth largest company listed on the Lagos Stock Exchange. Johncom has also eagerly entered into the Nigerian entertainment sector. It has established cinema complexes throughout Nigeria. One of these cinema complexes, in Lagos, cost US $ 40 million dollars to develop [31]. Along with this, Johncom has purchased one of the largest daily newspapers in Nigeria, Business Day [32]. South Africa’s parastatals have also ventured into the entertainment industry. For example, Arivia.com was provided with a contract worth R 140 million by the Nigerian government to assist with the running of that country’s lottery.

Since adopting NEPAD, the Nigerian state has been accelerating the privatisation process in the country. South African parastatals have been one of the major beneficiaries of this process. Indeed, through its parastatals, the South African state has become directly involved in accumulating capital in Nigeria. For example, as part of the move towards privatisation, the Nigerian government provided Umgeni Water with R 350 million contract to manage Port Harcourt’s water services for 3 years. At the moment, this contract could possibly be extended to 20 years [33]. If it is extended, it would be a massive money-spinner for Umgeni Water and the South African state.

As part of the privatisation of the energy sector, the Nigerian government allowed the state owned ESKOM to buy a 51% stake in the Nigerian Electric Power Authority (NEPA). With this, ESKOM received contracts worth US $ 165 million from the Nigerian government. Eskom has also entered into a partnership with Shell in Nigeria to upgrade and operate gas powered power stations. The Nigerian government has granted Eskom and Shell a US $ 540 million contract to operate power stations in Port Harcourt [34]. It is very interesting that ESKOM, a company owned by the South African state, wished to enter into a partnership with Shell considering Shell’s appalling human rights and environmental record in Nigeria. Indeed, Shell has destroyed the environment of the Niger Delta and has been directly responsible for over 3 000 oil spills in that area since 1976. Added to this, Shell, along with the Nigerian government, has been implicated in the murder of over 2 000 activists in the Niger Delta since the 1980s [35]. Clearly, the South African government and ESKOM are not interested in this; what they are interested in, however, is profit.

Prior to 1999, the Nigerian government awarded all of the oil concessions in the country to companies from the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Italy. As a result, companies from the Northern imperial powers dominated Nigeria’s oil sector. After 1999, this situation began to change, in part because of the close relationship that the new Nigerian government had, and has, with the South African government. Companies from the Northern imperial powers, although still dominant, no longer have a complete monopoly over the oil concessions in Nigeria; companies from South Africa, China and India have also got a piece of the action. One of the first actions of Obasanjo’s government in 1999 was to award the South African state the right to market 50 000 barrels of Nigerian oil a day. In 2003, Thabo Mbeki intervened to ensure that this was increased to 120 000 barrels of oil a day. However, the South African government has selected to pass on the rights to market this oil to a shadowy company, the South African Oil Company, which is registered in the Cayman Islands. The South African Oil Company in the Cayman Islands is 70% owned by a Nigerian-American businessman, Jakes Lawal. Who owns the other 30%, however, is a mystery [36]. Indeed, the Cayman Island law system protects the identity of the shareholders that own the other 30%. Lawal, however, has close connections with leading ANC figures. In fact, the Mail and Guardian, reported that rumours have been circulating that the ANC directly benefited from this deal. Indeed, it is interesting that the Cayman Island’s South African Oil Company also has a sister company registered in South Africa. It is perhaps no co-incidence that some of the shareholders in this sister company happen to be leading ANC figures. These shareholders are:

• Nomusa Mufamadi, wife of Sydney Mufamadi
• Hintsa Siwisa, brother-in-law of the Eastern Cape Premier
• Miles Nzama, leading figure in the ANC Fundraising Trust
• and Brian Casey, a confidant of Penuell Maduna [37]

Other, more genuine South African companies have also enjoyed receiving oil concessions from the Nigerian government. Ophir Energy, owned by Tokyo Sexwale’s Mvelephanda Resources, has been given the right to drill for oil in several blocks in Nigeria. This is bound to add to Ophir’s current value of over R 14 billion [38]. The parastatal PetroSA has also been given the right to drill in a number of oil blocks. Added to this, PetroSA owns Brass Exploration Unlimited in Nigeria. Through this company, PetroSA and the South African state have a 40% interest in the Abana oilfield off the Nigerian coast. Currently, the Abana oilfield is producing 22 000 barrels of oil a day [39]. Some South African companies have also entered into partnerships with well established multinational oil companies operating in Nigeria. For example, SASOL has entered into a 50/50 partnership with Chevron to develop a gas to fuel plant at Chevron’s Escravos oil terminal [40]. This plant will cost US $ 1.3 billion and is planned to come on line this year [41]. It will initially produce 33 000 barrels of fuel a day, but this will be increased to as much as 120 000 barrels a day over the next 10 years [42]. A number of South African firms have also become involved in providing services to the oil multinationals in Nigeria. Most notably, Grinaker established an oil-rig fabrication yard in Port Harcourt in 2000. It assembles and services the oil rigs that multinational oil companies use in the Niger Delta at that facility [43].

The Nigerian people have not benefited from South Africa’s expanding investment

Despite all this investment, the people of Nigeria have not benefited. This is partly because South African corporations operating in Nigeria are allowed to repatriate the profits that they make out of Nigeria. Added to this, many of Nigeria’s economic sectors have become completely foreign owned, which has had negative implications for the country’s sovereignty. The majority of South African corporations also source most of the products that they use or sell in Nigeria through South Africa and not locally. This means they operate in an enclave and do not promote the creation of up stream or down stream industries in Nigeria. South African companies operating in Nigeria have also created very few jobs. The jobs that they have created have tended to be casual. At many South African owned companies in Nigeria, workers have been denied the right to join trade unions [44]. For example, despite its massive profits, MTN has only created 500 permanent jobs. Most of its employees are casual or temporary workers, and it has denied all of its workers the right to join a trade union [45].

South African companies have also been involved in blatant profiteering and looting in Nigeria. Indeed, MTN charges the highest rates in the world for cellular phone calls in Nigeria [46]. Along with this, some South African companies have implemented heavy handed tactics to recover revenue owed to them by Nigerian consumers [47]. In fact, ESKOM/NEPA has hired 10 South African companies to collect the debt that it was, and is, owed by Nigerian consumers . Some South African companies have even been involved in, or were complacent in, human rights abuses in Nigeria. For example, in 2005 there was a community protest outside of the Escravos oil terminal where Chevron and SASOL are establishing their gas to fuel plant. Representatives of these companies at the Escravos oil terminal called in Nigerian security forces to break up the demonstration. On arrival, the Nigerian forces opened fire on the crowd, killing one person and injuring a further 30. Some of the protesters were then severely beaten with rifle butts and other weapons. Added to this, access to the healthcare facilities at the Escravos terminal was denied to the injured protesters. The result was that it took several hours for the injured protesters to find their way to a hospital [48].

Conclusion

From the above, it is clear that the ruling party in Nigeria has served the South African capital and the state’s interests well. It has facilitated the process whereby South Africa has become a major economic player in Nigeria in only 8 years. Indeed, South Africa has joined the older imperial powers in looting Nigeria’s resources and dominating its economy. It is, therefore, no wonder that the South African government immediately offered its congratulations to Obasanjo’s hand picked successor, Yar’ Adua’ directly after the elections. Indeed, Yar’ Adua has vowed to continue with the Obasanjo’s policies, and inevitably this will include serving South Africa’s interests well in Nigeria; even to the detriment of the Nigerian people. For as long as Yar’ Adua carries out policies that favour South African capital and the state, he can count on the backing of the Africa’s own imperial power, South Africa.

For references, see link below.

* Shawn Hattingh Works for ILRIG in Cape Town

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

Joseph Yav argues that poverty alleviation requires a holistic approach with cooperation and collaboration between all stakeholders including governments.

In light of the enormous challenges facing the global community to eradicate poverty, the international development community in 2000 adopted specific targets for poverty reduction, now known as the MDGs. The eight MDGs seek to achieve a number of goals: eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; achieve universal primary education; promote gender equality; reduce child mortality; improve maternal health; fight HIV/Aids, malaria and other diseases; increase environmental sustainability; and forge a global partnership for development. The overarching goal is to halve income poverty worldwide by 2015.

Despite the commitments contained in the MDGs, poverty and hunger is on the increase resulting in an ever-growing disparity between rich and poor, between and within nations. Africa exemplifies these particular challenges: the challenge of peace, the struggle against poverty and the struggle for development. It is not enough merely to recognise the fact that there are problems and challenges. The bigger issue is what can be done to respond to all of these challenges.

As many critiques have noted, among the shortcomings of the MDGs, it is always emphasized their insufficient coverage of human rights, gender and employment issues. This paper will address a shared commitment to promoting the interconnected goals of development, peace and security, and respect for human rights.

Human rights and poverty

Despite the international mandate for a human rights approach to poverty eradication, such an approach, though based on venerable antecedents, has tended to be neglected in justifications for the eradication of poverty.

From the human rights point of view, the ideal of free human beings enjoying freedom from fear and want can be achieved only if conditions are created whereby everyone may enjoy his or her economic, social and cultural rights, as well as his or her civil and political rights. In this regard, article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights stipulates that:

Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, … or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.

Therefore, the eradication of widespread poverty, including its most persistent forms, and the full enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights and civil and political rights remain interrelated goals. Human rights may not only be used as an approach to attaining the goods entailed in the MDGs. They are entailed in the goals set by the MDGs themselves in so far as they seek the attainment of a certain minimum way of life for people.

Democratic Governance

Democratic governance is central to the achievement of the MDGs, as it provides the ‘enabling environment' for the realisation of the MDGs and, in particular, the elimination of poverty. The critical importance of democratic governance in the developing world was highlighted at the Millennium Summit of 2000, where the world's leaders made a solemn resolution – “[to] spare no effort to promote democracy and strengthen the rule of law, as well as respect for all internationally recognized human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the right to development." A consensus was reached which recognised that improving the quality of democratic institutions and processes, and managing the changing roles of the state and civil society in an increasingly globalised world must underpin national efforts to reduce poverty, sustain the environment, and promote human development.

Since then, more countries than ever before are working to build democratic governance. Their challenge however, is to develop institutions and processes that are more responsive to the needs of ordinary citizens, including the poor. African leaders should develop a greater capacity to deliver basic services to those most in need. CSOs should assist in doing this process.

Links between development, Peace and security

Peace and security are a prerequisite of poverty elimination. In fact, without peace and security there can be no lasting development and poverty reduction. The lack of, and failures in development can be seen as contributing to instability and the eruption of conflict. Experience demonstrates that poverty, hopelessness, inequity and marginalisation are often among the root causes of devastating conflict. In crisis situations, and in societies emerging from conflict, human rights are often violated. International support for governance mechanisms leading to the restoration of the rule of law is important for the protection of human rights.

Development and security are inextricably linked. A more secure world is only possible if poor countries are given a real chance to develop. In one hand, extreme poverty and infectious diseases threaten many people directly, but they also provide a fertile breeding-ground for other threats, including civil conflict. Even people in rich countries will be more secure if their governments help poor countries to defeat poverty and disease by meeting the Millennium Development Goals. If completed, it will half global poverty by 2015. Consequently, the international community should not only view ‘soft’ threats as part of the development agenda but also be an important component of the peace and security agenda.

On the other hand, with the “blood diamond” effect, one can say that "war has become profitable". People, who are making money out of war, have a financial interest to ensure that conflict continues. Such phenomena are not unique to Africa. Conflict prevention and resolution and people centred development therefore demands a striving for good governance, inter alia, respect for human rights and rule of law, promotion of transparency and accountability in government and enhancing of administrative and institutional capacity.

What is needed is a holistic approach to the peace and security agenda. The root causes for conflict – poverty, human rights abuses, lack of democracy – must be tackled. There is a need for enhancing focus on conflict prevention, which includes both sustainable social and economic development to prevent conflicts in the first place and post-conflict efforts to prevent them from reigniting. While it is often more easy to raise money for humanitarian efforts than longer-term development assistance, it could in fact be cheaper to prevent conflict than to pay for the damage done afterwards.

Conflict after conflict demonstrates the importance of good governance and viable government institutions. Unequal distribution of economic and political power causes conflict, and governance deficits make conflicts unmanageable. The development cooperation should now consciously gear towards contributing to peace building and conflict prevention.

Conclusion

Alleviating poverty is too daunting a task to be just left to government. It needs an integrated and holistic approach of all stakeholders to harmonise their activities at national and State levels for all the peoples of the world. In developing countries, implementation of the Millennium Goals must focus on mobilizing domestic resources, prioritising budget expenditure on the MDGs, and strengthening human rights, democracy and good governance as specified in the Millennium Declaration

We need to link the agenda of development, human rights and extreme poverty, as well as efforts to empower people living in poverty to participate in decision-making processes on policies that affect them.. We cannot have security amidst starvation and we cannot build peace without alleviating poverty and we cannot have either without a better environment. Only a peaceful society can work its way up to creating the institutions ripe for development and free itself from injustices and human rights abuses.

Suffice is to say, every year around the world millions of families' lives and livelihoods are endangered, and entire communities are displaced due to conflicts - over resources like land, water or oil, between ethnic or religious groups, or over political and social control. In many places, addressing issues of hunger, poverty, and suffering cannot begin until conflicts are resolved and peace established. At the same time, peace building efforts must be tied to the very causes of conflict itself – inequities – and result in improvements in people's everyday needs.

* Joseph Yav is a senior researcher at the Institute for Security Studies based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He works with a network of African research institutes in support of the African peace and security agenda.

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

He was my world
His armour shone
Glittering like diamonds in my eyes

He said I was his best friend
In my eyes, he was the world's strongest man
His words, always to be obeyed

I made excuses for his absences
Hid my disappointment
And tears in his broken promises
I would have died for him

His name was reverent on my lips
His friendship, I felt, was mine for keeps
He said we'd share all he had
His praise meant the world to me

I don't remember seeing much of him
Though I believed that words were meant
To be spoken in a slur
That stale breath, an angry voice and red eyes
Were a sign of male strength
And that the teetering walk was just his style

I was five
He was forty-two
He was my dad

PoP © 27 Jun. 07

“When my husband died, I did not come out openly and say he was killed because I knew the consequences. At the back of my mind, I knew my husband had been assassinated”

Those were the chilling words of Mrs. Rebecca Garang, the widow of the late Liberation fighter, Dr (Col) John Garang de Mabior, leader of the SPLA/M who was killed on July 30 2005 in a helicopter crash on the borders of Uganda, Kenya and Sudan. The helicopter he was traveling in belonged to President Yoweri Museveni, Dr Garang’s closest ally and comrade.

I was one of many people who refused to accept the immediate conclusion then that it was an accident. Not because we missed Garang too much and found it impossible to let go which we did but because the explanation was too obvious.

If anyone wanted to kill Garang (and there were many forces) there was no better cover for an almost perfect crime than for him to be traveling unofficially in the helicopter of his closest ally. Since Khartoum did not officially know that he was leaving the capital anyone of the many vested interests who felt threatened by Garang’s messianic entry into Khartoum early in July that trip provided your best opportunity.

Mrs. Garang has now thrown open widely what many had been suspecting. All the inquiries so far have ‘concluded’ that it is pilot error, bad weather, and other technical conclusions but the dearth was political.

So who could have done it?

My first suspect was and remains the extremist wing of the government and Northern hegemonists in the security and intelligence of the country. Their heart must have shook and their desperation further heightened by the tumultuous welcome from all Sudanese commitment to creating a New Sudan when he arrived in Khartoum to be sworn in July 9 2005. They must have seen their world collapsing before their eyes. A Black prophet arising from the South must seem like end of the world for them. Garang was not the first Black Sudanese to have been made Vice President. Khartoum has had a succession of Black poodles willing to be tools of misrule against their people and the whole of Sudan. But in John Garang, a formidable personality who had distinguished himself both militarily and politically the hegemonists shook at what would happen to their rule were Garang to have the opportunity to reshape the country because Garang could be no one’s errand boy. For Sudanese democrats he was a bridge of hope with the potential of turning the country into a genuinely democratic environment where Sudanese might, in the Martin Luther King hope , ‘ be judged not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character ‘ . The enemies of hope had to act and act quickly before goodness broke out in a country that has been in conflict for most of its post independence (1956) existence.

Khartoum is not the only suspect in Garang’s death. Chief amongst other suspects could be extremist wing of Southern Nationalists whose agenda was to secede from Sudan and may have great fears that Dr John’s commitment to creating a New Sudan uniting the North and the South was a betrayal. Plausible but not probable. They needed Garang and backed him in the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) which gave them the option of full independence by referendum in the course of the 6 year term of the agreement.

Mrs. Garang is herself a believer in Southern Sudan Independence, and between her and her husband they agree to disagree on this issue therefore it is highly unlikely that Southern nationalists killed Dr John.

Mrs. Garang made her public disclosure at an award ceremony by the Jaramogi Oginga Odinga Foundation (JOOF) in Nairobi, Kenya. The late John Garang had been honored with a posthumous Uhuru Award for his contribution to the liberation struggles of Africa. Prof. Dani Wadada Nabudere was the guest speaker on the theme of CONFLICT AS A CATALYST FOR CHANGE.

It was not just about her husband’s death that Mrs. Garang spoke. Her speech also touched on a number of sensitive issues across Africa. One of them is how we treat. Partners of our heroes. Often they are not seen as persons in their own right. They may have been married to heroes but some of them have a place in the struggle in their own rights. Mrs. Garang spoke from the heart but not as a grieving widow rather as a combatant. She disclosed the embarrassing fact that that award by the JOOF was the first time that Dr John was being honored by an African organization. What doe this tells us about the way in which we treat our heroes and heroines. Garang was the recipient of many awards from all kinds of people in Europe ands North America but his first ward from Africa is posthumous and even then from an Independent foundation. Is this yet another case of a prophet having honor but not in his village or not in his life time?

* Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem is the deputy director of the UN Millennium Campaign in Africa, based in Nairobi, Kenya. He writes this article in his personal capacity as a concerned pan-Africanist.

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

Something is brewing at the Kenya Police Airwing and it’s not smelling too good, writes Mwalimu Mati Documents have come to light regarding the award of a US$12.8 million (Ksh 840 million) contract to overhaul 4 Russian built helicopters operated by the Kenya Police Airwing.

It would appear that 9 years after they were bought in 1998, these 4 helicopters have consumed close to US$ 15 million each and Kenyans are now being asked to spend an additional US$ 12.8 million to overhaul them. This calls for an immediate explanation from the Government of Kenya as to why we are throwing good money after bad, servicing these second hand helicopters which have done nothing to improve either our debt or security situation.

Kenyans are also entitled to know what action is contemplated against the public officers (Ministers, Permanent Secretaries and Police Commissioners) over the years who have charged our collective account with what is clearly a bad deal worth over US$ 60 million or Ksh 4.2 billion.

Until these documents surfaced, as far as we knew, the matter of the junk helicopters was at a rest. The position, as we knew it to be, was that as of June 30th 2006, the outstanding debt related to the helicopters remained at just under Ksh 350 million and that this debt was recorded as being owed to J.S. Schroder Bank. It was our hope that the investigations by Kenya Anti Corruption Commission and the special assignment of Price Water House Coopers would eventually reveal the truth about these expensive helicopters, and which public officers and their associates we would be demanding to see punished for the misadventure.

What we could never have imagined is that in 2007, the helicopters would still be used to appropriate even more tax money (actually Ksh 840 million) in what is a dubious contract to overhaul them.

Egypt on Thursday finally banned all female circumcision, the widely practised removal of the clitoris that just days ago cost the life of a 12-year-old girl. Officially the practice - which affects both Muslim and Christian women in Egypt and goes back to the time of the pharaohs - was banned in 1997, but doctors were allowed to operate "in exceptional cases".

Mozambique hopes to recruit 8 000 doctors from other African nations to improve a healthcare system battered by one of the continent's worst Aids pandemics, the country's health minister said on Monday. There are about 650 doctors serving Mozambique's estimated 20-million people. That figure is about three times fewer doctors than recommended by international health authorities.

The peace agreement signed in Ouagadougou by Laurent Gbagbo and Guillaume Soro on 4 March 2007 is a major turning point in resolving Côte d’Ivoire’s armed conflict but is only a first step in the right direction. It is now essential that all Ivorians who want long-term peace work together to ensure the transitional government effectively delivers identity documents to all citizens, collects all weapons still held by militias, embarks on comprehensive security sector reform and provides a credible election process, says a new report by the International Crisis Group.

Three weeks ago, when the trial of former Liberian president Charles Taylor opened in The Hague, the accused made headlines for failing to appear in court. In his former capacity as the president of Liberia, Taylor is accused of having presided over a criminal network of armed combatants, whose crimes in Sierra Leone between 1996 and 2002 amounted to violations of international humanitarian and human rights law.

Betty was nine when her mother told her she would have to leave Nigeria and live with a family friend in the United Kingdom. The girl was sad to leave her five sisters and two brothers, but the family was poor, living in one room, taking turns to sleep on the only bed. In Britain, it seemed, Betty's life would at least be easier.

Without universal access to Grade I or Primary 1 within the next two years, the goal of Education for All (EFA) by 2015 will not be achieved as school fees and sundry charges stand between school and no fewer than 100 million children worldwide, 77 million of them in sub-Saharan Africa.

Uganda's Communications Commission (UCC) is to spend a total of one million dollars (USD$1 million) to connect eighty secondary schools to the Internet. "We have worked with the ministry of education and sports and have selected eighty schools that would be connected in the next financial year," said the commission?s executive director Eng. Patrick Masambu.

From Cape Town to Algiers, many Africans welcome Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's plan for a United States of Africa with a strong voice on the global stage, but most say it simply comes too soon for a divided continent. Gaddafi, long regarded as a pariah in the West for his anti-colonial rhetoric, is touring West Africa to promote the long-standing plan for a pan-African government which will be put to a summit of the African Union on 1 July in Ghana.

Murder, rape and abductions are on the rise in West Darfur state, the United Nations said on Wednesday, noting with concern that increased violence in the lawless Sudanese region had driven more people into camps. U.N. spokeswoman Radhia Achouri detailed reports of tribal killings, and militia and aerial attacks on villages.

The Direct Conflict Prevention Programme (DCP) of the Institute for Security Studies (ISS)-Addis Ababa office would like to cordially invite you to the launch of seven research papers relating to the debate on the United States of Africa. The launch and buffet lunch will take place at the Alisa Hotel, in North Ridge, Accra, Ghana, on the 27 June 2007 at 12h00.

These papers – five in English and two in French - address issues pertaining to the forthcoming ‘Grand Debate on the Union Government’. They provide a critical analysis of the opportunities and challenges of a 'United Africa'. In the journey towards African unity it is necessary to ask at least three questions: 1) 'Where did the journey start?'; 2) 'Where are we now?' 3) 'Where do we go from here?'. Each of the papers will address these issues from different political, economic, and social perspectives.

For queries please contact: Dr Tim Murithi on (+233) 024 98 58 252

The continental civil society conference on the proposed African Union Government, organised by the Ghanaian Civil Society AU Coalition, was held in Accra Ghana, June 22-22, 2007. 100 civil society organisations from 50 countries across Africa participated in this conference entitled 'Accelerating Africa’s Integration and Development in the 21st Century: Prospects and Challenges of Union Government'. The intent of this conference was for civil society organisations (CSOs) to convene and develop a harmonised approach to ensuring that the citizens of Africa are included in the formation of a unified African government.

Today, several civil society organisations issued an African citizens passport to the Ghanaian Minister of Foreign Affairs Hon Nana Akuffo Addo in a pre-summit Continental Conference organised by the AU Ghanaian Civil Society Coalition. The passport is a response to a growing demand by African citizens for an easing of restrictions on travel within Africa by African governments as a pre-condition for African citizenship.

The African Union -Civil Society Organisations Pre-Summit in Accra has ended with a call on member countries to resist pressure from European Union towards the signing of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) in December.

Participants called on African leaders to extend the deadline for conclusion of the negotiation on the EPA by at least year years. That they said would enable African governments to conduct independent impact assessment on the EPA policies.

In response to the African Union’s invitation to the public to contribute to the ‘Grand Debate' on the formation of a union government for the continent, the Pan African People’s Assembly intends to hold a conference on June 22 at the National Theatre, Accra, where participants will deliberate on the subject matter.

Over 1,400 Pan Africanists across the continent, civil society groups in Ghana and the general public are expected to partake in the grand debate.

Efforts to end the near-forgotten conflict in Western Sahara seem to have picked up momentum, after 16 years of bloody war and another 16 of failed peacemaking. The conflict began when 350,000 Moroccans marched into the formerly Spanish-controlled region in 1975, generating armed resistance by the Polisario Front movement of the local Sahrawi people, who wanted independence, not a new overlord. After apparent concessions from both Morocco and the Polisario, U.N.-sponsored talks involving the local and regional parties began this week.

Chinese Defense Minister Cao Gangchuan and his Zambian counterpart George Mpombo agreed Wednesday to further expand cooperation between the two countries' armed forces. In his talks with Mpombo, Cao said the people of China and Zambia enjoy a traditional friendship and support each other. Since the establishment of diplomatic ties, the two countries have conducted fruitful cooperation in the political, economic, cultural and other fields.

Government services in Seychelles are undergoing a major transformation as various departments are making information and resources available online to the public. Seychelles e-government goal is to make information and communication technologies (ICT) integral to the delivery of government information, services and processes. The implementations have encountered delays since Vice President Joseph Belmont first announced it in January 2006.

The recent push for computerization in Africa has come with new challenges of 'dumping' that is posing environmental hazards in many African countries. Pictures of computer dumpsites in Nigeria have arrayed fears that western countries are using Africa as a dumping ground for obsolete computers in the name of computer donations.

Spain and Senegal said on Friday they were winning the fight against illegal migration as the European nation promised to invest in the West African state and create more legal job opportunities for Senegalese workers. The Spanish interior and labour ministers, Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba and Jesus Caldera, announced during a visit to Dakar that several hundred legal jobs in Spain would be opened up this year for workers from Senegal, to encourage lawful migration.

Something is brewing at the Kenya Police Airwing and it ’s not smelling too good. Documents have come to light regarding the award of a US$12.8 million (Ksh 840 million) contract to overhaul 4 Russian built helicopters operated by the Kenya Police Airwing.

Even the fastest rate of treatment scale up in South Africa will be unable to prevent around one million AIDS deaths between now and 2010, according to projections from Massachusetts General Hospital presented on Saturday at the HIV Implenters’ Meeting in Kigali, Rwanda.

World Health Organization (WHO) is establishing an HIV pharmacovigilance programme in order to map more accurately the incidence of side effects caused by antiretroviral drugs, and to determine whether there are differences in the incidence of particular side effects between countries, Professor Charles Gilks of WHO said on Saturday at the 2007 HIV Implementers’ meeting in Kigali, Rwanda.