Pambazuka News 451: Attack on shackdwellers: Death of democracy in South Africa?
Pambazuka News 451: Attack on shackdwellers: Death of democracy in South Africa?
This week’s [mp3] includes a report of Zimbabwe's police forcing striking workers back to work, and protest by South Africa's COSATU against labour brokers. Elsewhere, collective bargaining agreements become more popular as labour cases stack up in Kenya's courts, and Nigeria’s cement workers cry out over inhuman treatment. This bulletin is part of a partnership between Worker’s World Media Productions and Pambazuka News that seeks to highlight labour issues affecting Africa’s workers.
The push to reinvent the International Monetary Fund took a significant step forward this week, with nations agreeing to a rough timetable to come up with plans to reform its governance and expand its role in the global economy. The agreements, reached during the IMF's semiannual meeting in Istanbul that ends Wednesday, come as the mission of the 65-year-old Washington-based institution is re-examined in the wake of the global financial crisis
UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, will sponsor a special event on 12 October to open a major exhibition on violence against women around the world. The show, to be attended by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, other senior United Nations officials and representative of the diplomatic community, is also intended to observe the 15th anniversary of the Cairo International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD), and will follow a full-day session of the General Assembly commemorating the anniversary.
ILGA is deeply worried and outraged by UN Assembly new President Ali Abdussalam Treki's failure to consider the protection of the life and safety of lesbians, gay men, trans, intersex and bisexual people all over the world a matter of human rights. In an interview prior to his first address to the UN Assembly in his new role, Mr Treki declared himself to be “not in favour at all” with reference to the Statement in favour of the decriminalisation of homosexuality signed by 66 Countries and read by the Argentinian representative last December at the General Assembly in New York.
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has firmly condemned the violence and death threats by the military junta against journalists in Guinea. Mouctar Bah, the Conakry correspondent of Agence France-Presse and Radio France Internationale, Amadou Diallo, the BBC’s correspondent and Mamadou Ba journalist of the satirical newspaper Le Lynx are roughed up by soldiers covering the violent dispersal of an opposition meeting in which more than hundred persons died in September, 28 2009.
United Nations legal experts are on a 10-day visit to Côte d'Ivoire to study the West African country’s implementation of national laws and its prison administration as well as the judiciary’s interaction with other sectors of society. Two experts from the UN Department Operations Peacekeeping Operations (DPKO), Agneta Johnson and Gwendolyn Chellam, went to the western region to discuss the redeployment of judicial and prison authorities across the country following years of tensions in the wake of a political and military crisis.
A former senior Rwandan military officer indicted by the United Nations war crimes tribunal for his role in the 1994 genocide in the tiny Central African country was handed over to the court today after being on the run for nearly nine years – the second fugitive to be delivered up in two months. Idelphonse Nizeyimana, former second in command for intelligence and military operations at an officers’ school, was arrested in Kampala by the National Central Bureau of Interpol in collaboration with the tracking team of the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and transferred to the court’s detention facility in Arusha, Tanzania.
Farmers in Mauritania will receive financial help to turn milk into butter and cheese, to clean and package the vegetables they grow and to add value to other raw products under a $12 million programme unveiled by the United Nations agency tasked with eradicating rural poverty. The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) announced that it will provide a grant of $6 million and a loan of $6 million as part of the scheme, which aims to boost food production and to lower the West African country’s dependence on food imports.
More than a million Ugandans driven from their homes by decades of violent conflict are gradually moving back to their homeland in the north of the country thanks to an innovative United Nations-backed farming project, the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) has said. A new rice-based farming system aimed at improving food security and reducing poverty in Uganda has enabled the incremental return of around 1.5 million internally displaced persons (IDPs) after living in makeshift camps for more than 20 years.
Panic has gripped the Far North Region of Cameroon after five people died of what has been reported to be cholera. A cholera epidemic was recently reported in Mayo Tsanaga division in the Far North Region of the country. The outbreak first reported on 2 September 2009 has now spread to Mayor Sawa Division still in the Far North region.
President Robert Mugabe has called for a new start to relations with those Western countries he has spent years insulting for their criticism of his leadership. "Our country remains in a positive stance to enter into fresh, friendly and co-operative relations with all those countries that have been hostile to us in the past," he said yesterday at the first sitting of parliament since a unity government was formed with the former opposition in February.
Mugabe used an appearance at the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) ‘World 2009’ meeting in Geneva, Switzerland on Wednesday to attack the West for what he called the continued violation of Zimbabwe’s airwaves by foreign based radio stations. In a speech that aptly summed up his regime’s attitude towards media freedom, Mugabe told a Council of Ministers meeting that ‘certain western countries had ‘radio broadcasting systems’ that were targeting ‘his’ country to further their ‘obnoxious regime change agendas’.
Cases of serious sexual violence, including the recent rape of at least one woman by soldiers on an invaded farm, are being investigated, as members of the armed forces continue their illegal seizure of the land. The woman, part of a group of more than ninety farm worker families from Karori farm in the Headlands district, was reportedly raped more than a week ago when soldiers evicted them from the farm.
Somalia's U.N.-backed government has recruited more than 170 young Kenyans and former servicemen to help it fight rebels in the failed Horn of Africa state, local leaders in eastern Kenya said. Mohamed Gabow, the mayor of Garissa, told Reuters the enrolment of ethnic Somali Kenyans was being conducted at a home in Bulla Iftin village, on the outskirts of his town.
Four African states threatened late on Thursday to veto any accord in the Doha trade round that did not address their demands for a reduction of Western subsidies for cotton. The negotiations on the product, a mainstay of several African economies, are seen as a touchstone of efforts to create a fairer global trading system in the Doha round, where agreement is sought in 2010.
South Africa said on Friday it had been offered 48 square miles of land for farming in Angola and Uganda but that it would not take up land offers without security of tenure. Agriculture Minister Tina Joemat-Pettersson said at a conference Zambia had also offered South Africa, the continent's largest economy, a 48-year lease agreement for land.
The University of Oxford, Department of Continuing Education is now accepting applications for the Master's in International Human Rights Law 2010-11 entryThe aim of the degree programme is to train and support future leaders in the field of international human rights law. A central objective of the course is to ensure that participants not only know but can also use human rights law. The curriculum places roughly equal emphasis on the substance of human rights law, its implementation, and the development of human rights advocacy skills. Application deadlines: 20 November 2009, 22 January 2010, 12 March 2010.
Yesterday (8 October) I was at the bail hearing for the 'Kennedy 8'. I came to Durban from Cape Town to meet up with staff members of the Clare Estate Drop-in Centre which operated in Kennedy Road supporting orphaned and other vulnerable children until the recent attacks where the CEDIC was ransacked and forced to close. I attended the hearing to find out more about what has been happening in Kennedy Road since the 26th of September. At the hearing, about 100 or so members of the social movement Abahlali baseMjondolo packed the court room to see their fellow activists. The few hundred who could not fit inside waited patiently in the adjacent foyer.
More than one-million babies are stillborn during labour every year – 98% in low- and middle-income countries - yet global policy discussions around these largely silent deaths are mostly nonexistent. On top of this another 904 000 babies die soon after birth due to birth complications, closely linked to almost half of the world’s 536 000 maternal deaths.
The Kenyan Government has accused TEAMS shareholders of colluding to fix internet connectivity prices. Information and Communication PS Bitange Ndemo said the shareholders are making a massive 2,000 per cent from selling their capacity before the cable officially goes live. The shareholders have said that they will first have to recoup their investment before lowering the Internet connectivity prices.
The rate of HIV infection among pregnant women in South Africa has remained stubbornly high at around 29 percent for the third year running, according to government figures released on 5 October. The 2008 National Antenatal HIV and Syphilis Prevalence Survey - based on blood samples from 34,000 pregnant women who attended antenatal clinics in 52 health districts - measured HIV prevalence at 29.3 percent, compared to 29.4 percent in 2007 and 29.0 percent in 2006.
This is the declaration issued by the Heads of State and Government of Africa and South America, meeting in the Second Africa-South America Summit (II ASA) in Nueva Esparta State, Isla de Margarita, Venezuela on 26 and 27 September of 2009.
Elementary school teachers in Tunisia organised a one-day strike on Monday (October 5th) to show solidarity with the dozens of trade union activists and educators imprisoned for their involvement in protests in Gafsa last June. Four of the 34 people imprisoned for the strike in the southern mining region are members of the Elementary Education General Syndicate of Redeyef-Gafsa
Non-governmental organisations have expressed their satisfaction at the European Commission’s declaration that it would not put "undue pressure" on African and other countries to conclude the controversial trade deals called economic partnership agreements (EPAs)
As the rainy season approaches, and sewage from pit latrines seep further into the Zimbabwe's groundwater, Irene Ngubeni will be at risk as the country faces another possible cholera outbreak. Even now, just before the rains have started falling Ngubeni is ill. She has travelled the 170 kilometres from her village in Matebeleland North to Bulawayo for treatment after drinking contaminated groundwater.
Umaru Fofana looks dishevelled. His hair is overgrown and people who do not know him could be mistaken for thinking he just joined an Afro band. And his hanging beard will surely solicit suspicious glances. But Fofana is not some musician or an unkempt hobo. He is the president of the Sierra Leone Association of Journalists (SLAJ) and his appearance is all for the cause of media freedom. The association petitioned the court for an interpretation and repeal of the criminal and seditious libel law contained in the Public Order Act of 1965.
Ten years ago, a move to legalise abortion in Namibia failed. The number of unwanted pregnancies remains high, with many people unwilling or unable to use contraception. Despite the risks, illegal abortions remain common. Misoprostol - a drug used to control ulcers, more usually known by the brand name Cytotec - has become a favoured method for inducing abortion.
Thandi Sihadi stands next to a dry tap. As a maize and dairy farmer in one of South Africa’s driest districts, the lack of running water is nothing new to her. In fact, she says, she is one of many new black farmers who may now be fortunate enough to have land, but who still have problems accessing water for farming. Sihadi, a beneficiary of the Hereford land reform project – a project aimed at assisting small-scale black farmers, is from Sekhukhune in Limpopo.
In Diohine, a village of some 3,000 inhabitants in the Fatick region of central Senegal, real progress has been made towards educating all children, in spite of a lack of infrastructure. Diohine has two public primary schools, each serving different neighbourhoods, and a third, privately-run Catholic school that was the first to be established, in 1948.
Less than a third of Malawi's children attend pre-school; the others will lag behind their peers for their entire school careers. For most Malawian children, school only starts at the age of six - or sometimes even later - when they enter primary school. Pre-schools are mainly privately-owned and regarded as a luxury since most families cannot afford to pay the fees.
Taking practical measures to realize the rights of the child is the greatest gift that we can give to our future generations, said High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay as the Convention on the Rights of the Child turns 20 years old. A two-day commemoration is taking place in Geneva on 8 and 9 October to kick off some five weeks of activities world-wide ahead of the 20th anniversary of the Convention on 20 November.
This web-only AfricaFocus Bulletin contains brief excerpts on the role of wind in the world energy economy from the chapter on renewable energy in the new book Plan B 4.0 by Lester Brown.
William Kamkwamba, from Malawi, is a born inventor. When he was 14, he built an electricity-producing windmill from spare parts and scrap, working from rough plans he found in a library book called Using Energy and modifying them to fit his needs. The windmill he built powers four lights and two radios in his family home.
LGBTI activists and human rights defenders have spoken against homophobic attacks by Zehir Omar, amongst others, aimed at High Court Judge Kathy Satchwell doubting her competence to be a Constitutional Court Judge because of her sexual orientation.
Despite its six million inhabitants, Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, is far from a city where one can live openly and express their sexual orientation. On this day everywhere in Africa, homosexuality is considered an abomination and a way of relating imported ideas from the West. Just walk the streets of this vast city to understand how difficult it is to receive a same-sex partner. Moreover, within the family, the pressure is often so strong that the paper of a homosexual is like an ordeal.
Local government, NGOs, church and IT leaders from the Kasese district in Uganda have launched a project to help give civil society organisations more influence over government planning and development. IICD will help manage the ICT component of this major project funded by the EU.
The International Rivers Network has released a new report damning the Mozambican project to dam the Zambezi river and build a huge hydro-power station at Mphanda Nkuwa. The network has said while the choice is to create more power, the region would be without water in the future. "That's a choice Southern Africa could face in a few years if current plans to build more large dams on the Zambezi proceed," the network criticised.
Uganda has become the first country in Africa to undertake a reforestation project that will help reduce global warming emissions under the Kyoto Protocol. The Nile Basin Reforestation Project in Uganda is a ground-breaking project being implemented by Uganda's National Forestry Authority (NFA) in association with local community organisations. The growing trees absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, in exchange for revenues from the World Bank BioCarbon Fund paid to NFA and the communities.
Authorities in the Republic of Congo have restricted the movements of several opposition politicians, who claim President Denis Sassou-Nguesso’s July re-election was won through fraud. Electoral disputes in Congo have triggered violence in the past, most notably when a two-year civil war broke out in 1997 after a row between Sassou-Nguesso and former president Pascal Lissouba.
At least 29 people have died of cholera and hundreds more are being treated for cholera-related symptoms such as acute watery diarrhoea (AWD) in the larger Turkana District in the northwest and in the eastern regions of Garbatulla and Laisamis, say health officials. "Two people have died in Garbatulla, five in Laisamis, three in Turkana North, one in Turkana South and 18 in Turkana Central," said an official in Kenya's Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation.
Thousands of Congolese citizens are being deported from Angola to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) under alarming circumstances, say humanitarian workers. "The deportees have nothing with them, everything was taken; there are cases of violence, rape and sexual abuse," said Severine Flores, spokeswoman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Three years ago, the Church of Scotland Hospital at Tugela Ferry, in the rural Umsinga area of South Africa's KwaZulu-Natal Province, was the focus of international media attention as the epicentre of a deadly outbreak of extremely drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB). It was reported that 52 of the 53 patients initially diagnosed died within a month of contracting this strain of TB, which is resistant to both of the first-line antibiotics used to treat the disease, as well as two classes of second-line drugs.
The UN World Habitat Day, the attacks against Durban's Abahlali baseMjondolo, the campaign against Nestlé's buying milk from Robert Mugabe and Muammar al-Gaddafi's deal with Europe are among the topics covered in Sokari Ekine's fortnightly round-up of the African blogosphere for Pambazuka News.
While the global fight against poverty has made progress, Zikipediq writes in this week's Pambazuka News, the percentage of poor people in Africa has not reduced. With the global financial crisis threatening to plunge even further numbers into extreme poverty, the international community's support will remain key, along with a long-term view when it comes to supporting development goals.
Roland Bankole Marke makes a very pertinent and relevant call in this week's Pambazuka News to support African media organizations, not only through reading their articles and moral contributions but by giving more financial support to them. This call does not only come amid a financial crisis that threatens much larger media cooperations but also in relation to the long term sustainability of all free African media organizations. As he points out information is power however, the running of a news website costs money, and this money does not come out of thin air.
A relevant and thought-provoking poem that questions the priorities of the Kenyan government in relation to the tourism industry is brought to you by Wangui Kamari in this week's Pambazuka News.
AFRICA DIRECTOR
AFRICA OUTREACH MANAGERS X 2
ONE is a campaign and advocacy organization backed by two million people from around the world and every walk of life who are committed to the fight against extreme poverty and preventable disease, particularly in Africa. We aim to hold world leaders to account for the promises made and we press them to support better policies and more effective aid and trade reform. We also work with African leaders to support greater democracy, accountability and transparency.
ONE is seeking an Africa Director and two Africa Outreach Managers to enhance our advocacy work with civil society, government, NGOs and media organisations on the continent. 2010 will be a very important year for Africa – it will mark years after Live Aid, 5 years on from Live 8 and Make Poverty History, 5 years before the deadline for the Millennium Development Goals and with the first football World Cup to be hosted in Africa, 2010 will be an opportunity to celebrate the achievements of recent years and demand that progress accelerates. It is therefore a crucial time for ONE as we ensure that our work accurately reflects the priorities of Africa at this time.
The Africa Director will lead our campaigning and advocacy work across the continent, supporting our wider work influencing G8/20 governments to maintain their commitments to the Millennium Development Goals and manage a strategy for maintaining our engagement and dialogue with key leaders in sub-Saharan African government, civil society, the private sector and the media.
The Africa Outreach Managers will support our advocacy and policy development work with government agencies, civil society and private sector organisations based in sub-Saharan Africa ensuring that ONE’s priorities are closely aligned with those of our African partners.
The ideal candidates will be great team players who can also operate well independently with substantial advocacy experience and a strong knowledge of the international policy architecture and environment. These roles will be based in Africa (exact location TBD) with some international travel.
For more information: please contact Tina Ajuonuma, European Operations Manager on +44 (0)207 434 7569 or [email][email protected]
In the wake of Guinea's bloody repression, CONAG-DCF (National Coalition of Guinea for the Rights and Citizenship of Women) condemns the violence and the atrocious abuse suffered by the country's women.
Following the tragic rape and death of Grace Ushang in Cross River State, Nigeria, Asma’u Joda and Iheoma Obibi deplore the absence of any meaningful protection for the country's women and the Senate's apparent move to exacerbate matters further through the adoption of the Indecent Dressing Bill. If Ushang had merely been wearing khaki trousers – the official uniform of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) organisation with which she worked – then how will Nigeria guarantee the safety of each and every women in the uniformed services at large?
A one year-old Ethiopian girl named Galila died in Egypt's El Quanater prison after having been incarcerated with her mother for six months, in contravention of Egypt's obligations under Article 31(1) of the Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees not to punish refugees.
The assault and killings suffered by Abahlali baseMjondolo members at Kennedy Road represent a quiet 'coup' and an attack on democracy, write Nigel Gibson and Raj Patel in this week's Pambazuka News. At once a reflection of the ANC's (African National Congress) encouragement of thuggery and the disturbing entrance of an ethnic politics 'unthinkable even in apartheid’s darkest days', the incident was the result of a deliberate attack on an autonomous, grassroots movement. With S'bu Zikode – Abahlali's elected chair – now forced into hiding, the intolerance of poor people's desire for representation and the emergence of 'demons of ethnic hatred' threaten the nation's very stability, the authors conclude.
This report on Integrated Resource Recovery (IRR), written by Justin Carter for the Global Environmental Institute (GEI), outlines various components of a conceptual design that attempts to integrate community and industrial processes with ecological design. It is intended that by extracting the relevant parts of this approach, IRR-specific guidelines can be created that will serve the IPP program’s overall objectives. Much of what is described here is done with one of the Global Environmental Institute’s (GEI’s) core mandates in mind.
This week’s Pambazuka News brings you a lecture given by Samir Amin on the 22 September 1997 in memory of Abdulrahman Mohamed Babu. Amin recounts the struggles of independence and post-independence in Africa, struggles that Babu played a major role in. In this eye-opening historical analysis, Amin not only pays tribute to Babu but encourages us to look beyond the populism of the Bandung years and the following comprador societies and instead build on the independence struggles to create genuinely democratic societies in Africa.
The International Day of Rural Women directs attention to both the contribution that women make in rural areas, and the many challenges that they face. Women play a critical role in the rural economies of both developed and developing countries. In most parts of the developing world they participate in crop production and livestock care, provide food, water and fuel for their families, and engage in off-farm activities to diversify the family income.
Darfur Relief and Documentation Centre (DRDC) is gravely concerned about the renewed military operations and displacement of civilians in Darfur. Violence is reported in Korma, Meliet, Jebal Moo, Jebal Mediob and eastern Jebal Marra in North Darfur State. Heavy military equipments including fighter planes and artillery are being used intensively during the last 4 weeks causing indiscriminate damage on civilian targets.
At least 42 people are killed, 70 others injured following nearly a week-long fighting between Mundari and Bor youth, officials figures indicate. While 8,000 internal displaced persons (IDPs) are at the augury of starvation in Terekeke and Pariak in Terekeke and Bor Counties respectively and in dire need for humanitarian assistance.
The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) notes with concern the escalation of unbridled attacks in the on human rights in the Gambia. Since the 2004 murder of Deyda Hydera and several other alleged extra judicial killings, disappearance in detention, the wanton abuse of human rights especially the right of the freedom of expression and media freedoms have increased.
The Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) is a national non-governmental organisation with the mission to promote, protect and enhance the enjoyment of all human rights by all men and women. The vision of the KHRC is a Kenya without human rights violations. The KHRC wishes to recruit a suitably qualified person to fill the position of Programme Officer-Legal Affairs.
The Equal Status and Human Rights of Women in East Africa (EAHUWO) is an East African based program that seeks to improve the knowledge of international human rights standards, in particular those related to equality and non-discrimination among professionals working with the human rights of women in order to contribute to the enhancement of gender equality throughout the East African Region.
The transnational corporations are our common enemy; they constitute the present form of capital which exercises control over our economies. In the rural areas we are witnessing a savage offensive by capital and by the transnational corporations on agriculture and natural resources. It is a privatisation war of plunder directed against peasants and indigenous people, a privatisation robbery of the land, biodiversity, water, seeds, production, and agribusiness trade.
The Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) has sent a letter to Cape Town Mayor Dan Plato calling on the City to reconsider the eviction of the Symphony Way community to Blikkiesdorp. We all face evictions from the City of Cape Town – for a second time. The first time was when we were evicted from the N2 Gateway houses without being given any suitable alternative place to stay. This is why we have been occupying Symphony way for 1 year and 8 months.
This fellowship is located in the African Centre for Gender and Social Development Division (ACGSD) of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA). The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) is the regional arm of the United Nations in Africa. Its mandate is to promote the social and economic development of Africa. As part of its program of support to member States, ECA is inviting applications from qualified young African Professionals to the “ECA Fellowships for Young African Professionals” programme.
On September 30, 2009, the Security Council unanimously adopted a resolution that addresses the need to end sexual violence against women in conflict-affected countries. Introduced by the US government, at a session chaired by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the resolution builds on SCRs 1325 and 1820, both of which were instrumental in raising the issue of sexual violence on the Security Council’s agenda.
The application for the 2010 session of the annual Human Rights Advocates Program (HRAP) at Columbia University is now available. HRAP is designed to prepare proven human rights leaders from the Global South and marginalized communities in the U.S. to participate in national and international policy debates on globalization by building their skills, knowledge, and contacts. The Program features a four-month residency at Columbia University in New York City with a structured curriculum of advocacy, networking, skills-building, and academic coursework.
African Women Condemn Use of Force on Unarmed Civilian in Guinea African Women leaders meeting in Lome, Togo at a Women’s Leadership Conference convened by the African Women’s Development and Communication Network (FEMNET) in collaboration with ROFAF condemns in the strongest terms the use of excessive force on unarmed and peaceful demonstrators in Conakry, the capital of Guinea that has resulted in the death of at least 157 persons and injuring over 1,200 people since Monday 28th September 2009.
Founder of the Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force, one of the most prominent armed groups operating in the Niger Delta region, today Mujahid Dokubo Asari is a member of the main opposition party of Nigeria. After numerous unsuccessful attempts to win elections with the aim to fight the unbalanced oil management in the country, in 2004 he and his armed group stopped oil production but did not damage oil lots.
As experts on food and agriculture come together in Rome on October 12, 2009 to discuss the challenge of feeding the world by 2050, a new report from the Oakland Institute, The Great Land Grab: Rush for World's Farmland Threatens Food Security for the Poor, sounds the alarm on the threat that land grabbing poses to food security and livelihoods.
The Ethiopian Women’s Human Rights Alliance (EWHRA) has released a report submitted to the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), a United Nations (UN) mechanism aimed at reviewing the human rights record of UN member countries. EWHRA’s report details the egregious violation of human rights committed by the Ethiopian government in contravention of its obligations under numerous international human rights treaties.
The Sudanese government will take back a plot of land allocated for a Jordanian agricultural megaproject if the government does not implement the project within two weeks, Agriculture Minister Saeed Masri has said. The project was supposed to be implemented by a private company with government support, but last week, Masri announced that the private sector partner had withdrawn from the plan, noting that their decision was made unilaterally without prior notification.
People and the environment in the vicinity of the North Mara Gold Mine in Tanzania are being exposed to heavy metals and cyanide pollution, according to a report published in June for the Christian Council of Tanzania (CCT). The study collected and analysed samples of water, sediments/soil for four heavy metals Nickel, Cadmium, Lead and Chromium. Concentrations of almost all of these were found to exceed the standards of the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Tanzanian and US Environmental Protection agencies.
Nigeria's most vocal opposition party, the Action Congress (AC), has condemned the plan by federal legislators to surreptitiously grant themselves and their state counterparts the kind of immunity from arrest and prosecution now being enjoyed by the President, Vice President and the governors of the 36 states. In a statement, issued in Abuja by its National Publicity Secretary,Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the bill, which, according to media reports, had scaled second reading in the House, could create a new set of 'untouchables' if passed into law.
Ufahamu* has been an important forum for the publication of materials addressing Africa and the African Diaspora for more than 30 years. Named after the Swahili word for comprehension, understanding or being, UFAHAMU is committed views about social issues, addressing both the general reader and the scholar. Since its establishment in 1970, UFAHAMU continues to challenge and correct misconceptions about Africa, thereby creating relevant criteria for African Studies.
Some 8,299 militants embraced the Nigerian government's amnesty programme for oil militants, which ended 4 October, according to officials of the Coordinating Committee on the Amnesty. Chief Coordinator Lucky Ararile, an Air Vice Marshall, told journalists that the militants also surrendered 287,445 ammunition, 2,760 assorted weapons, 18 gunboats, 763 dynamites, 1,090 dynamite caps and 3,155 magazines.
Salma Soliman reviews 'Global Unions, Global Business', by Richard Croucher and Elizabeth Cotton. Engaging with key themes such as the challenges for trade unionism presented by the growth in 'informal' employment, Soliman lauds a leading work on the central question of how imbalances between multinationals and employees can be redressed to the benefit of workers around the world.
Patricia Daley reviews Aernout Zevenbergen's 'Spots of a Leopard: on being a man in Africa' in this week's Pambazuka News. If the book suffers for the absence of non-violent male figures and an unclear focus towards its end, Zevenbergen's work successfully debunks myths and provides a springboard for discussion around the 'destructive effects of redundant traditionalism', Daley concludes.
Saluting the contribution of Ethiopia's 'patriot-soldiers', Alemayehu G. Mariam commends the courage, patriotism and resilience displayed by the country's defenders in this week's Pambazuka News.
Following the troubling deaths of Guineans under the repressive rule of Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, Okello Oculi argues that Camara's action represents the latest incident of a 'lethal psychotic disorder' manifested by an African leader. Camara's actions are reminiscent of those of former Ugandan dictator Idi Amin, Oculi contends, and necessitate an immediate response from ECOMOG (Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group).
Following the attacks on Abahlali baseMjondolo members at Kennedy Road, Durban, the South African Council of Churches condemns the violence perpetrated against a defenceless group.
Roderick Bush's new book, 'The End of White World Supremacy', is now available from .
Following the resignation of Justice Aaron Ringera from the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission (KACC) last week, L. Muthoni Wanyeki argues that rather than celebrating a supposed triumph of 'popular will', we should actually question the opportunity costs associated with a prolonged stand-off.
The members of Abahlali baseMjondolo describe their movement as 'made for us and by us' or, as their elected president S'bu Zikode describes, 'a living politics'. Pointing out the essential irrelevance of the Northern-produced term 'gentrification' to describe their conditions, Abahlali stresss that their situation is markedly different and results from the authorities' 'dehumanising hatred'.
Specific home and host-country policies, cheap land, the lack of a legal infrastructure, investment opportunities and the promise of quick profit returns are the driving factors behind land acquisitions throughout Africa, argues Nikolaj Nielsen in this week's Pambazuka News.
While the Niger Delta represents the epicentre of an ongoing crisis in Nigeria, it is but a microcosm of a nationwide problem, writes Sabella Ogbobode Abidde in this week's Pambazuka News. The country must face up to its difficulties, Abidde contends, and not simply marginalise voices of dissent. Common sense must prevail and President Umaru Musa Yar'Adua must use the instrument of the state to pursue peace.
In this week's Pambazuka News, Tafadzwa Thelma Madondo writes about last year's xenophobic attacks in South Africa and their dramatic consequences for foreign women and children. Madondo argues that the government did not do enough to protect the most vulnerable to violence and that more has to be done to guarantee everyone’s safety in South Africa in the future.
Mutsa Murenje argues in this week’s Pambazuka News that what is affecting the Zimbabwean people’s wellbeing is not the sanctions resulting from Robert Mugabe’s rule but rather his rule itself. Murenje writes that the sanctions that were implemented by the international community do not actually have an effect on Zimbabwe’s population, and makes the case for good governance as the key to helping Zimbabweans.
Following the students unrest on early march in Kenyatta University, four students and a lecturer were arrested after getting their suspension and expulsion letters charged with incitement and obstructing police from doing its duties.
Yesterday we received a phone call from a Kenyatta University student about the severe stabbing and strangulation of Moses Nandwale, the secretary general of University Students Leader Association. He is hospitalised; we are trying to locate the hospital he is admitted in since his phone line is not operational. Up to now there is a student still remanded in Industrial Remand Prison waiting for a 20,000 Ksh Bond. The last time we talked with Moses Nandwale was last Friday while we were in court for the mention of the five who were arrested while taking tea in Githurai 45 Hotel. Over the days Shalmat Kasim Naumi has been living in fear; even in court she was scared. Yesterday the stabbing of their fellow comrade leader shows the magnitude of the problem and the threats the students from Kenyatta University are facing.
In the meanwhile Professor Mugenda Olive – whose removal from managing Kenyatta University the students have been fighting for – yesterday heard a case brought against her by two lecturers to the industrial court over their reinstation to the institution after they lost their jobs illegally in 2006. She refused to heed the court order for the reinstatement and that’s why the judge committed her for a two-month jail term for contempt of court.
We are thankful to all the people who have shown a willingness to assist through the R.P.P secretariat. Among the students wishes is to challenge their illegal expulsion and the threats towards them.
Patrick Kamotho Githinji
In the wake of the armed African National Congress (ANC) takeover of Kennedy Road, Abahlali baseMjondolo has received support from all over the world.
On 7 October 2009 at 10:00 am, the Symphony Way pavement dwellers will appear in the Western Cape High Court.
has sent a letter to Mayor Dan Plato calling on the city to reconsider the eviction of the Symphony Way community to Blikkiesdorp.
We all face evictions from the city of Cape Town – for a second time. The first time was when we were evicted from the N2 Gateway houses without being given any suitable alternative place to stay. This is why we have been occupying Symphony way for 1 year and 8 months.
The city wants to put us in .
We refuse to be treated like aliens in our own country! This is why we say Asiyi eBlikkiesdorp! We will not go to tin-cans!
We will get together for our march at Keizergracht Square at 8:00 am and start marching to the High Court at 9:00 am. The march will be as follows: from Keizergracht down Darling Street, left onto Adderley Street, right into Wale Street and then left into Keerom Street where the court is situated.
For more information, contact Kareemah on (+27) 078-492-0943, Aunty Badru on (+27) 072-822-8109 and Evelyn on (+27) 072-748-6864.
To download the letter to Plato, .
* 'Voices from Symphony Way' is a forthcoming publication from Pambazuka Press.
Tierno Monenembo cries out in anguish at the killing of 157 people by Guinean soldiers on 28 September. Amidst shock at the bloody brutality, the anguish at the loss of sons and daughters, and the apparent treachery of the gods, there is a resurgence of hope. The death of 157 innocent citizens on 28 September also signals a new beginning. For their sake, the popular uprising must push on towards its ultimate goal: the departure of Dadis Camara. An old Soussou proverb serves a warning to the supporters of Camara: 'The snake you feed will be the one that bites you.'
Pambazuka News 450: The state and corporations versus the citizen
Pambazuka News 450: The state and corporations versus the citizen
Harnessing science and technology, and fostering innovation have become imperatives to address the problems and challenges of structural transformation of the South. This is increasingly so in the context of globalised and knowledge economy. As there is no journal with special focus on science, technology, and innovation in Africa, AJSTID aims to address this need.
Regional Campaign Coordinator - Africa
Central London Based
£37,584 plus excellent benefits and relocation package
Permanent contract
As Regional Campaign Coordinator for the Africa Program, you will be responsible for developing AI’s campaigning and crisis response work on sub-Saharan Africa. This will include initiating, coordinating and evaluating campaigns and major actions on the region. Working closely with our membership Mobilization Programme in strengthening the campaigning skills and capacity of AI’s membership structures in Africa, you will contribute directly to the development of our campaigning work worldwide.
You will have knowledge of sources of social, political and economic influence in the region and advise on AI’s strengths in mobilizing such influence in relation to Africa in order to enhance the campaigning activities on the region. Sensitive to the cultures and peoples of sub-Saharan Africa, you will have a sound knowledge of human rights concerns in the region as well as experience of working with civil society in Africa. You must be able to think and plan strategically, have sound political judgement and excellent organisational and communication skills. Fluent English and French language skills are essential.
Amnesty International (AI) is a worldwide movement of volunteers and professionals standing up for human rights. Independent of any government, ideology, economic interest or religion, we have more than 2 million supporters in over 150 countries. Our purpose is to research, speak out and take action to protect individuals wherever rights, justice, fairness, freedom and truth are denied.
Closing date for this position: 25th October 2009.
To find out more and apply, visit and quote reference AFR/09/09.
Programme Director, Demand Dignity
London based
£53,568 plus excellent benefits (3 year fixed-term contract)
Big issues demand big ideas. If you have them, bring them to the biggest human rights campaigning platform there is. Amnesty is the only global movement of its kind. And we can give you a louder voice and the chance to make a massive difference the world over.
About the role
You’ll boost the Demand Dignity campaign’s effectiveness and the quality of Amnesty’s work on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights by shaping the direction that the programme takes, and deciding which issues they focus on. It’s a strategic role and a creative one. It’ll be down to you to get the most out of your budget by harnessing new approaches and fresh thinking. Working closely with others at the International Secretariat, Amnesty’s sections worldwide, and our partners, you will steer the resources using innovative forms of activism and capitalising on other emerging campaigning opportunities. But whatever tactics you employ, you’ll never lose sight of the big picture, our core values and the ultimate aim of ending human rights violations.
About you
You’ll have already proven you can develop and deliver global campaigns that galvanise people into action and make change happen. And whichever part of the world you’re working in now, you’ll have shown you’re forward-thinking, and well able to initiate and win support for your innovative projects. Thoroughly familiar with human rights issues, you’ll have a deep understanding of the links between poverty and human rights including perspectives from the global south, you’ll also have developed sound political judgement, strong relationship-building skills and a flair for putting your points across convincingly. Now you’ll be looking for a more influential role in a complex campaigning environment – one where you can truly capitalise on your ability to make and win arguments.
About us
Amnesty International is a worldwide movement of people standing up for human rights. Our network extends to more than two million members and subscribers in more than 150 countries around the world. Each one of us is outraged by human rights abuses but inspired by hope for a better world – and together we work to improve human rights through campaigning and international solidarity. This year Amnesty launched its biggest and most ambitious global campaign to date, the Demand Dignity Campaign against the human rights violations that keep people poor.
To apply, visit and quote reference CP/09/15.
Closing date: 25th October 2009.
On behalf of the Inter African Committee on Traditional practices Affecting the Health of Women and Girls as well as the members of the NGO Committee on the Status of Women, I would like to congratulate the President on his appointment, as well as wish him a successful tenure. We would also like to take this opportunity to commend the Council for holding this annual discussion on the integration of gender into its work of promotion and protection all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights.
The Government of Japan, in association with the World Bank, FAO, IFAD and UNCTAD, hosted a Roundtable “Promoting Responsible International Investment in Agriculture” on Wednesday 23 September in the Millennium Hotel, New York. The meeting was intended to initiate a coordinated global response to the growing trend of major agricultural investment associated with acquisition of rights to land and related resources, particularly in the developing world.
South Africa’s largest farmers’ union expects to conclude a multimillion hectare farmland deal with the Republic of Congo and agree a smaller land lease with Libya next month, its deputy president said. Theo de Jager, Deputy President of farmers’ grouping AgriSA said on Wednesday the union expected to finalise its 10 million hectare deal with the Republic of Congo in mid October.
Small scale farmers have accused the Kenyan Government of failing to act to address persistent food insecurity. Further, they want policies that discourage use of chemical fertilisers and other substances that damage soil fertility to be introduced. Under the auspices of the Sustainable Agriculture and Community Development Programme, the group also opposed the leasing of agricultural land to foreigners.
Libya deported an additional 740 Nigerians Thursday, bringing the total number of Nigerians repatriated from the north African nation in recent days to 1,064, the local press reported. Last month, Libya also brought back about 330 Nigerians. Most of the deportees did not have the required papers to stay in Libya, which many use as a transit point to Europe.
The European Union and Central African bodies have signed an agreement in Brussels under which the EU will help develop projects with trans-border roads and railways and telecommunication infrastructure.
The leader of the Union of the Democratic Forces of Guinea (UFDG) and former Guinean Prime Minister, Cellou Dalein Diallo, who was grievously wounded during Monday's rally at the 28 September Stadium in Conakry, was prevented Wednesday evening from going for treatment abroad, according to sources close to his family. The UFDG leader, who sustained five broken ribs during the bloody repression by the police force on Monday, was about to board a plane to Paris, France when he was forced to return to his room in a local clinic where he was receiving treatment, under heavy military guard.