Pambazuka News 447: Morocco uses torture to silence Sahrawi activists
Pambazuka News 447: Morocco uses torture to silence Sahrawi activists
"Government must lead in breaking down the stereotypes of women as tuck-shop owners, candle-makers, peasant farmers, teachers and nurses and create the reality in which they become hoteliers, large-scale commercial farmers, miners and proprietors of retail chains." These were the words of Zimbabwe’s vice president Joyce Mujuru addressing a women’s investment conference held in Harare on Sep 4. The conference was attended by South African and Zimbabwean businesswomen.
Nine kilometres each way, rain or shine: That's how far Suzanne Chisulo has to travel to school each day. Chisulo is one of 120 girls who faced problems getting to the Ndapula Community School. Many of the girls were missing lessons at least twice a week.
In this week's emerging powers news, Chinese investors continue to focus on Nigerian, Kenyan, and South African assets, as India continues to grow in stature as an African investor and global economic power.
Thousands of African children with sickle cell anaemia are dying needlessly every year from preventable infections, say researchers. About 230,000 children are born every year with sickle cell anaemia in Africa. The genetic disease causes the formation of sickle-shaped red blood cells which block blood vessels, leading to pain, infections and organ damage.
Internet cafés are in decline in Senegal. These access points to knowledge and communication, once found on every street corner in Dakar and open day and night, are no longer so widely available. Thanks to the infrastructure and development of bandwidth put in place by incumbent operator Sonatel, the high cost of internet has fallen rapidly, from XOF 1,000 (USD 2.15) or 1,500 (USD 3.25) to XOF 300 (USD 0.65) or 200 (USD 0.43) an hour, making it possible for more people, from students to street vendors to private consultants, to surf the net from home (for those who can afford it) or elsewhere at a relatively accessible price.
Uganda was one of the first countries in Africa to develop a policy on universal access to telecommunications. Despite several blunders relating to the liberalisation of its telecoms sector, the country is held in high esteem by many for what is seen to be a far-reaching and proactive approach to providing access to information and communications technology (ICT) for the poor.
The World Bank Group announced today that its financing of renewable energy and energy efficiency projects and programmes in developing countries has gone up 24 percent in the last fiscal year to reach $3.3 billion, the highest ever. Total renewable energy and energy efficiency commitments for the year ended June 30, 2009 accounted for more than 40 percent of total Bank Group energy lending.
The Egyptian authorities must control their forces at the border with Israel and prevent them from killing migrants attempting to cross it, Amnesty International has appealed. The call follows the border incident this year, in which four men were shot dead by Egyptian security forces as they attempted to cross the border into Israel. Two others were also injured in the incident.
Thousands of people affected by a severe drought in the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, northeastern Somalia, are in desperate need of assistance, with officials describing the situation as “very critical”. "We are at a critical stage and if help does not come within weeks the situation could develop into a catastrophe,” Abdullahi Abdirahman Ahmed, head of the Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management Agency of Puntland (HADMA), said.
More than 2,000 refugees in Burundi have rejected UN appeals to move to a new camp for fear they could be exposed to attack. The refugees, from eastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s Banyamulenge community, are housed in a camp in Gihinga, in Burundi’s central Mwaro province. The UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, and the Burundian government
A Sudanese journalist was convicted on 7 September of "sensational dressing" and jailed for wearing trousers, report the Arabic Network for Human Rights Information (ANHRI) and the International Press Institute (IPI). Protesters in support of Lubna Ahmed Hussein were beaten outside the court and reporters barred from the proceedings.
Six Gambian journalists imprisoned on charges ranging from defamation to "seditious publication" were released on 3 September on a presidential pardon, report the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) and other IFEX members. The journalists were convicted for issuing a joint statement holding President Yahya Jammeh's government responsible for journalist Deyda Hydara's murder in 2004.
Police should release Mohamed Osman, director of Radio Horyaal, who has been held without charge since his arrest on Saturday outside parliament in Hargeisa, capital of the breakaway republic of Somaliland, the Committee to Protect Journalists has said.
On August 28, 2009, President Mamadou Tandja signed into law a bill granting him absolute control over the Supreme Council for Communications (CSC), the country's media regulatory body. Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA)'s correspondent reported that Article 130 of the new Constitution that was recently adopted under a controversial referendum in early August has reduced the previous 11 members to seven. It also gives the president the power to appoint four members, including the CSC's president.
Campaigners say they have found serious discrepancies in reports of Sudan's oil revenues which could mean Khartoum's government was underpaying its strife-torn south by hundreds of millions of dollars. The findings by UK-based Global Witness could spark a political storm in Sudan, where relations between its Muslim north and mostly Christian south have remained tense since the end of their two-decade civil war in 2005.
“Artists in all countries shall be encouraged and helped to form associations. Their organisations shall receive the support they need to create their own structures and make their action effective”...This is a quote from the Final Declaration of the World Congress on the Implementation of the Recommendation Concerning the Status of the Artist held in Paris in 1997.
FORUM-ASIA is a founding member and host organisation of the Asia Pacific Refugee Rights Network (APRRN). The APRRN is a growing network of more than 100 civil society organisations and individuals committed to advancing the rights of refugees in the Asia Pacific Region through information sharing, mutual capacity building and joint advocacy. The APRRN Steering Committee, under the leadership of the Steering Committee Coordinator, provides strategic and policy direction to the APRRN.Closing date is 18 September 2009.
I’ve recently been on two dates where the men asked me what I want in a man. Confidently I replied “a self-sufficient and self-assured man who doesn’t feel the need to maintain me, a pro-feminist who supports, and feels the feminist movement is a worthy cause that should be upheld in our relationship and society at large, an open minded man whom reading books is a lifestyle and a man who is able to move between masculine and feminine traits with great fluidity.”
Since the source of the Nile is in Uganda, and Ali Mazrui’s professorial career began at Makerere University in Uganda, Mazrui has often described his entire academic career as “a child of the Nile.” His Inaugural Lecture when Makerere appointed him Professor was entitled Ancient Greece in African Political Thought but was in fact a salute to Uganda and the Nile in the history of civilization.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton heard from a broad cross-section of Congolese society about how the United States can play a constructive role in bringing an end to the conflict and supporting local Congolese institutions. This is a letter from elected officials in the South Kivu province (one of the two most affected provinces by the wars of aggression against the Congolese people) that captures the essence of what many Congolese have argued since the first invasion in 1996. The world community cannot say that there are no answers or that the problem is too complex to comprehensively address.
Rethinking AIDS 2009 will consist of talks that question the widely held dogma that HIV causes AIDS, including whether HIV exists, whether it is sexually transmitted, whether HIV tests are accurate and whether AIDS drugs are safe and effective. The social, psychologic and legal impacts of an HIV diagnosis will also be considered, as well as alternative health approaches for people whose health has been damaged by an HIV diagnosis, by the prescription of AIDS drugs or who have been diagnosed with an AIDS-defining illness.
Owino Odhiambo left his tiny Kenyan village less than a decade ago to immerse himself completely in American culture. Equipped with American citizenship, two degrees, and five years experience working as a dedicated graphic designer in New York City, Owino is currently unemployed. "My entire village sponsored me to come to America. In turn, I am expected to support them but now, without work, I can hardly support myself," says Owino, the oldest of ten siblings and first in his family to travel outside his village.
One of the most prevalent stereotypes in the debate about human rights and conflict transformation has been that of two fields clashing, expressed in the idea that the normative nature of human rights standards may complicate the practical demands of peacemaking. This article moves beyond “justice vs. peace” and proposes that applying a perspective of human rights in conflict transformation brings it closer to its aims – by forcing greater emphasis on structural conditions, especially the role of the state, systems of governance and issues of power.
The Zimbabwe Women Resource Centre and Network (ZWRCN) is seeking a competent, experienced and self motivated individual for the position of Programme Assistant – Gender HIV & Aids (GHIVA) Programme. WRCN is offering a competitive package for the candidate with the right qualifications and experience. Applications with certified copies of certificates, CV and other relevant documents must clearly state the position applied for and should be submitted no later than 6th September 2009.
Fertiliser subsidies have received a lot of attention, and praise for success in combating food shortages in Africa. The most notable case is that of Malawi, which introduced a fertiliser subsidy in 2005. In late 2007, the New York Times, for example, published an article hailing Malawi’s success in fighting famine. But in a new research paper, Professor Frank Ellis of the Regional Hunger and Vulnerability Programme (RHVP), argues that while fertiliser subsidies have a number of benefits, they also have limitations, and should not be seen as an alternative for other social protection measures for the poor — most notably, social cash transfers (pensions and child support grants, for example).
Following the evictions and burning of the houses of Maasai communities in Loliondo, these You-Tube films, and part II, provide documentary evidence of the abuses allegedly perpetrated by the Government of Tanzania and Ortello Business Company.
August saw the continuation of the chaos in Zimbabwe, with ever more breaches of the GPA being recorded, the majority of which fell into the following categories:
* wanton politically motivated violence, or violence driven by politicians or petty officials, * harassment, and deprivation of freedom, of individuals through contrived arrests on spurious charges, * widespread corruption involving senior public and uniformed figures, * the deprivation of the right to Freedom of Expression, and the abuse thereof, * violent, unconstitutional, invasions and seizures of property and farms, and * deliberate attempts to derail the Constitution-making process.
At 6 am on Saturday, 06 Sept. 2009,t is reported that 300 heavily armed Borana and Somali gunmen attacked the Samburu tribe at Losesia, in Samburu District, near Archer's Post, approx 38 km from Lerata. In addition to killing 3 herdsmen and injuring 2 others, the militia stole 3765 head of cattle, 2635 goats and sheep, 141 camels, and 19 donkeys, according to Samburu East MP Raphael Letimelo. All livestock were removed in lorries.
Although widely derided as an expensive toothless bulldog – and even as a fig leaf for the corrupt – the Kenya Anti Corruption Commission (KACC) is Kenya’s premiere statutory anti-corruption agency recognized as such by the United Nations Convention against Corruption and the African Union. It has been in operation since 2004 and has investigated among many other pending mega corruption Scandals.
UNITAR is pleased to announce its course calendar for 2009 intended for a global audience of finance sector and trade officials. Each course will be conducted by UNITAR over the internet and will last up to six-weeks. High quality training content will be provided by UNITAR for each course, which will form the basis for study, discussions, group work and individual assessments.
IIE’s Scholar Rescue Fund (SRF) provides fellowship grants for scholars whose lives or careers are threatened in their home countries. The fellowships support temporary academic positions at universities, colleges and other higher learning institutions in safe locations anywhere in the world. Applications are due by October 12th 2009.
Salary: Competitive terms and conditions will be offered
Based: Lilongwe, Malawi
Closing date: 17.09.2009
Starting date: January 2010
ICCO is the Interchurch Organisation for Development Co-operation and Kerk in Actie is part of the Protestant Church in the Netherlands. Together they provide financial support and advice to local organisations and networks throughout the world that are dedicated to improving access to basic services, stimulating sustainable economic development and advancing peace and democracy. In the region Southern Africa, ICCO works in South Africa, Angola, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Madagascar. For this region, a Regional Office is currently being set up in Lilongwe, Malawi.
Duties & Responsibilities:
The finance officer is responsible for the financial aspects of relations/contracts between ICCO and partners. The job objective is accountability regarding the funding to local partners and programme coalitions, by assessing proposals and reports, and contributing to the quality and transparency of the financial management of the partner organisations.
• Financial analysis and assessment of partners, programme and project proposals
• Financial monitoring and evaluation of partners, programmes and projects
• Advise on preparation and review of plans, budgets, reports, and return on investment analysis
• Assess and advise on the financial capacity of partner organisations
• Facilitate capacity building and expert knowledge in financial administration and control
Qualifications
• Relevant degree in Finance and / or other relevant professional qualification
• Substantial experience in financial management of monitoring of projects
• Budgetary responsibility in an international environment
• Competence in use of financial software applications
• Experiences with institutional donors
• Strong interpersonal skills, attention to detail, discretion and high integrity
• Excellent language skills in English and French and/or Portuguese
Please send your CV with FO-ICCO in the subject line to Mission Talent Recruitment. [email][email protected]
Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted.
For more information on ICCO’s programmes, please visit our website
Salary: Competitive terms and conditions will be offered
Based: Lilongwe, Malawi
Closing date: 17.09.2009
Starting date: January 2010
ICCO is the Interchurch Organisation for Development Co-operation and Kerk in Actie is part of the Protestant Church in the Netherlands. Together they provide financial support and advice to local organisations and networks throughout the world that are dedicated to improving access to basic services, stimulating sustainable economic development and advancing peace and democracy. In the region Southern Africa, ICCO works in South Africa, Angola, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Madagascar. For this region, a Regional Office is currently being set up in Lilongwe, Malawi.
Duties & Responsibilities:
The main responsibility of the Programme Officer is the interaction with the partners and programme coalitions in one country of the region. The programme officer reports to the Regional Manager and works in a multidisciplinary team in direct cooperation with the Finance Officer. S/he will identify and facilitate multi-stakeholder programmes by applying 4 ICCO strategic roles in the programmatic approach: strategic financing, advocacy and lobby, capacity building and brokerage.
• Support programme coalitions to jointly develop and implement programmes
• Assess programme- and project proposals
• Review audit reports of projects and follow-up of recommendations
• Provide input to the financial planning, monitoring, capacity development of programmes and projects
• Control, evaluate and monitor ongoing contracts with local partners
• co-ordinate with other relevant actors in the region
• Contribute to learning, linking and coordinating research and knowledge
• Contribute to strategic policy development and to the development of the regional plan
• Contribute to fundraising opportunities.
Qualifications
• Educational background social sciences plus knowledge in one of the 3 main themes:
o Fair economic development (value chains; access to local and international markets);
o Access to basic services (food security; education; hiv/aids, water and sanitation);
o Democratization and peace building.
• Advanced knowledge of programme and project formulation, accountability requirements.
• Experience with funding of programmes and projects
• Experience with multi-stakeholder processes and institutional donors
• Good knowledge of economic, social and political situation in the region
• Excellent language skills in English (French and / or Portuguese an is added advantage)
• Relevant experience of assessment and analysis of project/programme plans.
• Negotiation, networking, facilitation and communication skills.
Please send your CV with PO-ICCO in the subject line to Mission Talent Recruitment. [email][email protected]
Only candidates under serious consideration will be contacted. For more information on ICCO’s programmes please visit our website
AwaaZ Issue 2/09 - The Bombay Africans!
Contents:
- Cover Story: The Bombay Africans
- Linguistic Evidence of Bantu Origins of the Sidis of India by Abdulaziz Lodhi
- Alternative Angle: Paradise Revisited by John Sibi-Okumu
- Memories of a Diplomat – Bhupinder Liddar
- Contemporary India-East AfricaRelations
o Introduction by Gerard McCann
o Asian Diaspora in Nyanza Province ofKenya by Gordon Onyango Omenya and Mildred A J Ndeda
o Race Relations between Kenya’s Africans and South Asians by Zarina Patel
- Four Generations of the Naidoos in the South African Struggle
- Native African, Wananchi by Ramnik Shah
- The Asian Debate in East African Literature by Mwalimu Makokha
- Bats and Balls: Dr Saleem Rana: Farewell to a distinguished Sportsman and Doctor
- Dialogue through Dance by Neera Kapur
- Origins of a Passage to East Africa by Jarat Chopra
- Art Installation by Prina Shah
- Shailja Patel’s Bwagamoyo – The Father: Part II of Migritude
Book Reviews:
o Child of Dandelions by Shenaaz Nanji reviewed by Sunita Kapila
o Settlers Cookbook: A Memoir of Love, Migration and Food by Yasmin Alibhai-Brown reviewed by Warris Virani
o Success with Asian Names by fiona Swee-Lin Price reviewed by John Sibi-Okumu
o Scram from Kenya by James Franks reviewed by Ramnik Shah
o Reading of M G Vassanji by J K S Makokha
o African Identity in Asia by Shihan de Silva by Shehina Fazal
- Footsteps: Bantu Mwaura (1969-2009) and Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem (1961-2009)
AwaaZ Magazine
P O Box 32843 - 00600
Nairobi, Kenya
Tel: 020 2063405, 0722 344900, 0733 741085
Email: [email][email protected]
Website: AwaaZ
AwaaZ is environmentally responsible. It recycles, reduces and reuses all its material
As riots by supporters of Uganda's dominant Buganda kingdom over its (kingdom) disagreement with the government continued in various parts of the country, amid fears that dozens of lives may have been lost, President Yoweri Museveni has opted for dialogue to end the violence.
A group of European Union (EU) diplomats was due in Zimbabwe Friday for a series of high-level talks with the country's leaders on easing longstanding frosty relations between the two. The diplomats, led by Swedish International Development Co-operation Minister Gunilla Carlsson, were billed to meet President Robert Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and Deputy Prime Minister Aurther Mutambara at the weekend.
The UN is helping Kenya prepare to mitigate the impact of potentially-lethal torrential rains anticipated in the last three months of the year due to the El Nino weather pattern. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) made this known in a statement issued on Thursday in New York, US.
Kenya has launched a multi-million dollar appeal to help restore a vital forest resource which is threatened with extinction due to human encroachment. The appeal to save the Mau Forests Complex was launched late Wednesday by the Government of Kenya at a Partners Forum hosted by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).
The ECOWAS Parliament has called on ECOWAS and the African Union to "intervene immediately" for the restoration of constitutionalism in Niger, where President Mamadou Tandja has changed the country's constitution to allow him to run again when his second term runs out in December. The call was contained in a resolution of the ECOWAS Parliament, adopted Wednesday at the current 2009 Second Ordinary Session held in Abuja, the seat of the parliament.
The Gambian parliament has ratified a Supplementary Loan Agreement amounting to about US$ 5 million from the African Development Bank (AfDB) for the financing of Artisanal Fisheries Development Project, according to official sources. The repayment period of the loan has been spread over 20 years after a seven-year grace period starting from the date the agreement was signed.
President Robert Mugabe has lashed out at Western sanctions against him, condemning "bloody whites" for meddling in Zimbabwe's affairs, on the eve of a landmark European Union visit. "Who said the British and the Americans should rule over others? That's why we say down with you. We have not invited these bloody whites. They want to poke their nose into our own affairs. Refuse that," he said.
Thousands of MDC supporters will on Sunday converge at the White City Stadium in Bulawayo to celebrate the party’s 10th Anniversary. Morgan Tsvangirai, who will be accompanied by the entire MDC’s national leadership will give a key note address at the rally.
The UN children's agency says child mortality is decreasing, but the rate of decline is not enough. A new report says more than eight million children under five died last year with pneumonia and diarrhoea the two leading causes of death. Unicef says 40% of under-five deaths take place in just three countries - Nigeria, India and DR Congo.
Malawi's President Bingu wa Mutharika has defended his decision to deport four senior foreign tobacco buyers for flouting minimum-price rules. "For a long time I've been warning these exploitative colonialists to pay fair prices to farmers," he said.
Gabon has barred opposition leaders from leaving the country following recent riots over claims of fraud in last month's presidential election. One defeated candidate said he had been prevented from flying to Ivory Coast. A minister said the ban would last while the violence was investigated.
The European Union and South Africa should take steps to enhance cooperation on international human rights issues when they meet this week, Human Rights Watch said in letters to South Africa's minister of international cooperation and the prime minister of Sweden, which currently holds the EU presidency.
On Friday morning, Philo Ikonya and Jacob Odipo appeared before Resident Magistrate Ireri in Kibera Law courts to answer to charges brought against them for allegedly participating in an unlawful assembly. They had been arrested Thursday while demonstrating outside Integrity House in protest of the re-appointment of Aaron Ringera.
What is the role, relevance and effectiveness of PRSPs in supporting post-conflict recovery in Africa? This paper from the Economic Policy Research Centre in Uganda discusses challenges in developing PRSPs using case studies from Zambia, Malawi, Ghana, Burundi, Sierra Leone, Sudan, Mozambique, Angola and Uganda. It concludes that not all post-conflict African countries have successfully developed PRSPs.
Since the conflict between the Nigerien government and Tuareg groups intensified in 2007 following the creation of the Mouvement Nigérien pour la Justice, around 11,000 people have been displaced from their homes in mountainous areas north of Agadez. The conflict has abated in 2009, and many of the internally displaced people (IDPs) have started going back to their homes, whether spontaneously or with assistance from the local municipalities and the international community.
Kenya is facing a new urban time-bomb, with millions of Nairobi residents suffering a daily struggle for food and water as the divide between rich and poor widens, international aid agency Oxfam warned in a new report. A combination of falling household income, rising prices, and poor governance is making life a misery for the poor majority in Kenya's capital, the report on 'Urban Poverty and Vulnerability in Kenya' said.
Though political instability, violence and chaos surround them, surgeons and backup teams dedicated to ending the misery of obstetric fistula continue their work in the failed state of Somalia. The gratitude of their patients keeps them going in the most desperate of situations.
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has condemned the harassment and intimidation campaign against journalists in Guinea and the consistent threats on freedom of expression since the advent of the military junta in the country. “Since the advent of the military junta, we have witnessed more and more threats, and arrests that are squarely designed to intimidate journalists,” declared Gabriel Baglo, Director of IFJ Africa Office.
An estimated 48,000 people uprooted by severe flooding in Burkina Faso are sheltering in temporary accommodation such as schools, churches and public buildings while another 40,000 are living with host families, the United Nations has reported. A UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) team that went to Burkina Faso in the wake of the recent flooding also found that facilities in many of the buildings in which people are taking shelter, especially sanitation, are under strain.
With two new United Nations reports detailing human rights abuses – including possible war crimes – carried out by both Government forces and rebels in the volatile far east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the world body’s top rights official has stressed the urgent need for reforming the country’s security and judicial systems.
September 10 marks the 40th anniversary of an African refugee convention, which the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNCHR) hails as “groundbreaking” for having paved the way for millions on the continent to receive protection and assistance. Under the 1951 UN Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, a refugee was defined as a person having “a well-founded fear of persecution for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group or political opinion.”
The head of the United Nations refugee agency has kicked off a five-day tour to North Africa to assess the conditions for people still sheltering in makeshift camps in Algeria after fleeing conflict in Western Sahara in the mid-1970s. UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) has been providing assistance to the Saharawi people since they fled to western Algeria in 1975-76, after fighting broke out between Morocco and the Frente Polisario – a Saharawi movement – at the end of Spain’s colonial administration of Western Sahara.
Respect for human rights must be central to police work, a senior United Nations official in Liberia has told the new members of an elite unit within the West African country's police force as she warned them never to misuse their strength and power. Eighty officers from the Liberia National Police (LNP) have completed a three-month intensive training programme to join the force's Emergency Response Unit (ERU), joining just over 200 others who have finished their training since courses began in mid-2008.
Most Malawian children are struggling to acquire pre-school education before enroll in primary schools because nursery education is not free. "In Malawi, children aged between 6 to 8 years are generally enrolled in primary school. The problem, however, is that many of these children miss out on early learning and stimulation that would have better prepared them for school," said Secretary for Ministry of Gender, Children and Community Development Olive Chikankheni.
The African Union condemned Madagascar's Andry Rajoelina's decision to appoint a new government and said it may impose sanctions on the authorities and their supporters. The country has been rocked by turmoil since Rajoelina toppled former President Marc Ravalomanana from power in March this year.
Global climate talks aimed at reducing harmful emissions should be resolved fairly, taking into account the interests of both rich and poor countries, South African President Jacob Zuma said on Friday. South Africa, whose over-reliance on coal-fired power stations make it Africa's worst polluter, said on Thursday it would not agree to any emission-cutting targets if doing so hurt its recession-hit economy.
Security forces in Madagascar fired tear gas on Friday to try and disperse hundreds of opposition supporters gathering for a rally in the capital of the Indian Ocean island. Backers of ousted President Marc Ravalomanana massed in a park near a central square, but security forces moved in saying the demonstration had not been authorised.
Mini hydro plants could be the answer to a lack of power in rural Africa, especially as larger power projects are put on hold due to limited cash and abundant red tape, industry officials say. Analysts say the continent could generate as much as 330,000 megawatts (MW) from its hydro reserves, yet only some 7 percent of that potential has been exploited so far.
Government publishes an ambitious timetable for preparing health institutions for the National health Insurance scheme - but leaves virtually no space for public comment. The public will have very little time to comment on the proposed National Health Insurance (NHI) scheme, as it will only see the official plan in November.
Dr Jorge Sampaio, the United Nations Special Envoy on Tuberculosis recently addressed the 59th World Health Organisation Regional Committee for Africa in Kigali, Rwanda. He reminded ministers that putting money in TB is one of the most cost effective public health investments.
The battle of the bandwidth suppliers has begun, with MTN and MWeb not dropping their fees but instead increasing bandwidth to end users. This is a sort of price war in reverse: the prices stay the same but the volume is increased. MWeb is targeting its 300,000 residential customers by increasing the size of its data bundles. Subscribers with a 1GB data cap will now get 2GB for an unchanged R145 per month. Users with a 2GB cap will get 3GB for R219, and 3GB packages rise to 5GB for R299.
The Government of Uganda has closed four independently-owned radio stations and suspended their operating licenses for what it called “flouting rules by inciting people, mainly the Baganda tribe, against President Yoweri Museveni, his government and against other tribes”.
In the high HIV prevalence countries of southern Africa, between five and fifteen men will need to be circumcised to prevent one HIV infection in the ten following years, at a cost of between $150 and $900 per infection prevented. These are the conclusions of an expert review of mathematical models of the impact of male circumcision, organised by UNAIDS, WHO and the South African Centre for Epidemiological Analysis, and published in the open access journal PLoS Medicine.
Some 200 young Moroccans from sixteen regions around Morocco attended the first Civil Society Forum from September 8th-12th in Rabat. The forum was organised by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), with co-operation from the youth ministry, under the theme "Mobilise, plead, change".
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights of the Organization of American States (OAS) condemned Brazil for illegal wiretaps of the Landless Workers Movement (Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra, MST) in the southern state of Paraná.
On September 10, 2009, in the Mitchells Plain Town Centre, traders were informed that the City of Cape Town would not attend a meeting that was scheduled by Traders. CHATA (Concerned Hawkers and Traders Association) was informed of this cancellation on the grounds that the city claims they cannot negotiate with the Traders. The meeting was intended by CHATA to inform the city of the irregularities and unfair & unconstitutional policies that have been implemented in the renovation and relocation process of the Town Centre.
The Osun State Labour Party has condemned the unrepentant and highly irresponsible attitude of the federal and state governments to the demands of the university staff unions – Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Senior Staff Union of Universities (SSANU) and Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities (NASU) which are sine qua non to the revival of public education in Nigeria.
The Campaign for Democratic and Workers’ Rights (CDWR) in Osun State has comndemned the obnoxious policy of education privatization by the Ogun State. Our attention has been drawn to the handover of about 45 secondary schools to churches in the state. This action to us is anti-poor, fraudulent and reactionary. In a country where over 90 percent are living on less than $2 a day; a country where human capital development is at its abysmal level, the current privatization of secondary schools in the state is totally absurd.
Although India is an economic powerhouse in its own right, so much of its growth in recent years has been eclipsed by rival China’s shadow. Talk about India’s investments in Africa often steers towards 'how it seems to be playing catch up with China', writes Nelly Nyagah.
This is a call for papers that address many issues involving all aspects of Africans in China: issues of history, society, culture, language, and Africa - China relations, among others. How are these Africans being influenced by their Chinese hosts and how do they in turn influence their hosts? How does their presence in China impact on trade between Africa and China and how do these Africans contribute to the economies of the countries they originate from? Is this new and emerging African diaspora different from other African diasporas? What theoretical and methodological insights does the study of these African migrants in China have on general theories of migration and diasporan studies?
If those in charge are not to continue blocking greater pan-African unity, there need to be more conferences on a United States of Africa, argues Okello Oculi in this week's Pambazuka News. Thoroughly dissatisfied with his own recent experience of a conference between African scholars in Dakar, Senegal, Oculi stresses that while politicians' direct involvement in academic events can be beneficial, it should not come at the expense of intellectual freedom to debate and critique.
Chased Chased by bullets In fumigated environment
Instinctually they run
Without a shelter.
Not knowing
What is ahead In that dark world.
My boys
Where are you running
Without knowing
What is ahead?
My boys
Do not be deceived
You can not
Outrun the bullets.
One of them uttered,
I run
To grow up somewhere,
With the hope
To return and pay back
With a barrel of a gun.
My boys If I take you out
From the fumigated environment
Which is full of hate and deceit,
Would you have a heart
To forgive and
A mind to forget?
One of them uttered,
I am that boy
Chased by a bullet
No doubt.
It is a promise not to forget,
But to pay them back. Here is my plea to the almighty,
To intervene and have mercy,
To stop such madness
Without divine interference.
The cycle continues In the name of nationalities
And boundaries.
Ethiopian Recycler criticises Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's record and the praise he receives from the West.
Appealing to the UN secretary general, Isaac Newton Kinity makes the case for former Kenyan president Daniel arap Moi to be tried at the International Criminal Court (ICC) over the use of thousands of imported poison arrows in the 1991 killings of 800 pro-democracy activists.
Freedom of expression is one of the main pillars of democracy, argues the Africa Free Media Trust (AFMT) in this week's Pambazuka News. Although freedom of the press and expression are theoretically guaranteed in Kenya, AFMT stresses that the reality is different and indeed wonders whether the country is reverting back to the old days under President Daniel arap Moi. The existence of multiparty elections and the right to speak out should not be taken for granted, AFMT concludes, and Kenya must not allow freedom of expression to be jeopardised any further.
The recent death of Senator Edward Kennedy marked the end of the long dynasty of the Kennedys, who were not only prominent in domestic US politics but also on the world stage. In this week's Pambazuka News, John Otim reflects upon the relationship that Africa had with the Kennedys. Arguing that much has changed since the decolonisation process and the subsequent Cold War, and most importantly with Africa’s relationship to the US, Otim writes that Africans will mourn the death of a figure who recalled a 'glimmer of hope in a still colonial world'.
With much of Africa facing an effective re-colonisation in the wake of the global financial crisis, William Gumede underlines the importance of ever increasing cooperation and trade between African countries. As forces to the east and west alike plunder the continent's mineral wealth, it remains the task of African countries themselves to develop a continental common market and political union based on sound democratic foundations, Gumede concludes.
Sokari Ekine recently Abahlali baseMjondolo, Mnikelo Ndabankulu, a founding member and spokesperson, and Zodwa Nsibande, the general secretary of the Abahlali Youth League. In their interview they were joined by David Ntseng of the Church Land Programme, an NGO based in KwaZulu-Natal province which works on land rights issues. They discuss a range of issues from movement building and successes and the 2008 'Slums Act', to the decision not to vote in national elections and combating xenophobia in South Africa.
Dani Wadada Nabudere's 'The Crash of International Finance-Capital and its Implications for the Third World' is now available from when placing your order.
'The Crash' was first published in 1989 in the wake of the 1987 'Black Monday' financial crash. In this new edition featuring both the original and new chapters, Nabudere provides an updated analysis of the 2007–08 international financial crisis and draws out the likely implications for the Third World, a perspective that has received little attention elsewhere.
The following is an extract from the first chapter of the 1989 original in which Nabudere discusses the history of commodity production and the self-serving efforts of bourgeois capitalists to obscure the true function of money.
The death of Nigerian human rights lawyer and social justice activist Gani Fawehinmi, continued political violence in Zimbabwe, the deportation of African workers from Israel, and a rallying call for South Africa’s men to start speaking out against rape are among the stories covered in Sokari Ekine’s fortnightly round-up of the African blogosphere.
Responding to an article by that calls for former president Daniel arap Moi to be ‘arrested and prosecuted’, Arap Rotich says the roots of the Kenya’s ‘diverse and divisive’ problems lie deeper in the country’s history.
http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/448/58607_Trial_of_Mugabe_tmb.j... Pucherova reviews Chielo Zona Eze’s novel, The Trial of Robert Mugabe, published by Okri Books on 15 September, in which Steve Biko and writers Yvonne Vera and Dambudzo Marechera are among the members of a divine jury helping God decide Zimbabwean President Mugabe’s fate on the day of judgement. Although the book falls ‘rather too easily to sentimentality’, its service to Zimbabwe’s ‘collective healing should not be undervalued’, says Pucherova. It may, after all, ‘be the only trial Mugabe is ever called on to stand.’
http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/447/58608_barefoot_students_tmb... is the engine of freedom, Roland Bankole Marke tells Pambazuka News, but with Sierra Leone’s public schools in a state of decay, the country’s poorest children are unlikely to break their way out of a life of deprivation. Given the lifestyles of politicians and their cronies, writes Bankole, the argument that the ‘government has no money to fund education in this donor driven economy, is bogus’. ‘If education is cumbersome or expensive,’ says Bankole, ‘who wants to try ignorance?’
Moroccan security agents abducted and tortured a 19 year-old Sahrawi woman on 27 August for being a human rights activist, Konstantina Isidoros tells Pambazuka News. Nguia El Haouassi’s ordeal is just ‘one of many episodes of Moroccan police brutality’ that occur every year’, says Isidoros, but thanks to ‘an increasing number of Sahrawi student-led internet blogs’, records of human rights abuses against Sahrawi in the Occupied Territories are breaking through Morocco’s ‘propaganda wall’ to reach a global audience.
People with albinism have been ‘shunned, ridiculed, tormented, tortured and killed in cold blood’ all over Africa, simply 'on account of the skin colour', Phitalis Were Masakhwe tells Pambazuka News. The biggest threat to persons with albinism, says Masakhwe, is ‘misleading and negative belief systems about the condition’. And when ‘these negative beliefs combine with illiteracy and limited knowledge and facts about the situation, the net result can be calamitous.’
The Niger Delta amnesty won’t bring real or lasting peace to the region, Sabella Abidde tells Pambazuka News, because despite the government's haste to hurry through a deal, it hasn’t set out its plans for what the amnesty will mean in practice for local communities. The amnesty is a ‘band aid’ solution for a ‘festering wound’, says Abidde, which if left untreated has the potential to ‘undo’ Nigeria.
People leave sub-Saharan Africa in search of opportunities for personal growth and happiness, Sabella Abidde tells Pambazuka News, but whether self-imposed or forced upon you, life in exile can be ‘one of the most painful of all human experiences’. Ultimately most exiles, says Abidde, ‘would rather be home: Helping their own people and helping to advance their own countries.’ But, he cautions, ‘several years of exile have a way of making one a stranger in one’s village or community.’
Would you like to write a review for Pambazuka News? We are looking for people to write reviews for a number of books and academic papers. You can view the . Interested? E-mail us to let us know which title you are interested in and we’ll get in touch with you.
Eugène Tavares
Following the election of Ali Ben Bongo to the Gabonese presidency, Tidiane Kassé considers the reaction of commentators in the African press to the victory. With the death of his father and long-time dictator Omar Bongo in June, many regard Ali Ben Bongo's election as the mere continuation of the Bongo dynasty, Kassé notes, a continuation decidedly in the interests of the French former colonial power.
Pambazuka News 446: Joseph Stiglitz and the limits of liberal orthodoxy
Pambazuka News 446: Joseph Stiglitz and the limits of liberal orthodoxy
“THE DRUM CAFE”, is an innovative network of creative and performing professionals with the Central aim of re-defining drum music as a powerful medium of social change in east Africa. The first drum cafe was first hosted by Alliance francaise de Nairobi in September 2006 and supported by various individuals, cultural and artistic institutions. The DRUM CAFÉ 2010 PEACE FESTIVAL will be a seven day celebration presented by and for the various Kenyan ethnic subgroups and communities living in Nairobi.
The fourth World Summit on Arts and Culture, a project of the International Federation of Arts Councils and Culture Agencies (IFACCA), will take place in Johannesburg from 22-25 September, hosted by the National Arts Council of South Africa. Mike van Graan, Programme Director for the Summit and Head of the Arterial Network’s Secretariat will write this weekly column in the build up to the Summit, raising some of the themes and provocative issues that will be debated at the event.
Four journalists from Uganda's largest independent newspaper are facing criminal prosecutions, joining four others already charged since 2007, according to local journalists and news reports. Criminal prosecutions against the Monitor are on the rise against the backdrop of mounting national tensions in the lead-up to general elections in 2011. This month, President Yoweri Museveni, who is expected to seek re-election, warned private broadcasters against inciting public discontent with the government.
the latest briefing from the International Crisis Group, examines the exploitation of oil revenues. Since 2003 they have contributed greatly to the deterioration of governance in Chad and to a succession of rebellions and political crises. The regime uses the revenues as a means to reward its cronies, co-opt members of the political class, and acquire the military means enabling it to reject genuine political negotiations. This has further limited space for the political opposition and civil society and helped keep the country in a state of political paralysis, stoking the antagonism between regime and opponents.
Due to bad governance and human rights violations, African governments have sought to enhance their tattered images abroad since it can make the difference between more and less foreign Aid. In the process, they have paid millions of dollars to lobby groups at the expense of development and democracy instead pursuing the most cost-effective way— putting their houses in order, writes policy analyst Patrick Mutahi.