Pambazuka News 770: Genocide, famine, war: Empire's legacies in Africa

14 Apr

Pambazuka News 770: Genocide, famine, war: Empire's legacies in Africa

By Editor 0 Comments

Thursday, April 14, 2016

Language English

14 April 2016

CONTENTS: 1. Features, 2. Announcements, 3. Advocacy & campaigns

Features

CLINTON’S CROCODILE TEARS

Alice Gatebuke and Claude Gatebuke

The shameless hypocrisy of former U.S. President Clinton will not change the historical record about his administration’s cold indifference to the Rwandan genocide. Clinton pushed for the drastic reduction of the UN peacekeeping force in Rwanda, leaving the field open for the horrific murders.

CONGOLESE GROUPS REJECT FRENCH MPS’ GENOCIDE VISIT TO RWANDA

Congolese collective associations

Civil society organisations from the Democratic Republic Congo have expressed their opposition to a planned visit by French MPs to genocide commemorations in Rwanda this month. The organisations accuse the MPs of turning a blind eye to the horrendous atrocities committed by Paul Kagame’s regime in Rwanda, DR Congo and the Great Lakes region over the last 20 years. Experts on the region describe Kagame as “the greatest war criminal in office today.”

USAID AND THE FAMINE IN ETHIOPIA: WHAT DOES GAYLE E. SMITH HAVE TO SAY?

Alemayehu G. Mariam

More than 10 million Ethiopians are currently facing famine in what some media outlets misleadingly describe as “the worst drought in five decades”. But the famine is not a merely a result of drought. It is a governance issue. And the millions of dollars USAID and other donors are sending in humanitarian aid will probably end up in the pockets of the greedy fat cats of Addis.

LIBYA WAR: EMPIRE’S WORST MISTAKE
Farooque Chowdhury

Obama’s admission that lack of adequate planning in empire’s war on Libya was the biggest mistake of his presidency does not settle the question. Her former Secretary of State, the chief architect of the intervention, Hilary Clinton claims credit for the overthrow and murder of Muammar Gaddafi, which plunged the country into chaos. The intervention was not about Libyans; it was about empire and its interests in Africa.

WANTED: AN INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN TO BLOCK OUTSOURCING OF LIBERIAN SCHOOLS
C. Patrick Burrowes

In January, Liberia's education Minister George Werner announced that the entire pre-primary and primary education system would be outsourced to Bridge International Academies to manage. The deal will see the government of Liberia direct public funding for education to support services subcontracted to the controversial private, for-profit, US-based company.

ZIMBABWEAN LAND REFORM: BETWEEN MUGABE’S CONTROVERSIES AND BRITAIN’S RESPONSIBILITIES
Giuseppe Maio

President Robert Mugabe is not solely to blame for the economic problems facing Zimbabwe as many in the western world have claimed. In some economic policies like land reform, Mugabe’s management has had some positive effects, even though the reform has not been completely successful. Responsibility for the partial success of the land reform, rather than being entirely attributed to Mugabe, should be shared between Mugabe and the British government.

CANADA AND THE DESTRUCTION OF BENIN CITY
Yves Engler

Few Canadians are familiar with pre-colonial African cities, and even fewer know a Canadian military leader helped sack one of West Africa’s great metropolises. When the British and Canadians took part in the ‘Scramble for Africa’, they did so with impunity, a complete disregard for property, sacred forests and people. They only saw savages that needed to be tamed.

WHY THE PANAMA PAPERS ARE A FEMINIST ISSUE
Chiara Capraro and Francesca Rhodes

Financial secrecy and tax dodging, and the resulting lack of public funds, threatens women’s and girl’s access to public services, increases the care work they do for free and shifts the tax burden onto those who can least afford it.

HOW LIBERATORS TURN INTO OPPRESSORS: A STUDY OF SOUTHERN AFRICAN STATES
Henning Melber

It is normal for resistance movements to adopt rough survival strategies and techniques while fighting an oppressive regime. Unfortunately, such confrontational mentality becomes entrenched in an authoritarian political culture that is based on the claim that liberators have an entitlement to rule within a new elite project.

MOYOSORE: A JOURNEY OF DISCOVERY, REAPPRAISAL AND REDEDICATION
Chido Onumah

Nigerian journalist and author, Chido Onumah, a frequent contributor to Pambazuka News, just turned 50. To celebrate the milestone, he reflects on his life, work and the contradictions of the Nigerian nation.

CONGOLESE RUMBA LEGEND “DR. NICO” SUPPORTED LUMUMBA

Norman (Otis) Richmond (aka Jalali)

Politically conscious Black artists have always gone beyond the pursuit of fame and fortune to align themselves with the struggles of their people for liberation from imperialism. Renowned Congolese guitarist, composer and singer, Nicolas Kasanda wa Mikalayi, popularly known as Doctor Nico, was a keen supporter of D.R. Congo’s first democratically elected leader and eminent African statesman Patrice Lumumba.

Announcements

‘A CONSCIOUS GENERATION’: THOMAS SANKARA’S POLITICS AND LEGACY IN MOVEMENTS FOR SOCIAL JUSTICE
Ammber Murrey and Alexandra Reza

Abstracts are invited for contributions to a forthcoming edited volume that aims to bring forward the different ways in which activists, theorists and writers in and beyond Africa have engaged with Sankara’s political philosophies and praxis since his assassination in 1987.

Advocacy & campaigns

BLOGGERS AND SOCIAL MEDIA ARE NOT TO BLAME FOR THE CHASE BANK CRISIS

Bloggers Association of Kenya

Freedom of expression is under threat in Kenya. In the past, bloggers have been arrested and detained on baseless charges. The latest turn of events is the Central Bank of Kenya’s allegation that bloggers are responsible for the collapse of one the country’s banks.

ACTIVISTS ACROSS AFRICA CALL FOR ZUMA’S RESIGNATION

Africa's Future

On Friday, 8 April 2016, activists across Africa who call themselves “Africa’s future” published an open letter to South African President Jacob Zuma. They believe he no longer has moral authority and are calling for him to resign.

KPTJ STATEMENT FOLLOWING THE TERMINATION OF THE ICC CASE AGAINST WILLIAM SAMOEI RUTO AND JOSHUA ARAP SANG

Kenyans for Peace with Truth and Justice (KPTJ)

KPTJ says the cases collapsed as a result of contamination of evidence through systematic victim/witness interference and an orchestrated political and diplomatic campaign by the Kenyan government at the behest of suspects of international crimes to intimidate and discredit the Court.