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Thursday, February 16, 2017
English

CONTENTS: 1. Features  2. Announcements  
 


Features


Doctors’ strike: Kenya government is killing poor people

Henry Makori

For the third month, Kenya’s doctors have demonstrated a remarkable spirit of resistance to worker oppression - to the extent of union leaders being imprisoned for championing their rights. But this is a much bigger struggle requiring the solidarity of all progressive forces. Kenyans need to rise up against a government that doesn't care whether they live or die.

 

 

Kenyan doctors’ strike: Why the centre can no longer hold

Sungu Oyoo

The doctors’ strike now in its third month in Kenya has caused great suffering to the majority poor people who cannot afford medical care in private hospitals. All Kenyans ought to come out and support the doctors. The strike is not merely about the welfare of the healthcare workers. It is about a public health system crumbling under deliberate state neglect and corruption.

 

Fare thee well, Comrade Wangui Mbatia Nyauma

Mulialia Okumu

Organizing was at the heart of Wangui’s activism. She is associated with Bunge La Mwananchi (People’s Parliament), the Unga Revolution, Kenya Network of Grassroots Organizations among other initiatives. Her commitment to the struggles of poor people in Kenya is a rich legacy for all those who believe in a just society.

 

Will you stand with the Congolese in their struggle for freedom?

Daniel Fisher
Congolese people continue to pay a steep price in their resistance to a dictatorial regime backed by the US and its allies. The world takes little notice. Congo is an immensely rich nation, but it is among the poorest due to a history of political meddling and resource theft by Western powers. The time has come to stand in solidarity with Congolese people.

 

DRC: An open later to UN Secretary General and the Prime Minister of Canada

Everlyn N.B Mayanja
The UN and Canada need to understand that peacekeeping in Congo must not become a perpetual project. As a sovereign state, DRC needs to strengthen its leadership, governance and the institutions that deliver essential political goods to the population: safety and security, government transparency, the rule of law, political participation, human rights protection, sustainable economic opportunities and integral human development.

 

 

Etienne Tshisekedi and the future of Congo: A tribute

Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja

The first Congolese to earn a doctoral degree in law from the University of Kinshasa, Tshisekedi is considered the most important leader in the central African nation after the iconic nationalist Patrice Lumumba. He was a very principled man; an incorruptible politician whose single interest was the wellbeing of the Congolese people.

 

 

Debt audit: An alternative weapon against state capture

Mary Serumaga

Many African nations are mired in huge debts arising from foreign loans that have hardly benefitted the people. The citizens need to audit these debts. Odious debts should be repudiated, damn the consequences. Moreover, as Thomas Sankara demonstrated in the four years he was president of Burkina Faso, African nations do not need foreign loans to meet the needs of their people.

 

 

International political justice in lieu of international criminal justice: Some preliminary reflections

David-Ngendo Tshimba

The continued misanalysis of mass violence in most of Africa by the ICC—perceived as simply criminal and not principally political—can only vindicate the harsh criticism against the ICC as indeed being an ‘International Caucasian Court’ deploying a Nuremberg-styled victor’s justice.

 

The Mugabe succession and its challenges

Tinashe Jakwa

While President Robert Mugabe was on annual leave in China, Zimbabwe’s acting president changed twice. In a one-party state that has seen the same leader for 30 years, this temporary see-sawing is an annual pattern that is part of the country’s increasingly complex leadership terrain.

 

In South Africa, enter stage left: Jacob Zuma’s ‘Radical Economic Transformation’ alternative factoids

Patrick Bond

South Africa’s two main warring political blocs – the forces of Fiscal Patronage (‘Zuptas!’ in local parlance, referring to the immigrant Gupta family’s curious influence over the president’s family and government) versus the forces of Fiscal Prudence (‘Treasury neoliberals!’ to critics) – are still represented by two men who have begun to stumble on terrain potholed by what a Donald Trump aide terms ‘alternative facts.’

 

The global dimensions of the life and legacy of Malcolm X

Revolutionary leader developed amid monumental changes around the world

Abayomi Azikiwe

The world cannot realize stability unless the drive for global domination by imperialism is overthrown. This truism was at the heart of Malcolm X’s struggles. The awareness and activism of people inside and outside the U.S. must be harnessed into a movement committed to fundamental transformation of the exploitative and oppressive system.

 

 

Jacob Zuma: A victim of white monopoly capital?

Sean Muller

The evidence available contradicts the propaganda the South African president and his backers are attempting to disseminate: Zuma has been, not a victim, but a friend of both white monopoly capital and organisations linked to Western intelligence agencies when it suits him.organisations linked to Western intelligence agencies when it suits him.

 

Theresa May and Biafra

Herbert Ekwe-Ekwe

All that remains for British PM Theresa May is to announce to the world that Britain has terminated all support – military, political, diplomatic – for the prosecution of the Igbo genocide, apologise to Igbo people, pay reparations on behalf of the 3.1 million Igbo murdered and the tens of thousands murdered subsequently, pay reparations to the survivors, and pay reparations to reconstruct the shattered nation of Biafra.apologise to Igbo people, pay reparations on behalf of the 3.1 million Igbo murdered and the tens of thousands murdered subsequently, pay reparations to the survivors, and pay reparations to reconstruct the shattered nation of Biafra.

 

 

Standing with Syrians: An open letter to an anti-imperialist

Philip Rizk

Eva is a real person who I have known since 2007, as described in this article. But in this text Eva stands for many politically engaged individuals, whether outspoken or silent supporters of the Syrian regime and its allies. I will not re-post her photo here. In a world flooded with images, it is important to maintain our ability to imagine a moment.

 

An open letter to Somalia’s newly elected President

Bashir Goth

The Somali people are sick and tired of seeing their fate decided by neighboring countries, of their political leaders genuflecting to the whims of foreign leaders and measuring their success by their degree of servitude to their bosses in Addis Ababa and Nairobi. Somalis want their country back.
 

 

AU strategy for collective withdrawal from the ICC a non-starter

Sarah Kasande,Chris Gitari and Mohamed Suma

A good deal of the ill-feeling within the AU toward the ICC has been generated by Kenya’s political leadership, whose president, Uhuru Kenyatta, and deputy president, William Ruto, were under investigation by the court for crimes against humanity committed during the 2007-2008 post-election crisis. They have successfully converted personal interests into continental grievance.

 

How I nearly got snuffed out in The Gambia

Cameron Duodu

Now that the Gambian story has been put back on the shelf, with everyone waiting to see whether President Adama Barrow will run an administration that will prove worthy of President Adama Barrow will run an administration that will prove worthy of the amount of words expended on its emergence, I feel I can tell President Adama Barrow will run an administration that will prove worthy of President Adama Barrow will run an administration that will prove worthy of the amount of words expended on its emergence, I feel I can tell my story of The Gambia.

 

BOOK REVIEW: ‘The Thabo Mbeki I Know’

Ama Biney

Calm in deportment, methodical, quiet spoken and serious looking – though his sincere smiles could be disarming - Mbeki was Mandela’s loyal, efficient controller of day–to-day-government business as deputy president. The media found him to be austere and lacking in the warmth of Mandela and perhaps unfairly expected him to walk in the shoes of Mandela.

 

Open letter to Presidents Trump and Putin: Negotiate nuclear zero

Noam Chomsky et al

“Your nuclear arsenals give each of you the power to end civilization. You also have the historic opportunity, should you choose, to become the leaders of the most momentous international collaboration of all time, dedicated to ending the nuclear weapons era over the course of a decade or so.”

 


Announcements


 

Horace G. Campbell installed as the 3rd Kwame Nkrumah Chair of African Studies

Peter Bembir

Prof. Campbell, a long-time contributor to Pambazuka News, is a distinguished voice in the struggles for freedom and justice of the African people. His inaugural lecture focused on African unity - a theme at the centre of Nkrumah’s political philosophy - and the need for a truly liberated Africa, so that the people can enjoy the wealth their land is endowed with.

 

AFFORD Diaspora Accelerator - Win 30K to grow your business in Africa

As part of this programme, they have a Diaspora Accelerator Competition – a business planning competition – which is providing £30,000 grant to Diaspora social enterprises and businesses, investing in Nigeria, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe. Diaspora entrepreneurs must match this grant with a minimum of 20% (£7,500). The deadline for the first stage application is fast approaching – 28 February, 2017. 

 

Radical transformations in Africa today: interventions from the left

An opportunity for activists and scholars to contribute to a series of three linked workshops in Africa. Each two-day meeting will debate current challenges and prospects for Left analysis and action. We are seeking both key speakers and offers of papers, with a plan to publish a selection in the Review of African Political Economy.

Deadlines for abstracts:
. Accra meeting – June 2017
. Dar es Salaam – November 2017
. Johannesburg – January 2018.

 

Pambazuka Android App is now on Google Play Store

As a way to reach more people and to make your experience with Pambazuka News better, we have developed an android app as another tool to create a better reading experience with mobile devices. The app will have periodic updates to cater for changing readers' requirements and experiences.to cater for changing readers' requirements and experiences.
App download Link

 

 

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Henry Makori and Tidiane Kasse - Editors, Pambazuka News

Yves Niyiragira - Executive Director, Fahamu


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Pambazuka News is a publication of FAHAMU

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