The drawn-out and acrimonious battle for the Presidency of South Africa’s ruling Party, the ANC, came to an end this week with the election of Jacob Zuma during
the party 52nd National Conference in Polokwane. Predictably, Zuma’s election has generated heated debates not only in South Africa but beyond primarily because he is most likely going to be the next South African President.

Kenyan blogger Ken Opalo believes that Zuma’s election is a loss for Africa because he lacks Mbeki’s Pan-Africanist credentials:
“Of course the wishes of the South African people should supersede those of other Africans when they choose their leaders. I am also glad that Zuma’s election happened in a democratic manner. Institutionalization of democracy within the ANC, as I have pointed out before, is important since it is this party that will be electing South Africa’s president for many years to come – barring any major break-up. This said, I think it is important to acknowledge that South Africa, being the regional hegemon, has considerable influence in Africa. Because of this, people in Harare, Dakar or Nairobi have a reason to care and think of how outcomes in South African politics affect them.

Zuma, a man without much formal education, lacks the intellectual abilities that Mbeki has exhibited ever since his heydays as an ANC exile. He has proven to be a populist and to the best of my knowledge has not shown much interest on the region as a whole. If he chooses to be a domestic leader, like he seems he will, his election will indeed end up being a loss to the African people who desperately need visionary continental leadership to correct the evils of poverty, disease, ignorance and bad leadership.”

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/333/blogs_02_gndhlovu.gifZambian blogger Gershom Ndhlovu argues that Zuma’s defeat of President Thabo Mbeki is a warning to those African leaders who want to stay in power in perpetuity:
“The election of Jacob Zuma as ANC leader is a good sign for Africa, that democracy can prevail even in ruling parties across the continent used to leaders who grow roots in the seats of power. Not that Zuma is the best man for the eventual job of South African president, but Thabo Mbeki is to blame.

He should have, at the earliest possible time, gave a clear indication that he would leave at the end of his two term tenure. Others more capable than Zuma could have emerged to compete among themselves while Mbeki watched on the sidelines.

Mbeki should have followed the path left by his predecessor, Nelson Mandela, who gave up the presidency after only one term…
Mbeki’s defeat should send serious signals to the rest of Africa where the likes of Bakili Muluzi still want to come back to power, the Mugabes still run unopposed at ZANU congresses and in Zambia, the ruling party is still flip-flopping on a possible successor. Zambia risks a Zuma-like take over with a possibly “undesirable” element likely to take over. Such is the sorry state in which the African continent is in politically.
The ANC, being the oldest political party on the continent, has shown the way to proper democracy for the rest of Africa.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/333/blogs_03_spirituality.gifSouth African blogger Dion Foster takes a less rosy view about Zuma’s victory:
“So Jacob Zuma won the ANC Presidential elections. I wonder what the future holds for South Africa. Sure I have heard all the commentary about how disconnected Mbeki is from the ordinary South African, and her or his real concerns.... But one worries about a leader who has shown nothing but contempt for the law (an act that is equally
concerning!)

I shall pray, and read, and perhaps this next election will be the first in which I shall not vote for the ANC's candidate, even if it is not Mr. Zuma... You see, I think the party that I have supported for some years (even before the end of Apartheid), has grown away from
me. We no longer seem to share the same values of integrity, justice, and unity...
http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/333/blogs_04_dispatch.gifAnother South African blog, http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/333/blogs_05_amagama.gifA third South African blog, NiK is the Blogospherian analyzes the Polokwane conference from a race perspective:
“There are a couple of things that have struck me as interesting this past weekend about the ANC presidential struggle in Polokwane.
Listening to the chat lines, the newscasts on radio, and observing via many television networks, the following thoughts came to mind.
The first was the almost trivial reality that the entire affair was, is and shall be driven by dark skinned people mostly, overwhelmingly in fact, of ethnic origin. With the exception of the odd [so-called] ‘white’ skinned newscaster from the BBC or similar, and a random handful of tokenist honorary black podium persons ‘white’ does not exist in Polokwane.
[…]
I would hypothesise here that Polokwane represents a watershed in the evolution of the new South Africa. Before Polokwane all defect was blamable on honkys and Apartheid. After Polokwane all defects are self-made and sustaining. Apartheid is dead long live "togetherhate.”

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/333/blogs_06_whiteafrican.gifIt has not been all about the Zuma-Mbeki slugfest on the African blogosphere. http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/333/blogs_07_dibussi.gif
* Dibussi Tande, a writer and activist from Cameroon, produces the blog Scribbles from the Den, http://www.dibussi.com/

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/331/blogs_01_mirrorofjustice.gif writes about the improvement of the food situation in Malawi after the government ignored advice from the World Bank and USAID and subsidized fertilizer and seed to farmers:

“Clearly leaving things to market forces didn't work. Equally clearly, the subsidized fertilizer is having a dramatic positive effect - not only can do people now have enough food to feed themselves, but they have food to sell to other countries. Are government subsidies perfect? Probably not, and doubtless there is some displacement of commercial fertilizer sales. But government programs aimed at helping people become self-sufficient are a different matter than those that simply hand someone a bowl of food.”

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/331/blogs_02_ndagha.gifMalawian blogger Victor Kaonga commemorates World Aids day by discussing the challenges of Aids sensitization, primary among these, the stigma and silence that still surrounds the disease:

“Admittedly, it is not easy to disclose one's status because there are so many fears and consequences. Though this years' theme is on leadership, I have some worry over the performance of most of our leaders in Malawi…

AIDS is an area where silence still reigns. I just pray and hope that as leaders, they (and some people claim I am also a leader in my own right!) need to be more aggressive. May be this year's theme will remind them (us) about our roles when it comes to AIDS.

I think the theme is ideal as most leaders are men in our region and yet very few of them ever disclose their sero-status. My observation is that it is mostly women who easily disclose their sero-status. No wonder that often when it comes to programming, most of the interview voices on air have been those of women who are free to say they are living with the virus.”

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/331/blogs_03_whichwaynigeria.gifWhich Way Nigeria comments on the recent declaration by the Nigerian Senate that the handing over of the disputed Bakassi peninsular to Cameroon by the Obasanjo administration was unconstitutional:
“One wonders, if this ceding off of Bakassi is the only unconstitutional act of Obasanjo? The Senate should spend their time on legislating and carrying out their oversight functions to see that all the depilated infrastructures are functional. The mobile telephone service providers are ripping off Nigerians with diverted calls, dropped calls and poor reception. A handful of schools in Nigeria are paying either in pounds or dollars, yet Nigeria is a Sovereign state. While sympathizing with the displaced Nigerians of Bakassi extraction, one is tempted to say that these displaced people are better off being Cameroonians than Nigerians.
The degradation in the Niger Delta – the goose that lays the golden egg – is a pointer that most oil producing areas are better off in their own Republic. This unwarranted declaration of war by the Nigerian Senate, is most unfortunate as Nigeria parades herself as giant of Africa and parrots that Africa is the at the heart of Nigerian Foreign Policy.”

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/331/blogs_04_sierraeye.gifSierra Leonan blogger Sierraeye reproduces an article from Worldpress which reviews the downward spiral of the Sierra Leonan civil service in the past decade:

“At the dawn of independence, Sierra Leone's civil service was one of the best in Africa. The work of the civil service was widely accepted and respected, as it worked to serve the people of Sierra Leone. That reputation of the civil service has quickly been eroded since the late 60's. The civil service became entirely corrupt and grossly inefficient. And it did not get better even when after the war ended in 2002, and the international community rallied behind Sierra Leone as never before, supporting efforts to build capacity and helping to address the problems of the civil service.
[…]
Sierra Leoneans have paid a heavy price for being too susceptible to the deviant and corrupt practices of civil servants nullifying the competence of the civil service once enjoyed in colonial times and the years immediately after independence—a civil service that was rooted in a preference for being honorable over exhibiting selfishness, for being progressive over showing lack of will to make a difference. At a moment in history when the country's most pressing problems require unprecedented civil service performance, [former President] Kabbah's lenient administration only contributed to the ruin of the nation.”

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/331/blogs_05_pitsotsibs.gifThe ANC Women’s League endorsement of Jacob Zuma for the ANC party presidency has been hotly debated in the African blogosphere. South African blogger Pitso Tsibolane is among those bewildered by the choice of the Women’s League:

“But why? Why did the women choose the “Kanga-Man”, one who exposed his attitudes about women and sex when he slept with an HIV+ woman (Kwezi the faceless one, now exiled lesbian and a family friend) without protection? The same man who is polygamous and yet divorced? Do they condone his actions?

Allow me to think aloud;

- Could it be that most women of the ANC believe that JZ’s troubles are all a conspiracy by Mbeki?
- Could it be that most women of the ANC actually believe that Zuma is a good man, and actually do not share the “more bourgeoisie sentiment” that he is a ticking time bomb, bad for the country’s image?
- Could it be that most women in the ANC really believe that there is nothing wrong for their future president to be sleeping with friends of the family and begging for money in brown envelopes from convicted fraudsters?
- Could it be, that most women in the actually choose to see the good in Zuma, the humble man, the people’s person, a real MK man, a soldier, a survivor, rags-to-riches genius, the victim of the aloof jealous leader president!

Allow me to surmise, Zuma sure knows how to rise to the occasion when he has to, he outsmarted the “intelligent native” with his charm. However, he has not swayed me to his side; I actually do not believe he is what South Africa needs now. I do hope he chooses his deputy and cabinet well for South Africa’s sake (but first he must win at Limpopo!)”

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/331/blogs_06_chippla.gifThe case of the English teacher who was jailed in Sudan for naming a teddy bear “Mohammed” is still generating lots of discussion on the blogosphere. Chippla’s Weblog looks at the broader implications of the actions of the Sudanese government:

“What the Sudanese authorities ought to have done was to educate Ms. Gibbons on the religious and cultural values of the Islamic parts of Sudan (Khartoum, where Ms. Gibbons taught, is in the Islamic part of Sudan). Instead, they ended up doing something reminiscent of the backward Middle Ages—sentencing her to jail. An event like this sometimes makes rational people laugh at the chocking effect of blind adherence to religious faith. And few things could be more potent than when the state exalts religious dogma and has religious laws against ‘blasphemy’!”

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/331/blogs_07_meskelsquare.gifThis view is similar to the one expressed by Sudanese newspaper Al-Sahafah which is quoted by Meskel Square:

"If this issue had been raised to the Prophet he would have sided with the innocent children who gave their beloved toy his name. He would have considered this as an example of love and truth... Commoners, let alone elites and educated people, can easily distinguish between what really angers God and his Prophet, and who is striving to take advantage of some issues for other reasons...

Whoever creates a battle where there is no place for one in the name of religion thus insults Islam and its Prophet, and creates a wrongful impression of the religion making it to be hated by people, is committing a great offence incurring the wrath of God and his Prophet."

* Dibussi Tande, a writer and activist from Cameroon, produces the blog Scribbles from the Den, http://www.dibussi.com

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

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/329/blogs_01_crossedcrocodiles.... of the leading topics on the African blogosphere this week is AFRICOM, the United States Africa Command. reflects the general mood among African bloggers with his argument that AFRICOM has no place in Africa:

“I don't think the greatest immediate danger posed by AFRICOM is from US soldiers and sailors. One of the things that worries me is that I suspect the mercenaries and mercenary corporations are what the US plans to use in Africa, in addition to training African military as US surrogates. These mercenaries may be employees of the US State Department, or some other US government department, as they are in Iraq. Or they may be the employees of giant corporations, such as oil companies. Whatever US objectives, arms and mercenaries can only destabilize. The presence of actual US military personnel may just be window dressing. The dirty work will be done by private armies and private CIAs. Already in the US these are taking over the functions of the military and intelligence. I am hoping a change in US administration may change the direction of this trend, but there are no guarantees.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/329/blogs_02_africa-speaks.gifThis view is shared by Africa Speaks who argues that:

“What Africa needs least is U.S. military expansion on the continent (and elsewhere in the world). What Africa needs most is its own mechanism to respond to peacemaking priorities. Fifty years ago, Kwame Nkrumah sounded the clarion call for a “United States of Africa.” One central feature of his call was for an Africa Military High Command. Today, as the African Union deliberates continental governance, there couldn’t be a better time to reject U.S. military expansion and push forward African responses to Africa’s priorities.

Long suffering the effects of militaristic "assistance" from the United States, Liberia would be the worst possible base for AFRICOM. But there are no good locations for such a poorly conceived project. Africa does not need AFRICOM.”

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/329/blogs_03_liberiaandfriends.gifLiberia and Friends blog however, takes a diametrically opposed view and insists that AFRICOM is good not only for Africa but specifically for Liberia:

“Why is it that so many African powers are against the United States setting up its African command on African soil? The answer is simple, African nations, at least those run by dictators, like Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe, don't want more Americans, and their democratic ideas, upsetting the status quo…”

It then goes on to make the case for AFRICOM setting up its headquarters in Liberia:

“… coming out of almost two decades of civil war, and with our infrastructure, and economy in shambles… several hundred, or even thousands, of well paid American soldiers and civilians, would work wonders for the economy. And not to mention the huge financial incentive and the creation of thousands of jobs that would come with Africom requests for basing rights.

Another reason we Liberians should welcome Africom is because it would give pause to any future rebel group, or military commanders contemplating a coup.”
http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/329/blogs_04_pickinjava.gifStill on the issue of security and western involvement in Africa, Pickin Java explains how western business and political interests use two myths to control oil in the Gulf of Guinea:
1. Business myth: "We are not involved in politics. We just make profits for our shareholders through managing the oil." Reality: Shell and other companies have been intimately involved with Nigerian state figures in creating the type of instability amenable to Shell's control of petroleum production, in order to suck the region dry and thus enrich elite political/economic/military 'shareholders'.

2. Military myth: ". . . in general, U.S. policymakers tend to be extremely well educated and dedicated professionals, earnestly working to advance U.S. interests. . . political and economic freedom, peaceful relations with other states, and respect for human dignity. . ."
Matthew V. Sousa and James J. F. Forest, Oil and Terrorism in the New Gulf: Framing U.S. Energy and Security Policies (Lexington Books, 2006), p. 148-149.

Because the Gulf is filled with dangerous terrorists and criminals that are against everything earnest U.S. policymakers believe in, it is important to prop up strong states with strong militaries to fight this menace. Reality: Provide the steel hand on which the velvet glove of business and politics can be worn. "Terrorists" are those who oppose Shell's, BPs and others' corporate interests.”
Pickin Java concludes by asking “How long until the U.S. finds the right kind of Musharraf for Nigeria?

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/329/blogs_05_africaflak.gifAfrikaflak tackles another contentious issue, China’s growing economic influence in Africa:
What the Chinese seem to have done [is to] directly cultivate the people – you know, regular Africans. They’re building roads, bridges, buildings, railroads… The Chinese have most likely banked a lot of goodwill this way: ameliorating the standard of living for run-of-the-mill Africans, those people who never feel the direct benefits of debt relief or well catered Friendship Summits or satellites in orbit.
…
The Chinese offer Africans something real and concrete while American (and to a lesser extent, European) promises are abstract, remote even: democracy, participatory government, rule of law – whatever you want to call it. The U.S. says, if you follow through on the first goals, the good stuff will follow. Later. Maybe much later.
The Chinese appeal to Africans’ base needs. This translates simply: If you have enough plastic crap, you won’t care about what junk the Americans peddle. In the end, everyone is happy: the stalwarts who get to remain in power; the family with their new tools to make their lives a little easier; and, the guy at the end of the street schlepping this stuff.”
http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/329/blogs_06_thiswayplease.gifwww.dibussi.com

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/327/nov08_01_chikaokeke-agulu.gif comments on the death of pioneer Nigerian novelist Cyprian Ekwensi:

“I am deeply saddened by this news of the death of the pioneer Nigerian novelist Cyprian Ekwensi this week. He was 86. Ekwensi, the author of arguably the earliest major novel in Nigeria (People of the City, 1954) and other vastly popular novels--Passport of Mallam Illya, African Night's Entertainment, Lokotown, Jagua Nana, The Drummer Boy, etc--that, as secondary students in Nigeria in the 1980s, captured, intrigued, and liberated our fertile imaginations and youthful fantasies. His simple, uncomplicated plots, while a subject of longstanding critique by literary scholars, was the very reason we read, and re-read his incomparably entertaining works. He was the people's novelist... a man who used his unpretentious yet prodigious fictive imagination to instill in me and a zillion others the love for the novel and for literature. Rest, Old Man; travel safely.”

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/327/nov08_02_omodudu.gifAmodudu writes about Africans who make the treacherous journey across the Sahara and the Mediterranean in search of the European Eldorado:

“This is Africa's story; a people in desperate need of a solution. An enterprising people held down by socio-economic conditions on the continent who would not take this situation anymore. In 2006, over 6000 bodies of African migrants were picked up trying to make it across the Mediterranean to the Canaries Island. This figure is up by 600% from 2005….

What makes a man leave his home, a land overflowing with natural resources, perfect weather and the distinctively cheerful rhythm of the African continent, and then move to the frigid clime where hopes of survival rest on the number of knock-off sunglasses he is able to hawk on the streets of Europe. What makes a man make these choices? Poverty in Africa does not make the headline of the evening news anymore. However the reality of poverty is stark and hope is grim in some parts of Africa. The immigrants feel the need to leave whatever memories they have of their dear homeland and move to another continent where there is a faint shimmer of hope.

I picked up blogging late 2005 when I saw pictures of African migrants left in the Sahara desert to die. For many they speak to, there's a palpable sadness -- even regret -- over the decision to come to Europe. The reality rarely lives up to the dream, and the sacrifices they made are rarely offset by their new life.”

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/327/nov08_03_alexengwete.gifCon... blogger Alex Ngwete criticizes what he considers President Idriss Deby’s exploitation of the alleged kidnapping of Chadian kids by the French NGO Zoe’s arc:

“…in a country where the whims of the head-of-state have oftentimes force of law (where the court system has no jury of peers), President IDRISS DEBY, in a rush of hot blood into his brains, hurled vile abuse at the suspects in front of the world media, accusing them, without one iota of evidence, of being part of a vast network of criminals specialized in supplying new flesh to pedophiles and body parts to rogue organ banks! The spectacle at the Airport of N'Djamena, the Chadian capital, just showed the world how so-called conspiracies by opposition leaders are cooked by paranoid African heads of states to justify the extra-judicial elimination of their political enemies. In the meantime, Chadians are cheering their president for having thumbed his nose at the whites, all the while forgetting about the ongoing rebellion and the government's lack of transparency in managing the oil royalty revenues”.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/327/nov08_04_civilexpression.gi... blogger Abdurahman Warsame however views the situation differently, or at least from a different perspective:

“One of the most demeaning things for Africa - and Africans - is the growing trend in the West to adopt African children, and justifying it as an act of "charity" for Africa. Now, a French charity took this a bit further, they kidnapped 100 kids from villages in Chad to be sold to French families (or may be even worse)…

The people who did this will eventually be freed, France will interfere on their behalf saying that the whole thing was a well intentioned misunderstanding (and perhaps pay some money). The "charity" will also have many chances to repeat the same in other poor African countries…

The kids were obviously Muslims but were going to be sold to non-Muslim families, adding to the gravity of what might have been waiting for these poor kids. This is a sad, but expected, climax to the "adopting an African child" fashion in the West.”

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/327/nov08_05_namforum.gifNamForum, one of the rare blogs that focus on Namibia, reports that less that than 4% of Africans are online:

“While these overall figures look indeed quite daunting, overall growth in Internet use is exceptionally high in Africa: while the figures of Internet World Stats currently show only 34 million Internet users in the entire African continent, that figure is currently also growing at a more than just "healthy" 874.6% - putting it way ahead of Asia with "just" a 302% growth rate, effectively making it the fastest growing market for Internet technology in the world.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/327/nov08_06_beninmwangi.gifBenin Mwangi fears that the new restrictions placed on airfreight produce imports to the UK would hurt African farmers:

“When I read this story my heart became heavy for the Kenyan and Ghanaian farmers who will likely lose income and might ultimately be forced to sell or reorganize their farms as a result of the harsh new standards imposed upon agricultural products flown into the UK from abroad... Up until very recently I’d always seen the growth of the international organic food market to be the best thing to happen to farmers in countries like Kenya or Ghana. Organic produce farmers in these and other African nations appear to have a comparative advantage over their European counterparts within this small, but growing agricultural sector. And indeed over time this industry did in fact become an African farmers' success story. However, according the UK Soil Association the air freighted produce imported into the country threatens to increase the country’s carbon dioxide emissions. As a result, they are making extreme efforts to tighten controls on air freighted produce imports.”

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/327/nov08_07_dibussi.gif Thus, rather than enlarging his public support, Biya narrowed it by his politics of exclusion. The result was an exacerbation of ethnic consciousness in the country, and systematic attacks against the political system by ethno-linguistic and regional forces which became commonplace during the multiparty years.”

* Dibussi Tande, a writer and activist from Cameroon, produces the blog Scribbles from the Den, www.dibussi.com

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

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/325/blogs_01_africanloft.gifOne of the most commented issues in the African blogosphere has been the tragic death of South African Reggae star Lucky Dube. The sadness and anger at his death has been accompanied by widespread belief that South Africa’s crime rate is spiraling out of control. As writes:

“I hope this situation brings the global media’s eyes to what is going on with young black youths in South Africa where many are turning to a life of crime to have access to the “good things of life” . Though South Africa is cited as one full of natural resources and is noted as one of the top destination of global travelers - it is still a country ridden with a high crime rate. According to data collected on crime, South Africa has the second highest rate of murder, rapes, assaults with firearms in the world.

I know that many will cite post apartheid syndrome as the reason why these crime rate is so high but I do not think that law abiding Africans or global citizens should keep on using this as an excuse. It is quite clear that there is a problem and it is up to us to find a way of solving it.”

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/325/blogs_02_mwankole.gifAnother hot topic has been the award of the first Mo Ibrahim Foundation Prize for Achievement in African Leadership to former Mozambican President Joachim Chissano. Mwankole Kumushi Kulishani writes that the five million-dollar award is “an incentive to stem presidential plunder and waste” in Africa:

“The first recipient is Joaquim Chissano, the former President of Mozambique – Perhaps this will serve as an incentive to stop the plunder and waste of public money by African Presidents. If only our presidents could stomach a simpler existence!”

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/325/blogs_03_dion.gifThis view is shared by Dion’s random ramblings who thinks that the huge price money is worth every penny:

“I say well done to Mr Chissano, and well done to the generous benefactor, Mo Ibrahim. May we see many, many more examples of good, honest, integral, African leadership. We are NOT a corrupt continent, we are NOT doomed to poverty and subservience. We are African. We can teach the world another way to live.”

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/325/blogs_04_meskel.gifMeskel Square quotes a report by the Sudanese official media which states that the Dafur crisis is a “Zionist conspiracy”:

“Presidential advisor Dr. Mustafa Osman Ismail said the fundamental cause of Darfur dispute was mainly an economic one. However this reason was exploited by some internal and foreign elements alleging that the dispute was between Arab and African groups. Ismail gave this statement in Doha capitol of Qatar before the meeting of higher committee for reconstruction of Darfur region.

Ismail said the Zionism has exploited the situation and alleged that the war was a genocide led by Arab elements supported by the government against African groups. However he said western countries including the United States of America have started to understand the real cause of Darfur dispute.”

“Of course, it all makes sense now”, the blogger wryly comments.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/325/blogs_05_kenya.gifJamii ya Kenya writes about the dissolution of the Kenyan Parliament in view of the upcoming general elections:

“Our outgoing MPs in this parliament were well paid, we now wait for the house speaker Mr. Francis Ole Kaparo to officially declare their jobs vacant for them to re-apply for their lucrative jobs. The vacant positions are 210 posts but he will be sending 222 MPs home (12 were nominated). Just like previous elections, the posts have attracted applicants from all walks of life to the variety of parties. These positions are so lucrative such that applicants don’t mind paying high non-refundable nominations fees proposed by the parties…. I can only conclude that Kenyan politics is an interesting drama that leaves people in suspense as to what will happen next.”

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/325/blogs_06_kenya2.gifThe drama of Kenyan politics is also the focus of http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/325/blogs_07_kano.gifPaul Adujie comments on the positive aspects of Nigeria’s “Federal Character” or quota system which he compares to Affirmative Action in the United States:

“The Constitutions of Nigeria, (from 1979 to 1999) for decades now, have made provisions for a Quota System and the reflection of a Federal Character in appointment of public office holders. This in my view makes perfect sense in a diverse country and society as Nigeria. Diversity needs to be actively and purposefully encouraged and legally enforced as provided by Nigeria's Supreme law, the Constitution of Nigeria.

All states, but especially the educationally disadvantaged states, need special provisions and protections in the admission process in Nigeria's educational system, especially in higher education and the professions! All Nigerians and Nigeria will be the beneficiaries of such good policy, that encourages the grooming and nurturing of opportunities for every Nigerian from every communities in Nigeria, and particular effort should be made, in order that Nigeria does not live anyone behind, economically, socially, educationally and developmentally, this is in our national interests, its nothing to jeer or sneer at!”

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/325/blogs_08_scribbles.gifhttp://www.dibussi.com

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

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/323/blogs_01_zeleza.gifWriting on Pius Adesami adopts the persona of Sarah Baartman, the so-called "the Hottentot Venus", to ask why no African feminist theorist is included in the recently published Feminist Literary Theory and Criticism: A Norton Reader (by Sandra M. Gilbert and Susan Gubar) which traces the evolution of feminist writing from the middle ages to the 21st century:

“I am interested in the stories told – or untold – by your editorial choices and options, the instinct to include and the impulse to exclude. I am interested in the conscious and the subconscious processes that led you to the conclusion that Africa, an entire continent of fifty-four countries and over a billion people, has contributed nothing, absolutely nothing, to five centuries of feminist theorizing. After all, as seasoned academics in the United States, you both know that exclusions tell much louder stories than inclusions. I know we are on the same page here.
..
Could it be that you imagined that the voices of the African American women you selected adequately speak for those of their continental sisters? Possibly. If this is the case, I must tell you that African American women cannot be made to stand in and speak for continental African women. According to an African proverb, the monkey and the gorilla may claim oneness, monkey is monkey and gorilla gorilla.”

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/323/blogs_02_kenya.gifIn the first part of an article on the peculiarities of the Kenyan political system, Thinker’s room looks at the Kenyan electoral system and political parties:

“During elections the incumbent expects to be challenged by the leader of the Official Opposition and h(is/er) Government In Waiting...But in Kenya we have a situation where the official opposition will support the incumbent in the next elections…

Political Parties in Kenya are largely meaningless entities. Very few political parties if any actually have a coherent vision and manifesto. Only a handful can actually describe what they are all about. At last count there are 144 currently registered political parties. 144. A good chunk of these are briefcase parties, hoping to cash in at some point in time when the correct political wind blows.”

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/323/blogs_03_congo.gifhttp://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/323/blogs_04_mugabe.gifhttp://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/323/blogs_05_wordsbody.gifThe Literary and Arts blog, Wordsbody, reviews the eagerly-anticipated second edition of the pan-African literary magazine, African Writing, which is now available online:

“The new issue of African Writing is now online, in a bumper package that you will read and read and read and hardly ever finish. Literary news, interviews, profiles, fiction, poetry, reviews, and stunning visual art. And where do we start with the contributors? Best not to start.”

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/323/blogs_06_sotho.gifSotho returns to the controversial and widely condemned decision by officials of the University in St. Thomas to bar South African Nobel Peace laureate, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, from speaking at that university because he has been critical of Israel:
“It is indeed a pity that those who made the decision to bar him from speaking at the school feel Israel cannot be criticized, or that people’s faith cannot be questioned.

A professor at the university who was pushing for the invitation to be accepted by the school has been “removed as director [of] the university’s justice and peace studies program.” Someone was very strongly against inviting Tutu to the school, which says that Tutu “has been critical of Israel and Israeli policy regarding the Palestinians, so we talked with people in the Jewish community and they said they believed it would be hurtful to the Jewish community, because of things he’s said.”

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/323/blogs_07_scribbles.gif[email protected] or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/321/blogs_01_trench.gif comments on the suspension of South African Chief Prosecutor, Vusi Pikoli, by President Thabo Mbeki:

'Am I alone in feeling increasingly perturbed by these actions by our president? The timing of this announcement was clearly also designed to limit any public discussion or interrogation of the president’s decision, coming as it did on a public holiday and as the president jets out of the country away from the domestic limelight.

Now there is talk of a new commission to review the functioning and accountability of the office of the national director. Why? I know I sound increasingly bitter but I cannot deny feeling despondent when it seems that any voice which articulates an independent view appears to have no place in the administration of our country.'

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/321/blogs_02_gndhlovu.gifGershom Ndhlovu writes about threats made by Zambian Information Minister Mike Mulongoti to journalists of the state-owned media whom he claimed 'were not created to be critics of the government..'

'It is very sad that Mulongoti, should, in this day and age, threaten state-owned media journalists with dismissal if they criticise the government even if its officials err in running the affairs of the nation and there are many errors in the governance of our beautiful country.

Is this the reason why government has been dragging its feet to legislate the Freedom of Information Bill which has dragged on for nearly a decade now?…Well, maybe it pays to toe the MMD line especially now when a number of journalists have just been rewarded with appointments into the Diplomatic service. But, ultimately, it is the ordinary Zambian who places so much trust and faith in journalists whether from state or private media who is being short-changed by this kind of myopia in the approach to media issues.'

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/321/blogs_03_otherside.gifStill on the issue of press freedom, The Other Side condemns what it considers the shameful contributions of Ethiopia's foreign correspondents’ to the deterioration of the free press in that country.

'…stories are routinely ignored or intentionally killed by the international wire services, whose journalists are even, on occasion, encouraged by bureau chiefs to re-interpret, or “contextualize” the more inflammatory responses of government spokesman (with a suggestive, “surely that is not what he actually meant!”)!
...
Perhaps I am merely naïve, but something seems intrinsically wrong when major news outlets are encouraging their journalists to perpetually wine and dine government officials on the company expense account, while strictly advising them to avoid socializing with known opposition members and supporters, whose activities are to be regarded as automatically subversive.
….
The most popular justification amongst African press circles is clearly the claim that their organization would otherwise be expelled from the country…. Regardless--since when did tailoring the news to suit the temperament of a brutal dictator become an acceptable compromise?'

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/321/blogs_04_ngwane.gifhttp://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/321/blogs_05_egyptian.gifEgyptian Chronicles writes about the strike of workers of the Misr Helwan Spinning and Weaving textile factory at El-Mahalla El-Kubra:

'This is biggest strike Egypt has seen from a very long time. I believe it is also the first time that the workers occupy a factory in their strike with their families and children, and there are fears and concerns that the Anti-riots won't be merciful with them… It is not about socialism, it is about stolen rights. These workers deserve better treatment…

Yesterday it was the universities, today it is the factories, tomorrow.. I am happy and afraid the security won't this pass easily. I believe more restrictions will be imposed. Already, it is enough to see the trials of the journalists to feel where this country is going.'

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/321/blogs_06_bl.gifBlack Looks writes about a memorial being erected in Germany in honor of the forgotten victims of the Holocaust:

'Hitler referred to them as “Rhineland bastards” - the hundreds of children born of German mothers and African fathers. The men were African soldiers deployed by the French army in Germany’s Rhineland after WW1. Finally a memorial is to be erected outside the home of one Black victim of the Nazi holocaust giving a name to the nameless. Mahjub bin Adam Mohamed originally from Tanzania who married a German woman and was charged with ‘miscegenation’. He died in Sachsenhausen concentration camp, in November 1944. The idea behind the memorial - part of the Stolperstein Project, is to remember the millions of nameless and forgotten minorities Blacks, Gypsies, Disabled, Homosexuals, Communists, and coincides with the publication of “Truthful Till Death” by Marianne Bechhaus-Gerst.'

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/321/blogs_07_backweri.gifStill on the subject of Africans who lived in Nazi Germany, www.dibussi.com

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

Dibussi Tande, who produces the blog Scribbles from the Den, brings this week's selection which covers: Zambians living abroad; the vulnerabilities of South Africa; identity and belonging in Africa; political invovlement and the younger generation in Malawi; persecution of members of the African LGBTI community in a number of African countries; and the elections held in Cameroon in July 2007.

comments about the exclusion of Zambians living abroad from the planned National Constitution Conference (NCC):

"The Government has responsibility to ensure Zambians abroad were brought into the fold to take part in such crucial issues. Equal responsibility also lie with Zambians abroad who should not wait for Government and other people to 'remember' them! Zambians abroad must seize the initiative to define their destiny - unless they gave up being Zambian long time ago! It is for this reason that I fully support what ZASN is trying to do in creating a framework where Zambians abroad can leverage their skills and expertise back home. Our hope surely must be that may be one day an organisation like ZASN can push for such representation in other areas of decision making e.g. voting (which I currently oppose but maybe future technology will overcome my worries)."

Eliesmith argues that the South Africa has the potential to become another Zimbabwe:

"But the truth is that, if care is not taken, South Africa may become second Zimbabwe in less than two decades. The current economic, political and social ruin in Zimbabwe, engineered by a clique headed by Robert Gabriel Mugabe, has made that country (Zimbabwe), not just to become a metaphor for countries on the highway to economic, political and social oblivion, but, she has also shown the vulnerability of a country like South Africa, which, apparently have stronger institutions than countries on the rest of the continent. Well, that is, in a situation where, people with similar ideologies now leading Zimbabwe and Zimbabwe's ruling ZANUPF, takes over the ANC in South Africa and thus wins political power in 2009.

But South Africa is not yet Zimbabwe and we are all still impressed and bewildered at the same time, how that country, has succeeded to sail through apartheid to a multiracial democracy, without the expected bloodbath baptism. Some say, the South African miracle or political feat happened because, the creation of what is/was labelled the rainbow nation, which bore and wore, the consensus and the no-need-for-revenge-attitude of Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela. And this question: What will happen after the fatherly figure of Nelson Mandela is gone? Perhaps Frederick Willem De Klerk will take over. However, It is true that, since 1994 and until now, the Mandela effect is there, casting his strong shadow over the country."

Senegal-based blogger Francis Nyamnjoh

What these brief notes on the Tikar tell us is that pre- and post-colonial identities in Cameroon and throughout Africa are complex, negotiated and relational experiences that call for a nuanced rather than an essentialist articulation of identity and belonging (Nyamnjoh 2002; Pelican 2006). With the Tikar, as well as with any other group in Cameroon, Africa, America or elsewhere, being 'authentic' is a function of the way race, place, culture, class and gender define and prescribe, include and exclude.

'The project is multi-pronged with emphases on tackling environmental issues that directly affects the villagers, building sustainable infrastructures, empowering the villagers to seek manageable solutions, especially the women and providing an efficient health care program.

According to Malawi Politics the young Malawians do not seem interested in playing leading roles in the country's political life:

"When you look at what is happening in Malawi now, one would think there are no fresh faces in our politics. All we hear from are the same recycled tired old politicians all of them groomed by Malawi congress Party.

Why does the young generation refuse to get involved? To serve requires sacrifice. A lot of our brothers are in the Diaspora building a future for themselves and their kids...

It is the intention of Malawi Politics to encourage our readers and contributors to bring up fresh names to this dialogue. Our generation should not so easily concede to the old Gladiators. Their time came and went. Africa and Malawi is looking for economic freedom and fresh ideas.

It is our time to fight for Malawi."

Blacklooks writes about the persecution of members of the African LGBTI community in a number of African countries in recent weeks:

"The African LGBTI community has been under attack this week in Cameroon, Nigeria and in Uganda...In Nigeria there were riots in Bauchi state after some of the men arrested were released on bail and faced a barrage of stone throwers from the crowds... The case for the 4 young men [arrested] in the Cameroon is worrying as only last year 9 men were released after spending a year in prison for charges of homosexuality which were eventually dropped."

'On the whole, however, these elections represent a missed opportunity for Cameroon - a missed opportunity to continue building public confidence in the democratic process as Cameroon looks ahead to its next election.'

*Dibussi Tande produces the blog Scribbles from the Den, http://www.dibussi.com

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/314/blogs_01_afromusing.gif comments on Uganda’s reversal of its longstanding “ABC strategy” for combating AIDS. Afromusings wonders whether this strategy is being abandoned because of strings attached to United States financial aid.

“The strategy of ABC - Abstinence, Be Faithful and Condoms had been successful in reducing the AIDS infection rate, but a reversal of that strategy by President Yoweri Museveni perhaps directly or indirectly due to the strings that came with the aid money to combat aids appears to be counter productive. 1/3 of the 15 billion dollars allocated in PEPFAR - President’s [GW Bush] Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief be used to promote abstinence only programs around the world. That is 5 billion bucks.”

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/314/blogs_02_sokwanele.gifhttp://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/314/blogs_03_business.gifBusiness in Focus writes about the failure of post-independent African leaders to promote economic development at national and continental levels, with Zimbabwe serving as the case study :

“Before Zimbabwe overthrew white rule, in 1980, a pothole on the highway was a disaster. A late train would cause public outcry. Now we have unfinished roads, bulldozed neighbourhoods and hyperinflation, while our dictator blames the West.

Why is it that when the white man handed over Air Rhodesia to a black manager, the airline had 30 airplanes but now there are only three left? Why is it that before 2000 there were only 4,000 white commercial farmers in Zimbabwe and we were the bread-basket of southern Africa, yet now there are 40,000 black commercial farmers and we have to import maize from little, poor Malawi?

I know. There is a fine line between self-criticism and self-loathing. But our problems are not caused by our being black but by authoritarians with incompetent and even murderous policies.”

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/314/blogs_04_harowo.gif Harawo.com posts a review of Andrew Keen's new book, The Cult of the Amateur which argues that the "democratization" of the internet has, unfortunately, not led to a democratization of excellence, creativity and civility:

“Before the internet it seemed like a joke: if you provide an infinite number of monkeys with typewriters one of them will eventually come up with a masterpiece. But with the web now firmly established in its second evolutionary phase – in which users create the content on blogs, podcasts and streamed video – the infinite monkey theory doesn’t seem so funny any more…

Instead of creating masterpieces, the millions of exuberant monkeys are creating an endless digital forest of mediocrity: uninformed political commentary, unseemly home videos, embarrassingly amateurish music, unreadable poems, essays and novels.

Worse still, the supposed “democratisation” of the web has been a sham. “Despite its lofty idealisation it’s undermining truth, souring civic discourse, and belittling expertise, experience and talent,” he says.”

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/314/blogs_05_blacklooks.gifSokari at Blacklooks revisits the ouster and exile of former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, with an interview of Trans Africa Forum’s Randall Robinson as the backdrop. She comments on the similarities between Haiti and Palestine:

“Reading the period between 1999 1991 and 2004 in Haiti is like reading Palestine in 2007. The same tactics used by the US government and France to destroy the elected government of Aristide is being used to destroy the elected government of Hamas. Denial of aid, denial of debt relief, (today this stands at an incredible $1.34 billion, much of it from loans during the Duvalier regimes) destabilisation, supporting the opposition with money, disinformation, lies, every dirty trick that the CIA have used was unleashed on the elected government and people of Haiti. Reading Haiti’s history from the time of the slave revolt led by Toussaint Louverture to the present tells me that Haitians are still being punished for daring to rise up against their oppression and for achieving independence in 1804. South Carolina Senator Robert Hayne spelt it out at the time and it remains the case today.”

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/314/blogs_06_imhotep.gifhttp://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/314/blogs_07_dibussi.gifhttp://www.dibussi.com

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