Pambazuka News 604: Speaking the truth to abusers of power

Four years on from the collapse of Lehman Brothers and its devastating fall-out, Transparency International looks at how weak oversight and a lack of transparency contributed to the financial crisis. 'This crisis was not just the result of a few rogue traders placing reckless bets. Corruption, in the form of fraud and a ‘no holds barred’ pursuit of profits, bonuses and growth, infected the whole financial system.' The page also has an interesting timeline of the crisis.

Fears are growing over an emerging form of intestinal disease in Africa, to which HIV positive people are particularly vulnerable. Medical experts have expressed concerns that health infrastructures across the continent lack the capacity to detect or cope with the dangerous bacterium. The scientists say that invasive non-Typhoidal Salmonella (iNTS) thrives in the blood systems of people in Sub-Saharan Africa whose body immunity is weakened by HIV/AIDS.

Efforts to tackle the silent emergency of acute and chronic malnutrition in Africa will receive additional traction this week when the African Union and partners join forces in Addis Ababa to celebrate the Africa Day for Food and Nutrition Security. The high-level event on 31 October which will be opened by the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma. More than 30 percent of all children under five in sub-Saharan Africa are suffering from stunted growth due to chro...read more

The cost of electricity in Uganda remains unaffordable to most citizens, yet the government has kept on using taxpayers’ money in power projects that hardly bring any relieve to consumers.

People displaced by a territorial dispute between Nigeria and neighbouring Cameroon are asking for help. The source of the dispute is the oil-rich Bakassi Peninsula, which the International Court of Justice ruled belonged to Cameroon in 2002. But thousands are refusing to accept the decision, and are asking for the government to intervene.

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