Features
From aid and humanitarianism to solidarity
Horace Campbell (2011-06-16)
cc R OHorace Campbell charts Africa’s exploitative history of ‘aid’ and the struggle to establish a new global system rooted in dignity, equality and genuine social justice.
Tinpot bombardiers: NATO in Libya
Alexander Cockburn (2011-06-15)
cc V2In NATO’s hands, UN Security Council resolution 1973 has morphed into a clear attempt at regime change in Libya, writes Alexander Cockburn. He stresses: ‘A hundred years down the road the UN–NATO Libyan intervention will be seen as an old-fashioned colonial smash-and-grab affair.’
Mauritania: ‘A simple citizen demanding his rights’
Sokari Ekine (2011-06-16)
cc AzlsFollowing the death by self-immolation of 41-year-old Mauritanian Yacoub Ould Dahoud in January, Sokari Ekine revisits his demands for change in the country. In the wake of the revelations around Gay Girl in Damascus’s true identity, she also explores the outrage and severe criticism directed at the site from those in the LGBTI and Middle Eastern blogosphere.
Face to face with the Congo
Cameron Duodu (2011-06-16)
cc WikimediaIn the second part of a two-part article, Cameron Duodu reflects on the exciting and challenging times he had in the Congo in the 1960s and the experiences of George Padmore, Kwame Nkrumah and Patrice Lumumba in seeking to support Africa’s liberation movements. Part one is available to read at http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/73943
Frantz Fanon 50 years on
Richard Pithouse (2011-06-16)
cc Wikimedia‘On 6 December 2011, 50 years will have passed since the death of Frantz Fanon. Around the world people are getting together in universities, trade union offices, shack settlements, prisons, church halls, and other places where people try to think together, to reflect on the meaning of an extraordinary man for us and our struggles here and now,’ writes Richard Pithouse.
Genuine partnership or a marriage of convenience?
Fantu Cheru and Cyril Obi (2011-06-16)
cc S NWhile China's relationship to Africa is much examined, knowledge and analysis of India's role in Africa has until now been limited but, as a significant global player, India's growing interactions with various African countries call for detailed analysis of the Asian giant's influence and its relations with the African continent. 'India in Africa: Changing Geographies of Power', a new title from Pambazuka Press, brings together expert commentators to explore inter-related areas including trade, investment, development aid, civil society relations, security and geopolitics, enabling readers to compare India to China and other 'rising powers' in Africa. In this extract from the book, Fantu Cheru and Cyril Obi explore the nature of the relationship between India and Africa.
India in Africa: Changing Geographies of Power
Pambazuka Press (2011-06-16)
Pambazuka Press is proud to announce the launch of ‘India in Africa: Changing Geographies of Power’ a new title edited by Emma Mawdsley and Gerard McCann. 'With India and other emerging powers increasingly eyeing the rich resources of the African continent, this book by leading experts makes both timely and essential reading,' writes Yash Tandon, former executive director of the South Centre, Geneva. Featuring contributions from Padraig Carmody, Fantu Cheru, Alex Gadzala, Dave Harris, Paul Kamau, Dorothy McCormick, Renu Modi, Sanusha Naidu, Cyril Obi, Zarina Patel, Luke Patey, Zahid Rajan, Alex Vines and Simona Vittorini, the book enables readers to compare India to China and other 'rising powers' in Africa.
Cameroon: Propping up a dictator
Dibussi Tande (2011-06-16)
cc WikimediaA bewildering list of Cameroonian academics and intellectuals at home and abroad are throwing their full support behind President Biya and the ruling CPDM party, writes Dibussi Tande, in this week’s review of African blogs.
The Secrecy Bill: Speak now or forever be gagged
Dale T. McKinley (2011-06-15)
cc M WDale T. McKinley takes a clause by clause look at South Africa’s Protection of Information Bill (POIB) – known publicly as the Secrecy Bill. It is ‘all very real and even more dangerous’, he writes, and South Africans should speak up now before it is too late.
The Prevention of Scholarship Bill
Jane Duncan (2011-06-15)
cc M WSouth Africa’s Protection of Information Bill (POIB) – known publicly as the Secrecy Bill – represents the biggest threat to academic freedom since 1994. Yet the voice of universities has been missing from the uproar over the bill, writes Jane Duncan.
South Africa: Bring back the truth and dignity from 1976
Abahlali baseMjondolo Youth League (2011-06-16)
© abahlali.org‘On 16 June 1976, the youth died for Freedom, yet today while we are told that we are free it is clear that we are not free,’ writes South African shackdwellers movement Abahlali base Mjondolo, as the country marks both Youth Day and the 35th anniversary of the Soweto uprising. ‘We are struggling for a freedom that everyone can experience for themselves in their every day lives. That means decent education, decent work, a decent guaranteed income for those without work and a decent place to stay for everyone. It also means the freedom to organize as we want and to say what we want in safety.’
Re-examining the meaning of 16 June
Veli Mbele (2011-06-15)
cc UN PhotoWith the legacy of South Africa's 1976 student uprising marked on 16 June, Veli Mbele writes that education is an area in which the ANC has failed South Africa's young black people. 'The situation is so dire that it gives credence to the theory that it serves the political interests of the ruling party to keep a huge section of the population uneducated and trapped in poverty and ignorance.'
South Africa: Where is the Freedom Charter?
Lindela S. Figlan (2011-06-16)
cc M WIf South Africa’s government ‘is really implementing the Freedom Charter, why are people complaining everywhere?’ asks Lindela S. Figlan. If ‘the ruling party was on the side of the poor it would encourage us to organise ourselves and to speak for ourselves…But instead it is always repressing the struggles of the poor’.
A better life for all: a dream for poor and unemployed
Ayanda Kota (2011-06-16)
© abahlali.orgThe ‘old woman stopped for a moment, looked at me, a smile crawling out of her mouth. Yet I could see the tears making the way through the corners of the eyelids. I then stopped and stared at her. She made a sound, trying to remove a lump in her throat and finally broke the silence. She said “Vote ANC, Vote for Better Life, Vote for Heaven and Vote for Jesus. Better life in heaven indeed not under ANC”.’
SOAWR Youth Essay Competition: Finalist essays
Brenda Kombo (2011-06-16)
cc M MA month ago Solidarity for African Women’s Rights coalition (SOAWR) invited young people to reflect on the contributions women and girls can make to development issues, by writing an essay on the importance of Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa. The four finalists – Nonyelum Umeasiegbu, Laurence Lemogo, Itodo Samuel Anthony and Nelly Nguegan – will attend this month’s AU summit in Malabo on the theme of 'Youth empowerment for sustainable development’. The six best essays are available in the English and French editions of Pambazuka News.
Heeding the Protocol
Nonyelum Umeasiegbu (2011-06-16)
cc water.org‘It is taking Africa forever to commence the implementation and domestication of the protocol on national levels and in various countries. If the charter had been implemented even a year after its declaration, I would not have lost my friend to childbirth,’ writes Nonyelum Umeasiegbu, one of the four finalists in SOAWR's essay competition.
The Protocol on the Rights of Women: my perspective
Itodo Samuel Anthony (2011-06-15)
cc B SThe importance of the Protocol to the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights on the Rights of Women in Africa lies in its potential to change negative power relations and address the impoverishment of women in Africa, writes Itodo Samuel Anthony, a finalist in the SOAWR essay competition.
Safeguarding rights and empowering youth
Eunice Kilonzo (2011-06-16)
cc A PAs part of the Solidarity for African Women’s Rights (SOAWR) coalition’s essay competition ('Why is the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa important to you?'), Eunice Kilonzo discusses the strengths and limitations of the protocol.