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All About Us

Ayanna Nahmias — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 22:43:01 +0000

This photo represents the essence of this blog. It is who we are as a planet and a race. All human l

Eritrea's national soccer team defects to Kenya after regional tournament

bzbergmann — Sat, 19 Dec 2009 18:53:32 +0000

Pretty incredible story. Says a lot about the media that this hasn’t gotten more attention-an entire national soccer team goes missing and then…refuses to go home and seeks asylum in Kenya.

Eritrea’s entire national soccer team is seeking asylum in Kenya, joining tens of thousands of compatriots who have fled one of Africa’s most repressive governments.

The team absconded after traveling to Nairobi for a regional tournament. Eritrea, with only about 4 million people, was the second-biggest source of asylum seekers in the world last year, and the missing players are probably the highest-profile defectors since the country won independence in 1993.

The 11 players and one substitute were reported missing over the weekend when the team plane returned to Eritrea without them after a match against Tanzania.

After going into hiding, the players contacted the U.N. refugee agency in Nairobi, which directed them to file asylum applications at Kenya’s Immigration Ministry.

…

Ali Abdu, Eritrea’s information minister, told the BBC that the players would get a “good welcome” if they returned home in spite of “betraying” their country.

Human rights groups say failed defectors and critics of President Isaias Afwerki’s government are often tortured and confined to shipping-container prisons in the desert.

The government denies the allegation.

Since the end of the Cold War, it has been a long time since there has been a high-profile defection by athletes (let alone the defection of a whole team).

Kenya: Meeting Muslim Leaders Halfway on HIV Education

ruben eberlein — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 16:17:52 +0000

GARISSA, 8 December, 8 <IRIN> – “Desist from engaging in adultery, go for HIV tests, do not allow your sons and daughters to marry before they are tested… if you are positive go to the hospital and get free drugs.” Read it here.

Irinnews: Not Much Money to Help Many Poor Adapt in Copenhagen

ruben eberlein — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 14:49:37 +0000

JOHANNESBURG, 6 December 2009 <IRIN> – Money to help the world’s 49 Least Developed Countries (LDCs) – the poorest and most vulnerable – cope with the impact of climate change will be in the spotlight when the UN climate change conference in Copenhagen (COP15) kicks off on 7 December.Read Irin’s report here.

Please Don’t take away our Growth & Opportunity

tolotra — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 06:04:51 +0000

It’s amazing how some people can play with words especially with English one and how the others accept to be deceived. What struck me in the first place was the word “rogue states” during my Histo-Geo class. In the dictionary, “rogue” means °undisciplined, uncontrollable, °ungovernable but above all “Independent”; in other words rogue states bluntly mean Independent states in American’s foreign policy terms. The first in the long list of rogue states is Cuba, severely punished by 50 years of commercial embargo because they dare to defy Uncle Sam and fought for independence. Despite the fact that a vast majority of American people are now for a re-establishment of the diplomatic relation with Cuba, the government never agreed on because to accept Cuba as it is now is also accepting its freedom Castro had long striven for. There are also Iraq who first received US support during Iran-Iraq war and ultimately ended as we have witnessed on TV, Iran whose actual nuclear plants are inherited from the US-backed dictator regime of Shah suddenly turned into a “rogue state” like the former when they became independent and decide to manage by themselves their natural ressources knowing for instance that Iran has the largest gaz reserve after Russia.

Apart from “rogue” there is the famous “Third World”/Developing countries who defined in the beginning the nonaligned countries according to Bandung conference lead by Nehru but now describes “peoples who are culturally retarded in their attitudes, customs, and technical abilities”. As Michael Parenti stated in Against Empire: “it is a convenient notion embraced by those who want to depict Western investments as a rescue operation designed to help backward peoples help themselves. This myth of “cultural backwardness” goes back to ancient times, when conquerors used it to justify enslaving indigenous peoples. It was used by European colonizers over the last five centuries for the same purpose. When we say a country is “underdeveloped,” we are implying that it is backward and retarded in some way, that its people have shown little capacity to achieve and evolve. The negative connotations of “underdeveloped” has caused the United Nations, the Wall Street Journal, and parties of various political persuasion to refer to Third World countries as “developing” nations, a term somewhat less insulting than “underdeveloped” but equally misleading. I prefer to use “Third World” because “developing” seems to be just a euphemistic way of saying “underdeveloped but belatedly starting to do something about it.”

Rogue states, third world, structural adjustments, free trade & globalization (as if every country can export their good freely, if they can produce), International Monetary Fuck (as if every country can take from the Fund without restriction when in need), International court (as if every political leaders of the world including the West can be brought in courts when they kill entire population and attack another country)… ; and ofcourse there is AGOA or the African Growth and Opportunity Act for Madagascar (and other African countries) intended to bring growth and hatch opportunity to whose who are lacking in. Like the non exhaustive list of words above that sound good but in fact perpetuate the system of man made poverty and inequality, AGOA serves only the US itself as to be elligible in it, the granted country has to comply with several conditions including good governance. Good governance itself means agreeing that the US has control over the local economy but in no way fighting poverty, corruption or giving the Malagasy people better education and access to health care. In addidtion, the clothes manufacturing factory who can export to US market, from which Madagascar is supposed to draw its growth, are owned by foreigners so how comes it would be possible. Should we laugh or take the threat seriously when the resident US ambassador Niels Marquardt (formerly US ambassador in Cameroun responsible of lucrative mining contracts) says that they will cut AGOA within 15th December if a consensus government is not set up. It is sad that the low cost labours will be on the street again as to embitter the political situation but thinking that Agoa will bring growth to Madagascar or taking it as a viable economic development will just lead us to dystopia.

Southern Africa: The Limits of Liberation

ruben eberlein — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 15:45:07 +0000

Read my article about the changing patterns of power and domination in the Southern African region in the weekly paper Das Parlament.

Kenya: Impunity for Murder and Theft Continues

ruben eberlein — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 15:40:48 +0000

Read an article about the massive abuse of power in Kenya by Jan Bachmann, a political scientist based in Oxford, and myself in the current issue of Konkret.

Ushahidi used to expose fraud in Namibian elections

derekbarry — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 12:09:37 +0000

Namibia is still waiting for confirmation of its election results three days after voting completed. The country’s presidential and national assembly elections took place over Friday and Saturday 27–28 November 2009. And while the first ballots came in on Sunday, the final result will not be known until Wednesday. Fourteen political parties participated in the elections with the ruling party, South West Africa People’s Organisation (SWAPO) overwhelming favourite to win over its main challenger Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP). Meanwhile SWAPO’s Hifikepunye Pohamba is seeking a second five-year term as president. But social media is casting a long shadow over the election led by the African crowd-sourcing tool Ushahidi.

(photo credit: Agence France Press)

The former rebel movement SWAPO has dominated Namibian politics since the nation’s independence from South Africa in 1990. They won a landslide in the last election five years ago but are expecting a closer result this time. The opposition RDP is a new party which broke away from SWAPO two years ago. The party headed by former foreign minister Hidipo Hamutenya is hoping that voters have had enough of SWAPO after a series of corruption scandals. These include the bribery of Chinese President’s Hu Jintao’s eldest son over a $56 million deal to supply scanners to Namibia’s ports and airports.

However with early results suggest that SWAPO will be heading for a comfortable victory, opposition parties have begun suggesting the election was rigged. Four opposition parties including the RDP said the Namibian electoral commission had provided different figures for the number of people on the voters’ roll to each party. They also complained that their agents were barred from manning polling stations and supposedly indelible ink used to prevent double voting could be washed off. The four parties said in a joint statement their concerns “may compromise the outcome of the election.”

The National Society for Human Rights has also been highly critical of the electoral commission. The human rights watchdog claimed the voters’ roll had a discrepancy of 180,000 voters including double-listed constituencies and voters as well as under-age people. The commission disagreed and revoked its status as an election observer on Wednesday deeming it “not impartial”. The Namibian High Court ruled to have the observer status reinstated barely hours after polls opened on Friday although the NSHR were still complaining of continued harassment as they tried to monitor the polls.

According to Global Voices Online, the NSHR were prominent among political parties and non-governmental organisations who used a number of social media tools to campaign, monitor and report on the elections. The NSHR used the African crowdsourcing tool Ushahidi to monitor the poll. Ushahidi was a tool created in the aftermath of disputed Kenya’s elections in 2007 to collect and map eyewitness reports of violence. Ushahidi means testimony in Kiswahili (East Africa’s lingua franca) and as explained by Riyaad Minty to Sydney’s Media140 conference last month, the tool was also used by Al Jazeera to crowdsource crisis mapping during Israel’s 2008 invasion of Gaza.

In the Namibian election, the NSHR used Ushahidi to collect reports about incidents of fraud, undue influence, intimidation and violence. Eye-witnesses sent in their reports via SMS, email or by filling out a form on the website. At the time of writing there were 64 reports on the site. Examples include instances of presiding officers denying observers taking pictures of electoral fraud and a human rights activist was arrested for “insulting the former president”. While these reports are unverified, Ushahidi is showing itself to be a simple but formidable tool for the broadcasting of grass-roots activism in a continent with poor media coverage. It may yet prove to be a game-breaker in the torturous world of African politics.

German Development Policy Save With Blessing of Expert Geldof

ruben eberlein — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 14:35:22 +0000

Bob Geldof, der gemeinsam mit dem U2-Sänger Bono die Lobby-Organisation “One” unterstützt, hat in Berlin den vielfach kritisierten neuen Entwicklungshilfeminister Dirk Niebel (FDP) getroffen. Im Interview mit WELT ONLINE spricht der Pop-Star über diesen Termin, über Afrika, Klimaschutz, den Mauerfall sowie sein Verhältnis zu Bono.

Optimistic Sierra Leone president looks for foreign investment

derekbarry — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:27:33 +0000

Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma has called on the west to invest in his country on a visit to London. Koroma told the BBC the West African nation is “open” to investment in tourism and mineral investment in bauxite, iron ore and diamonds. Koroma was spruiking his message at a conference last week in the British capital where he also hailed the recent Anadarko Petroleum’s discovery of offshore oil.

(photo of Freetown by stringer_bel)

Koroma was assisted in call for investment by former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. While Blair’s reputation elsewhere has been sullied by his involvement in the war in Iraq, he remains a hero in Sierra Leone for the troops he sent in 2000 to end the conflict. He is still involved as an adviser to President Koroma and he was cheered as he spoke to the London investment conference. “[Sierra Leone has] got massive natural resources, wonderful possibilities commercially in agriculture, tourism, mining,” said Blair. “What it’s got now for the first time is a stable system of government with a president who genuinely wants to make change, root out corruption.”

Blair also praised Koroma’s attempt’s stamp out corruption which has been a major drawback since the country returned to peace at the turn of the century. By 2002 the country’s Anti-Corruption Commission had investigated 500 cases but relied on the Justice Ministry to follow the cases up. Politicians were not always keen to act leaving Sierra Leone languishing at the bottom end of Mo Ibrahim’s African Governance Act. But recently Koroma has shown signs of stiffening up by sacking two ministers after they appeared in court on graft charges.

Meanwhile Sierra Leone’s parliament has also approved a new mining act last week that is designed to boost government revenue and increase transparency in the sector. The Mines and Minerals Act 2009 followed the recommendations of report earlier this year by the National Advocacy Coalition on Extractives. The report argued that because of generous tax incentives, weak capacity and official corruption, the government has not previously received a fair share of mining proceeds. With commodity prices rising again and a recent oil discovery in the country, the government had been keen to introduce new regulations before investors begin a new mining phase.

In September Sierra Leone also signed the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP) Compact. formally adopting the African Union initiative, drafted in Maputo in 2003. The CAADP aims to ensure Africa’s agricultural development as a catalyst for socio-economic growth and its goal is to eliminate hunger and reduce poverty through agriculture. At the signature ceremony Koroma said close to two thirds of his people rely on agriculture for their livelihoods and it contributes almost half of the Gross Domestic Product. “We regard CAADP as being pivotal to our poverty and hunger eradication efforts”, he said.

There is still a long way to go for one of Africa’s poorest countries. 50,000 Sierra Leoneans died in the civil war that racked the country during the 1990s. The UN Development Program judged Sierra Leone the world’s least developed country in 2000. Since then the country has undergone two successful elections. Koroma won the most recent election in 2007 winning a run-off against incumbent vice-president Solomon Berewa. Koroma has followed from the previous administration concentrating on nation rebuilding.

But not everyone agrees the country is on the right track One of Sierra Leone’s most popular artists, Emerson Bockarie has released a song “Yesterday Betteh Pass Tiday”, recorded in Krio which unfavourably compares the current government to the one it replaced in 2007. The song highlights corruption, the high cost of living, nepotism, tribalism, poor service delivery, poor government salaries and a static economy. Freetown trader Salamatu Bah was inclined to give Koroma’s administration the benefit of the doubt. “The government is trying, and things are better now than before,” said Bah. “The argument should not be which regime is the better or worse – we have voted for change and change is what we demand.”

Britain’s aid donation won’t tackle root cause of Ethiopian famines

derekbarry — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 15:05:08 +0000

Britain announced the release yesterday of a food package of $316 million (US) to support the provision of basic services, social protection and humanitarian assistance in Ethiopia. The UK Minister of State for International Development, Gareth Thomas made the announcement on a visit to Addis Ababa saying there was a “robust mechanism” to make sure that the money is used as intended. This means paying close attention to political developments and the regime of Meles Zenawi who has been Prime Minister since 1995 and de facto leader since 1991.

(photo credit: Turkairo)

The British bequest came two months after the World Bank signed two financing agreements amounting to $65 million for tourism development and enhance agricultural productivity. The first agreement for $35 million will finance sustainable tourism development projects and the remaining $30 million is set aside for agricultural projects. The World Bank Country Director said they would assist Ethiopia to tap its rich resources in the agriculture sector and encourage it to become self-sufficient in food production.

The need has become urgent as Ethiopia teeters on the verge of another debilitating famine. This is Ethiopia’s fourth successive year of lack of rain and when the rains do come it is often in the form of torrential showers causing floods and landslides. While the country has recovered from the disastrous 1984 famine (during the reign of Dictator Mengistu), some of the country remains particularly exposed, especially the far eastern region bordering war-torn Somalia. The conflict has created a refugee crisis and disrupted food production making already poor people even more vulnerable. The Zenawi government said the number in need of urgent assistance during the period October to December 2009 has increased from 4.9 million people to 6.2 million.

The British envoy made no mention of the famine in the Horn of Africa in his visit or Zenawi’s role in it but others have not been so coy. Writing in The Times last month, Sam Kiley noted the drought is the region’s worst in 47 years but foreign aid was not helping. On the contrary, said Kiley, it was “the principal reason for Africa’s accumulated agony.” Kiley quotes the Oxfam paper Band Aids and Beyond, which says that between 70 and 90 per cent of all US aid to Ethiopia has been food. But while the US was feeding the country, Ethiopia spent billions on a debilitating war with neighbour Eritrea. Riley says that only education can stop the vicious cycle of dependence.

African researchers Julian Morris and Karol Boudreaux agree with Riley that Ethiopia has not dealt adequately with the risk of famine. Writing in Business Daily they say the lack of rains are common to other parts of the world where they “routinely face droughts yet avoid famine.” Global deaths from drought-related famines have fallen by 99.9 per cent since the 1920s. The reason for this is specialisation and trade which increased food production and enabled vulnerable people in drought-prone regions to diversify. But the planned central economies of countries such as Ethiopia have provided no incentives to improve the land.

Under the 1995 Constitution, Ethiopian farmers cannot own their land. This means they cannot use mortgages for capital investment in machinery, seeds, fertilisers or irrigation. The net result is that farmers sub-divide their properties leading to environmental degradation and lower crop yield. This is exacerbated by government policies restricting movement to cities. The end result is a crippling cycle of forcing people to remain smallholder farmers, denying them opportunities in cities, compelling them to migrate and making them ruin the land through subdivision. Not everyone agrees that Africa should be judged by western lights. Nevertheless The Times and Morris & Boudreaux, present persuasive cases that Ethiopia’s famines are caused by bad government policies, not bad weather.

Ars Politico Africanae: National Youth Service Mombasa

unteer — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:00:00 +0000

Andy, if you read this, (or any other L atin nerds for that matter), feel free to correct the title.

Kicking Around Uncle Bob's Backyard

berkeleysblog — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 11:57:34 +0000

Last weekend, I took a spin down to Harare with a couple of housemates. Contrary to all the media hype we found the city to be peaceful, the people to be friendly and the streets to be grandly sweeping (albeit now slowly crumbling) in a way sadly Lusaka could only dream of. Actually, they would be bitter dreams as Harare was built upon Zambian copper wealth from the time of the Rhodesian confederation. Despite, or perhaps because of, all the tensions the city still beats with a thriving arts and music scene. To think what this place must have been like ten or twenty ago…

Everyone wanted their picture taken

Including the cops

Great sculpture everywhere

Flashy compared to Lusaka

Just happy to be in a city with a park I guess

Old Zim Dollars

New Zim Dollars (note the sweets instead of small change)

Great Street Theatre

The full photo set is here. All pics (c) Karol Kelly this weekend.

And finally yet one more eventful African journey back home:

Police fine for not driving with any shoes – $4
Second fine for apparently “observing the 3 F’s – Foot, Floor, F’ it” – $8
Engine oil for the diff as my Lada broke down AGAIN – $5
Paying the MacGyver’s on the border to get the oil into the diff casing – $15
Pushing your own Russian 4×4 back into Zambia across the mighty Zambezi as the sun sets and they literally close the border gates behind you – PRICELESS (in its own way)

Equatorial Guinea - "Once Upon a Coup" Airs on PBS.ORG

kikenileda — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 22:57:32 +0000

A failed coup attempt…a British mercenary in a notorious African prison…a dictator suspicious of Western powers…and beneath it all, a spectacular underwater oil reserve that the world’s major powers would love to get their hands on.

It may sound like the latest John LeCarré bestseller, but in fact it’s the real-life intrigue of Once upon a Coup, WIDE ANGLE’s penetrating look at the mysterious goings-on in Equatorial Guinea, a tiny West African nation newly rich with oil and infamous for corruption. The story begins in 2004, when a group of mercenaries, including a British ex-special forces officer named Simon Mann, is arrested in Zimbabwe.
Equatorial Guinea’s president, Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, accuses them of plotting a coup against him. When Mann is sentenced to 34 years in Equatorial Guinea’s notorious Black Beach prison, he claims to be only one piece of an international plot to control the country’s vast oil resources. Once upon a Coup travels the globe to unravel that plot, which stretches from Africa to the U.K., from a prime minister’s son to Zimbabwean arms dealers, from South Africa to Spain.

But as this all plays out, another actor is bidding for a share of the oil: China. The Chinese government has showered the country with glittering new buildings and a new administrative capital. If President Obiang has grown skeptical of Western intentions, he has welcomed China as a new business partner. Starting with a small West African nation and stretching around the globe, Once upon a Coup sheds light on the uncomfortable realities of oil politics in the 21st century.

Bode George Jailed

connectafrica — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 20:20:28 +0000

Justice Olubunmi Oyewole of the Lagos High Court, Ikeja has sentenced Chief Olabode

Chief Olabode George

George; former chairman of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and five others to two and half years imprisonment each without an option of fine.

They were sentenced for two years each on a seven-count charge of abuse of office and six months each for a 27-count charge of disobedience to constituted authority.

Others convicted include; former CEO of NPA Aminu Dabo, O. Abidoye, Abdullahi Tafida, Zanna Maideribe and Sule Aliyu.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had arraigned them on charges of wilful disobedience to constituted authority, contract splitting and conspiracy in August, last year.

The sentence which was seen by many as a crushing defeat of three Senior Advocates Of Nigeria; Joe Gadzama, Tunji Ayanlaja and Dele Adesina, by fiery human rights lawyer, Mr. Festus Keyamo had suffered many encumbrances which necessitated several adjournments based on technicalities.

Strangely, Chief Bode George and other co travelers were not found guilty on the other charges as the prosecution led by activist lawyer Mr. Festus Keyamo, could not prove the commission of the offences alleged against them beyond reasonable doubt.

Defense had argued that the convicts were not charged in their personal capacities but as board members of NPA and asked the court to acquit their clients except the court can prove otherwise.

However, Justice Oyewole averred that; “The facts indisputably before the court are that the defendants are natural persons who were appointed to serve as directors on the board of the NPA, a public corporation owned solely by the Federal Government of Nigeria and established under an Act of the National Assembly. The judge noted that “It is an evident fact upon which the court can take judicial notice that only natural persons are appointed to hold public offices and not corporate or incorporate bodies.

He insisted that the board of a corporation is an organ of that organization and does not possess a corporate legal existence separate from that of the corporate body it belongs to and therefore cannot possess legal identity as to sue or be sued independently.

“Persons acknowledged out of millions of Nigerians by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to be of proven integrity and of cognitive experience in relation to the activities of the NPA cannot claim ignorance or simply play Pontius Pilate when obviously irregular contracts placed before them were approved by them without question. It amounts to wilful blindness and must have its consequences” the court said.

“The prosecutor had argued that while there may be good reasons to seek a presidential waiver in respect of the application of the said circular, flagrant disobedience was not the proper course of action.

When the tide of the case became obvious, lead counsel, Mr Tunji Ayanlaja (SAN), pleaded for mitigated sentence, noting that the conviction of his client on a technical charge could scare others who are interested in serving the nation.

But the Justice Oyewole in his Sentence noted that: “When public office is abused, the entire system is assaulted. This must not be treated with kid gloves, if the quality of service in our public life is to be attained to an appreciable standard of the civilised world.

Eliashib Ime-James.

LoveWorld News Agency

Sayounara MCA.

tolotra — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 14:55:03 +0000

As promised months ago after Ravalomanana got evicted from power, the Millennium Challenge Account will pack his things and go. Read in the newspaper, the defunct US philanthropic program — whose approach is to foster greater accountability and results in development assistance to the poorest countries — will definitely leave Madagascar and made a public offer for its materials, computers and vehicles with a special mention “attractive price” as to agonize those who benefited from it (surely not at the grassroot level). But who really took advantages from MCA program ?

MCA was intended first to modernize land owning through computerization and to deliver “title deed” to farmers who couldn’t obtain it before. It also tried to subsidize farmers with fertilizer, building new infrastructures too, maybe. But if MCA really takes care of the people and if the local farmers who need help are the real object of the program why they have to leave ? The answer can be found in the relation of all US backed programs towards the granted countries, they deal only with governments not with the people. There is what they called “eligibility” which covers all the conditions and criteria necessary to be grant-aided. Through eligibility (of so called good governance) they sift countries who are able to abide to the rules they set up. Among these rules are the liberalization of a fragile local market to foreign investment and foreign acquisition to land through law alteration (this started since 2003) which was the main goal of MCA in Madagascar.

Dissent Magazine:Something called the “Millennium Challenge Account” has been set up for countries whose governments “rule justly, invest in their people, and encourage economic freedom.” Presumably, no such grants will be forthcoming to countries that favor cooperative local enterprise over private foreign enterprise. The intended analogy here is the “matching grants” offered by charitable foundations to people or institutions that have once proved their ability to raise money on their own. Be hospitable to American business, says the investment corollary of the National Security Strategy, and we will give you the money to allow you to welcome more of our investments.

“Decades of massive development assistance have failed to spur economic growth in the poorest countries. Worse, development aid has often served to prop up failed policies, relieving the pressure for reform and perpetuating misery.” Blind are those who still believe that US aid will relieve poverty, it’s like hoping Rockfeller foundation to fund research on renewable energy. One another threat made against Madagascar ( if it strays from the path) is the cancellation of AGOA agreement.The African Growth and Opportunity Act is a fascinating compound of professed philanthropy and raw self-interest. To become eligible for help, African countries must bring about “a market-based economy that protects private property rights”, “the elimination of barriers to United States trade and investment” and a conducive environment for US “foreign policy interests”. In return they will be allowed “preferential treatment” for SOME of their products in US markets. Some means that you can not export products that may compete with American one and as for Madagascar these products are mainly from clothing factories owned by the same foreigners and made under cheap labour and miserable social condition.

+ The newly-created Millennium Challenge Account did not exist in FY 2000, and its entire FiscalYear 2004 budget went towards administrative expenses rather than country programs.
http://www.africafocus.org/docs05/aid0506.php
http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2005/07/09/africas-new-best-friends/

Gov. Elechi assents death penalty for kidnappers

connectafrica — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 16:41:41 +0000

FOLLOWING spate of kidnappings witnessed in Ebonyi state, in recent times, Governor Martins Elechi has finally assented into law, a bill stipulating death penalty for anybody convicted by a competent law court of jurisdiction for hostage taking and kidnapping of human beings.

This involved the signing the bill, titled ‘Ebonyi State Internal Security Enforcement and Related Matters Law, 2009,’ into law at the executive chambers of the state government house, in Abakaliki.

Governor Martin Elechi of Ebonyi State

Speaking at the occasion, the governor made special reference to what, he called, ”the state’s collective peace and security which cannot be imported or imposed on people, while the state has all it takes to guarantee collective security.

”The new law provides among other things, death penalty for the offence of kidnapping and hostage-taking,” the governor said, adding, ” The law which we have freely given ourselves is the expression of people’s collective will through us in the executive and in partnership with the elected members of the House of Assembly.”

In justifying the weight of the new law, Elechi said, “We derive no pleasure in killing but we are in a hurry to ensure that those who deny us our basic liabilities are themselves assisted to hasten their own destruction. Extraordinary situations demand extraordinary handling.”

The Governor’s brother-in-law, Mr. Chris Nwankwo was recently kidnapped in the state and ferried to Cross River State, where he was luckily rescued by a hunter, who called other villagers to rescue him from a swamp, where he was dumped by his abductors.

Nwankwo’s incident came on the hills of several other kidnappings in the state with huge ransom paid.
Among the victims was House of Representatives member, Darlington Okereke’s mother as well as the mother of the State chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dame Umahi.

Sourced From National Daily Newspaper

No former African leader worthy of Mo Ibrahim prize this year

derekbarry — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 14:11:23 +0000

Sudanese-born British mobile phones billionaire Mo Ibrahim has denied the GFC forced his foundation not to award a $5 million prize for good governance in Africa this year. “The prize committee do not pay any attention to my bank statement,” he said. “This is an award for excellence. Jury meets and they set the bar some way and decide. There’s no way to know where the bar was set.” (photo of Mo Ibrahim by World Economic Forum)

Ibrahim was bristled by the questioning of British journalists about his role in the Prize that bears his name. Ibrahim has made $2.5 billion from two successful business ventures and his second Celnet provides mobiles for 25 million Africans. His foundation is aimed at “re-branding” Africa, he says. The Mo Ibrahim Prize for achievement in African leadership is awarded to a democratically elected former African head of state or government who has left office in the past three years. The foundation has awarded two former African leader the prize in 2007 and 2008 but could not find anyone who matched their confidential criteria this year. Former Botswanan president Ketumile Masire said the prize-giving committee had “considered some credible candidates” but could not select a winner.

The ceremony will go ahead next month in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania despite the lack of a winner. Ibrahim said he respected the decision of the committee and said it did not mean that Africa was not making progress in governance. He claimed he had no input to the decision “I am not privy to the conversation, I don’t know on what basis they decided not to award it this year, and I don’t want to know. Their deliberation is confidential,” he said. Nevertheless, the decision means a timely and considerable saving to Ibrahim. The Prize is the richest individual prize in the world. The Winner receive $5 million plus paid over ten years and then another $200,000 for each year of the rest of their life. It is designed to encourage African leaders to be less corrupt.

The key factors in the award are measured using the Ibrahim Index. The index was developed under the direction of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard with the help of African academics and ranks African countries according to five criteria. These are: sustainable economic development, health and education, transparency, democracy, and rule of law. Ibrahim calls his Index a tool to hold governments to account and frame the debate about how we are governed. “Africans are setting benchmarks not only for their own continent, but for the world,” he said.

The two previous recipients are former Mozambican president Joaquim Chissano (2007), and Botswana’s former president Festus Gontebanye Mogae (2008). Chissano served two terms in office and helped end Mozambique’s 16-year-old civil war in 1992. He also stepped down voluntarily even though he could have run for a third time. Meanwhile Mogae’s Botswana is Africa’s most stable country and has had multi-party elections since independence in 1966. Mogae stepped down in 2008 after two successful terms in office.

African Affairs Analysts Cameron Duodo (see Al Jazeera youtube clip at 5:50) says the prize-winning criteria is too narrow. Duodo says it is not just presidents and leaders who do outstanding work. He said independent media and the judiciary who scrutinised the powerful and bring governments to account over corruption also play a major part in ensuring good governance. Leaders are already pampered and don’t need any further financial inducements. The enormous power vested in the executive office is a major reason why Africa has so many failed states. The year’s gap should give the Ibrahim Foundation the pause it needs to re-evaluate its intent.

SOMALI PIRATES SEIZE CHINESE VESSEL

connectafrica — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 08:35:02 +0000

Somali pirates have hijacked a Chinese cargo ship with 25 crew on board, the EU’s anti-piracy naval mission says.

The De Xin Hai, which was transporting coal, was seized early on Monday in the Indian Ocean, about 1,100km (700 miles) east of the Somali coast.

The hijacking is believed to have been the first time a ship has been seized between the Seychelles and Maldives.

It is also the first successful attack on a Chinese vessel since the country deployed three warships to the region.

John Harbour, a spokesman for the EU Navfor Maritime Patrol, said one of its aircraft had located the vessel after Monday’s attack.

“The aircraft spotted at least four pirates on the deck and the vessel is towing two skiffs. It was last reported heading west towards the Somali coast,” he said.

Later, one of the pirates, Hassan, told Reuters news agency that the hijacked ship would be sailed to either Haradheere or Hobyo.

The ship, which is owned by the Qingdao Ocean Shipping Company, was on its way from South Africa to India when it was captured.

Monday’s hijacking brings to six the total number of vessels currently in the hands of Somali pirates.

Joel Morgan, the Seychelles’ minister of state for piracy, said maritime traffic in the area had dropped by a third recently due to the threat.

SOURCED FROM BBC

NIGER VOTES IN CONTROVERSIAL POLLS

connectafrica — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 08:13:36 +0000

Voters in Niger are going to the polls in the first parliamentary elections since President Mamadou Tandja forced through changes to increase his power.

He has been criticised for introducing a new constitution earlier this year enabling him to stand for a third term.

Mr Tandja has also been attacked for dismissing the previous parliament and dissolving the country’s highest court.

The opposition is boycotting the election. West African regional body Ecowas had called for a postponement.

But on Tuesday, Nigerien Communications Minister Kassoum Moctar insisted that the election would be held.

In August, the 71-year-old president enraged his critics by holding a referendum to approve his plan to extend his term in office.

The proposal was approved by a landslide.

Opposition groups say Mr Tandja wants to hold on to power for life, and has scheduled the election to give his rule a veneer of legitimacy.

Ecowas delegates held a four-hour meeting with Mr Tandja over the weekend to persuade him to delay the election, but the talks ended without agreement.

Six million people are eligible to vote to elect a new 113-member parliament, but correspondents say the campaign has been marked by indifference among residents.

Mr Tandja was first elected president in 1999 and won re-election in 2004.

SOURCED FROM BBC

Chinua Achebe Calls for Revolution in Nigeria

ruben eberlein — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 14:19:18 +0000

Renowned writer, Chinua Achebe, has called on Nigerians to rise up in unison and challenge the bad leadership and looting of the country, Next newspaper from Lagos reports. Speaking on Thursday when the former chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Nuhu Ribadu, visited him at his home in Bard College, an elite liberal arts university in the suburbs of New York, Achebe said Nigeria was doomed if its people do not act to halt corruption and ineptitude among its ruling elites.

BOTSSWANA'S PRESIDENT IAN KHAMA WINS ELECTION

connectafrica — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 08:44:46 +0000

The chief justice of Botswana says the governing Botswana Democratic Party has won the parliamentary election.

The victory gives President Ian Khama another five years in power in the world’s largest diamond producer.

So far, the BDP has won 36 of the 57 seats contested, with the count complete in 45 constituencies.

The main opposition party, the Botswana National Front, and the Botswana Congress Party have won four seats each with one going to an independent.

The BDP has been in power since independence in 1966.

The turnout in Friday’s election was reported to be high, and election observers said voting went smoothly.

Final results were expected to be announced at lunchtime on Sunday, said a spokesman for the country’s Independent Electoral Commission.

The election was Mr Khama’s first democratic test since becoming Botswana Democratic Party (BDP) leader some 18 months ago.

The son of Botswana’s first president, he is credited with being decisive, but also criticised for being dogmatic.

SOURCED FROM BBC

ABDUCTED DARFUR AID WORKERS FREED

connectafrica — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 08:36:48 +0000

Two aid workers who were kidnapped in Sudan’s Darfur region more than three months ago have said they are “thrilled” to be released.

Irish citizen Sharon Commins, 32, and her Ugandan colleague Hilda Kawuki, 42, were working for the Irish charity Goal when seized by gunmen in Kutum in July.

The Sudanese government confirmed the pair were freed early Sunday morning.

The women described their ordeal as a “difficult time” and thanked all those who had worked to secure their release.

In a joint statement released through the GOAL charity, the women said they were “naturally thrilled to be released after such a long period in captivity”.

“We know it must have been a traumatic period for our families especially and for our friends,” they said.

“It was of course, a difficult time – but we found strength in each other and in our friendship.”

They added that they could “hardly wait to get home” to spend time with their families.

Sudan’s state Minister for Humanitarian Affairs, Abdel Baqi al-Jailani, stressed that “no ransom was paid,” and said local tribe leaders had put pressure on the kidnappers to release the workers.

Reports earlier in the year had suggested the kidnappers made a $2m ransom demand in return for their safe release.

The Sudanese government said the kidnappers were bandits who would not be granted an amnesty for releasing the aid workers, the BBC’s James Copnall in Khartoum said.

The two women have spent the longest time in captivity of any foreigners in Darfur, our correspondent added.

They were taken hostage at gunpoint at an aid compound in Kutum on 3 July.

Speaking in Dublin, Ms Commin’s mother Agatha said she was “absolutely overjoyed” at the news of her daughter’s release.

SOURCED FROM BBC