20 March 2015 — Pambazuka News

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Pambazuka News (English edition): ISSN 1753-6839

 

CONTENTS: 1. Features, 2. Comment & analysis, 3. Advocacy & campaigns, 4. Obituaries, 5. Books & arts, 6. Jobs

 

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1 Features

 

KENYA: THE RETURN OF TYRANNY Henry Makori

 

Two years ago, crimes against humanity suspects Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto took power in Kenya. The duo who cut their political teeth under the tutelage of brutal despot Daniel arap Moi, the self-styled ‘professor of politics’, have spared no effort to push the country back to the dark days of autocracy. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/94236

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THE PAINS OF DEFENDING HUMAN RIGHTS IN KENYA Ruth Mumbi

 

“The officers used brutal force to arrest us. Out of eight human rights defenders arrested, I was the only woman. One of the arresting officers sexually molested me by grabbing my private parts before shoving me into a waiting truck full of anti-riot police who had been brought to disrupt our peaceful protest. We were later released without charge.” http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/94253

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THE GAMBIA: 50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE, 20 YEARS OF TERROR Fatou Diagne

 

He claimed to be a different kind of soldier and promised not to hang on to power, and never to install a dictatorship. Who said that power corrupts and that absolute power corrupts absolutely? http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/94238

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THEY CALL MY FATHER A TERRORIST Peter Kenworthy

 

Ailing Swazi opposition leader Mario Masuku is in prison since May in Africa’s only absolute monarchy, where even mere expression of support for the opposition is considered by the regime as engaging in ‘terrorism’. Progressive forces throughout the pan-African world must demand the release of this man and many other Swazi prisoners of conscience. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/94259

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BEYOND ELECTIONS 2015: CLASS MATTERS ARISING Kunle Wizeman Ajayi

 

Whether Buhari takes the Nigerian presidency in next week’s hotly contested elections or Jonathan remains is all but irrelevant; real change will only happen when the masses band together, organize and demand better futures instead of lining up behind the rich and powerful whose futures are already secured. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/94256

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HEDGE FUNDS AND CORPORATE RAIDERS IN AFRICA: SPACE INVADERS OF THE THIRD KIND Dhiru Soni, Ahmed Shaikh, Anis Karodia and Joseph David

 

The new wave of ‘looting’ of land and other natural resources will likely continue on a scale hitherto unknown. Whatever the supposed benefits of this trend, urgent attention ought to be turned to the thousands of people in Africa and other emerging nations who will become landless in the countries of their birth. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/94233

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A NEW FANONIAN MOMENT? The legacy of Frantz Fanon Hamza Hamouchene

 

Reading Fanon’s thought, one cannot help being absorbed and shaken by his truth and foresight on the bankruptcy and sterility of national bourgeoisies who have tended to replace colonialism with a new class-based system replicating the old colonial structures of exploitation and oppression. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/94239

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FROM 119 THIS YEAR TO 120 NEXT YEAR Celebrating Adwa Victory as the significant African victory over World Empire Mammo Muchie

 

Ethiopianism is at the heart of the quest for total African liberation and unity. This glorious early resistance should offer a powerful inspiration for the African people to confront current challenges that are more subtle and insidious than those faced during slavery and colonialism. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/94240

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RETHINKING GENDER SENSITIVITY IN GOVERNANCE FOR EQUALITY IN UGANDA Otim Denis Barnabas

 

Post war northern Uganda has been economically and politically deprived leading to the exclusion of especially women in political processes. The inequity in access to resources and to positions of power between the sexes affects the structure of the country as a whole and must be corrected. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/94255

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RESOLUTIONS OF THE 8TH PAN AFRICAN CONGRESS

 

The Pan African Congress was held 21 years after the previous one. Its resolutions capture the Congress’s desire to re-ignite the Pan African spirit, enthuse commitment to our African identity and inject energy into the Pan-African Movement. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/features/94258

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2 Comment & analysis

 

UN AND ANC LEGITIMISE COLONISATION OF WESTERN SAHARA Peter Kenworthy

 

What was the real intention behind Morocco’s decision to hold an international forum in occupied Western Sahara, Africa’s last colony? Peter Kenworthy judges it to be a legitimization of Morocco’s occupation by both the occupier and the attending heads of state and international figures. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/94248

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AMBIGUOUS APPLICATION OF AFFIRMATIVE ACTION LEAVES SOUTH AFRICA UNTRANSFORMED Anna Majavu

 

Talk of affirmative action is now being replaced by ‘diversity.’ This vague concept of diversity paves the way for an increase in the daily use of institutional racism, not only by employers but by other white people in powerful positions. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/94235

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DOES DR CUNO REALLY BELIEVE WHAT HE WRITES? Kwame Opoku

 

The influential American scholar falsely attributes to the UN cultural agency UNESCO a mandate it clearly does not have. What is more, he supports an outdate and unfair system that allowed rich countries which financed many explorations and excavations of archaeological sites to loot artefacts. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/94231

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AFRICAN WOMEN’S DECADE 2014 REPORT Four years since the launch of the African Women’s Decade 2010-2020, where are we? Rainatou Sow

 

While some African countries have made significant strides in expanding opportunities for women and girls, continued inequalities remain, particularly in the areas of women’s political participation and economic opportunity. Gender inequalities are still deeply entrenched in many societies. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/94254

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MANY VIRTUES OF PATIENCE Abdulrazaq Magaji

 

The recent diktat by Nigeria’s first lady that her husband’s political opponents be stoned is yet another red flag that the bungling government in Nigeria is not sincere in conducting violence-free elections. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/94250

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EXUBERANT IRRATIONALITY DRIVING AFRIKAN-CANADIAN SUPPORT FOR DEPUTY POLICE CHIEFS Ajamu Nangwaya

 

To what extent can an Afrikan police chief be realistically more committed to fighting institutional racism than a white one? Merely having an Afrikan person at the helm will not end police brutality. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/94234

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WHAT WOULD SENEGAL HAVE BECOME HAD PRESIDENT WADE BEEN RE-ELECTED IN 2012? Mandiaye Gaye

 

With his vast wealth provided by tax payers and intolerable acts the man should be consigned to an old-folks home, not a position of power. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/94241

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SOCIALISM IS STILL THE WAY FORWARD Combating neo-liberal imperialist lies Danny Haiphong

 

Every neo-liberal ideology promotes the false belief that there is no alternative to capitalism. But although socialism has been persistently assaulted by imperialists over the years, people who live under this system are by far better off than those who do not. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/94249

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3 Advocacy & campaigns

 

CIVIL SOCIETY DENOUNCES WORLD BANK’S CONFERENCE ON LAND & POVERTY

 

Farmer organizations, indigenous groups, trade unions and other civil society organizations, under the umbrella of Our Land Our Business, call World Bank’s annual Conference on Land and Poverty a sham. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/94252

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LONDON: FOOD SOVEREIGNTY ACTIVISTS PROTEST AT BILL GATE’S CORPORATE SEED CONFERENCE Global Justice

 

Food sovereignty activists are to protest a secret elite meeting being held in London convened by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/94261

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DR CONGO GOVERNMENT CRACKS DOWN ON AFRICAN YOUTH

 

This week the government of Joseph Kabila has been arresting young people in sustained efforts to frustrate their organizing for change. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/94260

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DEFENDING VENEZUELA Defending the Bolivarian Revolution is a historical duty that can no longer be put off.

 

The Network in Defense of Humanity say the US threat against Venezuela is explicitly a declaration of war against the Bolivarian Revolution and a step forward in the US escalation to crush the anti-imperialist voices. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/advocacy/94232

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4 Obituaries

 

SONY ESTEUS AND COMMUNITY RADIO IN HAITI Beverly Bell

 

The sudden death of the well-known community radio journalist and activist has left many people within progressive movements in Haiti shaken. The work he leaves behind is testament to Sony’s total commitment to the transformation of the lives of the country’s masses. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/obituary/94251

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5 Books & arts BANGUI:

 

LET THE DUST OF THE BOOTS DROWN IN UBANGI Grandmaster Masese

 

Bangui, Who could remember to smile when those guns fed us lead In Bangui our hearts bled Crying for sanity Bangui, Who remember’s Stanley’s fatal whip on our backs Chopped arms, now firearms in Bangui Lighting Ubangi with flowing dead blood Bangui never dies Determined to silence the ghosts of Brazza Leopold, Bozize and Bokassa I stand bold with African pride I have died many times before Made to kiss the aroma of mother Congo And still I germinate Bangui, I am a seed I will never die I will never wither I will gyrate in the rhythms of Cavacha, Rhumba and Samba Let the dust of the boots drown in Ubangi Bangui

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6 Jobs

 

DEPUTY REGIONAL DIRECTOR – CAMPAIGNS Location: Dakar Type: Permanent Salary: 66,444 A I Amnesty International

 

The mobile revolution. Geopolitical power shifts. A radically altered global economy. As the world changes, so does the way people campaign for human rights. To remain effective, Amnesty International (AI) needs to respond and adapt. That’s why we’re strengthening our International Secretariat office in West and Central Africa. And why we need your campaigning expertise. http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/jobs/94154

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Fahamu – Networks For Social Justice http://www.fahamu.org

 

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End of Pambazuka-news Digest, Vol 350, Issue 1

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