Governance

Many years ago - before Nelson Mandela was President of South Africa; before he was the darling of the Western media; and before he was claimed as a role model by the President of the United States and the Prime Minister of Britain - he was OUR hero!

After my imprisonment for my anti-apartheid activities, I spent some years at the United Nations in New York and at the UN Commission on Human Rights in Geneva as an accredited representative of the victims of apartheid and colonialism in South Africa.

The first thing that strikes one as one reads the pages of Nelson Mandela’s speeches, letters and transcripts collected in ‘No Easy Walk to Freedom’, is that he and his generation of ANC and ANC Youth League leaders were political giants compared with the current cohort.

Nelson Mandela was famous for many sayings, all of which reflected his core beliefs and integrity as a leader. One of the first words he said as he walked out of prison addressing the crowds was: ‘Mayibuye iAfrika!

So it has finally come to pass that Nelson Mandela has succumbed to the inevitable and will be buried like every other mortal being. He is being praised, rightly, for his inspirational ability to rise above the brutal racial prejudices of his time.

The death of Nelson Mandela has provoked an outpouring of mourning, celebration, and commentary around the world that is unprecedented for an African leader.

By now word has reached even the most far-flung corners of the earth. Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s Founding President and world-acclaimed anti-apartheid icon, is no more.

GENEVA (3 December 2013) – A group of United Nations Special Rapporteurs today urged the Government of Kenya to reject legislation that would impose severe restrictions on civil society.

November 26, 2013-Greenpeace Africa and the Oakland Institute are alarmed by the decision of the Cameroonian government to award US agribusiness company Herakles Farms a three-year provisional land lease to develop a palm oil plantation in the Southwest region of the country.

According to Ethiopia's “Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs”, approximately 200,000 women sought employment abroad in 2012, the vast majority of them in the Middle East.