Deliberately excluded, deliberately oppressed

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/433/may20_01_abahlali.gifAbahlali baseMjondolo present a series of blog posts on their challenge to the KwaZulu-Natal Prevention and Elimination of Slums Act [PDF"> at the Constitutional Court. The shackdwellers argue that the Slums Act is a return to apartheid and ‘a clear attack on the poor’. Watch the video here.

‘It is an attempt to give legal support to the transit camps and to evictions and to criminalise our movements. It is an attempt to turn the forgotten people into the deliberately excluded and deliberately oppressed people. We cannot accept this’.
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http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/433/may20_02_zeleza.gifZeleza’s Wandia Njoya continues an ongoing discussion (argument) between herself and Godwin Murunga, writing in Pambazuka News, on the question of the former’s criticism of Kenyan masculinity. Murunga accuses Njoya of ‘intellectual laziness’ and ignoring the gender balance equity gains of the past few years.

The discussion is worth following as it speaks to the very point Njoya is making which is the notion of ‘collective responsibility’ and it is unfortunate that her piece was interpreted as a kind of sweeping generalisation based on the few.

‘Finally, as I mentioned in the revised edition of my comment on Kenyan masculinity, I believe in some form of collective responsibility. I referred to the 20 or so men (the number was not that high) as a sample or even as a symbol of dominant patriarchal values in Kenya. The response I expect from men who believe they treat women responsibly and humanely is to tell their brothers and teach their sons to do the same, as groups of men for gender equality do. That was what the Million Man March was all about - assuming collective responsibility for what some do in the name of an identity that includes many. It is not enough for men to plead that they are not as bad as some of their brothers. That is a trite – if not bourgeois – concern with personal righteousness which is largely irrelevant in when we are talking about structuralised oppression. In any case, surely I was not expected to wait until the 10 or so million Kenyan men are interviewed before I could voice an opinion!’

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Naijablog posts a great interview with Fela’s son, Seun Kuti on Vimeo.com. They discuss his father and music and the gift of herbs.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/433/may20_04_unchained.gifAfrica Unchained is a blog which seeks to promote the ideas of George Ayittey in his book Africa Unchained. In this post, the author (Emeka Okafor) reports on two book reviews by Francis Fukuyama – Wangari Maathai's The Challenge for Africa and Zambian Dambisa Moyo's Dead Aid. Fukuyama argues that both women see Africa’s fundamental problem as bad government.

‘Far too many regimes in Africa have become patronage machines in which political power is sought by ‘big men’ for the sole purpose of acquiring resources – resources that are funnelled either back to the networks of supporters who helped a particular leader come to power or else into the proverbial Swiss bank account. There is no concept of public good; politics has devolved instead into a zero-sum struggle to appropriate the state and whatever assets it can control.’

I believe he does have a very good point.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/433/may20_05_entrepreneur.gifThe Entrepreneur discusses the issue of condoms in Africa following the statement by the Pope on his recent visit to the continent calling for people not to use them. Apparently the House of Assembly in Belgium is calling on their government to condemn the statement. I strongly disagree with The Entrepreneur who sees it differently:

‘As pointed out by the director of an African AIDS centre in Kampala, Rose Busingye (director, Meeting Point Kampala), those who are condemning the statement of the Holy Father, lack the full comprehension of the situation in Africa. She then stated that: "The Pope is doing nothing else but defending and supporting precisely that which will be useful for helping these people: Affirming the meaning of life and the dignity of the human being". (ZENIT March 25, 2009)

‘As rightly pointed out by the Holy Father, without priority attention to moral and educational aspects, the battle against AIDS is futile. The Church cannot abandon her commitment to morality, upholding the truth and the protection of human dignity in Africa because of opposition from a few angles. That is exactly what Pope Benedict XVI has done when he came to Africa. And Africans have shown their appreciation to the Holy Father in this perspective.’

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/433/may20_06_nigerian.gifNigerian Curiosity reports on the new developments in the Nigerian Halliburton bribery scandal. More arrests have taken place, with huge sums of money being bandied about. As Nigerian Curiosity points out the Halliburton scandal is only one of many taking place in the country:

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/433/may20_06_nigerian_pic.gif‘This Halliburton scandal is one of many ongoing corruption scandals that the Nigerian government is yet to adequately address. These new arrests, while encouraging, unfortunately do not mean that justice will prevail particularly when viewed within the context of Nigeria's punishment problem. With regard to the current administration, President Yar'Adua failed to compel the arrest and prosecution of those involved in the nation's decrepit power situation despite very public investigations and probes carried out by the National Assembly last year. Additionally, the health-care corruption scandal, which brought down former health minister Adenike Grange, and led to the temporary disappearance of Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello, appears to have stalled while Obasanjo-Bello has resumed her duties in the National Assembly. There also remains the Siemens AG corruption scandal, in which five Nigerians have already been fingered for their role by German courts.

I get the feeling that this is being dragged out as those involved try to find an ‘escape route’. This scandal goes to the very heart of Nigerian politics over the past ten years and possibly beyond that.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/433/may20_07_gbengasesan_pic.j…Oro a technology related blog by Gbenga Sesan, comments on Nigeria’s digital lifestyle:

‘Nigerian internet users have grown from 200,000 in 2001 to 10 million in 2007.’

However what interests Gbenga is not just the number of users but the lengths people will take to get online:

‘They have had to stay back at work, visit cyber cafes at odd hours, endure plug-and-pray services and spend a large part of their monthly income on expensive access. Also, many have found a way around the problem of electrical power instability.’

There is presently a survey taking place on internet usage in Nigeria, if readers are interested.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/433/may20_08_blacklooks.gif BlackLooks posts an interview with Kenyan activist and performance poet, Shailja Patel. The post is part of a series of weekly interviews with poets from across the African diaspora by Rethabile.

Black Looks also has a series of posts on the Niger Delta leading up to the 26 May Wiwa v Shell trial which will take place in New York.
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* Sokari Ekine blogs at Black Looks.
* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org/.