2006: The year in quotes

How does one summarise the year 2006 in a few words? It’s been a year of hope and dashed-hopes. The Democratic Republic of Congo held its first democratic elections since the country’s independence in 1960. In Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe is making moves to extend his tenure of office as president by a further two years. In Nigeria, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) is waging a struggle to have access to the wealth generated by the oil found in the area. In the Sudan, the Janjaweed continues killing and causing destruction in Darfur. China has become a major economic - and political - player on the continent. Amidst all of this, Africans celebrated in June the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, and the first anniversary in November of the coming into force of the AU Protocol on the Rights on Women in Africa.

But is has also been a year in which Pambazuka News has helped the voices of those engaged in the struggles for social justice be heard through the cacophony of stereotypes that normally fills the mainstream media. In 48 issues of the English language version, and 17 of the French language version, over 200 authors have written more than 270 articles.

This rich collection of analyses and commentaries has also given rise to two books that will be available at the World Social Forum in Nairobi in January: 'Grace, tenacity and eloquence: the struggle for women’s rights in Africa' and 'African Perspectives on China in Africa'.

And to complement that, there have been 14 podcasts featuring the voices of activists committed to expanding freedoms in Africa.

Pambazuka News has become a critical means for organisations in Africa to exchange information, to forge networks of solidarity, and to open much needed debate about major developments in the region. This community - connected through Pambazuka News - is unique to the continent.

All this has been done on a shoestring. We’ve been generously supported by loyal funders (see the acknowledgements at the bottom of this newsletter), but we rely primarily on the generosity of our authors and readers to really make Pambazuka News what it is today. Pambazuka News is able to do what it does because it remains independent. And to retain that independence, we continue to need your support. You can support Pambazuka News in many ways: by writing articles or reviewing books; telling your friends and colleagues about Pambazuka News; by distributing articles to others; by volunteering your time. But if you don’t have time or inclination to do such things, you can support us by making a regular donation to Pambazuka News.

You can donate to Pambazuka News at

Your donation will make a real difference to ensuring the long-term survival of Pambazuka News.

And to remind you of some of the highlights of the year here is a selection of 12 feature articles from 2006. You can read these and some 40,000 other news, resources and analyses at www.pambazuka.org

HAITI: A COUP REGIME, HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES AND THE HIDDEN HAND OF WASHINGTON
Ben Terrall

'To its everlasting discredit, in 2004 the UN sent troops to Haiti when a U.S. marine occupation became politically untenable. In effect, this international presence, consisting of soldiers from more than twenty countries, comprises an occupation force that legitimizes the current coup regime and controls dissidents unwilling to accept the new status quo. And, as a Chilean officer told me in Cap Hatien in December 2004, the troops are ‘trained as soldiers, so it is very hard for us to not react in a military fashion.’ A Haitian activist I spoke to who identifies himself as a member of Lavalas told me that one useful thing the UN has done in Haiti is to bring in health care. Unfortunately, he noted sardonically, the treatment only comes after UN troops shoot civilians.'
-- Pambazuka News 239: 26 January 2006

CHINA IN AFRICA – THE NEW IMPERIALISM?
Stephen Marks

'China’s increased presence in Africa is part of a wider effort to ‘create a paradigm of globalisation that favours China’. In the past China’s African presence benefited from a shared history as an object of European imperialism and its ideological commitment to anti-imperialism and national liberation. China’s declared principles of respect for national sovereignty and non-interference in internal affairs appealed not only as a contrast with the suspect motives of former colonial powers, but for less elevated reasons to rulers threatened with internal dissent. But more recently China’s policy has shifted from Cold War ideology to a more classical pursuit of economic self-interest in the form of access to raw materials, markets and spheres of influence through investment, trade and military assistance - to the point where China can be suspected of pursuing the goals of any classical imperialist.'
-- Pambazuka News 244: 02 March 2006

ZIMBABWE 2006 – WE ALL FALL DOWN
Mary Ndlovu

'Every year since 2000, Zimbabweans have wondered: ‘Will this be it, will this be the year when it all ends, when Humpty Dumpty finally totters off the wall?’ And if it is, what will it mean for each one of us, and for the nation as a whole – healing, restoration and return to ‘normality’, or deepened chaos, insecurity and catastrophe? We listen to talk about elections in 2008 and 2010 and deep down nurture a hope that there will be no more ZANU PF elections. But even deeper down we fear that even if there aren’t, things will never come right again, not in our life-times, unless we are still very young. Several years ago, as Zimbabwe left the gentler rapids and began its headlong rush towards the precipice, some people declared loudly that we had reached the bottom and could now only go up. How deluded they were.'
-- Pambazuka News 248: 30 March 2006

DRC’S POTENTIAL: LIGHTING THE CONTINENT FROM CAPE TO CAIRO
Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja

'The DRC cannot play a positive role in Africa’s development as long as it remains a dependent territory with approximately 60 percent of its national budget, over US$400 million for its national elections and virtually all of its development policy decisions coming from external sources. Elections, in this context, are not an exercise in self-determination but a ritual designed to justify external control through weak and non-patriotic elements of the political class. To play an emancipatory role with respect to Africa’s development, the DRC must complete its transition from colonialism to genuine independence as a sovereign nation with its own social project and capacity to make and implement its own development policies.'
-- Pambazuka News 261: 21 July 2006

THE POLITICS OF OIL AND POVERTY
Emira Woods

'It is almost impossible to imagine, as we sit in a well lit, fully functioning gas station on Main Street, USA, that a community blessed with oil riches under its soil could look as impoverished as Yenagoa in the Nigerian state of Bayelsa. Yenagoa is the site of one of Nigeria 's first oil wells, built in pre-independence 1956. Yet as in many communities in Nigeria’s oil rich Delta region, most people of Yenagoa live in mud huts. Some reside only a few feet away from the oil wells. But they lack electricity and indoor toilets. They have no hospitals, no running water, no schools. And there is unemployment too. Oil companies like Royal Dutch Shell, BP, Chevron, and Exxon Mobil bring in foreign workers for even the most menial jobs.'
-- Pambazuka News 272: 05 October 2006

MEND: ANATOMY OF A PEOPLES’ MILITIA
Ike Okonta

'The first thing that strikes you on meeting members of the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) militia is the ease with which they move about in Warri metropolis, and also in the creek villages, indicating clearly that they are amongst people who not only identify with their cause but also go out of their way to offer them protection and safe havens during attacks by Nigerian soldiers. However, their movements are constrained by the ever-prowling soldiers. The second thing you notice is that the militants, or the ones elected by the others to respond to your questions, are articulate, well-educated, and conversant with latest political developments in Nigeria and other parts of the world.'
-- Pambazuka News 275/6/7: 02 November 2006

* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at www.pambazuka.org