Senegal: The people rise up against land grabbing
The inside story of a 20,000-hectare deal

On October 26, the people of Fanaye, a rural community in northern Senegal rose up against the allocation of 20 000 hectares of land to an Italian company to produce biofuel. Two people died in the unrest. The Defence Collective sent a memorandum to the authorities explaining the fraudulent manner in which the land was expropriated and why it ‘is unacceptable to allow the production of biofuel and exports in an area of chronic malnourishment.’

Land grabbing: Farmers of the world say stop

Millions of hectares of arable land have been expropriated and given to multinational companies and investment banks for the purpose of industrial agriculture, mining, production of biofuel, carbon trading, tourism, big dams, etc. Farmers’ groups from around the world gathered recently in Mali to denounce the massive land grabbing taking place.

China, Africa’s best strategic ally
Jean-Paul Pougala (2011-11-28)

China is giving the West the jitters as it strengthens its strategic ties with Africa. Against this backdrop reminiscent of Cold War rivalry, Jean-Paul Pougala looks at the divisions beginning to emerge between countries favouring closer ties with China and those who seek to remain with their old alliances. He applauds the changes in Cameroon and deplores the Ivorian status quo.

Gabon: Historic moments when the opposition should speak with one voice!
Mengue M'Eyaà

With upcoming elections in Gabon, the death of historic opposition figure Pierre Mamboundou on October 16 couldn’t have come at a worse moment and seems to have scuppered the chances of a united front which could have put an end to the Bongo regime. Mengue M’Eyaa calls on the opposition to come together and liberate Gabon from an illegitimate predator.

As COP17 drew to a close last week the only game in town was the market-based mechanisms that are false solutions to climate change. The same institutions, corporations and governments who have led the world into economic chaos are leading us towards climate chaos, says the Durban Climate Justice blog. In a new video released at COP17, critics of the markets and even the architects and gatekeepers of climate finance admit to its failure.

Data obtained by Amnesty International shows that the US has repeatedly transferred ammunition to Egypt despite security forces' violent crackdown on protesters. A shipment for the Egyptian Ministry of Interior arrived from the US on 26 November carrying at least seven tons of 'ammunition smoke' - which includes chemical irritants and riot control agents such as tear gas. It was one of at least three arms deliveries to Egypt by the US company Combined Systems, Inc. since the brutal crackdown on the '25 January Revolution' protestors.

South African president Jacob Zuma has declared his intention to have a decision on Agriculture at the UN COP17 climate negotiations in Durban last week; while the World Bank is promoting so-called 'Climate Smart Agriculture' and carbon offsets as the future of African agriculture and climate solutions. But civil society groups in Durban are concerned that this vision for African agriculture will lead to land grabs, farmer poverty and food insecurity, and only worsen global climate change.

The Angolan government should end its use of unnecessary force, including by plainclothes agents, against peaceful anti-government protests, Human Rights Watch says. On 3 December, police and plainclothes security agents violently dispersed a peaceful rally of about 100 youth in Luanda, the capital, and injured at least 14, one of whom had a serious face wound, Human Rights Watch said. The demonstrators were protesting the 32-year rule of President José Eduardo dos Santos, whom they blame for rampant corruption, widespread poverty, and political repression.

Just 8 kilometres South of the Kenya/Somali coastal border, 60 kilometres parallel to the northern coast of Kenya lies Kiunga Marine National Reserve. It is a marine reserve made up of a chain of about 50 coral islands, lying some 2 kilometres offshore and inshore of the fringing reef. This marine reserve is home to coral reefs, coral gardens, sea birds, rare endangered sea turtles, mangrove forests and a vibrant underwater world. But this once pristine environment is slowly taking a beating from a dramatic change in climate. Fishing has been the main economic activity in this area for centuries. But with the catch getting smaller every day, fishermen are worried.

The highlights of the November issue of the Biowatch Bulletin include a GM update for South Africa and an article on building resilience through farmer exchanges and seed rituals. To read the full issue and to subscribe to future editions, please visit their website.

Election violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) spilled over in the Cape Town CBD last week as DRC refugees sympathetic to opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi protested against President Jacob Zuma’s perceived support of incumbent Joseph Kabila. Frustration among DRC refugees has mounted as election results, the provisional figures which were due to be announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (CENI) yesterday, put Kabila in the lead over his closes rival Etienne Tshisekedi, resulting in demonstrations in London, Brussels, Pretoria, Johannesburg and Cape Town.

The feminisation of poverty, limited social mobility for women and discriminatory gender practices tied to culture are limiting factors for women's rights, says this article. With some political reforms in Morocco, can political statements contained in the new constitution be translated to tangible outcomes? And how long will it take to secure the promised women’s rights?

With a national vote set for 2012, Ghana is already in pre-election posture, and the concept of purely reflective media could prove increasingly dangerous as the vote draws nearer, says this article on Al Jazeera. 'Politicians have been boiling over with dangerous remarks - that the election period will be like the Rwandan genocide, for example - and the media is over-reporting these statements, handing out public platforms without adequate consideration for the consequences. While there is debate and dialogue about all the inflammatory rhetoric, no one has seriously implicated the media in the overall mix.'

WikiLeaks’ archive of US State department cables on Zimbabwe has highlighted human rights abuses, corruption, and profound divisions within both the ruling party and the opposition, shaking the establishment in Zimbabwe. Political analysts suggest that the revelations may have brought the party to a breaking point. This post summarises the revelations that have been revealed by WikiLeaks.

It was tragedy in Kaduna on 7 December as more than 15 people lost their lives and several others injured following a bomb blast that hit the heart of the city. The incident occurred shortly after the elders in the North ended the Peace and Unity Conference intended to find solution to the insecurity posed by the militant Islamic sect, Boko Haram in the country.

State officers must enforce the Constitution fully or honourably resign, Chief Justice Willy Mutunga told the Kofi Annan meeting on Kenya progress Monday. Speaking when he gave a key note address at the two-day meeting, Dr Mutunga said complying with Kenya's new Constitution was not an option, however unpalatable some officers may find its provisions.

Egyptians voted on Monday in run-off contests for parliamentary seats, with the Muslim Brotherhood's party trying to extend its lead over hardline Islamists and liberal parties in a political landscape redrawn by the overthrow of Hosni Mubarak. The Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) is set to take the most seats in Egypt's first free election in six decades, bolstering its hand in any struggle with the ruling army council for influence over the most populous Arab nation.

The deputy chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission, Erastus Jarnalese Onkundi Mwencha, says the structure of the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the continent and the European Union is not to Africa’s advantage. 'Our advantage is regional integration. Can EPA help us to integrate our markets? If anything it will stall us. I don’t think EPA is a priority for Africa,' Onkundi Mwencha told Business and Financial Times in an exclusive interview on the sidelines of the 7th ordinary session of African Union Ministers of Trade conference in Accra.

We will consider arresting George Bush when Amnesty International 'give us the facts', said Zambia President Michael Sata on Sunday shortly before he saw off the visiting US former president. The Zambian president also said 'it’s a coincidence' that Mr Bush and Zimbabwe long-time ruler Robert Mugabe were in Zambia at the same time. Sata was responding to questions from journalists at KK International Airport in the capital Lusaka about Amnesty International’s calls on Zambia to arrest Mr Bush for human rights violations during his 2001-2009 Presidency.

Zanele Muholi and Khanyisile Mbongwa put together a collaborative show around the idea of interstices, of spaces in between/in-between spaces - literal, metonymic, metaphorical. 'Ngaphakathi esiphakathini' is directly translated as 'inside the in-between', writes Khanyisile. The artists respond to the economies of violence of the everyday, a reality of bodies marked and inscribed in particular ways.

With stamped ballots piled on the desk in front of her, rights activist Ghada Shahbandar, said: 'As long as I have these obtained in my hands, I cannot trust the final declared results.' Speaking at a press conference held Saturday by the Egyptian Coalition for Election Observation, Shahbandar of the Egyptian Organisation for Human Rights highlighted several incidents that demonstrated incompetence by the judicial committee supervising the elections. The stamped ballots, for instance, should only be found inside polling stations and vote counting centers and heavily guarded throughout the process.

The opening statements in the Durban climate talks sounded more like conclusions, writes Nnimmo Bassey on the New Internationalist blog. Negotiators will be grappling with two key issues - the first is whether to have a second commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol or whether to bury it and raise a Durban Mandate in its place. 'A whole lot of the foot dragging here is about money. Avoiding responsibility means holding tight to one’s money bag. And the rich countries, reeling from the financial crisis, do not want to take any step in the direction of doing the right thing.'

The blog has a photo gallery of the Global Day of Action Against UN Conference of Polluters (COP) in Durban, while the Durban Climate Justice blog has a