There is growing condemnation of the ongoing detention of a group of activists in Zimbabwe, arrested almost a week ago for watching TV footage of the revolution in Egypt. Former MDC MP Munyaradzi Gwisai, and 44 other activists, will spend the weekend behind bars after their case was postponed until next Monday. They were this week charged with treason for watching the footage of events in Egypt and Tunisia, which led to the fall of the governments in those countries. Local and international rights groups are calling for the immediate release of the activists, condemning their detention and their treatment at the hands of state security agents.

The planned resumption of mass protests in Djibouti this weekend was hindered by massive police presence in the capital and arrests of about 300 opposition and civil society leaders. Friday 18 February saw an estimated 30,000 Djiboutians protesting in central Djibouti City.

Unversed in Burundi's official languages of French and Kirundi, children of refugees returning after decades spent in Anglophone countries, such as neighbouring Tanzania, often find it difficult to continue their studies and some drop out. To ensure such students continue learning, a group of returnee teachers has set up an education centre in the commune of Mabanda in Makamba Province, near Tanzania. The teachers work without pay.

Lindiwe Zono is a member of the Phadima Agricultural Association in the Sekhukhune District of Limpopo province, in northwestern South Africa. The association has started a seed bank to preserve and increase their supply of traditional food plants, reports Farm Radio Weekly. Zono says that seed saving was once an almost sacred duty among the Pedi, the largest ethnic group in the province. The seed bank builds on this tradition. It aims to make use of and promote traditional crops such as sorghum, millet, cowpeas, maize, and pumpkin. It began in 2000 and covers seven villages.

The Arab revolt fever could be spreading across the southern African region with Zambia, Angola, Zimbabwe and Swaziland reportedly on the edge over a possible mass protests. And the leaders of those countries are not taking chances. They have openly warned against any kind of revolt.

Fears of Prime Minister Raila Odinga ascending to the presidency after the 2007 general election by close confidantes of President Kibaki have been revealed in a diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks, reports the Daily Nation. A Cabinet minister warned a US embassy official that Mr Odinga was likely to turn into a dictator if he won the hotly disputed general election.

ANC Youth League leader Julius Malema has taken a thinly veiled swipe at President Jacob Zuma and the Gupta family, saying the youth must protect the ANC from being used by 'families' to enrich themselves. Speaking at the launch of the ANC's municipal elections manifesto, at the Royal Bafokeng stadium, in Rustenburg, Malema drew huge applause when he said democracy was not for people who exploited the resources of the country to enrich themselves in the name of freedom.

The Women Peacemakers Program-Africa (WPP-A) is organising a Movement building and Gender-sensitive Active Nonviolence training to build the capacities of 26 heads of organisations from conflict and post-conflict fragile states in Africa, notably Kenya, Nigeria, Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea, Uganda, Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, Congo DRC, Burundi, Rwanda, Zimbabwe and Madagascar. The training is to be held in Accra, Ghana from 28 March to 1 April 2011.

'We, actors in the field of alternative information as well as citizen activists who use communication as a tool for social transformation:
Note that, in a global context:
- information is held in a stranglehold by political, economic and industrial forces and is manipulated by the governments and States;
- freedom of expression is being denied, thwarted or repressed;
- there is little or no guarantee for an unfettered access to information for all citizens;
- a violent repression is unleashed upon citizens and actors in the field of information;
- information is being commodified and standardized;
- there is an increasing distrust by public opinion regarding information conveyed by the mainstream media.'

The police have paraded a Tanzanian national; a key suspect in last year’s twin bomb blasts that killed more than 70 people in Kampala. Hijar Seleman Nyamadondo, 31, was paraded at the Rapid Response Unit (RRU) headquarters in Kireka amid tight security hours after he was extradited to Uganda by the Tanzanian authorities.

A large-scale demolition in Lubango, capital of Huíla province, carried out by the government of Angola, has already left in its wake over 5,000 displaced people in the southwest of the country, Global Voices reports.

Three MDC members from Mutare North are recovering, after they were assaulted by a mob of ZANU PF activists, wielding axes on Thursday (24 February). According to the MDC, Farai Matsika, Mabel Manhumwa and Gainmore Machikuni of Mutare North were assaulted for being MDC activists. Matsika was admitted to hospital with a deep cut on his leg, while the other two were left bruised and shaken. Machikuni and Manhumwa’s homes were also both burned down by the ZANU PF mob. The MDC said the violence is part of ZANU PF’s campaign to intimidate people ahead of possible elections.

Several Moroccan cities saw attempts to organise follow-up pro-democracy protests brutally stopped by riot police. Following the large, nation-wide protests one week ago, on 20 February, and smaller protests following, big pro-democracy manifestations were planned for Sunday. However, contrary to one week ago, the protests were mostly banned by local authorities and police in the last moment.

Police have arrested and tortured another dissident critic of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe's regime as the government escalated a clampdown against a perceived plot to stage mass demonstrations against the leader, lawyers said late on Monday (01 March). Job Sikhala, the leader of a small offshoot of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), was arrested on Friday in connection with an alleged plan to stage demonstrations like those in Egypt.

Cocoa farmers in Cote d’Ivoire are bearing the brunt of a ban on the export of cocoa beans, reports Farm Radio Weekly. On January 23 this year, Alassane Ouattara called for a month-long ban on cocoa and coffee exports. His aim is to starve Laurent Gbagbo of the funds that are keeping him in power.

On 11 February, 2011, the Refugee Law Project (RLP) in collaboration with the Ugandan Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights & Constitutional Law launched a revealing documentary on the realities of lesbian, gay and transgender asylum. This video captures remarks made by Professor Ben Twinomugisha, Dean of Law, Makerere University during the panel discussion after the launch. Copies of the documentary will be available in a couple of weeks. Please email [email][email protected] to book a copy.

The government is losing millions of shillings in accommodation bills for newly appointed ministers and their deputies. The problem is compounded by the former ministers’ continued stay in the ministers’ residences. It is not yet clear why former ministers and their deputies continue to cling to government houses when they had five years to organise their own accommodation.

Richard Pithouse

Karine Appy et Arthur Manet

Giuseppe Caruso

Stéphanie Dubois de Prisqu

Synergos is looking to recruit an innovative and entrepreneurial leader to be its Regional Director for its Southern African region to champion Synergos’ efforts to change the systems that perpetuate poverty and social injustice. Synergos supports leaders, leadership networks and partnerships that promote equitable access to basic human rights and needs – with particular emphasis on health and nutrition, the wellbeing of children and women, and education.

Google announced Wednesday it has awarded $2.7 million to the International Press Institute to foster innovation in journalism. The Institute, based in Vienna, will use the grant for its IPI News Innovation Contest, which will fund both non-profit and for-profit projects related to the development of digital news platforms, new business models for journalism and training in digital reporting throughout Africa, Europe and the Middle East.