A councillor in a remote district of Binga has revealed that state security agents are compiling a visual database of MDC officials that they suspect are potential candidates in the next elections. The CIOs have already taken photographs of some councilors in Binga, but others have refused to be photographed, saying they know that their images will be used to identify them when violence is unleashed during elections. SW Radio Africa spoke to Councillor Temba Toonse Kunjulu, popularly known as TTK in his Jabuba ward in Binga, who described how he was recently approached by CIOs who asked him if he would be running for a position during the next elections.

Poor countries that borrow from the International Monetary Fund are spending just one cent in every dollar received in health aid on improving the medical care of their populations, according to new Oxford University-led research. The study, published in the International Journal of Health Services, said there were signs that the tough loan conditions imposed by the IMF were leading to health aid being diverted for other uses, reports the London Guardian.

Policemen were on Wednesday caught on camera executing three men in cold blood on a busy Nairobi street, reports the Daily Nation. A motorist who happened upon the confrontation between plainclothes policemen and alleged criminals in the morning traffic pulled out his camera and took photographs. All the three men had already surrendered and were lying on the tarmac on Langata Road near Wilson Airport. As they lay on the tarmac, a policeman in plain clothes was pointing a gun to their heads.

'The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), strongly condemns the continuing detention of at least fourteen human rights defenders and call upon the Government of Sudan to release them immediately as their detention is arbitrary.'

According to the World Bank's Global Economic Prospects 2011, released on 13 January, the GDP growth rate for Sub-Saharan Africa is projected at 4.7 per cent for 2010, from a 1.7 per cent low in 2009, increasing to 5.3 per cent in 2011 and 5.5 per cent in 2012. This compares to negative growth for the United States in 2009 (-2.6 per cent) and weak recovery in 2010-2012 (2.8 per cent, 2.8 per cent, and 2.9 per cent). The World Bank notes that the recovery is due in large part to trends in commodity prices, particularly for metals and minerals as well as for oil. But it also stresses the significance of domestic demand and of expanding investment in the region, including in manufacturing and telecommunications service. This edition of AfricaFocus Bulletin contains excerpts from the report's regional annex on Sub-Saharan Africa.

The new school year opened with hope - and hunger - in Swaziland this week: an estimated 140,000 orphans and vulnerable children are among the small, eager faces in the mountain kingdom's classrooms. Poverty and the AIDS pandemic threaten to make an early mark on the next generation.

Niger's 10 presidential rivals have asked the ruling military junta to delay elections by three weeks to 20 February and to replace the electoral commission after problems with local polls held earlier this month. The presidential elections are meant to restore civilian rule after a military coup in February 2010 toppled the former president, Mamadou Tandja.

The United Nations has reinforced its nearly 9,000-strong peacekeeping mission in Côte d’Ivoire with extra peacekeepers and helicopters, as senior officials called for urgent action to prevent growing post-electoral violence from degenerating into genocide. In a unanimous resolution adopted under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, which allows for the use of force, the Security Council authorised the immediate deployment of an additional 2,000 troops and three armed helicopters in the West African country.

The latest issue of the Reject Online is now out.
This issue's highlights are:
- Scavengers of the gold mine
- Fear stalks IDP camps as mothers lose babies
- Child loses uterus through repeated sexual assault
- The great Mekatilili wa Menza
- Healer with a touch for broken hearts.

Judges at the International Criminal Court at The Hague have rejected William Ruto’s application criticising its chief prosecutor's investigations and seeking to bar summons or arrest warrants over Kenya poll violence. Mr Ruto had filed an application at the court arguing that chief prosecutor Louis Moreno-Ocampo failed to conduct proper investigations on the Kenya case and instead relied on reports by the Waki Commission and the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (KNCHR).

Climate change is a significant and emerging threat to public health, says this publication from the Arid Lands Information Network. 'There is need for capacity building and implementation of projects to strengthen the health system response to climate change and to ensure that health is appropriately considered in decisions made by other sectors such as energy and transport.'

Preparations for the popular Cape Town Pride, taking place from 24 February to 6 March 2011 are underway in the Mother City and organisers have promised a remarkable event that will highlight the beauty of diversity and indicate the event is not only about beautiful bodies and drag queens but about gay families, normal gay businessmen, the transgender community and the unheard voices of 'our sisters' in the townships who often face intimidation and corrective rape.

Malawi has only voted for local government representatives once since 1994 when democracy was ushered in. The country’s constitution demands that local elections be held in the year following the national general election. Malawi has had general elections every five years since 1994, but local elections supposed to be held in 1995 and 2005 never took place. The government has never explained why. This article from IPS Africa explains the impact on ordinary citizens.

The final act of the kleptocracy by the Ben Ali family was to steal one and a half tonnes of gold, with the president's wife personally collecting the bullion from an initially reluctant but eventually browbeaten president of the country's central bank, reports the UK Independent. Within hours the allegations – denied by the central bank – had been turned into slogans on the streets of Tunis in another demonstration, as protesters vented their fury at the former first family.

An African film company is gaining global attention by producing award-winning 3D animation titles made from an African perspective. TransTales Entertainment was started in 2005 on a budget of less than 5 000 dollars by Segun Williams and Obinna Onwuekwe, and is the first film company to produce African themed 3D animation films to fill the void in animation with myriads of authentic African stories.

Almost two years into the trial of Thomas Lubanga for war crimes by the International Criminal Court (ICC), several international justice experts and observers say the court has had a largely positive impact on the ground in the Democratic Republic of Congo, but some differ. Indicted for enlisting, conscripting and engaging children in armed hostilities in eastern DRC in 2002 and 2003, Lubanga, alleged leader of the Union of Congolese Patriots and of the Patriotic Forces for the Liberation of Congo, was detained by the ICC in 2006. His trial began in January 2009.

All South Africans need to act urgently and immediately to the proposed regulations in the Consumer Protection Act (CPA) governing the labelling of Genetically Modified (GM) food. The regulations are weak and undermine the consumer's right to know and consumer choice while addressing the needs of big business instead. You can read more about what's wrong with the legislation at

An essential element for the labelling of GM foods is to protect your right to know and make informed choices. Since our supermarket shelves are full of foods that contain GM ingredients it has never been more critical that food labelling is accurate and transparent. The African Centre for Biosafety (ACB) and SAFEAGE are intent on protecting your rights. We are demanding certain changes that ensure everyone's right to know. You can read our demands and the actual petition at

Please support this action by signing our petition.

We have until 31 January 2011 to submit comments before the regulations are finalised. If the regulations are passed in its current form it will deny consumers the right to know what is in your food and hence undermine your freedom of choice. You may also write to the department yourself by sending an email to Mr Ntutuzelo Vananda at [email][email protected]

The Committee to Protect Journalists has issued a statement opposing prosecution demands for lengthy prison sentences for the editor and deputy editor of the independent weekly Umurabyo. State Prosecutor Agustin Nkusi requested a 33-year prison sentence for Editor Agnès Uwimana and 12 years for her deputy, Saidati Mukakibibi, at a High Court hearing in the capital, Kigali. The two, arrested in July 2010, face charges of incitement to violence, genocide denial, and insulting the head of state in connection with several opinion pieces published in mid-2010, according to news reports.

There is currently a vacancy at BCR for a senior fellow or a part-time researcher for a 2-year period. As a specialist in governance studies or impact research, the successful candidate will carry out collaboratively-funded research and coordinating work within BCR’s CORE team.

The Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten released a series of US diplomatic cables from 2006 on massive and pervasive corruption and nepotism in Tunisia and its effect on economic development and social problems. The cables show that the United States government was fully aware of the dangerous and debilitating level of corruption in Tunisia, and its anti-democratic implications.