Fears are mounting that Zimbabwe’s military will seize power in the event of President Robert Mugabe’s death or electoral defeat. A top army general said they would not allow anyone who does not share the ideals of the veteran ruler’s Zanu PF party to lead the country. 'As the military, we do not only believe, but act in defence of these values and we will not respect any leader who does not respect the revolution,' Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) chief of staff Major General Trust Mugoba said.

Nigeria was recently approved $4million from the United Nations Reducing Emissions through Deforestation and Degradation (REDD) programme to conserve rainforest trees. Part of this was used to carry out 'REDD readiness', a series of workshops and campaigns aimed at forest communities and oil companies. The aim is to help them get to grips with conservation and the importance of curbing carbon emissions. Most of Nigeria's UN REDD money will be poured into Cross River, a reward for what its officials describe as government’s 'conscientious efforts to save the forests'. In a country that has lost over 90 per cent of its lowland rainforests, Cross River has been recognised as Nigeria's environment capital and contains over 50 per cent of Nigeria’s remaining rainforest. Many on the ground are already aware of the REDD money and expectations are high.

The Writing Rights blog has an article about a communications tender that was awarded to TBWA/Hunt Lascaris in December 2010 by the Western Cape provincial government. During 2011, a group of civil society organisations lodged an independent and separate complaint with the Public Protector about the legality of the procurement of the tender. This group of complainants consisted of Ndifuna Ukwazi (NU), Social Justice Coalition (SJC), Open Democracy Advice Centre (ODAC), Right 2 Know Western Cape and Equal Education (EE). Recently, the public protector found, among other things, that it was improper for two of the premier's special advisers to be on the bid evaluation committee.

In ‘Global History: A View from the South’ Samir Amin shows us how we can overcome the exploitative pressures of global capitalism.

Ghana’s former President Jerry John Rawlings has given the first hint that his wife, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, might enter the presidential race in December. It is not clear whether the former First Lady would do so as an independent candidate or form a new party. Not too long ago, Nana Agyeman was rejected by delegates of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) when she took on party leader President John Evans Mills.

Ikhaya (Home) is a part of the Photo XP community project supported by Greatmore studios, co facilitated by Zanele Muholi and Lindeka Qampi. It is a collection of 60 hours of photographic memories that were taken in different areas of Khayelitsha. All of them are black lesbians between 21 and 31 years of age, from various places within and outside of Khayelitsha. So far 2012 PhotoXP has been exhibited at three (3) different events in May 2012. The first Ikhaya show was at Greatmore Studios on the 10th May, followed by Exuberance on the 12th May 2012 which was part of UCT GIPCA event. The recent, third show was during the OSISA: Money, Power & Sex conference on the 22-24 May 2012 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.

Governments from all over the world will meet in Río de Janeiro, Brasil from 20-22 June to commemorate 20 years since the 'Earth Summit', the United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development. In this statement, La Via Campesina says they will mobilize for the event, 'representing the voice of the peasant in the global debate and defending a different path to development that is based on thewellbeing of all, that guarantees food for all, that protects and guarantees that thecommons and natural resources are put to use to provide a good life for everyone andnot to meet the needs for accumulation of a few.'

Five million Brazilian farmers are locked in a lawsuit with US-based biotech giant Monsanto, suing for as much as 6.2 billion euros. They say that the genetic-engineering company has been collecting royalties on crops it unfairly claims as its own. The farmers claim that Monsanto unfairly collects exorbitant profits every year worldwide on royalties from 'renewal' seed harvests.

An 'exceptional' airlift of almost 12,000 South Sudanese ended with a final flight from Khartoum on Wednesday but thousands more continue to live in makeshift conditions while they, too, await transport to the South, officials said. One hundred Southerners took the last chartered plane from Khartoum to South Sudan's capital Juba, Jill Helke, chief of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in Sudan, said.

Dr Mansogo was convicted for professional negligence and sentenced to three years in prison in a politically motivated trial.

A paper in the Journal of Peasant Studies situates the current land rush in its historical context, focusing on legal mechanisms. 'Even before capitalist transformation this feudal-derived machination was an instrument of aligned class privilege and power, later elaborated to justify colonial mass land and resource capture. Now it is routinely embedded in the legal canons of elite-aligned agrarian governance as a way to retain control over the land resources which rural communities presume are their own.'

Are you that concrete jungle
Crumbling under the weight of
Maneuvering, manipulative matatus
Where passengers are shuka’d at whim

Are you where darkness whispers sweet lullabies
Or where lights play dirty tricks

Where money is mobile
And glass ceilings tower as high as KICC

Where freedom is plastered on bus stops
And injustice deeply rooted
Into territorial boundaries

Where few attest their tribe is indeed Kenyan

Where tusker runs like maji

Where unga is revolutionized
And revolutions are most definitely not televised

Where radios relentlessly relay well kept secrets

Where the rain commands the city
And payday drives traffic

Where the likes of Kibera & Sinai make way
For the likes of Karen & Spring Valley

Are you the capital of thieves and robbers
Or a mega polis of IT geeks, business gurus and self made men

Where every pocket is packed with dreams
But not every dream packs pockets

Tell me, Nairobi, are you that place?

© Nebila Abdulmelik, February 2012
[email][email protected]
http://aliben86.wordpress.com

All political parties in Angola will benefit from government financial support, it has been announced. Parliamentary Affairs minister Norberto dos Santos said every party and recognised coalition would be allocated at least $90,000 (9.6 million Kwanzas). The money is meant to help the parties prepare for parliamentary elections scheduled for August 31. Dos Santos said 77 parties and seven coalitions recognised by the constitutional would be funded.

When you stand on the island of Rukwanzi at the heart of Lake Albert, your first thought, echoing perhaps the casual rhetoric of the region’s oil men, is that you are at the edge of a new frontier. But for its communities the lake is a centre, a point of connection and integration, the great body of water into which the White Nile flows, part of the vast rift valley that draws Africa’s citizens into mutual dependency. What happens here matters to half a dozen neighbouring countries. But the lines being drawn now, as neat and straight as the borders on colonial maps, mark not sovereign territory, but exploration blocks for oil and gas companies. Just a few miles from Rukwanzi six Congolese were killed in September 2007, shot at by the Ugandan army while they travelled in a passenger ferry from the island to the DRC shore. It was revealed last week that Heritage Oil and Gas, the British wildcat explorer founded by former mercenary Tony Buckingham, played a key role in triggering that military operation after its staff had crossed illegally into Congolese waters.

The politician who led Lesotho for the last 14 years will now be leading the opposition after his party failed to win a majority in parliament in weekend elections in this mountainous southern African country. A day after Pakalitha Mosisili resigned as prime minister, Lincoln Ralechate Mokose, the secretary general of his Democratic Congress Party, said in a telephone interview that 'our stand is to concede and work in parliament as opposition'.

Ahead of the ANC policy conference, Cosatu's second-largest affiliate is flexing its muscles - calling for nationalisation and radical land reform. National Union of Metalworkers of South Africa (Numsa) general secretary Irvin Jim wants the union’s national conference in Durban this week to discuss the review of the South African Constitution, including changes to the property clause, seen by some within the ANC-led alliance as an impediment to social and economic transformation in the country.

Police have fired tear gas to disperse supporters of Zimbabwe Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's MDC party outside a courthouse. About 200 demonstrators gathered outside the high court in downtown Harare on Monday 4 June to protest charges being brought against 29 activists of the former opposition appearing there for a bail hearing. The activists are seeking bail on charges of murdering a police officer a year ago.

A doctor examined the detainees and told them that they were in a bad condition and should stop their hunger strike.

The Freedom of Expression Institute and Section 16 have applied to become friends of the court in the hate speech case against Julius Malema. The Freedom of Expression Institute and Section 16 have applied to become friends of the court in the hate speech case against Julius Malema. 'Hate speech is a very important and delicate issue for South African democracy,' said Melissa Moore, executive officer for the non-governmental organisation Section 16.

As midwestern Uganda gears up for oil production that will entail billions of dollars in investments, a range of central government officials interviewed by Oil in Uganda admit that there is no overall development plan for the region, and no mechanism for coordinating the efforts of different departments. 'Government has not designed any development plan for the oil region. We did not even have a development plan for the oil refinery in Hoima District until recently when the Ministry of Energy came up with one,' admits Johnson Mugume, a senior advisor to the Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development. The refinery plan itself, he adds, is still in its infancy and will take years of work to finalise.