Nigerians are applauding the resuscitation of an anti-homosexual bill which began back in 2006, yet they remains quiet about this week’s COP17 negotiations. Why isn’t there more outrage on the blogosphere about ‘the real, and not imaginary danger’ of climate change and its impacts on the country, asks Sokari Ekine.

Do the Kenyan youth understand the anti-colonial struggle of their forefathers? How about neo-colonialism and attempts to re-colonise Africa? Zaya Yeebo writes that serious efforts to jolt the youth into action should go beyond the dollars splurged by the US embassy in Nairobi.

The illegal invasion of Somalia exposes Kenya as a client state in the US empire building agenda, argues Abdi Dirshe. While political elites benefit from aid as a reward for their proxy status in the war against terrorism, the people will pay dearly for it.

‘Conventional wisdom’ tends to limit understanding of the presence of people of African descent in Britain to the post-Second World War era. But Herbert Ekwe-Ekwe shows that African-descent peoples have lived in Britain and made remarkable contributions for several centuries.

Stephen Lewis says that the modern world’s economy was built on Africa’s human and natural resources and still depends on them; therefore Western donors have an obligation to stop needless AIDS deaths in Africa by contributing the required money.

Kenya’s new chief justice Willy Mutunga says that living by the constitution means that all Kenyans – from the tiniest hut to State House – must do what it requires, when it is required, whatever the cost in finance, effort or personal convenience.

‘There is a tiny remaining hope for COP17, but only if we soon see a 1999 Seattle-style move by African delegates who know their constituents will be fried if the rich countries and South Africa have their way,’ cautions Patrick Bond.

Burundi has made some progress in consolidating peace, but recent developments could reverse gains, according to the UN top envoy in the country. Karen Landgren told the UN Security Council that efforts to preserve the peace are being marred by human rights challenges and politically-motivated killings.

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.

Gambia’s opposition coalition, the United Front, has urged President Yahya Jammeh to retract his 'no coup or elections can remove me' from office statement, PANA reported. The coalition, consisting of four opposition parties that supported an independent candidate, Hamat Bah, made the call in a statement issued on the heels of the country’s just-concluded presidential election.

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.'

Egypt's caretaker premier named a new cabinet on Wednesday 7 December charged with tackling worsening crime and a sliding economy after the first round of elections showing a landslide victory for Islamist parties. Interim PM Kamal al-Ganzuri announced his administration following nearly two weeks of delays, reportedly caused by problems in finding a suitable candidate to fill the highly sensitive interior ministry post.

Anti-riot police Monday 5 December broke up a 'Day of Anger' rally by Mauritanian youths demanding the ouster of President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, detaining about 20 protesters. As the tide of Arab uprisings swept to the west of Africa, police used tear gas on hundreds of demonstrators who sought to enter a square in downtown Nouakchott that has been declared off-limits for protesters since rallies began in late February.

As Gambia’s Yahya Jammeh secures a fourth term as president following the 24 November elections, Alagi Yorro Jallow highlights the country’s lack of both ‘a fair and effective electoral process’ and press freedom.

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.

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.

The their blog for a collection of essays on Frantz Fanon's work and legacy.

‘In the fifty years since Fanon’s passing to the other side and since the first publication of The Wretched of the Earth, both continue to live on, challenging us to not give up, to not become complacent, and to take arms, albeit symbolic, social, political, epistemic, and most of all pedagogical ones.’

The greatest value of the Fanonist thesis, writes Norman Girvan, might lie in its analysis of the ‘psychology of liberation’ at personal level. But the thesis cannot be used as the basis for a theory of the preconditions of successful postcolonial reconstruction.

Fanon appears more current than ever, writes Mireille Fanon Mendès-France. Thanks to his thought, many people have learnt that the fight for liberty, democracy and human rights is led against local despots and against the tenets of the neo-colonial order which they protect.