‘Social justice and transformation in Africa and Palestine are inextricably linked,' writes Horace Campbell. The 'demilitarisation of the region can only be secured by uniting the peace and justice forces in all parts of the world.'

Are the 23 candidates in Cameroon’s October 9 presidential elections only in it for the money? Without a unifying opposition figure what hope for change is there? These are among the questions raised in this week’s round-up of the African blogosphere, compiled by Dibussi Tande, which also takes a look at elections in Zambia and Liberia.

The Prime Minister of Zimbabwe, Morgan Tsvangirai, has requested Nigeria and the African Union (AU) to intervene in his country's pre-elections disagreement in order to rescue it from becoming 'another Ivory Coast.'

So far more than twenty Cameroonian political and civil society actors have indicated their intention to run for the country's top job, the president of the republic. As Cameroonians look forward to the 2011 Presidential Poll, due October, the aspirants have also been making public what they will do for the country, but some observers hold that the presidential aspirants are not proposing issues, which are realistic.

The latest briefing from the International Crisis Group, examines voter registration and the beginning of the campaign on the ground in the Kivu provinces and the Ituri district and highlights the electoral stakes in a region that remains fundamental for durable stability in the country.

The Sudanese government has banned and closed the offices of the Sudanese People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N), a major opposition party, a senior SPLM-N member says.

President Robert Mugabe has sworn in Zimbabwe's anti-corruption commission in an effort to stem graft in the southern African country, state media reported.

In April, the Columbia Journalism Review raised the question of whether non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Africa benefit from particular representations of the continent as conflict and poverty-ridden.

Clashes between the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement and the Sudan Armed Forces are the latest flashpoints in a crisis that points to issues beyond the borders of Sudan, writes Explo N. Nani-Kofi.

WILPF International finds that the lack of procedures by the UN and those who occupy on humanitarian grounds are part of a militarisation that, without effective regulation, investigation, prosecution and punishment, has again lead to the commission of acts of serious sexual violence against women and young girls in Côte d'Ivoire.

The United Nations General Assembly will meet on 22 September 2011 at the UN headquarters in New York City to mark the tenth anniversary of the adoption of the Durban Declaration and Programme of Action (DDPA), which contains a series of principles and proposals for fighting racism, writes Jehan Abad.

One of the major features of proposed electoral reforms is the possible introduction of a localised voting system which will be conducted using polling station-based voters’ rolls. ZESN takes a closer look at the benefits and risks of such a system in the Zimbabwean context.

Following reports of racist attacks on black migrants in Libya by anti-Gaddafi forces, Cameron Duodu says it’s ‘shameful that after touting “African unity” since 1963, Africans still have to seek NATO’S protection, because Africans are killing Africans.’

Western powers preach democracy to African countries, but those same powers then undermine democracy in Africa, argues Antoine Roger Lokongo.

The Brookings Institution finds that in January, the 10 longest serving African leaders included: Mu’ammar al-Qadhafi of Libya (42 years) , Jose E. Dos Santos of Angola (32 years) , Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mi of Equatorial Guinea (32 years), Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe (31 years), Hosni Mubarak of Egypt (30 years), Paul Biya of Cameroon (30 years), Yoweri Museveni of Uganda (25 years), Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso (24 years), Zina el-Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia (24 years) and Umar Hassan al-Bashir of Sudan (22 years). Within a short period of eight months, almost a third of them have been removed from power.

Famine in the Horn of Africa and surging food prices are concentrating the minds of policymakers on the need for long-term solutions, particularly for small farmers. If they can become as productive as their peers in Asia, the argument goes, they can move from self-subsistence, make a decent livelihood, and ultimately drive economic development on the continent.

Libya's interim prime minister says his administration will form a new government within the next seven to 10 days. Mahmoud Jibril spoke to reporters on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. He said Libya's National Transitional Council is finalizing decisions on the exact number of ministries and whether they would all be located in the capital, Tripoli, or divided between eastern and western Libya.

The African Union (AU) is to launch the Pan-African Media Network (PAMEN), a platform run by the African Forum for Media Development of the Global Forum for Media Development (GFMD) and the African Media Initiative (AMI).

Africa Today speaks with Emira Woods on the upcoming Liberia elections, President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, and West African regional developments. Emira Woods is the Co-Director of Foreign Policy in Focus at the Institute for Policy Studies.

Agriculture, predominantly small scale, accounts for about 30% of sub-Saharan Africa's GDP and at least 40% of export value. Having fallen out of favour in the development debate in the last decade, agriculture these days gets its own G20 summits and there are moves to make agriculture the centrepiece of the Rio+20 global development summit next June.