• Contributor | Governance

    The 'World Bank Out of Climate Finance' campaign calls on readers to send emails via urging the Transitional Committee of the UNFCCC to keep the World Bank out of the green climate fund.

    Tagged under Governance

  • When Zimbabwe’s political temperature rises, women and children are the most vulnerable, writes Grace Kwinjeh.

    Tagged under Governance Zimbabwe

  • Social progress and transformation in Africa will be driven by the continent’s people themselves, writes Herbert Ekwe-Ekwe. Africa remains a net exporter of capital to the Western world, just as the remittances provided by Africans abroad far outweigh the ‘aid’ the continent receives, Ekwe-Ekwe underlines.

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  • I hear you talking of genocide and gorillas. But there is more than that to Rwandan history. In telling you of Rwanda, come with me into the 17th century...

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  • Uche Igwe | Governance

    While the Niger Delta amnesty could be seen as a ‘modest success’, writes Uche Igwe, it is now time to direct resources towards the pursuit of ‘verifiable physical development in the region’.

    Tagged under Governance Niger

  • The pharmaceutical industry uses dirty tricks to maximise profits at any cost, hurting sick people and taxpayers. Khadija Sharife examines the methods used by multinational drug corporations to control markets – and lives.

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  • Paul Kéré | Governance

    The recent political upheaval in Burkina Faso demonstrates the fragility of peace, writes Paul Kéré, with the country facing numerous challenges around ensuring affordable staple foods, public health, its economy and the handover of power.

    Tagged under Governance Burkina Faso

  • Contributor | Governance

    An Egyptian court has acquitted three ministers from the toppled regime of Hosni Mubarak of squandering public funds. They were the first not guilty verdicts issued in a series of trials of former senior officials following the fall of Mr Mubarak in February. The ministers include former Finance Minister Youssef Boutros Ghali.

    Tagged under Governance Egypt

  • Contributor | Governance

    Civil society organisations from Latin America, Europe and around the world have issued an open letter calling on the World Bank's International Finance Corporation to reject a proposal to finance Calyx Agro, a company that acquires farmland in Latin America on behalf of wealthy foreign investors. Calyx Agro is a subsidiary of Louis Dreyfus, one of the world's biggest commodity traders. The World Bank is considering a loan of up to US$30 million to help Calyx Agro expand its operations in Latin America. The letter also denounces the Bank for its on-going support to other leading investors involved in land grabbing around the world.

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  • Contributor | Governance

    Zimbabwe’s three governing parties have agreed on a mid 2012 election timetable despite demands by President Mugabe that they must be held this year. President Mugabe has been insisting that elections must be held before the end of the year, despite protests that the political situation was still volatile and that the necessary reforms were yet to be put in place. 'This means that there is no way we can hold elections this year,' the privately owned NewsDay newspaper quoted one of the negotiators as having said.

    Tagged under Governance Zimbabwe

  • ‘Digital Tongues’ is a series of conversations with four Africans from across the continent, hosted by Zimbabwean Tendai Marima. This week’s discussion focuses on African politicians and social media and nationalism and identity. Readers are invited to participate in the dialogue by posting a comment on the story.

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  • Despite the contravening of at least 11 stipulations of international law, the International Criminal Court continues to turn a blind eye to NATO’s activities in Libya, making a mockery of its supposed status as an unbiased arbiter, writes Timothy Bancroft-Hinchey.

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  • Contributor | Governance

    SENEGAL: 23 JUNE WAS A RED LETTER DAY
    Demba Moussa Dembélé

    23 June will always be remembered as a disgrace for President Wade and his clan. But it will be etched in gold in the political history of independent Senegal. 23 June 2011 will forever remain a day of glory for the Senegalese people, who showed that power ultimately resides with them. 23 June is also a shining testimony to the courage, determination and self-sacrifice of Senegalese youth.

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    SENEGAL: A PEOPLE’S VICTORY AND A REPUBLIC ON ITS FEET
    Mamadou Diallo

    On 23 June, the Senegalese people demonstrated en masse against the planned vote in parliament to modify the constitution in order to facilitate the re-election of Wade and ensure that his son would be his successor. But mass protests scuppered the plans of the president, his government and parliament. According to Mamadou Diallo, the people prevented a dangerous development.


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    DRC: A MAP OF VOTING BOOTHS AND ELECTORAL FRAUD
    Benjamin Stanis Kalombo

    On 4 July Congolese police dispersed a demonstration called by opposition activists in front of the headquarters of the Independent National Election Commission (CENI). The activists were protesting against irregularities in the electoral lists drawn up for November’s legislative elections. And as Benjamin Stanis Kalombo notes, cases of fraud have been increasing.


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    FRANCO-IVORIAN RELATIONS ON THE UPSWING IN THE POST-GBAGBO ERA
    Jean-Jacques Konadjé

    The dark chapter of the Laurent Gbagbo period has finally ended. But can Côte d’Ivoire embark on a new destiny and build a new history at the same time? France has strengthened its position in what it considers to be its backyard, but, argues Jean-Jacques Konadjé, it also faces competition from other powers, especially the strategic interests of the United States.

    Tagged under Governance Senegal

  • Doreen Lwanga describes a debate with Ugandan members of parliament in which many of the myths around homosexuality were evident. 'Gays are humans and as such, deserving of humane recognition and respect,' she writes.

    Tagged under Governance Uganda

  • Contributor | Governance

    Britain has piled pressure on the government for the extradition of Nambale MP Chris Okemo and former parastatal chief Samuel Gichuru on corruption charges. British High Commissioner to Kenya Rob Macaire said the fraud cases were solid and rejected arguments that the two should not be extradited given the claims that the charges were not offences in Kenya when they were committed.

    Tagged under Governance Kenya

  • Contributor | Governance

    Ethiopia is going ahead with the construction of the 5,250MW Renaissance Dam despite fears that it will spark disputes with Egypt over Nile waters. The dam will be one of the world’s 10 biggest with Ethiopia funding itself for the 4.78 billion US dollar cost. This video from Vox Africa reports on the dam.

    Tagged under Governance Ethiopia

  • Contributor | Governance

    Thousands of demonstrators rallied in Tahrir Square on Friday, 1 July. Sharp clashes between youth on the one hand and police and regime thugs on the other on Tuesday and Wednesday 28 June and 29 June were the immediate impetus for the demonstration, says this article on the Jadaliyya website. 'But in addition to outrage about police brutality, which most Egyptians had hoped was a thing of the past, there is growing dissatisfaction with the limited changes since the fall of former president Hosni Mubarak,' says the article.

    Tagged under Governance Egypt

  • Contributor | Governance

    A London-based Zimbabwean radio station has published a list of what it claims are names of Central Intelligence Organisation (CIO) agents in what could be potentially a major national security breach. The radio station, which broadcasts to Zimbabwe on short wave, posted a list of 83 names on its website and promised to release more names every Thursday for the next six weeks. Writing a week before the disclosures, SW Radio Africa reporter Lance Guma said: 'For years, agents working for the CIO have relied on their secret identities to carry out abductions, torture and the murder of opposition activists.'

    Tagged under Governance Zimbabwe

  • Contributor | Governance

    Zimbabwe and South Africa could be headed for another diplomatic furore after Zanu PF strategist and serial political turncoat Jonathan Moyo suggested that facilitator to the Zimbabwe political crisis, President Jacob Zuma could be aiding the 'regime change agenda' in the country. But Zuma’s international relations advisor, Lindiwe Zulu immediately dismissed Moyo’s astonishing claims, saying they will not be distracted from continuing their facilitation role for the sake of Zimbabweans.

    Tagged under Governance Zimbabwe

  • Contributor | Governance

    Ian Khama, Botswana's president since 2008, has interests in a premium tourism company that benefited from the controversial relocation of Botswana's Bushmen from their ancestral land to resettlement camps in the 1990s and the early 2000s. Khama is a shareholder in Linyanti Investments, a subsidiary of Wilderness Holdings, a company criticised by the Bushmen and international pressure group Survival International for illegally occupying their ancestral land in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve.

    Tagged under Governance Botswana