In the second part of a two-part article, Cameron Duodu reflects on the exciting and challenging times he had in the Congo in the 1960s and the experiences of George Padmore, Kwame Nkrumah and Patrice Lumumba in seeking to support Africa’s liberation movements. Part one is available to read at

Following the death by self-immolation of 41-year-old Mauritanian Yacoub Ould Dahoud in January, Sokari Ekine revisits his demands for change in the country. In the wake of the revelations around Gay Girl in Damascus’s true identity, she also explores the outrage and severe criticism directed at the site from those in the LGBTI and Middle Eastern blogosphere.

‘Hopefully, in this new era of electronic information where we are no longer dependent upon corporate owned and sponsored media , people can now find access to honest, independent news agencies with truthful information, writes William LeGere.

Thanks Jean-Paul Pougala for . Your article shines a very bright light on what is happening on the African continent in global terms. I hope that unity can be found quickly amongst the African leaders. Thanks again!

Many thanks for keeping us up-to-date with events and happenings and continuing to convince us that we can meet the challenges, some of which sometimes appear overwhelming. Hundreds of problems but also hundreds of solutions, so long as we keep the faith. Peace, love and blessings on all your efforts to access freedom, equality and justice for all.

‘On 16 June 1976, the youth died for Freedom, yet today while we are told that we are free it is clear that we are not free,’ writes South African shackdwellers movement Abahlali base Mjondolo, as the country marks both Youth Day and the 35th anniversary of the Soweto uprising. ‘We are struggling for a freedom that everyone can experience for themselves in their every day lives. That means decent education, decent work, a decent guaranteed income for those without work and a decent place to stay for everyone. It also means the freedom to organize as we want and to say what we want in safety.’

If South Africa’s government ‘is really implementing the Freedom Charter, why are people complaining everywhere?’ asks Lindela S. Figlan. If ‘the ruling party was on the side of the poor it would encourage us to organise ourselves and to speak for ourselves…But instead it is always repressing the struggles of the poor’.

While China's relationship to Africa is much examined, knowledge and analysis of India's role in Africa has until now been limited but, as a significant global player, India's growing interactions with various African countries call for detailed analysis of the Asian giant's influence and its relations with the African continent. '

FLORIBERT CHEBEYA'S DEATH, ONE YEAR AFTER: A STRONG SIGN!

Jean-Pierre Mbelu

How can the struggle for human rights be converted into a struggle with the Congolese people (male and female alike) so that they become defenders of their own social, economic and cultural rights and political freedoms? What to do with the Congolese people whose rights and freedoms are constantly violated so that they do away with their status of 'innocent victims' defended only by a few worthy sons and daughters of Congo? How to enable them to become a people able to shout ‘their indignation’ without fear of death nor of vampires which can suck blood but cannot eat the spirit of resistance against the forces of death? Such are the questions which should bring the Congolese together, passionate for peace, justice and truth, and fighting for the advent of another Congo on this day when we remember these worthy sons and daughters of our people. Our article explores a few ideas.

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GABON IN RUINS FROM SHATTERED DEMOCRACY

Marc Ona Essangui

The visit to the United States of America by the Gabonese President Ali Bongo Ondimba from 6 to 9 June has sparked off protests from Gabonese civil society. In a letter addressed to President Barack Obama, the Gabonese civil society not only denounced the catastrophic state of democracy and governance in their country but also reminded President Obama of his speech in Accra, Ghana, which should form the basis of his relations with African leaders.

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MADAGASCAR: STOP THE DISORDER

The political crisis continues in Madagascar, with false solutions and missed opportunities in the search of a return to political stability. For the members of the observatory of public life, it is time to get out of this cycle which has brought about the crumbling of everything and now the Malagasy people have started to lose their bearings.

‘It is taking Africa forever to commence the implementation and domestication of the protocol on national levels and in various countries. If the charter had been implemented even a year after its declaration, I would not have lost my friend to childbirth,’ writes Nonyelum Umeasiegbu, one of the four finalists in SOAWR's essay competition.

As part of the Solidarity for African Women’s Rights (SOAWR) coalition’s essay competition ('Why is the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa important to you?'), Eunice Kilonzo discusses the strengths and limitations of the protocol.

The ‘old woman stopped for a moment, looked at me, a smile crawling out of her mouth. Yet I could see the tears making the way through the corners of the eyelids. I then stopped and stared at her. She made a sound, trying to remove a lump in her throat and finally broke the silence. She said “Vote ANC, Vote for Better Life, Vote for Heaven and Vote for Jesus. Better life in heaven indeed not under ANC”.’

‘On 6 December 2011, 50 years will have passed since the death of Frantz Fanon. Around the world people are getting together in universities, trade union offices, shack settlements, prisons, church halls, and other places where people try to think together, to reflect on the meaning of an extraordinary man for us and our struggles here and now,’ writes Richard Pithouse.

The World Bank and IMF have been restructuring the economies of the Middle East for decades, with largely negative results. Yet they are poised to play a major role in the post-revolutionary efforts to stabilise Egypt, Tunisia and other post-authoritarian states. Despite the less than encouraging history of involvement in the region, the World Bank, IMF and other mainstream institutions have all sought to insert themselves into the economic reform process that most observers believe must accompany political reform in order for the latter to succeed.

Tunisia's ousted President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali, who fled to Saudi Arabia in January, is to go on trial in absentia on 20 June. Announcing the date, interim Prime Minister Beji Caid Essebsi said Saudi Arabia had not replied to requests to hand him over. Charges range from conspiring against the state to drug trafficking.

The Governor of the Central Bank says President Museveni’s erratic policies and the government’s fiscal indiscipline have led to higher inflation and declining foreign reserves, a UK-based newspaper reported. Mr Emmanuel Tumusiime-Mutebile told the Financial Times newspaper that he had disagreed with Mr Museveni over the decision to spend $740 million on jet fighters, which has pushed reserves down from six to four months of import cover. The Ministry of Defence, under President Museveni’s directive, withdrew a reported $400 million (Shs960 billion) from the Central Bank to pay for the fighter jets without parliamentary approval.

In NATO’s hands, UN Security Council resolution 1973 has morphed into a clear attempt at regime change in Libya, writes Alexander Cockburn. He stresses: ‘A hundred years down the road the UN–NATO Libyan intervention will be seen as an old-fashioned colonial smash-and-grab affair.’

I'm sometimes ashamed to be a Westerner. Throughout history, Westerners have conquered by violence as though they had a right to conquer and kill. Anyone who stands in our way is cannon fodder and anyone who competes with us, as Gaddafi has by trying to make Africa independent of western 'aid', evokes jealousy and retribution.

We have not set a good example to the world; we have made power and money our gods while professing to be children of God and champions of democracy. What we are champions of is hypocrisy.

Certainly, the Africa media is inept and poor equipped and/or perhaps scared to do its job. But you have to highlight and perhaps give credit to some of the blogs that do a good job of taking over from where the local media fails. For example, one the newest blogs about Tanzania, , is such one that most people are not aware of, but it is literally a fantastic blog to read. Mtafakari should be given credit, and encouragement to continue.

Dale T. McKinley takes a clause by clause look at South Africa’s Protection of Information Bill (POIB) – known publicly as the Secrecy Bill. It is ‘all very real and even more dangerous’, he writes, and South Africans should speak up now before it is too late.