Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe could be plotting his own downfall by attacking regional leaders who have in the past shielded him against mounting world pressure to leave office. President Mugabe last week appeared to be taking badly a mini SADC summit that encouraged him to respect the power sharing deal. He was also told to stop politically motivated violence, end the arrest of his opponents and follow a roadmap for fresh elections backed by the regional body. The veteran ruler appeared stunned by the rebuke.

Anti-riot police on Saturday 9 April 2011 violently stormed and suppressed a church service organised to pray for peace in Glen Norah suburb of Harare, says a Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights statement. A truck load of riot police carrying tear gas rifles and truncheons descended on the Nazarene Church in Glen Norah while the service was underway, stormed the church hall during prayer, and dispersed the congregation, which included many church, civic and community leaders.

Ugandan police detained opposition leader Kizza Besigye on Monday (11 April) at his home in the capital Kampala, a Reuters witness said. No immediate reason was given. Civil society and opposition parties are planning to hold a 'Walk to Work' protest on Monday over rising food and fuel prices in the east African country.

The president of Djibouti has secured a third term in office after a landslide election victory, despite recent protests against his rule. Ismail Omar Guelleh has won 80 per cent of the votes cast, according to the country's electoral commission. The opposition had urged a boycott of polls, alleging irregularities. However turn-out was reported to be high, with almost 70 per cent of the 150,000 people registered casting their vote.

Nigeria's ruling party looks set to see its grip on parliament weakened after results emerging from the first of three crucial elections this month showed it losing key parliament seats. Results by voting district began trickling through on Sunday, though some areas of the country's north voted late into the morning because of high turnout, residents said, possibly delaying announcements there. Early indications showed opposition parties making gains at the expense of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP).

Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader, has accepted a 'road map' for a ceasefire with rebels, according to a delegation of African leaders. The announcement followed a meeting between the leaders and Gaddafi on Sunday in Tripoli, the Libyan capital, just hours after NATO air raids targeted his tanks, helping the rebels push back government forces who had been advancing quickly towards their eastern stronghold. The African Union (AU) delegation was due to meet the rebels on Monday. The terms of the road map were unclear, including the matter of whether it would require Gaddafi to pull his troops out of cities as demanded by the rebels.

Martha Karua fears nothing and no one, but when her adversaries look back at her long track record in politics, they must get nervous. This previously staunch supporter of Mwai Kibaki resigned as justice minister in 2009, and will challenge all comers for the presidency at the head of her own party next year. The veteran politician has been around since the heyday of Daniel Arap Moi, who ruled Kenya from 1978 until 2002. Karua helped form the National Rainbow Coalition (NARC) that won the 2003 general election, and ended nearly four decades of rule by KANU. When she entered parliament, there were six female MPs. Now there are 22 out of a total of 222.

Anger at Egypt’s privatisation programme, involving the transfer of billions of dollars worth of public assets to private hands, aided the Egyptian revolution that elbowed the Western-backed Hosni Mubarak out of office in February, a top army general said. Prodded by the Washington-based trio – the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), World Bank, and International Monetary Fund (IMF) – Egypt under Mubarak adopted an aggressive programme to sell public companies to both local and foreign investors since the early 1990s.

In the shadow of the extraordinary events under way in the Middle East, Djibouti's presidential vote was always going to struggle for attention. Indeed, the plight of this tiny country, sandwiched between Somalia and Yemen, remains almost completely ignored. But as the primary seaport to 85 million landlocked Ethiopians, the center of anti-piracy efforts in the Horn of Africa, and a reliable Western ally in the war on terror, Djibouti is a strategically vital country in an unstable neighbourhood.

Renowned African American historian Manning Marable passed away on April 1 at the age of 60, days before the publication of his new biography of Malcolm X. Sociologist Michael Dyson and Bill Fletcher Jr, founder of the Black Radical Congress, discuss Marable’s legacy with Democracy Now! Watch .

‘While I’m finishing this article, the United Nations and France are announcing negotiations with Gbagbo in the quest to make him recognise Outtara’s victory and hand over power to Côte d’Ivoire new leader. But I still see Simone and Laurent in their wedding clothes, united by an insane destiny, with a bible in their hands.’

Nigerian authorities have arrested scores of opposition members in the southeastern state of Akwa Ibom in a campaign of intimidation ahead of elections, opposition lawyers and rights activists said on Thursday (7 April). More than 40 supporters of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), including governorship candidate James Akpanudoedehe, have been arrested.

While the World Bank is developing a new social protection and labour strategy, its general approach to health and continuing push for privatisation of public services have come under fire again. Ghana’s national health insurance scheme, presented by the Bank as a success model for developing countries is 'unfair, inefficient and un-transparent', according to a report published in March by Ghanaian NGOs ISODEC, Alliances for Reproductive Health, and Essential Services Platform, with support from Oxfam International. It revealed that Ghana’s National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) - which has received technical assistance from the Bank - could be benefitting only 18 per cent of the country’s total population, despite the fact that every Ghanaian citizen pays for it through value-added tax (VAT).

‘The fog of war clouds everything for the moment; it's impossible to tell who is responsible for what -- and against whom. But it's important to look at all sides of the fighting, because when the dust settles, Cote d'Ivoire is going to be torn apart.’

Manning Marable, African American activist, scholar and author, passed away on April 1. Horace Campbell pays tribute to a man who dedicated his life to the struggle against oppression.

Will the protests across Africa result in real social and political reform, or just a changing of the guard, asks Sokari Ekine.

It's time to put the destiny of Somalia back in the hands of the Somali people, writes Afyare Abdi Elmi.

Following years of criticism from environmentalists and some governments the World Bank has proposed new rules regarding carbon-intensive coal plants, reports the Guardian. The new rules would allow lending for coal-fired plants only to the world's poorest nations and would only lend after other alternatives, such as renewable energy, had been ruled out.

Kaori Izumi is campaigning for the immediate closure of Tomari nuclear power plant in Hokkaido, amidst fears that it could become the next Fukushima Daiichi. An active fault line was found near the plant in 2009, which could cause a 7.5- magnitude earthquake.

The main purpose of this United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) report is to highlight the impact and effectiveness of the participation of CSOs and NGOs in promoting development and governance in Africa. The report draws mainly from case studies in three African countries, namely, Mali, Senegal and Uganda.