Speaker in the House of Assembly Prince Guduza says Swaziland and Lesotho signed the interim Economic Partnership Agreement with the European Union under duress. He said both countries signed the agreement because they had certain export quotas to the EU. He noted that the EPA sowed a seed of confusion in the Southern Africa Development Community.

An Egyptian panel formed to uncover illicit gains acquired during the rule of deposed President Hosni Mubarak, will question his younger son about corruption, the state news agency said on Tuesday. Gamal Mubarak held a leading post in Egypt's former ruling party. A widely-held belief that he was being groomed for the presidency helped galvanise opposition that toppled him.

Bernadette Lyodu looks at the relationship between forced migration and transitional justice, with reference to efforts to include refugees who fled the 2007 election violence in Kenya's transitional justice processes.

A haunting new anthology of life stories told by South African pavement dwellers is ‘both testimony and poetry’, writes Raj Patel, opening ‘the door to a world of compassion, of fellow-suffering, that holds you firm.’ There’s ‘too much at stake to shy from truth, and the writers here have the courage to face it directly, even if the results are brutal.’

As pro-democracy forces gear up of a protest on 12 April, this edited paper from the the Swaziland Democracy Campaign (SDC) shows how the Swazi economy has all but collapsed – with devastating consequences for the poor.

Jean-Paul Pougal

Moustapha Kassé

Seeing the bombing of Libya only as an exercise in saving civilian lives barely scratches the surface, writes Mahmood Mamdani.

Imad Mesdoua dissects the politics of Western intervention in Libya. ‘In short, it is far too evident that Western powers are only ready to act decisively when it suits their interests,’ he writes.

Pro-democracy campaign groups are calling for an ‘April 12 Uprising’ in Swaziland. Peter Kenworthy assesses the potential impact of the campaign.

She walked in breathing laboriously, holding a piece of soiled cloth to her body. She grunted as she struggled off her clothes plastered to her skin by sweat and blood. She was crying.

Though I rant and rave
And get these feelings
Of hurt and grief
Though I want to cry
But have to dry
These tears in me

Despite Africa's intention to empower its continental and regional organisations, the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States have failed to propose a determined solution for the post-electoral crisis in Côte d’Ivoire, writes Tiago Faia. Instead the prospect of a new civil war looms on the Ivoirian horizon.

Two factors may shape the coming transition period in Sudan more than any other, says a new briefing from the International Crisis Group. '...first, the degree to which the South’s ruling Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) allows an opening of political space in which a vibrant multi-party system can grow; secondly, the will to undertake democratic reform within the SPLM, as intra-party politics continue to dominate the political arena in the near term.'

Guinea’s former junta leader Gen Sekouba Konaté has lashed out against the newly elected civilian government of President Alpha Condé for not justly rewarding him. 'Instead of thanking and congratulating me for the service rendered to the country, I have been abandoned and turned over to the vindictive population,' he said. Gen Konaté made the statement in Niger where he was invited by the outgoing military regime to share his experience on the transition to civilian rule.

Zimbabwean MPs have re-elected a close ally of Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai as the speaker of parliament after his 2008 election was nullified. Lovemore Moyo from the MDC party took 105 votes, defeating a candidate from President Robert Mugabe's Zanu-PF party who took 93 votes. The vote in the hung parliament was controversial following allegations of bribery and the arrest of some MDC MPs.

Thousands of Senegalese fishermen and boatowners have demonstrated against the presence of foreign ships, which they said were authorised by the government and pillaging natural resources. Small scale fishermen and boatowners condemned the issuing of 'illegal' licences to some 20 boats that have been in Senegalese waters for several months.

Burkina Faso president's said he would meet disgruntled army officers and the head of the armed forces announced a curfew after a series of protests, but appeals for calm went unheeded on Wednesday as soldiers continued to protest. Shots were fired into the air in some neighbourhoods and the mayor's residence in Ouagadougou, the country's capital, was wrecked, witnesses said.

The Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) of Nigeria has once again postponed the parliamentary polls until Saturday 9 April. This announcement was made on Sunday (03 April) after a meeting with all political parties' leaders in the country’s capital Abuja. Mr Attahiru Jega, INEC chairperson said that all the parties have fully endorsed the new date. As a result, other elections have been moved forward accordingly. Presidential election has been slated for April 16 while governorship elections in the 36 states will now take place on April 26.

African Union (AU) Commission chairman Jean Ping will be travelling to Europe to discuss the Libyan crisis with the European Union (EU) and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). Before his departure from the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, Dr Ping said the AU’s position on Libya remains unchanged. He added that the bloc would seek a solution based on its proposed roadmap. AU is opposed to the Western military action against Libya.

About 4,000 people demonstrated in Morocco's biggest city Casablanca Sunday (3 April) to demand more democracy and reform, an AFP reporter said. Police said about 2,500 people took part in the demonstrations while organisers put the figure at 10,000. Demonstrators chanted 'No to corruption', 'End social injustice', and 'The people want an end to authoritarianism'.