Several Moroccan cities saw attempts to organise follow-up pro-democracy protests brutally stopped by riot police. Following the large, nation-wide protests one week ago, on 20 February, and smaller protests following, big pro-democracy manifestations were planned for Sunday. However, contrary to one week ago, the protests were mostly banned by local authorities and police in the last moment.

The planned resumption of mass protests in Djibouti this weekend was hindered by massive police presence in the capital and arrests of about 300 opposition and civil society leaders. Friday 18 February saw an estimated 30,000 Djiboutians protesting in central Djibouti City.

Three MDC members from Mutare North are recovering, after they were assaulted by a mob of ZANU PF activists, wielding axes on Thursday (24 February). According to the MDC, Farai Matsika, Mabel Manhumwa and Gainmore Machikuni of Mutare North were assaulted for being MDC activists. Matsika was admitted to hospital with a deep cut on his leg, while the other two were left bruised and shaken. Machikuni and Manhumwa’s homes were also both burned down by the ZANU PF mob. The MDC said the violence is part of ZANU PF’s campaign to intimidate people ahead of possible elections.

There is growing condemnation of the ongoing detention of a group of activists in Zimbabwe, arrested almost a week ago for watching TV footage of the revolution in Egypt. Former MDC MP Munyaradzi Gwisai, and 44 other activists, will spend the weekend behind bars after their case was postponed until next Monday. They were this week charged with treason for watching the footage of events in Egypt and Tunisia, which led to the fall of the governments in those countries. Local and international rights groups are calling for the immediate release of the activists, condemning their detention and their treatment at the hands of state security agents.

Activists meeting at the World Social Form (WSF) in Dakar, Senegal, criticised creditors for perpetuating a system of dominance on African countries through debt. Scarce resources are used to service debts at the expense of expenditure of social services in a continent lagging behind in meeting its commitments towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The meeting, held on 9 February 2011, which was hosted by Jubilee South, The Committee for the Abolition of Third World Debt (CADTM), African Forum and Network on Debt and Development (AFRODAD) and a host of other groups focused on debt, took place under the theme, 'Debt Crises and IFIs in Africa and Globally'.

Embattled French Foreign Minister Michele Alliot-Marie has announced her resignation after weeks of criticism over her contacts with the former Tunisian regime. Revelations about her and her family's links to the regime of former President Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali, and the fact that she had taken a Christmas holiday in Tunisia during the uprising made her position increasingly untenable.

Tunisia's Prime Minister Mohammed Ghannouchi resigned and was replaced by Beji Caid Essebsi, a former minister, after anti-government protests left five people dead over the weekend. Security forces again clashed with protesters in Tunis demanding the removal of some ministers of Ghannouchi's interim government before the premier announced his resignation.

'The 2011/12 budget tabled this afternoon by Minister Pravin Gordhan represents continuity in Government’s approach to economic policy to economic development. Great emphasis is placed on "macro-economic stability", fiscal prudence and monetary policy directed to keeping inlation within the 3 – 6 per cent band. Yet, these orthodoxies of economic policy is precisely what has hampered an effective response to the tremendous socio-economic challenges confronting our society and contradict the idea that South Africa has entered a New Growth Path.'

‘Before leaving, the wind blows so I turn, take one long, last look at circle of candles to keep their flame burning in my memory forever. Dead, the wind blew them out. But there is one that stands alone, free, and still burns bright to this day. David Kato.’

Kenya’s youth are demanding that their government build a Dedan Kimathi museum, says Dennis Dancan Mosiere.

Blackout. No international journalists. No network cameras. And yet the story of Libya’s revolution has poured out on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and other online platforms. It’s a story that has been raw, uncut and shocking. Below is a selection of this material from four days in Libya this week.

Kah Walla, the presidential candidate for Cameroon Ô’Bosso, who led yesterday’s peaceful protests which were brutally quelled by the army, produced this diary of events leading up to and during the protest.

It's nonsensical for Gaddafi to be preaching the theory of establishing a 'United States of Africa' to people, when Libya makes it impossible or difficult for them to interact with one another in the flesh, writes Cameron Duodu.

Tidiane Kassé

Yaya Dia

Dibussi Tande discusses growing concern about ‘the worrying racist undertones of claims that Gaddafi is using “African mercenaries” to kill Libyan protesters.'

‘Like perfect storms, several factors have to simultaneously and collectively come together for popular uprisings or protests to turn into a revolution,’ writes Esam Al-Amin. ‘So what are the elements that distinguish the Egyptian revolution?’

They tortured his body
Cut it up in pieces.
Dissolved it in acid
Then burnt the rest.
Tried to humiliate him
To obliterate him
But Lumumba lives on and on.
In our thoughts
And in this song
Patrice Lumumba still steps along...

Engaging in ‘unlawful and criminal evictions’ and blacklisting a journalist for her political views undermine the Democratic Alliance’s claims of support for the rule of law and press freedom, says the Western Cape branch of South African shackdwellers movement, Abahlali baseMjondolo.

In the wake of the crises and revolutions of Libya, Tunisia and Egypt, European claims to moral leadership look highly dubious, says Richard Pithouse.

In an interview with Rosa Moussauoi and Chantal Delmas, Demba Moussa Dembele discusses Western-imposed policies for Africa, the faces of contemporary imperialism, the notion of China’s ‘yellow peril’ and reinvigorating the struggle against neoliberalism.