Sudan has delayed the registration of voters for January's referendum on secession for the south until November, raising tensions over the timetable. The chairman of the referendum commission said this was to allow for staff training and delivery of forms. Tanzania's former President Benjamin Mkapa, appointed by the UN to encourage a smooth vote, has told the BBC many challenges lie ahead.

A cabinet committee on Tuesday dropped its opposition to allowing the International Criminal Court access to sensitive government documents in its investigations, according to Daily Nation sources. The decision was reached during a three-hour meeting of the committee, which was formed to deal with the ICC. The world court is investigating the killings and other crimes committed during the lawlessness following the last election.

Political parties on Wednesday forwarded names of MPs to sit on a key committee that oversees the implementation of the new constitution. Party of National Unity (PNU) and the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) submitted 13 and 14 names respectively to the house business committee, which met for two hours Wednesday evening.

The excessive and arbitrary use of pretrial detention critically undermines socioeconomic development and is especially harmful to the poor, argues Kersty McCourt. Pretrial detention disproportionately affects individuals and families living in poverty: they are more likely to come into conflict with the criminal justice system, more likely to be detained awaiting trial and less able to make bail or pay bribes for their release, McCourt stresses. For individuals, the excessive use of pretrial detention means lost income and reduced employment opportunities; for their families, it means economic hardship and reduced educational outcomes; and for the state, it means increased costs, reduced revenue and fewer resources for social service programmes.

Tanzania's general elections are slated for October. One presidential candidate has changed the political landscape in more ways than one, writes Chambi Chachage.

In Frantz Fanon’s analysis of colonial relations in Algeria, Okello Oculi looks at Nigeria’s political trajectory from independence until today. Fanon argued that violence was a means to regain self-respect. Oculi critically examines this claim in the context of Nigerian events such as the war in Biafra and violence in the Niger Delta.

On 27 August 2010, President Mwai Kibaki of Kenya promulgated the country’s new Constitution. This was the culmination of a journey that begun over two decades ago when the first attempt was made to reform the constitutional order that Kenya had inherited from Britain, its former colonial power, in 1963. The draft Constitution was approved in a poll that took place on 4 August 2010, by 68 per cent of those who voted. Tim Murithi outlines what is at stake in the implementation phase.

Many Capetonians were shocked by recent images of violent clashes between police and residents of the Hangberg community in Hout Bay, Cape Town. Residents say they were resisting the demolition of informal houses on the mountainside, but the City of Cape Town has said these structures had to go because they were built on a firebreak and obstruct rainwater flow. Why is it, asks Mphuthumi Ntabeni, that it’s okay for rich mansions to climb any mountain they wish, but once poor people dare to do the same they are labelled ‘criminals’?

A report released by the East African literacy project Uwezo shows that educated parents – even just at the primary school level – make for better-educated children, Chambi Chachage writes. As well, the Tanzanian system has focused too long on education ‘inputs’ such as teachers and classrooms, rather than ‘outcomes’ such as high literacy, critical thinking and creativity.

With saturation coverage of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) following a UN meeting in New York last week, Samir Amin attacks the 'supposedly democratic packaging' of the goals. Stripping away the language of development, he suggests that the MDGs mask the pursuit of other goals which have nothing to do with social progress.

Determined to break the deadlock in the much-delayed presidential elections in Cote d'Ivoire, African diplomats, including members of the African Union (AU) Peace and Security Council (PSC), have embarked on a visit to West Africa to meet key political players in the hitherto peaceful nation. According to a statement, issued Monday by the AU, the diplomats are expected in the Ivorian capital from 27 September on a visit that would take them to other parts of the West African region. They are expected to conclude their mission on 1 October.

The United Nations and the African Union have launched a joint task force on peace and security as the two organisations continue to step up their cooperation in conflict prevention, peacekeeping and peacebuilding across the continent. The Joint Task Force, launched at UN Headquarters in New York by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and AU Commission Chairperson Jean Ping, will meet twice a year at the senior level to review immediate and long-term strategic issues.

The Prevention and Combating of Corruption Bureau (PCCB) is finalising investigations on ten corruption cases involving people who participated in Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CM) opinion polls recently. The PCCB boss, Dr Edward Hoseah, said the cases would be sent to court before the 31 October general election. Speaking during the 15th anniversary of the Legal and Human Rights Centre (LHRC) the PCCB executive director said the PCCB were waiting for more evidence so that legal action could be taken on other allegations.

Forced expulsions, violent recriminations, mass exodus, peaceful co-existence - just some of the possible outcomes for hundreds of thousands of Southern Sudanese living in the North, and to a lesser extent, vice versa, after a January referendum when the South is likely to vote to transform its semi-autonomy into full independence. 'We are worried for the future, of what happens after the referendum,' said James Jok, a vegetable seller who has lived in the Northern capital Khartoum since fleeing violence in the Southern state of Jonglei over two decades ago. 'I am frightened that if there is independence, we will just be told, "go home",' he added.

Zimbabwe must show greater respect for human rights and political freedoms before the US sanctions on the impoverished African nation can be removed, the U.S. State Department said on Sunday. The State Department said its top diplomat for Africa and other US officials met three Zimbabwean ministers and had praised the economic advances but raised concerns 'that political progress has not been as successful'.

'Africans must focus on their own agenda' when it comes to tackling the continent’s social issues, rather than being distracted by Western views, writes Moalosi Masilo.

During the 1982 Lebanon War with Israel, a massacre was carried out on Palestinian and Lebanese civilians in the refugee camps of Sabra and Shatila in Beirut, between 16 and 18 September. Although numerous human rights groups argue that it was a war crime and genocide, the event has not been investigated by international officials. Franklin Lamb tells the story of Munir, who was 11 years old at the time of the massacre, and who saw his family killed or disappear in its aftermath.

Around 73 WOZA activists arrested Monday, following a demonstration at the Parliament Building in Harare, were eventually released on free bail on Wednesday. The activists marched to commemorate International Peace Day and police arrested them at the end of the march, first charging them with ‘obstructing traffic’ before later changing this to ‘criminal nuisance’.

Expanded social protection programmes and other innovative policies have helped to spur Africa’s progress in achieving the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), according to a new United Nations-backed report. The continent has made tremendous strides in several areas, including achieving universal education, with 76 per cent net enrolment in primary education in 2008, up from 58 per cent in 1999, says "Assessing Progress in Africa Toward the Millennium Development Goals."

Following the Zimbabwean government’s banning of an exhibition focusing on Gukurahundi (a military operation to suppress opposition in the 1980s) by artist Owen Maseko, Sokwanele discusses the future implications of the case not just for political freedom of expression but also for art, in the face of Zanu PF's efforts to control narratives about the past.