The election commission in Guinea has proposed 10 October as the revised date for the presidential election run-off. The poll was due last Sunday, but was postponed following violent clashes between rival supporters. The new date must be approved by the head of Guinea's military government, Gen Sekouba Konate. He has said that he does not want any further delays.

South Africa’s President Zuma is defending the funding of political parties by business ‘on the basis that corporate citizens should invest in democracy’. But, observes Mphutlane wa Bofelo, these donations are not about supporting democracy, they are attempts to ‘cajole and capture the political establishment and the state to be beholden to and defensive’ of corporate interests.

Ghana ‘may be the political success story of West Africa’, but its socio-economic indices are ‘disastrous’, reports Dibussi Tande in this week’s round-up of the African blogosphere, which also features posts on ‘counterproductive’ US digital activism, election fever in Zanzibar and rethinking development goals in Madagascar.

Greater investment is needed to boost adult literacy initiatives, but this doesn’t have to be spearheaded by government or donors. Salma Maoulidi explores how communities can promote a culture of intergenerational inquiry and learning by encouraging children to share the skills they gain at school with non-literate members of their family.

The World Bank’s long-awaited report on the global farmland grab is ‘both a disappointment and a failure’, writes GRAIN. The bank provides little ‘new and solid on-the-ground data’ and is silent about its own ‘neck-deep involvement’ in ‘large scale land acquisitions’. Looking ‘beyond the smoke and mirrors effect’, the report is ‘more significant for what it doesn't say than what it does’, says GRAIN.

When I rise in the morning and when retiring at night, I praise Maawu. I praise her with my mouth; honour him with libation.
On my behalf, Maawu tells Nsho to give me red snappers and giant tuna. That which I cannot control, listens to the voice of Maawu and my net is filled.

The election commission in Guinea has proposed 10 October as the revised date for the presidential election run-off. The poll was due last Sunday, but was postponed following violent clashes between rival supporters. The new date must be approved by the head of Guinea's military government, Gen Sekouba Konate.

'President [Robert] Mugabe [leader of ZANU-PF] and Prime Minister [Morgan] Tsvangirai [leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)] must apologise to me because I was beaten on the head and all over the body by ZANU-PF militia and sustained a broken leg. My daughter-in-law, who was pregnant, and my six-year-old grandson were locked in a house which was then set on fire.' - Juliet Mashoko, a 61-year-old grandmother, attended the recent Survivors Summit in the Zimbabwean capital, Harare, organised by Heal Zimbabwe.

Completing the stalled Doha round of trade talks is 'technically doable' by November 2011, World Trade Organisation (WTO) chief Pascal Lamy said Wednesday. 'Celebrating 10 years of negotiations may not be a big occasion for champagne,' Lamy acknowledged in remarks in Washington, little over a year before the talks hit their 10-year anniversary. Nevertheless, he said that nations involved in the talks could formulate an agreement by November 2011.

In an interview with the Inter Press Service (IPS), Patrick Bond discusses the failings of South Africa’s drive towards meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and the extent to which the country’s government continues to operate against the interests of its poor majority.

Instead of falling for the rhetoric around the UN development goals, Cameron Duodu argues that Africa should gauge the true commitment of rich countries to ending poverty on the continent by looking to the past. In this area, the G8 has been sorely lacking, he says.

As we mark 50 years of the decolonisation process in our continent, we note the wide diversity of experiences, of popular and democratic advances, of partial gains, of stagnation and even, in many cases, of grave setbacks and the heavy oppression of progressive forces. Everywhere in our continent the struggle for the legitimate democratic, social and economic aspirations of our peoples continues.

Looking at trends within China’s work with Africa around human research development, especially in the areas of education and training, Kenneth King finds certain elements of ‘cooperation’ to be rather one-way and asymmetrical, while others are more based on partnerships.

In early September, Rwandan President Paul Kagame was sworn in for his second seven-year term. During the run-up to the recent elections, which Kagame and his Rwandese Patriotic Front (RPF) won easily, Jenerali Ulimwengu got a chance to talk to President Kagame, who answered his critics on a wide range of issues, including Rwanda’s human rights record. The following are excerpts from that interview.

Involving international celebrities like Naomi Campbell in the Charles Taylor trial is essentially an exercise in seeking global attention, writes Niels Hahn. While ‘special courts’ trying alleged African war criminals symbolise a supposedly clear-cut picture of ‘international justice’, this brand of justice should be seen as ultimately operating in multinational and Western political interests, Hahn stresses.

While leader of the Democratic Alliance Helen Zille and leader of the Independent Democrats Patricia de Lille have announced that they will work together, Mphutlane wa Bofelo asks why the South African left can’t find areas of agreement instead of squabbling over differences.

In this wide-ranging interview, Johan Galtung, considered as the father of peace studies, talks on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Middle East peace talks and why Obama is losing his base. The interview is a transcript of a two-part interview with Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman. In February 2011, Pambazuka Press will publish

With only five years remaining until governments are to meet the targets set out by the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the sub-Saharan Africa region continues to have the highest poverty rates in the world, with millions of people living on less than US$1 per day. Certain countries, like Ghana, Cameroon and Uganda have shown great progress towards decreasing poverty levels, while the rest of the region continues to lag behind on the 2015 deliverables.

Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights have confirmed that 83 WOZA members are being held at Harare Central Police Station. They will spend the night in custody even though police officers are still not sure what charges to prefer or if they even have a case against the activists as most handed themselves in. WOZA members had commemorated International Peace Day by handing over a set of demands aimed at the Zimbabwe Republic Police and the Ministers of Home Affairs asking police to adhere to the protocols set out in the Police Act, the ZRP Service Charter and the ZRP Service Standards and to work together with Zimbabweans to keep our communities safe.

With concerns that a Protection of Information Bill (the Secrecy Bill) before South Africa’s Parliament will create a secret state, Pregs Govender writes that debate needs to interrogate the desire for secrecy against the right to information in a society in which the lack of socio-economic rights diminishes the ability to access political and civil rights and vice versa.