Kibaki reiterates support for draft constitution ahead of referendum Kenya - Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki has reiterated his support for reforms in Kenya ahead of an 4 August referendum on a draft new constitution, which is expected to become law soon after the vote.

Nigeria's Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said it is targeting 70 million voters in its planned fresh voter registration exercise, after the government acceded to the commission's de mand for 72 billion naira (about US$500 million) to compile a new electoral register ahead of 2011 polls.

Giving young women small, regular cash payments can reduce their dependence on sexual relationships with older men, which also lowers their HIV risk, according to a new study by the World Bank. Malawi's southeastern Zomba district, where the survey took place, has high rates of poverty and HIV - up to 22 percent, compared to a national prevalence of about 12 percent - but the study found that 18 months of cash transfers, with or without conditions attached, decreased the participants' risk of HIV infection by 60 percent.

A politial storm is gathering over the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) on whether Zimbabwe should be on the agenda of the regional bloc's forthcoming summit in Windhoek, Namibia, next month.Diplomatic sources said this week the potential row pits President Robert Mugabe's Sadc allies against those who support Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai. Mugabe usually resists having Zimbabwe on the agenda of such meetings, while Tsvangirai wants it to be discussed. A similar battle erupted last year just before the Sadc summit in Kinshasa on September 7-8.

Political principals of the inclusive government have cleared many of the outstanding issues - except three which include the swearing-in of Roy Bennett and the controversial appointments of Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono and Attorney-General Johannes Tomana - in an unexpected move towards the resolution of the current inter-party negotiations deadlock. Informed sources said after their meeting on June 8, President Robert Mugabe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai and deputy Prime Minister Arthur Mutambara wrote to South African President Jacob Zuma, the Sadc facilitator on inter-party negotiations, outlining areas of agreement and disagreement.

In 2000 President Isayas suffered his worst military defeat and humiliation but he turned the event to his personal political advantage. This is central to the continued feud between Eritrea and Ethiopia. Isolation from the rest of the world, particularly the West and hostility towards Ethiopia are fundamental pillars that prop up the current regime- the reason that this system of government came into being and what sustains it every day.

Investors in farmland are targeting countries with weak laws, buying arable land on the cheap and failing to deliver on promises of jobs and investments, according to the draft of a report by the World Bank. “Investor interest is focused on countries with weak land governance,” the draft said. Although deals promised jobs and infrastructure, “investors failed to follow through on their investments plans, in some cases after inflicting serious damage on the local resource base”.

The Carsey Institute is very pleased to announce the SMDP-Tanzania, which will be held in Stonetown, Zanzibar, at the Zanzibar Ocean View Resort. The Institute will use the island environment as our classroom, where students will see sustainable development in action. This is an intensive and highly relevant training program for senior management professionals from microfinance institutions, environmental NGOS, enterprise development organizations, government ministries, private donor organizations, religious and faith-based development organizations, and academic institutions.

A political storm is brewing over the appointment of ambassadors after it emerged that President Robert Mugabe has decided to shift the country's foreign diplomats without consulting the prime minister as required by the law. Insiders at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said this week that Mugabe had recalled Zimbabwe's ambassador to the UN in New York, Boniface Chid-yausiku, without consulting Morgan Tsvangirai.

cc Bishop Desmond Tutu, a book about four African women taken to Belgium to become commercial sex workers, a chance encounter with a ‘white Yoruba aunty’ on a train in London and Kenya’s revolt against tacky ‘traditional’ dance displays for tourists are among the topics talked about in this week’s round-up of the African blogosphere, compiled by Sokari Ekine.

Although US government has pledged to defend human rights, it hasn’t followed up on this promise in Ethiopia, argues Alemayehu G. Mariam. Despite the detention and torture of hundreds of political prisoners by the Ethiopian government, the United States continues to provide aid to the country, allowing the country’s current dictatorship to maintain its power and deprive citizens of their human rights, Mariam writes. Arguments that 'forceful action' could create ‘instability’ in the country are no justification for the US’s failure to defend the human rights of ordinary Ethiopians, Mariam adds.

[Yohannes Woldemariam's article is a] '… good comprehensive article that wastes no space or words and states the facts, historic and contemporary, quite clearly. Thanks.'

[Yohannes Woldemariam's article is] '… undoubtedly the most educational, accurate and balanced article I have ever read concerning the subject. The author is a contributor of first rank.'

As people all over South Africa ask why the government continues to ignore the demands of shack dwellers, not just for the right to the city but for their basic human needs to be met, Abahlali baseMjondolo reply: ‘Everybody knows that we are the people who do not count in this society…the truth that must be faced up to is that we have been sentenced to permanent exclusion from this society.’ But, write Abahlali, ‘we have recognised our own humanity and the power of our struggle to force the full recognition of our humanity. Therefore we remain determined to continue to refuse to know our place.’

Neither the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development nor the country’s government agree that Mauritius is a tax haven, but Khadija Sharife’s investigations suggest otherwise.

History and Africa will always remember Basil Davidson, not just for being a Pan-Africanist and prolific revolutionary scholar, but also for being a humanist, writes Horace Campbell.

Nigeria must unite in its pursuit of democratic freedom, writes Oluwole Onemola. Onemola urges Nigerians to shed a history of timidity in the face of government repression. This vast country can indeed unite to hold those with power to account, writes Onemola, if only drive and diversity can catalyse reactions of change amongst the populace, ‘the dormant daggers of the southern hemisphere’.

I have started to keep your letters close to my bedside, even closer than they were before. They are now stuffed in the pillow case, safe enough to ensure that the words will not escape my dream. Lucid dreams of you and I, the closest I have gotten to kissing and holding you.

Gado's latest cartoons…

Backed by strong support both domestically and from abroad, the South African shackdwellers’ movement Abahlali baseMjondolo continues to push for a full and independent enquiry into the violence suffered by the Kennedy Road settlement in September 2009, writes Bishop Rubin Phillip.