The South African office of the Public Protector has more vicious teeth than anyone ever imagined, but what lacks are the resources to expedite the duty without hindrance. This is what the newly appointed public protector in South Africa, Advocate Tuli Madonsela, told the media yesterday following her consultations that took her and her team across the breath and width of the country.

The Nigerian government is pushing its national academies to re-align their priorities following criticisms of their perceived lack of contribution to sustainable development. The Federal Ministry of Science and Technology met with the representatives of the five national academies — the Nigerian Academy of Science, Nigerian Academy of Engineering, Social Sciences Academy of Nigeria, Nigerian Academy of Education and Nigerian Academy of Letters — earlier is month (1 March) to address the situation.

Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the International Criminal Court prosecutor, is set to begin an investigation into the 2007-08 post-election violence. He talks to Al Jazeera about how victims and witnesses will be assured given protection.

Ugandan political economist Yash Tandon has added his voice to the call for a moratorium on the negotiations between African countries and the European Union (EU) on the trade deals known as economic partnership agreements (EPAs). This follows the call by Ablassé Ouedraogo, former minister of foreign affairs of Burkina Faso and former deputy director of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), that the EPA negotiations between West Africa and the EU should be suspended. Patricia Handley speaks to Yash Tandon about ‘the destructive course’ of EPAs.

Due to the global economic and financial crisis, growth on the African continent dropped to an average of 1.6 percent in 2009, compared to 4.5 percent in 2008. These figures were announced by Abdoulie Janneh, executive secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), at a joint annual conference of the African Union and UNECA in Malawi’s capital of Lilongwe.

The East and Horn of Africa Human Rights Defenders Project (EHAHRDP) urges the African Heads of State to seize the opportunity of the forthcoming May 2010 Council elections to ensure that the African group encourages the states from Africa with a human rights record of the ‘highest standard’ to run for election, in line with the spirit of UN General Assembly Resolution 60/251 creating the Council.

After months of varying views on the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), member states of the Southern Africa Customs Union (SACU) have finally taken a “harmonised” position on the matter when the next round of negotiations with the European Commission (EC) begins.

Talks on the fate of the Western Sahara remained stalled last week as the UN envoy charged with facilitating diplomacy, Christopher Ross, wrapped up his regional tour. Ross, whose eight-day visit to Morocco, Algeria, Mauritania and the Sahrawi camps ended in Algiers on Thursday (March 25th), said that while concerned parties "stressed their willingness to pursue the course of negotiations", their stances remained far apart.

Mumia Abu Jamal’s birthday is on April 24 and ‘we would like to celebrate the whole month of April with a gigantic Freedom Birthday Remembrance for him’, write his friends and family. Please join all who love and admire Mumia by avalanching him through the month of April with birthday wishes. ‘Mumia has already done 32 years and is still on death row because of prosecutorial misconduct. Yet he is innocent! Act now before it is too late.’

Uganda expects to stop importing fuel in five years when the east African nation anticipates to start fully producing petroleum products from a planned refinery, a senior government official said on Thursday.

The Robey Theatre Company is interested in offering a short-term writing residency to an emerging writer with permanent residency in Haiti, writes Judith Bowman.

Sierra Leoneans have woken up for the first time after ten years without the United Nations radio. The UN radio which was set up in 2000 played a significant role in consolidating peace in the West Africa nation. Until last night it was the 'most trusted' independent broadcaster with a country wide transmission.

Z. Pallo Jordan asks whether Marion Grammer’s claims about the role played by Non-European Unity Movement (NEUM) in South Africa’s liberation are ‘not a little extravagant?’

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Julius Malema’s distortion of history, says Ayanda Kota, ‘is a key characteristic of authoritarian regimes'. The 'fact that the ANC has now descended to this level,' Kota adds, 'is a very serious warning sign about where this country is going.’ While the call for nationalisation in a socialist context would be a call for ‘socialisation’, in the current pro-capitalist South African context, the call for nationalisation is a call for increasing the elite’s plunder, Kota argues.

A recent report by the Carter Center’s observer mission to Ethiopia’s 2005 national elections provides a unique academic opportunity to learn how an election is stolen, writes Alemayehu G. Mariam. But carrying out the perfect theft is not a task for the faint of heart, says Mariam. Beyond the essential qualities of cunning, audacity and brutality, Mariam shares here the five basic principles an accomplished thief will need to understand, master and apply in order to ‘steal an election in broad daylight’.

‘Mention sex in most places on the African continent and you are likely to be met with questioning glances. Venture into speaking about controversial sexual rights and you are likely to cause a furore.’ But if we are to deal effectively with the HIV/AIDS pandemic, these are issues we need to think about, whether we consider them vile or not, argue Kavinya Makau and Zawadi Nyong’o, in their report on critical issues raised at a recent conference on sexual health and rights.

A group of army officers in Guinea-Bissau is reported to have detained the chief of staff and the prime minister. Prime Minister Carlos Gomes Junior was set free after several hours. The whereabouts of President Malam Bacai Sanha are unknown. Heavily armed troops attempted to gain access to the UN headquarters, where a former head of the navy had fled.

President Robert Mugabe swore in members of electoral and human rights commissions on Wednesday, a step toward fully implementing his power-sharing agreement with rival Morgan Tsvangirai. "I think what is important is that we are able to fulfill some of the agreements," Tsvangirai said after the swearing-in ceremony, according to state news agency New Ziana.

An international think tank has accused Sudan’s ruling party of trying to rig elections in war-torn Darfur region, as the country prepares for its first multi-party polls in 24 years. The International Crisis Group said voter registers for the April 11 to 18 polls had been manipulated, constituencies based on a flawed 2008 census and the election commission staffed with too many pro-government officials, in a report released late on Tuesday.

Mauritian Prime Minister, Navin Ramgoolam, on Wednesday evening announced the dissolution of parliament and the holding of legislative elections on 5 May. Speaking to journalists, he said the elections would be “a democratic rendez-vous" for the country and praised his government's achievements.