The Lake Kivu basin, which Rwanda shares with the DR Congo, contains vast quantities of methane gas, which can be used to provide desperately needed electricity. But a deadly threat lurks beneath the waters of the lake, as Khadija Sharife finds out in this week’s Pambazuka News.

Having sought clarification from Angolan President José Eduardo dos Santos over his involvement in business activities contravening state regulations, Rafael Marques de Morais discusses the broad culture of corruption and questionable practices normalised within the country's government. Considering why the president's dubious actions enjoy the total support of members of the government, Marques de Morais concludes that the answer lies in mutual benefit: 'they do as the president wishes so that they too may act with impunity'.

Commenting on the Harmonised Draft Constitution produced by Kenya's Committee of Experts (CoE), Yash Ghai lauds a document envisaging a more open society and considerably enhanced socio-economic conditions for Kenya's people. With little time remaining to consider and scrutinise the draft however, Kenyans must take the opportunity to comment on and shape the document before it returns to the country's parliamentarians, Ghai emphasises.

Following last week's Great Ethiopian Run, Alemayehu G. Mariam discusses an event that is more an act of mass civil disobedience than a running race. Drawing inspiration from Nelson Mandela's success in embarking on a continuous 'long walk to freedom' in South Africa, Mariam stresses that through undertaking its own marathon, Ethiopia will one day complete a route towards freedom, democracy and human rights.

Nicholas Oloo berates the selfishness of Kenya's leaders and their apparent disdain for the welfare of the wider population.

Michael Keating reviews Fantu Cheru's 'Africa’s Development in the 21st Century: Reshaping the Research Agenda', a book which he regards as inevitably limited by the fact that it is a mere 47 pages long.

Harry Mkandawire, Malawi president Binguwa Mutharika most senior northern region political ally-turned-bitter critic, has accused the president of political intolerance. The Mzuzu Magistrates Court late Monday granted Mkandawire a 300, 000 Malawi kwacha (about US$2,000) bail following his arrest last Friday on allegations that he was inciting violence and using insulting language against the president.

The ruling Swapo has taken a comfortable lead as results of last weekend's national elections continued to trickle in. Also, the opposition Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP) is fast emerging as the new official opposition.

Zimbabwe's battered economy is on track to expand for the first time in a decade this year and to grow by 7 percent in 2010 as key sectors such as agriculture and mining start to recover, the finance minister said on Wednesday.

Madagascar’s opposition has accused the country’s leader Andry Rajoelina of stalling negotiations on forming a consensus government. One of the Indian Ocean island’s two co-presidents accused Rajoelina, who took power in a military-backed coup in March, of denting hopes of restoring constitutional order and winning back frozen donor funds.

As Angola celebrates 34 years of independence on 11 November, Khadija Sharife looks at the legacy of war, oil and geopolitics in a country where the future of its chief export, oil, has already been mortgaged.

For 41 years the Robert F Kennedy Centre for Justice and Human Rights has worked for a more peaceful and just world. On Monday evening in a ceremony at the White House Magodonga Mahlangu and WOZA, represented by WOZA co-founder Jenni Williams, were presented with the 2009 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award by President Barack Obama and Mrs Ethel Kennedy, widow of Robert F. Kennedy.

This course is an intensive introduction to System Dynamics, a unique framework for understanding and managing complex development problems. Through case studies and practical exercises, the course will equip participants with the knowledge and skills required to effectively understand, map, and analyze complex national and global development challenges using a systemic perspective, and to determine the best approaches to mitigate them.

Jacob Zuma, the President of Africa’s most powerful democracy since April 2009, and the recently chosen ‘African President of the Year’ (Sapa 2009), arouses strong passions from his supporters and detractors. A longtime ANC official from a humble peasant background in what is now Kwazulu-Natal province, Zuma was picked by the ANC to be the country’s deputy president under Thabo Mbeki in 1999.

Countries across Eastern and Southern Africa have stepped up plans for the establishment of Africa’s largest economic bloc with the opening of negotiations that may culminate in a Free Trade Area (FTA) spanning Cape to Cairo by May 2010.

Angola will name Treasury and Finance Ministry officials involved in the illegal transfer of government funds abroad after concluding investigations in 45 days, a prosecutor has said.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has lauded a new report which outlines steps to be taken by Africa and its development partners to help lift millions of people across the continent out of poverty.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on all parties in Côte d’Ivoire to fix a new date as soon as possible for their much-delayed elections, now postponed yet again from their latest deadline of this month.

With a whopping credit facility of $200 million (N25.2 billion), World Bank Assisted Improvement projects in Lagos State have reportedly not lived up to expectations. Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) supervised and executed most of the projects under the World Bank-Assisted Road Improvement Scheme, towards the end of the administration of former Governor, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, between 2006 and 2007.

The request by the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor to the court's judges to open a Kenya investigation is a decisive step toward justice for the country's 2007 post-election violence, Human Rights Watch has said.