‘The Kibaki and Raila-led regime set up in February 2008 has conned and let down Kenyans by short-changing us of our democratic aspirations and derailing our efforts at implementing good governance, sustainable economic strategies, deepening a human rights culture and rooting out corruption, crime and insecurity,‘ Onyango Oloo tells Pambazuka News. Now, says Oloo, its time for Kenyans to work together to find ways to reclaim their country from the ‘power vampires’ and remove them from office by peaceful means.

Lydiah Kemunto Bosire shares with Pambazuka News commentary on Kofi Annan’s handing in of the ‘Waki envelope’ to the International Criminal Court two weeks ago, made by contributors to the African Arguments forum. Bosire discusses the possible implications of the story for Kenya, with reference to the opinions of Daniel Branch, Daniel Waweru, Gabriel Lynch, Tim Murithi, Wanjiru Kamau-Ruternberg and Sisule Musungu. Pambazuka readers are warmly invited to participate in the debate.

As protests against poor service delivery spill out across South Africa, Mphutlane wa Bofelo is irked by leaders who suggest that a third force is at play, mobilising communities against their local and provincial governments, with the implication that the poor are incapable of self-organising to improve their lives. There is a third force, wa Bofelo tells Pambazuka News, but it is not some ‘amorphous, abstract animal’ – it is ‘poverty, homelessness, hopelessness and despair’, and the ‘arrogance and indifference of the rich, the elites and the governing classes.’

Namibia may perform well in rankings on human rights and democracy, Henning Melber tells Pambazuka News, but its response to the secession attempt in the Caprivi region ten years ago remains a black spot on the country’s record. Setting the case against its historical backdrop and presenting a range of viewpoints, from those of the government to an international NGO, Melber asks whether resolution of the Caprivi conflict is possible.

Taking to the streets is often the last resort, says William Gumede, and the community protests against poor service delivery sweeping across South Africa are evidence that ‘democratic institutions within the ANC’ and ‘broader society’ have failed the country’s poorest. ANC leaders whipped up expectations of immediate pro-poor reforms under a Zuma administration, which the current recession has put out of reach. If Zuma is to retain the support of the people, Gumede tells Pambazuka News, he must curb the lavish lifestyles of government officials, weed out corruption and provide emergency packages in the most depressed municipalities across the country. Most importantly though, says Gumede, the renewal of the ANC’s internal democratic processes must be made real now.

EISA and the UN Electoral Assistance Division (EAD) are implementing a project on Development of Sustainable Voter Registration Methodologies. The project is funded by the United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC). It aims to promote development and awareness of sustainable and cost effective voter registration models, particularly in developing and post conflict countries. It will do this by analysing the relative costs, sustainability and effectiveness of low, medium and high tech approaches to voter registration.

Former president Moi should be arrested and prosecuted for ‘annexing and dividing the Mau Forest to his own tribe’ when he knew that it was one of Kenya’s most important water catchment areas, writes Isaac Newton Kinity, in an open letter to the country’s president and prime minister. Around 450,000 Kikuyus who lived and worked on forestry stations in the area were evicted in 1985, to make way for Kalenjin settlers under the Moi government. The Mau Forest was the source of several rivers, but after Kalenjin settlers cut down thousands of acres of trees, many of the rivers dried up and drought began ‘to hit Kenya’, says Kinity. Recognising the ecological importance of the Mau Forest, Kenya’s environment minister has now called for the eviction of Kalenjin settlers. Kinity argues that if the government intends to compensate Kalenjin settlers, it must first compensate the Kikuyu who previously inhabited the forest.

It isn’t an amnesty the people of the Niger Delta need to bring peace and security to the region, it’s equity and good governance, Sabella Ogbobode Abidde tells Pambazuka News. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) and other groups like it are justice-seeking groups fighting their people’s cause, argues Abidde, and it is only when the government genuinely resolves to tackle underlying problems from environmental pollution to underdevelopment that the ‘ongoing, low intensity conflict’ in the Delta will abate.

Following his ordeal both at the hands of the Ugandan police and in a local mental health hospital, human rights activist Vincent Nuwagaba shares with Pambazuka News why Uganda’s dysfunctional institutions must be reformed. Institutions that are ‘meant to protect and preserve life’ have been turned into ‘a killing machinery’ says Nuwagaba. Charging President Museveni with deliberately destroying the country’s institutions to serve his own interests and increase his power, Nuwagaba says regime change is needed before reforms can be made. ‘It is high time we realised that we are citizens and not subjects,’ says Nuwagaba, ‘and hence demand to be governed in a humane, convivial and dignified manner.’

In the wake of a UN report on extrajudicial killings, the prospect of intervention by the International Criminal Court on post-election violence and the formation of a Truth Justice and Reconciliation Commission, Maina Kiai, former chairperson of the Kenya National Commission for Human Rights, speaks to Pambazuka News’s Firoze Manji about what the future holds for Kenya. As long as politicians operate under the notion that ‘the big man makes the country’ rather than institutions, cautions Kiai, it will remain impossible for the country to end impunity without outside assistance.

In this week's Pambazuka News, Jegede Ademola Oluborode asks whether the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), created three years ago, will be more effective than its predecessor body in ensuring that UN member states uphold human rights. Despite an improved institutional framework, Oluborode argues that ‘bloc politics’ and ‘regional sentiments’ are still getting in the way of genuine efforts to safeguard human rights in Africa and globally.

The Namibian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and local civil society organisations are united in their support of the government’s reluctance to sign an interim Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union (EU). Wallie Roux tells Pambazuka News why he thinks Namibia is right to be wary of the agreement.

Africa has been "gravely affected" by the global economic downturn and its growth rate will halve this year due to collapsing commodity prices and a decline in donor funding, a new report has said. The 2009 African Economic Outlook finds that after half a decade of above 5 percent economic growth, the continent can expect only 2.8 percent growth in 2009. The annual report covers 47 of the 53 African countries and is a key document that influences government policy and donor spending.

Namibia's Anti-Corruption Commission has requested an interview with the son of Chinese leader Hu Jintao to glean information about a deal involving a Chinese scanner company, the head of the anti-graft body has said.

Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe has called for an end to political violence and committed his party to campaigning peacefully as the country marked the start of a national reconciliation process. The southern African country was plunged into violence last year as Mugabe fought to reclaim power in a run-off vote after being defeated by Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader Morgan Tsvangirai, now prime minister in a new unity government.

The United Nations has called for an additional $200 million to provide aid to more than half a million people uprooted by violence in Chad and the neighbouring Central African Republic (CAR) and Darfur region of western Sudan, as demand mounts for humanitarian assistance. “People in eastern and southern Chad still require considerable help from the international community as they attempt to cope with the effects of displacement and in some cases to rebuild their lives,” said Eliane Duthoit, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Chad.

South Africa's government has vowed to crack down on riots in townships where residents are demanding better basic services, such as water and housing. "We are not going to allow anybody to use illegal means to achieve their objective," a local government minister said on South African radio.

Niger's president has said he will not bow to foreign pressure to abandon his attempt to hold a referendum on whether he can serve a third term in office. Mamadou Tandja told state TV the threat of sanctions would not deter him from doing what was right for the people.

Renowned diplomat and peace maker, Ambassador Bethuel Ki plagat, has been selected to chair Kenya's Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission. Nairobi lawyer Betty Murungi was named vice-chairperson of the nine-member commission in the appointments made by President Mwai Kibaki.

Four candidates of the Front of Congolese Opposition Parties (FPOC) and an independent candidate, who ran for the 12 July polls in Congo, have appealed for the annulment of the election results.