especially when tens of millions of US dollars are raised in the name of 'saving' the people of Darfur. Yet there is no ICC oversight or UN oversight of where and how these funds are used. It is highly likely that more is spent on aidworkers, look and see travel groups than on the needs of the people. It might be possible for oversight to come from the AU?

is a crime in itself. As Mamdani shows, simplistic (and inconsistent) responses to the problems of Darfur risk creating deeper crisis not only for the people of Sudan but for available instruments of international justice. As in the Nuremberg trials which placed the lens on Nazi atrocities without addressing the complicities of American and other Western capitalists, without whose collusion the Nazi project would not have advanced to the level it did, the powerful obscure their active role in genocide.

Exactly - where is the outrage? ... the question that is goes to the heart of the matter for the entire continent. It can be answered very briefly with two responses: too many Africans gave up the ability to be outraged when they allowed their agency to become the fuel that drives 'global ngos' which have usurped our voices and our agendas - they speak for us and define what we should think about our own lives and futures.

I truly enjoyed reading . Rory Kilalea is so inspiring. I have been writing short stories of late which I had dismissed as not worthy to develop into a book, but feel inspired. My articles though not yet published touch on the tough life being endured by Zimbabweans and also brutal experiences of the last elections as told by eyewitnesses from my home area, something not to be forgotten for a very long time, in fact the next generation should know what happened during that year of madness so that very madness will not rise its head again. (Midlands State University)

cc Western civilisation has been going through a deepening crisis over the last 120 years, writes Yash Tandon, and it is deeper than most people realise or are willing to acknowledge. Focusing on the present systemic crisis – the most recent manifestations of which are the global financial crisis and the ecological crisis – Tandon sets out how progessive forces both in the South and the North could respond to the array of challenges the world currently faces. The time has come he says, for ordinary people to take back the right to think and plan their futures from the institutions, that have in part, been the authors of the situation we find ourselves in.

'I write largely because reality’s surface is for me hardly more than a mask,' says Canadian author H. Nigel Thomas in an interview with Conversations with Writers.'What’s worth knowing is beneath it'. Thomas talks about his life and sources of inspiration as a writer and about his recent novel, Return to Arcadia, an exploration of a mixed-race man's quest for sanity as he tries to cast off the burdens bequeathed by his colonial heritage.

cc Zanu PF 'must demonstrate, by concrete positive actions, that it has turned over a new leaf and is now worthy of the nation’s trust' writes human rights lawyer Dewa Mavhinga, as he ponders the importance of trust in human relationships in general and for the future of Zimbabwe in particular, both in terms of the parties to the inclusive government and that government's contract with the country's citizens and the international community.

cc We need a new financial system that is transparent and accountable to all, writes Dani Nabudere, as G20 leaders meet in London to tackle the current global economic ‘meltdown’. The G20's task, he says, is to expose all that has gone wrong, including the role the African leaders have played in the crisis, through the externalisation of billions of pounds intended for the development of their countries. These activities, Nabudere notes, have helped position Africa as a net creditor to the world, with the external assets of 40 African countries outstripping their external liabilities over the period from 1970–2004. In other words, says Nabudere, despite the widely held view that Africa was 'decoupled' from the global economy, African leaders have contributed to the activities of ‘shadow banks’ being used to create ‘toxic debt’, their wealth contributing to the global economic turmoil.

cc In light of the recent inauguration of Barack Obama as president of the US and subsequent reflection on contributors to the black movement in African American history, Lincoln Van Sluytman questions the exclusion of militant voices, which he says played a profound and historical role in making Obama’s victory possible. Van Sluytman argues for the recognition of influential black leaders who attacked slavery, racial segregation, and the development of pan-African congresses through militant tendencies. The struggle for liberation, independence, and social justice throughout the African American historical trajectory, he says, has been marked by controversial yet mobilising ideologies and philosophies, which have had an impact on the black population in the US and upon many others worldwide.

cc President Dadis Camara of Guinea is an example of militariat rule in West Africa, writes Jibrin Ibrahim, Director of the Centre for Democracy and Development. Camara has been avoiding elections, with claims for the need to challenge drug networks and end corruption, but, says Ibrahim, this is an agenda to legitimise his rule. The drug networks, Ibrahim suggests, are closely linked to a military ruling class that is kept in place by the state’s high expenditure on the military and its exclusion of ordinary people from politics.

Dibussi Tande reviews the following blogs:

Afrodissident
Casmir Igbokwe
What An African Woman Thinks
Bombastic Element

The National Council for Democracy and Development (CNDD), led by military junta head Captain Moussa Dadis Camara, arrested three former ministers of the late President Lansana Conté on 23 March for allegedly embezzling national funds, but human rights officials say the nature of the arrests shows impunity continues

The war of attrition between Finance minister Tendai Biti and Reserve Bank governor Gideon Gono intensified this week, raising fears it could disrupt the smooth operation of monetary and fiscal policies unless quickly resolved. Biti this week took the fight deep into Gono’s territory after he told cabinet that the central bank boss ran a parallel government structure at the height of his power which gobbled 45% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

African trade could fall by up to 25 percent in 2009/10 from last year’s commodity-driven highs, senior executives from the African Export Import Bank (Afreximbank) said yesterday. The Cairo-based Bank has 33 African shareholders, and finances and promotes intra- and extra-Africa trade. “Last year was a very good year for Africa because of very high commodity prices... that got total African trade close to $800 billion”, Okey Oramah, Vice President of the trade finance bank, told Reuters in Cape Town.

Mauritania's political crisis worsened this week, following a statement by French Minister of Foreign Affairs Bernard Kouchner. In a March 20th interview with Jeune Afrique, Kouchner stated that General Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, Chairman of the High Council of State, "has to take off his military uniform at least 45 days before the presidential election that is slated for June 6th, 2009".

South African ruling party leader Jacob Zuma on Friday criticised Western powers for holding back aid to Zimbabwe while President Robert Mugabe was still in power."This is very unfair to the Zimbabwean people. Because here is Mugabe, he is a factor. He is there. He leads a party that has been in government for over 20 years," Zuma told Reuters in an interview.

A prominent Gambian opposition figure arrested on 8 March and later charged with sedition and spying, was unconditionally released on Friday. Halifa Sallah is believed to have been arrested for articles he wrote for the main opposition newspaper Foroyya, which claimed that witch doctors accompanied by members of the army, police and the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) including “the green boys” - Gambian President Yahya Jammeh's personal protection guards - were identifying people as witches.

How can elections be turned into a development asset in Africa? This study by the Institute of Security Studies argues that in order for elections to become a real asset, African countries need to implement effective decentralisation, including the empowerment of local communities within a rationalised national plan. If they can do this they will also prevent conflicts and achieve increased national self-confidence and self-empowerment in relation to the global politico-economic and strategic environment.

Supporters of Madagascar's former President Marc Ravalomanana are staging daily street protests - just one indication that Africa's youngest president has a tough road ahead of him.

Guinea-Bissau cannot afford to hold elections following the assassination of its president earlier this month, Cape Verde's prime minister says. Cape Verde is helping co-ordinate efforts to restore order in its fellow former Portuguese colony. According to the constitution, polls should be held within 60 days.