Zimbabwean professionals, many of them teachers, are coming home and seeking readmission into the public service, in response to a move by the country’s new inclusive government to pay civil servants in foreign currency and relax conditions for rejoining the sector. The influx is a response to calls from President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai for the more than three million exiles, who sought refuge from their country’s chaotic economic situation in Southern African Development Community, SADC, countries and abroad, to return to Zimbabwe to help rebuild the country.

Giles Mutsekwa, Zimbabwe’s co-Home Affairs Minister, says a truth and reconciliation commission should be put in place as a way of promoting national healing in a country smarting from unprecedented politically-motivated violence. Mutsekwa told cheering supporters at a rally in Dangamvura township in Mutare those responsible for brutalising Zimbabweans should voluntarily come forward and apologize to the nation.

In creating a $30 million trust fund to boost the food output of developing countries, China has cemented its role as a major global player in cooperation between developing countries, the United Nations agricultural agency said today. “This historic agreement underlines the importance of the role which China has come to play in the global arena today,” José Maria Sumpsi Assistant Director-General of the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) said after signing an agreement with the Chinese Vice-Minister for Agriculture.

At this session, this Council has heard about the tragic killing of three persons.
Edwin Legarda was shot to death on 16 December 2008 by members of the Colombian armed forces shortly after his wife, Aida Quilcué, had been active at the third session of the UPR Working Group in connection with its review of Colombia.
On 5 March 2009, Oscar Kingara and Paul Oulu were murdered - soon after meeting the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions during his mission to Kenya in February 2009.

Oxford Transitional Justice Research (OTJR) aims to bring disparate views on and approaches to transitional justice into a single arena. In pursuit of this, we are proud to host, at the University of Oxford, an international conference, “Taking Stock of Transitional Justice,” which is designed to assemble vast knowledge on transitional justice from across geographical locations and areas of academic study and practice. Exploring established views and new thinking on transitional justice, OTJR would like to invite all interested parties to submit a presentation abstract or register for general participation.

Zambia is reckoned to be the 13th poorest country in the world. Sixty-four per cent of the people live in poverty. More than one in six children die before their fifth birthday, and if you live to the age of 42 you are doing better than average. Britain is the largest bilateral donor to Zambia, providing £40mn a year. But what Britain and the rest of the developed world provide may not be enough to stop an increase in children dying because of the global recession.

Sokari Ekine reviews the following blogs:

Nigerian Curiosity
The Activist
Accidental Academic
BlackLooks

cc Ethiopia has no independent judiciary, no free press, no civil society, and individual liberties have been severely curtailed, so why isn’t Meles Zenawi a persona non grata in the international community, asks human rights activist Mitmita. Birtukan Mideksa, a former judge who was charged with treason and sentenced to life imprisonment in 2005, is just one of many people jailed for exercising their fundamental rights, in this case the freedom of speech, says Mitmita. Mideksa is in solitary confinement in Kaliti Prison for allegedly violating the terms of a government pardon granted to her in 2007. The accusations are based on her failure to retract statements made in a speech that she was released from prison through a politically negotiated settlement rather than a formal legal pardon. Western failure to condemn abuses by Zenawi’s government for the sake of their own strategic interests, says Mitmita, comes at the expense of the rights of ordinary Ethiopians.

cc Nine claimants in the Mau Mau reparations case share testimonials of the experiences they endured while incarcerated by British colonial authorities during the Kenyan struggle for independence in the 1950s.

cc With Zimbabwe in the grip of an economic freefall, Richard Kamidza analyses the country's financial woes and the failure of multiple macroeconomic strategies to revitalise the economy. The collapse of public infrastructure facilities and utilities along with persistent, entrenched difficulties within the education system are just some of the pressing problems the country faces, which combined with its chronic inability to satisfy its population's food needs add up to the most serious humanitarian crisis the country has faced. In light of Zimbabwe's decade-long failure to effectively revitalise its economy through domestic resources, Kamidza argues that the country will indisputably require a financial package backed by other regional and international players, a package that will call upon civil society groups to collectively offer effective monitoring of both the use of economic resources and the move towards genuine political transition.

cc Though Ethiopia is an ancient civilisation rich in indigenous culture and strong religious traditions, Solomon Gebre-Selassie suggests the security of the country is in jeopardy owing to the corruption surrounding national elections and politics. Gebre-Selassie traces the recent history of Ethiopia’s struggle for democratisation and social justice. Beginning with the nation’s conflicting elite groups and the separation of Eritrea from Ethiopia, the author examines how various parties and policies have impeded democracy. With particular emphasis on the Tigrean People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and the affiliated Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Force (EPRDF), Gebre-Selassie seeks to uncover the root of Ethiopia’s political issues while simultaneously acknowledging the success of the opposition in its quest for a democratic society.

cc Mirjam de Bruijn explores the rise of Chad’s global visibility, with a particular focus on the exploitation of the country’s oil reserves and the conflict in neighbouring Darfur. Through an intimate account provided by Nakar Djindil, a Chadian academic and nutritionist, de Bruijn examines the impact of conflict and instability upon the livelihoods of Chad’s citizens. As a result of a system of governance enforced through violence and oppression, the health and psychological well-being of Chad’s people is perpetually threatened. Having personally witnessed attacks and their aftermath, Djindil affirms the severity of President Idriss Déby’s irresponsible and reckless actions. Fear permeates Chadian society, with the country’s citizens facing internal displacement due to the demolition of homes and land, as well as inadequate nutrition caused by soaring food prices and minimal access to cooking supplies.

cc In response to the International Criminal Court's (ICC) arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, Mahmood Mamdani argues that those enforcing rights also need to be held accountable when justice is sought. Skilfully tracing the Darfur conflict's broader history, Mamdani argues that basing its understanding on spurious assumptions – seeing the duration of the conflict as mirroring that of the Sudanese president's time in office, and assuming a single set of perpetrators of violent deaths and rape – has enabled the ICC to lay the blame squarely at al-Bashir's door. Given the mass deaths experienced in Darfur over the 2003–04 period, this is not to ignore the central issue of accountability however, but merely to recognise that these deaths represent mass murder orchestrated by a variety of players, rather than outright genocide at the hands of the Khartoum government. Ultimately of greater concern for the African continent, Mamdani contends, will be the relationship between law and politics and the politicisation of the ICC. If a fundamentalist search for justice regardless of political context is not to come to represent mere vengeance, Mamdani concludes, then criminal accountability will need to be effectively subordinated to political reform.

Prespone Matawira talks about the challenges facing David Coltart, Zimbabwe’s new minister of education, sports, arts and culture, as he devises a strategy to re-build the education system in an economy where many parents can no longer afford to pay the fees required to cover the cost of schooling, the government’s coffers are bare and the country is estimated to to have less than half the number of teachers it needs.

cc Dudu Manhenga is more than just a diva, Prespone Matawira discovers, in conversation with the powerful-voiced Afro-jazz singer following her performance with backing band Color Blu at Harare’s REPS Theatre. Manhenga is a major contributor to the Female Literary Arts Music Enterprise (FLAME), for the development and promotion of women artists. 'The music industry is tough on women, sexism is rife and the economic climate means things are challenging,' says Manhenga. But, she adds, as long as people think out of the box and pull together the ground is fertile for artists to blossom.

'That is our function as writers', says Zimbabwean writer Rory Kilalea, 'to tell it as we see it'. In an interview with Conversations with Writers, Kilalea speaks about authors whose work has influenced him, his central concerns as a writer, and the novel he is currently working on, The Disappointed Diplomat. It is the story of a young man trying to forget his home in Zimbabwe and finding that home is not only a place but a state of mind.

The lack of strong political institutions and the over-bearing influence of the Executive are reversing Uganda's democratic gains, a new report says.Launched in Kampala, the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) country review report remains critical of the 2005 lifting of Presidential term limits particularly the process of removal which coincided with a Shs5 million payment to MPs.

Mining companies routinely deprive African countries of huge amounts of tax revenue that could be used to combat poverty, a new report reveals. Breaking the Curse: How Transparent Taxation and Fair Taxes can Turn Africa’s Mineral Wealth into Development highlights the methods mining companies use to pay as little tax as possible.

The Gambian court has freed opposition leader Halifa Sallah from jail with all the charges against him dropped. Mr Sallah who was arrested earlier this month, was charged with spying, sedition and holding illegal meetings. His release comes just a day after human rights organisation Amnesty International appealed for his release saying he was at risk of being tortured in jail also saying the country will not hold a fair trial for the man.

The Grand Coalition Government in Kenya seems to be losing the war against corruption. In the wake of widespread starvation and rising costs of living, TI-Kenya’s National Corruption Perceptions Survey shows that many Kenyans believe the government has the power, the ability but not the will to tackle corruption. Parliament stands especially indicted in the failure to uphold the common good.