cc Fearing for her life, South African activist Maureen Msisi is calling for support in the face of a petition from bond homeowners for her removal from Protea South, where she campaigns for fellow residents of informal settlements. Msisi’s efforts to ensure that residents can chose whether or not to be relocated elsewhere have put her in conflict with local government and middle-class homeowners in the area, who want to see all informal settlements eradicated. The petition alleges that Msisi is ‘promoting violence, only represents foreigners, and is blocking development in the area’. Msisi’s son, Bongani Xezwi, believes that her removal would not stop people from organising and fighting for their rights, but that without her community leadership abilities, chaos and aggression would be more likely.

cc Following the Pope’s discouraging comments in Cameroon over the use of condoms in relation to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, Nathan Geffen and Rebecca Hodes of Treatment Action Campaign charge that such papal views are misguided and fly in the face of evidence around the efficacy of both condom use and sex education for adolescents.

cc A just world is a noble goal, but in a ‘power-asymmetrical’ world in which richer nations mete out inappropriate measures for developing countries – from sanctions to arrest warrants – international rather than home-grown attempts to deliver justice can themselves easily become unjust, cautions Vikas Nath. The International Criminal Court’s (ICC) recent issue of an arrest warrant for Sudanese president Omar al-Bashir, for example, is widely seen across the African Union as likely to inflame rather than resolve the Darfur conflict. Nath underlines that each of the existing 13 arrest warrants issued by the ICC have been solely for citizens of four African countries, despite the perpetrating of crimes against humanity in Iraq, Gaza, Colombia and the Caucasus region, and concludes that solutions native to the African continent represent a far more appropriate means of resolving conflict.

cc Following a recent Tanzanian parliamentary session in which the minister of justice and constitutional affairs sanctioned a review of the Sexual Offences Special Provision Act (SOSPA) – with the intention of reducing the sentences of perpetrators – Salma Maoulidi examines the prevalence of gender-based violence and its impact upon women. Though a legitimate and profound issue, gender-based violence is rarely reported, and minimal action is taken against sexual offences at both the unofficial and official levels. Through a study Maoulidi conducted in Zanzibar, the author affirms that gender-based violence is frequently perceived as a moral rather than a legal crime, thus making prosecution difficult. Maoulidi is concerned with the influence which public officials and other figures of authority have in drafting and passing laws related to gender-based violence, and suggests that the minister did women and their struggle against sexual offences a disservice through his harmful and reckless remarks.

On the night of 18 February at around midnight and after Kenyans celebrated the 52nd anniversary of our hero Kimaathi Wachiuri, city council tractors embarked on demolishing all structures on Mwariro market in Kariokor. The land, measuring about 42 acres, has been supporting at least 3,000 poor Kenyans. By the next morning of 19 February all the structures had been brought down and the residents had lost all their wares. Several residents were shot at by administration policemen on that night, and were treated and discharged at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH). The land is said to have been allocated to a private developer of Somali nationality by the former MP Maina Kamanda and the current Councillor Muchiri. On contacting the area the MP seems to have failed to secure the land on behalf of the residents. Today, the residents are being hoodwinked to move to another piece of land in Ngara, which is not empty… It is now a month since this demolition occurred. is calling for action to stop this continued harassment of poor citizens. We shall be mobilising locals in the area to stop the demolition and construction of any new property on this land. We are asking our friends of Bunge La Mwananchi to join us to restore the livelihoods of the Kariakor people. We will stop this by any means necessary!
For and on behalf of Bunge La Mwananchi – Kariakor network

* Francis Wambugu is with – Kariakor network, the Kenyan people’s parliament.

cc Exploring the Mau Mau reparations case and Kenya’s subsequent decades-long struggle with the politicisation of land, Leigh Brownhill advocates the importance of social reparations and individual compensation for atrocities committed under British colonial policies, programmes, soldiers and settlers. British land reform policies implemented to punish the Mau Mau ultimately contributed to the impoverishment and social inequality of wide segments of Kenyan society. Although Brownhill believes that individual reparations for Mau Mau survivors and their families are necessary and appropriate – particularly with regard to Kenyan women continuing to carry the burden imposed by British counter-insurgency – she argues a more inclusive, social reparations-based approach will curb inequality in a way faithful to original Mau Mau principles.

The Liberator at Markato
what is his motto?
The Liberator,
who wore camouflage
in lieu of Dr.'s gown
has put a red hat on.

That Liberator
rules at night
as Leninist.
The godless,
boorish but clever,
works day and night
sitting at the Addis Palace.
Effervescent and unflagging
he is finishing
the task
assigned by Isayas.
That Liberator,
who fought without
understanding liberty;
that dreamer
wanted the palace for eternity.

That Liberator
who is godless
knows how to govern,
massacre,
and silence
with the barrel
of a gun.
That Liberator
now like a mad dog
roams town,
his mouth foaming
with the blood of the young.

The Sudan

That unknown village
Repugnant stage
A child killed
A mother raped
A father tortured
The whole world
Witnessed
Yet did nothing
I
You
Through silence
We all are accomplices

In the wake of a cross-party meeting of women ministers in Harare last week, Prespone Matawira discusses the continual absence of provisions to ensure equal numbers of women and men in positions of public and private authority, despite the Southern African Development Community’s (SADC) Protocol on Gender and Development and targets for 2015. While highlighting the political efforts of women MPs in general to struggle for women in Zimbabwe, Matawira contends that there are no ‘women’s issues’ per se, merely issues that have consequences for women, as for society at large.

cc Many lessons can be drawn from the historic 2008 elections in Ghana, writes Mawuli Dake. Different campaign strategies yielded diverse results, and voters are now looking more at politicians’ character and conduct when choosing their preferences rather than mere appearances or the provision of gifts, Dake maintains. Ghana went through three contentious rounds of voting, which resulted in the opposition’s victory and the transfer of power from one government to another without a single loss of life. This is a positive not just for Ghana, Dake suggests, but for the whole of west Africa.

© Contrasting governments' public willingness to show revulsion to the practice of torture with their reluctance to offer redress for their own pasts, Nicole K. Parshall discusses the actions of the British colonial authorities during the suppression of the Mau Mau movement in 1950s Kenya. While acknowledging that the need for truth and reconciliation around state-perpetrated atrocities has seen increasing recognition in recent years around the world, Parshall argues that the reluctance of the UK government to face up to its past actions represents a clear example of not practising what you preach.

Dibussi Tande reviews the following blogs:

Agendia Aloysius
Nigerian Best Forum
Gef’s Outlook
Tgoose's Blog
Scribbles from the Den

Dead Aid, a controversial new book by economist Dambisa Moyo, argues that cutting off all non-emergency assistance to Africa within five years "would help stimulate growth". But in countries like Zambia, the author's homeland, such a prescription could prove problematic, given the global financial turndown.

Rwanda requires $200 million by 2012 to connect 220,000 new electricity customers to the national grid, a government official said on Friday. The landlocked east African nation has 130,000 customers and available power capacity outstrips demand. Electricity supply is, however, expected to rise from 55 mw when two generation projects from methane gas in Lake Kivu are completed in three years.

Zimbabwe’s widespread cholera epidemic has now claimed over 4,000 lives since August, and almost 90,000 people have contracted the deadly disease, according to the latest United Nations report on the outbreak. Some 2,151 new cases of cholera were identified last week, down from 8,000 per week at the at the start of the year, noted the joint UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and World Health Organization (WHO) report.

Calling it “significant progress” toward the much-delayed elections in Côte d’Ivoire, the United Nations mission there today announced that the number of voters identified so far in the West African nation has surpassed 5.4 million. The Mission “urges all parties involved in the identification and registration process to redouble their efforts to maintain the momentum,” Hamadoun Touré, spokesperson for the UN Operation in Côte d'Ivoire (UNOCI), told reporters in Abidjan.

African leaders called for a bigger say in the management of the International Monetary Fund and urged rich nations to maintain aid flows as the U.S. and Europe spend billions of dollars to rescue their own economies. “The current crisis poses the greatest danger to development in recent history,” Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete told African finance ministers and central bank governors at an IMF conference in Dar es Salaam today. “So far, Africa’s voice on this unnerving situation has been muted.”

Nigeria's cabinet has rejected reforms that would have empowered the judiciary to pick the chairman and board members of the electoral commission. President Umaru Yar'Adua's cabinet insisted he should retain those powers. Democracy activists called the decision a U-turn and said it raised fears for the fairness of the next federal elections, due to be held in 2011.

Madagascar's defence minister has resigned after being confronted by a group of soldiers in his office. On Sunday, a section of the army announced they would no longer obey the government and would instead follow opposition leader Andry Rajoelina. Mr Rajoelina is understood to have taken refuge at the French embassy in the capital Antananarivo.

Roy Bennett, the top MDC official facing terrorism charges, was finally released from remand prison today and immediately vowed to work towards the rebuilding of Zimbabwe. His release follows a Supreme Court ruling on Wednesday. He was immediately whisked away by MDC officials led by the city’s mayor, Brian James to MDC offices where he addressed journalists.