Gambian authorities on Wednesday dragged Halifa Sallah, the detained opposition leader and publisher of pro-opposition Foroyaa Newspaper, before Brikama Magistrate’s Court on three-count charges relating to “sedition and spying,” authoritative sources in Banjul informed PANA. Sallah, a respected sociologist and leader of Gambia’s opposition coalition National Alliance for Democracy and Development (NADD), was later remanded at the “Mile Two Central Prison” on the outskirts of the capital.

Former Malawi President Bakili Muluzi appeared in the High Court in Blantyre on Thursday, but his lawyers asked for more time before the 66-year-old politician could take a plea. One of Muluzi's lawyers, Kalekeni Kaphale, told the presiding judge, Justice Mac Lean Kamwambe, that the Anti-Corruption Bureau only gave them the case file containing 80 counts on 4 March.

Over 100 observers, 80 of them from the Arab League, the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) and the UN, will be in Algeria to monitor the presidential election to be held on 9 April, Algerian prime minister, Mr. Ahmed Ouyahia, said here Wednesday. Speaking on national radio, Ouyahia said that over 20 million voters had been registered to vote following the revision of the voters' register.

The vice president of the Union of Democratic Forces (RFD), the main opposition party in Mauritania, Mohamed Mahmoud Ould Lematt, has rejected the electoral calendar proposed by military authorities, in power since the 6 August coup. In a chat with the press Wednesday afternoon in Nouakchott, Lematt said "This was unilaterally decided by the junta in power as part of the agenda aiming to give credence to the fait accompli."

With an annual growth of 7%, substantial foreign investment, and rapid expansion of education, Mozambique is often billed by donors as a development success. But in a new book, Do Bicycles Equal Development in Mozambique?, Joseph Hanlon and Teresa Smart argue that poverty is increasing and that a development model based on neo-liberalism and the Millennium Development Goals has failed.

Economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa is poised to halve from the average of the past decade to slightly more than 3 per cent in 2009 as the continent is struck by the “third wave” of the global economic crisis, the International Monetary Fund has warned. Antoinette Sayeh, director of the IMF’s Africa department, said the crisis that began in developed economies and then hit emerging markets was hurting the world’s poorest continent via low global commodity prices, tighter credit markets and depressed external demand.

President Rupiah Banda has launched the US$400 million Kariba North Bank extension project and said the Government had placed emphasis on building new power stations as well as expanding the existing ones. Mr Banda said to facilitate this development in the electricity sub-sector, the Government was in the process of concluding the legislation to make the sector one of the priority sectors in the provision of incentives under the Zambia Development Act.

WOZA leaders, Jenni Williams and Magodonga Mahlangu, appeared in Bulawayo Magistrate’s Court again today in a continuation of their trial on charges of disturbing the peace. The matter had been postponed from Thursday last week to give the Magistrate time to rule on a constitutional application on the grounds that the sections under which Williams and Mahlangu are charged violate their constitutional right to freedom of expression, association and assembly.

: When Africa finally realizes that if She does what She has done in the past, She will get the same results. Weak leadership is the problem causing corruption and other poor rule of law. Opportunities for the future of Africa have been given only to the elitist. The common man in Africa has been forgotten and no power has been given to him because of the lack of having a democracy that works.

If the U.S. is to be taken seriously as a "Global Leader" it must engage the global community in dialogue. is a move in the wrong direction. Such a serious mis-step signals a need for a closer monitoring of the Obama Administration's foreign policy decisions.

To start with, thanx for the . The past months when ever i saw an article about Zimbabwe it was always about something sad-political violance, cholera, inflation,starvation etc.Its such a relief to read on a positive topic and i do think Oliver "Tuku" has managed to fly the countrys flag high, not only the country's but Africa as a whole because issues he raises are shared by a lot of African cultures.The issue on scantly dressed women in musical videos you touched on does affect me personally, i think us women, are allowing ourselves to be used and we should wage a war against it!

Its saddening to read of by fellow human beings, trying to cover up there sins,why can the same organ of government(the police)do the job they are supposed to do,which is to protect people. It now talks volume when one Kiraithe (police spokesman) say that they dismiss the finding of extra judicial killings, rather than take the opportunity to change now and be judged by history they played a role to change ...

. Maybe Kibaki should be taken to the Hague because this are the likes of Charles Taylor and Mugabe. Using the force to kill innocent kenyans for no good reason: a case should be filed to the ICC so that the evil minded people we have can learn, Its clear that the Idiot spokesperson mutua new about the killing and he kept his word "we will deal with them".

– in all its many forms – is abhorrent to all who believe human life is a gift of God and therefore infinitely precious. Every attempt to intimidate others by inflicting indiscriminate death and injury upon them is to be universally condemned. The answer to Criminal gangs (Mungiki or death squads) however, cannot be to respond in kind, for this can lead to more violence and more terror. Instead, a concerted effort of all people is needed to remove any possible justification for such acts.Acts of violence are criminal acts, and should be addressed by the use of the instruments of the rule of law.

. so long, but yes we shall overcome. Organize we must, Agonize not as much. But we are headed to a predictably dark segment of our nation's search for itself, perhaps we may get out of the tunnel a better people. the darkest hour is before dawn they say. Yes, now state assasinations are targeted to the powerful as much as they are targeted at the hapless, the powerless, and the very downtrodden. and this is why i say we are entering a new phase of our eventual liberation. because the state has ceased to think and is haphazard in the deployment of its instruments of violence. but the silencing of the lambs may not stop the bleating of the sheep. we shall overcome.

Regarding , the only way to eradicate organised crime is from the top, not the bottom as we are being led to believe. Get rid of the organisers (not one token one) and the protectors in whatever place govt. or otherwise and we will get rid of this menace. Other countries are always ready to forego the small fry in order to trap the big wigs, not so us. We kill even innocents in our fake quest to eradicate the menace.

With the Zimbabwean economy’s dollarisation process fuelling persistent inflation in the country, Prespone Matawira discusses the ‘collective hypnosis’ and the mirage of opportunity surrounding the use of the US currency.

Following the death of Susan Tsvangirai last Friday 6 March, Prespone Matawira rounds up events behind the crash of the Tsvangirais’ vehicle and considers the emotional and political consequences for Zimbabwe's prime minister of losing the support of his wife.

cc Human rights activist Mary Ndlovu considers the possible outcomes of a four-week-old ‘unholy alliance between Zimbabwe’s former ruling party Zanu PF (Zimbabwe African National Union – Patriotic Front) and the MDC (Movement for Democratic Change) into a ‘Government of National Unity’ (GNU). Already the GNU has survived the arrest and incarceration of senior MDC leaders, Zanu PF’s persistent failure to implement major clauses of the power-sharing agreement on which the government is based, and a car accident widely perceived as an assassination attempt on Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, which killed his wife.

Some have been critical of the MDC’s decision to enter into a power-sharing agreement with Zanu PF before a fairer compromise was reached. But, notes Ndlovu, with the countrywide collapse of public services – from schools to electricity, hospitals, water treatment and banking – many Zimbabweans on the ground believed it was necessary for the MDC to get inside the government to begin the process of reconstruction.

There is cause for pessimism. Zanu PF hardliners seem determined to sabotage the GNU rather than work with the MDC to build Zimbabwe. Some say the MDC has been able to accomplish little since its swearing-in, and that the longer they are unable make progress on disputed issues, the more they will lose credibility and attract criticism from former supporters. Others fear the MDC will be swallowed by Zanu PF’s culture of corruption and cronyism, with Mercedes Benzes rolling out for both boys and girls alike.

But there is also cause for hope. Optimists believe that the combination of the finance ministry and several important service industries are enough for the MDC to show the people that they are concerned and are prepared to commit themselves to work feverishly to begin the formidable task of reconstruction.

Moreover, adds Ndlovu, rumours abound that the military top-brass are using the detainees as pawns or bargaining chips to obtain amnesty for their crimes, afraid to rely on the forces they command. Optimists believe hardliners won’t be able to hold the country hostage forever, as subtle power shifts begin to show themselves on the ground with a large percentage of intelligence officers and lower-ranking soldiers said to be disillusioned with Zanu PF and welcoming of change.

Nevertheless, Ndlovu is critical of the MDC’s failure to make any attempt to mobilise people to demonstrate the departure of the old and arrival of the new, with the task left to others like students and civil society groups such as WOZA (Women of Zimbabwe Arise) to test the waters and push the police to take a position.

It is unclear whether Tsvangirai’s injuries and bereavement will create a dangerous hiatus, causing the promise of the GNU to dissipate. What we do know, however, Ndlovu contends, is that each small step will be difficult and concessions will only be won through determination, perseverance and belief that progress can be achieved. And that belief can create reality.

cc While Kenya is formally a democracy, it lacks the political culture for this form of governance to thrive, says Makau wa Mutua. Wa Mutua argues that the successful investigation into and accounting for of British atrocities committed against members of the Mau Mau liberation movement currently being led by the Kenyan Human Rights Commission (KHRC) will trigger the process of national healing necessary to the sense of national identity and common purpose Kenya needs in order to succeed as a democratic state.