ActionAid International Malawi has fired over 30 employees amid reports of effects of the global economic recession on its programmes. ActionAid board chairperson Alick Msowoya told reporters last week they could not ignore the current global economic situation although some donors had not yet reneged on their commitments to the organisation. Msowoya confirmed the organisation fired 31 employees, bringing the total number of its staff to 56 across the country.

On Thursday, 12th February, 2009 at 9.00 am, Justice Nyamu of Nairobi’s High Court, once again sat to listen to the landmark citizen instituted case against the Parliamentary Service Commission (PSC) in which 17 representative Kenyans are seeking orders that the PSC be declared unconstitutional along with the law that created it and further that the High Court order the recovery of all the money estimated at KES 7 billion and other resources the PSC has squandered on Parliamentarians since 2003.

At the invitation of Malian President Amadou Toumany Toure, Chinese President Hu Jintao will make a two-day state visit to the country from Thursday. The visit is widely believed to significantly push forward China-Mali ties, expand pragmatic cooperation between the two countries and open a new chapter in bilateral friendship. Since the establishment of diplomatic relations in 1960, China and Mali have built up political trust and support toward each other.

- Is the world really in a recession? Claims of a world recession is exaggerated. Would the authors please share their definition of recession? or perhaps show some statistics that the world is in recession? According to all estimates and forecast the world economy will continue growing in 2009, and indeed outside of the advanced economies much of the developing world will be growing at rates higher than population growth.
UNU-WIDER

We are sick and tired of the rhetoric by so called in the diaspora who don't have an idea of how bad the situation on the ground is like. Why don't you Tendai come to Zim just for one week to understand why MDC had to backtrack. Stop writing nonsense and get back to your senses. Stop this rhetoric and join others in contributing positively to the struggling masses...tumira hupfu kumusha wosiyana nokunyora zvisina maturo...

I do understand with the MDC’s decision to join the new government. But to argue that nine years of MDC’s struggle came to naught is too simplistic and does not take into consideration the concessions made by Mugabe. A reading of Mugabe’s speeches clearly points to the fact that he was not prepared to move an inch. Remember he does not trust MDC and MDC people should not trust Mugabe. A journey begins with a small step Tendai, and we hope that this step leads us to a new Zimbabwe. We do not expect to reach there today, but someday, by the will of God, surely we will be there. What we are witnessing now is a paradigm shift in political matters together with a gradual transfer of power- from those who have plundered this country to those, whom the electorate, believe are fresh and have new ideas in our, efforts (Zimbabweans and the international commuhnity)to undo the damages of the ‘lost decade’.
University of Minnesota

Mugabe had the opportunity to free the masses of Zimbabwe from the oppressive nature of the colonial system, but he blew it . His decision to follow the neo-colonial path and to turn his back on democratization brought Zimbabwe to its knees. It is my hope that the new Prime Minister not make the same mistake. Free elections as the situation in Zimbabwe has brought to the fore is one part of the solution. The other part is immediate legal land reform that recognizes the historical destruction of cultural system of ownership and production of food. Mugabe's failure is his lack of recognition that land reform should have been the backbone of the process of democratic renewal which began with his election. He turned his back on history and the oppressive nature of history. I hope that his successors learn from that mistake.

Thanks for this . While Obama's and US policy towards Africa is likely to change, we must understand that this will not take place outside of activism on the part of African society. African society in this new era of change and openness need to deconstruct and dismantle the neo-colonial bonds which has strangled development from the bottom-up over the last thirty or so years. African policy makers, African civil society, and African peoples must play their part in forging new pathways and new relations. This would mean that they will have to develop new approaches and ideas based in their cultures and history in order to reshape and reorganize development goals. What is required is a new period of bottom-up development. The election of Barack Obama and his idea of change has to be met with new challenges by the ordinary people of Africa seeking to regain the ground lost since the colonial slave trade, the placing of its citizens in reserves and the appropriation of their land, and the oppression which continued with the imposition of neo-colonial rule. Africa must learn from the failure of elections in Zimbabwe and South Africa. Elections which did not deliver democracy for the majority. Change and Democracy in Africa in the era of Obama must begin with long overdue land reform. Reforms which has been forestalled over the last three decades because of local collusion and adherence to the neo-colonial agenda of international capital. African society and African leaders must enter the debate of change based on a paradigm that is home grown and rooted in the culture of their societies.

cc. That South Africa must face an epidemic in the infancy of its democratic age is perhaps one of the great injustices of our time, writes Theodore Powers. Facing up to the legacy of AIDS dissidence must do more than simply substitute a heterodox discourse of HIV/AIDS with an orthodox scientific position. A sustained and localised response that aligns politically opposed social organisations and state institutions while utilising existing social institutions, Powers maintains, is not only cost-effective, but creates a united front in support of improved public health and orthodox science.

cc. Journalist Venance Konan delves into the Côte d’Ivoire impasse and reveals that the interminable delays in setting a date for the elections are due to the machinations of political elites who continue to benefit from the status quo. While various protagonists on the political stage drag their feet, ordinary citizens continue to suffer grinding poverty and the imminent threat of renewed violence. Konan calls on Côte d’Ivoire’s civil society and the international community as a whole to act for the sake of the Ivorian people.

Me Gourmo Abdou Lô, 2009-02-09

Mauritanian advocate and member of the National Defence Front Me Gourmo Abdou Lô explains the rational, scope and effectiveness of imposing sanctions against military regimes who come to power by way of coups d’état, as was done by the African Union’s Peace and Security Council in Mauritania. He assesses the danger of silence on the part of the international community in the face of the resurgent militarism on the continent. He points out that the successful Ghanaian elections should not obfuscate the inherent flaws in the continent's democratic processes, with particular reference to Guinea and Mauritania.

Sokari Ekine reviews the following blogs:

Mama Shujaa
ScarlettLion - Uganda
Meskel Square
Afrigadget
Black Looks

cc. Developed as a participatory platform in sharp contrast to the general absence of space for political representation in the Kenyan nation, this article traces the history of the Bunge La Mwananchi (Parliament of the People) social movement through its members’ own voice. Set against the backdrop of the intolerant Moi government, Bunge offered a viable alternative to the corruption-riddled and ethno-factional nature of official party politics, and has continued to challenge the excesses of the country’s political class. With a view to further advancing the success of the movement, Bunge calls upon fellow Kenyans to open new chapters around the country and make their voices heard.

cc. In response to the reaction of 33 scholars to the publishing of Mahmood Mamdani’s , seek to ignore or discredit the considerable research of Sam Moyo on the land question, Johnson stresses that ‘deep thinking’ requires an actual engagement with the scholarship of informed individuals in place of mere dismissals and allegations of Mugabe ‘cronyism’.

cc. After a decade of political polarisation and international stand-off, the debate on Zimbabwe has finally been opened up to a wider reading public, thanks to Mahmood Mamdani’s ‘Lessons of Zimbabwe’ appearing in the London Review of Books (4 December 2008) and [email protected] or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org/.

NOTES

For letters in response to Mahmood Mamdani (http://www.lrb.co.uk/v30/n23/mamd01_.html), see Terence Ranger, Gavin Kitching, Patrick Bond,

On the politics of the land reform and the character of the state, see Sam Moyo & Paris Yeros (2005), ‘Land Occupations and Land Reform in Zimbabwe’, op. cit.; Sam Moyo & Paris Yeros (2007a), ‘The Radicalised State: Zimbabwe’s Interrupted Revolution’, Review of African Political Economy, 111; Sam Moyo & Paris Yeros (2007b), ‘The Zimbabwe Question and the Two Lefts’, Historical Materialism, vol. 14, no. 4; Sam Moyo & Paris Yeros (forthcoming, a), ‘After Zimbabwe: State, Nation and Region in Africa’, in The National Question Today: The Crisis of Sovereignty in Africa, Asia and Latin America, edited by S. Moyo, P. Yeros & J. Vadell; Wilbert Sadomba (2008), War Veterans in Zimbabwe’s Land Occupations, op. cit.; Amanda Hammar & Brian Raftopoulos (2003), ‘Zimbabwe’s Unfinished Business: Rethinking Land, State and Nation’, in Zimbabwe’s Unfinished Business: Rethinking Land, State and Nation in the Context of Crisis, edited by A. Hammar, B. Raftopoulos & S. Jensen, Harare: Weaver Press.

On the international politics of the Zimbabwe question, see Sam Moyo & Paris Yeros (forthcoming, b), ‘Delinking in Crisis: The Resurgence of Radical Nationalism in the South Atlantic’; Sam Moyo & Paris Yeros (2007b), ‘The Zimbabwe Question and the Two Lefts’, op. cit.; Gregory Elich, ‘Zimbabwe Under Siege’, Swans Commentary, and Stephen Gowans (2008), ‘Cynicism as a Substitute for Scholarship’, http://gowans.wordpress.com/2008/12/30/cynicism-as-a-substitute-for-scholarship/

On the economic recovery, see UNDP (2008), Comprehensive Economic Recovery in Zimbabwe: A Discussion Document, Harare; Sarah Bracking & Lionel Cliffe (2008), Plans for a Zimbabwe Aid Package: Blueprint for Recovery or Shock Therapy Prescription for Liberalisation?, mimeo.; M. Lupey (2008), A Four Step Recovery Plan for Zimbabwe, CATO,

cc. Speaking at the Kenya We Want Conference (4–6 February 2009), Yash Ghai elegantly outlines his views on the historical limitations of Kenya’s constitution and the holistic service it should provide in shaping lives rooted in opportunities, representation, freedom of expression and ‘nation building’. While keen to see the development of a constitution true to these goals, Ghai highlights the inherent complexity of creating such a national document, and concludes that a constitution’s successful implementation ultimately hinges upon a country’s ability to foster popular, representative participation and a culture of genuine respect for the law.

I was only six years old
when they led me to the bush, to my slaughterhouse.
Too young to know what it all entailed,
I walked lazily towards the waiting women.

Deep within me was the desire to be cut,
as pain was my destiny:
it is the burden of femininity,
so I was told.
Still, I was scared to death . . .
but I was not to raise an alarm.

The women talked in low tones,
each trying to do her tasks the best.
There was the torso holder
she had to be strong to hold you down.
Legs and hands each had their own woman,
who needed to know her task
lest you free yourself and flee for life.

The cutting began with the eldest girl
and on went the list.
Known to be timid, I was the last among the six.
I shivered and shook all over;
butterflies beat madly in my stomach.
I wanted to vomit, the waiting was long,
the expectation of pain too sharp,
but I had to wait my turn.
My heart pounded, my ears blocked;
the only sound I understood
was the wails from the girls,
for that was my destiny as well.

Finally it was my turn, and one of the women
winked at me:
Come here, girl, she said, smiling unkindly.
You won’t be the first nor the last,
but you have only this once to prove you are brave!
She stripped me naked. I got goose pimples.
A cold wind blew, and it sent warning signs
all over me. I choked, and my head
went round in circles as I was led.

Obediently, I sat between the legs of the woman
who would hold my upper abdomen,
and each of the other four women grasped my legs and hands.
I was stretched apart and each limb firmly held.
And under the shade of a tree . . .
The cutter begun her work . . .
the pain . . . is so vivid to this day,
decades after it was done.
God, it was awful!

I cried and wailed until I could cry no more.
My voice grew hoarse, and the cries could not come out,
I wriggled as the excruciating pain ate into my tender flesh.
Hold her down! cried the cursed cutter,
and the biggest female jumbo sat on my chest.
I could not breathe, but there was nobody
to listen to me.
Then my cries died down, and everything was dark.
As I drifted, I could hear the women laughing,
joking at my cowardice.

It must have been hours later when I woke up
to the most horrendous reality.
The agonizing pain was unbearable!
It was eating into me, every inch of my girlish body was aching.
The women kept exchanging glances
and talked loudly of how I would go down in history,
to be such a coward, until I fainted in the process.
Allahu Akbar! they exclaimed as they criticized me.

I looked down at my self and got a slap across my face.
Don’t look, you coward, came the cutter’s words;
then she ordered the women to pour hot sand on my cut genitals.
My precious blood gushed out and foamed.
Open up, snarled the jumbo woman, as she poured the sand on me.
Nothing they did eased the pain.

Ha! How will you give birth? taunted the one with the smile.
I was shaking and biting my lower lip.
I kept moving front, back, and sideways as I writhed in pain.
This one will just shame me! cried the cutter.
Look how far she has moved, how will she heal?
My sister was embarrassed, but I could see pain in her eyes . . .
maybe she was recalling her own ordeal.
She pulled me back quickly to the shed.

The blood oozed and flowed. Scavenger birds
were moving in circles and perching on nearby trees.
Ish ish, the women shooed the birds.
All this time the pain kept coming in waves,
each wave more pronounced than the one before it.

The women stood us up but warned us not to move our legs apart.
They scrubbed the bloody sand off our thighs and small buttocks,
then sat us back down.
A hole was dug,
malmal, the stick herb, was pounded;
The ropes for tying our legs were ready.
Charcoal was brought and put in the hole,
where there was dried donkey waste and many herbs—these were the cutter’s paraphernalia.

The herbs were placed on the charcoal,
and we were ordered to sit on the hole.
As I sat with smoke rising around me,
I could hear the blood dropping on the charcoal,
and more smoke rose.
The pain was somehow dwindling but I felt weak
and nauseated.
Maybe she is losing blood? my sister asked worriedly.
No, no. It will stop once I place the herbs, cried the cutter impatiently.

The malmal was pasted where my severed vaginal lips had been,
and then I was tied from my thighs to my toes
with very strong ropes from camel hide.
A long stick was brought and the women took turns
showing us how to walk, sit, and stand.
They told us not to bend or move apart our legs—
This will make you heal faster, they said,
but it was meant to seal up that place.

The drop of the first urine,
more burning than the aftermath of the razor,
passed slowly, bit by bit,
one drop after another,
while lying on my side.
There was no washing, no drying,
and the burning kept on for hours later.
But there was no stool . . .
at least, I don’t remember.

For the next month this was my routine.
There was no feeding on anything with oil,
or anything with vegetables or meat.
Only milk and ugali formed my daily ration.
I was given only sips of water:
This avoids "wetting" the wound and delaying healing, they said.

We would stay in the bush the whole day.
The journey from the bush back home began around four and ended sometimes at seven.
All this time we had to face the heat
and bare-footedly slide towards home . . .
with no water, of course.
We were not to bend if a thorn stuck us,
never to call for help loudly
as this would "open" us up and the cutter
would be called again.
Everything was about scary dos and don’ts.

I stayed on with the other five
for the next four weeks. None of us bathed;
lice developed between the ropes and our skin,
biting and itching the whole day and night.
There was no way to remove them,
at least not until we healed.

The river was only a kilometer away.
Every morning the breeze carried the sweet scent of its waters to us,
making our thirst more real.

The day the cutter was called back
each of us shivered and prayed silently,
each hoping we had healed and there would be no cutting again.
Thank God we were all done
except one unlucky girl
who had to undergo it all again,
and took months to heal.

Our heads were shaved clean.
The ropes untied, lice dropped at last.
We were showered and oiled,
but most important was the drinking of water.
I drank until my stomach was full,
but the mouth and throat yearned for more.

It was over.
All over my thighs were marks from the ropes,
dotted with patches from the lice wounds.
Now I was to look after myself,
to ensure that everything remained intact
until the day I married.

(The Cut ® 2006 Maryam Sheikh Abdi.)

* Maryam Sheikh Abdi is a program officer for the programme.
* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org/.

Oscar Grant was brutally killed by the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) Police (in California, USA) in the early hours of New Year's Day 2009, an event that was captured on video and . In a poetic response, Sheilagh ‘Cat’ Brooks reflects on the impact of this event.

cc. Dated 19 December 2008 and originally widely published in Arabic following his arrest and torture, Monim Elgak’s letter to Salah Abdullah, the director general of the Sudanese Security and Intelligence service, suggests that his own gross mistreatment while detained is nothing when compared with Sudan at large. Offering a crushing indictment of the Sudanese regime’s oppressive policies and blatant disdain for human rights and freedom of expression, the author writes that redress for his own experiences will only come through the implementation of a restorative package of reforms on the back of sustained political will.

cc. Reflecting on the refusal of