The flimsy mask
of sovereignty
unravels in the desert sand
The border posts and sentry gates
designed to imprison
the poor and the innocent
mean nothing in a season of pestilence

At the presidential palace in Mali
vagabond soldiers
Came to play their video games
and all came tumbling down

those who curse their parents
will always perish
those who invite hyenas to dinner
will always be the main course

And so the feasting is here
for all who do not build

And now the grand carnival
is the drunken show in town

Follow the tears
in the dust tracks
along the path of armoured cars
Decipher the strange inscriptions
all camouflaged
in the fumes that they expel
glistening with the branded
labels of the infidels

They bring no clean water
for those who thirst
They bring no healing
hand for the sick

They bring no food
for those who hunger
They bring no light
for the blind

for you who feast
on destruction
for you who worship
in the name of AK47 & Kalashnikov
know that every brick unhinged
in the Sahelean shifting sand
will be the chain around your neck
to the hell reserved for tyrants

For all the blessed
who have gone before

For all those in modesty
who will follow

For all the saints
who stand among the sinners

For all those mindful
in wisdom of the strident path

For all in piety
knowing the limits of their exaltation

For all the simple things
bequeathed in abundance

Timbuktu is a far place
the beacon that will bloom again
in the rock of faith

©Ishaq Imruh Bakari

O neocolonialismo na África é dinâmico e apresenta elementos novos, como a entrada de China, Índia e Brasil na disputa pelas riquezas, mão-de-obra e mercado do continente negro, antes território das potências europeias, da URSS e dos EUA.

This month marks 22 years since the mysterious passing of Muntu Myeza - a committed member and leader of the Black Consciousness Movement (BCM) in South Africa.

Financiers and businessmen operating in Africa are not, as some sympathisers would have it, being ripped off, but are themselves ripping off a people who have suffered at the hands of the West for a very long time.

Citizen-driven democracy, legislative activism and systemic change is the only thing that will hold companies to account. The case of Nigeria proves this.

It looks as though South Africa will finally lend cash-strapped Swaziland R2.4-billion, although the details, terms and conditions of the loan remain unclear. It has raised concern among pro-democracy activists who have always questioned the wisdom of the loan. Treasury spokesperson Jabulani Sikhakhane confirmed to the Mail & Guardian that a memorandum of understanding had been signed by the countries’ foreign ministers, but said 'discussions between the financial authorities are still ongoing'.

Zambia’s Minister of Mines, Energy and Water Development Isaac Banda from the opposition Movement for Multiparty Democracy (MMD) has relinquished his ministerial position with immediate effect, as pressure mounts for ministers appointed from the opposition to resign their posts. Banda is among the nine MMD Members of Parliament from the former ruling party who were threatened with expulsion by party president Nevers Mumba if they did not give up their ministerial positions.

Zimbabwean government workers held protests 25 July in Harare against poor salaries after the Finance minister Tendai Biti ruled out an increment this year. The workers are demanding a salary of $564 for the least paid worker and 15 per cent of the basic salary as rural allowance for those working outside urban centres. The lowest paid civil servant earns $296.

United Nations helicopters have fired on rebel positions in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo after new clashes broke out between rebel fighters and loyalist troops, officials have said. The airbourne action followed renewed clashes that broke out between M23 rebel fighters and loyalist troops, north of the regional capital Goma. The second such UN action against rebels came in response to a rebel offensive 'against the civilian population', Mamodj Munubai, a spokesman for MONUSCO, the UN mission in DR Congo, said on Tuesday, 24 July.

The International Monetary Fund on Monday approved a $156.2 million loan to Malawi's new government to address the country's chronic balance of payments problems and to boost economic growth. The fund said it would immediately disburse $19.5 million to the country, which elected a new president, Joyce Banda, in April. The economy had been teetering on the brink of collapse after former President Bingu wa Mutharika told donors he could run the aid-dependent country without their help.

President Michael Sata says former president Rupiah Banda is trying to divide Zambians on ethnic lines. Sata says he does not understand why it should be up to Rupiah Banda to decide what race, tribe and region a president should come from. The Post, quoting unknown sources wrote that Rupiah Banda wants Hakainde Hichilema and Nevers Mumba to enter into an alliance but wants it to be led by Hichilema because he doesn’t want a Bemba to rule again, MMD sources have revealed.

On 16 July, civil society organisations demanded the postponement of the elections scheduled for August 31 over claims of a lack of adequate provisions for free and fair polls. A day earlier, police arrested several hundred demonstrators for alleged public disorder at the Sao Paolo market. In the coming weeks, Luanda and major cities are likely to experience an upsurge in public protests from opposition parties, war veterans and civil society groups.

South Africa has mostly delegated the care of its poor and vulnerable to NGOs, but with funding drying up, these groups are struggling to keep their heads above water. This Mail&Guardian multimedia presentation provides a visual insight into the situation.

Analysts critical of Zimbabwe's draft constitution say it is a flawed collection of compromises that is doomed to be 'thrown away by future nations'. The proposed document, which will be subject to a referendum, was crafted by experts from the main political parties to a power-sharing government that has been in place since a violence-marred 2008 election. The draft curtails presidential powers and limits terms to 10 years.

South Africa’s disgraced former police commissioner Jackie Selebi, who also served as the President of Interpol, has received a medical parole, clearing the way for his immediate release from prison. Correctional Services Minister Sibusiso Ndebele told a media briefing in Pretoria that his department had limited capacity to provide for the palliative care needed by some offenders. He was referring to Selebi’s medical problems, including the need for dialysis because of kidney problems.

The European Union is to suspend most sanctions against Zimbabwe once it has held a credible referendum on a new constitution, EU foreign ministers say. More than a 100 key individuals have been covered under an EU travel ban and assets freeze imposed in 2002. The sanctions were originally imposed a decade ago in response to human rights abuses and political violence. But sanctions would remain against President Robert Mugabe, AFP news agency quotes EU diplomats as saying.

Tunisia's ex-strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali has been sentenced in absentia to life in prison for complicity in the murders of 43 protesters in the 2011 revolution that toppled him, a military judge has said. Hedi Ayari of the Tunis military court said that Ben Ali was judged with around 40 of his former officials, including General Ali Seriati, ex-head of presidential security, who was given a 20-year prison term.

The ruling African National Congress (ANC) and its allies have vowed to put an end to political killings which have been on the rise in South Africa. The National Freedom Party has seen 21 of its members killed since last year, while the ANC has also seen an unidentified number of local politicians killed, according to the South African Press Association.

The ongoing protests in Sudan have shaken the ruling National Congress Party (NCP) of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir to its core, writes Ahmed Kodouda, senior program associate for the East and Horn of Africa Programme at Freedom House. 'To understand the complex challenge the Sudanese people face, it is imperative to unpack the ruling NCP and its internal components. Fundamentally, the NCP administration is an amalgamation of three distinct yet inextricably linked entities: the Sudanese military, the Islamic Movement in Sudan (Sudan's Muslim Brotherhood) and the ruling party (or the clique of individuals and businesses under Bashir).'

Shell’s reaction to the fine announced by the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) over its Bonga oil spill of December 2011 is in line with the oil companies’ stance of avoiding responsibility whenever possible.