Aryan Kaganof is a writer who possesses the rare capability to capture grotesque and bleak scenes and moments in words of a lyrical and poetic beauty that lands deep into the heart and mind of a reader like the melody of a serenading love song. In The Ballad of Sugar Moon and Coffin Deadly, Aryan Kaganof comes out as a brave and seasoned craftsman who is unflinching in dismantling the barricade between prose and poetry and between a poem and a novel. He goes into the depths of the dark and light areas of the heart of a murderer and blows to dust the false securities of the high-tech and securocratic world. Like a sharp-knife his words cut into the veil of order and security supposedly provided by the institutions of the sate, the army and the police as well as sophisticated technology. He exposes the gaps and lapses in the strictures and structures that are supposed to keep humanity in order.

The Ballad of Sugar Moon and Coffin Deadly tells the story of the romance between Coffin Deadly and Sugar Moon and their romance with death. Coffin Deadly is addicted to killing for its sake, just for the thrill and spasm that goes with the shattering shout of his Glock 19 mm parabelllum pistol and the shocked ogle of victims and onlookers whom he tells in advance what he is up to. He meets Sugar Moon at the abortion clinic, seduced by the look of greedy surprise in her eyes as he pulled out a bankroll of R200 notes, and drawn closer to her by her thin rubber-like legs and the tightness that clutches him beyond control during intercourse. The turning point in Coffin Deadly’s life is when he is rewarded not with the promised millions of dollars and the expected heroic status but time in prison for killing the most wanted terrorist in the world -Osama Bin Laden. To boot it all, this aesthetically progressive man who knows the inside-outs of Kwaito and listens to everything from opera music to house is bundled together in a cell with the crazy idiots of the Boeremag who cannot discern the poetics in Kwaito music. Inside he hears about the ill-fated death of Kwaito\Afro-Pop star Tebza of Mafikizolo fame and contemplates turning a new leaf.

Through the voice and deeds of Coffin Deadly- who personifies death and the death of conscience- Aryan Kaganof peers beneath the mask and veneer of civility and decorum to lay bare and open to the naked eye the frivolity and falsity of the li(f)e we live. Coffin Deadly commits his murders in broad-daylight, under the watchful eyes of the police and walking through the sophisticated vigilance of detectors and the security of digital cameras, electric fences and boom gates. His potent weapon is being and truthful about what he is, what he does and what drives him. All his killings and robberies are done under the public eye and yet he is the only audience of his actions. He provides the security guards, the police and the public with sincere answers of what he is up to and succinct clues that he is the murderer but they still do not get it. The only logical explanation of this is that society is too used to speaking and living a lie that it just cannot hear the voice that speaks about one real fact – death.

* Published by Pine Slopes Publications, 2007

We praise the man who,
though he held the match between
his finger and his thumb,
beheld the terror of its tiny drop of phosphorous,
its brown and globoid smoothness
like a charred and tiny skull
and so returned it to its box.

So too, we hail the youth who,
though he took his panga on the march,
perceived it odd within his fist
when there was neither scrub
nor firewood to be felled,
so laid it down.

An acclamation for the man who,
though he saw the woman running, clothing torn,
and though he lusted,
saw his mother in her youth,
restrained his colleagues
and withdrew.

We pay our homage to the man who,
though his heart was like a stone
and though he took a stone to cast,
could feel its hardness in the softness of his palm
and grasped the brittleness of bone,
so let it drop.

We laud the man who,
though he snatched to scrutinise
the passenger’s I.D.,
saw not the name – instead, the face –
and slid it back
as any friend might slide his hand to shake a friend’s.

And to the rest of us,
a blessing:
may you never have to be that man,
but if you have to,
BE!

*Stephen Partington, is the Kwani? poetry editor and a member of the Concerned Kenyan Writers Initiative.

* Please send comments to or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

I would not call this book a narrative in the conventional sense, but it tells a story nonetheless. It is a story of time, the times we live in. It is also (and this is where then non-narrative part comes in) a story of a man's mind. Charles is this man. His story is an engaging mixture of curiosity, great learning, down-to-earth humour, and social comment. He has left Cameroon for Merrie England to study philosophy, and he compares and contrasts the English society (and to my mind, the entire Western society by extension) with Africa. The hilarity occasioned by some of his observations is alone adequate recompense for buying the book.

The Zamdela Arts and Culture Center in conjunction with Ditiro Productions and Icebound Projects host the Zamdela Spoken Word Fest from 29 February to 2 March 2008. The festival is aimed at promoting the culture of reading and writing by improving the writing and performance expertise of budding writers and exposing their works to the broader community, and by building relations between emerging and established writers. Organizers hope that the event would boost the morale of writers and artists and open doors for publishing and recording opportunities for them

The Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) is pleased to call for proposals for its revamped programme for the publication of text books for use in African universities. The programme was initially introduced as part of a broad set of objectives for achieving greater balance and relevance in curriculum development in African universities by making available to teachers and students, text books that are adapted to the African historical context and the environment of research and learning on the continent.

Goretti Kyomuhendo’s novella, Waiting, as the title suggests, is about waiting. A strange kind of waiting where, as the narrative unfolds, one does not experience the feeling that the characters or the community that are the novella’s focus are trapped or static. Rather, there is a lot of ‘movement,’ especially internal, as the characters adjust and go ahead to make lives that are both meaningful and normal in a war situation.

No Easy Victories makes clear that our lives and fortunes around the globe are indeed linked." - Nelson Mandela Hundreds of thousands of Americans mobilized to oppose apartheid in the 1980s. That successful movement built on decades of behind-the-scene s links between African liberation movements and American activists, both black and white.

we hear a woman’s raped every
30 minutes this fact needs to be
adjusted as 56 & more
many more were assaulted
inside the first 2 days of
premeditated brutality
of the elephants’ skirmish

their bodies are the frontline
where foes are belittled
& age-old grudges viciously settled
meanwhile rallies sermonise
peacemakers negotiate &
dealmakers mediate
they play the blame game who instigated
what who killed whom excuse me while
i spit & yet do not speak
of the trauma & the terror
& shun the soundless screams of
untold others who in mute silence suffer
they talk about democracy
about ethnocracy autocracy
& just about any cracy you can think of
malevolence shrouded in words
while powerless women little girls
boys & men are abused what
do they know about sacrilege how much
do they care about the shame & humiliation?
how many little girls did you rape today baba?
we know bodies may be healed but
spirit bruises soul lacerations are
indelible quotidian &
never ever leave your side

their bodies are a battlefield
whose destruction’s a conscious
act of ethnic cleansing

in some place we hear
the price for one rape is a goat how
many goats for gang rapes or
for sodomised little boys
we know this isn’t about gratification
nor passion & we are aware of the imperative
revenge domination control
opportunism thuggery it
really doesn’t really matter as the
sacrifice’s been made
the earth’s tasted their blood
their tears soak the ground
mission accomplished
they ask what they should do
as they pray for divine reckoning &
vengeance of cosmic magnitude
they live in constant sorrow & in dread of the hatred spewing
men with rungus for fists & serrated panga eyes
do they not feel pain when you
hurt them do they not bleed when you defile them?

their bodies are a battle ground
their violation
a weapon of war their
bodies are a combat zone
their degradation a
weapon of mass destruction

*Mshairi (poet in Kiswahili) administers the Kenyan Blogs Webring - KenyaUnlimited and the African Women’s Blog. You can find more work from the poet at

*Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org/

FOREIGN POLICY (www.foreignpolicy.com) describes itself as "the premier, award-winning magazine of global politics, economics, and ideas." This influential right-wing magazine produced in Washington DC, devoted a two page tirade as a review of Fahamu's book "From Slave Trade to 'free' trade". The review, written by Jeffrey Herbst, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at Miami University concludes:

"... 'From the Slave Trade' speaks to more Africans than the speeches and databases of the world’s international financial institutions."

With a recommendation like that, how could you resist getting your own copy (it's available free as a download)!

Details at:

This novel is about coming of age and coming to terms in Mimboland. It is also about the fragility of life and the strength of the human spirit. The filth and screaming splendor of the city and the perplexed tranquility of the village are juxtaposed, as the tension and conviviality between tradition and modernity are lived and explored. Roads and drivers, dreams and public transport link different geographies. Faltering along or speeding away, these spaces of risk, frustration and solidarity are filled with popular songs as vehicles for understanding events and relationships.

Wideman’s first novel in a decade conjures the author of The Wretched of the Earth and his urgent relevance today Wideman’s fascinating new novel weaves together fiction, biography, and memoir to evoke the life and message of Frantz Fanon, the influential author of The Wretched of the Earth. A philosopher, psychiatrist, and political activist, Fanon was a fierce, acute critic of racism and oppression. Born of African descent in Martinique in 1927, Fanon fought to defend France during World War II and then later against France in Algeria’s war for independence.

This is a tribute to the “Man In Black T Shirt”
His name we may or may not know
But that’s how he was referred to by the KTN Television network...

The Ministry of Health has advised displaced Aids patients not to take an under dose of Antiretroviral drugs. The ministry acknowledged that victims might experience difficulties accessing the drugs, but cautioned against reduction of the daily dosage. On Thursday, the Director of Medical Services, Dr James Nyikal, asked patients who interrupt medication to keep records to enable medical staff help them when they resume.

Mike Davis’s book Planet of Slums provides a brilliant account of the rapid growth of urban areas and megaslums, created by the hammer blows of the global restructuring of the world system since the 1970s. Though Davis’s principle arguments concern the extraordinary growth of “megacities”, he also raises vital questions about the role of the working class in a world transformed by “market reforms” since the mid_1970s.

The struggle for control of biodiversity is passionate: Corporate leaders assume they can make billions; many scientists aspire to manufacturing “new” species; the promise of new cures tantalizes. But no scientist, no patent lawyer, or economist can depict the whole picture. This book gives voice to those in Africa who know better—and are willing to help others see the horror of the biopiracy and enclosure behind the camouflage of advancing “innovation,” “land reform,” and “free trade.” Sharing bioresources requires not only different views of science, of law, of trade, but also of community.

there are too many battles
and too many wounds
and I
I can't take it
I don't - want - to know

that Flora Tera
was force-fed feces
mixed with hair
torn from her head
only metres away
from her own home
in Meru
to stop her
running for office

I want to cover my ears and scream
to block out the voices that chant

that Piah Njoki had her eyes
gouged out by her husband
because she did not bear him
Your browser may not support display of this image.a son

I want to be free of the murder
that pounds in my brain

because Ann Njogu was beaten
kicked, dragged
down a flight of stairs
by the police
for daring to exercise
her constitutional right
to free speech

I want to pretend it won't happen to me

did you know that a woman is raped
every thirty minutes
every
thirty
minutes
in Kenya?

I am not a part of this bleeding
this scream
I don't want to challenge argue fight
construct confront negotiate
beg for change

do you hear me??

I want to retreat
to a room filled with
humans
shut out the night
the fear and the pain
hear myself stop
screaming inside

unravel my breathing ask
in a very
low
voice

dare I
claim the right Your browser may not support display of this image.
to a voice
that does not
scream?

Copyright Shailja Patel 2007.
*This poem was initially published in the WAJIBU JOURNAL Volume 22. No 4 (November - December 2007)

The UNESCO International Conference and Exhibition on Knowledge Parks provides a platform for key players around the world to help translate the concept of knowledge societies into concrete solutions for development. It sensitizes policy makers to the value of specialized knowledge parks and knowledge hubs to support and drive economic development and capacity building. The conferenc will take place in Doha, Qatar on March 29-31, 2008.

It was not with routine interest that I opened a copy of the book volume on “Transitions in Namibia”. This year has towards its end brought visible efforts to redirect the way Namibia is going politically, and thus redirect the lives of Namibians. The recent congress of the ruling SWAPO Party made important decisions, that were already in advance challenged by a new party formed by people with a background of the very core of SWAPO for the last three decades. We do not know what happens with the Rally for Democracy and Progress (RDP). Will it experience the same as the Congress of Democrats, founded less than ten years ago, or will it be able to create enough support to really influence the way Namibia is developing? I would simplify the choices as either following the Zimbabwe way to disaster, or to find another, essentially more democratic and economically just and viable way of development.

Every analysis is based on history. I have found by experience that the government of Namibia is not really interested in history at all. They want something, which Chris Saunders calls “patriotic history”. The idea is to produce “the one and only” history. The right one, giving the only truth of what has taken place. It is almost written already. Sam Nujoma has published a book called “Where Others Wavered”, which aims to enshrine armed struggle as the decisive factor in bringing freedom and independence. As Saunders points out, the aim is to cement the arm of exile leaders in the present and coming power struggles in the power struggle establishing “liberation credentials” and labelling deviating opinions as unpatriotic and imperialist.

In writing about the centrally important issue of land, Phanuel Kaapama discusses also the surprising way SWAPO turned its coat from a quite rigid soviet version of socialism to all out capitalism just before the 435-process commenced at the end of the 1980’s. I do not question the wisdom of Hidipo Hamutenya, when he said in 1990: “democratisation of Namibian society was necessary before the process of socialist transformation could commence”. But contrary to what happened in South Africa, there was almost no public discussion whatsoever on this tremendous change of basic political line. Even the labour leaders adopted with little resistance a so-called “social partnership”.

Namibian leaders have repeatedly expressed their admiration of the Zimbabwean land distribution policies. I do not believe, however, that Namibia will in this question follow the disastrous footsteps. The government knows well the experience of the couple of hundred farms which have been bought by state or individuals through Affirmative Action Loan Scheme. The experience shows how all important is the professional competence of the new farmers. Instead of becoming prosperous, new farmers have impoverished and become dependent of continuous government support for survival. Some have found paid work in neighbouring farms. Some owners have rented the farm back to the previous owner. Without training and slowly accumulating expertise farms do not produce the expected returns. In this issue, Mr Kaapama is somewhat too optimistic, I suspect, in indicating that the experience gained in the communal areas is broadly sufficient for the task.

As a trade unionist, I was particularly interested to read Herbert Jauch’s account on labour policies. The Labour Research and Resource Institute, LaRRI, which would not exist without Jauch’s initiative and commitment, has produced invaluable analysis and data for trade unions and the general public. I remember in 1987 having to defend in a United Nations workshop in Lusaka the idea of a highest pay differential of 1:10 in the independent Namibia. It is about the actual situation in the Nordic countries. SWAPO leaders present said that they cannot accept such a large differential. Today the difference between the national minimum wage of a Ramatex worker’s salary, relates to the pay of managers in the civil service to something like 1 to 50, and more than 1 to 100 for managers of parastatals.
The Namibian elite wants to earn as much as their peers in USA and Europe, although the carrying capacity of the economy and productivity of work does not warrant it. It does not leave much money for anything else, especially when the civil service is relatively large. In his chapter on the new black Namibian elite, Henning Melber shows this in figures: the top 20% earn almost 80% of all income: “Independence did not produce a national bourgeoisie, but a crypto-capitalist self-enriching elite, which expends its energy on exploiting the public purse, a truly parasitic class.“

A long time issue in the labour movement in Namibia is the affiliation of the largest trade union federation NUNW to the ruling party. Just as has been argued, it has led to stagnation of efforts to defend the rights of workers. It has also led to spreading the internal struggles of SWAPO inside the NUNW. It has gone very far and contributed to an erosion of understanding of where the labour leaders belong. It is quite astonishing to read that trade union leaders have accepted board and management positions in private and parastatal enterprises. This way they adopt neo-liberal policies and with that, the NUNW loses its mass base, as Jauch states.

Logically enough, workers have had to take their mass power into their own hands and away from their compromised leaders. Volker Winterfeldt gives a very good account of what happened in the biggest single employer in Namibia, the Ramatex textile factory. Fed up with the stagnant wages, four years of inaction by their trade union and constant exposure to bullying by the management and the government, workers voted for strike. Surprisingly easily, after three days, they won a raise almost doubling their income and benefits. In a neo-liberal economy Ramatex has been able to exploit the opportunities offered by the Namibian state and its Asian and Namibian employees to an extent Karl Marx could vividly describe in his book The Capital. - And in addition to pollute the ground water.

On my latest visit to Namibia a year ago I was really astonished of the impressive Chinese presence in the country. In a very few years Chinatowns have emerged, bringing construction, shopping areas, investment for energy production. Obviously this has happened with the full consent of the government, tenders have been won, work permits and retail shop licences have been granted. Gregor Dobler has taken the trouble of finding out how the process works, including bribing the decision makers. The cost of a work permit is between 20,000 to 100,000 Namibian Dollars.

Dobler’s work is admirable. It came into my mind that the political system in China could be the ideal in the eyes of the present government of Namibia: One party in absolute power, enjoying the fruits of a free-wheeling capitalism, no real trade unions or effective opposition. - Preferably, no critical media either.

Lalli Metsola describes and analyses the situation of ex-combatants. It certainly deserves research. It is a rather safe prediction to say that the newest definition by the ministry of a war veteran will cause endless controversy and court processes. Even I myself qualify as a war veteran, according to the definition. Lalli Metsola describes the fate of the former SWATF/Koevoet members as being still pariahs. They are out from war-veteran definition because they were not members of liberation forces. On the other hand, it will be problematic to draw lines between those who have been in exile, but participated in different activities. Lots to do for lawyers, I bet.

Mattia Fumati is afraid of the vision of youth in uniform coming from Zimbabwe style training camps, marching before the President chanting SWAPO songs. We have seen it in Europe before. On the lighter side, he describes accurately the activities of the Shinyewile club in Rundu. The aspiring young elite organises activities that depict their capabilities as future leaders, taking care not to offend the present ones, although mocking them softly. And the club is the best way to have a good time together.

Wolfgand Zeller and Bennet Kangumu Kangumu have dug deep into the strange geography of the Caprivi strip, with which its problems are intimately bound. The separateness and particular identities have not given the Caprivi region and its people much chance to live common history with the rest of Namibia. The old modus vivendi between the Mafwe and Subia and their associates was shattered by the new power relations in independent Namibia. But now, with the construction of the Trans-Caprivi Corridor with bridges over Zambezi a real common blood vein has been established and with it, new economic and political structures may emerge.

Graham Hopwood explores the problems encountered in the effort to create a regional level of administration between central government and local authorities. Regional structures carry a bias from the Bantustan era. The central authorities are also otherwise reluctant to give away power from their own hands. On the other hand, administrative capacity to handle coordinating functions and especially accounting seems to be lacking. As a consequence progress to really delegate tasks to regional level has been slow, in spite of public pronouncements of intentions.
The book has a very strong gender equality tendency. It ends with three weighty analyses of where Namibia stands now in this important respect. Dianne Hubbard goes through the most important gender-related legislation and shows in detail, how traditions and opinions have found expression in the laws. She shows the difficulty in applying Western juridical concepts in another cultural environment. As an example we can mention parental leave, which is not really at home in Namibians social structures.

Lucy Edwards looks into the HIV/AIDS disaster from the female perspective and argues powerfully how it is linked to inequalities and gender relations. It was a surprise for me to read that only 13.4 % of Namibians are formally married and together with cohabiting 15.5% this kind of couples make up only 29%. The figures ridicule an effort to control HIV/AIDS through restricting sex life inside marriage.
Suzanne LaFont describes the real, rather promiscuous, sexual behaviour in Namibia. It is actually the tradition.
The legislation believes, however, that female sexuality needs to be contained and, if possible, controlled. Among lawmakers reverence of tradition and nostalgia compete with politically correct gender equality. Political corrected does not weigh much in the speeches of Sam Nujoma, who threatened homophiles with arrest, deportation and imprisonment, all illegal threats. Suzanne LaFont notes, however, that the HIV-pandemic has forced a discussion on sexuality, which would otherwise not be happening.

Now, as much as ever, we need to understand what is going on in Namibia. This book is therefore timely, clearly written for giving us tools for analysis today. I commend its editor for recruiting top-level researchers contributing to this book, and for his further commitment to the ongoing task.
Henning Melber (ed.), Transitions in Namibia. Which changes for whom? Uppsala. The Nordic Africa Institute 2007.

* Pekka Peltola lives in Helsinki/Finland. He is a long-standing trade union activist, who worked years in support of SWAPO in exile in Cuanza Sul and elsewhere. He published a PhD thesis on the Namibian trade union movement (“The Lost May Day”) in 1995 and together with Iina Soiri (in 1999) the book : “Finland and the Liberation of Southern Africa”.

Though Nigeria is tainted by advance fee fraud and China by lead-laden toys, a Nigerian in America is still called an African (by his continental identity) while a Chinese is called a Chinese (by his national identity). Many 'African' immigrants still threaten to send their disobedient kids 'back to Africa' portraying Africa as a torture chamber.

The African Jihad is a fascinating examination of the efforts by international jihadists to bring about their grand vision of Islamist hegemony in the greater Horn of Africa region.