Malawi’s economy needs a strong and vibrant public sector that can craft helpful and significant policies if the country is to register sustainable economic development, a political science associate professor has said. Presenting a paper titled ‘The role of a strong public service in an economy: Lessons and Opportunities for Malawi’ during the third economic seminar jointly organised by the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, the Malawi Economic Justice Network (Mejn) and the Economic Association of Malawi (Ecama), Blessings Chinsinga, an associate political professor at the University of Malawi, described the public sector at the moment as too weak to lead the way to prosperity.

A mission from the International Monetary Fund, led by Seán Nolan, visited Luanda during 1 -11 November 2010 to conduct policy discussions for the fourth review under Angola’s 27-month Stand-By Arrangement (SBA) with the IMF. The SBA was approved by the IMF’s Executive Board on 23 November 2009 and provides for the disbursement of SDR 858.9 million (about US$1.4 billion) over the course of the arrangement. Following the visit, Nolan said implementation of the government’s stabilisation and reform program has been broadly as envisaged, with budgetary outlays tightly contained.

Zambia has fared badly in the Open Budget Survey (OBS) coming out second from the bottom of 94 countries that were surveyed. Presenting the findings of the OBS, Economic Association of Zambia (EAZ) executive director Alexander Chileshe said Zambia ranked among the bottom two that failed to uphold transparency and accountability for their national budgets. He observed that Zambia did not give room for citizens and even parliament to have a say on how the budget was being implemented.

Three more former ministers have followed Barbara Hogan in resigning as MPs after being axed from the executive two weeks ago in the biggest cabinet reshuffle since 1994. The Sunday Independent has confirmed that former minister of Sports Makhenkesi Stofile, former Public Works minister Geoff Doidge and former Water and Environmental Affairs minister Buyelwa Sonjica this week tendered their resignations to National Assembly Speaker Max Sisulu.

For the second day running MDC-T Senators brought the Senate to a standstill in protest against the presence of 'intruders'. Immediately after the opening prayer MDC-T Senator Tichaona Mudzingwa rose to object to the presence of Thokozile Mathuthu, David Karimanzira, Jason Machaya and Faber Chidarikire in the House. (These are persons who the MDC-T say are no longer ex officio members of the Senate, as they were illegally and unconstitutionally appointed as provincial governors by President Mugabe.)

The Endorois community is seeking the intervention of the African Commission to compel the Government to implement a ruling delivered early this year. The community has dispatched a delegation of 10 members to the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights (ACHPR) meeting in Banjul. Gambia, to express displeasure over Government's failure to honour its ruling. In the landmark ruling, the African Commission found the Government guilty of violating the human rights of the Endorois, by evicting them from their land to pave way for creation of Lake Bogoria Game Reserve, between 1974 and 1979.

Heavily armed soldiers wearing military fatigues on Wednesday launched a lunchtime raid on Green Valley farm in Chipinge East, in an operation in which they took away MDC officials. One of those ‘abducted’ by the soldiers, who were brandishing AK47 rifles, is Solomon Mazvokwadi, an MDC-T ward youth chairman for the area. The soldiers were deployed in Chipinge East three months ago and have been patrolling the area, allegedly intimidating MDC supporters.

Data about experiments conducted must be disclosed, and their effects on the environment assessed, writes Mathieu Hamaekers.

Achieving ‘the Pan-African dream will take some great men of character and courage that have the will to take the lead’, writes Waiswa.

The campaign to build a reading culture should start in the home, writes Susan Najjuma.

UN aid Chief Valerie Amos said that United Nations is to help the voluntary return of people displaced by the conflict in Darfur. During her six day tour of the region, Amos said the decision would also be based on whether 'there is some provision of basic services that the security situation is such that their safety has been considered.'

‘For the last twenty years, the most powerful political and economic interests in and around Haiti have waged a systematic campaign designed to stifle the popular movement and deprive it of its principal weapons, resources and leaders,' writes Peter Hallward. January’s earthquake ‘triggered reactions that carried and that are still carrying such measures to entirely new levels.’

'We, the undersigned civil society organisations from 23 countries, urge G-20 leaders to make concrete progress towards the introduction of an internationally coordinated financial transactions tax (FTT) at the upcoming summit in Seoul. Our organisations have long advocated that such taxes are a practical way to generate revenues needed to fill domestic and international financing gaps, discourage the type of short-term financial speculation that has little social value but poses high risks to the economy and serve as a desperately-needed and sustainable source of financing for health and development. In recent months, the case for an FTT has been strengthened with new inputs from sometimes unexpected sources.'

As the World Bank pushes forward with a massive investment in North Africa’s energy sector, it is up to the institution to ensure that this program benefits those who need it most, says the Bank Information Centre. In December 2009, the Clean Technology Fund (CTF), under the leadership of the World Bank, approved a $750 million Investment Plan for Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The plan aims to invest in CSP projects in Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia and Jordan and to mobilise an additional $4.85 billion from other sources bringing the total cost of the program to $5.6 billion.

While a trade deal between the European Union (EU) and Southern African countries is close it will not be concluded before the end of this year. In the meantime, South Africa remains in pursuit of an ambitious regional integration agenda. Namibian trade minister Hage Geingob has confirmed that the December 2010 deadline for a economic partnership agreement (EPA) with the EU that Southern African states had set themselves in Gaborone, Botswana, earlier this year will not be met.

As multinational food processor Nestlé attempts to patent the well-known benefits of South Africa’s fynbos plants, Khadija Sharife explains the role tax havens play in enabling corporations to protect the value of intellectual property rights.

The African Commission for People and Human Rights (ACPHR) has declined to give observer status to the Coalition of African Lesbians (CAL). Outraged LGBTI activists have described the decision as a huge setback by the highest body supposed to promote and protect human rights on the continent. This week’s blog roundup focuses on LGBTI news and issues.

Alemayehu G. Mariam remembers the victims of the June and November 2005 massacres in Addis Ababa, where hundreds of people were killed by police for protesting the result of the general election. The author examines the use of police brutality by the government of Meles Zenawi to silence political opposition. He argues that the culture of impunity must stop and that it is imperative that the world continue to bear witness to the killings. ‘The Ethiopian massacre victims now belong to the whole of humanity,’ Mariam writes, remembering the men and women who died. ‘They must be remembered by all freedom-loving peoples throughout the world, not just Ethiopians.’

The power of the poor becomes evident when the poor are able to organise – a moment of great promise, but also danger, S’bu Zikode told an audience in the United States recently.

The Coalition of African Lesbians (CAL) has denounced the decision by the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights (ACHPR) to refuse them observer status. 'We have finally received a formal letter from the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights that our application for observer status has been declined. It [letter] has no reasons why our application has been declined. The immediate thing that comes to mind for me is that they must provide reasons for their decision and that we must appeal the decision,' said Fikile Vilakazi, Director for the Coalition of African Lesbians.