Mutsa Murenje argues in this week’s Pambazuka News that what is affecting the Zimbabwean people’s wellbeing is not the sanctions resulting from Robert Mugabe’s rule but rather his rule itself. Murenje writes that the sanctions that were implemented by the international community do not actually have an effect on Zimbabwe’s population, and makes the case for good governance as the key to helping Zimbabweans.

Tierno Monenembo

Alioune Tine

Société civile

The members of Abahlali baseMjondolo describe their movement as 'made for us and by us' or, as their elected president S'bu Zikode describes, 'a living politics'. Pointing out the essential irrelevance of the Northern-produced term 'gentrification' to describe their conditions, Abahlali stresss that their situation is markedly different and results from the authorities' 'dehumanising hatred'.

Following the attacks on Abahlali baseMjondolo members at Kennedy Road, Durban, the South African Council of Churches condemns the violence perpetrated against a defenceless group.

Saluting the contribution of Ethiopia's 'patriot-soldiers', Alemayehu G. Mariam commends the courage, patriotism and resilience displayed by the country's defenders in this week's Pambazuka News.

The United Nations has provided hundreds of bicycles and motorcycles for Zimbabwean health workers to respond to potential cholera and flu outbreaks, the latest in a series of steps by the world body to help the southern African country confront acute humanitarian needs. The 300 black bicycles and 124 bright red motor cycles, purchased by the UN World Health Organisation (WHO) with $500,000 from the Central Emergency Response Fund, will enable health workers to move quickly to prepare for and respond to potential health concerns, including cholera outbreaks and the H1N1 flu pandemic.

Global food leader Nestle's Zimbabwean unit has stopped buying milk from a farm owned by President Robert Mugabe's wife which was seized under his controversial land reforms. Western countries vital for Zimbabwe's recovery from an economic crisis demand political reforms, including an end to land seizures, before aid flows.

The United Nations has welcomed the reported decision by President Omar Al-Bashir to immediately lift censorship on Sudanese newspapers. “This decision will advance the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) and is an important step towards creating an appropriate environment for the multi-party elections scheduled for April 2010,” the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) said in a statement.

Kenyan government auditors found losses of about 131 million shillings ($1.8 million) in two World Bank-funded projects “due to what appears to be fraud and corruption,” Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta said. As many as 50 project managers, junior and senior staff accused of involvement have been suspended while investigators look into the cases, Kenyatta said at a briefing in the capital, Nairobi.

Arguments about how much influence developing economies have over the world’s financial affairs are set to dominate the International Monetary Fund summit in Istanbul this week. There was some progress at last week’s G20 meeting in Pittsburgh, but until details are agreed, the balance of power between key economic players remains unresolved. Under existing arrangements, the industrialised countries hold 57 per cent of the IMF votes.

Opposition parties in Gabon have rejected the terms of a re-count of votes from last month's controversial presidential poll. Activists, who alleged widespread vote rigging, were angered after a court ruled that opposition observers would not be allowed to oversee the re-count.

Kenya's much-criticised anti-corruption chief has resigned just weeks after he was reappointed by the president. Aaron Ringera said he was stepping down in the best interests of the country and the anti-corruption commission. President Mwai Kibaki had unilaterally reappointed him for a second five-year term as head of the commission without consulting parliament.

Zimbabwe's economy is projected to grow by 3.7 percent this year, according to the International Monetary Fund, the first expansion since 1997. The IMF in its latest World Economic Outlook published on Thursday did not give reasons for its assessment. It forecast that growth in the southern African nation's gross domestic product would accelerate to 6 percent in 2010.

After four years of giving each other a cold shoulder, Uganda President Yoweri Museveni and the King Ronald Muweanda Mutebu II of the Buganda held an hour-long private discussion at the State House in Entebbe on Wednesday, government officials said. The meeting is aimed at easing tension between the dominant Buganda ethnic group - with an estimated 12 million population out of the country's 30 million " and the President Museveni -led central government, after riots 11-14 September 2009 level several people dead.

Nigeria's most vocal opposition political party, the Action Congress (AC), said Nigeria's "comatose state", on the occasion of its 49th independence anniversary, has brought to the fore the litany of opportunities missed by the nation to leap into the rarefied height of developed countries and ensure better life for its people. In a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Alha ji Lai Mohammed, the party said a succession of inept, selfish and visionless le a ders was to blame for the sorry state in which a country that was so promising at independence in 1960 had now found itself.

The leader of the Union of the Democratic Forces of Guinea (UFDG) and former Guinean Prime Minister, Cellou Dalein Diallo, who was grievously wounded during Monday's rally at the 28 September Stadium in Conakry, was prevented Wednesday evening from going for treatment abroad, according to sources close to his family. The UFDG leader, who sustained five broken ribs during the bloody repression by the police force on Monday, was about to board a plane to Paris, France when he was forced to return to his room in a local clinic where he was receiving treatment, under heavy military guard.

The European Union and Central African bodies have signed an agreement in Brussels under which the EU will help develop projects with trans-border roads and railways and telecommunication infrastructure.

Harnessing science and technology, and fostering innovation have become imperatives to address the problems and challenges of structural transformation of the South. This is increasingly so in the context of globalised and knowledge economy. As there is no journal with special focus on science, technology, and innovation in Africa, AJSTID aims to address this need.

In a unanimous decision, the Constitutional Council rejected the appeal of MDM against the exclusion of its lists from most provinces. It upholds the CNE’s interpretation of the law, and publishes lists of unqualified candidates to show that MDM simply did not have enough candidates in most provinces.

In this week’s Pambazuka News, Kola Ibrahim reflects on the life of the recently deceased Gani Fawehinmi, one of Nigeria’s leading human rights lawyers and activists. Gani, as he was affectionately known, had not only been an advocate for human rights in Nigeria but addressed other issues such as the capitalist system in general that led to human rights abuses indirectly, writes Ibrahim. Gani Fawehinmi must not be forgotten and seen as a role model for the Nigerian youth in its struggle against the injustices of neocolonialism, Ibrahim concludes.