Madagascar's President Marc Ravalomanana is ready for talks with his political rivals without any preconditions but would not consider early elections, Prime Minister Charles Rabemananjara said on Tuesday in Addis Ababa. President Ravalomanana is ready to talk with his rivals on the modalities of ending the political stand-off, which escalated following an attack on a local radio and television station, followed by a prolonged political stand-off.

Dumping an earlier agreement, African leaders meeting here on Wednesday failed to reach a consensus on the transformation of the African Union Commission (AUC) to the African Union Authority, as a first step towards the establishment of a Union Government. On the last day of their 12th summit, African leaders met until the early hours of Wednesday to work out the final details of the Union Government, but hit a brick wall when it came to the modalities for transforming the AUC into an Authority.

Police have arrested two parliamentary deputies from Mozambique's main opposition party, the former rebel movement Renamo, for acts of violence during the current municipal election campaign in the northern port of Nacala. According to a report in Wednesday's issue of the Maputo daily, Noticias, the two deputies, Luis Trinta and Simao Buti, with two other Renamo members, are accused of assaulting two of the policemen who were assigned to accompany a Renamo campaign parade.

Malawi's former president Bakili Muluzi Wednesday presented his nomination papers to contest the 19 May presidential elections despite having served as president for two consecutive five-year terms. "The Constitution does not bar me from standing again," a cheerful Muluzi told journalists after presenting his nomination papers to the Malawi Electoral Commission chairperson, Supreme Court judge, Justice Anastazia Msosa.

The break-up of the African National Congress and the forthcoming general election provide a unique opportunity for a realignment of forces in South African politics. Creation of the Congress of the People, a new party, will erode the ANC’s grip on power and reignite the public debate over pressing issues such as corruption, crime and poverty.

Dibussi Tande reviews the following blogs:

Halftribe
Eyeing Africa
Where ever I lay my hat
Alex Henderson
Scribbles from the Den

In an interview with Conversations with Writers, the Zimbabwean author Lilian Masitera talks about the background to and influences behind her work.

cc. With events in the central African region unfolding at a dizzying pace over the last week, Friends of Congo (FOTC) responds to questions posed to them in the aim of enhancing readers’ understanding of developments on the ground. Casting doubt on the nature of Laurent Nkunda’s reported arrest and highlighting the persistently extra-parliamentary and undemocratic nature of negotiations between Joseph Kabila and Paul Kagame around Rwandan troops entering the DR Congo, Friends of Congo discuss some of the limitations around recent efforts to achieve greater stability in the troubled eastern region of the country.

cc. In the wake of the death of alleged militant Tubotamuno ‘Boy Chiki’ Angolia at the hands of Nigeria’s Joint Task Force (JTF), Chioma Oruh considers the consequences of the Nigerian state’s crackdown on the militant efforts of organisations such as the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND). While much of the mainstream international press lauds the state for the stability (and enhanced official access to oil resources) achieved under the watch of the JTF, Oruh contemplates the inequity behind a system that will happily find funds to enforce order yet comes up empty in the face of local people’s abject poverty.

cc. A year after the signing of Kenya’s National Accord, Tom Kagwe of the Kenya Human Rights Commission (KHRC) reviews the successes and limitations of the formation of the coalition government. Highlighting the fragmented progress towards truth and justice, Kagwe argues that while the issue of post-election internally displaced persons remains a troublesome reality for the country, the CIPEV report represented a celebrated step towards ending political impunity.

cc. Highlighting the success of a leader able to command respect through calm resolve, Pitso Tsibolane charts the rise and broad support for Kgalema Motlanthe from both the Zuma and Mbeki camps in the ANC in the wake of Mbeki’s resignation. But with growing grumbles about alleged dithering over decisions and suggestions of extra-marital affairs, Tsibolane argues that the caretaker president’s initial honeymoon period is long gone in the face of ever greater ANC and media scrutiny.

Where do you hope to join my life
Flowing
Not like a river
But as torrents and currents of the tide
Buffeted by multitudinous waters of change
Going back or forth?
Lapping up the high and low banks
Dazzling the plains with illuminous floodings
Awash against the orange red sky of our history?
Where?
Do you and I
Merge as minor or major (con)tributeries
To the great sea -
Vast ocean of change?
Or where do we become engulfed by (o)the)r tides of the past
Of victory and of shame
And of what futures unforetold, then and now?
What do we become?
Droplets of vapour
Carried under the translucent sky
To descend on unsuspecting blossom of spring-tide freedom
As a dew drop - inseparably defiant;
Or swallowed by the parched earth of our desert(er)s
Or a hail stone in the tropical storm?
Here we stand poised to (e)merge
Like Gikuyu and Mumbi
In a world of numerous possibilities
Drawing from history
And awed by the great expanses of the earth, the sea and the sky
That our our future
And which hold promises of infinite, infinite...
Possibilities
London 1997

Sokari Ekine reviews the following blogs:

Sokwanele – This is Zimbabwe
Sukuma Kenya
Gukira
The Trials & Tribulations of a Freshly Arrived Denizen of Ghana
Black Looks

African governments have rallied behind Sudanese President Omar Al-Bashir in rejecting a possible international arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court on charges of orchestrating genocide in Sudan's volatile western region of Darfur.

Some $833 million of Burundi's foreign debt was canceled on Thursday under a global program to write off the debts of the world's poorest countries. In a joint statement, the World Bank and International Monetary Fund said their executive boards had approved full debt relief for the landlocked Central African country, including money owed to the global financial institutions.

Corruption in Africa was in the spotlight once again this week with news that Texas-based oil services company Halliburton will pay a record fine to settle a bribery probe. You can see our story here. Halliburton Co will pay a $559 million fine to end an investigation of its former KBR Inc unit if the U.S. government approves the settlement, the largest penalty against a U.S. company for charges of bribery under federal law.

South Africa will help rebuild Zimbabwe once a unity government is formed there next month and hopes investors will return quickly, President Kaglema Motlanthe said on Thursday. "This stage is really critical in terms of achieving political stability and the first step towards the economic recovery of that country," Motlanthe told Reuters at the World Economic Forum annual meeting in the Swiss Alpine resort.

Zimbabwe's opposition Movement for Democratic Change looks set to join the unity government following the party's national executive committee agreement on Friday. The move comes barely a few days after the party said it was disappointed by the outcome of a SADC-member meeting in South Africa.

The top United Nations envoy to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has formally accepted an invitation by the nation’s Government to support the joint DRC/Rwanda military operation targeting ethnic Rwandan Hutu militias. “We are going to bring our support so that this process can succeed as soon as possible,” Alan Doss, the Secretary-General’s Special Representative, said following talks with DRC authorities yesterday in Goma, the capital of North Kivu province.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has offered United Nations support to help foster reconciliation in Madagascar where serious unrest has led to the death of dozens of people. In a statement issued by his spokesperson, Mr. Ban voiced concern for the security of the population and deplored the loss of life. “The Secretary-General calls on the Malagasy Government to place an absolute priority on the protection of the population,” it said.