FEATURES: Jacques Depelchin challenges global citizens to make links between poverty across the world
COMMENT AND ANALYSIS:
- Activist group Sokwanele: Talkin' about a revolution in Zimbabwe?
- Chenjerai Hove on the lack of leadership vision in Zimbabwe
- There is rising hostility towards China’s investments in Africa, says Peluola Adewale
LETTERS: On Mugabe and solidarity
PAN-AFRICAN POSTCARD: Tajudeen wonders who our friends and who are our foes in Kenya
BLOGGING AFRICA: Nigerian elections, global warming in Africa, Miss Landmine 2007 in Angola
CULTURE & ARTS: News about Fespaco 2007, a poem by Khadija Heeger

WOMEN AND GENDER: Ghanaian women call for change
CONFLICT AND EMERGENCIES: Fighting in DRC Capital
HUMAN RIGHTS: Djibouti court jails rights activist
SOCIAL MOVEMENTS: Toward an Africa without borders
REFUGEES AND FORCED MIGRATION: Burundi massacre survivors resettled
ELECTIONS AND GOVERNANCE: Nigerian court delays Vice-President’s case
AFRICA AND CHINA: Chinese money flows in Angola
CORRUPTION: Algerian bankers jailed for fraud
DEVELOPMENT: Initiative to improve remittance services launched
HEALTH AND HIV/AIDS: Rising TB cases in Tanzania link to HIV/AIDS
EDUCATION: All children must be educated together
LGBTI: Online exhibition on Sexuality and Social justice
RACISM AND XENOPHOBIA: Rising racial discrimination undermines development goals
ENVIRONMENT: Freak waves swamp southern coastal areas
LAND & LAND RIGHTS: Namibian government gives Bushmen long-lost land
MEDIA AND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION: Somali journalist arrested
INTERNET AND TECHNOLOGY: Google moves into Rwanda, Kenya
PLUS: Courses, Seminars and Workshops and Jobs

*Pambazuka News now has a Del.icio.us page, where you can view the various websites that we visit to keep our fingers on the pulse of Africa! Visit

Reporters Without Borders have reported that it had uncovered a major imbalance in election coverage of the two candidates to the presidential election run-off, ex cabinet minister Ould Sheikh Abdellahi and long-time opposition figure Ould Daddah, after a third week of monitoring state-run media.

Sokwanele present a moving and shocking account of last week's brutal attack on Zimbabwean pro-democracy activists, the 'Save Zimbabwe Campaign', by Mugabe's government forces.

A week ago, Zimbabwean pro democracy activists, campaigners, political leaders and supporters tried to attend a rally in Harare, organised by the Save Zimbabwe Campaign. Their purpose was to come together and collectively, peacefully, protest against the terrible conditions in Zimbabwe. The government's forces were lying in wait for them.

Riot police surrounded the venue and many of those trying to attend were arrested en masse. Gift Tandare, a young NCA and MDC activist was killed, shot by the police, whilst running to escape. Those taken to Machipisa were viciously tortured and many suffered serious injuries. In fact, the attacks were so brutal and callous, that those being beaten struggled to comprehend the enormity of what was actually taking place. Tendai Biti, who witnessed the attack on Morgan Tsvangirai, described the experience as 'like being in an old bad violent movie, surreal, but where you find that you are one of the actors'.

International audiences learned of all these atrocities within a relatively short space of time, the news spreading like wildfire through the international media; images and interviews prompting analyses, comment and endless interpretation. By the time the news - our news - filtered through Zimbabwe, it was already 'old news' in neighbouring countries and abroad. Zimbabweans held hostage by Robert Mugabe's repressive AIPPA laws (Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act) struggled for information and updates.

Tracey Chapman famously informed us in song that 'Talkin' about a revolution sounds like whisper". Zimbabweans could add that 'talking about a revolution looks like an sms message'. The first message I received from Harare read 'mass arrests @ rally. 1 killed. lots beaten by police. v v bad. r u ok where u r?' It was the first of many sms messages that day. The details of our collective experience filtered down slowly via texts, emails, and phone calls from concerned family and friends in the diaspora who have blissful access to extensive information.

Those involved with, or on the fringes of, activist work benefit from a network of trusted friends who freely share their information among themselves. Those outside the network, occupied with the daily business of trying to survive in Zimbabwe, exchange the information they have in guarded language - eager to find out more, but careful or fearful of whom they can trust. The majority of people in Zimbabwe do not have the luxury of an internet connection or a cell phone, and they rely on second or third hand information, constantly re-cycled and checked. On their way to work they walk pas newspaper billboards broadcasting disinformation and blatant lies. If they are lucky enough to have a radio, the state controlled media brings more of the same to their ears.

On Monday 12 March, the day after the torture and assaults, The Chronicle's headline was 'Mugabe ready to stand in 2008 poll'. On Tuesday, as the news started to trickle down, the headline changed to 'State warns MDC against lawlessness'. The article emotively and deceptively informed its readers:

'Tsvangirai and Mutambara were actually commanding (hooligans) using children as shields". Wednesday's headline: "Suspected cop killer appears in court.'

On Thursday, the propaganda machine kicked in with an article titled 'Govt warns MDC on violence'. A lengthy article consisting mostly of quotes by Zanu PF Minister of Information and Publicity, Sikhanyiso Ndlovu, ducked all mention of torture by deftly sweeping it under a sentence that described the police action as an 'appropriate response from officers of law and order'. The images of Morgan Tsvangirai with a swollen battered face, so widely circulated in the international media, have still not been seen by the majority of people in our country. But by Thursday, a tiny minority of Zimbabweans with DSTV subscriptions had seen the footage and images on their screens of the government's barbarity - most notably in the 24 hour news programmes (BBC World, Sky News and CNN International) - and the detailed descriptions will have started filtering down. Note the channels that horrified Dr Ndlovu the most; note too how any condemnation of violence and brutality is re-written in the Zanu PF lexicon to be an 'unconditional statement of support' for the opposition:

'Government has noted with utter dismay the unconditional statements of support to the violent MDC by a number of western governments, including those of Britain, America and New Zealand. It also notes the role played by big western media networks, led by the British Broadcasting Corporation and Cable News Network, in seeking to absolve and whitewash the MDC from obvious and inescapable blame of public violence.'

Information threatens Mugabe. Days after the attacks, Grace Kwinje and Sekai Holland were prevented from leaving the country to receive specialist medical attention on the spurious grounds that they required a letter from the ministry of health granting permission to leave Zimbabwe; Arthur Mutambara was arrested while trying to leave Zimbabwe to visit his wife in South Africa. Violence was shamelessly used to stop Nelson Chamisa from attending an EU-ACP meeting in Brussels - he was viciously attacked at Harare International Airport by men with iron bars.

This is the Zanu PF regime's way of silencing their voices. Kept within the country, their first hand accounts of torture and brutality can be moderated by limited access to the international media. Outside the country, the press would be queuing up to interview and speak to them.

The fight for information is key to the looming non-violent revolution in Zimbabwe. A colleague described how she had watched the BBC News footage with all her friends and associates assembled together. The footage concluded with a statement by one of the opposition leaders that Zimbabweans were angry and ready to take action. There was silence in the room until someone said, 'I'm ready, but how?'

'How' to get the message of the revolution to the people is one of the biggest challenges facing the Save Zimbabwe Campaign, how to synchronously organise and mobilise a nation from within an information vacuum. Information will also help ensure a non-violent revolution; chaos is Mugabe's friend and his excuse. Ordinary Zimbabwean can help too. The message to them is to be less careful, to share information more freely. If you have not signed up to mailing lists delivering information by email, then do so now. Share with others. Print out articles and images and leave them in a public toilet as reading matter for the next occupier of the cubicle.

Think about how we can collectively fill the silence with sound.

Zimbabweans are ready. The initial shock at the brutality is wearing off and has been replaced with outrage and anger at the regime's vicious tactics. Perhaps the single most important outcome from the recent events are the strong messages of unity emanating from the opposition movement. Morgan Tsvangirai has said:

'They […] brutalised my flesh. But they will never break my spirit. I will soldier on until Zimbabwe is free" and Arthur Mutumbara has said: "I can assure Robert Mugabe that this is the end game. We are going to do it by democratic means, by being beaten up and by being arrested - but we are going to do it.'

Unified messages like these reinvigorate hope and bolster flagging spirits. The excessive violence was designed to instil fear in the population and to intimidate the opposition leaders. But by being so extreme, Robert Mugabe also revealed his fragile position, and for the first time looked weakened. Rather than being his usual despotic self, using dirty tactics to stay one-step ahead, Mugabe looks increasingly like a crazed dictator cornered and fighting his last fight. He is a man surrounded by battles and by enemies he has created for himself. They are coming at him from within his own party, from the opposition, from Zimbabwe's civil society, and from the international community; but, his biggest enemy is the economy.

People who are struggling to survive, talk openly and endlessly about their daily battle to feed, educate and care for their families. People who are careful about 'talkin about a revolution' are less careful about talking about the internal succession battle within the Zanu PF party. We are looking for someone to be accountable for our misery. The combination of poverty, Zanu PF conflicts and outrage at the torture inflicted on our leaders has left ordinary Zimbabweans feeling a little more emboldened.

Mugabe is famous for once saying: 'absolute power is when a man is starving and you are the only one able to give him food'. But what happens to the person holding the reins of power when the food runs out and the cupboard is bare?

Mugabe is on the brink of finding out.

* Sowkwanele - This is Zimbabwe is a Civil Action Support Group based in Zimbabwe. In order to protect themselves under the repressive brutal regime of Robert Mugabe they have to remain annoymous.

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

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Commonwealth Telecom Organisation (CTO), Dr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, has urged African governments to invest, alongside private entities, in the creation of suitable content that will facilitate Africa's development, rather than rely on foreign entities to develop most of the content currently consumed in Africa through various information and communication technologies (ICTs).

Halfway to 2015, the year when the globally agreed Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are supposed to be reached, the crisis in water and sanitation as well as in water resources management remains among the great human development and environmental challenges.

Although the world has made significant strides in the battle against racial discrimination in recent decades, recent reports point to “a disturbing rise” in incidents of a practice that constitutes a formidable obstacle to national development, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has warned.

The Sierra Leone Association of Journalists, with assistance from the United Nations, the National Election Commission of Sierra Leone and other civil society groups has agreed on a media code of conduct to guide the electoral campaign leading to presidential and parliamentary elections set for this July.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/296/china-africa.jpgPeluola Adewale examines China’s investment expansion into Africa and the impact on local markets and industries. However, alongside this massive investment exists a rising hostility by the Africans workers due to China’s appalling anti-labour practices, low wages and disregard for the environment.

'The need for a constantly expanding market for its products chases the bourgeoisie over the surface of the globe. It must nestle everywhere, settle everywhere, and establish connections everywhere.' With these words, Marx and Engels in the Communist Manifesto capture the basis for the expansionist instinct of capitalism. Perhaps, so far in this millennium, no state, the organ of the ruling class of a nation, has more aptly characterized this exposition than China, an ex-Stalinist-Maoist state on the irreversible transition to capitalism.

As for its predecessor, the western imperialism, Africa provides the choicest place for China’s products: oil to fuel its growing economy, natural resources to feed its industries and of course market for its manufactured goods. China dated its relations with Africa to 1956 when it supported liberation movements in the continent - Angola, Mozambique, etc. But that relationship was driven, in that 'cold war' era, by rivalry with both imperialism and Moscow's rival Stalinist regime. Often the Beijing and Moscow elites would back rival liberation movements not for ideological reasons, but to gain points of support. This time around the motivation is primarily business - a classical pursuit of naked economic interest.

With the visit to the Seychelles on 10 February, Chinese President Hu Jintao completed a 12-day tour of Africa. This visit, which had earlier taken him to other seven countries - Cameroon, Liberia, Sudan, Zambia, Namibia, South Africa and Mozambique - was his second to the continent in just nine months and the third since assumed office in 2003. This underscores the strategic importance of Africa to the phenomenal growth of China.

Quest for Africa's natural resources

China, the second biggest consumer of oil after the US, having overtaken Japan, is responsible for 40% of growth in global oil demand. It gets one-third of its imported oil from Africa. This is in addition to raw materials - minerals, farm products and timber - it gets in abundance from the continent. More than 50 per cent of China's investment abroad is in extractive resources and Africa has a fair share of it. It invested hugely in the exploration, production infrastructure and transportation of oil in Sudan. In return it gets almost 80 per cent of the Sudan's oil export. In a similar vein, it imports 25 per cent of Angola's oil. In Nigeria, last year it secured $2.3bn 45 per cent stake in an oilfield which will produce 225,000 barrels per day when coming on stream in 2008.

To guarantee supply of copper from Zambia, on the top of already over $500 million investment in Zambia, China is setting up a new economic partnership zone in Zambia's Copperbelt province expected to draw in $800 million in the next three years. The zone is expected to create 50,000 jobs in addition to 10,000 jobs already created by Chinese investment.

China earns concessions from Africa governments in oil and mining rights through aid, preferential loans and construction projects. At the end of the last November Sino-African Summit, Beijing announced the provision of $5bn in loans and credits for a three year period, the establishment of $5bn China-Africa development fund to encourage Chinese companies to invest in Africa and the cancellation of debt in the form of all the interest-free government loans that matured at the end of 2005 owed by the heavily indebted poor countries and the least developed countries in Africa that have diplomatic relations with China. Five African countries: Gambia, Burkina Faso, Sao Tome, Swaziland and Malawi do not have diplomatic relations with China for recognizing Taiwan, an independent state considered a renegade part by China. While preparing to set for the journey to Africa, Hu announced that 33 African countries would benefit from the debt write-off.

No free lunch

China does not however give free lunch. Its aid also has strings, though of much lesser degree than that of the West, and mostly commercial. For instance, in 2004 China granted Angola a $2bn credit for rebuilding infrastructure destroyed during the civil war, but in return Beijing would receive 10, 000 barrels of oil per day. On top of this was a condition that only 30% of the construction project would be subcontracted to Angolan firms. Similarly, last year after the visit of Hu, China gave Nigeria $2.5bn loan for infrastructure development, but secured an $8.3bn contract for modernization of the Nigeria's primitive railway. The Chinese firm handling what is called a "design, construct and maintain" project said 50, 000 Nigerians would be employed in the work. Ordinarily, this job promise would have been welcome with hurrah, but for the horrid experience of Nigerians working in Chinese companies, which are the worst forms of sweatshops in the country. Also attached to the loan is the control stake of the 110, 000 barrel per day refinery in Kaduna, northwest Nigeria, that has been won by China.

It is not only China that sees the Sino-Africa cooperation as a strategic partnership for development, the African leaders also do. They jointly formed Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), which had its maiden summit in 2000. The trade between China and Africa rose from $10bn in 2000 to $55.5bn last year and projected to hit $100bn by 2010. Of course, oil, minerals, other raw materials and Chinese made goods make up most of the trade. Largely connected to this trade, Africa, for instance in 2005, witnessed 5.5% growth in its economy, though concentrated among the mineral-rich countries. Besides, on the surface, the trade is more favourable to Africa which records surplus in relation to China. However, in reality Africa is the net loser. While it imports raw materials particularly oil to enhance its growth, China floods the continent with cheap goods that contribute to killing of local industries, particularly the textile and clothing. This is a major element in the growing hostility against China's presence in Africa, which will be addressed in a greater detail later on.

The West frightened

The West has appeared green with envy on the China's success in Africa. Though it still trails the West in term of investment and trade in the continent, China has overtaken Britain to become Africa's third biggest trading partner after the US and France. This new situation has allowed some African regimes some limited room to play off different foreign powers against one another. The western imperialism is worried about increased diplomatic and economic competition from China as regards access to resources. The US which at present gets 15% of its imported oil from Africa, in the face of the growing geo-political threat to oil supply in the Middle East, has projected to secure 25% of oil import from Africa, particularly the Gulf of Guinea, within a decade. Achieving this target may be threatened by China. But to protect its interest the US has constituted the oil-rich countries in the Gulf of Guinea into what is called Gulf of Guinea Energy Security.

France is also feeling the heat on its tracks. The effect of China on the France’s influence in Africa has become an issue in the on-going campaign for the forthcoming presidential elections. The two leading candidates, Segolene Royal and Nicolas Sarkozy have promised to improve on the relation with Africa where France’s traditional influence has come under threat from China red-hot quest for resources. Apparently trying to incite African leaders against China, French President Jacques Chirac, at this year biennial France-Africa summit in February whose one of the themes was "how to tap and protect Africa's natural resources", admonished, "Africa is rich, but Africans are not. The continent holds one-third of the planet's mineral reserves. It is a treasure trove. But it must be neither pillaged nor sold off cheaply". Good talk! But it is a kettle calling pot black. The West including France is the worst culprit, however not the only one, in rendering Africa underdeveloped and poverty stricken in the midst of its colossal wealth. Right from trans-Atlantic slave trade through the colonial epoch to the current era of neo-liberal capitalism and multinational domination, the West has continued to pillage the resources of the continent.

While it can only make murmur on the China's 'encroachment' on its sphere of influence, the West ostensibly hinges its grumble on the Beijing's lack of qualm about dealing with dictatorial regimes rendered pariah by the West like Sudan and Zimbabwe. Of course this does not prevent the West fully backing the oil rich feudal Saudi dictatorship. China a veto-wielding member of the UN Security Council has severally prevented sanction against Khartoum for its role in Darfur conflict where government sponsored militia has killed some 200, 000 people and left 2.5 million homeless since 2003. Paul Wolfowitz a former US Deputy Secretary of Defence in the Bush Jnr administration and currently President of World Bank has reportedly accused China of ignoring human rights in Africa. But China is treading the path already charted by the West. Thus, the west does not have moral authority to condemn China's support for repressive regimes. History is replete with several instances of the West supporting repressive regimes all over the world out of economic and strategic interest. The US and Britain have severally vetoed criticisms against the belligerent Israeli government over its repression of Pakistani and Lebanese people. The New York Times in its editorial of February 19, 2007 aptly captured the point, 'China is not the first outside power to behave badly in Africa. But it should not be proud of following the West’s soory historical example'.

Who ruined Africa's local industries?

Inside Africa it is not all a pat on the back for China on its economic expedition in the continent. Workers and poor masses have protested the flooding of Africa with Chinese cheap goods that kills local industry particularly textile and clothing, and makes hundreds of thousands to lose jobs in Zambia, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa and elsewhere in the continent. The opposition has already taken to the street thousands of South African textile workers where about 100 manufacturing units have been closed and close to 100,000 jobs lost. In Nigeria though there has not been political action, textile trade unions have been grumbling over closure of about 100 factories and loss of about 200, 000 jobs in the last eight years.

But can one reasonably blame the collapse of local industry in Africa solely on cheap Chinese goods? Let's take Nigeria as an example. Despite being blessed with the world 10th largest reserve of gas in addition to vast availability of coal and hydroelectric potentials, Nigeria generates only 3,000 MW of electricity. Even recently this dismal output has plummeted to ridiculous 1,500 MW for a population of over 140 million. Yet, the government claimed to have spent over $2bn on the power sector in the last six years. The attendant inadequate and epileptic power supply has meant that companies are run on generating set powered by expensive fuels that are sometimes scarce commodity in spite of the country being the seventh largest producer of crude oil in the world. As a result the cost of doing business is dearly and products are expensive. Yet, the anti-poor neo-liberal economic policies have meant that the purchasing power of workers and poor masses are low. Factories are closed and workers thrown into labour market. In January, Michelin, a tyre manufacturing company that had over 2,000 Nigerian workers in its workforce, announced closure of its operations in Nigeria citing high cost of energy that makes business unprofitable. Chinese cheap apparel has only worsened the situation in textile industry.

Rising hostility against China

But the Chinese anti-labour practices and contemptuous disregards for rights, safety and improved living and working conditions of workers have attracted to the Chinese the deep-seated odium of workers and poor masses in the continent. Chinese companies are characterized by unsafe working conditions and poor environmental practices. In 2005, 51 workers died in explosion at the Chinese run mine in Copperbelt while 5 workers were shot dead during a protest over working condition at the same mine last year. Similarly, in Lagos Nigeria, 29 workers were roasted alive in inferno at a Chinese firm in 2002. The workers in the firm were always locked inside without emergency exit. The affected workers died because they could not escape.

Chinese firms do not respect minimum wage and labour laws of the host country. The workers are usually engaged as casuals on low pay and with no benefits and rights to form or belong to a trade union. Some of the firms also bring to Africa their own low-paid Chinese workers who however earn much more than the average African worker. But it is important for African workers to see that workers in China could be one of their strongest allies, their common enemy is capitalism. Today the Chinese working class is the largest in the world and when it starts to struggle for democratic rights and better living conditions this will be in the interests of workers and poor around the world.

While in Zambia President Hu himself had a taste of bitterness against Chinese by ordinary workers and the poor. To avoid being embarrassed by a planned protest over poor working conditions by workers at the Chinese mine, he had to cancel at the last minute his scheduled visit to Copperbelt province, the economic heartland of Zambia, where china has heavily invested and planned to build a stadium. For the same reason, the University of Zambia was heavily cordoned off with the armed police for the two days the visit lasted.

In the same Zambia, the Chinese investment became an issue in the last year general election with the main opposition leader, Michael Sata capitalizing on the growing hostility against the Chinese. He promised to chase away the Chinese and recognize Taiwan if he won. Though, the incumbent, Levy Mwanawasa won the presidential election, the Sata's party, Patriotic Front, swept the parliamentary seats in Lusaka, the capital, and Copperbelt province.

In apparent attempt to launder its image in Africa, the China on the eve of the last Sino-Africa summit issued 'nine principles' to 'encourage and standardize enterprises' overseas investment'. The principles require Chinese companies operating overseas to abide by local laws, bid contracts on the basis of transparency and equality, protect the labour rights of local employees, protect the environment, etc. But can the Chinese give what they do not have? The Beijing government is undemocratic and does not accord any rights to workers in China. Implementing the 'nine principles' will be a tall order, though they could be forced by circumstance to shift ground to an extent.

Some African leaders like Thambo Mbeki of South Africa have also warned against Africa relations with China assuming colonial relations. Mbeki told a youth conference in Capetown in December 2006 that, 'China cannot only just come here and dig for raw materials and then go away and sell us manufactured goods'. He opined such arrangement could condemn Africa to underdevelopment. However Mbeki himself is not concerned about the plight of African workers, he is worried about the future of the South African ruling class.

Who underdeveloped Africa?

Agreed, on the basis of logic of capitalism, any economy rested on primary commodities, which are usually non-renewable, is doomed. But, it is shameless for any leader of mineral-rich Africa to impute continent's underdevelopment solely to China and other industrialized nation, which need raw materials for their economies. Nigeria, for instance, has realized about $400bn from the sales of crude oil alone since 1958, yet there is nothing to show for it, besides being looted by its thieving capitalist ruling elite. This huge revenue, a study reveals, is six times what the US spent through the Marshal Plan to successfully rebuild the Western Europe devastated by the Second World War. The primitive accumulation was so alarming that the World Bank was forced to reveal in 2004 that only 1 per cent Nigerian thieving elite consumes 80 per cent of the country's oil and gas revenue. If the resources rich countries had used the enormous wealth to provide infrastructure and industrialize, they themselves could as well become net importer of raw materials. China is oil-rich and only import 40 per cent of its oil consumption.

However, it is apposite to state that besides the parasitic nature of African leaders, the western imperialism created the pre-condition for the underdevelopment of Africa. The World Bank that was originally established to assist in reconstruction and development of the war-devastated Western Europe through state interventionist economic model today prescribe to Africa and the third world the market oriented neoliberal economic policies for their development. The African leaders are encouraged by the Western imperialism to cut social spending on basic needs like education, health care, housing etc, and thus left with huge but loose resources for looting. But they are advised to provide infrastructures not for the sake of their populace but in order to make their economies more easily exploitable. In its Newsletter of November 9 2006, the World Bank Group stated, 'Africa is enjoying economic resurgence but a focus on social spending means poverty-stricken lack sufficient roads and communication to attract foreign firms.' The dictate of World/IMF explains why workers and poor masses in Africa have not seen improvement in their living condition despite the increased wealth and economic growth brought about by rise in commodity prices occasioned by China's growth and other factors.

Genuine path to development

To set stage for development the African countries have to commit their huge resources to build viable industrial base that could produce manufactured goods of international standards and engender diversification of economy. But to mobilize adequate resources to finance its industrialization along with the provision of basic needs for its populace, the commanding heights of the economy have to be nationalized and put under democratic management and control of the working masses. This however entails attack on the rapacious interest of multinationals and greed of the local capitalist elite. Therefore, achieving this will require a mass struggle of workers and poor masses of Africa, with the international working class solidarity including with Chinese workers, aimed at defeating capitalism and enthroning genuine socialism on the continent.

* Peluola Adewale writes for the Socialist Democracy, Lagos Nigeria

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

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/296/blog_shirts.gif - comments on global warming and what he as an individual is prepared to do to 'save his own skin'. – 'Stop flying, stop driving, stop tumble drying?'

Flying is a particularly pollution filled activity but nonetheless Nkem states he is not prepared to give it up and I have to agree with him to some extent. How else can you travel from Spain to South Africa? by boat - how many weeks? By road – the cost of a specialised vehicle will be 10 times if not more the cost of a flight not to talk of the dangers involved. One of the comments though makes a good point.

'I don't think that the intention is to ban you from flying. I think the idea is to make you think about whether you really need to fly or not - perhaps it would be better to take a holiday where you live rather than flying half-way across the world? Or perhaps that meeting is best held via videoconferencing facilities?'

We do have the technologies available now that can reduce the amount of business travel and conference hopping and yes we can all take holidays nearer our homes and travel by train or bus or if you are really fit by cycle.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/296/blog_blackstar.gifBlack Star Journal - writes that Europeans are becoming more conscisous of the issue of climate change and the need to make changes in their behaviour such as buy local goods and holiday closer to home and Euro governments have made a commitment to reduce green house gases.

However despite the fact that Africa is the continent most affected by climate change, some people are complaining about the European campaign harming Africa’s tourist industry. As BSJ states some people will whine about everything.

'Some people will whine about whatever's done or not done. The west is blasted for contributing to climate change that hurts Africa, but when Europe tries to take actions to mitigate this problem, it's blasted for that too...Maybe the populist whiners can figure out what they want the west to do. But I guess it's easier to instead of criticizing everything instead of coming up with constructive solutions.'

I completely agree – you cannot have your cake and eat it. Africa like the rest of the world will have to make some serious and sometimes uncomfortable decisions around the issue of climate change which will require innovative thinking and as BSJ states “constructive solutions”

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/296/blog_unchained.gifAfrica Unchained - posts on an organisation called “Self Help” whose

'philosophy is to help:...people to help themselves. Innovative and appropriate technologies and techniques are employed by Self Help's staff, who work in partnership with beneficiary communities and government agencies to create a real and lasting change'.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/296/blog_grandiose.gifGrandiose Parlor - receives an email alerting him to a website for the presidential candidate and VP, Governors Umar Yar’adua and Goodluck Jonathan . GP comments that it is a

'Great idea, but with about one month to the elections, this is a bit too late!'

He also provides a useful list of websites by other Presidential candidates as well as Gubernatorial ones. I note that Goodluck Jonathon did set up a blog some time ago when he was hoping to be a Presidential candidate himself but I have not been able to find it so I am not sure whether it is still running.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/296/blog_thysdrus.gifThysdrus - comments on an article written by an American woman visiting Tunisia asking 'is she aware of her platitudes?' She writes:

'As an independent American woman, I have never felt inferior because of my gender. I have never been treated as less of a person than the man standing next to me, until I went on vacation to Northern Africa. As a tourist in Tunisia, I was exposed to much more than beautiful beaches, warm weather, and bustling markets. The male-dominated, largely Muslim population opened my eyes to gender inequality we have all heard so much about...'

She continues in this vein stating 'The deeper we went into the culture of the country, the more we noticed about the gender inequality' and ends up by saying how wonderful it is to be free to walk the streets (presumably in the US) and be free – of course we all know that the US and the West women don’t get sexually harassed on the streets, in their offices, in shops, parks and son on – this is something that only happens in the lands of the 'OTHER' .

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/296/blog_congogirl.gifAdventures of a Retired Armchair Traveller - Congo Girl - comments on the $128 million just allocated to rebuild Kinshasa by the World Bank.

'I am curious to find out who gets the contracts on this one. Halliburton just moved to Dubai, is it? Are there connections between Cheney and Wolfowitz that we don't know about yet? Or will most of the funds be channelled through contracts to companies based in other northern (previously colonizing) countries? ...Millions of people live in Kinshasa (estimates are as high as 9 million), and roads, medical facilities, water infrastructure are sorely needed. But what about the rest of the country? This situation vaguely reminds me of New Orleans - post Hurricane Katrina, the first spots to get attention were not the most populous or needy, but the most likely to be on a parade route or downtown where the conventioneers go. Is the World Bank considering the dense population as a primary weight, or the idea that refurbishing the capital will lead to more (perceived) stability, and therefore a better presentation and (perceived) environment for investors?'

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/296/blog_blacklooks.gifBlack Looks - comments on a beauty pageant in Angola to highlight survivors of landmines called Miss Landmine 2007.

'my gut reaction to this is that it is highly offensive, disgusting exploitation of African women. In the background of some of the photos there are these white people smiling and glowing as they make up and dress the women - like mannequins. Putting the issue of beauty pageants aside and the patronising comments on Western opinions and African cultural traditions etc, it is still an inappropriate tool which objectifies women beside landmine survivors are men as well as women. Even the use of the words Miss Landmine is horrible. And who the hell is going to be buying these glossy magazines and wearing these fancy clothes? Certainly not the women survivors who are poor unemployed women?'

* Sokari Ekine is author of Black Looks blog and Editor of Pambazuka News

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

Mugabe – leadership without vision or a brutal power-drenched dictator who has lost all sense of reality and humanity?

Nigerian writer, Chinua Achebe, once said the problem of Africa is a problem of leadership without vision. That cannot be truer than recent events in Zimbabwe have proven.

Battered bodies, broken bones, bleeding human flesh. That is all President Robert Mugabe has been able to give to the people he is supposed to protect and lead, in the past few weeks, even before. The president can only offer brutal violence to a nation suffering from so many human catastrophes: economic collapse, shortages of food and fuel, massive unemployment, unprintable inflation figures, and finally, national hopelessness.

'Our people have bad eating habits. They should eat rice and potatoes', he said in the midst of a critical shortage of the staple maize in a country which produces neither.

For President Mugabe, the national vision ends with him. 'L'etat, c'est moi', the leader seems to say. The state is him, and he believes he owns every citizen, and so can do whatever he wants with them. The outside world must not interfere in the 'domestic affairs' of Zimbabwe. The president's vision ends with his own power and self-preservation. Inflicted with deafness and blindness, the president has lost the capacity to see anything else around him. 'He has lost the plot,' as some have said. But the reality is that he has lost any sense of reality. He is totally out of touch with the real world around him.

Zimbabwe introduced a massive education programme in the 1980s, enabling every child to go to school. And the children did. Mugabe's ambition was to have a secondary school in every cluster of villages. He almost succeeded. With such a high thirst for education, the children and teachers flooded the countryside and the cities. Almost every secondary school acted as two: one group comes in the morning, and another in the afternoon, two schools in one.

The educational yields were unbelievable. Zimbabweans still believed in the power and efficacy of education. It was the only way they knew that would take them and their children out of poverty and ignorance. From school, the child would get a job, thus help to save the whole family, including uncles and the whole village. Parents would sell the last chicken, goat or cow to send the child to school, their economic saviour. Teachers, too, were trained in guerrilla-style courses. Those of us already qualified to teach were assisting new teachers to train on the job. This went on until the late 1980s when the World Bank intervened, claiming that Mugabe was giving Zimbabweans too much education which would flood the country with educated but jobless people.

Mugabe had not realised that the education system was producing people who would begin to think for themselves without being necessarily grateful to him. Who could analyse the problems of society on their own, including the root causes of those problems. Unfortunately, they discovered that the Mugabe government had made no plans for a concrete skills programme to equip them to enter the economy at a productive level. Students then started to revolt, and Mugabe was furious. That was when he declared that he had 'degrees in violence', challenging the students and calling them hooligans. If Mugabe had realised the importance of his education programme, he would also have realised that the youths were being given skills to analyse everything and everyone, including him. Now he hates the youth of the country, except those he hires to kill and break the bones of his critics.

Mugabe would have preferred all Zimbabweans to remain illiterate. That is his biggest regret. Even when he addresses villagers, he uses impeccable English, better than Tony Blair and George W. Bush - his arch-enemies.

Like most African leaders, Mugabe hates the situation in which the citizens know their rights and are able to demand them. His philosophy on democracy is what he calls 'guided democracy', which means, as one of his vice-presidents, the late Simon Muzenda, once said, 'If Zanu PF gives you a monkey as a candidate, you have to vote for it'. This arrogance is typical of the Mugabe government since he seriously believes that he is the most intelligent leader in Zimbabwe and the rest of the continent. Mugabe's rule is arrogance - 'arrogancocracy', if such a word exists. His ministers have also taken the cue. And it flows down the ladder to his members of parliament and village leaders who hardly ever visit or consult their constituents.

The current violence in Zimbabwe has also to be understood in the context of the 'liberator mentality'. No liberation war has ever produced a democrat of substance.

'If you don't vote for me, there will be war', Mugabe declared during the presidential campaign of 2002. And being the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, the army commanders were soon to appear at a press conference in which they declared that they will never salute a president who did not come out of the liberation war. That was a silent military coup. So, even if the opposition leader had won the presidency, he would never have been allowed to go to state house.

The 'liberator' mentality also produces the 'father of the nation' mentality. Mugabe intensely hated Joshua Nkomo because Nkomo was establishing himself as 'the father of the nation' long before anyone knew Mugabe. Hence the violence in the southern provinces from 1983 to 1987. The purpose was to destroy Nkomo's political base and make his supporters realise that Nkomo was vulnerable and easy to destroy. The image had to be destroyed, even if it meant destroying the man himself.

'I liberated you, so I can subdue you and rule as I wish. You must be forever grateful to me', is the thinking. When Mugabe attacks his opponents and critics, he uses the liberation war as a licence to subdue all and sundry, by whatever means.

Former liberation war leaders love things and places named after them. In every town in Zimbabwe, there is a Robert Mugabe street, usually cutting through the centre of the city. In every government building and office, the framed picture of Mugabe looks down at you as if you are under the omnipresent eye of the President. It becomes a god-like symbol reminding every citizen that the demi-god, Mugabe, is watching you, day and night.

In the quest for glory and grandeur, the presidential palace is full of charlatans, praise-singers and flatterers. First they used to call him 'the son of God', and then one minister publicly said 'Mugabe is our Jesus Christ'. Next the minister of education and culture has recently designed and installed a 'throne' in parliament, for 'king Mugabe.' Then the minister of local government would not be outdone. He has decided to build 'a shrine' in Mugabe's home village. A shrine is a place of worship. So the president has become a god who deserves a 'shrine.' Thus, from VaMugabe ndibaba' (Mugabe is our father) to 'the son of God' to 'Jesus Christ' to a 'shrine' a place of worship, God.

When a mortal human is elevated to the status of a god, what can he not do? In biblical terms, God said, 'I am the God of war. I punish children for the sins of their fathers.' Hence President Mugabe, having elevated himself to that level, does not hesitate to inflict pain and death on men, women, children and the rest. All the problems of the country have nothing to do with him. It is all because of the West, Tony Blair and George W. Bush. Were he to admit a mistake, he would lose his infallibility. So, when he was asked many years ago, if he had made any mistake in the governance of the country, he answered, with a straight face: 'none at all'. The violence in Zimbabwe is Mugabe's 'rightful' demand to rule like a god.

African leaders have developed the capacity to transform themselves from elected leaders to royals, then to demigods and finally gods, from a presidential medal to a royal throne to a shrine, in their own lifetime.

Unfortunately, Africa is an extremely religious continent. We love to worship, even if it means creating our own gods in the name of a president. Religious hymns initially meant to praise gods are soon adapted to praise The President. Church uniforms normally depicting angels and Jesus Christ are soon flooded with images of The President. Bank notes are also soon covered with pictures of The President.

Africa is a continent of love and generosity, so we always believe. But somehow it produces such these monstrosities of political and financial power that it boggles the mind. We have a reputation of creating laughter at every occasion, including death. We have the capacity to produce an Idi Amin, a Bokassa, a Mobuto, a Banda, a Mugabe, at the same time that we laugh and dance. Could it be that we laugh and dance too much at the expense of serious business? All one can think of is: if Africa did not laugh, it would be crying all the time. 'We laugh in order not to cry', an African once said.

Not many African leaders have ever bothered to develop the language of democracy. President Mugabe is known to be probably the most foul-mouthed president in the world. There is no word he will not use against the opposition. At one time they are 'dogs', at another they are 'stooges', 'terrorists', 'tea boys,' 'traitors', 'sell-outs', and many other vulgarities only the mother tongue can pronounce. The ethics of language usage do not exist for President Mugabe and his cronies. He has no capacity to realise the implications of using a certain vocabulary in the political arena. When he says 'we will crush the opposition', he does not seem to realise that his youths will physically 'crush' the heads and limbs of his opponents.

'Power is a desolating pestilence,' an Indian scholar once observed. Power consumes human memory and conscience. President Mugabe has been so totally consumed by power that his memory does not seem to be about to rescue him. By training youths to murder and maim, he has destroyed a whole generation which has to be brought up again so they can learn to respect human life, freedom, dignity and compassion. All this in the insane pursuit of power for its own sake, power to loot and plunger the material and spiritual resources of a country.

The powerful in Africa seem to be infected with the diseases of deafness, blindness, and lack of vision of a past, and a future without them. They will kill their own mothers, sisters and brothers, if it makes them remain in power. When they inherit the instruments and technology of torture and oppression, they seem to be so grateful to their colonial masters whom they take pleasure in blaming for other convenient things: 'As Africans peacefully walked to the townships in the afternoon, just as they had walked to work in the morning, they were beaten up, and dogs were let loose on women and children', words of the late Zimbabwean nationalist, Maurice Nyagumbo, as he remembers the colonial rulers' treatment of Africans in Southern Rhodesia in the 1950s.

History, especially in Africa, seems to repeat itself, in different colours of skin and flag.

* Chenjerai Hove is a Zimbabwean writer living in exile in Norway.

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

My wife, Sekai Holland, is a 64-year old grandmother. For the crime of being a member of the opposition MDC in Zimbabwe she has suffered one of the most brutal attacks imaginable at the hands of the ZANU PF regime's sadistic thugs.

Sekai's ordeal began when she and fellow activist Grace Kwinjeh went to Harare's Highfield police station looking for those who had been arrested for trying to attend a Zimbabwe prayer vigil last Sunday. When they arrived they were told the others were in the yard at the back, and they were then taken to the yard and locked in with those already detained. Then the beatings started. Initially there was a mass beating of everyone there - over a hundred people who were forced to lie on the ground while they were viciously attacked. Later Sekai and the other members of the MDC leadership were called in one by one to the charge office where they were made to repeatedly run a gauntlet of thugs who beat them mercilessly.

Sekai was first hit in the face, her glasses being smashed to start with. Her earrings and watch were ripped off. Then she was hit with a variety of weapons, including clubs and batons. They kept accusing her of being Tony Blair's girlfriend - to which she responded 'No - he is my son - how can you call me his girlfriend?' That naturally didn't go down well. The beatings went on and on over a period of hours. A woman repeatedly jumped on her with booted feet - fracturing or breaking three of her ribs. Her clothes were covered in blood - both her own and that of others suffering the same brutality. She passed out several times.

At one stage one of the torturers left the room and was then called back by another who said 'What about her legs?'. He then used some instrument to break her leg, after which they forced her to stand up and hobble around on it. When satisfied that they had indeed broken it they left. The team of torturers was apparently trying to break her spirit by inflicting the maximum amount of pain.

From Highfield Sekai was taken first to Central Police Station and then to the suburban Avondale station. At Avondale when she was ordered to get out of the high prison truck she replied that she was unable to do so due to her injuries, so they pushed her out and she fell and landed hard on her head, adding to the injuries she already had.

Sekai spent two full days in detention without medical treatment. She suffered filthy conditions without proper sanitation, and with numerous injuries. When the courts finally forced the police to take the injured for medical treatment, it was first thought that she had a broken arm and foot, as well as the massive bruising over most of her body. Later on they discovered that she in fact had a broken leg not foot, and that she also had three broken or fractured ribs as well as a fractured knee.

I managed to get back to Harare from Tanzania on the evening of the day Sekai was admitted to hospital. The place was still crawling with riot police, and the atmosphere was very tense. However a local human rights organisation, Amani Trust, had managed to negotiate proper treatment for all the injured and Sekai was put into very good medical hands.

A doctor friend of ours from Australia paid her a visit before I arrived. However he was arrested and interrogated by the police for many hours before being released without charge. Apparently they thought he was a journalist. Sekai was in excellent spirits when I finally saw her, in spite of being so sadistically brutalised. She said that neither she nor any of the other leaders she saw being battered uttered any cries - and that must have infuriated the torturers. In the end the sadists were the ones who failed. In frustration they apparently made the bizarre boast that they were being paid a million dollars (admittedly only US$100 or so now) by Reserve Bank Governor Gono to carry out the beatings, plus an extra $100,000 a day for their meal allowances. That gives you an indication of the mentality of those hired by the regime.

Since her admission to hospital Sekai has had surgery to insert pins in her broken leg and arm. That operation went well, but she will need specialist treatment outside the country for the fractured knee.

I think that the regime has massively miscalculated with this brutality. Messages of solidarity have been coming in from all over the world, and I can see this leading to real pressure on the neighbouring African countries who have shielded Mugabe and his regime for so long.

The most moving development of all for us has been to hear of the support coming from so many members of the Australian Aboriginal community with whom Sekai campaigned over the elimination of apartheid and other colonial systems in Africa, and in support of Aboriginal Land Rights back in the
1970s. They say they are not going to let this pass without action that may surprise everyone.

Update 17 March 2007

It was agreed that it was essential to evacuate Sekai and fellow MDC activist Grace Kwinjeh from hospital in Harare to South Africa, where the atmosphere was calmer and safer and where medical facilities were better than in Zimbabwe. Arrangements were therefore made for them to be taken by air ambulance from Harare airport to Johannesburg. However when their ambulance drew up next to the aircraft on the tarmac they were met by members of the CIO (Central Intelligence Agency) who refused to allow them on board. Discussions with our lawyer followed, but he was told that the injured women required a clearance letter from the Minister of Health before they could leave the country. That of course was a total fabrication as there is no such provision in the law or indeed in practice. The ambulance was ordered to proceed under police escort to the Central Police Station.

At Central, the lawyer was advised that the women were not allowed to leave the country but should return to hospital under police escort. No justification or explanation was given. They were taken back to hospital and placed under the guard of four uniformed police officers - two fully armed men and two women. No explanation was forthcoming for another hour or so, at which time they were informed that they were under arrest as they were to be charged with some unspecified offence to be determined in due course by the CID (Criminal Investigation Division of the police).

It should be noted that on the day of their appearance before the court last Tuesday the magistrate ordered that everyone should be released from custody and that no further arrests should be made, and that if the police wanted to proceed against any of those arrested at a later stage it should be by way of summons and not arrest. The treatment they received today is in direct violation of that court order.

I am impressed by the amount of space your online magazine has given to the Zimbabwean case. It is true that the economy of Zimbabwe is in shambles. It is true that Mugabe has overstayed his welcome as head of state of Zimbabwe. It is not true that all the economic problems in Zimbabwe are Mugabe's making. It is not true that to create land for blacks from whose ancestors land was taken by force, is a bad policy. It is not true that the SADC countries just sit and watch and they don't understand the politics of Zimbabwe.

Who is Mugabe?

One of the African heroes of the independence movement. One of the only black African head of states who cannot be manipulated by the West including the 'only' super power on the scene The man who stood against the 'West's' evil plan in the DRC by taking 10,000 armed men to the battle field. The only African head of state who courageously faced a white privileged class and dispossessed them of their ill gotten wealth Mugabe takes lesson from doyens of liberators of the world's poor such as Fidel Castro, Frantz Fanon and lately Hugo Chavez. Mugabe says there is no freedom in South Africa as long as 'economic apartheid' prevails. Is this the man your publication and the West think the 'foolish' African citizens will turn against? Sekou Toure once said 'we prefer poverty in freedom rather than riches in slavery'. Dedan Kimathi, Kenya's freedom fighter said: 'It is better to die in the struggle than to live on our knees'.

For a long time Africa has been the West's 'cake on the table' since the days of the Berlin's conference. There are a few African thinkers and leaders who want to stop this trend. Mugabe is their apostle. Next time you write on Zimbabwe, please include divergent opinions like mine. I am not a Zimbabwean, I am a Kenyan who has interacted with Zimbabweans. Aluta continua against imperialism of both government and the media.
Long live Zimbabwe
Long live Mugabe
Long live African freedom

"Brain-drain", or the loss of skilled professionals to other parts of the world, is a major contributor to the slow pace of development on the African continent. According to estimates by the International Organization for Migration, the continent was already losing in excess of 20,000 skilled individuals per year in the decade of the 90s. This loss of human capital continues to negatively impact the continents ability to nurture autonomous development, given that the brain drain tends to apply more to the professional skills that are most in need. Ironically, Africa, in turn spends US$ 4 billion per annum to recruit foreign experts to meet skills shortages. This amounts to 35% of development aid given to Africa.

The issue of labour migration is indeed complex, and there are a number of factors that contribute to the exodus of skilled and unskilled individuals from their home countries. Aside from the proverbial 'greener pastures', many individuals leave due to underdeveloped and exploitative labour markets in their countries, corruption and mismanagement in recruitment procedures both in the private and public sectors, as well as unfavourable social, economic and political conditions. The stark reality is that more people would probably leave if they were able to.

Beyond the din of political leaders decrying the loss of skilled people while condemning the developed world for robbing the continent of its human capital, there are no easy solutions to the problem. The introduction of oppressive emigration policies that curtail citizens' freedom of movement increases extra-legal movement of people across borders, with all the attendant risks. Until the economic, political and social conditions improve in countries, the brain-drain will continue.

Research is increasingly focusing on 'virtual participation' by citizens abroad in the development of their countries. This refers to the ability of foreign-based citizens to contribute to the development of their countries. The primary way in which this occurs is through financial remittances. According to World Bank Data, global remittances amounted to US$80 billion. In Africa alone, they amounted to US$17 billion per year, US$2billion more than the amount the continent received in foreign direct investment. Research studies have shown that although remittances have a significant impact on development, a lot more needs to be done before the true benefits are recognised.

Firstly, there is not enough widespread information on remittance patterns on the continent. This is crucial from a policy stand-point, since it gives and indication as to whether there is sufficient economic benefit from the labour migration to mitigate the brain-drain. Secondly, most countries lack the mechanisms in place to formalize and adequately exploit the potential developmental value of the remittances. As a result of this a significant percentage of remittances are informal and difficult to quantify, or positively harness.

Remittances have the potential to generate savings and investment, and overall development, but there needs to be an enabling regulatory and policy framework in place. This would allow for cost-effective and accessible money transfer facilities, rational currency exchange rate regimes and institutions that offer support to the optimal deployment of these funds. The formalization of remittances would also help to head off the potential negative effects such as unsustainable modes of consumption, economies of affection and dependency relationships, all of which impact negatively on sustainable development.

Whereas the ultimate goal is for the continent to be able to nurture and keep its human resources by creating an enabling environment, the short-term aim should be to harness this potential by opening up more channels for virtual participation. The issue of remittances must not however detract from the discourse on addressing the brain-drain, nor worse yet, be seen as an excuse for the deliberate raiding of the continent's brain-basket. If participation in the global economy is inevitable, it must benefit Africa as a major contributor.

Further Reading

World Bank - Africa Region Working Paper No. 64

United Nations - Remittances and FDI
http://www.un.org/africa/osaa/press/Promoting%20International%20support%20for%20peace%20and%20development%20%85.pdf

Global Development Research Centre
http://www.gdrc.org/icm/remittance/more-remittance.html

Institute for Security Studies
http://www.iss.co.za/pubs/Monographs/No112/Contents.htm

International Development Research Centre
http://www.idrc.ca/en/ev-71249-201-1-DO_TOPIC.html

Zambia's parliament has unanimously passed a motion urging the Government to extend the policy of free education in Zambia to grade 12. This is in view of the high poverty levels in the country and the resultant high rate of school dropouts at grades seven and nine.

In what they are calling the Africa Liberate Zimbabwe Campaign the Radical Militant pressure group Free-Zim Youth ambushed President Kufuor as he gave a speech in London Chatham House, marking Ghana’s 50 years of independence.

In just five minutes into his speech, Kufuor praised the AU’s role in uniting Africans. Wellington Chibanguza, 24, stood up with hand-cuffs in his hands lifted up (symbolising the oppressed and repressed people of Zimbabwe by the Mugabe regime) and challenged his statement: 'African Leaders have betrayed the aspirations of black Africans,by perpetuating regimes that use precolonial legislature to oppress its own people, on the face of writing historic wrongs, Now Cde you are travelling around the World adopting neoliberal policies and reforms, enjoying at an elite level while ordinary peasants are suffering'.

'You have betrayed the dreams and vision of Dr Kwame Krumah that Ghana’s independence is meaningless unless Africa is totally liberated.'

Security forces were called to drag Chibanguza out of the event, and the chair of the breakfast apologised by saying 'let's all wait for question and time' cracking a joke to the whole audience to laugh. This did not go down well with Free-Zim Youth, five minutes back into his speech another campaigner, Alois Mbawara walked in front of the whole audience and fanged a newspaper which had a picture of the abused opposition leader in front of Kufuor: 'You are laughing (Murikuseka) this is the betrayal we are talking about Zimbabwe is a burning issue, but AU is failing to openly condemn the ruthless regime of Mugabe.'

'We young Africans feel the AU has been hijacked by fake-left tyrannies who talk left but walk right, Mugabe claims he is a revolutionary, but he is the one who bought all those neoliberal policies to Zimbabwe, AU should expel Zanu PF from the bloc since it has betrayed the revolution.'

'Same with SADC which is failing to exercise authority on a member state which violated all democratic protocol and principles, shame on you our leaders.'

Mbawara was also dragged out by the security forces as he shouted Power to the People. At this time all the audience were now applauding in solidarity with the young campaigners.

The dramatic event continued after five minutes again back into Kufuor’s speech when another campaigner Marceline Mutikori, 26, stood up to challenge: 'Women and Children are dying in Zimbabwe due to a member state that has violated the rule of law, why is AU not expelling or suspend Zimbabwe from the Organization.'

Mutikori was also kicked out by the security forces. By this time the whole audience was waiting for President Kufuor to respond when another militant member Bridgette Maphosa, 23, stood up to challenge: 'Cde President it is now time African leaders practice what they preach, that is why we young Africans are saying to end poverty, it starts from good governance.'

'We should not wait and watch the dreams of father Nkrumah betrayed, solidarity with ordinary black Zimbabweans in the hands of the oppressor.'

The dramatic event took the whole scene and made the head of state openly condemn the Mugabe regime saying: 'African leaders are embarrassed by the situation in Zimbabwe and perhaps could do more to help, but have met stiff resistance from Harare. As The African Union we will do all we can to restore the rule of Law in Zimbabwe.'

Openly condemning the brutal attacks of progressive leaders in Zimbabwe.

Background statement Brilliant Pongo of Free-Zim Youth said 'Direct confrontation is the only language our African leaders can adhere to, we will keep on putting pressure until they push for an African driven resolution.'

Gugulethu sibanda of Free-Zim Youth said 'The Zimbabwean problem is an African problem that needs an African solution and the current African Union is just a playhouse for the dictators, because they fail to enforce the protocols and principals all members are mandated to.'

Free-Zim Youth group statement:

Same applies with the ANC government, why we are holding it accountable for the suffering of black Zimbabweans. We are not saying the ANC should send troops but they have been on the record of legitimisng the Zanu PF regime, trying to push for some form of stability we say no.

And we have declared that all fake African leaders should be probed by the 'Africa Liberate Zimbabwe Campaign' which was ideologically built to question one’s African credentials, we comradely thank you!

Power to the People

For more information please contact Wellington Chibanguza 07706868955 Alois Mbawara 07960333568 [email][email protected]

This week, police in Zimbabwe used tear gas, water cannon and live ammunition to crush Sunday's gathering by the Save Zimbabwe Campaign, a coalition of opposition, church and civic groups, in Harare's western township of Highfield. Police shot and killed one opposition activist, Gift Tandare. Lawyers and fellow opposition activists said Tsvangirai had suffered a suspected skull fracture after being beaten by police. Patrick Burnett summarises voices from the ground and highlights some key messages from articles published in Pambazuka News in the recent past. Is it a year of hope or will it all simply collapse into a quagmire?

'In pairs we were being led to the cells where there were five people dressed in police uniforms holding baton sticks who were beating the hell out of us," relates an unnamed woman opposition activist. "They would beat each pair for between 15 and 20 minutes after which they would order the pair out to fetch the next pair from the van." The woman describes how her head was banged against a wall causing her to fall down to the ground. "It took a long time according to what I was seeing and I was only praying if they could stop," she tells the camera in this video as her testimony is interspersed with shots of police brutally beating arrested protesters with batons in order to force them into a police van.

Another activist states in the same video: "We wanted the government to see and show the world at large that the Zimbabweans are suffering. The money they are getting is peanuts, it does not take them anywhere. It is the government that regulates the prices. You can hardly pay for a child at school. You have to feed the family and sometimes you have only one meal a day. We wanted to show the leadership of Zimbabwe that what they are doing is not fair."

Even video sharing site knows what's happening in Zimbabwe. This video was not testimony from Sunday's protest, though, but of a peaceful labour union demonstration in September 2006 in which 23 people were beaten and tortured. No doubt, videos of Sunday's march will find their way onto youtube, providing a valuable window into the situation – the above video already has over 12 000 views - but in the meantime compare testimonies from the video quoted above with that of MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai, as told to the BBC:

"It was almost as if they were waiting for me…Before I could even settle down I was subjected to a lot of beatings, in fact it was random beatings but I think the intention was to inflict as much harm as they could. I suffered injuries on the head, six stitches, body blows, a broken arm. I also suffered injuries on the knees and on my back several body blows, but I think the most serious injury was the head injury because I lost a lot of blood. They have just administered almost two pints of blood."

Police used tear gas, water cannon and live ammunition to crush Sunday's gathering by the Save Zimbabwe Campaign, a coalition of opposition, church and civic groups, in Harare's western township of Highfield. Police shot and killed one opposition activist, Gift Tandare. Lawyers and fellow opposition activists said Tsvangirai had suffered a suspected skull fracture after being beaten by police.

World outrage followed news of the crackdown, with calls for more stringent sanctions and renewed engagement with Zimbabwe. African leadership, long muted on the issue of Zimbabwe, was also more strident. Ghanaian President John Kufuor, also the African Union chair, said: "I know personally that presidents like (South Africa's Thabo) Mbeki tried desperately to exercise some influence for the better," as reported by numerous media. "Please don't think that Africa is not concerned. Africa is very much concerned. What can Mbeki as a man do? Are you proposing that Africa compose an expedition team to march on Zimbabwe and oppose? It does not happen like that. We are in our various ways trying very hard."

As demonstrated by the youtube video and numerous human rights reports in the past months and years, Tsvangirai's beatings are the result of long term repression to which numerous Zimbabweans have been subject over the past years.

At this stage its worth trolling through a few of the articles published by Pambazuka News about Zimbabwe over the last five years, not because they are the only record of the Zimbabwean crisis or because they comprehensively cover all the issues faced by the country, but because they show the progression of events in the country, and provide useful analysis and insight into the complex Zimbabwean situation. At times like this its important to remember that short-term political outrage shouldn't mask the long-term nature of the situation in Zimbabwe – nor the long-term nature of political inaction.

Perhaps the most useful insight into Zimbabwe's path is provided in a series of articles written in March of each year since 2002 by Mary Ndlovu, a human rights activist from Zimbabwe. Her articles take readers into the heart of life in Zimbabwe, documenting the politics and effect of the land reform crisis, the controversial elections and the downward economic spiral and its effect on the Zimbabwean people.

In March 2004, Ndlovu writes: "On our side of the looking glass, the mounting catastrophe has political, economic, social and cultural components. Most objective observers would trace the economic problems back at least to the late 1980's. Certainly the introduction of structural adjustment at the beginning of the 90's can be seen as the process which eroded the living standards of Zimbabweans, and spawned the first broad-based opposition party. It also generated pressure from interest groups such as war veterans and ambitious black businessmen who felt they had waited too long to share in the country's wealth. The government's response to these developments sent the country into the downward spiral which today ensnares us. Instead of taking the criticism and the pressure and sitting back to plan a coherent strategy of how to deal with the inter-related issues, ZANU PF panicked, saw their ruling position threatened, and from 1997 on have responded piecemeal, reactively and irrationally, bringing us to the tragedy which unfolds before our eyes."

In another article, she writes: "In February 2000, ZANU PF discovered, in a rare moment of truth, that they were unpopular enough to be defeated at the polls, in spite of all the advantages they had in controlling most of the media, the electoral machinery and all the state security apparatus. They immediately began the process of ensuring that no matter what the people wanted, never again would ZANU PF lose a vote. The electoral process would be turned into a stage-managed spectacle."

Following on from this and assessing the 2005 Parliamentary elections, Ndlovu warns of economic collapse and "dire consequences" for the region should ZANU PF take power against the wishes of Zimbabweans. She makes three points on the back of this:

- SADC unwillingness to insist that regional electoral standards be upheld appears to signal that they are not prepared to implement them for their own countries either.

- Democrats should be aware that governments cannot be trusted with the task of defending democracy, in their own countries or anywhere else.

- There is a long road ahead for the building of democracy in Southern Africa, "from the bottom up, with much struggle to claim rights against the autocratic tendencies of all the governments and ruling parties of the region".

The startling lack of progress on the Zimbabwean front is evident in Ndlovu's articles. In March last year, Ndlovu wrote that: "Certainly we know that the multiple crises which embody Zimbabwe's millennium experience are intensifying, making life barely livable for the majority of the population. The crises have engulfed the working world, the learning world, the consumer world, the world of the supermarket and even of sport. The economy limps along, agriculture crawling, tourism virtually defunct, manufacturing crippled, and mining, the one still flickering light of the economy, under recent assault from government policies. Electricity comes and goes at will, water likewise in many places; fuel supplies (black market only) are erratic and prices exploitative. Schools are places of confusion, teachers demoralized, pupils unable to afford textbooks if they manage to pay fees, and only finding bus fare for half the school days. Courts barely function, police cells are filthy putrid hell holes, prisons even worse."

Writing in 2004, Steve Kibble points out the long-term nature of Zimbabwe's problems. "The inheritance of violent colonial dispossession and dehumanisation with the response of (in Brian Kagoro's words) a 'violent and hegemonic struggle for decolonisation…culminated in a largely symbolic independence devoid of material gain for the majority black population.' This meant an authoritarian elite unable/unwilling to transform the repressive state colonial structures into democratic institutions, and the emergence of neo-patrimonialism and clientilist structures along with long lasting cultures of intolerance and impunity."

In pointing to why regional responses to the Zimbabwean situation have been muted, Kibble writes in another article that: "The 'national security' strategy of the ZANU PF elite has led to economic collapse, severe repression, flight and severe economic consequences for the region, but as yet there has been no concerted regional reaction to this in terms of security. This in turn relates to national elites being unable to formulate a path directed to human security, and largely because of their lack of engagement with and mistrust of new social forces (which of course are not themselves necessarily united or coherent)."

Kibble questions how to shift the security focus from military to human security to focus on those without power and those affected by poverty, environmental degradation and human rights abuses. Values would include peace and the promotion of human rights. "It may not seem obvious when there seem more immediate concerns, but the fight against repression in Zimbabwe illustrates much of this, and involves what values postcolonial states and regions should have, their road to development, democracy and overcoming of colonial and apartheid structures, all of which pose human security dilemmas."

Patrick Bond and David Moore, in April 2006 ask what can be done to offer solidarity with the people of Zimbabwe: "…the real solidarity action ahead may revolve around COSATU and broader civil society forces. They must shake free of Mbeki's influence and establish a strategy for longer-term support. This would more forcefully and surgically target Mugabe and his cronies, and nurture the unpredictable resurgence of Zimbabwean protests, which certainly still lie ahead." More broadly, one could add to this the need for pressure on the African Union and other regional and international human rights bodies.

Perhaps the last word, before noting that based on the progression of events in Zimbabwe the happenings of the last week are hardly surprising and without concerted effort on behalf of all stakeholders worse will surely follow, should go to Ndlovu, writing in 2006: "The tension of expectation is building as the people's misery becomes unsustainable. Will this be the year, and if it is, will it hold hope for the future, or will we simply all fall down together?"

* Patrick Burnett is contributing editor of Pambazuka News
* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

Gladwell Otieno is the executive director for the Africa Centre for Open governance, based in Kenya. An uncompromising anti-corruption campaigner, she aims to revive Kenyan civil society's work on anti-corruption and good governance.

A list of aspiring candidates for the April presidential polls was to be published by Nigeria's Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Thursday. But INEC officials said the list does not contain the names of candidates indicted for corruption, which clearly means the Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, whose name appears on the list of corrupt officials, is not competing for the polls.

FEATURES
Patrick Burnett reviews Zimbabwean voices and predictions about the future
COMMENT AND ANALYSIS:
- Wamba dia Wamba presents critical analysis of the concept of democracy, applied in the DRC
- Genetically modified rice is not the solution to Diarrhoea, writes Nnimmo Bassey
- Bronwen Dyke asks: will Cape Town legislation criminalise the poor?
- How to beat the internet censors - Dmitri Vitaliev
LETTERS:
- Doreen Lwanga: eight Malian families die in a New York fire
- President of Ghana and Chair of the African Union ambushed in London
PAN-AFRICAN POSTCARD: Tajudeen wonders whether the 'rule of law' is in fact the law of the rulers
BLOGGING AFRICA: Bloodshed in Zimbabwe
BOOKS & ARTS: Public invitation to an independence dance

WOMEN AND GENDER: Ivorian rights group calls attention to sexual violence
CONFLICT AND EMERGENCIES: Ugandan rebels conditionally resume talks
HUMAN RIGHTS: Morocco edging closer to abolishing death penalty
REFUGEES AND FORCED MIGRATION: Liberian refugees face deportation
ELECTIONS AND GOVERNANCE: Mauritania’s elections head for second round
AFRICA AND CHINA: It’s (still) the governance, stupid!
DEVELOPMENT: Mitigating the Brain-drain
CORRUPTION: Make the battle with corruption relevant to Africa
HEALTH AND HIV/AIDS: South Africa in bid to stem spread of HIV/AIDS
EDUCATION: Zambian parliament votes for free education
ENVIRONMENT: Progress in forest loss
LGBTI: Ghana’s gays condemn anniversary celebrations
LAND & LAND RIGHTS: South Africa Government may take first option on land
RACISM AND XENOPHOBIA: Migrants facing race hate in the UK
MEDIA AND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION: Egyptian court upholds blogger’s conviction
NEWS FROM THE DIASPORA: Appalling treatment of Europe’s ‘foreign’ children
INTERNET AND TECHNOLOGY: Egypt launches NEPAD E-schools
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An independent review of the International Monetary Fund's operations in Africa says the lender's work is confused, vague, lacks transparency and suffers from a large gap between rhetoric and practice.