The African Union’s Peace and Security Council should unanimously support a robust international protection force with the capacity to protect civilians in Darfur and along the Sudan-Chad border, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to council members before they gather on Wednesday in the Nigerian capital Abuja to discuss Darfur.

South Africa's national police commissioner, Jackie Selebi, is under investigation after it was revealed that he maintained a close friendship with an organised crime boss recently arrested over the murder of a corrupt mining magnate. The revelation follows a damning series of accusations against the commissioner, who is also president of Interpol.

Corruption in the oil trade is the focus of hearings beginning Monday at the International Court of Justice in a dispute between two African nations. The case between Guinea and the Democratic Republic of Congo, raising allegations of massive bribery versus the exploitation of a nation's wealth, will help define the liability of a successor government for the corrupt practices of its ousted predecessor.

What will future health and agricultural systems look like? Who will benefit from genetically modified crops or new vaccines? With climate change, will there be enough water for people to survive the 21st century? What are the implications of global pandemics of HIV/AIDS or bird flu? What does a global knowledge economy and society mean?

Pambazuka News will be at the World Social Forum in Kenya next January training women in grassroots African movements to make their own audio and video reports. But we need your help with equipment. So if you have cameras, minidisc recorders, microphones or headphones you're not using, and are willing to donate, please let us know. Your old equipment will make it possible for African women's voices to be heard. If you can help, please contact us at

Prominent African academic and political theorist Professor Ernest Wamba dia Wamba gives his analysis of the recent elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo and takes the political temperature of the mood in DRC today. The text of this interview is shown above in the Comments and Analysis section.

FEATURE: During the 16 days of activism campaign to end violence against women and children, some thought needs to be given to adult sex workers, who experience violence on a number of levels. Nicole Fick explores the consequences of stigma and isolation for Sex Workers.
COMMENT AND ANALYSIS:
- The proposition of a traditional form of justice, Mato Oput, as an alternative to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the Ugandan peace process, raises many questions. Dieu-Donné WEDI DJAMBA points out that Mato Oput raises a couple of questions such as will Mato Oput apply to types of crimes such as mutilation, burning of houses, abduction, use of children soldiers and slavery, which are crimes against humanity?
- On the basis of electoral fraud charges, Jean-Pierre Bemba and his coalition have rejected the run-off presidential election results. There are fears that the country might return to war. However, professor Wamba dia Wamba argues that it is unlikely that the Democratic Republic of Congo will return to war
- Patrick Bond and Greg Ruiters comment on the global launch of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Human Development Report 2006 (HDR), which was held in Cape Town recently.
PODCASTS:
* Professor Wamba dia Wamba speaks to Pambazuka News about the elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo
BOOKS & ARTS: We have two poems this week, from the urban music award winner, Omékongo Dibinga, and from Akwasi Aidoo.
CONFLICT AND EMERGENCIES: Links to news on Sudan, Somalia, Chad, DRC and Uganda
HUMAN RIGHTS: New data reveals that a Child is abused every hour in Zimbabwe
WOMEN AND GENDER: The girl child and armed conflict
REFUGEES AND FORCED MIGRATION: Down and out in London
ELECTIONS AND GOVERNANCE: Bemba rejects poll results
DEVELOPMENT: A new fibre route to Africa
CORRUPTION: Development official caught in corruption
HEALTH AND HIV/AIDS: Africa faces the world’s most dramatic public health crisis
EDUCATION: Catholic universities to focus more on social doctrine
ENVIRONMENT: Annan speaks out on toxic emissions
LAND AND LAND RIGHTS: Mujuru urges Africa to integrate infrastructure
MEDIA AND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION: Al Jazeera comes to Africa
NEWS FROM THE DIASPORA: Rejoicing in genocide and white supremacy
INTERNET AND TECHNOLOGY: Growth expected in broadband market
PLUS: e-Newsletters and Mailings Lists; Fundraising and Useful Resources; Courses, Seminars and Workshops
JOBS: Fahamu seeks Director for Education for Social Justice

I have just read the article ‘The Second Sex’ by Irungu Houghton. I must confess I am shocked and amazed that 90 million women have suffered female genital mutilation. This is an issue that receives little attention in the daily newspaper that I read, the radio news programs that I listen to, and the evening news that I watch.

During the 16 days of activism campaign to end violence against women and children, some thought needs to be given to adult sex workers, who experience violence on a number of levels: from police, agency bosses, clients and on a domestic level like other women. Sex workers are isolated and stigmatised and this prevents them from being able to access the protection services of the police. It also means that law enforcement agencies often discriminate against sex workers, denying them assistance when they experience violence and crime.

Stigma can be defined as a brand, a mark of shame or a stain on one’s character. Social stigmatisation of an act entails severe disapproval from society for behaviour that is considered to be outside the bounds of social norms.

The normative message that society has traditionally given to women is that sex is only acceptable within marriage or at least within a significant relationship. [1] This message can be understood as part of society’s attempt to keep women’s sexuality controlled within the bounds of marriage. Sexual relationships that do not occur within marriage, or at least within a committed relationship, are seen as deviating from this social norm. The further a relationship is from the norm-setting nuclear family the more likely it is to be categorised as “abnormal”.

Thus, for example, unmarried heterosexual couples are still close enough to this norm to be considered nominally acceptable, while homosexual relationships fall further outside of the norm and are thus often seen as “suspect”. Sex with a stranger, as part of an economic transaction, is as far away from the norm as you can get.[2]

Selling sex is thus seen as “abnormal” and therefore morally wrong and sex workers as a group are stigmatised.[3] It is significant, however, that the resultant “whore” stigma does not only apply to sex workers and is often attached to any woman that is sexually assertive or seen as impure or unchaste.[4] Gail Pheterson speaks of the “whore” stigma as a stigma that aims to silence and degrade those that it targets, emphasising their “shameful differentness”.

This stigma also prevents women from “freely exploring, experiencing and naming their own sexuality for fear of being called a whore”.[5] The sex workers in this study spoke of their “shameful differentness” and of their own experience of feeling stigmatised.

“I don’t think anyone is born a prostitute, so I think at any given time, doesn’t matter whether she has been brought up ill treated or abused or whatever, she never actually has that image in her mind of her doing that you know... because society condemns it... you still look in the mirror and you still know that you are inevitably you are still selling your body for money... so you have got inner conflict already you know trying to lift your spirit and not breaking yourself down.”

“I know that people believe - that there’s that perception out there - that prostitutes are filthy.”

For one participant one of the main things that she finds difficult about her work is coming to understand what she does and justifying it to herself. Another participant spoke of her feelings of guilt after having been with a client and how it makes one question one’s worth as a person:

“You have all got a conscience and conscience means that you will, that after you have been with a client you obviously will feel dirty. You feel like am I worth this or whatever? Especially, especially when how the clients, some of the clients do treat you ..... You will finish a booking, sometimes when you have finished a booking you just have to get out.”

At the same time, one of the participants speaks articulately about how being involved in sex work allowed her to think more critically about this kind of stigma and how she has started to explore her own sexuality:

“I’ve come to terms with my own sexuality, I think. I’ve definitely sort of realised that it is just, well in my opinion, a physical act of pleasure. It’s OK for a woman to actually enjoy sex. There I’ve grown in leaps and bounds, but just coming from ... a conservative upbringing, you know as a woman you are brought up not to sleep around. And then you’re a slut and a whore and so on...”

Consequences of stigma

The way in which the participants quoted above speak about themselves illustrates how stigma can sometimes become internalised. Often the perceptions that others have of us can become the perceptions that we have of ourselves. Resisting the internalisation of these derogatory perceptions is difficult and it can be easier just to accept these insulting labels than to challenge them.[6]

Persons engaged in sex work are often blamed for social problems or perceived as victims.[7] Some of the myths and stereotypes that exist about sex workers are that they are dirty and spread disease, that they all come from dysfunctional families, that they all abuse drugs and alcohol, that sex work is always associated with or the cause of other crimes, or that sex workers are women that need a sexual outlet.

Participants in the study use some of these stereotypes to describe themselves when they talk about themselves as “dirty”, or when they make the assumption that sex workers come from families where they are ill treated and sexually abused. They also expressed their awareness of the condemnation of society, as well as their own feelings of guilt and self blame for doing the work they do:

“I think it’s sort of coming to understand or justifying what you do. And then sort of coming to terms with it. And forgiving yourself or you can sugarcoat it any which way you like, and justify it as much as you can, but it still is what it is, you know.”

“... many a times we feel down and... we feel broken because of the type of business we’re in...” “They just, we all just feel that we are not, we are not good enough, you know, and that makes you just let yourself go. I know I’ve let myself go... I just felt I wasn’t worthy of anybody...”

Participants in the study also spoke about experiencing feelings of guilt and self-judgment, particularly when they had just started doing sex work. A number of researchers describe this internalised stigma as one of the worst dangers that people engaged in sex work face and they assert that it is mainly stigma that causes psychological distress for sex workers.[8] One participant describes this experience as follows:

“What I really find difficult is the stigma, the stigma that gets attached to you, by society. They don’t understand why, and people... That’s the thing that I find the worst is the stigma of the work.”

Some of the psychological consequences of internalised stigma are difficulties with self-esteem, feelings of shame, despair and powerlessness.[9] A participant in the study spoke of people she works with who become depressed as a result of the stigma attached to the work and who then use drugs as a means of escape:

“Yes there is, self esteem, just because you’re in the industry, you don’t, yes this is probably the last thing that a lot of people will consider doing, okay... As we feel dirty when we have been with a client, some of my colleagues, or ex colleagues that actually went into a depression. Like in the sense of, this is not really for me and, and their way is also to cut it off, doing like abuse in order for you to escape from what you are doing...”

Research has shown that one of the main strategies employed by sex workers to cope with stigma is distancing. One of the distancing techniques used by some sex workers is to avoid referring to what they do directly, referring to it as “working” and never directly mentioning the sexual aspect of their work.[10]

This has also been our experience, with some sex workers preferring to speak of themselves as “working girls” rather than “sex workers”, thereby distancing themselves from the sexual nature of the work they do in the way that they speak about the work.

Most of the women we work with also use a pseudonym as their working name. Taking on a different name when working is another distancing strategy that allows sex workers to separate their identity when working from their private selves. A sex worker interviewed in Campbell’s study explains it in this way:

“My street name is not the name I take home with me. At home I am just an ordinary person like my name is...” [11]

Participants in this research also spoke of keeping their work identity and their home identity separate from each other.

“Ek is nie ‘n hoer nie. Hierbinne doen ek my werk. As ek buitekant toe gaan, is ek ‘n hele ‘different’ tipe mens. Ek vat nie eers ‘n man se nommer buite nie...”

[I am not a ‘whore’. I do my work here inside this place. When I go outside, I am a totally different person. I don’t even take a man’s number outside this place...]

When people are stigmatised for doing something, it is natural for them to attempt to hide the activity or the attribute for which they are being stigmatised and to attempt to pass as “normal”.[12] But hiding is not always effective as a strategy to cope with stigma. Passing for “normal” requires constant alertness to ensure that you don’t expose yourself and so can create additional anxiety and isolation. Although our experience at SWEAT shows that some sex workers are open about the work they do, many hide the nature of their work. Eleven of the seventeen participants in this research spoke about the difficulty of keeping the work they do a secret from family and friends as well as more generally in their everyday interactions. A participant in the study indicated that hiding the work she does is important to protect her children, who are still at school, from stigma.

“No one knows I do this work. First of all, it’s like, when I leave this house, it’s like I’ve got my own life outside.”

“Nobody knows in the community that I am doing this kind of a job...”

“Difficulties in my personal life, is basically the fact that we have to lie about this. And people do start asking questions. It gets a bit tough...”

“No. We don’t actually describe this work to people. You lie.”

“And some people say, what type of work do you do and then you feel a little afraid to say, no, I’m a sex worker and then you just say, I work under (name of an organisation)... Do you understand? And because you don’t want to have people looking down on you...”

Participants also spoke of their constant worry and anxiety that someone they know will find out about the work that they do:

“... hoping that your parents doesn’t find out, friends doesn’t find out, that kind of thing, you know.”

“Other things worrying me, is basically people coming in here that may know me or my family. Probably one of the main things...”

“So you’re always lying and making up excuses... ‘Where you going?’ ‘I’m going to work.’ ...especially with your friends as well, when they wanna drop you off at work. Now you have to let them drop you at the hotel. And then you have to walk, always check, not actually running yet. Hoping no one’s gonna see you.”

This was confirmed by participants in the study who spoke of their fear that a member of their family would drive past while they were standing in the road, working. Those working at agencies said that they worried about their boyfriend walking in at the agency where they work. This constant need for subterfuge can have an isolating effect on sex workers.

One participant indicated that she purposefully doesn’t initiate contact with people in order to avoid having to constantly lie or to deceive them about what she does.

“You don’t allow someone in your life. I cut most of my friends, most of my family. And of course it’s not something ... You can’t explain where you’re going, you can’t make friends when you’re in this business. There’s always lying, deceiving. And I don’t like that, that you can’t. So while you’re in this business you’re actually very cut off from the world and people. You don’t really actually make friends or allow people, as you would if you weren’t in the business. I love making friends, but you just don’t. You actually reflect being a bad friend or, but you’re not really, you just don’t know how to tell them, or you don’t want to tell them, or you think they won’t be able to handle it, so you don’t go there. You just avoid friendships at all costs.”

Participants spoke of the kinds of stresses that the hidden nature of their work also places on their personal relationships. Two participants spoke about difficulties with trust in their personal relationships:

“Yes. I guess because we’ve both been in the industry, and we know the emotional stress that it leaves behind, in the personal relationships, it kind of messes you around. Trusting-wise. That kind of thing.” “You struggle trusting men... As you should. Alsostanding behind the door as well you know... if you understand what I mean. You’re doing something that you don’t actually want other people to know. Therefore they can’t trust you 100% and therefore you won’t trust them 100% because you are deceiving them in the first place.”

Difficulties were also experienced by participants in hiding what they do from their intimate partner although, as one participant says, it is a difficult situation to cope with, whether your partner knows about the work you do or not:

“I think that every girl that works in this industry that has either families that know about it or has a partner, and if the partner knows about it, it makes it even worse. I think it makes it difficult if the partner doesn’t know about it. Because then you sort of, you’ve got to watch what you do, your times, you know the whole story. And I’ve got such empathy for them. I can imagine it’s like not easy at all. And if you have a partner that knows about it, there’s always, always little fights and tiffs and things like that.”

Sometimes hiding the work they do makes it very complicated for sex workers to manage their personal and social lives. For one participant this means planning her social life in order to keep the people in her life who know of the work she does completely separate from those who do not know:

“I don’t have any friends of the past that have stayed in my life that I’ve kept this from... Friends that don’t know are the friends that I’ve met while I’m in the industry. And that gets a bit tricky because then you have to start lying about what you do, your working hours, where you’re working, what do you do, that kind of stuff. So that’s a bit tricky. ... Try not to intermingle the friends because then everybody’s got to be on their toes and nobody really, everybody likes to relax. Say if I go out and have a braai or something I’ll only invite the friends that know, what each other do cause it’s ... more relaxed.”

Managing a life where you hide the work you do is not only stressful, but it also makes it more difficult to use normal sources of social support like family or friends if you have a problem or something that you need to talk about.[13] A participant in this study spoke of not being able to share even day-to-day difficulties with family or friends:

“In sex work even the girls downstairs in the street, some of them don’t have some people to speak to... Because obviously their family doesn’t know what they’re doing, and you can’t actually go and speak to your mother regarding what happened at work, as if you’ve got sort of a normal job... So you can’t go to your mother, oh this happened on the streets today. I’m sure she will chuck you out of your, out of the house.”

• This is an extract from a report by Nicole Fick of the Sex Worker Education and Advocacy Taskforce entitled “Coping with stigma, discrimination and violence: Sex Workers talk about their experiences”. The full report is available on

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

References

[1] Goffman, 1968; Pheterson, 1998)
[2] Augustin, 2001
[3] Alexander, 1998
[4] Pheterson, 1998
[5] Alexander, 1998: 184
[6] Erikson, Butters, McGillcuddy & Halgren, 2000
[7] Erikson et al, 2000; Pheterson, 1998
[8] Erikson et al, 2000; Vanwesenbeeck, 2001; Benoit & Millar, 2001
[9] Goffman, 1968; Moane, 2003
[10] Campbell, 2000
[11] Campbell, 2000
[12] Goffman, 1968
[13] El Bassel cited in Vanwesenbeeck, 2001

The Democratic Republic of Congo has just held its first democratic elections since the country’s independence in 1960. On the basis of electoral fraud charges, Jean-Pierre Bemba and his coalition have rejected the run-off presidential election which gave the incumbent, Joseph Kabila, 58.05 percent of the vote and Bemba 41.95 percent. But Professor Wamba dia Wamba argues that it is unlikely that the country will return to war. This is the transcript of the podcast published by Pambazuka News this week.

Prof Ernest Wamba dia Wamba is a Senator, and the vice president of the Senate Permanent Commission on Legal and Administrative Matters of the transitional administration of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Previously, he was Chairman of the Kisangani faction of the rebel group ‘Rally for Congolese Democracy’ during the Second Congo War. He is also a prominent African academic and political theorist.

Pambazuka News: It’s reported that about 25 million people registered for these elections. I believe these are the first democratic elections since the country’s independence in 1960? How important are these elections to the Congolese people?

Prof Wamba dia Wamba: Congolese people saw these elections as an opportunity to express their political views, as well as an opportunity to influence the political decision as to which the direction the country should take.

Pambazuka News: It’s often said that the Sun City Agreement that led to these elections favoured the warlords over the people. Is there any element of truth in that?

Prof Wamba dia Wamba: The peace negotiation mechanisms encouraged by the UN and other international agencies are structured in such a way that they favour those who have the means to threaten peace over the weak and poor. So, yes during the negotiations the warlords’ demands were given first priority. Peaceful organisations were marginalised and ignored, simply because they were viewed as powerless and therefore not a threat.

Pambazuka News: How do you see the South African role in the DRC?

Prof Wamba dia Wamba: In my opinion it is based on a number of mistakes. For example, they approached the DRC situation the same way they approached the apartheid regime. They assumed that, like in apartheid South Africa, there is a mission to be solved and that there is a state. In DRC there is no mission to speak of, and further, the state is fragmented. Another thing is that the South Africans usually talk with those in power, they have no regard for those on the ground.

Pambazuka News: Would it be a fair assessment to describe the DRC as basically a state that is responsible for guaranteeing the basic physical and legal security of investors in the mining sector and other business sectors?

Prof Wamba dia Wamba: In South Africa, big businesses like Anglo American impose on the society a type of economy that is based on extraction of country’s resources and of selling those resources on the international markets. The same kind of economy is envisaged for the DRC.

Pambazuka News: Jean-Pierre Bemba has been quoted as saying that he will not return to war if he loses in the elections. President Joseph Kabila has made similar promises, I believe. Do you think these are empty promises?

Prof Wamba dia Wamba: Personally, I think the DRC will not go back to war. I do not see either of them going back to war.

Pambazuka News: Could you tell us about Kabila, Bemba and Joseph François Zanga’s politics?

Prof Wamba dia Wamba: President Kabila is surrounded by people who are only concerned about enriching themselves. There have been a lot of allegations of corruption against some of these people. For example, there is a parliamentary report revealing that certain contracts give permission to businesses to operate in the DRC for up to 25 years without paying taxes.

Also, Kabila is known for helping himself to money from the national treasury. In addition, he is not well known for respecting the constitution. There are cases where decisions have been taken without any regard for the constitution. For instance, soldiers have been appointed to government positions, whereas the constitution states clearly that soldiers are not to occupy any governmental positions.

Bemba has been the president of the economic and financial commission, whereas he can be linked to the corrupt regime of Mobutu. However, in these elections he has been trying to get all the organisations that are not part of the transition to be included in the process. So, it can be said that he believes in the union which is based on the premise that the unity of the country concerns everybody and not just the majority of the country. This contradicts the presidential majority which views the unity of the country as concerning only the majority of the country with the president at the helm.

Zanga is not known for practical politics. Some people seem to think that his father, Mobutu, was a great statesman. Zanga exploits that and as a result his political camp mainly consists of these individuals. During the campaign, he did not have much to say about what his political plans entailed for the country. He did point out; however, that he was for foreign investments.

Pambazuka News: President Joseph Kabila did not manage to get the 51% vote needed in the first elections to avoid the presidential run-off elections. I believe that Kabila won 44.8% of the vote in first round of the July elections against Bemba’s 20%. How would you interpret these figures?

Prof Wamba dia Wamba: Firstly, these figures reveal that 56% percent of the Congolese people did not vote for Kabila and so are opposed to Kabila’s governance. Secondly, most of the people who make up the 44.8% of his vote are from the East where there were lots of reports and allegations of fraud and irregularities. The point here is that the majority of Congolese people voted against Kabila.

Pambazuka News: Do you think the new government will have legitimacy and support? Do you think it will re-negotiate the business agreements it might have made with countries like South Africa?

Prof Wamba dia Wamba: There were a lot of irregularities and not enough transparency around the voting process and the elections generally. And the Congolese people have made it clear that if the new government is based on fraud, they are not going to accept it.

If Kabila wins the elections, the business agreements will remain as they are. However, if Bemba wins the elections, he has said that the business contracts will have to be re-negotiated on the basis of equal partnership and mutual understanding.

• Interview conducted by Mandisi Majavu.

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

On the 17th of November 2006, Al Jazeera published an article that reported, among other things, that the “…prime minister of Chad has announced plans to send troops to its southern neighbour Central African Republic to fight rebels allegedly backed by Sudan.”

The article further stated that “Pascal Yoadimnadji, the prime minister… also called for the ‘general mobilisation’ of Chad's people against what he called ‘a generalised war imposed by the Sudanese government.'"

Similar reports and those about relief workers being killed in Chad, abound on the internet. What Pambazuka News has not managed to cover, however, is to provide analyses of the origin of the conflict and who stands to benefit if the status quo remains in Chad. We are seeking articles that interrogate how the situation in Chad impacts on the Darfur crisis. Indeed, we need to assess how the situation impacts on the entire region.

Pambazuka News believes that such an analysis would be useful for both lay-readers and those who follow closely the political developments on the continent. It is for this reason that we are sending out this communiqué, asking any political scientists who would be willing to write an article on the current situation in Chad and its impact on the Darfur crisis, to please contact us. We welcome articles written in either French or English.
If you are interested, please contact [email protected]

Rough note prior 8th Ordinary Assembly of the African Union, January 2007, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: These comments are un-attributable but offer an accurate briefing of some of the key issues prior to the Summit.

Benson Lahai, the principal development officer in the ministry of development and economic planning, has been exposed in a corruption deal. He is alleged to be duping people who want to register their Non- Governmental Organisations.

The Supreme Court yesterday (22 November 2006) said it would decide, in two weeks, the appeal filed by 18 lawmakers from Oyo State House of Assembly, challenging the Court of Appeal's ruling, which nullified the proceedings that led to the removal of Governor Rashidi Ladoja from office.

'' describes his experience in the town of Juba in Southern Sudan.

“Some people die. Some survive. When bullets went off three meters from my tent, my first instinct was to unzip the tent and peep, my second instinct was to save my life -- keep the head to the ground, [and] -- as the shooting continued… – [I decided that what I needed to do] was to take the first car/plane -- or whatever -- out of Juba the following day. The instinct for survival trumped the instinct to be an eye witness. I lived to tell the tale.

“Gunshots went off at 4 a.m. Thursday, reverberating through half of Juba, less than a kilometer from Southern Sudan's Parliament buildings. Seconds into the breakout of the gun exchange a car raced along a lane between homesteads, firing back as it drove off, and as its engine died down into the distance.”

Last week I listened to the first report on Al Jazeera’s English channel on Darfur. It was an interview with the General in charge of the AU troops who basically said his presence had minimal impact on the lives of the people he was supposed to be protecting. He had only one soldier for every two square kilometres and he needed at least 17 000 more in order to make a significant difference.

'fleur d’ Afrique' writes that she sometimes wishes she came from a different country – not the Democratic Republic of Congo.

“Election results were out a few mins ago. Folks are patiently waiting for the crazy shit to start. Isn’t it sad when you actually patiently wait for things to explode? *sigh* Today I really really really hate my country. Some things can’t be undone.

“I’d still go back to live there but things will never be the same again. Call it nostalgia or whatever. There were certain things I was looking forward to experience again...won’t happen”

Since writing this piece, there have been clashes between Joseph Kabila’s forces and those of his opponent, John Pierre Bembe. The truth is that for most people like Fleur the only acceptable winner is peace and this does not seem to be happening. The leadership and opposition in the DRC, like many other countries, are selfish and think only of themselves – the people they elect to serve are the least of their concerns.

'Just Thots by a Naijaman' writes an excellent piece on Nigeria’s political mindset called “Nigeria: Snippets from our ‘nascent’ demonstration of craziness aka democracy! Where politicians leave it to God to determine all things including who is in control and indulge in sychophancy and the idol worship of those who call themselves ‘leaders’ of the nation."

“Journalist: How do you feel about your present position?
Governor Etiaba: It is the will of God.
Journalist: Why the visit to the President?
Governor Etiaba: I came to pledge loyalty to the President because he is the father of the nation.
Journalist: What is the political situation in Anambra State?
Governor Etiaba: God is in control.
Journalist: What are your priorities?
Governor Etiaba: Good governance.”

‘God’ indeed is in control of arson, political brigandage, massive looting of the treasury, circumventing the will of the people, and godfatherism. While the people groan under the burden of misgovernance, political office holders are busy pledging their ‘loyalty’ to the ‘father of the nation.’

'Ijebuman’s Diary' continues continues with the religious theme in Nigerian society. This time it is the failure of Nigeria’s politicians to follow the scriptures or be ‘Godly’ that is the source of Nigeria’s present day problems.

“Our problem is not global recession, it all started in 1977 when we used God's oil money to promote and display demons of Africa under the pretence of rich African culture, all nations of Africa brought their idols (He is referring to the Festival of Arts and Culture, Festac 77 held in Nigeria in 1977), we built a town for them called Festac town and a big theatre, the capital expenses ran into millions of dollars. God was up there, repenting he ever created us. There was no time our government ever sponsored a gospel crusade.

“The whole world has turned against us, threatening sanctions
all over, it is not that we don't have good government but the sins of our fathers will not permit them to perform, the demons we invited have taken their permanent residence here.”

'Scribbles from the Den' reviews ‘The Lion Man and Other Stories’ by Peter Vakunta. The book is a collection of short stories from the village of Bamunka in Cameroons.

“It is truly a mirror that reflects the socio-cultural life of the inhabitants of the region. It is a pointer to the worldview and value systems of the people. Each story is an entity in itself harboring a moral. The stories deal with life yesterday, today and tomorrow. They constitute a bridge between the near and the far. The book’s special merit resides in its suitability to the young and the old. High school and college students with an interest in African folklore and literature would find the collection indispensable.”

'Black Looks posts two pieces' involving Kenyan writer and academic, Professor Ngugi wa Thiong’o in which he was asked to leave a hotel he was staying in San Francisco just last week. In the incident, the professor was sitting on the verandah of the hotel when an employee came up to him told him this place was for guests only and asked him to leave. The professor related the experience…

"This place is for guests of the hotel. You have to leave.”
Handling the matter calmly and intrigued by the assertion of the man, the Professor asked “How do you know that I am not a guest of the hotel?” The man continued unabated “You have to leave. This is for guests of the hotel.”
“But how do you know that I am not a guest?” the Professor asked again. “You have to leave.” “But you have not even asked me if I am staying in the hotel”
‘Okay. Are you staying at the hotel?’ The tone and demeanour was of a man who had made up his mind that the Professor could not be a guest. “Let’s us go to the reception desk,” the Professor told him. “It is not necessary,” he said. “Just leave.”

The blogosphere responded to the racist incident via comments and some took up the call to write to the management and the CEO who responded personally stating he would make a public apology and wrote:

“Prejudice still exists in America. It is real and palpable. While we’ve all witnessed superficial changes in America over the past four decades, the reality is that people 'pre-judge' each other way too much, whether it’s based upon skin color, religion, sexual orientation, age, economic status, or some other factor that makes one 'the other.'"

Unfortunately the matter did not end there, as a comment was then left anonymously by an employee which contradicted the CEO’s statement. Black Looks posts the employees comment - Black Looks

“THIS IS NOT AN INCIDENT OF RACISM. As an employee of the spoken restaurant I am appalled that this can even be considered an incident of racism. This is San Francisco, a city with the worst homelessness problem in the nation. Daily we have people from the street wander in and disrupt service. Crack addicts, prostitutes, etc. disturb people who are paying good money to eat and stay here. Constantly we have to escort disgusting trashy people from our restaurant on the embarcadero in order to ensure a sense of security amongst out guests. It does not matter whether you are black, white, pink or blue, if you come into our restaurant reeking of body odor, adorning dreadlocks, and wearing filthy clothes, you run the risk of being escorted from any fine dining establishment. Any restaurant in the state of California reserves the right to refuse service to ANYONE. Service was refused to this man based on his appearance not his race. If anyone has strong enough evidence than I to contest this statement I would like to know. We are a tolerant community and a diversely employed restaurant, how dare you try to bring down our good name for an issue that has been dead for years.”

Part of Black Looks's response, which hopefully will again be taken up by the blogosphere and mainstream media, was:

“The most significant aspects about this comment are first that he denies that racism exists yet his statement is so loaded with prejudice and discrimination, not to talk of lack of humanity. Secondly, is his more emotional reaction which is the manifestation of his attitude towards other human beings and basically boils down to making judgments about people which includes one’s skin colour and any other “visible statement of difference” because that is what this is about. It’s about not respecting and accepting difference in a land where wearing “no brand name” clothes is seen as subversive, dreadlocks as seditious and deviant and “prostitutes” the lowest of the low - he obviously has no thought on the punters who presumably are the “clean shaven, baldheaded, beardless, Tommy Hilfiger dressed white” acceptable guests in his hotel”.

The names and address of the hotel senior personnel are published on the website and it is hoped that as many people as possible will write to them expressing their disgust not only at the incident itself but the comment by one of their employees.

• Sokari Ekine produces the blog Black Looks, www.blacklooks.org

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

On 30 July, voters in the Democratic Republic of the Congo went to the polls in the country's first multiparty elections in 45 years. This special page provides you with an insight into one of Africa's largest countries; a place of poverty amid natural riches, haunted by conflicts but filled with life and hope.

The Extraordinary Conference for the African Ministers Council on Science and Technology (AMCOST) will be held on 22-23 November 2006 in Cairo, Egypt, AU said on Friday (17 November 2006). The extra ordinary conference will consider recommendations to be made to the Heads of State and Government Summit in January 2007 in Ethiopia, Addis Ababa.

The African Union, United Nations and key governments must immediately bolster international forces in Darfur and increase pressure on Sudan to halt the spiral of militia attacks on civilians in Darfur and Chad, Human Rights Watch said today (15 November 2006). On November 16 and 18, members of the UN Security Council, key AU member states and UN officials will meet in Addis Ababa to discuss the deteriorating regional situation, and proposals to bolster the AU mission in Darfur.

In its upcoming presidential statement on the Juba peace talks, the United Nations Security Council should call on Uganda’s government, the rebel Lord’s Resistance Army and the international community to continue to work toward a peace agreement that respects human rights, and includes prosecutions of those responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity in accordance with international standards, Human Rights Watch said today (16 November 2006).

Many in the sustainable agriculture and food systems community - farmers, scientists, and community food system leaders - are concerned about the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) initiative of the Gates and Rockefeller foundations. While the actual expenditure of the $150 million is not yet public, the announcement that they would create a second "green revolution" focused on Africa raises a lot of questions stemming from analyses of the impact of the first green revolution on poverty, hunger, and ecosystems.

From a sustainability perspective, a green-revolution approach could easily result in an increase in the use of expensive and toxic herbicides and pesticides, and encourage the development of soil-depleting, mono-cropping-for-export agriculture. The creation of agricultural systems that decrease biodiversity, increase chemical use, and depend on shipping food around the world is not in the short- or long-term interests of humanity or global ecosystems. The global warming implications of industrial agriculture - oil for production, oil for shipping, oil for processing, and massive waste at every step of the process - have been projected at 30-40% of global warming emissions by some researchers.

At a minimum, at this point in our history as a civilization, we should understand that every technical fix, magic bullet, new technology should be measured for its net impact over time on the ecological limits of the biosphere. Corporations promote the commercialization of new technologies without such measurement; governments don't evaluate long term systemic net impacts on ecological limits of the biosphere prior to approving new technologies; the market doesn't yet have a way to measure or internalize such costs.

It is entirely possible that new agricultural technologies could be developed that would meet the needs of humanity while reducing the net impact on the biosphere. Philanthropy should focus on the challenge of understanding the net impact on the biosphere of new technologies before promoting their adoption. Let's hope that the Gates/Rockefeller initiative leads the way and creates a truly green revolution that promotes sustainable agriculture and food systems in Africa.