The Nigerian police force has rejected the conclusions of a new report that it is regarded as one of the country's most corrupt institutions. A police spokesman said the force had the highest quality control system. Last year, Nigeria's former police chief was found guilty of corruption and sentenced to six months in prison.

A senior Ugandan delegation is leaving for southern Sudan to start talks with the Ugandan rebel movement, the Lord's Resistance Army. Three previous attempts to negotiate with the rebels, who have fought against the government for two decades, have ended in failure.

Speaking after a meeting with Ivorian president Laurent Gbagbo, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said an October deadline set for the war-divided country to hold elections may have to be allowed to slip until the end of the year - but no later.

The NGO sector can often be something of a nuisance to governments, but in Namibia they have decided to embrace their activists in a formal partnership to facilitate development. A policy document, later to be turned into law, advocates working with willing NGOs in recognition that civil society groups are often closer to the communities that government development programmes want to reach.

I am presenting a kenote address at the University of Cairo later this month on how ICT impacts change and I have used Pambazuka as a case in point. Maybe I shall send you a copy once I have finished my paper. I personally feel PAMBAZUKA is playing a vital role in providing a forum for analysis of our continent. I am a media person, founder of Tanzania Media Women's Association (TAMWA) and now also teach part time and a lot of my students really access your network.

Ethiopian blogger, Weichegud!ET Politics (http://weichegud.blogspot.com/2006/06/letter-to-paul-wolfowitz.html) writes an open letter to World Bank President, Paul Wolfowitz who is soon to visit Ethiopia. She writes eloquently on the realities of Ethiopia under the dictatorship of Meles Zenawi and what she expects from the US:

“I don’t envy American diplomats in Ethiopia. How do you negotiate with a leader of a country who many diplomats privately admit has a “psychopathic willingness to kill his own people to keep power”? Seriously, how do you negotiate with that? How do you put pressure on a man not to shoot innocent people? How do you beg him to care for his own people?”

But even then, Paul, how does the American ambassador in Ethiopia venture out to exert pressure on imprisoned opposition leaders to give their blessing to a new political party created and manipulated by the ruling party? How does the American Ambassador quote Ecclesiastes and tell Ethiopians who have survived Mengistu Haile Mariam and 15 years of the EPRDF that it takes decades to build a democracy? “

While she admits that challenging the present Ethiopian regime is a huge task, she asks why Ethiopians have to “beg” the US to be on the side of those seeking peaceful democracy? Wonkette comes up with one of the best lines I have heard to date

“To Make Poverty History you have to make tyranny history” which leads to a couple of questions: Will the Americans do the “right” thing? Or is there one rule for Mugabe and another for Zenawi? If so what is the difference, or is that just to black and white?

Thinkers Room - Thinkers Room (http://www.thinkersroom.com/blog/2006/06/heads-up/) raises the possibility that Kenya will join other African countries (Egypt, Tunisia, Ethiopia, Gambia and Zimbabwe in harassing bloggers)

“The Internet bloggers bit without a doubt did not come from him. I have for a long time been of the opinion that Michuki and his ilk are of the opinion that the Internet is a new fangled fishing device. But one never knows……….Bottom line — bloggers are now on the government radar.”

So African governments are increasingly becoming aware of the blogosphere and bloggers. There are two ways of looking at this – half empty (we face detention and arrest, loose our jobs, get harassed by the police). I prefer the half full approach. African bloggers are not constrained like the mainstream media and are openly and daily challenging the dictators, bullies and their thugs, exposing their lies and corruption. Thinkers final words! ……..“I won’t be cowed online but I jolly well will keep a very low profile physically!!! And judging from the huge number of comments nor will other Kenyan bloggers. Keep on blogging – big brother is watching and reading.

Chippla’s Weblog - Chippla's Weblog (http://chippla.blogspot.com/2006/06/republic-and-underclass-caste-syste…) tackles on of the taboo subjects in Nigeria, the caste system that continues to operate in Nigeria today.

“the caste system is not only alive but also kicking in present-day Nigeria. From the north to the south of the country, across the diverse ethnic affiliations, one finds dozens of traditions that define who an outcast is and why. The Fulanis in the north have a cast system as do the Igbos in the southeast. The Igbo caste system is probably the most widely known in Nigeria due to the fact that it has been well documented in literature. However, one can almost be certain that every Nigerian ethnic group practices it to a certain extent. The outcasts in Igbo land are known as osus. Going by tradition an osu (who is in principle a slave by birth) cannot marry a freeborn. Thus, an osu is only expected to marry an osu. Not even Christianity, which is quite a force among the Igbos, appears to have attenuated this caste tradition.”

The caste system is closely related to slavery – another taboo subject for which many are in denial. Slavery exists today in the North East of Nigeria, in Kanuri land. The use of child labour as unpaid domestics servants and labourers is also a form of slavery that is condoned across ethnic people and class. It is high time that progressive thinking Nigerians begin to tackle these abusive systems that exist openly in our society by bringing the discussion into the public arena.

Gambian blogger, Ousman Cessay of Home of the Mandinmories - Home of the mandinmories (http://gambian.blogspot.com/2006/06/bizarre.html) comments on a white man whose ancestor was supposedly the first to sell slaves in the Caribbean, and who went to Gambia, dressed himself in chains in Banjul Stadium and made a public apology for slavery. The President of Gambia then very kindly forgave him and removed his chains!

Cessay comments: “I wonder why this man finds it necessary to apologise to Gambians for the inhuman actions of his forbears. He could have done that in his neck of the woods. There are millions of descendants of African slaves in the United Kingdom. They are the people who bear the brunt of slavery. But I guess he knew that they will not tolerate his clownish behavior. So what better place to put up a clownish masquerade than the Gambia. Read the rest of the story below.”

I have to agree with him. This is a mockery. The man seems to have chosen public flagellation instead of privately having a visit with a dominatrix in his own home – maybe that is part of his kick – public humiliation except he wasn’t humiliated just played the part of a sad pathetic fool. If he feels so badly about his slave trade ancestors then choose to do something useful amongst the African descendents within his own community in Britain instead of a publicity stunt that helps no one but himself.

The Moor Next Door - The Moor Next Door (http://wahdah.blogspot.com/2006/06/china-america-and-arabs.html) comments on China’s public relations successes in the “battle for the hearts and minds” of the Arab world. Whilst America is failing in it’s project. For one thing the failure of Americans involved in the Middle East either as diplomats or journalists to speak Arabic. The other point is

“the Beijing Consensus" is more favourable in the eyes of many Arabs than is the "Washington Consensus. This is the handicap of US policy all over the Third World: US policy is perceived as being alien or oppressive while Soviet (in past years) or Chinese policy is seen as being favourable because China too is a Third World nation that has fought imperialism and has stood with the Third World peoples in the face of Western pressure. The US must continue to promote democratization in Arab countries, even when it is not popular in the US's domestic politics or with the dictators.” He concludes that the US can compete with China in the Arab world, they just have to make an effort and for example start by staffing their embassies and offices with people who speak Arabic.

Just Thots of a Naijaman - Just thots of a naijaman (http://davidylan.blogspot.com/2006/06/idiots-rascalsrats-and-bigger-rat…) has a rant at Nigeria’s leaders who he describes as “Idiots, rascals,rats and bigger rats in Power”.

In particular he takes a swipe at , Obasanjo’s latest ministerial nominee, Fani Kayode who last week “suddenly remembered he was a humble born again Christian when he faced the ministerial confirmation committee in the senate. After years of abusing his elders, "loud mouth" Fani was sweating as he desperately tried to convince the senate committee that he would not abuse anyone again!”

Senator Ahamdu Ali “takes the price as the most abusive Nigerian in power. Thanks to him, we now know that rats have been gnawing for years at our foreign reserve, idiots have taken control of our legislative houses and we have entrusted the future of our nation to rascals.”

And finally, Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters. Florence Ita-Giwa aka mama Bakassi (“who we only just realised was an illegal alien”) “has still not told us if she would apply for residency permit or risk being deported to Cameroun. No one knows where the Bakassi residents would be relocated to, it is only in Nigeria that owners of a land belong to one country and their land to another country.”

FEATURED: Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja talks to Pambazuka News about the strategic importance of DRC
COMMENT AND ANALYSIS:
- Inviolata celebrates life, and yet another birthday, in Kenya, where over 600 people die from HIV/AIDS every day
- With everyone being football crazy, what gets hidden from the news is that World Cup will also lure unsuspecting girls and women from Africa
- and with the migration of players from Africa to the west, soon Africa will be winning every World Cup
- Uproar about the removal of the Executive Secretary of Nigeria's Human Right Commission has led to worldwide condemnation
LETTERS: Msake Kane writes to advise caution in attributing misogynistic phenomena to Islam
PAN-AFRICAN POSTCARD: Will Tajudeen Abdul Raheem be late with his postcard now that he's working for the UN?
BLOGGING AFRICA: Sokari Ekine rounds up the African blogosphere
BOOKS AND ARTS: SOAWR publish Breathing Life into the African Union Protocol on Women's Rights in Africa
AFRICAN UNION MONITOR: Great activity at the AU Summit in Banjul means that we have an extra long section this week
CONFLICT AND EMERGENCIES: AK47 are the world's worst regulated weapon
HUMAN RIGHTS: As Optional Protocol against Torture enters into force, Zimbabwe police go on rampage of torture and brutality
WOMEN AND GENDER: UN finds women heads of household destitute
REFUGEES AND FORCED MIGRATION: Refugees help Zimbabwe out of health crisis
ELECTIONS AND GOVERNANCE: Mauritania gives thumbs up to new constitution
DEVELOPMENT: In desperation, Zimbabweans turn into entrepreneurs
CORRUPTION: Another Kenyan anti-corruption activist sacked
HEALTH AND HIV/AIDS: Cholera death toll rises in Guinea
EDUCATION: Kenya calls for free secondary education
ENVIRONMENT: WHO claims environmental exposure cause 25% of deaths
LAND AND LAND RIGHTS: Exodus-Kutoka net online
MEDIA AND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION: South Africa state media bans commentators
INTERNET AND TECHNOLOGY: African parliamentarians catching up on internet technologies
PLUS: e-Newsletters and Mailings Lists; Fundraising and Useful Resources; Courses, Seminars and Workshops; Jobs.

Civil Society Organizations from across Africa (Congo, The Gambia, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Zambia), working under the auspices of TANGO, met at the Friendship Hotel in The Gambia from 19th to 22nd June 2006 on the eve of the AU Summit in Banjul and focusing on the theme: Rationalization of the Regional Economic Communities and Regional Integration.

On the fringes of the 7th summit of the heads of States and Governments of the African Union (AU) in Banjul (The gambia), the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) and african Civil society Organisations (CSO) working on Human Rights have celebrated today the 25th anniversary of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights.

Civil society organisations from 19 African countries met in Banjul, the Gambia, 26-28 June 2006, in advance of the AU Assembly of Heads of State and Government, to discuss ways of improving compliance with commitments made under African Union treaties, with particular reference to the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM).

Demos describes itself as a 'think tank for everyday democracy' which is not linked to any political party but was recently described by a columnist for a leading British paper as "the New Labour's thinktank of choice" (http://www.guardian.co.uk/g2/story/0,,1797573,00.html).

The pamphlet comes as a response to recent activity which has raised the profile of science and technology on the international development agenda. including the UN Millenium Development Goals and the recommendations of the 2005 Commission for Africa.

The first of the three 'global science races' described in the pamphlet is 'the race to the top of the global economy' which takes as a model the explosive growth of the Asian Tigers and the Indian and Chinese economies. This pitches development as a process of modernisation; thus African countries will 'leapfrog' their way out of poverty by "creating incentives and promoting an enabling environment for foreign direct investment is one of the most important mechanisms for building technological capacity" (http://www.unmillenniumproject.org/reports/tf_science.htm).

This is a view seemingly endorsed by Calestous Juma, the Kenyan Professor of the Practice of International Development at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government. In a recent publication entitled 'Going for Growth: Science, Technology and Innovation in Africa' he called for a rethinking of the African economic landscape to "..focus on the role of knowledge as a basis for economic transformation. Doing so will entail placing policy emphasis on emerging opportunities such as renewing infra-structure, building human capabilities, stimulating business development, and increasing participation in the global economy. These areas should provide a firm foundation upon which to base international partnerships." (http://bcsia.ksg.harvard.edu/BCSIA_content/documents/GoingforGrowth_AME…)

The second race is the 'Universal fix' which the authors describe as 'breakthroughs in science and technology that will have a direct and widespread impact on poverty. These are the types of breakthroughs that are exemplified by the Grand Challenges in Global Health (http://www.gcgh.org/) which is funded by the wealth of Bill Gates (currently standing at around $50 billion). Examples of these 'fixes' are treatments for diseases such as malaria. This approach is often characterised by public/private partnerships and views development as a common moral reponsibility.

The slow race to citizens' solutions advocated by the reports authors takes a different road. Its approach is informed by participatory approaches to development; "Rather than being viewed as passive beneficiaries of trickle-down development or technology transfer,in this race,citizens are seen as knowledgeable, active and centrally involved in both the ‘upstream’ choice and design of technologies,and their ‘downstream’delivery and regulation."

Such an approach means reconceptualising innovation to involve a 'systems approach' which engages multiple actors and rethinks the cultural and social relationships that will enable a technology to work and impact on poverty reduction. This approach requires interdisciplinary research and 'bottom-up' problem definitions.

The importance of access and ownership in what is described as a 'privatised' world of research and development is another aspect of the 'slow race'. This privatised world has resulted in a 90:10 gap in which only 10% of the overall world health research budget is spent on diseases which affect 90% of the world's population (http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/TOPICS/EXTPOVERTY/0,,contentMD…). Some public/private partnerships are seen as a viable response to the squeeze on public sector finances caused by structural adjustment programmes. Mobile phone technology is cited as a private sector development which can be of genuine benefit to the poor.

Engaging citizens in debates to shape decisions about technology is seen as a vital part of the 'slow race'. The pamphlet's authors stress the need for public engagement in debates about science and technology and cite the success of the Treatment Action Campaign in South Africa as an example of a "campaign to assert the rights of citizens to scientific knowledge".

At the pamphlet's launch in London last week, Dr John Mugabe, the Director of the NEPAD Office of Science and Technology, spoke of the need to get African governments involved in science and technology policies and to create a political culture in which citizen's commissions might operate effectively. He spoke of how new models of public private partnerships with small and medium sized enterprises will offer power gains to the poor.

Dr Suman Sahai, the convener of the Gene Campaign (http://www.genecampaign.org/), which is dedicated to protecting the genetic resources of the South and the rights of farming and tribal communities, critiqued the view of genetic technologies as a 'universal fix' for poverty and hunger. The story of the nutritionally enhanced 'golden rice' which was pitched as a cure for widespread vitamin A deficiency exemplifies this, and on the Gene Campaign website she describes how "...the poor blind children that were held up as the reason why Golden Rice was being developed do not seem to be part of the discourse anymore" (http://genecampaign.org/News/golden-rice.htm). This is a view echoed by Mariam Mayet from the African Centre for Biodiversity, when she spoke to Pambazuka News of how African countries have been subject to pressure to accept GM food; "In May 2003, when Sudan banned the import of GM food aid, it was forced to issue a series of temporary waivers enabling food aid shipments to the country to continue while alternatives were found" (http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/34804).

Several people raised the issue of how effective citizen engagement in public decision making about science can be in politically repressive environments. Dr John Mugabe spoke of the need to create a political culture in Africa in which 'citizen's juries' on science and technology might operate effectively.

The issues raised in the pamphlet are of global importance and the authors are to be congratulated for making the pamphlet available under an 'open access' licence, thus encouraging debate and conversation around these vital sigues (http://www.demos.co.uk/catalogue/theslowrace/).

Yet it is unfortunate that the authors did not spend more time on the significant challenges posed by climate change as a major threat to humanity and on the opportunities offered by information and communication technologies both as a tool for economic development and for participatory approaches to development.

In addition, a debate needs to be had around the issues of how citizen's participation can work effectively in politically repressive environments and how multinational corporations can be held to account when, as Nnimmo Bassey recently described in Pambazuka News, "Oil corporations such as Shell and Chevron, who are major players in the Niger Delta, have admitted to contributing to corruption and violence/civil unrest in the Niger Delta." (http://www.pambazuka.org/en/category/comment/34801).

"The Slow Race - Making technology work for the poor" is a new pamphlet published jointly by the British 'think tank' Demos and the Institute of Development Studies.

Inviolata celebrates life, and yet another birthday, in Kenya, where over 600 people die from HIV/AIDS every day. This brave woman is confronting not only her own fears, but also the expectations of her community and Kenyan society about what it means to live with AIDS.

Life at 20 marked the turning point. For many, life would have taken a downward spiral. But not for Inviolata Mbwavi. After going through the usual motion of shock, fear and denial, she resolved not to let the virus complete the hatchet job.

Fourteen years later, her steady hands aided by a number of other hands drive the knife into the red, ribbon cake. With each cut, the room drowns in rounds of applause. Another purple cake sits nearby like an impatient child begging for candy.

“The purple cake represents the years I have survived courtesy of the Almighty, while the other shaped like the red-ribbon, the years I have defied the virus.” Inviolata says as she gets hugs from friends and family.

When they finally break into the “Happy Birthday” it takes a completely new meaning. It is a celebration of life made new; living positively with HIV.

“This was the month I was diagnosed with HIV, I had just turned 20”, she later tells me.

Inviolata had stepped out of teenage life with optimism. But when the doctor waved her Elisa test-results, life crumbled. From her teenage years she carried HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. Then, pre-test counselling was limited and anti-retroviral treatment in the realm of illusion.

“Nowadays I don’t expect anyone who has tested positive to commit suicide, not to go to school, miss work or simply refuse to live. If we were to die we would have died then, but we’ve survived,” she says.

Life must have been a sip of hemlock, I thought.

“Invy, we love and value you…” a voice interrupts as if reading my thoughts. It came from one of her brothers, shouting from the furthest corner among a group of teenagers, munching a huge piece of roasted chicken.

Inviolata stands up, her open palm gently on her heart and stoops in appreciation, “Love you too bro, virus or no virus.” The room lights up into hearty cheers. Love, care and support had knocked out the wind from under the wings of the virus.

Born in a family of ten siblings, having many brothers and sisters means an abundance of love, care and support. Unlike a number of people living with HIV/AIDS in Kenya, Inviolata’s family has outpaced stigma and discrimination.

“Love and support from my family, friends and colleagues is the oxygen I have been breathing for the past 14 years.”

Slightly plump, Inviolata frequently breaks into a sweetly ringing laughter displaying a set of teeth, as white as the droppings of the oluru bird (the white only interrupted by gaps between her teeth), ringed-patterns on her neck staring back in coy pride- all these are the hallmarks of African beauty.

Inviolata heads the Network for Empowerment of People Living and Affected with HIV/AIDS in Kenya (NEPHAK). Her name is found in the oft minimal space in the anti-HIV/AIDS diary in Kenya.

Inviolata advises for those living with the virus, birthdays call for celebration. A symbolic defiance against a stealthy virus infecting 40 million people globally, 75% of whom reside in Africa and where 600 Kenyans die every day.

Her boyfriend, who is also HIV-negative could not attend the party as he was away on business. But Inviolata is proud of their eight-year relationship, despite pressure from his relatives for their son to find a serro-negative girl.

“Marriage for me has become complicated because of the African traditions which require that a woman be capable of giving birth. I cannot do that without putting my boyfriend at risk.”

At one time the pressure on them was so much that Inviolata almost broke up with her partner. But reassurance from her boyfriend, whose name she does not want to reveal, kept the relationship intact.

She remains, however, optimistic that over time, her prospective in-laws will change their minds and accept her as a wife. This is especially the case because of the abundance of medical intervention currently available in the management of HIV/AIDS.

The advent of Highly Active Anti-retroviral Therapy (HAART) has turned HIV/AIDS into a chronic though manageable disease away from the bare-knuckled killer it was a decade ago. This means more birthdays for those who are HIV-positive.

“There is life beyond the virus, I don’t expect those who test positive today to stop living.”

But despite Inviolata’s reassuring words, her face turns into a mask of sadness as a shade flushes across her smooth peeled-avocado face. After hesitation she reveals what has pierced her heart.

“There are those who still think we are children of lesser gods because of our HIV-status. We should celebrate more birthday to prove our determination to live to the fullest.”

The conversation had drifted to the brutal murder of a 15-year old HIV-positive boy in Nyeri. At this point one could hear a feather drop as everyone sat with hand on cheek (a pose reflecting deep sadness in African context).

Weeks earlier Inviolata had led a demonstration condemning the hacking to death of Isaiah Gakuyo by his guardian uncle. He had driven the forked end of a hoe into Isaiah’s temple, snuffing out an already frail life. His justification? Isaiah’s constant sickness because of the virus was an unnecessary bother, he was heard bragging. To date, he remains at large, courtesy of relatives who harbour him, a Children’s Department reluctant to raise a finger and a community hesitant to break the silence.

“The murder is a sign that stigma and discrimination is becoming an epidemic on its own. We still need to change attitudes towards people living with HIV/AIDS.”

And despite the fact that the war against stigma and discrimination is easing, they are determined to emerge victorious.

“Today it is Isaiah Gakuyo, tomorrow it could be you, your mother, father, or your loved one. Embrace us with love…”

The burst of the mwana wamberi song jolts us out of the sad pre-occupation. The song is sang among Luhya to celebrate the birth of the first born. Indeed it was appropriate for Inviolata, who like a first born in the family was leading the way in the anti-AIDS struggle.

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

As the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) moves towards elections, political scientist Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja talks to Pambazuka News about the strategic importance of the DRC. A strong state in the Congo would threaten western control over the resource-rich countries in the sub-region, namely, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Sao Tome and Principe. Moreover, he argues, the DRC has enough arable soil, rainfall, lakes and rivers to become the breadbasket of Africa, and enough hydroelectric power to light up the whole continent from the Cape to Cairo.

Pambazuka News: What is the strategic and economic importance of the DRC, both for Africa and internationally?

Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja: The best answer to this question is a quote from the late Jacques Foccart, the éminence grise of Gaullist Africa policy under Presidents Charles de Gaulle, Georgess Pompidou and Jacques Chirac, when the latter was Prime Minister under President François Mitterand. Asked by a journalist who was writing Foccart’s memoirs about his thoughts concerning the DRC, the old man had this to say:

You asked me what was France’s interest. On this matter, there is no ambiguity. Congo-Léopoldville, Zaire today, is the largest country in Francophone Africa. It has considerable natural resources. It has the means of being a regional power. The long-term interest of France and its African allies is evident (Emphasis mine. Jacques Foccart and Philippe Gaillard, Foccart parle: entretiens avec Philippe Gaillard, Fayard/Jeune Afrique, Paris, 1995, p. 310).

What is evident is that France and its allies, African as well as non-African, do not wish to see the DRC become a regional power in Central Africa, and thus constitute a threat to French hegemony and Western interests in the sub-region. A strong state in the Congo will not only threaten French control over the resource-rich countries in the sub-region, namely, Cameroon, the Central African Republic, Chad, Congo-Brazzaville, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon and Sao Tome and Principe.

Moreover, the DRC has enough arable soil, rainfall, lakes and rivers to become the breadbasket of Africa, and enough hydroelectric power to light up the whole continent from the Cape to Cairo. While its mineral resources are so abundant that a young Belgian geologist declared the country a geological scandal at the beginning of the last century, the real scandal of the Congo include the facts that its uranium was used to build the first atomic bombs in the world and its wealth has since the days of King Leopold II been used not in the interests of its people but to the benefit of its rulers and their external allies.

Pambazuka News: Given this importance, how does this play out with regards the looming election?

Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja: The forthcoming election means more to the international community, which is spending heavily on it and even sending in European Union forces to supplement MONUC to ensure that it is being held, than to the Congolese people. The major powers of the world and the international organizations under their control would like to legitimize their current client regime in Kinshasa so they can continue unfettered to extract all the resources they need from the Congo.

Pambazuka News: What is the emancipatory role of the DRC with regards Africa’s development and what does self-determination mean in the context of this election?

Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja: The DRC cannot play a positive role in Africa’s development as long as it remains a dependent territory with approximately 60 percent of its national budget, over US$400 million for its national elections and virtually all of its development policy decisions coming from external sources. Elections, in this context, are not an exercise in self-determination but a ritual designed to justify external control through weak and non-patriotic elements of the political class. To play an emancipatory role with respect to Africa’s development, the DRC must complete its transition from colonialism to genuine independence as a sovereign nation with its own social project and capacity to make and implement its own development policies.

Pambazuka News: Historically, since independence at least, DRC has had strategic importance for the US as a result of the Cold War. Have the new dynamics associated with the war on terror changed this, and how?

Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja: On the contrary, the U.S. obsession with Islamic Fundamentalism as a potential source of terrorism makes the DRC a strategically important country because of its proximity to Sudan, its own small but significant Muslim population and its ties to East Africa, and the fact that persistent instability in the northeast is likely to provide opportunities for drug trafficking, the proliferation of small arms, money laundering and other criminal activities likely to be exploited by terrorist groups to their own advantage. The U.S. stake in the DRC is clearly evident by Washington’s involvement in the management of the current transition through CIAT (the International Committee to Accompany the Transition).

Pambazuka News: How has/does the historical legacy of Leopold 11 and Belgian colonialism impact on the country?

Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja: At the present time, Georges Forrest, a Belgian businessman, runs a big mining empire in the Katanga province, with obvious support from the Belgian state. Louis Michel, the EU Commissioner for Development and former Deputy Prime Minister and External Affairs Minister of Belgium, is one of the most powerful decision makers on the fate of the Congo. While it would be an exaggeration to put them on the same level as the agents of either King Leopold’s Congo or the Belgian Congo, the legacy of Belgian domination is kept alive through their enormous influence on Congo’s economy and politics.

Pambazuka News: What are the links between colonial rule, Mobutu and the rule of the late Kabila and now his son?

Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja: The main linkage between colonial rule, Mobutu and the two Kabila has already been underlined above, in that they each represent a predatory regime in which the enormous wealth of the country is being monopolized by the rulers and their external allies instead of serving the basic needs of the Congolese people.

Pambazuka News: You’ve written a book: ‘The Congo from Leopold to Kabila: A People's History’ in which you say that Congolese people have fought throughout their oppressive history to establish democratic institutions at home and free themselves from foreign exploitation. This is perhaps something that’s often missed in a discussion of the Congo, with a focus on war and resource extraction making it seem as if the DRC’s people are helpless in the face of these forces. Can you elaborate on your argument and how this fight has played itself out?

Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja: In January 1959, the popular masses arose against colonial rule in Kinshasa and by the end of that year, parts of the country had become totally ungovernable, leading the Belgians to conclude that they had to respect the Congolese people’s call for “immediate independence.” In 1963, faced with the evidence that independence did not meet their deepest aspirations for freedom and material well-being, peasants in the western part of the country came up with the new slogan, that of a “second independence,” and this became the rallying cry of popular insurrections led by the followers of the former and assassinated Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba, which succeeded in taking over nearly three quarters of the national territory. These insurrections were defeated by a counter-insurgency effort coordinated by the United States and Belgium, and which included the use of white mercenaries from Europe and Southern Africa.

In 1990, the rejection of the Mobutu regime through the popular consultations that the dictator himself had initiated for a verdict on his rule opened the process of transition to multiparty democracy. Had it not been for the erosion of Mobutu’s power through his repudiation by the public and which the Sovereign National Conference endorsed in 1992 through the election of Etienne Tshisekedi as Prime Minister of a transitional government, Laurent Kabila and his Rwandan allies would not have been able to march from Goma to Kinshasa in 7 months without a significant military challenge from Mobutu’s army.

Unfortunately, all these episodes of popular resistance to tyranny in search of democracy and social progress have ended in failure for lack of a political leadership that would put the people’s interests ahead of the narrow class interests of self-serving and corrupt politicians.

Pambazuka News: Any predictions for how the coming election is going to play itself out?

Georgess Nzongola-Ntalaja: Since the current transitional government has not fulfilled the requirements laid out in the Sun City/Pretoria accord for free and fair elections, the ritual of 30 July is likely to confirm Joseph Kabila as President, but it will not change the political situation of the country for the better. Violence will continue in the northeast, and corruption and incompetence will remain the most salient features of a government with an externally-driven agenda.

Interview conducted by email. Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja's book, The Congo from Leopold to Kabila: A People's History, is published by Zed Books, 2002. Georges Nzongola-Ntalaja is Facilitator for the Africa Governance Institute (AGI), a project of the Regional Bureau for Africa of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in New York. He has also served UNDP as Director of the Oslo Governance Centre in Oslo, Norway, from 1 August 2002 to 31 July 2005, and as Senior Adviser on Governance to the Federal Government of Nigeria in Abuja, Nigeria, from March 2000 to May 2002.

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Dear friend, participant of the World Social Forum process:

The 7th World Social Forum - to be held from January 20 to 25, in Nairobi (Kenya) – faces now the challenge of being even more linked to concrete actions to build “another possible world”.

This concern has been constantly expressed on various meetings of the WSF International Council and evaluations made about WSF process. What we have been looking for is to accomplish one of WSF aims, stated on its Charter of Principles: The World Social Forum is an open meeting place for reflective thinking, democratic debate of ideas, formulation of proposals, free exchange of experiences and interlinking for effective action.

This is the why this preparatory consultation is being launched.

It gives continuity to the methodological options, which started to be adopted in 2004, during WSF 2005 preparation, in order to improve process and event
“architecture”. On that Forum, it resulted on the definition of 11 thematic terrains around which 2,000 activities were carried out– all of them were self-organized, corresponding to another advance compared to the events organized before.

But the 2004 consultation had a thematic character. In this one, we want to move a step forward.

Now what we request to you is to indicate the actions, campaigns and struggles in which your organization/network/entity is engaged.

The proposal is to organize the 7th Forum around those actions, campaigns and struggles, aggregating, on the different Forum spaces, the activities linked to them, as well as the activities that have no direct link with them – to be indicated during the moment of activities registration – but related to the same by their themes.

This will make more visible the concrete actions born on the Forum process or those who gave sequence or more density to others that had been developed before or outside WSF, as well as its effective political results. This will also stimulate the interconnection among organizations in which we are engaged on the struggles for constructing a fair, egalitarian, democratic, participative and sustainable society.

This proposal – and the execution of this preparatory consultation – was approved by the WSF International Council, based on a proposal made by its Methodology Commission, in its meeting held in March 2006, in Nairobi.

We tried to simplify the questions on the consultation form at maximum, in order to make easier to answer to it. As soon as you do it, better conditions we will have to prepare the WSF 2007 adequately. The deadline to send your answers is July 30th, 2006.

In order to fill in the consultation questionnaire, please access the website: Organizations who have registered on the Polycentric WSF 2006 website(www.wsf2006.org) are not required to fill in all the forms again. They can access the site using the same username and password from the polycentric 2006 site above
mentioned and then, click on the top menu “Consultation on actions, campaigns and struggles” > “Add new”. Up to now, the site is only in English. But soon it will be available also in French and Castellano/Spanish.

For further information on the event in Nairobi, please visit the site: www.worldsocialforum.org

Four leading African and International non-governmental organisations have called on African heads of state, gathering in Banjul for the 7th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union, to hold the leaders of the G8 to account for last year’s promises on Africa at the upcoming G8 Summit in St Petersburg, Russia.

Africa's home-grown economic rescue plan meant to speed development and economic growth on the continent has failed, one of its chief architects was quoted as saying. Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade, one of the masterminds behind the New Partnership for Africa's Development Plan (NEPAD), said on June 27 the initiative had not produced results and needed a new lease of life.

More than any other group, households headed by women in Ethiopia's Southern Tigray region, one of the poorest in the world, are "among the most destitute" and are far more likely to be landless and without access to plant resources than households led by men, according to a United Nations-backed study.

Niger’s ministers for health and education were dismissed on Tuesday 27 June following allegations of corruption by donors and development partners. An audit by a coalition of technical and financial partners of Niger this year uncovered a series of invoices paid without receipt of goods and said that government money had been spent without reference to proper procedures.

Nigerian security forces have killed at least two members of a separatist group in a raid on one of their hideouts in the violent southeastern market city of Onitsha, a human rights group said on Tuesday 27 June. Anambra state is one of several in Nigeria where power struggles ahead of the 2007 elections have fuelled violence.

Crucial elections in Ivory Coast are unlikely to happen soon, but players in the protracted negotiations are drawing inspiration from the fighting spirit of the Elephants, the national soccer team. Critical prerequisites for elections have not taken place. Disarmament of rebels and militias has not started, and just over 3000 citizens have been registered. Only once this is completed can a voters roll be drawn up.