In an in depth interview, Nigeria's Nobel Laureate, Professor Akinwande Oluwole Soyinka gives his opinion on recent Constitutional amendments, corruption within educational institutions and the role of young activists in the current political climate.

Structural adjustment policies in the late 1980s and early 1990s have significantly contributed towards a rapid growth of the informal economy in many African countries. These policies encouraged governments to liberalise trade, to privatise state-owned enterprises and to reduce the size of the public sector. This led to a sharp decrease in employment in the formal sector and forced many to survive in highly precarious and insecure conditions in the informal economy.

Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo on Monday urged Nigerians never to compromise on good governance and to shun corruption, in a speech to the nation marking the return of democracy seven years earlier.

World Bank president Paul Wolfowitz on Wednesday congratulated African nations for launching a campaign against corruption but said rich countries have to cooperate to stamp out graft.

Land tenure in Africa is complex: the existence of customary, religious and statutory arrangements is a critical, defining feature of African land tenure. Land tenure reform must accommodate this complexity rather than replace it.

Transparency International Kenya (TI) released the 2006 Kenya Bribery Index amid criticism for leaking the report to one media house before the launch. The report summarizes the findings of Transparency International(TI)-Kenya’s fifth national bribery survey. The survey is part of TI Kenya’s effort to inform the fight against corruption with rigorous and objective research and analysis. The survey captures corruption as experienced by ordinary citizens in their interaction with officials of both public and private organisations.

Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has announced a major shake-up of his country's military. The chiefs of the defence staff and air-force have been dismissed, along with the national security adviser. The army chief has been promoted to chief of defence staff. No reasons have been given for the decisions.

The constitutional council confirmed Idriss Deby's victory in presidential elections early this month. Deby won a third successive five-year mandate with 64.67 percent of the vote, the council said, which although a substantial majority, was below the provisional victory figure of 77.6 percent initially released by the country's national election commission.

Please follow the link to find information on the Forum on Freedom of Expression during the African Union Summit. The Forum will be held from the 29th to 30th June 2006. It will provide in-depth knowledge of the Declaration of Principles on Freedom of Expression in Africa and other African Union mechanisms including the African Peer Review Mechanism.

Kenya's justice and constitutional affairs minister has admitted that corruption was still rampant in the country, and it permeated all sectors. "It appears that we have only scratched the surface in fighting the menace," said the minister. At the same time, she said there was a wrong perception that corruption only thrived in the public sector, adding that it was also rife in the private sector.

Uganda's president has moved to consolidate his power by naming his young brother, Salim Saleh, and his childhood friend-turned-foe, Eriya Kategaya, to his new Cabinet announced last week. The country had been without a Cabinet since Museveni dissolved the old one a few hours before he was sworn in for another five-year term on May 12.

Yea, we need to know our African value system and what Africa is. Thank you Amy, great article.

For Nalangu Taki, a simple glass of water can come with a heavy price. This resident of Narok in south-western Kenya says women in the district have to walk long distances to obtain water, sometimes getting attacked by lions. "Women wake up at six am every day and walk for over 20 kilometres to get to water points. At the water points, they meet lions which are also searching for water," she told IPS. The scramble for resources claims lives.

Hundreds of combatants in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are said to be joining a nascent militia based in the north-east of the country: the Congolese Revolutionary Movement (Mouvement Revolutionnaire Congolaise, MRC). This comes just weeks before the first nation-wide elections to be held in 40 years, and is undermining prospects for a successful poll.

Africa has come to be associated with conflicts, political unrest, famine and disease. A new report, African Economic Outlook (AEO), says that there is reason to be optimistic about the world's second largest continent.

The vast rainforests of the Democratic Republic of Congo - the second largest on Earth after the Amazon - have been seen by the World Bank as a target area. In 2002, the Bank provided funding for the government of DRC to develop a new set of laws for the management of DRC's forests. In September 2003, the Board of the Bank also approved a pilot project to 'zone' Congo's forests into areas for industrial logging, conservation, and community use. The project entitled 'Emergency Economic and Social Reunification and Support Project' (EESRSP), included $4 million to start the process of 'zoning' DRC's forests, potentially opening up tens of millions of hectares for industrial logging, reports the Rainforest Foundation.

The Transitional Justice Institute (TJI) in conjunction with the School of Law at the University of Ulster (Northern Ireland) is now accepting applications for enrolment in its LLM in Human Rights Law (2006/07). There are a small number of scholarships available for exceptional candidates and international students are strongly encouraged to apply. The programme is available on a full-time or part-time basis at the university's Jordanstown (Belfast) and Magee (Derry/Londonderry) campuses.

The opposition Movement for Democratic Change, anti senate faction's candidate Emmanuel Chisvuure beat the ZANU PF candidate, Jeremiah Bvirindi and Gabriel Chaibva of the MDC's pro senate faction in the Budiriro parliamentary by-election that was marred by a low voter turn out. Chisvuure polled 7 949 votes while Bvirindi and Chaibva polled 3 961 and 504 votes respectively.

Africa's lone entry to the Cannes film festival aims to speak for millions with it's ambitious tale of putting the World Bank and IMF on trial for policies that are choking African nations. "Bamako" a jewel film by a Mauritian director, Abderrahmane Sissako aims to demonstrate the impact of these policies on the daily lives of Africans. Debt repayments which absorb an astonishing 40 percent of the Zambian and Kenyan budgets is a recurrent leitmotif.

Africa needs to "go on the offensive" and show the political will to defeat corruption, the head of the African Development Bank has said. The bank's president, Donald Kaberuka, said such a renewed effort was vital to boost economies and to encourage more investment from overseas. He made his comments on the sidelines of a business conference in Rwanda.