Tanzania goes to the polls, on December 14th with 15.6 million registered voters expected to elect president, Members of Parliament and civic leaders.

The number of voters taking part in this year’s election is a significant rise over the 12 million people who took part in the 2000 polls and the 10 million voters who participated in the 1995 general election.

Voting is expected in 48,000 polling stations throughout the country.
Ten presidential candidates are contesting the top seat. The polls mark the end of President Benjamin Mkapa’s ten- year reign,given a constitutional term limit.

The Egyptian Organization for Human Rights (EOHR), Reporters Without Borders (Reporters sans frontières, RSF) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) have voiced alarm at attacks by Egyptian authorities on journalists covering the parliamentary elections. Since the first round of voting in the three-round election began on 8 November 2005, more than 50 journalists have been assaulted, detained or prevented from covering the polls. CPJ says the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) and security forces have ordered supporters to beat and harass voters and journalists. Harassment has increased as members of the banned Muslim Brotherhood movement, who run as independent candidates, have gained seats.

Nigeria will return the impeached governor of oil-producing Bayelsa state to Britain, where he jumped bail to escape a money-laundering trial, President Olusegun Obasanjo said on Saturday. A court in London has charged Diepreye Alamieyeseigha with laundering 1.8 million pounds. Alamieyeseigha fled Britain last month and returned to Nigeria, where as governor he enjoyed immunity from prosecution. But on Friday the Bayelsa state assembly stripped him of his immunity by impeaching him, and he was immediately arrested.

South Africa has made progress in the fight against corruption, but more needs to be done to eradicate the vice, say analysts - this as the world marks International Anti-Corruption Day, Friday. "There have been efforts within government to clean up corruption," Ayesha Kajee of the South African Institute of International Affairs, a Johannesburg-based think-tank, told IPS. She pointed to the response to claims of graft in a multi-million dollar arms deal, as well as to an oil scandal and a parliamentary travel voucher scam.

Dr Christopher Ndarathi Murungaru's loss of a cabinet position appears to be President Kibaki's way of tipping his hat to the donor community as well as anti-corruption lobbyists. Dr Murungaru, the MP for Kieni in Nyeri District [central Kenya], was seen as a close ally of the president. Dr Murungaru served in Mr Kibaki's first cabinet as the minister in the Office of the President in charge of Internal Security. After allegations of corruption, many of which seemed to point at his management of the ministry's affairs, he was dropped early this year and shifted to the less glamorous Transport Ministry where he swapped positions with Mr John Michuki.

According to an opinion in a local Ugandan daily, the events of the last couple of weeks (an incumbent president triggering a legal process resulting in the arrest and incarceration of his leading opponent in an election to be held within five months on arguably dubious charges) belong in the annals of infamy of Ugandan political history.
Related Link:
Address by the President of South Africa, Thabo Mbeki, to the Parliament of the Republic of Uganda
http://www.sarpn.org.za/newsflash.php#4178

A look at Vietnam and Mexico exposes the myth of market liberalisation according to a recent article by Larry Elliott, economics editor of the Guardian. Titled "Two countries, one booming, one struggling: which one followed the free-trade route?" the article argues that the chances of securing a comprehensive trade deal are non-existent, with the talks in Hong Kong now really about damage limitation and the apportionment of blame.

The World Bank has “serious concerns” about the Chad government’s plan to do away with a special fund that safeguards petrodollars for future generations, the institution said. The trust fund was among innovative socio-economic measures required by the World Bank in return for financing part of a vast pipeline from Chad to the Atlantic Ocean off Cameroon. But the Chad government says it needs to tap into the petrodollars now to tackle a financial crisis and bolster security in the country.

A senior Roman Catholic has said voters in Democratic Republic of Congo should reject a draft constitution in next Sunday's (December 18) vote. A "No" vote would delay elections due next year under a deal ending DR Congo's five-year civil war. A BBC correspondent in DR Congo says 55% of the population is Catholic and church leaders are seen as influential. Pierre Anatole Matusila said the constitution had not been explained properly to the population. "When I do not know what it is about, I say 'No'," said a statement released by Mr Matusila's Congress of Congolese Catholic laymen. It added that the 'No' would be a sanction against the way politicians use lies and manipulation to rule the country.

Police in Liberia have clashed with supporters of George Weah, who was defeated in last month's election. Police fired tear gas at the protesters in a suburb of the capital, Monrovia. Violence began after Mr Weah addressed several hundred supporters, alleging the election had been rigged and saying his rival would not be sworn in. Ex-football star Mr Weah lost to economist Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf in the polls, judged fair by most observers. Mr Weah told hundreds of supporters at a rally on Sunday (December 11) that he would block January's inauguration of Mrs Johnson-Sirleaf as president.

Zimbabwe's ruling party has held its annual conference, backing government moves to clamp down on critics. The resolutions were yet more bad news for the country's political opposition, civil rights groups and other critics. The Zanu-PF meeting called for action against civic groups and NGOs it said were sponsored by Western countries. It urged the government to implement a constitutional amendment allowing the authorities to confiscate the passports of those who it sees as a threat.

The Muslim Brotherhood has done better than anyone expected in the Egyptian elections. It has around six times as many seats as it did in the last parliament. Real democracy is still something to dream about for Egyptians who want reform. Turnout was very low. Years of autocracy crushed political life in Egypt and left the people cynical about voting. But from the evidence of these election results, if Egypt has a democratic future, it is Islamist. Officially, the Muslim Brotherhood is a banned organisation. In real life it is tolerated and its candidates stand for parliament as independents.

Amnesty International is calling on the Egyptian government to launch an urgent, independent investigation into police shootings outside polling stations on 7 December which left at least eight people dead and tens more injured. The organization said the investigation should focus on the circumstances in which police used lethal fire and ensure that any officers or other officials responsible for using or ordering excessive force should be brought to justice.

Zambian civil society groups intend to start a nation-wide media campaign to discredit legislators from the ruling Movement for Multiparty Democracy who voted against a law to form a constituent assembly for adopting the country's fourth national constitution. “We are coming up with what we call a 'shame' list, which is basically a list of the 65 Members of Parliament who rejected the constituent assembly motion demanded by the people,” declared Oasis Forum chairman Reverend Japheth Ndhlovu. The Oasis Forum, an influential civil society group, also led the fight that defeated former president Frederick Chiluba's bid for a third term.

The congruence of G8 Summit in Scotland, the UN World Summit + 5 and WTO Ministerial Meeting in Hong Kong and the revisions of Beijing + 5 and Cairo + 5 led to 2005 being seen as a landmark year in relation to the 2000 Millennium Declaration and the fight against poverty, injustice and exploitation and men and women's rights violations. It was in this context that the Global Call to Action against Poverty (GCAP) was established in September 2004 as a means for a joint mobilization and collaboration for the year 2005. One year after the Johannesburg consultation in September 2004, the Global alliance and the national campaigns are confronted with the decision of whether to continue their cooperation beyond 2005 and if so, how to frame a possible next phase (2006-2007) of the call. 2005 is coming to an end, and with it, the global policy platform, global structures and days for global mobilisation days agreed in Johannesburg, September 2004 have expired. TWO EXTERNAL RESEARCHERS are therefore being sought, to carry out a comprehensive review of the campaign to date, with a view to developing a report that will inform further dialogue on the future of GCAP.

On 9 December, the day before International Human Rights Day, CIVICUS and the Eritrean Movement for Democracy and Human Rights issued a letter of appeal, signed by 21 other civil society organisations, urging the member states of the African Union to acknowledge and take action on the Government of Eritrea’s ongoing human rights violations. Since 2001, the Eritrean government has systematically clamped down on the rights to freedom of expression, assembly and association, and denied prisoners of conscience the rights to fair trial and due process of law. There are currently no independent political parties, media, human rights or other critical civil society organisations operating in Eritrea.

A mainly military delegation of the African Union arrived in Goma, the administrative centre of the province of North Kivu, on 18 November 2005, to assess the possible deployment of AU troops in the Eastern DRC. The head of the delegation, South African Brigadier General Hougaard, conveyed the strong will and determination of the organization to deploy troops to fight foreign armed groups residing and operating illegally in the DRC.

What we need is to do our work and to use our freedom in all the fields! How long will we wait for someone to do it for us? Our leaders must re-direct the talks in Hong kong.We can't continue to wait for the WTO to solve our famine and agricultural needs.

Greetings from Johanesburg. Two comments if I may.

1. Congratulations on a fine magazine, it is an essential part of my reading. Well done to you, your staff, and all your contributers. It opens up my knowledge and understanding of Africa in it's widest sense, through reportage of all it's other struggles, campaigns, and the growing awareness and solidarity of it's peoples.

2. Dr Tajudeen Abdul Raheem's human rights article on Human Rights Day is one of the best (short) expositions that I have read in some time. My congratulations to him and to you for publishing it.

Just like a dog which returns to its vomit, the emergent Dictator Mwai Emilio Kibaki of Kenya has re-appointed thieves, traitors, opportunists, murderers and tribal chieftains in a "New look Cabinet" that has met with strong and immediate condemnation country wide. After losing the November 21st Referendum, dissolving the Cabinet and keeping the country waiting for two weeks apparently to "consult" with former Dictator Daniel arap Moi, Imperialist representatives in Kenya, corrupt Mount Kenya Mafia cartel and other political rags, KESDEMO believes that Kenya does not have a President at Nairobi State House but a mental patient who should be examined urgently by independent Doctors.