The UN's top human rights forum wrapped up what could be its last annual six-week session of wrangling and rhetoric on Friday, with few likely to mourn its expected passing. If UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan gets his way, the 61st session of the Commission on Human Rights will be its swan song, with the much maligned body making way for a slimmer and more credible Human Rights Council next year.

The Government rejected a move by a Parliamentary committee to have Dr Julius Rotich appointed as a director of the Kenya Anti Corruption Commission (KACC). Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister Kiraitu Murungi said a 2004 report by the Inspector General of Corporations implicated and indicted Rotich for serious financial irregularity.

Happy 200th Edition! Pambazuka is worth more than gold in our office.

A coalition of Ethiopian groups announced plans on Wednesday to file a lawsuit against the country’s electoral commission, saying that new rules could prevent thousands of local observers from monitoring May’s legislative elections. "We believe this decision by the National Election Board [NEB] is in contravention of the national election law of Ethiopia, and violates our constitutional rights," said Netsanet Demissie, director of the Organisation for Social Justice (OSJ), which comprises 35 Ethiopian organisations.

* EDITORIALS: Rotimi Sankore explains why ‘development pornography’ perpetuates stereotypes and says nothing about the reasons behind poverty
* COMMENT AND ANALYSIS: Wafula Okumu identifies the critical areas essential to democracy in Africa
- Angela Kyungu looks at inequality in the context of the disproportionate impact of HIV/AIDS on Africa’s women
- Pambazuka News readers are challenged by Shereen Essof and Daniel Moshenberg to see a different Zimbabwe through the life of Yvonne Vera
* LETTERS: The debate over Zimbabwe rages on
* CONFLICTS AND EMERGENCIES: The latest news from Ivory Coast, DRC and Sudan
* HUMAN RIGHTS: Togo human rights league concerned about treatment of Kodjo (French and English)
* REFUGEES AND FORCED MIGRATION: What are the conditions of just return for refugees?, asks a recent study paper
*WOMEN AND GENDER: A new toolkit about legal justice for survivors of Gender Based Violence is available
* DEVELOPMENT: Africa Action condemns G7 inaction on debt at Washington meet
* MEDIA AND FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION: Community radio meeting held in Abuja
* AND…the usual listing of news and resources about the internet, fundraising, courses, jobs and books.

Through the life and work of Yvonne Vera, Shereen Essof and Daniel Moshenberg challenge Pambazuka News readers to see a different Zimbabwe, not the one of nationalist desire, but rather the one in which the national project of Zimbabwe is a project of its women, not alone but at the core.

It is April 18, 2005, Independence Day in Zimbabwe. Twenty-five years ago today, Rhodesia disappeared. Where did it go? What happened on that day? Twenty-five years ago, today, the policemen shouted, “Move back! Move back!” … at least according to Yvonne Vera, in her early story, “Independence Day”, a story which cites the women and children lining the streets to see “The Prince from England”, “the Prince, sent by his mother the Queen.”

In that story, Vera makes her readers see the day, that day twenty five years ago that we know will be monumentalized in perpetuity in that place called Zimbabwe. It is a day of flags and freedom. A day in which everyone who is no one who is on the streets is marked by the forced separation of themselves from anyone who is anyone, from the Prince to the Prime Minister. It is a day in which the national markers of `Zimbabwe’ become visible. It is a day in which a man “celebrates Independence properly: with cold beer and a woman.” It is a day in which men use women as men so often do and “when he was through he sent her home.” It was a day in which the State used women to line the streets, to dance at the stadium, and to wave flags. In the end, “in the morning she saw miniature flags caught along the hedge: the old flag and the new.” It was a day when promises were made, it was a day when people were told “everything would be changing soon. Jobs and more money. Land and education. Wealth and food.”

On Thursday, April 7, 2005, Zimbabwean feminist novelist, activist, artist and storyteller, Yvonne Vera died. Yvonne Vera wrote stories of Zimbabwean women. She brought to the surface their voices and narratives and how they are positioned within the postcolonial context. She articulated women’s struggles, historical and current, in the violence and intensity of survival in the everyday. In so doing, Yvonne Vera engaged in a powerful and courageous critique of the nation-building project in Zimbabwe. Her fiction, always historically embedded and materially astute, offers Zimbabweans a vision of an alternative nation, built on the foundations of often-repressed memories and stories.

Yvonne Vera insisted on looking into and accurately evoking the face and mask of betrayal. She described patriarchy: the ways in which colonialism violated women and the ways in which a patriarchal state betrayed ‘its’ people, those who had fought for so long for freedom. She described the ways in which so many men betrayed `the people’, the women and children, to whom they had pledged trust. She wrote of violation after violation, and of the extraordinary hope and forgiveness that seemed to always mark survival, most often of women. While much of her work focuses on the liberation struggle or the period just after Independence, it remains painfully relevant on this Independence Day, twenty-five years ‘later’.

On this Independence Day, in the current global context, Zimbabwe is often represented as invisible or mad. Vera’s five novels and numerous short stories challenge the readers of Pambazuka News to read a different Zimbabwe. Not the one of nationalist desire, but rather the one in which the national project of Zimbabwe is a project of its women, not alone but at the core. In this tale, women are not invisible nor meek nor timid nor a problem nor a pathology nor victim nor, finally, a means to a good celebration. In this story, Zimbabwe is Zimbabwean women.

In her writing Vera insists that no national independence comes from military forces or nation-states declaring, ‘it is over’, as occurs with depressing results at the end of her collection, ‘Why Don’t You Carve Other Animals?’ Rather, as she states at the end of her final novel, ‘The Stone Virgins’, the “task is to learn to re-create the manner in which the tenderest branches bend, meet, and dry, the way the grass folds smoothly over this frame and weaves a nest, the way it protects the cool, livable places within – deliverance.”

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Can Africa’s history of undemocratic and authoritarian states be overcome? WAFULA OKUMA says hard work and commitment lie ahead, but that there is cause for optimism. “With a rich enabling environment, proper political leadership and institutions, a vibrant civil society, and well-meaning and appropriate international support, it would be just a matter of time before the people of Africa start reaping the fruits of democracy,” he writes.

The awarding of the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize to Professor Wangari Mathai, has widely been considered as an acknowledgement, in part, of the role the civil society has played in the democratization of Africa. Presently there are at least 12 retired presidents in Africa who had completed their constitutional terms and handed over power peacefully after elections. Last year witnessed elections in Malawi, Mozambique and Namibia in which long-serving presidents were replaced in elections won by candidates from the ruling parties. Although some commentators have noted a trend towards incumbent presidents being replaced by their chosen heirs, this has not meant a step back in the democratization process in Africa. Interestingly, as the cases of Zambia and Malawi have proven, the preferred candidates of the departing presidents have turned against them after ascending to the high offices. In democratic terms, over the years Africa has witnessed the birth of political parties, active involvement in politics by civil and religious sectors and the opening-up of some democratic spaces.

However, factors such as lack of protection of political and civil rights, prevalence of authoritarian tendencies, tampering of electoral processes, and structural inhibitions strongly supported by the ruling elite indicate that democracy is far from being consolidated on the continent. Other factors that are undermining democratic consolidation are ethnicization of politics and the decay of the State, corrupt and egoistical leaders who have an addiction to power and patronage that only undemocratic governments can guarantee, lack of national ideologies and a national platform of democratization, disunity and disorganization of opposition parties and “pro-democracy” forces, popular lethargy to democratization, and other factors that comprise an enabling environment. Political realities from countries such as Kenya have proven that multipartism does not automatically ensure democratic consolidation, nor does the holding of multiparty elections bring about development and political stability.

Democracy, sometimes used as a euphemism for “good governance,” is now seen as a key ingredient for economic development, a guarantor for peace, and a value that is crucial for the integration of the continent. However, the building of democratic societies depends on the existence of a leadership that understands and embraces democratic ideals, political institutions that will be repository and guarantor of democratic values, and civil society and international actors playing specific and clearly defined roles. Furthermore, a certain enabling environment must prevail.

The Role of Leadership in Democratic Transitions

In order for genuine democracy to flourish in Africa, there must be leaders who are committed to democratic ideals and practices. A daunting challenge facing Africa is how it can get “good leaders” who are committed democrats.

Poor leadership is also exhibited by how badly opposition political parties in Africa are led - an indication of the lack of leadership qualities among those vying to assume the reigns of State power. In view of poor leadership among opposition parties and the unwillingness of the ruling elites to open up the political space for all the major contestants for State power the success of democratic transitions will have to be placed in the hands of a new generation of political leaders. These leaders must have a clear understanding of democracy, make commitments to its ideals, and acquire experience in practicing it through political processes such as party politics. This in essence is a call for leadership training. The future of Africa will depend on leadership with training, integrity, honesty and high moral character.

These leaders will be dissimilar to the present crop that desperately seeks to feel intellectually superior to the masses, believe that they alone have access to ideas that will make the world a perfect place for the masses if they sheepishly follow their ideas, yearn to be makers of history, and have a tendency to substitute their ambitions for leadership, their wishes for ideas and their ideas for truths which others must live by.

The Role of Civil Society:

Civil society is regarded in many countries as the foundation of liberty, agents for promoting political values, and advocates for social justice, democratic participation and good governance. Civil society can play an important role in both democratic transition and consolidation if they remain voluntary, self-regulating, autonomous of the State, and subscribe to sets of common rules that guide and regulate their activities.

In its advocacy role, civil society can act as channels through which citizens articulate their interests, particularly in situations where political parties are weak, disorganized and “represent factional politics rather than competing ideologies” (Dicklitch 1998). Besides being advocates for alternative policy agenda, civil society can also advocate for social change by exerting pressure on the State to make structural changes and to produce policy outputs that enhance societal interests.

However, the role of civil society, like that of political parties, in the democratization process can be impeded by dependence on external funding, hostile governments, and cleavages such as ethnicity, religion and gender bias that characterizes African politics.

The Role of International actors

Although international actors, particularly the donor community, have played a significant role by putting pressure on recalcitrant national elite to make “democratic” concessions, it is also noticeable that foreigners have had their own agendas. The heavy reliance of opposition parties and civil society on foreign support does not augur well for the introduction and consolidation of democracy. This is particularly so because this relationship is creating a dependency syndrome that is detrimental in the long-term, as the democratic values and practices that will eventually be introduced and consolidated will be reflective of those of the foreign interests that supported them. In terms of promoting their own agenda, western donors and patrons seem to be obsessed with elections and adoption of capitalism as conditions for continued financial hand outs. This concern is reflected in how democracy has been used as a “Trojan Horse” for international capitalism, by including “free enterprise” in the package of demands for “pluralism.”

The international donor community, mainly influenced by neo-liberalism, has linked democracy to capitalism on the assumption that only capitalism can limit State power and enhance democratic values (see World Bank, 1996). There are other specific concerns on capitalism’s relevance to, and prospects in, Africa.

First, history has shown that the perversion of the African State has not been confined only to government but also to the market, which is heavily regulated by the government and where formerly highly placed government officials have used their positions to gain footholds. Second, capitalism in Africa, and in other parts of the Third World, has a history of supporting and being tolerant of dictatorship. Third, on a continent like Africa where capitalism is a parody, it is inconceivable to leave key economic decisions to the market forces. Corruption has perverted the market to the extent that graft, intimidation, misuse of public offices for economic gains, and manipulation of market rules for political expediency ensures that a few powerful individuals dominate the market and owe no accountability to the public at large. Lastly, capitalism has a history of allowing a few powerful individuals to control and reap maximum benefits from the market.

The importance of an enabling environment:

The poor enabling environment that has hamstrung the introduction and consolidation of democracy in Africa has historical roots. Colonialism, and later neo colonialism, not only failed to cultivate a political culture which can sustain democracy but also installed inhibitions in the political structures that have been reinforced by power hungry ruling elite. Capitalizing on the poor understanding of their citizens’ political and civil rights, and eager to please western donors and patrons, African leaders have shown no genuine commitment to engaging in substantive democratic practices. Furthermore, no effort has been made to define a type of democracy that fits in the African context and reflects the people’s realities. This means that before we prescribe the societal conditions that need to exist for democracy to be introduced and consolidated, we must first clarify the type of democracy that is appropriate and can survive in the African context.

Creating an enabling environment for democracy to flourish will partly entail political education of the leaders and the masses on the meaning and the practice of democracy. A commonly and universally accepted definition of democracy must be arrived at so that the people know what to expect from the ruling and opposition parties, civil society, the international well-wishers/supporters and others involved in the promotion of democratic ideals. Likewise, leaders should also know what to expect from the ruled and the standards they are being held under. The people in Africa must first agree on the types of societies they desire and, more importantly, agree on their national political values; in the process deciding whether democracy is one of them. It should be noted further that establishing a lasting democracy requires a civic virtue - a civic education of a kind that brings people to understand both the rights and the obligations of citizenship.

State restructuring:

Kwesi Prah (1996) points out that despite the existence of “the will for democratic dispensation . . . in Africa,” there is also “the need for adequate and appropriate institutions, established and respected procedures, accepted conventions and forms of social conduct through which democratic practice can be consistently implemented in the running of the country.” The present African States are colonial creations that are by nature totalitarian, oppressive and undemocratic. Colonial States in Africa were inherited and strengthened by the African leaderships that took over power at the end of European colonialism. By the late 1980s, the States in Africa had not only become more repressive but also burdensome to the people. It is absolutely necessary that African societies that seek to transform themselves into democratic ones must abandon the existing colonial/neo-colonial State structures and practices that are still intact.

Prah argues that “the best institutions and operational rules of democratic organization will amount to little if politicians do not use them in good faith. While the field for the exercise of democracy needs to be kept level at all times, the ground also would need to be (accessible,) accepted and respected by all parties.” In particular, African bureaucracies, that have become mere appendages of the ruling parties that are used to frustrate and harass the opposition and promote the interests of the ruling parties and elite, must be immunized from politics and transformed to serve democracy.

However, it is not only the colonial institutions that need to be eliminated or transformed. Prah notes that throughout the history of colonialism, there was a steady erosion of traditional African institutions by colonial institutions. While some of these traditional institutions and practices were not “totally annihilated,” most were “severely weakened.” Some of these surviving traditional practices have proven to be obstacles to the democratization and modernization of the African State. According to Prah, democracy cannot flourish in Africa “where vested interests, possibly legitimized by corrupted notions of ‘tradition,’ still control key instruments of the state.”

Building the capacities of political parties:

In promoting democracy in Africa, there has been little emphasis on building the capacities of political parties, particularly those in the opposition. Instead, the focus has mostly been on multiparty elections and in particular the number of political parties, how regularly elections are held, and voter turnouts. This in turn has resulted in electoral politics becoming the central focus for the opposition parties, foreign interests and political analysts. By overstocking on the elections, little investment has been made to strengthen the institutional capacities of opposition parties to enable them to be viable contenders for power or to be effective agents for installation of democratic societies.

Prospects for Democracy in Africa

All things considered, what is the prospect for democracy? In assessing the prospects for the consolidation of democracy in Africa, Christopher Clapham and John Wiseman prescribed a “minimalist end of the (democratic) spectrum” which essentially entails “political contestation for public power (invariably between political parties).” I do not subscribe to this view as it calls for giving Africans half-baked bread because it is better than nothing. Despite the pitfalls for introducing and consolidating democracy highlighted in this essay and elsewhere by other scholars of African politics, I am optimistic, like Joel Barkan, that democratic transitions in Africa will continue moving forward rather than backward.

Barkan points out the following as factors that are assisting the transition in moving forward. Firstly, the legalization of opposition parties and the holding of multiparty elections have guaranteed a stake for the opposition and signaled the end of one-party states and monopolization of power. Secondly, the civil society, free press and the opposition have opened up considerable political spaces that are only bound to grow. And thirdly, there is a growth of “anti-regime hardliners” and “transition-seekers” among the national political elites who are still predominantly “patronage-seekers.” However, the prospects for democratic transitions are dimmer in some African countries because political spaces are limited by ruling parties that are dominant political organizations. Furthermore, the ‘transitions’ are being orchestrated “from above” and supported by civil society that is relatively weak and urban based.

While acknowledging the high prospects for democratic transition and consolidation in Africa, we must also point out that it is a daunting challenge not only to develop and to preserve full democracy but also to introduce it. It is an uphill effort that will require enormous political will, national discipline and sacrifice, and vast financial expenses. But with good planning and careful introduction, full and genuine democracy will definitely flourish in Africa in the near future. With a rich enabling environment, proper political leadership and institutions, a vibrant civil society, and a well-meaning and appropriate international support, it would be just a matter of time before the people of Africa start reaping the fruits of democracy.

* Wafula Okumu is the co-editor, with Paul Kaiser, of ‘Democratic Transitions in East Africa’ (Aldershot: Ashgate Publishers, 2004)

Bibliography:
Barkan. Joel. “Protracted Transitions Among Africa’s New Democracies,” in Democratization, vol. 7, no. 3, Autumn 2000.
Beetham, David. “Liberal Democracy and the Limits of Democratization” in Prospects for Democracy. Edited by David Held. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1993.
Bienefield, M. “Structural Adjustment and the Prospects for Democracy in Southern Africa” in Debating Development Discourse. Edited by D. B. Moore and G. J. Schmitz. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1995.
Blagg, Deborah and Susan Young. “What Makes a Good Leader?" issue of the Harvard Business School Bulletin, February 2001. Online edition:
Chazan, Naomi, “Africa’s Democratic Challenge: Strengthening Civil Society.” World Policy Journal, vol. XI, no. 2, Spring 1992.
Clapham, Christopher and John Wiseman. “Conclusion: Assessing the Prospects for the Consolidation of Democray in Africa,” in Democracy and Political Change in Sub-Saharan Africa. Edited by John A. Wiseman. London: Routledge, 1995.
Dahl, Robert. Polyarchy: Participation and Opposition. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1971.
Daima, Amani. “Challenges For Emerging African Democracies.” Peace Review, March 1998.
Diamond, Larry. “Rethinking Civil Society: Toward Democratic Consolidation,” Journal of Democracy, vol. 5, no. 3, July 1994.
Diamond, Larry. “Is the Third Wave Over?,” Journal of Democracy, 1996.
Dicklitch, Susan. The Elusive Promise of NGOs in Africa—Lessons from Uganda. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1998.
Fischer, Mary Ellen. “Introduction,” in Establishing Democracies. Edited by Mary Ellen Fischer. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1996.
Friedman, Milton. Capitalism and Freedom, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1963.
Gordon, David F. “On Promoting Democracy in Africa: the International Dimension,” in Democracy in Africa—the Hard Road Ahead. Edited by Marina Ottaway. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 1997.
Graham, Carol. “Democracy, Adjustment, and Poverty Reduction in Africa: Conflicting Objectives?” in Democracy in Africa—the Hard Road Ahead. Edited by Marina Ottaway. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 1997.
Hall, R. H. Organizations: Structures, Processes, and Outcomes, Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1996.
Hansen, Holger Bernt, and Michael Twaddle. “Uganda: the Advent of No-Party Democracy” in Democracy and Political Change in Sub-Saharan Africa. Edited by John A. Wiseman. London: Routledge, 1995.
Hempstone, Smith. The Rogue Ambassador: An African Memoir. Sewanee: University of
the South Press, 1997.
Kaiser, Paul, and F. Wafula Okumu (eds). Democratic Transitions in East Africa. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishers, 2004.
Lewis, P.M. “Political Transition and the Dilemma of Civil Society in Africa.” Journal of International Affairs, vol. 46, no. 1, Summer 1992.
Monshipouri, M. Democratization, Liberalization and Human Rights in the Third World. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 1995.
Nelson, P. J. The World Bank and Non-Governmental Organizations: The Limits of Apolitical Development. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1995.
Parenti, Michael. Democracy for the Few. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1995.
Prah, Kwesi. “The Crisis of Neo-Colonialism in Africa and the Contemporary Democratic Challenge,” in Peacemaking and Democratisation in Africa. Edited by Hizkias Assefa and George Wachira. Nairobi: East African Educational Publishers, 1996.
Phillipe Schmitter and Terry Karl, “What Democracy Is…. And is Not.” Journal of Democracy, vol. 2, no. 3, Summer 1991.
Van de Walle, Nicolas. “Economic Reform and the Consolidation of Democracy,” in Democracy in Africa—the Hard Road Ahead. Edited by Marina Ottaway. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 1997.
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In a world where graphic pictures of starving children are used by development agencies to raise funds from the public in the rich world, ROTIMI SANKORE critiques the phenomenon of ‘development pornograpy’ and argues that it has contributed towards deeper prejudice. New ways must be found to reach the public and more clearly explain the real reasons behind poverty in Africa, he states.

For decades, development and aid charities in the western world have believed the best way to raise funds from the public for their work is to shock people with astonishing pictures of poverty from the 'developing' world. An iconic poster example of these pictures is one of a skeletal looking 2 or 3 year old brown-skinned girl in a dirty torn dress, too weak to chase off dozens of flies settling on her wasted and diseased body and her big round eyes pleading for help. 'A pound means a lot to her'; 'a dollar can mean the difference between life and death'; 'Give something today' are generic riders.

This approach is partly based on the philosophy that 'a picture is worth a thousand words'. Since the development of photography and the mass media, this has been the mantra of any remotely competent photo editor and in modern times campaign and advertising executives.

The Make Poverty History Campaign, Millennium Development Goals and the Commission for Africa have again focused attention on existing poverty in Africa, Asia and Latin America. New targets have been set just as in the 70's and 80's when the target to end world poverty was the year 2000. New targets mean new campaigns and the type of images used to draw attention to the famine in Ethiopia in 1984 and 1985 will need to be updated. Unlike previously however, there are now even more development charities competing for a limited 'market' of givers. The implications are clear. Each image depicting poverty needs to be more graphic than the next to elicit more responses.

As some psychologists have argued, increasing levels of violence on television normalises violence. Subsequent images of violence then need to be more graphic to make an impact. Likewise an addiction to pornography demands increasingly graphic images to provoke even minimum arousal - in this case, a sense of outrage necessary to sustain similar levels of giving. But despite the number of lives saved or enhanced by aid, the most horrendous pictures do not and are incapable of telling the whole story; neither will development charities conclusively solve the problem of poverty that exists worldwide.

Increasingly graphic depictions of poverty projected on a mass scale by an increasing number of organisations over a long period cannot but have an impact on the consciousness of the target audience. That is the desired objective. But there can also be unintended consequences. In this case, the subliminal message unintended or not, is that people in the developing world require indefinite and increasing amounts of help and that without aid charities and donor support, these poor incapable people in Africa or Asia will soon be extinct through disease and starvation. Such simplistic messages foster racist stereotypes, strip entire peoples of their dignity and encourage prejudice.

Some may genuinely think that this is mere exaggeration. But when a leader of the Conservative opposition announces bombastically that under his government, all immigrants, refugees and asylum seekers would be subjected to tests for tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS in order to save the National Health Service millions of pounds, you can tell he thinks he is on to a vote winner. He either sincerely believes most people from those places carry dangerous diseases, or his strategists believe this will tap into the fears and prejudices of millions of voters. Either option is offensive and no amount of denials will avoid the fact that such prejudice is based on negative stereotypes. And where have most of the negative stereotypes come from? Your guess is as good as mine. Periodic appeals for donations using graphic and stereotypical images of poverty reach millions every year. The intentions may be good, but some of the consequences are not. Additionally many Africans and Asians resent negative stereotypes of their continents as anybody would, and find them offensive no matter what cause they are employed for.

Over time, there has been gradual but increasing awareness that pictures can lie even when they are a 'true' likeness of an instant in time. In the former Eastern bloc, images of poverty stricken homeless people in the 'West' were the only picture many had of capitalism. In today's world of digital media and convergence there is a clear understanding by media experts that often-repeated images can and do create a false consciousness of what is real.

While the poverty is real, the subliminal message development 'pornography' conveys is unreal. There has been some development alongside the poverty and the causes of poverty are far more complicated than single pictures can ever convey. In Africa for instance, previous undemocratic rule facilitated or conveniently accepted by many western governments - to fight off the threat of 'communism' - has ensured institutional imbalances in the development of the political and democratic process. As a result former dictators and their cronies have exclusively accumulated fabulous wealth necessary to meet absurd financial conditions set by biased electoral bodies in many countries. Actual electoral expenses that are unregulated run into hundreds of thousands of dollars and in huge countries such as Nigeria (population 130 million) even millions. And then there is the pre and actual ballot rigging using the mass media and state apparatus. Add to this layers of repressive laws - originally introduced by colonial governments to suppress restless natives - that have led to the death, imprisonment, intimidation and exile of tens of thousands of intellectuals, activists, lawyers, journalists, trade unionists, students and scientists and it is clear that most of those managing these economies and societies are not the best qualified to do so.

One dares not even go back to the consequences of 400 years of slavery that directly or indirectly killed and took away over a hundred million Africans and in the process disrupted all social and political development for four centuries, or subsequent colonial repression that in some places lasted over a 100 years. Most of Africa has been independent for only between 10 and 46 years and for most of that period many countries were ruled by left and right wing or simply mad dictators supported by cold war enemies jostling for strategic influence.

With all the slavery, colonialism, mass murder, repression, looting, corruption, trade imbalances, an doutrageous interests on dubious loans that have gone on for 500 years it is no wonder the continent is bruised and battered. No continent subjected to the same conditions would have fared better.

No pictures can explain this. What development 'pornography' shows is the result, not the cause of five centuries of aggressive exploitation of a continent. The relatively smoother development in parts of Asia exists because no industrial scale slavery and destruction of society was imposed there for four centuries. Unlike in Africa, the foundation of most Asian civilisation and culture remained largely intact. Colonialism suspended the natural trajectory of development in Asia that then continued once its yoke was lifted. Were it not for the immortality of the pyramids and scattered records of past African civilisations, the entire continent might have well been declared a historical wasteland.

Without clear explanations of why poverty persists in the developing world, the western public will tire of giving and sooner or later there will be a backlash; some argue that such fatigue has already begun to set in. For now negative stereotypes may already have been so ingrained that the level of ignorant prejudice that facilitated the transatlantic slave trade, the holocaust against European Jews, Apartheid and genocides from the Balkans and Cambodia to Rwanda may have already taken root.

This is no exaggeration. The first step towards institutionalised prejudice, exploitation and violence has always been a false mass belief that other peoples or sections of society are unequal, sub-human, vermin, dangerous, treacherous or whatever is propagated until it becomes an 'accepted truth'. The most universal example of consequences of such false beliefs is the exploitation of and violence perpetuated against women in all societies. Development 'pornography' has unwittingly contributed towards prejudice and must find new ways to reach the public before its good intentions irreversibly facilitate bad ones. Most importantly, what the developing world needs is a reversal of the institutional imbalances that have facilitated repression, exploitation, incompetence and corruption and a pledge from western interests to allow their people to freely define their future.

© Rotimi Sankore. Sankore is a journalist and rights campaigner, who has written widely on history, politics, culture and rights issues in Africa. This article was originally published  in the April newsletter and the website of Bond (British Overseas NGOs for Development) which has 280 member organisations and is the United Kingdom's broadest network of Charities/NGO’s and voluntary organisations working in international development.

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"The recent intensification of the war against corruption by President Obasanjo has provoked different reactions from different Nigerians. What is not in doubt, however, is that Nigerians want the mess cleaned up. The point of divergence seems to be how different people perceive the war against graft. Some doubt the motive. Others point to a seeming selectiveness. A few are convinced that what we are witnessing is a stage-managed show not billed to last. Put all of these together, you arrive at the point that I have been making, that not every Nigerian has bought into the war on corruption. They still think that it is Obasanjo's personal headache." Read the rest of this commentary from Nigeria's The Vanguard newspaper by clicking on the URL provided.

"If there is such thing as the development zeitgeist, it is today embodied by the linked concepts of good governance, democracy and human rights. In the pages that follow, this trinity is referred to as the 'democracy agenda'. More specifically, the Report is concerned with the related programmes of the United Nations Development Programme's (UNDP), most notably rule of law, media reform, civil-society support, election-support and state capacity-building. In the light of widespread evidence that, for the United Nations (UN), the democracy agenda does not crown 50 years of stunning development achievements, what might this new agenda hold?" This is the introduction to a research report from the Centre for Civil Society at the University of KwaZulu-Natal called 'Wishful thinking, Willful blindness and artful amnesia: Power and the UNDP's promotion of democracy in Botswana, Namibia and Tanzania'.

It was a big bash in Chipata Town in the Eastern province of Zambia as Organisation Development Community Management Trust (ODCMT) launched the Global Action Week against Poverty. Scores of children and adults who attended the event loudly and energetically chanted the slogan "Make trade Fair" whilst spotting white head bands, in solidarity with the Global Action Campaign against Poverty (G-CAP).

Togo's main opposition coalition is refusing to meet the chairman of West Africa's regional body ahead of Sunday's presidential election. Niger President Tandja Mamadou asked all four presidential candidates to travel to Niger on Wednesday for talks. There is growing concern at violent clashes sparked by demonstrations in the streets of the Togolese capital, Lome, and other towns.

Contact between the South African government and Zimbabwe's main opposition party, the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), has ceased. MDC secretary-general Welshman Ncube, who was the main contact between the two, said at the weekend: "I am not available to the South Africans any longer." Paul Themba Nyathi, MDC spokesperson, said: "From his point of view, he acted in good faith, in seriousness, and he discovered he had been used, so one should imagine he is intractably angry."

Fresh delays in producing the first peer reviews of governance in African states are disappointing but not surprising considering the complexity of the process, economists and officials say. Scorecards on Ghana and Rwanda, part of an African economic rescue plan to boost investment in the continent, were due to be submitted to a meeting of African leaders in Egypt on Tuesday but have been put off until May, after earlier delays from March.

African leaders meeting in Egypt on Tuesday begged for cash ahead of July's Group of Eight (G8) summit, but poor attendance showed tepid faith in the continent's ability to achieve the stability and transparency meant to underpin the meeting. A report of the organisation's activities over the past year, and its recommendations for the following, stressed the continent will need another $50-billion to $75-billion in aid if it is to reach the United Nations millennium goal of halving global poverty by 2015.

African countries need to improve the performance of their public sectors if they are going to achieve their goals of growth, poverty reduction, and the provision of better services for their citizens, according to an evaluation of World Bank support in Africa. Between 1995 and 2004, the Bank provided some $9 billion in lending and close to $900 million in grants and administrative budget to support public sector capacity building in Africa. This evaluation assesses Bank support for public sector capacity building in Africa over these past 10 years.

Lobby group Africa Action this week expressed outrage at the failure of the Group of 7 (G-7) Finance Ministers to make progress on the critical issue of debt cancellation in their meeting last weekend. Salih Booker, Executive Director of Africa Action, said: "Combined with the recent appointment of Wolfowitz to the World Bank, this delay on debt cancellation is outrageous. In 2004, more than 2 million Africans died of AIDS. Yet, African countries are forced to spend almost $15 billion each year repaying old, illegitimate debts to rich country creditors."

The latest ePoliticsSA briefing from IDASA interrogates the state of opposition politics in South Africa through the prism of electoral results, turnout and representation. It then assesses the state of the ruling, African National Congress (ANC) led, Tripartite Alliance and forwards reasons as to why a split in the alliance is unlikely in the medium term.

South Africa has failed Zimbabweans. There were always positive, active things to be doing over the past four years of Zimbabwe's economic and human rights implosion beyond 'silent diplomacy'. By focussing on Robert Mugabe and his eccentric personal and party needs– itself wrong as he heads an illegal and massively corrupt and brutal regime – South Africa has denied itself and Zimbabweans a number of constructive measures of long term value. If that had, or soon does, happen, the good governance foundations of NEPAD would have been well served. So too, an understanding as to how best to rebuild failed states and economies could have been tried and demonstrated.

A new independent report published by the Rainforest Foundation, Global Witness and World Rainforest Movement finds that programmes funded by the World Bank Group are causing destruction of the world's remaining forests and harming poor people dependent on forests for their survival. The report  - entitled 'Broken Promises' - says that the Bank has failed to implement its own Forest 'Safeguard' Policy, adopted in 2002, and that not one of the conditions the Bank promised to fulfil has been met.