Will there be an end to impunity and the cultivation of the rule of law and justice for the Kenya people? Beth Maina Ahlberg writes about the fresh winds blowing through the Kenyan judiciary and the vested interests wanting to maintain the status quo.

July 9 is Independence Day in the Republic of South Sudan. Below are the words of the country’s new national anthem, which you can also

Set the cost of the Fifa World Cup against South Africa’s development needs, and ‘you can't but conclude that we didn't need it, nor could we afford it. So why did we go all out to host such an unnecessary event?’ asks Andile Mngxitama.

While the Niger Delta amnesty could be seen as a ‘modest success’, writes Uche Igwe, it is now time to direct resources towards the pursuit of ‘verifiable physical development in the region’.

‘Digital Tongues’ is a series of conversations with four Africans from across the continent, hosted by Zimbabwean Tendai Marima. This week’s discussion focuses on African politicians and social media and nationalism and identity. Readers are invited to participate in the dialogue by posting a comment on the story.

Economist and UN advisor Professor Jeffrey Sachs may be optimistic about the prospects of the Nigerian economy, but Uche Igwe says the facts on the ground don't back up Sachs' positive outlook.

The central challenge facing Nile Basin States once the Comprehensive Framework Agreement is ratified will be establishing a new regime that works for the benefit of all 11 nations affected, rather than favouring Sudan and Egypt, writes Aaron Tesfaye.

As protests mount over fraud in Kenya’s Ministry of Education, Henry Maina discusses the investigation and proposes lessons to be learned.

Stray elephants from Kenya’s Tsavo National Park are destroying the crops and livelihoods of communities in Taiva Taveta County, leaving them dependent on unaffordable maize flour and government relief supplies. The Unga Revolution committee made a solidarity visit to the area on June 14, to look at how to ensure that the government fulfils its constitutional obligation to ensure the community’s right to food and protection of livelihood. This is the committee's report on the visit.

Outraged by President Bongo Odimba’s visit to the US from 6-9 June, Gabonese civil society has written to US President Barack Obama, calling on him to take a stand against the Bongo government’s devastation of democracy. The letter also asks Obama to revisit the speech he made in Accra after his election, which it says should inform his relationship with African leaders.

Life for the mentally ill in Sierra Leone is ‘incredibly hard’, writes Roland Bankole Marke, and even for those incarcerated in the psychiatric hospital, there is little to look forward to. Who is to blame for the situation and what should be done to improve access to good clinical care?

The Unga Revolution, a group of young people who gather daily at 1pm in Nairobi’s Harambee Avenue to campaign for the right to food and housing, reminds Kenyans that they need to exercise our civic duty more often, observes Patita Tingoi. ‘We need not give up just because we can survive on what we have today, tomorrow might be a different ball game all together.’

Get moving. That's the message from Onitaset Kumat on how to revive Africa. 'We must communicate to cooperate to elevate and we should have started years ago.'

‘Imagine if all African women could break the silence of sexual abuse without fear of shame and reprisal,’ writes Kabahenda Nyakabwa.

Drawing on the immortal words of Thomas Sankara, Kingwa Kamencu calls on all those concerned for Africa to ‘dare to invent the future’, in an opening speech at the Oxford University Africa Society ‘Pan-Africanism for a new generation’ conference.

Tens of thousands of Haitians turned out to greet democratically elected President Jean-Bertrand Aristide on his return to his country. Though originally forced into exiled under the Bush administration, Aristide has been treated in much the same fashion by Obama's government, writes Nia Imara.

‘I do not want personal freedom if it comes at the cost of the oppression of millions. Freedom is merely privilege extended unless enjoyed by all,’ writes lesbian blogger Amina A. on 'A Gay Girl in Damascus', as Western imperial powers tout the defence of LGBT rights as a justification for intervention in the ‘Arab Spring’.

As part of the ‘Unga Revolution’, Kenyan civil society has been demonstrating over rising food prices and the escalating costs of living, writes Stephen Musau. And Kenyans should not feel alone in this struggle, Musau stresses, with the farmer-led movements across the global South like Via Campesina leading the fight for food sovereignty and the right to food.

'Wamama wa Dhobi' are a group of domestic workers in Mathare, a slum in the city of Nairobi, Kenya. Documentary '' is about the struggles of women workers in informal employment; it follows their cries for for fairness and respect in the eyes of the Kenyan public as well as the law. ('Dhobi work' is domestic work for pay in an informal settlement).

A statement from the coordinators of the World March of Women in Quebec sets out four reasons why Canada shouldn’t host the 2013 World Social Forum, from the difficulty of obtaining entry visas for activists from the South, to the need to focus on national grassroots alliance-building, following the election of a majority Conservative government.