The essay, was a fair and informative article about a group I've always wanted to know more about. The article makes references to Sidi music groups and cultural troupes. Who are these performers? Are there recordings or other resources available that discuss their music?

If the political class strategy of denial, disparage and diverting public attention manages to kill the implementation of Waki the report, this will heighten public distrust for Kenya's criminal justice system and reinforce the culture of political impunity. We must resist vigorously the grand impunity of the political class and our government. Support full implementation of Waki report by signing this petition and forwarding this petition link to your friends.

The Travail of Dieudonne is a modern version of Meja Mwangi's Going Down River Road.

The main narrative in the novel is a biography of Dieudonne, a houseboy (that colonial term that refuses to go away) to an expatriate white couple teaching at a university in Mimboland.

Mimboland is a typical African nation-state wracked with poverty due to bad governance. It is reliant on foreign aid and the unbalanced trade relationship with the West (Remember Giles Poor Story?).

Dieudonne is an exile in Mimboland. He not only ran away from his homeland because of civil war, but also to escape the horrifying reality of his father's misery.

Nyamnjoh uses Dieudonne's life story as a metaphor to capture the degrading and depressing social reality in the post-colonial Africa. His family's life is traced from the colonial era into the present. His father sacrifices his life in the service of colonial masters during the European wars — passed off as World Wars. He dies a poor man with nothing to show for his contribution, only a stump of a leg after losing one in the war.

REFLECTIONS

Dieudonne's father's mirrors that of many African foot soldiers during the so-called First and Second World Wars who came back without limbs and ended up as beggars in their homelands.

The characterisation of Dieudonne's life with his master and mistress is a replay of the colonial relationship between Africa and Europe, in some sense. He lives at the mercy of the couple. Indeed, by the time we meet him, he has worked for a number of white couples always willing to 'fire' and 'hand him over' to another white couple.

In the hands of these expatriates, he matters little. Just like his country, which grows cotton for export to Europe, he can only offer service to the foreigners.

Life collapses around him. He takes to heavy drinking that leads to a testy relationship with his employers. Eventually, he loses his wife, Tsanga.
After the departure of his wife, Dieudonne spends most of his non-working time in the 'Grand Canari', a drinking den in the neighbourhood of Swine Quarter. The latter stands as the antithesis of Beverly Hills, where the rich of Mimboland live. And it is this contrast that Nyamnjoh is challenging us to examine in his story.

INSPIRATION

However, like most postcolonial African writers, it is easy to see where his sympathy lies — with the poor. Out of the desire to speak for the poor, the author relocates the story to the 'Grand Canari.’
It is in this drinking hole where the downtrodden wash away their sorrows with whatever type of alcohol their pockets can afford. When the pocket is heavy, one can drink the most expensive spirits; when light, there are equally poverty-friendly brands.

Dieudonne's life-story and the context in which he tells it serve many purposes in the theme of the novel. On one hand, he offers the reader the opportunity to critique Africa's history, especially its neocolonialist tendencies which have led to local leaders abdicating their responsibilities to serve and instead becoming parasitic.

Also, in Dieudonne the author celebrates the resilience of the underprivileged by highlighting their enduring sense of hope or sheer desire to 'live another day.'

However, most significantly, the subtext of the novel is a call to rethink the transnational linkages and shared cultures as Africans in a world where Africans are 'junior brothers.’ Indeed, Nyamnjoh tries hard to stress the pan-African connections in this book. His references to languages, music, foods, names and cultures from across anglo- and francophone Africa are a challenge to Africans, especially students of comparative literature, to engage more with arts from beyond their localities. This stylistic tendency is evident in his earlier book, A Nose for Money (2006).

The call to engage with a broader postcolonial African reality, especially the plight of the poor, is weakened by the bilingual/multi-lingual nature of the book.

* researches and teaches literature and communication.
* Francis B. Nyamnjoh is associate professor and head of publications and dissemination with the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA). Nyamnjoh’s Married But Available (Langaa Publishers, 2008) is available at the both . The Travail of Dieudonne is available from East African Educational Publishers.
* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org/

The main narrative in the novel is a biography of Dieudonne, a houseboy (that colonial term that refuses to go away) to an expatriate white couple teaching at a university in Mimboland. Mimboland is a typical African nation-state wracked with poverty due to bad governance. It is reliant on foreign aid and the unbalanced trade relationship with the West. (Remember Giles Poor Story?).

When I first visited Haiti a decade ago – about two years before Margaret Trost's initial visit – one incident shocked me beyond all others: A man offered me his child. Understanding French, but not Haitian Creole, I thought I had misunderstood; a translator assured me that I hadn't. There was a drought; the man's crops had failed. He had five other children. He could not feed them all.

Do you yearn to become a published writer? Perhaps you have a great story idea that you need help to put on paper or a manuscript that needs refinement? Storymoja is currently completing two fully subscribed writing workshops that include seminars in our meeting rooms, online workshops and editing retreats.

Zwakala Books hosts D-Urban (w)Rites –a showcase of published Durban poets on the 31st October 2008 at 4pm at Urban Zulu 321 Berea and Bullwer road. The writers who will present their works are Adam Knight, Bheki Mthembu, Bongekile Mbanjwa, Mphutlane wa Bofelo, and Khulekani Magubane. Adam Knight is a responsive anarchist involved in alternative architecture travels mostly on bicycle or on foot and lives a sort of sustainable living.

Two of the prolonged myths about Africa is that her history is limited to the continent’s colonial past and secondly African’s have contributed little to the development of the world’s science, technology and agricultural innovations. And even the few publications which do mention Black inventors rarely cite inventors outside the US. Keith Holmes sets out to counter these omissions and in doing so, he provides us with a comprehensive catalogue of Black inventions and inventors as well as a glimpse into the socioeconomic and political history of Black people.

It was a sad occasion, and an occasion to rejoice. Sad, said Dr Ludeki Chweya, introducing Flora Terah's new book, because her heart-wrenching story shows that physical abuse and torture are a weapon of choice to deter wo

For over a month now Antonio Angelucci, an independent photographer from Italy, has been visiting the community and working with the children here on Symphony Way. The kids have had to opportunity learn how to take photographs with both film SLR cameras and digital cameras. At the same time, the children have been teaching Antonio a thing or two about their lives and what it is like to live in an informal settlement.

The literature on world cities has had an enormous influence on urban theory and practice, with academics and policy makers attempting to understand, and often strive for, world city status. In this new work, McDonald explores Cape Town’s position in this network of global cities and critically investigates the conceptual value of the world city hypothesis.

The Documentary Filmmakers Association will be presenting weekly documentary screenings at the Labia Cinema. We will be launching these DOCLOVE nights with a selection of films produced by FILMAKERS AGAINST RACISM - an initiative launched on 23rd May 2008 in response to the shocking wave of xenophobic violence hitting South Africa.

Lovers of literature and human rights will gather across the world this Sunday, October 5th, for commemorative readings of the poems of Mahmoud Darwish. In Africa, readings will take place in Kenya, Sudan, Senegal, South Africa, Egypt and Zimbabwe.

One of the most eminent poets in the history of world literature, and a leading voice of the Palestinian people, Darwish died on 9 August, 2008. This worldwide day of commemoration, initiated by the Berlin Literature Festival, will honor his work and his lifetime commitment to promoting peaceful and just coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians. More information, and a full listing of reading and activities around the world, can be found at:

Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe signed a power-sharing agreement with the Movement for Democratic Change’s leaders on Monday, 15 September 2008 in an attempt to resolve the political crisis that has been developing since 2000 and escalated sharply in the last six months. The crisis has been characterised by a series of politically-motivated violations of civil, political, social and economic rights against real and perceived opponents of President Mugabe. Those who instigated or committed these violations have enjoyed almost total impunity.

Zulu artists working at the Ardmore Ceramic Studio in South Africa’s coastal province of KwaZulu Natal have gone from poverty to international acclaim. Some of them have exhibited internationally and the work created by Ardmore artists can be seen in galleries, shops and embassies across the globe. Thousands of pieces are exported either through people who visit the studio and place orders or order through the internet.

Through Our Eyes, Ikamvanites' book of photography and poetry has just been released! The photographs and poems showcase some of IkamvaYouth's best creative talent, and provide unique windows into the lives of South African township youth.

Textbooks may soon be available online if a pilot project yields results. The Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) has entered into an agreement with the Kenya Institute of Education (KIE) meant to provide learning materials to schools in soft copies as well as online. According to the deal, the CCK will fund digitalisation of 11 Form One subjects at an initial cost of Sh15.2 million.

In September 2008, ministers from over 100 countries, heads of bilateral and multilateral development agencies, donor organisations, and civil society organisations from around the world will gather in Accra for the Third High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness (2-4 September 2008). This meeting has been promoted as helping “developing countries and marginalised people in their fight against poverty by making aid more transparent, accountable and results-oriented.” The agenda for ‘Aid Effectiveness’ has, however, come under heavy criticism from many quarters. This timely book cautions developing countries against endorsing the agenda proposed at this meeting. If adopted, it would subject the recipients to a discipline of collective control by the donors right down to the village level.

Since the arrival of Hugo Chavez on the Venezuelan scene—and later, for the left and the right, on the world scene—he's been the source of considerable interest.  Is he a new caudillo in the Latin American style, perhaps a reincarnation of Argentina's Juan Domingo Peron, or is he just an ego-maniac, who seeks to install a dictatorship on Venezuela? 

Steve Ellner's recent book shows that Chavez and the movement he heads is much more important than either of these two questions suggest.  Unlike the large majority of the writing on Venezuela in the Chavez era, which focus on Chavez' "style" or personality, Ellner focuses on substantive issues, especially around class and race.  Ellner's approach rests "on the proposition that political movements best serve a developing nation by combining efforts to achieve four critical goals, as opposed to one or two of them to the exclusion of others."  He then identifies these goals:  "(1) the struggle for social justice; (2) the struggle for democracy; (3) the effort to promote national economic development; and (4) the adoption of economic and political nationalism."

The MDC leadership have had their travel documents returned, after they were confiscated on Thursday afternoon to block them from travelling to South Africa. President Morgan Tsvangirai, Secretary General Tendai Biti and Secretary for Foreign Affairs Professor Elphas Mukonoweshuro were heading to Johannesburg to attend the SADC summit this weekend, when they were prevented from boarding their flight by immigration officials.