A founding member of the Pan Africanist Congress of Azania, a writer and liberation icon, Lauretta was an unstoppable patriot. She wanted to see her people liberated from poverty, ignorance and land dispossession. Her life in exile and her persecution by the apartheid colonialist regime testify to this fact. Rest in power!

Former Canadian prime ministers are appointed to the boards of powerful multinationals to assist them penetrate African markets – mostly corruptly. They use their links with rulers on the continent to cut multi-million-dollar deals often at the expense of the local people. Yet, Canada and the west generally never tire of accusing African leaders of corruption.

The dust of the electoral contest in Tanzania is settling and, as expected, the winning party’s bigwigs are lining up for powerful state appoints even where they do not qualify. But it is time for the new government to immediately begin implementing its agenda for the good of all. On their part, Tanzanians must push the government to serve them as they surely deserve.

Ethiopia is in the grip of a famine once again, bringing to mind the shameful images of hunger splashed around the world by western media in 1984. But Ethiopians are not helpless. They have the power to act: not only to end hunger but also to give the world dignified representations of their own crisis.

A variety of financial and military groups in the world are concerned about the existence of any model that represents an alternative proposal to the capitalist model, especially if it comes from a revolutionary country like Venezuela.

For reasons best known to the Nigerian police, it has refused to accept that a person is innocent until a court of competent jurisdiction has declared them guilty. To the Nigerian police, an accused person is guilty and could be maltreated and/or killed before prosecution.

Canada’s newly-minted Liberal government of Justin Trudeau took office November 4 and already the signs indicate we are about to see a new era in Canadian international politics.

By the end of the 1990s, significant portions of the African debt had been written off or re-scheduled. Today this problem is re-emerging due to several factors including the decline in commodity prices, growing class divisions and reliance on foreign direct investment. This year, Africa’s sovereign debt levels rose to 44 percent of GDP, a 10 percent rise from 2010.

Tanzania has been praised globally for undergoing orderly and peaceful elections since the resumption of multi-party politics in 1992. But the 2015 elections, whether in Zanzibar or the union, can hardly be categorised as free or fair, by any standard. The climate of intimidation, manipulation and intrigue began well before the official campaign period.

It is 20 years this week since the murder of internationally renowned writer and environmentalist Ken Saro-Wiwa and his eight comrades by the Sani Abacha kleptocracy in Nigeria. The struggles Saro-Wiwa died for remain unresolved not just in Nigeria but throughout the continent. His brutal death must continue to inspire a deep commitment to the true liberation of the masses of Africa.

Allassane Ouattara started his second term as president of Ivory Coast on November 3. Having prioritized security and economic recovery in his first term, he now has the opportunity to definitively end the country’s legacy of violent political and inter-ethnic turmoil.

In the small absolute monarchy of Swaziland the struggle to get a decent education is connected to the struggle for political freedom. Student activist Njabulo Mazibuko has written about what implications this understanding has for himself and his fellow students.

When it comes to maintaining U.S. imperial power and the rule of the rich, impunity is absolute. The congressional Benghazi hearings exposed not a single official crime, while suppressing vast violations of U.S. and international law. The domestic Obama doctrine makes inner city teenage “rioting” a federal concern, but the people that supply weapons to al-Qaeda in Syria and Libya are untouchable. Crime isn’t crime when it’s imperial policy.

With the elections concluded in mainland Tanzania last week, President Kikwete has retired after 10 years in power. In that period, the high expectations Tanzanians had of him have largely been betrayed by his regime, which accelerated the country's integration into global capitalism. Kikwete leaves behind a struggling ruling party and his legacy could be tainted by perceived shenanigans that cast a dark shadow on the elections.

Dear Editor,

I refer to the article in issue 747 of Pambazuka News about . I find this position very disappointing coming from someone as learned as Dr. Pheko. I'm sure he has made far better contributions to Pambazuka than this.

The problem seems to be that if the evolution hypothesis is true, it upsets what some people already believe to be true. I wonder why those who have accepted the so-called teachings of God are offended by (or feel sorry for) those who also treat creationism as a hypothesis. Aren't we all looking for some kind of proof rather than a leap of faith? Or are scientists just a misguided bunch trying to undermine the true believers?

C. Coyne

Following threats to de-register 959 Kenyan NGOs, many working for good governance and human rights, CIVICUS, the global civil society alliance, and the National Coalition of Human Rights Defenders–Kenya (NCHRD-K), call on Kenyan authorities to immediately stop the repeated harassment of NGOs and ensure a conducive legal and political operating environment.

Prof. Mesfin has been the foremost Ethiopian public intellectual for at least the past four decades. His a book reveals his personal thoughts of an Ethiopia with a glorious past, an Ethiopia in political, social and economic turmoil today and the rise over the horizon of an Ethiopia whose best days are yet to come.

There is a serious concern that Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration is targeting human rights groups, especially those that called for accountability for Kenya’s 2007-2008 post-election violence and those documenting security forces abuses.

President Kim's unorthodox public relations charm offensive that has successfully overwhelmed the senses of outsiders is matched in degree by the ruthless campaign of fear he wages that has at best silenced his internal critics or at worst forced vulnerable World Bank staff to praise his leadership.

Buhari has the potential to make history: to be remembered as the leader who restored sanity to Nigerian politics; the leader who tamed unbridled corruption; gave the youth a reason to hope and the transformational figure who raised the leadership bar in Africa. But he may also end up as a ridiculous figure: just another politician who was all talk and failed woefully when Nigerians gave him the opportunity.