Where the country will be in another 50 years depends on what Ugandans and their leaders begin to do now. No miracles are going to happen.

The high cost of maintaining parliaments, some of them mere rubber-stamping money guzzlers, is a luxury African economies can ill afford, as the Kenyan and Nigerian cases show.

Many Ugandans do not feel that there is much to celebrate in a country where politics is about self-enrichment through corruption. But there is a growing realisation of the need to mobilise and agitate for genuine change.

Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has threatened to pull out of the inclusive government if his party supporters continue to be victims of political violence. Speaking in Zaka, Masvingo province this weekend, the Premier said he would soon convene an emergency council meeting to decide whether or not to stay in the inclusive government. The district of Zaka witnessed some of the worst cases of political violence during the 2008 elections. A number of MDC-T supporters were petrol bombed and killed during the orgy of violence, largely perpetrated by soldiers and ZANU PF militia.

Prime Minister Hisham Kandil said on Tuesday that Egypt would invite the International Monetary Fund to visit for talks about a loan facility at the end of October and said he hoped to reach an agreement 'by that time'. Egypt, which has launched negotiations for a $4.8 billion IMF loan but has also indicated it may want more, urgently needs support to prop up state coffers weakened by turmoil since the popular uprising last year that ousted President Hosni Mubarak.

Relations between the European Union (EU) and SA have soured since the government indicated last month that it was cancelling bilateral investment treaties with the bloc's member states. The government argues that the treaties restrict its ability to transform SA's economy. But its largest trade and investment partner says cancelling them will raise the cost of investment in SA. The EU fears it is a victim of political bias, and feels shunned by SA's growing relationship with China and other Brics nations.

The United States (US) presidential election will be held on November 6, 2012, and as the campaign enters the home stretch, it's clear that the outcome of the race is likely to have big and lasting implications for the future orientation of the country's foreign policy. The stakes are also substantial for the United States' diplomatic interlocutors, including those on the African continent with some critical actions to undertake on the current Mali crisis and many other issues. Global Voices looks at what bloggers are saying about the elections.

Public Protector Thuli Madonsela has opened an investigation into publicly funded construction at the private residence of President Jacob Zuma, City Press reported. Reports have estimated the cost of the work to be between R203 million and R238 million.

The Forum for Democratic (FDC) party crusader, Dr Kizza Besigye, has said that President Museveni must at all costs be removed from power ‘forcefully’ if the country is to be saved from further decadence. In a press briefing at his home in Kasangati; which is heavily under guard by plain-clothed security operatives, Col. Besigye noted that through continued civil disobedience across the country, the departure of President Museveni is 'inevitable'.

'According to the UN World Food Programme, there is enough food in the world for 12 billion people. If today people are still starving, then this is organized crime, mass murder. Every five seconds, one child under the age of ten dies, one billion people are permanently and heavily undernourished.' This is a quote from Jean Ziegler, who was until recently (2000-2008) the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, in an interview about a new book that he is published. Blog Africa is a Country has translated parts of the interview in their discussion about Ziegler and the book.

Dozens were injured in the Tunisian island of Djerba when protesters clashed with police after authorities reopened a garbage dump. Tunisian authorities claimed they were the victims of a mob armed with firebombs which left 49 policemen injured, but protesters say police instigated the violence. Activists on Twitter say police used live ammunition as well as tear gas to disperse protesters. One demonstrator, Mohammed Ali Borji, was reportedly hit by a bullet, according to activists on the social networking site.

There is a battle royal looming in Swaziland after the country's much-maligned and justifiably-derided parliament took an incredible, historic step - by passing a no confidence motion in the Cabinet. Forty-two MPs voted to kick out the Cabinet - leaving the King with a very tough decision. Does he follow the constitution that compels him to dissolve the Cabinet if more than 3/5ths of MPs support a no confidence motion? Or does he stick with his allies - including the widely despised Prime Minister, Sibusiso Dlamini - and simply ignore the constitution?

Nearly a quarter of Kenyans expect a presidential vote in March to be marred by post-election violence, an opinion poll showed, raising fears of a repeat of unrest in 2007/8 when more than 1,200 people were killed after a disputed ballot. Kenya's 4 March poll will be closely watched and any serious violence is likely to be viewed dimly by the United States which has urged Kenya to hold free and fair elections and to be a role model for Africa.

Global development group Oxfam has called on the World Bank to suspend financing for large-scale land acquisitions to ensure that its practices do not encourage foreign land grabs in developing countries. Oxfam urged Jim Yong Kim, the lender's new president, to announce a six-month moratorium on land investments by the bank at meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Tokyo next week.

A High Court judge has endorsed Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe’s plan to delay by-elections until March next year when he plans to call a general election after arguing that his government was broke. The Supreme Court had in July ruled that the veteran ruler must call by-elections in three parliamentary constituencies that fell vacant in 2009 by September 30. But last week President Mugabe approached the High Court seeking an extension to the last week of March 2013 where he indicated the country would go for harmonised elections.

The Sudanese opposition is urging people to revolt, saying that public resentment is reaching a boiling point. Commentators, however, say there is no immediate sign of a repeat performance of the summer’s protests. Harsh austerity measures, violent clashes with South Sudan and corruption cases have all added to Sudanese citizens’ simmering anger. And it is this resentment which opposition groups hope will eventually reach a boiling point, tipping people out onto the streets once again, reports theniles.org

The Namibian elite, working in cahoots with their foreign capitalist allies, has since independence concentrated on state building. The people need a new consciousness to engage in a struggle for nation building.

Nigeria’s 52nd independence anniversary is drowned by hot air over a possible break-up even as questions are being raised about its feasibility.

Donors have acted hastily in suspending aid to Rwanda over allegations that it is supporting a rebel insurgency in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to a leading expert on 'fragile states'. Professor James Putzel, co-author of Meeting the Challenges of Crisis States, a report from the London School of Economics, questioned the decision of the EU, the US and Germany in partially freezing aid to Rwanda amid accusations that its military is supporting the violent rebel group M23. President Paul Kagame has vehemently rejected the allegations.

This paper provides a status of trade integration in SADC, highlighting achievements, challenges and constraints. Understanding constraints facing this process can provide insights as to whether the region should forge ahead with its approach to economic integration or retreat and evaluate the process with a view to define what could be its immediate priorities.