Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem looks at where Africa is, in regards to meeting the Millennium Development Goals and argues that Africa should try to meet and exceed them.

Can Africa fulfil the MDGs by 2015? That's a question that is often asked anytime there is a discussion about MDGs. It was on many lips during the celebration of the International Women's day last Saturday. Behind the question of course is a lot of cynicism by the questioner(s). There is a generalised doubt that the MDGs may not be met on schedule in a majority of African states. Official reports and anecdotal evidence suggest that at the current pace even by 2050 the goals may still remain unmet by these states.

The situation is not helped by the fact that most of the reports available are usually aggregated. Hence the negative conclusion is that Africa's progress is at best very slow and patchy. Like all generalisations and aggregated statistics they hide the specific, more positive picture of steady progress on a number of the goals in quite a few countries across Africa. It also panders to the fashionable Afro pessimism that caricatures events in Africa promoting embedded attitudes of 'Hopeless Africa'. A 'helpless people and continent' that needs the help and handout of everybody else except its own peoples and leaders.

The truth is mostly to the contrary but 'good stories' are boring, they do not make headlines. Without bad stories from Africa how can the hordes of humanitarian agencies and organisations, local and foreign, who operate as latter day missionaries or mercy mercenaries make their fund raising successful? How can the compassion industry survive without the back drop of Kwashiokored children, diseased mothers and other suffering Africans?

It is rather late in the day to be asking if Africa can meet the MDGs or not. Still more pointless are the criticisms of the goals as being too minimal. All of them are more than 7 years out of date. We are half way through and those questions are unhelpful especially among campaigners who are committed to holding their governments to account for these commitments. The problem with asking the wrong questions is that you get the wrong answers that may divert you from the tasks in hand. A more proactive way of looking at this is to ask what can be done to fill the obvious gaps that still exist that may prevent countries from meeting the goals. The desirability of the goals is no longer debatable. Meeting them will not hurt anyone. If you can half poverty nobody will stop you from eradicating it.

Answering the more proactive type of questions also requires one to look at the progress that has been achieved instead of just looking for the challenges. An appreciation of progress so far will then open one's eyes to the challenges of what remains to be done. Then we will ask what more needs to be done to make sure that there are no excuses for not meeting these goals and even surpassing them in many cases.

Almost in all African countries there has been remarkable progress in education in terms of enrolment in schools. There is universal access to education across many countries that have allowed millions of girls and boys who would not have seen the inside of classrooms to do so. Ghana, Uganda, Rwanda, Nigeria, Burkina Faso and others are good examples of the rapid enrolment in schools. On child mortality Malawi is only second to Costa Rica in the dramatic drop in child deaths (over 30%) in the past three years. The same Malawi that used to rank as the 'poorest country in the world', a country that was recipient of Food Aid a few years ago, has now become a food donor to some of its poorer neighbours including Zimbabwe. On controlling the spread of HIV/AIDS Uganda used to be a lone star but a few other countries have become even more aggressive in fighting the disease.

Huge numbers of African children today have better chances of survival than 10 years ago. More and more are likely to live beyond their 5th birthdays and have hope going to primary school and even better chances of going on to higher education as countries upscale their investments in education and move beyond universal primary education to secondary education.

It is not all smooth sailing. There are issues around quality, retention in schools, drop out rates between boys and girls etc, however quantitative changes are important steps as countries deal with the issues of quality. We cannot say that more children should not go to school until all schools are of the same quality. Both go hand in hand.

The external environment is also changing as international partners are held to more scrutiny and challenged to walk the walk as fast as they talk the talk. Debt relief has not been universal and a majority of African states have not become beneficiaries, but the minority (Uganda, Mozambique, Ghana, Rwanda, Malawi, Zambia, etc) that have got it are generally transforming the gains into meaningful dividends on a number of MDGs. Those not qualified like Nigeria, but who have renegotiated discounts on their National Debt, have not only increased the country's financial credibility but also Nigeria now also has a virtual fund of more than 1 billion Dollars that is devoted to MDGs. In many countries the MDGs are being localised with targets that are more ambitious than those of the Millennium Declaration.

So the question is not whether we can meet the goals or not, but why country X is doing well on a number of goals and country Y is not performing. By concentrating on 'can't meet' we are letting political leaders off the hook of accountability for commitments they made voluntarily to their own citizens. 7 years may not be long but it is certainly long enough for all the countries to change their policy direction and resource allocation that prioritise the needs of the poor and marginalised and accelerate the fulfilment of the MDGs. African citizens have a duty to remind their leaders about these commitments and be vigilant in demanding that they are met and even go beyond them where possible. If the goals are not met it will not just be because of government insensitivity but also citizen complacency or indifference.

* Dr. Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem is the Deputy Director of the UN Millennium Campaign in Africa, based in Nairobi, Kenya. He writes this article in his personal capacity as a concerned Pan-Africanist.

** Please send comments to or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

From its foundation in 2000, the Afrovenezuelan Network had systematically denounced first the threat from Plan Colombia, and second the so called Plan Patriotic as a threat to the stability of the Andean region, this plan is based on military aims with the goal of ending drug trafficking in the Region.

On this 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and at the initiative of the World Forum of Civil Society Networks — UBUNTU, we wish to emphasize that all Human Rights are universal, indivisible and interdependent, in full accordance with the Declaration of the World Conference on Human Rights made in Vienna (United Nations, 1993).

Kola Ibrahim analysis the recent ASUU strike in Nigeria and argues that it is symptomatic of an education system that puts profit before learning; one that works aggressively against the working class.

The recent directive of the Yar’Adua government to heads of universities that no-work-no-pay rule should be applied to all lecturers who participated in the last warning strike is condemnable and provocative. It again knock a big hole in the pretentious posture of the current administration as a pro-masses organization. For a government that claims to be pro-people to use this archaic and backward policy of union breaking against striking lecturers fighting for improved and cheap educational system and justice for their colleagues further shows the anti-worker, neo-liberal character of this government.

The lecturers under ASUU had embarked on a one-week warning strike to compel government to return to the round-table on the issue of retrenched UNILORIN lecturers who were sacked since 2002 – most of whom have been living in penury since. It is instructive to state that the sacked lecturers met their unsolicited sabbatical when they participated in a national strike called by their parent body to compel the insensitive Obasanjo government to honour its agreement with ASUU on proper funding of education by at least 26 percent (as prescribed by UNESCO), improved salaries for lecturers and democratization of decision making in our ivory towers. It is noteworthy to state that practically none of these demands have been met, yet the lecturers that participated in the struggle are still made scape goat for demanding better educational system. It is morally debasing for government to think of punishing lecturers for reminding it (the government) that some of their colleagues are still outside the system despite the fact that their traditional demands were not met or even attempt are being made to meet them.

To further show the neo-liberal pro-imperialism character of this government less than 8.5 percent of the budget was earmarked for education in the 2008 budget yet UNESCO prescribe a minimum of 26 percent. Yet, the same government could provide extra billions of naira for jumbo pay for political officers. In fact, a significant part of the meagre education budget will be provided through loans especially from World Bank with its neo-liberal, obnoxious conditions such as usage of a large chunk of the budget for expatriate-oriented consultancy service and a deep cut in social service budget. Already over N110 million was to be used in the education budget for AIDS campaign – that is to support the condom and contraceptive industries’ campaign while over $200 million will be borrowed from World Bank to fund science and technology projects – mostly consultancy services. This simply means that the current government is least committed to education development and in fact human development; it will only continue the ruinous policy of the Obasanjo government – that is being a conduit pipe for imperialism. In a country where less than 20 percent of the youth population is in school; where less than 3 percent of the tertiary aged-youth is in school and where virtually all facilities in schools have collapsed such that most of our post-graduate students seek visas in US and Europe before they can have meaningful research work; the present posture of the Yar’Adua government to ASUU demands is bemoaning.

Already, many of our institutions are increasing fees as a result of government’s policy of under funding education while several school managements have to employ brute force in order to prevent students’ protest against deteriorating living and studying conditions. The case of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) where three students leaders were detained, thirteen others suspended indefinitely and the union purportedly and illegally proscribed over students’ agitation for better welfare, easily comes to mind. The excuse by the government that the case of the UNILORIN lecturers is in court is ridiculous. In the first instance, it was not the government that went to court, it was the lecturers after several years of waiting for evasive justice. If the government that claim to be abiding by rule of law has any dignity, it should immediate commend the effort of the lecturers for waiting so long and immediately reinstate them. Moreover, going to court is a reflection of the failure of government to resolve basic issues; therefore the Yar’Adua government should bury its face in shame for using court case to deny the lecturers justice. Furthermore, the government has lost virtually in all the stages of the case in question, why will government not accept defeat and recall these lecturers and wait for Supreme Court ruling.

While lecturers demanding properly funded, democratically run, cheap and affordable educational system are locked out of job, corrupt politicians who have looted the nation treasury dry are allowed to walk free in Aso Rock. It is pertinent to state that the same government that ask long suffering lecturers to wait ad infinitum for justice wait for no one to compensate the hatchet man who sent the lecturers to labour market – Prof Abdul Raheem Oba, who has been nominated by the Yar’Adua government for chairmanship of Federal Character Commission. This same man was to be given a ministerial post earlier save for the protest from the vigilant public. The same “rule of law” government deem it fit to confer a national honour on erstwhile vice chancellor of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Prof. Wale Omole who was fingered in the cult attack on students which led to the death of five students including the secretary of the union then, George Iwilade, on 10th July, 1999 among other atrocities including graft and highhandedness. At least that is a moral boost to the current management. The real reason why government has failed to reabsorb the lecturers is that ASUU is seen as a radical union which needed to be killed if the anti-poor, neo-liberal education commercialization, cut in education funding and fee hike policies of the government is to see the light of the day in the educational sector.

The Yar’Adua government want to provoke ASUU to a prolong strike so that the mood of the general public can be swayed against it and a final onslaught can be launched against it. Furthermore, the commendation given to ruthless university administrators through awards and post is meant to embolden current school administrators to be more ruthless in attacking students’ and workers’ rights and for a ceaseless implementation of the neo-liberal policies in the education sector. The overall aim of this arrangement is to scare the working and toiling people away from challenging the present government I its attempt at implementing neo-liberal, IMF/World Bank-inspired policies of privatization, commercialization, liberalization, retrenchment, fuel price hike, etc.

This is why all working class and progressive organizations must condemn the government’s posture towards ASUU strike. The blame of a prolonged strike should be placed at the door step of the Yar’Adua government. However, the current situation calls for a working class solidarity, especially in the educational sector. The demands of ASUU are encompassing therefore, it must carry along all other unions both within the educational and non-educational institutions (especially the central labour unions) such as NUT, NASU, SSANU, COEASU, ASUP, NLC and TUC, the students’ movement, among others on a collective demands for massive funding of education by at least 26 percents, democratization of decision making organs and processes in the education sector (involving all the workers’ unions), adequate wages and working conditions for education workers, free, qualitative and functional education at all levels, among other demands.

Towards this end, there is need for a EDUCATION STAKEHOLDERS’ SUMMIT involving all the workers’ unions in the education sector and students’ movement. Such summit will carry the views of local branches to the national summit. This summit will analyzed all the problems facing education, chart the way out and draw out a collective plan of resisting government’s neo-liberal onslaught on the educational system and workers’ organizations. Otherwise, each union will be gradually stiffen to death as was witnessed during the Thatcher years in Britain.

Conclusively, the working and toiling people must realise that the current Yar’Adua government, despite all its grandstanding cannot resolve any problem facing the masses. It is an offshoot and continuation of the old ruinous anti-poor, pro-rich government of Obasanjo. Save for its saint-like look, it will continue to serve the interest of the rich few in business and power while masses will be given doses of retrenchment, commercialization, fuel and electricity price hikes, suffering and misery. Unless the working poor build a pan-Nigerian, radical working class political platform that will wrestle power from the corrupt political class and enthrone a government that will be committed to massive funding of free, qualitative and functional education system, free and efficient Medicare, massive expansion of public utilities – electricity, road network, housing, drainage system, tourism etc, adequate and secure job for all able bodied citizens with adequate and living wages and pensions, massive investment in cheap, efficient and environmental-friendly transport and communication system. None of the political class can undertake these if their profit-making system is to survive. This is task before serious-minded and genuine labour and working class leaders.

*Kola Ibrahim is a member of the Democratic Socialist Movement, Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria.

**Please send comments to or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

On this 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and at the initiative of the World Forum of Civil Society Networks — UBUNTU, we wish to emphasise that all Human Rights are universal, indivisible and interdependent, in full accordance with the Declaration of the World Conference on Human Rights made in Vienna (United Nations, 1993).

And so that none may claim not to have heard our call, we also wish to raise our voices to proclaim that in view of the scale and gravity of the challenges faced by humanity, it is urgent to recognise and satisfy Rights emerging as imperative needs, and thus needs on which decision-making is now essential and can no longer be postponed. There is no other way to attain the fulfilment of the Right to Human Life — the sine qua non for the exercise of all other Human Rights -, a right that is daily violated through growing violence and poverty.

We encourage you to visit our web page and, if you agree the proposed statement, also to support it through our usual process:

At a time when the International Media is painting Africans as the sole villains in the gorilla killings, Dipesh Pabari looks at the way Africans are using blogging to aid their conservation efforts in the D R Congo

29TH OCTOBER 2007 - 1200HRS: “A Ranger was killed and another was wounded in an attack yesterday near Kabaraza carried out by the Mai Mai rebels. I learned this late yesterday. The Rangers were on patrol and were ambushed by the Mai Mai rebels, who are fairly dominant in this area just north of Rutshuru. During these tense times anything can happen. And this just goes to show it.”
(Posted by Samantha Newport on wildlifedirect.org)

Innocent is one amongst several Congolese rangers who have dedicated their lives to the protection of DR Congo’s Mountain Gorillas. Their relationship to these peaceful creatures is no different from any mother to her children: unquestionable dedication. Until the recent resurgence of fighting in Eastern Congo, Innocent and his colleagues would venture out everyday to track the gorillas and mark their observations.

When renegade Laurent Nkunda refused to disarm his soldiers, violence broke throughout the region forcing the rangers out of the forests and preventing any monitoring of the Gorilla Sector. As Innocent states, “Because we have no control over our Gorilla Sector, we do not know how the gorillas are faring, or if their numbers have changed. There can be births or deaths, that we just don’t know about. With only 700 of this critically endangered species remaining in the world we need to know what is happening.” Since this time, the Rangers do not know the fate of the gorillas as the sector has witnessed intense fighting between army and rebels. The only exception to this was during a 2-week period from 14 September when rebels allowed a handful of rangers to track certain families.

More than 370,000 people have been displaced by the fighting in eastern DR Congo since the start of the year, and this month thousands more were on the move, trying to escape fresh outbreaks of violence. Innocent has been protecting gorillas for over 10 years and has witnessed 100 fellow rangers brutally murdered my militant factions emerging from a 10-year civil war.

9TH OCTOBER 2008-0800HRS: “It is 8am DR Congo time. Gunfire and shelling was heard yesterday in the Gorilla Sector until 20h00. The army, who had managed to regain Bukima, lost this position again. The rebels control the whole Gorilla Sector again. Fighting is expected to continue today. I can hear all of this from Rumangabo.”
(Posted by Innocent on wildlifedirect.org)

It is very likely that the gorillas, like the people are innocent victims of crossfire. Some of the fighters involved in the conflict are not from eastern DR Congo. “They don’t necessarily know what gorillas are and can get scared and just shoot because they don’t know what else to do. The Mapuwa family suffered from this about 5 years ago. The army mistook the family for the enemy and shot and killed two gorillas,” reports Innocent.

In a world where roads, running water and electricity are unknown, WildlifeDirect is bridging a vital communications gap that is fundamental to the sustainability of gorilla protection. The organisation was co-founded by Richard Leakey who was recently nominated by Times as one of top thinkers of the 20th Century. WildlifeDirect was established to provide support to conservationists via the use of blogs – this enables anybody, anywhere to play a direct and interactive role in the survival of some of the world’s most precious species. And does it work? “This year alone, approximately half a million dollars has been raised through the Gorilla Protection blog. People all over the world can connect directly with the conservationists on the ground and literally talk to them in person and know what happens on a day to day basis,” says Dr. Emmanuel de Merode, CEO of WildlifeDirect.

What makes the organisation even more unique is that the money goes directly to the recipients. WildlifeDirect takes no administration fee for the funds that are transferred through us so that the financial support can go to where it was intended in its entirety. Our core costs are provided for separately through grants, primarily from the European Union. This does not change the tragic fact that a survival of a species depends entirely on the goodwill of a people and the ability to communicate that.
The situation for gorillas is ever more complex for the fact that with so many people being killed and displaced in the area, their survival is not seen as a priority. Whenever people think of war, they usually reflect on the tragic loss of human life, they rarely consider the loss and damage done to nature.

7TH OCTOBER 2007 - 1200HRS: “My thoughts today are with the DR Congo where the resurgence of conflict by the renegade Laurent Nkunda has forced the rangers out of the forests preventing any monitoring since the end of August. We do not know how these gorillas are faring, we can hardly express our concern for gorillas when we know that the human population is in dire straits as a result of attacks and unbelievable acts of human atrocities. Hundreds of thousands of people are again on the move, many hundreds have been killed, more still have been injured, children conscripted into the armies and women raped and brutalized. It makes me feel helpless.” Signed by Richard Leakey

Most of the long term damage comes as a result of the very long duration of these wars. The devastation is caused in part by the war its self, in part because the human population is displaced, hungry, afraid and desperate - they cannot care for the land due to the immediacy of their problems.

They estimate that in 23 nations alone, the total cost of Africa’s 20 or more wars in recent decades have robbed the continent of 300 billion dollars a year! But nobody is really measuring the cost to the environment when the human toll is so great.

The war in eastern Congo has virtually prevented any tourism from taking place. These gorillas represent real economic value to the Congo. Tourism could generate 500$ per person per day - these animals could potentially generate 21 million dollars per year for the wildlife Authority from visitation to 15 groups of mountain gorillas alone. Of course the hotels, transport and agricultural sectors would also benefit tremendously as well, not to mention the communities who supply the hotels and trade their crafts along popular routes.

Meanwhile, only a few kilometres across the border, Rwanda is still doing brisk gorilla tourism business. The industry is a fundamental engine for the growth of the national economy and is driven by the mountain gorillas which have been, and remain, the main attraction in Rwanda, brining in over 20,000 visitors to the country each year. So much that in fact gorillas have become a national icon and an annual gorilla naming ceremony called ‘Kwita Izina’ (meaning ‘to give a name’) was established. Its aim is to celebrate and raise awareness of the gorillas.

This year his Excellency President Paul Kagame and First Lady, Janet amongst other high powered dignitaries and celebrities attended the ceremony and for the first time this year non-Rwandans had the opportunity to participate. Among a number of individuals and organisations that took part, were television channel Animal Planet, one of the world’s most accomplished Wild Life Conservationist, Jack Hannah, the family of the late Steve Irwin and gorgeous American actress Natalie Portman. Fareed, on behalf of MNET and Studio 53 got to name one of the newborn baby gorillas.

Few animals have sparked the imagination of man as much as the gorilla, the largest of the living primates. Most gorillas live in inaccessible regions in various dense forests in tropical Africa, and one subspecies, the mountain gorilla (Gorilla beringei beringei), was not even known to science until 1902. Mountain gorillas are confined to four national parks, separated into two forest blocks no more than 45 kilometers apart and comprising approximately 590 sq km of afromontane and medium altitude forest. One population of mountain gorillas inhabits the Bwindi Impenetrable National Park in Uganda. A census in 2002 recorded between 310-315 individuals here. The second population of mountain gorillas is found in the habitat shared by Mgahinga Gorilla National Park (Uganda), Volcano National Park (Rwanda) and Virunga National Park -Southern Sector (DRC). The Virunga population numbers at least 358 individuals and has grown by 11% in the past 12 years. However, the current resurgence is a real threat. Just a few months ago, the slaughter of 7 gorillas was a wake up call to the world.

The challenges to conservation in the Virungas is one of the hardest in the world. In addition to armed militias, poachers, charcoal trade, illegal land invasions, the primary threat to mountain gorillas comes from forest clearance and degradation, as the region's growing human population struggles to eke out a living.

Charcoal trade is major trade in Virunga National Park - $30 million a year – and involves many individuals – communities, military, and some rangers also get corrupted. Those earning money from trade did not like this, including those at iccn that were suspected of being involved. Gorillas were killed as act of sabotage to discredit ICCN and conservation in the park.

The blogs have enabled rangers to report the situation far and beyond. “Blogging about protecting mountain gorillas has been critical for the rangers in Virunga. After years of working in isolation, the guardians of this imperilled species finally have a voice. At last they can talk about the challenges they face in their daily lives and communicate with supporters all over the world. This has also led to an increased global awareness of the threats facing one of our closest living animal relatives, and we hope a great surge to protect them.” Samantha Newport, Director of Communications for WildlifeDirect.

*Dipesh Pabari is a Kenyan writer and freelance education and communications consultant. He sits on the Editorial Board for Awaaz Magazine (a journal for South Asians in diaspora) and contributes a regular cartoon column. In addition to publishing poetry, short stories and articles, he recently edited a published short story book for children entitled, The Unlikely Burden and other stories. This article was originally published in TN Magazine, January 2008)

**Please send comments to or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

Roselyn Musa writes about International Women's Day as a time to reflect on how far women have come, and how far they still have to go

INTRODUCTION

As I reminisce over the celebration of yet another International Women’s Day (IWD), I remember a popular candy I used to relish as child which boasted of immediate enjoyment of hard, fruity coating before you reach the chewy, long- lasting centre. To me this encapsulates the struggle for women’s rights the world over, in that while we walk the tight rope to promoting and protecting the rights of women we endure a lot of hard stuff along with the fruit as we move towards the day when struggling for women’s rights will become history and IWD will be a recounting of how we overcame, how women’ equal dignity and human rights as full beings are not only enshrined in the basic instruments of today’s international community, but are realized and are made central to our vision of a democratic society.

WHAT IS IT ABOUT?

For the uninitiated, I may need to explain its origins. The International Women’s Day (8 March) was instituted by the United Nations General Assembly, composed of delegates from every member state, in recognition that peace and social progress require the active participation and equality of women, and to acknowledge the contribution of women to international peace and security. It is often designated a public holiday in many countries when women (and men) come together annually to celebrate and mark the day; when they can look back to a tradition that represents at least nine decades of struggle for equality, justice, peace and development. Ordinarily, it is the story of ordinary and extraordinary women as makers of history. A day rooted in the centuries-old struggle of women to participate in society on an equal footing with men.

For the women of the world, the day is an occasion to review how far they have come in their struggle for equality, peace and development. It is a day when women are recognized for their achievements irrespective of diversities, whether racial, religious, national, ethnic, linguistic, cultural, economic or political. It is an occasion for looking back on past struggles and accomplishments, and more importantly, for looking ahead to the untapped potential and opportunities that await future generations of women.

IS ANYONE TRAMPLING OUR RIGHTS?

Personally, when I talk about women’s rights I have often been challenged and asked the rhetorical question whether anyone is trampling on our rights. My response, of course is a big ‘yes’. Let us examine some of these rights: I will be modest and give only a few examples. In the enjoyment of their rights, women face constraints and vulnerabilities which differ from those that affect men and which are of significant relevance to the enjoyment of these rights. At the same time, these variables mean that women may be affected by violations of rights in ways that are different from men. For example, women are disproportionately affected by poverty and social marginalization. Women suffer systemic discrimination, which results in deep patterns of inequality and disadvantage. The overall level of development and of resources available to our countries, particularly in Africa continue to dwindle and women bear the brunt, women’s literacy levels and women’s access to information and to legal remedies also have an impact on enjoyment of their rights. The gender based division of labour, with women being primarily responsible for reproductive work and work related to the family, and men for productive work, also contributes to the perpetuation of gender based inequalities.

Yet it is encouraging to note that in spite of the un-enabling environment women have contributed immensely to society’s development in politics, industry, commerce, education, academia, agriculture, the environment and the home, thereby benefiting both women and men.

This emphasizes that such gender based inequalities and disadvantages need to be addressed explicitly in all actions of governments and of other actors entrusted with their implementation, beginning with our very own charter, the Protocol to the African Charter for Human and Peoples Rights on Women’s Rights.

Why dedicate a day exclusively to the celebration of the world's women?
The simple answer is that it is an important day for looking ahead to the untapped potential and opportunities that await future generations of women. For the women of the world, the day's symbolism has a wider meaning: It is an occasion to review how far they have come in their struggle for equality, peace and development It is true, though, that recent decades having seen progress: with increased women's access to education and proper health care, high growth in their participation in the paid labour force; adoption of legislation that promises equal opportunities for women and respect for their human rights in many countries. However, nowhere in the world can women claim to have the same rights and opportunities as men. This leaves us wondering for how long this deplorable situation will continue. Not for long I hope.

Finally, we just need to realise and appreciate the fact that there can be no peace, security and sustainable economic development if societies continue to deny human rights, including the human rights of women and until the men and women work together to secure the rights and full potential of women, lasting solutions to the world's most serious social, economic and political problems are unlikely to be found. But we shall overcome. You’ll see.

*Roselyn Musa is an advocacy Officer at FEMNET.

**Please send comments to or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

John Samuel argues that there is a direct correlation between the health of the political party system and the vitality and long term viability of a democracy.

Political Parties are one of the most crucial factors for the sustenance of a viable democratic system. However, political parties across the world are facing a crisis. They have been reduced to mere electoral mechanism or network to capture the power of the State. They are less and less social institutions or legitimizing agents of political process and increasingly turned in to “interest-networks” promoted by the larger economic forces and identity politics of various shades

There seems to be a direct connection between the health of the political party system and the vitality and long term viability of a democracy. The strength, limitations and the contradictions of the political party system get reflected in the process of governance and the character of the state.

Political parties are socio-political institutions, in the public sphere, that help citizens to interface and negotiate with the state. Political parties are also primary legitimizing agents of the government and governing systems of the state. The social function and legitimizing role of political parties are under unprecedented strain. In most of the countries, political parties have rather less institutional history and social roots. Many of them emerged as a corollary to the state power and an instrument to sustain the state power. In the absence of a multi-party system- with grass-roots presence, a committed cadre of leader and wide network with in the society- democratic process can be subverted and political process can be appropriated by a minority of vested interests.

In case of many of the decolonized countries, the nation states as well as political parties are the consequences of decolonization rather than causes of decolonization.
The very process of decolonizing also involved sowing the seeds of conflicts based on ethnicity, religion and identity in most of the countries. Unlike the case of India, there were not many mass struggles or wider political mobilization for freedom from the Colonial Powers. The struggle against colonialisation and imperialism was in many ways the beginning of the process of democratization and political process in most of countries in the world. The process of decolonizing also ensured the emergence of faulty and fragile democratic systems and process – more often initiated by an educated elite minority in conjunction with the erstwhile colonial powers. In poor countries, the absence of a vibrant middle class and healthy economy make political parties less viable socio-political institutions.

The vibrant multiparty system, with multiple ideological and identity base helped to sustain, stabilize and strengthen a unique brand of Indian Democratic system. . In fact, apart from the Congress party, the left parties and the parties on the right too contributed to make India a viable multiparty democracy

However, in many of the other South Asian countries, the absence of a vibrant multi-party system weakened the governance as well as democracy. During the cold war period, most of the left political forces in other parts of South Asia was subverted or eradicated by the nexus of ruling elite and western political and economic forces. The eradication of left political forces from Pakistan and Bangladesh actually had long term political impact in weakening the foundations of democratic process in both countries. The deep rooted feudal values and identity politics based on cast, religion or ethnicity and sub-nationalities shaped the very character, hierarchy of political party systems South Asia, including India. Hence the secular values, or cosmopolitan political ethos and democratic values are actually skin deep in almost all the political party system in India and the rest of South Asia

Political parties are filled with career politician with a single point agenda of getting a piece of state power and the privileges and paraphernalia that come with the package. Many of the political parties are now controlled by a “power-clique” and “fund-managers” and “telegenic leaders”, blessed by media and sustained by the corporate funds.

Elections are reduced to media stunts with “brand” slogans and empty “policy rhetoric”, devoid of any in-depth political process or social mediations. The increasing dependence on media-centric campaigning and corporate funds undermine the very character and autonomy of political party system. New political-corporate elites are in the business of subverting politics and policy framework of the state to maximize profit for few dominant economic forces in a given economy. As many social activists, writers and intellectuals choose to work within the civil society, political parties are facing an acute deficit of creative and ethical leadership.

*John Samuel is a civil society activist and International Director of Actionaid.

**Please send comments to or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

Two hundred years ago last month (January 2004), the French colony of saint-Domingue on the island of Hispaniola became the independent nation of Haiti. Few transformations in world history have been more momentous, few required more sacri?ce or promised more hope. And few have been more thoroughly forgotten by those who would have us believe that this history has since come to a desirable end with the eclipse of struggles for socialism, national liberation and meaningful independence in the developing world.

This is the problem with Cameroon: All power in the country rests in the hands of one man, the President - Paul Biya.

He is the commander-in-chief-of the armed forces, the Fon of Fons [Chief Monarch amongst all monarchs], the chief magistrate of the land, head treasurer and of course chief legislator.

Truth be told, most of those passing for legitimate legislators and representatives of the people, and they know it, owe their seats to his benevolence. To say the least, Cameroon is a one sophisticated scheme of a neo-colonial entity.

In Cameroon, the president decides when elections are held and who participates in them. He initiates, writes and executes the rules of the contest. And as the sole architect of Cameroon’s nascent democracy, he has the executive privilege of appointing an impartial electoral commission to run the elections. During presidential elections he funds his own campaign and those of his rivals. His appointees declare and certify election results. By the way, in his 25 years in power, he has never lost an election. His party has never lost an election either. Besides, he is his party. His youthful image adorns party uniforms. He is his party's official mascot.

One of the problems facing Cameroon today is that the President has too much power. He knows he has too much power and like most rulers of his inclination uses that power to his utmost advantage with impunity. Biya is accountable to no one and uses that twist of misfortune as a means to serve his ends even if it means drowning an entire nation of over 16 million people in the process.

He is drunk with power but skillful and tactful in his execution of it. And like any effective dictator employs a team of illusionists and reality crafters to perpetuate the lie that has is his reign. The national radio, television and press corps combined form the core of his personal public relations firm. They are a much disciplined regiment and have been loyal to their paymaster.

In Cameroon, the national media is not an instrument of nation building. Its sole purpose is to glorify and celebrate a man whose sole preoccupation has been his own entrenchment in power. The idea of building a viable nation that can compete with other nations in the global economic and political realm is frightening to such a man. It is alien in his worldview and counterproductive to his motives.

So, every decree and decision is meant to tighten his grip on his subjects. The thought of a citizenry confident enough to demand what is theirs by right: freedom, liberty and the pursuit of happiness are not compatible with the Biya agenda. The idea of empowering Cameroonians threatens his reign; it is a thought that renders him sleepless. It is a pebble in his shoes.

This is where the issue of fear comes into play in the rusty machinery that runs Cameron. For Biya and his cohorts, fear is a reliable ally in their scheme to impose themselves on the country. It has become their weapon of choice in their assault on the collective psyche of Cameroonians. They employ it will face no judge or jury. In Cameroon, the men and women in uniform are above the law. In fact, they are the law. They arrest, judge, prosecute and execute.

Earlier this year, another instance of the brutality and excesses of the Cameroon police took place in Limbe, South West Province. A Cameroonian citizen but a resident in Germany was visiting relatives when one day he had an encounter with the local police. It would be his last encounter with anyone. A few minutes after a few words were exchanged he was lying in his own pool of blood, murdered. He had been beaten to death on the side of the road in broad daylight. No one intervened. No one can intervene. No one was held accountable and no one will. That is Biya’s Cameroon.

In Biya’s Cameroon riot police shoot live bullets at peaceful protesters.

In Biya’s Cameroon let it be noted for the record that in 2008, civilians can still be detained and beaten to death for verbal infractions with the police. How is this possible in this haven of peace and stability? It is possible because the man who has preponderance of power over all levels of power, Biya, has created the kind of police officer and soldier that serves his and only his interest, not the interest of the citizens they are supposed to serve and protect. The role of the soldier in Cameroon is to serve and protect the President’s interest. The military perpetuate his misrule and are paid generously. They are the first and last lines of defense against freedom in the battlefield of opinions and ideas in Cameroon.

It is their role, the military, to stuff the leechlike gods lording over Cameroon with the carcasses of protesting youth in this season of feasting. Their belches can be heard resonating from the damned walls of Etoudi across a landscape blighted with abuse of power, brutality, corruption, intolerance, lies, misrule and tyranny. They carry the laughter of the remorseless tyrant and his cohorts.

Their laughter is demented and nightmarish, one that rewards evil and celebrates vice. It is making exiles of a people. It is making beggars of a people. It is making thugs of a people. The stench of their vices is putrid. It is nauseating to the human soul. In their shortsightedness, the rulers of Cameroon pollute an entire people’s collective future as a compliment to an already tainted and bloodied past.

Geo-politically, Cameroon is within the French sphere of influence and enjoys some of the privileges that come with being a member of that unenviable fraternity. Biya has friends in high places. He owes his survival to those friends in high places. Like his brother, Idriss Derby in Chad and Omar Bongo in Gabon, he knows if push comes to shove, his friends at the United Nations Security Council will come to his aid—a booster in his toxic tonic.

Therefore it comes as no surprise that recently in Douala, forces of law and order in keeping with their oath reacted with brute force at peaceful protesters demonstrating against unjustified fuel price hikes, the banning of a popular radio stations and against an unpopular government bent on imposing itself on yet another generation of Cameroonians.

Between Saturday, February 23rd and Monday the 25th, five people have been killed in Douala and scores have been wounded. According to news reports, there was widespread looting and chaos in certain parts of the port city.

This time around no one is being fooled. Cameroonians are very familiar and intimate with the Biya agenda. They are fed up with it. Kenya is branded in their consciousness. They know that no constitutional reform in Cameroon could be intended to strengthen non-existent democratic values or institutions. They are not blind. They also know that reforms initiated by an unscrupulous regime could not be in their interest. They know it is only meant to keep Paul Biya and his cohorts in power. They are not numb and will react appropriately.

It is time for the Paul Biya era to be vanquished from our collective memory!

*Kangsen Feka Wakai is a Houston based writer and journalist. He is the author of Fragmented Melodies, a collection of poems available on

**Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

Blade Nzimande gives a comradely appraisal of Fidel Castro the revolutionary theorist, practitioner and internationalist.

“This continent has suffered too much.… We need the assistance and commitment of … young leaders to continue to speak up on behalf of the poor and the marginalized, and seek a better life for all” – Archbishop Desmond Tutu, April 2007

From Angola to Zimbabwe, questions abound about Africa’s present state. All capitals listed between Abidjan to Zanzibar, are not new to the rising voices of Africa’s sons and daughters who wish to know the fate of their land. Some express this concern through silent hope, others through evident fear, and many others look in no other direction than that of their leaders – those we have come to know as the captains of the ship of the state. Others even argue that Africa’s answers remain with future leaders, and not today’s.

But there has been a crisis of leadership in Africa. The hopes and dreams of the citizens of this continent have been dashed by our post colonial leaders – from the heroes of the liberation struggles through to the leaders of opposition parties that subsequently emerged.

The citizens of Africa deserve a brighter future, and that begins with visionary leaders who can answer the challenges that Africa faces as part of a global community in the 21st century. Recent events across the continent are cause for serious concern: from the crisis of corruption in Nigeria, the political tensions in South Africa leading to the 2009 election, or the political crisis in Kenya which is turning a once prosperous country into one that is marred by bloodshed and ethnic tensions. The ongoing conflict in Sudan, the current crisis in Chad, or the socio-political and economic meltdown obtaining in Zimbabwe have all caused great instability in the lives of millions of Africans across the continent.

We do not seek to play the usual game of just listing the problems but join our voices to that of over 920 million Africans to demand fair play in political processes. Though all of our democracies are young we expect our leaders to be men and women of excellence who respect the electoral process and as such the wishes of the people. As young people in Africa who are leaders in politics, business, health and information technology, we stand together and re-commit ourselves to the ideals of true leadership, and we make the following recommendations:

(a) The establishment of a high-level African Union led campaign to fight tribalism and inequality in all its forms across the continent. Each country should establish a Commission Against Tribalism and Inequality (CATI) to fight the scourges, and to protect vulnerable minority groups. CATI should bring politicians using ethnic manipulations to perpetrate violence to justice and stop them from participating in future political contests;

(b) Political leaders must be servant leaders and use their power and influence as a tool for socio-economic change rather than oppression and fuelling personal greed;

(c) The establishment and strengthening of relevant institutions (judiciary, electoral commissions, etc) that ensure independence of the Electoral Regulatory Authorities in each country; and the establishment of an AU Electoral monitoring body which monitors election and has a clear, well defined set of guidelines which it uses to determine if the process is free or fair;

(d) The rediscovery of our true identity as Africans, to embrace and inculcate the moral base of honesty, love, peace and integrity. We believe that people of integrity would not allow a beautiful, socially and economically stable country like Kenya to collapse into political disarray;

(e) The strengthening of our national economies, and systems to ensure the provision of adequate health care, education and other social services that will equip all Africans to partake in a better future.

As young leaders in our own various spheres of influence, we as the 2007 Archbishop Desmond Tutu Leadership Fellows find silence at this critical moment inconvenient. We believe that silence and inaction in the face of yesterday’s challenges are responsible for the anomalies we see across the continent today. We lend our voices to the call for African leaders – today, and in the future – to consider the common good over personal fears or greed. We are proud of those who have shown us that leadership is about service and call on all other leaders to remain true to the spirit of purposeful leadership.

*Each year, 20 high potential individuals from across sub-Saharan Africa are awarded the prestigious Archbishop Tutu Leadership Fellowship, following a rigorous competitive selection process. The Awards are aimed at the cream of the continent’s future leaders, specifically targeting the next generation of Africa’s leaders in all sectors of society, between the ages of 25 and 39. The fellowship program is coordinated by African Leadership Institute, and it includes a training program coordinated by the SAID Business School at Oxford University. For more information about the Fellowship, please visit

**To join a discussion based on the letter, please visit - http://www.pambazuka.org/aumonitor/forums/viewthread/14/

***Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

Neo Simutanyi and Owen Sichone argue that Zambia's Ambassador to Libya, Mbita Chitala was fired for calling on African leaders to consider the immediate establishment of an AU government as opposed to the gradualist approach favored by the Zambian government.

On 31st January 2008 President Levy Mwanawasa dismissed Zambia's ambassador to Libya Mbita Chitala for having written an article entitled "The Federal Union of African States Must be Established Now" published by The Tripoli Post. The article written in a private and personal capacity is alleged to have caused 'untold embarrassment' to President Mwanawasa as it contradicted Zambia's position on the African Union (AU) government. It was further alleged that Chitala's article effectively undermined the candidature of Ambassador Inonge Lewanika who was vying for the post of Chairperson of the AU Commission.

On 7th February, 2008 Foreign Affairs minister Kabinga Pande said that the Zambian government was not opposed to the establishment of a United African States of Africa, but advocated a 'gradual and incremental approach' as opposed to the immediate establishment of an AU government. Further, Pande described Chitala's article as having been 'ill-informed, blatantly mischievous and very undiplomatic'.

It is important to look at Mbita Chitala's ideas on their own merit. People should not be cowed into silence by the fear of being dismissed from their positions by politicians. While it is understandable that President Mwanawasa has the right to hire and fire those he appoints, every human being has the right to think and express their views freely and there is no doubt as to which is the more important human right. It is surprising that Chitala is being forsaken even by some of his close friends who have distanced themselves from him. Some over-zealous ones, such as MMD spokesperson Benny Tetamashimba, have even called for his expulsion from the party. Is that how to treat our free and independent thinkers?

Chitala was fired for calling on African leaders to consider the immediate establishment of an AU government. But there was nothing dramatically new in his argument, it was first made by Kwame Nkrumah and other Pan Africanists long before Africans attained their independence. However, Chitala's article had an angry sense of urgency which many Africans frustrated by the inertia and lack of progress on the continent must be feeling. Indeed when one looks at the crises in Chad, Sudan, Kenya, Somalia and Zimbabwe and reads the critical audit of the AU by Professor Adebayo Adedeji's independent audit review panel one cannot help but feel that African leaders do not take the lives of their fellow citizens seriously enough.

It appears that President Mwanawasa did not accept that Chitala was writing in his own personal capacity and did not hesitate to sack him just as he did with former foreign minister Vernon Mwaanga and former Vice President Nevers Mumba for embarrassing him over foreign policy matters. Since the days of President Kenneth Kaunda, Zambian presidents have jealously monopolized foreign policy matters for fear of provoking hostility from neighbours, foreign powers and to protect their image abroad. It is not surprising therefore that no minister of foreign affairs has ever been allowed to become an authority in international relations, let alone an influential voice. It should be recalled that just before his dismissal Zambia was celebrating Chitala's successful mobilization of over $400 million of direct Libyan investment, in agriculture, tourism and manufacturing. We wonder what is more important to President Mwanawasa, obtaining direct foreign investment from Libya to serve the interest of Zambians or pleasing other heads of state. We are not sure whether Chitala's dismissal enhanced Inonge's chances of election or undermined them. Given the low number of votes Zambia received, it would appear that the country lacks sufficient clout to lobby support across the continent. What is clear is that President Mwanawasa demonstrated that he lacks the spine to defend individual rights of his citizens when they express personal opinions on intellectual issues and can easily be swayed by external forces.

Whatever Chitala's errors in diplomacy, we must not throw away the Pan-African baby with the ceremonial bathwater and we must not let the desire for African unity be championed only by Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi, who now appears to be reverting to Arab nationalism in his frustration with Africa. The issue of an African Union Government was agreed in principle at the July 2007 AU Accra Conference. What now divides African states is the speed of the implementation of this idea. At least seven countries, including Libya, Senegal, Liberia, Ghana, Ethiopia and Chad advocate for the immediate establishment of the AU Government. While the rest of African states led by South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya are for a gradual or snails pace approach. But what is wrong with the immediate establishment of African Union government by those who are ready and willing?

Why should African leaders be content with producing oil for America, copper for China and flowers for Europe? Why is it so difficult to imagine that Zambia might import oil from Angola instead of Kuwait or that Zambian copper can be used to make cables, pipes and sheets for the rest of Africa? African people are tired of being asked to produce visas each time they visit relatives across the colonial border. Does anyone seriously believe countries such as Nigeria can compete against India and China on their own?

Attempting to achieve economic integration before political unity is unsustainable and unworkable because the battle against neocolonialism is above all a political one. Whenever African states form a common market, European powers will always sponsor a competing development community causing duplication of effort and bureaucratic rivalries which do no serve the interests the African people. As it is, the continent is grouped into a myriad of regional economic communities with overlapping memberships and, in some cases, conflicting agendas. It is clear that the limited progress on economic integration in all but a handful of countries reveals the gulf between rhetoric and reality espoused by African leaders. We do not wholly agree with Chitala's proposition when he states in his article that the reasons for some countries, such as South Africa's opposition to political integration was based on the false assumption that they would 'on they their own develop to be sub- imperialist powers.' South Africa, for example, has not succumbed to European pressure on the war against Iraq and regime change in Zimbabwe. But it is true that instead of Africa having one permanent seat in the UN Security Council, we now have Nigeria, Egypt, South Africa and others wanting to be the special ones.

The call for the immediate establishment of the AU Government needs to be supported by all those who want to see African advancement. The argument for a 'gradual and incremental approach' only masks the real reasons for the opposition to the AU Government, which is the desire for personal glory and fame using the excuse of national sovereignty. It cannot be denied that an Africa divided will always play second fiddle, to Europe, America, India and China. Political unity is the only guarantee to Africa's economic success and this will require a political decision.

African leaders' self-interest and narrow nationalism and tribalism has largely been responsible for poverty, hunger and violence in many parts of the continent. We do not agree with Foreign Affairs minister Kabinga Pande's argument that African states, including Zambia, should first 'consult and popularize the concept'. This is an excuse meant to buy time as African leaders are not known to consult their people on any important matter, let alone foreign affairs.

The dismissal and public humiliation of Mbita Chitala despite his efforts to woo direct foreign investment to Zambia demonstrates a lack of appreciation of free and independent thinkers. Having expressed a personal opinion, Chitala did not deserve to be sacked in that manner for simply expressing an intellectual opinion on a matter of continental interest. His views did not affect the country to which he was accredited neither did they undermine Zambia's national interest.

In a democracy one should be free to argue one's case in a logical manner by using intellectual means of persuasion. To dismiss a public official for expressing a personal opinion condemns our public servants to silence and sycophancy and is an affront on the right to think and freedom of conscience. African leaders will need to develop a better appreciation of free and critical thinkers for the good of democracy.

*Neo Simutanyi is based at the Institute of Economic and Social Research, University of Zambia.
**Owen Sichone is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Social Anthropology at the University of Cape Town.
***Please send comments to or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

Someone very important is visiting Africa, specifically 5 countries including Tanzania, Rwanda, Benin, Ghana and Liberia. He is the President of the United States of America. The hassles of hosting a U.S. president are bad enough. His people take over your whole country and make our normally inefficient states go into over drive and our egregious First Ladies and their husbands go into overkill to show their hospitality. We never knew many of them could bend their knees until they were leading cleaning troops across the capitals in preparation for Clinton’s visit in 1998 from Kampala to Accra!

I could not forget seeing resident Museveni being a perfect gentleman with a spread umbrella for Mrs Clinton! In Accra, Jerry Rawlings and Mrs Rawlings went out of their ways for a few hours of stop over. But with Bush it is not just the ridiculous security and obsequious protocol laid on by our Presidents that concerns me. African hospitality knows no bounds. Remember some of our chiefs and Kings were so friendly that they parted with ancestral lands and carted away able bodied young men and women for as little as mirrors, umbrellas and walking sticks! Whatever our rational concerns though, the officials in the five ‘chosen’ countries will be beside themselves to give him a reception he will never forget. To them, it is a major diplomatic and political coup for the President of the U.S. to be visiting their countries. It shows their “ungrateful” citizens how very important these leaders are.

I can easily explain why four of the countries were on the itinerary. Tanzania remains one of the most peaceful countries in Africa and saves for the mess in Zanzibar and reactionary victimisation of dissenting citizens under the previous regime, it remains a decent state with a government that everyone wants to befriend. With Uganda now becoming less fashionable and Kenya inflicting enormous self injury on itself Dar es Salaam is indeed living up to its name as a rendezvous of peace! Rwanda is probably the best governed and effective state in Africa today (I don’t mean most democratic!).

Kagame has won the grudging respect of reluctant neighbours and admiration of outsiders as a place where you see real value for Aid money and other ‘investments’. It also enjoys the political and diplomatic dividends of guilt-tripping westerners for their actions and inactions prior to, during and after genocide in 1994. Ghana, mother Africa, I wonder how Nkrumah like Nyerere in Tanzania is turning in his grave that the country he built on radical nationalism has become a desirable Executive tourist destination for western Presidents. Ghana has had a prolonged 50th anniversary magic effect only punctuated by the unfortunate defeat by Cameroon in the Africa cup. You cannot go wrong with Ghana as a steady gentleman country. As for Liberia, its historic links to the U.S. is flaunted by its elite without any sense of irony. Post Taylor it has regained fashionability in the U.S. establishment. Bush is therefore bound to receive the warmest of receptions in Monrovia, a city created for freed slaves from the U.S. but whose elite had no qualms in recreating plantation power relations against fellow Africans and continue to behave as the missing state of the U.S. on the West coast of Africa!. But Benin, I do not know why Bush is going there. Maybe to balance up the Anglo-French divisions and remind a waning Paris that there are no no go areas anymore. But maybe he wants to go close enough to Africa’s sleeping giant, Nigeria but without entering it given the uncertainties surrounding the federal administration consequent to rigged elections.

Unlike in Kenya where the protagonists are trying to dialogue even if there does not seem to be much good will in Nigeria they are all in court. And so far the courts have been overturning some of the ‘topped up’ victories for the ruling party. What is the point in going to dine with a president who may not be there by the time you arrive or the week after you leave? The visit is obviously packaged to showcase ‘America working with Africa’ hence the concentration on HIV/Aids programmes supported by the U.S. government through bilateral grants and NGOs. There is no doubt that the Bush administration has given more money, several times, more than that of the Clinton administration, so loved by both African – Americans and Africans. However this generosity is dampened by the insistence on giving money to their own religiously inclined and anti-condom groups. But HIV and Aids is not the only threat that Africa faces in which a globally responsive U.S. President could be of help but to which Bush has turned deaf ears for the past 7 years. He is ideologically opposed to the Millennium Development Goals. He has remained more belligerent than his predecessors on global Climate Change.

In spite of all evidence to the contrary he still believes he can bomb countries into democracy which has strengthened the hands of many dictators and legitimized further militarization and regime change politics especially in the Great Lakes region. He may want to be remembered by the few good ones but the consequences of his bad policies are just too many and will outlast him and some of them irreparable due to the collateral evil they have spurned. In spite of my reservations what kind of African would I be to say a visitor is not welcome? And a visitor as important as George Bush. He is welcome to enjoy his stay and our hospitality. We are also hoping that the next President of the U.S. will not behave like a settler landlord of the world and treat the rest of us as illegal tenants in our shared earth. It is a shared world and the US must learn to inhabit it with the rest of us in peace, solidarity, and respect for all big or small. It needs us as much as we need it. Therefore the next President need not be asking why the rest of the World hates America rather he or she needs to be more introvertic by asking if America loves the world enough to live in it peacefully and in justice with the rest of us.

*FPIF Analyst Tajudeen Abdulraheem was formerly the General Secretary of the Pan-African Movement. He is based in Nairobi, Kenya.

**Please send comments to or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

Abahlali baseMjondolo Take the Provincial Government to Court Over the Notorious Slums Act
 
On Tuesday we lodged papers in the High Court requesting the Court to declare the notorious KwaZulu-Natal Slums Act unconstitutional. Today we can announce that the sheriff has just served those papers on the provincial government. They and our appeal to the court are now in the public domain.
 
The Slums Act is an attack on the poor that has been celebrated by estate agents and lamented by the poor. It is a clear return to the thinking and laws of colonialism (e.g. the 1934 Slums Act) and apartheid (e.g. the 1951 Prevention of Illegal Squatting Act). Today we are calling for a Housing Summit at which all democratic shack dwellers' organisations can negotiate a new partnership and a new Act with government. After years of protests around the country it is clear that we can not go on with failed policies.
 
We need an Act like the City Statute in Brazil or the Kaantabay sa Kauswagan Ordinance in Naga City in Thailand. We need an Act that will guarantee the Right to the City for the poor. We need an Act that will ensure that land in our cities is distributed according to human need and not the greed of the rich. We need an Act that will ensure that no shack dweller must face another year at constant risk of death from life without fire protection, toilets, refuse removal and floods as it is the case in Ash Road settlement in Pietermaritzburg. We need an Act that will ban government expenditure on theme parks and stadiums and newspaper adverts in which politicians promote themselves using the excuse of wishing us happy this and happy that while our children are being killed by rats and diarrhoea and fire. It is an insult to our humanity when money is wasted while people are dying from poverty. We need an Act that will ensure that our cities are safe for women – that the police will serve the people, that there will be lighting, safe toilets and proper public transport. We need an Act that will ensure that there is proper support for community run crèches in each settlement. We need an Act that will make it clear that putting three generations of a family in one room 30 kilometers out of the city is oppression and not a housing programme. We need an Act that will immediately provide subsidised transport, sports fields, clinics and libraries for all the innocent people who have already been forcibly removed out of the cities and sentenced to life in terrible places like Park Gate in Durban and France in Pietermartizburg. We need an Act that will end the top down system of government and NGO planning that has terrorized our people – an Act that will ensure that in each settlement development is planned by the people of that settlement through their organisations in partnership with the government. We need an Act that puts real power in the hands of the people.
 
On 28 September 2007 we marched against the Slums Act in our thousands. We were beaten and 14 of us were arrested.
 
On 21 June 2007 we sent a delegation to the provincial parliament to oppose the Slums Act there. We were denied the right to speak.
 
On 4 May 2007 hundreds of us crowded into the Kennedy Road Hall to tell the government that we are absolutely opposed to the Slums Act. We were ignored.
 
We are going to court because we know that in court we will not be beaten, arrested, denied the right to speak or ignored. 
 
When the Bill was first circulated we read it in small groups line by line. We developed a critique. It is on our website at We discussed the Bill and our critique in meetings across all our affiliated settlements and branches in Durban, Pinetown and Pietermartizburg. Eventually it was decided to issue a call for all people and organisations opposed to this return to apartheid to join us to plan a campaign against the Bill. By the time the Bill became an Act we had created a task team with one job to do – to eliminate the Slums Act. The Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS) in Johannesburg was one of the organisations that responded to our call for solidarity against this Act. They took instruction from our movement at various meetings in the shacks and have developed the papers served today in constant discussion with us. They report to our Elimination of the Slums Act Task Team. The Task Team reports to the movement secretariat and the secretariat reports to all the thousands of Abahlali members across Durban, Pinetown and Pietermartizburg. When our lawyers step into court they will not only be carrying the hopes of thousands of people but they will also be guided by the thinking done in our communities. They have acted with us, not for us. We salute CALS for solidarity in action.
 
Despite all the arrests that we have suffered since 2005 not one of our members has ever been found guilty in a court. But we have never lost when we have taken the government to court. We have won many crucial court victories since 2005. We overturned Sutcliffe's illegal ban on our marches in 2006 and working with the Legal Resources Centre (LRC) and other pro bono lawyers we have won interdicts against illegal evictions every year since 2006. We also salute the LRC and the pro bono lawyers for solidarity in action.
 
This is a day of hope for our movement and on this day we note that we are not alone.
 
We reaffirm our full support for all shack dwellers struggling against the destruction of their communities in the name of 'slum clearance' across South Africa and especially the Western Cape Anti-Eviction Campaign and their brave struggle against forced removal. They have been warned that their own Western Cape Slums Act is on the way. We also reaffirm our full support for their struggle for the right to think and lead their own struggle. We reaffirm our full support for all street traders struggling against harassment and eviction across the country. We reaffirm our full support for all families struggling against the eviction of poor children from schools. We reaffirm our full support for all rural people batting evictions from farms and the resilience of the Rural Network to be in solidarity with those families. In this instance, we will stand firm with our comrades from eNkwalini (between Eshowe and Melmoth) when we march together on Friday. We reaffirm our full support for our comrades in the Combined Harare Residents' Association and all the other organisations and people in Zimbabwe still reeling from Operation Murambatsvina. We reaffirm our full support for our comrades battling evictions and other forms of oppression in Turkey and in Haiti. We will be in support of Lavalas, the movement of the Haitian poor that became a flood that had to be dammed and damned by the rich, on the global day of action for Haiti on 29 February 2008.
 
Every person is a person. Every person is important and deserves safety and dignity. One billion of the six billion people in the world live in shacks. Another billion live in housing that is not much better than shacks. Let us no longer accept the unacceptable. Let us build a university of the poor in every city. Let us stop all evictions. Let us move forward to land and housing in the cities.
 
Our settlements are communities to be supported not 'slums' to be eliminated.
 
To hell with the Slums Act.
 
For further information and comment please contact:
 
Sibusiso Zikode, Abahlali baseMjondolo President: 0835470474
Lousia Motha, Abahlali baseMjondolo Co-ordinator: 0781760088

*The full court papers will be loaded onto to our website http://www.abahlali.org shortly.

**Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

Pius Adesanmi comments on the Amakwerekwere syndrome - South Africa's xenophobia.

The letters came within two days of each other. The first was an invitation from Professor Georges Hérault, Director of the French Institute of South Africa (IFAS). Three years after my last visit to South Africa to assess the perception of Francophone African literatures in that country’s Universities, IFAS was again inviting me as visiting scholar. The second was from Chris Dunton, the well-known British Professor of African literatures who is now Chair of the English Department of the National University of Lesotho at Roma. Like Hérault, Dunton was inviting me to Lesotho as visiting scholar to present a Faculty of Arts Guest Lecture. I arranged a few other engagements and braced up for a very engaging psychic reconnection with the African continent.

I needed the return to Africa badly. I had been away from that continent for an uncomfortable stretch, carrying out my scholarly labor in the minefield of North American academe, writing Africa “from a rift”, as Achille Mbembe would put it. I also needed the trip for other reasons. I needed a reprieve from the oppression of the image: the North American media image of Africa. The African living here is in constant danger of accepting whatever image of Africa s/he is presented by the media as gospel truth. In North America, I have been consistently assailed, assaulted, and oppressed with images of Africa traceable to the colonial library: Africa-as-AIDS, Africa-as-hunger, Africa-as-civil war, Africa-as-corruption, Africa-as-the-antithesis-of-democracy, Africa-as-everything-we-are-glad-not-to-be. You get tired of the ritual of explaining to charmingly ignorant interlocutors that there is a fundamental distinction between the Africa they see on CNN and the real Africa.

I also wanted a break from Occidentalism. Fernando Coronil, the scholar who coined this term takes great pains to explain that it is not the reverse of Edward Said’s Orientalism. Coronil uses the newer concept to account for those discursive, usually innocuous processes through which the West turns difference into hierarchy and reproduces existing asymmetrical power relations. Occidentalism covers all the mundane quotidian events through which the West constantly reminds the immigrant of his otherness, strangeness, and difference:

“Oh, I love your accent. It’s awesome. Where is that from?”

“Nigeria.”

“Nigeria? You mean Nicaragua?”

This often-repeated, seemingly innocent “compliment” is usually the beginning of encounters that inevitably remind the immigrant that he does not belong… Departure date finally came around. “Be careful. Urban violence is rife in South Africa”, the Nigerian friends who drove me to the airport warned. I shrugged and dismissed their anxiety. There may be violence in South Africa; I certainly was not going to be scared of returning to Africa. I wasn’t going to be afraid of Black people in Africa. I arrived Johannesburg on a cold July morning. A delighted Georges Hérault was on hand at the airport to welcome me. We drove straight to the offices of IFAS located in the downtown area of Johannesburg. After signing my research contract papers and meeting some of the new members of the IFAS Research team, I announced to Hérault that I was going to take a stroll in the busy streets around IFAS. I was eager to get a feel of the same streets I had seen two years earlier. Hérault’s countenance changed. “Be careful. Don’t go out there with your wallet. You could get mugged.” I assured Hérault I would be all right but took the precaution of leaving my valuables in his office.

I started my walk, my reconnection with African soil, on the busy Bree street. For someone who had walked the same street three years earlier, I could not help but observe the heavy Black presence. Like the Hillbrow area, Blacks have taken over downtown Johannesburg. The official principle of separate development through which racial segregation was enforced under Apartheid seems to have been replaced by what one may call an unofficial principle of voluntary separation. While separate development instituted an order in which Blacks had to move out whenever Whites moved in, as was the case in Sophiatown, voluntary separation now induces Whites to move out quietly whenever and wherever Blacks move in. Downtown Johannesburg is a vivid example of a space in which this new South African drama is being played out. This space, which was still predominantly white during my earlier visit, has been taken over by Blacks. In large office complexes and shopping malls, one does not fail to notice the ubiquitous “To Let” signs, evidence of white retreat to other “safe” areas of the city like Rosebank or back “home” to Britain, Holland, Canada, New Zealand and Australia.

I stopped for a light lunch at a KFC outlet, my mind busy taking in the new realities. I finished my lunch and went back into the street. I was about to cross a busy intersection when a street sign told me I was on Fox street. Fox street! I had heard a lot of terrifying things about that street since my last trip to South Africa. It is said to be one of the most violent streets in Johannesburg. One could get mugged or killed for as little as a hundred South African rands. I looked around me anxiously. I was surrounded by a sea of inscrutable Black faces. I touched my forehead and found out, much to my irritation, that I was perspiring profusely. It was winter in South Africa! And to my utter embarrassment, I discovered that I relaxed and felt safer each time white faces appeared in the crowd. Here was I, a Black man, looking anxiously for white faces to feel safe from Black violence in an African city! And to think that back in Canada, I had dismissed insinuations that I could be scared of “Black violence” in South Africa! I reluctantly came to the realization that I was far more affected by the oppression of the image than I had been willing to admit. The image of the post-apartheid Black condition in South Africa is constantly constructed in the Western media around the problem of violence. Such stereotypical and prejudicial narrativizations of Black South Africa always have two constantly-repeated, over-sensationalized buzzwords: mugging, robbery. That image had quietly slipped into my subconscious and was responsible for my feeling so uneasy amidst my own kind in a busy street in Johannesburg. I hurried back to IFAS.

On hearing that I had arrived in Johannesburg, Professor Harry Garuba came from his base in the University of Cape Town to spend a weekend with me. As Harry and I hadn’t seen each other since 1996, we had a riotously joyful reunion. The following day, we hit town. Harry wanted to see downtown Johannesburg. He also needed to go to the Consulate-General of Nigeria in Rosebank. As we meandered our way through the ever busy Bree street, Harry could not help observing how filthy downtown Johannesburg had become. I had made the same disturbing observation myself the day I arrived but had been reluctant to accept the disturbing fact that decay of public infrastructure seems to be the story in areas of the city inhabited by Blacks. Predominantly Black areas have become an eyesore. The beautiful lawns and flowerbeds I noticed in some areas three years earlier now tell sad stories of degradation. Some of them have become open-air urinals. Harry and I were worried. We tried to place ourselves in the shoes of White South Africans discussing the now filthy streets of Hillbrow and downtown Johannesburg: “Ah, the good old days of Apartheid!”

When Harry concluded his business at the Nigerian consulate, we took a bus and headed back to Georges Hérault’s residence. I still don’t know what it was about us that gave us away as foreigners but the other passengers, all Blacks, lapsed into an uneasy silence as soon as we entered. I looked at the faces around us and thought I saw hostility. The tension was so thick in the air you could cut it with a knife. Harry confirmed my worst fears when we left the bus. I had just experienced, firsthand, South African xenophobia and I was to experience it again and again throughout my three-month sojourn in that country. Harry explained to me – with the coolness of someone used to it - that the Black South African passengers on the bus had identified us as makwerekwere, hence the naked hostility. Makwerekwere is the derogatory term used by Black South Africans to describe non-South African blacks. It reminds one of how the ancient Greeks referred to foreigners whose language they did not understand as the Barbaroi. To the Black South African, makwerekwere refers to Black immigrants from the rest of Africa, especially Nigerians. I was confounded by the fact that Black South Africa had begun to manufacture its own kaffirs so soon after apartheid.

As I later discovered after a series of encounters, Black South Africans have found an easy explanation for the myriad problems of poverty, housing, transportation, unemployment, crime, violence, decay of public and social infrastructure. “Ah, the makwerekwere! These Nigerians are all criminals! When they are not busy trafficking drugs, they are taking over our jobs, our houses and, worse, our women. All foreigners must leave this country!” What Salman Rushdie refers to as a “demonizing process” of the Other is at work here and the consequences are predictably disastrous. There is so much anger and frustration among the Nigerians I met in South Africa. Most of them have become paranoid, living permanently in fear. In a discussion with some Nigerian medical doctors in Pretoria, I observed that their anger is directed more at Black South African leaders. “Imagine these South Africans treating us like this. They think Apartheid came to an end because they fought in Sharpeville and Soweto. It means Mandela never told them the truth. Mbeki never told them the truth.”

The doctors were referring to Nigeria’s heavy moral, political, and financial investment in the anti-Apartheid struggle. Nigeria’s financial and political commitment to that cause was total and unflinching. In the 1970s-80s, the South African freedom struggle was completely woven into Nigeria’s national imaginary, so much so that a Nigerian leader, Olusegun Obasanjo, suggested we mobilized “African juju” and other maraboutic forces of African sorcery to attack Pieter Botha and free our black brothers in South Africa. And he wasn’t joking. Every Nigerian musician, from reggae singers to fuji musicians in the Yoruba tradition, waxed radical anti-Apartheid lyrics to energize the 1970s – 1980s. “Who owns the land, who owns the land? We want to know who owns Papa’s land”, crooned Sonny Okosuns. Majek Fashek, the reggae man replied: “Now, now, now, Margaret Thatcher, free Mandela”! Victor Eshiet of The Mandators screamed: “Truth is our right, Jah is our might, we must free South Africa”.

Everywhere you turned in the Nigeria of those heady decades, freedom for Black South Africans was the dominant national agenda. Black South Africans, including President Thabo Mbeki and Ezekiel Mpahlele, found warmth, hospitality, and friendship during their years of exile in Nigeria. Many of Black South Africans attended Nigerian Universities on Nigerian scholarships. When it became clear that South African whites, like their European and American kinsmen, were determined to make peaceful change impossible and make violent change inevitable, Nigerians donated money to the armed struggle. Personally, I recall donating money during special anti-Apartheid fundraisers as a high school student in Nigeria. In view of this, the Nigerians I met in South Africa had only two words to describe the attitude of Black South Africans to them: collective amnesia.

Prejudice has been the force majeure of so much of human history. Our pantheon of small-minded hate is formidable: Christian prejudice manufactured the unbeliever; Islamic prejudice manufactured the infidel; heterosexual prejudice manufactured the faggot; patriarchal prejudice manufactured the hysteric; European prejudice manufactured the native; American prejudice manufactured the nigger; German prejudice manufactured the Jew; Israeli prejudice manufactured the Araboushim; Afrikaner prejudice manufactured the kaffir. Not to be outdone, Black South Africa has manufactured the makwerekwere as her unique post-Apartheid contribution to this gory pantheon. The joy of your instant-mix coffee (Nescafé) or your instant-mix powdered milk is the considerable labor and hassle it saves you. Just pour water, add sugar to taste, and your drink is ready. The makwerekwere is Black South Africa’s instant-mix kaffir, very easily produced with minimum labor.

* Pius Adesanmi is Associate Professor of English and Director, Project on New African Literatures ( at Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada. Apart from his academic work, Dr. Adesanmi publishes opinion articles regularly in various internet fora. He runs a regular blog for The Zeleza Post ( [email protected] or comment online at

The United Nations Security Council decided in October 2007 to extend the mandate of the MINUSTAH (United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti) through Oct. 15, 2008. The Brazilian government is responsible for coordinating the MINUSTAH forces that include approximately 9,000 troops. Yet there is very little discussion in Brazil about the country's role in the occupation of Haiti, and especially, about the accusations leveled against the United Nations troops for their participation in human rights violations.

Andile Mngxitama reexamines the revolutionary potential of Black consciousness via a critical look at the politics and philosophy of the Black Consciousness Collective (BCC).

The idea of writing this letter struck me whilst at my home village eNgcobo in the former Transkei. Our village, which is know as eNyanga is part of a place with a strange name- “All Saints”. eNyanga is situated in the belly of mountains. To the North is Kalinyanga, the south is Gilindonda and east the Qhuthubeni mountain. These are enchanting plains. Here I was generally engaged in the rituals and other festivities of our people, when my mind drifted to the Black Consciousness Collective (BCC).

Walking the land of Ngqika, it occurred to me that the BCC is far too important to be ignored. I also realized that I harbor some sense of impatience if not utter contempt at some of the habits (what I consider intellectual snobbery in particular), and gestures of arrogance from its members. I also acknowledge that my interaction with the collective, its members and sympathizers is rather perfunctory to say the least- but still the BCC is such an important and promising initiative that I would be remise to give it a miss. So I thought I should attempt a structured engagement which could afford us a basis for engagement.

Let me say it at the outset, my intention is to seek clarity for myself on the role, politics and philosophy of the BCC amongst others. I regard this as the first installment in what must naturally be a mutually educational discourse for all of us. Yes, old dogs can ans should learn new tricks too!

I gather from the name of the collective that it is committed to or rather it is about Black Consciousness. That’s well and good but which of the various contrasting and contending BC streams does the BCC align itself? Like in Marxism, we can no longer take for granted that when we say “bc” we are all referring to the same thing.

THE FOUR FORMS OF BLACK CONSCIOUNSESS IN CONTENTION

I can immediately think of at least four contending versions of bc for instance: Firstly there is the BC of sterile cultural expressionism which is about promoting mindless consumption in aid of the capitalism madness of our age. It’s the BC of Stone Cherry and Eric Miyenis of this world, its in agreement with the thesis proffered by the author of that despicable pamphlet of death, masquerading as serious work of on the black question- The Capitalist Nigger (which is our national best seller by the way).

Secondly, and this is the off shoot of the first type of BC, its the noisy status bound hip-hop and urban spoken words projects with their “African” regalia to boot. Practitioners of this bc simulate rebellion whilst they work their ways towards acceptance in the existing anti-black mainstream of the commercial cultural beast. The Rosebank Underground. These are by and large poets for hire. Their dead poetry repeats itself into a deadening crescendo utterly devoid of the beauty of authentic black rage.

Then there is the BC of monuments and icons. This is primarily promoted by institutional custodians of BC like Azanian People’s Organisation (AZAPO). This kind of BC is mute and deaf on the prevailing black condition; it finds refuge in past glories and burdens the dead with the projects of now. It thrives on “ifs”, and exists in an inconsolable sorrow devoid of the impatience and appetite for “Bolekaja.” Bolekaja as you may recall means “Come down let’s fight!” A term used in western Nigeria by passenger lorry touts and made famous by Nigerian literary critic Chinweizu. This BC cannot inspire blacks to rebellion and fire.

Then there is the BC of BEE, the least said about this the better (of course this version has strong affinities with the first two alluded to above). BEE is about a new class of plunderers who use their black skin and our black collective experience of sorrow to insert themselves in the economic mainstream built and sustaining itself on stolen black land, labour and the African “being”. These new agents of accumulation by theft and dispossession provide legitimacy to white monopoly capitalism, which must be vanquished if blacks are to have a chance to liberation. Capital in our country needs to be brought to justice and answer for its sins and atone for the near death agony it inflicted/afflicts on the black body.

The last version is what I’d like to think of as the real living BC, which resides within the excluded multitudes. It’s a bc of the black margins. This BC finds concrete expression in the young girl of Khutsong hurling a rock at an oncoming Caspire in an act of courageous defiance and rage against the arrogance of post apartheid democratic power which looks and acts like the apartheid monster. Its stones against bullets again, produced by the arrogance of state power instead of the uncompromising commitment to the art of persuasion/engagement/listening/dialogue/response/respect. These are the birth marks of true freedom. This living BC resonates with the thousands that partake in what the media calls “service delivery protests”. For me BC and Biko live in those cracks of the great unwashed every time they cry ya basta! From Khutsong to Chiapas. It may be opportune to remind ourselves of how Biko’s philosophy of black liberation. Biko said

“Blacks are out to completely transform the system and to make of it what they wish. Such a major undertaking can only be realized in an atmosphere where people are conscious of the truth inherent in their stand. Liberation, therefore, is of paramount importance in the concept of black Consciousness, for we cannot be conscious of ourselves and yet remain in bondage. We want to attain the envisioned self, which is a free self

PHILOSOPHY OF CHANGE AND THE BCC

I realize that I have been presumptuous on a number of points, but I have now gone too far to halt myself, so I am going to ask this: Is the BCC at the beginning again? In other words at the point of re-imagining BC? My question really is this, what does the BCC mean by BC? Implicit in this question is both a philosophical and practical consideration, what does BCC wants to achieve with its BC? A related but side and inconsequential issue is this, what is BCC’s BC attitude to the ANC’s politics of non-racialism and integration -as a theory and now as practice of party in government? I am sure you also may have to allude to the existing political formations such as Azapo, SOPA and BPC which proclaim bc as their guiding philosophy or ideology (a rather oppressive term really, this ideology business).

I think it a little passé to raise the old question of the unity of thought and action. But I think I need to be explicit in case its not taken care of in the broad set of “identity” questions I ask above. In my engagement with members of your collective it seem to me that one can read a few contradictory attitudes toward this question of the unity of action and thought or lack thereof. I heard, I hope correctly, for instance that action is already implicated in thought. This means there is no action, which is not preceded by thought. I agree that this is generally a truthful assertion. But is it automatic that thought ends in action, or thought here is also action? A dialectical unity? But then how do we judge effectiveness? Or is there no physical materiality in this process? Then of course I think there are certain forms of “thought” which are anti-thought and action, such as formulistic Eurocentric “logical” philosophy.

I also recognize that Nazis, colonialists and imperialists have their own intellectuals and philosophers. So from this point of view there is nothing progressive about philosophy a priori. I would not now want to raise my ‘pet hate’ subject - the anti-black origins of most of western philosophy (how do you deal with this?). I think a bit of Foucault quickly shows how everything is implicated in power, self- interest and subjectivity. But of course I am not interested in abstracted philosophical assertions. I am interested in the specificity of your collective’s “thought” process and its relation to “action” aimed at the structures of oppression and denigration of back people.. Surely, the sum total of your “action” cannot be reduced to creating spaces for “critical dialogue”, although I would under duress accept such engagement as action too.

If I were to walk ahead of your response on this one, I would say, I’m inspired by the likes of the originators of the negritude movement (Suzanne Ceseair, Aime Cessaire, but less so the likes of Sengor). These pioneers “culled” a lot of fire from the Surrealists and gave that philosophical movement some flames of rebellion in exchange – and in the process created the possibility of action against all sorts of colonialisms. I also remember well, old Karl Marx admonishing his German fellow philosophers for being obsessed with interpreting the world when the point was to change it.

Allow me to go religious a little. You see, I grew up in a religious family even if later I bacame agnostic- I have done my time in the trenches in the service of god, so there must be some residual matter of this past in me. I agree with Terry Eagleton, we can’t but be what we are. So I beg your indulgence, just to draw a parallel if not a lesson from the holy book. In the book of James, James postulates on matters of “Faith and Actions” (I hope to substitute “faith” for theory if not philosophy), he teachers us that; “ suppose there are brothers and sisters who need clothes and not have enough to eat. What good is there in you saying to them, “God bless you! Keep warm and eat well!”- if you don’t give them the necessities of life? So it is with faith: if it is alone and includes no actions then it is dead…. So then as the body without the spirit is dead, so also faith without actions is dead”.

I think it was Lenin who said he has yet to see a successful revolution without a revolutionary theory, but he also laughed at the idea of theory without action. Cabral said something alone those lines when he theorized on the issue “theory and practice”. I find Paulo Ferere much useful on this score, personally. His dialogical method, of cause is not perfect, shows that there is no possibility of learning or clarification, or even building critical consciousness without doing. Action allows reflection on the concrete, leading to improvement and critical awareness. This is the revolution!

Of course those students who started SASO in the late 60’s were deep into philosophy but they understood oppression as a concrete truth, deeply implicated power. Racial capitalism or apartheid is as concrete as the N1. SASO students understood very well that oppression couldn’t be dislodged by philosophic disputations alone. It’s my contention that no one has yet contributed to changing the world for the better by simply holding a “correct philosophy”. In fact under certain circumstances, to “philosophize” is a great sign of betrayal and cowardice. My view in fact is that its of little use to philosophize outside action aimed at dislodging the white supremacist edifice deeply ingrained in the structures of politics, economics and even the whole cultural plain (here I understand culture in its broadest sociological sense). To try play philosophers without action is actually a self-serving and a safe option which also provides an alibi for doing nothing, it’s not unlike the “superfluous men” of 19 century Russia. This reminds me of the warnings from the pen of the mad one- Dambudzo Marechera, in his majestic “The Black Insider.” Somewhere Dambudzo writes;

“An excessive indulgence of the senses and thoughts… leads to the kind of decadence which can paralyze all action. To tick all the orifices of pleasure and stimulate all the possible orgasms of intellectual heights would be to sort of contrast demanded by this sordid war”.

Incidentally, I happen to think that black people the world over live in a state of a one sided sordid war which has not given us respite since the disastrous encounter with the white world starting with slavery, moving to colonialism, and imperialism to day. I’m permanently flabbergasted by the patience and laxity from the black world living through this living hell. Only we blacks can afford this type of absent-mindedness in the middle of war of decimation. We are wont at keeping us busy with inane, irrelevancies; this is the curse of our black skin. Somewhere else in the same text Dambudzo raises a matter which I think is relevant to this letter and to people like us;

“…we used to joke about being fucked out by everything but never to the extent of seeing the uttermost truth at the center of the jest. There was the gulf –as we saw it- between student thinking and activities and the workers-themselves whom I did not feel we had any qualifications to lead in anything. I had seen how “education” had given us too early a veneer of experience which our own elders mistook for mature and solid knowledge of a world that has rapidly ceased to be ours and had become a whiteman’s play ground for investment, good living, and casual tormenting of Caliban”.

My point is that we (western educated black middle classes) are already deeply implicated in whiteness, our souls and minds are held captive by whiteness. Our philosophies are by and large alien. We have nothing to say to the great multitudes of our people except to give them disdain and scorn- we call them “the masses” with no sense of irony. I have heard some of you say, “the masses think….”, and generally this would be to create a caricature- a mass of undifferentiated beings gravitating in colossal confusion and ignorance, and then we self congratulatingly arrogate clever philosophic positions to “ourselves” – we are the philosophers! The end result of his snobbish and vulgar valorization of our philosophic prowess leaves the “masses” all looking like Zuma. This in my mind is the perfect colonial representation of the black world.

Marechera on the other hand displays a liberating self-awareness of the place and general uselessness of the “educated” classes. Cabral, was crude but in my mind hugely correct to call for a “class suicide” of the “educated” anti-colonial African classes. No one listened and we have reproduced what Chinuweizu correctly calls: “the black colonialists”- with no discernable exceptions all our African political, academic, intellectual and business leaders are black colonialist!

BCC AND AVENUES FOR CHANGE

This brings me inevitably to politics. And here I understand politics narrowly as the exercise of power at state/government level. I wish to raise a few questions, here. Firstly, does the BCC have any shared conceptual clarity on the “nature” or “character” of the post apartheid state? I argue that there has been no rapture in this post apartheid state from the white supremacist one which was designed for serving white interest, the only substantial difference is that now this colonial, racist state is managed by black former liberation movement cadres. This reduces these managers of the racist state to indunas of whiteness.

Secondly, and I think we reflected a little on this, does the BCC have a general attitude to the state qua state? If so what? This is really a ‘question of power’, to borrow from Bessie Head. I was reminded of the sterile exchange we had with a member or sympathizer of BCC sometime back- it went on like this (I’m paraphrasing)-

“The state has failed everywhere?”. person 1
“No the state can and must be subordinated to serve the interest of the people”, person 2.
“no there is no record of the state ever serving the people” person 1
“what about Venezuela and Bolivia…” person 2
“oh! Venezuela is going to save us all now. Hahahaha”- person 1
“ok, the Ven experiment is flawed buts it’s the real and existing example of what can be done”, person 2
“oh! No! my lord! Examples are poor substitute for argument, all which one needs to do is just to provide a counter example”- person 1 (reclining on his chair with the smile that talks victory).

The poverty of the above encounter, resides not in the bad formulation of argument and counter argument, in my book, but on the politics/philosophic perspectives informing the interlocutors (of course the arguments can be improved a lot and shed some more light). For instance is person 1, making a universal statement which they purport to be true in all situations? Then of course this becomes abstract disputation, which would not yield to evidence. Then we have abandoned philosophy and have entered the world of ideology.

Is the second person on the other hand postulating that the state is necessarily a good thing in all situations over time and space? I think not. But I think the above drunken exchange points to sterility of a kind of argumentation devoid of “people centered” perspectives. The issue of the state or non state can no longer be debated outside the history of the state and the different perspectives/ideologies informing the theorization of the state. To argue against the state without distancing one from the likes of Milton Friedman and his latter day apostles in the form of the World Bank, IMF, the WTO and other agents neo-colonialism is to be on the side of death by default. There have always been various anti state positions, and one must be aware of this to avoid confusion. For instance I find the example of Zapatistas and theory of “changing the world without taking power” ala John Holloway quite seductive, but I realize that one must deal with the impressive current now sweeping Latin American, signified by the state driven left transformations ala Bolivia. Ecuador, Venezuela etc. Then there is the Chiapas example and multiple peasants and other movements of the excluded.

These are some of my initial thoughts, questions and postulations. And I realize this intervention is more “pragmatic” than “analytical”. This morning, in this new year, the sun is shining bright outside. 2007 was indeed a year of the Zunami. Let 2008 be better for black people the world over.

Mao Tse Tung was on to something when he penned this poem:

So many deeds cry out to be done
and always urgently
the world rolls on
time presses
ten thousands years are too long
seized the day
seize the hour

* Andile Mngxitama is a Johannesburg based land rights activist and member of the Wewrite editorial collective.

* Please send comments to or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org/

This AfricaFocus Bulletin contains excerpts from two 2007 reports on the garment industry and AGOA, drawing on the cases of Namibia, Lesotho,and Swaziland.

1.1 Introduction

Sub-Saharan Africa has recently received substantial foreign investment in the garment industry, since the US drew up the Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). This act is removing barriers to trade between the US and Africa, and has also facilitated the growth in trade in garments from Africa towards the US. Governments in the various countries have put a great deal of effort into attracting the garment industry, and have competed with their neighbouring countries in offering incentives for manufacturing companies to start production - and later on to continue production - in their countries.

Have these efforts been beneficial for the countries in question and who has really gained from these efforts? What have been the consequences of attracting what is known to be an unstable, footloose industry? This report brings together various case studies and analyses, and looks at the consequences of this investment for those that it should ultimately benefit; the population and workers in the garment industry in the various countries in Africa.

This report focuses on Lesotho and Swaziland as two countries that received a share of the foreign investment in the wake of the AGOA, and whose garment industries and exports have grown substantially. ...

6. Critical Issues

So far the AGOA has predominantly benefited the foreign investors that came to Sub- Saharan Africa to profit from the tariff benefits under the trade arrangements, and from the incentives provided by the various governments. In the race to attract this investment, African governments have provided substantial incentives to the industry, ranging from 0% taxes to full rebates on imports to providing factory shells and infrastructure. When they arrived in these countries, the investors identified the AGOA as the main attraction, and the incentives were more the icing on the cake. Nevertheless, for the countries in question these incentives could mean the difference between benefiting from the investments in the garment industry or totally losing out. ...

What becomes clear is that, following the MFA [Multi-Fibre Agreement] phase-out, a substantial number of companies closed down, most without paying benefits to their workers, some leaving large debts unpaid. Nevertheless, a considerable number of companies decided to continue producing, while still trying to squeeze out a bit more from the governments in their host countries. There are several interesting initiatives, notably in Lesotho, that could (potentially) improve the lives and working conditions of the workers in these industries, but a thorough study is needed to make sure that they are not, once again, geared towards benefiting the companies. ...

6.1 What have the countries gained?

The question is whether the AGOA has benefited the economies and the workers, specifically when looking at the benefits of the garment industry. ... Governments, with the support of donors, have put a great deal of effort into attracting investment, foregoing taxes, investing money in factory shells and in highly specific infrastructure, while turning a blind eye to labour abuses. ...

Neither downward pressure on labour rights nor government incentives have prevented companies from leaving the African countries where they temporarily had a presence. This creates ever more desperate attempts by countries to keep the investors, in an industry that has already cost countries too much, by offering better incentives. For instance, a company like Tri-Star was able to use the desperation of a country like Uganda for foreign investment to get the government to provide and invest in buildings and infrastructure, secure loans and credit facilities. The company left the country without repaying any of its debts, leaving behind a destitute workforce that did not even have enough money left to pay the bus fare home. And this happened after the company had already abandoned factories in Tanzania and Kenya, without repaying its debts or paying off its workers.

As is clear from the reports on the different countries, by focussing on the garment industry, countries have not accelerated industrial development in a way that enabled the countries to create new productions systems or develop the innovative capacity to input into new or existing industries.

The mostly Asian companies that have invested in the industry in Swaziland and Lesotho, for example, have invested very little in the local economies or in their own companies. Most of the companies were given factory shells, rebates, tax-free import of machinery, tax holidays, etc., without contributing much themselves. This has made it much easier for companies to start production in a country, sometimes even for a very short time period, and to leave without looking back. ...

6.2 Factory closures

As is clear from the chapters on Lesotho and Swaziland, there are no safety nets to assist workers if their factories close down or they are dismissed. Even if they are given terminal benefits, the amounts are so low that they have spent the payment within a few weeks. Companies are not informing the government nor the workers when they plan to leave the country, nor are there mechanisms in place that could stop companies from leaving. There is not enough effort being made to prevent companies fleeing the country. If they leave, there are no mechanisms in place to make sure that they pay their debts to the workers, to their suppliers, to the national banks, etc.. Governments do not set up funds for companies in which they can put deposits in case they declare bankruptcy or suddenly leave the country. Workers are often left in the cold, without their terminal benefits, sometimes without their wages for the last months and without a social plan to mitigate some of the adverse effects of the sudden unemployment.

The factories use their position to bargain for better investment conditions. For countries desperate for foreign investment and employment, this does not seem like such a bad deal. The costs incurred when companies close are high, however, both economically and socially. If the companies flee the country, they leave behind a shell and infrastructure that was constructed specifically for their needs, and for which the country has incurred high costs.

With factories closing or threatening to close, the workers are put in a complicated position. You have no real bargaining power if you expect your factory to pack up and leave at any time, and the threat of closure can always be used by the management, whether implied or real. In this situation, it is unlikely that workers will negotiate for better wages and improvement of labour conditions. As more and more factories are closing down, the possibility of finding employment elsewhere is also decreasing.

...

6.4 Employment in the garment industry

It is unquestionably the case that the most important sector in terms of employment under the AGOA has been the garment producing sector, due to the labour-intensive nature of garment producing factories and the surge in the industry. A proportion of these jobs in the sector in fact existed before the creation of the AGOA, or were associated with trade with other countries. Malawi, for example, used to export predominantly to South Africa. Since the AGOA came into existence, producers in Malawi have shifted their focus to the United States market, although employment in the sector has remained much the same.

Most of the jobs in this industry are low skilled, with very few people advancing or being trained on the job. Most of the foreign-owned companies fly in their own management, and other top and middle management are recruited in China and India, for example.

Drawn by trade agreements and other incentive programmes to countries desperate for foreign investment and jobs, investors, including Asian investors, have been able to circumvent local labour laws, as well as internationally agreed labour standards laid down in ILO conventions. In Swaziland, for example, violations documented at Asian-owned factories in the last 6 years include forced overtime, verbal abuse, sexual intimidation, unhealthy and unsafe conditions, unreasonable production targets, and anti-union repression. In 2001, when asked about their influence, the Department of Labour in Swaziland admitted that in an attempt to keep investors happy it did not pursue labour law violations to its fullest ability. They say they "can't push investors too hard," but instead are "very gentle and persuasive". Another example is the sacking of the 'AGOA girls' by the President of Uganda because the workers were "not disciplined" when they protested against bad labour conditions. While investors can see profitable returns on their investments, one wonders if workers and their communities really benefit when wages and conditions are substandard and tax abatements and subsidized infrastructure mean that little money goes back into the community. The argument that workers would otherwise have no jobs or no income should not be an argument to sustain exploitation that has consequences for generations because workers cannot even send their children to school.

* AfricaFocus Bulletin is an independent electronic publication providing reposted commentary and analysis on African issues, with a particular focus on U.S. and international policies. AfricaFocus Bulletin is edited by William Minter. AfricaFocus Bulletin can be reached at [email][email protected]

The Government of Sudan is one of the most unscrupulous governments in the world. And this is no mean ‘achievement’ given the many claimants to this dubious honour. It is so cynical that the words ‘shame’ and ‘sensitivity’ do not exist in its political dictionary and they do not have any equivalent meaning in its diplomacy either. Otherwise how can one explain its persistence in seeking the Chairmanship of the African Union despite its continuing ignoble record in the massacre and Gross Violation of the rights of its own citizens in the Darfur region, a killing field assuming the proportions of industrial mass murder. With the best of good will and efforts from the African Union through AMIS and now jointly with the United Nations through UNAMID the Khartoum government has played games with the lives of its own citizen with impunity.

It has been angling the chairmanship since 2006. However other African states have been so embarrassed by Khartoum that they were unwilling to allow it to be spokesperson of Africa’s premier diplomatic and political institution. It was largely because of Khartoum that the AU abandoned the OAU twin practice of rotation of the hosting of the Summit between the different regions and also the automatic assumption of the office of the Chair of the Union by the host country. Khartoum hosted the Summit in 2006 but did not become chair of the Union. Subsequently Gambia hosted the Summit in July 2007 but its erratic soldier-turned president and more recently mutating as HIV/Aids Doctor, Yaya Jameh, did not become the Chairperson either.

Khartoum has not given up its ambition and it is again one of the contenders for the Chairmanship at the 10th ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of state and Governments of the Union holding this week in Addis. The other contender is Egypt though there are also rumours that Tanzania may be a surprise contender to stop Khartoum. From all indications Tanzania may not enter the race unless really pushed. This is a shame because neither Sudan nor Egypt , for different reasons, deserves to head the Union. In Egypt’s case in spite of its status as the most significant of the North African countries in the Union it has always been a reluctant member. Like its other cousins in the Sahara except Libya, it is in Africa but its heart and soul are in the Middle East. I am not sure when the Egyptian President last attended an AU summit. It is supposed to be one of the five pillars of NEPAD but only on paper. It is more interested in the Arab League than any other multilateral body and generally prefers bilateralism with African states and special deals with extra African interests. Egyptian Chairmanship will induce more inertia in the AU for a year and probably sabotage any collective action on Sudan.

While Sudan shares some of the Egyptian Arab-centrism it is one of the most active member states in Pan African affairs however not always for the best of reasons. While its Arabised elite continue to look towards the Middle East it has to face the reality of having huge Negroid population not only in the South but across the country. The dominant elite may be Arabised and Muslim but the people are Africans. Even its name belies its racial claims. Bilad el Sudan means Land of the Blacks! The most obvious character of Sudan is the least talked about. When it serves its interest Sudan plays the Pan African and anti imperialist cards in the AU and the Arab/Islamic cards with Arabs and other Muslim countries.

It used the OAU and is now using the AU platform to fence off Western , mostly Anglo-American isolation campaign against it. Unfortunately the credibility of the west in general and successive US administrations in particular but more so Bush’s 8 years of unilateralism, have created willing ears and sympathy for Khartoum among other African states. Thus the AU has become a shield for Khartoum and it uses it very well. Its strategy is very simple but it continues to hoodwink African states most effectively. On every issue it will initially insist on no intervention at all proclaiming its sovereign rights. After so much controversies and prolonged inane negotiations it agrees to some form of African intervention especially to prevent Western or UN intervention.

But it had no intention of cooperating to end the suffering of its people. Several years down the line after so much haggling and zig zags it agreed to a hybrid of AU and UN. Thanks to the dithering of the powerful countries in the UN and the humanitarian-driven approach to Sudan with a not so hidden agenda for regime change even the hybrid force cannot take off immediately. African states have shown their readiness to deploy more troops but UN Security Council politics is delaying things all to the benefit of Khartoum and its killer allies in Darfur.

It cannot be right that a country and a government that kills its own people is allowed to be spokesperson for Africa. Khartoum should be disallowed from assuming the chair of the Union. If this means that Egypt takes the seat so be it but the best option should have been to have another state . Were Nyerere alive he would have had no hesitation in coming to the rescue. Even at this late hour one hopes that Tanzania and President Kikwete will come forward to save the Union from being chaired by an indifferent Egypt or a cynical Sudan.

*Dr Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem writes this syndicated column as a concerned Pan Africanist

*Please send comments to or comment online at www.pambazuka.org