The participants of the an international conference on “Women’s Leadership Conference” held in Lusaka at the Inter-Continental Hotel, 7-9 June 2010, have expressed dismay and anger at the unprofessional and unacceptable behaviour of the Second in Command of the Zambian Police for Lusaka Province (Mr. Chushi) for harassing and embarrassing a co-participant, Ms Jean Kapata, in the dining room at lunch hour on 8 June, on the pretext that she was allegedly holding an ‘illegal meeting’ of the Patriotic Front (PF) at the same hotel.

In commemoration of 16 June 1976, City of Johannesburg and R.I.S.E. Mzansi AFURAKA invites you to an exciting Youth Symposium.

Date: Saturday 19 June 2010
Time: 12 noon to 4pm
Venue: Power Park Community Centre, Soweto
Address: The Soweto Twin Towers, Cnr Cornelius Street and Old Potchefstroom Road

Organisers: The Youth Symposium is organised by City of Johannesburg, R.I.S.E. Mzansi AFURAKA in collaboration with June 16 Youth Foundation, Siyaphambili Youth Pioneers, Ebukhosini Youth, Kliptown Youth Project, Indali Agric Project and other youth structures.

Theme: IN THE SPIRIT OF 1976: Youth Uniting Against Afri-phobia. Inspired by the youth of 1976 who protested against a, seemingly, unbreakable system of oppression, Afrikan youth today are claiming their freedom and shaping their future. The topics of the day will include empowerment, self-determination and Afri-phobia (the fear of being Afrikan).

Programme: Young speakers and discussants will present inspirational messages on empowerment, identity and Afri-phobia. Young artists will bless the stage with poetry, drama, music and reflections. Three generations of youth leaders will take part in an inter-generational dialogue on self-determination.

In the wake of the recent death of Floribert Chebeya Bahzire, Dave Peterson pays tribute to this revered figure who was ‘undoubtedly Congo’s most prominent, committed and courageous human rights activist’.

For Pambazuka readers in Tanzania and East Africa at large, Dar es Salaam's Soma Book Cafe now stocks a range of titles. Soma's details are as follows:

Soma Book Cafe
53 Mlingotini Circle, Regent Estate
Kinondoni
Dar es Salaam
TANZANIA
Tel: 00 255 022 277 2759
Website:

, the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa, has been ranked second in the University of Pennsylvania's 2009 'Global Go-To Think Tank Rankings' for the sub-Saharan Africa region behind the South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA). The ranking was undertaken by a panel of 300 experts from around the world, across the political spectrum and from every discipline and sector to help nominate and select public policy research centres of excellence. The members of the expert panel were asked to nominate regional or global centres of excellence that they felt should be recognised for producing rigorous and relevant research, publications and programmes in one or more substantive areas of research. The index is available from www.sas.upenn.edu.

“I would like to thank everybody for the support that I have been given since Friday and before that,” The Post editor Fred M’membe told Reporters Without Borders as he was released this afternoon from Lusaka prison, where he had just spent three days. “I am very grateful to my fellow journalists,” said M’membe, who was sentenced to four months in prison with hard labour on 4 June on a contempt of court charge. “I have received more than the support I thought I would get and I deserve.”

Cameroonian writer, diplomat and civil servant, Ferdinand Leopold Oyono, died on Thursday in Yaounde, the Cameroonian capital, at the age of 81.

He was the author of two influential novels - The old man and the Medal and Une Vie de Boy written in the 1960s.

According to Geoges Etoa Oyono, who is the nephew of Oyono, the writer complained of weakness as he came out of the presidential palace where he attended the lunch offered in honour of the UN secretary-general, Ban Ki-Moon.

Oyono was an official at the UN in the 1970s and Cameroon's ambassador to the United Kingdom. He returned to Cameroon in 1985 and was appointed secretary-general of the presidency of the Republic.

He was minister of Foreign Relations and minster of Culture and worked for the setting up of copyright authority in the country.

from his book ‘Selected Pan-African Postcards’ with Dr Ama Biney, editor, and Dr Patricia Daley.

Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem's Pan-African Postcards demonstrate his steadfast commitment to Pan-Africanism and his vociferous belief in the potential of Africa and African people.

Date: Thursday 17 June 2010
Time: 5.30–7pm
Place: Rhodes House, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3RG

All welcome

France’s international public service radio station RFI (Radio France Internationale) has launched this year’s Prix Découverte RFI (RFI Discoveries Award). Since 1981 RFI has organised this award for singers and musicians which is open to entrants living in Africa, the Caribbean and the Indian Ocean islands

The NEW PATH: AFRICAN FORUM FOR INTELLECTUAL THOUGHT is published quarterly by the African Research and Resource Forum (ARRF) and provides a forum for innovative thinking about our common future and about how we need to tackle the most intractable problems facing Africa today – focusing on Eastern Africa. The editor invites your articles (opinion and analysis) for the June 2010 edition. This edition of 'New Path' will cover Elections management in EAC Member States: Focus on upcoming elections in Rwanda, Burundi and Tanzania

The application for the 2011 session of the annual Human Rights Advocates Program (HRAP) at Columbia University is now available. We would like to ask you to disseminate this announcement to eligible human rights activists and organizations. The application is available . This web-based format is the only version of the 2011 application.

Maina Kiai, former Chair of the National Human Rights Commission of Kenya, will succeed Robert Archer as Executive Director of the International Council as of 15 July. Kiai will bring to the Council a tremendous reputation as an advocate of human rights in Kenya, and formidable communication skills. He will contribute a new voice and fresh energy to the Council's direction.

Fatima Yadik, a mother of 12 and grandmother of 18, recently settled in the Central African Republic town of Yaloké after 60 years with her nomadic community. Her camp of Peuhl nomads was attacked by bandits who killed all the men and stole their cattle. Peuhl people are often targeted by bandits because of the relative wealth of their livestock. Fleeing to safety, Ms. Yadik and her family joined the growing number of nomadic peoples across Africa’s interior who are escaping poverty and insecurity in the countryside in favour of life in towns and cities.

At sundown, Thulani Gama tells his 10-year-old twin siblings to collect firewood while he grinds corn for their supper. At sunrise, he wakes the twins and tells them to wash. Without breakfast, all three children begin their hour-long walk to school in rural Swaziland. Thulani, 13, is the head of his small household. He and his siblings Samkelo and Samkelisiw look after one another since, like many parents, their widowed mother left home to look for work in Mbabane, Swaziland’s capital. Thanks to a new programme supported by UNICEF and the Government of Swaziland, Thulani and his siblings are now able to attend school.

This year Africa’s economies will generally perform better than in 2009. According to the just-published Economic Report on Africa, the continent’s average growth rate will reach 4.3 per cent, up from less than 2 per cent last year — a period marked by devastatingly bad performances worldwide following the global economic slowdown.

The MDC has accused ZANU PF supporters of embarking on an orgy of violence against its members, in various parts of the country, including an abduction, an arson attack and a disrupted rally. In Manicaland, Makoni South MP Pishai Muchauraya was also summoned to appear in a Buhera court on Friday, for allegedly making statements that were ‘derogatory to the office of the President’, before the 2008 elections.

We're proud to announce that Sokari Ekine, one of the writers behind Pambazuka News’ weekly ‘Blogging Africa’ column, has been nominated for two awards for her wonderful blog, – ‘Best political blog’ and ‘Best theme’. Join us in supporting her by casting your vote at the Nigerian Blog Awards!

Presentations and readings from his book ‘Selected Pan-African Postcards’ with Dr Ama Biney, editor, and Dr Patricia Daley.

Tajudeen Abdul-Raheem's Pan-African postcards demonstrate his steadfast commitment to Pan-Africanism and his vociferous belief in the potential of Africa and African people.

Date: Thursday 17 June 2010
Time: 5.30–7pm
Place: Rhodes House, South Parks Road, Oxford, OX1 3RG

All welcome

The Anglican church in Southern Africa called on President Jacob Zuma and the South African government to lobby for the immediate release of two Malawian men sentenced to 14 years in prison for their homosexual relationship. “We urge them to press for the swift release of these two individuals, who have committed no act of violence or harm against anyone; for the quashing of the sentence against them; and for the repeal of this repressive legislation,” the Synod of Bishops of the Anglican Church of Southern Africa said.

Fatima Yadik, a mother of 12 and grandmother of 18, recently settled in the Central African Republic town of Yaloké after 60 years with her nomadic community. Her camp of Peuhl nomads was attacked by bandits who killed all the men and stole their cattle. Peuhl people are often targeted by bandits because of the relative wealth of their livestock. Fleeing to safety, Ms. Yadik and her family joined the growing number of nomadic peoples across Africa’s interior who are escaping poverty and insecurity in the countryside in favour of life in towns and cities.