Through the voices of the peoples of Africa and the global South, Pambazuka Press and Pambazuka News disseminate analysis and debate on the struggle for freedom and justice.
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Features
Hiroshima and Nagasaki: Time for sanity and healing
Horace Campbell (2010-08-12)
cc B NIt is 65 years this August since the US dropped atomic bombs on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing hundreds of thousands of unarmed Japanese civilians, writes Horace Campbell. Although US history books say that thousands of servicemen were saved as a result of those two bombings, the reality, says Campbell, was different.
The threat and consequences of nuclear war
Fidel Castro (2010-08-12)
cc Carolonline‘Given the fact that Iran will not give an inch to the demands of the United States and Israel, which have already mobilised several of the means of warfare to their disposal, they will have to launch the attack as soon as the date agreed by the Security Council on June 9, 2010 – with the established rules and requirements – expires. There is a limit to all what man hopes to achieve, which he cannot surpass. In this critical case, President Barack Obama is the one who would give the order to start the so much announced and publicised attack, following the rules of the gigantic empire,' proclaims Fidel Castro.
Pakistan’s flooding: A tragedy of failed humanity
Yash Tandon (2010-08-12)
cc OxfamAs the Pakistani people face up to the effects of terrible flooding, Yash Tandon expresses solidarity and stresses that if nature is cruel, a civilisation which puts ‘profits before humanity, and military security before food security’ is surely crueller.
What now, after the referendum?
Yash Ghai (2010-08-12)
© S 1The referendum result ‘puts beyond doubt the wishes of Kenyans to bring about fundamental social and political changes’, writes Yash Ghai. Although the new constitution sets both a framework and a timetable for its implementation, Ghai says it’s crucial that Kenyans are not sidetracked by talk of ‘reconciliation through further negotiations on “contentious issues”’ from elites ‘determined to sabotage reform agendas’. ‘The whole point of a referendum is to see which side has greater support, and to bring the debate to closure,’ says Ghai.
Kenya: Don't waste the new constitution
Jill Cottrell Ghai and Yash Pal Ghai (2010-08-12)
cc DemoshKenya is awakening with the realisation of a new constitution. Jill Cottrell Ghai and Yash Pal Ghai warn that Kenyan society must not now allow the silence of complacency to take hold and obstruct the path to democratic and transparent governance. The commitment of the nation’s civil society organisations and movements able to secure the universal implementation of the constitution will ensure its survival, and the upholding of the rights and responsibilities it enshrines for the benefit of Kenyans, write the authors.
Kenya says ‘Yes’ to the constitution
Sokari Ekine (2010-08-12)
cc E PResponses to the results of Kenya’s referendum, Haitian musician Wyclef Jean’s decision to run for president and the dangers of Bill Gates and his foundation dabbling in Africa’s development are among the topics discussed in this week’s roundup of the African blogosphere, brought to you by Sokari Ekine.
Banks, blood and chocolate
Khadija Sharife (2010-08-12)
Rudolf Elmer, whistleblower and former CEO of Swiss bank Julius Baer’s Cayman Island operations, reveals the secrets of the murky world of offshore banking to Khadija Sharife. ‘Mauritius is in many ways the Switzerland of Africa,’ says Elmer, but there is another African nation vying to be the ‘golden’ financial gateway: Ghana.
Crying fowl: KFC and the World Food Programme
Alex Free (2010-08-12)
cc AnanthGiven the negative impact of the fast food industry on food sovereignty and security, isn't it a little odd that the World Food Programme has teamed up with KFC to fund its hunger relief efforts, asks Alex Free. Fast food's methods of production and perpetual drive to lower costs work to undermine ‘environments, biodiversity and local people’s access to land’, says Free, while tackling world hunger demands the exact opposite: ‘Working towards sustainable access to food; recognising local expertise; promoting biodiversity; and putting people before profits.’
Decolonising African feminism
Jenn Jagire (2010-08-11)
cc J HThe fight to stop violence against women in Africa must diverge from the dominant Western feminism that implants alien perspectives and methods into an African struggle, writes Jenn Jagire. Jagire urges Africa’s feminists to regain agency and ‘deEuropeanise’ African feminism, avoiding perpetuating neo-colonial mentalities and development models that see Africa's women as victims rather than the drivers of their own destiny.
Sexual equality and the NCC draft Zambian constitution
Mwila Agatha Zaza (2010-08-12)
cc L U SZambia’s new draft constitution, created by the National Constitution Conference, discriminates against members of the LGBT community, depriving them of their rights to live freely and equitably, writes Mwila Agatha Zaza. The inclusion of unspecified Christian values into the constitution, vaguely defined laws on family and a woman’s right to marital freedom, and a prohibition of abortion except under already defined circumstances means this new constitution does little to progress sexual equality in Zambia, Zaza argues.
African women’s rights: Mobilisation and implementation
Marie-Claire Faray (2010-08-12)
cc Javic‘Women should refuse to die or live in abject poverty or endure violence: They should be angry, mobilising and taking to the streets to demand concrete actions which will improve their lives and the wellbeing of their children.’ Marie-Claire Faray, vice president of UK WILPF (Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom) speaks to Pambazuka News about the African Women’s Decade and what women – and men – can do to help fulfil its promise to defend women's rights and reduce gender inequality.