New African articles from August 2003

New African archives from August 2003

Illiterate continent?(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
August 1, 2003... I read the article on Mali and the Timbuktu manuscripts with great interest. Indeed presenting Africa as an illiterate continent is still a pillar that adorns the annals of white-washed history, which is found in abundant supply. The...

First ladies--is it black racism?(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
August 1, 2003... I read with dissatisfaction and dismay, the letters by Kofi Nkrumah and J.M. Khamba on the Senegalese First Lady, the French-born Madame Viviane Wade. I am aware that there is a new social ill called black racism or reverse racism, the...

African first ladies debate.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
August 1, 2003... The views expressed by Kofi Nkrumah and J. M. Khamba (NA June, Should or can a sitting African president, by the serious nature of his job, have a European wife?) were not only without merit and substance, but exposed the predicament Africa...

A disservice to Africa?(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
August 1, 2003... Your two articles on Zimbabwe in the July issue by Baffour Ankomah and Chipo Shoko display a shocking unwillingness to understand and portray the real issues in Zimbabwe. This is nothing short of irresponsible for a publication such as yours....

Charity begins at home.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
August 1, 2003... I could not agree with Baffour more regarding his analysis "Dr Livingstone, I presume?" (Beefs NA, July). As an inhabitant of the Caribbean island of Curacao, I know what it is to be under the yoke of colonialism and arrogant interference. ...

Muluzi's 'undemocratic' thoughts.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
August 1, 2003... Baffour and Khalid's interview with President Bakili Muluzi of Malawi (NA, July) is quite explosive, incisive and highly provocative. Students of African history must be very much at home with the impeccable credentials of President Muluzi....

Nepad photo wrongly captioned.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)(Correction Notice)
August 1, 2003... I wish to point out a regrettable error in the June issue of NA. The photograph on page 14 that accompanied the story "Nepad: A partnership of unequal partners" prominently identifies the subject as a "South African delegate at last October's...

Under the Neem Tree.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
August 1, 2003... Please allow me to raise up an issue with NA that I believe deserves some adjustment. Stations broadcasting daily news bulletins over the radio, TV, internet etc. not only apportion a greater percentage of their news to events that largely...

Germany has come to grips with colour?(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
August 1, 2003... Donavan Brown of Cologne, Germany, in response to the article "Germany has not come to grips with colour", titles his letter "Germany has come to grips with colour". Yet he gave no facts or figures on anti-discrimination law to back his...

Cote d'Ivoire: patience is a good word: our correspondent, Josephine Akarue, interviewed Ambassador Albert Tevoedjere, president of the committee in charge of the implementation of the Marcourssis Peace Accord in Cote d'Ivoire, about the current state of affairs in the country. So far, the peace is holding, she reports.(For the Record)(Interview)
August 1, 2003... Born in 1929, Albert Tevoedjere has held several positions in international organisations as well as in education. When I met with him, I first asked him about the performance of his committee since its establishment four months ago. ...

Mandela at 85.(The Gallery)(Illustration)
August 1, 2003... There was a lot of dancing and rejoicing at Nelson Mandela's 85th birthday celebrations in mid-July attended by kings, queens, presidents, celebrities, business people and former political opponents. The guest list at the Sandton Convention...

African Union: so far, so good: the 2nd African Union Summit in Maputo, Mozambique (11-14 July), was a huge success. Slowly but surely, Africa is taking its destiny in its own hands, President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal summmed it up: "We have achieved a lot over the past four years. What we have done, despite the difficulties and the external pressure, is close to miraculous." Omar Ben Yedder reports from Maputo.
August 1, 2003... Forget the unflattering editorials in the Western media about the African Union (AU) becoming a "union of despots", Africa is finally on the march. The AU is taking shape four years after the historic Syrte Summit in Libya that gave birth to...

Chissano my struggle: the new AU chairman and president of Mozambique speaks to Omar Ben Yedder and Bernard Otabil about the Maputo Summit and his struggle for liberation.(Interview)
August 1, 2003... Omar Ben Yedder: Are you happy with the way the Summit has gone, with the way things are evolving with the African Union and the role it can play in the future of Africa? President Chissano: Yes, we are happy with the Summit. We were very...

Africa--failed states or failed systems: Africans know much more about the Western world than the world knows about Africa. And they don't want compassion, they want co-operation. They know that really there are no "failed" states or continents. It is a world divided between a few rich and most poor that has failed to live up to the full capacity of justice and humankind.(Lest we forget)
August 1, 2003... Maputo's old newspaper, Noticias, newly born since independence in 1975, was so busy with the coverage of the 2nd African Union Summit (11-14 July) that it hardly had time to give the attention it might otherwise have given to George Bush's...

Liberia: the untold story: for several months, the frenetic reporting of the war and carnage in Liberia has pointedly refused to mention one of the most important causative factors of the current crisis--the role played by America (and to a lesser degree, Britain).(Around Africa)
August 1, 2003... For those with intimidate knowledge of the Liberian situation, the call by President Taylor for a US intervention force amounts to asking "his executioner to come and save him". No wonder, President George Bush has been reluctant to laced...

Tanzania: hurrah for African solutions: while some African leaders fly around the world at the least opportunity to seek foreign intervention in domestic disputes, Tanzania is showing the way that Africans themselves can sort out their problems.(Around Africa)
August 1, 2003... A 10 October 2001 agreement to end political animosity is holding fine in Zanzibar. An independent electoral commission is in place. And there are smiles all around. Now, even the once despised Zanzibar Electoral Commission (ZEC) is receiving...

Eritrea: precision mourning: 20 June was designated "Martyrs Day" by the Eritrean government after liberation from Ethiopia in 1991, and each year there are mass mourning processions around the country to various cemeteries known as "Martyrs Graveyards". This year, something else happened on Martyrs Day. Chris Smith reports from Asmara.(Around Africa)(Brief Article)
August 1, 2003... The Eritrean government times its pronouncements with precision. Despite fighting a three-year war against Ethiopia from 1998-2000, the government had never informed relatives as to the fate of their family members who were conscripted to...

South Africa/Zimbabwe: Mandela, Rhodes--what do they have in common? The seventh Will of Cecil John Rhodes, the British arch colonialist (left), created an educational grant known as the 'Rhodes Scholarship' in 1902. But in recent weeks, hairs have been torn over the addition of the Mandela name to the Rhodes Foundation.(Around Africa)
August 1, 2003... Every year adverts are placed in newspapers inviting Africans to apply for the Rhodes Scholarships. In Zimbabwe, they are awarded through a local and secretive Rhodes Scholarship Selection Committee whose membership contains a proportion of...

Botswana: up USA, down ICC: after days of denials, Botswana has finally admitted signing an agreement with America giving US citizens immunity from prosecution by the International Criminal Court (ICC). Rodrick Mukumbira reports from Gaborone.(Around Africa)
August 1, 2003... Despite being a signatory of the ICC treaty, Botswana has created controversy by becoming the second African country to throw its weight behind America in its raging battle with the ICC. Botswana later admitted that it did so under...

East Africa: Nile waters for sale? In 1929, Britain and Egypt signed the Nile Treaty that gave Egypt huge powers over the use of waters of the Nile River. Now three countries in the Nile basin (Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania) which were under British rule at the time of the agreement want their fair share of the Nile waters. Blamuel Njuriri reports from Nairobi.(Around Africa)
August 1, 2003... East African Legislative Assembly MPs working on the Nile Treaty have come up with a radical proposal for a review that would facilitate states within the region to sell water to Egypt and Sudan. The MPs say the three East African countries...

Who says Africa is independent? ... the first responses.(The Debate)
August 1, 2003... We started a major debate in our last issue, inviting readers to not only comment on whether or not Africa is independent, but also offering the way out. Do we have a mere flag-and-anthem independence as some say? Or an independence that gives...

91 and still going strong: born in 1912, Osabarima Agyemang II (known in private life as Wofa Kofi Manu), one of the most experienced chiefs in Akyem Abuakwa, if not in Ghana, is still going strong. He even made it to London recently.(Under the Neem Tree)
August 1, 2003... It seems as if he has always been there. When I was growing up, Wofa Kofi Manu was involved in everything in my town, Asiakwa, in Akyem Abuakwa, the biggest state in the Eastern Region of Ghana. Born in 1912, Wofa Kofi was our postal agent....

What was Bush looking for in Africa? George W. Bush became the second American president (after Clinton) to visit Africa--five days in five countries. But what was his game plan? What was he looking for?(Feature)
August 1, 2003... A cartoon in a Johannesburg newspaper captured it all: George Bush had arrived in South Africa. Thabo Mbeki, the perfect host was proudly showing off his country in his presidential chopper. George Bush scrupulously checks out the lie of the...

Conflict diamonds the Kimberley Process for corruption: conflict diamonds alone are not the problem. The easy access to overseas secret bank accounts is an enabling factor. Without clamping down on these secret bank accounts, the Kimberley Process is just like closing the barn door at the front only to open a new gate at the back to let the cows out.(Feature)
August 1, 2003... In Africa, as elsewhere, things sometimes happen in stark terms. But, the murky middle this time is the solution offered by the Kimberley Process, which is commonly recognised as the tool to prevent the use of "conflict diamonds" to support...

Criminals beware, Interpol is wiring up Africa: Ibrahim Seaga Shaw went to interview the first African-American (in fact the first American of any colour) secretary general of Interpol, Roland Kenneth Noble, at the Interpol headquarters in Lyon, France. He reports on how Interpol is wiring up Africa to its new ultra-modern communication system to combat African and international crime.(Feature)(Interview)
August 1, 2003... Interpol is the largest international police organisation in the world. Set up in 1923 to facilitate cross-border criminal police co-operation, the organisation today has 181 members spread over five continents. It supports and assists all...

Namibia's island of death: Shark Island, off Namibia's coastal town of Luderitz, was the venue of a brutal concentration camp during German colonial rule. Casper W. Erichsen, an alumnus of the University of Namibia, writes about an island of suffering and death.(Feature)
August 1, 2003... Between 1904 and 1908 a series of wars were fought by the indigenous people of Namibia against German colonial forces. The most famous was waged by the united Herero nation, the occupants of central Namibia, who in the initial battles and...

South Africa: not easy but feasible: with a remarkable turnaround of the currency, the rand, and positive forecasts for its future growth, South Africa continues to defy all the prophets of doom. Pusch Commey reports from Durban.(Feature)
August 1, 2003... Underlying South Africa's growth and stability is a sophisticated political and economic system that works. The spin off has been felt in several African countries where highly efficient South African companies are transforming various sectors...

UK: London festival targets capital's slavery past: 23 August marks UNESCO's International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition. This year, Anti-Slavery International, the world's oldest international human rights organisation, in partnership with African heritage community groups, is organising a four-day programme in remembrance of Britain's role in the Transatlantic Slave Trade.(Diaspora)
August 1, 2003... Called the "Rendezvous of Victory", the Anti Slavery International's four-day programme kicks off on 21 August and ends on 24 August. It will be held in Greenwich and Brixton, two areas of London connected with the slave trade and...

The problem of the 21st century ... One hundred years ago, W.E.B. Du Bois wrote: "The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the colour-line ..." There is no better tribute one can pay to the sheer brilliance of Du Bois' mind than read his beautifully written collection of essays in this their 100th anniversary year.
August 1, 2003... What is "Freedom"? I have no idea any more and I would like somebody to enlighten me. I know what freedoms are. But not what Freedom is. It seems, somehow, a word so debased now. Does it mean the same as "Liberty"? Moreover, "Freedom" to...

Oil: latest stop Uganda but who really benefits? Uganda is Africa's latest kid on the oil block. In fact, oil occurrence in the Lake Albert basin in western Uganda has been documented for decades. Now comes news that the Semiliki Basin, south of Lake Albert, could yield "several billions of barrels" of "black gold".(New African Market)
August 1, 2003... Is oil necessarily a good thing for Uganda its a whole? Michael Wood, president and chief executive of Heritage Oil Corporation of Canada, the company involved in the exploration of Uganda's oil, seems to think so. He feels that the exploratory...

Promoting Morocco: Mohammed Belmahi, Morocco's ambassador to London, speaks to New African on his country's special relationship with Britain.(New African Market)(Interview)
August 1, 2003... Morocco has had fruitful relations with Britain for over 800 years, since 1213, and hopes to build on it, says Ambassador Belmahi. "Today, Morocco is on a par with Egypt in the Arab market, and we are the third largest market for Britain in the...

Chad: oil brings good tidings: landlocked Chad has been celebrating good times, becoming a first-time oil producer when production from oilfields in the Doba Basin in the south of the country began in July.(New African Market)
August 1, 2003... Chad, labelled in the West as one of the poorest countries in Africa, is expected to build up oil production from an initial 50,000 barrels per day to a peak of 225,000 barrels per day, and is to last for 25 to 30 years. The first oil from...

Namibia: business is getting better: a Euro20 million organic table grapes' business is the latest good news to come from Namibia.(New African Market)
August 1, 2003... Namibians are often described as Africa's optimists--and with good reason. Not only does their country enjoy one of the continent's most pleasant, peaceful and politically stable environments, but also an infrastructure to rival many developed...

He fought like a real lion ... Marc-Vivien Foe, the adieu: on 7 July, thousands of people jammed the Cameroonian capital, Yaounde, for the burial, with full national honours, of Marc-Vivien Foe, their international midfielder who collapsed and died in France during the Confederations Cup semi-final match against Colombia on 26 June.(Football)
August 1, 2003... Some climbed on roofs, others on trees just to catch a glimpse of the coffin as it made its way slowly to Yaounde's Biteng-Okoui cemetery in the southern outskirts of the city. Many wore replicas of Marc-Vivien Foe's No. 17 national jersey. ...