New African articles from February 2004

New African archives from February 2004

Is it a donation or a loan?(Letters)
February 1, 2004... Western countries and their agents--the IMF, World Bank, etc--call themselves donor countries or organisations. But what is a donation and what is a loan? According to the Concise Oxford Dictionary, a "donation" is a "bestowal; present;...

Sudan: please let the peace hold.(Letters)
February 1, 2004... I am a happy New African reader, I discovered the magazine in 2001 and have since become a regular reader. I love your work. You are making us gladly believe that we are Africans. God bless you. It is in this context that I want to appeal...

Wrong on Zimbabwe.(Letters)
February 1, 2004... Stella Orakwue's column on Zimbabwe's withdrawal form the Commonwealth (NA, Jan 2004) is more an expression of racial hatred, provocation and intimidation. She failed to address the real issue why the Commonwealth stood firm on the suspension...

Great Stella.(Letters)
February 1, 2004... What a wonderful New Year's gift. Your January issue was excellent! Kudos to your staff and Stella Orakwue. Her article was right on the money. I could not stop laughing. What an excellent article and a great writer with a wonderful sense of...

The Khamas.(Letters)
February 1, 2004... As Ruth Khama is one of my heroines, I was especially interested in the article, Sir Seretse, the Mould Breaker, (NA, Dec). I fully support the Mbangas in their wanting the 18 to 24-year generation to read about the Khamas. [ILLUSTRATION...

Save our souls.(Letters)
February 1, 2004... I am a Ugandan refugee currently in jail in Denmark. Like other immigrants and refugees, I did not commit the crime I am accused of. I was convicted in a closed court on trumped up charges by the police and sentenced to two-and-a-half years...

Sierra Leone: plain-faced theft.(Letters)
February 1, 2004... I shall begin by thanking the New African team for the wonderful work they are doing in creating awareness and awakening the dormant spirit of the African people both at home and abroad. I was shocked when I saw on Italian TV recently a...

Tatchell: "I'm only assisting the ZFM".(Letters)
February 1, 2004... Contrary to your suggestion (NA, Jan), the new Zimbabwe Freedom Movement is not "driven by outside forces". I have no involvement in it. I merely helped communicate its message to the outside world. If the ZFM leaders had held their news...

No longer shall they kill our prophets ... (1).(Baffour's Beefs)
February 1, 2004... "I had preached to Feisal [king of Syria, 1920; and first king of Iraq, 1921-33] from the beginning that freedom was taken, not given"--T. E. Lawrence, the British soldier and writer, commenting on the Arab revolt of 1916-18 against the Turks,...

Commonwealth: whose wealth?(Cover Story)
February 1, 2004... There has been no shortage of news about the Commonwealth in the past two months. But how does the Commonwealth impact or benefit the ordinary African? In this article, Regina Jere-Malanda analyses the historical, political and economic essence...

Blair: we want regime change.(Commonwealth/Zimbabwe)
February 1, 2004... The Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Abuja (5-8 December) resolved to "encourage and assist the process of national reconciliation" in Zimbabwe. But to the British prime minister, Tony Blair, (as he told parliament on 9...

The official goodbye.(Commonwealth/Zimbabwe)
February 1, 2004... On 11 December, Zimbabwe's foreign minister, Stanley G. Mudenge (photo below), officially wrote to the Commonwealth secretary general, Don McKinnon, terminating Zimbabwe's membership of the Commonwealth. For the record, we publish the letter in...

Mbeki: we will resist regime change.(Commonwealth/Zimbabwe)
February 1, 2004... In this article, Thabo Mbeki, the South African president, tells why he fought stoutly for Zimbabwe's Commonwealth suspension to be lifted. He writes: "Those who fought for a democratic Zimbabwe, with thousands paying the supreme price during...

What our readers say: we publish here some readers' reactions to the Commonwealth crisis. Reactions can still be sent by post, fax or email.(Commonwealth/Zimbabwe)
February 1, 2004... Needed: a united African voice In view of Zimbabwe's withdrawal from the Commonwealth, it is timely to remember President Kwame Nkrumah's view of the Commonwealth. He held that there should be no political or economic grouping or blocs in...

Namibia: the land is ours!(Analysis)
February 1, 2004... Uazuva Kaumbi, the chairman of the board of the Namibia broadcasting corporation, writes about the need for an equitable redistribution of land in Namibia, or Zimbabwe would look like a Sunday school picnic by comparison! ********** ...

The new face of imperialism.(Lest we Forget)
February 1, 2004... In the age of TV, new insidious disguises are being used to give imperialism a new face--namely the sudden upsurge of black, Arab, and Asian military and civilian spokesmen and women to deliver official statements or decorate...

South Africa: 10 years of freedom.(Around Africa)
February 1, 2004... General elections, the third since the collapse of apartheid in 1991, will be held in April to coincide with the 10th anniversary of the demise of apartheid. The campaign is in earnest, and President Thabo Mbeki has already ruffled some...

Guinea: no place for a worn-out president?(Around Africa)
February 1, 2004... Despite his poor health, President Lansana Conte (right) was returned to power in the 21 December presidential election boycotted by the main opposition coalition. Yohannes Perry reports from Conakry. ********** The "Front Republicain...

Kenya: fury over symbol.
February 1, 2004... Otieno Aluoka reports on Kenya's new KSh200 banknote that depicts three sad-looking cotton-pickers, which could remind African-Americans of the terrible old days of their enslaved forebears who suffered for nothing on America's cotton fields....

Cameroon: Aids vaccine: doctor cries foul.(Around Africa)
February 1, 2004... When Professor Victor Anomah Ngu (above) announced in Yaounde in 2001 that he had developed an auto-vaccine therapy against HIV/Aids, his colleagues at home rubbished his claims. Now, he says an American company has taken his discovery. Tansa...

We must go the OPEC way, if necessary.(Under the Neem Tree)
February 1, 2004... Our economic "under-development" is not a curse of nature but a man-imposed act of injustice. If the OPEC countries, with all the intrinsic social conservatism that plagues many of them, have made the intellectual leap that has freed them from...

Ghana: the real Kufuor; A new biography of President John Agyekum Kufuor--Between Faith and History--written by Ivor Agyeman-Duah, reveals the man behind the man at the helm in Accra. Osei Boateng has been reading it.(Feature)
February 1, 2004... President John Agyekum Kufuor, one of the tallest presidents to burst onto the African scene, is known as "The Gentle Giant" on account of his quiet demeanour. But two recent foreign policy decisions by him--supporting Zimbabwe's suspension...

Bauchi State: the home of peace and progress; Our special correspondent, Ben Asante, on a tour of northern Nigeria writes about the historic state of Bauchi, the home of tradition still making strides.(Focus on Nigeria)
February 1, 2004... Bauchi State is the strategic gateway to five other states in northeast Nigeria. The state itself is a leading breadbasket, and also endowed with natural beauty. It abounds in rare species of birds and animals which remain at the centre of the...

History's most sordid cover-up.(Not in Black or White)
February 1, 2004... The history of the former European colonies' mixed-race populations is one of the world's biggest hidden scandals. How did these populations come about? We did not miraculously or biblically produce mixed-race babies from thin air. Most of the...

USA a Reverend with a cause: February is Black History Month in the USA. We begin the celebration here by looking at the chances of the Rev. Alfred C. Sharpton who wants to succeed where the Rev. Jesse Jackson failed--to become the first African-American president of the USA. Leslie Goffe reports from Washington.(Diaspora)
February 1, 2004... The Rev. Al Sharpton, like Jesse Jackson before him, has grand ambitions. But with only 3% of Americans saying they will vote for him, it is clear he won't get any closer to the Oval office than Jackson did. Sharpton, who is against President...

Perfect gift for Black History Month: for Africans at home and the Diaspora who want their children to know about their rich heritage, nothing could be more helpful than a new 34-page book, Black Scientists and Inventors Book II, recently published by BIS Publications, based in London. Tom Mbakwe reports.(Diaspora)
February 1, 2004... Written by Michael Williams and Ava Henry, the A4-size book is designed to be used by children between the ages of 7 and 16. It is written in simple language and covers some black scientists and inventors (not all), including Lewis Latimer...

The dawning of a new day: after a shaky start, the African Union has now fully embraced the Africans in the Diaspora and wants them to play a major role in the building of the new Africa. From 26-29 February, a forum for the African Diaspora will be held in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, under the auspices of the African Union (AU) to chart the way forward. Osei Boateng reports.(Diaspora)
February 1, 2004... Nobody needs the long memory of an elephant to remember the uncomfortable words of the South African president, Thabo Mbeki, at the African Union's post-launch press conference in Durban on 9 July 2002. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] When...

Haiti 200 years of black independence: on New Year's Day, Haiti celebrated 200 years of independence, the second black nation in the Western hemisphere to achieve independence in 1804. This is the concluding part of the extract from Dr Jacob H. Carruthers' book, The Irritated Genie, on the amazing story of the Haitian Revolution. Sadly, Dr Carruthers passed away on 4 January 2004 (See p66).(Diaspora)
February 1, 2004... In July 1800, Toussaint Louverture, one of the founding fathers of Haitian independence, had marched and conquered the Spanish port of the island. Then, with all of his enemies presumably vanquished, Toussaint turned his attention to...

Haiti the American angle: to understand the current troubles in Haiti (even as it celebrates 200 years of independence), one might have to point his binoculars in the direction of Washington DC. Elombe Brath reports from New York.(Diaspora)
February 1, 2004... Haiti (as correctly reported by New African, Jan 2004) is not the first black nation to declare independence. Palmares was. It was established around 1595 in northern Brazil by rebellious African slaves but it was destroyed in 1694 by Portugal....

Good night, good knight: Dr. Jacob Hudson Carruthers, one of the great African-American scholars, historians and educators died at his home in Chicago, Illinois, on 4 January 2004, after a long illness. This is a tribute by the Kemetic Institute of which he was a founding member.(Diaspora)
February 1, 2004... For 32 years, Dr Jacob Carruthers was a professor of history and education at the Centre for Inner City Studies of Northeastern Illinois University. His leadership pioneered the development of both undergraduate and graduate degrees in Inner...