New African articles from July 2003

New African archives from July 2003

Letters.(Letter to the Editor)
July 1, 2003... Not wrong about Zimbabwe Please allow me to reply to Osei Kofi and the points he made about Zimbabwe in his letter, Wrong about Zimbabwe, (NA May). First, I find it extremely distressing that we Africans have been so programmed with...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
July 1, 2003... In the May issue, we wrongly described Josephine A. Apira as "the former" spokesperson in London of the Lord's Resistance Army which is fighting the Ugandan government in the north of the country. We've been informed that Ms Apira is still the...

Dr. Livingstone, I presume? (Baffour's Beefs).
July 1, 2003... "It is not clear that [Africa] can generate its own salvation. It may be necessary to devise a form of neo-imperialism, in which Britain, the US and the other beneficent nations would recruit local leaders and give them guidance to move towards...

Who say Africa is independent?(Cover Story)
July 1, 2003... The optimism flowing from the 2nd African Union Summit in Maputo, Mozambique, suggests a new dawn of African independence. But in reality, what kind of independence are we talking about in Africa? A mere flag-and-anthem independence? Or an...

Why did we become independent?(Interview)
July 1, 2003... "The situation in Africa in terms of economic reform is not changing. There has been so much interference when we have tried to do something for our own good. 'Oh no, don't do that. We must tell you what to do.' The question I ask is: Why did...

African Union: some see mud, others see the stars. (Lest we Forget).
July 1, 2003... "Two men look through the same prison bars; one sees the mud, the other sees the stars". Given that Africa is still captive of new forms of debt and political bondage, the meaning of the above verses still applies to those converging on Maputo...

British soldiers in rape scandal: an attempt by the British government to play down the rape of Maasai women in rural Kenya by British soldiers for more than 20 years has come a cropper. (Around Africa: Kenya).
July 1, 2003... In the rocky Kenyan hills of Dol Dol, the picturesque terrain of thorny thickets stands out. This is the land where British soldiers have loved to practise every year for decades now. Dol Dol is remote and out of the way. While it was...

At last, an African conquers Mount Everest: Sibusiso Vilane climbed himself into the history books when he become the first black man to conquer the world's tallest mountain. (Around Africa: Swaziland/South Africa).
July 1, 2003... On the 50th anniversary of the conquest of Mount Everest by the British climber, Sir Edmund Hillary, Sibusiso Vilane, who holds a dual South African-Swaziland citizenship, demonstrated that given the opportunity, Africans can match or better...

The 'final push' that never was. (Around Africa: Zimbabwe).(MDC protests against Robert Mugabe fail to deliver)
July 1, 2003... In Japan, they call it kamikaze, a suicidal attack on the enemy. That is the kind of fatal strike that Zimbabwe's opposition MDC party planned to deliver on President Robert Mugabe in early June. But it didn't work. The MDC dubbed its...

Rawlings in the frame: the searchlight of the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC) has now fallen on former President Jerry John Rawlings. (Around Africa: Ghana).
July 1, 2003... After the Kwesi Pratt bombshell (see NA June), the nation now has the Rawlings bombshell. Pratt was exposed at the NRC by Warrant Officer Adjei Boadi, a member of Rawlings' erstwhile PNDC, as a double agent who spied on his anti-Rawlings...

Timbuktu manuscripts, evidence of Africa's glorious past. (Around Africa: Mali).
July 1, 2003... It has been said that Black Africa had no written tradition. But an exciting find in Timbuktu has uncovered thousands of manuscripts dating from the 13th and 14th centuries, pointing to the great libraries of Timbuktu where Western scholars...

Mwanawasa walks alone. (Around Africa: Zambia).
July 1, 2003... Never in the history of Zambia has a leader tried so hard to distance himself from his ruling party as president Levy Mwanawasa. And what's causing the trouble? President Mwanawasa has called members of his ruling Movement for Multiparty...

Tunisia: Africa's bridge to the world.
July 1, 2003... Africa's model economy Tunisia has been hailed as the model for other African and Middle Eastern countries to follow in their quest for modernisation and growth. But, as Anver Versi reports, the country's road to success has been long and...

Where in hell are the WMD? (Under the Neem Tree).(weapons of mass destruction)
July 1, 2003... Where lies the security of the world? If the most powerful nations on earth can cook up a pack of lies against a country in order to attack it, who is safe? Today it is Iraq. Tomorrow it may be Iran. And the day after tomorrow? Those of us...

Solar Energy: Africa's second liberation. (Feature).
July 1, 2003... After the "first liberation" of political independence, the "second liberation" of Africa will come through the use of solar energy to power our homes and industries. Imagine a USA or Europe without electricity. But that is what Africa...

The battle over apartheid reparations. (Feature: South Africa).
July 1, 2003... Multinational corporations are now facing multi-billion dollar lawsuits in American courts from victims of apartheid. But big business is fighting back. Geoff Rodoreda reports on a behind-the-scenes campaign to kill off the apartheid claims....

Dialogue is the way forward. (Feature: Cameroon).
July 1, 2003... The simmering discontent in Cameroon between the two halves of the country -- Francophone and Anglophone -- is growing. It is time the African Union, and even the UN, played a more prominent role in encouraging dialogue. The frustrations...

Too bright, too black, not wanted. (Not in Black or White).
July 1, 2003... Like African countries, where the problems of a single country are used to hold the entire continent to ransom, your individual mistakes will represent the faults of all black people. Pounced upon as proof that you are inferior and unsuitable...

Joining the I.T. revolution. (New African Market: Africa).
July 1, 2003... "This is the first opportunity for us to compete in a long time. We missed the first boat when industrialisation passed us by. We can't miss this IT boat," says the Ghanaian software entrepreneur, Hermann Chinnery-Hesse. So what is the...

Is oil a curse? A new report by Christian Aid, fuelling poverty--oil, war and corruption, claims "oil is a curse rather than a blessing to poorer countries". (New African Market: Africa).
July 1, 2003... According to the report, oil-wealth has often led to greater poverty and a high likelihood of war and corruption, rather than peace, wealth and prosperity in developing countries. Launching the report in London in June, the actor, Joseph...

Africa the Negleted Disease: millions of Africans do not have access to medicines for diseases that have been widely neglected by researchers and funding agencies for decades. (Spotlight: Health).
July 1, 2003... Elephantiasis One of the oldest and most debilitating diseases in the world, it mainly affects poor people in tropical and subtropical areas of Africa, Asia and South America. Approximately 120 million people are affected in at least 80...

"This is the island! Here you will die!" (Diaspora: USA).(Interview)
July 1, 2003... Nick Hordern on the life and death of the great African-American civil rights leader, Medgar Evers (photo below), who was assassinated in June 1963. Hordern went to California to interview Evers' widow, Myrlie Evers-Williams, on the occasion of...

UK Africa Diaspora Day. (Diaspora).
July 1, 2003... The vibe for Africa is once again positive. This feeling is no more tangible than amongst the African community in London who are organising an African Diaspora and Development Day on 5 July at Birkbeck College. The hundreds of...

Solar energy what the Europeans are doing: not known to take a backseat, the Europeans are preparing themselves to take a commanding position in solar energy production and use. (Diaspora).
July 1, 2003... As part of the new found determination to rake its rightful place in the world of solar energy, the European Union has convened the first European Solar Thermal Energy Conference (Estec2003) in the German city of Freiburg, to enable the...