New African articles from June 2004

New African archives from June 2004

South Africa: hideous atrocities on farms.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
June 1, 2004... I am a regular reader of the New African magazine and I thoroughly appreciate it. However, as a missionary in South Africa I think that your article "South Africa Farm Violence, Enough Is Enough" needs some balance. The feature uses the...

NPP has failed Ghana Airways.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
June 1, 2004... Ghana Airways, the national carrier, has been going for over 45 years, incorporated and built for the nation by the mighty Convention People's Party (CPP). In that time, it has been a source of pride and joy for Ghana, and has been used by...

Uganda: government must act responsibly too.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
June 1, 2004... "They are fighting near grandpa's area, but I don't know why". Still a child myself, this was my response to my 3-year-old sister, 17 years ago, when she asked me why rebels were fighting in northern Uganda. What we know though, is that the...

Poor Netherlands.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
June 1, 2004... For me as a Dutchman (born and raised) who is in daily contact with people from Africa since late 1989, Femi Akomolafe's article (The Netherlands: Immigrants beware, NA May) contains nothing new. This is no criticism of the author; on the...

I have a dream.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
June 1, 2004... First of all, I must congratulate New African for the enlightenment you have given me since 1991. But here, I would like merely to share my dream with your readers. Last night I dreamt that I had become the president of the United States...

Wrong about Sudan.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
June 1, 2004... It was interesting that Prof Kwesi Kwaa Prah (NA, Jan) equated the situation in Sudan with apartheid rule in South Africa. This description is absolutely incorrect and scary, because from the inception of national rule in 1956, citizens from...

Ethnic cleansing in Darfur?(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
June 1, 2004... As I write, more than a million people have been driven out of their homes in the Darfur region of Western Sudan. Women have been raped and thousands have been killed with the most savage of means; all this being accomplished by miltias armed...

Rwanda: never again?(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
June 1, 2004... Your coverage of the 10th anniversary of the Rwandan tragedy made no mention of the findings of the French anti-terrorist Judge Bruguiere following his six-year investigation into the 6 April 1994 assassination of the presidents of Rwanda and...

Immigrants: the real story.(Cover Story)
June 1, 2004... 20 June is World Refugee Day. According to the UN, the day "is a salute to the indomitable spirit and courage of the world's refugees, and as such it should be a real celebration". But this year's celebrations come amidst a backlash against...

Figure it out.
June 1, 2004... With all the frenetic and unsubstantiated claims of African immigrants swamping rich countries, this contention should best be judged by the real figures on the ground. The figures published here come from the Washington-based US Committee for...

West Africa: don't let history repeat itself.(Lest We Forget)
June 1, 2004... One in six barrels of oil imported by the US today comes from West Africa, mostly from Nigeria and Angola. Over the next 10 years, according to US estimates, West Africa's share will increase to one out of every four barrels. West Africans must...

South Africa: why Buthelezi fell from grace; It had long been coming. And when it finally came, the message was terse. "Thank you for your contribution to the work of our government over the past 10 years, and wish you the best in your future endeavours". With these marching orders, President Mbeki sent Chief Buthelezi packing. Pusch Commey reports on why the chief fell from grace.(Around Africa)
June 1, 2004... Days after President Thabo Mbeki had secured the ANC's largest ever electoral victory on 14 April, he wrote to his home affairs minister, Chief Mangosuthu Buthelezi, announcing his intention to appoint two junior members of Buthelezi's Inkatha...

Africa/UK: Africa commission takes off; Tony Blair, the British prime minister, has now decided to give teeth to his many speeches about Africa by setting up a Commission for Africa to take a fresh look at the challenges facing the continent. The aim is to generate increased global support for Africa, especially on the G8 and in the EU, both of which Britain chairs next year. Tom Mbakwe reports.(Around Africa)
June 1, 2004... In October 2001, Tony Blair told the Labour Party annual conference: "The state of Africa is a scar on the conscience of the world. But if the world as a community focused on it, we could heal it. And if we don't, it will become deeper and...

Kenya: the mweri tree scandal; Dr Newton Kulundu, Kenya's environment minister, is not happy that the cash benefit from the medicinal properties of the Prunus Africana tree, has been monopolised by individuals. And he wants it stopped. Wanjohi Kabukuru reports from Nairobi.(Around Africa)
June 1, 2004... "It is not a secret that Jonathan Leakey has been exporting the products of the Prunus Africana to the European market for the last 20 years," says an unhappy Dr Newton Kulundu. Until he lambasted Jonathan Leakey, ordinary Kenyans had sparse...

Cameroon: one candidate for opposition; To beat President Paul Biya in the coming elections planned for October, Cameroon's opposition parties are taking a cue from Kenya by forming a coalition and fielding one presidential candidate. It promises to be a battle royal. Tansa Musa reports from Yaounde.(Around Africa)
June 1, 2004... "Coalition", the speakers bellow one after another as they mount the rostrum. "Action," the crowd roars back. "Coalition," they repeat, "Action," the crowd responds. "Coaaaalition," for a third time, "Action now!" the crowd applauds amid...

South Africa: 'Too late for Mama'; Brenda Fassie, the indomitable diva of South Africa pop, finally gave up the fight on 9 May, but not before bringing everybody who was anybody in South Africa to her bedside. Pusch Commey reports.(Around Africa)(Obituary)
June 1, 2004... Her death was widely anticipated days before she departed. Local newspapers screamed headlines like "Too late for Mama", one of her popular songs. But when she finally died, it still came as a huge shock. South Africa had lost a beloved...

Ghana Castle of no return: over 500 years old, the Elmina Castle in Ghana, the largest slave-holding fort during TransAtlantic Slavery, has become a major tourist attraction in spite of its tragic history. Josephine Akarue has just been there.(Feature)
June 1, 2004... It is evening. As the white waves cascade over the huge sedimentary rocks that have defied age and weather, the voices of tourists and other holidaymakers mingle with the smell of fish, and waft through the salty, crisp air. [ILLUSTRATION...

Fill in this questionnaire and win a free subscription*.(Reader Survey)
June 1, 2004... Dear Reader We have made substantial efforts over the past two years to give you a better, brighter and more useful magazine. Now we need your help to improve it even further. It is for this reason that we ask you to spend a few...

Nigeria: why oh why?(Feature)
June 1, 2004... "Mr Chairman, you are talking absolute nonsense and don't provoke me... What type of leader are you? And you are asking me this type of rubbish question. You are an idiot! A total idiot! And I have no apologies for that." This is President...

Uganda: can government ever defeat the LRA?(Feature)
June 1, 2004... Uganda is able to fight in DRCongo and hold huge swathes of territory there. But for 18 years, President Yoweri Museveni, who himself fought a five year guerrilla-style bush war to seize power in 1986, has not been able to crush the LRA in...

Kumasi is still The Garden City: when the current crop of Kumasi (and indeed Asante) adults die off, will Asante culture be able to survive? Only a rash prophet would quickly answer this question.(Under the Neem Tree)
June 1, 2004... Kumasi, the second largest city in Ghana, has been known from time immemorial as "The Garden City". The celebration of the Adaekese Festival by the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, in early May, provided me with an opportunity to re-acquaint...

No civilisation has developed with a foreign language.(The Interview)(Interview)
June 1, 2004... Kassahun Checole (pictured right) was born in Eritrea but educated in the US. His dream was to return to his home country and help with nation-building, but ended up as a professor at Rutgers University in New Jersey and an adjunct professor at...

A Guest is a stranger after all.(Book Review)(Book Review)
June 1, 2004... Robert Guest is the Africa editor of The Economist. He thinks Africa is poor because it "hardly produces anything that the rest of the world wants to buy". Even H. M. Stanley (1841-1904), the British journalist/explorer who lived fat on the...

Blair versus Mbeki? NEPAD, the African Union initiative, is President Thabo Mbeki's three-year-old baby, and the Blair Commission for Africa is nothing but a gauntlet thrown at its struggling, young feet. Discuss.(Not in Black or White)
June 1, 2004... It's about Blair versus Mbeki. Is Tony Blair jealous of Thabo Mbeki, does he consider him to be a rival? I think he might do, certainly when it comes to Africa. There could be a real tug of war going on between them behind the scenes. They...

Condi as you never knew her.(Diaspora)
June 1, 2004... "Condoleezza Rice was my graduate student, and a woman raised to excel. But she has failed the American people because she has forgotten a higher duty than excellence: truth", writes Professor Alan Gilbert of the Graduate School of...

Training Course on peacebuilding and good governance for African civilian personnel.
June 1, 2004... Training activities for year 2004 University of Ghana Legon, Ghana In partnership with the financial contribution of United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs FOUNDATION COURSE This is designed to provide an...

Slovakia: the lawyer of hearts.(Diaspora)(Interview)
June 1, 2004... His name is Columbus Igboanusi. He is a Nigerian lawyer. He is the only one prepared to defend Slovakia's 500,000 Romas. And he has won their hearts, much to the chagrin of some of the native Slovaks. Some have even called for his deportation,...

The new rulers of long distance.(Athletics)
June 1, 2004... Clayton Goodwin has been trying to keep up with the marvellous Ethiopian and Kenyan long-distance runners. He tells Pheidipides, the Greek who gave the world the Marathon race in 490 BC, to let his spirit just sit back and enjoy--because the...

Arsenal plenty, the rest nil.(Football)
June 1, 2004... Arsenal have become the team of African and African-Caribbean players and fans. They have just won the English Premiership title again, this year without losing a match on the way, a record in itself. And guess who made up their dependable...