New African articles from May 2004

New African archives from May 2004

Africa must act on bio-piracy.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
May 1, 2004... I hope you will be able to publish my delayed response to your excellent and important feature on bio-piracy (NA, Dec). This timely and well-informed article certainly merits wide circulation and discussion. Too often, the external nature...

Kaunda's record.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
May 1, 2004... President Kaunda (NA, March) gave a good speech at Moorhouse College, a receptive environment dedicated to black and pan-African liberation. Question: What did he do as a former leader to practically advance Zambia's economy along the lines he...

Management training is vital.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
May 1, 2004... The former Zambian president, Kenneth Kaunda (NA, March) recognises that Africa is moving beyond the days of despair and deprivation; that Africa is paying other people to do things we need (and can) do, with money we need to keep; that there...

Lesson for The Gambia.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
May 1, 2004... I am very impressed by the interview Baffour Ankomah had with Ghana's finance minister, Yaw Osafo-Maafo (NA, March). I see from that interview a great change in the economy of Ghana and a better future for Ghanaians. The last question of...

I am your fan, Stella!(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
May 1, 2004... Until recently, I had not shown much interest in Stella Orakwe's column, Not in Black or White, though I have been a long-time reader of New African. However, her February piece, History's Most Sordid Cover-up, really touched my heart--as...

Bravo Stella.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
May 1, 2004... I had been questioning myself, rather than New African, about Stella Orakwue's robust column, Not in Black and White, where she tackles black and white issues in a rather bold manner, aiming punches at every actual or potential opposition to...

Ethiopia: poverty remains main enemy.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
May 1, 2004... Your article, Ethiopia: More Arms, Less Food? (NA, March), gives the impression that Ethiopia is spending more on arms than on feeding its people. When the conflict with Eritrea ended in 2000, Ethiopia immediately began to make radical...

What arrogance?(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
May 1, 2004... I don't see what right S. Hodgson, the woman from Dakar, Senegal (NA, March) has for telling us how to express our concerns or for that matter the stance we ought to take in addressing the raping of our women by white male, an act that even now...

We can't forget the past.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
May 1, 2004... Yes, it is true that Africans cannot blame all our troubles on others. However, in issuing such warnings, like C. Gama did in his letter (NA, March), we should be careful not to suggest that we ignore completely the role of the West, past and...

No longer shall they kill our prophets ... (3).(Baffour's Beefs)(Bilderberg Group )
May 1, 2004... "In respect of the UN, as I said before, we raise this issue regularly at the UN. It is important, however, that we do not put a resolution before the UN Security Council in particular unless we are sure that it would succeed, because if we put...

Ghana at 47.(The Gallery)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... Now 47 years old as an independent country, Ghana is set for greater things for the benefit of all its citizens. This was the central message that Ghana's high commissioner to the United Kingdom, His Excellency Isaac Osei, conveyed to the...

South Africa: on the right track.(Cover Story)
May 1, 2004... South Africans deserve joy as they celebrate 10 years of democracy. Though there is more room for improvement, a lot has changed since the demise of apartheid in 1994 (see analysis on p14). But don't mention it to the critics. Baffour Ankomah...

ANC wins confidence of the nation: the ANC's emphatic victory in the 14 April elections did not come as a surprise. After 10 years of democracy, the party can take credit for the political and economic stability that the country enjoys today.
May 1, 2004... Since the first election in 1994 when it polled 65%, the ANC has enjoyed an increase in subsequent elections--66.7% in 1999 and now almost 70%. This landslide is a demonstration of the confidence the electorate has in the governance of the...

South Africa: 'Our Strength Lies in Secrecy'.(Special Books)(Excerpt)
May 1, 2004... This is the story of "the nerve centre of apartheid", the Afrikaner Broederbond, the secret organisation that planned and ran the apartheid system in South Africa. This article is the opening shot of an exciting new "section" being introduced...

Colonialism is back in fashion: not long ago, many Western scholars looked down on such terms like "imperialism" and "exploitation". Now a new encyclopaedia on colonialism is about to be published (cover price: $285). It is a sign that Western curriculum on the subject is finally catching up with the times.(Lest We Forget)(Book Review)
May 1, 2004... Being a book reviewer, specialising on Africa and colonialism, I recently received through the post a leaflet announcing the publication of a three-volume encyclopaedia entitled Colonialism, comprising 1,208 pages, with 600 essays by as many...

Rwanda: a time to remember, but ... "Never again" was the theme of the 10th anniversary of the Rwandan genocide. But as James M. Smith and Janet Jere report, to achieve this, the lessons should go far beyond the 1994 genocide.(Around Africa)
May 1, 2004... For the past decade, the second week of April has always been sad in Rwanda. "Normally I feel so sad and alone," says Faustin Kagame, a Rwandan exile who returned to Rwanda days before the genocide began on 7 April 1994. "This year, though, we...

The Gambia: oil at last; The Gambia has finally hit oil, and judging from recent events, the country will have no truck with corruption from any quarter. Modou Kante reports.(Around Africa)
May 1, 2004... Joy was the word when President Yahya Jammeh announced in a nationwide TV broadcast that The Gambia had finally discovered "huge reserves of oil" offshore. A survey conducted by a Western company had revealed that 2,000 sq km of deep water and...

Africa: No G8 invitation this year; African leaders will not be invited to this year's G8 conference to be held in Georgia, USA, because of the "more pressing" issues about the Middle East and "terrorism". Trevor Grundy reports.(Around Africa)
May 1, 2004... African leaders will be told by President George Bush that there is no place for them when leaders of the world's richest nations meet at Sea Island, Georgia, USA, for the G-8 Summit between 8-10 June. The summit brings together the leaders of...

Nigeria: two bans, many views; In late March, the Nigerian authorities banned the live relay of foreign news because some of them.(Around Africa)
May 1, 2004... The ban on live relay of foreign media programmes by Nigeria's local media was one of two such proscriptions made the same day in late March by the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC), a Federal Government agency responsible for the...

Sudan: Darfur, more than a conflict; "It is genocide." That is, at least, how Mukesh Kapila, the outgoing UN humanitarian coordinator in Khartoum, describes the fighting in the Darfur region of western Sudan. Sala Makki reports.(Around Africa)
May 1, 2004... "The only difference between Rwanda and Darfur now is the numbers involved," says Mukesh Kapila, the UN humanitarian coordinator for Sudan, who was in Rwanda when the 1994 genocide occurred. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The conflict in...

Zambia: the IMF or the people; As the IMF and World Bank keep moving the goal posts on Zambia's eligibility for further debt relief, the London-based newsletter, Bretton Woods Update, has published this eye-opening report on the extent of Zambia's predicament living under the grip of IMF conditions.(Around Africa)
May 1, 2004... Zambia entered the enhanced Heavily Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) initiative in November 2000. According to the agreement with the IMF and World Bank, the country was supposed to have reached the "completion point"--the point at which debt...

Sierra Leone: the quiet revolution; When thinking of booming mobile phone markets, Sierra Leone is not the first place that springs to mind, but the country is going through something of a telephony renaissance. Nick Smith reports from Freetown.(Around Africa)
May 1, 2004... When looking for the excitement surrounding the launch of wireless telephony, most heads turn to Europe. But new countrywide GSM wireless services, launched by the UK-based Gateway Communications and Datatel GSM, are having a very real impact...

Somalia: miraculous victory over polio; With the last case of polio reported in 2002, Somalia has been removed from the list of polio-endemic countries. As a major polio immunisation campaign began in late March, UNICEF called this achievement a "miraculous victory for children over conflict and devastation", Julia Spry-Leverton reports.(Around Africa)
May 1, 2004... "If polio can be stopped in Somalia, it can be stopped anywhere," said Carol Bellamy, UNICEF's Executive Director. "This success is a testament to the will of the Somali people and the effectiveness of strategies in place to stop the virus. If...

Fill in this questionnaire and win a free subscription*.(New African Reader Survey)
May 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...

South Africa: no more coasting along softly; Ten years of "coasting" by the ANC is a long enough period. In any case, you don't have to seek the permission of someone sitting on your neck, in order to throw him off and be able to breathe. Viva ANC.(Under the Neem Tree)
May 1, 2004... The ANC has romped home again. To no-one's surprise, of course--except its detractors. It was said that the people had become disillusioned with the ANC. That its record with HIV and Aids and other things were such that even if the people...

Equatorial Guinea: mercenaries cannot stop our forward march.(The Interview)(Interview)
May 1, 2004... In February, mercenaries tried to destabilise Equatorial Guinea and overthrow President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasago's government. The attempt was nipped in the bud. In this interview, he tells New African's Khalid Bazid how foreign meddling...

Liberia: no fears, says Bryant; Gyude Bryant, Liberia's transitional leader, is doing fine. He sleeps well and has no worries, he says. So far, disarmament of the warring factions is on course. And he wants former President Charles Taylor to stay where he is--in exile in Nigeria. Alphonso Toweh reports from Monrovia.(Feature)
May 1, 2004... Gyude Bryant is a happy man, at least if the smile on his face is any guide. But the one-time port equipment dealer knows he cannot claim success during his tenure if his government did not carry out the mandate of the Comprehensive Peace...

Uganda, DRCongo: there is hope yet.(Feature)
May 1, 2004... Sheila Sisulu, the deputy executive director of the UN World Food Programme (WFP), visited DRCongo and Uganda in March. Here, she tells how the two countries are at a turning point. "They stand at a crossroads of stark choice: one way leads to...

Egypt: crisis of identity; Fed up with living in Toronto, Canada, Franklin Okot (a Ugandan) decided to go "back home" to Africa. He chose Cairo as his new home, but Egypt, sadly, turned out to be a place for everybody "except black Africans", he writes. This is one of the most harrowing tales an African can ever tell.(Feature)
May 1, 2004... My African compatriots in Canada could not believe why I chose Cairo. Was I crazy? I knew what they meant, but they had no idea what I had been through in the Canadian "paradise". Uncertainty about life in North America after September 11 had...

Escape from the victimhood syndrome: the aim of this column is to persuade Africa and Africans to accept our role in our oppression. For once, let us turn away from those we have traditionally blamed for our predicament.(Guest Column)
May 1, 2004... Five hundred years of slavery, slave trading, colonisation and neo-colonisation do not just vanish. The physical atrocities, the mental degradation and the social deprivation live on. Yet, we need to accept that the situation goes on because we...

Haiti, an eye opener.(Diaspora)
May 1, 2004... On 28 August 1920, James Weldon Johnson (left), the African-American writer, attorney, diplomat, political leader and former secretary of the Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP), wrote an article for the US-based...

The Netherlands: immigrants beware; A few years ago, it would have been difficult to envisage The Netherlands becoming a society so intolerant of its minority populations. Femi Akomolafe sent this opinion piece from Amsterdam.(Diaspora)
May 1, 2004... Today to enter The Netherlands, this wonderful country that so enthusiastically welcomed immigrants who were needed to help build the post-Second World War shattered Dutch economy, you MUST first learn the Dutch language in your own country and...

USA: life ain't easy; Going to America is the ultimate goal of many Africans. The streets are paved with gold and the taps flow with milk and honey. Not quite, as the hundreds of thousands of African green card lottery winners have found in "God's Own Country". Kwabena Sarpong Akosah reports from New York.(Diaspora)
May 1, 2004... No other country in the world has a bigger attraction for immigrants than the USA. As the world's richest nation, the US is seen as having unparalleled opportunities--"the American dream" is how they call it! So when President Bill Clinton's...

Liberia: Liberians meet in Sweden; It's now all hands on deck as Liberia's peace process call for the efforts of all its nationals. Simon Reeves reports from Stockholm.(Diaspora)(Brief Article)
May 1, 2004... Liberians living in Sweden will meet from 27-29 May in Stockholm to deliberate on the peace process in their motherland. This is the first time that members of the Liberian community in Sweden will be gathering for such a purpose. They have...

And the winner is ... In Africa, football is a religion, but for 80 years scepticism has kept the world's premier sports event, the World Cup, off Africa's turf. This time it is a given. FIFA has decided to award the 2010 World Cup to Africa, but where in Africa? We shall know by 15 May. Pusch Commey reports.(World Cup)
May 1, 2004... The knives are out and gleaming. So are the cheque books. The announcement of the winner will be made on 15 May. Vying for the hosting rights are South Africa, Morocco, Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The closest any...

Lennox Lewis: 'I shall not return'; On 6 February, boxing lost one of its finest champions when Lennox Lewis, the world heavyweight champion, announced his retirement while still at the top. Here, Richard Lenton traces the glorious rise of Lewis and the humiliating fall of his comrades who failed to see when a fight was one too many.(Boxing)
May 1, 2004... Britain had to wait for the best part of a century to crown a world heavyweight champion, and then, in the 1990s, five came along at once. Frank Bruno, Henry Akinwande, Michael Bentt and Herbie Hide could all lay claim to a portion of the...

Cynthia the Great; The former US Congresswoman, Cynthia McKinney, took Paris by storm during the ommemoration of the Rwandan genocide in early April. Her message: "those committed to truth and justice should speak out about things that matter.".(Endtail)
May 1, 2004... "I was invited to be in Paris at this very special time by people who know more of the truth about the tragedies that have engulfed the Great Lakes region of Africa, and indeed, all of Africa, than is known by the general public," Cynthia...