New African articles from October 2002

New African archives from October 2002

Letters.
October 1, 2002... Over to you, our leaders The analysis presented by Baffour in the September Beefs correctly defines the mindset of a society ("nations of European stock") modelled around the concept of opportunism. It also provides the plausible...

Miss Ghana UK 2002: Serena Roye is the new Miss Ghana UK. She beat the field and much more besides. (The Gallery).(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... Over 2,000 spectators thronged the Ocean Music Venue in the London suburb of Hackney on 24 August to watch Serena Roye win this year's Miss Ghana UK beauty pageant. It was the 10th anniversary of the pageant, which is arguably the...

In times of peace, prepare for war (2). (Baffour's Beefs).
October 1, 2002... "Whatever happens, we have got the maxim gun and they have not," wrote the British essayist and historian, Hilaire Belloc (1870-1953). welcome to "basic insecurity complex" So another war has been averted or delayed? It would have been Tony...

South Africa the men who sent Mandela to jail. (For the Record).(Nelson Mandela, the American CIA and George Herbert Walker Bush)
October 1, 2002... Question: How did the apartheid police get Nelson Mandela on 5 August 1962? Answer: He was shopped by the American CIA. That deed earned Mandela 27 years in prison. This extract is from the new updated edition of William Blum's, Rogue State....

Building Africa's capacity through Nepad. (Endtail).
October 1, 2002... It is important that we study both the Nepad and Africa Action Plan closely, to understand and act on the possibilities they open up for African development, eschewing easy, routing, uninformed and cynical conclusions and the lazy, and...

Nigeria has Obasanjo failed? (Cover Story).(Olusegun Obasanjo)(Cover Story)
October 1, 2002... If foreign travel brings success, President Olusegun Obasanjo will be miles ahead of his compatriots. But as Nigeria celebrates 42 years of independence on 1 October, the jury is still out on Obasanjo's performance. The size of the 88-page...

Nigeria why the 'British experiment' failed. (Cover Story).(Cover Story)
October 1, 2002... Nigeria's current debilitating North-South problems have their roots in the pre-independence arrangements foisted on the nation by the departing colonial power. Osei Boateng reports on Frederick Forsyth's re-worked book, The Biafran Story. ...

GM food for Africa! it does not take a genius to know that what animals, including pests and insects, reject or do not want to eat is not good for human consumption. (Guest Column).(genetically modified foods)
October 1, 2002... It is shocking to earn from Rob Rose's article, "GM Food for Africa: Solution or Hazard?" (NA, July/August) that many African countries have already embraced the GM idea with enthusiasm, It is unbelievable that Monsanto has even now got an...

No room for dissent! President Arap Moi is on a "sacking spree" as he pushes for the nomination of Uhuru Kenyatta as the next president. You toe the line or you are out. (Around Africa: Kenya).
October 1, 2002... "Everybody must toe the line or otherwise quit, we have no room for dissenting fellows and I shall use all mechanisms at my disposal to silence them." That is President Daniel arap Moi at his best and on the campaign trail for his chosen heir,...

Kofi Annan, Lennox Lewis the toast of September: Kofi Annan and Lennox Lewis came home to be feted, and September suddenly turned out to be a jolly good month in Accra. (Around Africa: Ghana).
October 1, 2002... September was a good month for Ghana if "good" can be defined as a flurry of activity that brought home Kofi Annan, the UN secretary general, to be followed by the world heavyweight boxing champion, Lennox Lewis, and a 40-strong contingent that...

'Things are going to get dirtier': President Levy Mwanawasa has had his "zero tolerance on corruption", but his victims appear to have something that could bring the house down on him. (Around Africa: Zambia).
October 1, 2002... Corruption allegations are threatening to bring into Zambia--one of Africa's most peaceful nations--unprecedented levels of political divisiveness, hatred and who knows what else. President Mwanawasa may owe his thanks to the editor of The...

Looking for more friends: having stayed in the French orbit since independence in 1960, the Central African Republic now wants to fly the roost, for greener pastures. (Around Africa: CAR).
October 1, 2002... Since colonial times, African countries have been divided on the lines of French, English and Portuguese speaking countries. But a first ever visit to London by the prime minister of French-speaking Central African Republic, Martin Ziguele, has...

Why peace is elusive: The government has suspended the peace talks with the rebels after losing the strategic town of Torit. But as Jacob Akol reports, there is more to it than meets the eye. (Around Africa: Sudan).
October 1, 2002... When the government and the Sudan People's Liberation Army/Movement (SPLA/M) signed the landmark "protocol" in the Kenyan town of Machakos on 20 July (see NA, Sept, p22), it seemed that the longest and most complex conflict in Africa was...

Eclipse fever! on Wednesday 4 December, a total eclipse of the sun will be seen over most of Southern Africa. Millions of people are already making a date for it. (Around Africa: Southern Africa).
October 1, 2002... Thousands of tourists are expected to flock to Southern Africa this December to see what is going to be the most amazing total eclipse of the sun traversing the Southern Hemisphere and visible in a narrow belt. This truly magical and most...

Earth summit: the Africans steal the show. (Special Report).
October 1, 2002... Forget the thousands of heads of state, government officials and NGO representatives who descended on Johannesburg for the UN Earth Summit (26 Aug - 4 Sept). The real showmen were the Africans. For many years to come, the UN Earth Summit in...

Tunisia relationship with the European Union: the fruits of strategic foresight. (Tunisia-EU).
October 1, 2002... Tunisia was the first country to sign an Association Agreement with the European Union. According to the terms of the Agreement, the EU and its Association partners will introduce a Free Trade Zone in 2010. This will mean that tariffs and other...

A credit to all of us! once it was an all white game. No more. The Williams sisters have rewritten the tennis rule book with their astounding achievements. (Tribute).(Venus and Serena Williams)(Brief Article)
October 1, 2002... When Serena Williams lifted the US Open trophy on 7 September after beating her elder sister, Venus, 6-4, 6-3, they made history for being the first sisters to play in three consecutive Grand Slam finals in one year -- French Open in Paris,...

Mozambique - dark past, bright future. (Lest we Forget).
October 1, 2002... To be white and a dedicated Africanist is only one more example that in the modern world, the colour of one's skin is now less relevant than what you stand for. I owe to Mozambique my early attachment to Africa and African democratic causes....

Tanzania music for the soul: Tanzanian musicians have gone back to their roots, and do the crowds like it? "More, more," they chant. (The Arts).
October 1, 2002... Tanzanian musicians are pandering to traditional beats while addressing modern problems. The more a musician delves into his or her cultural past, the more he or she is likely to draw crowds. So the musicians axe singing and performing in their...

Plus ca change! (Under the Neem Tree).(international relations)
October 1, 2002... I cannot quite believe Tony Blair, I must say. How can a British Labour prime minister make common cause with the rabid rightwing of US politics, led by Dick Cheney, "the real president of the US", as some have dubbed him? The French have...

Zimbabwe the brigade against Mugabe: The line-up of the anti-Mugabe brigade is really awesome. And they want him out. All because he is redistributing land from white farmers to landless blacks. (Feature).(Robert Mugabe)
October 1, 2002... As Zimbabwe descends into anarchy and chaos, land is irrationally seized from productive farmers, we are told. President Robert Mugabe is portrayed as a dictator bent on driving this nation into starvation and economic disaster while benevolent...

South Africa the tale of two ex-first ladies. (Feature).(Winnie Mandela, Marike De-Klerk)
October 1, 2002... Winnie Mandela and Marike De-Klerk, the two comrades in sorrow, found out a bit too late that in the New South Africa the complexities of race, class, relationships and politics can be very cruel. What is on the surface belies what lies...

Aid listen, George. (Feature).(George W. Bush)
October 1, 2002... The World Bank has launched a new development aid package called the Private Sector Development Strategy (PSD), while the american government has launched its own Millennium Challenge Account (MCA). But will these programmes make any...

Hypocrisy is too kind a word: if globalisation is such a great thing, why do so many people in developing countries not realise that they are happy and benefiting from it? (Not in Black or White).(International Monetary Fund)
October 1, 2002... How to make enemies and alienate important people? Write a book tearing globalisation apart when you, yes you, used to be the chief economist of the World Bank. And, before that, you were the chairman of President Clinton's Council of Economic...

Ghana does the African have a religion? (History Month).
October 1, 2002... Conventional thinking says No! But Chancellor Williams says yes, in this extract from his 1961 book, The Rebirth of African Civilisation, which was based on his two-year research project in Ghana in 1957-58. Williams found that "the shortest...

Argentina: did the blacks just disappear? in Argentina, being black is advantageous in finding a girl or boy friend, but less so for finding a job, unless the person is a musician or dance professor. (History Month).
October 1, 2002... When the African-American songstress, Josephine Baker, visited Argentina in the 1950s, she asked the bi-racial minister of public health, Ramon Carillo: "Where are the Negroes?", to which Carillon responded laughing, "there are only two, you...

Africa loses a great friend: Africa lost a great friend and supporter when Cynthia McKinney lost a primary for re-election in her home state of Georgia (USA) on 21 August, after 10 years in Congress. (History Month).
October 1, 2002... The defeat of the African-American Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney in the August Democratic primary, thanks to a concerted effort by the Jewish lobby, has left blacks in the US and abroad stunned. A loyal friend of Africa in the House of...

Miami the history hotel. (History Month).
October 1, 2002... Twelve years ago, Nelson Mandela was snubbed by the Miami city mayor and its mostly Jewish business leaders. African-Americans retaliated by boycotting Miami. That act has now given birth to an $80m African-American owned hotel. While...