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May 7, 2008: Journalist Robert Mukombozi is deported from Rwanda, Andrew Mwenda is arrested in Uganda and his newspaper The Independence impounded. Zimbabwe joins the Kenyan queue on vote tallying fiasco.

Guerrilla war rages in Congo and Northern Uganda; Darfur is on fire and over 300 million Africans might starve due to ongoing food crisis. The old political order has refused to give way across the continent. Why did the African nationalism experiment collapse? Continue reading »

To mark the Golden Jubilee anniversary (which begins this weekend) of the publication of the classic - Things Fall Apart – the quartet of Okey Ndibe, Joyce Ashuntantang, Sowore Omoyele, and Oyiza Adaba had a session with the author, Professor Chinua Achebe. It is vintage Achebe, the master story teller himself.

Congrats, Professor Achebe, on the 50th commemorative year of Things Fall Apart. Let’s begin with a somewhat predictable question. When Things Fall Apart was published fifty years ago, did you ever suspect that it would travel as much as it has throughout the world?

Of course not. There was nothing like it that I knew about. I did not know very much about writing or publishing. There was no plan. It happened, and thinking back now, I can theorize that the story wanted to be told at all costs, and why it chose me to tell the story, I don’t know. It could have been anybody else, the story would have been different, of course, because every person has his or her story. This is my story, and it wanted to be told.

It’s remarkable that you should make that point about the story choosing you. On the way here, I was telling Professor Abunaw that Things Fall Apart is the kind of novel one would expect a novelist in his 50s or 60s to write. It’s not the kind of novel you’d expect a young man at 28 to have written—and that’s exactly how she explained it, that the novel must have come to you. It’s intriguing that you speak about this mystical connection, that the story made itself a sort of gift to you. Could you talk about what inspired this novel? Continue reading »

Akhbar Al Yom newspaper of February 18-24, 2008 availed its forum to Al Missieria political, intellectual and military leaders to express their concerns on the current hot issues in Abyei Area. Likewise, the same newspaper gave an equal chance to Commander Edward Lino W. Abyei in his capacity as Civil Administrator and SPLM Political Commissar of Abyei Area. On the forum was Dr. Kuol Arop Kuol, Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture - University of El Daleny and Secretary of Agriculture in the newly established Abyei Area Civil Administration. Their statements were published on February 24 – 26, 2008.

Missieria View Points:-

In their statements, the Missieria representatives on the forum expressed the following: Continue reading »

Kordofan, Sudan - Sudan's ruling National Congress Party has for the last three years made Abyei Protocol into political hyacinth to chock CPA to its death. Time is proving NCP wrong, or should we say, nature is turning against the architects of this scheme. People of Abyei will be the last to taste the fruits of peace. Half of the life of their Abyei Interim Administration has been wasted by few people in the Republican Palace along Nile Avenue.

Abyei's political crisis will soon be in the archive hopefully because of SPLM's recent stance with Ngok people. The citizens of Abyei will not be annihilated by the fierce Misseriya fuming around Nyimora-Kiir Rivers for revenge. Continue reading »

Sudan has revived a 30-year old plan to build a 750MW hydroelectricity plant at Nimule on the River Nile.

The project was studied and approved between 1972 and 1974, but the government failed to get funding for it because potential financiers feared it would be a white elephant.

State Minister of Irrigation and Water Resources Mayom Kuoc Malek said the funders were of the opinion "that the power was too much, and that it would be wasted since we did not need so much at that time."

Primarily, the planned generation of electricity at Nimule on its border with Uganda will be for development needs, especially in Southern Sudan, where calm is returning after over 20 years of civil war. Continue reading »

Pretoria, South Africa - The acts of abuse and humiliation committed last year by students from the University of the Free State, which were captured on a video leaked last week to the media, are
an assault on the human dignity of all South Africans.

These acts are a stark reminder of the many ways in which the basic rights of our people have been violated over centuries, and how the attitudes that fed such violations still stubbornly persist in a democratic South Africa. Continue reading »

Omaha, Nebraska, USA - In that soon-to-be global village, thanks to the technological triumphs of our time, events unfold in a more sweeping but subtle rhythm that sometimes appears to be overtaking humanity’s grasp. On the eve of year 2000, some people thought we were not going to discuss anything positive when this century started out with the infamous Y2K scare. Now, that is history; and the greatest buzz is on China’s prospects for enjoying much of the forte of the century. Before we take a look at what China’s role portents for poor countries and throughout this century, I think the Chinese government deserves some millennial applause, first, for managing the most populated nation on the planet, with over 1.3 billion citizens—well over fifth of the world’s population, and second, for striving to relieve a good chunk of that population of poverty.

And needless to say, the subtext in China’s mightiest quest is bent on economic modernization, which is why it combs much of Africa and Latin America looking for minerals and oil. This summer, China is hosting the world’s most legendary Olympics Games---a golden yet controversial chance due to the kind of outrage the announcement engendered when global activists protested the idea of having China as the host of these 2008 games, given its ambivalence and inaction toward the genocide in Darfur, including failing to divest from oil investments in Sudan. Continue reading »

THE news of the signing of a permanent ceasefire between the LRA and the Government on Saturday was received with relief and joy by Acholi leaders.

The Acholi paramount chief, Rwot Onen Achana, through his spokesperson said he was overjoyed by the news.

“Everybody is excited about the signing,” the Rwot’s prime minister, Kenneth Oketta, told The New Vision yesterday.

The Rwot is not focusing on the challenge of implementing the traditional reconciliation system mato oput, which will be used for minor crimes committed in the northern war, he said.

“We want to prepare the minds of people to welcome the former LRA fighters and allow them settle back home, without anybody pointing fingers at them.”

He revealed that the Rwot would fly to Juba tomorrow to witness the remaining discussions on the peace talks’ agenda.

The permanent ceasefire agreement is the last step towards a final peace settlement.

“It is the laying down of arms. It is the end of the war,” said Joaquim Chissano, the UN special envoy, just after the signing.

With only a demobilisation deal left to be agreed on, negotiators and mediators like Chissano are predicting that a final accord will be reached this week. Continue reading »

Jan. 18, 08 (Juba) - It is because you have ears to hear; it is because you have the minds to distinguish useful teachings; it is because you know what is good for us and what is harmful; it is because you have the future of South Sudan at heart, that I confidently feel emboldened to address you generally and one by one.

WE HAVE all travelled the same route together from the slaving days through the colonial days through the handover of power to Khartoum Arabists by the British colonisers, through the Anyanya War years, through the SPLM/SPLA War years, and have now reached CPA years whose third year we are going to celebrate soon. Continue reading »

"AU is the political wing in the continent so it is responsible for taking political decisions and it is responsible for seeing to it that there is intervention in terms of democratization in the continent and if AU can just fast rate its process of seeing that there is democratization that will create a conducive environment for economic development and that is where NEPAD will be relevant, and that's where NEPAD will start to be visible round the continent."

I extracted the above quote from the meeting of the New Partnership for Africa Development (NEPAD) taking place this week in Abuja, Nigeria. This precedes the African Union meeting later this week. Continue reading »