On 23rd January 2012 a panel of judges at the ICC (International Criminal Court) announced a majority decision that four Kenyans, part of the so-called Ocampo Six, will face charges of crimes against humanity, murder, rape, forcible expulsion and other

Read the rest of Kenya: ICC shakes up politics, but Ruto and Kenyatta may still run for President – By Ken Opalo »

The passage of time is a rarely considered element in our national political discourse. A year begins and a year ends and we are all afflicted by short memories. Momentous political events are not easily remembered even in the wake

Read the rest of Zimbabwe: 2011 in political retrospect — by Takura Zhangazha »

The Boy Next Door by Irene Sabatini, Little Brown and Company, New York, 2009, 403pp. The Trial of Robert Mugabe by Chielo Zona Eze, Okri Books, Chicago, 2009, 158pp. Reviewed by James Kilgore The arrival of these two new voices

Read the rest of Review of Two Zimbabwe Novels: The Boy Next Door and The Trial of Robert Mugabe — Reviewed by James Kilgore »

In traveling across the greater parts of Zimbabwe, one is struck by the ‘life goes on’ way of existence of many of the country’s citizens. From the small rural shopping center (Birchenough Bridge), to the still sleepy  iron ore mining

Read the rest of “Some of us must remain to be with the People”: The Inclusive Government’s Disconnect with the People — by Takura Zhangazha »

Guardian journalist Diane Taylor recently filed a report from Mwenga in South Kivu depicting the plight of Congolese women rape victims who are forced to work in conditions of slavery in gold and mineral mines. Earning less than a dollar

Read the rest of The new Red Rubber wars: Reflections on Congo’s rape crisis – By Georgina Holmes »

This update is published by China-Africa News South Sudan gained its independence on the 9th of July. A week earlier President al-Bashir of Northern Sudan was in China meeting with senior party figures. China has been Sudan’s most valued ally

Read the rest of China Africa News: China a force for peace in the new Sudan? »

By Toby Green and Peter R. Thompson Marie Gibert’s article published in African Arguments (“Guinea-Bissau: A Narco-Developmental State?”, 24th May 2011 – read here) is a classic example of how to construct a misleading portrayal of a country on the

Read the rest of A response to Marie Gibert’s article: ‘Guinea-Bissau: A Narco-Developmental State?’ »

China should not be seen as a threat intent on deposing the United States as the world’s No.1 superpower or as a dormant, peaceful status quo power with no ambitions. Such views hamper the efforts of outsiders to engage Beijing.

Read the rest of CHATHAM HOUSE: Engaging an Emerging Superpower: Understanding China as a Foreign Policy Actor »

By Mohamed A Omar Somaliland has recently celebrated the 20th anniversary of its declaration of independence. On May 18, 1991, Somaliland terminated its union with Somalia after a decade of struggle against oppression, exploitation and destruction by the Siad Barre

Read the rest of ‘Recognize Somaliland as an independent state’ urges Foreign Minister »

By Devon Knudsen Japan became an aid donor in 1954, remarkably early on in its recovery from WWII, largely because its early ODA was given in the place of reparations to neighboring Asian countries it had occupied or attacked. At

Read the rest of South-South, Middle-South, or Just Non-Western? Categorizing Japanese ODA to Africa »