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Africa must to be heard - Console Tleane
Africa's curse: Her resources - Console Tleane
African activists say no to World Bank and IMF aid - Diana Mulilo
World Social Forum heads for Africa in 2007 - Thomas Deve
Women want their voices heard - Diana Mulilo and Glory Mushinge
WSF is a money-spinner - Glory Mushinge and Diana Mulilo
Africa, raising some tough questions for WSF - Diana Mulilo
Call for extra-territorial obligations on human rights - Kimani Ndungu
Prioritise social justice issues - Glory Mushinge
Let the African Women’s Court benefit the testifiers, not us, the literati - Console Tleane
The future lies with the youth - Console Tleane
Africa must to be heard
By Console Tleane
Amidst the piercing sounds of Brazilian drums, reminding one of the annual carnivals, and the various colour displays, was a small but
distinguishable and energetic group that could not be ignored. The Africans are in town! This was the opening march of the World Social
Forum 2005.
Distinguishable by their blue free-flowing bubbas, and their song and dance, led at times by the energetic and colourful Zambian Sakala
Brothers, the African delegation at the opening march left a lasting impression.
The show of strength displayed by the African delegation should have soothed the worrying tone of Salma Maulidi from Tanzania who,
talking to African Flame before the march, struck a disturbing cord.
Asked about her expectations for this year's WSF Maulidi expressed disappointment at the fact that the continent’s representation is
arguably the lowest. Indeed, compared to Mumbai 2004, this year’s Forum has thus far seen a very low turnout by African organisations.
“We cannot feel good about Lusaka (ASF 2004). Neither can we feel good about our attendance here. Africa is at the centre of all issues
addressed by the WSF, yet our attendance is not satisfactory, “ said Maulidi, who further argued that it is not enough to complain about
resources because that means African organisations are dependent solely on donors.
However, Maulidi was not only pessimistic. She expressed hope that this year’s WSF will see Africa’s problems taking more priority
and African delegates asserting their aspirations more. Her sentiments were echoed by Regis Mtutu Padere and John Moru from
Zimbabwe and Nigeria respectively.
Both said that Africa should have a greater voice within the WSF, and that a clearer vision for the continent must be developed.
An exhausted Azeb Girmai, from Ethiopia, arguably summed up the aspirations of African delegation. Speaking as the march approached
its end she expressed hope that WSF 2005 will have more spaces for African voices. “I hope that people will be heard, especially people
from Africa. Our people should also know that we have the capacity to change the world we live in”.
For Girmai, the WSF creates awareness about issues that confront many people today. It should be used as a space to mobilise
movements that will confront the excesses of neoliberalism and free the continent.
As the sounds of drums fade into memory, and the tortured feet and vocal cords of the African delegates get a deserved rest, deliberations
will be starting today.
It remains to be seen whether the collective hopes of these delegates will be met, and whether they will, just like they did during the
march, defy numbers and make their presence felt during the entire course of the WSF.
Africa’s curse: Her resources
By Console Tleane
The shaky truce between the Sudanese government and the rebels received a major blow when government forces bombed a village in
North Darfur this week. According to several news sources, government forces are said to have bombed the village in direct violation of
the terms and spirit of the peace deal that is being negotiated mainly by the African Union.
“This is the latest of several serious cease-fire violations in recent days that are having a devastating effect on civilians and severely
disrupt our relief operations,” said Kevin Kennedy, director of the Coordination and Response Division of the UN Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, quoted by Reuters news agency.
“Thousands of people are being displaced by the violence and we're struggling to reach and assist them in very dangerous conditions,”
Kennedy said.
About 100 people were either killed or wounded during the attack. Thousands more have been forced to flee the village.
The latest violation of the ceasefire by the Sudanese government, said to be the 100th, has led to the United Nations withdrawing its staff
for the troubled Darfur region.
This latest news from the African continent come at a time when participants from the continent at this year’s WSF are engaged in
animated discussions about how to bring an end to the continent’s woes.
For Bakara Fofana, the continent’s rich natural resources are also its curse. Making a presentation at a special session organised by the
ASF on Resistance and Alternatives, Bokara drew a link between the ongoing conflicts and the continent’s riches.
“Conflicts on the continent are the direct result of natural resources. Africa is a bank of natural resources. Day after day new mining and
oil exploration opportunities are discovered, making the continent more attractive for those who would like to exploit its resources,” said
Fofana.
Fofana pointed to the complicity of western governments and multinational companies. He argued that in all conflicts on the African
continent there can be found the direct involvement of these governments and companies.
Indeed, we cannot forget the direct and open support for Jonas Savimbi’s Unita by respective USA governments. Neither can the direct
interference and interests of the French government in Cote-d'Ivoire be ignored.
The direct involvement of diamond companies in most of the conflicts in Africa have led to the Kimberley Process, aimed at stopping
what have come to be known as “blood diamonds” trade transactions and economies. The Process, which led to the UN General
Assembly Resolution 56/263 of February 2002, was seen as carrying the hopes of many Africans for an ultimate end to “diamond
conflicts”. Yet, very little can be shown on the ground about the progress accrued from that grand initiative.
Are such initiatives genuine enough?
Like many others, Fofana expressed his pessimism at the ingeniousness of some of the so-called peace initiatives. It is paradoxical, he
said, that it is mainly those who assisted to wage wars and conflicts who are often in the driving seat of so-called peace initiatives. He
also criticised the UN system.
“The major flaw with the UN system, and others, is that they seek to bring about stability and not solve the problem,” he said.
But perhaps the problems presented by Fofana are even more complex. It is true that peace efforts are largely led by the very powers
(mainly western) that had or have a direct economic interest in the countries that are afflicted by conflicts.
Yet, there seem to be an additional problem that now needs to be confronted. And the ASF and other forums will have to confront this
problem – the hidden interests advanced by certain African countries themselves.
While praised for its commitment to assisting to bring about peace in conflict-ridden countries on the continent, the South African
government’s real interests are now coming under the spotlight. Just this week, Pretoria was at pains to deny accusations that its real
interest in trying to resolve most conflict situations is to secure business deals for itself and South African businesses.
Despite these denials there is increasing evidence to support this assertion. Earlier this year President Thabo Mbeki sacrificed New Year’
s celebration in what was reported to be a peace effort in Sudan.
The actual, or should we say hidden or parallel, motive for such a huge sacrifice was later revealed when it was reported that South
African and Sudan have agreed on oil exploration initiatives.
The country’s influential business daily newspaper, the Business Day, reported the following about the agreement: “The agreement was
reached during a three-day visit by Mbeki to Sudan last week and signals SA's growing interest in expanding its African oil exploration
activities. SA has expressed similar interest in the Equatorial Guinea and Angolan oilfields.” Mind you, South Africa is also actively
involved in efforts to mediate peace efforts in Equatorial Guinea.
The changing face of African politics, with some countries emerging as major powers in their own right, presents a challenge for
initiatives such as the ASF, and activists and analysts such as Fofana, to also look critically at all the players and their interests in so-
called peace initiatives.
Failure to also take a critical look at the damaging and self-serving role of certain African powers is as dangerous as endorsing old
stereotypes that African people like engaging in conflict because of their genetic make-up. Some African countries need to be added to the
list of those who benefit from peace efforts.
As Fofana said, economic interests are central to most conflicts. And economic interests remain self-interested, irrespective of whether
they are pursued by western powers or Africans.
African activists say no to World Bank and IMF aid
By Diana Mulilo
Africans stood proud to say NO! to economic terrorism at one of the ASF sessions held yesterday. They demanded that institutions of
international finance capital should return back what has been stolen from the continent.
Speaking during a panel discussion organised by the ASF on the 28th January 2005 at the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil, a
female activist, Virginia Setshedi from South Africa, expressed her concerns at what International Financial Institutions (IFIs) where
doing to Africa.
In an implied reference to efforts by organisations such as Civicus, which, at last year’s ASF meeting in Lusaka tried to promote World
Bank-Civil Society dialogue, Setshedi emphasised that not all civil society organisations have dealings with the IMF or World Bank. She
went on to emphasise that debt is a tool for capitalist forces.
“We as Africans must be puzzled or confused about whose interests IMF has been working for,” Setshedi said.
Setshedi related how, in South Africa, privatisation has been wreaking havoc in communities. Instead of delivering the goods promised by
government officials, privatisation has brought a lot of problems especially in water, health, and education provision. It has also caused
unemployment. Its privileges profits before people. For the African continent the approach should be to bring people before profit.
Most land policies on the continent were formulated with a direct influence from the World Bank, with communities having no say in the
formulation of such policies.
“Iraq people are suffering from militarisation whereas Africa is suffering from economic terrorism,” observed Setshedi.
Most often, when Africans demand for what is rightfully theirs the IFIs usually come up with new and enticing strategies such as
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which are also formulated without any direct input from people.
One of the major demands for the continent must be “an unconditional cancellation on debt,” said Setshedi. She also continued to call on
the rich to invest resources in people-centred initiatives such as health and education.
Setshedi urged civil society groups to go on demonstrating their powers by boycotting these institutions, and start making it clear that it
is them who owe the continent and not the other way round. “Civil society organisations need to join hands in order to fight
imperialism,” Setshedi said. Civil society organisations need to wage a war against imperialism and debt domination.
Turning to the composition of the WSF Setshedi emphasised to participants not to just enjoy seeing friends and colleagues at forums but
to ensure that forums like this are used maximally to advance the struggle and solidify collaboration.
Thomas Deve, an activist from Zimbabwe, urged government leaders to stop negotiating but instead to start using Africa’s natural
resources to develop the continent.
Deve also highlighted problems faced by women on the continent. “The feminisation of poverty will continue to grow because women
and children are the majority of Africa's population, hence the reasons for mass jointed efforts in the mass struggles,” Deve said.
Deve expressed concerns on how privatisation of water was a source of concern because water is life and people cannot survive with it.
Hassan Sumonu, a trade unionist, said African presidents must make demands for the stolen monies to be brought to the continent. These
monies are currently kept in Western banks. Also, African governments should be urged to resist further privatising resources such as
water, electricity, health, and even education.
The message from the panel was clear: Africa must stand up for her rights and demand what is rightfully hers. And that won’t come from
the World Bank or IMF.
World Social Forum heads for Africa in 2007
By Thomas Deve
It has been officially announced that the International Council of the World Social Forum has agreed to use a new format to host the
forum in 2006 initiating four continental regional blocs and reverting to the now well-known Porto Alegre to Mumbai form in 2007, but
this time taking the antiglobalisation movement to Africa.
Speaking at the opening press briefing of the International Council, Meena Menon from India said Africa will have an opportunity to
showcase its unique situation and expected the rest of the world to show solidarity in an effort to demonstrate that the continent’s issues
are interconnected with those confronting other global citizens.
Using the Tsunami tragedy as an example, Meena highlighted that while Asia lost many of its citizens in the disaster, other nations
further afield suffered casualties as their citizens were in Asia as a result of tourism, an industry that has shrunk the globe as people
travel from one part of the world to the other.
Njoki Njehu, from Kenya reiterated that Tsunami had taught some nations that it was important to work together in confronting evils of
the world caused by corporate led globalisation, backed by Western nations and linked to the destructive policies of the IMF and World
Bank.
She highlighted that Africa was full of struggles and experienced very inspiring resistance initiatives whose alternatives will be a good link
with the spirit of the World Social Forum that was nurtured in Porto Alegre.
Coming to Africa in 2007 will be a major demonstration that citizens of Africa, working together with other global movements are saying
“No” to an agenda and programme that will sow seeds of their destruction.
She emphasized that Africa for example has said repeatedly, “no to illegitimate debts; those that exist have been paid back many times
over and it is time to collectively repudiate them and refuse to pay.”
Njoki and Menon assured all those that were expressing doubts over the proposed methodology of 2006 not to worry because this was
one guaranteed way of making sure that the spirit of people’s participation as espoused in the local government of Porto Alegre is shared
across the world.
Meanwhile, Africa has landed in Brazil under the auspices of the African Social Forum, a very strong delegation, as a show of strength
and the growing popularity of the world social forum processes on the continent.
Thronging all the meetings and Commissions of the International Council held in Brazil over the past two days, it was indeed a
demonstration that time has come for Africans to say “Another Africa is in the making” and all processes for hosting the Forum in 2007
were now in motion.
Women want their voices heard
By Diana Mulilo and Glory Mushinge
The Feminist Dialogue (FD) was again held prior to the World Social Forum (WSF) as a way of strategising around ensuring that
women's voices are raised throughout the Forum.
Voices of women were heard in various heated debates and discussion groups on some of the many dilemmas and challenges faced by
women such as having to fight through and against various religious fundamentalist groups.
The Feminist Dialogue marks a dynamic and symbolic way of how feminists find the issues discussed in line to women fighting for their
rights. It caters for different voices from different walks of life.
The dialogue also inspires one's ambition especially young feminists who have brought in new ideas and energies to find their objectives
through the expression of different contributions.
Solidarity dialogue is essentially a political in nature. Most of the feminists want to claim inspiration and hope to make a change in most
women's lives.
The dialogue has called for women to grasp concepts such as intersexuality and how this relates to other broader concepts such as human
rights.
The Dialogue also inspires women to take a proactive role to fighting for their rights and be ready to take up challenges on issues that
come before them.
The Feminist Dialogue has made a deliberate move to help bridge gaps affecting the women's bodies and also discover strategies that have
worked to bridging the gaps.
During the meeting, feminists have called on governments to develop and sustain the programmes that are aimed at empowering women,
particularly those at a grassroots level. One of the practical ways to achieve this through dedicated funding for women’s programme.
Such funds can be diverted from ever-increasing military budgets, which cause nothing but misery.
Militarisation has created or left millions of refugees all over the world. Most of these refugees also happen to be women.
Also discussed were issues such as globalisation and militarisation itself. An attempt was made to examine the links between the effects
of globalisation in general and the special issues of gender inequality, health, poverty and other related issues. Apart from its overall
negative and peasants, globalisation has also kept out most women from airing their voices because of the most of the decisions are taken
by men and a few by women.
The Dialogue is opposed to increasing arms and drugs proliferation, which leave teenagers afflicted with sickness or dead. It has
expressed this to governments and other warring factions in different parts of the world.
One area in which women are particularly excluded is in the area of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs). This denies
women to know of their rights on health, education, food and shelter, etc.
The Dialogue has also called for the formation of an alliance that will resist organs such as the United Nations and European Union.
The Dialogue helps provide the space for most women to express their thoughts. The challenge faced by the Dialogue is how to make the
voices of women heard and develop strategies that can be implemented in various countries.
WSF is a money-spinner
By Glory Mushinge and Diana Mulilo
Participants at this year’s World Social Forum (WSF) have complained over what they termed, ´commercial exploitation' by business
organisations from the aviation, hospitality, transport and communication industries, among others.
In an interview with the African Flame some African participants expressed their anger at the manner in which business organisations
have been operating since the participants started flocking in from their various countries.
Those interviewed said that these companies were using the forum to ‘milk’ more money than usual out of the participants travelling to
and from Porto Alegre and commuting within as well as those lodging in various hotels, guest houses and lodges.
One participant, John Kinuthia from Kenya, related how these practices manifest themselves. “They are taking advantage of such fora
to exploit people through commercialising the forum by hiking fees for various facilities such as accommodation, airfare and transport,”
he said.
Among the tricks that were exposed was the situation in which hotel owners have deliberately been holding on to empty rooms claiming
that the hotels are fully booked after which they offer to make one of the 'reserved' rooms available when they notice one’s desperation
for accommodation, on condition that they pay a double amount.
Also expressed were suspicions that these organisations had entered into an agreement with one another to create some sense of panic
amongst the participants so that they could take up whatever opportunity that came up, regardless of the condition, with the fear of
loosing the little space that could be available.
For instance, most airlines claim that their flights are fully booked after the forum. This is done in order to compel participants to stay
longer in hotels and pay more. Also, airlines are demanding huge amounts of money, in some cases even up to US$200 as penalty, for
rescheduling the flight.
Taxi drivers do not want to be left behind in this syndicate. They are also using the ignorance of the foreign participants to hike their
charges.
Most other participants also talked to observed that some of the taxi drivers have been using their metre systems to generate more
money out of their clients by going round the same roads or taking longer routes, so that the amounts on their metres go up, thereby
earning more cash.
No wonder the governor of Rio Grande du Sul, himself a right-winger, emphasised that the WSF should remain in Porto Alegre. He surely
dislikes the politics of the Forum, but likes its commerce.
Africa, raising some tough questions for WSF
By Diana Mulilo
What is it that Africans have brought to this year’s World Social Forum (WSF)?
Answers range from taking a sharp look at globalisation, new forms of fundamentalism, and militarisation, to many more new issues that
Africans are faced with like the rest of the world and its communities.
The Forum is meant for people from all walks of life who come to an open space to learn and share experiences on pressing issues.
For example, globalisation has led to huge problems, and marginalised voices, especially in the policy arena, that movements have either
suppressed or left out, coming out.
John Kinuthia from Kenya observed that health care and food security were major challenges that the continent has to grapple with at the
moment.
Since the introduction of Anti-Retroviral (ARVs) drugs for people living with the HIV/Aids most countries have come to realise that
treatment needs to be accompanied by good nutrition.
On the policy level, with the introduction of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Africa now has an added burden of debating
how best to raise poverty eradication levels, addressing gender equality, the combating of diseases such as Malaria, HIV/AIDS and
others, and to arrest their spread and also cure or reduce them gradually.
But so far, the efforts and resources being given by the developed countries is less or zero, hence the poverty levels and other issues
affecting us Africans are not adding to the reduction of Africans leaving below half a dollar, but under the terror war of poverty and the
scourge of HIV/Aids.
“Certainly MDG's have been achieved by most African countries in areas such as free primary education targeting a girl child, gender
equality, which is also taking a centre stage in most decision making processes, and other areas. But the cultural aspects have added to the
slowness in some of the processes,” Kinuthia explained.
To mention a few, bad roads in the rural areas lead to increases in maternal mortality rates because there are no health care clinics in those
areas and roads to get to other clinics or hospitals are always bad and unusable.
Local pharmaceutical companies are unable to produce drugs largely because of lack of financial support from developed countries. As a
result hospitals end up without the necessary drugs.
Africans are raising all these dilemmas. The question is: Why are the efforts taken by African people in trying to improve their living
conditions not respected but instead being suppressed by lack of funding, which is a fundamental right that helps people to gain access to
education and health that would help bring development to most African countries?
Call for extra-territorial obligations on human rights
By Kimani Ndungu
Speakers at a seminar on human rights and globalisation have argued strongly that fundamental rights can no longer be treated as the
responsibility of individual states given the negative effects of globalisation.
Addressing participants at a plenary session examining the theme of "Extra-territorial obligations-The Human Rights response to
globalisation", Gabriel Fernades of the Brazilian alternative agriculture organisation Assessoria e Serviços a Projetos em Agricultura
Alternativa (ASP-TA) said it remained disconcerting that no obligations are demanded from multi-national corporations when they
engage in their often destructive activities in the third world.
He presented a case study on the soya bean-farming sector in Brazil, as proof of the devastating consequences of genetic engineering due
to the lack of regulation of multi-national corporations.
Citing the introduction of genetically modified soya beans in the country by the controversial American bio-engineering firm Monsato, he
said Brazilian farmers are now forced to make a choice between planting conventional seeds or Monsato's genetically modified (GM)
ones. Those who choose the latter receive incentives such as agricultural credits, seeds on loan and farming advice.
The soya bean market has also been turned around to suit the needs of Monsato and while those who sell the GM beans receive sixty
Brazilian Cents a kilo. Farmers who sell conventionally grown beans are forced to submit their beans to tests first before their produce
can be accepted. The pay for conventionally grown soya is also lower.
Fernades said Monsato's entry into the farming sector in Brazil in 1997 was done "under the cover of darkness" and that the genetically
modified seeds "had been smuggled into the country" because government was not vigilant and there was no law to deal with bio-
engineered foods at the time. In addition, Monsato had used millions of dollars to lobby the Brazilian government and farmers in order to
convince them that the bio-engineered seeds were profitable as they would withstand extreme weather and plant diseases much better,
and produce higher yields.
It is worth noting that Monsato has met strong opposition and in some cases outright rejection in its attempts to introduce bio-farming in
a number of countries. Most of Monsato's activities are conducted under a shroud of secrecy and for example in South Africa,
environmental activists are up in arms against the company's seed research work in a remote area in one of the country's provinces. They
argue, correctly it would seem given past experiences elsewhere, that this is just the beginning and the multi-national will soon begin
distributing its seeds to farmers across the country once the right time comes.
Monsato is notorious for its production of renowned highly toxic bio-chemicals such as Agent Orange which was used extensively by the
United States to defoliate large tracts of forests and vegetation during the Vietnam war, as well as Dioxin, a substance so poisonous, that
it is now banned by the whole of Western Europe and the United States.
There has not been sufficient research into the impact of genetically modified foods and critics have warned that the alteration of plant
and animal DNA could have far reaching consequences in the near future. This could include damage to the body's immune and
reproductive systems, birth defects and an increase in multi-generational cancers.
Addressing the same forum, Dennis Matwa from the South African HIV/AIDS lobby group the Treatment Action Campaign (TAC)
recounted the struggles that the movement has waged against multi-national corporations in the bid to make HIV/AIDS drugs affordable
to the poor.
He stated that since the formation of TAC in 1998, the group has used a combination of legal and popular actions to force multi-national
companies such as Pfizer to lower the price of medicines, and also allow the South African government to permit the parallel importation
of cheaper generic drugs from countries such as Thailand.
In some instances TAC has collaborated with the South African government in its fight against the multi-nationals. He gave an example
where TAC supported the government after it was sued by a total of forty- eight multi-national corporations for passing the Medicines
Act of 1997, which legalised the manufacture of generic drugs in the country and the parallel importation of drugs in the event of a
"national health emergency". The pharmaceutical companies accused the government of violating the country's patent laws as well as the
World Trade Organisation's (WTO), Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement.
Matwa observed that TAC has succeeded in internationalising its struggle and has drawn the support of activists from Western Europe
and America where these pharmaceuticals are based. He said this had been particularly important in their campaign against Pfizer as the
United States was strongly supportive of the company as well as other US-based drug multi-nationals.
Prioritise social justice issues
By Glory Mushinge
“Another World is possible if socio-economic and cultural rights as well as ethical and social justice issues are prioritised both in the
national and international development agenda,” the Jesuit Centre for Theological Reflection (JCTR) has observed.
JCTR policy analyst, Jack Jones Zulu, observed that development could only be driven by indigenous policies rooted in human values
and the aspirations of the local people themselves, rather than outside corporate interests.
Zulu notes that there was need for unconditional total debt cancellation for all heavily indebted countries for poverty eradication, as well
as having increased aid from rich countries, coming in form of grants and not loans.
“Another Word is possible if global economic governance puts human needs of all first, rather than the profit motive of a few,” he stated
adding that there was need for genuine partnership based on democratic ideals between the North and the South.
Zulu went on to highlight that peace was only promoted through dialogue, respect for fundamental human rights and rejection of military
might and the arms trade.
He further expressed the importance of gender consideration in the development process, saying that gender concerns needed to be made
central to sustainable development effort and further stated that the rights of the youth and the children were basic to decision-making
and plan implementation for a just future.
The environmental question was also part of the declaration bearing in mind that respect and preservation of the earth was a guiding
principle for all economic decisions, regarding development.
His organisation noted that it was also campaigning for the establishment of equitable and progressive trade relations between the North
and the South and all World Trade Organisation (WTO) arrangements.
JCTR declared that there was need to democratise the UN and Bretton Woods Institutions in order to break the domination of the
Northern rich countries over the Southern countries as well as the necessity to have serving all people, especially the poor.
Let the African Women’s Court benefit the testifiers, not us, the literati
By Console Tleane
Denemodjie Sei Faimartini sits quietly, her eyes down. Her mind should be far away. Her face is partly covered by her hand, which she
supports with the armchair.
It has taken some waiting before we could finally sit down for this interview; about thirty minutes in all. Finally, we sit down to get done
with it. The focus? The African Women’s Court.
“The aim of the Court is to construct alternatives from the experiences dominated by neoliberal paradigms. We would like to showcase
how people, women, have been able to overcome, and are engaged in daily struggles against the excesses of neoliberalism,” says Wahu
Kaare, from Kenya, one of the main architects of the Court.
“This is an innovative way of dismantling the classical method of talking politics. It is a move away from talk and presentations by
experts like myself. It is non-hierarchical,” adds Rabia Abdelkrim Chikh, from Senegal.
The design of the Court is such that testimonies are received from women who are faced with some of the most challenging difficulties in
their daily lives. Faimartini is one such person.
She comes from Chad where, together with other women, and the broader communities within which she lives, are engaged in daily
struggles against oil companies that have turned their lives miserable.
She relates the harrowing experiences that women have to go through. The World Bank, together with oil companies, with the direct
complicity of the government, are involved in some of the most destructive practices in some of the villages that produce oil.
For instance, the oil production processes have given rise to the destruction of the environment and the outbreak of diseases that never
used to afflict some of the inhabitants of the villages and settlements where the pipelines have been constructed. The oil pipes are build
over water supplies thus contaminating both the drinking (for humans) and water for animals.
“We are surrounded by oil pipelines. We are virtually imprisoned. They do not care about the well-being of our people. Men from our
communities have been displaced, forced to go and work outside their residential areas. Young girls are forced into lives of prostitution,”
said Faimartine.
Another interviewee, whose identity cannot be disclosed to protect her, related how, in one case, violence was used to ‘cow’ a
community into submission when there was a resistance against some of the practices from the oil companies.
“A Mafia gang was hired to terrorise us. They burnt two hundred homesteads, killed ten people and badly injured about forty-eight
others. This was after the community resisted eviction. This shows just how brutal these people (the oil companies) can be,” said the
interviewee.
Despite the brutality unleashed on the communities there was fierce resistance to the move to evict the community, leading to the
temporary creation of a “liberated zone” where authorities could not enter.
In Algeria the interplay of fundamentalist religion and neoliberalism presents a unique and painful scenario for the women. Coming from a
proud history of a gallant liberation struggle that produced iconic heroes like Frantz Fanon and one of the first experiments of a socialist
order in Africa, Algeria has since the early 1990s slipped into an anarchic state of unofficial rule by religious fundamentalists.
Ziana Khedidja paints a disturbing picture of the turn of events in her country. In 1988 the government succumbed to pressures from
international finance institutions (IMF and World Bank) and started introducing neoliberal measures. Almost at the same time the
fundametalist movement emerged to campaign against the liberal reforms brought under neoliberalism.
“Immediately when we saw all that, the women’s movement raised alarm against the dangers of religious fundamentalism, which were not
only threatening women but the entire democratic fabric of the society,” said Khedidja.
“For instance, a woman’s house was burnt down because she was divorced. After the burning of the house they started harassing other
women. University women students were harassed, women were raped and later rejected by the society.”
A startling revelation about the emergence of fundamentalism in Algeria is that at the same time that its proponents were committing
these atrocities they were supported by the USA, Britain and Germany. These three capitals of capitalist rule were supporting the
emergence of fundamentalism because it was (fundamentalism) supportive of neoliberalism, and opposed to struggles aimed at defending
the gains of the liberation struggle and “socialist” rule.
There can be no doubt that the African Women’s Court is an important initiative by the ASF; one that must be carried forward with all
the vigour that it deserves. Yet, there are a number of challenges that must be addressed to make it more meaningful.
History has inspiring examples of tribunals initiated by activists that led to significant gains. One such is Bertrand Russell and Ralph
Schoenman’s International Tribunal on US Crimes in Indo-China. The Tribunal partly led partly to the US’s shaming by the world and
its embarrassing withdrawal from Vietnam. Will the African Women’s Court have similar or even better achievements?
It is important that the Court does not simply become one where poor African women come, relate their stories, break down, and there is
no measurable political gain from the exercise.
Everything must be done to avoid turning the Court into an exercise to fulfil the academic quests of us the educated elite, who will record
the proceedings, write articles, books, and do nothing tangible with the testimonies; and with the women whose testimonies we shall have
used.
The future lies with the youth
By Console Tleane
You could easily mistaken it for a refugee camp. No, it is not a transit camp for the displaced peoples of Darfur, running away from the
marauding gangs of the Sudanese government.
This is the temporary abode for young people coming from all corners (or is it?) of the world. And their aim? To share their experiences,
and lives, if all for a week, in an alternative setting.
The youth camp sprawls along the main road traversing the grounds occupied by the WSF. Small tents are pitched alongside each other,
hundreds, if not thousands, of them.
A walk though the camp gives one a sense of the actual alternative lifestyle that these you people are living. Again, if only for a week.
Smoke bellows from the small fires lit to prepare food. Some can be seen catching a nap on the dry lawns. Didn’t this young people sleep
the previous night? What were they doing? Let’s leave that!
But it is arguably shower time that has attracted the attention of many people. Just take a look at passers-by and you will immediately
be struck by the awe and at times fascination on the eyes of the onlookers.
Shower time is open, alternative if you like. The showers are in an open space. No gender differentiation. Both men and women, or
should we say boys and girls, shower together. See, there are no inhibitions here. Of course not that they shower completely nude,
except for an odd fellow that I saw.
But what does the experience of the youth camp tell us, except our own unpronounced and suppressed envy at this expression of
freedom?
In one previous issue of the African Flame we reported about the fact that the WSF has become a money-spinner. At least these young
people have not given the hotels and taxi drivers the extra cash that they wanted. Only airlines can claim to have benefited from these
young people. Just imagine the anger and frustration that will be expressed by hotel owners and taxi drivers if all participants at WSF
meetings were to opt for alternative camps like the Youth Camp. Surely, the enthusiasm from cities to host the WSF will be thrown out
of the window.
The second, and perhaps most important thing about the Youth Camp is the sheer interest of young people in politics. There can be no
doubt that with those who populate the Youth Camp there are those who are simply undergoing the normal growth stage and therefore
are simply experimenting; for them sleeping in tents is an adventure. These would mainly be rich, spoilt kids mainly from the Northern
countries. Doesn’t sound politically correct does it?
Yet, there are thousands of young people who are going against the grain and stereotype of young people who are completely
disinterested in politics. These days young people are deliberately fed a diet of pop culture (minus politics) with the covert aim of
depoliticising them.
This is done deliberately so because youth is a stage where people possess the most radical potential because of the non-relation with the
means of production, either as workers (and therefore compelled at times to protect their work) or as bosses who are only interested in
extracting maximum profit from the working class.
It is therefore encouraging and heartening to see thousands of young people taking time-off to share their experiences, struggles and hopes
with other young people from all corners of the world. Attending some of the sessions organised within the youth camp has been most
heartening experience.
The three key issues that have dominated the sessions have centred around demanding free education, work for young people, and
campaigning against drug abuse among young people. Other sessions touched on how the media portray young people.
The message was clear in all sessions; young people want to inherit a world that is secured. A world that is free of exploitation. A world
that respects the humanity of all people, irrespective of their colour, creed or class.
One can only wish that for this young people the WSF is not simply an adventure. While some philosophers have correctly opined that
“young people can only initiate revolutions but cannot sustain them”, it also true that some of the enduring revolutions or defining
moments in history were as a direct result of the initiatives taken by young people.
The late 1960s French student revolution and the South African 1976 student uprising are two remarkable examples. Talking about the
1976 experience, it is now perhaps time that the ASF seriously reflected on the youth component of its participation. While there were a
few African participants at the Youth Camp the number is far from satisfactory.
More can be done. More must be done.