The United Nations, the US led Allies and new bodies like the African Union are faced with the task of re-building society and economy in countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, and Liberia – and soon hopefully in Zimbabwe, the DRC and other failed states. They typically attempt to do so by taking prime responsibility, directly or indirectly through a weak transitional government, to “supply” security, infrastructure and services. This method seldom works. As a 'supply-side' model, it is encumbered by 'patronage' and hence is open to local elite capture, be it by warlords or opposition groupings or to disruption by “terrorists”. The answer is to move to a higher conception of local renewal and local responsibility in partnership with the central authority facilitated by the UN and allies. The key is to shift from 'supply' to demand-side management, and from patronage and central control / responsibility to economic rights programming that enables, resources, partners and builds competent citizens, argues this article.

I will correct Nimene’s unfortunate misunderstanding about the situation in Zimbabwe. (Pambazuka News 126, Letters and Comments) It is more complex than the propaganda the Mugabe regime has been peddling at every international forum they attend.

The political violence associated with elections and the land redistribution efforts was a deliberate move. Mugabe called the actions "peaceful demonstrations" after admitting that Zanu PF has "degrees in violence". In any case, there is ample evidence that the laws and policies implemented by the Zanu PF government are worse than those promulgated during the colonial Rhodesian era. How does one explain the emergence of the Public Order and Security Act to curtail the activities of the opposition and civic society, the coming in of AIPPA to control the independent press and, even worse, changing electoral laws over five times within seven days before a crucial presidential election?

These and other actions will forever condemn Robert Mugabe as the worst dictator to emerge in the history of Zimbabwe and Rhodesia. If not contained, his actions and policies will ruin any hopes of restoring democracy and economic viability in the country. And this certainly will affect the southern African region.

Angola's once flourishing coffee industry is beginning to show signs of recovery after decades of civil war that virtually destroyed production. Until 1975 Angola was the 4th largest coffee producer in the world. Today its coffee output barely satisfies local needs.

I am intrigued by the number of suggestions made to Thabo Mbeki to do something about Zimbabwe which is "dragging down the whole continent". Every African has a right to "life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness" but with most Africans still considered drawers of water and hewers of wood, happiness went out of the window a long time ago! Secondly, I wonder why Thabo should really have that mandate when South Africa is strategically closer to the keepers of the gateways to the empire! Try getting a visa into South Africa, with or without your anti-apartheid credentials now deemed irrelevant!

Would just like to congratulate you on the Pambazuka newsletter; it is a most useful resource and is well put together. Keep it up.

Uncertainty hangs over the country's highest courts as a two-week quit ultimatum set for corrupt judges begins. The deadline has been reiterated by Constitutional and Justice Affairs assistant minister Robinson Githae, who warned that judges who ignored it would face tribunals.

The UN Security Council has rejected calls by Ethiopia for a new body to rule on contested areas of the border with neighbouring Eritrea. In a one-page response, the UN body expressed “deep regret” at the move by Ethiopia and urged it to implement the controversial April 2002 border ruling.

The Maputo Provincial Court on Monday acquitted all seven policemen charged with facilitating the escape from the top security prison in September 2002 of Anibal dos Santos Junior ("Anibalzinho"), who recruited the death squad that murdered Mozambique's top investigative journalist, Carlos Cardoso, on 22 November 2000. Judge Carlos Caetano said that the seven men "are just scapegoats to hide the class of untouchables". This posting contains a list of news clippings related to Mozambique.

Picture this. An island strip of expensive Florida styled hotels, white beaches and brilliant blue skies, disturbed by the violence of wrought iron barriers the length of the Convention Centre and 20,000 armed Mexican police and federal paramilitary. More than 10,000 people land on the island strip for the Inter-ministerial, 3,000 accredited NGO officials - but only 180 from Africa and 30 Africa Peoples Caucus activists on the outside; 1,200 accredited media journalists, of whom fewer than 100 from Africa; roughly 600 European Commission staff, but only 10 African Union staff and consultants. While the Italian delegation consisted of 106 people, there were 45 on the Kenyan delegation and 3 on the Gambian delegation. Throughout the four days, there were 150 parallel NGO workshops within the official NGO hotel; and outside the perimeter, there were daily protests, stunts, marches by Mexican workers, Korean farmers, North American and European activists and the tragic but dignified self-sacrifice of Mr. Lee.

... and towards the end, long and anxious hours waiting for the secretive green room discussions to end. The tears ... and then the shouts of joy and relief when the Kenyan Head of Delegation leaked the news of the collapse of the talks at 3pm on Sunday, 14 September. Africa emerged from the talks a major negotiating player, no longer the dinner of other trading partners, but defining the direction and outcome of the talks in Cancun.

At the invitation of Pambazuka News, Irungu Houghton interviewed four Africa activists who had attended the fifth Inter-Ministerial WTO Conference, Cancun, Mexico:

* Mr Gichinga Ndirangu (Kenya national delegate, media and information officer)
* Mr. Moussa Faye (Senegalese delegate)
* Hon. Sheila Kawamara (Member of the East Africa Legislative Assembly member of the Uganda delegation)
* Ms. Crystal Overson (involved with the Africa People Caucus on popular campaigning and media outreach).

IRUNGU: What prepared African negotiators prior to Cancun for the resilience they displayed?
GICHINGA: Firstly, CSO representatives in various countries had strong support from their respective countries. The Senegalese minister remarked about the power of the petition she received from the public in Senegal before leaving. Secondly, the various meetings from the African, Caribbean and Pacific, Africa Union Trade Ministerial and the Heads of State meeting had called for solidarity. Thirdly, a range of groups such as ActionAid, Econews Africa, Seatini, Third World Network-Africa, Heinrich Boll Foundation and Oxfam worked with the Geneva based African negotiators and Ministers to hold a pre-Cancun consultation in August.
CRYSTAL: Alongside the official processes, groups came together in Johannesburg to agree on our position.

IRUNGU: Uganda had been very active during the lead up to Cancun, yet it seemed to get marginalized during the Conference, why was this?
SHEILA: Unlike the official delegations from Kenya and Senegal, our Head of State broke with the consensus that was building up in Cancun by purportedly circulating a letter that urged African countries to stay out of the G21. This prevented Uganda from joining the African countries in the forefront. However, it did not have much impact on the conference as it was so clearly out of step with the positions being taken by the Africa Group and the ACP/LDC alliance. You must realize, this was the first time for African parliamentarians to attend, we were equipped to lobby even if the president gave other orders to the members of the government delegation. That was helpful ... to have parliamentarians on board.

IRUNGU: What was unexpected about the process in Cancun?
SHEILA: The unity of African and least developing countries was unexpected.
MOUSSA: We watched carefully for those countries that seemed likely to break with the African Union position; South Africa, Egypt and some of the francophone countries. When the Green room processes started we thought the coalition would collapse.
GICHINGA: For me it was the total lack of vision on the part of rich countries that was totally unexpected. They completely misread the mood. Instead of issues the majority of delegates wanted discussed, they continued to insist on Singapore issues (For explanation, see notes below). They failed to read the mood up to the last moment.

IRUNGU: For people not familiar with the procedures in the Inter-ministerials, the "Green Rooms" seem very strange processes. What kind of discussions take place?
MOUSSA: The Green Rooms are called arbitrarily by the WTO Chairperson to discuss parts of the Declaration that are contentious. In Cancun, it was announced that a Green Room of 29 Ministers and one Advisor each would start at midnight the same day. We spent time speaking to the African Ministers, urging them to remain strong and determined only to hear at 11.45pm that the format had all changed. Nine Ministers and one Advisor each would now meet alone, not on the whole Declaration but on the 'Singapore Issues' only. The Senegalese Minister was initially part of the 26 and was then dropped. I think she was radicalized by this experience. She went from being a privileged negotiator to a victim of these tactics. From then on, I noticed she seemed to react to African delegates proposing to open negotiations on new issues that they were betraying Africa.
GICHINGA: Cancun reflected the lack of transparency that was behind the collapse of the talks in Seattle and Doha. In Seattle, Green Room meetings took place without African and Caribbean Ministers. In Doha, the process continued, this time with wider representation, but in essence the process was still flawed. In some cases, ministers were denied access to advice from their experts. This is tragic as Ministers are not involved in the day-to-day negotiations of WTO.
MOUSSA: I believe this is a mechanism for arm-twisting. It is very undemocratic.

IRUNGU: How effective was the media? Here in Kenya, all I am asked is whether I went naked on the beach in protest?
CRYSTAL: We in the African Peoples Caucus worked with media organizations from South Africa and the rest of the continent. This way, we were able put Africa on the agenda and assert "Africa is not for sale!" We interpreted some of the technical jargon for social movements to understand, we put it into language that my mother back in South Africa could understand.

IRUNGU: What was the decisive moment in the collapse of the talks?
GICHINGA: The collapse started with the presentation of the revised draft declaration on the third day of the conference. It came too late in the meeting. The text was clearly unrepresentative of the submissions of Africa, Caribbean and least developed countries. I remember the very long queue of people rushing for copies and people became frustrated when they saw no improvement. Heads of delegations met and expressed strong views one after another. I was struck by the words of the Minister from Antigua and Bermuda, Sir Ronald Sanders, when he said and I quote; "My government has a duty to care for its people. Were we to accept this document we would deserve our people's condemnation. For we would not only have gained no relief for them, we would have condemned them to a life of perpetual underdevelopment. That my delegation will not do. I have to advise that this draft does not enjoy the support of my government." I could feel this meeting was headed for collapse.
MOUSSA: For me, the most decisive moment happened in the Africa Union/ ACP meeting around midday on the last day. Minister Nkate of Botswana requested the other delegates to accept one of the Singapore Issues in return for an agreement on agriculture. African and Caribbean countries emphatically asked what part of "NO" they didn't understand.

IRUNGU: Media coverage captured the excitement at the collapse of the talks, what did it feel for you at that moment?
GICHINGA: For me there was a sense of relief. I felt like we were being led to the slaughterhouse. There was sense of victory. We had avoided a bad deal. I was elated and relieved by the outcome.
MOUSSA: I was also relieved but angry that we had not achieved anything. We had gone to Cancun for nothing; we did not make any deals. Yet I guess, we managed to stand firm on our positions and I guess that was a victory. It meant that Europeans and Americans had not reached their goal either.
SHEILA: I was excited. We had done a commendable job in keeping Africa's interests on the table and when this did not look possible, [it contributed] to the end of the talks. After that, a fear come upon me - we had won the victory but how long can we sustain it. It was excitement and fear.
CRYSTAL: Of course on the outside we were happy. It was cause for celebration. Now we need to go back to the drawing board. The hard work starts now. It is no use celebrating - we have to work harder to ensure we take the work forward. We can't sit back; we have to start mobilizing to prepare for what is coming ahead.

IRUNGU: What were your personal lowlights of the conference?
MOUSSA: The night when I learned that the Green Room started, everybody had left and a secret process was going on. I was thinking this is the real conference, and we can do nothing about it. We have no means to influence the secret process and that night I was anxious.
SHEILA: When the greenroom process began. My lowest was when we were told about the changes in the Green Room meeting. I knew we had been beaten. But the following morning things seemed to be coming up.
CRYSTAL: The uncertainty of whether the South Africa delegation would hold to the Africa position, we were certainly not clear on whether South Africa would sell out or support African groupings, but [eventually] it became clear that South Africa did not break ranks with the Africa group.

IRUNGU: What were your personal highlights of the conference?
MOUSSA: As I heard our minister speak on BBC I realized how important her role was and how I could support her in getting her positions across.
GICHINGA: When Minister Nkate listened to the opposition to his proposal to start negotiations on trade investment and then said “well I have heard you, I am going to represent what you have said". The Green room had failed utterly and democratic representation was running the meeting.
SHEILA: My high moment was the collapse of the talks - that was my highest moment.
CRYSTAL: The high moment was when we heard the negotiations had failed.

IRUNGU: What are the dangers ahead for African agriculture, health and wider economies?
GICHINGA: Agriculture - in many African countries the danger is that we are now left with a situation where we do not know what will happen in two years time. We do not have domestic support; there is no motivation or inclination to move forward on this area. It has been a long wait. We have fought for long and in this particular outcome we have no roadmap on how the issue will be addressed.
SHEILA: The issue of regional block. We are now celebrating. But I am sceptical. I think that [many] would rather consider negotiating as individual countries. I think that could undermine the regional block. I think the only way to go is have regional integration.
MOUSSA: I fear that what they could not achieve on a multilateral basis
i.e. negotiating on new issues, could be achieved on a bilateral basis. I am concerned about what ACP negotiations are going on. So, basically, the process in Geneva and bilateral processes are reasons to be worried. What they could not achieve on a multi-lateral basis they will try to do so in negotiations like the Cotonou phase 2 negotiations.
CRYSTAL: Some of the concerns that I have is that we don't know what is going on there and we have to be cautious.

IRUNGU: For the next Inter-ministerial, what should African CSOs do differently?
SHEILA: We need to lobby African governments to include more parliamentarians in their delegation - like in Norway, Britain and Italy. As elected representatives, we speak on behalf of our people.
MOUSSA: Africans need to strengthen themselves by connecting more to grassroots. Negotiators from northern countries negotiate under pressure from lobby groups We need to link up more with northern civil society and work more on subsidies reduction.
CRYSTAL: We need to connect local processes in-countries and international events better. We need to make sure that CSOs are represented on all delegations as in some cases we had no representatives from certain countries.
GICHINGA: Yes, we must engage more with the public and show them why they must make their governments accountable for the positions they take. We need civil society to challenge our governments to take the lead from their Geneva experts. We must insist that the pro-active role must come from Geneva rather than capitals. Next time maybe we should do a dummy ministerial WTO declaration to measure against our expectations.
SHEILA: We shouldn't become somebody else's dinner in these meetings.
We should set an agenda and put our feet down and say this is our Position, we stand by it. I know its tough but that's what we have got to do.
CRYSTAL: Not all of our Governments are accountable yet. We should work hard towards understanding technicalities and ways of unpacking processes and complex ideas, make it clear that negotiations taking place thousands of miles away impact on our livelihoods. Yea, we are sick and tired of being dinner, we should make dinner for a change.

30 September 2003

Our thanks to Emily Nyanjugu for transcribing the interview. Irungu Houghton is Pan-Africa Policy Advisor for Oxfam GB; Gichinga Ndirangu is Media Coordinator for Heinrich Boll Foundation; Moussa Faye is the Programme Coordinator for ActionAid Senegal; and Crystal Overson is a Media activist with AIDC-South Africa. The views expressed do not necessarily represent the views of these organisations.

* NOTE FOR READERS: "SINGAPORE ISSUES" :The 1996 Singapore Ministerial Declaration mandated the establishment of working groups to analyse issues related to investment, competition policy and transparency in government procurement. It also directed the Council for Trade in Goods to undertake exploratory and analytical work on the simplification of trade procedures in order to assess the scope for WTO rules in this area. Most developing countries were unconvinced of the necessity or value of negotiating multilateral rules on these issues, which they see as being of primary interest to developed economies. Since the beginning of June 2003, 101 developing countries (including 68 WTO members - well over half of the WTO's developing country embers) have said they did not want negotiations on the Singapore Issues to be agreed in Cancun.

RELATED ARTICLE...
SALVAGING WTO FROM CANCUN COLLAPSE
Devoloping countries need to stand firm and counter divisive tendencies after the Cancun collapse, writes Bhagirath Lal Das for the Third World Network. You can read the article in Equinet News. Visit http://www.equinetafrica.org/newsletter_archive.html.

WEBSITES FOR MORE INFORMATION:
* Focus on the Global South
http://www.focusweb.org/
* Choike: Cancun 2003
http://www.choike.org/cgi-bin/choike/links/page.cgi?p=ver_indepth&id=12…
* Third World Network
http://www.twnside.org.sg/

* Please send comments to editor@pambazuka.org

Goal Eight of the Millennium Development Goals does not have detailed enough targets to define the objectives and actions that are needed in the area of global finance, including the problems of debt, capital flows and a healthy system of financing for development. The emerging paradigm calls for developing countries to take a pragmatic approach to globalisation and liberalisation and to integrating their domestic economies with the global economy in the areas of finance, trade and investment. However, the financial system as a whole -increasingly characterised by the absence of regulations, transparency or a fair set of rules for resolving the conflicts between debtor and creditor countries - requires an overhaul, says this article on the website www.socialwatch.org.

Tanzanians have been urged to use their power of influence through mass protests and other available avenues to stop corrupt leaders from using government resources for their personal interests. The call was made by participants in a two-day Social Watch Country Forum 2003 organised by Women’s Legal Aid Centre (WLAC) at Arts and Crafts Centre in Dar es salaam this week.

The plight of children abducted by rebels in northern Uganda is not getting enough international attention, the UN has warned. According to the Office of the Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict (OSRSG-CACC), more prominence should be given to the tragedy which has been unfolding for nearly two decades. Over 25,000 children are believed to have been abducted in the course of the 17-year civil war between the rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and the government.

In Kenya, a "zero corruption" initiative has led to the stepping down of Kenya's chief justice, central bank chief and top tax collector. Other countries, including Ghana, Mozambique, Zambia and South Africa, also have launched anti-corruption drives. Still, many of the world's most corrupt nations are in Africa, including Nigeria, Madagascar, Kenya, Angola and Uganda, according to a survey of 102 nations by Transparency International.

The deteriorating security situation in Burundi is hampering efforts to reach tens of thousands of people in dire need of food assistance after they fled their homes in the face of renewed fighting, arson and looting, the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) said on September 26.

A committee investigating the Kenyan judiciary Tuesday told the BBC half of Kenya's judges and nearly a third of its magistrates are corrupt. The committee, led by a judge, has been gathering evidence against five of the country's nine judges in the court of appeals, Kenya's highest court, and against 18 of the 36 in Kenya's high court.

It used to be that oil and mining companies felt the heat only when it came to questionable payments they made behind closed doors to secure some of the world's most precious natural resources. But in recent years activists have set their sights on legal payments, arguing that if you "publish what you pay" corrupt government officials would find it harder to siphon off funds to their Swiss bank accounts.

Against a backdrop of donor fatigue and a deadlock on trade between rich and poor countries, African leaders at a summit here renewed a pledge to keep the world's attention on a continent that is grappling with wars and famine, but also faces new opportunities ahead. While the African leaders said that the three-day conference that ended here Wednesday did not produce magic solutions, they agreed that it helps focus attention on the region's needs.

Access to information and communications technologies (ICTs) is expanding but the majority of people in developing countries are still excluded, says APC in a new book launched last week in the run-up to the first ever United Nations world conference on the information society. At the United Nations’ World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS), to be held in Geneva in December, governments will agree on a declaration and action plan that could enhance or hinder access to ICTs for the vast majority of the world’s population.

You Western manipulated and controlled media institution - you think that you are going to wreck another African country because a high school graduate did not win the last election and because stolen land is being returned to our African people. You are all destined to fail. Up with Mugabe, down with the opposition, down with the agent of another Rhodesia.

The current government in Zimbabwe continues to thumb its nose at the rest of the world and act in increasingly more repressive ways every week. A recent example is the closing of the country's leading and most popular newspaper, the independent Daily News, on 12 September 2003. The ban follows a Supreme Court ruling on 11 September that the paper was operating illegally. Plainclothes security police, accompanied by about 20 paramilitary police armed with automatic rifles, burst into the newspaper's offices in central Harare at about 5pm, ordered staff to leave and arrested Nqobile Nyathi, the Editor, and Simon Ngena, the production manager. While I will not deny that the actions of the Mugabe government have a basis in intrinsic problems of modern Zimbabwe, the handling of these issues has often been brutal and repressive and goes beyond what any democratic society should endure. CIDA maintains some presence in Zimbabwe and I urge its decision makers to add their voices to others and persuade the Canadian Government to continue to put pressure on the government in Harare to allow basic democratic institutions such as a free press and a right to public assembly for all people.