This is just to say thank you for the very informative Pambazuka! I have
enjoyed reading the materials, which I have found to be very educative and informative.

Nigeria's MPs have given President Olusegun Obasanjo two weeks to resign or face impeachment for incompetence and corruption - but Obasanjo is unlikely to step down.

Members of the Coalition for the International Criminal Court, a global network of civil society organizations advocating for a fair, effective and independent International Criminal Court, have called for transparency and consultation in the nomination of the Court’s first elected officials, comprising eighteen judges and a Prosecutor.

Amnesty International says it is "deeply concerned" that the pattern of using violence against the political opposition and abuse of the neutrality of the police by government and state-sponsored "militia" will be repeated ahead of the September local elections.

International Monetary Fund (IMF) resident representative Mark Ellyne has said his organisation was not surprised at reported high levels of corruption under the Chiluba regime.

Opposition parties in Cameroon have continued to suffer the fallout of municipal and legislative elections on 30 June in which they lost much of the ground they won in 1997.

We, the National Association of Child and Youth Care Workers in South Africa (NACCW) would like to subscribe to this excellent newsletter.

The Pambazuka Newsletter is an excellent source for keeping appraised of the events and conditions on the African Continent. I do think there needs to be more positive success stories. I don't recall reading anything positive that is taking place in Africa in the Pambazuka. I lived and worked in Nigeria for many years and do anticipate doing so again. I will apply for employment through your newsletter as approprate.
Vallejo, California, U.S.A.

Greetings. I am writing on behalf of the Anti-Privatisation Forum (APF) in Johannesburg, South Africa. We have been notified of your news service and would like to subscribe. We would also like to notify you of the new website of the APF where people can find a variety of articles and statements etc. on our past, present and future activities and contributions to the struggle against privatisation and neo-liberalism here in South Africa and the Southern Africa region.

This issue contains:
* Water, energy and sustainable economic development in South Africa p. 369 Mike Goldblatt, Glynn Davies

* Economic reforms and the prospect for sustainable development in Tanzania p. 389 Kassim Kulindwa

* Short-term effects of policy reform on tourism and the macro economy in Zimbabwe: applied CGE analysis p. 419 Ramos Mabugu

Former chief justice Matthew Ngulube has appeared before the task force probing corruption under the Chiluba regime. Sources said he was asked about the US $168,000 he received from former president Frederick Chiluba in suspicious circumstances.

Dear Friends,
It seems necessary to write to everyone possible about our impending famine. The situation is complicated by a number of factors. The rains have been bad. The total maize crop was less than 400,00 tonnes, between a half and a third of what the peasant farmers usually produce in a year. The commercial farmers, of whose problems you hear so much, normally produce much less than that; about 30-40% of the total crop. Removing them from the scene need not cause any problem in direct food production in a good year, but this was not a good year - in fact the worst since 1947. The disruptions caused by the land takeovers and the violence associated with the presidential election campaign must have contributed to the present problem.

President Bakili Muluzi on Wednesday sacked his Minister Responsible for Poverty Alleviation, Leonard Mangulama, following revelations of his involvement in the sale of strategic grain reserves ahead of a massive food shortage.

President Mwanawasa's fight against corruption is for cheap publicity, UPND first vice-president Sakwiba Sikota has charged.

A UK government commitee has found that meeting the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) will require an additional US$50 billion in aid per year, a doubling of current aid levels. The United Nations Conference on Financing for Development (the Monterrey Summit) offered less than a quarter of the funds needed to meet the MDG targets.

NGOs in Ethiopia are increasingly being perceived as important actors in the urban arena. Can they reach the urban poor effectively and efficiently? Research by INTRAC - the International NGO Training and Research Centre - suggests that the majority of NGOs in Addis Ababa do not reach the most marginalised and impoverished social groups.

By Athiaan Majak Malou

Our Masters in the West, Hallowed be your race, Your civilization come, Your policies be done, On African soil as it is in the West. Give us this decade our development aid, Forgive us our debts, As we also have forgiven you, For slavery and colonialism, And lead us not into uneven globalization, but deliver us from poverty. In good governance's name we pray. Amen

The Nigerian deputy senate president, Senator Ibrahim Mantu, has decried corruption amongst government officials in Africa.

Ghanaians voted in local government elections on Tuesday, but the polls were postponed in some areas, including six districts in the Northern Region where a state of emergency was imposed following the murder of a traditional ruler on 27 March.

The Japanese government has given 3.2 billion cedis to the Electoral Commission (EC) for the District Level Elections.