Pambazuka reader Farai Kashiri responds to Riaz Tayob’s critique of Moeletsi Mbeki’s AFRICOM address.

"A new earthquake" is what peasant farmer leader Chavannes Jean-Baptiste of the Peasant Movement of Papay (MPP) called the news that Monsanto will be donating 60,000 seed sacks (475 tons) of hybrid corn seeds and vegetable seeds, some of them treated with highly toxic pesticides. The MPP has committed to burning Monsanto's seeds, and has called for a march to protest the corporation's presence in Haiti on June 4, for World Environment Day.

Fatima Yadik, a mother of 12 and grandmother of 18, recently settled in the Central African Republic town of Yaloké after 60 years with her nomadic community. Her camp of Peuhl nomads was attacked by bandits who killed all the men and stole their cattle. Peuhl people are often targeted by bandits because of the relative wealth of their livestock. Fleeing to safety, Ms. Yadik and her family joined the growing number of nomadic peoples across Africa’s interior who are escaping poverty and insecurity in the countryside in favour of life in towns and cities.

Ethiopia’s opposition says the style of deploying the police and the army might cause post-election violence if the forces intervene during celebrations of victory or expression of disgust at the vote outcome. Ethiopia’s opposition leader Beyena Petros, the chairman of a coalition of eight opposition parties, Medrek, said he was personally scared that the security forces' misreading of the public mood could cause post-election violence.

The Kenya government Thursday placed its veterinary department on high alert over a possible outbreak of a Rift Valley fever epidemic in the North Eastern, Upper Eastern and Rift Valley provinces. Livestock Minister Mohamed Kuti, while issuing the alert, announced that a massive vaccination campaign was due to begin in the affected regions to prevent an outbreak of the disease.

The Constitution Commission that reviewed Angola's constitution, which had been in force since February 2005, was dissolved on Wednesday by the National Assembly during its 12th plenary ordinary session.

Somalia’s president reinstated Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Sharmarke and his cabinet on Thursday after days of uncertainty following a parliamentary vote of no confidence in them. President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed asked Mr Sharmarke and his ministers to step down after the vote on Sunday. A total 280 MPs had chosen to sack them, according to former speaker Sheikh Aden Madobe, who has since resigned.

Calm has been restored after clashes in the Madagascar capital Antananarivo between rival security forces. Madagascar's army and police exchanged gunfire with a rebel police faction. The faction has retreated to its barracks and is trying to negotiate a way out, a military officer says. Madagascar has been in political turmoil since opposition leader Andry Rajoelina assumed power in January 2009, with military backing.

As Craig Venter announces lab-made life, ETC Group calls for Global
Moratorium on Synthetic Biology.

In a paper published today in the journal Science, the J. Craig Venter
Institute and Synthetic Genomics Inc announced the laboratory creation of
the world's first self-reproducing organism whose entire genome was built
from scratch by a machine.(1) The construction of this synthetic organism,
anticipated and dubbed "Synthia" by the ETC Group three years ago, will
stir a firestorm of controversy over the ethics of building artificial life
and the implications of the largely unknown field of synthetic biology.

Panacea, or...? According to today’s publication, "Synthia" could be a boon
to second-generation agrofuels making it – theoretically – possible to feed
people and cars simultaneously. The article further suggests that Synthia,
or synthetic biology, could help clean up the environment, save us from
climate change, and address the food crisis. "Synthia is not a
one-stop-shop for all our societal woes," disputes Pat Mooney, Executive
Director of ETC Group, an international technology watchdog based in
Canada. “It is much more likely to cause a whole new set of problems
governments and society are ill-prepared to address."

Pandora's Box? "This is the quintessential Pandora’s box moment - like the
splitting of the atom or the cloning of Dolly the sheep. We will all have
to deal with the fall-out from this alarming experiment," comments Jim
Thomas of the ETC Group. "Synthetic biology is a high-risk profit-driven
field, building organisms out of parts that are still poorly understood.(2)
We know that lab-created life-forms can escape, become biological weapons,
and that their use threatens existing natural biodiversity. Most worrying
of all, Craig Venter is handing this powerful technology to the world’s
most irresponsible and environmentally damaging industry by partnering with
the likes of BP and Exxon to hasten the commercialization of synthetic
life-forms."(3)

Synthetic biology refers to the construction of novel life-forms using
synthetic DNA made from off-the-shelf chemicals - a form of "extreme
genetic engineering". The team behind today’s announcement, led by
controversial scientist and entrepreneur Craig Venter, is associated with a
private company, Synthetic Genomics Inc, bankrolled by the US government
and energy behemoths BP and Exxon. Synthetic Genomics recently announced a
$600 million research and investment deal with Exxon Mobil in addition to a
2007 investment from BP for an undisclosed amount. Venter, who led the
private sector part of the human genome project ten years ago, has already
applied for patents related to Synthia's technology.(4)

Although high-profile backers of synthetic biology now occupy key positions
in the US Obama administration(5) there still remains no proper national or
international oversight of new high-risk, technologies that carry vast
implications for humanity and the natural world. In 2006, ETC Group joined
with other organizations to demand the formal, open and inclusive oversight
of synthetic biology(6) and have since called for a global halt on research
pending the development of global regulations. ETC Group has reiterated
that call at a scientific meeting of the United Nations Convention on
Biological Diversity in Nairobi attended by more than 100 governments.(7)

Pandemonium? The lack of global rules governing the field also concerns
many governments, illustrated by the biodiversity talks in Nairobi.
Mundita Lim of the Philippines delegation to the CBD expressed her
country’s concerns "about the serious potential impacts of synthetic
biology on biodiversity... we believe that there should be no field release
of synthetic life, cell or genome into the environment until thorough
scientific assessments have been conducted in a transparent, open and
participatory process involving all Parties, indigenous and local
communities that will all be potentially affected by these synthetic life
forms with unknown consequences on biodiversity, the environment and
livelihoods." Today’s announcement will give new urgency to the debate on
synthetic biology and provide a dramatic example of the need for rigorous
oversight over new technologies before their environmental or commercial
release is permitted.

1) Science, 20 May 2010, "Creation of a Bacterial Cell Controlled by a
Chemically Synthesized Genome," by D. Gibson; J.I. Glass; C. Lartigue; V.N.
Noskov; R.-Y. Chuang; M.A. Algire; M.G. Montague; L. Ma; M.M. Moodie; C.
Merryman; S. Vashee; R. Krishnakumar; N. Assad-Garcia; C.
Andrews-Pfannkoch; E.A. Denisova; L. Young; Z.-Q. Qi; T.H. Segall-Shapiro;
C.H. Calvey; P.P. Parmar; J.C. Venter at J. Craig Venter Institute in
Rockville, MD; G.A. Benders; C.A. Hutchinson III; H.O. Smith; J.C. Venter
at J. Craig Venter Institute in San Diego, CA. The paper acknowledges
'generous funding' from Synthetic Genomics Inc for this work, that three of
the leaders of the scientific team hold executive positions at Synthetic
Genomics Inc and that the J Craig Venter Institute itself holds stock in
Synthetic Genomics Inc.

2) For a graphic overview of the investors behind Synthetic Genomics, Inc,
see ETC Group's 2007 Poster "The Men & Money Behind Synthia." available
here: http://www.syntheticgenomics.com/media/bpfaq.html and reporting of their
deal with Exxon Mobil is available at Dolly...Hello, Synthia! J. Craig Venter Institute Seeks Monopoly Patents on
the World's First-Ever Human-Made Life Form" online at
Synthetic Biology" when he was named to office last year (see

7) ETC Group currently has three staff members in Nairobi at the meeting of
the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice to
the UN Convention on Biological Diversity (SBSTTA 14). The topic of
synthetic biology is under discussion at SBSTTA 14 under an item concerning
the biodiversity risks of next generation biofuels.

Twitter - ETC Group will be putting out occasional updates on this news
story on Twitter using the hashtag #SYNTHIA - we encourage other to use the
same tag.

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The private sector window of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group received, on 19 May 2010, board approval for a USD 40 million equity investment in the African Agriculture Fund (AAF), a private-equity fund designed to respond to the food crisis that severely impacted the continent in 2008 in the wake of escalating food prices and staple export bans.

The heads of seven African states are in Yaoundé at the invitation of Cameroon’s President Paul Biya to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their countries’ independence. The seven leaders, who come mostly from central Africa, also took part in the closing ceremony of the international conference “Africa 21”

Nigeria's upper legislative chamber, the Senate, will begin its investigations into the alleged marriage to a 13-year-old Egyptian girl by Senator Ahmed Yerimah, next Wednesday. The official News Agency of Nigeria Thursday quoted the Chairman, Senate Committee on Ethics and Privileges, Sen. Omar Hambagda, as saying the committee had received petitions from three serving female senators over the issue.

A report launched by the Open Society Justice Initiative and the Network on Police Reform in Nigeria (NOPRIN) said Police in the country commit extrajudicial killings, torture, rape, and extortion with relative impunity. According to the findings of the report, which was release simultaneously in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, and New York, many members of the Nigeria Police Force are more likely to commit crimes than to prevent them.

The Johannesburg-based World Alliance for Citizen Participation (CIVICUS) has warned that the operating environment for civil society in Kenya remains fraught with danger. It said that as the spotlight is focused on impunity in Kenya by the international community, including the International Criminal Court (ICC) and special representatives of the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), civil society activists are facing grave risks.

Uganda’s opposition will boycott national elections next year unless the government reconstitutes the Electoral Commission (EC) to make it impartial, senior opposition officials told Reuters on Thursday. They say the electoral body favoured the incumbent President Yoweri Museveni at the last elections in 2006. The head of state appoints the commission’s seven members.

Guinea's army chief has promised the military will ensure that the 27 June elections proceed smoothly. Colonel Nouhou Thiam, who heads a military task force set up to oversee the polls, said the army would "defend the territory of Guinea." He also promised the army would remain neutral during the elections.

The uneasy partners in Zimbabwe's national unity government have one more issue to divide them: President Robert Mugabe's appointment this week of a new Supreme Court judge and four High Court judges without consultation with Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai, to which his Movement for Democratic Change immediately objected.

Thihako Mukena paddles his mokoro slowly across a soccer field, pointing with a smile towards the goalposts that barely clear the water’s surface. Heavy rains in Angola months earlier have meandered down the Okavango to his doorstep: the river is at its highest point in nearly fifty years. His house is now cut off from the mainland, and 18-year-old Mukena navigates his way to school in the dugout canoe.

Despite some progress in Sudan’s war-torn Darfur region, violent clashes between Government and rebel forces persist, civilians are still dying or being displaced and humanitarian workers are still coming under attack, the top United Nations official in the region has said. “Results have been mixed despite our best efforts,” the head of the joint African Union-UN Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), Ibrahim Gambari, told the Security Council, presenting Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s latest report on the region, where seven years of conflict have killed an estimated 300,000 people and driven 2.7 million others from their homes.

The European Union (EU) and the Food and Agriculture Or ganization (FAO), in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security (MAFS) are offering assistance to about 36,000 farmers in Lesotho, more than half of its vulnerable farmers. Soaring food prices and the recent global economic downturn struck Lesotho hard, especially the majority of its 1.9 million people that rely on agriculture.