Thousands of preschool children across the Peninsula are set to go hungry - because their creches have been deemed sub-standard, and from the end of March food subsidies will be stopped. "It's a nightmare. We have about 40 little ones who get breakfast and lunch here every day, and that's the only food they get," said an outraged Christo van Rooyen who manages the finances of Jack and Jill creche in Ocean View. They were presented with a list of essential repairs by the department of social services to secure their food grant, but the criteria have proved impossible to fulfil.

The government of Burundi demobilised on Friday 29 child soldiers, who had served as porters in the country's regular army. The children, aged 13 to 18 years, were demobilised at the paratroop barracks in the capital, Bujumbura, in the presences of representatives of the Ministry of Defence, the UN Children's Fund as well as those from the national Demobilisation, Reintegration and Prevention Project, which targets child soldiers. Although the demobilised children served as porters, they also had the task of observing enemy movements, for which they earned the nickname "Doriya", which loosely translates as spy or sentry.

Government has expressed concern about the extent of corruption in Namibia's regional and local authorities, which it says represents "a serious departure from administrative ethical norms". Speaking at the induction workshop for newly appointed regional officers, Deputy Minister of Regional and Local Government and Housing Gerhard Totemeyer said that recent months had thrown up ample evidence of corruption by officials not adhering to moral standards.

The prospect of a new constitution has been dangled in front of Kenyans since the late 1990's, when a process of review began under former President Daniel Arap Moi. Last December, Moi's successor - Mwai Kibaki - promised the country a new constitution by June. Political bickering may also derail this pledge, however.

Police in Zimbabwe on Saturday dispersed more than 100 women who were planning a Valentine's Day march to urge national reconciliation in the capital, Harare. In Bulawayo, Zimbabwe's second city, the high court refused to hear an urgent application sought by the Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) to compel the police to allow them to march.

The IMF and World Bank will celebrate their 60th birthday in 2004. But it is no time for a party, not as long as debt continues to impoverish and take away the sovereignty of peoples and nations across the global South. On the institutions' 60th birthday, Jubilee USA Network is organising a birthday card campaign to the IMF and World Bank. They have developed birthday cards that call on the IMF/World Bank to cancel 100% of impoverished country debt without conditions, and we will be distributing the cards to activists across the U.S. and around the world.

The last two years were characterised by uncertainties and delays, which have thrown a number of challenges in the way of the Electoral Commission of Namibia (ECN) in the execution of its onerous mandate of conducting elections in a free, fair and credible manner. In an apparent attempt to save cost and counter voter apathy, the ruling party and the government in particular initially proposed the simultaneous holding of the local and regional elections. A constitutional amendment bill was therefore introduced in the National Assembly in June 2003 to shorten the term of office of the Regional Councillors from the initial six years. The house of review, which is constituted by representatives of all the 13 Regional Councils, was however unanimously removed to "withhold" its support for the bill. This lack of agreement cast a shadow of uncertainty not only on the scheduling of Regional Councils Elections, but on the Local Authorities elections, as well.

G7 creditors, having promised substantial debt relief, have stalled the disbursement of relief, and are doing nothing for Ethiopia; this despite the fact that according to their own commitments and rules she is fully entitled to this relief. “Doing nothing for Ethiopia”, a briefing produced by Jubilee Research at nef (the new economics foundation) in February 2004 argues that this is once again “complicit in murder”. Why? Because if Ethiopia is denied additional debt relief, her government will lose US$1 billion in new money, and be obliged to divert US$35 million to service debt repayments to much richer creditors. This money could instead be used for hospitals, clean water and sanitation.

World Bank President James Wolfensohn is facing pressure from Nobel Peace Prize winner Archbishop Desmond Tutu to clean up the World Bank's policy and practice on funding oil and mining industries. Archbishop Tutu joins four other Nobel winners and more than 300 organisations who have written to Wolfensohn calling on him to radically reform the way the World Bank supports oil and mining industries. A recent review of World Bank funding for extractive industries, commissioned by Wolfensohn found that funding extractive industry projects was not a suitable use of public money in the vast majority of cases and does not promote sustainable development. It recommended the Bank reallocate funds towards renewable energy.

In early December 2003, representatives of 95 countries gathered in panama hats amid the ancient Mayan ruins of Merida, the capital of Mexico’s Yucatan, to sign the landmark UN Convention Against Corruption. The convention takes the unprecedented step of compelling governments to return stolen assets to the countries from which they were taken. That’s an important point of departure. It paves the way for efforts to repatriate funds stolen by deposed dictators like Zaire’s Mobutu Sese Seko, Nigeria’s Sani Abacha and Liberia’s Charles Taylor. As UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said at the signing conference, ‘Corrupt officials will in the future find fewer ways to hide their illicit gains.’ This article in the February edition of the South African Institute of International Affairs electronic journal of governance and innovation looks at the fight against corruption on the African continent.

DPMF e-NewsForum is a free electronic newsletter that comes out every two months. The main purpose of this small electronic newsletter is to:
- Exchange information on issues of interest to the three constituencies of DPMF Network- these are Policy Makers, Civil Society Organisations and Researchers/Lecturers/Scholars.
- To make available, information and data of relevance and interest to the Network and which is not easily accessible to the members of the Network.
- As this online interaction intensifies DPMF intends to introduce online discussion among its network on current issues of concern to the different constituencies.
The DPMF is a pan-African, non-profit, research and training CSO (Civil Society Organisation) located in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in the UNECA (Economic Commission for Africa) compound. Since its inception in March 1995, DPMF has carried out important activities aimed at consolidating and institutionalizing democratic governance in Africa. In particular, it has focused on enhancing institutional capacity for development policy management in African countries. Among DPMF's core areas of interventions is conflict management, resolution, and particularly, post conflict reconciliation. DPMF has created and is expanding a pan-African network of concerned individuals and institutions to consolidate democratic governance by enhancing capacity in the policy making process, in order to face the challenges of development, reconstruction in post-conflict situations, and promotion of an African renaissance.

This report explores the reasons behind the link between mineral wealth and child poverty in countries such as Azerbaijan, Colombia, Nigeria, Sudan and Venezuela. Comparing these countries with success stories such as Botswana and Norway, the report identifies positive, practical and achievable approaches to lift the ‘resource curse’. The report argues that different actors (government, donors, extractive companies, civil society) have particular roles to play in ensuring mineral resource extraction brings benefits for ordinary citizens, and emphasises in particular that extractive companies are best placed to trigger change now.

Domestically, Ghanaian democracy is thriving amidst a virulent opposition that is gearing to stage a come back to the political podium. Parliamentary and Presidential elections are billed for 2004 and the atmosphere is (as it has been since the 2000 elections) already rife with politics. Ghanaians seem to talk and live politics every day. Local FM radio talk shows have all been about politics, dominated by the scramble for visibility and consolidation of gains by officials, supporters, or sympathizers of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) or the opposition and former ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC). The picture of Ghana painted above is quite rosy, but is the impression as positive under the surface? This article takes a cursory look at the strengths of the present Ghanaian dispensation, the stakes, and the grey areas of the Ghanaian drive towards democracy and economic consolidation as a West African peace house.

Investigators looking for billions of stolen money stashed overseas by former Nigerian strongman Sani Abacha have moved the search to Kenya. Drawn from Nigeria and Interpol (International Police), they are scrutinising records at some Kenyan banks in a bid to find out how the money travelled overseas. Sources in the Kenyan security network say preliminary investigations have established that some of the money was withdrawn and used by someone in Kenya.

Once again the military regime of Khartoum has proved that old habits die-hard. By trying once again to solve the Darfur crisis through the barrel of the gun is a clear indication that Khartoum has learned nothing from the 20 year-old-war it fought against its own citizens in Southern Sudan. Despite agreeing recently that a ceasefire is necessary to stop the bloodshed in Darfur, and despite claiming this week that the "war in Darfur" is over, the regime has stepped up its military operations in the province and with the same token has rejected the invitation to a conference on Darfur proposed by the Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, a Swiss non-governmental peace group, to be held February 14 and 15 in Geneva.

While fighting the so-called "insurgents" the Sudanese armed forces and other paramilitary units – the Popular Defence Forces - have simultaneously targeted civilians, allegedly accused of supporting the rebellion. More than 600,000 people have fled from their destroyed villages and have taken refuge in other towns in makeshift camps under trees with almost no food, water or shelter, while more than 100,000 fled to neighbouring Chad. Khartoum announced that major military operations in Darfur are over but villages are still being attacked and burned by the Janjaweed, the Khartoum-backed armed militias, and government Antonov planes continue to bomb indiscriminately villages as near as 60 kilometres from Al Fasher, the capital of Northern Darfur.

A ceasefire negotiated in neighbouring Chad (Abeche 1) seeking to end the conflict collapsed because the government has not kept its part of the deal, i.e. stop all its military operations and especially rein in the Janjaweed. In fact Osman Youssef Kibir, the governor of North Darfur, has admitted that militiamen acting in the name of the government executed civilians in his province, although he denied that the government bore any responsibility for their acts. Last week, the government overrun a number of camps held by the fighters of the Movement for Justice and Equality (MJE), one of the fighting factions in Darfur. Then it turned its wrath against the other faction, the Sudan Liberation Army and has surrounded Jebal Marra, their stronghold, with the full might of its armed forces and its allies.

The situation in Darfur is far from being "under control", as claimed by the Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir. The rebellion will continue as long as Khartoum refuses to acknowledge any political motivation for the unrest in the province, rejects a political solution to the crisis and blaming it instead on "armed criminal gangs and outlaws", who it says are aided by tribes from Chad.

Much of the tension in Darfur results from the same issues that led Southern Sudan to take up arms back in 1983 -- a central government that exploits local resources, imposes its cultural beliefs on the indigenous African population and consistently plays off local tribes and ethnic groups against each other for short-term gains. The Darfur Liberation Front -- which later changed its name to the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army (SLM/A) -- took up arms last February because the Khartoum government had "introduced policies of marginalisation, racial discrimination and exploitation that had disrupted the peaceful coexistence between the region's African sedentary and Arab nomad communities". Since the rebellion erupted the province is a war zone, with tremendous suffering inflicted on the civilian population by the army and the armed militias. SLA complains that the government in Khartoum, like all its predecessors, is dominated by the northern Arab elite and has ignored their needs. They argue that Darfur too should be offered a slice of a power-sharing deal and that its natural resources developed for the benefit of the local population. Calling for a separation of state and religion, the SLA/SLM have spelled out their objective "to create a united democratic Sudan" where the unity of the country will ultimately be based on the right to self-determination of the various peoples of Sudan. Also, they are asking for the establishment of an economy and a political system that addresses the uneven development and marginalisation that have plagued the country since independence. Yet these claims have had no effect on the government. It continues refusing to acknowledge the political motivation for the unrest and accuses Eritrea and the Sudan People Liberation Army (SPLA) of supporting and arming the rebels.

Darfur is the most underdeveloped region in the country and is prone to drought and famines, two factors which have fuelled conflict between nomadic Arab tribes, armed by the government, militias and local African villagers. Libya, who backs the Zaghawa, "a useful long term leverage weapon against N'djamena" according to Al Fazzan, the former Libyan ambassador to Cairo and who is now representing his country in Damascus, has offered to solve Darfur's "tribal dispute" by inviting the Arab herders and pastoralists of Darfur into Libya. There, they will receive new territories, pastures and water points and even the Libyan nationality. Tripoli wants at all costs to unite with Sudan and Egypt and recently Kadhafi has proposed a draft constitution for a tripartite union to form the Golden Triangle, his 35 year-old dream. Sudan may be an oil producer at the rate of 330,000 barrels per day, but the oil bonanza has only begun in 1999. With the exception of the capital, there is practically neither proper health services nor education and no communications infrastructure in the country. Neglected by successive governments, the peripheral regions - Darfur, Kordofan, Nuba Mountains and the Eastern Province – can easily claim to benefit from "sustained UNDERdevelopment".

Parallel to the issues of neglect and underdevelopment, racial discrimination and exploitation have poisoned inter-tribal co-existence. Pastoralism and farming have historically been and remain the most viable economic sectors in the province. It could be argued that land has long been at the heart of many conflicts in Africa, either between the indigenous black African populations and new comers - the case of Zimbabwe – or between farmers and pastoralists like in Darfur. During British colonial rule, the conflicts over pastures and water points were solved through the local tribal administration. Good neighbourhood still prevailing in those days, the pastoralists were allowed to move into the grazing areas with their cattle, sheep and camels, only after farmers had harvested their fields. But at independence, in the rush to modernise the country and move away from "old traditions", the new rulers of Sudan dismantled the local tribal administration and never replaced it. In the early 1980s, as drought and underdevelopment reduced pastures and water resources, the struggle for survival intensified for the nomadic pastoralists. During the 1986-89 premiership of Sadiq Al-Mahdi (Umma Party) the problem resurfaced when the nomadic tribes of the region, commonly known as the Baggara, moved indiscriminately into farming lands. These actions were made possible by a deliberate government policy and with the tacit approval of local government officials. The Baggara were even given weapons to "defend" themselves in case they were attacked by the indigenous farmers. Needless to say that often the weapons were used to take over lands and water points from the indigenous farmers.

Since then, Darfur has been the scene of attacks by armed groups on indigenous farmers. The present government reacted by detaining incommunicado in various prisons around the country, community leaders and alleged critics of its policies in the province. Following unrest in and around Geneina, Northern Darfur (2001) where hundreds of Massaleet were killed and dozens of villages burnt to the ground, Special Courts were established to deal with "murders, armed attacks and banditry". These courts have handed down death sentences and cruel, inhuman and degrading punishments – cross amputation, public flogging - after unfair and rushed trials.

Armed conflict and deliberate government strategies have largely been responsible for the long history of wars and of famines in Sudan. The current fighting, primarily along ethnic lines, is the result of that strategy. For almost twenty-five years, famine and scorched earth policy have been regarded as the outcome of a political process of depleting a region from its native population and transferring the resources of the region from the weak – the indigenous people - to the politically strong – Khartoum northern elites.

Various armed militia groups, the Janjaweed in the case of Darfur and the Muraheleen in the Nuba Mountains and in Southern Sudan, have been the vehicles for the regime policies and have been utilized as proxies by Khartoum. Their task is to attack and plunder the people of a given region and take their reward – the war booty - in the form of looted cattle, crops etc. A few years ago, these groups did not have any political agenda in Darfur, but today this has changed. Their political agenda is to assist the government in 'arabising' the region and taking over its natural resources – oil and minerals. The army and the security forces, the specially created Popular Defence Force (PDF), support these militias whose main task is to terrorise and isolate the local populations by forcibly preventing them from working in their fields and looking after their animals. By burning crops and looting cattle, the Janjaweed militias have created and maintained artificial scarcities of food, driving the farmers from their land and pushing them towards urban centres or to the arid, desolate parts of the province. It is true that the raiding, displacement, and asset destruction did not affect all parts of Darfur simultaneously but they have created a situation of extreme instability whereby ordinary economic activities and survival strategies became impossible.

In addition, the nature of inter-tribal clashes in Darfur has been exacerbated by an inflow of arms from neighbouring countries, Chad and the Central African Republic (CAR). Tribal groups, militias, dissidents, rebel groups as well as ordinary civilians have easy access to small arms. However, in this particular instance, local politicians as well as the central government have fuelled the rivalry between farming settlers and semi-nomadic communities. Neighbouring states also have interests in Darfur. The Zaghawa of Darfur have helped Idriss Deby gain power in N'djamena in 1990 and with their kin tribe in Chad they form the backbone of Deby's army and security forces. Libya has its own agenda, especially since Col Kadhafi has turned its attention to Africa and to the mineral-rich Sahel countries. In Northern Darfur, bordering Egypt and Libya, lies Jebal 'Aweinat, one of the richest mineral regions of the entire Sahel with foreseeable deposits of uranium, while Southern Darfur is known for its oil, iron ore and copper deposits.

The government has come under serious criticism from humanitarian and human rights organisations about attacks on civilian targets and the deteriorating security situation in Darfur. There is no circumstance that justifies deliberate attacks on civilians or military operations that endanger civilian lives. These are all grave violations of human rights and the laws of war. But since the Sudanese leaders and their friends, especially Libya, which became a member of the UN Human Rights Commission last year, have halted the work of the UN Rapporteur for human rights in Sudan during the Commission annual meeting in Geneva (April 2003) violations of human rights have doubled in Darfur. Already in November 2002, Gerhart Baum, the UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights in Sudan, expressed concern over the slow progress achieved by the Khartoum government in redressing the human rights situation. He referred particularly to the negative role of the nomadic Arab tribes (mainly the Baggara and Misariyyah) from which government formed Muraheleen (nomadic) militias, which were deeply implicated in abductions and the targeting of civilians. Yet this has been crippled because civilians' cattle and grain are looted, agriculture land devastated, homes burnt, mills destroyed. Thousands of Fur, Zaghawa and Massaleet are unable to go back to their villages, plant or replace their herds.

During a consultative meeting that took place in Nairobi in January between Vice President Ali Osman Taha and Ahmed Diraige, the leader of the Sudan Federal Democratic Alliance (SFDA) and former governor of Darfur (1980-1983) the government accepted that a ceasefire would be agreed and implemented under the supervision of international monitors, and negotiations opened with the Darfur fighters in order to reach a political settlement to the issue. But it seems that diplomatic and political solutions have been put aside and the government will pursue its military policy.

* Send comments on this editorial - and other events in Africa - to

* Eva Dadrian is an independent broadcaster and Political and Country Risk Analyst for print and broadcast media, who currently works as a consultant for Arab African Affairs (London) and writes on a regular basis for AFRICA ANALYSIS (London), for Al Ahram HEBDO Echos Economiques and Al Ahram WEEKLY (Cairo) and contributes to Africa Service BBC WS (London). Published reports include: Religion and Politics in North Africa; The Horn of Africa: Country Risk Analysis; The Nile Waters: Risk Analysis; State and Church in Ethiopia; Policing the Horn of Africa; Religion and Politics in Sudan; Can South Sudan survive as an independent state?

* NOTE FOR EDITORS: Please note that this editorial was commissioned from the author for Pambazuka News. While we are pleased that several print publications have used our editorials, we ask editors to note that if they use this article, they do so on the understanding that they are expected to provide the following credit: "This article first appeared in Pambazuka News, an electronic newsletter for social justice in Africa, Editors are also encouraged to make a donation.

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Six African heads of state and government have confirmed to attend the forthcoming summit of the first African Peer Review (APR) Forum and the 9th Heads of State and Government Implementation Committee (HSGIC) on Feb. 13-14, Rwanda News Agency reported Tuesday. According to the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) secretariat in Kigali, heads of state and government who so far have confirmed their attendance to the summit include Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, Joachim Chissano of Mozambique, Omar Bongo of Gabon, Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal, John Kuffor of Ghana and Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.

Thank you for the last edition of Pambazuka! Much appreciated and widely dispersed! I read with vivid interest the sober and chilling summary made by Caplan on Rwanda and it brought back plenty of memories. I note with interest that a number of committees have formed albeit outside Rwanda to commemorate the massacre. I always view such events with some misgivings. I tend to fear that such events become the grounding for a culture of disaster such as that perpetuated by the Jews and the Shoa who seem decidedly unwilling or unable to move on. But I acknowledge that it is only ten years since the atrocious events, which is to say early days. I won't talk about reconciliation since I don't believe that any one who is not directly involved is qualified to even articulate the word in such a situation. However, I think it would be good if people could move on and one thing that helps is to be able to clear the damage suffered. To again have a roof above one's head, to be able to buy food and clothing, to till the land, etc, in short to get back to normal life. But this requires material and financial means. (Not talk! talk! talk! It doesn't feed anybody!)

Extremely valuable. Thanks.

Confusion has again engulfed assertions by President Thabo Mbeki on progress towards ending Zimbabwe's political crisis, with a senior opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) leader denying it has agreed to an early election. Mbeki said on television on Sunday that the MDC and Zimbabwe's ruling Zanu PF had agreed to bring the next election forward to March next year. His comments follow a recent insistence, also disputed by the parties involved, that Zimbabwe's protagonists were about to start formal negotiations to end the crisis.