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LIBERIA: Controversial Mayor is Talk of the Town By Rebecca Murray MONROVIA - Myaha Johnson sits with her family beneath a flimsy shelter of black plastic, looking with despair at the charred remains of what used to be their home. Mary Broh, Monrovia’s controversial mayor-designate, had just swept through the neighbourhood with her task force, vigorously tearing down residential structures along the back road, including their own. MORE >>
HEALTH-SENEGAL: Fistula Sufferers Left To Their Fate By Koffigan E. Adigbli DAKAR - In Senegal’s southern region, 58 percent of deliveries take place at home without any medical assistance, according to state reproductive health officials in Kolda, a town 425 km from the capital, Dakar. Women in the region suffer from exceptionally high rates of fistula. MORE >>
ECONOMY-NIGERIA: Fears of Further Pain By Sam Olukoya LAGOS - With no formal education, Mama Ibeji may not be tracking the global economic crisis in the newspapers. But from her little roadside restaurant in Makoko, a Lagos suburb, she can tell that all is not well with the Nigerian economy. MORE >>
RIGHTS-GAMBIA: Who Killed Deyda Hydara? By Ebrima Sillah and Zahira Kharsany DAKAR and JOHANNESBURG - Six of the eight Gambian Press Union (GPU) officials and journalists arrested last week have now been freed on bail. The journalists still face serious charges including "conspiracy to publish with seditious intention". MORE >>
POLITICS-SUDAN: 'Darfur Was Just A Place Where Evil Lived' Kristin Palitza interviews MAHMOOD MAMDANI, professor of anthropology and political science CAPE TOWN - Analysing the colonial and historical roots of the violence in Darfur, Mahmood Mamdani concludes that the crisis in Darfur is not genocide, but a fight for land, triggered by drought, which has been racialised by outside powers. MORE >>
EDUCATION-AFRICA: The Other Crisis By Mandisi Majavu CAPE TOWN - The World Economic Forum on Africa has just concluded in Cape Town. If government leaders and captains of industry called for an eight trillion dollar bailout for the continent’s beleaguered education system - like the one found for the world’s biggest bankers - it went unreported. MORE >>
GHANA-ECONOMY: Credit Crunch Starts To Bite By Francis Kokutse ACCRA - When the news of the global financial crisis broke in Ghana last year, the then-President John Kufuor said the country’s economy was insulated against the effects of the credit crunch being reported in Europe and the United States. There now seems to be an admission now that ripples are being felt. MORE >>
AFRICA: ‘‘Invest in Job Creation to Buffer Global Crisis’’ By Francis Kokutse ACCRA - African governments should invest in creating jobs, providing social services and building food security to shield people against the effects of the global economic and financial crisis. They should also develop micro-credit facilities to make money available to small businesspeople and boost economies. MORE >>
POLITICS-MAURITANIA: 'Justice and Equality for All' Ebrima Sillah interviews MARIAM MINT MUSTAPHA, politician and rights activist. NOUAKCHOTT - As Mauritania prepares for presidential elections on June 6, women's groups have outlined a clear and compelling agenda for women. The trick will be getting the country's mostly male politicians to listen. MORE >>
Q&A: "A Threat to One is a Threat to All" Joyce Mulama interviews TAJUDEEN ABDUL RAHEEM, panafricanist KAMPALA - On May 24, one of the leading advocates of Africa's unity and liberation, Tajudeen Abdul Raheem, was killed in a car accident in Nairobi, Kenya. MORE >>
RIGHTS-BURKINA FASO: Five Million To Get Precious Documents By Brahima Ouédraogo OUAGADOUGOU - Nearly 5.5 million people - mostly women and children - are to receive birth certificates in a country-wide exercise over the next 12 months. According to Burkina Faso's latest census, conducted in 2006, the rate of non-registration is particularly high amongst women and children, of whom three million (60 percent being girls) are not on the public registry. MORE >>
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