Fwd: Pambazuka News 838: Reflections on Kenya
Elisabeth Janaina
From: "Pambazuka Editor" <edi...@pambazuka.org>
Date: Sep 14, 2017 18:47
Subject: Pambazuka News 838: Reflections on Kenya
To: "pambazuka-news" <pambazu...@pambazuka.gn.apc.org>
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Pambazuka News 838: Reflections on Kenya14 September 2017 FeaturesYash Tandon Following
the bungled presidential election, Kenya is heading to a repeat poll on
17 October. Regardless of the outcome, the election will not resolve
the country's deep neo-colonial contradictions. Progressive forces must
consider building a socialist Revolution to bring about democratic
control of the means of production and a fair system of the distribution
of the fruits of labour for the benefit of all.
 Kenya’s
presidential election was massively rigged in favour of the incumbent.
The evidence presented during the successful petition at the Supreme
Court showed that the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission
(IEBC) was entirely infiltrated and its systems commandeered by regime
elements to procure a fraudulent win for Uhuru Kenyatta. The
Kenyan presidential election that was overturned by the Supreme Court
has raised serious questions about the agendas of foreign election
observers. Many of the observers were quick to give the poll a clean
bill of health – even urging opposition leader Raila Odinga to concede.
Now they are facing credibility crisis. The European Union’s Marietje
Schaake has been trying to save face.
The incumbent in an election has many opportunities to use state resources unlike the opposition. That is why the Constitution and election laws insist on creating a level playing field. But some of the campaign activities of Uhuru Kenyatta have beached the law. A president re-elected on the basis of the special position, immunities, impunities and privileges cannot really command the respect of all citizens and others.
Bashir Goth
Kenya’s historic Supreme Court decision nullifying a presidential
election, the first in Africa, is a slap in the face of the priestly
international observers who for so long remained the self-appointed
custodians of democracy in Africa without whose verdict and blessings
Africa couldn’t conduct a genuine election.
Paul Ejime The
historic ruling raises a number of fundamental questions on the
capacity of electoral management bodies in Africa to conduct free, fair,
transparent, credible and peaceful elections; the deployment of new
technology in the electoral process; functions of poll observers, and
the role of the judiciary in the continents’s democratic consolidation.
Theogene Rudasingwa
Rwanda is often highlighted globally for its large numbers of women in elective politics. But those are women who only sing Paul Kagame’s praises. Dianne Rwigara and Victoire Ingabire are different. They have exposed the inhuman, fearful and anti-African character of Kagame and his regime. These fearless freedom fighters challenge Rwandans and Africans to resist despots and their foreign backers.
Ann Garrison
Fresh from “winning” 99% of the vote in August, Rwanda’s ruler Paul Kagame has turned his wrath on the opposition. Several people have been arrested in recent days. Anne Garrison spoke to Joseph Bukeye, an officer of jailed politician Victoire Ingabire's FDU-Inkingi party in Brussels, Belgium.
Millions oppose the continuation of successive Gnassingbe administrations after five decades
Abayomi Azikiwe
The Gnassingbe family, backed by France,
has ruled Togo for 50 years. Popular protests organized by opposition
leaders in recent weeks have threatened the regime and forced the
cancellation of a summit sponsored by Israel. The apartheid rulers in
Tel Aviv are keen to consolidate their power in Africa to cut off any
support from the continent for liberation of the Palestinian people.
 Recent
spending patterns in Egypt pose a dilemma. While experiencing the worst
economic crisis in decades, which involves a dwindling of resources, a
sharp currency devaluation and an acute shortage of foreign exchange,
levels of military spending in Egypt have dramatically increased. How
can the two trends be reconciled? Why would a cash-strapped government
spend massively on guns when its population of 90 million needs more
bread and jobs and services?
Cameron Duodu China
is totally committed to environmental protection through its policy of
ecological civilization. But how come Chinese authorities seem not to
care about their own citizens involved in illegal artisanal mining that
is causing environmental devastation in Ghana?
With respect to Cuba, the American conception of “nothing” is not
understood in conventional economic terms, but through a liberal
rendition of freedom. With this version of freedom comes a set of values
that if not perpetuated, suggest an un-freedom worse than access to a
livable life. In this country, we value freedom to fail and struggle
more than the right to a standard in our quality of life.
North Korea has every right to pursue their self-defense in any way they see fit
Today the US threatens North Korea with a first strike. North Korea has every right to say we will, "Nuke you too!" in self-defense. Apparently this is the foreign policy of every permanent member of the UN Security Council. They are all nuclear powers that have not disarmed. And the U.S. recently walked out of UN talks on the matter. They have also proposed to update and renovate their arsenal.
Leading figures from the Nigerian and global academia, media, civil society, law and multi-national organizations from Africa, Asia, Europe, and North America have today called on Nigeria to withdraw the NGO Regulatory Commission Bill currently being considered by the National Assembly (federal parliament). Here is their full statement:
Desmond Tutu
The South African anti-apartheid icon and Nobel Peace laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu has called on Myanmar leader Aung San Suu Kyi to end the violence against her country’s Rohingya Muslim minority. AnnouncementsPambazuka Android App is now on Google Play Store As
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