The quest for a permanent political settlement in Kenya ran into trouble again this week with the opposition Orange Democratic Movement announcing that it is pulling out of talks on the formation of a coalition government. Talks on the composition of a coalition cabinet have been dragging on for a month.
”We are not the Chinese.” This was the message from India this week as Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s government used the first India-Africa Forum Summit in Delhi to redefine the way in which its role in Africa is viewed. The Mail & Guardian‘s Nic Dawes attended the summit.
Food prices have the potential to change regimes and the course of history. When Marie Antoinette allegedly said ”Let them eat cake” in 1789, she was wondering why higher bread prices were causing so much trouble in Paris. Analysts say pushing the urban poor beyond their purchasing limits can, and will, cause unrest.
President Thabo Mbeki’s policy of ”quiet diplomacy” on Zimbabwe has been rejected by his own party. The split between the Union Buildings and Luthuli House on the issue became apparent this week when Movement for Democratic Change leader Morgan Tsvangirai chose to meet Jacob Zuma and Gwede Mantashe in Johannesburg.
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A judge on Wednesday wrapped up hearing an opposition petition demanding the immediate release of Zimbabwe’s presidential election results and said he would deliver his judgement on Monday. ”Conscious of the urgency of the matter, I should be ready for a judgement on Monday afternoon,” Justice Tendai Uchena told the High Court in Harare.
The African National Congress’s (ANC) national working committee (NWC) will discuss its youth league’s recent national congress in Bloemfontein next week, spokesperson Jesse Duarte said on Wednesday. ”We will speak at the NWC meeting on Monday,” Duarte said.
Claims by chairperson of the Forum for Black Journalists (FBJ) Abbey Makoe following a South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) finding against the FBJ — which Makoe labelled a ”judicial ambush” — are mischievous and untruthful, the SAHRC said on Wednesday.
The South African National Editors’ Forum (Sanef) has questioned Eskom’s insistence on keeping secret sections of its application for tariff hikes. ”Eskom seeks to destroy the public’s right to know about matters that will significantly increase the cost of electricity,” Sanef said on Wednesday.
United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said on Wednesday it was time to remove former South African president Nelson Mandela and the African National Congress (ANC) from a US blacklist drawn up during the apartheid era. ”I really do hope that we can remove these restrictions on the ANC,” Rice told a Senate committee.