Monthly Archives: July 2011

The Kenyan people have spoken

Posted on July 31, 2011 by

Will there be an end to impunity and the cultivation of the rule of law and justice for the Kenyan people? Beth Maina Ahlberg writes about the fresh winds blowing through the Kenyan judiciary and the vested interests wanting to maintain the status quo. The nomination of Willy Mutunga and Nancy Baraza as Chief Justice and deputy Chief Justice respectively by the Judicial Service Commission, has been a watershed for a pro-people leadership in Kenya. By endorsing their nomination the president and prime minister seem to have recognised the aspirations of the Kenyan people. The confirmation by the vetting committee and parliament was indeed a moment that gave the world … Continue reading →

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What happened to British diplomacy?

Posted on July 29, 2011 by

By Robert Asketill Those of us who have spent all our adult lives enjoying learning what is going on in the world from our daily newspapers still remain loyal readers of the mix of news, pictures of notable people and the differing opinions of inspired essayists. Of all the contributors, those with the most difficult job are, arguably, the cartoonists who must somehow seize our attention by mirroring in just a picture or two a whole current many sided argument. In ‘The Times’ on Thursday 28th July there was just such a series of sketches by Peter Brookes showing Britain’s present Foreign Secretary, once a rank commanding international respect, flying … Continue reading →

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Libyan impasse: West may have created a monster too difficult to deal with

Posted on July 27, 2011 by

By Robert Asketill  As we expected, and often warned, the fallacious belief by some foreign powers that they could bring about an ‘Arab Spring’ of democratic government and individual security in Libya by short sharp military action has produced far more problems than they bargained for. Citizens fleeing from gunfire or murder on religious grounds or the bombs from the sophisticated aircraft of imperious foreign powers bent on ‘protecting’ them are unlikely to appreciate their proclaimed altruism.  We now hear from the western journalists covering both sides of the Libyan war that on the rebel side, those they have always described as heroes, are becoming less welcoming and are requiring … Continue reading →

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Plotting against the Third World – the case of Patrice Lumumba

Posted on July 20, 2011 by

By Robert Asketill It is interesting to note that General Petraeus, an American soldier of great distinction who has also served as Assistant Professor of International Relations at the United States Military Academy, has now been appointed director of the CIA and at the same time a high powered group went to Libya’s capital, Tripoli, presumably trying to find a solution to the present conflict. He seems likely to be able to help negotiate a reasonable settlement acceptable to all parties. We cannot allow another Congo in the Middle East, which is going to happen if it is left to some world leaders. It may be of interest to go back to … Continue reading →

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Driving Africa’s citizens into poverty and starvation

Posted on July 20, 2011 by

By Robert Asketill We are all by now disgusted and upset with the numerous media descriptions of children dying, mainly in the Horn of Africa area of the continent. Our disgust stems from years of past experience that the suffering in this region is man-made, not by the actions of Africans but by past and continuing interference by world powers, some of it political and some in the search for fertile land to grow food for world markets. No matter what, we are constantly seeing or hearing of children, far too young to know why they are on the planet, dying in agony in the bony hands of mothers whose … Continue reading →

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Let the African Union take control in South Sudan

Posted on July 18, 2011 by

By Robert Asketill   The first difficulty we are seeing with the division of the Sudan into two parts is the need to replace the old currency with two new ones and we now know that the cost for South Sudan is over US$150million. It is early days and certainly the new currencies are going to cause considerable difficulties for the citizens, especially in the South, but there are bound to be growing pains. We are still waiting for a final political resolution concerning the all-important Abyei area and this is a serious cause for concern. There is fear that this part of the continent, apart from the oil, is … Continue reading →

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Bias in Western press coverage of Africa

Posted on July 16, 2011 by

By Robert Asketill Anyone stepping onto this planet and into Britain from space this week would think, if knowledgeable in the same language, that the most desirable thing on the planet was something called BskyB and that the sun rose and set at the whim of a tribe called journalists whose recent ascendency in the country was suddenly being challenged by parliamentarians, a rival tribe and the legitimate rulers, who had suddenly found enough courage to challenge them, with  a degree of individual malice commensurate with  former subservience or usual egotism; and they would not be far wrong. Journalism is very powerful and although exposing malpractice in public life is … Continue reading →

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Steering Sudan from Washington

Posted on July 15, 2011 by

By Robert Asketill It is disappointing for Sudan watchers who have had a lifetime involved in efforts of keeping the peace and extending a hand of friendship, not always easy especially during the time of the Iron Curtain and the march of Socialism, to see the South only days after the new republic is formed apparently being favoured by the Washington administrators. As servants of the continent we have lived through the times when one African country after another gained freedom from colonialism and apartheid despite there often being little sign of such an end while countries as far away as Cuba were involved in the African battles and mercenaries … Continue reading →

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South Sudan faces enormous challenges

Posted on July 13, 2011 by

By Robert Asketill There are to be many problems facing the leaders of the newly created Sudan territories and perhaps one of the most immediate is going to be settling the future of those who a few weeks ago classified themselves as southerners and others as northerners. Now, in the confusion of world politics, they have become a kind of human flotsam. Already we are hearing about some 20,000 so called southerners, who have lived and been employed in the north, being on the move back to the south and being stranded and seeking the United Nations (UNCHR) assistance to complete the journey out of the north Sudan. It has … Continue reading →

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The uphill task facing President Salva Kiir Mayardit

Posted on July 11, 2011 by

As the South Sudan celebrations start dying down, the Juba government now faces a battle to meet its people’s dreams and handle relations with Khartoum. Africa Confidential reports in its latest issue now available by subscription. History was made in Sudan last weekend as dignitaries from across Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas flew into Juba, the makeshift capital of the new Republic of South Sudan, top welcome Africa’s 53rd sovereign state and the world’s 194th. The RSS (though some Southerners are calling it RoSS), was born to overwhelming public rejoicing, the culmination of a liberation struggle that officially dates beyond British colonialism to 1820, the eve of the Turkish … Continue reading →

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