Windhoek:  African agriculture will not jump the vital stages of agricultural and rural transformation processes, commented Dr Anandaja-yasekeram Ponniah at the opening of the Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN) in Windhoek yesterday.

Gaborone:  Former Minister of Defence, Security and Justice, Ndelu Seretse, who officially resigned from cabinet on Monday, has been charged with corruption by the Directorate of Public Prosecutions.

Lusaka:  The Civil Society for Poverty Reduction (CSPR) executive director Patrick Mucheleka has said donors have a right to comment on issues of a domestic nature in the country as they also affected by them.

Lusaka:  Newly elected Economic Association of Zambia (EAZ) vice-president Isaac Ngoma has challenged civil society to take issues pertaining to the national budget process seriously if they are to hold government accountable.

Gaborone: Women trade unionists have been called upon to put pressure on their governments to domesticate some international laws that can empower them in their respective countries.

Cape Town:  Parliament's defence committee has thrown down the gauntlet to Defence Minister Lindiwe Sisulu and the Cabinet by giving them 30 days to come up with contested reports on conditions in the defence force and suspending…

Accra:  Governments, civil society organizations and other stakeholders must be commended for their efforts in ensuring that the enrolment of girls in schools nationwide is almost the same as boys. However, their efforts might be in vain if girls feel insecure in school. If the safety of girls is…

Dar es Salaam: In the run-up to Tanzania's general elections 31 October, the United Nations Development Fund for Women, UNIFEM (part of UN Women), will conduct workshops throughout September for women candidates in seven electoral zones to strengthen their election strategies. The trainings seek to…

Nairobi:  What's the point in Malawi's new flag? Some countries in Africa have changed their national flags at different times for different reasons, some of which make sense, while some don't. For instance, Mozambique changed its flag after a particularly violent civil war pitting the armed forces…

London: The rush to cut government spending and further squeeze the poor in Europe and the United States shows a widening attitude gap with the Global South. For more than a decade, since the Asian financial crisis presaged the northern crash of 2008, southern governments have been moving in the opposite…

Port Harcourt:  The killing of a powerful former Nigerian gang leader in the restive Niger Delta has laid bare the fragility of an amnesty programme for ex-militant fighters in Africa's biggest oil and gas industry.  Soboma George, a one-time militant leader who accepted a government amnesty last…

United Nations:  As details emerged this week of the U.N.'s knowledge of rebel activity in the villages where nearly 200 women were systematically gang raped by armed groups in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) late last month, human rights groups are demanding an investigation into…

Kampala:  Electoral irregularities and malpractices on an unprecedented scale yesterday forced the National Resistance Movement (NRM) to suspend primary elections for the party's parliamentary and local council flag bearers in nearly every corner of the country.  The widespread indiscretions, which…

Dar es Salaam: Tanzania lacks competent experts required for addressing the looming poverty and donor dependency in the country, a senior government official said at the weekend. The deputy permanent secretary in the ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs, Dr Servacius Likwelile, said the government…

Nairobi:  It is gratifying that some senior police officers have already started implementing aspects of the highly comprehensive Bill of Rights by ordering their juniors not to hold suspects for more than 24 hours, and to release petty offenders on free bond or cash bail. For too long, suspects have…

Johannesburg: Preliminary investigations into three of five forensic investigations in the North West showed a flagrant disregard for procurement regulations by officials, Premier Maureen Modiselle said yesterday. At the weekend Ms Modiselle received interim reports on investigations she commissioned…

Dar es Salaam: As an independent nation, Tanzania is just about to turn 50, which is not a very youthful age for a developing country like ours, for a lot of water has since, as they say, passed under bridge. Having shown the British colonialists the door, becoming a free Tanganyika in December 1961,…

Johannesburg: We need a public service that is aligned to the ethos of respect for human rights that is at the core of our national constitution. Both the government and the trade unions need to reflect on the serious damage that is being done to the social fabric and reputation of our country.  The…

Nairobi:  The new Constitution was officially promulgated last week, finally ushering in the Second Republic. Nairobi was cleaned up, roads were closed and tight security was maintained given all the VIPs coming in - among them the African Union's Panel of Eminent Personalities, and heads of state…

Kampala: Government must conclusively end it's dispute with Heritage Oil over $405 million or Shs900 billion in unpaid in capital gains taxes.  Energy Minister Hilary Onek has declined to renew Tullow's exploration licence in the contentious Block B until Heritage pays the taxes, but the company says…