There are enough reasons for one to be very cynical these days. Food- what gives one the energy to plod on, is drying up, especially in Africa and Asia, raising the stake for people to starve to death, if something urgent is not done to avert the gloom. Most worrisome is the realisation that of the 36 countries listed by the UN as the worst hit by the crisis, 21 are in Africa alone.
As the prices of essential food items soar, pundits are pointing accusing fingers at factors that can hardly bring more food to the menu table. Some are accusing producers of bio fuels of using the land that would have gone for food production for ethanol.
Alex Evans, a researcher with the New York University Centre for International Cooperation, in a new study done for the Royal Institute of International Affairs pins the food crisis on four reasons. Meanwhile, bio fuel, which is something the world was eagerly waiting for since not many are blessed with fossil fuel, is already being vilified as a food predator. Again, Genetically-modified food, GM food, which would have boosted food production in many parts of the world, is being treated with scorn by some countries. It is not a secret that the United Kingdom and many other European Union members still doubt the safety of GM food. If in doubt, read Robin McKie here.
I note the assurance by the WHO that GM foods currently available on the international market pose no risk to anyone and that is what gives me the courage to ask all those still opposed to GM foods to stand down before we all die of malnutrition and diseases.
GM foods are based on laboratory science and empirical data and it is not a sort of voodoism that most paranoid conduct in the forest and groves to mystify their followers, perhaps for pecuniary reasons.
It is time we took whatever measures necessary-scientific and natural, to avert the looming crisis. Everyone must put their mouth where their stomach is.
Links:
Alernet
FAO
Chatham House
Guardian
WHO
Sunday, 18 May 2008
Tuesday, 13 May 2008
Obasanjo and daughter in the 'dock'
They are lucky Rev. Jeremiah Wright is not a Nigerian and does not have the platform to preach his fiery messages there. Now, he would have slammed Obasanjo and his daughter, Iyabo with his GDA: ‘God dam America’ stinger. I am just trying to figure out the right clause Wright would have thrown at of Obasanjo and daughter, who are being called upon to account for the expenditure various sums of money by bodies they supervised.
Obasanjo is to account for how his administration used $16 billion for the improvement of the power sector between 1999 and 2007, while his daughter, a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to explain what she knows about the use of £1.2 billion by the ministry of health.
This is when Wright would have fired the now infamous ‘The chickens are coming home to roost’, or God’am Nigeria-GDN, for shot, if he were to examine what the father and daughter are passing through in Nigeria.
Surprisingly, ‘baba’ has refused to appear before the Ndudi Elumelu-led committee, saying he is indisposed.
Her daughter has also spurned entreaties to appear before the EFCC to clarify issues over the unspent health ministry budget over which two ministers were forced to resign.
She rather wants the anti-graft body to be called to order, saying that she was being unduly haunted. Well, that is a matter for the court to decide.
But, whether Obasanjo and her daughter eventually appear at the court of public opinion, it is all too good to see the two who were above the law a few months ago, being called to account for their actions while they are still alive. It is unbelievable how some 'gods' are being demystified . Isn’t it?
Links:
The United Christian Church
BBC
The Punch
Newsbuster
The Punch
Saturday, 3 May 2008
Tsvangirai in the 'lion's den'
Should Morgan Tsvangirai take part in Zimbabwe's presidential election re-run? Yes and no. That is my candid answer. He should not go for any re-run if he wants to stay alive and see the sad end of his tormentor-in-chief: Robert Mugabe.
Many believe that Tsvangirai won the March 29, 2008 election outright and that what the ZEC has simply done is to joggle the vote outcome to suit a Mugabe mindset and prevent the MDC leader from savouring the trappings of the presidential palace, which Mugabe has been enjoying since 1980.
I have heard several propositions on the election. If you ask Zimbabaloola, a blogger on Frontline Club, he would tell you that the MDC chickened out by running away from Harare instead of going to the street to combat Mugabe's ‘mad dogs' and claiming his victory.
To those who think like this blogger, Tsvangirai is a coward and he has already lost a golden opportunity to sacrifice a few thousands of his supporters and get victory at the end.
Now, tell me how a free and fair presidential re-run can be conducted when all those known to have supported Tsvangirai have been driven aground and the MDC headquarters raided by Mugabe forces for no tangible reason than to intimidate them.
I am disappointed that neither the United Nations nor the African Union has voiced out opposition to the proposed re-run between Mugabe and Tsvangirai in the face of killings and intimidation of MDC sympathisers. The atmosphere for a credible poll does not just exist in Harare and it will be suicidal for Tsvangirai and his men to take part in the contest. They should not forget an African proverb that it is only a man who does not want to eat coconut that offers his head to be used in breaking it. But come to think of it: if Tsvangirai boycotts the election, Mugabe would be declared president for the umpteenth time and if he contests, ZEC, police and ZANU-PF would still connive to rob him of victory and nothing would happen.
As things now stand, Tsvangirai and his MDC are already in the lion's den; only God can salvage
them from the dungeon.
Links :
Thursday, 1 May 2008
Conspiracy against Tsvangirai, Zimbabweans
A big setback to the democratic wish of the people of Zimbabwe has already taken place in that famished nation. It is not only painful to those who voted for change in the country but it is also a worrisome development in the Southern African nation. But it does not come as surprise to those who have been following the game plan adopted by Mugabe and his lieutenants since the conclusion of the March 29, 2008 election.
It is clear to the world that what Mugabe could not get from the ballot paper; he has successfully used his supporters- war veterans, police and soldiers and electoral agents to subvert the wish of the people.
Of course, it’s clear that if Mugabe had won the election, the results would have come almost immediately the votes were collated. But that he lost and being a bad loser with an eye still set on the presidential mansion, he has been keeping a disturbing silence while pursuing the opposition with hammer and chainsaw.
Now, even before the results are released by the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission, top ZANU-PF officials are already armed with the figures for Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai.
While they made the people to believe that it was not possible to get the results out at once, Mugabe and his lieutenants knew the outcome and were merely working on measures to scare the opposition and stay on.
The country’s UN Ambassador, Boniface Chidyausiku, was so convinced that Mugabe had lost to Tsvangirai that he proposed a unity government only for a ZANU-PF spokesman, Bright Matonga, to dismiss Tsvangirai as a sell-out.
The world can now see whose handwriting they are reading on Zimbabwe’s wall.
Links:
Timesonline
Telegraph
Allafrica.com
Saturday, 26 April 2008
Mugabe’s tactics still don't add up
And it came to pass. The election-which was meant to humiliate the opposition as usual, and give the maximum leader for 28 years another five years, turned the other way. Mugabe lost, Tsvangirai won. Like a drama, Mugabe cannot believe the verdict of the people and that it is time for him to step aside.
Even when the opposition went to court to ask for the release of the votes, the judge acted as if he was reading a script drafted by Mugabe forces, saying there was no urgency to warrant early release.
Surprisingly, while the court did not see anything wrong in still keeping the result under wrap, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission began a recount of the parliamentary results in 23 constituencies without being prompted by anyone. At the end of the recount, which has not boosted Mugabe's electoral standing, the ZEC has merely released results from 13 out of the 23 constituencies, which show that the MDC still won by more than two seats. But there is fear that the remaining ten may be added to Mugabe to upturn the victory of the MDC.
One can easily understand why the police immediately raided the six-storey building headquarters of the MDC and arrested no fewer than 215 supporters of the party and independent election monitors and took them into detention. They are to be charged for committing 'political violence'.
The coast is even clearer for Mugabe and his allies to inflict more assaults on the opposition as the MDC leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, has fled Zimbabwe, fearing for his safety.
It is heart-warming however, that the United States has already declared the opposition won the polls while the United Kingdom has called for >arms embargo on Zimbabwe. Gordon Brown on Saturday deplored the climate of fear in the country and called for a concerted effort by the international community to halt it. But will that force Mugabe to beat a retreat, as his tactics just don’t add up?
Even when the opposition went to court to ask for the release of the votes, the judge acted as if he was reading a script drafted by Mugabe forces, saying there was no urgency to warrant early release.
Surprisingly, while the court did not see anything wrong in still keeping the result under wrap, the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission began a recount of the parliamentary results in 23 constituencies without being prompted by anyone. At the end of the recount, which has not boosted Mugabe's electoral standing, the ZEC has merely released results from 13 out of the 23 constituencies, which show that the MDC still won by more than two seats. But there is fear that the remaining ten may be added to Mugabe to upturn the victory of the MDC.
One can easily understand why the police immediately raided the six-storey building headquarters of the MDC and arrested no fewer than 215 supporters of the party and independent election monitors and took them into detention. They are to be charged for committing 'political violence'.
The coast is even clearer for Mugabe and his allies to inflict more assaults on the opposition as the MDC leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, has fled Zimbabwe, fearing for his safety.
It is heart-warming however, that the United States has already declared the opposition won the polls while the United Kingdom has called for >arms embargo on Zimbabwe. Gordon Brown on Saturday deplored the climate of fear in the country and called for a concerted effort by the international community to halt it. But will that force Mugabe to beat a retreat, as his tactics just don’t add up?
Links:
A vessel of controversy
I woke up smiling this morning without knowing when my breakfast would be ready. I did not win a jackpot either. But the news of the rejection of the Chinese ship loaded with assorted arms for the desperate Mugabe government elated me the most. It made my day.
The controversial vessel, An Yue Jiang, like a bad product, has been drifting like a shaft driven by the wave, since South African workers unions protested the shipment. The workers had threatened not to offload its contents ferried in by a Chinese firm. It was laden with ammunition as well as rockets, mortar bombs and mortar tubes ordered by the Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Defence.
The shipment weighed 77 tons and was valued at $1.245 million. The invoice was dated Jan. 21, and the goods left China on March 15, two weeks after the Zimbabwe general elections, whose result is now being unduly delayed. Angered by the shipment, Rubin Phillip, the Anglican archbishop of KwaZulu-Natal, and Gerald Patrick Kearney, public activist, aided by the Southern African Litigation Centre, approached a South Africa’s High Court to halt the transportation of the arms across South Africa and the court granted the request before long.
But on Friday evening, when the authorities went to serve the court order on An Yue Jiang, it pulled up anchor and sailed away. It is being said that the ship might be heading for Congo, Maputo or Beijing. But the Chinese government says it might recall the ship with its contents.
As things are, the best destination for the ship is Beijing and that should be done at once. Zimbabweans need the result of the vote they cast on March 29, 2008 and not weapons of destruction. Enough of Chinese arms build-up in Africa in the name of economic transaction.
The controversial vessel, An Yue Jiang, like a bad product, has been drifting like a shaft driven by the wave, since South African workers unions protested the shipment. The workers had threatened not to offload its contents ferried in by a Chinese firm. It was laden with ammunition as well as rockets, mortar bombs and mortar tubes ordered by the Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Defence.
The shipment weighed 77 tons and was valued at $1.245 million. The invoice was dated Jan. 21, and the goods left China on March 15, two weeks after the Zimbabwe general elections, whose result is now being unduly delayed. Angered by the shipment, Rubin Phillip, the Anglican archbishop of KwaZulu-Natal, and Gerald Patrick Kearney, public activist, aided by the Southern African Litigation Centre, approached a South Africa’s High Court to halt the transportation of the arms across South Africa and the court granted the request before long.
But on Friday evening, when the authorities went to serve the court order on An Yue Jiang, it pulled up anchor and sailed away. It is being said that the ship might be heading for Congo, Maputo or Beijing. But the Chinese government says it might recall the ship with its contents.
As things are, the best destination for the ship is Beijing and that should be done at once. Zimbabweans need the result of the vote they cast on March 29, 2008 and not weapons of destruction. Enough of Chinese arms build-up in Africa in the name of economic transaction.
Links:
Tuesday, 22 April 2008
What does Mugabe want the world to believe?
There may be something seriously wrong with this man. However, being a country’s leader, many still think that Robert Mugabe is well and kicking. But could this really be true?
How can a leader who is in his real sense sit over the result of an election concluded about a month ago? The most annoying thing about the election is that the results were computed and pasted at all the pooling centres for all to see. It is an open secret that the results are now being tampered with by Mugabe’s agents, who not only seized and kept them in their own custody but also on their own started ‘recounting’ when the results are not yet officially announced.
The question then, is who ordered the recount? For what purpose is the recount when the ZEC has said that it is too ‘risky to declare the results’? The United Kingdom and the U.S. have become very uncomfortable with the atrocious delay in releasing the vote outcome while some monitors have said the recount is a fraud.
One can understand the desperateness and despondency of Mugabe and his clique in their unholy bid to hang onto power even though staples like bread and maize have since disappeared from the table of the ordinary people they claim to be serving. The unfortunate thing however is that there is no history of anywhere in Africa or elsewhere in the world that any leader sat on election result and ordered a recount on his own term just to be declared winner.
From the way things are going, Mugabe may soon be declared winner by ZEC but he by this open manipulation unwittingly dented whatever is left of his image and further carved in as a despot not willing to quit when the ovation is still loud. This may be one victory that he may be ‘given’ but I doubt if he can engage in an open dance after the declaration. The best he can get from his generals and war veterans is a muffled applause that will not endure in any case. I bet him.
How can a leader who is in his real sense sit over the result of an election concluded about a month ago? The most annoying thing about the election is that the results were computed and pasted at all the pooling centres for all to see. It is an open secret that the results are now being tampered with by Mugabe’s agents, who not only seized and kept them in their own custody but also on their own started ‘recounting’ when the results are not yet officially announced.
The question then, is who ordered the recount? For what purpose is the recount when the ZEC has said that it is too ‘risky to declare the results’? The United Kingdom and the U.S. have become very uncomfortable with the atrocious delay in releasing the vote outcome while some monitors have said the recount is a fraud.
One can understand the desperateness and despondency of Mugabe and his clique in their unholy bid to hang onto power even though staples like bread and maize have since disappeared from the table of the ordinary people they claim to be serving. The unfortunate thing however is that there is no history of anywhere in Africa or elsewhere in the world that any leader sat on election result and ordered a recount on his own term just to be declared winner.
From the way things are going, Mugabe may soon be declared winner by ZEC but he by this open manipulation unwittingly dented whatever is left of his image and further carved in as a despot not willing to quit when the ovation is still loud. This may be one victory that he may be ‘given’ but I doubt if he can engage in an open dance after the declaration. The best he can get from his generals and war veterans is a muffled applause that will not endure in any case. I bet him.
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