United States Africa Command

Public Affairs Office

30 August 2010

USAFRICOM - related news stories

TOP NEWS RELATED TO U.S. AFRICA COMMAND AND AFRICA

Obama administration intensifies efforts in Sudan (Washington Post)

(Sudan) The Obama administration, which came to office promising stronger
leadership on Sudan, is now scrambling to salvage a 2005 U.S.-backed peace accord and
prevent Africa's largest nation from sliding back into civil war.

Obama Lauds New Nation, Criticises Bashir Visit (Daily Nation)

(Kenya) President Barack Obama has combined criticism with congratulations in his
response to Friday's ceremony marking the adoption of the new Constitution.

Kenya Defends Bashir Visit as Necessary for Regional Peace (Voice of America)
(Kenya) Kenya has rejected international criticism over the inclusion of Sudanese
President Omar al-Bashir in Friday's Promulgation Day festivities. The east African
nation has defended its actions as necessary for regional stability and national security.

Somali militants grow more brazen in attack (Washington Post)

(Somalia) Somali militants linked to al-Qaeda briefly asserted control over Mogadishu's
most strategic road Saturday, escalating their efforts to overthrow the U.S.-backed
transitional government in a region where Islamic radicalism is gaining strength.

Rwanda Contests Report on Army (Associated Press)

(Rwanda) Rwanda has threatened to withdraw its troops from peacekeeping
operations for the United Nations if it publishes a report accusing the Rwandan Army
of committing genocide in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the 1990s, Rwanda’s
foreign minister said in a letter sent to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

Algerian forces kill 8 al-Qaida insurgents (Associated Press)

(Algeria) Algerian forces have killed eight al-Qaida insurgents in an attack in a
mountainous area considered a bastion for the terror network's North African branch.

How moderate Muslims in Africa view NYC mosque debate (Christian Science
Monitor)
(Pan Africa) America's controversy over the interfaith community center proposed by
Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf has implications for the United States' ability to thwart
terrorism and defeat Al Qaeda.

Somalia's Government Expects 'Major' Surge in Violence in Mogadishu Today

(Bloomberg)
Somalia's government expects a "major" surge in violence today as the rebel al-Shabaab
militia steps up an offensive over the Ramadan period, the Information Ministry said.

International Conference On Nkrumah Attracts World Class Scholars (GhanaWeb)

(Canada) For the first time in Canada, an international conference on the legendary
Ghanaian leader Osagyefo (the Redeemer) Dr. Kwame Nkrumah was held at the
Richmond campus of British Columbia's Kwantlen University August 19-21.

Partnership enables Kenyan teachers to own laptops (IT News Africa)

Teachers in Kenya can now acquire laptops complete with broadband internet
connection and other software from Safaricom at affordable rates.

UN News Service Africa Briefs

Full Articles on UN Website
 Equatorial Guinea: UN human rights experts express concern over executions
 ICC tells Security Council of Sudanese leader’s Kenyan trip despite indictment
 Côte d’Ivoire: UN probe finds serious human rights violations during February
protests
 UN agency moves to assist Central Africans uprooted by rebel attacks
 Kenya: Ban welcomes promulgation of new constitution
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FULL ARTICLE TEXT

Obama administration intensifies efforts in Sudan (Washington Post)

The Obama administration, which came to office promising stronger leadership on

Sudan, is now scrambling to salvage a 2005 U.S.-backed peace accord and prevent
Africa's largest nation from sliding back into civil war.

In recent weeks, the administration has doubled its diplomatic presence in South Sudan
and dispatched a respected former ambassador to help with negotiations on an
independence referendum for the region, which is scheduled for January.
President Obama and his advisers are also mulling over incentives to persuade Sudan's
leadership to cooperate with the referendum, officials say.

Former officials and activist groups worry that the flurry of action may be too little, too
late. They say the Obama administration's efforts over the past year have been hobbled
by infighting and a lack of high-level attention.

"President Obama's approach to Sudan may well lead to his being the one who 'lost'
Sudan and the opportunities for peace" in the 2005 accord, said Roger Winter, who
helped negotiate the deal that ended Sudan's 21-year civil war. He added, however, that
the recently intensified diplomatic effort offers some hope.

The peace agreement provided for religious and political autonomy for the Christian
and animist south until the referendum. Polls indicate that the mostly black south will
vote to secede from the largely Arab Muslim north, its antagonist in the civil war.

But the Sudanese government, dominated by northerners, has not reached agreement
with the south on such issues as demarcating the border and figuring out how to divide
revenue from the country's oil fields, located mainly in the south. Election preparations
are behind schedule.

"We're really getting close to the drop-dead date when it becomes almost impossible to
hold the referendum in January" for legal and logistical reasons, said Jon Temin, a
Sudan specialist at the U.S. Institute of Peace.

A delay in that referendum - and a separate one that will determine who controls the
oil-rich border town of Abyei - could reignite the civil war. Such a conflict might dwarf
the one that has left at least 300,000 people dead in Sudan's western Darfur area,
analysts say.

After months of internal debate, the Obama administration unveiled a policy last
October that would reward or punish Sudan's government based on whether it met
benchmarks regarding: Darfur, the north-south agreement and counterterrorism.

"Implementing the policy has been slow, but it has picked up" recently, with the
diplomatic mini-surge, said Ezekiel Lol Gatkuoth, head of the South Sudan regional
government's mission in Washington.

Activists have been more critical, saying the policy has produced few results. John
Prendergast, who dealt with African affairs in the Clinton White House, wrote in a
recent report that "senior level officials in the Obama administration have been largely
absent" on Sudan, allowing policy divisions to flare.
--------------------
Obama Lauds New Nation, Criticises Bashir Visit (Daily Nation)
Nairobi — President Barack Obama has combined criticism with congratulations in his
response to Friday's ceremony marking the adoption of the new Constitution.

The US leader welcomed the signing of the Constitution as "an important step forward,"
adding that "the people of Kenya have set a positive example for all of Africa and the
world."

But in a statement issued from the White House on Friday evening in Washington, Mr
Obama also said he was "disappointed that Kenya hosted Sudanese President Omar al-
Bashir in defiance of International Criminal Court arrest warrants for war crimes,
crimes against humanity, and genocide."

Noting that Kenya has committed itself to full cooperation with the ICC, President
Obama said the United States considers it important that Kenya honour those
commitments.

"In Kenya and beyond, justice is a critical ingredient for lasting peace," he declared.

The son of a Kenyan lawyer emphasised the struggle for justice in regard to the
promulgation of the Constitution as well. He said its adoption "demonstrates the
commitment of Kenya's leaders and people to a future of unity, democracy, and equal
justice for all - even the powerful."

Despite the rebuke in regard to the welcoming of President Bashir, Mr Obama said "the
United States looks to partnering with Kenya as it moves through the multi-year
process of implementing the new constitution."

"We share the expectations of the Kenyan people that this process will usher in an era of
deepened democracy and expanded economic opportunity for all Kenyans."

The statement gave no indication of when President Obama might visit Kenya.
--------------------
Kenya Defends Bashir Visit as Necessary for Regional Peace (Voice of America)

Kenya has rejected international criticism over the inclusion of Sudanese President
Omar al-Bashir in Friday's Promulgation Day festivities. The east African nation has
defended its actions as necessary for regional stability and national security.

At a news conference in Nairobi, members of the Kenyan government defended the

decision to invite controversial Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir to the Friday signing of
the country's new constitution. The International Criminal Court has issued two
warrants for Mr. Bashir under allegations of war crimes, crimes against humanity and
genocide in Darfur.
Kenya, a signatory to the court, was blasted by the international community for failing
to arrest Mr. Bashir and present him to The Hague.

The court's judges expressed even stronger disapproval Friday, saying Kenya has a
clear obligation to enforce the warrant. The court referred the matter to the U.N.
Security Council, asking the body to take "any measure they may deem appropriate" to
resolve the issue.

But Transport Minister Amos Kimunya explained Kenya's obligations under the Court
were not the only factors that influenced the country's policy regarding Sudan.

"National interests come first; regional interests come second in ranking," he said.
"Regional interests include our membership in IGAD, COMESA - where we are
members with Sudan - and African Union, where we are obligated as African Union by
the decisions of the Union."

Kimunya was referring to a 2009 decision by the African Union to ignore Mr. Bashir's
arrest warrants. The decision was made after the U.N. Security Council ignored an AU
request to defer the warrant for one year in the interest of peace.

According to Kenya's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Bashir's invitation was also
extended in the interest of regional stability. Sudan is just months away from a January
referendum that many expect will split the country in two. The referendum is the final
step of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, which ended 20 years of civil war
between the government in Khartoum and rebels in the south.

In a statement, the Ministry explained President Bashir and Southern Sudanese

President Salva Kiir were invited to the ceremony and frequent interaction with both
parties is necessary to push for the implementation of the peace agreement as well as
the referendum.

But Mr. Bashir's presence at the Promulgation ceremony complicates Kenya's

relationship with the international court. ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo is
investigating alleged crimes against humanity committed after Kenya's disputed 2007
presidential election.

More than 1,000 people were killed in early 2008 after President Mwai Kibaki and Prime
Minister Raila Odinga accused each other of rigging the vote. It is believed that many
prominent Kenyan businessmen and politicians played a role in funding and
organizing the ethnic violence that rocked the country.

Kenya has promised to cooperate fully with Moreno-Ocampo, but recent events have
cast doubts over the country's commitment to justice.
Former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan said Sunday he was surprised by the
presence of Mr. Bashir and urged Kenya to clarify its position and reaffirm its
commitment to cooperate with the Court.

Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs Richard Onyonka said Mr. Bashir's visit had no
bearing on the ICC investigation in Kenya.

"We will continue with the arrangements which we have with the International
Criminal Court to make sure that any individuals who may have participated in
committing crimes against humanity and other crimes during the post-election violence
will be prosecuted," he said. "We will take this to its logical conclusion. As far as we
are concerned, the two issues between what has happened in President al-Bashir
coming to the country and us being a signatory to the International Criminal Court and
having issues pertaining to the post-election violence are mutually exclusive."

Moreno-Ocampo is expected to return to Kenya in October to continue his investigation

into the post-election violence; the prosecutor has indicated he will bring charges
against six suspects when he presents his case to The Hague at the end of the year.
--------------------
Somali militants grow more brazen in attack (Washington Post)

MOGADISHU, SOMALIA - Somali militants linked to al-Qaeda briefly asserted control

over Mogadishu's most strategic road Saturday, escalating their efforts to overthrow the
U.S.-backed transitional government in a region where Islamic radicalism is gaining
strength.

Never have the radical al-Shabab militiamen attacked so near Somalia's halls of power
as they have last week, bringing them closer to their desire to create a Taliban-like
Islamic emirate from which to export jihad abroad.

Saturday's attack triggered an intense gun battle on the Muka al-Mukarama, a vital
artery that connects key government ministries and the presidential palace to the
airport. The fighting sent hundreds fleeing their homes and trapped men like
Mohammed Ali in the crosshairs of war.

The 22-year-old policeman fired a volley of bullets at al-Shabab fighters crouching in an

alley connecting to the road. Bullets cracked back like thunderclaps. A mix of surprise
and pain spread across Ali's boyish face, as blood oozed from his shattered foot, turning
the road a dark crimson.

"We warned you not to fire your rifle," yelled a comrade, as others risked a similar fate
to drag Ali to safety.
Next to them, soldiers and policemen stood against a wall of shuttered houses and
stores that shielded them from the bullets whistling overhead. Scores of civilians who
fled homes around the Dubka intersection huddled with them.

No one dared to go to the intersection, where al-Shabab fighters were firing on anyone
attempting to cross the street.

"We are getting weaker and weaker every day," lamented Col. Ahmed Mohammed, a
burly commander dressed in camouflage fatigues.

Many of the soldiers had received only one month's salary in the past eight months. For
this, they would not risk their lives.

Overrunning areas

Over the past week, during Islam's holiest month of Ramadan, al-Shabab fighters have
pressed on this ocean-side capital. The militia has grown increasingly ambitious since
orchestrating last month's twin bombings in the Ugandan capital of Kampala that killed
more than 70 World Cup fans.

The militants have overtaken neighborhoods once controlled by the government. On

Monday, they vowed an all-out war to eradicate the government and drive out a
contingent of 6,000 African Union peacekeepers that protects it.

The next day, two al-Shabab suicide bombers attacked the Hotel Muna near the
presidential palace, killing 31 people, including members of parliament and civil
servants.

The Muka al-Mukarama was a logical target. There was only one African Union outpost
on the long thoroughfare between Mogadishu's commercial center and the Dubka
intersection.

Lined with cafes, travel agencies and money transfer shops, the road is indispensable
for Mogadishu residents. The militants have attacked the road before, but never with
the intensity seen Saturday.

The assault began in the morning, as the militants took over buildings near the
intersection and started to fire at passing vehicles.

By 10 a.m, they controlled the Dubka intersection, effectively dividing the capital. Most
residents stayed home, but the few who ventured out were forced to take detours over
tiny, mud-filled roads to cross the city.
The road was deserted, save for the lone souls fleeing from their homes or running from
the bullets that punctuated the eerie silence of what was once the capital's busiest street.

More than 10 bullets pounded the pink wall of Hassan Abdulqadir Farah's house. He
gathered his five small daughters and whatever belongings they could pack into a small
white minibus. His neighbor Hassan Ahmed and his five children crowded into the
minibus as well.

"I can't live with my children here," said Farah, a tall man who nervously glanced at the
intersection. "The war has reached our front door."

Soldiers' plight

By 1 p.m., African Union peacekeepers arrived in white trucks and armored personnel
carriers, affixed with large machine guns. They promptly began to pound the militants
with a thunderous, jackhammer rhythm. At the end of each volley, the militants fired
back with their AK-47s.

None of the civilians huddled against walls appeared to mind that Somalia's soldiers
and policemen watched from the sidelines.

"When you ask the soldiers why they are not fighting, they reply, 'We have no bullets,
we have no salaries,' " said Said Yusef Abdullah, 22, who fled his home and was
searching for a place to sleep this night. "I don't blame them."

Col. Mohammed said the international community should do more to help the
government. His soldiers, he said, lacked ammunition and weapons. Then he said the
United States should not let the deaths of 18 U.S. soldiers during a flawed U.N.
peacekeeping mission in 1993, depicted in the book and movie "Black Hawk Down,"
limit its engagement with Somalia.

"They must forget this pain and realize that we share a common threat coming from
international terrorism," Mohammed said.

By 2 p.m., the African Union vehicles had left. The peacekeepers had erected concrete
roadblocks and positioned themselves at the Dubka intersection. The militants had been
pushed back, but not far. Few on the road expressed confidence that the peacekeepers
could contain them.

"They don't know the streets, and they fight from their trucks," said Farah Hussein
Gimali, a civil servant, who lives near the intersection. "Al-Shabab will simply return in
the night."
The gunfire did not stop. A bullet struck the hat of an old man, who was so shaken he
sat down on a stoop and stared blankly at the road.

"Cross, cross," people yelled at others across the road, as bullets whistled through the
air.

Police spokesman Abdullah Hassan Barrisse, who was near the intersection, attempted
a positive assessment, declaring that "the situation had returned to normal."

Minutes later, an al-Shabab bullet narrowly missed a man's ear. He ran fast, clutching
the right side of his head.

Then Ali, the policeman, was shot. He stared glumly at the intersection as his friends
placed him on the back of a police truck.

Gimali, his face lined with anxiety, stared there, too. He worried that he would have to
move his aging parents if al-Shabab attacked again. As for others on this day, the road
had taken on a much greater significance for Gimali.

"The relationship between the government and this road is sacred. They need it to
survive," he said. "If we lose this road, al-Shabab will push us to the ocean."
--------------------
Rwanda Contests Report on Army (Associated Press)

JOHANNESBURG — Rwanda has threatened to withdraw its troops from

peacekeeping operations for the United Nations if it publishes a report accusing the
Rwandan Army of committing genocide in the Democratic Republic of Congo in the
1990s, Rwanda’s foreign minister said in a letter sent to Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.

The letter from Foreign Minister Louise Mushikiwabo, dated Aug. 3, describes the 545-
page draft report as “fatally flawed” and “incredibly irresponsible.”

The draft accuses Rwandan troops and rebel allies tied to the current Congolese
president of slaughtering tens of thousands of Hutu in Congo two years after those
same troops stopped Rwanda’s 1994 genocide that killed more than half a million Tutsi
and some moderate Hutu.

Ms. Mushikiwabo wrote that investigators used “the lowest evidentiary standard” to
support the report’s allegations of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The report says investigators required two independent sources for each of the 600
incidents documented.

“Attempts to take action on this report — either through its release or leaks to the
media — will force us to withdraw from Rwanda’s various commitments to the United
Nations, especially in the area of peacekeeping,” Ms. Mushikiwabo wrote. Rwanda
contributes thousands of troops to peacekeeping missions in Chad, Haiti, Liberia and
Sudan.
--------------------
Algerian forces kill 8 al-Qaida insurgents (Associated Press)

ALGIERS, Algeria – Algerian forces have killed eight al-Qaida insurgents in an attack in
a mountainous area considered a bastion for the terror network's North African branch.

A leader of the Patriots, armed civilians working with the army, says one soldier died
during the clashes in the Berrekmouche valley, 75 miles (120 kilometers) east of Algiers.
The Patriot spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to comment
about the operation.

He says the killings occurred Saturday and the sweep, which began with helicopter
bombardments, continued Sunday.

The area in the mountainous Kabyle region is considered a haven for al-Qaida in the
Islamic Maghreb. Residents of Beni-Yenni village alerted authorities after insurgents
sought food there.
--------------------
How moderate Muslims in Africa view NYC mosque debate (Christian Science
Monitor)

Suburban Point E, on whose cobblestone backstreets Senegalese-American R&B roué

Akon passed his boyhood years, already has a mosque. Several, actually, each
megaphoning prayer songs across balmy Ramadan soirées. So, locals wonder, why
shouldn't downtown New York City get another mosque, too?

The question may seem trivial, coming from one of Africa's smaller nations, but
America's controversy over the interfaith community center proposed by Imam Feisal
Abdul Rauf has implications for the United States' ability to thwart terrorism and defeat
Al Qaeda. And Senegal, with a 95 percent Muslim population, represents a pivotal
buttress in that campaign, say US military operatives. With Islamic fundamentalism
triumphing in neighboring Mauritania and northern Nigeria, strategists see Senegal as a
critical junction for US dialogue with the Muslim world.

“Islam in Senegal is tolerant, and we expect that tolerance in return," says Souleye
Diallo, director for a study abroad program here.

But lately, Senegal’s FM talk shows and private press have been appalled by America's
debate over the mosque near ground zero, protests against Mr. Rauf, a Manhattan taxi
passenger's attack on his Muslim driver, and sneers that Muslims worship “a monkey
god” (that was former Tea Party spokesman Mark Williams).
Land of intolerance?

Mr. Diallo says Senegalese aren't seeing tolerance in the charged debate over the
proposed Islamic community center about two blocks from the former World Trade
Center. Nor did he personally feel it when he visited New York City earlier this month.
While waiting to board the Staten Island Ferry for an iconic boat ride past the Statue of
Liberty, he says he was profiled, frisked, and bag-searched in front of his outraged
daughter.

He cautions that it was a one-off experience. “Senegalese go to America because in

America, they can have their rights respected, and their freedom of movement to be
entrepreneurs,” he says. “It’s not like in France, where you can be asked for your papers
wherever you go.”

Allowing a mosque near ground zero, says Diallo and other Senegalese, would restore
America's image as a place of opportunity while also allowing Muslims to feel accepted.
Islam pervades Senegal’s Sahelien milieu, as does the hope harbored by youths to travel
to America and prevail as capitalists on a stage like New York City.

Their impressions are not to be taken for granted. Senegal's second-biggest export (after
its desert-farmed peanuts) might be New York's entrepreneurial class of Senegalese-
American immigrants, studying business, driving night taxis, running Harlem
restaurants in the Le Petit Sénégal neighborhood, reinvesting millions of needed dollars
into Senegal's agrarian economy, and even selling "Never Forget" snow globes around
ground zero itself. After all, it was a Senegalese souvenir salesman named Aliou Niasse
who was the was the first to see smoke, and then call 911, when a Pakistani-born banker
tried to car-bomb Times Square in May.

“It would be good to have a mosque there, to create dialogue between all religions,”
says Mamadou Mbao, an unemployed young man sitting curbside his mosque. “If it’s
controversial, then they must build one church and one mosque, right there in the same
place. That’s fair.”

“I don’t understand,” adds his friend Mustafa Ndiaye. “If they’re saying it could
become a terrorist command center, isn’t America a powerful country? If it becomes a
terrorist command center, couldn’t American just shut it down?”

Case closed, for Mr. Mbao and Mr. Ndiaye. Then they asked this American journalist
for help in scoring two green cards.

Mosque helps US image

Human rights activist Daha Cherif Ba says he can appreciate America’s anxiety
surrounding Islam. “If Americans bombed us, you wouldn’t be welcome here, either,”
he says.

Mr. Ba thinks the mosque near ground zero should be relocated. “Minorities must
respect the sensitivities of the majority,” he says.

But Mbao, Ndiaye, Diallo, a gathering of bearded men in a mosque, two students, a
teacher, a young man reclining across a wooden bench, and a university professor all
disagreed.

“For us, it would be a blessing to have a mosque there, where Muslims could pray for
the deceased,” says Diallo, the study abroad director. “I understand the grievances, and
yes, there were Islamists behind the attack, but the way to heal is to accept people’s
prayers.”

But he says he knows the reality of America's news cycle and heavily charged political
scene.

“America’s politicians,” he adds, “are thinking about re-election, not how to heal.”
-------------------
Somalia's Government Expects 'Major' Surge in Violence in Mogadishu Today
(Bloomberg)

Somalia's government expects a "major" surge in violence today as the rebel al-Shabaab
militia steps up an offensive over the Ramadan period, the Information Ministry said.

The militants are expected to target civilian, government and African Union-
peacekeeper bases in the capital, Mogadishu, in their bid to oust the government, the
ministry said in an e- mailed statement. Ramadan, the Islamic holy month during which
Muslims fast from sunrise to sunset, began on Aug. 10 and will end around Sept. 9.

“The government is well prepared and together with Amisom, has complete confidence
in its plans to contain the violence,” the ministry said. Amisom is the AU Mission in
Somalia.

At least 70 civilian died and 200 have been injured since al-Shabaab, which the U.S.
accuses of having links with al- Qaeda, began a new offensive on Aug. 23 to oust the
Western- backed government of President Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed.

The escalation in fighting comes after African nations pledged to strengthen their
peacekeeping force in Somalia as they attempt to stop the conflict from spreading to
neighboring states. Al-Shabaab last month claimed responsibility for a bomb attack in
Kampala, the Ugandan capital, in which 76 people died.
The streets of Mogadishu were quiet this morning, though the ministry urged residents
to stay indoors and to report any suspicious activity to the police or security forces.

‘Remain Calm’

“In the event that fighting breaks out, the government encourages people to remain
calm and to stay in their homes, avoiding any unnecessary movement,” the ministry
said. It warned that al-Shabaab fighters were dressing in government uniforms and
women’s clothing, and using “donkey and cart bombs and large truck-borne” explosive
devices.

Somalia’s government has been battling the insurgents since 2007. Most of southern and
central Somalia has been seized by the rebels, while Sheikh Sharif’s administration
controls only portions of Mogadishu. The country is host to more than 2,000 foreign
fighters, from India, Pakistan and elsewhere, who are providing funds and training for
terrorist operations, according to the AU.

Somalia hasn’t had a functioning central administration since the ouster of former
dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991. The Horn of Africa nation is one of the poorest in
the world, according to the World Bank.
-------------------
International Conference On Nkrumah Attracts World Class Scholars (GhanaWeb)

(RICHMOND, British Columbia, Canada) For the first time in Canada, an international
conference on the legendary Ghanaian leader Osagyefo (the Redeemer) Dr. Kwame
Nkrumah was held at the Richmond campus of British Columbia's Kwantlen University
August 19-21.

The conference attracted 150 participants and over 30 scholars from Africa, Australia,
the U.S.A., the U.K. the Caribbean, and Canada. Presenters and attendees were deeply
engaged as they exchanged stimulating ideas and shared lively discussions about the
philosophies and ideals of Kwame Nkrumah and the state of Africa.

The conference celebrated the centennial of Nkrumah’s birthday as international

panelists gathered to discuss his impact on African and world politics, pan-Africanism,
colonialism and post-colonialism, globalization, and the African Diaspora. Keynote
addresses were given by Dr. Molefi K. Asante, one of the world’s most published
contemporary experts on African-American history and culture, Dr. Gillian Creese,
professor of sociology at University of British Columbia and researcher of immigration
and settlement in Canada, and a number of other respected scholars who revisited and
discussed Nkrumah’s outstanding accomplishments.

Reflecting on the success of the conference, event organizer and Kwantlen sociology
faculty member Dr. Charles Quist-Adade remarked, “For three days, Kwantlen was
treated to an intellectually stimulating exchange of ideas by scholars from diverse
disciplines and from different parts of the world. Many of the delegates paid glowing
tribute to Kwantlen for hosting the conference and are eagerly awaiting the second
Kwame Nkrumah International Conference.”

Kwantlen students Nasim Mosallaei and Sheila Wong who helped with the
coordination of the conference felt inspired and enlightened after participating in the
event.

Mosallaei commented, “I felt privileged to be able to listen to some of the many

discussions regarding the legacy of [Dr.]. Nkrumah and the current state of the
continent of Africa. In the end I met a lot of influential people with a lot of ideas on
Africa and I walked away from the conference having learned a great deal more about
Kwame Nkrumah.”

Wong added, “I was touched by everyone’s genuine concern for Africa’s conditions and
their interest in the continuation of Nkrumah’s philosophies and ideals. No doubt, the
Kwame Nkrumah International Conference has inspired many new ideas, thoughts,
and renewed hope for everyone involved.”

Nkrumah led Ghana to independence on March 6, 1957 after more than a century of
British colonial rule, the first in independence in sub-Saharan Africa. He is regarded as
one of Africa’s greatest statesmen. BBC listeners in Africa voted him Africa’s Man of the
Millennium in1999, and in 1978 the United Nations awarded Nkrumah a posthumous
gold medal during a session of the UN committee against the racist regime in South
Africa.

As should be expected, the conference attracted world class Pan-Africanist scholars like
Professsor Molefi Kete Asante of Temple University in the United States, Dr. Hakim
Adi of Middlesex University, Dr. Atukwei Okai, Dr. Kofi Anyidoho, both of the
University of Ghana, Dr. Afua Cooper of the University of Toronto and many others.

In his keynote address Asante announced that at least 17 African countries have agreed
to constitute themselves into the United States of Africa with more expected to join
soon. A United States of Africa was one of President Nkrumah's pet projects in Ghana
before he was overthrown in a Central Intelligence of America (CIA) sponsored coup
led by a combination of Ghanaian military and police officers while he was on a visit to
Vietnam in 1966.

Molefi Asante, the formemost living proponent of the the academic discipline of
Africology revealed that various committees in several African countries are currently
working on mechanisms to create a continental government within the shortest possible
time. Speaking on the topic Prospects for World in Nkrumah's Unity Projects, Asante
noted that the Ghanaian leader's vision was all-encompassing with the central tenet
being the establishment and promotion of the "African Personality," free from neo-
colonial and other entanglements.

In his welcome address, one of the organizers of the conference, Dr. Charles Quist-
Adade noted the just ended conference " will probably" be the last event in the year-
long series of activities around the world to commemorate the centenary anniversary of
the birth of Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, "Africa’s Man of the Millennium and perhaps the
most famous pan-Africanist after Marcus Garvey and W. E. B. Du Bois."

Quist-Adade said it was noteworthy that the conference was being held at the
confluence of the anniversaries of several monumental events in Africa, the most
important of which is the fiftieth anniversary of what is popularly referred to as “The
Year of Africa.”

"The year 1960 witnessed a host of events, including the end of the Mau Mau resistance
in Kenya, mass riots during Charles de Gaulle’s trip to Algeria, the murder of sixty-nine
non-violent protestors in South Africa’s Sharpeville Massacre, and independence for
seventeen African nations," he said.

He added that while the year was marked by both the entrenched brutality of European
colonial rule and the birth of new African nations, there was an overwhelming sense of
optimism for a vibrant, independent, and self-sufficient Africa.

The Kwanten University professor revealed that conference also coincided with the
twentieth anniversary of the release of Nelson Mandela from jail, which signaled the
demise of the apartheid system in South Africa.

As well, he pointed out, "this conference coincides with the 125th anniversary of the
Berlin Conference, which partitioned Africa among the European imperial powers.
Finally, this conference coincides with yet another important milestone in the annals of
Africa’s liberation movement, the sixty-fifth anniversary of the fifth Pan-African
Congress held in Manchester, of which Nkrumah was organizing secretary."

He further noted that the Kwame Nkrumah International Conference ( KNIC) was also
being held at a time when Africa’s continental body, the African Union (AU), had
accepted and is working on Nkrumah’s blueprint for a continental union government.
"As one of the founders of the predecessor continental body, the Organization of
African Unity, Nkrumah had single-mindedly and stoutly campaigned for a continental
union government of Africa to pool its vast natural and human resources for the benefit
of the continent’s peoples," he said.

Quist-Adade said in July 2009, the AU issued a “Declaration on the Celebration of the
100th Birthday Anniversary of Kwame Nkrumah,” praising him as “an advocate of
pan-Africanism who played a vital role in the establishment of our Continental
Organization and the liberation of the Continent.”

"But as the AU progresses towards Nkrumah’s vision of a United States of Africa, an

intense debate rages in both academia and the political sphere as to whether Africa is
ready for a continental union government. The debate also revolves around which is
the best route to a continental government: a gradual, piecemeal route through regional
economic unions, or a radical and immediate political and economic union, as proposed
by Nkrumah," he pointed out.

Asante however was very optimistic. He proudly announced that there will be a United
States of Africa by the year 2017 if everything goes as planned.
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Partnership enables Kenyan teachers to own laptops (IT News Africa)

Teachers in Kenya can now acquire laptops complete with broadband internet
connection and other software from Safaricom at affordable rates.

This follows the signing of a partnership between Kenya’s leading telecoms firm,
Safaricom, Equity Bank, Microsoft, Intel, Kenya Institute of Education and teachers’
main employer body, the Teachers Service Commission (TSC).

Speaking during the signing ceremony at Safaricom Center, Safaricom Chief Executive
Officer Michael Joseph said the initiative would allow teaching professionals in the
middle and low- income segments of the economy to embrace technology at an
affordable price.

“The cost of internet-enabled devices remains a major barrier to increasing data

penetration in Kenya,” Joseph said.

“At Safaricom, we are actively seeking ways to make these devices affordable to as
many Kenyans as possible.”

The partnership will see Equity Bank provide credit facilities to teachers, while
Safaricom will make the acquisition of the devices, bundled with internet usage,
possible through its 32-strong Safaricom Retail Centre network across Kenya.

Microsoft will provide certified and subsidised Office Application software and
antivirus for the laptops.

It will further host and support Microsoft Live@edu email solution to all Kenyan
teachers and provide access to Microsoft Learning Essentials.

The laptops will also come loaded with the KIE syllabuses for both primary and
secondary education.
Intel will provide an application for self- training material while the TSC will create
awareness about the loan among its members, and help administer the facility through
a check-off system.

Interested teachers will select their laptop solution of choice from Safaricom Retail
Centers based on their needs and apply for financing from any Equity Bank branch.

Once financing is confirmed, the customers will be notified to collect their laptops from
the Safaricom Retail Centre.

The telecoms company is leveraging on the deal as it seeks to entrench its data services
and help bridge the digital divide in Kenya.

The deal comes at time the country’s ICT sector is poised for exponential growth
following the landing and activation of TEAMS and Seacom undersea cables.

Safaricom will be responsible for the quality of laptops and broadband internet
connections provided as well as their distribution.

Equity will be responsible for the provision of personal loans to teachers to enable them
acquire the laptop solution.

“This partnership presents a major breakthrough in this pursuit and will improve
utility of the internet and the expansive data infrastructure Safaricom has put together,”
Joseph said.

“We are putting internet technology in the hands of those who need it most; teachers.
This will give a boost to e-learning and improve overall performance in Kenyan
schools,” said Joseph.
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UN News Service Africa Briefs
Full Articles on UN Website

Equatorial Guinea: UN human rights experts express concern over executions

27 August – Independent United Nations human rights experts today voiced serious
concern at last weekend’s execution in Equatorial Guinea of four men over their alleged
involvement in an armed attack on the country’s presidential palace last year.

ICC tells Security Council of Sudanese leader’s Kenyan trip despite indictment
27 August – The International Criminal Court (ICC) today informed the Security
Council that Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted by the tribunal on
charges of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, travelled to Kenya,
which, like other States, is obliged to enforce the court’s arrest warrants against him.

Côte d’Ivoire: UN probe finds serious human rights violations during February protests
27 August – Serious human rights violations were committed during the
demonstrations held in Côte d’Ivoire in February following the dissolution of the
Government and the national electoral authority, according to the United Nations
mission in the West African nation.

UN agency moves to assist Central Africans uprooted by rebel attacks

27 August – The United Nations refugee agency has moved to improve the plight of
about 1,500 Central African refugees scattered along the border with the Democratic
Republic of the Congo (DRC), a spokesperson said today.

Kenya: Ban welcomes promulgation of new constitution

27 August – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today congratulated Kenyans and their
leaders on the occasion of the promulgation of the country’s new constitution, which
was backed by a large majority of citizens in a referendum earlier this month.