LTTE Human Bomb

2007 January 28 - Colombo, Sri Lanka - A disabled female LTTE suicide bomber targeting Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) leader and Social Services Minister Douglas Devananda blew herself up when her attempt to assassinate the Minister was foiled. The woman blew herself near the Ministry’s Public Relations Office at Narahenpita around 8:05 am killing the Public Relations Officer and injuring two other Ministerial Security Guards.

A Brief History of the Sri Lanka LTTE Conflict

DR A.E SELVANATHAN, sub dean of the Department of Asian and International Studies at Griffith University and spokesperson for the Tamil Sangam

Tamil and Sinhalese communities have lived in Sri Lanka for more than 2500 years, Selvanathan said, but traditionally as separate kingdoms, with different languages, religions and culture. The island was only forced into one nation after British colonisation in 1795.

"Previous colonisers, the Dutch and Portuguese had ruled the island with Tamil and Sinhalese kingdoms intact. Trading and administrative interests guided the actions of the British who were keen to exploit the natural resources of Sri Lanka. The two kingdoms were crushed and the British created 'Ceylon' with its administrative hub in Columbo.''

After 150 years of colonial power, the British left Ceylon with a parliamentary system that favoured the Sinhalese majority. Gradually the rights of the Tamil minority were whittled away.

"In 1949, Tamils who had been brought by the British from India to work on the tea plantations were disenfranchised. In 1956, Sinhala became the official language. Public servants were required to speak a level of Sinhala designed to limit the number of Tamil civil servants. Between 1956 and 1958 anti-Tamil riots resulted in the death of hundreds of Tamils. Since this time, there has also been encroachment on Tamil land by Sinhalese settlers [which have] displaced the Tamil people. Access to jobs and education also became extremely limited for the Tamil population."

The decision by the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) in the 1970s to take up arms brought new waves of repression from the Sri Lankan authorities.

A Tamil convention in Jaffna in 1976 passed a resolution calling for the "restoration and reconstitution of the free, sovereign, secular, socialist state of Tamil Eelam".

In 1983, a genocidal campaign in Columbo led by government ministers and Buddhist monks ended in the deaths of over 6000 Tamils. Another 75,000 became refugees.

A LTTE-called boycott of local government elections in 1983 was supported by 90% of Tamil people. This was a clear rejection by the Tamil people of the Sri Lankan government which continued its war against the LTTE.

In the mid-1980s India attempted to broker a peace deal, but with little consultation with the Tamil people. The deal was to provide a rehabilitation program for those who had been displaced and some other concessions. To ensure the success of this deal, the Indian government deployed thousands of troops to Sri Lanka, but the plan collapsed in 1990.

Some 35,000 troops were sent to the north and an economic embargo (including food and medical supplies) was imposed on Jaffna. Heavy bombing by the Indian and Sri Lankan armies killed 5000 Tamils and displaced 1 million.

Africa Music, TV, Radio Broadcasts Online

Club Africa


Music is an integral part of African life, society and culture. There are numerous styles of music from the continent of Africa including but not limited to: Soukous, Mbaqanga, Kwaito, Highlife, Mapouka, Makossa, Salsa, Reggae, Zouk, Mandingo. From the vibrant, complex, vocal-based Kwaito of South Africa, and the globally acclaimed superstars from Senegal and Gambia, to the irresistible and intricate dance music of Congolese Soukous, Africa's music is rich and vibrant.

Early African Guitar 1966 - Pierre Gwa (Central A. Republic)

One of Africa's most popular musicians Papa Wemba

Papa Wemba was born Jules Shungu Wembadio Pene Kikumba in 1949 in Lubefu (Kasai - DR Congo). He is a Congolese Soukous musician.

Staff Benda Bilili: Voices Of The Congo

By Banning Eyre for NPR

April 28, 2009 - Kinshasa, Congo, has long been a hotbed of earth-shaking popular dance music. The Congo sound was the disco of Africa from the '60s through the '90s — a paradox, considering the country's simultaneous descent into endemic corruption, economic ruin, disease pandemics and relentless civil war. The irony continues with the recording debut of Staff Benda Bilili, a group of paraplegic street musicians who entertain from their base near the city's zoological gardens. Benda Bilili means roughly "look beyond appearances," and those who do will find astonishing musicality and verve, as well as a good deal of insight into the intricacies of street life in a massive, decaying city. The band members consider themselves "the real journalists of Kinshasa."

"Moto Moindo (Black Man)," the lead track on the band's debut CD (Tres Tres Fort), tells Africans to "wake up" to the riches around them and stop settling for a diet of "experimental chickens" and "meat made from the bark of trees." The song heats up in classic style from a sensuous rumba feel to the fervent dance groove that has made the Congo famous. With minimal percussion, the lead melody is performed on the satonge, an invented instrument constructed from a tin can, a tensed wooden bow, and a single guitar string. Its inventor and player, Roger, was 17 when this recording was made. Hearing this, it's hard not to hope that he and his band will go far.

.

South Africa: The Election - A Tainted Victory

Roger Southall

17 April 2009

With South Africa's election fast approaching, Roger Southall predicts a triumphant yet problematic victory for Jacob Zuma's African National Congress (ANC).

Southall examines the shifting electoral terrain within South Africa, indicating that younger voters are changing the political demographic. Despite the ANC's respected economic record, increasing concern surrounds government policy, with injustice and inequality still prevalent across the country some 15 years after 1994's 'liberation' election.

The author argues that regardless of the ANC's predictable success in the April 2009 election, the party's sanctity has been shattered as a result of its corruption and role in worsening the livelihoods of ordinary South Africans. The ANC's dominance in the electoral arena is subsiding, Southall contends, a reality which will prove key in shaping the future development of South Africa's democracy.

The triumph of the African National Congress (ANC) in South Africa's fourth democratic general election on 22 April 2009 is assured. Yet this will be the ruling party's most shoddy and problematic victory.

The ingredients of success seem to be falling into place. The acting chief prosecutor's decision on 6 April not to continue pressing corruption and tax-evasion charges against the ANC leader Jacob Zuma - which opens the way for him to succeed Kgalema Motlanthe as the country's president - is a timely boost for the party, even if Helen Zille of the opposition Democratic Alliance (DA) promises to appeal to the high court against the ruling.

The ANC is intent on presenting a confident face to the voters; it announced a two-thirds majority in the national assembly as its goal. But this is bravado. In private, the ANC worries that its showing will be considerably worse - perhaps even below 60 per cent. This may sound impressive, though it would be a considerable decline from the near 70 per cent of the vote in the last (April 2004) election; even more worryingly for the party, worse than its 63 per cent in the 'liberation' election of 1994.

This could be the signal that, after some 15 years in power, the ANC is on a downward slope and could face the real possibility of defeat at the next election in 2014. Indeed, this is the agenda that the two highest profile opposition parties - the established DA and the new Congress of the People (COPE) - are working towards.

The inexorable shifting of South Africa's electoral terrain in a way that renders appeals by the ANC to the electorate more problematic helps explain why a party on the brink of electoral victory can also appear to be in decline. Three aspects of this process stand out.

A NEW LANDSCAPE

The first is demographic. South African voters are getting younger, the result both of a high birth-rate and (owing to the impact of HIV/Aids) declining average life-spans. The ANC may claim the loyalties of first-time (18-year-old and above) voters, but the political leanings of the 'cell phone' generation - which has little direct memory of apartheid - are likely to be more diffuse and less rooted than those of its parents.

The second is policy-related. The ANC's economic record since 1994 has been respectable, but a fundamental reality remains unchanged: South Africa is one of the most unequal countries in the world. The government's own 15-year-review acknowledged that in 2005, half the population - 22 million out of 44 million - lived in abject poverty. The government has done much to address the needs of the poor via a massive extension of social assistance, and a reasonable record in the supply of new housing, electricity connections and water. Nonetheless, these measures do not automatically translate into votes. These initiatives also foster dependencies and disappointed expectations, as well as a widespread sense of relative deprivation. In addition, there is growing resentment against perceived corruption and cronyism, especially at the local level.

The third aspect that limits the appeal of the ANC is social. South Africa's social cohesion is being undermined by at least four factors: massive rural-to-urban migration; inward and largely uncontrolled foreign immigration (notably from Zimbabwe); a perennially high level of unemployment (around 25 per cent, currently compounded by job losses caused by the global recession); and the growing casualisation of work. A Markinor poll published in February 2009 indicated that for the first time more South Africans felt the country was going in the wrong (42 per cent) than in the right (38 per cent) direction.

A PARTY CORRODED

The ANC might with some justification claim that these are precisely the sort of problems that any government is likely to face after 15 years in power. Yet so many of the troubles it faces are of its own invention.

The most notorious is the period of internal turmoil which culminated with the replacement of Thabo Mbeki as party leader by Jacob Zuma at the ANC's national conference in Polokwane in December 2007. This in turn was followed by Mbeki's 'recall' from South Africa's presidency in September 2008 and replacement by the interim figure of Kgalema Motlanthe. The official version is that there has been an internal healing of rifts, but in truth many scars remain and the wounds could easily be re-opened.

It's true that Jacob Zuma has emerged as his own man during the course of the campaign as opposed to a creature of the coalition of trade unions, the Communist Party (CP), and the ANC Youth League which propelled him to the leadership at Polokwane. But his appeal is divisive, and his ascendancy to the presidency will be of someone tainted by suspicion who, but for the ANC's politicisation of supposedly neutral state institutions, might otherwise be in jail.

At a deeper level, the reason why the ANC's forthcoming victory will be so qualified is the widespread sense that the party has lost its sense of decency. It arrived in power in 1994 as the champion of human rights; the government it formed was invested in the hopes of most South Africans for a fairer, more equal and more caring society. There is little of such idealism today. Instead of the iconic Nelson Mandela, the ANC is led by a man whom the majority (even of black Africans, who form the main body of the ANC's support), believe is guilty of corruption.

Indeed, there has been a series of scandals. Many have revolved around the ANC's misuse of state power to fund its party budget, while others have exposed dodgy deals with shady businessmen. The saddest aspect is that the expectation and even acceptance of corruption at all national, provincial and local levels has become the norm.

The ANC's money obsession means that it is awash with money from un-stated sources, much of it appearing to come from fellow ruling parties in countries such as China, Equatorial Guinea, Libya and Angola. But there is a cost: the party machinery, even at a time of electoral mobilisation, is creaking. Kgalema Motlanthe, when he was still secretary general of the ANC in 2007, admitted that the rot was 'across the board', meaning every project was considered in terms of its opportunities for people to make money.

The saga of Carl Niehaus - whom the leadership employed as ANC spokesman for the electoral campaign despite privately knowing of his background of extensive fraud, and subsequently dismissed when the media revealed his deceit and indebtedness - is symptomatic of the party's disarray. Few South Africans believe that a party headed by Jacob Zuma will prove able to recover its compass. The refusal of a visa to the Dalai Lama to attend a peace conference in South Africa, which would contribute to the maintenance of comradely relations with China (admittedly to the anguish of significant elements within the party), confirms that mammon has trumped morality.

AN EMPTY VICTORY

The ANC's predicament could well have been worse if COPE - launched in late 2008 by ANC dissidents, especially those opposed to Jacob Zuma and inclined to Thabo Mbeki - had managed to get its act together. It now looks as if COPE will no longer present a strong challenge to the ANC. Its own early life has been marked by a series of setbacks including limited funding, a lack of patronage, a failure to secure backing from enough high-profile ANC figures, all of which have been reinforced by internal divisions and its own incompetence.

COPE had initially hoped to win as many as 20 per cent of the vote. Now 5 per cent is more likely, though most of this should come from the ANC rather than from other parties of opposition. COPE and the DA could also benefit from a squeezing of the smaller opposition parties as voters determined to make their votes count turn to them. For its part, the DA may find it difficult to move much above its respectable 12.37 per cent share of the vote, but could emerge as the largest party in the Western Cape (weathering a challenge from COPE in the process) and be able to lead a governing coalition in the province after ejecting the ANC from power.
Relevant Links

* Southern Africa
* South Africa

The current election is the most fluid and unpredictable in South Africa since 1994. Jacob Zuma's ANC will win, and could yet win big. But even if it manages to again defeat the opposition threat with apparent ease, the perception of its inviolability has been broken. The signs are prevalent that the ANC's dominance of the electoral arena is crumbling. Some believe, and even more hope, that this could be good for South African democracy.

Lost Boys of Sudan Art

A Lostboysofsudanart.org is a web-site that is currently under construction of Southern Sudanese art, artists and sources.

We want you to share our multicolor vision,
to feel our sublime spirit,
to see our creative work,
and to sense our mutual support.

— Southern Sudanese artists

Africa Still Weeps

An article from 2006 by Judy Auma

Plunder Dims the Pearl of Africa



Frederic Bastiat in his all time classic “The Law” categorically states that “the law is perverted” and guilty of committing crimes it’s supposed to punish. Its values have been altered and it no longer confines itself to its proper functions. Its motives have been destroyed, placing power into the hands of a few unscrupulous individuals out to better themselves at the expense of the vast majority. In Uganda, this is official and stark clear. The national cake belongs to the patriots and freedom fighters, while the rest of the population scramble for peanuts, residues or nothing at all.

The revelations unearthed by the commission of inquiry into the gross mismanagement of the global fund by members of the Project Implementation Unit (PMU) under the Ministry of Health, a grant meant to fight Aids, tuberculosis and malaria in the country, is a clear indication that corruption is still the most serious singular curse on African soil. This annoying practice has left a minority rich with fat bank accounts, while over 6 million Ugandans die of Aids and are buried in extreme poverty and destitution each year.

The progress of the probe elicits various emotions as the disgraceful members of PMU and the three smartly dressed Ministers of Health with utmost arrogance, supercilious attitudes and zero remorse give sickening excuses and incontrovertible evidences of abuse of office funds.They defend their positions in total disregard of cries for them to apologize, abjure and resign. In his full “Ministerial boots, belt and Jacket, the “honorable” Minister of Health, Jim Muhwezi even challenged the lead judge and chairman of the commission Justice Ogola, asking him where he was when patriots were called upon to show up 20 years ago.

The whooping $20 million fund which should be correctly labeled “Gift fund” or “Global Fraud” has no wonder set blood veins on high gear to have a field day. It is unimaginable that a hefty sum of cash, well able to construct a clinic in one of the many internally displaced people’s camps, is spent on treating a single big shot outside the country from a disease which can be cured within the country using simple drugs; all in repayment for not hiding in a tree branch when real men were called to action. Patriotism has been equaled to favoritism. Scumbags, armed with this archaic thinking fiddled with the global fund cash, with unrealistic expenses and giving inexcusably lame accountabilities.

The entire country is stale with greed as politicians out for self aggrandizement deliberately use their positions and unquestionable powers to reap the country’s resources, tearing it down piece by piece. Public servants behave like juke-boxes. Tender boards, customs, exports and imports departments, and the police, all reek with bribery, resource diversion, blackmail, intimidation, protection of culprits, favoritism, use of public utilities for personal gain, political interference in public office operations and presentation of false documents of accountability. Uganda has become a luxurious abode for untouchable criminals who have set a clear pace for others to commit all kinds of felons in the future.

The biggest puzzle is the attitude of the population as huge sums of money disappear. Where is it as plunderers run down the country? Ugandan citizens have crawled under the rocks or simply stand and spectate in complete abasement as the “main men” who have clearly mastered the art of “legal plunder” use their “private codes” of patriotism to satiate their greed.

We have chosen egoistic, cold hearted and shameless individuals to lead us to the land of poverty and lack. They cannot be trusted even with a public needle. For example, the “honorable boss” of the Ministry of Health has been censored before due to bent accountability of public funds. But what do we do? We hug and thank him for impoverishing us by giving him votes each time he lifts a finger to ask for a third term as a member of parliament. We have even handed over the leadership of our entire capital city to a reknown fraudster overlooking the likely consequences, right below our noses.

The nation has become an accomplice to corruption as citizens silently watch and cheer with no one playing referee to reprimand and punish the criminals. The civil societies raise their voices from a distance. Is it that we do not understand the magnitude of the situation?

What is our nation smoking? What exactly are our citizens high on? The answer is simple, “foreign Aid”. We have become lazy, vulnerable and totally addicted to it; we do not even complain when some few people chop off some huge chunks. This drug has removed every sense of humanity among African leaders who not only make excuses to get it but scramble to have a potion each time its availed.

The grant suspension in Uganda has been lifted following the signing of an aide memoir, and its management changed. However, the bitter truth here is that the walking cash cow has merely changed hands and a whole new set of big shots have been presented with an opportunity to milk to their fill. They are eagerly waiting for their turns to dip their fingers into this public bowl of cash.

Why should we borrow huge sums of money, at high interest rates, in the name of “foreign aid” only for some ill-motivated individuals to load them away in their personal bank accounts? Bastiat is clear about this, all humans are endowed with the special gifts and faculties that they can use to produce and sustain themselves through all times. These virtues precede all human legislation and transmit the fact that the human mind is superior and capital. There should be a free and fair ground for everyone to practice what they can do best, without any form of manipulation or control.

To put our people on the right track to development, prosperity and self sustainability, Africans should consider a complete rehabilitation, first by putting a halt to the idea of borrowing and doing a general clean up of the leadership. “Once bitten twice shy”, we cannot be tested, bullied and shut down as if we do not have the ability to halt these illegitimate acts. Is it that we do not understand the power of our votes? The criminals should not be left to go Scot free. Without punishment for such depraved behavior, these predators will reign on top of the food chain and gorge themselves at the expense of everyone else.

The million dollar questions henceforth are; where are the true African executives? Is anyone ready to eat a bullet to prevent parasites from vapourising our nation? Let’s save our nation. As for the plunderers, they simply do not imagine in their mind’s eye that “whatever goes around comes around”. Whoever thought the Saddam Husseins and Charles Taylors of this world come down years ago! Even the strong, high and mighty fall, only that they hit the ground harder.