He was speaking at his monthly press conference in Kigali on Thursday.

Kagame said while the Chinese donation is a welcome gift, African countries should focus on working towards economic independency that allows them to be in charge of their own affairs.

“China donated this to the continent for the use of the Continent – but it is very pathetic …the continent of Africa is very rich in terms of all kinds of resources and Africa being where it is today is a problem. May be you can see it in terms of this donation but the problem is much bigger than that..,” President Kagame said.

Unveiled in the Ethiopian capital – Addis Abbaba last week, the brown marble and glass monolith building was fully paid for by China government including office furniture.

Critics argue that the donation reflects not only reflects Africa’s inability to handle its development agenda but also say China could use it to gain greater access to Africa’s resources.

“That ( the building) is only a symptom of a much bigger problem – the problem being that Africa in my view should not be where it is today.

We need to find a way out of this – Africa we need to work hard, be smart in many ways and do things in such way that will get us out of this situation,” Mr Kagame said.

Mr Kagame further argued that for the continent to be in-charge of its affairs, it must achieve the necessary social and economic transformation from its current state.

He specifically referred to NATO involvement in the Libyan conflict as failure of the country’s leadership to address its internal issues and respond to the needs of its people.

” If we do not deal with the other issues of capacity, how we can grow our economies, work together how can we strengthen ourselves so that we can are ones to deal with our problems and speak with one voice in defence of our rights as a nation as a continent , you will continue to have these problems. We should also be able to build our resistance in relation to how well we get things done in our countries – we need to do more of the right thing … and this gives us the strength to fight any external meddling.”
Berna Namata | 2 February 2012| The Eastafrican

It will without doubt be the greatest moment in the history of Equatorial Guinea football, which has plenty to prove after their shambolic build-up to the finals that saw veteran coach Henri Michel walk away, for the second time, just three weeks before the competition.

For Libya it will be an emotional moment too, coming so soon after the turbulent civil war that engulfed that country and deposed despotic leader Muammar Gaddafi, under whose rule many of the players had suffered hardships.

Perhaps for both sides it will be a relief to get the football under way, with so many side issues being discussed in the build-up to the tournament that they have scarcely been able to concentrate on just playing.

Equatorial Guinea replaced Michel with the Brazilian Gílson Paulo, who signed a short-term deal for this tournament alone. Usually he acts as sports director at the academy of Brazilian club Vasco da Gama.

He took over the reins only on January 2 and faced a warm-up match against South Africa just a few days later, in which the overly physical ‘Nzalang Nacional’ managed to escape with a 0-0 draw.

The squad is made up largely of players born in either Spain or Brazil, almost half to be exact, as well as other ‘mercenaries’ from Cote d’Ivoire and Cameroon. National pride might be in short supply.

But there will certainly be money on offer from the oil-rich government, with state television suggesting the squad will share a U.S. $1.7-million bonus if they win this game against Libya alone.

Their chances of getting out of Group A, which also includes Senegal and Zambia, are slim, but if they are to do so, a win in the opener is surely a must.

While Equatorial Guinea won their place in the competition automatically as hosts, Libya earned theirs with some heroic displays built around organisation and a high work-rate.

They too have a Brazilian coach in the person of Marcos Paqueta, who has made sacrifices of his own, going without a salary for nine months during the conflict in the country and wondering if he would be able to carry on with the qualification campaign.

He drew heart from the recent 1-0 loss to Cote d’Ivoire in a friendly in Dubai, and says getting out of the pool remains the number one goal for the side. Anything after that is a bonus.

Participating countries : (6 countries): Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Senegal.
Duration of the Study: 2008 – 2011
Funding Partner: International Development Research Centre (IDRC)

The purpose of this study of the Educational Research Network for West and Central Africa is not only to analyze the experiences of administrative decentralization but especially those relating to sectoral policies for the provision of basic social services, including water,education and health. The goal is to measure the effects of democracy on the basis of the transfer of skills and resources, and handling the management of social services through community structures. The key questioning of this discussion focuses on the social changes induced by the decentralization process and the degree of synergy of actions tha thas led to a more equal access to basic social services in the sectors concerned.

To do this, researchers have questioned the motives of States and the effective transfer of skills and resources that are linked to it, especially in terms of local actors and their relationships with each other and the central level. On this point, particular attention was paid to gender and favored the emergence of new community leaders including women.

Download the report here

ERNWACA| December 16, 2011 |

Fin de partie pour Kadhafi. Le Conseil national de transition libyen (CNT) a d’abord annoncé ce jeudi matin la capture du « Guide » après six semaines de cavale, avant d’annoncer sa mort, lors de la chute de Syrte, sa ville natale.

C’est Abdel Majid, un membre du CNT, qui a fait ses annonces.

Le CNT espérait depuis plusieurs jours mettre ce point final à sa guerre contre le pouvoir de Mouammar Kadhafi, en escomptant que sa capture découragerait ses derniers partisans de poursuivre leur lutte.

Le nouveau drapeau libyen flotte désormais au centre de Syrte, à 380 km à l’est de Tripoli, où le colonel Kadhafi s’était replié après la chute de la capitale aux mains des rebelles fin août. C’était le dernier bastion des partisans de l’ancien dirigeant.
Kadhafi serait blessé aux deux jambes

Kadhafi était invisible et introuvable depuis la fin août, et certains se demandaient s’il n’avait pas pris la fuite à l’étranger, en Algérie où se trouve une partie de sa famille, ou dans un des pays sahéliens, Mali, Niger ou Burkina Faso.

Selon le CNT, Kadhafi aurait été blessé aux deux jambes et serait mort, selon le CNT.

S’il est capturé blessé et pas mort, l’ancien « Guide » risque fort de devoir subir le même sort humiliant que Hosni Moubarak en Egypte, jugé pour ses crimes.

La mort de Kadhafi lors de sa capture est une fin pathétique pour un homme qui a traversé quatre décennies flamboyantes, défiant le monde, mobilisant son peuple et une bonne partie de l’Afrique à certaines époques, avant de devenir un despote vieillissant entouré de querelles de clans dirigés par ses propres enfants.
Pierre Haski | 20 Octobre 2011 | Rue89|

Mbachu, who spearheaded her team, Rivers Angels to win the 2011 Challenge Cup was among the 27 players coach Eucharia Uche called for this weekend’s decisive Olympics clash against the Indomitable Lionesses of Cameroon in Yaounde.

The veteran goal poacher was diagnosed with typhoid problems shortly after the Challenge Cup rigour and hospitalised in a private hospital in Owerri, Imo State.

Coach Uche waved off deadline for her to enable her recover fully but she never made it among the 20-man team to face the Lionesses on Saturday.

Mbachu told SuperSport.com that she is not match fit to withstand the rigour the match requires.

“I am okay at the moment but not fully recovered to play the match. The time is too short for me to break into the team.

“That match is crucial and demands the best healthy legs. The ticket is important, we can’t afford not to be at the Olympics.

“I won’t play the match but my heart is with the team. In fact, I am in constant touch with my colleagues to please beat the Cameroonians for me.

“I know the Cameroonians will come out tough but I trust my teammates to beat Cameroon at their backyard,” she enthused.

The reigning African champions will take her August 28 first leg 2-1 victory to Cameroon and must avoid defeat to be able to feature at the quadrennial global sports fiesta.

The winner of the crunchy tie will join the Banyana Banyana of South Africa as the continent’s representatives.

Leadership (Abuja)| 19 October 2011 |

In a letter to Congress, Obama said the troops will act as advisers in efforts to hunt down rebel leader Joseph Kony but will not engage in combat except in self-defense.

Pentagon officials said the bulk of the U.S. contingent will be special operations troops, who will provide security and combat training to African units.

The White House said the first troops arrived in Uganda on Wednesday. Ultimately, they’ll also deploy in South Sudan, the Central African Republic and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Long considered one of Africa’s most brutal rebel groups, the Lord’s Resistance Army began its attacks in Uganda more than 20 years ago but has been pushing westward.

The administration and human rights groups say its atrocities have left thousands dead and have put as many as 300,000 Africans to flight. They have charged the group with seizing children to bolster its ranks of soldiers and sometimes forcing them to become sex slaves.

Kony is wanted by the International Criminal Court under a 2005 warrant for crimes against humanity in his native Uganda.

Obama’s announcement came in low-key fashion — a letter to House Speaker John Boehner in which he said the deployment “furthers U.S. national security interests and foreign policy and will be a significant contribution toward counter-LRA efforts in central Africa.”

The deployment drew support from Sen. James Inhofe, R-Okla., who has visited the region.

“I have witnessed firsthand the devastation caused by the LRA, and this will help end Kony’s heinous acts that have created a human rights crisis in Africa,” he said in a statement. “I have been fervently involved in trying to prevent further abductions and murders of Ugandan children, and today’s action offers hope that the end of the LRA is in sight.”

But Obama’s letter stressed the limited nature of the deployment.

“Our forces will provide information, advice and assistance to select partner nation forces,” it said. “Although the U.S. forces are combat-equipped, they will … not themselves engage LRA forces unless necessary for self-defense.”

Most of the troops will deploy to regional capitals to work with government officials and military commanders on countering the rebels and protecting civilians, Pentagon officials said.

State Department officials portrayed the deployment as part of a larger strategy to combat the group that dates to the Bush administration but also includes legislation passed by Congress this year.

Victoria Nuland, a department spokeswoman, said the U.S. troops will aid in “pursuing the LRA and seeking to bring top commanders to justice.” The broader effort includes encouraging rebel fighters to defect, disarm and return to their homes, she said.

The administration briefed human rights activists ahead of the announcement, and their officials were encouraged.

“These advisers can make a positive difference on the ground by keeping civilians safe and improving military operations to apprehend the LRA’s top commanders,” said Paul Ronan, director of the group Advocacy at Resolve.

Col. Felix Kulayigye, Uganda’s military spokesman, said of the troops: “We are aware that they are coming. We are happy about it. We look forward to working with them and eliminating Kony and his fighters.”

Mark Smith | 14/10/2011 | AP|

Associated Press writers Matthew Lee, Lolita C. Baldor and Donna Cassata contributed to this report from Washington, AP writer Godfrey Olukya from Kampala Uganda.

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La dernière fois qu’il a présidé un conseil des ministres, c’était en Juillet 2009. En gros il y va une fois par an? De qui s’agit il?

Réponse? Vous l’aurez deviné mesdames et monsieur. Paul Biya, Président du Cameroun, “Roi fainéant à perpuité,” dixit Laurent Ruquier, d’Europe 1 et Fanny Pigeaud. Est-ce que Monsieur Biya peut démentir cet animateur? Si non, mérite t–il ce sobriquet,“Roi Fainéant à perpétuité?  Il ne fou rien. Il vit soit à Mvoméka, soit à Genève.”

“est-il très connu pour qu’on en parle? “

Font-ils exprès sur le plateau? je ne sais pas. Mais…ça fait rire.

Un roi? un Président? Qui aime entendre dire autant de choses sur son président? Pas les Camerounais. Nous pouvons rire, mais voilà ce que deviennent nos présidents africains quand leurs soit-disant protecteurs de la communauté internationale veulent les lâcher…comme une chaussette sale. Le président du Cameroun, notre président est appelé Roi Fainéant. Certes il s’en fout, mais après 29 ans de pouvoir, que peut-il encore donner au Cameroun? Il ne nous a même pas laissé en héritage une société qui fabrique des clous.

Si Biya et son entourage peuvent démentir en apportant des éléments contradictoires alors nous (les camerounais) devons présenter un carton rouge à Monsieur Ruquier, en lui sommant de ne plus calomnier mr Biya, le “choix du peuple”

J’ai bien peur que les compatriotes de Monsieur le président n’aient pas beaucoup d’arguments pour le défendre. Ecoutez plutôt, et dites-nous ce que vous pensez.

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During his 29-year rule, Biya has kept the central African oil-producer on a relatively stable path in a volatile region — although critics say sometimes at the expense of democracy.

The one-round vote comes just weeks after a smooth handover of power in Zambia showed that Africa can deliver peaceful political change through the ballot box. But Biya, 78, looks set to remain one of the continent’s dwindling clutch of rulers with decades of power to their name.

“We feel that it is likely he will stand and win the election before managing a mid-term handover of power — provided a deterioration in his health does not necessitate a more rapid and potentially volatile handover,” Roddy Barclay, London-based analyst at Control Risks consultancy, said.

The election, which Biya’s rivals say has been skewed against them from the start, has been marked by a splintered opposition and tensions that last week saw a gunman hold up a bridge in the economic capital Douala in an apparent anti-Biya protest.

BELOW POTENTIAL

Biya has implemented piecemeal democratic changes, and sees himself as personally vested with the mission of guiding Cameroon through difficult times.

Aside from its oil, Cameroon is the region’s main port and breadbasket, supplying Chad, Central African Republic, Congo Republic and Gabon. It also hosts the Chad-Cameroon pipeline and shelters several thousand refugees from the region’s conflicts.

“In an increasingly uncertain world, we have made sure to stay the course where many nations, including some of the most advanced, are struggling to steer their boat,” Biya told his ruling CPDM party at a congress in September.

Cameroon’s media and opposition have criticised Biya for lax governance, allowing corruption, red tape and nepotism to fester. The IMF has described its forecast 3.8 percent growth this year as below potential.

With the goal of securing emerging market status for Cameroon by 2035 — putting it in the same bracket as countries such as Mexico or Malaysia — Biya is building roads, power plants, and a deep sea port. He is also seeking to attract more investment to the country’s agriculture and mining sectors.

“Cameroon will be transformed into a construction site,” Biya said of three hydroelectric projects, a gas terminal and oil processing and storage plants.

SWEET TALK

Biya faces a fragmented opposition field of 22 candidates including veteran challenger John Fru Ndi of the Social Democratic Front (SDF) and Adamou Ndam Njoya of the Cameroon Democratic Union (UDC).

And a history of badly run elections and a perception that Biya controls key state institutions has dampened enthusiasm among voters.

“I don’t have anything to tell you except that I don’t care who wins,” said David Ngale, a 45-year-old taxi driver in the capital Yaounde. “Politicians are the same. They only fool us with sweet talk and (squander) our money.”

Brice Momo, a 61-year-old teacher, said arguments that Biya had brought stability to Cameroon did not justify his long rule.

“His supporters say the country has remained peaceful and stable during his reign, but do we eat that? I can only compare the peace in Cameroon to the peace and tranquility in the graveyard where everyone is dead,” he said.

But small-time trader Naomi Essama, in one of Yaounde’s neighbourhoods said she wanted Biya to win.

“My hope is that this man who has been there for long now will win the election and pay more attention to our problems this time,” she said.

The opposition has complained that while their campaigns have been restricted by funding and limited air time on television and radio, Biya has used ministers, government officials and state machinery for his campaign.

They have also complained about Biya’s tight grip on the election process. The president has nominated members of the national election body, set key dates on the election calendar and appointed the judges who will rule on the final results.

Cameroon’s last serious unrest was in 2008, when Biya’s move to scrap term limits and mounting anger over food prices led to violent street protests in which over 100 died.

Authorities arrested around 200 people in a crackdown on protesters from Cameroon’s English-speaking minority who attempted to hold rallies on Oct. 1, with some threatening to disrupt the election.

“This situation, still embryonic, can quickly degenerate into a violent conflict,” warned Africa expert Landry Signé, a fellow at Stanford University. (Additional reporting by Tansa Musa in Yaounde)
Bate Felix | October 8, 2011 | Reuters |

Le Chasseur de lion lance un defi au lion: Qui a peur de qui?

Le candidat du MP veut plus que les monologues admis sur la Crtv…Le chasseur de lion, de passage sur la chaîne panafricaine «Afrique Média», a demandé un débat télévisé au candidat du Rdpc. «je suis prêt à prendre Paul Biya en débat comme ça se fait partout. C’était déjà le cas entre Obama et Mc Cain, tout comme entre Sarkozy et Royal» argue M. Ekindi. Il ajoute ensuite: «mais je ne veux pas d’un débat ordurier, pas d’insultes.»

0n connaissait les leaders politiques comme des hommes au discours emphatique et à la posture solennelle. Des images de campagne diffusées par la chaîne panafricaine Africa 24 ont tôt fait de courber cette perception partagée par l’opinion publique camerounaise. Ces images montrent le candidat de l’Ufp, M. Olivier Bilé, en bras de chemise avec des manches retroussées, dans un meeting à Bafia, dans la région du Centre, aller au trot au milieu d’une foule en liesse.

Un autre candidat qui marque une fracture avec cette image quasi générale du politicien auguste : M. Albert Dzongang, le candidat de la Dynamique citoyenne. En boucle dans les chaînes nationales, les électeurs l’ont vu juché sur une moto au milieu d’autres engins de deux roues, tous des «benskins» qui pétaradaient dans les artères de l’arrondissement de Douala V. Celui qui se présente comme le candidat des «benskinneurs» n’a pas manqué de narguer la mairesse Rdpc de Douala V: «Je suis venu faire un pied de nez à Françoise Foning, afin qu’elle aille dire à Paul Biya qu’elle n’a pas de militants derrière elle à Bonamoussadi.»

Ce message parviendra-t-il au président sortant ? Difficile de savoir. Il en est de même de celui que lui envoie M. Jean Jacques Ekindi, le candidat du MP. Le chasseur de lion, de passage sur la chaîne panafricaine «Afrique Média», a demandé un débat télévisé au candidat du Rdpc. «je suis prêt à prendre Paul Biya en débat comme ça se fait partout. C’était déjà le cas entre Obama et Mc Cain, tout comme entre Sarkozy et Royal» argue M. Ekindi. Il ajoute ensuite: «mais je ne veux pas d’un débat ordurier, pas d’insultes.»

Malheureusement pour le candidat du MP, ce n’est pas sur un plateau télé que M. Paul Biya viendra séduire les électeurs camerounais. Son parti et lui ont d’autres moyens de propagande dont l’efficacité est certainement proportionnelle aux dithyrambes des cadres de son parti. A ce jeu, Mme Madeleine Tchuinté, le ministre de la recherche scientifique et de l’innovation, finit par manquer de qualificatifs: «J’ai choisi Paul Biya parce que c’est un homme pondéré, un homme d’expérience, un homme de paix…»

Par ailleurs quand tous les candidats parlent de politique, celui du Mec, M. Pierre Fritz Ngo, choisit de faire différemment. Invité le 30 septembre dernier dans l’émission «Etoudi 2011» sur la chaine Equinoxe tv, il commande aux journalistes qu’il a en face de lui de ne plus lui poser des questions de politique. Il préfère parler d’écologie et rien que d’écologie. Mais contrairement à ce dernier, qui dit concourir pour une quatrième place au moins le 09 octobre dans les urnes, le candidat du Paddec, l’avocat Jean-de-Dieu Momo, ne doute plus de sa victoire.

De retour d’une tournée électorale à Maroua, dans la région de l’Extrême-Nord, il annonce au micro de la chaîne Canal 2: «Nous sommes devenus la première force politique de ce pays.» Et puis il y a cette frustration subie par M. Joachim Tabi Owono, le candidat de l’Amec, sur la chaîne Africa 24. Il n’a pas apprécié qu’on ait oublie les images de sa campagne dans le journal dédié à cet effet. M. Babylas Boton, le présentateur, a dû présenter des excuses et promis de remédier à la situation pour que le candidat de l’Amec se décide à continuer le débat.

Comment oublier M. Marcus Lontouo, le candidat du Cnc, qui a avoué sur un plateau de Canal 2 être «déshérité». Le journaliste de le relancer: «Dans ce cas comment avez-vous trouvé les 5 millions de la caution ?» Réponse: « Quand on a fait la sauvette et la vente à la criée… »
Michel Ange NGA | 5 Octobre 2011 | Repères

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