By AllAfrica. com

Lucky Dube was a different kind of rastaman.
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(cnn) It was a frigid June night at Pickstone Mine in Zimbabwe when 67-year-old Angela Campbell -- soaking wet, her arm broken and a gun to her head -- signed a document vowing to give up the fight for her family's farm. The kidnappers demanding her signature at gunpoint were "war veterans" from President Robert Mugabe's heyday as a liberation hero, and they made it clear that her refusal would mean more beatings. Though Campbell signed the document, her son-in-law said she has no intention of giving up her battle; Campbell's family will be in Windhoek, Namibia, on Wednesday to present arguments to a Southern African Development Community tribunal. In pursuing the case, the Campbells and 77 fellow Zimbabwean farmers are risking theft, torture and death for what may be their only remaining chance to save the homes and farms so coveted by Mugabe and his loyalists. Mugabe blames the West for his nation's soaring inflation and poverty.  More...

(spiegel) The residents of a tiny African island nation have been dreaming of great wealth since oil was discovered in their territorial waters. Companies, foreign powers and corrupt politicians are scrambling for drilling licenses in hopes of striking it rich. The lobby of the Hotel Miramar in São Tomé would be the perfect set for a tropical spy thriller. It is the best hotel in town, which doesn't mean much, but its air-conditioned lobby, complete with colorful sofas and green potted plants, has become an important meeting place for everyone who has some sort of business on this curious island: profiteers and their assistants, representatives of foreign governments and international organizations and a host of shady characters. Good and bad people congregate in the lobby of the Hotel Miramar, but telling them apart isn't easy.  More...

(ajz) The UN children's agency has said it will hand over 103 African children to their relatives after they were caught up in an abduction case in Chad. In a statement on Friday, Unicef said it had met with Chad's ministry of social affairs to discuss the youngsters' fate. It said a team would travel to the eastern Chadian towns of Abeche, Adre and Tine to facilitate the reunification process. The 103 children - almost all of whom are from Chad - have been staying at a Unicef orphanage in Chad's capital, N'Djamena, in the wake of the scandal involving the Zoe's Ark charity, which claimed that they were Darfur refugees. The 21 girls and 82 boys aged between one and 10 years will be handed over to relatives in Chad "in the coming days", Veronique Taveau, Unicef spokeswoman, said.  More...

(ajz) Kenyan troops have moved into the town of Naivasha in the western Rift Valley province in an attempt to quell tribal fighting. But hundreds of people from rival tribes, wielding machetes, clubs and rocks, confronted each other on Monday on a main Naivasha road. Katee Mwanza, the district commissioner, said at least 22 people were killed in the Naivasha area in ethnic clashes over the past two days. Police said a least five of those were burned to death in their homes. Naivasha, a major commercial centre, is known as Kenya's flower capital.  More...

Many friends criticize me for my addiction to Starbucks' overpriced liquid nirvana and recently we debated the hand that Starbucks may have in prison industries. Therefore, I was pleased to no end to learn about Sweet Unity Coffee and pledged to support them in an effort to build solidarity. Sweet Unity Coffee and Balm in Gilead are working to support African farmers and provide HIV education across the diaspora. David Robinson, son of Jackie Robinson, is the founder of Sweet Unity Coffee in Tanzania which gives a portion of the sales back to the African farmers. I suggest we all try to take a small step toward helping our people secure a foothold in our global society.  More...

(ajz) Mwai Kibaki, the Kenyan president, and Raila Odinga, the opposition leader, have met for the first time since a dispute erupted over last month's presidential poll, the UN says. Odinga, the leader of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), had accused Kibaki of rigging his way to re-election in the December 27 polls. After Thursday's meeting, Kofi Annan, the former UN secretary-general who is mediating in the crisis, said Kibaki and Odinga have taken "fair steps" towards dialogue. The closed-door session was held inside Kibaki's office in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital. ajz .  More...

(bbc) Five people have been shot dead in Kenya as opposition leader Raila Odinga made a renewed call for international mediation to end post-poll bloodshed. The deaths of two men and three women in a Rift Valley village was linked by police to the ongoing political crisis. On a visit to a prayer service in Kisumu, Mr Odinga said he was willing to meet President Mwai Kibaki but only if Kofi Annan joined them. The former UN secretary general is expected in Kenya on Tuesday. He will attempt to find a way to end the crisis that has claimed more than 650 lives and left a quarter of a million people homeless.  More...

(lat) In Nairobi's slum district of Kibera, people prayed for peace Sunday under the charred cross and blackened walls of the burned Lutheran church. But in the narrow alleys just 100 yards away, the thugs with machetes still rule. When the service ended, the parishioners in their Sunday best walked home through neighborhoods still teetering on a knife's edge. Just after the service, around the corner from the church, the intimidation went on: An angry, wild-eyed young man with a machete shouted at a woman standing by her gate. She cringed, terrified, as he whacked her with the flat of the blade.  More...

(csm) If ever there were a vote where foreign election observers made an immediate and significant difference, it was Kenya's Dec. 27 presidential election. But in a vote as tightly contested as Kenya's, any allegations by the hundreds of unpaid international volunteers who fanned out across the country to watch for fraud, vote tampering, or intimidation can make a huge difference in the outcome – and have explosive consequences. Given the ethnic violence that engulfed much of Kenya in the wake of the disputed vote, some experts are suggesting that foreign election observers overstepped their role by proclaiming doubts about the process before the final tally was announced by Kenya's electoral authorities. Others say the observers didn't go far enough in their condemnation of alleged irregularities.  More...

Kenya's chief legal adviser has urged for an independent investigation into the disputed presidential election result that has thrown the country into days of chaos and death. Attorney General Amos Wako said serious doubt had been established over the presidential election result as announced by the Electoral Commission. Mr Wako, breaking days of silence, said: "A proper tally of the valid certificates returned and confirmed should be undertaken immediately and on a priority basis by an agreed and independent person or body. " The AG said his position took into consideration the allegations by the rival parties that their votes had been rigged and the fact that some electoral commissioners, including the polls chief Samuel Kivuitu, have questioned the veracity of the result. View source for full statement from Attorney General.  More...

(bbc) Thirty Kenyans including many children have been burned to death in a church, after seeking refuge from the mounting violence over last week's elections. A mob set fire to the church in Eldoret where many people from President Mwai Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe were sheltering. The Kenyan government has accused supporters of opposition leader Raila Odinga of carrying out "ethnic cleansing" against the Kikuyu. Both President Kibaki and Mr Odinga have called for the killing to stop. An estimated 250 people have died in the violence that erupted following the controversial re-election of President Kibaki, according to police and journalists across the country .  More...

(ajz) At least 18 people have died in riots in Kenya that erupted after Mwai Kibaki was declared re-elected as the country's president in a disputed election. Opposition supporters, angered by the announcement of President Kibaki's re-election, also went on the rampage on Sunday across the capital Nairobi by burning shacks and shops. Within an hour of the results being announced by the electoral commission, Kibaki, 76, was sworn in for a second five-year term. Raila Odinga, the defeated opposition leader, accused Kibaki of stealing the vote. As riots spread, the Kenyan government suspended all live radio and television news reports.  More...

(bbc) A Kenyan broadcaster has lodged an official complaint after video images of the president's wife slapping an official were seized and erased. Nation TV filmed Lucy Kibaki slapping the official during an independence day celebration at State House in Nairobi. He had mistakenly introduced Kenya's first lady by the name of the woman widely alleged to be her love rival. In 2005, Mrs Kibaki was accused of slapping a cameraman in a protest over coverage of her row with a neighbour. This gaffe comes at a sensitive time as Kenya prepares to elect a new president.  More...

(bbc) When Jacob Zuma, the victor in the bruising African National Congress (ANC) battle for the party's presidency, hugged the outgoing incumbent in front of the entire conference of some 5,000, the message was clear and unequivocal - the time for division is over. It is hard to overstate just how deeply divided the party became in this election. They were voting not just for the presidency, but for the six most senior positions within the ANC. Every one of Jacob Zuma's preferred candidates won over their rivals from Thabo Mbeki's camp, and with almost identical margins of victory - roughly 60%-40%. This suggests that while the charismatic Jacob Zuma had plenty of support in the conference, his greatest asset was Thabo Mbeki himself.  More...

(ajz) Omar al-Bashir, the Sudanese president, has pardoned a British teacher jailed for 15 days for insulting religion, according to a presidential adviser. Mahjoub Fadl Badri said Gillian Gibbons, who was convicted for allowing her students to name a toy bear Mohammed, was set to be freed later on Monday. The pardon came after al-Bashir met two leading British Muslim politicians, Lord Nazir Ahmed and Baroness Sayeeda Warsi, in Khartoum earlier on Monday. The arrest and jail sentence of the 54-year-old sparked outrage in Britain and a diplomatic crisis between London and Khartoum. It further strained relations already frayed over the conflict in Darfur.  More...

(ajz) A British teacher, accused of insulting Islam after her school pupils named a teddy bear Muhammad, has been sentenced to jail for 15 days in Sudan. Gillian Gibbons, 54, was arrested on Sunday after complaints to the education ministry that she had insulted Prophet Muhammad - the most revered figure in Islam - by applying his name to a toy animal at the Unity High School in capital Khartoum. Ali Mohammed Hajab, a member of her defence team, said: "The judge found Gillian Gibbons guilty and sentenced her to 15 days jail and deportation. " The maximum penalty for the charge, which has attracted worldwide attention was 40 lashes, a fine and six months in prison. Teachers at the school say that calling the teddy bear Muhammad was not Gibbons' idea in the first place and that no parents objected when the school sent parents circulars about a reading project which included the teddy bear as a fictional participant.  More...

BBC reports on a tense atmosphere in Chad after an attempt by French charity workers to take a group of children to Europe. After Chad's President Idriss Deby arrived in the town of Abeche and met a group of more than 100 African children who were destined to be taken to Europe by a French charity, he let rip. "They treat us like animals," the president said. "Listen to the children. They are crying for their parents.  More...

(enews20) Oprah Winfrey responds to alleged abuses in the South African school she founded in January with much hype by apologizing profusely. At an emergency meeting with the parents of the girls that she personally interviewed for the school admission, Oprah expressed her disappointment of what happened and the fact that she felt responsible for the terrible incidents. “I've disappointed you. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry,” Oprah said with tears in her eyes.  More...

(BBN. . . This is not new news, but it's worth a reminder). .  More...

(aje) An international group of activists, including Desmond Tutu, the South African nobel peace prize winner and Jimmy Carter, the former US president, has called on Sudan to do more to combat widespread cases of rape in Darfur. The group, called The Elders, said Sudan should hand over war crimes suspects to the International Criminal Court. Graca Machel, a women's rights campaigner and wife of Nelson Mandela, said in Khartoum on Thursday: "Every woman told us, we are raped, we are beaten and we are harassed". The group also includes Lakhdar Brahimi, a UN envoy, and Richard Branson, the British businessman who owns the Virgin group. Machel said the Sudanese government had to accept the fact that there was rape and then help form a plan to combat it.  More...