Mending American fences
Embattled Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo will try to mend fences with the United States, but US politicians are fuming over the debacle with former Liberian president Charles Taylor. He disappeared just before he was due to be extradited to face trial for war crimes and then Nigeria recaptured him before their President was due to meet with President George W Bush.

Last page of an ugly chapter
As word trickled through of the capture of former president Charles Taylor, huddles of Liberians began to congregate around the nearest radio. For the first time in years, the Champions League football was switched off in favour of the news. “This is a great day,” said Jerome Verdier, head of the country’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Who belongs to another age?
"I think I have discovered the clinching argument for closing the United Kingdom’s House of Lords. It is the presence in that chamber of a peer called Lady Jenny Tonge. Last week the baroness opened a debate about Botswana with an attack on the Gana and Gwi Bushmen of the Kalahari," writes George Monbiot.

Nigeria's 'betrayal' of Taylor made in the US
As one of Charles Taylor's closest advisers warns of "bloodshed and chaos" if the former Liberian president is extradited, analysts say the international community must act quickly to prevent his supporters from re-arming. Taylor, currently in exile in Nigeria, faces 17 counts of crimes against humanity brought by an internationally backed special court in Sierra Leone.

'The war is definitely behind us'
The Côte d’Ivoire electoral process is falling into place. The Independent Electoral Commission is in place and functioning. Antonio Moneteiro, the United Nations high representative for elections, left the country this week, his job done. The presidential candidates are starting to make themselves heard.

Feeding off the word of God
A Christian charismatic revival is sweeping Kenya and Uganda and its surrealism is intensifying. Each weekend, especially in Nairobi and Kampala, tens of thousands attend "crusades" at sport stadiums and public parks at which American evangelists and their equally ebullient brother and sister preachers from Africa fling hope at the masses.

Tsvangirai in battle for pole position
Sometimes our fate is written in our names. Never has this been truer for Morgan Tsvangirai, whose name means "sea dweller" and "the edge of sea". Tsvangirai talked up a storm at the congress of his faction of the Movement for Democratic Change as he tried to paddle his divided party to shore, warning the government of a "cold season of democratic resistance".

Dwindling fish sparks feuds in Kenya's Lake Turkana
A once bountiful lake in Kenya's parched north-west has turned into a nightmare for local fishermen, forced into deeper waters and hostile zones in search of fish migrating from receding southern shores. Weapons, mainly AK-47 assault rifles, have been added to their usual gear alongside the poles and nets.

No rest -- and limited govt support -- for Namibia's aged
The sight of an elderly person caring for children with Aids-related illnesses -- and grandchildren who may have been orphaned by the pandemic -- has become a common one in Namibia, and the Southern African region as a whole. According to the 2004 Common Country Assessment, grandparents provide care for most orphans under the age of 18 who live in rural areas.

Price of basics soars beyond reach of poor Zimbabweans
Grace Chidanyika (39) is a mother of three girls, two of whom are in school and very bright. One's dream is to become a lawyer, while the other hopes to be a banker. As the children talk about their dreams, their mother's eyes cloud with tears as she wonders how she is going to raise the money for their tuition fees.

Getting its own back
Charles Taylor, the fugitive former leader of Liberia who gained notoriety for masterminding brutal armed conflicts in West Africa, is back in the news. Speculation is rife that Nigeria may extradite the former warlord to his homeland. In 2003, Taylor was forced into exile in a peace deal that had the broad support of African Union leaders.

Ivorian rebel leader attends Cabinet meeting
Guillaume Soro, leader of the New Forces rebels who occupy the north of war-divided Côte d’Ivoire recently attended his first Cabinet meeting in more than a year. Up to now Soro has refused to travel to the main city, Abidjan, in the government-controlled south since President Laurent Gbagbo’s forces broke a long-held ceasefire agreement in November 2004.

Kenyans fight for cheaper food prices
As famine continues to ravage parts of Kenya, a non-governmental organisation is urging authorities to reduce the cost of basic food stuffs, particularly maize flour -- the staple food. A survey by the group, Bunge la Mwananchi, has indicated that while food is for sale in affected areas, it is too expensive for the people living there.

Top officials charged in fraud scandal
Kenya’s attorney general recently signalled his willingness to tackle the country’s biggest corruption scandal by charging five men, including the former governor of the central bank, with fraud. The "Goldenberg" scandal was made public 14 years ago and cost Kenyan taxpayers the equivalent of $700-million.

Tsvangirai's olive branch 'a hoax'
In the latest power play in the divided Zimbabwean opposition Movement for Democratic Change, the Morgan Tsvangirai faction has hand-delivered letters to estranged office bearers Gibson Sibanda and Welshman Ncube, inviting them to attend the party’s congress at the weekend. Paul Themba-Nyathi, a spokesperson for the pro-Senate MDC faction, however, dismissed the Tsvangirai overture as a "hoax".

Mugabe seeks peace with UK
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, his eyes fixed on his legacy, has engaged President Thabo Mbeki to broker “dialogue” with Britain that could end hostilities with its former colony. Mugabe accuses his arch-nemesis, the British Prime Minister Tony Blair, of being the major driver of mobilising international opposition to his rule.

Nigeria divided over 'third-term agenda'
High above the traffic jams and street vendors choking on exhaust fumes, Nigeria's larger-than-life politicians stride majestically towards the edge of towering billboards, arms gesturing to the great visions that lie just beyond the paper borders. The elections might be more than a year away, but the country is throwing itself into one of its favourite sports -- politics -- with a vengeance.

Scramble to plot course for Kenyan constitutional review
Groups in Kenya that include politicians and activists say they will present plans to complete a review process aimed at providing a new Constitution for the East African country. This follows their dismissal of the February 24 appointment of a presidential committee to jump-start the constitutional review.

'Let's give unity a chance'
"We must recognise and respect each other. We must understand what unites us: the need to fight and defeat the Zanu-PF regime, the Zanu-PF culture. I do not have time to condemn and fight other soldiers," says Arthur Mutambara, the new president of the pro-Senate faction of the MDC.

The last scene of a tragedy
"Tragedy is knowing the right thing to do and not being able to do it. President Yoweri Museveni's February 23 election victory is tragic. He changed the Constitution to eliminate the presidential term limit. Most people knew that if he stood for president, he would ensure victory by hook or by crook," writes Godfrey Chesang.