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Published 26th August 2005

Vol 46 No 17


South Africa

Trying the Veep

Vice-President Zuma, who faces corruption charges, is the unlikely hero of the left

Two groups of armed men squared up to each other outside former Deputy President Jacob Zuma's house in Johannesburg's wealthy Forest Town suburb on 18 August. One was a team from the 'Scorpions' (the National Prosecuting Authority), busy searching Zuma's house; the other group comprised his bodyguards from the Presidential Protection Unit, who raced to the spot to confront the Scorpions. After a few tense minutes with guns cocked, the Zuma-loyalists backed down. The odds are that, in the bigger political and judicial battles ahead, Zuma's people will again have to retreat.


Gunning for JZ

Image courtesy of Panos Pictures

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With five weeks before the start of its highest profile trial, South Africa's National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) is broadening its investigation of former Deputy President Jacob ...


Opening the gates

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Will a public auction of oil blocks break the cycle of patronage and corruption?

Nigeria's biggest ever oil licensing round this weekend will test President Olusegun Obasanjo's bold promises to fight corruption, which helped to secure a massive write-off on the...


Military manoeuvres

Garang's death means that changes he imposed on the SPLM have been reversed

Only days after the death of the Southern Sudanese leader, John Garang de Mabior, some senior officials of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement and Army were quietly commenting t...


Stuck in the Mittal

A race between two brothers for a mammoth ore contract stirs political interest

The world's largest steel producer, Indian-owned Mittal Steel, claims it has won the concession to develop Liberia's iron ore mines in return for an investment package of US$900 mi...


Pohamba's graft test

Will the President punish his predecessor's protégé, caught in a financial scandal?

A serious fraud has been uncovered by a judicial probe into the misuse of 30 million Namibian dollars (US$4.6 mn.) of state funds by local asset managers Avid Investment Corporatio...


Blaming each other

Everyone was warned about the food crisis but politicians ignored it

Quarrels between aid agencies, politicians and United Nations organisations continue as Niger 's people starve. As UN Secretary General Kofi Annan arrived in Niamey for talks with ...



Pointers

Paper tigers

A grudge match between Zimbabwe 's leading newspapers could further weaken independent journalism. The weekly Zimbabwe Independent claims the government's Central Intelligence Orga...


Khama digs in

President-in-Waiting Ian Khama Seretse Khama strengthened his position at July 's national congress of the governing Botswana Democratic Party, of which he is Chairman (AC Vol 46 N...


Death by plane

Sudanese Vice-President John Garang's death in a helicopter crash on 30 July (see Feature) highlights the danger of African travel, especially in vast roadless countries such as Co...


Size doesn't matter

Ex-Finance Minister Donald Kaberuka's victory in the 21 July African Development Bank presidential election (AC Vol 46 No 11) is the latest success for Kigali's increasingly effect...