(May 25, 2005) The “biggest single problem” Nigeria faces today is the “corruption of the past” which is “hanging over” its future economic growth in the form of a large external debt, an international corruption and transparency expert has told the United States Congress.
Declare Nigeria’s debt null and void
(May 22, 2005) In the same situation, western leaders would “quickly declare the debt null and void” and “drag our leaders and business people” involved in “debt fraud to every court in the world … for dare conniving with their illegitimate leaders.”
A Hong Kong outsider aids a troubled Manila
(May 20, 2005) Corruption in the Philippines is so pervasive that, according to experts, it now requires an outsider with a formidable background and, perhaps, no known local roots to deal with it.
Chile’s Pinochet briefly hospitalized after stroke
(May 19, 2005) Former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, who faces a court investigation for possible crimes related to his multimillion dollar secret bank accounts, suffered a mini-stroke on Thursday and was hospitalized for several hours.
African women blame leaders for continent’s poverty
(May 18, 2005) Women at a two-day conference in Nairobi to launch an African women’s intiative on poverty and human rights have declared the continent’s leaders are responsible for the numerous problems facing Africa, the Ghana News Agency (GNA) reports.
Leaky bowls
(May 18, 2005) The direct transfer of development assistance to African "vampire states" from Western governments that "do not want to criticize black African leaders for fear of being labeled racist" are two related aspects hobbling international aid programs, a Ghanaian scholar and author charged earlier this month, the Canadian-based Embassy magazine reports.
Commission for Africa
(May 14, 2005) Africans should not blame Mr Tony Blair, the newly re-elected Prime Minister of Britain, for attempting to redress through the Commission for Africa report, decades of imbalances and injustices visited on Africans by both African rulers and their western
collaborators.
Uganda’s debt up by 50 percent
(May 13, 2005) According to a report by the Uganda Debt Network odious debt is "hampering" Uganda’s rate of development and expenditure on "essential services for poverty-reducing sectors" such as primary education, primary health care, and others.
Philippines urged to adopt zero tolerance policy toward corruption
(May 12, 2005) The European Union has called for “zero tolerance” toward corruption at all levels of Philippine society and “ruthless” application of the law to everyone during the launching of the Office of the Ombudsman’s Corruption Prevention Project.
Philippine president vows to wipe out corruption in 3 years
(May 11, 2005) Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo Thursday said she needed three years to win the war against corruption in her country, which she likened to a deadly cancer that the Philippines must immediately cure.
Development banks a US priority, Treasury official says
(May 11, 2005) The Bush administration’s budget request of $1.33 billion to co-fund multilateral development banks (MDBs) would advance reforms aimed at making those banks more effective, a top Treasury Department official says.
Toward a more effective Canadian aid to Africa
(May 10, 2005) Western aid programs are hobbled by two fundamental problems. The first is the failure to distinguish between African governments or leaders and the people. In Africa, governments or leaders have been the problem, not the people
Former officials padded pockets with impunity
(May 10, 2005) Former Argentine government ministers, lawmakers and judges who benefited from graft payments throughout the 1990s could be punished by little more than a slap on the wrist if "secret laws" that permitted the corruption are not revoked.
Africa could gain from Blair’s ‘big lie’
(May 9, 2005) Tony Blair hardly skipped a heartbeat as prime minister last week. A combination of sweet talk, comfortable wallets, and busy cash registers took care of that. Africa got a minuscule gain.
The limits of reform: the Wolfensohn era at the World Bank
(May 9, 2005) With all the hullabaloo generated by the designation of Paul Wolfowitz as his successor, outgoing World Bank President James Wolfensohn’s record in leading the Bank has so far escaped serious scrutiny, claim Walden Bello and Shalmali Guttal in a new report drawn from Bello’s latest book, Dilemmas of Unmaking the American Empire.
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