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On the Ground in Russia’s Only Free Election This September · Global Voices
Olga Borisova

Olga Borisova in Kostroma. Photo used with permission.
In roughly two weeks, Russia will hold elections across the country for a series of regional offices. Several groups in the political opposition banded together this summer into the so-called “Democratic Coalition,” hoping to field candidates in four regions: Kaluga, Magadan, Novosibirsk, and Kostroma. All but the last area, Kostroma, has refused to let the Coalition onto the ballot, and so the movement has focused all its energies on this one race. Olga Borisova, a volunteer with RPR-Parnas, one of the parties within the Coalition, has worked on the ground in Kostroma, helping to collect signatures in support of the group’s candidates. In a special report for RuNet Echo, Borisova recounts what it is like to work for Russia’s beleaguered political opposition.
Меня зовут Ольга Борисова, мне 20 лет, я живу в Санкт-Петербурге и уже почти как полгода занимаюсь деятельностью, которую можно отнести к «политической».
В курсе вы или нет, но с демократией у нас в России, мягко говоря, не очень. И проблема наша не в глупости и слепой вере царю, а скорее в равнодушии и как раз-таки в отсутствии этой самой веры в какие-либо перемены. Несмотря на это, не перевелись еще люди, которые готовы бороться за свои права. Право на честные выборы, право избираться, право голосовать и быть уверенным, что твой голос действительно важен и весом. Право быть услышанным.
Принято считать, что у нас в России нет оппозиции. Российское правительство сделало всё, чтобы так стало принято считать.
Против оппозиционных лидеров фабрикуют уголовные дела, не увидите вы их и на телевидении, а если и проскакивают какие-либо новости о них, то это сплошные обвинения в сговоре с Западом, в работе на ГосДеп и участие в масонских заговорах. Ну и, конечно, грех не вспомнить снова об их судимостях. Народ, который в большинстве своём верит зомбиящику ( Как же это по телевизору врать что ли будут?! ), каждый вечер слушает рассказы о том, как Путин поднимает Россию с колен, целует детей, да и вообще, знаете ли, Крым вернул русскому народу!
Так или иначе, 13 сентября в Российской Федерации состоится единый день голосования. И наша «пятая колонна» в этом году решила поучаствовать в региональных выборах в законодательные собрания, выбрала города (Калуга, Кострома, Новосибирск, Магадан), провела там свою процедуру праймериз и, по результатам этой самой процедуры, в каждом из регионов образовался свой список кандидатов на базе партии РПР-ПАРНАС.
Поскольку наша партия не является парламентской, для регистрации на выборах и попадания в бюллетень, нам необходимо было собрать определенное количество подписей. На подписную кампанию в Кострому меня пригласил мой товарищ Андрей Пивоваров, сопредседатель партии РПР-ПАРНАС в Санкт-Петербурге. Там, по результатам праймериз, первым номеров в списке кандидатов в Костромскую областную Думу шёл Илья Яшин, соратник покойного Немцова, известный оппозиционный политик.
Я собрала вещи, села в поезд и через 15 часов была на месте. Нас, волонтёров демократической коалиции, поселили в квартирах. Однако мы пока не могли приступить к работе, поскольку у нас возникли проблемы с нашим избирательным счетом. По закону, чтобы начать подписную кампанию, необходимо пополнить избирательный счет, и по неочевидным причинам нам пришлось ждать около четырех дней пока эти средства поступят. Наш юрист каждый день проводил по 8 часов в СберБанке, борясь то ли с «системой», то ли с неопытными сотрудниками, но в целом – «за» наше право участвовать в выборах.
Зато за эти четыре дня мы успели погулять по Костроме и ознакомиться с её достопримечательностями.
Вскоре, после приезда, ребята начали приносить в штаб листовки, которые были расклеены на территории вокзала, со следующим содержанием:
«ХОЧЕШЬ КАК НА УКРАИНЕ?? ОНИ УЖЕ В КОСТРОМЕ!!!»
И там по пунктам, что мы будем делать (насиловать, грабить, убивать).
И это не шутка!
Андрей Пивоваров был назначен начальником предвыборного штаба в Костроме, меня это очень радовало, с ним замечательно работалось: он человек, умеющий не только слышать, но и слушать. Он распределял людей на агитационные кубы, исходя из личных способностей каждого, всегда можно было обратиться к нему за помощью, и всегда он находил время на то, чтобы помочь. Я удивляюсь, как он справлялся с таким огромным количеством задач в течение дня.
Я и другие волонтеры собирали подписи везде (где позволял нам это делать закон, конечно): мы собирали подписи на агитационных кубах, мы ходили по квартирам. Костромичи реагировали по-разному. Кто-то, услышав с порога про партию ПАРНАС, сразу закрывал дверь, видимо, вспоминая слова диктора из вечерних новостей. Кто-то выслушивал до конца программу кандидатов и с удовольствием ставил подпись, обещая проголосовать на выборах за ПАРНАС, а кто-то просто равнодушно подписывал, понимая, что эта подпись—возможность участвовать в выборах, и конкуренция на выборах должна быть. Так однажды нашему волонтеру Насте дала подпись депутат от Единой России. В регионах человек либо страдает от воровства, либо сам состоит в партии власти.
Надо сказать, Костроме требуются перемены. Состояние дорог на 87% не соответствует тому, как «должно быть». Так, в дождливый день, когда улицы немного подтопило, я наблюдала, как женщина с коляской переходила дорогу, и пока она спешила скорее укрыться от дождя, ребенок (находясь в коляске!) оказался на секунду по пояс в воде, так его окатило из лужи.
Илья Яшин регулярно проводил встречи с избирателями во дворах. Обсуждали тарифы на газ, воду и электричество, жители сетовали на дороги, на воровство властей, на то, что денег в регионе всё меньше и меньше, а живут они всё хуже и хуже. Часто случалось так, что даже самые скептически настроенные граждане в итоге жали Илье руку и обещали отдать за него свой голос на выборах.
Я, собирая подписи по квартирам, тоже частенько задерживалась и рассказывала жильцам дома о том, что им делать в тех или иных ситуациях несправедливости. Люди зачастую даже не знали, что они имеют право на требования проверок соответствия, что они имеют право требовать то, за что изначально платили налоги, настолько они привыкли мириться с тем, что получили в итоге.
Пока мы активно проводили встречи с избирателями и собирали подписи, в некоторых регионах подписи уже были сданы в избирком, и большинство подписей забраковали по совершенно нелепым причинам: например, будто в базе ФМС тот или иной человек не числится гражданином РФ, хотя сборщик списывал данные с паспорта (гражданина РФ!). В общем, наблюдая за общей тенденцией в других регионах, мы стали опасаться, что и наши самые настоящие, достоверные подписи с такой же невыносимой легкостью могут признать недействительными. Но мы решили, что уныние по этому поводу, а как итог—снижение работоспособности, это та реакция, которой ждали от нас власти, поэтому стали работать только активнее.
Под конец подписной кампании я была вынуждена уехать в Петербург на пару дней по своим делам, и именно там я узнала, что Следственный Комитет задержал Андрея Пивоварова. Все мы пребывали в полном шоке, и никто не понимал, на каких основаниях он задержан. Суд обвиняет Андрея в неправомерном доступе к информации, охраняемой законом, а также в пособничестве к злоупотреблению должностными полномочиями.
С самого первого дня как задержали Пивоварова, по всей России каждый день проходят одиночные пикеты, люди выходят с плакатами «Свободу Андрею Пивоварову».
На сегодняшний момент, Кострома—это единственный регион, где зарегистрировали на выборах демократическую коалицию.
Андрей Пивоваров на одном из первых судебных заседаний стоял в камере с плакатом «13.09.2015 мы должны победить». Сейчас костромской штаб РПР – ПАРНАС ведёт активную агитационную кампанию, кандидаты каждый день проводят несколько встреч с избирателями в Костроме и Костромской области. 13 сентября костромичи сделают свой выбор.
My name is Olga Borisova, I’m 20 years old, I live in St. Petersburg, and I’ve spent the past six months engaged in what you might call “political” activity. You may or may not be aware, but our situation here in Russia, when it comes to democracy, isn’t stellar. And our problem isn’t “stupidity” or some blind faith in the “tsar,” but rather a widespread indifference and a failure to believe that change is possible. Despite this, there are still people in Russia who are prepared to fight for their rights: the right to honest elections, the right to be elected, and the right to vote and know that your vote is actually important and carries weight. They fight for the right to be heard.
It’s said that Russia has no political opposition. The Russian government has done everything it can to make people believe this.
The police have fabricated criminal cases against the opposition’s leaders, whom you don’t ever see on television, unless they’re being trotted out to be blamed for colluding with the West—for working in the US State Department or taking part in Masonic conspiracies. In these instances, it’s practically a sin not to mention all their previous convictions. The Russian people, who mostly believe everything the damned TV tells them (“How could they lie about it on television?!” you’ll hear them say), sit down every evening to listen to stories about how Putin is lifting up Russia from its knees, how he kisses children, and how he returned Crimea to the people.
Olga Borisova (bottom) and fellow volunteers in Kostroma. Used with permission.
On September 13, Russia holds regional elections all across the country. Our “fifth column,” as the opposition is known to its critics, decided this year to participate in local assembly contests in Kaluga, Kostroma, Novosibirsk, and Magadan. We held our own primaries in these areas, and according to the results of this voting we formed lists of candidates on the ticket of the political party RPR-Parnas (which lost one of its leaders, Boris Nemtsov, in an assassination earlier this year).
Because RPR-Parnas doesn’t hold any seats in the parliament today, registering candidates for elections requires collecting a certain number of signatures in support of our ticket. I was invited to assist in this effort in Kostroma by my acquaintance Andrei Pivovarov, RPR-Parnas’ co-chairman in St. Petersburg. Andrei is now in jail, but I will get to that later.
According to the results of our primaries, Ilya Yashin (a close associate of Boris Nemsov’s) won the first spot as head of the RPR-Parnas ticket in Kostroma. I packed my things, boarded a train, and 15 hours later I was in place in Kostroma. The other volunteers working for the Democratic Coalition were housed in local apartments.
When we first arrived, however, we couldn’t get to work, at first, because there were problems with our election campaign account. The law requires parties to open formal campaign accounts, before they start collecting signatures in support of their place on the ballot. For no clear reason, we had to wait almost four days, before our account came online. The party’s lawyer spent eight hours a day at Sberbank, fighting with both “the system” and with inexperienced staff—all for our right to participate in the election.
While all this was happening, we volunteers managed to roam around Kostroma and get acquainted with its various attractions. As soon as we arrived in the city, guys started bringing to our headquarters these leaflets, which were also plastered all over the train station, that read: “DO YOU WANT THINGS TO BE LIKE THERE ARE IN THE UKRAINE? THOSE PEOPLE ARE ALREADY HERE IN KOSTROMA!!!” And then there was a whole point-by-point explanation of what we planned to do: rape, pillage, and murder. I’m not kidding!
RPR-Parnas headquarters in Kostroma.
Andrei Pivovarov was appointed campaign manager in Kostroma, which pleased me to no end, as I’d worked with him before and enjoyed it. Pivovarov is a man who not only hears you, but listens to you. He assigned people to different street corners (where we stationed campaign banners), based on every individual’s skills. He was always very approachable, you could go to him for help, and he always took time out to help you. I marveled at how he was able to manage so many different responsibilities in the course of a day.
The other volunteers and I collected signatures all over the city (wherever we could do so legally, of course). We got signatures on street corners, standing beside our campaign posters, and we went door to door. Locals reacted in all kinds of different ways. Some people would shut the door in our faces, the moment they heard the word “Parnas,” clearly remembering something nasty from yesterday’s evening news. Some people listened to us explain our candidates’ entire platform and happily offered their signatures, promising to vote for Parnas, while others signed without offering us their support, believing simply that we deserve the chance to participate and compete in the elections. One time, one of our volunteers, Nastya, even got a signature from a United Russia deputy! [United Russia is the country’s ruling political party.] Out in the regions [outside Moscow and St. Petersburg], people are either the victims of thievery or they are themselves part of the party of power [United Russia].
It must be said that Kostroma is in need of some changes. The state of 87 percent of the roads, for instance, is substandard. On a rainy day, when the streets got just a little bit of water, I watched a woman push a child in a stroller through a waist-deep puddle!
Ilya Yashin has been meeting regularly with voters at public events, discussing issues like taxes on utilities, and people complain about the roads, about how the authorities steal, and about there is always less and less money available for the region—that everyone is living more and more poorly. Often times, even the most skeptical people who came to listen would end up shaking Yashin’s hand and promising to vote for him in the election.
When I was collecting signatures, sometimes I would stick around a bit to tell people about their rights when faced with certain kinds of injustice. People often had no idea that they have the right to demand inspections—that they have the right to demand what their taxes pay for. People are just so accustomed to putting up with what they usually get.
Olga Borisova appeals to voters in Kostroma to support RPR-Parnas. Used with permission.
As we collected signatures and met with voters in Kostroma, the party handed in its signatures in other regions throughout the country, where most of them were rejected for completely ridiculous reasons. For instance, supposedly the Federal Migration Service’s database showed that some of the people who signed in support of Parnas aren’t formally Russian citizens, though the signature-collectors did record passport numbers for these people (these Russian citizens!). So, watching all this going on in the other regions, we started to worry that our very real, authentic signatures would be rejected with the same unbearable ease. But we decided that growing despondent about the situation and becoming less efficient was exactly what they authorities were counting on, and so we started working even harder.
Near the end of the signature campaign, I had to go back to St. Petersburg to run some errands, and that’s where I learned that investigators detained Andrei Pivovarov. All of us were in complete shock, and nobody understood on what grounds he’d been arrested. Andrei is being charged with illegally accessing information protected by the law, as well as aiding the abuse of police authority (which the officer allegedly committed).
From the first day that Pivovarov was detained, people all around the country have picketed in protest, carrying signs reading, “Free Andrei Pivovarov!” Today, Kostroma is the only region in all of Russia where the Democratic Coalition has been registered in elections.
At one of his first hearings, Andrei stood in court with a sign reading, “We must win on September 13, 2015.”

author: Olga Borisova


text:
Tech Communities in Francophone Africa Rise to the Challenge of Their Anglophone Counterparts · Global Voices
Lova Rakotomalala

Four tech communities that are blossoming in Africa: Akendewa CIV, Habaka, Mg; Qelasy, CIV; JokkoLabs, SEN)
In recent years, stories of an “African technological renaissance” and extraordinary promises of the “Silicon Savannah” and other technology centres in Sub-Saharan Africa have been abundant in the media. The hype reached its climax during US President Barack Obama’s visit to the Global Entrepreneurship Forum in Nairobi.
Francophone Africa had been remarkably absent from this media coverage, with the eyes of the world focusing largely on the prominent Anglophone countries such as Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, and Ghana. So, out of the 30 best performing start-ups that will be competing in the next competition, DEMO Africa, only three are from French-speaking countries: two from Cameroon (which is also half Anglophone) and one from the Côte d'Ivoire.
There is a general consensus that the technology sectors in Sub-Saharan French-speaking Africa are lagging considerably behind their Anglophone counterparts. However, technology in Francophone Africa seems ready to rise to the challenge with the emergence of promising new projects in tech innovation.
Some indications of the potential sources of the problem include the fact that Francophone entrepreneurs are still limited to a greater extent by their lack of financing than their English-speaking counterparts. The majority of the providers of financial capital are Anglo-Saxon investors, who are more reluctant to invest in French-speaking Africa and are less likely to know about its start-ups. In fact, by comparison to English-speaking countries, French-speaking Africa is practically devoid of the needed investors to really jump start tech incubators. Here is a map of all the startup incubators, IT Hubs, co-working spaces and IT Labs on the African continent:
Despite these obstacles, things are starting to change, and Senegal is pioneering in starting up numerous IT businesses. Jokkolabs is one of the first co-working space in French-speaking Sub-Saharan Africa; it first opened its doors in Dakar in 2010. Since then, with business incubators CTIC Dakar showing the way,  tech communities have gone on to organise a series of hackathons, training courses (#Codecamp), and some conferences (such as #Failcon #Dakar last month). Jokkolabs is now sharing its model throughout West Africa with open branches in the Côte d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Mali, and Benin, and will soon be in Morocco. In 2012, Senegal became the first French-speaking African country to hold a start-ups conference.
Screen capture of TEDx event in Madagascar
However, Côte d'Ivoire could be about to overtake Senegal on the technology front. The first tech hub, Akendewa, was launched in 2009 and remained active throughout the financial crisis of 2010-2011. The country has also produced promising start-ups, like Qelasy (an educational tablet for children) and TaxiTracker (a geolocation application to address the worries surrounding the security of Ivorian taxis), that address the specific problems faced by the Ivorians.
Neighbouring country Togo has also stood out in the African “Maker” movement thanks to its most well known “fab lab” (a fabrication laboratory equipped with flexible computer controlled tools with the aim to make “almost anything”) the Woe Lab, and the launching of a new fab lab in the north of the country earlier this year. The Woe Lab is most known for its pioneer 3D Printer project made from E-Waste. .
The first Niger incubator, CIPMEN, was created with the financial backing of French telecommunications giant Orange.
But tech dynamism is not limited to West Africa. Start-up VMK, in the Republic of the Congo (Brazzaville), had launched the first African smartphone and tablet a few years ago (sold in the Congo and Côte d'Ivoire) and opened its first manufacturing plant for these devices on the 22 July in Brazzaville. Founder and chief executive of VMK, Verone Mankou, also founded BantuHub, a non-profit tech hub, and the start-up incubator in Bazzaville.
Close by, Cameroon also has the non-profit bilingual hub ActivSpaces, the country’s first start-up accelerator that finished its first start-ups class in June.
Habaka stands out in Madagascar for its multiple projects on the innovation front and its support of digital educational projects. This project was created in 2011 and was originally initiated by independent stakeholders of the Association of Malagasy IT Developpers (bloggers and independent workers in new technologies.) The following video presents the projects taking part in the TEDx event in the country’s capital, Antananarivo.
All of these technology incubator centres in French-speaking Sub-Saharan Africa are encouraging, but examples of dazzling start-up success are still limited. Furthermore, a large number of the region’s start-ups are financed by non-profit organisations or governments, but not private investors (with the exception of Senegal, which with the recent creation of Teranga Capital, a social venture capital firm that is financed by the private sector to provide start-up financing for small businesses).
And while the tech entrepreneurship couldn’t contribute significantly as a sector to the economic growth of French-speaking countries in Africa, it has the potential all the same to produce local innovations that would be able to improve the day-to-day lives of the citizens in this continent.

source: news-globalvoices

license: Creative Commons - Attribution - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

author: Lova Rakotomalala


text:
Are Term Limits and Mandatory Political Changeover Really in the Interest of African Nations? · Global Voices
Alassane ndoumbe

East African Community heads of state in 2009: Yoweri Museveni – Uganda; Mwai Kibaki – Kenya; Paul Kagame – Rwanda, Jakaya Kikwete – Tanzania, Pierre Nkurunziza – Burundi, by Magnus Manske CC-BY-2.0
The constitutions of several Sub-Saharan African countries limit presidents to two consecutive terms. The reason for this position is clear: these constitutions were inspired by western models—more often than not, the French Constitution. By embracing a fundamental law which was born on another continent, in another era and under different circumstances, and by failing to adapting this law to its new local context, you run the risk of its not being ideally suited to local politics.
During the build-up to elections in African countries where political change is predicted, the debate re-emerges almost systematically: should the Constitution be modified so that the state's political leader can set his or her sights on a new mandate?
Today, the question is directed towards Rwanda, the Republic of Congo and even Burundi. It is healthy debate such subjects, but it is also regrettable that this debate emerges only in pre-election periods, when candidates often have an ax to grind and fail to look at the bigger picture, and even make statements that contradict their deepest convictions.
In the Republic of Congo, for example, after having long denounced the current constitution, the opposition now rejects the notion that the Constitution should eventually be changed. The reason for this is that the change in question could see the current president, Sassou Nguesso, setting his sights on a third term in 2016. So the Congolese opposition has found itself once again in the indefensible position of defending a document it has always fought against, and of having to reject outright a new, more democratic constitution than even it had wished for. On the margins of electoral affairs, there would still be subjects leading to deep analysis of the need for mandatory political changeover after two mandates.
The reality of political life and the exercise of power in Africa date back to the frameworks that emerged in the pre-colonial period. The kingdoms and leaderships which widely controlled Africa were governed at the time by hierarchical clan or family principles. Political changeover “African style” is characterized by very specific traditions, under which the candidate running for office must already be a well-known figure who, in short, must already have proven himself before being able to take power. Failing which, he would not be taken seriously.
The strong community ties that prevail in Africa stand in contrast to the relative individualism prevalent in the West that accounts for lightning careers and dazzling success stories. In numerous African countries, a “great man” can only be replaced by another, which explains the popularity of men who, as soon as their governance has been declared legitimate, have held on to political power for a long time. In Europe, on that basis alone and regardless of their track record, they would be called tyrants.
President Paul Kagame of Rwanda – CC BY 2.0 via wikipedia
This concept of power, while perhaps appearing somewhat quaint to westerners today, was not always limited to Africans. The constitutions which from which African states have drawn inspiration are all derived from the first global constitution, born in the United States in 1787. This document did not foresee any limitation of presidential terms. As Yann Gwet, the Cameroonian businessman and writer, recalls in the newspaper Jeune Afrique, the Founding Fathers of the United States, in particular Alexander Hamilton, believed that limiting terms in office would encourage behavior that was contrary to the national interest and the stability of the government. According to the Founding Fathers, in a democracy, only sovereign people are entitled to impose limits on the number of presidential terms. That's precisely why we vote.
Although the United States adopted early on the tradition of limiting presidential terms to two, it was because George Washington, tired of governing, decided to withdraw at the end of his second term. But at the time it was still only a tradition, destined to evolve. The proof, much later, was when Franklin Roosevelt strung together a whopping four terms. As Yann Gwet quite rightly wrote, it still stands that if Washington had waited till the end of his third mandate before proclaiming himself too weary to continue, the tradition, and later on the Constitution, might have retained the figure of three terms instead of two.
In 1947, the Republican opposition, who held the majority in two chambers, approved the 22nd Amendment, which expressly limits the number of presidential terms in office to two. This was above all a political decision, motivated by the fear of seeing themselves further excluded from power for more than a decade. In 1944, however, when the Republican party failed to win the election, it was above all because it wasn't able to offer a sufficiently competent candidate who could stand up to Roosevelt. In this context, political changeover would have weakened the country, which was at the time engaged in a global war.
That is what revealed itself to be the major drawback of the principle of political changeover: the quality of the alternatives on offer. A country is in good shape when its successive leaders are of top quality. That's just as crucial in Africa, where colonisers creating states from scratch divided territories without any consideration for pre-existing ethnic groups. States were outlined according to territory and not to nations or peoples. The resulting tensions are often still real, and it appears reckless to compromise the state of fragile stability that exists in certain countries by putting in command either an incompetent or a figure widely unpopular with a certain segment of the population.
Africa is still a vulnerable continent. Multinational companies, foreign investors, religious fundamentalists—these and others are trying to take the lion's share, shamelessly exploiting resources and people. However, in many cases, even if the opposition knows they are not able to put forward a candidate capable of securing the country's best interests against all kinds of speculators, they apply constitutional leverage to push aside presidents who have arrived at the end of their two mandates. Such manoeuvres, more often than not, jeopardise the stability of the state and, in effect, that of the people.
The idea is obviously not to allow Africa's leaders an unlimited number of terms in office, or even less so to establish life-long presidential terms, but instead to adapt the substance of the constitution to the country's specific needs. From the moment political changeover becomes a constitutional obligation, it cannot be regarded as anything but a constraint in countries where there are few leading figures capable of securing the role of head of state.
The real challenge is therefore not, in some strange arbitrary manner, to limit the number of presidential mandates to two throughout Africa, but to guarantee free, transparent and incontestable elections. If the people really don't wish to see their president re-elected a third time, they'll protest via the ballot box—and vice-versa.

author: Alassane ndoumbe


text:
As Colombians Are Deported En Masse, Venezuelans Speak Out Against the Government · Global Voices
Lully

With the fear of being deported or harmed during the suspension of constitutional guarantees, several undocumented Colombian immigrants have begun to cross the Táchira river to flee from Venezuela. Photo from Daniel Blanco's Instagram account (@danielblancopz). Used with permission.
At least 1,000 people have been deported to Colombia since Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro ordered a state of exception in six municipalities in the state of Táchira, which borders Colombia, according to Táchira Governor José Gregorio Vielma Mora.
The measure, which allows the government to override the rule of law, was declared on August 21, 2015, to “fight the militia, drug trafficking and smuggling on the border“. Two days earlier, three members of the Armed Forces were injured in a clash with a group of alleged smugglers.
In response to that outbreak of violence, Maduro expressed his outrage and desire to keep battling what he calls “the militia coming from Colombia”. He also called for “the cooperation of Colombian authorities in identifying and capturing the people who perpetrated the attack, in case they have already crossed the border”:
Quiero expresar mi repudio, mi dolor por este ataque, esta emboscada, que hubo contra dos jóvenes tenientes, contra unos soldados de nuestra patria en San Antonio del Táchira, he estado siguiendo detalle de los sucesos  y realmente es indignante, es doloroso. Todo el pueblo en este momento debe solidarse con nuestra Fuerza Armada Nacional Bolivariana y con la juventud bolivariana militar que está en la frontera defendiendo el derecho a la paz.
I would like to express my rejection, my pain that this attack causes me, this ambush that was carried out against these two young lieutenants, against several soldiers from our homeland at San Antonio del Táchira. I've been closely following these incidents and it is outrageous and painful. The whole town should show solidarity with the Bolivarian Armed Forces and with the Bolivarian military youth who are at the border defending the right to peace.
The operation has as its focus a town named La Invasión, where hundreds of Colombians in Táchira live, considered by the Venezuelan authorities as a refuge for smugglers and paramilitary forces. In the wake of the deportations, many Colombians have decided to leave voluntarily.
The growing subsidies, mainly for food and gasoline, given out by the Venezuelan government have encouraged smuggling to the neighbouring country. Merchants and business people in the state of northern Santander, Colombia have also had a complained about the smuggling.
The numerous reports and stories that have come out since the systematic raids and deportations began have caused all kind of reactions. On Naky Soto blog's El Zaperoco de Naky (Naky's mess), the writer criticised Maduro and described the current situation at the Colombian border:
Nada de lo que dijo Nicolás justifica el desplazamiento arbitrario de mil colombianos, ni la demolición de sus casas, ni las vejaciones sufridas, ni el discurso xenofóbico que cree se arregla al decir que los ama. Nada justifica las imágenes de niños durmiendo en tiendas de campaña, mientras sus padres relatan todo lo que perdieron.
Nothing that Nicolás has said justifies the arbitrary displacement of a thousand Colombians or the demolition of their houses, or the harassment, or the xenophobic discourse that he thinks patches things up by saying he loves them. Nothing can justify the images of children sleeping in tents while their parents describe everything they have lost.
Journalist Omaira Labrador explained on her Twitter account what it is happening in Táchira:
#Frontera Unos fueron deportado de La Invasión otros se van “porque esto va pa´largo”. Llevan a cuestas sus enseres pic.twitter.com/8xmwsWYGuK
— Omaira (@omairalabradorm) agosto 26, 2015
Some of them were deported from La Invasión and others are leaving “because this is gonna go on for a while”. They are taking their belongings with them
Although the Venezuelan authorities have stated that they are respecting the rights of the deported, the true grueling nature of the process is on display in photos and videos shared on social media sites. Since the border between the two countries is closed, the Colombian immigrants who are returning to their country must do so by crossing the Táchira River, which is the natural border between Colombia and Venezuela.
The following video shows a group of Colombians singing their national anthem while crossing the river:
Amnesty International warned:
las personas deportadas habrían sido detenidas en operativos conjuntos de la Guardia Nacional y la Fuerza Armada y expulsadas a Colombia sin oportunidad de impugnar su expulsión o sin tener la posibilidad de recoger sus pertenencias. En algunos casos se han denunciado maltratos durante la detención, desalojos forzosos y demolición de casas donde vivían o se cree que vivían nacionales colombianos sin ningún tipo de respeto de garantías.
those deported would have been detained in joint operations of the National Guard and the Armed Force and expelled to Colombia without any chance of appealing their expulsion or any possibility of picking up their belongings. In some cases there have been reports of mistreatment during detention, forced evictions and demolition of houses where they used to live or without any kind of respect of their rights, it is simply believed that Colombian nationals once lived there.
As if the deportations weren't enough, homes in La Invasión were marked with an R for revisar (inspect) and a D for demolish.
Deportados relatan q la Guardia les preguntaban: “son venezolanos o colombianos”, les marcaron las casas y los obligaron a evacuar…grave!
— Miguel Arrieta Z (@MiguelArrieta) agosto 25, 2015
Those deported are saying the National Guard asked them, “Are you Venezuelan or Colombian?” and their houses were marked and they were forced to vacate…serious!
Even former Colombian President César Gaviria commented on the matter:
Gaviria: Es fascismo marcar las casas de los colombianos en la frontera para tumbarlas http://t.co/tEu81U0IHN pic.twitter.com/ioHkbDMmK9
— El Cooperante (@El_Cooperante) August 26, 2015
Gaviria: It is a fascist act marking the Colombians’ houses on the border in order to demolish them
Support for the deportations is thin in San Antonio del Táchira and Rubio, a feeling that has spread throughout the country. On social media, people spoke out against authorities’ actions with hashtags such as #ParceVenezuelaTeQuiere (Venezuela loves you, friend) and #ChamoColombiaTeQuiere (Colombia loves you, dude).
Olga Isabel Ramos wrote on Twitter.
Pena con nuestros hermanos de #Colombia sentimos en #Venezuela por arbitrariedad y maltrato de este gobierno #DDHH#Frontera#AbusoDePoder
— Olga Isabel Ramos S (@olgaramos) agosto 25, 2015
We are with our brothers of Colombia in Venezuela for such arbitrariness and mistreatment from this government #humanrights #border #abuseofpower
Que el mundo sepa que NICOLÁS MADURO nos avergüenza y los Vzlanos NO APROBAMOS este caos!! #FronteraColomboVenezolana pic.twitter.com/6luIJHP4lZ
— Osvaldo Barboza B. (@osvaldoeb) agosto 26, 2015
Let's let the world know that we are ashamed of NICOLÁS MADURO and we Venezuelans DO NOT APPROVE of this chaos! #ColombianVenezuelaborder
Para ocultar su propia tragedia Nicolás Maduro acude a perverso sentimiento nacionalista y xenofobico en contra de los Colombia.
— Diego David Ochoa (@diegodavid8a) agosto 26, 2015
To hide this tragedy of his own making, Nicolás Maduro resorts to a perverse sentiment of nationalism and xenophobia against Colombians.
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos announced that he ordered assistance for his fellow citizens at the border:
Ordené a @MinInterior @CristoBustos encabezar Comisión que se traslade a frontera con Venezuela y apoye a afectados por cierre de frontera
— Juan Manuel Santos (@JuanManSantos) agosto 22, 2015
I gave instructions to the Minister of the Interior Juan Fernando Cristo to lead a commission to the border with Venezuela in order to aid those affected by the border's shutter.
Colombia's Ombudsman Office also sent aid to the border:
Comisión de @DefensoriaCol viajó a la frontera con Venezuela para visibilizar denuncias de quienes han sido objeto de este éxodo forzado. — Defensoría delPueblo (@DefensoriaCol) agosto 24, 2015
The Ombudsman Office commission traveled to the border with Venezuela to make visible the reports of those who have been forced to this exodus.
However, followers of Chavism, a brand of left-wing politics tied to Venezuela's late President Hugo Chávez, have shown their support for the measure:
#TodosConNicolas vamos tropa a posicionar esta etiqueta en apoyo a nuestro presidente NICOLAS MADURO. pic.twitter.com/f2CFGu5uhE
— CarlosRABSA (@CarlosRABSA) agosto 21, 2015
#EveryonewithNicolás come on people, let's push this hashtag to support our president NICOLAS MADURO.
Mi saludo fraterno a Nicolás Maduro y mi apoyo incondicional a la revolución bolivariana. Unamos fuerzas en defensa de la patria de Bolívar. — Carlos Lozano (@carloslozanogui) agosto 26, 2015
My brotherly greeting to Nicolás Maduro and all my true support to the Bolivarian revolution. Let's join forces to protect Bolivar's homeland.
Many have pointed out the irony of Venezuela's deportations of Colombians happening at a time that many Venezuelans are migrating overseas themselves in order to escape political and economic crisis, and Colombia is a favorite destination alongside the US, Spain, Italy and Portugal. Colombia's Minister of Foreign Affairs María Angela Holguín has said the country counts 250,000 Venezuelans, besides another 250,000 who are constantly on the move. According to data from Migration Colombia, there were 56,683 entries made by Venezuelans into the country and 58,581 departures in 1999. But in 2012 there was a record of 181,674 entries and 179,984 departures, indicating that hundreds of Venezuelans stayed
Despite the meetings held by both foreign offices, Maduro has stated that he doesn't see the border being reopened in the short-term, adding that it won't be reopened until “a minimum level of coexistence and respect for legality has been reestablished”.

author: Lully


text:
Buy a Pen, Save a Life: A Syrian Father Inspires a Fundraising Cause · Global Voices
Rami Alhames

Abdul Halim Attar and his daughter Reem in the streets of Beirut. Photographs from Indiegogo.
Social media is often regarded as a “powerful way of changing lives,” and the #BuyPens trending hashtag on Twitter and Facebook over the last week is a case in point. The campaign is a collaborative effort to help a Syrian refugee father, recently photographed selling a handful of pens in Beirut, Lebanon.
Abdul Halim Attar, a Palestinian Syrian from the Yarmouk camp in Damascus, is one of over a million Syrian refugees who have fled to Lebanon. He is a single father with two children: Reem and Abdelillah.
Syrian father selling pens in the streets of #Beirut with his sleeping daughter #Lebanon #Syria pic.twitter.com/KOz4mjW1rd
— Gissur Simonarson CN (@GissiSim) August 25, 2015
The story started with a tweet on August 25, when Gissur Simonarson (@GissiSim), an Icelandic activist, posted a photograph of Abdul Halim selling pens, trying to raise money for his two children. The image triggered a tsunami of sympathy and compassion, with several thousand retweets and favorites. Simonarson soon launched a Twitter account dedicated to Abdul Halim called @Buy_Pens, and set out to find him in person, in order to get him donations collected online.
1. Couple of things before I go to bed on #BuyPens project. I'm working on getting a trusted connection in Beirut to meet him, once that
— Gissur Simonarson CN (@GissiSim) August 25, 2015
3. on the ground to help get the money for him and deliver it to him. Let's hope this all works out, and thank you for the support! — Gissur Simonarson CN (@GissiSim) August 25, 2015
Reporters and bloggers soon learned about the story and more people gradually learned about the #BuyPens movement. Carol Malouf (@carolmalouf), representing the NGO @leb4refugees, set out to meet Abdul Halim on the ground to deliver the aid.
This photo of a refugee father & daughter selling pens exploded into a #BuyPens campaign that's raising thousands: https://t.co/KV2HCxsn4P — AJ+ (@ajplus) August 29, 2015
The campaign initially sought to raise $5,000 USD within 15 days. However, it succeeded in gathering $168,884 USD, raised by 6,375 people in just five days, with donations coming from the US, UK, Saudi Arabia, and UAE, among other countries in Middle East and Europe.
Abdul Halim has reportedly said that he intends to use the money simply to raise and educate his children.
Those willing to contribute to the #BuyPens project still have eight days to make a donation.
“Help Abdul Halim and Reem start a new life” funding campaign. Photo: Indiegogo.

author: Rami Alhames


text:
Can Iranian TV Seduce Viewers in the Land of Telenovelas? · Global Voices
Laura Vidal

Hispan TV, a program of Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) tries to reach Spanish speaking audiences, and as of recent, is trying to compete with popular Telenovelas for the attention of Latin American audiences. YouTube screen capture.
In an attempt to bring Iran closer to the Latin American region, Hispan TV, a channel in Spanish run by the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) and accessible on YouTube, is broadcasting Iranian TV series dubbed in Spanish for Latin American audiences. Various stories about Iranians are included in these broadcasts, including romances meant to compete with the familiar Latin American soap operas.
Iran and Latin American countries, like Venezuela, have maintained odd political ties over the years. Global Voices has written previously about the disconnect that exists between Venezuelan culture and Iran. Much of Latin American culture does not shy away from scantily clad women and alcohol, while Iran's ruling elite, and significant portions of Iranian society try to abide by conservative and religious sentiments. Despite this, it seems both countries are doing what they can to maintain an active cultural exchange, as we saw an influx of Iranians travelling to Caracas to populate government projects and offices, as part of the relationship. This exchange has continued into television media, it seems, as Iran's state-run Spanish network endeavors to win hearts and minds with its own flavour of Iranian entertainment.
But could these series, which embrace morals very close to the traditional and conservative Iranian values promoted by the government, possibly gain popularity in a region so used to a very different set of stories and aesthetics?
The views on YouTube don't seem to go over 100, even after a discrete, but noticeable evolution in the storylines. The most recent program, Longitude 0, is a romantic love story between an Iranian student and a young Jewish woman in Paris. While dabbling in a topic thought of as controversial by Iranian standards, the series seems ignorant of the typical norms of Latin American TV audiences. For instance, television and films across Latin America typically use a standard Latin American accent. In most Hispan TV's broadcasts, however, they speak with an accent from Spain, a striking and often laughable difference for Latin American audiences.
Despite this, these Iranian shows try to break from Iranian norms in other subtle ways, probably in an effort to appeal to Latin American viewers. Women, for instance, seem to wear more makeup, and even the non-Muslim characters appear on camera without the veil.
“Longitude 0″ is the Spanish name given to the Iranian series that tells the story of Habib, a young Iranian student who falls in love with a Jewish young woman named Sara. Screenshot of the YouTube video available on HispanTV channel.
On social media, there isn't much commentary about Hispan TV, and the comments that can be found indicate resistance to the new network. Complaints appear to echo typical mainstream stereotypes about Iran. In Venezuela, for example, Leonardo Padrón, a well-known soap opera writer, tweeted an observation about the announcement of a possible connection between the previous opposition TV station Globovisión and Hispan TV. In response, users criticized the project, while others cracked jokes using the names of famous Venezuelan soap operas, imagining what they might have been called, had they been Iranian shows:
@Leonardo_Padron Lanzarán las telenovelas “La Apedreaíta”, “La Dama de Burka”, “Mi Burka Bella”, “Carita Tapada” y “Sharia la del Barrio”.
— Marco T. Socorro (@MarcoSocorro) Mayo 30, 2013
They'll release soap operas named “The Lapidated Woman,” “The Lady of the Burka,” “My Beautiful Burka,” and “Covered Face.”
Iranian television programming in Latin America has a long way to go before it can rival the appeal enjoyed by more established entertainment, like shows from Turkey. Indeed, the more lavish, dramatic, and often sex-infused Turkish soap operas, such as Thousand and One Nights, have gained a popular following in the home of the telenovela.
Inside Iran, Latin American soap operas seem to win out, too. Iranian audiences flock to tune into Latin American telenovelas in massive numbers through satellite television.
Years ago, there was a heated debate when Farsi1, a channel based in the United Arab Emirates and accessed in Iran through illegal satellites not associated with the state, broadcast El Cuerpo del Deseo. Translated as Second Chance, the subject matter of the program was deemed to be excessively sexual by Farsi1, which censored some of its content. In fact, the trailer alone for this show illustrates the cultural and stylistic differences between telenovelas and HispanTV's productions.
Iran's offering of dramas attached to family and traditional values is hard to sell against these typical melodramas. Despite these contrasts, the cultural exchange taking place is undeniable, and the contrasts in television produced in these two cultures speak volumes about the different roles and representations of women, family, romance, and more.

author: Laura Vidal


text:
Hundreds of Austrians and Germans Turn Out to Welcome Refugees Arriving From Hungary · Global Voices
Lena Nitsche

Vienna, Austria. 1 September 2015 — A banner is held up by a group welcoming refugees arriving from Syria and Afghanistan at Vienna Railway Station where they plan to stay overnight en route to Germany. Photo by Martin Juen. Copyright Demotix
Austrian and German citizens gathered to welcome thousands of refugees who were arriving by trains coming from the Hungarian border on September 1.
The evening before, the Hungarian police at Budapest's train station suddenly allowed refugees to enter trains leaving towards the Austrian border. Previously, refugees were forced to stay at train stations and in temporary camps in Hungary.
Journalist Christoph Schattleitner describes how at Vienna's train station, by 10 p.m. on Monday evening hundreds of people had arrived with donations they bought at a nearby supermarket. The outpouring of water, food and sanitary products was overwhelming, forcing some platforms to be closed. Authorities eventually had to urge people to stop providing more donations.
When refugees reported to be from Afghanistan, Eritrea and Syria arrived in Vienna on their way to Germany, they were met with cheers and applause:
Tosender Applaus. Österreich heißt Flüchtlinge willkommen. pic.twitter.com/BmCEVvCUIB
— Christoph (@Schattleitner) 31. August 2015
Thunderous applause. Austria says ‘Refugees Welcome’
Freude am Westbahnhof #refugeeswelcome pic.twitter.com/QmiLzTj3eO
— jürg christandl (@JChristandl) 31. August 2015
Happiness at the West train station
Muslimische Jugend Österreich hat Beschriftung der Medikamente auf arabisch übernommen! #trainofhopepic.twitter.com/kwzrUvFOZh
— Linz gegen Rechts (@LinzGegenRechts) 1. September 2015
The Muslim Youth of Austria helps with translating boxes of medical supplied to Arabic!
Voulunteers organize donations at the train station in Vienna. Photo by Die Grünen Wienen. Used with permission.
In Munich in southern Germany, more than 3,000 refugees arrived on Tuesday morning. Also in Germany, citizens gathered at the train station to help with donations and welcome the exhausted refugees. The hashtag #trainofhope was used to organize volunteers, advertise what supplies and products were needed and tell people how they can help.
#refugeeswelcome maximal: Flüchtlingfamilie wird rausgeführt. Helfer stehen mit Regenschirmen Spalier, verschenken Stofftiere #trainofhope
— Jonas Jansen (@vierzueinser) 1. September 2015
#refugeeswelcome to the max: Refugee family is escorted [out of the train station]. Supporters line up with umbrellas, give away soft toys.
Das war hier heute tief beeindruckend, München. #trainofhope pic.twitter.com/mR3xxz2Uef — Jan Konietzny (@jankonie) 1. September 2015
This was very impressive today
HelferInnen sortieren Spenden vor dem #Hbf in #München #refugeeswelcome #trainofhope #Refugees pic.twitter.com/EtfNyK1mCU
— Reflektierter Bengel (@R_Bengel) 1. September 2015
Supporters arrange the donations in front of the central station
At some point the police in Munich urged people to stop donating:
Please do not bring any more goods for the Moment.The donations at hand will be sufficient for the refugees present and arriving today.
— Polizei München (@PolizeiMuenchen) 1. September 2015
Other organizations urged people to offer their mobile wifi hotspots and shops in the central station to open their routers to the arriving refugees:
Wollen #freifunk am Münchner Hbf installieren – gibt es Läden im/am Hbf, die einen Router aufstellen würden? #followerpower #refugeeswelcome
— Freifunk München (@FreifunkMUC) 1. September 2015
We want to install wifi at the central station in Munich. Are there any shops close to the station who would install a router?
Refugees arriving in Germany have heavily relied on the kindness of citizens until recently, when the government ramped up its own efforts. Last week, Germany announced that it will allow all Syrian refugees to stay and apply for asylum instead of deporting them to their first port of entry, in accordance with European Union regulations.
Europe is experiencing a tremendous influx of refugees due to conflicts in Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq as well as violence and instability elsewhere in the Middle East, South Asia and Africa. Dangerous crossings over the Mediterranean have also increased. Thus far, countries on the coast such as Greece and Italy have received a disproportionate number of refugees, while the Eastern European countries of Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Poland have resisted calls for a quota system to spread asylum-seekers out among the EU member states.
As European leaders bicker over how to deal with the crisis, people have lost their lives trying to reach the safety of the continent. Thousands have died or gone missing in the Mediterranean, according to the UN refugee agency. In late August, a truck with the bodies of 71 people was discovered on the side of an Austrian road; authorities say the victims, who are assumed to be refugees, suffocated.
As refugees made their way to Germany this week, many online users expressed their gratitude for and awe at the wave of solidarity among Germans and Austrians:
Man kann den Helfern, die den Flüchtlingen bei der Ankunft am Bahnhof und überall sonst helfen, gar nicht genug danken! DANKE! #trainofhope
— Julia Probst (@EinAugenschmaus) 1. September 2015
You cannot thank people for their support enough, those who are helping the refugees arriving at train stations or anywhere else. THANK YOU!
Es läuft auch etwas fundamental richtig in diesem Land. Man übersieht es oft, heute ist es nicht zu übersehen. #trainofhope
— Martin Hoffmann (@ErzaehlerMartin) 1. September 2015
Something is working fundamentally right in this country. You overlook it often, but today it is impossible not to see it.

author: Lena Nitsche


text:
Integrity Crisis Brews as Nigeria’s President Buhari Disowns Election Promises · Global Voices
Nwachukwu Egbunike

The inauguration of Muhammadu Buhari as Nigeria’s president on May 29, 2015, was unprecedented by the palpable outpouring of goodwill. Nigerians were hopeful that the new administration will outdo that of his predecessor, Jonathan Goodluck, which was perceived by some as a lackluster presidency.
President Muhammadu Buhari in Chatham House, 26 February 2015. Image released to public domain by Chatham House, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0
Buhari's ascendancy to power has been attributed to many factors, one of which was the social media propelled re-branding of his candidacy. One other factor has been the integrity of the President Buhari himself. A former military head of state, Buhari, has cut the stern personality of being incorruptible, a man who keeps his words and does not allow the trappings of power to cloud his judgement.
However, the ‘magic’ is undergoing its toughest test as an integrity crisis on President's Buhari's election promises unfolds. In anticipation of the traditional 100 days in office, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity Garba Shehu wrote an op-ed that stated that “Buhari's government cannot be judged in 100 days”. However, the aspect of Shehu's article that caused ripples was his refuting of some electoral promises made by his boss, claiming they appeared in unauthorized election materials:
In the course of electioneering, the presidential campaign had so many centers of public communication which, for whatever reason were on the loose. There is a certain document tagged “One Hundred Things Buhari Will Do in 100 Days” and the other, “My Covenant With Nigerians.” Both pamphlets bore the authorized party logo but as the Director of Media and Communications in that campaign, I did not fund or authorize any of those. I can equally bet my last Kobo [Nigeria's currency] that Candidate Buhari did not see or authorize those publications. As a consequence of these publications, expectations have been raised unreasonably, that as President, Muhammadu Buhari will wave his hand and all the problems that the country faces- insecurity, corruption, unemployment, poor infrastructure would go away.
Shehu's assertion that the so-called “One Hundred Things Buhari Will Do in 100 Days” or “My Covenant With Nigerians” were contraptions was also echoed by the spokesperson of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Lai Mohammed:
Buhari never promised to do anything in 100 days, that's the honest truth. You see, when you are running a campaign, all kinds of literature will emerge from all sorts of groups but I came here and I said there are only just two documents that you can judge a party with. That is the constitution of the party and the manifesto of the party. Those are the only two documents that are registered with [the Independent National Electoral Commission] you can go to court on or hold a party accountable for.
However, Nigerians are not taken by the stance of both spokesmen. Nicholas Ibekwe, a journalist and public commentator, thinks that Garba Shehu is “insulting the collective reasoning of Nigerians“:
Does Mr Shehu even realise what he is saying? Does he realise that his denial of the documents which he, as the media manager of the Buhari campaign, helped to propagate is an indictment of the president’s performance in office in his first hundred days? We do not expect President Buhari to fulfill his entire campaign promises. This is impossible. No politician can do that. Governance is not maths. Politicians are allowed to modify or even completely discard some of their campaign promises if they do not fit with situations on ground after assuming office. But insanity is to completely disown your entire campaign promises. It is akin to setting a house on fire to kill a rat.
On Twitter, Kayode Ogundamisi described the denial as ‘fraudulent':
We do @MBuhari & Nigeria a great disservice if we don’t call the government & APC out on its FRAUDULENT attempt to deny the #100dayspromise
— Kayode Ogundamisi (@ogundamisi) August 31, 2015
@JoyceOdukoya insisted that both documents were indeed written by Buhari's party:
Once Buhari won, the APC manifesto was removed from its website & edited to exclude some popular promises. Original>> http://t.co/VRCWf6TPnr — JoyceOdukoya (@JoyceOdukoya) September 1, 2015
In a report, Nigerian newspaper the PUNCH alleged to have also received the said elections promises from the president's media team:
A member of the APC Situation Room, Gbenga Olorunpomi, who was one of those in charge of issuing press statements and other Internet materials on behalf of the party, had in March, sent emails to news rooms, including The PUNCH. One of the emails had the document titled ‘My Covenant with Nigerians’. Efforts to reach Olorunpomi, who also live tweeted APC’s activities during electioneering, on Monday failed as his phone was switched off.
Nigerian lawyer and Twitter user Ayokunle Odekunle said he also received the email as stated in the story from the PUNCH:
EMAIL sent to ME by @GbengaGOLD (FOR THE APC) on Monday, March 16, 2015. ‘Signed’ by General Buhari pic.twitter.com/pROyVfbzZW
— AYOKUNLE Odekunle (@Oddy4real) September 1, 2015
Premium Times alleged that President Buhari and his party were “likely being dishonest and deceitful”:
Party insiders said the document, which harmonized promises contained in the party’s manifesto and various campaign speeches by Mr. Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, was produced after rigorous and extensive deliberation with top campaign officials and the president himself. After the president signed off on the final version of the covenant, insiders say, the document was emailed to journalists at the time by well-known campaign staff charged with circulating publicity materials for the organization during the period. For instance, Egghead Odewale, who worked at the headquarters of the presidential campaign in Abuja, sent a PDF version of the document to PREMIUM TIMES on March 12. Apparently concerned that the document was not getting enough publicity, another campaign official emailed a word version to reporters on March 16.
The Centre of Democracy and Development said “it's too late” for the president to repudiate his election promises:
To be clear, President Buhari now says that campaign commitments made by his party were not made by him and campaign commitments issued by his organisation are not binding on him. Taken together, the effect of these statements is to repudiate any commitments that President Buhari as candidate made. They also amount to an assertion that Nigerians have no bases to hold the administration of President Buhari to account. The deliberate effort by the official spokespersons of the President to distance him from both his party and his campaign commitments coincides with the landmark of the first 100 days of the administration. For a President elected on a platform of integrity, this is duplicitous. It is equally unacceptable.
Since Nigeria's independence in 1960, “never has there been such a groundswell of optimism in our collective ability to resurrect the ‘crippled and sleeping giant’ of a nation and begin to position it to achieve its manifest destiny of being the voice of and leading Africa and the black world,” read a recent editorial by Nigeria's Business Day about the country's euphoria following Buhari's election.
But now, his integrity hangs precariously in a balance. If the president of Africa's most populous country and his party are now lying about a document that heralded their entrance into power, how sure are Nigerians that they will be the ‘change’ they hoped for?

author: Nwachukwu Egbunike


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Russian Rock Legend Boris Grebenshikov Crowdfunds New Record · Global Voices
Tanya Lokot

Boris Grebenshikov is turning to the fans online for support. Image from the artist's Facebook page.
Boris Grebenshikov, the Russian rock guru and leader of the band Aquarium, is turning to raising money online to fund his latest music record. But the musician, who has worked the stage since 1972 and has a huge fanbase in Russia and the former USSR, says the crowdfunding approach is hardly new.
In an appeal on Facebook on September 1, Grebenshikov writes that Aquarium has always “relied on friends” to record and release its music, and that the band was the first to coin the term “magnitizdat”—the audio and music incarnation of the term “samizdat” or self-publishing—in Russia.
Друзья помогали полулегально записаться ночью в студии. Друзья распространяли полноценные альбомы с самодельными обложками на катушках и кассетах. Друзья привезли нас в Канаду на первую профессиональную сессию звукозаписи. Друзья открыли нам двери фирмы «Мелодия». Сегодня мы все – обитатели Прекрасного Нового Мира Интернета, где музыку можно слушать бесплатно. Но, чтобы ее записывать, нужны деньги.
Friends helped us to record in a studio at night, half-legally. Friends distributed full albums with handmade covers on reels and audio tapes. Friends brought us to Canada for our first professional recording session. Friends opened the doors of the “Melodiya” recording company to us. Today we are all inhabitants of the Wonderful New World of the Internet, where you can listen to music for free. But in order to record it, we need money.
The Russian rock legend points out that all of Aquarium's and his own music “in this century” has been made possible by help from “friends” and fans. This time around, Grebenshikov has set up an appeal on the Russian crowdfunding platform planeta.ru, framing it as “passing the hat among the people.” The incentives for crowdfunders include vinyl records and CDs of various Grebenshikov and Aquarium music, personally signed by the musician. In just under one day (as of noon Moscow time on September 2), the appeal has already collected over 2,5 million rubles ($37,300) out of the 3 million ($44,760) goal set by the project (the appeal was scheduled to run for 110 days, but looks set to end much earlier).
Grebenshikov performing at a concert in Oslo in 2015. Image from Wikimedia Commons.
Grebenshikov, called simply BG (after his initials) by adoring fans, is often dubbed the “Grandfather of Russian Rock,” thanks to scores of popular hits and a lengthy performing career spanning several decades. Although crowdfunding music projects can sometimes meet with criticism, in BG's case the diehard fans seem to take his appeal at face value and trust that the music will be up to par. User andrey180381 commends Grebenshikov for his work and hopes the new album will contain “those goosebumps from the combination of the words and the music.”
Приятно сознавать, что можешь вложить свою крупицу в часть творчества “Аквариума”!
It's nice to know that you can add your small part to the craft of Aquarium!
In the somewhat heated discussion in the comments under the Facebook announcement for the appeal, some users accused Grebenshikov of “selling out,” citing his recent visits to perform in Ukraine as an example, and said they no longer enjoyed his music. Others, like Facebook user Artyom Smol'yaninov, thought crowdfunding a record was not an honest business model.
Дать денег на альбом, чтобы он потом продал нам этот альбом, чтобы потом мы купили билеты на концерт… Выгодная сделка!
Give him money for an album, so that he can later sell the album, so that we then buy tickets to the concert… A handy deal!
The critical comments were met with a chorus of “music is above politics” replies, which user Vlad Basovsky summarized in a rhetorical question.
Хочу спросить тех, кто, якобы, перестал слушать БГ по политическим мотивам. Как же вы раньше его слушали? И если слушали, почему не услышали?
I want to ask those who allege they stopped listening to BG on political grounds. How did you listen to him before? And if you listened, why did you not hear?

author: Tanya Lokot


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Will a Visit From Taiwan’s Former Vice President Lend Weight to China’s Revisionist WWII History? · Global Voices
mountaineer

Taiwan's ex-Vice President Lien Chan visited Beijing and met China's President Xi Jinping back in 2013. Photo from Xinhua.
This post was co-authored with Global Voices partner New Bloom Magazine's editor Yeh Jiunn Tyng and Global Voices author I-fan Lin and translated into English by Tu Min.
Lien Chan, who served as vice president of Taiwan (Republic of China) from 1996 to 2000, has departed Taipei to attend a World War II military parade to be held in neighboring People's Republic of China on September 3, 2015. The news stirred a lot of controversy as Lien was a high-profile figure in Taiwan's ruling political party Kuomintang and his presence is symbolic to the Chinese Communist Party's military performance.
Kuomintang, which led Chinese efforts to defend against Japan's invasion in WWII, already commemorated the 70th anniversary of the war on July 4 in Taiwan. As the Chinese Communist Party does not recognize Kuomintang's leading role in the conflict, Lien's presence at the mainland military parade seems to do a disservice to his own party.
Ma Ying-Jeou, the president of Taiwan, has commented that it is not proper for Lien to attend the parade because it will back China's claim that the Chinese Communist Party were a crucial part of the defense against the Japanese invasion while downplaying Kuomintang's leadership. Hau Pei-Tsun, the ex-chief of the general staff of Taiwan from 1981 to 1989 and a veteran of WWII, also wrote an open letter to a Hong Kong-based paper, bidding the Chinese Communist Party to revise their interpretation of WWII history and recognize the Kuomintang's central role.
On several occasions since 2014, China's President Xi Jinping has ordered historians and intellectuals to delve into “the unwavering role” that the Chinese Communist Party played in the Second Sino-Japanese War, with the hope of establishing the party's legitimacy by playing to popular anti-Japanese sentiments. The struggle against Japan's invasion is hence the beginning of China's “national revival.” The military parade and film “The Cairo Declaration” are parts of the Chinese Communist Party's greater plan to promote its contribution in fighting against the Japanese locally and against fascism worldwide.
Unlike many important political figures in Kuomintang, Lien's family moved to Taiwan before the party relocated there after losing civil war to the Chinese Communist Party in 1949, four years after the end of WWII. Therefore, Lien embodies the Chinese Communist Party’s claim that the Taiwanese worked alongside the Chinese during the Second Sino-Japanese War, despite the fact that Taiwan was colonized by Japan at the time and many Taiwanese were asked to fight for Japan during WWII.
The Republic of China was established in 1911, but it was soon thrust into another period of warlordism. After Kuomintang leader Chiang Kai-shek pacified major warlords and announced the unification of China in 1928, Japan started its invasion of the northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang in 1931. The Japanese forces kept encroaching on Chiang’s army, leading to the declaration of the Second-Sino Japanese War in 1937. Besides external threats, internal conflict between the Kuomintang and the Chinese Communist Party was brewing. But the two political parties agreed to leave their issues aside and cooperate in fighting against the Japanese.
The Second Sino-Japanese War lasted eight years before the Japanese surrendered. Present-day depictions of the war vastly differ between the two parties. In Taiwan, the Kuomintang sees the Chinese Communist Party as avoiding battles with the Japanese, and then consolidating its power in Japanese-occupied regions. In China, the communist party downplays Kuomintang's wartime role.
The Chinese civil war broke out in the aftermath of the Second Sino-Japanese War. The Kuomintang, which was the ruling party of China back then, relocated to Taiwan in 1949. During the same year, the Chinese Communist Party established the People's Republic of China.
A Chinese netizen wondered on Twitter how the communist party could claim that they won the war against the Japanese in 1945 if the People's Republic of China wasn't established until four years later.
老師：「誰能用一句話，講一個精彩的穿越故事？」
學生：「一個1949年才成立的國家，卻在1945年的時候就成了戰勝國。」
老師：「你給我滾出去… …」
Teacher: “Who can tell a time-travel story in one sentence?
Student: “A country established in 1949 managed to gain victory in a war back in 1945.”
Teacher: “Go away and get lost… … “
Lien Chan was the president candidate for Kuomintang in 2000 and 2004, but lost both elections to Chen Shui-Bian, the president candidate of Democratic Progressive Party. Because the Chinese Communist party did not trust Chen Shui-Bian, the relationship between China and Taiwan was tense during Chen’s administration. In 2005, China passed the Anti-Secession Law, which allows for the use of force to retake Taiwan if it should ever formally declare independence.
After losing to Chen Shui-bian in the 2004 election, Lien took advantage of the cross-strait tension and visited China in his capacity of Kuomintang chairman in April 2005, becoming the first chairman after 1949 to do so. Lien was even awarded the Confucius Peace Prize in 2010 for his relationship with China. In 2011 and 2014, the prize was awarded to Vladimir Putin and Fidel Castro, respectively.
Former Kuomintang Vice Party Secretary Chang Rong-gong who is accompanying Lien at the Beijing military parade, stressed in an interview:
大陸有大陸的觀點，雙邊對話可達到比單邊陳述達不到的效果，為兩岸未來開展共同研究抗戰史的契機。
Although mainland China has its own interpretation of the war, the presence of a dialogue clarifying this interpretation is still better than none. With mutual exchanges, and in hope of a good start, we will be working hard on researching the second Sino-Japanese War history.
However, many Taiwanese consider Lien's visit as a betrayal. Chen Ming-Fang, a professor in the department of Taiwanese literature at the National Cheng Chi University, commented on Facebook about Lien's visit:
九三大閱兵，是一次大洗腦。中國百姓看到軍容強盛的大陣仗，立即忘掉天津大爆炸，忘掉所有的貪官污吏，忘掉天安門事件的痛苦，忘掉文化大革命的羞辱。[…]連戰的到來，正好滿足了做為奴才的心願，可以與主子站在一起看閱兵，縱然他知道這樣的閱兵，其實是向台灣人民示威，縱然他知道這是在篡改歷史記憶。
The military parade on September 3 is a brainwashing event. Chinese citizens will see their strong army and soon forget the Tianjin explosion, the corrupt officials, the pain of the Tiananmen massacre, and the humiliation of Culture Revolution. […] Lien Chan's attendance just fulfills his own wish to be a stooge [of the Chinese Communist Party] to see the parade with his master, although he knows this military parade is a threat to Taiwanese and meant to alter history.

author: mountaineer


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The Plight of a Syrian Refugee Planning His Escape to Europe Brings Out Xenophobia on Twitter · Global Voices
Amira Al Hussaini

This is all that Abu Yazan, a Syrian refugee, will take with him on his escape to Europe, tweets journalist @jenanmoussa, who is interviewing him on Twitter now
A Syrian refugee who is planning his flight to Europe was asked hateful and xenophobic questions while being interviewed live on Twitter.
Journalist Jenan Moussa was live-tweeting her interview with Abu Yazan, who is in Turkey, under the hashtag #AskAlaan. Moussa unleashed the monster when she tweeted to her 94K followers:
At 21:00 Turkey time (20:00 Paris) Syrian refugee preparing for EU trip will answer you via my account. Send ur questions; hashtag #AskAlaan
— Jenan Moussa (@jenanmoussa) September 2, 2015
Here are some of the questions readers asked Abu Yazan and by extension the thousands of Syrian refugees making their way out of Syria, with the hope of resettling in Europe, as the war continues in their homeland for the fourth year. In response to Moussa's question, Tarak blurts:
@jenanmoussa Why are they invading Europe while no one in Europe wants them to come? Why are they creating war in Europe? #AskAlaan
— Tarak (@TarakNL) September 2, 2015
WhatsMyname adds:
#AskAlaan You know you're not wanted don't you?
— Whats Myname (@UnwashedMe) September 2, 2015
Orobas continues:
@jenanmoussa #AskAlaan if few years from now he will be bombing, recruiting for ISIS, seeking sharia in the very countries that accepted him
— Orobas (@devilsattorney) September 2, 2015
And Juulde Toeret suggests:
@jenanmoussa #askalaan HOW MANY SELF BOMBER TERRORIST ARE COMING TO EUROPE? WHY DONT THEY GO TO MUSLIM COUNTRY LIKE SAUDI ARABIA?
— JuuldeToeret (@JuuldeToeret) September 2, 2015
Abu Yazan, who is carrying with him some loose change, keys to his home in Syria and his scooter, which were destroyed by the regime, and the clothes he wore while in a Nusra (splinter group from ISIS) jail, is planning to eventually end up in Germany.
“I go 2 Germany. I'm scared of route. Hope 2 get nationality or docu that provides me safe life &travel” #AskAlaan https://t.co/UEcsKpVmk9
— Jenan Moussa (@jenanmoussa) September 2, 2015
‘In Germany I want 2get treatment. Was in regime prison 3 days. Nusra jail 70 days. FSA 7 days. IS 2 days’ #AskAlaan https://t.co/EPPrbyoyL5
— Jenan Moussa (@jenanmoussa) September 2, 2015
And he has every right to be scared of the route. Syrian refugees risk all to make the perilous journey on boats and rubber dinghies to Greece, their foothold into Europe. From there, if they survive, they make their way to Western Europe. According to Syrian Refugees, a site run by the Migration Policy Centre at the European University Institute:
An estimated 9 million Syrians have fled their homes since the outbreak of civil war in March 2011, taking refuge in neighbouring countries or within Syria itself. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), over 3 million have fled to Syria's immediate neighbours Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq. 6.5 million are internally displaced within Syria. Meanwhile, under 150,000 Syrians have declared asylum in the European Union, while member states have pledged to resettle a further 33,000 Syrians. The vast majority of these resettlement spots – 28,500 or 85% – are pledged by Germany.
A report published by the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) states:
In the first six months of this year, 137,000 refugees
and migrants crossed the Mediterranean Sea,
travelling in terrible conditions upon unsafe boats
and dinghies.
Many more tried, but didn’t make it. In mid-April
2015, 800 people died in the largest refugee
shipwreck on record, highlighting a staggering
increase in refugees and migrants dying or missing
at sea.
Only today, news headlines brought home the horror facing Syrian refugees making the boat trip to Greece, after photographs of drowned victims, including children, were shared far and wide putting a face and story on the tragedy.
However, not all those crossing the Mediterranean to Greece and Italy are Syrians. They are joined by refugees and migrants from around the world driven into the water by their will to survive. Altogether, the number of refugees and migrants crossing the Mediterranean to reach Europe has surpassed 300,000 this year, up from 219,000 during the whole of 2014, according to the UNHCR.
Will Abu Yazan make it to Germany? And how will his life be like?

author: Amira Al Hussaini


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Guatemalan President Resigns After Arrest Warrant Issued · Global Voices
Renata Avila

After resigning from his post as the President of Guatemala, Otto Pérez Molina presented himself before the courts and was sent to jail by a judge to await the conclusion of an evidentiary hearing into his role in a multimillion dollar customs fraud. Photo taken from the Flickr account of Casa de Américas under Creative Commons license.
Otto Pérez Molina is Guatemala's President, no longer. After months of marching in the streets demanding justice and accountability, Guatemalans receive today many welcomed news.  The president has resigned and will be jailed until an evidentiary hearing about the massive bribery operation called La Linea (“The Line”) which also led to the resignation of former Vice President Roxana Baldetti.
Guatemala leader resigns after warrant for his arrest http://t.co/LSdGHQ9wmy pic.twitter.com/wRtzSCdMcj
— AJE News (@AJENews) September 3, 2015
On Wednesday, September 2, a judge issued an arrest warrant for Guatemalan President Otto Pérez Molina, who was stripped of his executive immunity after an unanimous congressional vote on September 1—a first in Guatemalan history and the first Central America head of state to be impeached. He is accused of illicit association, bribery, and customs fraud.
Breaking news: #Guatemala Attorney General calls for the arrest of President Otto Perez Molina http://t.co/ucD9o3HHrg pic.twitter.com/wy0pvPFbFm
— Xeni Jardin (@xeni) September 3, 2015
Until the last moment, Pérez Molina insisted that he would not resign. Overnight, however, he changed his mind.
Recuerden que OPM sigue siendo Presidente hasta que lo envíen a prisión preventiva o el Congreso acepte su renuncia. #3SEP #AudienciaOPM
— nómada (@nomadagt) September 3, 2015
Remember, OPM [Otto Pérez Molina] is still the President, until he is placed in pretrial custody or the Congress accepts his resignation.
Today, the Congress accepted his resignation and, according to the Guatemalan Constitution, the current Vice President, Alejandro Maldonado, will be sworn in for the remainder of Pérez Molina’s term, which ends in January, and a new vice president will be appointed by the Congress, from a list submitted by President Maldonado. She or he will serve until January 14, 2016.
Trained by the US Military Academy, the School of the Americas, and appointed as the delegate of the Army to negotiate the Peace Accords, Pérez Molina completely lost the support of the US Government and the international community, after revelations that his government was involved in a variety of dubious business deals.
Online, human rights activists like Phil Neff responded to Pérez Molina's resignation with admiration for Guatemalans:
Guatemala: from convicting a former dictator for genocide to arresting a sitting President. #respect
— Phil Neff (Version) (@cascadiasolid) September 3, 2015
General elections will take place in Guatemala in less than 72 hours and the announcement of Pérez Molina's arrest will clearly be an important factor. Since the UN-backed International Commission Against Impunity released a report indicating that a large amount of Guatemalan campaign funding comes from illegal sources and criminal networks, citizens—naturally concerned—have called on electoral authority to suspend the elections and conduct a comprehensive audit of all candidates.
After resigning from his post and having the resignation accepted by Congress, Pérez Molina presented himself before the courts for the evidentiary hearing. There, the judge ordered the former president to be held in prison.

author: Renata Avila


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Postcard from San Salvador: The Subtle Tyranny of Gangs · Global Voices
Radio Ambulante

Graffiti with the initials of Mara Salvatrucha gang. Photo taken from the Flickr account of Walking The Tracks under Creative Commons license.
This story by Daniel Alarcón was originally published in Radio Ambulante and is reproduced here under our partnership agreement.
If you’ve read about the situation in El Salvador recently, you might have seen a headline like this one, which came out in the International Business Times. It said: “El Salvador to become deadliest peace-time country in the world.” That phrase is kind of strange, right?
Since last year, when the truce between the government and the gangs ended, the homicide rate has skyrocketed, growing over 50 percent. In May of 2015, there were more than 600 homicides, in a country with a little over 6 million inhabitants; numbers they hadn’t seen since the 1990s—more than double of what we see in Iraq today. Over 35 police officers have been arrested this year, and it looks like things are getting worse. Last Sunday, August 16, was the most violent day of 2015, with more than 40 homicides.
So the question is this: if what’s going on in El Salvador is not a war, then what is it exactly?
Everyone has been touched, directly or indirectly, by this chaos and violence. And Salvadorans of all social classes have learned to deal with that constant feeling of insecurity. Many of the people I talked to told me that it doesn’t matter what foreign newspapers publish. “Here,” they said, “here we’re at war. And it’s going to last.”
So what is this war about? Like in other armed conflicts, there are deaths from both sides. In this case, the maras—or gangs—and the police. And like in other armed conflicts, the ones who often suffer the most are civilians—people who have nothing to do with the conflict. That’s because excessive violence in El Salvador affects all aspects of daily life. And not always in the way you expect it.
This is Iris. For safety reasons, we have decided not to use her last name. Iris, like many Salvadorans, lives trying to avoid problems. And in general she’s succeeded. She has a good job, and she is doing well in her career. The gang members don’t pay too much attention to her. She dresses well, and takes care of her appearance. And since she was younger, there’s been something that she really likes to do: color her hair.
It’s part of her look—part of her identity. And this story is about that. Because violence, the insecurity brought on by the maras, is not just about what you read in the headlines. A shooting here, a mugging there. No. It’s also about the details. Moments where evil shows up in front of you. Next to you.
Moments like this one.
Iris: Yo iba en un Coaster, o sea un microbús, y una muchacha se sentó a la par mío… Una muchacha poquito más gordita que yo. Andaba las cejas súper delgaditas, el pelo maltratado, pintado.
Daniel Alarcón: Color rubio. La boca delineada con rojo… Pantalones de lycra estampados con piel de leopardo. Según Iris, este tipo de vestimenta… en El Salvador, es un código.
Iris: Y por la forma en que comenzó a hablar sabía que no era una muchacha normal, que quizá a lo mejor era la mujer de un pandillero.
Iris: I was riding a Coaster, a bus, and a girl sat next to me… The girl was a little heavier than I was. She had her eyebrows very thin, and her hair damaged, dyed.
Daniel Alarcón: Blond. Her lips outlined in red.… Leopard-skin tights. According to Iris, this type of clothing, in El Salvador, is a code.
Iris: And because of the way she started talking I knew she wasn’t a normal girl, that maybe she was a gang member’s girlfriend.
And here’s another detail to consider: buses in El Salvador are dangerous, because gangs have infiltrated transportation. Passengers run the risk of being mugged, robbed. Sometimes the gangs demand money from transportation companies. And if they don’t pay, the maras can kill the drivers. In other cases, the drivers are accomplices of the gang members. It’s a very complicated situation.
Iris: Ella me enseñó una cicatriz que andaba en el estomago. Y me dijo, “Mirá, estas son heridas de guerra. Esta demuestra en la calle el valor que tenemos nosotros”, me dijo ella. Nosotros. Es decir, La Mara. Y luego, la muchacha vino con esto:
“Mirá. Cámbiate el pelo. Porque si yo te vuelvo a ver en esta ruta o uno de los motoristas te ve en esta ruta, ya vas a quedar fichada, porque aquí todos nos conocemos. Y como no has querido decirme de donde venís, cuidáte. Y cambiate el pelo”.
Y yo me quedé helada. Fue como…por Dios, ¿qué hago? Había un rumor acá, verdad, que si tu andabas de pelo rojo eras de cierta pandilla, y que si tu tenías pelo rubio pertenecías a otra pandilla.
Iris: She showed me a scar she had on her stomach. And she said, ‘‘Look, these are war wounds. This shows people on the streets the courage we have,” she said.
“Hey, change your hair. Because if I see you again, or if any of the drivers see you again, we’ll know it’s you. We all know each other here. And since you don’t want to tell me where you’re from, just be careful. And change your hair.’’
I froze. It was was like…Oh, God, what do I? At that time, there were rumors that if you went around with red hair you were this gang; if you were blonde, it was another.
This was something Iris had not considered when she decided to dye her hair… A small act of self-expression, snuffed out by gangs. And of course, when you compare this with what you read in newspapers, it seems like it’s not that important. But it is. When gangs impose themselves on aspects of daily life that are so incidental, it’s a way of telling the people: “Hey, we’re in charge here. Not you. Not the government. Not the police. We are.”
You can listen the complete episode here:

author: Radio Ambulante


text:
Zambia’s First Lady Faces Accusations of Being a Political ‘Santa Claus’ · Global Voices
Gershom Ndhlovu

Zambian rural women, the target of First Lady's charitable work. Photo released under Creative Commons by Florence Devoaurd.
The public role of Zambia’s current First Lady Esther Lungu has been questioned following her recent tour of some parts of the country where she gave out handouts including foodstuffs to villagers and other people in need.
First to raise the issue of her national tours was opposition Forum for Democracy and Development (FDD) President Edith Nawakwi, who alleged that Mrs. Lungu was using the donations and tours to campaign for her husband ahead of the 2016 presidential and general elections. “She is not the Santa Claus of this country,” Nawakwi said.
First Lady Esther Lungu, second from left, rolling on the ground thanking people for voting for her husband, President Edgar Lungu, in the January 20 elections. Photo used with permission of Zambian Watchdog.
In a story first reported by privately owned The Post and picked up by Zambian Watchdog, Nawakwi, a veteran politician who served among other ministerial positions the Finance portfolio in the 1990s, asked where she got the resources she has been distributing. The opposition leader also subtly criticised President Lungu’s propensity to travel outside the country:
I don’t know if between the President and the first lady, they have agreed that the President will do PR work outside the country and she will fill the vacuum because the work she is doing is what I would love to see the President do; to go to villages and find out how people are doing. But you can’t expect that you can develop this country through charity. When you arrive at a place where there is no hospital, no facilities and you give them 25 bags of mealie-meal and some blankets and say ‘These are gifts from State House’, meanwhile, you have spent so much fuel flying there just to deliver 25 bags of mealie-meal, what is the job of the department of disaster management? I want to see the Vice-President doing the work we gave her.
The office of first lady is not constitutionally recognised, but in an unprecedented move the ruling Patriotic Front in its first budget in 2012 allocated funds to the office which was at the time held by Dr. Christine Kaseba, wife of the then President Michael Sata, who died in October 2014.
Taking up Nawakwi’s challenge to Mrs. Lungu, the Non-Government Organisations Coordinating Council (NGOCC) Board Secretary Patricia Mubanga observed:
As the law stands, the office of the First Lady remains shrouded in controversies and yet we continue to see our successive First Ladies sometimes overlapping and undertaking functions, which ordinarily, are supposed to be done by relevant line Ministries and other entities.
Recently, just like in the past, we have witnessed the First Lady Madam Esther Lungu undertaking activities which are, sometimes, misconstrued by members of the public to be advancing partisan politics. Currently, the First Lady is in the Western Province on an outreach programme, which other stakeholders believe are campaigns for the party in office.
Three of the six first ladies ran charities which ceased or heavily scaled back operations once they left the State House. Vera Chiluba, who was married to Zambia’s second president, Frederick Chiluba, but later divorced as his two terms were coming to an end in 2001, ran a charity called HOPE (Help Other People Emerge) Foundation. Maureen Mwanawasa, widow of the third president, Levy Mwanawasa, ran the Maureen Mwanawasa Community Initiative, while Christine Kaseba formed the Ubutala Bwa Bumi (which loosely translated means a barn of health).
Patriotic Front Media and Publicity Vice Chairperson Sunday Chanda criticised Nawakwi for questioning what Mrs. Lungu was doing around the country, saying she never condemned other former first ladies. He advised that it would be counter-productive for Nawakwi to vent her annoyance to another woman who is doing so much to profile the place of women in Zambia and called on the women's movement in the country to reinforce what First Lady Lungu is doing for the poor communities in the country.
Commenting on the issue on Zambian Watchdog, “Chilyata” sided with Nawakwi (the site does not have permanent links for individual comments):
I am impressed with Edith Nawakwi’s issued based brand of politics – you would think she is actually in UK or US! There is nothing personal in her kind of politics and she is targetting real poltical issues!
Surely, Lungu’s politcal advisor has gone to sleep or is incompetent! How can you leave Lungu so blatantly exposed with his wife abusing public resources? Esther, is taking rounds using Govt resources that she is neither entitled to nor qualified to enjoy!! What is Keizer Zulu [special assistant to the president for political affairs] actually doing and what is he saying to Lungu about the abuse of public funds by Esther? Really shameful it is – only in Zambian can this happen!!
A reader using the name “Katuba Old Boys” wanted to know the purpose of the first lady's outreach programme:
[…] they are calling it an outreach programme from what? Because an outreach programme must have a purpose and must come from an entity , not just an individual household to have an outreach programme. Therefore we must know if that outreach programme is from state house therefore there must be some budget line with clearly defined purpose.
“Native”, a reader on another online news site, Zambia Reports, argued that the charitable work by the first ladies is a good tradition, but the source of funds should be known:
Charitable interaction with the zambian community by first ladies is most welcome and a good tradition. […] Nawakwi’s question is where is the money coming from? And if it is taxpayers’ money, which budgetary allocation is it coming from? It’s a very basic question that can be answered without much fuss if the first lady’s activities are above board.
“Adrian” pointed out that what Zambian first lady is doing is a common trend among first ladies all over the world:
[…] The Queen in UK has a husband who performs some functions on her behalf and the British people have all the respect for the Royal Family. Plz this issue is in bad taste could have bn channelled out of public media. As it stands [Nawakwi] has reduced herself to a common uneducated woman thinking that no woman including herself can lead Zambia. I will wait to hear what the Women NGO’s will say. Please look at the First Lady like any of the First Ladies world-wide, she is helping fellow women knowing that at some time she will leave State House and its a chance in a lifetime to be a FIrst Lady just as [Nawakwi] will move into the house God willing if she acepts that she has offended the First Lady Esther Lungu out of envy, jelousy and frustration. May the good Lord forgive her.
Another reader advised Nawakwi:
Please if you are heartless leave our mother alone . She is doing a commendable job and that is in her nature not pretence in order to gain political mileage. Some people are so heartless even towards their own families and can’t differentiate politics and a noble cause . My advise is lay off your hands on the first lady madam before you irritate us .
Coming to Nawakwi's defense, “Paul Phiri” clarified the issues raised by Nawakwi:
Point of correction my Dear, Nawakwi is not attacking the first lady but advising her, She even offered to support her if she came out in the open with a charitable organisation to help the vulnerable. But what can that be called? I mean what the first lady is doing, Campaigning privately for her Husband whose source of funds can not openly be mentioned. I still cant understand some of you here.
While “Angoni” told Nawakwi the best way to deal with the issue of charitable work by First Ladies:
The best nawakwi can do is not to attack the first lady but to lobby parliament to institutionalise the office of the first lady and not to be disrespective to the president and everyone around him.

author: Gershom Ndhlovu