Full Coverage: East Africa

25.02.2005 The UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE) has expressed concern about the presence of troops on both sides of the border between Eritrea and Ethiopia. The Ethiopians have built up the numbers of their troops over recent months.

24.02.2005 Tony Blair's Commission for Africa holds its final meeting today. Will the recommendations take account of input from Africans who feel that conventional development models are failing? Not according to this report of a "consultative" meeting in Uganda.

21.02.2005 The glittering West End premiere of a Hollywood movie is unfamiliar territory for the leading human rights campaign group, Amnesty International. Today it plays the lead role of hosting the launch of Hotel Rwanda, hoping no doubt that new awareness of the 1994 genocide will bring much-needed attention to current events in Sudan.

18.02.2005 The government of Zambia is dragging its feet towards the enactment of a national gender law that will protect women and children against violence despite its promises to have one by 2005.

18.02.2005 A Supreme Court ruling upholding the controversial election of Zambia's President Levy Mwanawasa has received a mixed response from civil society.

18.02.2005 An innovative program in Malawi provides free, trained legal advisors to anyone who comes in contact with the criminal justice system at any point--from police stations to prisons. Since 2000, 37 paralegals have facilitated the release of more than 2,000 prisoners who were unlawfully or unnecessarily detained, significantly reducing the pre-trial prison population. Similar projects are being considered as far afield as Bangladesh and Cook County, Illinois, USA.

18.02.2005 Demanding free and fair elections in Zimbabwe, the federation of South African trade unionists has threatened to block their country's border with its northern neighbor before next month's poll. Meanwhile, the South African government has sent mixed messages about whether it will push for an observer team to be present during the vote.

17.02.2005 As the country prepares for another round of elections--which the international community has already condemned as tainted--even card-carrying party loyalists have given up hope that any of Zimbabwe's politicians will do anything to improve their everyday lives.

16.02.2005 New Transport minister Chris Murungaru yesterday came out fighting against accusations that he is corrupt, declaring himself to be completely clean. But he said that if he were proved guilty of graft, he would not wait to be sacked; instead he would resign on the spot and seek forgiveness.

14.02.2005 Another proud announcement of UK debt cancellation which carries the sting in the tail of conditionality. Zambian bilateral debt will be cancelled but only on HIPC completion - doublespeak for IMF and World Bank conditions which Zambia is struggling to achieve.

13.02.2005 By focusing on children, Radio Chikuni is not doing anything new. But by putting them on the air as program producers and hosts, it's breaking new ground in Zambia.

10.02.2005 An example of what happens when politicians scramble for votes with tough migration policies: forced deportations to Zimbabwe resumed last November. How can the Mugabe regime be considered as respectful to international standards of human rights?

09.02.2005 Apparently feeling he couldn't make any progress in what is widely considered one of the most corrupt countries on earth, Kenya’s anti-corruption chief, John Githongo, has resigned. The move could plunge Kenya into irrelevance on the world stage, say observers, and reaction has been swift--the U.S. immediately suspended its financial support for Kenya's anti-corruption program.

07.02.2005 The new north-south peace agreement in Sudan should raise hopes of a similar settlement in neighbouring northern Uganda. But the UN Security Council appears uninterested.

07.02.2005 It’s impossible under current circumstances to hold a free and fair election, but Zimbabwe's main opposition party will nonetheless take part in March elections in order to "keep the flames of hope for change alive," they said. Fearing attacks, the party will not begin campaigning until three weeks before the poll, when international observers arrive in the country.

04.02.2005 "From swords into sculptures" has been the motto of Mozambican artists using decommissioned weapons as raw materials. OneWorld UK viewed the results on show in the British Museum

04.02.2005 Paul Kagame, the President of Rwanda, has reiterated the role ICT can play in accelerating the socio-economic development in a recent interview. The recent Accra preparatory regional summit has provided the Rwandan government an opportunity to review its ICT policies.

04.02.2005 Mozambique's economy has been lauded as a star performer by many in the West, although increasingly dogged by the corrosive impact of corruption. The country's new president, with his populist touch and no-nonsense approach, was sworn in Wednesday pledging to attack corruption in the government.

03.02.2005 A 15 member delegation from the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) has been barred from entering Zimbabwe. The delegation, led by COSATU secretary-general Zwelinzima Vavi and first deputy president Joe Nkosi, intended to conduct a fact-finding mission ahead of Zimbabwe's legislative elections on 31 March.

03.02.2005 More than a decade ago, Norta Ibrahim Mudey fled the violence and anarchy of Mogadishu to find sanctuary in a remote fishing village on the far north-eastern coast of Somalia. That peace was shattered the day giant waves raced across the ocean from south-east Asia and slammed into the eastern coast of Africa.