Author Archives: Peter Kenworthy

Zimbabwean Elections: Young People are the Game Changers!

June 18, 2012 no comments

As the focus on Zimbabwe increasingly shifts towards elections Africa Contact has managed to facilitate a visit to Denmark by one of their partner organisations, the Youth Forum, to apprise a cross s...

Danish ship sails from occupied Western Sahara – with illegal cargo?...

June 11, 2012 5 comments

Is the Danish vessel Marianne Danica illegally shipping phosphates from the occupied territories in Western Sahara? Marianne Danica was spotted leaving the harbour in El Aaiun (Laayoune) in Western S...

Danish Development Minister ”deeply worried” about the situation in Zi...

June 3, 2012 no comments

“We are following developments in Zimbabwe very closely,” Danish Minister for Development Cooperation, Christian Friis Bach, said in a reply to Danish NGO Africa Contact. “I am deeply worried about t...

Morocco criticised for Western Sahara human-rights violations in Amnes...

May 24, 2012 no comments

“Security forces used excessive force against protesters. Critics of the monarchy and state institutions continued to face prosecution and imprisonment, as did Sahrawi advocates of self-determination...

Siemens criticised over Western Sahara deal

May 13, 2012 no comments

A spokesperson for the United Nations Global Compact has said that they “are looking into the issue” of the deal between Siemens Denmark and the Moroccan government to build 22 windmills near El Aaai...

Let them eat cake, Princess Sikhanyiso

May 8, 2012 4 comments

“Most people have the Internet on their phones – I think almost everyone in Swaziland is on Facebook.” Princess Sikhanyiso, the eldest daughter of Swaziland’s absolute monarch, King Mswati III,...

New strategy for Swazi democratic movement?

April 28, 2012 1 comment

“I would say there is a strong feeling that we need to revisit our strategy.” Swaziland National Union of Students activist Ace Lushaba is speaking of the clamp down on recent protests against king M...

The democratic movement that cried wolf

April 26, 2012 no comments

Messages proclaiming the final days of King Mswati’s absolute monarchy in Swaziland, or the revolutionary uprising of thousands of Swazis, have been conveyed many times by individuals and organisatio...

Stop development aid to Swazi monarch,’ says democratic front

April 20, 2012 no comments

It is time for the international community to act in response to the Swazi government’s repeated human rights violations, says Wandile Dludlu, Project Coordinator of the Swaziland United Democratic F...

Swazis vow to continue pro-democracy demonstrations after police crack...

April 14, 2012 1 comment

“As we wind down the day, it would be folly for the government to think we’ve retreated. We’re going to reenergize ourselves, to regroup and to mobilise more so that we come back stronger,” Mary Pais...

Swazis call for democracy on state of emergency anniversary

April 11, 2012 no comments

Last years April 12 protests that called for democratisation of Swaziland’s absolute monarchy, amongst other things by removing the state of emergency that has been in place since April 12 1973, were...

Polisario rejects Siemens’ claim to be developing Western Sahara

April 9, 2012 1 comment

Siemens have been accused by Western Saharan liberation front Polisario and several organisations – including Western Sahara Resource Watch, Danwatch and Africa Contact – of breaking inte...

Danish government zigzagging over Western Sahara

April 2, 2012 no comments

Danish Minister for Trade and Investment, Pia Olsen Dyhr, says that Denmark will not support or subsidize Danish companies that operate illegally in Western Sahara. A month ago, the Minister was rath...

Siemens makes illegal windmill deal in occupied Western Sahara

March 21, 2012 3 comments

The German multinational, Siemens, has landed an order for the construction and maintenance of 22 windmills to be built in a wind farm in Moroccan-occupied Western Sahara. The order is part of a larg...

Swazi students demand justice

March 19, 2012 1 comment

“Life without scholarships is impossible. The socio economic situation in Swaziland dictates that no parent can afford to pay tertiary fees. Denying students scholarships is denying them a future.” P...

UN unsustainability in the Tindouf Refugee Camps

March 11, 2012 5 comments

The UN says that it seeks sustainability in its work and programmes, that it seeks “integration of the social, economic and environmental dimensions of sustainable development in policy-making at int...