INT’L WOMEN’S DAY: Sexual Violence on the Rise in Kenya

Rights groups this week unveiled a plan to reduce sexual violence in Kenya within two years. More than 90 percent of all violence in Kenya is committed against women, says 'Medico-Legal Network on Gender-Based Violence in Kenya', which comprises 16 bodies, most of them women.

/CORRECTION*/ DEVELOPMENT-KENYA: Strategy for Fighting Drugs Described as Fragmented

An anti-drug organisation in Kenya has called for improved cooperation between law enforcement officials to combat the drug trade in the East African country.

ECONOMY-EAST AFRICA: Long-Awaited Customs Union is Established

Member states of the East African Community have signed a protocol for establishing a customs union that is expected to boost growth in the region.

POLITICS-SOUTH AFRICA: Haitian Leader’s Plight Fails to Move Opposition

Former Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who fled a rebel onslaught Sunday, is searching for a new home – and it appears that he may take up exile in South Africa.

POLITICS-KENYA: Government Has a Month to Meet Wage Demands

Civil servants in Kenya have threatened to go on their first-ever strike at the end of March if government fails to award them a 600 percent pay rise.

CORRUPTION-KENYA: "Bribe Taxes" Lessened in 2003

A report launched in Kenya this week indicates that levels of bribery in the country decreased last year.

POLITICS-AFRICA: An Underwhelming Response to the Pan-African Parliament

With less than a month to go before the first session of the African parliament, interest in the new legislature appears to be at a low in various parts of the continent.

/UPDATE/ECONOMY-KENYA: Efforts to Improve Lukewarm Prospects of Coffee

Connoisseurs have long appreciated the merits of Kenyan coffee, typically described as having a fruity, acidic flavour. For many years, this renown helped make coffee one of the country's prime exports.

HEALTH-UGANDA: Renewed War Against Teenage Pregnancies

"A baby boy weighing two kilogrammes was abandoned in Mulago hospital labour suite last evening. The mother, Peace Busingye, 17, had delivered earlier that day."

TRANSPORT-KENYA: Taxi Drivers Say Road Safety Laws Cost Them Dearly

Kenya's transport crisis, which began earlier this month, is continuing to bite.

ECONOMY-KENYA: EPZs Failing to Deliver on Workers’ Rights, Say Activists

Export processing zones have come in for substantial criticism since the 1970s, when their number started to grow worldwide. Labour activists claim that the incentives offered to attract companies to these zones create an environment where virtually any corner can be cut in pursuit of profit. Now, these concerns are finding a voice in Kenya.

CULTURE-UGANDA: A Price Above Rubies

"We are going to shout about bride price across Africa and we are going to say 'no' to the sale of women," exclaimed Atuki Turner to a crowded hall at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda. Turner was speaking at the opening this week of the first international conference on the tradition of bride price.

ECONOMY-AFRICA: International Meeting Aims for Detente in Global Trade

Ministers of Trade from 18 African countries are holding talks, Tuesday, with United States Trade Representative Robert Zoellick and the European Union's Commissioner for Trade - Pascal Lamy.

POLITICS-KENYA: Constitutional Talks Marred by Infighting

The prospect of a new constitution has been dangled in front of Kenyans since the late 1990's, when a process of review began under former President Daniel Arap Moi. Last December, Moi's successor - Mwai Kibaki - promised the country a new constitution by June. Political bickering may also derail this pledge, however.

POLITICS-KENYA: Calls for Truth Commission to Tackle Past Abuses

Human rights groups in Kenya have called on the government to set up an independent truth and reconciliation commission that will, amongst other things, try judges who were suspended last year on charges of corruption.

HEALTH-AFRICA: A "How To" Manual for Churches Which Help AIDS Orphans

A Baltimore-based aid agency, World Relief, this week issued a guide in Kenya to assist churches with caring for AIDS orphans in Africa.

TRANSPORT-KENYA: Gov’t Stands Firm on Minibus Strike

Kenya has been reduced to a walking nation, with hundreds of thousands of people covering long distances on foot to work and home everyday. Some walk over 20 kilometres a day.

DEVELOPMENT-UGANDA: Taxis Put Women in the Driver’s Seat

Hail a taxi in New York City, and the odds are that your driver will be a wise-cracking male cabbie who's unafraid to share his philosophy about life with you.

POLITICS-SUDAN: Peace Process is Vulnerable, Say Analysts

Sudan's peace process will collapse if Khartoum and the rebel Sudan People's Liberation Army refuse to involve others in the talks that are underway in Kenya, political commentators have warned.

POLITICS-EAST AFRICA: Will Axworthy Succeed Where Others Have Failed?

As the United Nations' new envoy to Ethiopia and Eritrea settles into his post, relations between the two countries appear as inflexible as ever.

HEALTH-KENYA: Activists Press for More Debate on Abortion Law

The contentious topic of abortion in Kenya was revisited Wednesday, during events to mark African Women's Health and Rights Day.