HEALTH: A Phone Call Could Provide HIV/AIDS Treatment

Soon chatting to ones friends or family over a mobile phone could mean that an HIV positive person will receive sustainable antiretroviral treatment (ART) that could prolong their life. That is if civil society in Kenya has its way.

UGANDA: ‘So Many Innocent People Are Dying’

Edmary Mpagi and his cousin Fred Masembe were convicted by a Ugandan court and sentenced to death for the murder of a man who was later found alive.

TANZANIA-INDIA: A Rewarding Relationship

The Indian prime minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, concludes a three-day visit to Tanzania on May 28. Singh arrived in Dar es Salaam from the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, where he took part in the Second India-Africa Forum Summit, which began on May 20.

AFRICA: ‘Bicycles Are For Good’

"Politicians may tell us that bicycles are a sign that we are not advancing," says Patrick Kayemba, managing director of the First African Bicycle Information Organization in Uganda, "but we ourselves have seen that cycling is a socio-economic tool. It works now - we don’t have to wait for someone to rescue us with better public transport, better this, or better that..."

MALAWI: Rural Areas Still Struggle to Access Medicines

In the shade of a leafy mango tree at the rural Chipho Health Centre in Thyolo, southern Malawi, Melifa Faison sits looking frequently down the road hoping to see an ambulance. Lying beside her is her 6-year-old daughter, weak with malaria.

POLITICS: First Woman Speaker of Parliament Changing Politics

Very soon wives in Uganda will legally have the right to a share in their husband’s property, that’s if the country’s new speaker of parliament has her way.

Sorghum Proving Popular with Kenyan Farmers

Gadam sorghum was introduced to semi-arid regions of eastern Kenya as a way for farmers to improve their food security and earn some income from marginal land. The hardy, high-yielding sorghum variety has not only thrived in harsh conditions, it has won a place in the hearts - and plates - of local farmers.

KENYA: Small Profit Margin Hinders Access to Subsidised Anti-malarial Drugs

On the streets of Nairobi James Odhiambo goes from one pharmacy to the next in search of anti-malarial drugs marked with the Global Fund’s logo of a green leaf. He is looking for this specific brand because he understands that it is more than ten times cheaper than the same drug produced by different manufacturers.

KENYA: Rights Defender Deemed ‘Contrary to National Interest’

At about 9 pm on May 10, British human rights lawyer Clara Gutteridge arrived at Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport from Dar es Salaam, where she was investigating the arrests of Tanzanians accused of terrorism.

KENYA: Legal Lacuna While Biotechnology Is Sneaked in

Farming with genetically modified organisms (GMOs) is becoming more widespread in Kenya due the promotion of biotechnology through clever schemes, exacerbated by the lack of a legal framework for the commercialisation of these controversial products.

Uganda Stoves Saving Fuel and Forests

Carbon finance is putting new and efficient charcoal stoves into hundreds of thousands of kitchens in Uganda – reducing charcoal use and protecting forests as well as saving money for poor households.

Uganda Police and Opposition Supporters Clash

Up to five people were killed when Ugandan police clashed with opposition supporters who attacked cars carrying African leaders at the inauguration of President Yoweri Museveni.

DEVELOPMENT: Women Demand Access to Water and Energy

"Women in LDCs bear the brunt of economic and social hardships," said Wubitu Hailu, managing director of an Ethiopian NGO, the Kulich Youth Reproductive Health and Development Organisation. The failure to provide access to basic services like clean water and electricity is a major factor preventing women from realising their full potential.

AFRICA: Coalition Against the High Cost of Living

In Burkina Faso, Niger, Kenya, Uganda: governments are worried by soaring prices - and by newly confident and enraged civil society. Governments are being challenged to take decisive action, despite lacking the tools to address rising global oil prices. Their responses could have important consequences for their legitimacy and survival.

KENYA: Frustration Over Limits of ICC Charges

A decision to exclude crimes committed in the western city of Kisumu and the Nairobi slum of Kibera from a case against alleged organisers of violence following Kenya’s 2007 election could undermine the International Criminal Court’s effort to combat impunity in the East African nation, civil society groups have warned.

Sunshine and Shadow in Rwanda’s Rural Housing Programme

The gleam of new corrugated iron sheets shimmers through the blue-green haze that veils Rwanda's rural valleys and hillsides. It is a visible sign of Rwanda’s metamorphosis from a nation devastated by genocide seventeen years ago to the fastest modernising state on the continent.

AFRICA: Tripartite Free Trade Plan May Repeat Previous Mistakes

With regional wheels rolling to put in place the envisaged grand tripartite free trade area (FTA), questions have arisen about whether it would be viable and increase competitiveness.

EAST AFRICA: Women Breaking Through Trade Barriers

For 12 years now, the women around Tsangano in Malawi’s southern district of Ntcheu have put together their tomato harvest, selling some 20 tons at the outdoor markets that abound in Lilongwe, the capital. But they have very little to show for their hard work.

Uganda Latest Govt to Face Down Protests

The Ugandan opposition has announced it will continue protests against rising prices for fuel, food and other essential commodities, undeterred by violent police repression of the previous two days of action.

Wrestling Over ICC’s Role in Africa

On its face, Kenya’s failed bid to defer International Criminal Court cases against alleged organisers of post-election violence in 2007-2008 was a story of changing positions. But to argue that either the U.S. or Africa has switched sides in the debate over the appropriate role of the ICC is too simplistic.

Kenyan Women Pulling Together Against Poverty

When it works, it's spectacular: Esther Ngonyo Njuguna's dairy project stands as testimony to the potential of microcredit schemes to boost rural incomes.