African press review 19 March 2012

Algeria first this morning, since today marks the fifthieth anniversary of the ceasefire in the Algerian war of independence.

You have to look hard to find any evidence of the anniversary in Le Quotidien d'Oran, for example, where the tenth story, a one paragraph brief, announces that the Interior Minister will today organise a conference on the so-called Evian Agreement, which technically brought the war between France and Algeria to an end. That Evian Agreement was signed fifty years ago yesterday.

The minister has promised to release important documents connected with the Evian negotiations, and to pay the nation's respects to Krim Belkachem, the one-time freedom fighter who lead the Algerian delegation at the peace talks.

The government-run El Moudjahid gives yesterday's anniversary the front-page honours, with a main story quoting the spokesman of the Algerian delegation to Evian, Redha Malek, to the effect that the Evian Agreement had ended the French colonisation and established the principles of the territorial integrity of Algeria, the unity of its people and its total independence.

The privately-owned French language daily, El Watan, leads with the news of today's launch of the first ever on-line museum dedicated to the Algerian war of independence. The project will allow free public access to a huge range of documents, both official and personal, many of them being published for the first time, and is the result of a partnership between El Watan in Algeria and the French media-sharing site, Owni.

The initiative has been welcomed by one reader who says in an e-mail to the El Watan website that this is a chance for Algerians to find out the truth about one of the darkest periods in their national history. The writer says people simply want to know, and are not driven by any desire for revenge, even against those responsible for terrible crimes. But, he warns, Algerians will be totally unforgiving of those who continue to use trickery and the state aparatus in their attempts to falsify history.

In its look ahead to what we can expect on the political front in South Africa this coming week, BusinessDay suggests that expelled African National Congress Youth League leader Julius Malema is likely to be back in the wars, and that the simmering tension between the League and its mother body could grab the headlines.

The Human Rights Day celebrations on Wednesday will be worth watching, says BusinessDay. Malema’s legal team have already lodged an appeal against the youth league leader's expulsion from the ANC. It is, however, not clear when the appeal hearing will take place.

The ANC’s national disciplinary committee last month decided to change Malema’s punishment for bringing the party into disrepute from a five-year suspension to full expulsion, saying this was because he had shown no remorse during the proceedings.

Committee chairman Derek Hanekom said it was unlikely Malema would be rehabilitated. On Friday, President Jacob Zuma seemingly ruled out Malema’s chances of keeping his youth league presidency. Speaking during a business breakfast in Port Elizabeth, President Zuma said the youth league had to accept that it needed to appoint a new president and move on.

Does this mean we'll soon be hearing the last of Julius Malema? Probably not.

BusinessDay goes on to say that political discussion this week could also provide insight into the impact of the Democratic Alliance’s election of its first black KwaZulu-Natal leader, Sizwe Mchunu. Mchunu beat former Inkatha Freedom Party senior Ziba Jiyane, but has committed himself to working with all party members, including those who campaigned for Jiyane.

Mchunu dismissed fears that his win would result in tension between leaders and party members.

The Democratic Alliance is hoping to become the dominant political party in KwaZulu-Natal, as it has already managed to do in the Western Cape.

Does this mean we'll soon be hearing the last of the African National Congress? Probably not.

In Kenya, The Standard leads with a story healined "Pressure piles on IEBC to review announced election date".

According to the daily, pressure is building on the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission to review its choice of a March 2013 election date.

The electoral body, which will be the first to manage an election under the new Constitution, is also accused by a section of the Grand Coalition of having listened to only one side of the government.

The man carrying the biggest burden according to The Standard, is Commission Chairman Ahmed Isaack Hassan, who not only has to deliver a credible election but also has to balance the various political interests in the country so as to avoid the polarisation that led to the 2008 post-election violence.

As things currently stand, Kenya's next general election will be held on Monday 4 March 2013.