Stories about Sub-Saharan Africa from October, 2006
Swahili Blogosphere: Madonna, power rationing, and illiterate thieves
Chemi Che Mponda sums up her feelings about critics of Madonna's adoption of a Malawian baby, David Banda: David Banda kazaliwa katika umaskini, lakini leo anaishi katika utajiri. Na lazima kuna watu wanamwonea wivu! David Banda was born poor and became rich overnight. Some people must be jealous of him....
Kenya: a photo with Michael Johnson
“A random guy walks over, sits next to me, insists that I’m a hero and asks if I would honour him by taking a photo with him. Despite my tiredness and hunger I agree to the photo, mainly because this guy looked pretty desperate.” Who is this guy?
Africa: China-Africa connection
The Sub-Saharan Africa Roundtable on China-African connection:”No wonder when you consider that trade between China and Africa amounted to $38 billion in 2005, according to the World Bank. What upsets westerners is how China’s investments ignore human rights.”
Ethiopia: clash over trademark
Ethan discusses the clash between the Ethiopian government and Starbucks over trademark, “Last year, the Ethiopian government filed trademark applications to protect the names “Sidaro”, “Harar” and “Yirgacheffe” – the hope was to prevent unscrupulous coffee dealers from buying inexpensive beans from other countries and selling them as “Sidaro”, whether...
Kenya: recognize gay and lesbian citizens
A statement in support of gay and lesbian citizens of Kenya, “It is time to scrap the laws that the British imposed upon us and left us with, laws that the colonizers themselves scrapped long ago. Let Kenya move out from the shadows of her colonial past and recognise the...
Kenya: the art of positioning in Kenyan politics
You Missed This explains why the president of Kenya, Mwai Kibaki, has already won re-election, “Two gentlemen by the name of Al Ries and Jack Trout wrote what in my view is the most important marketing book ever written in the 60s called Positioning. This book changed marketing forever and...
Voices from Zimbabwe
Following recent reports chronicling the decline in Zimbabwe's HIV/AIDS prevalence, the spotlight has now been turned on to the effect anti-AIDS campaigns have wrought on traditional Zimbabwean morals and values: Zimbabwe's lead in condom use and condom sale worldwide has produced mixed reactions, with some sections of society welcoming the...
Madagascar: 2nd Lit Classic Available Online
Actualite Culturelle Malgache is working on making available through its blog (Fr): “A novel published in 1897 and authored by Adolphe Badin, Une Famille Parisienne a Madagascar Avant et Apres l'Expedition [A Parisian Family in Madagascar Before and After the Expedition ].” The blog explains: ” Of course the text...
Nigeria: poor air safety growing cause of concern
Following the plane crash in Nigeria last week, Ore's Notes lists other recent plane crashes in the country, “Nigerians may have been deemed the “happiest people in the world”, but perhaps it's time we started facing our issues with a greater degree of seriousness and less laughter.”
Zimbabwe: church releases national vision document
The Bearded Man posts latest news from Zimbabwe, “A church-authored national vision document could be the start of efforts to end Zimbabwe’s fast deteriorating crisis but analysts say it fell short of directly putting the blame on President Robert Mugabe’s government and questioned the veteran leader’s commitment to implementing its...
Uganda: steamed blood for dinner
How about steamed blood for dinner?, “I think that is quite an overexcited statement. I lost my motivation on page 85 when I found this recipe on how to cook a dish called ‘steamed blood': * ½ litre of blood * ½ teaspoon salt * Drain the plasma from the...
Kenya: Nairobi in October
“I have not been in Nairobi in October in a long time and the explosion of colour has caught me by surprise. Well it isn’t really an explosion of colour but an explosion of purple,” writes Mental Acrobatics.
Madagascar: Local Lit Classics Available Online
New blog Actualite Culturelle Malgache [Malagasy Cultural News] plans (Fr) to make malagasy historical texts available online and will email the first such offering — Charles Renel's La Race Inconnue [The Unknown Race] — to anyone who asks. La Race Inconnue is a collection of short stories written during colonial...
DRC Elections: Candidate Billboards
After carefully breaking down the billboards of presidential runoff candidates, Sanaga Peregrinations concludes that Joseph Kabila stands for peace and reconstruction and sends a message that he ‘belongs’ (he has long been accused of being a foreigner). By contrast, Jean-Pierre Bemba stands for security, justice and development while trying very...
Kenya: blogger's work used by Kenyan paper without his knowledge
This is what Kikuyumoja's Realm had to say to the Kenyan newspaper, Kenya Times, for using his work without notifying him, “Next time you are re-publishing my words, pls let me know. I know I can’t be mad with you kwani no one I know actually reads the Kenya Times….ama?”...
Senegal Elections: Everything but Wade
Reflecting on the upcoming presidential election, Blog Politique du Senegal writes (Fr): “In 2000 it was everything but Diouf, in 2007 it's everything except Wade.”
Dispatch from Uganda
The tenuous peace talks in Juba, Sudan, between the Government of Uganda and the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) continue for a third month, with each side accusing the other of non-compliance with the cessation of hostilities agreement. However, complete breakdown of the talks was averted when the Government of Southern...
Ethiopian blogger scoops mainstream media
The story broke at 12.42 pm. An Ethiopian human rights activist, another unnamed Ethiopian and two senior officials from the European Commission had been arrested that morning close to Ethiopia's border with Kenya. The report from Ethiopian blogger Ethio-Zagol named the activist as Yalemzewd Bekele and the two European officials...
Ghana: using robotics to teach creativity
Timbuktu Chronicles writes about the use of robotics to teach creativity at Ashesi University in Ghana.
Africa: PayPal expansion into Africa
Oluniyi David Ajao writes about PayPal expansion into Africa, “Hitherto, South Africa had been the only African country supported by Paypal. The popular online financial institution has now extended its services to Botswana, Cape Verde, Namibia, Togo and Tunisia, on the African continent. In all the six countries however, users...
Uganda: Anti-Corruption Week
I Have Left Copenhagen for Uganda writes about the Anti-Corruption Week in Uganda, “The theme for this year’s Anti-Corruption Week (ACW) is “Tackling Corruption in Universal Primary Education (UPE)”. The Anti-Corruption Week 2006 will take place between the 30th October and 5th November.”
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