· June, 2009

Stories about Sub-Saharan Africa from June, 2009

South Africa: To vuvuzela or not to vuvuzela?

Discussions about the popular instrument called the vuvuzela blown by South African football fans have dominated the blogosphere since the beginning of Confederations Cup 2009 in South Africa, which ended last week. Journalists, TV viewers, coaches and some foreign players called for a ban of the instrument during the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. The debate is as loud as the instrument itself.

30 June 2009

Africa: Bloggers pay tribute to Michael Jackson

In Africa, bloggers are paying tribute to Michael Jackson after his recent death by posting pictures, music videos, poetry and reflections. "RIP MJ," writes Kenyan blogger WildeYearnings. "You now have the whole sky to moonwalk on..."

28 June 2009

Kenya: The plight of gays and lesbians in Kenya

As much as Nairobi is described as one of the more cosmopolitan cities in Africa where a lot of homosexuals find solace, homophobia is widespread. Kenyan bloggers discuss how homosexuals are named and shamed all over the Internet.

27 June 2009

Russia, Nigeria: Nigaz

Eternal Remont writes that “Gazprom has created a joint venture with Nigeria's state-owned NNPC gas company” and that the new company's name is Nigaz. License Plate Poetry has a poem...

26 June 2009

Angola: New highway code in action

Discussions around the changes brought by the new Angolan highway code have been taking place on the blogosphere and divided society. On one hand, the new code is seen as good because it will educate careless drivers, but some argue that the legislation contains costs that not everyone is able to meet.

26 June 2009

Togo Abolishes Death Penalty

Togo's National Assembly voted on Tuesday to end the death penalty for all crimes, making it the 15th member of the African Union to abolish capital punishment.

24 June 2009

Malawi: Reactions to Madonna's adoption of Chifundo

For some who never knew Malawi, they have gotten to hear about the country in Africa purely because of Madonna whose full name is not known to many. It appears that the generally many Malawians are happy that Madonna is able to adopt needy children from Malawi in spite of the fears of what this trend may create.

23 June 2009

Metropolis TV and Hivos: Independent People Videos

Metropolis TV is a Hivos and VPRO TV project based in the Netherlands, which brings together film-makers and civil video journalists from all over the world to record and transmit different aspects of life and culture in their homeland. Following, a few videos selected and played on the Netherlands TV station VPRO forWorld Humanist Day around a specific subject: to recognize individuals who live under the ideal of independence and being in control of their own lives.

23 June 2009

Malawi: Malawians are not fools

Kondwani tells the British media that Malawians are not fools: “We are not a foolish people and niether do we spend time hero worship a human being. Malawi is a...

18 June 2009

Kenyans Race to Get Furadan Banned

Kenyan conservationists are making gains in their push to have Furadan, a carbofuran-based pesticide that has so far caused the death of 76 lions, banned in the country. The Member...

18 June 2009

Eritrea: Analysing Asmara

Eritreans have always found it difficult to differentiate ‘freedom’ with the politically overloaded word ‘independence’, writes Gabriel Guangul.

15 June 2009

About our Sub-Saharan Africa coverage

Zita Zage
Zita Zage is the Anglophone Africa Editor. Email her story ideas or volunteer to write.

Jean Sovon
Jean Sovon is the Francophone Africa. Editor. Email him story ideas or volunteer to write.