Stories about Kenya from November, 2009
Africa: Why are African intellectuals so depressing?
Why are African intellectuals so depressing?, wonders Kenyan blogger Kaasa: “Hello! Today on my way back to the hotel, I saw the current Oct-Dec 2009 BBC Focus on Africa magazine at a newsstand and read Mukoma wa Ngugi’s article “We Are Sailing”. My goodness. Talk about a super depressingly-depressing article.
One East African Musician beats all odds for a global fan base
Not many know her as Mwanaisha Abdalla but Nyota Ndogo (Kiswahili for Small Star), is a household name in East Africa. She has been collecting fans of her eclectic East African sound for over 4 years now. Her blog on the other hand has been running for 3 years. There is no doubt that the blog has contributed the growth of her online fan base.
Video: End Violence Against Women Around the World
Today, November 25th is the International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, and through videos, many people and organizations around the world are expressing their need to end the violence as well as the efforts they are undertaking to ensure that women have a safer world to live in.
Can ICTs aid small-scale farmers?
The world's small-scale farmers grow a large amount of food and provide many important jobs in rural areas. However, they do their work at great economic and environmental risk. How can ICTs make the jobs and lives easier for the world's farmers?
Kenya: Inventor of the World Wide Web lands in Kenya
Sir Tim Berners-Lee is in Kenya: “Credited with inventing the World Wide Web(WWW), Sir Tim Berners- Lee is in town and was today at the Strathmore University for an Interactive IT education session for IT professionals, students and innovators.”
Africa: Google sponsors Kiswahili Wikipedia Challenge
Google is pushing for more content on Kiswahili Wikipedia through Kiswahili Wikipedia Challenge: We invite you to take part in this challenge to create Wikipedia articles in Kiswahili. We hope to make the online experience richer and more relevant for 100 million African users who speak Kiswahili.
Kenya: Who will pay for Kenya's new constitution?
Opalo wonders who will pay for Kenya's new constitution: “290 members of parliament. 100 Senators. Several regions and more than 70 counties. These are among the new burdens that will be added onto the load currently weighing down the Kenyan taxpayer.”
Kenya: Progressive or new activist constitution?
Taabu discusses the Kenya's draft constitution: “A look at the proposed new draft constitution leaves you wondering whether you are listening to an NGO seminar presentation.”
Africa: The UnAfrican African
Is there such a thing as an unAfrican African?: “What is African? What isn't? What defines who we are? Our identity? From our archives is an article by Stephen Wanyama on why he finds little identity with Africa”
Kenya: Google Adsense paying in Kenyan Shillings
Kenyan bloggers and website owners are now pleased to note that they can receive their Google Adsense earnings in Kenyan Shillings, writes A Nairobian's Perspective.
Kenya: Mwai Kibaki and Odinga must co-operate with ICC
The Partnership for Change has issued a statement calling for Mwai Kibaki And Raila Odinga to cooperate with the International Criminal Court and ensure The Special Tribunal Bill in Kenya is passed and enacted into law within two weeks.
Uganda & Kenya: In Search of e-Governance
Good governance has been linked to gains in economic and human development. Governments have begun using technologies to offer more citizen services, expand transparency and make information more accessible. We look at how Kenya and Uganda use ICTs to create better governance.
Africa: Africa's melting pot
Marvin writes about Afripot, an African-focused news site: “She is now introducing Africa’s melting pot – Afripot. I am already boiling in there and I hope to see you there too as conversations over there about Africa with Africans pick up and heat up. Who knows, it may generate enough...
Kenya: Are you Chikuyu or Ruo?
“Are you Chikuyu or Ruo?,” asks Proud Kikuyu Woman: “Lakini [lakini means “but” in Swahili] the one that initially used to surprise me is when I tell someone I’m Kenyan and they go , “Chikuyu or Ruo”. The letter K is often pronounced as ‘Ch’ in Luganda (and the G...
Africa: An African tech list on twitter
Erik writes about a list he has created for African tech on twitter: “A lot of people are on Twitter these days. So many, it seems that you can be overwhelmed by the number of people and it’s hard to find the right people to follow. To help with that,...
Kenya: Nairobi Christmas Tourism Expo
Bankelele writes about Christmas Tourism Expo in Nairobi, Kenya: “The annual Christmas tourism expo (Getaway ’09 fair) fair was held at Sarit center last weekend. About 75 exhibitors were offering holiday packages for Christmas and the New Year in addition to 2010 rates.”
Kenya: Blogging the first open map of Kibera
An initiative aimed at creating the first open map of Kibera in Nairobi, Kenya: “And yesterday we spent the whole day at MS ActionAid Kenya, where the Danish students were introduced to mapping techniques along with several others from organizations as diverse as Ushahidi, UNICEF, Umande Trust, and World Bike.”
The future of ICT4D: How soon is now?
In the final of three posts on the future of ICTs for development, we examine a few projects that could change the way people leverage technology in rural areas.
Kenya: Bloggers discuss first Kenyan gay marriage
A Kenyan gay couple caused an outrage when they decided to be joined in a civil union, the whole nation cried “foul, that's not right.” Charles and Daniel legalized their union on October17, in London.
