Stories about Sub-Saharan Africa from October, 2008
Nigerian Blogger Arrested For Sponsoring a ‘Guerilla News Agency’
Nigerian blogger, Jonathan Elendu, has been arrested by the State Security Service (SSS), the federal security enforcement agency in Nigeria. Jonathan Elendu created Elendu Reports in 2005. It is an online news site focusing on federal corruption, economic mismanagement and government inefficiency.
Ghana: Supporters of Two Main Parties Clash
Ghana Elections blog reports election-related violence in Ghana: “The violence in the run-up to December 7 is unabated as supporters of the two main parties have yet again clashed in the Volta Regional capital Ho.”
Nigeria: Blogger Arrested
Nigerian Curiosity writes about the arrested Nigerian blogger: “Jonathan Elendu, the writer at Elendu Reports, was arrested by Nigeria's SSS on Saturday evening upon arrival in Nigeria from the United States. Elendu was reportedly arrested to answer questions because his ‘activities’ have allegedly generated some national security issues.”
Zimbabwe: Freedom Fone Project
Brett blogs about Kubatana's Freedom Fone Project in Zimbabwe: “It involves providing radio-like audio content via interactive menu response by use of phones. Users can call up the service, and choose from a menu, to access audio items they with to listen to: news headlines, a feature, music and inspirational...
Climate Change: Increasing The Spread of Diseases?
Melting ice caps, rising sea levels and extreme weather patterns aren't the only potential consequences of climate change. Scientists are warning that changes in global climate may also endanger public health by increasing the spread of diseases and other health problems. The issue of climate change's impact on health is...
Environment: GM Labelling in South Africa
Ethical Co-op blog reports that Genetically modified foods are to be labeled in South Africa, and warns against the tactics used by GM lobbyists who did not support the ruling from the Department of Trade and Industry.
Kelele '09: African Bloggers’ Conference
Kelele is the Kiswahili word for noise. It is the name given to a gathering of African bloggers in the tradition of historical African societies where everyone has a voice. With too many voices marginalised or simply ignored in Africa society today for a variety of reasons, the organisers believe that the Internet in general and grassroots media tools such as blogs in particular represent the most powerful way in which to give Africans back their voice.
Republic of Congo: Ernest Kombo's Passing
Congopages announces the death of Ernest Kombo. Kombo was Bishop of Owando. He died in France, where he was being treated for cancer.
Cote D'Ivoire: MTN and Orange vie for customers
Competition between mobile providers Orange and MTN is heating up in Cote D'Ivoire, writes L'observatoire des médias [Fr], who has photos of a new ad campaign.
Cape Verde: Crisis? What crisis?
After questioning the reasons for a recent wave of prices rise in Cape Verde, bloggers were surprised last week at the news that the country is immune to the economic crisis that has devastated the world. Even petrol prices, which were on the rise three weeks ago, have now been reduced.
Ghana: Presidential Candidate Wants Electoral Commission in Court
The Electoral Commission in Ghana is accused of disqualifying a presidential candidate: “[H]aving failed to successfully filed his nomination forms to contest the December elections, Mr. Dan Lartey, flag-bearer of the Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP), is nursing a plan to drag Ghana's electoral body to court for “deliberately” refusing...
Nigeria: Web 2.0 Aggregator for Nigeria?
Loy asks, “Isn't it time for a Wb 2.0 aggregator for Nigeria”: I think I won’t be wrong to say that the only web 2.0 technology that Nigeria has ever brought to the web space to date is Sturvs, Nigeria’s version of Digg. Thanks to sturvs, we now have a...
Environment: Meetup of Green Bloggers in Capetown South Africa
On October 11th 2008, Global Voices Environment, Carbon Smart and Urban Sprout organized a meetup for environment bloggers in Capetown South Africa. What follows is a rundown of what was discussed. Blogging about the environment is a multi-faceted endeavor, because it is such a broad topic. This was reflected in...
Botswana: Mogae Receives The Mo Ibrahim Award
The Mo Ibrahim Award goes to the former President of Botswana: “Mogae becomes the second recipient of the prestigious annual award. The Mo Ibrahim Award is the biggest individual prize in the world. The inaugural prize went to former Mozambican President Joachim Chisano last year.”
Somalia: Piracy not something to be celebrated
Open sea piracy is discussed by different video bloggers who speak on the recent Somalian piracy incidents, and a behind the scenes look at how governments are protecting World Food Program cargo at sea.
Mozambique: Casualties over gas leak in Estarreja
Paulo Granjo [pt] blogs about a piece of news that local newspapers in Mozambique didn't pay much attention to: an accidental leak of aniline gas in a Mozambican chemical plant caused 14 casualties. Nobody has died. “The information has been provided by the Relief Operations District Command and it is...
Guinea-Bissau: On the increasing popularity of mobile phones
Jorge Rosmaninho writes at the Lusophone online magazine O Patifundio [pt] about the mobile phone fever in Guinea-Bissau. “There is not a single teacher who would not complain that, at the beginning of the lessons, students waste the first ten minutes arguing over who would have the right to charge...
Angola: On the sadness and happiness of being a returnee
Angola, 1975. The country had just become independent and the former Portuguese colonizers, as well as their families and many Angolan citizens, had to flee leaving everything they had behind. 30 years later, they blog the tale of being returnees and about the sadness and happiness this change in their fortunes brought them. See a video of the dramatic mass emigration.
South Africa: A New Era In The Fight Against AIDS?
In late September Barbara Hogan was appointed as South Africa's new health minister by interim President Kgalema Motlanthe, ousting her controversial predecessor Manto Tshabalala-Msimang. AIDS activists and many South Africans are hopeful that this move will signal a shift in the government's HIV/AIDS policies. Hogan, a veteran anti-apartheid activist and...
Angola: A poem for the Blog Action Day
Admário Costa Lindo [pt] publishes one of his poems as his contribution for the Blog Action Day. It is a concrete poem about hunger written in 1974, and there is also an English version.
Africa: 7 Rules of Innovation
White African writes about Ethan's 7 rules of innovation in Africa: “Ethan Zuckerman has produced yet another amazing thought piece. This time, he’s talking about innovation in Africa and how that is brought about by resource constraints.”
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