Stories about Sub-Saharan Africa from December, 2011
Rwanda: Murder of Rwandan Online Journalist Lights up the Internet
Charles Ingabire, an online Rwandan journalist and genocide survivor, is the latest victim in a series of bloody attacks targeting Rwandan journalists. He was the editor of the Kinyarwanda-language news website Inyenyeri News.
Mozambique: Jubilation with Mayoral Opposition Win
Supporters of opposition mayoral candidate Manuel de Araújo celebrated his victory in by-elections before the official results on Wednesday evening, both on the streets of the central city of Quelimane and Facebook. Araújo is a long-time blogger who led an innovative campaign both online and in real life.
Sudan: A View From Blue Nile
Read Nenad Marinkovic's field dispatch from Blue Nile, Sudan: “The fighting in Blue Nile has, from the start, followed the pattern of previous clashes in South Kordofan, using frequent aerial bombardments that have repeatedly fallen on the civilian population.”
Tanzania: Tanzania@50: What do we have to show for it?
Ahmed reflects on Tanzania at 50 by asking, “Tanzania at 50 what do we have to show for it?”: “We have immense challenges and, as the saying goes, do Tanzanians feel they are better off today than they were ten years ago, let alone 50 years ago? The answer is...
Tanzania: Blog It: Tanzania at 50
Celebrate Tanzania@50 by writing a blog post: “The Mainland part of the United Republic of Tanzania, Tanganyika, is celebrating 50 years of Independence on December 9 2011. The Dar es Salaam Bloggers’ Circle encourages bloggers to mark this event by a blog post on December 9th 2011.”
Mozambique: Reasons for Silence of Private TV Channel on Election Day
On a day of important by-elections in Mozambique, journalist José Belmiro, from the private channel STV, announced he would suspend his participation in discussion on Facebook [pt] on the vote for reasons “out of [his] control”. According to a citizen report [pt], during the lunchtime news, STV went off air...
Mozambique: Realtime by-elections coverage from three cities
Mozambican newspaper @ Verdade is liveblogging mayoral by-elections on Facebook (public) and live-tweeting events in realtime from 3 cities, promoting the hashtag #EleicoesMoz. Voter Pedro Massinga (@Mozi1976) tweeted photos from the polls. @ Verdade is also receiving citizen reports on the voting via SMS, tweet, BBM, and email to its...
Video Highlights: Identity, Refugees, Conflict and Open Technology
A selection of Global Voices' recent and interesting stories including video from East Asia, Sub Saharan Africa, Central Asia - Caucasus and Latin America, selected by Juliana Rincón Parra.
Nigeria: Portraits of Kalakuta Queens
Vanessa shares James Petrozzello‘s portraits paying tribute to Fela Kuti's queens: “The first time I saw his ‘queens’ I was struck by their radical style. I wanted to make these photos to pay homage to their beauty and to bring attention to the women who contributed so much to Fela’s...
Nigeria: On Same Sex Marriage Bill 2011
Sokari reacts to the passing of the Nigerian “Same Sex Marriage Bill 2011: “The rationale behind the Same Sex Marriage Bill and its proposed counterpart in Uganda, is a huge deceit being spread by secular and religious leaders that decriminalising LGBTI persons would be an imposition from western imperialists and...
D.R. of Congo: Half-Hearted Democracy Promotion
Ben Brockman discusses half-hearted democracy promotion in the Democratic Republic of Congo: “Would the international community seek a power-sharing agreement like in Kenya in 2007 or Zimbabwe in 2008 to quickly end the crisis in the name of stability?”
Africa/Caribbean: Vote for the YoBloCo Awards
Public evaluation is now open for the “Youth in Agriculture Blog Competition” (YoBloCo) : “We received more than 90 entries for the competition, among which we shortlisted a total of 36 blogs for the Individual Category and 16 blogs for the Institutional Category.”
DR of Congo: Congolese Citizens Find a Way to Circumvent SMS Ban during Tense Electoral Count
While observers apprehend the post-electoral period as allegations of fraud surface, Congolese citizens have found a way to circumvent the general ban on SMS [fr] that was imposed by the government after violence flared up [fr] in Kinshasa.
Francophone Africa: The Important Literary Contributions from Former Colonies
The Genevan blog of Rémi Mogenet, Le Savoyard de la Tribune, explains with supporting examples that [fr]: “Mythological African traditional stories have made a remarkable entrance into francophone literature”. He quotes the Mandika epic tale of Soundjata, written and published in French by Guinean D. T. Niane, as well as, for...
Ashura Commemorations Around the World
Muharram, the first month of the Islamic calendar, is a period of mourning for Shia Muslims. Events reach a climax on Ashura, the tenth day of the month. Ayesha Saldanha reports on Ashura commemorations around the world.
Lusophone Heritage of “Portugality” Around the World
A Facebook group and a mapping website called “Portugality” have been created to explore the cultures that result from the “global cultural fusion started by Portuguese navigations of the XVth. century and lasting to this day in places like Brazil, Mozambique, East Timor or Malacca”.
Angola: First video of police confrontation with protesters
The first videos from Saturday's repressed protest in Luanda surfaced on the channel of Angolan Youtube user ekuikui. “Electricity, water, health and education!” and “They demolished my house, I'm gonna sleep here!” are some of the protest movement's chants.
Ghana : No juridical basis to ban homosexual marriages
According [fr] to West Africa online Radio, “The attorney general of Ghana, Ediké Amidou, recently said to a local radio at Accra that the Ghanaian law about sexual unions doesn't make provisions for homosexuality. As a result, consented relationships between two adults wouldn't be criminally punished.”
Madagascar: Debating the Worth of Foreign Direct Investment
While Madagascar attempts to find a way out of a prolonged political crisis, Malagasy bloggers are discussing the value of foreign direct investments. Many Malagasy believe that Madagascar, like many other African countries is rich with natural resources but that the land has been plagued by poor governance and unfair trade deals.
Zambia: President's Son New Luxury Cars Cause Uproar
The revelation by the Committee of Citizens Executive Director, Gregory Chifire, that the Zambian president's son, Mulenga Sata, recently acquired two expensive vehicles has drawn mixed reactions from Zambian netizens.
Angola: Citizen reports of police repression in Luanda slum
Angolan citizen reporters associated with the human rights organization OMUNGA posted an interview today with an activist on the ground in the Cazenga neighborhood of Luanda where police reportedly violently repressed a planned protest against the government earlier in the day. The report mentions injuries and a strong police presence...