I am a blogger, journalist, lawyer, digital activist and new media consultant. I am interested in the relationship between social media and development in the developing world, particularly Sub-Saharan Africa.
I am the Sub-Saharan Africa Editor here at Global Voices. Follow me on Twitter: @ndesanjo
Latest posts by Ndesanjo Macha from October, 2006
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...
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.
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?”...
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.”
Sudan: skin-color not the root cause of conflict in Sudan
Sudanese Thinker discusses the root causes of the conflict in Sudan, “The CBS documentary is cool but it fails like many other articles to describe the root causes of the conflict correctly. They’ve oversimplified it as a racist genocidal war by Arabs against Africans. While racism is definitely an element...
D.R of Congo: election photos
“In honor of the next-to-last stage in DR Congo's efforts to elect a new president (Inauguration of the president-elect is scheduled for early December), I bring you three photos from my time tooling around Kinshasa in my friend's car,” writes Congo Girl.
Ethiopia: this was a massacre
The Sub-Saharan Africa Roundtable declares, “This was a massacre,”: “Ethiopia struck me as a story of crucial importance. Parliamentary elections had just been held on May 15, and the opposition Coalition for Unity and Democracy charged fraud upon the announcement of the results. Anti-government demonstrations transformed into riots, which Ethiopian...
Ethiopia: comedy in parliament, abuse of human rights
Ethiopian Life, Politics, Culture and Arts writes about comedy in the Ethiopian parliament and reports that the family of the jailed human rights lawyer, Yalemzewd Bekele, has been denied access to him.
Africa: mud-brick building should be standardized
African Architecture believes that there is a need to standardize the mud-brick building in Africa, “The abundance of this material “Clay” makes it very popular and affordable for low income people living in hot dry climates of Africa to use as versatile building material, Hence there is a need to...
Uganda: five interesting Ugandan blogs
White African writes about five interesting blogs from Uganda, “For some reason I got on a kick looking into different blogs from around Africa. I was looking into Uganda recently… not for any particular reason. I don’t know any of these bloggers, but found them all compelling reads in their...
Kenya: website in memory of Dr. Wanjiru Kihoro
Mental Acrobatics announces that there is a site dedicated to the Kenyan political and social activist, Dr. Wanjiru Kihoro, who passed away recently, “The tribute website for Dr. Wanjiru Kihoro is now up. Thanks to Mshairi and Mich.”
Africa: will India compete with China in Africa?
Africabeat on India's investment in Africa,”Well it may not be as big of a story (India is democratic and English-speaking. China is everyone's favorite whipping boy), India is clearly looking to expand its business presence in Africa.”
