Blogger, journalist, lawyer, digital activist and new media consultant. Ndesanjo Macha is interested in the relationship between social media and development in the developing world, particularly Sub-Saharan Africa.
Macha was formerly, Global Voices’ Sub-Saharan Africa Editor. Follow me on Twitter: @ndesanjo
Latest posts by Ndesanjo Macha from April, 2007
Mali: politics is a youth movement
Sociolingo's comments about Mali's election photos from BBC: “Politics in Mali is a youth movement, and there are many young Malians who take a keen interest in the political parties. In schools we have mock parliaments and elections. It is a BIG thing and each class has to choose their...
Uganda: 4th Ugandan Bloggers’ Happy Hour
Pernille blogs about the 4th Ugandan Bloggers’ Happy Hour: “It is an interesting phenomenon – this Ugandan Bloggers Happy Hour. In how many African capitols do people get together for a few hours on the last Thursday night every month for a beer and a chat? Just because they blog....
Ghana: 8th Ghana Music Awards
Museke blogs about the 8th Ghana Music Awards: “The Ghana Music Awards is beginning to rival Miss Ghana as the biggest entertainment show in the country. This year, it is a festival with performances and concerts celebrating Ghanaian Music. The big event is on Saturday where musicians would be honoured...
Mali: presidential elections in Mali
Sociolingo's Mali blogs about today's presidential elections in Mali: “So far all is quiet here in Bamako on polling day. There seems to be a little apathy in the city – only 31% have been reported as picking up their voting cards despite being given the day off on the...
Africa: more African than thou
Koluki posts photos from the “drum jam session” at the White House and asks, “… ON THE PATH TO SELF-RIGHTEOUS “MORE AFRICAN THAN THOU”?”
Africa: ingenuity at a young age
Afrigadget on ingenuity of African children: “Most African children are forced to create their own toys from scratch. Below are some samplings of what they make with what’s available. Old tire inner-tubes, soda cans, mud, bailing wire and sticks are just a few of the materials used to create imaginative...
Nigeria: musical gift from Nigeria
“I really got into Nigerian hip hop and R&B music while I was there over the past few weeks. Below are links to my favorite songs from my trip, many of which are fairly old but were new to me” writes Dare Obasanjo.
Africa: building applications for mobile phones in Africa
Building mobile phone applications in Africa, from Ethan Zuckerman's “Geek tracking, African hacking”: Eagle’s new project – EPROM (entrepreneurial programming and research on mobles) – is trying to encourage people in developing nations to learn how to build applications for mobile phones. This involves building a community of mobile developers...
Kenya: Kenya Investment Forum in Toronto
Recently, Kenyan blogger and Global Voices author, Steve Ntwiga, attended the Kenya Investment Forum in Toronto, Canada: “I found it very telling that the Kenyan Government choose to present Vision 2030 to Kenyans in the diaspora at exactly the same time that the plan was being revealed to Kenyan back...
Africa: African cities
Saharan Vibe posts photos of different African cities in “African Cities Part 1: Isn't Africa beautiful!”
Ghana: Ghana University library goes open-source
The Balme Library at the University of Ghana has gone digital and open-source: “Yes, you heard me right. The Balme library records have been fully digitized and guess the platform being used… Ubuntu 6.06! I needed to stretch a bit after sitting for some two hours and took a stroll...
Ethiopia: the human rights center for human wrongs
A critical look at Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia: “Other institutes are created for solely political purposes. The Institute of Human Rights, the President’s pet project, will kick off its work soon. Andreas Eshete has unabashedly stated that the objective of the institute is to counter the “false Propaganda” of...
Liberia: the man da can put Charles Taylor inside
Liberian Ledger on Liberian English and “the man da can put Charles Taylor inside.”
Somalia: Mogadishu Tech Massacre
Espresso Royale Commentaries discusses “Mogadishu tech massacre”: The Mogadishu massacre was bigger in number but lesser known to most people because it didn’t make to be a prime media piece. This massacre was even worse. It was Virginia Tech shooting multiplied by 100 and it is repeated daily and ongoing....
Kenya: Kenyan film wins African award
“Last month Nigerian films made a sweep at the African Movie Academy Awards. Incidentally, only one film from Kenya was nominated, Voice in the Bin for Best Film,” writes KenyaImagine.
Uganda: Uganda ratifies Framework Convention on Tobacco Control
Jackie Tumwine reports that the Uganda government has ratified Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC): “Uganda signed this first ever global public health treaty back in March 2004- the same month that the national ban on smoking in public places came into force.”
Africa: the cultural construction of African homosexuality
Gukira discusses “the cultural construction of African homosexuality”: If we are to understand the cultural construction of African homosexuality, it must be from within the prison. Once we understand sodomy as a tool of political repression, or, more precisely, as being intertwined with political repression, then we can understand, if...
Cameroon: Autobiographies, biographies, and memoirs from Cameroon
Dibussi Tande on Cameroonian national figures with autobiographies, biographies, and memoirs: “For example, Albert Mukong and Christian Tobie Kuo both wrote two volumes of their memoirs. Same with Jean Martin Tchaptchet (who shared that infamous last meal with nationalist leader Felix Moumie in Geneva in 1960), who has published two...
Ethiopia: students at Addis Ababa University go on strike
Ethio-Zagol writes about crisis at Addis Ababa University: “The student protest at Addis Ababa University is in its second day today after it was ignited yesterday by some students at Arat Kilo campus. The Students said they started chanting anti-university administration slogans when they learnt that the body of dead...
Zimbabwe: Don't come back to Zimbabwe
From Kubatana blog: “I’ve just received a reply to an email I sent to a friend informing them that I had been offered a fellowship to study at the prestigious Radio Netherlands Training Centre (RNTC). All he said was good luck in your studies and don’t come back until there...
Blogs and the Nigerian Elections: Will We Stop Talking About Our Cats And Shoes For One Day?
Nigeria has one of the most vibrant and dynamic blogospheres in Africa. It is no wonder that the Nigerian state and presidential elections were heavily blogged by Nigerians at home and abroad. New information and communication tools such as wikis, blogs, podcasts, and social networking sites have the potential to...
