Ndesanjo Macha · May, 2008

Latest posts by Ndesanjo Macha from May, 2008

South Africa: Who is to blame for xenophobia?

  27 May 2008

David blames the South African government for the recent xenophobic attacks in South Africa: “No one hates foreigners like South Africans do. South Africa is said to be officially the most xenophobic nation in the world. So much for being xenophobic and all that but why go to the criminal...

Ethiopia: The life of Kedir Mohammed

  27 May 2008

Enset writes about the life of Ethiopian soldier, Kedir Mohammed: “Even as a refugee, Kedir never ended his activism and the struggle for justice, human rights and equality of citizens of his country. He joined a budding organization that was cultivated by the Ethiopian students’ movement that culminated in the...

D.R. of Congo: Bemba's arrest is selective justic

  27 May 2008

Siasa Duni comments on the arrest of Congolese opposition leader Jean-Pierre Bemba: “As long as you commit atrocities as part of the government army, they do not qualify for war crimes, seems to be the message. There is the risk of another signal Bemba’s arrest might send to Africa: Don’t...

Africa: Learning by Ear

  27 May 2008

A new multimedia distance learning programme for Africa in English, Kiswahili, French, Hausa, Portuguese and Amharic: ‘The Learning by Ear program examines the challenges that young Africans face and engages listeners in an informative and entertaining way. The programming is a lively mix of in-depth reports, radio dramas and feature...

Uganda: Book Club arrives

  26 May 2008

Book Club arrives in Kampala, Uganda: “The long awaited book club arrives. The onus is on me to pick the location, I guess, and I was thinking Iguana, but that's so not central. So I have to fall back on the default Mateo's.”

Africa: The challenge of the cults in East Africa

  25 May 2008

Pea discusses “The Challenge of the Cults in East Africa,” a video series on YouTube: “I was on YouTube just now and came across a series of videos titled “The Challenge of the Cults in East Africa.” The videos are posted by ACFAR, which I believe stands for African Centre...

South Africa: What is the meaning of “makwerekwere”?

  25 May 2008

Khanya traces the origin of the word “makwerekwere,” a slang for foreigners in South Africa: ” A couple of bloggers with an interest in language have asked about the the origin and meaning of the word “makwerekwere”. It is a slang word for foreigners, and especially illegal immigrants, which I...

Burkina Faso: Learn Fulfude in six seconds

  25 May 2008

Stephen believes you can learn Fulfude (one of the languages spoken in Burkina Faso) in six seconds!: “We're all familiar with dazzling language-learning promises made by Linguaphone and similar companies: Speak fluent Arabic in just three weeks! Swedish in a weekend! Well, here's Fulfulde in six seconds. Just learn this...

Nigeria/South Africa: Nigeria vs South Africa

  25 May 2008

Nanja Boy writes examines the fate of Nigerians in the recent xenophobic attacks in South Africa: “Lest we have forgotten, Nigerians economy now harbors the best of their businesses. For goodness sake, the lists of Nigerian-based multinational companies wholly owed or controlled by South Africa people or government is far...

South Africa: Bloggers, let's do something

  21 May 2008

Mike calls on South African bloggers to do something about the violent attacks against foreigners: “It’s on that note that I’d like to encourage you, my fellow bloggers and business people, to join me in doing something about it. We know we have the collective influence to make a big...

Africa: Powering mobile payments in Africa

  21 May 2008

Mobile Africa reports about a mobile payment system empowering rural communities in Africa: “Leading mobile payments provider Mi-Pay has signed a contract with an East African operator to deliver a mobile money ecosystem to its subscribers in rural communities. Mi-Pay’s technology and expertise will enable subscribers to benefit from international...

South Africa: The African Leadership Academy

  21 May 2008

Ladybrille writes about the African Leadership Academy: “Founded by four dynamic individuals: Fred Swaniker, Chris Bradford, Peter Mombaur and Acha Leke, the ALA is an organization committed to developing the next generation of African leaders. The Academy, located in the outskirts of Johannesburg in South Africa, boast a world class...

Kenya: The battle for mobile phone market

  21 May 2008

Ka-Investor blogs about “mobile wars” in Kenya: “The stage for a bruising battle for control of the local mobile phone market is now set and the main target is the safaricom’s near monopoly 9.2 million subscribers (although some of them are absentee subscribers). Other battle frontiers are the cash transfer...

Kenya: My experience with M-Pesa

  21 May 2008

Digzer writes about his experience with M-Pesa, a service that allows people to send money using mobile phones: “For all the simplicity using Safaricom’s M-Pesa is meant to provide, I’ve had a rather hard time at it. I’ve always noticed long queues at various M-pesa agent points and so thought...

Cameroon: House of Falling Women

  20 May 2008

Cameroonian blogger, Rosemary Ekosso, publishes a book titled “House of Falling Women”: “House of Falling Women is the story of a young woman with quixotic ideas about improving the lot of women who finds out that that the crusader’s cloak is an uncomfortable one.”

South Africa: Is xenophobic South Africa ready for 2010?

  20 May 2008

Bomseh, a Kenya blogger in South Africa, asks, “Is xenophobic South Africa ready for 2010?”: “It is therefore with much shock and disbelief that I watched unfolding events on the news last night about the recent wave of xenophobic attacks in Johannesburg and neighbouring towns within the province of Gauteng....

Angola: Blogging newspaper articles

  20 May 2008

Koluki writes about her series, “Echoes From the Angolan Press,” which contains full transcripts of selected articles published in Angolan newspapers: “I intended this series primarily to serve those Angolans and other Portuguese-speakers outside the country who might have limited and/or irregular access to the Angolan media. However, I trust...