Point on Africa

Africa's Inspiration

2011-12-30T14:19:00.000Z

Like other continents, Africa has its problems and one of the major ones is perception. Unless you have been to Africa and are independent enough observe events in isolation, you will most likely approach the continent with a mind list of negativities.

There are many good stories in Africa and with the fast growth of mobile technology in the continent, more and more positive news of innovation and development are being reported. A number of countries keep recording fast, economic growth and a few can even report it in 2 digits.

Politically Africa is slowly becoming intolerant to ineffective and brutal regimes. Old and long time dictators in North Africa have fallen, forcefully removed from power by resilient protests. Egyptians continue to fight for complete reforms even after the resignation of Hosni Mubarak.

We can look forward to more of such welcome news from Africa in 2012. Cape Verde is already a trail blazer in some key areas as this journalist from BBC recently found out; An African good news story

Photo credit: i2eastafrica.net

Libya… my Libya

2011-03-02T15:50:00.000Z

The raft of doom and gloom on Libya by the effervescent Western media is sharp, consistent and, to the extent that it is propaganda, a 21^st century master-class masterpiece! In fact, on the strength of their reports two weeks ago, it is a miracle Libyans are yet to overthrow this dictator called Gaddafi or better put… this gadfly.

Contrast the West’s energy to help Libyans protest against their government and the attitude of other countries/powers like Russia, China, Venezuela, Brazil and Africa. It is not like as if it is their business to scramble to cover the events in the Arab world or to order the convening of emergency Security Council meeting – all meant to conjure up the nullification of the Gaddaffi state/estate. It is not even like as if there is an Arab rebellion in North Africa and the Mid-east. This speaks volumes.

It speaks of the fact that some powers and countries do not see it in their interest to have an opinion on everything under the sun. One would have expected that with the emergence of a tri-polar world order (China, US with Western Europe and Russia), the Chinese should be keen to meddle in every international scene that is whipped up by the international media and their army of analysts, think-tanks and commentators. Such as… joining the US coalition to oust Saddam or using conditionalities in the manner of the West in the disbursement of largesse to developing countries including Africa’s. These would have been the right thing to do to impress upon the world the reality that the China is a world power with not only military and economic competitiveness but also is a frontline defender, arbiter and custodian of international morality – whatever this is.

Since the end of the Cold War, Moscow has demonstrated a more predictable, even consistent and pragmatic foreign policy. It is not seeking a domino posturing among other countries in the world except within and around its borders. So, Russia would be predictably tough-talking when it comes to Nato gaining membership and momentum among states like Ukraine, Georgia and Belarus. Apart from this, you’d hardly know that Russia does exist or for that matter that Russia is a military power. Well, you only get to hear about Russia from Western media and it’s all about saying… Russians are not free; Russians are under a dictatorship, Russia has no democracy… bla bla bla.

Except for the US along with Western Europe, the UN Security Council could have had less work meeting to impose travel bans, sanctions, authorize invasions and refer small countries’ leaders to the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity and more time to pursue genuine international peace. Perhaps, the UN Security Council, without the myriad US and Western interests to consider time and time again would have long being reformed so that it reflected the American dream of democracy with its plurality of views and the guarantee of equality and freedom to live and let’s live. Perhaps, the UN Security Council without the West would have done much more to promote the interests of humanity against that of special interests.

Now, talking of special interests leads this writer back to theme of Libya. The furor to save Libyans from Gaddaffi is, to all intent and purpose, turning out to be a Western plot to undermine Libya and lay hands on its oil. In the true scenario of Iraq, put them in turmoil and you are ready to order them around. The picture painted of Libya now by the Western media, upon whom much of less developed countries rely for information, is that Gaddaffi has lost his grip on power; that almost every Libyan wants to see his back; that displaced and refugees are all desperate to flee; and that Gaddaffi should be charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity.

What is missing is that, since 80% of Libya’s oil is going to Europe and with Gaddaffi never truly a trusted ally, there is need to reorder the leadership of Libya using any opposition to Gaddaffi in order to guarantee Europe’s access to oil and oil deals in a country with huge oil reserves. It is not about protecting Libyans. O yes, the Italians had the opportunity to do just that in the last century but instead chose to invade and colonize and then evict and leave a King until he was overthrown by popular revolt in 1969 led by one colonel Gaddaffi.

Muammar Gaddaffi’s 41 years in power has left most Libyans mostly better off than many British and American citizens in the 21^st century! Yes, a daunting fact! The average Libyan lifestyle ridicules the African economic reality. It leaves a gaping gap to make other Africans countries including… including Botswana and South African citizens look like living in extreme poverty. The level of citizen satisfaction in Africa and in some European countries, measured in terms of availability of housing for everyone, free medicare, free education, job prospects, handsome remuneration and guaranteed old-age package and services leaves Libya in a unique class of its own.

The US and some of its Western allies must consider the risk of inadvertently torpedoing the painful economic recovery efforts that are largely and/or wholly dependent on a stable oil market. The current struggle in the west to rein in economic order in the midst of oil price disorder started with the second and long-drawn out invasion of Iraq which sapped oil reserves and increased the burden of governments to provide fuel at sharply higher costs. Family heads began to contend with the imposed hardship of providing for themselves and loved ones amidst escalating food prices and mortgages.

Going into Libya, ostensibly to protect Libyans, is a recipe for a long-term engagement policy by the US in an Arab country soon to be distrustful of the US intentions. When the cry for freedom dies down and dries out and Gaddaffi is gone, we would see extremist Libyans increasing their fold and membership. It would lead many to draw parallels with Iraq where without a strong leadership to channel productively ethnic and religious division the country has descended into an unstable place in the mid-east. Libyans would naturally take up arms to defeat the invader. Does the US want this? Shouldn’t they be more concerned about leading and protecting the recovery effort in the world and less about destabilizing Libya and potentially unleashing wild oil price rises and play into the hands of greedy speculators?

The ramifications of the Iraq invasion in the US was the exposure of a weak US economy flooded with phony Ponzi schemes, weak housing market, bank failures and bail-outs and a 9.8% jump in unemployment within 2 years. It was not the housing market that caused the double dip recession. It was not even banks’ laxed lending policies. It was the dramatic rises in oil prices from pre-Iraq invasion of US$29 a barrel to over US$130 by 2008. This, predictably, affected production in industrialized countries and living standards dropped as people adjusted to lay-offs, price rises and employers cutting back on investments in order to save their businesses.

The United States should reconsider its attitude in the conduct of world affairs. It should stop playing the domino, god-father card and into the hands of its enemies. It should play down its media who, may be, out of sentiment, refuse to understand the ramifications of their propaganda on their very interests around the world. The US must stop serving special interests (in this case, oil companies and their investments); rather it should genuinely seek to promote the interests of humanity using pragmatic policies.

Sometimes the US should recognize that there is nothing like international morality so to speak where human rights, democracy, rule of law, freedom of speech can mean anything more than the theoretic. Otherwise we would not have Guantanamo Bay and racism in the United States including recently in New Orleans.

Sometimes it is good for the US and the West to admit that China and Russia cannot operate a pluralistic political culture otherwise they would risk fragmenting their nation-states into religious and ethnic identities and rivalries. Except, perhaps, international morality as espoused by the West is applied with the intent to whittle away rival powers in the international scene.

At this juncture, it is right to say that the protests in Libya, while legitimate is not overwhelming and must not be used by countries promoting special interests to make that country unstable and ungovernable. It would not be fun play to see oil price rises in a volatile market dominated by speculators. It will ruin industrialized economies. It would ruin developing countries. It would be a burden on America’s military and Americans freedom around the world. It is better for the US and Western Europe to re-set their foreign policies to include non-interference in the internal affairs of other countries, except where a democratically reformed Security Council demands it.

But alas! The US and Western Europe will not take heed until Russia, China, India and Brazil speed past the colonizers turned liberators.

It would be good to be alive to see.

About the author: Cyril Jengo I holds an M.Phil from the University of SL and is the publisher of the Popular Express News in Sierra Leone.

Here is an opportunity for Africa in Ivory Coast

2011-01-07T05:21:00.002Z

From the ruff you can get diamonds. Africa just might from the Ivory Coast story. Laurent Gbagbo will welcome any peacemaker, give them four kisses and his ear and forget about them as soon as their planes lift off back to their homes. His army will still encircle Alassane Ouattara aka ADO and his currently floating government.

However as bad as this situation validates the fact that a majority of African leaders are only dragged out of power kicking, spitting and shouting, the continent has a chance to set a good habit. The heads of states and delegates who have visited Gbagbo so far have all attempted to talk him into unconditional negotiations with Ouattara. He has agreed but verbally sans actions till now.

The second option to saving Ivory Coast from strife appears to be unanimous among African leaders; force. Even days after the dispute a number of West Africa states were ready to march their soldiers into Abidjan. Force therefore remains a likely and possible option should negotiations fail.

Military intervention has its consequences; deaths, diseases, rape, plunder, degeneration of infrastructure and it's costly to reconstruct a war devastated economy and society. It should not reach such a point for Ivory Coast at all. All the same, if by whichever means and I pray peaceful ones, justice eventually reigns in Ivory Coast, and this with a great contribution from African heads of states and governments, the continent will have won.

Africa has always complained of meddling by the West in its leadership matters. Here is a chance to once again show that indeed the continent is fully capable of being its brother's keeper and that it is prepared to work together to uphold justice in leadership. I say once again because thanks to efforts by East African countries, peace came to Southern Sudan and in two days from now, 9th of January 2010, Africa could add a brand new country to its map.

Photo credit: BBC

Where is Democracy?

2010-10-01T15:16:00.003Z

Post by Cyril Jengo 1. from Freetown, Sierra Leone.

The reality of modern politics exposes the fact that it has been laid waste by powerful interests who can make and unmake leaders and dictate the shape and tone of public opinion. And this has been made plausible by the media moguls, that small set of family members who control the world press. Once they stand in your path... forget it! You're damned. Because they'd manipulate and manufacture public opinion polls that perpetually castigate you as the underdog in the system while caustically destroying your credibility and acceptability to the people.

Keeping the status quo politically, economically and socially 'correct' within the context of their own perceived world view characterizes their ideology and motive.

This control of world opinion is reflected in the spurned news outlets of Reuters, AFP, CNN, Fox News, ABC, Sky News, Washington Post and many others of their subsidiaries. The attempt by the Obama Administration to change Washington and its runaway Wall Street politics, while agreeable to many Americans during his campaign for President is being challenged and even ridiculed by hired intellectuals and journalists seeking favour from huge interests. These interests have their media or their connections to the media-moguls to mount concentrated and psychological attacks on the change Obama promised, twisting and misinterpreting landmark reforms like the health care overhaul, sweeping (although much diluted) reform of Wall Street and the stimulus package which successfully halted the collapse of the bedrock of liberal capitalism.

While these powerful interests should be grateful, they have instead decided to run the gauntlet unless political and economic conservatism are back on track in America. But as Obama has argued, these were the very policies that took America down the paths to sapping its military's energy in illegal wars and leading to the worst economic crisis since the so-called Great Depression.

America is not owned by the conservatives and ultra-rightists. America is a representation of unity in diversity - or so it was. America does not have first class citizens. I used to see America as having citizens of the nations. But alas!! Things are changing.

Could it be that the distortion of democracy in the cradle of modern democracy (the United States of America) spells the end of a moral nation and the birth of an immoral one???

We'd take a look into the horizon and may answer this authoritatively thereafter.

God Bless the World.

_________________________________________

Cyril Jengo I - B.A Hons, M.Phil (University of Sierra Leone) is a friend and a long time telecommunications professional and a contender for the Mayor of Freetown, Sierra Leone. Cyril regularly writes and comments on African and World media issues.

Photo credit: http://waliberals.net

Kibera: The Lie of the Biggest Slum in Africa

2010-09-06T07:24:00.000Z

Kibera is famous and it's fame keeps spreading. Kibera is more than the largest slum in Africa, as has been believed by many for long. It is also a tourist attraction. Any visitor to Kenya with a heart for improving the well fare of the wretched of Africa, get his signature of philanthropy by going to Kibera.

BBC, Al Jazeera, Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Gordon Brown, numerous celebrities, big and small corporates have all visited Kibera to first hand witness the plight of the dwellers of Africa's largest slum. Their experiences have justified sponsorship and NGO funding running into millions of US dollars. An NGO is even more credible if it has a project running in Kibera.

It is given to see residents of this slum who consider themselves to be tourist attractions, having been used to attention from all manner of visitors from all over the world, interviews with international media, mercy tears, cameras and many freebies.

However the 2009 Kenya Population and Housing Census results statistically confirms the fame of Kibera to be media created. Kibera is neither Africa's largest slum, nor Nairobi's even. Muchiri Karanja, a Kenyan Journalist puts it thus;

For a long time Kibera has been touted as Africa’s largest slum, with various ‘experts’ putting its population at anything between one and two million. ...It turns out to one big lie. Not even the combined population living in all of Kenya’s slums comes anywhere close to the largest slum in Africa. According to the census, the total number of Kenyans living in slums is 618,916. ...According to the census figures, the eight locations that form Kibera slums combined host a paltry 170,070.

This factual revelation made a very important and delightful reading to me for two reasons.

Firstly, I have never believed in the labeling of Kibera as the largest slum in Africa and not amused at wastage of resources by having too many NGOs and GOs serving a small population. Estimates put it at about one organization for 15 Kibera residents. This is grievous and extreme, not to mention the exploitation of this lie to get developments funds, of which a good amount is not properly accounted for.

Massimo Barbiero, a the team leader of Community of Pope John XX111, a community based organization working in one of the slums in Nairobi says;

"a huge percentage of aid to Africa goes to servicing the lavish lifestyles of employees of particular programs. There are numerous NGOs that only make numbers because in their staff registers are salary makers and not development workers."

Given the status of life in Kibera is not much better, despite this ratio of N/GO to resident, Massimo's confession is candid, accurate and courageous.

Secondly, the revelation buttresses the serious doubts that UN figures and reports have been treated with, especially when talking about Africa and her issues. The United Nations states that up 16 million Kenyans live in Slums. In its report, Percentage Change in Slum Populations in Africa between 1990 and 2010, UN Habitat estimates between 40 and 50 per cent of Kenyans live in slums. Kenya has 38 million people. As per the census about 619,000 Kenyas live in slums. Where does that put the UN and it's report? Shame on the UN.

It is my hope that this revelation will spread as wider and as deeper as the lie of the biggest slum in Africa has spread, and erase it.

Read the article by the Kenyan journalist here
Kibera according to wikipedia.
Photo credit: trigallery & flickr.

An African solution to the Somalia problem is feasible.

2010-08-10T10:50:00.005Z

Somalia's societal breakdown and the famine that accompanied it were results of political and economic problems... . The U.S. and UN interventions in Somalia are unlikely to resolve the country's crisis because they do not offer solutions based on African initiatives.

Indeed, dozens of UN and U.S. troops have already been killed by Somalis angry with those forces for trying to impose a settlement to Somalia's complex political disputes, and hundreds of Somalis have been killed in clashes with the occupying forces. That should not be surprising since outside attempts to resolve Africa's problems have regularly proven ineffective and even counterproductive.

George B. N. Ayittey, 1994.

There definitely is an African solution to Somalia. Definitely because the possibility of a non-Africa solution has been tested and found near impossible. The UN and the US have washed their hands off Somalia as regards direct intervention. US because of the sad memories of its 18 soldiers killed in Mogadishu in 1993 – relived in one of my favorite films, Black Hawk Down – while for the UN, because of lack of consensus on the effectiveness of a military edged involvement, especially after losing dozens of peacekeepers in Somalia in 1993.

The possibility of an Africa solution has been tested and found possible. On this I will mention the Ethiopian army intervention/invasion that for a moment restored order in Somalia. This in my opinion will be the model plan of action for an Africa solution to Somalia.

History of Somalia and origin of the present crisis.

Somalia received its independence in 1960 after the British protectorate and Italian trust joined to form one nation. The Somali are a homogenous people and due to the unreasonableness of colonial boundaries, others were left in Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Kenya, where they are distributed to this day.

The civilian administration that assumed power was on October 21, 1969 overthrown in a coup d’état by Maj. Gen. Mohamed Siad Barre, who adopted the socialist model, with its central command being the Supreme Revolutionary Council.

Barre was allied to the Soviet between 1970-77 until he invaded and seized Ogaden in southern Ethiopia in his drive to form a greater Somalia. Due to this aggression, Barre fell out with the Soviet who did not support his invasion of Ogaden. The Soviet then helped Ethiopia recapture Ogaden in 1978, the same year when Barre’s ties with USSR were severed.

Amidst this Somalia was a major supplier of bananas, by 1979.

The economy of Somalia started receiving a thorough beating that it would never recover from for decades. In July 1976 the Revolutionary Council was disbanded and replaced with the Revolutionary Socialist Party, the sole legal party. Amidst this Somalia was a major supplier of bananas, by 1979!

The International Monetary Fund came to help in 1980, but after six year of government reluctance and feet-dragging in implementation of economic policies sponsored by IMF, the fund closed its vaults in June 1986.

Barre’s regime had now become brutally oppressive, murderous and intolerably unpopular amidst a poor hopeless people. Having had enough, the United Somali Congress and the Somali National Movement overthrew Barre in January 1991. The two rebel groups could however not agree on power control and in March 1991 the SNM seceded to form the Republic of Somaliland and the USC went on to control the current day Somalia; the famous war torn Somalia as we know it today.

The African Solution.

"I confess that I find it extremely difficult to get myself psyched up to put my faith in the genuineness of a gesture of goodness originating in areas of the globe with a history of imperialist domination…. Shame on you, Africa; shame on the Secretary General of the Organization of African Unity; shame on your heads of state. I speak as a pan-Africanist!

Nuruddin Farah, a Somali novelist.

Primary to my opinion of the possibility of an African Solution to Somalia is that most of African civil strives have been of a home-grown derivation; blatant corruption, misguided quest for power, bad economic policies, negligent leadership, disregard for governance structures and unequal allotment of natural wealth.

First, the Al-Shabbab and similar factions will have to be forcefully suppressed to give the 2004 established Transitional Federal Government (TFG) an uninterrupted working space. Even if they will not be broken up, they will have to be controlled and their zones of operation condensed. If crushed or if they surrender, the warlords should not be integrated into the TFG. Recently Somalia history shows that the converted warlords never abandon their ways of causing strife within coalitions.

Secondly, get Somali youth proper and legitimate sources of livelihood. Remember many youths are in the war front; either on government side or others, as employees, the major cause for militancy being to earn daily bread. The Al-Shabbab ideology of religion is just a control mechanism, which has so far worked well for them.

The way to do achieve this is funding. Can the AU entirely fund the TFG? Of course not alone, but in collaboration with the international community which pledged $213m in 2009 in Brussels. The TFG will need hefty but guided funding to pay its army well and boost loyalty and morale. As the TFG President says, "the reestablishment, training, equipping, payment and retention of Somali security forces is vital for long-term stability."

The money will also help the TFG to get a hold on the citizens and win them over by solving their most crucial needs; free health, security and food. Restoration of legitimate commercial activity will require creation of universally acknowledged financial institutions and strong economic policies.

All this with a joint AU force holding brief as the TFG entrenches itself gradually. Underlined is the fact that a solution to Somalia has to come by way of an intervention that will first hold or crush warlords and give room for Somali to build strong institutions of reform for their country. Note that today, Al-Shabbab has only been kept from overrunning the TFG by the current AU peacekeeping deployment, African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM), which has by all means outdid itself.

However, the key to this envisaged rebirth of Somalia remains with the Somalis themselves. A political answer can be homegrown if the people have the will to save their country. The Somali whether those at home or the estimated 3million in the Diaspora, have the will on which the outside world can build on. A path can only be beaten but the Somali have to take the walk.

Somalia is an African problem, requiring long-term African solutions. Even if it will take 50 years or more, money and military intervention is Africa’s solution to Somalia.

More;

Policy analysis on Somali by George B. N. Ayittey. Here

What is AMISOM doing in Somalia? Nicolas Bwakira answers. Here

What comprises of TFG? Here

Photo credit: biyokulule.com

Laâyoune-Boujdour-Sakia El Hamra? Polisario?

2010-07-26T06:49:00.000+01:00

Do the above names ring a bell? Most probably not, neither does the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic. SADR, also called Western Sahara is a mostly Moroccan-controlled territory in North Africa, with a surface area of about 266,000 square kilometers. Its would be capital city, if size was a determinant is Laâyoune, the largest city.

Western Sahara has been on the United Nations list of non-self-governing territories since the 1960s when it was a Spanish colony. The Kingdom of Morocco and the Algerian-backed Polisario Front separatist movement, with its SADR government in Tindouf (Algeria), dispute control of the territory.

The first time I heard of Western Sahara I was a small boy of about 14 years. While leisurely reading a magazine, there was a feature about Moroccan soldiers who had been taken captive by the Polisario and were still in custody, many years later. It was a heart rending and captivating story of survival. The name Polisario never left my mind.

Right after Spain moved towards decolonization and withdrew from Western Sahara on 14 November 1975, Morocco and Mauritania each moved to annex the territory. They however met immense violent opposition from Polisario guerillas backed by Algeria and Mauritania backed away in 1979, following bombings of its cities. Morocco continues to hold on to the territory, with the entire coastal strip under its control.

Armed conflict ended under a UN overseen ceasefire in 1991. Several agreements and proposals for a referendum to self governance have been reached and made over the years with none ever taking root. Hopes of Western Sahara holding any referendum on independence are bleak with King Mohammed VI of Morocco saying, "We [Morocco] shall not give up one inch of our beloved Sahara, not a grain of its sand".

SADR determination to independence is supported by a substantial number of countries just as Morocco's stand is. At present an impasse reigns between the two sides with none giving away even the slightest intimation of giving in.

Why you should read the Africa Progress Report.

2010-07-23T07:51:00.000+01:00

The Africa Progress Report is produced every year and focuses on economic and political governance, finance and MDG achievement. It is prepared by The Africa Progress Panel under the chairmanship of Kofi Annan.

For anybody concerned with Africa, this report presents a balanced outlook of the continent development status in a collative and summarized approach than any other report. Reading the report is remarkably eye-opening and perceptive as regards where Africa is coming from, is and is likely to be in the future especially on the economic and social faces.

The report is neither prejudiced nor tolerant. It tends to emphatically point out the factual in Africa's progress. The deductions are compellingly buttressed with clear graphical representations of statistics and references to numerous other indexes of credible data.

Assertions in most cases cannot stand the glare of facts. The Africa Progress Report well validates this truth. It does not accord misconceptions a place. What is creditable and bleak about Africa and the rest of the world as far as influencing the political, economic and social direction of Africa is plainly stated and statistically proven.

A strong point from this report is that the attainment of Africa development goals depends much on its compliance and commitment from the continent's development associates.

It is a must read. You can get the 2010 report here.

Much of Africa's leadership is an astronomical pain.

2010-07-13T20:39:00.002+01:00

It is very hard to be optimistic about political leadership in Africa because it is very hard to resist remaining or becoming pessimistic. In the continent's political leadership you will find the major reason why. The leadership just irks. It irks dead.

Move around the continent and in almost all countries there are needs that should have been prioritized long ago by the respective governments but they never were. So you still have full blooded men wobbling from hunger, women the same though trying to remain hopeful, children looking worse…and someone in the name of a leader busy looking sharp and acting normal. Incredible!

Is this negligence and complete lack of foresight common everywhere? Most political leaders in Africa are just amazing creatures. Much removed from actual usefulness. Who are they and what do they represent? Do they have a vision for leadership? Do they practice evaluation? What can they be proud of?

One wonders what will one day save the people of this continent from their own political leaders. I would have loved to write about a new project that just got completed somewhere and where life is better now but disappointment just won’t let.

Money is not Africa’s problem and never has been. Lack of vision is. The same worthless cycle is repeated in many countries; a politicians assumes office, yaps around until death, ballot or bullet creates space for another time-waster.

What generation will govern this rich continent with a vision? When will Africans see signs that enthuse substantial hope for better lives? When will shame be as familiar as it is not now? That for the sake of reputation a politician will be selfless? That government institutions will be stable enough to play the role of the singular governing instruments of a country?

Why should Africans today, in this 21st century, still be struggling with basic necessities like food and clothing? That hunger becomes a national disaster among a people who spend half the year bathing in rain and more rain?

I want to see a prosperous continent, and I am working to be part of this awaited generation either in practice or in an ideological blaze. It is my great hope and dream that Africa will one day experience an activation of its potential and that its own leader will be accountable enough to dedicate their service to improving the welfare of Africans.

We have the materials but we are worryingly wanting in attitude.

Tribute to Guinea Military Rulers

2010-06-30T21:52:00.001+01:00

Everyone is congratulating Guinea for holding the first presidential elections ever in the West African nation. But it goes past the elections being a first - the process was orderly and peaceful thanks to none other than the military. Actually many countries among the existing democracies in Africa can only wish for such a flawless exercise. They indeed could do with lessons from a first-timer this time round.

Guinea’s leadership history is that of a sorry oscillation between civilian and military dictators, since gaining independence from France in 1958. When the current military ruler, Moussa 'Dadis' Camara, took over leadership in a coup d'etat, he promised to work hard and fast towards having democracy in Guinea. Well, as was expected, given similar empty promises by military rulers before, many were skeptical of Camara’s words. Many more even, when he was shot by an aide in December 2009, and was forced into exile.

The measures taken by his deputy to appoint a civilian prime minister and transitional council, have however given credibility and hope to Guinea’s political and so economic future. This dedication saw successful and quick planning of elections that were held last Sunday. Of importance is that even Guineans in the diaspora were able to vote.

Cherry on top: the military has declared that whoever wins will be the actual winner. Indeed reports indicated that there was no interference by the soldiers and that the process on Sunday was peaceful, organized and got a clean bill of health from election observers.

As the election outcome is awaited, it is my hope and prayer that this exercise will herald a new era for the 10 million people country; an era that will see an accelerated improvement of the well being of Guineans and also bring with it the good of democracy.

The soldiers deserve great commendation for doing the unexpected; an evidence of sensible leadership by the current military generals. I’m pretty sure that a few months ago, only a few envisaged this for Guinea. As one journalist from Al Jazeera put it, "For the first time in Guinea's history, the military has been called upon to act as guardians of democracy rather than suppressors of the people,"

Long live Guinea!

Photo credit: Africanews.com

What could be Africa's greatest environmental project.

2010-06-22T17:47:00.001+01:00

11 heads of states from Africa want to stop the Sahara desert from advancing southwards. Meeting for a summit in N'Djamena, Chad, this ended week, the leaders pledged to plant a wall of vegetation running from Dakar to Djibouti.

The barrier aka The Great Green wall, made of different species adopted to climatic and soil conditions of each of the countries, will be 7000km long and 15km wide. The idea was conceived way back in 2005 by various ministers in different countries touching the Sahara desert.

The governments of Burkina Faso, Senegal, Mali, Niger, Mauritania, Chad, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Sudan, Eritrea and Djibouti have owned the project and given it the political support needed to initiate it. Subsequently a number of organizations have already committed funds and technical support to this ambitious project.

Given the fast rate of desertification and what the project seeks to achieve for nationalities of countries threatened by the expansion of the Sahara desert, this could well be the most brilliant of projects coming from Africa. It is to be hoped that the push and commitment shown so far by the political leaders, will greatly boosts chances of its success. More here

The visionary leader that Africa has

2010-06-03T23:08:00.006+01:00

Working with an analogy of an estate will best bring this out. You have been giving food to a number of residents. For as many years as you can remember, it is your basket has kept this people alive. One day you arrive as usual. They are eating food you never left last time you visited. They even have too much of it that other estates have come for a share. Where did the food come from? Well, they produced it. That's more of magic.

That is Malawi. Between 2000 and 2006 Malawi experienced successive years of food shortage resulting from floods and elusive rains. Between 2007 and 2008 Malawi had so much food to not only feed itself but its neigbours as well. They not only gave food but advice. 2 years vs 6 years.

How did Malawi do it? It was as simple as the government implementing sustainable policy program on agricultural subsidy. Many other countries with arable land and dependable rainfall in Africa do have the policies anyway. In Malawi however President Bingu wa Mutharika took charge of the agricultural sector. He not only drew the policy program, but rolled it out with a clear vision. He wanted to see drought ridden Malawi feed itself. He knew it could. With all the land and fresh water, Malawi definitely could.

The government started with giving small-scale farmers new superior crop breeds, fertilizers, irrigation systems and education on crop rotation and soil management. By identifying the weak point of its farming population, the government had empowered the producer. With irrigation the Malawian farmer had his/her major hindrance, erratic rainfall, gotten rid off. With Agro-science the government fought the other hindrance; poor agricultural methods. The farmers could now cope with climate change.

This was through a national program implemented with funding from AGRA which also included local shopkeepers getting grants to subsidize fertilizers and hybrid seeds as well as training. They could then advise farmers on what was good to use when and where; a wise move given their proximity and daily interaction with farmers who are part of their communities anyway.

Short and long of it is that averagely, farmers in Malawi moved from 800kg to 2500kg per hectare production of maize - 3 times their usual production. All of a sudden Malawians had fed themselves, food was running over in government silos and their president was a celebrity.

This is a story of great success in empowering a country. It is a foundation for other African countries. It is a negation of the perception that Africa cannot feed itself – actually a validation of the fact that it is just a perception and not factual. It is also proof that Africans are their own enemies. Presidents of equally capable African countries should take the Malawi story as a wakeup call, because some waking up is needed.

As President Bingu wa Mutharika always says “Africa is not poor, but Africans are poor.” He has shown what visionary leadership is and what is has done for his own country. That is his legacy. When we now speak of Malawi, it's not about drought but about a food sustenance. “Malawi cannot be poor, let alone beg food, with all the fertile land and fresh water stretching across the whole country. Never,” he swears. Exactly the kind of leaders Africa wants.

Photo credit: news.bbc.co.uk

We can do better for Africa than whine

2010-04-21T20:18:00.001Z

Inspiring many Africans towards self esteem, without associating themselves with anything West is hard. First I'm all praise for younger African writers like Chika Unigwe, Stanley Onjezani, Binyavanga Wainaina who already are trying. Of course Obama has, massively, as well, by plan or default.

We Africans need to learn to appreciate the intellectual richness we produce and this way be responsible for whatever images we want the world to have of ourselves. Charity begins at home. We need to change tables and consume what we produce be it TV programs, literature, fashion, music etc. Before you say that made-in-Afica is not impressive, please take a tour of what this content has to offer. It will surprise you to meet others coming for what you brand unavailable, just because you haven’t explored. The excuse that Africans have no option but to become apprentices of the West and so present their minds to it for forging is just that; an excuse. A lame one.

From an individual experience lived over time, I am certain that appreciating Africa and tearing oneself away from low self esteem is a personal choice. It will never happen that the world changes its negative perception towards this continent. Foreign correspondents have to write whatever they write about us the way they write because back home, it makes sense of their commentaries on Africa. Relying on them to tell our story as we want it told, is truly sitting on the railway rather than hopping into the train to attain the destination.

Africans should voluntarily turn towards themselves and do a self examination to realize that unless they esteem their ‘Africaness’, foreign media will never build that. Not in the near future. The rest of the world will follow, if it ever will, the path that Africans will have beaten themselves.

Condemning foreign journalists for painting Africa negatively partly comes from Africa’s tradition of dependence on the West. We not only expect them to feed us, but to go ahead and tell everyone that there is still some light in the dark continent. Well, they have a responsibility not to be conformed to biased reporting but what if they chose not to? Are we doing anything to tell these success stories ourselves? Are we doing as much to light up the good images we have in various parts of the continent? Are we vehemently condemning those who paint us unlike we wish?

The challenge is to bring ourselves as Africans to embrace the great good and success that we have, and so give strength and voice to institutions that work day and night to tell our story as we want it told (Some African writers, bloggers, media, cultural institutions, NGOs etc).

MTN ready for Bharti Airtel

2010-04-05T12:19:00.004Z

Working, in a way or another, with at least 15 African mobile operators, I can say the rush for Africa Data and Voice market is really on, if not intensified. Dwelling on the significant Bharti Airtel buyout of Zain Africa operations, the management of MTN of South Africa has of late spent much time in boardrooms coming up with strategies to boost revenue across it's African telecos.

According to ITnewsafrica, MTN denies that any of its planned moves, which include targeting an extra 6m subscribers in Nigeria alone, have anything to do with countering Bharti Aitel's entrace. However, it's clear that Zain Africa with a total subscriber base of 44m is a big threat to MTN which leads with 46m users in total.

Bharti Airtel, as a new entrant will definitely pump funds into it's 15 new operations. At the moment the management of Zain is busy presenting revenue and strategic reports to Bharti officials in a series of meetings. MTN has also done the same kind of positioning, with a multi-billion war chest for Nigeria market alone and plans, among others, to introdue M-Pesa mobile banking in South Africa. You have to, especially if the new rival once attempted to buy you out. MTN would now be Bharti Airtel had the SA government not thrown in protectionism.

The next few months will see major though most likely low publicity re-allignments by Bharti Airtel management in Zain Africa, a factor that many anticipate will take the competiton for subscribers to a new level. It's to be hoped that this can only be good to users.

Mt Kilimanjaro

2010-02-24T19:22:00.003Z

Eventually this was as can be seen here.

Préserver la paix au Niger

2010-02-19T05:09:00.005Z

It is not always that a coup comes with bloodshed, though it is mostly so. Definitely no well meaning person wants a repeat of Guinée in Niger, and do hope that the military keeps it head.

To the ousted president, Lieutenant Colonel (ret.) Tandja Mamadou, despite your holding on to power, may no harm reach you.

To all my dear friends and colleagues in Niamey; Asmaou, Morou, Moctar, Moussa, Abdelkader, Sid and citizens of Niger, I pray that everything will be back to normal, if not better, soon.

Rush for African oil gets golden.

2010-02-11T22:49:00.006Z

The for rush for African oil continues to intensify albeit quietly. 3 companies with prospects in the yet to be commercially drilled oil wells in Uganda, have just conluded trade deals, which now pend approval.

In the new deal, Tullow Oil will buy 50% of Heritage Oils assets in Uganda and make way for its exit from Uganda's oil. Each of the two holds a 50% stake in two oil fields. This leaves UK's Tullow as the sole foreign oil group in the pearl of Africa.

The good news is that Africa has oil and many more wells to be officially declared wells. [The present rush in Kenya by Western and Chinese oil companies is not about prospecting for oil, but indeed oil well have been discovered, I strongly believe so. The rush is about "strategic pre-commercial positioning]

With arable land and good rainfall, nothing should stop Uganda from living it's dream.

Hold those scapegoat horses young people

2010-01-05T20:32:00.004Z

True, disillusionment is all over the place. We as the youth complete school; Primary, High school or College, with little or no hope. Schooling is now as basic as wearing clothes - not for money but to avoid sapheadedness. If something MEANINGFUL and POCKETFUL was there to occupy our minds, perhaps we would not commit the crimes we do today.

Well, in as much as there are limited opportunities, I'm yet to agree with some of the youth, though being one of them, on this front of "crime because of no chances."

Who really creates these opportunities that some of us wait for? People create them, don't they? Not aliens, not gods, not ghosts. Can we be these people? Do we have to wait for ready-to-use stuff? Are we as the youth beyond invention stage? If my father has a peice of land, why can't I ssek to buy my own piece elsewhere, such that the inheritance will just be an addition to my personally acquired property? Do I have to bank my everything on an inheritance? Do I have to hunt that tongue of piece of land like it was life?

Young people, not just in Africa but all over the world, need to consider themselves as "alone". Lone mountain men and women out to discover, create, inspire, acquire and build. We are not children anymore to depend on our kin even when we can do better.

When I read history books, even on events as recent as 1900s, I get very ashamedly challenged by the age of some movers of things. People who left home, went and observed the world, fought against despair, never gave up, marked their own territories and went back home on front pages of the local daily to tell tales, at an age when our mothers today are still reminding us to wear coats because it might be chilly in the evening and they ain't gonna spend any more money on cough syrup!

Fellow young men and women, we don't need a clean world to survive. We can clean the dirty one we have and live. Where is the pride of some of us?

Climbing Mt Kilimanjaro. Wanna join?

2009-11-23T19:17:00.006Z

Last August some friends and 1 climbed Mt. Kenya, the second highest mountain in Africa. This time, we plan and hope to do Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, next year. This is the highest mountain in Africa.

Mt Kenya was overwheeming! I have never been pushed to the edge as such, physically speaking. Endurance it was. But great great fun it was too. Ever heard of mountain madness and male drama? Well, it's real. At some atitude, you do "loose" your mind! Sometimes; for somepeople. True! you hardly notice but people around you can tell.

This is to anyone who is interested in joining us for the Kilimanjaro jaunt. You are welcome to write to [napshana@yahoo.co.uk]. The dates are 23rd Jan - 1st Feb. We leave Nairobi by road to Arusha to Kili and back; same route.

We are just friends out to have fun in the cheapest way possible. No strings attached, just fun and for bucket list ticking/emptying sake.

I hope to do a detailed chronicle on the unforgettable 5 day Mt. Kenya climb.

Leopold Sédar Senghor betrayed Africa.

2009-10-29T09:11:00.002Z

This is controversial but a line thick enough can be drawn in the matter. I take the side of disagreeing with Senghor.

Leopold Sédar Senghor was born on 9 October 1909 in Joal, a small village in Senegal. Coming from a rich family his childhood was pretty smooth. He went for further studies in France where he met Damas and Cesaire with whom he established the foundations of negritude as an ideology. He went on, in 1960 to become the first President of the Republic of Senegal.

Just after his election, Nicolas Sarkozy gave a speech to youths at the University of Dakar, Senegal. Sarkozy praised Senghor and his love for the French language. Asking the African youth to guard their identity, Sarkozy quoted what he called the ‘grande voix’ (great message) of Sengor, a man who spent his life trying to ‘reconcile heritages and cultures which chances and tragedies had placed on Africa’.

Unfortunately Sengor himself did not have much respect for African languages, which defeats one that we the youth of Africa can look up to him to take pride and esteem our identity. He at one time said;

“…we [Africans]are cultural hybrids, and if we feel as Negros, we express ourselves
in French, because French is a language with a universal vocation,
so that our message is also addressed to the French and to the
other men. French gave us a gift of its abstract words - so rare in
our mother tongues. In our mother tongues the words are naturally
haloed with a halation of sap and blood, whereas the French words
radiate with a thousand fires, like diamonds. Rockets which clarify our night."

Sengor despaired at the inadequacy of African Languages (ALs) to capture the totality of today’s world experiences and so he chose to totally condemn them ignoring the fact that a language cannot be inherently inadequate or inferior.

In French Sengor found the missing link in ALs and chose to run away from providing that missing link to his own language. His comparison between French and ALs was at completely parallel fronts in terms of time of exposure of these 2 languages to modern world experiences. There his comparison was not valid.

By insisting that Africans need to discard their languages and embrace European tongues, he was calling for an exchange of a people’s identity with that of another, and foolishly so because one group had become confused and eventually felt inferior.

This identity crisis arose since Africa's transition from ‘traditional’ to ‘modern’ was overnight. The shift to modern way of life was vey swift especially between 1950 and 1960. In 10 year a cattle raiding worrior in a leather thong became a clerk in a suit, white shirt and tie. Africa therefore carried over its traditional experiences and overlapped them on those of a sudden-appearing modern world. Language as we all know is the reference point of a people's world experiences. From it you can tell what are a people's values, food, seasons, activities etc.

ALs found themselves threatened by 'modernity' in the 20th Century. It was therefore upon their speakers to create words to capture these new concepts of civilization, so that ALs could become adequate as a speech tool to satisfactorily express these new world. Tanzania for instance has overtime developed Kiswahili and added so many new words to for inventions like internet and new technologies.

It is at this point that Sengor, instead of taking over this duty, him being among the very first African intellectuals, chose to go for what was already made – the French language. In his glorification of French Sengor seems to believe that ALs were naturally incapable of adequately serving their speakers at any one time. He therefore chose to trash them. Kiswahili's example proves him wrong.

In incredible betrayal, he joined the ‘White’ in reinforcing the misconception that ‘Black’ was all blood and flesh, a fact that was evident, according to him, in ‘Black’ languages which by that far had only succeeded in capturing blood and flesh experiences. How could ALs capture rockets, nuclear energy etc if these were not part of their speakers’ experiences by the time of his comparison?

Senghor proposed to African that the only way to embrace civilization was by mastering the languages of the ‘civilized’. What is civilisation? Well we embraced. But soon we found out that even with a mastery of these languages there was a very thin line between another peoples’ identity [French/European]and Senghors' idea of civilization. We realized that ‘white’ considered ‘black’ civilized when ‘black’ adopted ‘white’ identity. The tag of civilization was the reward for trashing ALs (your mark of identity).

After this realization, rather late, we tried to search for our identity but it was missing. It was like going back to the house you burned down when you left. Senghor and other first African intelllectuals urged us to trash our identity, only to discover that what we were made to take as civilization was another people’s identity. This was great betrayal. Sengor is one of the betrayers of African identity.

That is why Sarkozy was contradictory (intentionally or not), when he called on the Africa’s youth to guard their identity by following Sengor. How can we harvest mangoes from pawpaw trees? That is a beautiful paradox.

Sengor despaired at the limited state of ALs at the moment of transition to new world, and like many immediate pioneers of post-colonial Africa, laziness, brain wash, fear, confusion and loss of self-esteem did him harm.

These pioneers created language policies designed on the strength of deception, instead of those that could expand the lexicons of ALs to go with the new presentations of modernity and at the same time safeguard identity and pride.

Like a mirror any language can be made by its speakers to reflect all their experiences. No language is ever ‘complete’ unless its speakers cease to encounter new experiences to express, which is impossible. Languages are at a constant growth and vocabulary expansion mode.

Senghor made ‘white’ superior. This is disgusting. His belief of inferiority as an African drove him to advance the growth of the French language in L’Académie Française in Paris at the expense of his own language.

I therefore have no praise for him, neither is his path one I would want to follow.

Victoire Historique des Black Stars!

2009-10-17T08:22:00.006Z

Congratulations to Ghana for winning the Under-20 World Cup in Cairo, Egypt against Brazil. That despite being one man down. 4-3 after penalties. May that spirit live to 2010 in South Africa.

BLOG ACTION DAY '09: CLIMATE CHANGE

2009-10-15T16:54:00.005Z

Hey, how real is the threat of climate change? Well, this question gets very vague answers from many people no matter which part of the world you ask it from...an admission that they don't feel threatened that much. It could be because you and I have to see to believe, don't we?

In August I had the chance to climb the 2nd highest Mt in Africa called Mt.Kenya about 180km Northeast of Nairobi, Kenya. From the last camp before you get to the peak, the glaciers are visible when the clouds move. As you advance to the peak, you actually walk by the expansive Lewis glacier, the largest and roll on it if you feel like it.

The guide showed us parts that were once covered by ice, all year long, now nothing but brown faces of a rock. He is 29 years old only and he remembers that the mountain is not as it used to be. It is even warmer he says [I was freezing though, covered like a mummy].

I come from a cold place and my mother tells me how fast certain types of crops used to grow, rain was abundant, seasons were more than one and it was colder. Not anymore. Those days were definitely better and we have been losing.

Thank God we can now see and are one by one realising that man/woman has some power of creation. Creation of deserts. He/she can, rivers, as well. It has had to take the unusual heat of the sun, lost lakes, famine and drought but so be it if only keep us out of zoos as endangered species.

Blog Action Day is an annual event held every October 15 that unites the world’s bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day with the aim of sparking discussion around an issue of global importance. Blog Action Day 2009 is on climate change and will be one of the largest-ever social change events on the web.

Awarding Obama Was Premature

2009-10-09T16:15:00.006Z

In my opinion President Obama was not deserving of winning the Nobel Peace Prize. Put modestly, it was premature.

The decision to award him was stunning to many...including himself. "I am both surprised and deeply humbled and do not view it as a recognition of my own accomplishments but rather as a call to action," Obama said. The Nobel committee said this was to encourage his initiatives to reduce nuclear arms, ease tensions with the Muslim world and stress diplomacy and cooperation rather than unilateralism.

It seems Obama was awarded in anticipatition of what he is expected to do and not what he has done already, to manipulate him to respond according to what the world thinks of him.

Willing is not acting and the Nobel committee should have looked further for a more deserving person, not Obama.

Happy Independence Day, Ugandans.

2009-10-09T06:26:00.003Z

Today is Uganda's 47th independence anniversary. A 7% economic growth in 2008 deserves noting, plus the largely untapped reserves of both crude oil and natural gas. May the future be bright.

People of Ghana awarded for Education

2009-10-08T19:54:00.003Z

Ghana or the people of Ghana just got themselves awarded from as far as New York City: The AAI African National Achievement Award. All is thanks to education. Africa-America Institute (AAI) is the organisation that gave out the award with much pomp in a gala on September 21. Quite a high profile event if the actress Julianne Moore can have such an effect on a gala night as to have it termed so.

AAI is a New York-based international education and policy organization that educates and trains African leaders and professionals. Nobel Laureate Prof. Wangari Maathai, Namibian Prime Minister H.E. Nahas Angula, and the CEO of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) Dr. Firmino Mucavele are some of its alumni.

Ghana's past is not a sweet story all through. It has had military rule. Since an end to this however, Ghana's democracy is ahead of that of many other countries in Africa. According to AAI The West African country has strengthened human capacity development by seriously investmenting in education.

To wrap it all here is AAI CEO's praise to Ghanaians, "The Ghanaian people have a reputation for displaying equanimity in the face of adversity...throughout the Africa region and beyond, they are also known for their thirst for education, and their inclination toward excellence. They understand, appreciate, and reflect the value of education as a proven means of producing enlightened citizens, without whom democracy is at risk."

I Agree With Dambisa Moyo on Aid Cuts But…

2009-09-30T12:48:00.002Z

It appears that low income countries are getting deeper into aid faster than they should come out. This is the heartbreaking fact . Well, Dambisa Moyo author of “Dead Aid: Why Aid is Not Working and How There is Another Way for Africa” believes poor economies should learn the hard way and that even though it tallies, fire baptism is after all the only way to self-dependence. She has called for abrupt cut of aid. I agree with Moyo only that her means to that commonly desired end are tiled with suffering for many families.

Aid is supporting crucial projects that normally determine the growth of any economy; Health, education and infrastructure. Withdrawing aid suddenly is risking the foundation. Off-budget and part of budget expenditure of developing countries, is always pegged on donor inflows, unfortunately some of which remain promises.

In the present world of global recession, developing countries have seen shortfalls in core spending on crucial projects, because sources of aid themselves have not escaped massive foreign spending cuts that come with global economic crisis. G20 nations pledged 50 billion dollars in aid in April 2008 which has come in slowly than expected.

This takes us back to Moyo's observation. True, at one point or other poor nations will have to focus not on day fixes to their growth but serious and practical goals towards self – reliance.

Evidently they can achieve that. The potential and signs are massive. Malawi for instance has upset one of the largest items of aid expenditure: Food. With sustainable planning for agricultural development, personally supervised by President Bingu wa Mutharika, Malawi is feeding itself and its neighbours.

Kenya came close to totally funding its budget in 5-6 years ago with tourism and agriculture as its main sources of funding. Of late remittances from its sons and daughters in the Diaspora are becoming noteworthy. However, tourism and agriculture in Kenya are dependent on weather conditions which are cannot be accurately foretold. [Currently Kenya has to raise 500 million dollars to ensure food security after unplanned for drought]

The World Bank is calling for a Crisis Response Facility to cushion various countries from severe shocks of shaken economies. Aid can save the situation. However it is upon every leadership to take donor funding as help for someone willing to help themselves tomorrow.

If the present cash inflows are a way to achieving own-funded economies well and good. The good effects of aid should be irreversible and should, project by project, get poor nations from foreign dependence.

In Memory of K.E.Chabari: A friend

2009-09-16T17:35:00.004Z

This goes out in memory of my friend K.E. Chabari who passed away yesterday in Jo'burg, South Africa where he was pursuing his Masters degree. We met in university and a great sense of humour and a great thirst for the goods of literary world drew us together. He vied for a post in the students' body and we supported him. We started a magazine and a club together. Chabari, Hillary and I. The will to be pioneers was mighty. Always cracking unending jokes and getting into literary arguments [esp inspired by Chief Nanga in Chinua Achebe's A Man of the People] with the philosophical quotes we could remember. His tease-around nickname; The Honourable. Hillary's; The Other Honourable. Mine; Monsieur. Only those who know you, know what a likeabe, social, intelligent, funny and motivated guy you were as many of your friends are repeating. Your short stories were just about ready for pubishing. It's very saddening but God brings consolation. You are buried in our hearts brother.

Benevolent dictatorship

2009-07-25T12:39:00.002+01:00

If Rwanda today and some Asians countries were to serve as props would this favour dictatorship of benevolence? At the end of the day, monster or angel on throne, it's all about how well people live. Can benevolence, that much good for others, and dictatorship, the absolutist rule work together?

After all it simply means one individual who is disposed towards good and to whom, at the same time, situation(s) has given absolute power, coercing his/her followers to esteem and produce good, with unpleasant rewards for those who don't.

Even though all the ruled persons feel the absolutism, not all are necassarily against it. Many though are since in any society the lazy outnumber the hardworking and so do natural grumblers. Among those against not all are lazy though. Some only prefer to do as they wish when they wish to.

However can benevolent disctatorship, even in its push for good, fail to imprison its subjects? Freedom is the uninhibited will to choose. The choice does not qualify freedom but the leeway to make that choice. Thus exists the possiblity of the populace making bad choices eg electing bad leadership, and getting away with its bad choice in the name of freedom.

In such a case the populace is better imprisoned by the consequences of its choice rather than those of not choosing. And that what is happening in many Africa democracies. We choose but choose badly.

Does that therefore means the populace should be exempted from chosing by whatever peaceful method eg Niger's president changing the constitution (this doesnt mean he is a good leader, just an example of method) or Guinea's pusch (same discalimer)? If yes, how can the goodness of he/she who assumes the freedom of others to will and execute be vetted?

There's quite a lot of grey in this black and white subject.

Our beloved President Tandja.

2009-06-30T20:08:00.000+01:00

Sometimes one cannot just say anything. Keep quiet I mean. Mamadou Tandja involuntarily wants to rule sans stop. He can’t help it. It’s as incontrollable as your heartbeat. Or like diarrhea. The people of Niger cannot do without his wisdom. Since Tandja came to power 10 years ago, Niger has known such a blissful economic state. If they let him go now, they will have no one to blame once the country goes back to the poverty it was in before he came.

I wonder what is wrong with the opposition that has even asked the military to overturn Tandja. How can anyone ask for a stop to development? The people themselves have said they want Tandja so as to assure the country’s economy that is growing day and night! What does the opposition really want? What does the it really want?

All other countries in Africa and the world are fighting to remove their leaders but Nigeriens are different. They are fighting to keep their out-of-this-world president. They are ready to die and leave Tandja ruling. Thank God they can tell a messiah when they see one.

What? A minister just resigned in protest…what protest? He is bewitched. The High Court has ruled against a referendum. Stupid. It should be called the Low Court!

If Tandja ever said he was going to step down at the end of his term then his was quoted out of context. Those who quoted him in context know that he clearly meant heaven had called him to deliver his people from poverty. And doing good he is. The French, the Spanish , the Portuguese; basically the whole of Europe is migrating to Niger daily, the rebellion in the north has been mashed, Niamey is now the first fully neon city in Africa, second in the world after Tokyo. Niger was very poor. Now it’s very rich.

Don’t I just love it! Pass an apple bro.

Omar Bongo est-il mort?

2009-06-08T07:25:00.004+01:00

The French media, AFP and Le Point say Omar Bongo the President of Gabon for close to 41 years is dead. The Gabonese Prime Minister Jean Eyeghe Ndong denies the report terming it "invraisemblable" - unimaginable. Bongo has been receiving treatment for cancer at a Barcelonian clinic. Time, short time, will tell. If true, an avalanche of analysis of African Leadership is due.

Wow! A chant for Africa today.

2009-05-25T07:12:00.005Z

Every day is an Africa day and maybe that's why not many people know that today is oficially set aside to celebrate all that is great in this beloved continent. And our basket of overflowing with these things of pride even when shaken together;

The beauty of our people, the kink of our hair - that twist and curl that blends with its softeness and tenacity, the naturally braced teeth, the rise and fall of biceps on our young males' arms, the flowing curves of our ladies - and boy don't they know how to gyrate their pelvises to and fro!

The nourishment of our wisdom wrapped up in the artistic figures of speech aka proverbs; that however hot my anger is it will never cook yam. Don't fret son as wood may remain ten years in the water, but it will never become a crocodile. He who cannot dance will say: "The drum is bad." So heed and let your elbows meet the soil, they won't rot.

The vivacity in our dances, that abandon that a tom tom with a life of its own smokes out of your body, the songs that tag at your heart like a snail does on a wall and leaves shiny traces, is it the projection of sharp voices or the waterfall like roar of the deep ones? Mory Kanté the Mandinka griot, won't you do it again with Yéké Yéké, that first ever African single to sell over one million copies? Or will it be Ladysmith Black Mambazo? Or you and me in our home dancing arenas?

And this continent you are blessed, how many orifices have you now spewing oil, diamonds, copper, names them? Can my hand stretch from Congo to Gabon or Cameroun and blanket the canopy of your rain forest? Okavango Delta in Botswana, the world's largest inland delta, can I swim in your waters to go behold you irrigating the Kalahari? African Game, take 2 for another dance in the rain please; all of you; elephants, ants, bongos, crocs, widerbeest...yes you all. And the Sahara, the proud Sahara that has now taken a rest from all the trodding of the Dakar Rally. Rest baby.

I salute you all intellectuals. Go on discovering, inventing and making every man/woman's life better than before you happened. Philip Emeagwali, you who we call Mr. Calculus, scientific computing was never clearer. Even to those that destiny sent out outside this continent, you never dropped the seeds of brilliance in the Atlantic; RIP Aimé Césaire. Mr. President, show them how it's done this time. Didier, Thiery, Kobe, Jelimo...it's nothing but prowess I know.

Nairobi, Pretoria and Lagos; your skycrappers I look at daily. How your glasses kiss the Sun the whole days. And indeed they are glass lips otherwise the pleasure would have eaten them away by now. The streets are appealing too and my visiting friends have been on an oh and ah mode since they touched aboard KQ, SA and EA. The jacaranda and lavender packed parks will caress your nature buds when the sun that loves us 365/12/7 comes up.

Yeah, don't tell me there another side. I know it as well and every tree has its smooth and charred bark. This coin is di-faced and today I chose glory over anything else. In this luxuriant chant I have no sorrow.

May 25th is Africa Day, the official day of the African Union. The annual commemoration of the 1963 founding in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), currently African Union (AU). However, May 25 has been retained as a celebration of African unity, diversity, beauty, glory, success and all that is great in Africa and inspires pride in its people whether home or in the diaspora.

Rain may beat a leopard's skin, but it does not wash out the spots.

Fibre optic cables for each district in Rwanda by Nov 2009

2009-04-16T06:55:00.002Z

That laying of fibre optic cables is now the fashion in Africa is a told story. Practically along the 3 major water bodies around the continent run these cables, the latest being in the Indian Ocean.

This remarked, many villages not far from the coast remain uncovered, with the cables touching major cities only. This is especially true in the West African coast. Elsewhere the partners involved are content in connecting the major towns for now and villages later when budget and logistics allow.

Between the 24-26 of March 2009 the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisations annual conference was hosted by Kigali and it came up with an action plan destined for each member country as a means of enabling governments and various societies deliver IT based services to the people quickly, efficiently and at affordable costs.

Very keen to put into practice some of the recommendations of the conference the Rwanda Development Agency has promised to link all the country’s districts with a fibre optic cable by end November 2009.

Doesn’t the November 2009 date tell of good news? Wilson Muyenzi, the Director of the e-Rwanda project is proud that his country was used as an example of progress for participating countries in efforts to spread IT infrastructure to citizens. Muyenzi fronts this acknowledgement as proof that RDA’s project will beat the November deadline.

The laying of the cables is solely being financed by the Rwandan government. Upon completion, connection to various institutions like learning institutions and hospitals will be handled by the World Bank. Meanwhile the government has established centres in each district and provided computers where people will access IT services at a subsidized cost.

Spread of IT infrastructure and promotion of computer literacy is one of the development projects held dear by the Rwandan government. What the government is doing to its people cannot be quantified in terms of benefits in the near future. It’s invaluable.

When that last person in that remote village, he/she who is the all time clear score card of a country’s level of development starts to enjoy modern technology, then Rwanda will have elevated its population and Africa’s at large and beaten the path for other countries. It’s music to any afro-phile’s ear.

Rwanda at this time

2009-04-07T09:57:00.002Z

All talk of how inhuman friends and neigbours can become sinks better in recent times with a reference to the Rwandese story of genocide. Other stories are there like in former Yugoslavia but Kigali is closer home. It will never be forgotten and the commemoration today well serve to remind citizens of Rwanda, Africa and the rest of the world that human life should never be juggled that close to death.

It would be untrue to say the Rwandese have pulled themselves from the genocide effects. Certainly the weight of bitterness and guilt hasn't let up. Unfortunately some will never forgive as their anger remains on surface while others trauma won't let them.

Despite all this if there is a community that chose to face a problem rather that assume it will wisp away, then its the Rwandese community. Deliberate efforts to bring people to confess their murderous acts in 1994, to their victims and the encouragement of victims to accept theit tormentors have certainly borne great big fruits. This is incredible and commendable. Incredible because it never seem possible.

Polically Kigali is stable. The leadership of President Kagame has managed to stay focused on its vision of uniting the people inspite of their long history of intentionaly fueled ethnic hatred. Well, there are observations that the government is not democratic and dissidents aren't given much space. All the same the due is the devil's.

On ecomomic development the Rwandese is a perfect example of what a country can achieve, if put on track by a vision. Rwanda is a success story in Africa and in the whole of the developing world. Massive infrastructural development projects keep popping up. In mind I have the government insistence on technology education and delivery of IT goodies to the citizenry. Rwanda is agressively pursuing ecomomic growth despite its bad history, small territorial ground and minimal natural resources. Unlike elsewhere in Africa where there are either no national visions or they are there only as testomonials.

Rwanda has also returned fire with fire whenever European nationas have thrown about their belligerence in its home affairs. France and Belgium meddled can tell you well how it feels. French has now been shunned in preference on English and knowing the French, loosing a francophone speech community is just that; a loss.

All in all there is indeed much to celebrate than to sulk over as Rwanda remembers the start of genocide. They have used their mistakes and loses for national good.

Will Africa ever ship back immigrants?

2009-03-31T07:09:00.002Z

Yet another tragedy. A group of immigrants is no more after their boat capsized in the very blue waters of Mediterranean. Yet another boat. It seems like there is no way of halting the imigrants search for good things of life. Not that they should be stopped; their reasons for a journey of lifetime are incontestable. But all the efforts by countries on opposite sides of the sea are still far from being bullet proof.

Will Africa ever ship back immigrants? There could be some thrill in guarding the coastline against Spaniards, Italians and French boats/yatchs full of them, rounding and giving them bread and covering their faces against sunburn. Maybe it's exciting but sad as well. With every single country in Africa discovering an oil well nowadays, this thrill could here sooner than imagined.

For now it is a big loss to youth when their desperation and determination, the want of a good life for self and others, the great hope, the frustration of loosing that bread morsel just a few inches on its way to the mouth, all disappear in the sea. I mourn.

From Tripoli with une grande idée

2009-02-09T06:12:00.002Z

When I was more of a boy there was this group of believers who gathered every Sunday afternoon in the town’s tiny, dustless but only public park to worship their god. A kind gathering would always encircle them. Not much of a faithful outdoor pew but an audience to the wonderful things the worshipers used to do. An elderly but well fed woman, her cotton head dress as multi-coloured as the luxuriantly swishing robe she wore, would suddenly jump up with a shout, bend with the head close to her knees and shoot forward like a careless comet. In the name of an instant encounter with godly spirits a muscular minister would always be at hand to hold the woman and of course absorb the shock of a head busting halt. In the arms of the minister she would for minutes burble and pour forth often unintelligible proclamations. “Mysteries of revelation” the believers would explain.

To many Gaddafi the Colonel is in close to such a practice. He has jumped and shot forward. The African Union had steadied him and he is now pouring forth revelations of a united Africa. Well, he is not wrong. A united Africa is indeed a great idea but only an idea for now. It is most likely going to remain an idea even in the long term future. This is why there are more onlookers than followers in association with Gaddafi.

The Colonel is a patriotic son of Africa. He has often spoken audaciously for this continent and hit its many haters where it hurts be it a little or most. He believes Africa should be independent and is capable of being so. On this I’m with him under the same tent, camels around, the desert ahead and everything. Like a good leader Gaddafi has lead by example and Libya is a self-governing nation. It needs no aid, abundantly feeds, educates, and treats its people and even other people’s people. Yes, Libya has oil and so do Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria.

In the imagined world Africa is has used its great riches to prosper its people. There is progress day and night and we are shipping back immigrants. This article like many others as well as Gaddafi’s vision is an attempt to bring down that Africa from paradise and make it dwell among the continent’s 900 plus people either wishing, fishing, killing, singing, looting, overthrowing, writing, stealing, sleeping, praying, preaching or immigrating to reach it.

However a united Africa might be the most wearisome and long way towards the continent we want. Politically, throw that away and go back to your work. Economically though, there is a flicker. By strengthening the continents’ economic blocs we can each stay at home and lead ourselves but draw benefits from partnership in trading and security against pitiless foreign markets.

Unfortunately this economic frontage as a first lead to unity is being torn apart by greed, pride and cunningness. Some trading partners want to come out both cheeks bulging bald-facedly, others cheeks bulging yes but their dignity unscathed and the rest feel it will be like courting a plague. There is more loyalty to self gain than to futuristic planning.

Gaddafi has been a longtime fan of a united Africa and may have thoughts of making that come about during his time as the head of AU. There is however a number of far reaching, very far reaching curves to uncurl before we have a living united Africa. Conception is also yet. One partner is for it while the other is not and matters as this one have no donor. It’s a do or die state, but more of die - albeit for now.

This continent's leadership irks pretty good

2009-01-12T04:41:00.006Z

It is very hard to be optimistic about Africa because it is very hard to resist remaining or becoming pessimistic. In the continent’s political leadership there you find the major reason why. This leadership just turns off. Just that. It dead vexes to tears.

Move around the continent and in almost all countries there is nothing to peg hope on and of course from politics it goes down to the economy. So you have full blooded men wobbling from stomach and mind hunger, women the same though trying to remain hopeful, children looking confused…and some dude in the name of a leader busy showing teeth, looking sharp and incredibly acting normal.

Is this negligence and complete lack of foresight common everywhere? Is it inevitable as the remaining link to an individual’s self-sustenance or is it unavoidable in the manner of a viral infection whose victim cannot heal and so lets it eat up the body? That eventually a politician becomes the disease itself and not the patient?

African leaders are just amazing creatures. Much removed from actual usefulness. The core of their usefulness is in flesh; the flesh of their lips. That is the same as uselessness. Why, that even tasks like organizing a presidential inauguration ceremony just talks so much of sheer lack of planning? It is the same way their governments are run; everyone beats their own path and no one beats any to any public benefit but only to backwardness.

Such a simple task my goodness! What much is it in appreciating that if A will be on the podium and will sit on seat B, then C will not be found on seat B neither will seat B go missing? Most wonderfully C is found bottom parked on seat B and of course A can’t accept this. So A ushers C into sense by 1, 2, 3 choice punches, in fulsome measure right there on the podium. Of course C can’t accept it either, so C retrieves his image by calling A a few birds and extinct reptiles scientific names and so on and so forth.

Why would an African country have 2 presidents over the same duration that another has 11? Just two with all the time for oblivion. There are many flummoxing things in this continent; things hard to understand as it is to chew kneecaps. Now the former country is poor but very rich in natural resources. How? No one knows. What ignominy!

I just do not know what will save the people of this continent from their kinsmen the conmen. I would have loved to write about a new project that just got completed somewhere and where life is better now and everyone is happy but nope, disappointment just won’t let. Honestly I’m just baffled by African political leaders. Baffled. Who are they and what do they represent? Do they have a vision for leadership? Do they practice evaluation? What can they be proud of?

Money is not Africa’s problem. No. Lack of vision is. A big part of this continent is simply not going anywhere. Just mark timing and groping. It’s not even going backwards because backwards is where Africa is more or less. The same worthless cycle; a guy assumes office, yaps around until death, ballot (not common) or bullet creates space for another time-waster.

What generation will govern this rich continent with a vision? When will Africans see signs that enthuse substantial hope for better lives? When will shame be as familiar as it is not now? That for the sake of reputation a politician will be selfless? That government institutions will be stable enough to play the role of the singular governing instruments of a country?

It’s not happening now and it’s very poignant. Why shouldn’t Africans, today in this century, still be struggling with basic necessities like food and clothing? That hunger becomes a national disaster among a people who spend half the year bathing in rain and more rain? Is it our thinking or what?

I want to see a prosperous continent, and working to be part of this awaited generation either in practice or in an ideological blaze. Otherwise I would just have rolled over, faced the wall and imbibed a mighty puff of opium enough to transport and accord me a tour of a virtual heaven, all dining with angels, resplendent in a flowing azure robe or just nude (it could be the same there), luxuriantly picking a fruit here and dropping another there as I swish like a flywhisk amidst leaves and butterflies, grinning and cuddling sapphire chameleons …

…oh let me just go back to work. It’s grimmer on the ground than dreams can accord.

HOW DO I THANK COLONIZERS?

2008-12-15T08:29:00.000Z

A while ago I listened to this man present the positive contribution of colonizers to Africa with an absoluteness I found hard to accept. His argument was that Africa has much to thank its colonizers for than it has to blame them. That had the latter not offered the invaluable service of enlightening a people that much needed light, only God knows what or where we would be today.

Give the devil his due and say that Africans have a thing or two to be grateful to colonizers for. Sadly it is by proxy rather than by strategy. First despite the negative nuance they bear, we use the nouns ‘colonizer’ and ‘settler’ with great ease since those words best describe the subject of their meaning. Conversely embracing this conviction of “colonizer saviour” without critique is unfair to the colonized, their generations and history.

Why did colonizers come?

Their motive was easy access to available wealth that came with control of overseas territories. It is called a Gold rush as the focus was on Gold and not the welfare of the people under whom the Gold sat. How the wealth was secured, by hook and crook makes the motive as more selfish as it was less mutually beneficial.

The progress of colonized Africa would be gauged better if we plough into our economies the monetary equivalent of what settlers and their government benefited from the continents’ wealth. Remember the siphons put up then are still active up to today. Please don’t speak about corruption by African leaders; that is another night’s story.

That the pioneers, as colonizers can be alternatively called, were hard-working is true especially on the agricultural front. Nevertheless they also met a people who could adequately feed themselves. Hard-work was a value of both sides therefore. In fact settlers at some point sabotaged Africans’ self-reliance by taking their arable land and that through incredible brutality. Hunger was unknown as long as rains pounded the land but thanks to settlers it became known even under abundant rain.

That earlier slavery in Africa benefited European economies is a historical truth. Colonization likewise came with and thrived not only on physical slavery but mental as well. Indeed settlers interfered a lot with African way of life by degrading it.

We cannot in any way trash all that came from colonization. However let us underline the fact that any benefit from colonization was all but planned. It was accidental; an after effect. The colonizer came to subdue and not to enlighten and his activities were easier with a people transformed to adopt his viewpoint.

Legacies of great profit are not built on proxy goodness and that is why colonizers have become an almost forgotten generation, remembered only for their principal one-sided motive: self-enrichment.

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR TURN. IT'S OBAMA.

2008-11-05T04:58:00.007Z

My tom tom was torn. I will buy another one. My pelvic hurts. I will take goat soup. It's the best moment to be alive. Barrack Hussein Obama, congratulations and all the best in your presidency. It is more than just you. A historically trodden soul needs inspiration because it can just as it has. This clock has been wound and all hands point at many years to come.

Le premier président noir du pays le plus puissant au monde, c'est incroyable mais voila il l'est déjà. On fête.

See you when I'm sober.

OF CONTINENTAL UNITY

2008-10-24T07:03:00.001Z

It would have been quite a low note Heads of State meeting this week in Kampala Uganda, but the signing of a pact to create an East and Southern Africa economic bloc has given the summit a curious talk. Reaching me first through International Press is testimony enough that the pact nudged the world.

To include SADC, COMESA and EAC the economic community has outlined its mission as sharing of information, savoir-faire and implementation of projects of common benefit to the 26 member countries with a combined population of 530 million people.

How does this progress resonate with Muamar Kaddafi? Kaddafi’s has used recent AU meetings to drum for a United Africa (a USA of some sort) embodying the want for territorial union. He has so far begat skepticism in good measure, mostly arising from the difficulty to even dream of a beginning point to unity given the incompatible nature of African states, chiefly political.

The first march towards multilateral integration is economic. As commercial exchanges take place people interact and social integration is rooted. Political integration is however never achieved and when forced it undoes the previous 2 steps.

Africa has had and still knows instances of economic and social multilateral interaction which spell hope for this Cape – Cairo free trade area. The East Africa Community for instance not only trades but dances to familiar music and has a lingua franca.

As the draft MoU becomes full of zip in six months time, the 26 member states are making a historic go towards continental unity that has its life in provision of more opportunities to citizens of individual countries. It is akin to finally availing a shepherd to a flock of sheep to secure methodical exploitation of vast pastures not to speak of heightened security.

It has previously been doable for the West and now China to pound Africa with a single club of divide and rule or divide and give. Establishment of an African economic community provides a platform for a mono Yes or No to matters likely to impact on the continent be they internally or externally generated. The ambition has to be allowed time and support but that is precisely where African starts to become uno.

People, is Obama winning? It's time for truth

2008-09-09T11:02:00.005Z

I'm again listening to Obama's speech during the Democratic convention and my seat is pricking. You must agree Obama is both great and real. I then look at a few opinion polls that have him trailing McCain which makes me dig deep, face my 1 million wishes, desires, prayers and ask,

Have we a sure footing that Obama is the next US President?
What is the reality, those of you in US?
Might we, his supporters be swiming in fantasy only to develop heart attacks come November 5 give a day or so? (My tom tom has not known peace this last one year)
Can someone serve me reality even if it is 'Obama is surely winning'?
Leave the screens alone, how is Obama doing on the ground or is McCain gaining it gradually?
If McCain is, who allowed him because he shouldn't be? Gah farbid!

SELF ESTEEM? AFRICA LOOK INSIDE.

2008-08-24T12:51:00.003+01:00

Removing the African from that pit of low self esteem in the face of the West is not an instant job. It better start now and I'm all praise for younger African writers like Binyavanga Wainaina, Chika Unigwe, Stanley Onjezani who already have that bull by its horns and eyes even.

First, Africans have to learn to consume what intellect they produce and be responsible of what images of themselves they paint. They need to change tables and eat from an African table which is already set. The excuse that Africans have no option but to become apprentices of the West and so present their minds to it for forging is lame.

From an individual experience lived over time, I am certain that appreciating Africa and tearing oneself away from low self esteem is a personal choice. It will never happen that the world changes its negative perception towards this continent. Foreign correspondents have to write whatever they write about us the way they write because back home, it packs flesh into their commentaries on Africa. Relying on them to tell our story as we want it told, is truly sitting on the railway rather than hopping into the train to attain the destination.

Africans should voluntarily turn towards themselves and do a self examination to realize that unless they esteem their‘Africanness’, foreign correspondents will not help initiate the inspiration. The world will follow, if it ever does, the path that Africans will have beaten on their own.

Condemning foreign journalists for painting Africa negatively partly comes from Africa’s tradition of dependence on the West. We are therefore unconsciously worried of what images our 'helpers' form of us. We rarely complain when similar stories are told in Asian countries for instance, or rather we do not heed much there. Not because they are our brothers and sisters in tribulations but anyway, what are we getting from them? Who then cares which image they have of us?

The challenge is to bring ourselves as Africans to embrace the great good and intellectual riches that we own, and so giving power and popularity to institutions that work day and night to tell our story as we want it told (African writers, media, cultural institutions etc).

DEMOCRACY IN AFRICA IS SOMETHING ELSE

2008-08-13T17:26:00.002+01:00

True, Africa needs a completely new cloth of leadership. Dedicated leadership and not resources is our problemo numero uno; dedicated towards development, that is.

Democracy is defined as a system of government by which political sovereignty is retained by the people and exercised directly by citizens. It may be held as the sole path to giving Africa stability but only so wrongly. This is because as an institution democracy has never, does not and will never guarantee political stability. For the time that this form of vote-power kind of leadership has been applied in Africa, it is clear that any fraudster of a leader can go round it to stay longer in power, ride on it to stay longer in power or even do Stone Age things a la President A. Wade of Senegal.

Brief, it takes more than democracy for democracy to become democracy. The mind set of people claiming to practice democracy makes or breaks its power to stabilize a nation.

Democracy has been viewed especially by the West as the solution to all political wretchedness in the world. This certainty is modeled on its success particularly in Western Europe, US and Canada. However its success there lies on the practitioners’ respect and not in itself as an institution. These leaders revere democracy enough not to grab opportunities to tamper with it for self gain. By so doing they allow democracy to lead them rather than volunteering to lead it. As humble subjects they surrender to democracy just like a people would give themselves up to a god and so give it real and fantastic power over them.

Democracy is a body. Its breath is respect.

This kind of institution was introduced in Africa but respect towards it is non-existent. That is why any African leader shy enough becomes clever and changes the constitution. At the end of the day he still manages to remain in power and legitimately so.

The amazingly shameless one steals an election and so manages to ride on purported popular vote (democracy) on to power again and even longer.

Recent events of election violence particularly in Kenya have shifted concern from death of democracy in Africa to whether it is really applicable. In so doubting the aspirations cast is to come up with a system that factors in the intolerance and power obsession in an African presidential candidate. A system that recognizes the nature of an African leader to want to rule when and till he/she deems ok; a system that does not count on shame towards itself as a foundation of itself.

In other words democracy which emphasizes transparency and gives people a choice to pick whomever they want as their leader is not something an African can gather him/herself to respect.

The majority of case studies indicate so. The failure of African leaders to respect democracy is what has killed it in this continent. That is why Morgan Tsivangirai is ready to share power with Robert Mugabe who stole it from him.

Power means a lot to African leaders who unfortunately and in most cases are unable to hem it in. Is it not understandable that those presidents accused of undermining democracies today were once dragon-furious-fiery opposition leaders? What guarantee can we have on the present opposers? None.

Democracy is not democracy in papers. Democracy is not democracy in modification. Democracy is democracy in respecting it as it is.

TRIBUTE...

2008-08-07T16:24:00.003+01:00

...to survivors as well as relatives and friends of those who died in the bomb attack in Nairobi , Kenya 10 years today.

No one, even while pursuing whatever cause should seek to destroy lives especially of unconcerned others. Such only draw themselves further from attaining their goals and soon their enemies multiply and overwhelm them.

MANDELA: THE MAN APART

2008-07-18T15:38:00.002+01:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MANDELA!

GIVING UP ON ROBERT MUGABE

2008-07-14T06:50:00.001+01:00

Day by day it is becoming awfully tricky to understand the present Zimbabwe leave alone the future one. Hardly do critics start to have their feet on the ground regarding judgment of Mugabe and his leadership when an unexpected turn of affairs draws them back to the drawing board of opinion.

Quite a good number of us, including Nigerian Nobel Prize winner and political activist Wole Soyinka agree that it is time Mugabe left the throne or else put the country in order. The former is better and easier to believe. We are however in a quandary on how this should happen.

The recent attempt after elections is the target sanctions proposed by the US and UK in a draft UN Security Council resolution which Russian and China vetoed. Russian argued along the UN mandate which does not allow it to butt in an independent nation’s internal affairs, while China could not see a beneficial effect of the sanctions.

The US and UK, claiming to want to secure the welfare of Zimbabweans accused the two of failing the people of Zimbabwe. Unfortunately the UN Security Council has become a field of showdowns between communism and capitalism so much so that determining the sincerity of the five permanent members is often a grayed matter.

Still, the history of success of sanctions does not give much away to consider sanctions as the ultimate solution to national and international impasses. Their effects are never predictable. Consider South Africa whose arms embargo during apartheid led it to develop its own arms and eventually become an arms exporter itself!

At this point it seems Mugabe can only be removed by his selflessness - if he is. The will to say, 'Ok, if I leave my compatriots will live. The nation is greater than me. Whether I’m wrong or right I quit for a people's sake.' Sacrifice this is. I am fantasizing here anyway.

But again were you Mugabe would you consider saying that? Consider you would but doing it would you? Most likely… No. On which softness would a person like Mugabe land if he left office today? Given his mess this would be martyrdom. Presidential martyrdom. We all want a piece of the man and he would rather death had him a single piece than we would a million.

Understanding Zimbabwe is becoming more intricate and the much one can do is watch and pray.

Anyone out there supporting Bob?

2008-06-25T16:49:00.002+01:00

Could there be anyone outside Zimbabwe who has been and still is a serious supporter of Robert Mugabe even when all seem against him and especially now?

If so, what is the inspiration?

What does Obama have?

2008-06-04T16:13:00.002+01:00

What is his charm? Why are many surprised that he has finished this way? Ok, at the beginning only few gave him much in term of faith and still many could just accord him hope. It would not have been wrong to say Obama was part of someone else escort to White House - Madam Clinton that is.

But isn't extraordinary! Mrs Clinton used that very word. I think Obama has won because of 2 reasons;

First his campaign team is superb. It must be a composition of the best strategists you can find. It well understood the kind of product it were selling and how perishable the product (Obama)could prove if marketing was not handled sans mistake.

Secondly, the product sold itself. Obama alone made it very easy for his own campaign team. Much as he was adviced, he comes out as a guy who knows what to say where - very crucial in political contests. He would not gropple in the darkness created by Hillary's side. And boy/girl how dark it was!

Back to business.

TRAFALGAR SQUARE ON SUNDAY

2008-05-27T06:42:00.002Z

Sunday's commemoration of African Liberation Day at the Trafalgar Square turned out to be a really warm event despite the downpour that would not go. Bringing together Afrophiles of all colours, it was the kind of show that one wishes to be part of any day any time.

Sometimes when one is far away from home, homesickness can pass for love for mamaland. Well, you could not tell which was which that amidst all the dances, shouts, hugs and misplaced how-are-yous. The word is ‘refreshing;’ an experience that anyone with African roots relies on for camaraderie as long as the memory lingers.

Finding a group of Jamaican ladies speaking flawless and fast Kiswahili was more than any East African would have expected. Shock. Awe. Wait…

>Ever been to East Africa?
>Nah. In future we could go.
>(Thinking) mmmh, so my tongue is this popular, Wow!

An express boost of self-esteem. What would guys from that far, white even, find in Kiswahili, just to speak it? Don’t you have this colleague (mostly a lady) who giggles as she laments her poor Kiswahili, pretending how helpless she is about it, subtly emphasizing how that removes her from commonness? How lost can one be surely?

This year's 'Pan African day' sadly reminded me how around languages we Africans have lost self-esteem. Self-esteem that is more important than wealth and strategic planning. When eventually the awaited political, social and economic development comes to Africa, self-value will take credit as well.

ETHIOPIAN AIRLINES. THE NEW SPIRIT OF AFRICA

2008-05-24T09:27:00.004Z

The steady growth and the big vision of Ethiopian Airlines is being proved once again. The Airline has been announced the official carrier for the Leon H. Sullivan Summit, taking place in Arusha Tanzania between 2-6 June 2008.

How important is the Sullivan summit? Important enough to have had in its list of delegations the likes of Chris Tucker, the late Coretta Scott King, Dorothy Height, Presidents George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, Paul Wolfowitz. The goal of the Summit revolves around forming strategic global partnerships for Africa’s development.

Recognition of Ethiopian Airlines, ‘The New Spirit of Africa’ is a celebration of not only the rise of a country’s national carrier to international standards but the continent's airline growth as well, which counts acclaimed airlines such as South African Airways and Kenya Airways.

Ethiopian flies to multiple destinations; 30 in Africa and 20 more around the world. The Airlines also plans to be the first carrier to operate the Dreamliner-B787 in Africa, the Middle East and Europe. Extra services to Kuwait from June 02, 2008 will bring the total number of the Airline’s international destinations to 51. Its revenue for the last 9 months was 29% up from that of the same period last year, with a 19% increase in number of passengers transported over the same period.

Beauty of airhostesses. If aesthetic appreciation of God’s authentic creation is your thing, then you got it aboard the Ethiopian. Proffessional and very competitive hospitality packages, said to rival that of carriers like Emirates is one among the factors that the Leon H. Foundation considered. One passenger tells of how he treasures a gift of a deluxe coffee table edition of "Bringing Africa Together," a book that tells the story of humble beginnings, followed by the rise of Ethiopian Airlines to world status, through decades of trials and tribulations, peace and war. Ethiopia has always been fascinating especially for its history and the Airline has been keen enough to fan the awe.

The current economic stability in Meles Zenawi's Ethiopia, boosted by massive investment in the coffee and horticulture industries is a complete opposite of past years of hunger and civil strife.

Ethiopian Airlines was founded on December 30, 1945 and the first international scheduled service was inaugurated between the Addis Ababa and Cairo, Egypt on April 8, 1946.

not human rights until...

2008-05-15T07:59:00.001Z

...they are taken from you. No need to wait till this happens for you to respect and speak for them.

WILL MDC WIN? IT IS ANYBODY'S GUESS

2008-05-12T08:46:00.003Z

Many were ‘disappointed’ when the Electoral commission in Zimbabwe made known that MDC had won the first round of presidential elections. It was not expected that Mugabe would have allowed a run-off.

Popular belief was that Mugabe had won the election even before casting of votes and the event was simply a road show, as many are elsewhere in Africa. That we are talking of a run-off is still a surprise, one that has made some to view Bob as democratic after all.

MDC is upbeat of unseating ZANU-PF and its leader Morgan Tsvangirai wants elections to be held no later than May 24. He believes, as well as I do, that he won the March election out-and-out. Zimbabweans cannot continue placing hope on brimstone-packed speeches against the West while placing frail arms over sunken stomachs. They could not have voted for Robert!

MDC banner

Now that Mugabe has agreed to confirm whether indeed he lost, the worry is whether he will accept the final confirmation. Mugabe is not democratic and allowing a run-off is a tension-dampening move. It is too innocent to think that nothing is cooking in ZANU-PF’s cauldron. Mugabe has heard the voices of the generals of armed forces who have vowed to die by the ‘patriot’. He has also been comforted by the likes of Mbeki, to whom everything is normal. He may choose not to disappoint them by refusing to be routed.

As for MDC, placing any hope in a people’s revolution is futile. Apparently Zimbabweans are a peaceful and patient lot than Kenyans - two days of delay were enough for Kenyans to use axes to see what matter lurks inside their fellow humans’ skulls.

Mounting pressure on Mugabe to quit is a lullaby to a sleeping child – useless. When sanctions were placed on his country he reminded Zimbabweans how a capable leader he had been but for economic sanctions by Western enemies of progress. Chronic food, fuel and jobs shortages are taken by ZANU-PF like a natural catastrophe that it is not responsible for.

Military intervention? AU can launch an armed solution based on the African Union (AU) charter, amended in 2003 to permit military intrusion in countries facing "a serious threat to legitimate order". So far however, AU has placed colossal hope on a peaceful resolution rather than war. If anything, Mugabe’s clout as a nationalist is still high among African presidents with most of them blaming the West in this case.

Will the world be content to leave Zimbabwe as a field on whose stories scholars of international relations are weaned? A magical word to soar newspaper sales, of course on failure?

We have a run-off ahead of us but your guess is as good as mine whether MDC will capture what is rightfully theirs. If MDC loses, I can’t imagine what other tribulations await Zimbabweans that have not been revealed so far.

Photo credit; BBC

my day of birth and seasons

2008-05-07T15:47:00.003Z

In the days long past ones birth was captured in seasons and times. It was a wide window and the celebration if any was communal. Were I to be in the days then, this day today would not have stood out as the day when I became some person's son, not to even think of the precise time; noon. What of the conception night? Well, I know it even and I did not count days but was revealed unto me by the parties involved...mmmh

God is great for all those years. What else can I say?

FROM CELTEL TO ZAIN

2008-05-07T15:09:00.001Z

As Celtel prepares to rebrand to Zain, probably in July 2008, one can only appreciate the efficiency and ease with which it has managed to win quite a chunk of the African mobile phone market. Besides the first-in-the-world One Network/Le Reseau Unique that has the SP referred to as 'Pan African', Celtel has invested a lot in promotion of African music. From sponsorship for Idols to the recent Rock Your World, Zain seeks to position itself along the same bar as leading mobile communication companies like vodafone, that have a penchant for overseas investment under a unique brand. Celtel will take the brand name 'Zain' after the latter took over MTC Kuwait that initially owned Celtel. It has its base in the middle east.

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Emtel, operating in Mauritius is out again with another first in Africa. After rolling out the first full 3G commercial network in Africa, Emtel is preparing to do it again with the fastest mobile internet speed starting with High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA); 2Mbit/s and then with Wimax which can attain 8Mbit/s. To facilitate this Emtel is laying down a fiber optic cable in the whole of Mauritius. The network will be live in end 2008.

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In Kenya France Telecom will operate under the brand name Orange. At the moment the French firm owns 51% of Telcom Kenya. In five years the consortium and the Kenyan government will release some shares to the public such that France Telecom will then own 40%, the government 30% and 30% by the public. Orange will be operating in its 13th African country since 1999.

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2010 looks to be a breakthrough year for faster internet and telecommunication services in Africa. What with all the undersea and in land fiber optic cable whose completion is set for then. Operation are going on/set to commence soon on both the east and west coastlines as well as in the Indian Ocean islands. The cables will provide connectivity to several countries along the coast when it will have landing points. Landlocked countries will then tap from the cable. These cables mean cheap access to users in Africa who still rely on satellite telecommunication, blamed for high cost of telecom and slow Internet connectivity.

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www.journalisteafricain.com, a portal designed for those with an interest in journalism on the African continent.

WHY MUGABE CONTINUES TO RULE ZIMBABWE

2008-04-28T09:02:00.003Z

Zimbabweans as a people need a change of governance for the sake of their very lives. The world is settled on that fact but has failed to agree on the informing motive. It is clear now, that besides an economic turn-around for the country, other, less altrustic motives have emerged.

Why is it that everyone feels in themselves activists for humanity while pouring criticism on President Robert Mugabe, but falls just short of committing to any action?

It is as sad as death itself when robbers make away with your wheelbarrow after emptying the heap of bank notes you were transporting and even sadder when you sit on the notes and mourn the loss of the wheelbarrow.

The world is afraid of Mugabe who is compared in his land, to a knee bone that even the most ardent of all scavengers, the hyena, finds it difficult to profit from. The reputation of the bone is not in its hardness but its round and slippery nature. All it takes is a crack to hook a tooth into and the hyena has dinner, otherwise its slips and keeps slipping away.

opposition protests

Mugabe's elusive nature is externally rather than internally generated; first by the African Union and secondly by the West (EU). Starting with the West, foreign criticism always comes across as lacking in sincerity. Closer inspection only confirms this; Western demonstration of love for Zimbabweans or their hatred for Mugabe cannot be detached from the strings of vendetta and selectivity that drip so obtrusively from every report on Zimbabwe.

The EU imposed speedy sanctions on Mugabe's regime after the 2002 general election in Zimbabwe under the pretext that these were punitive and brought on by the fact that the Zimbabwean elections had not been free or fair. It was no coincidence that the choir-master, leading the chorus for the chastisement of Mugabe was Britain; the repossessed land was after all almost entirely repatriated from white Zimbabweans of British decent.

From then on Mugabe was handed a straw which he has clutched with all his heart and ten fingers. He never fails to remind his supporters that the economy has been damaged by these sanctions and that otherwise, they well know what a capable leader he is - the years of rapid growth and service delivery after independence remain etched in many minds.

The West mishandled Zimbabwe's crisis in an approach that gave Mugabe undeserved audience and sympathisers. By making it personal, in its usual belligerent attitude towards Africa's crisis, it alienated the inevitable and crucial ally in saving Zimbabwe; The African Union.

Beyond the vote and a respect for that vote by Mugabe, only the AU possesses a platform through which Mugabe may be removed from power. This far however the AU has appeared indifferent to a peoples' troubles of hyper-inflation and food shortage, and has not made it clear that it supports progress towards a Mugabe-less Zimbabwe.

The West and Africa seem to have varying images of suffering in Zimbabwe. What to the West is a matter of seconds to death is one of aeons to many African heads of state. The plight of the Zimbabweans appears so immediate and solemn to others, while the rest take the panicked news reports with a bowlful of salt. The reason for this is that AU heads of state do not share the West's motive for wanting to remove Mugabe. When British Premier Gordon Brown issued a high school boycott threat to the EU-Africa Summit in Lisbon, Portugal in December 2007, he did it to show his concern for Zimbabweans or so he made it seem.

That he stood alone in protest even among EU bedfellows only served to ascertain that the boycott's inspiration was suspect. AU heads of state decided to speak for Mugabe, not because they are happy with the disorder in Zimbabwe, but because they were not ready to participate in vengeance disguised as overflowing concern.

If the AU has been toothless then a brand new set of teeth has grown, and if the vote does not save Zimbabwe only AU will. The West could but cannot without AU's cooperation, which means streamlining the motive behind what most agree is a situation that cries out to humanity action; showing Bob the door. Besides motive disparities that have so far worked for him, African heads of state have furnished Mugabe with the extra fuel he needs to keep on ruling; their respect for him as a colonial liberator. He is indeed, and his contribution to freedom struggle is greatly admired.

His leadership errors notwithstanding, the laurels that adorn Mugabe's head for liberating his country from minority white rule will not easily fade away. Many in Africa still believe that repossessing land from white citizens who enjoyed the use of an inordinately large fraction of Zimbabwe was the very mark of the courage, one that is to be emulated. Many more still applaud the Zimbabwean leader when he tells off Western critics and advises them to put their time to better use than railing against Zimbabwe.

However, given persistent outcry from all over the world regarding Zimbabwe, with its tag as the fastest economic decline in the world, a forceful intervention seems like the last of the cards layable, even in the name of a greater good. Mugabe selflessness in the independence struggle need not hold reason to ransom.

The AU was amazingly sudden to swim all the way to Comoros and forcefully get involved to flush out the rebel Mohammed Bacar who had clung to power after an illegal election in one of the small islands, Anjouan, that make up Comoros. In spite of the fact that these two scenarios differ, and that it was easier to obtain unanimity for attacking Comoros than it would for Zimbabwe, it is nonetheless a hint of what options AU can survey and take a lead in bringing justice about.

A conflict between Africa and the West as regards the motive for regime change in Zimbabwe continues to eclipse the fact that people in this Southern Africa country need desperate rescue. When a person cites rising funeral expenses as one of the reasons she is queuing to vote for change then you know she has seen it all. We all want to be billionaires but not by default. Not when a man enters a supermarket with a sack of notes and comes out with a wallet.

Half-awe and half-distaste for Mugabe has affected the regional and international cooperation that would give Zimbabwe a return to its economic well-being. Mugabe now looks like the former president of Togo, Gnassingbe Eyadema who when asked why he had stayed so long in power, blamed the Togolese saying they had bewitched him.

Reblogged with editor's consent from KENYA IMAGINE: a popular Kenyan online idea lab.

Photo courtesy: Aljazeera English.

NAIROBI SPEAKS GREAT PRIDE

2008-04-23T14:52:00.006Z

Apparently Kenya still trail-blazes. I was reading a blog and saw this comment by non-Kenyans:

"Nairobi is extremely beautiful with a superb weather. I hear they've commissioned the start of construction of several superhighways with eight lanes with the help of the Chinese. The airport also is being refurbished and expanded to become one of the biggest and most modern in the Southern horizon.

"If you've been to Nairobi lately, you will notice that litering, spitting and smoking in public is illegal. Throw a sweet wrapping on the ground and you'll end up facing a magistrate.Without oil and literally no natural mineral resources, Kenya overtook the European Union to become the largest exporter of manufactured goods into the Comesa region.

"The country has not factored in donor aid in its budget the last three years making it one of the first in Africa to attempt sovereignty from donors and the Bretton Wood institutions. The economy is owned by Kenyans and multinationals like BP are leaving because they cannot compete with local petrol distributors.

"Nandos, Steers and all those international chains of restaurants have been literally routed out of Nairobi and other cities by indigenous restaurants that sell quality locally sourced cuisines at half the price. SAfrican Supreme Furnitures and Barnette could not compete with local artisans and left the country.

"Others like Shoprite, Game and Pick and Pay have been unable to penetrate the Kenyan dominated supermarket sector. SAB tried to enter the East African market in a big way with Castle Lager only to be outdone by Kenya-based and indigenous East African Breweries and had to bow out.

"Nairobi Stock Exchange is literally owned by ordinary Kenyans, who line up everyday to buy shares. Kenya airways is among the 5 most profitable airlines in the world. When the airline was privatized a few years ago more than 70% shares went to Kenyans. Only 29% was sold to KLM - a strategic partnership that really paid off."

Can't tell how accurate but the comment speaks volumes.

And then the ignorance that cost Africa much goodwill:

"It made my heart leap for joy to see such a beautiful African city(Nairobi). When I first saw it, I thought it looked Euro. Then I read it used to be under British rule, and a lot of whites still live there as the pictures show.

"But, It also melted my heart to see a land where are skyscrapers of buildings, black owned and or operated corporations. On the billboards were blacks. As anyone in the US can tell you, blacks might be present in the media and advertising, but we are very much still the minority.

"I can't imagine living somewhere where everything is by and for people of my skin color. I can't imagine living in a country with a black majority... It's true that western media has most people, especially Americans, and PARTICULARLY African American scared to death of Africa. Africa is portrayed like some wasteland with lions ready to eat you for snack. Or some war-torn wasteland where everyone is either starving, or dying of AIDS or exotic diseases."

here.

AIME CESAIRE AND THE BIRTHDAY OF NEGRITUDE

2008-04-21T11:11:00.003Z

"One day, I am crossing a street in Paris, not far from the place de l’Italie. A guy passes by in a car: He was French. “Hey you little nègre ” Then I say to him: “little nègre your ass!” The following day, I propose to Senghor we start a newsletter together with Damas (Leon Gontran) called The Black Student. Léopold said, “ I would change that, we should call it Les Etudiants nègres. You got it? That was thrown at us as an insult. I pick it and hit back!” Here’s how “Negritude” was born; in answer to a provocation."

Aimé Césaire was a man cultivated well in the fight against negative perception which has been the fiercest adversary of the black man for centuries. He and his friends understood well and earlier that the black was no different from the white man as regards being equipped with the same intellectual abilities but that the former was under mental suppression by the deceitful belief of inferiority.

Aimé’s contribution through his writings and the revolutionary ideology of negritude remains immortal in spite of his death. We Africans need to realize and be proud of the truth that we have an origin and a heritage equal in importance to that of the rest. Ours is in fact fresher and very recently removed in history as compared to that of the white.

To imitate the culture of the white is a folly because we can never master it enough as to be readily received by it. Even if the white open their circles to us, their culture, and not even them, will never accepts us. Culture or the distinctive way of life of a people is a garment made to fit. If it doesn’t fit and you force it on yourself you court ridicule.

Léopold S Senghor in spite of his efforts to be French, failed. To be one of the 40 immortels (members of the Académie Française that regulates French language) as an African is a perfect example of a man lost from his heritage. In spite of his poems and all that, I will always criticize Senghor because I see in him what many Africans are but should not be at all.

Senghor promoted this perilous thought of the inferiority of the black person and for this reason he was very comfortable advancing the tongue of French in the Académie Française. Is it not him who remarked that the French language shone like diamonds whereas African languages were abstract things, useful to capture only blood and flesh?

Aimé Césaire as for him kept well in the steps of his conviction and his fight was honest. He did not just purely speak about the equality of the black but lived it. Aimé used to say: “my poetry is born from my actions” He lead his life like a black equal to a white, speaking so vigorously about the African person and the daily need, even today’s, to define his rightful place in human relations.

Aimé Césaire gave himself to the pride of the black man, his advancement, his rise, his dignity and the safeguarding of his culture; and in all that he was an up-to-the-end-person.

Homage to CESAIRE.

NOBEL LAUREATE WANGARI MAATHAI ERRED

2008-04-18T09:25:00.003Z

When one becomes a figure as Nobel Laureate Wangari Maathai of Kenya is, one's words and gestures acquire an influencial heaviness and seriousness. That is what Prof Maatahi's prescence was meant to do in the recent business of carrying the Olympic Torch in Tanzania.

She was invited and gave her accord. Come the day, the great leader and respected environment activist was missing in action. A few days earlier she had withdrawn from the event on the basis that the torch had become a symbol of disunity.

That was a wise way to put across an excuse or to defend a personal principle. However I find it easy to punch a hole in her morale. The go-around of the Olympic torch has not been smooth and usual. It is in France that it was even extinguished twice although the zeal was expected given the gaullist culture of solving things outdoors, in the streets.

None of those scenes were repeated in Tanzania, save for a few anti-China placards. The sincerity of Prof Wangari comes out with shades of grey because of playing in a dispute that is wider than it seems, and whose solution was not a condition for holding Olympic games.

The spark as we know it is that China, the Olympic host this time round, is being accused of human rights abuses in Tibet. The accusations are not new given the long length of 'Sino-Tibet' dispute, only that Tibetans chose to make themselves heard again at an opportune moment. Their choice of a season is calculated; squarely at a time when China is washing itself to make a big mark with the Olympic games.

China has abused human rights in Tibet but which country has not including France, US, Britain etc? The West is a great supplier of hypocrisy which is why a person of Wangari's echelon needs to sweep such politics under her feet.

In as much her actions in selected situations can and have carried positive weight, I doubt if anything positive was produced by her protest. The Tibet conflict as it stands now is no longer 100% about human rights, but only the new front in a cold war pitying China and the West. Issues of how Beijing is polluted have taken rest for the now.

There is much that the revered Laureate will have to quit if her stand will be to follow the wind of International political correctness which blows unpredictably. Differing views on the torch depended on geographical locations and not on a universally accepted cause.

We need to ask ourselves whether Prof Wangari's action bore more good or bad? Was it informed by a 3-dimentional cause? Her absence definitely robbed the event in Tanzania/Africa of much deserved colour and regretably so because her branding the torch a symbol of disunity doesn't hold water.

The folly of playing abitrator in world politics is that convinience is the rule, and seasons rather that solid reasons determine the convinience. One is never sure of his/her stand and much is bound to be lost while searching for this stand that is ever temporary anyway. Especially when it comes to a threatening China and a threatened West, taking a stand is very risky.

No matter the coating Prof Maathai gave her reasons for boycott, I would rather she participated, more so because the torch was never meant to be a symbol of either unity or disunity and never will it be.

Photo credit: BBC

HOW MUCH YOU DON'T KNOW ABOUT MALARIA

2008-04-10T11:19:00.004Z

This is the Malaria month. The month is not sick but people are and someone thought the good month of April should have us check our rear and front in facing one of the deadliest diseases in the world.

Tourists refuse to come to the tropics for fear of malaria. Many an explorer were turned away by the maladie and for some among the daring our porter forefathers carried their bodies to the coast for onward shipment.

One of the UN Millenium Development Goals touches fighting malaria as its focus. I thought I knew enough until my health scheme provider sent this;

FACTS ABOUT MALARIA

1. About 40% of the world’s population, mostly those living in the poorest countries are at risk of malaria. Of these 2.5 billion people at risk, more than 500 million people become severely ill with malaria every year and more than 1 million people die from the effects of the disease.

2. One in five (20%) of all childhood deaths in Africa are due to malaria. It is estimated that an African child has on average between 1.6 and 5.4 episodes of malaria fever each year. Every 30 seconds a child dies from malaria in Africa.

3. Early diagnosis and prompt treatment are two basic elements of malaria control. Early and effective treatment of malaria can shorten the duration of the infection and prevent further complications including the great majority of deaths. Access to disease management should be seen not only as a component of malaria control but a fundamental right of all populations at risk.

4. Inappropriate use of antimalarial drugs in the past has contributed to widespread resistance in the malaria parasite to drugs such as chloroquine, leading to rising rates of sickness and death.

5. The main objective of malaria vector control is to significantly reduce the rate and number of cases of both parasite infection and clinical malaria. This is achieved by controlling the malaria-bearing mosquito and thereby reducing or interrupting transmission.

6. Long-lasting insecticidal nets can be used to provide protection to risk groups, especially young children and pregnant women in high transmission areas. This provides personal protection. The nets are effective for a number of years depending on models and conditions of use.

7. Indoor residual spraying is the most effective means of rapidly reducing mosquito density. Its full potential is obtained when at least 80 % of premises with malaria vectors are sprayed. Indoor spraying is effective for 3 to 6 months, depending on the insecticide used and the type of surface on which it is sprayed. (DDT is effective for longer periods, up to 12 months in some cases).

8. Pregnant women are at high risk not only of dying from the complications of severe malaria, but also spontaneous abortion, premature delivery or stillbirth. Malaria is also a cause of severe maternal anaemia and is responsible for about one third of preventable low birth weight babies. It contributes to the deaths of an estimated 10,000 pregnant women and up to 200,000 infants each year in Africa alone.

9. Malaria causes an average loss of 1.3% of annual economic growth in countries with intense transmission. It traps families and communities in a downward spiral of poverty, disproportionately affecting marginalized and poor people who cannot afford treatment or who have limited access to health care. Malaria has lifelong effects through increased poverty and impaired learning. It cuts attendance at schools and workplaces. However, it is preventable and curable.

MALARIA – WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

· Malaria is caused by a parasite called Plasmodium, which is transmitted via the bites of infected mosquitoes. In the human body, the parasites multiply in the liver, and then infect red blood cells.

· Symptoms
Fever, headache and vomiting, which usually appears between 10 and 15 days after the mosquito bite. If not treated, malaria can quickly become life-threatening by disrupting the blood supply to vital organs. In many parts of the world, the parasites have developed resistance to a number of malaria medicines.

· Preventive Measures
i. Prompt and effective treatment
ii. Use of insecticide treated nets by people at risk e.g. pregnant women and children in high transmission areas.
iii. Drainage of swamps near residential houses
iv. Indoor residual spraying with insecticide to control the vector mosquitoes
v. Use of anti-repellants on exposed body parts when visiting endemic areas

Experts are like soldiers; they are experts of the last war but not the next.

CASE NOW CLOSED FOR IDRISS DEBY

2008-04-02T15:46:00.006Z

Losing to gain and losing to lose.

some members of Zoe's Ark

President Idriss Deby Itno of Chad has now gone step one, two and three of what was thought he would do eventually: releasing Zoe's Ark jailed members through a presidential pardon. The formal pardon was issued on Monday and hours later the 8 french men and women were out of prison to 'find their mark'.

The so called aid workers had tried to fly out 103 children from Chad in October under the guise of providing medical attention before being intercepted and convicted for mass kidnappings. Out of the 12, 8 are now free while the rest four will have to wait until their involvement is fully investigated by French police.

Wisdom has prevailed, or so one of the family members of the released put it. Wisdom here is the arrival of payback time for the Chadian president. In an earlier post, my strong take had been that the workers will not go through complete jail terms given the situation that held Deby's throat.

Deby was faced with the live threat of a very menancing rebellion whose capability was demonstated in January this year when the rebels almost run over N'Djamena. French intervention is what actually kept Deby otherwise he would be dead meat by now; at least his presidency would.

Before the kidnapping saga France had been cordinating a deployment of an EU contigent to halt the rebel incusion. Deby was almost on his knees to have the deployment in the shortest time possible given what faced him; the rebels were practically taking their time since their reconnaisnance well positioned them as the side to reckon with.

In came Zoe's Ark and an option presented itself to Deby. Not really an option but a disguised inevitability. The lawyer for the aid workers knew this better and in no time 'requested' presidential pardon.

How could Deby refuse? It was a perfect but covert blackmail. He did not want to antagonise his saviour France which help mainted his seat. In the way an African man dies, he did not scream yes but promised to look into the request.

Well, he now has. Compensation to the children's family to the tune of EUR 8 million is supposed to be received from France. It is not a condition however and to save face in case of anything, Deby has said his government will pay if France does not. EUR 8 million from poor Chadians who were not even liable to the kidnappings. Victims compensating themselves, huh.

What a small price to pay for presidency! Very, indeed.

Photo courtesy csmonitor.com

BUY SOIL AND A DOLLAR

2008-03-27T15:41:00.003Z

Our love for God really takes us far. Nigeria and Kenya could be the leading countries in Africa in protestant following, and down here the worship is never without our usual vigour and vivacity.

In these two places a Pastor says he has a 5 dollar note in an envelope. The pew is supposed to buy the note for 150 dollars (in local currency) and in the name of____ , if only you have faith, this becomes a lasting experience with more and more dollars. And yes, the bills are bought en masse.

The faithfuls assemble around a big heap of soil. The Pastor asks all those in need of land to line up. He scoops a handful of the soil, puts it in an envelope. Anyone interested buys the soil then goes and pours it around the piece of land he/she would like to acquire: even if it is your land or government's. A glimpse of such a person near my compound would make my machete receive undivided attention.

The Pastor actually asks for a second truckload of soil.

By faith in God things do work. I am a witness, but not of any success from this.

By the way Mugabe will win because he has already won.

AFRICA INTERNET PENETRATION

2008-03-26T15:11:00.008Z

Can you see your country among these? If not then you should next time. If yes, its great but it should be greater. According to statistics from the Internet world stats this is the information.
Internet penetration is always linked to development levels.

A 1/4 of the average internet penetration leaves room for great improvement though it is laudable given the obstacles involved. Much of this has been facilitated by the private sector and the global village bug.

This is how Africa is doing compared to the rest of the world. We have much to catch up here. However given the growth rate between 2000-2007, which is 887.6%, the current figure of 44m users is bound to increase. The rest of the world had 257% growth over the same period.

There are some factors that give prospects of having as many African fingers as possible on the mouse given the developments in fibre optic connection. East Africa is not leaving anthing to chance and has already given out the tender for the laying of the cable. Already Kenya has linked its major cities with fibre cables in its efforts to have a world-class communication infrastructure.

World Bank has also been funding various IT development projects which show take us fast there, of course depending on the diametres of siphoning pipes. Yes, they are still in proper operation.

In the last 100 years the continent has made leaps without going through all the stages like Western countries. For instance, the land line telephones did not see much of Africa and is set to see even less thanks to the overwhelming wireless phones.

The inevitability of being at par with the rest of the world is to Africa's advantage since it has to catch up or catch up.

Images courtesy of internetworldstats

RULE MUSEVENI TILL YOU DROP

2008-03-19T16:11:00.004Z

Rule till you drop man! That is Gaddafi's trusted friend advice to his homologue Museveni. I find it ok if you ask me. Gaddafi has a maxim that if you are popular with your people why leave them hanging? Why not give it to 'em all the way to the end?

I support Muamar from this end. We have institutions in almost all African countries meant to safeguard democracy which inturn is meant to assure fairness and good leadership; all with its accountability and transparency strings.

There is nothing wrong with democracy. Nah. The problem is with the people. They do not respect this institutions and they thus abuse them at will for their own ends. And these people are the leaders.

Reigning till kingdom come would thus be better but if. Only if the ruler is accountable enough. Kagame and Museveni are resplendent in the cloak of democracy but they don't practise it. They jump in whenever it is convinient to sort things out regardless of some funny laws that are only there to be obeyed without serving the public.

The problem is finding this leader who can be trusted. If we can then I go Gaddafi way. In Africa a home should always allow a father to streamline things but reasonably. Those who lord it unreasonably are not the example here.

Museveni and Kagame are not the perfect guys here but they are the closest I get to my support for the idea of putting democracy in books but bending it when a good reason comes over.

Gaddafi has a point here.

FRANCE ENCOURAGES 'SOME' MIGRATION

2008-03-17T16:14:00.006Z

France in its efforts to foster cultural exchanges with Africa issued this statement

Official communiqué:

Delivery of the visas to African nationals having an occupation in artistic, cultural, university matter or of research (February 19, 2008).

\The Ministry for European and Foreign Affairs, on the initiative of Misters Bernard Kouchner and Jean-Marie Bockel, in agreement with the Ministry for Immigration, Integration, National Identity and Co-development, give, this day, instruction to all French diplomatic stations and consular present in Africa to give the greatest attention to the delivery of visas to African nationals having an artistic, cultural, university or research professional activity. These instructions envisage the possibility of granting to African nationals who make a request of the facilities of granting visas of circulation (visa of brief stay not exceeding three months each time and whose validity can go up to five years). /

The directions echo the desires of some African leaders expressed during the 23rd Summit Africa-France in Bamako, in December 2005. France committed itself to giving visas of short stays for multiple entries and exits on the French territory.

I know of friends and lecturers who have benefited from this plan but who would rather it was a continuous stay, since especially for intellectuals intermittent studying is not preferable.

This is however the much that France can do if we take into account the fact that it wants to please two parties; The French and the demanding Africans. Sorry to say this but former French colonies are more in the rocking hands of their former colonizer than other African former colonies.

The French don’t want to see immigrants and the French government needs the immigrants’ home countries for public relations. And not in the negative sense since France unlike any other Western country is the only one that can boast a truly inclusive foreign policy towards Africa. In fact Sarkozy has come out more pro-African than any Gaullist president in history. He has severally expressed his optimism in the African youth on whose shoulders he places the turn-around of this continent.

But the communiqué is laudable undoubtedly.

Read this blog, Generationafrique, started by French Foreign Ministry as an interactive forum with African youth.

The following stars were as well behind the blog’s launch. Nadège Beausson-Diagne, Yann Arthus Bertrand, Manu Dibango, Fatou Diome, Malamine Koné, Muriel Mayette, Youssou N'Dour, Patrick Poivre d'Arvor and Abderrahmane Sissako.

Photo credit: generationafrique.

KOURTRAJME AFRICA - SALIF KEITA

2008-03-15T10:55:00.003Z

Salif Keita is really a great African artiste. I find this song just Irresistible and like some have said, it makes the 'lost' start searching for their racines (roots).

Salif here we go!

Madan - Salif Keita - Made in Mali Version - Kourtrajmé Africa

BIOTECHNOLOGY BOOST FOR AFRICAN FARMERS

2008-03-12T15:45:00.005Z

AFRICAN HARVEST is a trail blazer in Africa in as far as GM agricultural techniques are concerned. Registered in the US but with its headquaters in Nairobi Kenya, the NGO (Africa Harvest Biotechnology Foundation International, AHBFI) is the brain child of a Kenyan scientist, and a lady at that, Dr Florence Wambugu.

Dr Florence saw the need to introduce the tissue culture technology to Kenya banana farmers to boost their harvest and income. The results from small scale farmers in Kenyan highlands are proving her foresight as many are uprooting their coffee trees to plant banana tubers.

Meant to promote sustainable agricultural development and thus fight poverty, the technology has enabled banana farmers to achieve multiple production. Tissue culture technology in Africa has increased banana productivity from 20 to 45 tons per hectare.

In her own words, African Harvest is adding a voice to the pool of many voices out to speak for Africa. Indeed Dr Florence has achieved her goal having targeted what the common African family is engaged in; farming, but often with less productive and ancient means of production.

One of there very vital programme is creation of awareness of where Africa stands in terms of agriculture and what biotechnology can do to improve the present situation.

Communication for Development on Africa Harvest

Africa’s underdevelopment is linked to lack of knowledge. In the agricultural sector, communication is an integral part of the Africa Harvest programs and projects design; in particular, biotech and risk communication are designed to facilitate the adoption of new crops and products, especially GM products. Africa Harvest Communication for Development Program includes an effective biotech communication and public acceptance program designed to empower people from those within national governments down to the local level to make informed decisions regarding the implementation of biotechnology crops, bio-safety policy development, and bio-safety protection.

THE MUSLIM AND THE COLOUR IN OBAMA

2008-03-10T05:16:00.003Z

Recently, in these times when US Democratic candidates Clinton and Obama, are selling themselves to democrats, a comedian of funny repute Jon Stewart saw it good to poke fun at Obama’s name. You already know ‘Hussein’ is the name here.

‘You have to give Barack Obama credit. He has overcome a great deal -- not just
he's an African-American, Barack Hussein Obama is his name. His middle name is
the last name of Iraq's former tyrant. His last name rhymes with Osama. That's
not easy to overcome. I think we all remember the ill-fated 1944 presidential
campaign of Gadolf Titler’.

In fact as I type this article, MS Words keeps on suggesting ‘Osama’ in place of ‘Obama’. Linguistics call such words minimal pairs.

Granted, comedians’ anecdotes are removed from our daily experiences. However the issue at hand is too serious, so much so as to allow us to explore the intolerance of many America towards Islam and colour.

Before you say there are mosques and races all over US, ask yourself why Stewart chose his audience well. Comedians know what food to give to what audience. They don’t just babble and people don’t just laugh. One Matthew Sheffield says, ‘The hypocrisy is thick enough to cut with a knife and serve—assuming you could stand the stench’.

That these jokes caught attention of political analysts world over as carrying more than just laughter mirrors the unfortunate effect that anything Islam conjures upon anyone attached to it in the US, and worse even if he/she is a presidential candidate like Obama.

The path to White House as is being sought now is being sought deeper than the policy issues. Negative perception meant to discredit a rival is an effective tool if brilliantly employed in politics. But all perception is built on a reference point. The reference point here is Islam, and within it there is colour.

Fight against what America calls terrorism has been unable to put religion and securing of world supremacy apart. Much of it is coincidental anyway. US adversaries in the recent past and the most vicious have been from Muslim countries. We are counting Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Many Muslims believe the US is out not to just assure world security, but to destroy Islam so as to attain this security. And so the bad blood.

Consequently Obama’s campaign team knows it is unfashionable to go for high office in US with Muslim ‘baggage’ just as strutting in a Kabul alley with a ‘I love NY’ cap would mean having your head, abdomen and thorax far apart.

However, Obama is a victim and there is nothing he can do but to try and undo the perception (not easy if you ask me). The problem is with a majority of Americans who are sometimes unnecessarily choosy. Any fear over what a candidate is, especially in a country that is truly a fabric of so many world cultures, should be anything else but misplaced and ‘sexed-up’ beliefs.

Still the amazing momentum in Obama’s yard has not been lost to many, including non-Americans who aren’t ready for a black man as US president. Oh yes! And the wrapping in which their sentiments are being delivered is religion. This is the second reason why Stewart’s audience was tickled. He wouldn’t have tried that anywhere anyway.

The release of photos of Obama in a traditional Somali gab, what perception were they meant to built on if not give birth to? Probably that he is too close to things Muslim in a manner that a reasonable US voter would not be comfortable? Maybe, but more even.

No one in their right campaigning mind in the Clinton’s and Republican McCain’s side would dare say Obama is black so he is not suitable. This sentiment is being expressed by drawing unpleasant references to Obama’s names in a way that seems to stop at their being Muslimish, but which is targeted to stop at his being black. Otherwise why would McCain dwell on the name ‘Hussein’ even when he is not competing against Obama, at least not for now? If anything Obama is not a Muslim.

Obama has great support across the colour divide in the US but still there is a click that just won’t click for the wrong reason. You don’t have to support him to show you are above colour distinction neither should you reject him because you are not.

As much as many cannot say it even on the International platform, they still do see colour when they look at Obama. Ask what came out the other day that caused Canada to apologize to him. I wouldn’t be surprised if meetings in high places have taken place, top on the agenda being; ‘Stopping Obama from gaining White House’.

Photo credit. Flickr

JUST A BEGINNING, BUT SOBER.

2008-02-29T05:42:00.003Z

This is the beginning if the two antagonists in today’s Kenyan political arena stick to it. I mean the power sharing deal President Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga committed themselves and probably the nation to, yesterday. And the beginning here is that of prosperity for a great nation.

The unexpected nature of a fast unanimity has once again gone to show why Kenya is considered a country cut from a somewhat rare cloth in Africa. Much of this recognition here is patch work since confidence was eroded by post election violence. Kenya then showed what to some being ‘Africa’ is. But let’s go.

There are numerous actions that need to be attached to some people and have them accountable. Human rights violations should not just be bygones. For the sake of making them bygones, a proper and nationwide acceptable way should be crafted to sort them out.

Kenya has now in its court, a calm and no-anxiety opportunity to reconsider all the issues that came out in the last two months. If there are land and economic inequality issues time is ripe to check them out.

And God really loves Kenya, which might be the second nation after Nigeria in Africa in Pentecostal following. God has never seen as much petitioning, reverence, and attention as He has from Kenya since end-December. And so have Pastors too in terms of inflated pews.

Now the rest of East Africa can laugh since Kenya has smiled!

KENYAN WOMEN WAY AHEAD

2008-02-26T06:21:00.000Z

When everyone else was giving food and clothes to the displaced in Kenya, women saw an equally crucial need that had to be met as fast. Sanitary pads. Surprisingly to many girls in our continent, alternative methods always take the place of medically recommended pads.

A general glance at the refugee scene in Africa will tell you that sanitary towels are rarely mentioned. They hang about as a luxury just like in peaceful times to several women. Only they know what they make use of.

Women in Kenya are more aware of their rights than scores of others around the continent and never shy away from demanding them. I say this because an impressive number among them has successfully emerged beneath a culture that seeks to position men as the de facto wise jack, the only Moses. They apply culture as a tool when convenient rather than being wordless when the said ‘African culture’ is brandished to shut them up.

This altitude has seen a great concern for young girls being pioneered almost exclusively by women in Kenya. A few men are in the wagon too, such that the issues of sanitary pads and their use (still a cause of shyness to many man and women) are no longer discussed in hushed voices.

Recently when an appeal was sent out to the populace for food and clothing, women also asked for pads as an likewise crucial need. Many a shopping basket for the displaced in supermarkets around Nairobi would then have pads side by side with maize flour or sugar.

The way Kenyan women came in for their colleagues in the camps tells more about their liberty in comparison to those in other countries. Some of these things are never discussed in public in some countries while in Kenya FM stations freely table them.

Women have managed to show that sanitary pads are desperately needed as well and that when you give flour and a shoe, your donation can be considered complete if you factored in a lady’s comfort.

Their outspokenness about a woman’s needs have melted the indifference in men and turned them around to be understanding beings (and women like it that way). I once saw on TV men distributing the towels to high school girls in a school in northern Kenya, a very culture and religion dominated region. Go around mamaland and you will agree that such steps are still in the womb in many countries, if already conceived at all.

Kenyan women have a lot to share with other women in Africa in terms of caring for their counterparts, and involving men in understanding the importance of meeting some of women’s very common needs.

US RETHINKS AFRICOM BASE

2008-02-19T10:24:00.002Z

Germany will still host the US Africa Command base till tomorrow unknown. At least the US policy makes appear to be reading from the same page with African leaders on what credibily damages the proposal to move Africam HQ to Africa has done.

This comes at a time when President Bush is touring African and as I said in the last post, US is keen on winning back Africa's trust, it it even had it. Only Liberia offerd to give part of its soil for the base.

You know they say Liberia is an America state only that the movement of techtonic boundaries cannot explain how it attached itself thisways? African doubts.

US: A NEW PR POLICY UNVEILED

2008-02-18T05:44:00.001Z

Air Force One has been with us since Saturday and yesterday Tanzania welcomed the de facto leader of the world. President George W. Bush will have his longest visit in TZ as part of his 5 nation Africa tour. The 5 nations have been carefully selected to be presented as poster countries of acceptable behavior, albeit from a US view point.

The de jure leader of the United States comes around at a time when his presidency is approaching its full stop and the trip is more of a personal evaluation of his government’s re-evaluated policy for Africa.

The US has in the recent past had its African policy transmute to be more humanitarian than anything, with top on the focus list being health and education. A joint venture with Africa, that’s what Bush calls it, has seen the US shift from the customary aid handouts to more and deeper partnership with individual African states.

The new projects have actually shown signs of a bright future since they directly and closely address the daily concerns of many in the target countries; good, accessible and functional schools and hospitals.

For a time after winning the cold war the US never readjusted from an arm twister to a development partner. Decades of military funding of its proxies in the fight against communism had an effect that the US has carried over in its relations with the third world, until recently.

Regrettably, over emphasis on militarisation has often had a boomerang effect which has begat the US more enemies that it would wish to have. Amusingly the greatest modern threat to America, terrorism, has its most effective launching pads in former US allies.

This distrust of the US has not whirled past Africa but indeed has acquired roots here, especially if you throw in the humus that is religion, and uniquely Islam. The new policy, whose worth Bush has now come to evaluate, is the latest Yankee detergent for its PR.

As bush drew a line and said, ‘if you ain’t here then you are there’ Africa, as if on a spell of agreement became desperate to free it arms. And who should offer an option than Beijing.

China won the heart of Africa with its emphasis on partnership rather than handouts. Well, handouts do feature still but partnership in trade and investment has given Beijing inroads in record time.

Between January and October 2007, Beijing made an incredible 30% jump to trail EU and US as the biggest trading partner with Africa. The time that these three have taken to position themselves as such tells you why the US is repackaging itself.

If the overt visit of Bush is about humanity, then the subtext of his tour, if you may, is about strategy. Analysts have it that a look at the establishment of the US African command (Africom), which is yet to find a physical base on the continent, should tell you that the US is not at all ready to give up on or to give away Africa.

The US understands what a gone Africa would herald for its position as a superpower. With the realization that options for alignment for Africa are existent and growing, the Bush administration has had to ‘modernise’ its policies to replicate the current fashion trend when you decide to go black: PATNERSHIP.

PREDIDENT DEBY HAS NO MUCH CHOICE

2008-02-12T15:54:00.000Z

In an article early November last year, I postulated that given the events in Chad, President Idriss Deby was most likely going to pardon members of the infamous Zoe’s Ark; those who tried to kidnap 108 children in the name of ‘medical rescue’.

Well, the kidnappers might just be on the verge of sweet, sweet freedom. Though convicted in Chad an agreement was made to have them do porridge in France, their home country.

The given events came to greater significance a couple of weeks ago when Chadian rebels finally arrived in N’Djamena. In the article I wrote;

The reason why the {kidnappers} will most likely be freed is because Chad is in
desperate need of the French-led peacekeeping contingent that was about to be
deployed to stop powerful rebels from knocking on the doors of N'Djamena, Chad
capital.

President Idriss Deby knows all too well that the
deployment is the only saviour to his leadership. His tribulations in securing
the peacekeepers support (it has not cost him little) is one thing he wouldn't
wish to go through again.

Without shouting it, subtle blackmail
will have Chad throw in the towel. Definitely.

The rebels almost overran N’Djamena and France never abandoned Deby. France had offered to airlift him out of the capital if things went purple.

Now Chad (read president Deby) has received a request for presidential pardon from the lawyers of the six kidnappers/aid workers, jailed for 8 years with hard labour. In a gesture of gratitude to France for being a friend in deed, Deby has promised to consider the lawyers’ plea.

Subtle blackmail, if anything, is much in play in this saga. It is what has been euphemized ‘gesture of gratitude’. It is one of those instances when the blackmailer doesn’t talk. A you-know-what-might-happen wink is enough. That tells why the lawyers want to take advantage of the times.

France has worn the approval of the UN Security Council to use military force should the rebels strike again. Though the approval was done based on securing the continuation of UN humanitarian mission in Darfur, undoubtedly Deby will benefit.

Though Deby is not as weak as it may seem to some, sooner or later depending on the determination of the rebels, who are taking a breather, the ‘gesture of gratitude’ will roll and the six will glory in presidential pardon.

These things happen.

It reminds me of Mugabe whose case is entirely the opposite. Zimbabwe finally sent Simon Mann to Equatorial Guinea where Mann wanted to go. Mann is a South African of British extraction (the word!) who led a group that wanted to overthrow President Teodoro Nguema of EQ, the third largest producer of oil in Africa.

He was arrested en route in Harare. Well Mann is finally in EQ as an unwilling guest of Nguema who vowed to sodomise him personally upon arrival. Now, this is horrible. God forbid!

BLACK HISTORY MONTH.

2008-02-06T04:30:00.000Z

Black History Month is a commemoration of remarkable ladies and gentlemen of African descent as well as important instances in the history of African Diaspora. It was launched in 1926 and is celebrated annually in February in US and Canada, and October in UK.

Africa is not only the original home of humanity; it is the cradle of its
intellect. It was on Africa's savannahs, riverbanks, highlands, deserts, and
forests that the first men and women used the power of their minds to shape
their environment in ways that suited them. Here man established himself as a
tool maker and hunter and advanced social animal. Over the course of millions of
years, groups of prehistoric Africans of the genus Homo reasoned, judged,
understood, and created the basis for much of the technology and industry that
exists in the world today.

John E. Pfeiffer.

John E. Pfeiffer hasn’t erred in his observation judging from the list below of some of the many inventors of African descent, and their contribution of extra comfort to the world. And they had taste!

George Washington Carver; Peanut Butter 1900

Paul E Williams Helicopter

Paul E Williams

Elijah Mccoy; Automatic Lubrication System July 2, 1872

A.C. Richardson: Casket-Lowering Device. November 13, 1894

C.V. Richey; Fire Escape Bracket. Patent December 28, 1897

Alexander Miles; Elevator and also safety device for elevators. October11, 1887

J.F. Pickering; Air Ship 1892

Dr. Charles Drew; Invented Blood Banks 1940

Frederick Jones; Starter Generator. July 12, 1949

Frederick Jones; Portable X-Ray Machine

Andrew Beard; Automatic Car Coupling Device 1897

Augustus Jackson;Ice cream 1832

G. F. Grant; Golf Tee. December 12, 1899

Garret A. Morgan; Gas Mask (Saved many lives during WWI) 1914

Henry Sampson; Cellular Phone July 6th, 1971

J. Gregory; Motor

Lewis Howard Latimer; Light Bulb Filament

Madam. C. Walker; Hair Care Products 1905

Robert Flemming Jr.; Guitar March 3, 1886

T. Elkins; Toilet 1897

Wm. Harwell; Attachment for shuttle arm; device used to capture satellites

Philip Emeagwali; World's Fastest Computer 1989

And finally this one makes me pick a drum, climb on the nearest hill and do a boogie of great pride.

Onesimus: Small Pox Inoculation (He brought this method from Africa where advance medical practices were in use long before Europeans had any medical knowledge) 1721.

DOES THE WEST OWE AFRICA THAT MUCH?

2008-02-01T11:51:00.000Z

Recently while going through a statement by the French secretary of the State, Jean-Marie Bockel, on his personal and his country’s commitment to continue giving aid to Africa, I wondered what the source of his pains as regards Africa’s growth was.

Granted, a rich man/woman may be morally compelled to help his/her poor neighbour, the duty here being as said, moral. But besides that ground is the West under any other obligation to provide aid to Africa?

Over the years aid has continued to flow in to Africa and today, almost, if not all developed countries have a development project or two in various African countries purely on a humanitarian drive.

Can Africa lay any claim whatsoever to the aid it continues to receive from the West?

Going through secretary Bockel’s statement, one gets the impression of more than just humanity. As if France is bound by its constitution to help Africa. At this point I ask myself whether Africa has any right to Western help.

Matters of conscience are purely internal and tied to the nature of that conscience. That means there is an option. Matters clear of the conscience (external) are governed by laws and therefore obligatory. They can be claimed.

The West can definitely do much for its people with the aid it sends to Africa. Doesn’t it mean then that so far it has been doing Africa a favour?

FRANCE'S BLOG FOR DIALOGUE WITH AFRICAN YOUTH

2008-01-30T06:24:00.000Z

A few hours from now, Jean-Marie Bockel, the French secretary of State will be participating in a debate with African students at the University of Paris VIII-Saint Denis in France.

The debate seeks to get reactions from African youth as regards their expectations, the feedback of which will be passed on to Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president.

The initiative is a product of last year’s visit of Africa by Sarkozy, where he expressed his desire to see youth in Africa take charge of their continent’s destiny.

Secretary Bockel therefore opened a blog "generationafrique," that will serve as a platform for informal dialogue with African youth.

Wish to take part? Bon, get into the chat room, choose your language and voila! Dite quelque chose.

HUMAN, HABITAT, BEAST AND BENEFITS.

2008-01-29T06:27:00.000Z

Ngumi Mucheru is an expert Elephant chaser. His chronicle as a farmer in Aberdare Mountains is a tale of two stages: ‘tin-fire’ and ‘pumpkin’ stages. Courtesy of the Aberdare Range National Park electric fence in Kenya, Ngumi’s tale is about to enter the third and final stage; ‘rest’ stage.

Since his teenage days he has flung countless tin fires at the Elephants’ massive ears, every time they visited his family’s corn farm. With the beasts getting used to tin comets, Ngumi planted pumpkins along a side of the fence, then onto the next farm and the next, that way in to the forest.

Pumpkins are like vanilla ice-cream to the big animal and it follows the coiling plant, chewing it to the tip. The trick is to pass the problem to your neighbour’s fence, who in turn passes it on. You only have to pray that the elephant doesn’t think of a delicacy change right on reaching your corner.

The fencing of the Aberdare Forest was first floated by Rhino Ark, a famous tourist hotel at the park with a view to bringing a productive coexistence between the neighbouring community and wildlife. It was until then a story of crop loss, poaching, illegal logging and forest fires.

Now on the threshold of completion, the multiple gains of the 1,000 square kilometer electric fence so far are stories right from the manuals on environment conservation and wildlife protection. The community is safe and so are the animals. Especially the threatened black rhinos can now keep their horns.

Previous human encroachment posed a worrying threat to the water catchment areas (Nairobi is almost fully dependent on water from the ranges) and globally endangered bird species like Aberdare cisticola, Baillon's crake and the striped fluff-tail.

The US$1.8 million project has not been a drums-and-tambourines-all-through affair. The greatest challenge was winning over the local community in the effort. The community was initially skeptical, unsure of their next spring of livelihood (poaching and logging) and grazing areas, which caused the fence to be vandalized.

An idea was proposed which would have the community enter a conservation partnership with the park management enabling both sides to benefit. In exchange of policing the fence the people will gain from, for instance, communal water projects.

The Kenya Wildlife Conservation (KWS) and the Rhino Ark hotel partnered with the community for the erection of the phase 5 of the project with the latter alone contributing an amazing USD 70 million. Moreover, poachers are now apprehended by the people themselves.

The Rhino Ark hotel has been organizing an adrenaline-exciting annual event dubbed The Rhino Charge, to raise funds for the fence. The popularity and the global appeal of the grueling sporting event is better felt than told.

Karura falls

Besides Kenya’s two highest peaks - Lesatima at 13,120 feet and Kinangop at 12,816 feet, the Aberdares (Nyandarua mountains), which forms the eastern wall of the Rift Valley, has also given Kenya it deepest falls - Gura falls - at 300 meters. Gura falls cascades opposite Karura falls – 275 meters – and both are three-tiered.

The electric fence project is a remarkable hit having turned environment and wildlife’s worst adversary – man - into a protector against depletion, guaranteeing a lasting conservation triumph that in turn translates into more revenue for Kenya.

As one writer puts it, the real impact on management of the Aberdares’ ecosystem, serve as a guiding light for equally assertive management of Kenya’s (and Africa’s) other natural resources, the vital rivers and forest cover.

photo credit; KWS and junglephotos

ETHIOPIA VS STARBUCKS: A WORTHY LESSON

2008-01-23T11:21:00.000Z

As you take the last sip of your espresso, you swear to come back for more. This coffee has a grip on you which is why you continue paying $4 for a cup of this concentrated drink. That is somewhere in Europe or US and the seller is Starbucks. What you may know by now is that there has been a battle around your espresso or cappuccino.

In March 2005, Ethiopia with the help of Oxfam filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to trademark the names of three coffee-producing regions: Yirgacheffe, Harrar and Sidamo.

Ethiopia aimed at forcing Starbucks to acknowledge the country’s right of control of the coffee brands which would have translated to more profit for the peasant coffee farmer. For the $4 cup of the high-priced gourmet Starbucks coffee, a shameful 3 cents only found its way back into the pocket of an Ethiopia coffee farmer in the name of profit.

Starbucks in it defense argued that signing a trademark agreement might hurt farmers because roasters may stop buying Ethiopian coffees. It sighted its loans to farmers as proof that it was not out to just exploit.

Shrewdly it proposed geographical certification as a measure. Now certification only allows an acknowledgment of where a product is grown without denying anyone the right to market the product under the brand names.

A guarantee of geographical origin wouldn't have required Seattle-based coffee giant to seek permission to use the names in their branding. In other words Starbucks sales would have avoided a climb-down from its high sales and the Ethiopian farmer would still have continued to toil for the 3 cents.

Ethiopian government was however determined and choose to use means usually set a side for corporations in developed economies to wrest profit from their distributors. Controlling the brands through trademark rights meant an additional $88 million into Ethiopia's coffee industry, a shot at climbing out of desperate poverty.

For a country that is the birth place of the coffee bean, the 12 million of its people who depend on coffee for their livelihoods could not have demanded more from a company that is the world’s leading coffee seller which posted $7.8 billion record revenue in 2006.

Oxfam enlisted the support of 96,000 supporters who signed on the attempt to have Starbucks agree to sign licensing agreement with Ethiopia. After close to 3 years the peasant farmer has spotted light at the end of the tunnel – and it is not an oncoming train.

Starbucks has finally bowed to pressure and consented to the demands. What is more is that the modern intellectual property system allows for securing of trademarks, giving poor farmers more revenue from sales.

Trademarking projects could bring millions more in profit even for poor cocoa growers in West Africa or the Bushmen in the South for their medicinal plants. This success in Ethiopian is an eye opener for other African market that could be worth billions of dollars.

UK URGES FOR MORE AID TO AFRICA

2008-01-21T07:14:00.000Z

UK Minister for International Development, Shriti Vadera, on December 10, 2007, addressed the ADF-11 replenishment meeting in London. Following on from the UK decision to double its contribution to the ADF, Ms Vadera used the occasion to ask the donor community to similarly increase their commitments to development in Africa and to the AfDB in particular.

Economic growth in Africa is presently averaging more than at any time since the 1970’s, however, as the speech outlined, there remain many challenges to sustain this level of growth and to utilize it effectively to significantly reduce poverty. The Minister therefore highlighted the urgency of increased development assistance in order to maximize the gains from this ongoing spurt in economic growth.

Ms Vadera also highlighted the fact that it is now half way to 2015, when the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are expected to have been achieved. The MDGs were accepted as development targets by the entire UN General Assembly in 2000.

However, to date progress towards achieving them in Africa has been checkered at best. With this in mind, Ms Vadera reminded bilateral donors of their commitment under the MDGs and other agreements to increase aid in order to assist Africa to meet these aims. According to the OECD, aid from the group of 22 richest nations, the Development Assistance Committee (DAC) actually fell in 2006 on the level the previous year.

The speech also highlighted the legitimacy of the AfDB as a conduit for this aid from the developed world. In contrast to the situation at the Bank 20 years ago, according to Ms Vadera the bank was now “leading from the front” in working towards the development of Africa and its president was successfully “demanding results”.

Alongside the recent increase in aid from the UK, this represents a vote of confidence in recent reforms of the Bank undertaken under the stewardship of current President, Donald Kaberuka. Ms Vadera even suggested that the African characteristics of the Bank make its success in facilitating growth in Africa a test of the sustainability and self-sufficiency of the development process on the continent.

The Minister also outlined how the Bank’s development strategy was in line with what she saw as being the key areas for African development. Within the private sector, for example, the Bank has rapidly expanded its private sector portfolio, helping to unleash Africa’s entrepreneurial energies.

Likewise in the infrastructure sector, the Bank’s mandate from NEPAD to work within the sector, has put it in the ideal position to provide the energy and ideas needed to improve infrastructure and lower costs for business. The AfDB’s regional focus also impressed Ms Vadera.

The speech therefore outlined how a large number of countries with a small population and low income mean that regional linkages are crucial to creating sustainable economic growth. Regional integration provides economies of scale and competition to local producers as well as more investment opportunities for foreign investors across the continent.

Ms Vadera also warned that there is much work to be done and many challenges ahead for Africa. For the Bank, Ms Vadera spoke of the need for managers in the Bank to maintain the same level of energy, commitment, and accountability that has been recently displayed.

Furthermore, she outlined a need for a Board of Governors to remain impartial and untainted by national interest in order for the Bank to represent the whole continent and not a particular group. However, in order for the Bank to be able to overcome these challenges and work successfully to transform the African continent increased aid flows are needed from the developed world.

This article originally appeared here.

SADC FREE TRADE AREA: A MODEL

2008-01-18T09:32:00.000Z

By 2010 Southern African Development Community (SADC) will have one Customs Union, a Common Market in 2015 and Monetary Union in 2018. Impressively since 2000, the ground has been laid and August of this year will see the official launch of SADC Free Trade Area.

The Free Trade Area is supposed to lead to a more profound economic integration of the 14 member states involved through making goods much cheaper, stimulating greater production as well as consumption.

The caution and discipline employed in the idea has borne fruits and erased most doubts on eventual benefits. Every January since 2001 member states have successfully implemented a tariff phase-down schedules which entails gradually trading some product lines at zero tariffs. The remaining 15 percent of products will have tariffs removed by 2012.

Free Trade Areas are always faced with fears of disparity in allotment of benefits accruing from the intra-regional trade. In case of SADC members which stand at different levels of economic development, the threat is very actual. (Mozambique once wore the crown of the poorest country in the world, including all islands).

Of note is South Africa which accounts for a whole two-third of the region’s GDP. To resolve this SADC has discharged a model that considers the lop-sided nature of the member state’s economies and doles out respective measures of protection.

"The secondary industry will benefit from the trickling-in of raw materials and would mean containing or even reducing inflation in Zimbabwe given the availability of stable and affordable prices of basic commodities," a Zimbabwean economist says.

Analysts say the SADC Free Trade Area is set to be a model of economic integration success in Africa, evidence being the streamlined implementation course so far and the members’ states harmonious approach to their skewed production and consumption power.

Of recall here is the vision of a united Africa whose foundations, in my outlook, will have to be economic first and foremost or exclusively economic. SADC can’t be more accurate on that particular path.

POWER SHARING IS A RISK

2008-01-16T09:33:00.000Z

A crisis like the present in Kenya can be a stepping stone to the country dreamt of by all: peaceful and prosperous. However, that depends on how the impasse is treated and not on the assumption that leaders can just sit and agree on something.

This would not be beneficial to Kenyans but to those politicians that would enter any agreement. And here I speak about the power sharing idea. What we need is the truth that commits to the rightful winner the whole package of leading and to the loser the whole package of opposing.

You will agree with me that just like in a marriage, the first days of any political leadership in office are all bliss until later on. The opposition looks for mistakes, highlights them, comes to power, it is removed by another opposition and voila the cycle.

The nail ought to be struck flat on the head by admitting that in the last 40 years Kenya has had very ugly instances of disturbance of peace, death included. It has not been joy through out. What we see now is what I can call a painful boil than the rest that the country has have had all over all along.

Calling for a power sharing agreement is as dangerous as exposing anything inflammable to a flame. Entering such a pact in Kenya would mean that we render an Electoral Commission forever irrelevant in the future. It would be an admission that elections are undoable in Kenya, which means the country will henceforth be governed under pacts.

The truth about the December 27th general election need to be established clearly and all doubts erased. There must have been a winner and a loser and that is the line to pursue. This has nothing even to do with a new election since moods have changed and again, nothing will prevent a loser from referring back and saying, 'I had won in the first election and if you don't hear me I'm going to do wonders.''

The problem in Kenya is or will be aggravated by those assumptions submitting that this is only a simple puncture that can be patch up hastily and romantically and then go on. Never that way.

Who killed who? Who incited who? Who won? Who lost? Let Kenyans first know the facts and then shall we extract an ultimate cure to our problems, ethnicity being numero uno.

Fantasy in issues like these incubates anarchy.

IMAGINARY NAIL HEADS

2008-01-14T08:27:00.001Z

Let’s move on. This blogger has heard this urge from quarters concerned with the present political impasse in Kenya, being passed as a periodical or ultimate solution. If the direction of this moving on is one that blankets the government and the opposition as either right or wrong, then such a submission is deluded and as dangerous as not moving on.

The majority of the proponents of ‘move on’ theory is the ordinary Kenyan who prior to the elections supported this or that party believing voting comes, goes and life flows as usual. With the outbreak of violence, his/her sole concern has become ‘bring my Kenya back’ whoever you are that took it away.

The other group is those who want the nation to ‘halt’ until justice (an opposition win) is rendered. This latter category is ready to continue wielding the stick of violence in the name of the only arm left in their arsenal.

Neither of these two groups’ desire is beneficial to national stability for unobvious causes. Unobvious since the desires are far removed from the innocence of the ‘let’s move on’ idea and the nothing-less stand of the ‘halt the nation’ idea.

If Kenya should halt it should do so to bring the drivers of killings to justice. Assuming that when people are disgruntled they chop off other people’s heads is striking the problem at the stem and not the root.

Any country that lets en masse murder of a targeted part of its own pass as activism endangers its future progeny. It happened in 1992 and now, which means it will again happen if both Kenyan and International community don’t take steps.

The killings in Kenya were nothing but ethnic. Other very shrewd escapists are fronting social justice as the cause, claiming it is the poor who have now become tired of misery. Then why would two poor people kill each other instead of ganging up, killing their rich neighbour and sharing his cows?

Ethnicity is always a stick-in-hand in Kenyan politics only that this time the politician directed it to spill from the ballot box to brandishing of machetes, either to attack, defend or revenge.

If Kenya should move on then let it do so after the outcome of the general election is clearly known. The confession by the country’s chief of the Electoral Commission that his is unaware of who won the election (an irresponsible but sincere admission) should not be taken to mean anything; either by the government or the opposition.

Rigging of votes neither means rigging a candidate in or out. Until the truth is uncovered by way of a re-tally of the votes all assumptions as to who won or lost should not cross the line into the region of facts.

At that constructive ‘halt of the nation’ would give way to a responsible ‘let’s move on’ practice.

KEEP DAKAR RALLY IN DAKAR

2008-01-10T12:20:00.000Z

570 crews, 245 motor cycles, 205 cars and 100 lorries would now be either surmounting or succumbing to Sahara sand dunes if organizers of the 2008 edition of the Dakar rally did not throw in the towel in the light of security concerns.

Thrilling is only a term among many that can wrap up the feelings of those men and women in two or four wheels that participate in this challenge. Another term with similar phonetic qualities is ‘enthralling.’

This however is a sensation that can only be wished by those countries, especially African, that have lost the blessings that come annually with this rally; economic at most. It is to be understood that Dakar Rally has always left a substantial amount of foreign exchange wherever it has passed.

This time round the death of four French journalists in Mauritania is to blame for the last minute cancellation greatly influenced by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Paris. The four were killed by Al Qaeda elements on 24th December in that part called Islamic Maghreb. Direct attack threats had also been issued.

Earlier, the organizers had declared the rally was still to go on despite the threats since the concerned governments and more so Mauritania had offered to provide ‘more-than-normal’ security. It is only a day before the start that the annulment came.

The security of those involved, from competitors to collaborators should never be compromised. If anything fear and fun don’t mix.

However, with the repercussions in Morocco, Senegal and Mauritania something has to be done since terrorists will not stop threatening. Though insecurity in African is habitually exaggerated, finding other means of shaking off distracters’ ransoms is an option. After all it still went on even as Polisario guerillas fought for Western Sahara to secede from Morocco.

Its economic impact should be guarded as much as the wellbeing of all those involved, otherwise traces of imbalanced decision making are already appearing. The decision to put off the race, firmly influenced by France, was hasty and unfair.

Latest reports indicate that Chile is offering to host the 2008 Dakar Rally with a pledge to gratify security needs. And still call it ‘Dakar Rally’! Why not Santiago Rally?

Dakar Rally will for all time stay Dakar Rally and as some sports journalists have held, it is now a symbol. Ways of circumspecting terrorists’ threats have to to be employed since there’s nowhere safe. Ask New York.

KENYA: BETRAYAL REPORTING

2008-01-08T09:15:00.000Z

Two international journalists in action in Nairobi, three actually, captured well the role of international media (read Western) in emphasizing Africa’s stereotypes; conflicts, diseases, hunger…name them.

Along the beautiful Kenyatta Avenue that connects the western Nairobi to the city centre, I beheld a reporter with his mic a distance from his lips as the camera-lady lifted her tool. Behind the reporter was a shoulder to shoulder flesh barricade of paramilitary officers, part of the unit that kept opposition protesters from accessing Uhuru Park, that precious, expansive green park that gives Nairobi its unique scenery.

On the opposite side business went on as typical; vehicles present and moving, birds chirping, the busy walking, onlookers trudging. Despite earlier poll violence in the proceeding week, on this day Nairobi was Nairobi. Still the journalists chose the other side of the street that portrayed hopelessness and ignored that which told improvement.

The third case is of a journalist whose visit to one of the violence hit slums turned out to be a cheerless affair; he failed to train his camera well to capture a dead body and now his report was going to be below merit.

International media is in most cases guilty of exaggeration especially of Africa’s woes and the unfortunate state in Nairobi was the recent example. Africa as they know it sells back there than Africa as we know it.

A person no less than the US Ambassador to Kenya mourned that what was being televised all over the world about Kenya had more that its fair share of salt. Being in Nairobi then is undeniable that in three days the mayhem was bloodiest. However calm returned quite fast as the situation came under police control.

Anyone watching CNN, BBC, TV5 Monde, would actually have thought the goriest war in African history was underway on Kenyan soil. This combined with the shock that such a model African country could just explode without warning made it worse. Only for you to hear that a majority of the towns did not even know of a single gunshot!

Kenyatta Avenue on that day presented Africa in a strikingly perfect way. On either side of the street were two scenes that could make or break a country. One that inspired optimism and one that did not. After telling of violence the choice was here to tell of calm and a return to normalcy.

I wonder who will tell the African story which others will not. In the western mind the picture of Africa is already made and framed. Feeding the stereotype is the current occupation.

An airline has already changed its usual stopover for the staff from Nairobi to Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania. And this is only for the staff that dart to a hotel for a night or two even in ordinary circumstances.

The airline is justified since its resolution is based on reports from international media that Nairobi is burning while the truth is that if anything, it is only smoking. Since when did smoke burn?

A.W.

This is my opening post this year and allow me to wish fellow bloggers a Happy New Year.
My condolences too to the Kenyan people and thank you for choosing peace. Africa is looking up to you as you have trail blazed in many fieilds and inspired optimism in other countries.

IT'S NOT ABOUT AFRICA AS USUAL

2007-12-19T08:50:00.001Z

The Chief of the World Bank, Robert Zoellick, seems to have made headway in his proposal to have China forego its individualistic approach in funding development in Africa. The World Bank, a development arm of the West, has for long been dissatisfied with the condition-free aid that China has been advancing to Africa.

This led Zoellick on a four-day trip to the East in an attempt to have China remit its donations to the Bank, which will in turn channel it to Africa. Here World Bank is set to secure it funding role to Africa, much threatened by China since 2000. China itself ceased to be a beneficiary of the fund in 1999.

Still however, the decision by China is not final since it definitely doesn't concern all aid to Africa. I wonder why World Bank is now so much concerned with what Africa can or cannot pay, bearing in mind its role in the inability of the continent to pay back its debt.

Its not about joint projects as usual. The bone on the table is how to halt the increasing Chinese inroads into Africa. And all that not to our benefit, again as usual.

AFRICA GIVE CHINA A WISE WINK

2007-12-03T11:12:00.000Z

The Prof sat cross-legged with his Toshiba laptop on a block board table in front of him. From another table beamed a projection onto a white board, as he tackled the contents of his Microsoft PowerPoint presentation.

With our precious plates of card fish, salad, shrimps, (what my friend called animaux aquatiques), spaghetti, etc we balanced between lending an ear to the fast talking Prof and ‘swallowship.’ Afro-Sino relationship was the over-lunch-issue and the guest was offering a ‘research-drawn opinion’ on what the Red Dragon occurrence in Africa means.

He was of the opinion that China meant good for the continent, or put in a more easy-to-believe way, Africa stands to benefit tremendously from association with China. That far goes the wrapped package. Let us unwrap it to determine whether we are safe or out in the pounding rain.

The innocence is that the Chinese are more ‘gentleman’ that our colonizers and long term development partners (my foot). That their conscience wouldn’t free them if they engage unequally in multilateral trade with African states. Who said?

The Prof dismissed those are ‘visitors blues’ and warned that history was on the threshold of repeating itself if innocence meets the Chinese interest in the continent. Having seen African heads of states horde to China and the goodies they come home with, the wisdom of thinking twice when the deal is not bad at all needs employment here.

As one journalist put it ‘the dragon is busy spewing diamonds’ and Africa needs to act as a bitten-before-continent that it is. How does this happen given the thirst for development aid in Africa?

China would very much like to engage in bilateral relationship with African states because that assures it of ultimate say-so. At a point where every president may want to endear him/herself individually with China, this is akin to wasting an opportunity to acquire a semblance or indeed actual independency in decision making, which Africa so much needs.

When you look at what the continent has to offer in the light of natural resources you realize that it is possible for the continent to be an equal partner in development with China in particular. Oh yes!

The events in Darfur which led to China appointing its first envoy ever to Africa after bowing to pressure to act, is a lead that the Dragon can at least sit on the other side of negotiation table with African states. The desperation to find raw materials for its incredibly fast growing industries is a tool in the African bargaining box.

Always when Africa is pitied against Western or Eastern power in terms of partnership in development the motive is the visitors’ development and not Africa’s. However, I am of the opinion that this can be altered.

That is as far as the naïveté of my argument goes if we focus on the role of cohesive economic blocs and a barking and biting African Union. The duties of these blocs need to be elastic to be representative of member states, in any economic dialogues with China.

Africa needs to be viewed by China from a front of the AU and the economic blocs, which stand a superior chance in foot stamping any affective decisions touching individual states. The inverse of this is what happened when China ended up dealing with individual COMESA members when there had been talks of negotiating as a trading bloc.

Acting frantic or me-good-them-bad by African states will benefit China more, a case of divide and rule that the newfound saviour is carefully and surely implementing.

I have always been of the opinion that Afro-Sino cooperation is not wholly a case of out-and-out exploitation. Much of the paranoia is fuelled by Western countries who think they are loosing it just when the continent it turning out to be positive and important than ever.

However, Africa stands to achieve less in the long run if bilateral relationships with China are encouraged. Dictation and compete review of development terms by African states will not come about if the cooperation game is played without rather than along the economic blocs.

And the Prof is right.

OUR SEXUAL HABITS OR WHAT?

2007-12-01T06:32:00.000Z

Experts tell us that the rate of HIV/AIDS is very much linked to social, economic and political factors. This given, it emmerges that Africa, Pacific Islands, Latin America and some parts of Asia, are more or less related as regards living conditions, governance and economy: they have a massive room for improvement.

But strangely enough, Sub-Saharan Africa contains almost the entire global population of people living with HIV/AIDS. Nows besides the above factors, one wonders whether there are other accelerators unique to this part of the world and/or its inhabitants, that has contributed to this highest rate of infection.

Do we love feeling good so much that we throw caution to the wind always or what? The greatest HIV/AIDS awareness campaigns have been carried out in this region, remember.

Published in commemoration of the World AIDS Day, 1st December.

KEEP MUGABE OFF IF...

2007-11-23T10:25:00.000Z

“If you ask me (Portuguese Foreign Minister, Luis Amado) if I would like him (President Robert Mugabe) to come to Lisbon, I would say I prefer that he does not come. …it will create noise around the summit that in my point of view will distract from the essential points to discuss at the summit.”

In my opinion Mugabe is not fit to lead any nation. In as much as he alleges economic sabotage is the cause of Zimbabwe’s degeneration, his massive hand is clearly visible in the mess. The martyr picture President Mugabe would like to paint just won’t hold colour.

However, ingenuity and biasness has so far informed calls to bar Mugabe from the EU summit in December, to be held in Portugal. Human rights groups, most of which, unfortunately never really shake off manipulation, have put enough pressure on Lisbon so much so that it’s now changing its earlier stand of Mugabe being as good as welcome.

Let Mugabe not set foot in Lisbon if that will quicken his descend from power, and save Zimbabweans. But let also the decision be elastic to cover other leaders whose human rights records are dirty linens.

Let the vigour of his condemnation by human rights groups stem from their independent study of and conclusion on his failure as a leader, rather than being a pipe to settle inter-national scores.

INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF AFRICAN FASHION (FIMA) 2007

2007-11-22T11:21:00.000Z

Niamey, Niger. The city of this West African country which shares quite a big portion of the Sahara is ablaze with fashion. Any self-respecting fashionista has dusted his/her garment, ready to stand and be counted. At least that is the reigning spirit as the 6th International Festival of African Fashion (FIMA) 2007 rolls on, having started on 19th through to Sunday, the 25th November.

The festival, launched in 1998, brings together fashion creators from all over Africa in a show of what sizzling beauty Mamaland has to offer. The event has over a short time embedded itself as an important part of African cultural calendar, with UNESCO being directly associated with it.

Seidnaly Sidhamed, a leading African fashion designer, is the afrophile behind FIMA. Call him Alphadi as is his in style name. His love for the beauty of the continent led him to create FIMA as an occasion to not only showcase, but also generate enough pride in Africans to consume their designs and textiles.

The festival has become another voice in encouraging investment and promoting sustainable development in Africa, so much so that major media houses in the world are giving it great coverage. When it comes to locating authentic African designs FIMA is a orientation point.

Alphadi

Alphadi believes that fashion is part of cultural industries, as an economic locomotive which draws behind it wagons such as hospitality and transport sectors. The luxury of African governments ignoring fashion as an industry is therefore akin to neglecting especially, the youth.

African fashion has remained strange in the international level, a fact that FIMA is challenging. The proper promoters of African creations, who should be Africans themselves, unfortunately do not buy these designs. Count our presidents as No 1 here.

Those in the Diaspora, whose exclusivity while draped in African designs would be a great marketing utensil for Mamaland products, are often ashamed to sport them. It would actually be them who would go well in the designs more so when we throw in the matter of sensual identity.

FIMA 2007 continues to unveil, sensitize, prop up, hearten and celebrate African fashion in the way Africa knows best; the vivacious way. Of immense notice is the festival’s target on economic and social progress, besides ensuring the flag that is African culture, flaps noticeably.

As Alphadi envelops it up, the festival is “a framework to express beauty, as well as assert the leading cultural values in Africa and the world".

photo credit: flickr-kaysha.

MONSIEUR DOCTEUR PRESIDENT JAMMEH

2007-11-16T10:49:00.000Z

Sometime early this year I got an invitation to attend the launch of a novel by Gambian writer, Dayo Foster. The launch was in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, where Dayo now lives.

The country that Dayo calls home prides itself as the smallest African country on continental mainland, split into half by the long river Gambia that passes by Banjul, the capital, as it opens up into the Atlantic Ocean.

Much known than the above unique fact are the exploits of its healer president who juggles between administrative and physician duties. President Yahya Abdulaziz Jemus Junkung Jammeh, 42, has claimed possession of powers to cure HIV/AIDS, asthma and other major diseases and woe unto you if you trash the claims.

President Y. Jammeh

His cure involves a bitter yellow liquid, a green herbal paste, and eating bananas with positive results being promised within days. Your guess on the concoction’s effectiveness is as good as mine.

With a population of 1.5m, The Gambia has historically relied on groundnuts’ export as its major foreign exchange earner, with supplements coming from fish and palm kernels.

Freedom of expression is still in the far shores with interesting stories to show how far. At one time, some journalists got a rare chance to interview the president in his palace and in the welcome lounge was a game video where a lion kept on chasing gazelles and devouring them.

presidential healing en cours

Once inside, they were advised to reflect on the video and learn what befalls the government’s critics! Despite his hostility to opposition, residents credit him for doing much to improve schools, hospitals and roads.

Though he came to power through a coup d’état, the subsequent election, in 1996 and 2001 were free and fair, despite the occasional grey spots. President Jammeh has gone ahead to set up bodies to investigate past corruption and recover pilfered public funds.

Despite his effort, the man who is always resplendent in his flowing white robes and a trademark sword, still needs to give the press its freedom. A president of healing powers risks (if it’s a risk) evolving into a cult-figure in the eyes of his people, enslaving them in his shadow.

photo credit: BBC, AP.

UNITY? ECONOMIC PERHAPS

2007-11-14T10:18:00.000Z

When I hear of African unity, I develop more hope for the future of my continent, which I love. But when I hear of "United States of Africa" I become aware of fantasy; at least for the moment.

In as much it is optimistic to tag the idea of African unity plausible, the thought of how and when is the third stone that holds the pot. The overall aim is to achieve political and economic integration.

This integration however, cannot be achieved as a single package taking into consideration the undeniable factors against, which are many and glaring.

Political integration in Africa will be a fruit of economic integration and the former should only exist far at the back of our minds until the latter is well home and dry. Talk of raw political unity, all with the formation of an African government is too early to entertain.

Sustainable economic development will empower African states to independently lay their strategies for integration and develop with ease a vision of what-after-unity/what to do with the unity.

The linking cords of this unity have got to be economic. Two steps are needed to be a roadmap to this priori economic strength.

First, member states should seek to buttress trading blocks to make them more tolerant and explorative. Tolerant on the side of helping small and rapidly picking economies like Rwanda to benefit from trade in the common markets instead of swallowing them up simply because of the availing of like commodities (en masse) by bigger economies.

Exploration has to do with variety in the market. The backbone of Africa economy is agriculture, something that needs to be rivaled. Over dependence on a non-performing agricultural sector has made African unable to benefit from globalization.

Policy makers need to explore other ventures like technology so as to reduce duplication of products in the market. This will give integration partners a sense on inevitability when it comes to mutual co-relation.

Secondly, African states need to learn to negotiate as a bloc when it comes to issues affecting them in general. I have in mind the newfound friendship between Africa and China. Without wisdom, this will simply turn out to be another opportunity for China to replay the exploitation tape on Africa's resources.

Having put economic stability as the immediate priority, political unity still presents itself as too fantastic. The issues that make it seem so romanticized are set off by the exact mode of administration on which it will/might roll.

Solutions to the challenges facing African integration are the catalysts to this unity. Sobriety, wisdom, proper planning and not romance are the required foundations for Africa integration, which should consider economic integration and strength as the starting point.

Future of Youth For Sale Under EPA

2007-11-12T11:02:00.000Z

By Leonard Ackon (Journalist and Youth activist)
Ghana, West Africa.
Tel: 233 208864998.

The EPAs in essence are free trade agreements that the EU is negotiating on bilateral basis with ACP countries. These EPAs, which the African Caribbean Pacific (ACP) countries are being forced to sign on 31, December 2007, would further deepen the poverty crisis bedeviling them.

This is because the economies of the ACP countries are very fragile and are not in good position to take advantage of the EPAs. Also, the ACP countries do not have a stronger negotiating capacity like the EU and their capability to remain firm on their negotiation position is further weakened by their dependence on EU aid. ACP countries are only negotiating via regional blocs while the developed countries are negotiating via a stronger front, which is the EU.

The sad part of it is that the capacity building of our negotiators is sponsored by the EU and that raises a lot of concerns when it comes to saying and doing the right thing.

Also, these regional blocs of ACP countries are already weak. For instance Ghana, Nigeria and Togo are negotiating through the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) while Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania negotiate through the East Africa Community (EAC).

One would ask how can Kumasi Asante Kotoko Football club of Ghana play against Real Madrid of Spain and draw or win.

The same scenario is created in the EPAs.

Already, ACP countries are suffering from the “dumping of foreign goods” at a cheaper price, making it difficult for the local industries to be productive and competitive. Local industries are already suffering from the dumping of subsidized and cheaper goods by the EU.

This is because the EPAs require that ACP countries open up their economies for the entry of European goods and services. That means every sector of the economy would be affected.

There is no doubt that the situation would get worse should the EPAs agenda by the EU succeed. ACP government’s quest for sustainable development cannot be achieved. This would also lead to the restructuring of the political and economic relations between the EU and ACP countries.

For me the most scandalous thing about this whole EPA negotiation is that ACP countries have failed to involve public participation, especially the youth.

I remember one Member of Parliament was asked what the EPA is and he simply did not know anything about…all that he was thinking about was the Environmental Protection Agency…is that not funny?

Youth participation is very important as far as the EPA is concerned. Leaders must involve them and seek for their concerns.

Unerringly, while the consumers in ACP countries may benefit from a wider variety of cheaper goods and services entering ACP markets under import liberalization, an EPA would threaten livelihoods in key agricultural and manufacturing sectors.

Migrate or stay?

2007-11-09T10:57:00.000Z

Is it really worthwhile to tell young men and women, defying death in the meditarranean sea, not to attempt to migrate; that they should remain home and build their countries?

When one decides to leave their country by hook or crook and shift to Europe or North America in the name of greener grass, which label best fits them? Agressive, illusionist, courageous, dreamer, lazy, naive, escapist, hussler, wangler, wise, resourceful...

The 'overseas dream', is it lived by the immigrants? Or is it that even if it escapes them, whatever is eventually lived can pass as a dream compared to life back home?

What should the youth, in the bellies of rickety boats, slicing the blue waters, the smell of the spanish shore in thier noses, and maddening hope in their breasts, be told? Because surely they can't just be told to remain and build their countries.

That is not solving anything. I wonder whether migration is all that bad in the first instance.

AFRICAN OIL NATIONALISM

2007-11-07T10:35:00.000Z

Sonangol and Sonatrach are state oil firms of Angola and Algeria respectively. These companies, quite undersized in the 70s, have grown large enough to shove a number of foreign based oil companies out of their countries.

A new reality being tolerated by the foreign oil firms is that virtual stability and robust economies being realized in Africa, has led to strengthening of state firms. This has created a firmer grip on natural resources and a turn point in what concerns the direction of profits.

Come 60s and 70s overseas oil companies invaded the continent and quickly established a firm hold on the prized resource. Investment agreements reached with producing countries made “exploitation” the only word left to describe subsequent economic relations.

With the drift, Africa’s resource nationalism is swiftly becoming the determinant in accessing the continent’s oil. This comes at an interesting point in the world economy where dual factors are in a new play.

First, the rise of China as an oil-hungry Dragon that won’t stop spewing gold to nourish its growing economy has initiated a ‘Scramble for Africa.’ Competition, where coercion gives way to enticement, has allowed African states some flex when it comes to choices on who to partner with in business.

Secondly, virgin oil reserves are being discovered all over the continent. Possession of oil wells in Africa is almost communicable now. Researchers have labeled Africa the next big thing is oil production. Uganda, Ghana and DR Congo already have given substance to this tag.

Where state firms are still behind technologically, like in Angola, foreign companies have to partner with them in the drilling. What happens when you mentor someone? You soon hand over to them.

Without mentioning it, the foreign groups are not smiling especially since the bullying factor is not in play any longer. Sudan, out of choice, has its oil quenching the Red Dragon and Khartoum is not unhappy about it. A many Angolan barrels are also going the eastern way and Luanda is not unhappy either.

However resource nationalism is a major and once again major step in giving African economies more autonomy and additional profits. This reality is decisive for the continent’s needed fast growth if the fruits are managed in accountability by African leaders.

This time round when the bulls have fought, the grass seems to be having a millennium thrill.

CHAD WON'T PUNISH KIDNAPPERS

2007-11-05T09:19:00.000Z

Chad will {might} after all not prosecute members of the French charity, 'Zoe’s Ark, for attempting to kidnap and fly out 103 Chadian children.

Out of the 17 europeans arrested, 7 are already back to Europe thanks to intervention by French president Nicolas Sarkozy, who personally flew to Chad to negotiate their release. Sarkozy has criticised the action.

The reason why doubts are flying regarding the autonomy of Chad in trying the 10 stem from the country precarious position in light of very menacing rebels from the east.

The members of Zoe's Ark were apparently filmed applying fake bandages on the children, so as to pass their kidnap for a medical rescue. Over 90 of the have been found out to have parents. Some of the parents said their handing them over to the charity group was on a promise that their children were going to enrolled to school.

The reason why the rest will most likely be freed is because Chad is in desperate need of the French-led peacekeeping contingent that was about to be deployed to stop powerful rebels from knocking on the doors of N'Djamena, Chad capital.

Somehow Europeans caught in horrible crimes have a way of getting away thanks to their home countries. Only Zimbabwe in recent past has been able to try and punish unruly foreigners. Some of the mercenaries who wanted to fly on a coup d'etat mission to Equatorial Guinea via Harare are still doing porridge in Zimbabwean prisons.

Such actions that grossly abuse human rights, more so with similar impunity, need strong deterrent measures whether by punishnent or prevention. Sadly enough Zoe's Ark was in it {human trafficking}, for money and illegally.

President Idriss Deby knows all too well that the deployment is the only saviour to his leadership. His tribulations in securing the peacekeepers support (it has not costed him little) is one thing he wouldn't wish to go through again.

Without shouting it, sublte blackmail will have Chad throw in the towel. Definitely.

Photo credit; AFP

I'm supposed to be double!

2007-11-02T10:09:00.000Z

Today I become intimate with dear fellow bloggers. Ah! Blogging with no ‘light side’ makes Katch up a dull blogger. And to tell you that my Grandma wants to hear my wedding ‘kolokols’ (Russian for ‘bells’)!

Sometime last month I visited home and decided that my mother’s mother was as well worth being seen. Besides sweet potatoes and green bananas, which she likes immensely, my shopping had quite a handful.

Once there, we sat in the living room and I answered all her clinic-like queries on my health, work, weather, siblings, parents etc. “And what is this you’ve brought your darling?”

I rose to untie the bundle and she said softly, “Wait. Take it in your hands and come closer.” Granny placed her brown hands on the shopping. My face, lifted to see what she was up to, was met with a generous volley of grandma’s saliva. She splashed more on the bundle and then prayed, eyes open.

God almighty, look at this son who has entered by that gate
Carrying stuff in his hands. Let there be fruits where his hoe
Will strike. I plant a spear and may you God keep it from tilting.
I pray that the next time he comes, they will be two. Hand him the
Rib you have set for him. And not any other, but the very right rib.
I smear blessing on his feet. AMEN.

Wah! Having heard that one doesn’t wipe away the spit (blessings), I let it dry there with a great feeling of elation. It was a very new experience but what hit me square was Gran'ma’s love but above all, the ‘rib’ part. Am supposed to be double according to Gran'ma’s manual!

She definitely won’t read this, but Rise of Eves is a piece of verse worth my appreciation.

That aside, blogging has continued filling my quiver of ‘friends o’ blog’, led by kip and I can’t help but salute the commitment of some bloggers here. Issues are so diverse and just as I share my experiences and thoughts on Africa; I get more informed on a myriad of other subjects. On quite a number, I do at least leave skid marks by dropping a comment.

Hearts do not meet one another like roads. This tells you what I’m up to from now on, so that the next time I appear on Granny's door, I or someone else, will knock at the door.

Remember: When the bee comes to your house, let her have beer; you may want to visit the bee's house some day.

AFRICA'S LETHAL ENEMY NUMERO UNO

2007-10-31T08:15:00.000Z

‘I would like to leave behind me the conviction that if we maintain a certain amount of caution and organization we deserve victory... You cannot carry out fundamental change without a certain amount of madness. In this case, it comes from nonconformity, the courage to turn your back on the old formulas, the courage to invent the future. It took the madmen of yesterday for us to be able to act with extreme clarity today. I want to be one of those madmen. We must
dare to invent the future.’
Thomas Sankara, 1985.

Thomas Isodore Sankara is one of the handsome sons of Africa whose vision and ideology, had they been exploited, would have given substance to African Identity and self-sustenance.

Sankara had gradually and successfully sold to his people, the Burkinabe, the idea of Africans challenging the helplessness belief always around them. Burkina Faso being a leading producer of cotton was well into the course of wearing its own garments.

Cap. Sankara

The Burkina-made clothes were called “Sankara arrive” (French for ‘Sankara is coming’) since people tucked them in office drawers ready to jump into them once word went round that Sankara was a floor below.

Not that it was binding, but Captain Sankara would look you in the pupils and roll a lecture on promoting home-industries. He would knit his words and package his non dependence philosophy in such a manner that could render Gucci and Yves Saint Laurent tearful.

His decision never to dress in foreign made clothes, and insistence that the citizenry had to join him did not go well with some overseas leaders who had initially hailed his coming to power.

What irks me, even as we Africans blame the West is the role of our own leaders in ensuring that the continent and the begging bowl remain synonymous. Enter Blaise Compaoré, the current President of Burkina Faso.

President Compaoré

Sankara’s killing was carried out in a coup d’état led by his best friend, the current Burkina Faso’s president. Not because he had a superior idea, but because power for power’s sake was too dazzling for him to mind the future progeny of Burkinabe.

Others of the kind that trashed African Identity include Leopold Sédar Sengor.
A conman never celebrates the right of entry to your pocket unless your greed leads him there. In that case you are more at fault than the conman since you posses the utensil to shrug the lure, but greed stands in your way. That tool is the nerve to say ‘my people first.’

In as much as Africa’s effort to beat a independent path in economic, social and political advancement is and has been sabotaged by the West, the ideology and practice cannot be destroyed without the hand of some Africans, who do not worry what composes a proud history of a people. Such are more lethal than the rest.

Who killed Africa’s ‘Che’?

Photo credit: wikipedia, flickr

BAYNES HYDROPOWER PROJECT: NAMIBIA

2007-10-29T08:29:00.000Z

Angola and Namibia are set to benefit from a hydro-electric dam project that the two governments have agreed to go ahead with. Coming from Angola, Kunuene River flows along the border between the two countries on its way to the Atlantic Ocean.

It is at a mountainous point called Baynes that the joint project will be established. The agreement was signed by Angola’s President Jose Eduardo dos Santos and his Namibian homologue Hifikepunye Pohamba, in Windhoek.

Namibia has been suffering from power shortages which adversely affect the economy thus the need for a lasting innovation. Angola, on the other hand is incredibly fast developing industries boosted by streamlined oil and diamond sales.

National Electricity Company (ENE) of Angola is at the moment busy looking for new sources of hydro power as well as refurbishing derailed power projects. The country has 3 massive rivers (Kwanza, Kunene and Catumbela) with ability to produce an estimated 64,000 GWh/year of hydroelectricity.

To Namibia the hydropower scheme is in addition to the offshore Kudu gas project which is expected to provide 800MW by 2010 and a new 400MW power plant by 2009 at Walvis Bay.

One of the greatest resources that Africa has is the potential hydroelectric power from its numerous well fed rivers. Inga dam along Congo River in DRC is capable of producing enough hydroelectric power to meet all power needs in Africa!

Once complete, the Baynes hydropower project is expected to adequately meet national needs in Angola and Namibia and even leave an option of exporting.

map credit: BBC.

HOLD ON MAMA

2007-10-26T11:43:00.000Z

Mamaland you are firm

like a crane's arm

You refuse to be hidden
Africa you can't be stolen

And put in some museum

like an old dusty drum.

Stay there mama dear

I like you here.

CAPE VERDE: AGAINST ALL ODDS

2007-10-24T09:29:00.000Z

Endowed with few natural resources, prone to intermittent droughts, insufficient arable land Cape Verde islands still managed to be classified as the 4^th best managed economies in Africa. That is according to the recently released inaugural report of the Ibrahim Index of African Governance.

Ruled by President Pedro de Verona Rodrigues Pires, from the capital Praia, the republic located in an archipelago of Atlantic ocean, off the West African coast parades a per capita income of $6,418 – one among the highest in Africa. It also enjoys one of top education systems Africa has to offer.

Life expectancy is 67 years for men and 73 for women!

Agriculture is so limited that 90% of the food has to be imported for the population. The secret to Cape Verde hit has been principally a steady political situation and sound economic policies, even as it relies heavily on US, Portugal, EU and Brazil for external trade.

With a clear understanding of the limitation of natural resources, the country has directed attention to developing the service sector which accounts for 70% of the GDP. Much of what Cape Verde lacks is in plenty in Sub-Saharan Africa - minerals, good climate, arable land – a clear indication of what loyalty to development can pull off.

With only two major political parties, African Party for the Independence of Cape Verde (PAICV) and Movimento para a Democracia (MPD), ascendancy to leadership has purely been on a development front. This explains why the two parties always succeed each other.

Poverty, unemployment and economic growth were the keys concerns in polls held last year, with the PAICV taking a 51% win; a clear signal that Cape Verde’s future is safe in any candidate’s arms.

Such political adulthood and solidity well informs the truth that there exists in the continent, undisputed willingness to progress living conditions. Cape Verde is an reference point for selfless politics and exploitation of alternative resources.

More here.

SPRINGBOK'S WIN AND THE RACIAL QUESTION

2007-10-22T10:55:00.000Z

The yellow little cup is home. Lions found it incredible that the cup was not taking a TGV (speed train) to London, but instead a Boeing- over the Mediterranean and into mama land- till 4 years come.

The last time when South Africa won the Rugby World Cup, in 1995, the country was roughly a year old into post-apartheid era and wounds of black oppression were still pink. Colour was denied space and people celebrated as South Africans (Africans).

Come 2007, 12 years later and the nation has become more tolerant as black stedily ascend to traditional white only domains. Walk in Jo’burg and if a white beggar extends his bowl, throw in a coin; don’t stare. And again don’t stare; your charity group just received a check from a black tycoon - one among many today.

Still however, the feeling that Bafana Bafana (SA national football team) and Springbok are blacker and whiter respectively lingers somewhere. There still exists a gap between the two communities that has refused to seal up, may be steaming from the fact that among other things, blacks were barred from representing SA at rugby union.

Springbok skipper John Smit admits, “I certainly hope that being able to lift this cup and take it back home can create a scenario that everybody binds together and we start forgetting about counting numbers and colours.”

The death of Lucky Dube, loved across the divide, which plunged SA into common mourning and this win, which again spewed spirits of jubilation to all is an indication that racial differences in SA are not inherent.

Black racist hate white on the basis of bitter memories of oppression while White racists hate blacks due to their refusal to accept the reality that blacks finally rose above apartheid.

As a new generation of highly educated young blacks make a mark in public and private sectors, shame, bitterness and inferiority is gradually disappearing while acceptance among whites becomes inevitable.

It is along the progress of this new progeny that the race gap will be reduced. Hopefully Bafana Bafana will produce an additional dose come 2010 with their bagging the other little yellow cup.

Photo credit: RWC.

THE UN SHOULD NOT COMPROMISE

2007-10-19T10:32:00.000Z

The United Nations has been investigating gold–related scandals by its peacekeeping troops in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the latest one involving Indian troops and Rwanda Hutu rebels.

While being apparent that such abuses are frustrating UN efforts worldwide, the greatest damage depends on the UN’s seriousness in correcting such wrongdoing. This international body finds itself in a wobbly position where it must balance between its need for more peacekeepers and upholding transparency.

The UN should formulate its own independent way of punishing wayward personnel in peacekeeping missions. Quietly letting its Office for Internal Oversight Services stack reports of misconduct without taking action does more harm that the scandals themselves.

Failure for the UN to be self sufficient in dealing with its peacekeepers, including correcting misconduct will expose its vulnerability in light of desperation to fulfill its peace missions.

At the moment such a duty lies with the home countries of the blue helmets and for an example, Pakistan has not taken any stern action against its troops already caught up in the scandals.

Overriding of the UN by the USA prior to Iraqi incursion followed up by the oil-for-food scandal within the UN has elicited serious debates on the relevance of the system in maintaining world stability.

Such pessimism cannot be reinforced by scandals in the UN since a bad element is bound to be present in a good factor always. However, light handling of misconduct might and could.

photo credit: indexstock.com

Today's Afriwisdom comes from the Ashanti people of Ghana:

Rain beats a leopard's skin, but it does not wash out the spots.

Do not call the forest that shelters you a jungle.

The ruin of a nation begins in the homes of its people.

When the cock is drunk, he forgets about the hawk.

By the time the fool has learned the game, the players have dispersed.

No one tests the depth of a river with both feet.