African Blog Review – February 19, 2009

My Heart’s in Africa writes about the deactivation of the Kubatana blog site by Bluehost:

“For the past two years, Kubatana has hosted a joint blog for a wide range of Zimbabwean citizens, some who wrote anonymously, and others who wrote under their names - it’s been one of the key sources of information and perspective for people around the world who follow Zimbabwe, and a critical outlet for Zimbabweans who have few other ways to communicate.

Earlier this week, Kubatana’s blog site, as well as a couple of sites hosted on behalf of activist organizations, went dark. Visitors to the blog received a message that the webhost, Bluehost, had disabled the account. When the folks who run Kubatana asked why their account had been suspended, they were informed that an “internal review” revealed that Kubatana was a Zimbabwean organization, and Bluehost’s regulations prohibit them from doing business with ten countries that are subject to US government trade sanctions.”

Kanmi Iyanda calls on Nigerians to look beyond prevailing ethnic stereotypes when dealing with each other:

“As is the case all over Africa, I was brought up in a household where my elders innocently and casually made 'politically incorrect' statements about everyone who spoke a language separate from ours. The Hausas were uneducated dunces, the Igbos could not be trusted and the average Mid-westerner was steeped in an ancestry of armed robbery. We, the Yorubas, as you would expect were perfect, but suffered from being apparently held back by our parasitical tribal neighbours. Nothing was ever our fault and Nigerian history, at least through our myopic eyes showed how we never took the wrong turn....yeah...right!....

“It is time to erase the false lines we have drawn around ourselves and begin to see the potential in working for the same thing. If an Igbo president is to emerge by 2015 (that's my prediction), then Igbos have to embrace the Yoruba and Hausas, without whom that eventuality will never see the light of day…

Some might call me a dreamer, but did you ever think we would have a black man at 1600 Pennsylvania?”

The blog Africans in Minnesota discusses potential solutions to Africa’s brain drain:

“… Could liberalizing free flow of labor in Africa curb the outflow of professionals to the west? If you agree with me on this point then could a united lobby group of Africans in Diaspora be formed to prevail over the AU to liberalize this free flow of labor in Africa?
The civil service as I pointed earlier is the primary employer of professionals in majority of African countries but could something be done to strengthen the private sector in Africa? Since availability of start up capital happens to be a major bottleneck for willing young entrepreneurs to enter the private sector, could the West concentrate on making this capital available so that rather that giving food aid, aim at building a this new promising and positive as well as encouraging approach.”

George Ngwane analyzes the challenges that await President Qadhafi as he tries to establish a United States of Africa during his tenure as AU president:
“While official diplomacy (political will of our leaders) remains the more realistic option for the establishment of the United States of Africa, Track 11 diplomacy (political pressure of the masses) is the more potent weapon needed to jumpstart it.
Qadhafi’s outreach agenda would consist of negotiating with some of the most acerbic opponents of the United States of Africa. These opponents include South Africa, Nigeria, Uganda and Ethiopia. Rather than widening the “gradualists versus radical divide” that has historically been the yeast of Africa’s consensus, Qadhafi should remember that even the European Union was born out of two divides-the functionalist approach which favoured a gradual transfer of sovereignty from national to community level represented by Frenchman Jean Monnet and the federalist approach which believed in the idea that local, regional, national and European authorities should cooperate and complement each other represented by the Italian Altiero Spinelli.”

House of Chiefs, a blog that focuses on traditional authorities in Zambia explains why Zambian traditional rulers are increasingly getting involved in national politics
“First, increased electoral competition has given chiefs unparallel opportunities to emerge as ‘kingmakers’....
Secondly, the market and constitutional reforms of the Chiluba era, in particular the land reforms of 1995 and the constitutional amendment in 1996…effectively gave chiefs a new lease of life…
Thirdly, traditional leaders are becoming more educated. We now have a number of well educated chiefs like Chief Bright Nalubamba, Chief Kapalaula, Chief Shabaila and many others who are able to speak intelligently on many issues…
Fourthly, increased poverty levels especially with the SAP reforms have forced chiefs to become more vocal for their rural dwellers.
Finally, the rise of new and more accessible mediums of communication.”