Kenya-based Africa Free Media Foundation (AFMF) formerly Network for the Defence of Independent Media in Africa (NDIMA) and US-based World Free Press Institute (WFPI) have announced the establishment of three major awards for the media in Africa. Named AFMF/WFPI Trophy for Impartial Coverage, the awards will be presented to media outlets which exhibit impartiality in covering war, conflict, election and politically motivated trials. It is becoming increasingly evident that the role played by the media in covering such events is a contributing factor in resolving or fuelling conflicts. AFMF and WFPI hope that awarding the trophies will encourage the media to offer balanced news and opinions and thereby promote democracy and peaceful co-existence.

Amnesty International has expressed concerns for the safety of Bonaventure Bizumuremyi, the editor of the independent fortnightly newspaper, Umuco, who has recently been the target of intimidation, harassment and armed attack from assailants allegedly associated with the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), the ruling political party in Rwanda. Bonaventure Bizumuremyi was reportedly woken up at 3 am on 15 January, by four men banging on the front door of his home in the capital, Kigali. The men, armed with clubs and knives, forcibly entered and ransacked his house.

The man convicted of murdering Mozambican journalist Carlos Cardoso is to serve 30 years in jail. A retrial in Maputo upheld the 2003 conviction of Anibal "Anibalzinho" dos Santos Junior, who planned the killing. An appeal court allowed a retrial since the first trial was conducted in absentia after he fled Mozambique. Cardoso was murdered in 2000 while investigating a $14m fraud related to bank privatisation. The case has drawn attention to corruption in Mozambique.

The XVII Standing Conference of Eastern, Central and Southern African Library and Information Professionals (SCECSAL XVII) will be hosted by the Tanzania Library Association (TLA) in Dar es Salaam on 10-14 July 2006. This conference will bring together some 500 delegates from all over the world, most will be from Africa. SCECSAL's conference and exhibition is the biggest African event for professionals within the library and information sector.

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A private company that provides wireless high-speed Internet access in Uganda's rural districts is raring to enter the Kenyan market. Bushnet Ltd has been offering Internet services to the country's rural areas, where it commands two-thirds of the market share, a senior manager said. "We are looking at 60 per cent reduction in the price Internet consumers are currently paying in Kenya," said Bushnet Kenya general manager. However, the company is awaiting a licence from the Communications Commission of Kenya, the industry regulator.

If you thought fixed lines had been ousted by mobile phones, think again. In Kenya, Flashcom, a locally owned telecommunications company, has added a sizzle to fixed-line services through wireless connection that supports value-added services offered by the cellphone. The need for cheaper, reliable and stable Internet connectivity has kept up the demand for fixed telephone lines. The success of the information technology sector hinges on the availability of a reliable telecommunication network, especially fixed lines.

Ungana-Afrika, with the support of OSISA (http://www.osisa.org/), is implementing a series of free workshops in the SADC region that help networks of non-profit organisations understand and implement new models of technology support and capacity-building. In 2006 Ungana-Afrika will implement these 'Incubation of ICT Capacity Building' workshops in two different countries in Southern Africa and we are looking for pro-active local organisations to collaborate with in this regard.

Africa's largest Sub-Saharan Internet sub-region, Southern and Central Africa leads the way with new trends, says a new report out this week. Outside North Africa, Southern and Central Africa has some of the most developed internet country markets on the continent. As a result, a number of trends developing there are beginning to spread across the continent. These are the findings of a new report published by Balancing Act this week.

“Mainstreaming ICTs: Africa Lives the Information Society" is a contribution towards efforts to bridge the “policy-practice” divide. The book is aimed at development practitioners and ICT innovators interested in inventive technology applications for social justice and development. The book contains 10 case studies reflecting on the innovative and creative ways Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have been used to promote people-centred development in a number of Sub-Saharan African countries.

The Ministry of Information announced that it had decided that the IRIN and Associated Press correspondent in Ethiopia should leave the country in 24 hours for tarnishing the image of the nation and repeatedly contravening journalism ethics. The Press License and Control Department together with the Ministry decided that the AP correspondent, Antony Michel, be expelled from the country for disseminating information far from the truth about Ethiopia.

A high level mediation team from the United States has arrived in Ethiopia to try and break the border dispute with neighbouring Eritrea, according to the US embassy in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. Eritrea insists that Ethiopia should accept a 2002 ruling by an independent border commission that demarcated the border following a peace deal that ended a bloody two-year war between the two neighbours.

Research by Nkuzi Development Association and Social Surveys indicates that farm evictions continue unabated in the post-apartheid era. The number of people displaced from farms between 1994 and the end of 2004 was 1.8 million and another 942 000 people were evicted in the same period. Only 1% of evictions went through a court process.

The Africa Commons-sense Project has as its goal to conduct research that helps equip African activists and decision-makers with the information they need to develop cutting-edge, relevant intellectual property policies and practices. It begins with a map that presents a broad picture of where Africa is in terms of achieving a "digital information commons", as well as providing some sense of how to grow it further.

Over an 8-day period, 140 people from around Africa and beyond, came together to live, learn and be inspired at the Africa Source II FOSS technology workshop, organised by the Tactical Tech team. Presented in 3 main tracks, participants were invited to share their stories and learn from experts in the fields of ‘Information handling and citizen’s media’, ‘Migration for education and resource centres’ and ‘Migration for NGOs’. Sessions covered items such as Alternative Access and localisation. Undoubtedly, the non-profit and non-governmental sectors in Africa are turning to FOSS to solve their technology problems.

http://za.creativecommons.org/blog/archives/2006/01/17/a-source-of-insp…

Further Resources:
Africa Source II - http://www.tacticaltech.org/africasource2
Africa Source II Wiki - http://wiki.africasource2.tacticaltech.org/
Tactical Technology Collective blog - http://www.tacticaltech.org/africasource2/blog
foss4us blog - http://foss4us.org/blog

The Media Development Loan Fund (MDLF) has announced a unique initiative designed to help independent news media in emerging democracies. The program will allow investors to help foster press freedom and viability abroad by loaning money at low interest rates. MDLF is a New York-based nonprofit that offers low-interest loans to independent news media in developing countries.

Balancing Act News Update gazes into their crystal ball and attempts to make some predictions on what the African internet environment might look like five years from now. "Some predictions are easy. They are just about pointing to something that is about to take off. The start of Africa's broadband markets would be a typical example. Other predictions are less easy to make. However, making predictions in Africa is so much harder because so much depends on the often unpredictable mix of Government action and commercial strategy."

Web users searching for South Africa's newest search engine Jonga on Google are more likely to find an Indian army 4x4, a South African tour company or the genealogy of a German whose name is "Jonga". That is if they find it at all. The search engine was dropped from the Google index "in its entirety" last week, according to owner of Jonga, Alistair Carruthers. Carruthers says he has "no idea whatsoever" why Jonga is no longer indexed by the world's biggest search engine.

Buli Tikolo, training co-ordinator, Obsidian Systems, says the new course is aimed at office workers and other non-IT professionals that wish to gain a rounded understanding of computing, specifically in an open source environment. “We are offering people who want to switch to open source applications and operating systems a benchmark course that will provide them with all the necessary skills to operate a computer running Linux and some of the top open source tools available today,” says Tikolo.

The Southern African NGO Network (SANGONeT) is pleased to announce the first ever South African NGO Web Awards. In recent years a growing number of South African NGOs have invested in ICT skills and infrastructure, including their own dedicated websites. This is a very encouraging trend and one which will hopefully continue to grow in future. This competition aims to raise awareness amongst South African NGOs about the benefits of having a web presence, stimulate interest in the application of web solutions and applications, and showcase best practices in website creation and maintenance.