http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/300/blogs_grandiose.gif comments on the apathy amongst Nigerian bloggers not writing on the elections and is particularly irritated by the response from bloggers and media using the phrase 'I am not surprised' in reaction to the violence and chaos. He goes on to say

'We can’t all fold our arms and watch some rogues make nonsense of these votes. Although the majority of Nigerian bloggers operate from the Diaspora, of the Nigeria-based blogs, very few has substantial posts on the elections.

If 70 year old men and women spent hours in the sun waiting to vote, if foreign observers dodged bullets and confronted teargas fumes to capture the “tone of the elections,” then Nigerian bloggers have no excuse!.....For the sake of those men and women that voted, the least Nigerian bloggers can do at this time is do a post on the elections - if you can’t write, link to another blog or a news site that has something relevant on the elections.'

It is disappointing that considering the number of Nigerian bloggers, so few have commented or reported on the elections. Any comment whether negative or positive is better than silence which in the Nigerian blogosphere has become very loud indeed.

More and more bloggers are writing about Uganda, both Ugandans and foreigners working in the country. Below are a couple of relatively new entries to the blogosphere.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/300/blogs_countryboy.gifCountry Boyi Boyi celebrates the election of Susan Abbo as guild president at Makerere Univeristy as she becomes the third female to hold this position and quotes her acceptance speech.

'I’ve come as the only organic students autonomy who will never give up in times of moral crisis', she said amid thunderous applause. 'I’ve come as an agent of transformation because our freedom has been bedevilled by agents of false propaganda, of inefficiency, and of slavery. Am going to use my strong will and dedication to make things happen.'

However all is not well with this post as the Boyi has a strange way of emphasising the need for the university authorities to work with Ms Abbo and the students – surely he could have come up with something less offensive and sexist than this:

'Can she woo the university authorities to come to bed with her so that the great power that the 84-old Makerere once wielded is rejuvenated?'

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/300/blogs_africanminute.gifIn An African Minute is a blog by an American working on post-conflict development in Uganda. In the 'Dark Side of Mobilisation' he comments on the Ugandan governments intention to 'hand over one of the nation's most prominent tropical forest to Kakira Sugar Works, a subsidiary of a huge Asian-owned conglomerate'. The response by grassroots organisation has been to start a campaign to block the move. One of the tools they are using are SMS messaging via mobile phones. Unfortantely last week the campaign turned ugly as:

'we wondered what the results of such a massive mobilization would be. Western observers may be saddened that the results may be far from positive, and even catastrophic. A peaceful protest march in Kampala gave way to anti-Asian riots which resulted in three deaths, including one Asian who was stoned to deal in the streets.'

What is interesting is the use of mobile phone technology as a tool for activism. Using SMS for campaigning, distributing information and education is becoming more and more widespread across the continent.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/300/blogs_ernestbazanye.gifErnest Bazanye has a different take on the riots mentioned by 'In An African Minute'

'Ugandans don’t care about the environment. Well, you might, but that that mob doesn't. If Ugandans gave a shit, why would we still have a problem with buveeras and why would people still not be using energy saving bulbs, and why would they still be doing their laundry at the lakeside, right next to the sign that asks them not to, and what about that mess called Nakivubo channel? And why are they always encroaching on wetlands? They are encroaching on forests too! And what about all the kasasiro and rubbish heaps everywhere you go? And why is it everyone’s ambition to own a gas-guzzling smoke belching 4-wheel drive?'

I think he is being somewhat harsh on the Ugandan public. If we are honest most people in the world don’t care about the environment. Ugandans are not the only people aspiring to drive around in huge guzzling 4x4s – the same can be said of Americans who use 3 and 4 litre engine vehicles not to speak of the hummer which is basically a tank for god’s sake. The same goes for plastic soda bottles, bags and so on. Partly it is lack of information but it is also a 'don’t give a damn selfish' mentality driven for one thing by capitalist imperatives to constantly produce more for less.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/300/blogs_oneafrican.gifOneafrikan tried to organise a Web2 conference in South Africa but unfortunately there has so far been little interest in the idea possibly because of the marketing strategy used. The conference 'Technology for Africa 07' is due to take place in May. It reminds me of the Africa Blogging Indaba that took place last year under much controversy, although this one will cover technology in general and not just blogging. It will be interesting to see, if it does happen, who attends, who the guest speakers are and the content of the discussions especially how they address access and take up of technology in South Africa.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/300/blogs_sociolingo.gifSociolingo I am not sure who writes this blog except that at present s/he is living in Mali and writes about a wide range of African issues including language and in this piece he posts an interview with Senegalese Deputy Minister in charge of Basic Education and National Languages of Senegal on language policy in Senegal. I chose this piece as the issue of codification, translating and teaching African indigenous languages is essential if languages are to remain alive. In Nigeria for example where there are some 250 languages, there are still many that have not been codified and because of the movement from the rural areas to cities are in danger of dying out in the next 50 years. Sociolingo also raises the point of a “common” language or linga franca in those countries where multiple languages are spoken. This has generally been the colonial language such as English, French and Portuguese. The question

'Can languages be planned? Is it desirable to intervene in the maturing process of languages?(2)……If that quotation is put back into context, it means that, where languages are concerned, there is a need for mediation that a decree cannot resolve. This problem has come up in Senegal. It has been said that In order to achieve national unity, there must be a language of unification in Senegal. But which language should we choose? Obviously, if the government decides to choose one language rather than another, that doesn’t mean that the social process taking place in the real world will obey the decree exactly as issued. Languages have their own dynamic. There are many factors involved, such as trade, migrations, historical and social factors, that cause one language to spread more than another. If a government arbitrarily decides that a particular language must be the language of national unification instead of acknowledging these ongoing processes for what they are, it’s on the wrong track.'

It will be interesting to see how Senegal deals with this issue which affects a large number of African countries with multiple languages. Languages do not exist on their own, they are an intricate part of culture, tradition and history so choosing one over another can easily become a highly continuous issue.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/300/blogs_blacklooks.gifBlack Looks comments on the Don Imus affair in which he, a US TV journalist describes a black female basketball player as 'nappy-headed ho'. Fortunately he has since been relieved of his job but the fall out from this remains in the news.

Last week hip hop commentator Chuck “Jigsaw” Creekmur of AllHipHop.com was calling for Hip Hop to apologise to Black women for it’s misogyny and sexism. This week an American sports commentator was openly dissing Black women 'nappy head ho' - how bad can it get? Where did this white man get to speak this language - well he got some of it from this same Black Hip Hop and street language. So before we rush and condemn the white man and hey on that side I have learned to have little expectations but lets speak the truth - and the truth is that this is Black man talk. Not just in US but also in Britain and here in Africa as local youth get off on using this same kind of misogynist language.

• Sokari Ekine is the Onlne News Editor of Pambazuka News and produces the blog Black Looks, http://www.blacklooks.org

• Please send comments to [email protected]

I woke up this morning
After a week of hibernation
I decided I had been hiding long enough
So I blasted myself in to her heart
Pumping the blood through her veins
You think you can turn your eyes, close your ears,
Shut your mind to me who has the name of
Pain?

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/299/blog_ghanageek.gif reports on an ICT project for secondary school children in Ghana called the I2CAP competition.

'The I2CAP program is a secondary school level programming competition. We train the teachers who go back and train the students. Then we have regional competitions and finally the nationals. At the moment their tutors are taught in the Ruby programming language…They are given a bunch of problems of varying difficulty and graded on how well they can create a working solution…Its only been going on for almost 2 years and we finally got teachers in every region trained. The first nationals will be in september. The plan is to eventually be able to assemble a national team for the International Programming Olympiad'

100 kids took part in the project however Geek has some criticisms such as the age of the computers – its about time Africa stopped being the dumping ground of ancient computers – a 5 year old computer is about 30 years old in reality if not more.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/299/blog_naija.gifMusings of a Naijaman comments on his adventures in London seeking out Nigerian food and newspapers and ends up at the Bukka in Kilburn High Road. And on the continuing drama that is the Nigerian elections he points to a piece in This Day on how to prevent Rigging.

'Over in Naija, the drama continues as the elections draw nearer with court cases and counter suits and sudden deaths and the rearing of violence - Simon Kolawole of Thisday had some useful pointers on how to prevent rigging (or at least stop PDP from rigging too much)'

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/299/blog_subzero.gifSubzero Blue comments on an article on the “so called “Seven Pillars of Middle East Reality” that stand in the way of peace with Israel. Subzero takes each “pillar” which he generally describes as [un]reality apart such as placing the onus of peace on Arab leaders

'This can't be more wrong; the Arab leaders wouldn't want anything more than to have the whole Israel-Palestine problem solved, a peace established, the ability to move on and leave the whole thing behind them. In fact, a number of the Arab regimes, if not most of them, already have secret ties with Israel, and are just waiting for the chance to make them public and announce normalization and all minorities living in the Arab world are under siege.'

'This is very very wrong, and a trip to any country in the Arab world where a religious minority exists can show that; Jews in countries like Tunisia and Morocco, Christians in countries like Egypt, Jordan and Lebanon, and the list continues; These people enjoy all their rights and freedoms, and live in peace alongside Muslims.'

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/299/blog_matubamurphy.gifMy Haven a blog by South African gay couple, Matuba and Murphy comment on an editorial in Behind the Mask (South African LHBT news site) titled “The Only Gay Jesus Christ” stating that Jesus was in fact bi-sexual. Haven’s response to the piece is that it is completely unfounded and baseless statement.

'Conduct your research or perhaps use acceptable quotes that shows insight and initiative! Behind the Mask should know better than everyone else not publish such bigotry. They advocate for the existence of homosexuals. They fight for the rights of those who are violated - yet they bash Christianity with unfounded lies! As far as I am concerned it is all lies because there is no basis!'

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/299/blog_eshun.gifeshuneutics continues with the Easter theme and Jesus Christ in his post on Indulgence – chocolate crucifixes and Easter eggs – the 80 million sold and the sheer waste of the packaging – 4,500 tonnes altogether!

'It was Ezra Pound who once said “We have the press for wafer”. And sadly, we do: and its views are about as intellectually chewy as a chocolate box. Nowhere has the press tied all perspectives together and suggested that it is the continual commercialisation of religion that has caused this wastage of natural resources. Probably, that would be a crusade too far.'

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/299/blog_model.gifBella Naija is one of Nigeria’s most popular blogs. Bella blogs on Nigeria popular culture: fashion, celebrities and Nollywood. This week the focus is on “Nigeria’s Next Top Model”…which is an event that will take place in London this month. Apparently there are “Top Model” events worldwide but this is a first for Nigeria

'I think it’s a good idea although I really wish this would have been more like the American Top Model reality show format with the whole thing taking place in Nigeria but I guess this is a start. I understand that subsequent ‘seasons/cycles’ will attempt to follow US Top Model format.'

There are rich pickings to be had for the winners – TV, advertising deals and the chance to become the 'face of Nigeria' – what better reward could any woman wish for!

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/299/blog_thinker.gifSudanese Thinker goes on yet another anti-gay rant with the proviso that “he doesn’t mean to offend anyone”. Of course ST is entitled to his own opinion but the whole piece is full of misinformation and plain bigotry. He ends up telling us of an encounter with “2 gay dues and a transsexual” and concludes that you cant judge people on the basis of their sexuality. And he even has some friends who are atheist as well! God what a relief on both counts.

'I was extremely uncomfortable in the beginning and felt like cursing my friend but I convinced myself to remain respectful since I was a guest. At first, I conversed with everyone except the transsexual. After a while, the party got going when the host started blasting some really good old school hip hop music. Eventually we all conversed, laughed and joked around until I completely forgot the fact that 2 of the guys were gay and one was a transsexual. It didn’t bother me much anymore. Unlike previous cases, they didn’t try to hit on me and they didn’t make any flirtatious moves which was obviously a very good thing. As a result, I learned three new fashion words. Cetour, retro and bohemian (did I spell them right?). Moreover I started thinking and I gained a new perspective.'

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/298/blogs_otherafrica.gif is a new blog from Senegal by Ndeyefatou. Her latest post “Discover Dakar, she posts a photo essay showing places and monuments in the city – one of my favourites is a piece of modern art depicting “Mother Africa”

“The Millenium Door. This was constructed in 2000 on the Corniche of Dakar. It has a door in its middle thats known as the Millenieum door . This door symbolizes the entry to a new century or millenium. At the top of the door there is a statue of a woman named Yaye Boye= Mother in wolof. She symbolizes mother Africa watching over its children.”

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/298/blogs_khanya.gifKhanya is another new blog this time from South Africa. Referring to the new South African blog aggregator, Amatomu, produced by the Mail & Guardian, Khanya asks “where are all the African bloggers”. Yet again that same question we have heard so many times before both referring to African men and women bloggers.

“Look at South African blog aggregator sites like Amatomu, and the vast majority of the bloggers there are white. And this in spite of the fact that it is run by the Mail & Guardian newspaper, which has several black journalists. So if there are black bloggers out there, why aren’t they showing up on Amatomu?............The disparity not confined to blogging, but is seen in other parts of the Web and in electronic communications generally. In Usenet newsgroups, for example, most of the South African newsgroups are dominated by whites, with a high proportion of whinging whenwes. The soc.culture.south-africa newsgroup did have one very articulate black poster a few years ago, but he was not one to suffer fools gladly, and went off to play golf instead.”

I don’t know why Black bloggers are not showing up on Amatomu but I do know that issues of access to technology exist for the not white population who make up the majority of the poorer sections of SA. With most Black people still living in townships and a further 20% living in shacks it is not surprising that blogging and technology in general is not being taken up. Most Black and people of colour complain about the cost of internet connection at home and lets face it if you have just spent 2 hours struggling to get home the last thing you want to do is go and find an internet café and start blogging.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/298/blogs_sotho.gifSotho is possibly the only blogger to write about the recent elections in Lesotho. Knowing so little about Lesotho and Lesotho politics I welcome this short piece especially as he raises the question will the prime minister, Mosisili be taking after Mugabe?

“On Sunday elections were held in Lesotho. The small southern African “kingdom in the sky” was the continent’s first country to use a mixed-member proportional (MMP) system, in 2002. Sunday’s election was Lesotho’s second under MMP, and as I am not aware of any other African countries having opted for MMP (as opposed to MMM/parallel, which is used by several countries*), it must have been only the second African MMP election……………Lesotho politics is fraught with fallacies. There are even suggestions that the tiny mountain kingdom should be incorporated into South Africa before its tool late. In fact the only hope for the poor country is its big neighbour where there are more than 50 000 Basotho employed in the gold mines. Lately, its educated citizens are leaving in droves for greener pastures in the SA provinces. Is Lesotho becoming the next Zimbabwe? Is prime minister Mosisili taking after pres Mugabe?”

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/298/blogs_altmuslim.gif

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/298/blogs_squatter.gifSquatter City reports on a court ruling in Joburg that will allow the government to evict squatters.

“The Supreme Court of Appeal decision allows the government to evict approximately 300 people from six buildings in the inner city that it argues are unsafe and unhealthy. The court ruling does, however, require the city to provide temporary relocation housing for the people it evicts”

What Squatter City is reporting on is the move by the Johannesburg government to gentrify downtown Joburg and in the process remove the last remaining black population so that it may refurbish and construct new high rise expensive apartments for wealthy people.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/298/blogs_ekwuruke.gifhttp://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/298/blogs_blacklooks.gifIn Black Looks Kameelah questions the way in which we speak about the highly complex situation in Zimbabwe and asks that we do not assume the MDC as the given and best alternative to Mugabe.

“This delicacy in speaking about Zimbabwe does not mean we stay silent—engaging in the quiet diplomacy that South African president Thabo Mbeki has seemed to master; it means that we develop the strategies to speak about Zimbabwe in productive ways.”…………. Granted–any words uttered about the negligence and brutality of specific African governments will be an invitation for the West. If it is not a formal invitation, then it is an instigation of the desire for greater Western involvement in Zimbabwe (and by extension Africa)—a desire that lingered below the surface awaiting the opportunity to exploit—and at the moment Africa has many crisis opportunities to exploit. It is a desire for involvement that can only be staged as legitimate when certain people speak in certain ways. With that said, how do we speak? When? Where? And to whom? Or, do we stay silent? Do we pussy-foot around the crisis at hand to preserve the sanctity of African political leadership? If we choose to speak, how do we speak in a way that does not invite neocolonial intervention, or mimic Western neo-con and neo-liberal narratives?”

Kameelah raises an important point in asking how do we speak of Zimbabwe. We need to be very careful of the kind of language we use and avoid language that is racially loaded and feeds into the West’s vision of Africa as opposed to a progressive vision which seeks a new form of African leadership.

* Sokari Ekine produces the blog Black Looks, and is Online News Editor of Pambazuka News.

* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/297/blogs_acacias.gif reports on a return to traditional building materials and methods in the Sahel region of Burkina Faso. The sad thing is that these methods were lost in the first place as obviously people built using local materials and in a way that suited the environment and climate.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/297/blogs_politics.gifhttp://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/297/blogs_afromusing.gif The answer I reckon would be the good fuzzy gooey touchy feely collective altruistic feelings that will wash over us when we realise that China will get… “cash”. How does that make you feel? huh? does it affirm your belief that nations have an underlying sense of caring and exhibit random acts of extreme kindness, preferably dispensing with oil exploration rights to later be sold off? Makes you feel all nice and happy doesn’t it.'

Looks to me like the only thing Kenya has got out of this is the rug pulled from under their feet or possibly they have been taken for a ride along the Great Wall of China.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/297/blogs_bankelele.gifBankelele has a rant about bad driving in Nairobi and comes up with the 'bad driver index'.

'While the most aggressive drivers appear to be matatus, taxis, citi hoppas, we are all to blame as regular motorists because we are equally bad drivers. Driving along the roadside, changing or creating extra lanes, doing u-turns etc.'

Apparently you can report matatus (kombi taxi) by sending an SMS to the Ministry of Transport – a great idea – but you cannot do that for regular motorists. Imagine the chaos if there was a sms number to report bad motorists in Nairobi, Cairo, Lagos, Joburg etc – the whole scheme would probably combust in a day from sheer overload of complaints!

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/297/blogs_uglybetty.gifWordsbody writes about the 'Ugly Betty' series which she is watching only to see a blast from the past in the form of 'Funmi Desalu's on Ugly Betty!!!' and even managed to catch a screen shot of her momentary passing. Apparently Wordsbody (Molara Wood) and Funmi were part of a London set known as the 'North West Set' – a glamorous group of Nigerians in London!

'In this episode of Ugly Betty (starring producer Salma Hayek and Vanessa Williams, who is astonishing as Wilhemina Slater), Funmi is credited for a non-speaking role, playing an assistant in a conference scene with Ugly Betty star America Ferrara. And in the following week's episode, it was a game of 'Spot Funmi' as she could be seen as one of the extras in the elaborate choreography of background office workers walking back and forth behind the main players. My curiousity piqued, I googled Funmi only to find that she's credited for a string of small roles as "Fumi Desalu" (somebody please put the 'n' back into that name! At least Ugly Betty got the spelling right). As a result, I'm now paying better attention to episodes of 'How I Met Your Mother' in case my old friend turns up one day as a 'bar waitress'.'

So if you get the chance to see any Ugly Betty repeats look out for Funmi Desalu.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/297/blogs_koranteng.gifKoranteng’s Toli is one of the few blogs I love to read but never quite understand what exactly he is trying to say. In this post he writes about what must be one of the most undesirable areas of London anyone has the misfortune to live in (I await a blasting from Catford livers) – Catford Bridge. Just the mere name leaves me with a murky grey run down feeling. I used to drive through it years ago on the way to well down South. Koli has a nasty experience on his arrival in Catford…

'The fight that I stepped into right as I walked out of Catford Bridge station… As I took my first 3 steps into Catford, this was the scene… On the left: 15 or so drunk black (Jamaican?) youths. To my right: 20 white guys (football yobs?) - Liverpool had won the Champions Cup the day before beating AC Milan. I can't believe I missed that match, but that's what happens when you leave your packing and shopping to the last minute. In the middle: 10 or so policemen trying to calm things down and keep things from spiraling out of control… The dozen or so women standing outside the pub egging the fight on.

As I looked up, I saw the first punch being thrown. Thus I walked straight into a melee of about 30 people yelling at each other and exchanging furious blows… A bunch of them almost knocked my suitcase off as they fell on me in one of those pub brawl tangled scuffles. Exciting introduction to South London. 6 or so police cars began streaming into the place. Flashing lights, sirens, tangled limbs, dirty streets. Screams of women. The fighters were more methodical and mostly kept quiet as they went about inflicting damage on each other.'

I do concede that this experience could have happened anyway in the big city – nonetheless the whole thing is made worse by the sheer nonentity of Catford. One of those 'nowhere' kind of places. Someone recently told me that it was in fact the cheapest place to buy a property in London – well that explains a lot – no one wants to live there.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/297/blogs_blacklooks.gifBlack Looks Rethabile writing on Black Looks asks if there should be reparations for slavery.

'It comes as a bit of a surprise to some that an organisation as benign as the Church of England might have to consider such a question…But its leader, the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams, thinks it must.' So, what do you think? What kind of apology should slave drivers make? Should there be reparations? Financial reparations? If so, why?…

Based on the comments (only 5) 4 say yes and 1 comes up with all sorts of deflective reasons why there shouldn’t be? My response to his comment:

'Ryan@ you completely side step the question posed by Rethablile. Your deflection of his point to that of modern day slavery and slavery that existed in traditional African societies pre the Trans Atlantic slave trade is typical of those who wish to negate the Trans Atlantic Slavery as merely a continuation of something that had been taking place around the world since ad infinitum. Your reference to Arab slavery is another method of deflecting the role played by England (a primary role I might add) in the slave trade and speaks of childish reasoning “well we weren’t the only ones” which is not what is being discussed here. These are typical examples of selective reality whereby white people cannot see Black people, because they cannot see themselves in relationship to Black people and are incapable of reflecting upon their own racist realities.'

* Sokari Ekine produces the blog Black Looks, and is Online News Editor of Pambazuka News.

* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/296/blog_shirts.gif - comments on global warming and what he as an individual is prepared to do to 'save his own skin'. – 'Stop flying, stop driving, stop tumble drying?'

Flying is a particularly pollution filled activity but nonetheless Nkem states he is not prepared to give it up and I have to agree with him to some extent. How else can you travel from Spain to South Africa? by boat - how many weeks? By road – the cost of a specialised vehicle will be 10 times if not more the cost of a flight not to talk of the dangers involved. One of the comments though makes a good point.

'I don't think that the intention is to ban you from flying. I think the idea is to make you think about whether you really need to fly or not - perhaps it would be better to take a holiday where you live rather than flying half-way across the world? Or perhaps that meeting is best held via videoconferencing facilities?'

We do have the technologies available now that can reduce the amount of business travel and conference hopping and yes we can all take holidays nearer our homes and travel by train or bus or if you are really fit by cycle.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/296/blog_blackstar.gifBlack Star Journal - writes that Europeans are becoming more conscisous of the issue of climate change and the need to make changes in their behaviour such as buy local goods and holiday closer to home and Euro governments have made a commitment to reduce green house gases.

However despite the fact that Africa is the continent most affected by climate change, some people are complaining about the European campaign harming Africa’s tourist industry. As BSJ states some people will whine about everything.

'Some people will whine about whatever's done or not done. The west is blasted for contributing to climate change that hurts Africa, but when Europe tries to take actions to mitigate this problem, it's blasted for that too...Maybe the populist whiners can figure out what they want the west to do. But I guess it's easier to instead of criticizing everything instead of coming up with constructive solutions.'

I completely agree – you cannot have your cake and eat it. Africa like the rest of the world will have to make some serious and sometimes uncomfortable decisions around the issue of climate change which will require innovative thinking and as BSJ states “constructive solutions”

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/296/blog_unchained.gifAfrica Unchained - posts on an organisation called “Self Help” whose

'philosophy is to help:...people to help themselves. Innovative and appropriate technologies and techniques are employed by Self Help's staff, who work in partnership with beneficiary communities and government agencies to create a real and lasting change'.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/296/blog_grandiose.gifGrandiose Parlor - receives an email alerting him to a website for the presidential candidate and VP, Governors Umar Yar’adua and Goodluck Jonathan . GP comments that it is a

'Great idea, but with about one month to the elections, this is a bit too late!'

He also provides a useful list of websites by other Presidential candidates as well as Gubernatorial ones. I note that Goodluck Jonathon did set up a blog some time ago when he was hoping to be a Presidential candidate himself but I have not been able to find it so I am not sure whether it is still running.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/296/blog_thysdrus.gifThysdrus - comments on an article written by an American woman visiting Tunisia asking 'is she aware of her platitudes?' She writes:

'As an independent American woman, I have never felt inferior because of my gender. I have never been treated as less of a person than the man standing next to me, until I went on vacation to Northern Africa. As a tourist in Tunisia, I was exposed to much more than beautiful beaches, warm weather, and bustling markets. The male-dominated, largely Muslim population opened my eyes to gender inequality we have all heard so much about...'

She continues in this vein stating 'The deeper we went into the culture of the country, the more we noticed about the gender inequality' and ends up by saying how wonderful it is to be free to walk the streets (presumably in the US) and be free – of course we all know that the US and the West women don’t get sexually harassed on the streets, in their offices, in shops, parks and son on – this is something that only happens in the lands of the 'OTHER' .

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/296/blog_congogirl.gifAdventures of a Retired Armchair Traveller - Congo Girl - comments on the $128 million just allocated to rebuild Kinshasa by the World Bank.

'I am curious to find out who gets the contracts on this one. Halliburton just moved to Dubai, is it? Are there connections between Cheney and Wolfowitz that we don't know about yet? Or will most of the funds be channelled through contracts to companies based in other northern (previously colonizing) countries? ...Millions of people live in Kinshasa (estimates are as high as 9 million), and roads, medical facilities, water infrastructure are sorely needed. But what about the rest of the country? This situation vaguely reminds me of New Orleans - post Hurricane Katrina, the first spots to get attention were not the most populous or needy, but the most likely to be on a parade route or downtown where the conventioneers go. Is the World Bank considering the dense population as a primary weight, or the idea that refurbishing the capital will lead to more (perceived) stability, and therefore a better presentation and (perceived) environment for investors?'

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/296/blog_blacklooks.gifBlack Looks - comments on a beauty pageant in Angola to highlight survivors of landmines called Miss Landmine 2007.

'my gut reaction to this is that it is highly offensive, disgusting exploitation of African women. In the background of some of the photos there are these white people smiling and glowing as they make up and dress the women - like mannequins. Putting the issue of beauty pageants aside and the patronising comments on Western opinions and African cultural traditions etc, it is still an inappropriate tool which objectifies women beside landmine survivors are men as well as women. Even the use of the words Miss Landmine is horrible. And who the hell is going to be buying these glossy magazines and wearing these fancy clothes? Certainly not the women survivors who are poor unemployed women?'

* Sokari Ekine is author of Black Looks blog and Editor of Pambazuka News

* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org

This passed week has seen the government of Mugabe reach an all time low in the violence committed against Zimbabwean citizens. Following the murder of the MDC activist, Gift Tandare, and the arrest and torture of senior MDC officials, including leader Morgan Tsvangirai, one begins to wonder whether this is the final push of Mugabe before he falls over the abyss and the people of Zimbabwe can begin finally to rebuild the country he has devastated economically and morally.

A message from some of the activists beaten last Sunday reads.

'The assaults on Sunday were so terrible and surreal. Like watching a movie except that one was part of the characters. Strangely if it were to happen again many of us would love to be in the front line again. They were hitting us but they were the ones afraid. Our wounds will heal but the scars on their souls are permanent and they will take them to hell.'

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/295/blog_thisiszim.gif - presents a photo essay of the arrest of Mogan Tsvangirai and writes a list of atrocities committed by the government.

'Gift Tandere murdered by the police; MDC faction leader beaten and seriously injured; Activists shot while attending a vigil; Arrests continuing two days after the rally; Police searching for ’subversive material’; Evidence of widespread use of torture against high profile civil rights activists; Senior opposition figures ‘missing; Denial of legal representation; Ongoing police intimidation of civilians in Highfields, including possible use of violence; Scores of activists arrested.'

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Enough is Enough - reports that all of the 48 activists who were injured by the police were kept waiting for medical attention.

'Silence gripped the courtroom as the 46 arrested activists found their place among the chairs. It looked more of a hospital ward that a courtroom. In fact, the whole bruised lot deserved to be in hospital and not in a courtroom. ….Those who were seriously injured included Tsvangirai, the National Constitutional Assembly chairman Lovemore Madhuku, the MDC’s deputy national treasurer, Elton Mangoma and deputy secretary for international affairs Grace Kwinje.'

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Final Push - has a report from SABC on how the Zimbabwean government justifies it’s violent actions against opposition leaders - Nathan Shamuyarira, secretary for information and publicity Zanu (PF), says Morgan Tsvangirai, has been 'asking for trouble for a long time'.

'Tsvangirai has been provoking violence in urban townships. "If you ask for that kind of trouble you'll get it," he said, referring to Tsvangirai. Morning Live's Vuyo Mbuli asked: "Was Tsvangirai beaten because he asked for it?" and Shamuyarira replied, "Yes he asked for it!"…………The Zanu (PF) representative maintains that the meeting held on Sunday was unlawful and all the people who attended it ignored government's call to ban mass meetings. He says all meetings, including those of the ruling party, have been barred. "The MDC is always playing to the gallery of the international community. They want to demonstrate to Britain and America that there is violation of human rights in Zimbabwe. So they provoke action with the purpose of impressing their overseas bosses.'

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Cry Beloved Zimbabwe - comments on the what he sees as the complicity of the South African government in the violence committed by Mugabe against the Zimbabwean people….

'The fact that South Africans cannot see nothing wrong even with surmounting evidence that MDC leaders have been tortured in custody means two things, they are complicit with the human rights abuses in Zimbabwe and they are also heading the same way. Mandela once said it "the greatest question one has to ask is what did I do to help another human being in need" when he was invited to the British Labour Party in 2000 South Africans are intellectually challenged its no secret, most of them South African politicians waffle, there is little substance to what they say, most of the times its not their waffle which surprises me but the amount of waffle they are capable of producing. While the whole world over condemns the unlawful arrest, detention and torture of Zimbabwean political figures such MDC President Morgan Tsvangirai'

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Black Looks - publishes at obituary to murdered activists, Gift Tandare. Zorora Murugare by Zimbabwean feminist, Isabella Matambanadzo.

'His death is the result of repression. His grave will be a marker of how rights denied, end.In Zimbabwe, we live in a country where police run riot. Where our rights to lawyers and doctors are denied because certain elements of the state want to hold on to a kind of power that they can see they no longer have.'

* Sokari Ekine produces the blog Black Looks, and is Online News Editor of Pambazuka News.

* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at pambazuka.org

8 March is International Women’s Day. So the focus this week will be on blogs by African women. There are probably hundreds of blogs by African women on the continent and in the diaspora. Therefore selecting six was not an easy task. I have chosen the following because they are either consistent and have been publishing for over a year (keeping a blog consistently is no easy task) or they are exceptional in content or style.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/294/blog_wordsbody.gif - a literary and arts blog by Molara Wood for those who want know what is happening in the literary and arts scene in London and Lagos.

Recently she posted an interview with Nigerian writer, Mohammed Sule who recently passed away on the 12th February – on reading in Nigeria….

'Given our reading culture in this country, where those who are creating these problems have little or no time to read, how could the writers really change the ills? ......The people who are causing the ills are in the minority while those who are reading are in the majority. So if you are able to reach the majority, if you are able to reach about a million people, they may have different perspectives about the book, but your preaching will get through. And then we are moving forward. Of course, I’m also aware of the poor reaching culture. When I was in primary school, we had a library where we could read. It was the same in secondary school. And we read a lot. But these days, even some university graduates hardly read. So it is a fundamental problem. But I don’t believe the problem cannot be solve if all those concerned wake up to their responsibilities.'

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Mshairi - Kenyan blogger who writes on women’s issues, human rights as well as some of the best poetry online. Mshairi has also been involved with me in setting up the African Women’s blog. On the night of the lunar eclipse she wrote

'As night deepens, thrilled we stand in wonder
in awe, a crystalline sky a mantle of stars.
Spectacularly ascending over the surface
the moon regally glides over earth’s shade
little by little, once a crescent then engulfed
we marvel at moonlight’s luminosity loss. A
lingering darkening an effervescent cerise glow
vivid hues of gray and orange.'

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Freedom for Egyptians - “Freedom and Democracy are the only guarantees for human dignity, self-respect and human rights – an important statement if you are an Egyptian – one of the few countries that has imprisoned bloggers. Her comment on the sentencing of Egyptian blogger, Abdel kareem Nabil Soliman Amer.

'It is really sad! Egypt is setting a dangerous precedent for trying and sentencing internet writers and bloggers when other countries are working on raising the ceiling of freedom of expression………….And the biggest disaster is that it is not the issue to agree or disagree with Kareem Amer's blog, but the real disappointment is that many people are supporting jailing Kareem, including his family. They do not know that regardless where do they stand on politics or religion, their turn is coming......I am not shocked but sad.'

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Ore’s Notes - I was privileged to work with Ore on the BAWo project last year, supporting and encouraging young Nigerian girls in a blogging project. Without Ore’s hard and determined work the project would not have gotten off the ground. This year Ore has single headedly taken the idea further by applying and receiving funding from Hamrambee. Ore writes about life in Lagos, literature, feminism and technology. On Nigerian newspapers, not an easy decision as there are so many but she goes for…..…..

'My paper of choice then was This Day, mostly because it appeared to be so highly regarded. After trying it out for a few weeks, I realized how much I did not like that paper. So much of the news in This Day (and this is common to a lot of Nigerian newspapers) is focused almost exclusively on politics. Yes, politics affects virtually every sphere of our lives, but there is surely more to report than that. Not being very interested in politics myself, I had to admit to myself that This Day was not the paper for me. I recently tried The Guardian and while I enjoyed that, I remembered that I had read an issue of Business Day sometime last year on a flight to Abuja and actually read it cover to cover.'

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Afromusing - Afromusing blogs on alternative technology especially solar power, renewable energy and technology in general as well as the occasional dip into music and film. Recently she ran a test on an I-pod solar charger...

'Ok: It works well, there are preliminary indications that it functions as designed, marketed and as expected…………I am afraid i did not realise that my schedule today did not afford me more than 2 hrs of direct sunlight, i learnt that next time i promise to test something like this…make sure i have a way of positioning said gadget in direct sunlight for the ideal amount of time to make for a true test……..If you arent stopping….I have attempted to charge it twice today. In the morning i got abt 30 minutes of direct sunlight (I got swamped and forgot to set it up earlier). I started out with a completely dead battery, when the charger was in direct sunlight after 30 seconds the ipod turned on to indicate that it is charging, needless to say, i was excited. After 30 min or so i did not have direct sunlight so it stopped charging. At this point i could turn the ipod on and even play a song, but decided not to, attempting to keep the ‘integrity’ of the experiment he he, so i turned the ipod off.'

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R. E Ekosso’s Blog - Rosemary from the Cameroon and blogs from the Netherlands on race, literature, feminism and just about anything that catches her eye. Recently she wrote two posts about Chinua Achebe’s famous essay on Joseph Conrad’s “In the Heart of Darkness” ….some of her thoughts.

'The white man knows all the plant species in my world, and can tell where oil will be discovered even before the organic matter has finished rotting. He has complete mastery of the extent of my resources, and can describe my diseases in great detail. If he is particularly knowledgeable, he might even be able to produce small, potted and sometimes wildly inaccurate histories of some of my people……But he does not know who I am. I do not think he wants to know, because there is no money or superiority or power in knowing me…..However, I know him better than he knows me. He studies my vital statistics, and I study his soul'

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Soul Searching - one of the older blogs by African women and one of the first I read, Soul does not have an RSS feed, google ads or any other signs of publicity on her blog. She very rarely uses links but just writes and writes – poetry, stories, thoughts. Nubian has been viciously attacked time and time again by, in particular, male members of the Nigerian community of bloggers, but has never let this intimidate her or prevent her from speaking her mind. The thing I love about Soul are her postings on her everyday experiences in London – on the tube, on the street, at work, in a club. Generally I don’t read journal type blogs because to be honest I find them boring but Soul is different – she can tell a story…. Here’s a post on loss – I feel for her on this one as I am sure most of us have experienced it at some time or the other.

'It hurts cos I was gonna back the pics up that evening. (damn you.. bloody jetlag and procrastination)
All the pics I took when I was out of town - Gone
All the pics of 'I' - Gone
All pics of eating at my fav. chicken shack by 'the cage'- Gone
All artistic shots of 'the 7 tracks' - Gone
All pics of 'I and co', 'O', 'A and co', 'K and co' - Gone
All 'artistic' images in various stages of undress - Gone (lol, just kidding)
not again!.
My heart is literally breaking right now. I need a camera for work but dang, buying the same camera again...
I think I'm going to cry. again.'

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My Realities Latifah - Blogging from Soweto in adverse conditions, Latifah’s poems are stories about her life as a lesbian victim of hate crime and living with HIV. She now has her own computer thanks to a generous soul, so hopefully she will be able to post more frequently as she can write her pieces at home and only needs to spend a minimum of time at the internet café. But working nights 6 days a week is a hard additional struggle so anything she writes is a bonus – a brave heart…..For her mother…………………..

'Thank you for being there for me
Thank you for the best mom to me
You’ve shown me that no matter what
You’ll always be by my side
Even though what the world may think about me
You still remain there for me
You have always told me things will work out fine one day and I love you for that
I have not always seen what you meant by showing me right and wrong but now i know.
Thank you for your patience and faith in me
Thank you for not judging me when others find joy in doing so everyday
Thank you for your ongoing support and courage
Akekho ofana futhi ozofana nawe!'

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Kameelah Writes - On Why I write…….

'why i write-speak//* because i am not supposed to. because prophet muhammad (pbuh) said the 'ink of a scholar is worth more than the blood of a martyr.' because cheryl wright said 'i like fighting with my words. my words whoop people's asses many a day before i have to use my fists.' and audre lorde said 'what are the words you don't yet have? what do you need to say? what are the tyrannies you swallow day by day and attempt to make your own, until you will sicken and die of them, in silence? because me'shell ndego'ocello asked 'after a half a century of post-colonialism and swallowing the bullshit that we have been fed, the question is: how are we gonna spit it out?' because swallowing & consuming bullshit all your life is a bad for your health. because this is the real spit or swallow question. because jayne cortez asks us 'to imagine somewhere in the advance of nowhere.' because this pen is pressed for revolution.'

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Dogonland - The newest blog / journal, my friend Del has finally joined the blogosphere. I remember only a year ago her saying she could not understand this thing with blogging and Wikis……..Ok she is my friend but Dogonland is a serious and excellent project as you will see. Del has just returned from the Pan African film festival so she should be writing a lots about that in the next few days… meanwhile here is a tribute to Toni Morrison on her birthday…

'You've given black Americans a fictionalized reclamation of that traumatic memory..........racial history. Shifting back and forth in time has made some uncomfortable with your work because it's not an easy read but like Jorge Amado, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Ben Okri, Gayle Jones, Maryse Conde, Pedro Almodovar, Ousmane Sembene, Isabel Allende, Chris Abani, James Baldwin, Zadie Smith, etc. you love "language" and bring the lives, deaths, births, smells, shifting perspectives, ancestral connection, earth/landscape to life. Your stories are sweeping, interwoven tales of how really good and how really heartbreaking life can be...'

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/293/blacklooks.gifBlack Looks - Do I read my own blog? Well yes, now that Annie Quarcoopome is writing regularly on colonialism / neo-colonialism and literature, plus Rethabile from Sotho blog (the only man on the blog) but a beautiful one and a poet too, Kym from Askthisblackwoman and Kameelah (see above). So yes I do read my own blog.

Blogging is not easy and to blog consistently week after week and month after month moving into years requires a special kind of commitment and so I would like to honour all those women mentioned here and the many many more that I have not included but which can be found at the African Women Blogs Aggregator - African Women's Blogs

* Sokari Ekine produces the blog Black Looks, and is Online News Editor of Pambazuka News.

* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at pambazuka.org

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/293/africanpainters.gif - is a blog on contemporary African art. In this post he features Ugandan artist, Eria Sane Nsubuga and his latest exhibition 'A piece of Sane art'.

'The jovial Nsubuga began commercial art in 1999 at the age of 20. Nsubuga's work isn't the abstract art that is hard to understand...' He says he's inspired by nature and human activity and most of his paintings and sculptures are of flora and fauna. 'People here want to buy art pieces that are overtly explainable. It's European customers that want the complicated art work. That's why my art is plain and simple.'

The post includes a slide show of some of Nsubuga’s works which may be plain and simple but is full of the vibrancy and colours of Africa.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/293/blackhistory4schools.gifBlack History for Schools - is yes a blog about Black History but not just for schools. It mainly focuses on black British history and the Caribbean and also has a resource section and an excellent set of links related to African and black diasporan history. For those readers in London, he alongside Dr Hakim Adi will be at the Institute of Education, discussing ways in which teachers in the UK can mainstream black and Asian history.

'Some of the areas for discussion will stimulate a lot of debate:

How are empire and the struggle for emancipation and reconciliation represented in our teaching and learning about African and Caribbean history and heritage?
What is "black and Asian history" and should it be mainstreamed?
What are the resources and politics involved in moving the subject forward?
How is the legacy of slavery implicated in contemporary constructions of British identity and citizenship?'

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Squatter City - has a report on the local 'fish smoking' industry in one of Lagos’s shanty towns, Makoko. Although Makoko is itself located in one of the many rivers that run through to the lagoons and Atlantic ocean, the fish that is being smoked is imported from Europe.

'50-year-old Ogun Dairo tells me that she's been smoking fish for better than 30 years. She purchases the fish from a local refrigerated warehouse that's also in Makoko, but on dry land. For all of the 30 years she's been in the business, she reports, the fish has been imported from Europe. She buys between five and seven large boxes of fish every day, then she smokes the catch.'

The question is: why is a local fishing community buying frozen imported fish from Europe, smoking it and in some cases exporting it back to the markets of London and other European cities for Nigerian consumers. One of the reasons is that small fisherman and women have been pushed out of business by the commercial fishing trawlers that scoop up huge quantities of sea life (for every 20 tons of fish, 1 ton is dumped dead back into the sea). Another reason is pollution of the rivers from oil from ships and tankers as well as garbage human and animal faeces and other waste that is dumped in the rivers.

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Kenyan Blogger, Thinkers Room - who blogs anonymously under the pseudonym 'M' has a hilarious post on the reported demise of one 'M' reported in a Kenyan newspaper.

'You can imagine my acute consternation! To date no one has had the decency to tell me to my face that I had been shot dead in Athi-River! So I have been happily going around my business alive and kicking!'

He goes on to report by the Kibaki government on their achievements. Under 'women empowerment' they list that women are 'guaranteed at least a third of all public employment opportunities' and that 'mothers and children are recognised as key players in development'.

So, all women and children of Kenya in case you did not know it, you are now empowered and recognised as KEY members of society! Why because Kibaki says so and if he says so then it must be true.

http://www.pambazuka.org/images/articles/293/whatanafricanwomanthinks.g…What An African Women Wants - posts on the pitfalls of being a single woman traveller in Kenya and trying to get a hotel.

'Eventually, after a great deal of drama which I choose not to go into here, I found myself a decent place to stay at a price I was willing to pay. But the trials of a single woman are far from over.

At the reception, as I sign in:

Guy at the reception: Will your husband be joining you?

Me: No, just me.

Guy: Oh.

Guy creases brow and thinks.

Guy: Who will be paying your bills. (seriously, he asks me this. Yes I know this is Watamum but seriously, he asks me this.)

Me: (trying to be calm. My feet are aching, the rucksack on my back feels like a sack of potatoes.) Me.

And so it continued. But all is not lost as now in 2007 women of Kenya (remember they are now empowered and a Key part of society – see above) hotels are finally beginning to take the single woman traveller seriously!

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Ethiopian blog, Lela-Tensae-ETA Moonlight - celebrates Black History month by posting some “hidden facts about African Americans” – inventors amongst the community.

'They made their way over to the car, and found that it just wouldn’t go. You see, Richard Spikes, a black man, invented the automatic gearshift and Joseph Gammel invented the supercharge system for internal combustion engines. They noticed that the few cars that were moving were running into each other and having wrecks because there were no traffic signals. You see, Garrett A. Morgan, a black man invented the traffic light.'

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Black Looks - comments on the difficultities for Africans wanting to get visas to visit the West.

'Queues! Waking up at the crack of dawn countless times, to get to the American embassy in the capital, to be subjected to hunger, to rain and wind and abusive Ghanaian security guards who can only bully to relieve their sense of powerlessness. But again, I always had at least one of my parents with me…they would miss work for this. And I didn’t have to hustle with public transport, we had a driver........I’m thinking about visas because I wanted to go to London this spring break. My friends are all jetting off to exotic places but I have to get a visa for many of these places. I let slip to my friend that I can’t go to London with her because the British require me to have a visa, although they didn’t need one when they were coming to colonize my country. She asked me if I was bitter. Ha! Do I sound bitter?'

A friend of mine from Nigeria recently visited me in Spain and had to go through a similar scenario with the addition of being told to produce photos of Granada and bring them back to the Spanish embassy on her return as if not she would never be allowed to enter Spain again – work that one out? Needless to say, she has not and will not be taking the photos to the embassy.

* Sokari Ekine produces the blog Black Looks, and is Online News Editor of Pambazuka News.

* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at pambazuka.org

The 20th FESPACO (Pan African Film and Television Festival of Ouagadougou) takes place between 24th February and the 3rd March in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. The name means 'Land of honest men' and was changed from Upper Volta by the late revolutionary leader Thomas Sankara.

Every two years, the desert city of Ouagadougou becomes the centre of Africa film from the continent and diaspora. The festival has grown from its inauguration in 1969 when only five countries were represented (Senegal, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Niger and Cameroon) to this year with films from almost every country and the diaspora being represented. Every two years, the desert city of Ouagadougou becomes home to African film from the continent and the diaspora.

In 2005 the South African film DRUM (set around the famous South African magazine Drum, the film is about the forced removals of black people from Sophia Town) took the grand prize. 2005 was also the year when two Hollywood productions were shown, Hotel Rwanda, and the much better Sometimes in April. Both dealt with the Rwandan genocide. Commenting on the 2005 film festival and the lack of availability of African films to both local and the wider global community I wrote:

'The unfortunate thing is that very few of these films will be available to a wider audience outside of the film festival circuit. African films to do not bring in millions of dollars to cinema houses around the world and Africa itself has very few cinemas where films can be viewed by a large number of people. Some of the films may be transferred into video or DVD format but even these are so expensive that only organisations could afford to buy them.

So why are African films so expensive that local African TV stations cannot afford to screen then and individuals like you and I cannot afford to buy them on DVD or videos? That’s if we can find them in the first place. The answer lies with California Newsreel. They own the distribution rights to many African films enabling them charge exorbitant prices to institutions and individuals for screenings and DVDs. Distribution takes place through their Library of African Cinema. For example check their restrictions on the cheapest option 'home videos'.

On a positive note these issues will be addressed this year as part of the thematic discussion 'African Cinema and Culture and Diversity' which will include topics such as the state of African cinema and the issue of distribution.

This year’s talk of the festival is the film Bamako by Malian filmmaker Abderrahmane Sissako. The film takes a critical look at the World Bank/IMF and their impact on grass roots communities in Africa by putting the institutions on trial with two ordinary people as witnesses.

The film tells the story of Melé—a bar singer—and her unemployed husband Chaka. Their marriage is coming apart. In the courtyard of the house they share with other families, a trial is under way with the World Bank and the IMF, accused of the woes of Africa. American actor Danny Glover, who helped fund the film, has a bit part.

I also looked at the contribution by African women to the festival, starting with Cape Verdian film maker, Claire Andrade’s film Some Kind of Funny Porto Rican? (A Cape Verdean American story) which has been selected to compete for the Paul Robeson Diaspora Prize.

SKFPR? is the largely unknown story about immigrants from the Cape Verde islands in the Fox Point neighborhood in Providence, Rhode Island, the second oldest and largest Cape Verdean community in America. The film opened theatrically in the UStates in January 2006 at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, Massachusetts, to a sold out house. The documentary continued throughout 2006 to receive critical and popular acclaim at theatres, festivals, universities and select venue screenings.

Other African women showing at the festival are Zimbabwean writer, Tsitsi Dangaremgba (Growing Stronger); Rwandan, Jacqueline Kalimunda (Homeland); Algerian, Fatma Zorha Zamoum (Short LA PELOTE DE LAINE).

Cameroonian blogger, reports on one of the most gruelling races in the world – the Mount Cameroon Race of Hope. The post includes a variety of photos from the race.

'600 athletes from about 12 countries will gather in the town of Buea at the foot of Mount Cameroon, West Africa's tallest mountain. for one of the most gruelling but least known extreme sports events in the world; the Mount Cameroon Race of Hope.'

Gambian blogger, Home of the Mandinmores, comments on the Gambian President’s statement that he can cure HIV/AIDS and on US presidential hopeful Barack Obama.

'Will Barack Obama make it to the white house? I dunno. However the fact that despite the odds he is trying to make it there embodies the American ideals so eloquently spelt out in the declaration of independence thus: “that all men are created equal and endowed by their creator with inalienable rights”. It is true that for most of its history America hasn’t lived up to this creed and white men have been more equal than all others. Having said that I still believe Obama’s candidacy embodies the ideals behind the American dream: that regardless of race, color, creed, gender or class, anyone can aspire to, and become anything they want to be provided they are willing to work hard for it. That is the appeal of Obama’s candidacy to most of us.'

Everyone is jumping on the Obama bandwagon in one way or the other. I saw a TV interview on You Tube where his “blackness” was being discussed in terms of him being not Black but African which is rather a strange racial differentiation as I thought they were the same thing.

R. E. Ekossa’s Blog comments on Chinua Achebe’s famous Joseph Conrad essay which leads to her reflecting on her relationship with people from the West and she asks the question (in terms of racism) 'who is bad for me?'

'...is it the ones who would be deeply distressed if you suggested that they were racist, but whose lack of curiosity about your world makes them, at best, unwitting co-perpetrators in the crimes that are committed against your people? Do these well-intentioned, law-abiding people who give generously to charities, who dutifully pay the taxes to sustain the governments that allow greedy multinationals to exploit us while claiming to bring development to us - as we are primitive and undeveloped - bear some of the blame for our sorrows? At what point does ignorance become culpable? At what point does it become difficult for me to deal with people who have the time and resources to learn about things, and whose refusal or lack of interest in learning causes them to take decisions that cost lives in places that they neither know nor really care about? When does a person’s lack of knowledge or curiosity about where his coffee or the cotton in his shirt is farmed become dangerous self-absorption, at least from my viewpoint?'

Nigerian blogger, African Shirts posts on the speaking and usage of the English language, something which Achebe has discussed many times and which he touches on in the Conrad essay. Nkem uses the BBC Hardtalk interview with Nigerian Presidential hopeful Orij Kalu and his “butchering” of the English language.

'What seems to have emerged from people's reaction to the Kalu interview is a disdain for English, or the ability to express one's self in English. English isn't Kalu's first language, so he should be allowed to butcher it the way he did - or so goes the thinking. I had two problems with the interview. First, he couldn't express himself, and second, even if he could, he had nothing to express. It wasn't about accent, because if it was, 99% of Nigerians would fall short of whatever glorious standard people imagine I've set.'

The issue of language is a political issue in a country such as Nigeria that has at least 250 languages, so how does one communicate without having a universal language that stands outside of the country. You cannot get 140 million people speaking 250 languages to agree to use one of those as the Lingua Franca of the nation and I have to agree with Nkem’s conclusion.

'People in Nigeria forget that English is not just a colonial imposition, but is the egg that binds Nigeria together. I cannot think of anything else Nigerians have in common. The arbitrary colonial borders do not bring Nigeria together, as there are still vastly varying customs, languages, landscapes, an inexhaustible list of differences. This is Nigeria: a vast piece of land, around which Lord Lugard and his people drew a line, and then asked all the people within that line to speak English. It's the story of Africa, and now we have to deal with it.'

Musings of a Naijaman also comments on Nigeria’s forthcoming elections. This time it is the anti-corruption agency (EFCC) who have submitted a list of “corrupt candidates”.

'Meanwhile in Nigeria, the farce continues - The anti-corruption agency EFCC has now submitted its arbitrary list of "corrupt candidates" to the electoral commission, after a kangaroo panel is set up to vet the list. And just in case the electoral commissioners are in any doubt about how seriously to take it, two of them are arrested by (you guessed it) the EFCC. By using the anti-corruption agency in this cavalier blackmailing way, Obasanjo seems set to do more damage to democracy and the cause of anti-corruption than he realizes. It would all be laughable if not for the fact that at the end of the day, human lives are at stake.'

Black Looks has an expose of US interests in Nigeria and a request made to her by contractors for the US Marine Corp to undertake research on the Ijaw people of the Niger Delta. Black Looks comments on this and a recent report by the Center for International Policy on the 'converging interests of the US and Nigerian governments'.

'Clearly the Nigerian Government is planning on working with the US military in the Niger Delta - whether this will continue in a low profile advisory capacity or escalate into something more is not clear. But the US Marines / US Government are not going to carry out their own research into the region unless they are going to use the information to pursue a specific set of agendas presumably with the knowledge of the present Nigerian regime.'

* Sokari Ekine produces the blog Black Looks, www.blacklooks.org and is Online News Editor of Pambazuka News.

* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

suggest that the abandoned oil rigs in the Bright of Benin could be put to use by erecting wind turbines to generate electricity to local delta communities. Not only would this provide electricity and recycle the abandoned rigs but as AA writes:

“Wind energy is the most promising carbon-free, nonnuclear alternative to fossil-fueled grid power. But regions with enough space and breeze for land-based wind farms—mostly in the Midwest—are far from coastal population centers; the cost of running transmission lines between generators and users is a major disincentive. That’s why wind-power entrepreneurs have set their sights on coastal waters. In the Atlantic, off Cape Cod, the 450-megawatt Cape Wind installation has been in the works for five years.”

Black Star Journal has a series of reports and commentary on Guinea starting with the rejection by the unions of Eugene Camara as the country's new prime minister and head of government. The country has been declared “in a state of siege” and the army are patrolling the streets having been given full police powers. In addition the media has been severely restricted and all cyber cafes in Conakry shut down. The Unions are demanding the removal of head of state, Gen. Lansana Conté. Black Star Journal also reports that:

“Mobs there have attacked suspected members of the former Liberian rebel movement ULIMO. Lansana Conté had backed that faction during that country's 1989-97 civil war and some accuse the general of calling in the militiamen to help put down the general strike. Yet members of the Guinean army have sided with the residents, who provided the soldiers with food and drink. Apparently young soldiers at the Alpha Yaya military camp were angry that only a handful of their colleagues were rewarded during the latest round of promotions. Internal divisions inside the Guinean military are one of the reasons many observers fear a messy transition to the post-Conté era.”

always manages to find rare tunes from way back. Like Kikuymoja’s, no one knows where he finds these gems but thankfully he does and shares them with the world. Here he shares the music of:

“Les Kilimambogo Brothers, Victoria Jazz and some Taarab” ….. If you don’t know whom these people are, that tells you how old I am...if, on the other hand, you are thinking, “wow, I thought XYZ was dead!” then, maybe you might be a little older than I am...And, believe it or not somewhere in there, we get Ladysmith Black Mambazo doing a solo! (hint: go to 2:11)”

Nigerian blogger, Chxta's World comments on Nigeria’s “OBJ” factor. Despite being told that Nigeria’s economy is performing better than ever in the last 10 years, for the ordinary person it has never been worse. If worse is possible it would be Obasanjo retaining his involvement with running the country after the up coming elections. Chxta wonders where exactly the President is heading with statements that he won't hand over to criminals:

“I think that like many other statements that Obasanjo has made over the last few years, this one is way out of line, and extremely undemocratic. What utter nonsense! I am of the strong opinion that Obasanjo has something to hide, and he is of the view that Mr. Yar'Adua would be the best bet to cover his tracks for him. As we all know, Obasanjo and Yar'Adua's late brother were buddy buddies..."

Passion of the Present comments on the continuing civil war taking place in Chad with numerous rebel fractions fighting to remove President Idriss Deby.

“The rebel alliance still under arms includes the Union of Forces for Democracy and Development (UFDD), the Rally of Democratic Forces (RAFD), and the Platform for Change, National Unity and Democracy (SCUD)...Their fighters recently attacked and briefly occupied several eastern towns, piling pressure on Deby's forces after a wave of ethnic violence which killed hundreds and forced the government to declare a state of emergency last month.”

As the fighting intensifies, the civilian population are caught up in the middle and recently it was reported that Janjaweed type militias were attacking refugees from Darfur. Chad accuses Sudan of backing the rebels and Sudan accuses Chad of backing the people of Darfur and so it goes on, more death and misery for civilians.

Nigerian blogger, Ijebuman's Diary publishes what he believes are the “top ten signs that elections will not be fair and free".

Annie writing on http://www.blacklooks.org and is Online News Editor of Pambazuka News.

* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org

To all prospective and existing long titled bloggers – Cut the long titles please!

Trials and Tribulations - Trials and Tribulations (http://ekbensahinghana.blogspot.com/2007/01/as-week-draws-to-close-in-a…) E K Bensah’s blog – the title is too long – has some thoughts on Africa Today and Kofi Annan who is in town (Accra). The headline and photo on the front page of Africa Today reads:

“Romancing China: Africa looks east for new trading partner”
I thought it was the other way around – “Romancing Africa: China looks west for new colonies to conquer and resources to seize” – I suppose it depends on where you are standing as to where you look – east or west?

Blogging for Darfur, Black Kush - Black Kush (http://bloggingjuba.blogspot.com/2007/02/chinese-are-coming.html) comments on the cry or is it a loud voice shouting “the Chinese are Coming”.

“This cry used to cause fear around the world, but it is too late now. They are already here, at least that is what the situation is in Sudan.”

What tricks do they (the Chinese) have up their sleeves or is it just business?

The Benin Epilogue Part 1 - The Benin Epilogue (http://africareadyforbusiness.blogspot.com/2007/02/inspiration-to-many-…) explains the inspiration behind his blog. No not his mother or Mama Ellen or even Nobel Prize winner Wangari Maathai, but Carol Pineau, American journalist and producer of “Africa Open for Business”.

“Now, it just so happened that around the time of me learning about Carol Pineau two critical things were happening. 1) the off line group that I had really grown to love over the last several months was beginning to drift apart, with each member moving into other areas and 2) I had just read Professor George Ayittey's book called Africa Unchained. One of the things that this book did was point me in the direction of another amazing messenger of Africa's business successes called Emeka Okafor (not the basket ball player), author of Timbuktu Chronicles. These two events-aided by the strong impression left upon me by the Africa Open for Business website helped provide me with the impetus for starting the blog that you are reading right now. Now, it just so happened that out of the blue, after I'd already started blogging one of my good friends who has been to The Benin Epilogue blog a few times called me to give me the time, date, and the place of a local viewing of Carol's documentary. Upon hearing this I immediately stopped all of my other plans for that evening and happily attended the showing.”

He reminds us Africa is not just about Darfur, poverty and wars but also a land of stock markets, high rises, growing middle class and oh yes the internet. True and just in case you have forgotten in the midst of human rights and social justice - there is also a rising number of people living in squatter camps, street children and rural and urban homeless kicked off the streets of Cape Town becoming part of the invisible masses. Still we have to keep those stock markets rolling so those middle classes can buy their new 4x4s and other symbols of “success”.

Ugandan blogger, Country Boy - Country Boy (http://dennozbug.blogspot.com/2007/02/mr-president.html) is rather frightening as he tells us he is a huge fan of President Museveni of Uganda.

“Despite the many things people have said about Museveni, I’m an extremely huge fan of his. He survived the five years of the bush war to become president of a country as complicated as Uganda. He’s done a number of good things, is very knowledgeable –he absolutely seeks to add value to himself by educating himself –by all means I do quite admire him a lot.”

And oh yes, he too (Country Boy) wants to become President one day. My advice, please don’t follow in Museveni’s footsteps!

Another Ugandan Blogger, JackFruity - Jack Fruity (http://jackfruity.blogspot.com/2007/02/hour-of-our-discontent.html) discusses blogging anonymously and the “Ugandan Best of Blogs Award”.

“A study done in 2004 showed that 42% of bloggers almost never reveal their identities online, and 36% have gotten in trouble for something they wrote on their blogs. I value the freedom to say what you want online without offline retribution (provided you're not inciting riots or calling for murder), and I will never criticize those who treasure their online privacy. My intention with the BOB awards and the Ugandan Bloggers Happy Hours is not to force the spotlight onto anyone who would rather remain anonymous (UBHH guests: I went through the photos and deleted those that showed the faces of anyone who asked me to protect their privacy). If you don't want your blog involved in the awards, just e-mail me and let me know so I can take you out of the running.”

White African - White African (http://whiteafrican.com/?p=365) continues his promotion of mobile technology as essential to Africa’s development and connectivity. Here he comments on “Mobile Phones as a Platform in Africa”.

“Any long time reader here will know that I believe that the mobile platform is the only real platform for mass market communication efforts in Africa. Whether that’s with eCommerce, payment services, information, news or entertainment. More and more companies are coming out with new applications designed specifically for usage by Africans…..TradeNet is more than just a copycat of some other software, it’s a new take on how to communicate and foster trade in Africa. Not just that though, it has a business model. It’s not just an development agency, it’s a business that’s here to stay. That’s huge. It’s a big idea that is actually being executed on.”

Black Looks - Black Looks (http://www.blacklooks.org/2007/02/1313.html) comments on the trade of slaves from the “Rice Coast” of West Africa, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Senegal on the one hand, and the movement of “freed” slaves from Canada to Britain and finally to Sierra Leone as indentured workers for the first colonialists setting up agricultural trade between West Africa and Britain.

“The first 411 returnees took place as early as 1787 from Canada to Britain and then on to Sierra Leone. 15 years later another 1400 arrived however realistically I would think that returnees were arriving consistently from 1787 in small numbers. As with Liberia the returnees were “sponsored” by humanitarians and philanthropists in name but who were in fact the first colonisers running an indentured slavery system using returnees to develop commercial agricultural farms that would trade with Britain…..
Ironically at the same time that the freed slaves from Canada (runaways from the US) were returning to Sierra Leone, plantation owners in South Carolina and Georgia were purchasing slaves from what they called the “Rice Coast” Sierra Leone, Liberia and up to Senegal for their special knowledge of growing rice often using Bance Island - a major slave trading factory in Sierra Leone”.

* Sokari Ekine produces the blog Black Looks, and is Online News Editor of Pambazuka News.

* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

is a beautifully written blog by a South African Gay-identified man who writes about life, his partner, social justice and "We're different and that makes us a good match."

This week he is upset with President Mbeki who he officially declares is a "denialist".

"You have done a lot to get the economy where it is - but you are doing nothing to sustain it. Keeping the crime levels down is one way to keep the economy booming. Crime divides the country. I'm upset with you Mr. President. Without comparing you to any other head of State - but think of the legacy you are leaving as you are about to retire! Like Redi Direko said to you ‘Come on Mr President’ get your act together!"

Gradiose Parlor comments on Nigeria's latest census results for "sparsely populated Bayelsa State" in the Niger Delta and comes up with some interesting figures:

"The total population of Bayelsa state is 1,703,358; it’s the least populated in the nation. Bayelsa received 5,325,414,955.84 (Naira) in May 2004 from the federal account (PDF document); the second highest in the nation. This works out to 3,126.42 Naira per citizen. The highest allocation-per-citizen ratio* in the country. And this is just from federal account, the figure doesn’t include locally generated revenue."

The question is where has all the money gone because it has yet to reach the communities of the State?

"An aside: Maybe he should just send stuff to Mzalendo and KBW and we can spruce it up for him. It pains me to see people who should know better sitting with so much good info. (e.g. hello where is Gladwell Otieno?)."

Carpe Diem Ethiopia writes about Ethiopian novelist, Bealu Girma who he finds "extremely challenging":

"For starters, out of his six novels: Kadmas Bashager (Beyond the Horizon), Yehilina Dewel (The Bell of Consciousness), Yeqey Kokeb Teri (The Call of the Red Star), Haddis, Derasiw (The Author), and Oromay ("Now, at this Moment"), I have only read three—Kadmas, Haddis, and Oromay. Second, the novelist's personal life and work deserve separate volumes of their own. Bealu's life and death are of Shakespearean proportions: Julius Caesar comes to mind - much like the Roman emperor's unprecedented expansion of his empire by his sheer ability to bend the will of men, the Ethiopian author reached the apogee of creativity by his ability to gain almost a cult following that allowed him to survive unscathed through much of his career despite his persistently harsh criticism of the societies in which he lived."

Singing SouthAfricanness discusses being a white South African and compares living in the US to SA.

"Quite simply, I feel safer here (New York), and that concerns me when I consider a future at home. I also feel hemmed in by my race at home. The fact that I am white has a very strong impact on how I am viewed, and what is expected of me, and what opportunities are available to me within my own country. Here, that matters less. What does matter is that I do work that people want to know about, and that is important."

Colour in SA has an impact on everyone's lives, opportunities, imprisonment in one's community, economic advantage. All of these also impact on people in the US. Apart from other advantages, part of the reason being white in the US is easier is because as part of the majority population you are less conspicuous?

Nata Village Blog profiles HIV lay counsellor, Kehumile Baganne.

"When I first started working at the clinic, few people came into test. I would only test four people per month. People were afraid in those days and the only ARV's were in Francistown and Gaborone. We weren't even able to offer IPT (prophylaxis for TB) in those days so some of the people here could not access those services. So when IPT came to Nata and the ARV's came to Gweta, people were more willing to test. I do my counseling in a caravan and when we first started everyone was afraid to come to the caravan. Because when someone goes there, they know they have AIDS. They even called me the caravan girl. I didn't like that name at all."

Annie writing on Black Looks writes about her two week experience in Cape Town, a place I have also become familiar with - looking for Africa in downtown Cape Town is not easy:

"I want to be in Africa! CT is very ‘modern.’ Unfortunately, modern also means Western. The two words are synonymous all over the world, but never have I seen it as glaringly as here. Is it not possible to be modern and still retain that special quality of ‘African-ess?’ And this is not me pandering to a stereotyped view of “African-ess” with regards to drums and naked people. This is me re-living my own, PERSONAL, African experience, me chanelling Ghana and my high school with its 60% representation of students from over 20 African countries. This is me remembering the differences and yet that special quality that brought us together, that led us to sing in one another’s languages, that justified our motto: ‘Knowledge in the service of Africa.’ So be on my case all you like, but I do believe there is such a thing as being African, such a thing as being in Africa, indescribable as they may be…but CT leaves me homesick. I wound up in an Irish bar (don’t ask) with a Lithuanian friend who told me how at home he felt in this European-like setting. I hope my smile looked real enough."

* Sokari Ekine produces the blog Black Looks, http://www.blacklooks.org and is Online News Editor of Pambazuka News.

* Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org

The LGBTI activists presented a workshop on Sexuality and Social Justice which included Fikile Vilakazi is the director of the Coalition of Africa Lesbians (CAL), Wendy Landau of Behind the Mask, Bridge from the UK and Manohar from Sangama in Bangalore in India. The focus of the workshop was sexual rights and social justice. The concept of sexual rights is a different way of talking about sexual issues in which an integrated approach to sexuality must include women broadly because they made be denied their sexual rights in various ways. The concept is to move away from identity politics to one of integration of sexual minorities such as , sex workers, gays, lesbians, bisexuals, transgender, and also breaking these down into class and gender. The approach is a new and radical one which moves to incorporate all minorities and to make alliances with as many oppressed groups across a broad spectrum of the communities in which we live.

Fikile Vilakazi is the director of the Coalition of Africa Lesbians (CAL) which covers 12 countries including, Zimbabwe, South Africa, Namibia, Uganda, Nigeria, Botswana, Kenya, Tanzania. The CAL run a number of programmes for lesbians across Africa including a Creative Expression project to help lesbians come out through writing, discussions, poetry and art. The main issues facing the lesbian community in Africa is that even in countries like South Africa where lesbian rights are enshrined in the constitution, society itself is still very homophobic which puts them at risk of hate crimes including rape, beatings, and even murder. The recent Civil Union / Same Sex Marriage Bill passed by the South Africa parliament is not the primary concern of the LGBTI community in South Africa. Rather women are concerned over the curative hate crimes, and the homophobia in society. Despite the fact the lesbians are legally able to adopt children people still ask how can lesbians be parents in South Africa? There is also the issue of fundamentalist religions, Christians, Muslims and Hindus .

The legalising of of same sex marriage in South Africa has had repercussions in various African countries such as Nigeria and Uganda which have been extremely negative in their response and have used the South Africa decriminalisation to enforce even more draconian punishments of homosexuality in their countries. On a postive note the response by these governments has been that there is now an active dialogue in Africa around LGBTI issues and more and more of the LGBTI community are coming out and challenging their respective governments and religious institutions on the issue of sexuality and human rights.

Manohar of Sangama spoke eloquently about the innovative movement to bring together different sexual minorities across class and caste divisions in India.

* Sokari Ekine is the new Online News Editor of Pambazuka News

* Please send comments to or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

Please find available through the link below the AWOMI programme for the World Social Forum in Nairobi.

'' reports on the Somalia media, which has been under attack:

“Somalia Transitional Government (TG), which many regard as Ethiopia's puppet, has closed three popular Mogadishu radio stations, HornAfrik radio and television, Shabelle Media Network, Radio Voice of Holy Koran and the offices of international news station, Al Jazeera.”

The TG has since rescinded the closures following discussions with the media, including Al Jazeera. They claimed the media were biased towards the Islamic Courts and were inciting violence. It is ironic that after “liberating” Somalia from the Islamists, it is the TG, with the backing of Ethiopia and the US, that makes a decision to ban media albeit only for 24 hours.

'Soldier of Africa' is a new blog by a South African soldier serving under the AU in North Darfur, Sudan.

It is mainly a photo blog and fairly conservative but it does provide an insight to the life of an AU/UN serving soldier, including what they get up to during their R&R which in his case is in Egypt. They roam around the desert on their quad bikes, ride camels and go to the beach!

'Squatter City' is a blog that reports on squatter camps across the world. It reports on the eviction of thousands of people in the Angolan capital, Luanda. What makes this story particularly disturbing is that the church is behind the evictions.

“Among the powerful institutions implicated is the Catholic Church. In 1998 the government gave the Church the title to land it had owned prior to the country's independence. The Church, Amnesty alleges, has worked with the government to forcibly remove 2,000 squatters from a parcel where it wants to build a sanctuary. According to the report, ‘Forced evictions have been carried out apparently at the request of the Catholic Church by members of the National Police from the Fifth Division who regularly arrested, beat and used firearms against the residents, seriously injuring some.’"

'Jewels in the Jungle' comments on the December edition of the South African TV programme ‘Inside Africa’ which included Nigerian blogger, Emeka Okafor and focused on how to give Africa a positive image.

“Emeka was interviewed about building a positive image for Africa in the media and online and he pointed out the contributions that Africa’s bloggers have made over the past year.”

Emeka is also responsible for organising the Africa Ted Global Conference to be held in Tanzania later this year.

'The African Uptimist' reports on the installation of the 50th solar power for rural business at Sakora Wonoo, a small community in the Kwabre District of Ashanti in Ghana. The project is an innovative and exciting one that includes telephony and internet access for the rural community.

“Though starting up as providers of renewably-powered voice telephony and Internet access in rural communities, many of the entrepreneurs now want to grow their businesses into multi-purpose energy enterprises, capable of supplying renewable electric power for a variety of other income-generating activities. KITE is helping them prepare bankable business plans and to secure financing to make this happen.”

Zimbawean activist blogger, 'Enough is Enough' has been on a short break. In this piece, his first since returning to blogging, he reflects on his writing and makes a commitment to improve his reports on what is happening in Zimbabwe

“My writing here will from now on be motivated by an uncompromising need to enable you to access a rarely seen perspective on the Zimbabwean dilemma; that of the lay Zimbabwean, the simpleton or average man whom you would most likely run into on the concrete sidewalks of one of my country’s cities or out in the rural areas somewhere. The written word, any written word, is only a representation of some much larger truth; a ‘slice of the truth.’ The language, grammatical standards, and point of view that govern the composition of any writing are what determine who’s slice of truth that writing purports to expose. I chose in this space to deliver to you a slice of truth that represents the common man and woman in Zimbabwe.”

'http://www.blacklooks.org

• Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org

During 2006 the number of blogs by Africans at home and in the Diaspora more than doubled. However, they are still the least applied of all the emerging technologies (email, listserves, forums and IM) largely due to cost, slow internet speeds and a general unawareness of the medium. Despite this, African blogs have been able to challenge governments on issues such as corruption, human rights, economic policy and social justice in their respective countries (often anonymously) in ways that could not have been possible without risking arrest or harassment in the past.

Sites such as the ‘Kenyan Mzalendo’ site which was set up to monitor the activities of the Kenyan parliament; ‘Kenyan Unlimited’, a Kenyan community of blogs; and the ‘African Women’s Blogs’ created as a collaborative site for African women bloggers are all examples of innovative uses of blogging technology. Many of the personal blogs have become sites of expertise on technology in Africa (White African), human rights and social justice (Black Looks and This is Zimbabwe), African literature (Wordsbody), political commentary (Chippla’s Weblog and Kameelah Writes); chronicles of the daily activities and lives of HIV/AIDS patients and carers (Nata Village Blog) and many more.

This year’s first roundup kicks off with some commentary on the recent execution of Saddam Hussein as viewed by African bloggers.

Gambian blog, 'Home of the Mandimories' - Barbarity, () is scathing in his criticism of the execution and the reasons behind the war in Iraq and the cost in lives (thousands and thousands of Iraqis and 3000 US soldiers and money ($3trillion to date).

“We invaded Iraq to convict Saddam Hussein, so we could execute him by tying a nose around his neck. What a barbaric act. But hey, it makes for cool television and the ratings are sky rocketing…The lives lost and the dollars spent to get us there? They were totally worth it, weren't they? I mean, s***, even if we don't get another darn thing out of being stuck in this God-forsaken hellhole, we got to see Saddam swingin' from the end of a rope, brother. Woo-HOO. That is what our boy king wanted all along. What a sad act.”

Kenyan blogger, 'Thinkers Room' - (http://www.thinkersroom.com/blog/2006/12/they-shouldnt-have-hanged-saddam/)also disagrees with the hanging but for different reasons:

“Most importantly, Saddam did very many unspeakable things in his long and un-illustrious rule. The only person who knows all the grisly things Saddam Hussein did in great detail is Saddam Hussein. And now that he is dead, all that information is lost as well. There are things that Saddam did that we will now never know. As Saint Peter looks over his books Saddam must be thinking Who’s laughing now?’”

Both points of view are valid, in my opinion, but I would add that the crime Saddam was tried and hanged for was one of the few that did not implicate the US and other Western governments – he should have been tried for the mass murder of 5000 Kurds or his murderous activities during the Iran/Iraq war; he should have been tried in the International Court and not in Iraq. Furthermore, the trial was a sham and the execution disgusting. Thankfully because of the illegal phone video we all got to see what really happened at the moment of death – and who comes out looking like the decent guy in all of this? Saddam who until the end was dignified and somehow the barbarism that surrounded his death made HIM seem the human one! Ironic.

For 'Egyptian Chronicles' - Is This Islamic Ethics (http://egyptianchronicles.blogspot.com/2007/01/is-this-from-islamic-ethics.html) the abuse of Saddam Hussein during and after the execution is an:

“…ironically those brain heads made from him a hero and also enforced the division between Sunni and Shiites not only in Iraq but in the Arab world…Brain heads!”

Another major story over the New Year was the invasion by Ethiopia of Somalia to remove the Union of Islamic Courts.

Somali blogger, 'The Voice of Somaliland' - (http://waridaad.blogspot.com/2007/01/by-its-ill-judged-invasion-of-somalia.html) accuses Ethiopia of being an accomplice in Bush’s War on Terror. He believes the invasion is ill-advised and ill-fated and will be resisted by the Somali people and will draw in other countries in the region such as Eritrea.

“The danger this time is that the resistance will draw in other countries. Eritrea, which fought its own costly war with Ethiopia, does not need an invitation to help its enemy's enemy. The UIC is also said to be receiving financial assistance from rich leaders of sympathetic Islamic sects, drawn from such countries as Saudi Arabia, Yemen and the Gulf sheikhdoms. And the most explosive fuel will be the involvement of the US on the side of Ethiopia. General John Abizaid, commander for the US central command, is reported to have visited Ethiopia last month, after which Ethiopia moved from providing the Somali government with ‘military advice’ to open armed intervention.”

Once again the US uses proxy armies to fight on its behalf. There are areas of criticism to be levelled at the Union of Islamic Courts but at least in the short term they brought peace and stability where there was chaos, violence and fear during the period of control by the warlords who have now been reinstated, courtesy of Ethiopian dictator, Meles Zenawi, friend to the US and British governments. Maybe in 10 years time when he has completed the massacre of his own people they will want to hang him too like Saddam. But it won’t be for the invasion of Somalia – that would show up their dirty little secret deals with a ruthless leader.

'Ethiopian Politics' - (http://ethiopianpolitics.blogspot.com/2007/01/anti-ethiopian-protests-rock-somali.html) comments on the angry response of Somalis to the invasion by Ethiopia on their country.

'Chippla’s Weblog' - (http://chippla.blogspot.com/index.html) discusses the “Interconnected World” in which we live and the interdependency of governments on each other and of course blogs.

“Governments across the world are realizing how heavily dependent they are on one another. For instance, few governments would be glad to see the United States dollar depreciate rapidly. Not even the Chinese government, which silently aspires to superpower status a few decades from now. Holding about one trillion dollars in foreign reserves (a large percentage of which is in United States dollars—exactly how much, remains a state secret), a rapid depreciation of the dollar would hurt China badly. Poland may bark at and prevent the European Union from signing favorable treaties with Russia. But even Poland knows that there is a limit to how loud it can bark. Heavily dependent on Russia for gas, should Gazprom, the mega Russian gas company, decide to close its gas pipes to Poland, a large number of Poles would be forced to freeze out the winter.”

Unfortunately as Chippla points out, this interconnectedness and interdependency does not translate into a better world – a safer place, a more humane place, a more egalitarian place. On the contrary it is leading to a world of the exact opposite where human rights are being eroded and greed is becoming an acceptable form of behaviour.

'African Media' - (http://africamedia.typepad.com/my_weblog/2007/01/de_beers_attack.html) reports on the response of De Beers to an article in the Los Angeles Times which provides context to the movie Blood Diamond. Both the LA Times and the New York Times were pressurised by De Beers lawyers to detract on their statements. Such is the power of De Beers and Diamonds! Below is a sample of the criticisms made and De Beers response:

"The article stated that De Beers is exploring for diamonds on land in Botswana that was formerly occupied by the Kalahari Bushmen. That claim is made by Survival International on behalf of the Bushmen, who were relocated by the Botswanan government, which is partnered with De Beers in a diamond company called Debswana. A De Beers spokesman says that while it has explored in the Bushmen's former homeland in the past, it has never mined there and ‘today has no activity of any sort in the region.’”

The film died – De Beers and the Diamond Cartel fought back - and blood diamonds – well it was just another Hollywood film after all!

'Black Looks' - (http://www.blacklooks.org/2007/01/opening_and_closing_the_gates.html) comments on an expose of the “Dirty Little Secrets” behind the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation by the Los Angeles Times (hopefully the Gates’ wield less power than De Beers and the LA Times will not have to retract it’s investigative report). The Gates’ are busy giving away money to immunize children in Africa and other areas of the majority world and at the same time are investing huge sums of money in companies that operate unethically and irresponsibly in those countries.

“With the right hand, the children of the Niger Delta are being saved from getting polio and measles and with the left hand they are suffering from bronchitis, asthma, eczema, boils and other skin problems as well as cancer due to the continued flaring of 1 billion cubic feet of gas per day in the region by the oil companies, and the pollution of drinking and fishing waters from oil spills and old rotten pipelines that leak oil – both at the expense of the Gates Foundation...

"Oil companies are not the only socially irresponsible organisations associated with the Gates Foundation. Other companies rank high as polluters, as well as the very pharmaceutical companies producing anti-retroviral drugs that are unaffordable to the majority world. Ironic when one of the Foundation’s major donations goes to HIV/AIDS.”

• Sokari Ekine produces the blog Black Looks, www.blacklooks.org

• Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at www.pambazuka.org

The film Blood Diamonds is the focus of a number of blog posts this week. 'Black Star Journal' - Black Star Journal () comments on an article in the Christian Science Monitor that a “self policing process appears to be cleaning up the industry” which he sees as a model for NGOs to effect positive change in international affairs.

“This is called enlightened self-interest. The diamond industry didn't adopt these regulations because it suddenly had a tinge of guilt. Selling diamonds is an amoral activity. But activists made it so doing the right thing morally was the best thing for the industry's bottom line. In the end, a diamond boycott would hurt those engaging in legitimate mining, such as Botswana, Africa's oldest democracy.”

In contrast, 'The Benin Epilogue Part 1' - Benin Epilogue Part 1 (http://africareadyforbusiness.blogspot.com/2006/12/different-perspective-on-africas.html) writes that many of the diamonds coming out of Africa may not be “blood diamonds”. He also uses Botswana as an example of ethically and morally produced diamonds:

“This article seemed interesting to me because Botswana enjoys one of Africa's highest per capita incomes and derives the bulk of it's income from diamonds. Additionally, Botswana recently experienced a slight reduction in foreign direct investment in it's diamond industry. However, this was not due to press associated with ‘blood diamonds’. In fact this contraction was due to a statement made by a diamond executive at a leading diamond cutting and polishing company about Botswana's diamond supply. It just illustrates the sensitivity of small developing economies to damaging public relations.”

What is missing from both these posts, is that Botswana-produced diamonds may themselves not be morally tainted. However because of Botswana’s legal production of diamonds, the country is used by illegal diamond traders to sell their blood diamonds from countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo.

'France Watch' - France Watch (http://www.francewatcher.org/2006/12/en_fin_fout_le_.html) reports on the end of the UN mandate in Ivory Coast and more specifically the French forces like ‘Force Licorne’ who he believes have contributed to the conflict through their involvement in the internal affairs of the country:

“These French troops have never ceased to meddle in the internal affairs of the Ivory Coast. They have supported the rebels of the North from the beginning; offered them weapons and supplies; marketed and transported their stolen goods; and plotted innumerable coups and outrages. They opened fire on unarmed, peaceful demonstrators in November 2004, killing many and wounding more. Just three days ago the French forces planned and supported an attempted coup in the Ivory Coast, bent on assassinating many of the key leadership figures of the country. When that failed they spirited the coup leader out to France on French military transport. It is clear that the root of any solution of the Ivory Coast dilemma must start with the rapid and complete removal of the Force Licorne from the Ivory Coast.”

'The Big Pharaoh' - The Big Pharaoh (http://www.bigpharaoh.com/2006/12/18/welcome-to-islams-1400-years-old-schism) looks back on the recent rise of the 1400 year old schism between Sunni and Shia Islam. He believes the two groups are on the verge of a war that will engulf the whole region:

“Two major events brought the Shia genie out of the bottle. The first was in 1979 when an old Iranian Shia cleric (who asked Oriana Fallaci who Mozart and Beethoven were) managed to overthrow one of the most powerful regimes in the Middle East. The entire Arab Sunni world, the West, and the Soviets worked on keeping this genie engulfed within Iran's borders by supporting Saddam Hussein during the Iraq-Iran war. The genie slipped through though, jumped over Iraq, and landed on the friendly land of Syria. It got leaked to Lebanon during the civil war and the genie mutilated into Hezbollah.”

'African Bullets and Honey' - African Bullets and Honey (http://bulletsandhoney.wordpress.com/2006/12/15/dr-de-cock-praises-the-cut) comments on the recent study on Kenya and Uganda by the National Institutes of Health that male circumcision might reduce the risk of contracting the HIV virus. However he quotes a report from a few years ago that states exactly the opposite – that not only does circumcision not lead to lower rates of infection, but there is actually a higher incidence in circumcised males:

“Anyway, hard on the heels of the pro-circumcision study, two of the larger HIV/AIDS funds are considering paying for The Cut in high-risk countries. Daniel Halperin, a Harvard HIV specialist extraordinaire, excitedly responded, ‘I have no doubt that as word of this gets around, millions of African men will want to get circumcised, and that will save many lives.’ That is the kind of enthusiasm displayed by a man who got The Cut as an infant in a bright shiny hospital. Not as a teenager by a circumciser who declared the use of aesthetic to be unmanly as yours truly lay trouser-less, sweating onto the cold plastic of the hospital cot and praying to the gods for a last minute reprieve and failing that at least an injection of painkiller.”

As he says, once word gets around, traditional and western medical doctors are going to be making a lot of money from men desperate to get circumcised in the belief that this will save them from contracting the virus. What are the implications here for safe sex? Will these men abandon all thoughts of using condoms? It seems to me that there are many implications attached to this report which have just not been thought through and might hinder, rather than help, the fight against HIV/AIDS.

Rethabile writing on 'Black Looks' - Black Looks
(http://www.blacklooks.org/2006/12/they_feared_you_steven.html)
remembers Steve Biko on the anniversary of his birthday by way of a letter:

“We do not want to be reminded that it is we, the indigenous people, who are poor and exploited in the land of our birth. These are concepts which the Black Consciousness approach wishes to eradicate from the black man’s mind before our society is driven to chaos by irresponsible people from Coca-cola and hamburger cultural backgrounds.”

“They feared you, hence they killed you. The new ideas you were working out jangled their nerves, and you became a problem without a solution, just like we all were. But they couldn’t get the whole black nation to slip on a bar of soap. No. That was reserved for top problems like you.”

• Sokari Ekine produces the blog Black Looks, http://www.blacklooks.org/

• Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org/

Burundi blog, ‘’ introduces a new blog called ‘Breaking the Cycle Youth Council’

“In 1988, I was only 10 years old, there were massacres in Ntega and Marangara, in Burundi. At that time, my Brother then told me about what had happened and I was puzzled, as I recall, because I could not understand how People could kill one another for tribal differences…It was in that year that I discovered I was of the tribe of Tutsi. At that time, I still could not tell the difference from Hutu and Tutsi tribe, by looking at a person…There are different things that occurred, that caused me to be determined to lead another generation, not to follow what other generations had followed.”

The blog’s main focus is on the youth of Burundi. The blogger uses videocasts to emphasise the plight of the youth and their hopes for the future.

There are two posts this week on the subject of telecoms provision in Africa. The first comes from Ghana. ‘Ramblings of an African Geek’ explains why the state owned “Ghana Telecom sucks”:

“In order to use GT broadband, I must give up my right as a consumer to purchase bandwidth from any other ISP. They are in effect telling their consumers, who are overpaying them for service, how they can spend their money.

“I’m curious about the identity of the person who came up with this clause. I’m also curious about its legality and the competence of the lawyer who advised them on its inclusion. I mean, if this is legal then what stops my local pineapple vendor from banning me from occasionally buying fruit from her cheaper competitor? Or Sony from telling me I have to get rid of all Samsung TV’s before I can buy one of theirs.”

The second story comes from ‘Timbuktu Chronicles’ who points to a more positive piece in the Economist on the rise of African cellphone companies:

“Following a flurry of deals over the past 18 months, five African and Middle Eastern operators are now vying for supremacy. These regional powerhouses have worked out how to earn princely sums in the world's poorest places. So far they have mostly been too busy signing up new subscribers to compete vigorously with each other. But that is now starting to change, and the industry is preparing for a round of consolidation as the operators start to attack each other's markets…The arrival of Middle Eastern and African operators, with their innovative, low-cost business models, could put pressure on European operators. Celtel's One Network, for example, eliminates roaming charges for customers travelling between the adjacent countries of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.”

My recent experience in South Africa of cell phones is that despite the exorbitant costs, cell phone usage is expanding at a rapid rate. Clearly there is room for more companies to enter the market and through competition bring down the price.

Staying with cell phones, ‘ This initiative follows recent reports that Mugabe’s security agents are now confiscating radios in an effort to clamp down even further on access to information and objective news reporting."

An excellent example of activism at work, and an excellent example of the use of SMS to circumvent repressive actions by governments such as in Zimbabwe.

Kenyan blogger, ‘’ remembers Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe who was born on 5 December 1924. Sobukwe, the founder of the Pan Africanist Congress, was jailed in Number 4 prison by the apartheid government for 9 years.

‘Scribbles from the Den’ comments on the return of Cameroonian musician, the ‘Tribal Monk’, who has returned and released his first album in 6 years:

“After a six-year break, US-based Cameroonian artist, Wanaku a.k.a The Tribal Monk has released his third album, Afrikan Guitarstrophy, in collaboration with his band, Sunplug’d. In this album, Wanaku shuns the ‘World Music’ genre with its over-reliance on technology and heavy (in)fusion of Western pop sounds. Instead, he unapologetically uses the acoustic guitar as the main conduit for what he calls ‘Sweet Afrikan Kontry Muziki’. This is not ‘afro-pop’ by any stretch of the imagination; it is afro beat in its pure and unadulterated state.” Sounds worth waiting for.

‘Black Looks’ comments on the impact of impact of global warming on, and the consequences of recycling of waste products across the continent.

“The continent is having to pay the price of US consumption i.e. 5% of the worlds population are in the US yet they contribute to 25% of the worlds greenhouse gas pollution. Africa’s 14% population contributes a mere 3%.One of the consequences of global warming is desertification and one of the worst hit countries in Africa is Somalia (also recently a dumping ground for nuclear waste). But many other countries, particular those bordering the Sahara savannah regions in West Africa and the Horn of Africa will suffer from severe drought, failed crops and floods. Access to water is a major issue through out Africa where privatisation of water supplies is adding to the lack of water availability on very basic levels in countries such as Nigeria, Kenya, Niger and South Africa to name just a few.”

• Sokari Ekine produces the blog Black Looks, http://www.blacklooks.org/

• Please send comments to [email protected] or comment online at http://www.pambazuka.org/