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-ac...) 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-c...) 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

'' 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/