Africa News blog

African business, politics and lifestyle

May 17, 2010 10:55 EDT

Thiong’o's memories of a time of war

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Ngugi wa Thiong’o had been hesitant to write his memoirs, but wanted to give his children a wake up call about what life was like when you had to walk miles to school - not to mention being a political prisoner.

A giant of African literature, he has never been afraid to challenge the establishment. Yet while he recounts his time in prison with humour today, he has never moved back to Kenya full time since going into exile nearly 30 years ago despite being one of the country’s best-known writers. 

Thiong’o was imprisoned without charge in December 1977 after peasants and workers performed his play “Ngaahika Ndeenda”,  which criticised inequalities in Kenyan society.

Thiong’o went into exile in 1982 and only returned in 2004, when he and his wife were assaulted in what he maintains was a politically motivated attack.

“If I had returned to Kenya during the Moi dictatorship, I probably wouldn’t be breathing today. But after the defeat of the Moi dictatorship …  my exile was over, because I know I can return to Kenya, I can visit Kenya, although I have to say that when my wife and I returned to Kenya for the first time we were brutally attacked by armed gunmen so I realised that the forces that had always been against what I stand for in terms of creating a more humane society, that those forces are still very much alive,” he told Reuters Africa Journal in Los Angeles.

“I was arrested in 1977 … when I was then professor and chairperson of the department of literature at Nairobi university. So, from being a professor and author of three novels, and so on, I found myself in a maximum security prison. On my left, were sections for the mentally deranged, and then the other side was for those who were condemned to die. So writers were somewhere between those two categories,” the 72-year-old told fans at Los Angeles public library, where he was promoting the first volume, “Dreams in a Time of War”.

Under Daniel arap Moi’s rule, dissent was crushed and those who opposed him were harassed and suppressed, many of them killed or subjected to Nairobi’s torture chambers.

COMMENT

As a 14 year-old High School student in Nigeria, my understanding of true struggle for independence was through the prism of “Weep not Child” Almost 40 years later, the memory of the images i captured on the pages of the book shines clearly and without any distortion. Thanks for the memory, and God bless you in your new endeavor

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Apr 29, 2010 06:34 EDT
Reuters Staff

Motor-rickshaws changing face of transport in Mali

 

Mali introduced Chinese-made motor rickshaws in 2006. They’ve been such a hit that most of Mali’s bigger cities are overrun with them and competition between drivers is pushing down prices. They’ve now been barred from the centre of the capital, Bamako, but in Mali’s third-largest city, Segou, the rickshaw-taxi is the main means of public transport.

“I have a wife and seven children,” rickshaw driver Bassidi Baba Djefaga told Reuters Africa Journal. “This rickshaw is what enables me to feed my family. Before I had the rickshaw, I was a taxi driver and had two taxis. But when the new rickshaws arrived, I saw that taxi cars weren’t going to be good business any longer. So, I sold my two taxis and bought a rickshaw.”

Bassidi was one of the first drivers in Segou to buy a motor rickshaw, and it paid off. He can now make around $300 a month — a lot more than the average income in Mali, which is around $130.

The rickshaws are a government initiative to create employment and improve transport. Mali’s minister for transport introduced them in 2006 after a visit to China, where motor rickshaws are widely used.

In Mali, drivers buy them from the government for about $2000 and pay for them in instalments over 20 months.

For the people of Segou, the motor rickshaws have revolutionised transport. Before, the only options were taking a donkey cart or an ordinary taxi, which can cost up to 50 cents per trip within Segou. In a motor-rickshaw the same journey costs 10 cents.

COMMENT

Hi Africa Journal,

The feature about motor-rickshaws best illustrates how reduction in costs is valued much by Africans, most of whom have low earnings. The fact that the government can sell the rick-shaws to the people and allow them to pay in installments is the best way to creat employment opprtunities while accomodating their low financial base.

This story is similar to that of Okada in Nigeria, and it provides African governments with an opportunity to tackle some of their long standing issues such as transport problems in a more affordable and engaging way.

Kudos,

Edwin Mbaya.

Nairobi-Kenya.

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Apr 21, 2010 07:34 EDT

Hotter in the long run?

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Ethiopia’s long-distance runners are among the best in the world, winning seven medals at last year’s Olympic Games. Generations of athletes have trained in the cool highlands of Asella but the weather there is changing, apparently as a result of climate change. There are now worries that this could have an impact on the country’s future runners.

For many young Ethiopians, this is where dreams are made. Internationally famous athletes like Haile Gebrselassie and Kenanisa Bekele have trained in these very parts.

Runners attend a training camp named after Tirunesh Dibaba who is the current holder of the world 5000 metres record. But the trainees’ future will depend greatly on the weather. Athletes require no more than 20 C when training and because it’s generally cool, Asella used to be perfect.

Not so lately. Temperatures rapidly increase as the day progresses and now runners have to get up earlier before training becomes almost impossible.

Tefere Alamerew is the squad’s coach. He told Reuters Africa Journal: “The temperature has changed — it’s hotter and hotter — so it will be difficult to train the athletes for the future here because the climate is changed.”

Like some other top Ethiopian runners, marathon world record holder Haile Gebrselassie was also born in Asella.

“Three weeks ago I was in Asella and I had the chance to jog 3km – around 9 o’clock – 9.30. You don’t believe it – I mean I was sweating, I asked myself, and I was running with Darata Tulu, we were struggling: ‘is this Asella, the place where we were training before? Yes it is.’ It’s amazing. My worry right now, what it will be like after 20 years?”

Feb 4, 2010 09:57 EST

The dangers of witchcraft

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Every year, hundreds of people in the Central African Republic are convicted of witchcraft. One man, who received a 4-year sentence, says his case highlights some of the failures of the country’s judicial system.

Ange Mberkoulat was convicted of witchcraft after his village chief accused him of trying to kill a relative. He is officially a convict but is serving his sentence outside jail because of lack of resources in prisons

Ange says he was accused falsely. To make things worse arsonists allied to the chief burned down his house and beat up his wife. He and his family of 3 have since moved in with his sister-in-law.

The Central African Republic has endured several coups since independence in 1960 and fighting between rebels and government forces in the north has forced about 300,000 people from their homes. The political situation remains unstable despite disarmament programmes and a new national unity government in 2009.

Human rights activists say judicial corruption and abuse of prisoners are a problem. Witchcraft is a criminal offence here and is even punishable by execution in cases of homicide. The manner in which investigations are carried out is also often questionable.

State Prosecutor Kongo Parfait explains it like this: “Sometimes we directly consult a sorcerer who will put a product into the eyes of a person who has no relation to the victim and who can then determine where the fetishes of the accused have been hidden. Once the accused is found, he has to unearth the fetishes. Sometimes they will be found in the field or under the bed of the person and so on. In general, those are the indications.”

The catholic mission in Bozoum, about 300 km (200 miles) from the capital Bangui, often intervenes in witchcraft cases.

COMMENT

african people, please save yourselfs still you can; perhaps to save the human rase again !!!

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Jan 28, 2010 10:23 EST

Uganda gays feel threatened by bill

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Being gay or lesbian in Uganda is illegal and those who are risk being locked away for up to 14 years. Now, a new parliamentary bill wants gay people to face even stiffer penalties and is proposing life imprisonment and even death sentences in some cases.

Pepe Julia Onziema and her partner, who asked that her identity be hidden, spend most of their time together — indoors. They are a lesbian couple living in Uganda where homosexuality is against the law. Pepe is also a gay rights activist in Kampala and is openly vocal about her sexuality and because of that she is often victim to discrimination and harassment.

“Myself I am at risk,” Onziema told Reuters Africa Journal “I can’t move on the streets as I used to, I can’t go to a shop … I have been picked off the streets, detained for sometime, ridiculed, intimidated, some money taken away from my wallet…”

David Bahati, an MP for Uganda’s ruling party, proposed the bill. “Homosexuality has become a huge issue in this country we know that it is not our values, it” not Ugandan, it’s a threat to our traditional family and the children of Uganda…”

The bill has the support of many Ugandans. Anti gay protests have been used to support the bill. The reaction from the west and human rights activists has been the opposite. Donors — who fund about a third of Uganda’s budget, have been piling on the pressure to get leaders to shelve the bill.

 Yoweri Museveni, President of Uganda, said recently: “When I was at the Commonwealth conference, the Prime Minister of Canada came to see me and what was he talking about? Gays, Prime Minister Gordon Brown came to see me and what was he talking about? Gays, when I go to New York when I was coming back, Assistant Secretary Carson rang me, what was he ringing to talk about? Somalia and gays.”

The bill also targets straight Ugandans who will face up to 7 years in prison for withholding information about homosexuals.

COMMENT

Everyone has the right to practice and explore their own sexuality. The realm of sexual orientation falls within a private sphere which the government, no matter how well-meaning it thinks its actions are, is not supposed to intrude into.

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Dec 22, 2009 05:35 EST

Sweet potatoes to beat climate change?

A major obstacle to producing enough food has been the dry weather which hit many African countries last year, including Kenya, where 10 million people urgently needed food when rains failed. Now Kenyan farmers have been asked to grow drought tolerant crops to help prepare for the effects of climate change.

Nancy Opele has been growing sweet potatoes on her farm in Kenya’s western Trans Nzoia district. She started growing the potatoes in 2003 after researchers approached farmers and introduced them to the crop.

“We have discovered that these potatoes just need a small place to grow and they do very well. You harvest a lot of potatoes, Opele told Reuters Africa Journal.

Nancy is part of a group of women in the Bahaso self help group who are planting alternative crops to Kenya’s staple food, maize. Sweet potatoes do well in the region, are hardly attacked by pests and need minimal rainfall to grow. The crop also takes about 5 months to mature, half the time needed by maize.

 Sweet potatoes can be stored in the soil for up to 8 months but once harvested they don’t stay fresh for long. Nancy and her friends usually preserve the potatoes by grating them and drying the flakes out in the sun. The flakes are then ground into flour.

The potatoes are gaining popularity after four failed rain seasons led to a drought last year. Experts say it was the worst seen in the country since 1996. Many farmers lost their maize crop but the sweet potatoes did well.

One way to build food security is to promote use of drought tolerant foods like sweet potatoes. The Kenya Agricultural Research Institute, or KARI, is training farmers to plant improved varieties of the crop.

COMMENT

Thank you for airing the story which was not only captivating, but also very educative. It is true that Africa has been severely hit by the drastic effects of climate change leading to unending droughts which are replaced by floods whenever it rains, as it is being witnessed all over the continent.

It is such initiatives like the introduction of drought tolerant food crops such as sweet potatoes which are nutritious and more importantly cost effective, as a result of continuous research, that would help Africa mitigate the effects of climate change, and here is where African governments’ support together with that of international donors should be geared to.

Also, changing our eating habits by adopting different kinds of food crops which are not necessary our staple food such as sweet potatoes will further help to survive the dry periods.

EDWIN MBAYA.

NAIROBI, KENYA.

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Nov 16, 2009 06:42 EST

Out of Africa — and into China

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At a meeting in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh this month, China promised to double the aid it gives to Africa and even forgive the debt of some of the continent’s poorest countries.

We’ve known for some time that Chinese are migrating to Africa to exploit business opportunities. But it’s perhaps less known that growing numbers of Africans are also moving to China to live and work.

One of the most visible is Vimbayi Kajese, a 28-year-old Zimbabwean who reads the news on China Central Television – or CCTV – and is the country’s first African news presenter. 

CCTV 9, also known as CCTV International, is China’s state-run English language channel. As well as China, it’s available in more than 80 countries, of which six are in Africa — an increasingly important audience.

“I’ve been in China for over 3 years now,” Kajese told Reuters Africa Journal. “I came after I graduated from the U.S., and the reason why I came to China was because China is the next upcoming emerging market and definitely is the place to be.”

Kajese is one of an increasing number of young Africans heading to China, where a booming economy and ever-closer ties with Africa are creating opportunities as tempting as any in the West.

Tebogo Lefifi left her job as the CEO of a South African mining and property development firm and came to China. Now on a Chinese-funded scholarship to study Chinese economics, the 34-year-old wants to make sure Africans make the most of China’s growth. But some of that may have to wait until she’s mastered the language.     Lefifi is setting up an organisation for China-Africa discussion and networking in Beijing. Young African Professionals and Students, or YAPS, will eventually help African professionals and companies trying to get ahead in China.

COMMENT

dont doubt henok if the african-chinese partnership will last, because where else can they get the supplies they need? asia does not anymore, and the eyewatch of the americans, africa is less problematic to china than asia, and that is why they are staying, so the question is, will africa be strong enough to negotiate tough with the chinese, or they will divert this privilege to corrupt paths?

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Nov 10, 2009 05:31 EST
COMMENT

I am only a teenager but I think that this art is great for this girls age.

Posted by Frazier | Report as abusive
Nov 4, 2009 08:13 EST
COMMENT

I believe is time for Africa’s to believe in protecting there natural resources and not some white men and women called researchers to come and help solving our problems… our leaders should first educate the people on the danger by using local educators. it is then that we can be proud of saying we are africans and not babies that should be by the mothers

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