Upfront Africa-(Voice of America-blog)

Dowry and Conflict--South Sudan Youth using guns to meet cultural expectation

2012-01-26T11:35:00.000-08:00

Like most post conflict societies, South Sudan faces a set of challenges including having to deal with high levels of insecurity. After more than 20 years of war, the new country is still fighting battles with renegade soldiers who broke ranks with the ruling SPLM and disarming
different elements that are a by-product of the protracted conflict. But there is another cause of insecurity that has roots in the social-economic constructs of a deeply cultural society. Many young men have access to guns and are using them in cattle raids across the country. The young cattle raiders seek for cows in order to pay for their dowry. Marc Sommers who spent time researching this phenomenon says that there is an increasing inability by South Sudanese youth to meet rising dowry (bride price). This has led to many of them enlisting in militias to carry out cattle raids. Here is our chat below.

Marc Sommers is a 2011−12 fellow with the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and a visiting researcher with Boston University's African Studies Center. He is the author of Islands of Education: Schooling, Civil War and the Southern Sudanese (1983−2004), as well as Stuck: Rwandan Youth and the Struggle for Adulthood. Sommers is a former Jennings-Randolph Senior Fellow at the United States Institute of Peace.

Single or Coed education--which one prepares you for the real world?

2012-01-19T11:32:00.000-08:00

Many Parents and educators attribute success to intense focus on passing exams and moving on to the next level. Ultimately your success is measured by whether you completed high school and went on to college.What follows is not their business. But what happens in the real world is often different from what you learnt in school. There is no telling if the knowledge you gained will help you navigate life successfully. This brings into question another factor--the type of interactions with your peers--boys and girls. How much does that affect your future relationships? Listen to the full show below.

American Designer Has Confidence in African Product Quality

2012-01-17T13:46:00.000-08:00

...says American consumers should be motivated by quality products not solely by altruism.

African garb and accessories were in fashion from as far back as the 80’s and ‘90’s – from Eddie Murphy’s film Coming to America to hip hop artists using Afrocentric themes in their videos--wearing Kente cloth and dashikis. Young people adopted Africa-influenced clothes and jewelry to celebrate the continent’s culture or to stand out among their peers.
American fashion designer Erika Freund says that enthusiasm for African fashion waned in recent years, but is making a comeback among U.S. consumers. Initially, she said, renewed interest was initiated by successful advertising campaigns that linked the purchase of African handicrafts and “fair trade” teas and coffees with emergency relief from poverty and hunger.

But Erika Freund, who operates her own successfully jewelry venture called Mituki, said most consumers today buy goods based on their beauty and quality – and that African garments and accessories are good enough to hold their own in the international marketplace.
“We see a lot of marketing around poverty…women’s groups,” she said. Instead, she said the background of the product, like the story of the artisans who create jewelry and other goods, should be “an added bonus.” And, those stories should not always conform to the current narrative of conflict and disease.

By focusing on the story alone, she said people tend to compromise on quality and thus spend little time in product development.
“The average consumer is not necessarily looking for a background story..or interested in altruism,” she said. The best way to create a sustainable image and reputation of Africa in the mind of the American consumer is to give them great products.

Erika started her own venture into the jewelry business after a stint as a volunteer social worker in Tanzania. She formed what has become a “socially active company”‘that creates jewelry from the innovative use of common resources, like banana bark, recycled aluminum and local textiles.

The banana tree is one of the most Africa’s most visible symbols. It has been used in many ways, but few thought that fashion—and jewelry would be one. But it’s the inspiration behind Erika’s brand name Mikuti—or “dried leaf,” in Kiswahili.
For almost two years, Erika has been working with artisans in Tanzania and Kenya to produce fashion accessories. She stressed that she pays fair trade prices for her products—providing jobs for the communities where the workshops are located. Erika said women who buy her signature bracelets, earrings and necklaces are motivated by two things: inspired craftsmanship and design.

Hip Hop Connextion on VOA #Jackson and Meraf Week 3

2012-01-13T13:40:00.000-08:00

In our third episode of HHC on the Voice of America,we decided to pay homage to JayZ and Beyonce--hip hop royalty in their own right. This dynamic duo welcomed a bouncing baby girl--Blue Ivy Carter. The newborn daughter already making history after Billboard magazine officially declared her the youngest person ever to grace the Billboard charts.Baby Blue Ivy Carter is credited as a collaborator on Jay-Z's newly recorded song, "Glory," which the rapper wrote about her.Blue's little baby cries can be heard at the end of the track. But we also paid homage to other artists that celebrated their children in song--including Will Smith whose memorable hit 'Just the two of us' was about Jaden Smith--all grown up--whose acting chops have earned him critical reviews and signs that he might following in his father's footsteps.

Changing Attitudes and Providing Access Critical to Family Planning in Africa

2011-12-21T12:27:00.000-08:00

Experts say rapid population growth in Africa undermines economic development and hampers efforts for families to create a better standard of living. In the next decade some sub-Saharan African countries are projected to triple their population. Poverty persists in these societies, where many people live on less than a dollar a day. Part of the solution may lie in new efforts to ramp up education on family planning.

Womancare Global is trying to provide access to affordable reproductive health technologies. CEO Saundra Pelletier said her organization works to get family planning to markets where its shortages could potentially endanger entire families and communities. Many women in Africa as in the world over still lack access to contraceptives and other family health services, she said. An international conference on family planning in Senegal brought together participants to share research on how to best deliver family planning. The conference was co-sponsored by a number of international organizations, including USAID, UNFPA (U.N. population fund), WHO, the World Bank and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. “The unmet need is still significant,” said Pelletier. “250 million women still have an unmet need for modern contraceptives -- so the conference was a call to action to look at every piece of the puzzle and how all these organizations can better integrate together.” Family planning is slowly becoming an accepted practice in many developing nations, but in Africa the rate is still low.

In some parts of the continent, however, the percentage of women in rural areas with access to maternal health intervention is relatively high. Location should not be a factor is a woman’s ability to receive important health services, Pelletier said. “Our fundamental core belief is that no matter where a woman is her access to reproductive health should be easy.” Experts say many factors, including a large rural population, have contributed to population growth in Africa. Cultural values stress the importance of large families, putting pressure on women to have children, even if it endangers their health. “When women are empowered about how many children they can have…and the spacing of those children, it’s not just her that benefits. It the other children in the family, it’s her significant other,” she said.

It is not just women who need education. In many rural and urban areas, men still maintain a strong control over family health decisions. Pelletier says they must be involved in any strategies that affect the family. “You also have to make sure you talk to the male constituents…. All these men dominate the decision making around healthcare for their families.” In 1994, delegates to an international meeting agreed that family planning should be an integral part of reproductive health.

The International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo issued a program of action that called for “the provision of universal access to reproductive health services, including family planning and sexual health.” But almost two decades after the conference, advocates say that there has been little progress. Experts say family planning services are needed now more than ever as the world population soars. It’s expected to reach nine billion by 2050.

Should we ban corporal punishment in African Schools?

2011-12-14T13:26:00.000-08:00

Africa 50 years later--are we on the right track?

2011-12-08T13:20:00.000-08:00

A new Africa Development Bank commissioned report says that African countries are poised to become a dominant economic force in the next 50 years. The report however cautions that our economic future will depend on if we innovate around new technologies and natural and human resources. So are we on the right track,on the show we had a discussion with Mthuli Ncube chief economist at the ADB and radio/TV veteran reporter and African analyst Vincent Makori.

Blogging about US policy toward Africa

2011-12-06T08:41:00.001-08:00

My colleague Nico Colombant's mini documentary about US blogger Scott Morgan--who blogs exclusively about US policy toward Africa.

30 years later-should we even be talking about AIDS related Stigma?

2011-12-01T11:24:00.000-08:00

Click to listen to the show!

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon says:

"Stigma remains the single most important barrier to public action. It is a main reason why too many people are afraid to see a doctor to determine whether they have the disease, or to seek treatment if so. It helps make AIDS the silent killer, because people fear the social disgrace of speaking about it, or taking easily available precautions. Stigma is a chief reason why the AIDS epidemic continues to devastate societies around the world" ....

This week on Upfront we discussed the issue of AIDS-related stigma. We had some interesting guests from the continent including Rodrick a South African AIDS activist and counselor who has been living with HIV for almost two decades.
I also reached out to my friend Kenyan professor and women's rights activist Dr.Pauline Muchina. We explore the issue with the view that women as caretakers are often at the receiving end of much of AIDS related stigma. AIDS Stigma refers to the prejudice and discrimination towards people living with HIV/AIDS.
Stigma makes dealing with HIV/AIDS much harder because it leads to rejection and discrimination.

In most societies including developed countries, stigma comes in many forms and manifests itself differently between communities and individuals.

Health experts say that stigma makes it more difficult for people trying to come to terms with and manage their illness on a personal level, but it also interferes with attempts to fight the AIDS epidemic as a whole.
Clarence Rodrick says that progress has been made in the attitudes of people since 1999, the year he went public about his HIV status. He says that one of the biggest setbacks in South Africa's fight against AIDS has been the public officials who are responsible for making health policy decisions. These individuals often lack the knowledge about HIV and some are guilty of the stigma that they should be fighting. The result is a government that takes slow, ineffective action against the epidemic.

One of the biggest problems in the HIV fight is the reluctance of people to go for HIV testing, treatment and care. They fear to be ostracized by their communities if they are found to be HIV positive. Thus many are not aware of their status until it is late and the retro viral treatments are less effective. Importantly,they risk spreading the virus to their partners.

Birame Sock--Africa's very own Steve Jobs?

2011-11-30T13:41:00.000-08:00

Starting a successful business sure has its own perks but resting after a ten hour flight across the Atlantic is not one of them. Many business owners say that the success comes from maintaining a hands on approach to business management.Moreso when the company is in a growing phase and things are looking good. Birame Sock is aware of the challenges that come with being an entrepreneur--who is an innovator at the same time. But it helps that this is not her first foray in the ever changing field of technology. She is known as one of Africa's youngest technology innovators--developing new ideas from conception to deployment and profiting from them.

When I call her office in Miami Florida at 8am,she has just returned from Paris speaking at a woman's conference. She is busy working on her new venture myreceipts.com under the company she started a few years ago-Third Solutions. Birame came to the US for college over a decade ago. After graduation she started working for technology companies at the time when the wireless industry was witnessing unprecedented growth.

After selling her first company-Musicphone,Birame returned to the drawing board. Four years later she started myreciepts, a potentially ground breaking concept. Birame traces her entrepreneurial spirit to her childhood in West Africa,selling frozen juices to make a quick buck. She started Musicphone at the time when digital music was still a new technology. "It was sort of trying to prove things to myself...and learning throughout the process, i didn't necessarily have big goals" she says. But in a few years later we are all listening to music on our cellphones and ipods. So is Birame Sock our very own Steve Jobs? Here is our conversation!

Is Climate change a priority for African Youth?

2011-11-22T08:46:00.000-08:00

There is a consensus that global climate change presents one of the greatest challenges of our generation. On the show we wanted to start a conversation on some of the important questions around this issue. Do we talk about climate change; do we understand the urgency of our action on climate change? Etc. In a few weeks, all eyes will be focused on Durban—that is where the big COP17 U.N. Climate Change Conference will take place. It is expected that high-ranking officials—mainly policy makers-- from the community of nations will meet to discuss solutions and secure a global climate agreement. Our listeners sent us some comments and messages intended for their representatives going to Durban. We feature many of them, and pictures from our correspondent in South Sudan Mugume Davis Rwakaringi.
On the show we had Teddy Ruge—a social media expert working with a World Bank led initiative Connect4Climate. He discusses his efforts to leverage technology in getting African youth to be part of this important conversation. On the show we also had my colleague Henok Fente, recently returned from a long trip to the horn of Africa. He saw firsthand the effects of climate change in the region.

Street Children in Africa--Are we failing our future generation?

2011-11-17T09:50:00.000-08:00

Street children are a common sight in many African cities. They usually have no permanent home or family support. They move from place to place, living in shelters and abandoned buildings. Many agree that this is largely an urban phenomenon caused in part by urbanization. In many developing cities, economic growth often means that children who are not protected by social safety nets, will flock to the streets in search of means for survival. It comes in form of the few bucks they beg or pinch on the streets, or the shelter in makeshift cardboard boxes on the side of a high rise. Some are lured into the lifestyle by the easy money and drugs, but most have no other means of survival. On the show today we looked at the mental, social and emotional effects of such a nomadic lifestyle. Most importantly, what does it mean to our continent that part of a generation--of its backbone--is living on the streets? How can we pressure our governments to develop social safety nets to provide security for the poor. Listen to the full show below

Paul Rusesabagina addresses the controversy surrounding his Tom Lantos Award

2011-11-16T15:48:00.000-08:00

The Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice recently announced that Paul Rusesabagina will be the 2011 recipient of the Lantos Human Rights Prize. The formal presentation of the award took place today in Washington DC.
The decision to give the award to Mr Rusesabagina was criticized by some people including Genocide survivors who say that his role in their survival was in effect exaggerated by the Hollywood movie. They say that people praising him are basing it on the fiction portrayed in the movie. In effect many petitioned the Lantos Foundation to rescind the award that is named after Former US Representative Tom Lantos—a Holocaust survivor. Mr Rusesabagina counters that opposition to his award is without merit, because it is orchestrated by the Rwandan government and thus politically motivated.

The Tom Lantos foundation decided to proceed with the award and recently released a statement saying that it did not intend to cause any controversy, but wanted to reward a man “purely based on his heroic actions during the 1994 Rwandan Genocide, not for his work since then through the Hotel Rwanda Rusesabagina Foundation” .

One of the people who was with Paul Rusesabagina in Milles Colline is Professor Egide Karuranga, a scholar based in Canada. He says that genocide survivors are against Rusesabagina presenting himself as a ‘savior’ and have no other political motivations to oppose the award. Listen to our discussion below!

Tweeter,donkeys and the war against Alshabaab!

2011-11-04T10:51:00.000-07:00

Kenya's military spokesman Maj. Emmanuel Chirchir is using Twitter to warn Somalis and Kenyans that the new threat in the war against Alshabaab is Donkeys. Yes, that slow overburden, domesticated member of the Equidae—whose wild ancestor is the African Wild Ass--has taken on a new role of arms carrier. The price of donkeys is said to have risen by over 100 percent in a region which uses it primarily for Agriculture and transportation.

In one of the tweets the spokesman warns that : "Selling Donkeys to Al Shabaab will undermine our efforts in Somalia."
So if you are a Kenyan donkey salesman with a twitter account be warned, “any large concentration and movement of loaded donkeys will be considered as Al Shabaab activity.” tweets Major Chirchir.

A drive thru system of Justice-Kenya's answer to Alshabaab?

2011-10-28T10:56:00.000-07:00

It was reported today that the man responsible for last week’s grenade attacks in Kenya was sentenced to life in Prison. The accused Elgiva Bwire Oliacha is said to have confessed to his connections with the Al-Shabaab and consequently pleaded guilty to the Nairobi grenade attack. The express nature of this trial breaks records in any society with a modern functional justice system. I do not doubt the guilt or punishment for the crime; I just can’t get how fast the process works.

The African Union post-Gaddafi...

2011-10-27T12:38:00.000-07:00

No more safe haven for Africa's dictators...and their stolen riches!

2011-10-26T07:56:00.000-07:00

It was announced today that the U.S. government filed complaints against the son of Equatorial Guinea's president Obiang Mbasong. The US government seeks to take over approximately $70.8 million in real and personal property, which are proceeds of ‘foreign corruption offenses’ laundered in the United States.

The announcement was made by Assistant Attorney General Lanny A.Breuer of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. According to the complaints, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue (Nguema) used his position and influence as a government minister for Equatorial Guinea to acquire criminal proceeds through corruption and money laundering. Nguema's father has been president of Equatorial Guinea for over three decades. The country is rich in natural resources and exports millions of dollars worth of oil to the west. Under Equatoguinean law, the natural resources belong to the people of Equatorial Guinea.

“The complaints announced today allege that, on a modest government salary, Minister Nguema amassed wealth of over $100 million…while his people struggled, he lived the high life – purchasing a Gulfstream jet, a Malibu mansion and nearly $2 million in Michael Jackson memorabilia.
US officials say that despite an official government salary of less than $100,000 per year, Nguema amassed more than $100 million during a period in which he and an inner circle of individuals who hold critical positions of political and economic power in Equatorial Guinea were the near-exclusive beneficiaries of the extraction and sale of that country’s natural resources.

The complaints allege that Nguema used intermediaries and corporate entities to acquire numerous assets in the United States, including more than $1.8 million worth of Michael Jackson memorabilia, a $38.5 million Gulfstream G-V jet, a $30 million house in Malibu, Calif., and a 2011 Ferrari automobile valued at more than $530,000.

In 2003, ICE HSI established the Foreign Corruption Investigations Group in Miami to target corrupt foreign officials around the world that attempt to utilize U.S. financial institutions to launder illicit funds. The group conducts investigations into the laundering of proceeds emanating from foreign public corruption, bribery or embezzlement. The objective is to prevent foreign derived ill-gotten gains from entering the U.S. financial infrastructure, to seize identified assets in the United States and recover these funds on behalf of those affected by foreign official corruption.

Read more at http://africangreed.blogspot.com/2010/12/equatorial-guineas-sons-35m-malibu.html

Hip Hop Connection with J.Mvunganyi and Meraf Asfaw

2011-10-21T15:30:00.000-07:00

American Teenager Collecting Running Shoes for Ethiopia

2011-10-20T12:16:00.000-07:00

Sara Kebede is not your regular 16-year-old American. She gets perfect grades and is a champion runner for her school. Now she’s using her interest in running as a way to help children in her father’s homeland, Ethiopia.

Kebede lives in California, where she recently started an effort to collect shoes for Ethiopian children. She calls it Shoes for Sheba, and its goal is to send running shoes to poor children who can’t afford to buy them. Many have to run bare-footed on the rough terrain of Ethiopia’s hilly countryside.

Kebede relates to them, since both she and her parents run. “Since I was five I have been running races…so running has always been part of my life.” Among her heroes is international icon Haile Gebreselassie, who ran his way to superstardom. Kebede has met him and says he is her inspiration. Her interest in helping began when she visited Ethiopia as a 10-year-old. Kebede says she was impressed by children who would approach her to ask for pencils for school instead of money.

Currently on the high school track team in Orange County, California, Kebede watches with surprise as teammates throw away running shoes that are still in good condition to get the latest pair on the market – even when their old ones still have many miles left in them. She has placed collection points at schools and around town to gather shoes for her project.

Kebede hopes the contributions will help improve the situation for many Ethiopians who turn to running to escape poverty. Shoes would also encourage female runners in a country where men have long dominated the sport. Some Ethiopian women are taking the international stage and are winning international races. “If I could provide them with the basic tools -- just shoes -- they could better their situation.”
Readers can contact Kebede on the Internet at: www.shoesforsheba.com

or e-mail her at: shoesforsheba@yahoo.com

Society and stereotypes...

2011-10-20T10:19:00.000-07:00

Human beings-regardless of location or background have one common vice. We all tend to stereotype others who are different from us. You might even call it a common human instinct or flaw. We take certain attributes about people and make them the ultimate identifiers of their race,group,sex etc. Even in the face of evidence that we are wrong. So on the show we talked about this tendency and how it affects people who are the source or victims of stereotyping. Listen to the full show below:

Nigerian Scholar Blames Underdevelopment on Outdated Ideas of Governance

2011-10-19T07:32:00.000-07:00

Political scientist says in many African countries, including Nigeria, resources used to enrich leaders, not population as whole

Nigeria’s reputation as one of the most corrupt countries in the world is widely regarded as one of the reasons why more than half its people live in poverty. Observers say its political leaders have made it impossible for Nigeria’s vast wealth in fossil fuels to benefit Nigerians as a whole. Instead, he said, they use it to enrich themselves or their friends and family.

Professor Richard Joseph is the director of the Program of African Studies at Northwestern University, in Chicago, Illinois. He said Nigeria suffers from “prebendalism,” a system of governance that he said exists in many other African countries as well.
He coined the term about 30 years ago from the word “prebende” – a term that describes some early European forms of governance, including religious ones. A prebende, he said, is an elected or appointed office in which the officeholder uses its resources for personal needs.
“I adapted it to Nigeria,” said Joseph, “because…[politicians] were looking at offices they had – elected or appointed – as a way of generating revenues for themselves that they could allocate and distribute as they chose, rather than looking at the office in terms of the services to be performed and how the funds for the office would be used (to accomplish that goal).”

He said the term is still relevant to Nigeria today. “Why are the roads in such bad shape, why electric power, water production. You name it, in any area of governmental activity there has been underperformance.”

Prof.Joseph notes that when people are elected to public office, they owe allegiance not to the electorate but those in their party, tribe or clan. Joseph warns that “Nigerians need to realize that the reason they don’t have any progress in all the critical areas is because we have been so locked into that system.”

Analysts have always blamed Nigerian government officials for corruption that is endemic in the oil rich Nation. They say that croynism has gotten to the levels where its almost tolerated by a resigned public. Nigeria always ranks low in terms of political transparency and is often a target of criticism from major donor organizations like the World Bank.

Joseph said the cycle can be broken if there is a willingness on the part of the electorate to demand that those they put in public office are held accountable. But he adds that each society has to find customized solutions to its problems. “Every country has to find a path out of that system…its own approach.” He gives the example of Scandinavian countries, where officials “will be thrown out of office for what will be considered very minimal abuses. In Kenya or Nigeria, the opposite prevails.”

Joseph said governments should emulate the private sector and some state governments in Nigeria that have instituted major reforms in creating more transparent systems. He said countries need to make a transition to a rules-based system, so the use of government is governed by laws and accountability.

Leymah Gbowe awarded the Nobel Peace Prize

2011-10-07T13:49:00.000-07:00

Nobel Prize winner Leymah Gbowee is one of the founders of The Women Peace and Security Network Africa (WIPSEN-Africa). The organization was founded in 2006 as 'a women-focused, women-led Pan-African Non-Governmental Organization with the mandate to promote women's strategic participation and leadership in peace and security governance in Africa'.I spoke to her two years ago in DC--on the day she received the 'profiles in courage award' by the Kennedy Library Foundation.

Post-Gaddafi Africa: Discussion with Vincent Makori

2011-09-29T10:24:00.000-07:00

We are continuing our discussions on a post-Gaddafi Africa. For many observers and analysts who are following the events of the last couple of months,it is still hard to believe that the man who had been at the helm of power for over four decades is finally gone. Forty two years is a pretty long time--in a continent where 40 is considered the average life expectancy.

Gaddafi's omnipresence in Subsaharan is visible in the different monuments to his rule--from all forms of infrastructure that bore his name to his not so subtle 'political' investments stretching from North to South to East Africa. He was known to have sponsored many a political insurgence at the same time bankrolling the political establishment in power. Such was the enigma of a man who had lots of oil money to flaunt. His departure therefore leaves many wondering what will the post-Ghadaffi Africa look like.

In our second discussion on this topic,we feature veteran radio and TV reporter Vincent Makori.

Africa after Gaddafi--Andrew Mwenda.

2011-09-28T10:48:00.000-07:00

In the coming days,i will be talking to different people who have been following the events in Libya. For over four decades the eccentric former Libyan leader was considered a 'political godfather' to many African leaders. He is known to have orchestrated and sponsored regime change in many Subsaharan countries while providing millions of dollars to the African Union. In our first interview in the series,Andrew Mwenda editor of the Independent and one of Africa's young influential thinkers,tells me that Gaddafi often had a 'love-hate' relationship with Uganda's Yoweri Museveni.

VOA reporter's Campaign puts South Sudan on the Map--Literally!

2011-09-23T11:29:00.000-07:00

South Sudan’s independence was widely publicized because it officially marked the end of a long civil war that claimed millions of lives. It was a landmark moment in African history, where a continent welcomed a new member to the African Union. A new nation also meant a new neighbor and trading partner to over nine countries in the region.

However, even as the country celebrates three months of statehood, South Sudan was yet to be cartographically represented by mapping organizations like Google. Google continued to represent Sudan as one country. The oversight caught the eye of VOA reporter John Tanza Mabusu, himself a South Sudanese. “When South Sudan was declared an independent nation, we were all exited,” he says. Tanza decided to visit the online maps only to discover neither Google nor the other sites had updated their database to reflect the emergence of the new nation.

“There was no mention of South Sudan,” he says. Tanza then took it upon himself to ensure the error was rectified. He went online and launched a petition that received 1600 signatures. It called on Google and other mapping sites like yahoo and Microsoft to show South Sudan as a separate nation from its neighbor to the North. It was not long before the online drive caught the attention of Google. The search engine promptly made the necessary changes placing newly independent South Sudan on its web maps. “I don’t want to make a big deal of this,” says Tanza. “But it’s a small contribution towards achieving nationhood. Nation building is a long process, and there are the small steps you need to achieve on an individual basis.”

Tanza has received wide coverage of his campaign from his countrymen and media organizations around the world. But he shies away from taking full credit. “I have been receiving congratulatory messages for taking this initiative,” he says. “But the truth is, I need to thank them for signing the petition.”

Post 9/11--Using Interfaith dialogue to counter Islamophobia

2011-09-15T11:06:00.000-07:00

It has been a decade since September 11 2001. To many, the events of that fateful day are etched in their collective memories. Many say that they remember where they were on the day two planes hit the World Trade Centers in New York City killing 3000 people. Over the weekend remembrances for the victims of the 9/11 terror attacks played out somberly across America, with memorial events bringing back echoes of that the day 10 years ago. But to many young American Muslims, the event brought negative attention to their religion. For the past decade they have been grappling with some of the misconceptions about Islam and working while engaging in discussions of faith and religion.

Fate,Luck or Destiny--which forces direct our lives?

2011-08-31T11:22:00.000-07:00

'Our Destiny Is Never Written For Us – It's Written By Us'--President Barack Obama

On the show today we made an attempt to explore the complex and mysterious forces that drive our lives. There is no consensus on whether our destiny is written for us--and we just navigate through life with no meaningful impact on its outcome. Or that we are just lucky-even to be alive- and hope that we are lucky when 'good things' happen to us. There are different schools of thought on this. Religious folk are more inclined to believe in destiny and the invisible hand of God. They believe that its all written or pre-ordained and that our role is limited to giving thanks to the almighty for his provisions. However they also say that one needs to put effort and work hard to achieve a level of success. Someone wrote that fate is unkind and whimsical in approach, but can also be generous and extremely mindful of the needs of our soul. "Sometimes it hurts, but sadly it is often only through hardship that we discover our inner strength and capabilities to achieve great things." He says. Please follow me on facebook to read some of the interesting comments on this topic.

MLK Memorial--Prof. Ali Mazrui remembers Martin Luther King

2011-08-29T11:57:00.000-07:00

This weekend was supposed to be the official unveiling of the Martin Luther King Memorial here in Washington DC. But plans were scuttled after warnings that hurricane Irene was looming over the East Coast. That has not stopped hundreds of people from visiting the memorial and many more are expected to attend in September when U.S. President Barack Obama leads the nation honoring civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. Many had indeed hoped that the next dedication of a new national memorial in Washington would be to the civil rights leader whose message of non violence has inspired generations around the world.

One of the few people to personally meet Martin Luther King is Professor Ali Mazrui --a living legend to millions of Africans. I reached him at his office in Binghamton University in New York, where he is Director of the Institute of Global Cultural Studies. Naturally the conversation started off with quips about our personal experiences two days after what was supposed to be one of the biggest hurricanes in US history. Prof. Mazrui had left me a long voice message over the weekend wishing me safety as we prepared to face off with hurricane Irene. Here is our conversation.

Talking food during Ramadhan!

2011-08-26T09:38:00.000-07:00

Many practicing Muslims say that Ramadhan is a very important part of their life. During this period--Muslims fast all day long—no food or water is consumed from when the sun rises to sundown. In the evening—sundown--the fast is broken with a meal called an iftar. But many will agree that Ramadan isn't a month that's defined by fasting alone. Food is very much a big component of any muslims life during this month. For non-Muslims like myself and others who have Muslim friends and neighbors, we saw it as a time to enjoy the taste and the experience of the various foods prepared for Iftar—and of course on the day Eid il fitri. Regardless of whether we fasted or not, our neighbors were always welcoming and willing to share their food. So what are some of these foods? Is there a common recipe for Ramadhan around the world? Recently i reached my friend Idil Osman in her London home as she prepared her family’s Iftar meal, she talks to me about some of the interesting dishes that she is getting ready to make—some of which she will take to her neighbors.

Politics and Basketball--Georgetown Hoyas brawl with China’s Bayi Military Rockets

2011-08-19T09:30:00.000-07:00

Our very own Georgetown University basketball team is currently on a trip to China. But their hand at international diplomacy was marred by a major on-court brawl with Bayi Rockets. The fight broke out after one of Georgetown’s players was shoved to the ground and chaos erupted drawing in both fans and players. The team immediately left for the locker room, gathered all its equipment and headed for the buses outside. Georgetown coach Thompson and two of his players later met with the rival team at Shanghai airport as they travelled to another city for more games. Some have speculated that the Bayi Rockets a professional team was not happy that it was losing to a college team. Others look at this as a metaphor for the often volatile relationship between the two superpowers. In a world where basketball has become such a unifying force, the basketball court will always be the venue to release the tension—at least without the violence.

NGO's in Africa-flashy cars aside--do they perform?

2011-08-17T08:23:00.000-07:00

Regardless of their persuasion or modus operandi, all NGO's are top heavy with entrenched, well-remunerated, extravagantly-perked bureaucracies.--Sam Vaknin

There are hundreds of Non-governmental organizations working on the African continent. In many cases their presence is felt less in the work they do or the impact they have on a particular community,and more in the amount of fancy SUVs driving down the dirt roads. On the show today we talked about the role and impact of NGO's in Africa. We also loved the piece by Sam Vaknin who sums it thus "Their arrival portends rising local prices and a culture shock. Many of them live in plush apartments, or five star hotels, drive SUV's, sport $3000 laptops and PDA's. They earn a two figure multiple of the local average wage. They are busybodies, preachers, critics, do-gooders, and professional altruists. Always self-appointed, they answer to no constituency. Though unelected and ignorant of local realities, they confront the democratically chosen and those who voted them into office. A few of them are enmeshed in crime and corruption. They are the non-governmental organizations, or NGO's. Some NGO's - like Oxfam, Human Rights Watch, Medecins Sans Frontieres, or Amnesty - genuinely contribute to enhancing welfare, to the mitigation of hunger, the furtherance of human and civil rights, or the curbing of disease. Others - usually in the guise of think tanks and lobby groups - are sometimes ideologically biased, or religiously-committed and, often, at the service of special interests. Regardless of their persuasion or modus operandi, all NGO's are top heavy with entrenched, well-remunerated, extravagantly-perked bureaucracies. Opacity is typical of NGO's. Amnesty's rules prevent its officials from publicly discussing the inner workings of the organization - proposals, debates, opinions - until they have become officially voted into its Mandate.

Hollywood actress brings attention to Youth Issues

2011-08-14T08:04:00.000-07:00

The International Year of Youth ended recently with a call by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon for young people around the world to take an active part in decision-making at local, national and global levels. The UN youth ambassador, actress Monique Coleman, has been doing just that. She’s returned from a world tour meeting youth with the aim of promoting global efforts to achieve the anti-poverty Millennium Development Goals.

Actress Monique Coleman was part of the cast of the hugely popular movie trilogy “High School Musical,” which grossed more than a billion dollars worldwide. Like any young actress, she could be in Hollywood trying out for roles that pay her millions of dollars. But she has taken on a different role in life as a youth ambassador and spokesperson. It is a role that she doesn’t get paid to perform. Coleman took a month-long world tour, visiting young people in the developing world. She visited five continents and 26 countries and met with thousands youth. Part of her mission is to promote global efforts to achieve the anti-poverty U.N. Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

Monique said that she hopes leaders around the world recognize that young people can play a constructive role in the development of their communities. With a population of 1 billion worldwide, youth’s potential remains untapped. This is the case in many underdeveloped countries where most don’t have access to basic education and other resources for individual or communal advancement.

Speaking at the UN foundation event in Washington, DC, Monique spoke of the need to establish an intergenerational dialogue between young people and develop leadership in these countries. She says the dialogue should be a way for the older generation to encourage young people to be more proactive around issues that affect them.
International Youth Day was also marked on August 12 under the theme “Change Our World.”

At the event marking the end of the International Year of Youth, the UN asked young people to celebrate the International Youth Day, by submitting their initiatives to change the world. Monique said there is hardly a shortage. “There are many youth that are ready, willing and able to get involved. They have ideas, they are innovative, creative. How do we get them in the room together. I am hoping to serve as the bridge between them,” she said.

Security Concerns Hamper Food Aid to Somalia

2011-08-05T17:15:00.000-07:00

Analysts say that areas under al Shabaab’s control are the worst hit by the famine, but are the least accessible.

Even as the U.S. estimates that 29,000 children have died of malnutrition and related illnesses in Somalia, AL Shabab, the militant group that controls large areas of the country, has denied there is a famine. The group has been accused of blocking food aid to people living in its areas of control. In some cases aid workers have been kidnapped and killed by the militant group linked to Al-Qaida. Analysts say that areas under al Shabaab’s control are the worst hit by the famine, but are the least accessible.

The group which wants to impose Islamic rule over Somalia kicked out western aid groups and banned immunizations several years ago. They accused aid workers of “spreading western propaganda.” This week the US government relaxed the enforcement of its sanctions on al Shabaab, so that aid groups can provide food aid without fearing punishment from the United States.

Josette Sheeran is the WFP director; she says that her organization is aware of the risks posed by the militant group “it’s one of the riskiest and dangerous environments in the world…” She says. But that has not totally stopped WFP and other organizations from distributing food aid. She is hesitant to say if the militant group has offered any assurances that it would not attack future supplies. “We will work at the local level looking for windows of opportunity,and with partners,both local Somali NGO’s and International NGO’s to keep the lifeline moving…” She says.

The dangers of US endorsing 'African democracy' leaders!

2011-08-01T17:08:00.000-07:00

Analyst says that US endorsing of African democracy leaders must be tempered with dose of vigilance

In a White House meeting last week, President Barack Obama met with four recently elected heads of African states and praised them as “effective models” for democratization who are “absolutely committed” to good governance and human rights. Yet, as the media and Human rights organizations have noted that ambitious promises and lofty rhetoric in Washington “glossed over troubling, but all too familiar, reports of human rights and press freedom violations. Mohamed Keita is an African analyst and advocacy coordinator for the Committee to Protect. He says that even though it is good for the US government to recognize and promote democratic leaders on the African continent, it should be willing to confront these leaders when they fail to live up to the democratic principles to which they promised their people.

The politics of Famine in Somalia

2011-07-27T09:51:00.000-07:00

Politics plays a pivotal role in the onset of Somalia’s famine, say observers.
Andrew Natsios, a former head of the United States Agency for International Development [USAID], acknowledges the role of erratic rainfall and drought, crop failure and increased food prices. But politics, or in Somalia’s case, a lack of a functioning political system, has likely made a bad situation even worse. “If there was simply a crop failure and there was a competent government in the country,” said Natsios, “(it) can provide food to the people who are affected as they do in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania…”

The government is not able to provide support for farmers or for food production.
Somalia is headed by a Transitional Federal Government with powers limited to parts of the capital Mogadishu. The rest of the country is governed either by the radical Islamic group al-Shabab or by local clans.
Security, and expanding the government’s reach, are the most important issues facing the TFG.
Recently, Islamic militants have killed officials in a bid to destabilize the government. They say famine is only political rhetoric by the transitional government and the West. Humanitarian assistance has been hampered by the failure of al-Shabab to ensure the safety of relief workers, who have been kidnapped and killed. Last year, Al-Shabab kicked out aid agencies that refused to follow its directives, which banned women aid workers.

The politics of hunger

The last famine to hit Somalia came in 1992 on the heels of the overthrow of the country’s last president Siad Barre, with over quarter of a million people killed in the ensuing crisis.
“A civil war,” said Natsios, is what caused the drought to turn into a famine that killed so many people…It was a terrible famine. I remember it very disctinctly.”
Warlords that took control of the country after the fall of Barre have failed to consolidate their power. “Since Barre’s collapse,” said Natsios, “there has been no functioning national government. There have been attempts to create one, but they have failed.”
He said politics also exacerbated hunger in at least two other countries, including Sudan. Natsios said during that country’s long civil war, Khartoum tried to prevent food from reaching the south. In Asia, Pyongyang’s policies led to famine in North Korea, a crisis chronicled by Natsios in a book on the topic. After almost two decades of civil war, Somalia is now suffering one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. The United Nations estimates that more than three million people are in urgent need of food -- almost half the population.

Last week, the United Nations declared famine in two areas of Somalia. Experts and humanitarian organizations agree that the word is not to be used lightly. The U.N. has a list of conditions that must be present in a crisis before it may be called “famine.” Among them: malnutrition rates exceeding 30 percent and more than two people per 10,000 people are dying each day.

Interview with Ruined cast

2011-07-08T07:37:00.000-07:00

Ruined is an award winning play which highlights wartime violence against women. The setting for this particular story is a brothel in the DRC--during the civil war that has raged for most of the past decade.Two of the cast members

from the play spoke to me about the reasons why the play has captivated and moved the American audience.

South Sudan--Africa welcomes a new nation!

2011-07-07T12:33:00.000-07:00

On July 9th,history will be made in Africa--a new nation of South Sudan will become an official member of the international community. South Sudan independence marks a new chapter in the turbulent history of this oil rich nation. On the show this week,we talked to young Sudanese who have known nothing but conflict and suffering all their lives. Many of them are recent returnees after decades in refugee camps around the world. Others still live in exile hoping to return after independence. To them independence means a new identity in a country--where they are not treated as second class citizens. But as they prepare to celebrate their hard fought independence, the looming conflict in the border region of Abeyei threatens to undermine the fragile peace arrangements signed in the 2005 Comprehensive Peace Agreement.

But what are the wider implications for Africa as it embraces a new member? Many experts agree that the continent will benefit from a peaceful South Sudan. Trade between South Sudan and its neighbors is flourishing. Africans from across the continent are streaming to Juba seeking for new opportunities in its private and public sector.Yet the challenges remain ahead as this new nation tries to function properly and provide basic services for its people.

Full show below.

Michelle Obama visits South Africa.

2011-06-23T08:50:00.000-07:00

"You can be the generation that brings opportunity and prosperity to forgotten corners of the world and banishes hunger from this continent forever. You can be the generation that ends HIV/AIDS in our time, the generation that fights not just the disease, but the stigma of the disease." Mrs Obama speaking to young African Women in Soweto--South Africa

On her second day on the continent,Michelle Obama spoke to young African women leaders in Soweto, South Africa. The women were part of a US sponsored forum that brought together young women leaders from across sub-Saharan Africa. Many of them are leading or involved in social and economic initiatives in their own countries. Mrs. Obama arrived in South Africa this week. One of the highlights of her visit to South Africa is the meeting with former South African president Nelson Mandela at his home in Johannesburg. In her speech today,Mrs Obama challenged the young women attending the forum to be the generation that "makes the discoveries and builds the industries that will transform our economies," . Dayo Olopade is a Nigerian-American journalist and a Bernard Schwartz Fellow at the New America Foundation. She is working on a book about technology, creativity and development in Africa. I reached her in Nairobi to talk about the significance of Mrs Obama's speech to African women.

Mrs Obama speaks to Young African Women Leaders

2011-06-22T09:44:00.001-07:00

On her second day on the continent,US first lady Michelle Obama spoke to young African women leaders in Soweto, South Africa. The women were part of a US sponsored forum that brought together young women leaders from across sub-Saharan Africa. Many of young ladies are leading or involved in social and economic initiatives in their own countries. In her speech today,Mrs Obama challenged the young women attending the forum to be the generation that "makes the discoveries and builds the industries that will transform our economies," .Mrs. Obama arrived in South Africa this week. One of the highlights of her visit to South Africa is the meeting with former South African president Nelson Mandela at his home in Johannesburg.

Dayo Olopade is a Nigerian-American journalist and a Bernard Schwartz Fellow at the New America Foundation. She is working on a book about technology, creativity and development in Africa. I reached her in Nairobi to talk about the significance of Mrs Obama's speech to African women.

Who Are you to Judge?

2011-06-15T10:50:00.000-07:00

(we are all flawed people, and people with flaws have no right to judge other people's flaws)

S

The truth is that we are all guilty of passing judgement on others. We do it all the time and yet most times we don’t even think about it. Every society has norms and standards, so when one steps out of those boundaries of accepted social behavior,society as a collective is quick to throw down the gauntlet. I am not trying to say that people should not form opinions of others, it is just that we need to be careful not to come off as the ultimate jury on everything. Afterall we are all human--no?. Our Judgments become credible opinions only after we have made a serious effort to know the facts. so the challenge is to strike a balance between giving critical advice based on such facts without coming off as the snooty authority. Listen to the full Upfront show above for more:

HIV 30 Years Later--Leading scientist recounts 'early dark days'

2011-06-10T08:35:00.000-07:00

Health experts agree that the HIV/AIDS pandemic is still one of the most serious public health crises of our time. But unlike its early days, when there was little information and few resources to deal with it, recent discoveries have led to more effective and affordable prevention and treatment.

For many scientists who studied HIV in the early days, the virus was unlike anything they had ever seen before. Dr. Anthony Fauci was a young physician at the National Institutes of Health. He recalls first reading about HIV cases in a report provided by the Centers for Disease Control. “It was a curiosity; I had never seen anything like that.” The report described an illness of gay men from the Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York City areas who had a strange pneumonia, Pneumocystis pneumonia, usually seen in cancer patients. “That was the beginning of the now 30 years of the AIDS era,” he said.

Many scientists like Fauci were worried about a developing medical problem that he called “mysterious and scary.” With little knowledge about how to respond, they began researching it.
Since then Fauci has devoted his career to the study of infectious diseases. He is now one of the best-known scientists in the world. He has been head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health for almost three decades and continues to oversee research efforts in infectious diseases such as HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections.

Early misconceptions

Since many of the first patients were from the gay community, scientists believed it was confined to the gay population. “But very quickly…it became clear that it was not restricted to gay men, that it was injection drug users and contaminated blood transfusions…and heterosexual partners of infected individuals.”

Because of the misconceptions in the early days of researching and treating HIV, government policy makers were not quick to respond. That was because of the stigma attached to gay people in United States at the time: “one of the problems is that it was in a population that is generally disenfranchised; there is a lot of stigma associated with the disease,” Fauci said. But as HIV/AIDS turned into a global pandemic and as it came to be better understood, the scientists and policy makers realized it was predominantly transmitted by heterosexuals, he said.

Also, he added, many governments were somewhat complacent about the disease because they didn’t realize the wider effects it would have on the community. “I don’t think early on…it got the attention that it should have.”
The pandemic would go on to have a greater effect on poorer parts of the world, like sub-Saharan Africa, where millions of people have died of AIDS and millions more live with the disease.

Fauci talked about the progress made by the world community in responding to HIV/AIDS. Scientists isolated the virus. They developed drugs to deal with it. And, he said, "We have had important breakthroughs in the arena of prevention. If you bring down the viral load in people who you are treating, you can decrease the likelihood that they will infect other people."

His own work continues, and he has been recognized for making important contributions to the scientific community’s understanding of how AIDS destroys the body’s defenses, making it susceptible to deadly infections, and for developing therapy for people living HIV/AIDS.

Upfront with Uganda's opposition leader Dr.Kizza Besigye

2011-06-08T13:38:00.001-07:00

Uganda's leading opposition figure Kizza Besigye is currently visiting the US. During his travel to Washington DC,he met with US officials and members of the American media. I sat down with him at the studios of VOA and had a long discussion about his struggle for change in Uganda and his political future weeks after he was brutally arrested during the Walk to Work protests in Kampala.

(With Kizza Besigye and Shaka Ssali)

Rural-Urban migration in Africa--challenges and opportunities.

2011-06-03T11:38:00.000-07:00

Each year millions of Africans flock to the cities in search of what many think is a better life. The mass movements have led to rapid and often uncontrolled urbanization. The cities which were originially built to handle a few thousand people are now home to millions of people each competing for jobs,housing etc. It is clear that many African governments have not been able to adequetly respond and address this issue. Far from the simple effects that overpopulation creates, the inability to plan around a large growing population creates an urban development fiasco.

The UN projects that The sustained increase of the urban population combined with the decrease of rural population growth will result in continued urbanization, that is, in increasing proportions of the population living in urban areas.

Angelo Izama a fellow at Stanford University was on the show—he explains that historically, urbanization has been driven by the concentration of investment and employment opportunities in urban areas. Productive activities outside of the agricultural sector are found mainly in cities--and for these millions of men and at a less extent woman---who seek to make a better living, the city is their only hope. Their goal is to provide for their families in the rural areas. But cities also provide access to other modern amenities like electricity and health care. On show we explored some of the reasons for mass rural urban migration and what governments should do to respond to this ever growing problem.

Africa's survival trap--book offers new ideas to African enterpreneurs and policymakers!

2011-05-27T12:21:00.001-07:00

Listen to part 1 discussion with Eric Kacou

Part 2 of discussion

Even though the IMF and other agencies show that Africa is growing faster than it did in the last decade,sub-Saharan Africa is still lagging behind the other regions of the developing world. Africa-wide growth rates of 5.5% were impressive but are stagnating. For example Asian economies are developing at a pace that overshadows Africa. Recently at the Africa Forum in Cape Town, former UN secretary General Koffi Annan warned that the poor quality of leadership in Africa risks squandering the continent's economic growth.

But why is Africa stagnating?

Analysts say that it is a combination of a lack of an entrepreneurial spirit and good policy makers--many are stuck in a cycle of failed business policies--resulting in a low investment on the continent. Figures show that while Africa is home to only 10% of the world population, roughly 30% of the world’s poor are Africans. Eric Kacou is an economist and recent author of a book about enterpreneural solutions in Africa. In his new book, “Entrepreneurial Solutions for Prosperity in BoP Markets” Kacou says that the Base of Pyramid Markets(BOP)—estimated at around 4 billion people – more than half of the world's population – living on less than $2/day, has been overlooked by businesses and policy makers. The book builds its thesis based on case studies and real life examples. He writes that the problem with many African countries is what he calls a ‘survival trap’.

Kacou explains that countries ‘stuck’ in the trap often respond to economic problems with short term solutions. The same problems often recur and governments employ the same strategies, leading to a ‘vicious cycle’--- “this vicious cycle keeps individuals’ poor, businesses struggling, and nations under-developed”.

Kacou’s extensive work with people in developing economies exposed him to the extreme poverty that African governments are fighting. He says that they fail because they employ the same similar short term strategies for poverty alleviation.

“Stuck in the survival trap.”

Kacou has interacted extensively with the folks in the BOP demographic. He tells of a story of a peasant named Simon, he met in Burundi he met during his work in the Great Lakes region--as a business and economic reconstruction strategist. “Simon…had to use bullion cubes in order to season his stew so that his kid could remember the taste of meat and fish…” He says that the survival trap is about people in rural Africa who have to leave from hand to mouth.
All levels affected.

But the ‘survival trap’ does not affect only the poor, it also affects the more prosperous members of societies in Sub-Saharan Africa—starting from struggling businessmen who have to sell their goods to earn a profit “…whether it is to access a good road…avoiding paying a bribe…”
Further up on the food chain are government policy makers who are trapped by the fact that they have no real powers—they depend on donor agencies for development aid. “You literally have leaders who on the face of it have power but in reality have to depend on the rest of the world in order to do well”.

Solutions…solutions..

In the book, Eric Kacou after offers a diagnostic tool some of the recurring issues, plus approaches for entrepreneurs and policy makers in Africa. The tool will help entrepreneurs get out of the cycle of repeating old formulas in order to address the same problems. “Eisten said, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expect a different result…” He says.

“Mindset drives action and actions drive result…and eventually the environment we live in”

In his book Kacou’s looks at some of the mindsets that he says are outdated and responsible for the failure to break out of the survival trap “…it is a vicious cycle…” He says. The challenges to coming up with short remedies to economic problems is getting out of the mindset “the is reactive...” He shares some of the stories of entrepreneurs that are transforming the Base of the Pyramid markets in countries like Rwanda—which has been praised in many development circles as a model for encouraging entrepreneurs. Kacou worked in Rwanda for almost a decade, advising leaders and meeting entrepreneurs—few of who have managed to break out the survival trap. He says that Africa has to grow “….a new brand of entrepreneurs who have a moral purpose…” Kacou is currently completing his fellowship at Harvard University has been advising Africa policy makers for many years.

Reducing Mother to Child HIV transmission in Africa

2011-05-24T13:52:00.000-07:00

In Africa, thousands of children are infected with HIV by their HIV-positive mothers during pregnancy, labor, delivery or breastfeeding. It’s called mother-to-child transmission [MTCT]. A UNAIDS Global Report published in 2009 estimated that 370,000 children contracted HIV during the prenatal and breastfeeding period.

But the process can be prevented--developed countries have shown it is possible says Robin Smalley of the South Africa-based organization mothers2mothers.
Smalley says that problem in Sub-Saharan Africa is that there is a “huge inequity that there are fewer [HIV-positive] babies born in USA and Europe combined in a year than in a single African clinic.” Coverage levels are very low in most poor countries.
“We have the medicines easily and inexpensively available to prevent the transmission” she said, “and yet we still have babies being born every day who are HIV-positive.” M2M has now expanded its services to cover countries in East and Southern Africa.

Mothers2mothers was started by Dr. Mitch Besser, an obstetrician from Harvard University in the northern U.S. city of Boston who was working in a hospital in South Africa. Smalley said Besser, who later co-founded mothers2mothers, was shocked by the lack of care for women who had come to seek help with their pregnancies.
“He was seeing this gap in services,” she said, “that was created because there are so few doctors and nurses running everything and they are stressed and overworked and overwhelmed….”
If the mothers don’t receive adequate attention during and after childbirth, many pass on the infection to their babies. Mothers2mothers has been training young women like Nozi Samela, who learned she was HIV positive when she went for her first pre-natal visit. Nozi now works as a mentor mother with Mothers2Mothers and is continuing with her education.

Mothers are resources...

“We realized that the biggest resources we have are the mothers themselves,” said Smalley. The idea of training HIV-positive mothers and assigning them to prenatal units as “Mentor Mothers” has been effective, she added. They play an important advisory role giving guidance to other young mothers who have been diagnosed with the HIV virus.
“When a young woman comes in and gets this devastating news,” she said, “immediately a Mentor Mother is called who can put her arms around her and hold her hand and tell her that she is not alone.”

Because of the social stigma related to HIV, women who test positive are isolated from mainstream society. Smalley says that Mothers2mothers is working to change some of the social and cultural factors that can lead to HIV infection or public rejection of those infected.
There are many young women who share Nozi’s story. She had just finished high school, without prospects for college, she found out that she had contracted the virus from a boyfriend. She says that after being diagnosed she feared that her life was over. “I thought I was going to die.” Now, years later, Nozi works full-time for mothers2mothers while finishing her university degree in accounting.

In South Africa, as in many sub-Saharan countries, there are few jobs available to HIV-positive mothers and few or no social services to help them.
But she and many others have been hired as paid members of a medical team. Nozi is now in a job that allows her to help others while fighting stigma in her community.

Zimbabwean Conservationist Seeks to Protect Black Rhinos

2011-05-20T11:58:00.000-07:00

Zimbabwe has one of the largest populations of black rhinos in the world.But conservationists say their numbers are declining, mostly because of man-made problems, including poaching and human encroachment, as people look for new land to farm. Every year hundreds of rhinos are killed for their horns, which are sold for medicinal purposes in markets as far away as Asia.

The Goldman Environmental Prize recently went to Raoul Du Toit, coordinator of the African Rhino Program at the Florida-based International Rhino Foundation and one of a small number of conservationists working to preserve the animals. The Goldman Environmental Prize is awarded to those working at the grassroots level to protect and enhance the environment.

Rhinos are victims to poachers who are more active because of the decline in law enforcement in the conservation areas, said Du Toit. He attributes the situation in Zimbabwe to a lack of resources and political and economic turmoil.

Animal-human competition

Black rhinos are also threatened by competition from the relocation of people into conservation areas in search of land for growing food crops. “There has been a kind of haphazard and disorganized settlement going on,” he explained, “where there is potential for major livestock problems with disease transmission from wildlife to livestock….”

Human settlements are driven by economics and by politics. Du Toit said the Zimbabwean government’s fast track land resettlement program has led to an expansion of subsistence farming in the rhinos’ wild habitat.

He said the program “was not adopted in a way that incorporates wildlife land reform adequately.”

Du Toit dismissed the claim by some that a decline in wildlife is natural as animals compete with humans for land and that the animals will adapt and survive.

“A lot of wildlife has been lost in Zimbabwe in areas that are settled,” he said, pointing to the reduction of “big animals like elephants and rhinos.”

“Big game cannot live around farms and gardens, because they will ultimately overrun it” and be killed by the community, which can also sell their horns.

The way forward

Du Toit mentioned some of the practical efforts. Rhinos have been moved to areas in southern Zimbabwe where cattle ranches have been converted into wildlife conservancies that protect and breed animals.

Help has also come from the private sector, which Du Toit said is seeking government partnerships and engagement with local communities. The ultimate goal, he said, is to sensitize people about the need to preserve the rhino population.

Economic incentives can provide income and local employment, like tourist lodges owned by the community. Du Toit said he is far from advocating that every square kilometer in Zimbabwe be given to wildlife. “There should be crop production…livestock production…mining…but what we want,” he said, is a better “approach towards fitting together these uses within the landscape.”

What’s needed, he said, is a greater efficiency in resource use and more technical support, combined with what he called more rational government policies.

Pain at the pump--The effects of high fuel prices in Africa--Upfront podcast

2011-05-18T09:37:00.001-07:00

Tribunal Convicts Former Army Chief in 1994 Rwandan Genocide

2011-05-17T11:13:00.000-07:00

The International Criminal Tribunal today (Tuesday) sentenced former Rwandan army chief Augustin Bizimungu and ex-paramilitary chief of the gendarmerie Augustin Ndindiliyimana to 30 years in prison for their part in the 1994 genocide. Ndindiliyimana was released because of time served and because the tribunal said he had limited command over his men and was opposed to the killing. The court also sentenced Major Fracois-Xavier Nzuwonemeye and Captain Innocent Sagahutu to 20 years for crimes against humanity.

The International Criminal Tribunal was established in 1995 to try those considered most responsible for the mass killings. Extremist Hutus killed an almost a million Tutsis and moderate Hutus during a three-month period.

Bizimungu and Ndindiliyimana were instrumental in carrying out the plans to exterminate Tutsis, said Tom Ndahiro, a researcher and writer on the genocide.

Ndahiro has been following the proceedings of the tribunal and has written extensively about some of the denials of genocide in legal and academic circles. He said there is an effort by people who either directly took part in the killings and are still at large or who are sympathetic or complicit in the crimes to deny that the genocide ever took place. The conviction of two key figures sends a message to those who deny the Tutsi genocide, said the researcher. He added that he would have preferred stronger sentences for the two former army officers because they were involved in creating the militia that led the killings.

Ndahiro said even though the pro-government militias like the Interahamwe were responsible for the massacre of thousands of people, “the infrastructure of mass murder cannot take place without the assistance of the government and particularly the military.” He added that the evidence of military involvement was strong enough to bring about the conviction of the two former officials.Defense counsel said Bizimungu had little control over the killers, but in passing down the sentence, Presiding Judge Asoka de Silva said Bizimungu was responsible for the conduct of his subordinates.The indictment against him says on the first day of the genocide he gave an order "to exterminate the small cockroaches."

Challenging the system-Upfront podcast

2011-05-11T08:34:00.001-07:00

Transitional Justice systems--Rwanda's Gacaca dealing with post-genocide issues

2011-05-10T10:14:00.000-07:00

For almost a decade now,Gacaca community courts have been the basis for Rwanda's justice and reconciliation efforts. Dr. Phil Clark has spent years following the trials and interviewing participants. His new book 'The Gacaca Courts, Post-Genocide Justice and Reconciliation in Rwanda' gives an insight into a process that many critics and admirers agree was necessary to respond to the unique challenges that the country faced after 1994. But questions remains on if the process will spur greater unity in Rwanda. I reached Phil Clark in London where he teaches a course in transitional jusitice--below is our conversation.

Rains and heavy security disrupt Nigeria's Imo State governor elections--Observer

2011-05-06T09:46:00.000-07:00

Heavy rains turned back thousands of voters in Nigeria's Imo State. Observers say that heavy security and official misconduct is causing tension at some poll centers. Innocent Chukuma of the election observer group CLEEN foundation says that in some poll centers officials had not brought ballot boxes. This led to many voters refusing to caste their votes and skirmishes between political party observers and INEC officials. The Nigerian government has been criticized for deploying more troops to the important southeastern state which analysts say was leaning towards an opposition candidate Rochas Okorocha. Many see this as a ploy by the incumbent governor to intimidate voters and 'steal the elections'. The vote was first held on April 26, along with gubernatorial elections across the country. The opposition candidate was ahead when electoral authorities canceled the results in some local government areas. The authorities said they needed to protect the population from electoral violence.

Listen to interview with election observer Innocent Chukuma.

Importance of teamwork--Upfront Podcast

2011-05-05T09:36:00.000-07:00

Featuring Alsarah band leader of the Alsarah and the Nubatones.

Discussing effective Communication--when the message is not lost in translation.

2011-04-27T11:12:00.000-07:00

Communication of any kind is important in our lives. It is the engine that drives our relationships, careers etc. But communication does not stop or start with verbal or non verbal exchange of information. It is a two-way process which involves sending the right message, that is also being correctly received and understood by the other person. In Sub-Saharan Africa,millions of lives have been lost in unnecessary conflict--most of these conflicts could be prevented if the parties involved take time to talk to each other.
Zachary Kaufman (pictured) agrees that for communication to be effective, it is important to understand how the people you are interacting with may interpret your message. Listen to the full show below.

Talking Film with 'Africa United' Producer Eric Kabera

2011-04-25T09:54:00.000-07:00

Rwandan filmmaker and producer Eric Kabera has been part of the African film landscape for over a decade. He has seen the rapid transformation of the film industry in terms of consumption and conception (story lines) brought about by technologies like the internet etc.The accessibility of film making technology has helped young budding film makers across the continent to tell the African experience. Many agree that this is the authentic African story. Eric Kabera has been producing films and training young filmmakers in East Africa specifically Rwanda. He talks to me about his latest film 'Africa United' and we also got into discussing the direction of the Africa film--consumer and creator.

Here is the trailer to the movie.

African film industry--producing and consuming local content.

Nigerian writer Chimamanda Adiche says that Our lives, our cultures, are composed of many overlapping stories. Unfortunately the African story has been told in a single narrative. Kabera says that film has provided that medium of expression that captures all the stories and tells them with an authenticity that Hollywood can't achieve. But is African film the effective African story teller? One of my favorite quotes on African film is by a friend who said "Nigeria has got Africa on lock...they crank those suckers out like vitamins' She was referring to Nigeria's Nollywood film industry. Nollywood produces hundreds of movies every month (second only to Bollywood in India). But is this 250 million dollar a year industry helping advance the art form of African story telling? Are they stuck in a cycle of the single story? Eric Kabera also talks more about the Rwanda Cinema Center which opens in the summer. Listen below!

Social Media Play Big Role in Nigeria’s Elections

2011-04-20T07:42:00.000-07:00

A vibrant and tech savvy youth population is influencing the electoral process in Nigeria. The oil-producing West African nation is holding much anticipated legislative, presidential and gubernatorial elections this month.

With the growing penetration of Internet and telephone technology, the electorate has embraced social media platforms that are becoming increasingly popular around the world. In fact, Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan, nicknamed “The Facebook President,” first announced his candidacy on the popular social networking site.

Statistics show that more than 90 million Nigerians own mobile phones and millions more have access to the Internet.

Many Nigerians have used the new technologies to ask the various candidates about their policies, said Tola St. Matthew-Daniel, a Nigerian graduate student in Paris. St. Matthew-Daniel has been involved in a campaign to get Nigerian youth involved in the elections – by using social media to get them to register to vote.

Activism and mobilization of the youth

She recently worked with a coalition of youth groups to organize the first presidential debate to speak to youth issues. Social media are “a game changer,” she said, that have allowed candidates to engage their voter base like never before.

“You had them tweeting about what happened at a press conference…. They uploaded pictures; they commented on things like the weather…. It is something that they are using to stay in tune and in contact with their voting base,” she said.

Fad or revolution?

Many election watchers across the continent realize that social media is not just a fad but a genuine revolution. That may be one reason why media like Facebook were embraced by President Jonathan and his main challenger, Muhammadu Buhari.

African politicians, said St.Matthew-Daniel, “use it to refute misinformation…make campaign announcements…. I think they realize that it’s a new reality.”

Social media are also being used to monitor the electoral process in real time.

“People are turning Facebook and Twitter to give firsthand accounts of their different experiences at polling centers. “People are paying attention to it.” said St. Matthew-Daniel

2011-04-15T10:55:00.001-07:00

Nigerians Seek Energy Solutions From Next Leader

2011-04-07T11:46:00.000-07:00

In Nigeria, as in many sub-Saharan African countries, getting energy to both rural and urban areas is a great challenge. Analysts say that given Nigeria’s immense resources, the energy industry is not very efficient in meeting the needs of its customers.Civilian leaders since the end of the military dictatorship in 1999 have promised changes in the energy sector but failed to deal decisively with persistent power problems. So power cuts continue to affect businesses and homes.

Nigeria’s power problems are caused by institutional and governance failures that must be dealt with seriously by the country’s next president, according to Amara Nwankpa, the head of Light Up Nigeria, a youth-led movement pressing for a steady flow of electric power to Nigerian homes and businesses.

Energy and unemployment

Nwankpa says erratic energy service has hurt the standard of living in Nigeria, especially for the youth, “who are essentially struggling to make a living.”

Unemployment is high among the country’s millions of youth. Many who do not find work with the government are inclined to go into business and become small entrepreneurs, says Nwakpa, but energy costs make it hard for young people to start businesses of their own.

“If you tried starting a business in Nigeria, the biggest cost you would face would be energy,” said Nwanka, adding that much of the expense goes to replacement energy sources like generators, including the cost of maintaining them.

Own the problem

Analysts say Nigeria’s persistent energy problems undermine its potential to move from an agro-based economy to an industrialized one. So in its advocacy work, Light Up Nigeria targets everyone from policymakers to business leaders.

“The power sector has got a lot of stakeholders,” he said. “The consumers are part of the [power] eco-system, but the government plays a key role in terms of putting the agenda together.”

But Nwankpa insists that the average Nigerian, “who is going to be around for the next 20 to 30 years, should own this problem, believe it’s our problem [and understand that] it’s our responsibility to make sure that there is a solution for it,” he says.

Analysis: Challenges facing the next Nigerian President

2011-04-05T11:35:00.000-07:00

More than 20 candidates are seeking the presidency of Nigeria, each promising a change in the country’s political and economic direction.
Nigeria, a top oil producer, makes millions of dollars annually from exports, but much of that money is lost to corruption. The World Bank estimates that 80 percent of energy revenues go to only one percent of the population.

Transparency International has called Nigeria one of the most corrupt nations in the world.
It is an image the next president will try to change. He will need “the integrity to seriously address the issue of corruption,” said Okey Ndibe(image left), a novelist, political columnist, essayist and professor at Trinity College in the U.S. state of Connecticut.

Even though the country faces many other challenges, analysts say corruption lies at the heart of its problems. Nigeria, said Ndibe, needs a president with the “moral capital” to deal with the problem. One of the frontrunners is former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari, who was president in the early 1980s. He is one of the few candidates with “the courage [and] integrity to seriously address the issue of corruption,” said Ndibe.

Energy issues

Energy is also a priority for many people, who face days and nights of constant power cuts and load shedding, or rolling blackouts. “Nigeria is beset by…regular power failures and the cost of doing business is astronomical as a result of the very erratic power supply,” Ndibe said.
More than 73 million people have registered to vote. Last Saturday the Independent National Electoral Commission postponed the first round of elections – for the Senate – for one week after ballot and tally sheets were delayed by a supplier.

Nigeria's elections postponed again--Interview with Electoral Commission Spokesman

2011-04-04T10:23:00.000-07:00

-- The Nigerian Independent Electoral Commission [INEC] says delays by a supplier are to blame for the postponement of elections scheduled for this past weekend. INEC spokesperson Kayode Idowu said the plane that was to bring ballot papers and tally sheets did not deliver them on time.
Many have criticized the delay, including hundreds of people who were able to vote Saturday and will have to repeat the process because their original vote was not counted.
The decision took courage on the part of the commission, which knew there would be criticism but ordered the delay anyway, said Idowu.
INEC still maintained control over the process, even in areas like Kano and Lagos, where hundreds of voters already cast their ballots, he said.
“The deployment of materials and returns have been properly audited and we know how many of those materials…have been expended.” He said those results were not counted because the tally sheets had not been supplied.

Earlier the INEC chairman attributed the delays to the fact that some planes had been diverted to respond to the crisis in Japan.
Observers say that in postponing these elections, INEC sought to mitigate doubts by Nigerians who say it is not immune to political meddling by the ruling Peoples’ Democratic Party [PDP]. Idowu said the process should be carried out “with integrity.”

President Goodluck Jonathan and the ruling PDP rejected allegations that they sabotaged the polls to force a delay, calling them the "rantings of those who see failure and envisage defeat at the polls.” The PDP welcomed the postponement, and reports indicate that all the main political parties also back the decision.

Social Standards and body Image Issues

2011-03-31T08:26:00.000-07:00

Our generation is obsessed with many things on top of which are image. We are worried about how we look not how we feel—this is based on the generally accepted weight metric. So regardless of how happy or healthy you feel, the worry is how society appreciates your physical appearance. For consumers of popular media—which is everyone—given the proliferation of networks like CNN and MTV,the standard is set at a few pounds more than your average Victoria secret model. In medical circles the average size of a model is considered unhealthy. But that is the standard of beauty that media has imposed on us. So when you talk about body image, weight automatically becomes the focus. The story gets interesting when you look at it from a female perspective.
Television and movies reinforce the importance of a thin body as a measure of a woman’s worth. Many agree that the pressure to ‘look good’ bears heavily on the female gender than your average Joe—apparently men can cut corners on the image front by working hard and making money. Women don’t have such luxuries, because even female billionaires like Oprah are still judged by how they look, how much weight they have gained etc. It is a social double standard and we have unfortunately accepted it. So what are the economic roots of our body image issues—is there a conspiracy by the cosmetic and diet products industry? What are the psychological effects on our young girls? Is our society too obsessed with body image that we are missing the bigger challenges of our generation?

Chat with with Noreen Barlas (Pictured)

Self-Improvement or Self-Destruction?

So the barrage of messages about the 'perfect image'on our television sends out a distorted message to women that they are always in need of adjustment. It has also universalized the concept of beauty and thus distorting the cultural specificity and simplicity of image. It has rendered simple speech like remarks of weight into cynical observations. Below is a conversation that i had with a young television personality Kallie Ejigu in Washington DC.

Human Rights Watch Accuses Uganda’s Police of Torture

2011-03-25T11:53:00.000-07:00

A recently released Human Rights Watch report implicates Uganda’s police of torture and extrajudicial killings. The report says that an elite police unit known as the Rapid Response Unit “frequently operates outside the law” with impunity. The outfit which appears to be a fusion of police and army units was set up by Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni in 2002 to fight violent crime. But over the years its operatives have been accused of gross human right abuses including killing suspects in their custody.

Angelo Izama is a Ugandan reporter and currently a fellow at Stanford University in California. He says that even though the unit has been functional for years, in periods following a national election their actions take on “a more high profile role…because the system considers them as the sharp point of the spear when it comes to law enforcement…”

The Human Rights Watch Report calls on the Ugandan government to commission an independent investigation into the unit's conduct and activities and “hold accountable anyone responsible for human rights violations,” The 59-page report, "Violence Instead of Vigilance: Torture and Illegal Detention by Uganda's Rapid Response Unit, says that “The authorities who oversee the police need to hold abusive officers of this unit accountable.

Perhaps the coincidence of the report has to do with the recent events in Uganda. Post election periods have been marked with a rise in violent crimes, and the response mechanisms like this unit are more prominent. Izama is cautious to say that the Unite has grown more powerful than what was envisioned by its creators. He says that the recent elections and the ensuing incidences of high crime are comparable to same time in 2002 when president Museveni brought in military personel to carry out what was essentially a police operation in response to a crime wave sweeping Kampala and other towns in Uganda. “But whether they have grown more powerful is questionable…” He adds that “The bigger problem here is that you have got 14 semi independent intelligence and armed units in the country and the legal cover under which they operate is questionable…”

The report says that the unit's personnel operate in unmarked cars, wear civilian clothing with no identifying insignia, and carry a variety of guns. On whether the political leadership could be using the unit to intimidate political opponents, Izama says that it is not clear but that in this case “the notion of justice is driven in the black market, and you can’t police the actions of these groups so they are vulnerable to the manipulation by individual citizens and politicians …because they operate in the pale areas of the law”

The Human Rights Watch says that its investigation spanned the period from November 2009 to January 2011 and included over 100 interviews with people arrested and formerly detained by the unit, journalists, and civil society members.

Libya: Foreign intervention in local African conflicts--When is it justified?

2011-03-24T13:54:00.000-07:00

Fighter planes and missiles from the international coalition are continuing to hit at the forces loyal to Gadhafi. Their goal is to protect civilians by imposing a no fly zone--as stipulated in the Security council resolution 1973. However as the strikes continue, the doubts on whether the coalition did the right thing in invading Libya still lingers. The African Union has protested that it was not duly consulted and engaged in the process leading to the security council resolution. But others say that the African Union has a culture of non intervention in local conflicts of member countries. Given the increasing numbers of causalities from Ghadafi’s brutal response to protests in Tripoli and other parts of the country,the question that we asked on the show this week was---when is it right for foreign countries to intervene in local congflicts?

Many of the people we interviewed across the continent seemed to agree that intervention should be done--but pragmatically. Angelo Izama a regional analyst and reporter says that the problem with the current system that mandates intervention is that that the responsibility to protect lies within a system controlled by the superpowers “there are serious imbalances.” He adds that often when developed countries send troops to intervene in a local conflict, the decision to act is often based on the political and foreign policy interests of developed nations verses weaker nations. “This paradigm is inefficient and needs to be revised” He says.

Click for Interview below!

The Economics of Ivory Coast's Conflict

2011-03-23T16:40:00.000-07:00

The ongoing conflict in Ivory Coast worsened by a disputed election has claimed hundreds of lives, with thousands of others fleeing to neighboring countries. But observers say that economic issues are at the root of a conflict that has divided the once prosperous West African nation. Ivory Coast current situation is a far cry from the its hey days in the 80’s. A cocoa price boom had propelled the nation into one of the fastest developing countries in the region.
Mr. Eric Kacou is an author and economist from Ivory Coast—he has also been an adviser to numerous African governments on how to be competitive in a global market. He remembers the 80’s when he was a high school student receiving government subsidized education. At the time Ivory Coast was called the “Miracle of West Africa” He says. “People would go to Abidjan and compare it to capital cities in the west and talk about how much progress had happened” Kacou says.

But that all changed when government revenues from cocoa and coffee plummeted. The government responded by reducing production of the Cocoa but that did not help. The country went through an economic crisis in the 1980s, leading to the country's period of political and social turmoil. Ivory Coast still remains the highest exporter of Cocoa in the world. But prices on the global market have been declining steadily for over two decades. The split in Ivory Coast manifested itself in pseudo nationalist tendencies of identifying people based on how far deep their ancestral roots go in the country-- that has for years welcomed immigrants from neighboring countries. Kacou says that with the growing population and decrease in cocoa revenues “the national pie began shrinking”.

His book 'Entrepreneurial Solutions for Prosperity In BoP [Base of the Pyramid] Markets’ identifies Africa's development challenge as a tendency for businesses and nations to focus on short-term crises at the expense of developing long-term strategies for prosperity. He calls it a ‘survival trap’.

Kacou says that African governments tend to respond to their needs by setting short term goals at the expense of long term strategies. “This vicious cycle keeps individuals poor, businesses struggling, and nations under-developed.” In the book, Kacou identifies the mindsets, business models and operational techniques for success. He draws from years of research and experience in low-income nations like Burundi and Rwanda where he has been working for almost a decade.

Kacou says that African governments tend to respond to their needs by setting short term goals at the expense of long term strategies. “This vicious cycle keeps individuals poor, businesses struggling, and nations under-developed.”

Eric Kacou is from Ivory Coast, i talked to him about the economic dynamics of his country's current political stalemate.

Libya and The African Union's slow response to the crisis

2011-03-16T14:49:00.000-07:00

The African Union has been accused of being slow too respond to the crisis in Libya. It was only recently after international pressure that they appointed Uganda's President Museveni and his South African compatriot Jacob Zuma to a 'talk' to Ghaddafi. Ofcourse many question the effectiveness of any such talks given the influence that Ghaddafi has over many Sub-Saharan leaders. I spoke to Ugandan reporters and regional analysts Andrew Mwenda and Angelo Izama (a Knight fellow at Stanford University in California.)

We also talked about the situation in Uganda. A few weeks ago the incumbent Museven won another term in office. The opposition claim that the elections were rigged--and called upon the population to take to the streets in a mass uprising akin to the ones we have recently seen in north Africa. What is the likelihood of this happening...Listen below!

Dealing with work and school related anxiety!

2011-03-16T11:08:00.000-07:00

We all get anxious and nervous when presented with certain or uncertain realities or situations. Anxiety kicks in creating feelings of fear, worry, uneasiness and dread.
But getting anxious about work or school is considered a normal reaction to stress because it helps us to deal with a difficult situations we face in our daily lives. So on the show today we looked at common anxieties related to our jobs or school.
Listen to the show below

Gbabgo and Ouattara camps target rival media outlets

2011-03-15T15:23:00.000-07:00

In Ivory Coast, one of the tools being used in the struggle for the presidency is journalism. There are reports that supporters of incumbent president Laurent Gbagbo and rival Alassane Ouattara are targeting rival media outlets and their reporters.

The New York-based Committee to protect Journalists [CPJ] says both sides are using media outlets allied with them to disseminate their political message.

Media houses have been used to inflame passions and win the hearts of civilians in both the south and the rebel-controlled north, says Mohamed Keita, the CPJ Africa advocacy coordinator. He says they have inadvertently become partisan players in the conflict and are constantly targeted by rival militias and supporters of the presidential rivals.

Thirty people were killed recently when they marched on the offices of the state-controlled television station to demand the resignation of its director.

Keita says his organization is still concerned about the fates of jailed journalists Aboubacar Sanogo and Yayoro Charles Lopez Kangbé of rebel-controlled station TV Notre Patrie who, he says, have spent 20 days in military custody without charge.

“It is becoming unbearably dangerous for media outlets and their journalists to operate in Ivory Coast,” says Keita. He calls on both sides to “refrain from targeting the press or using politically motivated censorship.”

Last week, the National Press Council, the official regulatory body for the country’s print media, suspended Le Nouveau Réveil newspaper for being pro-Ouattara. It criticized the paper for publishing graphic photos of protesters killed by government forces.

According to the CPJ, other papers that published the photos, including the pro-Ouattara dailies Le Patriote, Nord-Sud and Le Jour Plus, were fined by the National Media council. The publishers were given 30 days to pay.

Keita says, in the “tit-for-tat control for the media,” even government outlets are not safe. Recently, armed militia attacked a broadcast station housing a transmitter of the state Radiodiffusion Télévision Ivoirienne in the Ouattara stronghold of Abobo district in Abidjan.

Mr Keita says that his organization is still concerned about about “the fates of jailed journalists Aboubacar Sanogo and Yayoro Charles Lopez Kangbé of rebel-controlled station TV Notre Patrie who spent 20 days in the custody of the military police without charge”.

Nigerian Youth Ask--WHAT ABOUT US?

2011-03-09T14:13:00.000-08:00

Next month Nigerians go to the polls to elect their leaders. Figures show that over 60 percent of Nigerians are between the ages of 25-35--many of whom are registered voters. The sheer force that such a big chunk of the electorate brings to the process would be a game changer for any candidate who effectively courts them. In a first of its kind in Nigeria, a budding youth movement is organizing a presidential debate solely for the purpose of addressing youth issues. I reached out to the leaders of the movement that brings together grass roots organizations such as VoteorQuench.org,Enough is Enough Nigeria, Sleeves Up, and Nigerian Leadership Initiative. Nosa Garrick, is the founder of VoteorQuench.org,she says that her organization seeks to mobilize "and give a voice to the Nigerian youth who have virtually been silent – by choice and circumstance – until now.”

Kola Oyeneyin is with the organization 'Sleeves-Up'an organization that wants to build a "network of like-minded young Nigerians who are resolved to being MASTERS of change not VICTIMS of change."

Below is our discussion on the upcoming presidential debate.

The rules of attraction-Looks or Personality---the debate!

2011-03-09T10:02:00.000-08:00

On the show today,we entered the fray of the age old debate--looks verses personality. This is one of those debates that makes for good endless banter. Now,when we know that in terms of attraction we all appreciate different things about people. So on the show this week, we wanted to find out what's more important to you - looks or personality? Listen to the show below!

Foreign Investors See Potential in African Agriculture

2011-03-01T09:19:00.000-08:00

Analysts say good governance and improved infrastructure could provide a boost to the sector

Agriculture is one of the most important economic activities in Africa. In addition to providing employment, agriculture has the potential to transform African societies through the increased export of produce to Western markets.
Many agree that transformation will not take place without increased investment in agriculture, including public or private loans to small farmers. Statistics show that Africa has about 12% of the world’s arable land but 80% of it is not in use. Observers say there are many opportunities to develop land and even make it attractive to agribusinesses.

The Kenyan story

Among those taking advantage of new opportunities are Kenyan farmers, including some who are now making millions of dollars exporting flowers.
According to the International Food Policy Research Institute, horticulture has become the third largest source of foreign exchange in Kenya after tourism and tea. But statistics show that farming in Kenya is still typically carried out by small farmers who usually cultivate no more than two hectares.
Adieno Achieng is a small scale farmer in Kisumu. She says government can support farmers like herself by subsidizing farm inputs like fertilizers and seeds. She says that farmers would also benefit from access to agricultural loans.
Investment in small farmers
But in recent years, government assistance to small farmers and to agriculture in general has been in decline.
Mohammed Beavogui is the director of the Western & Central Africa Division of International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in Rome, Italy.
He says even international development aid meant for agriculture “dropped from 20% to 4%...” But he says that there are signs to show that this trend is changing because of the rise in food prices internationally. “People complain of food prices, but for agriculture somewhere, it is an opportunity,” he says.
Leaders from many developing countries are also recognizing the need to invest in their own food security.
At the 2009 G8 Summit in L’Aquila, Italy, donors collectively committed $20 billion to agricultural development and a new approach to global food security.
Beavogui says, “The share of agriculture in development is increasing…. For example, my institution, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, got an increase of almost 50 percent of its replenishment to support agricultural projects…. All these are showing that there is an effort to invest in agriculture,” he says.

He says productivity in Africa has a long way to go to catch up with counterparts in developing nations in Asia. “We still have to introduce new seeds…new technology, and fertilizer…”

Improved Infrastructure Needed

Also needed, say development specialists are improved ways to take goods to market.
“If you want agriculture to work you need to allow agricultural products to get to the market, and that means you need roads,” Beavogui says.
The decision to invest in local agriculture often depends on a region’s ability to move goods from the farm to the factories or to ports for export.
Statistics indicate that only 34% of sub-Saharan Africa’s rural population lives within two kilometers of a paved road. In most of Africa, poor road infrastructure accounts for investors deciding to look elsewhere. “Every fifth African needs at least five hours to get to the nearest market….” Beavogui says.
Economists point to Malawi, which earns up to 70 percent of its foreign exchange from tobacco. Most of it is grown in the rural areas, where farmers have to transport the crop many miles to the commercial capital, Blantyre.

Foreign Investment

There are some signs that local and western investors are slowly attracting interest in African agricultural potential. The best example is the African Agricultural Land Fund, a private equity strategy that seeks to invest in food production across sub-Saharan Africa.
EmVest Asset Management is a joint venture between GrainVest South Africa and Emergent Asset Management of Britain. EmVest is managed by people with an active interest in African agriculture. GrainVest is a South African firm that is active throughout the agriculture production chain, including crops, maize milling and futures trading.

Patrick Devenish is the CEO of agro-industrial conglomerate AICO Africa, Ltd., incorporated in Zimbabwe. He was recently in the United States to network with other African CEOs in New York. He says that AICO has invested heavily in African agriculture and the returns have been good. In Zimbabwe, the company is involved in buying and seed cotton, from which it makes and sells cotton lint.
Devenish says the agricultural sector in Africa is a particularly under-targeted area that offers great returns for any western investor. He’d also like to see US companies provide a market for African agricultural exports. “We would like to see a demand pull rather than push,” he says.
Government has a role to play in attracting investment, Devenish says.
“We would like to see a government focusing on providing an environment for conducive to business rather than getting directly involved in the business…. There are government interventions that have made life difficult.”
That includes Zimbabwe, he says, where the government confiscated the farms of once-successful farmers.

AICO Africa Ltd. has been providing financing to small-scale cotton farmers, says Devenish, because “the average small farmer in Zimbabwe doesn’t have access to [it]….”

Mohammed Beavogui of IFAD Beavogui says another project sponsored by Kofi Annan’s NGO, the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), is developing a “breadbasket approach” to coordinate agricultural development efforts in a Ghana. The plan will add up to US $500m to the agricultural component of GDP, create up to 15,000 new jobs and double the household incomes of close to 250,000 smallholders.

Meanwhile, a company called Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), which serves West Africa is helping small farmers. Its CEO, Andrew Ali, says the strategy of investing in small farms is more useful “than replicating the big farms in the midwest of the US….”

Beavogui says it’s similar to the model used by Asian nations like Singapore where small farms are the cornerstone of the country’s relatively successfully agricultural export strategy.

Africa: Providing Greater Returns for Western Investment

2011-02-28T13:43:00.001-08:00

IMF projects a 6% GDP growth rate -- a good sign for foreign businessmen.

For years, foreign businessmen shunned Africa. They saw the continent as a highly risky destination for investment. But in the past decade, much of that has changed, with many saying Africa now presents a great potential for business growth and ultimately poverty reduction. Jennifer Potter is the CEO of the Initiative for Global Development (www.igdleaders.org), a network of business executives trying to increase investment in developing countries. She recently held a meeting in New York, where American and African CEOs came together to build personal relationships and share information about business opportunities on the continent. She attributes the low rate of investment on a lack of information about Africa’s economic potential. Part of her job is to change this attitude by highlighting the potential for huge returns for those with the courage to invest.
“The [upside] investment opportunities are enormous but they are not on the radar necessarily of the investment firms….” That’s now changing.

Old myths, new data bases

Papa Ndiaye is the CEO of Advanced Finance and Investment group, a west African-based company that’s invested hundreds of millions in US dollars in Africa. Ndiaye says it’s time to dispel some of the myths that discourage investors.
“There are lots of long-term prejudices…. When we look at the tremendous changes in Africa…people need to update their databases. The Ghana of 1995 is different from the Ghana of today.” Ndiaye says business leaders need only to look at International Monetary Fund figures projecting that Africa’s GDP will grow at a rate of 6%.
“If an international CEO does not have an Africa strategy, the company's board should [sack that CEO],” Ndiaye says.

Jean Manirakiza, a Burundian analyst based in Virginia, says Ndiaye’s view is overly optimistic. He says that even though there are opportunities for venture capitalists like Ndiaye, “it is too pretentious to put Africa at the center of the global economy…. We are still about 5% of global trade.”

He says that Africans should start by strengthening existing trade links and raising capital locally. He adds that external capital flowing into the continent means that dividends will in the end return to western investors.

Assessing Africa’s potential and risk

The recurring myth about the African continent, is that most of it is mired in political conflict. But many countries have enjoyed years of relative peace and stability. Karl Zoe is working on her Masters of Business Administration at Wharton School in Pennsylvania. She recently organized a forum bringing together business leaders and students. She says that over the past decade, Africa has achieved significant progress, with the deepening of democratization, some improvements in the business climate, more effective use of aid, action against corruption and declining political interference in the economy. There has also been a more concerted effort by African leaders to promote peace and security, says Zoe. But despite the progress, Ndiaye says there is a tendency to group together well-managed countries with what he calls “the bad apples.” He says that the onus is on every African to dispel such misconceptions. “We still have to go out there and put the word out…. Risk assessment is such a subjective thing. It is related to the level of information the individual has. The more information you have, the more you lower your risk, because with more information you are able to anticipate where the problems will be and start [devising] solutions.”

Ghaddafi's little green book

2011-02-25T11:24:00.000-08:00

A few days after protesters took to the streets to oppose Ghaddafi's 40 year hold on power,he went full on crazy-- Giving a rambling incoherent ominous rant--which will go down in history. But what caught our eyes was the little green book that he used as a prop,and kept referencing through out the speech. Ofcourse we were all disturbed and curious (two emotions that shouldn't go in hand)
Apparently that green Book is the only thing close to a constitution in Libya. It was solely written by Ghaddafi and has been used as a tool to repress dissent in the country. To understand the green book, i spoke to Jawar Mohamed a young Ethiopian activist who explains that the book is a three-part collection of political thoughts, social and economic theories that rejects western ideas of democracy.

Ghaddafi--a lesson in crazy rants!

2011-02-23T07:18:00.000-08:00

"You men and women who love Gadhafi ... get out of your homes and fill the streets," Gadhafi said. "Leave your homes and attack them in their lairs."

So--it looks like some folks on our face book discussion did predict the impending implosion of Ghaddafi's 40 year stronghold on Libya. During the Egyptian revolution,we talked about the prospect of this kind of upraising taking place in other parts of Africa. And for over a week now, the upheaval has shattered the regime across much of the country. Reports say that even as Ghadaffi continues to control the capital Tripoli, protesters have taken towns and cities along nearly the entire eastern half of the 1,000-mile Mediterranean coastline. But many watching these events say that Ghadaffi is not Mubarak or Ben Ali.Jon Stewart of the daily show called him 'a different kind of crazy'.

Today Ghadaffi gave an incoherent long rambling rant in which he basically said that he would die as a martyr. "I am a fighter, a revolutionary from tents ... I will die as a martyr at the end," he said. "I have not yet ordered the use of force, not yet ordered one bullet to be fired ... when i do, everything will burn." He said

Now we have always known that the man once described as a ‘mad dog’ by Reagan was a tad bit crazy,but we didn’t know the extent of his craziness. Aside from the eccentric antics like living in a tent,40 virgins for body guards,calling himself the king of kings etc,he was able to rule Libya for over 40 years. Now his grip has unraveled and the people are demanding freedom. His response;snipers shooting at mourners,military jets shooting at protesters and other gruesome reports. But the comic nature of his rant was no lost on me. So I thought to myself--after his speech--which leaders are likely to have called him and how did that conversation go..

Part of our Facebook discussion on the Libyan crisis:

Jøel Tweed: I knw man, how about that rant of American planes shooting on Libyan protesters, crazy!!!

Mutungi Tumusiime: This guy is delusional!! Is he serious???

Mulongo Lucy Ntombi: Im also watching him on France24..He is really stubborn and proud.. he wants to die as a martyr and he is nt stepping down.

Mike Li: everytin is sentenced to death as I can see....

Keven L Antoine: theyre all out of touch
22 hours ago

Naki Wala Saida: sevo iz next??????

Edmund Kagire: Rumour has it that he was high on something before the speech....

Francine Usanase: Libya and Iran will be a fight to the finish line. I think Ghaddafi will commit suicide before he's toppled.

Jösh Ābĕ: OBAMA shd say something!!!! If he can't he shd return that peace prize that was given 2 him!
22 hours ago ·

Michael Rukundo Kooiman: ¡Viva la revolución
22 hours ago ·

Kunle Ifesanya: ‎@ Tweed; What with American planes? America did not manufacture the planes to shoot protesters, it was Ghadaffi's choice to use it for his own purpose. I find it disturbing that people seem to relish heaping blames on America, even in matters they are not involved it. Obama did not insult nor assault Americans when he lost the Mid-terms, so why should he be scape goat for Ghadaffi's actions?

Jonathan Chadiha: They all want to hang on for dear life, as though there were no qualified people to run the country, even better than they have:-)

Emmanuel Safari: Good point Ifesanya, these so-called leaders who do not want to let the people determine who the best leader for them is should all get outta the house!!
20 hours ago ·

Jonathan Chadiha: But they do not want to do that, Safari. So they dare you force them out:-) That is the only way they know how!!
19 hours ago ·

Neema Ruta: I was wondering, what does it take for the UN forces to go into a country (could be a peace keeping mission but with license to engage if need be) - does anyone know?
17 hours ago ·

Jonathan Chadiha: I think the people in the country have to invite them. Or else show that they are so helpless,they need outside help based on what the regime in power is doing to the wanainchi. Otherwise, the UN can be perceived as interfering in local issues of a sovereign nation.:-)

Lisa Vives: I'm still waiting to hear what the African Union has to say about their old friend... (Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega is sad!)

Clara Alexandra Frenk: Is anyone actually surprised that Gadhafi said something crazy?

Filmon Simon: It is very sad that he declared war on his own people.....He is "Super Dictator" and will soon leave with super humiliation. There is nothing that can hold back a united mass.

Kagire Danson: At one time, I almost reluctantly believed that Ghadaffi was on the verge of falling & leaving. Allover a sudden, he his up now with even more threatening techniques against his own people...Killing anyone protesting...calling them cockroaches, rats, drunkards, drug-addicts etc...Take care Libyans!!

Rama Isibo: deluded coward

Ahmed Ayub: The rumor further claims he is doin Coke Edmund.

Edmund Kagire: LoL @ Ayub,last kicks of a dying horse....but on the other hand, I feel sorry, he is being humiliated!!Not the Gadaffi we knew!!

Africa's energy problems-Is solar energy the answer?

2011-02-21T12:44:00.000-08:00

This week on Upfront we looked at Africa's energy's problems. Even though research shows that Africa has enormous energy resources,many African cities and villages lack the capacity to deal with their local energy needs. The only explanation would be that African governments are under utilizing their natural resources. If Africa developed its energy resources,it would have enough to serve its needs and more to export. Most governments have vastly invested their money--usually aid,into hydro power. There has been little exploration in alternative and innovative energy solutions.

Many of the initiatives have been taken by the private sector and other non-governmental entities. That explains why in some countries we see small-scale solar, wind, and geothermal devices in operation providing energy to urban and rural populations. The application of renewable energy technology has the potential to alleviate many of the problems that Africans face.

I attended a panel discussion a couple of months ago at the Harvard University Business School. One of the speakers Robert Freling opened his talk with a slide that opened our eyes to an often overlooked fact. Africa is indeed a 'dark continent'. Over one-third of the estimated 1.6 billion people have no access to electricity! Robert also pointed out that the majority of African counties are only able to provide access to electricity to only 20% of their citizenery. He also said something that caught my ear..."energy is a human right and should be accessible to all"

It is a fact that any poverty reduction strategy should have energy at the top of its priority list.

So what is the one thing that we can access with such limitless abundance...? The sun. The discussion among our listeners and guests was centered around solar energy as the solution to all our energy problems. Research shows that over 50 percent of African countries receive on average 325 days per year of bright sunlight. This gives solar power the potential to bring energy to virtually any location in Africa without the need for expensive large scale grid level infrastructural developments. The Sun emits more energy in one second than is available in all of the fossil fuels present on earth and therefore has the potential to provide all of our current and future global energy requirements. Since the fuel source for renewable energy is clean and free, African nations can protect their people, their environment, and their future economic development by using renewable energy sources to this end they have a number of possible options.

Ugandan Electoral Campaigns Lack Previous Voter Enthusiasm

2011-02-16T08:02:00.000-08:00

Analysts say Ugandans resigned to continued hold on power by President Yoweri Museveni

Candidates in Uganda’s upcoming elections are spending the final days of their campaigns in the capital, Kampala. This Friday Ugandans will go to the polls to elect a president from a field of candidates that includes incumbent Yoweri Museveni and opposition leader Kizza Besigye. Some opinion polls show that Mr. Museveni is the clear front runner and is poised to win his fourth term in office.

Reports say this year the campaigns have not been marred by as much violence as in other recent elections. There have been a few skirmishes, like the one in the Kampala suburb of Lugazi, where police fired tear gas to separate to opposing groups of supporters. Many say the police seem more restrained this time around.

Among those watching developments is Charles Mwangushya, the political editor of the independent newspaper the Monitor. He says the campaigns have not been as violent as in the last two elections partly because of a lack of excitement about them. There is, he says, “a sense of cynicism and despondency” in the population about the possibility of political change.

Others attribute the lack of violence to a more experienced electorate and field of candidates who are used to how the process works. Uganda has been holding multiparty elections since 1996 and this year has seen “a greater level of involvement of the civil society…and a keen focus on issues,” says Mwangushya. He adds the campaigns have been focused less on personal attacks by candidates.

Still, opposition candidates have complained of incidents in which they say their supporters have been intimidated by state agents. Mr. Besigye, the president’s closest rival, recently met with a top US diplomat Johnie Carson and raised concerns that the electoral commission favors Mr. Museveni’s party, the National Resistance Movement.

In a recent interview, Mr. Besigye said if Mr. Museveni rigs the elections, he will not seek the intervention of the courts. Instead, he said, he will take it to the court of public opinion. He was referring to the 2006 elections, which the opposition and international observers said were marred by irregularities.

The opposition leader narrowly lost a court case seeking to overturn the results. “He is obviously frustrated that on two occasions the courts have ruled that there were significant flaws with the conduct of the election,” says Mwangushya. Despite the recognition of irregularities by the Ugandan Supreme Court, the results were never annulled, a decision that was criticized by election observers.

There is no doubt in the minds of many that Mr. Museveni will win this week’s elections. Three opinion polls show him with a commanding lead. Still, many observers question the credibility of the polls, with some seeing them as a way to legitimize the election results if President Museveni wins.

Uprising in Egypt and Tunisia--Lessons for Sub-Saharan Youth

2011-02-09T14:11:00.003-08:00

For over a month we have been witness to a wave of change sweeping across North Africa. The mass uprising in Tunisia--known as the Jasmine revolution brought an end to the 28 year dictatorship of Zine el Abidine Ben Ali. In Egypt thousands of people have been demanding that Hosni Mubarak steps down. Many observers say that the rising food costs,unemployment and general despair were the trigger that brought the formerly subdued masses to the streets. On the show today we explored the relationship between technology and the new found power to challenge entrenched leadership on the African continent.

In the studio i hosted a number of young Africans from Sub-Saharan Africa who discussed the frustrations that their compatriots have with the political elite. In essence,the youth in North Africa and Subsaharan Africa share the same struggles and complaints with their politicians. But the daunting question is--are Sub-Saharan youth able to organize themselves in protest against their governments with the same type of results. What are the conditions in Egypt and Tunisia that allowed for such a mass display of rebellion towards the powers. I also put the question out on facebook,below are some of the responses. Also listen to the full audio for the show and the interviews.

Frustrated with their political elites, railing against the lack of freedom, angered at unemployment levels, dismayed at the rising cost of food, fuel and other basics, the people of sub-Saharan Africa share many of the complaints that led to the upheavals in Tunisia and Egypt, along the continent's northern edge.

Full show audio

Discussion with Henok Fente,Paul Ndiho and Joshua Abe.

Facebook discussion:

Angelo Izama: Jackson- the quick answer is yes. In fact some countries have regular but scattered protests over the same issues that have defined Tunisia. The more important question is whether they are desirable. Elections already strain the stability of most countries in SSA, protests especially those capable of upsetting regimes can overwhelm domestic institutions even after they succeed and i don't think there is enough thinking around what transitions through protest mean for countries that may be facing serious economic and institutional problems.

Francine Usanase: I think what has contributed mostly to these uprisings (that is not being discussed enough) is that more than anything else is that this is the uprising of an educated population...These people's minds are free...that is why the same is not going to happen in Sub-Saharan Africa YET...Most of Sub-Saharan Africa has young populations...but they are not educated...and they don't have internet access and are not on twitter and on facebook...The "ignorance is bliss" mentality continues to rut the Sub-Saharan region...

Jachian Chilila: I agree with Francine's insight. Added to this, If you look at Egypt much closer you find that is essentially an Urban middle class uprising.

I just saw a BBC feature where it seems that people outside of the major metropoles and urban areas seem to be less involved and more sympathetic to the president.

This can only be replicated in areas where there is high enough penetration of internet services and data services over the mobile.

Sub Saharan people also have cultural issues that may also hinder similar uprisings even if internet access and penetration were high...... ethnic allegiances, cultural ideas about respect for authority, etc. that must also be dealt with..... Remember what happened in Kenya....

Francine Usanase: Nice add Jachi...the nature of authoritarian respect, corruption on a larger level, tribal issues, language issues is definitely a set back for the Sub Saharan region...The US and China just split Darfur into two nations,Congo is a mess, Zimbabwe still belongs to Mugabe, Cote'D'Ivoire, Nigeria...It's just a never ending list of problems for this region...I really think that to cure Sub-Saharan Africa of it's problems the leaders at the top would all have to start representing the people...and I think most of them have been in power for so long that they themselves are like Mubarak...set in their ways...too rich to care...and will wait for the next war or coup to overthrow them...
2 hours ago · Like
Carlene Antoine: what is happening in tunisia and egypt can be compared to the fall of communism in the late 20 the century, then having a domino like effect in south east asia resulting in the demise or communist europe. i guess one can argue that idealistic thought is naturally corruptable. what is constant though is humans resistance to overwhelming systems of control and dominance.i bet the rest sub-sahara africa are on facebook tweeting each other wishing maybe the same could happen but i fail to be optimistic about that ,hey the big african "Club" of dictators (we know who they all are) may have lost a member but the rest of them will be rethinking their strategy, i mean we all know why mugabe kept his security forces well fed etc and the rest of the population was left to scuffle in the dirt! anyway you never know what will happen he he!

Jean B Manirakiza: we black Africans tend to see governance with tribal lenses and therefore tyrants perpetuate themselves using tribalism...so it is hard to break that cycle. But to quote Prof George Ayittey: the cheatah generation is angry!

Looking back at Somalia 20 Years after the fall of Siad Barre

2011-01-28T13:36:00.000-08:00

Somalia will soon mark the 20th anniversary since the fall of President Mohamed Siad Barre. But as Somalians look back at the rule of the self styled Marxist dictator,many still ponder at the resulting years of civil strife and what has been termed as one of Africa's longest civil wars. Hussein Warsame,is a professor at the Calgary University in Canada has been in exile for over a decade. Like many of his educated compatriots,he was forced to flee the civil war and moved Canada. More than a million Somalians still live in exile in Europe and other parts of the world.

But the fall of Siad Barre--a culmination of events that had been in the works for many years,was not the only reason Somalia has been mired in civil war. Some analysts say that the issues were far larger and more complicated. They point to the period of the opening of the Suez canal in 1869 and the foreign interests that divided up Somalia into different territories. Warsame agrees, he says that the problems with Somalia were caused by both internal and external factors but most importantly he adds, “Somalia was never in charge of its destiny” he says. There are over 5 major clans,each with different interests-- clan membership plays a central part in Somali culture and politics. Warsame says that “Somali factions were always fighting each other that they never thought about statehood”

By 1992, Somalia had become a full-fledged war zone,however when relief agencies attempted to bring food aid to people, one of the many clans would burn it to prevent it from falling into the hands of their enemy clans. Warsame says that this was all possible because of a lack of a central government in Mogadishu.

The Horn of Africa country is now best known to the outside world for its near comical stories of piracy off of the Indian Coast. It is also one of the poorest and most violent states in the world. But Warsame says that Somalia should be remembered as the first African country after independence to hold elections and a peaceful transfer of power.

Brain drain--Africa’s increasing exodus of human capital.

2011-01-16T12:20:00.000-08:00

(Cartoon appeared In: Economist, August 11, 2005)

For many years since independence Africa has been continuously losing its best and brightest to the western world. On the show this week we looked at the the implications of brain drain on human resources, institutional capacity etc. What can African governments do to stem the thousands who leave the continent each year?

It is true that many African governments have been trying to reach out to their diaspora,encouraging them to return and bring back some of the skills gained abroad. However many say that the countries fail to address the pull and push factors that cause the flow of African brains in search of greener pastures abroad. Other countries don't bother to engage their diaspora communities; mainly because they often present a political threat to their power. In an effort to decrease the number of Africans emigrating out of Africa, UNESCO and Hewlett-Packard are working together to launch grid computing in Algeria, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal and Zimbabwe. This will encourage researchers in Africa to work with researchers from around the world on various collaborative research projects.

Upfront with writer Ngugi Wa Thiongo.Part 1

2011-01-10T12:43:00.000-08:00

"In a post colonial era,we nationalized the absurdities of the colonial system...."

Novelist Ngugi wa Thiong’o has been a force in African literature for decades: Since the 1970s, when he gave up the English language to commit himself to writing in African languages, his foremost concern has been the critical importance of language to culture. In Something Torn and New, Ngugi explores Africa’s historical, economic, and cultural fragmentation by slavery, colonialism, and globalization. Throughout this tragic history, a constant and irrepressible force was Europhonism: the replacement of native names, languages, and identities with European ones. The result was the dismemberment of African memory. Seeking to remember language in order to revitalize it, Ngugi’s quest is for wholeness. Wide-ranging, erudite, and hopeful, Something Torn and New is a cri de coeur to save Africa’s cultural future.Below is part of my long conversation with Prof.Ngugi.

How do you plan to keep your new year's resolutions!

2011-01-05T07:19:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year to you all Upfront listeners! Now there is a chance that as many of you befittingly started off the year in a festive mood,you came up with resolutions to change your life for the better. But we all know that it is one thing to come up with these resolutions--keeping them is a whole other story. Below are the most popular resolutions in no particular order.
# Drink Less Alcohol--that is if you have been hitting the bottle quite heavily that it is moving out of social drinking territory. Take it down a notch,social drinking is fine so long as you can control it.
# Get a Better Education--or complete the current educational path if you are enrolled as a student in high school,university etc.
# Get a Better Job--Many people feel they are stuck in a job they hate and need a different career path. Changing your current job will take some courage given the chances that you might not find your dream job right away. Sometimes all it takes is that leap of faith. The mistake that most people make is quitting the current job before you have another one lined up.
# Lose weight and get Fit--Yes,we all wish we had the time to hit up the gym. But i have realized that it takes more that just having disposable time. It takes a great amount of discipline!
# Manage Debt--simply put--stop spending what you don't have!!!
# Manage Stress--Yes,quit with the stressing--it cuts your age by half!!
# Quit Smoking--what more can i say about that--lay off the pipe,give a rest to the lungs--they will thank you!

Making sense of the political Stand-off in Ivory Coast--Analysis

2010-12-31T16:24:00.000-08:00

As the political drama continues to unfold in Ivory Coast,i reached out to our resident expert on Ivory Coast--Nico Colombant-- for some analysis on the issue. Nico lived and worked in Ivory Coast for many years, and continues to cover and monitor political developments in the country. Here is our discussion:

Nico Colombant was at the Ivorian Embassy in Washington DC. A group of Ouattara supporters were protesting outside the embassy premises. Their demands were for the current Ambassador to leave office for new appointees by the internationally recognized president of Ivory Coast.

Ocampo Indicts Kenyan Politicians for Post Election Violence

2010-12-15T09:17:00.000-08:00

Following his announcement earlier today, the prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) Moreno Ocampo says that a judge will consider the charges in a procedure called “a confirmation of charges” and summon those that have been named in the indictments. Ocampo says that most of the Kenyan suspects named in the indictments have already expressed willingness to appear before the court in The Hague. “The individuals that we are looking for have accepted that they will come to the Hague to face trial…” Ocampo says.

Prosecutor Ocampo named six high-profile Kenyans accused of orchestrating the violence following the 2007 elections. He says that the suspects “commited crimes against humanity”. Many of those named still hold high ranking government positions including the Deputy Prime Minister and son of Kenya’s founding father Uhuru Kenyatta.

Ocampo says that government position or rank did not play a role in deciding who gets prosecuted “we believe these six names are the most important names in the case…they were the ones giving orders to commit the crimes” He says.

The Kenyan government has announced plans to initiate an investigation in the matter. Mr Ocampo says that while the government had the right to go ahead with investigations in the post election violence “I will maintain that these trials will only take place in The Hague…its late for that” He says. Many see the government’s plans as a ploy to prevent its officials from the public humiliation of a Hague trial.

Mr Ocampo says that those named are just the organizers and planners of the violence—however many Kenyans believe that the hundreds of perpetuators that took part in committing the crimes should also be brought to justice. Ocampo says that is up to the Kenyan government “ofcourse six is just a sample, but the Kenyans will decide how many they would like to prosecute”

Uganda's anti-gay MP Says Death Provision Can be Changed

2010-12-09T13:15:00.000-08:00

I had a lengthy chat with David Bahati,the Ugandan member of parliament who came to fame after proposing the controversial bill in the Ugandan Parliament. The bill calls for gay people to face life imprisonment or, in some cases, execution if they are convicted of having practiced homosexuality. Here is the full interview below:

Wikileaks on Kenya---Country depicted as "a swamp of flourishing corruption"

2010-12-03T14:19:00.001-08:00

The dust over the Wikileaks cables calling Kenya a ‘swamp of flourishing corruption’ has yet to settle in the nation’s capital Nairobi. Observers say published memos between US diplomats in the country reveal a sense of unease for what is seen as continuing tolerance for financial mismanagement by Kenya’s politicians.

Kenya government spokesman Alfred Mutua said the comments are “malicious and a total misrepresentation of Kenya and its leaders.” However anti-corruption crusader John Githongo called them “quite accurate.” Githongo investigated domestic bribery and fraud as a journalist, and later as Permanent Secretary for Governance and Ethics of Kenya under the presidency of Mwai Kibaki.

Githongo’s high profile fallout with the Kenyan government is documented in last year’s book by British author Michela Wrong entitled, “It is our turn to eat.” Githongo exposed contracting scandals and corruption by high ranking politicians, many of them close to the president.

He says that even though Kenyans have been talking about the leaks, few are surprised at the contents.

“There is no news there,” he says, referring to the high profile corruption cases making news as recently as last month, when a top Kenyan foreign ministry official stepped down following allegations of wrongdoing. Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary Thuita Mwangi submitted his resignation to President Mwai Kibaki after a report alleging foreign ministry officials cost Kenya millions of dollars in property deals involving the country’s embassies. The report also called for Mwangi and Foreign Affairs Minister Moses Wetangula to stand trial on corruption charges.

Kenya has been plagued by widespread corruption despite repeated government vows to crack down on the practice. Corruption watchdog Transparency International ranked Kenya 154th out of 180 countries in its 2010 corruption perceptions index.

Githongo suspects few Kenyans would disagree with the characterization in the memos “unless they themselves are the primary perpetrators.”

Still, he says, the memos have had an effect among Kenyan politicians many of whom fear that they will now come under close scrutiny.

“I have not seen this in many other countries,” he says, “where the elite have been quite shaken up by something…”

Githongo says the memos will not affect the relationship between Kenyans and the US.

“Kenya,” he says, “is an old friend of the United States going back several decades. [It] occupies a fairly unique geopolitical space and that relationship is solid…”

Since leaving office as Kenya’s anti corruption czar, Githongo has continued working in grassroots advocacy. He is the head of Inuka—a grassroots social movement “dedicated to inspiring Kenyans at every level to take charge of improving their own lives…”

Africa Investment--Is Africa the next investment frontier?

2010-11-24T14:07:00.000-08:00

This past weekend I went to Philly—the City of brotherly love—also home to one of the premier business schools in the country. Wharton Business School, part of the University of Pennsylvania, has been hosting an Africa business forum since 1981. Each year, students organize a conference/networking event, and invite people doing or intending to do business on the continent. This year’s theme was “A Blueprint for Africa – Navigating the World’s Fastest Growing Continent”. There is recognition in the business community that Africa is the next frontier for investment—because among many reasons, records show that African investment have relatively higher returns compared to other continents.
Also African economies were less affected by the global economic downturn than America or Europe. Ofcourse there many reasons why that is the case, but we won’t get into all the details here (I outlined this in my business series last year). One of the main reasons why investors are turning to Africa is the growing consumer population. It makes sense that any smart business person should be positioning to target such a group of people. The Africa of today is much unlike that one of twenty years ago. The IMF estimates GDP growth in the region to be around 6.6% this year. A couple of factors at play here; one--mobile technology penetration is on the rise and has helped in the economic growth rates. Banking systems, which were too unsophisticated to have exposure to the subprime market, are rapidly expanding services to serve the emerging middle class. Foreign investment and loans to the region also are exploding, and have risen almost fivefold since 2000 to $53 billion last year. Long a region known for its "frontier markets," sub-Saharan Africa has seen the IMF graduate a select group of countries -- Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia -- to the rank of "emerging markets." Even though we still have issues of governance and pockets of unrest in some regions, we are looking at a gradual transition to democracy taking place in many countries. What is more encouraging is that, it is the local population which is behind this change. For one this shows the changing attitudes in the people, and the changing demographics. More people are educated and demand more from their leadership-- investors like this type of change. There is also a visible policy shift in many African governments seeking to attract foreign money,with assurances that it will be safe. No one wants to invest money in a country,with the possibility that the government will turn around and take it without legal recourse.

Karl Zoe is a business student at Wharton,she was one of the organizers of the business forum. I caught up with her as she prepared to travel to South Africa—where she will be working after school.

Educating Africa's young leaders...

2010-11-19T16:10:00.000-08:00

This week on the show we talked about leadership in Africa. Clearly it is an issue that we love to talk about--that is in relation to Africa’s never ending problems. There is universal agreement that Africa’s problems lie in bad leadership. For almost half a century since the end of colonialism, the continent has suffered from a lack of ethical leadership that is necessary to transform their countries at the level of European or Asian counterparts.

So we wanted to find out if leadership as a quality is inherent in each one of us. If so,why have Africa’s many leaders failed to lead its people to prosperity,development,good health care,food security etc. A few months ago,I met Fred Swaniker at the White House in Washington DC. He had been along with a hundred other young leaders from the continent,invited by the US president Barak Obama. He told me of his work in South Africa, he started an academy that seeks to engage young people in activities that promote a democratic culture and its sustenance from a young age. So this week,we featured some of the students at the academy.
One of those students is Elizabeth Skosana, a very smart 17 year old. She tells me that leadership is not just about politics.

I also spoke to Kenyan student Brandon Macharia. After exchanging pleasantries in his native Swahili, Brandon tells me that it is possible to teach someone to be a leader.

Nicola Hopwood is one of the administrators at the academy

Here is a link to the website of the Academy,they are currently recruiting students from around the continent. If you know of anyone who you think qualifies as a young leader,please contact them.

http://africanleadershipacademy.org/

Arranged Marriages---Can they still work in Modern African societies?

2010-11-19T11:52:00.000-08:00

In many traditional societies the practice of arranging marriages was quite acceptable. A family would chose a potential partner for you and it was expected that you will live together for the rest of your lives. There was little choice for the man or woman. The parent’s reasoning is that this was a practice that has worked for their society for hundreds of years and that by choosing your own partner was going against a strongly held tradition. There are no official statistics to show how well these unions have worked,compared to the ones that are not arranged. But it is fair to say that the whole idea of forcing to people to start a life together and raise a family is a little ‘dark edgy’. Some say that the divorce rate for arranged marriages is much lower than those in Western societies where people chose their partners. However, we also know that the pressure for couples in arranged marriages--from both society as a whole, and from the respective families, suggests that divorce is often not an option.

Yet it still takes place in both urban and rural societies. In many African families,the search for the right boy or girl starts when one hits puberty. Now that many have access to education, the need to complete school has increased the average marrying age to a little over twenty years. This says two things about our societies; one--that some old traditions are hard to let go regardless of how unpopular they are and two; that education has nothing to do with a family’s inclination to engage in the practice of arranging a marriage for their children. Young people in countries where arranged marriages are practiced are told from an early age that their spouse will be chosen for them. If decide to rebel and refuse the marriage,you are seen as disrespecting the family,and you could be banished for that reason. In Japan "when a woman reaches the marriageable age of 25, she and her parents compile a packet of information about her, including a photograph of her in a kimono and descriptions of her family background, education, hobbies, accomplishments and interests.

Interestingly,during a chat with Noreen Barlas(posted below),it came to my attention that parents don’t really have to come out and physically get you partner for you. They just insinuate and suggest and imply--of their expectations for your future partner. Either they make it known that the person can’t be of a certain heritage or religion or from a certain region that has been historically stereotyped…etc.

Francine was born to African and Trinidadian parents. Here is her take on the issue of arranged marriages in modern societies.Basically an arranged marriage is a safe way to ensure a family's approval of any pending nuptials.

Miss Malaika is an East African living in the US. She recounts an incident where her mother was approached by a family friend relaying a message from another family---she was acting as a middleman—a role played by aunties usually. Listen for more…

On a lighter note,i found this commercial on arranged marriages!!

Studio session with Alsarah--Brooklyn based Sudan soul singer

2010-11-18T06:27:00.000-08:00

This week in the studios of VOA,I hosted Sudanese artist Alsarah. I have spoken to her on the phone before and further down on this blog you will see a little blurb and interview—speaking passionately about her work as an activist and musician. Blending new age Arab sound with old folk tarab music, Alsarah has come up with a sound she calls ‘Sudanese Soul’.
This petite songstress sounds like an old soul trapped in a young beautiful body—kind of a physical and musical alchemy. But beyond the solemn lyrics and melody of her music---that draws you in emotionally—her powerful voice flows and ebbs with passion. She has a coolness and playfulness that makes her enjoyable to watch--even as she sings seated on the studio chair. She had not come with her band,so she opted to sing acapella. Few musicians have the comfort level of performing without instruments.
As she gets into her element, Alsarah comes off as authentic--a feat for someone who left her country at a young age--and would easily pass for your regular American kid. But she explains that her strong family values have kept her grounded and connected to her heritage. She is currently resident in Brooklyn,a city where she has been able to find her own voice.

Refugees and IDPs in Sudan – The Crisis Continues

2010-11-17T09:50:00.001-08:00

Since independence, Sudan has been ravaged by two civil wars between the North and the South (1955 --1972; 1983 – 2005), until a Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) in January 2005 between the Government of Sudan (GoS) and the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) settled the conflict. A six-year interim period followed, and as stipulated in the CPA, Sudan held national and regional elections in April. A referendum on Southern self-determination is scheduled in a few months.

The various conflicts had a devastating impact on the country, with over 2 million deaths in the last two decades in Southern Sudan, an estimated 450,000 deaths in Darfur, and a total displaced population of over 4 million people. The hearing at Capitol Hill held under the auspices of the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission sought to bring attention to the existing issue of refugees and displaced people in camps around the East African region. Many of the inhabitants in these camps are Sudanese who have been living there for over 20 years. Many say that insecurity in Sudan has prevented them from returning home, cultivating their lands, and rebuilding their communities. They are dependent on the U.N. and NGOs for their most basic humanitarian needs, such as medical assistance, accommodation, education, food and water. The hearing was addressed by a former lost boy and girl who escaped the war and violence and have been living in the US for the last decade. Here are some of the pictures i took during the hearing.

World Pneumonia day--More Children in Africa at risk

2010-11-12T15:34:00.000-08:00

Pneumonia is the world’s leading infectious killer of young children.It takes the lives of nearly 1.6 million children under age five every year. That is more than AIDS, malaria and measles combined. A report released today-a day designated as World Pneumonia day—says that urgent efforts are needed for more life-saving interventions that can prevent and treat pneumonia in children. Dr Orin Lavine a researcher with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg school of Public Health. He tells me that up to two-thirds of child pneumonia deaths could be prevented if at least 90 percent of children had access to a few simple, effective pneumonia interventions. The report was commissioned by the Global Coalition against Child Pneumonia.

Studio session with Mosno--The 3rd World Rocker

2010-11-12T10:52:00.000-08:00

This week I hosted Mosno--The 3rd World Rocker-- a Sudanese native. He shared with me some of his music-- from his maiden album the Un-genre-. Mosno’s music fuses middle Eastern, African and American sound into a cross genre. For an American listener, his music would be classified as alternative pop-folk. This probably wouldn’t go down well with him,because he refuses to be ‘boxed in’—the reason why his album is titled Ungenre. Mosno draws inspiration from acts like U2,but he has been told that he sounds like another mainstream artist Brandon Boyd of the band Incubus.Mosno says that he doesn’t get the connection, but takes it as a compliment. He has been performing since childhood—moving from the Sudan to the US at a young age. His primary school teacher told him that he possessed a talent and that he should pursue singing. Like many young Sudanese,he say that he is sad that the Sudan might be separated in the upcoming referendum “we are losing a part of us’ He says.

On his 6 track album, Ungenre blends of bit of groove, spirit, and provocative lyrics that draw from his personal experiences. He keeps his melodies clear and simple which allows him to flex the emotions of his voice and allows the listener to explore the depth and weight of his lyrics. A local paper says that his songs "get more distinctive when he climbs into falsetto range, lays subtle Middle Eastern rhythms beneath all the guitar strumming, and threatens to transcend the genre
altogether".

VOA TV/Radio team

2010-11-04T13:15:00.000-07:00

Inside the studio with Shaka Ssali--10 years of Straight Talk

2010-11-04T13:03:00.001-07:00

This week VOA is commemorating 10 years of "Straight Talk Africa.STA is the longest-running television-radio simulcast call-in talk show on Voice of America. The man behind Straight Talk is veteran reporter Shaka Ssali--a PHD holder who likes to joke that he is 'a doctor without a clinic' His colorful language and interesting anecdotes--but most importantly his grasp of the facts, have made the show one of the most listened to programs on the continent. Shaka has hosted presidents,scholars,opposition figures,rebel leaders etc. Shaka knows African history and politics like few i have met. For 10 years as the host of the Straight talk he has put to task some of the most influential people on the continent. He recounts some of the most interesting moments on the show (from Prime Minister Zenawi's phone call to Jerry Rawlings almost walking off the set). We talked about what he sees as the impact of straight talk, and what he thinks of the current progress in Africa's democratization process.

Advocacy for Change--Are African Youth disengaged?

2010-11-03T07:31:00.000-07:00

This week on Upfront we talked about the power of the youth in acting as agents of change in their societies. Many entrenched powers on the continent hold the decision making powers on issues ranging from education,healthcare,governance etc. But many say that unlike their counterparts in the west,where youth movements play a great advocacy role to the point of changing the status quo or bringing to task their leaders on failed policies etc. African youth are more passive and in many cases have become engaged only after their causes have been taken up by a western advocacy entity. In many cases even after the issues are brought to their attention,there has been a tendency to feel detached from the cause--as if it did not affect them.

Now i should point out the positive trend that i have seen in the past five years. Many young Africans have gotten actively involved in advocacy--mainly in the diaspora--on issues like AIDS,government reforms etc. In large part however there has been a resounding silence on their counterparts in many African countries. This complacency of young people has fed the beast--that is bad governance,poverty,hunger,disease etc.This has plagued the continent for the past 50 years and the attitude towards advocacy needs to change. Nigerian academic Professor Adebayo Adedeji says that Society can only develop with the mobilisation of its people. He adds that Africa needs to set in motion a process that puts the individual at the very centre of a development effort that is both human and humane...develop their self-confidence and identify their interest with that of their society..."

Washington DC is known as the advocacy center of the world.It is also the place where most policy decisions that affect the world are debated and passed in form of bills,laws etc. It is no surprise therefore that my first real engagement on the issue of the war in Northern Uganda (a country where i spent most of my life) started here. But it is also no surprise that the movement that brought the war to world attention was spearheaded by young American students like Michael Poffenberger of the organization Resolve Uganda.

Chimene Wilson is a young Nigerian-American. She is also based in Washington DC. She says that for African youth,advocacy is a luxury they can't simply afford. "They are struggling and everybody is trying to forge ahead...not they don't care.."

Rachel Wilson and Celi MarieDean are former Miss Black USA. They started The Dream Institute International--an organization that seeks to "empower, educate, and equip individuals and groups to develop innovative, strategic, and sustainable solutions that impact communities worldwide"

Will Ivory Coast Polls be the Solution to its problems?

2010-10-29T13:02:00.001-07:00

Ivory Coast citizens will hold a long-delayed presidential poll on Sunday, October 31. Three prominent politicians including the current president Laurent Gbagbo promise and end to the violence that has divided the nation into two. Rebels of the Forces Nouvelles still control the mainly Muslim north. Unresolved Citizenship issues have led to disputes over voter eligibility. Many point to this as the root of the 2002 civil war. Incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo is being challenged by former president Henri Konan Bedie, and former prime minister Alassane Ouattara. Analysts expect that not a single candidate will win with an outright majority in this first round, and a second round of voting is expected in late November.

Mathew Wells a researcher with the Human Rights Watch was in the country for a couple of months working on a report on the volatile situation in the Western provinces of the country. He says that government of Laurent Gbagbo and the international community have been busy with the elections that the violence in the west has gone unchecked. He says that groups of armed bandits that have been terrorizing citizens in the area “are difficult to know because they are always masked”. The report covers the western regions of Dix-Huit Montagnes and Moyen-Cavally. Mathew says that the insecurity is linked to the failure of the government to disarm militias “in the aftermath of the conflict…the entire region of the west is awash in arms…”

Nico Colombant my colleague at VOA lived and worked in Ivory Coast for three years. He has been following closely the situation in the country and the region for the last decade. I asked him to give us a breakdown of what is happening in the country as they head into the polls.

Dr Gnaka Lagoke is an Ivorian political analyst based in Washington DC. He tells me that even though the Sunday poll are a positive step forward "it certainly is not the solution to Ivory Coast’s problems." For one he says that the most polarizing issue; that of citizenship-- has not been fully addressed,and that it will always haunt Ivorians and politicians who seek to divide people for their own selfish political reasons.

DIE ANTWOORD--South African Hip Hop Makes US debut!!

2010-10-28T15:58:00.001-07:00

Africa has a new export--it comes in the form of two eccentric characters young South African hipsters; tall lanky tatooed rapper Ninja and blond mulleted vocalist Yo-Landi Vi$$er. They have a third member DJ Hi-Tek (Ninja claims that the portly Hiteck 'makes crazy beats on his PC computer').
They form the band Die Antwoord. Ninja and Yolandi are famous not just for their music but also for their appearance--white-trash, roughneck,ghetto ninja. They call their genre of music “zef ninja rap rave”—“zef” being an Afrikaans term akin to “redneck,” and while “ninja” refers to both martial arts and the leader’s handle, it’s worth remembering that in hip-hop slang it’s often a less racially charged substitute for another N-word. With his gold teeth, bared upper half full of ink (on his neck, “Pretty Wise”; on his left pec, a fist gripping a dagger), and a scary-intense gaze--which just comes off funny given his crazy haircut.

If you look past their crazy over the top antics,they are very talented! In the past year they were able to find fame on the internet,with their videos being watched by over 15 million viewers on Youtube alone. I guess some smart music executive at Interscope records caught onto this and signed them. So last night they made their debut in Washington DC. At a local venue made popular for hosting local and international acts, Die Anterwood's sold out venue-- hundreds of college kids flocked in band gear complete with Ninja head bands.

It was the most fascinating concert i have attended thus far. The Ninja and Yolandi with their interesting costumes unleashed an hour of manic, rave-inspired hip-hop mixed with a trailer-trash aesthetic. I remembered a discussion i had with my co-worker last week,for long we have both insisted they were an act,a gimmick. But these two are fully committed to the act now, it's becoming harder to call it an act!

Now as an artist,you can tell your long term viability in the business by the dedication of your fans but also the demographic. If your fans are white suburban kids,then count your blessings! It is a well known fact that hip hop music became such a cultural force after it was embraced by white suburban kids.

Blogger Matos says that their album " is merely a step toward a more mainstream audience.... Ninja may talk in the band’s promo clip about DJ Hi-Tek’s “next-level beats,” but the “rave” part of the band’s description is no accident: Anyone who attended warehouse parties in the early ’90s will recognize the blipping keyboard patterns and swarming “Hoover sound” of “Wat Kyk Jy?” quite easily. But rather than signifying as retro, synth-disco has dominated the radio for the past couple of years, from Black Eyed Peas to Flo Rida. Jarring as Yo-Landi’s Auto-tuned warble and Ninja’s gruff chanting can be (not to mention the dwarf that shows up in the video), it’s not a stretch to imagine Die Antwoord’s signature tune, “Enter the Ninja,” joining those artists’ ranks." The Ninja promised me that he will come on Upfront--i am not holding my breath on that--but if they do,i have loads of questions!!

Here is their video!

Speaking up against bullying

2010-10-22T07:56:00.000-07:00

Recent news making the headlines in the United States and abroad show that bullying is a common and potentially damaging form of violence among children. Not only does bullying harm both its intended victims and the perpetrators, it also may affect the climate of schools and, indirectly, the ability of all students to learn to the best of their abilities. So on Upfront we decided to talk about bullying and some of the people it has affected.

I remembered having had a conversation on bullying with my colleague Paul Ndiho. He went to boarding school for both primary and secondary school in Uganda. In both institutions,he recalls that bullying was so commonplace that it was an accepted norm. He then shows me a scar on his face. It was from one incident in which he almost lost an eye. Paul says that bullying can have a lifelong effect on one’s life—he remembers one of his tormentors who was much older than him “I will never forget him” he says. Here is an interview we had.

Sonya Laurence Green is another colleague---mother of three young boys. Her youngest son Andrew goes to school in Montgomery county Maryland—There are 3,141 counties in the United States—records show that it is one of the most affluent counties in the nation, and has the highest percentage (29.2%) of residents over 25 years of age who hold post-graduate degrees. I placed this in context because in the US, school districts get better with county ranking. So, Andrew goes to a relatively good public school. As a parent you would think that your child is safer in such a public school district right? Well a few weeks ago,Sonya gets that phone call--such that a parent dreads. Her son was in an emergency room at a local hospital. He had a concussion ---turns out that he was a victim of a bully! Sonya speaks to me about her experience as a parent.

Dr. Andrew Owusu is an assistant professor of in the Department of Health & Human Performance at MTSU. His research interests include adolescent health risk behaviors, technology and health education and, classroom response systems., Dr. Owusu is also the country coordinator for the implementation of the Global School-Based Student Health Survey (GSHS) in Ghana. I spoke to him about his recent report published in the Journal of School Health on bullying titled: The Association Between Bullying and Psychological Health Among Senior High School Students In Ghana, West-Africa.

Interfaith dating and relationships--Faith can be a contentious issue that could wear down any relationship

2010-10-15T06:37:00.000-07:00

This past week we talked about interfaith dating and relationships on Upfront.we all know that every man or woman is unique. But as men, we spend our lives devising rules, divining patterns and deciphering clues.Women are the emotional representation of a lifetime of influences, impressions and relationships distilled and filtered through their own personalities. Not even Einstein could come up with an algorithm for figuring all that out. The best bet we men can hope for is to take whatever universal building blocks there may be and use those as the foundation for our new railway to a woman's heart.

One such foundation is faith. This is a fiercely religious world we inhabit, but the demographic is changing. More young women and men than ever before are, changing or leaving faiths altogether. Your problem as a man is that the young lady you intend to marry still carries with her the impressions of her upbringing and her parents are still devout followers. So lets face it,religion is a contentious issue that could wear down any relationship.

So,what specific challenges will you face when dating a woman of faith? We've got a few tricks up our sleeves when it comes to interfaith dating, and while they may no be hard and fast rules to follow, they could be helpful in keeping the peace between you and your girl. I spoke to Noreen Barlas a Canadian with very strong linkages to her faith and heritage. Listen to our interview below:

Meeting with George Clooney on Sudan

2010-10-13T18:58:00.000-07:00

Academy award-winning actor George Clooney brought star power to the Sudan issue less than three months before the January referendum on Southern independence.Clooney returned earlier this week from a trip to Sudan. While there he travelled to the north, the western province of Darfur, as well as remote-conflict-prone areas of southern Sudan, accompanied by activist, author, and former Clinton Administration National Security Council staffer John Prendergast,and NBC reporter Ann Curry. They visited a mass grave and the ruins of the town of Abyei, which was largely burned to the ground in 2008. Abyei and the oil-rich surrounding region by the same name straddle the border between north and south. I was at the briefing with reporters and activists held at a leading think tank in Washington DC-- Council on Foreign Relations.

After speaking to the general public in an overflowing room, a select few of us were invited upstairs to have a conversation with George Clooney,NBC reporter Ann Curry, and John Prendergast. It was less a briefing and more of an exchange of ideas--the setting; a small conference table with less than 20 people (reporters,activists and policy wonks). Clooney with his classic charm underscored the importance of covering the Sudan in the media. He clearly understands the frustrations of reporters in a media cycle that is more inclined to run a Paris Hilton story than the impending creation of a new state in Africa. Part of Clooney's understands comes from the fact that he has been around the newsroom since he was a kid "I ran a teleprompter at the age of 12" he told us. His father Nick Clooney a professor at my alma mater American University has been an influence in his life and philanthrophy. Still, not many activist celebrities (atleast the few i know) have an intimate understanding of an issue like Clooney does of Sudan (In the past he has travelled the region to film a documentary on Darfur refugees). But he casts himself as less than an expert on Sudan. He said that his trips are more of a way to create an awareness among Americans who care more for celebrity stories "I am the Elizabeth Taylor and i understand that where i go,cameras will follow me..." He hopes that such coverage will bring more focus on Sudan.

Here is a video i shot after the meeting (the gentleman next to Clooney is my colleague John Ogulnik--slight resemblence noted but no relation to the star)

CLOONEY: Well, here's the thing. It doesn't matter whether I agree or not. You know, it was actually Secretary Clinton who called it a ticking time bomb. The president has weighed in in the exact same way. The CIA said this is the next place with the greatest possibility of atrocities, including and up to genocide.
This is -- you know, it is a looming threat. And if it's 75 percent, if it's 50 percent and we didn't make every effort possible to avoid it, then, again, we've done a great disservice.
What happens January 10th? Look, I was at the Darfur rally, which, by the way, we were late to. I mean, it's an important thing you said, which is, you know, we were late to the Congo. We were late to the North-South. We were late to Darfur. We were late to Rwanda. We have an opportunity to be ahead of this.
In one way or another, we have an opportunity to be ahead of it. And if we don't do everything we can politically, diplomatically, to try to stop it -- what happened after the rally in Washington and everybody -- even though it was way late, everybody felt great and we all joined arms and everybody marched home. "Darfur's done. We fixed it," you know. And the truth is, it wasn't.
And what is required is sustained, constant work; very hard to do. It's hard to do in this day and age, where we -- you know, we all join hands to help Haiti for a week or two, or Pakistan for a week or two, and then we're on to the next news story and the next news cycle. It's a very hard thing. It requires all of us and all the people in the media and all of the people who actually feel a responsibility to do more than just the headlines. And it's a hard thing. It's sustained.

Chatting with George Clooney about his Sudan visit

2010-10-12T20:27:00.001-07:00

George Clooney at a Sudan briefing

2010-10-12T20:27:00.000-07:00