So on May 3, World Press Freedom Day, Freedom House got us to wake up and smell the coffee about the state of media freedom. It released a report revealing that press freedom has fallen to its lowest level in over a decade globally, and only one in six people live in countries with a free press […]
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The End Of Press Freedom Is Here; How It Was Killed By Both Its Friends And Enemies
May 6, 2013 3 Comments Short URL Africa, Arab Spring, bob geldof, Bono, China loving, democracy in Africa, divided Africa, end of freedom, Eritrea, Freedom House, hate speech, Kenya post-election violence, Malaysia, poverty, press freedom, Radio Milles Collines, Rwanda genocide, Singapore, South Korea, Tunisia Heroes & Villains, Political Barometre
Escape From Kenya, And Why With Election Jitters, It’s The Right Time To Buy A House
Yesterday I tried to buy an Economy class seat for a quick dash to Uganda, and return on Sunday to catch the Election Day action on Monday March 4. There were no seats on any of the flights. Well, I am still waiting for something to open up. Oh, I was told there were two […]
February 27, 2013 6 Comments Short URL Africa, Election Day, election tourists, Entebbe, Jinja, Kenya, Kenya 2008 post-election violence, Nairobi, Uganda, Wahome Mutahi Naked Chiefs & Emperors, Political Barometre, Rogue Stuff
Kenya’s Tribalism And Other African Madness; Why Ethnicity Is A Myth And Voodoo Political Science
The just-ended shambolic Kenyan nominations for the March 4 elections have earned the “leading” political parties; the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM), The National Alliance (TNA), the United Republican (URP) etc. a lot of scorn and stick on social media and blogs. They say no good deed goes unpunished, so it was that in the messy […]
January 21, 2013 4 Comments Short URL Africa, election, ethnicity, GEMA, Homa Bay, John Githongo, Jomo Kenyatta, Kalonzo Musyoka, Kamukunji, Kenya, Kikuyu, Martha Karua, Mount Kenya, Mwai Kibaki, Narc-Kenya, Orange Democratic Movement, post-election Kenya, Raila Odinga, Tom Mboya, tribalism, Uhuru Kenyatta, voodoo science Blue Skies, Political Barometre, Rogue Stuff
Music, Miniskirts In Africa, And Why It Is All About The Politics Stupid
One of the Elders associated with Nation Media Group (NMG) is extremely well-travelled and from all over the world he soaks in several lessons about media. His knowledge of the media business can be disarming. In one meeting, he reflected on what he considered the “unfortunate” tendency that has invaded African media too, of filling […]
December 13, 2012 3 Comments Short URL fashion, Kampala, miniskirts, music, Nairobi, Nation Media Group, political index, record sales, Uganda, Uganda National Liberation Front, Yoweri Museveni Guns & Roses, Political Barometre
POLITICALLY INCORRECT: Why Africa’s Cities Are The Dirtiest In The World, And ‘City Peasants’ Make For Lousy Town Folk (How It Will End)
YESTERDAY in “Politically Incorrect: Why Africa’s Cities Are The Dirtiest In The World, And ‘Village Food’ Is Bad For Towns (How It Began)”, we examined the controversial view expounded by Uganda’s sharp-tongued former Vice President Dr Specioza Kazibwe that the conventional toilet and garbage collecting trucks in African cities cannot cope with the fall-out from […]
May 15, 2012 11 Comments Short URL Africa, African cremation, Asmara, Cape Town, de-villagisation, elite, exile, Kenya, Kigali, Nairobi, Pretoria, Rwanda genocide 1994, South Africa, Specioza Kazibwe, Uganda, Victoria Falls Zimbabwe Political Barometre, Rogue Stuff
The Moi Hand In Museveni’s Kenya Game; And The Political Tremors Shaking Up The Greater Horn Of Africa (Opening Shots)
Recently The Star newspaper in Nairobi reported that Kenya’s Deputy Prime Minister and Local Government minister Musalia Mudavadi held “secret” talks with Uganda’s President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni in Kampala in early April. The meeting, the paper reported, was also attended by former Kenya president Daniel arap Moi’s roving envoy Mark Too. That was a richly […]
April 24, 2012 11 Comments Short URL anti-imperialist, Burundi, Daniel arap Moi, East African Community, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Francis Muthaura, Great Lakes University' Education Fund, Hassan Mwinyi, Hegleig, Isaias Afwerki, John Kazoora, Kalonzo Musyoka, KANU, Kenya succession, Kenya’s disputed 2007 election, Lonrho, Mark Too, Meles Zenawi, Mugabe-ist, Musalia Mudavadi, Museveni as Luo elder, Mwai Kibaki, National Resistance Movement (NRM), native cunning, northern Tanzania, Orange Democratic Movement Kisumu, post-election violence (PEV) in Kenya, Raila Odinga, roving envoy Mark Too, Rwanda, Somalia, SPLA/M, Sudan, The Star, Tiny Rowland, Uganda, Uhuru Kenyatta, William Ruto, Yoweri Kaguta Museveni Diplomatic Shenanigans, Political Barometre
Malawi’s President Mutharika Dead; Was He Hero Or Villain, And What Did His Re-Election In 2009 Tell Us About Democracy In Africa?
Vote rigging, buying, and selling are the price we pay for democracy in Africa. Like all investments, if you put in money long enough and are able to withstand the ill winds, it pays off. Right now, if an African election is fair, it is a bonus we must take and quickly bank. Otherwise, the more […]
April 6, 2012 5 Comments Short URL Africa, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Malawi, Lilongwe, Bingu wa Mutharika, Joyce Banda, Peter Mutharika, Mutharika, buying elections, election fraud, democracy in Africa Political Barometre, Naked Chiefs & Emperors
Disease, The Clock, The Gods, Greed – And The Wisdom Of The People – Have Saved Africa (Reflection on Mkandawire’s Story)
In “Disease, The Clock, The Gods, Greed And Stupidity Have Helped To Change Africa As Much As Democrats, Generals (The Sequel)” we speak of Malawi ruler Kamuzu Banda’s tyranny. There is one case in Malawi that offers us remarkable insight into how Africans coped with dictatorship for years. Professor Thandika Mkandawire is a friend – […]
April 2, 2012 7 Comments Short URL Blue Skies, Political Barometre
‘Democracy’ Is Dying Or Dead In Africa; The Continent Is Being Torn Apart – Yet That’s One Of The Best Things To Happen To It (The Prequel)
Tuareg separatist rebels in Mali have taken advantage of the confusion in the capital Bamako following the recent coup against President Amadou Toumani Toure, to gain more territory. They are reported to have surrounded the historical city of Timbuktu, and wo important northern towns, Kidal and Gao, fell to them and their Islamist allies in […]
April 1, 2012 7 Comments Short URL Africa, Alassane Ouattara, Angola, Baganda, Bamako, Banyamulenge, Big Man rule, Capt Amadou Sanogo, civilianised, Darfur, Democratic Republic of Congo, Diego Maradona, Economic Community of West African States, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Eduardo dos Santos, Ethiopia, executed 20000 civilians, forces of history, Ghanda Koi Songhai militia, greed, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Khartoum, Kidal Gao, Libya, Mali, Matebeland massacres, military coups, Mombasa Republican Council, Muammar Gaddafi, NATO bombing, Niger Delta, Nigeria, North-Korean-trained Fifth Brigade, one-party dictatorship, post-independence, regionalism, Robert Mugabe, secessionist, Somalia, South Africa, South Kordofan, Sudan, Tanzania, Timbuktu, Tuareg, Tuareg people, Tunisia, Tutsi, Uganda, Zanzibari independence, Zimbabwe Aliens & Stars, Political Barometre, Rogue Stuff
Africa Doesn’t Have An Image Problem; It Has A Reality Problem; Plus The Story of Rwanda’s ‘Small’ Money And How The World Doesn’t Owe Us Anything
‘I said to myself that he must be from a corrupt oil or mineral rich African country like Angola or Equatorial Guinea. The country, I said to myself, must also be a dictatorship. Diplomats from honest and democratic countries with a vibrant free press don’t wear $2,400 Clive Christian No.1 perfumes’ Recently I was in Paris […]
March 21, 2012 22 Comments Short URL Africa, Africa image, Africa: Altered States-Ordinary Miracles, African Union, Angola, Clive Christian No.1, CNN, Equatorial Guinea, Kenya, Nairobi, press freedom, Richard Dowden, Rwanda, South Africa, terrorism, Tickles, Wikileaks Aliens & Stars, Fast & Furious, Political Barometre
