I think Binyavanga Wainaina settled one of the vexing questions about Africa: how to write about the continent (or not to write about it, for it is the same thing really) with his wonderful essay “How To Write About Africa”. That still left unsettled a few other issues, especially the basic one; what is Africa, […]
A Military Coup, The Fruits Of Democratic Rent, And The Curse Of Euripides In Uganda
In the space of a few days last week, Uganda’s minister of Defence, Dr Crispus Kiyonga, and then President Yoweri Museveni, suggested that that if Parliament continues to give the Executive headaches, the Uganda People’s Defence Forces (UPDF) might be tempted to step in and stage a military coup. The outcome a military coup could […]
Meles Zenawi, A Retrospective: Why Ethiopians Eat Raw Meat, And One Man’s Struggle To Be A Modern Emperor Menelik
One of the key events in Africa of the last 10 years, not just 2012, was the death of Ethiopia’s cerebral but iron-fisted Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. Officially, Meles died on August 20, 2012, but his critics and enemies (and they are quite a few) believe he passed on early in July, but his ruling […]
An Afternoon With A Nairobi Manicurist, Men’s Bad Nails, And The Comeback Of An Expiring Progressive
For as long as I can remember, my daughters have denounced the state of my nails. They have accused them of “bringing shame” upon the family, and generally setting back human civilisation. It is all because I have cut my nails much the same way like many distinguished blokes have done for millennia; by biting […]
Why Kenyans In London Love ‘Uncle Bob Mugabe’ And Wish Him A Long Life
I just had a very interesting thought: One of the favourite drinking spots for Kenyan boys working in the City of London (or the “City”) is Zimbabwe House, no. 429 The Strand. But we just call it “Uncle Bob’s”. The beer is cheap (at least 50% cheaper than in the High Street pubs) and there […]
What East Africa’s Cows And Their Milk Teach Us About Why Reform Fails
TODAY I visited with the good people of East Africa Dairy Development (EADD) in Nairobi, to talk about cows and milk in our neck of the woods. Put briefly, EADD works with dairy farmers in Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda to help them be smarter and make more money. As I sat with Moses Nyabila, EADD’s […]
Why East Africa – And The World – Can Chill A Little As Kenya Leaders Cook Up Political Deals
There was a dramatic rush in the Kenyan capital Nairobi last Tuesday (December 4, 2012) to beat the deadline for registering coalitions for the March 4, 2013 General Election.When the dust settled, the rest of East Africa, which had been worrying itself to death about Kenya having another violent election as it did in 2007/2008 thus […]
