Makutano

IS KENYA BECOMING A FAILED STATE?

2009-08-18T15:23:00.002+01:00

With the unfolding sad events in Kenya's government and political arenas, most of us tend to look at the qualities of failed states and compare them to the pathetic scenario in Kenya. Kenya is surrounded by once failed states and already failed ones like Sudan and Somalia (thanks Uganda held to the grounds and is now flourishing, so is Rwanda and others). Far away we have fragile democracies or almost failed states like Afghanistan and Pakistan.

All these countries named above have traits now Kenya is developing in a rather sad rapid rate. They have Talibans and other ruthless militias running havoc and extremity if not terror among the populace and for Kenya, Mungiki is the new form or sister to Taliban or Mujahideens, Militias like those of Sudan, Somalia and Kony of Uganda or other rebels of D.R. Congo. It is almost as if Kenya's neighbors have infected them with the contagious African genes of civil unrest and tribal or religious violent conflicts and domestic wars in search of dominance or freedom.

The Kenyan Mungiki, once a sect and now metamorphosed into almost a full-fledged self-styled form of government, religious-political form of extreme government, the group of many faces has now (as reported by the media and not the state's irresponsible ministries i.e. Internal Security and Justice and Constitutional Affairs Ministries) formed their own "legal" courts and processes, with contingency of police force (vigilantes if not militias) keeping or enforcing law and order and even Revenue Departments in charge of taking/collecting "taxes" from individuals and business enterprises on a daily fluent basis...all these without the knowledge of the country's elite intelligence force of N.S.I.S. (National Security Intelligence Service) the Kenya Police and their informers. So far no action, stringent action has ever been taken on the activists or runners of this group and the government wants the nationals to believe the champions of Mungiki are unknown if not untraced and not untouchables among the legitimate political and governmental system.

Such failures and existence of such groups like Mungiki, Talibans, etc. unfortunately, is a clear sign and symptom evident of a failing state in the making where the official rule of law, order and constitution is ignored and abused with impunity and ruthlessness among the socioeconomic community. The majority humble masses are being suppressed and oppressed, terrorized and traumatized socially, economically and politically/administratively while the government and her machinery turns a blind eye to the plight and a deaf ear to the cries or woes...and fail to safeguard her own people.

For ages, decades and eras (errors politically), Kenyans have been victims of economic exploitation and fraud with the perpetrators most of whom are highly influential politicians, well-connected businessmen/franchises and affluent favored community members vanishing or even simply live free along with impunity after looting the people and the country's coffers.

The economy has continued to worsen and the abject plight of the masses, majority poor, deteriorating by the roll of the sun daily and sometimes sadly at the comfort of the minority rich. All this while those in the positions of policy power pretend otherwise and instead keep fattening their salaries, allowances or perks. Kenyans are now, despite living in a healthy ground for agriculture and frequent rainfall or a good network of major rivers, are now facing acute food and water shortages.

The frustration and despair mounting among the masses is evident and it is just a matter of time, if the Kings and Queens will continue ignoring the lack and demand for bread by the masses, that an uprising and revolt will be launched spontaneously but with full force and Kenya will be a forgotten failed state only available in the books of history as a nation that gave the world a historical best ever iconic president to the U.S.A. but had on her own belly, dubious failures that self-destroyed the nation.

KENYA'S CENSUS- MY OPINION

2009-08-13T16:17:00.003+01:00

It will be worth to explain my stand after defining the word census as " the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national 'population and door to door censuses' (to be taken every 10 years according to United Nations recommendations), agriculture, and business censuses. The term itself comes from Latin: during the Roman Republic the census was a list which kept track of all adult males fit for military service.

The census can be contrasted with sampling in which information is obtained only from a subset of a population. Census data is commonly used for research, business marketing, and planning as well as a base for sampling surveys. In some countries, census data is used to apportion electoral representation (sometimes controversially). It is widely recognized that population and housing censuses are vital for the planning of any society. Traditional censuses are, however, becoming more costly. A rule of thumb for census costs in developing countries has been $1 USD (approximately Kshs. 70) per enumerated person. More realistic figures today are around $3 USD (approx. Kshs. 230). These approximations should be taken with great care since a variable number of activities are included in different countries (e.g. enumerators can either be hired or requested from civil servants). The cost in developed countries is far higher. The cost for the 2000 census in the U.S. was estimated to be $4.5 billion USD, more than $15 per enumerated person. Alternative possibilities for retrieving data are being investigated. Nordic countries Denmark, Finland and Norway have for several years used administrative registers. Partial and sample censuses are used in France and Germany. Kenya uses full census or massive one.

Now with the definition and the explanation done, I feel I should add that census is not only human but also we do that for animals, domesticated and wild. We count animals so that we know which ones need to be culled to balance the ecology or which animals in this case needs to be promoted in population to promote ecosystem or save them from extinction. You know the reasons.

What scares me is that I don't trust Kenya's political machinery. Every simple or complex national process has been an opportunity seen by the government officials and the political officials to cheat and loot the national coffers. This is when they scheme to inflate costs and expenses, hire ghosts and pay them, give contracts to kinsmen and friends all with the intent to loot, favor and steal! So when census is at hand around the corner, just like election officials they have appointed friends and kins and ghosts already. The costs of the census are already approximated to be too high or costly already and the manpower total number is enormous, almost like that needed in an Indian census process. So when you mention of the upcoming census process, shit, I am scared and worried!

Then last but not the least, we count animals according to their species and origins and to decide their number so that we may exercise control over there existence. This unfortunately is what is possibly going to be employed or has been done in the past. Our politicians cannot assure me that they will use the census data for any positive agenda as its purpose or aim dictates (see the first para of this article and the definition).

All our clashes in the past, pre-election clashes have been with a statical backing and even the just recent and fresh post-election violence and other election period (pre- and post-) have been on this statistical ground. This tribe are foreign here and there and they will tend or tend to or did tend to, vote for this party or this particular individual on poll against the supposedly hosting community's party or person of choice. So we have to disrupt them for a while or permanently reduce their numbers in the region/constituency and we will have our choice win! That is the statistics behind everything and do you expect a simple common mwananchi to calculate on this so well if not the well placed politicians and government personalities or mercenaries well placed?

So when you mention of the upcoming census, it makes me shudder. Is there a way this process as noble as it is, be done with the omission of the clause requesting for the counted or the populace's ethnicity, tribe or religion? By all means, no one can assure me that the politicians will be using the census date purely for economic reasons and life improvement. Let us all be counted as Kenyans on different regions, professions, family size and academic as well as economic power...but not on tribal lines.

Kenya is one of the countries in the developing nations' group that has an established social statistics made easier by the National ID card and birth certificates. This is a viable tool that most countries lack or lag behind in, even India and this should be used as a daily tool to collect statistics on the citizens. It is a system already established and thus now cheaper and fast rather than the census which comes once and it is costly. The amount spent on the census to count hungry Kenyans should be diverted to feeding them, improving the socioeconomic infrastructure which is in an abject and absurd situation.

Counting the population as one- Kenyans, will indeed foster the national spirit of one-ship, peace and unity. The solid census is better than creating into the people the double-edged sword of knowing where he/she belongs, how many they are in comparison to the other tribe, their distribution in the country and in the economy...

That is just my opinion. Stand up and be counted as a human being not as an animal be classified as a Kenyan not as a tribe x.

KENYA'S JTRC-DOOMED NOT WORK?

2009-08-11T14:02:00.002+01:00

I am not writing this to exploit the distress and stress of the Kenyan people even though this seems to be one of the most flooded themes or topics in the Kenyan Society and the good-will international community focusing on Kenya with their son of soil Barack President Obama of the U.S. But this is a topic so broad yet so narrow. Broad in that if well addressed, we shall be able to tame and reorganize such a broad socioeconomic infrastructure of once a successful economy and post-colonial independent African civilization or community.

South Africa, post-apartheid regime did it under the inspiration and great leadership of one of the ever-living true religious leaders in Africa, Archbishop Desmond Tutu. He is regarded as the creator of and the instrumental inspirator for the formation and running of the Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission well run to settle the bitter scores from apartheid. Of course not all were reconciled and not all were punished; there were some who escaped or remained unpunished thanks to their socioeconomic statuses. But still, it was and still is a great idea worth applause and imitating.

Approximately 20 years ago in India, radical Hindu groups and political parties incited the demolition of an Islamic temple/Mosque- The Babri Masjid in broad day light and it was even broadcasted and photojournalists did their best to capture the moment neutrally as supposed. Subsequently an inquiry team was formed to look into the case and help bring the culprits who inspired the demolition as well as the ground workmen who participated in the action and this was expected to take less than a month being the fact that a lot of evidence in video and in printed media was available. But this has taken 20 good years and it was only last month that the Commission of Inquiry delivered its final report about the demolition to the government of India. Most of the culprits are long dead, migrated, or even now more powerful in the well complicated political infrastructure of the world's largest democracy so much so that pointing back to one may jeopardize a regional government if not the central govt.! There is also the Gujaratti Riots where thousands of Muslims were slain and also the Anti-Sikh Riots where thousands of Sikhs were annihilated and their property destroyed or replaced in ownership (looted); commissions of inquiries were promptly formed and as usual, it took them decades to hand over their final and conclusive reports to make the culprits face the law.

That is just about India. There have been many incidences world over where the perceived minority groups socially (cultural/tribal, political, religious) or economically have had their rights and freedoms violated with incomprehensible amount of violence or atrocities. Rwanda, for Africans, should be more fresh if not familiar to our minds and the post-election violence in Kenya that threatened or almost did dump the once perceived island of peace (hakuna matata) in Africa into turmoil, the path trailed by almost all of the 52 African States. Rwanda took the rare way out, taking a leaf from South Africa's Truth, Justice and Reconciliation Commission (TJRC) in a successful attempt to heal the almost incurable of wounds and trauma, harmonize and dilute the unending tension and divide between the country's two great tribes of Hutus and Tutsis. The result is obvious: Rwanda is currently not only exhibiting the unexpected economic prosperity but also the most essential social fabric stitch and blend of an oil-water two tribe relationship to something more of milk and honey!

Kenya did not face or near the amount of violence and animosity between tribes, political parties, religions and individuals as India has experienced before in Gujarrat and Punjab or even to the lifelong emotional trauma and physical atrocities experienced by South Africans under the Apartheidic regime of De Clarke and Company and more less still in comparison unless I wish to insult the Rwandans in the categorical worst ever degree of genocide that our generation dictionary uses to explain or define genocide. The trouble faced by Kenyans is even far less if we compare to what the neighbours, the Ugandans have been facing or faced for a period spanning over 30 years! But what is so special about them and what is it about Kenya that makes all the difference?

South Africans and Rwandans are healed or healing thanks to a committed drive and motive to punish and reconcile the nations. We won't have the same happening in Kenya for sure as I predict just by looking at the historical global trends. The Nazi perpetrators were not entirely punished but just a pocket of scapegoats were used and majority of the instrumental scientist and psychologists were simply reallocated to new areas of life. India's political structure allows delaying tactics well known now as a culture of "tomorrow-you-come-and-we-see-about-it" (kal-yarr!) If Kenya and the political machinery will not be applying the Indian form of delaying tactics, then they will surely employ the scapegoat technique instrumented not by Moses in the desert but the 20th Century post-Nazi Germans and now most of the world's governments.

We are seeing indeed how the Kenyan politicians if not the government has been toying around with the issue of punishing the post-election violence mongers with the culture of impunity, immunity, and delay tactics of bean-bag games. Kenya is on records to be one of the countries with the highest number of ever formed commissions of inquiries some of which were even formed to investigate other commissions of inquiries and on record, one out of ten delivered their report findings if at all on time! It is such a delay tactic and tossing around of blames that breeds impunity and delayed justice. After all, delayed justice is denied justice!

If you think that Kenya's post-election violence suspects will ever be tried, then you are in for a rude shock if not being in a reality hidden submarine and you don’t know what you are talking about or where the world is at the moment. Just barely weeks after the Commission, TJRC-Kenya, was formed, the politicians have launched the first delay tactic: Filing of a legal suit against the Commission's Chairperson Mr. Kiplagat. By the time he will be through with the legal clearance or issues, time, governments and lives will have passed and hence long overdue to run and prosecute the suspects.

The second tactic: The Kenyan government deliberately decided to add on the portfolio of responsibilities for the commission issues dating from the first day of independence in 1963! That the commission will be in charge of looking into issues of human rights violations and socioeconomic atrocities among Kenyans since 1963 is an absurd mandate and that should be addressed by the courts, not the Commission so established to look into an issue of the new century! Such a mandate or responsibility is a deliberate attempt to dilute the real magnitude of the case of 2007/08 election violence and it openly underrates it. Legally, first things first and that means, the commission will have to start from 1963 where most of the victims of 2007/08 Post-Election Violence, dead or alive, were not yet even born then gradually after 20 more years when Vision 2030 will be expected to be achieved, that is when most likely the commission will have reached to address the 2007/08 Post-Election Violence!

The third delaying tactic: Haven't you seen or heard the JTRC team or commissioners going to press stating that 2 years wont be enough to accomplish their mission? Now, two years! It took two years for the government of Kenya to agree to form the Commission to look into the 2007/08 Post-Election Violence and now they only give them two years to accomplish this with another mandate added to it about the post-independence crimes by the government machineries. Couldn’t the Narc Govt. form a commission for that last era after ousting off the government KANU, a time when most of the NARC M.P.s and functionaries comprised active victims of post-independent regimes' atrocities? Where was Raila and Kibaki the big profile victims of Nyati House to sue or punish KANU regime when the opposition made of them came to power in 2002? Why wait until now?

The best tool to punish the suspects of the 2007/08 Post-Election Violence and even of post-independent Kenya lies within Kenyans. Kenyans might not have been well educated and in fact deprived in the academic system with the rational knowledge and ability training to discern what is good and bad, but time and experience has done a good part as expected with costly fee: deaths and trauma. It is high time that Kenyans do away with some politicians. The tool to punish them lies among Kenyans. Ignore them and not to vote for them back to power is enough to punish them. The media houses, are all biased but at least if one media hippocratic oath is taken where they don’t get biased or pro-parties or individuals, they can give a blackout of coverage to destructive 19th Century-minded politicians.

Kenya needs to grow before small countries like Rwanda come from behind and steal from Kenya of her already tattered economic sheen and battered social fabric and grim international image, just as Malaysia did or Singapore, thanks to focused and visionary leadership that works! Unfortunately, it is evident that Kenya is lagging behind along other African nations with the lack of political will to establish real and functional change politically and administratively due to unknown leaders' or politicians phobia and greed with desire to protect their selfish interests!

Mbeki deserves no tears

2008-09-26T10:56:00.002+01:00

For those who have read my blog www.dwanyama.blogspot.com will find this piece in tandem with one I posted there, saying Mbeki’s ouster is a good thing for Africa, considering the democratic foundation it sets.
But today, I wish to take on the man himself and prompted by the ode Khadija has sung to him in a previous post.
First, let us take on this Zimbabwe farce. I can see Khadija and choir think Mbeki did a good job getting the two, actually three sides to share the spoils. I don’t want to get into the intricacies here but surely and election must have a loser and winner. You can not receive praise for helping a loser retain grip on power even after clearly the people have rejected that leader. That is what Mbeki precisely did; help a thieving Mugabe retain power.
And we all know this trend is going to be adopted by other megalomaniacs. So, what praise does Mbeki need for instituting broad daylight theft in Africa?
Ok, here I am going to tread carefully. I don’t live in South Africa. Have never been there to be exact, but that does not mean I don’t have a rough picture of what that places looks like. If I am not wrong, Mbeki’s major undoing was the economic line he took. Carrying out fiscal policies that created a steady economic growth in the country; but like pure capitalist states—the wealth only trickled to a few. That is where sweet Khadija comes in---I hate to say this—but she may be on the other divide. She may be guarded from the South Africa where people still live in shanties, eat a single meal a day and have no jobs.
And I can’t blame Kay and those who think like her. They are in a different world.
The very reason we saw xenophobic attacks in SA earlier this year was because of this very factor. Unfortunately for those who were rioting they didn’t know where to direct their anger—it should not have been the foreigners—it should have been Mbeki and his government. He was the reason they lack jobs, go hungry and sleep in the open. But may be with the tight security around Mbeki and his cohorts, the easiest target was the defenceless foreigners.
So, my best friend Khadija thinks it is very touching for State House staff to take a full-page advert in a newspaper to celebrate their President’s birthday. First, that is a waste of tax-payers money. I don’t think Mbeki’s office had this vote. Secondly, there is something called sycophancy. In the world of politics, this is deep-rooted. Someone might have wanted to catch the President’s eye and maybe get a promotion or secure a job. What do you do? Blow away tax-payers money lauding your leader in a newspaper.
Bottom line colleagues---Mbeki deserves no tears.

Limping in a state of limbo

2008-09-25T15:13:00.002+01:00

So the ANC's finally reigned in Motormouth Malema. According to Independent Newspapers, Malema's silence during the political turmoil of the few past days prompted reports that he had been instructed by the party leadership to tone down his rhetoric. But when contacted about the matter by the Cape Argus on Wednesday, Malema would only say: "Ask the ANC, not me." I remember the chaos that ensued from the youth league conference where Malema was elected, a stabbing incident and controversy surrounding the ballots with allegations of rigging , and through all this uncertainty, Malema was declared the new head of the ANC Youth League. Apparantly, JZ himself been embarrassed by Malema's outbursts and irritated at the resultant effort required to explain them.

According to The Citizen, Ma'Mbeki, mother of ousted President Thabo Mbeki revealed that after a 60 year affiliation with the ANC she vowed to cut all ties with the organisation while pledging her support for the rumoured splinter party backed by the likes of Gauteng Premier, Mbazimba Shilowa, Defence Minister Mosiuoa Lekota and his deputy Mluleki George. You and me both, Ma'Mbeki, you and me both... I can't bring myself to vote for a bunch of political thugs or as Moeletsi Mbeki so succinctly put it, 'A motley crew of know it alls'.

I'm eager to see who our new President appoints to his cabinet, especially since Geraldine Fraser-Moleketi also tendered her resignation today.

Singing Mbeki’s praises

2008-09-22T08:24:00.005+01:00

My friend Don has often accused me of being on Mbeki's payroll. I've been a tireless defender of his policies and I continue to be an unabashed fan. Perhaps his leadership style is not palatable to the in your face, podium booging, sing-the-tune -of- everyone, tastes but as far as politicians go, he is a true statesman. I remember seeing him at a family funeral a few years ago- Being young and impressionable makes meeting the president of the country just cause for a gripping wave of awe inspiration but I remember there being such an aura about him. I felt reassured, 'This is our president'. I've grown up in the periphery of a politically active family, so I've heard the stories of how, on his arrival back from exile, with nothing but the clothes on his back, Mr Mbeki slept on the floor of the lounge of my aunt's home in Mayfair. I remember also, during the Mandela years my dad asking my uncle about Mbeki, my dad at the time unconvinced as to Mbeki's credentials, and my uncle telling of Mbeki's curiosity of Islam that led him to ask for a copy of the Quraan. For me, it was a defining moment in my impression of the man.

Let's not forget that he ignored calls for a harsher stance on Zimbabwe and amid ostensible hopelessness fostered a workable solution to that country's woes. I read last week that Mbeki would leave office with a mixed legacy. I say he leaves office with a fine legacy. Think economic growth, the African Union, Nepad, Sadec, Zimbabwe- a towering legacy that any future president would do well to emulate.

A couple of years ago, the staff in the office of the president, took out a full page ad in the Sunday Times to wish Mr Mbeki a happy birthday. I've kept it because it astounded me the level of affection and respect he inspired in those who worked close to him. I find it apt to include here:

Dear Mr. President, the burdens of leadership are many and the rewards few. No more so than in the political arena especially at a time of our history when we stand on the edge of a new society whilst the old refuses to die.

In seeking to build a new society there are many paths. The road less travelled is often the most difficult and more lonely but ultimately the more rewarding. You have on many pivotal issues clearly chosen the road less travelled, challenged what passes for conventional wisdom and asserted on behalf of the African people the right to design our own future.

The fabric of our society has been torn asunder. The grinding poverty that apartheid and its beneficiaries burdened us with, is a form of violence that those who have never had to sleep on an empty stomach cannot ever comprehend. Even as we the signatories, begin to benefit from policies of your government we are, through ties of blood and conscience, connected to those condemned by apartheid to a living hell. It is for this reason that we identify completely with your commitment to reduce poverty.

You have taken this country on a giant leap, not of blind faith, not of just hope but to a carefully constructed future of dignity and prosperity. Because of your leadership we can envision an Africa free of poverty. We can boldly assert in public our right to speak our languages, choose our own heroes, reclaim our history and fashion our future free of interference from those who seek to trap us in a past, present and future designed to serve their interest more than ours. Placing an African consciousness at the centre of the government's policies, you have created the space and means for us to find our place in the world.

When you said 'I am an African', we walked taller than we did the day before. When you gave back land to those who has it taken from them, we shared the joy of the beneficiaries. When you promote women and their interests we know that we really hold up half the sky. When you declared our solidarity with Haiti, we felt the spirit of Toussaint L'Ouverture coursing through our blood. When you pledged to help Mali preserve the ancient manuscripts of Timbaktu, we knew that our children would one day know the brilliant contribution our continent made to world civilization.

When you declared the 21^st century, the African century, we were inspired. Your mission is our destiny.

Mr. President, in those quiet moments when the burdens of statehood threaten just for a moment to overwhelm you, we would like you to remember that you have our support and that of the overwhelming majority of our people.

We are proud of you.

Mbeki resignation address- Full Text

2008-09-21T20:21:00.001+01:00

Fellow South Africans,

I have no doubt that you are aware of the announcement made yesterday by the National Executive Committee of the ANC with regard to the position of the President of the Republic.

Accordingly, I would like to take this opportunity to inform the nation that today I handed a letter to the Speaker of the National Assembly, the Honourable Baleka Mbete, to tender my resignation from the high position of President of the Republic of South Africa, effective from the day that will be determined by the National Assembly.

I have been a loyal member of the African National Congress for 52 years. I remain a member of the ANC and therefore respect its decisions. It is for this reason that I have taken the decision to resign as President of the Republic, following the decision of the National Executive Committee of the ANC.

I would like sincerely to thank the nation and the ANC for having given me the opportunity to serve in public office during the last 14 years as the Deputy President and President of South Africa.

This service has at all times been based on the vision, the principles and values that have guided the ANC as it prosecuted a difficult and dangerous struggle in the decades before the attainment of our freedom in 1994.

Among other things, the vision, principles and values of the ANC teach the cadres of this movement life-long lessons that inform us that wherever we are and whatever we do we should ensure that our actions contribute to the attainment of a free and just society, the upliftment of all our people, and the development of a South Africa that belongs to all who live in it.

'A vision of a better life'
This is the vision of a South Africa that is democratic, non-racial, non-sexist and prosperous; a country in which all the people enjoy a better life.

Indeed the work we have done in pursuit of the vision and principles of our liberation movement has at all times been based on the age-old values of Ubuntu, of selflessness, sacrifice and service in a manner that ensures that the interests of the people take precedence over our desires as individuals.

I truly believe that the governments in which I have been privileged to serve have acted and worked in the true spirit of these important values.

Based on the values of Ubuntu, the significance of which we learnt at the feet of such giants of our struggle as Chief Albert Luthuli, OR Tambo, Nelson Mandela and others, we as government, embarked, from 1994, on policies and programmes directed at pulling the people of South Africa out of the morass of poverty and ensuring that we build a stable, developed and prosperous country.

Accordingly, among many things we did, we transformed our economy, resulting in the longest sustained period of economic growth in the history of our country; we introduced an indigent policy that reaches large numbers of those in need; we made the necessary advances so as to bring about a developmental state, the better to respond to the many and varied challenges of the transformation of our country.

This is, of course not the occasion to record the achievements of government. An additional critical few are however worth mentioning. They include our achievements with regard to many of the Millennium Development Goals, the empowerment of women, the decision to allow us to host the 2010 FIFA Soccer World Cup and our election as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council two years ago.

Despite the economic advances we have made, I would be the first to say that even as we ensured consistent economic growth, the fruits of these positive results are still to be fully and equitably shared among our people, hence the abject poverty we still find co-existing side by side with extraordinary opulence.

Importantly, we had an obligation to ensure that democracy becomes the permanent feature of our lives and that all our citizens respect the rule of law and human rights. This is one of the cornerstones of our democracy, which we have consistently striven to protect and never to compromise.

We have also worked continuously to combat the twin challenges of crime and corruption, to ensure that all our people live in conditions of safety and security. We must admit that we are still faced with many challenges in this regard.

Work will therefore have to continue to strengthen and improve the functioning of our criminal justice system, to provide the necessary resources for this purpose, to activate the masses of our people to join the fight against crime and corruption, and to achieve new victories in the struggle for moral regeneration.

With regard to the latter, our successive governments from 1994 to date have worked consistently to encourage the entrenchment in our country of a value system whose observance would make all of us Proudly South African, a value system informed by the precept of Ubuntu – umuntu ngumuntu ngabanye. Among other things this means that we must all act in a manner that respects the dignity of every human being.

We have sought to advance this vision precisely because we understood that we would fail in the struggle to achieve the national and social cohesion that our country needs, as well as the national unity we require to enable us to act together to address the major challenges we face.

Fellow South Africans,

Since the attainment of our freedom in 1994, we have acted consistently to respect and defend the independence of the judiciary. For this reason our successive governments have honoured all judicial decisions, including those that went against the Executive. This did not mean that the Executive did not at times have strong views which we would have publicly pronounced upon. The central approach we adopted has always been to defend the judiciary rather than act in a manner that would have had a negative impact on its work.

Indeed, on the infrequent instances when we have publicly expressed views contrary to those of the judiciary, we have done so mindful of the need to protect its integrity.

Consistent with this practice, I would like to restate the position of Cabinet on the inferences made by the Honourable Judge Chris Nicholson that the President and Cabinet have interfered in the work the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA). Again I would like to state this categorically that we have never done this, and therefore never compromised the right of the National Prosecuting Authority to decide whom it wished to prosecute or not to prosecute.

This applies equally to the painful matter relating to the court proceedings against the President of the ANC, Comrade Jacob Zuma.

More generally, I would like to assure the nation that our successive governments since 1994 have never acted in any manner intended wilfully to violate the Constitution and the law. We have always sought to respect the solemn Oath of Office each one of us made in front of the Chief Justice and other judges, and have always been conscious of the fact that the legal order that governs our country was achieved through the sacrifices made by countless numbers of our people, which included death.

In this context it is most unfortunate that gratuitous suggestions have been made seeking to impugn the integrity of those of us who have been privileged to serve in our country's National Executive.

Compatriots,

Again, as you know, we have often pointed to the fact that our liberation movement has always been pan-African in its outlook and therefore that we have an obligation to contribute to the renaissance of the African continent.

All of us are aware of the huge and daunting challenges that face our continent. In the short years since our freedom, as South Africans we have done what we could to make our humble contribution to the regeneration of our continent.

We have devoted time and resources to the task of achieving the Renaissance of Africa because this is what has informed generations of our liberators, even before the ANC was formed in 1912. We have done this fully understanding that our country shares a common destiny with the rest of our Continent.

I therefore thank the many dedicated compatriots – men and women – who have made it possible for us to contribute to the resolution of conflicts and the strengthening of democracy in a number of countries including the Kingdom of Lesotho, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi, Côte d'Ivoire, Comoros, Zimbabwe, Sudan and elsewhere. We have also done this work conscious of our responsibilities as a State Member of both SADC and the African Union.

I would like to thank my colleagues, the many Heads of State and Government on the African continent whose abiding vision is that Africa must be free; that all our countries, individually and collectively should become democratic, developed and prosperous, and that Africa must unite. These African patriots know as I do that Africa and Africans will not and must not be the wretched of the earth in perpetuity.

Similarly we have worked to contribute to the achievement of the aspirations of the countries and peoples of the South, conscious of the need for us to act in solidarity and in unity with the billions with whom we share the common challenge to defeat poverty and underdevelopment.

Accordingly, I depart the Office of President of South Africa knowing that this country has many men and women who have dedicated their lives to ensure that South Africa, Africa and the countries of the South will, in time, manage to ensure a better world for all of humanity.

I depart this Office conscious that the sterling work done by the Presidency, the Ministries and departments, the provinces and local government structures will continue, driven by the determination to achieve the goal of a better life for all.

I am convinced that the incoming administration will better the work done during the past 14-and-half years so that poverty, underdevelopment, unemployment, illiteracy, challenges of health, crime and corruption will cease to define the lives of many of our people.

I have received many messages from South Africans, from all walks of life, through e-mails, telephonically and through cell phone text messages as well as those conveyed through my colleagues. I thank all of you, fellow South Africans, for these messages.

To everyone, and responding to these messages, I would like to say that gloom and despondency have never defeated adversity. Trying times need courage and resilience. Our strength as a people is not tested during the best of times. As we said before, we should never become despondent because the weather is bad nor should we turn triumphalist because the sun shines.

For South Africa to succeed there is more work to be done and I trust that we will continue to strive to act in unity to accelerate the advance towards the achievement of our shared national goals.

In this regard, it may be worth repeating what I said during the inauguration of the President of the Republic in 1999. Using the metaphor of the Comrades Marathon, I said then that:

"Those who complete the course will do so only because they do not, as fatigue sets in, convince themselves that the road ahead is still too long, the inclines too steep, the loneliness impossible to bear and the prize itself of doubtful value."

Once more, I thank you most sincerely for affording me the opportunity to serve you and to serve the people of Africa.

Thank you.

Pause for Concern

2008-09-15T15:42:00.007+01:00

This past week, a lot has gone on south of the continent. First of all, the quagmire surrounding Jonathon Shapiro's satirical cartoon: I did mean to add my pithy contribution to the hullabaloo, it had the working title of Cartoon Culture but was stymied by the flu mid-way. I've subsequently read a couple of excellent blogs on the same subject, so instead I'm posting a link to one of the best takes, here.

And now a spot of voyeurism: Safiyyah and I tend to have enormously gratifying chats, intellectually stimulating, such that we start off sharing coiffure tips and end up debating South African politics. This is how we got round to cartoon culture:

(Caveat lector, it was a few words between friends, spelling is poor, opinion is decidedly candid, do be kind in judgement)

2008/09/10	10:42:53 AM	Safs	lol yeah whats happened to Makutano?
2008/09/10	10:43:08 AM	Safs	u really are going to neglect ur kids!
2008/09/10	10:43:09 AM	Safs	hehe
2008/09/10	10:43:12 AM	Kay	lol
2008/09/10	10:43:23 AM	Kay	a tragedy i tell ya
2008/09/10	10:43:45 AM	Kay	you've heard about the rumblings in these parts about the zapiro cartoon?
2008/09/10	10:44:13 AM	Safs	nopes, do tell
2008/09/10	10:44:22 AM	Safs	u are my window to SA
2008/09/10	10:44:38 AM	Kay	sunday times published a zapiro cartoon
2008/09/10	10:44:45 AM	Kay	wait lemme get a link for you
2008/09/10	10:44:53 AM	Kay	if i descreibe it it'll spoil it for you

2008/09/10	10:49:25 AM	Kay	opinion?
2008/09/10	10:49:59 AM	Safs	omigod
2008/09/10	10:50:12 AM	Kay	risque dont you think?
2008/09/10	10:50:18 AM	Safs	talk about a strong message
2008/09/10	10:51:35 AM	Kay	absolutely
2008/09/10	10:51:41 AM	Safs	sad to say it is true, but the image of a women being raped...i dont know
2008/09/10	10:51:58 AM	Safs	how has the public reacted?
2008/09/10	10:52:44 AM	Kay	that's the uncomfortable thing for me
2008/09/10	10:52:53 AM	Kay	has rape become so much a norm?
2008/09/10	10:53:13 AM	Safs	hmm or perhaps he just wants to portray the gravity of the situation?
2008/09/10	10:53:40 AM	Kay	you know it comes back to the freedom of expression vs hate speech quandry
2008/09/10	10:53:48 AM	Safs	like telling the public, open your eyes!
2008/09/10	10:54:49 AM	Safs	no matter what u think this cartoon wil force a reaction out of you!
2008/09/10	10:54:54 AM	Kay	absoluely
2008/09/10	10:55:00 AM	Kay	very strong reactions too
2008/09/10	10:56:12 AM	Safs	i dont know...
2008/09/10	10:56:14 AM	Safs	what to think
2008/09/10	10:56:55 AM	Safs	part of me is like yes, this is the right message to be sending out, but the feminist in me is saying no, why use a women
2008/09/10	10:57:15 AM	Kay	i keep coming back to the cartoons of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH)
2008/09/10	10:57:25 AM	Kay	somethings are beyond caricature
2008/09/10	10:57:35 AM	Safs	uh huh
2008/09/10	10:57:38 AM	Safs	definitely
2008/09/10	10:58:40 AM	Kay	rape i think is one of them
2008/09/10	10:59:03 AM	Safs	im leaning towards agreeing with you!
2008/09/10	10:59:10 AM	Safs	he couldve used a murder scene?
2008/09/10	10:59:52 AM	Safs	but maybe he wants to show gross violation, which rape symbolizes, something deeper, more immoral
2008/09/10	11:00:15 AM	Kay	yea... but zuma's rape background makes using rape irresistable... taints him all over again
2008/09/10	11:00:21 AM	Kay	as if he was never acquited
2008/09/10	11:00:21 AM	Safs	ohhh yeah
2008/09/10	11:00:26 AM	Safs	i didnt think about that
2008/09/10	11:01:21 AM	Safs	wow, this cartoon is STRONG
2008/09/10	11:01:21 AM	Safs	what do u think?
2008/09/10	11:01:44 AM	Kay	it is absolutely
2008/09/10	11:01:54 AM	Kay	i mean to bring all this up it has to be
2008/09/10	11:04:48 AM	Kay	the anc claim they aren't going to prosecute zapiro
2008/09/10	11:05:00 AM	Kay	but i cant help thinking if they do, they'd probly win
2008/09/10	11:05:50 AM	Safs	i dont understand?
2008/09/10	11:06:13 AM	Safs	this deserves a makutano post u know, ppl to need to discuss these issues! or atleast be exposed to them
2008/09/10	11:06:16 AM	Kay	defamation of character
2008/09/10	11:06:23 AM	Kay	i'm thinking the same thing
2008/09/10	11:06:28 AM	Kay	let me get to it!
2008/09/10	11:08:43 AM	Safs	alright
2008/09/10	11:09:20 AM	Kay	perhaps you could do a couner post... out of context what it means to you
2008/09/10	11:10:54 AM	Safs	good idea
2008/09/10	11:11:18 AM	Safs	but i need a lead, so wil wait for ur ideas
2008/09/10	11:11:22 AM	Kay	K

And post Pietermaritzburg judgement :

2008/09/13	01:56:43 PM	Kay	i'm just looking at my half finished post for makutano i was too ill to finish it and now there's more to be said
2008/09/13	01:56:52 PM	Kay	anc's calling for mbeki to resign :S
2008/09/13	01:56:57 PM	Safs	i know!
2008/09/13	01:57:03 PM	Safs	i watched thenews
2008/09/13	01:57:06 PM	Safs	on al jaz
2008/09/13	01:57:13 PM	Kay	it's worrying
2008/09/13	01:57:21 PM	Safs	we were dumbfounded! there was this former anc guy
2008/09/13	01:57:31 PM	Safs	and he made such an import point
2008/09/13	01:58:15 PM	Safs	that if the president of the country, i.e Zuma, can get away scotch free from so many accusations, what message does that send to the public and the moral high ground
2008/09/13	01:58:26 PM	Safs	if anything, it will just fuel the crime
2008/09/13	01:58:27 PM	Kay	absolutely!
2008/09/13	01:58:45 PM	Kay	there's no real justice, because he's getting off on a technicality
2008/09/13	01:58:51 PM	Safs	so whats mbekis position?
2008/09/13	01:59:11 PM	Safs	yeah exactly, because the prosecution didnt give him time to defend himself
2008/09/13	01:59:17 PM	Kay	it's so ironic that in the week of mbeki's greatest triumph, power sharing in zim, he has to face this
2008/09/13	01:59:21 PM	Safs	looks the judge is bought over
2008/09/13	02:00:04 PM	Safs	yeah i saw that too, gosh zim is a mess... one lady said she doesnt care who gets whats position, because zimbabwe is hungry!
2008/09/13	02:00:20 PM	Kay	:(
2008/09/13	02:00:37 PM	Kay	there's so much going on in the world how do we remain in our bubbles

And then:

2008/09/14	11:24:22 AM	Kay	apparently mbeki has his weeks numbered as president :(
2008/09/14	11:24:34 AM	Kay	the media are so fickle!
2008/09/14	11:24:50 AM	Kay	it used to be bash zuma now it's bash mbeki
2008/09/14	11:25:17 AM	Safs	whoa
2008/09/14	11:25:20 AM	Safs	weeks?
2008/09/14	11:25:35 AM	Safs	yeah, whoever they can gain favour with right?
2008/09/14	11:25:39 AM	Kay	yea!
2008/09/14	11:25:50 AM	Safs	it wont do them any good to bash zuma if he gonna be next presd.
2008/09/14	11:26:00 AM	Safs	each to his own interests...sad
2008/09/14	11:26:02 AM	Kay	the sunday times esp are culprtis of sensational journalism
2008/09/14	11:26:16 AM	Kay	the drivel they print just to make waves!
2008/09/14	11:26:18 AM	Safs	i know! can u even call that journalism?
2008/09/14	11:26:31 AM	Kay	it's horrific!
2008/09/14	11:27:51 AM	Kay	i'm going to find it very hard voting for zuma
2008/09/14	11:28:07 AM	Safs	u CANT vote for him
2008/09/14	11:28:22 AM	Safs	what are the other options
2008/09/14	11:28:30 AM	Kay	and you know what i hate is this mentality in our community that says zuma's good with indians so we should like him
2008/09/14	11:28:39 AM	Safs	ugh!
2008/09/14	11:28:42 AM	Kay	bleh! what are we living in apaartheid?!
2008/09/14	11:28:45 AM	Safs	ive heard that before
2008/09/14	11:28:56 AM	Safs	from my own family!
2008/09/14	11:29:33 AM	Safs	does morality not feature anywhere in judgement?
2008/09/14	11:29:50 AM	Safs	as long as we're making money, and living above the masses?
2008/09/14	11:29:53 AM	Kay	exactly! cant we see beyond indianness?
2008/09/14	11:30:12 AM	Kay	that's all our community strives for
2008/09/14	11:30:46 AM	Safs	are we indian before we SAian?
2008/09/14	11:31:10 AM	Kay	in some sections of our community indian dominates
2008/09/14	11:31:16 AM	Safs	majority have never seen and never want to see india!
2008/09/14	11:31:36 AM	Safs	yet suddenly , zuma is the saviour of indians...
2008/09/14	11:31:41 AM	Kay	exactly! so why do we persist with this victim complex?
2008/09/14	11:32:04 AM	Safs	for securty i guess..
2008/09/14	11:32:39 AM	Kay	what worries me about zuma is he's playing populist politics
2008/09/14	11:32:54 AM	Kay	makes a few noises about the death penalty get the afrikaner vote
2008/09/14	11:33:10 AM	Kay	a few noses about economic reform gets the poor vote
2008/09/14	11:33:26 AM	Kay	what does HE stand for?
2008/09/14	11:33:51 AM	Safs	yeah that is worrisome
2008/09/14	11:34:05 AM	Safs	we dont knw what lies beneath the charismatic exterior
2008/09/14	11:34:25 AM	Safs	something evil and untodo lurking...
2008/09/14	11:34:58 AM	Kay	that's the worry
2008/09/14	11:35:02 AM	Safs	levels of uneducation must be higher than thought in SA if ppl fall for him...
2008/09/14	11:35:29 AM	Kay	that's what i say... i suspect a distinct lack of literacy!
2008/09/14	11:35:45 AM	Safs	certainly..
2008/09/14	11:36:37 AM	Safs	is there any anti zuma goings on ?
2008/09/14	11:36:52 AM	Kay	safs gtg visitors...
2008/09/14	11:36:57 AM	Kay	catch up later iA
2008/09/14	11:37:05 AM	Safs	ok np
2008/09/14	11:37:08 AM	Safs	enjoy

You've had a look at what we talk about, so how about joining in?

TIA- This is Africa too

2008-08-21T17:23:00.003+01:00

I've neglected Makutano of late, making me wonder whether I'll neglect my kids that way too. It's a disturbing thought but I'm earnestly and solemnly swearing to be a better mother to Makutano from now on. Much has been happening in Africa of late, we've lost a true statesman in the late Zambian President Levy Mwanawasa. He was the kind of leader who had the guts to stand up and deliver. May we see many, many more like him. I really don't want to talk about Zim, I think we've overdone Mugabe and Zim on Makutano, but kudos to Mr Mbeki (contrary to his street cred, I'm quite a fan) to bringing the opposing factions to the table, but now that the negotiations have stumbled on an obstacle or two, let's hope the lure of power . I've always been fascinated with the etymology of 'Africa'. For so many it is a label foisted on us by the imperialists of yesteryear, I distinctly remember one of my teachers saying, Africa does not exist, Africa is a name made to suit the imperialists. Yet if we are not African then who are we?

According to Wiki, Afri was the name of several peoples who dwelt in North Africa near Carthage. Their name is usually connected with Phoenician afar, "dust", but a 1981 theory has asserted that it stems from a Berber word ifri meaning "cave", in reference to cave dwellers.

In Roman times, Carthage became the capital of Africa Province, which also included the coastal part of modern Libya. The Roman suffix "-ca" denotes "country or land". The later Muslim kingdom of Ifriqiya, modern-day Tunisia, also preserved a form of the name.

Other etymologies that have been postulated for the ancient name "Africa":

the 1st century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus (Ant. 1.15) asserted that it was named for Epher, grandson of Abraham according to Gen. 25:4, whose descendants, he claimed, had invaded Libya.
the Latin word aprica, meaning "sunny", mentioned by Isidore of Seville (sixth century) in Etymologiae XIV.5.2
the Greek word aphrike, meaning "without cold." This was proposed by historian Leo Africanus (1488–1554), who suggested the Greek word phrike (φρίκη, meaning "cold and horror"), combined with the privative prefix "a-", thus indicating a land free of cold and horror.
Massey, in 1881, derived an etymology from the Egyptian af-rui-ka, "to turn toward the opening of the Ka." The Ka is the energetic double of every person and "opening of the Ka" refers to a womb or birthplace. Africa would be, for the Egyptians, "the birthplace." (Thanks Wikipedia)

Safiyyah, expat at work but African at heart, sent me some pictures this morning. It honestly did bring a tear to my eye, soppy, I know, but people of the world, especially those who still think lions roam the streets and light skinned people cannot possibly be African, I present to you Africa, albeit my little corner of the great continent (at her best behaviour):

(All images are the property of their respective owners)

2008-08-21T17:19:00.000+01:00

2008-08-21T17:17:00.000+01:00

2008-08-21T17:14:00.000+01:00

2008-08-21T17:10:00.000+01:00

2008-08-21T17:01:00.000+01:00

2008-08-21T16:59:00.000+01:00

2008-08-21T16:57:00.000+01:00

2008-08-21T16:54:00.000+01:00

2008-08-21T16:52:00.000+01:00

2008-08-21T16:49:00.000+01:00

2008-08-21T16:44:00.000+01:00

2008-08-21T16:29:00.000+01:00

On returning to the motherland

2008-08-04T23:08:00.004+01:00

So I've been here for all of 3 days, coming from the heart of the Arabian desert, to visit my family and, my home.
Oh to breathe in Africa!

The obvious parody that exists between my South Africa life and my Middle East life, is too much not to repeatedly exclaim, "Over there we shop with our bags in the trolley", "We forget our keys outside the door every other day", "We leave our cars running so it can stay cool when we go into malls/restaurants" and other such blasphemy's. I am finding it hard to switch into paranoia mode, lock my doors, clutch my bag, look over my shoulder every minute and worst of all, not drive alone after dark!

Now that that is out of the way, lets move on to the more positive. I am enjoying every second of being here, of being surrounded by all things familiar, of being respected and treated as no less than an African (including being expected to bribe the customs official), regardless of my ethnicity, which is quite an issue in my new home, with people too often asking, "but where are you really from?" as they cannot understand how I, all light skinned and hijab clad, can possibly claim to be African!

To be born in a land is to forever be bound to it, not by ties of obligation, but by those of affection, for a land which brought you up. To move away from that land, is to live with feelings of guilt, at having abandoned what gave you life. Everyday, questions are asked, and answers are unanswered, "how can I change my country?", "how can I help if I'm so far away?", "Have I forsaken my responsibility?", "Everyone else lives with the crime, why cant I?"

On being away and coming home, I realize that every country, not just African countries, are challenged by changing times, but for as long as people remain true to the commitment for peace and development, hope is not lost. To come back, and see both icredible development and heart-wrenching desolation, is to know I am home.

Hi Skul Mock Xam, Ref: Kenya!

2008-08-01T15:52:00.003+01:00

I came across this on the internet, and I want to share with the Academic/education policy makers and parents as well as students, especially from Kenya. This is due to the sporadic unrests in Kenyan schools blamed on Mock Exams...·

HIGH SCHOOL MOCK - WHAT STUDENTS WANT

** * NAME: _______________________
FORM/CLASS: _______________________
TIME: ...........3 Weeks.

* SECTION A*·

Is the African continent a continent or a country? If it's a continent (which it is), what is the name of this continent?·
Who is the president of Kenya? a) Mwai b) Emilio Kibaki c) I don't know·
Read below and answer the question: Kamau has three and a half buckets of milk. He gives his good friend Abong'o three quarters of it. A third of the remaining half of a quarter he sells at the local market (at a loss no less). He consumes three pints of what is left. The rest he divides equally among his seven children and the cat which gets a third less than what any two of his sons got combined. Question: What animals produce milk?·
'A fish can't ride a bicycle' Explain.·
If birds fly, Animals run and fish swim, what do birds do?·
Form a word with the following letters D,O,G (e.g. dog, God):_____________.·
Kipkorir collects 3,000 as T.K.K. everyday whereas Njoroge collects 17,000 a day. Which of the two is a true Kenyan cop?·
If God is everywhere, does it mean He is in hell too?·
How do you spell the word hermaphrodite? :_________________.·
If a cow has four legs, how many legs does a baby cow have?·

Omondi sells fish at the local market for a certain fixed amount. Aluoch also sells fish at the same market for a price not exceeding that of Omondi. Onyango also at the same market sells his fish at a price at par of Omondi and Achieng's. Which of the three sells fish the most expensive?·

*SECTION B.*·

Write an essay on the depression of the social economic lifestyle of this country due to bad governance and dictatorship: or else count the fingers on your hands.

* PRACTICAL*·

13. Take your gun from your holster. Take the bullet specimen placed on your desk. Load it into your gun. Place your finger on the trigger. Turn the gun and stare deep into its muzzle with your left eye. Pull the trigger! What happens? ....Hello? ... Anybody there? .... Hello!?!.....

*NOTE:* To pass this test you must at least write your name on the paper.

MakutanoBlog Crews Wish to grant all the Candidates Success!

WEAN THE BABY!

2008-08-01T12:15:00.003+01:00

I wanted to write here about Mugabe, but for the Devil's sake, let me give theme Mugabe a break. Hey, and don't think I will either write about Obama here, even though he was born at the time Mugabe was the start of Africa, a model president in the dark continent...and now Obama is touted as the greatest, model, presummably next U.S. first black president, when maybe one of his teenage role-models is now christened a beast!
Someone talks about Democracy here and there. On what context is that topic or theme? If it is in Africa, shsow me a perfect democray that has been there for the last 10 years. If climate of a place is named after about 30 consistent years, had climate be synonymous with Democracy, would you or anyone rank any African state as democratic? If democracy is existent in Africa, then it has over 52 definitions in thousands of indegineous dialects...in Shona, Ndebele, Swahili, Luganda, Itesoit, Luo, Luhya, Zulu, Akwi, Sudanese, Kinyarwanda, Kikuyu, etc.!
Despite all the variations and conflicting ideologies and principles of democracy available in Africa, am glad that we have one thing in common, that we gladly agree on and share equally on thoughts, words and deeds. If we, the Africans shared this aspect and let it spread amongs cutting across borders and ages, then, trust ye me, for thou I saith unto thee, Africa could be in the modern China's place or we could be very much so at par with our same race Brazillian denizens' economy!
Hey, this aint funy. But am talking about HIV/Aids here! Imagine we Africans, from French speaking regions to the English based communities, all academics and economies, all shared the same knowledge we have about Democracy the same way we are doing in HIV/Aids, what could be the continental song? Or instead of peddling or buying guns and ammonution secretly and expensively, we just go to the shops or clinics and buy cheaply or simply pick condoms to readily and efficiently and decisively use. Or take condom for a democratic ballot paper, and sex a democratic right you proudly possess and boast of, so that instead of AIDS, you use it to eliminate Africa's second largest mass killer- bad governance that leads to greed, wars, famine?
Look at all the violence rocking Africa now. I never heard of high school students having a nationwide impact bearing strikes or riots as it is happening in Kenya. I thought that was the right of university students only when exams approached. These high schol kids in Kenya want schol buses with modern HDF, HiFi SciFi friendly TV and DVDs in them, hydraulic air suspension, with Air Conditioners, when they have left their parents languishing in the grips of inflation! Atleast they should have complained for a change in the backfiring system of education! Just as violence begets violence or brutality, ignorance begets ignorance, and Kenyan youths are on that path- future jobless, ignorant, and democracy fighters.

The demands of Kenya's high school students is what I will wish to end this childish article of mine. We are Africans, we want the luxuries of the West without much concern of how to create ours now or in the near future. Our youths want a liffe they watch on Tv or movies about the high school life in the US or UK and immediately dessire and cry for it. The same way our fathers wanted independence, which was very right, but got it and like the Israelites, wanted to go away with their captors' way of life too -idolatry, ornaments, etc. Instead of getting our independence or waiting for it, we immediately contunued with the colonialists' lifestyle and administrative system. It is like a baby who starts taking guavas immediately at the time of weaning. Or you must have heard of this kid, a baby boy who was born with an erect penis! You see, it is weird and dangerous for a newly born girl to start menses after a week of birth. She will self-destroy. And that ius typically what Africa tried, took and is now struggling about.
Atleast South Africa, if that name hasn't been changed- Africanised I mean,- got the chance to be weaned out of colonial dependency. So even if they are fighting over the guava xenophobically, they understand why and I believe they are not to blame. But those in Sudan, Congo, Nigeria, North Uganda, Kenya, etc. are products typical of babies who were gifted with cycles even before they perfected crawling. Now that they have grown, they are breaking down the bicycle parts and usisng the spokes/ wires as weapons against each other, or the guavas they realised was hard on biting, they launch them on each other!
This is stupid of me to write, but you have read it, na? So try this out, attach an anti-coruption label next to every public box or poster of USE A CONDOM, SAVE A LIFE...

govts of national unity bad for democracy

2008-07-29T14:30:00.002+01:00

It is now clear that the warring political factions in Zimbabwe will in the coming weeks form a government of national unity, comprising members of Robert Mugabe’s ZANU/PF party and the opposition Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC party.
To common Zimbabweans, whom peace and order had become elusive in the past months, this should come as a relief. They expect the country to become stable and probably the inclusion of the West’s blue-eyed boy Tsvangirai into the government will help resuscitate their ailing economy.
On the surface, this looks a juicy deal; but deep down it is a total travesty to justice and democracy. The purpose of holding elections is to enable voters pick a candidate they consider their favourite. The criteria of choice may differ from aspects like tribalism, ability to solve economic problems or even physical appearance; but the rationale is that the most popular candidate at the end of the day should be declared victor.
But looking at this new fashion of coalition governments, it is obvious that Africa is slowly murdering the purpose of elections.
In Kenya, which also has a government of national unity, it was common knowledge that President Kibaki had been given a bloody nose by Raila Odinga’s ODM. Unwilling to hand over total power and with blood being shed, Kibaki agreed to ‘share’ power. Of course the biggest beneficiary here was the loser in the elections.
The same scenario replays in Zimbabwe. Defeated on March 29, Mugabe made it very difficult for his opponent to freely campaign in the run-off. With his thugs, he terrorised opposition supporters until Tsvangirai threw in the towel. He went on to sweep the one-man poll with a ‘landslide’ victory!
Knowing how illegitimate his government is, Mugabe is now willing to ‘share’ power. Probably cede some cabinet posts to the opposition and create a semblance of normalcy. Thereafter, it will look like business as usual.
The truth is that the biggest loser in these arrangements is democracy. We should not conduct elections where people are sure they will rig blatantly and thereafter give a few concessions to their opponents and all seems well.
Of course the opposition can be blamed over this. One wonders why they would choose to share power with people they have defeated in elections, but probably their decision is understandable.
They are like the genuine mother of the baby in the Biblical story of King Solomon, who unwilling to see her baby chopped to be shared with another woman, offers to give up on her claim, just to make sure that the toddler lives.
But the bottom line is that many leaders, unwilling to leave power, are going to use this new phenomenon as a soft landing. They will rig opponents out of victory and offer the olive branch in form of a government of national unity.
It should also be noted that different political parties offer different manifestos while seeking votes. Therefore, to bandy them together after contested elections is to ignore why they sought power. In Kenya, the divisions are glaring. When the Grand Regency scandal, which led to the censure of Finance minister Amos Kimunya, came to play, the cabinet cracks were along PNU and ODM lines. The implication is that despite being in the same cabinet, the ministers put party loyalty first. They don’t view themselves as one unit and this surely is not good for state affairs.
And questioningly, this concept is being fronted by the West yet they can not adopt it themselves. Otherwise, we would have seen Bush ‘share’ power with Al-Gore after the disputed Florida poll.
We should, therefore, have elections where the winner is declared fairly or we just forget about voting. There should be no middle line between democracy and totalitarianism.

What else is there to talk about over here?

2008-07-22T08:55:00.002+01:00

We started Makutano with an aim to bring forth views, opinions and stories about Africa that traditional media tend to ignore. Of late however, we seem to have largely become more politically inclined, with all the hullabaloo about Zimbabwe and Robert Mugabe. What else is there in Africa to talk about?

The front page of The Times (South Africa) today, boldly carries a picture of Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai shaking hands beneath the headline 'Hope'. Just yesterday, I read a post on a friend's blog with the same title. Who says this is the continent with no hope?

Perusing the online edition of The Times this morning, I was pleasantly surprised to find an article expressing much of the concerns that drove us to initiate this blog. Read it here.

Mugabe, Tsvangirai sign deal, separated by Mbeki

2008-07-21T17:21:00.006+01:00

News crackling in relates Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai have just signed a framework deal committing their political parties to talks to end the country's crippling political crisis. The two men, separated by South Africa's President Thabo Mbeki, signed the agreement at a hotel in Harare.

At the same time, recent surveys indicate that Thabo Mbeki's approval rating as president of South Africa has dropped since the beginning of the year, according to a TNS Research Survey. If Mbeki can, against frightening odds, disprove his detractors then indeed his stance on Zimbabwe is vindicated. Or is it?

to yee--Mugabe's court jesters

2008-07-16T18:17:00.001+01:00

I have read your pieces Paul and Kay on how you believe Mugabe is a victim of harsh western press and unnecessary meddling of affairs by western powers. I have seen the passion with which you have come in defence of this despot. But again rules of common sense dictate that everyone should have a say; however thwarted that view may be.
So, do you in all wisdom believe that about a third of Zimbabweans have fled their country because the western press paints Mugabe as a villain?
Do you imagine that the pictures of people whipped and wounded in Harare and other suburbs are just a creative work of videographers and western photo journalists (who interestingly are banned from Zim)?
Do, you, Paul and Kay think that over 150,000% inflation is a mere joke perpetrated by some Ivy League economist at the World Bank headquarters and therefore not true of what is happening in Zimbabwe?
Are you, trumpeters of Mugabe, convinced that the bread queues and endless fuel lines we see relayed from Zimbabwe are fictitious?
Tell me, you who sing Mugabe’s praises--- was it fair to conduct an election where your major opponent at any slight occasion was detained by the Police and never allowed to address rallies. Have you ever fought a chained opponent? How difficult was that victory?
But again, I blame you not. Many of us are still caught in the wave of defending Africa, however grim things are. That is the only way we can prove our ‘patriotism’.
Call me unpatriotic but I will not back a leader who borders on dementia. Call me a traitor but I will not sing praises for a man, who led a country to prosperity only to hasten its downfall.
Label me a bootlicker of the west—but if they are the masters we have to worship in order to have stable economies, fuel and bread in proper supply, then so be it.
Guys, lets face up the reality. Mugabe is a mess. He can cling to all straws, point fingers elsewhere, but truth be told, he bungled in his economic policies. He screwed up. The people rejected him but the military keeps him around.
The west can be blamed for exaggerating, but reality is Zimbabwe ha gone to the dogs.
My only regret is why the ICC did not issue those indictments for him, although Bashir does deserve them too—just like many other African leaders.

Whatever happened to objectivity in the media?

2008-07-10T08:39:00.005+01:00

The coverage of Zimbabwe in the media is more of a chorus of condemnation of Mugabe. I agree with much of Paul's post below because I feel the media are missing a critical point in covering Zimbabwe, objectivity. It might be argued that in the face of a monster, objectivity is shoved and sides are implicitly decided, but who's defining the monster?

Even the New York Times have had to run a lengthy apology after it published a picture of a young child supposedly a victim of Mugabe's marauding army of youths only to later discover that the child's mother exaggerated the child's birth defect in a desperate effort to get medical help for the child. Yes, it's sad that a mother has to resort to such means but what remains is the fact that the media are in such a hurry to paint a particular picture of Zimbabwe that ethics are being severely undermined.

IT'S MUGABE'S ERA, NOT ERROR!

2008-07-04T20:16:00.005+01:00

Am not that politically informed or much interested. But I feel I have to say something here. Why is the world believing that Hon. President R. Mugabe is solely responsible for what is happening in Zimbabwe? Robert Mugabe was once the West's best African statesman and was honoured and facilitated in many ways like honorary degrees from prestigious universities in the West and even was believed to have seen and bought the Holy Grail to Africa, hence the Knighthood by the Queen to Sir R. Mugabe. Then what went wrong?

Whatever went wrong after that, I really don't know in detail, so no comment, but the way the West is reacting reminds me of my previous break ups with my primary (matrix) level girlfriends. We cut links, insult each other, return all we exchanged or spent on each other and our friends have to take sides decisively. We must have experienced this most of us. That is exactly what the West is doing to Mugabe, so childish!

But who is taking the heat of consequences head on? Not Mugabe of course, the hapless citizens of Zimbabwe. If Hon. Col. Muamar Gadaffi was a head of state to a resource-less nation like Zimbabwe, the sanctions would have succeeded to portraying as the Monster the West was desperately trying to convince the world he is. He was once a friend, then a foe, now becoming a friend (an ally) again. The West are really funny!

Sadly they have succeeded in convincing the world that Mugabe is a monster through the plight of his people. I don't blame Mugabe in any many ways so far. Simply objecting the West, specifically Britain and the U.S., earned Zimbabwe this sad fate. Blair knew very well that, amplifying Mugabe's stance on land policies against the minority whites, would be a better pretext to incite a coup against him, change of national guard, to bring in a West lifelong puppet. Blair and his allies knew sanctions on Zimbabwe wouldn't hit Mugabe and force him out of power directly, but instead on the people of Zimbabwe. Blair took the scripts of this game directly from the Exodus in the Bible and played it on Zimbabwe. The Plagues have hard hit the common man who cried to the Pharaoh for help which was not there. This caused resentment and opposition motivated by economic plight borne of the West tailored sanctions!

Why should Mugabe be blamed initially? About the current political turmoil you may blame Mugabe too, but know it is just desperate measures to save one's political soul, a product of the initial plan. Listen unbiasedly to Mugabe and his ZANU-PF's reasons too. The U.S. and the British have a reputation of orchestrating civic revolts, anti-governmental rebels, and insurgencies to oust heads of states they perceived selectively as potential enemies or dangers to their politically created 'national security issues'. If you don't trust me, then research on the Bay of Pigs, Libya's Muamar Gadafi, Tom Mboya versus Jomo Kenyatta, Afghanistan's Taliban-Osama(first ally, now foe), etc. In the Bay of Pigs saga, the U.S. C.I.A. trained rebels, approximately 300 to stage a coup guerrilla army to oust Cuba's president; they launched the badly thwarted mission from the Bay of Pigs. The CIA operatives in Kenya were exalting Mboya against Kenyatta whom they perceived as less friendly to the West, sanctions on Libya and Iraq failed as the economies were self sustaining and eventually turned Osama an enemy and a good pretext to attack and remove to murder the all-might Saddam, they sponsored splinter movements of separatists in the former U.S.S.R. so that the Union would break up and be fragile to reduce any threat politically and economically, etc!

So choosing Zimbabwe aint that new a phenomenon. The sanctions were not aimed at Mugabe but the people of South Africa in general. South African republic is an economic powerhouse recuperating from apartheid and no reason would be justified to target them with a vast white population still there. On the other side Zimbabwe was a fertile land whose oil was food or rather agricultural products. These two nations combined would have lifted South Africans from being over dependant on the West, and that is biblically condemned! So the target cropped up on its own, Mr. Robert Mugabe. Through him they have cut off Zimbabwe from their economic profits based on agriculture. Further sanctions forced many of them to become economic, more than political refugees, to the neighbouring state of South Africa and others where now resources are being exhausted, crime is high, and further economic discomfort aggravated to incite tensions, xenophobic in nature. This will cut out investors and development of S.Africa sighting increased insecurity and violence. The West, particularly America and the UK had considered all this all along. Their best tool in such petty nations that don't need warships or missiles to conquer, are the agents of propaganda, the press. They exaggerate everything good about the West and worst about the Africans (Mugabe) and the world buys it because our local media channels are poor to reach the world.
I wish we all blame also the west for their contributions in the Zimbabwean mess. And now even the international sports giant organisations like the International Cricket Council (ICC) for helping UK (England) wage its cold war on Zimbabwe. It is Taibu, playing cricket for Zimbabwe, not Mugabe. and the money earned would help his family and relations. So if Zimbabweans are banned from participating in sports activities, who is being punished here? It defeats logic if a country's government interferes with cricket management, they are banned by the world governing body of cricket; but here cricket wants to interfere with the government's policies!
Anyway, leave Mugabe with his Zimbabwe first, assure him of his autonomy and political autonomy, and you will have Zimbabwean democracy (not UK's or US's democracy) restored!

the west gone nuts

2008-06-26T09:24:00.003+01:00

Newlyweds Sharon Papo (left) and Amber Weiss (right) stand with Patti and David Weiss outside San Francisco City Hall after exchanging wedding vows on the first full day of legal same-sex marriages in California June 17, 2008. Gay marriage supporters see the move by the most populous U.S. state to allow same-sex weddings as an historic move long overdue, while opponents brand it a moral tragedy. REUTERS/Erin Siegal (UNITED STATES)

Ok, call me intolerant, archaich, stuck in the past, but i believe this is madness and it should end. So, the woman's parents are happy that their daughter has married another woman? They just don't know that had they followed the same path, the 'adorable' daughter would be absent...It is Francis Imbuga, the famous Kenyan playwright who said that when the madness of a nation afflicts an individual, perhaps, it is not enough to say that individual is mad!

who are the 'people' supporting dictators?

2008-06-24T17:22:00.001+01:00

This morning, this blog got great news; aboard it is a new contributor; a real intellectual—Denzil. He was convinced into joining this blog by Saffiyah (and I must say congrats) and he immediately went for my post on Tsvangirai’s political future, which I said was as good as wrapped up. He, like Socrates, had drunk from the poisoned chalice, I reasoned. But below, Denzil argued:

Well put article on Zimbabwe. But can I challenge you a bit? Does the faith of Zimbabwe lie in one man? Yes certainly, this was the one man that arose to take the podium, seize the moment and accept the challenge. However, sad to say that the challenge overwhelmed him. But even if he did become the next president will he have been effective? Why is our R. Mugabe so effective in his control? It definitely is not him…he does not yield the power without the people. Who sustains his dictatorship regime, it’s his subordinates. Africa is yet to learn from great leaders, even from one like Ghandi – resistance is uniting the masses. That’s where the strength lies. A rather controversial statement was made by the President of the ANC Youth league a few days ago…he said that they would be prepared to ‘kill’ to prevent the ANC President ZUMA from going to court…yes that may have been a bad statement but what the media forgot to stress was his next comment that if ZUMA is the next president of the country and does not meet the demands of free education etc for the young people, than they will remove him! For me that was the climax. The power lies in the hands of the people. To make or break an existing government.

Indeed, I want to take on the above assertion: “The power lies in the hands of the people”! I don’t know how much Denzil believes in this statement. As a matter of belief, it is great. We would all love to see the people in charge. We would love to see African democracies operate like it is in the West. Where, unimpressed by their president’s shirt, dog or even spouse, the people (and I mean real people) can decide to throw their president out of office.
But in Africa the tale is different—very different. The phrase “the people” once used in Africa is a decoy. A cover-up to advance some selfish motive by a selfish politician. When President Museveni wanted the constitution changed so that the clause limiting term limits for the presidency was scrapped, he claimed the “people” were agitating for that. What he did not say was that he had to bribe the MPs with sh5million to get the constitution amended. Yes—that is the ‘call of the people.”
But let’s go to our subject. Denzil says Mugabe is thriving because the “people” back him. Yes, people back Mugabe—but which people? Common Zimbabweans or the military chiefs? In the first round of voting, Mugabe gathered about 43% of the votes cast, as opposed to Tsvangirai’s 48%. Now, anyone with a firm footing in Africa will tell you that an opposition party does not pull that feat easily. You don’t trounce the government in power just like that. With a biased electoral commission, security forces against you that means a great mass of backers were in for Tsvangirai.
But of course we can not rule out that Mugabe has some supporters, everyone does. It is obvious that the people keeping Mugabe in power now are the military chiefs. The people, who command the Police to block MDC rallies. The fellows who mobilize unguided youth to wreak havoc on the streets of Harare. The thugs, like the Police chief, who this morning told Tsvangirai to leave the Dutch Embassy and “go home to sleep”. The “sleep” which could mean anything, literal or figurative.
Those are the ‘people’ backing Mugabe. There is no way a person who can’t afford sugar, salt or fuel back the man responsible for his misery. There is no way a citizen, whose family is broken up because some of them have had to emigrate in order to survive can back the person responsible for this social fragmentation. And those are the majority Zimbabweans!!!
But the hope again lies in what Denzil mentioned—in reference to Ghandi. “The power of the people shall prevail.” That is why I faulted Tsvangirai for pulling out; the people, however intimidated, I believed were going to humiliate Mugabe.

An Unfamiliar Husband

2008-06-23T14:12:00.006+01:00

Your spouse, one of the closest people to you in this life....right?

Wrong! For a large number of people (over 6 million in the Gulf) family life is but a fleeting pleasure they catch a glimpse of once or twice every few years.

Imagine a 46 year old man, living in a foreign country for the last 22 years. Back in his homeland, live his wife and 6 children. Admitting that life is hard, he still says “Alhamdulillah”, (praise be to god) and this stirs something inside me.

I was so ashamed for a man, a husband, father and grandfather, to be serving me my meal, clearing my table and taking orders from me. The country he has given his best years to, neither accepts him as a citizen, nor respects the time he has spent here, he is given no space to call his own, no time to read, meditate, introspect or pray, being cramped up with up to 20 other men, or even worse living in one of the labour camps! The architectural gem that the Middle East is is built on their sweat and blood! How can a human being do this to other human beings, what gives some people the right to subjugate others?

Is it money, for surely wealth should make us humble, and having more means giving more, for God says in the holy Quran -
64:16 Remain, then, conscious of God as best you can, and listen [to Him], and pay heed. And spend in charity for the good of your own selves: for, such as from their own covetousness are saved – it is they, they that shall attain to a happy state! [14]

Is it power, for surely those with power, in Muslim lands, would use it justly and give to each man his due, as God says –
16:90 BEHOLD, God enjoins justice, and the doing of good, and generosity towards [one's] fellow-men; [108] and He forbids all that is shameful and all that runs counter to reason, [109] as well as envy; [and] He exhorts you [repeatedly] so that you might bear [all this] in mind.

The only other reasons I can think of, are arrogance, and ignorance.

The situation is very much similar, in my home country, South Africa, but I remained oblivious to it for many years. As a consequence of apartheid, many men left their villages, to work on the mines in the cities, lured by tales of wealth and comfort, and dreams of providing for their families. Apartheid is over now, but the legacy of migrant workers is still very much alive, from domestic workers, casual labourers, miners etc, people are still forced to live away from their families, in bad conditions, for appalling wages.

How do governments and people with power allow such an abnormal situation to continue, year after year? This system works in such a way, that it allows no progress for generations to come. The probability is, that your domestic worker/gardener/driver, has a large family back home to support, his/her children will get a basic education, after which they will be forced to work to bring more income into the house . The work they do, will in most cases be the same as what their parents are doing, so they move to the city, and work as domestics/gardeners etc., and the cycle continues. The chances of him/her seeing the inside of a tertiary institution are very very slight!

Not only is this whole situation of spouses living away from each other and parents living away from their children unnatural, it is also a proven cause for many social ills, primary amongst them being promiscuity, prostitution and homosexuality! Here in the gulf, although pushed under the table, staggering statistics are emerging!

The family unit is designed to maintain balance in the community. Through it, all members of the family receive an outlet for their desires and their emotional and physical needs are taken care of, this in turn leads to a happy society.

The current situation is very far from that ideal unfortunately, and I believe it us, the people who employ these workers, who are responsible. We coax ourselves into believing that we are doing a good thing, by employing a poor uneducated person, paying them a wage beyond their expectations (a wage we would most likely spend in a day), and allowing them to go home every now and then. Re-evaluate the situation, and think of their circumstances, their feelings, hopes and dreams, think of every night spent away from their husbands and wives, every minute of pining for their young children, and every breath that speaks worry for aging parents.

Surely the workforce is a major part of life and the economy and we cannot just do away with it, but look at the prophetic example and see how he dealt with his slaves and servants, taking them as his own, eating with them, praying with them, even helping them in their work. The prophet Muhammad (PBUH) adopted his own slave, the famous Zaid ibn Harith, and considered him a son in every sense! On a journey once, after travelling some distance, he ordered his slave to sit in the camel, and he himself was holding the reins and walking in the desert as he believed that the slave should also take some rest like the Master! In his time, a slave was a normal functioning part of the society, encouraged to marry, take part in society, religion and politics!

As human beings, we should never ever forget about the dignity of our fellow brothers and sisters, no matter how poor, how menial their jobs or how “lowly” their status. Do not let their faces become a blur but recognize their individuality, if every one of us takes this step forward, imagine the domino effect it would create! Every person, has dreams and ambitions, every person wishes to progress, to develop and to live a life worth living, and no-one else should impede this natural desire of every human, for the sake of convenience! So what if your domestic or other employee has worked for you for 20 years, if you see potential for them to do something better, encourage them, help them and most importantly educate them!

Tsvangirai is committing suicide

2008-06-23T11:22:00.003+01:00

Just hours after debating with my friend Khadija whether Morgan Tsvangirai, the Zimbabwean opposition leader of the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) would pull out of the presidential run-off, the bolt hit us. I got home only to turn on the telly and see him make the decision. He could not continue exposing his supporters to “lethal violence” perpetuated by Robert Mugabe’s thugs.
In my earlier talk with Khadija, I had said whereas Tsvangirai had all the justification to pull out, it was my utmost hope that he would not. Now he has and from the word go---I want to show that this could be the biggest miscalculation of Tsvangirai’s political career.
First, let us get this straight. The political terrain in Africa has never been smooth. You do not expect a level playing field if you are an opposition candidate in Africa. Before the 2006 elections in Uganda, the main opposition leader, Kizza Besigye, was arrested on trumped up charges of rape. So, as incumbent President Museveni was going about campaigning freely, his opponent was shackled, making occasional appearances in court. Besigye’s wife, Winnie, took to parading their young son, Anselm at what should have been Besigye rallies. Only when the President had covered enough ground was Besigye released—a few weeks to the poll.
In Rwanda, Vice-President Kagame, who had set up a pseudo-democracy by letting Pasteur Bizimungu run the country for a while, shed off his coat and got Bizimungu arrested. He claimed the mantle and as we know today, Rwanda is a Police state. Dissent is harshly treated. I even believe that Mbeki was up to some games when he (albeit indirectly) orchestrated Zuma’s rape trail. In Egypt, the Muslim Brotherhood has had it rough as Mubarak plots to have his son take over. The list, in brief, is endless.
It should therefore have dawned on Tsvangirai, the day he took to politics that the faint-hearted do not thrive in this field. Success in politics does not come on a silver platter. You sweat for it, at times die for it. Look at Kenya; it took the deaths of close to 300 people before Kibaki could accept to share power with Raila Odinga—even when it was clear even to the blind that Kibaki had rigged. And we know that revolutions elsewhere have claimed lives in thousands and millions. So, Tsvangirai says 70 supporters have been killed in the run up to the elections and he calls it quits? That is a joke!!
And what did Tsvangirai think he would achieve by walking away from the polls? International condemnation that would yield nothing? For the past decade Britain and the US have taken to condemning Mugabe---imposing sanctions etc. But the megalomaniac has not moved even an inch. The US says it is going to raise the issue with the UN Security Council. But of what effect will that be? We know that the UN has provisions that allow for forceful intervention. But after the debacle in Somalia in 1994, I don’t think the US is ready to risk their marines on African soil. And with the Iraq invasion going haywire, a possible change in Washington in November, I don’t think that line (forceful removal) will work.
The regional bloc SADC has also proved to be a paper tiger. Apart from Levy Mwanawasa, the other presidents in the region are still revering their “liberator”. Mbeki, the regional mediator, is known to be the biggest coward in the region. He chooses to see things from a different perspective. He mooted the idea of a government of national unity, which Mugabe threw back to his face. Look at the nonsense he told Reuters after hearing of Tsvangirai’s decision:
"From our point of view it is still necessary that the political leadership of Zimbabwe should get together and find a solution to the challenges that face Zimbabwe."

So, it all comes back to one thing. Tsvangirai and Zimbabweans have the duty to uproot the cancer that is Mugabe. This will not be achieved by cowardice. The very reason Mugabe has unleashed thugs on people is because he is scared of defeat. His rumbles that only God can get him off the throne are an empty echo of a coward. The MDC should not have relented at this point. You do not snatch defeat from the jaws of victory just like that. The first round of voting was held in similar conditions but Tsvangirai came up on top. He has underestimated the will of Zimbabweans to change events. I was convinced that come Election Day, Mugabe was going to get a thrashing of his life. But see what Tsvangirai does—walks straight into the bastard’s net. Mugabe can now have more five years of madness!!! And Zimbabweans will look on as they slope further into the doldrums. Tsavangirai has joined the club of those who came very close--but never got the prize. His fate now depends on forces beyond him. He has subjected himself to oblivion and irrelevancy--in brief, he has committed political suicide!!!

Directions to Never-Never-Land: Two lefts and a right into sunny SA

2008-06-21T22:18:00.005+01:00

I apologise to my Makutano teammates and our valued readership for my tardiness in posting. There is a widening gulf between what I plan to do and what actually gets done of late and to quote Wordsworth, the world is too much with me.

There is a rumour doing the rounds in these parts that South Africa are in fact favourites to win the 2010 World Cup. It so happens that we know how to beat foreigners on home soil. Xenophobia is an ugly truth, one that need not be told in jest to realise. It is the kind of truth we would rather wish away. But in the noticeable absence of fairy god-mothers, I attended, on Tuesday, a debate on xenophobia that sought to take a critical look at government policy and make concrete proposals about how the country can move beyond the current impasse.

Organised by The Star newspaper, the evening followed the theme Never Again. A promise as much to the world, as it is to ourselves, to never again stoop to such levels of inhumanity. A Unisa graduate myself, I've always been rather intimidated by the University of Witwatersrand's Great Hall. Indeed our own ZK Matthews Great Hall may be said to be greater if not in size then, by name. There remains, however, something about Wits Great Hall that demands well, greatness. The night did not disappoint. Among us minions in the audience were such luminaries as, Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, who the Sowetan newspaper described the following day as lapping up the adulation, George Bizos, members of the diplomatic corps and other more colourful personalities like Robert McBride. The panel, itself was something of a political juggernaut, chaired by the other Mbeki, Moeletsi Mbeki, it consisted of Professor Barney Pityana, Principal and Vice Chancellor of the University of South Africa and as Mbeki added, well known for his analysis on the ANC president, Professor Wilmot James; Western Cape Premier, Ebrahim Rasool; representing the ANC, Mohammed Valli Moosa, who attended instead of ANC Deputy President, Kgalema Mthlanthe and Independent Policy Analyst Ebrahim-Khalil Hassen. I was quite taken with this particular Mbeki, he displayed a disarming sense of humour and spoke with the kind of private school accent that reminded me of Antjie Krog's description of an address by the Queen of England in Country of my skull, 'the Accent that has intimidated half the earth for centuries'.

Crucially, research by the Human Sciences Research Council in the xenophobic hotspots has found:

A lack of faith in the government's capacity to deliver services;
Unhappiness over migration policy that is "corrupt, unregulated and out of control";
Competition for housing and jobs with a staggering unemployment rate among 16-30 year olds;
Hardship arising from rising fuel and food prices.

Adam Habib, vice chancellor of Wits and a contributor to the Never Again supplement to The Star newspaper on the day, says of the so-called xenophobic hotspots:

(T)hink of where this barbarism manifested itself and who it was directed at. It did not occur in the middle and upper middle-class suburbs. Nor was it directed at the Americans and Europeans or the countless other foreign skilled workers that live in our midst. Rather, it was directed against poor Africans who reside cheek by jowl with South Africa's marginalised in the shanty towns. Neither did it occur in the rural areas where some semblance of community still exists. It exploded in the shanty towns where social cohesion has broken down, unemployment is rife, and many eke a living on the margins of formal society.

South Africa's cabinet ministers bristle when this argument is made. They argue that if poverty was the cause then the whole of Africa would have exploded in xenophobic violence. But what they do not care to understand is that it has nothing to do with poverty. Inequality is the main culprit. It creates what scientists call relative deprivation, the social foundation on which revolts are constructed. So it is far more dangerous than poverty and has been growing throughout our transition.

Immediately I was struck by the similarities in this thread of the debate to that made in the World Economic Forum on Africa (see below) when crime was discussed. There, Mark Lamberti, representing big business, argued against crime stemming from poverty and inequality, saying that countries like Brazil, India and China had similar levels of inequality without our crime levels. I admit, at the time I was intrigued by Lamberti's comments, perhaps mainly because my inner-capitalist self and its book and shoe gathering ways leaped at the prospect of reprieve from any sense of complicity. While I continue to agree with Lamberti that South Africa's crime problem is a complex one, not easily explained, Adam Habib has forced further analysis. Poverty and inequality are related, as Habib subsequently clarified. 'Poverty is a result of inequality', the unequal distribution of resources in our society. The social ills from which we are reeling however, run far deeper than a simple sense of, 'You have what I don't so I'll take it,' or even, 'You are a threat to what I'm entitled so away with you'. South Africa has recently overtaken Brazil as the most unequal society in the world. Of course inequality is not unique to South Africa, even the wealthiest nations in the world suffer from inequality but the height and extent to which South African society is divided by it is fatal. Inequality has torn the very moral fibre upon which a society is built. Adam Habib mentions Relative Depravation, referring to the discontent people feel when they compare their lot with others and find that they have less than their peers. I think the strength of an unequal society to divide and to rise among the have-nots sentiments of being cheated is undermined.

Bongani Madondo in his column for The Times, last week, neatly summed up South African society:

Almost every one of us is tied to a township or a village somehow. We all know the truth. We have all seen the sad state of service delivery, poverty, crime, and the disintegration of families....

Truth is, we, the black middle class, and the white folk-yes, I am generalising- have long been satisfied with our lot, minus the nagging thingy about Tito's crazy interest rates, escalating price of sushi, and oh dear, aren't the Woolies staff a tad too slow sometimes? We have been cocooned from reality for far too long.

So inequality goes a long way in explaining the root of it all, but does it justify it?

"There's absolutely no excuse for it," Valli Moosa punched out. "Like sexism, racism, religious bigotry and other pathologies, there's no way of justifying xenophobia – not even talk about poverty, unemployment or a poor home affairs system ...can do that. The main job before us is to build human solidarity", Moosa said, "and this does not only mean among the races making up the rainbow nation, but beyond." "There is no excuse for xenophobia," he reiterated. "It is evil. We must work every day at eradicating it by changing the minds of the people."

Ebrahim Rasool noted that bubbling just beneath the surface of society, is a culture of intolerance. "How do we deal with a brother evil and leave out the sister evil?" he asked. "We can never hope to triumph over xenophobia, which happens out in the public, when we leave sexism in the privacy of our homes to fester. These are all demons. If we remain quiet about one evil, we open the door for one sister, like xenophobia, to come in. The point I'm making is that we must be consistent in the way we fight this whole family of intolerance. We can't pick and choose our battles, otherwise one will explode on to the scene and shatter our smugness that we are Simunye, the rainbow nation." "What next after the 1300 arrests and the humanitarian relief?" he continued to ask. "We must all take responsibility. We must oppose any kind of intolerance, – gender-based or religious – and preach acceptance."

Rasool's address was impressive, by far the most rousing of the evening. It left one of my newly-made acquaintances chanting, 'Rasool for president!' but left another unfazed, 'A politician using rhetoric!' he countered.

It is estimated that there are something like six million 'illegal immigrants' living throughout South Africa. Research shows that a staggering 90% of this population do not intend returning to the countries of their birth, despite the hostility they have recently encountered. Indicative, certainly of the dire conditions crippling the continent and as Professor Pityana pointed out, South Africa is hardly overpopulated. He also noted the fuzziness in determining exactly who a foreigner is, lest we forget that many South Africans were wrongfully targeted. "Ours is a violent society," said Pityana, "where people wantonly take the law into their own hands." He referred to the statement by ANC Youth League president Julius Malema that they "were prepared to kill and die for Zuma" as the height of lawlessness and a manifestation of a crisis in leadership.

Academic and Immigration expert, Professor Wilmot James, stressed South Africa is a nation-state, whose government is obliged to establish a more secure border. A comment that left a Nigerian immigrant in the gathering irate, '(He) thinks he owns South Africa!'

To whom does South Africa indeed belong?

South Africa is a Never-Never-Land, a place some six million people have sought escape from biting realities elsewhere. The very presence of these people within our borders indicates that South Africa offers some hope. And while many, many Africans, like South Africans, feel entitled to the hay made in the sunshine, it is not always sunny in South Africa. And unlike the other Never-Never Land, we do have to grow up here.

My Quote!

2008-06-20T15:19:00.002+01:00

No God, No Peace
Know God, Know Peace!

Obama--it does not matter; we should celebrate

2008-06-09T16:26:00.003+01:00

This is a rejoinder to Khadijja's Obama--Afromania. Of course not much of her personal opinion was embedded in that piece, apart from the concluding remar, which i agree with. We should not raise our stakes too high about an Obama presidency.

But I take issue with a comment by some fellow there that Obama will lead the US into socialism. He backs it up with scanty, uncordinated remarks that Obama made at several speeches. Obviously that must have been some Republican mole. How else, apart from ignorant, can you describe someone who does not know the checks and balances in the American political system that a President can not overnight overhaul an entire economic system?

True America has a recession now, but it is foolhardy to think that in reviewing and checking it, Obama (if he becomes president), will drastically change things.

Just as a back-up on the cautios way Africa should embrace Obama, I will repost here, what I had run on my blog www.dwanyama.blogspot.com. Hope it makes good reading.

I am still reeling from the excitement of Barack Obama clinching the Democratic Party nomination at the beginning of this week. I am one guy, who every morning, goes through all the wires to get the latest on Obama. I have been doing that since November last year. I have subscribed to the Obama website http://www.barackobama.com/ and I am expectantly awaiting an autographed T-shirt of the man from the US (Solomon, get done with this quickly—I am anxious).You, therefore, must understand my joy when finally he reached the delegate threshold to claim the victory against the unrelenting Hillary Clinton.So, what is in it for me, that (like millions others) I should be preoccupied or as Khadijja would say, be obsessed with this Kenyan-American? This question partially offers the answer.Obama is a guy from next door. As a Ugandan, I identify Kenya as a next-door neighbour. For other Africans, it is a question of someone from the same continent rising to the highest office on this planet. I am sure people elsewhere have found a way of associating with this enigma of a politician. Indonesians remember him as a guy who attended catholic school there in his younger days. Muslims do not believe that he has discarded his Hussein name, etc. A friend of mine has christened him the “world president”.I think if that position existed (world president), one person we can be sure now, who would have taken it, is Obama. I am assuming Africans will not rig.Ok, back to Obama. If he floors McCain in November, trust me, more than half the world will erupt with joy. I don’t know whether he knows what he’s shouldering. In fact Americans should do us a favour and vote him. if not for his abilities, than at least to save us of the deaths that will come as a result of shock, stress, high-blood pressure, in case Obama loses.Look, this is serious. I have just finished reading Obama’s “Audacity of Hope”. But whenever I would pass with that book in the market, bar, taxi, office, everyone would immediately recognise the guy—and say something, even if factually wrong. That is the fascination. So, don’t say I am kidding when I say people will die, if he loses.As an African, let me make this clear. Obama’s presidency will not change much about American policy on this continent. It will continue aiding rogue regimes, as long as they serve their interests and go for those that mean nothing to them.The President George Bush AIDS Relief plan started in 2004 will be maintained, probably Congress will add a few dollars to it, but the scourge will continue to haunt this continent.In his first year in power Obama will make a tour of Africa; probably five-nation tour, including his homeland Kenya. The madness on the continent will hit fever-pitch as millions throng to see “their son”. He will obviously condemn corruption and call for greater accountability but that will be all.In brief, I am saying, as we run amok over this historical milestone, let us not set our hopes too high. Let us not think the VISA entry conditions in the US will be softened. Let us not imagine that Africa will become America.No. we just have to get back to our work. Plunge in even harder. Break a sweat and only be inspired that if Obama could come from that far, break all the myths and barriers, than probably we too, may one day, get there.

Afro-Obamania?!

2008-06-09T07:15:00.007+01:00

An Obama Africa support group? Forgive me for wondering if Mr. Obama has instead won the Democratic party's ticket for a nomination to the sovereignty of Africa. While I can understand the excitement at Obama's nomination in the US, what does Africa have to do with it?

Such is the excitement in east Africa that newly-appointed Kenyan Prime Minister Raila Odinga has even claimed a distant relation to the Illinois senator. Does the prospect of an American president with African heritage bode anything at all for the continent itself?

An article, ' What Obama could teach Africa', in the Washington Post yesterday http://newsweek.washingtonpost.com/postglobal/njoroge_wachai/2008/06/what_obama_could_teach_africa.html#more

raised varying, but fiery comments:

Anonymous wrote:
Here is the recipe of his "success" in a nutshell. Be a consummate BS artist.Create the illusion of a victim class of which you are clearly a charter member - even though you and your disgusting wife are millionaires.Get the universities - which are populated with empty minds quickly being filled with liberal nonsense - to support you. Why? Because you have a track record of successful legislation? Because you are sqeaky clean? Because you have exhibited good judgement?No. Because of the exact opposite. But you can cultivate the myth of the underdog and the myth of having answers to unanswerable questions. Are you a staunch America supporter? No. But then the universities have been going full tilt to teach that America is the root of all evil in the world. Not because they participated in any of the wonderful things America actually has done - but because they avoided risk and stood on the side lines and jeered.

Look at Mugabe - and see Obama. He destroyed the white infrastructure and thereby destroyed Zimbabwe. His platform was predicated on the promise of ignorance and hatred. It worked - for him.

Mike in Reno wrote:
How the world turns here we have an African advising African leaders to adopt Obama's policies while Michelle and Barak are preparing to implement African socialist principles. In her speech introducing Barak at the University of Reno here in Nevada Michelle called for "Economic Justice." For most in the audience the term flew over their heads but for political science majors they recognize the term which is only used in Socialist rhetoric and refers to the need to redress perceived inequalities in the distribution of wealth. Chavez's policies are a good example of implementing the "economic justice " agenda. Zimbabwe's Mugabe policies which have destroyed Zimbabwe's once vibrant economy into the socialist paradise of equal misery for all is another.

In Obama's Minnesota "tonight is our moment" speech he said "we need to reward work not just wealth" as though wealth is unearned and magically appears without work.This is also a socialist principle "consciousness is determined by being" meaning only work as defined by the state produces anything of value all else in unearned and unjustly taken from someone else. This concept forgets to include creativity, risking ones own time and money to launch a start up and intellectual property and entrepreneurship.The most extreme example of a socialist trying to implement this policy was Pol Pot of Cambodia when he marched all people out of their homes in the cities of Cambodia one sweltering afternoon into the jungle and forced them to work the earth literally in state run forced labor farms.His idea was that the act of "working the land" would transform their bourgeois corrupt notions into pure workers paradise thoughts. You know "from each according to their ability to each according to their need" another socialist notion. The Soviets showed us how it works out in practice. The people in the soviet system used to smile sardonically and say " they pretend to pay us so we pretend to work."Should we look forward to the new Department of Excess Profits Redistribution in the second Obama term? If so we shouldn't be surprised if our boat, snow mobile, third car, motorcycle, summer home, stock accounts, inheritances from our dad and mom and grandparents, need to be included in "the count" for Obama's excess profits redistribution.
Maybe these are some of the green jobs Barak Obama has been referring to, thousands of new wealth redistribution agents and excess profits checkers will certainly need to be hired creating a wonderful economic boom, as they redistribute your green money.
And then this pearl of wisdom:

If Barack Obama becomes president, I predict the USA will go the way of Rhodesia, South Africa and all the other corrupt, mismanaged hellholes in that dark continent. Black run countries just do not remain prosperous or productive. If Africa is to be taken as a model for the future, America is in grave danger.
George ManuelianSan Jose, CA

It is tragic, that in a purportedly enlightened world the sentiments driving the notion of Africa, as 'the dark continent' continue to thrive. I have no beef with Obama, perhaps he will go on to be a great president of the USA, but I think our expectations of him as such, should be tapered.

Africa's Image, manufactured-perception dogging the real deal.

2008-06-06T08:57:00.017+01:00

If wars, election chaos, xenophobia, genocide, corruption and Aids are indeed Africa's only news then the ostensible thrust of African journalism amounts to aping western standards of newsworthiness. There is no denying the problems crippling the continent, but is that all there is to Africa?

The recently adjourned, World Economic Forum for Africa at Cape Town's International Convention Centre was themed,“Capitalising on Opportunity”. The continent's first staging of The Fifa World Cup™ in 2010 was a major focus of the three-day forum, as the event is seen as 'arguably the biggest opportunity for the re-branding and reinforcing of a positive image of Africa'.

On Thursday, the panel that included, Mark Lamberti, chairperson of Massmart (SA), Wendy Luhabe, chairperson of of the Industrial Development Corporation (SA), Betty Maina, CE of the Kenya Association of Manufacturers, and Simon Kolawale, editor of Nigeria's This Day tackled the subject of crime. Well known, to be one of South Africa's major concerns, the panelists however, disagreed with the notion of crime being a uniquely South African problem, and instead labelled it a 'continent-wide crisis'. While a variety of competing explanations were offered in discussing the problem, Wendy Luhabe felt crime was a function of poverty and inequality. 'Africa is a wealthy continent, but its people are poor. Millions of Africans live on less than a dollar a day. This obscene economic gap is responsible for the high levels of crime and corruption,' she said. Lamberti, hoever, argued that South Africa's high levels of crime were a consequence of the parlous state of the criminal justice system on the one hand, and on the other, a consequence of social ills. Lamberti also pointed out that many countries , like India and China, have horrific poverty and inequality without our crime levels. It appears then, the crime problem is not easily explained away. It is an insidious problem, that is the product of a combination of factors, but how is it best tackled?

President Mbeki, earned the headline, 'Target: Mbeki' from Independent Newspapers after he publicly disagreed with the forum about there being a crisis of leadership on the continent. While President Mbeki's oft-published caricature as an ostrich-type figure, with its head in the sand while the world about him falls apart, would certainly deter the President himself from being a shining beacon of African leadership, he would not accept the criticism or the generalisations about the continent's leadership."There is much better clarity in the political leadership on the continent," he maintained. "There is greater clarity on how to respond to economic challenges. And there is an appreciation of the need to deal with conflict." In terms of governance, the continent was "evolving in the correct direction".While avoiding any mention of Zimbabwe, he used Nigeria as an example of the way the quality of leadership had changed. Mbeki told delegates that military strongman Sani Abacha had lied to him about the fate of activist Ken Saro Wiwa, promising he would not be harmed, only to hang him once he (Mbeki) left Nigeria. All these years later, Nigeria was developing in a good and positive way, with President Umaru Yar'Adua reviewing the electoral system.

Coca-Cola chairperson Neville Isdell, a speaker at the closing session of the forum, said he agreed with President Mbeki in that there has been change. This is underscored by the level of economic growth and investment in Africa. One can identify where improvement is taking place by looking where investment is going.There is also change at another level, in the growth of a middle class and a new educated elite, who have shaken off the shackles of the past and have a new view of Africa.This in itself has begun engineering democratic change and also underpins it.

Afro-pessimists would have had us believe that Africa could never host an event of the stature of the The Fifa World Cup™ , much less, develop the requisite infrastructure in time. Yet, just as the delegates of the forum in the picture above, visited the stadium in Green Point, Cape Town to note progress on construction, I was heartily warmed during a recent trip to the area around the FNB stadium in Johannesburg to note the stadium rapidly growing into the calabash shell of the artist's impression.

what is Africa's true image?

2008-06-05T08:15:00.001+01:00

Look guys, this is going to rub you the wrong way—but I have no apologies. First, let me thank Khadijja for making the point about Africa’s image, albeit majorly through other people’s lenses. (Were you avoiding responsibility Kay?).
I will begin with the discourse by Khatu Mamaila on the image of Africa as represented by the media. He does mention that Africa has received to a great extent ‘negative press’ and silently roots for more positive coverage.
He (and many others in this thought school) says Africa has a load of many other great things that can be covered and a more appealing image of the continent created.
Let me state this first; I am an African and very proud of my roots and heritage. I have never known people warmer and more hospitable than Africans. That many of us still preserve extended family systems just shows how we are ready to stand by each other.
But to me, that is all there is to ‘celebrate’ about being African. Real life in Africa tells another story. I love Saffiya’s review on “Clouds over Conakry”. She points out the cancers that define Africa; tribalism, contemporary standards of modern day world (what is this Saffiya?) and religion. My diagnosis though would expose more tumours; hunger, HIV/AIDS, greed and megalomaniacs.
So, where should the press’ loyalty lie? In exposing the malignant evils of this continent or celebrating the limited pluses? I go for the former. And this has its roots in the age-old maxim about what makes news: If a dog bites a man, that is no news, but if a man bites a dog—surely that is a front page headline.
Look, we are expected to have sufficient food, our leaders are expected to respect their countries’ constitutions, jobs should be offered on merit, resources must be fairly distributed. That is the normal world. But these are hard by to come across in this continent.
For some of us, who gravel through to the middle class, we enclose ourselves in our apartments, watch our TVs and soaps, sip wine and assume the over 70% wallowing in poverty out there do not exist.
Our leaders, with impunity, plunder our resources, detain opponents, defile constitutions and we just cheer on.
Let me just put my theory to test here.
South Africa, the leading economy—we saw xenophobic attacks recently. The true story is that Mbeki’s economic policies have alienated many poor people.
Egypt; supposedly a flourishing economy--- President Mubarak is preparing his son to undemocratically take over power.
Botswana; great democracy and economy---about 47% HIV/AIDS prevalence rates.
Kenya; the beacon of East Africa---recently rigged presidential elections and tribal clashes.
Nigeria; leading oil exporter; the world champions in corruption
The list is endless!
Look, unless we style up (which I don’t see in the near future), Africa deserves no positive press---I mean there are no positives to ‘press’ in this continent.

Don

Clouds over Conacry - Film Review

2008-06-04T18:15:00.002+01:00

This movie, truly fits the phrase, "The Africa they don't show you", like a glove.

Directed by Cheick Fantamady Camara,a Guinean,this movie analyses three important identity crisis's facing Africa today, namely, religion, tribalism, and the more contemporary standards of the modern day world.

The film follows a journalist, who is trying to reconcile these three contrasting ideals in his life. It exposes the everyday life of Africans, beyond the popular war-torn images we are so used to. It also explores gender roles and the controversial "honour killings", while interweaving humour and satire. The end, however, comes as a big shock!

Africa, as we know it, is a continent being stretched in different directions, what with the legacy of colonialism, as well as indigenous cultures, religions and tribalism. Likewise, the identity of an African, is a somewhat confusing phenomenon, take me as en example, I am a contradiction to myself! I am a Muslim, South African, female, native English speaker, with Indian ancestry, and an African heart :)

For a good look into Africa, and to gain a better understanding of the philosophies that shape it, this is a must see!

For a detailed review see http://www.filmref.com/journal/archives/2007/04/clouds_over_conakry_2007.html

Coup Avenged- Armed Forces Deployed

2008-06-03T10:40:00.003+01:00

A Place of Convergence

Convergence is the coming together of separate entities. Makutano, is a place of convergence. It is a platform for Africans to raise their voices above the din of traditional media and flout false perceptions with insights into the reality.

Khatu Mamaila, deputy editor of South Africa's City Press, speaking at the annual media conference of the Communication Students of the University of South Africa (COMSA) in 2006, extrapolates on the quandary in which Africa finds itself in the media:

Many of us did not know anything about Rwanda before the genocide of 1994. What about Burundi? The sad reality is that Africans made news when they were in distress. We always see faces on children with disproportionally huge tummies, covered with blue flies. We see shocking images of people dying of Aids. We see children playing hide and seek with automatic rifles. We see bodies, beheaded bodies littered in the city centre in various African capitals.

As a journalist, I will be the first to say reality should be reflected as it is. These images should not be hidden. People ought to know the truth. If we accept that people should see the truth, then we will also know that the African story is much more than just about coups, wars, Aids and famine. We should also see smiling Africans in the media. We need to be told of peaceful democracies in Tanzania, Botswana, Mozambique and many other countries where governments are changed through democratic means. We also need to be told of economic transformation and of how Africans are increasingly becoming global players in the world economy. If we do that, then we shall have started on a road of helping ourselves to identify with ourselves and our continent.
(Mamaila K, September 2006)

As a place of convergence, Makutano is also an apt depiction of converging media. Online journalism is not confined to the highly polished, online editions of the mainstream media. News-orientated blogs have become an inextricable part of online journalism. In Reporting War, Stuart Allan says of blogs:

Steven Levy (2003), writing in a Newsweek Web exclusive, suggested that blogs "finally found their moment" as bombs were dropped on the city of Baghdad. The formal initiation of hostilities, he maintains, and the "variegated nature of this particular conflict, called for two things: an easy-to-parse overview for news-junkies who wanted information from all sides, and a personal insight that bypassed the sanitizing Cuisinart of big-media editing. In Levy's view, blogs were able "deliver on both accounts". Adopting a similar line of argument were those who pointed to the success of blogs in attracting attention, especially that of individuals largely indifferent to mainstream reporting (here young people are frequently mentioned), by virtue of their shared intimacy. "I think that sort of clarity of voice and immediacy is more possible on Web logs than in print media", argued Dean Allen of textism.com. "I can't think of another broadcast medium that has such a potential for directness. Someone reporting live from the battlefield for CNN can't come close".... Commenting on this type of "horizontal" communication, Glenn Harlan Reynolds (2003) of InstaPundit.com noted wryly that "the term 'correspondent' is reverting to its original meaning of 'one who corresponds' rather than the more recent one of well-paid microphone-holder with good hair."
(Allan, 2004)

While my fellow South Africans remain mired in questioning what it means to be South African in the aftermath of the recent xenophobic violence, I take the cue from
Thabo Mbeki's rousing, iconic speech in parliament as the then-deputy president, 'I am an African'.

Here we go

2008-06-03T08:49:00.002+01:00

This is a coup---and you will forgive me. I call it a coup because the inaugural post on this blog should have come from a young woman called Khadija Patel. She is the one who sold to me this idea of a joint blog for young African voices. She told me (and rightly so), that we lack platforms as young people that give us ample space to tackle, voice, brainstorm on issues close to our hearts and societies. Most of the media (like the one I toil for) are mere government rags (mouthpieces) that spew out propaganda at the cost of analytical thinking.
So, Khadija suggested that we create and popularise a platform that will enable us to shout our voices hoarse (if not for reform purposes, at least for carthasis) and lo! i could not agree more.
So, this is how we got to 'Makutano'--or the convergence point. Of course, we may not converge on everything, actually i expect more divergences--but I recall a line about unity in diversity.
Ok, the bloodless coup is over. We should get talking through this blog. And please let's invite many more people to it. Let this be the platform for young African voices.
Don