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21:44
Fear Factor Reigns
» For Love and Money Fear Factor Reigns
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17:01
Africa - The New Frontier (Part 1)
» Rants, Raves & Reviews Yes... Africa gets a bad rep... and often well deserved but there are interesting & positive developments on the continent...
Piracy
Not a good sign but at least it has united the Russians, Ukrainians and Americans... who all want to make sure the pirates don't win out. My solution is simple... BOMB the somalis back to the middle ages... no, even further back... make the coast of somalia a no-sailing zone for anyone who is somali (or even looks like a somali)...
Uganda
Uganda is making efforts to ensure the oil wealth is not wasted or skimmed off like the nigerians do... I do not expect it to be perfect after all theft in Africa seems ingrained among most politicians... but at least they could do much better than the nigerians.
Uganda's other mineral resources are attracting attention again. I hope they manage them well.
Of course... Uganda is also becoming the transit point for goods to Sudan, Congo and Rwanda...
And Uganda has 4 telecom players while Kenya has only 3. What's more... Uganda is set to have 2 more... HITS and I-Tel.
The same goes for Ghana who have an election this year... who have oil as well as being a transit point was many W.African countries.
Rwanda & Congo
Rwanda and Congo have a love-hate affair that started when the then Zairean government supported the Hutus against the Tutsis. As is eastern Congo has a strong Tutsi influence. Paul Kagame (prez of Rwanda & a Tutsi) and Laurent Nkunda (a Tutsi general who heads the 'rebels' in eastern Congo) have a dream of 'greater Rwanda' that is Tutsi dominated. After the Hutus massacred over 1 million Tutsis... one can't blame the Tutsis in securing the borders.
That said... there is huge potential in Congo and Rwanda will become a powerhouse if it annexes eastern Congo. Furthermore, the discipline that Kagame exhibits will make Rwanda the pride of Africa. If only they had a seaport... like Singapore.
BTW, Zain is looking at setting up shop in Rwanda. I definitely support the move. And it seems that Zain will put in decent infrastructure as Rwanda wants to become an ICT hub.
Ecobank Rights & New Issue
Ecobank got hit by the financial turmoil & had to extend the Offer to 31 Oct 2008. I hope they can collect the cash they need but poor luck with the timing. I think they should have dual-listed in Kenya as well since they bought 75% of EABS. As is they are listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, Ghana Stock Exchange & BVRM.
gaddafi
Of course... what would Africa without the crazies? So gaddafi wants to be the king of kings?
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11:33
What Those Campaigning For 2012 Do Not Know
» You Missed This In the relatively calm political waters that is Kenya these days, Prime Minister Raila Odinga kicked off the storm by saying in a thinly veiled barb aimed at his political rival Kalonzo Musyoka that politicians should concentrate on service delivery to the electorate rather than in campaigns for 2012.
Vice president Kalonzo Musyoka replied quickly trying to deflect the barb by saying that he too thought it was a bad idea to campaign now for 2012 when the electorate were waiting for service delivery. The VP licked his lips as he usually does and said nothing but repeat what the Prime Minister said (some strategy). But this was the comedy of the absurd because the truth is that the Vice President has been campaigning hard for 2012.
But the most interesting and brave comment on the issue came from Justice Minister Martha Karua (that woman has balls I tell you). She declared that she was well able to work for the people and at the same time continue with her presidential campaign for 2012. She emphasized that those complaining were running scared concerning her presidential bid but that would not stop her (and her so-called unstoppable march)..
Gacoka MP Mutava Musyimi jumped into the fray and said that it was very wrong for politicians to start campaigning for 2012 when they were yet to fulfill the current mandate given to them by the electorate. The reverend implied that it was bordering on the immoral to do such a detestable thing.
In the midst of all this, too many of the usual loud mouths were silent. And their silence is deafening. But I am getting ahead of myself. Let us first examine this issue of campaigns for 2012.
The truth of the matter is that as much as I admire Martha Karua, I am a little surprised that she has not stopped to ask herself why she is dancing herself lame on an almost empty dance floor. Why is it that the dance floor seems to be so empty? Apart from the man at the corner there licking his lips as he talks unconvincing sweet nothings, as usual (the honorable VP who is the least popular presidential candidate to have ever contested the presidency from Ukambani ever since the late Paul Ngei made his attempt in the 1960s with his Akamba People’s Party) the floor is empty.
For somebody contesting the highest office in the land, Martha whom I greatly admire for her courage and achievements as a woman however seems to have very little “feel” for the true mood in the country. Kenyans are not only not interested in these presidential campaigns that are said to have started, but they are disgusted and fed up with the political class as a whole.
The reason why the dance floor is empty is because most in the 10th parliament have correctly read the mood of the people and have opted for silence because they haven’t the slightest clue what they are supposed to do.
Kenya has changed forever and mark my words, the leading faces in the next general elections will barely be recognizable.
It really is very simple and my apologies for repeating this illustration in dozens of posts in this blog but I am afraid I can hardly find a better analogy to illustrate exactly what is going on here.
Think of the dog in the village that is so cowardly that when you cough it jumps. Then after years of abuse one day some not-so-clever guy corners it in some wall where it has nowhere to run. Suddenly the poor dog sees red and all the years of abuse and stones that have pelted it from every little boy in the village who has learnt to throw stones flashes across its’ mind. Suddenly that dog becomes very dangerous and the man who has cornered it cannot believe his eyes and is torn to pieces.
That cowardly dog that has reached its’ end is the Kenyan voter. Prepare to see the political class being torn into pieces, including all the big names some Kenyans like to worship.
So whoever wants to campaign for 2012 is very welcome to do so, at least some of them will be able to tell their grandchildren one day that they actually campaigned for the presidency in 2012. But I bet you that they will not want to discuss the number of votes they ended up getting.
Affordable packaging machines (hand sealers and foot sealers) to help you launch your small business.
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11:05 A Quick Word About the Displaced African Podcast
» The Displaced African Three quick things I just wanted to mention about the Displaced African podcast:
1) I finally fixed the technical issues so you can go back and download any of the Displaced African podcasts you want.
2) Because I have fixed the podcast tech issues you can also subscribe to the Displaced African podcast on itunes and get all the latest podcasts direct to your ipod using instructions in the video below:
3) Finally, I finally got my most popular podcast, Opinions on Melbourne from Children, transcribed so you can head on over to the post and read the text version of the podcast.
Any questions and I am right here to help.
Have one of those days that’s so super, it has a hero named after it,
Mwangi
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10:39
Supeme Court denies Troy Davis
» Black Looks The US Supreme Court has denied Troy Davis a new hearing effectively ending his hope of submitting new evidence in his favour. “The Supreme Court’s decision is truly shocking, given that significant evidence of Davis’ innocence will never have a chance to be examined,” said Larry Cox, executive director for AIUSA. “Faulty eyewitness identification [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Supeme Court denies Troy Davis", url: "http://www.blacklooks.org/2008/10/supeme_court_denies_troy_davis.html" });
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8:34
Mobile Phones in Crisis & Disaster Situations
» White African This morning I had the honor of putting on a workshop at MobileActive ‘08 with Robert Kirkpatrick, of InSTEDD, and Christopher Fabian, of UNICEF. Both of them are doing some amazing work in the field of disaster and crisis response, using all different types of technology, but specifically what people carry in their pockets all over the world: the mobile phone.
InSTEDD has a number of ongoing projects, generally thinking about ways to use technology to help organizations collaborate better in some of the harshest disaster environments in the world. You’ll find their tech guys everywhere, from Cambodia to hurricane Ike. Their Mesh4x and SMS GeoChat technology is incredibly important, and I foresee it being used in many applications in the future.
Takeaways: Free, Open Source, Customizable
UNICEF has two interesting skunkworks-like projects (among many more) that they talked about today. The Bee, which allows communication, connectivity and data access in field conditions where such technologies are often difficult or impossible to use (video of the old version of the Bee). Christopher also talked about RapidSMS, an SMS and voice data gathering tool that is currently being used in Northern Uganda. It was interesting to hear each of us talk about our projects and how we each have an immense amount of respect for what each of the other groups is doing. Ushahidi’s focus is on gathering distributed data from civilians for visualization, InSTEDD is focused on collaboration, and UNICEF is trying to figure out how that works within groups and communities.
One consistent message is this: every crisis situation differs, so we need to build tools that are open and free for anyone to access. It’s a little like all of us creating different Lego pieces that go into the Lego box for everyone else to use.
Ushahidi needs to figure out how to incorporate both RapidSMS and SMS GeoChat. UNICEF’s Bee needs to get Mesh4x embedded in their device - which has both open source hardware and software. There are other tools, like Sahana, that we need to learn how to incorporate into our systems as well - or at the least make possible to interface between when people need that specific mix of tools in their particular situation.
Lastly, but probably most importantly, we all see that developing within the context of the areas of the world where these disaster or crisis situations are happening is vital. UNICEF has developers in a couple different African countries. InSTEDD’s devs are training local devs in all of the countries that they go to. Ushahidi has 85% of our dev team in Africa. It’s a trend, and a good one - making sure that the people build the tools using the devices and limitations in which they will be used.
Look for big things stemming from this meet up soon.
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1:32
Thinking in Black and White
» Startups in Kenya I recently joined a group called toastmasters, whose objective is to help its members improve their speech-making abilities. Here is my first speech called the icebreaker, that is supposed to introduce me to the other members.
Thinking in Black and White
Madame toast master, fellow toastmasters and guests.
My form two English teacher was Ms. Koch, an American with a Belgian ancestry. She asked us to call her Ms. K as her name did not lend itself easily to pronunciation by an African tongue. During one group session where we could move around the class interacting with other students and the teacher she asked me what kind of writing I liked most. Wanting to give an impressive answer I furrowed my brow a while and replied “creative writing”. Ms. K reflected on my response, and I smugly awaited praise for my clever answer. “But Harry” she replied “all writing is creative.”
I stood there feeling dumb, my smugness worn down by her simple logic. I half-grunted, half-mumbled to acknowledge her correction, and quickly shuffled away. She smiled patiently after me, as a teacher who knows more than her student would.
She was right of course. Writing to me was creative and fun. I had started writing outside school at an early age. Sometimes it was a story, but more often it was just a random jumbling of ideas that I wanted to see in paper.
Writing was a behaviour I picked up from my environment; I grew up surrounded by publications and journals written by my lecturer father and scientist mother. While I was still in primary school I remember being punished many days for running around and generally causing a ruckus while they worked on a paper or thesis.
My mother would sometimes ask me to proof-read her writing, perhaps not so much because she believed a 10 year old could really edit a scientific paper, but because she probably knew I easily got bored and the task would help me stay out of trouble or noisemaking. Proofing had a secondary and more lasting effect. I came to appreciate communicating difficult concepts in my mom’s simple, orderly writing. Scientific ideas were broken down into understandable points and even with fourteen-lettered words, the meaning came across clearly.
Academic journals and books formed a large part of our modest home library and took precedence over most other forms of entertainment. I remember one holiday, my father coming home with many large boxes. I jumped around them excitedly as he opened them thinking that he had finally bought a VCR and colour TV, so that I didn’t have to go to Robert’s place to watch movies. It turned out that he had purchased 3 sets of encyclopedias; over 70 books with tens of thousands of pages of text.
Over time, I came to realize that this was his greatest gift ever. The information between those pages helped me immensely with my thinking and writing. I was able to reference others’ knowledge and improve my writing. The articles showed me the form that well researched writing could take, and provided an incredible catalyst to generate more ideas and thoughts.
I am not surprised therefore that I eventually ended up as an entrepreneur. Business provided me with a testing ground for my thoughts. Not only did I have to channel my ideas into reasoned business plans, but I would have to test them out in the real world and determine their viability. Making money was obviously an added benefit.
I began my entrepreneurial behaviour at an early age; setting up a distribution system to supply bread and snacks to my high-school mates when I should have been studying geometry. Although this business made me a lot of money, sometimes as much of my teachers I still wasn’t sure of it as my career path. I dreamed at times of being an engineer like my father, or an architect as I enjoyed drawing, or a even politician who could change the world.
Going to college while waiting for university admission, helped me clear some of this confusion. I studied information management systems for two years at Strathmore college. It was here that I discovered a new type of writing, writing programming code. I went wild with the ability that programming gave me; to create software that could do anything my mind imagined was incredibly exciting. Not only did this skill help me further explore creative writing, but it was a resource that I would later use in entrepreneurship.
Information Technology was fun, but I soon grew weary of the academics and ditched IT to study law instead at the University. Again I was exposed to a new kind of writing, and my fascination with airy sentences in formal writing would be replaced by crisp, factual, and non-committal prose. Legal writing provided a wonderful addition to the different styles of writing I had been exposed to.
School is now behind me, yet I continue putting down my thoughts in writing. It may be for a proposal for an exciting new business venture. At times, it is a piece of code for software that that will make sales reporting simpler, or it could be for my blog where I will have no restraints and wander from writing of my weekend adventures to critiquing products from Safaricom. And at times it is for a speech that I hope to give at a meeting.
It is through writing that I am able to give form to my thoughts. Written thoughts which force me to crystallize my dreams and ambitions; to express who I am and what I believe in a way that is clear to others; to turn ideas into reality. Writing to me is thinking with clarity. Putting pen to paper, I am able to think in black and white.
