Mashada Blogs » April 14, 2009

Rants, Raves & Reviews: Subsidised Fertiliser Scams - I told you

2009-04-14T15:53:00-04:00

As predicted by yours truly...

Fertiliser Scams Coming Soon

Subsidies do NOT work in Kenya... they are just a way for the politically-connected to scam taxpayers....

[www.eastandard.net]

[www.eastandard.net]

And this is the tip of the iceberg...

AfriGadget: Maker Faire Africa: Ghana, Aug 13-15

2009-04-14T12:36:59-04:00

Maker Faire Africa (MFA) is a new event celebrating the innovation, ingenuity and invention within Africa – happening August 13-15 of this year in Accra, Ghana.

We came at this event from a specific angle – we mixed the types of individuals who show up on AfriGadget and Timbuktu Chronicles, and the ethos of the greater MAKE community, all with the blessings of the good folks at Maker Faire. The dates were chosen to coincide with Amy Smith’s and MIT’s International Development and Design Summit (IDDS), which will run for 3 weeks before MFA, also in Ghana.

As Emeka puts it:

The aim of a Maker Faire-like event is to create a space on the continent where Afrigadget-type innovations, inventions and initiatives can be sought, identified, brought to life, supported, amplified, propagated, etc. Maker Faire Africa asks the question, “What happens when you put the drivers of ingenious concepts from Mali with those from Ghana and Kenya, and add resources to the mix?”

How You can Support MFA

First off, help spread the word! Let people know where and when it will be. Share the link to the site, grab a badge, blog it.

Second, help us find sponsors. If you know an organization or individual who would like to support this amazing event, put us in touch with them. It could be monetary, or it could be donating some cool gadgets, gear, tools or devices for people to hack on while there. (example idea: we’d love to get some LEGO Mindstorm kits for the local high schools).

Third, come. If you have the time and ability, we’d love to have you, your ideas and your gadgets at MFA.

The Team

In my role as founder of AfriGadget, I’m part of the organizing team to put together Maker Faire Africa, joined by my an excellent group of people including:

Emeka Okafor of Timbuktu Chronicles and the Director of TED Africa
Erik Hersman, Founder of AfriGadget
Lars Hasselblad Torres, Director MIT IDEAS Competition
Mark Grimes, Founder Ned.com and Founder NedSpace
Nii Simmonds of Nubian Cheetah

Want to get involved yourself? Get in touch!

citizen.africa: Calling Mogadishu, we have a problem!

2009-04-14T11:48:58-04:00

The standoff between the U.S. Navy and pirates off the coast of Somalia has generated a fury of debates within the Obama administration over policy toward the Horn of Africa nation. What the Somali politicians, warlords and religious fundamentalists could not achieve for years, a rag tag bunch of pirates did …. make the world [...]

Mshairi: Adrift…

2009-04-14T11:30:47-04:00

he comes to her as she stands on the shore he stares at the sad sea of what could have been the sky witness to the farewell begins to shed tears reflecting her desolation an unsettling love with no rhyme no reason came suddenly with a headless rush swift and flowing like a spring from an endless source swept them overboard and left them adrift Retweet This Post

Kenya Imagine: The Handcart Puller (Part I)

2009-04-14T09:48:00-04:00

Etyang' suddenly swung at Adeke. A triumphant whistle went up. The people that were walking away came back running. Real action was rare and when the opportunity presented itself to see pain inflicted and possibly some blood drawn, the people of Wendo Township were sure to be there to witness.

The Mkokoteni Pusher rushed forward. Several people pulled him back and strongly advised him against interfering in domestic quarrels. Etyang' raised his hand to hit her again. He was a small man but his fist threw Adeke right down. He rushed forward and grabbed her off the ground.

Part I of Nyaboke Ogugu Nduati's moving short story.

Kenya Imagine: Malaria control: a new method

2009-04-14T09:45:00-04:00

Silvia Kariuki reports and explains a very clever new weapon in the fight against malaria.

Rants, Raves & Reviews: Anglo-Leasing & amos wako

2009-04-14T08:05:00-04:00

I believe that many of the senior politicians in the kibaki & moi governments benefitted from anglo-fleecing contracts.
Let us start with amos wako who approved these contracts. And now refuses to follow up on the cases filed against the anglo-fleecing folks. Why? Coz (IMHO) he is a beneficiary.
Then kibz... who refused to stop the scam... kibz refusal to halt anglo-fleecing scam in its tracks is the primary cause of his unpopularity today.
Had kibz (did he benefit from anglo-fleecing?) kept his deal about zero tolerance to corruption, he would have beaten raila fair & square during the 2007 polls...

tHiNkEr'S rOoM: I’m Just Asking …

2009-04-14T06:15:58-04:00

Aside from providing opportunities for MPs, assorted heads of state, as well as journalists with extra travel budgets and bloggers with miscellaneous grants to dispose of, just what, precisely, did the London Summit achieve?

Bonus points if the answer doesn’t include any of the following:

Beginning the process
Exchange ideas
Concerted effort
Commitment
Engagement
Grand plan

I’m just asking.

Kenyanpoet: Poem: I Think

2009-04-14T05:24:00-04:00

When time is over and
The dust has turned to dust
And ashes to ashes
That is the time that I must
Come out in the open
Take a stroll and bask
In the glories that they left.

I will be alone
Walking down a desolate street
With a despondent air
Hanging around like a mist.

I will examine with a nonchalant eye
The mess they wrought in the quest
For golden eyrie glories
And then I will look into the skies
And wish for rain to fall.

I will wish for rain to fall
And wash away the blemish
Of their atrocities upon my land
To wipe away the blood
They shed to fulfill avaricious hopes.

For I know their ghosts
Must come back one day
I’m certain they will not
Like to stand and say
Look what we did!

I would like them to suffer
In peaceful judgment
Not disturbed by the painful keen
Of another flawless soul
They slain before the dust
Turned to dust and the ashes
Became the same ashes.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Simon Mbuthia
mbuthiasi@yahoo.com
All rights Reserved©

You Missed This: Kenya's Slimy Mess!

2009-04-14T04:42:00-04:00

Kenya is the only country in the world whose people care so much about ethnicity that it is seen as one of the qualifications during electioneering. It is indeed strange to see politicians who attended the most prestigious universities in the world retreating to their tribal cocoons to preach tribal hatred and politics of disharmony in order to win sympathy votes from their ethnic communities. But if the leaders are bad, then the people are worse! For, why do we take whatever balderdash that comes out of politicians’ foul mouths as the gospel truth? And by the way, who elects the leaders?

We don’t need rocket science to know that ethnicity and graft are twin problems that have prevented Kenya from achieving progress. We all know the problem but we prefer sitting back and complaining about bad governance while in fact we happen to be the very architects of the problems bedeviling our country. We must wake up from our deep slumber and stand up for our rights. We need to understand that politicians play the tribal card to their advantage. Their object is to keep the citizenry busy fighting over petty issues as they (politicians) milk the public coffers dry!

People who believe that people from certain parts of our republic can not lead just because, in their stupid opinion, they ‘belong to the wrong tribe’(kabila adui) are simply not worth living in this modern world. I assert this because I strongly believe that ‘belonging to tribe X or tribe Y is nothing but a biological accident!’ I also call attention to the fact that a person’s character and not the language he speaks is what matters most. For that reason, the question of one’s tribe is irrelevant not only in matters political but in everything.

Fellow country men and women, it is an open secret that ethnicity will take us nowhere and the sooner we stop it the sooner our country will start achieving progress. The choice is ours; the future of our country is in our hands. Away with tribalism!.Kumekucha