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• June 03, 2009
• 23:12

  The Sheng Collabo [Part 1]

   » ‎ The African Accent
  It began in the most unassuming way. I was tired from work and really out of it, when an email from Chasing Distraction changed everything. Being the ever excited zums, Distractions was eager to tell me that he had learned to 'shika rada' that day. "From where? Whose rada? Who is rada?" The Canadian public broadcasters, CBC Radio was his response.
  
  "Ala?!"
  
  I looked for the show he was talking about, and sure enough, I found it . There was this dude called Ras Dunkie, among others, who had taken over the airwaves, and was impressing the heck out of this ka-Canadian reporter doing a documentary. I had to learn a little more about Dunkie. So, I googled his ass.
  
  Here was an ambitious Kenyan dedicating a lot of work to creating the first online Sheng kamusi/dictionary. To harness something as fluid as Sheng was impressive in itself. I was a bit skeptical, so, I kept my distance for a while, but with an eye on Dunkie.
  
  I went back to listen to the show again. [click here and scroll to November 3rd, 2008. Listen to Part 1 - it is in MP3 format]
  
  ... Continued on The Sheng Collabo [Part 2]
  
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• 20:53

  New Hope for Kenya.

   » ‎ Jellyfishcoolman's Blog
  Dear Friends. Something is gradually changing in Kenya. All the political leaders seem to be in agreement over the proposed constitution timeframe. Some questioned whether it was possible to come up with a new document during this current term for an outgoing President. Indications seem to point to a December deadline and a referendum early next [...]

• 17:50

  Corruption Diagnosis 09

   » ‎ The African Accent

  Transparency International's 2009 Global Barometer surveyed 73,132 people in 69 countries and territories to measure the extent to which they perceive key sectors and institutions to be corrupt.

  The most affected countries, i.e. those that had over 50% of respondents reporting to have paid bribes in the last 12 months, were all African - Cameroon, Liberia, Sierra Leon, Uganda.

  Of the 8 regions surveyed, the most corrupt by percentage of total respondents, Sub-Saharan Africa was third, with 26%. Middle East & North Africa was highest with 40%, and North America lowest, with 2%.

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

  The following are institutions voted most corrupt by African countries:
  

• Political parties - Nigeria
• Public officials/Civil servants - Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Morocco, Senegal, Zambia.
• Judiciary - Senegal, Uganda.

  Of all the total services surveyed, the police was most corrupt. You can download the report here .

  The article on All Africa goes on to say,
  
  "Africans are among the most likely of the world's citizens to be forced to pay bribes - but they are also the most confident that their governments are trying to stop the practice ..."
  
  

  That seems a little contradictory to me, considering the overwhelming vote of no confidence in civil servants, public officials, and the judiciary by 8 out of 10 African countries included.

  Also, I was curious about Senegal's lack of faith in the public officials and the judiciary. I say this because compared to the other African nations, I hardly see anything written about Senegal. Kenya, and Nigeria are always at the forefront. Uganda gets a few mentions occasionally. So does Zambia. Ghana has been featuring steadily, ever since they discovered oil, and also when former President Kofour's retirement package raised eyebrows. Not a peep on Senegal.
  
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