Global Voices

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The world is talking, are you listening?

Dapa Arnaud gives a list of the 10 most active african presidents [fr] on social media. At the top of the list is  president Paul Kagame in Rwanda:

In place since 2003, the president of Rwanda is the most active on the internet.  According to the Ecofin agency, Paul Kagame interacts with many users on Twitter through his account @PaulKagame. His personal website named “The Journey Continues, Dukomeze Imihigo” is also one of the most visited websites in the country. His presence is also quite strong on other social media sites such as Facebook, Google+, Flickr or YouTube.

Much suggests Masisi territory being the neuralgic point, both in terms of politico-military contest and its humanitarian consequences.Any extension of the M23 conflict farther into Masisi territory contains immense potential of escalation.

Christophe Ethuin reports that there is much reason for concerns in Masisi Territory as the conflict with M23 lingers on. Doctors without Borders, Oxfam and JRS have warned against additional potential humanitarian disasters in the upcoming weeks.

crisis group map of fights in DRC between April-Nov 2012

The Crisis Group has created an interactive map of the conflicts in the Kivu region, DRC in 2012 [fr].

Over 5,000 days of Mountain Gorilla conservation data in Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo:

Fifteen years ago, ranger-based monitoring (or RBM for short) was initiated as a tool in the conservation of mountain gorillas. Whether patrolling the park for law enforcement or tracking mountain gorillas for health assessments or to facilitate visits by tourists or researchers, data is being collected and recorded on data sheets. Every day. That’s over 5,000 days of valuable data collected.

Human Rights Watch wrote [fr]:

In addition to deploying reinforcements and recruits to support military operations, Rwandan military officials have been providing important military support to the M23 rebels, including weapons, ammunition, and training, Human Rights Watch said. This makes Rwanda a party to the conflict.”

Our Africa is a project which lets children across Africa film education and jobs in their countries the way they see them.

Giles Muhane reports that the March 23 Movement M23 rebel military group is believed to be seeking secession of the  the province of Kivu from the Democratic Republic of Congo. Muhane adds that Kinshasa authorities have publicly accused Kigali of supporting a mutiny in Congo. Rwandan President Paul Kagame denied any involvement in the Congo crisis.

A View From the Cave explains how free eggs for communities in Kigali, Rwanda from a church in Atlanta affected farmers: “However, the influx of eggs meant that prices suddenly dropped due to large supply of freely distributed eggs. Farmers who sold eggs in the market could no longer compete…”

Mpenzi2 is a blog by an East African based in Rwanda, his mission is to promote and encourage young Africans from different professional background who are making the difference to build a better Africa.

Awesoma Africa is a travel series aimed at people who want to travel into Africa but do not know how to take the first step.

Learn about LGBTI rights in Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi from a paper written by Naome Ruzindana. Naome is a feminist and founding member of the Coalition of African Lesbians.

Yolande interviews Linda Smith, a photojournalist based in Rwanda, who is the founder of the “Through the Eyes of Hope” (TEOH) Project: “In a tiny, dimly lit room in Mayange, Linda is instructing five students on the “Cards of Hope” postcard project. The students are all boys who have been with the project for the last four years and range in age from 13 to 18 years old.”

Emeka follows TED Fellows around Africa: “…Alexandra Graham, cofounder of Lagray Chemicals, the first vertically integrated pharmaceutical manufacturing company in West Africa; Mohammed Bah Abba, innovator behind the pot-in-pot cooling device;Ainea Kimaro, biogas evangelist, whose work has reached from Rwanda to Tanzania; and Segeni Ngethe, founder of Kenyan e-commerce pioneer Mama Mikes…”

Major Justus Majyambere, a Rwandan army officer who recently travelled to the US on official duty, has refuted claims of arrest: “Reports on some websites and blogs run by Rwandan exiles had insinuated that Major Majyambere had been arrested by US authorities over indictments issued in 2008 by a Spanish Judge, Fernando Andreu Merelles over alleged crimes committed in Rwanda after the 1994 genocide.”

Is Rwandan government planning to assassinate opposition politicians?: “The British police informed two members of the Rwandan diaspora that their government may be trying to assassinate them, according to documents seen by various newspapers. The police visited Jonathan Musonera and Rene Mugenzi on May 12, officially informing them with letters. These letters were then apparently shown to various media outlets.”

17 years ago today in Rwanda: “There will be a number of ceremonies in Rwanda this year to mark the 1994 Genocide. I understand there is a candle light walk tonight, April 6, starting at 6pm from Amahoro Stadium in the Remera district of Kigali, heading to Kicukiro district. On the morning of April 7, there will be an official mourning ceremony, also at Amahoro Stadium.”

African movies that MightyAfrican would like to watch: “Africa United (Rwanda), Figurine (South Africa), From a Whisper (Kenya), Seasons of a Life (Malawi), Teza (Ethiopia)”

Vincent does not understand why Rwandan president Paul Kagame is invited to Denver Leadership Conference: “Paul Kagame is responsable, according to several UN reports, of plundering the congo, supporting armed rebels inside the Congo, crimes against humanity and possibly genocide on an immensely large scale.”

Pivot 25 is an event bringing together East Africa’s top mobile entrepreneurs and startups to pitch their ideas to an audience of 400-500 people, with a chance of winning monetary prizes and increasing awareness of their work to local and global investors and businesses.

Africa’s newest stock exchange is the Rwanda Stock Exchange (RSE), launched on 31 Jan to start trading the shares of brewer Brasseries et Limonaderies du Rwanda BRALIRWA (www.bralirwa.com). The exchange replaces the Rwanda-Over-The-Counter (OTC) market which has operated since 31 Jan 2008.

Congo Siasa blog will be publishing a series of articles over the coming weeks drawing on information from several thousand WikiLeaks cables from the Kigali and Kinshasa embassies.

Nkunda coments on the fight against journalists by the Rwandan government: “For years, Rwanda has argued that the press needs to be restricted because of its role in the 1994 genocide. Such a sensitive call would only be admissible if it were to be based on legitimate fact.”

Pimping buses in Kigali, Rwanda: “Rwanda’s city buses are quite as tricked out or chaotic as the matatus of regional neighbours. However, there are plenty of bus owners in town who take the time to pimp their rides. As far as I understand it so long as the yellow line around the vehicle is visible, the owners can pretty much do whatever they want to the paintwork.”

http://therisingcontinent.wordpress.com/2011/01/11/16th-january-2011-ms-victoire-ingabire%e2%80%99s-first-anniversary-in-rwanda-2/first Anniversary in Rwanda: “She has been in prison for a few months now. The flame of hope and democracy in Rwanda she has enlightened, we are millions to keep it alive. We won’t let it fade.”

Nkunda responds to attacks on Human Rights Watch: “I need to remind my readers that human rights watch has been one of the most vocal defenders of democracy in Rwanda. The organization, through the late Allison Des Forge, was the first to raise the alarm on the killings that were taking place during the 1994 period.”

Graham Holliday speaks to photographers who are orphans of the 1994 Genocide and members of the Rwanda Project about using the Internet to upload and distribute images.

hjlawton discusses the situation for media activists in Rwanda: “Kagame’s restriction of media outlets has been noted by Reporters Without Borders 2010 World Press Freedom Index, which lists Rwanda as one of the ten most repressive countries towards journalists.”

Sniffing glue to survive in Kigali, Rwanda: “The glue that these street children sniff is mostly shoe repair glue, which is readily available, cheap, highly addictive, highly toxic, and extremely powerful because of the neurotoxin toluene.”

What does WikiLeaks say about Central Africa?: A cable signed by Hillary Clinton (put up by Jeune Afrique but the link no longer works) directing US officials to gather all relevant information on “people linked the Great Lakes.”