Global Voices » Kenya

Association for World's Mobile Operators Opens Africa Office

Ndesanjo Macha — Sun, 16 Jun 2013 16:09:16 +0000

The GSMA, the global association for the world’s mobile operators, opens an African office in Nairobi, White African reports:

Back in 2010 when the iHub first opened, we had some of their staff who were in Kenya working out of the iHub and using the space for different meetings. They loved the vibe and makeup of the Kenyan tech community and wanted to figure out how they could connect and be a part of this same energetic space, while at the same time fulfilling their obligation to Africa’s mobile operators.

Global Hack for Good: Connecting Refugees with Lost Families

Solana Larsen — Tue, 28 May 2013 11:51:20 +0000

(more…)

Activists Occupy Parliament in Kenya

Ndesanjo Macha — Thu, 16 May 2013 13:26:06 +0000

Kenyans activists occupied the Kenyan parliament yesterday to protest against attempts by Members of Parliament to demand more money. The activists have been using the hashtag occupyparliament on Twitter.

Remembering Dennis Kimambo

Global Voices — Tue, 07 May 2013 17:03:08 +0000

Rising Voices note: This tribute post was written by Janet Feldman, upon learning about the death of Dennis Kimambo of the Rising Voices grantee project REPACTED on April 29, 2013. At the time of publication, the circumstances surrounding his death are still being investigated.

When I first heard the news that Dennis Kimambo had been missing for over a week, I was worried, but envisioned him in a rural part of Kenya, conducting an HIV/AIDS educational outreach, or in Dubai, where he had been invited at one point to play in a golf tournament, one of his favorite pastimes.

After the news came that his body had been discovered on April 29, and that he had met a violent death, I could not fathom or accept it. Stan Tuvako, a close friend of ours and the person who actually introduced us, said in the aftermath of the announcement: “it was shocking how much violence this man of peace encountered.” That this courageous soul faced violence and death again and again over the decade I knew him, and continued to do the work for which he seemed born, was just one of the remarkable qualities we so loved and admired in him.

Dennis Kimambo

Dennis had a motto: “humanity before politics.” During the 2007-2008 post-election conflict in Kenya, which threatened to spiral into civil war, Dennis and many others faced threats to their lives and safety on a daily basis, yet continued to reach across political and cultural lines in attempts to quell the violence and encourage tolerance, understanding, and cooperation.

I knew Dennis virtually for many years before we met in 2007, the only time I would ever see him in person. Our relationship was forged via email and phone, and built on several mutual passions, including the use of arts and media to address HIV/AIDS and health issues, the empowerment of young people, and the peaceful resolution of conflict. I was a mentor in the beginning, but felt like a student myself as he forged ahead in the many forms of activism that distinguished his brief but meaningful life.

Dennis began his career in several youth groups based in his hometown of Nakuru, Kenya. After we met, he became one of the mainstays in the ActALIVE arts coalition I founded in 2002, whose mission was to bring together artists and others using creative approaches to health and development issues, specifically focusing on HIV/AIDS.

In 2001, Dennis and young theatre artists from the Nakuru Players Theatre Club founded the theatre-for-development nonprofit, REPACTED (Rapid Effective Participatory Action in Community Theatre Education and Development), which uses a new and unique form of audience participation and interaction–called “magnet theatre”–to educate young and old, women and men, prisoners, and people already HIV-positive on health issues, behavior change, stigma and discrimination, and self-empowerment. The “Mr. and Miss Red Ribbon” contest, held each year on World AIDS Day (December 1), is an innovative beauty pageant emphasizing the importance of self-esteem and healthy lifestyles for those who are HIV-positive.

Several other opportunities emerged that would carry Dennis and his peers in new directions, including a grant from the MTV “Staying Alive” Foundation that funded HIV/AIDS education and prevention efforts among the male and female inmates at the prison in Nakuru. The grant also allowed community-theatre outreaches to young people to educate them about HIV/AIDS, encourage use of prevention measures, and promote voluntary counselling and testing (VCT).

Dennis (on the right) and colleagues at the REPACTED offices in Nakuru. Photo by David Sasaki and used under a CC BY-NC 2.0 license.

Dennis and other members of ActALIVE in Kenya, India, Thailand, Nigeria, USA, Uganda, South Africa, and elsewhere became involved in 2005 in the first World AIDS Day activities of the Global Peace Tiles Project, an arts endeavor using collaged tiles as a means to convey messages about peace, health education, HIV/AIDS prevention, and sustainable development.

In 2007-2008, Dennis and other peace activists in Kenya faced perhaps their greatest challenge to date: quelling the violence that was threatening to kill thousands and destroy the fabric of Kenyan society. He and a group of Kenyans and others from around the world, myself included, became involved in a project called “Pyramid of Peace,” a name coined from an acrobatic act created by the Nafsi Afrika Acrobats based in Nairobi, whose theme is peaceful co-existence among the various tribal groups in Kenya.

Dennis Kimambo. Photo by David Sasaki and used under a CC BY-NC 2.0 license.

The Pyramid of Peace, created under the auspices of the Lithuania-based think-tank Minciu Sodas, helped members in Kenya to confront violence and seek peaceful resolution to conflict. One unique feature of this endeavor was the use of cellphone credits to help us communicate with each other and also to distribute within areas of conflict to the various factions. Dennis credited this approach with saving his life at one point, when he was confronted by an angry mob.

REPACTED began to incorporate the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) during this time, and the two Rising Voices grants the group received helped immensely to increase and improve their efforts. The first grant enabled the purchase of equipment (video and photo cameras, a computer, and a modem) that allowed REPACTED to introduce a group of 27 young people to the digital world. Blogging was a focal point, and this resulted in invaluable participation in RV's “Blogging Positively” project, which has produced an e-guide, a map of bloggers who write on HIV/AIDS themes, and follow-on discussions about next steps, such as development of a curriculum.

The Rising Voices grant also allowed REPACTED to organize a Youth Media Consultative Forum, to train local residents to gather news and stories and share them with an international audience. Various forms of citizen media were envisioned and used in this project, and magnet theatre formed a central part of these efforts. In addition, REPACTED helped Kenyans displaced by the civil disruptions of 2007-2008 to tell their stories, and in more recent times has organized civic-education activities regarding elections, voting, and constitutional matters, all in hopes of ensuring that history does not repeat itself.

The REPACTED weblog at RV contains four years (2007-2011) of informative and insightful postings about the group and their work.

“Denno,” as his friends often called him, has been described in recent days as a loving father, a wonderful husband, a leader of great vision, a cherished friend, a person of “light,” a force for good, an activist who helped change hearts and minds. He had the dreams of a Martin Luther King, and the courage and determination of a Gandhi. He was a hero to so many of us, and he will be always.

In trying to find a way to recover the inspiration and hopefulness he embodied, and move forward with the work to which Dennis gave his life–and perhaps for which he gave his life (a police investigation is now ongoing as to the motives behind his death)–I am reminded of the lyrics to a song I know he would have loved, called “Times Like These” (Foo Fighters): “it's times like these you learn to live again, it's times like these you give and give again, it's times like these you learn to love again, time and time again.”

Thanks so much for teaching us how to live, to give, and to love, Dennis! You were and always will be a man for times like these, and what you gave to the world will be remembered and cherished time and time again.

‘Africa Is A Country’ Blog Challenges West's Idea of Africa

Ndesanjo Macha — Wed, 01 May 2013 13:31:47 +0000

This isn't another blog about “famine, Bono, or Barack Obama,” warns the blog Africa is a Country in its description on Facebook.

The ironically titled blog aims, among other things, to do away with the the narrative told and retold by western media that Africa is “a perpetual sob story”, Africa is a Country founder Sean Jacobs told Global Voices.

At the same time, Jacobs said, the blog is a collective of scholars, writers, artists, filmmakers, bloggers, and curators who together produce online commentary, original writing, media criticism, short videos, and photography that is working to reimagine Africa as a community.

The founder of the Africa is a Country blog, Sean Jacobs. Photo courtesy of Sean Jacobs.

We recently caught up with Jacobs, a media and international affairs scholar who currently teaches at The New School in New York, to talk about the blog.

Ndesanjo Macha (NM): Will you briefly tell us about yourself?

Sean Jacobs (SJ): I was born in Apartheid South Africa and grew up in a working class coloured township in the city. I am very much a product of segregation, anti-apartheid student movements, affirmative action and the euphoria represented by political freedom in South Africa. I went to the University of Cape Town (still very white at that time) on a scholarship and worked briefly as a journalist before I came to the US as a Fulbright Scholar in the mid-1990s [...]

I returned to South Africa at the end of my studies as I felt I would miss out on the experience of working there while democracy was still fresh. So, in 1997 I got hired by the Institute for Democracy in South Africa, an organization which played a central role in South Africa’s political transition. [...]

In 2001, I came to New York City to take up a graduate fellowship at The New School. I eventually settled in New York City and got married.

I suppose I consider myself an African immigrant in America now (I have two children who were born here) and while I keep up with specifically South African politics, I have also come to care more for how the continent and its people is represented in media here. That’s where Africa is a Country came into the picture.

NM: What is Africa is a Country?

SJ: Africa is a Country is a blog that developed over time — and I want to emphasize this process as it wasn't always clear what it would be become — into a collective of scholars, writers, artists, filmmakers, bloggers, and curators who together produce online commentary, original writing, media criticism, short videos, and photography that deliberately challenge and destabilize received wisdom about the African continent and its people in Western media (that definition includes “old media,” new social media as well as “global news media” like Al Jazeera).

Our main outlet at present is the blog, though we've collaborated with film festivals, print publications and co-hosted public events. We also count as part of our community people who read or comment on our site each day. We've sourced some blog posts and eventual regular contributors from amongst our readers.

NM: Why “Africa is a country”? Isn't Africa a continent?

SJ: Of course we don’t literally believe Africa is a Country. The title of the blog is ironic and is a reaction to old and tired images of “Africa.” As one of the core members of the collective, Neelika Jayawardane, explains in the “About” section on our Facebook page, the blog is that and more. That is, Africa is a Country is also about constructing a kind of “country.” One where the “nation” operates outside the borders of modern nation states in Africa and its continental and conceptual boundaries. So, yes, the blog announces that Africa is indeed a “country,” an imagined community whose “citizens” must reinvent the narrative and visual economy of Africa. I hope that makes sense.

NM: How did you come up with the title of the blog?

SJ: I can’t pinpoint the exact source or moment. It was definitely a mix of factors. There were countless instances of celebrities, politicians (including some who denied immediately that they had said so) who would make the mistake of talking about “the country of Africa” or be very vague of where they traveled when they visited the continent or who exactly (a country, a people, a city, etc) they were describing. In other cases, some journalists implied that Africa was a country in their writings or reporting. But there was something else I did regularly. While blogging as Leo Africanus, I started writing the words “Africa is a Country” in one or other incredulous post about some clearly misdirected reporting from and about Africa. One day I decided to just rename the blog Africa is a Country. It helped that the title attracted more people to show a sudden interest in or reading the blog or that searches for “Africa is a country” led to us.

NM: Who are other authors involved in creating content for the blog?

SJ: Currently the collective consists of about 30 core members and a fluid cast of contributors. So we’re a mix of graduate students, professors, activists, development workers, writers, journalism students, art critics, novelists, photographers, activists, filmmakers, a DJ, and a film curator, among others. [...]

NM: What kind of readers visit your site and where do most of them come from?

SJ: We now have more than 11,000 Facebook “Likes,” close to 20,000 Twitter followers, and average between 7,000-10,000 hits per day on the blog, which has had over three million total views since we made the name change. Readers come from all over, though a fast reliable internet connection helps. So most readers live, work or study in the United States and/or Europe. On the continent, most of the readers come from Nigeria, South Africa and Kenya.

NM: What are your greatest achievements with the blog so far?

SJ: That’s for our readers to decide. Again, let me drew on something Elliot and wrote down recently when asked the same question: We feel that global, by definition that’s usually Western, media — with few exceptions — have shown themselves time and again to be utterly unable to cover the continent in the depth and detail it demands, still less with any appreciation for Africa as a site of astonishing cultural and artistic production. Africa is a Country aspires to offer an international-scale corrective to this, not in terms of patronising “positive” news stories or PR-style neoliberal boosterism, but through the sustained daily work of presenting and engaging critically with the cultural and political life of Africa and its diaspora. [...]

Of course, not everything we do is hardcore: Something we are very excited about is the launch recently of a page on the blog titled “Football is a Country.” We've managed to convince some excellent writers, photographers, film makers and bloggers to commit themselves as contributors and we’re hoping to expand on it.

NM: What is most read post so far?

SJ: The most read post on the blog thus far has been by Elliot Ross on Kony 2012.

But I also want to mention a number of other excellent posts (and I am going to have to leave some posts out of this list, though that does not make them less deserving): There’s Boima Tucker’s explorations on DJ culture and Jeremy Weate's “When Kim Kardasian Came to Lagos and “419ed the 419ers”. Separately, we’ve featured a number of interviews such as Zachary Rosen’s interview with artist Toyin Odutola, Corinna Jentzch’s interview with the German photographer Gregor Zielke, Amkelwa Mbekeni’s interview with Bongeziwe Mabandla and historian Dan Magaziner’s interview with the author of a book on Marcus Garvey.

‘Agroam’ Lends Hand to African Farmers

Ndesanjo Macha — Wed, 01 May 2013 10:17:41 +0000

Agroam is a website designed to help African farmers market their products as efficiently as possible and give more opportunities to match buyers and sellers at fair prices.

Opening the Black Box of Governance: Alleviating Poverty With Data

Rayna St. — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 09:19:23 +0000

Global Voices bloggers have been commissioned to liveblog the OECD Global Forum on Development in Paris on April 4-5, 2013. Leading up to the meeting, our team is submitting posts about development issues that help serve as weekly online discussion topics on their website (#OECDgfd)

The constant rise of Internet and mobile phone use is an opportunity to enable more citizens to engage with governance. Technology can help improve citizen participation in decision-making and can re-energise participation in public life. Transparency and accountability is becoming a diverse and dynamic field for exploration worldwide.

Opening the data produced by public administrations is part of an effective approach to poverty alleviation. Incredible amounts of data are produced every day, by a wide range of stakeholders: governments, media, mobile operators, citizens themselves. Despite the huge potential for using data about a society or government for the public good, it is rarely released and shared for public use. Additionally, reliable statistics can be hard to come by or are still the exclusive property of government or corporate officials.

The benefits of citizen engagement are numerous, wide-ranging and significant for all stakeholders, as Striking Poverty, a World Bank initiative, illustrates:

For the marginalized poor, participation mechanisms can provide channels for shaping solutions and holding governments accountable for policies and services delivered. For organizations, governments, and funders, engagement with communities is beneficial in that citizens will support, adopt, champion, and eventually share in the ownership and success of programs.

Does Open Data work in developing countries?

Open Data endeavours in both rich and poor countries often come up against a shortage of technical and political skills that prevent citizens from actively engaging with them. There can easily be a gap between the goals of data advocates and citizens’ understanding of the data. Still, a huge number of creative approaches to collect and make sense of data related to public life show promise that this is the most straightforward way into civic engagement.

The Kenya Open Data Initiative (KODI), the first national Open Data project in Sub-Saharan Africa, was launched in 2011. The released data sets (over 400) provide data for socially-relevant domains from education to sanitation. Kenya is in fact the first developing country to have an Open Data portal. In greater Africa, Morocco was first to launch an Open Data platform. Tunisia followed in 2011 with Open Data Tunisia.

Open Government Data by Justin Grimes on flickr (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Seizing the potential of Open Data for developing countries and the growing number of national ventures, the African Development Bank (AfDB) has launched the Open Data for Africa portal, as a part of the Africa Information Highway initiative. It encompasses Open Data platforms for the following 20 African countries:

Algeria, Cameroon, Cape Verde, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Malawi, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Ghana, Rwanda, Republic of Congo, Senegal, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Tunisia, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Although the challenges are numerous, multiple success stories show that the key to using technology for transparency and accountability efforts is to employ a collaborative approach and ensure that tools are user-friendly and quick to offer results.

A report by the Global Voices ‘Technology for Transparency’ initiative looking at citizen initiatives for transparency and accountability across the globe found that:

Data visualization and navigation tools are a key feature in more than half of the projects we documented, as are diverse forms of data collection from citizens. Approximately one third of the projects use mobile phones in some way, most commonly by allowing citizens to submit or receive information via text messages.

These observations illustrate that citizen initiatives are not only directed towards gathering data but also towards making sense of it for the wider community. The projects show great opportunity for well-managed data and related statistics released through open government data programs. The next milestone for governments in developing countries is to solve the problems of data quality and availability, as well as the technical and statistical capacity of staff and institutions.

Opening the governance

The Open Government Partnership (OGP) was launched back in September 2011 when the governments of Brazil, Indonesia, Mexico, Norway, Philippines, South Africa, United Kingdom, United States took stance in favour of more transparent governance by signing the Open Government Declaration:

The Open Government Partnership is a global effort to make governments better. We all want more transparent, effective and accountable governments — with institutions that empower citizens and are responsive to their aspirations. But this work is never easy.

It takes political leadership. It takes technical knowledge. It takes sustained effort and investment. It takes collaboration between governments and civil society.

Shortly after, the World Bank recognized the importance of the foundational principles of the Partnership and declared its support to the initiative “by facilitating knowledge exchanges and helping to build the capacity of OGP member countries to elaborate and implement their plans to become more open and responsive.”

The OGP already has 50 members. Although several African countries have presented their action plans and three of them — South Africa, Tanzania, and Kenya — have already delivered their commitments, Africa is still trailing in involvement.

The most recent OGP Africa meeting indicates that slow progress is being made, with Ghana and Liberia developing their respective ‘Action Plans’ in order to apply for membership at the Open Government Partnership.

New approaches, new challenges ahead

Is technology the panacea for developing countries? Definitely not. But it definitely paves the way for addressing open, socially and politically relevant questions. Even though the KODI has not had much impact on Kenyans, and very few African states rush to join the OGP, these dynamics are irreversible. The very existence of the endeavours described above is a solid step in the right direction.

Condom TV Spot Pulled in Kenya After Religious Outcry

Njeri Wangari — Sun, 24 Mar 2013 11:28:08 +0000

A public service announcement promoting condom use to combat the spread of HIV and other diseases in Kenya was recently pulled from the airwaves after the TV spot caused an uproar among the country's religious leaders.

The advert, which shows a woman advising her married friend to use a condoms while engaging in an extramarital affair, was sponsored by Kenya's health ministry and foreign assistance agencies USAid and UKAid.

Kenyan Health Minister Peter Cherutich told the BBC that the spot was created because up to 30 percent of married couples have partners outside of their marriage. The United Nations estimates about 1.6 million people out of the country's population of 41.6 million are living with HIV.

Christian and Muslim clergy condemned the advert as encouraging infidelity.

Despite the advert being pulled from TV, it is still available on YouTube:

The Squared Factor blogger called the public service announcement “spot on” in a post titled “Sikio la kufa halisikii Condom” [sw]. The title, which loosely translates to “a dying ear does not respond to a condom”, is a play on the proverb “a dying ear does not respond to medication”:

I will not beat around this bush. This mpango wa kando [extra marital affairs] bush business. And I frown at those clamoring for the recent TV ad titled weka condom mpangoni [use condom when engaging in extra marital affairs], to be withdrawn from the airwaves.

The message of this particular ad has unexpectedly tugged at the hem of society’s skirt: if you can’t abstain or commit to one partner, then use a condom if you care about your loved ones. Caring in this context alluding to avoiding pre marital pregnancies, and contracting STI’s- among them HIV and the related adverse effects it has on the family and society at large.

Kenyans took to Twitter to discuss the TV spot under the #CondomMpangoni hashtag, with many coming out on both sides of the argument.

“victor-MUFC” (‏@victorbmc) wrote that he didn't like the advert:

‏@victorbmc: That ad is nasty RT @MacOtani: Wow so now that the #CondomMpangoni advert has been removed from our screens we are safe huh?! #SwalaNyeti

Mathias Ndeta (‏@MNdeta) told Kenyans who are against the spot to face up to the truth:

‏@MNdeta: In my opinion the #CondomMpangoni ad should stay put, those against it are just pretenders, let's face the reality.

“z’ Ghost Buster” (‏@TheMumBi) warned:

‏@TheMumBi: We stick our heads in the sand too much. Amen to the #CondomMpangoni ad ..got us talking about stuff we avoid talking about.

Paul (‏@M45Paul) argued that the decision to pull the advert ended up promoting it even more:

‏@M45Paul: Banning #CondomMpangoni ad is getting it more airtime that it'd have got in normal runs.

“Pastor Wa” (‏@Pastor_Wa) advised:

‏@Pastor_Wa: And for everyone that watches that ad, your heart must be provoked enough to say, ‘I'm better than this’ #CondomMpangoni

“Kizzy K*” (‏@boobykizzy) asked:

‏@boobykizzy: #condommpangoni =>what happend [sic] to dignity, morals and the likes? should media be blamed? should we address this issue?

Finally, “AverageKenyan” (‏@AverageKenyan) noted:

‏@AverageKenyan: #Condommpangoni, we are not in denial, the complex African matrix doesn't support public declaration of infidelity however much it's a reality

Business Over Politics For Africa's Chinese

Oiwan Lam — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 08:20:14 +0000

Nan Chen, a Chinese American working in Nairobi, interviewed some Chinese expats and local Kenyans about China's business culture in Africa (via Tea Leaf Nation):

For Chinese expats, business comes first and politics second. The upcoming Kenyan elections matter only to the extent that they impact business. While among my western colleagues, these elections represent a momentous political situation with human rights implications, the Chinese (though not unconcerned with potential elections violence) find the politics disruptive of business.

Kenyans Flood Polls Despite Election Day Violence

Ndesanjo Macha — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 10:23:23 +0000

Machete-wielding separatists left at least 13 dead in Kenya as millions of people turned out in historic numbers to cast their votes on March 4, 2013 in one of the most watched general elections in Africa since the country's elections in 2007 ended in ethnic bloodshed.

Sporadic acts of violence marred the otherwise peaceful election, the country's first under its new 2010 constitution. Voters chose candidates for president, members of parliament, county governors, senators, county assembly representatives, and women county representatives.

Official results are expected to be announced by March 11, 2013.

Many were concerned over a possible repeat of the violence that exploded after the 2007 presidential elections. More than 1,100 people were killed and 600,000 were displaced after those disputed election results triggered clashes between tribes.

@Nairoboy shares this photo on Twitter asking, “If this woman, as old & frail as she is, came out to vote, what's your excuse?” Photo source: @Nairoboy

The National Coalition of Human Rights Defenders branch in Kenya (@nchrdkenya) reported that armed men were allegedly breaking into homes and stealing IDs during election day 2013 [Global Voices has not confirmed this report]:

@nchrdkenya: Alleged Starehe constituency 50 men armed with “pangas” and 2 pistols are breaking into homes and stealing IDs and phones.#kenyadecides

But despite fears of renewed violence, voters turned out by the millions:

@WanjiruMachari1: #KenyaDecides #Elections2013 some polling stations in #Nakuruare waiting for formality to close. recorded over 80% voter turn-out

Early predictions indicated that the high turnout could shatter the record set with the 2010 constitution referendum, according to National Media Editor Charles Onyango-Obbo (@cobbo3):

@cobbo3: Highest turnout for a vote in Kenya was in 2010 constitution referendum; 72.2%. #KenyaDecides 2013 could hit 80% plus!

Voters, some sick, walked many miles to exercise their democratic right:

@SEREKII: Never seen this determination to vote in Coast! My aunt who is ailing from mild stroke walked 2kms to vote#kenyadecides

@wndiwa: Morans walked 100km to vote in wamba #KenyaDecides

@MoritzCOTR: Amazingly, most Kenyans stood in queues for up to 10 hours without killing each other #Shocked http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/at-least-15-reported-dead-in-kenya-election-day-violence-8518677.html … #kenyadecides

Long queues were reported in many polling stations with some voters having to wait for hours before casting their votes. One woman went into labour before casting her vote:

@Toili12: A woman goes into labour in a voting queue at Kariobangi South Primary polling center before casting her vote #KenyaDecides

@nochiel: Voting was protracted, tedious, and exhausting. Also, most of us waited 5 hours to get to the booth. #KenyaDecides

@Da_Dunx_Mugi: If it has taken 90mins for me to take 15 steps, how long will it take me to take another 500-600 steps?! #KenyaDecides

@japho1: I have never been on queue for this long since I started voting way back in 2002.#KenyaDecides

However, some voters such as Harry Karanja (@startupkenya) spent no time at all in a queue:

@startupkenya: Thanks all for voting early, because of you I've just spent a total of 0 minutes queuing #KenyaDecides

Njambi Kiburio (@NjambiII) remained optimistic about the elections:

@NjambiII: @cnnbrk [CNN Breaking News] Kenya has news for you. May you hunger for sad news, and find none here. #KenyaDecides

Some netizens argued that foreign media outlets only focused on bad news. Twitter user @Owitie wrote that Kenyans can report their own stories:

@Owitie: Those few mzungus [white people] aka wabeberu [imperialists] need to realize that as#KenyaDecides we can report our own news and tell our stories.

Small business owner Ian Cox (@IanECox) pondered the possibility of Uhuru Kenyatta, who is facing charges at the international criminal court following the 2007 post-election violence, winning the presidential election:

@IanECox: I wonder how the international press will react if #kenyadecides to elect Uhuru.. those dumb Kenyans.. etc etc

Some praised the performance of Kenya's Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission. Entertainer Kabochi Gakau (@Kaytrixx) noted that the commission is better organised than the 2007 elections:

@Kaytrixx: I must say though, IEBC is pretty organised, much better than the last election. Transparent. #Peace254 #KenyaDecides

@thisiskenyan: 18 more people then I get my turn… these iebc guys are on turbo mode kudos! #Kenyadecides #mugugagreenedition

@Olashmartine: 10hrs 7 mins to vote! well done IEBC you've outdone yourself #kenyadecides #KEpolls2013

Others had a humorous take on the elections:

@keruanna: And a bird just shitted on me. Next time I'll pick a polling station without trees #Kenyadecides

@dnahinga: I think they should extend the time for opening bars also.#KenyaKwanza We don't want to tempt those still queing#KenyaDecides

@mwamishitemi: i can confirm that the ‘middle class’ did indeed vote. those on twitter polling station, you have 15 minutes… #kenyadecides

@FelixDonBash: I think today breaks the record for most twitpics of fingers#KenyaDecides

@ngatia_sammy: Samburu morans [Samburu Maasai warriors] trekked 104 km to a polling station ,they demanded to be given 1st priority so that they could go back to graze #kenyadecides

Finally, friends of Kenya sent love and good wishes on Twitter:

@tmsruge: Sending some mad love to Kenya right now. Showing WHOLE world how participatory democracy is done. Go big brother, go!!

@RDustinLong: Good luck to all my Kenyan friends today with their Presidential election. #kenyadecides

Monitoring Dangerous Speech in Kenya

Ndesanjo Macha — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 13:18:21 +0000

Umati is a project that seeks to monitor and report the role of new media on an election: “Our Kenya-based project has citizens at its core and uses relevant technologies to collect,organize, analyze, and disseminate the information collected.”

The Land Problem in Kenya

Ndesanjo Macha — Wed, 27 Feb 2013 13:05:46 +0000

Chrenyan discusses the land problem, which has become an election issue in Kenya: “It is a historical injustice for the Kenyatta family to own (it is said) half a million acres of land, all over this country (including thousands of acres in Coast Province). The defence that this land was bought is no defence at all, because the critical factor is not that the land was bought.”

Kenya's Presidential Debate Ends on TV, Continues on Twitter

Njeri Wangari — Fri, 15 Feb 2013 12:29:52 +0000

With only three weeks until the country's presidential elections, technology continues to shake up the electoral landscape in Kenya, changing how Kenyans engage with the many candidates grappling for their vote.

On February 11, 2013, millions watched and listened to the eight presidential candidates duke it out for nearly four hours during Kenya's first presidential debate. The debate generated more than 100,000 tweets under the hashtag #KeDebate, according to social media strategist Philip Ogola. He estimated that the number of tweets would double if other hashtags about the election were also tracked.

Kenyans were invited to send in their questions via Twitter in the days leading up to the debate using the hashtags #Debate254 and #KeDebate13 as well as via the PresidentialDebate2013 Facebook page. In fact, the hashtag #Debate254 was tweeted so many times in the hours before the debate that it was one of the top trending topics worldwide on Twitter until news of the Pope's resignation took over the trends.

The Presidential Debate Poster

Twitter users continued to use those hashtags to comment and discuss during the debate as candidates weighed in on a range of topics, including security, education, healthcare, the mortality rate, and tribalism.

@mituriu: irony is discussing free education in a school that is the most expensive in the country… #KEDebate13

@rombokins: my take: martha karua [presidential candidate] handily won the first half. closely followed by linus kaikai [presidential candidate]. #kedebate13 #debate254

@mbuguanjihia: There is no difference btw a poor kikuyu, luo, kalenjin etc…tribe doesnt put food on your table – @MarthaKarua #Debate254 #KeDebate13

@RichardMugarura: The responses by all the candidates on National & Regional security, signal the need of a sound military background in a leader. #KEDebate13

@muthoniBM: Healthcare wasn't well addressed by any candidate..#KeDebate13

Within hours of the presidential debate, web users were already satirizing some of the candidates’ responses and creating memes. Kenyan entertainment blog Ghafla has collected some of them.

Though a relative unknown before the debate, presidential candidate Mohammed Abuda Dida emerged as one of the most talked about candidates of the night. Dida, a 39-year-old former teacher, made waves with his punchy responses and quotes yet despite all the humour managed to ask very pertinent questions that many were afraid to ask. We sample some of his quotes which have gone on to appear in various Kenyan Blogs such as KenyanPost, NairobiWire and NairobiDigest

A teacher is like a lactating cow.

The society that chose Waititu [Ferdinand Waititu is former deputy mayor and an aspiring governor for Nairobi] over Jimnah [Jimnah Mbaru is also an aspiring governor for The City of Nairobi] is a problematic society.

I just expanded my class from 40 to a class of 40 million [Dida is a former teacher].

Its true, when Kanu [Kenya African National Union is a political party which ruled Kenya for nearly 40 years after its independence] … ate, we got the crumbs..these people
even lick the plates!

Twenty years ago, teachers were very important, but today every child has a lawyer.

We don’t dwell on the weaknesses of each one of us…I am not asking you to vote for me, vote for the best.

If your football team fails to score, you can't just change their kit and expect to score.

His responses spawned the hashtag #DidaQuotes on Twitter.

@YthesYaar: Years after being in Government we are still fighting jiggers and Learning to wash hands. #DidaQuotes

@gTownPsycho_: Its true,when Kanu ate, we got the crumbs, nowadays these ppl even lick the plates! #DidaQuotes

‏@iddsalim: Some of these politicians are devil worshipers. I am not asking you to vote for me, but vote for the best #didaQuotes

‏@blakaende1: #DidaQuotes Who brought this timetable? Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner If u want to be healthy, eat when you are hungry. @KenyaDebate2013

A second and final presidential debate is planned for February 25 just days before the March 4 elections.

The Uchaguzi logo (Image courtesy of www.uchaguzi.co.ke)

Meanwhile, an online election monitoring and mapping platform meant to keep the upcoming elections free, fair, and transparent launched the same day as the presidential debate. Uchaguzi, a joint initiative between Ushahidi, Hivos, Creco, Umati and SODNET, will rely on citizen observations to shine sunlight on the electoral process in near-realtime, which has been marred by violence and fraud in the past.

10 Best African Food Blogs

Ndesanjo Macha — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 08:14:21 +0000

MyWeku compiles a list of 10 best African food blogs for 2013: “There are seemingly a million food blogs out there, but only a handful showcase African food. Even so it has still been a struggle to pick 10 of our favourites for this year (2013).”

When Bob Marley Went to Africa

Ndesanjo Macha — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 15:10:02 +0000

The film opens on the Ghanaian coast at the remnants of a slave post, the camera then pans over the Atlantic, finally settling on the green hills of rural Jamaica (Marley’s birthplace Nine Mile) from where it picks up Bob Marley’s story, thus cementing a link between the continent and its new world diaspora.

Sean Jacobs reviews Kevin MacDonald’s critically film, “Marley”.