Global Voices » Senegal

Science Blogging in Sub-Saharan Africa

Lova Rakotomalala — Sun, 20 May 2012 15:31:30 +0000

Blogging has become an integral part of popular culture in Sub-Saharan Africa but blogging about science is still lagging behind. Many initiatives have been launched to increase the culture of sharing in the African scientific world, yet African science blogs, particularly about research, are still few and far between.

Lack of public interest?

The reason for this dearth of science blogging may be related to the uneven development of scientific research on the continent; the need for more research is well-known. B. Ruelle explains on his blog [fr]:

Le niveau de développement atteint par l’Asie du Sud-Est devrait pousser les Africains à investir dans la science et la technologie ; la science et la technologie représentent la seule voie d’évitement de la perpétuation de la faiblesse de l’Afrique dans le commerce international ; c’est aussi, dans un monde inégalitaire où racisme et xénophobie perdurent, la condition de l’affirmation de la part des Africains dans l’un des phares de la connaissance humaine.

The level of development reached by Southeast Asia should push African nations to invest into science and technology; science and technology are the only way to avoid the enduring shortcomings of Africa in international trade; it is also the only way to prevent racism and xenophobia in this increasingly inegalitarian world; the one remedy to assert African contribution to the global human knowledge pool.

University of Cheik Anta Diop in Dakar Senegal by Myriam Louviot (CC-License-BY).

The continent is not short on talented scientists. Bernard Kom lists a few of the mosts prominent African scientists [fr] right now, and some of them are also active on the web.

Jacques Bonjawo is a Cameroonian engineer who chairs the Board of Directors of the African Virtual University (AVU). He explains the objectives of the institution [fr]:

L’UVA a été conçue comme un système d’éducation à distance à travers Internet dont la mission est précisément de former une masse critique d’africains à des coûts faibles, grâce à des économies d’échelle ; une formation moderne et de qualité au terme de laquelle l’étudiant devient immédiatement opérationnel sur le marché de l’emploi.

The AVU was conceived as a complete remote online teaching institute whose mission is to train a critical mass of Africans at low cost through economy of scale. We provide a modern quality curriculum that aims to make the student immediately operational for the job market.

Mzamose Gondwe from Malawi recognizes the need to promote more African engagement with science. That is the objective of her blog, African Science Heroes. She explains what she aims to accomplish:

I documented in print, exhibition and film African Science Heroes, Afrrican scientists who have made considerable contributions to science. In this way I hope to generate a sense of pride in our African science accomplishments and promote public engagement with science.

African research pigeonholed?

When scientific news from Africa makes it to mainstream media platforms, it is usually related to environmental programmes, public health or research on exotic animals. A typical story that was shared many times on various online media was the recent research publication of the mating habits of the female gray mouse lemur in Madagascar. The title itself, “Costly sex under female control in a promiscuous primate”, was bound to draw quite a bit of interest from the non-scientific community.

As it turned out, the study draws interesting conclusion about strategy for the survival of the species as Sara Reardon from Science NOW explains:

Either a polygamous lifestyle confers some unknown evolutionary advantage for females, the team concludes, or girls really do just want to have fun.

African science and engineering has much to offer in other areas as well. The blog Afrigadget highlights innovative engineering projects aiming at solving specific problems. One of these projects is biogas installations in Kenya.

Paula Kahumbu explains how piki piki (motor bikes in Kiswhahili) can help distribute dung more efficiently:

The problem I face is common to many folks around here, we rent houses but we don’t have livestock. But there are huge cattle farms around us. So Dominic came up with a solution that creates jobs and moves poop quickly and efficiently. So we went to the local juakali welder on the roadside to create a dungmobile ..a trailer designed specially for cow dung!

The Africamaat project aims to document the full history of African science and its inventors. More precisely, it adds [fr]:

Notre démarche vise donc essentiellement à démontrer qu’il est profondément arbitraire d’exclure systématiquement l’Afrique noire de l’historiographie universelle lorsqu’il est question des sciences

Our approach aims to demonstrate that it is deeply arbitrary to systematically exclude black Africa from the universal history of science.

In this video, YouTube user White African showcases an invention by Killian Deku, a Ghanaian engineer that came up with a device to dose the amount of chlorine to add to water:

Open access to publications

Madagascar is accustomed to have its lemur population draw more headlines that its people. However, it should not go unnoticed that the scientific blogging community there is starting to emerge. Several projects aim to collect and make available to the public all the scientific resources about the country.

Ange Rakotomalala describes the objectives of website Thèses Malgaches en ligne [mg]:

Ho hitanao eto ireo vokam-pikarohana tontosa teto amin'ny firenentsika nanomboka tamin'ny taona 2002.

On this website, you will be able to find all the theses and dissertations published since 2002

The scientific community blog MyScienceWork aims to promote the culture of sharing among scientists [fr]:

Pour construire la culture scientifique de demain, la science doit devenir toujours plus multidisciplinaire. Elle doit s’adresser aux amateurs de science, au public, aux professionnels de la recherche [..] En 2011, nous avons publié les textes d’étudiants en informatique des pays d’Afrique du Nord, de chercheurs en communication d’université belge, de doctorants en neurosciences, en agronomie, d’exobiologistes de renom [..] Parce que nous croyons que la culture générale doit inclure les savoirs scientifiques, nous vous remercions chaleureusement. Faites passer le message : « partager c’est vivre ».

To build the necessary scientific culture of tomorrow, science must strive to become more multidisciplinary. It must be accessible to science amateurs, the general public, the research scientists [..] In 2011, we published articles on IT from countries in Northern Africa, in communication with renowned Belgian researchers, and in neuroscience, agronomy and exobiology from PhD students [..] We did so because we believe that general knowledge ought to include science and we thank you for reading us. Please pass along this message: “sharing is living”.

The final words on science in Africa belong to Cheikh Anta Diop, one of the most prominent scientists in Africa, as posted by Africamaat [fr]:

En attendant, les spécialistes africains doivent prendre des mesures conservatoires. Il s’agit d’être apte à découvrir une vérité scientifique par ses propres moyens en se passant de l’approbation d’autrui, de savoir conserver son autonomie intellectuelle

Meanwhile, the African specialists must take prudent measures. It must be about being able to discover a scientific fact by our own means and without the approval of anyone else, about keeping our intellectual autonomy

Africa: Calls for Transparency Over Marked Increase in Land Deals

Lova Rakotomalala — Wed, 02 May 2012 11:25:59 +0000

An international coalition of researchers and NGOs have released the world's largest public database of international land deals, reports the Global Development blog of The Guardian's (UK). This marks an important milestone in highlighting a developmental issue that has received little attention in the international news cycle.

The report states that almost 5% of Africa's agricultural land has been bought or leased by investors since 2000, and emphasizes the fact that this is not a new issue, yet points out that the number of such land deals has increased tremendously in the past five years.

Many observers are increasingly worried that these land deals usually take place in the world's poorest countries and that they impact its most vulnerable population, the farmers. The benefits seldom go to the general population, partially because of a lack of transparency in the proceedings of the transactions.

An additional report by Global Witness, entitled Dealing with Disclosure, emphasizes the dire need for transparency in the making of land deals.

World's poorest nations targeted

The Global Witness report lists that 754 land deals have been identified, involving the majority of African countries for about 56.2 million hectares.

Target countries of land deals from the Land Matrix Project

The nations targeted are usually some of the poorest in the world. The countries with the most deals in place are Mozambique (92 deals), Ethiopia (83), Tanzania (58) and Madagascar (39). Some of those deals have made headlines because they were conducted to ensure control over food imports, when the targeted regions faced major food crises.

The NGO GRAIN has already explained in detail the gist of their concerns in an extensive report released in 2008:

Today’s food and financial crises have, in tandem, triggered a new global land grab. On the one hand, “food insecure” governments that rely on imports to feed their people are snatching up vast areas of farmland abroad for their own offshore food production. On the other hand, food corporations and private investors, hungry for profits in the midst of the deepening financial crisis, see investment in foreign farmland as an important new source of revenue. As a result, fertile agricultural land is becoming increasingly privatised and concentrated. If left unchecked, this global land grab could spell the end of small-scale farming, and rural livelihoods, in numerous places around the world.

In Malawi, land deals have grown increasingly prevalent to the detriment of the local farmers. A report from Bangula explains the challenges faced by Malawian farmers, Dorothy Dyton and her family:

Like most smallholder farmers in Malawi, they did not have a title deed for the land Dyton was born on, and in 2009 she and about 2,000 other subsistence farmers from the area were informed by their local chief that the land had been sold and they could no longer cultivate there. […] Since that time, said Dyton, “life has been very hard on us.” With a game reserve on one side of the community and the Shire river and Mozambique border on the other, there is no other available land for them to farm and the family now ekes out a living selling firewood they gather from the nearby forest.

Land construction in Madagascar. Photo by Foko Madagascar, used with the author's authorization

Farmers in Madagascar share similar concerns because they do not own the rights to the land they farm and an effective land reform is yet to be implemented. The Malagasy association Terres Malgaches has been at the forefront of land protection for the local population. They report that [fr]:

Les familles malgaches ne possèdent pas de document foncier pour sécuriser leurs terres contre les accaparements de toutes sortes. En effet, depuis la colonisation, l’obtention de titres fonciers auprès de l’un des 33 services des domaines d’un pays de 589 000 km2 nécessite 24 étapes, 6 ans en moyenne et jusqu’à 500 dollars US. (..) . Face aux convoitises et accaparements dont les terres malgaches font l’objet actuellement, seule la possession d’un titre ou d’un certificat foncier, seuls documents juridiques reconnus, permet d’entreprendre des actions en justice en cas de conflit.

Malagasy families do not usually own an estate property document that enable them to secure their lands against land grab. In fact, since colonial times, one has needed about 24 steps, 6 years and up to 500 US dollars to get such documents. There are merely around 33 agencies in the country that deliver such documents for a country that is 589,000 kilometres square […] In the face of the increasing land grabs that Malagasy land is currently at risk of, this certificate is the only document that can trigger legal action in case of conflict.

The association also reports on the practices of a mining company Sheritt, in Ambatovy, which have created a buzz in the local blogosphere because of environmental concerns for the local population and business malpractices (via MiningWatch Canada):

Sherritt International’s Ambatovy project in eastern Madagascar – costing $5.5 billion to build and scheduled to begin full production this month – will comprise a number of open pit mines (..) it will close in 29 years. There are already many concerns about the mine from the thousands of local people near the facilities. They say that their fields are destroyed ; the water is dirty ; the fish in the river are dead and there have been landslides near their village. During testing of the new plant, there have been at least four separate leaks of sulphur dioxide from the hydro-metallurgical facility which villagers say have killed at least two adults and two babies and sickened at least 50 more people. In January, laid-off construction workers from Ambatovy began a wildcat strike, arguing that the jobs they were promised when construction ended have not materialized. The people in nearby cities like Moramanga say that their daughters are increasingly engaged in prostitution.

Video of a worker's testimony in Ambatovy.

Solutions for the local population?

The plight of Madagascar's farmers' plight may be slowly changing though. Land reform discussions are in progress, according to this report:

According to a paper presented at the 2011 International Conference on Global Land Grabbing, about 50 agribusiness projects were announced between 2005 and 2010, about 30 of which are still active, covering a total land area of about 150,000 ha. Projects include plantations to produce sugar cane, cassava and jatropha-based biofuel.
To prevent the negative impacts of land grabbing, (The NGO) EFA has set up social models for investors, with funding from the UN Development Programme (UNDP). The goal is to help investors negotiate with the people in the area where they want to implement projects, as a way to prevent future problems.

Joachim Von Braun, formerly of the International Food Policy Insitute (IFPRI), wrote the following regarding land deals:

It is in the long-run interest of investors, host governments, and the local people involved to ensure that these arrangements are properly negotiated, practices are sustainable, and benefits are shared. Because of the transnational nature of such arrangements, no single institutional mechanism will ensure this outcome. Rather, a combination of international law, government policies, and the involvement of civil society, the media, and local communities is needed to minimize the threats and realize the benefits.

The need for transparency in land deals is further emphasized by Megan MacInnes, Senior Land Campaigner at Global Witness:

Far too many people are being kept in the dark about massive land deals that could destroy their homes and livelihoods. That this needs to change is well understood, but how to change it is not. For the first time, this report (Dealing with Disclosure) sets out in detail what tools governments, companies and citizens can harness to remove the shroud of secrecy that surrounds land acquisition. It takes lessons from efforts to improve transparency in other sectors and looks at what is likely to work for land. Companies should have to prove they are doing no harm, rather than communities with little information or power having to prove that a land deal is negatively affecting them.

Sénégal: a Highly Anticipated Wrestling Match between Eumeu Sène and Balla Gaye 2

Andrew Kowalczuk — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 14:28:25 +0000

123Dakar writes [fr] about the upcoming match between two of the biggest stars of Senegalese wrestling: “The fans have been waiting for this eagerly, the competitors have to define their position and their status in the complex and surprising world of wrestling, this great match-up, which will crown either Eumeu Sène or Balla Gaye 2 as the true new King of the Arena, could cost them an arm and a leg…”

Senegal: An Innovative Way to Monitor the Presidential Elections

Jane Ellis — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 08:47:23 +0000

[All links forward to French articles or videos unless stated otherwise]

During the evening of March 25, 2012, day of the second round of the Senegalese presidential election, journalist Pape Alé Niang of Channel 2stv was able to report that there were “strong trends in the results that outgoing President Abdoulaye Wade would find difficult to contradict”, by as early as 9pm.

Senegalese television was using the results and projections of the #Sunu2012 (Our 2012) campaign which allowed unofficial results to be given by 9pm for the first time in Africa.

Several days later, in his discussion programme Ca Me Dit Mag, Pape Alé Niang said that this historic first had been made possible thanks to the work of Sunu2012 and welcomed two members of the team to his show:

Pape Ousmane Ngom (@Paouz on Twitter) and AmyJane Diop (@aamyjane on Twitter) were invited so that Pape Alé Niang could publicly congratulate them because, as he stated: “similar to what happens in the democracies of developed countries, it was possible to announce the victory of Macky Sall by 9pm.”

Senegal has a population of 12.6 million, with almost 2 million internet users and 620,000 Facebook accounts, according to the reference site Internetworldstats [en].

Sunu2012 was devised and created in 2008 by Web Project Manager and blogger Cheikh Fall (@cypher007 on Twitter) who presented it to the public for the first time in Barcamp [en] Gorée, Senegal, in 2010:

The Sunu 2012 team. Photo used with the permission of Sunu 2012

Cheik Fall also presented the project in an interview given to CESTI (Information Sciences & Techniques Study Centre, attached to the University of Dakar).

Monsieur Fall, c’est quoi sunu2012 ?

Comme son nom l’indique, sunu signifie « notre » [en Wolof]. C’est-à-dire « notre 2012 », pour montrer comment cette année est si importante pour les Sénégalais. … Nous avons eu cette année pour la première fois un lot de treize (13) candidats et qui disent tous : non à la candidature du président sortant, en l’occurrence, Abdoulaye Wade. … Sunu2012 permet à tout Sénégalais d’informer et de recevoir des informations.

Mr Fall, what is Sunu 2012?

As indicated by its name, sunu, stands for “our” [in the Wolof language [en]]. In other words “Our 2012″ to show how important this year is to the Senegalese. … This year we have had thirteen candidates for the first time, and they all say no to the candidacy of the outgoing president Abdoulaye Wade…Sunu2012 allows all the people of Senegal to be informed and to receive news.

Yves Monteil wrote the following in an article entitled “A Lesson in Democracy from the Senegalese Blogosphere“:

Une nouvelle manière de faire de la politique face aux partis… Une nouvelle preuve aussi pour désavouer radicalement les politiques. La naissance de ces mouvements citoyens sur Facebook risque bien de donner un nouveau souffle de maturité décisionnelle à cette jeunesse sénégalaise. … #Sunu2012 incarne une veille permanente aux multiples branches ; sur Twitter, Facebook, mais aussi avec un blog à vocation 100 % participative et citoyenne qui assure une couverture médiatique sans précédent. #sunu2012 c'est aussi une chaîne vidéo sur YouTube, des ramifications sur des plateformes médias et sur les blogs de journalistes.

Toute l'actualité présidentielle se trouve sur ce nouveau fil que ce soit le livetweet des manifs, les commentaires sur le programme des candidats …

… Nous avons pu constater lors de la validation de la candidature de Wade que certains medias sociaux relayaient mal l'information en expliquant que les manifs étaient dues à l'invalidation de la candidature de Youssou N'Dour. C'est sur le fil sunu2012 que cette mauvaise info a été corrigée. Un autre exemple avec Cheick Fall qui a décelé une faille sur le site election2012.sn et qui en postant un billet sur le fil sunu2012 permettra plus tard la correction de cette erreur.

A new way of conducting politics has been presented to the parties, as well as a new trial of methods to radically condemn policies. The birth of these citizens' movements on Facebook might give a fresh breath of decision-making maturity to the Senegalese youth… #Sunu2012 consists of permanent monitoring of several fields such as Twitter and Facebook, as well as a dedicated 100% collaborative citizen blog ensuring unprecedented media coverage. #Sunu2012 also has a YouTube channel and offshoots on media platforms and journalist blogs. All election-related news is found on this new stream, including live tweets from demonstrations and commentaries on the manifestos of candidates….

During the candidacy of Wade, we were able to observe that certain social networks were relating inaccurate information such as stating that the demonstrations were due to the invalidation of Youssou N'Dour's candidacy. This inaccurate news was corrected on the Sunu2012 network. Another example was given when Cheick Fall discovered a fault on the official election website and facilitated correction of the error by posting on the Sunu2012 network.

Cheikh Fall explained how this unfolded on the day of the election:

On s’est rendu très tôt dans les bureaux de vote pour être les premiers à voter et recueillir le maximum d'informations possible avant qu'il y ait affluence. On est armé d'un téléphone portable ou d'un appareil photo afin de diffuser les infos en temps réel, vérifier si tous les candidats ont un bulletin de vote à leur nom dans les bureaux, vérifier si le matériel de vote est bien présent (l'isoloir, l'urne, l'encre indélébile), tweeter et informer avec le hashtag #sunu2012, s'intéresser aux bureaux de vote environnants et enfin, le plus important, se géolocaliser afin que l'on puisse tous se déplacer s'il y a des soucis.

People went to the polling stations very early, so as to be the first to vote and to gather the maximum information possible before it became too crowded. They were armed with mobile phones or cameras so they could spread information in real time, check whether all the candidates had a ballot paper in their name in the stations, check whether all voting materials were actually present (the booth, the ballot box, indelible ink), tweet and inform using the hashtag #sunu2012, take an interest in nearby polling stations and finally, and most importantly, geotag themselves so that people could move elsewhere if there was any trouble.

The #sunu2012 team could count on the mobilization of around one hundred “E-observers” who had put themselves forward voluntarily to relay information from polling stations and especially from various strategic polling stations. The latter allowed the Sunu2012 team to publish strongly indicative trends by 8.30pm which prompted the phone call from the outgoing president to his victorious adversary.

VIDEO from Sunu 2012 HQ on the night of the second round of the presidential elections:

There were also other cyber activist projects as described by Cheikh Fall in Senegalese ‘Soft Revolution' a definite success, as well as senrevolution or Samabaat ('My Voice' in the Wolof language).

Blogger Dom B. wrote the following:

Désormais, il faudra compter avec Twitter, et Facebook dans les élections, au Sénégal comme partout en Afrique, et ailleurs. Les trop vieux présidents qui ne veulent pas quitter le pouvoir, ont dorénavant beaucoup de souci à se faire.

From now Twitter and Facebook must be reckoned with during elections, in Senegal as everywhere in Africa, and elsewhere. The really old presidents who do not want to leave power, henceforth will come under a lot of pressure to do just that.

This echoed the sentiments of Cheikh Fall who stated recently in an email:

C'est ce qui me motive le plus à me lancer pour rédiger le livre pour mieux recadrer l'idée et le projet pour les autres pays.

What motivates me the most is throwing myself into writing a book clearly framing this idea and project for other countries.

Africa: Southern Africa Needs an ECOWAS

Ndesanjo Macha — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 12:22:30 +0000

Following moves by ECOWAS (The Economic Community of West African States) to defend democracy in West Africa Rumbidzai argues that Southern Africa needs an ECOWAS: “The Southern African Development Committee [Community] (SADC) on the other hand has increasingly displayed its inadequacy to address similar issues. In 2008 when Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe lost an election to Morgan Tsvangirai and the subsequent runoff was marred by horrendous violence, SADC did not make a firm decision to respect the people’s choice.”

Senegal: No Slack for President Wade After Peaceful Election Defeat

Jea — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 07:43:22 +0000

While the outside world appears unanimous in its praise for outgoing Senegalese president Abdoulaye Wade and democracy after a peaceful election outcome in March 2012, the Senegalese blogosphere has been more critical of former President Wade's record. Bloggers have not forgotten the victims of pre-electoral violence, the violation of press freedoms, and multiple examples of poor governance throughout Wade's presidency from 2000-2012.

Abdoulaye Wade speaking in New York in 2002. By Marcel Bieri of Swiss Image. Shared by World Economic Forum on Flickr (CC-BY-SA-2.0)

Fabienne Fatou Diop writes that Wade had no choice but to concede a loss to ex-prime minister and challenger Macky Sall in her post, “Senegal, 25th of March 2012, Honour to our people!” [fr]:

Non, Abdoulaye Wade n’a pas été démocrate en téléphonant à Macky Sall. Il n’avait plus le choix. Nous lui avons imposé le choix le 23 juin, nous lui avons imposé le choix lors des manifestations contre sa troisième candidature. Il a poussé son mépris à son paroxysme en violant notre Constitution, en toisant notre indignation et en brimant la seule et unique liberté qu’il nous restait, celle de manifester.

No, Abdoulaye Wade was not being democratic in telephoning Macky Sall. He didn't have a choice anymore. We imposed that choice on him on June the 23rd, we imposed that choice on him in the demonstrations against his third run for the presidency. He showed contempt at its height in violating our Constitution, in disregarding our indignation and in repressing our sole, our last remaining liberty, the right to demonstrate.

On his blog, Mr. Boombastic PlO recalls Wade's “macabre reign” [fr]:

L'élection de Macky Sall n'est pas la première alternance au Sénégal qui a toujours été démocratique. Wade serait même une parenthèse malheureuse car sous sa présidence les libertés ont été bafouées par des meurtres … Des journalistes & opposants ont ete emprisonnés (le cas des jeunes socialistes Malick Noel Seck et Barthélémy Diaz) et surtout les morts de la crise pré-électorale.

The election of Macky Sall is not the first handover of power in Senegal, which has always been a democracy. Wade's time in office will still be an unfortunate parenthesis in Senegalese political history, a time in which freedoms were crushed by murder… Journalists and political opponents were imprisoned (as in the case of the young socialists, Malick Noel Seck and Barthélémy Diaz), and above all, a time marked by the killings during the pre-electoral crisis.

Senegalese flag on the Place de l'obélisque by Nd1mbee on FlickR with his permission

In “Adieu Wade,” [fr] Wirriyamu writes:

Ces dernières années A. Wade a eu maintes fois l’occasion d’accorder un minimum d’attention aux souhaits de son peuple … Aucune de ces occasions n’a été saisie. Au contraire quand il ne répondait pas par le mépris (« je suis majoritaire » « ce sont des poltrons » « il ne se passera rien ») il répondait par l’agression.

Over the years, Abdoulaye Wade had many opportunities to pay even the slightest attention to the wishes of his people… He did not make use of any of these opportunities. On the contrary, on those occasions where he did not respond with scorn (making assertions such as “I have a majority,” “These people are just cowards,” or “Nothing's going to happen”), he responded with aggression.

Haby Ba, in an entry entitled “Président Macky Sall”, [fr] states that Wade's controversial candidacy for a third term deprived the country of a true electoral campaign:

Nous aurions dû avoir cette année une campagne qui porte sur les choix de société. Comment faisons-nous pour reconstruire l’école sénégalaise qui est clairement à la dérive? Comment organiser la solidarité nationale pour que les plus démunis soit non seulement scolarisés mais également suivis sur le plan médical? Ces questions-là n’ont pas du tout été abordées parce que nous étions focalisés sur la nécessité de veiller à la transparence du processus électoral.

This year, we should have had a campaign on social choices; what can we do to rebuild the Senegalese school system, which is clearly adrift? How can we build national solidarity so that the most impoverished can not only receive an education, but also have health care? These questions were not at all tackled because we were consumed with the need to watch over the transparency of the electoral system.

Wirriyamu [fr] says:

Au final, en maintenant sa candidature, Wade a peut-être troublé le cours de l’histoire au Sénégal. Il a empêché la juste confrontation des idées qu’est une élection digne de ce nom. L’opposition s’est retrouvée à se structurer autour d’un seul projet : faire partir Wade. Ce faisant le Sénégal ne sait pas grand-chose des projets et ne sait pas ce qu’elle aura sauf qu’elle sait que ce ne sera pas avec Wade …

In the end, by insisting on running for president, Wade has potentially upset the course of Senegalese history. He did not allow the fair battle of ideas, which any election worthy of the name entails, to take place. The opposition ended up having to organise itself around a sole project: getting rid of Wade. In so doing, Senegal has shown that she knows very little about projects and that she does not know what it is that her future holds, only that this future will not be with Wade…

Bloggers are unanimous in their conclusions and in their demand that justice be done. According to Fabienne Fatou Diop [fr]:

Nous n’aimerions pas que les décès et les blessés lors des manifestations contre la troisième candidature d’Abdoulaye Wade soient vains. Nous exigeons que les auteurs et les commanditaires de ces crimes soient traduits devant la justice.

We don't want the injuries and the lives lost during the demonstrations against Abdoulaye Wade's third run for the presidency to be in vain. We demand that those that carried out and those that ordered these crimes be brought to justice.

Haby Ba says [fr]:

Tant que les politiciens ne seront pas conscients que leurs actes ont des conséquences -y compris pénales- ils continueront à piller ce pays. Seule la justice peut nous éviter de retomber dans la même spirale.

Politicians are so oblivious to the fact that their actions have consequences, including penal consequences, that they continue to pillage this country. Only the justice system can prevent us from falling back into the same old spiral.

Mr. BoOmbastic PlO writes [fr]:

Ces parents de victimes estiment que Wade et ses hommes ne doivent pas emporter avec eux «cette injustice et que toute la lumière doit être faite sur ces meurtres.»

The victims' families believe that Wade and his men should not be able get away with “this injustice and that a light should be shone on their deaths”.

On Twitter, @astouka has started a petition calling for an audit of the outgoing government in Senegal, as well as the launch of new judicial inquiries [fr].

Senegal and Neighboring Nations Celebrate Peaceful Elections

Jane Ellis — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 09:59:04 +0000

[All links forward to French articles unless stated otherwise]

An historical ending to a tense electoral period took place in Senegal [en] on March 25, 2012. As he appeared to have been defeated soundly [en] by ex-prime minister and challenger, Macky Sall [en], acting President Wade [en] telephoned his adversary to congratulate him on his victory, even before the publication of the official final results. Such a move has previously been unheard of in the region.

The Senegalese are celebrating these peaceful elections, which have allowed the political alternative to express itself. Indeed, there were reasons to fear further clashes in light of the pre-election violence [en]. Celebrities and citizens alike have expressed their relief.

Place de l'obélisque by Nd1mbee on Flickr with his permission

This taxi driver started to dance spontaneously in the streets of Dakar:

Singer Youssou N'Dour, who campaigned for Macky Sall, also reacted positively to the result as seen in this video:

As did fashion designer Diouma Diakhaté:

The flood of media and Internet reactions have not stopped since news of this phone call was made public. Many of the commentators in the neighboring nations had been dreaming of such a change in their own country.

Gabon

Blogger Steve Beko wrote an article entitled ‘Election of Macky Sall in Senegal: The First Lessons of a Victory' on the website Gabon Libre (Free Gabon). Maboundou Mounbamba left the following comment after the article:

Bravo aux Sénégalais , sa c'est un vrai exemple de démocratie pas celle qu'on a de nom au Gabon , honnêtement suis jaloux des sénégalais et les encourage sur cette voie, pour vu que ça nous serve d'exemple

Bravo people of Senegal! This is a real example of democracy, not the thing we call democracy in Gabon. Honestly, I am jealous of the Senegalese and I encourage them on this road, let's hope that this serves as an example to us.

Côte d'Ivoire

Regime change has also come to Côte d'Ivoire, but at the cost of many human lives. The Ivorian website Ivorian.net posted an article which attracted many comments from the Ivory Coast community and brought back some old grudges between the supporters of President Alassane Ouattara [en] and those of his predecessor Laurent Gbagbo [en].

Satchmo makes a philosophical comment on Macky Sall's victory:

Belle leçon de démocratie que cette victoire du peuple sénégalais. Bien entendu Wade aurait pu s’entêter comme Gbagbo mais, il a eu l’élégance et surtout la courtoisie d’appeler son challenger. La est tout ce qui grandi et anobli.  On peut polémiquer à vau l’eau sur les causes et les motivations profondes du geste mais c’est au crédit de Wade. La démocratie est un bébé qui grandit et qui a besoin d’être entretenu par la clairvoyance des différents leaders qui défilent a la tête de l’Etat.

Great lesson in democracy and a victory for all the Senegalese people. Of course Wade could have persisted like Gbagbo but he had the elegance and the courtesy to call his challenger. There we have all that is great and noble. We could create a controversy on the causes and underlying motivations of this gesture, but it is a credit to Wade. Democracy is a baby which is growing up, and which must be looked after by the clearsightedness of the various leaders who attain the position of head of state.

Alain Monier adds:

Qu’une alternance démocratique ait eu lieu rien ne pouvait s’y opposer si ce n’était les derniers soubresauts d’un vieil homme perdu dans des songes sans consistance aucune. Le bon droit a prévalu et c’est heureux.

A democratic regime change has taken place and nothing could stop it except for maybe the last flurries of an old man lost in his illusion. Justice has prevailed, and that is great.

Guinea

In Guinea [en], reactions reflect the difficulties that arose from the deep social divisions within the country that the election of President Alpha Condé [en] has not been able to eliminate. Alluding to the custom of Guineans to add “democratically elected” each time Alpha Condé has been mentioned, Camara Boubacar wrote in a comment after an article posted on the Guinea News website:

Macky Sall est le Président élu du Sénégal. Ni lui, ni ses laudateurs, ni la presse sénégalaise n'ajoutera à la fonction du Président de la République le titre ” Démocratiquement élu ” comme pour justifier ce qui lui aurait maqué pour être le légitime représentant du peuple sénégalais.

Macky Sall is the President-Elect of Senegal. Neither him, nor his lackeys, nor the Senegalese press will be adding the phrase “democratically elected” after the title of President of the Republic, as if to vindicate shady dealings on the road to becoming the legitimate representative of the Senegalese people.

On the same website, blogger Dielta finds that the results of the Senegalese elections are:

Une victoire et un honneur pour le peuple sénégalais et ça doit être une leçon de morale pour les guinéens. Car il est temps que les guinéens sachent aussi que seule une élection objective peut être bénéfique pour tous. Il est temps que nous changions le changement en Guinée.

A victory and an honour for the Senegalese people and that must be a moral lesson for Guineans. Because it is time that Guineans also know that only an objective election can be beneficial for all. It is time to ring in the changes in Guinea.

Demonstrators show their joy by Nd1mbee on Flickr, used with his permission

Togo

Sylvio Combey wrote an article on his blog saying:

Ce qui importe, c’est l’alternance. Wade a fait deux mandats et est bouté dehors. Au Togo, on maintient la même famille au pouvoir depuis bientôt 50 ans.

The important thing is that change has come. Wade has completed two terms and has been booted out. In Togo, we have kept the same family in power for the last 50 years.

Mali

There are many observations from Mali bloggers on the site Maliweb. An article informs us that when the time came to put his ballot paper in the box, Abdoulaye Wade turned up empty handed because he had left it in the booth. Thinking of the elections that should have taken place in his country, Liqui wrote:

Wade a suivi ce qui s’est passé au Mali, voila une des raisons pour lesquelles il félicite Macky, sans qu’on ne finisse avec le dépouillement!  donc leçon bien reçue!!!

Wade has followed what happened in Mali, that is one of the reasons he congratulated Macky, even though they have not finished counting the votes yet! Obviously the lesson was well learned!!!

Coulibaly also expressed his point of view:

Démontrons au monde entier que l’apparence trompe et que le peuple malien est mûr, et non naïf de mème que l’armée malienne. Ce sont les epreuves qui donnent les meilleures leçons,pour qui veut bien apprendre.Rappellons aussi avec respect les morts de la campagne senegalaise ainsi que les degats!

Let us show the whole world that appearances can be deceptive and the people of Mali are mature, and not naive like the Malian army. These are the trials that teach the most valuable lessons for those who are willing to learn. Let us also remember with respect the people who died during the Senegalese campaign as well as all the destruction!

Burkina-Faso

Citizens of Burkina-Faso [en] also rejoiced after the Senegalese elections. Among the many people who commented about them on website lefaso.net, was Sylvie who wrote:

Moi je serai plus direct. Malgré les achats de conscience et les menaces, tout pouvoir a necessairement une fin. Nos dirigeants doivent se mettre cette idée dans la tête. Le peuple vous jugera.

I would be more direct. Despite all the threats and purchasing of votes, all power necessarily must come to an end. Our leaders must get that idea through their heads. The people will be the final judge.

Ms Kaboré gave her opinion on the same point:

Les senegalais ont montré qu ils savent ce qu est la vraie democratie, et tout pouvoir fini par s' éfriter [sic] et se perdre avec le temps. le Burkina doit prendre l’exemple sur le Senegal.

The Senegalese have shown that they know what real democracy is, and all power erodes, ends and gets lost with time. The people of Burkina must follow Senegal's example.

Mauritania

In Mauritania [en], the political opposition celebrated the smooth proceedings of the election in the following terms:

La Coordination de l’Opposition Démocratique, en félicitant le Président Macky Sall pour la confiance que le peuple du Sénégal vient de lui accorder ainsi que le Président Abdoulaye Wade pour le fair-play dont il a fait preuve, rend un vibrant hommage à l’expérience démocratique sénégalaise, unique en son genre en Afrique.

The head of the Democratic Opposition congratulates President Macky Sall for the trust that the people of Senegal have just placed in him, as well as the outgoing President Abdoulaye Wade for the sense of fair play he has shown. We pay tribute to the Senegalese democratic achievement that is quite unique in its kind in Africa.

It seems clear that the citizens of countries neighbouring Senegal would also like to have free elections which are transparent and fair in their own countries.

Senegal: The Provisional Tally of the Presidential Elections

Lova Rakotomalala — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 20:48:15 +0000

The provisional tally of the second round of the presidential elections were published on March 27: The incumbent candidate Abdoulaye Wade is projected to have obtain 999,556 votes which is about 34.2% of the votes. Macky Sall was elected with about 1,909,244 votes which amount to 65.8%. The percentage of voters was about 55%. On his blog, Mr. Boombastic PIO [fr] lists the townships that A. Wade won [fr] during the elections. The elections that seem to have been a referendum on his term as a head of state.

Senegal: Wade Warned New President Sall of Shortage in Public Funds

Lova Rakotomalala — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 05:39:47 +0000

M. Ndiaye reports [fr] that Wade warned newly elected president Macky Sall that the State will not be able to pay public servant salaries if he is not re-elected. Furthermore, P. Faye adds that Wade also stated before election Day that infrastructure construction in the city of Matam and Podor will stop [fr] without him at the helm.

Senegal: Meet Cheikh Bethio Thioune, President Wade Divine Helper

Lova Rakotomalala — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 13:41:33 +0000

On the blog “Teranga, ici et là”, M-L Jossselin and M-A Boisvert share a video [fr] of Cheikh Bethio Thioune, a prominent leader of The Mouride brotherhood, a promiment order of Islamic Sufism in Senegal. In this video taken at a meeting on March 17, the religious leader declared that the late founder of the brotherhood Amadou Bamba told him in his sleep that they should vote for the incumbent Abdoulaye Wade. The second round of the Senegalese presidential elections is set for March 25 and will oppose Macky Sall to Abdoulaye Wade.

A Documentary of the History of Black People in France

Abdoulaye Bah — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 18:42:44 +0000

The blog Afro Europe reports on a new film about the black community in France: ” Noirs de France” (”Blacks of France”) is a new documentary of the history of black people in France. It's based on the book “La France Noir” of French historian Pascal Blanchard. The documentary is aired on France 5 in 3 episodes and will be will be available on DVD on 20 February 2012. A traveling exhibition is also on the program.”

Senegal: Discovering Exotic Local Produce

Ndesanjo Macha — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 14:54:41 +0000

Khady discovers exotic local produce in Senegal: “Recently I challenged myself to start discovering some of the more exotic local produce available on the vendors’ stands in Senegal. I started this week. Well, kind of. I ventured beyond my norm, but the fruit that appeared in my kitchen came from friend, not a vendor. Anyway…Meet the baobab fruit, also known as monkey bread or pain de singe.”

Africa: How Many African Women are Online?

Ndesanjo Macha — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 11:20:10 +0000

Gamelmag would like to know how many African women are online: “Firstly, we need to be able to place a figure on the actual number of active female Internet users. Next, we should figure out the factors that inhibit women's use of the web and finally put in measures to reverse this trend.”

Friendly atmosphere in Abidjan as Senegal nationals in Côte d'Ivoire went to vote

Jane Ellis — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 18:50:11 +0000

Suy Kahofi wrote on mondoblog [fr] regarding the atmosphere in Senegalese polling stations in the capital of Côte d’Ivoire: “This voting process has been, above all, a time of reunion for Senegal nationals living in Côte d'Ivoire, and the good-natured atmosphere seen outside the polling stations has also been felt within.”

Africa: Vote for the Most Influential African Thinker Alive

Ndesanjo Macha — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 17:38:30 +0000

Who is the most influential African thinker alive? Africa is a Country blog wants readers to vote for one influential African thinker from a list of 12 candidates.

Sean Jacobs writes about the origin of the idea:

At the end of 2011 we contemplated asking you, dear reader, who you think was the most influential African thinker alive. We abandoned the idea for a while because of our thing against lists (except our end of year lists, of course). I got the initial idea from the British blog, Left Foot Forward, which had run a contest to determine “the most influential leftwing thinker of the year 2010/11.”

He explains how they came up with the list of candidates:

So here we are. To start things of, we came up with a list of candidates we canvassed internally. Not everyone will be happy with the list, but we tried thinking of a range of intellectuals representing different parts of the continent, not just from one country. As South African writer Zakes Mda recently tweeted: “Zimbabwe compares only with Nigeria in the per capita production of African intellectuals (scholars, writers, scientists, economists etc.)” In fact, an earlier draft of the List was heavily South African and Egyptian. (That draft was not supposed to be up and one reader responded in kind. It’s been corrected.)

We confess this list is subjective and that is why we have a second round where your suggestions will make up the choices.

Others wanted to know why we’re not including people on twitter: Our response is that we are not sure 140 characters make you “an intellectual.” A lot of stuff on twitter, including our own tweets, is half-baked and amounts to what Americans call “carnival barking” (in the service of traffic or attracting followers), so it is better to leave that alone.

African thinkers. Image courtesy of http://africasacountry.com/.

The polls will be open until 5 March, 2012:

Once polls close, we will arrive at a shortlist of five. Then it gets interesting: We will have a second, separate round of voting based on your recommendations. That is while you vote in round one, we’ll compile a list of ten names from your suggestions in the comment section, on our facebook page and on Twitter. Candidates who are already on the first list, won’t be included on the second. A second vote/poll will proceed and we’ll announce the result. We will then combine the top five vote takers from the second list with the top five vote takers from the first list. There will then be a third and final round of voting based on the new combined list that will take one week. After that we will announce the overall winner.

The candidates are: Samir Amin, academic, activist (Senegal/Egypt), Jean and John Comaroff, academics (South Africa/United States), Chinua Achebe, writer (Nigeria), Mahmood Mamdani, academic (Uganda), Mamdouh Habashi, academic, politician (Egypt), Kwame Anthony Appiah, academic, philosopher (Ghana/United States), Achille Mbembe, academic (Cameroon/South Africa), J M Coetzee, writer (South Africa/Australia), Issa Shivji, academic (Tanzania), Nawal el Saadawi, writer and activist (Egypt), Wole Soyinka, writer, activist (Nigeria) and Virginie Toure, activist (Cote d'Ivoire).

Africa is a Country is a group blog:

The media blog that is not about famine, Bono, or Barack Obama. For that, go to Newsweek. Frequent contributors are media expert Brett Davidson; academics Sean Jacobs (he started AIAC), Neelika Jayawardane, Kathryn Mathers, Marissa Moorman, Lily Saint, Melissa Levin and Dan Moshenberg; writer and health advocate Caitlin L. Chandler; filmmaker Dylan Valley; writer and academic Abdourahman Waberi; and graduate students Boima Tucker, Anni Lyngskaer, Sophia Azeb, Tom Devriendt, Loren Lynch, curator and filmmaker Basia Lewandowska Cummings, writer and journalist Elliot Ross, writer Orlando Reade; Hinda Talhaoui; and Mikko Kapanen.

Go here to vote for the most influential African alive.