Seacom connects the eastern African coastline to Europe and Asia

Johannesburg, Nairobi and Kampala received their connections on Thursday, and Addis Ababa and Kigali are expected to follow. The cable's arrival was originally scheduled for early July, but pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia delayed operations.

The undersea link is expected to lower the cost of bandwidth by up to 90 percent and to increase access to video conferencing, high definition television and high speed Internet along the eastern African coastline.

“Mmmh…Can't wait for the downloads to start,” writes IT Blog Kenya.

In Uganda, Josh from In an African Minute is already noticing the difference:

The widely known technique for watching YouTube videos in Africa is to immediately pause the video when it starts, wait 20 minutes (or much more) until the video fully loads, and then watch. Today I’m at the ceremony launching SEACOM…. In the corner of a conference room, Peter Moreton, a procurement manager for SEACOM, beckoned me over to a display computer with YouTube queued up. We launched Kung Fu baby and for the first time in Africa, I saw a YouTube video load completely and play in 6 seconds.

Munashe at TechMasai is equally thrilled:

Seacom the undersea cable we wrote about a while back is complete and has been commissioned, today. The initiative is revolutionary for the fact that the countries which will make use of it for now, which include Kenya, Uganda, Mozambique, South Africa and Uganda.

…It is a beautiful moment for Africa, I can vouch for Kenya who until now depended on satellites for their internet needs.

Jeremy, a Nigerian blogger writing at NaijaBlog, compares Seacom to West Africa's various cable links. West Africa comes up short:

East Africa goes broadband…while West Africa is still in the starting blocks (actually, still in the changing room wondering what to wear) with useless always-cut SAT3, a phantom Glo1 (are Alcatel's contractors stuck under a sand dune?) and the two new entrants, WACS and Main1 still way off beyond the horizon (next year if we're lucky). East Africa has embraced broadband and sprinted off with it while West Africa dithers and looks around.

Twitter is also abuzz with Seacom news. Some users are excited, while others are more skeptical:

“Still absolutely amazed that you can practically download the whole of the Interwebz through one small yellow cable #seacom“
— ncallegari

“Seacom did launch _for real_ today. Lets see how long it takes for the ISPs to increase speeds and lower costs…”
— dnyaga

“is it just me or is the net in Nairobi slower today since #seacom launched? Maybe the bandwidth is enjoying the ocean view before coming up?”
— mentalacrobatic

Much of the Seacom skepticism surrounds the issue of pricing: though some analysts claim bandwidth costs will drop by 90 percent, others believe the actual cost cuts may be much smaller. Kachwanya writes:

In the ideal world the cost should go down by more than 90%, currently it cost ISPs US$6500 (around KShs.487500) per MB of bandwidth. According to Seacom they will be charging US$400 (around Kshs.30,000) per MB of bandwidth, but hold your breath, don’t expect miracles on this front. Recently UUnet CEO Tom Omariba claimed that cables will only bring down costs by 20-30 percent.

True Kenyan is concerned about transparency:

Seacom has blatantly refused to disclose to us, the consumers of the internet, which ISP’s have bought the bandwidth from them. Hence we are still on the dark and we do not know where we can buy the cheap and reliable internet from…. So the only alternative i am left with is to continue with my ISP staring at the machine as it loads pages at its own pace wishing that one day our dream will come true.

Commenting on a post by Tanzanian blogger Issa Michuzi [SW], Mdau is also worried about costs, though he has high hopes for the future:

Asanteni sana kwa huo mkonga. Sasa kutandaza fibre-optic cables kwenye miji mbalimbali tunaanza lini? Manake kuwa na inter-country connection wakati within the country hatuna connection nzuri bado gharama zitakuwa juu na kwa maoni yangu tutakuwa tuna-under utilise capacity ya hiyo under sea cable. For the moment, well done! For the future, we have to work had!

For Jellyfish, who dismisses pricing concerns by noting that such an increase in speed and quality of service would normally be accompanied by a price hike, the arrival of Seacom is a beautiful event:

In a highly publicized and coordinated event SEACOM turned on the switch which instantenously beamed Terabytes of bandwidth at the speed of light through highly polished and engineered strands of glass.

And for South African Aki Anastasiou, “This is one small MB for my laptop, one giant TB for Africa.”

The alleged arrest has been in discussed at Jamii Forum, a popular Tanzanian Online Forum, since yesterday. And today, Swahili Time has posted the news along with a picture of the arrested blogger, Malecela Peter Lusinde, 39, an IT consultant from Essex in the UK.

Swahili Time reports that Tanzania’s police in cooperation with their UK counterparts have collected enough evidence to conclude that Lusinde is the owner of Ze Utamu Blog which was blocked in February after publishing manipulated photographic images depicting Tanzania’s President Jakaya Kikwete engaging in lewd sex acts.

Legal aspects of the arrest are not yet clear. Tanzania does not allow dual citizenship and since Mr Lusinde is a UK citizen of Tanzanian origin, it is not yet known under which law Lusinde will be charged. The post in the Swahili Times says:

Habari zilizothibitishwa zinadai kuwa Ndg Malecela amerudishwa Tanzania kwenda kujibu tuhuma mbalimbali za kuendesha mtandao uliokuwa unadhalilisha watu,kuna malalamiko 6850 yaliyoandikishwa kulaumu udhalilishwaji wa watu uliofanywa na mtandao huo […]

Haijaeleweka wazi Ndg Malecela atashitakiwa kwa sheria gani? Lakini ni wazi kwamba atashitakiwa Nchini Tanzania.Licha ya Ndg. Malecela Polisi wa Upelelezi wamezungumza na Watanzania wengine wawili katika miji ya Wichita na San Diego Nchini Marekani,ambao pia wanahusishwa na Mtandao huo wa Ze Utamu.

Besides legal aspects, members at Jamii Forum also commented on the perceived double standards. Semilong said:

Is utamu the biggest ever crime committed by a Tanzanian?

watu wa JF kwa double standards wanashabikia zeutamu kukamatwa na wakati watu wana loot nchi yetu wanatembea huru
wangeshirikiana na interpool kuhakikisha hela zilizokuwa duabi, jerzey na kwinginepo zinarudi TZ ingekuwa ni jambo la maana kulikoni zeutamu[…]

Also at Jamii Forum, BlueRay supporting the arrest adds:

Your argument is weak. Two wrongs do not make a right. We do not want British citizens (of Tanzanian origin or not) to fling unchecked rampant numerous unfounded character assassinations on Tanzanians.

Does the Tanzanian government project a sense of misguided priority in pursuing this rather than EPA , of course, yes. But it is also possible that this was a quick slam dunk because this guy left his tracks left right and centre, IT consultant indeed! … What saddens me is that it took gross and pornographic caricaturing of the president himself for this to happen.

My concern is our internet laws are practically non existent, and our jurisdiction may be limited because this presumably happened over British web servers (?) by a British subject. So if the guy gets a good attorney, and the government does not use extrajudicial means (if it does not Ghailani him under some autocratic anti-terrorism preventive-detention like draconian)

The guy may walk scot free.

* Global Voices Online has not verified the information published in the blogs covered on this post.

According to Habari Leo , a Tanzanian newspaper[sw] the country’s police are seeking help from Interpol in tracing the owners and publishers of the blog.

Ze utamu (www.zeutamu.com), probably Tanzania's most controversial blog, came to the limelight by publishing a mixture of Tanzanian Diaspora gossip, nude and sex photographs of well known people as well as name-and-shaming articles. While it attracted many readers, the blog has also attracted criticism.

Some bloggers are of the opinion that the authorities did not care when posts about ordinary citizens were posted at ze utamu. A comment from a blog post at Watanzania Oslo blog that posted the Habari Leo article about the police hunt for ze utamu blog owners says:

Mtandao huu wa ze utamu umkuwepo kwa muda mrefu sana na watu wengi wasio na hatia (raia wa kawaida) wamedhalilishwa sana kupitia mtandao huo kwa picha zao kuwekwa bila ridhaa yao. nyingi ya hizo picha ni za utupu na hata zile ambazo siyo za utupu ziliwekwa bila ridhaa ya wahusika. hivi kuwekwa picha ya rais Kikwete ndo kile chombo kinachojifanya cha usalama kinakurupuka kuwasaka wenye mtandao? […]unafiki mkubwa na ufisadi aina nyingine huu. kudhalilishwa ni kudhalilishwa, ama iwe ni raia tu, kiongozi wa kawaida na hata rais.

That point was also raised by Happy Katabazi :

… wiki hii katika mtandao wa www.zeutamu.com mtandao ambao umejipambanua kwa ajili ya kupachika picha za utupu za watu wa kada zote na wanaotembelea mtandao huo huchangia mawazo yanayohusu maisha binafsi ya faragha za watu…
Na wakati mtandao huo ukiendelea kujipambanua mamlaka husika zimekuwa zikiukenulia meno mtandao huu hadi wiki hii ulipotundika picha ya kumdhalilisha rais wetu, ndipo mtandao huo umedhibitiwa kwani hivi sasa hata ukiufungua haufunguki.

During the heyday of ze utamu some bloggers started campaigns to stop the blog, like the Anti-utamu [sw].

As the police search continues and despite having many readers before its disappearance, bloggers and readers who have openly come out to support Ze Utamu owners can hardly be found - at least at the time of writing this post.

We are learning from Zambia Watchdog that only four countries in the SADC region recognise Africa Day as a public holiday:

Looking back, it seems like the unity demonstrated by Africans as they fought against colonialism and imperialistic dominance is no longer there. In some parts of the continent, leaders are so self-centred that continental issues have been relegated to the very bottom.

Is it not a shame that to this day, few African countries recognise Africa Day? Is it not a shame that very few countries on the continent have set aside this day as a public holiday? And what lessons does this teach the future generation?

Looking at the calendars of the 14-members of SADC, only four countries - Namibia, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe recognise Africa Day as a public holiday. In the SADC region, it is only Namibia which has made the singing of the AU anthem a permanent feature at public gatherings and in schools.

Jason Von Berg blogs about Africa Day related events that took place in South Africa:

So in celebration of Africa Day, there’s a whole host of things happening in South Africa. The annual Africa Day concert took place at the Mary Fitzgerald Square in Newtown, Johannesburg…

Now speaking of music videos, here is another Africa Day-focused one, in which Namibian artist Gazza has teamed up with SA star Zola on a song called “Hold On”. The song is sponsored by UNICEF and Standard Bank Namibia and it calls on all Africans to unite against the atrocities and conflicts that damages the African image…

The best way to celebrate Africa Day is through hard work, writes the Root Cause:

Being an African, and a part of a new generation of South Africans, I am forced to look north towards the rest of the continent, and wonder if it will ever rise out of the misery and sadness that keeps it from really being a part of the world community.

But at the same time I have this terrible problem of being an optimist by nature; I have this faith that this is Africa’s century. A time to be nurtured from within. Really making a go for it!

The Irish Aid supported Africa Day celebrations in Ireland. Culch.ie writes about events in Dublin:

On Sunday coming, 24th May, from 12pm til 8pm, Africa Day are having a FREE outdoor event in Iveagh Gardens in Dublin 2. There is a huge variety of entertainment on offer here for kids as well as adults

There is a Flickr stream of Africa Day 2009 photos in Ireland:

Bock posts “Africa Day Limerick”:

They’re crazy, these Africans. What a shame they have to put up with Irish weather.

What a shame that any of us have to put up with Irish weather where it rains all the time.

Never mind though.

Africans have failed to learn key lessons about taking care of themselves, argues Angela Kintu in her post about Africa Day:

Africa has had a few tough decades with interference from our not-so-neighbourly neighbouring continents. And while the neighbours appear to be trying to make up for the bad times, conspiracy theories abound on how they are now colonising our minds since they no longer have legal access to our bodies. Maybe, maybe not. What is clear is that we have failed to learn key lessons about taking care of ourselves. We can be like penguins in a hole, looking up with our mouths open, waiting for someone to throw us a free fish.

In the twittersphere, the Irish Aid created a special Africa Day page.

Below are tweets that one finds on twitter about Africa Day:

NeoAid: There's more Africa than what usually makes headlines (poverty/AIDS/war/famine) - See Africa Differently this #africaday http://ow.ly/94cS

tsepeaces: Happy Africa Day! #africaday

NeoAid: If you happen to be in Ireland for #africaday, check out Irish Aid's celebrations at http://ow.ly/94aT or follow them @AfricaDay

neoaidcom: If you happen to be in Ireland for #africaday, check out Irish Aid's celebrations at http://ow.ly/94ay or follow them @AfricaDay

paoladm: #africaday hello a f r i c a ,http://www.london.gov.uk/mayor/culture/africaday/

NeoAid: Happy Africa Day everybody! http://ow.ly/94ak #africaday

neoaidcom: Happy Africa Day everybody! http://ow.ly/949K #africaday

loopyginee: RT @Devcrossing: RT @mulumba Happy Africa Day ma peoples! #africaday- And to you too!!!

micknsk: RT @negrita How good and how pleasant it would be/Before God and man/To see the unification of all Africans. Africa Unite #africaday

More than half of the dead were children, many of whom drowned in a river in the panic following the blast.

The powerful blasts caused the collapse of several nearby buildings and ignited rockets and other weapons that showered shrapnel on bewildered residents. A total of 755 houses have been destroyed and 4,000 people rendered homeless.

Immediately after the explosions, Red Cross officials set up two camps to support the victims, including more than 1,192 children who were admitted by Wednesday night after getting lost while running for safety.

While Investigations are under way into the cause of the blast, the government has set up an inquiry to asses the damage caused by the blast and has pledged compensation to all those affected.

On the day the explosions occured several Tanzanian bloggers posted updates immediately after the blasts. Basil Msongo described the situation [sw]:

HALI ya usalama Mbagala bado si shwari, watu wengi wameumia na wengine wamezimia kwa hofu.
Taarifa kutoka kwenye kambi yalipolipuka mabomu hayo zimedai kuwa huenda itatokea milipuko mikubwa kuliko iliyotokea hadi sasa kwa kuwa kuna mabomu makubwa hayajalipuka.
… Baadhi ya mabomu yamelipuka kwenye makazi ya watu, moshi umetanda Mbagala na kwa ujumla shughuli za kijamii zimeathirika sana.

And Charahani wrote:

Mamia ya wakazi wa jiji hilo hasa Mbagala na vitongoji vyake walionekana kuchanganyikiwa walikuwa wakihangaika kukimbia nyumba zao kwa lengo la kujiokoa. Katika harakati za kujiokoa baadhi ya wananchi ho walitumbukia mtoni huku baadhi yao wakiwasahau watoto wao na vikongwe nyumba bila msaada wowote

The day after the blast the initial shock turned into sessions of anger and questions about those responsible for the ‘accident'. There were angry reactions in a post with photographs of Tanzania’s president Jakaya Kikwete, Vice President Dr. Shein and other leaders visiting the site of the blast and temporary camps in Michuzi's blog:

We need to see some one anakuwa fired kwa uzembe uliotokea roho ya mtu ina thamani kubwa sana sasa uzembe wenu mmesababisha watu kupoteza maisha wengine viungo alafu hao majeruhi mtawaangalia kwa miezi mitatu tu mtaendelea na shughuli zenu na hivi 2010 inakaribia dah…. Hapa tunataka kuona watu WANAKWISHNEY waziri wa wizara usika, Naibu wake, mkuu wa kikosi cha maafa yalipotokea Mwamunyange ooooops huyu jamaa smart kidogo aendelee kutumikia nchi yake lakini hao wengine niliowamention tunataka kuona uwajibikaji wenu sio pole sizizokuwa na manufaa kwa wahanga wa tukio husika.

In another post with an aerial photograph showing bewildered residents confused along a freeway and another with some residents inspecting missile remains in a residential area prompted readers to blame not only the army and the government but citizens as well:

Hii inaonesha hatari kubwa ya kuhifadhi makombora (missiles) karibu na makazi ya watu wengi.
Haya siyo mabomu, bali nia surface-to- air missiles za kutungulia ndege, pia sitashangaa kama kuan surface-to-surface missiles ambazo zaweza kufyatuliwa na mzinga wenye midomo 20, hiyo kuruka kwa mpigo ktk uwanja wa vita.

Another reader said:

… muhimu ni kufuata sheria za usalama na utunzaji wa silaha mbalimbali,ila ajali huweza kutokea.
Mazingira ama makambi ya jeshi ni mazuri sana, salama, kuna utaratibu safi na utunzaji wa mazingira ni namba moja! ndiyo sababu popote kambi ilipo,raia watasogea na watajenga tuu, ukiangalia maeneo yote hayo yalikuwa misitu minene wakati jeshi lilipo establish makambi lakini with time wananchi wamesogea na wengine wamevamia kabisa! Wakiambiwa waondoke hawataki na wanaenda hadi mahakamani!
makambi kuwepo mjini siyo tatizo, maana hata nchi za wenzetu hilo hilo lipo tena wana mambo ya hatari zaidi ya maghala ya silaha!,
Ila nadhani kuna umuhimu wa kuwafundisha watanzania “raia” mbinu za awali za medani na jinsi ya kusaidia na kujisaidia panapotokea balaa lolote.kwa sasa watz wengi bado “bongo lala” -penye hatari sisi tunakimbilia,utayari na kutambua hatari ni karibu na sifuri -JKT irudishwe upya kuondoa uzembe unaojionyesha na kuweka watu fiti kwa mujibu(kupiga msasa).
Tusipojali haya,it will cost us more than we can imagine!

The government, the military and the police are responding to the situation. Lukwangule has posted a press release from the Prime Minister’s Office promising compensation to all those affected by the blast:

Serikali imeshaanza kugharimia gharama za mazishi kwa watu waliokufa katika ajali hii, na itaangalia jinsi ya kuwapa pole wale waliofiwa ili kupunguza makali ya maisha na kuwasaidia waliopata ulemavu kwa matibabu na vifaa…

And regarding the issue of having military arms depots close to residential areas, Basil Msongo has short post where the Tanzania’s president explains why ammunitions depot is located near residential areas:

Rais Jakaya Kikwete amesema, ghala hilo halikujengwa katika makazi ya watu, kwa kuwa lilijengwa mwaka 1976 nje ya makazi hayo.

On the DoGooder Site, they explain a bit about this year's theme:

The DoGooderTV Nonprofit Video Awards highlight organizations that are using video to inspire and ignite social change. This year's theme, “Everyone's Doing It”, is meant to include submissions of all shapes and sizes, from organizational vlogs, to staff-produced web clips, to high-end, professionally produced videos. If your organization made a video—any video—in 2008, we want to see it!

Water:Charity is participating with a video about the need for clean drinkable water in the Central African Republic and how their charity provides funding as well as training for locals so they can learn how to build and maintain wells. They are participating in the “Short Form” category:

In the “Staff Long Form” category, Elephants on the Edge follows an activist and documentary maker while he investigates about the illegal live elephant trade in Thailand and Burma, and manages to buy back a trafficked pregnant elephant to send her to a sanctuary:

In that same category, “Sharing Hope”, shows a charity dedicated to creating after school reading clubs for girls in Tanzania and giving them books and school supplies, in the belief that educating girls benefits the community far more than educating boys.

And this next video, “Ask Umbra's video advice on greening your office”, is competing in the Staff Short Form category is about making office spaces greener. Quite relevant information you might want to check out, particularly considering that today is Earth Day, and the whole world could use a little tender loving care with its finite resources:

This is just a sample of the videos that are competing, so head over to DoGooderTV to view the rest of them and vote for your favorite one.