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January 30th, 2007

   

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Swahili Blogosphere: CIA's Role in the Zanzibar Revolution, Bloggers Association, The Wretched of the Earth, and Protesting UK's $12M Secret Payment

A small portrait of the translator J. Nambiza Tungaraza · 11:53 · Sub-Saharan Africa

Following their virtual conference last November, Tanzanian bloggers are currently discussing the details of the organization they are intending to form. A blog has been set up by the interim committe, to facilitate the process. So far, they have chosen the name for the organization, Jumuiya ya Wanablogu Tanzania (the community of Tanzanian bloggers). The current discussion is about leadership structure. There will be a single item for discussion every week. Later on, there will be an open competition to design the logo of the organization.

Zanzibar: CIA's Role in the Zanzibar Revolution, No More Miniskirts, and Sauti za Busara

Mid January is when Zanzibaris remember the 1964 revolution that ousted Sultan Jamsheed Bin Abdullah’s regime. The story of the Zanzibar revolution has either been told through the official government version or has remained shrouded in secrecy and conspiracy theories. Majid Mjengwa, a college instructor and journalist in Tanzania, posts an article by a Tanzanian columnist Nizar Visram who is of the view that Zanzibar revolution was not a sporadic event but rather a long process which involved the majority of Zanzibaris, various political parties and foreign powers keen to marginalise leftist elements in Zanzibar politics.

To highlight the role of foreign powers, Visram digs into the London Public Records Office and the CIA archives now available to the public and refers to the 1961 British Resident governor's letter to his government:

Waraka huo unaonyesha wasiwasi wao kuwa uongozi wa chama cha ZNP unachukuliwa na viongozi wa mrengo wa kushoto akina Abdulrahman Babu. Mkakati ukaandaliwa ili kuimarisha uongozi wa Sheikh Ali Muhsin na kumuondoa Babu.

The Resident governor's letter expressed a concern that leftists were taking over the leadership of the Zanzibar Nationalist Party (ZNP). And therefore a strategy to remove Abdulraham Babu, a leftist thinker, was put in place.”

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Maldives struggles with Chikungunya

Nihan Zafar · 06:01 · South Asia

Chikungunya, a viral fever accompanied with joint pains, is spreading throughout the Maldives. The disease was first noticed in the country in late 2006 and so far it has not been controlled.

Maldives Today accuses the government of reacting slowly to this outbreak and not taking appropriate measures to combat the disease.

The government of Maldives did not react to an outbreak of Chikungunya in Kerela state in India in October 2006. The affected areas in Kerela included Trivandrum or Thiruvananthapuram, which is the most popular Indian destination among Maldivians going there for medical treatment and vacation. Daily flights between Trivandrum and Male’ carry Indian workers and travelers and Maldivians. It may be a matter of a few days for a disease to reach the Maldives from Trivandrum. Any outbreak of a disease in that part of India should have been taken as a serious issue.

When an unusual fever started spreading in the Maldives with symptoms of Chikungunya, the government was once again slow to react.

The psychological trauma to the patients as well as the social and economic toll is heavy. There is hardly a family without a patient suffering from Chikungunya. An epidemic can affect the productivity of a country and at this moment Chikungunya and dengue is doing that to the Maldives.

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