Stories about Sub-Saharan Africa from July, 2006
DRC: Post-Election Roundup
“A Peaceful Election” Congolese at the polls. Photo by Federico, courtesy of Extra Extra. By and large, the voting has ended in the DRC, according to The Salon: With the exception of the three towns that had to continue/report the voting for today, due to numerous arsons (Mbuji-mayi, Mweka and...
South Africa: The scammer spammed
Electric Spaghetti, otherwise known as Saaleha, reels in her man after a spontaneous and florid response to a “419” spam/scam-mail in her Inbox.
Nigeria: Missing Lagos
“Lagos,” writes Jangbalajugbu, “is a city that habours the hardworking as well as the lazy. The sane and insane. It is a city with different kinds of people from the rich, educated, wealthy, brilliant & intelligent to the dejected, the accursed, the incorrigible, the hopeless, the dead but breathing-walking corpses,...
Nigeria: Scotland Yard
Detectives from Scotland Yard have just arrived in Nigeria to help with the investigation into the murder of politician Funsho Williams who died last week in Lagos, writes UKNaija. “If they fail, I can just imagine the Nigerian government crowing ‘Well, even the experts from Scotland Yard couldn't crack it,...
Zimbabwe: Morgan Tsvangirai speech
Eddie Cross on Zimpundit posts in its entirety the speech given by former union leader and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai to a National Convention held by Churches in Zimbabwe Saturday to debate the crisis in the country, and the way forward.
South Africa: Trade union
Writes Farrel Lifson at politics.za, South Africa's largest trade union COSATU gets a lot of media exposure, but still has fewer than two million members.
Kenya: Mourning a father
“Next year will be 25 years since you were shot ruthlessly and left to die in some ditch,” writes Farmgirl to her much-missed father. “Oh just want to tell you that Raila and his cronies plotted the whole coup thing that led to your death…I wish he would say sorry...
DRC: Counting of Ballots Has Begun
The Salon writes: “Counting has begun in many voting stations in the Eastern part of the country, which is an hour ahead of Kinshasa, and the West. Radio Okapi's live service is reporting an estimated level of participation that is higher than 70% in most of the stations that have...
DRC: Voting At Last
Extra Extra writes: “It has been a beautiful day here in Kinshasa, and the atmosphere has been very peaceful and more friendly than usual wherever I’ve gone. (…) The officials at the voting centres are doing a good job, helpfully explaining what to do. (…) There have been a few...
DRC: Carefully Hopeful
Echoing the optimism of another US-Based DRC blogger, The Salon writes (Fr): “The elections have finally begun. Though there are justified worries about the election's transparency, this is a a historic experience on this vast land which is as large as Western Europe. As a Congolese, while keeping a sane...
Reunion, USA: From Maryland to Florida
US-based Reunion-born blogger Reunion-USA2 discovers (Fr) cultural differences between Maryland and Florida:”My husband is happy in Florida: no more politically correct here! When he goes out with colleagues, they all drink beer –in Maryland, nobody drank during work hours so as not to be labeled a drunk. Yesterday they had...
DRC: Optimism on Eve of Landmark Election
Foli Kat, a new blogger based in the US, has been following Global Voices's coverage of Congolese bloggers writing about the July 30th election and has a very different perspective from the largely pro-opposition bloggers highlighted in my previous posts. Foli Kat writes that whatever their shortcomings, these elections are...
DRC: Election Survey Results & EUFOR Crash
Extra Extra posts results of a DRC election survey he conducted from his blog (most respondents thought the election would take place without major disruptions) and explains that yesterday European Union Forces “managed to crash an unmanned drone into a residential area, injuring four and destroying a house.”
DRC: Human Rights Watch Election Concerns
Human Rights Watch outlines human rights concerns that might impair the fairness of elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo tomorrow.
DRC: Documentary Video
The Salon posts a french-speaking video-documentary covering the last 6 year's events including the 6-day war between Rwandan and Ugandan armies, the assasination of Laurent Kabila and the promise of elections.
Call Centre Blues
Spice Bear tries to clean up after an electric storm hit her computer: “Five minutes later, he gets back and tells me to press the f10 button repeatedly. and to make sure that it's more than once. by now i'm about ready to blow but i don't want to be...
African innovation: hi-tech roads
African Architecture & Design writes: With soaring global temperatures, “bitumen based roads seem not to be as durable because of their low melting points, although concrete is a better alternative to bitumen/asphalt, it is however more expensive to construct with.”
Cameroon: Cooperative dairy
Timbuktu Chronicles reports on the Tadu cooperative dairy in Cameroon.
Nigeria: Political murder
Even sadder and more depressing than the Middle East, writes UKNaija, “is the news of the brutal callous murder of Funsho Williams, the grey bearded affable engineer who had consistently for the past ten years made no secret of his ambitions to rule Lagos State.” Taurean Minx also shares her...
DRC: Last Minute Campaigning and Complaining
As Sunday's presidential election approaches, and the campaign period closes today, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) bloggers chronicle last minute campaigning and complaining by some of the 30 or so candidates and other actors. Candidates’ Backgrounds Prince du Fleuve du Congo continues a debate with Christian Geraud about Joseph Kabila...
Indoensia: Expat Life and Indonesian Thoughts
The blogger at Sarapan Ekonomi talks about expats discussing life in Indonesia. The blogger does not agree with some of the views the expats have but at the end of the post, the blogger asks everyone “Meanwhile, lighten up. It's Friday after all.”