Opalo's weblog

• this is how museveni treats the opposition in uganda

  Posted: April 28, 2011, 12:16 am by kenopp

  Uganda is experiencing hike in food and fuel prices – partly because of the rise in global oil prices but also because of “election money.” The Ugandan opposition has been organizing “walk to work” protests against the government’s inability to tackle inflation. In this video, the main opposition leader in Uganda gets to experience the [...]

• remembering J.M. Kariuki

  Posted: April 27, 2011, 10:55 am by kenopp

  J. M. Kariuki was murdered by government unknown operatives in 1975. One of his more famous speeches goes to the heart of Kenya’s problem… A small but powerful group of greedy, self-seeking elite in the form of politicians, civil servants, and businessmen has steadily but very surely monopolized the fruits of independence to the exclusion [...]

• the million-shilling goat question

  Posted: April 26, 2011, 11:51 am by kenopp

  What is the Ugandan government doing trading in goats? At least 30,230 goats belonging to government are unaccounted for, according to an investigation by the Auditor General’s Office, which expressed concerns about the possibility of a major scam involving officials in the Ministry of Agriculture. The missing goats were meant for the implementation of a [...]

• african presidents and the “elites” around them

  Posted: April 22, 2011, 4:08 am by kenopp

  This is the first of many installments on African presidents. I am currently researching the nature of presidential power in Africa. First on the list is Yoweri Museveni of Uganda. Mr. Museveni has been in power since 1986 and is pretty much convinced that he is God’s gift to Uganda has just won another 5-year [...]

• the lion and the panda: still working on the relationship

  Posted: April 20, 2011, 12:09 am by kenopp

  The ambiguities in China’s relationship with Africa have created fertile ground for politicians. Opposition parties, especially in southern Africa, frequently campaign on anti-China platforms. Every country south of Rwanda has had acrimonious debates about Chinese “exploitation”. Even in normally calm places like Namibia, antipathy is stirring. Workers on Chinese building sites in Windhoek, the capital, [...]

• Mr. Jonathan will need all the luck he can muster

  Posted: April 19, 2011, 1:39 am by kenopp

  This cartoon by the Daily Nation’s GADO pretty much summarizes what lies ahead for President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria. Filed under: africa

• signs of grand corruption in the kenyan treasury

  Posted: April 19, 2011, 12:25 am by kenopp

  Every year, the Treasury presents the Controller and Auditor-General a revenue statement, disclosing details of revenues received on income tax, VAT and corporation taxes. The accounts for all revenue categories are kept separately. The gist of the new report by Mars Group is that the Auditor has discovered several cases where records of revenues received [...]

• quick hits

  Posted: April 19, 2011, 9:34 am by kenopp

  Ugandan walk to work protests continue, despite the arrest of key opposition leaders. Mutiny spreads in Burkina Faso. Compraore has been in power since 1987 after he ousted Thomas Sankara. Benin’s Yayi Boni might have stole his way into a second term. I hope he is not planning on extending the presidential term limit in [...]

• goodluck jonathan poised to win nigeria’s election

  Posted: April 17, 2011, 12:41 am by kenopp

  The Daily Nation reports: Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has taken a wide lead in elections in Africa’s most populous nation, results showed today, putting him on a possible course for a first-round victory. Millions of voters turned out for Saturday’s election as Africa’s most populous country bid to put years of rigging and badly flawed [...]

• the political economy of violence

  Posted: April 16, 2011, 4:35 am by kenopp

  The Economist reports: YESTERDAY it was Afghanistan and Congo. Today it is Côte d’Ivoire and Libya. Violence, it seems, is always with us, like poverty. And that might seem all there is to be said: violence is bad, it is worse in poor countries and it makes them poorer. But this year’s World Development Report, [...]

• burkinabe strongman in trouble

  Posted: April 15, 2011, 8:54 pm by kenopp

  The BBC reports that: Soldiers in Burkina Faso’s capital have mutinied, with gunfire resounding throughout Ouagadougou overnight. The protests began when members of the presidential guard started shooting into the air in protest at unpaid housing allowances. President Blaise Compaore is due to meet a UN envoy in the city later, officials say, after he [...]

• Kenyan politician lose $10 million at airport

  Posted: April 15, 2011, 10:53 am by kenopp

  UPDATE: The blogosphere is already abuzz with the potential absurdity of the Standard story. Apparently $ 10 million in $100 notes weighs 100kg. It is hard to see if someone could carry that much weight around with them, much less be allowed onto a plane. There is vital information missing somewhere. The Standard editorial staff [...]

• economic hardship in uganda

  Posted: April 15, 2011, 2:42 am by kenopp

  Strongman Yoweri Museveni might be nearing the end of the road. For 25 years he has ruled Uganda as the country recovered from Idi Amin’s disastrous rule and a brutal civil war. To add to the stability brought about by his regime, Uganda has also been one of the fastest growing in Africa since the [...]

• what I am reading

  Posted: April 13, 2011, 9:20 am by kenopp

  (Whenever time permits) I am currently reading the following books: The King of Capital: The Remarkable Rise, Fall and Rise Again of Steve Schwarzman and Blackstone by J. Morris Manias, Panics and Crashes: A History of Financial Crises by Kindleberger and Aliber The two are quick reads targeted at the general audience. The King of [...]

• nigeria holds first transparent election since 1993

  Posted: April 11, 2011, 2:48 am by kenopp

  The last time Nigeria had a transparent election was in 1993. Then, opposition leader Moshood Abiola won the election only to be denied the chance to lead Nigeria by strongman Ibrahim Babangida. Mr. Abiola died in jail in 1998. Nigerians had to wait until May of 1999 to see the end of kleptocratic military rule. [...]

• from the annals of history

  Posted: April 9, 2011, 3:50 am by kenopp

  One insurgent movement within the country lingers from the 1964-65 wave of rebellions. Localized in the Fizi-Baraka area by Lake Tanganyika, this group – known in recent years as the Parti de la Revolution (PRP) – achieved notoriety in 1975 by kidnapping four Stanford students from a zoological research station in Tanzania. Its composition is [...]

• what if ruto and uhuru were jailed by the icc?

  Posted: April 8, 2011, 11:21 pm by kenopp

  Kenyan politics is currently in flux. Two key presidential candidates, Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto may be barred from running for public office next year on constitutional grounds. The key beneficiaries of such an eventuality will most probably be Raila Odinga and Kalonzo Musyoka, the Premier and Vice President respectively. But what would such an [...]

• some trends on the Continent

  Posted: April 8, 2011, 3:43 am by kenopp

    The graph shows average growth rates, government expenditure as a fraction of GDP and foreign aid as a fraction of GDP in Sub-Saharan Africa since 1960. Both the growth and aid trends are encouraging. Growth has been positive since the mid-1990s and aid seems to be trending downward in the long-run. It is also [...]

• kenya’s ocampo six at the hague; kenyan politics will never be the same

  Posted: April 7, 2011, 9:44 pm by kenopp

  The denouement of the saga is still uncertain. Two Kenyan political supremos, Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto, are appearing at the ICC in the Hague to answer to charges of crimes against humanity. The two are among six Kenyans accused by Moreno Ocampo for being the brains behind the violence in 2007-08 in Kenya that [...]

• Niger’s military keeps its word

  Posted: April 7, 2011, 9:15 pm by kenopp

  The Nigerien military, led by Salou Djibo, has handed over power to democratically elected President Mahamadou Issoufou. The military ousted strongman Mamadou Tandja 14 months ago after he attempted to extend his rule beyond the term limit. Twice now, the last time being in 1999, the Nigerien military has intervened in politics in support of [...]

• links i liked

  Posted: April 7, 2011, 9:22 am by kenopp

  Aid Watch on dictators and growth Blattman has a nice installment in the ongoing brain drain debate. Interesting South African blog.   Filed under: africa

• inept african leaders should be pushed aside

  Posted: April 7, 2011, 9:08 am by kenopp

  Rant and Rave alert. African dictators enjoy some of the highest expected tenures in the world. They are also some of the worst performing leaders. Theodore Obiang of Equatorial Guinea has been in power since the late 1970s. Abundant oil and a low population makes his country be classified as a high income country by [...]

• ethnicity and public employment in kenya

  Posted: April 6, 2011, 10:29 pm by kenopp

  The Daily Nation reports: The survey undertaken by the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) gave shocking details of how political patronage and personality-based leadership had reduced the civil service into an exclusive club of the big communities at the expense of the so called small communities. According to the survey, members of the Kikuyu, [...]

• support the victims of cote d’ivoire’s war

  Posted: April 5, 2011, 8:05 am by kenopp

  Texas in Africa has an idea about how you can help the people caught in the conflict in Ivory Coast. Meanwhile, the BBC reports that the presidential palace in Abidjan may have fallen to forces loyal to Alassane Ouattara, the recognized president of Ivory Coast. It is not clear whether former president Laurent Gbagbo was [...]

• Gbagbo’s departure imminent

  Posted: April 1, 2011, 2:43 am by kenopp

  Laurent Gbagbo, former president of Cote d’Ivoire who refuses to step down despite losing an election, faces imminent departure. According to the BBC and the Times, his own army chief (Phillippe Mangou) and other members of the security forces have already defected from his camp. The rebel forces loyal to Alassane Ouattara, the internationally recognized [...]

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Fish cakes

Alas a fish cake.

Yet more fish cakes

Guess what ... yeah ... fish cakes.

The end of the fish cakes