Opalo's weblog

• Mediocre leadership is the biggest crime against humanity

  Posted: July 29, 2011, 4:24 am by kenopp

  The saying goes that when the tide runs out you get to know who has been skinny dipping. In the same vein, it is when disaster strikes that you get to know who has mediocre leadership. The ongoing famine in the Horn of Africa, the worst in 60 years, has exposed eastern African leaders for [...]

• The Grad Student Rap

  Posted: July 26, 2011, 7:59 am by kenopp

  Ok, so it only has 68,237 hits on youtube but it’s still something some of you dear readers might relate to. H/T The Monkey Cage blog. Filed under: africa Tagged: all things considered, Grad student rap, graduate school, NPR, The Monkey Cage, the monkey cage blog

• Explaining academia’s liberal bias

  Posted: July 25, 2011, 11:59 am by kenopp

  According to the New York Times it is more than just self-selection. There is also screening: “The tendency of liberals to pursue advanced education isn’t a result of higher I.Q. or less materialism or any such indirect factor,” Dr. Gross told me. He pointed instead to a direct factor: the liberal reputation of the profession [...]

• Securing Peace in South Sudan

  Posted: July 24, 2011, 6:26 am by kenopp

  Texas in Africa makes a compelling argument against arming South Sudan (against potential aggression from Khartoum). She basically outlines three reasons against arming Juba: Such a move would implicitly side with the SPLM against other domestic armed/opposition groups. The point of concern here is that having just won independence South Susan needs to have a [...]

• More good news on the fight against AIDS

  Posted: July 22, 2011, 2:29 am by kenopp

  AIDS researchers, many of whom have been meeting this week in Rome under the auspices of the International AIDS Society, are rightly pleased with the progress they have made. In particular, the use of antiretroviral drugs has not only revolutionised treatment of HIV infection, but also offers the prospect of stopping the spread of the [...]

• quick hits

  Posted: July 21, 2011, 1:40 pm by kenopp

  Mau Mau veterans allowed to sue the UK government for atrocities committed during Kenya’s independence rebellion. The court might have just opened a pandora’s box for a whole lot of lawsuits. Kim on the ongoing protests in Malawi. Kenya’s Daily Nation reports that at least 12 people have died in the protests over the last [...]

• Talking real development

  Posted: July 21, 2011, 2:47 am by kenopp

  It is an upper-middle-class, industrialized-country fiction to romanticize life on a small farm. Economic development and food security lie in industrialized agriculture, and this is why I continue being interested in agricultural value chains. My thinking on this has also been reinforced by my recent reading of Jane Jacobs’ The Economy of Cities, in which she [...]

• Guinea’s Alpha Conde attacked

  Posted: July 19, 2011, 9:02 pm by kenopp

  President Alpha Conde, Guinea’s first elected president since independence, appears to have survived a coup attempt in the early hours of Tuesday. Mr. Conde’s residence was hit by rocket fire in what appears to have been a coup attempt. The latest turn of events makes one wonder if Paul Collier’s rather crazy unorthodox proposals might [...]

• African Writing

  Posted: July 18, 2011, 9:16 am by kenopp

  Every summer when I travel back home I make sure to peruse the latest issue of Kwani? – the literary magazine co-founded by Binyavanga Wainaina. That is why I was a little disappointed and challenged by the caustic review the Economist gave his latest book One Day I Will Write About This Place. I have [...]

• Happy Birthday Madiba

  Posted: July 18, 2011, 4:50 am by kenopp

  Happy Birthday Tata Madiba! The Conscience of a Continent Filed under: africa Tagged: africa, Mandela's birthday, Nelson Mandela, south africa

• The EAC needs a defense pact

  Posted: July 18, 2011, 3:16 am by kenopp

  UPDATE: The Government of South Sudan has barred people of Somali origin from entering the country by road for “security reasons.” This wrongheaded move has created an awkward situation since not all people of Somali origin are from Somalia. In Kenya, for instance, a good chunk of the long haul transport sector is run by [...]

• Emperor Bokassa’s madness immortalized at the UN Plaza in San Francisco

  Posted: July 17, 2011, 10:33 am by kenopp

  Emperor Bokassa (of the Central African Republic/”Empire”) ranks high among Africa’s worst dictators. For his coronation as emperor of the Central African Empire he spent half the national budget (with the assistance of the French, of course). This afternoon I once more encountered his colossal error which remains immortalized at the UN Plaza in San [...]

• The potato beats Maize, and most other Old World staples

  Posted: July 16, 2011, 9:53 am by kenopp

  The price of maize in Kenya and the rest of east Africa has hit the roof. The wider Horn of Africa region is currently experiencing its worst drought in 60 years, with thousands of refugees streaming into Kenya from Somalia every week. 10 million people in the wider Horn of Africa region are at risk. [...]

• Talk of unintended consequences…

  Posted: July 14, 2011, 7:36 am by kenopp

  Judging from the NY Times coverage of the 1917 episode, legislators paid little attention to the implications of mandating a ceiling.  They focused instead on Treasury Secretary McAdoo’s request for a higher borrowing limit so as to fund an expensive war effort.  The ceiling was created to empower, not rein in, Treasury (prompting a failed [...]

• Links I liked

  Posted: July 13, 2011, 8:14 am by kenopp

  I just discovered Chri’s Blog on Madagascar and other Africa-related issues. For those with a flavor of finance and capital markets and the political economy of development be sure to read Frontier Markets. Germany is on the hunt for the UN security council seat in Africa. And lastly, Justice – Uganda style: Vice president upsets [...]

• Rants and Raves / Thoughts on the African Union

  Posted: July 13, 2011, 4:30 am by kenopp

  The African Union (AU) has had a rough few months. The diplomatic failures in Zimbabwe, Cote d’Ivoire, and Madagascar exposed the organization’s incompetence. The misguided anti-ICC crusade continues to cement the image of the organization as nothing more than a club of out-of-date and tone deaf autocrats. To many observers, calls for “African  Solutions to [...]

• Republic of South Sudan: The Birth of a Nation

  Posted: July 8, 2011, 1:12 am by kenopp

  CONGRATULATIONS!!! Let’s never forget the many great heroes and heroines who sacrificed to make it all possible. And here is the new map of Africa Filed under: africa Tagged: John Garang' de Mabior, Juba, South Sudan. Republic of South Sudan

• Another African country strikes black gold, in massive amounts

  Posted: July 8, 2011, 10:30 am by kenopp

  Namibia has joined Ghana and Uganda as the latest winners of the oil lottery in Africa. According to the Independent Online: An estimated 11 billion barrels in oil reserves have been found off Namibia’s coast, with the first production planned within four years, mines and energy minister Isak Katali announced Wednesday. The finding could put [...]

• Is Uganda experiencing its 1991 moment?

  Posted: July 8, 2011, 5:48 am by kenopp

  The early 1990s were a heady time on the African continent. Student riots, mass strikes, opposition rallies and international pressure were causing many a one party African dictator sleepless nights. By dint of history, Yoweri Museveni of Uganda escaped the winds of change that were sweeping through the continent. Having brought stability to Kampala and [...]

• Welcoming Southern Sudan to the EAC

  Posted: July 7, 2011, 3:36 am by kenopp

  UPDATE: A related article on Uganda’s influence in the soon to be independent South Sudan can be found in the New York Times. In three days the East African Community will celebrate the independence of its next newest member. Because of SPLM connections in Kenya, among other East African nations, the Southern Sudanese economy will [...]

• Birthday politics in Uganda

  Posted: July 3, 2011, 1:17 am by kenopp

  President Museveni’s plans to succeed himself in 2016 have come under fresh attack. Activists in Uganda staged a mock birthday party, complete with gifts, to celebrate Museveni’s 73rd birthday. Police dispersed participants at the mock party and even seized the birthday cake. The politics behind Museveni’s date of birth stem from the fact that the [...]

• To the Swahili speakers out there

  Posted: July 2, 2011, 1:48 am by kenopp

  Jaguar’s latest hit Kigeugeu is currently quite popular in the Swahili world. The song highlights the breakdown of trust and probity in Kenyan society – according to jaguar, everyone (his wife, his pastor, doctors, politicians, bureaucrats, etc) is janus-faced (kigeugeu). Here is the official video of kigeugeu. Filed under: africa Tagged: Genge, Jaguar, Kenya, Kigeugeu, [...]

• Briefing from Malabo

  Posted: July 1, 2011, 12:13 am by kenopp

  The AU has a lot on its plate at the moment (subject of an upcoming blog post). It is in the middle of trying to put out new fires in Sudan and Libya, while ignoring/recovering from the humiliation of its failures in Somalia, Cote d'Ivoire, and Zimbabwe - not to mention the region's other problems. All this while insisting on "African Solutions to African Problems," despite the organization's infamous reputation for incompetence.

Blah blah blah

Fish cakes

Alas a fish cake.

Yet more fish cakes

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

The end of the fish cakes