Opalo's weblog

• 2011 KCSE results

  Posted: February 29, 2012, 1:16 pm by Ken Opalo

  The break down is as follows: The usual suspects dominate the top ten list – with the new addition of Maranda. Boys take 7 out of the top ten positions. Top girl fourth (from Alliance Girls). Top three students from St. Peter’s, Kakamega, and Alliance High School. Top ten schools are: Maranda High School Alliance [...]

• kCSE results to be released tomorrow

  Posted: February 28, 2012, 10:53 pm by Ken Opalo

  The 2011 Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) results will be released tomorrow. The exam is a make or break affair for most students since it is the key determinant of whether they will continue on to college or drop off the education ladder and join scores of unemployed youth with limited economic prospects. These [...]

• Njenga Karume dead at 83

  Posted: February 24, 2012, 9:24 am by Ken Opalo

  Former Defense Minister and GEMA leader Njenga Karume is dead at 83. Mr. Karume succumbed after a long battle with cancer. The late Karume, who made most of his money from the beer distribution business, was one of the most influential and richest politicians among the “independence generation.” Njenga Karume was mostly a self-made man [...]

• Lest we forget…

  Posted: February 22, 2012, 10:29 am by Ken Opalo

  There was a time when Somalia was different… Democracy is also a deeply rooted Somali political principle which, I suspect, continues much as usual in the more remote parts of the nomadic interior. How long it will be before it reasserts itself in the central political life of the state remains to be seen. We [...]

• Kenyan politician John Michuki dead at 80

  Posted: February 21, 2012, 1:08 am by Ken Opalo

  John Michuki, MP for Kangema is dead at 80. The late Michuki was a Kenyan politician that many learned to love (and sometimes love and hate). As Transport Minister he brought sanity to the rowdy matatu sector with the much-loved “Michuki Rules”. As Minister for the environment he cleaned up Nairobi River. His less illustrious [...]

• The dangers of simplistic single narratives

  Posted: February 21, 2012, 11:17 am by Ken Opalo

  As Stearns argues in this excellent book, the causes of the conflicts in eastern DRC are multiple and complex. Yet simple narratives in the media and among aid workers and advocacy groups have tried hard to reduce these causes to a fight over minerals; and similarly the consequences as mass rape of women and young [...]

• Kenyan Intervention in (al-Shabab dominated) Southern Somalia

  Posted: February 15, 2012, 1:16 am by Ken Opalo

  The ICG has an excellent new report on the state of the the Kenyan military intervention in Somalia. The pressing issues raised in the report include economic, political and social concerns: The slow pace of the military operation and the high cost of keeping troops in the field are the main reasons behind Nairobi’s desire [...]

• 14th of February Edition

  Posted: February 14, 2012, 12:37 am by Ken Opalo

  Click to enlarge. Source: http://benkling.tumblr.com/ H/T Paul G. Filed under: africa Tagged: adolf hitler, castro, chairman mao, China, cuba, dictators, fascism, fidel castro, germany, hitler, joseph stalin, karl marx, leon trotsky, love, Mao Zedong, marx, memes, peace, revolutions, Russia, Saint Valentine, soviet union, stalin, trotsky, Valentine's Day, war

• College Memes Edition

  Posted: February 13, 2012, 1:59 am by Ken Opalo

  It’s a rainy Monday in Palo Alto.. More on this here. Filed under: africa Tagged: college memes, foreign aid. summer volunteer work. ethics of summer volunteer work, Stanford University

• Zambia’s Chipolopolo win the Africa Cup of Nations

  Posted: February 13, 2012, 2:10 pm by Ken Opalo

  Congratulations to the Chipolopolo and their fans all over the world! Filed under: africa Tagged: Abidjan, Africa Cup of Nations, caf, CAN, Chipolopolo, equatorial guinea, Gabon, Ivory Coast, lusaka. libreville, malabo, Zambia

• Innovation in Kenya

  Posted: February 11, 2012, 1:11 am by Ken Opalo

  The Kenyan tech industry just got another boost, this time from the global phone maker Nokia. The Sunday Nation reports: Nokia plans to make Nairobi its global hub for research and investment for the India, Middle East and Africa region. The move is a big win for the country which will serve as a nerve [...]

• A note from Mr. Development Man

  Posted: February 9, 2012, 12:57 pm by Ken Opalo

  Perhaps after experiencing a Bill Easterly moment, a friend of mine (grad student here at Stanford) had this on his facebook wall: “Hello, my name is Mr. Development Man. I know Africa so much!! I went there one summer and stayed with an NGO. I talked to my servant cook who served me food, so [...]

• Stanford Africa Forum 2012 (Feb 25th)

  Posted: February 7, 2012, 5:29 am by Ken Opalo

  Please register here. Filed under: africa Tagged: Danladi Verheijen, equity bank, Graduate School of buisiness, James Mwangi, Jeff Sachs, Jeffrey sachs, Stanford, stanford africa forum, stanford gsb, Stanford University, the end of poverty, the end of poverty and the economic possibilities of our time

• Stanford Africa Forum 2012 (Feb 25th)

  Posted: February 6, 2012, 10:45 am by Ken Opalo

  Here is introducing the annual Stanford Africa Forum: SAF is organized by a multinational and multidisciplinary group of Stanford University students who share a common passion: a firm belief in the potential and promise of the African continent. Previous editions of the Forum have placed the spotlight on this potential and we plan to continue [...]

• In which Mitt Romney channels Downs (1957)

  Posted: February 2, 2012, 8:20 am by Ken Opalo

  Sometimes politicians get out of character and reveal the naked truth about the strategic logic of hunting for votes in a two-party electoral system. Briefly stated, the median voter rules (also check this out). For more on this check out the piece on the Times website. Filed under: africa Tagged: american politics, Antony Downs, Barack [...]

• Picture of the Day

  Posted: February 2, 2012, 3:25 am by Ken Opalo

  Introducing the Magdeburg Water Bridge in Germany. Filed under: africa Tagged: canals, elbe, Infrastructure, Magdeburg Water Bridge, Magdeburg Water Bridge in Germany

• Africa’s most forgotten Democrat

  Posted: February 1, 2012, 7:20 am by Ken Opalo

  Who was the first leader of independent Africa who lost an election and agreed to step down? No, it was not Mathieu Kerekou of Benin. Because my adviser [I doubt he reads this blog] spent some of his early years in academia working and publishing on Somalia, I have been reminded quite a few times [...]

Blah blah blah

Fish cakes

Alas a fish cake.

Yet more fish cakes

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

The end of the fish cakes