Items by kenopp

Opalo's weblog

• communication, communication, communication

  Posted: August 27, 2008, 6:02 pm by kenopp

  So  I am a bit frustrated this morning. I am frustrated because after about fifteen minutes of searching, I cannot find any contact information for the offices of the Prime Minister and several other ministries of the Kenyan government. How hard can it be to put these up? How hard can it be to have [...]

• zambian president dies in france

  Posted: August 19, 2008, 10:32 pm by kenopp

  Levy Mwanawasa, the president of Zambia, has died in a French hospital. Mwanawasa was admitted in the hospital after he suffered a stroke several weeks ago. The country’s vice president, Rupiah Banda, has assumed the position of acting president, at least until new elections are held. Mwanawasa became president in 2001 and has been a darling [...]

• army takes over mauritanian government in a coup

  Posted: August 6, 2008, 8:29 pm by kenopp

  Well, if you thought the era of coups was gone, think again. The Mauritanian army has ousted the country’s president, Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi, in a bloodless coup. The army has cited the president’s overtures to Islamic fundamentalists and his recent sacking of four of the country’s top military commanders as the reason for his [...]

• senegalese shame

  Posted: July 31, 2008, 6:10 pm by kenopp

  The events in Senegal last Monday are yet another blow to the democratization of a very undemocratic continent of Africa. Senegal has always been a beacon of hope and a symbol of sobriety in the most turbulent region of the African continent. But even its impressive track record could not stop Abdoulaye Wade, one of [...]

• kenyan new aids figures, cause for concern

  Posted: July 30, 2008, 7:38 pm by kenopp

  Otherwise millions more will die. Millions more will be orphaned. And millions that could have been spent building roads and schools will instead be spent on funerals and health costs.

• I think I’ve caught Obamamania too

  Posted: July 25, 2008, 2:16 am by kenopp

  The speech and the pictures from Berlin did it all. I am a news and political junkie (no apologies) and have been keenly following the US presidential election ever since Iowa set things rolling in December of last year. Until today, I had been caucious about Barack Obama - I mean I read his two [...]

• slavery in mali, sick and utterly disgusting

  Posted: July 17, 2008, 1:10 pm by kenopp

  The IRIN News website reports that thousands of Malians are still living in slavery in the North of this desert country. It is a shame that in the 21st century we should still have Africans, of whatever descent, enslaving their fellow countrymen. Last year I wrote a piece on the situation in Mali and pointed [...]

• al-Bashir accused of war crimes and genocide

  Posted: July 14, 2008, 3:49 pm by kenopp

  Again, al-Bashir may never see the inside of a cell in the Hague but it is a triumph for justice, or more appropriately, the quest for justice.

• Kimunya exit a loss for kenya

  Posted: July 8, 2008, 12:12 am by kenopp

  Politics is a dirty game. To that let me also add that all human beings made of bone and flesh are fallible. These two truisms proved their worth once again today when Kenya’s Finance Minister Amos Kimunya resigned in connection to the fraudulent sale of the corruption tainted Grand Regency Hotel. Corruption accusations, whether valid or [...]

• a tribute to Africa’s greatest son

  Posted: June 26, 2008, 2:18 pm by kenopp

  Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, the former president of South Africa and arguably the greatest African ever in recorded history celebrated his 90th birthday the other night in London in an even attended by big shot politicians and celebrities. Listening to the comments made by those in attendance reminded me of just how important this man has [...]

• How much longer will the world sit back and watch?

  Posted: June 21, 2008, 4:14 pm by kenopp

  As usual, the news coming out of Zimbabwe are not good. Images of armed youth chasing and beating opposition supporters and reports of whole villages being overrun by government operatives for the simple crime of voting for the opposition are in the least very sickening. Robert Mugabe, the ancient independence hero of the republic of [...]

• letter from Gaborone

  Posted: June 19, 2008, 7:30 pm by kenopp

  If you thought that stories of Chinese involvement in Africa were exaggerated, think again. A survey of the businesses in Gaborone - from car dealerships to apparel stores to restaurants even - reveals just how much the men and women from the East have established themselves on this continent. The locals complain that the goods are [...]

• power cuts!! oh no!!

  Posted: June 5, 2008, 7:21 pm by kenopp

  Just as I thought that my stay in Botswana was going to be such a nice ride, I was rudely reminded of where I was by an unexpected power cut. Yes, I was trying to cook dinner while watching some show on the travel channel when the lights went out. With no torch (flashlight, as [...]

• Botswana

  Posted: May 31, 2008, 4:44 pm by kenopp

  It’s been just over 24 hours since I touched ground in the land of Seretse Khama. So far so good. Botswana is living up to its reputation as a middle income country in the middle of the sea of despair that is the rest of the continent of Africa. The roads are nice, and wide [...]

• Un shame, shame shame

  Posted: May 28, 2008, 6:08 pm by kenopp

  The news reports are shocking and disgusting. In a report published by Save the Children, a British charity, it has emerged that UN peacekeepers in conflict zones have been abusing children as young as six. Yes six years old! After interviewing about 250 boys and girls, Save the Children found that UN peacekeepers were in [...]

• xenophobia in south africa

  Posted: May 24, 2008, 9:02 pm by kenopp

  The images were heart wrenching. Seeing the body of a supposed immigrant on the ground, partly burnt and bleeding made me wonder what got into South Africans this past week. Apparently their excuse for killing and chasing away immigrants is that the foreigners took away their jobs and are fuelling rising crime rates. But who exactly [...]

• time to rethink the idea behind sovereignty

  Posted: May 12, 2008, 9:38 pm by kenopp

  In the book The Bottom Billion, the author Paul Collier talks about the growing international apathy at the suffering of millions of people around the world. This, he says, has been reinforced by a general dislike of interventionist measures especially after the Somalia and Iraq fiascoes. Somalia made the US be wary of military interventions [...]

• time to do away with weak african governments

  Posted: May 10, 2008, 11:35 pm by kenopp

  Northern Sudan’s government just got its nose bloodied bad. And this by a bunch of rag tag rebels from the dusty deserts out West fighting with machine guns mounted on the back of pick up trucks. These rebels, previously confined to Darfur and other hot spots finally made an attempted march to the seat of [...]

• these are people too….

  Posted: May 2, 2008, 2:12 am by kenopp

  The madness that visited Kenya in February served to illustrate just how much the international community is one of unequals. Kenya, being the hub of the region with considerable foreign investment and the headquarters of a major UN agency, was not to be let to go under. But the same is not true for the [...]

• how much longer can Zimbabweans tolerate Mugabe?

  Posted: April 26, 2008, 11:46 pm by kenopp

  A day after Zimbabwe’s March election there were already rumors that Robert Mugabe had lost and was trying to negotiate a graceful exit from power. But Rob was to have none of this. He ordered the electoral commission not to announce the results of the presidential election even though the opposition’s tallies confirmed their claim to victory. Meanwhile [...]

• world food shortages, is it time to rethink ethanol use?

  Posted: April 18, 2008, 7:59 pm by kenopp

  Africa’s food security is under threat; and this time it is not the usual threat caused by poor planning and the use of pre-modern agrarian technologies. This new threat is a result of the continuing rise in world food prices. Already the world food program (WFP) is predicting that this year it will be US $ 500 million [...]

• the new kenyan cabinet, bloated and expensive

  Posted: April 13, 2008, 9:41 pm by kenopp

  President Kibaki and Premier Odinga are two men without much of a strong will. This is evidenced by their capitulation to the demands of their cronies and allies in the naming of the new cabinet. 42 cabinet including the president and AG was announced by these two men. And this in a country that struggles [...]

• do we really need this circus?

  Posted: April 7, 2008, 1:56 am by kenopp

  what matters to Kenyans is the number of sufurias of ugali in their homes and not what cabinet position a fat cat gets

• this childish behaviour is embarrassing

  Posted: April 4, 2008, 11:45 am by kenopp

  At this point I don’t even know why African leaders bother to hold elections. In the recent past, Nigeria, Kenya and now Zimbabwe have had rather dubious elections. These three countries have again proven to the world that we Africans cannot manage our own affairs - even a matter as simple as tallying figures and [...]

• Mugabe nears exit

  Posted: April 2, 2008, 2:51 am by kenopp

  The end has come. Judging from what I hear and the stuff I am reading online, it is apparent that Robert Mugabe has lost in last weekend’s general elections. The people of Zimbabwe have finally managed to send home their many faceted leader. Mugabe was at once a militant, a mild mannered gentleman with some [...]

• zimbabwe’s kenya-esque election

  Posted: March 31, 2008, 11:49 pm by kenopp

  It all sounds too familiar. Elections are held, but the government fears that the wrong people might be winning. The election officials know the results but are not releasing them for some mysterious reason. All things then break loose, with disastrous consequences. The credibility of the election process is tarnished and everyone is left guessing who [...]

• Kenya sees HIV prevalence rate drop, more needs to be done

  Posted: March 31, 2008, 7:26 pm by kenopp

  The government has announced a drop in the HIV prevalence rate in Kenya from a high 14% to a relatively low 5%. These figures were announced by Prof. Were, the chairperson of the National Aids Control Council. Prof. Were also added that the number of people on ARVs had increased from a paltry 2000 five [...]

• Anjouan attack a real test for the AU

  Posted: March 24, 2008, 1:19 am by kenopp

  The African Union is finally flexing some muscles. It is now certain that an AU backed force is set to attack the renegade Comoros island of Anjouan in an attempt to bring it back to the fold of the islands that form the Comoros. So far, South Africa and some reports say France are against [...]

• do not forget about Kenyan IDPs

  Posted: March 22, 2008, 2:51 am by kenopp

  Right now Kenyan seems to be holding its breath eagerly waiting to find out whether politicians from their “ethnic homelands” will be appointed to the cabinet. Lost to most Kenyans, and sadly this includes even the mainstream media, is the case of the hundreds of thousands of Kenyans who still haven’t been able to go [...]

• kenyan parliament passes bill creating the post of prime minister

  Posted: March 18, 2008, 8:22 pm by kenopp

  In an extraordinary session of parliament attended by the president himself in his capacity as member for Othaya, parliament unanimously passed the bill to create the post of prime minister, expected to be occupied by Hon. Raila Odinga. For the first time in Kenya’s history a sitting president attended parliament to contribute to a debate [...]

• the truth will not be pretty

  Posted: March 17, 2008, 4:43 pm by kenopp

  When the truth finally emerges about Kenya’s very bloody post election violence, it will not be pretty. If Human Rights Watch has it right (and I highly suspect they do), it will be established that the violence in the Rift Valley and parts of Nairobi were meticulously planned by local leaders, big name politicians and [...]

• is this love-fest for real?

  Posted: March 14, 2008, 12:35 am by kenopp

  The ODM leader and Premier-designate Raila Odinga has lately been on a charm offensive. Raila has met with former opponents Karua, Kiraitu, Kimunya and on Friday was hanging out with Jimmy Kibaki and Fidel Odinga. The thawing of relations which was at first just between Raila and Kibaki seems to have spread to the surrogates [...]

• david mwenje has passed away

  Posted: March 13, 2008, 10:04 pm by kenopp

  Former Embakasi MP David K. Mwenje passed away on Thursday evening at Nariobi’s Aga Khan Hospital. Mwenje was admitted to the hospital on January 16 before passing into a coma shortly thereafter. Mwenje was a fiery and sometimes abrasive politician who knew how to mobilise the crowds at the grassroots. The long time Embakasi MP, though [...]

• grave looting in liberia, madness on steroids

  Posted: March 12, 2008, 9:56 pm by kenopp

  The BBC has a story that got me wondering what kind of hole Liberians have dug themselves into. You’d think that this West African country had reached its lowest point when mindless lunatics like Master Sergeant Samuel Doe and Gen. Butt Naked called the shots. But it turns out things could get lower, much much [...]

• 18 killed in Laikipia skirmishes

  Posted: March 11, 2008, 10:11 pm by kenopp

  18 people have been killed after being attacked by gangs in Laikipia West in Kenya. The gangs also torched houses and made away with an unknown number of cattle. Members of the murderous gang that committed this heinous crime had guns and are believed to be part of a ring of cattle rustlers that have [...]

• the kenyan military moves into Mt. elgon, finally

  Posted: March 10, 2008, 10:47 am by kenopp

  For a few months now a rag tag group of bandits calling itself the Sabaot Land Defense Force has been terrorizing the residents of Mt. Elgon in West Kenya. According to the Standard, the group has killed over 540 people in what it terms a war for land. According to a certain website (veracity of [...]

• not yet a democracy, kenya’s false starts

  Posted: March 6, 2008, 1:36 am by kenopp

  Three times Kenya has toyed with the idea of becoming a fledgling democracy and failed. The first time was the immediate post independence republic. Back then Kenyatta found it convenient to co-opt former president Moi and his KADU apparatchiks,  thereby rendering the country a de facto one party state and putting off full democracy for [...]

• kenya’s ten parliament re-opens

  Posted: March 6, 2008, 9:37 pm by kenopp

  The official opening of Kenya’s tenth parliament took place on Thursday afternoon amid high expectations of national reconciliation and healing. The president’s speech laid emphasis on the need to urgently amend the constitution in order to create the constitutional framework for the implementation of the deal that he signed a week ago with arch-rival Raila [...]

• sierra leone: shocking statistics

  Posted: March 4, 2008, 8:13 am by kenopp

  The Republic of Sierra Leone has the worst rates of child and maternal mortality in the world. According to reports by IRIN, one in eight women die during pregnancy or child birth, compared to the global South’s average of one in 76 and the North’s one in 8000. If indeed these figures are accurate, the [...]

• stop your genocidal agenda, mohammed al-bashir

  Posted: March 2, 2008, 9:18 pm by kenopp

  The man behind the humanitarian catastrophe that is Darfur, one Mohammed Al-Bashir, is at it again, on another front. It has emerged that his government is backing the Arab Misseriya tribesmen against Southern Sudanese civilians in continuation of Al-Bashir’s genocidal agenda in Africa’s largest country. The SPLM government of Southern Sudan said in a statement that [...]

• sarkozy’s visit to africa

  Posted: February 29, 2008, 9:55 pm by kenopp

  French president Nicolas Sarkozy with new wife Carla Bruni have been on a tour of Africa with stops in Chad and South Africa. In Chad, Sarkozy held talks with beleaguered president Idriss Deby over the country’s security following a recent rebel offensive and the possible pardoning of French aid workers who last year were found [...]

• Mang’u is back, but do i say?

  Posted: February 28, 2008, 8:23 pm by kenopp

  Ok, some vanity once in a while is good for the soul ……….. My former High School, Mang’u, emerged top of the nation in the just announced results of last year’s Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) exams. It took nearly two decades for Mang’u to retain the number one slot which has in the recent [...]

• kibaki and raila reach “agreement”

  Posted: February 28, 2008, 4:17 pm by kenopp

  Emerging from a five hour meeting between president Mwai Kibaki and Hon. Raila Odinga, Kofi Annan said that the two had managed to reach an agreement that will effectively end the post-election standoff that has so far led to the death of more than 1500 and displacement of hundreds of thousands. Details of the deal between [...]

• really president biya, really?

  Posted: February 28, 2008, 5:11 am by kenopp

  Paul Biya, a man who has been president of Cameroon since the 6th of November 1982, keeps giving hints that he plans to amend the constitution of Cameroon to remove a clause limiting the president’s term in office. Although the next elections are not due till 2011, Biya has been dropping hints that he wants [...]

• odm calls off protests, kibaki reiterates his commitment to PM post

  Posted: February 27, 2008, 5:45 pm by kenopp

  The Orange Democratic Movement leader Hon. Raila Odinga on Wednesday called off street protests scheduled for Thursday in an effort to give a conciliatory cue to the Party of National Unity. Hon. Raila said that in order to express their commitment to the talks which appear headed for the doldrums his party had called [...]

• our leaders embarrass us

  Posted: February 27, 2008, 5:12 am by kenopp

  Before Kenya erupted in flames, I always thought that the ugly realities of most other Africans from Sierra Leone to Darfur to Uganda and all the others were distant. They all seemed to be things that happen to other people in other countries. Many a time I argued fervently with my friends how different Kenya [...]

• kenyan talks suspended

  Posted: February 26, 2008, 12:37 am by kenopp

  A statement from Kofi Annan, the mediator in Kenya’s post election negotiations, has said that the talks have been suspended for the moment so that he can meet with the two principals - President Kibaki and Hon. Raila Odinga - to try and find a quicker way to arrive at a solution to the main [...]

• annan threatens to leave Kenyan talks

  Posted: February 25, 2008, 12:24 am by kenopp

  Kofi Annan has threatened to leave the Kenyan talks if no progress is made soon. Mr. Annan has been leading talks aimed at finding a lasting solution to some of the problems that caused and/or were results of the flawed elections held in the country last December. According to an aide to Mr. Annan, the [...]

• who is this person?

  Posted: February 22, 2008, 6:16 pm by kenopp

  The law is an ass. If you disagree then what can you make of a Kenyan, in this time of deep crisis, filing a case in court to stop the ongoing Kofi Annan led negotiations on the grounds that they are unconstitutional and in gross violation of his rights - with regard to whom he [...]

• ODM threat of more protests in bad taste

  Posted: February 20, 2008, 7:11 pm by kenopp

  The latest threat by ODM that it will stage street protests if parliament does not meet in a week to enact into law proposals made at the Annan-led mediation talks could not have come at a worse time. The country still hangs on the edge following flawed elections last December that resulted in the killing [...]

• African Institute of Science and Technology to open in Abuja

  Posted: February 17, 2008, 3:37 am by kenopp

  Those of you that regularly read my blog know that I have this fixation with the idea of an African hegemon in the form of either Nigeria or South Africa that would provide visionary leadership for the rest of the continent. I was therefore delighted when I learned that the first African Institute of Science [...]

• the absurd

  Posted: February 16, 2008, 5:17 am by kenopp

  Here is a story from the BBC website that made me feel sad, angry and embarrassed, all at the same time. How do you build a hospital, equip it, and then keep it shut until the head of state opens it, all this while people whose tax money built the hospital continue to die? [...]

• weekly news round up

  Posted: February 15, 2008, 3:56 am by kenopp

  This week saw a lot take place on the continent. In Kenya, negotiations to restore order and legitimacy in the government and possibly grant the opposition a power sharing arrangement are in an advanced stage. The former UN boss Kofi Annan, who is chairing the talks, is scheduled to announce to the Kenyan public agreements made [...]

• bush visit to africa

  Posted: February 11, 2008, 7:46 am by kenopp

  President George Bush will pay his final official visit to the continent this coming week. According to the White House website the president and his wife will visit Africa between Feb 15 and 21 to see firsthand the impact of America’s aid towards prevention and containment of HIV/AIDS and other tropical diseases. President Bush’s itinerary will [...]

• kenyan crisis deal expected next week

  Posted: February 8, 2008, 10:20 pm by kenopp

  Former UN boss Kofi Annan has hinted to the possibility of a political compromise between ODM and PNU by as early as next week. Speaking to the AP Annan said that the two parties have shown positive steps towards finding a political solution to the chaos that have hit the once peaceful East African state. [...]

• cameroon to face egypt in cup final

  Posted: February 8, 2008, 3:48 am by kenopp

  Cameroon and Egypt will have a rematch of their group stage encounter at the final of this year’s Africa cup of nations to be played on Sunday. The indomitable lions will be looking to redeem themselves after having lost 2-4 to Egypt in the group stage earlier in the tournament. In the semi finals Cameroon [...]

• Kenyan negotiations enter critical stage

  Posted: February 7, 2008, 4:14 am by kenopp

  The Annan led team trying to reestablish sanity in Kenya will from tomorrow start looking at the most contentious issues thus far - the issues of the alleged election fraud, land, economic disparity and constitutional reform to limit the powers of the president. This is expected to be the most critical stage of the negotiations [...]

• chadian rebels finally routed

  Posted: February 6, 2008, 7:47 pm by kenopp

  Chad, like most of central Africa, is a sad story. After days of fighting, reports indicate that the government of Idriss Deby - possibly with some help from the French - has managed to to repel rebels from the capital and gain “total control.” The question is, for how long? This was the second [...]

• zimbabwe opposition a let down

  Posted: February 6, 2008, 9:41 am by kenopp

  You would imagine that with a president like one Robert Mugabe the Zimabwean opposition would do anything in their capacity to have him out of power. But you would be wrong. This power hungry lot (yes, this is what I think of them) has refused to come up with a coalition against Mugabe. Their leaders, [...]

• chadian government may fall soon

  Posted: February 2, 2008, 6:46 pm by kenopp

  Idriss Deby, the president of Chad, is in deep trouble. Rebel forces are reported to have entered the capital, Ndjamena, and are marching to the presidential palace “surprisingly easily.” The rebels have been waging a war against the government of Mr. Idriss Deby for some years now and this time they managed to march [...]

Blah blah blah

Fish cakes

Alas a fish cake.

Yet more fish cakes

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

The end of the fish cakes