Items by kenopp

Opalo's weblog

• Zuma may be a one-term president

  Posted: November 7, 2011, 9:42 pm by kenopp

  Back when he dislodged Thabo Mbeki South African President Jacob Zuma promised that he would only serve one term. But having tasted the power of the presidency, he now wants a second term. His bid, however, has not been well accepted within the ANC. Although it is common knowledge that the much-married Zuma wants a [...]

• Human brutality timeline

  Posted: November 7, 2011, 8:26 am by kenopp

  The Times has a chat on the timeline of human brutality. Encouragingly, the overall picture appears to be that (compared to past periods) less people – as a percentage of the total – die from violence. Here is the Times on the top three most deadly human conflicts: The savagery of the Mongol conqueror Genghis [...]

• Effects of Conditional Vs. Unconditional Cash Transfer

  Posted: November 3, 2011, 4:20 am by kenopp

  Baird, McIntosh and Ozler have an upcoming paper in the QJE investigating the differential impacts of conditional and unconditional cash transfer in Malawi: Starting with schooling outcomes, we find that although dropout rates declined in both treatment arms, the effect in the UCT arm is 43% as large as that in the CCT arm. Evidence [...]

• Projects Without Development

  Posted: November 2, 2011, 9:06 pm by kenopp

  Guest Post by Erin Pettigrew (PhD Candidate, Stanford University)        Naked Palm Trees and Other Failed Development Projects in Senegal La Pointe des Almadies is Dakar’s wealthiest neighborhood and it teems with expat NGO workers and the palaces of government officials. Recently, the construction of an immense statue, “The African Renaissance Monument”, a 27 million [...]

• Quick hits

  Posted: November 2, 2011, 4:44 am by kenopp

  Jesus! Good intentions are not enough. (Properly regulated) Markets rule. Kenya and Eritrea appear to be on a collision course. The Horn might get a little bit hotter in the next few months. Some insights into politics and development in Nigeria. I hold the minority opinion that Nigeria might yet surprise those short selling it [...]

• A lyrical justification of monotonicity in consumer choice

  Posted: October 26, 2011, 1:13 pm by kenopp

  I doubt my microeconomics prof. (Kyle) reads this blog so I am gonna go ahead and quote a section of an email he just sent out (which also just made my evening): For fun for those of you still reading, you can find a lyrical justification of monotonicity in consumer choice in the song Society [...]

• Quick Hits

  Posted: October 25, 2011, 12:52 am by kenopp

  Teodorin Obiang’s free ride is over. The son of the Equatorian dictator has had some of his wealth seized by the US government on suspicion of money laundering. For more on Equatorial Guinea read Ian Birrell‘s piece at the Guardian here. Check out the Peter Gastrow Report on Transnational Organized Crime and State Erosion in [...]

• To all the Wananchi out there

  Posted: October 24, 2011, 11:15 pm by kenopp

    Filed under: africa Tagged: Al-Shabab, Kenya, Kenya at War, Nairobi

• Our man in Mogadishu

  Posted: October 24, 2011, 10:08 pm by kenopp

  QUICK UPDATE: Two separate minor explosions rocked Nairobi in the last 24 hours, one at a club on Mfangano Street and another at OTC. One person has been confirmed dead and several people were injured. By targeting ordinary Kenyans in the eastern reaches of the city (instead of other soft targets in upper class parts [...]

• Congrats to the All Blacks

  Posted: October 23, 2011, 2:29 pm by kenopp

  New Zealand just won the rugby world cup after a 24-year wait. The other finalists, France, put up a most spirited fight. The final score was 8-7. I wish the Boks had gone all the way but for the next four years the All Blacks will be worthy world champions. Here is presenting the NZ [...]

• Saturday afternoon procrastination

  Posted: October 23, 2011, 4:04 am by kenopp

  This is some scary stuff (don’t worry, no one gets hurt): Filed under: africa Tagged: animal behavior, Big Cats, Gauteng, Johannesburg, Kevin Richardson, lions, Pretoria, Private Game reserve, south africa, Wildlife

• Millenium Villages and their impact

  Posted: October 22, 2011, 3:35 am by kenopp

  How successful are millenium villages as crucibles for experimentation on development? And can we measure their impact? Sachs defended the project’s claims of impact based on before-and-after analysis. He and Prabhjot Singh wrote that one cannot compare trends at the intervention sites to trends elsewhere: “The logic is also flawed. In a single-intervention study at [...]

• Kenya at War/Christmas in Kismayo?

  Posted: October 19, 2011, 4:56 am by kenopp

  UPDATE II: John Campbell over at the Council on Foreign Relations discusses the extent of US and French assistance to the Kenyan invasion of al-Shabab controlled regions of Somalia. Check it here (with the caveat that grenade attacks are NOT common in Nairobi) UPDATE: Reaction to the Expert Comment from Middleton at Chatham House: Middleton [...]

• Protestant ethic and the spirit of democracy?

  Posted: October 18, 2011, 12:14 pm by kenopp

  This article explores Protestantism’s inadvertent, historic role in dispersing elite power and spurring democracy. Economic and political elites typically hoard resources and perpetuate class distinction. Conversionary Protestants undermined this social reproduction because they wanted everyone to read the Bible in their own language, decide individually what to believe, and create religious organizations outside state control. [...]

• SFAS 2011 Conference Program

  Posted: October 17, 2011, 8:48 am by kenopp

  “The Black Atlantic: Colonial and Contemporary Exchanges” October 28-29, 2011 Stanford Humanities Center Friday, Oct. 28 Registration 2:00-2:30pm Opening Keynote (Bruce Hall, Duke University) 2:30-3:45pm Panel I 4:00-5:30pm Trading Race: Colonial and Contemporary perceptions of Race Panelists: 1. Dana Linda (UCLA) White Noise, Black Masks: Recapturing Race in Hispanic Caribbean Prison Narratives 2. Michael Ugorji [...]

• We finally have a winner for the Mo Ibrahim Prize

  Posted: October 10, 2011, 10:16 pm by kenopp

  UPDATE: Check out the Mo Ibrahim Index of Governance here. The usually suspects – Botswana, Cape Verde and Mauritius -  lead the pack. ************************************************* The BBC reports: Former Cape Verde President Pedro Verona Pires has been awarded this year’s $5m (£3.2m) Mo Ibrahim prize for good governance in Africa. The prize committee said Mr Pires, [...]

• The illusion of modern-day meritocracy

  Posted: October 9, 2011, 5:54 am by kenopp

  That is, most observers—novelists, economists, and laypersons alike—tend to assume that labor income now plays a much bigger role than inherited wealth in shaping people’s lives, and that human capital and hard work have become the key to personal material well-being. Although this is rarely formulated explicitly, the implicit assumption seems to be that the [...]

• Remembering Steve Jobs

  Posted: October 6, 2011, 5:38 pm by kenopp

  Apple has forever changed the way we interact with technology. In memory of its co-founder Steve Jobs check out his 2005 commencement speech at Stanford: Also, check out Melina’s tribute to Mr. Jobs here. Filed under: africa Tagged: apple, remembering steve jobs, steve jobs

• Drought is an act of nature, famine is man-made

  Posted: October 4, 2011, 10:13 am by kenopp

  Check out this new campaign video by ONE.org You can sign the petition here. HT HuffPost Filed under: africa Tagged: Addis Ababa, Al-Shabab, amartya sen, Bono, Dadaab, Drought, Ethiopia, Famine, Garissa, George Clooney, Horn of Africa, Jessica alba, K'naan, kakuma, Kenya, mandera, Mogadishu, moyale, Nairobi, ONE.org, Somalia

• TAZARA Pictures (Preview, see link to original post and more pictures below)

  Posted: October 2, 2011, 11:30 pm by kenopp

  The original post is here. More of the pictures are here. Filed under: africa Tagged: Dar es Salaam, Kapiri-Mposhi, lusaka, Mbeya, mkushi, Nakonde, tanzania, TAZARA, Zambia

• What does a Sata Presidency Mean for Zambia?

  Posted: October 2, 2011, 10:18 pm by kenopp

  UPDATE: For a closer take on the Sino-Zambian connection check out Louise Redvers’ piece for the BBC. ************************************ So the Economist beat me to writing about what a Sata presidency means for the Zambian economy, especially with regard to foreign investment. For the two of you out there who are not conversant with the campaign [...]

• Will be blogging less regularly in the next few weeks

  Posted: September 30, 2011, 9:00 am by kenopp

  Dear readers, third year of graduate school requires that I blog less frequently over the next three weeks or so. Instead of the almost daily updates I will be bunching up the posts whenever time permits. You can also follow me on twitter at @kopalo where I regularly comment on stories on Africa and other [...]

• when dictators’ oracles fail them

  Posted: September 30, 2011, 8:32 am by kenopp

  One of the biggest problems in dictatorships is the dearth of dependable information. This problem affects both dictators and their oppressed subjects alike. The same applies to presidents in electoral regimes who surround themselves with “yes men,” the latter who are oftentimes more concerned about pleasing their patron than giving him the right information. This [...]

• Prof. Wangari Maathai passes on

  Posted: September 26, 2011, 9:17 am by kenopp

  I remember as a kid watching TV and seeing a woman who was the head of the greenbelt movement being chased around by armed policemen. All I knew was that she was fighting to protect Karura forest and freedom corner in Nairobi from land grabbers. This woman was Wangari Maathai, the first woman in eastern [...]

• The other dimension of the (origins of) Congolese Conflict

  Posted: September 25, 2011, 1:20 am by kenopp

  UPDATE: Stay updated on the run-up to the elections in the DRC here. ************************************************** In reaction to Dodd-Frank many in the blogosphere, including yours truly, have insisted that the problem in eastern Congo is not a law enforcement problem but a governance problem whose solution must come primarily from Kinshasa. Often ignored is the regional [...]

• Quick hits

  Posted: September 25, 2011, 11:29 pm by kenopp

  The world marathon record is back in Kenya, where it belongs. Zambian Economist has nice maps showing the results of the just concluded general elections. (Dada) Kim on Haba na Haba has a story on the continuing decline of Malawi into overt and brutal dictatorship. President Bingu wa Mutharika recently appointment his wife and brother [...]

• The Consequences of Dodd-Frank in the Kivus

  Posted: September 23, 2011, 6:45 pm by kenopp

  The dusty streets of Goma, North Kivu’s capital and a mining hub, illustrate Congo’s ills. Metals dealerships dominated the city’s economy until last year but are mostly padlocked now. Repair shops and bars that relied on mining business are empty. So are most public offices. Local government, financed by mining taxes, is insolvent; salaries have [...]

• Sata is Zambia’s president-elect

  Posted: September 23, 2011, 5:58 pm by kenopp

  NB: Still hoping from airport to airport and will give my reaction to the Sata victory when I finally get back to Palo Alto on Friday evening Pacific Time. Michael Sata of the Patriotic Front is the new president of Zambia. Mr. Sata beat incumbent president Banda after getting 43% of the declared results in [...]

• Zambian Election Results

  Posted: September 21, 2011, 10:59 am by kenopp

  UPDATE: Sata is leading 47% – 34% in the latest confirmed results from the electoral commission of Zambia. Most of these confirmed results are from Sata strongholds. Banda will almost definitely narrow the gap once the numbers from his base get put on the board. **************************************** Results (not yet confirmed by the electoral commission of [...]

• outcome of Zambian elections remains uncertain

  Posted: September 20, 2011, 3:51 am by kenopp

  The Zambian elections remain a toss up. So why is this so? See this earlier post for reasons why the opposition might fail to dislodge MMD from power. In addition, it is hard to tell what will happen because of PF’s campaign strategy of “don’t kubeba” (don’t tell them). Realizing that it is being outspent [...]

• more on the zambian elections

  Posted: September 18, 2011, 1:58 pm by kenopp

  Check out African Arguments for a brief backgrounder. The election remains too close to call, which means that Banda is winning. Given how stacked things are against the opposition, they can only win if they do so convincingly. If it is close (like it was in 2008 when the president won by just over 30,000 [...]

• Zambian Elections

  Posted: September 15, 2011, 4:33 pm by kenopp

  UPDATE: The conference (organized by the SADC observer mission and donors) on the upcoming elections was a non-starter, with only Neo Simutanyi (Zambia’s preeminent political scientist), giving a talk that had significance. The rest of the conference was full of NGO-ese hot air. None of the major political parties had representation at the conference, even [...]

• Bozize’s son is not into authoritarianism, seriously

  Posted: September 14, 2011, 9:49 pm by kenopp

  As we navigated a roundabout at the edge of town he turned to me and asked, “Have you been following the news?” I hadn’t heard anything since the day before. “About Ivory Coast? Gbagbo held his own inauguration today! Mais ca, c’est vraiment trop!” Bozize’s son then launched into a diatribe about the failings of [...]

• Hand Relief International

  Posted: September 13, 2011, 2:32 pm by kenopp

  Something for the humanitarian and aid communites to think about, courtesy of Hand Relief International. Among those in the know, another fact has not remained unnoticed: there is more money flowing in than used to and that, reader, is excellent news. The shit continues to be real in Nairobi, the dignified hub of any meaningful [...]

• Railroaded

  Posted: September 9, 2011, 3:14 pm by kenopp

  That railroads were political animals was the truth of The Octopus, even if the power Norris attributed to them did not necessarily always exist …. The Octopus raised questions that later critics of the Robber Baron school, dismayed by its exaggerations, largely dismissed. They threw the baby out with the bathwater. They did not spend [...]

• quick hits on Zambia and beyond

  Posted: September 9, 2011, 10:15 am by kenopp

  In case you missed it, Zambia is a middle income country – at least according to the Bank. This sort of shows in some parts of Lusaka. But Zambia is also a highly unequal and very poor country. Most people in the countryside have nothing else to do but subsistence farming and burning charcoal. The [...]

• Zambian elections

  Posted: September 8, 2011, 1:06 pm by kenopp

  The Zambian elections will be held on the 20th of this month. The main candidates are incumbent President Rupiah Banda (RB) and opposition leader Michael Sata (Sshhh, don’t kubeba). The two are running on the MMD (movement for multiparty democracy) and PF (Patriotic Front) tickets respectively. Both parties have fielded parliamentary candidates in all constituencies. [...]

• THE TAZARA (TOTAL TIME: 2 DAYS 1 HOUR 26 MINUTES)

  Posted: September 7, 2011, 8:17 am by kenopp

  Note: I will post some photos to accompany this post as soon as I get to a place with a faster internet connection. The post is from Friday, September 2nd. Over the last two days I have been on the TAZARA from Dar es Salaam to Kapiri-Mposhi. The ride lived up to my expectations, despite [...]

• in zambia for the next two and a half weeks

  Posted: September 5, 2011, 12:34 pm by kenopp

  I have not been able to blog for the last several days because of my ongoing summer trip to eastern and southern Africa. I was briefly in Dar es Salaam where I took  the TAZARA to Zambia. I have several posts on the TAZARA, Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia that I will avail to my readers [...]

• being frank about dodd-frank

  Posted: August 24, 2011, 12:37 pm by kenopp

  The proponents of Dodd-Frank present the issue in such a way that one may think that eastern Congo is a sovereign, independent country. The legislation fails to place the problems of the Kivus in the context of a national crisis that requires robust engagement at the national level. The Enough Project has been eager to [...]

• One Day I Will Right About This Place: A Memoir

  Posted: August 20, 2011, 1:28 pm by kenopp

  After reading the Economist’s rather harsh review of Binyavanga’s new book I decided to order it on Amazon. I was not disappointed (although I must admit that the Economist was right as far as editing goes. They could have done better). The book is vintage Binyavanga, a fast paced read with insertions of commentary hear [...]

• What I am reading right now

  Posted: August 20, 2011, 1:18 pm by kenopp

  Siaya is hot and rainy – it rains every day in the afternoon. I am not kidding. This has allowed me time to read when I am not hanging out with my extended family or doing some of my own work. I finally started reading Portfolios of the Poor. Fascinating read, especially now that I [...]

• Maintenance of infrastructure still a major challenge in Africa

  Posted: August 18, 2011, 10:48 pm by kenopp

  A good measure of state effectiveness is how well stuff is maintained. In well run places repainting is always on schedule. Potholes are fixed. And the light bulbs are not loose. I was reminded of this fact while on transit in Addis last Friday. In 2006, the last time I was there, Bole International Airport [...]

• The decline of odious ODA?

  Posted: August 11, 2011, 12:04 am by kenopp

  The Economist has a piece outlining the paradox of Indian overseas development assistance (to the tune of 11 billion over the next 5-7 years). With figures from the CIA factbook I have calculated that about 300 million indians live below the poverty line. The Economist piece also touts the emergence of middle income donors, especially [...]

• More on Eritrea and armed groups in eastern Africa

  Posted: August 9, 2011, 2:40 am by kenopp

  While Eritrea has in the past been repeatedly accused of supporting Somalia’s Islamist militia Al Shabaab, a charge it strenuously denies, the current report catalogues Afewerki’s growing notoriety in the world of terrorism finance, and in particular the global web through which these funds are routed, with Kenya serving as a global transaction distribution hub. [...]

• Quick hits

  Posted: August 5, 2011, 12:07 pm by kenopp

  Guide to arguing on the internet (HT Lauren). Speaking of arguing on the internet, I like the drama that is spats between economists and other academics on their respective blogs. The Economist presents the faces of famine in the Horn. It is beyond sad that so many people should be condemned to suffer this man-made [...]

• Kenya’s got talent

  Posted: August 4, 2011, 9:53 pm by kenopp

  I’ve never watched the show America’s Got Talent but for those who do, make note of Kenya’s representation: The group has since advanced to the semi finals of the competition. HT Kosgey Filed under: africa Tagged: america's got talent, Howie Mandel, Kenya's got talent, Seattle audition, Zuma Zuma

• Will be blogging sporadically for the next week

  Posted: August 4, 2011, 5:33 am by kenopp

  Dear readers, I have been away for a bit. Research/work and running the San Francisco half marathon (see images below) have kept me from blogging. I am back but will only be blogging sporadically for the next week or so. In other news, next Thursday I head home to Kenya for a short vacation. My [...]

• 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.

• No ICC hearings in Kenya

  Posted: June 29, 2011, 10:50 pm by kenopp

  The ICC Pre-Trial Chamber Judge Ekaterina Trendafilova on Wednesday decided that the trial of suspects of the 2007-08 election violence in Kenya will not be held in the country. Great move. I am of the view that holding the hearings in Kenya would have created an unnecessary distraction from the important task of implementing Kenya’s [...]

• Is Peer Review in Decline?

  Posted: June 29, 2011, 8:47 am by kenopp

  One more reason for academics to keep blogging…. Glenn Ellison in this paper notes the general decline in the need for academics from top institutions to publish in top journals because they can get citations [hopefully confirming that they were right] by other means – through sites like SSRN [and perhaps even by sharing their [...]

• Inequality, Terrorism and Governance in Nigeria

  Posted: June 29, 2011, 4:35 am by kenopp

  On June 17th Nigeria experienced its first ever suicide bomb attack. Boko Haram, a militant Islamic group that seeks the imposition of Sharia Law in all of northern Nigeria, claimed responsibility for the attack. Although the group’s principal aim – at least according to its press releases – is the imposition of Sharia Law, its [...]

• army recruitment ad done very badly

  Posted: June 27, 2011, 9:05 am by kenopp

  This has got to be one of the worst recruitment ads I have ever seen. HT @laurenist Filed under: africa Tagged: Army recruitment ads, Ukrainian army recruitment ad

• Accountable leadership 1 Abdoulaye Wade 0

  Posted: June 24, 2011, 6:11 am by kenopp

  Abdoulaye Wade is a study in delegative democracy gone crazy (In the words of Paul Collier, democrazy). Delegative democracy  is the phenomenon of elected leaders going rogue and essentially performing auto-coups (mostly through constitutional gymnastics) in order to entrench themselves in power (see O’Donnell). Leading lights in this regard include Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, the [...]

• Graphical Illustration of China’s global reach

  Posted: June 23, 2011, 9:40 am by kenopp

  NPR has this cool graphic on China’s global investments [click on image to enlarge]. Notice that Nigeria is among the top destinations of Chinese investments. In my alternate universe Abuja (the undisputed regional hegemon) is stable and uses this, and the fact that it is also among the most important sources of US-bound crude oil, [...]

• The new constitution and patronage politics in Kenya

  Posted: June 22, 2011, 12:08 pm by kenopp

  Former president Moi infamously liked warning voters that siasa mbaya maisha mbaya (bad politics leads to a bad life). This was code for vote for the opposition and no roads, no schools and no hospitals for you. The framers of the new Kenyan constitution must have particularly disliked the power of the presidency in doling [...]

• When not worrying about jobs, terrorists and reelection, Obama calms babies

  Posted: June 22, 2011, 3:20 am by kenopp

  This is on the fluffy side of things… Remember when Obama could do just about anything [including touching MC Hammer]? Well, he still has some of that magic touch – at least when it comes to babies. HT Huffington Post Filed under: africa Tagged: Barack Obama, Crying babies, Huffington Post, MC Hammer, Michelle Obama

• Quick hits

  Posted: June 21, 2011, 9:54 pm by kenopp

  1. If you don’t have a summer reading list already, Blattman has one for you. The list is obviously not exhaustive, but two pressing titles I might add are Avner Greif’s Institutions and the Path to the Modern Economy and Gerschenkron’s Economic Backwardness in Historical Perspective. 2. In yet another not so nice chapter in [...]

• Failed states index out, the usual suspects top the list

  Posted: June 21, 2011, 2:39 am by kenopp

  FP has the annual list of failed states. The Continent has a heavy presence on the list, with the usual suspects like Somalia, Sudan, Chad, Niger and Central African Republic, among the top failures. Also on the list are otherwise stable places like Uganda, Nigeria, Kenya, Ethiopia, among others. The list is, in some sense, [...]

• chiluba dies

  Posted: June 18, 2011, 11:16 am by kenopp

  The firebrand Zambian trade unionist-cum president, Frederick Chiluba, has died. The Daily Nation reports that the former president of Zambia died in the early hours of Saturday. Mr. Chiluba came into power in 1991 following the defeat of Kenneth Kaunda in Zambia’s first multiparty elections. Although tainted by allegations of corruption – he has been [...]

• conflict minerals in the congo

  Posted: June 17, 2011, 12:00 am by kenopp

  As is now common knowledge, the mineral glut in the DRC has been more a source of pain rather than gain. Minerals have financed both corrupt governments and their cronies in Kinshasa and marauding rebel groups in the ungoverned corners of the vast country. To over-simply the issue, reforms will have to tackle both angles [...]

• The private sector is betting that Kenya will survive 2012

  Posted: June 17, 2011, 6:25 am by kenopp

  As I occasionally care to point out, Kenya is making meaningful progress towards institutionalization of government. According to Joel D. Barkan, the Kenyan parliament is the strongest in Africa. Its judiciary has just undergone radical reforms which saw outsiders from civil society appointed to the country’s newly created Supreme Court. The country’s provincial administration (with [...]

• Kenyan supreme court takes shape

  Posted: June 16, 2011, 2:38 am by kenopp

  Judicial reform in Kenya made another big leap with the appointment of five individuals to the Supreme Court, the highest court in the land. Njoki Ndungu, Jackton Ojuang, Smokin Wanjala, Mohammed Ibrahim and Phillip Tunoi will join the Chief Justice, William Mutunga, and his assistant Nancy Baraza on the court. Mutunga and Baraza will champion [...]

• Ignoring the log in one’s own eye (forgive the hackneyed biblical metaphor)

  Posted: June 11, 2011, 9:48 pm by kenopp

  Hilary Clinton is on a tour of three African states. She is visiting Zambia, Tanzania and Ethiopia. This is what she had to say in Lusaka: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Saturday warned Africa of a creeping “new colonialism” from foreign investors and governments interested only in extracting the continent’s natural resources [...]

• Mastermind of 1998 bombings in Nairobi and Dar killed in Mogadishu

  Posted: June 11, 2011, 8:41 pm by kenopp

  The man behind the US embassy bombings in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam has been killed by Somali government forces at a roadblock in Mogadishu. The Saturday Nation reports: The mastermind of the 1998 twin bombings in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam Fazul Abdullah has been killed by Somalia government forces in Mogadishu. Mr Abdullah, [...]

• PhD comics movie

  Posted: June 11, 2011, 4:37 am by kenopp

  Isn’t it time we had a real show about graduate student life? (The big bang theory does not count, although it gets close. And I love it). Here is the PhD Movie trailer: I hope this will get hollywood writers and producers going (or not). If you haven’t yet, check out PhD Comics. Filed under: [...]

• More on economic development

  Posted: June 9, 2011, 10:18 pm by kenopp

  Brookings has two pieces worth reading on the state of Africa’s economies. The main takeaways are that: 1) there are many Africa’s; some states are doing well while others continue to run around in circles 2) Governance, Governance, Governance. You cannot have a thriving business sector amidst high levels of unpredictability and 3) Trade, both [...]

• selective unconditional convergence and growth

  Posted: June 9, 2011, 8:30 pm by kenopp

  Rodrik has a finding that reinforces the importance of politics and other macro conditions for economic development. He points out the existence of the paradox of unconditional convergence at the industry level but not at the national level. Rodrik stresses the importance of structural change that channels labor into the right industries. To this we [...]

• Quick hits

  Posted: June 8, 2011, 10:47 pm by kenopp

  Texas in Africa’s review of Fighting for Darfur. Blattman on economic growth and development. The long arms of the Rwandan state? The Zambian elections will be close. Last time round the opposition leader lost by a mere 3% (I will be there for the campaigns this summer). And lastly, Kenya’s trillion-shilling proposed budget. High on [...]

• Africa’s budding narco-states?

  Posted: June 7, 2011, 7:10 am by kenopp

  I have written before about the growing problem of drug-trafficking that is creating new problems for already fragile African states. Of note is the fact that the problem is not just limited to the usual suspects – weak or failing states – but also extends to countries that most would consider to have it together, [...]

• Call for papers

  Posted: June 4, 2011, 1:29 am by kenopp

  The Black Atlantic: Colonial and Contemporary Exchanges 2011 Annual Meeting of the Stanford Forum for African Studies Stanford University, California October 28-29, 2011 The Stanford Forum for African Studies (SFAS) invites proposals for papers by graduate students, scholars, and faculty on the topics of slavery, migration and the African Diaspora, and how each of these [...]

• All politics is local, and more

  Posted: June 3, 2011, 9:45 am by kenopp

  Many have seen the BBC map below of the outcome of the just-concluded Nigerian presidential elections. The south voted for incumbent Jonathan while the north went for Buhari. The state elections were a different kettle of fish. In these elections the president’s party – the PDP – held its own in the north. Available results [...]

• Can the fight against aids be won?

  Posted: June 3, 2011, 8:14 am by kenopp

  There is hope that the fight against AIDS can be won. Over the last 30 years the disease has killed millions and created millions of orphans. It’s lasting impact persists in lost human capital and reduced labor productivity (see paper on this here). But if the optimism of the Economist (and they are not known [...]

• Cleaning up the filth in FIFA

  Posted: June 1, 2011, 10:21 pm by kenopp

  You know things are bad when even American academics who are not into football get all worked up about the sport and its governing body FIFA. Here’s FP’s Drezner (have you read his zombie book yet?): A few thoughts.  First, what kind of election process is it when the scandal-beseiged incumbent is the only friggin’ [...]

• Happy Madaraka Day!

  Posted: June 1, 2011, 10:48 am by kenopp

  Happy Madaraka Day to all fellow Kenyans back home and around the world. Hongera! Najivunia kuwa mkenya. Filed under: africa Tagged: Independence, Kaggia, Karumba, Kenya, Kenyatta, Kubai, Madaraka, Muliro, Nairobi, Ngei, odinga, Oneko, Self-Rule

• quick hits

  Posted: May 31, 2011, 10:40 am by kenopp

  What disasters reveal. Excellent read. From disasters we get to know more about the societies that experience them. Perhaps the glaring international example of this was the difference in destruction and response to the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile. Haiti’s non-existent state capacity was exposed for the whole world to see. Facebook diplomacy. Are freedom [...]

• double standards

  Posted: May 31, 2011, 8:36 am by kenopp

  The Times has a nice story on Obiang’s Equatorial Guinea that is worth reading: Officially and unofficially, Americans do business with one of the undisputed human rights global bad boys, Equatorial Guinea, Africa’s fourth biggest oil exporter. Its widely criticized record on basic freedoms has offered little barrier to broad engagement by the United States, [...]

• Judges reject kenya’s bid to stop icc case

  Posted: May 31, 2011, 7:38 am by kenopp

  The government of Kenya has lost in its bid to convince the ICC that it has the political will and capacity to try key perpetrators of the 2007-08 post-election violence (PEV). Kenya had asked for six months to get its justice system in order and convince the ICC that it could bring to book those [...]

• Who will stop khartoum?

  Posted: May 30, 2011, 2:02 am by kenopp

  It appears that the war between north and south Sudan is inevitable. The north overran the disputed town of Abyei last week and now is angling to take over two border states. The Times reports: Now, according to a letter from the Sudanese military’s high command, the northern army, in the next few days, plans [...]

• A medieval sociology of IR

  Posted: May 29, 2011, 7:01 am by kenopp

  HT Melissa. I found this rather fun to read. Here is my favorite bit of it all: Like medieval priests, or oratores, the formal theorists in international relations claim special access to divine knowledge, available not through observation of the corrupt and impure world but though revelation and contemplation of the perfection of the divinity. [...]

• food for thought

  Posted: May 27, 2011, 6:22 am by kenopp

  UPDATE: Gelman responds with the question: Why are there IRB’s at all? Ted Miguel and other similarly brilliant economists and political scientists (in the RCT mold) are doing what I consider R&D work that developmental states ought to be doing themselves. Sometimes it takes intensive experimental intervention to find out what works and what doesn’t. [...]

• perspective

  Posted: May 26, 2011, 11:24 pm by kenopp

  UPDATE: According to the Economist: In Nigeria “Parliamentarians are paid up to $2m a year—legally.” Kenyan Members of Parliament take home US$ 174, 400 a year (about on par with US rank and file congresspeople. Cabinet Ministers make even more). Their Ghanaian counterparts make US$ 24,000. Although there might be an upside in paying the [...]

• whiggish history of kenya

  Posted: May 26, 2011, 4:07 am by kenopp

  The caution in the title of this post applies. A few good things have happened in Kenya since 2001: The powers of the presidency have been dispersed. Many tend to forget that Kibaki inherited the same powers as Moi. The only difference was that by 2002 the elites around the president had accumulated enough wealth [...]

• blurring the line between church and state

  Posted: May 25, 2011, 3:08 am by kenopp

  The Catholic Church has urged Parliament to interrogate the moral values and family principles of two judicial nominees before approving them. The Church came short of rejecting the nomination of Dr Willy Mutunga and Ms Nancy Barasa for the positions of Chief Justice and Deputy Chief Justice respectively, over questions raised about their controversial moral [...]

• Dictatorship and Disease

  Posted: May 24, 2011, 9:33 pm by kenopp

  Most Bad things go together. Like Keating at FP, I am unwilling to make any causal claims linking dictatorship to disease or vice versa but suffice it to say that most people who live under dictatorships – in Chad, Zimbabwe, Myanmar, North Korea, etc – do live despite great odds occasioned by their respective governments’ incompetence [...]

• khalwale re-elected

  Posted: May 23, 2011, 10:22 pm by kenopp

  Bonny Khalwale has won back his Ikolomani parliamentary seat. Mr. Khalwale lost his seat after the courts nullified his election in 2007 on account of irregularities. What does this mean for Kenyan national politics? My answer is that it is hard to tell. The results will certainly dent Deputy Premier Mudavadi’s claim to be the [...]

• Spring quarter WGAPE Conference, UCSD

  Posted: May 20, 2011, 9:54 pm by kenopp

  I am currently in San Diego attending the Spring Quarter WGAPE conference at UCSD. WGAPE  (the Working Group in African Political Economy) brings together west coast-based faculty and advanced graduate students in Political Science and Economics who combine deep field research experience in Africa with training in political economy methods (Just one more reason why [...]

• Aid Watch winds up

  Posted: May 19, 2011, 9:19 am by kenopp

  I hope that William Easterly and Laura Freschi of Aid Watch will reconsider resuming blogging in the near future. Their insights on development matters have been most valuable. I remember, as a college student in wintry New Haven, experiencing a change in my approach to development issues after reading The White Man’s Burden. I read [...]

• will the latest land grab help africa?

  Posted: May 17, 2011, 12:32 am by kenopp

  I am on record as having reservations about the latest scramble for Africa African governments leasing vital arable land to foreign companies and governments (esp. in the face of high levels of food insecurity in the region). Like many, my first reaction was to protest against these land deals. Like most natural-resource concessions on the [...]

• democracy and inflation in africa

  Posted: May 14, 2011, 1:55 am by kenopp

  UPDATE: A related paper is here. [HT Julie] Central bank independence is still the exception rather than the rule in most of Africa. This then raises the question of what effects elections – with the high associated costs of buying votes – have on the inflation rate. For instance, Uganda has been experiencing inflation (a.k.a [...]

• tapping africa’s potential

  Posted: May 14, 2011, 11:56 am by kenopp

  As promised here’s a brief note on the conference on Africa at Stanford. Most of the speakers (esp. Fred Lwaniker of the Africa Leadership Academy and former HP CEO Carly Fiorina) reiterated Achebe’s take that the trouble with Africa is simply and squarely a problem of leadership. There is hope though. People like Lamido Sanusi, [...]

• africa is open for business

  Posted: May 13, 2011, 12:03 am by kenopp

  There has been a lot of positive talk about business in Africa lately. Mckinsey came out with its big report in June 2010. That was followed by the release of Steve Radelet’s Emerging Africa, a story of the 17 African countries that have the political and economic fundamentals right. Most recently the Economist has highlighted [...]

• general kianga should be a little bit embarrassed by this

  Posted: May 12, 2011, 12:30 am by kenopp

  The Kenyan army is one of the most professionalized on the Continent. When their counterparts across the region were going nuts with politics through most of the 60s, 70s and 80s they opted instead to stay in the barracks. The coup attempt of 1982 died before it began. Just to illustrate how disinterested they are [...]

• africans should hold their noses and support the icc

  Posted: May 12, 2011, 9:22 pm by kenopp

  Quoting the Economist: These days the ICC’s biggest opponents are in Africa, which provides the court with its biggest group of members (31 out of 114) and is the scene of all the cases currently being investigated or prosecuted: in the CAR, Congo, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Libya, Sudan and Uganda. Accusing the court of unfairly [...]

• development in southern sudan

  Posted: May 12, 2011, 9:04 pm by kenopp

  Blattman stresses the importance of security, stability and predictability over other forms of intervention. States, like people, have attention problems, only more extreme. The new government may only accomplish one or two big things in their first five years. If, fifty years hence, we want the poor of South Sudan to prosper, paradoxically the last [...]

• perspective: land issues in Kenya and zimbabwe

  Posted: May 11, 2011, 4:14 am by kenopp

  This quote made me pause for a moment: “As seen in this work, the naked exploitation of land rights has a far longer and more illustrious history in Kenyan than in Zimbabwe. Further, the human cost of such exploitation of land rights in Zimbabwe pales in comparison to Kenya. Human Rights Watch, which is not [...]

• Kenya: The Private Sector Still Has Faith in the system

  Posted: May 11, 2011, 2:57 am by kenopp

  The Kenyan economy is expected to grow by 4.3% this year. That is a downgrade from 6%, as had been projected by the treasury. Erratic rains, high cost of fuel (Kiraitu Murungi should resign), and general inflation are to blame. The Shilling has also had a beating in the last few months. While a weak [...]

• foreign acquisitions of land in africa

  Posted: May 9, 2011, 3:00 am by kenopp

  For half a century they have done nothing but run their economies aground, jail, kill or exile dissidents and steal as much as they could from their economies. All in the name of the people. Now (a subset of) African leaders are busy selling or facilitating the sale of arable African land away – for [...]

• giving thanks for all the wonderful mothers out there

  Posted: May 8, 2011, 3:35 pm by kenopp

  Happy Mother’s Day Filed under: africa

• drug trafficking and african politics

  Posted: May 6, 2011, 1:54 am by kenopp

  Kenya, Gambia, Ghana, South Africa, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea. All these countries have experienced allegations that people high up in government – sometimes individuals very close to the heads of state – are involved in drug trafficking. Africa is a major transit point for drugs from Latin America and Asia into Europe. The latest news on this [...]

• africa’s Middle class

  Posted: May 6, 2011, 1:08 am by kenopp

  Elizabeth Dickinson at FP reports: Given all this, perhaps the only thing about Africa that isn’t changing quickly is our perceptions of it. There’s an image impressed in all of our minds of a starving child, symobilizing an impoverished continent. If that was ever true, this is an excellent reminder that today, it’s at most [...]

• quick hits

  Posted: May 6, 2011, 9:33 pm by kenopp

  The long awaited discussion about the real content of higher education in Africa is underway. Be a part of it. The DRC is getting ahead of itself with elections. One wonders whether holding elections is the wisest thing to do right now. Wars raging in the east. A country the size of western Europe but [...]

• fuel shortage in kenya: kibaki administration on the spot

  Posted: May 5, 2011, 1:06 am by kenopp

  The Kenyan government is frantically trying to avert strikes and demonstrations over the rapidly rising cost of living. State House and Agip House certainly don’t want a repeat of the recent events in Uganda where inflation demonstrations have turned bloody. Mr. Atuoli, the number one Kenyan trade unionist, has given the government a three-week strike [...]

• Malema on trial

  Posted: May 1, 2011, 10:14 am by kenopp

  The video is worth watching. The lawyer cross-examining Malema actually makes the buffoon leader of the ANC youth league seem sane. The South African land issue is a Zimbabwe waiting to happen. The sooner everyone accepts the truth the better. Malema’s buffoonery is founded on real grievances about the distribution of productive land in South [...]

• mbeki’s take on the ivorian crisis

  Posted: May 1, 2011, 3:23 am by kenopp

  Ouattara’s victory over Gbagbo in Cote D’Ivoire is quickly generating winner’s remorse. The coalition of disparate rebel forces that united to oust Gbagbo is already breaking apart. Just this past week Ibrahim Coulibaly, a rebel commander, was killed after he refused to obey Ouattara’s order to disarm his units. Mr. Ouattara himself is facing the [...]

• 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, [...]

Blah blah blah

Fish cakes

Alas a fish cake.

Yet more fish cakes

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

The end of the fish cakes