Introduction
Like many of my fellow bloggers who write primarily about Africa I have been carefully following unfolding events surrounding Charles Taylor’s attempted flight from justice, capture and arrest, and finally his delivery to the UN Special Court for Sierra Leone. One of Africa’s most feared and ruthless leaders is behind bars and any decent human being should be relieved that he will finally be forced to face the charges for crimes he committed against millions of West Africans. Charles Taylor, the Boogeyman, is behind bars in Freetown, Sierra Leone.
In a way it is a pity that Taylor has dominated Africa news headlines in the international press and media for several weeks, drawing attention away from the very successful visit by Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf to the United States in March 2006. Media focus on Taylor also overshadows the slow but steady progress being made in Sierra Leone documented by people like my friend Bimbola Carrol who operates the Visit Sierra Leone website and blog. The government of Sierra Leone together with the Commonwealth Business Council and the U.K. government DFID recently held a successful Investors Forum 2006 attracting much needed investment capital and new business partnerships between Sierra Leone and foreign companies.
The extensive coverage of the Taylor arrest and extradition to the Special Court for Sierra Leone in the MSM (mainstream media) has prompted many bloggers writing about Africa to express their opinions and share information with readers. Here are just a few links to posts from some of my favorite bloggers speaking out about Charles Taylor's arrest:
Chippla “On Charles Taylor”
Africabeat “Charles Taylor and the Special Court for Sierra Leone”
Black Star Journal “Unlike his victims, Taylor get his day in court”
After spending weeks reading expert reports, news articles and op-eds, and several blogs in order to better understand the background to Taylor’s vicious rule in West Africa as well as review the history and special relationships between Liberia, Sierra Leone, and the United States today, I feel that I am ready to have my say. This subject matter is so broad and complex I have decided to write and publish in sections. I hope that I get this right not only for my treasured readers but especially for the people of Liberia and Sierra Leone. Here goes…Boogeyman Behind Bars - Part I: Follow the Money, Honey
I had the opportunity to speak with a few West African friends here about the arrest of Charles Taylor and of course they are both delighted and relieved. Listening to the stories and opinions of people whose lives were adversely affected by West Africa’s decades of tragic civil wars I heard repeatedly that Charles Taylor must face justice before a court of law and that the verdict handed down in his pending trial should be Guilty. Taylor has already been tried and sentenced in the international media and by widespread public opinion. Some people feel that he should be executed. “Taylor must die for the crimes he has committed against our people…” say many of the young West African men I have spoken with here in Germany.
A young Togolese friend of mine, Victor, who works as a barber said something different from others that helped to guide my decision on how best to approach my first post in this series of articles about Charles Taylor. Victor said when I asked what he thought about Taylor’s capture and arrest, “I feel sorry for him [Taylor]… because he did not act alone. Other people should be sitting in that jail cell with him.” Victor of course is dead right. Taylor did not act alone or in a vacuum, he had lots and lots of help from cronies and supporters all across Africa and from around the world.
Douglas Farah, the intrepid investigative journalist specializing in the tracking of terrorist financial networks worldwide, has published some of the best reports and articles about Charles Taylor and the global criminal networks that helped ravage and plunder Liberia and Sierra Leone during their civil wars that I have read to date. Doug’s website and blog features his work on Charles Taylor and a variety of other lowlifes along with other information about global terrorism today.
I strongly suggest to my readers who are interested in in-depth information about Charles Taylor to read Following Taylor’s Money: A Path of War and Destruction. This extensive report was done for the Coalition for International Justice, a non-profit organization that has worked diligently to support special criminal courts, legal initiatives, and war crime tribunals for Sierra Leone, Rwanda, Sudan, Cambodia, the former Yugoslavia, and East Timor. Douglas Farah and the CIJ’s Shaoli Sakar co-authored the 98-page report about investigations into Taylor’s global financial dealings with gunrunners, despots, businessmen and companies that illegally exploited and extracted timber and diamonds and gold and rubber and other valuable natural resources and state resources from Liberia and Sierra Leone. A path of evidence to several people who are not in jail with Taylor today.
As noted in the acknowledgements section of the report a number of very courageous people and organizations contributed documents, eyewitness accounts, investigative research, and other evidence to help build the case against Charles Taylor Inc. The award-winning Global Witness team, a U.K.-based investigative organization working to expose the truth behind natural resource exploitation and the links to brutal wars, conflicts, and human rights abuses, was a key contributor to the CIJ report. Please visit the Global Witness archive on reports about Liberia and Charles Taylor for further reading on what really lay at the heart of Taylor’s Reign of Terror in West Africa.
The report’s appendices contains lists of names of individuals and companies that supported Charles Taylor’s brutal wars, UN Security Council resolutions, money trafficking flowcharts, bills of sale for military weapons and munitions, and a myriad of other damning evidence that should not only suffice to help convince readers that Taylor deserves nothing less than a conviction but that his global partners-in-crime also must be brought to justice ASAP (As Soon As Possible).
Today it is only Charles Taylor who is sitting in a jail cell in Freetown, Sierra Leone awaiting extradition to the International Criminal Court at The Hague. How is it possible that all these people who should also be indicted for war crimes and crimes against humanity can still run around free in Europe, Asia, North and South America, and of course North and West Africa and the Middle East? How is that possible? That’s the question many of us around the world should be asking ourselves. We should be demanding (loudly) answers from our respective political leaders and international law enforcement bodies.
Here are excerpts from Following Taylor’s Money - Executive Summary:
“This report outlines the financial network of former Liberian president Charles Taylor and demonstrates how Taylor’s control of this revenue stream poses a serious ongoing threat to Liberia, West Africa, and beyond.”…
“As warlord, Taylor controlled Liberia’s diamond-rich regions in western Lofa county and eastern Sierra Leone. He also controlled timber concessions, iron ore deposits, and rubber plantations. The U.S. government estimated in 1996 that from 1990-1994 Taylor had access to “upwards of $75 million-a-year passing through his hands.
After assuming the presidency, Taylor’s income grew. We estimate he generated an income of at least $105 million per year from 1997 through to the end of his presidency in August 2003. This derived from the continued spoliation of Liberia’s diamonds and timber, and the imposition of private taxes on gasoline and rice importation, and on rubber, coffee and rice production. As he drew freely from Liberia’s public treasury, the actual amounts available to him may have been much higher.
During both these periods, Taylor spent much of his income on massive weapons purchases, payments to buy the loyalty of mercenary troops, and support for proxy armies. This cost an annual $70-$80 million, leaving him with capital estimated at between $150 and $210 million by August 2003. At least some of this money appears to be banked in West Africa (Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana), Europe (France, Italy, Liechtenstein, Switzerland), Panama and the Caribbean [Islands]. Law enforcement and intelligence officials in Europe believe Taylor has at least 30 front companies active in hiding his assets at this time. A sizeable amount is currently ferried by courier back and forth as cash between Liberia, Nigeria and other West African countries.”…
“From his asylum base in Calabar, Nigeria, Taylor can direct these monies to finance operations aimed at maintaining and furthering his influence in Liberia, and fostering regional instability, his historical modus operandi. Three examples of his current activities bear this out.
First, much of his current capital flow is channeled into undermining Liberia’s fragile peace process. Special Court investigators believe he is giving money to at least nine of the eighteen parties vying in the October 2005 presidential elections. Political leaders inside Liberia, including staunch Taylor allies, and other investigators, corroborate these charges. Taylor is also thought by the Court to have funded violent demonstrations in Monrovia, Liberia’s capital, in October 2004.
Second, Taylor appears to be funding, training, and arming a small but potent military force that poses a significant threat to the stability of West Africa and beyond. There is evidence that Taylor has given hundreds of thousands of dollars to two longstanding, loyal military commanders, with instructions for them to recruit several hundred combatants among the floating population of experienced fighters left over from the region’s wars.
Third, Taylor has been publicly accused by the Special Court of involvement inthe assassination attempt on January 19, 2005, on Lansana Conté, the Guinean president, in retaliation for Conté’s support for the rebel groups, Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) and the Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL), that precipitated Taylor’s fall from power in 2003.8 The attempt failed when the wrong car was hit by gunfire in Conakry, the capital of Guinea.”…Here are excerpts from the report’s Background on Charles Taylor:
2. Background
From 1989 until assuming the presidency in 1997, Taylor waged a brutal, destructive war against the Liberian government and other warlords. In 1991, he helped establish and train the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), a rebel group and proxy army in neighboring Sierra Leone. The wars helped destroy two of West Africa’s more prosperous nations, left hundreds of thousands dead, and millions displaced from their homes. Less than a year after launching his December 1989 insurgency inside Liberia from neighboring Côte d.Ivoire, Taylor controlled most of the vital economic regions of Liberia and was reaping millions of dollars to purchase weapons and pay his troops. In 1997 he became president of Liberia.
This report maps out how Taylor gained access to and spent hundreds of millions of dollars since 1997, and also identifies some of his current revenue sources. It examines the sophisticated links Taylor developed to organized criminal groups and terrorist organizations that have allowed him to procure hundreds of tons of weapons from an astonishingly broad range of groups and individuals. In 2000, for example, organized crime groups from China, Israel, Russia, South Africa, and Ukraine were operating simultaneously in Liberia with Taylor’s knowledge and permission, as were the terrorist organizations Hezbollah and al Qaeda. In exchange for helping fund Taylor’s weapons procurement, these groups extracted millions of dollars in diamonds, timber and other resources.
The extensive financial, military and political networks Taylor established range from the Balkans to Central America, Bulgaria to Iran. His inner circle of financial advisers and weapons purchasers include, among others, American, Belgian, Dutch, Israeli, Lebanese, Libyan, Russian, Senegalese, and South African citizens. His access to these international criminal networks greatly increased the carnage his troops and those of his allies were able to inflict in the region. His continuing ties to a number of these groups increase the threat Taylor still poses to regional stability.
This report uses evidence of these financial associations drawn from a variety of sources: conversations with former and current Taylor associates who have direct knowledge of events; confidential communications believed to be between Emmanuel Shaw (a longtime associate of Taylor’s, currently his financial advisor) and Taylor, uncovered by Global Witness and reviewed by the authors; and discussions with law enforcement and intelligence officials from the United States and various European countries, and with investigators at the Special Court for Sierra Leone. Given Taylor’s history of murdering associates and his continued reach and publicly-stated desire to return to Liberia, few who know firsthand of his dealings are willing to divulge their identities. The great majority of correspondents and interviewees for this report requested anonymity. Intelligence and law enforcement sources likewise requested that no names be used in order not to compromise their ongoing investigations.
Together, these sources and documents show that a small group of people continue to insure Taylor receives up to $1 million a month in revenue from his Liberian investments alone. It is also clear that Taylor has sought to and likely succeeded in establishing several front companies to handle his finances during his exile. Numerous individuals with longstanding links to Taylor, now based in Liberia, Nigeria, Burkina Faso, and Ghana, continue to play important roles in Taylor’s financial structure.
While some of the estimated $685 million that passed through Taylor’s hands during his six and a half years in office was sheltered outside Liberia, much of his wealth was used to sponsor his wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone. In Liberia, Taylor’s forces abducted thousands of children, many of whom were forced to join Small Boy Units, the shock troops of the war. His use of torture, rape, and enslavement are well documented. His proxy forces in neighboring Sierra Leone, the Revolutionary United Front, gained international notoriety for those crimes, as well as for their signature atrocity of hacking off the arms, legs and ears of civilians.
Note: highlighting and links (website URL’s) have been added by this author to some of the excerpts above and do not appear in the original report.
Douglas Farah, in an October 02, 2005 article for the Washington Post titled “Standing By as a Brutal Dictator Plots His Return”, wrote (excerpts from the original article):
Taylor remains one of the single largest threats to Liberia and the region. His Nigerian hosts allow him to remain in regular telephone and fax contact with supporters in Liberia. And thanks to unlimited access to visitors, he carries on financial transactions through couriers who conceal his role while tending to his stake in a major cell phone company in Liberia. They also help funnel millions of dollars that Taylor looted from the Liberian people into the purchase of weapons and the financing of militias so that he might intimidate, kill and bribe his way back to power. If he succeeds, the stage will be set for a regional conflagration. He has plunged the region into chaos before and stands ready to do so again.
While Taylor remains at large, immune from the rule of law, Liberians cannot have truly free and fair elections. Obasanjo has promised to turn Taylor over to the newly elected government of Liberia, but that government is virtually guaranteed to be weak and struggling. No matter who is president, he or she will be unable to stand up to Taylor. After all, Taylor was elected president in 1997 after leading a prolonged civil war characterized by the systematic use of rape, the recruitment of children to fight in his infamous "Small Boy Units" and the mutilation of the civilian population. His support then was based on fear that he would wreak even greater havoc on Liberia again if he lost. People chanted in the street, "He killed my ma, he killed my pa, I'm going to vote for him." He will count on the same style of intimidation to force any new Liberian government -- and some regional leaders -- to continue to protect him.
To maintain the militia threat against the region, Taylor still funds and commands the loyalty of some of the most notorious butchers of his regime, including James "Cucu" Dennis and Adolphus Dolo, aka General Peanut Butter. (Other Liberian commanders have colorful aliases such as General Butt Naked or General Dragon Master.) Time is on Taylor's side, and that is one reason why he is spending money to support up to half the candidates in the election, according to Special Court for Sierra Leone officials and independent observers. All he has to do is buy a year of protection from extradition. The mandate of the Special Court is scheduled to expire in 2006. If it is no longer sitting, Taylor will be in the position of having been indicted by a court that no longer exists. He will be free.
Despite the stakes, the Bush administration, like others before it, is giving Africa short shrift when it comes to acting on high-minded rhetoric and promises of support for democracy, freedom and respect for law. The administration has promised to let freedom ring throughout the world and has used massive human rights violations as a justification for invading a foreign country. Yet it has expended little effort to ensure that another man responsible for the murder and mutilation of tens of thousands of people in his country stand trial. This double standard is not lost on democracy activists and human rights workers -- and dictators -- in sub-Saharan Africa.
The message that the United States sends to a continent plagued by despots, rampant corruption, and actual and potential terrorist havens, is of crucial importance. A sense of impunity has fostered the violence and corruption that have kept West Africa in a state of warfare, strife and desperate poverty for decades. No head of state there has ever been held accountable for his crimes and abuses. Missing the opportunity to hold Taylor responsible will only reinforce that vicious cycle of crime without punishment. Taylor's return will make it less likely that millions of people will be able to freely choose their leaders, enjoy the protection of their government rather than have it prey upon them, and have a shot at living above the poverty line.
END OF PART I - PART II COMING SOONADDITIONAL ONLINE RESOURCESWikipedia
The Republic of LiberiaHistory of LiberiaPresidents of LiberiaLiberian Civil WarsCharles Ghankay Taylor profile
The Republic of Sierra LeoneHistory of Sierra LeoneHeads of government of Sierra LeoneSierra Leone Civil WarFoday Sankoh profileDouglas Farah, in a class all his own:
Douglas Farah (bio) of DouglasFarah.com and the NEFA Foundation
Doug’s current blog posts on Charles Taylor
In choreographed move, Taylor escapes – Mar 28 06
Pressure mounts on Bush to cancel visit with Obasanjo – Mar 28 06
Taylor is in custody – Mar 29 06Farah's Testimony before the U.S. House Financial Services Committee - Feb 2005Coalition for International JusticeFollowing Taylor’s Money Path: A Path of War and Destruction – May 2005The New York Times:
A Master Plan Drawn in Blood by Lydia Polgreen - Apr 02 06
(It unfortunately costs money to view the full NY Times article)
NY Times Multimedia Feature (high and low bandwidth option, Macromedia 8)
A Horrific Genius audio by Lydia Polgreen in Freetown, Sierra Leone with photography from leading international photojournalists.
Technorati Tags: Africa Current Affairs Liberia Sierra Leone charles taylor human rights justice Global Voices
Bloggers Foreign Dispatch (USA) and Dibussi Tande (Cameroon) have posted recently on the subject of massive corruption in the West African nation of Cameroon. Dibussi’s excellent March 5th post “Why Cameroon is Poor and Corrupt” is a review of a chapter from the recently published book The Undercover Economist by Financial Times columnist Tim Harford. Dibussi writes,
"Harford argues that there is a flaw in the basic economic theory on how nations create wealth:
Economists used to think wealth came from a combination of man-made resources (roads, factories, telephone systems), human resources (hard work and education), and technological resources (technical know-how, or simply high-tech machinery). Obviously, poor countries grew into rich countries by investing money in physical resources and by improving human and technological resources with education and technology transfer programs.
According to Harford, this theory has a missing jigsaw piece: “Government banditry, widespread waste, and oppressive regulations are all elements in that missing piece of the puzzle.” This, he argues, is why Cameroon is poor: “Nobody who sees a Douala street scene can conclude that Cameroon is poor because of a lack of entrepreneurial spirit. But poor it is. The average Cameroonian is eight times poorer than the average citizen of the world and almost 50 times poorer than the typical American.” …read more
Foreign Dispatch writes in his March 13th post “How Corruption Works in Cameroon”,
"Tim Harford has produced an excellent article on his impressions on Cameroon and why that country remains so desperately poor; what he has to say should prove a real eye-opener to do-gooders who think yet more grants, loan write-offs and aid appeals are the answer to ending poverty in the Third World. Those of us who know that part of the world well and refuse to subscribe to rosy visions of aid-bought uplift aren't the way we are out of hatred for the poor, but due to a cynicism inculcated by a lifetime of experiences of the sort Harford lays out in his article. When you know a society is rotten from top to bottom, no promise of jumbo loan writeoffs or messianism driven by the likes of Jeffrey Sachs will ever convince you that it'll make a damn bit of difference." …read moreAnd now for a word from our corporate sponsors…While going through my email newsletter backlog I came across a special report by Forbes.com titled Capital Hospitality (Feb. 06 2006). There is quite a bit of good information in there about the global investment climate and opportunities around the world so if you are in a position to invest serious capital into emerging markets do read this report and related features. Here is a link to the Forbes Capital Hospitality Index 2005 for you global economists and finance professionals out there who only want to see the numbers in Black & White.Heads Up!-date March 16th:Pablo Halkyard of the World Bank Group's PSD blog has a brief post about the Forbes Capital Hospitality report with a link to an extremely cool (and useful) interactive world map tool. Now I can work with this new multicolored map tool vs. those dry numbers listed in black & white. Check it out as it is easy to use and understand. Danke Pablo!Back to our original programming (post)...
One article from the Forbes report that caught my eye was a feature on the World’s Most Corrupt Countries titled A Stewpot of Corruption by Forbes editor David A. Andelman. He points to some very interesting and alarming facts and figures about corruption around the world. Below are a few excerpts from the article about this massive global problem:
Nearly half of the world's nations are corrupt, and many of them aren't doing very much about it at all. From corrupt courts and police to government ministries, even heads of state, the most fundamental rights and government services are dispensed largely to those who pay for it--under the table into just the right hands.
By international standards, 72 of 158 nations monitored by Transparency International and a German-based think tank at the University of Passau are deemed corrupt. They range from the tiny military dictatorship of Myanmar to some of the world's largest countries--Russia and Indonesia…
The article goes on to say:
…Africa is clearly the most seriously corrupt region, since nine of the 16 most seriously corrupt nations are on that continent, with Chad occupying the No. 1 spot. In 2002, the African Union estimated that the continent was losing $150 billion a year to corruption, and things haven't improved much since. Two of the 16 members of the current most-corrupt list are former Soviet republics, Turkmenistan and Tajikistan, while three are in Asia and two are in Latin America.
"My general perception is that in all these societies, there are people opposed to corruption and trying to do something about it who are overwhelmed by political forces that are much stronger than they are," says Laurence Cockroft, chairman of Transparency International U.K. and a leading African expert. "We can't see in the next several decades how that tug-of-war will work out." In many cases, corruption is used to maintain power for the ruling governments that may be fighting civil wars or insurgencies using diverted funds to buy arms. Such was the case of the president of Angola, where vast oil revenue was funneled via Jean-Christophe Mitterrand, son of the late French President François Mitterrand, into a company controlled in part by the nation's president…
The related multimedia slideshow (photo gallery w/ text) highlights some of the world’s top stars in the corruption and dictatorship business, including Equatorial Guinea’s President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, a longtime ally of several Western countries including (ashamedly) the U.S.A. Here is what the Forbes article had to say about the ruler of this tiny, oil-rich West African nation:
One of the world's smallest oil powers, it is also among the most corrupt. During a recent U.S. government probe of Washington-based Riggs Bank, it was alleged that President Teodoro Obiang Nguema, his wife and son were apparently treating themselves to planes, big houses and shopping sprees in the U.S. Millions of dollars in cash were being lugged around Washington in suitcases--much of it from the enormous oil reserves Western companies are tapping. International monitors believe that 20% of oil revenue is going straight into Nguema's pockets.
Nigeria, West Africa’s largest oil and gas export nation, came out looking pretty good for its efforts to crackdown on rampant corruption in government and the private sector according to these statements by the Forbes report’s editors Jack Gage and David Adelman and Transparency International:
Other African nations are making valiant efforts to harden their stand against corruption--particularly Nigeria, where a reformist government has taken some important steps at the federal level. But as one leading, international corruption monitor said, "It probably doesn't go beyond the top dozen members of the government."
Under its current president, Nigeria is making a determined effort to clean up its act. President Olusegun Obasanjo has surrounded himself with a dozen senior government officials who are firmly opposed to the corruption that remains rampant. The president has begun issuing a monthly list of the amounts doled out to each of 33 states and more than 600 municipalities, so the funds can be monitored at the grassroots level. So far, it hasn't had much impact.
For additional information on this subject please see the resources listed below and remember, Corruption Kills! Big Time!
Transparency International - Global Corruption Report 2006
Transparency International - Corruption Perceptions Index 2005
Transparency International – Bribe Payers Index (May 14, 2002)Deutsche Welle - Fighting Global Corruption from Germany (Aug. 23, 2005)
World Bank Group – Private Sector Development (search term = corruption)
World Bank Group – PSD Blog (search term = corruption)
World Bank Institute – Governance and Anti-Corruption
World Economic Forum – Global Competitiveness Report 2005-2006
BBC News Online - Africa Have Your Say - How can we fight corruption (Nov. 04, 2005)Mother Jones – A Touch of Crude (Jan/Feb 2005 article about Equatorial Guinea’s President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. Read it and weep.)
Technorati Tags:Africa Economics corruption Business Cameroon Nigeria Equatorial Guinea Angola
Sokari Ekine, author of the Black Looks blog and a contributing editor for Harvard's Global Voices Online blog project, has a magnificent roundup of international bloggers writing about African women on this special day for honoring the hard work and achievements and contributions of women and girls around the world. Today is International Womens Day 2006.Be sure to read Honouring African Women Part I and Part II at GVO. Buried toward the bottom of my previous post on the Kenyan press freedom affair you will find a link to the special report for International Womens Day 2006 titled "Women at the Top". This is a 28 MB pdf-format file download from the Kenyan East African Standard newspaper with several articles on African women in leadership positions in business, academics, and politics and the community.There is little that I can add to all that has been said (& written) so well by the world's bloggers today, other than if it weren't for the love and guidance and caring of women throughout my life from various races, ethnic groups, nationalities, and religions the world over, I wouldn't be here writing these words today. And that's a fact! Just ask them!
Hi Mom(s). Luv you all. What's for dinner?...:-)Technorati Tags: International Women/'s Day women leaders Africa Global Voices
I wanted to update my previous post about the attack on press freedom in Kenya of March 2, 2006. According to the East African Standard and other news organizations thousands of ordinary citizens, journalists and media professionals, business leaders and political figures carried out peaceful protests all across Kenya yesterday. Below are links to the latest reports from The Standard Online, the newspaper at the center of the Kenyan “Shake the Snake” police raids.
I would also like to congratulate the people of Kenya who participated in the protests for conducting themselves in a peaceful manner and not giving the cordons of riot police and security forces any excuse to exercise violence against the public in the name of “national security”. Instead, the police had a front row seat to watch democracy and free speech in action on the streets of Nairobi.
Here are excerpts from press articles about the raids and protests and The Standard Online’s 11-page special feature for International Women’s Day 2006:
The Standard (March 8, 2006):
In Media’s Name
Thousands of Kenyans took to the streets of Nairobi and four major towns yesterday in an emotive defence of Press freedom following the shocking raid of Standard Group’s premises by hooded police commandos.
Led by Orange Democratic Movement leaders, they spilled into the streets of Nairobi, Mombasa, Eldoret, Kisumu and Nakuru, to demand the resignation of Security minister John Michuki and his Information and Communications counterpart, Mutahi Kagwe.
In one of the country’s most peaceful and incident-free public demonstrations, the leaders, who included former ministers Raila Odinga and Kalonzo Musyoka, set the pace for the public protest, walking in the first column with hands locked in a show of solidarity. The leaders demanded that President Kibaki immediately issue a statement on the raid on the Standard and KTN.
The Standard: The horrific attack that is still fresh in Kenyans’ minds
If you want to humble an empire, it makes sense to maim its cathedrals. They are the symbols of faith and when they crumble and burn, it tells us that we are not so powerful and we cannot be safe.
Nancy Gibbs, Time Magazine 2001.
The blue towering building on Kenyatta Avenue at the City Centre and the squat one that houses The Standard Group printing press on Likoni Road in Nairobi’s Industrial Area are the sanctuaries of news that our enemies imagine define us.
And when a squad of hooded police officers attacked the buildings in the wee hours of last Wednesday morning, the aim was to cow us and shake our faith as writers — to remind us that "we are after all not so powerful".
The Standard’s International Women’s Day 2006 Special Feature
Women at the Top
(Caution! This is a 28 MB PDF file mega-download, and worth it.)
Google News search: Kenyan press raids
BBC News Online (March 8, 2006):
Kenyans protest at media raids
Washington Post (March 3, 2006)
Kenya official defends raid on media group
Technorati Tags:Africa Kenya Press Freedom Politics women leaders
BREAKING NEWS @ BBC News Online
Masked gunmen armed with AK-47 assault rifles and unmarked police vans raided and ransacked Kenya’s largest independent daily newspaper offices and the Kenya Television Network (KTN) offices late last night. Employees of the East African Standard newspaper and the TV network KTN were mugged, beaten, arrested, and taken in for questioning by what appears to be Kenyan police or national security agents and then later released. No one was safe including innocent bystanders looking on in horror from the street like Kenyan independent journalist Argwings Odera. Here is further in-depth reporting on the assault direct from the front page of the East African Standard Online website:
State Owns Up to Raids – Mar. 02, 2006
Assault an attack on media freedom by Standard Media Group’s CEO Tom Mshindi – Mar. 02, 2006
Kenya’s Internal Security Minister, John (the Black Mamba) Michuki has admitted that the “Government” organized and authorized the simoultaneous raids on the Standard Media Group's offices and printing plant. Michuki stated to a covey of local and international journalists attending a Kenyan State event, “When you rattle a snake you must be ready to be bitten“ before being hurriedly ushered away by his personal bodyguards. The Kenyan President and several ministers attending the event had no comment or pleaded complete ignorance of the police raids.
I’ve been looking at cultural symbols and flags online from Kenya and I can’t seem to find anything with a “Snake” on it, so what snake is Michuki talking about, the “Don’t Tread on Me” viper flown in 1775 by the Continental Fleet?
This is the latest incident on the Road to Perdition for the beleaguered Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki, a government that has been suffering from one scandal after another over the past few months. If President Kibaki stops and reigns in the thugs and Gestapo-style police forces now before it is too late then perhaps he won’t end up like so many of his political colleagues and predecessors across the African continent. Disgraced.
A “Jewels in the Jungle” Blogosphere Exclusive!(Almost) LIVE video coverage of the raid at the Standard’s offices and plant by Ruud Elmendorp, Nairobi-based Dutch independent video journalist.
VideoJournalist Website – Kenyan newspaper and TV station shutdown (the raid)
Ruud's Blog – Kenya Television Network resumed (press conference by Standard Media Group's CEO and Executive Board)
Also checkout Ruud’s other reports about Kenya i.e. Kenya Athletes and the Kenya Drought Crisis and don’t miss his latest coverage of the Uganda Elections. Ruud Elmendorp is also a featured news reporter for the New York-based Videoblogger supersite Rocketboom (ref: Wednesday March 1st Rocketboom frontpage feature on Uganda).
Note: Broadband Internet connection is advised to view Ruud’s online video reports. Rocketboom video news requires Quicktime 7.0 and loads of bandwidth.
Kenyan Bloggers ReactionMshairi – Press Freedom, An Open Letter to Kibaki (Mar. 02, 2006)
Kenyan Pundit - Githongo featured in Time Magazine (Mar. 02, 2006)
African Bullets and Honey – nothing yet, sleeping (Mar. 02, 2006)Mentalacrobatics – Raid on EA Standard (Mar. 02, 2006)Mentalacrobatics - Press Harrassement Kibaki Style (Mar. 01, 2006)
Kenya Unlimited Webring – Voices (see blog links on the LH side) Other news coverage and resource material:
Washinton Post – Gunmen shutdown Kenyan newspaper, TV station (Mar. 02, 2006)
Kenya.org – The Kenya Media Industry (last updated 2002)
The Committee to Protect Journalists Africa Region 2006
Kenya alerts and summaries 2005
Museveni wins. The people of Uganda will have to wait 'til the cows come home for real democracy and political freedom to take hold, yet again.Personally I find the fact that Museveni has won a third term as President of Uganda an affront on the struggles for true democracy all across Africa and around the world. That the Ugandan Parliament changed the country’s consititution to allow Museveni to remain in power speaks volumes about the real intentions of this leader and his political party, the National Resistance Movement. What is the NRM Party resisting, Democracy? At least the opposition party led by Dr. Kizza Besigye uses the word democratic in their name (Forum for Democratic Change). Note: this statement is not a political endorsement for Dr. Besigye and the FDC, so just relax and read on.
I remember back in 2003 when I had my first opportunity to discuss Ugandan politics and African regional issues with one of my few friends from Uganda who I will call Mr. Busoga to protect his real identity. Mr. Busoga is an intelligent, engaged member of the community in Jinja, Uganda’s second largest city, located at the source of the White Nile River on Lake Victoria* about 80 Km from the capital of the country, Kampala. He is a Christian minister who has experience working with local and international NGO’s in Uganda and Rwanda, and he is a longtime member of the National Resistance Movement (the NRM). During our first meeting here in Germany we became involved in a lively discussion over politics and I can remember saying to him and his colleagues:
“Yoweri Museveni should not consider running again for President of Uganda but should instead prepare to step down and turn over the reigns of power to a younger candidate democratically elected by the people of Uganda. President Museveni should go back to farming and taking care of his cows.”
The look on my friend’s face was first shock, then bewilderment, and then anger. It was like he was saying to himself, “Who are you to be telling me about my president when YOUR president is invading Iraq and killing innocent women and children!!” Ugandans generally being a very polite people and loathe to seek a fight with total strangers (especially from Europe or America), Mr. Busoga offered no verbal rebuttal to my statement at the time. He did say to his colleagues afterwards when I had left that I was definitely an agent working for the CIA. Ridiculous! The UK’s MI-6 would have been a better guess if their food wasn’t so bad and the assignments so lousy and they weren't so damn British.
Nonetheless Mr. Busoga and I had several communications about the politics of Uganda and the cross-border crisis in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the crisis in northern Uganda over a period of several months after his return to Uganda. I was able to learn more about how Mr. Busoga felt about a variety of national and global issues. A good friendship was started as a result of our meetings and communications and I am very pleased to have him as a friend today. Haven’t heard from him in awhile though. Could it have been something I said?
Anyway, back to Yoweri Museveni and the 2006 presidential and parliamentary elections in Uganda. When Yoweri Museveni came to power in 1986 after a series of bloody guerilla wars (using lots of child soldiers) resulting in the toppling of the infamous psychopath Idi Amin, followed by another dictator Milton Obote and the brief (6 month) rule of Tito Okello, Yoweri Museveni declared in his very own words to the whole world:
"The problem of Africa in general and Uganda in particular is not the people but leaders who want to overstay in power."
In a recent interview on the CNN Inside Africa program President Yoweri Museveni was confronted with that very issue by CNN Africa correspondent Jeff Koinange. Museveni had the same look on his face that I saw on my friend’s face 3 years prior: shock, bewilderment, & anger. Except in this case it was Museveni putting on his trademark “act of defiance” face for international TV audiences and the few people in Uganda who can afford CNNI TV programming via cable or satellite reception. I couldn’t help but thinking to myself while viewing the program what kind of look would Museveni have on his face if key international donor countries decided to turn-off the money tap to his corrupt regime. Fat chance of that happening according to this February 26th Op-Ed article from Reuters: “Analysis: Uganda’s Museveni keeps his cows waiting” and I quote:
Museveni's win leaves Western donors in a dilemma. Unhappy that the constitution was changed to allow him to run for a third term, they were further infuriated by the brief detention of Besigye prior to the election on rape and treason charges, which then hampered his campaign. Some, including Britain, the main donor and former colonial power, cut aid. Now, however, they must continue dealing with Museveni, knowing further aid suspensions will only hurt Uganda's 27 million people, many of whom live in extreme poverty.
"The reaction of Western governments will generally be one of resignation," said British analyst Tom Cargill. "Although no one will be particularly excited about it, most Western countries have accepted Museveni is here to stay, and they are not so unhappy given that stability is a major concern for many donors."
To make matters worse, Ugandan first lady Janet Museveni has won an important seat in Parliament, making sure that power remains firmly “in the family” just in case something happens to hubby Yoweri. Mrs. Museveni’s candidacy was a bonafide case of “divine intervention” according to reports. Divine rule. Now where have we heard that concept before?
So, that’s it for this week’s report on The Long Road to Democracy in Africa. Tune in again next week when we report on the fast-breaking news story“Picking up cowpies (aka BS) along the Road to Freedom”. In the meantime please take time to read the excellent blog posts, articles, and online multimedia presentations about Museveni’s Uganda assembled from some of the best in the online news and publishing business today. Ya’ll come back now, you here?MSM online news articles and op-eds:
Google News search: Uganda Museveni elections
Yahoo! News – CNN Video reports from Africa Correspondent Jeff Koinange
Uganda President fights for re-election (Feb. 22, 2006)
Afraid of the dark - plight of children in northern Uganda (Feb. 25, 2006)
Interview with opposition candidate Dr. Kizza Besigye (Feb. 22, 2006)
IRIN News:
Voting underway in presidential and parliamentary polls (Feb. 23, 2006)
Hunting for political support in neglected North (Feb. 15, 2006)
Profile on President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni (Feb. 15, 2006)
Profile on main opposition leader Dr. Kizza Besigye (Feb. 15, 2006)
Reuters AlertNet:
Analysis: Uganda’s Museveni keeps his cows waiting (Feb. 26, 2006)
Uganda votes in first multi-party poll in 25 years (Feb 23, 2006)
Uganda’s Museveni banks on support from ex-war zone (Feb 20, 2006)
Crisis Profile: What’s going on in Northern Uganda? (Jun 07, 2005)
Factbox: key facts on Uganda (Feb 22, 2006)
BBC News Online
Uganda’s Museveni wins elections – Feb. 25, 2006
The L.A. Times
Uganda’s Lurking Tyrant – Feb. 23, 2006
Stopping Uganda’s War on Children – Feb. 24, 2006
The East African Online Feb. 20-26, 2006 edition
Whoever wins, don’t you dare let Ugandans down… by Joachim Buwembo
The Monitor Online (Ugandan independent newspaper)
Your day to choose (Feb 23, 2006)
Inside Politics - Besigye vs Museveni Part I (can’t find it!?)
Inside Politics - Besigye vs Museveni Part II (Feb 22, 2006)
Multiparty or Military State by Andrew M. Mwenda (Feb 22, 2006)
PINR – The Power & Interest News Report
PINR Museveni on the ropes, instability ahead - Jan. 04, 2006
PINR Uganda’s upcoming presidential elections - Jul. 22, 2005
The Washington PostMuseveni warns on foregin meddlers - Feb 21, 2006Ugandans put "Big Man" politics to vote - Feb 22, 2006
Wired News article on 2001 Presidential elections
Ploy intimidates Ugandan voters? – Feb. 28, 2001
AfricaNews
Uganda’s Museveni wins flawed poll – Mar. 20, 2001
Top Bloggers coverage of the Ugandan elections and more:
Kenyan Pundit - Feb 22, 2006
Commentary on the Ugandan elections( w/ full text from speech given by Professor Dr. Joe Oloka-Onyango. Dr Oloka-Onyango is a professor of law and the Director, Makerere University Human Rights and Peace Centre. His paper 'The socio-political context of the 2006 elections' was presented at the East African Law Society Symposium on Elections Law, Conduct and Dispute Resolution in Kampala on February 20, 2006.)
My Heart’s in Accra by Ethan Zuckerman
The Pitch is “not level” – Feb. 21, 2006
What to watch in the Ugandan election – Jan 09, 2006
The Head Heeb – Feb. 23, 2006
Decision in Uganda – Feb. 23, 2006
On the nature of occupation: the Congo Judgment considered – Dec. 19, 2005
Yebo Gogo – Feb. 23, 2006
Ugandan Elections
Kevin Sites in the Hot Zone for Yahoo! News
Kevin Sites in the Hot Zone - Uganda October 2005
Reflections from the Hot Zone - Uganda Justice, Grace and Defiance: What I learned from a 15-year old pregnant Ugandan girl.
Independent journalist Ruud Elmendorp’s blog Africa VideoreporterRuud’s video reports gallery (Note: Jimmy of Uganda is my favorite)
Ruud’s Uganda country page
P. Scott Cummins (The Urbane R):
More warnings of civil war for Uganda Note: (corrected PINR report links below)
PINR Museveni on the ropes, instability ahead
PINR Uganda’s upcoming presidential electionsBlake Lambert asks the big question about Uganda
(Christian Science Monitors’s Notebook Africa) What kind of democracy is this? - Jan. 04, 2006
Note: P. Scott Cummins has been hammering away at Museveni for ages. See his archives for lots more news and “Urbane R” analysis.
Other Online Resources:“Who Killed Democracy in Africa?” - by Dr. Ali A. Mazrui, ICGS Director @ Binghamton State University of New YorkTechnorati:Global Voices Africa Uganda Politics Democracy elections Museveni
As a follow-up to my earlier posting on the death of Coretta Scott King I would like to open with some words from this great woman. Apparently a number of people out there raising Hell around the world today via violent protests just didn’t get her message so I will repeat it here:
“We must make our hearts instruments of Peace and Non-Violence because when the heart is right, the mind and the body will follow.”
The second thing that I would like to do is to correct my earlier statement about where Coretta Scott King died. It is now known that Mrs. King died in a small, private alternative health and rehabilitation center located in Rosarito Beach, Mexico just south of San Diego, California. The hospital has since been closed pending an investigation by Mexican government health authorities. Apparently my January 31st news source (the mainstream press) got it wrong by associating the Hospital Santa Monica with Santa Monica, California. There may be a mildly brewing controversy over the Mexican hospital’s practices according to an article in the New York Times “Clinic where Coretta King died attracts the desperate” and this article at the United States - Mexico Border Health Commission website and this article about Dr. Kurt Donsbach at QuackWatch.org.
As I was explaining (teaching) to some of my eager young West African friends from Togo and Gabon and Liberia this afternoon during a conversation about the late Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his beautiful wife Coretta Scott King, their struggles, actions, and words of wisdom were for ALL people who seek justice and freedom from oppression, not only for black Americans and for other minorities that live in the United States of America. ALL People! Black White Green Brown Blue and Yellow … and Red too! Everybody. My how we will miss you, Mrs. Coretta Scott King.
I’d like to leave you with these beautiful words from the young and talented Atlanta, Georgia poet Aria Nicole, who had the opportunity to meet Mrs. King in person and visit some of the landmarks associated with the MLK Legacy: (Note: our thanks to Sue MacDonald at Blogpulse Newswire for the hot tip!)
“Soon one morning when this life is over I’ll fly away”
This song always reminds me of my grandmother. It was one of her fovorite songs and also one that she personnally requested to be sang at her funeral. Today this song has been heavy on my mind. I have been very heavy hearted all day today over the news that Mrs. Coretta Scott King passed away. My heart and spirit are always heavy when we, especially those of us in the black community lose such iconic figurers. But today, I feel it truly is the end of an era. The King legacy is now forever changed. Mrs. Coretta Scott King is the one and only person from the civil rights movement that I was ever fortunate enough to meet and share her space. Even if it was for just a little while. …” (Read more)
Views and eulogies from American bloggers:
Shay of Booker Rising blog (multiple postings):
Something else should have been buried yesterdayMrs. King’s Funeral – Kneegrows, Bush, and Black PeopleQuotes from King FuneralCorretta Scott Kings dies at 78The Death of a Queen
Cliopatria blog at History News Network (George Mason University)
Speaking Truth to Power by Ralph E. Luker
Farewell to Two Feminists by Ralph E. Luker
Coretta Scott King was more than just Dr. King’s wife by Earl Ofari Hutchinson
Note: also see History News Network search for Coretta Scott King
Atlanta author and poet Aria Nicole “The End of an Era”
Blogpulse Newswire “Condolences for Coretta Scott King”
Views and eulogies from African bloggers:
Letter from Lidia: No One Will Fill Her ShoesMshairi: Two WomenChippla’s Weblog: Coretta Scott KingEthnic Loft: Relatives of Yesterday – Celebrating Black History Month
Articles from the African Press (via AllAfrica.com)
Zambia (The Post): Mama Coretta KingNamibia (New Era): Nujoma, Pohamba pay homage to late KingArticles and features from the American Press and Media:
PBS Online News Hour (video): Farewell to Coretta Scott KingThe Washington Post: A Full Partner in the Dream
Coretta Scott King’s Legacy Celebrated in Final Farewell
Additional online resources:
Google News search: Coretta Scott KingTechnorati blog search: Coretta Scott KingIntelliseek’s Blogpulse search: Coretta Scott KingBlogger (Google) blog search: Coretta Scott KingStanford University:The Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education InstituteWikipedia: Coretta Scott KingTechnorati Tags: American History America African-American Martin Luther King Jr. Civil Rights News Global Voices
Mrs. Coretta Scott King, wife and widow of the slain American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., has died.
Mrs. King had suffered a stroke and heart attack in August 2005 and according to news reports she passed away peacefully in her sleep late on Monday night at a California medical center where she was undergoing therapy for her stroke. Like the late Rosa Parks who died in October 2005, Coretta Scott King was an important icon of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement from the 1950’s–1980’s. Both women were deeply committed to non-violent action for civil rights and equality for all Americans. Both of these great women have left their mark on the conscience and history of our nation.
The New York Times article by Peter Applebome (January 31st) gives an excellent background on her life and an amusing anecdote about the courtship between the ambitious young Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. and the intelligent, beautiful and self-confident Coretta Scott during her university days at the New England Conservatory of Music in the early 1950’s.
Her first encounter with the man who would become her husband did not begin auspiciously. Dr. King, very much in the market for a wife, called her after getting her name from a friend and announced: "You know every Napoleon has his Waterloo," he said. "I'm like Napoleon. I'm at my Waterloo, and I'm on my knees."
"That's absurd," Ms. Scott, two years his elder, replied. "You don't even know me."
Still, she agreed to meet for lunch the next day, only to be put off initially that he wasn't taller. But she was impressed by his erudition and confidence and he saw in this refined, intelligent woman what he was looking for as the wife of a preacher from one of Atlanta's most prominent ministerial families. When he proposed, she deliberated for six months before finally saying "yes" and they were married in the garden of her parents' house on June 18, 1953. The 350 guests, elegant big-city folks from Atlanta and rural neighbors from Alabama, made it the biggest wedding, white or black, the area had ever seen.
And even before the wedding she made it clear she intended to remain her own woman. She stunned Dr. King's father, the Rev. Martin Luther King, Sr., who presided over the wedding, by demanding that she wanted the promise to obey her husband removed from the wedding vows. Reluctantly, he went along. After it was over, the bridegroom fell asleep in the car back to Atlanta while the new Mrs. King did the driving.
There are a number of eulogies and information available online about the life and times of Coretta Scott King to help those of you who are unfamiliar with her and those of us who may have forgotten. I have listed some of those resources below. I do want to leave you with some words by Coretta Scott King delivered during the August 2003 Recalling MLK Dream speech commemorating the 40th anniversary of the famous 1963 March on Washington. Her words are most appropriate for everyone the world over in these troubled times that we live in today:
“We must make our hearts instruments of Peace and non-violence because when the heart is right, the mind and the body will follow.”
Coretta Scott King @ The Lincoln Memorial - August 28, 2003
Go with God in Peace and we thank you for your wise guidance and great love for all these years, Mrs. Coretta Scott King. Amen.
Online resources about the life of Coretta Scott King:
Google News Search: Coretta Scott King
New York Times (January 31, 2006)
Coretta Scott King, 78, Widow of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Dies
NPR (National Public Radio) RemembrancesCoretta Scott King dies at 78 (audio features)NPR: The March on Washington 40-Year CommemorativeWGBH: 1963 March on Washington (original audio archives)PBS Online News Hour: Remembering the March 40th AnniversaryCBS News Recalling MLK’s Dream Speech (with video)
Stanford University
The Martin Luther King Jr. Research and Education Institute
Wikipedia (the free encyclopedia)
Coretta Scott KingTechnorati Tags: American History America African-American Martin Luther King Jr. Civil Rights News
Update January 17th:I've added a few new links to news articles (Germany's Der Spiegel) and to the full text of the Inaugural Address given by President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia at Monrovia yesterday. If you read nothing else in this post, please read the moving and powerful words delivered by Liberia's new leader to her anxious people and to the people of the world.************************************************************January 16, 2005:As of approximately 13:25 CET today history was made in Liberia and in the world. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf was sworn-in as the 26th President of the Republic of Liberia, Africa received its first elected female head of state, and the leading democracies of the world welcomed a competent and determined West African leader who has their full support in helping to rebuild her war-torn country and bring peace to a region troubled by brutal conflict and corruption for decades. Madame President Johnson-Sirleaf pledged in her acceptance speech to work hard to unite Liberians stating, “Let us begin anew, moving forward into a future that is filled with hope and promise.” (CNN) She also promised to “wage war against corruption regardless where it exists or by whom it is practiced”. This of course is an issuing of walking papers for a number of politicians and their business cronies operating in Liberia today.
The inauguration ceremony was broadcast live on CNN and BBC albeit by videophone due to the lack of electricity and communications infrastructure in the capital Monrovia. I can’t wait to see the various videotape reports later today. International news agencies from across the globe have been following the preparations leading up to Liberia’s presidential inauguration for weeks and CNN’s Feme Oke and Jeff Koinange featured a Focus on Liberia special on the Inside Africa program this past weekend.
There has been so much said and written about President Johnson-Sirleaf and the Liberian presidential campaign and elections over the past several months it is difficult for me to add anything new here. As I took time to watch the inaugural ceremony TV news footage this afternoon I was deeply moved to be able to witness this historical event in my lifetime, and I kept saying to myself “God Bless her, God Bless her and the people of Liberia”. It was also not lost on me that January 15th is our (U.S.A.) national holiday for remembrance of the birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. According to the Reverend Samuel Sumo Payne, a Liberian immigrant to the United States who will be participating in the Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebration activities this year in Ohio, Dr. King’s impact on social justice and civil rights reverberated far beyond the shores of the United States. Here is an excerpt from the Toledo Blade news article on Rev. Payne:
Mr. Payne was in junior high school when he spotted a book in his father’s office with a photo of Dr. King on the front. He said he asked his father, a Lutheran bishop, about the “gentleman on the cover” and was told that it was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a civil rights leader in America.“It was just a casual conversation, but I started asking what a civil rights leader is. My Dad said he stood for unity and peace and that Dr. King was in some ways a bridge builder,” Mr. Payne recalled. “He said he wanted to help eliminate social injustice and to bring equality to everyone.”
“Dr. King’s stand for social justice and equality for all people in America, regardless of their race, had a tremendous impact on me,” he said. “For me, to come to this country and not be judged, being an African and being black in America, and being looked at for what I can do, I see that as the evidence of his impact.”
Like Dr. King, President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is determined to do what she can to heal a nation and move forward, to build bridges between former combatants and the victims of brutal conflict and injustice and inequality. It’s a tall order for anyone to try to fill, but in my soul I believe that this lady has what it takes to get the job done. It is up to the rest of us around the world to make sure that our respective national political and business leaders provide the support that Liberia so desperately needs. So that Africa’s first democratically elected female head-of-state, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, and the new start for the people of Liberia, goes down in the history books as an important turning point for West Africa and a beacon of hope for people everywhere.
I and other bloggers and journalists will write more (much more) about Madame President Johnson-Sirleaf of Liberia this year and throughout her term in office. I am certain that many of us around the globe wish her great success in her new job and her new leadership role in Africa.
***************************************************************
News References re: Liberia and Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf for January 2006:
Google News search: Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, LiberiaallAfrica.com - Monrovia January 17, 2005Full text of the Inaugural Address by President Ellen Johnson-SirleafReuters AlertNet January 16, 2006
U.S. signals backing as Liberia leader takes officeReuters AlertNet January 13, 2006
Taylor ex-son-in-law elected Liberia House SpeakerGermany's Der Spiegel (Intl. Edition) January 17, 2005Liberia and Chile Elect Female LeadersMSNBC Today Show interview w/ Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf
“All men have failed… let’s try a woman.”Technorati: Africa Liberia Politics Current Affairs News Global Voices
Recently Chinese financial investments in African countries has been making headlines in the MSM and in the Blogosphere. The Washington Post ran a story yesterday on the announcement by CNOOC Ltd., a Chinese state-owned energy company, of its USD$ 2.3 billion deal with the Republic of Nigeria for access to a large offshore oil and gas reserve. Nigerian blogger Orikinla Osinachi of the Nigerian Times blog was one of the first to pickup the WAPO article.Following is my comment to Orikinla's post CNOOC: It's a good deal"I found your post today while researching information about Chinese government and private sector investments in Africa. The link to your blog was directly from The Washington Post news article titled "CNOOC Announces $2.3 Billion Nigeria Investment". Although increased direct foreign investment in the Nigerian economy is a good thing generally, I'm not so certain that CNOOC, a Chinese state-owned and controlled energy company, is the kind of business partner the people of Nigeria would want. For example, the fact that China's military, economic, and diplomatic support of the murderous Khartoum regime in Sudan is directly linked to Sudan's oil reserves and exports to China would probably not sit well with a majority of the Nigerian people, would it?
In other words, the genocide and ethnic cleansing we see taking place in Darfur and parts of southern Sudan today can be directly linked to China. The Chinese government and so-called Chinese private investors supply the regime of Omar al-Bashir with weapons (helicopter gunships and aircraft, heavy-duty automatic weapons, landmines, mortars and rockets, etc.), the Chinese military personell needed to train the Sudanese military and police how to use them, and loads of money in the form of revenues from oil exports and generous Chinese bank loans. The various peoples of the Sudan don't see any benefits or at best little from the money earned by oil exports to China and elsewhere by the way.
While you are busy thanking God for this announced CNOOC deal in Nigeria, be sure to ask Him what he thinks about China's complicity in the genocide taking place in Darfur and the rape of the Sudan."
Chippla Vandu of Chippla's Weblog - Thoughts on Issues has a very appropriate and timely post on perceived oil wealth in Nigeria titled Poverty Beyond Corruption. Chippla brought the subject of China's newfound love affair with African business and political leaders to his readers attention in his April 2005 post titled The Future of Africa is Not China re: the Asian-African Summit 2005. Here is the link to the Xinhua News Agency article "Asia Africa on way to new strategic partnership" which preceded the historic Golden Jubilee of the first Asian-African Summit at Bandung in 1955. Yale University's Yale Global Online published a good op-ed piece from the Jakarta Post on April 6, 2005 by Joself Purnama Widyatmadja titled "The Spirit of Bandung".I must say that this post is just an opening salvo from this blogger on China's strategic interests for Africa, inspired by Ethan Zuckerman's excellent post and question of January 8th: "Chinese trade with Africa - good or bad news?". Of course with the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2006 at Davos, Switzerland coming in just a few weeks economics and development issues are at the forefront of many people's minds. The theme of this year's annual meeting is The Creative Imperative and you can read more about the organization at the WEF official website. The countries and economies of China and India will be a major focus at this year's event.What do you, my readers, think?Is China's renewed interest and financial investments in Africa a good thing for the people of the continent or not? Do you have some examples of how it is working well and if so, where?Technorati: Africa Asia Nigeria China Sudan
Business Economic Development Energy Davos
HEADS UP!
The World Economic Forum 2006 Annual Meeting at Davos, Switzerland has annouced a major blogging and podcasting effort for this year's event. Tired of the various presidents and business leaders of the world neither answering your emails nor reading your blog? Then this is your big chance to listen to, be heard, and communicate with them face-to-face (sort of).According to a WEF Press Release of January 2nd, ALL of the more than 2000 participants from countries around the world, including presidents and prime ministers, will be asked to contribute at least 1 post to the Forumblog. Boy, I'd hate to see those comment threads. So if you've got a gripe or a special request or just want to tell the Prez or Prime Minister what a great job he/she is doing, this is the place to be from January 25th-29th, 2006. Get in touch with your respective political and business leaders early to make sure that they pony up for the WEF 2006 Forumblog. Tell them to speak up loud and clear, the world's bloggers will be listening (and writing about it).Hat tip to the World Bank's PSD blog for bringing our attention to this story and to Steve Rubel of Micro Persuasion for being one of the first to break this news in the Blogosphere. Be sure to wear a nice, warm hat and ear muffs Steve while down in Davos. It's freezing over here and snowing non-stop down South in the Alps. Skiing and hotels are good. Prices are outrageous.Technorati: Davos Development Economics Poverty Economics Blogging Podcasting
Nah? Are we still nursing that throbbing headache after a bit too much cheer at the New Years Eve party? Here is something that will get you back into shape Zak Zak.Ethan Zuckerman of Global Voices Online and the ...My Heart's in Accra blog has come up with a great end of the year 2005 Africa Quiz. For some great fun and to see how much you have learned about Africa from reading blogs, online news articles, and other media sources go over to EZ's place and take the test.Jewels in the Jungle was asked to submit one question for the quiz so AFTER you have completed the test please click on this link to learn more about our Africa 2005 News Item entry. If my guess is right 8 out of 10 people have answered this question wrong on the quiz so far.
Don’t cheat, take the quiz first! I know that it is tempting, but don't do it.
Then after you have aced that little mindteaser go over to the BBC News site for a run at their Africa News 2005 Quiz. I blew it on this quiz (only 4 out of 8 correct) but maybe you will do better. Happy New Year 2006 to all of my readers.
Technorati: Africa Global Voices Bloggers News
