KARMA steps in for Burundi: COUP D'ETAT

President Pierre Nkurunzinza

Karma was very quick on this one. Nkurunzinza Pierre, the Burundian president who has caused turmoil  in his country by his unconstitutional claim to a third term has been dethroned in a COUP D'ETAT while on a mission on Tanzania to attend talks on the prevailing conflict in his country. Poor form boy

Celebrations underway in the capital

By: Sheriff Mako On Wednesday, May 13, 2015

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Tweets that Defined the Outcome of KOT Vs. South Africa Twitter War

Kenyans on Twitter (KOT)

Kenyans on Twitter (KOT) are an emerging voice and defender of the interests of Kenya. In June 2012, CNN warned surfers to be aware of KOT, terming it “an influential and vocal group on Twitter, using common hashtag and blazing keyboards to ensure their African country is discussed fairly and with respect”.  A few months down the line, the same CNN was forced to apologize after finding itself on the wrong side of KOT.

 In a period of about six years, KOT has expanded tremendously and reaffirmed its resolve to defend Kenya against whoever and whatever – be it other countries, unfair reporting, parliamentarians, incompetent cabinet secretaries – and push for courses that are seen to be important or beneficial to Kenyans. Activists are now using KOT to spread their message and gain support.

In 2013 court mercilessly crushed helpless opponents including Tanzania, Uganda, and Nigeria reminding them to respect KOT because it rules Africa. Call it trivial or petty, but be sure KOT will never stop until an opponent is beaten properly. However, most of the tweets are usually humorous.

There is no doubt that KOT is the most dangerous Cybergang on the continent, if not the world, having beaten two worthy opponents in 2014 and 2013 – Nigeria and South Africa.

KOT vs. South Africa

The KOT vs South Africa duel on Twitter was sparked after South Africa’s Sport and Recreation Minister, Fikile Mbalula made an off-topic comment that South Africa would not be like Kenya and send athletes to the Olympics to “drown in the pool”.  Here how KOT responded. The hashtag used here was #SomeoneTellSouthAfrica.

Don't forget to share on your favorite social media!

By: Sheriff Mako On Monday, December 29, 2014

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President Zuma ‘off the hook’ for Lavish Spending on Home Security Upgrades

President Jacob Zuma: File/photo

Africa News – South African President, Jacob Zuma, says he has been cleared from accusations blaming him for the lavish R250 million (about $22 Million) in security upgrades at his Nkandla homestead. 

The escalation of costs in Zuma’s home security upgrades have turned into a major controversy of his presidency.

In a recorded interview with SABC, Zuma specified that all the three reports that looked into the matter did not find any wrong doing on his part.

Referring to himself in third person, President Zuma said “The reality is, the president did absolutely nothing wrong”. “There is not a single one (report) that found anything wrong that the president had doene”, he continued.

According to him, even the report done by Public Protector Thuli Madonsela had not found any fault in him.

The Madonsela report indicated that President Zuma and his family had unduly benefited from some of the upgrades conducted at his home, suggesting that he should personally pay back some money.

In response to that, he said “But the president did ask for any benefits from anyone”.

At the time of the interview with SABC, Zuma was still awaiting report from a committee that was set to look into Madonsela’s report before deciding on the next step.

It emerged that the security upgrades at the President’s home included a pool (referred to as the firepool), a chicken run, and an amphitheater. 

By: Sheriff Mako On Monday, December 22, 2014

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Nigerian Soldiers to be executed for refusing to fight Boko Haram

Africa News --54 Nigerian soldiers were sentenced to death by a court martial for refusing to fight and help in the recapture of towns that had been overrun by Boko Haram militants in August.  The lawyer representing the 54 accused of mutiny said they will be executed by a firing squad. The initial number was 59 but five of them were acquitted.

Nigerian is one of the several countries in Africa faced by the threat of terrorism.  Troops in the West African country have often complained of lack of enough weapons to battle Boko Haram insurgents.  

Boko Haram has waged war since 2009 in a push to create an Islamic state in North Eastern Nigeria. More than 2000 people have perished directly and thousands displaced following the conflict. 

The court martial proceedings started in October and have been conducted behind closed doors since then. According to the defense lawyer, Femi Falani, the soldier were charged for "conspiring to commit mutiny against the authorities of 7 Division, Nigerian Army".

The case brings to the fore the questions of how Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, is prepared to protect its citizens against Islamic insurgency. Insecurity in Nigeria has dominated Africa News in the past few years. 

By: Sheriff Mako On Thursday, December 18, 2014

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Will falling Oil Prices diminish the economic mood in Kenya and Uganda?

Oil Exploration Blocks: Government of Kenya

Kenya News -- A thoroughly done article appearing on wsj.com “Fall in Oil Prices Threatens Africa’s Economic Growth” seems to suggest that the plummeting oil prices are detrimental to Africa’s economic progress.  The article done by three authors based in Abuja, Johannesburg, and Nairobi  pointed out that Africa had recently witnessed a boom in oil and gas discoveries and which many nations have pegged on to formulate strategies for economic prosperity and, therefore, dipping oil prices was bad news for the continent’s economic scene.

The article was quick to quote the billions of dollars that have been pumped into oil and gas exploration projects and such projects, for instance, the $16 billion oil project in Angola by Exxon Mobil and Total SA, would only be profitable if oil prices averaged more than $70 a barrel.  To put this in context, 60% of big oil finds in the recent past have all be in Africa. Currently Africa has 130 billion barrels of crude oil and more than 500 companies planning to tap it. More finds are expected with the increased exploration activities.

In a rather devastating development for produces, the price of oil has been going down and now it has hit a five-year low.  On Thursday, the price of crude oil had dropped to $63.68 as reported by the Citi group. Here is a closer look at Kenya, Uganda, and Nigeria.

Kenya

Kenya has recently made viable oil discoveries but this is far from production. Unlike other promising economies in Sub-Saharan Africa, Kenya has not benefited from oil or mineral exports. The country has a diversified economy with agriculture, Manufacturing, service industry, and tourism proving to be more important to the Country’s economic wellbeing. In fact, mining and quarrying only contribute about 1% of the country’s GDP.  Kenya’s growth is mostly secured by sound macroeconomic policies.  

After rebasing its GDP, Kenya is now Africa’s 9^th largest economy in Africa and has joined the ranks of a lower middle income country.

As with Uganda, Kenya has an economic blueprint called Vision 2030, which outlines plans and strategies for the nation to attain industrialized status by 2030.

As stated earlier Kenya has made impressive oil finds in the past three years. As stated here in the Huffingtonpost, oil findings in Kenya has made it “the hottest and fastest-paced hydrocarbon scene on the continent.” Oil deposits have already been confirmed in the Anza and South Lokichar basins which total to about 2.9 billion barrels.  Other un-explored basins like Ogaden and Kerio are estimated to have upwards of 7billion barrels.  The country has several other onshore and offshore blocks where exploration activities or plans are underway. Simply put, Kenya is the busiest oil exploration scene on the continent. However, the sweetest part of the oil news is kept with government and business circles as the government is keen on controlling euphoria which might politicize the resource. What Kenyans know is that their oil is far from commercial viability.  

Although Kenya is at the center of the $24.5 billion LAPSSET project, the initial plan was aimed at tapping into resources of neighboring South Sudan and Ethiopia by helping them access the Indian Ocean. However, the new oil finds in the country has led to some refocusing. With the promising finds, the country is already finalizing plans of massive infrastructure projects, mostly in conjunction with Uganda. Currently, there are discussions to develop a pipeline from Uganda to Lamu and save Uganda the agony of building a refinery for its oil.  

While Uganda first discovered oil in 2006, progress has been slow and production is slated for 2017. In contrast, commercial viability of Kenya’s oil was only confirmed in early 2014 and production is slated for 2016. 

Therefore, apart from the good feeling that comes with the knowledge that you have oil within your borders, Kenya has not achieved any gains from oil or has it implemented any large scale project to tap into the resource. Foreign companies might be rushing in to set shop in anticipation of a thriving oil economy but this cannot be independently verified. 

What is clear is that reduced oil prices have marginally reduced the cost of doing business and a reduction in the prices of basic commodities is also expected.  The reduction also reduces the cost of importing oil and thus helps the Shilling to stabilize.

Uganda

 Uganda has 3.5 billion barrels of confirmed oil deposits. Recent estimates put the figure to be as high as $6.5 billion barrels, though recoverable oil remains at a lowly 1.4 Billion barrels. Several Companies, including Tullow Oil PLC and China’s Cnooc LTD are implementing a $15 billion plan to develop Uganda’s oil fields. There are fears that these Companies may slow down or halt their plans if the oil prices continue to fall.  

There is a lot of excitement in the country as it looks to launch the development of needed infrastructure in 2015 and, hopefully, commence production by 2017.

Uganda has an economic blueprint dubbed vision 2040. The economic blueprint, if followed to the letter, will transform the country from peasantry to a modern prosperous middle income country by 2040. Uganda does look at the oil find as the silver bullet that will propel it to a higher economic status, but if the resource is well-managed then it could give the country the much-needed boost. Jointly with other countries in the region, Uganda is working on a plan to develope huge infrastructural projects include railways, roads, and an oil pipeline which are part of the LAPSSET. Will the continued fall in oil prices affect Uganda’s economic ambitions? You be the judge but here is a clue – Just like Kenya, Uganda currently imports all of its oil. Spending less on importation is important for the country cut inflation.

Nigeria

Nigeria is looked at by Kenya and Uganda as a model oil producing country at it’s necessary to mention it here. Nigeria is Africa’s biggest economy and biggest oil producer on the continent, drilling about 100,000 barrels of crude oil a day. With the current expansion in telecommunications, retail and other sectors of the economy, oil only contributes about 14% of economic activity. 

However, up to 70% of the government’s budget comes from oil. This implies that public institutions and infrastructural projects depend disproportionately on the oil, compared to other sectors of the economy.  In fact the naira (Nigeria’s currency) has fallen to a record low in response to oil price related shocks. Nigeria is racing against time to develop infrastructure for its huge population. There is no doubt that the falling oil prices will affect the Nigerian economy in the long run. If the situation doesn’t resolve in the near future then the government might be forced to put on hold plans to double the Country’s oil production and preserve the precious commodity for a more opportune time. 

Verdict

As for now Kenya and Uganda do not depend on revenues from oil to meet their budgetary requirements.  Reduced oil prices are benefiting them directly. The future of the still looks bright because OPEC will do what they have always done (cut production) for the prices to shoot again. Even so, the demand for oil is still growing and there is every indication that the forces will shift.

By: Sheriff Mako On Sunday, December 14, 2014

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Kenya and Ghana Sign bilateral trade agreements

Kenyan and Ghanaian Delegations at Statehouse, Nairobi

Africa News -- Kenya and Ghana Sign bilateral trade agreements Ghanaian president, John Dramani Mahama, who has been in Kenya for two days now was hosted by his Kenyan counterpart, Uhuru Kenyatta at statehouse Nairobi. The two heads of state chaired bilateral talks held by delegations from the two countries.
The talks centered on the need to deepen economic and political. Ghana and Kenya are among the top emerging African powerhouses and, hence an increasing need to work together. In today’s meeting, the two presidents witnessed the signing of nine bilateral agreements which are aimed at increasing trade and political ties between the two nations

. As a result of the agreement, whose details are yet to be made public, Kenyans and Ghanaians are expected to work more closely to advance the interests of the two nations and the continent as a whole. Since President Uhuru Kenyatta came to power in April last year, Kenya has sought to deepen trade ties with African countries, particularly those in the West.

 A similar Nigerian delegation was hosted last year, during which the Nigerian billionare, Aliko Dangote, promised to setup a $400 million cement plant in Kenya.

By: Sheriff Mako On Saturday, December 13, 2014

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A Wealthy Nigerian Buried in his H2 Hummer

Africa News -- How I wish to believe these pictures were shot during a Nollywood act. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. Whoever posted them said this is real material. Apparently, a Nigerian billionaire had included in his will that upon his death he should be buried with his expensive Hummer – as ludicrous as it sounds.

I am not sure about the kind of thinking that informed such a decision. Perhaps when you couple idiocy with the pain of knowing that you’ll leave everything you have worked hard for when you die. I guess, after serious soul searching, the man decided that he be buried in his H2 and, as you can see from the pictures, the wish was granted.

By the way it’s very unAfrican and out rightly abominated to disobey the wishes of the dead, unless you want some serious late-night hounding. But should this dare happen in Nairobi I know someone who will attend the funeral just to assess the amount of work required to dig up the Hummer in the dead hours of the night.

 I will probably share this with #KOT so that they can see what to do with it next time they engage Nigeria in a fully-fledged Twitter war. #SomeTellNigeria

By: Sheriff Mako On Thursday, December 04, 2014

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Africa is one Big Country with no Cities

Upper Hill, Nairobi, Kenya

We all agree that knowledge has become so broad that even learning the history of your own country is quite a task. Most people now limit their knowledge and skills to quests that make economic sense.  Apart from making money, entertainment seems to be the only other thing that people are interested in.  The average citizen is either looking for money or looking for ways to entertain themselves.  As a result, we may forgive one another for being too ignorant on issues that other people may regard as common knowledge. It’s no coincidence that most Americans know Africa to be a one big country, and not a continent of more than 50 states.

Ignorance about Africa continues to prevail, certainly not deterred by the internet and other elements of the digital age. For instance, any search engine will return thousands of results if queried about “Cities or Countries in Africa”.

Part of Nairobi CBD: www.aljazeera.com

CNN, BBC, FOX News, Reuters and a few others, herein referred to as global media, are the sources from which the average European or American uses to enlighten themselves on happenings beyond their borders. Its true that media houses anywhere are driven by the demands of their audience.  This has led to trend whereby stories that attract more attention are given more prominence, regardless of their relevance. You remember the Miley Cyrus twerking News that held the world hostage for weeks?

 A little research will show you that positive stories about Africa are rarely popular in the Western Media.  Stories that are given importance are those that report on the sorry state of the continent. I doubt the motivation for such biased reporting is driven by the need to highlight the plight of Africans.

While it’s okay to report on the endemic problems facing the continent, you will be respected more if you equally reported on the efforts to address such problems, and particularly if you highlighted areas where success has already been registered.

Africans are depicted as poverty, hunger, disease stricken and ever-fighting population that can never do without aid.  Look at any bad statistics on the internet and they will be dominated by African countries – Corruption, Human development Index, poor governance, weak, fragile or failed states, etc. Sadly, this is partly true – but I strongly disagree that that’s what defines the African experience.

 The subsistence farmer in rural Africa or the Kenyan pastoralist is happy with his way of life.

The prevailing notion in the western populace is that Africa is a hopeless place populated by people who lack intrinsic motivation to take charge of their own destiny.  You have to read the threads on Africa-related news to understand how bad the opinion is.

The Ignorant American

The skewed perceptions exhibited by most Americans, including African Americans on matters Africa is a sign of lack of knowledge or interest in knowledge on people they have an opinion on. Which therefore means that when their media houses dwell on negative, they do not really do so to find solutions to African problems. The typical American who thinks Africa is a single impoverished country is both a victim of the biased media and his own ignorance. It’s surprising that anyone can spent most of his time on an internet connected device but will not spare a minute to confirm any facts about a whole continent.

This implies that the issue might not be the unavailability of information or miss-information for that matter. What is more worrying is the fact that such views are not limited to the American layman. Some western researchers have made laughable conclusions about some African-related phenomena. For instance, in explaining why Kenya produces such good runners, someone stated that schools are very far apart and children run kilometers to and from school. How does that explain why Kenyan runners are so good when other African countries with similar conditions don’t produce runners? Such an explanation shows a deliberate attempt to rope in the bad state of affairs in Africa, even when making explanations of the few things that Africans have excelled.

Nairobi in the 80s

African Problems

It’s true that Africa has many problems – poverty, diseases, wars, famine, human rights violations, bad governance, corruption, high mortality rates, terrorism, etc. It’s also true that where there is poverty then other social problems will follow. History shows that regions all regions of the world went through such.

But to what extend can African problems be blamed on Africans?  Some African problems such as poverty can, to some extend, be blamed on unfair Western trade policies. For instance, Kenya has been in close ties with the UK and the US since the 60s, but it’s only when China came on board that we began to see some real change. They built our first superhighway and are undertaking other major infrastructure projects. Kenyans do not even need visas to go China.  While the West is obsessed with governance, democracy, and human rights.  The kind of change they want is like the one initiated in Libya. Who doesn’t know that Libya was far much better with Gaddafi than it is now?

Security and Wars

Arms dealers in the West are also known to supply weapons that sustain the bloodiest wars in Africa. Like the mineral war in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which has claimed more than 5.4 Million lives. There are allegations that the smuggled minerals often end up in the US. Whether American corporations have a stake in the war, as it’s believed in Africa, that’s a topic for another day.

Kenya is currently under increased attacks by Al-shabaab militants, a situation that arose when the country decided to help its partners to fight terrorism.  The isolated attacks in far-flung areas have resulted into travel advisories from the very friends Kenya was assisting.

Africa is changing

Unknown to the common American or European, things are changing so fast in Africa. Close to half of the population is joining the middle class. Nigeria and Kenya rebased their economies and are now regarded as middle income countries. From 2000 to date, 6 of the top 10 fastest growing economies in the world are in Sub-Saharan Africa. Countries like Ghana, Rwanda and Angola have shown real progress in tackling social problems. There very agencies are reporting this. We read that Nairobi is well on its way to become a global financial center.

Such statistics have caught western companies off guard, as most are now scrambling for investment opportunities. China has both feet on the continent, and even though it’s choking us with fakes, we are at least grateful because it triggered the health competition with the West. A competition that was needed for Africa to rise from its knees.

By: Sheriff Mako On Tuesday, December 02, 2014

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Are Western Ideals Failing in Africa?

Al-shabaab Militia: photo from www.jihadwatch.org

 Policy makers in the West have for a long time concluded democracy, capitalism and expanded social freedoms are good and acceptable, not only for western societies, but for the world as a whole. While this might seem good on the surface, a deeper analysis shows that, in the face of other social dynamics, this might be creating more problems than benefits in other societies – this is especially true in most African societies, where true democracy, human rights, freedom and liberty for all remain unfeasible, and more so in economic sense.   

Many African societies are finding themselves in a tight spot by either being consumers or partners in western thought or western ways of doing business. Wars, terrorism, senseless murders and maiming, rapes, corruption, crime, sodomy, ethnic intolerance, just to mention a few, are increasing as a backlash or collaterals of adopting popular western ideals (social norms, capitalism, democracy, Liberalism, Freedoms, human rights, etc).

Liberty and Liberal

Liberty is defined as “the state of being free within society from oppressive restrictions imposed by authority on one’s way of life, behavior, or political views”.  It can also be defined as the “power or scope to act as one pleases”.

The term “liberty” is closely linked to another – liberal.  Which is generally defined as the state of “being open to new behavior or opinions and willing to discard traditional values”.  A contextual combination of the two would mean that people should be left to act as they will, even if their actions are not morally, religiously or culturally right. Right?

Human Rights

Human rights is defined as “right that justifiably belongs to every person.” This partly includes what a government owes to its people such as security, access to clean water, food, healthcare, and other facilities. This is another area where the west has emphasized before doing business with other, mostly poverty stricken societies.

Without wasting any more time I will argue a few points here as to show why the western model, from democracy to liberalism are failing elsewhere. 

Freedom Vs socio-economic status

In advocating for social freedoms such as the freedom of expression and all, one must really take into account several dynamics, most importantly the socioeconomic status of the society. A case in point is when Kenyan’s voted out the oppressive KANU regime and ushered in a new government that rapidly expanded basic freedoms (under the West's guidance) to a level that Kenyans were unprepared for. Even the political leaders who spearheaded the process didn't understand the level of responsibility that comes with such expanded freedoms. The freedom of expression was abused leading to careless, tribal remarks from leaders across the political divide, and this massively contributed to the post-election violence that followed.

This implies that as much leaders can invoke their freedom of speech to say what they want, they should take caution when talking to a poverty-stricken audience that is suffering from a host of other social problems.

On a rather interesting note.  The United States has unemployment rate of 5.8% as of October 2014. The US with its tiny 5.8% unemployment is continually faced with threats to its social order and the government is always at pains to explain what it’s doing to create more jobs.  What if the figures rose to only 10%? Well, cognizant of the threat, the United States has invested hugely in security and intelligence to keep its liberty-enjoying population on the right side of the law. In contrast, a country like Kenya has unemployment rate of 40% and has a very small and not-so-well equipped police force. But expanding freedoms is always a precondition before the US and other Western nations can agree to do business. A society with 40% unemployment rate is fragile by any definition. When the tribal politicians (better known as war-lords) decide to take advantage of the expanded freedom and talk as they will, who will rescue us from tribal animosity? We have not invested in internal security and Intelligence like the US – we simply do not have the financial resources to maintain a police force that keeps a close eye on every free citizen, and more so on the rogue leader. There is sense in limiting what various leaders should say to a population devastated by poverty, disease, insecurity, crime, and ignorance. 

Liberalism, cultural and religious alienation – more chaos

The West has embraced liberalism or “broadmindedness” with both hands and have good experience with it. Therefore, Western policy makers feel that these should be emulated in other societies. For example, Not so long ago, several Western countries threatened to cut business links and aid to Uganda after the latter's parliament passed a controversial bill that was regarded by the west to be too harsh for homosexuals. In reference to human rights, liberal thought and other freedoms, the West feels that Homosexuals should be allowed to freely exist with others, irrespective of the dominant cultural and religious values in the society. In the African context, homosexual fiercely condemned from a moral perspective. Economic sanctions, cutting aid, and other threats have made many non-western countries to relax their laws and allow practices that are unacceptable from both religious and cultural positions. 

I want to argue here that forcing practices that are culturally unsound to a people creates cultural-alienation, resulting in a more chaotic society.  For instance, the liberal thought borrowed from western countries has made many Africans to look at their cultures as a backward thing. This means that lesser people have refer to cultural or religious values in reinforcing their behaviors.You tell a child its wrong to kill an innocent person because it's against the law, but you don't underpin that in culture or religion.
I know of two guys who were shot dead in Nairobi just because a criminal felt that their laptops were more important to him than the lives of these two fellows. We are now witnessing cases where young girls are raped and then murdered; women are stripped for wearing short skirts; and petty criminals are lynched by the public.  Many people no longer understand the difference between right and wrong, and this can be blamed on cultural and religious alienation, which can further be blamed on western push for liberalism, freedoms, and “human rights”.

When you engineer a process that gradually leads to alienation from basic belief systems that guide behavior in a society, what you are doing is creating a chaotic society.  It’s the society and its belief systems that differentiate humans from animals. Taking away the belief systems makes humans to act like animals.

Someone might say that, rather than religion, it is resistance to pressure from western norms and values that has given rise to terrorism.

To be continued…… Next section, Capitalism, poverty and corruption 

By: Sheriff Mako On Tuesday, November 25, 2014

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The Never Ending War in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

Suffering children:photo from www.glogster.com

     Deadliest War after World War II. 

 Africa News -- The never dying war in the Democratic Republic of Congo is the biggest conflict in the 21^st century and the worst after the 2^nd World War. It’s commonly referred to as “Africa’s World War.” What is happening in the Iraq, Syria, Pakistan or even Somalia is a child’s play when compared to the conflict in DRC. It involves 24 armed groups, and 9 African States bordering the DRC have a direct stake in it. 5.4 Million People have died since the war started in 1998.

     What started the War

The second Congo War began in 1998 after the Mobutu government reportedly sought to regulate mining activities conducted by foreign companies, mostly American. According to Project censored.org “U.S. military-trained leaders of Rwanda and Uganda invaded the mineral-rich areas of the Congo.”  They also helped Kabila to march to the capital in takeover power through a coup. The brief end of the war in 2003 saw many foreign companies jostling for mining licenses.  The war continues to rage to this day and allegedly involves multinational corporations, arms brokers, terrorist organizations, and thirsty governments eying Congo’s wealth.

    Foreign Interests 

Truth be told. Congo is kept in war by foreign interests so that they can keep smuggling tons of copper, diamond, manganese, uranium, niobium, Cobalt, Coltan, and tantalum.  80% of the world’s coltan deposit and 60% of cobalt are in DRC.  Computers, smartphones and other electronic devices with processors cannot function properly without Coltan.  Chances are the devices you are using to read this page has a component made of coltan smuggled from the DRC. It’s safe to say that Militias backed by Rwanda and Uganda protect the illegal smuggling of minerals from the DRC.

According to project Censored, Congolese coltan brings more than $20 million in monthly revenues to Rwandans and their allies.  Furthermore, “Rwanda’s diamond exports went from 166 carats in 1998 to 30,500 in 2000. Uganda’s diamond exports jumped from approximately 1,500 carats to about 11,300.” The final destination of most this minerals is the old wise USA. Uganda and Rwanda have always defended their involvement by stating that they are fighting militias targeting them, such as the FDLR, and LRA.

Coltan extraction: photo from treehugger.com

     United Nations

DRC hosts the largest UN force in the world numbering 17,000 troops. The combined effort of the Force and DRC government troops have been unable to bring the situation under control because the foreign-sponsored militias they are fighting are well trained and very well equipped, obviously supported by foreign state actors (Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi), corporations, arms dealers, etc.

 

The UN force in DR

          Who is fighting who in the Congo War

The War directly involves up to 20 Militia groups, some backed by Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. While others are tribal militias are roped in to protect or benefit from the illicit mineral trade. The country has more than 200 ethnic groups. The remnants of Interahamwe (The Hutu force responsible for the 1994 Rwandan Genocide), now known as FDLR, are also based in Eastern Congo. In this war, there are permanent Rwandan enemies like the FDLR, permanent Ugandan enemies like the LRA, and many permanent enemies of the DRC government. Other smaller militias switch sides regular depending on who offers a favorable deal. The FDLR has on several occasions helped DRC government to fight foreign militias. The FDLR is one of the several Anti-Rwandan Hutu militias.

 

photo from www.usatoday.com

      Humanitarian Crisis

Most of the 5.4 million people who have died in the war have perished due to disease and starvation.  Millions more have been displaced from their homes, seeking asylum in neighboring countries. Numerous cases of rape and maiming by the brutal militias are reported daily.

Victims of the Congo War: photo from the commune.com

     Hope in Sight

Though much of the world remains silent on the on-goings in the Congo, there are renewed efforts by the UN and African union to bring the situation under control. Part of the proposed solutions include a strong and inclusive government.  Hopefully, there is a bright future for the people of Congo.

By: Sheriff Mako On Thursday, November 20, 2014

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Do Kenyans Care that M-Pesa may not be a Kenyan invention?

The Mpesa success story has seen Kenya receive praises from visionary leaders, global institutions, and Tech enthusiasts around the globe. What is not clear is whether the praises are for the ability of Kenyans to innovate or embrace innovation. 

Either way, we are guilty as praised.

 Titles like “How a Poor African Country is leading in Mobile Money Transfer” have made headlines in the first world, from the United States to Australia.  Some quite “friendly” articles have focused on Mpesa’s messianic intervention to the unbanked poor who, before its advent, stashed their little savings under the mattress.  Even the Christian Science Monitor, under the title “Mpesa helps world’s poorest go to the bank using mobile phones”, see Mpesa as a worthwhile intervention that has alleviated some suffering in the world’s poorest people.  Well, this might be partly true but it’s wrong to think that Mpesa rode on poverty to succeed.

For those who are not aware, about $19 billion or 43% of Kenya’s GDP flows through Mpesa. There are more than 78,000 agents around the country who offer deposit and withdrawal services.  Around 18 million Kenyans have proudly subscribed to the service. And it’s their first choice when conversations about money demand action to be complete. Sending and receiving money here is same as sending and receiving a text message. That’s why I always get annoyed when I see non-Mpesa message at a time when only Mpesa messages are welcome.

Poverty, Unbankedness and Mpesa

Many people who attempt to explain why Mpesa succeeded in Kenya, always find themselves referring to the poor and unbanked populations who have no other means of sending money. Vodafone, a stakeholder in Safaricom (the telecom company that owns Mpesa or does it?) has used the “poor and unbanked” logic to spread Mpesa to Tanzania, India, South Africa, Afghanistan, and now Romania. Statistics from reputable institutions say that these countries have a huge number of unbanked citizens. And, just like in Kenya, Mpesa could spark a financial revolution there and replicate the success story.

We all know that there is some uniqueness in Kenya that could partly explain why the uptake of Mpesa has been painfully slow in those similarly bank-shying and poor populations of South Africa, Tanzania, India, and Romania. In fact, India, with its 1.2 billion people and a huge unbanked population has a penetration rate of about 0.009%. Only a million Indians are using Mpesa, compared to 18 million Kenyans out of a total population of 43 million. Mpesa was introduced in Kenya in 2007 and Tanzania in 2008. Why are there only 5 million Mpesa users in Tanzania, even though the Country has slightly more people than Kenya and even more people who can be termed poor and unbanked?

Mpesa: Kenyan or not?

It’s very human to stake claim to anything successful. The very success story that is Mpesa has led to some bitter contest on who contributed what, when, where and how. A major theme playing out in most of articles addressing this issue is that Mpesa is in fact not a Kenyan invention.  They put a lot of emphasis in the fact that the idea was conceptualized and developed in the UK. Safaricom only provided a testing platform.

 No one puts a lot of effort in dispelling Kenya’s claim on Mpesa than Tefo Mohapi, expectedly, a South African “Is Mpesa really Kenyan or British?” He goes on to bash Kenyans even after one of the British contributors recognizes the efforts of Kenyan agents. He says the Kenyan Tech scene cannot start patting itself on the back when the Mpesa success story it overly rides on, isn’t its innovation.  He goes further to say that as things stand, “the only truly Kenyan global runaway success tech story is Ushahidi”. It seems this Mohapi or whatever his name is, was, on behalf of fellow South Africans, asking for a Tweeter war with KOT. Thank God the war emissary never delivered the message to KOT.

Probable reasons why Mpesa succeeded in Kenya

Frankly speaking, whether Mpesa is Kenyan or not, it is Kenyans who have made it a success.  And the only reason Mpesa succeeded in Kenya is because other players in the financial industry didn’t try to frustrate it from the start. Many banks were caught napping. Mpesa can succeed even in America if Banks will not fiercely fight it the same way they are doing in South Africa, India, and Tanzania.  I have no doubt that anyone, even with a first world bank account, will be happy to send and receive cash as a text message.  According to the World Bank page, Even Hillary Clinton wondered why the “brilliant innovation” is not available in the USA.

The reasons why Mpesa has not flourished in other countries are the same reasons why wireless electricity remains unimplemented anywhere in the world – Its value to established capitalistic entities is low.

By: Sheriff Mako On Wednesday, November 19, 2014

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