Opalo's weblog

• will the nigerien colonels keep their word?

  Posted: February 25, 2010, 12:41 am by kenopp

  The coup leaders in Niger promised a return to democracy as soon as possible. Perhaps as a signal that they are willing to keep their word on this they have appointment a civilian as prime minister.They have also promised that none of the military leaders in government will take part in elections whenever they are [...]

• the drc: the fire continues to consume lives unabated

  Posted: February 25, 2010, 2:25 am by kenopp

  In the recent past the Niger coup, the return of the ailing Nigerian president Umaru Yar’Adua from a hospital in Saudi Arabia and the supposed peace deal between Khartoum and the Darfuris have stolen most headlines on the Continent. But let us not forget that the eastern reaches of the DRC still approximate a war zone, [...]

• the politics of presentation and representation of Africa

  Posted: February 23, 2010, 9:26 pm by kenopp

  I am not particularly keen on these debates but here you go… Filed under: africa Tagged: media politics, Politics

• africa’s endless conflicts

  Posted: February 22, 2010, 10:25 pm by kenopp

  The New York Times’ Jeffrey Gettleman has a thought-provoking piece in Foreign Policy. I don’t particularly buy his doomsday analysis (most of the Continent will definitely not head the Somalia way) but his characterization of the modern day African rebel movement is spot on. The typical rebel leader on the Continent is nothing but a [...]

• a pre-election truce in darfur? fingers crossed

  Posted: February 20, 2010, 10:08 pm by kenopp

  Omar al-Bashir, the Sudanese president,  might be having information that we don’t in relation to the upcoming general election in April. His government just signed a peace accord with the JEM, Darfur’s biggest rebel movement. Mr. al-Bashir is desperately trying to stay in power. He also dreads the inevitable secession of Southern Sudan come 2011. [...]

• cool news source

  Posted: February 20, 2010, 1:48 pm by kenopp

  I just discovered this cool news source. Check it out. Filed under: africa

• Sudanese elections

  Posted: February 20, 2010, 1:42 pm by kenopp

  Southern Sudan continues to be an extremely dangerous place as it prepares for elections in April. “Ethnic clashes” have so far killed at least 2500 this year alone. The SPLM has nominated Yasir Arman, a northerner, as its presidential candidate in their attempt to dislodge the genocidal al-Bashir from power. The fact that President Kir [...]

• president tandja ousted in coup

  Posted: February 19, 2010, 3:04 am by kenopp

  Nigerien president Mamadou Tandja has been ousted in a military coup. An announcement on national radio stated that the Supreme Council for the Restoration of Democracy was now in charge of the country. The council includes Col. Salou Djibo (the leader) and and four other colonels.The president and members of his cabinet are being held [...]

• the frutis of french meddling

  Posted: February 18, 2010, 7:53 pm by kenopp

  News reports indicate that the Nigerien leader is being held by soldiers in the capital in an apparent coup attempt. President Tandja recently extended his rule after the constitutionally mandated two term limit claiming that no one in Niger was good enough to replace him. He had French backing. The French are investing in a [...]

• the “brain drain” debate

  Posted: February 17, 2010, 10:37 am by kenopp

  The first time I saw this paper/chapter presented at a workshop last year it left me with more questions than answers. I have since been convinced. The paper makes intuitive sense. That said, I am still a little uneasy with some of the implications of the argument. For one, providing education with a foreign labor [...]

• raila-kibaki feud continues over corruption

  Posted: February 14, 2010, 9:00 pm by kenopp

  The events of Sunday morning exposed the illusion that Kibaki and Raila had decided to bury the hatchet and do what is right for the Republic. Earlier the Prime Minister had suspended Ministers William Ruto and Samuel Ongeri over graft in their respective ministries. But the President quickly followed with a press release saying that [...]

• intolerable intolerance

  Posted: February 13, 2010, 3:18 am by kenopp

  Church leaders, and their followers, should know that issues to do with the after-life need not necessarily be put before security, order in society, and general well being in the present.

• don’t forget about eastern congo

  Posted: February 11, 2010, 12:22 am by kenopp

  The DRC might have a space program, but don’t be fooled by this rather strange choice of resource allocation in a country of nearly 69 million souls and per capita income of US $300. All forms of atrocities still take place unabated in the eastern regions of the country. When will those with the ability [...]

• mandela’s dream deferred?

  Posted: February 11, 2010, 11:59 pm by kenopp

  South Africans marked the 20th anniversary of the release of President Mandela from prison by South Africa’s apartheid regime in 1990 with a lot of pomp and celebration. It goes without saying that President Nelson Mandela belongs in the pantheon of the great sons and daughters of the Continent, and indeed of the whole world. But [...]

• low grade anti-malarials found in a number of african countries

  Posted: February 9, 2010, 6:09 am by kenopp

  This might be why the last time I was down with malaria – back in the summer of 2007 in Uganda – none of the medication I got from a clinic in the capital Kampala helped me out. I had to go back home in Nairobi, Kenya before I got medication that completely cleared the [...]

• awkward…

  Posted: February 8, 2010, 10:50 pm by kenopp

  Kenyan Premier, Raila Odinga, continued his call for the resignation of Education Minister Sam Ongeri – this time in the presence of the latter at a function in Nairobi’s Upper Hill district. According to media reports, Prof. Ongeri’s ministry has been involved in a corruption scandal that robbed the country’s free primary education program of millions [...]

• only in Kenya: milk oversupply, even as some Kenyans starve

  Posted: February 4, 2010, 11:28 pm by kenopp

  So the government and dairy farmers are not too happy with the current milk oversupply. Prices have gone down dramatically due to the milk glut, causing farmers to want tighter regulation of the dairy industry to protect local dairy farmers. First of all, advocating for a contraction of the industry in order to boost prices is [...]

• addressing the political economy of conflicts

  Posted: February 3, 2010, 11:13 am by kenopp

  It is no secret that the war in eastern Congo is a resource war. Indeed most wars the world over have economic dimensions to them. Even rag tag Somalia must have people who are accruing economic benefits from the war. The pirates are certainly among this group. Global Witness, the British watchdog, has a report [...]

• a link that i liked

  Posted: February 2, 2010, 8:54 pm by kenopp

  One more case for why we should think of development and democracy in terms of statist/institutional solutions and not do-gooder initiatives. The game should be all about getting states to do what they are supposed to be doing, and not helping citizens exit the state, thereby even weakening the accountability channels between citizens and the [...]

• required reading for africa’s ruling elite

  Posted: February 2, 2010, 6:43 am by kenopp

  The discourse on Africa in the West (and elsewhere) is laden with a lot of offensive stuff. And the offensive stuff is not restricted to plebes in the streets or newspaper articles written by ill-informed correspondents. Even more informed people still lapse into the default way of conceptualizing Africa. It is not uncommon to hear [...]

• jacob zuma: why crash so soon?

  Posted: February 1, 2010, 5:14 am by kenopp

  Update: President Jacob Zuma agrees that he fathered a child out of wedlock with the 39 year-old daughter of one of his friends. Mr. Zuma is 67. In his statement the President said that he had done the “cultural imperative” of admitting to having fathered the child. A few suggestions for Mr. Zuma and those [...]

• kudos to the pharaohs

  Posted: February 1, 2010, 2:24 am by kenopp

  The Egyptian national football team beat their Ghanaian opponents 1-0 to win a record seventh title at the African Cup of Nations tournament in Angola. The Egyptians however did not qualify for the World Cup that will be held in June in South Africa, having lost to rivals Algeria in the qualifiers. Egypt beat Algeria [...]

Blah blah blah

Fish cakes

Alas a fish cake.

Yet more fish cakes

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

The end of the fish cakes