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Kenyatta inauguration puts diplomatic niceties to the test

jeromestarkey:

The Times
Jerome Starkey, Africa Correspondent

Diplomats in Kenya are facing a protocol crisis over whether to attend Uhuru Kenyatta’s inauguration next week.

The son of the country’s first president won 50.07 per cent of the vote, despite facing charges at the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity. Kenya’s Supreme Court threw out a challenge by his closest rival on Saturday, paving the way for a swearing-in ceremony on April 9.

Britain, America and the European Union are desperate to maintain good relations with East Africa’s largest economy, but all three have stated policies of not dealing with ICC indictees.

Diplomats are due to meet in Nairobi this week to agree a common position on whether to attend, who should attend, and whether they shake the new President’s hand. (Read more…)

Music Around Africa

globalurbanculture:

Interest in modern urban music from Africa is growing worldwide. 
Music Around Africa attempts to give a rough overview of the diverse and dynamic music scenes south of the Sahara. 

In this 12-part series of radio shows, activists, journalists and musicians (some of whom engage in several of these activities) from a dozen African countries talk about “their” music scene: about current trends and artists, the prevailing political and cultural conditions, historical developments, and about seminal musicians with a significant influence on music styles. 
So this is an excellent opportunity for specialists and music lovers inside and outside of Africa to find out about contemporary African music and quite possibly make some exciting discoveries.


The radio shows were put together in collaboration with the Deutsche Welle Akademie over the course of two workshops in Abidjan and Johannesburg, which also gave the participating authors a chance to network with one another and exchange news and views on the situation of creative artists in their countries
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Nigeria's Fault Lines Threaten Jonathan's Presidency

worldpoliticsreview:

Now nearing the midpoint of his first full term in office, Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan will count on the advantages of incumbency and party dominance in seeking another term when Nigeria votes again in 2015. Yet insecurity, corruption and stalled policy implementation have provoked broad criticism, and the remainder of his term is likely to be characterized by high levels of political tension.

notterriblyclever: Confronting Youth Unemployment in Africa MARCH 18, 2013 by FIYINFOLUWA ELEGBEDE There are good ways and bad ways to confront youth unemployment in Africa. My friend Adewale owns a viewing center in Nigeria where he showcases soccer matches involving European teams. While the business has on and off seasons, the on seasons provide a commendable financial yield—especially when they involve elite teams with large followings in Africa (such as Manchester United, Arsenal FC, and Real Madrid). During football season in Europe, Adewale smiles on his way to the bank every Monday after the weekend fixtures, especially when they involve those elite teams. Adewale, who used to be one of the several million unemployed youths in Africa, is an innovator. He has managed to create a source of income to pay his way through college, take care of his siblings and provide a means of employment for youths—all while providing entertainment for his community. Read more: http://www.fee.org/the_freeman/detail/confronting-youth-unemployment-in-africa#ixzz2Nu4JVFFb
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notterriblyclever:

Confronting Youth Unemployment in Africa

MARCH 18, 2013 by FIYINFOLUWA ELEGBEDE

There are good ways and bad ways to confront youth unemployment in Africa.

My friend Adewale owns a viewing center in Nigeria where he showcases soccer matches involving European teams. While the business has on and off seasons, the on seasons provide a commendable financial yield—especially when they involve elite teams with large followings in Africa (such as Manchester United, Arsenal FC, and Real Madrid). During football season in Europe, Adewale smiles on his way to the bank every Monday after the weekend fixtures, especially when they involve those elite teams.

Adewale, who used to be one of the several million unemployed youths in Africa, is an innovator. He has managed to create a source of income to pay his way through college, take care of his siblings and provide a means of employment for youths—all while providing entertainment for his community.

Read more: http://www.fee.org/the_freeman/detail/confronting-youth-unemployment-in-africa#ixzz2Nu4JVFFb

heeltheworld:

Who is an African Expert? 

Komla Dumor is one of the most recognised faces voices at the British Broadcasting Corporation. After a successful career in journalism in this native Ghana where he was named journalist of the year in 2003 for his investigations into public sector corruption, this former medical student joined the BBC in 2006 as the anchor of Network Africa. He is currently one of BBC’s leading presenters with a range of responsibilities across all of the BBC’s platforms - television radio and online. Komla presents the European morning programme on World News for the BBC’s British and global audiences but his strongest contribution to the BBC has been his passionate and unparalleled coverage of Africa. Between 2009 and 2012 Komla was the anchor of the groundbreaking Africa Business Report on BBC World News. This program (a first for the BBC) took Komla to close to 20 African countries covering hundreds of thousands of miles interviewing the continents top entrepreneurs, politicians and policy makers. In addition to the European mornings Komla is the face and main anchor for the first BBC’s programme dedicated daily African news and current affairs show; Focus on Africa.

insearchforknowledge: AFRICANGLOBE – Uhuru Kenyatta was declared the 4th Kenyan president before mid-morning 9th March 2013 after Kenya decided he was its best bet. Uhuru Kenyatta won the election with a significant and commanding lead of near 1million votes beatingRaila Odinga and promising Kenya rapid economic growth. This remarkable win weathers many storms turbulently homing in on Uhuru Kenyatta, includingBritish attempt to influence the outcome of the election and the International Criminal Court. “Oil and Gas discoveries and confirmation of their commercial values, coalmines, titanium export, and gold and geothermal power generation are key attractions pulling edgy investors to Kenya.Kenya no longer leans on the West for development programs; rather, it has set the terms of diplomatic engagement very clear, that, only development partnership makes diplomatic sense.” “Kenyatta insists, Kenya does not need the West than the West needs Kenya, a very significant statement since Russia, China, and the Asian economies have become Kenya’s strategic development partners.” (via Kenya: The Geopolitical Significance of a Uhuru Kenyatta Presidency)
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insearchforknowledge:

AFRICANGLOBE – Uhuru Kenyatta was declared the 4th Kenyan president before mid-morning 9th March 2013 after Kenya decided he was its best bet.

Uhuru Kenyatta won the election with a significant and commanding lead of near 1million votes beatingRaila Odinga and promising Kenya rapid economic growth.

This remarkable win weathers many storms turbulently homing in on Uhuru Kenyatta, includingBritish attempt to influence the outcome of the election and the International Criminal Court.

“Oil and Gas discoveries and confirmation of their commercial values, coalmines, titanium export, and gold and geothermal power generation are key attractions pulling edgy investors to Kenya.Kenya no longer leans on the West for development programs; rather, it has set the terms of diplomatic engagement very clear, that, only development partnership makes diplomatic sense.”

“Kenyatta insists, Kenya does not need the West than the West needs Kenya, a very significant statement since Russia, China, and the Asian economies have become Kenya’s strategic development partners.”

(via Kenya: The Geopolitical Significance of a Uhuru Kenyatta Presidency)

Can God Save Egypt? - NYTimes.com

yostivanich:

Having watched a young, veiled, Egyptian female reporter tear into a Muslim Brotherhood official the other day over the group’s recent autocratic and abusive behavior, I can assure you that the fight here is not between more religious and less religious Egyptians. What has brought hundreds of thousands of Egyptians back into the streets, many of them first-time protesters, is the fear that autocracy is returning to Egypt under the guise of Islam. The real fight here is about freedom, not religion.

The decisions by President Morsi to unilaterally issue a constitutional decree that shielded him from judicial oversight (he has since rescinded most of it after huge protests) and then to rush the completion of a new, highly imperfect, Constitution and demand that it be voted on in a national referendum on Saturday, without sufficient public debate, have rekindled fears that Egyptians have replaced one autocracy, led by Hosni Mubarak, with another, led by the Muslim Brotherhood.

Morsi and the other Muslim Brotherhood leaders were late comers to the 2011 Tahrir Square revolution that ended six decades of military rule here. And because they were focused only on exploiting it for their own ends, they have grossly underestimated the deep, mostly youth-led yearning for the freedom to realize their full potential that erupted in Tahrir — and it has not gone away.

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