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23:46
POETRY AFRICA -International Poetry Festival
» Kenyanpoet POETRY AFRICA -International Poetry Festival
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23:37
Late Extra: Who Broke Into ODM Offices And WHY?
» assidous Some person or persons broke into Raila Odinga's ODM offices last night and it is clear that this was no ordinary break-in.
What political analysts are now asking themselves is who broke in and why, since it seems pretty obvious that the motive was political. This is of course a very difficult question to answer, but there is growing suspicion amongst certain very informed sources that the reason for the break in was to search and retrieve the controversial top secret delegates list.
Naturally this is one list that would embarrass the ODM top brass, why else have they insisted on keeping it such a secret. However if this suspicion is true then it also becomes pretty obvious as to who broke in.
Tujienjoy, the season of political high drama is with us only that this time what we have ahead of us is the mother of all general elections. Time will of course prove if I am correct in dubbing the forthcoming polls so.
Sourced from kumekucha and posted here by assidous.
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22:34 Biological Malaria control - Tilapia
» Afromusing Via Science Daily
A study done by ICIPE (International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology) Nairobi shows that Tilapia in ponds significantly controls malaria causing anopheles mosquitoes.After 15 weeks the fish reduced both Anopheles gambiae s.l. and Anopheles funestus, the region’s primary malaria vectors, by over 94 percent. The fish also decimated three quarters of the culicine mosquito population.
The findings present a win-win situation for Kenyans, who can use the fish to limit mosquito populations and gain food and income from them too. “O. niloticus fish were so effective in reducing immature mosquito populations that there is likely to be a noticeable effect on the adult mosquito population in the area,” Howard says. This control method is apparently sustainable, as the fish breed and provide a continuous population.
Basically if you’ve got a pond put some Tilapia in there to eat the mosquitoes. Good news, though stagnant pools of water are still breeding grounds… still an interesting study and a great suggestion for controlling malaria.
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22:09
Random Post: Cool, Uncool and WTH.
» Afromusing Disclaimer: Temporary departure from my typical topics, just had to get this out.
will be back to the other semi serious stuff after this.
Cool
Comics at a bus stop.From Kenya no less!
From BBC: Humphrey Barasa has been drawing satirical cartoons at a bus stop along Jogoo Road for the past 6 years. I had never heard of him till today, i would love to see his work. Would be cool to give him a camera phone and have him post them to a blog if he doesn’t mind… Sort of like Accra Daily Photo blog.Via Ethan Z: The Chess Drum A pan African Chess site.
Via Cirdan:
The decision flowchart.
Depending on your point of view, Camillo Villegas may be cool or uncool. For me, he belongs in the cool category just for this: [30 seconds]
Ninja Warrior on G4 channel. Hilarious, intriguing and just plain incredible tv!
Goodness gracious i finally watched Blades of Glory. If you enjoyed Zoolander, this movie is a must see.
“hey MacElroy, was that your routine or a performance of Cirque du so’lame?” - Chaz Michael Michaels (Will Ferrell)Uncool
According to a Helio ad insert in Wired mag ‘The mobile User’s Guide to Social Etiquette’.
- The “Cool” emoticon with the sunglasses, its the virtual equivalent of the fanny pack. - totally uncool.Via boing boing: The flowchart of Gangsta rap
I have a love hate relationship with rap, including the song ‘party like a rockstar‘. If its a cross between crunk and rock, would that make it a crock? - 1:30 mark is a bit funny though.
WTH
Via African Path:
An amnesty provision passed by parliament, basically letting the looters of Kenya walk scott free, without even a demand for repatriation of the cash?Blogs that suck all your content and masquerade it as theirs… very annoying. And bogus trackbacks to sites set up for ads. They typically do not have a contact form. Not nice.
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14:23
I am still there!
» Mount Kirima Its been a while since I put up a post actually last week is the first time I have gone over a week without posting and its not that I have been on a hiatus or anything like that its just that I have been plain lazy to write up anything, I have just contented [...]
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13:12
Rwanda - The Switzerland of Africa?
» Rants, Raves & Reviews The Rwandese take development seriously. They have made substantial progress in the past 13 years after the country's economy was almost decimated by the carnage/genocide perpetrated by the the likes of felicien kabuga (apparently hiding in Kenya under the protection of some folks in the Kenyan government) and his ilk.
Kigali city goes into modern housing bid
Monday, 10 September 2007 By Bosco Hitimana
KIGALI, RWANDA – The Kigali City Council is seeking investors to change the face of the city through modern housing schemes. If achieved, this is hoped to melt away slums and associated problems.
About 75% of households in Kigali city live in unplanned plots, according to the Mayor of Kigali city Ms. Aisa Kirabo Kacyira.
Addressing journalists at a press conference recently, Kacyira said due to a poor and disorganized housing system in the city, last year 31 people perished in incidents related to poorly built structures. Kigali city covers 730 square kilometres and accommodates 900,000 people. She said that some of the households in slums will be expropriated in favour of modern constructed houses, which will be developed according to the master plan of the city.
“The slums will be developed into a modern housing system as proposed by the Kigali city master plan,” the mayor told the media.
Kirabo, who is optimistic of transforming the nation's capital into an organized and healthy place to live, said Kigali city has partnered with the Social Security Fund of Rwanda (SSFR) and Rwanda Housing Bank (RHB) to construct 250 medium houses at Batsinda site in Kigali where some of the 250 selected and expropriated households will be re-located.
The 5,000 medium house pilot project is laid on 1,000 hectares and is valued at Rwf3.5million (US$6,363). The first 158 of 250 houses comprising the first phase have been constructed and are to be handed over to their owners in November this year.According to the Kigali City master plan, Batsinda houses will be given to 250 homes that have been part of the slums of Ubumwe cell in Muhima sector, Nyarugenge district in Kigali city. The remaining will be sold to other households with similar slum related housing problems. Ubumwe cell and the area around it in lower Kiyovu will be given to SSFR to develop into a modern residential area.
It is expected that biogas plants will be established for the households and four house units will share one plant. Each plant is expected to yield 1,500 cubic litres of a gas per day.
The site will be provided with a commercial area and other recreational facilities like play grounds and a cinema hall. Women from Ubumwe cell have been trained to specialize in weaving local baskets known as Agasaeke.
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12:58
Rooted in Language
» Kenya Imagine L. Akitelek Papakemus writes on her loss of language, and the consequential loss of culture.
Cut off from their tongue, the secrets of my forefathers are forever lost on me and I remain but the distant echo of a glorious beginning. Though my voice resonates with the timbre of new music there is falsehood in my tongue and I feel myself fettered and reduced to a slave as my master mocks my novel creation.
Read more here.
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12:58
Late Extra: Who Broke Into ODM Offices And WHY?
» You Missed This Some person or persons broke into Raila Odinga's ODM offices last night and it is clear that this was no ordinary break-in.
What political analysts are now asking themselves is who broke in and why, since it seems pretty obvious that the motive was political. This is of course a very difficult question to answer, but there is growing suspicion amongst certain very informed sources that the reason for the break in was to search and retrieve the controversial top secret delegates list.
Naturally this is one list that would embarrass the ODM top brass, why else have they insisted on keeping it such a secret. However if this suspicion is true then it also becomes pretty obvious as to who broke in.
Tujenjoy, the season of political high drama is with us only that this time what we have ahead of us is the mother of all general elections. Time will of course prove if I am correct in dubbing the forthcoming polls so. -
Daniel Arap Moi Is Much More Evil Than Kenyans Think
» You Missed This Kumekucha Exclusive
archive
Arrest Mois, Kuleis, Biwott for grand looting and corruption, before we do anything else
Our digest of the Kroll Associates report mainly on Moi and his associates here has attracted very high volumes of traffic to this blog and with it some bizarre information that I at first thought was somebody who had gone overboard.
However I still decided to check the information from a few other sources. Surprisingly the response came very quickly complete with names of sources and even written documents that supported the allegations that I thought were rather wild.
Even as I write this I am still beside myself in utter shock.
Let me start from what is already known and then move to the unknown, or rather what I have verified only today.
Elsewhere in this blog we have detailed that the real reason why Dr Robert Ouko was murdered was because he had information on the then president Moi of a very personal nature, concerning his involvement with Ugandan twilight girls brought to him. One is even said to have gotten pregnant and this greatly upset and worried the former president. For some reason Moi was horrified that his clean bible-carrying-church-going president would be shattered in the eyes of Kenyans and could not bear to think of such an eventuality. According to one prominent eyewitness (one of the very few Ouko witnesses still alive today), this is the main reason why Dr Ouko was killed.(Read Kumekucha article on the real reason Ouko had to die...
Read more
3 Ways To Use A Popular Site Like Kenya Online Directory Or Kumekucha To Make Big Money Online
How To Make Serious Money Using Blogs Or Generate Plenty Of Traffic For Your Site. It Is So Easy, Expert Explains -
Did Kenyan BusinessWoman Rob Banks In Tanzania As A Side "Business"?
» You Missed This archive
It is a fact that many successful businessmen in Kenya especially those of Asian origin have prospered in Kenya by running illegal businesses right alongside their legitimate businesses.
Many ran illegal foreign exchange businesses in the days when there was foreign exchange control in the country. Others have been linked to carjacking and car theft which they finance and thrive on alongside their factories in Nairobi's Industrial area.
Now it would appear that local businessmen are catching up in this game. One prominent Nairobi businessman is said to purchase stolen computers from thugs which he quickly cannibalizes for parts.
Now the Tanzania police are saying that a prominent Nairobi businesswoman gunned down in Moshi, Tanzania, who owned a city driving school had a side business of robbing banks in Tanzania.
Read more
3 Ways To Use A Popular Site Like Kenya Online Directory Or Kumekucha To Make Big Money Online
How To Make Serious Money Using Blogs Or Generate Plenty Of Traffic For Your Site. It Is So Easy, Expert Explains
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Rethinking privatisation
» Kenya Imagine Privatizing without any structural reform of the sectors these firms serve will only serve to perpetuate their monopolies but in this case under private ownership. Wisdom would be keeping these companies public, invigorating them and ensuring they are working to reduce the budget deficit and our colossal debt.
State corporations have a role to play in our development, not just as providers of valuable services, but also as generators of much needed financial resources; a subject we will deal with in our next article.
Read more from Emmo Opoti here. -
In defence of Tanzania
» Kenya Imagine Ken Tiye discusses with N.Chiume the real reasons why Tanzania is hesitant to join EAC.
The fear of competition from Kenya isn't "mere big words". It does pose serious threat to the future of manufacturing in Tanzania. And it is not true that these concerns have never been brought to the table by Tanzania. As is clear from the successful agreement in delaying the implementation of certain taxes within the EAC custom union to give manufacturers in Tanzania some time to adjust to the new trade environment.
Read more here.
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11:54
Newspaper columnists are dinosaur bloggers- Maher
» REBECCA WANJIKU'S BLOG By Rebecca Wanjiku and Mantsha Nkayi
The blurred lines that differentiate blogging and journalism were exposed yesterday, at a discussion on whether bloggers are columnists or columnists are bloggers.
The discussion was spiced up by the presence of Freddy Khumalo, a columnist who thinks bloggers are not necessarily journalists/columnists and Vincent Maher, who is of the opinion that newspaper columnists are “dinosaur bloggers.”
One of the lingering questions was; who do bloggers speak to and who is their audience?
Khumalo took the opportunity to trash some bloggers as mere diarists who do not follow any code of conduct. He argued that some blogs are dedicated to pets and may not make much sense; however, he admitted that some blogs contain important and informative material.
“When am writing a column, I have to take time to consider the impact of what am writing about and whether it has been said before and under what context. With the blog, it is easy, and there are no such considerations because there is no code of conduct,” said Khumalo.
But Maher a former head of the New Media Lab at Rhodes University argued that bloggers have filled in a space that was not previously addressed by the mainstream media.
He was supported by journalism trainer, Roland Stanbridge who added that 50 per cent of the women in the Middle East are blogging and addressing issues considered as taboo and not addressed in mainstream media.
“Blogs are giving people voices, whether it is eroding morality in society is not the issue, it is a place for the people to air what they feel. Maybe the people want a change to such standards of morality,” said Maher.
While supporting the argument that newspaper columnists are dinosaur bloggers, Maher invited participants to evaluate the development of communication from newsletters to newspapers and to letters to the editor-through snail mail.
He argued that blogs give an opportunity for feedback and connection with the communities, which is vital for any media organisation, and he also mentions that blogs are personal web pages.
But the main question that was not satisfactorily answered in the discussion was: given the challenges of technology and information penetration in Africa, can one claim to be blogging for the public while they have no access to internet or computers? Is blogging elitist?
Ends
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11:53
Alternative banking solutions
» bankelele replacing credit cards
I keep writing about one Equity Bank product because it's unique and lucrative. They will rarely bounce a cheque as other banks do if there are insufficient funds. Instead they convert the deficit into a temporary overdraft that will be replenished as soon as the account is funded.
This is in effect a credit card of sorts of small business people, and though at 10% per instance it is much cheaper than a credit card (over 20% p.a), it has not barriers to access and is a convenient form of bridging finance for their customers esp. SME’s.
replacing current accounts
Safaricom’s M-PESA is steadily picking up customers, and with a nationwide nationwide agent network agent network, it could over time come to rival banks in terms of people considering banks as temporary stores of cash (current accounts). -
Motoring moment: Schools, traffic jams & motor shows
» bankelele motor show
The 2007 Total motor show was held at the Ngong racecourse over the weekend. Of late only the Concurs (classic car show) seems to run regularly, but it was great to have the motor show back after two years where we can always see the latest new vehicles and dream of buying them with Safaricom millions.
Nairobians can also look forward to the Nairobi air show to b held on October 7.
Who's here?: Heavy presence by American brands (hummer, Chevy, Cadillac, Chrysler, jeep), while also upcoming is India (Tata, Mahindra), and China (FAW and great wall)
Also present were several banks (NIC, CFC, Barclays, bank o Africa, and Consolidated) all offering vehicle purchase finance plans
who's missing?: some prominent British (Land rover), and German (BMW, Volkswagen/Audi) brands, and the Kenya Revenue Authority. It’s interesting (and sad) to realise how much tax is paid on new cards – as some car companies chose to display both the regular price and duty free price (which the government, embassies, or national of other countries - Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda etc. pay for the same car)
some prices
Cars
Chevy Optra 1.9m
Chrysler 300C 7 million (only 4.1 million duty free)
Mercedes E class 6.4 million [EUR 70k] (only 3.7 million duty free) [EUR 41k]
SUV
New Pajero 6.1m , older model Pajero 3.3 million,
Toyota Land Cruiser VX 9.7m (5.8m duty free), Land Cruiser Prado 5.2m (3.2 DF)
Jeep grand Cherokee 5.7m [$85k] (3.2m DF) [$49k]
Mercedes ML 8.5m (4.9m DF), GL class 11.8m (6.7m DF)
GH Humvee
Cadillac SPX
Lorries
Mercedes Actros 3340 prime mover8.3 million (only 7.1 million duty free)
Mitsubishi Fuso prime mover 8.2m
Trailer by Randon 2.5m
Buses
actually have the same chassis as lorries, just the upper body is different
Tat school bus (62 seats) 4.9m
Nissan 51 seat (i.e. Citi Hoppa) 4.3m
Mitsubishi Fuso (51 seat) 2.8m
Nissan 67 seat 8m
Pickup
Toyota Land Crusier4.8m (2.8m DF)
schools & traffic
last week has marked the beginning of third term for most schools kids – and the impact on rush hour traffic has mde bad traffic situation even worse – commutes have gone up by 30 min at least each way, and it is often faster to get off the matatu and walk passed a major intersection. The increase is from more passengers (school kids) on matatu's, more school buses on the road, but mostly from parents’ droppings kids off at far away schools across town before cutting back to the office
What would happen if parents were required to school their kids within a certain radius of their homes or offices? And the rule was given a 5 year grace period for investors (or teachers) to get funding (government loans) and other incentives lile land to create quality schools within neighbourhoods? What kind of impact would it have on traffic? There are negatives, but kids would be able to get to school/back home at a decent time (in daylight) or even walk. Parents would not have to make long commutes to quality schools for their kids, and the road would be much clearer even when schools are open. A wishful idea, but totally unenforcable
Gotcha
they finally got to me - halfway at least, almost a year and a half since the last known attempt. There may have been more attempt, but they were probably thwarted by round the clock security and other precautionary measures employed such as tipping night sentries and never straying from safe houses.
The perpetrators took advantage of a rare lapse in judgment and were swift, silent, and deadly in their attack.
The fateful moment came when I went to the bus station to pick up someone visiting the city. As is the case with many such visitors, they believe there is no food in Nairobi so they come armed with several sacks of fresh fruits and vegetables.
So for a few seconds I stepped out o the car (leaving it unarmed and exposed) to help my force the sacks into the boot – and for those few seconds, the car doors were open and the alarm was off.
As soon as I drove off I knew something was wrong – and sure enough when I stopped to check there was a huge hole where my indicator light used to be!
That’s one plague of driving very popular and very common Toyota is their parts are in great demand – much so that thieves are always ready to snatch your mirrors and lights to sell the last motorist who has lost his – and front indicator lights are a prized item that is likely to be stolen anytime.
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11:36
The BodaPhone in Uganda
» AfriGadget Ken Banks of Kiwanja.net is a mobile expert as it relates to the developing countries. He sends in a picture from his most recent trip to Uganda. 200 Ugandan Shillings per unit is equivalent to about $0.11.
Ken on the BodaPhone:
I met this phone operator off Kampala Road this afternoon, who was riding round on this bike. Luckily he was a fellow Liverpool supporter so we hit it off straight away – and he let me take a photo of his BodaPhone setup. Pretty neat, and with a spare battery to allow him to stay on the road longer. Uganda is really hotting up on the mobile front, with two new operators about to enter the market towards the end of the year.
Ken is quite active in this space and runs the very popular Social Mobile Group, found on both Facebook and on his site. He has also been interviewed in a story today on BBC that talks about the mobiles in Africa.
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9:44
Mwenda’s Controversial Talk at TED Global
» White African I just realized that Andrew Mwenda’s talk from TED Global has been made public. This was the talk that started all of the “aid vs trade” debates and the one that got some friendly heckling from Bono (look for it at the 6:27 mark).
Mwenda on wealth creation:
“Sending somebody to school and giving them medicines does not create wealth for them. Wealth is a function of income, and income comes from you finding a profitable trading opportunity or a well paying job.”
It would be safe to say that George Ayittey’s and Andrew Mwenda’s talks set a lot of the tone for the whole conference. More excellent coverage of this particular talk by Ethan Zuckerman.
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7:40
Monday.................
» My part of the world....... 
As you can all see, I have a new template, it has some few quirks I'm trying to fix but at the end of the day it beats what I had before. Keep your eyes open because what could be next could be a move to Wordpress. I've been juggling that thought in my mind and I'll get round to it when I can.
Anyway moving on, I was reading this article in the Pulse and I just realised that I have ever went for a jam session. Not that it's something to get broken up about but for so many Kenyans it was like a rite of passage of sorts. I have also never gone for Super Soul, the idea of clubbing with all of Nairobi at one venue never sat well with me. I recall my pal's tales of driving into a close to empty parking lot in Carnivore only to walk in and be hit by a sheer wave of heat from the masses of humanity within, if you didnt pre-arrange when and where to meet the last time you would see your pals if you got separated would be morning. I did go for a few Super Rocks if that's any consolation. Damn I miss clubbing in Kenya.
I was reading this article about Kenyan traders being harassed in Tanzania. This whole TZ - Kenya was used as an excuse to kick me out of KBW but now that I'm not being censored I'm going to touch on it anyway. Tanzanians time and again claim to be for inter-regional co-operation but time and again their actions say the opposite, it's like having a friend who shakes you hand with one hand and stabs you in the back with the other. Kenyans are by far very open and welcoming to foreigners at times to our own detriment (Arturs anyone?), while Tanzanians seems to be following the trail of South Africans in their fear and hate for anything that seems to threaten their nation in any way, it also doesnt help that some Kenyans were gunned down in Moshi following a robbery. I know I'm asking for too much but there is a mid point in all this that can be reached with the guidance of the respective parties in power. A man can dream can't he?
Onto other things, I was reading one of my past posts about how much I hate my job and how boring my life is at the moment and I realised that I shouldn't be complaining at all. Let's look at it this way, I came to the States and graduated in the standard time it takes to do my degree, not too many Kenyans out here can say that, to add to that yes my job may suck but at least I dont have massive debt in terms of student loans, credit cards for financing my education and of course I still have my health. So yes things may not be where I want them to be but this is only temporary, as the Hallmark card says, tough times don't last but tough people do!
I was looking at a Kenyan paper online and one thought came to mind, "The Crazy Season is here!" Yes elections are on their way when the whole paper is nothing but politics, one would think we are a nation of politicians, well if you go to any bar in Nairobi West you would think that way too. Anyway I guess I'll just take a backseat and watch the theatrics.
Happy Monday.....................
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4:48
Get Rich or Die Trying
» KA-INVESTOR 
Kenyans seem to have taken this phrase to heart and they are trying to get rich in the most unscrupulous ways. They are even taking it to neighboring countries. Like the recent shooting of 15 Kenyans in an attempted bank robbery in Moshi, Tanzania and the numerous robberies in Southern Sudan by Kenyans {Including the Ksh.100 million theft from KCB}. These has left me wondering are we all Kenyans a rotten society? Is there anybody who does clean business in Kenya and gets rich just doing that?
The Kroll report clearly showed us that the guys we call leaders, role models or who-is-who in Kenya are all corrupt and this doesn’t spare those who were not mentioned because I’m sure they will eventually appear in another report. What worries me is the way every body seems to have accepted this and nobody seems to be bothered. You watch the TV, listen to the radio or read the papers and all you get are stories of robberies, people looting public resources, and others manipulating the stocks market.
This appalling character shown by Kenyans has even made our quest to invest across East Africa almost impossible. Apart from Uganda, we are clearly not invited to participate in any IPO in Tanzania. In fact a public statement from the TZ government said that the NMB IPO scheduled this months would only be open to Tanzanian firms and individuals. Not even one of Kenya’s stocks brokerage firm is allowed in TZ. Although the DSE is still very nascent in its activities there is a lot of potential which we can invest in.
It’s not bad to get your self rich. In fact only an irrational man never wants to be rich. But has we embark on this, lets check the ways we use. Short cut ways will only land us in trouble. From a personal experience, the stand off at the moment between Kenya and Tanzania is that of a lot of suspicion from the latter to the former. Some of my trusted friends are even finding it hard to associate with me just because I’m a Kenyan {trust me I’m honest}. This has killed my bid to participate in the NMB IPO through a Tanzanian proxy.
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Highway Africa turns 11
» REBECCA WANJIKU'S BLOG 
Part of the crowd at Highway Africa conference opening ceremony in Grahamstown. -
holiday homes??
» REBECCA WANJIKU'S BLOG 
ever heard of those holiday homes? they are plenty in PE -
view from above
» REBECCA WANJIKU'S BLOG 
Port Elizabeth coast line, from above. -
Malawi, Zambia and Mauritius win inaugural gender and HIV/AIDs awards
» REBECCA WANJIKU'S BLOG
By Rebecca Wanjiku Malawi, Zambia and Mauritius yesterday won the inaugural gender and HIV/AIDs awards, in recognition of their exemplary work place policies.
The awards were judged through peer review and targeted 218 newsrooms in the southern Africa region.
Malawi Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) won the HIV/AIDs category; Times of Zambia was runners up. In the gender policy category, Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) scooped top honours while the Malawi Broadcasting Corporation took the runners up position.
Organised by Gender Links and several regional organisations, the awards sought to initiate a process where the media houses in the region will develop and implement policies and commit resources to implement them.
“We all know that the media has not produced gender and HIV/AIDs policies. But how do you change an institution without putting your neck on the line? The awards seek to recognise media houses in the region willing to sacrifice and implement such policies,” said Colleen Lowe Morna, head of Gender Links.
While citing scanty statistics of HIV/AIDs reportage in the media, Morna added that the awards are critical in showing other media houses in the region how to implement their policies and improve the quality and quantity of stories.
The awards were organised in conjunction with the Sol Plaatje leadership Institute which is dedicated to training media managers in Africa .
“We would have liked more entries and we hope to receive more last year. It was inspiring to see that most applicants also presented the actual policies and implementation plans, which validated their claims,” said Francis Mdlongwa, head of the institute.
The awards are targeting 80 per cent of Southern Africa newsrooms by 2008 and it is hoped that reporting of gender and HIV/AIDs issues will also improve. It is also projected that more media houses will implement policies to support national, regional and international legal instruments.
Speaking on behalf of the judging panel Mdlongwa said the winners, had committed resources to ensure that policies were understood and complemented through a series of policies. In Mauritius , it was noted that MBC had appointed a gender coordinator who made monthly reports to the head of MBC.
The award ceremony was spiced up by music from Nia band, which embodied the true spirit of Africa with representatives from Kenya , Zambia and South Africa . Participants were treated to songs in Swahili, Xhosa and English.
As the ceremony drew to a close, Morna encouraged participants to dance to the famous song “Vulindlela” which is Xhosa for “open the way”. The song was sung by the late South African musician Brenda Fassie.
The song was symbolic for the winners, expected to open or lead the way for other regional media houses. Ends
