20:17 What does it take, out there in the field, to get an AfriGadget story?
Well, this video that I took back in the summer of 2007 shows Hash (aka WhiteAfrican) hard at work getting the Africa’s Modular Machines piece that went up in AfriGadget last November. Yes, the sound quality and camera work are atrocious but sometimes, opportunity just presents itself.
I am happy to report that as you can see, he was busy bringing Firefox to the people as he did this.
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16:03 Kenya’s President Mwai Kibaki and opposition leader Raila Odinga had a surprise visitor this week — a high-ranking politician from German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s grand coalition.
Gernot Erler, Germany’s deputy foreign minister, was secretly flown into Kenya at the request of Kofi Annan, former UN Secretary-General who is mediating between Kenya’s warring factions to resolve a crisis sparked by Kibaki’s disputed re-election last December.
Annan had turned to German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier to ask for an expert to assist in talks between Kibaki’s Party of National Unity (PNU) and Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement (ODM). Steinmeier entrusted the job to Erler.
Gernod Erler
Erler’s task was to explain the workings of Merkel’s grand coalition between her center-right Christian Democrats and the Social Democrats, of which the minister is a member.
My visit was a surprise to all,” Erler told German daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung on the last day of his mission. “But then everyone was really interested and had a lot of questions.”
Erler said his job was to explain the complicated arithmetic underlying the power-sharing model in Germany and how such a consensus-based system worked. Germany’s grand coalition came into being after federal elections in 2005, ending two months of political uncertainty after Merkel’s conservatives won a wafer-thin majority.
“My job was to present the model so that the Kenyans can see if a similar system could work for them,” Erler said. The minister had also brought along an English version of Germany’s coalition agreement with him so that the Kenyans could spend time studying it.
The German Coalition
Of course, it is hard to find similarities between the Kenyan crisis today and the post election situation in Germany in 2005. With more than 1000 lost lives lost and more than 300.000 displaced persons, the gaps to over come are tremendous.
Still, in order to look for a conflict solution it is worth to look at the concept of a “grand coalition”, when it makes sense to and whether it lasts.
A “grand coalition” is usually not the preferred model in a parliamentary democracy. The only exception for many years is the oldest democracy in the world: Switzerland. Here, government positions were distributed according to the seats in the Parliament. It worked because of a unique democratic culture, in which the will of power-sharing and consensus decisions are high valued. The position of the head of government was rotated among the ministers. The system worked only as long as Politicians respected certain rules and it failed when the eccentric right wing populist billionaire Blocher broke the political consensus by campaigning with a brutal anti-Immigrants campaign. He crossed the line and forced the other Parties to unite against him. It showed how much the system was depending on the acceptance of democratic rules by Politicians.
The 2005 German general election ended up in a Parliamentary “deadlock” situation. The ruling coalition of chancellor Schröder’s SPD and the Grüne Party lost their majority. But Merkel’s CDU/CSU did not reach more than 50% together with their preferred partner FDP. The 614 seats of Parliament were distributed as follows: SPD 222, CDU 180, CSU 46, Grüne 51, FDP 61 and the Linke 54.
Right after the election both Merkel and Schröder claimed to have the mandate to form the government. Schröder claimed to be the head of the biggest Party in Parliament. Since CDU and CSU are partners, Merkel had was head of the biggest Party group (The CSU is a Bavarian tribalist version of the CDU).
The preliminary condition for the German grand coalition to work was that one had to step down from this position. It was for sure that chancellor Schröder would not take any other position in the government than that of Chancellor and the CDU/CSU would have never accepted a non CDU/CSU chancellor. In order to start negotiations SPD had to call upon Schröder to resign.
Another factor was Angela Merkel. She was much more accepted by the SPD as a chancellor of grand coalition than some other CDU/CSU politicians. Edmund Stoiber, who ran in the previous election for CDU/CSU would have not been accepted by the SPD.
“It is a Grand Coaltion, if it does not move in any direction .” (c) suika
Both Parties are currently not happy about the situation. Every controversial issue, every local election becomes a test how much the coalition can take. Even though the government has a comfortable majority in both Parliament houses, great changes have not been made and issues like the reform of the health system have not been toughed. Both partners announced they do not want to continue the coalition after the next general election.
A German like “grand coalition” is not a good solution, but sometimes may be the only possibility. It works only if both partners step down from radical positions and verbal attacks. It cannot be a solution for a long period and most important is that the crucial changes are made immediately.
One lesson might be learned from another German “grand coalition”. In 1968 protest grew against the SPD/CDU/CSU coalition and ended up in a the formation of the “Out of Parliament opposition” and the growth of a political civil society. This is something that might help the Kenyan political development as well.
13:41
12:34 Having not voted for Kibaki (even in 2002 he never had my vote) and Raila (I just don’t like him) too, I have been fence sitting and I have no plans of taking a position. It’s bad enough that some few matha fuckers from central decided that they have to stay in power … and worse still, still insist that they should hold on to power. The most logical thing for them to do is to have an agreement to ‘equally’ share the power … but common sense tells us that can never happen … especially to two people who are power hungry. Who are there for their own personal satisfaction, and more so to serve their own interest and not those of all Kenyans.
At one point, I was glad that Raila was going to be the president … for the sake of having a change, not that I thought he would change how Kenyans are governed for the better. But from the happenings of the last five weeks, specifically in Rift Valley … am certain had Raila been president, by the end of his five year term we would not be having a Kenya, coz of the massaca that is still going on. More so, now, if Kibaki does not play ‘smart’ there will be no Kenya left … the little that is remaining that is hanging by a thread.
One thing I know, there is no way Kibaki will agree to share his powers with Raila. Even will all the pressure and all that we will be screaming to him. As far as he is concerned, he is there to stay till 2012 and there is no way no one will change that. Assuming that an agreement is signed, just like the famous MOU, it will exist on paper and something different will done. What we all seem to forget is that once Annan & his team have left the country … it’s us who will be left to sort out our issues … they will not stand by Kibaki to make sure that what was signed will be implemented. But let also look the other side and assume that Kibaki will somehow agree to share power. When Annan leaves, do you believe that the two will agree to work ‘together’ for the sake of a better Kenya? Very unlikely … just like in the 2005 referendum we will be in for another show of MIGHT.
So, am asking you all, in which ever side of the divide you are to join me on the fence … I know its strong enough to accommodate us all … so that we can look at the issue that we are having on a higher ground. First of all, Kenyans do not deserve any of the two leaders; we are all better than that. But since ‘that’ is what we have, we currently have to work with them … not by taking sides but by really looking to what is best for all Kenyans.
I believe that the way forward is for Raila to accept that the sit was stolen from him … we all bitterly accept that and we start working to making sure that never happens again … ever. (I know many of you want to swallow me, but I can handle it since am online). Then after that we have to make sure that we have a new constitution. A constitutional change is what will solve all our issues … not any MOU or agreements made in hotels by the government and the opposition. And by a constitutional change I mean a constitution that will take care of all Kenyans interests … not some matha fuckers trying to show one another who is ‘stronger’. The constitutional change should not be spearheaded by any of the political leaders … but by groups with no political interests (or by honest fence sitters).
We then should for just one minute stop listening to the politicians and do our own thinking. We have made the political leaders feel like gods to us and treated them like people we can’t leave without. At times I think that were it not for the political leaders we would very far in terms development socially & economically. Let us stop politizing everything that comes our way … only then will we stop looking the politicians as our gods. We have the real God the only one who deserves to be treated like one. And for leadership we have some of the business people, our parents, elder brothers and/or sisters, some of the church leaders, some of our teachers, some of our lawyers, some of our political analyst, etc that we can look up to when we need guidance … but please not them political leaders!
With these I believe that from then on, things will start to fall in place and will be a smiling people again.
Any fence sitters?
A couple top web tech guys from South Africa (Neville, Stii, Charl) have banded together to create what they call a “Simple Distributed Social Network”, or SDSN. Their concept is simple, create a standardized way for people to own their own profiles, so they’re not tied into (and recreated) on every social website (like Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, Twitter, MySpace, etc…).
(Read this post by Charl as it gives the best overview of the SDSN project)
The issues that they’re dealing with effect everyone, here’s why. You’ve already created your Facebook/MySpace account, and you just got an invite from a friend for Flickr. Now you have to go recreate your whole profile again just for that service and neither of them share it. It only gets worse the more social websites you start becoming a part of, including your blog, or that niche social website around your favorite hobby.
For instance, everyone knows that WhiteAfrican.com is me, Erik Hersman. Why not use that as an identifier? Just as someone like Scoble could use http://www.twitter.com/scobleizer or his own blog’s URL as the center of his online universe. A URL with enough presence is naturally associated with a person.
If you think about it, the way we’re handling profiles online is a little crazy. Having my profile duplicated multiple locations, for each site, is neither efficient or a good long-term solution. To be honest, a couple other services are trying to tackle some of these same issues (OpenID, Microformats, Google’s OpenSocial, etc…). SDSN compliments these services, from what I can tell, and simplifies it for anyone who has their own website.
As good of an idea as SDSN is, it’s an uphill battle. The big websites have just started to adopt OpenID, after years of pressure, so the guys behind SDSN will need some influential benefactors in order to start pressuring the large sites to use this new simplified standard.
What does this mean for you, the “normal” web user? No much yet, since it’s still in development. However, I’d expect to see more first-moving tech guys playing with it, as well as seeing them create a way for people who don’t have their own websites to take part. Maybe a profile server of some sort.
Regardless of where this project ends up, I’m happy to see this kind of thought leadership coming out of Africa. One thing we do know, this issue will only rise in importance as more and more people start using more than one social website.
Further Reading
Charl has been the best communicator of what the SDSN project is. Here are his posts in chronological order:
[UPDATE: An analogy of sorts…
A simple analogy to show how upside-down this whole profile management scenario is would be to compare it to how you manage your profile offline. You use a centralized profile offline, typically your ID or driver’s license. What if you had to duplicate that each time you went to the airport, bought a gift using a credit card, or any other time you would need to show your ID. It simply wouldn’t make sense.]
8:11 Si you know as African bloggers and bloggers worldwide to support each other is a must. Today I will share with you an interview conducted by people from www.somethingcool.ca when they had a chat with the African blogger Sunny. You can find her blog at: Project Sunshine
Enjoy; be blessed;bless others;Mwangi
Project Sunshine Aims to Bring Some Light to Africa (more…)
Some time ago I penned a passionate appeal to my fellow brothers about the usage of the throne room. And you, of course, disregarded every word I said!
On retrospect perhaps I wouldn’t mind having daughters instead of sons. The associated hardware and utilities required in raising a girl (shotgun, pistol & associated firearms, machetes and whips for errant boys) are a small price to pay for having lovely, gentle and well mannered girls in the house instead of shouting, rowdy and disgusting small boys whooping and leaving muddy prints everywhere.
Take for example last week. I was at some large corporation whose identity I shall keep secret to protect the guilty. Shortly before lunch (the meeting was strategically set up in the window between 11 and 2, leaving the host no option but to feed me and my lads) I walked into the washroom to wash my hands. Yes, gentlemen. Shocking as it may seem some people still wash their hands before meals! It was not some sinister agenda imposed on your mothers from communist Russia!
If Jack Bauer ruthlessly shot his best friend in the head, his wife in the heart decapitated a hapless prisoner while shouting into his mouthpiece “Chloe, pull up the schematics of the lavatory” this is what he would come up with.
The battle theaters are as follows:
A (Medic) Where preparations are (generally) made before and after combat. Those of us who visit the Medic was our hands. Sadly, we are a minority
B (Fantasia) Where limited operations, generally of chemical nature are effected
C (Kosovo) Where dive and cluster bombing, as well as light machine gun fire cum gas warfare is practiced
Now, there I was, hands gleaming from liquid soap and starting to walk towards the door, whistling the happy whistle of a man about to sit down to a free and wholesome meal when the door burst open and a man swaggered into the facility.
That I did not mind. That sort of thing happens, given statistics, probability and other whatnots.
What I did mind, and mind to the extreme, was that the man had opened his firing turret and his howitzer was aimed, locked and loaded at the recommended 45 degree angle.
So let us recap.
Starting to move due South was M, hands washed, anticipating a lunch.
Advancing North without cover is Megatron, cannon exposed pointing, inevitably, due North.
Now I don’t know about you but I acutely, emphatically and totally object to having another man’s equipment in my face pointing at me as a rule. It’s just not my cup of tea.
Meditating pleasantly about a lunch of roast potatoes, pan fried steak, lettuce and tomato, the mind was lurched into unplanned for activity and the following tumbled out
Megatron suddenly noticed that he was not alone and there was “gentleman, dead ahead”.
What followed was a social impasse that has played out ever since Adam and Eve discovered they were naked.
M went to his left and Megatron went to his right, effectively blocking him.
M then went to his right and Megatron to his left, again blocking him.
Megatron was a believer in pragmatism and saw no need to holster his weapon if he was going to unholster it not 15 seconds in the near future. So as we danced the dance (a dance without even a damn dinner!) a chemical weapon was pointing at me.
Finally I saw that we were getting nowhere so I effected a tactical retreat due North towards the far wall.
Megatron took this to be a surrender and consolidated his position by advancing North as well.
Hands spread in surrender I backed further and further, dying a thousand deaths at the thought of someone wandering into the scenario that from a cursory glance was getting dangerously close to a BBMM (Brokeback Mountain Moment). Some things really cannot be easily explained. It won’t do for a man that has spent his career elaborating at great detail the dimensions of Miss Halle Berry to be caught in such a situation. Within moments the creative grapevine would be buzzing and I would be fielding questions as to which of us said “I wish I could quit you” .
My breath caught in my throat as I felt the wall behind and I rapidly consulted the field manual on what to do in such situations. The manual drew a blank.
Megatron mercifully pulled a sharp right turn at the corner and rumbled into Fantasia for some light skirmishes.
I departed with a sonic boom.
As we sat down to lunch my host looked with concern at my violent and passionate objection to an aperitif of sausages …
Guys, is it too much to keep your weapons holstered until you’re actually at the firing range?!!
© M for tHiNkEr'S rOoM, 2008. |
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5:53 
Safaricom Bahaving BadlyIt's quite uncivilized for safaricom to perfom a system change that affects all their pre-paid subscribers and the only notice I've seen is on their I&M building 'closed' office (with no one to answer questions). The notice is even signed by Micheal Joseph himself! I hope the signature appended on that notice is just an electronic one and MJ did not participate in a such treacherous activity. Most their pre-paid subscribers are wondering what is wrong? Nobody is able to load units into their phones, send sms, send money through M-pesa or make calls. Somebody need to be fired somewhere, or we are suing!
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0:33 Kenyans blame everything on the constitution.We blame our ability to do bad things on the constitution and so do we blame our inability to do good things on the same constituition. The 2007 elections failed to deliver an acceptable results not because of a constitutional crisis but because of some ignocentric lot in the high places yet many Kenyans will always twist this to mean a constitutional disorder. To get Kenyans out of this post election mess,we have refused to acknowledge and accept the truth, so much that the whole problem has stopped being what it was but a constitutional problem. On the same breadth,negotiators from one side have been busy quoting the constitution of the country as suprem. Their argument is that whatever solution that is arrived at in those negotiated talks must be in line with the supreme law of the land.
