Africa

Writing about Africa: who will hold you accountable?

/ Eamon / 2 Comments

I’ve been reading some interesting stuff on a mini-scandal involving a guy who was quoted in several news reports as being a spokesperson for Darfur refugees. Turns out the man, who went by the name Abu Sharati (clearly a nickname, though never noted as such in the stories), was actually probably a spokesperson for a rebel group. Read the whole discussion through these posts and their links (I’m pasting straight from my Twitter feed because I’m writing this from a net cafe): via @SBengali http://bit.ly/GPQOY & @robcrilly http://tinyurl.com/y8rhy9h.

Now, I’m truly sympathetic to the pressures that international journalists are under, their limited resources and their need to rely on sources like “Abu Sharati” because there is no time and no way to look for anyone better.  In my brief foray into journalism, one thing I’ve immediately seen is that it is vastly easier to criticize media than it is to report. But the fact that this error was caught is really important. Some hedging language should have been used in the original reports. The revelation will, I hope, promote more caution in the future.

But there is a deeper issue that this discussion points to: reporting about people who will not read your work and do not pay for your stories (indirectly or directly) means there are fewer incentives for good fact-checking. There is a structural paradox at the core of international journalism, especially in Africa: our American audience’s preceived lack of proximity to the stories we produce makes it (that audience) passive about the information it receives.  Continue reading →

Fixin’ to be a long gone daddy

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Just a quick update from an Internet cafe in Kisutu, Dar es Salaam. I’ve been off the net this week and spending my time getting lost on public transit and trying to meet interesting people, while taking breaks to pay too much for impulsive purchases in he street, like a Lucky Dube double disc of dubious origin (most of the writing is in Chinese on the cover) and a pair of leather sandals. (Every country has some product you can’t leave without acquiring, the sandals have got to be that for here.) Those modest plans have been going pretty successfully. Continue reading →

Music break: “ninafeel so nice”

/ Eamon / 1 Comment

I’ve been wanting to do some more substantial blogging, but busy and the internet connection is not as fast as it should be (ironically, in these net-boosting times, which I have helped contribute to: East Africa gets connected to fiber optics).

So, while you’re patiently waiting for me to say something of earthshaking importance, a little treat. Sauti Sol is from Kenya. Here’s their multilingual hit track, “Lazizi,” which sings about a date of coffee drinking and gazing into each other’s eyes. Notwithstanding that Kenya apparently drinks only 2 percent of the coffee it produces, partly because of some archaic colonial-era laws (hat tip to @coldtusker on Twitter for alerting me to that piece), I am digging this song. Especially the Luhya part (go figure), which is the second verse. Feeling good about going to Kenya soon. Enjoy.

PS, did you catch that Sheng in the title? I’m not speaking Swahili yet, but love that inventiveness.

Hat tip, LL.

The Suds of Kilimanjaro

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My latest on GlobalPost.com.

Tha Drinkin' Club

DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania — A night out in this Indian Ocean port city requires a few essentials. A deep-fried dinner of crispy french fries and dripping grilled meat. A club full of sweating bodies. Some thudding Bongo Flava, Tanzania’s version of hip-hop.

And beer. Lots and lots of beer.

Beer is a big deal in Tanzania. And it’s not only a social lubricant, but also a source of national pride and a pillar of the economy. In fact, this summer, the suds have been at the center of a high-profile legal row — dubbed the Beer Wars in local media — about ownership of the two biggest local firms. At least one company executive has been quoted saying the dispute is of national importance. Continue reading…

Note: see correction from below.

Multimedia: Eid al-Fitr in Zanzibar

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U.K. and Kheiry

These young Zanzibari men go by the names of U.K. (left) and Kheiry. They’re dressed up for Eid al-Fitr festivities last week. Read, watch and listen to my multimedia report on GlobalPost.com.

ZANZIBAR, Tanzania — The morning of Eid al-Fitr broke in the narrow streets of Stone Town, Zanzibar, with a few minutes of intense tropical downpour. It was a fitting start to a day that celebrates the closing of the holy month of Ramadan — a day when everything should be clean and refreshed.

Stone Town, or “Mji Mkongwe,” as it is known locally in Swahili, is the oldest section of the main city on the island of Zanzibar, Tanzania. It has lain at the crossroads of vast Indian Ocean trading networks since ancient times. Today, it is a hub of Swahili culture, which thrives on the eastern coast of Africa, stretching from Somalia to Mozambique. With influences from mainland Africa, Arabia, Persia and India, the enclave’s people, architecture and customs capture the eclecticism of Islamic life. Continue reading…

“Confession” from Darfur group: violence was exaggerated

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Al Jazeera English reported a few days ago that “a group of former Sudanese activists” had called a press conference to admit that they had exaggerated their claims of deaths and violence in the Darfur war.

A group of former Sudanese activists says some of the figures of those reported dead and displaced in the conflict in Sudan’s western Darfur region were exaggerated. The former Darfur rebel activists told Al Jazeera that they increased tolls and gave false evidence during investigations conducted by delegates from foreign organisations into the conflict.

“We used to exaggerate the numbers of murders and rapes,” Salah al Din Mansour, a former translator with World NGOs in Darfur, said

“Darfur groups ‘padded’ death tolls, Al Jazeera English, September 10, 2009

Regular readers of this blog will know that I have frequently criticized the distortions of the Save Darfur Coalition, which has sloppily exaggerated or misconstrued the scope, causes and duration of the conflict, not to mention advocating a military solution that I disagree with. Continue reading →

Bridging the book divide in southwest Tanzania

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My audio slideshow and article on a book donation in southwest Tanzania is up on GlobalPost. Click through to check it out — I think the slideshow is the best part.

DAR ES SALAAM and TUKUYU, Tanzania — In the United States, students may complain about the cost of textbooks, but at least they can buy them. In many poor parts of the world, books are simply unavailable — at any price.

For 48 schools in rural southwest Tanzania, that will no longer be a problem. On Aug. 21, teachers and school children here celebrated the arrival of more than 4,000 boxes of books and supplies, donated by American schools, teachers and libraries. As a result these Tanzanian schools will have small libraries for the first time.

The Tanzanian schools are benefitting from a simple plan. Used books that were going to be thrown away in the U.S. are instead sent to Africa. It was organized by the U.S. Africa Children’s Fellowship (USACF), which has completed nine similar donations to Zimbabwe since 2003. Continue reading …

Beaming students

There are certain things Fresh, and certain things مش

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This would fall into the former category. “Africa’s rap Bruce Lee” has struck again: a free digital mixtape featuring K’naan rhyming to the music of Fela Kuti. It’s a collaboration between K’naan and J.Period, the first episode in a project called The Messengers that will apparently include K’naan alongside the likes of Bob Marley and Bob Dylan.

On one track K’naan explains that these guys are the secular equivalents of Jesus and Mohammed, رسل الله — Messengers with a capital M. His juxtaposition to the greats on the (very cool) cover art may not be a declaration of humility, but these are some nice tracks.

Download the album here at 2dopeboyz.